Sacred Sunshine [ RMT ]

[Ho-Oh]

Sacred Sunshine​

Okay so I know I thought I was never going to do this, etc, but I really (really) like this team, and I felt the urge to post it.

So pretty much I was working with my team "before", where I decided to add on Tangrowth. After realising it was pretty strong and had Chlorophyll, I realised I wanted to try out sun. I've sorta used rain for a bit and sand for a little less, but sun I never really was a fan of. I decided to mix my current team into a sun version, where I figured I needed something to set up sun obv, a general sweeper, something w/ priority, something that has Chlorophyll, something to take out the other weathers and something that excels in sun.

...now let us move on to the team now and how it came together. Luckily I save every change on PO to make everything easier, yay!

Teambuilding
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Teambuilding Analysis

1. Ninetales was pretty much necessary for the team, without it I wouldn't have the necessary weather.

2. This one was kinda weird. At first I wanted something with power & speed but I found the fact that it didn't really "do" anything for the team (compared to the others) made me not really that pleased with it. Venusaur was put on the team because I wanted another chlorophyll abuser, and that it could use grass, fire and ground attacks, which was good coverage to things I'd be weak to. I went for Heatran next because I felt that the team would be way too fire weak, so I figured that'd fit best, plus give me SR support. I then decided to replace it with Starmie because I realised that Starmie would fit really well onto the team, being able to "take" water attacks sorta, not be that hurt by fire, and be able to use boltbeam, something the team actually lacked.

3. At first I really wanted priority and something didn't feel right about putting Scizor on a sun team, so I opted for Dragonite. It could take opposing fire/water hits and generally give me prioriity when necessary. After a while I figured Jirachi would fit better for some reason, mainly due to the temptation of having Wish support. However, I felt I was weak to fire at that point, so I had to stick to Heatran as I originally wanted.

4. So at first the Chlorophyll abuser of choice was Lilligant, mainly due to the fact that it had Quiver Dance, but the fact that my team was so specially based as it was kind of annoyed me. So! I picked Sawsbuck instead, mainly due to the fact that it could hit water types and the fact that ground types couldn't really do much to it. With that speed it's really amazing.

5. Volcarona was good for a while, but I didn't really like that it was weak to SR and spikes, and I never really got much of a chance to set up. I wanted something specially defensive though, to be able to take those netural hits for the rest of the team, so I picked Latias. I figured giving it a chance to set up with Calm Mind would be more effective, but... no. I decided I wanted a dragon in general to resist water attacks, but I couldn't really think of anything that would be useful on the team and help out some of the other weaknesses. I chose to go with Kingdra because it could not only set up, but make use of the fact that rain is so common, and that it could take out the rain teams/enjoy the speed boost.

6. Well Dugtrio was the thought here because it could take out things like Heatran, etc w/ arena trap. However! It could not defeat Starmie with even max Sucker Punch, something that my team could otherwise not really defeat. I wanted to keep the ground typing, so I went with Krookodile, which due to its STAB attacks, was much more useful.

The Team

Team Analysis

Ninetales @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 100 Def / 156 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Overheat
- Hypnosis
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Ninetales is really useful. Nasty Plot + Overheat works well, while HP fighting lets me hit Heatran/Tyranitar, etc. Only thing I'm considering is maybe Wide Lens for Hypnosis > Leftovers, idk. As for EVs, I wanted it to be borderline defensive so it can take hits/"survive", but definitely outspeed opponents.

Starmie @ Expert Belt
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Ice Beam

With a sun team, having a spinner is kind of a good thing. I went for this because I felt that Starmie, with its boltbeam coverage and speed could just kill off a few opponents for me. As for why I chose Expert Belt, probably because I don't want to be locked into specs w/ all those attacks, and having Life Orb didn't really appeal to me (also that it's likely to have something that is super effective against most opponents also is a positive). Basically, when spinning I didn't really want to hurt it, and that it dies too quickly otherwise.

Heatran @ Life Orb
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

Heatran basically is there to take potential dragon attacks, set up SR when the opportunity arises, and just outright kill everything else with Fire Blast. HP ice is there for things that can't really be hurt by Fire Blast, and Earth Power is there for other Heatran/other fire types.

Sawsbuck @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Horn Leech
- Return
- Jump Kick
- Nature Power

Originally I decided to go with a Choice Band set, but I found that I switched it way too often to my liking, so I opted for LO instead. Basic set, but wow, one of my most useful on the team, tbh.

Kingdra @ Lum Berry
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Substitute

Kingdra is interesting, tbh. I dislike the fact that I don't have any recovery, however, by having Substitute, if it switches into the correct opponent (or even in rain), basically when I know the opponent will switch, I have that to hide behind while I get a DD or two up, and then just Outrage. As for Waterfall, that's there when SS is activated, and it's the best way to get rid of the opposing weather, tbh.

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf is awesome. With psychic types I basically play safe. If it's a psychic type that I don't think can do anything to me? Pursuit (or even if I'm unsure about it switching and it's at low HP, then Pursuit), if it's on a rain team and it's Latios? I'd feel safer with Crunch. Either way if Krookodile fails I always go to Sawsbuck to "finish off" the opponent basically. Also, with Moxie, it's so much more useful! I'd prefer Arena Trap, though for ability BUT WHATEVER. As for EQ, obvious STAB. Stone Edge I don't think I've used more than once, but that's just a backup in case I do need it. Otherwise I think everything is covered with the other two.

Threats/Issues

Well after just facing a Volcarona then, that kind of threw me off, and there's not much I can really do to it after it uses QD - not even Krookodile can SE. Terrakion could also probably be an issue if it's scarved, considering three are weak to fighting attacks. Gengar could also possibly be an issue, and Venusaur in a sun team too. Everything else I'm pretty confident I don't have too many issues with that my team can otherwise make up for. Either way, yeah the team works fine otherwise! Stars of the team definitely are Krookodile/Sawsbuck/Ninetales/Heatran, though.

KAY, DON'T JUDGE ME TOO HARD PLZ. :)

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[Vrai]

hi nica!!!

well the first thing i'm seeing is a pretty hefty weakness to volcarona - especially in your own sun. kingdra does is 2hkoed by +1 bug buzz and fails to KO with waterfall in sun (that's not calculating it though but i'm pretty sure), krookodile is outsped by even modest volc because you have adamant, so you can't revenge it, and offensive heatran is mauled by +1 hp ground (and the bulkier variants of volcarona can just set up on heatran!). you really have to rely on the combination of kingdra's waterfall and sawsbuck revenge-killing it, which really isn't possible all the time. in order to better secure yourself against volcarona, you can do a couple things, but what i really want to suggest is to change your revenge killer to a choice scarf terrakion, which performs krookodile's duties just as well, and the rest of your teammates can really patch up the weaknesses that terrakion brings (you have plenty of things to handle gliscor, etc). also recommending that you change heatran to an air balloon heatran variant, because heatran's bulk is incredibly useful and it can make for a good check to landorus and dragonite pre-balloon popping. life orb also doesn't net any additional KOs so it's not really useful.

otherwise, the only thing i really don't like is kingdra. even if it performs well in other weathers... the whole goal of a sun team is to keep up the sun and abuse it, right? including a pokemon who performs well in other weathers and not your own is counterproductive to the team's nature, even if it works decently from time to time. i'm not sure exactly what you should replace it with though... if i come up with something later i will post it!

and yeah tired of thinking so i will click post now :) it's not as hard as giving birth i promise you

 

[PlatinumDude]

I'm agreeing with Vrai here. Kingdra doesn't benefit from the sun at all.

Overheat kills Ninetales' Nasty Plot boosts. You'll have to use Fire Blast or Flamethrower for your STAB attack, since they'll remain strong after a boost. Or, if you'd like to troll your opponent, you can use Power Swap over Nasty Plot to give a Special Attacker -2 Special Attack after using Overheat. You can also consider a sweeper EV spread if you choose to stick to Nasty Plot, just so Ninetales has a bit of power prior to Nasty Plot (even though its Special Attack is average)

And as for the Kingdra replacement suggestion, how about Darmanitan, Chandelure or Volcarona as a backup sun abuser?

Darmanitan:
-Flare Blitz
-U-turn
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake/Superpower
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf/Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force

Chandelure:
-Fire Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Substitute
-Pain Split/Hidden Power (Fighting)
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire

Volcarona:
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Morning Sun
Nature: Bold
EVs: 240 HP/216 Def/52 Spe
Item: Leftovers

 

[Anti]

As I said on the server, I agree that Kingdra is really pointless. Using something that is walled easily by the most common defensive type in the game while neutral Waterfall is weakened by the sun is...not such a good idea!

In terms of replacing it, the two big weaknesses I see are Fighting-types and TR Reuniclus. Terrakion and Conkeldurr are particularly troublesome, so Karpman's suggest of Toxic/Protect Gliscor might be a good one to follow. Celebi might be a good option as well. Sure, having Fire moves boosted sucks for it and it's extremely shaky against CB Terrakion, but it helps sponge Close Combats and is effective against Rain if you're really worried about that. I guess it's the more offensive take on Gliscor...being weak to U-turn sucks though.

Lastly, this one is pretty out there, but defensive Mew provides a nice layer of defense, can spread burns (always helpful), and is effective against stall. Really though, you'll just want to do something about Fighting-types because almost all of them are an issue. Whatever you use is up to you!

The rest of it looks lovely to me.