Here Comes The Sun!

[burnpsy]

Kyuubi (Ninetales) @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 20 SpD / 110 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Att)
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Sunny Day
- Will-O-Wisp

Ninetales' use goes without saying, since there's only one legit reason for using it. It sets up the Sun. If I think Politoed or Tyranitar is coming in, I use Sunny Day against Politoed and Will-O-Wisp against Tyranitar. I generally use Fire Blast otherwise, assuming the opposing weather Pokemon lives. SolarBeam is only for when I'm 100% sure it's safe to use it.

Water gets sent to Slowbro. Rock gets sent to Heatran or Claydol. Ground goes to Slowbro or Donphan.

Bombastic (Venusaur) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Att / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Att, -SpA)
- Earthquake
- Seed Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Swords Dance

It's a pretty standard sweeper, nothing special. However, this is my only Physical sweepers, and this has one of my only two Grass moves. As such, it is important that I clear out anything that's only weak to Grass, as well as Blissey, with this before they become a pain. Earthquake is merely for coverage.

If I expect a Flying attack, Claydol or Heatran take it. If I expect Fire, I can literally select any team member to take the hit (except Donphan, if it's a Special move), but Heatran obviously takes priority in cases where I don't have a more strategic play. Psychic gets sent to Heatran or Slowbro. This is, of course, assuming I cannot just outspeed and OHKO and of these threats.

Jaypeg (Slowbro) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpA
Bold Nature (+Def, -Att)
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Slack Off

Slowbro provides a general Water resist. Fire and Ice cover most Pokemon, Psychic for STAB. This replaces Starmie, covering the same types Starmie did, except with more bulk. So, basically, this thing is only in this team because of its types.

Electric moves are sponged by claydol and Venusaur, or sent to Volcarona if it's a good setup opportunity. Grass moves get sent to anyone but Donphan. Bug attacks are generally a prompt for me to bring Heatran in, but Volcarona can take special ones.

Corona (Volcarona) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP / 218 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Att)
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Morning Sun
- Quiver Dance

This is a pretty basic move-set. The only non-standard move is Morning Sun, which I run because this team uses the Sun. As such, it makes for a reliable healing move if the Sun is up, which it usually is. This just generally rips holes in stuff, but I need Donphan to remove Stealth Rock in most cases, especially if the Sun is not shining. If it is, however, It can come in and heal, potentially Quiver Dancing somewhere in between.

Rock moves, again, get thrown at Donphan or Heatran. Flying moves, again, go to Heatran. If a Water move is incoming, I just laugh if the Sun is up and proceed to Quiver Dance 6 times in their face. Otherwise, they get sent to Venusaur or Slowbro. I have the same reaction to any Special moves, except the Sun isn't necessary, though is nice, since that would mean I can heal off with Morning Sun more easily.

Run (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 250 HP / 100 SpD / 160 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Att)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Roar

If you couldn't tell by now, this thing is my defensive centrepiece. As such, I gave it a defensive set. It pseudo-Hazes enemies, and has one of my Ice moves, recently added to kill Dragons on the switch-in. It isn't too useful, however, since many Dragons carry a Ground attack.

Water moves, of course, go to Starmie or Venusaur. Ground gets sent to Claydol. Fighting moves get sent to Claydol or Slowbro. However, depending on the Fighting-type in question, I could just try to burn them instead.

SPINNING! (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpA
Bold Nature (+Def, -Att)
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock

Claydol has two jobs. Job #1, set up rocks. Job #2, get rid of opposing hazards. Outside of that, its moves were selected for coverage, as I lacked Ground moves and Ice moves. This allows it to take out a few team threats, and is my only Ground immunity.

Grass goes to anyone but Starmie, assuming Ice Shard won't OHKO. Water, however, gets sent to Starmie or Venusaur without hesitation. Special Attacks are also a major threat, regardless of type. Luckily, however, this would have likely cleared the Stealth Rocks before I need to switch, meaning Volcarona can field any Special moves. Bug goes to any Fire-type.

 

[Aberrant17]

There are three main issues that stand out on your team:

1. You don't need Leftovers on EVERYTHING on your team. Rapid Spin Starmie works well with Life Orb, Volcarona can use Life Orb/Lum Berry, Heatran can run an Air Balloon set, and most Rotom carry Choice Scarf. Lefties are redundant on Pokemon that aren't defensive or don't summon weather, and there are often better choices for Hold Items depending on the Pokemon's moveset and its role in the team.

2. There's no real point in running Water-type attacks on a sun team. Drop Starmie's Surf for an Ice Beam, Psychic, Psyshock, or HP [Fire]. Also, Flying-type attacks aren't all that common in OU, so you can afford to drop Rotom-W. If you really want a Rotom on your team, you're better off running a Scarfed Rotom Heat with Volt Switch. You Starmie and Grass-type provide Water-resistances for your team.

3. Your lack of a Chlorophyll sweeper (or Choice Scarfers, for that matter) means that you'll be easily outsped by the Chlorophyll sweeprs of opposing Sun teams. For instance, Mixed Venusaur can make short work of your team. If you really need your Grass-type to run Clerical support, Chlorophyll Lilligant might be worth looking into. It has access to Aromatherapy, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, and Healing Wish, rivalling any support Shaymin can provide (and it outspeeds Venusaur in the sun).

If you feel that you don't need a Chlorophyller, then you could use Celebi to form a strong defensive core with Heatran.

 

[dcae]

This is a pretty solid team you have, however I do single a pretty big weakness in your team: An offensive Lum Berry Dragonite. If it carries Earthquake and gets a Dragon Dance under its belt while you switch for the appropriate counter, then your team will get sweeped. I would suggest a Donphan to replace Starmie due to the fact it can take a boosted Outrage and also spin. Priority Ice Shard also aids it. The specific set is as follows:

Donphan @Leftovers
Adamant nature
252 HP 4 Atk 252 Def
Rapid Spin
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Roar/Toxic

The last moveslot is up to you, whichever you would prefer. Personally, I like adding a Grass Chlorophyll abuser, but I don't know what Poke to replace. Here is the custom set of one of my favorite abusers, Venusaur:

Venusaur @Black Sludge
Calm nature
252 HP 216 Def 42 Spe
Leech Seed
Sleep Powder
HP Fire
Giga Drain

The above set is a bulky variant I use and works wonders if played well. Giga drain for STAB and recovery, while Sleep Powder + Leech Seed is a great combo. HP Fire prevents Venusaur from getting walled completely by Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, etc. Otherwise, an excellent team!

 

[ShIkOu]

This is a pretty solid team you have, however I do single a pretty big weakness in your team: An offensive Lum Berry Dragonite. If it carries Earthquake and gets a Dragon Dance under its belt while you switch for the appropriate counter, then your team will get sweeped. I would suggest a Donphan to replace Starmie due to the fact it can take a boosted Outrage and also spin. Priority Ice Shard also aids it. The specific set is as follows:

Donphan @Leftovers
Adamant nature
252 HP 4 Atk 252 Def
Rapid Spin
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Roar/Toxic

The last moveslot is up to you, whichever you would prefer. Personally, I like adding a Grass p abuser, but I don't know what Poke to replace. Here is the custom set of one of my favorite abusers, Venusaur:

Venusaur @Black Sludge
Calm nature
252 HP 216 Def 42 Spe
Leech Seed
Sleep Powder
HP Fire
Giga Drain

The above set is a bulky variant I use and works wonders if played well. Giga drain for STAB and recovery, while Sleep Powder + Leech Seed is a great combo. HP Fire prevents Venusaur from getting walled completely by Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress, etc. Otherwise, an excellent team!

Venusaur can't learn Giga Drain and have Chlorophyll due to only legal as male therefore can't breed.

 

[Jayde]

Hey burnpsy,

Nice team you have here. Sun is my favorite weather, and it's nice to see it becoming more popular. However, I see a weakness to certain Sandstorm sweepers; namely, Terrakion, Landorus, and Sand Veil Gliscor. Scarf Landorus can be especially troublesome due to its ability to outspeed Starmie and hit it with U-turn, as well as threaten to OHKO a +1 Volcarona. SD Terrakion looks like it could sweep you clean with just one SD under its belt, since Starmie's Surf won't be doing much damage at all as long as Sun is up.

For these reasons, I'd like to suggest using a Physically Defensive Donphan over Starmie. Donphan can tank attacks from Landorus and SD Gliscor, and either revenge kill them or weaken them greatly with Ice Shard. It can take most attacks from Terrakion if you keep it healthy, and threaten to KO back with Earthquake. It also sets up Stealth Rock, which allows you to free up a spot on Heatran (Toxic?). I don't think Starmie was helping this team with much besides spinning, which Donphan can do just as well. It's typing overlapped with Rotom, and Rotom/Shaymin give you enough anti-rain artillery.

Note that Forretress is also an option, but I leaned toward Donphan due to Ice Shard. You might also want to replace Shaymin with a Chlorophyll abuser such as Venusaur, which can help by outspeeding the aforementioned threats. I don't think you need Aromatherapy too much.

Hope I helped, GL!

Hide

Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
​

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[Oblivion IX]

Hey, solid team! The previous raters seem to have covered most of the immediate concerns that I see so I’ll just touch on something that has been ignored so far. That is your problem against the infamous special wall that is Blissey. It stands in the way of Volcarona destroying your opponent’s team and what’s even more troublesome is that nothing else on your team can hope to penetrate its defenses. In order to help combat this fat menace why not try using a mixed Venusaur over Shaymin? I chose this over Sawsbuck for synergy reasons though the deer could still be used to get the jump on Choice Scarf variants of Latios. Anyways, this easy swap will give your team a hard hitting physical sweeper that takes full advantage of the sun provided by Ninetales and doesn’t involve any major synergetic change. Using a Lonely (+Atk, -Def) nature and an EV spread of 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd will be ideal. This will let you hit like a truck after a Growth boost. From there just equip a Life Orb and you’ll be on your way to sweeping with Seed Bomb, Growth, Earthquake, and Hidden Power [Fire] or Return. Obviously, if you choose the later for the final move then shift the 4 SAtk EVs over to SDef and use an Adamant (+Atk, -SAtk) nature. Good luck and I hope this suggestion helps.

Movesets:

Venusaur @ Life Orb l Chlorophyll
Lonely l 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
- Seed Bomb
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Growth

or

Venusaur @ Life Orb l Chlorophyll
Adamant l 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
- Seed Bomb
- Earthquake
- Return
- Swords Dance

 

[doughboy]

Please do not ever run Air Balloon on a defensive Heatran. Keep it at Leftovers.

I second the change to Donphan, however it isn't necessary to run Stealth Rock or Roar since Heatran already carries them, therefore instead of Jaayde's set I would run this:

Donphan @Leftovers
Impish nature
252 HP 4 Atk 252 Def
Rapid Spin
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Rest

It may seem weird to run Rest, but if you find it necessary to run a cleric its a good option. I would take away Shaymin, I see it as the weak link of the team, but taking it away would require the team to make a huge amount of changes.

Rotom-W isn't a very good fit for this team since his Water-Stab is weakened by the sun and I agree that you do need a Chlorrphyll abuser, thus I'm going to recommend Sawsbuck. He hits very hard on the physical side and can bring down those bulky waters Volcarona despises. All the fighting type attacks aimed at Sawsbuck can be directed towards Donphan.

Sawsbuck (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 136 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 116 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Return
- Nature Power

 

[burnpsy]

Following changes have been made:

Shaymin → Venusaur
Starmie's Leftovers → Life Orb
Starmie's Surf → Hidden Power [Fire]
Volcarona's Leftovers → Lum Berry
Lava (Heatran's nickname) → Run
Heatran's Stealth Rock → Hidden Power [Ice]
Wash Rotom → Donphan

I tested several times. I lost once due to mishandling of my resources against ScarfNape, but I won every other battle.

 

[truedrew]

it seems that You have a huge weakness to Dual dancer Terrakion since if it sets up RP it can outspeed a lot of you're team and can rip huge holes in it which could result to a late game sweep by Dragonite or something else. For this i suggest a Golurk over youre donphan since it completly shuts down most of the terrakion sets and serves as a spin blocker.I suggest a move set of
Name:Golurk
Trait:Iron Fist
Item:Life Orb
Nature:Jolly
-Rock Polish
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Shadow Punch
Evs:252attack 252 speed

 

[truedrew]

You can also forgo roar on heatran for rocks.

 

[burnpsy]

Uhh, big problem with that in that I then lack a spinner.

 

[truedrew]

teach it to starmie

 

[Snorlaxe]

your lack of a ground resistance is extremely troubling to me, because it means that switching in on any earthquake is gonna be a daunting task. if ttar manages to set up sandstorm, choice scarf and swords dance landorus can pretty much rip through your entire team without batting an eye. additionally, choice band terrakion looks like a major threat, as if donphan goes down too early, it can spam stone edge to deal ridiculous damage to everything on your team. in order to fix this, you may wanna consider a slightly unorthodox pokemon: claydol. by replacing donphan with claydol, you retain similar defensive typing as well as the ability to set up stealth rock. however, you gain an immunity to earthquake and ability to check terrakion more reliably. go for a set of rapid spin / stealth rock / earth power / ice beam, an ev spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA, and a bold nature with the item leftovers. claydol may seem like a strange choice, but if you test it out, i think you'll be pleased with the results.

i also dont really see what starmie is doing for your team. without an STAB move, its utility as an attacker is greatly reduced. and sure it has great type coverage, but it isnt too powerful, and will die easily due to its frailty. however, starmie packs so many key resistances for your team, and it would be a real shame to have to replace starmie because you would part with those resistances. so what i think you could do is replace starmie with a slowbro. slowbro has the same typing as starmie, so it has the same set of resistances. however, it is soooo much more bulky than the starfish, so it will survive for much longer and continue to support your team throughout a match. it also allows you to check a ton of pokes, especially physical attackers, that could otherwise be threatening. use a set of psychic / ice beam / flamethrower / slack off, an ev spread of 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA, and a bold nature with the item leftovers and the ability regenerator. it may be tempting to use scald, but sun makes it a poor choice.

as far as minor changes go, i really dont think you need hidden power fire on venusaur. all the mons youll be hitting are already raped by volcarona and heatran anyway, so it's just redundant. use sleep powder instead, as this will allow you to cripple a potential threat. if you make this change, use an adamant nature to not lower venusaur's defense. additionally, you might wanna try out fiery dance in place of fire blast on volcarona, as it has perfect accuracy and a 50% chance to give you a special attack boost, making the moth even more deadly.

summary of changes

replace donphan with a claydol
replace starmie with a slowbro
on venusaur, replace hidden power fire with sleep powder, and use an adamant nature
on volcarona, replace fire blast with fiery dance

nice team, and good luck!

 

[burnpsy]

Made all changes suggested by Snorlaxe. Also swapped Growth out for Swords Dance. Thank you.