Proof of peak:
https://pokepast.es/bdb3b802efaebe44
Like many, I underestimated Sinistcha at first, but this Pokemon grew to become possibly my favorite Pokemon in the current meta. This thing beats half the tier, and is a very potent wincon with a few important checks out of the way courtesy of status or hazards. This team originally featured Volcarona and Weavile over Gouging Fire and Zamazenta, but with the ban of Volcarona (that team got me reqs to vote ban and also past 1900 elo) I found it in need of a fairly major restructuring. The original concept was simple: Sticky Barb (with trick at the time) Clefable + Volcarona is strong, and Sinistcha both deals with most of the threats to Volc and serves as an alternate wincon if different things end up with the barb than expected. Without volc, things got a lot weirder and this was the result. For a preface, not going to talk about items on most mons because this is just no removal boots spam besides Clef/Scor, so lets get into it.
Calm Mind / Matcha Gotcha / Shadow Ball / Strength Sap @ Heavy Duty Boots
The star of the show. Sinistcha is here to spinblock for the dual hazards provided by Gliscor and Clodsire, hold off dangerous threats like Ogerpon-W, and serve as a lategame wincon with Calm Mind. The spread chosen allows it to outspeed bulky Great Tusk, most Primarina, all no-speed Gliscor, and bulky Heatran. The rest is put into physical bulk to better deal with Great Tusk, Ogerpon-W, and Gouging Fire. Stabs are pretty self-explanatory, but with an extra shoutout to Matcha Gotcha for being able to threaten burns vs stuff like Kingambit, which helps to enable its own endgame. Strength Sap is the real reason this Pokemon is a monster, because most physical attackers are NEVER getting past Sap. It gives near a full heal vs every relevant physical attacker, and can even heal good amounts vs a lot of the high general stat special attackers that populate the tier. Tera Fairy flips a ton of matchups, most notably making Sinistcha a fairy hard wall against Gouging Fire due to Heatproof. It can also be used in general to snipe weakened Dark-types, or surprise KO Dragapult or Gholdengo on a turn where it can't really afford to Make It Rain. If all the dark types are burned/gone or you can eliminate the threats stopping Tera Fairy from winning, it can easily sweep entire teams.
Spikes / Protect / Earthquake / Knock Off @ Toxic Orb
Gliscor does Gliscor things. Spikes are great for everything, EQ is needed for chip and hitting the Fires/Steels, Protect for healing, and Knock Off to make the spikes stick. Notably, Knock allows Gliscor to threaten other Gliscors by removing their item so that they are stuck with Sticky Barb from hitting Clefable. The spread is standard, this thing just aims to sit around and get up 3 layers. A lot of games it's worth sacking most/all of its health to Knock dangerous Pokemon like Psychic Noise Primarina. Once it gets the layers up, it's just a generic defensive piece that spams Knock. Water Tera is just for emergencies, normally to live a hit and click knock against something that otherwise could sweep.
Earthquake / Toxic / Stealth Rock / Recover @ Heavy Duty Boots
Now that the physical defense is mostly taken care of, now for some special defense. Clodsire handles a bunch of the tier's special attackers, notably Walking Wake due to Water Absorb. This is the team's rocker, and a general blanket check to anything wanting to click a big special button. Toxic stacks on the passive damage, EQ does chip and helps vs stuff like Gholdengo, and recovery is mandatory as usual. Tera steel is another emergency button, letting you panic Toxic something like a NP Deoxys-S in the case it gets out of hand. Like Gliscor, surprisingly often it can be nearly sacked just for Toxic on a key target. This team's dual wincons in Sinistcha and Zamazenta really just need specific answers out of the way.
Moonblast / Wish / Protect / Knock Off @ Sticky Barb
The evil Clefable set. I've been a fan of Barb Clef for long time now. Wish Protect is chosen for more PP than Moonlight, no risk of reduced weather recovery from Gking, and being able to keep Zama alive. Moonblast lets it actually check Dragons, and Knock Off both enables the Barb and keeps adding to the hazard spam's effectiveness. Tera Dark is to help vs Deoxys-S, and to alleviate the random Stored Power garbage that ladder likes (that move is inconsistent cheese and you know it). It also helps vs Hex Pult, since without Lefties it can get worn down somewhat quick and a Knock on Pult with max layers up is basically a KO.
Burning Bulwark / Heat Crash / Earthquake / Morning Sun @ Heavy Duty Boots
The set is weird I know. Gouging Fire is here for a variety of reasons. It can swap into and immediately threaten mons like Gholdengo, force chip on Landorus-T, and take on Pokemon like Weavile. It also makes Kingambit have a very hard time. Losing Boots sucks, but this is often going to be a knock absorber vs things that can hit Clef and Gliscor. Bulwark is a weird move, but with all the damage-over-time going around with the team, just stalling turns alone can win games. This also enables strong mindgames vs things like Taunt Roaring Moon with the threat of burn, and stops choiced Pokemon like Specs Dragapult from being able to U-Turn. Heat Crash is consistent damage with no recoil, EQ hits the Poisons (especially Iron Moth), and Morning Sun keeps healthy. It rarely ever Teras, but can vs offense later in the game to take random Dragon moves or against balance to sit on Gking since you resist Future Sight and can click Burning Bulwark on the turn of it.
Iron Defense / Body Press / Crunch / Roar @ Heavy Duty Boots
Roar Zamazenta is broken. In long games, this thing inevitably wins if Sinistcha doesn't already. This also contributes to the general theme of "passive damage go" by spamming Roar on forced switches. Roar also can be very annoying to Booster Energy heavy teams since you can burn them early before they can do much. This is also one of the ways the team can beat Roaring Moon, often costing Tera but allowing you to phase it and waste booster + make it take more hazards. Crunch is needed for the Ghosts, and ID + Press is for better dealing with the Darks and winning lategame. This is here for revenge killing and endgaming, but vs some teams can force progress by making mons like Primarina come in and take hazards.
Threats:
Primarina is surprisingly annoying for this team, specifically if it has Psychic Noise and isn't Liquid Voice. Fast Sinistcha helps with this, but Psychic Noise does turn off Matcha Gotcha and Strength Sap both. Other variants all pretty much lose to Clodsire.
Weavile doesn't really care about either Knock absorber, so you have to sack boots on Zama/Gouging most of the time. This is a matchup where burning tera on something random to click knock/toxic is often worth it. Weavile is unlikely to ever win, but it can lead to losing the long game.
Opposing combo of Clefable + Gliscor is pain. Some of these teams just lose to Sinistcha, which is great. If they have something like Unaware Clod in the back, sit down for the long haul. Generally this ties from my experience, if it hits turn 100 and nothing dies just /offertie. I've won vs this a few times but it took 200+ turns every time and was likely moreso won due to my opponent misplaying one or two minor turns.
Meowscarada is basically like Weavile but U-Turn is a different kind of annoying than Swords Dance. Deal with it a similar way, pick something to sack to knock based on the matchup and try to win before it can make too much progress.
Hatterene is annoying. Nuzzle sets can be forced to take the barb, but others normally force tera on Clod. As long as it never gets going it won't be a threat in the long run, and often teams with it are either weak to Tea or lose endgame to Zama once it is gone.
Great tusk is normally very tolerable but Bulk Up + Tera Ice or Tera Poison + Taunt can both cause issues. Luckily both sets are rare, and the rest are pretty simple to handle.
Hisui Samorott is a huge pain. Another mon that probably won't win outright vs this team but you're probably sacking Tera or a pair of Boots. Sinistcha often teras in this matchup.
Conclusion:
Sinistcha is a legitimate OU threat. With the right set and the right support, it can deal with some of OU's biggest threats and sweep teams at the drop of a hat(terene). I think this Pokemon can go far and I'm looking forward to seeing what people do with it, and hoping that maybe by showing it off a bit I can encourage others to experiment more. Happy ladderring!
Like many, I underestimated Sinistcha at first, but this Pokemon grew to become possibly my favorite Pokemon in the current meta. This thing beats half the tier, and is a very potent wincon with a few important checks out of the way courtesy of status or hazards. This team originally featured Volcarona and Weavile over Gouging Fire and Zamazenta, but with the ban of Volcarona (that team got me reqs to vote ban and also past 1900 elo) I found it in need of a fairly major restructuring. The original concept was simple: Sticky Barb (with trick at the time) Clefable + Volcarona is strong, and Sinistcha both deals with most of the threats to Volc and serves as an alternate wincon if different things end up with the barb than expected. Without volc, things got a lot weirder and this was the result. For a preface, not going to talk about items on most mons because this is just no removal boots spam besides Clef/Scor, so lets get into it.
The star of the show. Sinistcha is here to spinblock for the dual hazards provided by Gliscor and Clodsire, hold off dangerous threats like Ogerpon-W, and serve as a lategame wincon with Calm Mind. The spread chosen allows it to outspeed bulky Great Tusk, most Primarina, all no-speed Gliscor, and bulky Heatran. The rest is put into physical bulk to better deal with Great Tusk, Ogerpon-W, and Gouging Fire. Stabs are pretty self-explanatory, but with an extra shoutout to Matcha Gotcha for being able to threaten burns vs stuff like Kingambit, which helps to enable its own endgame. Strength Sap is the real reason this Pokemon is a monster, because most physical attackers are NEVER getting past Sap. It gives near a full heal vs every relevant physical attacker, and can even heal good amounts vs a lot of the high general stat special attackers that populate the tier. Tera Fairy flips a ton of matchups, most notably making Sinistcha a fairy hard wall against Gouging Fire due to Heatproof. It can also be used in general to snipe weakened Dark-types, or surprise KO Dragapult or Gholdengo on a turn where it can't really afford to Make It Rain. If all the dark types are burned/gone or you can eliminate the threats stopping Tera Fairy from winning, it can easily sweep entire teams.
Gliscor does Gliscor things. Spikes are great for everything, EQ is needed for chip and hitting the Fires/Steels, Protect for healing, and Knock Off to make the spikes stick. Notably, Knock allows Gliscor to threaten other Gliscors by removing their item so that they are stuck with Sticky Barb from hitting Clefable. The spread is standard, this thing just aims to sit around and get up 3 layers. A lot of games it's worth sacking most/all of its health to Knock dangerous Pokemon like Psychic Noise Primarina. Once it gets the layers up, it's just a generic defensive piece that spams Knock. Water Tera is just for emergencies, normally to live a hit and click knock against something that otherwise could sweep.
Now that the physical defense is mostly taken care of, now for some special defense. Clodsire handles a bunch of the tier's special attackers, notably Walking Wake due to Water Absorb. This is the team's rocker, and a general blanket check to anything wanting to click a big special button. Toxic stacks on the passive damage, EQ does chip and helps vs stuff like Gholdengo, and recovery is mandatory as usual. Tera steel is another emergency button, letting you panic Toxic something like a NP Deoxys-S in the case it gets out of hand. Like Gliscor, surprisingly often it can be nearly sacked just for Toxic on a key target. This team's dual wincons in Sinistcha and Zamazenta really just need specific answers out of the way.
The evil Clefable set. I've been a fan of Barb Clef for long time now. Wish Protect is chosen for more PP than Moonlight, no risk of reduced weather recovery from Gking, and being able to keep Zama alive. Moonblast lets it actually check Dragons, and Knock Off both enables the Barb and keeps adding to the hazard spam's effectiveness. Tera Dark is to help vs Deoxys-S, and to alleviate the random Stored Power garbage that ladder likes (that move is inconsistent cheese and you know it). It also helps vs Hex Pult, since without Lefties it can get worn down somewhat quick and a Knock on Pult with max layers up is basically a KO.
The set is weird I know. Gouging Fire is here for a variety of reasons. It can swap into and immediately threaten mons like Gholdengo, force chip on Landorus-T, and take on Pokemon like Weavile. It also makes Kingambit have a very hard time. Losing Boots sucks, but this is often going to be a knock absorber vs things that can hit Clef and Gliscor. Bulwark is a weird move, but with all the damage-over-time going around with the team, just stalling turns alone can win games. This also enables strong mindgames vs things like Taunt Roaring Moon with the threat of burn, and stops choiced Pokemon like Specs Dragapult from being able to U-Turn. Heat Crash is consistent damage with no recoil, EQ hits the Poisons (especially Iron Moth), and Morning Sun keeps healthy. It rarely ever Teras, but can vs offense later in the game to take random Dragon moves or against balance to sit on Gking since you resist Future Sight and can click Burning Bulwark on the turn of it.
Roar Zamazenta is broken. In long games, this thing inevitably wins if Sinistcha doesn't already. This also contributes to the general theme of "passive damage go" by spamming Roar on forced switches. Roar also can be very annoying to Booster Energy heavy teams since you can burn them early before they can do much. This is also one of the ways the team can beat Roaring Moon, often costing Tera but allowing you to phase it and waste booster + make it take more hazards. Crunch is needed for the Ghosts, and ID + Press is for better dealing with the Darks and winning lategame. This is here for revenge killing and endgaming, but vs some teams can force progress by making mons like Primarina come in and take hazards.
Threats:
Primarina is surprisingly annoying for this team, specifically if it has Psychic Noise and isn't Liquid Voice. Fast Sinistcha helps with this, but Psychic Noise does turn off Matcha Gotcha and Strength Sap both. Other variants all pretty much lose to Clodsire.
Weavile doesn't really care about either Knock absorber, so you have to sack boots on Zama/Gouging most of the time. This is a matchup where burning tera on something random to click knock/toxic is often worth it. Weavile is unlikely to ever win, but it can lead to losing the long game.
Opposing combo of Clefable + Gliscor is pain. Some of these teams just lose to Sinistcha, which is great. If they have something like Unaware Clod in the back, sit down for the long haul. Generally this ties from my experience, if it hits turn 100 and nothing dies just /offertie. I've won vs this a few times but it took 200+ turns every time and was likely moreso won due to my opponent misplaying one or two minor turns.
Meowscarada is basically like Weavile but U-Turn is a different kind of annoying than Swords Dance. Deal with it a similar way, pick something to sack to knock based on the matchup and try to win before it can make too much progress.
Hatterene is annoying. Nuzzle sets can be forced to take the barb, but others normally force tera on Clod. As long as it never gets going it won't be a threat in the long run, and often teams with it are either weak to Tea or lose endgame to Zama once it is gone.
Great tusk is normally very tolerable but Bulk Up + Tera Ice or Tera Poison + Taunt can both cause issues. Luckily both sets are rare, and the rest are pretty simple to handle.
Hisui Samorott is a huge pain. Another mon that probably won't win outright vs this team but you're probably sacking Tera or a pair of Boots. Sinistcha often teras in this matchup.
Conclusion:
Sinistcha is a legitimate OU threat. With the right set and the right support, it can deal with some of OU's biggest threats and sweep teams at the drop of a hat(terene). I think this Pokemon can go far and I'm looking forward to seeing what people do with it, and hoping that maybe by showing it off a bit I can encourage others to experiment more. Happy ladderring!
