SM RU Solar Power

[Barragan]

I hope this time i made a detailed enough presentation of my team to give you a reason to share your thoughts.

Original Team

Chari and Venu are the absolutely best sweepers for a sun team in RU; Specs Char with Fire Blast can OHKO everything neutral to fire and most of the pokes who resist to it, while Venu under the sun can outspeed most scarfed pokes and hit very hard after +2 with Growth.

Torkoal is the only Drought user in RU so i had not much choice there and he can also spin so it's perfect, Cresselia instead was chosen because of his synergy with Venu and Torkoal himself, and because of Moonlight being stronger under the sun which compensate for the use of Heat Rock over Leftovers.

At this point i needed a proper physical wall and Gligar is perfect because of his immunity to electric and ground coupled with a resistance to bug, also he can deal with the SR when Torkoal cannot switch-in, very good are also the reliable recovery and the immunity to the most crippling status in RU.

The last poke had to be capable of hitting first to compensate the lack of speed of the team when the sun is not up, so i choose Golisopod because he's the only poke in RU with access to 3 priority moves and his 383 Atk (without counting CB) is more than what the majority of pokes can have.

Updates

>

Cress is a very good wall, but this team became more and more oriented to an offensive playstyle and Assault Vest King is more suited for the role, also because thanks to his passive he does not need recovery moves and he's an effective counter of Salazzle under the sun, and not only a check like Cress.

>

Flygon is able to deal with very fast pokes this team struggles with much better than Golisopod thanks to his typing which enable switch-in(s) not possible with the bug, plus his access to Outrage can preserve Venu's Z-Move as much as possible.

>

Unfortunately it's no more possible to use Venu with the Hidden Ability because it's possible to get it in real life only with an event, this is what the error message on Showdown said, so i had to choose between another poke with chlorophyl or a second Solar Power user, and i choose the latter.

Team Analysis

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpA / 96 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
- Scald

Role:
Special Wall
Moveset:
2°, 3° and 4° slots: no explanation needed.
1° slot: there are no other moves capable of dealing that much damage, plus it makes my opponent think twice over the next few switches, possibly doing errors, and it can give me an unexpected KO.
EVs & Nature:
This poke needs both a high amount of SDef to resist +2 Salazzle and a decent SAtk to do some relevant damage.

Charizard @ Choice Specs
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Overheat
- Focus Blast

Role:
Special Sweeper
Moveset:
3° slot: Overheat can be better than Flamethrower when i need precision but still a lot of power.
EVs & Nature:
no explanation needed.

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Defog
- U-Turn
- Roost

Roles:
Physical Wall, Defogger
Moveset:
2° and 4° slots: no explanation needed.
3° slot: U-Turn because after Defog if the sun is up Gligar can effectively switch without giving the enemy team a free attack on my sweepers.
EVs & Nature:
Having an offensive move 4 EV in Atk are useful.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw/Stone Edge(?)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- U-turn

Role:
Revenge Killer
Moveset:
2°, 3° and 4° slot: no explanation needed.
1° slot: i get that Dragon Claw enables me to usa a STAB without making Flygon extremely easy to revenge kill, but isn't a better coverage worth as well? You tell me.
EVs & Nature:
no explanation needed

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Will-O-Wisp

Roles:
Physical Wall, Weather Setter
Moveset:
1° slot: no explanation needed.
2° slot: because of his typing Torkoal often is not capable of spinning therefore i prefer to use him as a SRer, and i have Gligar anyway to get rid of the hazards.
3° slot: this move can do a good amount of damage and i use it as a last resort when i know i cannot let the enemy poke to KO anyone else, this way i weaken the opponent to facilitate the sweep.
4° slot: honestly, since this team now is much more focussed on quick matches, i prefer to be able to cripple physical sweeper and what not to give the rest of the team one less poke to worry about.
EVs & Nature:
I could have put 4 EVs in Atk but i prefer to give a tiny bit more damage to his STAB

Heliolisk @ Life Orb
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Hyper Voice

Role:
Special Sweeper
Moveset:
1°, 3° and 4° slots: no explanation needed.
2° slot: Usually there is Surf here but for obvious reasons it was suboptimal so i choose the special move which can give him the best coverage.
EVs & Nature:
no explanation needed.​

 

[GustavoR]

It's an interesting team, although offensive Nidoqueen has a really good matchup against a lot of your team btw (specially if you don't run Liquidation in Golisopod)
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Golisopod: 278-328 (78.5 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Venusaur: 252-299 (83.7 - 99.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Torkoal: 502-593 (146.3 - 172.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard: 289-341 (97.3 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Yes, I know you have a Cresselia, but if someone KO's Cress you have a pretty bad matchup against Nido
I'd suggest you to add a Specially Defensive Pokémon that lacks a x4 weakness (something like Calm P2 for example)

 

[zizalith]

hi, nice looking team! sun is a pretty underrated archetype in ru because it can end up being matchup dependent, but its a very fun archetype that can really blow holes into a team if played correctly.

weaknesses at a glance:

you dont really have any switch ins to moltres on this team apart from cresselia which is simply too pressured to check moltres, salazzle, and a bunch of other threats function properly.

salazzle is the #1 threat all sun teams have to prepare for since its fire blasts under sun hit extremely hard, and its good defensive typing doesnt allow standard venusaur to reliably revenge it. while cresselia may soft check it, fire blasts still hit way too hard under sun, and it flat out dies to firium variants:
+2 248 SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 112+ SpD Cresselia in Sun: 321-378 (72.4 - 85.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

while it cant really come in safely vs most of the team, once its in, nothing can switch into it, forcing you to sack a mon every time.

major changes:

>

while having cresselia might sound like a good idea to take off pressure from torkoal as a secondary setter and double as a check to specially offensive pokemon, its lack of fire resist, susceptibility to strong bug type wallbreakers and passive nature make it a suboptimal choice. the extra sun turns cresselia can generate are worthless if the opposing pokemon can abuse its presence. assault vest slowking is an excellent special blanket checks, and its ability to reliably handle fire types that give sun teams headaches make it a great slot that often pulls its weight. its access to moves like future sight and fire blast make sure its not passive either. the spread always survives salazzles +2 acid downpour after stealth rock, and the speed evs creep offensive escavalier. it also beats nido pretty reliably.

slowking set

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpA / 80 SpD / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Scald
- Fire Blast
- Future Sight

with moltres now covered by slowking, charizard can now afford to run a modest nature, which helps it secure rolls vs fire resistant pokemon like gigalith and snorlax. i would also suggest overheat>flamethrower. while it may not seem like a very good move to have initially, its insane power boosted by drought allows it to drop a nuke on a bulkier pokemon and it means it doesnt have to play around frailer fire resists that can tank a hit and retaliate:

252+ SpA Choice Specs Solar Power Charizard Overheat vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tyrantrum in Sun: 265-313 (86.6 - 102.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Solar Power Charizard Overheat vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Goodra in Sun: 244-288 (75.7 - 89.4%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Solar Power Charizard Overheat vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kingdra in Sun: 181-213 (61.9 - 72.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

you get the point.

to be blunt, the moveset here is really suboptimal. protect is a terrible choice because you have limited sun turns and you need to make the most out of them to play the team to its fullest. this team really doesnt need a hazer since torkoal can wall many set up mons and again, it just wastes sun turns for nothing. torkoal is also a bad rapid spinner due to its susceptibility to hazards and common weaknesses.

a better tork set

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic / Will-O-Wisp
- Explosion

stealth rocks are a necessity for every team and torkoal is a better rock setter here since it allows gligar to run another move. explosion might seem like a waste, but its a pretty useful option in the late game when youre sure you wont need any more sun setting, and it lets a teammate in safely while damaging the opponent which can be really helpful at times.

again, the moveset here is not the greatest. since now you have another rock setter in torkoal, gligar is now free to run earthquake, which it didnt have for some reason? the filler moveslot should be u-turn, since much like torkoals explosion allows gligar to get a teammate in safely. tailwind is redundant since you already have great speed control on venusaur, and knock off is less useful than u-turn here. toxic is useless since you always want to make more use of your sun turns and that doesnt really allow for the toxic damage to rack up.

gligar

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Defog
- Earthquake
- Roost

i really like the idea of earthquake venu since it allows it to lure in dragalge and ko it. however, other venu checks, such as goodra and moltres can still beat it. since you still have your z move slot open, z outrage venusaur is an even cooler lure that beats those.

wall of calcs

+2 0- Atk Venusaur Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 204 HP / 0 Def Dragalge: 454-536 (140.9 - 166.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 0- Atk Venusaur Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Goodra: 556-656 (173.2 - 204.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 0- Atk Venusaur Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 314-370 (113.3 - 133.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 0- Atk Venusaur Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 196-231 (81.3 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 0- Atk Venusaur Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Toxicroak: 295-348 (95.7 - 112.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 0- Atk Venusaur Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Moltres: 227-268 (70.7 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

alternatively, you could just run standard venu but with eq over sludge bomb. hidden power fire is way too important for hitting steel types like escav and bronzong imo, though the neutral coverage sludge bomb provides can be useful i guess.

both venu sets

Venusaur @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Growth
- Solar Beam / Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Outrage

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Growth
- Solar Beam /vGiga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake

or

>

while golisopod is a cool mon to revenge kill important stuff on bulkier builds, seeing as how its most important stab and secondary priority is weakened under sun, its not a great fit on drought teams. since without golisopod youre missing a reliable revenge killer, a scarfer is important here. both flygon and ttrum are solid picks since theyre able to revenge salazzle, moltres and a bunch of other threats. the choice of mon really depends on whether you want more insurance vs moltres or the pivoting and defogging cabilities that flygon brings.

both scarfers

Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- U-turn
- Defog

good luck with the team!!

importable

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
- Explosion

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Defog
- Earthquake
- Roost

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpA / 80 SpD / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Scald
- Psychic
- Fire Blast

Venusaur @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Growth
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Sludge Bomb
- Outrage

OR

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Growth
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Sludge Bomb
- Earthquake

Charizard @ Choice Specs
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Overheat

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- U-turn
- Defog

OR

Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw

 

[Barragan]

You did the calculations with the wrong EVs on Cresselia but your point is valid, not allowing Salazzle to use effectively her STAB under the sun is a major advantage for the team, i just put no EVs in Spd and 96 EVs in SDef to reach 420 with the Assault Vest.

One thing i do not agree is Golisopod because boosted pokes and quicker scarfers can make useless the two pokes you suggested, while with the priority moves on Golisopod the enemy Spd is simply not relevant at all.

I am thinking about Mega-Houndoom over Venu, suggestions?

 

[GustavoR]

You did the calculations with the wrong EVs on Cresselia but your point is valid, not allowing Salazzle to use effectively her STAB under the sun is a major advantage for the team, i just put no EVs in Spd and 96 EVs in SDef to reach 420 with the Assault Vest.

One thing i do not agree is Golisopod because boosted pokes and quicker scarfers can make useless the two pokes you suggested, while with the priority moves on Golisopod the enemy Spd is simply not relevant at all.

I am thinking about Mega-Houndoom over Venu, suggestions?

Doom was banned man

 

[GustavoR]

You did the calculations with the wrong EVs on Cresselia but your point is valid, not allowing Salazzle to use effectively her STAB under the sun is a major advantage for the team, i just put no EVs in Spd and 96 EVs in SDef to reach 420 with the Assault Vest.

One thing i do not agree is Golisopod because boosted pokes and quicker scarfers can make useless the two pokes you suggested, while with the priority moves on Golisopod the enemy Spd is simply not relevant at all.

I am thinking about Mega-Houndoom over Venu, suggestions?

And the thing about Golisopod is that your STAB priority move that can be used more than First Impression is weaker due to the sun bro

 

[Barragan]

But the vast majority of the times i do not even need to use it thanks to the weakness of ground and rock to grass and the ability of King to deal with fire types, First Impression on the other hand is too valuable vs scarfed pokes in general.

 

[Barragan]

CB Escavalier is easily stopped by Gligar, the rest is updated.

 

[Barragan]

Do you mean that Escavalier cannot switch-in Slowking? But it cannot switch-in Char or Venu or Torkoal either.
Do you mean that Gligar cannot switch-in Escavalier? But neither can Slowking.
What's your point?

 

[Deleted User 91486]

Why does Venusaur run HP Fire instead of Weather ball, which is almost twice as strong under the sun?

 

[Barragan]

Now he does.