With Cinderace recently being released into Scarlet and Violet, and Sun currently being considered the best weather in Gen 9 OU, I wanted to try my hand at making a (mostly very offensive) Sun Team for the current metagame. The team can be found below. Please let me know what you think.
Quick Note:
I'm in particular looking for better suggestions for better Tera Type options on the Team. I have a decent grasp on which Tera Types are good and which ones aren't, but I'm no expert by any means. Please feel free to suggest different Tera Types for certain Pokémon and why they work!
The Team
Torkoal (F) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Yawn
- Will-O-Wisp
- Stealth Rock
Let's be honest, we all saw this one coming. This is just the standard Sun setter on the Team. I decided to opt for Fire Blast over Lava Plume for more offensive power. The main reason for this is because Torkoal can afford to run Will-O-Wisp on this set instead of Rapid Spin, due to Great Tusk also already packing Rapid Spin and Cinderace packing Court Change. I put Tera Steel on it for a slightly better defensive profile if really necessary, although Torkoal is not typically the Pokémon that wants to Terastalize on this team anyway.
Chi-Yu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Overheat
- Tera Blast
This Pokémon is an absolute demon under the sun, don't think its moveset needs much explaining. I did, however, feel that 3 Choiced Pokémon on a team was a bit much, and with how nuclear this Pokémon is even without Choice Specs, I decided to opt for a "counter the counter"-set instead. It has Fighting Tera Type and Tera Blast to deal with opposing Chi-Yu and Tyranitar, the latter of which normally is a huge wall to Chi-Yu, and a general annoyance with Sand Stream. Heavy-Duty Boots are on there just in case Stealth Rock becomes difficult to remove late-game, because despite Cinderace and Great Tusk both packing hazard control, they're Choiced attackers, meaning they're not guaranteed to keep Stealth Rock off the field long-term. I'm down for a different item suggestion though. Maybe Life Orb? Let me know.
Scovillain (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
- Tera Blast
- Growth
I absolutely adore Scovillian, and it seems like a massive threat under the Sun. Flamethrower hits extremely hard with Life Orb and the Sun up, while Giga Drain deals with any Water, Rock or Ground types that might want to take a hit. I initially had Solar Beam instead of Giga Drain, but the healing effect to counteract Life Orb recoil and the fact it can be used without Sun made Giga Drain more worth it for me. Tera Blast is there, with Ice Tera Type, to deal with any Dragonite, Cyclizar, Garchomp and Roaring Moon that might stand in Scovillian's way. But again, I'm down to see if there is a better Tera Type for it.
Great Tusk @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Spinner
Choice Scarf has to be my absolute favorite set for Great Tusk, just because of how much utility and surprise factor it has. With Headlong Rush and Ground Tera Type, Close Combat, and Ice Spinner to deal with Flying types looking to wall Great Tusk, it becomes both a fantastic revenge-killer (even for opposing Great Tusk taking advantage of your Sun) and wallbreaker, and it can remove entry hazards with a fast Rapid Spin in a pinch. Being a spinner that doesn't fear Gholdengo, Skeledirge or Ceruledge in the slightest is amazing, too. Lastly, it can be a surprisingly threating late-game cleaner, especially with Protosynthesis active and its great neutral coverage.
Dragonite (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
Dragonite, for the most part, plays the role of the safe pivot and revenge killer for its relatively frail teammates. It's very important to have a Ground switch-in with so many Fire types, and having a sweeper not reliant on Sun never hurts either. I mostly just went with the typical Normal Tera Type Extreme Speed set, with Heavy-Duty Boots to keep Multiscale intact, but unlike Chi-Yu, I'm still not entirely sure about the boots. Is it too much hazard control? Would Leftovers or maybe even Yache Berry to deal with Baxcalibur be better?
Cinderace (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Libero
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Court Change
- Low Kick
Lastly, we have Cinderace, Sun's newest addition. With a Choice Band and blazing speed, this thing's Pyro Ball is effectively a physical version of Chi-Yu's Overheat. I gave it some coverage and utility moves to remove hazards, safely pivot out while doing some decent damage (Libero giving it STAB on U-turn, of course) and an extra coverage option to deal with Tyranitar. Still unsure about that last move though, would love to maybe see a better suggestion. It has Fire Tera Type to be an even bigger nuke with Pyro Ball, but I could see there being better options (maybe Tera Poison with Gunk Shot for Azumarill?).
That's the team! If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and also much thanks in advance for your answer. I will try to check this post regularly, so if I missed something in my explanations, please leave a comment.
Cheers!
