Pokémon Rate My Team
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I had an idea for a sun team and i wanted to test it out

Senko-San (Ninetales) @ Heat Rock
Ability : Flash Fire
Ev's : 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Speed
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Sunny Day

This fox has access to Flash fire and plenty of great moves, Flash fire and sunny day to power up it's fire moves, Nasty Plot and Fire Blast in order to deal heavy damage and can possibly burn while the heat rock gives her 8 turns of Sun while the opponent deals less damage if burned as it may cause a switch out, Psychic and Fire Blast for STAB and coverage.

Ivy (Roserade) @ Life orb
Ability : Technician
Ev's : 248 SpA, 8 SpD, 252 Speed
Modest Nature
- Toxic
- Energy Ball
- Synthesis
- Spikes

Roserade has a great offensive typing and a high Special attack stat (Base 125) and so a modest nature suits it well, Toxic/ to apply pressure to my opponent, which may sometimes drive them to switch out, Energy ball for Stab and powered up by Ninetales' sunny day, Spikes for further pressure especially after spikes damage. she can also be used to predict a fire type move to activate ninetales flash fire making it incredibly dangerous while synthesis heals roserade after its LO damage.

Dante (Charizard) @ Leftovers
Ability : Solar Power
Ev's : 252 SpA, 4 Def, 252 Speed
Timid Nature
- Fire Spin
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Scorching Sands

A sunny sweeper Charizard, Solar power to boost his moves when under the effects of harsh sunlight and due to solar power somewhat being a built in life orb that hurts him a small bit after every turn the leftovers can counteract this, Scorching sands in order to counter pesky rock types which can be a problem, Air slash to cause flinches and STAB, Fire spin to trap my opponents and roost to be used if charizard is close to being Ko'd

Tropical Garden (Venusaur) @ Leftovers
Ability : Chlorophyll
EV's : 252 SpA, 252 SpD, 4 HP
Calm Nature
- Leech Seed
- Solar Beam
- Weather Ball
- Synthesis

Venusaur is here as a sun abuser thanks to chlorophyll, Solar beam and Weather ball, As venusaur is slow i opted for Maxing his SpD and SpA as both of those base stats total at 100, Leech seed for chip damage and synthesis for heal, what's more is (nearly) all of his weaknesses are predominantly Special attackers (Fire, Ice and Psychic) the only type to worry about is Flying.

Grim Reaper (Chandelure) @ Choice Scarf
Ability : Flash Fire
Ev's : 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Speed
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Hypnosis
- Mystical fire
- Flamethrower

Chandelure is here to to trick a choice scarf to any pokemon that switch in against it, this can help Chandelure set up a Hypnosis and the a few mystical fire's to repeatedely lower my opponent's special attack, this is espcially effective at preventing setup sweepers due to the choice scarf locking it into the move selected flamethower can also burn my opponent. Same as Ninetales i can also predict a fire move to boost Chandelure's moves too.

Phoenix (Talonflame) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability : Flame Body
Ev's : 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- U-turn
- Tailwind
- Defog

Talonflame is running flame body as it's ability due to Gale wings getting nerfed so moves are only boosted when it has Full HP and An adamant Nature to help dealing heavy damage when using Acrobatics (Only use after berry is used up), Defog as a hazard removal, Tailwind to help boost my speed and U-turn for reliable pivoting, So in short Talonflame is my speed control, hazard removing Pivot

If there's anything else I can change don't hesitate to tell me

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edited by
What format is this?
Gen 8 OU
Why Technician on Roserade? Why Fire Spin on Charizard? Depending on the format, you won't be able to use minimize.
Did you actually test this is on the Gen 8 OU Ladder? This team literally isn't allowed there as it has Minimize. Ninetales overlaps with Torkoal too much as a sun setter, so you should replace it with Chlorophyll Venusaur.
Ok, I made sure to have two just incase something killed Ninetales, So
1) Venusaur for Torkoal
2) Fire spin on Charizard to trap an opponent another pokemon can debuff (Drifblim/Roserade)
3) Change minimize for Hypnosis (This allows a Ninetales Setup)
4)  Natural cure on Roserade
Why not just have Heat Rock Drought Ninetales instead of Flash Fire (which is already on Chandelure)? Having Mystical Fire and Flamethrower on Chandelure is redundant even with Mystical Fire’s SpA drop, Shadow Ball should probably replace it. Roserade is also hard walled by the many Grass resists, maybe Stealth Rock Garchomp could replace it?
@kdev Torkoal is a better sun setter than Ninetales as it has access to Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. Use that instead. Chandelure is completely outclassed by Blacephalon, so run that instead(with Scarf). Roserade is also just unviable, run SR Chomp on it. This team doesn't have an electric immunity, which is more or less mandatory in gen 8. Talonflame is also unviable as it's outclassed by other flying and fire types.
@Hallucinogens about heat rock / drought on Senko-san, the problem is iirc drought gets removed when you switch them out

@Cdijk16 you make a few good points mainly roserade being unusable so i will change it to a garchomp with SR which gives me an electric immunity, I'll see if blacephalon can run the same set as chandelure as then he can fill in the same role as a scarf tricker preventing setup sweepers, and I need a suggestion for a talonflame replacement
If you put Heat Rock on Drought Ninetales, sun should last for 8 turns after it switches in. Maybe you’re thinking about Desolate Land.
oh, funny that, actually I was discussing that with a friend of mine as idk why but sun caused by a random-ass fox doesn't go away even after the god of land and heat does cause sun that goes away upon switching out (Pokemon logic is a wonderful thing)

1 Answer

3 votes

as a man who ran sun my entire gen 8 ou career (tail end of the gen) I feel like I can give suggestions.

Firstly, a lot of people in the comments are right. Ninetales is completely outclassed by Torkoal. Torkoal has better bulk (monstrous def stat of 140) which it can also use offensively via Body Press. it also provides switchin opportunities for your other mons via Yawn or maybe Will-o-Wisp, along with Rapid Spin support for your numerous Stealth Rock weak mons (why is nothing running heavy duty boots), and it can provide Stealth Rock of its own for chip, although I have experimented ditching it for dual status. Also, that Ninetales is flash fire, so this literally isnt a sun team anymore, just fire spam with more fire types I ever ran on one team (gen 8 nd with 3 is my record) go with Drought Torkoal with Heat Rock, then you'll have 8 turns of sun that can let your fire mons wreak havoc.

Next, Roserade is...odd. I never used it in my life, but I can tell you have some inconsistencies with your information. Energy ball is not powered up by sun; in fact, no grass moves are. the only "buffs" they get are solar beam and blade getting no charge (correct me if theres more grass moves buffed in sun). Sun only gives boosts to fire moves (and hydro steam, but screw wake) I feel like Rose has no place in the gen 8 meta. If you want a fast spiker, go with, idrk, Mew, at least it can provide pivot support along with an endless movepool (obv mew is no speedster but is the best fit). if you do insist on using rose, either go full in with 4 atks or 3 atks and synthesis, or full defensive with Black Sludge and defensive EVs. I do not recommend either, though, as most of the time Venusaur just does everything.

Ah, zard. I spammed the living daylights of it to decent success. let's just put it simply: zard's biggest problems in the general ou meta is its meh speed and ok spa. its spa is already remedied by solar power, so how do we fix the speed issue? Sticky Web doesn't synergize well with sun (you need to have a sun setter AND a webs setter, tbh too much) and Tailwind sucks, so naturally, you would run scarf, right? But isn't scarf too restricting? nah it 2hkos mons like pult on the switch with fire blast/weather ball, you'll be fine just spamming the move. As for the set, strong fire move is a must. This isn't gen 5; sun isnt permanent, and you have to make the most of it before having to switch torkoal back in, so screw fire spin. I prefer the nuclear power of fire blast, but weather ball can be nice for accuracy, while also chunking Pelipper trying to reset the weather with a rain boosted move. Scorching Sands/Focus Blast is also a must, you need a way of getting past pex/ttar/friends, however I never tried running both on one set. This is because I often use Solar Beam (obvious) and Dragon Pulse (to ohko unsuspecting dragons). However, if you are more concerned about longevity, a bulkier set with Heavy Duty Boots, Roost, Flamethrower, and slightly defensive EVs can also be used, although that's not the vibe I'm getting off your team. Also, to explain why fire spin is bad: if you switch zard in, you want to trap mons with a bad matchup. However, most mons with an ok to good matchup will mostly stay in, and even if, say, a grass type switches out, it will usually to be a resist or something and the spin will do minimal damage while that switchin will probably force you out, causing you to lose momentum.

Venusaur is a great pick, and the only problems I see are EV spread and movepool. First of all, a b u s e c h l o r o p h y l l. Chloro is what makes sun, sun: Strong fire mons backed by fast grass types to fight against waters. Get maximum speed and special attack, and go with Modest; chloro is broken anyways. As for moveset, Growth allows a swords dance and nasty plot on the same turn, assuming you are under sun. Do not run Solar Beam, as it will be rendered useless outside of sun (the reason zard runs it is due to a lack of grass coverage). Instead, use Giga Drain or Energy Ball, depending on if you want regen or power. Throw on Sludge Bomb for dual stab, or Earth Power to destroy Heatran (EP is probably the better choice). As for the last move, Weather Ball works just fine. Do not use Leftovers, as it is completely outclassed by Black Sludge on poison types. If a non-poison type tricks away Leftovers, they themselves will be using it, however Black Sludge will instead damage them every turn.

For Chandelure, just use Blacephelon. Mystical Fire is a total waste of time due to your team's fast playstyle, and Hypnosis is too hella unreliable. Chandelure does have strengths. It can run a brutal Choice Scarf set to barrage the opponent with its STABS, even able to trick away its scarf onto defensive walls. It can run a Substitute - Calm Mind set to set up on defensive mons. The problem is Blace does all these things better. Higher speed means it doesn't rely on scarf, higher spa means more ohko potential, it even has Psyshock to blow past Toxapex and Blissey. The only downside is that it lacks grass coverage, however I don't think that's a concern of yours, considering your current Chandelure set. Blace is also frailer, but as mentioned before, sun is an offensive playstyle that necessitates strong attackers, and doesn't focus much on defense. Thus, just use Blace. It's one helluva clown to use, I'll tell you that.

Finally, for Talon...look below.

Sun has a lot more options that just fire and grass types; it can synergize well with many other Pokemon. The team I used in the 1500 area is Torkoal, Charizard, and Venusaur, accompanied by Weavile, Garchomp, and Regieleki. Choice Band Weavile is a great wallbreaker, Leftovers Garchomp with Swords Dance and Scale Shot for setup can end games without needing sun, and a peculiar choice in Boots Regieleki can act as a second hazard clearer, while acting as a pivot, while threatening Pelipper. Other potential options include Volcarona, a powerful winged moth that has been a sun stable throughout the generations (literally), Victini, for immense wallbreaking power, Landorus-T, a pivot that can stablilize the team's defense should that be necessary, Tapu Koko, a Pokemon I find synergizing incredibly well with fire types, and if you run Koko, Hawlucha can patch up sun teams' speed issues they often find themselves in when outside of sun. Replace Talon and probably Rose as well with two of these mons, and you'll be good to go!

Also, reference smogon.com. They got some great movesets and probably deeper analyses than anything I can muster. I'll also link my team if you want a reference for a mid ladder sun team.
https://pokepast.es/c10e831d5d4b05f5
Note: I have learned a lot more about the meta since I published this pokepaste (about when gen 9 started), and so some parts are outdated. I recommend Yawn over Plume on Torkoal and Growth over Bomb on Venusaur, but other than that, the team is up to date.

Hope this helps, and good luck climbing ladder!

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