CHARIZARD and Friends
I'm new to the Pokemon metagame (as you can see from my post count), but I've been eager to join it for a long time. After finally figuring out all the complicated in's and out's of it, I finally managed to put together a team to abuse my favorite weather: intense sunlight.
The team's primary build is focused on allowing Ninetales to set up sun, and then allowing Charizard to sweep with it. The remaining Pokes are all support, back-up, or in the case of Chandelure, just pure stall-breaking awesomeness (as well as being a shaky counter to Heatran, more on that later).
Most of my EV spreads are standard Smogon stuff, 'cuz like I said, I'm still new to this shtick.
9Day4Cast (Ninetales) @ Leftovers, Timid
Drought
136 HP, 252 SpA, 120 Spe
Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Will-o-wisp
Solar Beam
Hidden Power (Ice)
A sunlight team without a Ninetales would be sort of like a bachelor party with no cake or strippers: it would just kind of miss the point. Ninetales follows the standard Smogon Sunny Day set, but I opted to switch out Sunny Day for a Fire type STAB move, since with the exception of Politoed (who, from my experience, is far less common than Tyranitar), it doesn't gain much by stopping the opponents weather when they can still KO her with a super-effective move. I'm torn between Fire Blast and Flamethrower: Fire Blast hits harder, but its accuracy is a problem, and Ninetales isn't meant to be too offensive anywas; it's more for utility.
Will-o-wisp is there because it's my team's only status move as of now and it's great for nailing Tyranitar, and Solar Beam provides some excellent coverage against types that nail her super-effectively. Finally, HP Ice is there to deal with the odd dragon type or two.
O.G. (Charizard) @ Choice Scarf, Modest
Solar Power
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Fire Blast
Air Slash
Solar Beam
Focus Blast
Most people say that Charizard is only good when it's got Solar Power under the sun. To those people, I say "Most likely, yeah." But he's come in quite handy in opposing weather even. So long as Stealth Rocks are under control, Charizard always has a pretty powerful Special Attack stat to abuse, Solar Power or not.
Fire Blast is STAB of choice, because with Solar Power going, it'll melt your popsicle. Air Slash is there if I need to quickly revenge kill something and I need an accurate move, Solar Beam is there in case I bring Charizard in on something weak to it, and Focus Blast is there for better rounded coverage, as well as nailing Heatran and Tyranitar (more so the former than the latter).
Da Roof (Chandelure) @ Choice Specs, Modest
Flash Fire
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Overheat
Shadow Ball
Energy Ball
Hidden Power (Fighting)
I love Chandelure. Under the sun, with a modest nature, max Special Attack, Choice Specs STAB Overheat, nothing but nobody wants to take that. He is obscenely powerful, and from my experience, the speed loss he suffers from lack of a Choice Scarf hardly matters when, if he's played correctly, he'll force a lot of switches.
Overheat is his main move of choice, allowing him to massively dent anything that doesn't resist it, and even somethings that do. Shadow Ball is secondary STAB if I need it, Energy Ball is for predicted Water type switch-ins, and HP Fighting is there for that nice Ghost-Fighting coverage, as well as nailing switch-ins weak to it (cough Tyranitar cough).
ClassyMofo (Virizion) @ Life Orb, Jolly
Justified
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Swords Dance
Leaf Blade
Close Combat
Stone Edge
Virizion is a fantastic Pokemon to have on any weather team. It has a move to hit every weather starter super-effectively, and with the exception of Abomasnow, isn't weak to any of their STABs, meaning it's great for switching into weather-starters and scaring them off, then setting up a SD as they run.
Swords Dance is there for the added power when I need it. Being my teams only physical attacker, Virizion's movepool lacks any type of Hidden Power, instead going with Leaf Blade for STAB, Close Combat for pure power, and Stone Edge so I can miss all the time and give myself a reason to drink. And for coverage too, I guess.
Beetleborg (Forretress) @ Leftovers, Relaxed
Sturdy
252 HP, 176 Def, 80 SpD
Stealth Rock
Spikes/Toxic Spikes
Rapid Spin
Volt Switch
For such an offensive team, it really helps to have a Pokemon who serves the purpose of Rapid Spinner and Hazards Setter, so Forretress was an easy pick. His 4x weakness to Fire may only be further exacerbated in the sun, but you'd be hardpressed to get Forretress to survive a Fire move anyways, so there you go.
Stealth Rock is there because Stealth Rock. I can't decide between Spikes and Toxic Spikes; Spikes does additional damage on switch in, but Toxic Spikes adds another layer of status I can inflict apart from just Ninetales' Will-o-wisp. Rapid Spin is there because Stealth Rock. Volt Switch is there because of switch initiative, allowing me to see what Pokemon my opponent wants to send in to bludgeon there way past Forretress, and then allowing me to gain some additional damage while I send in an appropriate counter.
F.L.A.G. (Cresselia) @ Light Clay, Bold
Levitate
252 HP, 148 Def, 40 SpD, 68 Spe
Reflect
Light Screen
Lunar Dance
Ice Beam
Charizard's #1 weakness is obviously Stealth Rock, stripping him of half his health when he comes in. My primary answer to this is Forretress, who keeps the field nice and clean for Charizard to enter into. But sometimes, shit happens, and you gotta have a plan B. That's where F.L.A.G. (Fight Like A Girl) comes in. It's Reflect and Light Screen capabilities are hugely helpful, but more importantly, it has Lunar Dance, giving a possibly battered and weakened Charizard a second chance to sweep, even if Stealth Rock is still up.
Reflect and Light Screen are there because the added support is always welcome. Lunar Dance is there for Charizard and whenever else I need it. Ice Beam is for some sort of offensive presence if it needs it.
MAJOR THREATS
This list isn't very big, since I'm still new here and I haven't had a chance to really put something together, but these threats still stand out.
My team lacks a true-blue Heatran counter. Although several of my Pokemon can hit it super-effectively, nothing can really switch reliably into it. My so far best method of dealing with Heatran is to switch into either Chandelure when predicting a Fire move, or into Charizard when predicting Earth Power.
Terrakion's a threat because Terrakion is always a threat. Seriously, when was the last time someone ever said "IDGAF 'bout no Terrakion"?
Volcarona is, so far, the greatest threat to my team. It benefits from my sun, and since my team lacks any Rock moves, I have no sure-fire way to take it out, especially after it sets up a Quiver Dance on me.
So there it is, my majorly-offensive OU Sun team. Like I said, I'm still new here, and this team has netted me just as many wins as losses, so any critiques and comments are more than welcome.
I'm new to the Pokemon metagame (as you can see from my post count), but I've been eager to join it for a long time. After finally figuring out all the complicated in's and out's of it, I finally managed to put together a team to abuse my favorite weather: intense sunlight.
The team's primary build is focused on allowing Ninetales to set up sun, and then allowing Charizard to sweep with it. The remaining Pokes are all support, back-up, or in the case of Chandelure, just pure stall-breaking awesomeness (as well as being a shaky counter to Heatran, more on that later).
Most of my EV spreads are standard Smogon stuff, 'cuz like I said, I'm still new to this shtick.
9Day4Cast (Ninetales) @ Leftovers, Timid
Drought
136 HP, 252 SpA, 120 Spe
Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Will-o-wisp
Solar Beam
Hidden Power (Ice)
A sunlight team without a Ninetales would be sort of like a bachelor party with no cake or strippers: it would just kind of miss the point. Ninetales follows the standard Smogon Sunny Day set, but I opted to switch out Sunny Day for a Fire type STAB move, since with the exception of Politoed (who, from my experience, is far less common than Tyranitar), it doesn't gain much by stopping the opponents weather when they can still KO her with a super-effective move. I'm torn between Fire Blast and Flamethrower: Fire Blast hits harder, but its accuracy is a problem, and Ninetales isn't meant to be too offensive anywas; it's more for utility.
Will-o-wisp is there because it's my team's only status move as of now and it's great for nailing Tyranitar, and Solar Beam provides some excellent coverage against types that nail her super-effectively. Finally, HP Ice is there to deal with the odd dragon type or two.
O.G. (Charizard) @ Choice Scarf, Modest
Solar Power
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Fire Blast
Air Slash
Solar Beam
Focus Blast
Most people say that Charizard is only good when it's got Solar Power under the sun. To those people, I say "Most likely, yeah." But he's come in quite handy in opposing weather even. So long as Stealth Rocks are under control, Charizard always has a pretty powerful Special Attack stat to abuse, Solar Power or not.
Fire Blast is STAB of choice, because with Solar Power going, it'll melt your popsicle. Air Slash is there if I need to quickly revenge kill something and I need an accurate move, Solar Beam is there in case I bring Charizard in on something weak to it, and Focus Blast is there for better rounded coverage, as well as nailing Heatran and Tyranitar (more so the former than the latter).
Da Roof (Chandelure) @ Choice Specs, Modest
Flash Fire
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Overheat
Shadow Ball
Energy Ball
Hidden Power (Fighting)
I love Chandelure. Under the sun, with a modest nature, max Special Attack, Choice Specs STAB Overheat, nothing but nobody wants to take that. He is obscenely powerful, and from my experience, the speed loss he suffers from lack of a Choice Scarf hardly matters when, if he's played correctly, he'll force a lot of switches.
Overheat is his main move of choice, allowing him to massively dent anything that doesn't resist it, and even somethings that do. Shadow Ball is secondary STAB if I need it, Energy Ball is for predicted Water type switch-ins, and HP Fighting is there for that nice Ghost-Fighting coverage, as well as nailing switch-ins weak to it (cough Tyranitar cough).
ClassyMofo (Virizion) @ Life Orb, Jolly
Justified
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Swords Dance
Leaf Blade
Close Combat
Stone Edge
Virizion is a fantastic Pokemon to have on any weather team. It has a move to hit every weather starter super-effectively, and with the exception of Abomasnow, isn't weak to any of their STABs, meaning it's great for switching into weather-starters and scaring them off, then setting up a SD as they run.
Swords Dance is there for the added power when I need it. Being my teams only physical attacker, Virizion's movepool lacks any type of Hidden Power, instead going with Leaf Blade for STAB, Close Combat for pure power, and Stone Edge so I can miss all the time and give myself a reason to drink. And for coverage too, I guess.
Beetleborg (Forretress) @ Leftovers, Relaxed
Sturdy
252 HP, 176 Def, 80 SpD
Stealth Rock
Spikes/Toxic Spikes
Rapid Spin
Volt Switch
For such an offensive team, it really helps to have a Pokemon who serves the purpose of Rapid Spinner and Hazards Setter, so Forretress was an easy pick. His 4x weakness to Fire may only be further exacerbated in the sun, but you'd be hardpressed to get Forretress to survive a Fire move anyways, so there you go.
Stealth Rock is there because Stealth Rock. I can't decide between Spikes and Toxic Spikes; Spikes does additional damage on switch in, but Toxic Spikes adds another layer of status I can inflict apart from just Ninetales' Will-o-wisp. Rapid Spin is there because Stealth Rock. Volt Switch is there because of switch initiative, allowing me to see what Pokemon my opponent wants to send in to bludgeon there way past Forretress, and then allowing me to gain some additional damage while I send in an appropriate counter.
F.L.A.G. (Cresselia) @ Light Clay, Bold
Levitate
252 HP, 148 Def, 40 SpD, 68 Spe
Reflect
Light Screen
Lunar Dance
Ice Beam
Charizard's #1 weakness is obviously Stealth Rock, stripping him of half his health when he comes in. My primary answer to this is Forretress, who keeps the field nice and clean for Charizard to enter into. But sometimes, shit happens, and you gotta have a plan B. That's where F.L.A.G. (Fight Like A Girl) comes in. It's Reflect and Light Screen capabilities are hugely helpful, but more importantly, it has Lunar Dance, giving a possibly battered and weakened Charizard a second chance to sweep, even if Stealth Rock is still up.
Reflect and Light Screen are there because the added support is always welcome. Lunar Dance is there for Charizard and whenever else I need it. Ice Beam is for some sort of offensive presence if it needs it.
MAJOR THREATS
This list isn't very big, since I'm still new here and I haven't had a chance to really put something together, but these threats still stand out.
My team lacks a true-blue Heatran counter. Although several of my Pokemon can hit it super-effectively, nothing can really switch reliably into it. My so far best method of dealing with Heatran is to switch into either Chandelure when predicting a Fire move, or into Charizard when predicting Earth Power.
Terrakion's a threat because Terrakion is always a threat. Seriously, when was the last time someone ever said "IDGAF 'bout no Terrakion"?
Volcarona is, so far, the greatest threat to my team. It benefits from my sun, and since my team lacks any Rock moves, I have no sure-fire way to take it out, especially after it sets up a Quiver Dance on me.
So there it is, my majorly-offensive OU Sun team. Like I said, I'm still new here, and this team has netted me just as many wins as losses, so any critiques and comments are more than welcome.