~Hot Summer Days~ (Peaked 2000+)

[Stone Alchemist]

​

Hi Smogonites, and welcome to another RMT of mine. Since it's nearing the end of summer, I decided to post this Sun Team that I've been testing out. It's gone somewhere over 2000, and it does quite well against any opposing weathers. It does have some flaws however, though I can't remember them at the moment. Today's star is Shiftry, an underrated Chlorophyll abuser that is usually passed up for Venusaur, though I don't need him to win the game. With the banning of Landorus I no longer have problems with the special set, so that's a plus for this team. Without further ado, let's begin!




Teambuilding:

I would hide this if I knew how, but I forgot so sorry :p. Maybe one of you can tell me how to do it.

Le Sun Inducer... Not much else.

Le Chlorophyll abuser... Not much else. Wanted to use Victreebel over Venusaur for Weather Ball and mixed attacking stats.

Wanted to use Volcarona because I knew it was good and could sweep many teams, swept me before.

The second I added Volcarona on, Rapid Spin support was dialing my phone #. Added on Forretress, didn't want to use Donphan because it compounded a water weakness.

Added on Dugtrio to trap other weather inducers and Heatran, did a fair job.

Finally, the one and only Shiftry. Before it was just another Chlorophyll abuser for the lols, but Shiftry is actually quite amazing, and doesn't completely rely on sun due to natural speed and Sucker Punch.

My team relied too heavily on Rapid Spin support, so I traded out Volcarona for Heatran and Dugtrio for Mamoswine. Heatran is quite nice because it is very bulky and is my backup if Ninetales dies. Mamoswine was a must because my team had some problems with Dragons.

Victreebel wasn't really pulling its weight, but what really annoyed me the most is that CS Latios still outsped it. Tried out Venusaur and he's been doing great so far. And that's a wrap!





In Depth:

~NINETALES~​

A.K.A. ~Hot Summer Days~

~Hot Summer Days~ (Ninetales) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam

​

Defensive Ninetales is quite a good weather inducer, and none of the other weather inducers really like switching into it. Tyranitar and Hippowdon don't like getting burned, Politoed is dealt with the combination of Sunny Day + Solarbeam, and Abomasnow gets roasted by Flamethrower.

I chose defensive Ninetales because my team likes the sun quite a lot, though it can function without it and Heatran can be my backup. Drought obviously brings up sun my team loves, and the EV's are standard Smogon ones. From what I understand, it allows me to live an Earthquake from Dugtrio and outspeed Modest Hydreigon, Adamant Haxorus, and others. Flamethrower is average STAB attack to abuse in Sun, and Will-O-Wisp burns troublesome physical attackers that seem to like to switch into Ninetales... (Landorus-T, Tyranitar, Gyarados, etc.). Sunny Day is quite standard, but whoever made this move standard is a godamn genius because it helps a lot. Its main use is to use when another weather inducer switches in, because then Politoed's Scalds won't do much and Tyranitar loses the Spec. Def. drop. Then, I can Solarbeam the shit out of them. Solarbeam might not be good because of other weather inducers, but I make sure to play catiously with it and I usually only use it when the weather inducer is gone or in with the sun up.

The purpose of Ninetales on this team is obviously for the automatic sun, which of course propelled it to OU this generation. Albeit having average stats and lack of utility out of sun, Ninetales pulls its weight in many matches with me, winning the weather war several times.

~VENUSAUR~

A.K.A. Ass Flower

Weed (Venusaur) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 108 Atk / 196 SAtk / 204 Spd
Naive Nature
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
​

Venusaur is the premier sun sweeper, and it's no surprise that it takes a place in my team. This spot used to be a Victreebel, but I've found that Venusaur is bettersuited for my team with better bulk and speed overall.

This type of sweeper Venusaur is uncommon, but it accomplishes 2 things that the usual sweeper set doesn't do very well, 1. Not get walled by Heatran, and 2. Have an easier time against Dragons. The only downfalls is that I have a harder time with Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem-B, each of which is handled well by my team. Chlorophyll boosts my speed in sun to sky-high levels, and the EV spread outspeeds Choice Scarf Starmie, while other Venusaurs usually only outspeed Choice Scarf Latios, so I can usually outspeed and KO them. EV spread makes it so that I get the guaranteed KO with Earthquake on defensive heatran, while the rest is deposited in Special Attack.

Growth raises the Special Attack and Attack by +2, and once I get one up Venusaur is very hard to wall. Giga Drain is mandatory STAB, is better than Solarbeam because it isn't weather reliant, and heals myself because Venusaur sometimes has to tank Water moves. Hidden Power Ice gives coverage on Dragons and other grass types, while Earthquake covers Fire and Steel types. All in all, Venusaur is both a pivot and a sweeper on my team, and is very important to its success.

~HEATRAN~

A.K.A. The Hotness

The Hotness (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- SolarBeam
​

Heatran is quite amazing, I'm not talking about the Specially Defensive set but max speed sets. Sunny Day Heatran is my backup on my team if Ninetales dies, or can even be used in the middle of the battle. I like this Heatran over Magma Storm Heatran because Magma Storm tends to miss a lot, and both Scarf Politoeds and Tyranitars are on the rise. Instead, I can take the time to predict the switch correctly and then use Solarbeam. This set also has room for another coverage move. Many things like Rotom-W are surprised when I outspeed and KO them with Solarbeam also. Magma Storm Heatran is quite good, but overall I don't like taking the risk. Also, when someone kills my ninetales, they tend to be lax about keeping their weather inducer alive, and then that's when I use Sunny Day. This thing has been my trump card in winning many games because it can use Sunny Day to both weaken Water attacks and activate Chlorophyll.

EV's are max speed, max special attack, which is usually a surprise because most people expect the specially defensive variant. The speed allows me to outspeed things just above me that usually don't run max speed, like Rotom-W, Lucario, Breloom, etc. Sunny Day is my main utility move, and its uses are explained above. Fire Blast is mandatory STAB, while Earth Power and Solarbeam are for coverage. Solarbeam in particular is very useful for taking a huge chunk off of water types. Could replace Earth Power for HP Ice to deal with Dragon types. Overall, Heatran is quite a useful Pokemon, and can mean the game for me sometimes.

~FORRETRESS~

A.K.A. Balls

Balls (Forretress) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball
​

Forretress is quite a nice Pokemon to have on my team, setting up SR and Rapid Spinning away rocks for my Ninetales. The nice thing about my team is that it doesn't require Rapid Spin support, the only Pokemon who likes it is Ninetales, who I won't switch in that much with SR up. Only common spinblockers are Jellicent and Gengar, which I can Volt Switch out of or Gyro Ball for big damage respectively. Sabelye is quite annoying but is handled by Heatran. It's quite hard to spin with Forretress, but it's not required which is nice.

This Forretress is your standard fare of Defensive Forretress, which is what the EV's exemplify. Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock are pretty mandatory to support my team, while Volt Switch can help me get momentum going. Gyro Ball does a good chunk to most things faster than me, could replace it with HP Ice to deal with Landorus-T and Garchomp better. Overall, Forretress is quite a good utility pokemon to place on my team.

~MAMOSWINE~

A.K.A. Manny

Manny (Mamoswine) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Superpower
​

Mamoswine is quite an amazing Dragon check, which is mostly attributed to Ice Shard, but it can hurt a lot of other things. It was placed here solely to check Dragons, but it can also hurt things like Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, and others. It also has surprisingly good bulk in tandem with Thick Fat.

EV spread is quite standard, having Jolly is very important to check things like Breloom and I don't like risking things that I should be outspeeding outspeeding me with an Adamant nature like max speed Heatran. Life Orb gives substantial power, Ice Shard, Icicle Crash, and Earthquake are STAB moves that benefit from it. Superpower wraps off the set by hurting Ferrothorn, and other fighting weak mons. Not really much else to say other than that Mamoswine helps me avoid a sweep from Dragons, Thundurus-T, Venusaurs, and others.

~SHIFTRY~

A.K.A. Nuzlocke

Nuzlocke (Shiftry) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 80 Atk / 252 SAtk / 176 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Hidden Power [Fire]
​

Shiftry, the star, the legend. Shiftry is such an amazing all-out attacker in the sun that I'm surprised not all teams don't use it. This Shiftry has saved me in a lot of games, one of which I'll describe (forgot to save description :P). So I had only Shiftry left, and the opponent had a Hippowdon, Victini, and Ferrothorn left. On the double kill, he sends in Hippowdon to cancel out sun and I send in Shiftry because it's my last. After I Leaf Storm its balls out, the opponent goes into his Scarf Victini, thinking it's all over with V-Create. Shiftry SUCKER PUNCHES THE SHIT OUT OF IT and then KO's the Ferrothorn with Low Kick. And then the guy rage quitted and called me a cheater lol.

Most people like running the Growth / Nasty Plot set, but it's so outclassed by Venusaur so it's not really worth the deal. The All-Out Attacker set doesn't let any weather inducer bar another Ninetales switch into it, and is sometimes my anti-weather lead. EV's are to outspeed Choice Scarf Terrakion in the sun, don't need to outspeed anything faster because most are dealt with by Sucker Punch. Hasty > Naive to survive scarf Politoed thinking it can KO with Ice Beam and then win the weather war by using Leaf Storm. Leaf Storm is the most powerful STAB move and is quite powerful when backed up with LO, deals with waters. Sucker Punch is sometimes my main win condition, and many people don't see it coming because they think I'm no longer a threat outside of sun. Low Kick kicks things like Tyranitar and Heatran in the balls, and HP Fire deals with Ferrothorn, Scizor and others.

Overall, Shiftry is an awesome Pokemon on this team and I probably would've lost many games without it.




A Last Look:

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This is quite a successful team that I've made, and I love the fact that it exemplifies sun, the second most underrated weather. Rate and hate folks!



Import / Export:

~Hot Summer Days~ (Ninetales) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam

Weed (Venusaur) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 108 Atk / 196 SAtk / 204 Spd
Naive Nature
- Growth
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

The Hotness (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- SolarBeam

Balls (Forretress) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball

Manny (Mamoswine) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Superpower

Nuzlocke (Shiftry) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 80 Atk / 252 SAtk / 176 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Hidden Power [Fire]

 

[Stone Alchemist]

le post saved for threats list if i get to it

 

[Stone Alchemist]

bump i guess people don't like sun teams :S

 

[Trevorpoke42]

Hey Stone Alchemist, cool team! But I do see some issues. Mainly Water types in Rain. A simple Scarf Politoed can absolutely destroy your team. Terrakion and Keldeo are also very notable threats, along with CM Latias as it sets up on 5/6 pokemon on your team. Honestly, the changes are pretty simple. You can try out Roar on Ninetales which helps out a lot when Latias trys to set up on you. I mentioned that you have a huge weakness to Water Types and Terrakion, and once again the change is simple. Try out SubSeed Venusaur over your current mixed set with an EV Spread of 252 HP, 244 Special Defense and 12 Speed. This helps you better face Rain teams. Even though you have this Venusaur, Terrakion in sand is still a huge problem. You could definetely try out Dugtrio over Mamoswine, it can trap Tyranitars and Terrakions very easily. Finally, I suggest using Magma Storm Heatran with an Air Balloon over your current set with a moveset of Sunny Day, Magma Storm, Solarbeam and Earth Power.This helps you deal with Rain Teams better and opposing Heatrans, once again a pretty big threat.

Hope I helped!

 

[Stone Alchemist]

Bump

 

[higglybiggly]

Hey, Stone Alchemist, I recently battled this team on the ladder, and it was really effective. Props for using Shiftry. Like trevorpoke24, I agree that a subCM Latias is very threatening to your team. It can OHKO Mamoswine after 2 calm minds and stealth rocks, while under a sub, and 2HKO's at +1, while Mamoswine doesn't OHKO with ice shard. I highly suggest using roar on Ninetails instead of sunny day, considering that you do have sunny day on Heatran already. One more thing I'd like to suggest is using a specially defensive Heatran. Life orb Latios' draco meteor does 43.65 - 51.39% to Heatran, easily wearing it down over time, while Latios' hp fire OHKO'es forretress even with -2 spA. This increases Heatran's longevity and makes it a more reliable sunny day user. One more thing I'd like to suggest is a change in your Venusaur. I suggest using Sludge Bomb instead of HP ice, and HP ground instead of Earthquake. This allows you to maximize your spA, and put those extra EV's to good work. At +1 and stealth rocks, HP ground is a guarnateed OHKO against Heatran. Sludge Bomb still OHKOs all Dragons at +2, with Stealth Rocks, bar Latias, and even she can't safely switch in. This set is only walled by ferro, and forretress, who are taken care of by your other teammates. Good Luck, and have fun laddering!

 

[chimpact]

Hey there pretty solid team. I really like the use of shiftry.

I'm really not sure why you are not running magmastorm on sunny day heatran. it helps you beat bulky politoed which will win you the weather war, instead of having to play around it for the rest of the match. The drop is only 10% in accuracy but the reward is a dead weather starter.

Additionally, you can also try a different set on venusaur to lure in some counters to venu/shiftry and take them out with sleep powder. even if you sleep powder something that you didn't want to, it gives you a free turn to reset the battle and change momentum. it just opens up so many late game sweeps, i'm sure it would be worth it.

Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SAtk / 192 Spd
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb

Additionally, what are the def evs for doing on ninetales? I think if you go with a different spread of 248 HP / 164 SDef / 96 Spd with a timid nature, you can outspeed jolly base 80s, and have respectable special bulk. it helps take scald much better and not taking that extra 1-2% really helps aid in ninetales survivability.

Hope I helped dude. Good luck!