Gen 8 Rate my Gen 8 OU team

[AzureRazor]

This is my first RMT. I'm not very experienced with team building so I want to use this to get some general tips on how to improve at it. This team was a team I made over a year ago, and was the primary team I used for playing the DLC2 meta and is probably the only decent team I've built. I didn't really get that far with it but I'm not sure if that's because the team is bad or if I'm just not a great player. Anyway, here's the team:


Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Scale Shot
- Fire Fang

Garchomp was the Pokemon I designed pretty much the entire team around due to its setup sweeping capabilities. It's essentially just the standard chomp set: SD is the best setup move you get, quake is a pretty much mandatory ground STAB and Scale Shot is important to be able to outspeed possible revenge killers that may try to stop your sweep. The fourth move was originally (and still is) Fire Fang, but I'm honestly not sure if I really got a lot of use out of having it on my set. I think I even debated switching it to Aqua Tail a few times since the team had more than enough to deal with steel fliers. I also originally used life orb on this set, but eventually decided to switch to leftovers because Life Orb ended up racking up too much chip damage on it.


Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
- Roost

I chose corviknight next because I thought it worked very well as a defensive partner for chomp. Chomp's typing gives it two big scares: Ice types and Fairy types, and Corviknight mostly solves both of those issues due to being a steel type. Corviknight also functions as the hazard removal for a team that only has 1 Pokemon running boots and the main Physical wall of the team. U-Turn is also really important for the team, as it allows corv to get chip in and switch into an attacker, providing really strong momentum for the team. I decided to go with brave bird over body press for its attacking move, but I'm not actually sure which one is better to have.


Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 136 SpD / 120 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

SpDef Heatran is another option that I thought paired well with Garchomp, but it also creates a pretty strong defensive core with Corviknight, where Corv walls the physical attacks and Heatran walls the special attacks. Heatran patches up Chomp's weaknesses arguably even better than Corv does, providing 4x resists to Ice and Fairy. Heatran also ends up being the rocks setter of the team, as I didn't really think it would be able to fit on any other Pokemon. I also really like how Heatran is still able to provide some power on offense just due to how good Magma Storm can be (when it hits) and just the sheer coverage of earth power. Taunt is also really important for this team to stop opposing sweepers and lock down passive defensive mons.


Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Thunder

I'm not actually sure whether I added Dragapult or Zeraora to the team first but it seems like Dragapult was the one I was more sure I wanted to keep on the team so I'll do dragapult first. While the original 3 Pokemon have a strong defensive presence, It's lacking on offense, so the next two additions were done to make the team more offensively viable. Dragapult adds a strong wallbreaker that is able to cleave through the physical walls that Garchomp could otherwise struggle to break. Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor are two required additions to the specs set, with shadow ball giving it a near zero drawback move to just spam, and draco dealing absurd burst damage. This is also another pokemon that adds momentum to the team using U-Turn, allowing it to pivot out if there is a threat that's able to switch in on it easily. The fourth move is probably the biggest question I have with this entire team, as I have never really been able to find a good 4th option that rounds out the set well, especially considering I already have strong attacking options for each of its 3 main coverage types (fire, water, electric). Thunder is what's on the current version but I am not even close to sure if it's a good pick. Dragapult's speed tier also allows it to be valuable speed control for the team, as it outspeeds the large majority of the metagame.


Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Volt Switch

Since Corviknight is a very good defensive pivot option, I thought that adding an offensive pivot could end up generated a lot of momentum for me, so I ended up deciding on Zeraora, as its volt switch is a very good pivoting tool. Zeraora also has a lot of other attributes that this team really likes having. For one, the combination of Plasma Fists, CC, and Knock is a very good trio of offensive options. Plasma fists is a good tool for breaking bulky waters and fliers. CC provides very valuable and powerful coverage for dark, ice, normal, and steel types, which dragapult doesn't like facing. Knock off is just a really good utility move, crippling offensive and defensive pokemon alike by removing items while still providing decent damage. Zera also does provide a second electric immunity and second speed controller to the team.


Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 44 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Trick
- Taunt

It took a very long time for me to decide what Pokemon would occupy this last slot. I knew I generally wanted a Bulky water, which would give me a 3rd defensive option that wasn't a steel and could offensively cover types that my other Pokemon struggled with, mainly grounds. The original team had Toxapex, but it wasn't really a perfect fit, so I ended up switching to Slowking, then to a team with Clefable and Zera swapped for Koko, then to Whirlpool Fini, and I finally settled on Scarf Fini. Scarf Fini was really the best option to slot onto this team I could really get. Scald is not only good for the water type damage but it also cripples physical attackers with burns. Moonblast is a strong attacking move that covers types that this team can sometimes have trouble with, mainly dark and dragon. I also get a second taunt user, which may be a bit redundant, but with scarf it makes it arguably more consistent than Heatran. Finally trick is just a good move that can cripple a lot of Pokemon that aren't designed to be locked into specific moves. However, the one problem with Fini, and I'm not sure how aware I was of this at the time, is Misty Terrain. While yes, it prevents the team from status, it has two notable anti-synergies. Mainly, this team has two dragon-type attackers as its main offensive threats, and Misty Terrain halves the power of Dragon moves. The other one is that you can't burn anything with scald while Misty Terrain is up. I think you can generally play around these issues, as Pult is really the only one of the two dragons that cares about the power of its dragon moves being reduced, but it is a noticeable annoyance about this team.

If anyone could give some advice on how I could improve this team I would really appreciate it!

 

[NeonJolteonWasUsed]

Overall, the team has very good fundamentals, however, there a couple Pokémon that pose massive threats to the team in its current state.

Volcanion
Currently, Volcanion claims a KO basically every time it gets a chance to come in, which is quite often seeing as Corviknight is your Primary Defogger, and Fini is your Bulky Water. Garchomp hates taking a Steam Eruption, much less getting burnt by it, Corviknight is burnt to a crisp by Flamethrower, and Dragapult simply isn't enough of a long term answer to suffice in handling it.

One suggestion I would like to make to remedy is, try Rotom Wash Over Tapu Fini, not only can it come in on anything Volcanion wishes to throw at you no problem, but it also gives you a vital pivoting tool to more consistently bring in Dragapult, as well as spreading a status of your choice to open up Garchomp for a sweep.

Offensive Zapdos/Tapu Koko
Electric Types overall are absolutely terrifying for this team, with these two being very difficult matchups for similar reasons. The reason being your Pokémon meant to come in on Electric attacks simply cannot withstand the other hits these Pokémon will attempt to throw out.

Something you could do to help make this a bit easier is alternate your Corviknight spread to the standard Smogon Spread, and try Assault Vest Galarian Slowking over Zeraora, though it does not outright resist Electric, its excellent special bulk makes it very capable to sponge any hit those two would want to try and send your way, and threaten them back with Sludge Bomb, or use it as an oppertunity to set up Future Sight.

with these changes, you will be much safer against these common threats, however, a new threat to this team emerges by dropping Tapu Fini and that's
Weavile
This is a relatively simple fix compared to the other two, as you can simply run Stealth Rock Ferrothorn over Corviknight, and since Ferrothorn is capable of walling both physical and special threats alike, as well as the fact this is replacing your current defogger, you can use Tornadus over Heatran as your team's Defogger, this gives you a much safer matchup into most variants of Kartana, as Tornadus can scout from Scarf sets excellently, as well as reliably stop Band and Swords Dance sets before they can do much.

Overall, for the better of this team, I would reccomend the following.

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For Convenience's sake, I will also provide the necesscary sets to accomplish the goals these Pokémon intend to.



Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Toxic/Will-O-Wisp/Thunder Wave
- Pain Split


Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 124 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Scald/Ice Beam
(Personally Reccomend Ice Beam over Scald here to more effectively 1v1 Pult, who is fairly annoying for this team otherwise.)


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip


Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 40 SpD / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane/Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog
(Personally reccomend Hurricane in order to properly force out Pads Urshifu, who is notably difficult for this team to pivot around.)

Alternatively, if the Dragapult Matchup still proves concerning, Swords Dance Weavile may be run over your own Dragapult in order to have a temporary Ghost resist to go to once Shadow Ball has been scouted by Galarian Slowking, while still maintaining a strong revenge KOing profile.

Hope this is helpful, if you would like further explanation on anything don't be afraid to reply. Happy laddering!

 

[AzureRazor]

Overall, the team has very good fundamentals, however, there a couple Pokémon that pose massive threats to the team in its current state.

Volcanion
Currently, Volcanion claims a KO basically every time it gets a chance to come in, which is quite often seeing as Corviknight is your Primary Defogger, and Fini is your Bulky Water. Garchomp hates taking a Steam Eruption, much less getting burnt by it, Corviknight is burnt to a crisp by Flamethrower, and Dragapult simply isn't enough of a long term answer to suffice in handling it.

One suggestion I would like to make to remedy is, try Rotom Wash Over Tapu Fini, not only can it come in on anything Volcanion wishes to throw at you no problem, but it also gives you a vital pivoting tool to more consistently bring in Dragapult, as well as spreading a status of your choice to open up Garchomp for a sweep.

Zapdos/Tapu Koko
Electric Types overall are absolutely terrifying for this team, with these two being very difficult matchups for similar reasons. The reason being your Pokémon meant to come in on Electric attacks simply cannot withstand the other hits these Pokémon will attempt to throw out.

Something you could do to help make this a bit easier is alternate your Corviknight spread to the standard Smogon Spread, and try Assault Vest Galarian Slowking over Zeraora, though it does not outright resist Electric, its excellent special bulk makes it very capable to sponge any hit those two would want to try and send your way, and threaten them back with Sludge Bomb, or use it as an oppertunity to set up Future Sight.

with these changes, you will be much safer against these common threats, however, a new threat to this team emerges by dropping Tapu Fini and that's
Weavile
This is a relatively simple fix compared to the other two, as you can simply run Stealth Rock Ferrothorn over Corviknight, and since Ferrothorn is capable of walling both physical and special threats alike, as well as the fact this is replacing your current defogger, you can use Tornadus over Heatran as your team's Defogger, this gives you a much safer matchup into most variants of Kartana, as Tornadus can scout from Scarf sets excellently, as well as reliably stop Band and Swords Dance sets before they can do much.

Overall, for the better of this team, I would reccomend the following.

>

>

>

>

For Convenience's sake, I will also provide the necesscary sets to accomplish the goals these Pokémon intend to.



Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Toxic/Will-O-Wisp/Thunder Wave
- Pain Split


Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 124 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Scald/Ice Beam
(Personally Reccomend Ice Beam over Scald here to more effectively 1v1 Pult, who is fairly annoying for this team otherwise.)


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip


Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 40 SpD / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane/Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog
(Personally reccomend Hurricane in order to properly force out Pads Urshifu, who is notably difficult for this team to pivot around.)

Hope this is helpful, if you would like further explanation on anything don't be afraid to reply. Happy laddering!

Thank you for the suggestions! I think the reason why my team was so weak to volcanion was because the team was built over a year ago and I don't think volcanion was considered as good as it is now so I didn't really take it into account when building. No excuse for the electrics though since I made both my electric immunities offensive.

 

[dreepy]

Doesn't that suggestion make the team even more ooga smashed by weavile? Band low kick and beat up both 2HKO ferro from what I remember if for some reason ferro is just not needed to be broght in at all against any opposing mons exept weavile.

 

[NeonJolteonWasUsed]

Doesn't that suggestion make the team even more ooga smashed by weavile? Band low kick and beat up both 2HKO ferro from what I remember if for some reason ferro is just not needed to be broght in at all against any opposing mons exept weavile.

Tapu Fini is already considered a very bad Weavile check in the first place that only very highly offensive teams can afford to run, due to it being absurdly prone to hazards, and hating getting Knocked way more than other Weavile checks, which sort of defeats the point.
Ferrothorn also doesn't like being Knocked, but to a much lesser degree than Fini, and much more heavily punishes Weavile for using Triple Axel, which can be vital in forcing progress against it.
Also, generally Low Kick, and Beat Up are capable of beating almost every Weavile check, so not much really changes in that case, there's pretty good reason Weavile is S- off of almost entirely just its offensive presence.

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

This team looks quite good! I hope the changes will make your team perform better

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/07be898190501118

Just a change in nature and coverage move for Dragapult - Modest allows it to hit incredible ranges with its moves while Flamethrower can obliterate Steel-types like Melmetal and Ferrothorn, which is important as those Pokemon are typically tasked to check it.

Heatran now runs a bulkier spread as it often does not need to be as fast as your original spread, and now carries Toxic instead of Stealth Rock so it can put its switch-ins like Hippowdon and Gastrodon on a timer.

Corviknight runs Rocky Helmet to punish contact moves from the likes of Weavile, and now has a little SpD investment to take hits from Pokemon like Tapu Lele better.

While Choice Scarf Tapu Fini is quite threatening, your team isn't lacking in Speed with Dragapult and Zeraora, so it now runs a Calm Mind set that serves as a great foil to Dragapult's speedy wallbreaking, as Taunt is great for shutting down slow and bulky walls that rely on status moves to do their job.

Landorus-T replaces Garchomp to give the team more pivoting and item removal via U-turn and Knock Off. Landorus-T's typing and ability in Intimidate also helps the team ward off strong physical Ground-types like Garchomp and opposing Landorus-T if they manage to bypass Corviknight, who is tasked to take on a lot of threats already (e.g. Weavile, Melmetal, etc).

Zeraora now runs Bulk Up so it can be a late-game cleaner once Dragapult, Heatran and Tapu Fini have opened up enough holes in the opposing team.