SV OU Sun Offense

[Conflux123]

Hi I’d like help with a sun team I’m currently attempting to build since some people were discussing sun and I wanted to try it out. Without further ado: here’s the pokepaste to my team:
https://pokepast.es/33452555c97463f5

And here’s my explanations for why I chose what I chose


Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Will-O-Wisp
I wanted to make sure it wasn’t completely passive but also gave my team extra utility so I settled on one attack+three utility moves. The will-o-wisp is to catch physical mons when they try to switch in and set up in torkoal. The burn chance on lava plume is also nice.

Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 240 SpA / 16 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Flip Turn
- Draco Meteor
With sun boosting its special attack it can punch holes into opponent’s teams. Tera type is water to further boost hydro steam’s power to astronomical levels. This is a wall breaker on my team. Flip turn is to generate momentum, Draco meteor is a nuke which can OHKO or severely dent checks to other mons on the team for moon or gouging fire to sweep. Hydro steam is the best STAB attack for wake and spammable. Flamethrower is good for coverage against Pokémon like kingambit and is boosted under sun.

Roaring Moon @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Acrobatics
Just a normal dragon dance variant but because of sun it can take advantage of leftovers to escape from range of priority attacks. This is strong as always on this team but because of the leftovers it is harder to stop its sweep with priority like sucker punch.


Gouging Fire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Heat Crash
- Outrage
- Morning Sun
Gouging fire is a good sweeper and wallbreaker with dragon dance. Dragon dance boosts the attack to insanely high levels and lets it outspeed threats to potentially sweep. Heat crash is what I like to avoid the recoil from flare blitz. I enjoy the insane damage of outrage, and morning sun is good for recovery. Heavy duty boots is to prevent hazard damage from stuff like stealth rock to make gouging fire harder to deal with for all teams. Tera steel prevents revenge kills from fast fairy types.


Raging Bolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderclap
Raging bolt gets very bulky with leftovers and max hp investment. Since it’s slow I decided to write off speed and instead focus on tanking hits and then swinging back. I do know that this destroys the bolt mirror though so I have Tera fairy in here. Calm mind makes bolt extremely threatening under a protosynthesis boost and thunderclap bypasses speed while thunderbolt and dragon pulse are really good stab moves. Bolt is a wallbreaker that can set up and tank hits to punch holes in opponents teams for moon and gouging fire to sweep later.

Great Tusk @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Ice Spinner
Great Tusk with band makes its stab moves become nukes under a protosynthesis attack boost. It combined with wake and bolt provide good coverage of the meta and tusk can provide extra utility with knock off. Ice spinner hits gliscor hard while close combat and headlong rush just do a ton of damage. Tera Ground removes the fairy weakness and boosts headlong rush’s damage even more.

 

[Neo_2708]

A venosaur with chlorophyll would be really good for coverage
Use solar beam, spore, weather ball and protect
100 hp
252 special attack
Rest into speed
Use grassy seed to boost solar beam and fire tera type

 

[Conflux123]

A venosaur with chlorophyll would be really good for coverage
Use solar beam, spore, weather ball and protect
100 hp
252 special attack
Rest into speed
Use grassy seed to boost solar beam and fire tera type

What are the hp Evs for? And also what member of my team do I replace with venasaur? Thanks and i presume I use venasaur as a wallbreaker right?

 

[Neo_2708]

What are the hp Evs for? And also what member of my team do I replace with venasaur? Thanks and i presume I use venasaur as a wallbreaker right?

Yes, hp is just so it last a bit longer if things dont go well, I'd replace it for raging bolt

 

[Conflux123]

Yes, hp is just so it last a bit longer if things dont go well, I'd replace it for raging bolt

Okay I don’t like losing raging bolt on my team but I’ll give venasaur a go. What item do I run, life orb?

 

[DaRotomMachine]

A venosaur with chlorophyll would be really good for coverage
Use solar beam, spore, weather ball and protect
100 hp
252 special attack
Rest into speed
Use grassy seed to boost solar beam and fire tera type

Wut when has venusaur learned spore replace with growth so it can boost
grassy seed is for boosting def in grassterrain, i think you mean Miracle seed
Wut is protect for you would then just be stalling your own sun turns and lose momentum, i would advise poison STAB
The set is not bad, but the standard max SpA and Spe would be more helpful with the fast paced team you have

What item do I run, life orb?

Yeah, you could run that.

 

[Conflux123]

Wut when has venusaur learned spore replace with growth so it can boost
grassy seed is for boosting def in grassterrain, i think you mean Miracle seed
Wut is protect for you would then just be stalling your own sun turns and lose momentum, i would advise poison STAB
The set is not bad, but the standard max SpA and Spe would be more helpful with the fast paced team you have

Yeah, you could run that.

Okay thanks do I play it as a bulky set up wallbreaker with growth like you said? Something like sludge bombs the poison type stab? Also why is venasaur better than raging thunder on this team? Is it because of the increased power of solar beam?

 

[Neo_2708]

Okay thanks do I play it as a bulky set up wallbreaker with growth like you said? Something like sludge bombs the poison type stab? Also why is venasaur better than raging thunder on this team? Is it because of the increased power of solar beam?

Because with walking wake and total, u can ad venosaur for a grass fire water core

 

[RudeLiees]

Hello ! This is a nice sun team ! But this team need some change for getting better.

Firstly you haven’t hazards remover, it make you very weak to and

you have 2 possibilities :

the first is swapping for ;

Hatterene (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire/nuzzle

This Pokémon allow you to force your opponent to don’t set hazards, coupled with his good bulk, it allow you to resist most of unboosted attack, Psychock allow you to touch blissey and others Pokémon with low defense.
Nuzzle can be used to paralyze your opponent’s Pokémon and lowering their speed control

You can also Run a defensive great tusk :


:Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

this is a basic set, and under sun, your defense is boosted : it allow you to have a good switch against offensive Pokémon like gouging fire and meowscadra, Tera water allow you to resist scald and cover their weakness, steel is also a good Tera for him

the Last change is yawn over will o wisp, you have already a 30% burn with lava plume, yawn will allow you To force a switch.

 

[Conflux123]

Because with walking wake and total, u can ad venosaur for a grass fire water core

So basically because of better coverage right? I guess venasaur brings more to the table than raging bolt, thanks for the suggestions I’ll definitely replace raging bolt for venasaur.

 

[RudeLiees]

So basically because of better coverage right? I guess venasaur brings more to the table than raging bolt, thanks for the suggestions I’ll definitely replace raging bolt for venasaur.

I don’t think that venusaur is a good idea, raging bolt is better than him.

Raging have a pretty ok coverage with electric and dragon (remember he can run a Tera with Tera blast) he have a very strong special sucker punch move, he have a boost with sun of his spa, the speed is not really needed if you have a strong priority move.

A set I usually use and get very good results with suns team is :


Raging Bolt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderclap
- Tera Blast

The problem with venusaur is that he’s really niche for sun and need to have life orb for doing great damage with weather ball (non stabbed if you’re not Tera fire) he can use solar beam/earth power/sludge bomb for coverage, but 5 turn is most of the time not enough for letting him get a sweep.
and struggle to beat some special wall.

 

[Conflux123]

I don’t think that venusaur is a good idea, raging bolt is better than him.

Raging have a pretty ok coverage with electric and dragon (remember he can run a Tera with Tera blast) he have a very strong special sucker punch move, he have a boost with sun of his spa, the speed is not really needed if you have a strong priority move.

A set I usually use and get very good results with suns team is :


Raging Bolt @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderclap
- Tera Blast

The problem with venusaur is that he’s really niche for sun and need to have life orb for doing great damage with weather ball (non stabbed if you’re not Tera fire) he can use solar beam/earth power/sludge bomb for coverage, but 5 turn is most of the time not enough for letting him get a sweep.
and struggle to beat some special wall.

lol I originally had bolt but then the people who responded to my post before you said venasaur was better so…
But anyway I like to run him with leftovers to capitalize on max hp investment and I don’t want to have to use Tera so I run Tera fairy to win the bolt mirror and I run calm mind, thunderbolt, thunderclap and dragon pulse since I have specs wake to use Draco meteor.

 

[realsoupersand]

Nice team! I also run sun.

Wall of text incoming!

Here are my thoughts. Anything after a slash (see Tera: Steel/Dark on Moon) is an alternative that I'm not currently running, but could see myself using in the future:

Roaring Moon​

I wouldn't run Acrobatics and Leftovers on the same Moon set. You're probably better off with Choice Band to help take full advantage of the fact that you have limited turns for setup with sun. Immediate power and momentum might serve you better:

Roaring Moon @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera: Steel/Dark
Jolly Nature
EVs: 32 HP/220 Atk/4 SpD/252 Spe
Knock Off, Iron Head/Earthquake, Outrage/Earthquake, U-Turn

This gives you immediate wallbreaking power, speed, and utility. It has 554 attack with Choice Band and 555 speed with Protosynthesis. Iron Head with Tera Steel gives you an anti-fairy 'mon that also builds a strong defensive core with other dragons. It works particularly well with slow pivots like Raging Bolt with Volt Switch. Knock Off provides utility and a spammable STAB. U-Turn keeps momentum in your favor.

If you want to keep Dragon Dance and Acrobatics, you need to change your item. You could do something with Rillaboom and Grassy Seed. Rillaboom can give you that classic fire-water-grass core and some limited passive recovery. Use the same EV spread from above, swap the item for Grassy Seed, change the Tera type to Flying, and change your moveset to Dragon Dance, Acrobatics, Roost for longevity, and either Substitute or a coverage move of your choice (NOT OUTRAGE). Since sun will run out before you can fully sweep, going +Spe will help make sure you keep your speed high even after sun goes away.

Great Tusk​

You need spinning support. Torkoal is not a reliable primary spinner since it dies hard to hazards. It should be your backup. Great Tusk with Heavy-Duty Boots is an excellent primary spinner, so I'd consider either going for a defensive set to capitalize on its absurd bulk in sunlight or an offensive utility set to apply some additional wallbreaking pressure.

Rapid Spin is a must-have. If you opt to not run it on Tusk, then you need another Pokémon that can come in and reliably remove hazards. Hatterene is fine, Cinderace is solid, Scizor has a fantastic utility movepool and Defog but is probably not good enough anymore, and Corviknight is a classic.

I wouldn't run Choice Band. It's too easy for your opponent to lock you into a fighting or ground move they can take advantage of.

Torkoal
​

You're probably better off running Yawn over Will-O-Wisp since you have Lava Plume. You could switch Lava Plume to Flamethrower or Weather Ball instead for more power and keep Will-O-Wisp, but the difference in damage is probably insignificant. I'm currently rocking a physically defensive set with Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Weather Ball, and Body Press with Tera Fighting. Yours is perfectly fine as is, but Yawn may be worth it if you keep Lava Plume.

I need to do some damage calculations to see if 252+ Def Body Press does enough damage with/without Tera to justify it being on my set.

Gouging Fire​

Outrage is great, but I wouldn't run it on a setup sweeper that only has 1 other attack. It's too easy to get locked into by a fairy or bulky steel-type. Earthquake is a solid option for Pokémon like Heatran that would otherwise probably wall you. You probably don't even need a dragon attack since your fire attack is already getting STAB and a damage boost in sunlight.

While Flare Blitz's recoil is definitely scary, the guaranteed power is hard to pass up. Besides, you have reliable recovery in Morning Sun.

Raging Bolt
​

You have 3 setup sweepers right now, which I think is dangerous for you on your sun team. You really need to have immediate power to help take advantage of the few turns of sunlight that you get. Those 8 turns fly by very quickly.

On weather teams, I prefer running just 1-2 setup sweepers that only need a single turn to get where they need to be, like Growth Venusaur or Agility Walking Wake. As such, I think you're better off with either Choice Specs or Heavy-Duty Boots here. Volt Switch is a must-have, especially if you run the Choice Band Moon set I mentioned. Not only will either set help punch holes for you, they will also provide you with momentum in Volt Switch that works well with Choice Band Roaring Moon's U-Turn.

If you want some immediate special bulk, try Assault Vest. You definitely need to have spinning support for that to work, though.

Raging Bolt @ Choice Specs/Heavy-Duty Boots/Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera: Dragon/Grass/Flying
Modest Nature
Specs/Boots EVs 1: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Vest EVs 1: 252 SpA/92 SpD/164 Spe
Vest EVs 2: 92 Def/252 SpA/164 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Volt Switch, Draco Meteor, Weather Ball/Solar Beam, Thunderclap

The EVs on the Vest set give you just enough speed to outrun any Kingambit set, 0 Spe Gliscor, and a couple other threats.

Venusaur​

I know you aren't running Venusaur right now, but I wanted to chime in here since others have brought it up. Venusaur is a unique setup sweeper that is pretty bulky on the special side, completes the fire-water-grass core, is immune to Toxic Spikes, and has some interesting moveset options. It's absurdly fast in sunlight and it hits extremely hard after a sun-boosted Growth. However, it relies on sunlight to function since it's pretty slow.

If you do decide to run it, here's a set worth considering:

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera: Fire
Timid Nature
EVs: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Giga Drain, Earth Power, Weather Ball, Growth

Closing Thoughts​

Your team is currently very weak to hazards. You have 3 setup sweepers that rely on sunlight to function. Roaring Moon's set is a nonbo since you're trying to have an item and use Acrobatics. Your Great Tusk set will be easy to get around once the opponent knows you're using Choice Band.

Please don't take this wall of text as me saying your team is bad. It isn't. I just think this could help make it better

 

[Conflux123]

Nice team! I also run sun.

Wall of text incoming!

Here are my thoughts. Anything after a slash (see Tera: Steel/Dark on Moon) is an alternative that I'm not currently running, but could see myself using in the future:

Roaring Moon​

I wouldn't run Acrobatics and Leftovers on the same Moon set. You're probably better off with Choice Band to help take full advantage of the fact that you have limited turns for setup with sun. Immediate power and momentum might serve you better:

Roaring Moon @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera: Steel/Dark
Jolly Nature
EVs: 32 HP/220 Atk/4 SpD/252 Spe
Knock Off, Iron Head/Earthquake, Outrage/Earthquake, U-Turn

This gives you immediate wallbreaking power, speed, and utility. It has 554 attack with Choice Band and 555 speed with Protosynthesis. Iron Head with Tera Steel gives you an anti-fairy 'mon that also builds a strong defensive core with other dragons. It works particularly well with slow pivots like Raging Bolt with Volt Switch. Knock Off provides utility and a spammable STAB. U-Turn keeps momentum in your favor.

If you want to keep Dragon Dance and Acrobatics, you need to change your item. You could do something with Rillaboom and Grassy Seed. Rillaboom can give you that classic fire-water-grass core and some limited passive recovery. Use the same EV spread from above, swap the item for Grassy Seed, change the Tera type to Flying, and change your moveset to Dragon Dance, Acrobatics, Roost for longevity, and either Substitute or a coverage move of your choice (NOT OUTRAGE). Since sun will run out before you can fully sweep, going +Spe will help make sure you keep your speed high even after sun goes away.

Great Tusk​

You need spinning support. Torkoal is not a reliable primary spinner since it dies hard to hazards. It should be your backup. Great Tusk with Heavy-Duty Boots is an excellent primary spinner, so I'd consider either going for a defensive set to capitalize on its absurd bulk in sunlight or an offensive utility set to apply some additional wallbreaking pressure.

Rapid Spin is a must-have. If you opt to not run it on Tusk, then you need another Pokémon that can come in and reliably remove hazards. Hatterene is fine, Cinderace is solid, Scizor has a fantastic utility movepool and Defog but is probably not good enough anymore, and Corviknight is a classic.

I wouldn't run Choice Band. It's too easy for your opponent to lock you into a fighting or ground move they can take advantage of.

Torkoal
​

You're probably better off running Yawn over Will-O-Wisp since you have Lava Plume. You could switch Lava Plume to Flamethrower or Weather Ball instead for more power and keep Will-O-Wisp, but the difference in damage is probably insignificant. I'm currently rocking a physically defensive set with Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Weather Ball, and Body Press with Tera Fighting. Yours is perfectly fine as is, but Yawn may be worth it if you keep Lava Plume.

I need to do some damage calculations to see if 252+ Def Body Press does enough damage with/without Tera to justify it being on my set.

Gouging Fire​

Outrage is great, but I wouldn't run it on a setup sweeper that only has 1 other attack. It's too easy to get locked into by a fairy or bulky steel-type. Earthquake is a solid option for Pokémon like Heatran that would otherwise probably wall you. You probably don't even need a dragon attack since your fire attack is already getting STAB and a damage boost in sunlight.

While Flare Blitz's recoil is definitely scary, the guaranteed power is hard to pass up. Besides, you have reliable recovery in Morning Sun.

Raging Bolt
​

You have 3 setup sweepers right now, which I think is dangerous for you on your sun team. You really need to have immediate power to help take advantage of the few turns of sunlight that you get. Those 8 turns fly by very quickly.

On weather teams, I prefer running just 1-2 setup sweepers that only need a single turn to get where they need to be, like Growth Venusaur or Agility Walking Wake. As such, I think you're better off with either Choice Specs or Heavy-Duty Boots here. Volt Switch is a must-have, especially if you run the Choice Band Moon set I mentioned. Not only will either set help punch holes for you, they will also provide you with momentum in Volt Switch that works well with Choice Band Roaring Moon's U-Turn.

If you want some immediate special bulk, try Assault Vest. You definitely need to have spinning support for that to work, though.

Raging Bolt @ Choice Specs/Heavy-Duty Boots/Assault Vest
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera: Dragon/Grass/Flying
Modest Nature
Specs/Boots EVs 1: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Vest EVs 1: 252 SpA/92 SpD/164 Spe
Vest EVs 2: 92 Def/252 SpA/164 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Volt Switch, Draco Meteor, Weather Ball/Solar Beam, Thunderclap

The EVs on the Vest set give you just enough speed to outrun any Kingambit set, 0 Spe Gliscor, and a couple other threats.

Venusaur​

I know you aren't running Venusaur right now, but I wanted to chime in here since others have brought it up. Venusaur is a unique setup sweeper that is pretty bulky on the special side, completes the fire-water-grass core, is immune to Toxic Spikes, and has some interesting moveset options. It's absurdly fast in sunlight and it hits extremely hard after a sun-boosted Growth. However, it relies on sunlight to function since it's pretty slow.

If you do decide to run it, here's a set worth considering:

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera: Fire
Timid Nature
EVs: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Giga Drain, Earth Power, Weather Ball, Growth

Closing Thoughts​

Your team is currently very weak to hazards. You have 3 setup sweepers that rely on sunlight to function. Roaring Moon's set is a nonbo since you're trying to have an item and use Acrobatics. Your Great Tusk set will be easy to get around once the opponent knows you're using Choice Band.

Please don't take this wall of text as me saying your team is bad. It isn't. I just think this could help make it better

Thanks so much for the help. Should my team look like this?
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Yawn



Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 240 SpA / 16 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Flip Turn
- Draco Meteor



Roaring Moon @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 32 HP/220 Atk/4 SpD/252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- U-Turn



Gouging Fire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Morning Sun



Raging Bolt @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderclap



Great Tusk @ Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
-Rapid Spin

 

[realsoupersand]

It's really up to you, but that's definitely an option. I would test a couple of Pokémon at a time to see what works best with your playstyle.

 

[Conflux123]

It's really up to you, but that's definitely an option. I would test a couple of Pokémon at a time to see what works best with your playstyle.

I’m having a problem with fairy types so I’m probably gonna have to go to life orb venasaur over something on this team.

 

[realsoupersand]

You may want to use Sludge Bomb over one of the other attacks.

 

[Conflux123]

You may want to use Sludge Bomb over one of the other attacks.

Okay I’ll have that on life orb venusaur.

 

[Conflux123]

Currently the team looks like this:
https://pokepast.es/0cad6b77a86c5395
I’m thinking of possibly changing the bolt to specs but I’m happy with the team currently. Wake and moon are strong wallbreakers and hatterene is great as a knock off absorber and sweeper stopper. The Torkoal set is fine and kingambit is an amazing cleaner late-game. Thanks for everyone’s help it was great for sure as I would be running stuff like leftovers DDance moon instead lol.