SV OU Would appreciate help with my team!

[Venguis]

Hello! I've recently gotten into OU and tried building my own team, and I would greatly appreciate any help with it!

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- U-turn
I started with Dragapult as one of the premiere wallbreakers in OU. I think he works well along with Gholdengo to spam STAB Shadow Ball and serve as speed controls. Still not sure on Jolly or Modest, and Tera Ghost because I like my Shadow Balls.

Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
Iron Valiant is here as the setup sweeper. I think it works pretty well coming in late after the wallbreakers on the team have taken care of its major threats. Tera Fairy to make those Moonblasts hurt, but I'm considering maybe Tera Electric for the Thunderbolts?

Gholdengo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Focus Blast
- Trick
Gholdengo is a nice scarfer which complements Dragapult. You can sac either one of the two and still have a speed check. Not sure on Tera Flying vs Fighting, but Flying is nice vs Great Tusk so I'm sticking with it for now.

Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Salt Cure
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
Garganacl is here as the physically defensive check. Salt Cure is amazing for making progress, and protect is nice to scout. Tera Water I think is pretty standard, so I just went with it.

Slowking @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Future Sight
- Chilly Reception
- Slack Off
- Flamethrower
Slowking is the specially defensive check, and serves as a nice core with Garganacl. Flamethrower I find is fun to catch opponents off guard, and Future Sight makes for amazing pressure along with Choice Band Great Tusk, especially with the pivot of Chilly Reception. I'm debating switching Covert Cloak for Heavy Duty Boots because Banded Great Tusk doesn't make for the best hazard control, but Garganacl is pretty scary as well so I'm not sure.

Great Tusk @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
Great Tusk is here as the physical wallbreaker, and works very well with Slowking's Future Sight to secure kills. Knock Off is nice to remove opposing leftovers, and I have Rapid Spin because I have no other hazard control. Tera Fighting helps give it that extra damage boost vs. physical walls like Dondozo.

Thanks for any recs, and feel free to cut any mons!

 

[Motor Hawk]

Gholdengo doesn't seem to do much so you might want to try out either kingambit or corv. You can also swap tusk for corv or swap tusk over to a bulky def set to help with your own tusk issues. Just some ideas.

Over all its a good standard team so there isn't much to say about it. So I would just play with it, learn it, maybe tweak some EV's after running calcs on the damage calculator, and run your team through Maryland's team builder to make sure you're not missing an obvious weakness.

 

[Venguis]

Gholdengo doesn't seem to do much so you might want to try out either kingambit or corv. You can also swap tusk for corv or swap tusk over to a bulky def set to help with your own tusk issues. Just some ideas.

Over all its a good standard team so there isn't much to say about it. So I would just play with it, learn it, maybe tweak some EV's after running calcs on the damage calculator, and run your team through Maryland's team builder to make sure you're not missing an obvious weakness.

Appreciate the advice! I'm considering swapping Gholdengo to Corviknight, but I'm hesitant to cut my scarfer - is modest Dragapult enough to serve that roll? Maybe switch to Jolly instead? I like the more physically defensive Great Tusk though, I'll try that out!

 

[jzszwa]

Hey, just saw your post and found your team fairly interesting so I thought I'd drop some advice that I think might help.

I know you mentioned having issues with hazard control. So I agree with Motorhawk that you could switch Tusk to a bulkier set with maybe leftovers for example. I think a defensive Tusk could push this team a lot further because it doesn't seem like you currently have any solid EQ switch ins. Whilst you could always Tera your Garganacl or Gholdengo. I don't think relying on a Tera is the best idea defensively unless you're trying to catch your opponent off guard in which case I think it's a good idea. Great tusk, whilst doesn't provide any sort of immunity to ground, can still absorb a lot of hits for your team which I think is a lot more valuable in the long run.
Something you could do to keep a physical threat on your team, if you do decide to run a more defensive Tusk, is to run an adamant/jolly banded Dragapult.

Something like:

Dragapult @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn

Being adamant doesn't hurt much against opposing Dragapult as Sucker punch still OHKOs most of the time (Always after Stealth rock, which you'd probably be running on your more defensive Tusk).

If Phantom force is a move you're not the biggest fan of due to it being a two-turn move you can always swap the Tera for Ghost and run Tera blast on it. I personally quite like that even if it doesn't kill a pokemon, as long as you outspeed, they don't hit you.

Running a physical Dragapult on this team doesn't seem like a bad change to me as you still have plenty of Special attacking firepower in Valiant and Gholdengo.

Thanks for reading and happy team building ! :)

 

[Motor Hawk]

Hey, just saw your post and found your team fairly interesting so I thought I'd drop some advice that I think might help.

I know you mentioned having issues with hazard control. So I agree with Motorhawk that you could switch Tusk to a bulkier set with maybe leftovers for example. I think a defensive Tusk could push this team a lot further because it doesn't seem like you currently have any solid EQ switch ins. Whilst you could always Tera your Garganacl or Gholdengo. I don't think relying on a Tera is the best idea defensively unless you're trying to catch your opponent off guard in which case I think it's a good idea. Great tusk, whilst doesn't provide any sort of immunity to ground, can still absorb a lot of hits for your team which I think is a lot more valuable in the long run.
Something you could do to keep a physical threat on your team, if you do decide to run a more defensive Tusk, is to run an adamant/jolly banded Dragapult.

Something like:

Dragapult @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn

Being adamant doesn't hurt much against opposing Dragapult as Sucker punch still OHKOs most of the time (Always after Stealth rock, which you'd probably be running on your more defensive Tusk).

If Phantom force is a move you're not the biggest fan of due to it being a two-turn move you can always swap the Tera for Ghost and run Tera blast on it. I personally quite like that even if it doesn't kill a pokemon, as long as you outspeed, they don't hit you.

Running a physical Dragapult on this team doesn't seem like a bad change to me as you still have plenty of Special attacking firepower in Valiant and Gholdengo.

Thanks for reading and happy team building ! :)

Good point. Regardless of it all I would swap your dragapult for a physical variety. It would add more diversity and I prefer the physical pult too. However, I would tera ghost (either way) with tera blast (optional) instead of phantom force but that's just me. I don't like two-turn attacks and the extra damage with tera + blast gives you serious KO power.

 

[Venguis]

Thanks all for the advice, really appreciate it! :)

 

[Poke nerd]

I'm a bit confused on the set, since you've got covert cloak but none of your moves really touch garg? I'd either put surf somewhere on there, or change king's item all together.

Plus you'll be chilly receptioning out anyways, so I'd change the item. here seems like a solid choice. I hope this will help.

P•S: I'd write more, but jzszwa and motor hawk have taken all of the words out of my mouth ( great job you two!) And I reccomend everything they've said.

Have fun climbing the ladder

 

[Venguis]

I'm a bit confused on the set, since you've got covert cloak but none of your moves really touch garg? I'd either put surf somewhere on there, or change king's item all together.

Plus you'll be chilly receptioning out anyways, so I'd change the item. here seems like a solid choice. I hope this will help.

P•S: I'd write more, but jzszwa and motor hawk have taken all of the words out of my mouth ( great job you two!) And I reccomend everything they've said.

Have fun climbing the ladder

Yes, I made the change from flamethrower to surf, and with all the changes (especially bulky tusk) the team feels much better now :)