Hello, I have been playing since gen 3 and recently got back into showdown with gen 9 post DLC OU. I've been having some success with this team and wanted to get an RMT to get some advice on patching up potential weaknesses that I hadn't considered. The team revolves around finding opportunities for Darkrai to switch in and let it rip with +2 Dark Pulse for a late game Dnite cleanup. Lots of boots and good pivoting with Pult and G-king retains my momentum, and Skarmory + Tusk in the back to deal with physical threats.
Looking for ways to make my team a bit more consistent and less reliant on prediction to deal with some of the bigger threats in the tier. I have probably missed something in my own analyses so point out any errors or things I have missed.
Dragonite (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
We all know this set. Dragonite is extremely consistent and powerful, gets off at least one free DD from a chilly reception or on a sac, and lets earthquake rip. Ice spinner over fire punch to hit gliscor and lando - against a lando lead I can just click ice spinner and it has no counterplay. It's a great mon but a bit one dimensional and gets wrecked by tera kingambit and kyurem.
Slowking-Galar (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Chilly Reception
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunder Wave
The best spdef mon in the game right now IMO. This is my soft check to kyurem, which is what twave is for. This is also my only real switch-in to Primarina and Iron Valiant. Ice beam or surf would be better to check gliscor but I already have so many gliscor answers that I don't really need it. Typically I use this mon to tank a special hit and then threaten T-wave, then either getting a status which sets up Hex for later or chilly to get a favorable switch on a ground/electric type.
Dragapult (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- U-turn
This is tied for my most important mon with Darkrai. U-turn rips apart non-choiced meowscarada and rillaboom, fast will-o-wisp cripples kingambit and tusk, but also sets up defensive walls like skarmory for kills even through roost. Dragon darts is great chip for when the situation arises and is a good check to non-tera walking wake/gouging fire. This mon also provides a soft check to volcarona, setting it up for an ESpeed KO.
Skarmory (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Roost
- Spikes
This forms the second half of my defensive core. Unfortunately due to my reliance on boots it also happens to be my knock-off absorber but it has a great matchup against great tusk and an okay matchup against volt switch iron treads, the two main hazard removers. Spikes over stealth rock because the pokemon that are weak to rocks are typically running boots, and I don't have a super reliable knockoff. Kyurem, again, is a big problem.
Darkrai @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Bad Dreams
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Ice Beam
This is my other MVP. The insane speed stat and STAB dark pulse hits a great portion of the metagame for 30-50% unboosted. Oftentimes I can get a free boost on a protect gliscor or a switch that I will still outspeed. Tera poison swaps me to a fighting and fairy resist, and I keep ice beam again for gliscor. Heavy Duty Boots are a requirement here, because the extra power I could get from LO or Expert belt simply isn't worth the longevity I get from repeated switchins where I get to click dark pulse for free.
Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Headlong Rush
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
This is a really weird set that is probably bad. I needed to fit a lot of things onto my last mon and had to make some compromises. I had to leave Ice Spinner off for knock off because I realized I had no knock pokemon and without that, I can't stack up the residual spikes damage I need in the late game for Dnite espeed. Close combat is yet another check to kyurem, outspeeding non-scaleshot kyurem for a chance to OHKO but at least putting it in espeed range. Rapid spin is there to remove hazards - even though I do have lots of boots mons they could potentially get knocked and I need a response to that.
Threats I have identified:
Alomomola - I have an incredibly difficult time dealing with this pokemon. Skarm can kind of setup but is just flip turn fodder, I need to hit it with a twave or wisp + knockoff to set it up for a hex kill with Pult. Meanwhile it's healing the whole enemy team to full. Spikes helps a lot once the boots are off but it's not easy to get a knock with the tusk, and I don't see who to switch to add a knockoff that deals with alo easier like a rilla or meow. I also don't want to be even weaker to Kyurem than I already am.
Kyurem - Biggest threat to my team. I have no ice resist and it has nearly perfect coverage on all my mons. Best option is to use slowking to para and then chip it down, but I have no hard counters. Once I para I can use Pult to Dragon darts or if it clicks tera fairy then I can finish it with darkrai.
Dragonite - Don't have a ton of answers to this. The best switchin is probably tusk and then using close combat on the tera normal switch. TB Tera flying CBnite chunks my team and requires a lot of sacs to get it chipped down enough for a kill.
There are probably a lot of others that I haven't listed. Let me know what I should change to ruggedize my team! The only pokemon I am married to keeping are Darkrai and Dragapult. Thanks!
Looking for ways to make my team a bit more consistent and less reliant on prediction to deal with some of the bigger threats in the tier. I have probably missed something in my own analyses so point out any errors or things I have missed.
Dragonite (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
We all know this set. Dragonite is extremely consistent and powerful, gets off at least one free DD from a chilly reception or on a sac, and lets earthquake rip. Ice spinner over fire punch to hit gliscor and lando - against a lando lead I can just click ice spinner and it has no counterplay. It's a great mon but a bit one dimensional and gets wrecked by tera kingambit and kyurem.
Slowking-Galar (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Chilly Reception
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunder Wave
The best spdef mon in the game right now IMO. This is my soft check to kyurem, which is what twave is for. This is also my only real switch-in to Primarina and Iron Valiant. Ice beam or surf would be better to check gliscor but I already have so many gliscor answers that I don't really need it. Typically I use this mon to tank a special hit and then threaten T-wave, then either getting a status which sets up Hex for later or chilly to get a favorable switch on a ground/electric type.
Dragapult (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- U-turn
This is tied for my most important mon with Darkrai. U-turn rips apart non-choiced meowscarada and rillaboom, fast will-o-wisp cripples kingambit and tusk, but also sets up defensive walls like skarmory for kills even through roost. Dragon darts is great chip for when the situation arises and is a good check to non-tera walking wake/gouging fire. This mon also provides a soft check to volcarona, setting it up for an ESpeed KO.
Skarmory (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Roost
- Spikes
This forms the second half of my defensive core. Unfortunately due to my reliance on boots it also happens to be my knock-off absorber but it has a great matchup against great tusk and an okay matchup against volt switch iron treads, the two main hazard removers. Spikes over stealth rock because the pokemon that are weak to rocks are typically running boots, and I don't have a super reliable knockoff. Kyurem, again, is a big problem.
Darkrai @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Bad Dreams
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Ice Beam
This is my other MVP. The insane speed stat and STAB dark pulse hits a great portion of the metagame for 30-50% unboosted. Oftentimes I can get a free boost on a protect gliscor or a switch that I will still outspeed. Tera poison swaps me to a fighting and fairy resist, and I keep ice beam again for gliscor. Heavy Duty Boots are a requirement here, because the extra power I could get from LO or Expert belt simply isn't worth the longevity I get from repeated switchins where I get to click dark pulse for free.
Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Headlong Rush
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
This is a really weird set that is probably bad. I needed to fit a lot of things onto my last mon and had to make some compromises. I had to leave Ice Spinner off for knock off because I realized I had no knock pokemon and without that, I can't stack up the residual spikes damage I need in the late game for Dnite espeed. Close combat is yet another check to kyurem, outspeeding non-scaleshot kyurem for a chance to OHKO but at least putting it in espeed range. Rapid spin is there to remove hazards - even though I do have lots of boots mons they could potentially get knocked and I need a response to that.
Threats I have identified:
Alomomola - I have an incredibly difficult time dealing with this pokemon. Skarm can kind of setup but is just flip turn fodder, I need to hit it with a twave or wisp + knockoff to set it up for a hex kill with Pult. Meanwhile it's healing the whole enemy team to full. Spikes helps a lot once the boots are off but it's not easy to get a knock with the tusk, and I don't see who to switch to add a knockoff that deals with alo easier like a rilla or meow. I also don't want to be even weaker to Kyurem than I already am.
Kyurem - Biggest threat to my team. I have no ice resist and it has nearly perfect coverage on all my mons. Best option is to use slowking to para and then chip it down, but I have no hard counters. Once I para I can use Pult to Dragon darts or if it clicks tera fairy then I can finish it with darkrai.
Dragonite - Don't have a ton of answers to this. The best switchin is probably tusk and then using close combat on the tera normal switch. TB Tera flying CBnite chunks my team and requires a lot of sacs to get it chipped down enough for a kill.
There are probably a lot of others that I haven't listed. Let me know what I should change to ruggedize my team! The only pokemon I am married to keeping are Darkrai and Dragapult. Thanks!
