It's hot in December with this team!

[ManaSamaSRK]

Although I'm not a very well versed Pokemon 5th gen player, I have tested this team multiple times on pokemon online and in wifi battles recently, and I do enjoy it's synergy. Although, I do realize there are problems with it, which is why I want you guys to tell me what I can do to fix this.

Explanations-

Ninetales - Timid nature - Drought
Air Balloon
EV Spread-hp:4, Sp.Atk:252, Spe:252
Flamethrower
Will-o-wisp
Solarbeam
Confuse Ray

A lead like this obviously means this is a Drought based team. So, Ninetales purpose is pretty obvious. Get the drought. Will-o-wisp those physical sweepers, flamethrower with drought with 261 Ninetales is actually very good, and air balloon makes it very versatile with safe switches against EQ or earthpower.

Infernape - Naive Nature - Blaze
Life Orb
EV Spread- Attk:252, Sp.Attk: 24, Spe: 232
Close Combat
Nasty Plot
Grass Knot
Fire Blast

Mixape is very strong with this team. Takes out really pesky problems like Vaporeon, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, ect. Nasty plotting on predicted switches makes it very strong and blaze Fire blast with Drought is ridiculous.

..Pretty accurate image of 5th gen Venusaur...lol


Venusaur - Modest Nature - Chlorophyll
Wise glasses
EV Spread- HP: 4, Sp.Attk: 252, Spe: 252
Energy Ball
Growth
Hidden Power (Fire)
Sleep Powder

Venusaur is a monster in this team. I choose wise glasses instead of Life orb Venu because I rather not have two life-orbers on this team, and so far, Wise glasses have done fine in terms of damage. Growth venusaur with Chlorophyll is stupid. Very strong late game sweeper if drought is still up. Not so potent when the sun isn't out, but still a threat regardless. Only huge issue I have is how many times I've missed Sleep powder with Venusaur..but I guess that balances out with everything else. haha. HP fire with drought deals with other threats as well, such as Breloom, Mirrors, Forry's, Ferrothorns, ect.

Dugtrio - Adamant - Arena Trap
Choice Band
EV Spread - Attk: 252, Sp.Def: 4, Spe: 252
Earthquake
Stealth Rock
Stone Edge
Sucker Punch
I found Dugtrio to be very useful outside of sandstorm team. it's a fantastic revenge killer with choice banded sucker punch. It's also very fast, outspeeding team threats like Gyara. Not as bulky as other OU pokes, but I've found it to be very useful on this team.

Cresselia - Calm - Levitate
Leftovers
EV Spread - HP: 252, Def: 228, Sp.def: 28
Ice Beam
Reflect
Moonlight
Thunder Wave

I think RU for Cress is pretty ridiculous. Mix bulky Cress is still very frustrating even 5th gen. Just because it gets destroyed by X-scissors and megahorn doesn't mean it's RU at all. Although it is a little slow against OU, it does well as my main wall. Reflect also just frustrates the process of taking of cress even more. Ice Beam takes care of things like Mence/Hydreigon/Flygon. Cress is also not too slow compared to other walls. Playing well and patient with Cress is the key to winning.

Drifblim - Bold - Aftermath
Leftovers
EV Spread- HP:4, Def: 252, Sp.Def: 252
Thunderbolt
Baton Pass
Substitute
Calm Mind

Drifblim without shadow ball over Thunderbolt is a smart move for this team. I don't have a huge answer against Gyara except for Dugtrio. Drifblim also has decent typing and compared to another Baton passer (Joltion), I just find it more useful, although I've been considering going to Joltion specifically for the Gyara matchup. Still, I find subing and going into calm mind and/or passing into Ape/Venu very strong and safe for them to take out potential threats.




Any tips on what I should do? Any pokemon I should add/take out, moves I should switch, and ect? So far, competitively, the teams been good but there are the few matchup hiccups that I mentioned before. Also, please, no useless information or insults towards me or the team. Thanks :D

 

[ManaSamaSRK]

Also, FYI, I know it's january..but it wouldn't make sense to say "Hot in jaunary" since that doesn't sound as...epic.. lol.

 

[Tepig]

It says hot in December...

 

[ManaSamaSRK]

It says hot in December...

Read the comment above yours, dude.

 

[Aberrant17]

Not a bad start, but I think you'll want to invest in hazard support and a Rapid Spinner. Sun teams tend to love and hate entry hazards in equal measure: having entry hazards on your side of the field shortens the life expectancy of your own teammates (especially Ninetales), while having hazards on your opponent's side helps you nab faluable OHKOs and 2HKOs. Pokemon with Magic Bounce can be used to block attempts to put hazards on your side, reflecting them back to your opponent. However, Magic Bouncers require good prediction to be effective. Here's some Pokemon that can fulfill these roles:

Hazard Setup:
Heatran
Crustle

Rapid Spin:
Starmie
Hitmontop

Hazard Setup AND Rapid Spin:
Donphan
Forretress
Claydol
Tentacruel

Toxic Spikes Removal:
Any Poison-type that's not Levitating or part Flying

Magic Bounce:
Espeon
Xatu

Hope that helps.

 

[PkmonTrainer Grey]

Well, this is one of the rare times i see a team that doesnt break the Duplicate Item Clause in the league i serve in, but pretty solid team, nice choice of wise glasses on Venasaur and Life on Ape, it makes them pretty destructive, BUT you need to make sure Ape doesn't Die so easily since there are trainers who use Ground Moves on Ape, i'd most likely say swap out Life Orb for Focus Sash, and if you're reluctant to do so, then do it for Dugtrio as Dugtrio will want to survive for a longer time and do some damage.
This is the Set i'd recommennd for Dugtrio, makes use as a Revenge Killer and a Lead if you feel like it:
Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread - Attk: 252, Sp.Def: 4, Spe: 252
Earthquake
Night Slash
Stone Edge
Sucker Punch
Pretty much almost the same Dugtrio you're using except it will Outspeed many pkmon that would otherwise outspeed if you are using Adamant nature. Sucker Punch for the Obvious Revenge Kill and even after that, with Freedom of Move Choice, you can switch into heavy offensive for a short time. And when you see Dugtrio is gonna get KO'd soon, you can Sucker Punch the opposing pkmon before Dugtrio gets KO'd and if your opponents HP is low, Sucker Punch can KO it or if you're Faster, use a stronger move unless you KNOW that opposing pkmon runs a Priority move.
Other than that, it's a pretty much a Solid team actually, at least in my perspective.

 

[ManaSamaSRK]

Not a bad start, but I think you'll want to invest in hazard support and a Rapid Spinner. Sun teams tend to love and hate entry hazards in equal measure: having entry hazards on your side of the field shortens the life expectancy of your own teammates (especially Ninetales), while having hazards on your opponent's side helps you nab faluable OHKOs and 2HKOs. Pokemon with Magic Bounce can be used to block attempts to put hazards on your side, reflecting them back to your opponent. However, Magic Bouncers require good prediction to be effective. Here's some Pokemon that can fulfill these roles:

Hazard Setup:
Heatran
Crustle

Rapid Spin:
Starmie
Hitmontop

Hazard Setup AND Rapid Spin:
Donphan
Forretress
Claydol
Tentacruel

Toxic Spikes Removal:
Any Poison-type that's not Levitating or part Flying

Magic Bounce:
Espeon
Xatu

Hope that helps.

I definitely agree. My last match actually was against a pure hazard entry based team. I did win (although there was a lot of luck involved, since his last poke was gyara and i OHKO'd him with a crit -1 dugtrio stone edge..XD)
I was actually thinking about tentacruel or Xatu. Not a big fan on crustle or heatran though. I don't think Crustle is very good, and heatran is great but I love mixing in a few lower tier pokes rather than a pure OU team since it does help me enjoy the game a lot more.
Thank you for the tips :D.

 

[PkmonTrainer Grey]

^^ And what Aberrant said, Entry Hazrds hurt you also, he basically took what i wanted to say.

 

[PkmonTrainer Grey]

Not a bad start, but I think you'll want to invest in hazard support and a Rapid Spinner. Sun teams tend to love and hate entry hazards in equal measure: having entry hazards on your side of the field shortens the life expectancy of your own teammates (especially Ninetales), while having hazards on your opponent's side helps you nab faluable OHKOs and 2HKOs. Pokemon with Magic Bounce can be used to block attempts to put hazards on your side, reflecting them back to your opponent. However, Magic Bouncers require good prediction to be effective. Here's some Pokemon that can fulfill these roles:

Hazard Setup:
Heatran
Crustle

Rapid Spin:
Starmie
Hitmontop

Hazard Setup AND Rapid Spin:
Donphan
Forretress
Claydol
Tentacruel

Toxic Spikes Removal:
Any Poison-type that's not Levitating or part Flying

Magic Bounce:
Espeon
Xatu

Hope that helps.

I Agree, and since he took what i wanted to say, i guess i have nothing else to say but follow the advice and Goodluck in Future battles.

 

[ManaSamaSRK]

Well, this is one of the rare times i see a team that doesnt break the Duplicate Item Clause in the league i serve in, but pretty solid team, nice choice of wise glasses on Venasaur and Life on Ape, it makes them pretty destructive, BUT you need to make sure Ape doesn't Die so easily since there are trainers who use Ground Moves on Ape, i'd most likely say swap out Life Orb for Focus Sash, and if you're reluctant to do so, then do it for Dugtrio as Dugtrio will want to survive for a longer time and do some damage.
This is the Set i'd recommennd for Dugtrio, makes use as a Revenge Killer and a Lead if you feel like it:
Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Trait: Arena Trap
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread - Attk: 252, Sp.Def: 4, Spe: 252
Earthquake
Night Slash
Stone Edge
Sucker Punch
Pretty much almost the same Dugtrio you're using except it will Outspeed many pkmon that would otherwise outspeed if you are using Adamant nature. Sucker Punch for the Obvious Revenge Kill and even after that, with Freedom of Move Choice, you can switch into heavy offensive for a short time. And when you see Dugtrio is gonna get KO'd soon, you can Sucker Punch the opposing pkmon before Dugtrio gets KO'd and if your opponents HP is low, Sucker Punch can KO it or if you're Faster, use a stronger move unless you KNOW that opposing pkmon runs a Priority move.
Other than that, it's a pretty much a Solid team actually, at least in my perspective.

I dislike ape with sash..I actually just dislike sash in general actually, since sandstorm and hazards tend to be very potent in the meta. I just tend to do without it. Also, I know Dugtrio jolly nature with sash = more freedom with dug's movechoice, but I don't see that type of set to be very useful for a sunny day based team, as opposed to a sandstream team. Dug's attack is lackluster for a revenge killer, which is why I use adamant with Choice band, rather than jolly with sash, which was my first choice, and actually didn't work in my favor. Trio adamant nature is still pretty fast, and usually the threat of something being scarfed that outspeeds it or a poke having a prio move that does take care of trio would be Cress. Thanks though. Any advice is appreciated.
As for movechoice, I definitely think taking out stealth rock with trio is necessary if im using choice band. Though, I don't think I'll use night slash. Any other choices for a 4th move?

 

[Lickitungyourmom]

My fav move set on Dugtrio is substitute/reversal/stealthrock/earthquake. This way it can sub up to protect itself from status and to lower its own health for a powered up reversal. If you set the EVs right 4 subs get you to 1 health, and reversal will reliably ohko all Tyranitar variants and nail Ferrothorn. Dugtrio has to be jolly natured to outspeed scarf Tyranitar or else it will wreak havoc on your team.
Although choice band earthquake is Dugtrios best way of dealing damage, once it has killed off something it is left choice locked into earthquake which gives the opponent a free set-up(dragon dance anyone?). Choice band sucker punch is doing a pittance to most pokemon and being choice locked into that move is as equally bad as being locked into earthquake. You need stealth rock on your team, and if you decide to keep using Dugtrio you can't choice it.

Solarbeam on Ninetales is a liability without sunny day as an additional move. If an opposing weather-starter switches into Ninetales as it solarbeams (TTar and Ptoed are among the most common switch-ins/counters for Ninetales, along with Heatran/fire types/Dragonite), it gives them a free KO/set-up. With Ninetales shit SpAtt, solarbeam isn't doing much damage anyway. Hidden power fighting/ground/ice can be useful, and safeguard, power swap+overheat are interesting alternatives.

I like Infernape, but i'm not completely sold on mix-ape. If the opponent switches to a counter that is faster/scarfed/has priority/resists all Napes moves(Dragonite!!!) then you just wasted a turn using nasty plot and have to run away. Maybe stacking up some minimal damage on the opponents counter would have been better. I suggest using a flashfire fire type in your team somewhere to take powerful fire attacks in the sun from opposing fire types. I know it isn't very common anymore, but scarf Heatran outspeeds Dugtrio and resists suckerpunch and eats this team. Infernape will take heavy damage from stabbed Fire blast in the sun, and cannot reliably counter Heatran more than once. Maybe give Venusaur something to hit fire types with?

Rain and sand are your two biggest problems as they nullify Venusaurs speed boost and growth making it nearly useless, and nullify your Cresselia. I suggest having the move sunny day somewhere in your team to help you win the weather war. You should give some serious thought to including something like a Rotom-W or Gastrodon to counter rain.

Chansey/Blissey give you problems too, as only Infernape can reliably beat them, and as they often pack toxic, they can beat down your walls. Dugtrios adamant choice band earthquake fails to nab a 2hko on Chansey even after stealth rock. Chansey can just spam softboiled until you run out of pp/switch.

Reuniclus is another commonly used threat to your team. It can just calm mind up in Drifblim or Cresselias' face, or any of your other pokemons faces for that matter. Infernapes Fire blast misses the OHKO in the sun and Reuniclus's psychic is a clean OHKO on Infernape. Dugtrios choice band earthquake fails to 2HKO Reuniclus, and sucker punch fails to OHKO, so Reuniclus can calm mind to see which move you are using then faint Dugtrio with psychic. I can't see Reuniclus not getting at least one KO vs this team before it goes down, and it definitely is a huge threat for a sweep.
Cresselia and Drifblim are just set-up fodder, without a reliable way of setting up stealth rock the most common poke in OU (Dragonite) can set up on Cresselia taking a pittance from unstabbed ice beam with multi scale intact and roosting in between turns as it outspeeds it. Even with multiscale broken, 0 Hp / 0 SpDef Dragonite will not be OHKO'd by ice beam, and most Dragonites are significantly bulkier. Cresselia is pursuit-bait and struggles against the pokemon it is supposed to counter. Most teams will use it as set-up fodder. I suggest replacing both Cresselia and Drifblim or this team will never be competitive. Both just give pokemon like Ferrothorn or Scizor or Forretress a chance to come in and lay down hazards/pursuit/sword dance for free. You could make it a strength of your team that these common steel types are made redundant on the opponents team(ie having 6 pokes of your own that all deal with them), thus giving you an advantage.

Conkeldurr poses problems for your team too. Venusaur is the only pokemon you have that beats it one on one (sun needs to be shining). I think Fire Blast and life orb on Ninetales OHKOs.
It seems to me that you are so worried about Gyarados (hardly ever seen now, but when it is it is usually bulky and defensive) that you ignore a lot of other, more prominent threats. If you truly want to make a competitive sun-team, I think the only way to do it is to make it hyper offense and use at least one obscure gimmicky move set that no one can see coming, because rain and sand are just better.