Dancing in the Sun: A sun team with Lilligant

[CJorex]

Dancing
in the
Sun

​

Hi everyone! I created this team for a tournament I ran which required that all Pokemon be in the Unova Dex. It showed promise, even though I lost (Thanks to a bad play in the final), so I decided to try it in Standard OU. This has been one of my best teams; however it is not perfect so I will take any suggestions that could improve it. Anyway, to the team!:

The Team:

Nova (Ninetales) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Roar
A sun team without a Ninetales wouldn't be a sun team. Anyway, I changed to this set from an offensive one, and so far things look good. Only having Flamethrower as an offensive move is a bit annoying and leaves me as switch bait for Heatran, so I might replace Sunny Day with another offensive move. Any suggestions for that are welcome.

Petulia (Lilligant) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 60 Def / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
As stated before, this team was created for a Unova-themed tournament. This left me with two choices for a Chlorophyll sweeper; either the cool-but-flawed Leavanny or the Quiver Dancing Lilligant. I kept her on the team because using Venusaur would mean this would be the same as any other sun team; however Lilligant and he Quiver Dancing ways set her apart from the rest, while her coverage, while limited, still hits everything it needs to.

Jetstream (Garchomp) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Outrage
He has so far proven much more useful than Espeon. He is important as my only source of hazards, and also has that powerful movepool to work with. However, I am wondering if I should replace Fire Fang with Fire Blast or Stone Edge; Fire Fang isn't really helpful against what Garchomp wants to hit, so other moves may be better

Batman (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk / 184 HP / 72 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Fling
- Acrobatics
- Protect
Oh how I love this set. It appears a bit gimmicky at first, but trust me, it works at least 90% of the time. Switch in, Protect if need be, activate Toxic Orb and then Fling it onto something to badly poison them and power up Acrobatics. Gliscor has it all with this set; it is not at all unusual for him to pull of a sweep with it.

Coronet (Magnezone) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Ice]
My "Revenge Killer"; what he lacks in speed he more than makes up for in bulk and resistances. He can switch in on almost anything thanks to those 11 resistances, and is also here to help counter any Rain teams I may come across

Stelle (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 4 SAtk / 224 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Recover
I mainly use Starmie as it is one of the few spinners that work well in Sun. It also helps counter Rain and Sand teams, but this is not entirely foolproof, and so can sometimes leave a liability.

Threatlist:

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Volcarona: If I don't have hazards up, this thing will wreck me. It's not much better if I do have hazards up anyway; only Starmie has an SE move and then it's weak to Volcarona's STAB. It doesn't help that it is benefitting from my sun

Opposing weather: If I don't kill their weather setter before they kill mine, I'm done for. I can take care of Tyranitar with Garchomp, Politoed with Magnezone and Abomosnow with Ninetales, but Hippowdon is often too bulky and the others will always switch out before I KO them.

Former Team Members:

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Solara (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Morning Sun
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Replaced her with Garchomp when she appeared to be the weakest link in the team

Importable:

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Nova (Ninetales) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spd
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Roar

Petulia (Lilligant) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 60 Def / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Jetstream (Garchomp) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Outrage

Batman (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Fling
- Acrobatics
- Protect

Coronet (Magnezone) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Stelle (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 4 SAtk / 224 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Recover

Thanks in advance for any rates; Hope you can find this team as good as I have. Peace Out!

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[Dr Ciel]

Hi there!

This is a really cool sun team you have here, I really like the use of an underrated Pokémon in Lilligant, so huge props to you for using her in your team! However, you have some devastating flaws, I'm afraid, & my rate will not only iron out those flaws, but they will help you combat certain threats & help your team reach it's full potential. With all that out of the way, let's move on to my in-depth & detailed rate now, shall we? First up is your Ninetales set. You say that if you don't lose the Sun, she is able to sweep very well. That's a huge problem, because Politoed, T-Tar, & other weather summoners can come in easily & put a damper on Ninetales sweep. To help remedy this situation, using a Defensive Ninetales set over your current one would be phenomenal for this team. With this set, Ninetales turns into a support Pokémon, using Sunny Day to get the sun back up, should another weather summoner switch in & change the weather. Moving on with your team, I would like to suggest changing your Lilligants EV spread to a more efficient one of 60 Def / 252 SpA / 196 Spe over your current EV spread. With the aftermentioned EV spread, Lilligant is able to outspeed Scarf Latios with a Chlorophyll boost, neutral base 80s and positive base 70s without a boost, and Jolteon and Aerodactyl at +1 without a Chlorophyll boost, while the Defense EVs allow her to always survive Life Orb Ice Shard from Jolly Mamoswine. Staying on your Lilligant, I would like to suggest running Hidden Power Ice over your current choice of Hidden Power Fire. With Hidden Power Ice, you are able to smash Gliscor & a lot of dragons, especially Scarf Salamence, which can just run right through your team with absolutely little to no effort at all. My final suggestion would be to change your Starmies set into a Bulky Rapid Spinner set. Due to Starmies excellent typing, access to Natural Cure, Recover, & many other positive traits, Starmie can turn into a spinner for this team that can stay healthy for the entire game. Well, that's all I have to say for now. I hope my advice helped. Have fun & good luck in your future endeavours!

Ninetales & Starmie

Ninetales @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Roar

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 4 SpA / 224 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Recover

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TL;DR

• Ninetales

  

  : Current Set -> Defensive Set​

​

• Lilligant

  

  :​
• 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spd -> 60 Def / 252 SpA / 196 Spe​
• Hidden Power Fire -> Hidden Power Ice​

​

• Starmie

  

  : Current Set -> Bulky Rapid Spin​

​

~Dr Ciel~​

 

[CJorex]

Thanks Dr Ciel; I tried those changes and they worked very well. I'll update the OP in a moment.

 

[Lady Alex]

Hi, I always love seeing people use Lilligant. It seems to me that your weak link is Espeon. It's quite frail, even when using a defensive spread, and it's also your only chance of getting hazards on your opponents field. I'd like to see a SR Garchomp to replace it. I think Garchomp fits quite well on your team. Your team currently struggles quite a bit with Tyranitar + Heatran teams, and Garchomp would significantly help with that.

Garchomp

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Outrage/Dragon Claw/Dragon Tail

 

[CJorex]

Thanks for the suggestion, but my team is already quite weak to Ice, so a hazard setter that is not weak to Ice would be better. Also, Espeon is actually one of the most valuable members of the team, so I really don't want to replace her.

 

[Tyranical]

I feel like this team is kind of weak to sand teams with Tyranitar along with Rock Polish Landorus. Landorus is kind of broken and unpredictable so it can do massive damage depending on what it runs. If it has HP Ice it can wreck Gliscor and possibly Lilligant. It can run a variety of sets and moves and its hard to counter Landorus. I know you have Starmie but a bulky Tyranitar could take it out. Sand teams also commonly run Terrakion which again can hurt done parts of the team. To alleviate this somewhat I agree with Lady Alex, Espeon is the weak link. I think either Stealth Rock Garchomp or Scarf Garchonp works better here. I'd also run Hidden Power Ice on Magnezone to surprise Landorus if it attempts to set up. I feel like these changes will help your team reach its full potential.

 

[CJorex]

I tried the changes and they work most of the time. Garchomp in particular is a big boost. However my team is still very weak to rain teams and so any suggestions as to how to deal with them are welcome.

 

[Nathaniel Br]

Would recommend one more Fire Type on your team. While for the most part quite solid, I feel it doesn't take full use of the Sun, and Ninetales being as it is pretty awful outside of Drought it could really use that extra Fire Type to make using Sun worth while. Also a Cloyster is a huge threat to your team only being stopped by Magnezone (And if it has hidden power fire it can sweep without any problems). Also I would use Dragonite over Garchomp as it can more reliably sweep (252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 On whatever) and replace Starmie with Donphan who can hold both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin on one set. Liggilent is also outclassed by Venusaur, as quiver dance provides a speed boost that is totally unnecessary when the Sun is up, however I can see some cases where Lilligent is superior so I can understand why you're using it.

 

[Versuko]

May I ask why you have Sunny Day on a DROUGHT Ninetales, apart from Mummy?

 

[Halcyon.]

May I ask why you have Sunny Day on a DROUGHT Ninetales, apart from Mummy?

It's commonly used because the other weather setters absolutely love switching into Ninetales, but you can Sunny Day on a predicted switch, thus retaining your weather and grabbing momentum.

 

[Versuko]

True, Halcyon, true.

 

[CJorex]

May I ask why you have Sunny Day on a DROUGHT Ninetales, apart from Mummy?

I had the same feelings when the set was suggested to me, and I have never used it, so I am trialling it with Energy Ball instead of Sunny Day, just to surprise the other weather setters if and when they switch in.

 

[CJorex]

bump