SV OU ELO 1300 Returning Player. Iron Valiant & Valiant Iron.

DifferentDimensionVanessa

Banned deucer.
Scarlet and Violet and some of the Pokemon that have been created to promote what Pokemon has become today is quite off-putting today. However, none of those Pokemon are played in the OU metagame and so it was a joy to create teams until I found something I could pilot better than the rest. I'm not the best player and am still learning, but I was able to reach 1300 in SV OU and 1400 in National Dex (I don't play this in N. Dex)

Duel Disks (Iron Valiant) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aura Sphere
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball

I tried to use different items on Iron Valiant, but I found that Booster Energy was necessary to outrun. If I lose a game in a misplay, it is generally because I do not Shadow Ball a Gholdengo that switches into my Moonblast. If I can save Iron Valiant until the end of the game, I generally get to sweep the remainder of the opposing team. Protosynthesis Iron V. is the fastest Pokemon on this team. I have only used the extra Firepower of Tera Fairy Moonblast to clutch one or two games, but I am wondering if I should use a defensive Tera Type to deal with Gholdengo. My concern then is that I'll lose my STABs for rest of the game, and I don't want my games to be too stall-ish so I like the offense.

Elephantes (Great Tusk) @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 132 Def / 68 SpD / 52 Spe
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Body Press

I don't remember how I made these EVs or if they are even mine. This is a standard moveset. Rapid Spin helps preserve TWO Focus Sashes on this team, which have helped me a lot, but are also there as I couldn't find any item better. I have enough endurance on this to take a hit and still take a super-effective Icicle Crash and KO a Sword of Ruin.

Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Stealth Rock

I use a Stealth Rock & Protect set because I do not have anyone else with SR on the Team and felt I needed to put it on to deal with opposing threats that have cost me games. The alternative set could be Iron Defense and Body Press, but I can't load both moves if I have SR.

Catapult Turtle (Dragapult) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 248 Atk / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Dragon Darts
- U-turn

U-Turn is here just to extricate myself from situations where I am on low HP, and an already statused Pokemon I can't hit is coming in in order to take my WoW. It also helps gain momentum against the swords of ruin, which we are all now better at planning against.
I run higher ATK in order to do more damage to Breloom or to Substitute Breloom, which is a minor threat to this team. Now that the war on cycling peacefully has even hit Cyclizar, I find that I may need some more SpA to ensure I eliminate Orthworm more easily, assuming I have already WoW'd it.

Freezing Beast (Glimmora) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Dazzling Gleam
- Earth Power
- Power Gem

Lots of Coverage to hit many OU Pokemon in the Meta. Toxic Debris is so much of a game-maker but helps put pressure on Dondozo, which can be a little difficult to remove. The Tera Type has been hypothetical so far. This Pokemon was first added to give me a further check to Hatterene, as without it, I cannot beat a Terastalized Hatterene.

Valiant Iron (Kingambit) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 28 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
- Sucker Punch

Speed is faster than the Smogon set but may not have been tiered properly. I don't recall the reason I appreciated at least some defensive EVs, but there was some minor reason. T-Wave could be almost any move, and was formerly Kowtow Cleave for many games. I simply found that I am good at reading when to Sucker Punch and when not to, and in situations where Kingambit finds itself helpless, it can at least status the opposing Pokemon before becoming death fodder. The fact that Thunder Wave cannot hit Garganacl and Ground types hasn't cost me a game yet, but I wouldn't know what else to put anyway. Tera Flying is a great type, and even resists Fighting.

I do not have a clear grasp of of what "cores" I am using in this team, unlike my National Dex teams. These 6 Pokemon just "sort of" cover for each other in some way and take care of threats for one standalone Pokemon to do its job. The closest thing to a core I think I have is the offensive combination of Paradox Gallade and Kingambit, but they cannot even switch to each other too freely due to one being frail and the other being slow.
 
So... I am going to impart to you what I learned after returning from gen 6/7 comp and try my best to help out this team. It's got good bones, but it can be better.

First, Iron Valient. Moves aside, the set isn't optimal; there are a lot of things that can switch in and ruin your day. What's worse is then your booster energy will be used up. My suggestion would be to can the booster energy in favor of choice specs, and swap one of your moves for trick. Choice specs hit HARD even on mons that would normally want to switch in. And with specs, nothing will want to switch in. I get wanting that speed but if you get forced out its useless. And everything that is going to force you out is going to be slower than you anyway, so... Plus it's more offensive so win-win in my opinion. For reference, here's a build that I have used:

Big Dong Dingle @ Choice Specs
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock

Next, let's skip over to kingambit. This is your end-game sweeper, not iron valient. So first, ditch the focus sash. You can have it but again, there are better items for this mon. I personally run black glasses but leftovers work well too. The problem with the sash is that if for whatever reason you run into hazards it's wasted. And not having a sash but hitting back hard with, say, black glasses is better IMO than surviving a hit barring a nonbroken sash. Thunderwave is unique and definitely NO ONE will see it coming, so I guess you can leave it if you want. I prefer kowtow cleave for when they predict sucker punch for some heavy-hitting damage, which in my opinion would be better (since you can finish them off with sucker punch rather than hitting them with thunderwave, then damage, then maybe getting the KO. It's less... gimmicky and more practical). Again, I'll leave what I use below for reference:

Raikage (Kingambit) @ Black Glasses
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch

Glimmora. Hazards are the name of the game so pick a move to remove and give it rocks/ spikes, trust me. Toxic debris + rocks/ spikes is a combo that should for sure be utilized. I prefer spikes since you can stack them, little in this gen resist ground moves, and anything that'll get hit hard by rocks has heavy-duty boots. If you want, mortal spin is also a great move since it can remove hazards and also poison. I have been saved many-a-times by an opposing mon getting poisoned and slowly being widdled down but again, that's up to you. Other than that, you have a typical glimmora; fast and powerful while being a pain. Maybe swap tera for flying too...:

YEE-HAW (Glimmora) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Spikes
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Mortal Spin

Garganacl. You can keep this set how it is, leaving rocks and giving glimmora spikes, but this mon isn't the best rock setter in the game rn and IMO shouldn't be used as one. I am going to place the set I use but I feel like this mon can be changed around very fluidly to fit your play style and team dynamic so I won't give much opinion on them one way or another unless you REALLY want:

OU Salt (Garganacl) @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Iron Defense
- Body Press

With all of this said you have a team of a physical and special attacker, a tank in garg, and a hazard setter/ another special attacker. Great tusk I can see leaving on the team as is barring some stat changes. It serves as a good physical attacker and another spinner. If you want to make them more physically bulky, that would work too. You can also give tusk rocks to add another setter/ remover dynamic to the team. I would give tusk rocks over garg if you really want rocks. I am going to leave two different sets below that I have used on different teams for different reasons:

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

The Babagluk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

And last but not least, dragapult. With all that I described above and how your dragapult is currently set up on your team, I would remove it entirely. It doesn't really do much to the team besides take up a slot for something more useful. Might I suggest dragonite to give yourself a +2 priority extreme speed and ground immunity? Perhaps Corviknight for ground immunity and access to defog/ roost? Maybe a breloom because it's NASTY in this current meta? If you need help I can talk it through with you but I've written a lot and am hungry so dragapult gets the least amount of my attention.

Best of luck to you. Welcome back. I hope all of this helps (at least a little bit). I wish upon you many dubs and W's.
 
Thanks for all your advice but all of these changes did not appeal on paper and left me very vulnerable in practice, resulting in Ls. First of all no Booster Energy means I can get outsped by opposing Iron Valiant and then get swept. Iron Valiant can even hit Careful Garganacl for a lot with Aura Sphere, or get Tera Water with either Energy Ball or Thunderbolt. No Sash means I cannot get this Iron Valiant and neither Booster Energy nor Sash Bisharp means I cannot deal with Chien Peo except only if both I lead Glimmora and the opponent specifically leads Chien Pao. Black Glasses Bisharp doesn't seem to change much in KOs unless there is a specific damage calculations that show otherwise.

This better Garganacl set has more longevity. I could consider that and Mortal Spin Glimmora, hoping I can cover for myself some other way. Removing Dragapult makes me too weak to Dragonite and teams with it, but there may still be a way for me to change it. I didn't use Corviknight in the Dragapult slot as I'm too weak to Fire offense otherwise, including Skeledirge, and I needed a Rotom-W check too since it does a lot of damage to Garganacl. Dragapult can Hex the Skeledirge, and if it goes Tera Fairy, the rest of my team handles it after my Dragapult has forced the opponent to Terastalize. I could also consider moving the hazards from Garganacl to Great Tusk, but, one thing at a time.

If you do want to PM to try to make other changes, feel free to.
 
Hey, just a couple observations

I think the issue is moreso with the way you are looking at the game. Focus Sash is an alright item, but thinking that you have to or straight up relying on it to beat certain Pokemon (like Chien-Pao as you mentioned) is a problem from your perspective as a player, not so much the team. You can't be certain you will be able to keep hazards of your side.

A good core you have is Kingambit + Special/Mixed Dragapult. Kingambit threatens a lot except for (and most notably) Dondozo and Great Tusk. Dragapult is able to theaten those in return while being hard to switch against thanks to U-Turn and Will-O-Wisp. This would however be more reliable with Kowtow Cleave or with a more specially oriented Dragapult. By the way, worth mentioning the Smogon set on Kingambit runs speed to outspeed opposing Kingambit trying to outspeed 0 speed Corviknight. I know the last part is A LOT to take into but in short, Kingambit, Skeledire and Corviknight tend to be around the same speed, thus you can run about 148 speed on Gambit but anything more than that is too overkill.

In any case some quick changes without messing up the team a lot:
  • Psyshock > Energy Ball on Iron Valiant. Hits Clodsire, Amoonguss and Toxapex. Way more important than hitting Tera Water Garganacl which you don't even do much to. You can also try Tera Ghost on this as you are a bit weak to Dragonite.
  • Choice Specs Dragapult or a set like the one here might do a better work. Specs in particular would be nice since you lack immediate power.
  • Kowtow Cleave > Thunder Wave on Kingambit. Also lookinto lowering the speed if you see it. A neat item on this would be Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots. The team is actually really weak to Volcarona. Tera Fire on Kingambit shuts it down while eliminating the guessing games vs Chien-Pao.
  • Bulk Up > Body Press and Tera Water on Great Tusk would also help with Chien-Pao, Dragonite and even Belly Drum Azumarill that can be really annoying once Dragapult gets chipped a little.
  • The last idea I had was Bulky Covert Cloak Gholdengo > Glimmora, like the one here. This team is VERY weak to Garganacl but opposing Iron Defense Garganacl is just game over from lead. This Gholdengo shuts Garganacl completely while also helping you switch around Iron Valiant if you feel like Garganacl gets overwhelmed too quickly.
Just some ideas, hope some of them can help!
 
SetsuSetsuna said:
Hey, just a couple observations

I think the issue is moreso with the way you are looking at the game. Focus Sash is an alright item, but thinking that you have to or straight up relying on it to beat certain Pokemon (like Chien-Pao as you mentioned) is a problem from your perspective as a player, not so much the team. You can't be certain you will be able to keep hazards of your side.

A good core you have is Kingambit + Special/Mixed Dragapult. Kingambit threatens a lot except for (and most notably) Dondozo and Great Tusk. Dragapult is able to theaten those in return while being hard to switch against thanks to U-Turn and Will-O-Wisp. This would however be more reliable with Kowtow Cleave or with a more specially oriented Dragapult. By the way, worth mentioning the Smogon set on Kingambit runs speed to outspeed opposing Kingambit trying to outspeed 0 speed Corviknight. I know the last part is A LOT to take into but in short, Kingambit, Skeledire and Corviknight tend to be around the same speed, thus you can run about 148 speed on Gambit but anything more than that is too overkill.

In any case some quick changes without messing up the team a lot:
  • Psyshock > Energy Ball on Iron Valiant. Hits Clodsire, Amoonguss and Toxapex. Way more important than hitting Tera Water Garganacl which you don't even do much to. You can also try Tera Ghost on this as you are a bit weak to Dragonite.
  • Choice Specs Dragapult or a set like the one here might do a better work. Specs in particular would be nice since you lack immediate power.
  • Kowtow Cleave > Thunder Wave on Kingambit. Also lookinto lowering the speed if you see it. A neat item on this would be Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots. The team is actually really weak to Volcarona. Tera Fire on Kingambit shuts it down while eliminating the guessing games vs Chien-Pao.
  • Bulk Up > Body Press and Tera Water on Great Tusk would also help with Chien-Pao, Dragonite and even Belly Drum Azumarill that can be really annoying once Dragapult gets chipped a little.
  • The last idea I had was Bulky Covert Cloak Gholdengo > Glimmora, like the one here. This team is VERY weak to Garganacl but opposing Iron Defense Garganacl is just game over from lead. This Gholdengo shuts Garganacl completely while also helping you switch around Iron Valiant if you feel like Garganacl gets overwhelmed too quickly.
Just some ideas, hope some of them can help!
Click to expand...
Hi,

Since posting this team I've found that I am actually more weak to Rain than anything you have mentioned, though these are good considerations to make anyway. Would your reply be different if I told you I can't continue with this team without solving the Rain problem first? As for Garganacl I can handle if I switch to the Iron Defense & Body Press set and I seem to just barely handle it without making that switch.
 
DifferentDimensionVanessa said:
Hi,

Since posting this team I've found that I am actually more weak to Rain than anything you have mentioned, though these are good considerations to make anyway. Would your reply be different if I told you I can't continue with this team without solving the Rain problem first? As for Garganacl I can handle if I switch to the Iron Defense & Body Press set and I seem to just barely handle it without making that switch.
Click to expand...

Tera Water Garganacl and Great Tusk, Dragapult and Sucker Punch from Kingambit should be enough toola to deal with rain. But yeah you can do that and put Stealth Rock > Body Press on Great Tusk instead.
 
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