INTRODUCTION
Sinistcha is an interesting mon that is more bulky than its other counterpart, Polteageist. While Polteageist tries to attain sweeps quickly with Shell Smash, Sinistcha prefers slow and steady sweeps with tools such as Calm Mind and Strength Sap. Sinistcha could opt for a double dance set with Calm Mind and Iron Defense, but it leaves little to no wiggle room for other moves. Strength Sap is needed for recovery, Matcha Gotcha is needed so Shadow Ball is not walled by normal types, and Shadow Ball is needed for 4x resist mons that Matcha Gotcha is not effective on such as Corviknight and Heatran. This is why I had the idea to run Sinistcha with Grassy Seed, for it to receive a one-time much needed defense boost while giving it room to run Strength Sap, Matcha Gotcha, and Shadow Ball. All of these combined makes Sinistcha a hard to stop and a big late game threat, especially with Terastilization.
Sinistcha @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Heatproof
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 172 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Strength Sap
- Matcha Gotcha
- Shadow Ball
As mentioned before, Sinistcha is what this team is built around, where it can sweep an unprepared/weakened team with ease. Calm Mind is the move that allows it to set up, while Strength Sap allows it to recover HP, while lowering the opposing mons attack. Grass/Ghost is a good STAB combination, hitting every mon in the OU tier for neutral damage except for Kingambit. Speaking of Kingambit, the speed EVs allow Sinistcha to outspend Jolly Kingambit, allowing it to more easily use Strength Sap on it and fishing for Matcha Gotcha Burns. The rest of the EVs are put into HP and Defense, to make Sinistcha more bulky. The tera type chosen is Poison over something like Steel due to an immunity to poison, only two weaknesses, and the STAB combination dealing with said two weaknesses (Grass > Ground, Ghost > Psychic). It also helps with the Heatran matchup, as Tera Poison Heatproof makes it resist the initial attack of Magma Storm.
The item Grassy Seed allows Sinistcha to raise its defense by one upon entering Grassy Terrain. Only one Pokemon can reliably set up Grassy Terrain, which is Rillaboom; which is the next mon I chose for this team.
Rillaboom @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Drum Beating
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Rillaboom is the only viable Grassy Terrain setter in the tier, and does so with no trouble. Rather than a Swords Dance or a Choice Band moveset, Taunt + Drum Beating seemed like a good choice to help weaken Grass checks such as Corviknight, Zapdos, and Dragonite. Taunt further helps this by disallowing Corviknight, Zapdos, and Dragonite from roosting, while also not allowing the likes of Dragonite, Landorus-T, and Kingambit from setting up in front of it/ setting Stealth Rocks in front of it as well. Drum Beating is chose over Grassy Glide as it is stronger, and slows down opposing mons to allow Rillaboom to Taunt them. This also helps since this Rillaboom set is more bulky than speedy, allowing it to switch in multiple times to enable Grassy Terrain for the team. The minimal speed is to outspeed Kingambit, allowing Rillaboom to quickly taunt it so it cannot click Swords Dance on it. Rillaboom's tera type will not usually be used, but I am personally opting for Tera Electric to better chip down Zapdos in a pinch, which can help with another mon on this team will be revealed later.
With two grass types on the team, the team is severely weak to Fire, Flying, Poison, Bug, and Ice types. There is one mon that resists all five types, and is a valuable asset to this team. The mon I chose was Heatran.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 212 SpD / 40 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Body Press
Heatran helps this team a lot by providing key resistances and trapping mons Sinistcha might have trouble with. Magma Storm is an amazing high BP move that traps and damages mons that switch into it. Taunt compliments Magma Storm by disallowing mons to recover against it, such as Blissey, Toxapex, G-Slowking, and Clodsire. Earth Power damages mons that Magma Storm already traps, like the latter three mons already mentioned. However, a unique fourth move that was chosen is Body Press, allowing Heatran to take down Blissey more efficiently, and can help with Ting-Lu. A more specially defensive set it chose rather than an offensive set due to Leftovers + Grassy Terrain allowing Heatran to have extremely longevity, and can help with weak earthquakes due to Grassy Terrain. Tera Bug is chose to resist ground type attacks incase a mon such as Ting-Lu desperately needs erased for Sinistcha, and is chose over Tera Grass to dual resist Great Tusk's STAB attacks. It also combines nicely with Flash Fire, as it will still be immune to fire attacks.
This team is formed from two Grass types and one Fire type, so a Water type is appreciated to form a nice core. Also, since Body Press is used over a more common move such as Stealth Rock, hazards are needed as well. I figured that H-Samurott was the perfect pick.
Samurott-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 236 Atk / 20 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Razor Shell
- Sacred Sword
- Sucker Punch
H-Samurott with an Assault Vest makes for an amazing pivot that sets up spikes extremely easily, while switching into major threats such as Kingambit and Gholdengo. Grassy Terrain allows for small passive recovery on this mon, making the special defense boost even better with HP recovery. Ceaseless Edge is a given for this set, allowing Spikes to be set up to chip the opposing team. Razor Shell can help by defense drops, since holding an Assault Vest means no useful status moves such as Taunt and Swords Dance to help break mons. Sacred Sword is ran over Knock Off for Kingambit, since Rillaboom is not running Drain Punch for it; and is a strong move that is boosted by Sharpness. Tera Dark is chose to remove its Water typing to help with Zapdos, to boost its most spammable move Ceaseless Edge, and to power up its final move Sucker Punch in case of emergencies.
With Heatran and H-Samurott being more specially defensive, I wanted a more defensive mon for the team, which is not too passive and can set up. I also needed some form of speed for the team, ensuring that this team is not too slow. Zamazenta seemed like a great choice.
Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
With Grassy Terrain, Substitute Iron Defense Zamazenta seemed like an amazing choice for this team, being fast, bulky, and not very passive thanks to Iron Defense Body Press. It is also a great switch in to Kingambit if H-Samurott needs to check other mons such as Gholdengo. Iron Defense and Body Press is the teams much needed set up to help break through teams. Substitute is great with both Leftovers and Grassy Terrain, as it can regain its HP extremely quickly. Crunch is used to hit Ghost types, where Body Press cannot hit them. Tera Electric is chose for Zapdos, allowing Zamazenta to substitute, set up on it, and to avoid Static proc. Also, Electric is only weak to Ground, which Grassy Terrain can potentially negate against Earthquake.
For the final spot, I realized I was severely weak to hazards. I also realized I could not just run boots spam, as many of these mons benefit heavily from both Leftovers + Grassy Terrain. Also, since none of these mons have reliable recovery, a Wish mon would be nice to keep the team healthy. An out of left-field pick, I chose Espeon.
Espeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Yawn
- Psychic
Espeon is a weird pick that fills in the roles this team needs, such as lack of recovery and weakness to hazards. Scream Tail provides great wish support, but does not stop hazards. Hatterene stops hazards in its tracks, however does not provide the team with healing other than the one time Healing Wish. Espeon fills in both of these roles, being a great supporting mon for the team, stopping mons such as Glimmora. Wish and Protect is great for this mon, providing HP safely for itself and for its team. Yawn shuts down anyone who tries to set up on it, threatening opposing mons with sleep. Psychic is chose for the last move being a strong and reliable STAB move threatening mons such as Glimmora and Great Tusk. Max HP is chose over max SpA to give better Wishes for its teammates and to better survive hits. For emergencies, Tera Bug can be used to help with Great Tusk, and Ting-Lu when Grassy Terrain is not up.
THREATS
Even with all the precautions taken building this team, it does have some flaws with some mons.
Skeledirge can provide this team with some problems, as it can potentially threaten and set up on Sinistcha with Torch Song thanks to Unaware. Rillaboom can Knock Off against it and Taunt to prevent recovery, but Torch Song is super effective against it and can threaten it badly. Heatran is not that useful against it either since Magma Storm cannot trap it due to Skeledirge being part Ghost. Although possible, it will be hard to neutralize Skeledirge.
Hatterene can be a huge problem, as it can set up on the majority of the team. Rillaboom and Heatran cannot taunt it, Espeon cannot Yawn it, and Stored Power can outdamage Shadow Ball from Sinistcha if the two mons decide to go on a Calm Mind war. Chipping Hatterene down with Drum Beating and Ceaseless Edge/Razor Shell is vital.
Great Tusk is always a threat. There are no mons that can reliably switch into this mon, and will always dent your team one way or another. Espeon can switch into Great Tusk to avoid hazards, however it risks taking huge damage due to Knock Off.
Even if Espeon can block hazards, it cannot block Spikes set up by H-Samurott. Zamazenta is a good switch, but Ceaseless Edge will set up permanent spikes due to no hazard removal on this team. Letting H-Samurott getting the upper hand against this team is a huge mistake.
CONCLUSION
Sinistcha is a unique mon that can very easily set up and demolish unprepared teams. With Grassy Seed, this massively helps it by raising its defenses to tank as many hits as it can. With team support, Sinistcha can thrive in the OU meta, and provides a fun way of playing the game.
If anyone has changes/advice for this team, please let me know! If there is anything that could be better or significant changes that can be made I am free for criticism! If anyone wants to try, the paste is below. Thank you for reading!
https://pokepast.es/5c371e7a31be633a
Sinistcha is an interesting mon that is more bulky than its other counterpart, Polteageist. While Polteageist tries to attain sweeps quickly with Shell Smash, Sinistcha prefers slow and steady sweeps with tools such as Calm Mind and Strength Sap. Sinistcha could opt for a double dance set with Calm Mind and Iron Defense, but it leaves little to no wiggle room for other moves. Strength Sap is needed for recovery, Matcha Gotcha is needed so Shadow Ball is not walled by normal types, and Shadow Ball is needed for 4x resist mons that Matcha Gotcha is not effective on such as Corviknight and Heatran. This is why I had the idea to run Sinistcha with Grassy Seed, for it to receive a one-time much needed defense boost while giving it room to run Strength Sap, Matcha Gotcha, and Shadow Ball. All of these combined makes Sinistcha a hard to stop and a big late game threat, especially with Terastilization.
Sinistcha @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Heatproof
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 172 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Strength Sap
- Matcha Gotcha
- Shadow Ball
As mentioned before, Sinistcha is what this team is built around, where it can sweep an unprepared/weakened team with ease. Calm Mind is the move that allows it to set up, while Strength Sap allows it to recover HP, while lowering the opposing mons attack. Grass/Ghost is a good STAB combination, hitting every mon in the OU tier for neutral damage except for Kingambit. Speaking of Kingambit, the speed EVs allow Sinistcha to outspend Jolly Kingambit, allowing it to more easily use Strength Sap on it and fishing for Matcha Gotcha Burns. The rest of the EVs are put into HP and Defense, to make Sinistcha more bulky. The tera type chosen is Poison over something like Steel due to an immunity to poison, only two weaknesses, and the STAB combination dealing with said two weaknesses (Grass > Ground, Ghost > Psychic). It also helps with the Heatran matchup, as Tera Poison Heatproof makes it resist the initial attack of Magma Storm.
The item Grassy Seed allows Sinistcha to raise its defense by one upon entering Grassy Terrain. Only one Pokemon can reliably set up Grassy Terrain, which is Rillaboom; which is the next mon I chose for this team.
Rillaboom @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Drum Beating
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Rillaboom is the only viable Grassy Terrain setter in the tier, and does so with no trouble. Rather than a Swords Dance or a Choice Band moveset, Taunt + Drum Beating seemed like a good choice to help weaken Grass checks such as Corviknight, Zapdos, and Dragonite. Taunt further helps this by disallowing Corviknight, Zapdos, and Dragonite from roosting, while also not allowing the likes of Dragonite, Landorus-T, and Kingambit from setting up in front of it/ setting Stealth Rocks in front of it as well. Drum Beating is chose over Grassy Glide as it is stronger, and slows down opposing mons to allow Rillaboom to Taunt them. This also helps since this Rillaboom set is more bulky than speedy, allowing it to switch in multiple times to enable Grassy Terrain for the team. The minimal speed is to outspeed Kingambit, allowing Rillaboom to quickly taunt it so it cannot click Swords Dance on it. Rillaboom's tera type will not usually be used, but I am personally opting for Tera Electric to better chip down Zapdos in a pinch, which can help with another mon on this team will be revealed later.
With two grass types on the team, the team is severely weak to Fire, Flying, Poison, Bug, and Ice types. There is one mon that resists all five types, and is a valuable asset to this team. The mon I chose was Heatran.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 212 SpD / 40 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Body Press
Heatran helps this team a lot by providing key resistances and trapping mons Sinistcha might have trouble with. Magma Storm is an amazing high BP move that traps and damages mons that switch into it. Taunt compliments Magma Storm by disallowing mons to recover against it, such as Blissey, Toxapex, G-Slowking, and Clodsire. Earth Power damages mons that Magma Storm already traps, like the latter three mons already mentioned. However, a unique fourth move that was chosen is Body Press, allowing Heatran to take down Blissey more efficiently, and can help with Ting-Lu. A more specially defensive set it chose rather than an offensive set due to Leftovers + Grassy Terrain allowing Heatran to have extremely longevity, and can help with weak earthquakes due to Grassy Terrain. Tera Bug is chose to resist ground type attacks incase a mon such as Ting-Lu desperately needs erased for Sinistcha, and is chose over Tera Grass to dual resist Great Tusk's STAB attacks. It also combines nicely with Flash Fire, as it will still be immune to fire attacks.
This team is formed from two Grass types and one Fire type, so a Water type is appreciated to form a nice core. Also, since Body Press is used over a more common move such as Stealth Rock, hazards are needed as well. I figured that H-Samurott was the perfect pick.
Samurott-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 236 Atk / 20 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Razor Shell
- Sacred Sword
- Sucker Punch
H-Samurott with an Assault Vest makes for an amazing pivot that sets up spikes extremely easily, while switching into major threats such as Kingambit and Gholdengo. Grassy Terrain allows for small passive recovery on this mon, making the special defense boost even better with HP recovery. Ceaseless Edge is a given for this set, allowing Spikes to be set up to chip the opposing team. Razor Shell can help by defense drops, since holding an Assault Vest means no useful status moves such as Taunt and Swords Dance to help break mons. Sacred Sword is ran over Knock Off for Kingambit, since Rillaboom is not running Drain Punch for it; and is a strong move that is boosted by Sharpness. Tera Dark is chose to remove its Water typing to help with Zapdos, to boost its most spammable move Ceaseless Edge, and to power up its final move Sucker Punch in case of emergencies.
With Heatran and H-Samurott being more specially defensive, I wanted a more defensive mon for the team, which is not too passive and can set up. I also needed some form of speed for the team, ensuring that this team is not too slow. Zamazenta seemed like a great choice.
Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
With Grassy Terrain, Substitute Iron Defense Zamazenta seemed like an amazing choice for this team, being fast, bulky, and not very passive thanks to Iron Defense Body Press. It is also a great switch in to Kingambit if H-Samurott needs to check other mons such as Gholdengo. Iron Defense and Body Press is the teams much needed set up to help break through teams. Substitute is great with both Leftovers and Grassy Terrain, as it can regain its HP extremely quickly. Crunch is used to hit Ghost types, where Body Press cannot hit them. Tera Electric is chose for Zapdos, allowing Zamazenta to substitute, set up on it, and to avoid Static proc. Also, Electric is only weak to Ground, which Grassy Terrain can potentially negate against Earthquake.
For the final spot, I realized I was severely weak to hazards. I also realized I could not just run boots spam, as many of these mons benefit heavily from both Leftovers + Grassy Terrain. Also, since none of these mons have reliable recovery, a Wish mon would be nice to keep the team healthy. An out of left-field pick, I chose Espeon.
Espeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Yawn
- Psychic
Espeon is a weird pick that fills in the roles this team needs, such as lack of recovery and weakness to hazards. Scream Tail provides great wish support, but does not stop hazards. Hatterene stops hazards in its tracks, however does not provide the team with healing other than the one time Healing Wish. Espeon fills in both of these roles, being a great supporting mon for the team, stopping mons such as Glimmora. Wish and Protect is great for this mon, providing HP safely for itself and for its team. Yawn shuts down anyone who tries to set up on it, threatening opposing mons with sleep. Psychic is chose for the last move being a strong and reliable STAB move threatening mons such as Glimmora and Great Tusk. Max HP is chose over max SpA to give better Wishes for its teammates and to better survive hits. For emergencies, Tera Bug can be used to help with Great Tusk, and Ting-Lu when Grassy Terrain is not up.
THREATS
Even with all the precautions taken building this team, it does have some flaws with some mons.
Skeledirge can provide this team with some problems, as it can potentially threaten and set up on Sinistcha with Torch Song thanks to Unaware. Rillaboom can Knock Off against it and Taunt to prevent recovery, but Torch Song is super effective against it and can threaten it badly. Heatran is not that useful against it either since Magma Storm cannot trap it due to Skeledirge being part Ghost. Although possible, it will be hard to neutralize Skeledirge.
Hatterene can be a huge problem, as it can set up on the majority of the team. Rillaboom and Heatran cannot taunt it, Espeon cannot Yawn it, and Stored Power can outdamage Shadow Ball from Sinistcha if the two mons decide to go on a Calm Mind war. Chipping Hatterene down with Drum Beating and Ceaseless Edge/Razor Shell is vital.
Great Tusk is always a threat. There are no mons that can reliably switch into this mon, and will always dent your team one way or another. Espeon can switch into Great Tusk to avoid hazards, however it risks taking huge damage due to Knock Off.
Even if Espeon can block hazards, it cannot block Spikes set up by H-Samurott. Zamazenta is a good switch, but Ceaseless Edge will set up permanent spikes due to no hazard removal on this team. Letting H-Samurott getting the upper hand against this team is a huge mistake.
CONCLUSION
Sinistcha is a unique mon that can very easily set up and demolish unprepared teams. With Grassy Seed, this massively helps it by raising its defenses to tank as many hits as it can. With team support, Sinistcha can thrive in the OU meta, and provides a fun way of playing the game.
If anyone has changes/advice for this team, please let me know! If there is anything that could be better or significant changes that can be made I am free for criticism! If anyone wants to try, the paste is below. Thank you for reading!
https://pokepast.es/5c371e7a31be633a
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