This team was originally one I found in the SwSh Bazaar made by Solaros & Lunaris during the Dynamax era. However, as I found, this team was solid enough to succeed in a post-Dynamax era, and over the past few months, I've changed this team around enough that I can safely and comfortably call it my own. However, I feel that there are still things about this team that could stand to be improved, and thus I've decided to throw my hat into the proverbial ring.
With that out of the way, let's get into the team proper:
The Team
Heaven and Hell (Corviknight) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 136 SpD / 88 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Roost
The main wincon and undisputed MVP of this squad.
Corviknight is meant to act as a late-game win condition once the opposing team is weakened, whether it be by status or the hazards the rest of the team provides. It is able to set up on and beat a variety of popular Pokemon such as Seismitoad, Excadrill, Ferrothorn (Be careful not to switch into Leech Seed though), Reuniclus, Sylveon, defensive Clef, and even other Corviknights (be careful about PP though).
The moves are relatively self-explanatory. Brave Bird is the STAB of choice, giving it a move that hits decently hard, especially with a couple of Bulk ups behind it, as well as a move that hits most of the tier at least neutrally. Substitute lets it set up on the aforementioned threats as well as punish switches from the opponent. Bulk Up lets it serve its role as a win condition, as well as help it to beat threats like DD Gyara, SD Drill, and I think BU Conk. Finally, Roost gives Corviknight reliable recovery and a way to enable Pressure stalling.
Pressure works in tandem with Substitute, Bulk Up, and Roost to stall out opposing Pokemon's PP. Leftovers gives it nice passive recovery, as well as letting it avoid some 2HKOs
The EV spread is a pretty old one taken from the analysis, but it's still quite effective, as I've found, and it allows it to outspeed just enough threats and tank just enough hits to with, and the nature gives it additional special bulk to take special hits that much better.
This thing has near-singlehandidly won me most of my games, but that doesn't mean it can win without support, and that leads me into my next member...
Lonely is the Word (Seismitoad) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Protect / Earthquake / Earth Power
Seismitoad is the rocker of this team as well as the main method of handling the Fire and Electric types that Corviknight hates dealing with. It is also usually my lead of choice as it leads well against many Pokemon in the tier.
The moves are relatively self-explanatory, though I should explain at least one choice. Scald is my main STAB, giving me a reliable way of dealing damage to the tier's Fire, Ground, and Rock types, as well as letting it threaten physical attackers and defensive mons with its chance to burn. Toxic is there to help chip at the many, many bulky Pokemon within the tier as well as hit Pokemon that are immune to T-spikes, like Mandibuzz, Togekiss, and HDB mons. It also serves as a way to threaten pretty much every Rotom form. Stealth Rock is there to give me some form of hazards. Finally, for the last slot, it's sort of a toss up. I prefer to run Protect, as it not only lets me scout what the opponent is going to do, but it lets me play around Trick users that much more easily, rack up Toxic damage, and get more Leftovers recovery. However, if the opponent predicts it, they can use it as a chance to set up, which puts me in deep trouble. Earthquake is a great secondary STAB that lets it do decent damage to Pex and Hatterene, among others. However, it also comes at the risk of making you weaker to Trick as well as having to make more predictions. Earth Power is good for hitting Conk and Pex harder iirc, but that's about it.
Leftovers is the item of choice, as it gives Seismitoad some form of recovery. The ability is Water Absorb, letting it serve as a Dracovish answer as well as an answer to the other water types of the tier.
The EVS are very basic, with max HP and max Def letting it tank quite a few physical hits, and a Relaxed nature only further helps it serve its role as a tanky rocker.
Lady Evil (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature / Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
One of the two special tanks of the team and a secondary hazard setter, Ferrothorn is here to set up Spikes, throw around Leech Seeds, and generally help chip the opposing team.
Out of all the Pokemon on this team, Ferrothorn's set is probably the most volatile and open to change.
Most of the moves at the moment are relatively self-explanatory Starting with Leech Seed, Leech Seed serves as not only an additional form of recovery for Ferrothorn, but a way to punish switches and be incredibly annoying. It prevents free switches to Pokemon like Corviknight, Mandibuzz, Toxapex, and others. Spikes is here to help chip down the opposing team, and Ferrothorn can set up Spikes fairly reliably, usually being able to get at least 1 layer up per game. The third slot is Power Whip at the moment, which serves as a good primary STAB, letting it hit a decent amount of Pokemon in the tier. Finally, Gyro Ball lets Ferrothorn smack faster Pokemon such as Togekiss and Dragapult incredibly hard, as well as serving as a great secondary STAB.
However, I'm thinking of changing up the last two slots, and I have begun to consider several options. However, I've been thinking of changing it, since I rarely end up using it. One option I've been considering is Thunder Wave to punish Pokemon like Clefable, Togekiss, and Dragapult, but that would end up neutering the damage done by Gyro Ball, so if I ran it, I would probably end up replacing Gyro Ball. In addition, running Thunder Wave makes it so I can't toxic certain Pokemon, but against Pokemon like Clefable, that isn't exactly a big deal
Another option I'm considering is Knock Off to help neutralize the HDB mons as well as the ones that rely on Leftovers for reliable recovery or items like Life Orb and Specs to do consistent damage. This would probably be the best alternative option in the long run, but I'm not sure what to put it over
Protect is another option I've considered, but considering I already have 2 Protect users on the team, a 3rd one seems excessive
Finally, I've considered using Iron Head to hit Hatterene harder, since it is a major threat to my team, but that would mean worse damage against other things.
If there's anything on this team that could change, this is probably one of the ones that's most suspectible to changing.
Iron Barbs helps it punish physical attackers, and lefties are used for reliable recovery and all that jazz
The EV spread is again, self-explanatory, with max HP and max Spdef maximizing its special bulk, and a Sassy nature with 0 Speed IVs maximizing Gyro Ball damage, though I'll likely change it to Careful if I drop Gyro Ball. I'm also thinking of running EVs to speed creep Hat but that likely won't happen.
Children of the Sea (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
My secondary physical wall and tertiary hazard setter, Toxapex is here to set up T-spikes, spread burns, and generally be an insanely annoying piece of shit. It has its faults, but it can also be incredibly annoying to deal with, especially when combined with Ferro and Corv
Pex's moves are about as standard as you get. T-spikes help wear down the opposing team for Corviknight to win, and Pex can set at least one layer up on a lot of the tier. Scald is the STAB of choice, letting it punish switchins with potential burns and generally providing reliable chip damage. Recover is used for well, reliable recovery, and Haze is used to punish setup sweepers, and often Pex will manage to pull off a Haze after hanging on from a boosted hit.
Regenerator lets it pivot in and out throughout the game, and Black Sludge gives it great passive recovery as well as a way to punish Trick
The EVs are mostly standard, with max HP and almost max Def alongside a Bold nature helping it to tank physical hits. 8 Speed EVs are used to speed creep 52 Speed Hatterene so it can Haze vs Calm Mind variants. It's a very basic spread and one I'll probably change in the future.
Wishing Well (Sylveon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Calm Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Mystical Fire
Sylveon is the team's secondary special wall, dedicated Dragapult/Hydreigon answer, and wish-passer. Sylveon spends most of the game chipping the opponent and healing the rest of the team and is probably one of the most important Pokemon alongside Seis and Corv
Sylveon's moves, like the other Pokemon on this team, are pretty self explanatory and standard. Hyper Voice is the main STAB, letting it deal with the many Darks, Dragons, and Fighting types in the tier as well as hitting through subs. Wish alongside Protect allows it to heal itself, though Wish is also often used to help heal up team mates such as Seismitoad and Ferro, letting them recover to full or at least near full HP. Mystical Fire helps it somewhat check Calm Mind users like Clef and Hatterene as well as serving as a way to hit Pokemon like Ferrothorn. However, I've been considering putting Calm Mind over this to help it better check CM users as well as serve as a win condition in its own right.
Pixilate turns Hyper Voice into STAB and Leftovers gives it passive recovery, it's all self explanatory
A Calm Nature alongside 252 HP and 16 SpD give it a great amount of special bulk, and 240 Def is used to maximize physical bulk. I've been thinking about going full or near full Spdef to better check Hydreigon and Dragapult, but that remains to be seen.
Neon Knights (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform
A relic of the Dynamax meta, Ditto is the final member of the team and serves as an incredible glue mon, letting the team check set up sweepers, defensive mons, and breakers all in one set and serves as the team's primary form of speed control and revenge killing.
This thing is only second to Corviknight in terms of how many games have been clutched by it. Being able to revenge kill dangerous threats such as Dragapult, Hydreigon, Aegislash, Cloyster, Gengar, and so many others gives it an insane amount of utility on its ow. Being able to copy defensive Pokemon such as Corviknight, Mandibuzz, Clef, Rotom, etc is just icing on the cake. It is not perfect, and not being able to revenge Pokemon like Lucha or Conk, as well as being weak to all hazards can be pretty rough depending on the matchup, but it gives the team so much utility and flexibility that those flaws can be overlooked
I know that the EVs and Nature are not 100% optimal, but given that those spreads are solely run for Ditto dittoes, and those are exceedingly rare now, I see no reason to run it. Scarf is here to help it serve as a revenge killer, but depending on the matchup, you may want to have it get knocked or Tricked.
Threatlist:
: Trick sets are easily dealt with, but Nasty Plot sets can get out of control if not played around perfectly. Ditto and Seis are your best ways of dealing with it, so don't let them get chipped too much
: Bulk Up sets can be terrifying to switch into, but either Sylveon or Corviknight can usually deal with it before it gets too out of control. 
: If this thing sets up a Nasty Plot, you're going to likely lose a mon or two. Sylveon has a 50/50 chance of getting OHKO'd after rocks by +2 Flash Cannon and Ferro gets 2HKO'd by +2 Dark Pulse and OHKO'd by Flamethrower/Fire Blast. Your best bet of dealing with it is to make sure Hydreigon's in on something that can either status it (Seismitoad) or chip it heavily (Ferrothorn), or worst case scenario, you sack something and bring in Ditto. Specs sets are far easier to deal with however, as is Scarf
: I hate this thing so much. Calm Mind variants can 6-0 on team preview, as Corv can't completely stall out Mystical Fire, Sylveon can't truly beat it 1v1, Seis can't beat it without EQ, Ferro and Pex get smashed by Mystical Fire and Ditto can't truly revenge kill it. This thing is a goddamn menace and if you fight it, you're very likely to lose unless it comes in on a ton of hazards and T-spikes. It's a big reason as to why I want to run Iron Head on Ferro, I run speed EVs on Pex, and I'm thinking of running CM on Sylveon. Absolute biggest threat to this team bar none : This thing is less hard to deal with and moreso really annoying, since nothing on the team can OHKO or even 2HKO it. That being said, opposing Corviknights can't really do too much against you to begin with, since you can stall them out with most of the team. Not really a threat, but an annoyance
: Same deal as Corviknight, though admittedly less so, since Sylveon can chip it hard and it can be toxic'd.
: Looking at the team, specs Aegislash can be annoying, but I've never actually had issues with it. You should watch out for it though, as if it predicts well, it can be annoying. Ferro/Pex/Corv beat physical sets though, and SD sets get revenged.Hazards: By now, you should have probably noticed that this team has 0 hazard removal. Usually it's not an issue, as most of the time you'll face teams with Defog on them, but against hazard stack teams or teams that rely on spin, it can get extremely annoying to deal with, as most of the team is grounded and 3 of its members do not have super reliable recovery. It's one of the reasons I've considered going Clefable over Sylveon. You could probably change Corv to Defog or even change Ditto to a spinner like Drill or Defogger like Mandibuzz oir even make Sylveon boots if it bothers you too much. Personally, I'm fine with this weakness, as it's rarely cost me games, but it's something to take into account when using it.
Replays:
Here's some replays of the team in action. There aren't many, but that's because I'm only using replays of the current squad. I should mention that I'm not high ladder but that's more because of my level of skill and general cautiousness when it comes to laddering
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1060089858 (Ignore the Sylveon sack, that was a misclick)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1060087780
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1052329398
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1048322971
Closing Thoughts:
Despite its flaws, this is one of my favorite teams in all of Sword and Shield, and has served me well over its many incarnations (At one point the Sylveon slot was a Galarian Corsola, then an Umbreon, and finally a Sylveon), netting me a pretty solid 37-6 record with it across 2 accounts (Rough estimate but should be fairly close), and I'm confident that a better player than me could improve upon this team and take it really far
I'm really interested to see the ways in which I could improve this team and the general feedback I will get from this!
If you've read all of this, thank you.
Finally, here's a paste so you can try the team for yourself https://pokepast.es/120c9635bae18661
