SV OU Porygon sweep incoming

[Dment]

I saw Freezai's Porygon-Z team and loved it so much that I decided to make a team focused on making the little bird shine.
Here is the paste for the team: https://pokepast.es/d5e941ee29201a48

Porygon-Z @ Choice Specs
Ability: Download
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

The star of the team, Porygon-Z is the main damage dealer. Choice specs and the ability Download together boost the SpA of this little guy to absurd numbers. We have three great coverage moves, for ice, electric, and ghost-type damage and Tri Attack is a good normal STAB option with a secondary status effect, in case you expect the opponent to switch into a resist. The tera ghost gives you an immunity to normal-type and, especially, fighting-type attacks that would otherwise hit you for super effective damage, terastralizing to ghost has won me many games against Close combat, Dragonite's extreme speed and body press from Zamazenta, Archaludon, or Skarmory.

Araquanid @ Focus Sash
Ability: Water Bubble
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Endeavor

This is the lead in 99% of the games. The main objective of Araquanid is, of course, to set up sticky web. If you can get webs up, Porygon will outspeed a lot of Pokemon that would one-shot it. The focus sash is essential to guarantee that we're surviving one turn to set up the sticky web, and Endeavor combos well with that item, and can surprise opponents with some big damage even to tank targets.

Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Recover
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Gholdengo also has a very clear objective in this team, which is to block rapid spin. The combination of being a ghost-type and being immune to defog thanks to its ability makes Gholdengo an amazing spin blocker and guarantees that your webs will be there for the entire game. The air balloon helps it to switch into Iron Threads, Great Tusk, and Excadrill, and the combination of Shadow Ball and Focus Blast hits basically everything. This bulky EV spread in combination with Nasty Plot and Recover gives it the potential to set up and sweep the enemy team, using tera fairy to resist incoming Knock Offs.

Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ruination
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind

Ting-Lu is very tanky and can switch into a lot of threats. Stealth Rock gives you one more hazard to take advantage of, and Whirlwind helps you shut down set-up sweepers. Ting-Lu also checks Archaludon and Raging Bolt very well, being immune to electric damage. The tera grass is to help against rain teams while still resisting electric moves, although I hardly ever see myself clicking tera with Ting-Lu. Leftovers, Earthquake and Ruination are pretty standard, just solid choices in most games.

Rillaboom @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

Rilaboom gives this team a good priority move on Grassy Glide. It checks Barraskewda regardless of the speed boost from Swift Swim. It also gives you a better tool to deal with special walls that give Porygon-Z a hard time, like Blissey. I opted to go with Swords Dance and Life Orb here because I think that the Grass Terrain and Drain Punch give you a lot of healing back, but I can see Choice Band and U-turn working very well too. The tera type is Water to resist incoming Fire and Ice attacks.

Roaring Moon @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off
- Earthquake

Let's be honest, folks. Roaring Moon is the actual sweeper of the team, stealing the show from Porygon-Z in most games. It's a great late-game cleaner, finishing up the opponents you weakened during the game. You have to be very mindful of the time to bring this Pokemon in because the attack boost from photosynthesis can only be used once, so you have to make it count. It's base speed is amazing and one Dragon Dance is all Roaring Moon needs to outspeed almost everything. Acrobatics + Tera Flying will deal tons of damage after you consume your Booster Energy.

Shortcomings

Something that this team lacks is hazard removal. There is no way to get rid of Toxic Spikes and that can hurt a lot in longer games against stall.
Another thing lacking is a consistent way to Unaware Pokemon like Clefable and Clodsire, as they ignore the stat boosts from Porygon-Z and can take hits easily and Toxic you in return.

Please feel free to try this team out and tell me what you think!

 

[DaRotomMachine]

Using Stealth Rock Rapid Spin Great Tusk instead of Ting-Lu may help with your hazard problem, doing what Ting-Lu does plus spin.
I would still put speed on Gholdengo, just not Max Speed. The Ev spread of 148 HP / 144 SpA / 216 Spe makes it faster tha Weavile and aything slower under webs while being bulky and still hitting hard.
By now I also see that Kyurem is a big threat to this team if Gholdengo gets knocked out. I was thinking Zamazenta could probably work better than Roaring Moon as a set-up sweeper with Iron Defense+ Body Press.

 

[VicBossMG]

When you run webs you’re going for hyper offensive pressure, having ting lu isn’t really needed and as a Araquanid user in my meloetta HO team I would say go with boots over focus sash and mirror coat 252 hp 252+ atk rest in sp def it has amazing natural sp def at 300 alone and can live a freeze dry from kyurem and OHKO it with mirror coat

Gholdengo should definitely run Tera fairy air balloon 196 hp 152+ def and 160 speed putting you at 244 the speed under webs should outspeed roaring moon and iron val. Having bulk is important and running nasty plot dazzling gleam, shadow ball, recover is a nasty set I’ve swept a lot of people with in the 1800-1900s. +4 Tera fairy dazzling gleam will OHKO kingambit especially if the gambit runs iron head, sucker, SD, low kick you’ll just wall them forever. Also this spread can live a skewda liquidation if they don’t Tera water and ohko it back at +2 with shadow ball while dazzling gleam beats raging bolt and Tera fairy OHKO opposing roaring moons 0 SpA Gholdengo Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roaring Moon: 292-344 (83.1 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO this is without Tera and no investment

For hazard control and remover you can drop ting lu and go great tusk you can run boots/leftovers (boots preferred since grassy terrain can heal you and you can safely switch in on toxic spikes)tusk 248 hp 48+ def and 212 speed putting you at 263 and def at 341 with Tera water (for rain) rapid spin, stealth rock/ Templar flare (doubles in power if you miss a move like headlong rush or rapid spin vs gholdengo or corv or skarm) headlong rush, and ice spinner for gliscor the spread is from spooks RMT for his gouging fire team.

For unaware mons you could just drop roaring moon for kingambit since with rilla you’ll be giving gambit free leftovers and tske less from earthquake can help also be a great revenge killer vs rain as well and my personal favorite set is 252+ atk 252 speed kowtow, low kick, sd, sucker punch Tera fighting if you have 3 fallen you just 3HKO dozo and can eventually break through their team. Also any Pokemon at 298 speed kingambit will outspeed if max speed adamant nature. Item could be Lum/air balloon/ lefties/ or boots. Another set people run is iron head, low kick, sd, sucker no kowtow and Tera fighting still.

Last note always adamant rilla never jolly since you’re running webs.

If you want examples of gholdengo sweeping with my spread running webs you can see them in my replays in my RMT

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...r-me-peaked-1919-27-meloetta-webs-ho.3736282/]

 

[Roller K]

Porygon-Z is a powerhouse even with power creep, and it is underexplored in OU. It has a strong niche as a special Normal-type breaker who can become a Ghost-type breaker in some matchups. The team looks strong as is, but I have some small suggestions to help Porygon excel at its role even more. A Pokepaste of my changes is right below.

My version:

Changes:

1. > : While I like the role fills, it does not pair well with Earthquake from /. You also mentioned how troublesome Toxic Spikes is. I wanted to change the slot to a Pokemon who could handle Toxic Spikes, provide speed control so the team isn't dependent on Sticky Web, and help out Pokemon that handle the Normal-type attacks from . I feel like fills this role extremely well. It is strong into the common Steel- and Ghost-types of the tier that would handle Tri Attack (////). Most sets run Fiery Dance, Sludge Wave, Substitute, and one more attack, so I opted for the last move to be Dazzling Gleam and made it Tera Fairy. The amount of strong Dragon-types in the tier warrants this, and it helps handle opposing that can cause trouble for : porygon-z:. By making it a Speed Booster set, you have a Pokemon naturally at 525 Speed, so you do not need to rely on Sticky Web to outspeed and sweep.

2. Tera Blast > Tri Attack, Adaptability > Download on : Unfortunately, Download got nerfed this generation, and it only activates once per battle. This is fine for Choice Scarf and set-up sets, but on Choice Specs, you will likely need to switch out after a kill, and the reliability of Adaptability will pay off late game. I opted for Tera Blast > Tri Attack with Adaptability because you can switch your offensive move from Normal to Ghost once in the game, which may be crucial if you knock something out and a Ghost- or Steel-type tries to revenge kill you. You get to flip the script and take them out, which can apply a lot of pressure on them. Since you lose the Adaptability boost on Normal-type moves once you Tera into Ghost, I decided Tri Attack was likely not worth spamming post-Tera since it is only 1.5x instead of the normal 2x power. Shadow Ball, on the other hand, is still a nice coverage move to have pre-Tera, so I decided it would be better to keep on the set.

3. Mirror Coat > Endeavor, Heavy-Duty Boots > Focus Sash on : The point of using over is to be a tanky user of Sticky Web that can eat a hit and have the potential to set up webs again if removed. Mirror Coat is nice for pressuring special attackers, thanks to 's high special defense. Heavy-Duty Boots allow for more longevity throughout a game.

4. Make it Rain > Recover on : Make it Rain is pretty important to ensure has a strong move to spam. I originally replaced Focus Blast, but is very difficult to handle for this team, so I opted to remove Recover. Nasty Plot allows to still be a potential sweeper with Sticky Web support, and realistically, once Air Balloon is gone, can't reliably stop and others from getting off Rapid Spin, so Recover is not needed. This is not a big change, but I believe Make it Rain will help take off big chunks of health from opposing Pokemon so your other members can sweep.

5. Tera Water > Grass on : Minor change, but Tera Water will greatly help out against weather matchups, whereas Tera Grass only helps with Rain.

6. Notable EV Changes:
a. : The spider is already very slow, and the extra bulk is super nice for tanking hits when need be, so I made it Max HP instead of Max Speed.
b. : Speed is nice to have on since it can act as a set-up sweeper itself once Sticky Web is up, plus the bulk will not help too much against Headlong Rush from , so I made it Max Speed instead of Max HP.
c. : Max Special Defense over Max Defense is standard and preferred, as it lives so many hits on both sides that way.

The team looks very cool, and I am glad you are making use of Porygon-Z! With the right support, it is a menace and can rip through teams. I hope these changes help you succeed more on the ladder!

 

[Dment]

Using Stealth Rock Rapid Spin Great Tusk instead of Ting-Lu may help with your hazard problem, doing what Ting-Lu does plus spin.
I would still put speed on Gholdengo, just not Max Speed. The Ev spread of 148 HP / 144 SpA / 216 Spe makes it faster tha Weavile and aything slower under webs while being bulky and still hitting hard.
By now I also see that Kyurem is a big threat to this team if Gholdengo gets knocked out. I was thinking Zamazenta could probably work better than Roaring Moon as a set-up sweeper with Iron Defense+ Body Press.

I like the idea of Great Tusk and the EV spread for Gholdengo does seem better. I'm not sure about Zamazenta over Roaring Moon, but I'll give it a chance. Thank you for the ideas!

 

[Dment]

When you run webs you’re going for hyper offensive pressure, having ting lu isn’t really needed and as a Araquanid user in my meloetta HO team I would say go with boots over focus sash and mirror coat 252 hp 252+ atk rest in sp def it has amazing natural sp def at 300 alone and can live a freeze dry from kyurem and OHKO it with mirror coat

Gholdengo should definitely run Tera fairy air balloon 196 hp 152+ def and 160 speed putting you at 244 the speed under webs should outspeed roaring moon and iron val. Having bulk is important and running nasty plot dazzling gleam, shadow ball, recover is a nasty set I’ve swept a lot of people with in the 1800-1900s. +4 Tera fairy dazzling gleam will OHKO kingambit especially if the gambit runs iron head, sucker, SD, low kick you’ll just wall them forever. Also this spread can live a skewda liquidation if they don’t Tera water and ohko it back at +2 with shadow ball while dazzling gleam beats raging bolt and Tera fairy OHKO opposing roaring moons 0 SpA Gholdengo Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roaring Moon: 292-344 (83.1 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO this is without Tera and no investment

For hazard control and remover you can drop ting lu and go great tusk you can run boots/leftovers (boots preferred since grassy terrain can heal you and you can safely switch in on toxic spikes)tusk 248 hp 48+ def and 212 speed putting you at 263 and def at 341 with Tera water (for rain) rapid spin, stealth rock/ Templar flare (doubles in power if you miss a move like headlong rush or rapid spin vs gholdengo or corv or skarm) headlong rush, and ice spinner for gliscor the spread is from spooks RMT for his gouging fire team.

For unaware mons you could just drop roaring moon for kingambit since with rilla you’ll be giving gambit free leftovers and tske less from earthquake can help also be a great revenge killer vs rain as well and my personal favorite set is 252+ atk 252 speed kowtow, low kick, sd, sucker punch Tera fighting if you have 3 fallen you just 3HKO dozo and can eventually break through their team. Also any Pokemon at 298 speed kingambit will outspeed if max speed adamant nature. Item could be Lum/air balloon/ lefties/ or boots. Another set people run is iron head, low kick, sd, sucker no kowtow and Tera fighting still.

Last note always adamant rilla never jolly since you’re running webs.

If you want examples of gholdengo sweeping with my spread running webs you can see them in my replays in my RMT

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...r-me-peaked-1919-27-meloetta-webs-ho.3736282/]

Thank you so much for the really great advice, adding Kingambit is a very interesting idea and the calcs you made really helped me understand your points. Also, I totally agree with Admant rilla, that was a mistake for sure. I'll make sure to give this team a try!
Since you seem to have experience with sticky web teams, let me ask you a follow up question. How would you handle Hatterene teams? The Magic Bounce makes clicking webs very scary. Do you never lead with Araquinid and never use webs until Hatterene is down? Or do you try to predict and use webs when they will not expect?

 

[Dment]

Porygon-Z is a powerhouse even with power creep, and it is underexplored in OU. It has a strong niche as a special Normal-type breaker who can become a Ghost-type breaker in some matchups. The team looks strong as is, but I have some small suggestions to help Porygon excel at its role even more. A Pokepaste of my changes is right below.

My version:

Changes:

1. > : While I like the role fills, it does not pair well with Earthquake from /. You also mentioned how troublesome Toxic Spikes is. I wanted to change the slot to a Pokemon who could handle Toxic Spikes, provide speed control so the team isn't dependent on Sticky Web, and help out Pokemon that handle the Normal-type attacks from . I feel like fills this role extremely well. It is strong into the common Steel- and Ghost-types of the tier that would handle Tri Attack (////). Most sets run Fiery Dance, Sludge Wave, Substitute, and one more attack, so I opted for the last move to be Dazzling Gleam and made it Tera Fairy. The amount of strong Dragon-types in the tier warrants this, and it helps handle opposing that can cause trouble for : porygon-z:. By making it a Speed Booster set, you have a Pokemon naturally at 525 Speed, so you do not need to rely on Sticky Web to outspeed and sweep.

2. Tera Blast > Tri Attack, Adaptability > Download on : Unfortunately, Download got nerfed this generation, and it only activates once per battle. This is fine for Choice Scarf and set-up sets, but on Choice Specs, you will likely need to switch out after a kill, and the reliability of Adaptability will pay off late game. I opted for Tera Blast > Tri Attack with Adaptability because you can switch your offensive move from Normal to Ghost once in the game, which may be crucial if you knock something out and a Ghost- or Steel-type tries to revenge kill you. You get to flip the script and take them out, which can apply a lot of pressure on them. Since you lose the Adaptability boost on Normal-type moves once you Tera into Ghost, I decided Tri Attack was likely not worth spamming post-Tera since it is only 1.5x instead of the normal 2x power. Shadow Ball, on the other hand, is still a nice coverage move to have pre-Tera, so I decided it would be better to keep on the set.

3. Mirror Coat > Endeavor, Heavy-Duty Boots > Focus Sash on : The point of using over is to be a tanky user of Sticky Web that can eat a hit and have the potential to set up webs again if removed. Mirror Coat is nice for pressuring special attackers, thanks to 's high special defense. Heavy-Duty Boots allow for more longevity throughout a game.

4. Make it Rain > Recover on : Make it Rain is pretty important to ensure has a strong move to spam. I originally replaced Focus Blast, but is very difficult to handle for this team, so I opted to remove Recover. Nasty Plot allows to still be a potential sweeper with Sticky Web support, and realistically, once Air Balloon is gone, can't reliably stop and others from getting off Rapid Spin, so Recover is not needed. This is not a big change, but I believe Make it Rain will help take off big chunks of health from opposing Pokemon so your other members can sweep.

5. Tera Water > Grass on : Minor change, but Tera Water will greatly help out against weather matchups, whereas Tera Grass only helps with Rain.

6. Notable EV Changes:
a. : The spider is already very slow, and the extra bulk is super nice for tanking hits when need be, so I made it Max HP instead of Max Speed.
b. : Speed is nice to have on since it can act as a set-up sweeper itself once Sticky Web is up, plus the bulk will not help too much against Headlong Rush from , so I made it Max Speed instead of Max HP.
c. : Max Special Defense over Max Defense is standard and preferred, as it lives so many hits on both sides that way.

The team looks very cool, and I am glad you are making use of Porygon-Z! With the right support, it is a menace and can rip through teams. I hope these changes help you succeed more on the ladder!

Hey! I love your take on Araquinid, Gholdengo and Ting-lu. I struggle a bit with the EV spreads but you improved a lot on them. About Porygon-Z, I'm pretty sure that Download does not activates only once per battle, but every time you switch in. In any case, I see how Download can be inconsistent and Adaptabilty is a safer choice. That being said, using Tera Blast to change the attack type despite the Choice Specs is complete genius, I'll totally use that.
Using Iron Moth instead of Rillaboom is a very original idea that I would never even consider. Really cool!
Thank you for the amazing feedback. Also, including a pokepaste with the changes is awesome. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with your team on the ladder now!

 

[VicBossMG]

Thank you so much for the really great advice, adding Kingambit is a very interesting idea and the calcs you made really helped me understand your points. Also, I totally agree with Admant rilla, that was a mistake for sure. I'll make sure to give this team a try!
Since you seem to have experience with sticky web teams, let me ask you a follow up question. How would you handle Hatterene teams? The Magic Bounce makes clicking webs very scary. Do you never lead with Araquinid and never use webs until Hatterene is down? Or do you try to predict and use webs when they will not expect?

You can lead Araquanid still since you have leech life and can heal off Hatterene or just use Liquidation and Hatterene can never switch in safely so they would have to predict your lead if you choose to lead it. If you happen to get webs on your side great tusk with boots can always come in without the drop and if they have a gholdengo with balloon you can also do the combo rapid spin into Templar flare which becomes 140 bsp if you fail the move.

252+ Atk Water Bubble Araquanid Liquidation vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Hatterene: 159-187 (50 - 58.8%) -- 75% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

You’re naturally faster and if they nuzzle you then you can mirror coat for a ko if they draining kiss or pyshock, leech life does about 25-27% and heals 12% so you’ll always win the match up unless they tera water, but liquidation does have a chance to def drop so leading that and spamming liquidation is free unless they have ogrepon-wellspring you can leech life for over 50% if predicted.

 

[PragaSV]

Gholdengo should definitely run Tera fairy air balloon 196 hp 152+ def and 160 speed putting you at 244 the speed under webs should outspeed roaring moon and iron val.

Quick correction, 247 is the required speed to outspeed Jolly Roaring Moon / Cinderace without boots after webs. I'm not sure what the defensive EV's are tailored for, but you might want to increase speed to 172 in order to reach 247 if you do use this set. Hope this helps.