Hey guys. This is my first serious team of this generation. I never really played it seriously because I hated Chi Yu and Chien Pao and now, they're finally gone. I lurk in the OU forum a lot but the lack of options like our most hated durian really bites. I was unfamiliar with the tier and well, I sucked at it. But seeing this pokemon, decided might as well try again
Ryujinjakka (Ceruledge) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Bulk Up
- Bitter Blade
- Shadow Sneak
This was the pokemon I wanted to build around. Just recently, there's been a lot of talks about Volcarona being annoying and I knew that this thing had flash fire so it's pretty much a strong counter. I looked up its Smogon page and copied one of the EV spreads. Ceruledge basically serves as the team's late game wincon and potential spinblocker. I went with Bug as my Tera type because Donphan is so annoying so resisting its stabs is just a godsend
Megalodon (Garchomp) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Next is my hazard setter. I just went with Garchomp because since last gen, Garchomp's been on every one of my team except for rain teams and I have no intention of breaking that tradition. I use the tank set because it's really funny to see mons lose a third of their hp if they touch this thing. I dunno about the ev spread tank Garchomp uses so I just dumped everything into hp and defense to make it as bulky as possible and it's worked pretty well thus far. For its Tera, I went with Ghost in the event I need this to emergency spin block. Something like an enemy team is horribly hazard weak and I can guarantee that Donphan won't be able to get rid of hazards. However, I've not run into that situation thus far so it never happened but since Ceruledge has the Tera priority, this isn't a big deal and the option is nice to have
Toad Prince (Greninja) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
With Garchomp and the main pokemon this team is built around out of the way, I still needed some immediate firepower. Out of all the options, I went with specs Greninja because it can easily destroy that stupid, irritating, and straight up dumb Monolith. I hate Garganacl and that nonsense shouldn't have been added into the game in the first place. Just the fact that the Monolith is in the game clearly shows Gamefreak was on drugs when they made this game especially with how they named the Paradox Pokemon. With Greninja, I decided to just use a pretty standard set tho I am sorely tempted to go modest because who doesn't love more firepower. Its Tera Type is just the default because I didn't set it to anything and I kept it anyway because I like things to be organized
Impostor (Amoonguss) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Bomb
Now, I still need a defensive core since I already have the two main offensive threats. I choose Among Us for two reasons, one toxic spikes is annoying, and two, it can handle Galladevoir pretty well. Something I really learned last gen is that your mons don't really have to be super fat as long as you can leverage their resists with the help of some regenerator scouting. For its item, I chose cloak because as I said earlier, I absolutely despise the Monolith. Anything that makes that Monolith miserable is always welcome. Like with Garchomp, I'm not a hundred percent sure what EV spread Among Us uses so I just picked a random spread and this pokemon focuses on special defense for both Galladevoir and Dragapult
Ruskoff (Skeledirge) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 20 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hex
- Slack Off
- Torch Song
- Will-O-Wisp
The last part of the defensive core, I chose the Crocodile. This is undoubtably one of the best starters ever released with how threatening it is. It's serves as the second Tera priority on the team if I need to handle something defensively. Just a standard set to cripple as many things as possible. That EV spread is just a random one. I used the speed EVs on another team with Skeledirge to outrun something but I can't exactly remember what it is but I do know that that Skeledirge did its job well so I kept it and I just put in some spdef EVs for no reason. Since Among Us is more on special defense, the croc focuses on physical defense. For its Tera type, I just chose Water because its generally a good defensive typing and I don't become weak to Kingambit's Steel stabs unlike with Fairy
Gamefreak Fetish (Iron Valiant) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Trick
- Moonblast
- Destiny Bond
- Close Combat
Lastly, I still needed some immediate speed. Greninja's fast but not that fast so I went with a scarfed Galladevoir. The biggest reason for that is so I can threaten Bambi, aka Ting Lu, immediately. I have Greninja but I like having more options and with trick, I can steal away some annoying Grimmsnarl teams' screen turns. Because this Galladevoir set doesn't really have that much power, I decided to use Destiny Bond as my last move. This way, if I get the chance, I can take down a pokemon on the other team whether that's Clodsire or a Gholdengo. Like with Garchomp earlier, I haven't used this much and it only came into play once against a Clodsire. But since everything else is just gonna tickle anyway and there's no point trying to damage its counters, I might as well keep it since Galladevoir rarely sweeps anyway
Threatlist
Yeah, out of all the mons I have, Gholdengo is a massive pain in the ass. This is probably the one pokemon that I hate the most right now after Garganacl. I know people don't think it's broken but I would really love to see this banned because it's so obnoxious. Against my team, I don't really have much of a switch in against it so I really have to pull of some double switches with Among Us and Greninja to pressure this cheese stick
This Kyurem wannabe is also another pain in the ass for the same reasons as the cheese. Its signature Dragon Close Combat can be a real hassle and I can't even scout it because my regen mon is weak to ice. It's nothing really unreasonable to deal with but still annoying
The mushroom isn't really a threat but moreso an annoyance, especially the mushrooms that is on a team that's desperate to keep hazards off. What makes it a threat is the fact that I have to play guessing games with it using Among Us. As I said, it's not really a problem but it could cause some unfortunate positioning which will hurt
Considerations
Because of how I have multiple hazards but no way to deter defog, Corviknight can be really annoying sometimes with it just blowing away my hazards. At the moment, I'm considering replacing Galladevoir with
to deal with that. Not sure if that's a good idea though since that would make me that much more vulnerable to Hydreigon so it's a consideration as of now
Replays
Final Thoughts
Well, that's my very first team. I would really like some advice since I only lurk in the OU forums. I don't play it seriously. Though, it'll probably take me quite some time to rework the team from whatever advice I receive because this game is making me lose my sanity. Losing is one thing but losing due to rng is just straight up bs so I'm gonna take a break until something interesting happens or until Home drops
Ryujinjakka (Ceruledge) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Bulk Up
- Bitter Blade
- Shadow Sneak
This was the pokemon I wanted to build around. Just recently, there's been a lot of talks about Volcarona being annoying and I knew that this thing had flash fire so it's pretty much a strong counter. I looked up its Smogon page and copied one of the EV spreads. Ceruledge basically serves as the team's late game wincon and potential spinblocker. I went with Bug as my Tera type because Donphan is so annoying so resisting its stabs is just a godsend
Megalodon (Garchomp) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Next is my hazard setter. I just went with Garchomp because since last gen, Garchomp's been on every one of my team except for rain teams and I have no intention of breaking that tradition. I use the tank set because it's really funny to see mons lose a third of their hp if they touch this thing. I dunno about the ev spread tank Garchomp uses so I just dumped everything into hp and defense to make it as bulky as possible and it's worked pretty well thus far. For its Tera, I went with Ghost in the event I need this to emergency spin block. Something like an enemy team is horribly hazard weak and I can guarantee that Donphan won't be able to get rid of hazards. However, I've not run into that situation thus far so it never happened but since Ceruledge has the Tera priority, this isn't a big deal and the option is nice to have
Toad Prince (Greninja) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
Impostor (Amoonguss) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Bomb
Now, I still need a defensive core since I already have the two main offensive threats. I choose Among Us for two reasons, one toxic spikes is annoying, and two, it can handle Galladevoir pretty well. Something I really learned last gen is that your mons don't really have to be super fat as long as you can leverage their resists with the help of some regenerator scouting. For its item, I chose cloak because as I said earlier, I absolutely despise the Monolith. Anything that makes that Monolith miserable is always welcome. Like with Garchomp, I'm not a hundred percent sure what EV spread Among Us uses so I just picked a random spread and this pokemon focuses on special defense for both Galladevoir and Dragapult
Ruskoff (Skeledirge) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 20 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hex
- Slack Off
- Torch Song
- Will-O-Wisp
The last part of the defensive core, I chose the Crocodile. This is undoubtably one of the best starters ever released with how threatening it is. It's serves as the second Tera priority on the team if I need to handle something defensively. Just a standard set to cripple as many things as possible. That EV spread is just a random one. I used the speed EVs on another team with Skeledirge to outrun something but I can't exactly remember what it is but I do know that that Skeledirge did its job well so I kept it and I just put in some spdef EVs for no reason. Since Among Us is more on special defense, the croc focuses on physical defense. For its Tera type, I just chose Water because its generally a good defensive typing and I don't become weak to Kingambit's Steel stabs unlike with Fairy
Gamefreak Fetish (Iron Valiant) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Trick
- Moonblast
- Destiny Bond
- Close Combat
Lastly, I still needed some immediate speed. Greninja's fast but not that fast so I went with a scarfed Galladevoir. The biggest reason for that is so I can threaten Bambi, aka Ting Lu, immediately. I have Greninja but I like having more options and with trick, I can steal away some annoying Grimmsnarl teams' screen turns. Because this Galladevoir set doesn't really have that much power, I decided to use Destiny Bond as my last move. This way, if I get the chance, I can take down a pokemon on the other team whether that's Clodsire or a Gholdengo. Like with Garchomp earlier, I haven't used this much and it only came into play once against a Clodsire. But since everything else is just gonna tickle anyway and there's no point trying to damage its counters, I might as well keep it since Galladevoir rarely sweeps anyway
Threatlist
Yeah, out of all the mons I have, Gholdengo is a massive pain in the ass. This is probably the one pokemon that I hate the most right now after Garganacl. I know people don't think it's broken but I would really love to see this banned because it's so obnoxious. Against my team, I don't really have much of a switch in against it so I really have to pull of some double switches with Among Us and Greninja to pressure this cheese stick
This Kyurem wannabe is also another pain in the ass for the same reasons as the cheese. Its signature Dragon Close Combat can be a real hassle and I can't even scout it because my regen mon is weak to ice. It's nothing really unreasonable to deal with but still annoying
The mushroom isn't really a threat but moreso an annoyance, especially the mushrooms that is on a team that's desperate to keep hazards off. What makes it a threat is the fact that I have to play guessing games with it using Among Us. As I said, it's not really a problem but it could cause some unfortunate positioning which will hurt
Considerations
Because of how I have multiple hazards but no way to deter defog, Corviknight can be really annoying sometimes with it just blowing away my hazards. At the moment, I'm considering replacing Galladevoir with
to deal with that. Not sure if that's a good idea though since that would make me that much more vulnerable to Hydreigon so it's a consideration as of nowReplays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805214615-n2gpqlcbuxhysia7mqq5xjbl31xonknpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805211979-zhz0bt6ixia76mt9on3ufb79ninw5fqpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805208539-q6gekybsued3uhqza29y1wm6bfr3lkypw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805185961-a3p8ecr18kyahcplpfe6bqlvv923qo8pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1804745887-i6peb2yfejcapi1hql5jd93p6onu5repw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1804661079-2z5wkhzzl3517xvz747fb1aoihz4a9xpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1804653352-9tsn8afs1b0p7rfe260q30ye2smj8yvpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805211979-zhz0bt6ixia76mt9on3ufb79ninw5fqpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805208539-q6gekybsued3uhqza29y1wm6bfr3lkypw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1805185961-a3p8ecr18kyahcplpfe6bqlvv923qo8pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1804745887-i6peb2yfejcapi1hql5jd93p6onu5repw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1804661079-2z5wkhzzl3517xvz747fb1aoihz4a9xpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1804653352-9tsn8afs1b0p7rfe260q30ye2smj8yvpw
Final Thoughts
Well, that's my very first team. I would really like some advice since I only lurk in the OU forums. I don't play it seriously. Though, it'll probably take me quite some time to rework the team from whatever advice I receive because this game is making me lose my sanity. Losing is one thing but losing due to rng is just straight up bs so I'm gonna take a break until something interesting happens or until Home drops
Why is the covert cloak code not working?
