Hi all! I am definitely looking for advice on improvements to this team. It is meant to be a Bulky Offense/Balanced Hazard Stacking team, and centred on the core of Samurott-H and Gholdengo. I am down for switching Pokemon and their sets around, but would like to try and keep the core together + Sneasler (I am open to switching their sets however)
Samurott-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Sacred Sword
- Razor Shell
- Aqua Jet
Samurott-H is a central part of this team. Ceaseless Edge + Sharpness is just so damn good. Too often I ignore his other good coverage options in Racor Shell and Sacred Sword because Ceaseless Edge is amazing. I run AV because he can help alleviate some pressure off of the spdef tank of the team such as ghost and water attacks. Aqua jet can also help with speed control. I love using this Pokemon, it has certainly breathed life in the hazard stacking archetype.
Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Gholdengo is a great wallbreaker. It's higher defences allow it to take hits from various resisted types (ghost/steel is awesome defensively), and air balloon gives it a temporary immunity to ground. Nasty Plot + Make it Rain is, well, nasty to deal with. Shadow Ball is a safe attack that will hit the majority of the tier too. He hits hard, and he blocks hazard removal, making Ceaseless Edge an even better move.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
Zapdos is a great teammate for this core. However, I am undecided if I want to run the current offensive set, or if I should run the defensive oriented set. With Volt Switch, Zapdos can get other offensive Pokemon into the battle, and forms a nice Voltturn core with Sneasler. Hurricane and Thunderbolt are strong moves that no Pokemon really wants to deal with, and Static is great for making physical attackers think twice before attacking. That, along with Sneasler's poison touch, can quickly spread status as well as hazards for other Pokemon to deal with. An absolute menace.
Sneasler @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Dire Claw
- U-turn
- Switcheroo
Sneasler has some nice role compression, and brings more than I thought it would to the team. Spreading status through poison touch + dire claw helps wear down Pokemon along with the hazards. With a choice scarf, he is the main go to option for speed control. With U-Turn, he can complete a volt turn core with Zapdos, and Switcheroo can ruin the life of any tank or attempted sweeper.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Ruination
Ting Lu is the main special defensive wall of this team. Stealth Rock compounds the hazard stacking core with Samurott-H, and makes Pokemon dread switching in. Earthquake, Whirlwind, and Ruination are moves to ensure Ting Lu is not passive, and can deal with incoming attackers. I have had some problems especially with special attackers such as fairy and water types, so maybe Ting Lu is not the right Pokemon to run here, but I am open to suggestions!
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Bulk Up
Great Tusk is the main defensive wall of this team. With tera-water, it can be close to impossible for physical attackers to break through. I decided to run a Bulk Up set due to Ting Lu running Stealth Rock, however if I replaced Ting Lu I could easily just add Stealth Rock back in lieu of Bulk Up. Rapid Spin also acts as an effective move for hazard removal without compromising the hazards on the other side of the field.
Samurott-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Sacred Sword
- Razor Shell
- Aqua Jet
Samurott-H is a central part of this team. Ceaseless Edge + Sharpness is just so damn good. Too often I ignore his other good coverage options in Racor Shell and Sacred Sword because Ceaseless Edge is amazing. I run AV because he can help alleviate some pressure off of the spdef tank of the team such as ghost and water attacks. Aqua jet can also help with speed control. I love using this Pokemon, it has certainly breathed life in the hazard stacking archetype.
Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Gholdengo is a great wallbreaker. It's higher defences allow it to take hits from various resisted types (ghost/steel is awesome defensively), and air balloon gives it a temporary immunity to ground. Nasty Plot + Make it Rain is, well, nasty to deal with. Shadow Ball is a safe attack that will hit the majority of the tier too. He hits hard, and he blocks hazard removal, making Ceaseless Edge an even better move.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
Zapdos is a great teammate for this core. However, I am undecided if I want to run the current offensive set, or if I should run the defensive oriented set. With Volt Switch, Zapdos can get other offensive Pokemon into the battle, and forms a nice Voltturn core with Sneasler. Hurricane and Thunderbolt are strong moves that no Pokemon really wants to deal with, and Static is great for making physical attackers think twice before attacking. That, along with Sneasler's poison touch, can quickly spread status as well as hazards for other Pokemon to deal with. An absolute menace.
Sneasler @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Dire Claw
- U-turn
- Switcheroo
Sneasler has some nice role compression, and brings more than I thought it would to the team. Spreading status through poison touch + dire claw helps wear down Pokemon along with the hazards. With a choice scarf, he is the main go to option for speed control. With U-Turn, he can complete a volt turn core with Zapdos, and Switcheroo can ruin the life of any tank or attempted sweeper.
Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Ruination
Ting Lu is the main special defensive wall of this team. Stealth Rock compounds the hazard stacking core with Samurott-H, and makes Pokemon dread switching in. Earthquake, Whirlwind, and Ruination are moves to ensure Ting Lu is not passive, and can deal with incoming attackers. I have had some problems especially with special attackers such as fairy and water types, so maybe Ting Lu is not the right Pokemon to run here, but I am open to suggestions!
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Bulk Up
Great Tusk is the main defensive wall of this team. With tera-water, it can be close to impossible for physical attackers to break through. I decided to run a Bulk Up set due to Ting Lu running Stealth Rock, however if I replaced Ting Lu I could easily just add Stealth Rock back in lieu of Bulk Up. Rapid Spin also acts as an effective move for hazard removal without compromising the hazards on the other side of the field.
's set for a 4 attack set. Right now, Bulk-Up sets aren't really in today's faster meta. Ice Spinner on Great-Tusk is much better as it can hit flying types like 
,
and 
which is always good for extra coverage. I tweaked the EVs on this tusk to be faster than max speed 
after one rapid spin and poured the rest of the EVs into HP and Phys def.
over offensive Gholdengo. This is because you are trying to keep hazards up and Gholdengo is going to be taking alot of hits because of that it needs to be more bulky. The added bulk can let Gholdengo take stronger hits that are normally a 2HKO into a 3HKO. This acts now as your 
now thanks to Covert-Cloak.
for Knock-Off. You don't need to change it, but I feel like Knock-Off is much better as a move because it can get rid of those pesky boots that ignore hazards. Having two Knock-Off users is always good so that you can remove boots even if one of your mons go down.
can tear through your team especially if walls are weakened or Tera is already used. Be aware of threats to your team and play around them by conserving HP on walls or Tera throughout the match. This team is very volatile as a turn wrong or a predict can cost you the game. (eg you switch out and 