SV OU The MOWTP — Most Obnoxious Weather Team Possible: Sun and Screens Protosynthesis Hyper-Offense

[AlexHedekiTajiri]

The MOWTP — Most Obnoxious Weather Team Possible: Sun and Screens Protosynthesis Hyper-Offense
PokePaste importable -- copy-paste into Showdown: LINK

Ever since I first got into competitive singles on-and-off back in Gen 5, I've been on a side-quest to develop the most obnoxious weather team possible, or MOWTP, patent pending.

For a long time, I thought this must be a sun team. Then, for even longer, I knew it must be a rain team. Then sand. Then rain again. Then for a while it was a hail team. Then hail became snow. That was confusing.

And now we’re back at sun.

This team is built around the premise that Protosynthesis is busted. Let’s see if we can deliver on that.


Pokémon #1: The Set-Up

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Lava Plume
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn

Normal Torkoal. Good for keeping up sun and setting up rocks. Can occasionally wall stuff; burn stuff; sleep stuff; force switches with the threat of sleep; or dispose of hazards. Great at contesting Pelipper on switch-in, despite the type disadvantage.

Hazards vulnerable itself, because needs Heat Rock, so can’t run Heavy Duty Boots. Best early-game, getting rid of hazards that are set up while it's already in. Does semi-decently against Samurott-Hisui and Ceaseless Edge's Spikes, depending on the set and how you play it.

Yawn is less useful than I thought it would be — this metagame is too fast-paced. But I'm not sure if it's worth it to replace it with Will-O-Wisp or Solar Beam or anything else.

Tera Flying is occasionally good for catching a Headlong Rush from a Great Tusk, but maybe I should go Tera Fire? Or go Grass if do Solarbeam? Or a defensive Tera like Steel/Water/Fairy?

Pokémon #2: The Shields

Grimmsnarl @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Parting Shot

This is the best Grimmsnarl set. Spirit Break (or Moonblast) are a waste on screens sets. Taunt, Parting Shot, and maximum bulk are the way to go. At least the way I know how to play.

This thing does its job and does it well. It's replaceable (I've experimented with using this slot for Morning Sun/U-Turn Slither Wing, Chlorophyll Growth Venusaur, Choice Specs Walking Wake and others) but Grimmsnarl's surprising bulk comes in huge. As does Taunt, Parting Shot synergy with Bolt's Volt Switch and Moon's U-Turn, and screens synergy with the two boosting sweepers — Volcarona and Gouging Fire.

Pokémon #3: The MVP

Roaring Moon @ Choice Band
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 24 HP / 232 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- U-turn

For a long time, I had Roaring Moon EV’d to get the Protosynthesis boost on Speed, like Smogon recommends. Then I realized I was outspeeding everything anyway, so now I’ve spec’d it for Attack. Not sure if I should change it back. It's not like this thing even needs the Proto boost to wreck shop.

Either way, in or out of the sun, emo-Mence with a Choice Band is a monster. Tera Dark Knock Off is a primary win-condition for the team; so are Outrage and Earthquake; and U-Turn has great synergy with Raging Bolt’s Volt Switch.

Pokémon #4: The Truck

Gouging Fire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Raging Fury
- Earthquake
- Morning Sun

I’ve always loved Entei, but it never thrived in competitive.

This thing more than thrives.

It does suffer from four-moveslot-syndrome — I wish I could carry Dragon-type STAB. But Morning Sun and Earthquake are too necessary to lose. Gouging Fire Dragon Dance sweeps, often aided by sun-boosted Morning Sun, are the most fun way to win with this team.

Pokémon #5: The Lancer

Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Flamethrower
- Psychic

For a while, this spot went to Walking Wake, because I liked having the full trio of Legendary-Beast-Paradox-forms, and the more Protosynthesis the merrier. But the versatility and utility of Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz, and Psychic were ultimately too good to pass up. Plus, didn't want more than three Dragon-types. Seemed excessive. Even for me.

After a single Quiver Dance, Rona is majorly scary. Flamethrower can be a little weak though: outside of sun, I find myself just missing certain KO's. Should I run Fire Blast or Overheat? I don't think I should go Timid to Modest for power, since I need the speed, so a move change seems to be the only option.

I call this thing "the Lancer", a writer's term for the alternate hero in a story (Han Solo is Luke Skywalker's Lancer). Volcarona is Roaring Moon's Lancer, because it's the other common win condition. Quiver Dance is aggressively excellent, and gives Rona the special bulk needed to get off more than one attack and then push ahead to sweep.

Tera on this could go any which way — Bug, or Fire, or maybe even a purely defensive Tera?

Pokémon #6: The Cannon

Raging Bolt @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderclap
- Volt Switch
- Draco Meteor
- Solar Beam

Raging Bolt has the type of raw special attacking power that reminds me of being a young boy playing with Latios, Xurkitree, and other high-powered monsters. Add bulk and very reasonable speed and priority, and you have a team player that almost always nets at least one or two KOs. I wish I could run Thunderbolt too, but Thunderclap and Volt Switch offer too much versatility to pass up. Great synergy with U-Turn off Roaring Moon. And nothing in the world hits like Choice Specs Draco Meteor. Seriously: throwback to Latios in Gen 5 OU. I could even see using a Latios in this slot, if this wasn't a sun team — and if Raging Bolt wasn't so excellent.

Tera Electric is obvious; probably the second-most common usage of my Tera, after Roaring Moon.

Team usage tips:

Torkoal and Grimmsnarl are there to facilitate the powerful attacks from the rest of the team. The great thing about this team is that any of the four sweepers -- Roaring Moon, Gouging Fire, Volcarona, and Raging Bolt -- are capable of early-game maneuvering, mid-game wall-breaking, and late-game sweeping.

Tera is best spent on Roaring Moon or Raging Bolt, but can be useful anywhere in a pinch.

This team is sun hyper-offense that plays well even when it can't keep sun up consistently. Even if Torkoal goes down early, the team is designed to re-capture the momentum. Keeping Torkoal around as a threat, though, is great intimidation. The MOWTP inspired a lot of early rage-quit forfeits.

In or out of sun, the most important thing is to guarantee that big attacks like Draco Meteor, Knock Off, Outrage, Earthquake, and Raging Fury are successfully executed against the right target. The ability to predict switch-ins is important for being as obnoxious (and successful) as possible with the MOWTP.

Challenges:

The MOWTP beats most rain -- shoutout to Raging Bolt -- but rain stall can be challenging. Snow and other sun teams are also reasonably able to be handed with good play. Stall in general can stop me, or a balanced team capable of inflicting wide status, punishing switches, using lots of priority or trick room, and/or nullifying sunlight. General threats include:

• Archaludon
• Dragon types and Dragon Dancers
• Fairy types: Iron Valiant, Enamorus, certain Clefable
• Hazard-focused teams
• Body Press Zamazenta

EDIT: QUESTIONS -- Help is appreciated! thanks

I think the core of Torkoal/Choice Band Roaring Moon/Choice Specs Raging Bolt is pretty solid, and is what makes the MOWTP work. But I'd be open to experimenting with switching up the slots for Grimmsnarl, Gouging Fire, and Volcarona. Even though those three are all valuable too, and might stay, I think there might be a better fit for a screener/wall and the two setup sweepers, especially to better help Raging Bolt and Roaring Moon pivot and clean.

If I keep Volcarona, I could try a bulkier EV'd set with Will-O-Wisp or Morning Sun? But it does work well as is.

Past team candidates are Venusaur, Walking Wake, and Slither Wing. Other good options I'm considering are Gholdengo, Heatran, Skeledirge, Ceruledge, Darmanitan, Lilligant-Hisui, Cinderace, and Exeggutor. Let me know what you think! thanks

 

[Charles Darwin]

Why didn't you call this team SunScreen? A major oversight in my opinion. Retire as a teambuilder.

Just kidding, this team's hilarious. Every turn my opponent extends the battle, their risk of contracting skin cancer increases. Excellent job.

 

[Roller K]

As the pioneer of Sunscreen® back in January or February with this team (yes, this is the original name I gave it), your team brought back fond memories of early SV OU revitalized with new threats. I like the 6 you have, and I am coming to realize that is no longer mandatory on Sun since handles rain quite well, especially with Solar Beam. Here are my suggestions to further improve the build.

Version 1:
Version 2:

Changes

1. Flare Blitz > Raging Fury, Tera Fairy > Fire on : Raging Fury is not a great move because you will be locked into the move. Sure, you'll get a KO, but then you immediately trade your Pokemon or let them get free set-up (e.g. Curse ). Flare Blitz is preferred over Heat Crash on this team because it dishes out consistent damage. You have screen support and boosted Morning Sun to ensure your longevity, so the recoil is not a big deal. Along those lines, Tera Fairy will help a lot with the Dragons you are scared of facing. is especially annoying because of Infiltrator. A defensive tera will allow you to get off more Dragon Dances and sweep more often.

2. > : This is entirely optional, but if you want to test out a different Pokemon, is most expendable and is very good. Thanks to screens, clicking Growth should be fairly easy. The damage boost from Life Orb is pretty necessary, and Giga Drain will heal you. The coverage is phenomenal in the current meta, the speed with Timid nature outspeeds and other similarly fast threats, it is a grounded Poison so you do not have to worry about Toxic Spikes, and the defensive typing helps against your mentioned threats of Fairy-types and Body Press . I highly suggest it, as has been impressing me on Sun teams.

3. EV Changes
a. : There's a reason the speed boost is preferred on Choice Band sets. Knock Off + Outrage with Choice Band already breaks opposing teams extremely well, and your team is very slow without the speed boost (unless you replace with , but I would still suggest speed boost). Speed is key for HO teams like this. If you ultimately decide attack boost is better, then make it max attack to lay down damage.
b. : Special bulk has been more consistent for me personally, and with a Reflect, your physical defense is already sky high. This is not necessary, but I like special bulk on a lot.
c. : 4 extra Speed EVs so you outspeed Jolly at +2. EVs are taken out of HP so you have an odd HP in case you get knocked.

Try out both versions and let me know how they perform!

 

[CargoTruck]

RE:

I've found Bulkarona to work better than an offensive one and suggest at least trying it on your team. The offensive variant has nice coverage and most people seem to prefer it, but in my experience it often just drops mid-sweep to a priority move or sash. I just started Showdown a while ago and I'm hovering in the 1600-1700s, currently using the following set:

Volcarona (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Morning Sun
- Tera Blast

Tera Ground also works well for beating other Fire types as well as Pokemon like Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, Iron Boulder and Toxapex, but it has the downside of offering no defensive benefit against water attacks and is prone to getting revenge killed by Rillaboom. Fairy is weak to Bullet Punch as well though, notably from Scizor, but it's much less common in the meta in my experience.

The 104 speed EVs lets Volcarona outspeed Dragapult after 1 Quiver Dance and things like Scarf Darkrai and Speed Protosynthesis Iron Boulder after 2 Quiver Dances. I've had this at much lower speed and higher defense as well though.

Fiery Dance works better than Flamethrower on the bulky variant because you'll be spamming it a lot along with Quiver Dance, potentially getting multiple extra SpA boosts. Will-O-Wisp worked really well in the Battle Stadium Singles meta back when I played that due to the prevalence of Dragonite, Roaring Moon, Chien-Pao and the Urshifu formes, but in OU it doesn't seem as good. It can make Volcarona less reliant on screens and simultaneously more of a progress maker for the team, but the loss of an extra coverage move adds to its list of checks, notably via Pokemon like Skeledirge, Heatran, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt and Walking Wake. I've found Tera Blast Ground or Fairy to result in much more sweeps. Morning sun is necessary for this set and it healing an extra 25% in the sun is a big boon.

 

[YDragoran]

As the pioneer of Sunscreen® back in January or February with this team (yes, this is the original name I gave it), your team brought back fond memories of early SV OU revitalized with new threats. I like the 6 you have, and I am coming to realize that is no longer mandatory on Sun since handles rain quite well, especially with Solar Beam. Here are my suggestions to further improve the build.

Version 1:
Version 2:

Changes

1. Flare Blitz > Raging Fury, Tera Fairy > Fire on : Raging Fury is not a great move because you will be locked into the move. Sure, you'll get a KO, but then you immediately trade your Pokemon or let them get free set-up (e.g. Curse ). Flare Blitz is preferred over Heat Crash on this team because it dishes out consistent damage. You have screen support and boosted Morning Sun to ensure your longevity, so the recoil is not a big deal. Along those lines, Tera Fairy will help a lot with the Dragons you are scared of facing. is especially annoying because of Infiltrator. A defensive tera will allow you to get off more Dragon Dances and sweep more often.

2. > : This is entirely optional, but if you want to test out a different Pokemon, is most expendable and is very good. Thanks to screens, clicking Growth should be fairly easy. The damage boost from Life Orb is pretty necessary, and Giga Drain will heal you. The coverage is phenomenal in the current meta, the speed with Timid nature outspeeds and other similarly fast threats, it is a grounded Poison so you do not have to worry about Toxic Spikes, and the defensive typing helps against your mentioned threats of Fairy-types and Body Press . I highly suggest it, as has been impressing me on Sun teams.

3. EV Changes
a. : There's a reason the speed boost is preferred on Choice Band sets. Knock Off + Outrage with Choice Band already breaks opposing teams extremely well, and your team is very slow without the speed boost (unless you replace with , but I would still suggest speed boost). Speed is key for HO teams like this. If you ultimately decide attack boost is better, then make it max attack to lay down damage.
b. : Special bulk has been more consistent for me personally, and with a Reflect, your physical defense is already sky high. This is not necessary, but I like special bulk on a lot.
c. : 4 extra Speed EVs so you outspeed Jolly at +2. EVs are taken out of HP so you have an odd HP in case you get knocked.

Try out both versions and let me know how they perform!

Hey, I have just one question about the venusaur set. Is venusaur special attack only better than mixed attacker? I remember in X/Y times there was a similar venusaur used, but it was played mixed with earthquake instead of earth power, since growth boosts both attack stars. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Roller K]

Is venusaur special attack only better than mixed attacker?

Mixed Venusaur is definitely an option, though I personally prefer all-out special attacker. With +2 you already take care of specially defensive Heatran, it would only be really useful against Blissey, which isn’t too important considering Blissey is more common on stall and sun naturally has a strong matchup into stall. It comes down to personal preference, use mixed if you like its utility

 

[RaikouLover]

Mixed Venusaur is definitely an option, though I personally prefer all-out special attacker. With +2 you already take care of specially defensive Heatran, it would only be really useful against Blissey, which isn’t too important considering Blissey is more common on stall and sun naturally has a strong matchup into stall. It comes down to personal preference, use mixed if you like its utility

There is an argument for Earthquake > Earth Power on Venusaur with a neutral attack nature. While they both beat Heatran, Earthquake is stronger vs. Galarking and Clodsire. It also might have value vs CM or AV versions of enemy Raging Bolt.

 

[YDragoran]

There is an argument for Earthquake > Earth Power on Venusaur with a neutral attack nature. While they both beat Heatran, Earthquake is stronger vs. Galarking and Clodsire. It also might have value vs CM or AV versions of enemy Raging Bolt.

Ok so it can have advantages in some situations. Question would be than if this comes with bigger disadvantages or not :)

 

[AlexHedekiTajiri]

Sorry I've been absent, friends, I had a crazy busy week at work. It was such a pleasure to log back in and find all these wonderful responses! I will test out all your suggestions and update. special shoutout to Roller K, was really cool to see that old Sunscreen team

 

[AlexHedekiTajiri]

Roller K YDragoran RaikouLover CargoTruck Charles Darwin

Folks, Roller K's edits were fantastic. The only thing I still didn't like was the fifth slot. Neither Volcarona nor Venusaur were pulling their weight. So in the quest to live up to this team's name, I held my nose and added the most stinking obnoxious pokemon in OU history (no, not Garganacl — I have SOME standards).

The MOWTP v3: https://pokepast.es/15d8ce9b259a55ac


Gholdengo @ Leftovers
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hex
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Nasty Plot

On other teams (especially past rain teams) I usually run Choice Scarf or Choice Specs Gholdengo, and use Trick and Make It Rain. This set has none of those things, but is a better fit for this team, and a testament to how versatile (and obnoxious) Gholdengo is. With defensive EV's, we now have a defensive core of Grimmsnarl, Torkoal, and Gholdengo that can fully support the hyper-offense Protosynthesis power of Roaring Moon, Gouging Fire, and Raging Bolt. Gholdengo spreads status, but more importantly it absorbs it. Having a Steel defensive type on the team is hugely useful. Combined with Good as Gold, it allows me to frequently pivot and get off Thunder Waves to support the team. And as a bonus, with Nasty Plot and status-boosted Hex, it is a genuine offensive threat, even without any SpA EV investment.

I am open to switching the Gholdengo set, or trying something else. Roller K you're much higher on the ladder than me, you'll know better — is Gholdengo a demotion for the team from Venusaur/Volcarona? I know it is not at all an improvement for team originality, but what about for team viability?

 

[Roller K]

Roller K you're much higher on the ladder than me, you'll know better — is Gholdengo a demotion for the team from Venusaur/Volcarona? I know it is not at all an improvement for team originality, but what about for team viability?

I'm happy the edits worked well for you! I've used the team on ladder a bit, and it's been pretty solid.

I don't dislike being used, but your team would then have 4 Pokemon weak to Ground and no resistances, which is a big issue in my opinion. If you want to run , you need to put Air Balloon on it. This will at least give you a pseudo-immunity to Ground. Since you already have good bulk in general as well as behind screens, you should run max Special Attack. You can run max Speed, max HP, or a hybrid of the two, but max Special Attack with a Timid or Modest nature is a must so you can have more immediate power and abuse the limited turns of screens. Thunder Wave is nice on tanky , but I believe Make it Rain + Shadow Ball are better than Thunder Wave + Hex for this team for the same reason of immediate power. You also punish the threatening Ground types and opposing more, since you don't have to rely on status to deal good damage.

I have a few other suggestions that I have not used but seem valuable when looking at the team again.

1. : Prankster is a blessing and a curse. Not being able to do anything to Dark-types is unfortunate. Parting Shot does not feel necessary, as screens already give enough bulk to switch in your Pokemon relatively safely. I suggest replacing Parting Shot with an attack, preferably something that hits Dark-types super effectively. Your best bet is Spirit Break since it also lowers the opponent's Special Attack and is an 100% accurate STAB physical move, but other viable options include Play Rough, Drain Punch, Low Kick, and Brick Break.

2. : Remove its HP and make it max Speed. The extra bulk is pretty negligible, and you do not want to face an opposing knowing you are likely slower than them rather than having the option for a speed tie. Pump the leftover 4 EVs into a defense stat.

3. : Solar Beam is only useful for , and you do 57.3% minimum to it with Sun active (I will put the calc below). Solar Beam feels unnecessary, and I never used it in practice. You have two strong options to replace this move: Thunderbolt or Weather Ball. I prefer Thunderbolt because you then have a strong, spammable Electric move that deals great damage to the opponent. Weather Ball is more of a midground move; maybe you're unsure if they bring in their Fairy-type or their Ground-type, so you try to hit either option hard with Weather Ball. Thunderbolt is the way to go in my opinion.

Raging Bolt vs. Ting-Lu

252+ SpA Choice Specs Protosynthesis Raging Bolt Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 295-348 (57.3 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Here is a paste of the team with my new suggestions:

I made faster than standard , play around with the EVs if this isn't working for you.

I hope this helps!