WEAVILE DARK SPAM
So it's been about three months since Weavile has dropped to UU and it has still not risen back up to OU. What's up with that? It's not even banned from UU somehow. To quote the sage words of everyone's favorite cheese-colored tube man, "This is insane."
Whether or not this is a campaign to bring Weavile back to the OU tier, I simply find Weavile to be an interestingly unique offensive Poke that manages to be quite distinct from the typical standards flying around OU, with several traits that are uniquely its own in the environment. And while Weavile's viability and power in the tier have been given fair lip service with a high rank on the viability rankings and acknowledgement as a threat by various established players, Weavile sightings are still few and far between.
Overrated bum pick or underrated sleeper? This is something I was keen on discovering myself as I began my very first forays into SV OU with a Weavile perpetually by my side after having merely been a spectator to the meta thus far, trying to understand the tier with the unique perspective of an underused Pokemon. Cobbling together a cast that accentuated its unique strengths, have the efforts been fruitful? Perhaps.
Whether or not this is a campaign to bring Weavile back to the OU tier, I simply find Weavile to be an interestingly unique offensive Poke that manages to be quite distinct from the typical standards flying around OU, with several traits that are uniquely its own in the environment. And while Weavile's viability and power in the tier have been given fair lip service with a high rank on the viability rankings and acknowledgement as a threat by various established players, Weavile sightings are still few and far between.
Overrated bum pick or underrated sleeper? This is something I was keen on discovering myself as I began my very first forays into SV OU with a Weavile perpetually by my side after having merely been a spectator to the meta thus far, trying to understand the tier with the unique perspective of an underused Pokemon. Cobbling together a cast that accentuated its unique strengths, have the efforts been fruitful? Perhaps.
Iron Valiant @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
Experimenting with a set without Booster Energy, Choice Scarf on Iron Valiant allows it to act as more consistent speed control over the course of a game. Val as a Fairy-type Scarfer notably outpaces Walking Wake in Sun, Booster Speed Iron Moth, and the occasional +1 Ogerpon, which its most direct competition, Enamorus, fails to do. Powerful secondary physical STAB in Close Combat also allows Val to muscle past AV Iron Crown, Ting-Lu, and Embody Aspect Waterpon more effectively, and Val's secondary Fighting-type that gives it this STAB also grants it a resistance to Stealth Rock, as opposed to Enam's weakness to it, giving it far better longevity. This combined with a quadruple Dark resistance also crucially makes Val far less susceptible to Kingambit's Sucker Punch.
Scarf Val provides the team with immediate speed control, a potential win condition to play towards, and crucially, a consistent answer to Zamazenta and Kingambit via both attacks and Trick. Trick accomplishes much of the same goals as Encore does on its Booster sets, giving you an out against foes who cannot afford to lock into a single move such as the aforementioned Zama and Gambit, Raging Bolt, and various walls, potentially netting Val some Leftover food or some nice new Boots in the process. Shadow Ball is used to nail Gholdengo and Pecharunt on the switch as well as pepper Galarian Slowking with modest damage, chosen over Knock Off to gain more leverage from special attack investment as well as not interfering with Trick.
Tera Ghost gives Val an immunity to Dragonite's Extreme Speed, letting Val safely check it, but also opens another avenue for Val to clean up games by giving it STAB on its Shadow Ball.
Samurott-Hisui (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Aqua Cutter
- Ceaseless Edge
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
Setting the tempo for the game, Samurott jumpstarts the fast-paced offensive plan by forcing damage, setting up Spikes, and Knocking Off items near the beginning before usually quickly going down with honor. Hazard stack naturally lends itself as a way to define a path for any given win condition to run away with the game. Aqua Cutter was opted for over Razor Shell to avoid fainting to Helmet damage, allowing you to eke out slightly more damage against Tusks and Landos that attempt to finish you off with Helmet (and it's also just more accurate).
The given bulk allows Samu to guaranteed survive the combination of offensive Tusk's Headlong Rush and Helmet damage while conveniently giving you enough speed to outrun max speed neutral-natured base 80s while retaining max attack. Adamant max attack is noteworthy for allowing the combination of Ceaseless Edge and Sucker Punch to always KO Ogerpon from full, having good odds to do the same against Glimmora, giving Sucker Punch a chance to KO Dragapult from full, and letting Samu potentially 2HKO standard Araquanid who typically only EVs for Jolly.
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 178-210 (59.1 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Samurott-Hisui Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 127-151 (42.1 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Glimmora: 166-196 (54 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Samurott-Hisui Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Glimmora: 120-142 (39 - 46.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Samurott-Hisui Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 282-332 (88.9 - 104.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 252 HP / 40 Def Araquanid: 157-186 (46.1 - 54.7%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Aqua Cutter vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 272-324 (52.9 - 63%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Samurott-Hisui Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 127-151 (42.1 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Glimmora: 166-196 (54 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Samurott-Hisui Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Glimmora: 120-142 (39 - 46.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Samurott-Hisui Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 282-332 (88.9 - 104.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 252 HP / 40 Def Araquanid: 157-186 (46.1 - 54.7%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Aqua Cutter vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 272-324 (52.9 - 63%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Because of how rare (and typically wasteful) it is to Terastallize Samurott against more common offensive structures, Tera Poison was opted for to give Samurott more longevity against bulkier teams where you'd want to keep it around for its Spikes and Knock Off, primarily through an immunity to Toxic while flipping various weaknesses.
Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 232 Def / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Hex
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
The most stalwart presence on the team, Gholdengo is an important check to a vast array of dangerous threats and a crucial measure against hazard removal that progresses the effort by spreading paralysis and damage alike. Ghold is the team's primary response to Zamazenta and opposing Iron Valiant, and also acts as a shaky check to Ogerpon-Wellspring if it's lucky and avoids a crit, threatening to neutralize them with paralysis and subsequent heavy damage from Hex.
Enough speed was invested to outrun a paralyzed Dragapult before maximizing Ghold's physical bulk in order to take on attacks from Zama, Ogerpon, Rillaboom, and even Great Tusk and Cinderace. The one-time Ground immunity granted by Balloon allows Ghold to pivot into Tusk to block Spin once, survive the subsequent Headlong Rush from surprisingly high ranges, and have good odds to KO the -1 Tusk with Make It Rain, ensuring hazards remain for the remainder of the game. The Balloon can also be kept intact in order to check Dragonite and Kyurem, either paralyzing or heavily damaging them as they take the turn to pop the Balloon first. The Balloon also gives Ghold a valuable Spikes immunity while it's active, allowing it to remain healthy to check what it needs to. Yet quirkily, Ghold with a popped Balloon makes it significantly better at eating Knock Offs from the likes of Val, Meowscarada, Rillaboom, Lokix, and Weavile.
Tera Fairy allows Ghold to get off crucial Thunder Waves against Darkrai, Roaring Moon, and Cinderace, as well as survive Zamazenta's Crunch in a pinch.
Weavile (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Knock Off
- Triple Axel
- Ice Shard
- Swords Dance
A relatively rare sight in OU nowadays. Likened to the ilk of Roaring Moon, what Weavile comparatively lacks in sheer game-ending potential, it makes up for with far more presence near the mid-game with priority, Boots, Knock Off spam, and an excellently aged speed tier. The perpetually rare yet incredibly deadly Ice STAB lends itself as an excellent tool at threatening a significant portion of the metagame, notably directly threatening the numerous Ground-types in the tier like Great Tusk, Landorus-Therian, and Ting-Lu. This weapon is even harder to answer when complemented excellently with STAB Knock Off and coming from a place of speed tying Darkrai as the third fastest unboosted 'Mon in the tier. Unique Ice priority that is hard to resist also lets Weavile cut down whatever may be faster such as Dragapult, boosted Roaring Moon and Tusk, Scarf Meowscarada and Enamorus, and beating Raging Bolt's Thunderclap to the punch. All these talents allow Weavile to act as a dangerous wallbreaker, revenge killer, and sweeper in the tier all at once.
Weavile is perhaps the best wielder of Knock Off available in OU. Its immensely powerful boosted Triple Axel is a natural repellent to the tier's Knock Off absorbers like Gliscor and Clefable, and its Knock Off hits hard enough off of the back of STAB to threaten even the likes of Corviknight and Skarmory. This makes Weavile fantastically adept at forcing a Knock Off on various walls in the tier, removing crucial items like Leftovers and more importantly, Heavy-Duty Boots. This is something its similar Knock Off-using Dark-type contemporaries such as Meowscarada, Roaring Moon, Hisuian Samurott, and Darkrai cannot easily replicate.
I've vastly preferred Tera Fire over a Tera of either STAB; it flips various weaknesses and gives Weavile emergency defensive utility as a surprise check to threats like Booster Speed Valiant, Scarf Ghold, and Booster Speed Moth, as well as finding setup opportunities against the likes of Cinderace, Moltres, and Iron Crown. The accompanying burn immunity removes an avenue for Wisp users like Darkrai and Dragapult to answer it and also allows you to safely attack Moltres through Flame Body.
Landorus-Therian @ Soft Sand
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
Leaning into the fast pace the team finds itself in, hazard removal is eschewed and an offensive Landorus serves as the team's Stealth Rock setter. Unlike Great Tusk, Landorus with Taunt is a Rocker that can force out Corviknight and prevent it from Defogging, maintaining the tempo of the game. Taunt is also a useful preventive measure against setup from Dragonite, Kingambit and Ting-Lu. Soft Sand Earthquakes put on serious pressure on Great Tusk and Ting-Lu and generally are quite hard to switch into without being immune. Stone Edge chips down Corviknight and opposing Landorus while seriously maiming Zapdos and Dragonite and obliterating Moltres.
Landorus comes packed with natural defensive utility with a Ground immunity, Intimidate, and good natural bulk to act as a useful defensive stopgap to various physical threats in the tier such as Roaring Moon, Zamazenta, and opposing Landorus, as well as check the tier's duo of slow priority slingers in Kingambit and Raging Bolt, with a Soft Sand EQ forcing significant damage against them even if they Terastallize.
Tera Water flips Lando's Ice weakness in order to answer DD Kyurem, Ice Spinner Dragonite, and Triple Axel Meowscarada, and gives Lando a useful Fire resistance to check Iron Moth in a pinch.
Kingambit (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
One of the most dangerous cleanup artists in the tier, Kingambit culminates the team's offense by being a relentless cleaner in the late game. Leveraging its excellent natural bulk, enough speed was invested in order to outrun uninvested base 70s in order to pool the remaining EVs into HP, allowing Gambit to live various attacks like defensive Tusk's Headlong Rush, Iron Moth's Fiery Dance, and Dragonite's Earthquake from lower ranges. Likewise with Ghold, Air Balloon grants Gambit a temporary immunity to Spikes and allows it to act as a one-time check to the likes of a boosted Roaring Moon, Dragonite, and Kyurem.
Gambit thrives in the endgame, using its natural defensive profile or its Balloon to find a setup opportunity in order to take the game after enough damage has been forced onto the enemy lineup. Kingambit is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Knock Off spam in the tier, doing away with Boots and Leftovers on walls like Corviknight, Alomomola, Garganacl, and Dondozo and even getting rid of Rocky Helmets to allow it to attack more safely. Crucially, the rest of the team is well equipped to pressure both Great Tusk and Zamazenta, Kingambit's two most important checks.
Tera Fire is run largely for the same reasons Weavile is running it: it lets you sit on Moltres and Cinderace, snuffs out Wisp from them, Pult, and Darkrai, and is disjointed enough from your base typing that it is still useful for merely shuffling your type matchups.
Winding down the RMT is me rattling off my own thoughts on the team as I tested it on ladder, as well as alternate options I may be considering and could use a second opinion on. I definitely am overall quite satisfied with it so far, even if the heights I've reached with it aren't exactly the most stellar (Or are they? I generally have no real scope of Elo ratings anymore). I've perhaps come off as maybe slightly yappy in this post, but I like to think that I just have a lot to say. Thank you for reading this far!
Hazard Matchup
Despite only one 'Mon on the team carrying Boots and having no removal, I find that the team is still quite resilient in the face of opposing hazards and hazard stack. Ghold and Gambit resisting Rocks and carrying Balloons essentially gives them pseudo-Boots for a good amount of the game, Landorus is naturally immune to Spikes, and Samu usually starts and finishes its job before it can even take damage from hazards. Valiant is the only 'Mon on the team severely impacted by hazards. Likewise, Toxic Spikes are ignored by four of the team's six members. Landorus, Boots on Weavile, Ghold and Gambit's natural slowness (and Balloons), and Scarf on Valiant also makes the team's Webs matchup quite strong, as Scarf on Valiant means it is simply reduced to neutral speed against Webs, as opposed to Booster Valiants which have an offense raised instead due to their dropped speed.
Stall Matchup
The team has a fairly consistent winning record against stall. Weavile with its Ice STAB and SD has the capacity to directly threaten Gliscor and Clefable, stall teams' primary Knock Off absorbers, as well as Corviknight, making it excellent at forcing a Knock on Boots walls like Alomomola and more importantly, Dondozo. Forcing Dozo to take the full brunt of hazard damage each time exponentializes the pressure it takes as it switches into Kingambit with max hazards later into the game, culminating in Kingambit running away with the game as Dondozo will typically be a stall team's only recourse against it. Funnily enough, Kingambit's inability to use Knock Off itself almost helps in this case, as it actually abuses a higher power Dark STAB against a Knocked Dondozo to 2HKO it from higher ranges. Other tools like Lando's Taunt, Tera Poison Samu and its own Knock, Gholdengo's Hex and blocking Defog from Corv, and Valiant's Trick all assist in the systematic breaking down of a stall team's defensive core, especially when Valiant nabs Boots off of Clodsire or Blissey. The only issue that may be run into are the rare forms of hazard removal on these teams that can directly threaten Gholdengo, namely the rare Talonflame and even rarer Cyclizar.
Colors
Look at the team as it appears at preview:
Isn't it pretty? :)
Salt Cure is incredibly annoying to switch into for this team, and Lando cannot consistently safely Taunt the thing without suffering some major damage. If the opponent manages to save their Tera for Garg, Tera Water makes it significantly more difficult for Lando and Gambit to break and coldly stonewall Ghold. My only real recourse against it becomes Trick on Valiant, which is quite telegraphed and easily scouted for.
The team has the tools to pressure Moltres and keep it from claiming momentum, but Moltres is quite difficult to switch into if Weavile or Gambit have not Terastallized once it does get into a favorable position, such as by switching into Valiant.
Court Change is a rare form of hazard removal that cannot be blocked. Games against Ace are typically quite contingent on getting Weavile going before it can in order to scare it off with the threat of a boosted Knock Off, or baiting in and paralyzing it with Gholdengo. Otherwise, it can easily undo a lot of progress by cleaning away hazards, especially since Samurott has already likely fainted. Likewise with Moltres, Fire STAB and Will-O-Wisp are also just hard to switch into if neither Weavile nor Gambit have Terastallized.
Shadow Ball → Psyshock / Thunderbolt
Tera Type: Ghost → Fairy
The team finds itself with a pretty fair weakness to Iron Moth and it can often force me to Terastallize to answer it. Psyshock on Valiant allows it to pick it off at significantly higher ranges. Alternatively, Thunderbolt gives Valiant a way to punish Moltres on the switch, preventing it from reversing momentum. Coinciding with the replacement of Shadow Ball, an accompanying shift to Tera Fairy may be considered to instead bolster Moonblast's power and retain a Tera type that resists Gambit's Sucker Punch.
Make It Rain → Dazzling Gleam
Gleam actually does retain a lot of Make It Rain's utility in terms of hitting Tusk, Valiant, Ting-Lu, Kyurem, and Dragonite (although significantly weaker), and also gives Ghold an attack to hit opposing Samurott and gets STAB when Ghold Terastallizes. The main thing I'm considering it for are Substitute variants of Zamazenta which forces Ghold to repeatedly drop itself to break its Subs as a raw Hex is unable to break them in one. Perhaps Trick on Valiant is enough to cover it, though.
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe → 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
→ 
Stone Edge → U-turn
Tera Type: Water → Ghost
Considering how important Landorus's role is as a buffer to Kingambit, Dragonite, and Raging Bolt, perhaps shifting to a bulkier set with Helmet and U-turn would be more useful to the team. U-turn would allow Lando to pivot out, though the removal of Stone Edge means the team loses instant pressure against Moltres.
Separately, perhaps Tera Ghost can be considered in order to more reliably keep hazards up once Ghold has fainted, or against a spinner like Treads who Ghold struggles against.
Hazard MatchupDespite only one 'Mon on the team carrying Boots and having no removal, I find that the team is still quite resilient in the face of opposing hazards and hazard stack. Ghold and Gambit resisting Rocks and carrying Balloons essentially gives them pseudo-Boots for a good amount of the game, Landorus is naturally immune to Spikes, and Samu usually starts and finishes its job before it can even take damage from hazards. Valiant is the only 'Mon on the team severely impacted by hazards. Likewise, Toxic Spikes are ignored by four of the team's six members. Landorus, Boots on Weavile, Ghold and Gambit's natural slowness (and Balloons), and Scarf on Valiant also makes the team's Webs matchup quite strong, as Scarf on Valiant means it is simply reduced to neutral speed against Webs, as opposed to Booster Valiants which have an offense raised instead due to their dropped speed.
Stall MatchupThe team has a fairly consistent winning record against stall. Weavile with its Ice STAB and SD has the capacity to directly threaten Gliscor and Clefable, stall teams' primary Knock Off absorbers, as well as Corviknight, making it excellent at forcing a Knock on Boots walls like Alomomola and more importantly, Dondozo. Forcing Dozo to take the full brunt of hazard damage each time exponentializes the pressure it takes as it switches into Kingambit with max hazards later into the game, culminating in Kingambit running away with the game as Dondozo will typically be a stall team's only recourse against it. Funnily enough, Kingambit's inability to use Knock Off itself almost helps in this case, as it actually abuses a higher power Dark STAB against a Knocked Dondozo to 2HKO it from higher ranges. Other tools like Lando's Taunt, Tera Poison Samu and its own Knock, Gholdengo's Hex and blocking Defog from Corv, and Valiant's Trick all assist in the systematic breaking down of a stall team's defensive core, especially when Valiant nabs Boots off of Clodsire or Blissey. The only issue that may be run into are the rare forms of hazard removal on these teams that can directly threaten Gholdengo, namely the rare Talonflame and even rarer Cyclizar.
Colors
Look at the team as it appears at preview:
Isn't it pretty? :)
Salt Cure is incredibly annoying to switch into for this team, and Lando cannot consistently safely Taunt the thing without suffering some major damage. If the opponent manages to save their Tera for Garg, Tera Water makes it significantly more difficult for Lando and Gambit to break and coldly stonewall Ghold. My only real recourse against it becomes Trick on Valiant, which is quite telegraphed and easily scouted for.
The team has the tools to pressure Moltres and keep it from claiming momentum, but Moltres is quite difficult to switch into if Weavile or Gambit have not Terastallized once it does get into a favorable position, such as by switching into Valiant.
Court Change is a rare form of hazard removal that cannot be blocked. Games against Ace are typically quite contingent on getting Weavile going before it can in order to scare it off with the threat of a boosted Knock Off, or baiting in and paralyzing it with Gholdengo. Otherwise, it can easily undo a lot of progress by cleaning away hazards, especially since Samurott has already likely fainted. Likewise with Moltres, Fire STAB and Will-O-Wisp are also just hard to switch into if neither Weavile nor Gambit have Terastallized.
Shadow Ball → Psyshock / Thunderbolt
Tera Type: Ghost → Fairy
The team finds itself with a pretty fair weakness to Iron Moth and it can often force me to Terastallize to answer it. Psyshock on Valiant allows it to pick it off at significantly higher ranges. Alternatively, Thunderbolt gives Valiant a way to punish Moltres on the switch, preventing it from reversing momentum. Coinciding with the replacement of Shadow Ball, an accompanying shift to Tera Fairy may be considered to instead bolster Moonblast's power and retain a Tera type that resists Gambit's Sucker Punch.
Make It Rain → Dazzling Gleam
Gleam actually does retain a lot of Make It Rain's utility in terms of hitting Tusk, Valiant, Ting-Lu, Kyurem, and Dragonite (although significantly weaker), and also gives Ghold an attack to hit opposing Samurott and gets STAB when Ghold Terastallizes. The main thing I'm considering it for are Substitute variants of Zamazenta which forces Ghold to repeatedly drop itself to break its Subs as a raw Hex is unable to break them in one. Perhaps Trick on Valiant is enough to cover it, though.
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe → 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
→ Stone Edge → U-turn
Tera Type: Water → Ghost
Considering how important Landorus's role is as a buffer to Kingambit, Dragonite, and Raging Bolt, perhaps shifting to a bulkier set with Helmet and U-turn would be more useful to the team. U-turn would allow Lando to pivot out, though the removal of Stone Edge means the team loses instant pressure against Moltres.
Separately, perhaps Tera Ghost can be considered in order to more reliably keep hazards up once Ghold has fainted, or against a spinner like Treads who Ghold struggles against.
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