Introduction
Welcome to my first RMT of Ultra Sun and Moon. Today's team is a fire monotype team with a twist that can make it tricky to use at times. Despite being hyper offense, it requires extremely patient play to bring in your threats at the right time. It's a great team for practicing patient play, as rash decisions will often not be effective and/or will be costly. However, when played right, it can be pretty potent.
Team Preview
Breakdown
Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
Blacephalon is one of my main hole-punchers and a possible cleaner mid-to-late game. Choice Scarf lets it pick off faster threats after they've been weakened. Fire Blast and Shadow Ball are for dual STAB, Psyshock is for Nihilego, and Hidden Power [Ice] is for flying and dragon types, but could be replaced by Trick to cripple walls. I generally try to make sure it doesn't get hit except by maybe one resisted move, at least till it's done its job, because that's about all it can survive.
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
Another big wallbreaker and potential sweeper, though usually not. Roost and Dragon Dance are necessary, Flare Blitz is STAB, and Earthquake is for coverage to completely destroy steel. Don't be afraid to mess around with Dragon Claw to beat dragon and Thunder Punch to beat water, but specifically, Azumarill. I would never change Dragon Dance or Roost though, and only change Flare Blitz if you really are worried about coverage on specific matchups. Another plus is that you can hold off on mega evolving if you expect a fighting or ground type move to come out from the opponent.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
A pretty key tank. Heatran is often useful for soaking up Toxics or taking a hit when nothing else on my team wants to. With a combination of Taunt, Magma Storm, and Earth Power, Heatran can trap and eliminate Toxapex, though at the cost of most of its health. 44 speed is to outspeed Venusaur-Mega. Air Balloon and Flash Cannon let it check Diancie-Mega, so be sure to save it in the fairy matchup. It can also deal with a Terrakion that's locked into anything but Close Combat, and pivot in on ground-type attacks. If you need to sack something to a water-type attack though, Heatran is often the first to go.
Rotom-Heat @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Volt Switch
Definitely the cornerstone of this team. You'll spend more turns with Rotom on the field than anything else, especially since it's one of the few Pokémon that doesn't have to switch out immediately in most circumstances. I lead it quite often to throw up a screen or two. Volt Switch allows it to pivot out, and Defog lets it clear off enemy hazards. It usually switches in on a predicted switch from an opponent, or weaker or resisted/immune hit, or on setup Pokémon or hazard setters/control. Defog does not clear away your own screens, just the opponent's (if any), so keep that in mind. Volt Switch can be switched to Pain Split, Will-O-Wisp, or Overheat or some specific coverage if necessary. I have it as physically defensive since it resists a lot of common special attacks anyway.
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn
Torkoal is there to set up the sun, be my second physical wall/hazard control, and stop setup sweepers or force things out. Sun is immensely helpful for halving damage from water attacks, and boosting my fire attacks isn't a bad deal either. Yawn is the other key element, being able to force switches for me to get something in safely and not automatically losing to an opponent who picks the right time to set up on me, because I don't have many other options to deal with that.
Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
My late-game cleaner and best countermeasure for water types. Quiver Dance is an incredible setup move that boosts special attack, special defense, and speed all by one stage with every use, allowing it to quickly become a fast, heavy hitter. The special defense boost can potentially let it set up on an incoming special attack despite being frail. Fire Blast and Bug Buzz are strong STAB moves, and Giga Drain hits rock, water, and ground types super effectively while also giving Volcarona a little HP back. The Firium Z allows Fire Blast to turn into an extra powerful nuke once per battle in the form of Inferno Overdrive. I generally prefer to save Volcarona until it can do a lot of damage without having to switch until it dies, and potentially sweep. It also appreciates the sun, so try to send it out while it's up.
Threats
Water Monos: Water monos are extremely difficult for this team to deal with, having little to no answers for them aside from Volcarona. But rain teams are especially deadly to this team because their sheer speed and damage output prevents this team from doing just about anything except dropping like flies. Try to save Torkoal to fight the weather war, but you'll still continually get weakened while the opponent will not. Adding Thunder Punch on Charizard can certainly help.
Azumarill: Once it finds an opportunity to get off a Belly Drum, there's very little you can do to stop this thing unless you either have sun up and Charizard (with Thunder Punch) / Rotom-Heat / Torkoal is at full, or you have Reflect up and Charizard (with Thunder Punch) / Rotom-Heat / Torkoal is at full. Torkoal can take a +6 Aqua Jet in the sun and/or with Reflect up and use Yawn to force it to either switch or fall asleep. Rotom can aim to KO it with Volt Switch since it would be at half HP, though this won't work if they have Light Screen. However, these both get outsped and potentially ohko'd by Knock Off if your opponent is smart enough to opt for that, unless Reflect is up. Even the Sap Sipper stall set can be difficult for this team to deal with.
Rock-Types: There are a few rock types worth mentioning, though they're all manageable. I'll go in order of most annoying to least.
Terrakion: Honestly, it's more of an annoyance than a major threat like the two above it. Just be careful to predict around Stone Edge, Earthquake, and Close Combat, and you should be fine.
Nihilego: Nihilego would be extremely dangerous to this team, but opponents rarely expect Blacephalon to have Psyshock, so you can easily net a surprise KO on it.
Diancie-Mega: It can often net a KO whenever it comes in, but if you keep Heatran's Air Balloon from popping, you should be safe to click flash cannon. It can always OHKO Diancie, and since both its types are weak to it, switching out is tough, too.
Electric Immunities: These are more annoying than threatening, but it should be noted that they completely wall Rotom-Heat.
Replays
Importable
http://pokepast.es/4f8c05fa0c6bbe45
Conclusion
Overall, this team has been a pleasure to use. Its tricky playstyle has really kept me on my toes and shows me where I'm playing poorly in order to help me improve greatly. As a result, it forces me to play much better and make many less mistakes than I normally would in order to play it properly, and achieving that feels great, and allows the team to really shine. If anyone has any ideas on how to improve the team, please let me know.
Welcome to my first RMT of Ultra Sun and Moon. Today's team is a fire monotype team with a twist that can make it tricky to use at times. Despite being hyper offense, it requires extremely patient play to bring in your threats at the right time. It's a great team for practicing patient play, as rash decisions will often not be effective and/or will be costly. However, when played right, it can be pretty potent.
Team Preview
Breakdown
Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
Blacephalon is one of my main hole-punchers and a possible cleaner mid-to-late game. Choice Scarf lets it pick off faster threats after they've been weakened. Fire Blast and Shadow Ball are for dual STAB, Psyshock is for Nihilego, and Hidden Power [Ice] is for flying and dragon types, but could be replaced by Trick to cripple walls. I generally try to make sure it doesn't get hit except by maybe one resisted move, at least till it's done its job, because that's about all it can survive.
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
Another big wallbreaker and potential sweeper, though usually not. Roost and Dragon Dance are necessary, Flare Blitz is STAB, and Earthquake is for coverage to completely destroy steel. Don't be afraid to mess around with Dragon Claw to beat dragon and Thunder Punch to beat water, but specifically, Azumarill. I would never change Dragon Dance or Roost though, and only change Flare Blitz if you really are worried about coverage on specific matchups. Another plus is that you can hold off on mega evolving if you expect a fighting or ground type move to come out from the opponent.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
A pretty key tank. Heatran is often useful for soaking up Toxics or taking a hit when nothing else on my team wants to. With a combination of Taunt, Magma Storm, and Earth Power, Heatran can trap and eliminate Toxapex, though at the cost of most of its health. 44 speed is to outspeed Venusaur-Mega. Air Balloon and Flash Cannon let it check Diancie-Mega, so be sure to save it in the fairy matchup. It can also deal with a Terrakion that's locked into anything but Close Combat, and pivot in on ground-type attacks. If you need to sack something to a water-type attack though, Heatran is often the first to go.
Rotom-Heat @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Volt Switch
Definitely the cornerstone of this team. You'll spend more turns with Rotom on the field than anything else, especially since it's one of the few Pokémon that doesn't have to switch out immediately in most circumstances. I lead it quite often to throw up a screen or two. Volt Switch allows it to pivot out, and Defog lets it clear off enemy hazards. It usually switches in on a predicted switch from an opponent, or weaker or resisted/immune hit, or on setup Pokémon or hazard setters/control. Defog does not clear away your own screens, just the opponent's (if any), so keep that in mind. Volt Switch can be switched to Pain Split, Will-O-Wisp, or Overheat or some specific coverage if necessary. I have it as physically defensive since it resists a lot of common special attacks anyway.
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn
Torkoal is there to set up the sun, be my second physical wall/hazard control, and stop setup sweepers or force things out. Sun is immensely helpful for halving damage from water attacks, and boosting my fire attacks isn't a bad deal either. Yawn is the other key element, being able to force switches for me to get something in safely and not automatically losing to an opponent who picks the right time to set up on me, because I don't have many other options to deal with that.
Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
My late-game cleaner and best countermeasure for water types. Quiver Dance is an incredible setup move that boosts special attack, special defense, and speed all by one stage with every use, allowing it to quickly become a fast, heavy hitter. The special defense boost can potentially let it set up on an incoming special attack despite being frail. Fire Blast and Bug Buzz are strong STAB moves, and Giga Drain hits rock, water, and ground types super effectively while also giving Volcarona a little HP back. The Firium Z allows Fire Blast to turn into an extra powerful nuke once per battle in the form of Inferno Overdrive. I generally prefer to save Volcarona until it can do a lot of damage without having to switch until it dies, and potentially sweep. It also appreciates the sun, so try to send it out while it's up.
Threats
Terrakion: Honestly, it's more of an annoyance than a major threat like the two above it. Just be careful to predict around Stone Edge, Earthquake, and Close Combat, and you should be fine.
Nihilego: Nihilego would be extremely dangerous to this team, but opponents rarely expect Blacephalon to have Psyshock, so you can easily net a surprise KO on it.
Diancie-Mega: It can often net a KO whenever it comes in, but if you keep Heatran's Air Balloon from popping, you should be safe to click flash cannon. It can always OHKO Diancie, and since both its types are weak to it, switching out is tough, too.
Replays
Fire Monothreat: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/azure-gen7monotype-88820
Importable
http://pokepast.es/4f8c05fa0c6bbe45
Conclusion
Overall, this team has been a pleasure to use. Its tricky playstyle has really kept me on my toes and shows me where I'm playing poorly in order to help me improve greatly. As a result, it forces me to play much better and make many less mistakes than I normally would in order to play it properly, and achieving that feels great, and allows the team to really shine. If anyone has any ideas on how to improve the team, please let me know.
