SV OU Let The Light In - AV Hatt + EBelt Darkrai Offense (Top 8 - 1996)

leng loi

Twinkaton!
is a Tiering Contributor

Let The Light In
:sv/hatterene::sv/darkrai::sv/gliscor::sv/heatran::sv/ogerpon-wellspring::sv/zamazenta:
https://pokepast.es/b5e5e8bb250c7b5b
(keep the nicknames :changry: )
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1. Quarter To One - Foreward
Hey everyone, this isn't the best team I've ever made but it's the first thing in a while that I've built that I've really liked and it will likely be my last RMT until after World Cup. I made it in a batch of teams to try to get myself out of a building and playing block that I've been in for what feels like forever. This was the most successful of that batch, and I really spammed it on high ladder for the last week. I also brought it to ADPL and lost. My opponent almost certainly knew the team which was my fault but I felt most comfortable with it and mostly lost due to a 10% Overheat miss so I'll cut myself some slack there.
:darkrai:
The team started as an experiment with specs Darkrai. I didn't end up liking the set for a few reasons. First and most obviously, locking into a move without super sturdy defensive pivots is very punishable in the tier of a million broken set-up sweepers. Second, Specs Dark Pulse was missing out on a lot of unresisted KOs I wished it would have gotten and I was unwilling to go Modest because most of Darkrai's draw is its speed tier. To support Specs Rai, I wanted defensive pivots that could switch in on things like LO Deoxys-S, Scarf Meowscarada, and fast Fairy Types like Scarf Enamorus and Booster Valiant. I also needed hazard removal if I was going with defensive mons on an offensive structure, even though...
1715557726970.png

:hatterene::darkrai::gliscor::heatran:
With these options in mind, I settled on AV Hatterene, Spikes U-turn Gliscor, and Eject Pack Heatran. Gliscor was later changed to fast SD as I ditched Knock Off on Darkrai for Focus Blast. The team then needed support into Ogerpon-Wellspring, Kingambit, and Hyper Offense styles. I decided to go with 4 attacks Trailblaze Ogerpon-W and Rest Zamazenta after some experimentation with those slots.
:hatterene::darkrai::gliscor::heatran::ogerpon-wellspring::zamazenta:

2. Quarter To Two - Sets

:Hatterene:@ :Assault Vest:
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Water / Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 164 SpA / 68 SpD / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Draining Kiss
- Mystical Fire
- Future Sight

This set was made by Srn and the Cryos. Finch made a good post detailing it in the SPL discussion thread, but essentially it allows some very cool offensive structures by virtue of combining Magic Bounce with good special bulk and power and a defensive typing that offers a check to Deo-S, Raging Bolt, Zamazenta, etc. It fulfills the hazard removal role well enough for a team as offensive as this one and Future Sight + Psyshock are invaluable in the stall matchup.

:Darkrai:@ :Expert Belt:
Ability: Bad Dreams
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast

Darkrai synergizes well with the team because of entrances it gets on Heatran's Eject Pack proc as well as doubles from the other two pivots. The things that it is forced out by are able to be answered by one of the three 'defensive' pokemon the team employs. I like Darkai offenses a lot because it is valuable across matchups. Even against teams with Blissey, it can chip the blob into range of two Focus Blasts with the assistance of Hatterene's Future Sight and smart play. In offensive matchups, we cover booster mons with various defensive answers including Wellspring's Tera, but otherwise Darkrai runs a train on these teams, especially with correct prediction.

:Gliscor:@ :Toxic Orb:
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 244 HP / 128 Atk / 56 SpD / 80 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Facade
- Swords Dance
- Protect

Don't ask me what this spread does I just got it from a friend on a different team and liked it here. I think it's strictly for Rillaboom outspeed and which works out well enough because if you don't get the Flame Body proc you need some way to beat it. It also outspeeds Adamant Dragonite which has been key to a few games. Feel free to try out a different spread, including standard 250 range speed spreads or dropping the Atk and SpD for Def. I never played around much with fine tuning spreads on this team except for Oger because I didn't have the patience and I got high enough without making this a whole project. Anyway, EQ is needed for additional Raging Bolt protection and Tera Normal Facade is the best breaking option into teams without Dozo. Since we don't have Spikes, Knock felt like it had little use. Ironically, it would have been good to have Knock + Facade into my ADPL opponent because I could have made Skeledirge take SR and burn tera to deal with Zamazenta. As it stood, I sacked Zama early because I knew there was no chance it would do anything that game except answer what I needed it to early game.

:Heatran:@ :Eject Pack:
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 144 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Earth Power
- Tera Blast
- Stealth Rock

Here's the heat. Not something I came up with and I first remember seeing this set in SCL last year. Apparently it's also a Heatranator classic :worrywhirl: . Like Gliscor, spread can be fine-tuned but I didn't care to do so. (If you want free TR points you can optimize this spread to get some KO.) Tera Blast Fairy helps the team deal with Dragon Types, especially Kyurem and Roaring Moon, as well as Zamazenta. This will obviously be less effective for you than it was for me due to the sets being known and people feeling free to switch their Landorus in to phase out your Heatran. Regardless, I think that Flame Body Heatran is the shit. No more Volc frees up this ability slot meaning that you act like a real Gambit check instead of a quarter-check.

:Ogerpon-Wellspring:@ :Wellspring Mask:
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ivy Cudgel
- Power Whip
- Play Rough
- Trailblaze

Adamant Ogerpon was a late change because I felt like I wanted the OHKO on opposing Ogerpon with Power Whip. Trailblaze + Adamant did damage when my opponents were assuming Jolly. Play Rough is one of the team's only countermeasures to Roaring Moon, and even if they know the set, having it gives you an advantage because they will either Tera to DD or straight Acro without DDing, in which case Zama and Darkrai can deal with it.

:Zamazenta:@ :Chesto Berry:
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 112 HP / 216 Def / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Iron Defense
- Rest

This set is definitely a favorite at this point. I like Tera Dark on it more on most teams but we needed the Fairy and Flying resist. I think this set is well known at this point and basically it gives you a second chance to sweep, nearly doubling its potency in offensive matchups. We also didn't need Tera Fire Substitute because we have Hatt and Heatran to cover Dragapult.

3. Quarter to Three - Threats and Acknowledgements

:sv/roaring moon:
This + tera is scary asf, so managing the things that you have in when your opponent gets free switches/you get a kill is very key against Roaring Moon teams.

:sv/zamazenta:
Preserving Hatterene or Tera on Heatran/Darkrai or forcing it out and/or setting up with your Zama first are strategies you can employ to deal with it.

:sv/glimmora:
Tspikes are annoying for this team, and you are just gonna have to get comfortable playing fast with them up. Hatt antileads sash glimm in exchange for a poisoned Hatterene. Darkrai can also do it and if you feel like gambling on the preemptive Poison Tera be my guest. That is often the right play against stall teams that you know have tspikes Toxapex.

Shoutout my friends. I love you all dearly.

Join Traineraid :heart:
https://discord.gg/2CZyVsNN
 
Great team, seen it on the ladder a few times and always felt tough to beat. That being said, I want to highlight two things -

1. Samurott-H seems to be a really good matchup vs your team. This isn't unexpected when using magic bounce as your sole hazard control, but I still think it deserves a mention on the threat list. Sash lead / Scarf sets will definitely find turns to set up spikes, and even other sets could get a turn in on a gliscor/heatran.

2. I'm curious as to how you play vs Sun teams, aside from bluffing heatran's ability I don't see much counterplay vs sun abusers like Raging Bolt + Gouging, even the random venusaur seems to go crazy.
 
Really cool team that I got to play against on ladder, congrats on your peak! I gotta say that Darkrai set is TERRIFYING to play against with max coverage. I'm going to be having Bad Dreams about that set for a while.

I'm also a big fan of the Heatran tech, I was shocked when I saw that eject pack activate LOL.
 

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