Gen 8 Noob Attempts An OU Team

[Bucsfan818]

Hello everyone! So for the 1st time I decided to look into Gen 8 and look at all the new Pokemon, moves, abilities, etc. Because I did that, I immediately decided to try to build a team for the early stages of Gen 8 OU. Now, there are a few disclaimers before I dive into this:

1) I don’t own a Nintendo Switch, so I have not played Gen 8 yet.
2) I usually don’t play OU in competitive Pokemon. I’m an NU guy
3) My research on the current meta is from a few YouTube videos
4) I did do enough research to build a legal team lol.

This is just me basically spitballing a team idea and seeing what I can come up with. It might be good. It might be bad. Feel free to let me know lol. So let’s get started!

The Core

Toxtricity-Low-Key @ Choice Specs
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overdrive
- Boomburst
- Sludge Wave
- Volt Switch

Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz

Thought Process

So back in the spring I made a team write up of a Gen 7 NU team built around Mega Glalie and Heliolisk. I’m mentioning this because that team inspired this core.

It’s a “bolt-beam” core. For those who don’t know what “bolt-beam” is, it refers to Electric and Ice having near perfect coverage against all other types. They synergise well together. The 2 common moves were Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, hence “bolt-beam”.

I chose Toxtricity because I just LOVE it!! It’s so cool! And it also looks pretty powerful.

The ability Punk Rock gives a 30% damage boost to sound based attacks, and also the user receives 50% less damage from sound based attacks.

Overdrive is a base 80, sound based, Electric STAB attack that gets boosted to 104 BP. Boomburst also gets boosted from 140 to 182 BP. Sludge Wave is a strong secondary STAB attack. Volt Switch is a great move for momentum.

I put on Choice Specs to further boost the power of these strong attacks.

I had a tough choice for the “beam” part of the core. Couldn’t decide between Mamoswine and Galarian Darmanitan. I settled for Darmanitan for a few reasons...

1) It’s new
2) It’s ability is ridiculous
3) It has access to U-Turn, which completes a Volt-Turn combo with Toxtricity.

So Gorilla Tactics boosts the users Attack by 1 stage, but locks the Pokemon into 1 move. If you are keeping up, that means they gave Darmanitan... DARMANITAN!!! A built in Choice Band... So I put a Choice Scarf on it to boost its speed.

The moveset is pretty straightforward. Icicle Crash for STAB. U-Turn for a pivot and to form a Volt-Turn core with Toxtricity. Flare Blitz and EQ are coverage moves to deal with potential problems, mainly Ferrothorn and Aegislash, I think lol.

They compliment each other though. One is strong against the others checks. Toxtricity can threaten bulky Water types that check Darmanitan like Toxapex and Jellicent, while Darmanitan can deal with Ground types for Toxtricity.

Filling Out The Squad

One thing a core like this appreciates greatly is hazard control. Being able to get up hazards to chip away at your opponent and make KOs easier is big. So I looked to fill those roles next.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Knock Off
- Power Whip


Hatterene (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpA / 88 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish
- Mystical Fire

Thought Process

So this is the hazard core I decided on. I never played much OU in previous gens, but I know Ferrothorn was always one of the best hazard setters.

The moveset is pretty straightforward. Spikes are my hazard of choice for this team mainly because the core doesn’t like Steel types, namely Ferrothorn and Aegislash, at all. Gyro Ball and Power Whip are there as offensive options. Knock Off is good utility and allows Ferrothorn to cripple Aegislash.

Hatterene is a different type of hazard control compared to what I’m used to. Relying on Magic Bounce to keep hazards off the field is a bit risky for me, but I wanted to use new Pokémon.

252 HP / 88 SpD with a Calm Nature allows Hatterene to live a Shadow Ball from Timid, Choice Specs Dragapult while 168 SpA EVs is enough to guarantee OHKO Dragapult.

I’m running Healing Wish to support the more offensive Pokemon when needed. Psychic and Dazzling Gleam are dual STAB attacks. Mystical Fire is great coverage for Steel types that will switch into Hatterene.

The Missing Pieces

At this point I feel alright about how this team is looking. Good offensive and defensive synergy between them. I just need to use the last couple spots on the team to add to it. I still need a reliable way to pressure steel types offensively. I could also use a setup Pokemon.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower


Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Thought Process

So I wanted a Pokemon that could set up on my opponents and punish them. I also wanted a Dragon type on the team to complete a Fairy-Dragon-Steel core which synergizes well together defensively. So I added Hydreigon.

At 1st glance it looks weird to run a Hydreigon with no Dragon STAB, but I don’t think it needs it on this team when I have plenty of ways to deal with Dragon types and only one Fairy answer (Toxtricity) so I opted for Flash Cannon over Draco Meteor. Flamethrower is more coverage against Ferrothorn and Aegislash. Life Orb for boost to power.

Seismitoad I added for a couple reasons. One reason is it is a good check to rain teams. It also synergizes well with Ferrothorn as a Stealth Rocker. Also I didn’t have an Electric immunity to stop Volt Switch spam.

Earthquake is just strong STAB. Scald is good utility. Toxic is so I have a way to cripple walls that switch in on it. Leftovers for recovery.

So that’s the team. I haven’t tested it yet but I will get around to doing that over the holiday and come back here to post replays. Feel free to let me know in the comments what u all think

[ShawnStyles]

sadly can't use gmax and i think vgc is going to ban gmax pokes since u can't use them in online competition this consept of a team is a good idea now you have to re do it

[Hojunhu]

(Nov 27, 2019, 06:21 AM)ShawnStyles Wrote: sadly can't use gmax and i think vgc is going to ban gmax pokes since u can't use them in online competition this consept of a team is a good idea now you have to re do it

Why can't you use G-Max in OU singles? I know they were trying to get it working on Showdown, but I'm almost certain you can use G-Max on battlespot.

[Bucsfan818]

(Nov 27, 2019, 06:21 AM)ShawnStyles Wrote: sadly can't use gmax and i think vgc is going to ban gmax pokes since u can't use them in online competition this consept of a team is a good idea now you have to re do it

It can be a regular Hatterene and still serve the same purpose. I'll edit the G-Max part out