New RMT B/W: OU/Standard/2v2/

[TheBeginner]

Updating to B/W I decided to make a new team.

I've tried this little bunch out and I've had a good success rate so far, but I honestly want some opinions on the team. Comments, improvements, whatever else appreciated.

Nidoking is one of my favorite pokemon so I used him to base my OU team around.

Next came Braviary which I decided to use also because I liked it and really tried to get it into the team.

Next
I decided on another hard hitter so I picked Darmanitan from this generation.

Obviously if I had a fire type, I was gonna need a grass type, and if I had a grass type, I was gonna need water to protect that one. I picked Ludicolo because I needed to cover those bases without sacrificing too many spots.

Next I picked Spiritomb just for the sake of having someone to get past some barriers. Having no weaknesses also helped Spiritomb get the spot.

Finally, I picked Raikou to have a last minute heavy hitter and to cover whatever other weaknesses I had left in the team.

The Setup​

Cherry(Darmanitan)(F)@Leftovers
Ability: Zen Mode
Nature: Hasty(+Spd,-Def)
EVs: 250 ATK / 5 DEF / 250 SP.ATK / 5 SP.DEF
-U-turn
-Fire Punch
-Stone Edge
-Psychic
I knew this would be an annoying set to try and work out, but it was a dream world team so I had to suck it up and deal with it. Cherry serves as lead alongside KAPPA firstly to come to a stealth rock-free field, and secondly to scout the other team. I gave her psychic so she wouldn't be completely useless in Zen mode if it came to her having to battle like that.

Kappa(Ludicolo)(M)@Big Root
Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Docile
EVs: 10 ATK / 250 SP.ATK / 250 SP.DEF
-Fake Out
-Giga Drain
-Ice Beam
-Hydro Pump
As a lead alongside Cherry, I gave Kappa Fake out for obvious reasons. Other than that, His and Cherry's moveset exist to cover each other's weaknesses.

KING(Nidoking)(M)(Life Orb)
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Naughty
EVs: 252 ATK / 252 SP.ATK / 4 SP
-Shadow Claw/Megahorn
-Slime Wave
-Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Ice Beam
-Earthquake
I gave KING a mixed sweeper set to make sheer force as useful as possible. Slime wave and earthquake for STAB damage, and shadow claw and flamethrower for other types. Alternately, I think thunderbolt or ice beam could be used in place of thunderbolt and I think Megahorn might be a good tradeoff for shadow claw, if only for the extra power.

Braviary(M)(Leftovers)
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 ATK / 252 DEF / 4 SP
-Crush Claw
-Retaliate
-Brave Bird
-Superpower
Nothing much I can really say here, this is what I'm guessing a standard Braviary set would be.

Daalc(Spiritomb)(M)@Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
Nature: Timid
EVs: 5 ATK / 250 DEF / 5 SP.ATK / 250 SP. DEF
-Hypnosis/Will-o-Wisp
-Pain Split/Destiny Bond
-Shadow Ball
-Sucker Punch/Dark Pulse

1. Hypnosis to put enemies to sleep. Will-o'-wisp could work if you want to burn foes instead.
2. Pain Split to get some life back while hurting your opponent. Destiny Bond for if you just want to take that pokemon down with you.
3. Shadow Ball for a reliable STAB move.
4. Finally Sucker Punch for another STAB move for if you want to strike early and use the atk stat. Dark Pulse could work if you instead rely on the sp.atk stat.

DoG(Raikou)@Balloon
Ability: Volt Absorb
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 250 DEF / 10 SP.ATK / 250 SP
-Calm Mind
-Shadow Ball/ HP Grass
-Volt Switch/Reflect
-Thunderbolt
Like I said before, Raikou is nothing more than a back up special sweeper. So, naturally this set is all about exploiting it's special stats. Calm mind to gain some bulk along with powering up the rest of it's moves. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch for good STAB moves, and Shadow Ball for hitting everything else besides normal types. Otherwise I think HP Grass would work to cover it's weakness and Reflect in place of Volt change for a little more physical defense.

Well, that's my B/W team. If this isn't too too bad let me know. If you have ways for me to improve, please let me know.

 

[Ashenlock]

What was your reason for choosing the EVs you did (Like 250 instead of 252)? Also, you say 2v2, but the setup of your pokemon implies this is a singles team. If it is a double battle team, can you elaborate on the synergy of any two pokemon on the field at the same time?

 

[Eos]

Please put on sprites for each poke, it just makes things easier to read and rate :D
Zen mode really isn't that good, so you should run just physical with LO or scarf.
Nidoking should be all special, running timid LO flamethrower/tbolt/ice beam/earth power.
Test a bulk up braviary set, it isn't bad.
On spiritomb, run dark pulse over sucker punch because if your running timid, it won't hardly do anything.
Raikou should run timid as well, with a max sp. Att and speed. take off reflect, you'll outspeed most anyways.
GL with this.

 

[TheBeginner]

What was your reason for choosing the EVs you did (Like 250 instead of 252)? Also, you say 2v2, but the setup of your pokemon implies this is a singles team. If it is a double battle team, can you elaborate on the synergy of any two pokemon on the field at the same time?

Well I use 250 instead of 252 to balance the EVs out and do more than dump the last ones into one stat.

Well really I think the team could be used for either, but I put down 2v2 because the team seem to do better in 2v2 battles.

Ludicolo and Darmanitan counter each other's weaknesses, Braviary draws opponents Nidoking can get rid of quickly and Spiritomb and Rikou are mainly just two late game sweepers.

If that order get's broken, then they all usually bounce around weaknesses and resistances and I just change my strategies up accordingly.

 

[Ashenlock]

Well I use 250 instead of 252 to balance the EVs out and do more than dump the last ones into one stat.

What I mean is, since EVs are counted in increments of 4, you're shortchanging your stats a little. 252 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpD, for instance, is more overall points than 250 HP / 5 Def / 5 SpD; being 5 instead of 4 in any stat means you wasted a point that could have gone somewhere else. But it doesn't really matter, because it's really only a tiny difference. Where it really, really matters is in Speed, where 250 EVs instead of 252 can be a major difference.

Well really I think the team could be used for either, but I put down 2v2 because the team seem to do better in 2v2 battles.

Ludicolo and Darmanitan counter each other's weaknesses, Braviary draws opponents Nidoking can get rid of quickly and Spiritomb and Rikou are mainly just two late game sweepers.

If that order get's broken, then they all usually bounce around weaknesses and resistances and I just change my strategies up accordingly.

What does your party do in cases of common environment changes like Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Trick Room, etc.? Now that Drought and Drizzle aren't Uber-exlusive abilities, expect to see them in more and more teams, and possibly even combined with Trick Room. None of your pokemon are especially fast or slow so Swift Swimmers AND Trick Room-influenced super-slow pokemon get a leg up and hit for a ton of damage.

You'll want to shy away from small stat changing moves like Calm Mind. 2v2 is very fast-paced, and the enemy won't wait around for you to get strong enough that those changes matter. Think: will 50% more SpA make a difference in the long run? Usually only drastic changes will cut it if you're playing someone who runs a really well put together team; Shell Smash is one such move, for instance, althought I have yet to play Gen V doubles so I don't know if it works well in a fast paced game.

In fact, maybe I shouldn't be giving criticism at all, since I haven't fought a double battle in B/W yet! If the party works for you, then it works. Try to breed or trade for pokemon with more optimal natures though, because a Relaxed Raikou isn't nearly as good as many other natures, like Timid. This team looks mostly like it would do better in singles, but whatever floats your boat.