Please Rate My Team

[smok]

Last time I posted a team here i'm going to be honest it sucked, but I have revised my stradagy, and I think this should be a bit better, this is the first time I have done EVs so I know they probably are horrible, but I really want your input. Thank you very much for your time.

Hippowdon(F)@Leftovers
Impish
Sandstream
EVs-252hp/168def/88SpD
-EQ
-Slack Off
-Stealth Rock
-Ice Fang

Ok this is my lead/ physical wall, I figured stealth rock would be good because of his high defence, he could just slack off what ever big damage he takes. I also like sand stream because pretty much other than Bronzong/ Arodactal leads no one has a sand stream resistant lead. Ice fang is there for good type coverage, dealing with any Celebi/Arodactal leads and is a good all around STAB move. Most Bronzong leads run heatproof rather than levitate EQ is there mainly for that reason. And from the testing I have done on Shoddy, with this ev spred he cannot get OHKOed by a pysical attack. My main concern on this guy is Gangar leads that run energy ball, This EV spred should allow at least 2HKO but would have no way of revenge killing it. Also I would like to know if I should run Stone Edge rather than EQ, for Gyarados leads. I think he is an over all fair lead, but I get the feeling i'm not using him to his max potential. Input deeply appriciated.

Electivire(F)@Expert Belt
Adament
Motor Drive
EVs-252atk/252spd/4def
-Thunderpunch
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
-Cross Chop/Brick Break

I knew this day was coming, curse my fanboyism, but it had to be done. I ousted Luxray in place of Electivire. Darknessmalice was right, Electivire is far too supirior to Luxray not to warrent a switch. So this set me really good type coverage, he is super effective on 14 out of 17 types, you got to love that. I do however question Cross Chops accuracy at only 80, maby its just me, but I have always had bad luck with this move, but I definatly see it's benifets, i'm thinking of sacrificing some power for accuracy wih Brick Break. Expert Belt + Thunderpunch + 252 atk EVs = deadly power. I use Expert Belt over LO just because this Electivre dosen't handle residual damage very well. let me know what you think.

Empoleon(F)@Petaya Berry
Modest
Torrent
EVs-12hp/252SpA/12SpD/232spd
-Substitute
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Agility

This guy is a good late game sweeper, and I hope Bloo dosen't mind, but i'm going to use his decription because it hit the nail on the head and I can't put it any better. Sub Petaya Empoleon is an excellent choice. This is how the set works. First, Empoleon comes in on something that is unable to OHKO or cripple it. This includes a variety of commonly used Pokemon such as Blissey without Thunder Wave, Suicune and Vaporeon. Once you get a free turn to set up, you Agility, bringing your speed to an impressive 438. You then Substitute until Petaya Berry activates, boosting Empoleon's already high 350 Special Attack to 525. Surf is boosted by STAB from 95 base power to 137 base power, then Torrent kicks in, boosting its base power to an amazing 208 base power. Even things that resist Water are still severly damaged. Empoleon resists the two most common Priority moves, Bullet Punch and Ice Shard, carrying a 4x resistance to each, meaning they won't even 2HKO an Empoleon's Substitute, while their users are OHKOed by Surf.

Togakiss(F)@Leftovers
Timid
Serene Grace
EVs-252hp/20def/236spd
-Air Slash
-Wish
-Thunder Wave/Heat Wave
-Grass Knot

Magmorter had to go I decided I needed wish support and another way to take down bulky waters. I not 100% convinced on her yet, but I have been getting good results on shoddy. I am starting to worry that I don't have a single fire type move on my team, I was thinking of using Heat wave insted because Grass and bug types such as Forretress, and Celebi Air Slash works, but not having a single fire type move worries me a bit. Let me know what you think.

Lucario(F)@Life Orb
Adament
Inner Focus
EVs-252atk/252spd/4def
-Sword Dance
-Closed Combat
-Extremespeed
-Crunch

Thanks to Darknessmalice for this set. I replaced Gallade with this Lucario set, I think it should work a bit better. So this EV spred allows Lucario to come in and just sweep. SD/ LO to give a boost to his already inpressive attack. CC should do well against Empoleon/Blissey/Jirachi/etc. Extremespeed is for whatever CC and Crunch cant hit. And Crunch, I love this attack on this set, this should help with the Cressila as it pretty much walls my team. I went Inner Focus over Stedfast because 1) he is plenty fast already, and 2) have your sweeper flinch even for one turn can bring down your team. He is just an over all good sweeper. Let me know what you think.

Gyarados(F)@Leftovers
Impish
Intimidate
EVs-252hp/220def/36SpD
-Avalanche
-Waterfall
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

First of all I want to thank Bloo for this set. So this is my defensive RestTalk Gyarados. He should add some much needed defense to this team, and serve as a good Mixape counter. Avalanche over DD because if he is going to be defensive, DD seems like a waste of a move, This should help with revenge killing mixmences, and flying pokemon. Although being more defensive Avalanche/ Waterfall make him a good tank, the small chance of causing flinch with water fall is always nice. Rest Talk is always good on a defensive pokemon.


Just a quick note, this is my first competitive battling team so I know I probably sqrewed up a lot but I just wanted to get some oppinions. I am currently revamping my team so any suggestions are deeply appriciated. I am very open to anything you have to say, but have really bad OCD about not using legendaries on my team I myself don't know why, so please don't suggest any legendaries. I have been thinking of replacing Lucario with a mix ape scince I already have Electivire Psyicaly sweeping, however that would take away Crunch which is really my only Psychic/Ghost counter, I would appriciate some input on the matter. I really appriciate your help. Thanks in advance.

-Smok

-CHANGES IN BOLD-

P.S. Please excuse my spelling, I know it sucks.

 

[bugmaniacbob]

Oh dear, oh dear.

If Empoleon is a good lategame sweeper, why is he in the lead spot? Put him at the bottom somewhere. And that particular Empoleon set isn't sweeping anyone, anytime soon. If you want to sweep with Empoleon, the best way to do it is this:

Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Modest

AGILITY
SUBSTITUTE
SURF
ICE BEAM

EVs: 12 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD / 232 Spe

This is Empoleon's most destructive set, really. Come in on one of Empoleon's many resistances, use Agility to boost your speed when they switch, then continue to throw up subs until Petaya berry activates. Now you have some BIG power, A Petaya Torrent Surf is going to be destroying nigh-on everything you meet, and Ice Beam takes care of the rest. Be sure to eliminate Bulky Waters before trying this since they can stop it easily.

Luxray has plenty of power, but an awful movepool. I would say change it, but if it works for you, then by all means use it. Ice Fang has more power than HP Ice for the most part, and if you change it you can use HP Grass for Swampert and Rhyperior (as well as possibly Donphan), who will wall you to the ends of the Earth without it. Spark is better over Thunder Fang since it has better accuracy, same power and a higher paralysis rate. Superpower is also worth consideration since it has a very high base power and puts a big dent in Steel-and-Rock-types.

You have three Ground weaknesses and no resistances in your team, meaning that you should change Hippo to Skarmory or Bronzong. Both can Stealth Rock and Bronzong in particular is an excellent lead, but isn't the best physical wall. Skarm on the other hand is a great physical wall, but is not often used to its maximum potential as a lead.

Magmortar is also a poor choice in the Standard environment. Mixape is probably a better choice with better speed, decent Special attack, access to moves like Nasty Plot and Grass Knot, and STAB Close Combat to lay a hurting on Blissey.

Gallade is a firm choice, but if you are going to use him you should make use of some of his benefits, such as Hypnosis, Thunder Wave and Trick. Other pokemon pull off that set much better. I would personally use Breloom over Gallade since he has a much better sleeping move a typing that benefits your team and can throw around much more powerful Focus Punches. The Sporepuncher or Swords Dance set is probably best for your needs. If you want a powerful Swords Dancer, the popular Lucario and Scizor are always around.

Dusknoir's existence has become somewhat obsolete in the sea of hype that is the Rotom-forme. Rotom-h or Rotom-w can pull off a set like that much better with powerful Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Overheat/Hydro Pump or Trick.

To make a long story short, only one member of your team is a decent pokemon and he's in the wrong place. And a word of advice. You'd better increase your descriptions, or the mods will come and get you...

You have been warned...

 

[Bloo]

You've had some neat advice already, and I'm going to try and build on it. Okay, first of all, I highly suggest changing to the Empoleon set that bugmaniacbob suggested to you. Empoleon is not the best user of Roar. Roar is usually used to phaze away Pokemon who use moves to boost one of their stats. Some common users of these types of moves are Salamence, Scizor, Lucario, and Gyarados. All of the above pokemon have the potential to seriously hurt Empoleon before Empoleon can even touch the above threats. For those reasons, switching to a Sub Petaya Empoleon is an excellent choice. This is how the set works. First, Empoleon comes in on something that is unable to OHKO or cripple it. This includes a variety of commonly used Pokemon such as Blissey without Thunder Wave, Suicune and Vaporeon. Once you get a free turn to set up, you Agility, bringing your speed to an impressive 438. You then Substitute until Petaya Berry activates, boosting Empoleon's already high 350 Special Attack to 525. Surf is boosted by STAB from 95 base power to 137 base power, then Torrent kicks in, boosting its base power to an amazing 208 base power. Even things that resist Water are still severly damaged. Empoleon resists the two most common Priority moves, Bullet Punch and Ice Shard, carrying a 4x resistance to each, meaning they won't even 2HKO an Empoleon's Substitute, while their users are OHKOed by Surf.

Your team has serious problems with MixApe. MixApe is capable of OHKo/2HKO'ing the majority of your team with Fire Blast and Close Combat. Your team also has a rather hard time dealing with Swords dance Lucario with Crunch. Lucario can OHKO each and every single one of your team mebre swith Close Combat, Extremespeed and Crunch. In addition to that, your team also seems to have trouble getting past well built stall teams. Stealth Rock + Spikes+Toxic Spikes take care of the majority of your team, and if said team holds a decent lategame sweeper like the previously mentioned Lucario, I feel you lose. Luckily for you, there is one Pokemon that can remedy all of these problems and that Pokemon is a Defensive RestTalk Gyarados. RestTalk Gyarados is an excellent counter to MixApe as well as being able to rip apart stall teams once Celebi/Vaporeon/Rotom are gone. Gyarados also helps you fight against Lucario. Overall, Gyarados is a great addition to this team and I suggest using the following set:

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 SDef
Nature: (+Def, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Gyarados not only stalls but he also breaks apart opposing stall teams. If your oponent has lost their Celebi this guy becomes difficult to take down for a stall team. Gyarados can also help you combat Salamence which your team seems to have some problems with as well. If you see a Mence this guy should be your first switch in to get an intimidate on it and then go to Hippowdon to finish it off with Ice Fang. The 36 SDef EV's make Infernape's Grass Knot a 3HKO with SR in play. Gyarados's usefullness does not end there. Gyarados also helps you handle SubTran Hera, Luke, Mamoswine, Scizor and Weavile.

The pice of advice I suggest is using Heatran over Magmortor. Heatran is an all around better revenge killer than Magmortor due to the fact that Heatran has a variety of resistances and immunities. So I suggest using the following set:

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature(+Spe, -SpD)
~ Fire Blast
~ Earth Power
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Explosion

Fire Blast for causing huge damage to Scizor, Lucario, and Celebi. Use Earth Power against fellow Heatran. Dragon Pulse causes decent damage to all those Dragons that are commonly found in OU, like Salamence and Kingdra. Explosion is for those Blisseys who come in to stop the fun, or as Heatran's last resort move.

Okay, the final suggestion that I am going to offer you is using Rotom over Dusknoir. Since your current team has three weakness's to Ground, Rotom can serve as an additional immunity to Grounf alngside Gyarados. I would consider using the Standard Rotom Set. That Rotom can serve as a great tank to your team since it provides a variety of support options that you can utilize.

Okay, so to summarize this extremely long rate, this is what I have suggested:

• Using a Sub Petaya Empoleon over your current Empoleon.
• Using a RestTalk Gyarados to help you with your problems against MixApe and Swords Dance Lucario with Crunch.
• Using Rotom over Dusknoir because Rotom provides your team with a very welcome ground immunity as well as adding an Electric resistance to your team and having acess to a variety of support options.
• Using Heatran as a revenge killer over Magmortor because of Heatran's excellent immunities and resistances.

 

[smok]

Thank you both very much for your comments, I feel hat I need to clarify a few things before I get down to the changes. First of all, I made a very large mistake when I typed this I ment to have Hippowdon as my lead instead of Empoleon. My bad, I was listing them in numerical order, I kind of have a one track mind, but thats fixed. Secondly to bugmaniacbob, I was originally running a sub-pataya Empoleon, but someone on the serebii forums told me that the sub-pataya wasn't very good, but looking at your explination I am switching back, thank you very much, I appriciate it. Ok on to Luxray, there are a couple reasons why I want him on my team, some of which were already explained, 1) he is my favorite pokemon 2) I just caught a shiny shinx the other day, my first shiny and I really wanted to work him into my team. 3) as for HP ice over ice fang, 2 should explain why I don't want to breed a new shinx . Now if you think it is ABSOLUTLY necisary to take him off my roster than so be it. I will however change thunder fang to spark, that makes perfect sense. As for switching out Magmorter and Dusknoir, I see what your saying and I agree, however I have really bad OCD about not using Legendaries, don't ask me why I just do. I see the need for there replacement and once I find a decent switch I shall do so. And lastly to your comments, I hope the changes to the descriptions were long enough, if not please let me know an I will make them longer. Now on to Bloo's comments, I fixed Empoleon, thank you very much for the description. Next I really like the Gyarados set you put up, but I don't know where to put it. If you read this thread again please let me know where I should put it. Heatran and Rotom are both good suggestions, but as I mentioned earlier I have OCD about not using legendaries, again, don't ask me why. And lastly just a few thoughts that I would like some opinions on, i'm thinking about switching Gallade for a Lucario, and two I really like having Hippowdon as a lead because of it's great defense, so I don't think I will be changing him out. Thanks again both of you, I got alot out of your input and I appriciate it very much. Any and all other comments/ suggestions are greatly appricated, Thanks again.

-Smok

 

[smok]

I think the first three descriptions are up to standerd, but please allow me to fix the latter half of my team. I see many flaws in it and I am correcting them as we speak, I promise it will be fixed by tommarow.

 

[Darkmalice]

Replace Luxray for Electivire. Electivire is completely superior to Luxray. Use the standard Electivire set - Expert Belt Adamant, 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP - Thunderpunch, Earthquake, Ice Punch and Cross Chop. It has much better coverage than Luxray, and it makes very good use of Expert Belt. Motor Drive is generally better for an attacker like Electivire, for the speed boost can really help it sweep, whilst Luxray wasn't a poke to take hits in the first place. As well, few people use Electivire these days, so you should easily manage to get one speed boost each game.

Lucario > Gallade for a SD user. Use the standard SDLuke - LO, Adamant, 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP - Close Combat, SD, Extremespeed and Crunch. Crunch is the four move, as specially defensive Cresselia walls your team. Lucario is also immune to SS - you don't want to induce SS if you only have two pokes on your team that resist it.

Use Bloo's Gyarados in place of Dusknoir, but with Stone Edge in place of Dragon Dance. Dusknoir isn't a physical wall that is working for you. Gyarados can wall fighting attacks, despite no immunity, but also helps against Salamance and other Gyarados (a LO DD boosted Gyarados with Earthquake creams your team). Stone Edge is needed for the last two, and helps to hit other flying pokemon. Gyarados will be acting as a tank for your team, not a sweeper, so I don't suggest DD.

 

[smok]

Darknessmalice, thanks for your suggestions I liked them all. Now I think the team looks much better, but I am still looking for Magmorters replacement. I was thinking of a special sweeper, possible one with wish support, maby a Togakiss. let me know what you think.

 

[smok]

I have been thinking of replacing someone with a mixape, any suggestions. I was thinking Lucario, but that gets rid of crunch which is really my only Psychic/Ghost counter.

 

[smok]

^^bump

 

[IceTime]

a few things:

- as darknessmalice said, change Gyara's moveset. Instead of Avalanche, Stone Edge is better, to hit flyers.

- go with mixed Vire, a much better wallbreaker/sweeper than physical electivire, considering the things that ThunderPunch/Ice Punch are going to hit are probably hit harder on the special side anyway (example: Bulky Waters) Thunderbolt/HP Ice/Flamethrower or EQ/Cross Chop does okay.