Tipping the balance

I've tested most of the elements of this out on my flatmate but I could do with some expert opinions and a bit of tweaking. It plays very defensively with a fair bit of stat boosting, so it definitely has it's strengths and weaknesses.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EV's: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SpDef
Nature: Relaxed
-Stealth Rock
-Leech Seed
-Gyro Ball
-Power Whip

So my lead is Ferrothorn who does a really good job of setting up stealth rocks and annoying/attacking as long as there are no fire moves present. Leech Seed + Leftovers + Iron Barbs often results in physical attackers not doing as much damage per turn as I can heal back, plus I'm hurting them. It always surprises me when the attacks do some pretty decent damage as well in the right situations. Getting burned can be a bit annoying, where I then have to rely on leech seed and less damage, but paralysis doesn't do that much, I'm going last anyway and gyro ball does more damage.


Mienshao @ Wide Lens
Ability: Regenerator
EV's: 252 Spd/252 Atk/4 HP
Nature: Jolly
-Fake Out
-U-Turn
-Stone Edge
-Hi Jump Kick

So Wide Lens is not the conventional choice for Mienshao but if a High Jump Kick misses, it really is game over for him. Plus it gives him a more accurate way of dispatching flying types that might try to take him down. I like the reliability of the extra accuracy, especially as it affects the most powerful attacks. And the combinations of Fake Out, U-Turn and Regenerator are just great.


Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EV's: 252 HP/184 Def/72 Spd
Nature: Impish
-Protect
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Facade

I wanted a Poison Heal Gliscor for a while - took many dreamworld trips to find him. I've not been disappointed so far. Protect gets the poison in uninterrupted and allows for alternating turns of stalling/extra healing. After a swords dance, both Eathquake and Facade hit decently, with Earthquake being the main attack. I chose Facade over Ice Fang for better chance to counter bulky water/ice pokemon which would give me a real headache. I know that it now leaves me susceptible to certain pokemon - Gengar, Skarmory etc, but the removal of Swords Dance leaves too little power behind the attacks to be seen as much of a threat. So there are some things Gliscor has trouble against but for the majority, if it can get one SD up, it can make a pretty decent dent.


Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EV's: 252 HP/128 Def/128 SpDef
Nature: Calm
-Thunder Wave
-Roost
-Nasty Plot
-Air Slash

Fairly straightforward. Thunder Wave makes sure you go first. Nasty Plot helps up the power. Roost helps to heal off the damage, and the bulky EV's let it take enough special hits or a few physical too to get to the stage of attacking. Then with paralysis, flinch chance doubled by serene grace and sheer power, Air Slash can take down pretty much anything, even those that resist flying moves.


Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EV's: 252 HP/192 Def/64 SpDef
Nature: Bold
-Calm Mind
-Recover
-Psyshock
-Focus Blast

Very bulky and can come in on a lot and set up (notice a pattern emerging?) But with the life orb and no recoil damage, can hit pretty hard when it need to without Calm Mind boosts. Psyshock is to hit decently if it faces a special sponge and Focus Blast is for coverage.


Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EV's: 252 Spd/252 SpAtk/4 HP
Nature: Timid
-Rapid Spin
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt

Revenge killer. Comes in and clears up whatever is remaining with it's awesome speed and diverse attacks. Rapid spin is to prevent opponents hazards. Surf is the main STAB.

So, I was hoping you could comment on any changes you would make to the team. I think it's got a decent synergy in some respects. Starmies position was originally filled by Suicune with Calm Mind, Roar, Scald, Ice Beam then by Rotom-W with Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump, Pain Split, Substitute. I feel like Stamie is the better choice over more slow bulky set-up pokes. Although it does increase my weakness to dark and ghost with two psychic types. In Gliscors place, I originally had Quiver Dance Volcarona, but had problems with entry hazards and a rock weakness, then replaced it with Choice Band Scizor, but then I had two 4x fire weaknesses. With the final line up, I still have problems with strong special Ice and Grass moves, and also other set up sweepers. Weather can also be a bit dangerous, especially against anything with raised speed or evasion. Thoughts welcome.

Hello.

Hello man!

Nice team you have here anyway let's start with the rate.

First of all, I agree with all Dr Ciel's advice, they are all very good. Then, your team is very weak to Tornadus-T, it can 6-0'd you quite easily because you haven't switch into it and you can't revenge-kill it with any pokèmon because Tornadus-T outspeeds all your team members. To solve this weakness, I suggest you to use Special Defensive Rotom-W, replacing Starmie. I will post its set below in this same rate anyway Special Defensive Rotom-W gives you a solid switch into Tornadus-T so it's fine for your team. Finally, I suggest you to change Reuniclus' item into Leftovers. It allows Reuniclus to set up more Calm Minds so I think that Leftovers is better than Life Orb in a pokèmon which needs staying power like Calm Mind Reuniclus.

That's about your team. Here's the set you should use:



Good luck, I hope I helped!

Hi, cool team. First off, I agree with Alexander in running a Special Defensive Rotom-W over Starmie to counter Tornadus-T. However, this opens a even bigger weakness to Breloom. With Starmie, you could spin rocks off and Togekiss would be able to survive a +2 Mach Punch and OHKO back with Air Slash. Another option you had was to just OHKO Breloom with Starmie's Ice Beam. However both of these routes in beating Breloom are gone with changing Starmie to Rotom-W. Breloom easily sets up on your Gliscor and proceeds to OHKO every single one of your Pokemon with rocks up, resulting in an easy 6-0. SD Toxicroak also punishes your team easily. It sets up on Rotom-W / Starmie without being scared of their moves and just like Breloom, advances for a quick 6-0. It OHKO's Reuniclus with Sucker Punch, Gliscor and Togekiss with Ice Punch, and Ferrothorn, Mienshao, and Rotom-W with Cross Chop. These weaknesses can be easily fixed, however, by running an AcroBat set on your Gliscor in place of your Physical Swords Dance set. With this set, you are able to now easily outspeed and OHKO Breloom and Toxicroak, who would otherwise have dismantled this team. AcroBat Gliscor still performs a role similar to your set before, as it uses Swords Dance to furtherly crush the opponent. It's a solid choice, even without sand. Gliscor's base 125 Defense stat also means it will still maintain bulk, even on an offensive variant. AcroBat Gliscor also pairs well with Rotom-W. Skarmory walls this set cold, but with Rotom-W as a teammate, it can easily dispatch Skarmory to let Gliscor wreck havoc. For small changes, I agree with everything Dr Ciel said as they greatly benefit your team. I also think you should try out a EV Spread of 252 HP / 88 Defense / 168 Special Defense to maximize your defensive capabilities. Ferrothorn's physical defense is already massive and the extra special defensive EVs helps you take Draco Meteors much better along with other special moves. Other than that, cool team dude.

Hope I helped and here is AcroBat Gliscor.

Right - Wide Lens has been switched for Life Orb. It makes more sense. EV's have been switched for Reuniclus, but for Togekiss I'm still on the fence. After a thunder wave, speed becomes much less important, and the bulk helps it survive to get that TW in, then it can roost off the damage. A special defence based Togekiss would be able to withstand a hurricane from a max SpAt choice specs Tornadus-T even after stealth rocks and cripple it with a Thunder Wave. Not the most elegant of solutions but it helps the rest of the team take it down. It's not a pokemon I've come up against so I really appreciate advice on how to counter it.

The specially defensive Rotom-W set is better than what I was running with. WoW and lefties is much more sensible than substitute and life orb. Will try it out to replace Starmie and see how that goes. Toxicroak, well there's an issue. Managing to successfully counter pretty much my whole team. Definitely need to go away and think about that and play about with the Gliscor set. Thanks for the advice so far. Definitely making me adapt my team.