Not fast enough? [RMT]

Not technically my first RMT, but I haven't posted one in ages. The idea of this team is to play offensively while preventing stalls as much as possible. I seem to have hit a wall where even though my team is effective, it doesn't have the speed necessary to counter some major threats. Anything in blue is something I'm willing to change, anything in red is an idea, green is a change.

Team Brief


Overview

Metagross @ Occa Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252HP/236Atk/12Def - Put more into Atk or put into Spd?
Adamant nature (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion - Maybe Meteor Mash?

A pretty standard leading Metagross, considered Weavile in place of this but didn't work quite so well. When playing I have found that 'gross has struggled to explode because it has been slower than what it is trying to explode on. So I need a suggestion for something else in its place.


Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpAtk/252 Spd/4 HP
Modest Nature (+SpAtk -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power (Ice)
- Thunderbolt
- Roost

Special Sweeping Zapdos that struggles to find use when I have both Suicune and Electivire (Special and Electric typing respectively). The only bonus to having the electric bird is that I have something that can safely switch in on Earthquakes without taking damage. Need a better special sweeper.


Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/58 SpDef - Should I revert to standard?
Impish Nature (+Def -SpAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off
- Toxic

Physical wall, yet when it comes in on something it knows will switch it will poison the switch-in. Proves very effective and Ice Fang provides a bit more coverage when facing physical movesets on the dragons especially.


Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/252 SpAtk/224 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- X-Scissor

Physical attacker, does Electivire's job but better. Faster than 'vire and also more effective.


Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/216 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

Starmie is the spinner that is needed in this team, keeps Suicune's role yet adds a necessary cover for Rocks and Spikes. Can dish out damage when necessary also.


Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpDef/4 Spd
- Aromatherapy
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave

Special Wall that can unleash some hurt when necessary (Managed to beat a previously paralysed Lucario and Empoleon). This helps to lift status off the team and keep members away from status problems.

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This is the team, it can win, but can easily be set up on thanks to most of the pokes being relatively slow. Now rate away!

Threats

Anything faster than me that can get stat boosts in, namely Scizor. Also if anything gets Spikes/Toxic Spikes/Rocks down I'm stuffed.

Previous Members


Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpDef/4 SpAtk
Calm Nature (+SpDef -Atk)
- Surf
- Rest
- Roar
- Calm Mind

Removed for: To give a spinner in the form of Starmie.


Electivire @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpAtk/252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd -SpAtk)
- Cross Chop
- Ice Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Earthquake

Removed for: Wanted to get a better physical attacker.

Your team seems to have major problems with Spikes and Stealth Rock. You have no type of Rapid Spinner, making it impossible for your team to function positively in the current metagame, which is full of these entry hazards, so we need to fix this. The good news here is that you won't need to change your team around much, you just need a few replacements. First is first, you need a Rapid Spinner, and I recommend you make good use of Starmie. Like Suicune, Starmie is a pretty effective bulky water Pokemon, and its far more effective thanks to its ability to Rapid Spin. You should replace Suicune for Starmie, it seems like the best thing to do here. You will lose a valuable SleepTalker, but Starmie will still be the bulky water of the team, and be able to deal with Spikes and Stealth Rock. 136 HP / 156 Def / 216 Spe @ Timid should be a good EV Spread, you'll have enough bulk to wall Heatran and friends, while 216 EVs in Speed allow you to outrun things like Timid Gengar and Naive Infernape, and help your "slow team" syndrome here. Electivire isn't doing much in todays metagame, so replacing it should be the best thing to do with it. You can always try a Scizor, probably one of the most popular things around now, thanks to its capability to sweep teams with ease if not prepared.

On paper, it seems like you can handle Lucario and Scizor, but I'm afraid that on the field they actually give you a lot of trouble. If this is the case, you can always replace Hippowodon or Zapdos with a Rotom-H, which handles both Lucario and Scizor if used correctly. Note that replacing Hippowodon will leave you wide open to Tyranitar, which is something you don't want to fuck around with. If you take my advice of replacing Electivire with Scizor, Scizor can work as your "keep Tyranitar on check Pokemon", while Rotom-H + Hippo/Zapdos take care of the the physical Pokemon. 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe @ Adamant for Scizor, carry SuperPower so you can fuck up Tyranitar, and the given Speed EVs allow you to outspeed most Tyranitar as well.

Rotom-H is a good idea, yet Zapdos' Heat Wave should keep me more than covered.

Scizor is a great idea, using that. Same goes with Starmie.

Can I get a faster lead than Metagross that can throw rocks?

My fault, I didn't see Heat Wave on Zapdos. Getting a faster lead than Metagross seems like a good idea. You can run an Aerodactyl or Azelf, which both are probably the best SR leads right now.

The Zapdos you are using actually ruins your team once Blissey is dead, especially if you run Meteor Mash over Explosion on Metagross. Without Bliss, you can only Poison it with Hippo and hope to outstall it.

Miltank is actually pretty fast and is very physically bulky. It gets Stealth Rock, a recovery move, and Heal Bell, so it might actually work.

This thread is now locked under RMT rule 3:

Rule #3 said:

3. Have some actual words in your post beyond your six Pokemon and their moves. Not following this makes your post quite boring to read and rate. All Pokemon should have a good reason for being in your team anyway, so why not post that reason? If you are having trouble with this one, start by giving an explanation for each team member. Why are they there? What role do they serve? How do you get them in? Then, give an explanation of how you would open with the team and how you would go about using it. All of these things help people rate your team and allow us to offer more helpful advice.

This does not mean add one sentence saying "Standard x" or "all-around awesome" after each Pokemon. If you put thought into making the team, you can put thought into posting it.

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Please read the RMT rules and the How to RMT thread before posting here again.