My RMT Part 2

What up guys. A short while back I put my first RMT on here and it got pretty nice rates. I have been trying out that team on shoddy, to be honest not to much success. I dont think that the team suited my playstyle very well as quite a few people on shoddy were destroying me when I was quite certain I outplayed them. A very large part of this is that im pretty new to pokemon battling and I really need to adjust things. But anyway here is the team.


Metagross Lead @ Occa Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP 232 ATK 28 SPE
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Bullet Punch
Explosion

Here I have a standard lead metagross straight from the smogon analysis. I went for Earthquake and Occa Berry as I think they are the most effective choices. I personally think my problem lies in my lead, I was very excited about getting to use metagross in my team however it feels as if I'm not using him right on shoddy as I'm not having much success at the start. This is likely my lack of experience in competitive battling but I think the best way would be for me to list what I do vs other leads. PLEASE BE HONEST AND POINT OUT MISTAKES I MAKE HERE.

Azelf: Go for rocks hoping he does aswell, then occa will help me take the possible fire blast well and ill bullet/punch or explode not really sure here either
Aerodactyl: Most of the time expect the taunt and just go for bullet punch instead, on a very rare occasion I might try and get a sneaky rocks in if he overpredicts
Metagross: Go straight for earthquake
Swampert: NOT SURE HERE
Machamp: Rocks then explode (I think this isnt the best solution because I hate facing machamp)

SORRY FOR NOT INCLUDING MORE LEADS




Swampert @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
EVs 240 HP 216 DEF 52 SPD
Surf
Ice Beam
Earthquake
Roar

Swampert functions as a tank and a phazer and to be honest surf, ice beam and earthquake is a nice attacking combination for this guy. In my last RMT I was advised to switch out swampert to either a vaporeon or rotom-w. I did try those out and I also gave Swampert a shot, still stuck on that decision.



Gyarados @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs 252 ATK 4 DEF 252 SPE
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Stone Edge
Earthquake

This is the offensive DD variant of gyarados another thing I got straight from the analysis. Given the right circumstances this thing is very brutal after some DDs however I found this to be very frail especially with the huge ammount of stealth rock damage it takes and the life orb recoil. I have lately considered switching it out to the bulky variation, but I dont know if the drop in power will be worth it. I love this thing when I manage to switch it in safely and get of a dragon dance but I also hate it dying prematurely.


Infernape @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive?
EVs 64 Atk 252 SpA 192 Spe
Fire Blast
Close Combat
Grass Knot
Hidden Power Ice/Nasty Plot?

Special MixApe has proven to be a fine addition to the team, he has probably been the most reliable team member on shoddy so far and I have been using nasty plot. The move synergy this guy has with gyarados is quite amazing and he can break those pesky physical walls that give my gyarados some trouble. I havent found a common switch in that my enemy uses against him yet but not many pokemon give this guy a really hard time. The nature and last move are bolded as im not fully sure about them.


Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs 12 HP 252 ATK 244 SPE
Spore
Focus Punch
Seed Bomb
Substitute

I cant stand oposing brelooms, either I'm very unlucky or they are deliberately using different EVs to outspeed me. This is more of a complaint to other brelooms than a description of mine. Something I've tried a few times is to sacrifice something as sleep bait and try and get infernape in when this thing doesn't go for spore, but ofcourse this is very risky as it can result in him getting free subs or getting of a focus punch. BITCHING SESSION OVER. My breloom doesn't seem to be equally annoying as the others so if I decide to keep this in I think i need to revise when I switch it into play and I need to improve my predictions. The times I have used it succesfully usually means the end for the other player, I cant believe how annoying these things are.


Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Crunch
Stone Edge
Pursuit
Earthquake

Formerly forretress and changed by recommendation, Im very glad I made this switch as this monster is just amazing. Usually this thing will just switch in and get a speedy K/O on something. It 100% suites me more than forretress ever will (sorry forretress :<) but man this is just the boss of my team. But as you all know its not without its weaknesses and ScarfTar may have the speed for certain matchups, it also lacks the power in some cases.

Be kind please and I would like to thank anyone in advance I am actually all for a complete team remake and I was wondering if maybe an anti/attack lead would fit the team better. My prime candidates are the anti lead dragonite and attack lead machamp from the analysis. Also if any one wouldn't mind I'm all for a test on shoddy where you give me feedback.

Once again thanks in advance
Zaze out

Hello Zaze,

Interesting team you have yourself, I have a few suggestions that may help your team out! This team has trouble against Nasty Plot Infernape as well as Swords Dance Infernape with Mach Punch to a lesser extent. Set up Infernape usually sets up against Breloom while you fear the switch or against Tyranitar when locked in Crunch/Pursuit. After the Nasty Plot Infernape quite possibly could have a clean sweep. Since Gyarados get's ko'd by Focus Blast after Stealth Rock damage and if Infernape were to use Grass Knot instead that would be a possible ko' w/o SR damage. Same goes for Swampert which dies to Focus Blast or Grass Knot. While your Infernape gets out sped and Tyranitar would get ko'd by +2 Vaccum Wave. This team also faces some what of an offensive Taunt Gyarados weakness who generally switch into Swampert and can start to set up from there.

As for your lead Metagross you would be better of using standard lead Lum Berry Metagross. Lead Metagross with Occa Berry don't exactly work well in the current metagame since Specs Heatran ko's regardless. By having Lum Berry you would be able to handle sleep inducing leads such as Roserade and Smeargle. Against common Machamp with Lum Berry you can 2hko with Meteor Mash while not getting hit by confusion. In your case you face the risk of being 2hko'd if you hit your self in confusion. While having Mash+Bullet Punch on Metagross you deal with Taunt Azelf better with the new Colbur Berry move set on the rise.

Metagross @ Lum Berry | Clear Body
Lum Berry | 220 HP / 252 Atk / 38 Speed
Stealth Rock | Meteor Mash | Bullet Punch | Explosion

Instead of using Swampert, your team would benefit much more from Starmie. Metagross and Starmie have great synergy and work very well on the same team. Rapid Spin would help you get rid of layers allowing you to play against stall much more effectively while Swampert in this case is just a sitting duck for spike stacker. By using Starmie you officially aren't swept by set up Infernape since you out speed and take minimal damage from it's priority attack. This also limits Taunt Gyarados from setting up which it previously did when you used Swampert.

Starmie @ Leftovers | Natural Cure
Leftovers | 252 Hp / 252 Speed / 6 Def
Surf | Thunderbolt | Recover | Rapid Spin
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Good Luck

Thanks a lot for that feedback, I'll definately try those out on shoddy battle later.

Got your PM. This looks like a solid team overall, I hope I can patch up the left out weaknesses with my rate

Notable Threats
Dragon Dance Gyarados: (Bulky and Life Orb)
Offensive Suicune
Life Orb Heatran (to an extent)
Infernape

First of Gyarados will eat the team alive if it comes in on Tyranitar locked into the wrong move, and force Infernape out. If its Bulky Taunt Gyarados, it will have even more of an easier time by setting up all over Swampert (assuming it has Bounce for Breloom). Offensive Suicune can be a major threat, hitting 4/6 of your members for super effective damage between Hidden Power Electric/Ice Beam/Surf. Life Orb Heatran is also very threatening, as only Tyranitar can switch in safely on Fire Blast only, and Infernape doesn't get a chance to safely switch in altogether because of its frailness, and can only come in if something on your team dies, thus something on your team will definitely go down to HP Grass LO Heatran. Lasty, as Scimjara mentioned, Infernape will be a general pain to deal with, whether its Mixed or Nasty Plot

So first I'm going to start with small changes; change Gyarados to the Bulky DD set which helps a lot against LO Heatran, who troubles Offensive Gyarados with Fire Blast+SR+LO recoil, quickly wore it down. This Gyarados can take those special attacks better and retaliate with Waterfall. Its also a good method to deal with stall, courtesy of Taunt. Try an Adamant nature with the following spread: 156 HP/72 Atk/96 Def/184 Spe, and moves: Dragon Dance/Waterfall/Stone Edge/Taunt.

With the Heatran problem gone, the Offensive Suicune, Gyarados, and Nasty Plot Infernape weakness remains. I think a Vaporeon over Swampert can do well for this, giving you a solid Gyarados and Infernape check. An EV spread of 216 Def/60 HP/232 Sp Def Bold with Wish/Protect/HP Electric/Surf. This deals with Heatran, Infernape, and can aid Gyarados with wish support. Finally to patch up weakness to Suicune, try Offensive LO Shaymin over Breloom. Try a basic 32 HP/252 Satk/220 Speed with Seed Flare/Hidden Power Ice/Rest/Earth Power to better handle Suicune, and a general pain against all kinds of Bulky Waters that trouble Gyarados and Infernape. Finally, removing Swampert opens your team up to Dragon Dance Dragonite who can be helped by changing Tyranitar into a Scarf Flygon. Standard 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP Naive Nature with Outrage/Earthquake/U-turn/Fire Blast. Gyarados is already covered by vaporeon, therefore Stone Edge/Thunder Punch are unnecessary, and Fire Blast will OHKO Forretress and do huge amounts to Skarmory, punishing them for thinking you're an all out Physical attacker.

So TL;DR
Bulky Gyara>Offensive Gyara
Vappy>Swampy
Shaymin>Breloom
Flygon>Tyranitar
GL

Thanks a lot for that rate TLK, ill try this in conjunction with what Scimjara said. Im pleased that the vaporeon was recomended as I have a near flawless vaporeon with that set already, once again thanks to both of you.