Thanks I appreciate it, but you could you at least give me a brief in-look, or PM me a longer one, of what leads are common/recommended? I've been watching battles on the smogon servers but Ive yet to find out what leads are common (the combatants are usually to their third Pokemon by the time I enter the battle)
Ive got a general idea on what Pokes to expect, not so much leads :/
well IMO the Suicide lead Concept died with Team Preview and if you see one it will be Deo-S/A(only on the smogon server) since they are pretty much the best options for this Job. Other Leads are usually Weather introducers and most likely Hippo/TTar cause of their ability to set up SR and being slower than the other weather leads. Machamp still works, but because of Team Preview its not as easy for him as it was in Gen 4. Nattorei/Forry/Skarmory all work as leads for their Ability to set up multiple hazards and general bulk/good typing. Heatran/Azelf/Aero are almost non existant as a lead since Heatran works better midgame with a Baloon and Azelf/Aero are outclassed by Deo-S and the Explosion nerf. Speed Boost Blaziken can work as a Lead in DW metagame, but in WiFi he lacks Baton Pass to pass his boost to ther sweepers (and hopefully never gets it). Magic Mirror Espeon isn't a Lead itself, but coupled with a fast U-Turner (like Kojondo,Sazandora, Randorusu) he can bounce back the entry hazards you want to set-up so be aware of it, because this strategy is easy to use and works good on the ladder if ppl pay less attention. Erufuun and the Electro Genie both work thanks to acces to priority Taunt and U-Turn. Everything with Sturdy and a Custap berry can work to Gigaisu being the most prominent one working in a similar fashion like Metagross last Gen but with a built in Focus Sash.
General Lead tips are that you shouldn't set your Lead to the first position to trick you opponent into a misprediction. Also even more than last Gen its important to have a Pokemon that works good with your lead Pokemon to handle other Leads or maybe have a fast U-Turner to get a good Lead match up.
However due to team Preview leading got a little more complex and i from my feeling i use my intended lead only about 50% of the time when i seee that it got a good mtch up against like 3 or 4 Pokemon on my opponents Team (depending on how much the team needs the hazards/weather my lead can set up). in the end due to the extreme popular weather teams you can expect the Weather starter to lead (still don't lead with Politoed if your opponent will lead with Hippo/TTar just switch it in the turn after to get your weather up ).