Balanced_Standard.team

[JETZero3]

I'm just starting to get into the RU tier, and wanted to get a feel of the tier. As such, I'm looking for some advice to improve this team, if I'm weak to anything.

Thanks for the advice Lemonade, Goddess Briyella, and Molk. Much appreciated taking time out to look at the team. Working in some changes to see how they work.

Team Changes

This was the first iteration of the team. A decent start, but could use work.

Clawitzer was admittedly not the bulkiest Pokemon, and while it was a strong offensive threat, it was hard to bring in without sacrificing another Pokemon. Gastrodon could definitely take hits on the switch, and takes on Magneton well, but I found Slowking to be a better offensive threat, with more coverage. Since Slowking could tank special hits, a physical EV spread was set for Aromatisse.

Houndoom was brought in to replace Delphox after a particularly annoying Meloetta started spamming Psychics after putting itself behind a sub.

While I really like Doublade, I'm currently trying out Bronzong to bring up Stealth Rock, while dealing with Fletchinder with Rock Slide. However, this makes me very Bug-weak, so I may end up switching it up for something else(forgot that Bronzong is neutral to Bug). Rhyperior may be a good replacement here, as the Fighting weakness is covered by Aromatisse.


Current Team Setup

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Bronzong is the hazard setter for the team, and can bring some offense when needed. It's a pseudo-check for Fletchinder, as while it can take an Acrobatics at +2, a +2 Flame Charge will deal enough for a possible 2HKO. Gyro Ball is to deal with the Fairy types that the rest of the team doesn't really deal with. Rock Slide OHKOes Fletchinder, even with 0 Attack investment. Earthquake deals with Magneton on the switch, and is generally a good attack all around. A Bold Nature is used to take the hits that bother Aromatisse, although this could change with more tests.

Aromatisse (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy

While Aromatisse used to be the special wall (with Doublade taking physical hits), it now makes up the physical wall for the team, as well as the team's cleric. Wish/Protect is essential for healing members of the team, even with Sceptile's Giga Drain and Slowking's Regenerator ability. Aromatherapy is used, as the rest of the team does not appreciate burns and paralysis. This team lives and dies by keeping status off of it, so Aromatisse is used over other walls, such as Alomomola or Gligar.

Houndoom (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Nasty Plot

Houndoom is next up. While Delphox could revenge kill nicely, a Choice-locked Pokemon is relatively easy to set up on. Houndoom can beat on Doublade, which Delphox wishes it could, and while Houndoom isn't as fast as Delphox, being able to switch up moves is nice, and Houndoom is plenty fast anyway. Houndoom tends to force switches, so it can set up a Nasty Plot and break down possible walls. At +2, Houndoom can 2HKO Alomomola with Dark Pulse, and Fire Blast breaks down Pokemon that doesn't resist. Houndoom also deals with setup sweepers and Substitute users by using Taunt, which can be a problem.

------->

Sceptile (F) @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Giga Drain

With Houndoom (Delphox previously) in, Water types were an issue. Mega Sceptile is a good fit, as Delphox can deal with the Steel types and Sceptile hits Water types. Mega Sceptile can function as a wallbreaker for Hitmonlee to clean up, or can function as a late game cleaner.
Leaf Storm is used for immediate power, while Giga Drain is useful for a spammable Grass move that increases the longevity of Mega Sceptile.

Hitmonlee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin

Sharpedo is a large problem for this team, even with Mega Sceptile. Because of this, Hitmonlee is used as a check, and serves as the team's secondary revenge killer.
High Jump Kick annihilates anything that doesn't resist it, and can break down walls not named Cresselia. Knock Off deals with Slowking, Doublade, and Cresselia, while removing Eviolites from Gligar and Golbat, 2 Pokemon that can take High Jump Kicks relatively well. Mach Punch is the reason that Sharpedo fears Hitmonlee, as it's a clean OHKO with full investment and a Life Orb. Rapid Spin clears away hazards so that Houndoom doesn't have to fear SR, and the team has less to fear from other miscellaneous hazards.

Slowking (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpA
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast

Slowking is an awesome Special pivot, and can hit back with strong special attacks that have good coverage. Scald helps on the physical end by fishing for burns. Ice Beam gives a chance of the OHKO on physically defensive Gligar, and deals with Fire types in general. Psyshock scores the 2HKO on Dragalge, and hits the lower Defense of Hitmonlee if it wants to switch in. Fire Blast rounds out the coverage on Steel types like Magneton and Registeel. 92 Defense EVs for never OHKOing on a +2 Acrobatics from Fletchinder after rocks (Molk's words, not mine).

Importable Team

Doublade (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Iron Head
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance

Aromatisse (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy

Delphox (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
- Switcheroo

Sceptile (F) @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Dark]

Hitmonlee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Mach Punch

Clawitzer (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere

Old Team Members

Doublade (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance

Delphox (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
- Switcheroo

Clawitzer (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere

Considerations
There are a few considerations that I'm thinking about for the team:

1. Giga Drain vs. Hidden Power Fire: While I like having a spammable Grass STAB that helps keep Mega Sceptile in the game, the utility of HP Fire is very tempting, especially against Doublade and Escavalier.
   
2. Rhyperior vs. Bronzong: Rhyperior provides some strong STAB moves, as well as beating Mega Pidgeot. Meanwhile, Bronzong has the Fighting neutrality, as well as a good Steel STAB type move. As well, I could put both in, but that will mean removing Aromatisse.
   
3. Doublade: Doublade provides a solid switch to Hitmonlee, KOing it after SR and HJK recoil with a Shadow Sneak. It also has less to fear from Cinccino (yeah, this thing).

Well, that's it. Feel free to rip my team apart if it's not great. Thanks.

 

[Lemonade]

Hey there, cool team. One thing you could try out is Houndoom over Delphox. Doomer doesn't worry about Doublade and frees up Sceptile's moveslot (Hidden Power is just so weak :\). You don't necessarily need to run Choice Scarf, as Mega Sceptile is faster than most things and not much boosts Speed. Nasty Plot with Flame Charge is a nifty set, but there are plenty of other options. This set gives you another way to win and helps deal heavy damage so Sceptile can clean up. This is not necessarily needed with the next next change, but I think Doom is a really cool mon that needs a bit more exposure :)

With this you can run Giga Drain on Sceptile, which is really nice for the recovery. It also doesn't force you to drop your stats when you don't need to, meaning you'll get forced out less.

Aromatisse is an odd option because the rest of your team is so offensive. Wish passing to mons that are somewhat frail isn't really the best, since they have to take a hit when they come in. For example, if the opponent uses Dragalge to threaten you out, nothing on your team wants to take / can even survive a hit. On balanced or stall teams with Aromatisse, they will have teammates that can switch in, which means you are not put in a bad position. IMO you could run Specially Defensive Rhyperior to provide every important Stealth Rock and a solid Bird (Fletchinder and Mega Pidgeot). EQ, Rock Blast, Roar, Stealth Rock with Leftovers would probably work. A bit of creep for Doublade doesn't hurt either.

Rapid Spin over Poison Jab is an option for Hitmonlee. Spin is nice for Houndoom / Delphox if you don't change, and Reckless HJK 2HKOes SpD Aromatisse anyway, albeit in a bit riskier way.

Lastly, Life Orb on Clawitzer increases its damage by a ton. Not having recoil and bluffing Choice is nice, but I prefer LO. Either way it probably doesn't matter much.

 

[Goddess Briyella]

Hi there, JETZero3!

This is a pretty cool team you've put together here, and I have some suggestions that should improve its performance. While it's great that you have a lot of types covered, the main issue I'm seeing is that the team has a lot of powerful but frail Pokemon and not many switch-ins for common threats. Not only does this mean that you often have to sacrifice important team members to get the right one in safely, but it makes it difficult for Aromatisse to pass Wish recovery to the frail members of the team. Without taking away too much of the offensive nature of your team, I'm going to suggest things that improve synergy and longevity for it.

->

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

Bulk isn't Clawitzer's strongest suit, and while it isn't exactly frail, it won't be able to repeatedly switch in safely when you need to get a good matchup with it. By dropping a bit of power with Clawitzer and replacing it with Gastrodon, you'll have a much easier time switching your Water-type in when you need to. Gastrodon still beats Gligar and has STAB Earth Power for nailing the Steel-types that trouble Doublade and Aromatisse; Gastrodon's Ground typing is also very handy for switching in on Magneton's Volt Switch and Registeel's Thunder Wave, things that Clawitzer could only dream of pulling off. Grass is the only weakness Gastrodon has and it's already covered by three members of the team, so it will be sticking around for a while. Additionally, Gastrodon's Storm Drain lets it switch into Scald for a free Special Attack boost, and it helps to keep burns off the team's physical attackers, which is a huge bonus.

I definitely agree with Rapid Spin being used over Poison Jab on Hitmonlee, as suggested by Lemonade. Giga Drain is probably better on Sceptile as well, because it gives you a STAB that, while not as immediately powerful as Leaf Storm, can be spammed without Sceptile being forced to switch out due to lowered Special Attack.


This concludes my rate! I wish you luck and success with your team!

 

[Molk]

Hey dude, this is a pretty good start, but there are a few things you could try out to make it better.

First off, i'd probably change Hidden Power Dark on Sceptile to Hidden Power Fire. Hidden Power Fire still hits both Doublade and Bronzong for the same damage as Hidden Power Dark, but outside of that, lets you cleanly 2HKO Escavalier and get a guarenteed OHKO on the occasional Durant without risking an unfortunate Focus Blast miss. You miss out on hitting Delphox with Hidden Power, but Dragon Pulse actually hits Delphox 8 BP harder than Hidden Power Dark regardless, so it really doesn't matter much imo.

Something else i noticed is that you're extremely weak to Fletchinder. Fletch OHKOs everything on your team with a +2 Acrobatics bar Doublade (who gets burned by WoW regardless, even if you have Aromatisse to remove the burn, its complete set up bait for Fletchinder regardless). It's not like it has trouble setting up either, both Aromatisse and choice locked Delphox are completely free opportunities for it to set up a Swords Dance, not to mention its ability to force switches against Mega Sceptile. and Hitmonlee You don't even have Stealth Rock to cripple it on switch in, so the little bird is a major problem. One way you could go about fixing this is by trying out a Bronzong or Registeel over Doublade. Both of them provide you with some really reliable Stealth Rock to help you clip Fletchinder's wings, and both of them are capable of crippling Fletchinder even further with Toxic. Registeel handles Fletchinder a little better in general because of its superior bulk and access to Seismic Toss to deal consistent damage to it even when burned, but Bronzong has Levitate, some more general offensive presence, and checks Slurpuff quite a bit better because of its neutrality to Drain Punch if you're into that. Both of them give you a more reliable switch in to Dragalge too, which is a big plus!

From there though, you kinda lose a reliable switch in to Hitmonlee considering just how much Specially Defensive Aromatisse takes from High Jump Kick. However, it's pretty easy to fix this up simply by changing your Aromatisse to a physically defensive EV Spread. this should also help you out a bit against Mega Sharpedo (and physical Sharpedo in general), who you mentioned you had major problems with outside of revenge killing it with Hitmonlee.

Of course by doing that, you kinda lose a way to pivot into special attackers reliably, but this is also a pretty easy fix. All you have to do to fix that up is use an Assault Vest Slowking over Clawitzer. Assault Vest Slowking gives you an extremely bulky special tank that can take hits from practically any special attacker in the tier (one especially notable thing it can take hits from is Moltres, another Pokemon that looked like an annoyance to your team at first glance). All while still preserving a decent amount of offensive presence between a good base 100 Special Attack stat and solid coverage options such as Scald, Psyshock, Fire Blast, and Grass Knot. You can even EV it to take a +2 Acrobatics from Fletchinder after Stealth Rock damage if you feel you need a secondary check to the thing, this takes 92 Defense evs.

Last but not least, if you ever struggle with Doublade after making these changes, trying out either Moltres or Houndoom over Delphox should go a long way in fixing up that issue given neither of them are weak to Doublade's Shadow Claw/Shadow Sneak (Houndoom even resists both of Doublade's STABs which really helps it hold up despite its physical frailty), and as most Fire-types can, easily OHKO the sword in return. It should also be noted that Houndoom also helps out against RU's Calm Mind Psychic-types, so if you ever feel like you're struggling against these, it should patch that up quite well. If you want to make the new Fire-type a Choice Scarf user, go right ahead, but i'm not exactly sure if you actually need the extra speed on this team, especially given Mega Sceptile is already fast enough to revenge kill most things (it's slightly faster than Scarf Braviary).

Hope i helped!

EDIT: also, i'd definitely change Poison Jab on Hitmonlee to Rapid Spin like Lemonade and Goddess Briyella suggested, especially if you decide to try out Moltres.

 

[Fyuop]

Your Team is Very good but you have nothing to remove Hazard, Qwilfish is a Big problem to you , With high Defense and Intimidade he can put some Spike and / or Toxic Spikes Layers

Try this set:

Hitmonlee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Mach Punch