With the new breeding mechanics, even someone like me, with not enough time to devote to gaming in general, can have a competitive team. I've been running this in the Battle Spot, trying to find something that works for me. In the past, I've tended to play offensive teams and my favorites have been tanks with a strong offensive presence.
EDIT: Summer vacation and Wonder Trade have been kind to me - is it just me or is the latter getting better? A couple of months ago, all I got was route 2 derps, but now I get 3-4 IV breedning leftovers all the time. It's allowed me to breed some new mons despite my lack of a Ditto safari. The team has changed quite a bit, and I can't seem to settle even on 6 regulars, but this is what I'm using right now. I've also had my fiancé name the lot, so they all have dorky, Swedish names. They don't show up, but I'll edit them in here for the giggles.
The main 6:
Rotom-W @ Leftovers ** Elvis
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
Protect might seem iffy, but 3 on 3 often means matches are short and teams are on the offensive side quite heavily, meaning I don't have time for Rest (although ChestoRest might be fine, I've yet to properly test that). I don't have access to a Pain Split Rotom with good IV's, which would otherwise take Protect's spot. The rest is fairly standard, I needed a good answer to Talonflame and other scary physical threats, and Rotom-W happens to resist both of Talonflame's STABs.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet ** Humbert
Ability: Iron Barbs
IVs: 0 Spe
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
Dedicated Mega-Mom counter and physical tank. Sublime Pebbles isn't too hot in 3 vs. 3 but like 75% of the teams have Talonflame, so it's alright. Otherwise, fairly standard I think, at least for the 3 vs. 3 metagame. He suffers quite a bit from the lack of a reliable recovery in Leftovers + Protect a la Rotom-W above, and sometimes gets worn down by repeated Earthquakes from Garchomp, but still.
Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite ** Flemm
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Return
- Earthquake
Semi-standard Mega-Kanga, which I don't like to use because it's banned here. Not all the players on the Battle Spot are adhering to the Smogon rules, and sometimes when playing free battles you see stuff like Xerneas and Mega Luke, and I keep Kanga close for when I'm up against these people. I swap out Dragonite from the 6-lineup then, but it's often left on the bench. When I bring it, I usually do it with Rotom and Goodra. No Power-up-Punch, because I don't deem it necessary in 3 vs. 3, where, after a KO, you only need to KO two more pokemon. Almost all pokemon who don't outright resist Normal or are immune to it gets KO:d by Fake Out followed by Return.
Greninja (M) @ Life Orb ** Filip
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Extrasensory
My usual lead, a standard Greninja, nothing fancy. I recently added Extrasensory over U-Turn to handle Mega-Venusaur (still a handful, however) and Gengar. Although Greninja can't outspeed Mega-Gengar, I outspeed on the Mega turn and always OHKO.
Goodra (M) @ Assault Vest ** Linus
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Earthquake
Probably my favorite 6th gen pokemon, and with the awesome breeding mechanics, and the ability capsule, it only took around five hours to get a 6 IV Goomy with the ability I wanted. I chose to go with Sap Sipper over Gooey because I don't want to tank hits from strong physical threats anyway, and I've found that most people even on the Battle Spot free battles seem to shy away from contact moves against this beast. Sap Sipper also means the team isn't completely dead to Spore, although Goodra doesn't like going toe-to-toe against a healthy Breloom. Amoongus is often fine, however. With Assault Vest, it tanks special hits, even super effective ones, like they are nothing. It has few, but very useful, resistances too, covering Rotom's only weakness. The set is very standard, Draco Meteor from base 110 SpA hurts a lot of things, Fire Blast and Sludge Bomb covers incoming Steels and Fairies respectively. Earthquake covers incoming Heatran, basically. It can also benefit from a Sap Sipper boost, unlike the rest of the moveset.
For reference, Timid Life Orb Latios deals 61.7-73.1% with Draco Meteor, and Goodra naturally KO:s back with ease. Otherwise, the damage output from him is sometimes lacking, and I miss having a spammable move like Dragon Pulse.
Chandelure (M) @ Choice Scarf ** Stickan
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Memento
My dedicated Blaziken and Mega-Blaziken counter that I bred after asking for answers in the threats thread. It does well against other stuff too, and it happens to be immune to Ferrothorns two weaknesses, which is nice and team synergy and all that. Memento over Trick because I don't have resources on a 4th or 5th gen cart to breed a perfect IV one and transfer it over, but Memento is sometimes hilarious for shutting down their last threat in a 2 on 1 situation. This thing outspeeds Mega Gengar easily as well, meaning it can come in and revenge it.
The subs (my other 5-IV mons I bring in sometimes, and stuff I switch with the main team):
Blaziken (M) @ Blazikenite ** Mattias
Ability: Speed Boost -> Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant nature
- Protect
- High Jump Kick
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
After some shitty battles against really unfun, unfair teams made up of not only this guy above, but even more ridiculous stuff like Minimize, OHKO-moves etc., I decided to join the Dark Side and add this guy to my roster, and also make Mega-Kang a permanent part of the team. I feel no shame at all. Standard set, HJK OHKOs so many pokemon after a speed boost.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite ** Kajsa
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
Toxistalling Chansey against terrifying special attackers. Swapped in for Goodra. Nothing special, but so awesome. Some teams just can't handle her. Protect on both Blaziken and Rotom helps with the Toxistalling late-game.
Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band ** Roger
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Extremespeed
- Fire Punch
I hatched this Dragonite when I was building my Maison team, and it has proven to be a real godsend, since it happens to be male, and happened to turn out flawless even though I was going for 5 IV. This means he has probably spent more time in the daycare than in the Battle Spot, but I like to toss him in sometimes. Recently swapped from Lum/DD to Choice Band, because I love to harvest Heart Scales.
Mawile (F) @ Mawilite ** Butter
Abilty: Intimidate -> Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
Used to be on the team in Blaziken's spot. Such a stupid good pokemon in many ways, but Blaziken is probably outright stronger.
Aegislash (F) @ Leftovers ** Greta
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 25-26 Spe
Brave Nature
- Swords Dance
- Kings Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
I unfortunately miscalculated the IV:s on this Aegislash, meaning it's a bit faster than I'd want too (I input the wrong stat and got a result of 15 IIRC). I was tired of hatching Honedges, since I'd been through almost four boxes of two 5 IV parents when I finally got this one, so that might have had something to do with it. Originally bred for the Maison, where it does well, however.
Metagross @ Assault Vest ** Frank
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 238 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
Another Maison Assault Vest pokemon that I created to be a foil to Fairy types. The EVs make for 93 Speed at Lv 50, which means it outspeeds a couple of Slurpluffs in the Maison, which were giving me trouble at the time (yeah, I know...) I probably should re-do them but I'm not sure what spread to go for. The speed investment now means it outspeeds other uninvested Metagrosses (Metagri?) in the Battle Spot, though it hasn't come up yet. I think Metagross is a fine pokemon even with the nerf to steel types, and the new fairies means even Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch has relevant coverage.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band / Assault Vest ** Kanonen
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Yeah, I really like the Assault Vest. Nothing interesting or different here.
Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite ** Jesper
Ability: Overgrow -> Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
This thing is so good, but I can't seem to fit it on my team properly. When I do run it, I run it with Metagross, since Metagross resists Psychic and Flying. Overgrow is bad, but I didn't have access to a HA Bulbasaur. It's "unfortunately" one of my lucky 6 IV hatches, meaning it has a useless perfect Atk stat which came in handy for breeding Ferrothorn, but means I will take slightly more Foul Play and confusion damage.
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet ** Tobias
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Yawn
Another Mega-Blaziken counter, who isn't weak to Stone Edge or Earthquake. The set might be really bad, I want to fit Ice Beam on it, but I'm not sure what needs to go.
Noivern (F) @ Choice Specs ** Helén
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Hurricane
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
Another 6th gen mon I wanted to try out, and I happened to get a neat 4 IV female on Wonder Trade, so breeding it was a breeze. It's done pretty well, actually, Frisk + U-turn is great for scouting sets, Hurricane OHKO:s Mega Venusaur easily, while Sludge Bomb fails to OHKO unless he crits, meaning it's a decent check.
Top threats so far, that I seem to encounter quite a bit on the Rating Battles:
Mega Charizard-X: It's typing leaves few weaknesses, and after a DD it can often just chew through my whole team - this thing is criminally underused on Battle Spot (only about a third of the Zards holds the X-stone). A lot of things on my roster can OHKO (M-Kanga with EQ, Noivern with Dragon Pulse, Goodra with Draco Meteor etc.) but nothing can really switch in safely and counter it. It's also immune to burn, how unfair!
Mega Kangaskhan: Mega-Kanga hates paralysis even if it has Sucker Punch. Otherwise, I'm at a loss. My own Mega-Kanga has fared well against these in free battles, however, since some try to set up Power-up-Punches on my Kangaskhan, while I KO them with Fake Out + Return.
Mega Lucario: Goodra can handle the pure special types quite well, even Dragon Pulse is tanked quite well by Goodra who can reliably 2HKO with Earthquake or Fire Blast. Rotom can deal with and paralyse the pure physical versions, but can't stand up to boosted hits, and neither Goodra nor Rotom likes to get hit on the "wrong" defense.
Mega Venusaur: Thick Fat is such a godsend to this thing, and so annoying for anything trying to break through its bulk. I often see special-based stally sets like Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / Synthesis / Leech Seed, which won't do much to Goodra, but will eventually get the poison and thus win. Sets with Sleep Powder over Synthesis isn't quite as bad. If I can get a burn on it coming in on Rotom, I'm usually in okay shape, but otherwise it's rough. This thing alone makes me want to run Brave Bird on Blaziken, it's that bad.
Breloom: Spore is a handful, and it can quite easily take down the core, unfortunately. Aegislash is the only decent counter on my roster, although Greninja checks it very well.
Garchomp and Mega-Garchomp: Both huge threats to the team, including Ferrothorn if they run Fire Blast, and can only really be checked by Greninja. If I over-predict, I lose, basically.
Gengar and Mega-Gengar: My team's best special wall, Chansey, can't touch this thing at all, and Goodra hates to be Toxic'd. Ironically, I've had more trouble with Gengar than its Mega-counterpart, because Focus Sash is a thing. He can be beaten by Kangaskhan and some diddling around, but it often involves revealing the entire team to my opponent. The ones with Hypnosis seems to never miss either, but that's of course just statistical bias. Now easier to handle with Greninja, but it can really only switch into Shadow Ball.
Volcarona: Can go head-to-head against Goodra, unlike many other special attackers, and can often win due to dances + Roost. Rotom could in theory handle a non-set-up Volcarona, but they seem to be quite rare, so I haven't tested it in practice.
Any tips on the roster above is more than welcome, especially in regards to these threats. I don't have access to many past-gens-tutors etc., but otherwise anything found on X or Y cartridges is fine. I have a couple of reset bags saved if I need to re-do EV:s on something, though I hope I didn't mess it up too much.
