Gen 2 Because this forum needs some tried and true GSC teams (RMT)

[Veteran In Love]

Old squad which led my team to the semifinals of World Cup I years ago,
where it was subsequently cancelled. Anyway....

Zapdos @ Leftovers
- Drill Peck
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Thunderbolt

--Standard lead. Good for luring in ground types/Snorlax so I can get Cloyster (and Spikes) in the game as soon as possible.

Cloyster (M) @ Leftovers
- Clamp
- Explosion
- Ice Beam
- Spikes

--With Suicune on the team, this allows for Cloyster to explode more freely. Clamp is great for coming in and threatening to trap stupid shit like Curselax/Suicune and blowing up on them.

Steelix (M) @ Leftovers
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Roar

--Spikes abuser #1. Pretty straightforward, with Spikes he's probably one of the best mid-game sweepers around and without them, he is virtually walled by everybody!

Suicune (M) @ Leftovers
- Rest
- Roar
- Surf
- Toxic

--Spikes abuser #2. A walking fortress and extremely easy to utilize on defense. (See Steelix for an idea of usefulness)

Exeggutor (M) @ Leftovers
- Leech Seed
- Psychic
- Sleep Powder
- Substitute

--Spikes abuser #3. Does a great job of forcing a ton of switches from the other team. Around GSC's twilight Stun Spore variations were more common, but I prefer Sleep Powder over Stun Spore for a variety of reasons: Substitute can keep me from wasting a Powder on a Sleep Talker, plus it gives opponents a harder time getting rid of Eggy in the first place since they don't want their 1st counter slept.

Gengar (M) @ Leftovers
- Explosion
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Thunderbolt

--Quick, fast, and versatile. He blocks spin, can go for a sweep by himself, can explode and set someone else up, and can be used as a safeguard policy to explode against Electrics should Steelix be out of commission.


Thoughts:

-Getting Spikes down and keeping them there is paramount to the team's strategy since most of the team relies on it to apply pressure. Smart play by Cloyster/Gengar/Suicune against enemy Spinners should achieve this.

-So with that in mind, abuse Spikes as much as possible with your Roarers and Exeggutor. Prediction is key here, because eventually even the dumbest of opponents will attempt to play back at you after a while.

-Another good idea to remember is to keep an eye out for ways to open up sweeps for Gengar/Zapdos, and you have three exploders to help you out.
Example: Raikou/Snorlax love to switch in on Gengar so you can explode in that spot if you feel the sweep is there. Enemies also could get careless and bring in Starmie against Steelix, which is also another possibility for keeping Spikes on the field.

 

[havoc]

this shares a lot of similarities with the team I use--I originally had Clamp/Ice Beam on Cloyster before switching, but other than that 4 of the pokemon are just about the same. I know you didn't copy or anything, but I can see that they have a lot of the same characteristics.

I guess I'll start with the two pokemon that are different: Gengar and Exeggutor (I have Alakazam and Nidoking). these are honestly probably a bit better in a way; Exeggutor is sturdier and can actually take on Snorlax (Sleep Powder is handy) and Gengar as always carries a lot of variety. however, with them comes a bigger weakness to Raikou--just make sure not to Explode Steelix too early, blah blah blah.

I use Screech over Curse on Steelix because I personally find the pseudo +2 Atk boost more useful for Steelix than the +1 Def boost that Curse gives. after a Screech, Earthquake can 2HKO Suicune (obviously while it is sleeping) if you rack up some Spikes damage. Screech also makes Explosion an OHKO on Starmie even if a Reflect is up. but that's just personal preference. plus, Screech may force a few more switches, a "pseudo-pseudo-Haze" if you will (see: Leech Seed).

solid team. requires a bit more prediction than the Snorlax/Skarmory template, but most teams like this do.

 

[Pocket]

What I like about this team is that it has 2 extra Exploders for further capabilities to break walls that Toxic, Spikes, and other offenses cannot; it's much harder for something like Zapdos to stall out the team (especially with Gengar's Ice Punch being a 3HKO just like Nidoking's Ice Beam but also being faster than Zapdos to finish it off)

Having no Rapid Spin hurts a little, but Cloyster's Explosion is worth the replacement (havoc is there a reason why you changed your Cloyster's set? I remember you having the same Cloyster in an older RMT you have posted a long time ago). Substitute Exeggutor is ingenious, too, since aside from Suicune, Steelix, and Cloyster (the latter 2 which can Explode on the switch), Exeggutor is another pokemon that Rapid Spin Starmie can switch into, but with Substitute, it can't Rapid Spin the Spikes away.

I agree with havoc's explanation about Screech's advantage over Curse on Steelix. Perhaps, seeing how this team is hurt by the opposing Spikes, and can't rely on the switch-in to Suicune and Exeggutor all the time to take physical hits, a Curse on Steelix can somewhat help buffer SE physical hits so that Steelix can stay in an extra turn or two longer while threatening the opposing physical sweeper with boosted EQs or Roar?

 

[Trax]

My 2c, which is pretty short.

Never been a fan of no reflect when the majority of your walling is based on either fear of explosion or roar either.

I've always wondered about the supposed difference in prediction ability (which I've always considered to be mostly luck online) between teams running skarm/lax/cune and skarm/bliss/x water, seems the only real difference is the bliss/skarm setup can be more aggressive with the water type selected.

That said, I've not played against anyone worth a damn for a long time so maybe my game is a bit behind the times now.