guys I'm not showing off I need help this time seriously

[Arcticblast]

Okay so I'm going to skip most of the introduction shit since I'm not trying to display this team. I started with an okay team that got 6-0'd by Gliscor and at that point I figured things needed to change. After some brainstorming with Treecko (I might just tag you in every single RMT I make from now on okay? okay), I ended up with this.

Deoxys (Deoxys-Defense) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Spd / 16 SDef / 16 Def
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Knock Off

The team actually started with Deoxys, believe it or not. Considering how good of a spinner Excadrill is and the whole Defog thing, I wanted a hazard setter that could stick around. Deoxys has become a sort of panic button as well - it can tank almost any attack (can your Psychic-type set Stealth Rock, Recover, and tank a +2 Garchomp Outrage?) thrown at it and is a nice punching bag when I need one. Knock Off is pretty much the best move ever now, actually having the ability to do mild damage when the opponent has an item. It messes around with Gengar and Espeon (why do people use this?) and in general messes up things. The EVs minimize hazard damage and outspeed neutral base 100s, and the leftover EVs equalize defenses (giving Genesect a SpA boost instead of an Attack boost). After some testing, I decided to use Thunder Wave over Spikes. Thunder Wave is great for neutralizing sweepers ready to rampage or just to slow things down to let Barbaracle set up more easily.

I am not using it as a hazard lead.

Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

hehe this slot was originally a Genesect

After Treecko had helped me brainstorm, I realized I was really weak to Mega Kangaskhan, so in came Gengar. Sub Will-O-Wisp is pretty great honestly, letting Gengar beat offensive Pokemon that rely on Sucker Punch and being generally good against stall teams. It's a funny check to Gliscor (who never run more than EQ for damage any more) as well, although it's not that easy to play around if I don't burn it on the switch or Knock Off its Toxic Orb. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast still offer perfect coverage with equal damage output and hit pretty hard from base 130 Special Attack.

-->

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain Dish --> Mega Launcher
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Rapid Spin

After some more thought and testing, I decided to replace my Excadrill with a Mega Blastoise. It's a spinner with some crazy bulk and the ability to threaten every spinblocker except maybe Sableye and lol Spiritomb with a Mega Launcher boosted Dark Pulse. The Water resist is huge, letting me switch something in on Azumarill and (occasionally) Greninja without worrying about getting my only bulky Pokemon destroyed. It provides a secondary defensive pivot without sacrificing offensive presence, although I need to work some more on that EV spread (which right now is designed to outrun max Speed Jolly Mega Tyranitar).

Barbaracle @ Lum Berry
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell
- Cross Chop
- Stone Edge

Originally I added Barbaracle because I wanted a nice offensive Talonflame check. I wasn't expecting to get my win condition out of that, although it's pretty nice! Barbaracle has excellent physical bulk and okay special bulk (72/115/86) that allows it to set up on a surprising amount of Pokemon in the metagame, even taking on things like Specs Greninja's Dark Pulse. It's a very opportunistic setup sweeper, coming in on things it can scare out and (often) getting a single kill before getting out and doing it again later, although there's no shortage of battles that just flat out end in a Barbaracle sweep. The Lum Berry was originally added because Flare Blitz burns are a real thing that exists, but it's nice for hammering a Sableye that thinks it's hot shit or setting up on a helpless Chansey. The EVs are very straightforward, and after a boost Barbaracle can outspeed everything except Deoxys-S without a Scarf and all Scarfers up to base 93 (Landorus-T sits at 91!).

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 208 Spd / 252 Atk / 48 HP
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird

This thing is pretty cool. Priority Brave Bird is just flat out excellent, and Flare Blitz and U-Turn are icing on the cake. 4x SR weakness sucks though. Sharp Beak bluffs Choice Band. The EVs outspeed positive base 105 Pokemon, up to and including Mega Pinsir. Very simple Pokemon, not much to say. I kind of stopped giving a fuck halfway through Barb's little paragraph, sorry :(

Thundurus (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

And we get to Thundurus. While it might be weak to Stealth Rock, its incredible power for a Scarfer combined with good coverage and access to U-turn really sell it. It's a quick fuck you to bulky Water-types and certain Flying-types (lol Mega Pinsir), a solid revenge killer, and a threat to any team without a decent Electric immunity. It forms a nice (although somewhat frail and SR weak) U-turn combo with Talonflame as an added bonus!

Threats:
- Mega Mawile - basically beats me every time unless I smack it before it evolves - less of a problem now with a reliable switchin to Iron Head, but still a significant threat
- Azumarill - I kind of rely on Knock Off for this...
- With the addition of Mega Blastoise, Greninja has become a mild problem. Thundurus-T can easily revenge kill it or just smack non-Sash variants turn 1 with Thunderbolt (I usually lead with Thundy after all), but outside of that it can be difficult to remove at times.
- Rotom-W is a little tricky but Deoxys handles it fine and Thundurus/Blastoise can take advantage of Choiced variants easily.

importable

Deoxys (Deoxys-Defense) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 16 SDef / 228 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Knock Off

Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Rapid Spin

Barbaracle @ Lum Berry
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell
- Cross Chop
- Stone Edge

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird

Thundurus (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

pls help

 

[tcr]

Hey Articblast, pretty cool team you have here! I might be able to help a little with some of your problems, though forgive me bc its late af over here. I couldnt sleep, so my first thought was smogon? Idk lol. Anyway, it seems like your goal is to end in a barbacle sweep, which is pretty funny in of itself. As such my suggestions focus on creating opportunities for it to sweep, while patching up some weaknesses.

By running Gourgeist>Gengar you p much hardcounter azumarill, and mega mawile is less of a problem. It still functions relatively the same but it can leech seed the switch in giving you psuedo recovery passing. It lures in talonflame, allowing for more opportunities to set up with barbacle, and has really nice synergy with talonflame and barbacle. This does make you weaker to gliscor however. You could always run ice beam on deoxys if it really bothers you, as it does a minimum of 70% to 252 HP Gliscor. However I'm not sure about the loss of knock off, as its an excellent utility move. Overall your call obviously. Fuck it, its 4:30 and im tired u.u

set

Gorgeous (Gourgeist) @
Leftovers
Trait: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-o-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Protect/Seed Bomb

 

[Srn]

Whoo what an honor to be rating a team of someone important
Anyway, let's get straight down to it. So the idea is to sweep with barbacle here. You have your momentum kept with you with your (sr weak) volt-turn core that is protected from hazards thanks to your excadrill. Once you get rid of grass types with talonflame and bulky waters with thundurus, you aim to sweep with barbacle. Deo-d is there to set hazards up and make sweeping easier, and gengar is there to check the ever-prevalent mega-kanga (appears on about 9/10 of every team I see (I'm guilty as well, but I wanted to see how OP it is (It's damn OP))) This is a pretty nice layout you got here.

However, despite all this beautiful synergy, there's one thing that stands out to me that I don't like: your team has NO FIREPOWER. Maybe I'm just underestimating the natural offense of the pokemon on this team, but nobody on this team holds any mega stones, choice bands, choice specs, or life orbs. These sorta things are necessary to break through defensive teams which believe it or not, are actually quite common on the ladder. Against offensive teams, which this team excels against, you're fine, but this team cannot break through a solid defensive core. Take mandibuzz+celetran for example. See how just 3 pokemon together just poop on this team? That's sorta bad.
+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 309-364 (76.4 - 90%)
You absolutely need that thing slightly weakened or it will survive and you will die to giga drain.
One simple way to fix this problem? Just run Mega-gengar. The most broken thing ever basically. What I think would work well with this team is a Destiny Bond+Taunt+2 attacks type of set to fix this problem. You can just volt switch with your thundurus when they have a grass type and trap him with mega gengar, where you can then proceed to kill with shadow ball. Bulky Bulky grass types like mega venusaur should be left to talonflame, but I think that mega gengar will add a little bit of OOMPh to this team when it comes down to breaking down bulky cores. This can also act as a psuedo check to mega kang, just spam destiny bond and you'll get it eventually. Here's the set I'm thinking of:

set

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Or something along those lines. Feel free to go timid if you feel like it. And I now that you were probably better than this, but thank you for not running swords dance excadrill outside of the sand. I've been seeing way too much of that poop.
Anyway, to counteract the loss of burn on gengar, what you could do if you're super ballsy is replace roost with Will-o-wisp. Lures in azumarill pretty nice and your thundurus doesn't have to eat an aqua jet before volt-switching. Alternatively, you could also go tailwind before you die to outspeed any scarfer with your barbaracle, but these are just ideas at this point. I'm just gonna go now. Anyway, I hope I was able to help somehow! Good luck with this team!

 

[Shurtugal]

Hey there!

First thing I want to point out is that Deo-D should be Taunt + Thunder Wave over Knock Off and Recover with Rocky Helmet or Mental Herb as your item choice depending. You see, TWave + Taunt is the perfect combination for shutting down Defog users, which can be a huge pain to hazard-stacking offense such as this. RH helps with Rapid Spin spam while Mental Herb is purely for PS -- stupid Deo-S lol. Also,run 4 Def evs so Genesect gets a Special Attack boost -- U-turn and Extreme Speed is much too common for you to do otherwise.

This team is surprisingly creative and looks like loads of fun.I suggest running Cople Berry over Balloon on Excadrill to ensure you can OHKO Gengar even if it lands a FB and spin with almost perfect impunity (Chople lures Lucario and ScarfTTarand a load of other random things like Terrakion that you can only appreciate through practice!).

Talonflame only needs to outrun 306 (people tell you 302 but they are lying since if Lucario mega-evolves and CC, it still retains 306 speed that round and let me tell you CC does more than Extreme Speed so it's a completely viable play since people usually don't outrun 306 with Talon) and bar that you should invest into some much-needed bulk.

Finally, I would consider investing in an item that boosts accuracy for Barnacle-whatever because Cross Chop and Stone Edge have the worst coverage accuracy wise as humanly possible. The burns from Flare Blitz and Sableye in general aren't as common as just plain missing in general.

Good Luck!

 

[Knight of Cydonia]

Ok, seems like a reasonable team just now but as you say it could do with some improvements. I hate to say it but I think Barbaracle is holding you back, it is neither particularly fast (e.g Choice Scarf Genesect and above can outspeed and ohko) or powerful after a Shell Smash (e.g fails to ohko physically defensive Rotom-w) and with the defense drops most priority is doing a lot to it. It seems to be mainly here to check Talonflame which is important but I just don't see it achieving much else (I did test it due to having no prior experience with it). I'd have to recommend Chestorest physically defensive Rotom-w over Barbaracle. It can easily counter Talonflame whilst spreading burns, maintaining momentum and countering Gliscor. It also helps you a lot against Azumarill and Mega Mawile since you can outspeed and burn them before they cause too much havoc. I think these talents are far more useful for your team than what Barbaracle can do.

This leaves you with two users of volt switch with similar typing. I'd recommend Choice Scarf Terrakion over your Thundurus-t to keep the revenge killing ability and type synergy of your team. Its value may have decreased due to Aegislash but it is still powerful and offers a Dark type resistance (it can easily take a +2 mega mawile sucker punch) should Gengar go down for some reason. It also gives you a solid check to all tyranitars and charizard forms which stuff like Genesect (who I considered as you will see) can't really do.

Ideally in this revenge killing slot I would have liked a scarfer that resists bullet punch and extreme speed from mega lucario who can really give you hell if it reaches +2 (it can set up on deoxys-d easily). This is basically limited to Genesect , and Excadrill- who is already on your team. You could try Scarf Excadrill over Air Balloon but Scarf Rapid Rpin is obviously far from ideal, especially on a team with a lack of switch ins to offensive threats like Aegislash. I have used it to some success though so it may be worth trying out if mega lucario proves to be a problem - you can then run Life Orb on Terrakion.

As for smaller changes I would definitely put Rocky Helmet on Deoxys-D, it hurts Mega Kanga a lot trying to set up on you and really adds to the whole "emergency wall" thing since the chip damage can be crucial against Talonflame and stuff. Plus you are taking like 40% from Genesect U-turn so you can annoy that as well. Really I'm finding Rocky Helmet to be one of the top items just now with all the huge physical threats around.

Have fun with the team, hopefully you found what you are looking for.

Sets

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest

Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab / X-Scissor

Edit Shurtugal - Chople sounds ok on Excadrill but Mega Lucario KOs anyway without boosts.
252 Atk Adaptability Lucario Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chople Berry Excadrill: 430-506 (119.1 - 140.1%)
Edit 2 Arcticblast I must have messed up the Terrakion vs mega mawile calc, this morning i was getting a clean ohko and thought nothing of it. Still it does min 60% so better than nothing I suppose. Sorry I didn't realise you were against changing team members, it was just your tone throughout the rmt suggested dissatisfaction with the team which generally won't be changed with a few item switches. If you are spending a whole turn setting up with a high risk move on an offensive team only to be forced out again by most scarfers it suggests an inferior sweeper but if that is what you want to do then I respect your judgement.
As an aside you have a non mega Gengar with Substitute for pursuit users - I don't see why you are struggling with Gliscor at all.

 

[Arcticblast]

Thanks for the suggestions! I apologize for being really picky in advance, I generally have very specific reasons for putting things on teams and often find it hard to make big changes.

Hey Articblast, pretty cool team you have here!

:D

By running Gourgeist>Gengar you p much hardcounter azumarill, and mega mawile is less of a problem. It still functions relatively the same but it can leech seed the switch in giving you psuedo recovery passing. It lures in talonflame, allowing for more opportunities to set up with barbacle, and has really nice synergy with talonflame and barbacle. This does make you weaker to gliscor however. You could always run ice beam on deoxys if it really bothers you, as it does a minimum of 70% to 252 HP Gliscor. However I'm not sure about the loss of knock off, as its an excellent utility move. Overall your call obviously. Fuck it, its 4:30 and im tired u.u

set

Gorgeous (Gourgeist) @
Leftovers
Trait: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-o-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Protect/Seed Bomb

Gourgeist is an interesting idea, hard countering Breloom (who isn't a huge issue but occasionally a bit difficult to play around), but as we both mentioned it's again vulnerable to Gliscor, who is way too big of a threat to this team for my own comfort. Nevertheless it does beat Azumarill and takes on Mawile and (sometimes) Kangaskhan a bit better, so it might be worth a shot.

However, despite all this beautiful synergy, there's one thing that stands out to me that I don't like: your team has NO FIREPOWER. Maybe I'm just underestimating the natural offense of the pokemon on this team, but nobody on this team holds any mega stones, choice bands, choice specs, or life orbs. These sorta things are necessary to break through defensive teams which believe it or not, are actually quite common on the ladder. Against offensive teams, which this team excels against, you're fine, but this team cannot break through a solid defensive core. Take mandibuzz+celetran for example. See how just 3 pokemon together just poop on this team? That's sorta bad.
+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 309-364 (76.4 - 90%)
You absolutely need that thing slightly weakened or it will survive and you will die to giga drain.
One simple way to fix this problem? Just run Mega-gengar. The most broken thing ever basically. What I think would work well with this team is a Destiny Bond+Taunt+2 attacks type of set to fix this problem. You can just volt switch with your thundurus when they have a grass type and trap him with mega gengar, where you can then proceed to kill with shadow ball. Bulky Bulky grass types like mega venusaur should be left to talonflame, but I think that mega gengar will add a little bit of OOMPh to this team when it comes down to breaking down bulky cores. This can also act as a psuedo check to mega kang, just spam destiny bond and you'll get it eventually. Here's the set I'm thinking of:

set

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Or something along those lines. Feel free to go timid if you feel like it. And I now that you were probably better than this, but thank you for not running swords dance excadrill outside of the sand. I've been seeing way too much of that poop.
Anyway, to counteract the loss of burn on gengar, what you could do if you're super ballsy is replace roost with Will-o-wisp. Lures in azumarill pretty nice and your thundurus doesn't have to eat an aqua jet before volt-switching. Alternatively, you could also go tailwind before you die to outspeed any scarfer with your barbaracle, but these are just ideas at this point. I'm just gonna go now. Anyway, I hope I was able to help somehow! Good luck with this team!

I chose not to run Mega Gengar for two main reasons:
- It doesn't beat Mega Kangaskhan as easily due to the loss of Levitate, and Destiny Bond spam isn't exactly... ideal.
- It's probably going to be banned really soon

Your post has given me an idea though - U-Turn over Volt Switch on Thundurus. It hits the Grass-types (mostly Celebi) and Electric immune things that love to come in on Thundurus and allow it to scout more easily, although I'll have to be careful of stuff like Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn coming in and ruining things.
4 Atk Thundurus-T U-turn vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 212-252 (52.4 - 62.3%)
Not bad, eh? Combine that with a hard hit from Talonflame or Excadrill (Iron Head!) and Celebi's not sticking around for long, at which point the core you mentioned gets a hole blown in it for Barbaracle to come in and wreak havoc.

EDIT: Forgot to address the lack of boosting items - I honestly haven't found this to be much of a problem. Deoxys is fairly capable of getting hazards up which already artificially increases damage output, and for the most part everything is used to hit specific things that they can easily OHKO or 2HKO (except Deoxys lol) so it's not too bad.

Hey there!

Hi :)

First thing I want to point out is that Deo-D should be Taunt + Thunder Wave over Knock Off and Recover with Rocky Helmet or Mental Herb as your item choice depending. You see, TWave + Taunt is the perfect combination for shutting down Defog users, which can be a huge pain to hazard-stacking offense such as this. RH helps with Rapid Spin spam while Mental Herb is purely for PS -- stupid Deo-S lol. Also,run 4 Def evs so Genesect gets a Special Attack boost -- U-turn and Extreme Speed is much too common for you to do otherwise.

I considered a setup like this, but ultimately decided against it. It's not that I wouldn't love having those moves, but the point of choosing Deo-D was to have a hazard setter that was capable of sticking around for a good portion of the battle. To be quite honest I very rarely lead with it (I prefer to scout with Thundurus or Talonflame), and it's currently my primary switchin to Azumarill, taking a hit and smacking it with Knock Off. Rocky Helmet itself isn't a bad idea though, I think I'll take that.

This team is surprisingly creative and looks like loads of fun.I suggest running Cople Berry over Balloon on Excadrill to ensure you can OHKO Gengar even if it lands a FB and spin with almost perfect impunity (Chople lures Lucario and ScarfTTarand a load of other random things like Terrakion that you can only appreciate through practice!).

This sounds like a great idea though. Air Balloon's Ground immunity is nice, but hard to really take advantage of sometimes, whereas Chople is guaranteed to work (except against... Unnerve Tyranitar?). It also lets me come in on Aegislash more confidently :D

Talonflame only needs to outrun 306 (people tell you 302 but they are lying since if Lucario mega-evolves and CC, it still retains 306 speed that round and let me tell you CC does more than Extreme Speed so it's a completely viable play since people usually don't outrun 306 with Talon) and bar that you should invest into some much-needed bulk.

Mega Kangaskhan is a bitch and I would very much to prefer to outrun it; in addition 176 also lets me Flare Blitz things like opposing Thundurus-T and Rash Raikou (found one the other day and I'm really glad Talonflame outsped it). My own Thundurus-T can take these on to some extent though, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Finally, I would consider investing in an item that boosts accuracy for Barnacle-whatever because Cross Chop and Stone Edge have the worst coverage accuracy wise as humanly possible. The burns from Flare Blitz and Sableye in general aren't as common as just plain missing in general.

Yeah accuracy is a bitch sometimes lol, I never thought of that to be honest. Considering Barbaracle is my go-to against some strong Fire-types like Talonflame though, I'm not sure if giving up Lum Berry is worth it. (Sableye is a bitch to my team too...)

Ok, seems like a reasonable team just now but as you say it could do with some improvements. I hate to say it but I think Barbaracle is holding you back, it is neither particularly fast (e.g Choice Scarf Genesect and above can outspeed and ohko) or powerful after a Shell Smash (e.g fails to ohko physically defensive Rotom-w) and with the defense drops most priority is doing a lot to it. It seems to be mainly here to check Talonflame which is important but I just don't see it achieving much else (I did test it due to having no prior experience with it). I'd have to recommend Chestorest physically defensive Rotom-w over Barbaracle. It can easily counter Talonflame whilst spreading burns, maintaining momentum and countering Gliscor. It also helps you a lot against Azumarill and Mega Mawile since you can outspeed and burn them before they cause too much havoc. I think these talents are far more useful for your team than what Barbaracle can do.

If Barbaracle was holding me back it'd be gone by now. It's a great endgame sweeper when its counters have been removed (or just softened up a bit) and its typing allows it to come back in and try again should I be interrupted by a Scarf Genesect. (If it switches in as I boost or on the revenge kill it's probably Scarf.) If I replaced it with a Rotom-W I'd not only be losing my win condition but a huge amount of offensive potential. Rotom-W doesn't even get a guaranteed OHKO on Gliscor with Hydro Pump...

This leaves you with two users of volt switch with similar typing. I'd recommend Choice Scarf Terrakion over your Thundurus-t to keep the revenge killing ability and type synergy of your team. Its value may have decreased due to Aegislash but it is still powerful and offers a Dark type resistance (it can easily take a +2 mega mawile sucker punch) should Gengar go down for some reason. It also gives you a solid check to all tyranitars and charizard forms which stuff like Genesect (who I considered as you will see) can't really do.

Ideally in this revenge killing slot I would have liked a scarfer that resists bullet punch and extreme speed from mega lucario who can really give you hell if it reaches +2 (it can set up on deoxys-d easily). This is basically limited to Genesect , and Excadrill- who is already on your team. You could try Scarf Excadrill over Air Balloon but Scarf Rapid Rpin is obviously far from ideal, especially on a team with a lack of switch ins to offensive threats like Aegislash. I have used it to some success though so it may be worth trying out if mega lucario proves to be a problem - you can then run Life Orb on Terrakion.

Not using Rotom-W so this is irrelevant (also why the fuck is Terrakion coming in on a Mawile anyway it can't OHKO the thing).

As for smaller changes I would definitely put Rocky Helmet on Deoxys-D, it hurts Mega Kanga a lot trying to set up on you and really adds to the whole "emergency wall" thing since the chip damage can be crucial against Talonflame and stuff. Plus you are taking like 40% from Genesect U-turn so you can annoy that as well. Really I'm finding Rocky Helmet to be one of the top items just now with all the huge physical threats around.

Ideally Kangaskhan won't be setting up on Deoxys at all, although it would be useful for Azumarill and Genesect.

Summary of changes:
Definite:
- U-turn over Volt Switch on Thundurus-T
- Chople Berry over Air Balloon on Excadrill
- Rocky Helmet over Leftovers on Deoxys-D
Possible:
- Gourgeist over Gengar (unsure on size yet - I may prefer the Speed of a different size)
- reduce Talonflame's speed to 307
- Wide Lens over Lum Berry on Barbaracle?

 

[Tesung]

Since you aren't using stealth rocks, Assault vest is a super viable option on excadrill. It is almost impossible to ohko on the special side, and lures and koes gengar as well as chople drill, and allows it to take a hit from things like volcarona and ko with rock slide. Also, I would say red card is the best option for deoxys, as it stops mega kanga. It also allows it to get up an extra hazard often, like if a genesect u turns, and it forces them into a rotom or something. Also, run Taunt or magic coat over recover, as deoxys's job is a hazard lead, not to wall things. This also prevents it from being setup fodder to everything. I would recommend magic coat, as it allows deoxys to beat every other hazard lead, especially deo-s. However, taunt is an option if you are scared of setup, but red card should usually do the trick. also, please don't use wide lens, I would recommend life orb as the item, as barbaracle doesnt hit "that" hard. Finally, I would keep volt switch on Thundy t, as it presents more "win win" situations. For example, if you are in against Azumarill, and you have u turn, you have to predict the switch, as if you u turn and it stays in, it is bad. However, if you volt switch, you kill it if it stays and get momentum if you don't. Celebi isnt a big enough problem to your team for it to be viable. Finally, sub willowisp is a fun set, but it loses to crunch mega kanga, so I would at least consider Taunt+destiny bond. This allows it to always kill kangashkans, and to "block" defog as well with its taunt. It also beats all spinners. Hope I helped!

 

[Arcticblast]

Since you aren't using stealth rocks, Assault vest is a super viable option on excadrill. It is almost impossible to ohko on the special side, and lures and koes gengar as well as chople drill, and allows it to take a hit from things like volcarona and ko with rock slide.

I tried Assault Vest originally and didn't like it at all. No thanks.

Also, I would say red card is the best option for deoxys, as it stops mega kanga.

That's Gengar's job.

It also allows it to get up an extra hazard often, like if a genesect u turns, and it forces them into a rotom or something.

Fair point I guess.

Also, run Taunt or magic coat over recover, as deoxys's job is a hazard lead, not to wall things. This also prevents it from being setup fodder to everything. I would recommend magic coat, as it allows deoxys to beat every other hazard lead, especially deo-s. However, taunt is an option if you are scared of setup, but red card should usually do the trick.

On this team, Deoxys-D is a defensive pivot and hazard setter with staying power. It is not a hazard lead on this team.

also, please don't use wide lens, I would recommend life orb as the item, as barbaracle doesnt hit "that" hard.

It hits hard enough to pick up the pieces late game. That's more than enough. I often use its bulk to enable me to set up, leaving me at around 10-30% health, making Life Orb a poor choice.

Finally, I would keep volt switch on Thundy t, as it presents more "win win" situations. For example, if you are in against Azumarill, and you have u turn, you have to predict the switch, as if you u turn and it stays in, it is bad. However, if you volt switch, you kill it if it stays and get momentum if you don't. Celebi isnt a big enough problem to your team for it to be viable.

I've already weighed the pros and cons of Volt Switch versus U-Turn and decided that the pros to U-Turn outweigh the costs.

Finally, sub willowisp is a fun set, but it loses to crunch mega kanga, so I would at least consider Taunt+destiny bond. This allows it to always kill kangashkans, and to "block" defog as well with its taunt. It also beats all spinners. Hope I helped!

Even if it loses to Crunch Mega Kangaskhan, it's done its job as long as Will-O-Wisp lands on Kangaskhan. From there I can threaten it out with Thundurus or Talonflame.

 

[Srn]

Thanks for the suggestions! I apologize for being really picky in advance, I generally have very specific reasons for putting things on teams and often find it hard to make big changes.

Your post has given me an idea though - U-Turn over Volt Switch on Thundurus. It hits the Grass-types (mostly Celebi) and Electric immune things that love to come in on Thundurus and allow it to scout more easily, although I'll have to be careful of stuff like Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn coming in and ruining things.
4 Atk Thundurus-T U-turn vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 212-252 (52.4 - 62.3%)
Not bad, eh? Combine that with a hard hit from Talonflame or Excadrill (Iron Head!) and Celebi's not sticking around for long, at which point the core you mentioned gets a hole blown in it for Barbaracle to come in and wreak havoc.

EDIT: Forgot to address the lack of boosting items - I honestly haven't found this to be much of a problem. Deoxys is fairly capable of getting hazards up which already artificially increases damage output, and for the most part everything is used to hit specific things that they can easily OHKO or 2HKO (except Deoxys lol) so it's not too bad.

Well, glad I was able to help in someway :D Excuse my rudeness, but while it's true that a burned mega kang is usually a dead one, this is not always true. Before you breathe a sigh of relief after having burned and weakened mega kang, check out the opponents team, specifically for jirachi, latias, celebi, and cresselia. Do you know what these guys have in common? Healing wish/Lunar dance This is not something you should overlook. Good players using HO teams like to fit one of these guys in somewhere specifically to fool the opponent into lowering their guard, and then BAM, your check is dead and you're facing a mega kang at full health. I do this myself, and as you get higher on the ladder (with this team you will) keep an eye out for these guys. I simply wanted to mention that, nothing more :)

 

[SomeoneStoleTheNameIWant]

Hey, Articblast, wanna finish my team? :P

Anyway, I'd definitely leave the Lum Berry on Barbaracle, as he seems to be your clean-up sweeper and would absolutely hate status crippling that.
Also, I would run Magic Coat on Deoxys-D, as he is totally a hazard lead, right? (People use Espeon for Magic Bounce, btw)

Have you ever considered Sableye anywhere on here for utility, maybe in Gengar's place? Priority Will 'o Wisp would help you check a lot of the physical threats (namely Meha-Kangaskhan [who Gengar admittedly does a pretty good job of too]) that you may have issues with. Priority Taunt would help shut down hazard leads and Foul Play could handle setup sweepers.

That being said, Gengar is perfectly fine too - just a mild suggestion to try.

 

[Arcticblast]

Knight of Cydonia, I just saw your edit now. At the time I posted the RMT I wasn't fully comfortable with the team, but I've been breaking it in (kind of like a new pair of shoes) since then. At the time I was really uncomfortable with the idea of replacing Barbaracle because it's basically been the MVP of the team. (It still is, really.) I play Barb pretty aggressively and try to make setup opportunities for it. While occasionally this backfires - a similar Talonflame set to my own recently proved an obstacle to a Barbaracle sweep - for the most part it's a threatening enough attacker to easily be able to set up more than once.

Speaking of breaking it in, I've made a few of my own changes. After realizing I had some Terrakion issues I decided to switch my Excadrill to a Mega Blastoise. Blastoise covers Azumarill and Terrakion pretty well, and its natural bulk takes some of the pressure off of Deo-D to sponge everything. As for minor changes, I put Thunder Wave over Spikes on Deoxys-D as it suited my team's needs better, and actually bumped up Talonflame's Speed to 340 to outrun Mega Pinsir and Brave Bird before it can Quick Attack. Not like it's using those HP EVs anyway...

Plus agreed to look this over :)

also title suggestions would be dandy too

 

[Plus]

Can't sleep atm so I guess I'll post my thoughts right now -.-

The lack of a Dragon resist kind of sucks if you're playing against a Latios Draco Meteor spammer. If it gets an opportunity to come in on something like a Thundurus after its revenge killed something, then your main switch-ins of Blastoise and Deoxys are still taking large chunks of damage afterwards. I guess Deoxys can always be a catch-all kind of Pokemon on the defensive end, but then again that probably places a bit too much of a burden on Deoxys defensively. I'd suggest trying out a Scizor in the Thundurus-T slot to help you out a bit, as it's still capable of revenge killing but gives you a much needed resist to Dragon (and Fairy I guess) as well. It has a stronger U-turn mojo going on with Talonflame as Talonflame can switch into Fire-type attacks. Honestly, I think the standard Choice Band set is fine enough, but you can always experiment with other things like Scarf if you want some surprise factor and to retain some speed from replacing Thund-T, or Assault Vest which makes your team even more bulkier.

As for other things, I suppose I can see some issues with Mawile / Azu / Rotom-W as you have pointed out. Blastoise helps a bit with the Mawile issue as it gives you an Iron Head switch-in, but one thing you could potentially consider is Trevenant over Gengar. The main reason for this over, say, Gourgeist would be Natural Cure, which would let you repeatedly switch into Rotom WoWs, as it acts as an effective hard counter to Rotom-W that is capable of absorbing status as well. Sure, it may be less physically bulky than Gourgeist, but I would still be careful in switching in Gourgeist into things like Mawile Play Rough / Iron Head or an Azumarill Ice Punch even if I ran Gourgeist simply because of how powerful those threats are. Replacing Gengar with Trevs is more of a viable option now anyways because you have Mega Blastoise there to provide support against Gliscor. Additionally, if you go Scizor > Thundurus as per my first suggestion, then Trev covers the bulky water issue that would otherwise be left behind. For this set, I'd just use Rest / WoW / Horn Leech / Rock Slide with Impish 252 hp 180 def and 76 speed, that allows you to beat uninvested TTars and Scizors. Feel free to tamper with the speed though.

I can't really comment on the Mega Blastoise spread since I've never really tried him out extensively, but I don't know if you need to outspeed Mega Jolly TTar, and you could probably just go Modest Max HP Max SpA. The reason for this is that Mega TTar is primarily going to be coming in on Talonflame. If TTar comes in after Talonflame has managed to kill something, then Mega TTar is going to Dragon Dance -- at which point those speed EVs would be pointless. If there are instances where you predict a TTar switch and U-turn with Talonflame on the switch, you could alternatively go to your CB Scizor to Bullet Punch and revenge kill. I just think that outspeeding Mega Tar is a bit situational and you would fare much better simply running on max bulk and special attack. But then again, I could be wrong and those Speed EVs might actually be worthwhile @_@

Anyway interesting team, I've always wanted to try out the barnacle and I just might do so after finals are over for me. I understand that you are a bit selective in what you choose so I'm not offended if you disagree with anything that I've said here.

 

[Shurtugal]

You added Blastoise for bulky waters?

I think Excadrill's steel typing was pretty important for this team (like for Dragon-types, as Plus mentioned) . I've personally tried Blastoise, and while it isn't bad it isn't that great at spinning imo, probably because it's slow and the lack of recovery is more important with slow spinners. I'd suggest going back to Excadrill, but that would leave you open to Azumaril and those pesky water-types you need to check.

So, in that case, I suggest replacing Thundurus-T for Rotom-W. Rotom-W isn't SR weak, which is a nice plus, and it can counter Pinsir / Azumaril just like Blastoise was, as well as being a great check for Talonflame (so you don't have to always rely on Barbacle). It also beats Greninja since Grass Knot does 5% so we all win yay! XD

The speed drop isn't too important since there is priority everywhere anyway so only few scarfers are really relevant atm (you also have decently fast team with Exca / Talon / Gengar / SS Barbacle anyway, as well as TWave support... you could also run TWave over WoW on Wash if you want to).

I still don't get why you want to use Recover on Deo-D, or a defensive set at all. In all honesty I haven't tried it, but I can't help but point out how awkward it looks on such an offensively built team. I have multiple suggestions you could try over Deo-D or Deo-D set replacements, but most of them are HO leads and you aren't using Deo-D as an HO lead so I don't know.

I suggest keeping an open-mind and trying out replacements for Deo-D's role (perhaps HO Deo-D, Rocky Helmet SR Garchomp, Spore / Glare Smeargle, Defog SR Mew, etc.) but other than that, I like this team. The speed EVs on Talonflame are much better since outpacing Pinsir is probably a good idea (fuck Quick Attack).

 

[acinod]

This team is incredibly weak to Electric types.

I got swept by a Specs-Jolteon using this team. Also Barbaracle has been failing me pretty bad. He's so weak to priority after a Shell Smash and his attacks NEVER hit!

IMO replace Barbaracle with a Ground type or something.

 

[Arcticblast]

This team is incredibly weak to Electric types.

I got swept by a Specs-Jolteon using this team. Also Barbaracle has been failing me pretty bad. He's so weak to priority after a Shell Smash and his attacks NEVER hit!

IMO replace Barbaracle with a Ground type or something.

Using a Ground-type is likely going to have the same effect as Thundurus-T does now. It'll just get smacked with HP Ice if you play wrong. If you run into a Specs Jolteon, switch to Deoxys to figure out what move they're running - if you get hit by Thunderbolt (50.4% max), double switch to Thundurus-T.

Yes, Barbaracle is weak to priority. It's a good sweeper because the team is designed to remove all threatening priority users before Barbaracle comes in. Blastoise can take on Scizor and Aegislash while walling Azumarill and Mega Mawile in a pinch and burning them with Scald. Talonflame outspeeds all priority users outside of Mega Absol (who my team does have issues with, sadly), faster opposing Talonflame (who Barbaracle doesn't care about anyway), and... Quick Attack Terrakion. I mentioned in the RMT how Barbaracle can use its bulk to take hits and set up. I didn't mean you should set up willy-nilly. If you come across a team that Barbaracle threatens by typing alone, use its resistances and offensive pressure to keep the opponent on their feet, drawing out whatever checks and counters they have to it and pivoting to the other Pokemon on the team to cripple or KO them.

This is not a bulky offense team. Yes, it has two Pokemon chosen for their defenses, but this team is designed to keep offensive pressure on the opponent with several fast and powerful Pokemon taking advantage of their own typing for their benefit. You need to find the right opportunity to Smash with Barb. You need to be able to play around several threats to the team; you can't expect to have one Pokemon that walls everything (although Deoxys comes close). Even Deoxys is designed to pressure the other team through its bulk and crippling support moves.

I'll comment on other posts later or something???