I'm new and could use some tips.

Hello! I'm new to Smogon. I started having a lot of fun on Pokemon Showdown and I hit a plateau. Through trial and error, I've attempted to create a balanced team. Members have helped me out through asking lots of questions and I thought it was time to get more help through the forums.

I take criticism extremely well, so feel free to be brutal. It makes me more motivated. Any help, tips, changing out and trying a different Pokemon, changing strategies, etc is beneficial. I'm really bad at explaining my team since I'm still new to the lingos and strageties. My descriptions might be too brief for comfort, but I am trying my best. Btw, if anyone here lives or knows someone in Okinawa, Japan, please hit me up!



Deoxys-Defense @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat

My lead. I originally had an Azelf as a lead, but someone suggested I switch to Deoxys-Defense. I usually use Taunt as the first move, unless someone like Espeon comes out. In the typical situation, I'll keep using Stealth Rock and Spike until I faint. I'll Taunt whenever possible. If someone is Sword Dancing or boosting stats somehow, sometimes I allow the opponent raise those stats while I set up Stealth Rocks and Spikes. If I'm stuck in a taunt, I'll typically wait a turn to assess the situation. If they switch, I usually switch after. Once my opponent is basically OVER 9000 status and finishes off Deoxys, I switch to my Choice Scarf Ditto and possibly sweep or force the opponent to switch.



Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick

I love using Latios with Trick when I run into something a Ferrothorn. Being new, I've observed Ferrothorn being in 95% of my battles. If I'm having a hard time with against a certain Pokemon with a wide Moveset, the Trick does the Trick. Once that's done, it has a widespread of Special attacks. I usually use Latios or Rotom-W as my special offense.



Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Transform

My favorite. I've tried making teams without Ditto, but I couldn't part. If you suggest I do change out Ditto, I don't mind. Maybe I just haven't found the right Pokemon to replace Ditto yet. It's almost like a default for when I'm stuck in a corner. Typically opponent will either switch or just trade blows. With the Choice Scarf I usually attack first. Like I mentioned with my Deoxys-D, if my opponent builds up a sweeper near the beginning of the battle, my Ditto copies that Pokemon sometimes turns into an unexpected sweep. I feel even luckier if the opponent had Baton Pass where I'll switch to Latios, Rotom-W, or Meinshao depending on the situation.



Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Calm Nature
- Aromatherapy
- Toxic
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss

Special Wall of course. I notice with this gen that more people are using Chansey. I just personally have had better luck with Blissey as my wall and Aromatherapy during a long winded battle is very useful. Offense wise, I feel Blissey is almost useless, but it's support to heal status and stalling has pulled me out of tough situations. Not much else to say really about Blissey. When I get hit with Taunt against a Ghost type, that's pretty annoying.



Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 184 HP / 4 Def / 144 SAtk / 176 Spd
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Rotom-Wash I use mainly for Volt Switch and Hydro Pump. With the little experience I have, I know one of the Kami Trio pops up very frequently. Rotom-Wash is pretty well against Landorus and Tornadus. I'll usually us Volt Switch if I'm low on HP. Hydro pump against the Heatrans that I run into often also. And Will-O-Wisp to reduce the attack of those nasty physical attackers such as Terrakion.



Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stone Edge

I use to have Life Orb on Mienshao and someone suggested Choice Scarf. I loved it ever since. It makes it a pretty great revenge Pokemon finishing off a Terrakion with a Hi Jump Kick & Stone Edge on the Kami Trio if I feel like risking it. U-Turn to pop that air balloon item or to finish off the opponent and switch to Latios as my Special attack offense. I've been debating on switching Stone Edge with Rock Slide because I hate the sense of missing when nearing the end of a battle. Which has happened before.​

Welcome to smogon! This is a pretty good RMT, and you have some great descriptions of your pokemon, so thank you for actually putting some time into it.
Your team looks very solid. I like the use of Mienshao, (although I'm a little biased because I just won a battle with him), and Ditto is a very interesting pokemon that I haven't had a chance to use yet.
One thing that does confuse me about your team is Deoxys-D's moveset. Spikes and stealth rock are good, but taunt and magic coat are redundant, especially since you say you have no problem with boosting pokemon. I would keep magic coat and switch taunt for night shade so you aren't complete taunt bait - you said that you stay in on taunt, but since you have no attacking moves, you would have to use struggle and damage yourself. Night shade gives you a filler move to use instead.
Another problem I see is that you have three revenge killers: Ditto, Latios, and Mienshao. Since Latios and Ditto can reliably revenge kill almost everything, I would recommend that you go back to life orb on Mienshao, which would give you a physical sweeper, something you're currently missing.

tl;dr - Switch taunt to night shade on Deoxys-D and give Mienshao a life orb

Hey!

Always good to see new players joining the community. In my opinion, your team is too inefficient. BW2 is all about a particular strategy and narrowing your focus on the match. That is not to say you'll want to disregard your opponent or metagame trends, but it's more important to choose Pokemon that work well with each other. Some experience and practice will go a long way towards making more efficient teams. You'll definitely see yourself getting better every day.

Now, to help you out with your team. Deoxys-D is a great Pokemon, and I think it would be the easiest direction for your team to take. Deo-d comes with its own playstyle since it's such an efficient lead. However, your Pokemon (like Blissey and Ditto) don't fit within a Deoxys-D team archetype. Typically, you'll want to set down as many hazards as possible and start attacking or setting up. Blissey slows you down because it is slow and defensive, while Ditto is very dependent on the opponent's team. You never know what Ditto will copy, and that uncertainty is disadvantageous for Deoxys-D teams.

First, let's switch up Blissey's spot. With Rotom-w and Mienshao, a big problem that jumps out at me is Lati@s. You would have to rely on the speed tie between with your own Latios, and that's never a good situation. Therefore, I think you should find a Pokemon that is a stand alone sweeper and takes advantage of Lati@s. In my opinion, a great Pokemon for the job is Choice Band Tyranitar. EVs are 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe. Tyranitar basically smacks everything around incredibly hard. It will Pursuit trap Lati@s, tear holes in the opponents team, and provide you with weather support. Oftentimes, it's difficult to control weather with Deoxys-D teams, but Tyranitar does a great job of keeping at least neutral weather on the field.

Next, let's switch Ditto. You already have a Choice Scarf user in Mienshao, and it will do a solid job for your team. My biggest suggestion would be to use Rock Polish Genesect. Fantastic Pokemon. Use Modest Nature with the EVs: 28 Hp / 252 Sp Atk / 4 Sp Def / 228 Spe. It's the EV spread all the top players use. The only real counters to this set are Heatran and Jirachi. Heatran is destroyed by the Tyranitar I suggested earlier. Jirachi loses to your Rotom-w pretty easily. It will get worn down by repeatedly switching into Latios too.

Finally, you should change your Rotom-w to be more Specially Defensive. It looks like Rotom-W will be your main weapon vs. Rain teams which it does a really good job of. You'll want to make sure it's capable of taking on the Water move spam and Tornadus-t's that are so popular in today's metagame. I personally just go 252 HP / 252 Sp Def with a Calm Nature, but you can definitely find a medium between Offense and Defensive pivoting.

Good luck!

@TooMuchSugar - I tried out your suggestion with Deoxys-D! It's definitely working out for me. I might play around with Deoxys-D and leave Taunt and change Mirror Coat with Night Shade instead. The Meinshao with Life Orb has been good as well. Makes me nervous at times losing HP, but I also can use other attacks too. That's a plus. I'm going to play around with both Life Orb and Choice Scarf to see which ones I get more comfortable with. Great tips! I am definitely trying them out and getting a feel for it. Thank you!

@undisputed - Your help was very detailed. I really appreciate that. You pointed out weaknesses that I didn't even know I had. You're obviously experienced. I'm definitely going to try changing Blissey out with Tyranitar. I did notice she slowed me down. As far changing Ditto to try Genesect, I guess it happened recently that Genesect is Uber now. haha! Any other suggestions?

Hi! Now that genesect is banned and you have a pokemon that can set up sandstorm, I would suggest using rock polish landorus in his place. Rock Polish landorus hits like a truck with either a special or physical set. He easily provides a high point in speed and destructive power for your team.

There are two sets to consider, the physical and the special set.

The physical set


Landorus-I @Leftovers / Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP | Adamant | Sand Force
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Superpower / Rock Slide / Smack Down
~Rock Polish

This is the physical version of rock polish landorus. It relies on boosting with rock polish to clean the team with the sand force-boosted edgequake combo. Landorus hits 602 Speed after a rock polish, even with an adamant nature. This means it will outspeed virtually every pokemon in the game after a single rock polish. Superpower is good for hitting stuff such as hydreigon. Rock Slide is a more accurate alternative to stone edge. Smack Down is a weird move that has a niche for being able to knock down problematic flyers like gliscor, skarmory, and other landorus that aren't weak to stone edge. All in all, a very good cleaner.

The special set


Landorus-I @Life Orb
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed | Modest | Sheer Force
~Earth Power
~Focus Blast
~Hidden Power Ice / Grass Knot
~Rock Polish

This is the special variant. It relies on sheer force to clean the enemy with great coverage. Life Orb is definitely the preferred item here because it does not cause recoil to any move affected by sheer force, which is every move on this set except for hidden power ice. Earth Power is a phenomenal STAB, being able to hit a lot of stuff for good coverage. Focus Blast gets even more coverage, especially on dark pokemon such as hydreigon. Hidden Power Ice gets coverage on dragons, but at the cost of life orb recoil. Grass Knot gets coverage on water types, which could be a real problem for you.

These are the two sets. Pick which ever you like best, although I would recommend testing them both.

THE TL;DR VERSION: put either a physical or special rock polish landorus-I in genesect's place.

Hope this helps, and good luck with the team!

~KoB