XY RU My First Competitive Team

[ImmortalKai]

In total honesty, I have no idea what I'm doing. I just recently got into the competitive Pokemon scene, so the whole meta is pretty new to me, and it seems like a lot to take in. I'm not sure if this team really has any synergy or not, so please let me know what you think and what I can change to make it better. Any help is appreciated!

Yanmega @ Life Orb
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Protect
- Giga Drain

When I first started this team, I wanted to base it around a Tinted Lens Yanmega. I always thought Yanmega was a fun poke to use since I played a lot of randoms before I tried getting into the legit competitive scene. Gave it Timid nature and full speed EVs so it has decent speed even without having to use Speed Boost.

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

Gastrodon went on this team because I was looking for a poke with decent bulk that could help with Yanmega's weaknesses. It covers Fire, Rock and Electric, which I thought would be pretty common attacking types, so Gastrodon being able to tank hits of those types seemed too good to pass up.

Magneton @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Grass]

I put Magneton on this team to further provide coverage for Yanmega. Electric takes care of flying types, and Magneton offers a TON of resistances to help take care of a lot of potential threats.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Encore
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Moonblast

In all honesty, I was just looking for a Prankster. I didn't know what else I could use to fulfill a semi-bulky support role, and I know Whimsicott was strong last generation, so I figured I'd give putting him on here a shot.

Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Toxic Spikes
- Whirlwind

At the point I noticed I was lacking entry hazards, I decided to get some Toxic Spikes going. Drapion provided pretty decent bulk as well, allowed me to get my entry hazards, had access to Taunt, provided me with a Knock Off user.

Braviary (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

I wanted to have a good scarf user on the team, and I've always been a big fan of Braviary. When I first heard about Smogon and competitive pokemon, I was extremely disappointed to find that he was NU in gen 5, haha. He fit a scarf role well, decent speed as it was, and was strong enough to pack a punch.​

 

[Anarkiss]

Hey, just warning you before a mod does, you're gonna need three lines of description for each Pokemon. What purpose does each one fill on the team?

This is a very nice team, but the most obvious problem with it is that nothing wants to deal with Moltres (specifically Life Orb + Agility). The easiest way to deal with this would be to just put a Jellicent on your team in place of Whimsicott.

Whimsicott is a great Pokemon, but not so great on this team seeing as it makes it quite unbalanced. Jellicent can handle pretty much anything Moltres has to offer to your team and then do more damage to it with Scald. Seeing as you have two Flying-types and a Toxic Spikes user, I don't think your team would be too impacted by Grass-types anyway. Jellicent can also spread burn with Will-O-Wisp to cripple Pokemon like Doublade who don't care about Drapion's Toxic Spikes.

Jellicent Moveset:

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 172 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Ice Beam / Shadow Ball / Taunt

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Molk]

Hello and welcome to the RU tier! First off i'd like to let you know that Yanmega might end up being banned via suspect testing in a few days, so you might need to start a new team/change around this one. I'd also like to add that as the above poster mentioned you'll need some descriptions for what each Pokemon does for this thread to stay open and for us at smogon to rate your team more effectively! =).

First off, two very important things you're missing at the moment are Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. Stealth Rock is very important for the passive damage it deals, and should be at least considered on any team. Rapid Spin isn't as needed but considering you currently have a Pokemon 4x weak to Stealth Rock and another one thats 2x weak, being able to remove opposing Stealth Rock seems pretty important to me honestly. My suggestion to add both of these onto your team would be to add a Sandslash over Gastrodon. Sandslash can do all of set up Stealth Rock, use Rapid Spin, and easily beat all the common Ghost-types that block Rapid Spin with a combination of Knock Off and Earthquake, while still having the same resistances/immunities to Rock/Electric-type moves that Gastrodon has (although its special bulk is rather poor so you'll have to be careful with that.

Sandslash

Sandslash @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Secondly, that set isn't very good on Tinted Lens Yanmega, the only reason to use Protect on Yanmega is to rack up Speed Boosts for a late game sweep. Now i'm not sure whether that was just a typo in the teambuilder and you actually meant to use Speed Boost Yanmega, or if you actually want the Tinted Lens wallbreaker set, but either way you should change that :x. If you actually wanted a Tinted Lens wallbreaker, you should be using Choice Specs Yanmega. Choice Specs provides even more of a boost without any of the recoil Life Orb applies, and because of Tinted Lens, Yanmega doesn't really need to switch moves to do a huge amount of damage. If you wanted the Speed Boost varient then just change Tinted Lens to Speed Boost, simple as that.

Choice Specs Yanmega

Yanmega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Giga Drain
- U-turn

Either way, there's no denying that you're pretty weak to Moltres at the moment with or without the previously suggested changes. Which is why i suggest using Slowking over Drapion. Slowking handles Moltres exceptionally well and i'd even go as far as to say its the best Moltres counter in the tier, and because of Regenerator it really can't be worn down effectively. Slowking also helps out a lot against Delphox, another big threat in the RU scene that you seem quite weak to at the moment.

Slowking

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail

On Whimsicott, i'd really really change the set from Subseed. Whimsicott is a cool Pokemon, but Subseed really isn't the most effective way to use it imo considering some of the biggest threats in RU include Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Mega Abomasnow (whimsicott isn't get past these), Pokemon with Magic Guard such as Reuniclus, and Pokemon with sound based moves to ignore Substitutes such as Meloetta, Exploud, and Yanmega, none of which you want to get in almost for free. Instead i'd suggest using Whimsicott as a Pivot. Whimsicott's huge amount of important resistances, ability to force switches with the threat of Encore and Stun Spore, and access to U-turn to get out of bad matchups and get the switch advantage make it a momentum machine, and a pivot set lets it take advantage of this most imo. Another alternative option is to replace Whimsicott with Amoonguss, this gives you a pretty damn solid Regenerator core with Slowking, some more overall longevity, and access to Spore. But you don't really *need* to get rid of Whimsicott altogether at all imo and it actually handles some certain threats better than Amoonguss can Plus, it Magneton, Braviary, and possibly Yanmega form a neat voltturn core.

Pivot Whimsicott

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Encore
- Moonblast
- Stun Spore / Leech Seed

Amoonguss

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Foul Play

If you do indeed want Speed Boost Yanmega, you may or not need Braviary Choice Scarfed/Braviary at all, since Speed Boost yan kinda does the revenge killing job already.. If you choose to run Speed Boost Yanmega, you should definitely consider either using CB Braviary, Substitute+Bulk Up Braviary, or possibly something completely different in this teamslot. Substitute+Bulk Up Braviary in particular can demolish entire stall teams by itself if you find yourself struggling with them. If you choose to run Choice Specs Tinted Lens Yanmega however, Braviary is fine, however you might still want to experiment with some other options.

Braviary sets

Braviary (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

Braviary (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird
- Roost

Lastly, if Yanmega does end up getting banned, there are some other options you could use over it to keep this team going. If you end up using the Choice Specs wallbreaker set, Life Orb Moltres should fill the void nicely. Although you might have to prepare for Cresselia and Reuniclus if you do so.

TL;DR

Gastrodon---->Sandslash
Drapion----->Slowking
Subseed Whimsicott----->Pivot Whimsicott
That Yanmega----->Either Choice Specs Tinted Lens Yanmega or Speed Boost Yanmega

Optional:

Whimsicott----->Amoonguss
If Speed Boost Yanmega try different Braviary sets/general wallbreakers in Braviary's teamslot
Not mentioned in the rate but Magnet Pull Magneton could be used to trap Registeel for Speed Boost Yanmega.

Hope I Helped!

EDIT: Alright you meant Tinted Lens Yanmega, this is why descriptions are important ;-;.

 

[ImmortalKai]

Thanks a lot to you two for the help! As you probably could have told without me even having to tell you, I am pretty new, so this new info helps out a lot. I appreciate the time and effort you guys put into your posts, it means a lot!

Secondly, that set isn't very good on Tinted Lens Yanmega, the only reason to use Protect on Yanmega is to rack up Speed Boosts for a late game sweep. Now i'm not sure whether that was just a typo in the teambuilder and you actually meant to use Speed Boost Yanmega, or if you actually want the Tinted Lens wallbreaker set, but either way you should change that :x. If you actually wanted a Tinted Lens wallbreaker, you should be using Choice Specs Yanmega. Choice Specs provides even more of a boost without any of the recoil Life Orb applies, and because of Tinted Lens, Yanmega doesn't really need to switch moves to do a huge amount of damage. If you wanted the Speed Boost varient then just change Tinted Lens to Speed Boost, simple as that.

I actually was going for a Tinted Lens set! I had no idea Protect was bad on Tinted Lens, so I thought it might work. :P I thought about doing a Choice Spec set, but having a Scarfed Braviary on my team as well seemed like too many choiced pokes. I dunno if that's a bad thing or not, haha. But with those new Braviary sets, I'm thinking it would be nice to try out a Spec'd Yanmega.

First off, two very important things you're missing at the moment are Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin. Stealth Rock is very important for the passive damage it deals, and should be at least considered on any team. Rapid Spin isn't as needed but considering you currently have a Pokemon 4x weak to Stealth Rock and another one thats 2x weak, being able to remove opposing Stealth Rock seems pretty important to me honestly. My suggestion to add both of these onto your team would be to add a Sandslash over Gastrodon. Sandslash can do all of set up Stealth Rock, use Rapid Spin, and easily beat all the common Ghost-types that block Rapid Spin with a combination of Knock Off and Earthquake, while still having the same resistances/immunities to Ground/Electric-type moves that Gastrodon has (although its special bulk is rather poor so you'll have to be careful with that.

Yeah, I figured I was lacking a lot of entry hazards, too. I played a match with this team and realized that stealth rock was wrecking me on a lot of switches. Having a spinner as well as some entry hazards seems like something that would help do the trick for my team. This will definitely help out, so thanks for the help and the suggestion! :)

Either way, there's no denying that you're pretty weak to Moltres at the moment with or without the previously suggested changes. Which is why i suggest using Slowking over Drapion. Slowking handles Moltres exceptionally well and i'd even go as far as to say its the best Moltres counter in the tier, and because of Regenerator it really can't be worn down effectively. Slowking also helps out a lot against Delphox, another big threat in the RU scene that you seem quite weak to at the moment.

As it is my first team in the competitive scene, I was unaware Moltres was such a threat in this tier. I would definitely consider this Slowking set. The water typing after switching Gastrodon for Sandslash seems desirable enough.

On Whimsicott, i'd really really change the set from Subseed. Whimsicott is a cool Pokemon, but Subseed really isn't the most effective way to use it imo considering some of the biggest threats in RU include Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Mega Abomasnow (whimsicott isn't get past these), Pokemon with Magic Guard such as Reuniclus, and Pokemon with sound based moves to ignore Substitutes such as Meloetta, Exploud, and Yanmega, none of which you want to get in almost for free. Instead i'd suggest using Whimsicott as a Pivot. Whimsicott's huge amount of important resistances, ability to force switches with the threat of Encore and Stun Spore, and access to U-turn to get out of bad matchups and get the switch advantage make it a momentum machine, and a pivot set lets it take advantage of this most imo. Another alternative option is to replace Whimsicott with Amoonguss, this gives you a pretty damn solid Regenerator core with Slowking, some more overall longevity, and access to Spore. But you don't really *need* to get rid of Whimsicott altogether at all imo and it actually handles some certain threats better than Amoonguss can Plus, it Magneton, Braviary, and possibly Yanmega form a neat voltturn core.

Quick question: What switches am I trying to provoke with Whimsicott when I switch into it? I still don't know the threats and counters in the metagame, so this info would be greatly appreciated!
Anyway, yeah, I realized after my first game that subseed Whimsicott wasn't working out too well. I didn't know what to do about it, so this helps a lot. If it doesn't end up working out for me I'll definitely give that Whimsicott set a shot!

If you do indeed want Speed Boost Yanmega, you may or not need Braviary Choice Scarfed/Braviary at all, since Speed Boost yan kinda does the revenge killing job already.. If you choose to run Speed Boost Yanmega, you should definitely consider either using CB Braviary, Substitute+Bulk Up Braviary, or possibly something completely different in this teamslot. Substitute+Bulk Up Braviary in particular can demolish entire stall teams by itself if you find yourself struggling with them. If you choose to run Choice Specs Tinted Lens Yanmega however, Braviary is fine.

That Sub+Bulk Up set has me interested, so I'll definitely give that a shot after making the proper adjustments to the rest of my team. Thank you so much for all of your help, this was totally unexpected!

Whimsicott is a great Pokemon, but not so great on this team seeing as it makes it quite unbalanced. Jellicent can handle pretty much anything Moltres has to offer to your team and then do more damage to it with Scald. Seeing as you have two Flying-types and a Toxic Spikes user, I don't think your team would be too impacted by Grass-types anyway. Jellicent can also spread burn with Will-O-Wisp to cripple Pokemon like Doublade who don't care about Drapion's Toxic Spikes.

Will-O-Wisp does sound desirable, especially when spikes wouldn't do much of any help against steel, levitate, and flying types. I'll have to experiment some with this! Thank you for the suggestion! :)

 

[Molk]

I actually was going for a Tinted Lens set! I had no idea Protect was bad on Tinted Lens, so I thought it might work. :P I thought about doing a Choice Spec set, but having a Scarfed Braviary on my team as well seemed like too many choiced pokes. I dunno if that's a bad thing or not, haha. But with those new Braviary sets, I'm thinking it would be nice to try out a Spec'd Yanmega.

Considering Choice Specs Yanmega can run through most of the tier with just one move, being locked in shouldn't be much of a problem for Yanmega or your team tbh. Also, SubBU Braviary is cool, but be sure to consider that you lose some general Speed when you do that. I suggested SubBU/CB Braviary under the assumption you might've been using Speed Boost, but it might still be something to play around with.

Quick question: What switches am I trying to provoke with Whimsicott when I switch into it? I still don't know the threats and counters in the metagame, so this info would be greatly appreciated!

Some Pokemon that absolutely can't deal with a Whimsicott in front of them include Virizion, Sharpedo (watch out for ice beam), Alomomola (Giga Drain in the last slot over Stun Spore hits this and Rhyperior hard if you need it), Gligar, Shiftry, and even Hitmonlee to an extent. Outside of these Pokemon pretty much anything that relies on its speed won't want to risk getting hit by a Stun Spore. From there you can use U-turn on a predicted switch to get a teammate in for free.

 

[ImmortalKai]

Alright so I was playing a few matches with the team and had mixed feelings about it. There wasn't much coverage from my side of the game, and a lot of threats were able to just tear through my team. After switching from Whimsicott to Amoongus I have had a lot more luck with my games. Thanks for all the help guys. :)