My Team Needs Tweeking

[jtafoya96]

Hey, so I've been play testing this team all night and I haven't really had to many wins or loses. I got all of these movesets of of Smogon's Strategy Dex and I've tweeked them a bit. I was wondering though if you could give me some suggestions on how to make my team work better.

My Team: Bronzong, Gliscor, Alakazam, Infernape, Blissey, Skarmory


Bronzong
Item/Leftovers
Ability/Levitate
Nature/Sassy
EV Spread: 252 HP/84 Atk/80 Def/92 SpDef
Moveset:
Stealth Rocks
Gyro Ball
Hidden Power (Ice)
Earthquake

Bronzong is my lead and he is farely versatile, I can set up Stealth Rocks if I want to or just start off by attacking. Gyro Ball is a great STAB for Bronzong with his low speed HP Ice I haven't really found to be all that useful while Earthquake is nice to take out the Fires that I'm weak to. I'm thinking of switching HP Ice for Curse, to boost my Defense and Attack, also lowering my Speed so overall Gyro Ball does a lot more damage. Suggestions?


Gliscor
Item/Toxic Orb
Ability/Poison Heal
Nature/Impish
EV Spread: 252 HP/184 Def/72 Spd
Moveset:
Swords Dance
Earthquake
Ice Fang
Taunt

Gliscor is my revenge killer for Bronzong, since I found that the only really reliable way to take out Bronzong is with Fire types I can come in with Gliscor after they take Bronzong out and revenge kill with STAB Earthquake. Ice Fange is nice for Dragons and other Gliscors and I found that Gliscor can make a decent sweeper with a couple of Swords Dances up. I was thinking though of replacing Taunt with either HP Fire or HP Electric to take care of Ice or Water types. Suggestions?


Alakazam
Item/Focus Sash
Ability/Magic Guard
Nature/Timid
EV Spread: 4 HP/252 SpAtk/252 Spd
Moveset:
Psychic
Focus Blast
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power (Grass)

Alakazam is my special sweeper and I found that in test playing this set really works well. Psychic is a great STAB while Focus Blast can counter Darks and Steels that would otherwise wall him, Shadow Ball is a good counter for other Psychics and Ghosts while HP Grass is just there because I have no other Grass type moves. I was thinking of replacing HP Grass with Calm Mind to help Alakazam sweep and take some other hits. Suggestions?


Infernape
Item/Choice Band
Ability/Blaze
Nature/Adamant
EV Spread: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Moveset:
Flare Blitz
Close Combat
Stone Edge
ThunderPunch

Infernape is my physical attacker and I found this set to really work in test playing. Flare Blitz and Close Combat are great STABs while Stone Edge hits Flying and other Fires hard, ThunderPunch is a great counter for Waters and Flying too. Overall I don't think that I would change much in this set except I found that Infernape's ability to sweep is hampered by Choice Band, I can't decide if I should change it to Life Orb or not. Suggestions?


Blissey
Item/Leftovers
Ability/Natural Cure
Nature/Calm
EV Spread: 4 HP/252 Def/252 SpDef
Moveset:
Aromatherapy
Softboiled
Seismic Toss
Toxic

Blissey is my special wall and I found that Blissey can really work to stall out my opponents final team along with my final pokemon. I can just keep Seismic Tossing alongside with Toxic damage and then Softboiled to Toxic stall. I also found that I could switch in to Blissey and Aromatherapy to take away status on my whole team nicely, and I could take status with Blissey as well with Natural Cure. Overall I really like this Blissey set and don't know if I would want to change anything. Suggestions?


Skarmory
Item/Leftovers
Ability/Sturdy
Nature/Impish
EV Spread: 252 HP/232 Def/24 Spd
Moveset:
Roost
Spikes
Whirlwind
Brave Bird

Skarmory is my physical wall and he can do much the same thing that Blissey can except on the physical side of things. I can just Brave Bird and then Roost to heal the damage off, or I can set up a couple layers of spikes and just start Whirlwinding to spread the damage throughout my opponent's team. Sturdy ensures that I can at least set up a Spikes but really I don't know if I want to keep Skarmory or not. Considering I don't really have any Grass types I was thinking of switching to a physically bulky Serperior but I don't know what set I would use if I even should switch. Or I can find another bulky pokemon but I really need a Grass type so I'm leaning towards Serperior. Suggestions?


Overall, I found that this team can work but not to the best standard I believe. I'm not also sure that I'm using the team to the best of its abilities so if you have any suggestions on how I should use it that would help. Otherwise, any other suggestions would help. Thanks.

 

[undisputed]

Hey!

Nice defensive team. I've got some small changes that will make a big difference for you.

First, Infernape doesn't belong on your team. Infernape is an offensive Pokemon, and accordingly, it doesn't fit with the rest of your team's stall Pokemon. Instead of Infernape, I think Jellicent would make a great addition to your team. It's a Ghost which means that it can block Rapid Spin. Since you have a lot of entry hazards, Jellicent can play a vital role in beating Starmie or other common spinners. In addition to Spin Blocking, Jellicent is a very good all-around defensive Pokemon. It can take on the powerful Water moves, counter Keldeo, and just be an all around check to many Pokemon. Between Jellicent and Blissey, you can cover a very wide range of the Special Attacking metagame.

My next suggestion I want you to try out. Basically, you could take two different approaches with Alakazam's slot. Alakazam, while usually an offensive Pokemon like Infernape, has a special niche on Stall teams. Most Alakazam Stall teams lay down a lot of hazards and then wait for an opportunity to switch in Alakazam with full health. From there, it essentially has two lives (thanks to Focus Sash), and it proceeds to sweep the other team. I actually really like those teams, but if you find Alakazam isn't pulling its weight, try Celebi. It's very underrated because Tornadus-t and U-turn Genesect are popular which discourages Celebi usage. Celebi actually walls a ton of metagame threats like Rock Polish Landorus, Keldeo, all water types, Rotom-w, Lati@s (not CM), Breloom, and others. If you choose Alakazam, use HP Ice. It beats Dragons, and Psychic is basically the same power as a Super Effective HP Grass anyway.

My final suggestion is just a tweak. Try Sub Toxic Stall Gliscor. It will add a little more "offense" to your team. It's more of a passive Offense since you won't actually be attacking, but you can force the opponents hand by using Toxic and stalling PP. It's surprising how few Pokemon are able to beat Gliscor after Toxic. If you play it right, it can sweep a lot of teams.

Good luck, cool team.

 

[Shiny Charizard]

Team Build

Hey welcome to Smogon. First of all, it would be a bit helpful if you could get sprites or at least images to go along with your Pokemon and their descriptions. Second of all, I can't tell what kind of this team this is. It seems like OU no weather. Please make sure to include those the next time you post.

Well, let's see now. Let's start with Bronzong, shall we? If your Bronzong does not seem to feel as if though it needs HP Ice, you should use Toxic. Toxic will help you kill weather inducers, if you choose to play weather, and other common leads that may stall you out.

Next up, is Gliscor, huh? You should not run Hidden Powers as Gliscor's special attack base is a pathetic 45. Personally speaking, I would say Protect>Taunt. After gaining poison status, Gliscor is immune to other status moves, anyway. Also, Gliscor can now stall a turn to recover some HP. The other moves should stay the same. Earthquake helps you get rid of fire-types and Rotom-W, which can find a way to try and wreck your team. Swords Dance is the point of your set, so of course that one is going to stay.

Alakazam, eh? Rather than giving it a Sash that can easily be broken by a low like Fake Out, you should use Magic Guard to your adavantage. Magic Guard prevents Life Orb recoil, giving Alakazam a huge boost on attacks for free. So instead of a Sash, try Life Orb. Also Psyshock>Psychic because now you can hit the pink blobs with a Life Orb STAB attack on their pathetic defense stat. This way, your Alakazam will have a longer lifespan and can't be easily walled.HP Ice>HP Grass, by the way. HP Grass is kind of useless compared to HP Ice, because now you can hit the ever so common Landorus for effective damage. Focus Blast is good for Tyranitar, and Shadow Ball is good for other Psychic and Ghost types. Calm Mind is okay, but you already have a Life Orb and a set up sweeper in Gliscor.

Infernape is a perfect oppurtunity for you to go mixed to defeat varieties of walls. Just go with this set:

Infernape @ Life Orb
EV's: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Special Attack
Ability: Iron Fist
Nature: Naive/Hasty
Moves:
-Overheat
-Close Combat
-U-Turn
-Mach Punch

Classic Infernape. You can afford Overheat and Close Combat's risky stat drops because you can always scout with U-Turn and make them dissapear. Overheat is your special STAB powerful attack from your special attack stat. Close Combat is arguably Infernape's best move off his impressive attack stat with STAB and massive power. U-Turn is for scouting and losing your stat drops. Mach Punch is priority, which is a very important thing to have. Iron Fist boosts STAB Life Orb Mach Punch and finishes up weakened Pokemon, and more importantly, finishes off Scarf/Band Terrakion, which will otherwise kill most of your team.

Blissey is perfect.

Skarmory is perfect, except you want Shed Shell over Leftovers to escape Magnezone, Skarmory's biggest counter.


Final Comments-

So the main thing under my comments is team synergy. Here are a few suggestions on how to make the team flow better.

TEAM SYNERGY-

Okay, basically, this is to look at the changes, and see what can happen against the team.

1) A bulky mixed water kills your team, as you mentioned before. My suggestion to solve that is to carry a Water Absorb Pokemon.

2) So that Bronzong can survive longer and help you more, you should carry a Wish user.

3) Scarf Terrakion used to be a problem, but with Life Orb STAB Iron Fist Mach Punch, it's dead.

4) Entry hazards are not one of Blissey's friends. Rapid Spinner is recommended, but is not totally necessary.

That's pretty much the base of it. Here's how to solve it.

1) Since you need a Water Absorber and a Wish user, your best option is the beastly Vaporeon!

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
EV's: 248 HP, 252 Defense, 8 Special Defense
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
Moves:
-Wish
-Protect
-Scald
-Roar/Toxic/Ice Beam

2) Since you need a Rapid Spinner and to need be able to counter Water types, this Pokemon works, too!

Starmie @ Leftovers
EV's: 252 HP, 252 Speed, 4 Special Attack
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
Moves:
-Scald
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
-Thunderbolt/Ice Beam/Psyshock

CONCLUSION

Your team is solid. It's got good sweepers and stable walls. Blissey and Skarmory make an excellent combo, and with Shed Shell, Skarmory can escape Magnezone's Thunderbolt and you can switch into Gliscor and kill Magnezone with Earthquake. Skarmory then won't have any trouble for the rest of the match. Using one of the two water types posted above, you can stay stable for the duration of the match.

Hope I helped! Good luck with your team!

-Best Wishes,
Shiny Charizard

 

[jtafoya96]

Thanks so much for the help, I will definetely have to think about all the great comments you posted. Thanks.