XY RU Random RU Thingie

[Angelique]

I'm fairly new to competitive battling, so I thought I might as well post a RMT to see what some more experienced battlers would have to say about my team. I don't really have anything else to say here, so...let's go.

Ambipom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Fake Out
Knock Off
Low Kick
Return

Pretty much your regular, average Joe (Jane?) physical attacking Ambipom set. Fake Out to deal "chip" damage, break the occasional Focus Sash or Sturdy, revenge kill frail setup sweepers, and basically be that move you click every time you switch in. Knock Off for Ghosts and Eviolite users, Low Kick to hit things like Registeel in the junk, and Return for STAB. Not sure if I should change this to Cinccino-it's stronger and just as fast, but I think its coverage is worse and I do love my Fake Out.

Durant @ Leftovers
Ability: Hustle
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Hone Claws
Iron Head
X-Scissor
Crunch

Durant's high Defense and good typing allows it to set up on weaker physical attackers like Gligar or attackers whose STAB it resists like Aromatisse and set up a Hone Claws or two, after which it can kill a lot of things with base 109 Attack and Speed. Iron Head and X-Scissor provide strong STAB and Crunch helps with things like Bronzong, Delphox, and Cofagrigus.

Clawitzer @ Expert Belt
Ability: Mega Launcher
252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
Water Pulse
Aura Sphere
Dark Pulse
Sludge Wave

Bread-and-butter special attacker, with a high 120 SpA and great coverage. Water Pulse provides STAB and is boosted to the same power as Surf with Mega Launcher, along with a chance to confuse. Aura Sphere and Dark Pulse are both boosted by Mega Launcher and provide coverage-Aura Sphere wrecks Abomasnow, Cobalion, and Normal-types, while Dark Pulse annihilates the incredibly annoying Sigiliyph, along with Jellicent and Meloetta. Clawitzer's last Pulse move, Dragon Pulse, is strong, but adds no coverage besides Tyrantrum, who is already hit by Aura Sphere. Sludge Wave is a better option, hitting Grass- and Fairy- types for super effective damage.

Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk (Changes to Prankster after Mega Evolution)
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
Shadow Sneak
Will-O-Wisp
Destiny Bond
Confuse Ray

This guy I'm kind of up in the air about...he has piss-poor defenses in regular form, and they don't get much better when you Mega, but Prankster can be seriously annoying, especially when coupled with a decent support movepool. Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers, Shadow Sneak kills weakened opponents, and Destiny Bond can pretty much guarantee a kill as long as your prediction skill is decent. Confuse Ray...well...it's annoying. That's really all I can say. Maybe I should switch it out for Thunder Wave...

Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
Fire Blast
Grass Knot
Psychic
Shadow Ball

Another fairly bread-and-butter special attacker...but with a Choice Scarf! Yaaay! :D
...
OK, yeah. That was pathetic. Let's move on. I think this guy (girl?) revenge kills fairly well, Modest Nature is used because Base 104 Speed plus Scarf doesn't really need that extra bump. Fire Blast and Psychic are your STABs, Grass Knot covers Water-Types and Shadow Ball takes out Psychic- and Ghost- Types. Pretty simple.

Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
Cosmic Power
Dazzling Gleam
Stored Power
Roost

This thing. THIS THING. It can be a complete waste of a moveslot, or it can completely wreck the opposing team with hardly a scratch. Extremely self-explanatory; Cosmic Power boosts defenses, Stored Power takes advantage of those boosts to reach insane levels of power, Roost heals off pesky damage, and Dazzling Gleam is for Dark-types.

So...that's my first RU team. Let me know what you think-any constructive criticism is welcome. :D

EDIT: Ambipom replaced with:
Cinccino @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tail Slap
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast
- Knock Off

EDIT: Sigilyph set changed to:
Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psycho Shift
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Air Slash

EDIT: Durant replaced with:
Cobalion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

EDIT: Delphox Shadow Ball replaced with Switcheroo

EDIT: Clawitzer Sludge Wave replaced with Ice Beam and Water Pulse with Scald

EDIT: Banette replaced with:
Spiritomb @ Black Glasses
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Foul Play

 

[Pearl]

Hey there. First of all, welcome to the RU tier! It is a pretty good and balanced tier at the moment, so even if your first try doesn't succeed, I recommend you not to give up on it if you really want to get into competitive Pokemon. So, about your team: As you might have guessed already, it is slightly below average, and I'll try to explain you why in detail.

First, onto non-synergy related issues. Durant benefits heavily from the extra damage Life Orb gives, and Leftovers doesn't patch any of its problems, while the former allows you to get important KOs (which I don't remember by heart) on some Pokemon that might KO you back otherwise. Clawitzer should be running a Life Orb too, for exactly the same reason, and because Expert Belt is an unreliable damage boosting item. Also, due to its ability, Mega Launcher, it already has a damage increase identical to what a STAB would do on Dark Pulse and Aura Sphere, which means you could run Scald > Water Pulse for the possible chance of burning. Ice Beam is the superior option to damage Grass-type Pokemon, since it hits Amoonguss harder than Sludge Wave, among other things (pun not intended). Lastly, it doesn't really benefit from 252 HP EVs, since its role is to break through walls, which means it benefits a lot from being faster than some fast Pokemon that don't invest into Speed. An ideal EV spread would be the following: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe. Banette is a Pokemon that usually fits a specific niche (we'll get into that later though), but the way you build it isn't optimal. First of all, you're running a Jolly Nature without any Speed investment and I don't think your EV spread accomplishes anything specific (correct me if I'm wrong with this one though). Since it is versatile to the point where it's hard to create a set for him in a team where he isn't really accomplishing anything specific, I'll just give you a possible spread:

Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Destiny Bond

Since it is mostly meant to abuse the combination of Taunt + Destiny Bond and block Rapid Spin, it doesn't really need any coverage move, although Will-O-Wisp could probably be slapped in somewhere there. Knock Off is a strong and easy-to-spam move, crippling incoming switch ins. Shadow Sneak is there as a revenge killing tool in general. You could probably give it some Speed EVs according to what you need to outrun, but I don't think I should be going into Speed creeping just yet. Delphox is one of the premier threats in RU and your spread isn't bad at all. However, Fire Blast already hits Doublade hard, which means Shadow Ball's premier targets would be other Psychic-type Pokemon. However, since a huge amount of them are running Calm Mind sets, which don't mind those after a boost or two, it is more optimal to run Switcheroo > Shadow Ball, in order to cripple those and other Pokemon that might switch on it. Use it with caution though, since if you lose your Choice Scarf while there's still something you need to revenge kill you might be in for a painful game. Sigilyph, while definitely a good Pokemon, is hard to work it when it's not filling a specific niche, but even then it's easy to tell the way you build it is incredibly underwhelming. First of all, you gain more mixed bulk in general by maxing out the HP stat. Also, it is a Pokemon that requires heavy Speed investment, so it can Burn things before being hit back, act as a possible revenge killer and set up on some slower Pokemon. Here's the set I run on it:

Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psycho Shift
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Air Slash

Air Slash has underwhelming coverage, but it benefits from STAB, which is always big. 240 Speed EVs allow it to be faster than base 95 Speed Pokemon who fully invest into it, a possible example being faster variants of Drapion. Besides Air Slash and the EV spread, it's pretty much the same set you posted. Onto the last Pokemon, Ambipom! First thing I've got to say about it is that you deserve some praise for running a good Ambipom set, and not the below average ladder player's set (which consists of things such as Life Orb U-turn, Last Resort, Acrobatics and the list probably goes on). However, it's still an average Pokemon, and if you ever find yourself considering Ambipom again, you should use Cinccino instead, which can break opposing Focus Sashes without missing out on coverage, through either Rock Blast, Bullet Seed or Tail Slap. Here's a good Cinccino build:

Cinccino @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tail Slap
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast
- Knock Off

It possesses superior super effective coverage, hitting Doublade with Knock Off, Rhyperior and Omastar with Bullet Seed and Flying-types such as Moltres with Rock Blast. Tail Slap's overall base power is also superior to Ambipom's Return, making it a better option most of the time.

Now, into the most important part of the rate: There are two things that make teams like these hard to rate, which are formatting (which is completely understandable, so don't worry about it) and Pokemon description. Most people who rate teams already know what almost every Pokemon does in the respective tier. What you should be aiming for is to explain why you've chosen a specific Pokemon for your team, so people can analyse what your team is weak to and suggest replacements for current members without hurting its synergy too much. With that said, it's possible to notice that you've most likely put 6 random Pokemon on your team, which is all right, since you're still learning the tier, but comes with the cost of some defeats in return. Nonetheless, I'll go over a number of things your team lacks so you can keep those in mind. First of all: You're lacking in win conditions. Although your Pokemon are mostly offensive oriented, due to your lack of Stealth Rock among other factors, you don't have any way of creating situations where something of your team can come in and finish the game. Second: You're susceptible to the opponent's win condition, since you have no defensive backbone. For example, if a Moltres manages to switch in safely on Banette or Sigilyph, or Clawitzer before some prior damage, you're going to have to sacrifice something to it, putting you in a harsh situation. Last: You have no way of controlling the field. I've already gone through half of this point by mentioning your lack of Stealth Rock, but you're also lacking in a way of removing entry hazards off your own field. This leaves you vulnerable to faster Pokemon that can clean up after some chip damage. An example would be Jolteon, which is immune to Banette's Thunder Wave and can hurt anything on your team with its STAB, due to your lack of resistances to it. I would recommend you to check the RU Forum for information on how to solve those problems, since it'd be impossible to change your team on my own to fit all of the things you're lacking without making it something completely different. Sorry about it and I hope you understand that situation.

That's all, I think. Have a nice stay in the tier!

 

[Molk]

First off i'm just going to say that i 100% agree with all of Pearl's changes except Banette You should be making all of these changes to get your team to function better (i'll be getting to that in a bit).

Something i noticed is that you're VERY weak to Dark-type moves. pretty much anything with Knock Off can do quite a number to your team if it gets in safely, with half your team being weak to it and 1/3 of the other half doesn't have the defensive backbone to really afford to take one. Sucker Punch is a huge problem in general too for similar reasons. You also lack Stealth Rock on your current team, one of the most important moves in the current metagame. For this reason, i suggest that you try replacing Durant with a Stealth Rock+Swords Dance Cobalion. Cobalion can play a similar role as a Swords Dance sweeper to Durant (honestly it can be really threatening if Slowking/Doublade are weakened lol), but has the added bonus of both a resistance to Knock Off and the ability Justified, making it one of the best, if not THE absolute best absorber of the move in the tier. Stone Edge is nice and all for that nice coverage, but Cobalion has little issue using Stealth Rock in the last moveslot if it really has too, and for the most part its dual STAB moves should be enough to do the job, especially with my second suggestion below.

Cobalion

Cobalion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

Going from here, another Pokemon that you struggle with a little bit is Doublade, half of your team is weak to Doublade's Shadow Sneak and it has at least two opportunities to get off a Swords Dance (Cinccino, Cobalion if you use it, Delphox locked into Grass Knot or Psyshock). Needless to say it can clean up your team at the flip of a dime, especially if paired with entry hazards. Clawitzer helps out a little bit, but it can get worn down quite easily. This is why i suggest replacing Mega Banette with a Spiritomb. Unlike Mega Banette, Spiritomb only takes neutral damage from both Ghost-type moves and Knock Off, helping out against both Doublade and your aforementioned Knock Off problem. Spiritomb is also one of the best counters to Meloetta in the tier, another Pokemon that seems quite annoying for your team as it stands now. Outside of helping out with those three threats, Spiritomb has the advantage of being able to utilize Pursuit effectively, which works absolutely excellently when paired with Cobalion, given that both of Cobalion's best counters: Slowking and Doublade both struggle against Spiritomb and are weak to Pursuit, making checkmating both of them quite easily. Set below

Spiritomb

Spiritomb @ Black Glasses
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Foul Play

The given Speed EVs let Spiritomb outpace 0 Speed Rhyperior and Doublade that attempt to speed creep it, letting Spiritomb burn Rhyperior before it can Earthquake it in a pinch, and Burn/Foul Play Doublade before it can do anything but Shadow Sneak. Infiltrator is used to bypass the Substitutes of Bulk Up Braviary (speaking of, Braviary and Fletchinder seem to be annoyances to your current team regardless of these changes, maybe something to think about?)

Hope i helped!

 

[Angelique]

Thank you, Pearl and Molk! I'll definitely try out your suggestions. I do have one thing to ask, though...what's the point of running Foul Play and Will-O-Wisp on the same set? Isn't it kind of counter-productive? And 3 Dark moves on one set? Um...

 

[Molk]

Thank you, Pearl and Molk! I'll definitely try out your suggestions. I do have one thing to ask, though...what's the point of running Foul Play and Will-O-Wisp on the same set? Isn't it kind of counter-productive? And 3 Dark moves on one set? Um...

Don't worry about it, Foul Play ignores the opponent's burn when it calculates damage, something very fortunate

Also, for the record Spiritomb needs all three of those coverage moves to work out effectively. Dark has pretty excellent neutral coverage all around, and pretty much anything that isn't Aromatisse that resists Dark-type moves in RU is either too frail to take repeated ones regardless or strongly dislikes being burned. Spiritomb only really has Shadow Sneak for further physical coverage regardless, and a neutral Shadow Sneak is only as strong as a resisted Sucker Punch o_O.

 

[Angelique]

OK, thanks a bunch! I've been testing the improved team and have been seeing definite results.