Rate my Team Please! Tops out around 1360 on Showdown

[thattallguy]

Hello there! I've been working on this team for about a week now. Some of my major problems are my own prediction capabilities, so that'll come with practice. I've also run into trouble with Volcarona before, which is I'd say the most common threat to my team? Then again, I could be missing something, I'm pretty new to the metagame. If you have member suggestions, I've never been a fan of using legendaries, so I'd prefer not to switch anyone out for Thundurus/Landorus, etc. That being said, this is my team:

JawsWithFeet (Garchomp) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Protect
My main physical sweeper. Garchomp was the first pokemon I wanted to use, because I knew how good he could be, and I had never used him before. Protect is there to scout what the opponent might do, but other than that, his moves are for STAB and coverage. Yache berry because, you know, Ice Beams suck. I took Dragon Claw over Outrage because it's still powerful, but I don't want to be locked into Outrage in case of a threatening switch-in. Poison Jab is theoretically nice for coverage against slower Fairies, but they are usually too bulky to take out in one go unless they've been weakened already.

BigBurr (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
Ferrothorn is usually my lead, unless I see the opposing team has a good amount of pokemon which often hold super effective moves. He's my lead so that I can lay Stealth Rocks as early as possible, and depending on the situation, he can do some damage with Leech Seed, and Gyro Ball is able to take out the unexpecting pokemon as well. He's pretty much the standard set from BW. I really like Rocky Helmet over leftovers because it often provides some extra damage, and surprises opponents occasionally.

Maytag (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 60 SAtk / 140 SDef / 12 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
I chose Rotom for similar reasons as Garchomp, but he really is a good switch-in for Garchomp all the same. The EV spread is more complex than the other members of this team, but it guarantees a 2HKO from Mega Charizard Y's Solar Beam. It's a spread I saw on a RMT over on Nugget Bridge: http://nuggetbridge.com/forums/topic/3717-vgc-2014-goodstuffs-the-seven-sinshomunculus/
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Rotom-W: 132-156 (84 - 99.3%) --guaranteed 2HKO
Will-O-Wisp is useful to go against physical attackers, and the modest nature is so that TBolt/Hydro Pump can still do decent damage, and protect is again in case I need to stall/see what the opponent will try to do.

ComeAtMe (Charizard) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast

My special sweeper. I saw a set on Smogon using Fire Spin to trap an opponent, and it's fun, but not the most helpful. Thinking of switching it for Roost, but I'm also not sure about Focus Blast. I haven't had to resort to it too much, and I know his other common move is Dragon Pulse, but I'm not sure I need it for coverage.

Shortie (Excadrill) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 96 Atk / 160 HP / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Shadow Claw
This guy used to be a Lucario, but I don't really remember the reason it was Lucario. I think it was just for another offensive force. However, this guy is much more necessary, I feel. Stealth Rock, for obvious reasons, destroys Charizard, so I send this guy in to clean up the field first. He's surprisingly bulky with Assault Vest, and can still do decent damage to many pokemon.

FaceofMercy (Sylveon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
Another member who proved to be more bulky than I originally thought, this guy can take a couple hits and Calm Mind help makes him into offensive force as well, if given the chance.

These guys make up my team. I'm gonna include the Lucario set that I was using as well, just remember that he was replaced by Excadrill. He was there for good offensive coverage, as well as having the only priority move on my team. I suppose priority would be something good to add in here, considering I have none. Any comments/critique would be great!
Shortie (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Crunch
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

 

[DeceptiveDestiny]

It's quite a good team. But Sylveon is outclassed by Gardevoir as a special attacking Fairy, I suggest utilizing the normal Cleric Set that actually makes it viable in OU. And your team is pretty much shut down by status since most are dependent in muscling through most Pokemon, therefor it needs Cleric support and reliable recovery in Wish.

Replace Fire Spin for Dragon Pulse for Zard so it wouldn't be walled by opposing Dragons and for you to threaten Zard-X, which shits on your team at +1. Focus Blast isn't needed since you adequately check targets like Heatran (Excadrill, wary of Lava Plume) and Tyranitar (Sylveon and Garchomp).

For Rotom-W, I suggest on not following the spread and replacing it with a standard one you see on analyses since only a retard will stay in on a Zard-Y. Replace Thunderbolt for Volt Switch since most of your Pokemon would like a safe switch-in especially the frailer ones like Excadrill, and if you want to troll with healthy switch-ins utilize something like Pain Split over Protect since two of your pokemon already have Protect. Or a ChestoRest set would be viable too, but the Chesto Berry will be consumed either ways by prior status or confusion.

A big threat I can see to your team is Landorus. Better know how to play around it, because even Rotom will succumb to a Sheer Force Sludge Wave, and it seems like Staraptor is a big threat too. It will either take one or two Pokemon out, so be wary of it too. But predicting the move of its choice will mostly lead to not being severely crippled by it.

I say nothing further. Very good team :)

 

[Amaan]

Hi! Not a awful team you got there, but I think I can improve it.

First of all, you have giant problems against S-Tier rank mons such as Landorus-I and Charizard X, here is some things I would suggest.

Garchomp can try running a Choice Scarf, along with outrage over protect, the ice attacks will now hurt. But you generally will be faster than most threats with Ice moves for it to matter. Choice Scarf Garchomp helps you beat even Max Speed Zard X at +1. But you shouldn't ever let it set up, however. But CS Garchomp will be there if you need it.

I would try Assault Vest Conkeldurr over your Lucario. It takes a max of 83 percent from Landorus-I's Psychic and you can OHKO with Ice Punch

M Tyranitar and M Gyarados can also be problems at +1, but can be dealt with as long as Conkeldurr is kept healthy.

I would try Magic Guard Clefable over Sylveon, as it trades power for an immunity to status, which is a trade I would do any day. But you can also opt for the Wish Passing Cleric set.

The Magic Guard set looks like this
name: Magic Guard + Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Soft-Boiled
move 4: Flamethrower / Stored Power / Cosmic Power
ability: Magic Guard
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
nature: Bold