Introduction
First RMT, also my first post, though I've lurked for a little while. Not my first self-made team, I started out with teams I made myself as practice. They weren't that great but they won a few games starting out. This is the first team I made by myself when I actually had some vague inkling of what I was doing, though. All the spreads and builds are for the most part cookie-cutter, I'm not yet game smart enough to experiment comfortably or effectively. Anyway...
At a glance
Team-Building:
Team-Building:
I wanted to make a team using Prankster Sableye, so that's where I started. After some thought, I decided to use the trick build, with a lagging tail.
Next I needed some offense who would benefit from slow enemies. It just so happened that I'd had my eye on Conkeldurr and Nidoking, so they're in.
Next I got Blissey as a special wall and stealth rocker.
Ferrothorn came in as a physical wall and spiker, and Gengar finished up the team because, come on, Gengar.
Realized I didn't have much in the way of revenge killing, dropped Ferrothorn for Choice Scarf Jirachi.
At this point I felt like Gengar was superfluous, so I dropped him for Ferrothorn. I also gave my Sableye Iron Ball instead of lagging tail.
After some tests, I realized Ferrothorn wasn't really doing anything and Earthquake was hitting all of my dudes really hard, so I dropped him and got Gengar back. I realized Iron Ball wasn't hugely necessary since I only had one Ground attack and Nidoking could kill flyers just as easy with Ice Beam, so I got lagging tail again. That's where I am now.
In-depth
THE TROLL (Sableye) @ Lagging Tail
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
- Trick
- Taunt
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
The dude I started with. Not always my lead, only if the opponent starts with somebody I really want to mess with. Most pivot action goes to Gengar after the Trick is off but I'll occasionally throw him in to burn somebody important, and if he's still around late game he does an admirable job trolling and stalling out the last few guys on the enemy team.
KROGNAR (Nidoking) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
The party's wizard. I sometimes have trouble getting him in because I'm not quite game savvy enough to know which dudes have Earthquake, but once he's in, with huge super-effective coverage and Life Orb/Sheer Force damage, he knocks big holes in teams. That being said, I feel like he exacerbates my team's serious weakness against psychics.
GACY (Conkeldurr) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Att / 136 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Brave Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
The killer clown was originally brought in because of the obvious synergy with Sableye's slow. He often ends up leading against the omnipresent tyranitar and either bulk up or switch out if there's a good counter on the enemy team. Payback doesn't see a whole lot of use unless I know the other guy can't one-shot me. It's still there, though. Aside from that, he jumps in on obvious will-o-wisps and starts mach punching through the team, and cleans up once the big counters are too dead or weak to deal with him.
OMNIPUNCHO (Jirachi) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Att / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- ThunderPunch
The dedicated revenge-killer and punch wizard, though hax-abuse on Iron Head often sees him staying in for a while until things get too risky. There's not a whole lot else to say for him, he's just good and does his job well. Unless somebody has something I've overlooked, his spot on the team feels pretty safe.
LECHATMORT (Gengar) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
I'm not sure what to think about Gengar right now; his spot on the team has been the shakiest, and yet he always pulls more than his weight in fights. With substitute and disable he trolls almost as hard as Sableye, and often spends quite a while on the field, even psychics have some issues as long as he doesn't have to switch in on them. Still, I feel like my team is extremely weak to psychics, and I'm not sure Gengar does enough to mitigate that.
THE BLOB (Blissey) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Softboiled
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
The blob is pretty self-explanatory. Being able to switch in on pretty much any special attack and drop a toxic or stealth rock is nice, and she can occasionally stall for a win in the very late game if the cards are right. I don't feel like Blissey is going anywhere, but I could be wrong.
Summary/Concerns:
My gameplan is usually this: Most of the time, lead with Sableye, taunt if it's a hazard lead, or trick if it's an offensive lead. Conkeldurr instead if it's Tyranitar. After that it depends on how things go, and I explained what most of my Pokemon do above. My biggest concern right now is psychics. All of my heavy hitters except Jirachi are weak to psychics. Only Gengar can reliably kill them, and even that needs substitute/disable to really work. Espeon walks all over this team, and advice on what to do about him is especially welcome. I'm really willing to swap any Pokemon out if it's called for, but I feel like Gengar and Nidoking have the shakiest places on the team. Any advice is welcomed, I'm still pretty new and I know there's lots of good options I've overlooked. Oh, also. I play on Pokemon Online, I just like the client more than Pokemon Showdown. That means Genesect (at least for the next week or so) and Tornadus-T are OU, and Garchomp is Uber, if that factors into any advice you have.
Thanks for any advice I get, and tell it like it is! Consider everyone on the chopping block when it comes to replacing Pokemon.