A balanced team attempt (OU)

Mentlegen

I revised pretty much my whole team, and I'm looking for help on it. I'm editing my post up here so that you can just read this first post and then critique. I'll make all changes up here as well as in my lower posts.
With that being said, here is my new team:

At a Glance:
Machamp%28P%29Sprite.png
248tyranitar_sprite.gif
SwampertNormalSprite.gif
479_rotom_heat_1_m.png
lucario3kn.png
Latias.png



In Depth:

machamp.png


Machamp @ Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 SpD
Ability: No Guard
- Substitute
- Encore
- Dynamic Punch
- Crunch

Description:
My starter is Machamp because: A) He is most definately my favorite pokemon, B) He is unexpected, C) He's got a pretty nice spread of skills. I start off with my subsititute, and when it lands the other person has usually used so bogus move. Then I'll use encore, so they have to repeat that bogus move which will give me a chance to wreak some havoc on them. Sometimes the people wont switch out their starter, and I'll have a Bronzong repeating stealth rock vs. Me, and that gets pretty funny. Anyway, this character is pretty self-explanatory, except when substitute doesn't work, I usually die pretty fast, and that sets the pace for the rest of the fight. Other than that, I really like Machamp and enjoy him as my starter.

tyranitar3.png


Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Spe / 232 SpA
Ability: Sand Stream
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Description:
Tyranitar has been pretty effective on my team. He has a wide enough type coverage that very little isn't effected by at least one of his moves. I ran into another balanced team, though, and they were able to roll me for pretty well. Tyranitar was an issue because he was too slow and his sand stream ended up hurting my team just as much as the other team. Usually I don't get unlucky, and face someone who I can counter and kill. I am overall pretty satisfied with Tyranitar.

260_swampert.jpg


Swampert @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 242 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpA
Ability: Torrent
- Stealth Rock
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake

Description:
Swampert is sort of iffy for me. I'm pretty sure I just get unlucky or I'm being stupid when i send him out, because I can get a SR out and then I'll get killed. I'm not sure if I'm sending him out against a counter without realizing it, or if Swampert is sort of fragile. I'm pretty sure it is my fault though. Overall, I'm sure Swampert is a good pokemon and I think I just need to learn him more. I faced a pokemon that used grass knot on me (it wasn't Celebi, so I wasn't really expecting it), and I got 212% damage done to me, it was quite the embarrassment.

rotomheat.png


Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
EVs: 180 HP / 128 Def / 200 SpA
Ability: Levitate
- Trick
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt

Description:
Rotom is one of the pokemon I am least sure about. Overheat, Shadow Ball, and T-bolt are all good, and I've gotten some revenge kills and so forth with them, but Trick is where things get iffy. I'm not sure if I should only switch Rotom in to quickly hit a pokemon after they have killed one of mine or if a pokemon that I will be able to switch into switches in (that sentence makes me laugh). My problem with Trick is that I don't really want to get locked into one move for a long time, because it seems like it gives the other team time to set up a sweeper, so then I'll use trick on my first turn, but it sort of seems like a waste of a move. This pokemon I think I'll need more clarification from.

art-lucario.jpg


Lucario @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Ability: Inner Focus
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Crunch

Description:
Lucario is pretty awesome. I hate the pokemon, but he is really powerful. I'll just switch in and Swords Dance, and I can usually get 1-3 kills with him. If the other team has a pokemon or two that he is super effective against, they are pretty much screwed. My only real problem is that with life orb, and no recovery skill, Lucario seems pretty fragile. I almost don't want to use him because I'm afraid he will die so fast, but I know he is so powerful and therefore must use him. I always try to pull him out on pokemon where 1-2 of his moves are super effective against them, but it doesn't always happen, and then I end up either A) Not using him until the end or B) Throw him out and he gets swept. I think I could use some help with this guy.

latias4.gif


Latias @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Spe / 108 SpA
Ability: Levitate
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Recover

Description:
I am almost positive I am not playing Latias right. I have never gotten a kill with her, and she is supposed to be a sweeper. I already have a surf on this team, and so I am very tempted to change that to something else, especially since I have only encountered Infernape and Heatran, and Swampert has those covered pretty well. What I do with this pokemon is:
1.Send her out
2.Use Calm Mind
3.Use Dragon Pulse/Surf
4. (If I make it to this part, usually I'm dead, though) Use Recover.
I think I need to rethink Latias so I play her a different way. For example, would it be ok to use an attack before I use Calm Mind?


There is my team, and overall I am pretty impressed with it. I think I still have some problems with it, which is why I'm posting here. Latias, Rotom, and Swampert I have the biggest issues with.

What I try to do with this team is send out pokemon that will counter other pokemon really well. But I'm also hesitant to do that, because it gives my opponents a chance to get a lucky move in that will instantly kill one of my pokemon. If anyone has any tips on how to switch in and out safely (especially when the other team doesn't have any walls like Blissey which I would imagine it would be easy to switch into [I have yet to encounter a Blissey yet]).


Hopefully you guys can help me with strategy/pokemon.
 
This isn't "balanced," this is an attempt at stall with two random sweepers thrown in. If you really want to make it into more of a "balanced" team, I have a few suggestions. If you're going down the path of stall, I have nothing but contempt and disdain for you.

On a lighter note, your lead is decent and acceptable.
Skarm, however, is rather... ineffective in today's metagame. I'd recommend Swampert here, the standard MixPert from the analysis, w/ Roar over SR.
For Dusknoir, if you want to stop Gyara and Spinning, use Rotom. Rotom-Water and Rotom-Toaster will both suffice for this spot, and do better than Dusknoir.\
If you're dead set on keeping Umbreon, I got nothing for you, although I would recommend replacing it, probably with CB Scizor.

Alakazam, to put it bluntly, is terrible. He can't take a hit and has no useful resists. Replace him with a Timid, 252/252 Gengar @ LO, Shadow Ball/Focus Blast/HP Fire/Substitute.

And as far as Choiced Rock types go... use Tyranitar, CB. Scarf Tyranitar is also a fantastic surprise and is viable.

Sorry I couldn't help more, hope this helps.
 
luxormaniac said:
This isn't "balanced," this is an attempt at stall with two random sweepers thrown in. If you really want to make it into more of a "balanced" team, I have a few suggestions. If you're going down the path of stall, I have nothing but contempt and disdain for you.

On a lighter note, your lead is decent and acceptable.
Skarm, however, is rather... ineffective in today's metagame. I'd recommend Swampert here, the standard MixPert from the analysis, w/ Roar over SR.
For Dusknoir, if you want to stop Gyara and Spinning, use Rotom. Rotom-Water and Rotom-Toaster will both suffice for this spot, and do better than Dusknoir.\
If you're dead set on keeping Umbreon, I got nothing for you, although I would recommend replacing it, probably with CB Scizor.

Alakazam, to put it bluntly, is terrible. He can't take a hit and has no useful resists. Replace him with a Timid, 252/252 Gengar @ LO, Shadow Ball/Focus Blast/HP Fire/Substitute.

And as far as Choiced Rock types go... use Tyranitar, CB. Scarf Tyranitar is also a fantastic surprise and is viable.

Sorry I couldn't help more, hope this helps.
Click to expand...

LO = Light Orb, right?

And Tyranitar, Gengar, Rotom, and Swampert all sound better, they make sense. Thanks for those.

I'm sort of reluctant to use Scizor, mostly because every team I have played against has him, which makes me not want him because I can't stand pokemon are too overused (which is ironic because I'm doing the OU tier). But the point of Scizor would be a sweeper, right? Would an Electivire (mixed sweeper) or Togekiss (Nasty Plot Sweeper for sweeping or a flincher for sweeping/annoyance) be good for that slot?
 
If you're trying to create a balance team, I suggest you look at this thread, specifically TAY's response. I found it a great help in designing 'balance' teams and really gave me an insight to making my own.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53418

Now, for your team.

I am a strong believer in Rhyperior, and I can tell you right now you aren't getting enough out of him if you're using a CB set. You'll probably get a lot more destruction done by using a Substitute set or my personal favorite, a rock polish set. Rhyperior also gets a lot of help by running sandstorm on your team, so if you really want to use him you might want to consider that.

I don't really recommend Alakazam, at least on your team. He effectively can only kill 1 pokemon if ANYONE on your opponents team has pursuit. You're probably better off getting some bulkier sweepers.

I love Umbreon, and much like you I put him on my first competitive team, thinking him to be amazing. But you'll find that umbreon doesn't have much of a spot in today's meta game, especially since you won't find many pokemon in which you could send umbreon out against to trap without getting KO'd in the process. He also has no synnergy with the Skarmory on your team, since skarmory encourages switching and Umbreon does just the opposite.

I think Dusknoir is great. Just remember what he's great for: blocking spinners and tossing WoW around.

I think Bronzong is okay, just be careful with hypnosis since its only at 60 accuracy.

I have to go right now, I'll try and add more later. I hope this helps!
 
I don't have a lot of time to write right now, so I'll edit this post later, but would something like:

Anti-Lead Machamp - Anti-Lead is more of a gimmick, but he has some attacks and his ability to sub could make him a good tank for later in in the battle.
Rapid Spin Donphan - Rapid Spinner, I chose Donphan because he can Roar which can help me scout out the opponents team while doing a tad of damage.
Rock Polish Rhyperior - My Atk sweeper, after a couple Rock Polishes I should be good to go and start sweeping my opponent. a
Standard Gengar - My SpA sweeper, I should be able to switch in and start sweeping once their team is weakened. I'm debating between this guy and Togekiss, because both accomplish the SpA sweeping position.
Tank Dusknoir - My anti-rapid spin. It's this or Rotom-H, but I haven't decided. I haven't found a build for Rotom that I completely love, so I'm keeping this guy for now.
Mixed Swampert - My defense/offense pokemon. Jack of all Tradeish. Also has stealth rock, so will be important to send out after my Machamp works his magic.

Be better?
(I'll have more time tomorrow, and edit it then.)
 
a cs togekiss is a really viable choice for your team it can flinch hack for some annoyance and kills

togakiss@choice scarf
jolly 252sp atck 252 spe eves
air slash
grass knot
anciet power
hp(ice or fire)

an excellent poke on most teams
 
ccman Ancient power is a poor choice. Tri-Attack is much more viable especially with serene grace. Between gengar and togekiss go with togekiss, because its much more bulkier. Between Dusknoir and rotom, a rotom-H spread like this would benefit you most:

Rotom-H@Leftovers
HP:252
DEFENSE:168
SPEED:90
~Will-o-Wisp
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt/Discharge
~Overheat

Bulky with 107 base defense, with 86 speed always outspeeding scizor, save for max speed, it fulfills dusknoirs role with better ability
 
i chose anciet power for the ablity to hit other flyers but know tat i think about ittri attck is a way better move
 
When making balanced teams, you need to get out of the mentality of Special Sweeper/Physical Tank/Special Wall/Physical Sweeper/Mixed Wall. That does not make a balanced team. Balanced teams are teams that make great use of their Pokemon's typing, stats, and movepools, while working together with the team. Balanced teams generally aim to get rid of certain Pokemon by using lures.

Onto the team! One weakness that I see is a weakness to MixApe. With Fire Blast/Close Combat/Close Combat, Infernape OHKOes/2HKOes every member on this team. Fire Blast easily kills Skarmory, Bronzong, Dusknoir, and Alakazam while Grass Knot kills Rhyperior. The best thing you can do to kill Infernape is revenge kill it with Alakazam, who cannot switch-in on a Fire Blast since it will risk getting killed. So, I suggest you use Latias over Alakazam. Latias will add some synergy on this team. Latias has a great resistance to Fire/Electric/Water, which your team will appreciate. Latias is generally better than Alakazam as it has better durability, Recover, excellent resistances to common types, coupled with great Speed and Special Attack. Overall, Latias will fit much better on your team than Alakazam would. I'd suggest Calm Mind, Surf, Dragon Pulse, Recover, 148 HP / 108 SpA / 252 Spe, Timid, Leftovers. Calm Mind allows Latias to boost its Special Attack to allow it to sweep more effectively. Recover allows Latias to heal and Dragon Pulse is for STAB and provides excellent coverage alongside Surf, which allows you to hit Tyranitar and Scizor for good damage.

Umbreon is doing nothing for your team other than giving Pokemon like Lucario free turns to set up. Lucario is a Pokemon that you really dont want to allow to set up a SD as after it gets an SD, which it can do on your Umbreon, it will sweep your team. A +2 Close Combat kills Skarmory/Bronzong/Rhyperior/Umbreon, Crunch kills Dusknoir while ExtremeSpeed kills Alakazam. As other posters have suggested to you, use Rotom-h. However, the Rotom-h I will suggest is the Choice Scarf version. With Choice Scarf, Rotom will keep threats such as Lucario, Scizor, Metagross, etc in check more effectivelt than your Dusknoir can. A set of Overheat/ThunderBolt/Shadow Ball/Trick with 252 SpA/252 Spe/ 6HP, Timid Nature should suffice. Overheat allows you to kill the aforementioned Lucario in addition to Scizor/Metagross/Hearacross. ThunderBolt is for STAB and to hit Bulky Water-types such as Gyarados and Shadow Ball adds to the coverage and STAB. Trick is to disable an opposing wall.

With Rotom, Dusknoir is not needed anymore on this team. With Rotom/Latias, you now have 2 Dark and 2 Ghost weak Pokemon. Dusknoir can be reaplced by a Pokemon that helps Latias and Rotom and work to get rid of their counters and resist each others weaknesses. Generally, a Steel type should work in this spot, so you can use something such as Lucario who works great with Rotom/Latias. Rotom attracts Pursuit users such as Tyranitar and Latias attracts Tyranitar and Scizor. As they are Pursuited, Lucario can come in, set up a Swords Dance, and then sweep. Lucario will add a priority move to your team, good resistances, and a Pokemon that can sweep greatly. A set of Swords Dance/Close Combat/ExtremeSpeed/Crunch, 252 Attack/252 Speed/6 HP, Adamant, Life Orb is what I suggest. Close Combat will put a dent into the majority of Pokemon and provides STAB. Crunch is for Ghost-types such as Rotom and EtremeSpeed allows Lucario to take care of faster frail Pokemon such as Azelf, Alakazam, etc.

The MixPert suggestion by luxormaniac will work great on this team as Swampert will give you some good resistances and counters/checks to many common threats so I will not reiterate that. Try using it over Skarmory. Swampert is much better for your team then Skarmory and can use Roar to phaze just like Skarmory. You can also use a Pokemon that can lure in Lucario's counters and kill them to allow Lucario to sweep more effectively. An example of this is a mixed Tyranitar over Rhyperior who can take out Hippowdon and Gliscor for Lucario in addition to Zapdos to help Lucario sweep. I'm just giving you an idea, it is not necessary to use a lure, however it can help aid Lucario sweep. This is what balanced teams tend to do to help other Pokemon sweep. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of what makes a balanced team.
 
So my new team which I have had mixed success with (which is my fault, I'm pretty sure).

Machamp @ Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 SpD
Ability: No Guard
- Substitute
- Encore
- Dynamic Punch
- Crunch

Description:
My starter is Machamp because: A) He is most definately my favorite pokemon, B) He is unexpected, C) He's got a pretty nice spread of skills. I start off with my subsititute, and when it lands the other person has usually used so bogus move. Then I'll use encore, so they have to repeat that bogus move which will give me a chance to wreak some havoc on them. Sometimes the people wont switch out their starter, and I'll have a Bronzong repeating stealth rock vs. Me, and that gets pretty funny. Anyway, this character is pretty self-explanatory, except when substitute doesn't work, I usually die pretty fast, and that sets the pace for the rest of the fight. Other than that, I really like Machamp and enjoy him as my starter.

Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Spe / 232 SpA
Ability: Sand Stream
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Description:
Tyranitar has been pretty effective on my team. He has a wide enough type coverage that very little isn't effected by at least one of his moves. I ran into another balanced team, though, and they were able to roll me for pretty well. Tyranitar was an issue because he was too slow and his sand stream ended up hurting my team just as much as the other team. Usually I don't get unlucky, and face someone who I can counter and kill. I am overall pretty satisfied with Tyranitar.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 242 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpA
Ability: Torrent
- Stealth Rock
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake

Description:
Swampert is sort of iffy for me. I'm pretty sure I just get unlucky or I'm being stupid when i send him out, because I can get a SR out and then I'll get killed. I'm not sure if I'm sending him out against a counter without realizing it, or if Swampert is sort of fragile. I'm pretty sure it is my fault though. Overall, I'm sure Swampert is a good pokemon and I think I just need to learn him more. I faced a pokemon that used grass knot on me (it wasn't Celebi, so I wasn't really expecting it), and I got 212% damage done to me, it was quite the embarrassment.

Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
EVs: 180 HP / 128 Def / 200 SpA
Ability: Levitate
- Trick
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt

Description:
Rotom is one of the pokemon I am least sure about. Overheat, Shadow Ball, and T-bolt are all good, and I've gotten some revenge kills and so forth with them, but Trick is where things get iffy. I'm not sure if I should only switch Rotom in to quickly hit a pokemon after they have killed one of mine or if a pokemon that I will be able to switch into switches in (that sentence makes me laugh). My problem with Trick is that I don't really want to get locked into one move for a long time, because it seems like it gives the other team time to set up a sweeper, so then I'll use trick on my first turn, but it sort of seems like a waste of a move. This pokemon I think I'll need more clarification from.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Ability: Inner Focus
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Crunch

Description:
Lucario is pretty awesome. I hate the pokemon, but he is really powerful. I'll just switch in and Swords Dance, and I can usually get 1-3 kills with him. If the other team has a pokemon or two that he is super effective against, they are pretty much screwed. My only real problem is that with life orb, and no recovery skill, Lucario seems pretty fragile. I almost don't want to use him because I'm afraid he will die so fast, but I know he is so powerful and therefore must use him. I always try to pull him out on pokemon where 1-2 of his moves are super effective against them, but it doesn't always happen, and then I end up either A) Not using him until the end or B) Throw him out and he gets swept. I think I could use some help with this guy.

Latias @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Spe / 108 SpA
Ability: Levitate
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf
- Recover

Description:
I am almost positive I am not playing Latias right. I have never gotten a kill with her, and she is supposed to be a sweeper. I already have a surf on this team, and so I am very tempted to change that to something else, especially since I have only encountered Infernape and Heatran, and Swampert has those covered pretty well. What I do with this pokemon is:
1.Send her out
2.Use Calm Mind
3.Use Dragon Pulse/Surf
4. (If I make it to this part, usually I'm dead, though) Use Recover.
I think I need to rethink Latias so I play her a different way. For example, would it be ok to use an attack before I use Calm Mind?


There is my team, and overall I am pretty impressed with it. I think I still have some problems with it, which is why I'm posting here. Latias, Rotom, and Swampert I have the biggest issues with.

What I try to do with this team is send out pokemon that will counter other pokemon really well. But I'm also hesitant to do that, because it gives my opponents a chance to get a lucky move in that will instantly kill one of my pokemon. If anyone has any tips on how to switch in and out safely (especially when the other team doesn't have any walls like Blissey which I would imagine it would be easy to switch into [I have yet to encounter a Blissey yet]).


Hopefully you guys can help me with strategy/pokemon.
 
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