Rate my team please (4th gen)

be kryptonite

Hey guys this is my first team. I've been watching my friend battle for a while and learned a lot about matchups and different styles that everyone uses. Well.. here it is:

Lead:
376.png

Metagross: Occa Berry/Adamant/Clear Body
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe

Explosion, Bullet Punch, Earthquake, Stealth Rock

Typical Metagross lead.. Occa berry because it cant get OHKO by any move. I like this because then I can get rocks up and either switch out or cause a dent in opposing pokemon if I don't get hurt. I am open to changing my lead I've faced some problems from a few different sets.

Special Wall:
blissey_by_SailorClef.jpg

Blissey: Leftovers/Bold/Natural Cure
252 HP/252 Def/4 Spe

Aromatherapy, Seismic Toss, Softboiled, Thunder Wave

Again a pretty standard Blissey.. I really don't really know what else to say about it. Aromatherapy has been a HUGE plus for this set especially because I don't usually switch in Blissey until about midway through the battle.

Physical Wall:
472Gliscor.png

Gliscor: Leftovers/Jolly/Sand Veil
252 HP/252 Spe/4 Def

Earthquake, Toxic, Roost, U-turn

This Gliscor is a complete beast. I can use it to switch in on opposing fighting moves to Blissey and my Tyranitar (see below). I used to have taunt instead of Toxic but I don't really like Taunt as a move and Toxic+Roost is amazing. Sand Veil is a HUGE plus especially since after my Metagross dies, I bring in this guy:

Physical Attacker:
Tyranitar__s_cookie_by_MasterOfGeckos.jpg

Tyranitar: Choice Scarf/Jolly/Sand Stream
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP

Crunch/Flamethrower/Stone Edge/Superpower

I love bringing in this guy after my lead dies because it does 2 things: one, its ability allows Gliscor's evasion to increase when he comes in and 2: with choice scarf it outspeeds anything with Base Speed 115 and below. The beauty of Choice is that I can just switch out to Gliscor when an obvious fighting move is coming and lose next to nothing.

Special Attacker:
ani245.gif

Suicune: Leftovers/Timid/Pressure
252 Spe/252 SpA/4 SpD

Calm Mind, HP Electric, Ice Beam, Surf

This guy can sweep an entire team if he gets 1-2 calm minds up. Also, with leftovers, the sandstorm generated by Tyranitar is neutralized and he doesn't lose any HP. I can bring him in on an expected water/fire move against Gliscor, Metagross, or my Jirachi (see below). And when the opponent switches, I can get a calm mind up. With most electric attacks being special anyway, Suicune can eat up Thunderbolts from almost anything after a Calm Mind. This along with its moveset allows it to hit any Pokemon at least Neutral.

Mixed Attacker:
20071017144536-jirachi.jpg

Jirachi: Expert Belt/Naive/Serene Grace
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 SpD

Iron Head, Grass Knot, Zen Headbutt, Thunderbolt

This Guy is amazing. People get pissed at the whole paraflich thing, but this is a different jirachi, a pure attacking one. It's not a pure Mixed Attacker, as there are no EV's allotted to SpA, but I found the max EV's in Attack are much better. Most of the time, I found that I am using iron head/zen headbutt a whole lot more than grass knot/thunderbolt and also when i do use them, they are always super effective so I really don't need the extra EV's.

I guess it is sort of a Sandstorm team but I assure you I did not mean it to be. It just so happened that I loved the Tyranitar/Gliscor combo and I chose Jirachi as my last pokemon. Anyway please rate my team; any suggestions are welcome!
 
Nice team. But i think that suicune its bad than the monoattacker.
Suicune: Leftovers/Bold/Pressure
252 Hp/252 Def/4 Speed

Calm Mind, Rest, Sleep Talk, Surf
 
Guys, please don't rate just to say you prefer one set over another^^

Anyways, you have a reasonably solid team here, although to me it looks to be suffering from a lack of offensive direction (and of course there are some problem pokemon which we can patch up weaknesses for).

Just some major problems off the top of my head, there's a massive issue with stall since most of your pokemon are vulnerable to Spikes and you have really no way to get past common defensive cores. Nasty Plot and SD Infernape can basically clean sweep you (Vacuum Wave has to get some residual damage on Suicune, Grass Knot has to deal with Tyranitar somehow). Machamp could be difficult too, since Gliscor can't beat it due to confusion and possibly Ice Punch, leaving you trying to catch it with Jirachi's Zen Headdbutt. Breloom is possibly the biggest threat since you really can't hurt it at all. In addition, there are minor problems with SubRoost Zapdos (esp. with Toxic Spike support), Kingdra and Scizor.

To fix these I'd say use a bulky Dragon Dance Gyarados, either with Taunt (if you want to keep U-turn on Gliscor) or without. The other change is to use a specially defensive Forretress over Metagross. Also, Ice Punch > Grass Knot on your Jirachi to cover Mixed Dragonite.
This gives you a bit of a Gyarados problem, plus Gliscor is mostly redundant with Gyarados. Choice Scarf Rotom-W (give it 196 Spe EV's and put those leftovers from the speed in its HP) will work in place of this, and then use either Shuca Berry + Dragon Dance or a mixed set (or Choice Band will work too if you like that) for your Tyranitar.

Final team would look like: Forretress, Jirachi, Blissey, Gyarados, Rotom-W, Tyranitar.

Hope this helps, good luck :)
 
Thanks for the reply bubbly. I've used this team on shoddy battle a lot and have seen most of what your talking about. Stall teams absolutely murder me I can't even come anywhere close to beating them. I like your idea of forretress, as it will hopefully help me beat some of those guys, but I'm definitely using Stealth rock in there instead of spikes, it takes less time to set up. I'll probably use this set on him:

Forretress @ leftovers
Careful Nature
252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD

Stealth Rock
???
???
???

What should i put in the other moveslots? I was thinking like Earthquake or something.. let me know.

With Machamp, I always bring in jirachi. With 252 EV's, STAB, and expert belt, zen headbutt always OHKO's Machamp. Since jirachi is faster, I just have to get past confusion on one of my guys. What I do with Breloom is either flamthrower it or zen headbutt it. Both of which OHKO it and i am faster. Kingra i paralyze with blissey, rendering its DD's useless. Scizor i either flamethrower or EQ with Gliscor. I havent seen that Zapdos much but i can definitely see where it causes a problem.

I understand your comment about lack of offensive direction, sometimes I find myself trying to sweep with CM Suicune or just jirachi. Both have worked, but when I can't get a calm mind up or just run into any steel type against jirachi, I need to switch out. I would rather not switch out Gliscor though, as He and Tyranitar basically formed the start of my team...

Basically if possible I would like to change Suicune, Blissey.. I like the other three too much :) Any other ideas?
 
I'm not the best rater,bu maybe I can do some slight suggestions:

Metagross: The fact it can't be 2HKO means nothing.Shuca Berry Heatran is still able to kill you,or setup SR on the change.Azelf and Aerodactyl leads(which Metagross should win) will laugh if your only attack is Bullet Punch.Machamp lead will confuse you with Dynamicpunch while dealing good damage and can take EQ pretty well.Personally,I don't like LeadGross with SR.My oppinion is to change to a different lead which setups SR better or to a all-attacking Metagross and forget SR/put it on another poke.

Gliscor: You don't need all those EVs in speed.216 in speed are enough,since the best use of him is stopping Sword Dance Lucario.The remaining EVs you put on Def.

Tyranitar: If you are slight mixed(Flamethrower is special),then it's better running a -Def or -SDef nature.And well,if you are using Choice Tyranitar,then Pursuit is a must.

Suicune: Because your team seems to lack a late game sweeper,I'd advise you changing this Suicune to a CroCune set.Either way you are losing to a DD Gyarados.

Jirachi: I'd suggest changing this poke to a defensive Zapdos with Substitute/Roost/Toxic/Roost.

By making a quick look,your team is Electivire weak(yeah,that is a real problem) and DD Gyarados lead.Also,you have many problems against stall.Mainly with the Suicune and Jirachi change,this will likely change.
 
Thanks Marconidas I appreciate your reply. I decided to switch to a standard lead azelf with focus sash:

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Naive
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Fire Blast
Explosion
Stealth Rock
Taunt

I also decided to replace Suicune and Jirachi with DD Dragonite and Rapid Spin Starmie. I'm thinking this will help me beat stall teams and also being able to sweep with Dragonite.
 
For the Forretress I mentioned, the usual moves are Spikes, Rapid Spin, Toxic Spikes and Payback (to hit Ghosts which will try to block the Spin).

If you do go with the Starmie + Dragonite as you mentioned then you can update the Rmt or pm me because I think that will still leave some weaknesses which could be fixed :)
 
Well, I probably shouldn't be posting for a nitpick on just one set, but it's (In my opinion) the only real problem. I can understand you trying to utilise Earthquake to beat Fire-Types on Metagross, but the way you explained the set didn't really show how it would use Explosion or Bullet Punch. Metagross can still be used over Azelf, but you may want to look over those. Reliable STAB is usually pretty good, so a STAB boosted 120 power Zen Headbutt or Iron Head would be nice over one of the aforementioned moves, or even both. Thanks for a great team to look at!
 
connor363 said:
Well, I probably shouldn't be posting for a nitpick on just one set, but it's (In my opinion) the only real problem. I can understand you trying to utilise Earthquake to beat Fire-Types on Metagross, but the way you explained the set didn't really show how it would use Explosion or Bullet Punch. Metagross can still be used over Azelf, but you may want to look over those. Reliable STAB is usually pretty good, so a STAB boosted 120 power Zen Headbutt or Iron Head would be nice over one of the aforementioned moves, or even both. Thanks for a great team to look at!
Click to expand...

Bullet Punch allows him to pick off Focus Sash leads after they've been brought down to 1 HP, forcing them to choose between Taunting Metagross or getting Stealth Rock off on turn 1. Explosion allows him to immediately remove a bulky lead such as Swampert.

At any rate I'd second the suggestion of Forretress > Metagross. Your team lacks offensive presence, so you should have entry hazards to make up for this.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Sturdy
Sassy 252/0/4/0/252/0
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Payback
- Rapid Spin

This is also pairs nicely with your Scarf Tyranitar since Tar beats lead Azelf handily, something that usually troubles Forretress.

If you're using Forretress you also will want to have a reliable way to block an opponent's Rapid Spin. As it stands you don't really have a way to remove Blissey for Suicune to sweep. I'd suggest Trick Rotom-W, probably over Jirachi or Gliscor.

Rotom-W @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Levitate
Timid 0/0/4/252/0/252
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Trick

I'd also expand on your definitions and make your formatting a bit more readable.

Good luck.
 
Marconidas said:
I'm not the best rater,bu maybe I can do some slight suggestions:

Metagross: The fact it can't be 2HKO means nothing.Shuca Berry Heatran is still able to kill you,or setup SR on the change.Azelf and Aerodactyl leads(which Metagross should win) will laugh if your only attack is Bullet Punch.Machamp lead will confuse you with Dynamicpunch while dealing good damage and can take EQ pretty well.Personally,I don't like LeadGross with SR.My oppinion is to change to a different lead which setups SR better or to a all-attacking Metagross and forget SR/put it on another poke.
Click to expand...

Metagross leads can be quite effective and can deal with most other leads. If you're running a lum berry Machamp and other status inducers like Roserade are not a problem anymore. Machamp can also be KOd by Explosion. I think that Metagross is a poke who can take several hits and lay up rocks safely. If your opponent has a Heatran you can switch into Dragonite, Starmie or Blissey.

Hope I helped you!
 
Hello be Kryptonite,

I have to say this is a weird team, but somehow I think it works xD. Unfortunately, most stall teams walk over you, which can be fixed easily with a couple of changes. You seem to handle offense pretty well, but I will try to help you cover the ones you left out.

I'll start off by mentioning your offensive weakness and transition to the stall pokemon that give you trouble. The offensive threats are: Dragonite, Infernape, Kingdra, Scizor. I got one easy fix for these four pokemon, use Milotic over Suicune. A set of Milotic @ Leftovers | Bold Nature | 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe | Surf / Recover / Ice Beam / Haze | should do the trick for you. Now for the defensive threats of Blissey, Forretress, Roserade, and Skarmory, I suggest smaller changes on your team. On Gliscor use the following moves: Earthquake / Roost / Taunt / Toxic, as you can see the only difference is Taunt but it will help you in so many levels against balanced and stall teams by stopping hazards and using the Taunt+Toxic combo at the same time. On Tyranitar use Earthquake over Flamethrower to hit the pesky, fast CM Jirachis that can wreck after Blissey is gone. Also, that Flamethrower is too weak unfortunately, nice try though dude. I want to suggest you use Flamethrower or Ice Beam - even Toxic - over Aromatherapy to hit Gengar behined a sub that likes to set up on Gliscor (this suggestion is not necessary, just test it out please). Finally, on Jirachi you might want to use Fire Punch over Grass Knot so you don't become hazard bait for Forretress and can bait it with your own Expert Belt. It also checks Scizor that wait too!

I hope this helps; good luck!!!
 
Hey kryptonite, i will be glad to rate your team, but could u first apply the changes suggested in the OP, because after a while it gets confusing what your using and what u aren't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top