New Team Help

[FS Triangle]

Very generic title but I had no idea what to put. I just recently started to get into competitive battling and I had a few teams put together on Showdown but they got erased with my cookies. I put this one together and it brought me back okay results and I'd like to build upon it and even take what I learn into other teams. Any help is appreciated!

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Def
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Toxic

My lead. I start off with Heatran because it is usually bulky enough to take on most leads and get stealth rock up. Lava Plume does solid damage coming off that 130 Sp Atk and the additional burn chance helps against physical attackers. Roar prevents people from setting up in my face and sometimes can help swing momentum in my favor. Toxic replaced Will-O-Wisp in order to deal with those pesky fire types. Heatran's immunity to fire allows it to switch into fire attacks aimed at Scizor which then boosts Lava Plume's power.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 Spd
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Earthquake

My physical wall. Gliscor can eat up a lot of physical attacks, even ice ones. While its SpDef is lackluster, it can also take some special punishment from attacks it resists. Roost is for instant recovery, Taunt is to prevent status, recovery, whirlwind/roar, etc. Toxic inflicts status for solid damage over time and Earthquake gets solid coverage. Gliscor's immunity to both Electric and Ground comes in handy. It's ability to stall consistently and regain constant health with Poison Heal make it a great part of the team.

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

I just added this guy to the team and while I only played one match with the new team, he's proved himself in the past to me. Hydro Pump does very nice damage to a lot of Pokes, Volt Switch is good for getting damage off and switching to a better counter, Thunderbolt is for more power, if needed. Trick can mess up some walls that switch in to counter. Rotom's bulk and many resistances fit well on this team. Levitate also is good to have to counter ground attacks aimed at Heatran. It's sole weakness to grass is easily mitigated by switching to Heatran or Scizor.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch

I upgraded from a regular Scizor and Mega Scizor does not disappoint! His phys bulk is insane and can take a lot of attacks while Swords Dancing in their face. Roost is for instant recovery, again. Bug Bite boosted by Technician and STAB does very nice damage , as does Bullet Punch, including priority! Scizor is a great Pokemon to have due to the priority move it has and how powerful it is. It usually forces opponents to play around it which opens up opportunities for the rest of the team.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Aromatherapy

Amazing. I love Clefable, Unaware has proved itself time and time again to be a valuable ability and it can completely halt the opponent's momentum. Calm Mind allows for more special bulk as well as boosting Moonblast's power. Moonblast does a lot of damage to many Pokes, even those who resist, after a few CMs. Moonlight is great for recovery and stalling out opposing Pokes and Aromatherapy is great for team support and getting rid of pesky statuses. I prefer Clefable to Blissey because even though its not as specially defensive, it can take physical hits and again, has the ability to stop the opponent's momentum with Unaware. I've had so many people ask why their Azumarill's aqua jet does so little after Belly Drum and Unaware is the reason.

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick

Latios' power is insane. Spec'd Draco Meteor can do massive damage to so many Pokes and it has pulled me out of a lot of tight spots. Psyshock deals with special walls and has STAB bonus too, Hidden Power Fire deals with Ferrothorn and Scizor, who otherwise wall both of Latios' STAB moves and Trick can further mess up walls. Latios' massive Sp Atk stat and its pretty fast Speed allows me to outspeed many other dragon types (not scarfed) and hit them with a Draco Meteor if they're causing trouble for my team.

 

[Attack Order]

Hi there! Solid team you have :). However, I will suggest one thing. Change Starmie's ability to Natural Cure. Since it has Choice Scarf, you won't be getting the Analytic boost anyway bar other scarf users or boosted pokemon. Natural cure lets you switch into status and not care about anything and just spam powerful attacks.

Also, I noticed you don't have any mega pokemon. Maybe try Mega Scizor?

Scizor @ scizorite
Ability: Technician
Impish Nature
252HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower/ Bug bite

This set takes advantage of Mega Scizor's bulk and set up swords dance. Roost keeps it healthy, and bullet punch is a priority move, bypassing Scizor's Speed. Superpower hits Skarmory for Neutral damage, but Bug Bite is a good STAB move, it really depends on what you want it to hit.

Good luck with your team! It's really solid. :3

 

[FS Triangle]

Hi there! Solid team you have :). However, I will suggest one thing. Change Starmie's ability to Natural Cure. Since it has Choice Scarf, you won't be getting the Analytic boost anyway bar other scarf users or boosted pokemon. Natural cure lets you switch into status and not care about anything and just spam powerful attacks.

Also, I noticed you don't have any mega pokemon. Maybe try Mega Scizor?

Scizor @ scizorite
Ability: Technician
Impish Nature
252HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower/ Bug bite

This set takes advantage of Mega Scizor's bulk and set up swords dance. Roost keeps it healthy, and bullet punch is a priority move, bypassing Scizor's Speed. Superpower hits Skarmory for Neutral damage, but Bug Bite is a good STAB move, it really depends on what you want it to hit.

Good luck with your team! It's really solid. :3

When I saw Analytic on Starmie, it seemed ironic due to its' fast speed but I read a set on Smogon that said Analytic helps since Starmie forces switches and since the switch happens before Starmie attacks, it gets the attack bonus . But it seems situational tbh and I should switch it to Natural Cure. Would Tentacruel be better off replacing that slot?

I completely forgot about Mega Poke's and I'll be sure to add in this mega! Thanks for the help!

 

[NotBruceWayne]

Hello there. Solid team here. I suggest adding more lines to your descriptions as some of them are barely short of the RMT minimum (3 lines per poke). Other RMT rules can be found here. Anyway, some nitpicks. I've found Scarf / Specs Latios to be pure Pursuit fodder. You have to be careful of locking yourself into Psyshock or even Draco Meteor with Bisharp and Tyranitar running around. I'd suggest replacing Surf with Trick if you really wish to retain Specs. Otherwise, Life Orb is a great choice. If you're not sure about Starmie, I suggest replacing her with Scarf Rotom-W. It forms a great VoltTurn core with Scizor. It also has a handy Ground immunity that your Heatran could make use of. The loss of Rapid Spin can be mitigated by placing Defog on Latios. I'd also recommend you replace Heatran's Will-o-wisp with Toxic as the high burn chance of Lava Plume seems kinda redundant with Wisp. Toxic allows you to get good damage on stuff like Zard X plus, it's guaranteed residual damage unlike Lava Plume (30% to burn).

Set/s

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Modest Nature / Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt / HP Grass / HP Ice / Will-o-wisp
- Trick

Hope I helped and good luck with your team!

 

[Acedia]

Hey there!
I see you just got into competitive battling. This team is really good for a beginner and it definitely holds its ground as a basic team to ladder. Of course, there are a bunch of improvements you can make so your team could shine even more.

Small Changes

• You could change Heatran's spread to 248 HP/ 76 Def/ 184 SDef. The reason for this is so that this enables you to check Aegislash, even if it carries Sacred Sword. With that EV spread you would get 3HKO'd by an uninvested Sacred Sword after Leftovers recovery, which gives you enough turns to either kill Aegislash or just hitting it once with Lava Plume (potentially burning it) and scaring it off.
• Change Mega Scizor's spread to 248 HP / 136 Def / 104 SDef / 20 Spd (which can be found on the analysis), so it can make the most out of its newfound bulk and set up with ease. Also, change Bug Bite to Knock Off . Bug Bite has awful coverage with Bullet punch, and makes it so you're entirely walled by Aegislash, Heatran, Charizard (and its Mega Formes), Gyarados (non-Mega), Zapdos, Keldeo (lol) and even Excadrill. Knock Off would grant you better coverage for common switch ins, as well as letting you cripple them. If you really do want to run a Bug type move, you could run U-turn. Swords Dance + U-turn on the same set might seem rather stupid, but it lets you scout for switch ins and lets you switch to a better match, increasing your offensive momentum in a battle.
  
• As NotBruceWayne stated, Specs Latios is pretty much just pursuit bait. Changing Specs to Life Orb on Latios with Hidden Power Fighting (to hit predicted Bisharp switch ins mainly, as well as somehow hurting Tyranitar) or Surf would do just fine. You could even fit Defog in the last slot so you have a way to remove hazards, which would be really useful for your team. Roost is also a viable option if you'd rather want it to last a little longer.
• 248 HP on Clefable would give you an odd HP number, letting you take a little less damage from hazards and giving you one more switch (you'll be left with 1% HP though). You end up losing 1 HP to gain 1% HP, which is a great opportunity cost with more gains than losses if you ask me.
• 0 Atk IVs on Clefable, Rotom-W, Heatran and Latios would let you take less damage from Foul Play (you aren't going to use their Atk Stat anyways), letting them live a little longer.

This covers all of the small changes I would suggest.

Your team easily handles a majority of the threats of the tier with ease, as well as having a strong synergy, so I don't think there are any big changes to make. If there was anything that threatened your team, it would probably be Greninja. As funny as it sounds, once Rotom-W is out, Greninja can easily plough through your team with STAB LO Boosted Hydro Pumps , Ice beam and even HP Fire (Mega Scizor could however take it out after an Ice Beam). Another threat is Gengar, who could easily set up a Sub on Gliscor (before Gliscor even gets to taunt it) and can proceed on to fire off Shadow Balls and Focus Blasts against your team (again, Mega Scizor with a bulky spread shines here, so I guess you can somehow deal with it).

With that I conclude my rate. Hope I was of any help!
Good luck with laddering and have a nice day!

 

[FS Triangle]

Hey there!
I see you just got into competitive battling. This team is really good for a beginner and it definitely holds its ground as a basic team to ladder. Of course, there are a bunch of improvements you can make so your team could shine even more.

Small Changes

• You could change Heatran's spread to 248 HP/ 76 Def/ 184 SDef. The reason for this is so that this enables you to check Aegislash, even if it carries Sacred Sword. With that EV spread you would get 3HKO'd by an uninvested Sacred Sword after Leftovers recovery, which gives you enough turns to either kill Aegislash or just hitting it once with Lava Plume (potentially burning it) and scaring it off.
• Change Mega Scizor's spread to 248 HP / 136 Def / 104 SDef / 20 Spd (which can be found on the analysis), so it can make the most out of its newfound bulk and set up with ease. Also, change Bug Bite to Knock Off . Bug Bite has awful coverage with Bullet punch, and makes it so you're entirely walled by Aegislash, Heatran, Charizard (and its Mega Formes), Gyarados (non-Mega), Zapdos, Keldeo (lol) and even Excadrill. Knock Off would grant you better coverage for common switch ins, as well as letting you cripple them. If you really do want to run a Bug type move, you could run U-turn. Swords Dance + U-turn on the same set might seem rather stupid, but it lets you scout for switch ins and lets you switch to a better match, increasing your offensive momentum in a battle.
  
• As NotBruceWayne stated, Specs Latios is pretty much just pursuit bait. Changing Specs to Life Orb on Latios with Hidden Power Fighting (to hit predicted Bisharp switch ins mainly, as well as somehow hurting Tyranitar) or Surf would do just fine. You could even fit Defog in the last slot so you have a way to remove hazards, which would be really useful for your team. Roost is also a viable option if you'd rather want it to last a little longer.
• 248 HP on Clefable would give you an odd HP number, letting you take a little less damage from hazards and giving you one more switch (you'll be left with 1% HP though). You end up losing 1 HP to gain 1% HP, which is a great opportunity cost with more gains than losses if you ask me.
• 0 Atk IVs on Clefable, Rotom-W, Heatran and Latios would let you take less damage from Foul Play (you aren't going to use their Atk Stat anyways), letting them live a little longer.

This covers all of the small changes I would suggest.

Your team easily handles a majority of the threats of the tier with ease, as well as having a strong synergy, so I don't think there are any big changes to make. If there was anything that threatened your team, it would probably be Greninja. As funny as it sounds, once Rotom-W is out, Greninja can easily plough through your team with STAB LO Boosted Hydro Pumps , Ice beam and even HP Fire (Mega Scizor could however take it out after an Ice Beam). Another threat is Gengar, who could easily set up a Sub on Gliscor (before Gliscor even gets to taunt it) and can proceed on to fire off Shadow Balls and Focus Blasts against your team (again, Mega Scizor with a bulky spread shines here, so I guess you can somehow deal with it).

With that I conclude my rate. Hope I was of any help!
Good luck with laddering and have a nice day!

Thank you! This was great help. I made all necessary changes although one question: would HP Fighting be more useful than HP Fire? I know it still deals with Scizor and Ferrothorn but less efficiently. HP Fighting however does get better coverage. Hmm.

Thank you to all the others who replied as well!