I've been keeping half an eye on competitive battling since gen 4, but have only actually tried it out this gen. This is my first team, and I've had mixed success with it, and was looking to improve on it after having bounced around the 1400s on the ladder for a while (I've no idea how good that ranking is), with an overall record of around 68% win percentage, although that does include a couple of first-turn forfeits. Admittedly, a fair amount of these sets and teammate ideas have been "borrowed" from analyses, but I have tried to make it my own.
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Play Rough
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Mega Mawile functions as an effective...sweeper, I guess. Sucker Punch and Play Rough are pretty standard, giving powerful priority and even more powerful STAB. Fire Fang hits Steel types, especially Ferrothorn, and Swords Dance brings even more Pokemon into the OHKO or 2HKO range, and Mawile's already great Attack means it doesn't need to worry greatly about burn after setting up.
The Speed EVs are intended to outspeed Scizor, but could be dropped to 84 or 88 to only outspeed base 60's, although it would leave Scizor able to U-Turn out.
Thundurus @ Expert Belt
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
Thundurus-I compensates for Mawile's low speed with Thunder Wave, reducing reliance on Sucker Punch, as well as just being generally annoying, with Taunt performing the same role for walls and hazard setters. Prankster also allows it to act as a sacrificial sweep blocker, acting as a last line of defense by paralyzing a sweeper before dying, allowing a teammate to finish the job. HP Ice is mainly for Ground-types, and punishes Garchomp, who likes to switch in on Thunder Wave. I originally ran Modest + Thunderbolt over Timid + Volt Switch, but Volt Switch works better in terms of spreading paralysis, as Thundurus is out for much shorter periods.
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Protect
- Wish
- Heal Bell
Sylveon has performed excellently so far, offering cleric support and tanking hits. Pixilate Hyper Voice does a decent amount of damage, netting several 2HKOs against frailer Pokemon such as Starmie, as well as Pokemon weak to Fairy. The investment in Defense means that Sylveon can do a good job of soaking up physical attacks as well, making it easier to switch in.
Sylveon's track record means that it's unlikely to see much change. The only other offensive moves it has are Psyshock and Shadow Ball, which are only useful against Pokemon Sylveon shouldn't sit in on. Anyway, it would still mean losing out on the great team support Sylveon offers, which is why I'm using it in the first place.
Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thunder Punch
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
Dragonite acts as a wallbreaker for Mawile, although it can hold its own as a sweeper. It suffers greatly from 4MSS, but in this case Thunder Punch can hit Togekiss and Azumarill (although taking down Azumarill requires a Dragon Dance) and Earthquake clears out Heatran, which is unpleasant for Mawile to face. I've opted for Lum Berry over Weakness Policy, as Dragonite is intended as a wallbreaker, not a sweeper, so shrugging off Will-o-Wisp is valuable, and frankly I'd rather to avoid bad luck by curing burns etc. than hope for good luck in activating Weakness Policy.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Excadrill is a decent offensive Stealth Rocks setter, and can OHKO almost all Rotom-W's with Earthquake. Rock Slide offers better coverage over Shadow Claw, as I haven't run into Trevenant or Gourgeist often enough to warrant a move slot for it.
Jolly is definitely open for consideration over Adamant, but I'm not sure. As it is, Adamant means that even 252 HP / 252 Def Rotom-W risks an OHKO from Earthquake, but then again Jolly would let it outspeed neutral-natured base 100s. As it stands, it performs reasonably well, although I'm not sure how great its synergy is with the rest of the team.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
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Finally, Starmie offers good coverage, and can also revenge kill against Pokemon not carrying priority. I'm aware that between Excadrill and Starmie I have two Rapid Spinners and that Rapid Spin off with Life Orb can be awkward, but this was mainly a contingency plan, as I've found Excadrill is often lost quite early, so Starmie was my backup spinner as I assumed that I would make mistakes starting out. While it does offer good speed and coverage (I don't want Thundurus being my sole Ice user), it can feel underwhelming.
As it is, Starmie, followed by Excadrill, are proably quite large targets for replacement or overhaul. I'm also aware that (reliable)priority attacks can be more valuable than a fast Pokemon like Starmie, But experiments with using Mamoswine and Tentacruel in place of Excadrill and Starmie, providing increased bulk as well as priority, Rapid Spin and Stealth Rocks, but they have had only mixed success so far, and I feel that this team is somewhat more coherent. However, I do still feel that it wouldn't hurt to have a bit more bulk.
As I'm still quite new to this, the only threat I can easily identify is my own lack of experience. However, I can state that in the past Bisharp, Mega Tyranitar and opposing Mega Mawiles have caused trouble, while Aegislash has been relatively tame. Azumarill is a bit of a mixed bag, and Talonflame is tricky to take out is Stealth Rocks isn't up, and Rotom-W is also a common pest. Of course this list is far from exhaustive, but there's not much I can be sure about as much of my experience is from the lower rungs of the ladder, where some sets can be a little...irregular.
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