3rd time's a charm

Zacharias

Hello, everyone. This is my third attempt at building a team. Let's hope there aren't too many flaws with it :P

The team:




armaldo.jpg


Armaldo (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- X-Scissor
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

My usual lead, SR user, and spinner. Armaldo's decent physical bulk allows him to switch in and take a hit if need be. I needed a spinner and a SR user, and Armaldo offered everything I needed, plus some offensive presence.


Muk.png


Flubber (Muk) (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Poison Jab
- Curse
- Shadow Sneak
- Brick Break

The special tank, and one of my main answer to most Haunter sets. Surprisingly, there are a few teams that have no way around Muk, save for status, but anywho. I chose Muk not only for the special bulk, but his offensive presence he has, especially once he has a couple Curses under his belt.



260px-463Lickilicky.png


Lickilicky (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Tail

This spot on my team used to be Alomomola, but Spore/Lovely Kiss/Sleep Powder kept screwing me over. Since Muk is my special sponge, I make Lickilicky more of a physical wall. Wish also helps keep the others alive if I can get the pass off.


150px-539Sawk.png


Sawk (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Reversal

Standard Choiced Sawk. Him alone puts pressure on quite a few opposing teams. Not much more to say about him...



images


Sparx (Ampharos) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Static
EVs: 208 HP / 252 SAtk / 48 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Ampharos is the one member I still haven't switched out, and for good reason. With this set, he hits 540 SpAtk, which hits like a truck. I did run HP Grass for a while, but I switched to HP Fire after I realized I had almost nothing to deal with bulky Grass types.



Kadabra.png


Houdini (Kadabra) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Energy Ball

I put Kadabra on my team after I found out I didn't anything to outspeed and hurt Haunter after Muk was gone. I do not regret putting him on my team. Kadabra puts so much pressure on opponents, and he has excellent coverage. Energy Ball is there to deal with Quagsire.


So there you have it. Any constructive criticism is welcomed :P
 
It would really help if you expanded your descriptions a little more and added pictures. Why did you choose the sets you chose? What purpose does each member of your team serve, and why did you choose that Poke over another Poke? It'll help prevent a mod from locking this as well as help us rate you properly.

Your team has a severe Ground weakness, and once Muk is gone, a severe Fighting weakness. An opposing Scarf Sawk can make short work of your team, especially if your own Sawk is down. Perhaps you can replace Life Orb on Kadabra with Focus Sash? That way it guarantees that you will always get one or two attacks off. I'll rate your team properly after you make these changes.
 
Ok, much better. :) Lickilicky is an odd choice for your mostly offensive team, especially since it has Dragon Tail, yet your team only has Stealth Rock to abuse it. If you need a physical wall, Leafeon can be a decent replacement that can provide almost everything Lickilicky does, with Wish/Heal Bell/Roar/Yawn as well as more offensive presence. Ludicolo provides another powerful sweeper or a bulky tank and partial weather counter. Unfortunately, though neither of them can really help with your Fire Weakness. Emboar and Magmortar are both huge threats to your team. As of right now, the rare Specs Magmortar can just spam Fire Blast and blow apart most of your team (it has a good chance to 2HKO Muk, almost guaranteed with Stealth Rock damage). LO/EB variants are can do some similar things as well, though they need Earthquake to 2HKO beat Muk. Banded Emboar has no such barrier, and can spam Flare Blitz to burn through a huge chunk of your team.

Another path you can go it to make Lickilicky a special wall and replace Muk with a Water-type to handle the Fire and Water types that threaten your team. In terms of pure team synergy, a Water/Flying type would be absolutely perfect (unfortunately, Gyrados is off limits, so you'd have to make do with Swanna/Pelipper). But a regular Water-type that has a way to hurt opposing Water-types would be ideal. Samurott, Gorebyss, Huntail, Carracosta can all take a decently powerful physical hit and strike back or set up. The fir with your general bulky offensive team as well.

Nothing else jumps out at me, so I'll end it here. Good luck and I hope I helped1 :)
 
How do you handle gorebyss in rain once ampharos is knocked out? I dont think kadabra will outspeed a +2 gorebyss in rain.
 
Yes besides Sawk surviving with Sturdy I see no real resistance to a powerful Gorebyss set. Unless you switch EVs on Ampharos into Special Defense to potentially survive a boosted attack, I would suggest using the following set:

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Ludicolo (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Speed
Modest Nature (+ SpAtk, - Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
- Rain Dance / Focus Blast

This set is an absolute beast, especially in the rain. Hydro Pump and Giga Drain provide great coverage and are very powerful due to their STAB, not to mention Giga Drain recovers health. Ludicolo has some natural bulk to help it withstand a few hits, and has enough special attack to deal out some serious damage. You can use Rain Dance if you want the speed boost, otherwise use Focus Blast for more coverage even though its accuracy is very shady. Possibly replace Ampharos with this. Ice Beam helps you deal with the bulky grass types HP Fire on Ampharos deals with. Ludicolo completely walls Gorebyss (unless it runs HP Bug...?). You could possibly run a Choice Scarf set, yet Life Orb allows you to switch between attacks to combat anything that switches-in.
 
So replacing Apmharos with Ludicolo, Lickilicky with Leafeon, and replacing Muk with either Swanna or Pelipper are some of the changes I could make to get rid of some glaring weaknesses. But what about Armaldo? I'd really like to try out Golem as a SR user, but I'm not sure who to replace with a spinner, if this team even needs one.

And what about Kadabra as well? Do I still need him, or should he be switched out as well?
 
Swanna and Pelipper were merely suggestions that would work better if they had better stats. I merely meant that a Water-type would be helpful, though their particular typing would be ideal. Unfortunately, the only Pokes with Water-Flying are either frail, crappy, or Gyrados. Your team doesn't really care about Stealth Rock, except for maybe it breaking your Sturdy. If you keep Muk, it can absorb Toxic Spikes. Spikes are the only real problem, though you should be able to deal with its users fairly well. I guess Golem could feasibly work, but you become extremely vulnerable to Water.

Now, you really don't need to use all our suggestions, trying each of them out separately would teach you more about what provides better synergy with your team. Kadabra should really have Focus Sash, as it guarantees that you can survive a non multi-hit attack and strike back hard. The suggestion I most recommend is adding Ludicolo to your team to provide a Water resistance. Go with Rain Dance as well, as it helps mitigate your Fire vulnerability.
 
Hey Zacharias,

Nice team. The big problem that I see here is that you really struggle to deal with some of the most popular threats in the tier. Like someone already pointed out, if you face, say, Gorebyss in Rain or with a +2 boost, it can just run through your team with ease. Adding a Ludicolo doesn't necessarily solve this problem, as an offensive Ludicolo will actually be outsped and OHKOed after SR damage by a +2 Gorebyss under Rain (which is the worst possible situation, granted). Part of this is your selection of a Choice Scarf user, I think - while Scarf Sawk can be really good in certain situations, it's one big flaw is that it fails to outspeed any weather abuser under their respective weather, including Swift Swim / +2 Gorebyss. You also lack a whole lot of synergy with your team, making it hard to switch around to the appropriate teammate to deal with the popular threats.

I feel like Kadabra is the weakest link of the team (literally). You said you added it because you needed something to outspeed and deal with Haunter, but Kadabra cannot switch in on Haunter at all (even HP Ground is a clean OHKO), and even if you were to get it in alive, Haunter would be chilling behind a Substitute and would OHKO you clean as soon as you break the Substitute. Kadabra also isn't as strong as you would expect it to be, struggling to break through a lot of common special walls and getting OHKOed in return. I think your team would greatly improve by trying out Choice Scarf Cinccino in place of Kadabra. It can switch in on half of standard Haunter's moveset (be wary of Sludge Bomb!) or come in after it has killed something, then proceed to OHKO it with Rock Blast after SR damage. Scarf Cinccino also really helps against your weakness against weather, as it outspeeds all NU weather abusers except for Floatzel and Jumpluff, neither of whom run max Speed in their respective weathers.

Since your Choice Scarf user is now much more adept to handling weather and the faster-paced threats, I think we can change Sawk to a Choice Band set. Choice Band Sawk can really break through walls for Cinccino to clean up, and it shares excellent synergy with Muk, as Muk can easily set up on Vileplume, Tangela, etc (although Musharna will still be a problem!). You should also be using a Jolly nature, as without it, Sawk will be outsped and OHKOed by base 80 Speed Pokemon (notable Pokemon in that range include Gardevoir, who is 2HKOed by CC, and Magmortar). I would also stick Toxic on Sawk in place of Reversal, as catching Musharna, Tangela, and Quagsire with Toxic is really key to breaking through those walls so you can clean up lategame.

Now a few smaller changes: You mentioned running Golem over Armaldo, and that would certainly be a good idea. It would also help your team against opposing Golem leads in general, who Armaldo loses hard against. I would personally consider trying to fit Return on Lickilicky somewhere (over Protect, perhaps?), because Lickilicky is surprisingly strong even without investment, and a reliable STAB attack will really help when trying to deal with some of the more powerful special threats (and it will be more of a deterrent for Pokemon like Sawk to switch in). I'm not sure what those EVs on Ampharos are meant to outspeed, but if you're willing to risk a little more of its bulk you can run a 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe spread, which allows you to outrun Marowak and cleanly OHKO with HP Ice (which you should be using over HP Fire, which doesn't hit much at all in comparison to HP Ice).

Change Kadabra to Choice Scarf Cinccino (Jolly nature could also be used to outpace Timid/Jolly Ludicolo, which is uncommon)
573.png
@ Choice Scarf | Technician
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA) | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Tail Slap or Return / U-turn / Bullet Seed / Rock Blast

Change Armaldo to Lead Golem
76.png
@ Lum Berry | Sturdy
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA) | 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Rock Blast / Sucker Punch or Toxic

Change Sawk to a Choice Band set and use Toxic > Reversal

Replace Ampharos's HP Fire with HP Ice, and consider 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe to outpace Adamant 252 Speed Golem and Marowak

Hope I helped, and GL with your team!
 
Thank you so much everyone :) I just have one more question as of right now.

I've decided to switch Lickilicky out for Leafeon. What would be a good set and EV spread for Leafeon if I want it to perform the same role Lickilicky did (physical wall)?

Right now I'm running this set:


Leafeon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Leaf Blade
- Protect
 
Change leafeon's nature to impish, as that little boost in attack in not gonna do you much good. You can also try baton pass in place of protect to givd a safe switch in to a teammate, and it is also good for gaining momentum.
Hope i helped ;)
 
After battling with this team after the changes, i realized that I really have a hard time getting past the physical walls after Ampharos is gone. Is there any way for me to fix this? If so, who's getting replaced?
 
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