A defense that hits back.

[Virelai]

PRELUDE: I've been in love with a defensive game for some time now, sheerly outlasting opponents, causing them frustration when nothing they try works. It's prone to making them make mistakes. However, a brick wall isn't going to beat anyone before it gets to Struggle stages, so I'm trying to bring about a team of (mostly) defensive pokemon that can hurt stuff, too.


Salamence @ Life Orb
Intimidate
Hasty - 252Spd, 252ApAtk, 6Atk

- Brick Break
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Earthquake

Leader Salamence. I've used this setup quite a few times, and it's always fun to see people bring in a Pokemon, expecting to outspeed a neutral-Speed natured Salamence and kill it, only to have it break their face. I'd really like to know if there is a way of optimising its attacking power further without losing out on Speed, as sometimes it falls -just- short of the kill.
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Cresselia @ Leftovers (Heat Rock?)
Levitate
Calm - 252HP, 56SpAtk, 200Def

- Moonlight
- Sunny Day
- Reflect
- Ice Beam

Bye bye, Sandstorm. I dislike Sandstorm quite strongly, as people often see fit to abuse it. Hopefully I can stop all that by Sunny Day'ing, boosting my own Moonlight in the process, and hitting through irritating Sand Veils with Ice Beam. A note on Natures, I always go with a nature in favour the highest base stat, to get more out of it, unless I need something specific from my nature such as a Speed boost, etc. I'm not sure about Reflect here. Maybe there's a better option?
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Tangrowth @ Leftovers (Heat Rock?)
Leaf Guard
Impish - 252HP, 80SpDef, 172SpAtk

- Sunny Day
- Sleep Powder
- Amnesia/Morning Sun
- Solarbeam

I'm unsure if Leaf Guard works like Hydration. If it does, I'll go Amnesia + Rest without Sleep Powder. This thing keeps the sun alive, as well as being a massive wall. Most people, when faced with Tangrowth, bring in a Special Attacker. Amnesia on the switch, and suddenly they're no better off than before.
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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
Calm - 252HP, 90SpDef, 166Def

- Wish
- Thunder Wave
- U-Turn
- Psychic

A type-compliment to Salamence, Also serves the purpose of Paralysing things so I can better outspeed and smack them one. Serene Grace Thunder isn't gonna work in all the sun I'm flinging around, so a flat Thunder Wave is necessary. The last moveslot is pretty random I suppose, but I've had annoyances lately dealing with Machamps, so a Psychic move to deal with those is appealing to me. I did once use Icy Wind to catch Garchomp switch-ins.
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Porygon 2 @ Leftovers
Trace
Modest - 252HP, 128Def, 128SpDef

- Recover
- Shadow Ball
- HP Fighting
- Thunder Wave

Trace gives so many free switch-ins, it's unreal. I used to use Gardevoir, but the prevailance of Gengar over both Cresselia and Gardevoir was too much to bear at points. Recover to keep it alive, Dark/Fighting coverage, and my favourite Paralysing toy.
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Milotic @ Leftovers
Marvel Scale
Bold - 252HP, 252Def, 6SpAtk

- Recover
- Hypnosis
- Ice Beam
- Surf

OR

Milotic @ Leftovers
Marvel Scale
Calm - 252HP, 152Def, 104SpDef // Calm - 252HP, 48Def, 208SpAtk

- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Ice Beam
- Surf

There's always one problematic one, isn't there? I'm really having trouble deciding what to do with Milotic. By keeping her awake, I gain Hypnosis, but lose the Marvel Scale boost, and vice-versa. On the second set, the first EV spread maxes out defenses, but the second leaves them both at ~305 and gives her some bite to her attacks. Thoughts?

 

[Venom]

To be honest, I don't see why you have Sunny Day on this team, the only pokemon that really gets affected by it is Cresselia, which you can run a SleepTalk set to solve that issue. Personally, I would find the RestTalk Cresselia helpful because it's able to scare away the Garchomps and Mamoswines, and RestTalk makes her live longer in battle. I would reccomend using 252 Hp / 136 Def / 120 SpDef @ Bold, RestTalk and Psychic so MixApe won't rape you either. Tangrowth should really have Power Whip so you can handle Gyarados, and again, don't take me the wrong way, but you don't need Sunny Day, apart from the fact that this isn't even a Sunny Day team, none of these pokemon are affected by ss. The Tangrowth I would recommend is 252 Hp / 24 Atk / 232 Def @ Impish - Power Whip - Sleep Powder - Knock Off - Leech Seed or a Filler here, this will help you handle Gyarados.

Heracross and Lucario can be problems, although Salamence can do a good job handling them thanks to Intimidate, but it isn't really safe to rely on Salamence, specially with a non defensive oriented one. You can either 2 things here, run the right MixMence that is capable of alot distruction, which goes by 136 Atk / 196 SpAtk / 176 Spd @ Mild, or make Salamence defensive orineted, by switching it's EV Spread to 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe, which will help you, of course Salamence needs Roost. Another Alternative is run HP Electric on Milotic, with 252 Hp / 172 Def / 64 SpAtk / 20 Spd @ Bold, and take out Tangrowth for a Gliscor, this seems to work, so try it, because mainly Tangrowth was here for Gyarados, and I like how Gliscor + Bulky Water works out, and this way you can run MixMence, and also put Roost on MixMence, since you lack a Rapid Spinner you might want to heal off the SR damage.

Jirachi should be standard with Wish Support, look in the Smogon pages for the set, which will offer your sweepers and walls some Wish Support, and put alot of Defence on it so Weavile does not bother you. Eh, I don't really like Porygon2 here, I would rather switch him around for a Lucario or Heracross, so SkarmBliss, or SkarmBlissCress does not wall you, but it's your call.