A team for rating

[TwinkyFist]

So I've been using this team for a little while and have gotten pretty decent results. I wanted to try to stray away from the typical 'mons you see on every team like Ferrothorn or Gliscor and it's worked out pretty well. It definitely could use some improvements though, tell me what you think.

AT A GLANCE

AT A...CLOSER GLANCE

(I love it when cards show moves that aren't real)
Donphan
Ability - Sturdy
Item - Leftovers
Nature - Adamant
EV's - 252 HP/252 ATK/4 DEF
-Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin
-Ice Shard
-Earthquake
I use Donphan as my lead almost every match, his ability makes it so that he can get Stealth Rock up 99% of the time no problem, and he's a very reliable spinner. He's obviously slow, has no SpD, tends to have trouble with most spin blockers (Gengar being the most common), and he fears the shit out of Politoed, but with his maxed out attack stat Earthquake can dent anything that doesn't resist it, and he can usually stay around to use it more than once. Ice Shard is also my biggest answer to Dragonite and Landorus and can revenge kill weakened opponents.

Gengar
Ability - Levitate
Item - Black Sludge
Nature - Timid
EV's 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Substitute
-Disable
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
Standard SubDisable Gengar set. Maxed out speed to at least tie with opposing Gengar, perfect coverage with Focus Blast and Shadow Ball, 3 immunities, this poke can punch huge holes in unprepared teams. Black Sludge was chosen on the rare occasion that someone decides to use trick, and it massively improves his survivability after subs. He can also spinblock, but Substitute sorta negates that. Not much else to say, moving on.

Darmanitan
Ability - Sheer Force
Item - Choice Scarf
Nature - Adamant
EV's 4 HP/252 Atk/ 252 Spe
-U-turn
-Flare Blitz
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
I really don't see why no one ever uses this guy, he's one of the best scarf users I've come across. STAB Flare Blitz boosted by Sheer Force rounds out to a 220 power move backed by a base 140 attack, few pokes can safely switch into this. U-turn is great for scouting and can OHKO some of the more frail Psychic types like Starmie. The EdgeQuake combo adds extra coverage. Smogons analysis suggests using Superpower over Stone Edge, but you can really only use it once and I find my team benefits more from Stone Edge. However, if anyone knows any significant kills I'd get with Superpower that I can't get with any of his other moves let me know. Also, I've been running Adamant, but I'm wondering if Timid would be a better choice, anyone with stats on what I might outspeed or what I might miss the kill on would be appreciated.

Rotom-C
Ability - Levitate
Item - Choice Specs
Nature - Modest
EV's 112 HP/252 SpA/144 Spe
-Leaf Storm
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Hidden Power Ice
Rotom-C is my only answer to bulky water types, this is actually one of my teams bigger problems as many of them carry Ice Beam. I can usually work around it and Rotom can almost always take at least one good hit, but once he's out I'm only left with a few options. Nevertheless, he does his job very well. Leaf Storm is crazy powerful, although it tends to be a one time use move, Volt Switch handles many pokemon weak to it on its own and can keep momentum going. Hidden Power Ice just seems to be a better fit for my team over any other type as it takes care of Gliscor, but maybe you can show me why another would be better. I've also been tossing around Thunderbolt and Thunder. Thunder works great against the common rain team, but Thunderbolt doesn't normally miss crucial kills anyway. I'm curious if Thunder is worth the drop in accuracy when rain isn't present.

Xatu
Ability - Magic Bounce
Item - Leftovers
Nature - Bold
EV's 252 HP/184 Def/72 Spe
-Featherdance
-Roost
-Hidden Power Fire
-Psychic
Whenever Donphan is met with a lead that will likely try to use a status move, set up entry hazards, or Taunt (Azelf, Breloom, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Fortress, Tyrannitar, Heatran, Tentacruel, Jellicent, do I need to go on?) Xatu is immediately sent in and the opponent is usually met with a nasty surprise. The combination of Donphan and Xatu can almost always keep hazards off my side and on the opponents side. Featherdance completely nerfs physical boosters and can force switches, racking up hazard damage. This build walls many of the common hazard users I mentioned before and can even outstall Blissey if it comes in to bouce back a Toxic. Hidden Power Fire takes care of Ferrothorn, Fortress and even Scizor who will only OHKO with Bullet Punch after 2 Swords Dances. Tyrannitar and Jirachi can be diminished to nothing after a few Featherdances and Conkledurr and Terrakion are OHKO'd with Psychic. Xatu is a surprisingly underrated Pokemon and counters some of the biggest pokes in the metagame.

Sharpedo
Ability - Speed Boost
Item - Life Orb
Nature - Rash
EV's - 148 Atk/252 SpA/108 Spe
-Protect
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Crunch
If you look in a dictionary for the term "glass cannon," you'll actually find a picture of a Sharpero, it's weird. Anyway, with the given EV's, Sharpedos Atk and SpA are almost equal, STAB from Crunch and Hydro Pump make for some huge hits and Ice Beam offers more coverage. He is totally walled by bulky waters, and is sometimes outspaced by scarfers and anything with +1 speed if he can only get one speed boost in. Being mixed offers him versatility against different walls, but the drop in speed is occasionally problematic if he only has time to fire off one attack. He's best suited for late game sweeping, which he is fantastic at, but opinions on his moveset and EV's would be appreciated.


Well that's the team, it has a few big problems that were mentioned earlier, namely a weakness to bulky waters like Vaporeon. It also has some problems with DD Gyarados, and Shell Smash Cloyster completely runs through the team. Other than that it can usually handle most other threats, but let me know what you think. Happy rating!
​

 

[Harsha]

yo,

so this is an original team and like you said, bulky water-types run through it. however, that's not the only thing i'm noting; it seems rain teams in general run through it. additionally, i find that both xatu's and donphan's presence are detrimental to your end goal: ending the game with a late-game sharpedo sweep. while donphan spins away hazards, which is essential considering how frail sharpedo is, it's really a bad pokemon. additionally xatu is fairly predictable, and in a metagame where choice band terrakion, choice scarf landorus, variants of rotom-w, and the common tyranitar reign supreme, it seems to me as though it's more of a hindrance to your team. to fix these problems, i'd recommend a few changes to pokemon. primarily, i'd personally use an offensive starmie with leftovers over donphan, as i find it to be a much more reliable spinner, and it can 2HKO tyranitar which is a boon to those that try and trap it. a moveset of hydro pump, rapid spin, thunderbolt, and ice beam would do you good, and a spread of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe and a timid nature are what i'd use.

now, with this goes your means of laying stealth rock. this is pretty much a necessary move for your team, but something i'd point out that's bothering me is your lack of a reliable steel-type. you have no way to switch into opposing dragons, and it seems as though they can get to +1, or even +2 with ease. i can't do much to mend this other than recommending offensive heatran over your xatu, which will allow you to sponge an outrage and hit back with hidden power ice. i'd go with an air balloon and a moveset of stealth rock, fire blast, hidden power ice, and earth power. the standard offensive spread of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe and a timid nature would complement this well. this will make your team stronger against offensive teams, but you'll falter against rain stall. this means that if you're ever presented the opportunity to take down a ferrothorn on rain stall, you must take it. if you can take down ferrothorn and preferably chansey, though she's not as important, sharpedo can go on a rampage and help you out. for minor changes, move the 4 HP EVs on darmanitan into defense, as you'll get 5 switches into stealth rock as opposed to 4. this is mostly preference, but i think you would enjoy the power of physical sharpedo more than mixed sharpedo, so be sure to test that out. that's all i've got; cool team and good luck. i hope i helped.