When I first started out, I hard a very hard time adapting to the Gen5 metagame. Is it completely sweeper based? Are all these new abilities as good as they seem? Can you win without weather? Are stall/defensive tactics even worth it anymore? In the end, I found out it's just more of an open clusterfluff than Gen4 ever was. Anything can still work, depending on your match ups.
The Team:
I wanted a team that had a little hax (Machamp), a little stall (Sableye), a little cheap (Dugtrio Arena trap), some new (Genesect), some old (Heracross), and a reintroduction of the King (Garchomp).
Machamp… Nagano
Item: Lum Berry
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Adamant
EV’s: 252 ATT/252 HP/4 SP. DEF
-Substitute
-Dynamic Punch
-Payback
-Ice Punch
Favorite pokemon on the team. Always start out with a Dynamic Punch or Substitute, depending on whether they'll attack or try to status me/lay hazards. Nothing more satisfying then shrugging off a WoW, getting behind a sub, then taking out the next 2 or 3 pokemon. Payback works great against trickroom Reuniclus if behind a substitute. Most importantly, most people expect the RestTalk set, or Stone Edge with Bullet Punch, so its easy for me to take out unsuspecting Gliscor. Or unsuspecting enemy Dragonite, Haxorus, Salamence, Garchomp, etc, especially if behind that sub on their switch-in. I usually don't switch him out, best to go down swinging, I say. Although I'll occasionally switch to Sableye if I can see a Psychic attack coming.
Sableye… Ginobili
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Calm
EV’s: 252 HP/132 SP. DEF/120 DEF/4 SPEED
-Taunt
-Will-o-Wisp
-Recover
-Knock Off
After being embarrassed by so many Sableye's, I eventually had to convert over and add him to my team. I used to have Thundurus here, but he was suffering from "Paralyze-them-then-die" syndrome. He has the 4 Speed EV's so he can Taunt the other Sableye first, since most don't invest in speed due to Prankster anyway. Problem is when powerful fire pokemon switch in take him on, they normally force me out or take me out. I tried Toxic in place of WoW, but that just wasn't as effective, the WoW stops many physical threats. I named him Ginobili because he's very annoying.
Dugtrio… Stage 3
Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Arena Trap
Nature: Jolly
EV’s: 252 SPEED/252 ATT/4 HP
-Memento
-Sucker Punch
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
This was the last guy I eventually added to the team, great pokemon. Before him, I had tried Reuniclus, Skarmory, Tangela, Ditto, and Heatran. He was the all-star of my Gen4 teams, and after beating around the bush for a while, he finally found a place on this team too. Expert Belt is so I can feign having a Choice Band (since they don't see the Life Orb recoil), then switch from Earthquaking a fire pokemon to Stone Edging the next flying type. Sucker Punch is to help stop sweepers who have speed boosts and not much health left (OR CHANDELURE!). About half the time he doesn't even attack though, I'll just Memento so I can bring in my Garchomp to get an easy Swords Dance in.
Genesect… Urushihara
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Download
Nature: Modest
EV’s: 252 SP. ATT/100 HP/156 SPEED
-Substitute
-Bug Buzz
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
Another Substituter. I got this set from one of the earlier RMT's. Works incredible, I know it's weird to have two offensive pokemon using Substitute, but since it's only weak to fire and has high defense/great typing, it simply forces switches. If nothing else, I'll get the Sub up, and hit their Fire switch-in with a boosted Thunderbolt. He attracts so many fire pokemon, I'm considering switching out Bug Buzz for HP Water. But normally Dugtrio is capable of taking out the fire types, so I haven't found HP Water necessary. Naturally a Sun team will give me a little trouble.
Garchomp… Midoriyama
Item: Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Jolly
EV’s: 252 SPEED/252 ATT/4 SP. DEF
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Fire Fang
As I mentioned above, he has great synergy with Dugtrio. Dugtrio Memento = basically a free turn for Garchomp. Plus hopefully Sableye has burned a Pokemon or two, making his Swords Dance set up that much easier. Many threats try to stop him with WoW or Toxic, so Lum Berry is to either combat those, or prevent me from being confused after the Outrage. I can see why he got banned last gen, very easy to take advantage with him.
Heracross… Rodriquez
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Adamant
EV’s: 252 SPEED/252 ATT/4 HP
-Close Combat
-Megahorn
-Stone Edge
-Night Slash
Always save the best for last. Moxie is an ability that was seemingly created to make Choice Scarf Heracross even MORE threatening. Moxie increases his attack by 1 stage after each pokemon he kills, so with the Choice Scarf + already high attack + STABs + varied moveset, he is very capable of taking out the last couple pokemon on an opponent's team. Thanks to team preview, even if I haven't seen one of their last pokemon yet and am trying to figure out which attack to finish off the current pokemon with, I can plan ahead pick a move that will hit for at least neutral damage on all of them. Just gotta hope they don't have any priority users left after 2 or 3 Close Combats...
Threats:
Blaziken gives me trouble. Or even more specifically, Sun teams for some reason.
Conkeldurr with Guts also shreds me. His "Drain Punch/Mach Punch/Payback/Bulk Up" set is very difficult for me to break through.
Swampert. F'ing Swampert...
THE TEAM!
Any ideas?
The Team:






I wanted a team that had a little hax (Machamp), a little stall (Sableye), a little cheap (Dugtrio Arena trap), some new (Genesect), some old (Heracross), and a reintroduction of the King (Garchomp).
Machamp… Nagano

Item: Lum Berry
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Adamant
EV’s: 252 ATT/252 HP/4 SP. DEF
-Substitute
-Dynamic Punch
-Payback
-Ice Punch
Favorite pokemon on the team. Always start out with a Dynamic Punch or Substitute, depending on whether they'll attack or try to status me/lay hazards. Nothing more satisfying then shrugging off a WoW, getting behind a sub, then taking out the next 2 or 3 pokemon. Payback works great against trickroom Reuniclus if behind a substitute. Most importantly, most people expect the RestTalk set, or Stone Edge with Bullet Punch, so its easy for me to take out unsuspecting Gliscor. Or unsuspecting enemy Dragonite, Haxorus, Salamence, Garchomp, etc, especially if behind that sub on their switch-in. I usually don't switch him out, best to go down swinging, I say. Although I'll occasionally switch to Sableye if I can see a Psychic attack coming.
Sableye… Ginobili

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Calm
EV’s: 252 HP/132 SP. DEF/120 DEF/4 SPEED
-Taunt
-Will-o-Wisp
-Recover
-Knock Off
After being embarrassed by so many Sableye's, I eventually had to convert over and add him to my team. I used to have Thundurus here, but he was suffering from "Paralyze-them-then-die" syndrome. He has the 4 Speed EV's so he can Taunt the other Sableye first, since most don't invest in speed due to Prankster anyway. Problem is when powerful fire pokemon switch in take him on, they normally force me out or take me out. I tried Toxic in place of WoW, but that just wasn't as effective, the WoW stops many physical threats. I named him Ginobili because he's very annoying.
Dugtrio… Stage 3

Item: Expert Belt
Ability: Arena Trap
Nature: Jolly
EV’s: 252 SPEED/252 ATT/4 HP
-Memento
-Sucker Punch
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
This was the last guy I eventually added to the team, great pokemon. Before him, I had tried Reuniclus, Skarmory, Tangela, Ditto, and Heatran. He was the all-star of my Gen4 teams, and after beating around the bush for a while, he finally found a place on this team too. Expert Belt is so I can feign having a Choice Band (since they don't see the Life Orb recoil), then switch from Earthquaking a fire pokemon to Stone Edging the next flying type. Sucker Punch is to help stop sweepers who have speed boosts and not much health left (OR CHANDELURE!). About half the time he doesn't even attack though, I'll just Memento so I can bring in my Garchomp to get an easy Swords Dance in.
Genesect… Urushihara

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Download
Nature: Modest
EV’s: 252 SP. ATT/100 HP/156 SPEED
-Substitute
-Bug Buzz
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
Another Substituter. I got this set from one of the earlier RMT's. Works incredible, I know it's weird to have two offensive pokemon using Substitute, but since it's only weak to fire and has high defense/great typing, it simply forces switches. If nothing else, I'll get the Sub up, and hit their Fire switch-in with a boosted Thunderbolt. He attracts so many fire pokemon, I'm considering switching out Bug Buzz for HP Water. But normally Dugtrio is capable of taking out the fire types, so I haven't found HP Water necessary. Naturally a Sun team will give me a little trouble.
Garchomp… Midoriyama

Item: Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Jolly
EV’s: 252 SPEED/252 ATT/4 SP. DEF
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Fire Fang
As I mentioned above, he has great synergy with Dugtrio. Dugtrio Memento = basically a free turn for Garchomp. Plus hopefully Sableye has burned a Pokemon or two, making his Swords Dance set up that much easier. Many threats try to stop him with WoW or Toxic, so Lum Berry is to either combat those, or prevent me from being confused after the Outrage. I can see why he got banned last gen, very easy to take advantage with him.
Heracross… Rodriquez

Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Adamant
EV’s: 252 SPEED/252 ATT/4 HP
-Close Combat
-Megahorn
-Stone Edge
-Night Slash
Always save the best for last. Moxie is an ability that was seemingly created to make Choice Scarf Heracross even MORE threatening. Moxie increases his attack by 1 stage after each pokemon he kills, so with the Choice Scarf + already high attack + STABs + varied moveset, he is very capable of taking out the last couple pokemon on an opponent's team. Thanks to team preview, even if I haven't seen one of their last pokemon yet and am trying to figure out which attack to finish off the current pokemon with, I can plan ahead pick a move that will hit for at least neutral damage on all of them. Just gotta hope they don't have any priority users left after 2 or 3 Close Combats...
Threats:

Blaziken gives me trouble. Or even more specifically, Sun teams for some reason.

Conkeldurr with Guts also shreds me. His "Drain Punch/Mach Punch/Payback/Bulk Up" set is very difficult for me to break through.

Swampert. F'ing Swampert...
THE TEAM!






Any ideas?