First time posting here but this is far from my first team. I really like this team because on paper, it's kinda ridiculous, but so far it's been working pretty damn well. There are, however, some major drawbacks that could be fixed.
Team building process:
First I needed to chose a dual screener, and I figured Cresselia would fit the job quite nicely.
Next I needed some sweepers, so I figured that one of my favorite pokemon of all time, Scizor, would do quite well under screens, specifically the Swords Dance variant.
Next I needed something that could take fire hits like a champ and eliminate bulky waters that Scizor cannot handle, so Chesto Rest Kingdra was added to the team.
I was hearing great things about SubSplit Gengar and I decided "why the hell not?" and slapped it on to the team.
I saw that my team would be unable to rid of a DD Gyarados and Scarffed Pokes, so I figured Choice Scarf Starmie would do the trick.
Lastly, I needed a lead. never used Infernape as a lead and it looked pretty cool, so decided to use it.
Infernape (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk/192 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
Infernape is pretty damn useful lead. It scares off other frail leads because of Fake Out, which lets me get up Stealth Rock early. it also scares off things like Roserade and Metagross because they don't like to be Fire Blasted. usually if I'm facing something that I can't handle, I switch out with the appropriate counter or severely dent it with either Fire Blast or Close Combat and revenge kill afterward.
Cresselia (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/148 Def/68 Spd/40 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Lunar Dance
- Thunder Wave
The star of my team. Cresselia can pretty much switch into anything and take minimal damage and then set up screens from there. Thunder Wave is there to spread paralysis support and Lunar Dance to bring back a weakened sweeper to full health.
Scizor (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- Roost
Under screens, Scizor pretty much isn't afraid of anything that doesn't have a fire attack. After a Swords Dance, Bullet Punch tears holes in things that don't resist it, and Brick Break provides good coverage and sometimes nails the predicted Heatran switch. Opted for Roost over Bug Bite so Scizor can last a bit longer on the field.
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
I read that this thing is good and.. it turned out to be true. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast provide near perfect coverage, and the combination of Pain Split and Substitute allows me to switch out Pursuits and stall out/beat Billsey
Kingdra (M) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 144 HP/160 Atk/164 Spd/40 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Rest
- Waterfall
Easily one of my favorite sets for any pokemon ever. I can usually get in about 2-3 if not more Dragon Dances in safely thanks to screen support. It tears through teams, especially when their steel type has been eliminated.
Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Choice Scar Starmie is a pretty interesting idea considering how fats it is already. It can pretty much revenge kill anything and cripple threats with trick. It also has a nice suprise factor because most people expect Starmie to Rapid Spin, so their Rotom-A's end up getting destroyed by Starmie's Hydro Pump.
This has been my most successful team thus far, netting me a 1350ish rank on the ladder. I have, however, been destroyed by one thing so far: stall teams. I really can't do too much them, so I'm looking for someway to better combat them. Plus my team doesn't have the greatest synergy among other things, so any suggestions to better these issues are welcome.
Team building process:

First I needed to chose a dual screener, and I figured Cresselia would fit the job quite nicely.

Next I needed some sweepers, so I figured that one of my favorite pokemon of all time, Scizor, would do quite well under screens, specifically the Swords Dance variant.

Next I needed something that could take fire hits like a champ and eliminate bulky waters that Scizor cannot handle, so Chesto Rest Kingdra was added to the team.

I was hearing great things about SubSplit Gengar and I decided "why the hell not?" and slapped it on to the team.

I saw that my team would be unable to rid of a DD Gyarados and Scarffed Pokes, so I figured Choice Scarf Starmie would do the trick.

Lastly, I needed a lead. never used Infernape as a lead and it looked pretty cool, so decided to use it.
Infernape (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk/192 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
Infernape is pretty damn useful lead. It scares off other frail leads because of Fake Out, which lets me get up Stealth Rock early. it also scares off things like Roserade and Metagross because they don't like to be Fire Blasted. usually if I'm facing something that I can't handle, I switch out with the appropriate counter or severely dent it with either Fire Blast or Close Combat and revenge kill afterward.
Cresselia (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/148 Def/68 Spd/40 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Lunar Dance
- Thunder Wave
The star of my team. Cresselia can pretty much switch into anything and take minimal damage and then set up screens from there. Thunder Wave is there to spread paralysis support and Lunar Dance to bring back a weakened sweeper to full health.
Scizor (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- Roost
Under screens, Scizor pretty much isn't afraid of anything that doesn't have a fire attack. After a Swords Dance, Bullet Punch tears holes in things that don't resist it, and Brick Break provides good coverage and sometimes nails the predicted Heatran switch. Opted for Roost over Bug Bite so Scizor can last a bit longer on the field.
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
I read that this thing is good and.. it turned out to be true. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast provide near perfect coverage, and the combination of Pain Split and Substitute allows me to switch out Pursuits and stall out/beat Billsey
Kingdra (M) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 144 HP/160 Atk/164 Spd/40 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Rest
- Waterfall
Easily one of my favorite sets for any pokemon ever. I can usually get in about 2-3 if not more Dragon Dances in safely thanks to screen support. It tears through teams, especially when their steel type has been eliminated.
Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Choice Scar Starmie is a pretty interesting idea considering how fats it is already. It can pretty much revenge kill anything and cripple threats with trick. It also has a nice suprise factor because most people expect Starmie to Rapid Spin, so their Rotom-A's end up getting destroyed by Starmie's Hydro Pump.
This has been my most successful team thus far, netting me a 1350ish rank on the ladder. I have, however, been destroyed by one thing so far: stall teams. I really can't do too much them, so I'm looking for someway to better combat them. Plus my team doesn't have the greatest synergy among other things, so any suggestions to better these issues are welcome.