First Competitive Team - Advice Welcomed

[Paraeon]

Greetings!

I'm new around here, and generally to the world of Competitive battling, so go easy on me.
I recently wrote a post over in SQSA asking about What should a Competitive Party consist of? and from the answers I have determined what I think would be an, at least even slightly plausible, for my first attempt at building a team! (Aimed at Single Battle)
It could be great if you let me know what you think and where I could improve, especially with regards to Movesets. Also, my extent of held item knowledge is pretty awful, so some advice in that aspect would be greatly appreciated! (Is Leftovers even good?)

I'm open to suggestions to change Pokemon in my party, but I'd like to mention in advance that I want to avoid Legendaries in the party and that I can be a bit picky about certain Pokemon if I don't like them (this can be dependant their design/playstyle/type); I'd much prefer using a team with potential that I enjoy playing over raw winning power. Just thought I'd put this out there so I don't come across as ungrateful for any advice, in fact I'd be very grateful for any advice at all as this will help expand my knowledge. So without further ado, My first attempt at a competitive party:

EDIT: Added Descriptions! - Adding Held Items (Mainly placeholder)


Please excuse the amateur descriptions, I'm still getting to grips with many terms and what not.

Forretress @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Lax Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Volt Switch
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Forretress is here to be my Tank-type. Providing Hazards and Poison so Mega-Gengar can get some Venoshocks without needing to rely on a turn to Poison them himself. Volt Switch is a out of jail card, in hindsight U-turn might be better purely on the grounds of STAB.

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Venoshock

My original plan was to go for Mega-Gardevoir, but the I feel Shadow Tag Ability trumps Pixilate (Mainly because I don't know how to use it effectively.) The decision to have 2 Poison Type attacks here was mainly a back-up so that Venoshock isn't made completely redundant if the Forretress' Toxic Spikes are cleared. And it was a toss-up between Toxic and Sludge Bomb, personally I prefer Toxic, but I'm scared to use a turn without dealing damage on such a squishy Pokemon.

Gardevoir @ Focus Sash
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Healing Wish
- Focus Blast
- Moonblast

Just a SpA sweeper essentially. I am now considering changing the EVs here to 252 Speed over HP (Thanks dbzmariogeno), which will support the use of Healing Wish, which will be used in conjunction with Focus Sash when reduced to 1HP, on the assumption that it has a higher probability to go first on the next turn due to the maxed Speed EV. Might even use a Timid Nature here. I'm also considering to replace an attack with Trick and combining that with a Choice Item to screw with some SpA/Atk sweepers. It would be great to get some advice on this.

Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Hasty Nature
- Fly
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Heat Wave

Zapdos is here to lay down a bit of damage and add a little Flying to my Type coverage. Yeah, Fly isn't such a good choice here, but I'm not a huge expert on Flying type moves. Would something like Aerial Ace be better here? I decided to put Life Orb on Zapdos due to it's survivability and the use of Roost to mitigate the surplus damage.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Claw
- Sacred Sword
- Iron Head

One of my new favourite Pokemon, Aegislash is here to be a bit of a bruiser. The hope here is to face-tank some damage while still being a bit of a threat. I'm not fully aware of the potential his Ability holds in a competitive context, would it be more advisable to have 2 defensive moves and 2 offensive moves to allow equal opportunity to change stance?

Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- U-turn
- Dragon Claw

Flygon is mainly here to cover 2 types that I find I don't use too often (and I think it looks awesome), seeing as this is my first attempt at a competitive team, I tried to make it well-rounded in type coverage and Physical Attack/Special Attack coverage. Flygon fills this gap quite well. Again, using 2 attacks of the same type here, but due to the downsides of Outrage, I don't plan on using that as my main source of Dragon type damage. The use of Choice Band makes him a Revenge Killer.

Please bare in mind, this isn't so much an RMT as it is a 'Tell me where I've gone wrong and educate me in teambuilding'.

EDIT: This team is just for personal use in my Pokemon Y, I don't plan on using it within any tiering systems, such as OU. I will progress to that once I get more of an understanding of Pokemon Showdown and the tiering systems in general.

Cheers.

 

[RotomPoison]

Add descriptions before this is locked, not rating until then (pointless)

General points:

- Give them items
- You rarely need to use 2 moves of the same type (see Gengar)
- Run Speed on moderately fast Pokes (Gardevoir)
- lol Fly
- Physical Aegi needs SD to be a threat
- Garchomp > Flygon

ADD DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE THIS GETS LOCKED

(also, the logic of "I hate legendaries" means "I think legendary means anything in an actual battle" which is just plain wrong)

 

[Paraeon]

Add descriptions before this is locked, not rating until then (pointless)

General points:

- Give them items
- You rarely need to use 2 moves of the same type (see Gengar)
- Run Speed on moderately fast Pokes (Gardevoir)
- lol Fly
- Physical Aegi needs SD to be a threat
- Garchomp > Flygon

ADD DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE THIS GETS LOCKED

(also, the logic of "I hate legendaries" means "I think legendary means anything in an actual battle" which is just plain wrong)

Thanks, I'll work on the descriptions after this reply.
I'll have a look at some items I could put on shortly, I tried a couple but I just kept feeling like there was some out there that could be way better.
Yeah, I was a bit on the fence about Fly, I was always under the impression it was a decent move, but that's from a PvE perspective, so whole other kettle of fish.
Another newb comment inboud, climb into your shelters; SD = Special Defense? Swords Dance? Still picking up on these abbreviations, my bad.
Flygon is kinda just an old favourite design-wise, it can be removed if absolutely necessary but I like him :3

EDIT:
With regards to the Legendaries thing, it's not so much that I hate them, I am using Zapdos, but I just thought that you can't really breed perfect IVs with legendaries, so maybe thought it wasn't the way to go.

Thanks for the input, I'll get to work on these descriptions.

 

[Paraeon]

Shameless self-bump.

Would love to hear some more opinions on this; for the purposes of education, not recognition.
Even if you drop in to just say 'this monz sucks, use this one', it will give me a better understanding of the competitive scene.

 

[Adrima]

Hi ! I'm also a new user of this forum and I think I can help you a little with your team !

First, definitely use Rapid Spin on your Foretress instead of Earthquake which is not very powerful with its little attack stat. If you do that, change the 4 Evs Atk for SpAtk.

You don't need to have two moves of the same type on the same Pokemon as dbzmariogeno said before. So give your Gengar something instead of Venoshock ( Focus Blast for example or maybe Substitute which is useful when you know your opponent will switch out before you mega-evolve ). If you do that, give Foretress Spikes over Toxic Spikes.

Gardevoir is not the best Poke to use for the job you gave him. Try this instead:

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability : Magic Guard
Evs: 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 SpDef
Timid / Modest Nature
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball

( Magic Guard will allow you to switch in without breaking your Sash if your opponent set hazards )

Hoping these advices will help you !

And I don't think Zapdos brings a lot to your team. If you want a Flying Pokemon, try Staraptor, Talonflame... I think they will be better.

 

[Paraeon]

Thanks for the reply!
I've got a couple of questions for you if you don't mind.

First, definitely use Rapid Spin on your Foretress instead of Earthquake which is not very powerful with its little attack stat. If you do that, change the 4 Evs Atk for SpAtk.

Aha, that was a balls-up on my part, thanks for pointing that out, I'll fix that.

You don't need to have two moves of the same type on the same Pokemon as dbzmariogeno said before. So give your Gengar something instead of Venoshock ( Focus Blast for example or maybe Substitute which is useful when you know your opponent will switch out before you mega-evolve ). If you do that, give Foretress Spikes over Toxic Spikes.

Yeah, I've never really used substitute to it's full potential before, but I think it would be a great attack to put on Gengar. What would you say is the best strategy around using Substitute?

Gardevoir is not the best Poke to use for the job you gave him. Try this instead:

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability : Magic Guard
Evs: 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 SpDef
Timid / Modest Nature
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball

( Magic Guard will allow you to switch in without breaking your Sash if your opponent set hazards )

Thats sounds great, I will definitely consider this. Please excuse me asking, but why exactly is Gardevoir not so good for this role? Does it have low base SpAtk EVs or something?

And I don't think Zapdos brings a lot to your team. If you want a Flying Pokemon, try Staraptor, Talonflame... I think they will be better.

I've been thinking of maybe swapping in Ampharos to replace Zapdos, I mainly want some Electric type coverage, but using single-type Pokemon concerns me slightly.
Would it be more important to cover the Flying type than Electric? Also is it not hugely important to have all dual-type Pokes in a party?

Hoping these advices will help you !

You've been a big help, thanks very much! ^^

 

[Adrima]

Hi !

Substitute on Gengar is quite easy to use. You switch in on a Poke that can't do anything to you ( a Fighting type without good coverage, a Staller... ). As your opponent will surely switch it out to a Gengar's counter before you mega-evolve ( he doesn't want his Poke to be trap by Shadow Tag ), you can set a sub. Then, your Gengar will have one ( or two if you are faster than him ) time(s) to hit him which is quite easy with your good coverage.

Alakazam > Gardevoir because he is so much faster and has more SpAtk stat. Even if he doesn't have the useful Fairy type, he is so much better than her imo ( at least for the job you want him to do ).

By the way, you don't need both Outrage and Dragon Claw on your Flygon. Choose one of them and give him an other attack move to have a better coverage.

Ampharos is a good idea but without the Mega-Stone, he is useless in OU. If you want a good Electric type, try Jolteon, Rotom-W or Rotom-H...

And after a little glance, I think your team is quite weak to Dark type. You may change one of your Ghost type to something else. However, I didn't test your team. How is it during battles ?

 

[dyp1225]

Mega gengar is banned from OU...... Also shadow sneak over shadow claw on slash, and give him weakness policy over lefties. Charging and recharging moves aren't good in competitive, so replace fly with a hidden power. I suggest using grass or ice.

 

[ModelT]

Forretress
I'd say pick up Gyro Ball. He is supposed to be slow, and having a potentially very powerful STAB move is great. SR is nice, and Volt Switch makes him not entirely a suicide lead, but toss TSpikes for Rapid Spin. Instead of the Shed Shell, perhaps a healing Berry in case he triggers the Sturdy, that way you can safely switch him later. Also, remember that his Volt Switch is less for damage, and more for the slow switch, getting out frail mon w/out the potential to get hurt.

Gengar
He's banned, so I'd strongly consider straight dropping him in favor of a different Mega.

Gardevoir
Not the greatest sweeper, as he just isn't quite fast enough or bulky enough. As much as I like the idea of Trick and a Kamikazi Heal Wish pokemon, a sustainable (regular) Wish mon would be better. Any decent battler will see the Choice Trick coming and immediatly switch out their Wall/Stall to counter the loss.

Zapdos
Dude, get RID of fly, now. For starters, its a physical move on a special set up. Second, two turn moves are crap. Nothing makes for easier prediction than a free turn that says: You know exactly what I'm doing this round. Drop it. Perhaps grab Air Slash, as it's the only Flying Special move he can learn.

Aegislash
Drop Shadow Claw for Shadow Sneak. Priority STAB move wins over Slightly more powerful STAB move. Otherwise, pretty classic Physical Aegislash. If you want more damage, consider Swords Dance over Iron Head, as Priority and Dat Sword move are too good to pass up.

Flygon
I LOVE Flygon. One of my favorites. Lose Outrage. Last thing you want is using Outage and getting a Fairy thrown in front of you and watching painfully as Flygon dies. Go for Rock Slide. That way, if they go for Togikiss, you can predict the switch and... get the drop on him. (IT'S A PUN!)

Overall: I give you props for the Flygon. Even if Garchomp outclasses him in every way... T.T However, you have a useful blend of mons, without too many shared weaknesses, and several good switch options. One thing to consider when chosing a new mega: You have 2 fire weaknesses already. Honestly, I'd keep the core you have, and drop Gengar and Gardevoir for two different mons that fill out your team. The slot for special Megas is limited, and Mega Lucario is weak to fire, so remember that. If you DO go w/ Alakazam, perhaps a nice combo with a Slow U-Turn or some nice bulky offensive mon. Not a lot of ideas off hand for you though, sorry.

Final Note: Give them Nicknames. Nicknames are fun and add to the overall game experience. I also find if you give them nicknames with a lot of forethought, you feel more attached and tend to do better. Maybe that's just me though, idk. (Please check my team in the link below too, if you have time)

 

[Paraeon]

Substitute on Gengar is quite easy to use. You switch in on a Poke that can't do anything to you ( a Fighting type without good coverage, a Staller... ). As your opponent will surely switch it out to a Gengar's counter before you mega-evolve ( he doesn't want his Poke to be trap by Shadow Tag ), you can set a sub. Then, your Gengar will have one ( or two if you are faster than him ) time(s) to hit him which is quite easy with your good coverage.

This sounds great, I knew there was some psychology to it but I struggled to conceptualize a good scenario.

Alakazam > Gardevoir because he is so much faster and has more SpAtk stat. Even if he doesn't have the useful Fairy type, he is so much better than her imo ( at least for the job you want him to do ).

Thanks for that, I'm still learning what certain Pokes are/aren't good at, so I appreciate it ^^

By the way, you don't need both Outrage and Dragon Claw on your Flygon. Choose one of them and give him an other attack move to have a better coverage.

Flygon
I LOVE Flygon. One of my favorites. Lose Outrage. Last thing you want is using Outage and getting a Fairy thrown in front of you and watching painfully as Flygon dies. Go for Rock Slide. That way, if they go for Togikiss, you can predict the switch and... get the drop on him. (IT'S A PUN!)

This seems like the general consensus so I'll be dropping the Outrage. And thanks for not beating on the Flygon, I'm definitely gonna take Rock Slide purely for the fact that it was recommended by a fellow Flygon enthusiast.

Ampharos is a good idea but without the Mega-Stone, he is useless in OU. If you want a good Electric type, try Jolteon, Rotom-W or Rotom-H...

One thing to consider when chosing a new mega: You have 2 fire weaknesses already. Honestly, I'd keep the core you have, and drop Gengar and Gardevoir for two different mons that fill out your team. The slot for special Megas is limited, and Mega Lucario is weak to fire, so remember that.

I put these together because they are slightly relevant. Well in the case of when I make an team for Pokemon Showdown (as this team will be for personal use in Pokemon Y), I was debating dropping Mega Gengar for Mega Ampharos, but it was more of a fleeting thought as making an OU team isn't really my concern at the moment.

And after a little glance, I think your team is quite weak to Dark type. You may change one of your Ghost type to something else. However, I didn't test your team. How is it during battles ?

Well I know I should have really play tested this team before asking for a Rating, but I just wanted a vague idea of whether my trail of thought was reasonable when it came to teambuilding, and wanted to establish some ideas before I start trying to IV breed them all. So yeah, I haven't playtested it at all >.<

Forretress
I'd say pick up Gyro Ball. He is supposed to be slow, and having a potentially very powerful STAB move is great. SR is nice, and Volt Switch makes him not entirely a suicide lead, but toss TSpikes for Rapid Spin. Instead of the Shed Shell, perhaps a healing Berry in case he triggers the Sturdy, that way you can safely switch him later. Also, remember that his Volt Switch is less for damage, and more for the slow switch, getting out frail mon w/out the potential to get hurt.

Gyro Ball sounds like a great idea, I actually totally forgot about that move. Do you think it would be worthwhile taking U-Turn instead of Volt Switch for the STAB?
Using a Berry as a held item never really occurred to me to be honest, I was always under the impression berries were for when you don't really have a good held item for the Pokemon yet, but it actually makes good sense.

Gengar
He's banned, so I'd strongly consider straight dropping him in favor of a different Mega.

Let me get this straight, he isn't outright banned by Nintendo right? How much authority does Smogon hold in that aspect? Is it purely in the Tiered Pokemon Showdown and such or does it overlap into online play in the actual 3DS games? Sorry, retard question, I know, just this whole concept of tiers and stuff is completely new to me.

Gardevoir
Not the greatest sweeper, as he just isn't quite fast enough or bulky enough. As much as I like the idea of Trick and a Kamikazi Heal Wish pokemon, a sustainable (regular) Wish mon would be better. Any decent battler will see the Choice Trick coming and immediatly switch out their Wall/Stall to counter the loss.

As much as I don't want to (I really like Gardevoir), it seems like its for the best to pull it from the party. But I definitely would like to use it in the future, in what way is Gardevoir a good Pokemon, maybe more of a support/barrier Poke?

Charging and recharging moves aren't good in competitive, so replace fly with a hidden power. I suggest using grass or ice.

Zapdos
Dude, get RID of fly, now. For starters, its a physical move on a special set up. Second, two turn moves are crap. Nothing makes for easier prediction than a free turn that says: You know exactly what I'm doing this round. Drop it. Perhaps grab Air Slash, as it's the only Flying Special move he can learn.

Yeah, Fly, was a dick move, I was being incredibly naive to think it would even be a sensible choice. Might just pull Zapdos in general either way, but again, another Poke I would like to make use of one day.

Also shadow sneak over shadow claw on slash, and give him weakness policy over lefties.

Aegislash
Drop Shadow Claw for Shadow Sneak. Priority STAB move wins over Slightly more powerful STAB move. Otherwise, pretty classic Physical Aegislash. If you want more damage, consider Swords Dance over Iron Head, as Priority and Dat Sword move are too good to pass up.

Again, another move that I never considered, you guys give great advice over here. Thanks. And yeah, Swords Dance seems like another strongly recommended move on Aegislash. What is the actual thought process behind using SD in battle? I've always been afraid to run stat buffing moves, because I'm missing out on a whole turn of damage, of which could screw me. Do I just use it as soon as Aegislash switches in? Or is there a time and place; maybe after using King's Shield and entering defense stance for survivability?

(IT'S A PUN!)

I love you.

I give you props for the Flygon. Even if Garchomp outclasses him in every way... T.T

Brogons4lyfe.

However, you have a useful blend of mons, without too many shared weaknesses, and several good switch options.

I really appreciate it.
I realise I've made a colossal amount of rookie mistakes with this party, more than should be acceptable, but it's good to know that my thought process is at least slightly in the right direction. Thanks.

If you DO go w/ Alakazam, perhaps a nice combo with a Slow U-Turn or some nice bulky offensive mon. Not a lot of ideas off hand for you though, sorry.

Should be able to pull something like this off with Forretress, I think I'll give this a go.

Final Note: Give them Nicknames. Nicknames are fun and add to the overall game experience. I also find if you give them nicknames with a lot of forethought, you feel more attached and tend to do better. Maybe that's just me though, idk.

I'm willing to give anything a try! I used to nickname my main Pokes a lot in game when I was younger but seem to have broken the habit in recent years. Now wouldn't be a bad time to start.

(Please check my team in the link below too, if you have time)

I will definitely have a look, but you know as much as I do that I won't be able to give you much advice.

Once again, thanks a bunch folks.

 

[Rustyy]

dont listen to these guys above, put a gardevoirite on gardevoir and hyper voice everything and you will win 99% of the time.

 

[Paraeon]

dont listen to these guys above, put a gardevoirite on gardevoir and hyper voice everything and you will win 99% of the time.

See, I always thought Mega Gardevoir could be quite the threat, but I struggled to see when Pixilate could be useful. You've certainly solved that puzzle for me.

 

[ModelT]

Mega Gardevoir... Hadn't even crossed my mind. With a base 100 Speed, this team might just work well w/ Megardevoir. Try it out. Less of a Glass Cannon that Mega-Zam, and the Normal to Fairy ability is a good time. And that Hyper Voice being able to get around Subs... sounds neat. Good call. Grab Will-O-Wisp for some good Physical Hinderance, Psyshock for some good stab, and toss in Focus (Miss) Blast, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, HP[Fire] for some coverage (Whatever your team can't do). Clearly Speed EVs are a must, but not sure where else to put EVs. HP might be nice to counter his low Def and compliment his high Sp. Def. His Sp. Attack is great will little to no investment. Plus, w/ Wisp, That low Def might not be too much of a hinderance. Something to note, Physical Fire types scare Megardivoir, since they resist Fairy and cannot be burnt. So whatever you put in that last slot, perhaps something Physically beefy that can eat a fire move. Thick Fat Snorlax comes to mind, and that will help balance out your team's otherwise bad dealings w/ Fire.

Sword Dance Aegislash
The trick to using Buff moves is getting them out on something that wants to waste time. Like a Toxic using mon that cannot deal w/ Aegislash. Use that turn of switch to get your SD buff, and once you know what you're dealing with, hit it in the weakness. Another trick you already figured a bit, is SDing after a King's Shield, so you're in Shield Form for the Def. The trick for this guy in particular is thinking in a super predictive way that can be SUPER rewarding and hard to predict. Hit w/ Sacred Sword when you don't suspect an attack, Hit w/ Shadow Sneak when it will kill them, Block w/ Shield when you think they will attack, Buff with Dance when you have time to kill, and run when you cannot win. Very rewarding playstyle that benifits greatly from foreknowledge of your enemies and a general understanding of the OU.

Zapdos
He can fill quite the beefy Sp. Def slot. His stats are great all around, and his move pool pretty good, but it's Roost that makes him a good defender. Something to consider. Keep your two attack moves and Roost, and toss on some kind of Utility that fills out your team. Thunderwave might be good. U-Turn as well.

 

[Paraeon]

Mega Gardevoir... Hadn't even crossed my mind. With a base 100 Speed, this team might just work well w/ Megardevoir. Try it out. Less of a Glass Cannon that Mega-Zam, and the Normal to Fairy ability is a good time. And that Hyper Voice being able to get around Subs... sounds neat. Good call. Grab Will-O-Wisp for some good Physical Hinderance, Psyshock for some good stab, and toss in Focus (Miss) Blast, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, HP[Fire] for some coverage (Whatever your team can't do). Clearly Speed EVs are a must, but not sure where else to put EVs. HP might be nice to counter his low Def and compliment his high Sp. Def. His Sp. Attack is great will little to no investment. Plus, w/ Wisp, That low Def might not be too much of a hinderance. Something to note, Physical Fire types scare Megardivoir, since they resist Fairy and cannot be burnt. So whatever you put in that last slot, perhaps something Physically beefy that can eat a fire move. Thick Fat Snorlax comes to mind, and that will help balance out your team's otherwise bad dealings w/ Fire.

This actually sounds great. The moveset is very felxible and great for sweeping. What exactly is the tradeoff between between choosing Psyshock and Psychic?
Also, on a side-note, how common is it for a team to run 2 Mega-stoned Pokes (That sounds odd....) and just choosing which would be the best to Mega-evolve as the battle goes on?

Sword Dance Aegislash
The trick to using Buff moves is getting them out on something that wants to waste time. Like a Toxic using mon that cannot deal w/ Aegislash. Use that turn of switch to get your SD buff, and once you know what you're dealing with, hit it in the weakness. Another trick you already figured a bit, is SDing after a King's Shield, so you're in Shield Form for the Def. The trick for this guy in particular is thinking in a super predictive way that can be SUPER rewarding and hard to predict. Hit w/ Sacred Sword when you don't suspect an attack, Hit w/ Shadow Sneak when it will kill them, Block w/ Shield when you think they will attack, Buff with Dance when you have time to kill, and run when you cannot win. Very rewarding playstyle that benifits greatly from foreknowledge of your enemies and a general understanding of the OU.

Seems like a nice strategy. And quite a unique strategy that can't really be imitated by other Pokes, which is one of the reasons, I'm sure, that everbody finds Aegislash quite interesting. I looking forward to making use of this.

If I run Gardevoir, I've been debating the use of adding Calm Mind to the moveset. Would you aim to use that in the same context of, 'use when they're stalling/walling'?

Zapdos
He can fill quite the beefy Sp. Def slot. His stats are great all around, and his move pool pretty good, but it's Roost that makes him a good defender. Something to consider. Keep your two attack moves and Roost, and toss on some kind of Utility that fills out your team. Thunderwave might be good. U-Turn as well.

I do think Thunder Wave would be great here, but I wasn't sure how viable it was competitively. I suppose it is one of the most reliable ways to paralyze and I could do with some stalling status ailments. Especially on a defender-style Poke.

Thanks again.

 

[ModelT]

Psyshock vs. Psychic is a pretty standard choice. On a pure Special sweeper, Psychock is a good call, because A) It allows you to hit the Def rather than Sp. Def, so a pure special wall can still get taken down a notch (Chansey), and B) A lot of Fighting types have a better Def than Sp. Def (or both the same), so hit them even harder in the weakness. As for Calm Mind (good call), it's similar to Sword Dance. You want to predict a good switch in for Garde (Dragon using Outrage is a good time, as a specific example, or any number of things that don't want to fight Garde and force them to switch or die), and use Calm Mind when they switch (Watch out if they see calm mind coming and try to hit you anyways). This is a major part of strategy in competitive battles, and there is no 100% garuntee that it will work, but the pay off is worth the risk.

Using two Mega-Stoned pokemon has one definitive drawback: The second mega has its potential neutered. Not all Megas have at all similar set ups (Moves, EVs, etc) to their non-megas, you lose that item slot, and it's not the greatest idea unless you can really play that threat up. It's not bad to have two mons that can mega evolve, but run different items on one, that way they don't know which is your mega until you use one of the two. Though some mons are only useable as megas (Mawile and Pinser as two examples), so it's usually pretty obvious which is the mega.

Thunder Wave is BRILLIANT, because Paralysis halves speed. Example: Your Megardivoir gets paralyzed, and suddenly a lot of things that it could OHKO can OHKO it first before it can act. So Zapdos (Sp. Def set up lets assume) goes out against special sweeper, neuters it w/ Paralysis, not a lot of your slower threats can wipe the floor in the future when faced with the treat, Zapdoes sits out and does damage and Roosts until he forces a switch. Major status Effects are a HUGE part of strategy if you use them. Reminder: Electric types are immune to Paralysis starting in this Gen (one of the reasons I like Heliolisk).

 

[Paraeon]

Psyshock vs. Psychic is a pretty standard choice. On a pure Special sweeper, Psychock is a good call, because A) It allows you to hit the Def rather than Sp. Def, so a pure special wall can still get taken down a notch (Chansey), and B) A lot of Fighting types have a better Def than Sp. Def (or both the same), so hit them even harder in the weakness.

This sounds perfect. I will most likely take this over Psychic.

As for Calm Mind (good call), it's similar to Sword Dance. You want to predict a good switch in for Garde (Dragon using Outrage is a good time, as a specific example, or any number of things that don't want to fight Garde and force them to switch or die), and use Calm Mind when they switch (Watch out if they see calm mind coming and try to hit you anyways). This is a major part of strategy in competitive battles, and there is no 100% garuntee that it will work, but the pay off is worth the risk.

I suppose it is an instinct mroe than anything that will come with time and experience. The more I play against good player, the more I will learn.

Using two Mega-Stoned pokemon has one definitive drawback: The second mega has its potential neutered. Not all Megas have at all similar set ups (Moves, EVs, etc) to their non-megas, you lose that item slot, and it's not the greatest idea unless you can really play that threat up. It's not bad to have two mons that can mega evolve, but run different items on one, that way they don't know which is your mega until you use one of the two. Though some mons are only useable as megas (Mawile and Pinser as two examples), so it's usually pretty obvious which is the mega.

That makes sense, considering the real strength that certain items can bring. But I do like the bluffing potential that you have mentioned here. Running Mega Gardevoir but keeping Gengar in the party could definitely surprise people.

Thunder Wave is BRILLIANT, because Paralysis halves speed. Example: Your Megardivoir gets paralyzed, and suddenly a lot of things that it could OHKO can OHKO it first before it can act. So Zapdos (Sp. Def set up lets assume) goes out against special sweeper, neuters it w/ Paralysis, not a lot of your slower threats can wipe the floor in the future when faced with the treat, Zapdoes sits out and does damage and Roosts until he forces a switch. Major status Effects are a HUGE part of strategy if you use them. Reminder: Electric types are immune to Paralysis starting in this Gen (one of the reasons I like Heliolisk).

I've always been a little sceptical about taking up a move slot for a purely status inflicting, non-damaging move, over moves that inflict damage with a chance of status ailment. But I suppose that the reliablility and consistency of each plays a huge factor here. So, what other status inflicting, non-damage moves are competitively viable aside from Thunder Wave? Will O Wisp maybe?

I will get round to making a big update to my original post soon, taking into account everything that has been mentioned. You've been a big help, I appreciate you always coming back to answer my questions, not many people would repeatedly deal with the ramblings of an amateur.

Cheers mate.

 

[ModelT]

Para: Thunder Wave, Paralysis Powder, and Glare for Paralysis. Halves Speed.
TWave is electric and a TM, Glare is a good other option as it can hit Ground types like Excadrill, but only a handfull of mons can learn it. Watch for electric types and either Ground or Ghost (Depending on which you're using).

Burn: Will-O-Wisp. Halves Attack, 1/8th HP per turn.
The classic Burn solution that, for some reason, Ghosts love. Halve that attack? Yes. Watch for Physical Fire types and things w/ Flash Fire though.

Poison: Poison Powder. 1/8th HP damage per turn.
Powerful Poison: Toxic. Deals 1/16th HP damage turn one, and doubles ever turn (or adds an additional 1/16th... not 100% sure)
Toxic on a good stall mon can be just as dangerous as a +2 Attack/Sp. Attack Sweeper in the right situations. Watch for Poison and Steel types, both immune. I personally like Gligar w/ Toxic Heal and Roost. Use Toxic, absorb damage and wait. Use Earthquake when possible for more damage.

Sleep: Hypnosis, Spore, and Sleep Powder.
These are awesome, as you can take a mon out for awhile, but most real matches have the "Sleep Clause" which states: Only on mon on a team may be asleep at a time (this doesn't effect things like Rest on your own mon).

The benefit to these three status effects are that once a mon has them, they won't go away unless they plan to deal with them, but they can only have one. Above I mentioned Gligar, and since he uses Toxic Orb, once he is already poisoned, he is immune to the other four major status effects (the fourth being Frozen, which has no dedicated move) and can switch in well on predicted status effects, and allows him to out stall other stall mon that rely on Toxic damage.

 

[Rustyy]

Para: Thunder Wave, Paralysis Powder, and Glare for Paralysis. Halves Speed.
TWave is electric and a TM, Glare is a good other option as it can hit Ground types like Excadrill, but only a handfull of mons can learn it. Watch for electric types and either Ground or Ghost (Depending on which you're using).

Burn: Will-O-Wisp. Halves Attack, 1/8th HP per turn.
The classic Burn solution that, for some reason, Ghosts love. Halve that attack? Yes. Watch for Physical Fire types and things w/ Flash Fire though.

Poison: Poison Powder. 1/8th HP damage per turn.
Powerful Poison: Toxic. Deals 1/16th HP damage turn one, and doubles ever turn (or adds an additional 1/16th... not 100% sure)
Toxic on a good stall mon can be just as dangerous as a +2 Attack/Sp. Attack Sweeper in the right situations. Watch for Poison and Steel types, both immune. I personally like Gligar w/ Toxic Heal and Roost. Use Toxic, absorb damage and wait. Use Earthquake when possible for more damage.

Sleep: Hypnosis, Spore, and Sleep Powder.
These are awesome, as you can take a mon out for awhile, but most real matches have the "Sleep Clause" which states: Only on mon on a team may be asleep at a time (this doesn't effect things like Rest on your own mon).

The benefit to these three status effects are that once a mon has them, they won't go away unless they plan to deal with them, but they can only have one. Above I mentioned Gligar, and since he uses Toxic Orb, once he is already poisoned, he is immune to the other four major status effects (the fourth being Frozen, which has no dedicated move) and can switch in well on predicted status effects, and allows him to out stall other stall mon that rely on Toxic damage.

Paralyze puts their speed at 25%, not 50%, and glare works against ghosts. I know this because I once paraflinched an Aegislash to death with a Dunsparce, who had glare and bite.