Long-time lurker here. Coming here for some guidance on what to with the team I've been tinkering with the past few days.
Team
First up is Blaziken. I fell in love with Speed Boost Blaziken last gen, and now that he'll have access to Baton Pass it just sweetens the pot, which is why I wanted to build a team that worked off of it. He's fast enough to set up an early Substitute to pull of a least one speed boost that can keep building from there and then maybe a sword dance before he passes off. Blazekick is there simply to have a move in case he needs to bat clean-up for any sort of reason.
Blaziken (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 188 Spd / 248 HP / 72 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Baton Pass
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Blaze Kick
Since it looks like MegaEvo's will be a dominant part of the metagame this gen, I figured my first team would be built around one. Originally meant to be Megascizor, but I found the sweeping capabilities of Charizard-X amazing, 1HKO'ing most other offensive pokemon he went up against, even with neutral damage. Dragon Dance is on in case I can't switch right away from Blaziken via Baton Pass with +2 Atk and +2 Spe, and it provides more than enough of a boost. Standard moveset from what I've seen around here on him.
Charizard (F) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Greninja has proven to be one of the biggest surprises this gen for me and proves to be one of the best starters around. Protean makes him a monster able to always pull off STAB, and I've swept a few teams with him with little to no set up. He's been a great stallbreaker and real asset in some of the wins I've pulled off. I used to run Life Orb but he can be a little fragile, so I switched it with Expert Belt due to his sheer amount of coverage and the fact that Protean practically acts as a set of Choice Specs.
Greninja (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
It's hard to believe how much of a powerhouse Azumarill can be. Fairy sub-typing allows him to switch in on Dragons, especially those locked into Outrage, with laughable ease to hit them with Play Rough, Waterfall is a great counter for the likes of Talonflame, as Azumarill is bulky enough to take a hit and then 0HKO the Moltres-wannabe. Aqua Jet provides much needed priority to make up for low speed in certain situations, and Superpower wrecks Chansey/Blissey and the occasional Tyranitar
Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 Spd / 252 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Scizor has been one of my favorite pokes since its debut, and easily my favorite from Gen II. Bullet Punch provides much needed coverage against Fairy-types, and U-turn in combination with his huge bulk and slow speed allows him to hit hard before switching out to a pokemon that won't have to worry about taking damage on switch in, especially if I've used Defog to remove the entry hazards. Roost provides some nice heals for longevity sake.
Scizor (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
Hippowdon has been a fantastic wall since its debut in Gen IV, and it can also withstand the onslaught of Talonflame and follow up with a 1HKO. I tend to switch it in if Azumarill is locked on a move I don't want or, most often, if my Scizor or Greninja is out and Talonflame switches in. The fact that weather has been nerfed this gen has actually made Hippowdon more versatile in my opinion, as I simply wait out the sandstorm or just switch without fear that it's gonna hamper my team by damaging them each turn for the rest of the battle.
Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
Thoughts
Now, despite the fact that I have a spreadsheet made for constructing a team to easily view weakness vs. coverage and so on, there are some glaring oversights on my part.
Team
First up is Blaziken. I fell in love with Speed Boost Blaziken last gen, and now that he'll have access to Baton Pass it just sweetens the pot, which is why I wanted to build a team that worked off of it. He's fast enough to set up an early Substitute to pull of a least one speed boost that can keep building from there and then maybe a sword dance before he passes off. Blazekick is there simply to have a move in case he needs to bat clean-up for any sort of reason.
Blaziken (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 188 Spd / 248 HP / 72 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Baton Pass
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Blaze Kick
Since it looks like MegaEvo's will be a dominant part of the metagame this gen, I figured my first team would be built around one. Originally meant to be Megascizor, but I found the sweeping capabilities of Charizard-X amazing, 1HKO'ing most other offensive pokemon he went up against, even with neutral damage. Dragon Dance is on in case I can't switch right away from Blaziken via Baton Pass with +2 Atk and +2 Spe, and it provides more than enough of a boost. Standard moveset from what I've seen around here on him.
Charizard (F) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Greninja has proven to be one of the biggest surprises this gen for me and proves to be one of the best starters around. Protean makes him a monster able to always pull off STAB, and I've swept a few teams with him with little to no set up. He's been a great stallbreaker and real asset in some of the wins I've pulled off. I used to run Life Orb but he can be a little fragile, so I switched it with Expert Belt due to his sheer amount of coverage and the fact that Protean practically acts as a set of Choice Specs.
Greninja (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
It's hard to believe how much of a powerhouse Azumarill can be. Fairy sub-typing allows him to switch in on Dragons, especially those locked into Outrage, with laughable ease to hit them with Play Rough, Waterfall is a great counter for the likes of Talonflame, as Azumarill is bulky enough to take a hit and then 0HKO the Moltres-wannabe. Aqua Jet provides much needed priority to make up for low speed in certain situations, and Superpower wrecks Chansey/Blissey and the occasional Tyranitar
Azumarill (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 Spd / 252 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower
Scizor has been one of my favorite pokes since its debut, and easily my favorite from Gen II. Bullet Punch provides much needed coverage against Fairy-types, and U-turn in combination with his huge bulk and slow speed allows him to hit hard before switching out to a pokemon that won't have to worry about taking damage on switch in, especially if I've used Defog to remove the entry hazards. Roost provides some nice heals for longevity sake.
Scizor (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
Hippowdon has been a fantastic wall since its debut in Gen IV, and it can also withstand the onslaught of Talonflame and follow up with a 1HKO. I tend to switch it in if Azumarill is locked on a move I don't want or, most often, if my Scizor or Greninja is out and Talonflame switches in. The fact that weather has been nerfed this gen has actually made Hippowdon more versatile in my opinion, as I simply wait out the sandstorm or just switch without fear that it's gonna hamper my team by damaging them each turn for the rest of the battle.
Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind
Thoughts
Now, despite the fact that I have a spreadsheet made for constructing a team to easily view weakness vs. coverage and so on, there are some glaring oversights on my part.
- No water coverage. Bulky water-types are a huge problem for this team
- Only Scizor covers fairy-type with Bullet Punch, but it also only does Neutral Damage to Azumarill(again, bulky water-types=huge problem)
- On the subject of scizor, he provides the only hazard removal
- And on the subject of hazard removal, the team has no creation of entry hazards itself.
- No resistance to ground, 4 pokes take neutral damage and 2 pokes take 2x damage from Earthquake, one of the most popular moves in competitive.
- However, no single move-type does more than 2x damage to 2 pokes or 4x damage to 1 poke, which makes it easy to switch in when 4/6 of the team can resist or at least take neutral damage from an attack the poke I'd have out would be weak to.