First time Team looking for feedback (hit 1498)

[AmbientRaven]

Hi Folks,

This is my first ever RMT; and, first ever foray into competitive battling. I'm hoping to make a team for both Showdown and for Cartridge play, so that does slightly inhibit my choices going into this.
This team does need some work as I'll cover after the team preview :)

Overview

I started with my two favorite pokemon.

Here I had my solid core. Charizard X or Y is a powerful pokemon, and Poison heal walling Gliscor is just mean. Time to add a Revenge killer.

Bisharp. Counter De-fogger, Pursuit killer, all round house of a pokemon. So I have a Physical Sweeper. A Physical wall and a Revenge killer/Trapper. Time for a wall breaker.

Pretty standard really. Now we need a hazard setter and a clearer. Lets add those

Originally I had Rapid Spin Starmie, but I found that Starmie never really did much for me. So I swapped to a Scizor with Defog/Uturn and Bullet punch. Knock off is added bonus for predicted switches since I can't run it on bisharp (tutor move from gen 5 I cant obtain).
After some playtesting I seemed to like how Charizard X works on this team as opposed to Y

Breakdown

Brimstone (Charizard) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 144 HP / 240 Atk / 4 SDef / 120 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz
- Roost

Charizard X. What more do I need to say really?
I kid. This guys is fantastic. orignally before pokebank came out (i briefly playted online when X/Y Came out) I used a Dragonite as my sweeper; but after swapping and trying my friends Charizard X I was smitten. Add in the fact it is my (and I am sure many others) favourite pokemon (the base form, not the Mega) and I knew this was my starting point.
Move set is pretty straight forward. he can swap into predicted fire type moves that half the team are weak to as well.
This team really lacks Earthquake though so I am wondering if not swapping Roost for Earthquake would be a good idea.

Rakhman (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 40 Def / 224 Spd
Serious Nature
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Protect
- Ice Fang

Standard physical wall Gliscor. EV's to help it survive + outspeed most threats to land Subs/Toxic. Went for ice fang over Earthquake as a lot of people switch ina ballon user thinking to get a free set up on Gliscor. Damage is lower but this is a staller, not a sweeper.

Phalanx (Aegislash) (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak

Wall breaker Aegislash. Again this is a very common standard build. EV's are to help Shadowball damage.

Earl (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head

When I first looked at Bisharp i thought he would be a useless pokemon. Wow how wrong I was!
This is probably tied with Charizard X for most kills/team downs on the field. I would love to run it with Knock off over power up punch, but very hard almost impossible to find outtside of Showdown. EV's are to max damage as much as possible

First Born (Scizor) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Knock Off
- Defog

I am not sure I life the lifeorb being here. I think i may swap for Leftovers.
EV sporead to add some bulk. The move set is a good lead. Allowing me to knock items from sweepers,defog hazards and U-turn out if needed

Tuxedoman (Empoleon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Scald

Every team needs a swav man in a suit. I was trying to find a Special Wall that could also entry hazard if needed. This stall-ish Empoleon set has worked well, as a lot of people don't know what to expect from it. he can switch into fire moves if needed, can toxic stall or burn stall. Burn is there for steel types, toxic for the rest. Sp.D bulky EV spread and nature

This team has worked pretty well, in messing about hit 1400 with it easy enough.
I am really torn between a Smeargle setter/Rapid spin combo, or Skarmory/Spinner combo.

Problem areas:
Hazard Setter + Defog user means I have to be careful how I set entries.
Weakness to Fire (3/6 weak)
Weakness to Ground (4/6 weak)
Weakness to walls if Aegislash dies (no Special attackers)
No Earthquaker (one of the strongest moves in pokemon IMO)
I would love a Deoxys-D, but getting one in game is almost impossible.
Probably several I am missing.


Some help/support for this list would be fantastic, because, as i said this is my first real competitive team (and I know keeping to only obtainable on cartridge is a limiting factor)

Thank you for any feedback

-Nikki

 

[AM]

Hello and welcome to competitive battling, anyways on to the rate. (I'll try my best to make it in-game accessible as well)

Charizard X:
This looks fine to me and I really think Roost is pretty important on both Mega Zards but if there is one reason you would run EQ over Roost it would be for something like Heatran.

Gliscor:
Impish > Serious nature on Gliscor.

Aegislash:
Quiet > Adamant Nature on Aegislash. Adamant is actually hindering your ability to wall break with Shadow Ball. Sacred Sword and Shadow Sneak is to support Shadow Ball anyways to provide neutral coverage and help with Bisharp/Ttar switch ins and take out weakened threats.

Bisharp:
I'm assuming Power Up Punch is for other Bisharps. Honestly, it would be more beneficial to run either Swords Dance or Pursuit over Power Up Punch on Bisharp. Swords Dance takes 1 turn to set up a +2 attack boost while Power Up Punch would take 2 turns to do the same that you can't afford to lose on Bisharp. Pursuit is for Pursuit trapping such things as the Lati@s twins, Starmie, or anything that is susceptible to Pursuit basically.

Usually I rather suggest small changes but as you mentioned you have a pretty good fire and ground weakness so I'm going to suggest Mandibuzz as your defogger over Scizor.

Mandibuzz Set

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 108 SDef / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- Taunt

Basic Utility set, nothing too fancy about it. First, one less ground and fire weakness, with the former being an immunity to Mandibuzz. You gain an electric weakness but unless otherwise mentioned by yourself, this really shouldn't be an issue with Gliscor and Charizard X around. Second, you claimed to be weak to walls so Taunt over Whirlwind to help you alleviate some pressure from that.

Empoleon:
This seems fine as well but if you are willing to forgo the hazards you can also run Greninja over this. Your team is primarily slow outside of Charizard, who still needs the boost to hit an efficient enough speed to sweep. Having Greninja can help with some faster mons that can threaten your team such as Latios, Terrakion, Keldeo, etc. Greninja can also help handle Mamoswine leads more efficiently, something that can threaten your team if you can't get Charizard in to handle it. If you do opt to use it here's an easy set to get a hold of in-game.

Greninja Set

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory
- Grass Knot

Suggested Grass Knot over say Dark Pulse or HP Fire because you have enough coverage with what Dark Pulse would hit, HP Fire can be a tad tricky to get in-game and you have Fire coverage anyways, and grass knot can help deal with mons such as Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Azumarill more easily. Just want to let you know that if you're using this set on showdown put 0 IVs in attack.

That's about it hope that helps and good luck.

 

[AmbientRaven]

Thank you for the feedback!

A few concerns/clarifications though if you don't mind

Gliscor:

Impish > Serious nature on Gliscor.

May I ask why? Gliscor uses no Special Attacks so the boost in Def would be beneficial I thought?

Usually I rather suggest small changes but as you mentioned you have a pretty good fire and ground weakness so I'm going to suggest Mandibuzz as your defogger over Scizor.

Mandibuzz Set

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 108 SDef / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- Taunt

Basic Utility set, nothing too fancy about it. First, one less ground and fire weakness, with the former being an immunity to Mandibuzz. You gain an electric weakness but unless otherwise mentioned by yourself, this really shouldn't be an issue with Gliscor and Charizard X around. Second, you claimed to be weak to walls so Taunt over Whirlwind to help you alleviate some pressure from that.

Thanks for this! Losing the damage from Scizor will suck though as I found him situationally useful. How would you feel about Knock off replacing Taunt? I have found that ability to be amazing all the time. It is great on predicted switch ins and can ruin game plans

Empoleon:
This seems fine as well but if you are willing to forgo the hazards you can also run Greninja over this. Your team is primarily slow outside of Charizard, who still needs the boost to hit an efficient enough speed to sweep. Having Greninja can help with some faster mons that can threaten your team such as Latios, Terrakion, Keldeo, etc. Greninja can also help handle Mamoswine leads more efficiently, something that can threaten your team if you can't get Charizard in to handle it. If you do opt to use it here's an easy set to get a hold of in-game.

Greninja Set

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory
- Grass Knot

Suggested Grass Knot over say Dark Pulse or HP Fire because you have enough coverage with what Dark Pulse would hit, HP Fire can be a tad tricky to get in-game and you have Fire coverage anyways, and grass knot can help deal with mons such as Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Azumarill more easily. Just want to let you know that if you're using this set on showdown put 0 IVs in attack.

Thanks! So since I am running a defogger I guess this answers my question of is it worth Defog + SR in the same team. I actually have a low atck +Def +Sp.D +Speed ditto i caught earlier i could use to breed into this.

Thank you so much for your help! Any changes I haven't commented on I have changed (aegislash was a mistype, it had the updated nature on my list i just copied the wrong set for him ><)

 

[AM]

May I ask why? Gliscor uses no Special Attacks so the boost in Def would be beneficial I thought?

Impish will increase it's Defense stat by 10% while decreasing it's Special attack by 10%. Since you're not using special attacks Impish is the best nature for it in your case, Defense boost with no cost basically.

Thanks for this! Losing the damage from Scizor will suck though as I found him situationally useful. How would you feel about Knock off replacing Taunt? I have found that ability to be amazing all the time. It is great on predicted switch ins and can ruin game plans

It's good but usually it's better to either stick with Foul Play or Knock off not both. Plus you already have Bisharp for Knock Off if you really need to take off an item. The Taunt suggestion was for your issues with stall mons. Foul Play is really great because if something like say, Mega Scizor boosts with Swords Dance, you actually have a chance to beat it. Something that wouldn't happen if you used Knock off instead.

Also running both SR + Defog is perfectly fine it's just you were lacking some fast presence to help out your slower mons so it was just a suggestion I thought you could try out.

 

[ForgottenOnes]

Main point
You only have 1 Special Attacker (Not including Empoleon).
Gliscor
Don't use Serious Nature on your Gliscor. As AM145 said, anything is better than Serious Nature. Raising your defense, attack, or even speed stat is better than raising nothing. I would recommend Jolly nature, but I guess the nature of the Gliscor comes with more playtesting and battling.

Bisharp
Power-Up Punch can be changed. Once again, as AM145 said, Power-Up Punch is a great idea. The only problem with it is that
a) There is no effect on Ghost Type Pokemon, therefore wasting your one turn's attack.
b) It only raises your attack by 1.
I believe Swords Dance would be a much better alternate. Knock off would also work as stated in your post.

Scizor
Instead of having a Scizor defog, you could get a special attacker/defog-er. Latias and Latios are great Pokemon to attack and defog.
Here is a Latias set that I use, and love.

Hide

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish

Hope this helped and good luck with your battles!

 

[Emmy2]

Hmm... A few things you can try without changing too much on the team. My changes in bold:

1. Empoleon learns Defog, and is a better choice for the job than a non-mega, non-defensive Scizor. And because he's also your rock setter, you can defog your opponent's rocks and set your own on the same set. Use this:

Tuxedoman (Empoleon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Scald

2. Choice Band > Life orb on Scizor. Also since you have defog elsewhere, you can run another move.

First Born (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Knock Off
- Superpower

3. Use Quiet nature on Aegislash, and Jolly or Impish nature on your Gliscor (I prefer a different set entirely on him, but yours will probably do better with Impish).

If you're willing to make more changes, you can trade out Scizor or Bisharp for a special or mixed attacker, preferably a dragon type which will give you better resistances. Latios, Kyurem-B, and Hydreigon are all good choices (depending on what you want it to do, and what you're looking for in terms of secondary resists).. Latios is probably your best choice but if you're playing in game and can't get one, replace Bisharp with Hydreigon.

Hope that helped. :)

 

[pj]

Your Team has lot of weakness of Ground so i suggest have any pokemon that can easily counter Ground and
Instead of having a Scizor defog, defoger. Latios are great Pokemon to attack and defog. move set for latios
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball

Energy ball can counter Ground types and have ability Levitate so its immune to Ground type and it can attack well.

 

[AmbientRaven]

AM145

Thanks, I realised my original post is a typo. The Gliscor I bred is Impish, not sure why Serious is listed, sorry!



I tried Mandibuzz with a utility set (Defog, Knock off, Uturn and Taunt) and it worked moderately well. Tried Greninja and Bulky SpA Starmieand had poor luck though. I just played a few games with Excadrill andRotom-W and so far its going ok


How do the following two look? (all above recomended changes have been executed) (will update above post tomorrow morning as its 3am now)
BTW, i would love Latias but getting 5iv right nature one online thats not a clone is all but impossible :(

Hide

Hans (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin


Swishy Swashy (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SDef / 44 Spd
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split