First VGC team ever

[Zaheer]

Tapu Fini is slow, and removes other terrains with her Misty Surge and allows me to be immune to status attacks, which is amazing. Muddy Water and Moonblast are great coverage, using Calm Mind without being afraid of any status is also great. Protect is always necessary. Also, it works great against TR teams.

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 228 SpA / 16 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect

As intimidating as it can be, Kroko helps to force switch, Earthquake and Crunch are both great STAB. I was using Garchomp before, but I'm assumed Kroko could be more useful in some battles. I'm still not sure about his EV spread and Sludge Bomb. Maybe there's something more useful out there.

Krookodile @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect

He is a lot more useful that he seems. Fake Out is amazing and with his ability Tapu Fini can set CM without worrying too much. He (I don't know why) becomes a focus many times and his huge amount of resistances are cool. It's here to annoy and to give free turns to my other mons, I used to run Nuzzle but with the Misty terrain is kind of a waste.

Togedemaru @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Substitute
- Fake Out
- Zing Zap

Gengar turns out to be useful against other Tapus and his W-o-W access (without my Fini in the field) is great to stop things like DD Gyarados. Sludge Bomb is cool against fairies and Focus Blast tries to kill everything else. About the EV spread, I can't explain it, but it has saved me a lot of times and it's enough to kill some stuff, but I'm always open to suggestions. Wide Lens is to secure (at least a little bit) the Focus Blast and the burn.

Gengar @ Wide Lens
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 148 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

Instruct is amazing, and using him in certain occasions is a key to win. His set explains itself, although I don't get to fit him really well in my team. I need help with this one, but usually it helps Fini to sweep with two massive attacks or to get a really good +2 CM boost.

Oranguru @ Custap Berry
Ability: Telepathy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Instruct
- Trick Room
- Protect

I needed something fire and strong, and this thing with intimidate and Burn Up is pretty cool. I'm still trying to figure out everything, but I guess Snarl is great against other teams. Close Combat is to hit things dark/steel/normal although I don't think it does much to Porygon.

Arcanine @ Charcoal
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Burn Up
- Snarl
- Close Combat
- Protect

I guess I have a lot to improve and this is just a first thing to have fun in the format. I'm open to all suggestion although I'd rather skip UB from the team, if anyone can help me to improve anything, from sets to EVs or replace something I'll be forever thankful!​

 

[SnortopsYT]

Hmm, the choice of Tapu Fini is strange, the weather set up role is better suited for Primarina, who has MUCH better stats. I'll give it a better rate once I'm on a computer.

 

[Mystical]

Hi, thought of a couple of suggestions for your team.

First off, Sludge Bomb isn't doing anything notable for your Krookodile (even 4x weak Bulu isn’t a OHKO). As is, he also gets outsped and KO'd or nearly KO'd by some common electrics, too, so I would suggest switching to a Choice Scarf Krookodile. Something like this:

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk, 68 SpD, 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge

The EVs here outspeed Timid Koko and Scarf Xurkitree, and OHKO Xurk, Koko, and A-Rai that haven’t invested heavily in bulk. You also survive Koko’s Dazzling Gleam ~93% of the time and all of A-Rai's coverage. Pelipper is definitely an issue for Krookodile, though, especially with Rain-boosted Scald. Moxie is also an option here that would ease the matchup against bulky Xurk if you get a boost beforehand.

Next, since your Z-Crystal slot is now open, I would switch your Arcanine to a Firium-Z Arcanine. A support-esque set with Burn Up//Snarl//Extreme Speed//Protect improves on the strong fire STAB you wanted and offers some utility with priority Extreme Speed and the Snarl you had before.
Ex:

Arcanine @ Firium-Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 36 Atk, 252 SpA, 220 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Burn Up
- Snarl / coverage
- Extreme Speed
- Protect / coverage

This set, in addition to nuking the snot out of everything that isn't a solid special tank or a fire resist, outspeeds Timid Porygon-Z by one point, allowing you nuke it to prevent Z-Conversion sweeps. Snarl or Protect could be replaced with coverage since this Arcky isn’t especially bulky and only technically needs to be alive for two turns to do its main job. That said, it’s definitely worth noting that this set can use Burn Up twice, as opposed to before, when it could only use it once.

Aside from that, I would recommend trying out some other moves on Gengar instead of Focus Blast, because Focus Blast is really a tremendously bad move imo. Hex, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, and Thunderbolt all come to mind as potentially better options, with the latter two being safer options against some water types (which could give this team some trouble *cough cough* Milotic *cough cough* Gastrodon *cough*) after a little more investment in Gengar's SpA.

Hope this helped and good luck!

Edit: So Arcanine doesn't learn Taunt. :/ Took that out of the set I posted.

 

[HajimeDess]

Hi, thought of a couple of suggestions for your team.

First off, Sludge Bomb isn't doing anything notable for your Krookodile (even 4x weak Bulu isn’t a OHKO). As is, he also gets outsped and KO'd or nearly KO'd by some common electrics, too, so I would suggest switching to a Choice Scarf Krookodile. Something like this:

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk, 68 SpD, 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge

The EVs here outspeed Timid Koko and Scarf Xurkitree, and OHKO Xurk, Koko, and A-Rai that haven’t invested heavily in bulk. You also survive Koko’s Dazzling Gleam ~93% of the time and all of A-Rai's coverage. Pelipper is definitely an issue for Krookodile, though, especially with Rain-boosted Scald. Moxie is also an option here that would ease the matchup against bulky Xurk if you get a boost beforehand.

Next, since your Z-Crystal slot is now open, I would switch your Arcanine to a Firium-Z Arcanine. A support-esque set with Burn Up//Snarl//Extreme Speed//Taunt improves on the strong fire STAB you wanted and offers some utility with Taunt and a solid priority attack.
Ex:

Arcanine @ Firium-Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 36 Atk, 252 SpA, 220 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Burn Up
- Snarl / coverage
- Extreme Speed
- Taunt / Protect

This set, in addition to nuking the snot out of everything that isn't a solid special tank or a fire resist, outspeeds Timid Porygon-Z by one point, allowing you to Taunt it or nuke it to prevent Z-Conversion sweeps. Snarl could also be replaced with coverage since this Arcky isn’t especially bulky. It’s definitely worth noting that this set can use Burn Up twice, as opposed to before, when it could only use it once.

Aside from that, I would recommend trying out some other moves on Gengar instead of Focus Blast, because focus Blast is really a tremendously bad move imo. Hex, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, and Thunderbolt all come to mind as potentially better options, with the latter two being safer options against some water types (which could give this team some trouble *cough cough* Milotic *cough cough* Gastrodon *cough*) after a little more investment in Gengar's SpA.

Hope this helped and good luck!

how do you get taunt on arcanine I can't find anyway to do it now.

 

[Mystical]

how do you get taunt on arcanine I can't find anyway to do it now.

Huh
Yeah
Good call. Not sure what I was thinking there. Arcanine still beats Pory-Z with Z-Burn Up, so I guess that front is still covered. I'll edit that out :/

 

[blarajan]

Temporarily locking until you make an attempt at this thread

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/mandatory-team-building-homework-assignment.3589392/