I just finished making a long post about the viability of Porygon2, so I figured I'd come a post the main team that inspired that post. This team may just look like "Five good pokemon and a Porygon2", but there is a bit more going on than that.
Porygon2 (The Star of the Show):
-Return
-Curse
-Ice Beam
-Recover
You can go and read my post about Porygon (Here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/gsc-ou-discussion-thread.3688141/page-2), but the main gist is that Porygon2 can pretty reliably keep Snorlax from doing Snorlax things in a similar fashion to how Porygon does in gen 1. Pory exists on this team as the primary way of keeping Snorlax out of play and is dedicated strictly for this roll until Lax is down (sometimes at his hands... er... feet? flippers? You get the point.)
Snorlax:
-Double Edge
-Curse
-Sleep Talk
-Rest
OR
-Double Edge (or Flamethrower)
-Earthquake
-Curse
-Rest
OR
-Double Edge (or Flamethrower)
-Earthquake
-Lovely Kiss or Curse
-Self Destruct
Just doin' Snorlax things. The top set is gets a bit stuffed by Gengar (and Missy) and, without pursuit support, this can be a bit of an annoyance. I typically like to run one of the bottom two (though the top set helps a lot against Nidoking). As usual, Lax has alot of options for sets. With Pory in the mix, your Lax will not have to be dealing with the opposing Lax nearly as often, so you have a bit more flexibility here.
Cloyster:
-Ice Beam
-HP Electric
-Spikes
-Explosion
Boy, do I ever like my freeze hacks. Ice beam provides more opportunities for freeze hacks and helps to punish obvious Zapdos switch-ins. Ice beam freeze hacks also give a desperate out for certain games which are otherwise lost and can no longer be won by "clean play". Ice beam plus high defense generally does a good enough job of keeping out/punishing most ground/rock types not named Tyranitar. But of course, ice beam is not the main reason to run Cloyster. You run Cloyster for the same reasons you always run Cloyster: spikes and boom, with a bit of offense on the side. HP electric helps to smash opposing shells or encourages them to boom and also helps to keep Starmie in check. HP electric also has the benefit hitting just about everything except ground types pretty effectively (which wouldn't dare to switch in on Cloyster). This helps to give Cloyster a bit of an advantage against other water types, such as Vaporeon and Suicune, by wearing them down in to boom range reliably or encouraging them to switch). The combo of "bolt beam" also serves to discourage Skarmory from trying to switch in and eat a boom.
Raikou:
-Thunder (or Thunderbolt)
-Crunch or Roar
-Sleep Talk (or Reflect)
-Rest
Raikou has some options. Crunch combined with rest-talk helps it to switch in on Gengar hypnosis and Jynx lovely kiss and then prevent them from getting too cocky. It also helps with some really cocky Starmie, which I have an especial hatred for. Crunch also has the ability to lower defense, thus forcing out opposing raikou (or really any pokemon with high Sp.D. that decides they want to stay in and brawl). Roar can be used for spikes shuffling or a desperate phase attempt on a sleeping pokemon, but this is less necessary with Lax being kept in check by Pory. Reflect and light screen are both decent options as well depending on what you decide to go with, but you'll need to make sure you have at least one sleep absorber on the team, and Raikou is generally best for this roll (as he can still act as a special wall pretty effectively while asleep), especially against Jynx. Does pretty well against Eggy too.
Gengar:
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Punch
-Hypnosis
-Explosion
You can go read the Porygon2 post for more info, but basically Gengar, in addition to being an amazing pokemon it its own right, synergizes very well with Pory and its ability to keep out Snorlax. Gengar allows for both a guaranteed backup wall to some Lax sets and a shaky makeshift "do a lil' dance" backup when the absolute worst of the worst happens with Porygon and they have a combo of EQ and normal STAB PP remaining. Basically, you can either drain what little PP remains after a failed Pory wall attempt or hypnosis and phase with either Raikou or Zapdos. Also does the normal shenanigans, like spin-blocking, boom-blocking, going boom, revenge killing and cleaning, sleeping threats, etc. Gengar is just, all around, very good and is even better on this team.
Zapdos:
-Thunder
-Hidden Power Ice
-Sleep Talk or Whirlwind (or Lightscreen)
-Rest
Zapdos is, unsurprisingly, making its way on to this team. Zapdos provides an EQ pivot, spikes avoidance, and provides a lot of threat. Without Lax able to exploit it nearly as easily, Zap can much more freely rain down thunders on the opposing team. Whirlwind exists as an option for spikes shuffling, as a desperate phaser, and as a phaser for sleeping boosted pokemon (put to sleep with hypnosis or lovely kiss). Light Screen is just pretty solid support, but isn't as necessary with Raikou helping to wall Zap and serving as a reliable special wall in general.
---
The core idea here is that Pory keeps the opposing Lax out of the game (just as he does in Gen 1), Raikou keeps the opposing Zap out of the game, and both electrics and Gengar make it really hard for Cloyster to get on the field and do its job without give your team opportunity. That right there deals with the three top pokemon in the metagame. Raikou provides a decent answer for Gengar as well, using the threat of para and crunch to prevent it from staying in after it sleeps and denying it the option to remove the team's only electric with boom (since there are two (duh!); also makes it harder to target the better of the two, Zapdos). Crunch also makes Raikou a bit better at handling itself, while EQ on Snorlax can make it harder for Raikou to phase. The bottom line is that this team uses the top metagame threats alongside Pory to DEAL with the top metagame threats.
The standard team comes equip with 2-3 booms, 1-2 phasers for spikes shuffling and as an "acceptable" phasing for boosted sweepers when combo'd with sleep (or a lucky game of chicken), 1-2 late game curse sweepers, two electrics (to keep out and punish Cloyster and any resulting switch-ins), a boom and spin absorber, 1-2 sleepers, 1-2 sleep absorbers, two special walls, plenty of paralysis from thunders, and all the freeze hacks you could ever want.
*Pats hood* This baby can go for miles.
Porygon2 (The Star of the Show):
-Return
-Curse
-Ice Beam
-Recover
You can go and read my post about Porygon (Here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/gsc-ou-discussion-thread.3688141/page-2), but the main gist is that Porygon2 can pretty reliably keep Snorlax from doing Snorlax things in a similar fashion to how Porygon does in gen 1. Pory exists on this team as the primary way of keeping Snorlax out of play and is dedicated strictly for this roll until Lax is down (sometimes at his hands... er... feet? flippers? You get the point.)
Snorlax:
-Double Edge
-Curse
-Sleep Talk
-Rest
OR
-Double Edge (or Flamethrower)
-Earthquake
-Curse
-Rest
OR
-Double Edge (or Flamethrower)
-Earthquake
-Lovely Kiss or Curse
-Self Destruct
Just doin' Snorlax things. The top set is gets a bit stuffed by Gengar (and Missy) and, without pursuit support, this can be a bit of an annoyance. I typically like to run one of the bottom two (though the top set helps a lot against Nidoking). As usual, Lax has alot of options for sets. With Pory in the mix, your Lax will not have to be dealing with the opposing Lax nearly as often, so you have a bit more flexibility here.
Cloyster:
-Ice Beam
-HP Electric
-Spikes
-Explosion
Boy, do I ever like my freeze hacks. Ice beam provides more opportunities for freeze hacks and helps to punish obvious Zapdos switch-ins. Ice beam freeze hacks also give a desperate out for certain games which are otherwise lost and can no longer be won by "clean play". Ice beam plus high defense generally does a good enough job of keeping out/punishing most ground/rock types not named Tyranitar. But of course, ice beam is not the main reason to run Cloyster. You run Cloyster for the same reasons you always run Cloyster: spikes and boom, with a bit of offense on the side. HP electric helps to smash opposing shells or encourages them to boom and also helps to keep Starmie in check. HP electric also has the benefit hitting just about everything except ground types pretty effectively (which wouldn't dare to switch in on Cloyster). This helps to give Cloyster a bit of an advantage against other water types, such as Vaporeon and Suicune, by wearing them down in to boom range reliably or encouraging them to switch). The combo of "bolt beam" also serves to discourage Skarmory from trying to switch in and eat a boom.
Raikou:
-Thunder (or Thunderbolt)
-Crunch or Roar
-Sleep Talk (or Reflect)
-Rest
Raikou has some options. Crunch combined with rest-talk helps it to switch in on Gengar hypnosis and Jynx lovely kiss and then prevent them from getting too cocky. It also helps with some really cocky Starmie, which I have an especial hatred for. Crunch also has the ability to lower defense, thus forcing out opposing raikou (or really any pokemon with high Sp.D. that decides they want to stay in and brawl). Roar can be used for spikes shuffling or a desperate phase attempt on a sleeping pokemon, but this is less necessary with Lax being kept in check by Pory. Reflect and light screen are both decent options as well depending on what you decide to go with, but you'll need to make sure you have at least one sleep absorber on the team, and Raikou is generally best for this roll (as he can still act as a special wall pretty effectively while asleep), especially against Jynx. Does pretty well against Eggy too.
Gengar:
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Punch
-Hypnosis
-Explosion
You can go read the Porygon2 post for more info, but basically Gengar, in addition to being an amazing pokemon it its own right, synergizes very well with Pory and its ability to keep out Snorlax. Gengar allows for both a guaranteed backup wall to some Lax sets and a shaky makeshift "do a lil' dance" backup when the absolute worst of the worst happens with Porygon and they have a combo of EQ and normal STAB PP remaining. Basically, you can either drain what little PP remains after a failed Pory wall attempt or hypnosis and phase with either Raikou or Zapdos. Also does the normal shenanigans, like spin-blocking, boom-blocking, going boom, revenge killing and cleaning, sleeping threats, etc. Gengar is just, all around, very good and is even better on this team.
Zapdos:
-Thunder
-Hidden Power Ice
-Sleep Talk or Whirlwind (or Lightscreen)
-Rest
Zapdos is, unsurprisingly, making its way on to this team. Zapdos provides an EQ pivot, spikes avoidance, and provides a lot of threat. Without Lax able to exploit it nearly as easily, Zap can much more freely rain down thunders on the opposing team. Whirlwind exists as an option for spikes shuffling, as a desperate phaser, and as a phaser for sleeping boosted pokemon (put to sleep with hypnosis or lovely kiss). Light Screen is just pretty solid support, but isn't as necessary with Raikou helping to wall Zap and serving as a reliable special wall in general.
---
The core idea here is that Pory keeps the opposing Lax out of the game (just as he does in Gen 1), Raikou keeps the opposing Zap out of the game, and both electrics and Gengar make it really hard for Cloyster to get on the field and do its job without give your team opportunity. That right there deals with the three top pokemon in the metagame. Raikou provides a decent answer for Gengar as well, using the threat of para and crunch to prevent it from staying in after it sleeps and denying it the option to remove the team's only electric with boom (since there are two (duh!); also makes it harder to target the better of the two, Zapdos). Crunch also makes Raikou a bit better at handling itself, while EQ on Snorlax can make it harder for Raikou to phase. The bottom line is that this team uses the top metagame threats alongside Pory to DEAL with the top metagame threats.
The standard team comes equip with 2-3 booms, 1-2 phasers for spikes shuffling and as an "acceptable" phasing for boosted sweepers when combo'd with sleep (or a lucky game of chicken), 1-2 late game curse sweepers, two electrics (to keep out and punish Cloyster and any resulting switch-ins), a boom and spin absorber, 1-2 sleepers, 1-2 sleep absorbers, two special walls, plenty of paralysis from thunders, and all the freeze hacks you could ever want.
*Pats hood* This baby can go for miles.
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No comments on the set. Does what it needs to do.
With Raikou taking on the duties of a special wall on this team, you have a lot of liberty with your Snorlax set. There are benefits to bringing off the wall and unexpected Snorlax sets, but I have arrived in DE/EQ/Curse/Rest for the sake of consistency. This set will do the most work game to game and takes advantage of your team structure to make Snorlax an offensive threat.
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Using Rest electrics without Sleep Talk is borderline unviable on offensive teams. The free turns it gives to your opponent will consistently sap your momentum, not to mention Sleep users causing issues for your team. Crunch Raikou is a good choice on this team to provide consistency against Substitute Jynx as Thunder + Hidden Power sets can get unlucky Sleep Talk sequences against Sub. Standard Sleep Talk Zapdos is always great. It’s longevity keeps it doing damage for the entire game and is a good answer to Lovely Kiss Nidoking, which otherwise causes issues for your team.
I think all the reasons you cite to use Ice Beam / HP Electric Cloy rarely comes into affect. While Ice Beam can hax some games with freeze and hit Zapdos switch-ins hard, Cloyster’s priority is setting up Spikes. Cloy frequently gets worn down while Spiking and will not find many opportunities to fish for freezes. Additionally the worse Tyranitar matchup compared to Surf is significant. Nothing on your team switches into Rock Slide/Earthquake/Roar Ttar well. Surf Cloy won’t fix the issue of switching in, but it makes it that much more difficult for Ttar to get in in the first place.
No comments, good set.