I've been playing HO for a while now (largely because I think prediction should go die in a fire) and have eventually gravitated to this team:
Choice Scarf
Timid
252 HP 252 Speed 6 Defense
Spore
Trick
Whirlwind
Destiny Bond
I like spore leads because they usually give me an automatic 6-5 advantage if my opponent switches the sleeped poke out. If they leave it in, it gives azelf a chance to set up sr and screens uncontested. Whirlwind is there because I don't really have any phazing ability. Destiny bond is filler. I'm thinking of sticking in taunt somewhere. Taking out what's probably their stealth rocker is especially beneficial to this team because I'm a little SR weak.
Light Clay
Jolly
252 HP 252 Speed 6 Attack
Stealth Rock
Reflect
Light Screen
Explosion
I send this in after sporing. Just sets up rocks, screens, and explodes. I'm again thinking of putting taunt on this, but I really like explosion for the possibility of a free kill and an easy switch-in for a sweeper.
Lum Berry
Adamant
6 HP 252 Speed 252 Attack
Substitute
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Outrage
This is great for sending in on double switches created by explosions. Lum Berry gives me something to send in on bulky pokes that spam conditions, sometimes helps grab another dance, and lets me spam outrage in otherwise risky situations by curing confusion. If my opponent lets this set up, they often are forced to sac a bulky water (empoleon giggles in delight) to make me outrage and still take a big chunk of damage from outrage on a steel.
Wacan Berry
Adamant
6 HP 252 Speed 252 Attack
Dragon Dance
Taunt
Waterfall
Return
Another sweeper that draws bulky waters. Wacan Berry is there because I hate *4 weaknesses seeing as how a surprise hidden power or something can destroy you. In addition, it sometimes lets me get a second dragon dance. Taunt stops phazers I can't one-shot. It so happens most of these phazers are the bulky waters I'm trying to get rid of (swampert and suicune), so it can really help. That said, I have had some problems with getting set up on by salamence, to the point where I may have to taunt it just to stop it from dancing. Largely because of that last issue and the fact that this seems to be the most easily walled/killed of my sweepers, I'm considering trying a more traditional moveset. This is probably the biggest point I want advice on.
Life Orb
Naughty
252 Speed 232 Attack 26 SAttack
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Fire Blast
Dragon Claw
Dragon claw over earthquake because fire blast hits most of the same things, and I've found that (unless my opponent has an especially fast scarfer) most of salamence's deaths come from being forced into outrage and killed by a steel similar to kingdra. Dragon claw lets me avoid outraging against weakened bulky pokemon and other dragons. I'm thinking about lum berry again here to help get possible second dances and remove the confusion after outraging.
Petaya Berry
Modest
12 HP 12 Defense 234 Speed 252 SAttack
Agility
Substitute
Surf
Ice Beam
The best sweeper in the game. The set is torn straight from the smogon page, so I don't really know what the EV's are for. Most of my team draws out and kills bulky waters pretty effectively, so I go with ice beam over grass knot.
It may seem weird to have empoleon on a physical HO team, but most of its counters are the bulky waters the rest of my team effectively draw out and kill. The only real divergence between the counters of empoleon and my physical sweepers is blissey. Thankfully, the pink obese one is relatively rare.
Because of my two pokemon setup strategy, I only have four sweepers. Smeargle and azelf are pretty consistent in getting me SR, screens, and preventing my opponent from performing their opening plans. That said, sometimes it seems like I could use another sweeper to ram against my opponents' walls. Part of the reason I went with the two was that I couldn't find another sweeper that I thought fit well. If someone can suggest a good additional offensive poke, I'd try just going with a suicide lead or something to make space to include it. So if anyone could point me towards a lead that doesn't rely on too much rock-paper-scissors I'd be grateful.
The biggest problem for my team is scarfers. People that have multiple scarfers can be tough to deal with. Fast scarfers that can kill my pokes even after dancing (like latias) are especially problematic if they're used correctly.
Thanks for reading this and advising me!
Choice Scarf
Timid
252 HP 252 Speed 6 Defense
Spore
Trick
Whirlwind
Destiny Bond
I like spore leads because they usually give me an automatic 6-5 advantage if my opponent switches the sleeped poke out. If they leave it in, it gives azelf a chance to set up sr and screens uncontested. Whirlwind is there because I don't really have any phazing ability. Destiny bond is filler. I'm thinking of sticking in taunt somewhere. Taking out what's probably their stealth rocker is especially beneficial to this team because I'm a little SR weak.
Light Clay
Jolly
252 HP 252 Speed 6 Attack
Stealth Rock
Reflect
Light Screen
Explosion
I send this in after sporing. Just sets up rocks, screens, and explodes. I'm again thinking of putting taunt on this, but I really like explosion for the possibility of a free kill and an easy switch-in for a sweeper.
Lum Berry
Adamant
6 HP 252 Speed 252 Attack
Substitute
Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Outrage
This is great for sending in on double switches created by explosions. Lum Berry gives me something to send in on bulky pokes that spam conditions, sometimes helps grab another dance, and lets me spam outrage in otherwise risky situations by curing confusion. If my opponent lets this set up, they often are forced to sac a bulky water (empoleon giggles in delight) to make me outrage and still take a big chunk of damage from outrage on a steel.
Wacan Berry
Adamant
6 HP 252 Speed 252 Attack
Dragon Dance
Taunt
Waterfall
Return
Another sweeper that draws bulky waters. Wacan Berry is there because I hate *4 weaknesses seeing as how a surprise hidden power or something can destroy you. In addition, it sometimes lets me get a second dragon dance. Taunt stops phazers I can't one-shot. It so happens most of these phazers are the bulky waters I'm trying to get rid of (swampert and suicune), so it can really help. That said, I have had some problems with getting set up on by salamence, to the point where I may have to taunt it just to stop it from dancing. Largely because of that last issue and the fact that this seems to be the most easily walled/killed of my sweepers, I'm considering trying a more traditional moveset. This is probably the biggest point I want advice on.
Life Orb
Naughty
252 Speed 232 Attack 26 SAttack
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Fire Blast
Dragon Claw
Dragon claw over earthquake because fire blast hits most of the same things, and I've found that (unless my opponent has an especially fast scarfer) most of salamence's deaths come from being forced into outrage and killed by a steel similar to kingdra. Dragon claw lets me avoid outraging against weakened bulky pokemon and other dragons. I'm thinking about lum berry again here to help get possible second dances and remove the confusion after outraging.
Petaya Berry
Modest
12 HP 12 Defense 234 Speed 252 SAttack
Agility
Substitute
Surf
Ice Beam
The best sweeper in the game. The set is torn straight from the smogon page, so I don't really know what the EV's are for. Most of my team draws out and kills bulky waters pretty effectively, so I go with ice beam over grass knot.
It may seem weird to have empoleon on a physical HO team, but most of its counters are the bulky waters the rest of my team effectively draw out and kill. The only real divergence between the counters of empoleon and my physical sweepers is blissey. Thankfully, the pink obese one is relatively rare.
Because of my two pokemon setup strategy, I only have four sweepers. Smeargle and azelf are pretty consistent in getting me SR, screens, and preventing my opponent from performing their opening plans. That said, sometimes it seems like I could use another sweeper to ram against my opponents' walls. Part of the reason I went with the two was that I couldn't find another sweeper that I thought fit well. If someone can suggest a good additional offensive poke, I'd try just going with a suicide lead or something to make space to include it. So if anyone could point me towards a lead that doesn't rely on too much rock-paper-scissors I'd be grateful.
The biggest problem for my team is scarfers. People that have multiple scarfers can be tough to deal with. Fast scarfers that can kill my pokes even after dancing (like latias) are especially problematic if they're used correctly.
Thanks for reading this and advising me!