VGC Jaeger's Defensive Team

[Jaeger117]

So guys. I'm building a fairly defensive team, but I feel like it could use some help. I came here to ask for some help and suggestions on it. (This info is all pretty basic and you shouldn't really have to read this, but the next part's important). I have thrown around several ideas for the last two Pokemon. I've had mixed results with each and I want to hear your opinion. I'll list a few different ones and my plans for them.

Porygon 2

Name: Gigabyte
Ability: Analytic (This is the hidden ability and it can't be changed, however I might trade for one with a better one, maybe Trace)
Held Item: Eviolite
EVs: Max Defense, Max Sp. Defense, and a tad of Sp. Attack
Nature: Modest (+Sp. Attack, -Attack)
Moveset: TriAttack, Discharge, Psyshock, Recover
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So this Pokémon is meant to be a wall, as it's Defense and Sp. Defense are crazy. The Eviolite just adds a bit more to that (and by bit I'm mean a substantial amount). TriAttack is a decently powered move and has a stab effect which comes in handy. Not to mention randomly getting Burn, Paralysis, or Freeze (I prefer freeze, but who doesn't). Discharge covers water and flying types which are fairly common considering Toxapex, Corviknight, etc. It also is nice for paralysis. Psyshock is for use against Sp. Defense Pokémon because it does physical instead of special. It also covers fighting types which is a decent threat. Recover just solidifies this as a wall by increasing it's lifespan a lot.

Inteleon

Name: Deadshot
Ability: Sniper
Held Item: Scope Lens
EVs: Max Speed, A lot of Special Attack, and the spares on Defense and Sp. Defense
Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Moveset: Focus Energy, Snipe Shot, Air Slash, Ice Beam
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The Scope Lens allows for automatic Critical Hit set ups, which are boosted with the Sniper ability. Focus Energy plus the Scope Lens will make all of his moves automatically crit. However, if his item is knocked off, Snipe Shot will still be an auto-crit whereas the others will have a fifty-fifty chance. This allows Deadshot to sweep with ease because of his maxed speed stat. All you have to do is get Focus Energy off and you're set. It's nice to send this out first or get an obvious type advantage so your opponent is inclined to switch out. I've done this on many occasions and it works great. This would also be one of them to use dynamax or gigantamax on.

Leafeon

Name: Sageos
Ability: Leaf Guard
Held Item: Heat Rock
EVs: Max Attack, Even the rest between Speed and Defense
Nature: Careful (+Sp. Defense, -Sp. Attack)
Moveset: Sunny Day, Solar Blade, Iron Tail (I'm not sure about this one), Synthesis
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This is another wall, but also a set up into another one of my Pokémon. The ability Leaf Guard is unexpected when running it like this, I know, but that's the point. I've had plenty of occasions where people try to counterplay by using toxic and withering away at it, or immediately using Venoshock after, but with Leaf Guard it doesn't work and allows for a big punish. Most people can understand the set up, but I'll briefly explain. I use Sunny Day before anything else allowing for an extremely strong and immediate Solar Blade or heal a crazy amount with Synthesis. The Heat Rock increases the length of Sunny Day, meaning I can focus more on the opponents movements and sets up easier into my other Pokémon. Iron Tail is here for type reasons, but I think it would be better to do Leech Seed, Dig, or even Last Resort instead. I'm leaning most toward Leech Seed as it will make this even more formidable.

Volcarona

Name: BeerVirusBug
Ability: Swarm
Held Item: ???
EVs: Max Sp. Attack, Max Speed, and a wee bit on Sp. Defense
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Attack)
Moveset: Fire Spin, Giga Drain, Bug Buzz (Protect might need to replace this), Will-O-Wisp
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So the idea of this one is to get a buff from Sunny Day if possible on Fire Spin. The first move would be to get the opponent trapped in Fire Spin, or burned quickly. Then follow up with the other one. Giga Drain will help leech there life away while helping keep you alive (this would be a nice pair with Leafeon's Leech Seed) and covers Rock, Water, and Ground weaknesses. If I were to have bug buzz, which I have used with this team, it could easily cover some extra types and has good power (especially considering it's Sp. Attack). If I were to replace it with Protect However, it could use protect after burning and trapping them in Fire Spin (and possibly Leech Seed), keeping it alive easier. It's also easily followed up with Giga Drain. Concerning the held item. I've had many ideas for what I could use here. I've considered Wise Glasses (handy but probably not the best option), Grip Claw (lengthening Fire Spin), Big Root (increasing the HP recovered from Giga Drain), and Leftovers (healing even more health). This is probably the biggest question here. I might even want to change the item depending on what I'm going for that round. Swarm would only be useful on this Pokemon if I had Bug Buzz, but this is it's current ability and hidden ability so there's no real changing that. I could just catch another and all that jazz, but I don't know if that's really necessary, considering that the only other ability is Flame Body which isn't really useful on a Pokemon running Will-O-Wisp.

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This is where the last two come in. Here are some of my ideas.

Sandslash

Name: N/A
Ability: Sand Veil
Held Item: Bright Powder (also a maybe)
EVs: Max Speed, Plenty on Attack and Defense, A few on Sp. Defense
Nature: Careful (+Sp. Defense, -Sp. Attack)
Moveset: Sandstorm, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Shadow Claw
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So the basic idea for this one is to use Sand Veil plus the Bright Powder to my advantage, while supporting my other pokemon as well. I have two ideas for this Pokemon. One being a pair with Leafeon, and one being a pair with Volcarona. The pair with Leafeon would have it switch out to Sandslash after Leech Seeding (or if it doesn't have Leech Seed) just for type advantage. The sandstorm would pair well with Leech Seed. The pair with Volcarona would require it to have Safety Goggles so it wouldn't be effected by the sandstorm. The sandstorm would help Fire Spin and the Burn to chip away at the enemy's health. Both ways, I've considered changing the Bright Powder to a Smooth Rock instead to increase the length of Sandstorm. One of this Pokémon's weaknesses is it's poor Sp. Defense. I've used EVs and Nature to help that a lot. I also gave it the move Shadow Claw to counter Ghost and Psychic types in general, and a lot of them are special based. Earthquake and Rock Slide are pretty self explanatory.

Zoroark

Name: N/A
Ability: Illusion (But of course)
Held Item: Assault Vest
EVs: A lot of Speed, The rest on Attack and Sp. Attack
Nature: Lax (+Defense, -Sp. Defense)
Moveset: Knock Off, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower, U-Turn
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I think this Pokemon set up is pretty self explanatory. It's used for deception, insanely high speed and great type coverage. Because of this, I've even considered instead of having an Assault Vest giving it an Expert Belt (I think I'll alternate between the two depending on my opponent). Knock Off is very good here because of the sheer speed of this one. U-Turn is also good for escaping dangerous situations (like ones that might blow your cover) and type coverage too. The other two are mainly for type coverage and status effects.

Dragapult

Name: (Something in Japanese, got it traded to me)
Ability: Infiltrator
Held Item: Assault Vest
EVs: Max Speed, Max Attack, a tad of Sp. Attack
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, Defense)
Moveset: Dragon Darts, Thunderbolt, Steel Wing, Flamethrower
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Oh, you didn't expect me trying Dragapult?
Anyways, This Pokemon I great but I don't know if he feels right on this team. That's my opinion, but he does cover a lot and is too good not to suggest. If he was on this team, he'd look like this. Insane speed, weakness covering moves, an Assault Vest for protection, and just brute killing power.

Orbeetle

Name: PolkaCircles
Ability: Frisk
Held Item: Light Clay
EVs: Max Defense, A lot on Sp. Defense, a few on Speed
Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack)
Moveset: Light Screen, Reflect, Psychic, Bug Buzz
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This in and of itself is a wall. However, not only is it that, but it makes defeating the rest of my team a lot harder too. It could be used with Inteleon to help it survive, same with Volcarona. It would make Porygon that much better as a wall and increase the defensed of Leafeon. The moves Psychic and Bug Buzz are mainly fallbacks and I'm considering taking one of them away for Recover (most likely Bug Buzz). This Pokemon would be decently fast to quickly set up Light Screen and Reflect. I think this would be a great addition. It's probably one of my top picks here.

Corviknight

Name: Bravo
Ability: Pressure
Held Item: Leftovers
EVs: Max HP, A lot on Defense and Sp. Defense
Nature: Jolly (+Speed, -Sp. Attack)
Moveset: Drill Peck, Iron Head, Swagger, Roost
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And yet another wall, but that's part of this whole thing. Corviknight's Defenses are great, adding Swagger to confuse opponents only helps. Plus the leftovers and Roost exponentially make this better. This would go great with Orbeetle or Sandslash. This one is just really reliable, but it is very common to see. That's really my only problem with this one. It's a little boring and if people really know how to deal with it, it's a goner.

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And there you have it. Your help is much appreciated and I would love to hear some ideas you have. If you think a completely different Pokemon would be better for any of the slots, I'm all ears. Thanks again in advance.

 

[Jaeger117]

I fixed the image problem, yay!

 

[Madjack97]

Let's start saying that my intention is not to be rude:

I'd start pointing out what i dont like about the first 4 pokemon setup.

Porygon2: with eviolite he is already kind of bulky and surely bulkier than porygonZ, that's why his speed is definitely lower than his evolution.
That said i think u should focus more on his hp if you want him to be bulky and spread the rest of your evs as you wish, but i'd consider investing them in SpA, because you will have an already high defense/SpDef.
If you can afford to have Download instead of Analytic that would be nice, also because my next suggestion is to try trick room in his set and protect, which makes your moves hard to read and it can help a lot in many situations.
So my suggestion for your moveset is : Trick Room, Tri-Attack,Recover,Protect. You wont have a cover for Ghost type, that's true. If you find this a problem you can go back for an offensive move, but in that case consider shadow ball. The fact that psyshock considers Def instead of SpDef is interesting, but i'm not quite sure its better than having a solution for Dragapult or Marowak-alola.
Having a trick room setter will save your Inteleon and Volcarona against Trick Room teams and also can help you against tailwind teams.


Inteleon: Considering we already have an SpA threat like porygon2 and you want a defensive team, i would rather play Lapras, eventually gygamax for having Aurora Veil, which definitely is a great defensive buff.
Anyway let's consider Inteleon for a moment as it's your team idea and the point is getting the best from it.
Inteleon is definitely a pokemon with weak defense statistics, but he compensates with a very nice SpA and Speed. He is the only water pokemon to outspeed Cinderace and being a water type explains why it is surely not a bad pokemon nowdays.
That said i dont think focus energy works really well without a redirector in the team. I saw a lot of times Inteleon Gygamax being 1shotted by a non super-effective move of an opponent sweeper.
So moves: Protect, Snipe Shot, Ice Beam, Air Slash. Protect can help to save time for Inteleon meanwhile you set-up a nice field with your other pokemon ( removing threats, debuffing opponents,etc). Even against tailwind / trick room setter , it lets porygon2 do his job without worrying about losing your Special Sweeper.
Obviously items,nature and ability are completely fine.

Leafeon: Leafeon purpose seems the same as Rillaboom but without having Grassy Terrain ability.
Now I understand that sun helps Volcarona, but Leaf Guard does not seem a better ability than Chlorophyll. You can cover statuses with a Lum Berry and then having a double speed Leafeon ( if he survives), anyway i'd prefer to see another Pokemon with Drought instead of Leafeon with Sunny Day.
If you want to play Leafeon like this, that's what i can say : Heat Rock does not feels a good option, even because Volcarona is going to 1KO probably everything that is weak to Fire, and even what is not strong against it probably. So you could play Weakness Policy, Life Orb or a Berry.
Moves: they feel nice, if you will add a Drought Pokemon i would put protect or X scissor instead of Sunny Day.
For nature, id use a +Atk, - SpA. Nature boosts 10% of a stat, boosting the lowest provides the lowest buff.

Volcarona: Item: Focus Sash or Safety Goggles if you will have a Life Orb holder, otherwise consider also that item.
Evs and nature are nice.
Moves:
Fire Spin: i don't like that, if you have a Fire-weak opponent against it definitely feels better to put an high damage ability like Heat Wave or Fire Blast. Eventually if you want 100% accuracy you can play flamethrower, but Heat Wave that hits both feels the best option.
Bug Buzz: the best STAB bug move you can have, definitely do not change it.
Giga Drain: It is kinda nice. I would consider also Quiver Dance, but Volcarona is a very weak pokemon when we talk about his defense and type weaknesses. That said, it's your choice, both are good. Consider that you will play Volcarona with Leafeon for now, so you will have another Grass on the field already.
Will-O-Wisp: I can not think about this as a good choice for this pokemon. It is basically your second Special Sweeper. If you play a redirector, even an Ally Switch user, it can be somehow nice but otherwise i don't see it a good option. You might be faster than Urshifu(not if he is Scarfed), so eventually you could manage to survive, but is that a nice idea? It's true you will have Leafeon, but without Chlorophyll you wont outspeed your opponents, so I dont know, it doesn't feel good. I'd prefer Protect.


Now let's consider what you might need:
-Redirector (Togekiss, Indedee,Clefable)
-Physical Sweeper
-Something that deals with Ghosts,Flying,Fairies,Dragons,Fighting and other Porygons.
-Drought Pokemon.
-Something that can work under trick room nicely.

What comes to my mind in this moment:
-Togekiss and Indedee, even Sableye would be a good option, perfect if you would play Dragapult actually.
-Dragapult, Urshifu, Conkeldurr ( definitely good even under trick room), Marowak alola, Tyranitar, Excadrill, Krookodile, Gyarados, Gigalith, Rhyperior(great with Trick room, better with Dusclops), Corviknight, Scrafty.


My suggestion is to do not spread your offensive stats between Att and SpA. Choose 1 between them. From what you have now, you miss a support and Physical Sweepers.
If you want to play Dragapult it's fine but consider you will problems vs Fairies right now.

For your 4 options:</p><p></p><p>Zoroark: I don't like him much, many dark pokemons are definitely better and his stats are also kinda poor. Too much attack for a pokemon with an already high SpA, which means you are losing base stats for nothing, and you also have already 3 Special Sweeper, another wont be a nice idea.

Dragapult: i definitely prefer Clear Body for him; Assault Vest might be good, even if it isnt a thing i would play( but I use Dragapult as a core pokemon, so with Life orb or Weakness Policy).
Moveset:
Dragon darts: good.
Thunderbolt: look at Zoroark comment.
Steel Wing: good for fairies coverage.
Flamethrower: look at Zoroark Comment.

Thunderbolt-> Phantom Force: Definitely the must have move of Dragapult.
Flamethrower: you could play Fly, Protect(if not using assault vest).
If you can have a Nature that is +Att, -SpA would be better, but if you cant and you consider playing it, just use it like that.
Of course the best option for competitive, but if you want to just have fun, you can play it anyway.


Orbeetle: you already have a bug pokemon, adding another without having flying coverage doesnt feel like a good option.

Corviknight: Definitely a good option. Adamant nature would be better and you could have a better Evs spread, also mirror armor would be a better ability.
Drill Peck-> consider Brave Bird option.
Iron head: perfect.
Swagger: dont know, i would prefer bulk up, confusion does not feel a reliable status.
Roost: perfect.

I hope i helped you, and i hope that my maccaronic english is decent