Lack of A Witty Title...

[musicalbento]

So there's a pokemon tourney coming up at my school (what with the new HG/SS releases, they figured it'd be a nice little way to mingle and such.) and I'm attempting to work on a team to help myself get through it. I'd appreciate any and all input for the team, because while I ran it through a few Shoddy matches, I'm still a bit skeptical.

Type Resistance Chart

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Building Process

I've always loved lead Jirachi, the whole Trick+SR on the switchout really makes me feel a bit more confident. And the fact that it's steel makes me a bit less wary of too many weaknesses. Serene Grace is nice too.

With Jirachi being weak to fire AND ground, I figured I'd pair it with something that could resist them, and thus Gyarados pops up.

That glaring Electric weakness makes me cringe, and I KNOW I needed something that'd resist it and was pretty bulky to take a few hits here and there. And so Swampert joins the team.

I've always loved Dragonite, and while Salamence outclasses it in attack and speed, that general bulkiness + superpower (and the fact that it can OHKO most things that Salamence has trouble with (i.e. BLISSEY).

With Dragonite (and Gyarados) being pretty weak to Stealth Rock, I figured some screen support would be nice, and Latias has pretty good typing. Plus this gives Gyarados more opportunity to set up and possibly sweep.

While Gyarados makes for a good sweeper, Infernape has always - in my mind - been an amazing sweeper once it gets off a Nasty Plot/Swords Dance.

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Individually

Jirachi w/ Choice Scarf ~Jolly
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
- U-Turn

The standard smogon lead set. This guy tends to annoy the heck out of most leads since after a single hit, their focus sash tends to be rendered useless. And, should they NOT have a focus sash, they're flinching 60% of the time, meaning that I can set up Stealth Rock with ease. And Tricking a choice scarf onto a Gyarados or Tyranitar is always a nice bonus.

Gyarados w/ Life Orb ~Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Bounce

I chose Bounce over Earthquake since Swampert can deal with the majority of Gyarados' electric issues and Bounce provides more power for it to hit with.

Swampert w/ Leftovers ~Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
- Surf
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar

I didn't choose Stealth Rock on this set because Jirachi already runs it, and in every battle I've been in, it's been able to reliably get off a Stealth Rock, so I feel it'd be wasted on Swampert, plus the STAB Surf makes for a good neutral attack.

Dragonite w/ Expert Belt ~Rash
EVs: 112 Atk / 196 SpA / 200 Spe

- Superpower
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt

I figured that a Life Orb on an already SR-ed Dragonite would be quite the pain, so I opted for Expert Belt instead. It gives the illusion of a choice set, then hits with a surprise boosted super effective attack. I think this set provides pretty nice type coverage at the expense of a little power.

Latias w/ Light Clay ~Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe

- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Roar
- Wish

The support pokemon for the team, Latias is bulky enough to take a hit, all the while still setting up Light Screen and Reflect. Granted that this is more or less walled by Taunters, I figure that switching out isn't particularly detrimental, considering it has Wish and is pretty bulky.

Infernape w/ Life Orb ~Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Fire Punch
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge

While I'm not a huge fan of Life Orb damage, this set does pretty serious damage to most any special wall that comes in on it after a Swords Dance, and it benefits greatly from the Light Screen + Reflect setup from Latias, giving it a nice amount of time to set up and sweep.

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Things to Note: I'm willing to switch out any pokemon on this team save for Dragonite, but I'm willing to switch around Dragonite's sets however necessary, simply because I enjoy using Dragonite and I prefer it over Salamence. Otherwise, everything else is fair game.

 

[swampie]

Nice team you've got there. I've never seen such a good type resistance card.
You've quite a big weakness to any sort of dragon. Salamence for example: When Salamence gets one dragon dance up, he can outspeed and KO about any pokémon on your team. You're also very weak to dragon attacks with only one resist and two weaknesses. But this can be cured easily by changing your lead Jirachi to a Choice Scarf revenge killer. That would be this set:

Jirachi@Choice Scarf | Serene Grace
Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Iron Head | Ice Punch | Thunderpunch | U-Turn / Fire Punch

This Jirachi can outspeed and use Ice Punch against any pesky dragon. It helps too against your Gyarados weakness. Iron Head is for some nasty flinche Hax. Only the fourth move is up for debate. I suggest you to use U-Turn, to get a nice scout, but if you're afraid of some steel types like Metagross or Scizor you can use Fire Punch too. If you want to use Fire Punch use this EV spread: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe. Trick is another option but it is mostly not worth the cost.
If You change your Jirachi to this set, you'll need another lead. You can use Swampert as your new lead. Just change one of his moves to Stealth Rock.

If you would like to keep Jirachi as your lead, there is another option. You can make Latias your Scarfed revenge killer. Her set would change to this one:

Latias@Choice Scarf | Levitate
Timid | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Draco Meteor | Surf / Dragon Pulse| Thunderbolt | Trick

This Latias packs quite a punch and can destroy any Dragon. Thunderbolt is for Gyarados and Surf is for coverage. If you don't like it to be vulnerable for revenge killing after the Draco meteor, you can opt for dragon pulse. instead of Surf or Trick. Trick is for Blissey or other pokëmon like Scizor swiching in.

When you use Jirachi as your revenge killer, you basically go for a less aggressive, but longer lasting lead. When using Latias, on the other hand, you use a good team player and screener. It's up to you to decide.

Good luck with your team,
Swampie