Hi everyone, I was looking for some advice with my team.
I have dabbled in competitive batlting in the past but I seem to be doing it a lot more in Gen 8.
I recently took part in the Galar Beginnings competition. On the Saturday I managed to win 14 out of 15 matches and ended up at 600 and something as my place. However on Sunday I lost quite a few matche so my score went back down lol.
I found I seem to be particularly susceptible to Mudsdale as a couple of those I struggled to get through and lots of my Pokemon are susceptible to ground moves.
I am thinking of adding either a flying type or a Pokemon with levitate. I am thinking either Rotom-W or Corviknight.
I am mainly doing single battles at the moment but I will do more doubles in the future, I just want to get more used to battling first.
Here is my current team:
Excadrill Focus sash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 A, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Jolly
- Swords Dance
-Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
Excaxdrill is quite a beast. I like the use of the Focus Sash as it allows me to take out a lot of enemies that otherwise would have knocked me out. I usually either start with Tyranitar who uses its Sand Stream ability to create a sandstorm or I Dynamax the Pokemon so that he can use the rock type move to create a Sandstorm. Sometimes I find that he is fast enough without this added speed boost though so it isn't always necessary. I don't use Swords Dance that much so maybe I could change it out. On a couple of occasions it was helpful though.
Dragapult Expert Belt
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Sp. A, 252 Speed
Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- U-turn
This is one of my favourite Pokemon on my team as it is so powerful. It struggles when paired against Hydreigon. U-turn I might change as it uses attack, rather than special attack and it doesn't do that much damage, even when dynamaxed. It is the best thing to attack Tyranitar with but it doesn't always do that much damage towards Tyranitar so that's why I am thinking of changing it. I'm not sure what to put in its place yet.
Tyranitar WeaKness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. D, 4 Def
Careful
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
I find Tyranitar really useful and it is has been good to lead with and also to switch in as it often takes a lot less damage to moves than some of my other Pokemon. The Weakness Policy has also been really handy in giving him that extra boost to wipe out the enemies. Sometimes using the fire gigamax move is useful fro creating sunny weather and then being able to knock out an enemy on the next go. This is weak to ground like a lot of my team is so that is something I need to find a strategy for. Sometimes it can last for a few ground moves though.
Toxapex Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP, 252 D, 4 Sp. D
Bold
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
Toxapex is really useful. The downside is when the opponent uses Trick or burns me but often those aren't the end of the world. It came into a tricky situation yesterday when the opponent used trick to give it a choice item and then uses torment so I was stuck on toxic spikes and ended up struggling every second go. I have managed to outlast a Corviknight with this. I do like Toxic Spikes but I find that a lot of people have Steel types or flying/levitate uses on their teams so it's not always possible to pull it off. On the occasions where it looks like Toxic Spikes won't be very handy I often will not use, unless I want to use it to outlast other Pokemon. The burning from Scald is useful. I also really like Haze for handling threats such as Cloyster and other Pokemon that improve their stats. The Regenerator ability is really useful too. It's biggest weakness is to ground type moves
Ferrothorn Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barb
EVs: 252 HP, 24 D, 232 Sp. D
Sassy
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
Ferrothorn is probably the Pokemon I would switch out as it doesn't have a way to recover a lot of its HP. If I do keep it, I may change out Spikes for Knock Off as it is rare that I am able to lay Stealth Rock and Spikes, but it is handy when I can get both down. I find its biggest weakness is to fire moves. Gyro Ball is really useful for threats such as Togekiss who it has been able to 1HKO with it. To be honest I don't find myself using Power Whip that often but I see that it could be useful against Pokemon such as Rotom-W.
Mimikyu Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 A, 252 Speed
Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
Mimikyu is very useful. It is one of my favourite Pokemon on my team. I would say it struggles against Pokemon with Mold Breaker which is its biggest area of weakness. Also, steel type moves have been troubling. Its speed and use of Shadow Sneak have been helpful against a lot of threats. I find all the moves useful so I'm not sure if I would change any of them, unless there was a clear benefit to doing so.
I have dabbled in competitive batlting in the past but I seem to be doing it a lot more in Gen 8.
I recently took part in the Galar Beginnings competition. On the Saturday I managed to win 14 out of 15 matches and ended up at 600 and something as my place. However on Sunday I lost quite a few matche so my score went back down lol.
I found I seem to be particularly susceptible to Mudsdale as a couple of those I struggled to get through and lots of my Pokemon are susceptible to ground moves.
I am thinking of adding either a flying type or a Pokemon with levitate. I am thinking either Rotom-W or Corviknight.
I am mainly doing single battles at the moment but I will do more doubles in the future, I just want to get more used to battling first.
Here is my current team:
Excadrill Focus sash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 A, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Jolly
- Swords Dance
-Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
Excaxdrill is quite a beast. I like the use of the Focus Sash as it allows me to take out a lot of enemies that otherwise would have knocked me out. I usually either start with Tyranitar who uses its Sand Stream ability to create a sandstorm or I Dynamax the Pokemon so that he can use the rock type move to create a Sandstorm. Sometimes I find that he is fast enough without this added speed boost though so it isn't always necessary. I don't use Swords Dance that much so maybe I could change it out. On a couple of occasions it was helpful though.
Dragapult Expert Belt
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Sp. A, 252 Speed
Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- U-turn
This is one of my favourite Pokemon on my team as it is so powerful. It struggles when paired against Hydreigon. U-turn I might change as it uses attack, rather than special attack and it doesn't do that much damage, even when dynamaxed. It is the best thing to attack Tyranitar with but it doesn't always do that much damage towards Tyranitar so that's why I am thinking of changing it. I'm not sure what to put in its place yet.
Tyranitar WeaKness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. D, 4 Def
Careful
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
I find Tyranitar really useful and it is has been good to lead with and also to switch in as it often takes a lot less damage to moves than some of my other Pokemon. The Weakness Policy has also been really handy in giving him that extra boost to wipe out the enemies. Sometimes using the fire gigamax move is useful fro creating sunny weather and then being able to knock out an enemy on the next go. This is weak to ground like a lot of my team is so that is something I need to find a strategy for. Sometimes it can last for a few ground moves though.
Toxapex Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP, 252 D, 4 Sp. D
Bold
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
Toxapex is really useful. The downside is when the opponent uses Trick or burns me but often those aren't the end of the world. It came into a tricky situation yesterday when the opponent used trick to give it a choice item and then uses torment so I was stuck on toxic spikes and ended up struggling every second go. I have managed to outlast a Corviknight with this. I do like Toxic Spikes but I find that a lot of people have Steel types or flying/levitate uses on their teams so it's not always possible to pull it off. On the occasions where it looks like Toxic Spikes won't be very handy I often will not use, unless I want to use it to outlast other Pokemon. The burning from Scald is useful. I also really like Haze for handling threats such as Cloyster and other Pokemon that improve their stats. The Regenerator ability is really useful too. It's biggest weakness is to ground type moves
Ferrothorn Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barb
EVs: 252 HP, 24 D, 232 Sp. D
Sassy
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
Ferrothorn is probably the Pokemon I would switch out as it doesn't have a way to recover a lot of its HP. If I do keep it, I may change out Spikes for Knock Off as it is rare that I am able to lay Stealth Rock and Spikes, but it is handy when I can get both down. I find its biggest weakness is to fire moves. Gyro Ball is really useful for threats such as Togekiss who it has been able to 1HKO with it. To be honest I don't find myself using Power Whip that often but I see that it could be useful against Pokemon such as Rotom-W.
Mimikyu Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 A, 252 Speed
Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
Mimikyu is very useful. It is one of my favourite Pokemon on my team. I would say it struggles against Pokemon with Mold Breaker which is its biggest area of weakness. Also, steel type moves have been troubling. Its speed and use of Shadow Sneak have been helpful against a lot of threats. I find all the moves useful so I'm not sure if I would change any of them, unless there was a clear benefit to doing so.
