Looking for thoughts and tips on my team

[Safeeyes]

My original Idea when making this team was that I wanted to create a team that was extremely annoying to fight against. When putting it together, I realized that this team is extremely versatile and works really well together. I'm quite proud if it and this is my first time posting a team. Any responses, tips, and thoughts will all be read and greatly appreciated.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Ahhhh Toxic Orb Gliscor. I enjoy throwing him in there as my lead because of using placing a quick earthquake and getting an early kill. I use Gliscor to taunt somebody who uses spikes. I love using Substitute because he gets the HP back form poison heal and allows me to scout. Having a fast toxic played on my opponents pokemon is great because it allows him to take them out of the fight. I run 252 HP on him so I can create sustain and more disruption but I am considering placing that into attack so I can do potent Damage with Earthquake. Nonetheless I feel like Gliscor is a strong lead and can create a lot of disruption and annoyance.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 32 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Brave Bird

Skarmory was the 6th pokemon that I added to my team and I feel that it is a perfect fit. I build him as an all around tank, considering how high his Def already is. I use Skarmory for his Stealth Rocks and then shuffle my opponents Pokemon with Whirlwind. I beleive that if I had to choose between Stealth Rocks and Spikes, Stealth Rocks is a lot more efficiant vs Flying and Bug Pokemon, and also does not need as much set up. My idea with this is to create more favorable matchups to kill them off with Brave Bird or force them to switch pokemon allowing me to use Roost. Pretty Standard Skarmory build, but does a fantastic job tanking damage and creating mismatches.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Wish

This pokemon is stupid. Perhaps one of the most annoying pokemon to play against, Jirachi's job is to ParaHax as many people as possible.. If anything, I throw this pokemon in to take damage. I picked Body Slam over Thunder Wave for the sake of doing solid damage, but I might end up going Thunder wave. Wish is always a really nice move to have for the sake of getting health to continue ParaHaxing or healing up one of other pokemon. Protect is also really strong in receiving Wish as well as scouting pokemon.

Dragonite (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Roost

While most people use him for Dragon dance and for sweeping, I use Dragonite as more of a Tanky Shuffler. This in itself is something that isnt seen on Dragonite very often which can allow for an advantage. Dragonite is quite a versatile pokemon and I really enjoy having Multiscale and Leftovers. Normally I go for a quick Thunder Wave, and use Substitute when it is unable to attack. This allows me to Roost or Dragon Tail to bring out another pokemon, getting hit by stealth rocks. From then I just rinse and repeat. This is also really efficient for me to break Swords Dance and Calm Mind stategies because he can also take a hit.

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb

Breloom is just an absolute monster and anybody who has seen SubPunch Breloom knows that is a force to be reckoned with. By the time I play my Breloom my intention is the have the majority of their other team damaged and paralyzed through ParaHax and Skarmory/Dragonite Shuffling. I normally throw in Breloom in as soon as I know I have a favorable match up, because he is essential for this team. I run 244 Spd on him to get a quick spore, which allows me to set up a substitute and focus punch combination. Seed Bomb is nice to use on fighting resistant pokemon such as Gengar and is nice to use on Water Pokemon. Toxic Orb is really nice to have on him, negating the damage taken from substitute and allowing him to not suffer from any statuses.

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Last but not least Gengar. Often times I will use Gengar as my lead as well to scout out their team and encourage them to make moves. This guy just has some great speed and potential to elimate a pokemon quickly. I play Gengar as sweeper, but I use Black Sludge in order to negate the Substitute and to create sustain. One of my favorite things to do is place Gengar in, Use substitute (which I get off first because his stupid speed), see what move they are going to use to kill off Gengar, Use Disable, and then Substitute or sweep them. Disable is a move that I feel gets overlooked and is quite frusterating for my opponent. I also will do this combination when I know that I can switch into another pokemon that can potentially sweep the disabled pokemon, forcing him to swap and me to create a substitute or Parahax opportunity.

Please Rate my team! Overall I think this is a solid team and the only time I see difficulty is when I am against a Rain Dance Team (Starmie and Cloyster) I have used RestTalk Miotic before and that was pretty awesome and I have also highly considered using a Joteon to rip through those Rain Dance Pokemon, but I was curious to see what you guys thought. Any Feedback is appreciated!

 

[Viktor24]

Nice team,But I think you need more entry hazard support to help your phazers deal some damage.Also,as you mentioned you are weak to rain teams and certain pokemon;like shell smash Gorebyss who will sweep your entire team with a single set-up.So for these reasons,I suggest you replace skarmory with:
Ferrothorn
Nature:Careful
Item:Leftovers
Moveset:
1-Leech seed
2-Spikes
3-Stealth rock
4-Power whip
Evs:
252 HP/252 SDef/4 Def
Not only is he a great counter to rain teams and some other pokemon your team is weak against,but also he will provide your semi-stall team with more required hazards.
I also think you should make your Jirachi physically defensive to make a strong defensive core along Ferrothorn against those powerful outrages and draco meteors,and replace protect with U-turn to avoid that nasty Magnezone and make better match-ups.You have a good spin blocker so your hazards will be safe on the field.
Overall,I don't think skarmory was that necessary with gliscor on your team.

 

[Electrolyte]

Hey there,

Nice solid, standard team you have here. I definitely feel as if this team needs some wallbreaking power, however, as you lack sweepers that can deal with common physical walls such as Skarmory or Gliscor. Gliscor is a massive threat if it carries Taunt and Ice Fang- as it is immune to the status of Breloom / Dragonite / Gliscor and can KO them all, and its Taunt prevent Skarmory from walling it. EQ can also easily take out Jirachi. Breloom and Gengar are the only two pokemon on your team that can actually dish out solid damage- and between the two of them, all you have is Grass / Fighting / Ghost. You also lack a setup sweeper, so things that have type advantage over your team can easily wall it until it wears itself down. Your team also lacks resistances to common Rain sweepers. Rain Boosted Hydro Pump with Ice type coverage KOs a majority of your team and can even sweep if Jirachi, the only one who can sponge both attacks, is weakened.

One of the main causes of this problem, in my opinion, is the redundancy in Skarm-Glisc-Rachi as well as the lack of offense put forth from Dragonite. I feel as if your Skarmory is really redundant. Gliscor and Jirachi together pretty much cover everything Skarmory does for you, including being a physical wall, walling dragons, and sponging attacks in general. Instead, I think your team needs a pokemon that can handle Rain teams quite well and damage some problematic physical walls too. This pokemon is Bulky Attacker Rotom-W over Skarmory.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Modest / 248 HP / 120 SpA / 52 SpDef / 88 Spe
Volt Switch / Hydro Pump / WiloWisp / Pain Split

Rotom is a great addition to the team; an even better fit than Skarmory, in my opinion. It has great defensive synergy with Gliscor and Jirachi, tanking Fire, Water, and Ice type attacks easily. It covers many of the things Gliscor and Jirachi can't handle- such as Rain sweepers (Keldeo / Thundy-T) and Sand sweepers (Lando-I). Rotom-W also provides a lot offensively. It checks and even counters many prominent physical walls, including Gliscor, who is OHKOd by HPump, Skarmory, who is OHKOd by Volt Switch, and also has no trouble beating Forretress, Heatran, Tentacruel, and Jellicent. Because of its ability to help out in many different aspects of the team, it's a great fit. It also has Volt Switch, which is awesome because it lets Rotom-W pivot effortlessly into and away from threats to this team. It also helps you maintain momentum. Hydro Pump is awesome STAB that Rotom-W gets, and it's very powerful with the given evs, letting it OHKO most opponents that are weak to the move (ie Ground types, Fire types). WiloWisp is a great move that lets Rotom-W cripple opposing physical attackers that it might have a bit harder time handling- and it also helps Rotom-W cover physical threats that Gliscor can't, such as Weavile, Mamoswine, Azumarill, or other Ice / Water types. Finally, Pain Split lets Rotom-W heal itself fast and damage its opponent fairly as well- however, Rest can also be used along with a Chesto Berry for more secure recovery as well as an immunity to status- however, with Gliscor, you probably won't need to worry about tanking status moves.

The removal of Skarmory takes away the hazards you have on this team- but fear not, as Jirachi can take the role of setting Stealth Rock. I suggest you try Stealth Rock over Protect on Jirachi, as this lets you cover up what you lose in switching Skarmory. SR helps you handle Sun teams with more ease, crippling Volcarona and other fire types in the switch in, and it also weakens Bug, Flying, and Ice types for you. The benefits of Stealth Rock far outweigh the scouting and recovery abilities of Protect.

I also feel as if Dragonite's set is out of place. Parashuffle is just an ok set this metagame because there are many pokemon that can defeat Dragonite that don't mind paralysis, and the set itself puts forth zero offensive pressure on your opponent. Your team isn't suited to phaze because it lacks hazards that phazing needs to cause damage- all you have are SR. Because of this, I suggest you switch to DDance Dragonite instead, as this will give you a powerful set up sweeper that can clean up late game and smash through walls too.

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Adamant / 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Dragon Dance / Outrage / Extreme Speed / Fire Punch

While Rotom-W patches up your defensive holes, Dragonite effectively patches up your offensive ones. By boosting its speed and power, Dragonite will be able to power up its attacks and use sheer power to muscle past resistant or bulky opponents. After a DDance or two, Dragonite is incredibly hard to stop because of how fast, powerful, and bulky it is. Multiscale is the source of all this power- as I'm sure you know. It gives Dragonite a lot of bulk at 100% HP, guaranteeing a DDance or two off, giving you a good start to your sweep. Dragonite's plentiful useful resistances, which also help you beat Sun / Rain teams, make it even harder to revenge kill once it gets going. Dragon Dance makes Dragonite an incredible force- boosting its attack and speed to levels that can not be matched without the use of a boosting item. Outrage is your main STAB, hitting everything but Steel types for massive amounts of damage, and plowing through teams once steels are removed. Extreme Speed is valuable priority, hitting faster and harder than all other priority, letting you KO even faster pokemon such as ScarfTios or Mamoswine's Ice Shard. Fire Punch is extra coverage against Steel types, letting you nail Skarmory, Ferrothorn, or Forretress without having to switch it. You could also use Earthquake, but that is covered by Gliscor, and Heatran doesn't really present a threat to your team with the addition of Rotom-W anyway.

Finally, one last thing. Your Gliscor spread can probably be improved; I think a bulkier spread would suffice so you can truly wall physical powerhouses such as Terrakion, Breloom, or Scizor. A spread of 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe Impish would work best in this regard- giving Gliscor a lot of physical bulk and enough speed to Taunt most of the support pokemon in OU.

Good luck!

 

[Jimbon]

Hi there,

Interesting team, but there are some big weaknesses like you mentioned. Cloyster can pose some trouble if it gets a free turn of setup, but realistically it can only try to setup against Jirachi and hope Body Slam doesn't paralyze. Mamoswine is also a pretty big problem to this team, the Life Orb variant in particular as it can deal a large amount of damage to everything on your team while you have no real switch-in for it. To help with this, I'd suggest making your Skarmory a physically defensive set -- this gives you a much better answer for Mamoswine and Cloyster, as well as Terrakion who looks extremely threatening on more offensive teams that like to stack Spikes early game, as your Gliscor is running minimal bulk so you're not going to be able to switch in a lot. Losing Skarmory for your specially defensive wall isn't that much of a drawback, especially considering you're already got Jirachi to tank hits from Latios and Gengar, so specially defensive Skarmory really isn't needed.

Looking over your team, it seems like it is built around spreading hazards and status around, and then breaking down your opponent's team with Gengar, but you don't actually have the hazards you need to abuse that. As a result, I think you should drop either Substitute or Toxic on Gliscor in place of Stealth Rock, I'd lean towards dropping Toxic as that does clash with the other status on your team. If you choose to go with this change, then you will obviously need to drop Stealth Rock on Skarmory -- you can now run Spikes in that slot for extra hazards. Extra hazards will make your sweeping much easier, especially given that the status on your team forces so many switches making a quick sweep with Gengar that much easier.

Also picking up on the point already made about Gliscor, it's not that much of a problem as it needs like 5 moves to beat your team, but if you're really paranoid about it, then an extra change could be to alter your Gengar set a little. Drop Black Sludge for Life Orb and drop Disable for Pain Split, which will provide you with a little more firepower. For this team in particular, I think you would benefit from this a lot as a lot of common Gengar switch-ins such as Tyranitar and Scizor are not going to be able to take on Gengar after Spikes + Life Orb Focus Blast, while Pain Split allows you to beat stuff like Blissey with Spikes up, as well as allowing you to keep your health pretty high.

Good luck!