ORAS UU Mega Sceptile--balanced ish team

[Mattadin]

Hi there! I recently decided to get into competitive battling after watching it since gen 3. I have begun putting together a team but my experience in this field is fairly low so I decided to post here to get some help rounding out my setup.

Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow/Lightning Rod
Nature:Timid
EVS: 252 Spa/4 SpD/ 252 Spe

• Giga Drain
• Leaf Storm
• Dragon Pulse
• Focus Blast

I chose M-Sceptile as my first mon. I have a fondness for the pokemon already, but there were a few reasons I chose to start with it. After mega evolving Sceptile boasts a 145 base speed which makes it an excellent revenge killer on anything that is too frail to take a hit. Additionally, it can handle most of the bulky waters in the tier with ease. Any of the Suicune variants are going to be outsped and OHKO'd by Leaf Storm or 2h by Giga Drain, M-Swampert gets outsped before Swift Swim, Empoleon isnt a threat unless its running icebeam in which case I can still bring Sceptile in once its weak and outspeed and kill.

Florges @ Leftovers
Ability:Flower Veil
Nature:Bold
EVS: 252 Hp/252 Def/4 Spd

• Wish
• Protect
• Moonblast
• Aromatherapy

Next I wanted to begin working on my defensive core. Florges is a great option to fill the special wall role. First, she provides wish and aromatherapy support that will help keep my sweepers healthy. Second, her excellent typing grants her 3 resists and 1 immunity for only 2 weaknesses. With Sceptile gaining a dragon typing upon mega evolving Florges acts as a nice switch in for any dragons that can manage to outspeed Sceptile.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability:Sturdy
Nature:Relaxed
EVS: 252 Hp/252 Def/4 Spd

• Rapid Spin
• Stealth Rocks
• Volt Switch
• Gyro Ball

Since I already have a special wall I decided to try and get a physically defensive option next. I originally wanted to run Mega Aggron with Florges but can't run both Aggron and Sceptile. I ended up going with Forretress for a few reasons. First, his typing synergizes amazingly with Florges'. Forretress can soak up any poison or steel moves that could threaten to break through Florges. Forretress also provides awesome hazard control in the form of both setting rocks and clearing them allowing for my sweepers to have an easier time burning down threats. Last, Forretress low speed gives him access to a Volt Switch that will go last against almost all the pokes in the tier, allowing Forretress to act as a defensive pivot so my offensive pokemon can get into favorable matchups without having to take damage on the entry.

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability:Blaze
Nature:Naive
EVS:136 Atk/120 Spa/252 Spe

• Nasty Plot
• Fire Blast
• Close Combat
• Grass Knot

With my defensive core out of the way it was time to start focusing on the offense. Infernape was a good first choice as it can serve as a check to some of the threats against Sceptile, namely fast ice or bug type attackers. Additionally, its stats allow it to serve 2 roles on my team offensively. It is able to act as a wall breaker with enough force behind its special and physical attacks to atleast threaten most walls that dont resist its STABs, and access to Nasty Plot gives me my first win condition for the team by setting up Infernape with enough boosts to sweep. Its base 108 speed also lets it win alot of speed matchups and lets it act as a lure against some of the bulky waters in the tier. Examples: Empoleon gets outsped and falls to a Close Combat while M-Swampert falls to Grass Knot before Swift Swim.

Crobat @ Choice Band
Ability:Infiltrator
Nature:Jolly
EVS:252 Atk/4 Spd/252 Spe

• Brave Bird
• U-Turn
• Cross Poison
• Toxic

After I selected Infernape I wanted to get a nice physical sweeper on the time to round out my offense. I originally chose Salamence but noticed I had no answer for Florges as both sets wall my attackers and can take out Salamence with a Moonblast. I wanted to ensure I had a ground resist to help keep Infernape healthy and so I chose Crobat since it filled both roles. Crobat outspeeds Florges and can 2HKO with Cross Poison. Its flying typing gives me a nice immunity to ground, while picking up another resistance to both fairy and grass, the former assisting in keeping Sceptile healthy. U-Turn gives me a nice offensive pivot and should work well in tandem with Forretress' slower Volt Switch but is not the primary focus of this team, merely an added bonus. CB Brave Bird hits like a truck and with full speed investment Crobat can outspeed many pokes in the tier and OHKO even with a neutral Brave Bird, such as Alakazam (though Crobat does not want to eat a Psychic on the switch in). Its speed also allows me to use it as a revenge killer in certain situations. The last move I havent decided on, I was toying around with the idea of running X-Scissor over Toxic but found in most cases Brave Bird would hit harder even against Psychic types. Getting locked into Toxic can definitely slow down momentum though and its a part of the moveset I am looking into.

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability:Sheer Force
Nature:Adamant
EVS: 252 Atk/4 Spd/252 Spe

• Dragon Dance
• Waterfall
• Crunch
• Ice Punch

This position for my team was actually the one that gave me the most grief. At first I wanted to run Suicune to setup Calm Minds and sweep but found that I lacked options against some of the bigger threats in the tier. Next I chose Gyarados but again found just a few matchups where the flying typing was hurting him, such as Entei being able to OHKO with Stone Edge. Eventually I decided on Feraligatr as it serves the same purpose as DD Gyarados but better suited my team. First, it gives me the water-fire-grass core which is nice to have. Second, it gives me a second win condition on the physical side by setting up Dragon Dances and sweeping since most mons cant take a +1 Feraligatr and certainly not a +2. Access to Ice Punch and Sheer Force gives me a nice option against some of the dragon and grass types in the tier while Crunch gives me a way to reliably deal with Cresselia and Reuniclus, something my team was initially struggling against. Feraligatr also gave me another option against some walls in the tier, such as Florges, who gets 2HKO by Waterfall even before Dragon Dance.


***Threats***

I wont list my anaylsis of every threat in the tier here. I looked into matchups for the S Rank - A Rank pokes to determine where my weaknesses were during the building process. Ill instead list some of the threats that I do not have numerous answers for, or threats that are guaranteed to do atleast some damage to my team. Some of my biggest threats/annoyances are:

• Salamence- While most pokemon on my team can reliably OHKO Salamence almost none of them want to switch into any of his moves. If Salamence manages to switch into a favorable matchup I will be hard pressed to find a poke on my team that wants to switch in to take any of his moves. He is very susceptible to revenge killing but is likely to take something on my team down with him if I don't weaken him first.
• Entei: Feraligatr is my main counter to this, however Feraligatr can still get 2hko by Stone Edge on a switch in. Forretress will fall to Flare Blitz before being able to act as a pivot, so like Salamanence I will likely lose something else to get Feraligatr in to take it out.
  
• Zapdos: If Zapdos is carrying Hp-Ice then only Florges can really handle it. None of my team want to take a STAB T-Bolt except Sceptile, who can't take more than 1-2 HP Ice. Florges only option is to whittle it down with Moonblasts. Without HP Ice, however, Sceptile will completely wall it.
  
• M-Blastoise:If Blastoise is carrying IceBeam it can OHKO Sceptile on a switch in so I have to ensure Sceptile gets a safe switch in to outspeed and take it out. However, Forretress gets 2HKO by Scald so its difficult to use it as a pivot on this set
• Nidoqueen: Feraligatr can reliably OHKO any Nido set but requires a safe switch in to do so. Most of my team do not want to take a hit from this poke so I will likely have to sac something to get someone in to revenge kill
• Cresselia: Fera is the only pokemon I have that can handle Cresselia. If I lose Feraligatr it will easily setup on my team and sweep.

There may be more threats I am missing but I didn't want to analyze every single pokemon in the tier.
Please let me know what you think of the team and how I can improve it. This is my first RMT so if there are any issues with formatting or rules please let me know so I can remedy this for future posts. Thank you!!