Hey guys, I'm in a club at college that has a few members that like to play Pokemon, so we decided to make teams over the summer for when we get back. As for the "moderately serious" part, I'll get to that.
THE TEAM:
Machamp/Flygon/Scizor/Gengar/Starmie/Gyarados
THE LEAD:
Machamp @ Lum Berry
Adamant Nature
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
-Dynamicpunch
-Payback
-Bullet Punch
-Stone Edge/Substitute
In my original team design, I used Swampert instead of Machamp and Togekiss instead of Starmie. I felt that left me with a weakness to Roserade (and status leads in general) and DD Gyarados, so I tweaked the team. Machamp's strategy is simple: it goes out and wrecks something, maybe more than once. He can also cover Starmie/Gengar's Dark weakness and Gyarados's Rock weakness. He helps Gyarados sweep by halting the opponent's strategy in its tracks.
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Naive Nature
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpA
-U-Turn
-EQ
-Outrage
-Fire Blast
Quick revenge-killer and scout, and works well with Scizor. Flygon is the first Pokemon I decided I wanted to use, and I built the team from there. With Naive instead of Jolly/Adamant, I don't lose any power on Fire Blast. Flygon covers Gyarados's Rock weakness and Gyarados/Starmie's Electric weakness.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant Nature
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit
I wasn't sure at first on whether or not to go with Pursuit or Night Slash, but I think Pursuit will be more useful. Scizor's general strategy is to come in and beat the hell out of something, then duck back out. He covers a lot of weaknesses on my team (Grass, Bug, Ghost, Ice, Psychic, Dark, Dragon), which means he'll be switching in quite a bit. He and Flygon help Gyarados sweep by picking away at opponents.
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Timid Nature
252 SpA/252 Spd/4 HP
-Substitute
-Hypnosis/WoW
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
This is where I become less sure of myself. Gengar is useful for sure, but I'm worried Spiritomb would do a better job of setting up a Sub and burning an opponent. Gengar is here to help Gyarados sweep by (hopefully) burning/sleeping an opponent and hitting strong defensive Pokemon hard on the special side.
Starmie @ Choice Scarf//Life Orb
Timid Nature
252 SpA/252 Spd/4 HP
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Trick/Grass Knot//Recover
Machamp was put in to fix my Roserade problem, and Starmie was put in to fix my Gyarados problem. If I go with Choice Scarf, I might use Modest instead. The choice here is simple: do I take a hit from DDdos and Tbolt him into oblivion and then have the freedom to use other moves at the cost of a lot of health already, or do I outspeed him but get locked into a move? I'm leaning toward Choice Scarf simply because my opponents will have a tough time dealing with Trick (I'll explain below). Starmie helps Gyarados sweep by picking off types that resist its attacks (Water, Grass, Dragon, etc.).
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature
Unsure on the EVs, but it would be more bulky.
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
-EQ/Return
Lategame sweeper, and not a bad wall. Until I learned that you can use more than one Pokemon with the same item in PBR, I was originally going to replace the last move with Rest and give him a Chesto Berry; I'm still considering this. Anyway, the goal is to either come in early after Gengar pulls off a WoW/Hypnosis or come in later after most of the opponent's team has taken at least some chip damage, set up, and sweep. EQ is mostly just for coverage, since it only has 20 more BP than Waterfall if EQ is super-effective and Waterfall is neutral. Return would be for any surviving Grass-types.
My one problem with this team compared to what I originally had planned is that I don't have Stealth Rock, and I really like having that residual damage. I was contemplating swapping Gengar for a Skarmory, since the entry hazards would mean Gyarados would be more likely to sweep off of just one DD, and my opponents are almost guaranteed to not have Taunt, so I could run a set like Stealth Rock/Spikes/Roar/Roost.
Now, the reason I said MODERATELY serious is because I'm the only one in the club who has had any real experience battling competitively online...which means that the others want a certain set of rules:
-No legendaries
-No 600 BSTs
...Yeahhhh...the best guy there said he felt Dragonite was overpowered, and told me I was welcome to use him but that he wouldn't. I don't want to play unfairly, so I won't. Also, I don't know if Rotom or Spiritomb would count as legendaries by his definition, which is why I went with Gengar instead. If Rotom or Spiritomb would be better options than Gengar, I'll talk to him and see if he'll allow those.
But yeah, the main point is that I don't have to worry about threats from Zapdos, Cresselia, Tyranitar, Metagross, Suicune, etc.. I'm going to try to bring him around, but we'll have to take baby steps. He still doesn't like switching much.
THE TEAM:
Machamp/Flygon/Scizor/Gengar/Starmie/Gyarados
THE LEAD:
Machamp @ Lum Berry
Adamant Nature
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
-Dynamicpunch
-Payback
-Bullet Punch
-Stone Edge/Substitute
In my original team design, I used Swampert instead of Machamp and Togekiss instead of Starmie. I felt that left me with a weakness to Roserade (and status leads in general) and DD Gyarados, so I tweaked the team. Machamp's strategy is simple: it goes out and wrecks something, maybe more than once. He can also cover Starmie/Gengar's Dark weakness and Gyarados's Rock weakness. He helps Gyarados sweep by halting the opponent's strategy in its tracks.
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Naive Nature
252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SpA
-U-Turn
-EQ
-Outrage
-Fire Blast
Quick revenge-killer and scout, and works well with Scizor. Flygon is the first Pokemon I decided I wanted to use, and I built the team from there. With Naive instead of Jolly/Adamant, I don't lose any power on Fire Blast. Flygon covers Gyarados's Rock weakness and Gyarados/Starmie's Electric weakness.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant Nature
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
-Pursuit
I wasn't sure at first on whether or not to go with Pursuit or Night Slash, but I think Pursuit will be more useful. Scizor's general strategy is to come in and beat the hell out of something, then duck back out. He covers a lot of weaknesses on my team (Grass, Bug, Ghost, Ice, Psychic, Dark, Dragon), which means he'll be switching in quite a bit. He and Flygon help Gyarados sweep by picking away at opponents.
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Timid Nature
252 SpA/252 Spd/4 HP
-Substitute
-Hypnosis/WoW
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
This is where I become less sure of myself. Gengar is useful for sure, but I'm worried Spiritomb would do a better job of setting up a Sub and burning an opponent. Gengar is here to help Gyarados sweep by (hopefully) burning/sleeping an opponent and hitting strong defensive Pokemon hard on the special side.
Starmie @ Choice Scarf//Life Orb
Timid Nature
252 SpA/252 Spd/4 HP
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Trick/Grass Knot//Recover
Machamp was put in to fix my Roserade problem, and Starmie was put in to fix my Gyarados problem. If I go with Choice Scarf, I might use Modest instead. The choice here is simple: do I take a hit from DDdos and Tbolt him into oblivion and then have the freedom to use other moves at the cost of a lot of health already, or do I outspeed him but get locked into a move? I'm leaning toward Choice Scarf simply because my opponents will have a tough time dealing with Trick (I'll explain below). Starmie helps Gyarados sweep by picking off types that resist its attacks (Water, Grass, Dragon, etc.).
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature
Unsure on the EVs, but it would be more bulky.
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
-EQ/Return
Lategame sweeper, and not a bad wall. Until I learned that you can use more than one Pokemon with the same item in PBR, I was originally going to replace the last move with Rest and give him a Chesto Berry; I'm still considering this. Anyway, the goal is to either come in early after Gengar pulls off a WoW/Hypnosis or come in later after most of the opponent's team has taken at least some chip damage, set up, and sweep. EQ is mostly just for coverage, since it only has 20 more BP than Waterfall if EQ is super-effective and Waterfall is neutral. Return would be for any surviving Grass-types.
My one problem with this team compared to what I originally had planned is that I don't have Stealth Rock, and I really like having that residual damage. I was contemplating swapping Gengar for a Skarmory, since the entry hazards would mean Gyarados would be more likely to sweep off of just one DD, and my opponents are almost guaranteed to not have Taunt, so I could run a set like Stealth Rock/Spikes/Roar/Roost.
Now, the reason I said MODERATELY serious is because I'm the only one in the club who has had any real experience battling competitively online...which means that the others want a certain set of rules:
-No legendaries
-No 600 BSTs
...Yeahhhh...the best guy there said he felt Dragonite was overpowered, and told me I was welcome to use him but that he wouldn't. I don't want to play unfairly, so I won't. Also, I don't know if Rotom or Spiritomb would count as legendaries by his definition, which is why I went with Gengar instead. If Rotom or Spiritomb would be better options than Gengar, I'll talk to him and see if he'll allow those.
But yeah, the main point is that I don't have to worry about threats from Zapdos, Cresselia, Tyranitar, Metagross, Suicune, etc.. I'm going to try to bring him around, but we'll have to take baby steps. He still doesn't like switching much.