My first competitive team (Wifi)

[Volren]

I'm new to competitive battling (and Smogon, so hi :D), so please bear with me if I overlooked something obvious. I've done my best to make a team where each member covered another's weaknesses adequately, though I still have some issues regarding moveset etc. Please keep in mind this is wifi so changes will have to depend on my current resources.

The pokemon:

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/ 128 Atk/ 128 SDef
Relaxed Nature
-Hypnosis
-Gyro Ball
-Explosion
-Stealth Rock

My lead. Sleeps opposing leads, sets up SR, and then gets the heck out of there. I had issues on whether to use Earthquake or Explosion, but ultimately decided on Explosion as a last-ditch move against something I can't deal with. I was also thinking about Shed Shell just so it could avoid becoming a sitting duck against Magnezone.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 120 HP/ 252 Atk/ 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Dragon Dance

DDMence, chosen because it covered the weaknesses of Bronzong/Jirachi/Heatran almost perfectly. I decided on Rock Slide over Stone Edge because of accuracy issues (I've had bad experiences with Stone Edge), and with DD Salamence should be able to exploit its flinch chance. It's a pretty nasty physical sweeper; I was torn between this and Dragonite and ended up choosing Mence because I don't like Outrage's lock-in/confuse function and Outrage is really all Dragonite has going for it over Salamence.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP/ 252 Satk/ 176 Spe
Timid Nature
-Charge Beam
-Psychic
-Flash Cannon (?)
-Wish

Serene Grace abuse :P. It can switch into Dragon/Ice/Psychic/Rock moves that would take a chunk out of Salamence or Machamp, and then exploits the SAtk boost from Charge Beam/Serene Grace to attempt to sweep, hoping that Psychic's secondary effect kicks in. I'm a bit torn about its third move; Flash Cannon gets STAB and a semi-decent secondary effect to go with Serene Grace, but Grass Knot hits heavy waters/most ground and rock pokemon pretty hard and has better accuracy. Wish is there mainly as filler and to help keep Salamence as healthy as possible.

Machamp @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 4 Def
Adamant Nature
-Close Combat
-Thunder Punch
-Ice Punch
-Payback

I was a bit torn for this poke. Machamp was mainly picked as filler (I had five pokes and was trying to decide on a 6th); it provides some physical beef behind Salamence and provides a handy status absorber to switch into Blissey, etc. It can take hits that would be supereffective on Starmie and its weaknesses are well-covered by the steels/Starmie. I was a bit torn between this set and a more survivable Resttalk set that would allow it to function better as a tank, or a Scarfchamp set that would let it outspeed things once in a while. In the end I decided on all-out offense, but this is the team member I'd be most open to changing. I was also considering dropping the CB and using something like a Leftovers set with Sleep Talk to let it soak sleep as well (or that Resttalk set).

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 20 HP/ 252 SAtk/ 232 Spe
Modest Nature
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Dragon Pulse
-Overheat

Scarftran, to eat fire moves aimed at Jirachi/Bronzong. It also happily switches in against Ice/Dragon moves aimed at Salamence, Ghost/Dark/Bug/Grass attacks aimed at Starmie and even most Psychic/Flying attacks for Machamp. I know Exposion is the regular choice for most Choice Heatran sets, but I figured two exploders on one team might be a bit overkill and decided on a slightly less final Overheat instead. Since it's going to see so much use taking attacks meant for other pokemon, I also considered going with a slightly bulkier EV spread with Leftovers, but I like the speed afforded to it by Choice Scarf. Yeah, I liek mah offense :P

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 236 HP/ 120 SAtk/ 152 Spe
Timid Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin
-Recover

Rapid Spinner to make switch-ins easier for Salamence. It also helps cover for the shared weaknesses of the steels (excluding Ground) and shares anti-dragon duty with Ice Beam. It also helps soak unfriendly status (though it's not as good a switch in to Blissey as Machamp). I chose to put extra EVs in HP instead of speed because I have no interest in leaving it in there against Gengar and without Surf I'd rather not have it face down Infernape.

Issues:
-Magnezone. With three Steel pokes, it becomes a bit of an issue. I'm not worried about Heatran (with Scarf it should outrun most versions), but Jirachi is stuck trading shots with it (though it has a bit of recovery with Wish) and Bronzong can't do much except blow itself up. Is three of them a bit too much? Should I perhaps stick Shed Shell on Bronzong?
-Tankiness? I keep thinking I should run bulkier sets on Mence/Machamp/Heatran because I'm relying on them a lot to take NVE hits and then still be able to deal out a lot of damage in response. I've almost convinced myself to run Resttalk Machamp O.o
-Jirachi's moveset. Not sold on Flash Cannon; I keep thinking Grass Knot or even Thunderbolt for some reason >.>

Any comments/suggestions are welcomed. I hope I haven't completely overlooked something >.>

 

[themuffinbandit]

hmmm from a quick glance, i think this team looks rather well balanced; however, i do think that you should add in a tank or two. perhaps a special and physical tank like blissey and weezing?

 

[Wedge]

It appears that, if Machamp goes down, Mixape and Magnezone can rip your team to shreds. I'd suggest changing Salamence to Jolly 226 HP/12 Attack/196 Defense/76 speed and giving it Life Orb + Dragon Claw/Earthquake/Roost/Dragon Dance. Now rocks won't be as much of a problem as you can easily switch in (with rocks up even) on a CBCross Close Combat, still have at least 40% health, Roost back up, and either DD/Stall it (alternate between Roost and Dragon Dance), or just enjoy a free Roost/DD/attack on the switch. Now with Rocks not being a problem, you can make Starmie a Counterstar so it can defeat Mixape. Machamp can easily switch in on anything Magnezone has (especially with Jirachi wish support), and benefits from Thunder Wave, but if it goes down, you may be hard pressed to defeat it. Jirachi might want to go with the Calm Mind EV Spread of 252 HP/80 Defense/176 Speed and a Modest Nature. Getting rid of Flash Cannon in favor of Substitute could benefit you in the long run when you're up against a Blissey -you can make 101 HP Subs, have both Wish and Sub, and set up with Charge Beam.

 

[Volren]

hmmm from a quick glance, i think this team looks rather well balanced; however, i do think that you should add in a tank or two. perhaps a special and physical tank like blissey and weezing?

When I had five pokes (hadn't decided on Machamp) I did think about adding another wall. After some consideration though, I decided on Machamp because the team had so little physical oomph after Salamence. I figured it would be a decent middle ground, with a ton of brute power and respectable bulkiness.

As a side note, I refuse to use a Blissey. I'll eventually breed and train one for other reasons, but I hate the aesthetics.

It appears that, if Machamp goes down, Mixape and Magnezone can rip your team to shreds. I'd suggest changing Salamence to Jolly 226 HP/12 Attack/196 Defense/76 speed and giving it Life Orb + Dragon Claw/Earthquake/Roost/Dragon Dance. Now rocks won't be as much of a problem as you can easily switch in (with rocks up even) on a CBCross Close Combat, still have at least 40% health, Roost back up, and either DD/Stall it (alternate between Roost and Dragon Dance), or just enjoy a free Roost/DD/attack on the switch. Now with Rocks not being a problem, you can make Starmie a Counterstar so it can defeat Mixape. Machamp can easily switch in on anything Magnezone has (especially with Jirachi wish support), and benefits from Thunder Wave, but if it goes down, you may be hard pressed to defeat it. Jirachi might want to go with the Calm Mind EV Spread of 252 HP/80 Defense/176 Speed and a Modest Nature. Getting rid of Flash Cannon in favor of Substitute could benefit you in the long run when you're up against a Blissey -you can make 101 HP Subs, have both Wish and Sub, and set up with Charge Beam.

Magnezone is something that does bother me, especially since Bronzong and Jirachi can't do too much to it and it can 2HKO Heatran if it's locked into Dragon Pulse. I might have to drop one of my Steels (as much as I like them) simply because of that problem...unfortunately neither I nor my wifi sparring partner have a Magnezone to test with, but outside of using Shed Shell or using a U-Turn variant of Jirachi it may require me to change up one or more team members.

Mixape I was a little less worried about because Machamp and Salamence could both take its attacks somewhat decently with Wish support and OHKO it back, but yeah, it would be nice if Starmie could handle it as well. I'll definitely look into the bulkier Salamence EV spread, though that would require retraining.

I unfortunately only have either Timid or Jolly Jirachi to play around with. Substitute/U-Turn were options I also considered for its third move, but I ended up deciding in favor of another attack move to give it a tiny bit more coverage. I'll look 'em over again, or perhaps replace Jirachi altogether, though I'm not sure with what...