My first RMT; please critique me!

Cattail Prophet

Ok, so this isn't quite the first team I've made, but it's definitely the best put together so far, so I'm looking to get some feedback on it. For reference, I'm currently sitting on a 1530 rating with this team.

This is a defensive team whose goal is to keep its members as healthy as possible for as long as possible while gradually wearing down the other side; so without further ado, the team members:

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Love Lizard (Venusaur-Mega) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder

Of the commonly seen megas in OU, I think Venusaur is probably my favorite, so I decided to start building my team with it. Venusaur has very servicable bulk in either spectrum, but I opted to emphasize physical bulk because it balanced out the team better. Venusaur's moves all help keep it alive, neutralizing foes and draining away their health, while sludge bomb is there to hit fairies hard as well as punish grass types who might be tempted to switch in to one of Venusaur's other moves.

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Bird Of Steel (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Roost

A defensive team naturally tends to draw out matches, so hazards are obviously a must. I decided to go with Skarmory for a few reasons. First off, its huge defense stat give it plenty of opportunities to take hits and put rocks up. Secondly, it also has access to Defog. The main downside to using defog over rapid spin is that it removes hazards from both sides of the field, but putting defog on my hazard setter allows me to mitigate this inconvenience since I can put my hazards back down right after I remove them. Finally, Sturdy means that Skarmory can almost always get rocks up at the start of a match, even if it ends up taking a Fire Blast or Thunderbolt to the face, though I of course try to avoid that when possible.

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Generic Mammal (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play
- Baton Pass

Umbreon is the team cleric, passing wishes to whoever needs them, which is especially helpful to the latter half of the team, who lack their own source of recovery. It also takes special hits like a champ, and it presents a real problem to status spreaders with the combination of Synchronize and Heal Bell. Even though it has no boosts to pass, a slow Baton Pass helps Umbreon get wishes to its teammates safely. Finally, Foul Play makes sure it isn't complete taunt bait and gives it a tool to use against physical attackers who might try to capitalize on its lower defense stat.

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Flopsy (Azumarill) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower

Azumarill is here to hit stuff, and hit it hard. With its great offensive coverage, Azumarill is able to get SE hits on a lot of types, so I decided to give it an Expert Belt instead of something like a Choice Band. I haven't run any calcs though, nor am I inclined to, so I'm not actually sure if it nets me any significant KOs that I wouldn't already get. Azumarill is also my Knock Off user, because Knock Off is just amazing this gen. It's particularly useful when I know my opponent's going to switch out, but I'm not sure what they're going to bring in. Even if the switch in doesn't take much damage from knock off, taking away its item is still a boon for me.

goodra.png


Goodramon (Goodra) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Gooey
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Mild Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Tail

With an Assault Vest, Goodra can take almost any special hit and dishes them out just as hard, while Gooey punishes physical attackers that Goodra doesn't mind taking a hit from. Dragon, fire, and electric are all great attacking types that let Goodra lay down the hurt on lots of pokemon. Dragon Tail is great for accumulating Stealth Rock damage and stopping setup sweepers, and it also gives Goodra something to do if I've already used Draco Meteor or the opponent sends in a special wall, but I don't feel like switching out.

talonflame.png


Spencer (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Will-O-Wisp
- Tailwind
- U-turn

Talonflame finishes out my roster by providing a lot of utility. Life Orb boosted priority Brave Bird is great for revenge killing should a team member fall, and also helps me break through a few pokemon that give the rest of my team trouble. Spreading burns through Will-O-Wisp is always handy for wearing down the opposing team and crippling physical attackers, and Tailwind helps to alleviate the speed problems that the rest of my team has. Finally, U-turn lets Talonflame get out once its job is done while preserving momentum. As a note, I decided not to invest in speed at all because I don't feel it's important for what this Talonflame is designed to do.

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Also, I don't actually find myself using Foul Play much with Umbreon, and I'm considering switching it out for either Substitute or Work Up to give Baton Pass more of a purpose, even though it leaves Umbreon without any attacks. Is this a good idea? A terrible one? Should I do something else altogether?

That's all for now. Any comments you can give would be much appreciated!
 
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Hello! First, as a rule, you could expand a bit more on some of your Pokemon. 3 lines of description is what is required, and you've fulfilled it on some Pokemon, but some need more bulk. Your sets and EVs are otherwise fine, just bulk up the descriptions a bit if u want to keep this thread.

Venusaur looks good, one thing I would change is to replace Sleep Powder with Synthesis. I find Sleep powder a tad unreliable, and as you could use a reliable healing move, I'd suggest that change. Synthesis is almost always mandatory, as it lets M-Venusaur check things more reliably. Your Skarmory looks good overall. I wouldn't switch Foul Play for anything on Umbreon, it's an invaluable tool that lets you punish boosting physical attackers. If I were to make a change, I'd switch Baton Pass to Protect, for more reliable healing. One thing I'm not convinced on is Azumarill. Waterfall is such a strong move on him that it feels criminal to ever let it go in favor of something else. Superpower is really only for Ferrothorn, and as your Goodra can take care of him just fine, I'd replace Superpower with Waterfall. I'd also switch Expert Belt to Mystic Water, as you are mostly spamming your STABs, so Waterfall and Aqua Jet become even more powerful, even if they do not hit for supereffective damage. And one more thing on Azumarill, I'd put 92 Speed EVs, so that you can outspeed an uninvested Tyranitar. Goodra looks fine, although one thing I would consider is to switch either Thunderbolt or Dragon Tail to Earthquake. Earthquake is mainly for Heatran, and as your Azumarill may fall victim to a stray burn, Earthquake gives you a more reliable way of getting rid of Heatran. I'm a bit on the fence on whether Life Orb is enough on Talonflame for revengekilling purposes. I do believe that you should either switch Life orb to Choice Band, or put Swords Dance there. However, if that Talonflame works, then by all means, use it. As I don't see Tailwind beneffiting your team all that much, I'd probably forego it for Flare Blitz. Not sure if Flare Blitz hits anything notable as you don't invest in Speed, but I think it could be better than using Tailwind.

I think your defensive core is quite solid, but there are some holes that could need plugging. As a general rule, your team will struggle against everything that goes behind a Substitute to boost, for example, Substitute + Swords Dance M-Mawile. Whirlwind on Skarmory could be able to alleviate your problems against boosting sweepers (especially behind a Substitute), but it will be bit hard to find room for Whirlwind. Another thing, Bisharp at +2 will be the bane of your team. It means that even though Talonflame can quite reliably burn the guy, you do need to sack something in order to do that. I'd imagine Specs Keldeo can also spell trouble to your team, as you need smart offensive play with Azumarill and Talonflame to check him. Also, never underestimate a Banded Terrakion, as he can guarantee a 2HKO on your Skarmory with SR, and have 20% chance of 2HKOing your Skarmory with Stone Edge. I think those are the main threats to your team you should focus on improving. Overall, nice team and good luck on your future battles!
 
Hi! Thanks for the feedback, and for the heads up about my descriptions. They were all more than three lines when I was typing up the post, but I guess the posting box isn't as wide as the actual forums. I won't get a chance to fix them until later today, though. I'll probably give more of a response to your comments then, too.
 
Life Orb is generally a mediocre choice of item for Talonflame, especially in your case since you only have 1 STAB move and no recovery so you might as well use Sharp Beak to increase your longevity. I'd drop Tailwind for either Roost or Flare Blitz too, since Tailwind doesn't really seem to do a great deal for your team, and in my own experience whenever I had Tailwind on my Talonflame, I hardly ever used it anyway. U-turn doesn't seem like you'll be able to capitalize on it much either, since your team has a lot of sturdy walls which you can hard switch into anyway, you have no set-up mons or wall breakers as such to take advantage of the momentum, and you have Will-O-Wisp to cripple things switching in like Tyranitar, which sorta wastes a moveslot in a way since both WoW and U-Turn are meant for the same thing really. BB, Flare Blitz, WoW, Roost would probably be a better fitting set for your team, I'd try that out and see if you like it. Definitely drop Tailwind though.

Venusaur without Synthesis is a bit of a doozy imo, it often relies on that move a lot to stay in proper shape throughout the game so that it can beat the things it usually can. I'd drop either Sleep Powder or Leech Seed for it, most likely the former, but if Powder has been working for you, that's fine.
 
Alright, so I edited in some more descriptions for the pokemon who needed it. Now to respond:

Re: Venusaur: B-but I like putting my opponents to sleep... I definitely see the merit of switching Sleep Powder out for Synthesis, and I will consider it, but for now I think I'll stick with the powder.

Yeah, you're probably right about Umbreon. Just to clarify though, are you only suggesting that I switch out Baton Pass for Protect if I really feel like changing something, or do you think I should do it regardless?

I'll definitely make the changes to Azumarill. Looking back, my original rationale for giving it Superpower over Waterfall was that it would help it against Steel types, but upon further thought, I realize that most relevant Steel types have a secondary type that gives them either a neutrality to Fighting or a weakness to Water, with the notable exception of (as you mentioned) Ferrothorn, so your suggestion does make more sense.

Hmm... putting Earthquake on Goodra wasn't something I had really thought about, but it does sound like it could be a good idea. I might go for it.

I was actually all ready to launch into a defense of my Talonflame, but then the next guy persuaded me to his line of thinking, at least provisionally. I do have a question for him, though. If I go with a set of Brave Bird, Flare Blitz, WoW, Roost, what would be the best item to use? You mentioned Sharp Beak, but I could also see just slapping another Leftovers on at that point. I'd also maybe want to run some speed investment if I went with this set. What would be the ideal number of speed EVs to run?

As far as threats go, oddly enough I haven't really encountered most of what you listed much if at all, so that's something for me to keep in mind moving forward. I definitely hear what you're saying about Bisharp, though. In a recent match, I let my Goodra take a hit from the enemy's Bisharp without really thinking about Defiant. It didn't end well.

Thanks for the help!
 
Well, the choice between Baton Pass or Protect is up to you really. Protect is the more orthodox choice, since you ensure a safe heal on your Umbreon whenever you need it. However, Baton Pass works as a pseudo-Uturn, where you call what your opponent does and bring in another Pokemon safely (given your Umbreon is slower). Generally, I would recommend Protect, but I leave this to your judgement.

I can give some input on Talonflame too, as I have used it extensively. Well, as I said before, I believe Talonflame needs some kind of boosting item or move to truly be scary. If you decide not to use Choice Band, Bulk Up or Swords Dance, then Sharp Beak is the bare minimum you should go for. Leftovers just doesn't hit as hard, and as you have priority Roost, you shouldn't have issues healing yourself. When it comes to Speed, I always encourage people to use full speed, as it is Talonflame's main selling point, and you aren't always forced to just use Brave Bird. However, if you'd like to invest in HP, there are some other notable options to consider. 208 Speed is needed with Adamant nature to outspeed M-Pinsir's Quick Attack. However, if you decide to forego Adamant nature to Jolly, then you can use a spread of 120 HP /252 Attack / 136 Speed to outspeed all the Pokemon in base 111 Speed, namely Thundurus and all slower Pokemon. One of those spreads would be my suggestion.
 
Thanks, I think I'll probably end up going with 208 Speed, as I sometimes end up having a bit of trouble with Mega Pinsir. As for Umbreon, I'm probably going to have to mull it over for a while.
 
Your team is kinda weak to Black Kyurem. Maybe replace Goodra with ass vest Conkeldurr? It's also a good ass vest user and doesn't stack weaknesses on your team. It also has recovery and the great Knock off >^o^>.

Life orb Talonflame without Roost is just suicide. Recoil racks up way too quickly especially when you're spamming Brave bird and Flare blitz.

I like the Choice band bluff Azumarill set you made but I think Mysticwater or Pixie plate would be better items powering up the moves that it spams by the same amount.

Protect is better than Heal bell for Umbreon as it works very well with Wish and you have Conkeldurr to absorb status anyway. A sassy nature and 0 speed IVs are good on Umbreon so you can go last with Baton pass and pass the Wish safely.
 
I'm going to have to disagree about Conkeldurr. I don't really see what advantage I get from switching Goodra out for it. First of all, Conkeldurr is actually worse than Goodra for stacking weaknesses:
Weaknesses Goodra shares with another team member: Fairy
Weaknesses Conkeldurr shares with another team member: Fairy, Psychic, and Flying
Really the only way Conk helps me typing wise is a rock resistance. Also, taking out Goodra leaves Venusaur as my only source of special attacks, and neither grass nor poison are that great of attacking types overall. It doesn't help that I'm just not really a fan of Conkeldurr in general, either. Sorry, but Goodra is staying.

In other news, I just had a random thought Re: Earthquake on Goodra. What if I gave Goodra Sludge Bomb and put EQ on Venusaur instead? Goodra's the one that's going to attract Fairies, and since most of them attack on the special side, he should be able to take a hit, while his higher Special Attack makes up for the lack of STAB. Of course, this wouldn't work so well against enemy Azumarill, but Venusaur can handle those just fine even without Sludge Bomb. Meanwhile, it seems to me that Earthquake helps out Venusaur's coverage more than it does Goodra's, particularly against steel types. In that case, I'd have to change Venusaur's nature, maybe to +Def, -Spd (don't remember which one that is right off hand). Am I crazy or is this actually a good idea?
 
Yeah, EQ is a legit option for Venusaur, as is Sludge Bomb for Goodra, so if you feel like making that change then go ahead. Although if I were you, I'd put Synthesis in M-Venu's moveset, and retain three attacking moves in Giga Drain, Sludge Bomb and Earthquake, but you may also just replace Sludge Bomb with EQ if you so wish. Either way you put it, EQ is really only for Heatran, regardless of who wields it. On M-Venu, it also gives a way to hit Aegislash, although I think Leech Seed is a good annoyance on Aegislash too.
 
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