My First RMT

[atheistdrifloon]

Hello Smogon, I'm new to the competitive Pokemon scene, and I'm still having difficulty with a few things, especially EV spreads, so I'd appreciate it if you guys gave me a little help. :)

A couple details: It's a Sandstorm team, and I much prefer to play defensively. I'd prefer if any new Pokemon suggestions were immune to Sandstorm (I know it's not required on a SS team, but I do like it) but if you absolutely feel a certain Pokemon is required, feel free to mention it...

I use the same team on Wi-Fi, so Hidden Power is really something I'd like to avoid.

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Sand Stream
252 HP/152 Def/106 SpDef
Impish

- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off

Kinda self-explanatory, I guess. Standard Hippowdon lead, sets up the Sandstorm and Stealth Rocks and acts as a wall. No Roar because it's on Empoleon instead.

Empoleon @ Shuca Berry
Torrent
252 HP/4 Speed/252 SpDef
Modest

- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Roar

Looking at this now, I'm wondering what I was doing. Not sure why I gave it 252 SpDef EVs. :| Shuca Berry is a remnant from when Garchomp was OU, it let Empoleon take the Earthquake and (usually) OHKO back with Ice Beam. I find it's still helpful sometimes, but not as much anymore. Worth swapping for Leftovers?

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
6 HP/252 Def/252 SpDef
Impish

- Wish
- Protect
- Body Slam
- U-Turn

I wanted Wish support that wouldn't take Sandstorm damage, which meant Jirachi was one of two options. Body Slam's 60% chance of paralysis really helps the team and U-Turn is nice to scout with. I know the EVs need a lot of work though.

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Levitate
252 HP/130 Def/128 SpDef
Calm

- Charge Beam
- Toxic
- Psychic
- Hypnosis

The Moveset's a little different, but it seems to work. Toxic and Hypnosis are pretty standard, but I decided to go the special route rather than the physical. Charge Beam lets it raise its Special Attack while doing damage and Psychic is for STAB. If it gets a couple stat boosts, it can do a surprising amount of damage. Charge Beam helps it deal with Gyarados, which I had run into problems with.

Omastar @ Leftovers
Shell Armor
252 HP/4 Sp. Attack/252 SpDef
Calm

- Spikes
- Surf
- AncientPower
- Knock Off

Originally put on the team because I wanted a decent Spiker and Fire resist, I'm starting to wonder how useful he really is. I rarely set up any Spikes, which means his role as Fire resist could be easily replaced. Surf and AncientPower are for STAB, coming off of Omastar's impressive Special Attack and Knock Off helps wear down walls by getting rid of Leftovers.

Suggestions for replacing him would be helpful. I do really like Knock Off though... is it finding another Knock Off Pokemon, or could I do without it?

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Levitate
80 HP/252 Attack/176 Speed
Adamant

- U-Turn
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Revenge killer. U-Turn because Flygon is pretty fragile, lets him hit and go to something that resists his weaknesses like Empoleon or Bronzong. Adamant/252 for as much power as possible. Dragon Claw because this is a pre-Platinum moveset, is it worth replacing with Outrage? I'm not sure I want to be locked in.



Alright, so can anyone give me some suggestions to improve? Thanks for reading! :)

 

[Urza]

toxic spike tentacruel will do omastar's job better...no spikes is unfortunate, but tentacruel is just overall the better pokemon, especially if you want knock off/rapid spin support.

 

[Foresaken Justice]

Hello and welcome to Smogon ^_^

After looking through your team, what strikes me is a weakness to Swords Dance Lucario. If it sets up a single Swords Dance, it can pose a huge threat with just Close Combat and ExtremeSpeed alone. Close Combat severly dents Bronzong, Omastar, Jirachi, Empoleon and Hippowdon while Extremespeed kills your Flygon.

To fix this rather daunting problem first, I would suggest using an EV spread of 252HP/252 Def/ 6 SpD on your Hippowdon. This allows Hippowdon to take physical hits to its fullest potential and take Close Combat's from Lucario slightly better. If you want more reason to switch to a more defensive Hippowdon, consider Fighting types in general. CBHeracross can maul your team. You have no initial switch-ins to fighting attacks. For this reason, you should have a cushion for these threats, in the form of a more defensive Hippowdon. I would also suggest using Roar over Ice Fang on Hippowdon. I think that hippowdon is more capable of using Roar then your Empoleon. Roar is usually used to phaze away Pokemon who use moves to boost one of their stats. Some common users of these types of moves are Salamence, Scizor, Lucario, and Gyarados.All of the above pokemon have the potential to seriously hurt Empoleon. Hippowdon handles the above Pokemon much better than Empoleon making him the btter choice to use Roar.

Now, I do not think that you are using Empoleon to its fullest potential. Empoleon does not make the best Pokemon to use Roar as I explained above. However, Empoleon makes for a scary sweeper. Since your team lacks some offensive pokemon, I would suggest using a Sub Petaya Empoleon.

Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP/252 Spd/244 SAtk
Nature: Modest (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Agility
- Surf
- Grass Knot

First, Empoleon comes in on something that is unable to OHKO or cripple it. This includes a lot of top-tier Pokemon, including Blissey without Thunder Wave, Suicune and Vaporeon. Once you get a free turn, you Agility, bringing your speed to a blazing 438. You then Substitute until Petaya activates, boosting Empoleon's already respectable 350 Special Attack to 525. Surf is improved by STAB from 95 base power to 137 base power, then Torrent kicks in, boosting its base power to an incredible 208. Even things that resist Water are still destroyed. Empoleon resists the two most common Priority moves, Bullet Punch and Ice Shard, carrying a 4x resistance to each, meaning they won't even 2HKO an Empoleon's Substitute, while their users are OHKOed by Surf. If you decide to use tentacruel over Omastar as suggested above, Toxic Spikes + Empoloen is a very deadly combination. So i would think about using Tentacruel over Omastar. Tentacruel also provides a fighting resist for your team.

Jirachi is a cool Pokemon and makes a fine choice to any team including yours so I would keep it. However, I do feel that your moveset and EV spread could use some work. As your EV spread, I suggest using 240 HP / 56 Atk / 76 Def / 136 Spe. With those EV's, Jirachi will hit a total of 270 Speed, ensuring he can outrun Adamant Heracross(who seriously hurts your team), who will fail to OHKO with his CB Close Combat. Choice Scarf versions may be faster than Jirachi, however, Jirachi cannot be 2HKO'ed by a CB Close Combat. Jirachi will only take about 44–52% from a Choice Scarfed Heracross's Megahorn and Close Combat. Over Protect, I would suggest using Zen Heabutt. Zen Headbutt allows you to hit Lucario, Infernape and hearacross on the switch. You could also use one of the screens if you want to provide your team with more support. One of the screens will also help Empoleon sweep and increase your teams overall durability.

The Bronzong moveset and EV's look a bit messy. I would change Bronzong's EV spread to the standard 252 HP / 84 Atk / 80 Def / 92SpD. With those EV"s, Bronzong will OHKO Scarfed Gengar and Weavile and 2HKO Tyranitar with Gyro Ball. The Special Defense and Defense EVs maximize provide overall bulkiness, allowing Bronzong to survive a Flamethrower from MixApe. I would use something like Trick over Toxic and giving it a Macho Brace. With Trick, Bronzong is able to disable oppsosing walls such as Skarmory who think they can juts come and and freely set up only to get a suprise in Trick. You can Trick Macho Brace onto sweepers such as Infernape who tend to switch in on Bronzong often and Infernape will not like getting its speed reduced signifacantly from the effects of Macho Brace. Gyro ball is a better option over Psychic on Bronzong because Gyro ball is powered up by Bronzong's poor speed plus the effects of Macho Brace. I would use Explosion over Charge Beam. Explosion allows you to take out at least one Pokemon once you feel you do not need Bronzong any more. Lastly, Eathquake is a good option over Hypnosis. Hypnosis is very unreliable due to its terrible accuracy. Earthquake allows you to destroy those pesy magnezone's and Heatran's who tend to switch into Bronzong alot.

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Hope I helped and good luck with your team
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[Solidus]

Pretty solid team. Support Lead Aerodactyl would be a good replacement for Hippowdon if you want to set up Stealth Rock quickly. Magnezone is a bit of a problem, seeing as it can trap half of your team. For a Magnezone counter, an Adamant Life Orb Dugtrio would be better, and it should be replaced with Omastar. Use 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe for its EV spread, and a standard moveset of Earthquake/Stone Edge/Night Slash/Aerial Ace. On Jirachi, running Toxic > Body Slam wouldn't be a bad idea since you could alternate with Toxic + Protect to slowly whittle away the opponents health. Zen Headbutt is also a good option to consider, depending on your preferences. Heatran is an all around excellent Scarfer, and it could even out the Fire weakness in your team. Take Flygon out and use Scarf Heatran instead:

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spe, -SpD)
~ Fire Blast
~ Earth Power
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Explosion

Fire Blast for causing huge damage to Scizor, Lucario, and Celebi. Use Earth Power against fellow Heatran. Dragon Pulse causes decent damage to all those Dragons that are commonly found in OU, like Salamence and Kingdra. Explosion is for those Blisseys who come in to stop the fun, or as Heatran's last resort move. Going along with setting up spikes, you could consider using Forretress over Bronzong. Maggy shouldn't do any harm if you give Forry Shed Shell, and if you manage to predict a HP Fire and switch in to Heatran at the right time, you can get a Flash Fire boost, but anyways, here's the set I recommend:

Forretress @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 162 Atk / 96 Def
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe)
~ Spikes
~ Earthquake
~ Gyro Ball
~ Rapid Spin/Explosion

You can set up Spikes fearlessly with Shed Shell. Earthquake for Maggys that will commonly switch in. I suggest Gyro Ball purely because it is great against Tyranitar and Weavile. On your last slot, use Rapid Spin if you're worried about SR and Spikes. Forry can easily switch into Toxic Spikes and spin it away, and it won't get poisoned. Explosion is as a last resort move, but Rapid Spin would probably be better. Depends on what you prefer. Anyways, good luck with your team, and I hope this helps you out in any ways! :D