My First Team

[Toasty_Wolf]

I made a team on here a few weeks ago when I knew nothing of the meta game. I've since learned about many different aspects of competitive play and would really like to know your guys' opinions on my first team.

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Waterfall
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

I really like Swampert due to his coverage of both Water and Ground (and the fact that he is only weak to grass). I am planning on making Swampert into a defensive wall due to the high number of sweepers on my team. Also, because I have decided to make him careful natured, I will put a number of EVs into SDef and give him the move Curse.

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance

I want to give Infernape the Iron Fist ability so all of his attacks will be even stronger than they already are. Mach punch and Fire punch are obvious choices but I also wanted to give him Thunder punch to cover his weakness to water types. Additionally, with the addition of Life orb, he will be an even more powerful sweeper. While I wish I could have used Blaziken (damn uber tier...) I am more than happy settling with Infernape.

Salamence (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fly
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Fang

With his high base attack stat along with the Ev's i will be putting into it, I'm hoping for Salamence to be the most powerful of my team. To coincide with his great attack, I will give a great increase to his speed. I wasn't sure what moves to use other than Dragon Claw and Fly but ultimately I figured Aqua tail and Fire fang would give him alot of coverage. Any other suggested movesets would be greatly appreciated.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Def / 76 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

This is where I am really torn. I already have a ground attack user in Swampert so I dont know if it is too redundant to be using Ttar. Since I was looking for a OU tiered dark type, I ultimately decided he was the best option. Due to my large number of sweepers I have decided to build Ttar into a more defensive pokemon. I would love your feedback on my Ttar build and whether I should change his EV spread or if I should use a different pokemon altogether.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Magnet Rise

Magnezones amazing electric special attacks as well as his access to Flash Cannon made him a must have for my team. I was torn on whether to give him magnet rise or substitute but ultimately decided to go with magnet rise. Additionally, I have decided to make Magnezone a bit tankier as apposed to making him a sweeper. But again, because I am new to the competitive game, I would greatly appreciate your opinion on how I should build him.

Espeon (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Light Screen

Having looked up various Espeon builds I have ultimately decided upon making her a special sweeper. Once again, I am very unsure of her movepool and would greatly appreciate your feedback. I ultimately decided to give her a wide variety of type attacks from psychic to fairy as well as ghost. Also, I dont know whether it is pointless to give her light screen considering she is a sweeper.



So that is my team. What do you guys think? I get the feeling that I may have too many sweepers on my team but I am not sure. Also, I dont know whether my EV spreads for Ttar or Magnezone are any good or whether I should be using Ttar at all due to already having a ground type in Swampert. Thankyou for your input.

 

[Temporaryanonymous]

Why would you run fly on Salamence. Furthermore, this is band Salamence, not even scarfed to take full advantage of moxie. Also, why the heck do you have a bunch of choiced users with status moves like specs light screen, specs magnet rise, and band stealth rock? Additionally, having that many choiced users on your team makes it easy for the opponent to play around you, especially if you're not making huge dents with your attacks.

 

[Tampoff]

Not enough time but i'll quickly rate, first off ditch banded tyranitar and use mega since it allows better bulk and you get the attacka nd coverage you need, i can tell youre fairly new since it looks like youre using EV's weirdly. Its weird how you have two stealth rock users and trade Swampert for Quagsire since Swampert isnt as viable as he used to while quagsire stops set up sweepers such as Sand Rush excadrill (which OHKO most of your team) and DD X Charizard, (which also wrecks this team)

 

[Tampoff]

Also Ttar isnt a ground type.

 

[Alex.the.Riddler]

Throwing some EVs onto HP and Def but having nearly all offensive moves doesn't make a defensive pokemon. If you'd like some really good defensive pokemon, start with those that have high base defenses/HP and you'll usually want a very different moveset than if you were creating an attacker.

I'm not sure you understand how Choice items work. Once that pokemon is in, it will only be able to use one move until you switch out. This means, for example, if Tyranitar uses Stealth Rock you will have to keep on using it (and failing) until you switch out or he faints. It also makes Magnet Rise useless on Magnezone and Light Screen a bad choice with specs Espeon. This team, with its 4 choice users, would force you to switch practically every other turn in order to keep from wasting turns completely.

Fly is never used in competitive play, due to the loss of a turn, inability to switch, and only okay power. Say you chose Fly against my Fighting-type, I have a free turn to switch in any pokemon in my team that resists flying attacks. Then, your Salamence is locked into Fly from his Choice Band, so you either have to select Fly again, wasting 2 turns, or switch out, giving your opponent a turn to set up or predict your switch-in.

You sort of have the right idea with Infernape, sweepers should have good attack coverage and boosting moves/abilities/items are usually used. However, you would want stronger STAB attacks like Flare Blitz and Close Combat to maximize your damage. Infernape is pretty fragile so a swords dance is unlikely unless you force a switch. Ironically, Infernape often runs a Choice item to help raise its not-great speed or further boost its attacks.

With the introduction of X and Y we also got Mega evolutions, you may want to think about adding one of those to your team. You can only have one, but they are extremely powerful and many have risen to the top of OU in terms of usage.

Think about how your team works together in terms of roles and counters rather than types. You'll want some sort of core strategy (stall team, weather team, status, etc...) and probably 2-4 pokemon for that. Then you may want a lead (usually the pokemon you start with, to set hazards or screens or baton pass stat changes or even an anti-lead), or counters for pokemon or strategies that your team has trouble dealing with, or you could even have a healer/cleric. Most of all, you want a team that in which every pokemon has a (typically unique) purpose and can deal with almost anything your opponents throw at you.

 

[X5Dragon]

There are 3 main problems with the way you are using choice items:

1) You are using too many of them on single team
2) You will be required to switch a lot and you have no direct method of removing hazards
3) You are using sub-optimal sets, Fly with CB Sally, Magnet Rise on Magnezone, SR on Tyranitar, Light Screen on Espeon, etc.

Echoing what my colleagues have said, it is usually better to start building a team by choosing a play style, a pokemon or core you want to build your team around (Mega Gyara, VenuQuagChansey core, etc.) and then take a deep look at the current's meta threats and how you fare against them, defensively and offensively.

For example, you have a Swords Dance Infernape as a set up sweeper. Good on paper, but then you realize this a priority infested meta, with things like Talonflame and Azumarill not caring about Mach Punch and killing you back easily with Brave Bird and Aqua Jet respectively. You could do a similar practice with each of your pokemon.

You are also not utilizing the many weapons this tier has to offer, for example a Mega Evolution or better Priorities in general. Here are some suggestions until you figure out what you want your team to be or who to build it on:


Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Waterfall
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

I'm assuming this is your go to lead, and when comparing him to other leads who have Taunt, Will-o-Wisp or strong Special Attack Stabs, this might not be the best choice. You can use a Rotom-W as a bulky water:

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers/Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature
- Pain Split/Rest
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch

He answers a lot of the metas threats better, can threaten with status, has a good STAB combo and grab you momentum.

Tyranitar can go mega:

Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252Spe / 4 SpDef
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Punch/Fire Punch
- Stone Edge/Rock Slide
- Earthquake


You can keep Magnezone to trap Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Scizor:

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire

 

[Farpafraf]

Even without looking at synergy issues some movesets are odd:

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Waterfall
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

He isn't really that great to begin with and he can't do all those things all together.Just decide stealth rock setter,curse user,choice band user

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance

In my opinion Infernape isn't a good sword dance user especially with Talonflame everywhere.He's very frail so many priority moves are likely to stop his sweep.

Salamence (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fly
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Fang

Fly is awful like really really awful being locked into it???No.Nope.Nopety nope.Salamance only niche I'm aware of in the actual metagame is that of a scarfed moxie user.

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Def / 76 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

Choice locks you.You don't want to be locked into stealth rock.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Magnet Rise

Magnet rise is really useless with choice specs.

Espeon (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Light Screen

Ok you love choice item I think I got that but again Choice specs+Light screen????

 

[Der Twist]

I don't really know what else to add that hasn't already been added regarding the choice items and whatnot. But about that Salamence, if you're going to be running it choiced, run Scarf, but Salamence isn't really the best thing to choice I'd think, it does best with a Life Orb so it can do a great job switching its great coverage moves around for every threat that comes in and basically clean up shop without losing momentum. You seem pretty tipped to the physical offensive side so I'd say run Mence as a Naive mixed attacker to balance your team out a bit with Dragon Dance, Outrage/Dragon Claw (give him Lum Berry if you run Outrage), Earthquake and Fire Blast. Run 252 speed EVs and split the rest however you see fit between attack and special attack (or however someone who knows what they're talking about more than me comes up with an idea).