VGC My first VGC team!

[TakamaruTaihou]

Rate My First VGC Team! - I don't have a name for it yet.
(Basic Strategy - Beat 'em up Offensive)

Introduction

Ok, so this is the first VGC team that I've made ever. I have not made any teams of any tier prior to this team, so please point out all the flaws of this team so I may improve it and let it show its full potential. :)

Teambuilding Process

So these are the "Big Three" Pokemon that I really wanted to make a team with. They seem to be pretty balanced and have some diverse typing IMO. Original plan was for Talonflame to lead most of the time.

I wanted a fast Pokemon that could support my Talonflame and who would also have Fake Out and Encore. Raichu fit the job description.

These two Pokemon were put in because I had a lack of physical attackers in my team.

I realized that the only thing I was using my Scrafty for was his Ice Punch and his Fake Out. Switched in for Mamoswine to have an Ice Punch with priority (Ice Shard) in addition to Rock Slide and Earthquake.

This is the final team! (so far) If I see a team that has some really annoying Pokemon (like Tyranitar or Kangaskhan) I now got a pretty good Fighting type to deal with em. I replaced Lucario with Bisharp because I still wanted Steel-type moves and Bisharp wasn't really doing anything in the previous teams.

The Team

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Will-O-Wisp
I wanted a fast Fire type that could deal lots of physical damage. It gets rid of the Fighting and Steel types and can weaken Pokemon like Kangaskhan and Aegislash's King's Shield with burn. I gave it a Choice Band for more power, but would have given it a Life Orb if Mamoswine didn't have it. (I'm not very good with using only 1 item per team.) Brave Bird and Flare Blitz are good STAB physical moves, and U-turn if I start out in a bad situation.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Taunt
- Sludge Bomb
Gengar is in charge of killing Fairies and Ghosts. Also Taunts Pokemon if they are being obnoxious with sleep or rage powder or if they are setting up. These are some pretty weird EV's. Let me explain. I wanted my Gengar to be 1 point of speed slower than my Raichu so I could accurately predict who would move first, as when I was in battle, Raichu and Gengar seemed to always be together. My combo move was usually to get Raichu to first Encore a status move, and for Gengar to Taunt the Pokemon directly afterwards. This forces the Pokemon into Struggle (as you can see in this replay) Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb are good STAB moves, and Protect is there whenever I need to "test the waters."

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 108 HP / 124 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Protect
Gardevoir usually just finishes off the rest of the Pokemon at the very end. It's Fairy typing is very useful, especially with the STAB Pixilate Hyper Voice. 20 Spe to outspeed Bisharp, 108 HP and 4 SpD to survive a Gengar, 124 Def to increase bulk, and 252 SpA + Modest for maximum power. Couldn't pick between Psychic and Psyshock... Focus Blast to kill off Tyranitar and others. Protect for safe Mega.

Raichu @ Air Balloon
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
Can kill some Flying and/or Water types, but mainly chosen to take the lightning away from Talonflame and to Fake Out and Encore. I gave it an Air Balloon because I already gave the Focus Sash to Gengar :/ Maximized Special Attack and Speed EVs. A lot of the times I team up Raichu with Gengar also for an Encore Taunt Combo.

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Flash Cannon
- Bullet Punch
- Detect
I wanted a Lucario because it's my favorite Pokemon (don't kill me, I read the RMT rules trust me) and also if I had a Pokemon that didn't mega-evolve, I would have an extremely hard time finding a good item for that Pokemon. Lucario is a good mixed attacker that is also a Steel type. Inner Focus can be used to ignore Fake Out right into a Close Combat on a Kangaskhan. Also good against Rock Slide spammers. Flash Cannon for Fairies if Gengar isn't good for the situation. Bullet Punch as a priority move. Detect for safe Mega.​

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Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 148 Atk / 100 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rock Slide
- Freeze-Dry
A custom-made Mamoswine to fit my needs. The abundance of Landorus really worried me, so I got an Ice type to defeat it and the Dragon-Flying type Pokemon. Also, Mega-Swampert worries me, so I got Freeze-Dry to get rid of it. The 100 SpA is for racking up enough damage against Mega-Swampert, the Hasty nature is to outspeed Landorus, the Rock Slide is for Fire-Flying types, and Earthquake for Electric or Rock types.​

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Conclusion​

This team has worked out pretty well for me, but I still make some mistakes in choosing my lead and whatnot. Also I'm pretty sure that my team, being the first one that I made, can't be the best team or the perfect team, so I'm asking you guys to help Rate My Team and give me good advice on improving it! :) GAHAHA​

 

[DaAwesomeDude1]

Hey there, for a beginner's team, this actually looks really good! There are a few changes I suggest however. I suggest using Tailwind instead of Will-o-Wisp on Talonflame. Your team is pretty frail, so Tailwind-centric teams can easily run through yours. With your own Tailwind, however, it can be used to match your opponent's while also being a nice last ditch effort, if Talonflame were to be weakened, to boost the Speed of its teammates so that they can pressure your opponent.

I definitely suggest using max Speed on Gengar. It allows Gengar to speed tie with opposing Gengar and Mega Metagross which is better than not having the chance to outspeed them. Also it'll be explained later on in the rate as to why you should switch to max Speed.

Using Psychic over Psyshock is much better for this year in VGC. VGC this year is a very physically oriented metagame so most bulky support Pokemon, such as Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur, will tend to run more Defense than Special Defense, heck some Amoonguss are even going max HP + max Defense. By using Psychic, you'll be able to hit them for more damage.

As for Lucario, I suggest using Rock Slide over Bullet Punch. Charizard Y can maul through your team; with Rock Slide, you'll be able to threaten it out or OHKO it. Bullet Punch, while not a bad option for Lucario, doesn't do much for your team as you already have ways of dealing with Fairy-types and two forms of priority.

Freeze Dry on Mamoswine honestly doesn't do much. It hits Rotom-W, but considering it's a 3HKO, Rotom can just KO it with a Hydro Pump afterwards, Mega Swampert is usually paired with Rain so it'll be able to outspeed Mamoswine and OHKO it, and the same goes for Ludicolo (most Ludicolos outside of Rain are Assault Vest anyways so it'll be able to tank a Freeze Dry). I suggest using Icicle Crash over Freeze Dry and Protect over Rock Slide. While Rock Slide is nice, Protect is mandatory on Mamoswine as it can allow it to potentially protect from a Will-o-Wisp. Icicle Crash is just a much stronger Ice-type attack that is overall a lot better than Freeze Dry and can allow Mamoswine to pick up KOs against the Genies. I also suggest you change Mamoswine's EV spread to a simple spread of 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly nature. An Adamant nature works too considering most Landorus nowadays are Choice Scarfed, but you don't miss out on any relevant KOs by going Jolly so there's not really any harm in doing so.

Calcs

100 SpA Life Orb Mamoswine Freeze-Dry vs. 156 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Ludicolo: 125-146 (71.4 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
100 SpA Life Orb Mamoswine Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 65-81 (41.4 - 51.5%) -- 1.6% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 212 HP / 104 Def Thundurus: 221-265 (122 - 146.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

For bigger changes, I suggest you switch Raichu to Amoonguss. Now, I'm aware that these two Pokemon do completely different things, but Raichu's support honestly isn't needed for your team. Plus the whole Encore + Taunt thing is generally not a reliable strategy, especially with regular Gengar, since it is pretty easy to figure out and prevent, and you lose a lot of momentum if your opponent were to Protect with the Pokemon you doubled into. Plus it's usually seen with Mega Gengar (well usually it's Encore + Disable lol) since that prevents your opponent from switching, so it's honestly not the best for regular Gengar. Now as for Amoonguss, it has Rage Powder which can redirect Electric-type attacks away from Talonflame, which essentially works like Lightning Rod, while also giving your team a MUCH better matchup against Rain and Trick Room, because currently your team is SUPER weak to those playstyles. It also acts as a soft check to Landorus-T, which your team is also weak to. Since you're not using Raichu anymore, there isn't a need to not run max Speed on Gengar.

That's pretty much it man, again REALLY nice team! Hope I helped man and good luck with the team!!! :]
-DaAwesomeDude1

Sets

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Tailwind

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Taunt
- Sludge Bomb

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 108 HP / 124 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Protect

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Flash Cannon
- Rock Slide
- Detect

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Protect
- Icicle Crash

Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpD (this spread allows Amoonguss to survive a Jolly Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt)
Relaxed Nature
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Protect

 

[TakamaruTaihou]

Thanks! For the Talonflame, in what circumstances should I use Tailwind? because I'm Choiced, it doesn't seem like a good idea... Do I just Tailwind and immediately switch out or something?

 

[DaAwesomeDude1]

Tailwind is mainly a last ditch effort thing, such as when Talonflame is super weakened and none of its attacks are useful against what your opponent has, you can use tailwind to boost the speed of its teammates. Or when your opponent has tailwind up and you need to match it so that you don't get outsped. You'll know when you need it :]

 

[Terraquaza]

you should definitely try out zapdos on the talonflame slot, can use tailwind and damage steeltypes too while not being frail, hvoice spam+zapdos in tailwind can win matches on its own

also volcarona is pretty dangerous with fake out support, so try out the rates and look which slot you need the least to replace it with something to cover it (or bump!)