Well, hello everyone! I've been following the competitive scene since the B/W days, but X/Y made me more enthusiastic to give it a try, and I did!
After multiple weeks of trial and error, and trying tens of combos and strategies, I reached a fairly decent team that helped me through LOTS of Showdown victories, but since I'm still a beginner, and the team obviously has some weaknesses, I'd love to hear your opinions.
The team:
Greninja @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Enter Greninja. This swift ninja-frog was probably the main pillar for my team creation and deservedly so. This moveset has enough coverage to take on lots of the usual pre-bank OU threats and the pattern is no different after it. HP Fight over U-Turn and Grass Knot because of the massive coverage, and Expert Belt ahead of Life Orb because the recoil is better avoided on the already frail frog.
Garchomp @ Life Orb/Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge/Poison Jab/Brick Break
- Swords Dance
The second team pillar. Garchomp is the team's main physical sweeper and he excels like always. The moveset is nothing special, but Stone Edge proved much better for my team than Poison Jab and Brick Break because of the pesky Talonflames and Thundurus, and because my Steels (see later) give me enough protection from the Fairies and Brick Break is generally weak to take even Pokemons that suffer against it. Yache Berry takes any Ice move and ensures Garchomp takes another sweep, while the Life Orb ensures good sweeping without the SD.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
- Knock Off
Gliscor is another Pokemon that never gets old. His walling skills are impeccable and he safely sponges any Fighting moves that threaten either my Greninja or my Steels. The set is the ordinary, but Knock Off is mainly for the Gengars that otherwise completely out, and I noticed that I don't get too many chances to Sub. The EVs will need specific tweaking later on, but that once has been quite decent for me.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 8 Def
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
My choice for a special wall is
none other that lava beast. Heatran complements my Gliscor Ice/Ground weaknesses pretty well, and that combo alone has won me numerous matches. I usually lead with him for SR unless I predict a direct counter. I contemplated Air Balloon but Leftovers is tempting as usual. Earth Power was also a possible choice ahead of Roar, but without it, I have no other phazer.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Oh Magnezone! This UFO has been making my life so easier because of his AMAZING Magnet Pull, and I feel much safer with him around. Trapping the likes of Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Ferroseed, Scizor (non-Brick Break which is quite rare itself), Aggron and even Jirachi is no small feat, and the main choice for HP Fire. Flash Cannon is my main Fairy nuke bomb and a perfect choice for the predicted Ground switch. The Scarf gives him more speed than most (almost all actually) Pokemon he traps and dents others that not. An overall great Pokemon.
Virizion @ Light Clay
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Giga Drain
- Reflect
The last team spot was a rather very unstable place. I experimented lots of Pokemon, mainly a Taunt Gyara, but Virizion is the one who currently occupies that elusive place. The reasons I used him are numerous, his Grass typing gives me much needed cover for Water and Ground types - both of which I suffered a lot against - , he Taunts the Blisseys and Gliscors into submission, he puts his walls with ease and finally gives me a direct Rotom-W counter, another Pokemon I suffered against a lot because of its Giga Drain, which also aids in recovering him.
Known weaknesses:
1- Lack of Priority moves: I had many occasions where I needed a priority move to finish off a certain threat (namely Greninja and Scarfed variants) but couldn't because of this.
2- Lack of Spinner or Defogger: This one's really obvious. Taunt saved me numerous times but not 100% successful to depend on just that.
3- Fighting moves: This one easily represent my worst nightmare. Gliscor walls most of the Fighting threats, but Conkeldurr and Ice Punch Lucario for example threat me easily. This was one another reason I used to use Gyara instead of Virizion. Ironically too, apart from Greninja's HP Fight, I have no Fighting moves.
4- Lack of Mega Pokemon: This one's not really a big problem, but the added boost of a Mega changing a match isn't present.
Now, I would love to see some constructive feed-back from everyone and help in tinkering my team!
After multiple weeks of trial and error, and trying tens of combos and strategies, I reached a fairly decent team that helped me through LOTS of Showdown victories, but since I'm still a beginner, and the team obviously has some weaknesses, I'd love to hear your opinions.
The team:
Greninja @ Expert Belt
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Enter Greninja. This swift ninja-frog was probably the main pillar for my team creation and deservedly so. This moveset has enough coverage to take on lots of the usual pre-bank OU threats and the pattern is no different after it. HP Fight over U-Turn and Grass Knot because of the massive coverage, and Expert Belt ahead of Life Orb because the recoil is better avoided on the already frail frog.
Garchomp @ Life Orb/Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge/Poison Jab/Brick Break
- Swords Dance
The second team pillar. Garchomp is the team's main physical sweeper and he excels like always. The moveset is nothing special, but Stone Edge proved much better for my team than Poison Jab and Brick Break because of the pesky Talonflames and Thundurus, and because my Steels (see later) give me enough protection from the Fairies and Brick Break is generally weak to take even Pokemons that suffer against it. Yache Berry takes any Ice move and ensures Garchomp takes another sweep, while the Life Orb ensures good sweeping without the SD.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
- Knock Off
Gliscor is another Pokemon that never gets old. His walling skills are impeccable and he safely sponges any Fighting moves that threaten either my Greninja or my Steels. The set is the ordinary, but Knock Off is mainly for the Gengars that otherwise completely out, and I noticed that I don't get too many chances to Sub. The EVs will need specific tweaking later on, but that once has been quite decent for me.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 8 Def
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
My choice for a special wall is
none other that lava beast. Heatran complements my Gliscor Ice/Ground weaknesses pretty well, and that combo alone has won me numerous matches. I usually lead with him for SR unless I predict a direct counter. I contemplated Air Balloon but Leftovers is tempting as usual. Earth Power was also a possible choice ahead of Roar, but without it, I have no other phazer.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Oh Magnezone! This UFO has been making my life so easier because of his AMAZING Magnet Pull, and I feel much safer with him around. Trapping the likes of Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Ferroseed, Scizor (non-Brick Break which is quite rare itself), Aggron and even Jirachi is no small feat, and the main choice for HP Fire. Flash Cannon is my main Fairy nuke bomb and a perfect choice for the predicted Ground switch. The Scarf gives him more speed than most (almost all actually) Pokemon he traps and dents others that not. An overall great Pokemon.
Virizion @ Light Clay
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Giga Drain
- Reflect
The last team spot was a rather very unstable place. I experimented lots of Pokemon, mainly a Taunt Gyara, but Virizion is the one who currently occupies that elusive place. The reasons I used him are numerous, his Grass typing gives me much needed cover for Water and Ground types - both of which I suffered a lot against - , he Taunts the Blisseys and Gliscors into submission, he puts his walls with ease and finally gives me a direct Rotom-W counter, another Pokemon I suffered against a lot because of its Giga Drain, which also aids in recovering him.
Known weaknesses:
1- Lack of Priority moves: I had many occasions where I needed a priority move to finish off a certain threat (namely Greninja and Scarfed variants) but couldn't because of this.
2- Lack of Spinner or Defogger: This one's really obvious. Taunt saved me numerous times but not 100% successful to depend on just that.
3- Fighting moves: This one easily represent my worst nightmare. Gliscor walls most of the Fighting threats, but Conkeldurr and Ice Punch Lucario for example threat me easily. This was one another reason I used to use Gyara instead of Virizion. Ironically too, apart from Greninja's HP Fight, I have no Fighting moves.
4- Lack of Mega Pokemon: This one's not really a big problem, but the added boost of a Mega changing a match isn't present.
Now, I would love to see some constructive feed-back from everyone and help in tinkering my team!