My team (Novice)

[MinusPi]

Hey Guys I just started playing pokemon showdown a couple of weeks ago and have made a multitude of teams but I have had the most success with this one , however I am still a noob at competitive battling and would like some tips to improve upon it. It Revolves around Breloom and Zapdos as an Offensive Core with Blissey supporting as it has great synergy with the two.

The Team:

Breloom @ Life Orb

Ability: Technician

EVs : 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature (+Atk, - SAtk)

- Low Sweep
-Mach Punch
-Bullet Seed
- Spore

Breloom is usually my lead and spore's the lead unless it is a less than favourable match up which at that point I switch to my Zapdos. Mach Punch is for priority, Low Sweep is a STAB move that takes advantage of the technician ability and so does bullet seed. The Chance to lower the targets speed with low sweep isn't bad either.

Zapdos @ Left Overs

Ability : Pressure

EVs: 248 HP / 240 SpD / 20 Spe

Calm Nature (+SpD , -Atk)

- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Hidden power Ice

Zapdos Makes up the core with Breloom. Volt Switch is to keep the momentum , roost is obviously to heal. Heat Wave takes care of threats such as Scizor, Jirachi, Forretress and Skarmory and HP Ice is to Surprise Dragons switching in and pesky ground types.

Blissey @ Left Overs

Ability : Natural Cure

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD

Calm Nature (+SpD , -Atk)

- Aromatherapy
- Softboiled
- Flamethrower
- Toxic

I Chose Blissey because she has great synergy with zapdos and breloom , and also because she is a formidable special wall. Aromatherapy helps cure my team mates of status which trouble them greatly , softboiled is to increase her longevity while toxic wears the opponent down excluding steel types which Is why I use flamethrower.

Heatran @ Leftovers

Ability: Flash Fire

Timid nature (+spe , - Atk)

Evs: 252 spA / 4 spD / 252 spe

- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Grass
- Taunt

I Chose Heatran because it covers breloom and stops entry hazards with taunt and since forretress and skarmory are the most common fire blast really helps taking them out. While Earth power and HP Grass asre just for coverage.

Gengar @ Black Sludge

Ability : Levitate

Timid nature (+spe , -Atk)

Evs : 4 HP / 252 spAtk / 252 spe

-Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow ball
- Hidden Power fighting

Gengar covers up blisseys weakness and also disables pokemon that rely on one move to deal damage. Shadow ball hits Ghost and psychic types well while I use HP fighting to deal damage to fighting types I replaced focus blast with HP fighting as the accuracy was very unreliable. Shadow Ball is also great neutral coverage.

Starmie @ Leftovers

Ability: Natural Cure

Timid Nature (+spe , -Atk)

Evs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe

- Surf
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

Starmie is my teams spinner and also a check to fighting and psychic types and a counter to fire , ground and rock types while ice beam helps me deal with pesky dragon types. However it is particularly susceptible to spinblockers seeing as they are usually ghost type so block my rapid spin and OHKO my starmie as it is pretty frail.

Summary:

What I want to make is a team with a very good offensive core with great support. I Want to get a couple of sweepers in there as well.

 

[Ulriken]

Hi there, this is definitely not a bad team overall, but there's certainly some spots we can try to shore up.

Your Zapdos is simply just too weak to make an impact in this metagame as part of an offensive core. With this build its not even 3HKO-ing Specially Defensive Jirachi and Celebi with a super effective Heat Wave (and that's not factoring the omnipresent rain). Volt Switch as your main STAB on a Steath Rock weak Pokemon is also not a good combination. Roost helps, but too many Pokemon carry Hidden Power Ice as coverage for me to feel too confident about Zapdos' longevity. For these reasons I'm personally not sold on its viability as a special wall, but more talented battlers than me think otherwise so there's that. Regardless, you already have the king of special walls, Blissey, so there's no need for Zapdos to try that role too. A more offensive set [found here] should fill your needs better.
Zapdos is also currently part of OU's research week, so keep an eye on that thread [found here] for some ideas on how to use it.

The second major point I have concerns your Gengar. First off, HP Fighting is really a signficant downgrade from Focus Blast. It turns OHKO's into 2HKOs, and while Gengar is fast, it is also way too fragile to take more than a hit or two. So although 70% is not an enticing number, it's the best choice. That said, I'd suggest you switch out Gengar all together. It's only real niche in OU is as the best offensive spinblocker, and you have no hazards (which in itself is not usually a great strategy, but I'll get to that). SubDisable is a fun strategy when I works well, but most offensive Pokemon will simply hammer it with another move, and the team slot can be put to better use.
Since Starmie and Zapdos hit from the special side already, I'll suggest evening it out with Breloom and Terrakion on the physical side.

Terrakion can run a multitude of sets:
Double Dance- gives you a set-up sweeper
Focus Sash- reliable Stealth Rock setter (and still set up)
Choice Band- allows you to hammer away, softening checks/counters to Breloom and removing Blissey for Zapdos
Choice Scarf- still an excellent revenge killer
Read up on its page [here] and decide which role best fits your needs. I'm personally leaning towards the Double Dance, as a set-up mon is always useful, and its versatility should prove useful, but try them all out and see what you like best.

If you choose not to use Stealth Rock on Terrakion, you may want to consider finding space for it on Heatran. It is really invaluable in this metagame, both for passive damage and to break Sashes, Sturdy, Multiscale, etc.

Also I'd suggest running Hydro Pump over Surf on Starmie. This goes back to the Power vs. Accuracy question (also a debate currently going on in the OU forum), but again the power is too much to pass up in my opinion.

Summary:
Zapdos: change to Offensive
Gengar: at least change to Focus Blast, preferably replace with Terrakion/Other Physical Sweeper
Stealth Rock: find some way to get it on your team
Starmie: Hydro Pump over Surf

Hope I was able to help, and best of luck out there.

 

[MinusPi]

Thank you for the suggestions Ulriken it has greatly helped me out , I have put stealth rock on my terrakion ( I replaced gengar), put hydro pump on starmie and found a much better alternative to zapdos which is thundurus-t.

My Team is now:

Could It be improved any further?