My Zealous Team Ver.2

xcube2402

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Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Heatproof
Nature: Sassy
EVs: (252 HP, 86 Atk, 80 Def, 92 SDef) (IV 0 Spd)
Move 1 - Earthquake
Move 2 - Explosion
Move 3 - Gyro Ball
Move 4 - Stealth Rock

Purpose: Bronzong is my lead and my sort of mix wall, yet I pretty much start with stealth rock ASAP, and I either sweep, switch, or explode to get a free switch if t will deal something to the opponent (do it if a ghost pokemon is not there or a switch to a ghost pokemon occurs). The reason I hav heatproof over levitate, is that many that use bronzong will predict it will have levitate, so with heatproof, I shouldn't be so scared of any fire based moves (unless they got a boost), and be able to set up my SR and sweep (if possible) or switch, I just have to watch out when someone uses earthquake when I switch to bronzong or if spikes have been used.

Problem: I don't see much of a problem, in terms of moveset, but if there is any, just give me a suggestion.

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Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sandstorm
Nature: Careful
EVs: (252 HP, 252 SDef, 6 Def)
Move 1- Crunch or Payback
Move 2- Curse
Move 3- Rest
Move 4- Sleep Talk

Purpose: I think making Tyranitar into a special wall or cursetar was much better ( I think) than the more common movesets, since they might have an advantage when used, only problem is his common weakness, & 4x weakness to fighting is the biggest problem when not played on the defensive side, and he is kinda slow to use in battle for offense, so I think with its awesome hp & sdef (thanks to sandstorm), it would give it almost 500 SDef with the ev set up for it, that should make it close to using a blissey (that I hate), only with more weakness and cooler looking, so I just have to boost it with curse a few time so it can also stand up and fight or defend against physical foes, and when I get to hurt, I'll just rest and sleep talk from there, that most likely after a curse boost or 2, will have the survival for most attacks, and makes a great pokemon (if done correctly) to stalling and possible becoming unstoppable, especially if there aren't any pokemon that can use fighting type movs left.

Problem: Its not any big deal, but was deciding if payback is more useful or crunch for a moveset like this, since payback would have more power due to being slow, but crunch has more pp, and was recommended more to use, plus there is the possiblity of lowering their defense, that helps, yet still don't know which is worth more to use.

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Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
EVs: (156 HP, 108 Atk, 102 Def, 144 Spd)
Move 1 - Dragon Dance
Move 2 - Stone Edge
Move 3 - Taunt
Move 4 - Waterfall

Purpose: It's my bulky Gyarados, I really don't have much to say as the 2 above, but I just simply use dragon dance to prepare sweeping, or use taunt first to stop any of those pokemons that would screw it up, or just to make sure something doesn't go wrong, then simpy sweep away, and if done right, I could just sweep the whole team, sort of similat to tyranitar.

Problem: minor, but is it worth replacing taunt for earthquake or bounce and making it more offense as well by changing the Evs to 6 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd, that would make it easier for sweeping with the life orb in place, plus I would have an ice move, yet woudn't be bulky anymore plus it would have problems in the sandstorm situation, so I don't know if it's worth it.

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or
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Rotom-H or W @ Choice Scarfs
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: (6 HP, 252 SAtk, 252 Spd)
Move 1 - Overheat or Hydro Pump
Move 2 - Shadow Ball
Move 3 - Thunderbolt
Move 4 - Trick

Purpose: Practically my only special sweeper (not counting Salamence, since it's a mix sweeper), as it's only purpose is sweeping when possible and using trick on pokemons that might become a problem or to simply set a trap for it.

Problem: Not much, but I don't know if I should have Rotom-H for Overheat, or Rotom-W for Hydro Pump, since they both are handy, but don't know which would help the team the most.

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Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Naive
EVs: (82 Atk, 176 SAtk, 252 Spd)
Move 1 - Draco Meteor
Move 2 - Fire Blast
Move 3 - Roost
Move 4 - Brick Break or Earthquake

Purpose: Pretty much my mix sweeper of the team, as I would simply sweep through the team, as I have my physical move for those strong against special or they are just simply weak to it, fire blast for the steel, and draco meteor just for the unexpected, or just to perform a hit & run tactic.

Problem: not much but just to decide if earthquake is better or brick break, as earthquake can do major damage to heatran, as brick break can do most on Tyranitar, and can help a bit more than earthquake when dealing with Blissey.

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Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Adamant
EVs: (6 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd)
Move 1 - Close Combat
Move 2 - Crunch
Move 3 - Extremespeed
Move 4 - Swords Dance

Purpose: Simply my Sword Dance sweeper, that I just boost then sweep away, as lucario can do a number of enemies with just 1 boost, but if I get lucky for a second boost, then I can pretty get ready for some good old fashion team sweeping with just Lucario.

Problem: Nothing wrong that I found of Lucario's moveset, but if there is a need for changing or you see a problem, just tell me.

Not part of of the team, but this was Gengar's moveset, if anyone wanted to know, or if it's a better choice over Rotom, for some reason:

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Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
Evs: (6 HP, 252 SAtk, 252 Spd)
Move 1 - Focus Blast
Move 2 - Hidden Power (Fire)
Move 3 - Shadow Ball
Move 4 - Substitute

Some things I thought of changing in the team, but don't know if it is worth doing it is:

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Scizor

Why: I thought he would make a good Lucario replacement, since he's got practically better immunity (except in fire), and that he has a better movepool when it comes to dealing with other pkmn.

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Metagross

Why: If Scizor is able to be put in (since just adding Metagross, leaves my team a bit more weak to earth moves in overall rating), I thought I could replace Bronzong, since he is a lot sturdier, works well as a lead (I hope), and can still dish out damage.

*If you have a suggestion or solution for these problems, just post it, and also tell me what you think of the team so far.
 
I think you really should be worried about the numbers Stealth Rock can do to this team. A Rapid Spinner would really go a long way, or at least a lead that stops the opponent setting up easy rocks. I have in mind either a Lead Starmie to spin away Stealth Rock or a lead Azelf with Taunt to stop their set up. Both should be given special consideration because they both make good Pursuit bait, helping greatly with a ttar or luke sweep. However Azelf wouldn't be the best replacement anymore because of the sheer amount of teams with lead Machamp and since Stealth Rock is very common on teams one must assume that a team that has lead Machamp has a later Stealth Rocker, especially after the Lead Synergy article written in the most recent edition of The Smog. If you do run Starmie then Stealth Rock somewhere else on the team is vital for what I'm about to suggest.

Another problem I would address is your dependancy on Rotom as a defensive pokemon. Nothing on your team can really take repeated blows from a Gyarados or Scizor, and being no.1 and no.5 in using respectively I think you need to rethink your checks to them. In mind is perhaps a Choice Scarf Heatran, especially if you change your lead to Starmie, which would help against Gyarados. If you don't change to Starmie, maybe even run Hidden Power Electric on Scarftran to revenge +1 Bulky variants after sr.

As a side note, what do the evs on Gyarados do. I'm just curious.
 
IMO Rotom-W would be better here over Rotom-H, Gyarados and Rotom-A already function as a great Scizor counter, and Hydro Pump deals huge damage to Heatran, who has the potential to cause some problems for you.
 
While this team is pretty nice, a simple combination of Stealth Rock + Spikes will hurt your team tremendously. Bronzong is easy setup fodder for basically any Stealth Rock or Spikes user; Pokemon like Skarmory can switch in whenever Bronzong or Tyranitar is in, set up a layer of Spikes, and then switch out. When you add Stealth Rock to this mix, then your team is horribly crippled; Salamence and Gyarados will take 25% damage from Stealth Rock, while Lucario and Tyranitar will take 25% damage from the three layers of Spikes that WILL be set up on your team. This puts you at a huge disadvantage against semistall teams, who usually carry both moves and can force you to switch, racking up more residual damage on you. In addition to this, mixed Infernape (a pretty common Pokemon in todays metagame) hurts your team pretty badly, particularly physically inclined variants. Overheat does huge damage to Rotom and Bronzong, Stone Edge takes out Gyarados and Salamence, and Close Combat OHKOes Tyranitar and Lucario. While you can play defensively to get around Infernape, it'll still hurt your team pretty badly, and is definitely a threat to look out for. Finally, Rotom-A is your check for a lot of threats, but it'll get taken out really quickly in the match by Scarf Tyranitar, which is a problem.

In order to alliviate your weakness to the Stealth Rock + Spikes entry hazard combination, I think a good thing to do would be to replace Tyranitar with a Life Orb Rapid Spin Starmie, and make it your lead. Currently, Tyranitar isnt really going to be able to sweep much on your team; it mostly looks like it just sits there and takes hits. As for making Starmie your lead, Bronzong is perfectly capable of setting up Stealth Rock and walling stuff outside of the lead position. On the flipside, Life Orb Rapid Spin Starmie is a great lead, shutting many common leads down from the get-go and Spinning away Stealth Rock and Spikes. For Starmie, try a moveset of Hydro Pump | Rapid Spin | Thunderbolt | Grass Knot, an EV spread of 4 HP | 252 SpA | 252 Spe, and a Timid nature with the ability Natural Cure and the item Life Orb. Starmie also serves as a pretty decent check to Infernape, who as I previously mentioned damages your team pretty badly. As for Rotom, I think it may be in your best interest to change its set. Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, Scarf Tyranitar will easily come in on Rotom and remove it with Pursuit, taking your only check to Gyarados out of the picture. This is a problem, as Scarf Tyranitar is a really common Pokemon, and your team wont be able to stop Gyarados effeciently if Rotom is gone. For this reason, I think that a more defensive Rotom-H set should be used in place of your current one. Try a set of Thunderbolt | Shadow Ball | Overheat | Will-O-Wisp, an EV spread of 252 HP | 168 Def | 88 Spe, and a Bold nature with the item Leftovers. By utilizing a defensive set like this one, Rotom can still check Gyarados, but can also deal with other Pokemon more easily. It isnt total bait for Scarf Tyranitar either, as Will-O-Wisp will severely cripple it when it switches in. If youre wondering why I want you to use Rotom-H over Rotom-W, its because Rotom-H packs Overheat, which is the only Fire-type attack on your team (bar Salamences Fire Blast); Gyarados and Starmie already pack Water-type moves. In the realm of more minor changes, I encourage you to try Hidden Power Ice in place of Earthquake on Bronzong. Starmie, Gyarados, and Rotom already check most Steel-types, so Earthquake isnt as neccessary. On the other hand, Hidden Power Ice allows Bronzong to more easily beat Salamence, who looks like a potential threat to your team. I would also try Bullet Punch in place of Crunch on Lucario, as Bullet Punch allows Lucario to OHKO Gengar and Choice Scarf Tyranitar after a Swords Dance, both of whom will otherwise end his sweep. Crunch isnt needed on Lucario anymore imo, as most Ghost-types attempting to check him will invest enough Speed to outpace him anyway. Bullet Punch allows Lucario to get past Pokemon who would otherwise stand in his way, so I think its a worthwhile change.

Overall, good team, and good luck ^_^
 
I'll replace T-tar and try out Starmie, make a few chanages around the team, and see how it goes, plus the EVs for Gyarados is that unlike the one displayed on smogon, I sacrifice some speed for a bit more defense and attack, so it can possibly have a chance to survive. Thanks for the help guys, and sorry that I didn't respond sooner, its just that I have been busy lately. I just noticed today that Salamence was put in the Uber tier :(, so is there anything good to put in place of it, or would Heatran be fine for take that spot?
 
Even with the decreasing usage usage of Scarftar, I think that the speed evs are necessary to outspeed Scarftar after a dd, at least until Choice Svarf usage on Tyranitar is too small to list it as an individual item. At the moment the most common set for ttar is the Scarf set so you need to watch out for it revengin you with your current ev spread.
 
k, I'll change the EVs on Gyarados to the one that Smogon suggest, so it has more speed instead of defense and attack, since I noticed the difference in their EVs, and that it has 9 less attack and 1 less defense for 10 more speed, which I don't think it's a big difference. If I were to have Starmie and Heatran on the team, should Heatran have a different move other than Hidden Power Electric?
 
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