Battle Stadium Need some feedback on my team

[MrMimikyu]

This is my first RMT, I apologize in advance if anything is not correct.
I tried climbing the ladder in singles, but couldn't get past 30.000, could you give me some advice for my team?
I'm not the HO type, but rather defensively orientated.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP, 48 SpA, 208 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Hex

My main lead. I usually start with thunderwave to give the opponent status early on, especially good when they switch out. Otherwise I go for Volt Switch to gain momentum. Hydro Pump and Hex are for lategame to inflict damage to crippled pokemon. Leftovers gives some recovery, to get 1-2 more attacks off.

Arcanine @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EV's: 252 HP, 252 Spe, 4 SpA
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Snarl
- Extreme Speed

If I don't start with Rotom, I use this guy. Intimidate is a great ability, causing a switch or weakening the opponent. Like with Rotom, I first go with a status move, getting a free burn if they switch out.
Snarl is for weakening special attackers, if Arcanine is bulky enough to take a few hits. Extreme Speed is to finish Cinderace/Darmanitan which would outspeed me.
Sitrus Berry again is for some recovery to get a few more attacks off.

G-Max Lapras @ Weakness Policy / Light Clay
Ability: Water Absorb
EV's: 120 HP, 120 SpA, 80 Def, 188 SpDef
Calm Nature
- Freeze Dry
- Lake
- Thunder
- Protect

I love G-Max Resonance, providing some more defensive utility for the team. With Max Geyser I can get rain off, to boost Thunders accuracy after Gmax has ended. Gmax Lightning sets electric terrain for extra damage, which Rotom also benefits from (also the rain for Hydro Pump).
Protect is for scouting moves / stalling the opponents Dynamax with Dyna Wall before going for Resonance.
For the item I'm not sure. Lapras can take a super effective hit easily, triggering WP to get some extra damage. But 3 more rounds of Aurora Veil with Light Clay are also quite nice for the rest of the team.


I needed some kind of Sweeper and Dragapult is super fast and super strong.
I have a physical and a special one, usually I like the special one more, but I need some physical damage on this team so I just show them both here.

Dragapult @ Spell Tag
Ability: Infiltrator
EV's: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 HP // 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Timid Nature // Jolly Nature
- Draco Meteor // Dragon Darts
- Thunder Wave // U Turn
- Hex // Phantom Force
- Flamethrower // Dragon Dance

Special Dragapults main attack is Hex, benefiting from Thunderwave/Will-O-Wisp. Spell Tag and STAB giving it extra damage.
Thunderwave is to inflict status on the rest of the team, I run it over Will-O-Wisp since Flamethrower has the chance to burn. Draco Meteor comes to use when Hex can't.

For the physical set I'm not sure which item to use, maybe Choice Band? Dragon Darts and Phantom Force for the STAB, while PF can also stall 1 turn of Dynamax.
U-Turn with Rotom's Volt-Switch provides a nice core and DragonDance is for setup.

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EV's: 252 Att, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

One of my favorite pokemon with my favorite item aside from leftovers.
It has good speed and great attack, OHKO most glass cannons while surviving one hit due to Focus Sash. Its the most common set, so I think the attacks are obvious.

For the last one I wasn't sure. Sylveon, Toxapex and other walls started to get really annoying. I tried running Cinderace with Taunt since everyone is using it at the moment, but I'm not really happy with it.
Since 3 of my 5 are bulky but not really a wall, I thought about using Sylveon/Togekiss/Toxapex/Ferrothorn/Chansey@Eviolite to have a wall vs wall fight, but that's probably not the best idea.
I mainly played until Gen 4, so I have some kind of nostalgia love for the old ones, which may be the reason this isn't working at its best.
I would be glad if you could help me out with some suggestions for changes or something to take up the empty slot and take care of my "being walled problem".

Thanks!

 

[marilli]

First of all, drop all those protects in Singles. You could use it but you're going to be getting a lot more mileage out of other moves. If you are trying to play both Doubles and Singles with the same team, this isn't a terrible attempt at it but it's going to result in an imperfect team with gaping holes against big singles AND doubles threat most of the time. In singles, I'd say you're hard-walled by a simple Curse-Recycle Snorlax, and that's not good. Because you posted this as a singles team I will try to tackle the problems your team has in singles for now.

Hex isn't really a viable move on Rotom. It hits Dragapult, but not hard enough with unboosted Rotom - you're better off leaving that to the rest of your team. For that reason I would suggest Nasty Plot on the Rotom over Hex. The speed on Rotom seems a bit overkill as well especially with T-wave. - I recommend the on-site spread of EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 108 SpA / 4 SpD / 60 Spe Modest nature. Refer to the in-progress thread here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/rotom-w-1-2-new-format.3665507/ for defensive benchmarks.

As for moves to be used over Protect, Stealth Rock and Swords Dance are both fine moves on Excadrill. Neither of them are going to be super mandatory and it's usually just going to attack with its Sash, but SD can help it break through. Finally, Lapras should be Weakness Policy and should have Sheer Cold on its last slot - it's unreliable when used vs offensively threatening Pokemon, but you're meant to Dynamax and fire off boosted attacks vs them (and gives you a higher BP Max Resonance). It really shines against defensive Pokemon that cannnot immediately threaten Lapras, helping you break opposing walls. Specially Defensive Sylveon, Snorlax, and Toxapex can't really stop Lapras from firing off more than 2-3 Sheer Colds, which start rigging the odds in your favor especially they are going to be switching to you, not the other way around.

For the last Pokemon I suggest a standard Kee Berry Mimikyu. For a supposedly defensive team your team is actually kind of really weak to setup Dynamax Pokemon, especially with Lum Berry or if they don't get unlucky with Full Paralysis. Mimikyu is great solution for this problem. It is often walled, but with the 3 previous changes I don't see you having issues breaking through teams. It also breaks through Curselax.

Mimikyu @ Kee Berry
Adamant Nature
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Def / 4 SpD / 12 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough
- Drain Punch

There are other optimizations like how your current Arcanine set seems clearly designed for doubles. It doesn't really do anything here and can't switch into Life Orb Cinderace either (you best be very defensive with Morning Sun to make this happen) but the metagame is already shifting rapidly with the new tutor moves, so it feels pointless trying to overhaul the team structure until we see how the metagame shifts for now. Good luck!