New team that works surprising well!

[Shur.tugal]

Well this team is working alot better than I thought it would. It has 3 Ground weak pokémon and 3 ground immunities. Well, here's the team:

@Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/152 Atk/8 Def/96 SDef
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Gyro Ball
- Explosion
---

Originally, I had the standard Stealth Rock, Hypnosis, Explosion set but I'm sick of seeing so many of those. So, I ended up going with this set. First off I set up duel screens then I start to use Gyro ball or switch. [I can't use explosion because I need him to counter gyarados]

Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 Spd
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Toxic
---

Empoleon has 2 main roles on this team: 1) Take out Blissey with Toxic and 2) Be my main special sweeper.

CONSIDERING STARMI HERE

Zapdos @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 112 HP/144 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- U-turn
- Heat Wave
---

This Zapdos is a great asset to my team. First, if I can, I bring him in when I switch out Zong and U-Turn out. Then I bring him back in around mid game, late game when his primary counter is gone and sweep. Heat Wave is an option over Extrasensory.

@ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 112 HP/184 Atk/212 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Explosion
- Earthquake
---

Metagross is my answer to Gengar and Deoxys-S. Lum Berry is for Gengar with Hypnosis. Pursuite is my main move against these 2 as it 2HKOs Deo but I sometimes need to Bullet Punch the second time because of low health and because Deoxys is faster.

(M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fire Blast
- Explosion
---

ScarfTran works great as a late-game, or there abouts, sweeper. HP Ice has saved me from Dragons many times. There isn't really anything to say. I'm also considering Heat Wave over Fire Blast for the accuracy boost.

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/176 Def/80 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Roost
---

Salamence is my late game clean up pokemon. First I DD a few times and Roost in their somewhere to heal off SR and other damage. Then I clean up with EQ first then I finish off the game with Outrage.

These are the things I need help with:

- Bronzong is my only answer to Gyarados without knowing its full moveset
- I have a huge [huge being an understatement] Swampert weakness
- I only have 2 physical sweepers but I usually play around that


Well thats it. Thoughts?

 

[Chinese Dood]

... How does Empoleon kill Blissey with Toxic when she has Natural Cure? You do have 3 exploders, so Blissey isn't a huge problem. Just a weird thing to say that you're using toxic to kill Blissey.

Most Swamperts don't have speed EVs, so if you put 6 Speed EV on Empoleon instead of the 6 Sdef, Empoleon can outspeed and grass knot before taking an earthquake. Alternatively, you can use an agility set on empoleon and take out Toxic. SurfBeam + Grass Knot has good coverage already anyway. Only 168 Speed EVs is required to outspeed +speed base 130s, after an agility (more needed to outspeed certainly scarfers wouldn't bad either).

 

[Shur.tugal]

Well some Blissey have Serene Grace and are stupid enough to stay in.

About Empoleon's set I'd rather not use an Agility set as I can never seem to find time for him to set up an Agility for some reason. Although what do pokémon do you mean by, certain scarfers?

Changed 6 Sp Def to 6 Spd on Empoleon

 

[Rag]

I fail to see how Toxic Empoleon will kill Blissey. :/ Why not rather run a Fighting type, like Heracross or Infernape? The latter benefit a lot from dual screens though, as it 2HKO almost every Pokémon in the metagame, and is going to be tough to wear down with screens on the field. Oh, and Blissey obviously isn't going to be a threat.

However, you kind of lack a real switch in Zapdos, even Magnezone. I would probably make room for something else. Like a ResTalking CurseWaterfall Swampert may do you a lot of good, and it's invincible behind Screens. It's using Blissey as setup-fodder, which is pretty cool.

I would probably slap Stealth Rock on your Bronzong, too, seeing how your team is quite offensive. After a Reflect, your Zapdos is quite capable of dealing with Gyarados. However, I would keep Gyro Ball, seeing how Bronzong will prevent you from getting swept by a Mamoswine.
On Zapdos, Hasty nature isn't really an attractive nature imo. I would probably stick to Timid, althrough your U-turn isn't going to deal all that much damage now. However, it's there for scouting purposes anyway, so you should be good. Timid nature also allow you to deal with Scizor more efficient, as Heatran no longer is your only answer. And yes, Heat Wave is a far better option then Extrasensory. x_x Heat Wave hit Lucario, Mamoswine, Celebi and Scizor for super effective damage while Extrasensory hits..

..

But with Heat Wave you'll hit Skymin too, so Hidden Power Ice isn't all that necessary. Considering you'd worry about your Swampert weakness, Hidden Power Grass could be an answer to Swampert. Thunderbolt still hits Salamence quite hard. :)

 

[the pugilist]

This team looks pretty solid =), however there are a few things I'd like to comment on.

Bronzong: First of all, your Bronzong does a pretty poor job of countering Gyarados. It can take an attack or two sure but it can't really do anything back to Gyarados bar Explosion. Even then, offensive Gyarados has a chance to survive after an initimidate (Damage: 89.68% - 105.44%, Metalkid overshoots damage so the survival chance is a little higher) and Bulkier Gyarados are ensured to survive. I would also be careful about having Explosion on Bronzong in a team that is very Mamo weak otherwise. It hits all your remaining pokemon for super effective damage. Although you have Scarf Tran to revenge kill and scare it off, Mamoswine is free to switch into Zapdos rather easily due to not being threatened by any of its attacks. Once Mamoswine comes in, the game becomes simply a matter of predicting correctly or die. I'd honestly replace it with either Hypnosis or Earthquake - Hypnosis gives you the ability to render an oppenents pokemon useless while EQ gives more coverage and the ability to hit incoming Heatrans for decent damage.

Empoleon: I don't like how Empoleon doesn't keep up with the agressive tempo the rest of the team has. Defintaly the weakest link of the team. I'll expand on this later.

Zapdos: I would change Extrasensory for Heat Wave as You can Trap kill Gengar with Metagross and Infernape and Heracross already take decent damage from T Bolt. Heat Wave allows you to actaully deal out decent damage to Mamoswine, so that's good. I would also suggest chaning to timid - U Turn is mainly for scouting purposes, not dealing out massive amounts of damage while the extra bulk given by Timid allows you to take take random priority attacks from threats such as Lucario and Scizor easier.

Metagross: Another recommondation, I would suggest moving this to lead since Bronzong gets shutdown much easier due to being more vunerable to Trick and sleeper leads. I would also suggest putting Stealth Rock on here simply because this team is very offensive and would appreciate the extra damage SR racks up.

Heatran: Good, except Hasty might be preferable to at least speed tie with the popular +Speed Scarf Tran so you have another (although risky) option of revenge killing this threat.

Salamence: Good

Alarmingly, you seem to have a rather large +Speed Scarftran weak. Bronzong and Metagross gets hit hard by Fire Blast and can't do much back, Zapdos can't asorb repeated Fire Blasts on top of SR damage, Empoleon is hit by Earth Power while your own Scarf Tran is outspeed and OHKOed by Earth Power and Salamence takes heavy damage from Dragon Pulse. It requires a large amount of prediction to work around and is quite dangerous when you realize Scarf Tran is one of the most popular Pokemon. As Empoleon doesn't fit in with the aggressive tempo of your team as mentioned earlier, I suggest a Choice Specs Vaporeon to take its place. Vaporeon is a highly effective Heatran and Gyarados counter. Gyarados is also problematic to your team - after a DD, it can hit every pokemon on your team for heavy damage. Scarf Zapdos can revenge kill but is worn down repetitelvy by SR damage. Back to Vaporeon, Choice Specs is prefered as it maintains the offensive push to keep in line with the rest of your squad. Bronzong would also greatly benefit from the Wish support Vaporeon provides as it keeps the big bell around longer.

Hope that helped!

 

[TheNastyz]

With opposing Scarftran carrying moves to stroke all of your team (Overheat/Flamethrower, Earth Power, HP Ice) and being in maybe 75% of standard updated teams, you might want to +Speed your Scarftran.
You could also opt for Meta as your lead often. Trick's availability cripples Zong a lot.

 

[ToF]

Just some minor fixes. Heatran wants Hasty as a nature. Reason for this is the influx of Skymins, and for the possibility to tie with other Scarftrans (more are going +speed). The power drop from Mild isn't much, especially since you are using Fire Blast.

Since you are having Swampert problems, consider HP Grass on Zapdos. It is "usually" surprising, and helps weaken it, especially considering you don't have much else that you could sacrifice in order to take it down.

Empoleon definitely seems like the weak link on this team, and there are much better options to remove Blissey than toxic. I like Starmie in this role. Starmie can take Gyarados on, and since you should reflect with Bronzong if you see it as a lead, Starmie can survive a +1 DD EQ/Stone Edge. Starmie also spins away the rocks that inhibit Zapdos and Salamence from optimally sweeping. Also gives you the fire resist you need (on top of Heatran).

 

[Shur.tugal]

I've edited in updates in bolded text.

I like the Starmi idea. However did you mean the choice specs sweeper set or the spinner set?

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Its been really helpful.

Any other tips for this team?