Offensive team (back from hiatus)

Transmogrify

Some background information (skip if you want to):

I've been playing pokemon for years now, and just recently came back into the DPPt scene. I've wanted to build an offensive team for ages now, and since offensive teams are actually effective in the current metagame, I've decided to make one and use it on shoddybattle, making a completely new account (as well as on Smogon). I wanted a fresh start.

I've tested the team on the ladder, and so far it has been doing quite well, but there are still certain threats that can damage my team significantly.

I've won most of the matches that weren't affected badly by hax or any other factors (big surprises like CMBronzong, etc), but still would like some help with it as I know no team can be perfect.

Also, I tend to try to avoid sacrificing or Exploding my pokemon unnecessarily, as every pokemon is important and losing one will greatly affect my ability to switch at will. I know that offensive teams require smart sacrifices to be made though, and I've been practicing that with mostly positive results.

Team at a glance:

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dpmfsa330.png

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First up, my lead Metagross:


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Metagross @ Occa Berry
Adamant
252 Hp, 236 Atk, 8 Spe, 12 Def

[Stealth Rock]
[Earthquake]
[Bullet Punch]
[Explosion]

This guy wasn't the no.1 lead during March for nothing. Of course, this guy's number one priority is to set up rocks, and it accomplishes that nearly all the time. Usually people tend to blow him up after setting up Rocks to net an early kill, but I rarely do that unless I'm sure I can clear the way for an all-out sweep or I'm immediately threatened by the opposing pokemon.

Besides suiciding or setting up rocks, he's a key member of my team simply because he resists so much stuff that other members of my team are weak to. He's easy to switch in, and immediately threatens with a STAB Bullet Punch and Earthquake coming off 400 Attack. Pretty standard set, but it's just how well he fits into the team that made me choose him.

"Gaygar"

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Gengar @ Life Orb/Choice Scarf
Modest/Timid
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 Def

[Thunderbolt]
[Shadow Ball]
[Focus Blast]
[Hypnosis/Energy Ball/Explosion/Hidden Power Ice/Trick]

Bold=currently using/testing, Italicized=Used to run

How do I describe him? He's just plain awesome. Again, a pretty standard set, and he wreaks utter havoc on nearly every team, and even if my opponent is prepared for him, he'll usually still net at least a kill. Good coverage from my three main attacks, and I choose to run Hypnosis over Explosion because of its sheer versatality (useful in almost any situation), and also because I try to refrain from Exploding if I can, as every member of the team is crucial. I definitely do not want to explode on a Blissey and find out that my opponent is Gar weak after that. Usually if I can force a switch, I'll Hypnosis straightaway, and do what's best for the situation after that.

Forcing switches is something my team can manage to do and relies on, because of the key fast sweepers like this guy and Jolteon. Once half their team is dead, I'll clean up with these two fast sweepers. They just need those annoying walls and resistors out of their way.

As a side note, "Gaygar" was what my friend started calling it after he got raped repeatedly by Gengar.

The above is mostly for the LO set, now as for the Choice Scarf set, it helps with more threats and can revenge kill a lot more. It can revenge kill LOGyara even after a DD(right?), or will force it to switch out and take SR damage again when switching in. It also fixes the fourth move-slot and item dilemna to some extent. Trick will screw any staller/wall and let Gengar resume causing chaos after it's revenge killed whatever that needs to be revenge killed(provided that it doesn't get Pursuited =/).

Oh noez it's him!


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Lucario @ Life Orb
Adamant
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Def

[Swords Dance]
[Close Clombat]
[Extremespeed]
[Crunch]


Well, I realised that my team forces switches pretty well, and Lucario can come in on most moderate Grass, Ice, Rock and Normal attacks and happily set up if the opposing pokemon has no moves to beat Lucario. It can't really switch in, force switches and set up on the switch as often as Gyarados, though. That's why usually it's left for late game, and basically it cleans up everything that the rest haven't slaughtered yet. Standard set really.

Anyhow, it's kind of reduced the extent of my team getting walled by Rotom, and also handily provides an Ice resistance so that Flygon's not screwed once Metagross is dead.


Everything else is setup fodder


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Gyarados @ Life Orb
Jolly
252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

[Dragon Dance]
[Waterfall]
[Stone Edge]
[Earthquake]


Well, standard Offensive DDdos. I run Jolly over Adamant because I want to ensure that I can get off at least a DD, and since it's holding a Life Orb, hitting hard shouldn't be a problem.

Gyara has been rather inconsistent for me, maybe because I tend to switch it in rashly, when I have the chance. I tend to use it in early to mid game, and try to get the upper hand. It seems to be good at doing that, but if I make a wrong move then I've wasted my Gyara. However the good thing is that Gyara can net a few kills early easily and it's easy to switch on EQs, Fire and Water type attacks.

In short, I use Gyara as an early game killer. I'm not sure if it's the right way to use it but still the way I've been using it is effective. If it survives through all that LO, Sandstorm residual damage and the damage from switching in, and gets a few kills, then good, it's done its job and I can sacrifice it. Gyarados is one of the few exceptions to my "try not to suicide" policy.


Fourarms
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Machamp @ Lum Berry/Leftovers
Adamant
252 Hp, 252 Atk, 4 Spe

[Dynamicpunch]
[Substitute/Sleep Talk]
[Payback/Rest]
[Stone Edge]

Bold: Restalk set. Currently using. Italicized=Used to run, gives general Wallbreaking/attacking set


I've made a few tweaks. I know this set isn't new, and in the Smogon analysis it's meant to be an anti-Lead but after I faced an enemy Machamp as something of a wallbreaker that mostly forces switches and deals widespread damage, I decided to use this. I'm not sure about the ev spread of a similar Machamp from the ST5 Winning team, but iirc it doesn't run Lum Berry. Lum might seem redundant since I'm using Sub, but it has been effective when I'm up against Gengars and Blisseys, two pokes that I switch into often. It's my status absorber as well. Dynamicpunch just hurts, and the other moves raep the Ghosts that aren't affected by it (coughgengarcough). Subbing when I know the opponent is going to switch has given me the upper hand more than once.

Please refer to reply no. 5 of the thread, I've put out some of my considerations for Machamp's set/hold item there.


If I had a star, it would be this


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Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Naughty
252 Atk, 176 Spe, 80 SpA

[Outrage]
[U-Turn]
[Earthquake]
[Fire Blast]


This pokemon has surprised me the most. It's stats may be mediocre, but I'd dare say that this Dragon is not outclassed by Mence. Ev spread is for 2HKO-ing Skarmory and most Jirachi with Fire Blast. This thing is great to predict with, smacking oncoming steels which want to sponge my Outrage with a powerful Fire Blast is awesome.

Basically, Choice Scarf is the only thing that it needs to be an absolute beast. It's fantastic typing makes it easy to switch in even though it's not that durable. It's revenge killed and switched in to kill so many times. Really, it's indispensible. I'm glad I chose it over Latias in my initial planning of the team. Outrage is for the sheer power. It 1~2HKOs nearly everything that doesn't resist, and honestly I was shocked when it OHKOed Bliss.

How my pokemon cover each other (might be a bit confusing, please be patient):

Might be obvious but then again just to expose the team's frame a bit. Experienced team builders should be able to see this immediately, I suppose?

Basic structure. Most of the time I have more than 1 switch-in to weaknesses, but in some cases if that pokemon is dead, I can't switch it in safely (Gengar being covered by Machamp and Flygon being covered by Metagross).

Metagross's Fire weakness is covered by Gyara and Flygon (as well as its berry), and its Ground weakness is covered by Gyara, Flygon and Gengar.

Gengar's Dark weakness is covered by Machamp, and its Ghost weakness is covered by Machamp as well. Its Psychic weakness (negligible) is covered by Metagross.

Jolteon's Ground weakness is covered by Gyara, Flygon and Gengar (hurrah!).

Gyara's Electric weakness is covered by Jolteon, Flygon and its Rock weakness is covered by Flygon, Machamp and Metagross.

Machamp's Flying weakness is covered by Jolteon and Metagross and its Psychic weakness (negligible) is covered by Metagross.

Flygon's Ice weakness is covered by Metagross and Dragon weakness is covered by Metagross as well.

As you can see, although some pokemon only have 1 backup, those backup pokemon and/or pokemon that can easily switch in (Metagross, Machamp and Gyarados) are well protected.


Threats

I'll name those that really hurt my team.

Azelf - Lead Azelfs usually can be handled by Metagross, but a Mixed sweeper that has NP/Fire Blast/Psychic/HP Ground will screw me badly. If I do encounter such an Azelf though, I could revenge kill with Flygon or Jolt though, but I'd be forced to sacrifice a poke most of the time. Scarfgar now manhandles the sweepers sets too.

Flygon - Gyarados can possibly kill it if it's not running Stone Edge, and Choice versions locked in to Earthquake are setup fodder. =p also, Machamp can switch in on most of its attacks and threaten it with Dynamicpunch. At worst I'll use Flygon to try to win the Speed tie...
Gyarados - Jolteon kills it even after a DD, but I can't really switch in to it aside from Flygon and Machamp. I can also switch in my Gyara for Intimidate, and hope Stone Edge doesn't crit on me. Worst case, Meta can explode on it if it's netted a few DDs and it gets too greedy.
Jolteon - Oh noez! If it's specsjolt, I can switch in with Flygon if it's running Hp Grass or locked into Thunderbolt, maybe Machamp can switch in on anything other than Thunderbolt. Conversely, if it's a Specsjolt that has used T-Bolt, I can just switch my Jolt in. Scarfgar will help with revenge-killing it as well.

Jirachi - The Iron Head flinchax wallbreaker really screwed me up in one of my previous matches, but other versions are raped by Gyara, Metagross, Flygon and, for versions not carrying Psychic, Machamp. Flygon still handles the wallbreaker version though.

Lucario - Jolteon can outspeed and kill, Flygon can switch in on most moves and kill it, Gyara walls those without Stone Edge and Gengar owns it as long as I don't switch in on a Crunch (rare move though).

Machamp - Gyara will handle those not carrying Stone Edge (hah, fat hope) and maybe after an Intimidate it'll survive? Flygon will switch in on anything besides Dynamicpunch and threaten it. Gengar can put it to sleep if it's not carrying Lum Berry, and Jolt can finish off a weakened Champ.

Suicune - Jolteon will kill it. Gyara walls non HP - Electric versions and can setup on it, Machamp will hit it hard. Gengar can also put it to sleep before it can CM enough or Rest. Worst case, Metagross will explode on it (worst case!).

Swampert - Gahh... If it's not running Stone Edge usually Gyara will do, Flygon can outspeed and possibly finish it off, if it's a lead then Metagross usually will switch out on EQ after setting up Stealth Rocks to Flygon or Gengar (if Swampert is not offensively oriented) OR Gyara and fun proceeds =/
So, basically I've covered most of the threats with a few fixes, and any remaining threats can be revenge killed.

Here's the old Jolteon I used to run over Lucario for reference:


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Jolteon @ Life Orb
Timid
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 Hp

[Thunderbolt]
[Hidden Power Ice/Grass]
[Charge Beam]
[Shadow Ball]
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At first, I started with Specsjolt. Jolteon has always been one of my favourite pokemon, and after I discovered the sheer destructiveness of Specsjolt, I was delighted. But soon, I realised that even though I could kill nearly everything with a STAB Spec'd Thunderbolt, I had to switch out too often, and Jolteon isn't exactly easy to switch in. Most of the time I save him for mid to late game and if I can't switch moves then, I'm screwed because I'm usually left with this, Gengar and Flygon or Machamp and I can't afford to switch in carelessly. Hidden Power Grass is another option for Swampert, but so far I think Hidden Power Ice is working better for me.


After I tried this set out, I was immediately sold. It can switch in on a Skarmory, or most Bulky Waters and happily Charge Beam away. Once it snags a SpA rise, and the main special walls are dead, it's over.


Well, that's it! I've put in a lot of effort into this team and I hope I receive constructive feedback. If I am weak to anything else please let me know.



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I don't see great weaknesses, yours looks like a solid offensive team.
You have solid offenses and more or less every threat can be at least revenge killed.
If I could give you a suggestion:

1) give Gengar explosion over hypnosis making it hasty. Hypnosis has crappy accuracy and in my opinion something as frail as Gengar is not able to afford one or more misses. Explosion is a useful move in general and will help you getting rid of Blissey.

2) make Machamp a rest-talker, with the same EV spread but with rest and sleep talk over substitute and payback\stone edge. So you'll have a good check for TTar and an excellent stall breaker (sleep talk helps with DP and SE low pps).

Hope this helps.
 
3 of your guys have life orb, which screams stall pwn me. I personally would make gyarados the bulky DD set

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant (+Atk,-SpA)
EVs: 156 HP / 108 Atk / 100 Def / 144 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge
-Taunt

Has great bulk, and with taunt can beat Phazers and stall.

Defenitely use restalk machamp, very effective for sure

Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Adamant (+Atk,-SpA)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe (will outspeed 0 Spe Blissey)
-Stone Edge
-Dynamic Punch
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

Dont put leftovers on gengar, and dont use hypnosis, IMO expert belt works wonders on him, and replace hypnosis with sub perhaps.
 
I think you should consider Thunderpunch istead of Payback. Yes, you'll probably score a sweet payback if a slowbro goes in, but then he'll slack off and calm mind until you finally switch machamp off, because he won't kill him [probably].

And your Gengar will be like a blind gunner, since Hypnosis accuraccy has been dowgraded for 60% in Platinum, you should take it off and put Energy Ball to kick some Swampert ass. Or confuse ray, which is also fun.

Again, don't use Life Orb on Gengar, he's fragile enough without it, and since most of OU games you'll see a sandstorm+hail+stealth rock, your Gengar will be like a suicide blind gunner.

Your Jolteon looks cool, I had one of these (but with Batom pass instead of charge bem). The problem is, I've been battling with some damn scarfed dugtrios, and crap, they're annoying. So I started running scarfed Jolteon with HP Ice...So far, so good. Most people think "Hah, he'll thunderbolt, I'll use Dugtrio/Swampert/Electivire/anything that resists electric", and then they cry with a most likely 2HKO HP Ice/Grass.
 
First of all, I'd like to thank you guys for taking the time to read through my post, and give suggestions to strengthen my team.

From the suggestions, I can safely assume that I should replace Gengar's Life Orb with something and Explosion as well. I'll test Expert Belt + Energy Ball.

Warning: From here on might be tl;dr but I think it's worth reading.

But seriously, even though Hypnosis is unreliable, I feel that removing it and changing it to an all-out attacker takes away some of the utility Gengar has. Energy Ball does help out with Swampert, but as for Blissey, so far I've had no problems with it. Expert Belt would only be useful with Energy Ball on the set, so yeah, I'll test both and make a decision. Gut instinct is warning me against it though, don't know why... Another thing is that I already have Jolteon as a (nearly) complete late game all-out sweeper, and Gengar is usually there to give me an (usually huge) advantage mid-game. Life Orb in fact has greatly hampered Gengar's survivability, but the way I use Gengar is [kill whatever that it can kill ----> Hypnosis whatever that switches in/it can't kill ----> once it gets a few kills and has an enemy pokemon asleep, it's done its job and I can sacrifice (yet another exception to my principle -_-) it.

Secondly, I think I'm not going to run Bulkygyara over the current one. I feel that running it bulky won't particularly help, especially if I remove LO from 1 LO user (Gengar), getting raped by stall won't be a huge concern. Also, in a few matches I've played against hardcore stall, I've managed to win mostly through switching in pokemon that completely wall their tanks and setting up, getting kills slowly but surely. I do get the point about LO though.

Restalk Champ is another good idea, honestly I can't see any disadvantages it might have over the current set I'm running besides having 1 less move to choose from. Is Stone Edge reliable enough and capable of OHKO-ing most standard Gengars? I find my current Machamp an excellent counter to Gengar and I can see that the Restalk Machamp can counter Gengar as effectively, blocking a possible Hypnosis and being able to sponge most of its moves. As long as Stone Edge OHKOs, I'm good to go. Thunderpunch doesn't give me much better coverage imo, however... Slowbro isn't something I'm looking to counter with Machamp ;)

Yeah, ChargeJolt is cool, has been working excellently so far.
 
Max attack adamant Machamp does 69.73% - 81.99% to min\min neutral Gengar, so, no, it can't ohko unless it uses a -def nature (in this case you have a slim chance of ohko'ing it with SR on the field).
If you really hate Gengar just use payback over stone edge, that's a sure ohko on an incoming Gengar and still gives good coverage with dynamic punch.
I still suggest you to remove hypnosis for explosion, otherwise consider hp fire for Scizor. Energy ball is really useful only for Swampert, but a life orb'd shadow ball already 2hko's it doing 52.12% - 61.35% to 240 hp\ 0 sp.def standard relaxed Swampert.

Good luck with your team.
 
On jolteon, id suggest either expert belt or zap plate over life orb. I know u might think zap plate is for n00bs and life orb is stronger then expert belt. But id suggest zap plate or expert belt because they can serve as a bluff CS(choice specs). You can't bluff a CS with life orb because life orb has recoil damage thus revieling to ur opponent after one turn of recoil that u have life orb. Now i bet ur thinking how is bluffing a CS helpful? Well heres my answer..

(scenario)
They sent out gyrados
You sent out jolteon
They switched gyrados with celibe
You used Thunderbolt (at this point if u had C specs u would have to switch whilst if u had life orb ur opponent would have switched knowing that u can hp ice them but with expert belt or zap plate they would still believe that u have c specs thus letting u 2HKO)
Jolteon used Hp ice
Celibe fainted

Hope I helped, 500ooC00oo1
 
Haunterfan - I think I'm currently quite worried that the loss in power after dropping Life Orb will decrease Gengar's effectiveness at killing, any comments? I think Expert Belt with HP Ice is another option as well, because Expert Belt with Energy Ball is well, mediocre from what I've theorized and tried.

I think I'll be fine with Machamp.

50C001 - I get your point, and I know that it might fool the opponent, but after dropping Life Orb on Gengar I really can't afford to lower the power of one of my major sweepers. Also, are you sure a Expert Belt'd HP Ice from Jolteon OHKOes Celebi? Anyway IMO having more potential kills is more valuable than netting a surprise kill for me.
 
vapor said:
Haunterfan - I think I'm currently quite worried that the loss in power after dropping Life Orb will decrease Gengar's effectiveness at killing, any comments? I think Expert Belt with HP Ice is another option as well, because Expert Belt with Energy Ball is well, mediocre from what I've theorized and tried.
Click to expand...

Life orb Gengar is a great sweeper if you can take care of Scizor.
So, I wouldn't drop life orb, my suggestion for Gengar is:

Gengar@life orb
nature: hasty
EVs: 40 atk\ 216 sp.atk\ 252 spe
-shadow ball
-focus blast
-thunderbolt
-explosion

40 attack EVs to ensure the OHKO on the standard Blissey with explosion. Shadow ball and focus blast for perfect coverage and thunderbolt for Gyarados and bulky waters. I believe that's Gengar most powerful asset.
Hp fire is an option over thunderbolt\focus blast, but that requires using a speed IV of 30, meaning that you'll certainly lose possible speed ties with other Gengar and Latias, and I don't think it's a good deal.
 
I miss LO. So far I haven't got hurt that badly by LO recoil, Gengar is usually better at cleaning up since I don't run Hypnosis any more. Is running Explosion without 40 atk EVs possible since honestly, Blissey isn't really a concern? Gyara likes to and will switch in on Blissey to set up.
 
vapor said:
I miss LO. So far I haven't got hurt that badly by LO recoil, Gengar is usually better at cleaning up since I don't run Hypnosis any more. Is running Explosion without 40 atk EVs possible since honestly, Blissey isn't really a concern? Gyara likes to and will switch in on Blissey to set up.
Click to expand...

40 Evs ensure the ohko even on 252 def bold Blissey with a life orb'd explosion, though even without atk Evs you can still score the ko if she switches into SR (if you predict the switch in, obviously). Anyway, if you can weaken her a bit before exploding, then no atk Evs are needed.
Just be sure to give your Gengar a life orb.
Beware switching Gyarados into Blissey, toxic or thunder wave can cripple it badly.
 
Your team has issue with the Rotom forms. Everything but Gengar and Jolteon can be walled by a defensive Rotom. Although I normally suggest against it, Payback would be an excellent choice on Machamp to hit incoming Rotoms hard on the switch. Wtih RestTalk and Payback, Rotom will have a tough time beating Machamp.

You are also somewhat vulnerable to opposing offensive Gyarados. With Stealth Rock, your own Gyarados is KO'd by a Life Orb Stone Edge, and Flygon is your only real hope. If you let a bulky Gyarados stat up twice, its game over. I'd really reconsider going back to Scarf Gengar to hold your team together. Basically every stat-upper will give you headaches. DD Gyarados and DD Salamence in particular are threats of concern. Gengar at least gives you a stable method of revenge-killing these threats; although it is indeed Pursuit weak, you might be able to pull of a Gyarados sweep after Gengar is killed.

Since your team is so anti-Blissey, I'd just run the hyper-offensive ScarfGengar with Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, HP Ice, and Thunderbolt. Trick might be useful over HP Ice, but at this point I feel you need a better revenge-killer than Flygon.

Speaking of Flygon, why does the electric resist matter if you're using Jolteon? If you want more firepower on this team, which I don't think you'd mind, go with SD Lucario in that last slot. In conjuction with Gyarados and Gengar, SD Lucario gives you an extra physical threat, and something that would be the prime recipient of a Tyranitar Pursuit on your Gengar. As one of the most potent wall-breakers in the metagame, Lucario also fills your gap in beating opposing stall teams. Have Gyarados inflict as much damage as possible, and let Lucario clean up.

Good luck, hope some of this helped.
 
This team looks pretty solid to me, but here are some small suggestions:

From the way you play your Gyara, I would recommend going bulky. BulkyGyara is more suited to being played earlier on.

I looked at your threat list, and it looks to me like you have everything covered really well. Azelf is rarely seen anywhere other than the lead spot, and on such an offensive team it hopefully won't find much time to switch in and set up. You can revenge kill it aswell, which just completely nullifies it as a threat.

There are some general type weaknesses though. At a glance, I can see that Metagross is your only psychic and ice resist. Since machamp and gengar are weak to psychic, and flygon has a nasty ice weakness, you may want to do something about that =\. The marriland team builder is very helpful with this sort of thing (just google it).

I don't want to suggest replacing something because it's probably best for you to decide what works best for you and fills the roles you need.

Anyway I hope this helps =]. Feel free to PM me.

ch00blet
 
Maybe I'll need to tweak my comments on Gyarados slightly, yes, it does come in early but mainly, similar to Machamp and maybe Flygon it just switches in for free, gets a few important kills and dies after it clears the way for a Gengar/Jolteon sweep. That's why I'm against running Bulkydos. Also, another thing about the enemy LOGyara weak, when playing against my friend's team for multiple times, I did realise that I had nothing to switch in after his Gyara DD'ed once, but I did manage to kill it by switching in my own Gyara and killing it with my own Stone Edge since he decided to DD again. Yes, I know Thunder Wave will cripple Gyara badly, but Toxic just lets me set up since Gyara will die and won't be switching in again anyway. So, yes, Blissey isn't remotely threatening to my team.

Wait, before you point out that it was just because he decided to DD, I know. If Scarfgar can fix it, then sure, I'm all for running it. I know Scarfgar has been used as a lead, but since I have an excellent lead already then running Scarf on Gar seems to be one of the missing links my team has. Anyway, since many people have said that Hypnosis is unreliable, and Explosion is really a filler, same with Energy Ball on a LO or just an Expert Belt/any other full offensive set, I'll go with Scarfgar to revenge kill a DD'ed Gyara and prevent it from sweeping.

If I really have to run Payback on Machamp to counter Rotom-A then I'd rather run SDluke with Crunch. Crunch prevents Gengar or any bulky ghost (besides Spiritomb lol) from walling the set anyway.

Well then, SDluke patches up things (the ones mentioned above, lack of an Ice resist, and also improves the offensive capabilities of my team, but the bad thing is it removes one of the pokemon that can switch in for free on an Earthquake, and that's really valuable. Gyara can't switch in much for fear of SR, and it won't last long enough anyway. Same for Jolteon, except that there's an even bigger problem for Jolteon - it's usually one of the pokemon I reveal last, along with Gengar (most likely going to be changed since I'm gonna give it Scarf). Jolteon is a finisher - nothing else. Lucario can be one too, but from the way I see it, it will be doing more than cleaning up (Rotom, ice resist?). That's why I'm reluctant to replace Flygon. Advice?

Edit: I'll run Trick on Gengar since I'm still using Flygon.
 
I really like this team, you don't give a lot of stuff much opportunity to set up, which is really important in an offensive team. Gengar is pretty much holding you together against a number of threats though, which is kind of scary if they manage to nab it with a Pursuit. I have two suggestions for you to fix this:

a) Use something that takes more advantage of Pursuit. Yeah you have Gyarados I guess, but aside from that nothing really can punish the Pursuiter for removing your revenge killer. Something like a Swords Dance Lucario would work really well, as would Swords Dance Infernape or Dragon Dancing Salamence. To be honest, Jolteon seems like your team's weak link. You have all your physical pokemon weakening the physical walls of the opponent left right and centre to set up a Gyara sweep late game and then Jolteon is just there. Your type of team should aim to weaken common counters to certain pokemon to open up threats and Jolteon really takes away from that. They just switch in their special wall, switch out when your physical wall comes in, rinse and repeat. So yeah to keep the pressure up, I suggest playtesting Lucario, Infernape, Salamence and any other brutal physical sweeper in Jolteon's slot to take advantage of Pursuit and help Gyara sweep. Infernape in particular draws in Bulky Waters like the plague, so thats probably a solid option.

Option b) is really just a quickfix solution such as throwing a Choice Scarf Jirachi with two elemental punches of your Choice, Iron Head and Trick (or 3 elemental punches if you wish, definitely run Fire Punch though as Lucario can hurt you). Isn't weak to pursuit and gives you the revenge killer you wanted.

Your team is pretty good as it is though, so just play around and see what works for you :).

Hope I helped.
 
Thanks a lot for the advice as well as the compliments. I would really like to run SDLuke, the other options are alluring but Infernape is really too fragile and hard to switch in. Stealth Rock really is a concern. I understand that from the scenario you mentioned, unless both their Physical and Special walls are resistant to SR, that method will still be able to cause some damage, and if Gyarados successfully gets a DD off not much can wall it, especially putting the current offensive metagame into consideration.

So, what do you suggest I switch out? Flygon is really not an option, its immunities are really too good and I do know it cannot make use of its immunities to really set up and sweep the entire opposing team (really, it should get DD or Swords Dance), but still it can net a free kill here and there and that's valuable enough. Jolteon however... I get your point, but I just feel uneasy about letting it go. Since the start of this team, Jolteon and Gengar have been focal points, and replacing Jolteon has never really crossed my mind, but I'll go ahead and test it out. I'm not going to just throw in a CS Jirachi to fix a current flaw, only to expose another. I want to make sure that as far as possible, all threats are covered at no expense of raw offensive power.
 
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