Only lost once so far Suspect RMT

[HR.]

Lately, I've been playing strictly on Standard, but after a while, I decided to try out Suspect Ladder. I made a few team prior to this one, and they all were not so successful. After spending a few days making this one, I think I finally made a team that can put me up on the leaderboard. I've only lost once so far, but this team is far from perfect and any help is appreciated.

Team Overview

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The Team

Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spe/252 SpAtk/4 HP
Rash Nature (+SpAtk, - SpDef)
- Fire Blast
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-Turn

This guy has won me many games. Outspeeds most starters, and either OHKO's them with one of his attacks, or U-Turns and gives me a quick advantage. He provides a nice element of suprise, and is a great revenge killer. Azelf doesn't get a chance to explode on me and Bronzong gets destroyed by Fire Blast. I previously had Overheat over Fire Blast to OHKO Gengar, but I didnt feel that Gengar posed a huge threat to the team, and I prefer not having to lower my special attack. Overall, a great starter.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/80 SpAtk/176 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt

Ah, Jirachi. This guy has swept a few teams alone. The EVs allow Jirachi's substitute to never be broken by one of Blissey's Seismic Tosses, and after a Calm Mind, it will withstand attacks from most special-based walls as well. The idea is simple: Switch in Jirachi on something which you know will switch out, use substitute, then calm mind until you can't anymore, and proceed to attacking. It also outruns Lucario, Porygon-z, and most Salamence and Roserades. Overall, a great asset to the team.

Breloom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpAtk)
- Spore
- Brick Break
- Seed Bomb
- Stone Edge

Breloom is another one of my revenge killers, and what a great one at that. He has good type coverage, and whatever he can't take out with his three attacks, he sleeps and runs. He out speeds all base Speed 125 Pokemon, and his great attack stat can OHKO many pokemon. It catches many people off guard, and that alone gives me a huge advantage in my matches.

Suicune @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpAtk/232 Spe/24 HP
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Calmcune. An excellent pokemon, and you would be suprised at how much damage it can do. It also traps Zapdos and Celebi, which are common switch-ins. Iv'e been debating between Life Orb and Leftovers, because they both serve very different purposes. Overall, though, he's an excellent addition to the team.

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/36 Atk/220 SDef
Sassy nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock

Standard Bronzong with Earthquake. I opted for Earthquake over Hypnosis because as Pocket said, two sleepers isn't very effective and this can be a great counter to Raikou, Jirachi, etc. With his many resistances, including Rock, Ground, Dragon and Ice, he is a great counter to many of the popular pokemon. Imo, he is one of the best walls in the game.

Salamence (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/180 Def/76 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Bulkymence. Props to whoever created this because it is an amazing set. He can switch in on common physical threats, DD, and take them out quickly. I use Leftovers over Life Orb to take more hits.


So, there it is. My record is currently 16-3. Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance.​

 

[Pocket]

I find having two sleep moves to be unproductive, especially with sleep clause restricting their use. I'd replace either Bronzong's Hypnosis or Breloom's Spore for Earthquake and Thunderpunch, respectively. Additionally, max Breloom's Speed; it has just enough speed to outrun the common LO Gyarados after DD, allowing it to finish it off with Seed Bomb / TPunch or sleep it with Spore.

I personally prefer the Spore on Breloom and EQ on Bronzong, because this improves Bronzong from a SR setupper, Sleeper, and Exploder, to a pokemon that could counter Raikou and Jirachi, as well as preventing free switch-ins for Heatran and Magnezone.

Speaking of Magnezone, if it manages to hide under its sub, it would have no problem crippling this team. You have Jirachi, but Magnezone can easily break its sub and TWave / Metal Sound it. The only thing you got left is to hope that Jirachi takes down Magnezone's substitute before it goes down, so your other Pokemon could finally scare it off.

Gengar with LO and CSpecs can also hurt this team because of the lack of Shadow Ball resists and Hypnosis absorber. Even Bronzong, with the standard spread it has, can only switch into Gengar's LO Shadow Ball once, with or without SR, and the next time it'll die.

One thing you could do is remove Breloom for Magnezone. Provide it with HP Fire / HP Fighting for taking down the levitating Magnezone. Going Timid or at least max Speed may be good here, since Speed rather than its Sp Atk will give it the edge when facing other Magnezones. Not only will it provide you with a costless way of dispatching Magnezone, it also provides useful electric and ghost resistance that your team lacked. Even more, it dispatches Skarmory and Bronzong that would hinder your DDmence's set up. Losing Breloom for Magnezone also have not resulted in any significant loss of power, it being able to still hit Water and Flying Pokemon hard with its STAB move (just as Breloom did with its Seed Bomb + Stone-Edge) - Rock Pokemon can eat Close Combats and Surfs.

Another option for Magnezone is being Scarfed. With Timid, it reaches 360 Speed. Giving it a speed that it lacked will really prove to be useful as it is not stopped by the likes of Gengar, Lucario, and most Starmies. It will be a pretty good counter against Gengar and Starmie, to say the least. However, in a sense of taking down other Magnezone that may very well be under a Substitute and packing T-Wave, it may not be too beneficial.

I would advise to pack much more Sp Def EVs on Bronzong, at least 220 Sp Def EVs, so that it can survive 3 LO Shadow Balls even with SR damage. It only needs 222 Atk to knock out a 4 HP / min Def Gengar after SR anyways (Bronzong needs 0 Speed in IV if you want to do this). If you are not fine with one pokemon being disabled by sleep, Sleep Talk can go over Infernape's Uturn.

 

[HR.]

I find having two sleep moves to be unproductive, especially with sleep clause restricting their use. I'd replace either Bronzong's Hypnosis or Breloom's Spore for Earthquake and Thunderpunch, respectively. Additionally, max Breloom's Speed; it has just enough speed to outrun the common LO Gyarados after DD, allowing it to finish it off with Seed Bomb / TPunch or sleep it with Spore.

I personally prefer the Spore on Breloom and EQ on Bronzong, because this improves Bronzong from a SR setupper, Sleeper, and Exploder, to a pokemon that could counter Raikou and Jirachi, as well as preventing free switch-ins for Heatran and Magnezone.

Speaking of Magnezone, if it manages to hide under its sub, it would have no problem crippling this team. You have Jirachi, but Magnezone can easily break its sub and TWave / Metal Sound it. The only thing you got left is to hope that Jirachi takes down Magnezone's substitute before it goes down, so your other Pokemon could finally scare it off.

Gengar with LO and CSpecs can also hurt this team because of the lack of Shadow Ball resists and Hypnosis absorber. Even Bronzong, with the standard spread it has, can only switch into Gengar's LO Shadow Ball once, with or without SR, and the next time it'll die.

One thing you could do is remove Breloom for Magnezone. Provide it with HP Fire / HP Fighting for taking down the levitating Magnezone. Going Timid or at least max Speed may be good here, since Speed rather than its Sp Atk will give it the edge when facing other Magnezones. Not only will it provide you with a costless way of dispatching Magnezone, it also provides useful electric and ghost resistance that your team lacked. Even more, it dispatches Skarmory and Bronzong that would hinder your DDmence's set up. Losing Breloom for Magnezone also have not resulted in any significant loss of power, it being able to still hit Water and Flying Pokemon hard with its STAB move (just as Breloom did with its Seed Bomb + Stone-Edge) - Rock Pokemon can eat Close Combats and Surfs.

Another option for Magnezone is being Scarfed. With Timid, it reaches 360 Speed. Giving it a speed that it lacked will really prove to be useful as it is not stopped by the likes of Gengar, Lucario, and most Starmies. It will be a pretty good counter against Gengar and Starmie, to say the least. However, in a sense of taking down other Magnezone that may very well be under a Substitute and packing T-Wave, it may not be too beneficial.

I would advise to pack much more Sp Def EVs on Bronzong, at least 220 Sp Def EVs, so that it can survive 3 LO Shadow Balls even with SR damage. It only needs 222 Atk to knock out a 4 HP / min Def Gengar after SR anyways (Bronzong needs 0 Speed in IV if you want to do this). If you are not fine with one pokemon being disabled by sleep, Sleep Talk can go over Infernape's Uturn.

After testing the team considerably more, I found that two sleepers is pretty uneffective. Switching Magnezone for Breloom is definetly a viable option, I'll consider that, but so far, I haven't had too much problem with Magnezone. For now, I think I will put EQ on Bronzong and up its Sp Def and test that out. Thanks for the help.