Hi everyone, I took a break from competitive battling for a few months to focus on other games that I hadn't been playing but now that I've finished those, I've found myself wanting to battle again. So I made a balanced team since it's my favourite style and definitely the one I have the most luck with. However, I've been running into a few problems on Showdown and I was hoping you guys would help me fix them.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
Standard offensive rapid spinner set, I originally had Greninja in this role but I found the team was too susceptible to Stealth Rock and other entry hazards. I opted for offensive RS Starmie since I felt that only having one mixed attacker and one physical attacker didn't balance the team out and that I could play to Starmie's strengths by using it's attack and speed to quickly get rid of the danger. I picked Ice Beam over Signal Beam since I thought it'd be more useful in the metagame and that M-Scizor would be a suitable counter for any dark/psychic types. I'm still unsure about having Life Orb on a set with Rapid Spin but I use the other 3 moves a lot more than I use Rapid Spin, so for now I'm keeping it.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Ferrothorn is my Stealth Rocker and a useful Pokémon to boot. I picked it because of it's synergy with Rotom-W and Sylveon but also because it's Steel/Grass typing can come in handy, especially against the less bulky Pokémon like Weavile or Greninja. EVs are spread over Defence and Special Defence to make it a mixed wall and to cover all bases. Gyro Ball over T-Wave to give me more Steel coverage and to let Ferrothorn have another offensive move.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
It's become the glue keeping my team together since it feels like I can swap in Rotom-W most of the time and either force a switch or have it wall the damage. A standard Rotom-W, picked mostly for synergy with M-Scizor, Ferrothorn and Sylveon and to be honest I love this guy. Volt Switch so I can swap to M-Scizor and begin setting up Swords Dance, Will O Wisp to weaken any pesky physical attackers and Pain Split so I can gain some HP back and not have to rely too heavily on Sylveon. It's as close to a specially defensive wall as I have on this team so it's what I use to defend against most special attackers.
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Team medic and a decent offensive Pokémon without any EVs spend on attack, usual strategy is to soak up any attacks with Wish/Protect combo and either swap out to a Pokémon that needs healing or time to set up, like Scizor or Dragonite or to keep Sylveon alive so I can Heal Bell the rest of the team. It's been very useful so far and is physically defensive as Ferrothorn and Rotom-W cover special defense.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
The MVP of the team and my main focal point . I generally try to swap Mega Scizor in whenever I can get Swords Dance set up, which is often thanks to Sylveon's Wish and Rotom-W's Volt Switch. Once it's got +4 from Swords Dance, there aren't many Pokémon in OU that can handle a Bullet Punch or a Knock Off. I also picked M-Scizor because of how well it works in the rest of the team and how it covers their defensive weaknesses.
Dragonite (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Superpower
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed
MixNite is a set that hasn't been used as much as it used to and I still think it can be useful. I noticed when I was battling that having a purely physically offensive Dragonite meant that when Starmie fainted, I was left without a special attacker and to make matters worse, I didn't have a decent counter for Ferrothorn since it could withstand a Superpower from Mega Scizor and leech off it.
Superpower on it to break down any Pokémon slower and having another fighting move has been useful for KOing any specially defensive Ice or Steel types. Draco Meteor over Outrage since I can swap out any time I want to remove the special attack penalty and I can always use Dragonite's physical moves. Fire Blast over Fire Punch for added damage over accuracy, though I may change it.
So this is my team. Would love any advice on how to improve it. I'd prefer Pokémon that are are easy to obtain in Kalos but other than that, I'm open to anything.
To begin with, I started off with Sylveon since it's a versatile Pokémon and has a good amount of bulk to it. I knew I'd need a Cleric Pokémon to keep my team alive and fighting. I stuck with the cleric set as I wanted every member of the team to contribute to the attack and Sylveon is, in my opinion, balances attack and defence better than any wall in OU. I added Ferrothorn as the second Pokémon since I like to work from the defence and built the team that way, I mostly used Ferrothorn since I've had some success with it in previous teams and I find it a more reliable wall than Mandibuzz or Clefable since it's very defensive and covers a lot of types, besides fire of course. Leech Seed also means I can heal it and not have to keep switching to Sylveon. It's high defence also means it'll last longer than most walls and give me an option to switch into.
Next was Rotom-W, since I noticed I could make a good defensive core with both Ferrothorn and Sylveon and I could use Rotom-W as a pivot for my offensive Pokémon as well as a specially defensive wall. On top of that I also had the option to heal Rotom-W with Pain Split like I could with Ferrothorn so that meant I wasn't too reliant on Sylveon. After that I worked on my offense. My first thought was M-Scizor since I felt I could get a good synergy with Rotom-W both typing wise and use Volt Switch to get M-Scizor on when I could set up Swords Dance and sweep. It's ridiculous attack also gave me the option of a wall breaker for any stall teams or any other type of team for that matter.
I was worried about having two Pokémon with 4x weakness to fire so I fixed that by adding another water type with Starmie. I could also use it as a Rapid Spinner to get rid of any Toxic Spikes that would poison Sylveon or any Stealth Rocks that would damage the rest of the team. Lastly I decided on Dragonite since it's wide movepool gave me a lot of options and it's high attack and special attack meant I could use it as a mixed attacker which I felt my team needed.
Next was Rotom-W, since I noticed I could make a good defensive core with both Ferrothorn and Sylveon and I could use Rotom-W as a pivot for my offensive Pokémon as well as a specially defensive wall. On top of that I also had the option to heal Rotom-W with Pain Split like I could with Ferrothorn so that meant I wasn't too reliant on Sylveon. After that I worked on my offense. My first thought was M-Scizor since I felt I could get a good synergy with Rotom-W both typing wise and use Volt Switch to get M-Scizor on when I could set up Swords Dance and sweep. It's ridiculous attack also gave me the option of a wall breaker for any stall teams or any other type of team for that matter.
I was worried about having two Pokémon with 4x weakness to fire so I fixed that by adding another water type with Starmie. I could also use it as a Rapid Spinner to get rid of any Toxic Spikes that would poison Sylveon or any Stealth Rocks that would damage the rest of the team. Lastly I decided on Dragonite since it's wide movepool gave me a lot of options and it's high attack and special attack meant I could use it as a mixed attacker which I felt my team needed.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
Standard offensive rapid spinner set, I originally had Greninja in this role but I found the team was too susceptible to Stealth Rock and other entry hazards. I opted for offensive RS Starmie since I felt that only having one mixed attacker and one physical attacker didn't balance the team out and that I could play to Starmie's strengths by using it's attack and speed to quickly get rid of the danger. I picked Ice Beam over Signal Beam since I thought it'd be more useful in the metagame and that M-Scizor would be a suitable counter for any dark/psychic types. I'm still unsure about having Life Orb on a set with Rapid Spin but I use the other 3 moves a lot more than I use Rapid Spin, so for now I'm keeping it.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Ferrothorn is my Stealth Rocker and a useful Pokémon to boot. I picked it because of it's synergy with Rotom-W and Sylveon but also because it's Steel/Grass typing can come in handy, especially against the less bulky Pokémon like Weavile or Greninja. EVs are spread over Defence and Special Defence to make it a mixed wall and to cover all bases. Gyro Ball over T-Wave to give me more Steel coverage and to let Ferrothorn have another offensive move.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
It's become the glue keeping my team together since it feels like I can swap in Rotom-W most of the time and either force a switch or have it wall the damage. A standard Rotom-W, picked mostly for synergy with M-Scizor, Ferrothorn and Sylveon and to be honest I love this guy. Volt Switch so I can swap to M-Scizor and begin setting up Swords Dance, Will O Wisp to weaken any pesky physical attackers and Pain Split so I can gain some HP back and not have to rely too heavily on Sylveon. It's as close to a specially defensive wall as I have on this team so it's what I use to defend against most special attackers.
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Team medic and a decent offensive Pokémon without any EVs spend on attack, usual strategy is to soak up any attacks with Wish/Protect combo and either swap out to a Pokémon that needs healing or time to set up, like Scizor or Dragonite or to keep Sylveon alive so I can Heal Bell the rest of the team. It's been very useful so far and is physically defensive as Ferrothorn and Rotom-W cover special defense.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Superpower
The MVP of the team and my main focal point . I generally try to swap Mega Scizor in whenever I can get Swords Dance set up, which is often thanks to Sylveon's Wish and Rotom-W's Volt Switch. Once it's got +4 from Swords Dance, there aren't many Pokémon in OU that can handle a Bullet Punch or a Knock Off. I also picked M-Scizor because of how well it works in the rest of the team and how it covers their defensive weaknesses.
Dragonite (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Superpower
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Extreme Speed
MixNite is a set that hasn't been used as much as it used to and I still think it can be useful. I noticed when I was battling that having a purely physically offensive Dragonite meant that when Starmie fainted, I was left without a special attacker and to make matters worse, I didn't have a decent counter for Ferrothorn since it could withstand a Superpower from Mega Scizor and leech off it.
Superpower on it to break down any Pokémon slower and having another fighting move has been useful for KOing any specially defensive Ice or Steel types. Draco Meteor over Outrage since I can swap out any time I want to remove the special attack penalty and I can always use Dragonite's physical moves. Fire Blast over Fire Punch for added damage over accuracy, though I may change it.
Greninja: Originally used in place of Starmie since I needed Water and Ice coverage and as much as I liked using Greninja, I had to have a Pokémon to remove entry hazards so it was either swap Greninja for Starmie or turn M-Scizor or Dragonite into Defoggers, which considering the balance of the team would mean changing it to a stall team. Greninja has better Special Attack and Speed than Starmie but lower Defense and Special Defense which I feel makes Starmie better a suitable choice for a replacement.
I also had Keldeo and Landorus-T and Heatran in place of Dragonite, Starmie and M-Scizor but I wanted to recreate this team in game and I would have found it very difficult to find these legendaries with good enough IVs.
I also had Keldeo and Landorus-T and Heatran in place of Dragonite, Starmie and M-Scizor but I wanted to recreate this team in game and I would have found it very difficult to find these legendaries with good enough IVs.
Mega Manetric: An Electric type Pokémon is bad enough with Starmie and Dragonite but an Electric type with Overheat is deadly, I don't have any appropriate counter and since Manetric outspeeds my Pokémon anyway, I need to get lucky with Sylveon or hope I can finish it quickly with ES Dragonite or BP M-Scizor.
Mega Venusaur: Another Pokémon my team handles poorly since it's bulk and Grass/Poison typing makes it super effective against two of my walls. Fire Blast Dragonite can usually handle it but if he's gone then I really struggle.
CM+Stored Power Clefable: If it knows Flamethrower, then like M-Manetric and M-Venusaur, there's little I can do. It's bulky enough to outlive a Bullet Punch from M-Scizor and I don't have any counters for it, it handles my offensive Pokémon well since it's a Specially Defensive Fairy type with Flamethrower.
Mega Venusaur: Another Pokémon my team handles poorly since it's bulk and Grass/Poison typing makes it super effective against two of my walls. Fire Blast Dragonite can usually handle it but if he's gone then I really struggle.
CM+Stored Power Clefable: If it knows Flamethrower, then like M-Manetric and M-Venusaur, there's little I can do. It's bulky enough to outlive a Bullet Punch from M-Scizor and I don't have any counters for it, it handles my offensive Pokémon well since it's a Specially Defensive Fairy type with Flamethrower.
So this is my team. Would love any advice on how to improve it. I'd prefer Pokémon that are are easy to obtain in Kalos but other than that, I'm open to anything.