Rate my competitive team

[Marill]

Hi everyone, this is my team I have made and I was hoping to get some opinions/constructive criticisms about it.

Empoleon (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SAtk / 184 Spd / 74 SDef
Modest Nature

- Flash Cannon
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Agility

Empoleon is one of the strong special attackers in the team with a good range of coverage to use. The use of Agility allows Empoleon to catch up with some of the faster opponents whilst out speeding other Pokémon with similar speeds to it. The Life Orb provides an extra boost to Empoleon’s reasonably large special attack allowing him to take out opponents he wouldn’t be able to without it. The placement of EV’s into his special defense means he can take a few more hits from potential special attackers, although he is still wide open to a OHKO from fighting types.

Espeon (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature

- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind

Espeon plays a few roles in the team, the primary role being a strong special attacker with speed to match. With a wide variety of moves to choose from and the addition of Dazzling Gleam this gen, Espeon can hit most Pokémon for a super effective hit. It is for this reason Espeon is given an Expert Belt to boost its attacks without the loss of HP a Life Orb provides. The second role Espeon can play is to reflect stage hazards with its ability Magic Bounce. This means that potential Stealth Rocks can be reflected back onto the opposing team.

Dragonite (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature

- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Dragonite is a strong physical attacker and with the addition of Multiscale he can take a significant hit. When a super effective attack hits him his Weakness policy is activated boosting his attack by two stages, which in addition to Dragon Dance means he will be set up to plow through most Pokémon. The inclusion of Roost means that if need be Dragonite can restore his HP in situations where he is damaged by Stealth Rocks removing his Multiscale.

Galvantula (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature

- Bug Buzz
- Thunder
- Sticky Web
- Giga Drain

Galvantula is the lead Pokémon for the team as it allows him to set up Sticky Web right away. The use of the Focus Sash means he will be able to take a strong hit if he needs to, or at least set up Sticky Web. A Modest nature was chosen over Timid as it provides Galvantula with extra power to put behind his offensive moves. Originally Volt Switch was used, however by the time he had set up Sticky Web he would either already be defeated or was on low health and was better off continuing the fight. By changing this attack to Giga Drain Galvantula has a method to heal itself with.

Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Careful Nature

- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

Sableye is the utility Pokémon on the team and with the help of Prankster can use priority Taunt, Will-O-Wisp or even recover. By Taunting Pokémon before they can attack means Sableye can prevent the opposing team from setting up as well as from setting stage hazards. Priority Will-O-Wisp allows him to also halve the attack of the opposing Pokémon (as long as they aren’t fire type) and be able to take both physical and special hits like a wall. Recover is very handy as it can save Sableye from being potentially revenge killed straight out as it has priority. Lastly Knock Off has been a useful move on Sableye as it has removed a large amount of Choice items and also berry’s.

Breloom (M) @ King's Rock
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature

- Rock Tomb
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Spore

The last Pokémon in the team is Breloom. With Technician Breloom’s lower powered attacks all reach base powers of around 90 meaning he can hit hard. The held item of a Kings Rock means that Breloom’s Bullet Seed has a maximum of 5 hits to induce a flinch, which can be very useful. Spore is a support move on Breloom allowing it to induce sleep on a Pokémon before hammering it with attacks such as Rock Tomb and Bullet Seed. Mach Punch provides priority for finishing off Pokémon or as a potential priority flinch.

Thanks for taking the time to look over my team.

 

[Marill]

Makes sense, I will give it a shot thanks.

 

[Farpafraf]

Hi marill I could be wrong but at a first glance your team seems to be rather strange:
1)In my opinion to justify using a pokémon like Galvantula in your team you should really REALLY put sticky web to good use and avoid an easy defog/rapid spin from your opponent(sabayle can spin-block but you're helpless aginst defog you could try something like defiant bisharp that really loves having sticky web on the field).
2)Empoleon is just not a great 'mon this gen so I wouldn't use him.The same goes for Espeon(unless you're using a BP team of course) due to his horrible bulk he really struggles keeping hazards off the field and as a special attacker he really can't pull its weight on any team.
3)A mega is NOT a need but generally they are stronger then regular pokémon,I always try to fit one in my teams.
4)Broadly speaking it's as if you choose your team members to fit some roles..Galvantula:Lead Empoleon:Special sweeper DNite:Physical sweeper Sableyle:"Utility" Espeon:Hazard hate pokémon but without looking for synergies between them.

You don't have to worry, building a good team isn't certainly a piece of cake moreover if this is one of your first tries.If I were you I'd start from making a pretty standard one Defensive core+Offensive core and try it out on a simulator:I think it's the best way to learn.



Some advices on Weaknite:
Dragonite (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature

- Dragon Claw/Outrage/Earthquake
- Fire Punch/Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme speed/Roost

Flagship of 4MSS:choosing 4 moves for a dragonite is a really hard task.If you don't run fire punch you'll have problems with bulky steel types if you don't run EQ heatran will wall you if you don't run ES you'll be prone to revenge killing.I personally think every weaknite should run ES since this gen is full of priority users(such as Talonflame)and Scarfchomp is behind every corner.

 

[Marill]

Thanks for the help.
So you think I should replace Empoleon with Bisharp with Defiant right? What would you suggest to replace Espeon with? Maybe a Gardevoir or Xatu something like that?
I can understand the need for a mega in this game, however I have found most of them, such TTar, Charizard X and Venasaur to be not much of a problem. I was thinking of having mega TTar on my team but didn't want the damage for sandstorm to be hurting the rest of my team.

 

[Marill]

I have made some adjustments and have replaced Empoleon, Espeon and Breloom.

Firstly there is Bisharp
Bisharp (M) @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 124 HP / 132 Spd
Adamant Nature

- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Next is Slowbro (holding a sitrus berry because leftovers are already taken by Sableye)
Slowbro (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpAtk
Bold Nature

- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off

And lastly Breloom is replaced with Mega Venusaur
Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow/Thick Fat
EVs: HP Atk / 172 Def / 84 SpDef
Relaxed Nature

- Giga Drain
- Earthquake
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis

Any thoughts on these changes?