Rate my OU team?

[jocelyn134]

Soooo this is my first ever competitive team, and I think it's alright. Haven't tried it out yet though, but I think I'm battling one of my friends in the near future. Yeah so any tips/advice would be appreciated!

Roserade (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 6 HP
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Electric]
My Toxic Spikes lead. Put the opponent to sleep, put down two layers of Toxic Spikes, then switch or proceed to KO depending on the opponent. Leaf Storm for the STAB, but may replace with Energy Ball for more accuracy and no negative side effect. Used to have Hidden Power [Fire], but I realized that I didn't have an electric move which is super important.

Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 244 HP / 32 SpA / 12 SpD / 220 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Torment
- Substitute
- Protect
- Lava Plume
TormentTran. On a choice'd Pokemon, It can only use one move and Struggle, so if I have a sub up, and use Protect and Lava Plume (30% chance burn and STAB) alternating each turn, with the bad poisioning from the double Toxic Spikes, and finally the recoil the opponent recieves from Struggle, Heatran should be pretty difficult to KO. Of course there's the x4 weakness to ground, so if i really need to I can switch.

Jirachi @ Choice Band
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Spe / 220 Atk / 36 HP
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Wish
- Iron Head
- Trick
- Zen Headbutt
Cleric/TrickChoicer to support TormentTran. Trick to give the opponent the useless Choice Band (considering using Choice Scarf), then depending on the situation I can switch to Heatran OR attack with Iron Head (60% flinch!) or Zen Headbutt (40% flinch!) both with STAB OR use Wish and switch to heal an ally.

Celebi @ Choice Specs
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 100 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpD / 110 SpA / 100 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Heal Bell
- Trick
- Giga Drain
- Shadow Ball
Cleric/TrickChoicer again to support TormentTran and allies. Heal Bell to heal status problems, Trick to (see above), Giga Drain for HP healing + STAB, and Shadow Ball for type coverage. I just kind of threw Celebi in there because I wanted a Poke with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy and another TrickChoicer for Heatran, and I didn't really know what to do with the EVs so I just distributed them evenly. So with this one how should I distribute the EVs and again, should I replace the Choice Specs with a Choice Scarf?

Dusknoir (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Atk / 228 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
Tank against physical attackers. Will-O-Wisp to slowly diminish their HP and reduce attack, Pain Split for healing (kind of), Earthquake and Ice Punch for Attacks. Well, typing this I just realized that if my opponent is badly poisoned anyways, they can't have two status ailments at once. Haha. So should I replace Dusknoir altogether or I'm thinking about replacing Will-O-Wisp with Thunderpunch to hit bulky waters. Hmm...

Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Roar
Dragon Dance physical sweeper. Dragon dance a few times, then proceed to sweep. Waterfall for STAB, Earthquake for coverage against electrics. I know you wouldn't usually put Roar on a sweeper, but if the opponent switches into an opponent that could destroy Gyarados, I can just Roar it away without wasting the Dragon Dances. Also, I needed a PseudoHazer.


Wow that was long. Sooo yeah if you could rate it and/or give me advice that would be great! I know it's probably not the BEST team, but I think its okay for my first ever team...I hope? Haha.

 

[Mike Legend]

Hi jocelyn. This is a nice team but I have some suggestions I think will help you. You already have a very solid and supportive role for 3 of your Pokemon, Roserade, Heatran, and Dusknoir. However, some of the other sets are to put it bluntly, just random. The first thing I'll recommend is running a different Celebi set. Celebi + Heatran is an amazing defensive combination and instead of running a Choice Specs set, try a defensive set. It gives you a much needed switch in to bulky waters since Roserade is a frail suicide-ish lead and won't be able to tank many hits from them.

Celebi @ Leftovers | Natural Cure
Bold | 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Grass Knot / Thunder Wave / Recover / Stealth Rock

This set gives you a much needed Gyarados counter as well as a decent answer to bulky waters such as Suicune and Starmie. With Dusknoir and Gyarados both easily tanking U-turns from Scizor Hidden Power Fire really isn't needed on the set and you pretty much NEED to have Stealth Rock. If you really like Heal Bell, you could try it over Thunder Wave, although T-wave can be huge for checking certain things. The next change I'd like to recommend is running a different Gyarados set. With no one to take status and Gyarados being the closest thing you have to a counter for Heatran/Infernape/Machamp and Fighting types in general, I'm going to recommend you try a ResTalk set. It retains the ability to phaze but with recovery you can now switch in much easier without worrying about Stealth Rock damage piling up.

Gyarados @ Leftovers | Intimidate
Impish | 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Waterfall / Roar / Rest / Sleep Talk

Now that covers a majority of your weaknesses, so now I'll address the Jirachi set. Choice Band isn't really doing much at all. However you do need a good trick user and just an all-purpose check to things like DD Tar, DD Nite, Crocune, CurseLax, and CM Jirachi. Try running a Choice Scarf set since it can handle all of those and more. Just run a Choice Scarf over Choice Band with the following attacks: Iron Head/Ice Punch/Fire Punch/Trick. You do lose the ability to Wish support your Heatran, but it's not particularly vital to TormenTran's success and Choiced Wish is generally a bad idea.

Normally I would recommend changing Dusknoir to a Rotom-A as it generally outclasses Dusknoir. However, Dusknoir has the benefit of being a decent check to a huge problem for a team such as yours named Gengar. Shadow Sneak is fundamental to ensire that you're not using an outclassed Rotom-A since it allows you to check Gengar somewhat well and not be out sped and 2HKOd by Life Orb Starmie. With that said you definitely want to run Shadow Sneak over Ice Punch. If you try me previous suggestions, Ice Punch will become more of a liability than anything. You may also want to consider a more specially defensive spread on Dusknoir as well to take on LO Star better, and you already have 2 defensive powerhouses in Celebi and Gyarados. One final nitpick is to run HP Ice > HP Electric on Roserade. Gliscor could be problematic with the above changes and without HP Ice lead Gliscor can easily Taunt and get up Sr while you've accomplished nothing. That's all I have to add for now. gl

 

[Bloo]

16. Play with your team before putting it up for rate. We as a community cannot emphasize this enough. No one wants to rate the team that you freshly created while eating breakfast or the gimmick you randomly put together. We as a community want teams that have been battle tested so that the obvious flaws have been hammered out

You have to test your team before making a RMT. Private message me when you've tested your team thoroughly and I'll unlock your thread.