Rate My Team - Just wanting a some insight

Hey guys! I've just been going over some new teams to battle competitively with in X and Y. I came up with a team that I think seems to cover most of the usual weaknesses and strengths in the OU tier, but I wanted to see what you guys thought of it. I've been testing them out Showdown quite a bit (I believe I'm 35 out of 40 battles so far?), so I think I'm going to give it a shot in X and Y online. Anyways, here they are.


Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Speed / 4 SpA
Hasty Nature
Attacks
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast

The idea behind Aerodactyl is to basically outspeed pretty much any lead that is thrown in on the field. Stealth Rock gets out there easily, and his attacks cover a very wide range of types that I get presented with. Most people aren't usually expecting him to know fire blast (I've One Hit multiple Ferrothorns) and his attacks are usually powerful enough to knock out non-super effective targets in 2-3 moves. Focus Sash assures that he gets at least one attack off after he throws out Stealth Rock. In short, once I get stealth rock out there any other damage he inflicts to the other team is just a bonus.


Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
Attacks
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind

Pretty straightforward here. I don't like leading with Skarmory because in my experience in using him on past teams he is just a much bigger threat when you can switch him in on the right pokemon. Spikes builds up on teams while you just whirlwind them out and at the same time healing yourself up with Roost. Brave Bird is there instead of Taunt in order to hit some nasty fighting pokemon and to finish off others that have low health. Also, he is the bane to nearly all Baton Pass teams. Basically my best defensive wall here.


Scizor @ Flying Gem
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Speed / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
Attacks
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics

Everybody's favorite bug! Scizor serves as my type of Physical Sweeper. Throwing him in on the right pokemon and utilizing just 1 Swords Dance usually allows me to priority Bullet Punch the crap out of every pokemon out there. Acrobatics and that Flying Gem combined work wonders on anyone who resists Bullet Punch. Superpower gives him good coverage on those pesky steel types who think they can stop the Bullet Punching frenzy. Overall I love him as a physical sweeper, but his low speed can get in the way sometimes when I have to use superpower or acrobatics. Love putting him in on Gengar.


Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
Attacks
- Dragon Dance
- Aqua Tail/Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake

Gyarados is another classic and pretty straightforward as well. Dragon Dance once maybe twice on a pokemon and he is pretty much good to go. His attacks cover pretty much every type, and that bulk resists most moves that could severely harm other sweepers. I alternate between aqua tail or waterfall depending on how lucky I feel with my accuracy that day. Bounce is great in that it is a wonderful STAB move and heals with Leftovers while he is in the air. Weak to electric types attacks obviously but I never really see too many of those commonly out there. Mid-battle he is awesome, especially on special attackers and any Scizor really.


Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 64 Def / 192 HP
Quiet Nature
Attacks
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Reuniclus is amazing with his Trick Room set, and his attacks/bulk/coverage make him brutal to take down. Trick Room allows him to outspeed every pokemon in OU (minus Ferrothorn, but that's what Focus Blast is for) and take down many pokemon in one shot with help from Stealth Rock or Spikes. Life Orb + Magic Guard are the perfect combo, strengthening his attacks without harming his hitpoints. Shadow Ball covers those with resistance to Psychic and Focus blast takes down those pesky Steel types again. Psyshock is a good option instead of Psychic as well but I just prefer those 10 extra strength points. Did I mention how awesome Magic Guard is yet? Reuniclus tends to switch out on Special Attackers.


Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Modest Nature
Attacks
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Roost

I had a really difficult decision in trying to decide who would take my last slot in my teams. You guys are welcome to suggest a replacement by all means. 4 out of my 6 were Physical Attackers, so I focused on more Special Attackers for this slot. I ended up settling on Latias, and he tested extremely well in the OU tier. He's not of the utmost importance to my team, but this guy is fast as hell and can dish out punishment very quickly. Draco Meteor decimates many pokemon, while psyshock gives him a great STAB move to those who switch in with high Special Defense to counter. Surf just rounds out his attacks to cover other types, while Roost gives him an option to heal quickly after Life Orb damage. His high special defense tends to come in handy too. Latias is purely reserved for late battle and to mop up at the end or to quickly wipe out pokemon with low health. In my opinion, he is the best in this type of role.

Let me know what you think ladies and gentlemen. Feel free to make any suggestions and ask any questions. I really appreciate the help and feedback!
 
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Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 100 Atk / 156 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
Attacks
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Taunt
- Rock Slide/Earthquake

Taunt and Fire Blast are crucial on Aerodactyl. As a lead, you need check Ferro/Forre/Bronzong. That EVs are just to do it, Aerdactyl SpA is not impressive, but it is enough to 2HKO them (at least not in rain).
 
Latias is a she!!!!!! Otherwise,solid team. I would recommend putting substitute over eq on gay rods, as it doesn't need the coverage. Also, I feel like the aerodactly is unnecessary, as this team isn't hyper offense, and dactyl is used for hyper offensive only. I would recommend a specially defensive heatran, with protect, roar, lava plume, and sr or a tyranitar, with stealh rocks, and any combo of crunch, ice beam, fireblast, pursuit, roar, stone edge, and superpower. Basically whatever floats your boat.
 
Hey, not a bad team, I actually like it.

Gyarados + Scizor is a scary combination as they can lure in and kill each other's counters, but I think it'd work better with a different Gyarados set. If you change Gyarados's set to a Normal Gem with Double Edge set, it will be able to beat Rotom-W which is an issue for Scizor, as well as a common Gyarados switch in. That way, if the opponent has Rotom-W as his Scizor check, you can open up a sweep by luring it in with Gyarados. I think it's awesome!

Also, you're going to get steamrolled by Choice Specs Keldeo and other dangerous threats if you don't max out Latias's Speed. A spread of 32 HP / 224 SpA / 252 Speed is much more efficient for what Latias needs to check as it's faster than some threats that could otherwise 2HKO it with little residual damage, making your team much more solid against them. On an offensive team like yours, the Speed is also useful for late game cleans and revenge killing, and your team is actually pretty slow for an offensive team, so you might have issues with those. Also, much like Gyarados + Scizor, Latias and Reuniclus share some counters that you can take advantage of, especially Scizor. If you use Hidden Power Fire on Latias, you can lure in Scizor and KO it even if it switches into Draco Meteor, opening up a sweep for Reuniclus.

Your team, as I said, looks fairly slow for an offensive team. That will work against it against other offensive teams as their faster sweepers will have a big advantage over your own sweepers. Skarmory looks kind of out of place on your team, as you can't really deny an enemy's Rapid Spin to keep your Spikes and Stealth Rock up, and Skarmory gives itself a lot of place for your opponent to Spin. Since you have Stealth Rock on a suicide lead, this is less than optimal. Skarmory is also dead weight against specially biased offensive teams so yeah... I think getting a Choice Scarfer in its place would be a good idea. A Jirachi fits pretty well here, as using Scizor as your only Steel will open you up to Draco Meteor spamming threats like Choice Specs Latios.

Here are the sets:
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Gyarados @ Normal Gem
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Double-Edge
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Dance

385.png

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 148 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 104 HP
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- U-turn
- Fire Punch

also, use Dave Mustaine's Aerodactyl. Good luck!
 
Okay thanks for the insight! You hit the nail right on the head there with rapid spin users. I'm pretty much screwed when any pokemon has rapid spin. I have been thinking about moving skarmory or aerodactyl. Definitely going to have to look into those replacements and strategies!
 
Really like that Tyranitar idea. Very interesting.. the only problem I have with it is Sandstream, but then again Scizor and Skarmory are usually the next 2 out. I'll have to test it out. Heatran sounds solid too
 
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