Hi. I've been thinking of a pokemon to replace my Luxray on my hybrid competitive/casual team. My current team follows as:
Infernape @ Amulet Coin (lol)
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Attack/252 Sp.Attack/192 Speed
Nature: Hasty
-Nasty Plot
-Grass Knot
-Fire Blast
-Close Combat
Wall Breaker. Works pretty well, but low defenses forces me to wait until one of my pokemon faints before bringing it in. Amulet coin for casual play, king's rock for competitive.
Luxray @ Magnet
Ability: Rivalry
EVs: Random training
Nature: Adamant
-Thunder Wave
-Spark
-Thunder
-Crunch
Purely casual-play Pokemon. Anti-water when I do play competitively.
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Attack/4 Defence/252 Speed
Nature: Adamant
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Ice Fang
-Stone Edge
Late-game DD sweeper. Waterfall+DD+STAB+LifeOrb OHKOs most anything weekened near the end of a game. Stone Edge+ Ice Fang for grass and flying threats.
Staraptor @ Razor Fang
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Attack/252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
-Fly
-Brave Bird
-Close Combat
-U-turn
Helpful flying type that eliminates fighting threats. Fly is purely casual, though it helps for scouting along with U-turn if I detect a threat.
Scizor @ Quick Claw
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/252 Attack/224 Speed
Nature: Lonely
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Brick Break
-X-Scissor
Great Physical attacker and anti-Tyranitar. Brick Break gets rid of Reflect/LS and Bullet Punch abuses STAB.
Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP/40 Defence/216 Speed
Nature: Impish
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Roost
-Stone Edge
Support pokemon with SR. Usually leads, SR, then switches to an effective counter to their lead. Roost helps for walling/stalling teams and keeping Gliscor alive for most of the battle.
So that's my hybrid casual/competitive team. The items are just random, besides Gliscor @ Leftovers and Gyarados @ Life Orb, since I don't use same items.
Luxray is the one that needs to be replaced, but not with Magnezone because I struggle to grasp the whole Hidden Power concept and how to get a certain type.
My choices for a replacement are:
Choice Band Tyranitar: I like the pokemon and its role as a physical threat. However, I never thought of using Tyranitar on my team, so I chose Hyper Cutter for Gliscor's ability over Sand Stream, bad call there. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/tyranitar
Choice Band Metagross: The replacement I'm leaning towards right now. Great resistances, and quite powerful attacks to back it up. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/metagross
DD Salamence: Dragon-type complements my team pretty well, I think. Capable of sweeping whole teams after Infernape takes down the walls and bulky steel types. However, I think it's role conflicts with Gyarados' role as a late-game sweeper. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/salamence
Infernape @ Amulet Coin (lol)
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Attack/252 Sp.Attack/192 Speed
Nature: Hasty
-Nasty Plot
-Grass Knot
-Fire Blast
-Close Combat
Wall Breaker. Works pretty well, but low defenses forces me to wait until one of my pokemon faints before bringing it in. Amulet coin for casual play, king's rock for competitive.
Luxray @ Magnet
Ability: Rivalry
EVs: Random training
Nature: Adamant
-Thunder Wave
-Spark
-Thunder
-Crunch
Purely casual-play Pokemon. Anti-water when I do play competitively.
Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Attack/4 Defence/252 Speed
Nature: Adamant
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Ice Fang
-Stone Edge
Late-game DD sweeper. Waterfall+DD+STAB+LifeOrb OHKOs most anything weekened near the end of a game. Stone Edge+ Ice Fang for grass and flying threats.
Staraptor @ Razor Fang
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Attack/252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
-Fly
-Brave Bird
-Close Combat
-U-turn
Helpful flying type that eliminates fighting threats. Fly is purely casual, though it helps for scouting along with U-turn if I detect a threat.
Scizor @ Quick Claw
Ability: Technician
EVs: 32 HP/252 Attack/224 Speed
Nature: Lonely
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-Brick Break
-X-Scissor
Great Physical attacker and anti-Tyranitar. Brick Break gets rid of Reflect/LS and Bullet Punch abuses STAB.
Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP/40 Defence/216 Speed
Nature: Impish
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Roost
-Stone Edge
Support pokemon with SR. Usually leads, SR, then switches to an effective counter to their lead. Roost helps for walling/stalling teams and keeping Gliscor alive for most of the battle.
So that's my hybrid casual/competitive team. The items are just random, besides Gliscor @ Leftovers and Gyarados @ Life Orb, since I don't use same items.
Luxray is the one that needs to be replaced, but not with Magnezone because I struggle to grasp the whole Hidden Power concept and how to get a certain type.
My choices for a replacement are:
Choice Band Tyranitar: I like the pokemon and its role as a physical threat. However, I never thought of using Tyranitar on my team, so I chose Hyper Cutter for Gliscor's ability over Sand Stream, bad call there. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/tyranitar
Choice Band Metagross: The replacement I'm leaning towards right now. Great resistances, and quite powerful attacks to back it up. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/metagross
DD Salamence: Dragon-type complements my team pretty well, I think. Capable of sweeping whole teams after Infernape takes down the walls and bulky steel types. However, I think it's role conflicts with Gyarados' role as a late-game sweeper. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/salamence