RMT, VGC11

[ctccromer]

Just fyi, this is my first year attempting to do VGC (or any type of competitive pokemon). I've been playing on Pokemon Online and trying different teams and combos and this is the best I've been able to get so far, so RMT.
I'm waiting to actually RNG and train the pokemon in my actual game until I have a team that's rated well and works well on Pokemon Online

THE POINT OF THIS TEAM IS TO HIT FIRST AND KO THEM BEFORE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO ATTACK. I really hate when people take an RMT and suggest changing the nature/Ev's that support the team's strategy. If the strategy is bad, say that, but don't change it and still keep this strategy as a suggestion..

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly Nature (+Speed, -Sp. Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Attack/+4 HP
-Fake Out
-Hi Jump Kick
-Rock Slide
-Drain Punch
My first lead, Menshao ("Farfetch'd 2"), leads with fake out unless it doesn't make sense to. Then whichever is better, Rock Slide or High Jump Kick, I use. Also, due to his ability he can not flinch, so he can not be Faked Out
Hi Jump Kick if I doubt they'll use protect and my HP is high, Drain Punch if there's a chance for Protect or my HP is low (unless the difference in power will KO them)

Chandelure @ Focus Sash
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Sp. Atk/+4 HP
-Heat Wave
-Shadow Ball
-Energy Ball
-Hidden Power (Ice/70pwr)
My second lead, Chandelure, almost always opens up with heat wave. It's especially good for Amoongusses and Whimsicotts. However Shadow Ball and Energy Ball have also come in handy quite a bit. Psychic, not so much. Being Ghost type, Chandelure can't be faked out, so this means I'm completely immune to Fake-Out openers with this lead team. Focus Sash helps a LOT.

Hydreigon @ Chople berry
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Sp. Atk/+4 HP
-Dragon Pulse
-Dark Pulse
-Fire Blast
-Focus Blast
Hydreigon has fairly quick speed, and as for Haxorus vs Hydreigon, unless Haxorus uses Quick Claw or Focus Sash (or whatever the speed one is), Hydreigon will always outspeed Haxorus. The others are for coverage as well. They all come in handy a bit, but if Dark, Fire, and Fighting aren't going to be super-effective, Dragon Pulse always does a good deal of damage. Chople Berry comes in handy very often.

Terrakion @ Muscle Band/Choice Scarf
Jolly Nature (+Speed, -Sp. Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Attack/+4 HP
-Close Combat
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Quick Attack
Originally Jellicent, but changed to Terrakion, I've yet to find a strong 4th pokemon -- Terrakion does good but I feel like someone else could do better. Feel free to suggest a good 4th :)

BIG ISSUE: Tailwind (almost always Tornadus). It means I don't go first, and since my guys aren't Defensive, they die quickly. Is there any good way to handle Tail Wind with my opening team? I can Fake Out the guy on the first turn but can only get him to about 30% hp with Fake Out + Heat Wave

 

[JRank]

Just fyi, this is my first year attempting to do VGC (or any type of competitive pokemon). I've been playing on Pokemon Online and trying different teams and combos and this is the best I've been able to get so far, so RMT.
I'm waiting to actually RNG and train the pokemon in my actual game until I have a team that's rated well and works well on Pokemon Online

THE POINT OF THIS TEAM IS TO HIT FIRST AND KO THEM BEFORE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO ATTACK. I really hate when people take an RMT and suggest changing the nature/Ev's that support the team's strategy. If the strategy is bad, say that, but don't change it and still keep this strategy as a suggestion..

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly Nature (+Speed, -Sp. Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Attack/+4 HP
-Fake Out
-Hi Jump Kick
-Rock Slide
-Protect (?)
My first lead, Menshao ("Farfetch'd 2"), leads with fake out unless it doesn't make sense to. Then whichever is better, Rock Slide or High Jump Kick, I use. I haven't really used protect though... Also, due to his ability he can not flinch, so he can not be Faked Out

Drain Punch is better (than HJK) because they can just Protect and you will crash.

Chandelure @ Quick Claw
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Sp. Atk/+4 HP
-Heat Wave
-Shadow Ball
-Energy Ball
-Psychic (?)
My second lead, Chandelure, almost always opens up with heat wave. It's especially good for Amoongusses and Whimsicotts. However Shadow Ball and Energy Ball have also come in handy quite a bit. Psychic, not so much. Being Ghost type, Chandelure can't be faked out, so this means I'm completely immune to Fake-Out openers with this lead team. And for the Quick Claw, I had been using Charcoal for Heat Wave, but he went down pretty fast (often the last to attack), so Quick Claw helped that a bit.

Put Protect over Pyschic, and Hidden Power Ice over Energy Ball. Protect is always helpful, and Hidden Power Ice hits much more than Energy Ball. Also, the item should be chanegd to Focus Sash so he can get an attack off, relying on Quick Claw is really a bad idea.

Hydreigon @ Dragon Claw (?)
Timid Nature (+Speed, -Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Sp. Atk/+4 HP
-Dragon Pulse
-Dark Pulse
-Fire Blast
-Focus Blast
Hydreigon has fairly quick speed, and as for Haxorus vs Hydreigon, unless Haxorus uses Quick Claw or Focus Sash (or whatever the speed one is), Hydreigon will always outspeed Haxorus, and with Dragon Claw, he will usually OHKO him. The others are for coverage as well. They all come in handy a bit, but if Dark, Fire, and Fighting aren't going to be super-effective, Dragon Pulse always does a good deal of damage. However, there are 2 big downsides to Hydreigon. His speed is only medium (sometimes he's within the first 2 to attack, but more often he's 3rd) and I get downed quickly by fighting a LOT. Which means I should probly change his item to the 50% fighting dmg berry, but his Dragon Pulse is incredibly strong with Dragon Fang. Thoughts?

Chople Berry is a great item for Hydregion, giving it time to take out the Fighting type.

Terrakion @ Muscle Band
Jolly Nature (+Speed, -Sp. Atk)
+252 Speed/+252 Attack/+4 HP
-Close Combat
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Aerial Ace
Originally Jellicent, but changed to Terrakion, I've yet to find a strong 4th pokemon. Feel free to suggest a good 4th :)

Either have Protect or Quick Attack instead of Aerial Ace.

BIG ISSUE: Tailwind (almost always Tornadus). It means I don't go first, and since my guys aren't Defensive, they die quickly. Is there any good way to handle Tail Wind with my opening team? I can Fake Out the guy on the first turn but can only get him to about 30% hp with Fake Out + Shadow Ball

Changes in bold.

 

[ctccromer]

That all sounds good to me; anything I can do about Tailwind teams?

EDIT: Terrakion never seems to be fast enough by the time he comes out (about 2/3 of the time I send Hydreigon before Terrakion) and I rarely use more than one move because they're down to their last pokemon, so would Choice Scarf be better for him, or should I keep Muscle Band (which doesn't seem to be doing much), or should I change his item to something else?

UPDATED THE OP TO THE CHANGED TEAM

 

[ctccromer]

Apparently it's impossible to get a chople berry in b/w until the dream world is set up. And even then, I will only be able to use 3 in a tourney (register up to 6 items, can give him another berry between rounds). Is there ANYTHING else that will protect me from Fighting moves? Chople berry has been helping hydreigon survive WAY more often

 

[Fantom0]

One thing I can suggest is to simply Fake Out that Tailwinder. Nothing changed, but you have a plan in case you should run into one. That way, you can fire off a Heat Wave, stripping too much health off Tornadus to survive another Heat Wave. True, your opponent still gets Tailwind up, but with a Hi Jump Kick, after your two Heat Waves, you should hopefully be 4-2 up, and let's not forget that Scrafty is quite common on TW teams.
Also, I way prefer the power of HJK over Drain Punch; it causes loads more damage, and you can neuter the slight accuracy problems with Wide Lens. True, Protect is a problem, but really, how much can it matter to lose Mienshao? It means you get a free switch earlier on, which could give you a quick surprise offensive edge.
And Muscle Band on Terra? Use something a bit, you know, better, like Life Orb for damage, or go defensive with Balloon/Chople Berry.

Hope I helped!

 

[ctccromer]

I've been Fake-Outing TW Tornadus and Heat Waving but he still has 25-30% hp left and high speed so he gets TW set up. Once it's set up, it's much harder for me to win. My team is only really good if i go first. At least with Trick Room teams the TR pokemon aren't fast enough to first BEFORE they set up :P

Also, a simple question: If Chandelure has Heat Wave (100 pwr x 1.5 STAB = 150 pwr) and Hidden Power (70 pwr x 2 super-effective = 140 pwr) and both are Sp. Atk, then does that mean that Heat Wave is ALWAYS better than Hidden Power (unless ice is x4)?

 

[TheMaskedNitpicker]

I've been Fake-Outing TW Tornadus and Heat Waving but he still has 25-30% hp left and high speed so he gets TW set up. Once it's set up, it's much harder for me to win. My team is only really good if i go first. At least with Trick Room teams the TR pokemon aren't fast enough to first BEFORE they set up :P

Without changing your starting pair, I figure you've got two options for stopping Tailwind.

Option #1: Give Chandelure Overheat over Hidden Power. This, along with Fake Out, should shut down Tornadus. The problem is, you've then got to switch Chandelure out or it's dealing half damage with all its other moves.

Option #2: Give Chandelure Taunt over Hidden Power. The problem here is that you're not dealing much damage on the first turn, and Tornadus is a very big threat to Mienshao with Hurricane/Air Slash.

Also, a simple question: If Chandelure has Heat Wave (100 pwr x 1.5 STAB = 150 pwr) and Hidden Power (70 pwr x 2 super-effective = 140 pwr) and both are Sp. Atk, then does that mean that Heat Wave is ALWAYS better than Hidden Power (unless ice is x4)?

No, it's not always better. For one thing, Heat Wave's power gets cut when it's hitting more than one target. If the mechanics are the same as in 4th gen, you can think of it as having 75 base power against each opponent. Also, if your target is strong against Fire but weak against Ice (like Archeops, for example) Hidden Power will be stronger. That being said, Hidden Power seems like a pretty bad choice compared to some of the other moves you could have on Chandelure.