Speed Kills (PreBank OU) [Edited]

Surge's Exeggutor

[Showdown Record: 2-0] Showdown name: Lieutenant sSurge

Long time lurker, first time poster. Hopefully I can attract some good critiques from some of the well known raters on smogon, but all advice is more that welcome.

Teambuilding Process:
First off, I am using pre bank because this is also an in-game/wifi team. But I have been playing showdown for a while now. Testing, testing and more testing. I found a lot of things I liked, and a lot i didn't like. So I started with my likes...

1. Weakness Policy, especially with Dragonite
2. Jolteon, I don't know why but that guy just works so well for me.
3. Starmie, as a spinner and Sp.Atk-er

plethora of others but ill get started with the team being based on what i liked...

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Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Return
- Crunch

I changed my Gengar to Kanga because of two reason... one being that I need a Mega since everybody else has one and two because I lack physical attack power on my team. Now everyone has ran into this guy, over and over and over again. we know that if he catches you off guard, then see ya. I use him when I need a priority kill. I Changed Earthquake to Crunch because I find that a lot of time, It comes in handy to have it on my kanga and more often so than EQ.
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Jolteon @ Air Balloon
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Jolteon as I stated was a pokemon that worked for me. This guy is fast, and usually only gets out-sped by those choice scarfers out there. Thunderbolt for a crippling STAB, can take down plenty of foes in 1-2 attacks. Hidden Power Ice for the dragons, as he usually can out-speed them, also for grounds most notably gliscor when they try to switch in for an earthquake. Shadowball for the rest. I use Volt Switch when a poke is either 4x weak to electric and a thunderbolt isn't necessary or when a poke has low health and i can kill and switch. The item is Air Balloon, so that I don't take an earthquake right off of the bat. I don't know if this is the best option for him though.

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Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Sludge Bomb
- Knock Off

I swapped Starmie for Tentacruel because I felt I had enough Sp.Atk-ers on my team, and i needed more bulk. Still suffices as my water-spinner. Scald for the Water STAB and chance of Burn. Sludge Bomb for the Poison STAB and chance of poison. So this guy can get to its opponent in multiple ways. Should I use Black Sludge or Assault Vest on this guy? I switched Haze for Knock Off because most of the time when I need to erase their stat boosts, they just outspeed me and kill me before i get to do so, unless i catch them off guard.

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Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

The exception to my "Speed Kills" team, although he does kill... In his own way. Ferrothorn, is one of my newly discovered favorites. I was really never a fan until I used him. My idea here is to one, set up stealth rocks, along with leech seed. Two, to have the other teams kill themselves on his rocky helmet and iron barbs. I haven't done much venturing from this set, so would Big Root as an item be a good move? Helps recovery as well as draining the foe. I like the double attack move set here because My pokes can do a lot of outspending regardless of paralysis and because Power whip helps me with certain mons, as well as gyro ball.

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Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head

Swapped him in there for Bisharp, kinda hard to see bishop be benched but i think it was for the better of the team. I now get better coverage as well as an Earthquake on my team. Its weird cause I was always looking to have this set but for some reason i always overlooked Garchomp for Dragonite. I used to have choice scarf for it but I changed it due to the fact, I don't really like have two pokes locked into attacks. It causes too much switching in my opinion. Swords Dances to boost up my attacking and then sweep. Should I run Outrage or Dragon Claw though? I usually go with Dragon Claw but I've been raped by outrage A LOT

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Volcarona @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Hidden Power [Rock]

I love this guy. I Cant tell you how many times he has either ran through my team or ran threw the opponents team for me after just one timely quiver dance. Bug pokemon are pretty cool, bug and fire pokemon are even cooler. Bug buzz the dark and psychic pokemon. He is my tyranitar counter (when i have a quiver dance in), and with Hidden Power Rock, he is the counter/check for a lot of foes. He is a very very threatening pokemon. Lum berry obviously for status relief. I changed Fire blast to Fiery Dance because of the accuracy boost as well as the chance to boost Sp.A.

Like i Said I am welcoming all advice. What pokemon should I remove? what pokemon should I replace it with? How is the synergy of my team? The Movesets? Items?

I need all the help I can get, trust me.

Also, I don't necessarily have a designated lead on showdown but on Wifi it would be ferrothorn.

Changed Pokes
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Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 20 HP / 236 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

My reasoning for choosing Gengar at first was because I hadn't used him at the time and I figured i'd give him a shot. Now i see what the hype is about. I love to bring this guy in on just about anything... except darks, I try to stay far away from those. Focus Blasting away, Ferrothorns, Skarmorys and others. Sludge bomb for the fairies, waters and grasses. Hidden Power Ice, makes a dragons life brutal. Which is why it makes an appearance on my team multiple times. I think Gengar works pretty well with Black Sludge and not a choice item since i fluctuate on which move I'm going to use with him. CHANGED TO KANGA

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Starmie @ Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

The classic BoltBeam set. This really works wonders for me, not to mention Starmie gives me a spinner which the rest of my team greatly appreciates. My question for starmie, is Hydro pump or Scald? Not really sure, but either way, part of my decision to add starmie to the team was its water presence. Choice Specs because it powers up my Sp.Atk-ing moves, and when starmie is in there it is usually only to use one specific move and then bounce. Should I choice Scarf him instead to out-speed threats? CHANGED TO TENTACRUEL

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Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Night Slash

This guy is powerful, although i don't know if he is a keeper or not just yet. I do like him a lot though. Especially when he is up against talonflame. A priority STAB sucker punch does the trick most of the time. Especially against those pesky ghosts. and when they think they are going to outsmart me and use a boosting move, or a non-damaging move... I night slash them to sleep. Iron head for those fairies/rock types. Dread Plate boosts the Dark moves even more. CHANGED TO GARCHOMP
 
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Overall, this is a pretty good team. However, I have a few suggestions:
  1. I'd drop Hidden Power Ice on Gengar for Substitute or Protect, depending on what your flavor is.
  2. I am not a fan of 2 attacks on Ferrothorn, so I'd recommend dropping one for Thunder Wave, which could overall help your team, especially Bisharp.
  3. Change Choice Specs on Starmie for Life Orb, and drop Thunderbolt for Psyshock. Starmie hates being locked into an atack while being your primary source of hazard control, it's extremely redundant, I'd say. Psyshock helps with special walls, namely Goodra, Florges, Sylveon and the blobs.
  4. I'd opt for Leftovers on Volcarona over Lum Berry, for some gained longevity.
  5. Life Orb on Jolteon could work, as Jolteon loves the boosted power
 
Thank you for your advice! I will take to testing it now. I use thunderbolt quite often on starmie though, I will give psyshock a try. I had life orb on there, but I didn't see why i should take the life orb damage when I can Get the Choice Specs and switch.
 
While I don't really know what to replace with what, the first thing I saw after taking a quick look at your team is that you have 4 pokémon weak to EQ, and 2 are neutral.

Earth Power could also be an issue, while not as common.
I really think there should be something in there that completely resists it, but I've been trying to find something that can be replaced and I can't seem to get my head around it. I will think it through and post it later if I get any good idea
 
So last time I checked bisharp was not very fast, while he does have a priority dark type move, so does your kanga. The only way I can think to make this right would be to either put crunch on kangaskhan in place of sucker punch, or replace bisharp. Lets think of a good replacement.

I also just noticed that your ferrothorn could handle most fairies with gyro ball, making bisharp more useless. I am thinking a scarfed salamence would fit very nicely into your "speed kills" team. Try this set

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Atk / 4 SpAtk
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

This guy hits fast and hard, the reason for outrage and dragon claw is if you get locked into outrage and they have a fairy...youre gunna have a bad time. This guy also can deal with pesky skarms or ferrothorns with fire blast, and perhaps best of all can dodge ground type attacks while answering back with an EQ of his own. While I havent personally used this set I have seen it wreak havoc on my team. If you have any concerns about this just say so and we can work it out because I really think this team needs scarfmence.
 
You could try Knock Off on Tentacruel, or Toxic something your team lacks.

I find Specs Jolteon to be the most effective item.

On Volcarona, try Firey Dance over Fire Blast. Better accuracy and the ability to power up even more.

I agree with Adam on the Ferrothorn situation.

If you choose to take Mega Scizor's suggestion, I might recommend Garchomp (Scarf) instead. It serves the same purpose, but has Stab EQ to demolish Fairys.

Good luck and hope I could help.
 
Thank, you guys all for the suggestions! I think that the garchomp basically covers all your suggestions. i don't know why i didn't think of it before. i like the fiery dance idea too. I switch jolteons, attacks fairly often so i will probably keep life orb. I will try knock off but haze has gotten me out of some scary situations. thanks again
 
Well first of all, great name, I noticed and figured id help out a fellow surge.

Garchomp should greatly help out your team, in my opinion. He adds excellent coverage and provides your team of what it lacks.

Im impartial to whether or not the 2 attacks on ferrothorn is a bad thing or not. Power whip is really the only thing that will help you will gastrodon and quagsire consistently.

Haze does help with negating all the boosts that teams try to accumulate now a days and can be crucial, but getting it off my be a problem for you.
Knock off is certainly a viable option.

How about Crunch on Kangaskahn since you now have earthquake on garchomp? it'll help get rid of those pesky ghosts since you lack dark coverage.
 
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