Speed, Speed, Speed ( and a sprinkle of Reuniclus)

[PT Xeno]

Hello. I just got into competitive Pokemon recently and I decided after doing my research to go with a speed attack with just a sprinkle of bulk. The team isn't too durable but it hits very hard when I run my sets right. If anyone could be so kind then please, rate my team:

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Pain Split
- Spikes
- Taunt

Froslass is a reliable choice to put Spike hazards on the field and is a nice option to have out there against the Dragonites it's ran into first turn. Ice Beam is always good, especially when it's STAB and Pain Split allows me to do some damage before it leaves so the next Pokemon has a little more room to work. Taunt allows me to stall their hazards and counter stall teams. Moving on to the next Pokemon:

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 176 Def / 200 SDef / 132 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Recover
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin

Starmie is a real speed threat, able to go toe to toe in speed with most of the OU metagame. Surf is a nice, safe option for Water STAB and Recover helps me abuse its set with Leftovers. Toxic is the choice I've went with to help deal with Pokemon that can overpower Starmie. Rapid Spin is the classic counter to hazards and, in my opinion, mandatory to have. Next on the list we have:

Darmanitan (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Superpower

This Pokemon here is my powerhouse. Love him. U-Turn is an alternative option I can use against Grass Types when I don't want to deal with the recoil from Flare Blitz. Flare Blitz is mandatory Fire type STAB. Earthquake gives me some good coverage against the likes of Tyranitar, as does Super Power. Next up is:

Sceptile (M) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Acrobatics
- Leaf Blade
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch

Sceptile has proven to be fairly reliable with this set. Acrobatics allows me to abuse Unburden thanks to its equipped Flying Gem, though if it's forced out, I have no method of using its ability. Leaf Blade is there for STAB use. Swords Dance is my way of mixing speed with power, as Leaf Blade STAB + 2 is hard to deal with for any Pokemon that doesn't outright resist it. Drain Punch is my answer to common counters like Heatran. To depart from speed momentarily, let's discuss:

Reuniclus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 172 Def / 120 SAtk / 216 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Focus Blast

Reuniclus is the only real bulk on my team since I opted for speed. Its set has run really well as Calm Mind has allowed me to frustrate opponents by improving on what is already solid defense. STAB Psyshock is my choice over STAB Psychic because of its secondary effect. Recover just allows me to break Reuniclus in a way few other Pokemon can be broken when paired with Regenerator. Focus Blast is the coverage against something like Tyranitar and Heatran. And last, but certainly not least we have:

Mienshao (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Hi Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Mienshao just goes ahead and wrecks everything it touches for me. Hi Jump Kick is the obvious Fighting type STAB. U-Turn allows me to abuse its attack to get a hit and run tactic in so I can hit common counters I've ran into like Dragonite and counter into Froslass. Stone Edge and HP Ice are good options to have against the Flying types and Dragon Types usually used to counter Mienshao.

 

[Jirachee]

Hi

Pretty original team you've got there, congrats on that! However, I think that you could change things on it to make it better. Usually, Stealth Rock is a much better hazard than Spikes; it hits everything without exception, since nothing is immune to Rock, and a lot of Pokemon are actually weak to it, meaning that those who are weak to it will be punished pretty hard for switching in. Two layers of Spikes actually only deal 4% more damage than 1 layer of Spikes or Stealth Rock (it has been corrected recently), and it's usually the most you'll get with your current Frolass set, meaning that Stealth Rock's versatility will probably be much more useful anyway. If you want to use a dedicated lead, I think that Terrakion would be a much better choice for your team, as it can set up Stealth Rock and fits perfectly with the offensive mentality that your team has. While it won't block Rapid Spin, it will add much more to your team than Froslass.

Your Starmie set is pretty much all over the place. Investing in both defenses usually isn't worth it, as you can invest in HP with pretty much the same amount of bulk gained, but for half the EVs. You can spend the reminder EVs into other much more useful stats then. Try to use the following spread: 252 HP / 40 Defense / 216 Speed Timid. It's probably the best spread for bulkier Starmie nowadays since you can outspeed pretty much everything you need to, and have a respectable amount of bulk. I think that your moveset isn't very useful either. Toxic's certainly cool to catch Jellicent off guard, however, you have other Pokemon to deal with Jellicent, and Starmie has much better things to do than deal with it. Psyshock is a much better move, as it helps Starmie check powerful Fighting Pokemon like Keldeo and Breloom, stuff that your team might struggle with. You might also want to try out Scald instead of Surf to have a chance at burning Ferrothorn on the switch, which is always a nice thing.

Earthquake and Superpower usually are pretty redundant on the same Pokemon as they hit very similar threats. Honestly I think that you should drop Earthquake to use Rock Slide instead on Darmanitan. Rock Slide is a cool move on it since it hits things like Dragonite who would like to switch into Darmanitan, and also allows you to revenge kill them.

Honestly Calm Mind Reuniclus seems to be a bit out of place on your team. It's pretty slow and it needs to boost its stats before being able to do anything. While it's certainly pretty good at sweeping stall teams, against offensive teams all it'll do is lose offensive momentum with its lack of Speed and immediate power, and offensive teams need momentum to succeed otherwise they just fall apart. I think that your team could use a bit more help against weather teams too, as your checks to chlorophyll sweepers or Water resists don't seem to be very reliable. I think that Latios would fit Reuniclus' spot on your team perfectly. Latios is able to put a lot of pressure on offensive Sun and Rain teams as it's pretty fast and it's able to KO something with Draco Meteor most of the time. It fits your team's style perfectly, adding more Speed and it still has pretty respectable bulk, with its base 110 Special Defense.

You're missing 4 EVs on Mienshao and Darmanitan, so you might wanna fit them somewhere, probably in HP since Genesect and its Download shenanigans are gone.

That's a lot of changes but I think that your team's pretty cool and it should work much better after these. Here are the sets you should use:

Terrakion and Latios

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Justified
Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Stone Edge
~Close Combat
~Taunt
~Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb
Levitate
Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Psyshock
~Recover

Good luck!

 

[PT Xeno]

Hi

Pretty original team you've got there, congrats on that! However, I think that you could change things on it to make it better. Usually, Stealth Rock is a much better hazard than Spikes; it hits everything without exception, since nothing is immune to Rock, and a lot of Pokemon are actually weak to it, meaning that those who are weak to it will be punished pretty hard for switching in. Two layers of Spikes actually only deal 4% more damage than 1 layer of Spikes or Stealth Rock (it has been corrected recently), and it's usually the most you'll get with your current Frolass set, meaning that Stealth Rock's versatility will probably be much more useful anyway. If you want to use a dedicated lead, I think that Terrakion would be a much better choice for your team, as it can set up Stealth Rock and fits perfectly with the offensive mentality that your team has. While it won't block Rapid Spin, it will add much more to your team than Froslass.

Your Starmie set is pretty much all over the place. Investing in both defenses usually isn't worth it, as you can invest in HP with pretty much the same amount of bulk gained, but for half the EVs. You can spend the reminder EVs into other much more useful stats then. Try to use the following spread: 252 HP / 40 Defense / 216 Speed Timid. It's probably the best spread for bulkier Starmie nowadays since you can outspeed pretty much everything you need to, and have a respectable amount of bulk. I think that your moveset isn't very useful either. Toxic's certainly cool to catch Jellicent off guard, however, you have other Pokemon to deal with Jellicent, and Starmie has much better things to do than deal with it. Psyshock is a much better move, as it helps Starmie check powerful Fighting Pokemon like Keldeo and Breloom, stuff that your team might struggle with. You might also want to try out Scald instead of Surf to have a chance at burning Ferrothorn on the switch, which is always a nice thing.

Earthquake and Superpower usually are pretty redundant on the same Pokemon as they hit very similar threats. Honestly I think that you should drop Earthquake to use Rock Slide instead on Darmanitan. Rock Slide is a cool move on it since it hits things like Dragonite who would like to switch into Darmanitan, and also allows you to revenge kill them.

Honestly Calm Mind Reuniclus seems to be a bit out of place on your team. It's pretty slow and it needs to boost its stats before being able to do anything. While it's certainly pretty good at sweeping stall teams, against offensive teams all it'll do is lose offensive momentum with its lack of Speed and immediate power, and offensive teams need momentum to succeed otherwise they just fall apart. I think that your team could use a bit more help against weather teams too, as your checks to chlorophyll sweepers or Water resists don't seem to be very reliable. I think that Latios would fit Reuniclus' spot on your team perfectly. Latios is able to put a lot of pressure on offensive Sun and Rain teams as it's pretty fast and it's able to KO something with Draco Meteor most of the time. It fits your team's style perfectly, adding more Speed and it still has pretty respectable bulk, with its base 110 Special Defense.

You're missing 4 EVs on Mienshao and Darmanitan, so you might wanna fit them somewhere, probably in HP since Genesect and its Download shenanigans are gone.

That's a lot of changes but I think that your team's pretty cool and it should work much better after these. Here are the sets you should use:

Terrakion and Latios

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Justified
Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Stone Edge
~Close Combat
~Taunt
~Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb
Levitate
Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Psyshock
~Recover

Good luck!

Thank you! I tried out the changes you suggested and the results were pretty much immediate. I'm much happier with the synergy of this line up.