Hey, this is my first time posting a team to be rated (and hopefully improved!). I started playing competitive in SM, quit for a year, USUM, quit for another year, and now in resumed in SS (pokemon Home meta). I'm not a very good player, but I hope to break the 1600s in the near future. This team is balance offense revolving around the core of sub nasty plot gengar and scarf hydreigon. The team consists of gengar, hydreigon, clefable, mandibuzz, rillaboom, and excadrill. I'm not very good at teambuilding, which is why I'm asking for help on fixing this team.
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
This is the centerpiece of the team. Gengar has a pretty good typing, along with great offensive stats and a good speed tier, which allow it to function as a great special attacker in the OU tier (UUBL = underrated). This particular set allows me to pivot in on defense mons (via u-turn or an aggresive double, cuz gengar is so frail) and sub up on their u-turn. This scenario normally lets me get a free kill of heavily damage a mon. Gengar's main purpose on the team is to wallbreak, but it can also clean up slower teams if I kill their scarfer or fast mon. Substitute allows me to ease prediction, and can also abuse gengar's ability since you can keep subbing up and taking those physical attacks, which has come in clutch for me multiple games. Nasty plot allows me to break bulkier mons which would wall me in most situations (examples: spdef mandibuzz, spdef corviknight with brave bird, spdef excadrill, etc.). Dual stabs are self explanatory.
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
This is the second part of my main offensive core, as it synergizes very well with gengar. Scarf hydreigon allows it to kill many mons gengar struggles with, such as dragapult, hydreigon, zeraora, and other scarfers below 100 base speed. Gengar, in turn helps deal with some of the defensive mons that Hydreigon can't break through, such as mandibuzz, corviknight (not clicking flamethrower), clefable, togekiss, blissey, etc.) I chose modest over timid, as I felt my speed investment was enough to outspeed majority of the tier, and the extra power helps a lot. Dual stabs are self-explanatory, flamethrower helps deal with corviknight and ferrothorn (big defensive threats to my team, and I have gengar for fairy types), and u-turn to pick up momentum and predict switches.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
Clefable is my main stealth rocker. I had never used it this way before, as I thought it was pretty bad, but after trying it out, it performed better than expected. Clefable is my primary counter to dragapult and hydreigon, and other special attacking threats. Stealth rock is stealth rock, softboiled for reliable recovery, moonblast as STAB and dealing with dragons, and thunder wave to cripple offensive mons looking to switch in (other than excadrill). Clefable's main role is just to get hazards up, switch in to many attacks and heal up, while potentially crippling offensive mons with t-wave. Originally, I used knock off over thunder wave, but I didn't find it as useful.
Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 44 SpD / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
This is perhaps my third most important member of the team, besides the offensive duo. This is a pretty cool tech which I made specifically for this team. Brave bird helps check volcarona (huge threat) and fighting types looking to switch in on foul play safely. Foul play hits physical threats pretty hard, and u-turn is for momentum and effective pivoting. Do i need to explain roost? Mandibuzz's main role on the team is too check dangerous physical threats such as excadrill, physical aegislash, urshifu, etc. and specifically volcarona with brave bird, which threatens to sweep me if at full hp. Defog is such a staple in Mandibuzz that most people don't expect two attack u-turn and catches them off-guard. I honestly do not understand the ev spreads, but they were on the smogon guide page so they must have some use (right??).
Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Wood Hammer
- Grassy Glide
- U-turn
Rillaboom is my main physical threat. Rillaboom provides immediate power which non of my pokemon have, and grassy terrain largely benefits my grounded pokemon (helps gengar spam subs, exca for recovery, and clefable for recovery). Wood hammer is stupid strong in terrain with choice band, and grassy glide provides a nice way to revenge kill neutral mons. I originally used knock off, but that lead to my team having problems against ferrothorn, so I packed superpower to hit ferro. It's also a nice high bp move with fighting coverage. Finally, u-turn is for momentum. Rillaboom is mainly used to break on the physical side, and provide pivoting to my other offensive mons and grassy terrain for good passive recovery.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
Excadrill is the final member of the team. It's main purpose is as a special wall with the ability to remove hazards and hit back decently hard. Toxic is used as a move to cripple defensive mons which can take advantage of excadrill. Earthquake is my primary stab, iron head is used to kill fairys and hit flying-types. Rapid spin is my only way to remove hazards. It has good pairing with clefable as a defensive core, as it takes the poison and steel attacks that are super effective towards clefable. Excadrill so far has been rather lackluster to me, and I've tried to replace it multiple times, but those attempts hadn't worked well. It doesn't have good recovery, especially when knocked off. It's also very matchup dependent. It has the potential to wall multiple mons in a certain matchup, but it completely crumbles to rain and sun. Spinning with it also hasn't been very effective, as it invites stealth rockers which destroy excadrill, such as ferrothorn, kommo-oh, hippowdon, and more.
Some thoughts on the team:
team: https://pokepast.es/1e12495912899bfd
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
This is the centerpiece of the team. Gengar has a pretty good typing, along with great offensive stats and a good speed tier, which allow it to function as a great special attacker in the OU tier (UUBL = underrated). This particular set allows me to pivot in on defense mons (via u-turn or an aggresive double, cuz gengar is so frail) and sub up on their u-turn. This scenario normally lets me get a free kill of heavily damage a mon. Gengar's main purpose on the team is to wallbreak, but it can also clean up slower teams if I kill their scarfer or fast mon. Substitute allows me to ease prediction, and can also abuse gengar's ability since you can keep subbing up and taking those physical attacks, which has come in clutch for me multiple games. Nasty plot allows me to break bulkier mons which would wall me in most situations (examples: spdef mandibuzz, spdef corviknight with brave bird, spdef excadrill, etc.). Dual stabs are self explanatory.
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
This is the second part of my main offensive core, as it synergizes very well with gengar. Scarf hydreigon allows it to kill many mons gengar struggles with, such as dragapult, hydreigon, zeraora, and other scarfers below 100 base speed. Gengar, in turn helps deal with some of the defensive mons that Hydreigon can't break through, such as mandibuzz, corviknight (not clicking flamethrower), clefable, togekiss, blissey, etc.) I chose modest over timid, as I felt my speed investment was enough to outspeed majority of the tier, and the extra power helps a lot. Dual stabs are self-explanatory, flamethrower helps deal with corviknight and ferrothorn (big defensive threats to my team, and I have gengar for fairy types), and u-turn to pick up momentum and predict switches.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
Clefable is my main stealth rocker. I had never used it this way before, as I thought it was pretty bad, but after trying it out, it performed better than expected. Clefable is my primary counter to dragapult and hydreigon, and other special attacking threats. Stealth rock is stealth rock, softboiled for reliable recovery, moonblast as STAB and dealing with dragons, and thunder wave to cripple offensive mons looking to switch in (other than excadrill). Clefable's main role is just to get hazards up, switch in to many attacks and heal up, while potentially crippling offensive mons with t-wave. Originally, I used knock off over thunder wave, but I didn't find it as useful.
Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 44 SpD / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
This is perhaps my third most important member of the team, besides the offensive duo. This is a pretty cool tech which I made specifically for this team. Brave bird helps check volcarona (huge threat) and fighting types looking to switch in on foul play safely. Foul play hits physical threats pretty hard, and u-turn is for momentum and effective pivoting. Do i need to explain roost? Mandibuzz's main role on the team is too check dangerous physical threats such as excadrill, physical aegislash, urshifu, etc. and specifically volcarona with brave bird, which threatens to sweep me if at full hp. Defog is such a staple in Mandibuzz that most people don't expect two attack u-turn and catches them off-guard. I honestly do not understand the ev spreads, but they were on the smogon guide page so they must have some use (right??).
Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Wood Hammer
- Grassy Glide
- U-turn
Rillaboom is my main physical threat. Rillaboom provides immediate power which non of my pokemon have, and grassy terrain largely benefits my grounded pokemon (helps gengar spam subs, exca for recovery, and clefable for recovery). Wood hammer is stupid strong in terrain with choice band, and grassy glide provides a nice way to revenge kill neutral mons. I originally used knock off, but that lead to my team having problems against ferrothorn, so I packed superpower to hit ferro. It's also a nice high bp move with fighting coverage. Finally, u-turn is for momentum. Rillaboom is mainly used to break on the physical side, and provide pivoting to my other offensive mons and grassy terrain for good passive recovery.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
Excadrill is the final member of the team. It's main purpose is as a special wall with the ability to remove hazards and hit back decently hard. Toxic is used as a move to cripple defensive mons which can take advantage of excadrill. Earthquake is my primary stab, iron head is used to kill fairys and hit flying-types. Rapid spin is my only way to remove hazards. It has good pairing with clefable as a defensive core, as it takes the poison and steel attacks that are super effective towards clefable. Excadrill so far has been rather lackluster to me, and I've tried to replace it multiple times, but those attempts hadn't worked well. It doesn't have good recovery, especially when knocked off. It's also very matchup dependent. It has the potential to wall multiple mons in a certain matchup, but it completely crumbles to rain and sun. Spinning with it also hasn't been very effective, as it invites stealth rockers which destroy excadrill, such as ferrothorn, kommo-oh, hippowdon, and more.
Some thoughts on the team:
- My team is very weak to steel types that are not taken care off by excadrill, the main culprits being ferrothorn and corviknight, which are pretty common. I have considered replacing rillaboom and excadrill, but I don't know what to replace them with that would still synergize with my core.
- The team has trouble dealing with hazards. My three offensive mons are hit neutrally by stealth rock, so removal is extremely important. As I've said before, excadrill has a tough time spinning against common rockers, which beat it 1v1.
- Mandibuzz holds too much weight. It's my only physical defensive pokemon, whereas I have two specially defensive pokemon. Mandibuzz is also my main answer to one of the most dangerous sweepers in the tier, quiver dance volcarona. Because of this, mandibuzz switches in very often, and if I make a misplay or get haxxed and mandibuzz dies, my teams loses the main defensive backbone and gets bodied by physical attackers.
- Sun (venusaur) is a huge threat. Two mons are hit super effectively (rillaboom and excadrill) and are basically dead weight from the start of the game. I need to play really carefully with mandibuzz to avoid getting swept by venusaur, and I have no resist to boosted fire attacks other than hydreigon who probably only tanks a single hit before it dies.
team: https://pokepast.es/1e12495912899bfd
My bad about that.