Team Avenged Sevenfold

[Lord Liam]

Greetings, everyone. I've had a lot more success in the past using balance teams (such as Lordlioffense and Eyes Set to Kill) compared to more offensive teams, and it's the style that got me into playing Pokemon during ADV. I felt my final 4th gen RMT should reflect my favourite playstyle, and thus I created team Avenged Sevenfold. The team relies on being able to comfortably switch-in to the entire metagame and lay all 3 entry hazards down, laying extreme pressure on the opponent while they switch. You could call it Blisseyless stall, but I play this team a lot more like a balanced one compared to a full-out stall team. While this team is very effective in tackling most of the metagame's top threats, I have trouble with a few specialized threats, such as Shuca Berry Dragon Dance Ice Punch Tyranitar. I've really enjoyed using this team and am proud to present team Avenged Sevenfold.

Team Building Process

Originally, the team relied on abusing all 3 hazards while having quite a few phazers to shuffle around the opponent's team. I began my team by selecting two of the most reliable Pokemon in the metagame, Skarmory and Roserade. I have had monumental success with Roserade and it was the key player in the last RMT I made.

Needing a Stealth Rock user, I checked out a few candidates. I noticed a rather large fire weakness, and Heatran immediately came to mind. I began running a Shuca Berry Heatran set, which worked okay but later on I would change the set.

Next up, I noticed I was weak to threats such as Dragon Dance Dragonite and Dragon Dance Gyarados, and I feel every team should have a revenge killer of some sort. Rotom-W also serves as a spinblocker to prevent my 3 entry hazards from being removed, and can pose an immediate threat to all the viable rapid spinners. Thus, I added Rotom-W to the lineup!

Needing a bulky Water-type, I looked over a few options. Vaporeon stood out with it's ability to both Roar out the enemy, pass Wish to it's teammates and reliably hard check Infernape. With Vaporeon in the lineup I had almost all of the metagame checked, and decided to add an uncommon Pokemon who can patch up little holes and act as a final phazer.

And thus, Snorlax was added to the lineup. With this team of 6 Pokemon I began testing religiously (especially against Joel I'm 101-0 vs him!), and noticed a few problems. Firstly, I was very weak to fighting-type Pokemon, namely Machamp, Lucario, Breloom and Infernape. I also needed a way to spin away the opponent's hazards and have more control of the game. Starmie and Gliscor immediately came to mind over Snorlax and Vaporeon, and thus the team was created!

M. Shadows (Skarmory) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 156 SDef / 100 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Brave Bird / Whirlwind
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Roost

I honestly had a hard time deciding who to play in the lead position for this team, but Skarmory seemed to be the best choice. With Lum Berry and Taunt, Skarmory is able to shut down slower leads and leads that have sleep-inducing moves such as Roserade and Smeargle. I enjoy running more speed than normal on Skarmory so I can taunt other Skarmory as well as Pokemon like minimum speed Roserade. Anyways, Skarmory starts the team off by reliably laying spikes against many of the most popular leads, and checks a huge amount of Pokemon later in the game. Without Skarmory I would be extrordinarily weak to Pokemon like Agility Metagross, especially Ice Punch variants. Skarmory is named after M. Shadows, the lead vocalist of Avenged Sevenfold because Skarmory is incredibly awesome and leads the team.

=======================================================


Zacky Vengeance (Rotom-W) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball

Ahh, Rotom-W. This thing has saved my ass so many times and works as a backup check to so many different Pokemon if one of my checks / counters goes down. Many players aren't expecting a scarved Rotom on such a defensive team and often nets quite a few surprise kills. DD Gyarados and DD Dragonite are also monumental threats to this team, being able to kill pretty much all the rest of my members. Rotom-W's secondary role is to spinblock and prevent my precious hazards from being removed, but I'm often subject to being hit by Forretress's Payback and Starmie's Hydro Pump, and am considering a bulkier spread, although I don't really want to drop the Special Attack. It's a toughie. Rotom-W is named after one of the guitarists, Zacky Vengeance as he is responsible for tearing stuff up like Zacky.

=======================================================



Synster Gates(Roserade) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SDef / 12 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ground]/ Hidden Power [Fire]
- Energy Ball
- Toxic Spikes
- Synthesis

Roserade is an outstanding, often underrated Pokemon. Roserade is one of the best Rotom-W / Gengar switch-ins in the game, using them as set-up bait to set-up Toxic Spikes. With 0 EVs invested into Special Attack, Roserade does 25.1% minimum to Gengar and even more to Rotom, breaking their subs 100% of the time unless they invest a lot in HP. Toxic Spikes are incredibly helpful in this metagame as they help to break down a lot of the opponent's important links such as Suicune and Blissey. Roserade protects me from a multitiude of threats and is probably the most important member of the team. I currently have a toss-up between Hidden power Ground and Fire, I'm very Specs Heatran weak so it's nice to hit him on the switch-in, but Hidden Power Fire is very useful for hitting Skarmory and Forretress. Input on this would be nice. Roserade is named after Synster Gates, one of the guitarists of the band because both are likely the most important members of the band (because let's be honest, Synster Gates is a god).
======================================================

Johnny Christ (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 132 SDef / 128 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar

At first I had a Shuca Berry Heatran here with Stealth Rock, but I was very weak to Zapdos and Raikou to the point where they could 6-0 me without troubles, and I really wanted a sleep absorber on the team. Sleep Talk Heatran fixes all of these problems. I think this is the same set that reyscarface used if not a very similar one, and I didn't believe that it was this good until I actually tried it for myself. With a reliable phazer / status absorber in the lineup the team becomes a lot harder to break through. One of Heatran's more important duties is to come in on Dragonite when I see it for the first time, if it uses Draco Meteor I go to Rotom-W to absorb the Superpower, and if it uses Dragon Dance I go to Rotom-W to take the Earthquake and use Hidden Power Ice. Heatran is named after Johnny Christ, the bass player of Avenged Sevenfold, because both are often underappreciated.

=======================================================


The Reverend (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 156 HP / 136 Def / 216 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

And no team can be complete without a bulky Water-type! Starmie is my water of choice for his ability to reliably spin away hazards, check a number of powerful threats including Infernape and Heatran and pose an immediate threat to spinblockers Rotom and Gengar. The EVs allow Starmie to outspeed base 110s (namely Gengar) and retain a good amount of bulk. I have a huge dilemma for the Ice Beam / Thunderbolt slot, Thunderbolt allows me to hit Gyarados while Ice Beam hits Dragonite, a monumental threat to my team if I don't predict correctly. I've been using Ice Beam for the last little while and whenever I use it they have Gyarados and whenever I use Thunderbolt they have Dragonite, it's very frustrating! I don't really have a reason why Starmie is named after the Rev, but RIP, he was one of the world's finest drummers.
=======================================================

Deathbat (Gliscor) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Ice Fang / Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Finally, we have Avenged Sevenfold's symbol, the Deathbat, properly suiting Gliscor, who is a bat. Gliscor's main purpose is to protect my team from fighting-type threats including Lucario, Machamp, Breloom and supply Stealth Rock. Gliscor doesn't usually see too much action if the opponent doesn't have these Pokemon, but I try hard to get him into the game to get Stealth Rock down to make the game a lot easier. I have a really hard decision to make in Taunt vs Ice Fang, Ice Fang allows me to serve as a backup check to Dragonite and smack Breloom who beats this Gliscor if I only Earthquake, but Taunt is an overall incredibly useful move. Why can't Gliscor have 5 moves??? Gliscor is named after Deathbat as he is a bat.


Thanks for reading what I believe to be my last 4th gen RMT, and I think this is the finest team I've made so far. This generation has been a lot of fun and hopefully this one shapes up and starts sucking less. Leave any nitpicks / comments / rates you have on how you think this team could be improved.

 

[Porii Sames]

Aight. Here I go.

1. Skarm lead is just no, especially when you have Roserade and Tran on the same team. Taunt bait and the only real thing it does is screw Machamp up pretty bad. Also, Impish on Skarm ALWAYS. That boost to Def is much better than the small boost to SpD unless you are trying to beat Zone.

2. I really, really, really like H Pump on Rotom. However, that's personal preference/team coverage.

3. Go HP Ground, definitely. Tran rapes your team really badly as is.

4. I'd say on Heatran go Sub/Torment/Protect/Plume, it seems more fitting for a team like yours.

5. That Starmie NEEDS to be offensive. If it's not, your whole team can get screwed over by CBtar, and you will want the extra offense to actually do some damage.

6. Taunt on Gliscor.

Hope I helped :)

 

[Lord Liam]

Aight. Here I go.

1. Skarm lead is just no, especially when you have Roserade and Tran on the same team. Taunt bait and the only real thing it does is screw Machamp up pretty bad. Also, Impish on Skarm ALWAYS. That boost to Def is much better than the small boost to SpD unless you are trying to beat Zone.

2. I really, really, really like H Pump on Rotom. However, that's personal preference/team coverage.

3. Go HP Ground, definitely. Tran rapes your team really badly as is.

4. I'd say on Heatran go Sub/Torment/Protect/Plume, it seems more fitting for a team like yours.

5. That Starmie NEEDS to be offensive. If it's not, your whole team can get screwed over by CBtar, and you will want the extra offense to actually do some damage.

6. Taunt on Gliscor.

Hope I helped :)

Skarmory is actually a very effective lead that a lot of people have taken a liking too. It has favourable matchups against the majority of leads and can easily get my spikes rolling. I would run Hydro Pump on Rotom-W if I had a moveslot and it wasn't so easy to damage Tyranitar with him being weak to every single one of my hazards. That Heatran is good in theory, but this set is my only phazer as well as my Zapdos / Raikou counter and sleep absorber and this set is a lot more useful than a set that would leave me open to more things. Why does Starmie need to be offensive? Tyranitar has no way around Skarmory / Gliscor especially when I can just Roost and have Stone Edge hit for nve damage and start laying my hazards / wasting his PP, Starmie is needed as a bulky water and my rapid spinner, and having him as an offensive variant doesn't help this team's balanced style at all. Thanks for the reply though.

 

[Delko]

Hi Liam, nice team.

If you are using Brave Bird on Skarmory don't forget to change his nature to Careful. The extra power boosts might be minimal but it can come in handy.

On first sight I also notice you are having troubles with dealing with opposing Starmie. Your best in Rotom but he can only get in on a Thunderbolt or after someone died. I noticed you ran Snorlax before which would make an excellent counter to Starmie. I would put him instead of Heatran as they both cover the same threats (Zapdos, Raikou, ...). Snorlax even gets Whirlwind so you won't loose on a phazer. Snorlax can take a Draco Meteor as well, and you still have Skarmory as your Dragon resist.

I hope this suggestion helped and good luck with the team.

 

[Porii Sames]

Skarmory is actually a very effective lead that a lot of people have taken a liking too. It has favourable matchups against the majority of leads and can easily get my spikes rolling. I would run Hydro Pump on Rotom-W if I had a moveslot and it wasn't so easy to damage Tyranitar with him being weak to every single one of my hazards. That Heatran is good in theory, but this set is my only phazer as well as my Zapdos / Raikou counter and sleep absorber and this set is a lot more useful than a set that would leave me open to more things. Why does Starmie need to be offensive? Tyranitar has no way around Skarmory / Gliscor especially when I can just Roost and have Stone Edge hit for nve damage and start laying my hazards / wasting his PP, Starmie is needed as a bulky water and my rapid spinner, and having him as an offensive variant doesn't help this team's balanced style at all. Thanks for the reply though.

lol Tar has a way around everything...

Problem is that Skarmory will normally get Taunted or 2HKO'd as a lead, leaving you with few options after that to take on Ttar, other than Gliscor. At that point, Tar can just Pursuit/Crunch/EQ your entire team freely with you having to slowly wear it down.

Hope I helped :)

 

[Lord Liam]

Hi Liam, nice team.

If you are using Brave Bird on Skarmory don't forget to change his nature to Careful. The extra power boosts might be minimal but it can come in handy.

On first sight I also notice you are having troubles with dealing with opposing Starmie. Your best in Rotom but he can only get in on a Thunderbolt or after someone died. I noticed you ran Snorlax before which would make an excellent counter to Starmie. I would put him instead of Heatran as they both cover the same threats (Zapdos, Raikou, ...). Snorlax even gets Whirlwind so you won't loose on a phazer. Snorlax can take a Draco Meteor as well, and you still have Skarmory as your Dragon resist.

I hope this suggestion helped and good luck with the team.

Right, right, silly me. I have no idea why I had Calm there 9.9 I'll try Snorlax out sometime over Heatran and see how it works, thanks.

 

[Smith]

Jeez why does everybody name their teams after this band... Anyways solid team, you got most things covered I think. There are some things I would worry about though! Firstly Gengar is a massive problem- standard SubSplit can set up easily on Gliscor and from there, you have no solid switch ins. You can probably get Skarmory in, but he won't enjoy the focus blast and unless he gets another chance to recovery, he can't really take two with stealth rock. Starmie is too slow to even revenge it. Standard Lo can also be a problem if you think Skarmory can stop it (thunderbolt), but at least Rotom can revenge it. I'm also not so sure if you have a good match up against heavy stall teams. TressBlissGyaraTom, the most basic of basic stall cores, essentially walls you and wears you down with little effort. Simply put, your Rotom set is not going to last long against stall as it lacks recovery and will take SS damage. More often than not they will be able to spin while you are unable to effectively eliminate a RestTalk Rotom with such a weak Starmie.

The first change I would like would be to change out your Skarmory. Skarmory + Roserade is rather redundant in both synergy and support roles, especially when you have a Gliscor to take all the physical attackers and fighting types that makes Skarmory useful. Instead you might try a Choice Scarf Scizor. Scarf Scizor is excellent for more reasons than one- first, he hard counters Gengar and Starmie, by outspeeding both and threatening a KO with Pursuit. Eliminating these attackers means you can worry less about how you will spin or about how will your opponent will spin. The ability to pursuit trap might help with a weakened Rotom as well. His U turn is enormously helpful and fun against opposing offense teams if you have Spikes support, which you can give to Roserade over Hidden Power (which isn't really effective anyway, you can only catch steel types on the switch).

I'd also like to see an Offensive 3 Attacks Spinning Starmie instead of your present one. With the removal of Skarmory, you lack an effective lead. Offensive Starmie also has a good chance of spinning against a stall team if you predict correctly in the classic Hydro Pump v. Spin scenario. The added speed can also give you a last-ditch way of removing Gengar if all your other options are exhausted. If nothing else, your other Starmie set is just non-threatening against most playstyles and not a very effective spinner.

This last bit is optional, but if you're like me and hate having two scarfers, then you could always use that SubSplit LO Rotom that love so much; it has recovery and messes up stall teams that rely on Blissey to stop an offensive Rotom, so it's good against those teams in more ways than one. Anyways great team, glad to see you're finally moving on to gen 5 you slacker nine point nine. Hope this helps!

 

[Lord Liam]

Jeez why does everybody name their teams after this band... Anyways solid team, you got most things covered I think. There are some things I would worry about though! Firstly Gengar is a massive problem- standard SubSplit can set up easily on Gliscor and from there, you have no solid switch ins. You can probably get Skarmory in, but he won't enjoy the focus blast and unless he gets another chance to recovery, he can't really take two with stealth rock. Starmie is too slow to even revenge it. Standard Lo can also be a problem if you think Skarmory can stop it (thunderbolt), but at least Rotom can revenge it. I'm also not so sure if you have a good match up against heavy stall teams. TressBlissGyaraTom, the most basic of basic stall cores, essentially walls you and wears you down with little effort. Simply put, your Rotom set is not going to last long against stall as it lacks recovery and will take SS damage. More often than not they will be able to spin while you are unable to effectively eliminate a RestTalk Rotom with such a weak Starmie.

The first change I would like would be to change out your Skarmory. Skarmory + Roserade is rather redundant in both synergy and support roles, especially when you have a Gliscor to take all the physical attackers and fighting types that makes Skarmory useful. Instead you might try a Choice Scarf Scizor. Scarf Scizor is excellent for more reasons than one- first, he hard counters Gengar and Starmie, by outspeeding both and threatening a KO with Pursuit. Eliminating these attackers means you can worry less about how you will spin or about how will your opponent will spin. The ability to pursuit trap might help with a weakened Rotom as well. His U turn is enormously helpful and fun against opposing offense teams if you have Spikes support, which you can give to Roserade over Hidden Power (which isn't really effective anyway, you can only catch steel types on the switch).

I'd also like to see an Offensive 3 Attacks Spinning Starmie instead of your present one. With the removal of Skarmory, you lack an effective lead. Offensive Starmie also has a good chance of spinning against a stall team if you predict correctly in the classic Hydro Pump v. Spin scenario. The added speed can also give you a last-ditch way of removing Gengar if all your other options are exhausted. If nothing else, your other Starmie set is just non-threatening against most playstyles and not a very effective spinner.

This last bit is optional, but if you're like me and hate having two scarfers, then you could always use that SubSplit LO Rotom that love so much; it has recovery and messes up stall teams that rely on Blissey to stop an offensive Rotom, so it's good against those teams in more ways than one. Anyways great team, glad to see you're finally moving on to gen 5 you slacker nine point nine. Hope this helps!

9.9
Thanks for the rate. You say I'm very SubSplit Gengar weak, but Roserade does a damn good job of beating Gengar especially if Sandstorm isn't on the field, and Skarmory doesn't do too poorly a job. Scarf Scizor and and offensive Starmie are really just turning this team into a more offensive one, rather than the very defensive balanced team that it is. Keep in mind that my current Starmie serves to play as both a bulky water and a spinner, and if it doesn't run Recover / bulk to stay alive I'm going to have huge holes in my team early in the game. And if I add LO Rotom, it's basically offensive team + Roserade for fun. I'll probably try out the Scizor suggestion but I don't really like where adding the other members would take the team.

 

[Tomahawk]

Why is every Gen IV team lately Avenged Sevenfold themed???
It's not really mainstream.

 

[Moo]

Lol, am I the only one that just looked at the rmt because of the title? :p
Nice team, try Stun spore and rest on Roserade. Stun spore cripples shit like Rotom-A and Zapdos that switch in on it, and rest if full recovery because of Natural Cure. Also, energy ball isnt completely neseccary because you want to set up on stuff that would switch out fearing a grass-type attack. I run HP fire for scizor and forretress, try it out :p

rip Rev

 

[Lord Liam]

Lol, am I the only one that just looked at the rmt because of the title? :p
Nice team, try Stun spore and rest on Roserade. Stun spore cripples shit like Rotom-A and Zapdos that switch in on it, and rest if full recovery because of Natural Cure. Also, energy ball isnt completely neseccary because you want to set up on stuff that would switch out fearing a grass-type attack. I run HP fire for scizor and forretress, try it out :p

rip Rev

(The title serves to draw people in with incredible music!)
I've actually very extensively tested Rest vs Synthesis, and I vastly prefer Synthesis lol. Rotom-A cannot harm me in any way and I basically use it as set-up bait as I use Heatran for Zapdos and if it lacks Heat Wave I set-up first. I would enjoy crippling Heatran switch-ins but honestly there's better options if I want to cripple Heatran even more.

 

[FlameSaber]

Hi,

This is a fairly short rate; just listing some small things to consider.

-I really recommend trying out a bulky spread for Rotom-W. Something like 252 HP / 40 Def (or SpA, if you prefer) / 216 Spe. You don't hit quite as hard as max SpA investment, but you are still able to KO things you'd send out Rotom-W against, like Starmie and Gyarados. The likes of Dragonite and Flygon are both still 2HKOd by HP Ice as well. The bulk really helps you tank random Paybacks, Hydro Pumps, Crunches, Pursuits, etc.
-Also, I personally prefer a different coverage move to Shadow Ball, usually Hydro Pump or Overheat.
-Do those 12 Speed EVs on Roserade do anything in particular? You can probably just shift those to SpD.
-I prefer HP Fire over HP Ground for Roserade, personally.
-Have you tried Leech Seed on Roserade? Not as much instant recovery, but it's great for supporting the team, and does a little damage to the opponent's Pokemon. It's especially nice against Blissey.
-You can use Forretress to setup both kinds of Spikes as well as to Rapid Spin, which allows you to upgrade Starmie and Roserade to bulkier counterparts, like Vaporeon/Gyardos for Starmie or Celebi/Shaymin for Roserade. This will really change your team, though.

These are just some things to think about, I hope I helped! :)

Why is every Gen IV team lately Avenged Sevenfold themed???

I know, right?

 

[BKC]

Hi Liam, I got your VM; excellent team and I love how it's based on A7X! I feel the squad is pretty much complete but I still have some minor nitpicks. First off, try running 252 HP EVs on Rotom. I know this may seem odd on a choiced attacker but you're really going to need it when attempting to spin block vs. Life Orb Starmie; with multiple entry hazards, the power loss is barely noticeable. Running Hydro Pump > Shadow Ball is also advised because otherwise Tyranitar will easily Pursuit you and opposing stall will pretty much auto-win; with HPump and enough spikes up, you will 2HKO it before it gets a chance to do so. If you go with this change, there is no point in trying to speed tie with other Scarf Rotom because you don't have Shadow Ball; I suggest dropping down to 216 EVs in order to outspeed Jolly +1 Gyarados. The remaining EVs should go into SpA, so the final spread is 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Spe.

Next off, I think you should run Stealth Rock on Heatran. Your Gliscor is suffering from a terrible case of 4 moveslot syndrome; it wants both Ice Fang (because otherwise Breloom+Dragonite are really going to give you trouble) and Taunt but can't because you've got SR / Roost / EQ. Roost and EQ are both mandatory on nearly every Gliscor set so I think you can afford to drop SR, especially because Heatran is so reliable at getting it up. Stick with a specially defensive set Heatran though, because otherwise electric types such as SubCM Raikou can 6-0 you with very little effort. I'd go with SR / Flamethrower / Roar / Taunt (Taunt seems weird but it's very effective at preventing Blissey from doing Blissey things, especially with your multiple spikes).

The last change I am going to suggest is Hydro Pump on Starmie. This will let you 2HKO defensive Rotom-A so you can Rapid Spin opposing stall's entry hazards away without any worries. That's all I can suggest, good team and good luck man!

 

[george182]

@BKC

Blissey can just S-toss Heatran tho, so it doesn't make that much use of taunt. I would prefer to see Protect, Protect is useful for leftovers recovery and for Flygon. It basically makes Flygon useless and garuntees a turn of leftovers.

I would prefer Lava Plume over Flamethrower, even if toxic spikes are in play, stuff like Gyarados, Flygon and Dragonite will still switch into Heatran.

 

[BKC]

@BKC

Blissey can just S-toss Heatran tho, so it doesn't make that much use of taunt. I would prefer to see Protect, Protect is useful for leftovers recovery and for Flygon. It basically makes Flygon useless and garuntees a turn of leftovers.

I would prefer Lava Plume over Flamethrower, even if toxic spikes are in play, stuff like Gyarados, Flygon and Dragonite will still switch into Heatran.

Taunt is useful because of (Toxic) Spikes+Roar. Bliss switches in, takes 25% or so, gets Roared out. Later, it comes in again; tries to heal, fails, gets roared out. Rinse, repeat. It also prevents it from using Aromatherapy once it's the last mon in order to get rid of its toxic status.

 

[whistle]

hey i just thought of this kinda quick so it's not super nuanced, but:

1) replacing gliscor with hippo
2) replacing heatran with restalk roar suicune
3) replacing starmie with forry

don't need to necessarily do them all at once but there are some benefits to each. i thought of them as a group but that kind of changes the whole team, so i'll just explain my thought process and maybe you'll like part of my reasoning and just adopt one change or think of a similar change.

hippo covers dd ip ttar better than gliscor while still kinda covering lucario (you also have scarf rotom to check it). if you swap heatran out for suicune you become more vulnerable to electrics but hippo doesn't have that 4x ice weakness so it beats zapdos/raikou. def for lucario or sdef for cm jirachi and electrics? your call. for breloom you are probably fine playing around it since there aren't many pokemon on your team that lose flat out. the main thing here is that subtoxic zapdos becomes kind of a bitch but if you keep roserade (and obviously change synthesis to rest) i don't think it's that big of a deal? also suicune helps with the spectran issue you mentioned.

suicune + starmie is a tad redundant defensively, and i also wanted to think about how to get another slot for coverage, and replacing starmie with forry covers the spinning and forry can also cover either skarm or roserade's hazards (probably skarm?). then you can put a wildcard in there to cover other problems, maybe some sort of jirachi (sdef for subsplit gengar, cm wish for last mon crocune + win condition). replacing starmie makes all forms of ape more troublesome though.

again, this is just a pretty basic "here are some random thoughts" so i don't expect you to use them all at once. hopefully some of the ideas are interesting enough that you consider them though.

also long time no see