Team "Fad"

[gaudetjaja]

The team at a glance:

I felt like a RMT so I decided to make one. I really feel that this team should be able to work, but for some reason it doesn't. Is there anything even obviously wrong here?
All I can think of is steelicks, so I might replace it with skarmory. Despite steelix' titanic 200 base def aswell as slightly higher hp than skarmory, it doesn't take physical hits nearly aswell as it should.

When rating, please focus more on trying to make the pokemon work better rather than replacing all the pokemon. Only if my team appears to have a very obvious and threatening weak I'll replace a pokemon. I am sure that this team can work, even with steelix in it, so don't immediately go 'REPLACE WITH SKARM1!2' unless I appear to have a giant weak or something.

wanna? lose (Gengar) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hypnosis
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
---
Scarfgar as a lead? Yes. I was thinking of putting porygon there but it would just be a set-up fodder. Max speed to outspeed other scarfgars. This should even outspeed Deoxys-E.
Usually it will hypnosis, or if something is obviously OHKOd I will attack.
List of most common leads:
Gengar (16590 leads)
Hypnosis. It should outspeed.
Bronzong (14887 leads)
Hypnosis.
Gyarados (12517 leads)
TB or Hypnosis.
Tyranitar (11043 leads)
Hypnosis
Salamence (8894 leads)
HP Ice
Yanmega (8120 leads)
TB or hypnosis
Hippowdon (7595 leads)
Hypnosis
Ninjask (7485 leads)
TB
Azelf (6478 leads)
Shadow Ball. If it's scarfed it might be faster so I might also switch.
Infernape (6109 leads)
Hypnosis
Abomasnow (5957 leads)
Hypnosis
Weavile (5770 leads)
Hypnosis
Swampert (5621 leads)
Hypnosis
Metagross (5484 leads)
Hypnosis
Crobat (4933 leads)
TB

cant touch dis (Porygon2) @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP/80 Def/160 SAtk/16 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Magic Coat
- Recover
- Discharge
- Tri Attack
---
Nope, you really can't touch this. My main Heatran switch in (traces flash fire), aswell as gyarados counter. It loves to bounce back blissey's toxic or thunderwaves. It can also switch into Blissey's status as it will trace natural cure and can switch out and be cured.
Anyway, discharge is a wonderful move (especially if it traces serene grace!) and tri attack does some fair damage.

in honour of steelicks (Skarmory) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/156 Def/4 Spd/96 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind
---
Ditched good ol' steelicks for an actually good pokemon, skarmory. No attacks on this one. Tauntados shuts this down rite? Guess what, I have porygon2 for that! Anything else that may carry taunt (crobat, *gasp* houndoom) is either not used or beaten up by my other pokes. Anyway, gorm suggested laying down spikes and start forcing switches with p2 and machamp so this pretty much lays down all the spikes I need. It can also shuffle a bit.

metang@ (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 96 HP/160 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Moonlight
---
I put cressy on most of my teams. Not because it's my ..~~~f4V0r1tE P0KeYm4n~~.. or something, but because it's good. Moonlight isn't an ideal recovery move, but there are situations in which it will work. CM up and 'sweep'.

b-17 baombar (Machamp) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dynamicpunch
- Ice Punch
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
---
Machamp is one of the best pokemon. I'm probably going to be yelled at for saying that, but whatever. Anyway, Dynamicpunch is awesome, and forms a good combo with Ice Punch. You'll be amazed at the survivability Resttalk offers, together with machamp's actually decent defenses. It also takes status like no other.

im dying squirtle (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunder Wave
---
Agilipass set has been replaced with defensive roost set. HP Grass will do wonders against swampert. I'm not so sure about thunder wave, should I replace it with light screen? Or I could go gimmick-ish and use sub or even metal sound :D. Or agility to outspeed something that switches in.

So, that's about it. Wrong things that I can think of right now is possibly the lack of real wall breaking pokes, and a hera weak. How could I fix this?

I might switch gengar with porygon2, but unless I see any arguments for this I'm not doing it, as I still think of p2 leads as a set up fodder.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to rate my team.

R.I.P. box

r.i.p. steelicks

steelicks (Steelix) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP/120 Atk/136 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Earthquake
---
Steelicks is a pretty good physical wall... at least, it's supposed to be. It doesn't really take physical hits quite as well as it should. Do I really need to invest Def evs? It's got 400+ defense anyway! And it's typing isn't that bad...
Anyway, it sets up the all important SR, and does a bit of damage with EQ. When it's done it may explode. It can also roar. I might replace roar with another move, though. It's also a good blissey counter (immune to toxic and twave).

 

[gorm]

well obviously the fastest hypnosis in the game is gonna shut down alot of leads lol.
spikes in conjunction with p2/machamp forcing switches is a sweet idea, so yeah throw skarm over steelix =\. i'd throw roost on zapdos (you can even run subroost for pressure abuse, although that works better with TS). I'd also run bold with 270 speed to stop adamant cb hera from pretty much ruining your shit.

 

[20eyes]

this is a very nice team
only thing to consider would be forretress over steelix to spin away the stealth rocks that would pose a threat to zapdos

 

[Shiney]

Porygon2 isn't set up fodder as a lead. I'd consider putting ice beam over tri attack though, the coverage is much better. I actually think you should make porygon your lead. With magic coat, you can bounce back status on things like gengar or togekiss leads. You can handle gyrados and dragon leads with discharge and ice beam. You can actually do some damage and thanks to porygons bulkiness you will be able to survive a hit or two and recover off the damage when necessary. You might want to consider putting toxic on pory, maybe over magic coat. Your team doesn't have any status other then sleep and toxic could help you to take down some bulkier leads that pory couldn't do much to.

The thing about your scarfgar lead is that your going to be using hypnosis first turn most of the time. If it misses, there is a strong chance that something gets set up (Sr, trick room, you could get slept yourself) or that gengar gets hit hard, and gengar is fairly frail so you can't really afford that. Even if you do successfully sleep your opponent you can't do anything else, you have to switch out, and your opponent will likely swap out too so it'll be a blind switch in really, there is a fair chance that you will have an advantage, but there is an equal chance that your opponent will have the advantage.


edit, congrats on the team rater badge gorm.

 

[gaudetjaja]

well obviously the fastest hypnosis in the game is gonna shut down alot of leads lol.
spikes in conjunction with p2/machamp forcing switches is a sweet idea, so yeah throw skarm over steelix =\. i'd throw roost on zapdos (you can even run subroost for pressure abuse, although that works better with TS). I'd also run bold with 270 speed to stop adamant cb hera from pretty much ruining your shit.

Hmmm... sounds like a good idea. But what skarmory set? I could go spikes roar roost bb but then my team would lack SR. Maybe I could throw out bb for SR, tauntados is raped by p2 anyway.

this is a very nice team
only thing to consider would be forretress over steelix to spin away the stealth rocks that would pose a threat to zapdos

So I have to sacrifice a pokemon for a possibly less useful poke just to save one other poke from 25% damage?

Porygon2 isn't set up fodder as a lead.

Yes, because it allows bronzong and friends to SR happily.

I'd consider putting ice beam over tri attack though, the coverage is much better.

Sounds plausible, but the thing is, Tri Attack is a better attack for porygon and the only thing that was giving me real problems with normal/electric coverage is Magnezone, and it resists bold beam aswell.

I actually think you should make porygon your lead. With magic coat, you can bounce back status on things like gengar or togekiss leads. You can handle gyrados and dragon leads with discharge and ice beam. You can actually do some damage and thanks to porygons bulkiness you will be able to survive a hit or two and recover off the damage when necessary.

Allright, let's analyze the lead list:
Gengar (16590 leads)
Focus Blast says hi. Hypnosis can be coated though and it takes all other damage reasonably well.
Bronzong (14887 leads)
It will SR and possibly put up light screen. If it's foolish it might hypnosis though, which I can bounce back.
Gyarados (12517 leads)
P2 is the ultimate gyara counter so this is basically the reason of its existance.
Tyranitar (11043 leads)
I can't really do anything to it, switch out
Salamence (8894 leads)
Ice Beam, but Draco Meteor will leave a huge dent in it.
Yanmega (8120 leads)
bounce hypnosis
Hippowdon (7595 leads)
it will sr, but I can icebeam it
Ninjask (7485 leads)
discharge
Azelf (6478 leads)
attack it
Infernape (6109 leads)
run, forest, run!
Abomasnow (5957 leads)
icebeam
Weavile (5770 leads)
Hypnosis
Swampert (5621 leads)
it will set up on me
Metagross (5484 leads)
run like the wind!
Crobat (4933 leads)
bounce hypnosis

I don't find it all that reliable, but meh, it could work. The only thing it really does is countering gyara leads but gengar does that too.

You might want to consider putting toxic on pory, maybe over magic coat. Your team doesn't have any status other then sleep and toxic could help you to take down some bulkier leads that pory couldn't do much to.

MC is too cool to give up! If I were going to add toxic it would be on steelix but I am ditching it anyway.

The thing about your scarfgar lead is that your going to be using hypnosis first turn most of the time. If it misses, there is a strong chance that something gets set up (Sr, trick room, you could get slept yourself) or that gengar gets hit hard, and gengar is fairly frail so you can't really afford that. Even if you do successfully sleep your opponent you can't do anything else, you have to switch out, and your opponent will likely swap out too so it'll be a blind switch in really, there is a fair chance that you will have an advantage, but there is an equal chance that your opponent will have the advantage.


edit, congrats on the team rater badge gorm.

Yeah you're completely right.

oh and gorm has a fist badge and over one milion posts zomgwtfhax!!!1

 

[Bourbon]

If you had Toxic over Mirror Coat on Porygon2, and DIDN'T lead with it, I think it could do better. Why? Because you could toxic stuff like Hippowdon and Swampert who think they can tank your hits. A lot of teams lack an aromatherapist or wish passer, so a poisoned Swampert is screwed for good.

I also don't really see why everyone runs Timid Gengar. All you're gonna be tieing with is other Timid Scarfed Gengars, and if a 50% speed tie is your only counter for it, you're screwed. I reccomend Modest, the extra punch will help you remove their counters.

As for Zapdos, the bulky roosting set is better for this team, IMO. The only guys who will appreciate and agili-pass are Porygon2 (who gets walled by Blissey) or Machamp. Roost and Twave/Roar would be much better.

 

[User 12783]

well obviously the fastest hypnosis in the game is gonna shut down alot of leads lol.
spikes in conjunction with p2/machamp forcing switches is a sweet idea, so yeah throw skarm over steelix =\. i'd throw roost on zapdos (you can even run subroost for pressure abuse, although that works better with TS). I'd also run bold with 270 speed to stop adamant cb hera from pretty much ruining your shit.

Gorm, the fastest Hypnosis in the game is carried by Crobat

 

[Tangerine]

I do agree Agility passing is a bit out of place for this team - nothing you have is can really sweep since you're going for bulk(trying to counter every threat) over being able to be an offensive threat itself. Run U Turn and HP Ice or Toxic.

You'd have to play Machamp and Cresselia carefully - once Machamp is down Tyranitar wrecks your team, and Cresselia does not enjoy being pursuited as CBTar is actually quite common and good players will try to pursuit it away so they can poke a hole for Garchomp to sweep. So I recommend Gliscor or Skarmory over Steelix which might help in this (Gliscor also aids you against Hera, can set down Rocks. Skarmory can lay down spikes and SR which will really aid your team)

 

[gorm]

Gorm, the fastest Hypnosis in the game is carried by Crobat

people are using scarf crobat now?

 

[RedSP]

people are using scarf crobat now?

I should start doing that lol

 

[kd24]

I have been saying this a lot lately and I am not going to make an exception here;

Machamp Wants Guts and Cross Chop. No Guard is a great ability however it only has use with one of your current moves. I would either add in Stone Edge somewhere if you must have No Guard but otherwise Guts is the superior choice. Cross Chop has the same BP, has its own added effect of Critical Hitting, 85% accuracy, and recieves Double STAB if you run Guts! Once you rest you benefit big time from it making Ice Punch, pretty much a STAB attack as well. Guts also allows you to switch in on a toxic or will-o-wisp and gain the extra STAB. Then just rest off the damage.

On Porygon 2 I recommend Ice Beam over Tri Attack. Remember Sand Veil, would also affect Porygon 2 in a SandStorm if it can come in on garchomp. It then threatens the crap out of it with Ice Beam. Easier Switch-ins on Celebi is very helpful as you can recieve natural cure to render Thunder Wave variants useless and Ice Beam does around 35-40% damage. The main seller is that Trace allows you to take Intimidate to switch in on Salamence (Physical versions) and OHKO with Ice Beam.

To Be honest, with Cresselia and Porygon Z running Ice Beam to beat dragons (as well as machamp) I find Hidden Power Ice on Gengar redundant. He would mush rather have focus blast to hurt heatran or Tyranitar (Especially if something is already sleeping).

Zapdos will not OHKO Swampert with Hidden Power Grass without anything invested in special attack or metal sound, and since the moveset is fine right now I would most preferably go with extra Special attack EVS to get those ohkos on Swampert.

 

[gaudetjaja]

I have been saying this a lot lately and I am not going to make an exception here;

Machamp Wants Guts and Cross Chop. No Guard is a great ability however it only has use with one of your current moves. I would either add in Stone Edge somewhere if you must have No Guard but otherwise Guts is the superior choice. Cross Chop has the same BP, has its own added effect of Critical Hitting, 85% accuracy, and recieves Double STAB if you run Guts! Once you rest you benefit big time from it making Ice Punch, pretty much a STAB attack as well. Guts also allows you to switch in on a toxic or will-o-wisp and gain the extra STAB. Then just rest off the damage.

Allright, I bolded the part that I do not like about guts.
As for the rest, your arguments have made me consider to try it out, as it sure does look very cool.

On Porygon 2 I recommend Ice Beam over Tri Attack. Remember Sand Veil, would also affect Porygon 2 in a SandStorm if it can come in on garchomp. It then threatens the crap out of it with Ice Beam. Easier Switch-ins on Celebi is very helpful as you can recieve natural cure to render Thunder Wave variants useless and Ice Beam does around 35-40% damage. The main seller is that Trace allows you to take Intimidate to switch in on Salamence (Physical versions) and OHKO with Ice Beam.

Firstly, I haven't had too much troubles with garchomp, and I don't really find sand veil a very reliable ability. Still, I think I'm going to try running IB for a while and see how it goes.

To Be honest, with Cresselia and Porygon Z running Ice Beam to beat dragons (as well as machamp) I find Hidden Power Ice on Gengar redundant. He would mush rather have focus blast to hurt heatran or Tyranitar (Especially if something is already sleeping).

Focus Blast's 70 accuracy is a big no-no, but I do get the point with having too many ice attacks.

Zapdos will not OHKO Swampert with Hidden Power Grass without anything invested in special attack or metal sound, and since the moveset is fine right now I would most preferably go with extra Special attack EVS to get those ohkos on Swampert.

Okay, thank you. I'll calc how much spA evs I'll need.

 

[fostmeister]

Your team does not have much offense. The only offensive threat you have is a choice scarf gengar. Replace one or two of your wall / counters with a sweeper.