Team OMNOMNOM (a noob's first RMT)

[Katalicious]

Hey guys! I just recently got into the competitive battling scene, and so I've constructed a team that would probably benefit a lot from the advice of some more skilled players.
I will note that this used to be a team that I just used to play with against friends with a "no legendaries" rule instead of paying attention to tiers (stupid rule, I know), which allowed me to use a Hippowdon lead with a Scarfchomp as a sweeper. I'm trying to turn my team into something that would work as an OU team, though, but I need help choosing a good lead.
Note that this team will be used for Wi-fi battles, so Rotom forms don't work. With that said, I present you TEAM OMNOMNOM:

SANDWICH (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sandstream
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Nature: Impish
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Roar

I missed my Hippowdon lead too much, so I just had to change him back. Other than the fact that he's slow as hell, he's extremely useful for mopping up some attacks and roaring people around. Stealth rock is also a must, of course, and then Slack Off is for some recovery. But the sandstorm he brings up...this is why I find hippowdon so useful.

CALAMARI (Tentacruel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Calm
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power (Electric)
- Surf
- Toxic Spikes

I'm not sure how much I like this guy. I removed my Trick Starmie because I think Scizor is capable of getting rid of Blissey, so then this spot went to a more reliable Rapid Spinner. I've tried playing around with him on Shoddy, though, and, I dunno, I feel like he doesn't really help much. Any suggestions for this slot would be great.

PORK CHOP (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Fire Blast

I'm replacing Salamence with this guy because he resists Stealth Rock and is immune to sandstorm. Salamence just died way too quickly. Flygon is also faster, and the choice scarf lets him outpace most things I've encountered. He is kind of frail, though, and sometimes I feel like he can't do enough damage. Should I change his nature to adamant? With Thunder Wave on Blissey, perhaps the extra speed boost isn't so necessary...

TURKEY LEG (Skarmory) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

This guy is a nice physical wall, and I like having multiple phazers on the team. This guy annoys some people to no end, if they don't know how to deal with him. He pairs up nicely with Blissey, and taunt is also very helpful.

EGG SALAD (Blissey) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Def / 232 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Aromatherapy
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave

Thunder Wave has saved my butt many times already. Blissey can paralyze my opponents while healing my whole team of ailments, which is extremely helpful. Seismic Toss is a nice reliable damaging move, while Softboiled keeps her alive.

CRAB LEGS (Scizor) @ Choice Band:
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-Turn
- Pursuit

I've been playing around with this guy on Shoddy, and, so far, I like him. Having bullet punch as a STAB priority move is great, and Pursuit has killed many annoying psychic-types. The "choice" part of the choice band is annoying, though, because every time I use a move, I'll have to switch when something that resists that move comes in.


Now for some problems I've been noticing.
Crocune wiped my team out earlier today. I have nothing that can KO it before it uses Rest.
Strong Fighting pokemon or pokemon with strong fighting moves kill Skarmory, Scizor, and Blissey. I have nothing to wall them.
Fire moves hurt Skarmory and Scizor badly, and hippowdon's often too slow to do much.

I'll add more as I find more.

 

[Stove]

i suggest turning your mence into Mixmence. Give it lifeorb. I suggest using the newer mixmence as you won't have any trouble with Blissey because you have machamp.
~ Draco Meteor
~ Earthquake
~ Flamethrower / Fire Blast
~ Outrage / Dragon Claw
16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe
If you feel that your team is going to be ravaged by entry hazards, then change Starmie to give her rapid spin.
~ Rapid Spin
~ Surf
~ Thunderbolt
~ Recover
136 HP / 156 Def / 216 Spe
It still gives you all the power you need, but also allows you to rid of the hazards that you think plague your team. While you do lose the power to kill dragaons, it'll serve your team better support wise.
Since you're now left with no revenge killer, i suggest you change machamp into a scarfchamp.
~ DynamicPunch
~ Payback
~ Ice Punch
~ ThunderPunch
12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spe
I've personally had a lot of good luck with this set. Especially since you're very very lacking on the dark/ghost type moves. Gengar and Rotom can both give you a great deal amount of trouble. This also solves your gyara problem because you really don't have anything to kill it. I really don't think trickroom is worth it at all for your dusknoir. If you really feel that he can't survive long enough, give him pain split so he can. It's not the most reliable recovery move, but it is a pseudo form of recovery that he has access to. Trick Room also does nothing to help him survive as all it does is make him go first. With dusknoirs low attack, you're not going to be killing anything on their team, while severely hampering your team.

 

[Katalicious]

Thank you for your suggestions!
I was thinking of turning Salamence into a Mixmence, but I didn't want to lose his Attack EVs. Wouldn't moving all those EVs to SpA hinder his ability to 1HKO with physical attacks?

Also, the only reason I made my Machamp a RestTalk Machamp was to counter annoying sleep-inducers like Breloom. Would there be a better way to counter such pokemon?

 

[Plus]

Hello.

First off, there's not much of a reliable switch for Mixmence in here, and something like Latias can come in and wreck havoc with your team considering your only dragon resist is skarmory which doesn't fare well with it at all, and your best shot to kill is to get mence in safely. Your team definitely can do a bit better with spinning in here, as pokemon like Swampert and Dusknoir really dont enjoy spikes at all, and the majority of your team allows Skarmory and Forretress free turns to set up. Before I suggest anything, I believe that your team can potentially be great in terms of offensive prowess, so let me refrain from posting anything too defensive here.

Let me focus on your lead first. Swampert is easily exploited by Azelf and doesn't fare so well against Starmie and risks losing to Metagross and Heatran if you predict wrong. You say it's a "meh" lead and considering that you are lacking the correct switch ins to those that Swampert is weak to, I'd be inclined to agree here as well. To fix this, I recommend moving your Trick Starmie to the front, and running Rapid Spin over Thunderbolt. While many people prefer Life Orb Starmie, Trickscarf is much more efficient in rapid spinning and keeping the spikes off the field easily, and also does well against Aerodactyl, Azelf, Infernape, and all the regular leads that Starmie usually beats. Against Tyranitar, you already have the option of going to both Skarmory and Machamp, so this is a perfect oppurtunity for you. I'd also change Modest to Timid on Starmie because you would lose to Infernape in speed if you didn't after you trick the scarf, which you'd usually do early game. With SR out of your team, consider changing Skarmory to a Defensive skarm variant running Stealth Rock over Taunt. This will fix your entry hazard problems to a good extent, so with that in mind let's focus on your empty slot now that Swampert is out of your team.

Support Jirachi is one of my favorite Jirachi sets, and is fat enough to withstand dragon attacks and fight back with paralysis. This Jirachi can also help with healing your team, and is ultimately one of the most annoying pokemon in OU to face. Jirachi helps your dragon problems and acts as a backbone to your team, one that can keep an offensive momentum going unlike some other pokemon that are pure sticks in the mud.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
impish 252 hp / 176 spe / 80 def
Iron head / Body Slam / U-turn / Wish

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
impish 252 hp / 216 def / 40 spe
Stealth Rock / Spikes / Whirlwind / Roost

Dusknoir is one of those "stick in the mud" pokemon that don't go well with the rest of your pretty fast team. Though I don't believe Rapid Spinners are that common on wifi, you can run Gengar over Dusknoir which helps keep your offensive momentum going, this nets you some more speed and works really well with Spikes. Gengar is threatening, can force out switches, and generally pounds most things that switch into it pretty hard. Consider running the Sub Pain split sets, one of the best sets to try when you are afraid of Scizor and Tyranitar, and still packs a punch.

To add to the offense, try running Choice Band Salamence over Scarf, which is a viable option now that you have some paralysis support going on in your team here. Choice Band Salamence also hits insanely hard and works off of Spikes like a charm. SR shouldn't be an issue should you have Trickscarf Starmie leading off, and you will be pounding opponents teams easily.

Gengar @ Life Orb
timid 252 spa 252 spe 4 def
Shadow Ball / Focus Blast / Substitute / Pain split

Salamence @ Choice Band
Jolly / Adamant 252 atk / 252 spe / 4 hp
Outrage / Dragon Claw / Earthquake / Fire Fang

While Salamence might look a little odd, I absolutely urge you to try it out, as outrage 2hkos nearly everything in the OU metagame with Outrage. Dragon claw is there as your primary scouting move for pokemon that might able to withstand an outrage and kill it off, while Earthquake and Fire Fang are there for decent coverage. You can run adamant if you dont mind the neutral speed nature, it allows Salamence to OHKO even Shucatran. Jolly, while not as powerful is always an option if you're worried about the speed issues. However, with Jirachi's wish support this shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Though it might look like a bunch of changes, this is only changing 2 pokemon and some minor edits to the rest of your team. Anyways, good luck with this team!

 

[Joey [old]]

FISH PATTY (Starmie) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Trick
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

My special sweeper. Since I don't have a rapid spinner, I was going to give this guy rapid spin, but I decided against it in favor of Trick, which I need to cripple annoying walls like Blissey. I sacrificed Recover for more attacking moves, but I dunno if that was a good idea or not. Boltbeam coverage along with STAB surf makes this guy pretty deadly, though. But I dunno; I suffer from lack of Rapid Spin...

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Clear Body
-=Prevents the enemy from lowering this Pokémon's stats.=-
Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, Hidden Power Electric (anti-Gyarados!), Surf (additional coverage + STAB/alternatively, Ice Beam)
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Good synergy with Skarmory, who takes incoming Earthquakes aimed at Tentacruel's low Defense stat. Tentacruel has got Skarmory's back as well, for he can take incoming Fire-type attacks such as Flamethrower.
[Weak to Ground, Electric, and Psychic.]

-Sydiann

 

[Katalicious]

@Bloo
I feel bad for disregarding your suggestions, but I've been testing my team on Shoddy and I decided to make some big changes, which I've now edited my first post with. I was actually considering a gengar at one point, because I do now need a special sweeper, but I'm not quite sure who to replace. Scizor, perhaps?