My First Team

[Katastrophe]

[4th Gen] My First Team

As stated in the title, this is the first team I've tried to create for competitive battling. I've never even been involved in a competitive battle, nor have I even started training of these - I just sat down and thought this up, so I'm sure there's about a million flaws and suggestions to be made.

Aerodactyl (m) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind

Drop Rocks, Switch to Skarmory
Can be used later to revenge kill

Skarmory (m) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Part 1 of the stall.
Spikes/Rocks when necessary.
Whirlwind to spread the love.
Roost to keep the love coming.

Snorlax (m) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Body Slam
- Whirlwind

Part 2 of the stall.
RestTalk to heal and stay active.
Body Slam for additional damage/parahax.
Whirlwind to spread the love.

Scizor (m) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, - SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- Roost

Psychical sweeper.
Bullet Punch to revenge kill.
SD/Roost to set up for sweep.

Zapdos (m) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid Nature (+SpA, - Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power Ice
- Roost

Special sweeper.
Excellent type coverage.
Roost for longevity.

Swampert (m) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Relaxed Nature (+Def, - Spe)
- Waterfall
- Toxic
- Roar
- Ice Beam

Transition from stall to offense.
Toxic/Roar REALLY spreads the love.

Let me try to explain this team a bit to try and get my goal across. My goal for this team is pretty much to just abuse Spikes and Stealth Rock (and to some extent, Toxic) in order to weaken my opponent's team and soften them up to allow Scizor and Zapdos to move in and clean up where necessary. Below is a list of possible alternates I've considered and why.

Spoiler:

To replace Aerodactyl...
Forretress (m) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Toxic Spikes
- Payback
- Explosion
- Rapid Spin

Forretress offers far more bulk when compared to Aero at the cost of speed. This bulky build will hopefully allow for Forretress to drop Toxic Spikes and then switch out, if necessary. This then allow Skarmory to be able to set up Spikes AND Stealth Rock, if able. Payback can be used for some powerful damage, Rapid Spin for obvious reasons, and Explosion as a last resort move. My only concern is that Forretress and Scizor both share a 4x weakness to fire, which is bad enough, but since Skarmory will most likely follow Forretress, it's just asking for Skarmory to switch into a Fire-type move.

To replace Snorlax or Swampert...
Blissey (f) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Aromatherpay
- Softboiled / Wish
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic

Standard Blissey build to take advantage of Skarmoy's physical bulk with her own special bulk. Although she lacks the ability to shuffle the team, she makes up for it with longevity. Softboiled (or Wish) and Aromatherapy allow Blissey (or any Pokemon) to stay alive longer/easier, Seismic Toss will deal a constant 100 damage, and Toxic will also provide the poisoning that Swampert does.

 

[Vrai]

if I may ask, what generation are you playing in? there's a significant difference in how this could be rated depending on what metagame you're dealing with. it looks like you're playing Gen IV OU but I s'pose it could also be Gen V - there are just different threats that you have to prepare for and stuff (plus I'm awful at Gen IV so I can't be much help there ;;).

 

[Katastrophe]

I knew I forgot something, thank you. xD
It's 4th Gen. I've yet to make the jump to 5th. -shrug-

 

[Fairy]

Wow.
You really have no experience at competitive battling whatsoever?

Well. Five of your Pokemon take neutral damage from Water. If you replace Aerodactyl for Forretress than all of your Pokemon take neutral damage from Water.... But you probably already knew this...

It's kind of pathetic that this is all I could come up with.

I might be back later if I get any smarter. ;-;

Good job.

 

[Katastrophe]

None at all. I mean, I haven't played Pokemon since like, Crystal... I only found out about EVs and IVs and all that earlier this year. I've been going through HeartGold watching battles online and reading stuff on smogon. I think the only other "build" I made was just for Scizor which... is more or less this, but I believe it had U-Turn instead of Swords Dance and was supposed to act more as a revenge killer/scout.

And no, I wasn't aware of that. I mostly just looked to make sure I wasn't overly weak to any particular type... I think Electric was showing up a bit, and replacing Aerodactyl with Forretress would also give me two Pokemon with a 4x weakness to fire. "/

I hope you do come back. I'm just starting to practice with RNG so I'd like to have a clear-cut team/build before I devote time to that. As well as RNGing the Zapdos I've yet to catch. But thank you. (:

 

[N16]

Replace Scizor's Roost with U-turn or X-Scizzor. Brick Break and Bullet Punch are way too limited.

 

[Katastrophe]

Replace Scizor's Roost with U-turn or X-Scizzor. Brick Break and Bullet Punch are way too limited.

I think if I had to replace a move for U-Turn or X-Scizzor for a broader move pool, I think I'd opt to replace Swords Dance over Roost, and I say that just because that would be the only change.

If I took your suggestion of replacing Roost, I'd probably also want to switch the EVs to 252 Atk / 252 Spe and consider dropping the Life Orb in exchange for Leftovers. The current Scizor build I have here, in my opinion, is more of a "allow me to stay out for awhile and brute force things" kind of build.

But considering Zapdos is geared towards special attack type coverage, switching gears for Scizor and making him more for physical attack type coverage is a good suggestion.

 

[Vrai]

Replace Scizor's Roost with U-turn or X-Scizzor. Brick Break and Bullet Punch are way too limited.

you should use Bug Bite >> X-Scissor on a Technician set (ie, all of them). not for complete sure whether Scizor gets it in Gen IV but it should.

i wish i could help more but i'm still really unfamiliar with the gen iv metagame. :x

 

[Katastrophe]

I actually don't think Scyther/Scizor can learn Bug Bite. "/

 

[lionrt60]

just gonna say yes, it can as a tm move ^^ (in gen IV)

 

[Katastrophe]

just gonna say yes, it can as a tm move ^^ (in gen IV)

Oops. You are (sort of) correct. I just checked Serebii and Scyther can learn Bug Bite through the HG/SS Move Tutor. But it has a 60 base attack power, the lowest compared to U-Turn (70) and X-Scizzor (80).

 

[cbd98]

Oops. You are (sort of) correct. I just checked Serebii and Scyther can learn Bug Bite through the HG/SS Move Tutor. But it has a 60 base attack power, the lowest compared to U-Turn (70) and X-Scizzor (80).

Yes, but I'd like to point out that with Technician it boosts up to 90 because it is power 60 and gets multiplied by 1.5. So it would be the strongest technically.

 

[Vrai]

Yes, but I'd like to point out that with Technician it boosts up to 90 because it is power 60 and gets multiplied by 1.5. So it would be the strongest technically.

Yuuup, that's why I mentioned Technician. XD; I also think you should run some time of Bug-type move over Brick Break - Scizor likes his Bug STAB to break things like bulky waters more easily, plus you don't seem like you'd have -too- much trouble breaking Steels. However Heatran is significantly more popular in Gen IV OU than Gen V which is the one I'm used to dealing with, so Brick Break may actually be the better alternative. I suppose all I'm saying is that Bug Bite could be considered over Brick Break should you want to try it. :3

 

[Katastrophe]

Oh, right - Technician. I almost forgot about that.

So then it would be a toss up between Bug Bite for power, or U-Turn for the ability to hit and run. But actually, dropping Brick Break for Bug Bite / U-Turn doesn't sound like a bad idea. Fighting gets 2x against 5 other types - two of those are also covered by Bullet Punch, one is shared with Bug types, which leaves Normal and Steel. The only pure Normal-types in OU are Blissey and Snorlax, I believe, and with Toxic and the number of stallers/shufflers I have, I don't see them being an issue. And Steel is also weak against Fire and Ground, both of which I have (or as stated, below can definitely have) covered.

As far as Heatran is concerned, I'd probably just try to hit it with Earthquake from Aerodactyl if I can get a safe switch in, since it'd be 4x effective. Or possibly drop a move on Swampert for Earthquake for an even safer switch in.

 

[Vrai]

Oh, right - Technician. I almost forgot about that.

So then it would be a toss up between Bug Bite for power, or U-Turn for the ability to hit and run. But actually, dropping Brick Break for Bug Bite / U-Turn doesn't sound like a bad idea. Fighting gets 2x against 5 other types - two of those are also covered by Bullet Punch, one is shared with Bug types, which leaves Normal and Steel. The only pure Normal-types in OU are Blissey and Snorlax, I believe, and with Toxic and the number of stallers/shufflers I have, I don't see them being an issue. And Steel is also weak against Fire and Ground, both of which I have (or as stated, below can definitely have) covered.

As far as Heatran is concerned, I'd probably just try to hit it with Earthquake from Aerodactyl if I can get a safe switch in, since it'd be 4x effective. Or possibly drop a move on Swampert for Earthquake for an even safer switch in.

U-turn is probably not as good on a Swords Dance set - I mean, you're boosting but then you give it up because you U-turn out. U-turn is more suitable for a Choice Band set, which utilizes Bullet Punch / U-turn / Superpower (drops don't matter cos you'll be in and out anyway) / Pursuit and maximum attack @ Adamant.

Swampert is probably your best switch-in to Heatran although iirc a lot of them ran Hidden Power Grass back then too so I'm not sure exactly how effective it would be. XD

 

[Katastrophe]

U-turn is probably not as good on a Swords Dance set - I mean, you're boosting but then you give it up because you U-turn out. U-turn is more suitable for a Choice Band set, which utilizes Bullet Punch / U-turn / Superpower (drops don't matter cos you'll be in and out anyway) / Pursuit and maximum attack @ Adamant.

Swampert is probably your best switch-in to Heatran although iirc a lot of them ran Hidden Power Grass back then too so I'm not sure exactly how effective it would be. XD

Yeah, HP Grass would put Swampert down pretty quick... my only concern is that Aerodactyl has Earthquake, but he seems so frail. I honestly expect to just drop rocks, get hit and have the Sash broken, and switch for Skarmory or Snorlex. Switching into Heatran with an already weakened Aero would probably not end well. I'd have to send out fodder to get a safe switch-in, but then they'd probably just switch out to something that can resist the EQ, if they predict it - and I don't think that that's much of a leap.