My First Team

Melinda · Dec 21, 2011

So, after being forced by Forever, I'm here to post my first team.
Because, let's be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing.
All advice is welcome. Help a noob out. :D
So here goes...

Modest || Drizzle || Choice Specs
252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Grass

Endless rain + special sweeper. I like sweepers. :P

Timid || Natural Cure || Choice Specs
4 HP || 252 Sp. Atk || 252 Speed
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
- Rapid Spin

I building my team around Starmie because I want Starmie on my team the most. I just decided to use it as my spinner yesterday thanks to Keiran777. :P
Starmie pretty much explains itself I think, special sweeper.

Adamant || Mold Breaker || Choice Band
36 HP || 252 Atk || 220 Speed
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dual Chop

I don't know about Haxorus, but I'm going to try it out.
I'm getting a lot of different opinions on Haxorus and Dragonite. I think I'll keep Haxorus for now though, I like its attack.

Relaxed || Sturdy || Leftovers
252 HP || 88 Def || 168 Sp. Def
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Only defensive 'mon I like other than Forrestress for OU. It's moveset it iffy though. Probably get changed a lot.

Adamant || Moxie || Life Orb
252 Atk || 4 Def || 252 Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Water STAB + Politoed's Drizzle. Gyarados would be my second Physical Sweeper.

Adamant || Dry Skin || Leftovers
244 HP || 252 Atk || 12 Def
-Bulk Up
-Substitute
-Drain Punch
-Sucker Punch

Keiran · Dec 21, 2011

Your team could really benefit from a Politoed or a dedicated Rain Dancer, with two water STABS and Ferrothorns/Forretress x4 Fire weakness. If you drop one for that, I'd go with Infernape. It's coverage is pretty much redundant with the rest of your team, it's weak to Stealth Rock, and it's best moves often have detrimental effects.

As for whether or not to use Forretress or Ferrothorn, go with Ferrothorn IMO. It's a bit less predictable than Forretress. I run with Protect, and not many people expect it, and it's won me quite a few games. Stealth Rock/Leech Seed/Protect/Power Whip is my preferred Ferrothorn moveset, but you can drop Protect with Thunder Wave.** Which means you'll need Rapid Spin on your Starmie.

If you're unsure about Haxorus, the bulkier Dragonite outclasses it in almost every way. ;(

And for item options..Life Orb is good on Gyarados, but you can also go with Lum Berry or Wacan Berry to make sure your sweep isn't interrupted. Choice Scarf makes Terrakion a really scary revenge killer, by the way.

**I never like to make a team without at least one Toxic. Thunder Wave is strong, but poison is much better for bringing down walls/stalls IMO, at least for me. But I don't know where you could put it. If you go with my Politoed suggestion, that would work well because Politoed can also Scald and Burn physical sweepers. Otherwise, I'd say replace Dragon Claw on Haxorus and use a Lum Berry to get rid of Outrage confusion. >___> I don't know, not having Toxic just scares me, lol.

Melinda · Dec 21, 2011

Keiran777 said:
Your team could really benefit from a Politoed or a dedicated Rain Dancer, with two water STABS and Ferrothorns/Forretress x4 Fire weakness. If you drop one for that, I'd go with Infernape. It's coverage is pretty much redundant with the rest of your team, it's weak to Stealth Rock, and it's best moves often have detrimental effects.

As for whether or not to use Forretress or Ferrothorn, go with Ferrothorn IMO. It's a bit less predictable than Forretress. I run with Protect, and not many people expect it, and it's won me quite a few games. Stealth Rock/Leech Seed/Protect/Power Whip is my preferred Ferrothorn moveset, but you can drop Protect with Thunder Wave.** Which means you'll need Rapid Spin on your Starmie.

If you're unsure about Haxorus, the bulkier Dragonite outclasses it in almost every way. ;(

And for item options..Life Orb is good on Gyarados, but you can also go with Lum Berry or Wacan Berry to make sure your sweep isn't interrupted. Choice Scarf makes Terrakion a really scary revenge killer, by the way.

**I never like to make a team without at least one Toxic. Thunder Wave is strong, but poison is much better for bringing down walls/stalls IMO, at least for me. But I don't know where you could put it. If you go with my Politoed suggestion, that would work well because Politoed can also Scald and Burn physical sweepers. Otherwise, I'd say replace Dragon Claw on Haxorus and use a Lum Berry to get rid of Outrage confusion. >___> I don't know, not having Toxic just scares me, lol.

Politoed sounds like a really good idea. I edited out Infernape and added the Politoed that I currently have. It's just a set I got off smogon. :P I've never actually used it.

I do like Dragonite better than Haxorus, but I think I'll try them both out to see which one better fits me. :)

Thanks for all the advice!

marcc5m · Dec 21, 2011

Needs a description of each Pokémon, just makes it easier to rate ;)

Dark Azelf · Dec 21, 2011

Keiran777 said:
Your team could really benefit from a Politoed or a dedicated Rain Dancer, with two water STABS and Ferrothorns/Forretress x4 Fire weakness. If you drop one for that, I'd go with Infernape. It's coverage is pretty much redundant with the rest of your team, it's weak to Stealth Rock, and it's best moves often have detrimental effects.

As for whether or not to use Forretress or Ferrothorn, go with Ferrothorn IMO. It's a bit less predictable than Forretress. I run with Protect, and not many people expect it, and it's won me quite a few games. Stealth Rock/Leech Seed/Protect/Power Whip is my preferred Ferrothorn moveset, but you can drop Protect with Thunder Wave.** Which means you'll need Rapid Spin on your Starmie.

If you're unsure about Haxorus, the bulkier Dragonite outclasses it in almost every way. ;(

And for item options..Life Orb is good on Gyarados, but you can also go with Lum Berry or Wacan Berry to make sure your sweep isn't interrupted. Choice Scarf makes Terrakion a really scary revenge killer, by the way.

**I never like to make a team without at least one Toxic. Thunder Wave is strong, but poison is much better for bringing down walls/stalls IMO, at least for me. But I don't know where you could put it. If you go with my Politoed suggestion, that would work well because Politoed can also Scald and Burn physical sweepers. Otherwise, I'd say replace Dragon Claw on Haxorus and use a Lum Berry to get rid of Outrage confusion. >___> I don't know, not having Toxic just scares me, lol.

Infernape isn't weak to SR Fire/Fighting typing negates its SR weakness.

Also Haxorus is most definately NOT outclassed by Dragonite, thats ridiculous. Just being bulkier =/= Outclassed. ._. Haxorus has much higher attack, is faster, has less weaks, isnt SR weak and its only countered or checked by 3 mons in the entire game (Skarm, Forry and Ferro, who all lose to its Dual Dance set anyway), everything else is absolutely obliterated by Outrage alone pretty much, even Steels lol, plus it has Mold Breaker which lets it annihilate Unaware Quagsire. You cant say its outclassed when its role is very different to that of D-Nite.

Anyway, run Dual Chop over D-Claw on Haxorus, its rather helpful for hitting around dumb Dragonites, Whimsicott, Breloom etcs subs should you face them.

Also Ferro wants SR somewhere on its set. SR is much more useful than Spikes when you have to choose between the two. SR hits basically everything in the game.

PlatinumDude · Dec 21, 2011

Terrakion feels...out of place to me. Since you have Politoed on the team, Drizzle will amplify Terrakion's Water weakness. How about Toxicroak? It benefits from the eternal rain Politoed brings:
-Bulk Up
-Substitute
-Drain Punch
-Sucker Punch
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 244 HP/252 Atk/12 Def
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Dry Skin

Melinda · Dec 21, 2011

Fireworks said:
Needs a description of each Pokémon, just makes it easier to rate ;)

There was, but I took them out when I was changing my team around. I'll add some descriptions again soon. :)

Dark Azelf said:
Infernape isn't weak to SR Fire/Fighting typing negates its SR weakness.

Also Haxorus is most definately NOT outclassed by Dragonite, thats ridiculous. Just being bulkier =/= Outclassed. ._. Haxorus has much higher attack, is faster, has less weaks, isnt SR weak and its only countered or checked by 3 mons in the entire game (Skarm, Forry and Ferro, who all lose to its Dual Dance set anyway), everything else is absolutely obliterated by Outrage alone pretty much, even Steels lol, plus it has Mold Breaker which lets it annihilate Unaware Quagsire. You cant say its outclassed when its role is very different to that of D-Nite.

Anyway, run Dual Chop over D-Claw on Haxorus, its rather helpful for hitting around dumb Dragonites, Whimsicott, Breloom etcs subs should you face them.

Also Ferro wants SR somewhere on its set. SR is much more useful than Spikes when you have to choose between the two. SR hits basically everything in the game.

Switched Spikes for SR.
I'm going to keep using Haxorus for now and see what happens.

/tries to act like she's not confused.

PlatinumDude said:
Terrakion feels...out of place to me. Since you have Politoed on the team, Drizzle will amplify Terrakion's Water weakness. How about Toxicroak? It benefits from the eternal rain Politoed brings:
-Bulk Up
-Substitute
-Drain Punch
-Sucker Punch
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 244 HP/252 Atk/12 Def
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Dry Skin

I didn't even think of that. LOL. I added it mostly as a filler.
I'll give Toxicroak a try.

EmbC · Dec 21, 2011

Hi mia ;)
Ok,
1. I guess Your lead should be Politoad or something that's not Starmie. I like that Starmie's set too, but use it later :)
2. Change Thunderbolt for Thunder (you have a rain team, where Thunder has 100% of accuracy)
3. You are too weak for electric-type attacks. If you like Water-types use Swampert, Gastrodon or Quagsire.
4. I guess you should take Choice Band to Haxorus and teach him Dragon Dance.
5. I preffer Ice fang to Stone Edge, but it is your decision.
6. Power Whip is a good move for a Ferrothorn

That's just my opinion ;) Great team

NothingPersonal · Dec 21, 2011

If you're running rain, then dugtrio is good for trapping other weather starters (abomasnow is an exception, though it doesn't like taking stone edges to the face).

Spoiler:

Rapid Spin Starmie with a Life Orb might be a little troublesome, taking 10% off for just spinning away rocks. Power whip is a better move for Ferro because of it's superior coverage, and gives you the ability to outspace opposing Ferros. Your team also seems very offensive, but I think there should be another pokemon other than Ferro tanking hits for the team. Might I suggest a Relaxed Bronzong with HP ice to check Gliscor/Dragonite?

Melinda · Jan 17, 2012

EmbC said:
Hi mia ;)
Ok,
1. I guess Your lead should be Politoad or something that's not Starmie. I like that Starmie's set too, but use it later :)
2. Change Thunderbolt for Thunder (you have a rain team, where Thunder has 100% of accuracy)
3. You are too weak for electric-type attacks. If you like Water-types use Swampert, Gastrodon or Quagsire.
4. I guess you should take Choice Band to Haxorus and teach him Dragon Dance.
5. I preffer Ice fang to Stone Edge, but it is your decision.
6. Power Whip is a good move for a Ferrothorn

That's just my opinion ;) Great team

Thanks for all the advice! I changed Tbolt to Thunder.
I'm thinking of removing Haxorus for Gastrodon or Bronzong.

NothingPersonal said:
If you're running rain, then dugtrio is good for trapping other weather starters (abomasnow is an exception, though it doesn't like taking stone edges to the face).

Spoiler:

Dugtrio (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 144 HP / 140 Atk / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Reversal
This Dugtrio is special, as it has some bulk added to it. It can take one hit from a standard Tyranitar set, and OHKO back with reversal (Be wary of the CB sets though). The bulk let's it take some pretty powerful hits and catch people by surprise. Dugtrio can't be KOed by a Lucario using ExtremeSpeed, a Jolteon's HP ice, a Flash Cannon from Magnezone, and more. EdgeQuake rapes Ninetails, while Sucker Punch gives your team some priority. Even without max investment in attack, CB still takes it up to a respectable amount. 224 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature let you outspace Timid Raikou (you're not going to find a lot of them in OU, but it's an example), and anything below.

Rapid Spin Starmie with a Life Orb might be a little troublesome, taking 10% off for just spinning away rocks. Power whip is a better move for Ferro because of it's superior coverage, and gives you the ability to outspace opposing Ferros. Your team also seems very offensive, but I think there should be another pokemon other than Ferro tanking hits for the team. Might I suggest a Relaxed Bronzong with HP ice to check Gliscor/Dragonite?

I love your suggestions, but I'm not sure what to take out to try Bronzong. Maybe Haxorus/Gyarados.
@_@

Saturated Hue · Jan 17, 2012

You sort of lack a dedicated revenger, a magnezone+dragon combo can really hurt you. Consider attaching a Choice Scarf to Gyarados. In rain, when Gyarados uses Waterfall it has the equivalent of a +1 DD boost immediately. It also goes together like bread & butter with its role, because after it revenge kills Moxie activates and gives it a +1 attack boost, making it even more formidable.

Gyarados @Choice Scarf
Moxie
Jolly
252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spd
Waterfall
Earthquake
Ice Fang
Stone Edge

That sort of overloads your team with choice items users though, so I would consider swapping Choice Specs on Starmie with Life Orb and Rapid Spin for Recover. You already have Toxicroak to absorb Toxic Spikes, and nothing on your team is really hurt by Stealth Rock. Unless you're planning to trade Haxorus in for Dragonite, in which case Rapid Spin is the superior choice.

Musica · Jan 17, 2012

miakalina said:
So, after being forced by Forever, I'm here to post my first team.
Because, let's be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing.
All advice is welcome. Help a noob out. :D
So here goes...

Modest || Drizzle || Choice Specs
252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Grass

Endless rain + special sweeper. I like sweepers. :P

You wouldn't want Drizzle to stop right away when there would be other weather-starting pokemons. A defensive lead would be nice. It's aim is to make it rain all battle long.
I'm not that good with EV spread, so just a suggestion.
Scald would be better than Hydro Pump, 30% Burn Rate is ouch, but since it drizzles. Hydro Pump is still good. It can also carry Hypnosis/Toxic to troll around. Protect to be more defensive.

Timid || Natural Cure || Choice Specs
4 HP || 252 Sp. Atk || 252 Speed
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
- Rapid Spin

I building my team around Starmie because I want Starmie on my team the most. I just decided to use it as my spinner yesterday thanks to Keiran777. :P
Starmie pretty much explains itself I think, special sweeper.

Starmie is an awesome spinner, no doubt with that, but it also needs a variety of moves. Life Orb can be used instead of Specs and also carry Recover over Thunder/Ice Beam.

Adamant || Mold Breaker || Choice Band
36 HP || 252 Atk || 220 Speed
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dual Chop

I don't know about Haxorus, but I'm going to try it out.
I'm getting a lot of different opinions on Haxorus and Dragonite. I think I'll keep Haxorus for now though, I like its attack.

Relaxed || Sturdy || Leftovers
252 HP || 88 Def || 168 Sp. Def
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Only defensive 'mon I like other than Forrestress for OU. It's moveset it iffy though. Probably get changed a lot.

Gyroball over T-Wave for better coverage. Give it also 0 speed IV's.

Adamant || Moxie || Life Orb
252 Atk || 4 Def || 252 Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Water STAB + Politoed's Drizzle. Gyarados would be my second Physical Sweeper.

Bulky Gyarados would be awesome too, it has better chance of survival and do its dance.

Adamant || Dry Skin || Leftovers
244 HP || 252 Atk || 12 Def
-Bulk Up
-Substitute
-Drain Punch
-Sucker Punch

Miaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, you're battling now. =DDDD
Overall, I just want to say that you need a bit more defense on your side. An all-out attack team is good, but there should still be balance. :D
Also, you lack some "fire"power.

My First Team

More options

Melinda

[b][i][color=#fff]#teamsonia[/color][/i][/b]

Keiran

[b]Rock Solid[/b]

Melinda

[b][i][color=#fff]#teamsonia[/color][/i][/b]

marcc5m

what

Dark Azelf

☽𖤐☾𓃶𐕣

PlatinumDude

Nyeh?

Melinda

[b][i][color=#fff]#teamsonia[/color][/i][/b]

EmbC

NothingPersonal

The vietnamese pokemon master.

Melinda

[b][i][color=#fff]#teamsonia[/color][/i][/b]

Saturated Hue

acrobatic effing pirouette.

Musica

PPPPPDPPPPP