My RMT Needs Help. Lots of it.

I've been playing Pokémon since the first generation (hold R/S/E, took a break there), but I've decided just recently I want to slowly merge my way into competitive battling. The B/W post-game is just too boring, and I need something to fulfill my Pokémon cravings.

I have a pretty decent understanding of the game in general. Types/STAB/IVs/EVs/etc... I just can't seem to put together a decent team! My record in random match-up right now is 2-14, I believe. There would be a few more wins, but many people disconnect as I'm about to win. Connection isn't the issue, though, I know my team needs some work.

I was wondering if you guys could help me out? I'll list below what I have to work with, I'd much appreciate it if you'd help me out with movesets, which six to use, and also what other Pokémon you recommend I obtain, and how to set them up. I am completely fine with raising a whole new team of six, as long as it's something I'll be able to do well with.

But anyway, here's a bunch I've been using in random match-up.

Crobat
Bright Powder
Double Team
Wing Attack
Confuse Ray
Toxic

I've been using this annoyer Crobat since Crobat existed. I love it to pieces, one of my favourite Pokémon. I know it's greatly frowned upon to use Double Team, though.

Scizor (shiny <3)
No item
Acrobatics
Iron Head
X-Scissor
Swords Dance

I usually just try to sweep with this, but will do a couple swords dances if my openant doesn't look like it will rip my head off.

Lapras
Focus Band
Confuse Ray
Surf
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt

Porygon-Z (shiny <3)
Silk Scarf
Tri-Attack
Signal Beam
Psychic
Nasty Plot

Charizard (shiny <3)
Choice Band
Wing Attack
Earthquake
Dragon Claw
Flamethrower

I'm using him as a choice bander for now, until winter comes along and I can get the TM for substitute.

Venusaur (shiny <3)
Leftovers
Leech Seed
Toxic
Facade
Razor Leaf

Archeops
Razor Fang
Stone Edge
Crunch
Double Team
Fly

I really needs ideas for Archeops' moveset.

Garchomp
Draco Plate
Earthquake
Crunch
Dragon Rush
Swords Dance

Scrafty
Black Belt
Crunch
Hi Jump Kick
Head Smash
Dragon Dance

Alakazam
Spell Tag
Calm Mind
Recover
Psychic
Shadow Ball

Typhlosion
Item that increases length of Sunny Day... forget what it's called?
Sunny Day
Flamethrower
SolarBeam
Earthquake

I also have a few pokemon like Haxorus/Volcarona/Metagross/Darmanitan/Conkelldurr/Samurott that I haven't really used in random match-up... their movesets were built around in-game battles.

As you guys can probably see I need some guidance. What would you recommend I do for a six Pokémon team? Remember I am really okay with raising new Pokémon completely, I'd actually be pretty excited to do so.

Well, we can't put a team together for you, partially because that's putting too much effort on the nice people here that rate teams and partially because we're I'm a pretty lazy person. XD; I can give a little bit of advice, though.

Firstly, you want to be able to use an item on each Pokemon if possible. Items give great boosts to a Pokemon's functionality and if you don't use them you're kinda making it harder on yourself to win matches. Secondly, very generally, you want to avoid using items like Draco Plate because they only boost the power when you use one move. There are some instances when items like that are acceptable, but generally you'd like to use items that boost -all- of your moves more frequently, such as Life Orb (boosts all of your damaging moves by 1.3 times as much for the cost of 10% of your health each turn you attack) or Expert Belt (boosts super-effective attacks 1.2x as much, no cost).

Likewise, you'll always want to use the most powerful and/or reliable move available to you. For example, Dragon Rush isn't very reliable at all. I'd much rather use Outrage (which is significantly more powerful but comes with the liability of being trapped for 2-3 turns and confusion) or Dragon Claw (which is less powerful but has the 100% accuracy you want) or even Dual Chop (which has a special function of being able to break Substitutes and deal damage beyond that - particularly useful for things that abuse Substitute like Gengar).

Like you said, Double Team is frowned upon and actually banned in a lot of competitive tournaments. You'll want to avoid using that at all costs. :x

Beyond that, most of your movesets look okay, like Scrafty's (although it likes Ice Punch >> Head Smash to hit Gliscor who otherwise walls it). Generally, you'll want to abuse what makes each Pokemon different and unique to get the most you can out of them. Scizor, for example, has the Technician ability, which is fantastic for it because it can abuse a great STAB priority move in Bullet Punch. I dunno which ability your Scizor has but it'd definitely like a set like Swords Dance/Bullet Punch/Bug Bite/Roost.

If you do get to posting a RMT with six Pokemon you choose, be sure to include EVs and Natures if you can. We'll be able to help a lot more if you break it down into six (and it won't be so much effort to go through and try to fix up all of your movesets). Good luck with your team in the future and if you have any questions about what I said or anything don't be afraid to ask. :3

Vrai said:

Well, we can't put a team together for you, partially because that's putting too much effort on the nice people here that rate teams and partially because we're I'm a pretty lazy person. XD; I can give a little bit of advice, though.

Firstly, you want to be able to use an item on each Pokemon if possible. Items give great boosts to a Pokemon's functionality and if you don't use them you're kinda making it harder on yourself to win matches. Secondly, very generally, you want to avoid using items like Draco Plate because they only boost the power when you use one move. There are some instances when items like that are acceptable, but generally you'd like to use items that boost -all- of your moves more frequently, such as Life Orb (boosts all of your damaging moves by 1.3 times as much for the cost of 10% of your health each turn you attack) or Expert Belt (boosts super-effective attacks 1.2x as much, no cost).

Likewise, you'll always want to use the most powerful and/or reliable move available to you. For example, Dragon Rush isn't very reliable at all. I'd much rather use Outrage (which is significantly more powerful but comes with the liability of being trapped for 2-3 turns and confusion) or Dragon Claw (which is less powerful but has the 100% accuracy you want) or even Dual Chop (which has a special function of being able to break Substitutes and deal damage beyond that - particularly useful for things that abuse Substitute like Gengar).

Like you said, Double Team is frowned upon and actually banned in a lot of competitive tournaments. You'll want to avoid using that at all costs. :x

Beyond that, most of your movesets look okay, like Scrafty's (although it likes Ice Punch >> Head Smash to hit Gliscor who otherwise walls it). Generally, you'll want to abuse what makes each Pokemon different and unique to get the most you can out of them. Scizor, for example, has the Technician ability, which is fantastic for it because it can abuse a great STAB priority move in Bullet Punch. I dunno which ability your Scizor has but it'd definitely like a set like Swords Dance/Bullet Punch/Bug Bite/Roost.

If you do get to posting a RMT with six Pokemon you choose, be sure to include EVs and Natures if you can. We'll be able to help a lot more if you break it down into six (and it won't be so much effort to go through and try to fix up all of your movesets). Good luck with your team in the future and if you have any questions about what I said or anything don't be afraid to ask. :3

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You're the best <3

I just got into item consideration today, so it is definitely a work in progress. I'm still not overly familiar with even what held items exist, but I am slowly realizing their importance.

I completely forgot about bug bite and bullet punch on Scizor, thanks a bunch for that. I was thinking about adding U-turn onto someone just for the perk of doing damage as I switch out, but it seems kind of pointless on a swords dancing Scizor... Hm.

For competitions in the past, I've always replaced double team with mean look on Crobat, which is actually more effective I find...

A lot of these Pokémon I used for the story line, so their EVs and natures are far from perfect. Once I find a smaller number I like I'll be raising them up properly. I will be sure to re-post a team when I have a set one of six!

I just have a quick question though. What would be an effective starter to set up stealth rock? I've never used attacks like stealth rock/spikes/etc. before, so I'm curious as to whom I should set it up with.

Stan n Whatnot said:

I completely forgot about bug bite and bullet punch on Scizor, thanks a bunch for that. I was thinking about adding U-turn onto someone just for the perk of doing damage as I switch out, but it seems kind of pointless on a swords dancing Scizor... Hm.

I just have a quick question though. What would be an effective starter to set up stealth rock? I've never used attacks like stealth rock/spikes/etc. before, so I'm curious as to whom I should set it up with.

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U-turn can be much more effective on a Choice Band Scizor - it gets immediate power from Choice Band and allows you to switch in on something (like, say um, Reuniclus) and threaten to do heavy damage (even potentially OHKOing it!) to it with U-turn or force the opponent to switch, meaning you'll get the upper hand because you can switch to an appropriate counter to their switch-in from there. That's often why U-turn is debatably the ultimate momentum move: you can threaten to force something out and respond to their switch in or you could KO the Pokemon that's in right then. Scizor is arguably the best user of it too. :3 You'd want a moveset like U-turn/Bullet Punch/Superpower/Pursuit though probably, not too sure on the EVs right now because I have to get going so yeah.

Lots of Pokemon can effectively set up SR, like Chansey, Swampert, Mamoswine, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Heatran... the list goes on and on. Usually you can find a slot for it somewhere on a team, and it's not always the lead that gets it up. Really you can generally be imaginative with who you give it to.

I have a suggestion for Archeops' moveset:
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Acrobatics
-Earthquake
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Hone Claws
Nature: Naughty/Naive/Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Flying Gem

Vrai said:

U-turn can be much more effective on a Choice Band Scizor - it gets immediate power from Choice Band and allows you to switch in on something (like, say um, Reuniclus) and threaten to do heavy damage (even potentially OHKOing it!) to it with U-turn or force the opponent to switch, meaning you'll get the upper hand because you can switch to an appropriate counter to their switch-in from there. That's often why U-turn is debatably the ultimate momentum move: you can threaten to force something out and respond to their switch in or you could KO the Pokemon that's in right then. Scizor is arguably the best user of it too. :3 You'd want a moveset like U-turn/Bullet Punch/Superpower/Pursuit though probably, not too sure on the EVs right now because I have to get going so yeah.

Lots of Pokemon can effectively set up SR, like Chansey, Swampert, Mamoswine, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Heatran... the list goes on and on. Usually you can find a slot for it somewhere on a team, and it's not always the lead that gets it up. Really you can generally be imaginative with who you give it to.

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Thank you for the help! I'm going to set up a second Scizor with a Choice Band moveset. I've also got someone that will trade me a Swampert... I've always been fond of the Mudkip line. Thanks for the help!

PlatinumDude said:

I have a suggestion for Archeops' moveset:
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Acrobatics
-Earthquake
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Hone Claws
Nature: Naughty/Naive/Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Flying Gem

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I like that moveset, I'm going to give it a shot. Thanks!

If you're brand new to the competitive scene, I would hold off on team building. If you head over to smogon's RMT section, it wouldn't be a bad idea to find a good team and actually learn how to battle with it. In my opinion, good team building is not the first step in battling but rather dependent on the trainer's knowledge of the metagame. RMT's won't do you any good until you can understand the why behind them.

Google pokemon online, select the first link, and navigate to the downloads page for a client. This program is a battle simulator where you can fight online with hundreds of people. The pokemon online and smogon servers are the most popular choices for english speakers.

Good luck

Khreep said:

If you're brand new to the competitive scene, I would hold off on team building. If you head over to smogon's RMT section, it wouldn't be a bad idea to find a good team and actually learn how to battle with it. In my opinion, good team building is not the first step in battling but rather dependent on the trainer's knowledge of the metagame. RMT's won't do you any good until you can understand the why behind them.

Google pokemon online, select the first link, and navigate to the downloads page for a client. This program is a battle simulator where you can fight online with hundreds of people. The pokemon online and smogon servers are the most popular choices for english speakers.

Good luck

Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I'll check it out.