Breaking into Competitive Battling

I'm attempting to break into competitive battling. Here's what I think I want to use... I'm not terribly fond of the coverage, but this was what I decided to start with to work from.

Roserade (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Sleep Powder
- Magical Leaf

Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs:
Hardy Nature
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Metal Claw
- Zen Headbutt

Mienshao (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Brick Break
- Fake Out
- Hi Jump Kick
- U-turn

Umbreon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Def / 128 SDef / 128 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Mean Look
- Wish
- Yawn

Salamence (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Fang
- Dragon Dance

Eelektross (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Thunder Wave
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Charge Beam

Suggestions for replacements are welcome (and I would be surprised if I didn't get any). I'm fond of tyranitar but am not sure how to get over the sand stream ability, and I need a water type as well (was thinking Lanturn, but it's not really seen often and I haven't looked at it's stats yet)

I'd make Tyranitar your lead:
-Stealth Rock
-Crunch
-Fire Blast
-Ice Beam/Superpower
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP/180 SAtk/76 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sandstream

I'd suggest replacing Metagross with Excadrill, since it benefits from Sandstorm:
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin/Return/X-Scissor/Shadow Claw
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush

You can't Baton Pass Mean LOook anymore in Gen V. It may be a bit risky, but you can use Gorebyss as a Shell Smash BPer:
-Shell Smash
-Baton Pass
-Surf
-Ice Beam/Substitute
Nature: Calm
Evs: 252 HP/36 SDef/224 Spe
Item: White Herb/Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim

Dragon Dance + Choice Band on Salamence? Not a good idea, since you don't want to get locked into DD. Make the item Life Orb or Lum Berry and change the set to:
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquake/Brick Break
-Fire Blast
Nature: Naughty/Naive
EVs: 252 Atk/24 SAtk/232 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate

Mienshao's coverage is seriously messed up. Replace Brick Break with Stone Edge, Payback or Hidden Power (Ice).

Eelektross is way too slow to max out its Speed. Use this one instead:
-Wild Charge/Thunderbolt
-Flamethrower
-Dragon Claw/Hidden Power (Ice)
-Grass Knot/Brick Break
Nature: Naughty/Rash
EVs: 252 Atk/212 SAtk/44 Spe
Item: Life Orb

Tyranitar (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Excadrill (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 SDef
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide

Gorebyss (F) @ White Herb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SDef / 220 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Baton Pass
- Substitute

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Aromatherapy
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Rock Polish
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge

Switched out everything but the 'Mence. Gave up Umbreon in favor of Blissey and added more rock/ground in because of the sandstorm. Will blissey be okay to cover the major water/fire weakness i have going on, or should I ditch the Salemence in place of something else?

You have a huge Fighting weakness with your current build. Reuniclus can go in the last slot:
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Focus Blast
-Recover
-Calm Mind
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard

or

-Psychic/Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Recover
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SAtk
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard

Seconding that. ^ Conkeldurr will maul you if it gets in a BU. I mean, Mence + Intimidate provides a check at best for Fighting-types so you really need a solid, hard counter like Reuniclus. I'd prefer the TR set as this team has a more offensive build but eh.

I don't like seeing Blissey on this team. Offensive teams are made to hit hard and Blissey really provides very little offensive synergy at all. Yeah, it takes special hits good, but it just gives your opponent an easy pivot point knowing that you rely on Blissey so much to take special hits. Here's an example: you have +0/+0 Gorebyss out and they have Thundurus out. Obviously you're not going to let Thundurus fry your Gorebyss if you can help it so you're going to switch to Blissey to take that hit, where they can double-switch into Conkeldurr, get up a free Bulk Up, and then proceed to maul the rest of your team. Blissey is really just dead weight for this team.

Also PD Salamence is in the last slot. I favor Reuniclus > Blissey.

Okay, I've been running this:

Roserade (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Sleep Powder
- Magical Leaf

Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs:
Hardy Nature
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt

Gorebyss (F) @ White Herb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SDef / 220 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Baton Pass
- Substitute

Thinking about ditching her. I can hardly ever actually get the sub/shell/baton setup actually... well, setup.

Mienshao (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stone Edge
- Fake Out
- Hi Jump Kick
- U-turn

Salamence (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Fang
- Dragon Dance

Going to give Reuniclus a shot:
Reuniclus (M) @ (No Item)
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Trick Room
- Psychic

What item should I use for the little guy? Leftovers? Also, not sure about trick room... I won't keep him in on a dark pokemon, obviously, but I feel like I should have something besides psychic

Dump either TR or CM. Pick which one you like more (or look at the advantages of either, I'll let someone else enlighten). Dump psychic. Run Shadow Ball and Focus Blast. You can also dump Recover, though I know I have trouble letting that move go, and run Psychic or Psyshock for more coverage and STAB. Suddenly, you'll be happy to see dark-types switch in.

If you insist on using Leftovers and Overcoat, you are probably better off using the CM variant. However, Magic Guard+Life Orb means you still won't take sand damage, and the TR variant can become devastating.

OneofFour said:

Dump either TR or CM. Pick which one you like more (or look at the advantages of either, I'll let someone else enlighten). Dump psychic. Run Shadow Ball and Focus Blast. You can also dump Recover, though I know I have trouble letting that move go, and run Psychic or Psyshock for more coverage and STAB. Suddenly, you'll be happy to see dark-types switch in.

If you insist on using Leftovers and Overcoat, you are probably better off using the CM variant. However, Magic Guard+Life Orb means you still won't take sand damage, and the TR variant can become devastating.

Click to expand...

Magic Guard outclasses Overcoat 100% of the time, as it also prevents damage from LO, status, etc. If you can get Magic Guard you definitely definitely need to. I agree, you can't run both CM and Trick Room - mostly because you can't set up in TR. You'd be wasting TR turns. Also, don't drop Psychic imo. Having STAB is a huge boon, especially when Ghost + Fighting only provides fantastic neutral coverage and nothing noteworthy in super-effective coverage. You should never run Reuniclus without its STAB - Recover is the move you want to drop if you're going to run Trick Room, not Psychic.

Make Metagross Adamant. It isn't running Special attacks anyway. Make its EVs 60 HP/252 Atk/196 Spe.

Salamence really needs power:
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Earthquake/Brick Break
-Fire Blast
Nature: Naive/Naughty
EVs: 252 Atk/24 SAtk/232 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate

(in case you were wondering why Fire Blast is there rather than Fire Fang, it's there for physical walls as well as for doing more to Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress and Skarmory).

For Reuniclus, it's not a good idea to use TR on it as of now because some of your Pokemon are fast. Drop TR for Focus Blast or Shadow Ball and make its nature Bold. Use these EVs too: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk.