Am I doing it right?

[Whimsyful]

I'm designing my first competitive battling teams, and well I think I'm off to a good start, I'd love to hear all possible suggestions to perfect my team.

This originally started as a Sunny Day team, but I expanded it to more general purposes after some thought. As an added note, this team is still being planned. I haven't actually raised or even caught any of the Pokémon yet, meaning everything is more than capable of being changed.

Polka (Ninetales)
Drought
Timid

Solar Beam
Sunny Day
Flamethrower
Protect

252 SpA 4 SpD 252 Spe

More of this was lifted from Smogon than I'd like to admit. This is only one of two different leads, the next being Mienshao. I'd prefer to save Ninetales for a few turns, hopefully after taking out opposing Weather Leads and freeing up the air for me to dominate. I'm iffy on keeping Sunny Day for this reason, as I doubt that Ninetales will last long against Tyranitar, which I most fear. Politoed is another thorn in my side, but much less of a threat after I've put Sunny Day back up in a weather war. Solarbeam will also help with that.

Jazz (Mienshao)
Regenerator
Adamant

Fake Out
Hi Jump Kick
Stone Edge
U-Turn

4 HP 252 Att 252 Spe

My other possibility for a lead. Mienshao exists to kick the lead out of play, and to clean up the leftovers of previous Pokémon. Combined with Swords Dance support from Leafeon, I also expect it to be the strong arm of my group.

Serenade (Leafeon)
Chlorophyll
Impish

Leaf Blade
Wish
Swords Dance
Substitute

252 HP 128 Att 128 Def

The main support of my team. Leafeon has everything I was looking for in a support option, but I'm not sure if it's best for the role. Access to Swords Dance, Grass Type, Wish, and Baton Pass... Alongside Samurott, she's supposed to elimate the Ground Type problem. I've invested nothing in her speed, because I expect to use her after Sunny Day is in place, as well as her being a naturally fast Pokémon to being with. I wanted to add to her survivability first and foremost, to keep her in play and helpful for as long as possible.

Requiem (Chandelure)
Flash Fire
Modest

Shadow Ball
Fire Blast
Will o' Wisp
Pain Split

252 SpA 128 SpD 128 Spe

He's here to kick tail and chew bubble gum, and he can't chew. With Sunny Day support, I expect to rip most competition to shreds. Unless it's a Blissey, Tyranitar, or anything that he can't beat up. For which I have counters like Mienshao and Zoroark and Leafeon and Samurott and anything that's not Ninetales. I'd rather add to survivability than speed, as usual, but I've split it even in this case.

Swing (Zoroark)
Imposter
Jolly

Taunt
Night Burst
Focus Blast
Flamethrower

4 HP 252 SpA 252 Spe

This is another possible lead, meant to shut down most of the defensive trap laying leads, which I have no counters to. It's an unfortunate matter of guess basing and timing, but I'm confident in my understanding of what Pokémon do what. I'm certain I can adapt myself well enough. And also, mind games are fun. Especially in Pokémon, where it boils down to "I know you know that I know..."

Waltz (Samurott)
Torrent
Mild

Shell Blade
Return
Aqua Jet
Surf

252 Att 100 SpA 156 Spe

Another case of EV splitting, but now free with a side of Mild sauce. There's no doubt about it, Samurott cannot be used effectively in Sunlight. But he's not meant to. It would be nice to have him pick up a Swords Dance from Leafeon, but it's not something I'm counting on. This is the Pokémon I'll need the most help with, by far.

 

[Geass20]

if i was designing this team, i would drop Samurott altogether and go for a wall like reuniclus, or something bulky like that. if you wanted you could use Gengar to wall groud types completly with levitate. ill let other people recommend sets.

if youre hell-bent on using Samurott though switch shell blade with ice beam.

 

[ScytherZ]

why is ur zoroark jolly? Shouldnt it be timid or modest?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Make Mienshao Jolly. It has to be as fast as it can, and base 125 Attack is already high.

As ScytherZ said, why is Zoroark Jolly? It has to be Timid. You're better off with Dark Pulse over Night Daze because it's more accurate. You can also consider Nasty Plot over Taunt to make Zoroark stronger than it already is.

Some of your Pokemon are Stealth Rock-weak, which means you need a Rapid Spinner to clear away hazards. Donphan is a good candidate because its Water weakness is reduced in the sun, and it can deal with Tyranitar:
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Toxic/Roar/Knock Off
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy

or
-Rapid Spin
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge/Head Smash/Fire Fang
-Ice Shard/Stealth Rock
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy

 

[Whimsyful]

I'm thankful to you, PlatinumDude as you've given me the best advice possible so far.

The Zoroark is supposed to be Timid, that was a burp up in my thought process. Thank you for pointing that out, I'll edit my post and fix it.

For the suggestions regarding Zoroark's moveset, I prefer Taunt over Nasty Plot. But that is dependant, I know what Taunt is capable of, and I'm certain I would be able to use it given Zoroark's speed.

But with Nasty Plot, can I reliably get that off without Zoroark going down? It's an incredibly frail Pokémon, after all.

Night Daze, that's what it's called. Thanks for correcting me. I don't think I'll be replacing that. It's a minor trade-off between attack and accuracy, and I trust my luck enough to keep it. Also, the potential accuracy lowering effect is more valuable than the flinch effect of Dark Pulse, in my personal opinion.

But especially, thank you for the Donphan suggestion. It fits in perfectly, and it eliminates the Stealth Rock problem that I had.

 

[tj4bigred]

I use HP Ice over Stone Edge on Mienshao, because it can hit Gliscor and dragons. If you do that, you'd want to switch to Naïve for its nature.