First Pokemon Team..OU..feedback needed!

[SlickTheNick]

Please give feedback on this team, bad or good?



Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Solar Beam
- Overheat

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 28 Def / 236 Spe
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Garchomp @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Ice]

 

[PlatinumDude]

As an FYI, Charizard Y teams are very specialized, as while Charizard Y is a strong nuke under the sun, it struggles with some Pokemon, especially the Latis and Chansey. Megazard Y teams need the following:
-Fighting Pokemon that resists Steel for handling Bisharp and Chansey
-bulky Ground Pokemon to deal with Rock Pokemon (Therian Landorus, Hippowdon, Garchomp)
-Rapid Spin/Defog support for getting Stealth Rock off (better ones are Excadrill and Lati@s) (Therian Landorus, Hippowdon, Garchomp)
-Pursuit user for dealing with opposing Lati@s (Bisharp, Tyranitar, Scizor)
-Bird spam check/counter to get rid of Talonflame, Staraptor or Mega Pinsir (Wash Rotom, Thundurus, Zapdos)

And judging from the team above, you have most of the criteria (Raikou, Garchomp), even though Donphan is an outclassed Rapid Spinner in standard, as Excadrill has more offensive presence.

Arcanine is outclassed in standard because while it learns good moves, it doesn't have much to set itself apart from other Fire Pokemon like Charizard (which has two Mega Evolutions), Heatran and Talonflame.

Why, oh why, are you using Choice Specs Garchomp? While it learns a decent set of special moves, its average Special Attack makes a full Special set a terrible idea. It should only use its Special Attack if it uses a physically mixed spread:
-Stealth Rock
-Outrage/Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast/Swords Dance
Nature: Naive/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Lum Berry/Focus Sash

I'd replace Donphan with Excadrill, as it also packs Rapid Spin to clear away entry hazards while posing more of an offensive threat:
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf/Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker/Sand Rush

or
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic/Stealth Rock
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker

As for Arcanine and Gliscor, they should be replaced for the Pursuit user and Fighting Pokemon.

Pursuit users:

Bisharp:
-Sucker Punch
-Iron Head
-Knock Off
-Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/52 SDef/204 Spe (first three items below) or 192 HP/220 Atk/96 Spe (latter item below)
Item: Life Orb/Dread Plate/Black Glasses/Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant

Tyranitar:
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Punch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe (Choice Scarf) or 100 HP/252 Atk/156 Spe (Choice Band)
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream

or
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Beam/Fire Blast
-Pursuit
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 248 HP/36 Def/224 SDef
Item: Smooth Rock/Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream

Scizor:
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Technician

Fighting Pokemon (that resist Steel):

Infernape:
-Fire Blast/Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-Mach Punch
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Grass Knot/Thunder Punch
Nature: Naive/Hasty
EVs: 168 Atk/88 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist

Keldeo:
-Hydro Pump
-Secret Sword
-Scald
-Hidden Power Electric/Bug)/Icy Wind/Taunt
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Specs/Choice Scarf/Life Orb

or
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Scald
-Secret Sword
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers

 

[SlickTheNick]

As an FYI, Charizard Y teams are very specialized, as while Charizard Y is a strong nuke under the sun, it struggles with some Pokemon, especially the Latis and Chansey. Megazard Y teams need the following:
-Fighting Pokemon that resists Steel for handling Bisharp and Chansey
-bulky Ground Pokemon to deal with Rock Pokemon (Therian Landorus, Hippowdon, Garchomp)
-Rapid Spin/Defog support for getting Stealth Rock off (better ones are Excadrill and Lati@s) (Therian Landorus, Hippowdon, Garchomp)
-Pursuit user for dealing with opposing Lati@s (Bisharp, Tyranitar, Scizor)
-Bird spam check/counter to get rid of Talonflame, Staraptor or Mega Pinsir (Wash Rotom, Thundurus, Zapdos)

And judging from the team above, you have most of the criteria (Raikou, Garchomp), even though Donphan is an outclassed Rapid Spinner in standard, as Excadrill has more offensive presence


Arcanine is outclassed in standard because while it learns good moves, it doesn't have much to set itself apart from other Fire Pokemon like Charizard (which has two Mega Evolutions), Heatran and Talonflame.

Why, oh why, are you using Choice Specs Garchomp? While it learns a decent set of special moves, its average Special Attack makes a full Special set a terrible idea. It should only use its Special Attack if it uses a physically mixed spread:
-Stealth Rock
-Outrage/Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast/Swords Dance
Nature: Naive/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Lum Berry/Focus Sash

I'd replace Donphan with Excadrill, as it also packs Rapid Spin to clear away entry hazards while posing more of an offensive threat:
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf/Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker/Sand Rush

or
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic/Stealth Rock
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker

As for Arcanine and Gliscor, they should be replaced for the Pursuit user and Fighting Pokemon.

Pursuit users:

Bisharp:
-Sucker Punch
-Iron Head
-Knock Off
-Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/52 SDef/204 Spe (first three items below) or 192 HP/220 Atk/96 Spe (latter item below)
Item: Life Orb/Dread Plate/Black Glasses/Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant

Tyranitar:
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Punch
-Pursuit
-Superpower
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe (Choice Scarf) or 100 HP/252 Atk/156 Spe (Choice Band)
Item: Choice Scarf/Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream

or
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge
-Crunch/Ice Beam/Fire Blast
-Pursuit
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 248 HP/36 Def/224 SDef
Item: Smooth Rock/Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream

Scizor:
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Technician

Fighting Pokemon (that resist Steel):

Infernape:
-Fire Blast/Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-Mach Punch
-Hidden Power (Ice)/Grass Knot/Thunder Punch
Nature: Naive/Hasty
EVs: 168 Atk/88 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist

Keldeo:
-Hydro Pump
-Secret Sword
-Scald
-Hidden Power Electric/Bug)/Icy Wind/Taunt
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Choice Specs/Choice Scarf/Life Orb

or
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Scald
-Secret Sword
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers

Thanks a lot for the feedback- will put it to good use!

 

[PlatinumDude]

Thanks a lot for the feedback- will put it to good use!

Oh I also forgot to mention this for Charizard: it has no reason to use Air Slash at all, as a sun-boosted Fire Blast outdamages a 2x super effective Air Slash:

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr in Sun: 220-261 (62.6 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 236 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 200-236 (56.9 - 67.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Charizard also needs Focus Blast so it can hit Heatran. Heat Wave only sees use in doubles. Overheat makes Charizard switch out more than it should, given that it weakens its Special Attack with each use:
-Fire Blast/Flamethrower
-Solar Beam
-Focus Blast
-Roost
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Charizardite Y

 

[Anti]

i don't really agree with the zard y "checklist" posted above, all you really *need* is very consistent hazard control (and of course your own stealth rocks which every team needs) so zard y can function well. you definitely don't *need* a pursuiter (it's not like latis are hard to lure or overpower) and certainly don't need a dual chansey/bisharp check (which is basically code for a keldeo). hazard control is definitely a must though.

to echo the other stuff above, just run fire blast/solarbeam/focus blast/roost charizard y. you need roost even with dedicated hazard control. flamethrower is a usable stab for accuracy and pp.

the rest of the squad is overloaded on grounds. definitely removed specs chomp and run something that can more adequately bother zardy's checks. bisharp is always a good choice for this and is a very standard partner. if you wanna get creative, you could run something like crawdaunt which would be pretty cool, though it's going to make your team very exploitable defensively.

i would change the donphan to hippowdon as resetting weather (to extend zard y sun) is actually really nice, and slack off is a much greater niche than knock off.

arcanine is super iffy, so i'd run a cleaner that synergizes well w whatever secondary breaker you choose, plus zard y of course. if you choose to keep gliscor, you might have to make this defog support, though i think replacing glisc for that would make it easier to round out your team. up to you though, zard y can be tricky to build around since its defensive utility is...low.

 

[PlatinumDude]

i don't really agree with the zard y "checklist" posted above, all you really *need* is very consistent hazard control (and of course your own stealth rocks which every team needs) so zard y can function well. you definitely don't *need* a pursuiter (it's not like latis are hard to lure or overpower) and certainly don't need a dual chansey/bisharp check (which is basically code for a keldeo). hazard control is definitely a must though.

to echo the other stuff above, just run fire blast/solarbeam/focus blast/roost charizard y. you need roost even with dedicated hazard control. flamethrower is a usable stab for accuracy and pp.

the rest of the squad is overloaded on grounds. definitely removed specs chomp and run something that can more adequately bother zardy's checks. bisharp is always a good choice for this and is a very standard partner. if you wanna get creative, you could run something like crawdaunt which would be pretty cool, though it's going to make your team very exploitable defensively.

i would change the donphan to hippowdon as resetting weather (to extend zard y sun) is actually really nice, and slack off is a much greater niche than knock off.

arcanine is super iffy, so i'd run a cleaner that synergizes well w whatever secondary breaker you choose, plus zard y of course. if you choose to keep gliscor, you might have to make this defog support, though i think replacing glisc for that would make it easier to round out your team. up to you though, zard y can be tricky to build around since its defensive utility is...low.

Just saying, if you run Defog on Gliscor, you can't run Poison Heal on it. Poison Heal is one of Gliscor's main selling points, which it can't afford to give up.

 

[Anti]

i mean a different poke altogether, defog glisc is indeed p shitty