Getting into Competitive Battling - Please RMT

[darksage78]

Ambipom @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Trait: Technician
EVs: HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spd 252
- Fake Out
- U-turn
- Brick Break
- Payback

My lead Ambipom is an annoying one packing Fake Out and U-Turn. Ambipom's primary concern is to scout, flinch the opposite lead, predict whether or not a switch will occur. If yes - either predict and switch to a counter or lead up with Payback to inflict double the damage. Otherwise a U-Turn can follow to search my own team for a suitable answer to the lead. Currently packing Life Orb, I know its a bit much since 2 other of my team members also carry Life Orbs, however those 2 also pack Roost giving an answer to the life loss.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: HP 244 / SpDef 236 / Def 28
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Body Slam
- Earthquake

For the team's tank, I included Snorlax - a sleep talker one at that. Serving as a special wall as well, Snorlax's moveset is to hopefully catch and absorb a Hypnosis and then swipe at the enemy at my leisure with Sleep Talk. Body Slam is ideal with a 30% chance of paralyzing the enemy. Earthquake is included to provide utility and nobody else on my team carries the move.


Scizor @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Trait: Technician
EVs: HP 32 / Spd 224 / Atk 252
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Super Power
- X-Scissor

Scizor was a simple "must include" for me. Always loved the Pokemon and with it being so deadly confirmed a spot for it in my roster. My Scizor packs a slightly different build from most in the fact that it carries Roost. I was recommended to opt for Roost over Swords Dance due to the life loss from Life Orb and as the team's physical sweeper is sure to lose plenty of life. However, I've also received critiques as to put Swords Dance back in the moveset, so I'm currently confused.

Suicune @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Trait: Pressure
EVs: HP 172 / SpAtk 120 / Spd 216
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power (Electric)

Suicune is the team's special sweeper. It is extremely deadly with Calm Mind, and once it gets that up, it is free to sweep the opponent's team up with its moveset of Surf, Ice Beam and Hidden Power (Electric). It features a bulkier spread so that it can take more hits and includes Leftovers for life regeneration as sweepers take quite a bit of damage.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Modest
EVs: HP 4 / SpAtk 252 / Spd 252
- Fire Blast
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power

Heatran is my team's revenge killer. Common in the metagame, but ideal with Weavile no longer being as potent. Scar + its 252 EV investment in Speed, it is sure to get the first swipe at the opponent when switched out. With that in mind, Heatran should be able to eliminate whatever threats my team happens to encounter.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spd 252
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

My Mixed Salamence serves as the team's late game sweeper. This is my third Pokemon carrying a Life Orb but worth it if Salamence can turn the tide of the match if things aren't looking too good. Everything is physical for this sweeper with Outrage targeting any times that cannot resist Dragon moves. Earthquake to hit the Ground and Ice type and finally packing a Stone Edge because I don't have any rock moves on any other Pokemon and to sway the moveset further towards physical thus working better with my EV spread.

 

[The Hero Without a Name]

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: HP 252 / Spd 84 / Def 172
- Stealth Rock
- Drill Peck
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Since I've never actually battled competitively, I was very unsure of what went into choosing a lead Pokemon. I chose Skarmory due to its speed and ability to set up Stealth Rock. Furthermore Whirlwind + Drill Peck is deadly and the longer I can keep Skarmory out there Whirlwinding away threats and dragging in victims to Stealth Rock the better. Roost and Leftovers are there to help prolong this.

Skarmory's a pretty bad lead seeing as he can't outpace so many Pokemon; this one gets Taunted by BulkyGyara (rare, but you're still setup fodder) and Aero (who then just sets up Stealth Rock) and massacred by Heatran.

Weavile @ Choice Band
Nature: Jolly
Trait: Pressure
EVs: HP 40 / Spd 216 / Atk 252
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash
- Pursuit
- Brick Break

This is the only one I've almost finished training so I'm pretty set on having Weavile on my team. With its high speed, I'm hoping Weavile can switch out, make the kill and switch back in. At one point I considered Life Orb for it, but I figured Choice Band would be better to fit the switching around strategy. Standard revenge killer that packs a punch =D

lolweavile
Weavile's pretty metagame weak nowadays; he gets revenge killed by Scarf Heatran (and so many other scarfers) and the ever common Scizor.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: HP 4 / Spd 252 / SpAtk 252
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast

Salamence is the first of my two special sweepers. Its Life Orb and Dragon Dance work similarly to Scizor's set to boost damage. Afterwards just clean up with Outrage, Earthquake and Fire Blast.

The EV spread is pretty screwed up. You just aren't going to do enough damage without a single EV in Attack.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Adamant
80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spe
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Fang
80 HP EV's give it a degree of bulk which helps switching into Lucario. Not many Pokemon can take a once Dragon Danced, Life Orb, STAB Outrage coming off of 405 Attack (and most who can are destroyed by Earthquake).

Starmie @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: HP 4 / Spd 252 / SpAtk 252
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot

To finish it off, Starmie is my last second sweeper. It's the typical Beam and Bolt build. However it also packs Grass Knot to take down the heavy hitters like Tyranitar, Abomasnow and Snorlax. I've almost got this one built too so, I'm pretty set on having it on my team as well.

Snorlax still lol's at Grass Knot and takes more damage from Starmie's STAB Surf. If you want Starmie, use this:

Starmie @ Life Orb
Timid
Natural Cure
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Hydro Pump/Surf
Thunderbolt/Grass Knot
Ice Beam
Recover

Starmie's a cool Life Orb attacker, especially since it gets Recover to heal off LO damage. Also, the ability to switch attacks is valuable on Starmie (so you don't roll over and die when Scizor switches into a Choiced Grass Knot/Ice Beam, Tyranitar switches into a Choiced anything except for Surf/Hydro Pump, etc).

 

[darksage78]

Changed it up a bit, hopefully its more decent now. Looking for a Revenge Killer.

 

[Get Away From That Outlet Pikachu!]

One thing that worries me is that 3/6 of your team has a Life Orb, which may not seem that bad, but could cause you problems, especially if sand, hail, rocks etc. is up. On Suicune you may want to try

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability - Pressure
Nature - Bold
EV's - 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
~ Surf
~ Calm Mind
~ Roar
~ Ice Beam / Hidden Power [Electric] / Rest

A lot more Bulky than what you're using right now, and if you get in a boost or two from Calm Mind this thing is a real monster. Gives your team a little more bulk and solidity, especially since a lot of your Pokemon are holding Life Orb.

As far as a revenge killer goes you could try ScarfTran:

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability - Flash Fire
Nature - Naive
EV's - 4 HP / 252 Sp.A / 252 Spe
~ Fire Blast
~ Explosion
~ Hidden Power [Ice]
~ Earth Power

Come in on a fire attack aimed at Scizor and Flash Fire boost can help you take things down, also, generally outspeeds some common threats so that you can come in and revenge kill them, Hidden Power [Grass] and Dragon Pulse are options over Hidden Power [Ice] however, Hidden Power [Ice] is the best imo, does more raw damage to Dragons than Dragon Pulse, and Hidden Power [Grass] isn't that great imo, its more for Bulky Waters, but Suicune can probably handle them, bar Swampert.

 

[darksage78]

Thanks for the recommendations I'll look into them before I make my changes again. Question - is my lead ok? I'm debating between Jirachi or Metagross and am still open to any lead changes. Thanks again.

 

[Dark Azelf]

On offensive cune i prefe thse ev's : -

Timid @ 172 HP / 120 SP.ATT / 216 SPEED @Leftovers.


Grants you more bulky to switch in on heatran and dos, whilst still being able to sweep.

Speed lets you outspeed Lucario and Jolly Mamoswine (lol idk why i said the latter, but still)

 

[darksage78]

Thanks and I've made the changes to the team again. Is Jirachi the optimal lead? And are there any other changes necessary? For Dusknoir, Shadow Sneak or Fire Punch? Or perhaps a different tank altogether? One thing that's gotten my attention is the amount of steel types, will that be a problem?

 

[.]

Dusknoir is pointless on a team without Spikes. Not only does it take a lot of damage from STAB hits from moderately strong Choice Banders, but Special Attacks pretty much eat alive if they're boosted or coming off a high special attack stat. Dusknoir also doesn't hit hard, and is probably the biggest Heatran bait in the game. Honestly, Spiritomb (a UU Poke) outclasses it as a wall, even with its inferior defenses, and can also hunt down Gengar, Azelf, and Alakazam with a Pursuit, or rid them of life with Sucker Punch. If you must run a Ghost-type, you could run Spiritomb, who can make a decent Lucario check (Swords Dance Crunch doesn't OHKO, and WoW really hampers it). Of course, who's to say you couldn't just ditch it entirely? If you'd like, a specially defensive Pokemon would work wonders, even if its a Choice Bander. CB Lax destroys most Gengar, and can also help with its Selfdestruct to kill off "last-stand Pokemon" like Calm Mind Suicune, CurseLax (even after 2 Curses, Selfdestruct OHKOs it). Fire Punch or Crunch could be used if you're looking forward to killing Steels or Gengar respectively:

Snorlax @ Choice Band
Adamant
252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 SpD
-Body Slam / Return
-Earthquake
-Fire Punch / Crunch
-Selfdestruct

It's a really cool set, and can help things like Scizor set up by luring in things like Metagross and Skarmory and killing them with Selfdestruct (make sure you get Stealth Rock down!) If you want to keep a Ghost-type, you could *gulp* CB that Dusknoir and hope for the best.

 

[darksage78]

Would a Choice Banded Snorlax be beneficial to my team? My current lead is Choice Scarfed and my revenge killer is as well. I think I'm looking for a tank in general.

 

[.]

Would a Choice Banded Snorlax be beneficial to my team? My current lead is Choice Scarfed and my revenge killer is as well. I think I'm looking for a tank in general.

If you'd like, you could try an offensive Snorlax. Same spread, but no Band (literally, just add Leftovers, except remove Fire Punch for Crunch.)

 

[brownsrock101]

Too much Steel Type. Any ground user would come in and just tear those 3 apart. And also, it's rare, but Hippowdon usually has Ice Fang, which is almost guaranteed to KO Salamence, especially since Salamence can't really OHKO Hippowdon. Aside from that, I don't think there is really anything else I can say, because I haven't used Suicune or Dusknoir, nor have I ever battled them, so I have no idea how those two will do in battle, but I have KO'd quite a few of the rest in my competitive battling.

 

[darksage78]

Thanks, I've replaced Dusknoir with an Offensive Lax now.

Concerning the 3 steel types, do you have any recommendations for a better lead? That's always been my worry about Jirachi. I definitely want to keep Scizor. Heatran is one of the better revenge killers, so unless there's another recommendation for that one I'm unsure about replacing my revenge killer. Any recommendations are welcome. Thanks again.

 

[Pokedra]

I've battled with friends and such but never competitively and I'm thinking of getting into it so here's my team. I had some difficulty choosing my lead but hopefully you guys can give me advice on that. In addition, I'm going for a hit and go paced team and the sweepers in my team have boosted speed to reflect that. But again I don't really have any real experience battling so any feedback and critique is appreciated. Credit goes to Pokecommunity where I designed most of my team off of.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: HP 80 / Spd 176 / Atk 252
- Iron Head
- Trick
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

Decided to remove Hippowdon with Jirachi, cause I didn't want Sand Stream problems. Iron Head to take out weak leads. Trick to swap the Scarf and access Stealth Rock + U-Turn to scout for a more appropriate answer to the threat. Currently still unsure about the lead, debating between Jirachi or Metagross.

Never used a Jirachi lead but it looks standard so good.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: HP 4 / Atk 252 / SpDef 252
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Self-destruct

Snorlax is the tank of the group featuring the offensive set. Added thanks to .'s recommendation.

Nothing wrong with this. Good.

Scizor @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Trait: Technician
EVs: HP 32 / Spd 224 / Atk 252
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Super Power
- X-Scissor

Going with the theme of quick kills, Scizor is one of my two physical sweepers. Making use of Life Orb and Swords Dance its STAB attacks are boosted quite high. I'm hoping to get most enemy Pokemon down with a single hit. Added Roost for life regen – thanks to untouchedking for the suggestion.

Umm? Where's SD?

Suicune @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Trait: Pressure
EVs: HP 172 / SpAtk 120 / Spd 216
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power (Electric)

Suicune is the special sweeper of the team. Am unsure if it needs to be more bulky and concerned with the accuracy of Hydro Pump. Changed the EV spread and added leftovers - thanks to Dark_Azelf for the suggestion

Surf over Hydro Pump for accuracy and PP. Hydro Pump drains fast.

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp.A / 252 Spe
- Fire Blast
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power

Typical Scarfd Heatran for my revenge killer. Current concern is accuracy of the Fire Blast.

Stick with Fire Blast, the accuracy isn't that bad(85%), some people are using Hypnosis and that has 60% accuracy.

Salamence @ Life Orb
Nature: Mild
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 80 Atk / 176 Spd / 252 SAtk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Brick Break
- Roost

Salamence serves as the late game sweeper, cleaning up whatever mess is left over from what Scizor and Suicune are unable to catch. MixMence replacing MixNIte - thanks to kennisiou for the suggestion

Nice team, I just picked at some stuff.

 

[darksage78]

Thanks for the critique Pokedra, actually I'm thinking of replacing Jirachi with a different lead because I have 3 Steel types on my team, the team is susceptible to Ground attacks =/ So I'm currently looking at a few other possible leads like Zapdos Baton Passer, any recommendations are appreciated. Also I put Roost on the Scizor because I've been told that it won't live long carrying that Life Orb as a sweeper. So I opted Roost over Swords Dance.

Edit - Currently looking at Zapdos, Umbreon and Ambipom as possible leads. Any recommendations?