I have lost four battles in a row with this team...

[Pirate Dave]

HELP! I have lost four battles in a row with this team!

As you may be able to guess I have lost four battles in a row with my team, before I tell you what the team is I will tell you what I think is wrong with it:

*It is almost exclusively Sweepers
*They are not fully EV trained
*I only know that 3 of them have at least one good IV, I have an idea that another might be good, but no idea about the rest...
*They hold Arceus plates because I kinda consider Leftovers cheating
*I am overly fond of certain types (Psy, Drk, Ghst)
*I have a favorite Pokémon which absolutely has to be in the team...

Anyway, judge for yourself here is the team:

Gallade, Adamant @ Big Root
*Psycho Cut
*X-Scissor
*Drain Punch
*Swords Dance

Gyarados, Jolly @ Splash Plate
*Earthquake
*Waterfall
*Ice Fang
*Dragon Dance

Mismagius, Modest @ Spooky Plate
*Shadow Ball
*Psychic
*Magical Leaf
*Calm Mind

Alakazam, Modest @ Mind Plate [The favorite]
*Psychic
*Shock Wave (Might be Focus Blast soon)
*Calm Mind
*Recover (Might be Energy Ball soon)

Tyranitar, Adamant @ Dread Plate
*Earthquake
*Crunch
*Rock Slide
*Toxic

I will leave the 6th blank as that randomly changes based on a whim, generally it could be a Gengar, Spiritomb, Umbreon, Espeon, Glaceon, Leafeon, Houndoom, Lucario, or some random Dragon type.

... and I have been beaten 4 times in a row...

All of the Pokémon I listed have their Atk or SpAtk stat 252 EV'ed, but nothing else. I am losing a lot of battles because my speedy Pokémon aren't speedy enough and my (one) even remotely tank-like Pokémon hasn't enough defenses.

I do have other 'half EV trained' pokemon:
Flygon, Salamence, Leafeon, Lucario, Jolteon, Typhlosion, Rotom and Kingdra.

And some that I will probably EV train at some point:
Dragonite, Heracross, Beldum, Infernape, Staraptor and Elekid.

Before I fully EV train any of them I would like your opinion on which Pokémon I should actually choose, then I can just focus on six of them.

Anyway could someone either give me an example of a good team that either includes the ones I have listed, or if they are bad examples then some other ones, or even just give me some general advice? Thanks a lot :)

EDIT: - It may be a good idea to include Alakazam in your teams, since he is the favorite. ;)

 

[Murasaki]

... the plates really have to go. You only end up powering up one move of that type otherwise. Leftovers isn't the only other item you know... (and it's not cheating)... there's Expert Belt, Choice Scarf (would help with your slower Pokemon problem), Choice Band, Choice Specs (or Wise Glasses, if you don't want to be limited to just one move without switching) and other much better options which I can't think of at the moment xD

 

[Pirate Dave]

Hmm, a few people I have asked have mentioned the plates. Fair enough, they're gone, here are some other potential changes I will most likely make:

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Modest
*Psychic
*Focus Blast
*Grass Knot (or Energy Ball?)
*Calm Mind
EV: 252 SpA / 252 Spd / 4 HP

Since Alakazam can't take hits anyway, I will need him to hit and run, so the recoil damage from Life Orb may not be too much more of a problem than his crappy Defenses are anyway. If I remember correctly Grass Knot does more damage to heavy enemies, while Energy Ball would make use of Alakazam's monster SpA, so I'm pretty undecided on that front.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers? (or maybe another Life Orb?)
Adamant (or Jolly?)
*Earthquake
*Crunch
*Rock Slide
*Dragon Dance (...I was trying to avoid breeding but oh well...)
EV: 252 Atk / 128 HP / 128 Spd ?? (Maybe 252 Spd / 4 HP... or the reverse of that??)

I am lazy and didn't want to have to breed a new set of Pokémon, but if I am to keep Tyranitar it looks like I need a stat boosting move of some sort, and unfortunately it cannot learn bulk up. As for the EV's and nature I have no idea, obviously I will be 252-ing Atk, but I really have no idea about the other stats. My current Tyranitar's speed is really bad, but that could just be bad IV's; I am not sure whether it would be worth getting a Jolly one and 252-ing Spd in order to make better use of Dragon Dance...

I am also thinking of making some minor changes to my Gyarados although since it is the only one recently that has been properly reliable I will not be breeding another one, like Stone Edge might be an idea, someone I know recommended Bite to deal with Starmies and Slowbros, but I would hope my Ghst / Drk Pokés could deal with them, and I could give it the dreaded Leftovers, or my new favorite item Life Orb if I was gonna use it late on in a battle...

I think I need to address the fact that as I said, they are currently all Sweepers; although Bronzong is ugly-as it could be a good Special sponge, especially if it got the opportunity to Calm Mind the hell out of itself. Maybe Spiritomb would be an option for that, or to use as an Attack sponge, although I think it would be a lot less effective.

I still need to address the type limitation, and I could do with a sample team to give me some ideas, I know most of the possibilities of Psy / Ghst / Drk types but have generally limited knowledge of other Pokémon's capabilities or uses. And when I say generally I mean severely...

As for the team, would a team of 2 sweepers, 2 tanks / sponges / walls, and then maybe something specifically to use as a starter, and something like a Xatu (sorry Psy again... and bad) or maybe a Celebi (guess what type...) if it weren't considered an über, to use as a healing Pokémon with Wish or something be useful?

As you can see unless you are asking me about Psy / Ghst / Drk types I am pretty useless...

What would be REALLY helpful, is:

*An example party
*Examples of a Pokémon to use specifically as a starter
*Examples of what mix of Pokémon should be in a party
*Any information about tanks / sponges
*Any good Pokémon to include that aren't Psy / Ghst / Drk, but that I might like.

Again, Thanks a lot :)

 

[dialga493]

It's good... Some minor tweaks and it could win.

 

[El Gofre]

It's good... Some minor tweaks and it could win.

Rofl
He explained why this fails in the first post.

But yeah, if you know all of those problems, make an effort of helping yourself. Dont expect others to do it for you. If you at least try to develope your team its a step forward for your understanding of the game, I'll rate it when you have.

 

[dialga493]

Ok i mean the new team. Not to make fun of but the old one stunk. No plates please... (I learned my mistake the hard way) but now it is decent.

 

[El Gofre]

Again, rofl. There is no old or new team, a few set changes have been made but the faults are still there. It doesnt sound like you've learnt anything tbh

Btw OP needs to scrap TTar since his team is all weak to sandstorm atm.

 

[Pirate Dave]

Rofl
He explained why this fails in the first post.

But yeah, if you know all of those problems, make an effort of helping yourself. Dont expect others to do it for you. If you at least try to develope your team its a step forward for your understanding of the game, I'll rate it when you have.

Yeah, sorry, I mightn't have made myself clear, I was unsure if they ACTUALLY WERE the problems :P Although I have been playing Pokémon for years I am a bit of a n00b, so I was checking whether I had missed the real reasons why they lose.

I am also still über-unsure about non-Psy / Drk / Ghst Pokémon, and I know that if left to my own devices I will end up with an team of only those types :P, so I am also looking for a suggestion of replacements, or at last an example of how to train a 1st-in-Party Pokémon and what are good sponges. :)

 

[Espreon]

OK, using a team exclusively composed of one role is a horrible idea. A team needs to be composed of members that work like a team. Also one of the main problems your team has that is has 3 shared weaknesses with 3 Pokemon sharing one weakness.

For your shared weakness problem try creating a team with the help of this

 

[El Gofre]

Yeah they are probelems, but they relatively solvable. Of course swapping sweepers for walls ect isnt the end of all problems, but its a start.
Anyway, ask in the request a moveset stickie for some commonly used walls, and see which suit your team. For example, 2/3 of your favoured types are ghost weak and dark weak, so resistant walls like skarmory will benefit you.

 

[airconditioning]

Hmm, a few people I have asked have mentioned the plates. Fair enough, they're gone, here are some other potential changes I will most likely make:

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Modest
*Psychic
*Focus Blast
*Grass Knot (or Energy Ball?)
*Calm Mind
EV: 252 SpA / 252 Spd / 4 HP

Ah, that's pretty nice. Stick with Grass Knot over Energy Ball.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers? (or maybe another Life Orb?) Either are good.
Adamant (or Jolly?)
*Earthquake
*Crunch
Stone Edge
*Dragon Dance (...I was trying to avoid breeding but oh well...)
EV: 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spd ?? (Maybe 252 Spd / 4 HP... or the reverse of that??)

Breeding is something you have to do, like it or not. Natures and IVs are extremely important, and definitely worth breeding for. I think a simple move can be done without too much trouble.

If you like, you can replace Dragon Dance with Pursuit, and just give him a Choice Band. You'll have to breed for Pursuit, though...

I am lazy and didn't want to have to breed a new set of Pokémon, but if I am to keep Tyranitar it looks like I need a stat boosting move of some sort, and unfortunately it cannot learn bulk up. As for the EV's and nature I have no idea, obviously I will be 252-ing Atk, but I really have no idea about the other stats. My current Tyranitar's speed is really bad, but that could just be bad IV's; I am not sure whether it would be worth getting a Jolly one and 252-ing Spd in order to make better use of Dragon Dance...

Just want to point out that Tyranitar has a base 61 Speed. He's not the fastest Poke in the world, even with flawless IVs.

I am also thinking of making some minor changes to my Gyarados although since it is the only one recently that has been properly reliable I will not be breeding another one, like Stone Edge might be an idea, someone I know recommended Bite to deal with Starmies and Slowbros, but I would hope my Ghst / Drk Pokés could deal with them, and I could give it the dreaded Leftovers, or my new favorite item Life Orb if I was gonna use it late on in a battle...

Bite? Hahaha. No, don't consider that. Even with a Dragon Dance, Gyarados' Bite will fail to OHKO Starmie- who will be happy to kill you with 4x SE Thunderbolt. As for Slowbro, Bite has no hope of breaking him- not that he'd actually bother switching in, though, since he can't do much to Gyara unless he carries Toxic (the few that are seen rarely do). Plus, Gyara needs all the coverage he can get with the two slots he has (his other slots are occupied by DD and Taunt). Don't worry about it- your other Pokemon should be able to take those two with no problem.

For the record, Celebi isn't considered Uber- not with 7 weaknesses, anyway.

Here are some good physical walls, and a few useful moves:

Dusknoir (Mixed Wall + Will-o-Wisp)
Weezing (Physical + Will-o-Wisp)
Cresselia (Mixed, I think)
Swampert (Physical + Stealth Rock)
Suicune/ Slowbro (Physical)
Skarmory (Physical + Spikes)
Forretress (Physical + Spikes)
Rhyperior (Physical + Stealth Rock- watch out for those weaknesses.)
Gliscor (Physical, Heracross counter)

As for Special walls, there's Blissey. She's hands-down the greatest Sp Wall in the game. Partially because she has such little competition outside of Snorlax, Regice, and Articuno...

Blissey @ Leftovers
Calm
252 Def/ 212 SDef/ 40 HP (I think)
-Thunder Wave
-Aromatherapy
-Seismic Toss
-Softboiled

 

[Pirate Dave]

OK, using a team exclusively composed of one role is a horrible idea. A team needs to be composed of members that work like a team. Also one of the main problems your team has that is has 3 shared weaknesses with 3 Pokemon sharing one weakness.

For your shared weakness problem try creating a team with the help of this

Right then, with the help of that link, and incorporating the advice you have given me, here is the outline of a new team...

*Lucario - SpA Sweeper with few weaknesses, possibly a starter?
*Alakazam - SpA Sweeper... he was never going to go was he? :P
*Gyarados - Might use something in the style of a BulkyGyara...
*Salamence - Flying type sorts out any Bug that worries me, and will have Fire Fang to deal with Steels.
*Bronzong - Calm Mind Tank, to stop Atk Sweepers, and hopefully go on a sweep of its own.
*Tyranitar - DDT-Tar - The kind of thing I would need to bring out late on for a sweep, and annoy people with Sand Stream, perhaps would be good to bring if my last 3 were Lucario, T-Tar and Bronzong...

So, yeah, I'm going to post on the 'Request a Moveset' thread and ask about starters, tanks and sponges... although I can already hear the word 'Blissey' being typed :P

What do you think of those six anyway? The Marriland thing says it has a lot of weaknesses, but also a lot of strengths so I dunno...

EDIT:- Just saw 'AirConditioning''s post and I may already have to make revisions to the above team :P. That is the kind of information I was looking for, very useful:)

 

[Espreon]

What do you think of those six anyway? The Marriland thing says it has a lot of weaknesses, but also a lot of strengths so I dunno...

For Bronzong did you hit Levitate? If it has Levitate then it will be immune to Ground attacks.
The most shared weaknesses you would want would be 2, this outline has 3.

 

[airconditioning]

Not enough walls, first off.

There are only two Bug-types that anyone ever uses- Heracross and Yanmega. And Heracross can just Stone Edge Salamence into oblivion. Plus, Fire Blast does more to Steels than Fire Fang, coming from Salamence (most Steels pump more EVs into Def than SDef- plus, Sally has a pretty good SAtk.). I'd say you should scrap him.

Bronzong doesn't sweep. EVER. Especially when he's not your only wall.

Tyranitar doesn't help- you don't need two DD-ers. Scrap him.

 

[Pirate Dave]

For Bronzong did you hit Levitate? If it has Levitate then it will be immune to Ground attacks.
The most shared weaknesses you would want would be 2, this outline has 3.

Yeah I hit levitate, I have quite a few Bronzors with it so I would probably use one of those...

Tyranitar doesn't help- you don't need two DD-ers. Scrap him.

Therein lies one of my problems, I am always tempted to use on of my favorite Pokémon, even though it may be a hindrance...

I think what I may do is have say, 9 battle-able Pokés, so I can mix and match a bit...

 

[Espreon]

Therein lies one of my problems, I am always tempted to use on of my favorite Pokémon, even though it may be a hindrance...

Then use a different favorite Poke. My team has my favorite Poke on it except I have 3 Pokes that can laugh at Earthquake. So if your gonna use a favorite Poke make sure it can benefit the team and it can be supported and stuff.

 

[Pirate Dave]

I've been doing some thinking and some working out... and I have come up with...

10 Pokés and 6 separate viable teams :P Dont worry, I won't be clogging up space with 10 move sets (If there is a way I can attach a spreadsheet to this post or hide the move sets so they only appear when you click on them I would be grateful to know). Anyway for now I will just take you through my thought process, and list the teams:

Team-1
I originally wanted to decide on a good team with a good spread of types and a fair mix of Sweepers and Tanks or Walls, here is the first party I came up with:

Lucario, Gallade, Alakazam, Gyarados, Bronzong, Suicune.

I would use the first four as standard Sweepers and use Bronzong and Suicune as Mix-Tanks. Lucario's EVs would be more evenly spread than what is normal to accommodate it as a starter.

Team-2
The first and biggest issue I could then see was 'Damn... I don't have a Suicune or any way to get one...'. So I replaced it with a Milotic, the second team therefore is the same as the one above except with Milotic replacing Suicune.

Team-3
Then I realised I had no Dark-Types. Not that important normally, but since they are one of my favorite types I wanted to find a way to include one. I found that if I simply added something like Houndoom or Tyranitar to the party I became über-weak to Ground, while I do not trust something like Spiritomb or Sabelye to be useful, so I added Umbreon. The third team then is the same as the first, except with Umbreon replacing Suicune.

Team-4
Four Sweepers and only one proper tank (I am counting Umbreon as an 'Annoyance' since I will not be giving it attacks as such) sounded like trouble to me, so I needed to replace one of my Sweepers with a Tank. To maintain type coverage, I replaced Lucario with Skarmory. It is getting complicated now so I'll just list the fourth team:

Umbreon, Skarmory, Gallade, Alakazam, Gyarados, Bronzong.

Umbreon would Mean Look the opponent's starter, maybe Status it, then Baton Pass out.

Team-5
I could have stopped with four but as you can see I had abandoned DDT-Tar and again, since he is one of my favorites I wanted to find a way to incorporate him. The best way I could think of was to replace Lucario in the 1st or 2nd team with him, that way the Ground and Fighting types that cause him the most trouble the other Pokémon would deal with. Since Lucario was gone I decided that Gallade was the most disposable so I should use him as a starter. The fifth team then is the same as the second, with DDT-Tar replacing Lucario.

Team-6
At last! The last one. This has taken ages to type :P
Anyway I then decided that any Pokémon I considered 'disposable' shouldn't be in the team, and decided to replace Gallade with Skarmory for the sixth team, suddenly making the team very bulky.

I guess that Team-5 is the one I will be using in the immediate future, since I have most of those Pokés already and it is most similar to my old team, personally I think it is the most problematic of teams for myself since it has many of the problems my old team had.

Ultimately, however I cannot decide which of the six teams I should eventually use; or if it would be worth training the ten Pokés I have talked about and having the option of using whichever of the teams I fancy at the time.

Again, Thanks for your help. It has been most... helpful (can't think of another word :P) to me :)

EDIT: - Move sets and Items and such I will maybe post later, when I figure a way to stop them from eating up so much space.

 

[Divine~Deoxys]

Gyarados, Jolly @ Splash Plate
*Earthquake
Aqua Tail
*Ice Fang
*Dragon Dance

Mismagius, Modest @ Spooky Plate
*Shadow Ball
*Psychic
*Magical Leaf
Dark Pulse

Alakazam, Modest @ Mind Plate [The favorite]
*Psychic
Focus Blast
*Calm Mind
Energy Ball

Tyranitar, Adamant @ Dread Plate
*Earthquake
*Crunch
Stone Edge
Thrash


Dragonite @ Focus Band
Adamant
Inner Focus
EVs:252atk,252spd,4hp
Outrage/Dragon Claw
DD
EQ
Fire/Thunderpunch

This is a good Dragon-type for any team,drop the Gallade and the 6th should be a Lucario i think as they are awesome. EV it in sp.atk and spd and give it 4 of something else. Ask around about a moveset, although as i have been given a lot of stcik for mine i have one final word of advice:no EQ on a Lucario. Well, i rated it so good luck!

 

[airconditioning]

Kiddo, haven't we told you before about the whole 'rating with knowledge' rule? You know, the one about having to know what you're talking about before rating?

 

[El Gofre]

Ok, seriously, stop with the rates. I hate to be harsh but you don't seem to know the first thing about competetive battling. For one, your suggesting either terrible items (Plates) or banned items (Focus Band). Next you offer movesets (And bad ones at that, thrash?) but no EVs. Finally the teams you suggest lack any kind of composition, with no walls or support pokes suggested at all.

Aha, aircon beat me to it.