Need help diversifying my team?

[Nineray]

My team at the current moment only have one definite Pokemon on it which is Greninja

Greninja Protean Modest @ Expert Belt
252 Sp Attack 252 Speed 4 Attack
U-Turn
Ice Beam
Hydro Pump
Dark Pulse

I wanna add Vivilion as another fast sweeper

Compoundeyes Modest @ None
252 Sp Attack 252 Speed 4 HP
Sleep Powder
Quiver Dance
Hurricane
Big Buzz

and this is where I get stuck.
I for sure want a tank and a staller, however I don't know who I should choose. I'd like to have a physical sweeper as well. Any suggestions on what I should change or add? Also I'm not really playing in a specific tier if that helps. Thanks!

 

[PlatinumDude]

I wouldn't add in Vivillon as an attacker because Volcarona does what it can do better (Quiver Dance attacker):
-Quiver Dance
-Fiery Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Roost
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP/192 Def/68 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body

Greninja needs Extrasensory somewhere in its moveset to deal with Mega Venusaur better (Thick Fat makes Ice Beam a neutrality on it):
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Extrasensory
-Dark Pulse/Hidden Power (Fire/Grass)/Grass Knot/Spikes
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Focus Sash
Ability: Protean

Defog support is pretty much a necessity, given Volcarona's Stealth Rock weakness. Lati@s can do the job:

Latias:
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock/Thunderbolt
-Defog
-Healing Wish/Roost/Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

Latios:
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock
-Thunderbolt/Hidden Power (Fighting)/Earthquake
-Defog/Roost/Recover
Nature: Timid/Hasty
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

Excadrill makes a good teammate, as it threatens Sylveon and Aegislash, while also providing backup entry hazard removal:
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock/Rock Slide
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers/Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker

or
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe (Choice Scarf) or 120 HP/252 Atk/136 SDef (Assault Vest, Adamant only)
Item: Choice Scarf/Assault Vest
Ability: Mold Breaker

A Steel Pokemon like Scizor and Aegislash pairs well with Lati@s for their good defensive synergy:
-Shadow Ball
-Shadow Sneak
-Pursuit/Iron Head/Sacred Sword
-King's Shield
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 244 HP/252 SAtk/12 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Substitute
-Toxic
-King's Shield
-Shadow Ball
Nature: Modest
EVs: 244 HP/252 SAtk/12 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Shadow Ball
-Shadow Sneak
-Flash Cannon/Sacred Sword
-Sacred Sword/Pursuit
Nature: Hasty/Naive
EVs: 4 Atk/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Spooky Plate/Spell Tag

or
-Swords Dance
-Shadow Sneak
-Iron Head/Shadow Claw
-Sacred Sword/Head Smash
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn/Bug Bite/X-Scissor/Knock Off
-Roost
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/136 Def/104 SDef/20 Spe
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

or
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn/Bug Bite
-Knock Off/Superpower
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

or
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit/Knock Off
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Technican

or
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch/Knock Off
-Defog
-Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/252 Def/8 SDef
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

Try out Gliscor if you want a staller:
-Substitute
-Toxic
-Protect
-Earthquake
Nature: Impish
EVs: 244 HP/32 Def/224 Spe
Item: Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal

or
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock/Taunt
-Toxic/U-turn/Knock Off
-Protect/Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 244 HP/204 Def/52 Spe
Item: Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal

 

[Nineray]

Scizor
-Swords Dance
-Bullet Punch
-U-turn/Bug Bite
-Knock Off/Superpower
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Scizorite
Ability: Technician

Gliscor
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock/Taunt
-Toxic/U-turn/Knock Off
-Protect/Roost
Nature: Impish
EVs: 244 HP/204 Def/52 Spe
Item: Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal

I think I'll add these cx. I do have a Latios, the only issue I have with it is that it's a careful nature

 

[Mumzy]

Hello Nineray! :3 Vivillion can be very helpful considering his powder moves and aromatherapy, he'll work great with the future staller. though he's not the fastest hard hitting sweeper. My suggestion is maxing out HP EVs to take advantage of his good hp stats and making them really great. This way when/if you use substitute it won't take away a huge chunk of your hp and when you use leftovers you will get more hp.

You can max either sp.def or def, or even them out how you want. It's best to decide this when you've already decided on the rest of your teams stats I've noticed, so when you make EV plans for the rest of your team you can fill a Sp.Def gap if you need to, or a Def gap.

If you like sleep powder I suggest adding U-turn. This way you can sleep powder a pokemon and switch out if vivillion has a weakness to the the pokemon or if you just have a better pokemon to take down the sleeping pokemon.
Another good addition in my opinion, to sleep powder, is infestation. What's great about vivillion with infestation is that it's special which vivillion specializes in, and it's a STAB move for vivillion. Also, if you decide to switch out vivillion perhaps with U-turn, your still doing damage.

Sorry for the vivillion rant but you can use vivillion to do major damage to a team, but not exactly a sweeper. Vivillion can help out and use his Sp.atk advantage with hurricane and or bug buzz.


Good physical sweepers can be Noivern, Crobat, and haxorus to name a few I've had experiance with. I suppose the best place to start is what typing you want?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Hello Nineray! :3 Vivillion can be very helpful considering his powder moves and aromatherapy, he'll work great with the future staller. though he's not the fastest hard hitting sweeper. My suggestion is maxing out HP EVs to take advantage of his good hp stats and making them really great. This way when/if you use substitute it won't take away a huge chunk of your hp and when you use leftovers you will get more hp.

You can max either sp.def or def, or even them out how you want. It's best to decide this when you've already decided on the rest of your teams stats I've noticed, so when you make EV plans for the rest of your team you can fill a Sp.Def gap if you need to, or a Def gap.

If you like sleep powder I suggest adding U-turn. This way you can sleep powder a pokemon and switch out if vivillion has a weakness to the the pokemon or if you just have a better pokemon to take down the sleeping pokemon.
Another good addition in my opinion, to sleep powder, is infestation. What's great about vivillion with infestation is that it's special which vivillion specializes in, and it's a STAB move for vivillion. Also, if you decide to switch out vivillion perhaps with U-turn, your still doing damage.

Sorry for the vivillion rant but you can use vivillion to do major damage to a team, but not exactly a sweeper. Vivillion can help out and use his Sp.atk advantage with hurricane and or bug buzz.


Good physical sweepers can be Noivern, Crobat, and haxorus to name a few I've had experiance with. I suppose the best place to start is what typing you want?

As I mentioned before, Vivillon is outclassed by Volcarona as a Quiver Dance sweeper. In addition, it's outclassed as a cleric by Blissey, Sylveon and Clefable, as they're much bulkier than Vivillon is. Vivillon is just too frail for a support role. Sure, Infestation is a trapping move, but Gothitelle, Wobbuffet and even Dugtrio are much better trappers thanks to their inherent abilities, Shadow Tag and Arena Trap, respectively. While Infestation does inflict residual damage, that's better left for entry hazards. Hurricane + Compound Eyes won't save it either.

Just look at Noivern's base Attack. Would you even call this a physical sweeper? 70 Attack isn't high enough for that job. Noivern's Special Attack is higher, making it more suited for special attacking. Crobat is best left for fast support roles because 90 Attack isn't high enough for sweeping purposes. That, and its physical move pool is terrible.

 

[Mumzy]

As I mentioned before, Vivillon is outclassed by Volcarona as a Quiver Dance sweeper. In addition, it's outclassed as a cleric by Blissey, Sylveon and Clefable, as they're much bulkier than Vivillon is. Vivillon is just too frail for a support role. Sure, Infestation is a trapping move, but Gothitelle, Wobbuffet and even Dugtrio are much better trappers thanks to their inherent abilities, Shadow Tag and Arena Trap, respectively. While Infestation does inflict residual damage, that's better left for entry hazards. Hurricane + Compound Eyes won't save it either.

Just look at Noivern's base Attack. Would you even call this a physical sweeper? 70 Attack isn't high enough for that job. Noivern's Special Attack is higher, making it more suited for special attacking. Crobat is best left for fast support roles because 90 Attack isn't high enough for sweeping purposes. That, and its physical move pool is terrible.

Just giving a second opinion on how he could utilize vivillion if he really enjoys using it. There really is no outclassing when literally every pokemon is different? If there was we would all be using the same pokemon.

Noivern, Crobat and Haxorus are simply some very powerful sweepers I've seen notable competitive battlers use in which I've had experience with myself.

 

[Nineray]

For another Sweeper I was thinking that'd I'd use Malamar

Contrary and Superpower allows me to boost while still doing a lot of damage
The only problem I see with it is that it's slow so it might be knocked out quickly and I'm not the biggest fan of using trick room since I usually don't have many slow Pokemon on it.

Malamar @Life Orb Contrary 252 Attack
Super Power
Foul Play
Psycho Cut
???

I just don't really know what to use as a fourth move and how to integrate him into my team

I've also faced this Smeargle before and used it a couple of times too

Smeargle @ ??? 252 HP 252 Speed (My Guesses)
Imprison
Transform
Spore
Subsitute

I've used it a few times since then and it does decently, what do you guys think of it?

 

[PlatinumDude]

For another Sweeper I was thinking that'd I'd use Malamar

Contrary and Superpower allows me to boost while still doing a lot of damage
The only problem I see with it is that it's slow so it might be knocked out quickly and I'm not the biggest fan of using trick room since I usually don't have many slow Pokemon on it.

Malamar @Life Orb Contrary 252 Attack
Super Power
Foul Play
Psycho Cut
???

I just don't really know what to use as a fourth move and how to integrate him into my team

I've also faced this Smeargle before and used it a couple of times too

Smeargle @ ??? 252 HP 252 Speed (My Guesses)
Imprison
Transform
Spore
Subsitute

I've used it a few times since then and it does decently, what do you guys think of it?

Malamar isn't that good in OU because of its subpar stats, lack of resistances and 4x weakness to U-turn, the most common scouting move. Take note that Foul Play uses the opponent's Attack when calculating damage, not the user's so it only sees use on Pokemon that lack the Attack to deal damage on their own, like Sableye and Mandibuzz.

The above Smeargle set isn't that good, tbh, as Grass Pokemon are immune to Spore and Transform takes up a valuable turn to execute. If you want a Transform abuser, use Choice Scarf Ditto, since its Imposter ability transforms it into a Substitute-less opponent when it enters battle:
-Transform
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter

 

[Nineray]

Thanks cx
And I've also thought about Avalugg as a tank
Avalugg Adamant 252 HP 252 Defense 4 attack
Rapid Spin ( to get rid of entry hazards)
Earthquake
Avalanche(slow speed will help double damage)
Recover

And then a Flogres as well
Flogress Sassy 252 HP 252 Sp Def
Moon Blast
Wish
Toxic
Protect
This is more of a staller set than Waller set
How could I make it more of a wall or improve on it?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Thanks cx
And I've also thought about Avalugg as a tank
Avalugg Adamant 252 HP 252 Defense 4 attack
Rapid Spin ( to get rid of entry hazards)
Earthquake
Avalanche(slow speed will help double damage)
Recover

And then a Flogres as well
Flogress Sassy 252 HP 252 Sp Def
Moon Blast
Wish
Toxic
Protect
This is more of a staller set than Waller set
How could I make it more of a wall or improve on it?

Use neither one of those.

While Avalugg's Defense is rather titanic, its bad defensive typing hinders it from walling things. Its low Special Defnese is also an invitation for special or mixed attackers to come in and KO it. It's a dead weight as a result.

What Florges can do, Sylveon can do better. That's because Sylveon passes bigger Wishes, due to having more base HP, and has a stronger offensive presence in Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice:
-Wish
-Protect
-Hyper Voice
-Heal Bell/Calm Mind
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/244 Def/12 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate

or
-Hyper Voice
-Shadow Ball
-Psyshock
-Hidden Power (Ground)/Baton Pass/Echoed Voice
Nature: Modest
EVs: 244 HP/252 SAtk/12 Spe
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate

 

[Nineray]

What do you think of a mega gyarados with 252 in hp and defense?
It's attack stat would be enough so it'd be like a Tank and then I can use DD to boost attack
Also I need help finding a lead, what do you recommend?

 

[PlatinumDude]

What do you think of a mega gyarados with 252 in hp and defense?
It's attack stat would be enough so it'd be like a Tank and then I can use DD to boost attack
Also I need help finding a lead, what do you recommend?

Impish Gyarados should use RestTalk when it uses Dragon Dance so that it can stack up multiple boosts. That nature is a waste when Gyarados uses 2-3 offensive moves + Dragon Dance:
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Waterfall
-Roar/Dragon Tail/Dragon Dance
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP/252 Def/8 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate

Offensive Gyarados should look like this:
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge/Ice Fang/Bite (Mega)/Bounce (regular)
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Lum Berry/Gyaradosite

or
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Bounce
-Taunt/Substitute
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 88 HP/192 Atk/4 Def/224 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate

 

[Nineray]

Which set would you recommend? Or should I try and make my team based on what you've showed me so far then ask you afterwards?