Rate My Team - First Attempt at Competitive Team

[Marill]

Hello all!

I'm in the midst of creating my very first competitive Pokémon team. I'm very excited to finally get into online battles and I want to learn as much as possible about the art of battling. With that in mind, I've read, studied and researched the mechanics of competitive play and wanted to learn more from you all here!

Anyway, here is my (OU) team that I've created. I am open to any and all feedback. Let me say that I want to try to play with my favorites, but I also want to be a contender as well. I absolutely CANNOT stand the use of legendary Pokémon, so you won't see any on my team.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Timid/Protean
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
• U-Turn
• Extrasensory
• Ice Beam
• Scald

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Timid/Levitate
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
• Hex
• Will-o-wisp
• Sludge Bomb
• Destiny Bond

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Bold/Pixelate
252 HP/220 D/36 SpD
• Hyper Voice
• Wish
• Heal Bell
• Protect

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Sassy/Iron Barbs
252 HP/4 A/252 SpD
• Stealth Rock
• Leech Seed
• Power Whip
• Gyro Ball

Donphan @ Assault Vest
Adamant/Sturdy
252 HP/252 A/4 D
• Rapid Spin
• Knock off
• Ice Shard
• Earthquake

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Adamant/Blaze
252 Atk/4 D/252 Spe
• Dragon Dance
• Fire Punch
• Dragon Claw
• Roost

My thoughts are using Ferrothorn and Donphan as my defensive monsters, Gengar and Greninja as Special Sweepers, Charizard as my physical attacker and Sylveon for cleric purposes. Please let me know what you think!
I look forward to learning more from everyone!

Please be kind with your feedback - I may have been a member since 2005, but I'm brand new to the competitive scene!

 

[PlatinumDude]

Because of Greninja's frailty, it shouldn't gamble with Scald's 30% burn chance. OR/AS gave it move tutor moves in Gunk Shot and Low Kick, making it more dangerous against Fairy and Steel Pokemon, respectively, heck, even making it more dangerous against OU in general:
-Hydro Pump/Low Kick
-Ice Beam
-Gunk Shot
-Dark Pulse/Hidden Power (Fire)/Grass Knot
Nature: Naive
EVs: 40 Atk/216 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Protean

Excadrill is better than Donphan because it provides more offensive presence and a better defensive typing to switch in on threats:
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker

If you want a better defensive Rapid Spinner, use Starmie. It may not seem ideal for the job, but it has access to Reflect Type to beat Ferrothorn and Bisharp:
-Scald
-Rapid Spin
-Reflect Type
-Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 248 HP/16 SDef/244 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure

Charizard X should run Flare Blitz over Fire Punch; the recoil can easily be dealt with by using Roost and it needs the raw power.

 

[Marill]

Because of Greninja's frailty, it shouldn't gamble with Scald's 30% burn chance. OR/AS gave it move tutor moves in Gunk Shot and Low Kick, making it more dangerous against Fairy and Steel Pokemon, respectively, heck, even making it more dangerous against OU in general:
-Hydro Pump/Low Kick
-Ice Beam
-Gunk Shot
-Dark Pulse/Hidden Power (Fire)/Grass Knot
Nature: Naive
EVs: 40 Atk/216 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Protean

Excadrill is better than Donphan because it provides more offensive presence and a better defensive typing to switch in on threats:
-Earthquake
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker

If you want a better defensive Rapid Spinner, use Starmie. It may not seem ideal for the job, but it has access to Reflect Type to beat Ferrothorn and Bisharp:
-Scald
-Rapid Spin
-Reflect Type
-Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 248 HP/16 SDef/244 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure

Charizard X should run Flare Blitz over Fire Punch; the recoil can easily be dealt with by using Roost and it needs the raw power.

Awesome. Thank you for the suggestions. I love Starmie and it's always been one of my favorites, but I was leaning to Donphan because I thought it may be a surprise to some. I may revisit that idea.

In regards to the overall set up of the team, is it balanced, or lacking anything in particular?

 

[Marill]

I'll give you a hint...it's fine :)

Coverage-wise, you seem to have everything in place. Greninja can wipe out or threaten most checks and counters to your teammates. I'd have to say only one type would give you trouble: Ghost. However, shedding light on Aegislash's and Mega-Gengar's bans, I think you should be doing alright with those. Ferrothorn and Sylveon do a great job of successfully walling them and whittling their health away. All in all, nice synergy and it looks like a seriously good hyper-offensive team!

Just a few possible suggestions:

Just quickly on Gengar. Consider Taunt over Destiny Bond, DB is absolutely amazing but at the same time Taunt easily can destroy setups like Conkeldurr, Charizard-Mega-X, Scizor, Dragonite, et al. It's a great setup stopper, plus Gengar is swift and can land one at a good time to change the momentum of the battle.

Charizard: Your set is extremely powerful. Every OU Pokemon has a hard time taking his dual STAB moves (bar Heatran and a few select others), but at the same time, he is weak from residual and opponents' damage. Try to implement a Bulky Dragon Dance set, as Charizard can take more damage and setup without worrying about longevity. Here's the set:

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Roost

This set is one of Charizard's deadliest, and I've heard from many prominent OU players that this is a serious set to deal with.

Hope this helped, and good luck!

This is amazing feedback and extremely helpful. I'm going to implement your suggested changes. I'm excited to move forward and begin battling!

 

[Marill]

Update:

Since Greninja is now banned from OU, does anyone have a suggestion on a replacement for my team? The thing I loved about Greninja is it gave me many options to check other types while limiting the checks to my own. Any recommendation is much appreciated.

I have been thinking about replacing Donphan with Tentacruel as my spinner (and adding Toxic Spikes to make Gengar's Hex more effective.) With that in mind, I don't think I should overlap types, so out goes Azumarill and Rotom-W to replace Greninja. What are your guys thoughts?

@The Alchemyst

 

[PlatinumDude]

Update:

Since Greninja is now banned from OU, does anyone have a suggestion on a replacement for my team? The thing I loved about Greninja is it gave me many options to check other types while limiting the checks to my own. Any recommendation is much appreciated.

I have been thinking about replacing Donphan with Tentacruel as my spinner (and adding Toxic Spikes to make Gengar's Hex more effective.) With that in mind, I don't think I should overlap types, so out goes Azumarill and Rotom-W to replace Greninja. What are your guys thoughts?

@The Alchemyst

The problem with Tentacruel is that it's too passive, making it only good on stall teams.

As I mentioned, Excadrill or Starmie are better alternatives over Donphan.

Weavile and Serperior are the next-best alternatives for speedy attackers, though the latter is better late-game:

Weavile:
-Knock Off
-Icicle Crash
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick/Pursuit
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Pressure

Serperior:
-Leaf Storm
-Hidden Power (Fire/Ground)
-Dragon Pulse
-Giga Drain/Knock Off/Taunt
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Contrary