team rate thread yeah!

[Anti]

I'll skip the fancy intro and move right on to my team. It was actually pretty deliberately put together with a few random mons thrown it, but it has worked pretty well so far. So here it is!

full team:

individuals:

Reuniclus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

This is the "lead" but I never lead with it. In reality, it's the endgame sweeper of a lifetime. I ripped the EVs from Smogon though I have no idea what they actually do! Either way, the thing I love most about him is how he can change a game in an instant and completely turn the momentum in a way that now U-turn/Volt Switch spam ever could. I put him in mostly as a way to keep Conkeldurr in check, but I haven't faced one yet haha. I mean, the moveset really speaks for itself. Reuniclus is awesome: there's a reason he's been a suspect before.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Fire Punch
- Wish

The first part of the defensive core is Jirachi. I have fire Punch for Scizor and especially Magnezone, and the burn chance is nice. I can use him to Wish pass if I really need it, though I usually don't. Obviously, Jirachi is here to wall most non-Heatran/Volcarona special attackers. the status speading is also really useful along with Rotom's Will-O-Wisp. Jirachi is a hax machine, of course, so I feel a little dirty using him, but nothing else does the job he does. :(

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split

Rotom-W is a lot of fun. He's here to wall things like Landorus and Gyarados while spreading around burns, and really, that's what makes him great. if I get him on on Gyarados, it's going to switch, and then you get a free burn. Even on something like Latios it is useful because of the 12.5% HP loss every turn, which makes Rotom a lot of fun to mess around with. I use Volt Switch over Thunderbolt mostly for a situation like "I brought this in to counter Gyarados but I want to be safe against the likely Latios switch-in" and it accomplishes this well. an all-around stellar Pokemon.

Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Substitute
- Pain Split

This was the first Pokemon I just kind of threw on the team because it looked cool. Honestly though, I haven't really had many chances to use Pain Split (of course, I haven't seen many Chanseys or Blisseys, sooo...) so I've been considering or even a 4 attacks moveset - Substitute hasn't come in handy much, and HP Ice to mess with Dragonite sounds good. But yeah, Gengar is fast and strong. It's here as a way to deal with some Fighting-types like Mienshao (or however you spell it x_x) as well.

Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Waterfall
- ExtremeSpeed

I originally had SD Scizor (offensive) in this slot, but I was struggling with Heatran (even though Superpower devastated a few of them!). I used CB Dragonite over a more defensive variants primarily because Scizor's Bullet Punch had saved me a few times and I wanted to keep a strong priority move on the team. ExtremeSpeed is also much more effective against Volcarona, so that's good! Honestly, I find Dragonite being used in defensive ways more than as an attacker. If Stealth Rock isn't up, it can come in and take just about any attack and then retaliate for a kill. Being locked into moves always makes me very nervous, but my defenses are just strong enough that they can handle it.

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Leech Seed

Shaymin is actually pretty good! While its attacking prowess is pretty impressive, I find Leech Seed incredibly useful as a way of leaving things I can't beat like Dragonite and Salamence with a little parting gift, so it gets the nod over Rest. I have definitely been considering Hidden Power Ice because Dragonite always gives me a ton of problems and Scizor usually ends up killing it with Bullet Punch anyway. Ferrothorn could emerge as an issue if I did that though, so I'm torn. Either way, Shaymin is a good status absorber of sorts that serves as a kind of glue Pokemon along with Dragonite.

EDIT: Adding HP Ice over HP Fire because HP Fire sucks x_x.

____________________________

I know with rates people like to replace Pokemon, so I'll just say now that the least useful of them are Shaymin and Gengar, though neither are anything close to dead weight. Still, three special attackers is probably one too many, especially since Rotom kind of fits the bill there as well.

In terms of weaknesses, stat-uppers are always a problem. I usually just try to sac something but damage the Pokemon so that Extremespeed can kill. the lack of any Ice moves is obviously a little concerning! I can usually overcome my weaknesses with good play but I feel like I could get more out of this team...so here it is.

 

[Ooka]

Phew, got some major catching up to do. :/

Anyways, the team looks great. Just some things I'd like to suggest:

SR is pretty needed nowadays, just because of the sheer power of Multiscale, and even Volcarona, which I believe you saw in a battle sometime today. Looking at your team I see Gengar as the least needed Pokemon, so I would suggest this over that:

Heatran@Balloon
4 HP / 252 Sp. Attack / 252 Speed
Modest Nature
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Stealth Rock
Dragon Pulse / HP Ice

It gets Stealth Rock up for you, as well as gives you something to bring in on opposing Heatran, which I believe you said you had trouble with. It also helps a lot against sun based teams, which otherwise hit everything with Solarbeam / Fire Blast / HP Ice for some pretty massive damage.

Other than that it's pretty solid, not much I would change about it. Nice job on the team, and who said you couldn't fall into 5th gen meta. xD

 

[PlatinumDude]

Just a little nitpick: Hardy doesn't do anything at all on Rotom. I think a Bold nature might be the best nature to use for your current set.

 

[Impo]

is this the team that managed to scrape a win against me?

If so, then I'd say it's pretty solid xD

 

[Anti]

Thanks Impo :)

I removed Hardy in favor of Bold. That was a pretty silly oversight though I guess it's nice to know that even without a beneficial nature Rotom is still awesome? Thanks though, haha.

I have been testing Heatran...so far, mixed results. He saved me against a DDMence and SR helped in the few battles I was able to get it down in. I guess my issue is that it always seems like it's just there, but I haven't lost with the Heatran version yet so I'll keep on battling, and if that trend continues, I won't fix what isn't broken. For now though, it has worked out fine, so thanks Ooka!

EDIT: Had lots of trouble with two teams, the common denominator being a pink blob. Both Chansey and Blissey were a major pain and I was easily outstalled. As of now, I have HP Ice on Shaymin over HP Fire (too much Rain to be useful) and and testing a ton of stuff in the Gengar slot. We shall see.