Trying to build a good battle frontier team (ORAS)

[AegislashIsBae]

So I want to use nothing but my favorite Pokémon but, I'm worried about the team lacking in consistency, here's my list of favorites, is it possible to build a good team out of these?

If possible, I'd at least like Hypno within the team,

Favorites, Hypno, Lilligant, Delphox, Infernape, Cloyster, Dusknoir, Chandelure, Aegislash, Samurott, Spiritomb, Gardevoir, Froslass, Sylveon, Glaceon, Gengar, Banette, Victreebel, Golurk, Muk, Alakazam, Zoroark.

Is a functional battle frontier team AT ALL possible with any 6 of these?

 

[skyburial]

I can say with certainty that Infernape, Gardevoir, and Gengar are all great against the Battle Maison regulars. You'll start to get used to the 3 dozen or so sets that the game will use against you. Sylveon is easy enough for the game to circumvent, but powerful.

Aegislash is worth looking into as well, as the game struggles with King's Shield and Substitute. I'd recommend a genderless Pokemon if you can find one, as Battle Maison loves to throw full Attract-based teams at you as a curveball.

Make sure to put Taunt and Fake Out on Infernape, they will become invaluable to you. It might be worth your time to put Will-O-Wisp on Gengar for those hard hitting physical attackers like Slaking and Tauros. If you do the EV Training thing we can get you some spreads.

 

[Nah]

I remember putting some work into the Maison with a Shell Smash Cloyster, so there's that too, in addition to the Pokemon skyburial mentioned.

Be aware though that you'll need different sets and probably different Pokemon combinations to actually win each different battle format. The team I used to clear Super Doubles in ORAS wouldn't be able to do Super Singles, and the one I used to beat Super Rotations (in XY) wouldn't work in anything other than Rotations.

....mmm, I should probably try clearing Super Singles and Super Rotations in ORAS's Battle Maison sometime soon....

 

[Alfieri]

Choice Specs Pixilate Modest Sylveon and then press the "I Win" button (Hyper Voice).

 

[AegislashIsBae]

I can say with certainty that Infernape, Gardevoir, and Gengar are all great against the Battle Maison regulars. You'll start to get used to the 3 dozen or so sets that the game will use against you. Sylveon is easy enough for the game to circumvent, but powerful.

Aegislash is worth looking into as well, as the game struggles with King's Shield and Substitute. I'd recommend a genderless Pokemon if you can find one, as Battle Maison loves to throw full Attract-based teams at you as a curveball.

Make sure to put Taunt and Fake Out on Infernape, they will become invaluable to you. It might be worth your time to put Will-O-Wisp on Gengar for those hard hitting physical attackers like Slaking and Tauros. If you do the EV Training thing we can get you some spreads.

A question here is, who doesn't EV train? Anyway, I do in fact EV train, So I just thought up a formation, lemme know if it works, EV's may be a problem for me as some of these I've never EV trained before,

Hypno
Item: Choice Spec
-Psychic
-HP Bug
-Hypnosis
-Shadow Ball

Cloyster
Item: Focus Sash
-Icicle Spear
-Rock Blast
-Hydro Pump
-Shell Smash

Aegislash
Item: Weakness Policy/Life Orb
-Sacred Sword
-Iron head
-Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
-King Shield

Lilligant
Item: Focus Sash/Band
-Aromatherapy
-Petal Dance
-Quiver Dance
-Energy Ball

Muk
Item: Black Sludge
-Recover (if it can still learn it like in Gen 1)
-Sludge Wave
-Minimize (same as Recover)
- Brick Break

Any of these good?

 

[PlatinumDude]

A question here is, who doesn't EV train? Anyway, I do in fact EV train, So I just thought up a formation, lemme know if it works, EV's may be a problem for me as some of these I've never EV trained before,

Hypno
Item: Choice Spec
-Psychic
-HP Bug
-Hypnosis
-Shadow Ball

Cloyster
Item: Focus Sash
-Icicle Spear
-Rock Blast
-Hydro Pump
-Shell Smash

Aegislash
Item: Weakness Policy/Life Orb
-Sacred Sword
-Iron head
-Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
-King Shield

Lilligant
Item: Focus Sash/Band
-Aromatherapy
-Petal Dance
-Quiver Dance
-Energy Ball

Muk
Item: Black Sludge
-Recover (if it can still learn it like in Gen 1)
-Sludge Wave
-Minimize (same as Recover)
- Brick Break

Any of these good?

I'd rather not use Hypno if I were you. It faces way too much competition from other Psychic Pokemon like Reuniclus, Alakazam, and (Mega) Gardevoir. Its lacking offensive presence is one of those reasons.

Lilligant's move pool is very shallow. It's outclassed by even Serperior, as the latter has Contrary Leaf Storm to fix its mediocre Special Attack (Contary + Leaf Storm attacks and boosts Special Attack at the same time, even faster than Quiver Dance would boost its Special Attack).

Muk is eh as well. It can't learn Recover, either. It has a wide move pool, yes, but its slowness is what lets it down.

Out of your list, the only ones worth using are Aegislash, Sylveon, Infernape, Cloyster (maybe), Chandelure, Gengar, (Mega) Alakazam, and Mega Gardevoir.

I'd comment with sets for each, but I don't have time, atm.

 

[AegislashIsBae]

I'd rather not use Hypno if I were you. It faces way too much competition from other Psychic Pokemon like Reuniclus, Alakazam, and (Mega) Gardevoir. Its lacking offensive presence is one of those reasons.

Lilligant's move pool is very shallow. It's outclassed by even Serperior, as the latter has Contrary Leaf Storm to fix its mediocre Special Attack (Contary + Leaf Storm attacks and boosts Special Attack at the same time, even faster than Quiver Dance would boost its Special Attack).

Muk is eh as well. It can't learn Recover, either. It has a wide move pool, yes, but its slowness is what lets it down.

Out of your list, the only ones worth using are Aegislash, Sylveon, Infernape, Cloyster (maybe), Chandelure, Gengar, (Mega) Alakazam, and Mega Gardevoir.

I'd comment with sets for each, but I don't have time, atm.

Well if I used Cloyster, it'd be a Shell smash build (like above)

As for the rest, I'd probably build 'em like this,

Chandelure
Modest
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
-Heat Wave
-Energy Ball
Item: Choice Specs/Life Orb

Alakazam
Timid
-Psychic
-Dazzling Gleam
-HP Fire/Ice/Bug
Item: Alakazite

Infernape
Naive
-Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
Item: Life Orb/Choice Band

Sylveon (Not exactly sure how to build it, but here goes)
Bold
-Moonblast
-Hyper Voice
-Heal bell
-Trump Card/HP Ground
Item: Leftovers/Focus Band/Sash

Cloyster
Whatever nature lowers Speed and raises defense
-Shell Smash
-Hydro Pump
-Rock Blast
-Icicle Spear
Item: Focus band/Sash

And Aegislash would be Quiet Policy build

 

[Nah]

Try not to bank on Hidden Power types for coverage since breeding for specific HP types while maintaining good IVs is a huge pain in the ass.

Heat Wave only has use in Doubles and Triples so unless you plan to use Chandelure in one of those, Fire Blast is the better fire STAB to use.

Also Sylveon and Cloyster only work well if they have Pixilate and Skill Link, respectively, so make sure you have those on them. You also don't want a Relaxed (+Def -Spe) on Shell Smash Cloyster. Base 180 Defense sounds nice until you notice that Cloyster has garbage HP and Sp.Def and you're not investing in Def EVs anyway so there's no point in using a +Def nature. You want a +Speed nature instead so that Cloyster outspeeds as much stuff as possible after SS since its base Speed stat is mediocre, and you're using it to sweep.

 

[AegislashIsBae]

Try not to bank on Hidden Power types for coverage since breeding for specific HP types while maintaining good IVs is a huge pain in the ass.

Heat Wave only has use in Doubles and Triples so unless you plan to use Chandelure in one of those, Fire Blast is the better fire STAB to use.

Also Sylveon and Cloyster only work well if they have Pixilate and Skill Link, respectively, so make sure you have those on them. You also don't want a Relaxed (+Def -Spe) on Shell Smash Cloyster. Base 180 Defense sounds nice until you notice that Cloyster has garbage HP and Sp.Def and you're not investing in Def EVs anyway so there's no point in using a +Def nature. You want a +Speed nature instead so that Cloyster outspeeds as much stuff as possible after SS since its base Speed stat is mediocre, and you're using it to sweep.

Ah okay, how does this look?

Aegislash @ Weakness policy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind

Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Hydro Pump
- Shell Smash

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dazzling gleam
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Close Combat

 

[Nah]

Ah okay, how does this look?

Spoiler:

Aegislash @ Weakness policy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind

Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Def
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Hydro Pump
- Shell Smash

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dazzling gleam
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Close Combat

Wish works best with Protect in the moveset, though you'd probably wanna just run Shadow Ball over it for the Maison so Sylveon has something for Aegislash.

Speaking of Aegis, Flash Cannon and SpA EVs would be better than Iron Head and Atk EVs so it's less crippled by burns, which the Maison will try to harass you with.

Pain Split's not something you want to be locked into on Choice Item Chandelure. Trick is a fun little option for screwing over certain pokes with.

Again, +Speed and not +Def on Cloyster. Since you're using Hydro Pump you'll want Naive (-Sp.Def, +Speed).

I've personally always preferred Iron Fist on Infernape over Blaze so Thunder Punch and Mach Punch are threatening. And I think that one of those would be more useful than Earthquake; Ape already smashes Rock and Steel types with its STABS and Earthquake only slightly outdamages Close Combat/Flare Blitz against Electric types. Thunder Punch hits Water types just as hard as CC does and allows you to conserve PP for it and avoid the Def+Sp.Def drop, while STAB Iron Fist Mach Punch is good priority. Gunk Shot would be something to consider over Stone Edge as well so it can break through Fairies.

 

[AegislashIsBae]

Wish works best with Protect in the moveset, though you'd probably wanna just run Shadow Ball over it for the Maison so Sylveon has something for Aegislash.

Speaking of Aegis, Flash Cannon and SpA EVs would be better than Iron Head and Atk EVs so it's less crippled by burns, which the Maison will try to harass you with.

Pain Split's not something you want to be locked into on Choice Item Chandelure. Trick is a fun little option for screwing over certain pokes with.

Again, +Speed and not +Def on Cloyster. Since you're using Hydro Pump you'll want Naive (-Sp.Def, +Speed).

I've personally always preferred Iron Fist on Infernape over Blaze so Thunder Punch and Mach Punch are threatening. And I think that one of those would be more useful than Earthquake; Ape already smashes Rock and Steel types with its STABS and Earthquake only slightly outdamages Close Combat/Flare Blitz against Electric types. Thunder Punch hits Water types just as hard as CC does and allows you to conserve PP for it and avoid the Def+Sp.Def drop, while STAB Iron Fist Mach Punch is good priority. Gunk Shot would be something to consider over Stone Edge as well so it can break through Fairies.

So what should each moveset look like then?

 

[PlatinumDude]

So what should each moveset look like then?

Specially-based Aegislash can still viably use Iron Head to hit Fairies harder, as most have better Special Defense than Defense, but here's how Aegislash should look:
-Shadow Ball
-Flash Cannon/Iron Head/Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword/Shadow Sneak
-King's Shield
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Weakness Policy

If Sylveon is to use Wish support, it should be bulky:
-Wish
-Protect
-Hyper Voice
-Heal Bell/Toxic
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate

If Chandelure doesn't have the right Hidden Power type, it can use Trick over Pain Split to give its Choice item to walls.

And for Infernape, it can go mixed:
-Fire Blast/Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-Gunk Shot
-Grass Knot/Hidden Power (Ice)/Thunder Punch/Mach Punch
Nature: Naive
EVs: 100 Atk/156 SAtk/252 Spe or 188 Atk/68 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

An Impish nature seems tempting on Cloyster, but it's a waste, as the +2 Speed boost from Shell Smash is wasted if Cloyster lacks Speed investment:
-Shell Smash
-Hydro Pump/Razor Shell
-Icicle Spear
-Rock Blast
Nature: Naive/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash/White Herb/Lum Berry
Ability: Skill Link

 

[AegislashIsBae]

Specially-based Aegislash can still viably use Iron Head to hit Fairies harder, as most have better Special Defense than Defense, but here's how Aegislash should look:
-Shadow Ball
-Flash Cannon/Iron Head/Shadow Sneak
-Sacred Sword/Shadow Sneak
-King's Shield
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Weakness Policy

If Sylveon is to use Wish support, it should be bulky:
-Wish
-Protect
-Hyper Voice
-Heal Bell/Toxic
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate

If Chandelure doesn't have the right Hidden Power type, it can use Trick over Pain Split to give its Choice item to walls.

And for Infernape, it can go mixed:
-Fire Blast/Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-Gunk Shot
-Grass Knot/Hidden Power (Ice)/Thunder Punch/Mach Punch
Nature: Naive
EVs: 100 Atk/156 SAtk/252 Spe or 188 Atk/68 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

An Impish nature seems tempting on Cloyster, but it's a waste, as the +2 Speed boost from Shell Smash is wasted if Cloyster lacks Speed investment:
-Shell Smash
-Hydro Pump/Razor Shell
-Icicle Spear
-Rock Blast
Nature: Naive/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash/White Herb/Lum Berry
Ability: Skill Link

So this team should do a-ok?

 

[AegislashIsBae]

*bump*

 

[Nah]

now's the part where you figure out which battle format you wanna tackle and then which of the 3 or 4 pokes you wanna use and then start breeding and training them