First Attempt at a Playable Team

[Copes]

Introduction

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Hello. This is my first attempt at making a team. While I have played every generation of the games, and have always been interested in battling, I never had the desire to form a team. With Black and White, my mind changed. I decided that for kicks I'd try and throw something together. While I have read a lot about team building, I have no idea how effective I would be at it. That's why I've decided to come here. Before I invest a ton of time into obtaining these Pokemon, training them, etc, I'd like some feedback on my plan. Feel free to hack and slash and alter anything you see here.

Team Building

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This is my first attempt at Teambuilding, so please, if you see something that doesn't make sense it probably has to do with my newbness. Having not played competitively before, I can say that I am not aware of most threats, outside of what I've read. It is incredibly possible (and in fact, very likely) that I've missed some major threats.

Initially I wanted to create a Sandstorm team, due to my love for Excadrill as I played through Black and White. Naturally Tyranitar was the partner that I chose. Looking for a third Pokemon to round out the trio, I wanted something that could work well in a Sandstorm but had some bulk. I went with Carracosta due to my liking of the turtle, however I acknowledge that Swampert would have been another viable option.

After a lot of browsing, and seeing how common sandstorm teams were, I decided I wanted something different. Instead of an incredibly common Sandstorm team, I'd try to create a team that could beat Sandstorm teams, while still holding its own in a situation where no Sandstorm was present. I scrapped my Tyranitar lead and tried to come up with a Pokemon that could punish other leads. Thinking of Pokemon that would set up weather, or try to lay down Spike / Stealth Rock, I settled on an incredibly powerful special sweeper, and another of my favorite B/W Pokemon - Hydreigon. More on this guy later.

At this point, my thought process was simply to cover off my weaknesses and throw in some defense. While Carracosta was certainly my most Defensive Pokemon, his advantage lies in his Atk Power as well. I spent a lot of time trying to decide who I would use, while considering the weaknesses that my core three had to deal with. Ultimately, I decided to use Gallade as a Special Wall and Skarmory as a Physical Wall. Skarmory was chosen largely because it is yet another Pokemon that does just fine in a Sandstorm.

With 5 Pokemon chosen, I realized that I had a pretty big Fighting weakness. While Skarmory and Gallade both had a chance to cover it off, I wanted to ensure that my last addition could hold off Fighting types. I decided a Ghost could fill this spot, and a Disabling Gengar was my choice.

Thus, version 1.0 of my team was completed. Any changes I make in the future will result in an update here.

The Team

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Nature: Modest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Flamethrower
Surf
Dragon Pulse
U-turn

My lead. While I've seen one or two, I don't think Hydreigon leads are overly common. As mentioned in the Team Building section, I tried to create a lead that could punish a number of common leads. Surf deals with a load of Pokemon that may be coming in to set up Sandstorm or Stealth Rock, which is one of my main goals. Flamethrower helps against Ferrothorns and Bronzongs. Dragon Pulse for STAB against other Leads, and U-Turn just in case I get caught in a sticky situation.

Carracosta @ White Herb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Aqua Jet
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Shell Smash

My bulkiest attacker and one of my two methods of dealing with those hanging out in the Sandstorm. Shell Smash to set up, and White Herb to remove any loss of Defense. Aqua Jet allows the slow turtle to go first while also taking advantage of STAB. Earthquake and Rock Slide for coverage. Pretty basic set.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Sword Dance
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Rapid Spin

If a Sandstorm does get set up, I have my own Excadrill to take advantage of it. This Excadrill set is about as basic as one could be. I didn't have a Spinner, so I opted to go with it on my mole instead of anything else. Air Balloon allows me to not worry about other Excadrills. Ideally, with my Jolly nature, I'll be using my mole to take out theirs.

Gallade @ Leftovers
Nature: Careful
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 240 HP / 40 Atk / 216 Sp. Def / 12 Spe
Bulk Up
Drain Punch
Ice Punch
Psycho Cut

Dealing with Special Attacks wasn't something my first three did, so I brought in Gallade. Additionally, while it is not his main priority (see below), he allowed me to cover off the fighting weakness that my first three Pokemon had. Bulk Up to hurt, Drain Punch to stay alive. Ice Punch deals with Gliscors. Psycho Cut was another STAB, although perhaps Shadow Sneak would be better? I'm not sure.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Roost
Spikes
Whirlwind
Brave Bird

A purely Physical wall, with a very common set. Allows me to set up my own entry Hazards as well, something I haven't been taking advantage of. Has the additional benefit of not getting hurt in the ever-so-common Sandstorm that I am trying to deal with.

Gengar @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Substitute
Disable
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast

Gengar was my last addition and probably the one I'm the least sure about. My goal was to deal with the Fighting weakness that I was particularly concerned about, as the only Pokemon that could even think about hurting a fighting type were my Walls. Disable allows me to hurt any Pokemon relying on a single attack to do damage, such as the Skarmory I posted above. In this regard though, I'm thinking more along the lines of Blissey.

Conclusion

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So, there it is. As mentioned already, please feel free to hack and slash. I am a complete newbie when it comes to team building so all criticism, no matter how harsh, is appreciated.

My one request is that no Pokemon be added that are considered Legendary in the game. While I understand that some Pokemon, like Zapdos, fall into OU despite their legendary status, I play with friends who don't pay attention to Tiers and frown on Legendaries in general.

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[Eternal]

For Sazandora, replace Flamethrower for Fire Blast and Dragon Pulse for Draco Meteor. You get more power that way and can freely U-turn out. Besides, two Draco Meteors = 140 + 140/2 = 210 and two Dragon Pulses = 90 + 90 = 180. You can see that even when you're using another Draco Meteor after SpAtk decreases, you're still doing a greater aggregate than when you use Dragon Pulse twice.

Instead of using Carracosta, I suggest using Cloyster. Cloyster is just a much better Shell Smash user, it just totally overshadows Carracosta. In bulkiness and power and a better STAB moves AND Skill Link advantage. Here's the set:

Cloyster @ White Herb Lv. 100 -- Skill Link
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell

 

[Copes]

Thanks for the suggestions. Fire Blast for Flamethrower and Draco Meteor for Dragon Pulse make sense, so I'll make those changes. I considered Cloyster, but Carracosta seemed to go with my theme of being able to tough out a Sandstorm. Perhaps I will try both and see what works, but your reasoning makes perfect sense.

 

[Jirachee]

Using Excadrill without your own Sand set-upper is playing with fire. If your opponent has a weatherless, a sun or a rain team, Exca is dead meat. Since you already have Skarmory to deal with Sand (watch for Fire Blast Tyranitar though!), Rotom-W seems the best pokemon to replace Exca with. It beats Sand and Rain, the latter which can threaten your team.

I'd use Choice Band Azumarril instead of Carracosta. It has very higher power when it comes to kill sand abusers, while being able to beat stuff like Thundurus in rain. (Rain boosted priority coming from 654 attack is scary).

 

[Jupiter Djinn]

Hey, I concur with Steeli about not using Excadrill without your own sand set-up. There is an additional option that can perform well without sand, but is certainly a Legendary pokemon.

Landorus @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly/Naive
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-U-Turn
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Hammer Arm/Hidden Power Ice

This guy will give you an out against non-Scarf Starmie and Thundurus as well. The last slot is pretty much up for grabs. Hammer Arm hits balloon riding Steel-types while HP Ice hits Gliscor and can be an answer for damaged dragons that has better accuracy than Stone Edge or Rock Slide.

I'll attempt to think up a different suggestion now that I've noticed your conclusion. Jolteon (Optionally Scarfed), Scarf Nidoking, or Mamoswine may be able to do that slot justice. Jolteon can often check both Starmie and Thundurus, while using Volt Switch to keep momentum. Nidoking has a fairly impressive move pool of Special Attacks (Ice Beam, Earth Power, Flamethrower, etc) and is immune to Sandstorm. Finally, Mamoswine is also immune to Sandstorm and adds priority Ice Shard to deal with the Dragons that outrun your Hydreigon. Since I doubt you'll go with my primary suggestion, tell me if you believe any of these may help.

 

[Copes]

Could you elaborate on why its felt that Excadrill is used purely in sand? At 135 base attack, he's the 2nd most powerful Ground type that I can think of, and certainly has better speed than Rhyperior. While I appreciate that his ability provides him with an excellent reason to be used in Sand, it seems to me like he is still an effective Ground type without it.

Perhaps thats a newb question haha, I'm just trying to fully understand the advice.

 

[Daenym]

Biggest reason would be that 88 speed, while respectable, is generally overshadowed by other sweepers. And said other sweepers are likely to have one of the types of attacks that hit Excadrill for SE damage (Fire, Water, Fighting are all hugely common).

Mostly, it's that people always pack and Excadrill counter anyway. So if you're making him weaker by not giving him the speed boost, then it open up a lot of other things that could wreck him.

Oh, and having Sand also means that a lot of Scarf'd revenge killers become useless against him. Not the case when he's slower than them ><

Edit:

I'll also be another vote for Cloyster over Carracosta. Though running Surf over Razor Shell is also an option. I like running him mixed, personally. Then you're best off running Naughty/Rash over Adamant, obviously.

 

[Copes]

Thanks for the feedback. I want to play a bit competitively before making any major changes. A factor (although a minor one) when creating this team was Pokemon that I currently have available. Since this is my first team, I don't have a ton of EV trained Pokemon in game that I can work with, so developing any new ones is a time commitment. I like your ideas though, and I will undoubtedly try them out.

Is there another viable option for an Excadrill replacement outside of Landorus. As mentioned, when playing with my IRL friends, they have a "no legendaries" rule, as opposed to following any sort of tier system. I'd love a Poke that I could use with them.

 

[Jirachee]

Using Excadrill without your own Sand set-upper is playing with fire. If your opponent has a weatherless, a sun or a rain team, Exca is dead meat. Since you already have Skarmory to deal with Sand (watch for Fire Blast Tyranitar though!), Rotom-W seems the best pokemon to replace Exca with. It beats Sand and Rain, the latter which can threaten your team.

 

[Copes]

Sorry, I completely missed that somehow. Question answered, I'll head out to catch a Rotom.

 

[Downf4ll]

I like this team, mainly because it's unconventional and I'm a hipster ;D

In all seriousness though, I'd like to provide you with a suggestion to replace Gengar. Have you considered Gliscor? While he may not be as strong as Gengar, he's essentially the be all, end all counter to fighting types. Here's the set:

Gliscor

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Nature: Impish (+ Def, - SAtk)
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Hp/4 Atk/184 Def/72 Spd
-Earthquake
-Ice Fang
-Swords Dance
-Taunt/Protect

Now this does have it's drawbacks, mainly a 2nd Ice weakness, a redundancy in physical walls (maybe more importantly, a lack of special walls, but gengar wasn't doing that anyway) and no actual fighting immunity. However, it does give you a platform for status, and a better way to combat excadrill than your own excadrill :P

I'd suggest Virizion over Gallade but no legendaries D:

Final suggestion: I support getting rid of your excadrill for rotom-w. Outside of sandstorm, he is really, really easy to kill, especially with 4 weaknesses to very common types.

 

[aost]

For Sazandora, replace Flamethrower for Fire Blast and Dragon Pulse for Draco Meteor. You get more power that way and can freely U-turn out. Besides, two Draco Meteors = 140 + 140/2 = 210 and two Dragon Pulses = 90 + 90 = 180. You can see that even when you're using another Draco Meteor after SpAtk decreases, you're still doing a greater aggregate than when you use Dragon Pulse twice.

Instead of using Carracosta, I suggest using Cloyster. Cloyster is just a much better Shell Smash user, it just totally overshadows Carracosta. In bulkiness and power and a better STAB moves AND Skill Link advantage. Here's the set:

Cloyster @ White Herb Lv. 100 -- Skill Link
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell

Wouldn't running Focus Sash on Cloyster if he makes the switch be better as you can use Shell Smash and if the opposing Poke is running a Thunderbolt it wouldn't OHKO the said Cloyster and waste the Shell Smash?