Rate My Team (Gen IV)

[TripleHelix526]

This is the team I'm using and I want to get some feedback on it.
Thanks in advance.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability Levitate
Nature Mild (+SpA, -Def)
EVs: 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spd
-Icy Wind
-Focus Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Counter
Icy Wind Gengar Lead. This attacking lead deals with most common leads in the 4th gen. Icy Wind first turn to reduce speed and breaks sashes, and then finish with either Focus Blast or Shadow Ball. The other pokemon can either attack or set up rocks, but either way, dies by turn two. If the opposing lead is a physical attacker, like Machamp or Tyranitar, I can use Counter to just finish them. I am also thinking about replacing Focus Blast with HP Fighting b/c the accuracy is unappealing to me.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability Technician
Nature Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 248 HP, 252 Atk, 8 Spd
-Pursuit
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Superpower
Standard Choice Band Scizor setup. With Bullet Punch and U-Turn as its moves, it makes a good revenge killer and scout. Along with its several resistances and decent defenses, it can tank up a good amount of damage.
Superpower is there for coverage over other steel types, like Heatran or Magnezone.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability Levitate
Nature Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
-U-Turn
-Fire Blast
-Earthquake
-Outrage
Flygon is a secondary scout as well as a potential late game sweeper. Outrage and Earthquake are the primary STABs to hit hard and fast. Fire Blast is there to deal with Skarmory. In addition, since Flygon is immune to both Ground and Electric Attacks, I can find opportunities to switch in, use U-Turn quickly, and then switch again to a more appropriate counter. Its ground typing also gives it Stealth Rock resistance, so I can switch in a little more.

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability Levitate
Nature Sassy (+SpD, -Spd)
EVs: 252 HP, 84 Atk, 80 Def, 92 SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Payback
-Gyro Ball
-Earthquake
My wall and Stealth Rocker. Steel/Psychic Typing and Levitate make Bronzong a great wall for many pokemon. Payback its Starmie and Rotom, Gyro Ball is a good STAB move that hits Tyranitar hard. Earthquake is there to hit Fire types that would normally dance circles around it. I am considering replacing Earthquake with Exposion, as to deal with unforseen problems.

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability Water Absorb
Nature Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EVs: 248 HP, 224 Def, 36 SpD
-Wish
-Protect
-Ice Beam
-Surf
The healer of my team and my favorite pokemon of all time. With Wish, it can heal itself and its teammates. Surf is a powerful STAB that keeps Skarmory and Gliscor at bay. Ice Beam is there to deal with Dragonite and other Grass pokemon. I am considering replacing Ice Beam with Toxic so I can break other stalling pokemon.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability Natural Cure
Nature Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spd
-Rapid Spin
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Hydro Pump
The Rapid Spinner of my team. Knocks out entry hazards and functions as a counter to common sweepers like Gyarados and Dragonite with BoltBeam. Hydro Pump is there so it can OHKO spin blockers like Rotom. I decided no to run this one with recover, since I have a Wish healer on my team.

 

[michael]

Hey, welcome to Smogon.

Firstly, it looks like your team has a major weakness to strong Electric-type attacks. Specs or Subpass Jolteon can demolish your team, KOing every Pokemon on your team with prediction, or with a Substitute, none at all. To prevent this, a Specially Defensive Wish Jirachi may be more useful. It is never 2HKOed by Specs Thunderbolt, can pass Wish, and can paralyse troublesome sweepers. I would replace Vaporeon with the Jirachi, as it has more special bulk and high physical bulk, and lacks a weakness to Electric.

It also looks as though a SubToxic Heatran, while less common than Scarf variants, can severely dent your team, crippling Vaporeon with Toxic and hitting Flygon for between 38.9% - 45.8% each time it switches in with Fire Blast. With 2 turns of switching into Stealth Rock, this could be a 2HKO. A TormentTran also has a field day against your team, as nothing can break its cycle of Substitute and Protect, while Toxic or Toxic Spikes will wear down your team. To be honest, your team does not really need a Rapid Spinner, as Flygon and Bronzong, as well as the Jirachi, are resistant to Stealth Rocks, and other hazards are less common. I would replace Starmie with a RestTalking Gyarados. This beats MixApe which could be dangerous to your team with Jirachi over Vaporeon, sets up on many physical attackers, and doesn't care about being inflicted with status conditions from things like Blissey.

TL;DR

Sp. Def. Jirachi over Vaporeon
RestTalk DD Gyara over Starmie

Sets

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/40 Spd/216 SpDef
Careful nature (+SpDef,-SpAtk)
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Wish
---
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/152 Def/8 Spd/96 SpDef
Careful nature (+SpDef,-SpAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Waterfall

 

[TripleHelix526]

I am a little reluctant on adding yet another steel type to my team, since then half my team would be killed by fire.
Instead, would it be worth it to add a specially defensive tyranitar? sandstorm increases its special defense.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability Sand Stream
Nature Careful (+SpD, -SpA)
EVs: 252 HP, 4 Atk, 252 SpD
-Earthquake
-Pursuit
-Stone Edge
-Superpower

 

[Crona]

You DO have two resists to Fire if you remove Vaporeon.
That's trustworthy enough to have three weak. In fact, Jirachi synergizes well since you have two immune to Ground and two resists to Fire. Flygon also takes out Fire types with EQ. Infernape is debatable since your only trustworthy resist to it is Starmie, as I've encountered people using a random Close Combat vs. my Jirachi and catching my switch-in.

Tyranitar could help some members of your team as well, however. It doesn't mind any electric moves and Jolteon's Signal Beam is easily shrugged off. Normally this would counteract your Gengar's Sash, but since it's meant to suicide, it doesn't really matter, and switching in on rocks if you switched out breaks the sash anyway.

Edit: I'd suggest a more supportive Tyranitar, or more offensive (less bulk investment). Sp. Def with only attacks and minimum Attack investment is rather counter productive. Use Naive on Flygon, also. 10% decrease in power for Fire Blast is bad, I have no idea why Smogon lists Jolly for it if Fire Blast is an option.

To be honest Mikel's suggestions or yours could help.

 

[Andy Snype]

Hey, I notice a couple of issues with this team, mostly Fighting-types, namely Infernape and Lucario. Choice Banded/+2 CC from either of these two Pokemon will hurt anything on your team as your only immunity is a suicide lead, which usually dies early on, and your Starmie is offensive and lacks Recover, which will wear it down pretty easily.

Other threats that people have mentioned to be a pain against you are Electrics such as Jolteon and Rotom-W as they outspeed most members of your team, and your only Scarfed Pokemon will not be able to handle too many of their coverage moves as HP Ice OHKOes Flygon and Shadow Ball does respectable damage.

Another threat that hasn't been addressed so far is Kingdra whose DD ChestoRest set lets it set up on Scizor's Bullet Punches, Bronzong, Vaporeon, and even Starmie and walk all over your team (if Flygon's down, game over).

As a result, I'd first recommend changing Vaporeon into a Gyarados to be able to better handle the Fighting-types that would plague your team and force them to rely on the inaccurate Stone Edge or ThunderPunch, which Flygon resists and wouldn't mind coming in with their -1 Attack drop thanks to Intimidate. I'd recommend the Bulky RestTalk set onsite as it's got continued durability to help you out and take Fighting hits.

That being said, with a defensive Gyarados on your team, you'll need a bulkier spinner. Make Starmie bulkier with Recover over Ice Beam and Leftovers as opposed to Life Orb. Ice Beam is really for the Dragons and the Grasses (who I'll cover momentarily) to better take hits. Thunderbolt is to hit DD + Taunt Gyara who think they set up easily against Gyarados and would otherwise hurt your team.

With these changes, we still have to fix the Rotom/Jolteon issue, and as a result, I'd recommend replacing Bronzong with Specially Defensive Heatran with a set of Flamethrower, Stealth Rock, Roar, Protect. Flamethrower is used over Lava Plume as a matter of preference since I just prefer the higher base power. Your team still needs a source of entry hazards to function well. Protect helps you scout for choiced Pokemon's moves and see what they're up to.

Even with these changes, though, your team is still weak to offensive Grasses, namely Celebi and Shaymin. Something to alleviate this weakness would be to Scarf Scizor rather than Band it so that it can outspeed Base 120s, which includes outspeeding Starmie, Gengar, Infernape, and Scarfed Tyranitar. With that much Speed, you may not like the option of a priority move, so Metal Claw is an option to keep the Steel STAB and still gain the Technician boost. However, since your team doesn't have much priority, Bullet Punch is still a valid option and I still kept that as the preferred option.

The last suggestion I have is to replace Counter with Destiny Bond and put Life Orb instead on Gengar. Gengar's got that excellent base 130 SAtk, and without a Life Orb, it's going to miss that damage output. As a result, its Shadow Balls will do a decent chunk of damage. The other advantage of using Destiny Bond is that it scares the opponent and plays mindgames with them, allowing you to either kill the attacker (even if it's Special) or get some momentum. The things Focus Sash misses out on common leads are Aerodactyl, Starmie, and Azelf, all of which can be handled with the rest of your team.

Changes suggested

• Replace Bronzong with Specially Defensive Heatran
• Replace Vaporeon with Gyarados
• Scarf Scizor rather than Band it
• Destiny Bond + Life Orb on Gengar instead of Counter + Focus Sash
• Make Starmie bulkier

EV Spreads

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt

Scizor (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technician
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch / Metal Claw
- Pursuit

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar

Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Roar

 

[Janell6754]

I am a little reluctant on adding yet another steel type to my team, since then half my team would be killed by fire.
Instead, would it be worth it to add a specially defensive tyranitar? sandstorm increases its special defense.

 

[B-Zard]

Hi Triplehelix,

this team looks okay. I really like the Banded Scizor and Scarf Flygon combo since with their combination of U-turn can shut down many things. Furthermore they have a good synergy. A small thing on Flygon, I would recommend using Thunderpunch > Fire Blast just to revenge kill Gyarados, which could be a problem to your team, especially since Starmie is offensive (thus fragile) and Vaporeon doenst have hp electric to shut it down.

Next is Bronzong. To be honest with you, I don't really like Bronzong since there are much better SR users which are steel type. Examples are Metagross, Skarmory, Forretress and Heatran. To your team I think it would be nice to use a Metagross lead, since this lead can shut down most leads with a combination of a strong attack + Bullet Punch. Only difference with Bronzong is the Ground weakness, but since you have Flygon, Gengar and maybe Gyarados I don't think that is a huge deal. I would use Lum Berry as item to beat sleep leads, Machamp leads and so you get healed of random status hax. This is the exact set:

Lead Metagross set

Metagross @ Lum Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 248 Hp | 252 Att | 8 Speed
Adamant Nature (+attack, -spatt)
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake

Something else about your Gengar, I think it would be best to use a SubPainsplit set for late game sweeping. This set does great against Blissey who loves to come in on Gengar thinking they can take a hit. Scizor and Ttar are still problems for it but with a bit of prediction and luck (of Focus Blast hitting) you should be able to beat those too. This is the set:

SubSplit Gengar set

Gengar @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def | 252 Spatt | 252 Speed
Timid Nature (+speed, -attack)
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Now are you two bulky waters. I like Starmie to be honest since it has Rapid Spin, although I would use a more defensive set so you can beat Gyarados and Dragonite at +1. You still have the BoltBeam combo to hit both Gyara and Dnite. I would use Leftovers > Life Orb for longevity since Tbolt and Ice Beam will Ohko Gyara and Dnite respectively so there is no Life Orb needed. This is the set I am talking about:

Starmie set

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Hp | 4 Spatt | 252 Speed
Timid Nature (+speed, -attack)
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

Next is your Vaporeon. I would use a DD Kingdra > Vappy. I don't recomment DD Gyara since with Gyara you have a massive Electric weakness to your team since only Flygon resist it. You have both Gengar and Starmie to take fighting type attacks and your two waters and Flygon to take fire type attacks. Since Flygon is pretty fragile it is not really a safe switch in to attacks. Kingdra also gives you a nice water and fire resist. You have two dragon types, so two dragon weaknesses. Since you have both Scizor and probably Metagross (or Bronzong) you also have two bulky Dragon type resists. Here is the DD Kingdra set:

DD Kingdra set

Kingdra @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP | 160 Atk | 40 SpD | 164 Spe
Adamant Nature (+attack, -spatt)
- Rest
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Waterfall

TL DR

Lead Meta > SR Bronzong
SubSplit Gengar > Lead Gengar
Tpunch > Fire Blast on ScarfFlygon
More Defensive Starmie
DD Kingdra > Vaporeon

Hope I helped you with your team :)