My First Team, RMT.

[Huntofthelion]

Well I am new to Smogon, and pretty new to Pokemon in general. A friend recommended this site, and I joined last night. I read through some guides, looked through some of the standard sets, and now attempt to build my first competitive team. Any helpful advice is appreciated, and please bear with me if I misunderstood the use of a certain Pokemon. Now to the actual team...

Team Name- Salamence Sweep

Scizor@Choice Band
252 Attack. 252 Speed. 4 HP.
Adamant-Technician
~U-Turn
~Bullet Punch
~Pursuit
~Superpower

This is my lead; CB Scizor. U-Turn is not only a powerful STAB attack, but allows me to scout my opponent. It might, for instance, allow me to see their Scizor Counter. Or, it lets me switch to my best option of taking out their lead, should they choose to leave it in. Later in the fight, he comes in to pursuit ghosts/psychics, or use his very strong Bullet Punch. Superpower gives him a move to use against steels, as steel resists all his previously mentioned moves.

Starmie@Leftovers
160 HP. 132 SpA. 216 Speed.
Timid-Natural Cure
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
~Rapid Spin
~Recover

My team is trying to set up a sweep for Salamence, so a rapid spinner is a must. Starmie not only does that, bu can absorb ice attacks for Salamence, and fire attacks for Scizor. Standard support set.

Jirachi@Leftovers
240 HP. 56 Attack. 76 Def. 136 Speed.
Impish
~Wish
~U-Turn
~Zen Headbutt
~Reflect

Wish support for my team, and a somewhat physical wall. Reflect furthers his ability to take physical attacks. U turn allows him to switch to what I want to get the wish, and do damage at the same time, how ever minimal it is.

Jolteon@Leftovers
252 SpA. 4 HP. 252 Spe
Timid-Volt Absorb
~Thunderbolt
~HP grass
~Substitute
~Baton Pass
My revenge killer, and main special attacker. He hits 405 special attack, which is strong, and he has great speed, so only other fast scarfers are going to outrun him. He can also take Tricks from other choice scarfed Pokemon, though that is risky. I was considering Trick over Grass Knot, though some opinions on that would be helpful.

Zapdos@Life Orb
252 Speed. 252 SpeA. 4 HP.
Timid
~Thunderbolt
~Heat Wave
~HP Grass
~Roost

Zapdos is my other special attacker, my most reliable Scizor counter. Thunderbolt for STAB, Heatwave for steels. HP grass I am considering dropping for HP ground to better deal with Heatran, though your input on that would be greatly appreciated. Roost allows me to recover damage, especially that from Life Orb recoil.

Salamence@Leftovers
120 HP. 252 Atk. 136 Speed.
Adamant
~Dragon Dance
~Dragon Claw
~Earthquake
~Flamethrower

This is what the team is building up to, a Salamence sweep. Dragon Dance boosts his already massive attack, and his decent speed. Leftovers help him survive, and the HP is to increase his bulk. Dragon Claw over outrage here, because after a DD or two, does it really need to risk it for the extra power? If so, I can change this. Earthquake+Flamethrower to take out steels, the only thing resisting his stab attack.

Well, thats my first team. If the synergy, or anything else is bad, I am new to this so please don't hesitate to correct me. Also, if you could recommend any guides or other resources, that would be great. Thanks for reading, and have a GREAT day!!!

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[Imran]

Nicely thought out for a first-time team. I shall start by giving my answers to your questions:

If you don't want Toxic Spikes on your Tentacruel (which I agree with btw) I think you should go either for Knock Off, which may knock off Leftovers or if you are lucky more important Items such as Choice Bands. This will further aid youin setting up Salamence as he won't have to do so much damage. You could also go with Starmie who will still conter Heatran and provide more support with Recover (allowing it to consistantly counter such threats) or Thunderbolt helping your slight gyarados weak. (Special Attacking Jirachi may help you against Gyarados as well, It can switch in and set up otherwise, reflect will help but only up to an extent.

Trick will help you out immensely vs Blissey as a lot of your team is walled by her (especially if you chance Jirachi.) Sub Encore or Trick Zam will help you to set up Salamence, so you're going in the right direction, but i think a chance in set would be useful for your alakazam, allow it to support your team, rather than act as a special sweeper.

Theres nothing else I can see right now and I'm ill so any further attempt I try to make may not have the desired result lol. Hope everything goes well :D

 

[Huntofthelion]

Thanks, I made the changes you suggested.

 

[garchompnoubber]

salamence is better with fire fang over flamethrower

 

[Huntofthelion]

salamence is better with fire fang over flamethrower

The smogon set for salamence said flamethrower was a better choice, so if someone else could verify, I will change.

 

[Imran]

Go with Flamethrower or Fire Blast, depending on whether you want Accuracy or Power. The Smogon set is right, you wil;l damage Skarmory so much more with Flkamethrower than you will fire Blase. Dragon Dance just doesn't have the power to pull off a fire fang.

 

[Huntofthelion]

I have noticed that electric types really hurt my team, as I have no safe switch. Does anyone have any suggestions?

First two matches with team resulted in two losses. First one was due to jolteon, as i had no real switch in. Second was a stall team sporting a blissey/cressy. I had no real way to break through either. Help with these weaknesses would be Great...

 

[Shank]

Maybe consider replacing Alakazam with a Jolteon of your own, he can be your revenge killer and your safe electric switch in. Also he can Baton Pass substitutes to Salamence so he can setup.

 

[Kid Icarus]

First off, for Alakazam, Timid is a better nature. Once you trick the scarf away, you'll need that speed boost. Plus, with the scarf, you can outspeed a Yanmega even after a Speed Boost. Also, I think Hidden Power Ice and maybe even Grass Knot are better options over Shadow Ball and Focus Blast. Hidden Power Ice has great coverage, and Grass Knot takes out pesky Swamperts and other bulky waters that might give Salamence trouble. Plus, you might not need Focus Blast, as if Blissey gets a scarf, then it's better to set up another Pokemon then attempt to beat it down with a 70 accuracy move.

It might be good to throw a Stealth Rock-er in there, so that Ice types get chunks of Hp shaved off. Since the whole team revolves around building a Salamence sweep, you should focus on getting rid of Salamence's counters. Starmie's Rapid Spin is good to keep SR at bay, now you need SR yourself to make it easier to sweep.

Too lazy to make any more suggestions, might later. But careful about Mamoswine, Scizor might not be able to take repeated Earthquakes, Ice Shard would stop Salamence, and most of your team doesn't wall it very well.

 

[HotPocket]

The smogon set for salamence said flamethrower was a better choice, so if someone else could verify, I will change.

In my opinion, Fire Blast is the best.

If you put Stealth Rocks up, assuming Fire Blast does not miss, Skarmory is OHKO'd and Forretress is OHKO'd with or without the rocks. Bronzong is 2HKO'd with Fire Blast and Life Orb.

Short answer, go with Flamethrower or Fire Blast, not Fire Fang.

 

[Huntofthelion]

Thanks for the advice guys, and I was wondering WHERE I could fit a stealth rocker in. I really would like the support, but I can't find a good spot for it. Decided on jolteon, Electric attacks were really hurting me.

 

[kd24]

tbh, I would go one step further than Jolteon and actually use Dugtrio instead. Jolteon and Zapdos overlap on what they hit super effective and dugtrio gives you a revenge killer for electric types. I also like to mention that Dugtrio will be able to trap Blissey and kill it, allowing Zapdos and Starmie to run rampant.

heatran is also a total bitch to this team, and dugtrio wont even help you there. Starmie could be a bit bulkier for those pesky scarf fire blasters and salamence could even go a bit bulkier as well to ensure a fire blast wont 2hko with sr up.

the concept of the team is pretty cool which is why i have 2 more suggestions. First, I would use uturn over roost on zapdos. trust me when i say that you wont be using roost with that zapdos. you just arent bulky with that spread because that is the exact same set / spread i use. u-turn allows you a speedy escape if you need it, and gives you 3 uturn users meaning you will be able to constantly stay out of trouble.

My other idea is maybe use roost on salamence over flamethrower. you already beat scizor and skarmory with this team, no questions asked. Roost provides more durability and salamence could use the extra healing.

With Wish support, Recover, U-Turn, Roosts, and trapping coming from all over the pokemon field, you should have a pretty exciting team capable of winning.

edit: stealth rock on jirachi is a good idea imo, i would use it over zen headbutt tbph.

 

[abhijoy123]

well

seriously i suggest fire fang..salamence has an insanely high attack so fire fang is better.

 

[Huntofthelion]

seriously i suggest fire fang..salamence has an insanely high attack so fire fang is better.

Yes but those coming in to wall him have high defense, and in turn generally low special defense. I have already had too many people tell me flamethrower/fire blast is a better idea.


As to the other, more detailed post. I will think about making those changes, and testing them out. Can't really test ATM, but will get on that, thanks.

 

[HotPocket]

seriously i suggest fire fang..salamence has an insanely high attack so fire fang is better.

The reason this doesn't work is because Salamence has a difference of 25 Atk to SpA which isn't that much compared to many other pokemon.

However, many walls sent in upon Salamence will not fall to a +1 LO Fire Fang in one shot, making Fire Blast the better choice. Here are some damage calculations to help you get a better idea of why to choose Fire Blast:


Fire Fang: (Positive Nature + 252 EVs)

w/ DD and LO: Skarmory (252 HP / 252 Def / Positive Nature) - 54.19% - 63.77%
w/ DD: Skarmory (252 HP / 252 Def / Positive Nature) - 41.62% - 48.80%
w/ LO: Skarmory (252 HP / 252 Def / Positive Nature) - 36.53% - 42.81%
w/ DD and LO: Forretress (252 HP / 252 Def / Positive Nature) - 101.98% - 120.06%
w/ DD: Forretress (252 HP / 252 Def / Positive Nature) - 78.53% - 92.37%
w/ LO: Forretress (252 HP / 252 Def / Positive Nature) - 68.93% - 81.07%

Fire Blast: (Neutral Nature with no EVs)

w/ LO: Skarmory (252 HP / 252 Def / Neutral Nature) - 89.82% - 105.69% (guaranteed KO with rocks up)
w/ LO: Forretress (252 HP / 252 Def / Neutral Nature) - 190.96% - 224.58%


I hope that pretty much sums up my point, with Fire Blast, Salamence is a sure-fire cure (pun intended) to any Forretress or Skarmory that ails you. He also 2HKOs Bronzong with Fire Blast, but I was too lazy to put that up.