I haven't played in a while (last time I played before a heavy session today was before the first DLC for SS) and I just got back to it, laddering with my own team.
I really wanted to use Skarmory + Kartana so that's kinda what I built around.
Skarmory (w/ Rocky Helmet)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/227.png
Physically defensive set
Impish 252 HP /232 Def/ 24 Speed
Sturdy
Moves:
-Spikes
-Toxic
-Roost
-Brave Bird
I really like this Skarmory as it gives you free switch-ins to Lando, and to a lesser extent Rillaboom and Hawlucha (have to be wary of Knock-off of course). You can also use it as a pivot against Ferrothorn and Corv. But most importantly, the way it just nullifies Lando in every game I've played so far was impressive. Lando will get punished by u-turning of course due to rocky helm, allowing you to get spikes up, toxic, or switch and gain momentum. Also, Lando defogs, you can toxic and stall it out w/ roost. I've tried running both Toxic/Whirlwind and from my experience I preferred Toxic over Whirlwind. Sure there were times I really regretted not having Whirlwind when the opponent used Skarm as set-up fodder, but even then against physical set-up attackers you can toxic and wall off a number of hits (esp. w/ Roost) and then revenge kill w/ Bisharp's sucker, Fini scarf Moonblast/Scald, or w/ one of Kartana's attacks. All in all, I really like Skarmory solely due to the fact that it consistently neuters Landorus, allowing you to more freely click EQ and earth power w/ Garchomp and Heatran respectively.
Kartana (w/ Choice Band)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/798.png
Revenge killer set/Late Game Sweeper
Jolly 252 ATK/ 252 Speed/ 4 Def
Moves:
-Leaf Blade
-Knock-off
-Sacred Sword
-Smart Strike
I tried running life orb initially w/ Swords Dance instead of Smart Strike but I found it to be redundant w/ Bisharp and Chomp acting as physical sweepers, and plus I rarely found opportunities to set-up and sweep w/ Kartana anyways (only when I led w/ Kartana and the opponent made a bad first play). So I tried choice band and like it way more. Kartana is like the epitome of a glass cannon so you really don't have much opportunities to set-up w/ it, and w/ life-orb recoil I found that you can barely even get much hits in. W/ the life orb set I found myself clicking attacks and then switching out most of the time (109 base speed is good, but imho not good enough to really be a consistent sweeper when you factor in Kartana's paper-thin defenses + no priority moves) , so I figured in that case choice band would be way better. Most of the time I found myself clicking knock-off; opponents are really fearful of Kartana's leaf blade + sacred sword combination so many times I found knock-off to be free. W/ the choice band set I've been use Kartana as a revenge killer to clean-up mons that it can outspeed, and beast boost synergizes quite well w/ this set.
Heatran (w/ Leftys)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/485.png
Special wall + utility set
252 HP/232 Sp.Def/ 24 Speed
Flash Fire
Moves:
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic/Taunt
-Magma Storm
-Earth Power
Heatran really is just old reliable. I noticed that my team was quite susceptible to Tapu Koko and Lele, as well as set-up sweepers w/ fire attacks. I found Heatran to be the best single pokemon to cover such weakness. I tried AV Tangrowth for some time instead to have a true counter against electric attacks (Zeraora in particular is a scary match-up) but I found Heatran's natural bulk, fire immunity, Stealth rock support, and a strong-hitting Magma Storm to be the superior option. I've been switching b/w Toxic and Taunt, but I feel like I prefer Toxic even despite having Tapu Fini on my team, as well as already having toxic support w/ Skarm. The reason why i liked Toxic is because often times I'd find the opponent switching to a flying type like Torandus, Lando, etc. in which case I found the toxic option to be relatively free (not against Lando tho of course), while taunt would provide minimal benefit. Toxic also allows you to soft-check against set-up sweepers. Also, the toxic + magma storm combo was quite deadly in late-game situations where I'd have to resort to semi-stall. I found myself many times clicking magma storm even against a resisted mon simply because toxic would synergize quite well.
Tapu Fini (w/ Choice Scarf)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/788.png
Revenge killer/speed control
Timid 252 Sp.Atk/ 252 Speed/ 4 Sp.Def
Mistry Terrain
Moves:
-Moonblast
-Scald
-Trick
-Defog
I realized my team desperately needed a switch-in against fighting and water attacks, and I found Fini to be the best of both worlds, also providing speed control as a scarfer. Even w/out defensive investment, Fini's natural bulk allows it to be a decent pivot option. Pretty much my go-to switch in against mons like Urshifu rapid strikes, Garchomp, Bisharp, Weavile, and Conkeldurr. Urshifu and Conkeldurr very rarely run electric coverage, and Garchomp's EQ is a 3HKO most of the time. I found Moonblast to be a free attack most of the time when I'd successfully pivot into Fini to wall a certain attack. Fini is also very crucial to check against Weavile, as Weavile destroys so many of my offensive mons. Trick allows you to neuter Clef and Blissey, which aren't really threatened by any of Fini's attacks. Also, I found scarfed Fini to be a valuable option to clean-up/revenge kill Koko and Zeraora, two mons my team is quite susceptible to.
Garchomp (w/ Leftys)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/445.png
Late-game sweeper + electric and fire pivot
Jolly 252 Atk/ 252 Speed/ 4 Def
Rough Skin
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Fire Fang
-Scale Shot
I realized my team could really use another option to pivot against electric and fire attacks, and Garchomp provides both while also maintaining offensive pressure. It may seem a bit weird to pair together Garchomp and Fini, but I didn't really find misty terrain to be too much of an issue for Garchomp. I would rarely press Scale Shot anyways, as most of the time w/ Garchomp I'd either use it as a pivot to switch to another mon, or I'd set-up Swords Dance and rely on EQ + fire fang. However, Scale Shot is definitely the superior option over Dragon Claw as in spite of Scale Shot's ability to miss, Chomp really appreciates the speed boost effect, and plus I found that I'd hit 4+ most of the time whenever I'd connect. In spite of misty terrain, I found Garchomp and Fini to actually compliment each other quite nicely as Chomp could be used to switch-in to electric attacks (like against Zeraora for instance, a very big threat against my team), while Fini would cover for Chomp's Ice and Dragon weaknesses. In this set, I found leftys to be the best item as Chomp has some natural bulk, and leftys provided the longevity that my other two glass cannons (bisharp and Kartana) couldn't.
Bisharp (w/ Life Orb)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/625.png
Cleaner + Hazard control + sweeper
Adamant 252 Atk/252 Speed/ 4 Def
Defiant
Moves:
-Swords Dance
-Knock-off
-Sucker Punch
-Iron Head
I found Bisharp to be a very valuable asset to my team, as it discourages defog (and I have both spikes + stealth rock on this team) and acts a cleaner w/ a priority STAB move. Since Fini isn't exactly the fastest scarfer and Kartana's base 109 speed allows it to be outsped by the Lati twins, Zeraora, etc., I knew I needed another mon that could clean-up/revenge kill. I believe Adamant nature + Life orb are the superior options to Jolly + black glasses respectively, as many times Bisharp is going to be clicking sucker-punch, and it really needs all the attack power it can have in situations where you don't have any attack boosts (which will happen many times when you're using Bisharp as a cleaner). Bisharp also acts as a relatively reliable check against Aegislash, as the Defiant ability allows Bisharp to actually boost it's attack by one when getting King's Shield, and Bisharp's ability to outspeed even at adamant allows you to get a free knock-off many times or set-up, in spite of Aegislash's CC coverage.
Some thoughts: I'm very new to teambuilding, and I feared that having 4 steel mons on one team might be a bad move, even in spite of Steel being one of the best typings. But I pretty much never use Kartana and Bisharp as pivots/switch-ins (Bisharp only if I'm predicting a psychic attack and it's slowbro or something), and I found the combination of Heatran, Fini, Chomp, and Skarmory to sufficiently act as pivots for the team. I believe my team is most notably susceptible to Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Nidoking. I found Heatran to be my most reliable switch-in to Koko, as in the worst case scenario Heatran can tank a decent number of tbolts, and then when it'd threaten Koko out w/ Earth Power I'd either Stealth Rock, Toxic, or Magma Storm. In late game scenarios I'd sometimes hit Koko w/ a Moonblast under misty terrain and sacrifice Fini (ppl very rarely run Koko w/ scarf), and then clean-up w/ Bisharp's sucker, as in spite of Koko's resist, sucker punch does 33-38% unboosted, assuming adamant + life orb of course (Fini's Moonblast under misty terrain misty does about half, and Koko's tbolt even in electric terrain doesn't OHKO Bisharp from full health, allowing you to sometimes get 2 suckers off). Zeraora was a more tricky endeavor as I don't have a single mon that could act as a go-to switch-in. Garchomp is the closet mon that could fill that role, as Zeraora's knock-off and CC do 28-33% and 34-43% respectively, plus Chomp is able to punish such attacks w/ rough skin. But of course Chomp doesn't appreciate having it's leftys knocked-off. In such situations where I'd switch into Chomp against Zeraora, I found myself often clicking Scale Shot (provided there wasn't a fairy switch-in) to boost my speed, going for a sweep w/ Swords Dance, or predicting my opponents switch-in and pivoting to another mon to maintain momentum.
And I found Nidoking to actually be the a quite tricky mon to play against w/ this team, solely due to Nidoking's coverage + offensive prowess w/ sheer force life orb. Hence countering Nidoking was all based on specific situations, almost all of which relied upon baiting out tbolt at the end to safely switch into Chomp (Chomp outspeeds and OHKOs w/ EQ). So if Nidoking started w/ ice beam I'd switch into Heatran, then pivot into Skarmory predicting Earth Power, and then bait tbolt to switch into Chomp. It sounds simple enough but this method relies on correctly predicting my opponent's moves, and of course there will be times where my opponent outpredicts me and then uses Nidoking's supreme coverage to destroy my team.
I really wanted to use Skarmory + Kartana so that's kinda what I built around.
Skarmory (w/ Rocky Helmet)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/227.png
Physically defensive set
Impish 252 HP /232 Def/ 24 Speed
Sturdy
Moves:
-Spikes
-Toxic
-Roost
-Brave Bird
I really like this Skarmory as it gives you free switch-ins to Lando, and to a lesser extent Rillaboom and Hawlucha (have to be wary of Knock-off of course). You can also use it as a pivot against Ferrothorn and Corv. But most importantly, the way it just nullifies Lando in every game I've played so far was impressive. Lando will get punished by u-turning of course due to rocky helm, allowing you to get spikes up, toxic, or switch and gain momentum. Also, Lando defogs, you can toxic and stall it out w/ roost. I've tried running both Toxic/Whirlwind and from my experience I preferred Toxic over Whirlwind. Sure there were times I really regretted not having Whirlwind when the opponent used Skarm as set-up fodder, but even then against physical set-up attackers you can toxic and wall off a number of hits (esp. w/ Roost) and then revenge kill w/ Bisharp's sucker, Fini scarf Moonblast/Scald, or w/ one of Kartana's attacks. All in all, I really like Skarmory solely due to the fact that it consistently neuters Landorus, allowing you to more freely click EQ and earth power w/ Garchomp and Heatran respectively.
Kartana (w/ Choice Band)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/798.png
Revenge killer set/Late Game Sweeper
Jolly 252 ATK/ 252 Speed/ 4 Def
Moves:
-Leaf Blade
-Knock-off
-Sacred Sword
-Smart Strike
I tried running life orb initially w/ Swords Dance instead of Smart Strike but I found it to be redundant w/ Bisharp and Chomp acting as physical sweepers, and plus I rarely found opportunities to set-up and sweep w/ Kartana anyways (only when I led w/ Kartana and the opponent made a bad first play). So I tried choice band and like it way more. Kartana is like the epitome of a glass cannon so you really don't have much opportunities to set-up w/ it, and w/ life-orb recoil I found that you can barely even get much hits in. W/ the life orb set I found myself clicking attacks and then switching out most of the time (109 base speed is good, but imho not good enough to really be a consistent sweeper when you factor in Kartana's paper-thin defenses + no priority moves) , so I figured in that case choice band would be way better. Most of the time I found myself clicking knock-off; opponents are really fearful of Kartana's leaf blade + sacred sword combination so many times I found knock-off to be free. W/ the choice band set I've been use Kartana as a revenge killer to clean-up mons that it can outspeed, and beast boost synergizes quite well w/ this set.
Heatran (w/ Leftys)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/485.png
Special wall + utility set
252 HP/232 Sp.Def/ 24 Speed
Flash Fire
Moves:
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic/Taunt
-Magma Storm
-Earth Power
Heatran really is just old reliable. I noticed that my team was quite susceptible to Tapu Koko and Lele, as well as set-up sweepers w/ fire attacks. I found Heatran to be the best single pokemon to cover such weakness. I tried AV Tangrowth for some time instead to have a true counter against electric attacks (Zeraora in particular is a scary match-up) but I found Heatran's natural bulk, fire immunity, Stealth rock support, and a strong-hitting Magma Storm to be the superior option. I've been switching b/w Toxic and Taunt, but I feel like I prefer Toxic even despite having Tapu Fini on my team, as well as already having toxic support w/ Skarm. The reason why i liked Toxic is because often times I'd find the opponent switching to a flying type like Torandus, Lando, etc. in which case I found the toxic option to be relatively free (not against Lando tho of course), while taunt would provide minimal benefit. Toxic also allows you to soft-check against set-up sweepers. Also, the toxic + magma storm combo was quite deadly in late-game situations where I'd have to resort to semi-stall. I found myself many times clicking magma storm even against a resisted mon simply because toxic would synergize quite well.
Tapu Fini (w/ Choice Scarf)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/788.png
Revenge killer/speed control
Timid 252 Sp.Atk/ 252 Speed/ 4 Sp.Def
Mistry Terrain
Moves:
-Moonblast
-Scald
-Trick
-Defog
I realized my team desperately needed a switch-in against fighting and water attacks, and I found Fini to be the best of both worlds, also providing speed control as a scarfer. Even w/out defensive investment, Fini's natural bulk allows it to be a decent pivot option. Pretty much my go-to switch in against mons like Urshifu rapid strikes, Garchomp, Bisharp, Weavile, and Conkeldurr. Urshifu and Conkeldurr very rarely run electric coverage, and Garchomp's EQ is a 3HKO most of the time. I found Moonblast to be a free attack most of the time when I'd successfully pivot into Fini to wall a certain attack. Fini is also very crucial to check against Weavile, as Weavile destroys so many of my offensive mons. Trick allows you to neuter Clef and Blissey, which aren't really threatened by any of Fini's attacks. Also, I found scarfed Fini to be a valuable option to clean-up/revenge kill Koko and Zeraora, two mons my team is quite susceptible to.
Garchomp (w/ Leftys)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/445.png
Late-game sweeper + electric and fire pivot
Jolly 252 Atk/ 252 Speed/ 4 Def
Rough Skin
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Fire Fang
-Scale Shot
I realized my team could really use another option to pivot against electric and fire attacks, and Garchomp provides both while also maintaining offensive pressure. It may seem a bit weird to pair together Garchomp and Fini, but I didn't really find misty terrain to be too much of an issue for Garchomp. I would rarely press Scale Shot anyways, as most of the time w/ Garchomp I'd either use it as a pivot to switch to another mon, or I'd set-up Swords Dance and rely on EQ + fire fang. However, Scale Shot is definitely the superior option over Dragon Claw as in spite of Scale Shot's ability to miss, Chomp really appreciates the speed boost effect, and plus I found that I'd hit 4+ most of the time whenever I'd connect. In spite of misty terrain, I found Garchomp and Fini to actually compliment each other quite nicely as Chomp could be used to switch-in to electric attacks (like against Zeraora for instance, a very big threat against my team), while Fini would cover for Chomp's Ice and Dragon weaknesses. In this set, I found leftys to be the best item as Chomp has some natural bulk, and leftys provided the longevity that my other two glass cannons (bisharp and Kartana) couldn't.
Bisharp (w/ Life Orb)
https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/625.png
Cleaner + Hazard control + sweeper
Adamant 252 Atk/252 Speed/ 4 Def
Defiant
Moves:
-Swords Dance
-Knock-off
-Sucker Punch
-Iron Head
I found Bisharp to be a very valuable asset to my team, as it discourages defog (and I have both spikes + stealth rock on this team) and acts a cleaner w/ a priority STAB move. Since Fini isn't exactly the fastest scarfer and Kartana's base 109 speed allows it to be outsped by the Lati twins, Zeraora, etc., I knew I needed another mon that could clean-up/revenge kill. I believe Adamant nature + Life orb are the superior options to Jolly + black glasses respectively, as many times Bisharp is going to be clicking sucker-punch, and it really needs all the attack power it can have in situations where you don't have any attack boosts (which will happen many times when you're using Bisharp as a cleaner). Bisharp also acts as a relatively reliable check against Aegislash, as the Defiant ability allows Bisharp to actually boost it's attack by one when getting King's Shield, and Bisharp's ability to outspeed even at adamant allows you to get a free knock-off many times or set-up, in spite of Aegislash's CC coverage.
Some thoughts: I'm very new to teambuilding, and I feared that having 4 steel mons on one team might be a bad move, even in spite of Steel being one of the best typings. But I pretty much never use Kartana and Bisharp as pivots/switch-ins (Bisharp only if I'm predicting a psychic attack and it's slowbro or something), and I found the combination of Heatran, Fini, Chomp, and Skarmory to sufficiently act as pivots for the team. I believe my team is most notably susceptible to Tapu Koko, Zeraora, and Nidoking. I found Heatran to be my most reliable switch-in to Koko, as in the worst case scenario Heatran can tank a decent number of tbolts, and then when it'd threaten Koko out w/ Earth Power I'd either Stealth Rock, Toxic, or Magma Storm. In late game scenarios I'd sometimes hit Koko w/ a Moonblast under misty terrain and sacrifice Fini (ppl very rarely run Koko w/ scarf), and then clean-up w/ Bisharp's sucker, as in spite of Koko's resist, sucker punch does 33-38% unboosted, assuming adamant + life orb of course (Fini's Moonblast under misty terrain misty does about half, and Koko's tbolt even in electric terrain doesn't OHKO Bisharp from full health, allowing you to sometimes get 2 suckers off). Zeraora was a more tricky endeavor as I don't have a single mon that could act as a go-to switch-in. Garchomp is the closet mon that could fill that role, as Zeraora's knock-off and CC do 28-33% and 34-43% respectively, plus Chomp is able to punish such attacks w/ rough skin. But of course Chomp doesn't appreciate having it's leftys knocked-off. In such situations where I'd switch into Chomp against Zeraora, I found myself often clicking Scale Shot (provided there wasn't a fairy switch-in) to boost my speed, going for a sweep w/ Swords Dance, or predicting my opponents switch-in and pivoting to another mon to maintain momentum.
And I found Nidoking to actually be the a quite tricky mon to play against w/ this team, solely due to Nidoking's coverage + offensive prowess w/ sheer force life orb. Hence countering Nidoking was all based on specific situations, almost all of which relied upon baiting out tbolt at the end to safely switch into Chomp (Chomp outspeeds and OHKOs w/ EQ). So if Nidoking started w/ ice beam I'd switch into Heatran, then pivot into Skarmory predicting Earth Power, and then bait tbolt to switch into Chomp. It sounds simple enough but this method relies on correctly predicting my opponent's moves, and of course there will be times where my opponent outpredicts me and then uses Nidoking's supreme coverage to destroy my team.
