OU 5th Gen, the earliest attempt.

[Sacred Nym]

So, I'm new to competitive Pokemon. Been lurking around Smogon for a long while now, but my interest is only just now getting big enough. I understand the basics, but my team making skills, I don't feel are that nice to me. I'm hoping what I have here is workable, so any help in improving this will be greatly appreciated.

Without further ado...




Voltros/Borutorosu @Leftovers
Modest, Mischievous Heart
164HP/252SpA/92Spe
-Taunt
-Thunderbolt
-Thunder Wave
-Focus Blast

Mischievous Taunt lead. Originally put in because it seemed as though Stealth Rock was literally the be all and end all. It's proven to be much less worrisome so I'm considering swapping this guy for something else. The priority Thunder Wave still seems useful though. T-bolt is there for reliable STAB. Focus Blast is mostly filler, I don't know what else to put there.

Shandera @Life Orb
Timid, Flash Fire
4HP/252SpA/252Spe
-Fire Blast
-Energy Ball
-Shadow Ball
-HP Fighting

I know that most Shanderas are Scarfed, but I feel this should work well enough. Since it's not scarfed, it's more likely to stay in after one attack which is why I use Fire Blast instead of Overheat. Shadow Ball is for alternate STAB, Energy Ball is intended to cover pesky Waters, but I dunno if it'll work that well in practice. HP Fighting because I don't know what else to put in that slot.
My worry with Shandera is how frail it is, coupled with the Stealth Rock weakness.

Waruvial/Warubiaru @Choice Scarf
Adamant, Intimidate
4HP/252Atk/252Spd
-Earthquake
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Pursuit

Revenge killer, I guess (still don't think I've quite figured out what that particular term means, please correct me if I'm wrong). This is, I'm pretty sure, a fairly standard set here. I thought about having things like Brick Break, Aerial Ace, or Outrage in place of Pursuit, but I ultimately decided against changing it since BB hits very little that STAB EQ or Stone Edge don't already, AA hits less, and Outrage feels really risky to me. Intimidate over Overconfidence/Earthquake Spiral should be obvious. As much as I love the latter, it just seems like a stupid idea on a Choicer.

Blissey @Leftovers
Calm, Natural Cure
252HP/252Def/4SpD
-Aromatherapy
-Softboiled
-Toxic
-Grass Knot

Oh look, it's this thing.
When I put this on my team, I was thinking of it as a sort of "insurance" for when those damn bulky Water types decide to show up and ruin Shandera or Waruvial's fun, which is why I run Grass Knot over Ice beam, though depending on how this turns out I may go for Seismic Toss instead. Softboiled is obvious stall material, while Toxic helps make the stalling somewhat useful. Aromatherapy is there as a bonus since I hate status on my team.

Nattorei @Leftovers
Relaxed, Iron Barbs
252HP/252Def/4SpD - 0 Speed IV
-Stealth Rock
-Gyro Ball
-Power Whip
-Leech Seed

Blissey's more physical based partner in crime. Its primary role is to take Physical hits and get Rocks up, though it can still shrug off many Special hits. With his Speed as low as it can possibly go, nobody does the Gyro Balls better. Power Whip comes off nice and strong too should it be necessary. That said I'm considering replacing one of these moves with Protect to support the Leech Seed. If a fire type comes in, then they can say hi to Shandera or Blissey.

Suicune @Leftovers
Timid, Pressure
32HP/252SpA/224Spe
-Surf
-Calm Mind
-Ice Beam
-Substitute

After the previous five, I wasn't sure what else I could fit into the team and still have it flow nicely. I figured that it should be something bulky, but can still deal out damage. This, admittedly textbook, Suicune appears to fit the bill. It does manage to cover two attack types that are otherwise missing from my team, have decent bulk, particularly on the Special side thanks to Calm Mind.



While I feel this looks good on paper, I haven't had any luck with it in practice. I'm actually half expecting for this team to be judged as a royal piece of crap that needs to be thrown out. I'm hoping that I'm wrong, and that I actually have at least the framework for something decent here.

 

[Jaroda]

It's just that your team seems more reactive than proactive. You've mentioned pretty much all of your pokemon as a means to handle something, but you don't seem to have a general goal in mind. Like, some teams are dedicated to a Doryuzuu sweep. So they get a sandstreamer and a few other pokemon dedicated to making Doryuzuu do his job as easy as possible, like popping enemy balloons and trapping Skarmory and whatnot. Your team, while each individual mon is alright, doesn't really have synergy or a common goal. Like you said, it was kind of haphazardly put together.

So let's see, you don't like Stealth Rock and you're using a pokemon to keep it off the field. What are some pokemon that benefit from no Stealth Rock? Well for instance if you're not using a Shadow Tag version of Shandera than an Ulgamoth would be a much better sweeper thanks to Butterfly Dance. Normally SR would do 50% damage to it simply from switching in. But with that off the field, you have more opportunities to begin your Butterfly dancing.

Now say you like the idea of using Ulgamoth for sweeping, you have to ask yourself, what pokemon are good counters to Ulgamoth? Heatran for example is immune and 4x resists both of your STABs. You'd either need HP Ground/Water to take it out, but many are starting to carry Balloon. If instead you want something that opposes Heatran than Gyarados is a pretty good choice. It has great bulk, threatens with Waterfall and resists Fire moves and is immune to Earth Power.

See the thought process?

I could keep going but I don't really want to build your whole team lol. So why not take a look at a mon or two you want to focus on and then build your team around that. Good luck.