ORAS NU Please help...

[jeremymasher]

Hi, I made an NU team, abut I keep losing. Although I picked pretty good pokemon, I do not think my pokemon have any synergy because I view them as their own separate attacker or defender. I would like a real strategy to go to every match, but also have flexible alternatives. Any input on move changes, set changes, pokemon changes, or even usage tips would help a lot.

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Giga Drain
- Leaf Storm
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I built my entire team around sceptile. I like sceptile because it's a fast special attacker that hits hard in tandem with a diverse movepool. Also, I think it outclassed pokemon like jumpluff, cacturne, and vileplume. I think sceptile is great, but I feel a fast special sweeper just does not fit a grass type and is better suited for a dragon type or something.

Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Toxic

I view lapras as a very bulky pokemon, but I was not too right. I picked something that not only could check sceptile's weaknesses, but also take out dragons with diversity, hence the ice type. I guess I was going for a tank that could also take hits. Unfortunately, I believe that there are potentially better bulky water types, or even water types in general.

Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Acrobatics
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Roost

Here, I needed something very physically offensive, and the 140 base attack stat stuck out to me. I needed something very fast as a revenge killer or even a late game sweeper. Although not many use arcehops in this tier, I find it highly successful because of it's high neutral power of acrobatics and its diverse movepool. Roost is needed for defeatists to not suffer from the attack drop.

Magmortar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Flame Charge

Magmortar serves more as a wallbreaker. Also, I thought that it was work well as a tank with lapras because of how their types contracs. I do not think I need full investment in speed because of flame charge, but I hoped to switch in on something it could resist. I think magmortar can be a reliable asset, but I have to figure out how to use it.

Skuntank @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 232 Atk / 132 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
- Foul Play

Orginially, I had garbador and although it is very bulky, toxic spikes + spikes became utterly useless with a magic bounce opener or a rapid spinner, both of which are common. I replaced it with something more offensive and since I did not have a psychic type counter, but I do not feel confident with skuntank at all. Regardless, I need something to reliably counter fairy types that was also bulky. Steelix?

Sawk @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt
- Stone Edge

I originally had hitmonchan because I knew I needed a powerful fighting type to go well with whatever my fairy counter was, and since fighting types are more popular and useful. I also admire fighting types because of how fast and offensive they usually are. I needed something to go with sceptile, but I do not feel too confident with either Sawk or Hitmonchan. Also, I needed another physical attacker. I'm thinking I should change.

 

[Kiyo]

Sceptile / Lapras / Archeops / Magmortar / Skuntank / Sawk

Hi jeremymasher, cool team you have here.

So it seems to me that the biggest problem you're suffering from is lack of a sufficient goal for your team, I can see the beginnings of one and I'll try to give you an idea of how to shape this for yourself. This can be difficult to do in building if you're not actively thinking about it, but becomes apparent in practice which I think you realize. There are also a few minor changes to movesets you should be able to find success with, which I'll list below with reasoning for each.

Leftovers-->Choice Specs The added recovery you gain from Leftovers is often negligible throughout a game, giving Lapras the ability to use its potent dual STAB combination to dish out more damage may be worth a shot.
Thunderbolt-->Freeze-Dry Freeze-Dry gives the exact same coverage as Thunderbolt, it hits Water-types super effectively. However Freeze-Dry is also a decent STAB move that Lapras can feel comfortable clicking without fear of a Ground-type switching in, and as an added bonus it hits Lanturn for super effective damage
Ice Beam-->Frost Breath For a 10% drop in accuracy you get a move that has the exact same base power as Ice Beam, but will always land a critical hit. This is a great tech move to get past bulky boosters such as CM Mega Audino and CM Musharna as the critical hit will ignore their Special Defense boosts.

Hidden Power Grass-->Earth Power / Focus Blast In exchange for hitting Rhydon for a little less damage, Earth Power (or Focus Blast) gives you the ability to hit Steelix super effectively, considering most players will opt for Steelix as their catch-all Flying-type check, being able to hit it super effectively can be a huge asset.
Stealth Rock consider putting Stealth Rock on Archeops (likely over Stone Edge or your special coverage move), having this entry hazard on your team is so important in the NU metagame. With rocks your team has an immediate way to deal 50% to Scyther and Vivillon which you would otherwise struggle with, and can break potential Focus Sash and Sturdy from the likes of Jynx and Sawk.

Flame Charge-->Earthquake The ability to boost your speed and sweep teams can be appealing, but I think on this team specifically the ability to hit opposing Fire-types with Earthquake is far more valuable. I say this because Magmortar should be your primary switch in to Fire-type attackers barring other EQ Magmortars, having the ability to hit them back is huge when the other Pokemon on your team struggle to switch into their attacks.

Foul Play-->Defog Your team consists of three hazard weak Pokemon: Lapras, Archeops, and Magmortar. You also have a Pokemon that appreciates having entry hazards removed: Sturdy Sawk. When you consider that Foul Play is often a lackluster option Defog becomes so much more appealing, you now get the ability to remove entry hazards from your side of the field and prevent them from hindering your other Pokemon. Typically Taunt fits better on Skuntank but with the change to Frost Breath Lapras you should be okay against bulky boosters.

Choice Band-->Choice Scarf This change is more indicative of catering towards a team goal than fixing a weakness, I'll give more info on this below.

My thoughts on the team as a whole and tips for playing it well

With these moveset changes your team has the tools necessary to succeed, the next step relies on you identifying the teams goal and catering your plays towards that when you get matches. Based on the way your team is built, it looks like you should easily be able to set up Scarf Sawk or Sceptile sweeps. You should aim to be the aggressor from turn 1. Take advantage of more passive teams with your offensive Pokemon by making double switches when the opponent has obvious counters to your Pokemon and putting the pressure on them to switch into your attacks. By doing this you're effectively weakening their team with every turn you play, keep in mind that identifying specific Pokemon that need to be weakened for one of your fast offensive threats to sweep can be beneficial in the late-game. Utilizing Lum Berry Pursuit Skuntank you can effectively eliminate Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon that hinder Sawk by making it think twice before clicking Close Combat, if you can trap and kill these Pokemon in the early game it will pay huge dividends in the late game.

Best of luck to you and I hope you find success with your team, if you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know.