Project Rating Practice Teams v2

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maroon

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RMT & Mono Leader
Approved by the RMT Mods
Old Project found here



Art made by Zephyr2007
The idea behind this project is to allow those interested in Team Rating a chance to get practical feedback on their rates from current Team Raters and metagame veterans. Each week, we will feature a different official tier. Anyone interested has Monday to Friday @ 11:59 PM EST (GMT-5) to submit their rate. Over the weekend, the Team Raters and metagame veterans will go over the submitted rates and give each person feedback that submitted a rate. If the judges like your rate, you will be one rate closer to the Team Rater badge. There will be a Hall of Fame, but it will not announce a winning rate or anything; however, it will keep track of precisely who got positive feedback from the judges on their rate. We will not feature a winner because this is not a competition, but rather a place for those interested in Team Rating a chance to hone their skills.

If you're an aspiring rater, these will hopefully allow you to pick up on and address your rating problems. The goal is to provide you with experience rating teams that have been specifically made to be as challenging to rate as possible, allowing you to think creatively to find the best changes for the team. Note that any metagame shifts or changes during an active round of this project will not affect it. Any rates we receive will be replied to with personalized feedback by our dedicated judges. At the end of the round, we'll give some general hints and feedback on how things went. Then, we will post some of the changes we were looking for in each rate to help future potential Team Raters.

Anyone is welcome to participate and send in their rate. Everyone will be guaranteed to receive feedback appropriate to the effort they put into their rate, regardless of their ability. However, to keep things fair, official Team Raters can not submit rates.

Since all of the tiers won't be featured each month, I will create a featured tiers schedule. During the middle of each month, I will post in this thread what the program will look like for the proceeding month. This allows each tier to plan a team and who the judges will be for that cycle. The judge's hide tag below will serve as a database as to whom may be interested or has judged for that tier in the past.

If you rate a team provided, please send the rate through a Smogon conversation to all the judges. Please do not post the rate in this thread, as we want all rates to be that Team Rater's own ideas. Anyway, without further ado, let's rate some teams!

OU: Gross Sweep, Jordy, ShootingStarmie, StepC, and TPP
Ubers: DNNP, Perry, and TrueNora
UU: Lilburr, TSR, Twilight, and vivalospride
RU: Averardo, Expulso, and MrAldo
NU: Expulso, quziel, and Rabia
PU: TJ and ShuckleDeath
LC: Coconut, Ninjadog, and Fiend
DOU: emma and Yellow Paint
Monotype: Conflux, Decem, maroon, Splash, and Ticken
Battle Stadium: 1_TrickPhony, cant say, greilmercenary9, marilli, and Solerme
National Dex: Guardsweeper, Jho, Jordy, Sevelon, and Zneon
Galar Dex AG: Chloe, Guardsweeper, and pichus
SM OU:
ORAS OU: Splash
BW OU:
DPP OU:
ADV OU:
GSC OU:
RBY OU:
Week 1 [X Tier]: (insert those who got positive feedback from judges)
Week 1 [X Tier]: (insert names of judges for that round)
 

maroon

free palestine
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnus
RMT & Mono Leader
A Guide for the Judges
1.
I will plan to release a schedule of the metagames I want in that month of Rating Practice Teams during the previous month. I will ask people with the Tier Role in Discord if they think the tier and its judges are up to the task.

2. For the actual process, here is the first step. Between the time I release the featured tiers schedule and the week that it starts, I would like you all to figure out which of you will be able to host that round. Then, amongst that round's panel, prepare a team that provides a challenging rate for any prospective project participants.

3. The round will start the Sunday after the previous round ends. From Monday to Friday until 8:00 PM EST (GMT-5), prospective raters will open a Smogon conversation with the judges and explain the rate and changes in there. If the quality is good, but isn't easily followed, note that to the rater. The round's judging phase will end around Sunday @ 6 PM EST (GMT-5). By then, you should have sent feedback to each rater. After you have sent feedback to everyone in this thread, post notes on what you were looking for in the rates. This could be a helpful resource to those who submitted a rate and any potential future Team Raters. Then, in the #rating_samples Discord channel, let me know to whom you gave a positive review for their rate.

4. The next round will start on Sunday @ 8 PM EST (GMT-5), ideally after the previous round is finished.

Here is a bonus: if you are a judge and are going for the Team Rater badge or will start going for it in the future, your work each round here will count as one rate towards the badge!

A Guide for the Raters
1.
Each week on Sunday @ 8 PM EST (GMT-5), a team will be posted for the tier being featured in the project that week. If you are interested in submitting a rate, please note who the judges are.

2. You will have until 8:00 PM EST (GMT-5) to rate the team. When you have a finished rate, please send it to all the judges that round through a Smogon conversation. Please make sure your rate is legible. Sloppy rates are harder to follow and therefore less useful to the person whose team you are trying to rate. You can find a Team Rating guide in this post.

3. You will receive feedback on your rate by Sunday @ 6 PM EST (GMT-5). If it is positive feedback, take a moment to pat yourself on the back for a job well done! However, if the input has some constructive criticism, take it with a grain of salt, improve from the feedback, and apply it to future rates. Check this thread on Sunday when the round is about to end, as a judge should have posted some points they were looking for by then. Use this as additional guidance on how to improve your rates!

Note: This thread will be locked and reopened at specific times to make new posts. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on discord (maroon#1999).
 

maroon

free palestine
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnus
RMT & Mono Leader
The schedule for tiers in December that will be featured in this project has been decided!

Schedule For December:
Week of November 29th: Monotype
Week of December 6th: NatDex OU
Week of December 13th: OU
Week of December 20th: DOU

I realize that November 29th is not December. However, since the week ends in December, it will be included in that month's schedule. The same reason why the week of December 27th is not scheduled this month will be featured in January's schedule.
 

maroon

free palestine
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnus
RMT & Mono Leader
:sm/tapu-fini::sm/suicune::sm/swampert:
:sm/toxapex::sm/volcanion:
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Scald
- Draining Kiss

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roar
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- Aqua Jet
- U-turn

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Baneful Bunker
- Recover

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Flamethrower
- Steam Eruption
- Earth Power
:tapu-fini:- Tapu Fini is one of the two Calm Mind users for this team. With access to Misty Surge, it can also take advantage of a few turns to set up Calm Mind and not be worried about status conditions. Draining Kiss allows it to regain health and can help break Dragon teams.

:suicune:- Suicune is the other Calm Mind user. It can pretty safely set up Calm Minds behind a Substitute due to its good natural bulk, decent speed, and access to residual recovery in Leftovers. Protect allows it to scout moves such as against choice-locked Pokemon or to regain health. Scald can be spammed to fish for burns.

:swampert:- Swampert does two important jobs for the team, act as an Electric immunity, and set Stealth Rock. Earthquake can be used to hit Electric-type Pokemon such as Zeraora. Toxic allows Swampert to nail non-Grounded and Heavy-Duty Boots users with Toxic damage such as Zapdos.

:urshifu:- Urshifu-R abuses its Water STAB to crit its way through the foes, Close Combat can be used to nail Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Aqua Jet provides as an emergency check to faster Pokemon, and U-turn allows Urshifu-R to gain momentum for its teammates.

:toxapex:- Toxapex is a blanket switchin to physical attackers with its impressive physical bulk alongside its investment. Toxic Spikes allows Toxapex to nail matchups such as Psychic and Fairy, which generally do not deal with Toxic Spikes too well. Baneful Bunker can be used to scout attacks. Recover is there to keep it constantly healthy.

:volcanion:- Volcanion is the team's Defog user. Flamethrower allows it to nail Grass-type Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Rillaboom. Earth Power allows it to create nice complimentary coverage with Flamethrower and Steam Eruption to hit Pokemon such as Toxapex and opposing Volcanion's.


Judges: Conflux, Decem, me, Splash, and Ticken
Remember to submit your rates to all the judges for this round by Friday @ 8:00 PM EST (GMT-5) via Smogon Conversation.​
 
:ss/latias-mega::ss/heatran::ss/tyranitar::ss/blissey::ss/zapdos:
Judges: Guard, Jho, Jordy, Sevelon, and Zneon
Spectrier @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Grim Neigh
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot

Latias-Mega (F) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit

Blissey (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Teleport
- Thunder Wave

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

This team is centered around Spectrier + Mega Latias. Spectrier has a very small pool of checks that Mega Latias is able to force damage onto pretty easily.

Spectrier's movepool is unfortunately pretty shallow, so it's running Dark Pulse to overwhelm Blissey. Substitute + Nasty Plot allows it to overwhelm many of the more passive balance teams. It is particularly effective against teams that lack Pursuit trappers like Mega Tyranitar.

Mega Latias comes into play here; it is able to force damage onto Pokemon like Mega Tyranitar quite easily, which Spectrier obviously benefits off. It is an excellent wincondition in general that is hard to take care off without the right set of Pokemon.

Next up is Heatran, which is perfect for this team; it checks Calm Mind Clefable very well and is one of the best Stealth Rock users in this metagame. It's defensive typing is very useful against some other miscellaneous Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Mega Mawile, and Magearna.

Choice Band Tyranitar's synergy with the team is quite cool because Blissey and Zapdos give it plenty opportunities to safely Pursuit trap Pokemon like Mega Latias and Reuniclus. It also prevents the team from being overwhelmed by Spectrier, allowing Blissey to run Seismic Toss without having to give up a status move.

Blissey is a very good defensive pivot with Teleport that can blanket check ~80% of the special attackers in the metagame. It does not care much about Pokemon like Ash-Greninja, Hydreigon, etc. and can easily grab momentum for Spectrier and Tyranitar.

Lastly, Zapdos is chosen because the team still needed a Defogger. Zapdos is able to Defog against Pokemon like Ferrothorn, which are relatively annoying to deal with otherwise. Its good matchup against some other Pokemon like Excadrill and Kartana is also great.


Remember to submit your rates to all the judges for this round by Friday @ 8:00 PM CET (GMT+1) via Smogon Conversation.​
 
Thank you for the submissions, here is what we were looking for regarding this rate!
:sm/tapu-fini::sm/suicune::sm/swampert:
:sm/toxapex::sm/volcanion:
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Scald
- Draining Kiss

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roar
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- Aqua Jet
- U-turn

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Baneful Bunker
- Recover

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Flamethrower
- Steam Eruption
- Earth Power
:tapu-fini:- Tapu Fini is one of the two Calm Mind users for this team. With access to Misty Surge, it can also take advantage of a few turns to set up Calm Mind and not be worried about status conditions. Draining Kiss allows it to regain health and can help break Dragon teams.

:suicune:- Suicune is the other Calm Mind user. It can pretty safely set up Calm Minds behind a Substitute due to its good natural bulk, decent speed, and access to residual recovery in Leftovers. Protect allows it to scout moves such as against choice-locked Pokemon or to regain health. Scald can be spammed to fish for burns.

:swampert:- Swampert does two important jobs for the team, act as an Electric immunity, and set Stealth Rock. Earthquake can be used to hit Electric-type Pokemon such as Zeraora. Toxic allows Swampert to nail non-Grounded and Heavy-Duty Boots users with Toxic damage such as Zapdos.

:urshifu:- Urshifu-R abuses its Water STAB to crit its way through the foes, Close Combat can be used to nail Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Aqua Jet provides as an emergency check to faster Pokemon, and U-turn allows Urshifu-R to gain momentum for its teammates.

:toxapex:- Toxapex is a blanket switchin to physical attackers with its impressive physical bulk alongside its investment. Toxic Spikes allows Toxapex to nail matchups such as Psychic and Fairy, which generally do not deal with Toxic Spikes too well. Baneful Bunker can be used to scout attacks. Recover is there to keep it constantly healthy.

:volcanion:- Volcanion is the team's Defog user. Flamethrower allows it to nail Grass-type Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Rillaboom. Earth Power allows it to create nice complimentary coverage with Flamethrower and Steam Eruption to hit Pokemon such as Toxapex and opposing Volcanion's.


Judges: Conflux, Decem, me, Splash, and Ticken
Remember to submit your rates to all the judges for this round by Friday @ 8:00 PM EST (GMT-5) via Smogon Conversation.​
Before we get into the changes, I want to explain why we chose to use this team and type. In Monotype building, it is quite easy to forget to help yourself in already favorable matchups, and common mistakes are like not having a Ground immunity on the team. This would allow Sand Rush Excadrill to win late-game. There were a few more of these common building mistakes we threw into the team to see whether the raters would be able to catch them, potentially making them more able to help newer users (one of the main targets of rates). Anyway, let's get to some of the changes.

Changes we were looking for:
- This team has no Ground immunity, which means that any powerful, fast attacker with Ground coverage can easily overwhelm this team later in the game. Some remedies to this would be to replace a Pokemon on the team with either a Mantine, Rotom-W, or Gyarados (albeit this is the worst choice of the three).
- This team did not have good hazard removal; Volcanion is slow and can be pressured by many hazard setters. If you decided to keep Volcanion as the Defog user, it would need to wear Heavy-Duty Boots.
- Both Suicune and Tapu Fini are running Calm Mind sets; while this can be decent on certain teams, this team can not support both of them. Ideally, removing Suicune is the way to go with Slowking. This does a few things, provide the team with a Psychic resistance, provide a Teleport pivot, and provide Future Sight support for Urshifu.
- This team does not have any Speed control. There are certainly many different ways you could do this, whether you opt to use rain (which might be difficult given team composition) or, more ideally, a Choice Scarf user.
- Change Swampert's Toxic into Flip Turn; this helps generate momentum for the team.
- The team is fairly weak to Poison, which Water teams tend to be. A way you could fix this was either fit Swords Dance Crawdaunt on the team or to change Tapu Fini's Scald into Stored Power. Both of these changes would help you in the matchup. Overall, a well built Water team should really only struggle against types such as Grass.

Changes that would make the team less effective:
- Removing Swampert from the team is a mistake. Firstly, even if it is for another Electric immunity, it is still bad for multiple reasons: Swampert supports Urshifu-R quite nicely with Stealth Rock and hopefully uses Swampert as a Flip Turn user.
- While this is minor, due to the rather poor Psychic matchup, changing Toxic Spikes into Toxic on Toxapex is definitely a less than ideal move. While Toxic can be effective in that matchup, Toxic Spikes can just be set and cripple the foe later on in the matchup (especially since Psychic teams have poor hazard removal).
- Getting rid of Volcanion and then not placing another Defog user on the team. This would make the team extremely weak to hazards. A Defog user that has the ability to stay long-term is necessary on this team and most Water teams.
 

emma

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past SCL Champion
DPL Champion
:ss/volcanion: :ss/nihilego: :ss/rillaboom: :ss/tapu-fini: :ss/genesect:
Judges: emma Yellow Paint
Regieleki @ Magnet
Ability: Transistor
EVs: 48 Def / 216 SpA / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Electroweb
- Protect

Volcanion @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect

Nihilego @ Power Herb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Power Gem
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect

Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 100 SpD / 32 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Fake Out
- Grassy Glide
- U-turn
- High Horsepower

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Protect

Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Download
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Flash Cannon
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower

This team was built around Magnet Regieleki to make use of its high speed tier and strong STAB moves. The EVs let it live a Grassy Glide from Max Attack Rillaboom in Grassy Terrain and outspeeds Choice Scarf Landorus. I added Volcanion and Nihilego to handle common grass types such as Rillaboom, Amoonguss, and Tsareena. Volcanion also outspeeds 0 Speed Landorus-T and OHKOs it with Steam Eruption. In return, Regieleki hits Water-types that wall Volcanion and hit Nihilego for Super-Effective damage. They both also appreciate Electroweb as speed control. Rillaboom and Tapu Fini were added as general glue mons and as a defensive backbone for the team, since my first three pokemon are frail. It also completes the FWG core. Calm Mind Tapu Fini works as a strong win condition. Fake Out Rillaboom helps Nihilego use Meteor Beam and Tapu Fini set up. Choice Scarf Genesect adds Speed Control, a Steel-type, and another way to pivot with Volt Switch Regieleki. I'm using Flamethrower to hit other Genesect.

Remember to submit your rates to all the judges for this round by Saturday @ 8:00 PM EST (GMT -5) via Smogon Conversation.​
 
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