RMT OverUsed; Shoddy

[Toxic~]

This is my second competitive team after starting Pokemon again. I would like some advice on it. I've used this 4 times and so far it is 6-1. Not too shabby, eh? :naughty:

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP/216 Def/52 SAtk
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Stealth Rock

This Swampert has been the lead for both of my teams and I love it. The EV spread turns it into a tank and it can normally take an Explosion from an Azelf. I haven't had the chance to test it against any other Exploding starters (Heatran, Metagross) yet though. First off set up Stealth Rock and most of the time I end up using Surf afterwards. Surf hits SO many things and does a decent amount of damage. I'm considering using Protect over something so I can just evade Explosions and save the HP but I think if Swampert can already withstand one Explosion, how many more Exploders would they have on their team? And even IF they use two Exploders on my single Swampert that means they've used up two of their Pokemon already just to take out one of mine. Like I said, I love it!
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Latias @ Leftovers
Timid Nature
EVs: 148 HP\ 108 SAtk\ 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Calm Mind
-Dragon Pulse
-Recover
-Surf

A bulky special sweeper? Yes please. I needed something to take down Infernape and Latias has been working wonderfully so far. If they ever bring out something like Blissey I can switch into Latias and start setting up with Calm Mind. Surf hits a lot of things hard and Dragon Pulse helps me take down opposing Latias and Salamences.
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Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Ice Punch

Lucario is just... amazing. Out of the matches that I've won so far this thing is the reason why I've won those matches. A well-timed Swords Dance is all I need to obliterate opposing threats. Extremespeed takes out fast glass cannons, Close Combat KOs a buttload of things after one SD, and Ice Punch makes Dragons go all QQ. Lucario is so much fun to use late game in my opinion. He can hit so many things and KO them with ease (well, most things anyway...) The only Pokemon that have given this Lucario problems is a Bronzong and a Mamoswine. What worries me about this moveset is that if they switch into a Ghost Pokemon, will Ice Punch be enough to take it out considering I have used SD once? Or should I use Crunch in place of Ice Punch? :S
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Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/64 Atk/176 Def/16 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind

Wow. It helps me stall against Physical hitters, it sets up Spikes, AND it can switch out their Pokemon? What more can you ask for? This guy has won me a match and it was really nice to see the strategy working. Brave Bird is just incase I get Taunt'd so my Skarmory won't be completely worthless. I'm not too sure if the 16 Spd EVs are worth it... I might redo him and put those 16 points into Def.
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Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 176 HP/252 Atk/80 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Aqua Tail

Not only does Tyranitar have an amazing movepool but it sets up a Sandstorm which will help me sweep with Lucario. I decided to go with a more defensive Tyranitar instead of a speedy one. Its speed isn't that great to start off with so, meh. Halfway through making the team I realized how much trouble a Mow Rotom could give me so I decided to use this guy. I opted for Aqua Tail instead of the normal Earthquake to help me against some of Tyranitar's threats (Hippowdon and Gliscor to name a few).
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Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Will-o-wisp

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This was more of a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing, if anything. This Rotom worked pretty well on my last team so I decided to use it again, but this time with a different EV spread. Rotom itself is pretty speedy so I didn't think that I would need to max is speed EVs out. Maybe that was a bad idea on my part? I'm not too sure yet. Out of my testing I haven't had a chance to use this guy too much other than burning random things here-and-there. Eh. If anyone else can come up with something that would be better off in this slot then please tell me. I'm open to all suggestions.

Keep in mind that I've only used this team 4 times so when I say things like Lucario only fails to Mamoswine and Bronzong, that's because that is all I have been able to test against so far. I'm sure there are plenty of counters to it out there.

 

[haunter]

You are pretty weak to SD Lucario, after a SD that thing can ohko every member of your team and nothing can revenge kill it (barring the chance you win a speed tie with your own Lucario).
I believe you could replace Skarmory with a bulky Gyarados or, even better, a sleep talk one which would also provide an useful status absorber that your team lacks:

Gyarados@leftovers
nature: impish
EVs: 252 hp\ 252 def\ 4 spe
-rest
-sleep talk
-waterfall
-roar

I don't think you'll miss Skarmory much, especially considering that you run a quite offensive team.

Also, I see that you may have some problems with Infernape, both SD and mix variants. I would consider replacing Porygon-Z with Latias, a defensive calm mind one would fit perfectly in this team:

Latias@leftovers
nature: timid
EVs: 148 hp\ 108 sp.atk\ 252 spe
-dragon pulse
-calm mind
-recover
-surf\ hp fire

Hope this helps.

 

[Toxic~]

Do you think I could replace Rotom-h with Latias instead? I want to keep the Porygonz. :S

 

[haunter]

Give it a try over Rotom, then. I suggested to replace Porygon-Z because Latias can also function as a special sweeper but with a lot more bulk and useful resistances to fire and fight.

 

[panamaxis]

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Careful, 252 HP / 156 Sp. def / 100 Def.
Waterfall
Roar / Avalanche
Rest
Sleep Talk

I believe this is a much better spread for defensive gyarados if you choose to use it (ripped straight from JabbatheGriffin's RMT). You'll still counter lucario fairly well (feel free to add a bit more to def as you may need some more as you are without a spinner).

 

[Toxic~]

I've updated the team with the Latias. So far it's been working out wonderfully. I still think I should replace Rotom with something since it never seems to help this team at all. Any suggestions?

 

[haunter]

You're still pretty weak to SD Luke, Latias won't help with that sadly (though she fits nicely in your team).
You can still try the defensive Gyarados I suggested or at least give a scarf to your Rotom, in this case, replace WoW or Overheat with trick (that's extremely useful to cripple Blissey and other special walls which come in to wall Rotom).

Oh, and fix your description about Latias: never switch her into Blissey nor stay in against her (unless you already have enough calm minds), Bliss will status you making Latias useless.