Introduction:
This team started off terribly. I originally based it off of a Beat Up/Justified gimmick that was extremely hard to pull off and was defeated quickly whenever it did work. However, since then, the team has gotten some major modifications, all for the better. I've had lots of success with it on Showdown, but it's far from perfect, so I've decided to share it here to find what's missing.
The Team:
Cat People (Weavile) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Fake Out
Protect
Knock Off
Icicle Crash
Like I said, this team was originally built around a Beat Up/Justified gimmick, and Weavile was the Beat Up user. However, after I realized that that was a terrible strategy, I switched to a more standard set. Out of all the Pokémon on my team, Weavile is the least useful, but it still has the niche of providing Fake Out pressure, and its Focus Sash is good for allowing it to 2HKO some Pokémon occasionally. However, I rarely actually use it, so I feel like there's definitely room for improvement with this one. Its set is fairly standard: it's got Fake Out to force flinches, Knock Off and Icicle Crash for STAB, and of course Protect.
Heroes (Lucario) @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Close Combat
Bullet Punch
Protect
Ice Punch
Back when I started off my team, this was my Justified user. However, I found that it was hard to actually get a Justified boost onto it, and even when I did, my opponents were able to take it out pretty easily. So after a few matches, I removed the gimmicky set and made them both standard sets. This Lucario truly is my team's hero. It's tied for being the most valuable member of my team, being able to handle a variety of walls, and picking off faster, steel-weak attackers with Bullet Punch.
Close Combat is my main STAB move, dealing heavy damage to a large part of the metagame. Bullet Punch provides great priority, and with Adaptability, does as much damage as Extreme Speed. Protect is invaluable in most Pokémon in Doubles, allowing me to attack with my other Pokémon while the opponent tries to take out my Lucario. Ice Punch was originally Rock Slide (I don't have very many spread moves on this team), but I made the switch to better take care of Landorus, Garchomp, and other Ice-weak Pokémon.
Young Americans (Braviary) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Brave Bird
Shadow Claw
Rock Slide
U-Turn
After I added the first two Pokémon to my team, I noticed that they were both physical attackers and both weak to fighting. So, I needed an intimidate counter that could also beat fighting types. I ended up going with Scarfed Braviary, and it was an excellent choice. Braviary is tied with Lucario as my team's most valuable member, absolutely tearing apart opposing teams with Brave Bird after getting a Defiant boost. Brave Bird is its STAB move, and is the move I lock myself into about 95% of the time. With Braviary's high attack, it takes out lots of Pokémon, and its utility becomes even better after an opponent sends out an Intimidate Pokémon. Shadow Claw was originally Return, but I switched it because I never used Return and because my team was being destroyed whenever I encountered an Aegislash (obviously, Shadow Claw didn't fix this problem, and I added more things to deal with Aegislash, but I still like to have it just in case). Rock Slide is basically just for if my Opponent has a Talonflame or Charizard and I want to take that out while damaging their other Pokémon. U-turn allows me to swap out on the rare occasion that I want to.
Under Pressure (Greninja) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Mat Block
Protect
I added Greninja to my team because I only had physical attackers at this point in my teambuilding, and Greninja seemed like a solid choice for a special attacker. Greninja is great on my team, providing a hard-hitting, fast special attacker, but I have to be careful not to bring it into play against Trick Room teams, as it becomes nearly useless. Another problem it has is that it is walled by the majority of Water types, most notably Slowbro and Suicune. Hydro Pump is an extremely powerful attack, taking out any fire-types I face (unless they take me out first). Ice Beam provides excellent coverage, and gets STAB from Protean. Mat Block is excellent, allowing me to get free damage onto my opponent about 50% of the time, and Protect is there for once I'm no longer able to use Mat Block.
Changes (Aegislash) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spa / 4 SpDef
Modest Nature
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
King's Shield
Wide Guard
This wasn't originally an Aegislash. I have literally no memory of what it used to be, but I remember it was bad, so I swapped it out for Aegislash. I also, incidentally, forget why I chose Aegislash specifically, but I'm glad I did. Aegislash is one of the main Pokémon I use to deal with Trick Room, and it's great for shutting down faster Pokémon. I originally had a physical set with Shadow Sneak and Iron Head, but I switched to Special when that set kept losing against Intimidate users. Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon provide strong STAB moves, King's Shield is a better version of Protect, and Wide Guard helps protect my team from Heat Wave and Earthquake, which would otherwise sweep me pretty easily.
Jean Genie (Tornadus) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Hurricane
Heat Wave
Taunt
Protect
Remember how I said I was having trouble with Aegislash? Well, I decided to put this on my team to help counter it. It performs this roll well, in addition to providing amazing support to my team with Taunt. Hurricane is its STAB move, which deals heavy damage to anything it's super effective on. Heat Wave is there because of Aegislash, but it also adds a valuable spread move to my team. Taunt is awesome, shutting down Aegislash, Amoongus, and many others. And Protect serves the same purpose here that it does with all my other Pokémon.
Conclusion:
(If you're wondering about the nicknames, I named them all after David Bowie songs. Don't judge me.)
All in all, I like to think that this team is pretty good. However, like all teams, It's far from perfect. It can sometimes have trouble against Aegislash and Trick Room, and some Pokémon aren't as valuable as others. Regardless, I've still had a huge number of victories with it, and look forward to hearing how I can improve it!
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