5th Gen Debut Team!!

[Dragynking1]

Hello all! I had been studying the pokes from this gen and decided on the team below. I manage to net a few wifi wins between losses, and I would appreciate any and all feedback that could improve my team. Thanks in advance!

Mienshao @ Life Orb
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Jolly Nature (Regenerator)
Hi Jump Kick
U-Turn
Taunt
Stone Edge

This thing makes the perfect scout lead. Anything I don't like I can always U-turn out on if needed. HJK wrecks lots of stuff, but on bulkier pokes it can still 2HKO. Taunt is to shut down lead stat-uppers, and Stone Edge is to hit things that resist HJK and can destroy me later on, including Volcarona leads.

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
4 HP/252 SpA /252 Spe
Modest Nature (Levitate)
Draco Meteor
Earth Power
Surf
Fire Blast

This guy is one of my favorites. I ran Modest over Timid for the power, and I don't really need to outspeed other ScarfDreigons, I just like the surprise factor. Draco Meteor for destroying stuff, Fire Blast to kill Scizor and Ferrothorn, and Surf plus Earth Power for coverage. Pretty basic stuff. Also good for its Grass and Electric resists, plus Levitate.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
168 HP/252 SpA/88 Spe
Modest Nature (Levitate)
Hydro Pump
Volt Switch
Pain Split
Thunder Wave

Rotom works wonders for the team. The single weakness to Grass, as well as the Ground immunity makes for easy switch-ins. The EV spread gives a bit of speed, as well as survivability with Pain Split and maximum SpA for power. Thunder Wave cripples faster sweepers and makes them easy bait. Volt Switch is pretty good for scouting, but I might opt for Thunderbolt soon. Hydro Pump is awesome now with STAB, and scares off Excadrills occasionally.

Scizor @ Choice Band
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
Adamant Nature (Technician)
Bullet Punch
U-Turn
Brick Break
Pursuit

Scizor is the glue that holds the team together. Multiple resistances, coupled with that favored Bug STAB and one weakness, helped me pick this guy. Standard moveset minus Superpower, since this guy was bred in 5th gen, so I used the next best thing.

Volcarona @ Expert Belt
4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature (Flame Body)
Quiver Dance
Bug Buzz
Fiery Dance
Psychic
One of the most beastly new pokes this gen. If I manage to get a QD off after all of its counters are gone, no poke can stand in my way. BB+FD for STAB, and Psychic to mess with Fightings, since I can’t get Hidden Power Electric/Rock/Ground. The only thing that walls it completely is Heatran, but most of my team can deal with those if needed (hopefully).

Swampert @ Lum Berry
252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Relaxed Nature (Torrent)
Waterfall
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Rest

Used one ever since 3rd gen. Use Relaxed because I really don’t care and it can catch some of the faster Trick Room sweepers. Waterfall and EQ for STAB; Ice Beam to give the 4x weak dragons a little surprise, not including MS Dragonite. Rest+Lum for (semi) instant recovery. Lum over Chesto for obvious reasons.
May be replaced by Donphan or Forretress soon.

 

[backflip]

Consider playing around with Donphan or Tentacruel over Swampert so your Volcarona isn't rendered potentially useless when Stealth Rocks come out to play. I like Donphan more in comparison, because despite losing Water typing, you maintain the physical bulk, get Stealth Rocks for your self, and Ice Shard for Priority Dragon abuse. If Volcarona losing 50% has never bothered you, worry not I suppose. I would put Chesto over Lum if Swampert stays, unless you like losing it to random status, because that is probably whats going to happen most often. But that also makes Rest a bit suicidal.

 

[Blue Cobra]

I recommend Rapid Spin support if you're using Volcarona.

I think Focus Blast is a bit risky on Hydreigon, and it doesn't give you that much coverage at all.
You have Fire Blast for Steel and Ice types and Surf for Rock types, so Focus Blast will only hit opposite Dark Types and Normal types.
I prefer Earth Power to ruin Heatran or Dark Pulse for STAB on Hydreigon.

 

[Dragynking1]

@backflip: I like the idea of using Donphan, so I'll test it out and see how it does. Thanks!

@Blue Cobra: Whoa, I forgot Hydreigon gets Earth Power. I'll have to train another one, but it'll be worth it. Edited out FB for EP.

 

[Blue Cobra]

Sounds good with Earth Power :)

I can see that you're using Hurricane on Volcarona. Isn't it an unnecessary move?
It only hits Fighting types with super effective damage, since you have Fiery Dance for Bug Types and Bug Buzz for Grass types.
Bug Buzz will do more damage on Grass types than Hurricane, thanks to STAB.
Fiery Dance will do as much damage as Hurricane thanks to STAB.
Hurricane has only 70 accuracy, so I think the best move for Volcarona will be Psychic, since it has much better accuracy.
Psychic will also hit Fighting types super effective and gives you a coverage against Poison types too.

 

[Zomeonez]

What I would run on Mienshao is:
Mienshao
§ Hi Jump Kick
§ Bulk Up
§ Stone Edge
§ Substitute
Jolly
Regenerator
EVs: 4 Hp 252 Atk 252 Spe

Instead of the average Fake Out/ U-Turn this is a sweeping kind of set. While they switch (or expect the U-Turn) you could set up a Bulk Up, which increases its potential.

 

[awyp]

Hey Dragynking1, you have a pretty solid idea for the most part on Gen 5, and how it works, let me improve the team since I know you have a right idea on things.

First off, Mienshao is a awesome lead, it's very fragile but using it to scout other Pokemons and even making a huge dent on the other team is it's primary use. Now the problem that I see with Mienshao is the moveset What you get walled from completely is Gliscor, which is quite popular to generation 5 due to it's ability. So take off stone edge since it's an ok attack but won't lead you anywhere with all the physical walls out there. So remove Stone edge and put on Hidden power Ice for the strong OHKO to Gliscor. So since you're doing that you might also want to change the Nature to Hasty / Naive, which ever one fits you. Lastly on Mienshao you might want to put Fake Out, since it's a great priority move and it'll leave a dent on whatever pokemon, unlike taunt and it's fragile defense if there the opponent doesn't set-up and attacks Mienshao will most likely be dead.

On all your Pokemon your EVs look simple but, you should elaborate on them. On Rotom-Wash I'm sure you need to fix the EV spread so you don't waste on anything. On rotom you should change the EVs into 168 HP/ 252 SpA / 88 Spd reason being is that Rotom has no HP at all it's maximum is 304 so you won't get anywhere. So try minimizing and granting more on the stats that will actually make an impact namely Special attack, so by putting 252 SpA EVs gives you a big advantage since when maximizing it gives you 339 overall is pretty good for a bulky pokemon, adds a poweful punch, the speed EVs is to outspeed Gliscor, since if you don't it will wall rotom-w entirely, mostly by PP stalling. On Volcarona you might want to put Life Orb, since expert belt isn't guaranteed on Bug/ Fire / Flying attacks, it doesn't cover everything to be super-effective. So Life orb is good since it'll be helping you a long way in potential sweeps and adding the 1.3x of damage to every attack. Hurricane is very inaccurate and won't help you especially if Sandstorm is in play and you're team doesn't look like it'll do that good in weather so. Try Hidden Power Rock / Hidden Power Ground which ever one you prefer since you can hurt some Flying types, or even ground types.

I don't see what the point of Swampert is, obviously things rot away each generation and huge differences come into play each generation so need some changes. Something that shocked me is that you don't have a Pokemon to set Stealth rock or a rapid-spinner to help Volcarona. So the Pokemon that I have in mind is Forretress since it helps you set something on the opponents field and also will help you adding something really bulky, plus it'll have tremendous synergy with the team since it'll help out so might want to try this set.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def (IVs: Spe 0)
Moveset: Spikes, Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Gyro Ball

Other then that, your team looks fine good luck!

 

[Dragynking1]

@Blue Cobra: Hmm... I see what you're getting at. Changed Hurricane to Psychic.

@Zomeonez: I appreciate your input about Shao, but that set doesn't seem like it would work too well for me. Shao isn't really for sweeping; she's more for scouting and maybe killing a poke or two before going down. Many players don't switch out on her. Most of the time they try to kill it as fast as possible, so there isn't really time for setting up.

@AndViet: Wow, longest reply I've ever gotten :3
Ok, lets see if I can tackle all you've thrown at me...
Mienshao:
- I hate having to breed for Hidden Powers. It's such a pain. I agree that HP Ice would be better, but for now I'll stick with Stone Edge for the ease of it.
- I used Fake Out for a while, but I thought that Taunt worked comparably better in the long run since it stops set up. Plus the LO recoil usually docked Shao's HP to about the same that was dealt. Not as much of a deal with Regenerator, but still didn't seem as effective to me.

Rotom-W:
- Oops. Thanks for pointing that out. That's the spread that I actually used. I knew my numbers seemed off.

Volcarona:
- I play Item Clause. If there's another item that would be better that I don't have on anything else, please tell me.
- As stated earlier, Hidden Power IV breeding is horrible for me. I want HP Ground, but I'd rather go for an easier option. I've changed Hurricane to Psychic anyway.
Swampert:
-Ah well. Times change, I guess. It always worked well for me, since SR is a lot less common from my experience. Anyway, I'll test Forry out alongside backflip's suggestion of Donphan. If either work better than Swampert, I'll swap him out.
-Even though I'll still test him, Forretress has the same typing as Scizor, and I really don't like having common weaknesses. Especially 4x ones. Just saying.

Thanks for all of your input so far guys! I really appreciate the support!