My First Team

[17waldth]

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So I have been wanting to get into competitive battle for quite a while. So now that X and Y is out I have made up a team. There are probably many flaws in this team because this is my first team I am making to use competitively. Please feel free to criticize.

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Smeargle Focus sash
Trait:Own Tempo
EVs:252 HP/252 Spe/4 Def
Nature: Jolly
~ Sticky Web
~ Stealth Rocks
~ Spikes
~ Spore

- This is pretty much always my lead. He would use spore and put their main to sleep so I can get a sticky web off. After that I would go for stealth rocks and if I'm still alive I will go for spikes. I have focus sash so I can at least spore them to get 1 or 2 hazards up.

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Tyranitar @Tyranitarite
Trait:Sand Stream
EVs:252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Nature: Adament
~ Stone Edge
~ Crunch
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake

So this guy is my main attacker. I will bring him in if something is asleep and dragon dance it up. Fairly decent move set for handling different threats. Stone Edge to get rid of threats like flying or fire. Crunch to do damage to ghosts and psychic types. Dragon dance to boost all of the moves. Earthquake to get rid of any other threats like electric, steel, or anything else.

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Excadrill @Chople Berry
Trait:Sand Force
EVs:252 SpD/176 HP/60 Atk/20 Spe
Nature: Adament
~ X-Scissor
~ Rapid Spin
~ Rock Slide
~ Earthquake

This guy is my rapid spinner. Obviously his main job is to get hazards off of the field. I added X-Scissor and earthquake so he could deal some damage. X-Scissor to attack psychic, grass, and dark. Rock slide for bug, fire, flying, and ice types, and earthquake for anything else.

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Talonflame Leftovers
Trait:Gale Wings
EVs:252 Atk/132 Spe/124 HP
Nature: Adament
~ Acrobatics
~ Swords Dance
~ Brave Bird
~ Flare Blitz

So added Talonflame because I though he was pretty dang good. Brave Bird and acrobatics as flying type move. Flare Blitz for the fire type move. Swords Dance to boost it all up. Acrobatics to deal decent amount of damage. Brave bird to deal lots/super effective damage. Flare Blitz to get rid of Ice and other threats. Swords Dance to boost everything.

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Aegislash@Weakness Policy
Trait:Stance Change
EVs:252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Nature: Adament
~ King's Shield
~ Swords Dance
~ Sacred Sword
~ Shadow Sneak

So this is a pretty standard move set for aegislash. Weakness Policy was the best item I thought for it. Shadow Sneak to hit first, Swords dance to boost all, sacred sword to just destroy, and king's shield to make people angry.

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Azumarill@Choice Band
Trait:Huge Power
EVs:252 Atk/168 HP/84 Spe/4 Def
Nature: Adament
~ Superpower
~ Waterfall
~ Play Rough
~ Aqua Jet

Azumarill, the killer of all beings. Superpower to take care of some guys, waterfall for powerful water type, aqua jet for priority, and play rough to destroy everything.
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Conclusion: I think this is a fairly balanced team but it needs work. I know there is some major weakness to water. Please leave suggestions on how to make this team better. Thanks :D

 

[Seiterman]

I think I have a few suggestions you could use. Let's try looking at each Pokemon.

Smeargle: With this guy I have 3 questions for you. How often do you get all of those hazards up? How often do they stay up for the match? Finally, how much does your team appreciate all 3 of them? Stealth Rock is a fantastic tool for basically any team, but I'm more interested in Spikes and Sticky Web. If Sticky Web is reducing the enemy's speed enough for your big threats like Tyranitar and Azumarill, that's great, but you have physical Aegislash (who prefers to be slower in most cases,) and Talonflame (who quite frankly doesn't care how fast the opponent is because he's faster/ has priority.) You have other great supporting options like Parting Shot, Memento, Magic Coat, Whirlwind and even Explosion if you don't think Smeargle's gonna be useful anymore. I personally think Parting Shot would do you wonders since it creates setup opportunities for guys like Tyranitar and Aegislash while allowing Smeargle to come in again later if he needs to put up hazards again (or, knowing how frail Smeargle is, coming back for use as death fodder.) You could replace Spikes if you think Sticky Web is too valuable, but I definitely advise against using 3 hazards. You'll be setup bait for a lot of dangerous Pokemon otherwise.

Tyranitar: The moveset is good, and as long as you're outspeeding relevant threats the EV spread works too. It looks like when you're Mega-Evolved you outspeed grounded neutral Base 130-ish speed Pokemon (provided your Sticky Web is up.) That's before a Dragon Dance, too. I could see a bulkier spread of 252 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 4 Spe working too, but it all depends on what you're outspeeding and what levels of setup you're at (ie. Dragon Dances and Sticky Web.)

Excadrill: Is Chople Berry the best choice of item? Many powerful fighting-moves still 2HKO, and he still has exploitable weaknesses to ground, water and fire moves (none of which are rare.) Despite not having huge longevity, he may appreciate Leftovers more, if only to combat passive damage like burn or hail. I also think Mold Breaker is a better option over Sand Force. Being able to Earthquake Gengar and Rotom-W is a lot more useful than boosted Edgequake coverage for 4 turns after Tyranitar is switched in. Otherwise, a good rapid spinner.

Talonflame: I don't know if Talonflame is the right fit for your team, to be honest. To start with his set though, I can't imagine the recovery from Leftovers being more useful than, say, the attacking boost from a Life Orb, Expert Belt or even a Sky Plate. Talonflame's offenses aren't so high as to not warrant any boosting. That said, you're also running Acrobatics, which really loses it's shine when not being run alongside a Flying Gem (which isn't an option in XY OU.)

As far as fitting with your team, he has priority AND is naturally too fast to appreciate your Sticky Web support. While most of your team dislikes entry hazards, Talonflame is notable for having a really rough time with Stealth Rock, which basically necessitates a spinner in itself. You're also lacking in a real way past a lot of physical walls, so I think it's probably best that you ditch Talonflame.

What do you think about Salamence? He has Fire Blast to get past Skarmory, a good set of resistances that your team could really take advantage of and is fast enough to outspeed lots of threats while appreciating the Sticky Web Smeargle sets up. He's not you only option, but the first thing that came to mind for me.

Aegislash: Two things I can suggest here. The first is another item. Weakness Policy is effectively a free Swords Dance for this set, which is redundant with you already running that move on a Pokemon with gargantuan offensive prowess. HOWEVER, you could go mixed instead of purely physical and really benefit from your Weakness Policy. Pump those speed EV's into HP so you can survive a super effective hit more easily, switch your nature to a minus speed nature so you get the best of your offenses and defenses and ditch Swords Dance for Shadow Ball. He has plenty of options besides that in terms of movepool if you so desire. I think your team would appreciate some special attacking prowess, and you have your guy right here.

Azumarill: Pretty standard Azumarill stuff here. As long as you use him well he should serve you well.

You definitely have the makings of a good team here, but it could use a few changes here and there. I hope you're not discouraged by this wall of text. =P Anyway, that's my two cents.

 

[17waldth]

Thanks soooo much for responding....I will defiantly have to make some changes....I knew I had to from the beginning of making this team but didn't know where to start...THANKS :D

 

[bbg]

Smeargle:

I like Seiterman's idea of using Parting Shot- Don't use it over Sticky Web though. As an entirely superior version of Memento, when combined with Spore, Parting Shot can let you set up with Tyranitar.

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
Timid Nature
252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
-Spore
-Stealth Rock
-Sticky Web
-Parting Shot

If anybody is dumb enough to stay in three turns asleep, get up all your hazards and then use Parting Shot. If the opponent is almost definitely going to switch first or second turn, use Parting Shot then to get the switch initiative and free setup for Tyranitar, Talonflame, or Aegislash. Side note: if you're in this situation with Tyranitar, don't mega-evolve until the opponent switches out or after 2 turns of sleeping. This can influence certain decisions by the opponent.

Tyranitar:

I'd recommend using fire blast over Crunch. Fire Blast can KO any Skarmories/Forretresses trying to get in your way; +1 Crunch can't 2HKO most of the defensive steels that are neutral/immune to ground.

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Rash Nature
72 Atk / 184 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast

184+ SpA Tyranitar Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory: 294-346 (88.02 - 103.59%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

184+ SpA Tyranitar Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Forretress: 656-772 (185.31 - 218.07%) -- guaranteed OHKO

184+ SpA Tyranitar Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 216 SpD Scizor: 412-488 (119.76 - 141.86%) -- guaranteed OHKO

This applies to almost all other Pokemon who resist or are defensive and neutral to EdgeQuake. Scoring the OHKO on Skarmory is a big deal for Tyranitar; provided that you don't reveal Fire Blast too early, you can take out a huge threat.

Especially since you have exactly zero Special Attacking moves on your team besides Fire Blast.

Excadrill:

X-Scissor's use limited, as is Chople Berry, as is Sand Force.
I'd recommend that you use Swords Dance over X-Scissor, Life Orb over Chople Berry, and Mold Breaker over Sand Force.

The first is a bit of a personal decision, but I find +2 Exacdrill extremely terrifying. Your opponents should too. Seeing as you're walled to oblivion by things like Skarmory anyway, X-Scissor doesn't make much of a difference most of the time, unless you want to hit Bronzing, Metagross, and Jirachi neutrally... Or something.

Excadrill can use more power right off the bat, and Life Orb allows him to do that.
Mold Breaker is better- see the rate by the other guy.

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Adamant Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Swords Dance
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Rapid Spin

Talonflame:

Use Substitute or Roost over Acrobatics. Acrobatics isn't all that great, it does no damage compared to Brave Bird, and no recoil isn't really worth that. Not sure why you wouldn't use something like Aerial Ace on that set if this was your intention.

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
Adamant Nature
124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
-Swords Dance / Bulk Up
-Substitute / Roost
-Brave Bird
-Flare Blitz

This set has much more longevity and ability to set up than the other set.

Aegislash:

I don't think Aegislash really fits well on your team. You have a few options. This slot should definitely be used with something specially based.

One thing I'd like to see on your team is Special Lucario or Gengar in this slot.
Lucario is an effective sweeper with Nasty Plot, and people don't expect it.

Lucario @ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Ability: Inner Focus / Steadfast
Timid / Modest Nature
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Nasty Plot
-Aura Sphere
-Shadow Ball
-Substitute / Vacuum Wave / Hidden Power Ice / Dragon Pulse

This set can set up rather easily with Lucario's many resistances, natural bulk, and Substitute. Vacuum Wave is a solid option over Substitute for priority, but Substitute allows for ease of setup. HP Ice and Dragon Pulse are options should you have trouble with Dragons and/or Flying- Grass- and Ground-types.

Gengar is also an option, but I think Lucario might fit the team better.

Azumarill:

There isn't really a specially-based equivalent to Azumarill, so I'd say that set looks fine.

Nice team, 17waldth. Good luck!

 

[17waldth]

Cool..thanks...two questions though. 1. The fourth move for lucario, which in your opinion should I choose out of the 4? 2. I have been battling with my current first team and someone swept me by putting my whole team to sleep with spore. I had nothing to stop him. Ideas?

 

[tab]

I'm afraid your descriptions aren't up to scratch; we expect you to explain the thought process behind your team and exactly why you've chosen to use each member of it. PM me with updated descriptions and I'll unlock this.