SM RU Please rate my first team

[IG0KillahR79]

Okay so recently I started getting into competitive Pokemon and someone suggested I should start from RU,so for the past couple of days I've been using a sample team to sort of get a feel of what it's like.I decided I should try to make my own team based on my experiences and all the community guides regarding with RU tier and so on,and this is what I came up with:

Salazzle @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Oblivious
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 8 HP / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Nasty Plot

Special Setup Sweeper/Wallbreaker,also used to threaten out the bulky steel type pokemon and fairies.

Pangoro (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch (normally I wanted Gunk Shot but I'm desperate for a priority move in this team and no other member has access to one.)
- Swords Dance

Physical Setup Sweeper/Wallbreaker,also to deal with Pokemon like Umbreon and tanks like Snorlax or Gigalith.I was thinking of finding a Psychic type Pokemon to go along as it'd bait Pokemon in giving it a potential turn to set-up,like Slowking for example,but it can't really replace Milotic because of it's lacking Defense stat.

Milotic (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Refresh
- Recover

Basically as the Physical Wall Setup,I put Haze instead of Toxic because I can't find a good defensive Pokemon to phaze Setup Sweepers with,and Dragon Tail can't hit fairies like Gardevoir or Ribombee if they try to setup,so I just rely on Scald to cripple them and force some sort of timer on them.I was considering sacrificing Refresh but I can't risk getting badly poisoned.Also I thought of giving Milotic a Flame orb or something in order to prevent Toxic and the Defense boost as a small bonus on top of freeing up the third move slot for Toxic,but I'm not sure if it's worth it.

Umbreon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

The usual cleric/special wall setup.I was also trying to fit Toxic somewhere in here so that I'd have Milotic and Umbreon both with Toxic but Heal Bell and Protect are kind of a necessity, since protect helps scout moves,gain some more leftovers regeneration before taking a hit or securing one more round of Toxic and Heal Bell helps Umbreon and the whole team.

Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Defog
- U-turn

Pivot/Revenge Killer and I couldn't fit Defog anywhere else.

Roserade (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes

Entry Hazards,initially I was using Nidoqueen here but I really didn't need another Ground type and it hurt her more than it helped,plus I needed some more help with threatening Water types out.


Also on a side note I really wanted to fit in an Escavalier in there because it forces a lot of switches thanks to it's bulk but I'm not sure which member it could replace.


So this is the team I've come up with,I didn't know how to characterise it (Offensive,Defensive,Balanced etc.) as people do in these titles so I apologise for that.I'd appreciate it a lot if you could share ways to improve it with me.As I said this is my first team so sorry for any glaring flaws.

 

[esche]

Hi!

From what I can tell you were sort of going for a balanced approach here since you tried fitting all these different roles on the team. I like the Salazzle + Pangoro combo but overall I feel a bulky offensive route can support these two much better than balance can so I'll try to take the team in that direction instead while keeping the essential idea intact.


- The biggest threat and nuisance to your team right now is definitely Golisopod because it interrupts every offensive threat on your team with its powerful priority and overall dents everything on your team pretty hard (Milotic can switch in and recover the damage but that only gives free turns for Spikes and switch-ins to powerful breakers such as Roserade and Machamp). Mantine over Milotic fixes this pretty easily and also gives you a much more reliable Defog user than Scarf Flygon which Salazzle certainly will appreciate. Mantine also makes a solid switchin to M-Sceptile whicht the Milotic set was entirely walled by. Personally, I'd run a really fast Mantine (>240) on this team to outspeed and get some initiative on Bewear but a bulkier variant will probabaly work out fine too.

- You definitely need to add Stealth Rocks somewhere because I don't think you can really get away without them in a meta where it feels like Mandibuzz walls everything. Umbreon is sort of the weak link here in my opinion so I decided to replace it with Diancie. It will act as a much needed answer to Noivern which threatens both Salazzle and Pangoro. Diancie is one of the SR users that actually succeds in getting them up vs Mandibuzz and the set I gave you here can even keep them up versus Donphan. 216 SpAtk EVs with a modest nature ensure the 2HKO on max HP Donphan after Leftovers recovery with Moonblast while the Shuca Berry allows you to survive a plethora of Ground type attacks that Diancie will be the target of. Earth Power is the coverage of choice for Metagross and Nidoqueen switch-ins. A real fun tech that im super fond of in the last slot on this set is Covet which lets you steal Leftovers from the likes of Registeel and Snorlax after Shuca Berry has been used.

- Next I'd worry a bit more about having an actual Ground resist that doesnt get overwhelmed by Rock or Electric coverage. Shaymin over Roserade sounds to me like it would be a good pick here because it makes better use of its defensive capabilities than Roserade and at the same time gives you a status absorber which is nice to have considering Umbreon was just replaced. Leech Seed Shaymin is super annoying to face and can give some of your members a bit of recovery. Protect is chosen over Substitute because Golisopod runs this meta. Maybe consider giving it some HP to give it some more sustainability vs the likes of M-Blastoise and Zydog and to have some counterplay in case Barbaracle manages to setup (which it can only on Mantine or choice locked Flygon and you should be able to play so that you avoid these scenarios but it's good to have options I guess). You'll have to bait the Z-Rock by switching out on something else but if you tailor the EV spread right you can take the +2 Stone Edge after two switch-ins on rocks and a round of Leftovers recovery which you can get by tecting.


Finally two minor adjustments:

- I'd say make the panda Jolly because outspeeding Metagross which commonly run somewhere around 220 speed is pretty important. The loss in power is noticeable but I think its worth to snipe all these SR + Shuca Berry variants with a faster Knock Off. Also I agree that Bullet Punch is a solid choice here as coverage to take care of fast revenge killers like Scarf Gardevoir because it also helps Salazzle so that it has an easier time cleaning later on.

- Now that Mantine has taken on the role of hazard removal you can opt for something more useful than Defog on Flygon. I don't think additional coverage is all that important here because STAB + U-turn usually does the job (Dragon Claw is piss weak and Aerial Ace while good to have vs Virizion is pretty lackluster overall as well I feel). I put Tailwind last here because it gives you a good chance of beating Z-Celebrate Shaymin by bringing out Salazzle after Tailwind goes up and removing it with the appropriate super effective damaging move. Toxic is another option to catch stuff like Cresselia and Slowbro but most of the time you're going to U-turn on them anyway.


Ultimately these might look like a lot of changes but I don't think they take away much from the team because all I essentially did was replace the Water type with a different Water type and the Grass type with a different Grass type plus the change from Umbreon to Diancie. I tried fitting Escavalier somewhere but didn't succeed in making that work. Let me know what you think of these changes and most importantly of course have fun with the team

https://pokepast.es/36da5a28eb880ae3

 

[IG0KillahR79]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions,I tried out the new team and I like the changes for the most part,but I've had two reccuring problems,so I need some more help.
I have problems with fairy types,especially Gardevoir.They usually either run Calm Mind or Choice Scarf so in the first case,if there's an opening to setup my only choice to stop it is to send out Salazzle and use Acid Downpour if I haven't used it already,since Pangoro's unboosted Bullet Punch isn't powerful enough to one-shot it,so Gardevoir decimates Pangoro with Moonblast in return and Diancie can take about 3 hits from Psyshock from full health,so even if I take a turn to use Toxic (and get badly poisoned as well due to Synchronize) while it gets the first Psyshock off,I have no way of Toxic Stalling since Diancie doesn't have a move like Recover or Wish.
If it's carrying Choice Scarf I think it outspeeds Salazzle so I can't even get a hit in,while Pangoro is still unable to one-shot it with Bullet Punch.
This kind of situation is why I wanted to squeeze Escavalier in the team,though there doesn't seem to be any room sadly.
Do you have any suggestions to deal with this problem? Could a Steel type fit in,like Stealth Rock Bronzong instead of Diancie for example,to threaten it with Gyro Ball?
Also I tried out replacing one of the attacking moves Mantine has with Haze but it's Physical frailty and it's meh Speed are problematic,so I gave up on that.But I was thinking about Mega-Blastoise as a potential replacement? If I replace Mantine's Air Slash with Aerial Ace on Flygon as a Virizion counter (since I'll be able to switch into it while it's setting up and outspeed it with the Choice Scarf along with Shaymin's Air Slash)?
Since it can learn Rapid Spin it can deal with Entry Hazards without removing the ones I set up for the opponent,it can learn Roar and it's Defenses are good so it'll be able to take a neutral hit from a setup sweeper like ,and it can dish out damage as well.Also its Ice Beam would be useful since I don't have any other Ice type moves to help deal with Dragon types in case something happens to Diancie.So like a utilit-ish Blastoise? Would that be viable?

 

[esche]

Hi again!

I can see how Gardevoir is an annoyance to the team.

Bronzong is indeed a fantastic counter to Gardevoir on paper here but in practice it doesn't perform all to well as a SR user right now because it is threatened to lose its only form of recovery (Leftovers) to two of the most common hazard control, Donphan and Mandibuzz (although the latter often opt for Foul Play instead of Knock Off). Yes, it will annoy them with Toxic in the process but you've got to ask yourself whether that's worth the trade-off of losing your Leftovers especially when considering that Heal Bell is very much a possibility to be used by the opponent (often found in combination with Mandibuzz that forgo Taunt). Mandibuzz in particular worries me here because what exactly are you switching in to pressure that bird if you end up sacrifing Diancie? Anyway, Bronzong does constitute a very solid Flying and Dragon resist just like Diancie so it likely won't let you down in that regard plus having favourable match-up vs Gardevoir as well as some other threats such as Shaymin, Tyrantrum, Nidoqueen and Metagross. Personally, I feel that Diancie is the better fit here still (the set is debateable of course) particularly because of its ability to deal with Mandibuzz while still packing a punch versus the rest of the metagame with its great Fairy + Ground coverage. Bronzong is certainly a viable option here though if you don't mind its relative passiveness. SR + Shuca Berry Metagross is another alternative that will retain the typing of Bronzong but also provides offensive capabilities (sort of a compromise between the two former options). Just remember that Mandibuzz often speed creep Metagross to smack them with Foul Play.

If you do indeed choose to substitute Diancie I suggest you replace Choice Scarf Flygon with Choice Scarf Tyrantrum to have at least some means of pressuring Mandibuzz while still retaining speed control and the fire resistance. Losing the ability to outspeed M-Sceptile isn't an issue here because between Bronzong, Shaymin and Mantine you'll be fine versus that thing for sure. Plus, Tyrantrum plays in a different league when it comes to damage output compared to Flygon. You'll lose the ability to safely U-turn in your breakers but once you get to know the feeling of the team with it you'll get more confident in making the appropriate doubles anyway

Regarding your idea about replacing Mantine with M-Blastoise: Generally, you can't really go wrong with M-Blastoise on bulky offense. However, the threat of Golisopod very much remains with M-Blastoise in that slot. You'll obviously get more power in return but at the same time your own counter-measures to M-Blastoise are reduced to Shaymin which doesn't carry an instant recovery move. If you dislike the lack of bulk on Mantine you can always go back to a less speedy variant and invest more in defense. Just beware of Bewear.

Overall, both of the ideas you had are perfectly viable options on this team and you'll likely see results with them. I'm a bit iffy on the replacement of Mantine with M-Blastoise but in the end it comes down to preference and personal playing style and you certainly should tweak your team the way so that you can operate it most comfortably.

By the way, how is SD Pangoro working out for you? Do you feel that SD is worth it or do you find yourself attacking with it most of the time anyway? I suspect that in this meta it can be sort of hard to find opportunities to set up with the panda where it wouldn't be more benefical to simply dish out a strong attack. If that is indeed the case try Choice Band instead! It will rely more on prediction but I can see the instant power advantage being a worthy trade-off here.

Sample CB Panda

Pangoro @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch

Once again, let me know what you think of these suggestions. I hope you have fun with them!

https://pokepast.es/976f2e6217de35c7