Pokémon Rate My Team
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So I'm very new to this competitive scenario and any suggestions, improvements and tips would be appreciated. So my team is:

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

He can outspeed a lot of threats and with some good prediction can clear the field with its moves Earthquake and Iron Head, Rock Slide to defeat Talonflame and Charizard Y. Spinner of the group. His atk stats are very great and he has both the spinner role and a physical sweeper role on my team.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock

I can't see putting both Spikes and Stealth Rock on Ferro a good idea but it sometimes really change the match course, since I got two options of hazards to fill the field with. I'm really confused about this and would like some suggestions on that one. Leech Seed is for good sustain and eventually stall out the opponent. Gyro Ball is an awesome move considering its horrible speed and does massive damage to Dragon Dance users, high speed pokemons and of course to fairy types.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 12 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Jellicent is something like a wall for the group and does its job very well. It pairs great with Ferrothorn covering all its weaknesses. Scald is an awesome move, STAB and high change to burn the enemies. Recover is a reliable sustain move, but it depends on Jellicent's speed which is actually pretty bad. Taunt is to counter Baton Passers, Setup and many other strategies. Will-o-Wisp is a more accurate way to burn the enemies.

Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Pixilate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Protect

Nothing much to say here, the special sweeper of the team can kill many pokemons with Hyper Voice and those special walls with Psyshock. Focus Blast is for coverage, tho it almost never hits and get me so frustrated. Idk a good move for the fourth slot so I put Protect to Gardevoir mega evolve and gain its status boosts with no problems. Not happy with protect if there is another move please say.

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost
- U-turn

Talonflame is a very fast pokemon and with its ability Gale Wings got priority on Brave Bird and Roost. Brave Bird and Flare Blitz are STABS and can OHKO many pokemons with some entry hazard damage, except those resistant of course. U-turn is for gaining some momentum. Roost is a really good recovery move because of its priority. I'm very confused about its nature, can't choose between Jolly and Adamant, so you could also help me on that.

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Foul Play
- Protect

Umbreon is the Support of the team and does its job very well but lose so much momentum heal-belling or wishing the party and sometimes gives great advantage to the opposing group. It is also a great Special Wall and I always can count on it to tank Mega Manectric moves and many others special sweepers (except for Mega Gardevoir of course). Protect is for scouting and having the Wish heal safely. Foul Play can actually deal with many physical sweepers depending on their types, it's a great move overall. Wish for healing the party and Umbreon itself and Heal Bell for curing status problems.

So I'm having some problems with Skarmory, Heatran and Magnezone (which traps my Ferrothorn) and I can't find a way to counter them. I would appreciate moveset changes, tips and even pokemon changes to my team if needed. Any contribution would be pleased.

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Latios w/ Hp Fire makes dents in your team as well as Scizor/ Scizor-Mega

2 Answers

1 vote

Excadrill:

The moveset is fine, except for Rapid Spin is slightly iffy. If the opposing team sets up Stealth Rock, three Spikes, double Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web then a Spinner is desperately needed, but usually I manage to take care of the Spiker only after a measly Stealth Rock was set up. The ability needs to be changed immediately. If you want him to take advantage of the extra speed boost from a sandstorm, have him learn Sandstorm and preferably hold a Smooth Rock. However, none of the other Pokemon in your party would benefit from a sandstorm, and taking up a precious moveslot for setting up weather that would damage your other Pokemon is just not worth it. So exchange Sand Rush for Mold Breaker, which actually helps you a lot because it allows you to hit Levitate Pokes with Earthquake. Also, the other team's not going to hit an Excadrill with a Ground-type attack anytime soon, so ditch the Air Balloon for anything else. Please. Maybe a Choice Band or Life Orb if you want to hit especially hard.

Ferrothorn:

Ok, I know how to solve your dilemma. If you want Ferrothorn to be your lead, keep Stealth but ditch Spikes --- Flying-type and Levitate Pokemon wouldn't take any damage from Spikes, but Talonflame would be absolutely murdered by Stealth Rock. If you don't want it to be a Spiker at all, ditch both Stealth and Spikes for Power Whip. Take advantage of the 120 base power! With STAB and Ferro's not-too-shabby attack, it could do quite a lot of damage. As for the last slot, see as you fit. Experiment with what you want your Ferrothorn to do. Gyro Ball and Leech Seed are perfect. No change needed with those two.

Jellicent:

Good, you understand about synergy! I would say swap Will O' Wisp for something else; another status-condition, if you want it to be the annoying staller, since Scald already gives good chance to burn. Not much else to say... good job!

Mega Gardevoir:

Oof! This one needs to be fixed up a bit. First, why did you give your Mega Gardevoir imperfect IV's? It was probably an innocent accident, but fix it asap. DITCH PSYSHOCK, FOCUS BLAST, AND PROTECT IMMEDIATELY! Why go for Psyshock when you could take advantage of Psychic, a higher-power move still with STAB? If Focus Blast misses too much, get another attack, perhaps HP Fighting for 100% accuracy or Grass Knot for Tyranitars. And, please, Protect is for stalling and scouting. On a special sweeper? A big no-no. Replace with another attack for further type coverage. Maybe one mentioned above about Focus Blast.

Talonflame:

Sharp Beak is useless if you have moves of different types. Unless you're aiming to Brave Bird every Pokemon you face with TFlame, swap for something else. Leftovers would be an excellent option to patch up the wounds inflicted by recoil from Brave Bird. About its nature, go for Adamant. Talonflame already has insane speed, and combined with 252 Spe EVs, its not the slowest Pokemon ever known. Besides, with Gale Wings, you already receive priority for Flying-type moves. If you really want speed, exchange Flare Blitz for Flame Charge, but I don't recommend it.

Umbreon:

I love Umbreon to pieces. When I've used it before, it was awesome to stall against the other team and cause rage quitting. That said, it's great at walling, so you're on the right track. However, if you have Foul Play, you want to inflict heavy damage, right? So the best targets would be Physical Sweepers. To make sure your Umbreon doesn't collapse against aforementioned Physical Sweepers, give it 252 Def, 252 SpD, and 4 HP so it can be a balanced Wall with decent bulk. Wish and Protect are fine, and Heal Bell is not too bad if you desperately need the curing. Also, don't Wish party members. As you said, it loses momentum, and Umbreon doesn't have much HP to give in the first place. If you want to pull off full Special Wall + Wish, consider Blissey, who absorbs special attacks like a sponge and has crazy HP.

Dealing with Counters:

All of the Pokemon that you consider to be challenging to subdue are Steel-types. There, include powerful Fire, Fighting, and Ground attacks in your arsenal. For Skarms, a hard Thunderbolt (perhaps from Mega Gardevoir) is enough to kill. Heatrans and Magnezones can be easily be overcome with Earthquake, but for that reason they may carry Air Balloon. Therefore, bring out your Excadrill, Rock Slide once, then Earthquake. As for Magnezone, if you unfortunately get trapped with Ferrothorn, Leech Seed, then alternate Protect with Power Whip. Not guaranteed to work, but practice anticipating switches so you can bring in Excadrill when Magnezone's coming into the battlefield.

Overall your team has potential but has several minor flaws. Patch them up and keep experimenting!

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Your answer also has some "minor flaws". Every team needs a spinner/Defog Pokémon, as hazards are ever-present and SR murder Talonflame. For Gardevoir(and most Psychics in general), Psyshock is used over Psychic to allow it to nail Pokémon that lack in Defence. An item for Talonflame should not be Leftovers, there are several members of the team who would benefit from it more. A better item would be Life Orb.
use psyshock for psychic. it lets you hit defensive walls and av users like conkeldurr harder. also if you do the damage calcs, the dropoff from the bp is so negligible, that it is far more useful to run psyshock. as for focus blast, it's a question of what you want coverage against, and how accurate you want your moves. hp fighting does even compare in damage to focus blast so i'd ditch that. t-tar is wrecked by hyper voice which is stab anyways, so i don't get running grass knot there (in any case, energy ball is more useful for hitting rotom-w and azumarill consistently)

hazards are a thing. rapid spin is always useful whether it's sticky web or toxic spikes. while you don't have a huge rock weakness, you should keep it on excadrill anyways, as it's far more useful than another coverage move.

sharp beak is not just for boosting flying moves as meteordash is suggesting. while the boost to brave bird is useful, the main advantage is helping you bluff a choice item which can come in clutch when your opponent thinks you're locked into flare blitz or something. in most cases, i don't see talonflame living too much with the damage it inflicts and the corresponding recoil, so i think leftovers is pretty useless on such an offensive mon
Good answer but the suggestions are weird sometimes. You don't seem to understand the place of some moves.
- Rapid Spin is great on Excadrill, because it really doesn't have many other moves to fill in the last slot due to Excadrill's shallow movepool. He needs a spinner to support Talonflame if the opponent set Stealth Rocks, which they will attempt to do almost all the time.
- Excadrill does not set up sand by itself. If you use a Sand Rush Excadrill, you use a Tyranitar on your team. And why would the opponent's not use a Ground move on Excadrill? It has a weakness to it. Air Balloon gives Excadrill more switchin opportunities and forces out Choice-locked Polemon.
- Ferrothorn doesn't need both Gyro Ball and Power Whip, one of them will do just fine. A status move should take Spikes's place, e.g. Thunder Wave which supports Excadrill against fast Pokemon like Greninja.
- Will-O-Wisp is more reliable than Scald for burning, but Toxic is still a good alternative.
- Mega Gardveoir's set is 100% fine in my eyes. Psyshock is better than Psychic; although it has lower base power, it allows Gardevoir to hit targets based on their Defence stat, which means that it is not walled by Chansey or Blissey or other special walls. Hidden Power Fighting has no firepower, whatsoever. Even if Focus Blast is unreliable, its ability to OHKO several Steel-type is too good to pass up. HP Fighting has a measly 60 base power, which misses out on tons of KOs. Protect is a very solid move on Gardevoir and lots of other Megas. The reason is that Mega Pokemon retain their original form's Speed stat on the turn they Mega Evolve, so using Protect allows you to stall that turn out and have your Speed boost without the sorry of being outsped. Although it isn't as necessary on Gardevoir, Pokemon like Mega Beedrill need it desperately.
- Sharp Beak isn't useless. It's a boost to its Brave Bird, which is great. Just because it doesn't power up everything doesn't mean it's useless.
- Umbreon has good HP at base 95, it's enough to heal a ton of HP to another Pokemon. The reason Umbreon isn't passing much is because you took all the HP EVs off it. Leave some HP EVs, on it.
- Not sure how Wish passing spoils momentum? Passing it to a sweeper can immediately threaten the opponent's team due to their high power, if anything that's building momentum and giving you control over the game.

EDIT: ninja'd.
thnx for the corrections, everyone, but although i know my answer isnt wholly right, is it *that* horrible to deserve downvoting? (no sarcasm here, honestly, i just want to know if my answer was truly terrible or something so i'd know in the future)
Your answer wasn't horrible, however you did throw out certain startaegies that  any competitive player would never say no to. There just wasn't enough facts to support your claims.
0 votes

Sorry but jellicent really has no place in ou despite its type coverage with ferrothorn. Most fighting types have knock off anyways. My advice is to use rotom w for some volt switch action. Other bulky water types can work too. Tents cruel especially since you have no way to get rid of rocks which just wrecks tali flame. Protect is also fairly useless on gardevoir as its not a defensive mon trying to gain leftovers. I'd recommend taunt so that you can break through stall teams a little better. Lastly, use mold breaker on escadrill as you don't have any sand setters and the ability to crush a oblivious rotom was or Latias is far more useful

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