Pokémon Rate My Team
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I was thinking about my mono teams, and one struck me as a bit... improvable. That one was my Steel team, and I will say that I structured it for each Pokemon too be good, but focus in a specific stat, HP, Attack, Defense, etc. I want you guys to rate it so it can improve (by the way, this is Gen 7):

Iris (Excadrill) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 Spe
Careful Nature
- Drill Run
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Sandstorm

OrPhN 34t3r (Metagross) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Explosion

Magneto (Steelix) (M) @ Steelixite
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail
- Stone Edge
- Explosion

Tesla (Magnezone) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Zap Cannon
- Lock-On
- Flash Cannon
- Tri Attack

PEZ (Probopass) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Flash Cannon
- Power Gem
- Explosion
- Zap Cannon

Duran Duran (Durant) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Shadow Claw
- Crunch

I would greatly appreciate any critique and suggestions to give me ideas to edit it.

by
Make sure the coverage moves your Pokemon know actually cover threats, or they'll be wastes of move slots. Replace Excdrill's x-scissor with rock slide, replace Durant's shadow claw with stone edge, etc. In general, all normal attacks except rapid spin are useless unless they're being used by a normal type Pokemon. Replace all your normal attacks with better coverage attacks.
Add Heatran.

1 Answer

0 votes

Excadrill
The Item for your Excadrill should be life orb, as it should be there to do as much damage as possible before fainting. Your ability should be Mold Breaker, as you should not run Sandstorm; your Pokemon will be murdered first turn, and setting up is just simply not an option. Replace X-Scissor with Rock Tomb; it will help against bulky flying types. I would also suggest using an adamant nature.

Metagross
Decent moveset, just replace Explosion with Stealth Rock, and change your Assault Vest to Life Orb. This will improve its usability by letting it set up as well as attack.

Steelix
Why. Do. You. Waste. Mega-Stone. On. Steelix.
Replace Steelix with Mega-Scizor, with the following moveset. Win rate will go up immediately.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 60 Def / 124 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite

Magnezone
Lock-on Zap cannon, like the Excadrill thing, is way too slow.
They will OHKO you when you lock-on, or they will outspeed you the next turn and KO you.
Run a completely different set with better coverage, and more reliable moves.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Fire
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Probopass
Again, I am not sure why this is here, but it can work.
The set is weak and unreliable, and your zap cannons just do not work, so I will give you a new set to work with.

Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

Durant
Replace Durant with Skarmory, which has much better utility and usability, as well as viability.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Conclusion
Your team is good in general, but some of the changes are necessary; you do not have to listen to me, but just wondering -- is this in the actual game or in Pokemon Showdown?
Let me know.

by
Why is rock tomb used to defeat bulky flying Pokemon? Rock slide is more powerful, dealing more average damage even when considering its low accuracy. Bulky flying Pokemon are already slow, so rock tomb's speed drop won't be useful.
I recently changed the Rocky Helmet to Assault Vest to make sure that it could tank hits, get the Lock-On,  and release an extremely powerful Zap Cannon because of Analytic. I made him slow for a good reason, so I don't want him scarfed. Also: keep in mind a lot of Megas were not put into Sun/Moon, so I didn't realize Scizor was in that roster of Megas that made it through. Also, remember what I said at the top: each Pokemon focuses on a stat, and they all are some of the best. The reason Steelix is my Mega is because Mega Steelix has the highest Defense of ANY Pokemon (tied with Shuckle). If I could Vest it, I would, but I can't. Also, Durant is barely the second fastest of any non-mega non-legend Steel, whereas Skarmory is number 13 excluding Megas and Legendarys and Myths. And even then, I recently changed Durant to Alolan Dugtrio, who is number 1 for Speed by 1 POINT. Hopefully you understand the layout NOW that I'm done ranting. Sorry if this breaks any rule...
First, assault vest prevents it from using lock on.
Second, to get your strategy to work, Magnezone would give two free turns to the opponent. They could easily switch to an earthquake user while you're setting up.
Third, Skarmory and Ferrothorn are both much better at playing the physical defense role than Steelix because they aren't weak to ground or water, and they're better at healing themselves.
First: Alright, thank you. I completely skimmed over the Assault Vest's secondary effect.
Second: Now that I can replace Lock-On, I can just use Zap Cannon in one turn, even though it may miss
Third: I understand that, it's just in all, and I'm only comparing base stats, Skarmory has a base of 140, and Ferrothorn has 131. Meanwhile, base Steelix has 200, while Mega Steelix has a base of 230, which is a difference of 90 and 99. I appreciate your suggestions, but I really think my stuff through when I make it, and I feel the points I've stated are valid.
My point is that you need to consider things other than base stats.
I know... it's just that the gap actually makes a difference in this situation. If it were a different situation I would do something like that.
The gap actually doesn't make that much of a difference. If you look at the usage stats from Monotype, you'll see that Skarmory is about 293 times as popular as Steelix. That particular statistic came from people who have relatively high ELO ratings, so I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing when they chose Skarmory over Steelix.
http://www.smogon.com/stats/2017-02/gen7monotype-1760.txt
I apologize for the the long reply. I realize that you're correct in this situation, and I apologize greatly for the hassle and/or frustration I've caused you. I thank you kindly for your help.
It's okay as long as you learned what I was trying to teach you.