Rate my National Dex AG Team

Question

Okay so I made this team a while ago and it did pretty well, but now in the higher ladder it's dying. :P Any suggestions?

Marshadow @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Drain Punch
- Spectral Thief
- Shadow Sneak
- Swagger

Marshadow is my reverse sweeper; Spectral Thief steals opposing Pokemons' stats, Shadow Sneak is for priority, Swagger is to confuse the other Pokemon while increasing Attack, which Marshadow can steal with Spectral Thief. Drain Punch over Close Combat to heal any Stealth Rock / Spikes damage if I can't Defog / Rapid Spin.

Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Aerial Ace

This is mostly a Smeargle counter; it's immune to Spore while it can hit back hard with Sacred Sword (which also ignores any stat changes). Aerial Ace for if I need to Dynamax and boost my Speed (this is why I'm not running a Choice Scarf set).

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock

Pretty standard Groudon set, with Precipice Blades as the strongest Ground-type STAB, Fire Punch for physical Fire STAB, Rock Tomb to make up for Groudon's trash Speed and to kill Ho-oh. Stealth Rock kind of limits my Defogging abilities, but it's an important part of most teams.

Arceus @ Normalium Z
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Swords Dance
- Defog
- Extreme Speed
- Recover

E-killer Arceus, but Defog is a problem as mentioned above. Swords Dance to boost attack, Defog to clear hazards, Recover for added longevity, E-Speed for powerful STAB. Should I replace it with a Rapid Spinner or keep it? If I remove Defog I can get Shadow Claw which is quite useful (countering opposing Marshadow).

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 232 HP / 24 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Geomancy
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
- Psyshock

Pretty standard Xerneas set, Geomancy to boost stats (with Power Herb to make it complete in one turn), Moonblast as strong Special Fairy STAB, Aromatherapy to cure team status, Psyshock to kill Chansey / Blissey.

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Dragon Ascent
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed

Standard Mega Rayquaza set. Dragon Ascent for the ability to Mega Evolve and strong flying STAB, Earthquake to kill Steel- and Rock- types, Dragon Dance for boosting Attack and Speed, Extreme Speed for strong priority.

Please suggest any changes. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Starting with the team, you do need a better Calyrex-Shadow that is not Marshadow. Arceus is able to do the job very well, but some points:

• Arceus isn't the most reliable Defog user. Swords Dance set should have 3 to 2 attacks, else Dusk Mane Necrozma and Calyrex-S completely wall you. Better have Earthquake in place of Recover, and Shadow Claw in place of Defog.
• Marshadow is pretty bad now since Mega Rayquaza and Yveltal are so common, consider replacing it. Neither useful is Kartana, because it checks almost checks nothing in the ladder that are important. To beat Smeargle a Substitute or any Taunt user is more than enough.
• Xerneas is more commonly checked by Dusk Mane Necrozma and Ho-Oh than Chansey/Blissey, so Hidden Power [Fire] and Thunder are better options compared to Psyshock. Also, there's no reason to use Aromatherapy on a offensive Xerneas. Either get rid of it or use a Choice Scarf Xerneas which can both Defog and Aromatherapy the team.
• Zacian-Crowned can do the job very well in place of Kartana, if looking for coverage, and if you want a Dynamax user other than Xerneas, Yveltal is good.
• Ditto can do the job better than Marshadow, and unlike it Ditto transforms instantly, which makes it better reverse sweeper.
  Hope this helps.

Comments

Alright so:
- Replace Marshadow with Ditto / Calyrex-Shadow
- Fix Arceus set
- Fix Xerneas set
- Replace Kartana with Zacian-Crowned / Yveltal
Few questions:
- Sash or Scarf on Ditto? IMO Sash is better but Scarf doesn't die to rocks.
- New Defogger / Rapid Spinner? I know Yveltal can but needs some coverage (like Heat Wave, Dark Pulse, Oblivion Wing, Sucker Punch / Focus Blast). Also with that if I get a Defogger instead of a Rapid Spinner, should I remove Stealth Rock on Groudon?
- Thunder or Thunderbolt on Xerneas?
- Do I really need Earthquake on Arceus? Shadow Claw hits Necrozma-DM pretty well.

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Scarf Ditto is the standard and better choice, when you have reliable Stealth Rocks but no good Defog user. Yveltal is better with coverage, you should run a Choice Scarf Xerneas which can Defog along with Aromatherapy. Fearing removal of Stealth Rock isn't that much of a issue. When opponent has more hazards on your side than theirs, you use Defog. Earthquake is important because even +4 Shadow Claw doesn't OHKO Dusk Mane, so Earthquake is important.

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Okay thanks!

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