[RATE MY TEAM] Netherlandish's Teams

[Netherlandish]

Ever since I started getting into the more competitive side - or meta-game - of the Pokémon series, I've started breeding and training numerous pokémon. Those I've loved for a long time, those that are good, and those I just thought would be fun to use and/or try out. I currently have two 'primary' teams that I use; my competitive team, and my gym leader team.
I'm curious to know how well these are viewed by others whom have been in the community for much longer than I, and if they have any intrinsic value. Now pay heed, I'm not overtly competitive. I could very easily make a whole team of the cheapest pokémon with the sole goal of being the victor *cough*prankstersableye*cough*, but I just wanna have fun, and maybe give some trainers a tough fight.

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Competitive Team;

Fea (Absol) (F) @ Absolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 SpA / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
- Superpower

Caladbolg (Doublade) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpD
Naive Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Iron Head

Neried (Kingdra) (F) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Naive Nature
- Focus Energy
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Flash Cannon

Wilde Heer (Nidoking) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

Eachthigern (Sylveon) (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Moonblast

Voogd (Dragonite) (M) @ Persim Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Thunder Punch
- Superpower

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These teams are subject to change, please view other posts for more information.

[Marcusube]

The first team has serious Ice and Fairy weaknesses. The team is purely hyper offensive and might struggle with more tanky based teams that have Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Ferrothorn, Scizor, Latios etc.

I would advise running Protect on Absol and doing the EV spread to maximize speed and then use the remaining 256 between special attack and attack. Never take away points from Absol's speed for it is the only thing that makes it an effective glass cannon. You could run Justified over Pressure just so that when you switch to evade Dark moves, you get the attack boost. Superpower already checks what Fire Blast needs to so I recommend running either Ice Beam or Play Rough over it.

Do this spread for Doublade: 236 HP, 20 Atk, 252 SpDef. The extra 4 in HP doesn't increase the stat so put it into attack to get an extra point.

No reason to run speed investments on Kingdra especially if you aren't relying on Rain or Agility for speed. Draco Meteor is better than Dragon Pulse for it hits harder plus when it crits, the SpAtk drop is negated.

As for the second team:

Why run a Sun sweeping Venusaur without the sun? It'd be better to just slap on a Mega stone and do a bulky build.

Black Sludge or Life Orb would be better on Gengar in this situation along with a Timid Nature.

Why not run U-turn on Crobat for switch priority?

[Netherlandish]

(Apr 30, 2015, 01:29 PM)Marcusube Wrote: The first team has serious Ice and Fairy weaknesses. The team is purely hyper offensive and might struggle with more tanky based teams that have Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Ferrothorn, Scizor, Latios etc.

Well, I only see an Ice weakness on Dragonite and Nidoking, to which I've made sure they have type coverage - Flamethrower on Nidoking and Superpower on Dragonite. For Fairy, I usually have Doublade and Nidoking to counter.

(Apr 30, 2015, 01:29 PM)Marcusube Wrote: I would advise running Protect on Absol and doing the EV spread to maximize speed and then use the remaining 256 between special attack and attack. Never take away points from Absol's speed for it is the only thing that makes it an effective glass cannon. You could run Justified over Pressure just so that when you switch to evade Dark moves, you get the attack boost. Superpower already checks what Fire Blast needs to so I recommend running either Ice Beam or Play Rough over it.

Yeah, my Absol can be a lot better, it's just she's done great insofar. I would have to do some breeding to get Play Rough on one, but it would certainly give me more type coverage than Fire Blast, then I can just dump all into Physical Attack and Speed. The ability doesn't matter as Absol is my mega, and upon mega evolution she gets Magic Bounce.

(Apr 30, 2015, 01:29 PM)Marcusube Wrote: No reason to run speed investments on Kingdra especially if you aren't relying on Rain or Agility for speed. Draco Meteor is better than Dragon Pulse for it hits harder plus when it crits, the SpAtk drop is negated.

Well, I prefer Dragon Pulse over Draco Meteor so it doesn't ruin her SpA stat.  I mostly have her on my team because 1) I needed water type coverage, and 2) I fished up a shiny Horsea and it was so adorable I had to add her to my team.

(Apr 30, 2015, 01:29 PM)Marcusube Wrote: Why run a Sun sweeping Venusaur without the sun? It'd be better to just slap on a Mega stone and do a bulky build.

Black Sludge or Life Orb would be better on Gengar in this situation along with a Timid Nature.

Why not run U-turn on Crobat for switch priority?

MY POISON TEAM SUCKS, I AM FULLY AWARE OF THIS. Nedasaur and Glint (Venusaur and Crobat, respectively) are two pokémon I've had for years now, long before I ever thought of the competitive meta-game, so I can completely understand why they aren't good. Gengar was something I just threw together, and I'm not even sure if I'll keep him with this team. I like Haunter a whole lot more anyway, so I might do some sort of Eviolite build with him.

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Thank you a lot for your advice and insight. While I may win 3/5 games on Pokémon Showdown with this team (actually with the poison team it's more like 1/7) I'm completely aware I'm nowhere near being tournament nor VGC ready.

[Syltphademus]

*just as a note, I will only be referring to your VGC team*

I think a lot of what Marcusube is trying to say is that Ice types aren't necessarily prevalent in VGC, but Ice Beam is. Milotic, Suicune, and other bulky water types can run havoc on you while you don't really have an answer to them. Thunder Punch on Dragonite is okay, but you're not going to OHKO any of them.

Your team lacks answers to some of the common pokemon in the meta, as well as some of what is 'common' in the game. For instance, you don't have a support pokemon, but you have two pokemon that need to set up (Doublade and Kingdra). You also have no mon with Protect on your team, meaning you'll just take shots every turn without being able to retaliate. You should look at the Pokemon global link doubles spot and see the most common pokemon and how you're going to deal with them. (http://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/battle/oras/#double)

About what your team lacks, you have no form of speed control, no support, and no form of statuses. Speed is key in the current meta, and your team will always be lacking. A support would do wonders, especially one with intimidate and fake out (Scrafty and Hitmontop fit this role well). Your team also has no anti-intimidate aside from sending out two of your SpA mons, but that could lead to bad match ups quickly.

I would recommend watching some videos on youtube and looking at their teams. See what they have and why they are bringing it. Try and form a team that performs similar goals. Also, decide if you care more about being competitive or using specific pokemon, as your Kingdra and Doublade shouldn't be Naive, and I'm sure your Kingdra is not 5 IV since you caught it wild (I could be wrong). I know you said you wanted to use it because it's shiny, but remember that that could come back to bite you. If you don't care, then feel free to ignore what I just said.

[Netherlandish]

(Apr 30, 2015, 06:43 PM)Syltphademus Wrote: I think a lot of what Marcusube is trying to say is that Ice types aren't necessarily prevalent in VGC, but Ice Beam is. Milotic, Suicune, and other bulky water types can run havoc on you while you don't really have an answer to them. Thunder Punch on Dragonite is okay, but you're not going to OHKO any of them.

I see what you mean. My answer to water types used to be my Venusaur, but I took him off my team when I found out that VGC only accepts Kalos-bred Pokémon, so he no longer became legal. I have an idea to make a bulky Chesnaught to maybe remedy this but I'm none too sure.

(Apr 30, 2015, 06:43 PM)Syltphademus Wrote: Your team lacks answers to some of the common pokemon in the meta, as well as some of what is 'common' in the game. For instance, you don't have a support pokemon, but you have two pokemon that need to set up (Doublade and Kingdra). You also have no mon with Protect on your team, meaning you'll just take shots every turn without being able to retaliate. You should look at the Pokemon global link doubles spot and see the most common pokemon and how you're going to deal with them.

I never came up with any support pokémon that would do well with my current team. I know of a support Umbreon that does pretty well, but I don't know how I feel about having two monotype Dark-types on my VGC list. For Doublade and Kingdra having to be set up, I've found that they are both tanky enough to survive a couple hits before they're ready, as Kingdra only needs one Focus Energy and Doublade needs a couple Swords Dances. I try my best to set them up when I anticipate a switch or when I know I'm safe enough to do them.

(Apr 30, 2015, 06:43 PM)Syltphademus Wrote: About what your team lacks, you have no form of speed control, no support, and no form of statuses. Speed is key in the current meta, and your team will always be lacking. A support would do wonders, especially one with intimidate and fake out (Scrafty and Hitmontop fit this role well). Your team also has no anti-intimidate aside from sending out two of your SpA mons, but that could lead to bad match ups quickly.

Intimidate and Fake Out teams are exactly why Mega Kangaskhan and the Landorus/Thundurus are so prevalent in the meta. Why copy what everyone else is doing?

(Apr 30, 2015, 06:43 PM)Syltphademus Wrote: I would recommend watching some videos on youtube and looking at their teams. See what they have and why they are bringing it. Try and form a team that performs similar goals. Also, decide if you care more about being competitive or using specific pokemon, as your Kingdra and Doublade shouldn't be Naive, and I'm sure your Kingdra is not 5 IV since you caught it wild (I could be wrong). I know you said you wanted to use it because it's shiny, but remember that that could come back to bite you. If you don't care, then feel free to ignore what I just said.

Actually funny story; my Horsea I caught did have a perfect IV stat in SpA which is another of the factors which lead to me wanting to use it. My end-goal is to be competitive while using certain pokémon. Which I'm certain makes me come off as ignorant or stubborn, but I'm fully aware I wouldn't be winning any tournaments within the next lifetime. I just wanna have fun and use pokés you never see all that often. However, this said, I have no intention of ignoring what you've been saying. There is no point to posting a 'Rate My team' listing then completely blocking out the criticisms. I just want to get better at the meta-game, and I feel like you guys are already doing so for me.

[Slec]

This team is full of glass cannons. Except for Doublade (Aegislash is much better btw) you dont take advantage of the bulk of your pokemon. Kingdra, Sylveon, and Dragonite are pretty bulky and can be threats if they arent dead. For instance, since VGC is doubles many times someone is doubled up on. Sylveon isnt fast enough to be a glass cannon, Kingdra can be deadly if it has a focus energy up (But Garchomp OHKOs it) and Dragonite has multi-scale which is almost a guarantee that it will be able live something so extra bulk allows it to live longer. Plus Outrage is NOT good in VGC. Since in doubles it picks the pokemon it attacks for you so 1 switch into a fairy type makes you a sitting duck. You also dont run protect on any of your pokemon which is bad.

[Netherlandish]

Taking the advice y'all have given me, I began breeding a new Absol for my team, and have come up with thus;

Aderyn (Absol) (F) @ Absolite
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Superpower
With ridding Fire Blast, I can shift the EVs placed into SpA all into Spe to make her even faster, and I'm throwing the final four EVs into Def because eh. Also the Play Rough adds type coverage that I didn't have prior, since I was completely unaware that Absol could learn a fairy-type move.
I've also began working out a Chesnaught build that I previously mentioned.

Machalite (Chesnaught) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Wood Hammer
I'm thinking that he'd be a good support poké while also bringing some stall to the table. Set up leech seed and spikes for some minor chip damage, spiky shield for protection so he can heal up with leftovers and leech seed while also providing chip damage. I could exchange him for my Doublade as having a ghost type on my team is nullified when I have my Absol who covers most of the same areas.
So what do y'all think? Would these make for better additions, or am I completely out of the ballpark? I've been picking up what everyone is putting down and just trying to make it work without doing a complete overhaul on my team.

EDIT: I just had the idea to replace my Sylveon's Moodblast with Calm Mind to buff that SpA stat even moreso. Would you reckon this is a good idea, or what're your thoughts?

[Netherlandish]

I'm reposting my Gym team here as there is only a maximum of ten images allowed per post.

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Gym Leader Team: "Poetry for the Poisoned";

Nedasaur (Venusaur) (M) @ Big Root
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Solar Beam
- Giga Drain
- Venoshock
- Toxic

Wilde Heer (Nidoking) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

Kikker (Toxicroak) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Punch

Bete Noir (Gengar) (M) @ BrightPowder
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Bashful Nature
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute

Glint (Crobat) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Brave Bird
- Cross Poison
- Venoshock
- Confuse Ray

Mordenar (Dragalge) @ Dragon Fang
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Focus Blast
- Gunk Shot
- Dragon Tail

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Current thoughts; I'm going to be taking out my Venusaur because as stated earlier, he is more built for a sunny day team and isn't too useful in this set up. I may be taking out my Gengar as well, either to replace with a bulky Haunter, or another pokémon entirely. I'm not sure if Nidoking is also worth keeping in, he has great type coverage, but I have other ideas in mind. I believe I may add in a Drapion for type coverage and because Drapion is pretty awesome and would love to see what I can set him up with.

[Marcusube]

Not gonna be a jerk or anything but just going to expand on what Mudkip said. When I first looked at this team, I swore it was a singles team due to the fact that none of your Pokemon run Protect plus the lack of speed control or presence of bulk or offensive control (Snarl and Intimidate).

Also, if you are running sets that are intended to be more bulky and less offensive then do damage calcs and spread out your EVs. 252/252 bulk doesn't work in VGC seeing as how switching in to check attackers is not possible with two Pokemon opposing you.

For your Gym team, I'm wondering why you aren't using Mega Venusaur and running a tank set instead of the 252/252 chlorophyll sun sweeper set.

Now I don't know what kind of team this is suppose to be (because it still hasn't been clearly stated in the title of the post or the thread) so my comments and suggestions may be a bit off.

Scarf nidoking would make more sense on a VGC team since you want to outspeed the common threats in VGC and wipe them out. Timid scarfer btw seeing as how Nidoking's base 85 speed is still lacking in terms of outspeed faster scarfers provided that Nidoking is running a Modest Nature.

AV Toxicroak is a really weird set seeing as how it is still weak to physical hits but I guess its typing can cover up the reason for this. I recommend trying to run Fake Out or Protect(if its not Assault Vest) over Ice Punch on Toxicroak.

Maybe you should run Gengar a bit more supportive and less offensive. A set with Will-o-Wisp, Icy Wind, Sludge Bomb and Taunt/Shadow Ball with a Focus Sash would be ideal seeing as how your team lacks support. Timid Nature btw.

Rework Crobat's EV spread for slightly less speed but a bit more bulk. Scrap Cross Poison, Confuse Ray and Venoshock. Cross Poison never brings in much damage and Venoshock is too situational. Go for something like Brave Bird, Quick Guard, Tailwind, Super Fang/Protect with a Jolly Nature and a Sitrus or Charti Berry.

Decide between Special or Physical Dragalge. Special takes better advantage of its stats. A set of Protect, Sludge Wave/Bomb, Draco Meteor and Focus Blast/Hydro Pump would be ideal along with a Quiet or Modest nature with Life Orb or Choice Specs.

P.S. If Choice Specs, switch Protect for Thunderbolt or some other coverage move.

Now if we're talking singles,

Timid Nidoking with the same set, Fake Out over Ice Punch on Toxicroak with the same set, Life Orb over BrightPowder on Gengar (smogon doesn't have an item clause), U-turn over Venoshock and Roost over Confuse Ray on Crobat with a Jolly Nature and Black Sludge on Dragalge with a Specially Defensive EV spread

[Chimchared7]

you are severly weak to fairy and ice