Team Help

[Viper]

EDIT: If any new people see this i dont want any more suggestions, just advice from specific people

Hey guys i need a little help from yall and please only people who know how to battle competitively.

Ok so im building my team and i think im going to go with a Sandstorm team, i find myself liking that the most. So far i have these 4 pokemon on it:

Tyranitar
Excadrill
Ferrothorn
Swampert

Now dont worry about there setups atm, i have most of that figured out. What i need from yall is yalls general opinion on the other two for my team. Now I've put together a list of potential pokemon that i have tried out and liked, here they are:

Breloom
Gliscor
Garchomp
Metagross
Ditto
Mamoswine
Carracosta
Golurk
Bisharp
Reuniclus
Flygon

For breloom i have used him well with both of his abilities, not sure what to pick though if i chose him. Mainly hes on this list because he can resist water or some fighting types that would take advantage of my team and he deals alot of damage. Usually i have him running the sub/spore set but ive been trying out the technician set and its good too. Let me kno what you think.

For gliscor i have him because he has the sandstorm benefit, and i was thinking of using a poison heal/toxic orb/ fling/acrobat set with him. Just another option.

Garchomp has sand veil which isnt the best ability but it works with it. Never really used him though, so i dont know a set for him.

Metagross can resist sandstorm and i would run an agiligross set with him. Ive used it before and i think its pretty good, unless yall know a better one.

Ditto for revenge sweeping, doesnt really fit into this set but just might be something to mix it up.

Mamoswine i threw on this list because i feel like he might play a role, however i have never used him so if you think he works tell me what you would use.

Carracosta i like for Shell Smash, and yes i know shell smash is better on cloyster but carracosta is rock so he fits more for this.

Golurk and Bisharp i threw on the list because they can both resist sandstorm, however i have never used either competitively so i wouldnt know what to do.

Reuniclus im thinking would be very helpful for this set because he can resist sandstorm with magic guard, and he can come in and kill the fighting types like conkeldurr who would destroy my team.

And flygon as a scarf sweeper i think.

So once again if you think any of the guys in my second list would fit well on this team, please respond and tell me how you would use them. And if you have any criticism, feel free to tell me and i would love to discuss it.

[genbor]

 I would say Metagross, and Breloom would be a nice addition to that team.
 For Metagross, I would say either Agility or Rock Polish to boost it's lacking speed, so do that before an Earthquake user is out on the field.
 For Breloom, you can go with Sub/Punch, which in Adamant state can be quite effective along with Toxic Orb + Poison Heal.

 Well there really isn't a best Pokémon and a worst Pokémon. I would say it all depends on how you use them. I use my favorite ones as a team: Venusaur, Nidoking, Cloyster, Houndoom, Machamp, and Dragonite, and I have taken down a Legendary team with it before: Lugia, Celebi, Ho-Oh, Zapdos, Kyogre, and Groudon.
                                                     Cheers, Genbor

[Viper]

I would say Metagross, and Breloom would be a nice addition to that team.
 For Metagross, I would say either Agility or Rock Polish to boost it's lacking speed, so do that before an Earthquake user is out on the field.
 For Breloom, you can go with Sub/Punch, which in Adamant state can be quite effective along with Toxic Orb + Poison Heal.

 Well there really isn't a best Pokémon and a worst Pokémon. I would say it all depends on how you use them. I use my favorite ones as a team: Venusaur, Nidoking, Cloyster, Houndoom, Machamp, and Dragonite, and I have taken down a Legendary team with it before: Lugia, Celebi, Ho-Oh, Zapdos, Kyogre, and Groudon.
                                                     Cheers, Genbor

Thx for your suggestions, any1 else got some?

[Mr. Fox]

garchomp with sand veil. Trust me. it is very hard to take down, give it a yach berry jolly nature 252 attack and speed, swords dance, EQuake, SE, and a filler move. I tend to use Fire fang.

[Hank]

I use that exact setup but with rough skin. I should probably get sand veil for fire fang accuracy instead.

[Raikt]

I would say Metagross, and Breloom

I'm going to assume this is for OU, and as such I won't mention any Ubers or clearly UU Pokemon that wouldn't fit a role you need.

Firstly, I wouldn't use Metagross on my team, if I was using your set up. Namely because, unless you are running Balloon on your Excadrill, your entire team is hit neutrally or SE by any ground type moves. So, in essence, you have a huge hole to pretty much every team out there.

Breloom may be a respectable choice, as he resists Earthquake, but he also adds yet another Fire weakness to your line-up. If you use either Metagross or Breloom, that will put you at half your team being ripped apart by any offensive 'mon with a Ground of Fire type move. (Pretty much any sweeper out there.)

With Swampert, you do have good synergy with weaknesses in regard to Ferrothorn. However, three of them are still hit hard by Grass type attacks. Assuming, for the moment or until you correct me, that you want those Pokemon to stay and only want suggestions on the last two, then, I would have to nominate a ghost. Practically every team I have has at least some form of ghost type on it.

The best choices for SS would most likely be either Dusknoir (Dusclops if you want a flat out wall with the Evolite stone). I know a few who have used Spiritomb successfully in OU, but I've, personally never had any luck with it. Gengar or Rotom wouldn't be bad choices for quick and heavy revengers who like to switch in on immunities, but be warned that in Gen 5 rotom loses his Ghost typing. (Personally, I'd swap Swampert out for his Water form if you find Swampert not working to your liking.)

I've also seen Zapdos used really well on SS teams, if you have no mind about using Legendaries. I also tried out some really successful set ups around Heatran (Tormentran) and quite a few other defensive types into a successful Sand Stall, if you set up your typing properly.

Hopefully that gave you a few ideas, and I'll leave you with a final bit of thought: not every 'mon on a SS team has to be immune to SS. That's the fun bit, as long as you have T-tar or Hippowdon, it's technically a SS team.

garchomp with sand veil. Trust me. it is very hard to take down, give it a yach berry jolly nature 252 attack and speed, swords dance, EQuake, SE, and a filler move. I tend to use Fire fang.

I'd be the first to agree that Garchomp is OP and deserves a slot on any SS team, but in this scenario, without reworking how it is, that will just open up his weakness line-up even more. I've always been a strong core builder. (Usually consisting of a balanced Water, Fire, Grass defensive.)

SS teams tend to be really bulky and either good at throwing around huge hits or wearing down foes. Garchomp preforms the former well, but wouldn't add much to the team outside of some powerful hits. (Already easy accomplished by Excadrill, who frankly has an easier time with a Balloon equipped.)

[Viper]

I would say Metagross, and Breloom

I'm going to assume this is for OU, and as such I won't mention any Ubers or clearly UU Pokemon that wouldn't fit a role you need.

Firstly, I wouldn't use Metagross on my team, if I was using your set up. Namely because, unless you are running Balloon on your Excadrill, your entire team is hit neutrally or SE by any ground type moves. So, in essence, you have a huge hole to pretty much every team out there.

Breloom may be a respectable choice, as he resists Earthquake, but he also adds yet another Fire weakness to your line-up. If you use either Metagross or Breloom, that will put you at half your team being ripped apart by any offensive 'mon with a Ground of Fire type move. (Pretty much any sweeper out there.)

With Swampert, you do have good synergy with weaknesses in regard to Ferrothorn. However, three of them are still hit hard by Grass type attacks. Assuming, for the moment or until you correct me, that you want those Pokemon to stay and only want suggestions on the last two, then, I would have to nominate a ghost. Practically every team I have has at least some form of ghost type on it.

The best choices for SS would most likely be either Dusknoir (Dusclops if you want a flat out wall with the Evolite stone). I know a few who have used Spiritomb successfully in OU, but I've, personally never had any luck with it. Gengar or Rotom wouldn't be bad choices for quick and heavy revengers who like to switch in on immunities, but be warned that in Gen 5 rotom loses his Ghost typing. (Personally, I'd swap Swampert out for his Water form if you find Swampert not working to your liking.)

I've also seen Zapdos used really well on SS teams, if you have no mind about using Legendaries. I also tried out some really successful set ups around Heatran (Tormentran) and quite a few other defensive types into a successful Sand Stall, if you set up your typing properly.

Hopefully that gave you a few ideas, and I'll leave you with a final bit of thought: not every 'mon on a SS team has to be immune to SS. That's the fun bit, as long as you have T-tar or Hippowdon, it's technically a SS team.

garchomp with sand veil. Trust me. it is very hard to take down, give it a yach berry jolly nature 252 attack and speed, swords dance, EQuake, SE, and a filler move. I tend to use Fire fang.

I'd be the first to agree that Garchomp is OP and deserves a slot on any SS team, but in this scenario, without reworking how it is, that will just open up his weakness line-up even more. I've always been a strong core builder. (Usually consisting of a balanced Water, Fire, Grass defensive.)

SS teams tend to be really bulky and either good at throwing around huge hits or wearing down foes. Garchomp preforms the former well, but wouldn't add much to the team outside of some powerful hits. (Already easy accomplished by Excadrill, who frankly has an easier time with a Balloon equipped.)

Ah, i was hoping you would comment, you know your stuff.

I was planning on using a balloon on excadrill, dont worry about that. Ok so you would recommend a Dusknoir then? Interesting i had never thought of using him. What are some of the ways he can be used effectively on this team? Also no legendaries so Zapdos is out.

And i wasnt planning on changing around the first 4 unless it is really needed. I wanted to compensate for their weaknesses with the other two. What do you think about Reuniclus though? I was thinking he would be helpful to this team with a calm mind/recover set.

[Raikt]

Ah, i was hoping you would comment, you know your stuff.

I was planning on using a balloon on excadrill, dont worry about that. Ok so you would recommend a Dusknoir then? Interesting i had never thought of using him. What are some of the ways he can be used effectively on this team? Also no legendaries so Zapdos is out.

And i wasnt planning on changing around the first 4 unless it is really needed. I wanted to compensate for their weaknesses with the other two. What do you think about Reuniclus though? I was thinking he would be helpful to this team with a calm mind/recover set.

Using Air Balloon is a good start. Personally, I wouldn't run an Excadrill without it. It just makes him so much more flexible on switch-ins and helps supporting match ups against fellow Excadrill's.

Dusknoir is always an option, but it mostly depends on your play style. I usually go for Bulky Offense, so Dusknoir more suites my play style. Especially with Will-o-Wisp or his Subpunch set. However, if pure defense is all you want (without attacking and whatnot, just heals and burns.) his pre-vo is a better choice, as with the Evolite Stone it ends up with incredible bulk.

Gengar is useful if you want a flexible 'mon as he can do so much. I honestly can't remember all his sets as there are so many variations of them.

Shanderaa is another (and personally, I think a very viable fit) option to cover up your fire weakness with Flash Fire (and get a boost) and hit extremely hard from the special side. Something you're a bit lacking at the moment. A sturdy and well played physical wall can shut down your entire team. (Skarmory would have very little issue with any of them and could just set up spikes, heal off, and Whirlwind them away.) So, if I had to choose a ghost type for you, then this would be it. I'm unsure if you are using SR, but if you do, he is also one hell of an anti-spinner if played right.

Renny isn't bad, but he also isn't good. As I mentioned from a type standpoint, Excadrill is going to be your main sweeper. As, frankly, any set not named Swords Dance really isn't worth using. So, with that in mind, he doesn't want to come out late and take any early damage. If you add in Renny, none of your team can take a Bug type hit. See where I'm going with this? Scizor would slaughter you to hell and back with U-Turn spam. You can't cover for everything, but Shanderaa would be a good start there too. It would threaten Scizors to stay hidden. In fact, I've seen Shanderaa sweep an entire team before with Shadow Tag, CM, and Sub after coming in on a Scizor's SuperPower.

Moving on, you currently have two 'mon weak to grass and one neutral. Two weak to fire, one neutral. And all of them are hit hard by ground. Shanderaa solves the fire issue. It also covers the fact that Ferrothorn is your only answer to fighting moves. They compliment each other well. If you play your resistances correctly with Swampert, Ferrothorn, and Shanderaa (Fire, Water, Grass core, man I love working that into teams.) Then, your best shot at last type would be either fighting or a lead if you haven't decided to use T-tar as your lead.

Personally, I would keep him in the lead spot to set up SR (optional) and set up SS (Mandatory, but it also blows the surprise factor. It's a dead give away to your strategy nearly off the bat.) So, leading with something else could be a fun surprise if played right. It would also free up T-tar to use quite a few of his other sets.

[Viper]

Ah, i was hoping you would comment, you know your stuff.

I was planning on using a balloon on excadrill, dont worry about that. Ok so you would recommend a Dusknoir then? Interesting i had never thought of using him. What are some of the ways he can be used effectively on this team? Also no legendaries so Zapdos is out.

And i wasnt planning on changing around the first 4 unless it is really needed. I wanted to compensate for their weaknesses with the other two. What do you think about Reuniclus though? I was thinking he would be helpful to this team with a calm mind/recover set.

Using Air Balloon is a good start. Personally, I wouldn't run an Excadrill without it. It just makes him so much more flexible on switch-ins and helps supporting match ups against fellow Excadrill's.

Dusknoir is always an option, but it mostly depends on your play style. I usually go for Bulky Offense, so Dusknoir more suites my play style. Especially with Will-o-Wisp or his Subpunch set. However, if pure defense is all you want (without attacking and whatnot, just heals and burns.) his pre-vo is a better choice, as with the Evolite Stone it ends up with incredible bulk.

Gengar is useful if you want a flexible 'mon as he can do so much. I honestly can't remember all his sets as there are so many variations of them.

Shanderaa is another (and personally, I think a very viable fit) option to cover up your fire weakness with Flash Fire (and get a boost) and hit extremely hard from the special side. Something you're a bit lacking at the moment. A sturdy and well played physical wall can shut down your entire team. (Skarmory would have very little issue with any of them and could just set up spikes, heal off, and Whirlwind them away.) So, if I had to choose a ghost type for you, then this would be it. I'm unsure if you are using SR, but if you do, he is also one hell of an anti-spinner if played right.

Renny isn't bad, but he also isn't good. As I mentioned from a type standpoint, Excadrill is going to be your main sweeper. As, frankly, any set not named Swords Dance really isn't worth using. So, with that in mind, he doesn't want to come out late and take any early damage. If you add in Renny, none of your team can take a Bug type hit. See where I'm going with this? Scizor would slaughter you to hell and back with U-Turn spam. You can't cover for everything, but Shanderaa would be a good start there too. It would threaten Scizors to stay hidden. In fact, I've seen Shanderaa sweep an entire team before with Shadow Tag, CM, and Sub after coming in on a Scizor's SuperPower.

Moving on, you currently have two 'mon weak to grass and one neutral. Two weak to fire, one neutral. And all of them are hit hard by ground. Shanderaa solves the fire issue. It also covers the fact that Ferrothorn is your only answer to fighting moves. They compliment each other well. If you play your resistances correctly with Swampert, Ferrothorn, and Shanderaa (Fire, Water, Grass core, man I love working that into teams.) Then, your best shot at last type would be either fighting or a lead if you haven't decided to use T-tar as your lead.

Personally, I would keep him in the lead spot to set up SR (optional) and set up SS (Mandatory, but it also blows the surprise factor. It's a dead give away to your strategy nearly off the bat.) So, leading with something else could be a fun surprise if played right. It would also free up T-tar to use quite a few of his other sets.

Ah ya i like the idea of using Shanderaa, hes definitely something i need. And what would you recommend for his setup? Using flash fire would be helpful when i send out ferrothorn because i can just absorb his check, but Shadow Tag has alot of usefulness too.

Also i like the idea of holding Tyranitar back and going with a  different lead. Fighting sounds good too. I used to go with a Machamp lead, that worked good for a while, maybe i could break him out again. Or i could go with Breloom as my lead, before Tyranitar i would use him as a lead, however that would open up another weakness to fire.

[Raikt]

Shadow Tag is an awesome play, but would require reworking your team to suit it. So, I would suggest Flash Fire as it fills up your fire weakness and allows him to hit even harder if predicted correctly. (Remembering it also works on Will-o-Wisp as well, pretty crucial for your nearly all physical team, unless you decide to go mixed with T-tar or Swampert.)

Machamp as an anti-lead was a personal favorite of mine back before Azelf was popularized. After it, Heatran, and Metagross started seeing a lot of lead play, I began to lead with Specstran. Ah, good times... But I digress.

As you will see me state in any team thread though, picking a lead is not something to take lightly. Usually, and most often, what your lead accomplishes can determine the outcome of the entire battle if played correctly. It's hard to come back from a lead who manages to cripple at least two members of your team. So, while Machamp is a good start, I don't think it would be the best if you play on saving T-tar. And choosing a lead entirely depends on what you want to do.

Do you want an early game KO? Do you want to cripple their lead and force a switch to potentially cripple something else? Do you want to set out entry hazards? Or do you want a scouter to test movesets and generally annoy the piss out of them?

[Viper]

Shadow Tag is an awesome play, but would require reworking your team to suit it. So, I would suggest Flash Fire as it fills up your fire weakness and allows him to hit even harder if predicted correctly. (Remembering it also works on Will-o-Wisp as well, pretty crucial for your nearly all physical team, unless you decide to go mixed with T-tar or Swampert.)

Machamp as an anti-lead was a personal favorite of mine back before Azelf was popularized. After it, Heatran, and Metagross started seeing a lot of lead play, I began to lead with Specstran. Ah, good times... But I digress.

As you will see me state in any team thread though, picking a lead is not something to take lightly. Usually, and most often, what your lead accomplishes can determine the outcome of the entire battle if played correctly. It's hard to come back from a lead who manages to cripple at least two members of your team. So, while Machamp is a good start, I don't think it would be the best if you play on saving T-tar. And choosing a lead entirely depends on what you want to do.

Do you want an early game KO? Do you want to cripple their lead and force a switch to potentially cripple something else? Do you want to set out entry hazards? Or do you want a scouter to test movesets and generally annoy the piss out of them?

Usually when i would go with a lead like breloom or Machamp i would use breloom's spore/subpunch set to get some quick KOs and annoy them real quick, and with Machamp i would use his no guard dynamic punch to force switches and annoy them so ya. Tell me what you think what suit me best

[Raikt]

Shadow Tag is an awesome play, but would require reworking your team to suit it. So, I would suggest Flash Fire as it fills up your fire weakness and allows him to hit even harder if predicted correctly. (Remembering it also works on Will-o-Wisp as well, pretty crucial for your nearly all physical team, unless you decide to go mixed with T-tar or Swampert.)

Machamp as an anti-lead was a personal favorite of mine back before Azelf was popularized. After it, Heatran, and Metagross started seeing a lot of lead play, I began to lead with Specstran. Ah, good times... But I digress.

As you will see me state in any team thread though, picking a lead is not something to take lightly. Usually, and most often, what your lead accomplishes can determine the outcome of the entire battle if played correctly. It's hard to come back from a lead who manages to cripple at least two members of your team. So, while Machamp is a good start, I don't think it would be the best if you play on saving T-tar. And choosing a lead entirely depends on what you want to do.

Do you want an early game KO? Do you want to cripple their lead and force a switch to potentially cripple something else? Do you want to set out entry hazards? Or do you want a scouter to test movesets and generally annoy the piss out of them?

Usually when i would go with a lead like breloom or Machamp i would use breloom's spore/subpunch set to get some quick KOs and annoy them real quick, and with Machamp i would use his no guard dynamic punch to force switches and annoy them so ya. Tell me what you think what suit me best

If you use Machamp, then you have three leads technically, which helps keep momentum in your favor right from the start. You can use either Swampert, T-tar, or Machamp (If you know how thier lead sets function, so you could technically bluff a lead set) leaving your opponenent open to making mistakes. Keeping in with your original four choices, Machamp would be a solid choice.

[Mr. Fox]

looks like i am not needed here...

[Level5Pidgey]

I would also recommend Chandelure to cover your fire/fighting weakness and deal special damage.
You have a bunch of physical attackers that particularly use Rock/Ground moves typically. Flygon, Bronzong, Claydol might present issues - Carry Ice on Swampert/TTar for Flygon, Fire on Chandelure lets it take on Bronzong, Claydol isn't OU... so... it's unlikely you'll meet it, but again, Ice from TTar/Swampert, Dark from TTar.

[Viper]

I would also recommend Chandelure to cover your fire/fighting weakness and deal special damage.
You have a bunch of physical attackers that particularly use Rock/Ground moves typically. Flygon, Bronzong, Claydol might present issues - Carry Ice on Swampert/TTar for Flygon, Fire on Chandelure lets it take on Bronzong, Claydol isn't OU... so... it's unlikely you'll meet it, but again, Ice from TTar/Swampert, Dark from TTar.

Ya i usually run with Ice Beam on my Swampert anyway, but thx for the suggestions