D/P/Pt God, it's been too long since I last posted here... (Shoddy)

[Ether's Bane]

Just your average RMT here. I'd like suggestions on what to do with my team. This is Shoddy, so no Salamence.

Slaking (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Shadow Claw
- Night Slash
- Earthquake
- Return

Standard special sweeper.

Rotom-h @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Signal Beam
- Dark Pulse

Sweeper again. Signal Beam gets coverage on Tar.

Flygon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 109 Atk/252 Spd/149 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Heat Wave
- Earthquake

Mixed sweeper. Heat Wave for Weavile and company.

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 129 Def/252 SAtk/129 SDef
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Toxic

Standard Bulky Water.

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 175 Atk/252 Def/83 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- X-Scissor

Sets up the obligatory Stealth Rock, and then Spikes, if possible. Whirlwind to keep stat-raising threats (hello there, DD Pokemon) at bay and to inflict damage. X-Scissor is an "if all else fails" move here.

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 129 Atk/252 Spd/129 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- U-turn
- Heat Wave
- Mach Punch
- Grass Knot

Yet another mixed attacker. Grass Knot packs off Swampert, U-turn for the safety hit, MP gets priority, and Heat Wave is STAB.

 

[Chief Zackrai]

well, ghost and dark get the same coverage. so Shadow Claw and Night Slash is pointless, as is Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse.

I've never seen a Skarmory with Whirwind and X-scissor. your team has a lot of bug moves, and they don't necessarily get awesome coverage.

I'm not sure why half of them have Lefties, and two pokemon with Heat Wave is an... interesting choice.

I'm not sure what else to say...

 

[Anomaly 54]

Infernape should have F-Punch or F-Blitz, to play off its awesome attack. If all your moves are pysical, you don't need to waste points on Sp. Atk and can use them on HP or Speed or whatever. And maybe T-Punch for U-Turn, since U-Turn isn't really that powerful. Plus T-Punch gets rid of any Flying types who may come along to kill Infernape.


You don't have to take my advice, though. I don't really do competative

 

[1. Luftballon]

u-turn is always for the side-effect. seriously. fire blast > heat wave for flygon most of the time.

 

[Mustardear]

Your EVs are a little strange. Skarm always always needs max. HP before even doing anything with the defenses. Similarly, Suicune could either do with taking the EVs from defenses and putting them into HP instead or just putting it in Speed since your Suicune's moveset is more sweeper-like.

Skarmory could do with Roost somewhere on its moveset. Brave Bird or Drill Peck are more powerful than X-Scissor and would probably be more useful.

You might want to change Flygon so that it's all Special - Earthquake can be replaced by Earth Power.

Infernape could do with Close Combat for Blissey somewhere.

 

[Adriane]

Why are you leading with Slaking?

(At any rate, why are you using Slaking at all? I'd assume revenge killing, but...)

 

[Ether's Bane]

Your EVs are a little strange. Skarm always always needs max. HP before even doing anything with the defenses. Similarly, Suicune could either do with taking the EVs from defenses and putting them into HP instead or just putting it in Speed since your Suicune's moveset is more sweeper-like.

Skarmory could do with Roost somewhere on its moveset. Brave Bird or Drill Peck are more powerful than X-Scissor and would probably be more useful.

You might want to change Flygon so that it's all Special - Earthquake can be replaced by Earth Power.

Infernape could do with Close Combat for Blissey somewhere.

Hmm, interesting suggestions there. My Suicune was designed as a Bulky Water, so I thought defenses were good EV choices.

About Skarmory, you're probably right about X-Scissor. But why Roost? And to replace what? Stealth Rock must stay, as must Spikes and Whirlwind.

Why are you leading with Slaking?

(At any rate, why are you using Slaking at all? I'd assume revenge killing, but...)

I've since switched my lead to Infernape.

Slaking is actually pretty decent - he's helped me pull a few matches out of a desperate position.

 

[Mustardear]

Hmm, interesting suggestions there. My Suicune was designed as a Bulky Water, so I thought defenses were good EV choices.

This is true, but HP is usually more important. Investing in HP allows you to take hits better on both sides - Special and Physical (18.5% better in Suicune's case). Investing 126 EVs in Defense and Special Defense allows Suicune to take hits about 12% better If my calculations are correct.

About Skarmory, you're probably right about X-Scissor. But why Roost? And to replace what? Stealth Rock must stay, as must Spikes and Whirlwind.

I've since switched my lead to Infernape.

Slaking is actually pretty decent - he's helped me pull a few matches out of a desperate position.

Roost is excellent for healing but I see your point. Maybe move Stealth Rock to Infernape so that it can be set up early then use the extra space on Skarmory's set for Roost...? I'm not sure what you would remove from Ape's set though.

 

[Captain Sea Turtle]

Your team has some problems with BulkyDD Gyarados, as nothing except rocks and Rotom's TBolt are super effective, and it can come in on a resisted attack from ANYONE (even Rotom if Rotom's at low enough health) and either kill it straight off or DD on the switch. You might want to consider switching out Suicune for a Life Orb Starmie:

Starmie@Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/4 Sp. Def/252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Recover

who deals with Gyara and pairs nicely with Flygon (who gets rid of the omnipresent Blissey for this guy)