DPPt/HGSS Could somebody rate this team for me?

[Bennett856]

Oh wow, I though this place had gone bankrupt or something, glad to know that's not the case. Anyway, in my absence I've done a lot of work on my pokemon and I've got a nice little team set up. I use it for level 100 battles over the Wi-Fi and with my friends. It seems pretty stable, just the occasional loss. But I wanna know what you guys think about it. Heres my lineup:

Natasha-Ninetales@Expert Belt
Nature: Modest
Ability: Flash Fire
Evs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 6 HP
-Flamethrower
-Energy Ball
-Dark Pulse
-Hypnosis

Natasha is a personal favourite of mine and I'm quite happy with it's moveset. It can cover most types and it's quite a powerful special attacker. Flamethrower is the obvious choice for STAB and Energy Ball covers most Ground, Water and Rock types. Combined with the Expert Belt, it allows me to down counters like Swampert in a snap. Dark Pulse makes short work of any Ghost or Psychic types and Hypnosis can shut down a potential counter (If it hits).

Tessa-Tyranitar@Chesto Berry
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Sand Stream
Evs: 252 Attack, 134 Defence, 124 Special Defence
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Superpower
-Rest

Tessa is built like a tank, capable of taking hits from any kind of attack with her massive defences. I didn't put as many Evs into Special Defence since she gets a 50% bonus to it thanks to Sand Stream. Crunch gains STAB and will destroy any ghost or psychic type I may encounter. Stone Edge is her most powerful attack and (although a little inaccurate) makes short work of anything with wings. I chose Superpower over Earthquake because I wanted to try something different. Superpower is more powerful than Earthquake and allows me to catch the oh-so common Blissey off guard and total it. Not to mention it totals other peoples Tyranitars. I usually switch out after using it since the stat loss is not nice. Rest plus the Chesto Berry adds to Tessa's tank like nature and gives her a nice form of recovery.

Caelin-Marowak@Thick Club
Nature: Brave
Ability: Rock Head
Evs: 252 Attack, 252 Defence, 6 Hp
-Bonemerang
-Fire Punch
-Thunder Punch
-Protect

Caelin is a bit of a glass cannon, but he can hit hard. Very hard. His huge Attack stat and above-average Defence makes him sturdy and strong. I couldn't deny him his signature move so I chose Bonemerang over Earthquake. Although it's a little inaccurate, it can easily break a substitute on one hit and deal damage on the other. Fire Punch takes care of Bronzong and any Grass types that may switch in, and Thunderpunch takes care of Flyers as they switch in. Protect is pretty much there as a filler.

Renae-Raichu@Sitrus Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Static
Evs: 254 Attack, 252 Speed
-Volt Tackle
-Knock Off
-Focus Punch
-Substitute

Although defensive wise, Renae isn't a big star, she makes up for it in Speed and Attacking power. She can make good use of the ol' Subsitute then Focus Punch stragtegy, provided I get my predictions right. She can also use Substitute to put a stop to stallers who rely on burning/poisoning. Volt Tackle is powerful, but I'm not sure about the recoil too much. Although I do have Sitrus Berry, the recoil still isn't nice, especially when combined with Substitute. Knock Off is a bit of a filler, but it comes in handy when I can knock off some Leftovers or a Choice Item.

Sheldon-Slowking@Leftovers
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Own Tempo
Evs: 252 Special Attack, 254 Special Defence
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
-Brine
-Yawn

For my Special Wall, I'm using my Slowking, Sheldon. Sheldon can shrug off all but the most powerful special moves and deal out almost as much damage in return. Psychic is for STAB can KO an Infernape if it doesn't have Shadow Claw (most do unfortunantly -_-. Shadow Ball takes care of Ghosts that arn't Gengar as they switch in, as well as inflict a nice amount damage upon other Psychic types. Brine makes for a good finishing move, since if the foe is at half health It's an almost guranteed KO. I was thinking of replacing it with Surf, but I wasn't sure. Yawn is there for shutting down counters and Pseudo-Hazing.

Maverick-Skarmory@Lum Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sturdy
Evs: 254 Defence, 252 Attack
-Drill Peck
-Steel Wing
-Stealth Rock
-Roost

A physical wall and an alright physical attacker, Maverick's main job is to set up is to set up Stealth Rock, which usually means he's the first I send out. Since my strategy doesn't completly revolve around entry hazards, I gave him Drill Peck and Steel Wing as opposed to Whirlwind and Roar. Roost is there as a quick recovery. I was originally going to give him a Shed Shell so he could switch away from Magnezone, but instead decided to give him a Lum Berry instead. This allows him to shut down anything that relies on status ailments, like Breloom, which seems to rely on Spore nowadays.

So yeah, I hope I've done everything right. If you have any suggestions, tell me, I'm open to critigue.

 

[KoL]

Your hard work has certainly paid off - you have a very good team going here.

- Ninetales is fine overall. Fire Blast is a good alternative to Flamethrower if you feel lucky - the 85% accuracy could be better, but the far greater power it provides makes it definitely viable.

- Tyranitar's A-OK. Your move combination is very ineffective against Toxicroak, with all three moves having their damage cut in half against the poison frog, but Toxicroak's extreme scarcity makes it a bit of a moot point really.

- Stone Edge is a decent option for Marowak since it hits fliers harder and generally grants superior coverage than ThunderPunch does, although the accuracy does suck a bit. Bonemerang is typically considered superior to Earthquake on Marowak anyway due to the Substitute-wrecking effect, so Bonemerang is definitely the right move to have.

- Raichu's survivability is terrible regardless of recoil, so essentially the best thing to do with Raichu is make sure whatever it attacks, it KOs. For that reason, don't worry about Volt Tackle's recoil. The best item to use for Raichu would probably be a damage-boosting item such as Life Orb or Liechi Berry - even though Raichu will end up losing all its HP to recoil pretty quickly, it's better than failing to KO the opponent and having them attack you back, which is pretty much instant death for Raichu due to its severe frailty.

- Brine is inferior to Surf overall since Surf's more consistent damage makes it far more reliable against anything that resists Psychic. Dark-types especially will be able to resist both Psychic and Shadow Ball, leaving you with a pretty weak Brine attack to use against them if they still have well over 50% of their HP remaining. Other than that, your moveset is fine. Flamethrower/Fire Blast are very good alternative surprise options for Slowking - not many know that Slowking has access to these Fire-type attacks.

- Skarmory's Lum Berry is a bit poor for a hold item, since most opponents will simply re-apply their status effects if you use Lum Berry to heal it off. Also, Skarmory often doesn't care much about status since the only one that will really harm it is Sleep, and Sleep Clause would make Skarmory a decent status absorber in that regard. Shed Shell is a good option if you fear Magnezone/Probopass, and there isn't any other item that can really help Skarmory more than that.

Overall, a good, solid team.

 

[Bennett856]

Thanks, It's good to get someone elses opinion, and your advice was very good, it'll help me to better my team. The only thing I'm still not sure about is Skarmory's hold item. Is there any alternative to the Shed Shell? My usual strategy for Magnezone is to avoid it completely, so I kinda want something else.

 

[KoL]

Occa Berry is a decent option - a lot of opponents will lean towards Fire Blast/Overheat to get rid of Skarmory if they don't use Magnezone, and the Occa Berry can dampen that blow for you and allow you an extra turn to do what you need to do. Other than that, there's not a great deal many alternatives for Skarmory beyond the Shed Shell.

 

[Bennett856]

I guess the Wacan Berry is also worth a look at. I'll give the Occa Berry a go first and see how that works. I'll also have to ask my friend if I can have one of his Liechi Berries for my Raichu. Also, should I replace Protect for Stone Edge on Marowak, or Thunderpunch?

 

[KoL]

ThunderPunch is the best move to drop since the two moves make each other somewhat redundant if they're on the same set. Marowak is far better off switching out against a Water-type coming in anyway since ThunderPunch isn't going to stop them from outspeeding you, which most will do. Plus, STAB Bonemerang would do the same damage to those Water-types as ThunderPunch would anyway unless it's something like Gyarados or Mantine.

Wacan Berry could work well also - the reason why I pointed out Occa Berry specifically is because Fire-type moves tend to be splashed onto movesets a lot more commonly than Electric-type moves do.

 

[Bennett856]

Yep, alright that's pretty much all my questions answered. Thanks KoL, your advice was really good and it'll help me improve my team.

 

[zingy180]

an excellent team Bennett, but unfortunately I don't have that Leichi berry yet.