Building a Steel Team

[LagunaX1]

So my favourite pokemon type is Steel and I'm trying to build a decent team around that typing. Obviously sticking to a specific type has a lot of flaws so I'm wondering if it's possible to even battle competitively when sticking to one type? Also I should mention I'm completely new to this so if this post comes across as noobish that's because it is lol

The main threats to a Steel team are Fire, Ground and Fighting Types. There will be others depending on the secondary typing, but those three stand out more to me.

My first two choices would be Empoleon and Ferroseed. Empoleon mainly for fire types as it has a decent special defense and defense so it can take a bit of punishment. Also doesn't matter too much if it's burnt since it's a special attacker and it's ice beam is good for Dragon types. Ferroseed tanks Earthquakes like a boss, and due to it's typing pretty much tanks everything but Fighting and Fire moves.

Aegislash seems a good counter for Fighting types? And also Skarmory as it can come in on Fighting and Ground type moves. Then I was thinking Excadrill as it would counter the Electric threat against Empoleon and Skarmory. Then the 6th could be Magnezone for those pesky Water Types and also would be good for trapping enemy Steel Types with Magnet pull.

So Empoleon, Ferroseed, Aegislash, Skarmory, Excadrill and Magnezone is what I'm thinking. Ferroseed would probably also lay Spikes on the field maybe Skarmory too.

I'm not going to get too much into moves and EV/Nature just yet, I'm just making sure I'm on the right track or I if I need to make some drastic changes.

Thanks for any tips!

edit: I also have questions about using Excadrill. I've seen competitive youtubers using him but when I look on Smogon here http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/excadrill/uber, he only has Uber or Double options? Does that mean Excadrill is considered Uber under all circumstances? If so would Steelix be a decent alternative?

 

[sharkshocker]

The individual Pokemon reviews aren't up yet but Smogon has released the tiers for XY and Excadrill is back down to OU. XY Tiers - Smogon University

Make use of the chance to have a Mega Pokemon in your team so try to find a spot for Mega Lucario, Mega Aggron, Mega Mawile, or Mega Scizor.

It is possible to battle competitively with a single type, it requires a bit of teambuilding and learning the ins and outs of your type. It is very fun though...I've been running a mono-Psychic team and it's very fun testing out various strategies and new Pokemon.

I think @Lunacy can offer some tips for building Steel teams. We're running a battle league around here and he's our Steel gym leader so I'm sure he can give more detailed suggestions.

 

[LagunaX1]

I just saw the mentorship topic actually and asked if I could have the Steel Gym Leacer to mentor me a bit. So yeah, it would be good to learn from someone whose already used to using the type competitively.

I'm not sure if I want to rely on Mega Evolution or not, but maybe replacing Skarmory with Scizor since Scizor doesn't have a ground weakness is a good idea?

Thanks for the link to the XY Tiers as well, good to see I can actually use Excadrill!

 

[Paleo]

I'd use a Scizor in a Steel-type team. It can Mega Evolve, its attack stat is really high and it's got more than decent defences. It also has a great movepool, especially since its Mega has Technician. Its only weakness is fire, but that's what you got Empoleon and Excadrill for.

I think Excadrill is better than Steelix, because Steelix is quite sluggish and will be taken out by Fire and Water in no time. And Excadrill's Mold Breaker will take care of Levitate users.

Also, I have some perfect Ferroseed with 31/31/31/x/31/0 IVs and the egg moves Seed Bomb, Stealth Rock, Spikes and Leech Seed. I'd happily trade you one if you're looking for it

 

[LagunaX1]

Yeah, I'd definitely love to have one of those Ferroseed. But I'm not sure what I could give you in return, I've got some baby Turtwig and Piplup, but they aren't IV bred. I've only just begun gathering Dittos for breeding so I have very little to offer.

edit: Also I think you're right about keeping Excadrill over Steelix so I'll be doing that, thanks for the tip!

 

[Kimono Dragon]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

 

[LagunaX1]

Just to note, I have signed up for the mentor program and have been getting some good tips there. But tips and ideas here are still very much appreciated.

Right now the team is going to utilize Trick Room and is led by double screen/trick room Bronzong. Still working out the full team but I'll update the topic once there's a more solid idea of what the team will be.

 

[hakiobo]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

mega mawile only has an attack stat of 105

 

[SobriquetP]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

mega mawile only has an attack stat of 105

Technically 210 because of it's ability Huge Power. Not sure if strongest, but it's also my attacker.

 

[hakiobo]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

mega mawile only has an attack stat of 105

Technically 210 because of it's ability Huge Power. Not sure if strongest, but it's also my attacker.

Well, I guess that would give it the highest attack stat

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

mega mawile only has an attack stat of 105

Technically 210 because of it's ability Huge Power. Not sure if strongest, but it's also my attacker.

First off, the highest Attack stat in the game is Mega Mewtwo X at 190. Second, even if you count Huge Power, MMawile's Attack isn't 210. It's impossible to calculate MMawile's effective base attack in general because it doubles the final stat, not the base stat. So an Adamant MMawile with an IV of 31 and 252 EVs in Attack hits 339 Attack, which doubles to 678. That's a base Attack stat of around 259. A MMawile with 0 Attack EVs and an IV of 0 with a Modest nature would only reach 193 Atk, doubling to 386. That would be a base Attack of around 165. So it's unreliable to talk about MMawile's "base Attack" in general as it changes based on EV investment, IVs, and Nature.

 

[SobriquetP]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

mega mawile only has an attack stat of 105

Technically 210 because of it's ability Huge Power. Not sure if strongest, but it's also my attacker.

First off, the highest Attack stat in the game is Mega Mewtwo X at 190. Second, even if you count Huge Power, MMawile's Attack isn't 210. It's impossible to calculate MMawile's effective base attack in general because it doubles the final stat, not the base stat. So an Adamant MMawile with an IV of 31 and 252 EVs in Attack hits 339 Attack, which doubles to 678. That's a base Attack stat of around 259. A MMawile with 0 Attack EVs and an IV of 0 with a Modest nature would only reach 193 Atk, doubling to 386. That would be a base Attack of around 165. So it's unreliable to talk about MMawile's "base Attack" in general as it changes based on EV investment, IVs, and Nature.

Yessir! I was only reading directly off of my app and my lack of knowledge shames me so.

Err... but I have to ask, would MMawile have higher atk?

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

I would probably suggest a team of:

• Ferrothorn for Setup
• Aegislash or Mega Mawile for Physical Attacking (M. Mawile=Highest attack in game btw)
• Skarmory for Physical Walling
• Magnezone for Special Attacking
• Bronzong for Special Walling
• Lucario, Excadrill, or Scizor (Mega one of them if you use Aegislash) for Sweeping

That's just my suggestion though ;P

mega mawile only has an attack stat of 105

Technically 210 because of it's ability Huge Power. Not sure if strongest, but it's also my attacker.

First off, the highest Attack stat in the game is Mega Mewtwo X at 190. Second, even if you count Huge Power, MMawile's Attack isn't 210. It's impossible to calculate MMawile's effective base attack in general because it doubles the final stat, not the base stat. So an Adamant MMawile with an IV of 31 and 252 EVs in Attack hits 339 Attack, which doubles to 678. That's a base Attack stat of around 259. A MMawile with 0 Attack EVs and an IV of 0 with a Modest nature would only reach 193 Atk, doubling to 386. That would be a base Attack of around 165. So it's unreliable to talk about MMawile's "base Attack" in general as it changes based on EV investment, IVs, and Nature.

Yessir! I was only reading directly off of my app and my lack of knowledge shames me so.

Err... but I have to ask, would MMawile have higher atk?

If by "higher Atk" you mean "higher Attack than Mega Mewtwo X", it depends. Yes most if the time - a fully invested MMawile has a "base Attack" of 258, massively higher than MMewtwo X. But a minimally invested MMawile would have a "base attack" of 165, lower than MMewtwo X.

 

[Paleo]

All in all, Mega Mawile can have the highest Attack stat of all Pokémon.

When you meet it in competitive play, it probably does have max attack.