My first foray into competitive battling, need opinions on this team.

[LaDestitute]

I've usually done casual battling with strangers/friends, but I've occasionally looked at Smogon on and off. I used to have a DS, and I'm wanting to pickup up Black 2. Recently I decided to give competitive battling a shot, and would like opinions on this team:

 

[Gengarzilla]

First off, Gengar needs Focus Blast to avoid being stopped by Steel types. Curse cuts the health of the user in half if they are a Ghost type and the opponent can just switch out to remove the curse, so it's not worth it. With Icy Wind there, Sludge Wave won't really be used much. Use a different item too.

For Scizor, you really should be using Bullet Punch instead of Iron Head. Bug Bite would also work over Iron Defence, but U-Turn could be used instead. I've never seen Scizor use Reversal though, but it wouldn't really work well at higher health.

Kingdra. Try using Surf over Brine as weakened Pokemon would likely be switched out. Draco Meteor, Dragon Pulse, or Outrage would all be better over Dragon Claw. Quash would be virtually useless unless this is a team set for double or triple battles. Focus Energy is a bit iffy as relying on Criticals isn't really that reliable, I'd recommend Rain Dance instead to make use of Kingdra's ability. As for an item, the Damp Rock would also make the rain caused by Rain Dance last longer.

On Honchkrow, I see the same problem on Gengar. If you can, get Superpower or Heat Wave on over Psych Up for a chance against Steel types. I would also recommend Night Slash over Faint Attack since hardly anyone uses evasion boosting moves anyway. A good held item could be the Toxic Orb. Honchkrow would get poisoned from it, which could be passed over to opponents with Psycho Shift.

As for Magnezone, my first problem is with the item. In competitive battles, all that does is lower speed which isn't usually helpful. Try the Air Baloon instead, that mimics the effect of Magnet Rise until Magnezone is hit. If the Damp Rock boosted Rain Dance appeals to you, then swap Discharge for Thunder as it has perfect accuracy in the rain. Using Volt Switch over Magnet Rise would help it escape, it would also work well with U-Turn if you choose to use it on Scizor.

And finally Skarmory. The Quick Claw would be a bit pointless after a few speed boosts from Aututomize. Since this Skarmory doesn't have Sturdy, I'd go for the Focus Sash to mimic it once per battle. Weak Armor raises speed and lowers defence with every physical hit, so over Autotomize you should try using Roost to heal and recover from Brave Bird's recoil. Over Iron Head, I'd go for Rock Slide as it has the same chance of flinching and also gives this Skarmory a fighting chance against unsuspecting Fire types.

Overall, the Pokemon you have chosen look good at first sight but some of the moves and items may need a bit of a rethink.

Hope this helps.

 

[Takaki]

Since this team looks like it has been built whilst slightly uninformed I'm going to link you here for information on more competitive sets: Smogon University - Competitive Pok.