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My First Team - Sandstorm

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7tx

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So right, yeah first team. So obviously I'm "noob" when it comes to this so any advice on move changes / item suggestions / team member changes etc would be welcomed. I'm raising this team specifically for a battle with a friend but will be used in future endeavours also.

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Tyranitar @ Lum Berry
Adamant – 252 Att / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Stealth Rock
Stone Edge
Pursuit
Fire Punch.

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Swampert @ Leftovers
Careful – 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SpD
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Waterfall
Avalanche

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Cacturne @ Bright Powder
Adamant – 252 Att / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Sucker Punch
Seed Bomb
Focus Punch
Substitute

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Lucario @ Choice Specs
Modest – 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Aura Sphere
Shadow Ball
Vacuum Wave
Dragon Pulse

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Heatran
Timid – 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Substitute
Dragon Pulse

I'm unsure for this last teamslot. I need something to take care of the waters, so I could go with Magnezone, but then the team is heavy on steels, so I'm unsure.

As I said this is my first 'competitive' team, so I don't know if this stands a chance or if I just fudged the whole thing. Please help?
 
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Swords Dance Lucario and mixape destroy this team. Use a Gliscor or Zapdos in the last slot (although Zapdos cant counter mixape THAT well, neither can Gliscor.) OR you can use a choice scarf on your Heatran.

I dont exactly know what this team is trying to acheive. I would think its offense but even then you have a curse Swampert, no entry hazards at all.

I recommend using stealth rock on tyranitar. DD Tyranitar isn't really a good lead. Use Stealth Rock/ Stone Edge/ Pursuit and Fire Punch. Also use a lum berry so you can avoid sleep leads and get them down to their sash using one of your moves, in which sandstorm will finish them off.
 
Thank you. You're exactly right - I have no idea what I'm doing :eh:

So you think the swampert needs altering as well?
 
Well cursing Swapmert dosent really fit this team well, and without reliable recovery, hes not lasting long. The problem with this team is that it suffers with some of the metagames Biggest threats, such as SD Lucario, Dragon Dancing Gyarados and Salamence. For the last slot I recommend

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Jolly 4 HP/ 252 Att/ 252 Spe
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch/ Trick

That set works as a revenge killer/ check to some of the metagames most threating pokemon. With Choice Scarf, you outspeed Gyarados when it has dragon danced once, Adamant Tyranitar when it has Danced twice, and force the speed tie with +1 Jolly Salamence. Obviously this means you dont need to scarf your Heatran, you can run that same set, however use a timid nature and dont use toxic, use something like dragon pulse. Also you dont need psychic on Lucario, Replace it with Vacuum Wave for priority.

I think Swampert can work decently on this team if you put him in the lead position, and run DD tar if you really want to. Use 252 Hp/ 252 def/ 6 SpD with stealth Rock/ Waterfall/ Eartquake and ice punch.
 
Yeah I don't see a conceivable way that I'm gonna get a Jirachi. I guess I have some thinking to do
 
could browse the trade threads I guess

Sorry, i always rate teams as in every pokemon that is available is, And I play more shoddy battle than wifi so, sorry i couldnt help
 
Dude you've been awesome. Thanks. I'll put more thought into it at a latter stage. I had two exams today and I'm going to bed. Cheers MasterChef
 
Don't have time for a full rate here, but I noticed a few things on first glance.

One, for an offensive team, your team is incredibly slow. The current metagame is brutally offensive, and while your Pokemon are capable of setting up and doing major damage, they are for the most part easily picked off by fast sweepers. A revenge killer would help, but finding a few faster Pokes would probably help more. My Wi-Fi team is completely obsolete because it uses mainly the type of Pokemon you have here, and they just get beat down these days.

Some first glance move fixes:

1) For T-Tar, get Fire Punch in there, and consider using the item Babiri Berry. That will allow you to always KO Scizors that switch in on your Dragon Dance. They won't be able to U-Turn before you attack so they will have to go back and you can continue setting up / attacking.

2) For Luke, try this set instead: Aura Sphere / Shadow Ball / Vacuum Wave / Dragon Pulse or HP Rock / Ice. Shadow Ball gives slightly better coverage than Dark Pulse, and can lower SpD to help you keep sweeping. Priority moves are always great on Luke, allowing you to bypass his average speed and clean up. Dragon Pulse is generally good coverage, but you can use a Hidden Power to also hit things like Gyarados or Zapdos.

3) Heatran wants Timid nature with that set. You can do Modest I suppose, but there isn't a point in doing Rash since you have no Physical attacks.

4) Don't worry about being heavy on steels. Honestly, the entire metagame is nothing but steels and dragons. It's kind of pathetic, but it is what it is. You do want to be careful of running too many Steels that can be easily killed by opposing Magnezones, though. You are OK right now, just make sure you are careful bringing out Lucario early on in the match, because he can be trapped and killed easily if you didn't use Vacuum Wave on the switch (Would have to check but you'd think it's a 2HKO). You do need some electric attacks here, maybe magnezone is the answer, maybe not. Remember he does not resist Water and can get hit hard by Surf or Waterfall.

Gliscor sounds good for this team, but I think the problem right now is a lack of direction. It's not a sandstorm stall team, so you need to make sure it can keep up with the highly offensive Pokemon out there. A revenge killer would certainly help, and as much as I hate Jirachi he'd probably work out OK. Give it some test runs and see what runs you over, that's the first step to finding team replacements.
 
Thanks Troggy. I made some changes to the first post based one your advice but the team still needs work. Gliscor or Zapdos may be subbed in, but I see what you mean about the speed issue
 
hav u ever heard of SUPPORT MOVES!?! i could beat this entire team with a Breloom with Spore, Mach Punch, Seed Bomb, and Drain Punch.
 
Ursafan said:
hav u ever heard of SUPPORT MOVES!?! i could beat this entire team with a Breloom with Spore, Mach Punch, Seed Bomb, and Drain Punch.
Click to expand...

I got a couple of stealth rock there but yeah. Any suggestions with that comment?
 
Did you make a typo, giving Tyranitar Stealth Rock instead of Dragon Dance? You can always lead with Swampert and set up rocks that way, but you definitely don't need it on two Pokemon.
 
I wouldn't say that. I have SR on both my Skarmory and Claydol, as a fail-safe setup method.
 
I personally think that both Shadow Ball and Dragon Pulse are redundant, either of them along with aurasphere provide perfect coverage, it just depends on you're preference. HP ice is superior in my opinion. If not maybe Flash Cannon I guess.
 
This is your first team? Its not bad.(Although it only has 5/6 pokemon and 3/5 are weak to ground)

You could give tyranitar aerial ace so itll have something against fighting types.
 
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