D/P team. Please critique.

[EmuKiller]

Notice that in the title I didn't say "rate". Any type of constructive criticism, or suggestions of different pokemon or moves to use is greatly appreciated. This team is already completed, but I am looking towards improving it through any means, even if it is scrapping one of the team members.

Kingdra: Dragon Pulse, Brine, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam
Scizor: Iron Head, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor, Swords Dance
Infernape: Flare Blitz, Grass Knot, Close Combat, Shadow Claw
Garchomp: Sandstorm, Crunch, Earthquake, Fire Fang
Gliscor: Thunder Fang, Swords Dance, Ice Fang, Night Slash
Gallade: Psycho Cut, Close Combat, Night Slash, Rock Slide


Garchomp/Gliscor both have the "Sand Veil" ability, which is why Garchomp knows Sandstorm. As previously stated, any advice as to better moves to use is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your advice.

 

[Seraphim]

One thing i can suggest is teaching Kingdra something like Thunderbolt in place of Brine, while Brine in it's own may be a pretty diligent attack, two of your Pokemon bear weakness to water and Garchomp only dodges that by it's Dragon sub typing.

Another thing you need to worry about is Ice types and attack carriers. One well placed ice attack could take down two of your team in one shot due to Garchomp and Gliscor being 4x weak to ice and a possibility of a STAB would be brutal. I guess you could always rely on Infernape in that spot but then you must consider the possibility of something like an ice/flying being the one attacking, at that point you would need to rely on yet another swap and through close examination of your team, there is one set that could take down 5 of 6 of your team:

Ice Beam
Fly
Flame Thrower
Dragon Pulse

Now be realistic and check what kind of Pokemon could have that kind of set. Of course a Dragon. If you fought say A Dialga with Ice beam, Roar of Time, Flame Thrower, and Aerial Ace, then your team would be devastated so what I suggest is swapping either Garchomp or Gliscor and replace them with something that can back up each of the weaknesses listed while being able to switch in and cover it's own weaknesses.

 

[Coen]

Notice that in the title I didn't say "rate". Any type of constructive criticism, or suggestions of different pokemon or moves to use is greatly appreciated. This team is already completed, but I am looking towards improving it through any means, even if it is scrapping one of the team members.

Kingdra: Dragon Pulse, Brine, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam
Scizor: Iron Head, Aerial Ace, X-Scissor, Swords Dance
Infernape: Flare Blitz, Grass Knot, Close Combat, Shadow Claw
Garchomp: Sandstorm, Crunch, Earthquake, Fire Fang
Gliscor: Thunder Fang, Swords Dance, Ice Fang, Night Slash
Gallade: Psycho Cut, Close Combat, Night Slash, Rock Slide


Garchomp/Gliscor both have the "Sand Veil" ability, which is why Garchomp knows Sandstorm. As previously stated, any advice as to better moves to use is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your advice.

Get rid of 1 of the Fangs on Gliscor. I think EQ will outdamage them anyway, even if they're Super effective. Stealth Rock on Gliscor is nice too.

And don't use sandstorm. Use Hippowdon or Tyranitar instead.

 

[EmuKiller]

@ NGCXX: Tyranitar sounds like a definite possibility. With STAB the damage does come out to about the same. I have both fangs cause of that old school "boltbeam" action, but physical damage instead. However, I guess there is a reason it is old school and not used presently =-/.

@ Seraphim: Can Kingdra learn Thunderbolt? And if it does, who should I breed Kingdra with to get it? I'm actually really impressed that you thought of a build to take down my team instantly. That kind of makes me feel n00b that my team could be KO'd by just one pokemon.

So in closing, it seems like the most logical thing is switch Garchomp for T-tar? Or am I even more noob for saying that?

EDIT: if anyone has sucessfully cloned TM earthquake, I would be more than willing to take it off their hands. I can't get the glitch to work because my internet speed fluctuates so much.

 

[Seraphim]

I believe NGCXX's advice on Tyranitar is a good piece, since it saves you a turn on using sandstorm plus it can learn some fairly damaging attacks that you could use in the turn it would normally take using Sandstorm.

Apparently my sources are wrong, I thought Kingdra could TM learn T-Bolt but I guess not, I would say breed it with Gyarados and it might work providing the Gyarados is male and if Horsea can egg learn it.

Then again you could always substitute Kingdra for something else though the only other Dragon/Water that comes to mind is Palkia and that won't work.

Good luck though, on whatever you decide on.

 

[leafgreen386]

BoltBeam is plenty used today. The fangs just suck.

Kingdra: Toss it. It is by far the weak link of the team. No, it doesn't get tbolt, and the set that sera proposed that could take out your entire team doesn't exist anywhere. Most non-uber teams get destroyed by ubers like dialga anyway, so that's a pretty moot point.

Scizor: Why do you have SD on this when it should be on garchomp? Swap it for steelix, which assists you in taking hits a good deal. I could see a set like eq/boom/stealth rock/roar working nicely.

Infernape: Flare Blitz, Thunderpunch, Close Combat, U-Turn
You needed something for gyarados, who otherwise walls this set like no tomorrow. I think it's an egg move, though, so you might wanna go with stone edge instead. U-Turn is too cool not to use. Shadow Claw is kinda weak, anyway, and doesn't serve much of a purpose on this set. @CB

Garchomp: Dragon Claw, Swords Dance, Earthquake, Fire Fang
Give this thing freaking dragon claw and sd, @Life Orb, too. Sandstorm on garchomp makes me =(

Gliscor: Earthquake/Ice Fang/Knock Off/U-Turn OR eq/ice fang/rest/sleep talk
With 125 base def and excellent typing, you should be using this to take hits, not to sweep. Knock off makes it a nice utility, but resttalk allows it to take hits better. Note that if you u-turn and switch into infernape (if you give it a choice band), infernape will only be able to use u-turn, so just be cautious about that.

Gallade: Toss. You missed the only reason to use gallade - hypnosis.

TTar would work well on this team, but not over garchomp. Why on earth would you want to get rid of one of the pokes that it helps the most? Kindra doesn't do much here at all, so it should be the first to go. You would do well to switch out gallade for a special wall. Anywhere I didn't say otherwise, use leftovers as the held item.

 

[Seraphim]

the set that sera proposed that could take out your entire team doesn't exist anywhere

Try checking Dragonite.

 

[Coen]

Seraphim, I don't think using Fly is a good idea at all. At least use Aerial Ace or Brave Bird.

And leafgreen, no SR on Gliscor?

 

[Seraphim]

Fly was merely an example but I agree with you.

 

[leafgreen386]

Try checking Dragonite.

Ok. That set doesn't exist anywhere because no one would use it. It wouldn't even be smart to use another flying move in place of fly. It has better things to be doing, and much more effective ways to mixed sweep.

And leafgreen, no SR on Gliscor?

You could, but if you use steelix, then it would be kinda repetitive, and you don't need more than one SRer.

 

[EmuKiller]

@ leafgreen386: You're my hero. My only question is are there any suggestions as to what should I switch Gallade and Kingdra for? (sounds like Ttar or Snorlax and Boltbeam Starmie).

 

[leafgreen386]

Actually it would be snorlax and either ttar or starmie.

For lax, rest/sleep talk/return/[crunch/eq] with careful or sassy nature, enough for 480 HP, max sdef, and the rest in either atk or def.

On ttar you could go with either the dd or cb sets, and on starmie you'd probably wanna go with recover/tbolt/ib/surf@life orb, timid, max speed and satk.

 

[bladeofapollo]

@leafgreen
Why not put Rapid Spin in place of Surf on the Starmie? I know you lose STAB, but it's nice utility.

 

[leafgreen386]

Tbh I don't see spin as being that essential this gen, except on a stallish team. Everything is very offensive, and matches are pretty fast paced. There isn't a lot of time to get both spikes and sr down unless your team is specifically built for it, and you're usually better off just hitting hard. Not only that, but stab-less starmie is kinda weak.

I also just learned that gliscor gets roost. Just run eq/ice fang/knock off/roost on it, and it'll be great. No need to resttalk or use a filler like u-turn.

 

[Coen]

Crap, my Gliscor uses eq/roost/sr/u-turn. I didn't know about Ice Fang O_o lame. I'll replace it though, as Ice Fang should be a lot more reliable against certain types.

I understand about the double SR. I just use it because I don't have any other SRing Pokemon yet.