Trying to get back into battling [RMT]

[JSM]

[I don't expect to get many/any replies to this I know there's not really many people who play competitively here]
As the title says I'm trying to get back into battling. I haven't battled seriously since before ORAS came out, so my battling skills are a little rusty and I'm not even really sure what the threats I need to prepare a team for tbh. Expect very standard smogon sets because I'm lazy and don't know what I'm doing for now. Anyway here's the team:


Weavile @ Choice Band 
Ability: Pressure 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Jolly Nature 
- Knock Off 
- Ice Shard 
- Ice Punch 
- Low Kick


Weavile is where I decided to start because when I used to battle I found it to be a very reliable revenge killer. Giving it a choice band ensures it can hit hard and switch out. Knock Off is generally what I lock myself into unless I have good reason not to, even if it's resisted it will do a decent amount of damage, and who doesn't want to knock off the other teams items? One thing I am considering is trying to fit pursuit into this moveset because I've found myself in a few situations where it could be handy.


Celebi @ Leftovers 
Ability: Natural Cure 
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 84 SpD / 16 Spe 
Bold Nature 
- Stealth Rock 
- Giga Drain 
- Recover 
- Thunder Wave 


Next I decided I needed something with a bit of bulk to offset how frail weavile is. I chose celebi because it's a good utility pokemon, it has good all around bulk and it can set up stealth rocks. I'm very happy with how celebi has been performing, I've used it in the past and it's been fairly useless, but it really shines when spreading paralysis on this team. However, it's main use has been as a pivot for me to figure out my opponents movesets, recover has been a godsend to figure out my opponents items and ev investments whilst taking minimum damage.


Heatran @ Leftovers 
Ability: Flash Fire 
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
- Magma Storm 
- Earth Power 
- Taunt 
- Toxic 


Celebi and Heatran work well together, usually a good defensive core. I decided to switch it up and use an offensive heatran on this team because this set intrigued me when I saw it on smogon. The general idea is to use magma storm to trap something that can't hurt you too much eg: clefable, chansey, hit it with a taunt and toxic to whittle it down safely. It seems a bit gimmicky and it's been kinda working for me so far (although MS misses a lot =P).


Keldeo @ Life Orb 
Ability: Justified 
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
- Secret Sword 
- Scald 
- Icy Wind 
- Hydro Pump 


Just a standard Keldeo, using this because I wanted a FWG core to base the rest of my team around. I don't actually use this keldeo too much, but when I do use it, I really need it. Like Weavile it tends to get a hit in and get back out. I'm considering scarfing this, just so I have something to rival opposing scarfs.


Sableye @ Sablenite 
Ability: Prankster 
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD 
Careful Nature 
- Knock Off 
- Will-O-Wisp 
- Recover 
- Foul Play


At this point I realised I didn't have a mega and I definitely knew the remaining 2 slots were going to be filled by a defensive mon and a physical attacker. After a little think and an explore of the new (well oras =P) megas, I decided to try out Sableye. It's got nice defences and nice resistances. I tend to lead with this quite often as, like celebi, it's good for scouting out opponents. Also I love to spread status and knock off, so that makes another appearance


Landorus-Therian @ Life Orb 
Ability: Intimidate 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Jolly Nature 
- Substitute 
- Swords Dance 
- Earthquake 
- Stone Edge 


For the final physical attacker I decided I needed some real physical power, as the rest of my team really lacked that (weavile aside). I think this set really works well, people often switch into something they think can wall a more standard lando-t, but once I'm behind a sub I can set up and sd and often tear through unprepared or weakened teams. The LO damage can be annoying, but I like to have the power in case I don't get a chance to set up, I just worry about it dying too quickly. I think the standard version of this set uses a salac berry, but I don't really like the idea of that, seems too easy to kill with priority.


Thanks for reading this, sorry if some of what I wrote was unnecessary this is my first one of these threads.

[Richard and Blaziken]

Heyo JSM! Let's take a look here!

Weavile @ Choice Band 
Ability: Pressure 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Jolly Nature 
- Knock Off 
- Ice Shard 
- Ice Punch 
- Low Kick


Seems fine. Consider Life Orb on this if you find yourself annoyed by entry hazard damage racking up from switching a lot. Icicle Crash is also an option over Ice Punch for a bit more power, but that's down to preference.


Celebi @ Leftovers 
Ability: Natural Cure 
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 84 SpD / 16 Spe 
Bold Nature 
- Stealth Rock 
- Giga Drain 
- Recover 
- Thunder Wave 


This seems fine I guess, but I've always found Celebi sounds better on paper than it ends up being. This does what it needs to do, but Celebi has so many drawbacks; weakness to Pursuit, no offensive presence on non-NP sets, easily walled. This set seems fine for what it does, but if you find Celebi under-performing, think about finding a replacement.


Heatran @ Leftovers 
Ability: Flash Fire 
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
- Magma Storm 
- Earth Power 
- Taunt 
- Toxic 

One thing that competitive battlers need to win is consistency, and while this does beat some would-be counters, it's very inconsistent. I can't sing the praises of specially defensive Heatran enough, really. Lava Plume is such a good move to mount pressure on the opposing team. If you're finding this works, by all means stick to it, but I have a feeling that this is very hit-or-miss.

Keldeo @ Life Orb 
Ability: Justified 
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
- Secret Sword 
- Scald 
- Icy Wind 
- Hydro Pump 

Looks good

Sableye @ Sablenite 
Ability: Prankster 
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD 
Careful Nature 
- Knock Off 
- Will-O-Wisp 
- Recover 
- Foul Play

Set looks fine

Landorus-Therian @ Life Orb 
Ability: Intimidate 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Jolly Nature 
- Substitute 
- Swords Dance 
- Earthquake 
- Stone Edge 

Like this set in particular, and somewhat ironically, this finds time to setup on opposing defensive Landorus-T I'd imagine.

Okay, so comments about the sets themselves in bold.

As for the team as a whole, I noticed something: You have a rather noticeable weakness to Azumarill. Every single thing on your team is frightened of it to an extent; Weavile, Keldeo and Sableye won't enjoy Play Rough, Celebi can't switch in for fear of Knock Off, Heatran and Lando-T fear Waterfall/Aqua Jet.

I'd strongly suggest Mega Venusaur > Mega Sableye, and finding a replacement for Celebi as well. Mega Venusaur hard counters Azumarill, and pretty much does what Celebi is doing, but mostly better. Just need to find a SR user.

All this said, I haven't been into ORAS competitive for a long time, so maybe everything I'm saying is useless at this point lol

[SirBlaziken]

Allow me to sing the praises of SpD Heatran then. It's actually not as bad as most think it is. From my experience, it's taken a bit of a fall from grace but is still quite useable. Here's what I run:

Heatran @ Leftovers/Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
Evs: 248 HP/8 Def/252 SpD
Calm Nature

-Stealth Rock
-Toxic
-Roar
-Lava Plume

Leftovers allows it to live longer but Air Balloon allows it to evade spikes and earthquake, which it should never take under any circumstance (unless you really need death fodder). If the other teams has a clefable runs unaware, use toxic on it or just chip way with lava plume, and you only really need to be wary of focus blast (or maybe the odd earth power if it learns it or HP ground). You right now are running an attacking set on it which is fine, but if you want it to be a true wall, this is the way imo. If something else has SR, Protect can be used.

As for Mega Venusaur:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll (doesn't usually matter but if sun happens to be up.....)
EVs: 252 HP/252 SpA/4 Spe
Nature: Modest

-Giga Drain
-HP Fire
-Sludge Bomb
-Synthesis

This has also in my experience taken a fall from grace as most people if they even dare run it go for a more defensive look and make it an outright wall. However, it's designed to be a tank and with Thick Fat (its mega ability) it takes neutral from fire (assuming the sun is not out) and ice, which is a boon to it since both are common types in OU. Just be careful of pokemon like Latios (for obvious reasons), Mega Gardevoir (if it gets in safely), and the like.



I tried both out for a bit this week and at least in lower play, they work fine. I made a team with these two around lucario back in the X/Y says and it still seems to work. I haven't played much OR/AS due to lack of motivation, but I might just try it out. I've heard manaphy practically rules the metagame now. >.>

[Richard and Blaziken]

Mega Venusaur runs 232 HP / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 Sp. Defense / 20 Speed to ensure it outspeeds Azumarill and has the most bulk possible, if you're going that route.