by Sasami Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:49 pm
Before I help with movesets and such I'm going to point out some issues I see already with the team in general.
You have two Pokemon weak to water and no one with a water resistance. Since moves like Surf are REALLY common, you want to fix this. You also don't have anyone that resists/is immune to electric but that's not as big of a deal as the water weakness.
This team dies to fighting types. Three of your Pokemon are weak to fighting and you only have one resist. Something like Heracross could rip this team apart (Heracross has Stone Edge for Zapdos). Be really careful about that.
Porygon-Z has too defensive of a moveset, he's actually a frail Pokemon. Not only that but he won't benefit from Trick Room very much. That moveset would work A LOT better on Porygon-2 since he actually has decent defenses. Try him out instead. If you want to keep Porygon-Z then consider just giving him attacking moves and changing his item to Choice Specs or a Choice Scarf.
Houndoom @ Modest w/ focus sash
eved to max in SA and speed
Flash fire
Dark Pulse,
Flamethrower
Shadow ball,
Will-o-wisp
Taunt is a good move but Houndoom is way too fragile to make use of it. Give him Flamethrower instead...a Houndoom without an attacking fire move is just sad :p. He has Flash Fire so make sure you can abuse it!
Shuckle @ sassy w/ chesto berry
not eved yet
sturdy
Rest
Stealth rock,
toxic
Encore
Shuckle is amazing in sandstorms but the rest of your team (besides Lucario) hates them. In fact, Houndoom's Focus Sash is pointless if Sandstorm is up. The other issue is that with Toxic and Sandstorm being your main way of damaging Pokemon, you lose to steel types. Encore will probably be more helpful since you can Encore non-damaging moves or moves that won't do much to another one of your Pokemon...letting you switch to them and set up. If you want to use Sandstorm, maybe switch your team around a little bit so more Pokemon benefit or at least don't die from it. Encore totally shuts down Baton Passers, too.
Porygon-z @ Mild w/ Life Orb/Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
eved to max in speed and SA
download
Tri-attack
Thunderbolt
ice beam
Nasty Plot/Dark Pulse
As I said above, Porygon-Z doesn't benefit from Trick Room and he's not defensive enough to make use of Recover. He shouldn't be taking hits in the first place. If you go with Nasty Plot (which makes his special attack insane) then go with Life Orb for another boost. If you go with Dark Pulse or another attacking move then try Choice Scarf or Choice Specs.
Machamp @ Serious w/ Choice Band/Leftovers
eved to max in att and HP
no guard
earthquake
Payback
dynamic punch
stone edge
Toxic seemed kind of random since Shuckle already has it. Payback is nice since ghost-types love to switch into Machamp. Fist plate is a bad item...maybe try Choice Band for insane attack or Leftovers for more survivability. By the way, consider moving his defense EVs to HP so he can actually take special hits too.
Lucario @ naughty w/ black belt
eved to max in att and half/ half with SA and speed
steadfast
Shadow Ball/Dragon Pulse
stone edge
Close Combat
Extremespeed
Roar is better off on someone who can take a hit. I don't have much experience with using a Mixed Lucario but you want Close Combat for Blissey and Extremespeed is just awesome (especially since you didn't give him as much speed). Shadow Ball and Dragon Pulse will help give you some better coverage.
Zapdos @ timid w/ life orb
eved to max in HP and defense
pressure
Drill peck
Roost
Roar
discharge/Thunderbolt
If you want to keep your team basically the same then maybe make Zapdos a bit more defensive to take care of fighting types. Since Roar is no longer on Lucario, why not give it to Zapdos? Rain Dance seems random to me as this team doesn't benefit much from it. You can keep Discharge since it has a high paralysis rate or you can use Thunderbolt for extra power. Roost lets you heal since this guy is more defensive.
By the way, you would solve a lot of issues by trying out a defensive Dragonite instead of Zapdos. He'd give you a ground immunity and resistances to a lot of types including fighting and water. I know a defensive Dragonite sounds weird but he actually gets Roost, Toxic, Heal Bell, Light Screen, Safeguard, Thunder Wave, etc. And his attack is high enough that he can still deal damage.
Home
). When you use Roar, the Pokemon coming in will also take damage from the Stealth Rocks that Shuckle set up. Seems like a good move choice for your team, in all honesty.
