New GEN 5 NU team (first team I've made myself)

Hi, new to Smogon and this is my first RMT. In fact this is the first team I've made myself altogether so any advice would be much appreciated. Definitely feel it's missing a few things atm, open to any major or minor changes you guys recommend. Notice when playing I suffer a bit too much from stealth rocks, for example.

The team:



The lead:

Floatzel @ Choice Band
Water Veil
252Atk/252Spd/4HP
Jolly
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-Crunch
-Switcheroo

The poke I generally lead out with, pretty much just there to take a chunk out of anything it can and switcheroo a band onto either, anything trying to set up, or any walls. Can take annoying pokes right out the game. High speed also makes it a decent revenge killer. Tough enough to take a hit every now and then as well.

The Wall:

Shuckle Leftovers
Sturdy
252HP/252Def/4SpD
Impish
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic
-Knock Off
-Rest

Shuckle confuses me. Sometimes it's great, very difficult to take out, can set up stealth rocks, poison a couple of pokes and knock off an item here and there. However, too often I feel it has no impact on matches (e.g. being practically useless against teams with a spinner and heal bell). Suffers from stealth rocks set up on my side and would prefer to replace it in this team if I can't utilize it better.

Tank #1:

Regice Leftovers
Clear Body
252HP/252SpA/4SpD
Modest
-Rest
-Thunder Wave
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam

Regice is an excellent special wall even without any significant EV investment and possibly my favourite member of this team. Has good synergy with some of my other pokes and can hit hard with ice beam and tbolt. Thunder wave can take care of sweepers setting up and generally be a nuisance. Generally bulky enough to recover from rest although considering replacing leftovers with a lum/chesto berry.

Tank #2:

Camerupt Leftovers
Solid Rock
252HP/252SpD/4Def
Calm
-Stealth Rock
-Lava Plume
-Earth Power
-Roar

My second fairly offensive tank, Camerupt can wall certain pokes other members off my team are scared of whilst dishing out some decent (if generally not spectacular damage) with Earth Power and Lava Plume. My second option for setting up rocks and roar to get rid of pokes setting up and to generate some stealth rock damage.

Special Attacker:

Kadabra @ Life Orb
Magic Guard
252Spd/252SpA/4HP
Timid
-Signal Beam
-Shadow Ball
-Psychic
-Hidden Power Ground

Been a bit disappointed with Kadabra so far in all honestly. Has Life Orb to pack in a bit more power with Magic Guard preventing it from damaging me. Immunity to entry hazards, damaging statuses, etc. is also very nice but feel I'm still sometimes a bit weak. Revenge kills quite well but too often comes up short. Not sure whether to test a Focus Sash set or maybe a different poke altogether at this point. For now it'll stay in.

Physical Attacker:

Sawk @ Choice Band
Mold Breaker
252Atk/252Spd/4HP
Adamant
-Close Combat
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Ice Punch

Pretty happy with Sawk, was the final member of this team to take ground and rock type attacks but I've been pleasantly surprised. Takes hits well and returns them very hard with Choice Band. Mold breaker allows it to hit levitaters with earthquake which can prove invaluable, many opponents don't expect it.

Thanks a lot if you've made it this far, all advice is welcome, however little :)



 

WhiteDMist

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Not a full rate, but Shuckle is rather pointless on this team when Camerupt already fulfills the role of a Stealth Rock setter. You also already have a Pokemon using Rest in Regice, and you lack any way to not be set-up fodder /survive during the 2-3 turns of Sleep (the turn you Rest included if you actually outspeed the opponent). Shuckle is even worse as it ALREADY has trouble not being set-up fodder for your opponent, and its low HP doesn't really help it survive the sleep turns often. You also have no defense against Swellow, little defense against any kind of Braviary, and sparse defense against other Flying-types. I suggest forgoing both Shuckle and Camerupt for Utility Golem, which provides the Rock typing to handle Flying-types and Normal-types, while still keeping a defense against Electric-types and Charizard (Specs can 2HKO all three of course, so be careful). This leaves room for another Pokemon. Judging from your team structure, you want a more balanced team. In this case, physically defensive Mandibuzz acts as a great defensive pivot. It also provides a decent answer to Golurk, who you cannot switch in against otherwise. The Taunt it provides can also help limit the chances of entry hazards being set up. I'm honestly not liking two Choice Banded Pokes on your team, especially when Floatzel doesn't carry priority. I'd stick with either a Bulk Up set to act as a late game sweeper and win condition, or else try out Swords Dance Samurott who has better bulk and Megahorn. Finally, Life Orb on Kadabra is rather disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the extra power is nice, but the ease in which is dies is irritating when it is one of your main win conditions. Focus Sash is by far the better item for this particular team, as now you have a revenge killing Pokemon that you lacked before. The ability to hit twice by living an otherwise fatal hit is much better than hitting a bit harder once and fainting immediately as well. The buffer from Focus Sash is great, but you should also ditch Shadow Ball for Encore as well. The coverage between Signal Beam and Shadow Ball is redundant as they hit the same important targets (most Ghost-types are hit hard enough by Psychic to be 2HKOed, which is the same with Shadow Ball, so no real loss there). Encore provides valuable utility for your team, and gives the suggested set-up sweeper a good chance for a safe switch in/set up.

Wow, that wasn't a short rate at all... but good luck with your team and welcome to Smogon!
 
As WhiteDMist stated, your team has absolutely no reason to run Camerupt or Shuckle, and Golem is infinitely superior in that space. I also agree on Sash-Kadabra, as that will let you also have access to a revenge killer. I'll only point out things that White hasn't previously stated. That being said, one huge issue your team faces is special water sweepers. Ludicolo, Samurott, Simipour even Rain Dance Seismitoad, recklessly blitz through your team with little to no way of stopping them. Opposing choice band sawk also deal criminal amounts of damage to your team, hitting your primary defensive pivot hard, as well as 2HKO'ing everything else. Calm Mind Musharna and Duosion also pose as major threats, beating your entire team with ease.

The first thing I would do is to run Spikes Roselia over Regice. This allows you to more reliably and confidently beat previously stated specially offensive water sweepers, and hitting them back with either Giga Drain or Sludge Bomb. On top of that, you gain more offensive presence and lose less momentum, as resttalk is infinitely inferior to Synthesis / Rest + Natural Cure. Natural cure is another reason to run Roselia, as your team HATES status, and thus can use Roselia as an amazing pivot to absorb and get rid of it again and again. Last but not least, your powerful sweepers such as Sawk and Kadabra appreciate.

Next I would consider running Pivot Liepard after getting rid of two spots for Golem. Your team is Completely Demolished by CM Mushy and Duosion, with no way of truly stopping them outside of crits and encore from Kadabra (which they could easily switch out of). Instead, Pivot Liepard can continuosly trap them, as well as trap other Setup sweepers, making for a way for you to check said sweepers. Your team also lacks a dedicated revenge killer, and thus needs all the priority it can get, so Liepard's Sucker Punch is also well welcomed. Overall, it can simply help your team remove the single largest weakness of setup sweepers, and opens gaping holes for your Kadabra and Sawk, which is absolutely beneficial. (Momentum is Awesome too for this Hyper Offense team imo)

Hope I helped! Welcome to smogon :]
________________________

Roselia @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 8 Def
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis / Rest
- Sludge Bomb
- Spikes



Liepard @ Dread Plate / Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Encore
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
 
While knock off on Shuckle is really uncommon and I'm sure catches people off guard, the set is somewhat vulnerable without any stat boosting moves. Brawlfest made some really good suggestions, but if you'd like a more direct change switching Shuckle for Mandibuzz. It can carry the same toxic and knock off you're accustom too, but provides a bit more utility with the addition of being able to taunt and giving you the psychic immunity your team could use. The aforementioned Liepard set could deal with the major threats you have to worry about atm, but that would leave you without a physical wall. The standard Mandibuzz set hold foul play over knock off to give it some offensive presence, but in this case I placed knock off since you seemed to want such a move.



Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Big Pecks
EVs: 112 Spd / 248 HP / 148 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Roost
 
Knock off would be a great counter for incredible tanks suck as Marowak, and can get rid of toxic/flame orb guts users. However, I would suggest, with gen 6 coming in, to replace knock off with sticky web for the best support for the best chance of outspeeding your foes. Ice punch is of little use for sawk, it hit flying types with stone edge, so a flex move like taunt, bulk up, or return. And perhaps hidden power fighting to cover dark types and a surplus of many other types to hit them harder. Or perhaps remove hidden power for calm mind to set up a potential sweep or an effective dent in your foes team.
 

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