Gen 3 Rate my teams ,any help is apreciated

[HaraValuari]

I have recently started playing competitivly and I think I have been doing great overall.Im currently sitting at about 1200 Elo Gen 3 OU (ik its not much but for such few time I have been playing I think its good).
However I have had quite some problems against some certain pokemon.Mostly curselax for both teams and teams that use some kind of Chain Baton Pass to buff something and then instantly sweep me for the first one.I have 2 teams that i like to play (the first one beint the one that i started with but stoped using bcs of the reasons above and the second which I have only been using recently).The teams are as follow:

Team 1.
Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SpA / 200 Spe
Serious Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Giga Drain
- Taunt
I have tried different pokemon for a second special sweper but none really proved good so i decided on this build for gengar.I mostly use this to counter specific pokemon which have weakneses to Ice Lighting or Grass since he can take 2 or 3 hits from most things that he is not weak to and ussualy kills them in one or two.Taunt is a recent adaptation i made since i heard its not good to start with skarmory(which i have mostly been doing) so i decided to start with him and i dont want to let the enemy start spiking from the begining.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Roar
- Toxic
- Taunt
Skar used to be the pokemon that i liked to start with since it is my physical tank and also a spiker.Since i started using gengar first his role became to mostly toxic enemies,drop a spike here and there(when i started i would ussualy start with him and just lay 2-3 spikes and let him die or if didnt die i would mostly win because i would start using toxic roar toxic roar and so on till he wold die http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-431142213)

Aerodactyl @ Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Flying]
I like using him as a physical sweper.Ussualy when one of my pokemon dies just swap him in and sweep from there since he would mostly start first.I also like using him to take one hit from something that doesent deal well with him and then just 1HKO that pokemon.Hes been one of my favourites since i started because of the sheer damage he deals.

Tauros @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
Mostly same reason as aero.Good pyshical sweeper with more coverage this time.I find myself sweeping entire teams with just this one because of the unxepected damge if th enemy has been damaged by spike or other pokemons slightly. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-430722836 .He has been one of my favourites just because of those reasons.

Alakazam @ Lum Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Fire Punch
- Encore
- Calm Mind
I am using him as a special sweper because of his imense swepping potential with 1 or 2 calm minds but i find myself sweeping(or even fainting and enemy for that matter) with him very rarely now.I have to use for type coverage mostly or to try to encore an unsuspecting target and beat it from there.

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
The reason i have won most of my games.I feel like it is imposible to make a team without using her.She feels unkileable and extremely useful.Just swap her in to take a hit , paralyze the oponent and allow the other to sweep.Also has some coverage with seismic toss being the only fighting type move in my team.
(http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-431000766 Warning:Very long mostly proves why i like seismic toss to counter other blisseys and how useful she is)


The problems that i have with this team are fast baton users that instantly sweep my team.When you thought that the jolteon was going to beat you and tried to swap in blissey nope.Batoon toss and the game is mostly over since im one turn behind and the enemy probably has a substitute or something to deal with any counter dmg i try to use before they become unstoapable and skarmory usualy get killed before it manages to use roar(idk if it matter how much speed you have when you use roar or if it always goes last).And the other problem beeing curselax.If skarmory died it feels like game over the moment it shows up.It one hits gengar with shadow ball or anything if it has some stacks of curse.It feels very sad when the enemy has a Curselax out and im just waiting there for him to sweep me.Also this team has no pokemon that is resitant to water or electric so that is really disadvantegous.

Team 2

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 48 SpA / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Toxic
Mostly used as a defense pokemon or for coverage.Ussualy throws toxic around or stalls.When a curselax shows up i use perish song and then try to swap to this guy and protect wating for him to swap out.However this i not always possible since i cannot always keep him alive :(.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 116 HP / 104 Atk / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 104 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Roar
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Pursuit
- Rock Slide
Mostly here for type coverage and type defense.I really fell like he does peanut damage to pokemons that arent weak to his abilities and even then.Just switched flamethrower for roar so i dont know how this will work.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Hidden Power [Bug]
Mostly the same as Skarmory just that i also clear out spike with him and have that bug type coverage.

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Soft-Boiled
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power [Grass]
I found this one on a forum(actually most of the team is imported from someone with slight tweaks bcs i felt like the other team wasnt good enough bcs it was made by me)I think i had more succes with the old blissey but this one has its advantages.I like flame thrower because i can melt skarmorys but the calm mind didnt come into play in any of my games yet.It kinda feels useless.Im also thinking of changing HP grass for something else since i already have some grass type moves(maybe a seismic toss?since i have no fighting type coverage)I think i liked the utility on the old one much better but i couldnt live without a blissey so im not replacing it.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 48 SpA / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Perish Song
- Psychic
- Recover
I like celebi because i saw a lot of celbies using the wish and cure build but i dont think this one was is as good.Perysh song is quite nice but leech seed feels quite weak(idk dont know if it dissapears when the enemy swaps out and i didnt want to test since gen3ou only has a competitive mode and i didnt want to lose any elo)Perish is a good option to deal with cuselax however it still doesent feel efective enough.Like when i bring swampert out the enem salamence understands that its time to gtfo.However when i see a curselax i dont think have enought time to react.1 curse till i swap her in.1 more curse and then he has time for an attack which ussualy kills everything.And then he can just ricne and repeat with rest.


Gengar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 76 SpD / 80 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Punch
- Giga Drain
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
Seem to like this gengar a lot more than the old one.Giga drain provides some cool coverage and feels very efective to have 3 different type moves on one pokemon.WOW is good at dealing with curselax but with 75%accuracy i find myself in a bad spot quite often.If i miss this it means 1-2 hits with 2 curses and that mostly kills anything i have.


I still manged to win some game with this team by stalling out and poking with gengar and tyranitar but if theres was a curselax i always lose.And i also feel like this team is mostly RNG based since i cant rly just pull out a sweper and kill everything.

I hope you guys can help me improve my teams or help me deal with curselax and other stuff.Maybe i could merge em togheter and take the best of everything(idk if that will work since one feels like it wants to stall the game and one feels like it wants to find the oportunity to strike and kill pokemon one by one while blissey come throuhg or just setup and completely sweeep)
Sorry if i did any mistakes in this thread but its my first post :).If i did anything wrong just say it and I will try to fix/remove it.Thanks for reading through

 

[UD]

Hi and thanks for posting! Let me give some feedback for both teams individually.

Regarding Team 1:

Looks like you could use some help on your EV spreads. Gengar should have a Timid or Modest nature with the set you're using. If Timid, aim for 330 Speed minimum. If Modest, 300 Speed is the way to go. The main thing with Gengar is that you want to be EV'd to survive a +1 DD Salamence/Gyarados HP Fly from full health and then retaliate with your own OHKO. This is why virtually every Gengar under the sun carries both Ice Punch and Thunderbolt. There are a number of ways to achieve this - the damage calculator is your friend. I just did a quick and dirty calc myself and found this one:

+1 252+ Atk Salamence Hidden Power Flying vs. 148 HP / 100 Def Gengar: 252-297 (84.5 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Hopefully someone else can chime in with a more efficient spread. Also, consider Fire Punch over Taunt since you look a little Forretress weak, and Taunt is usually paired with Will o Wisp. This new Gar will hit all three main Spikers of the tier super hard, so I wouldn't worry about them.

Taunt Skarmory is fine and well, and he requires quite a bit of Speed investment, but 252 EVs is overkill. Try aiming for perhaps ~200 or ~220 Speed stat with the remaining EVs in SpDef and a Careful nature. Also, use Whirlwind over Roar. Roar is only used when paired with Drill Peck, since WW and DP is an illegal combination. Whirlwind is preferred since you don't want Mr. Mime (Soundproof ability) blocking your attempts at phazing in a BP chain.

Both Aero and Tauros look fine to me.

Psychic and Fire coverage on Alakazam is decent, but consider adding HP Grass over Encore so you can punish Tar and Swampert switch ins.

Blissey looks fine.

Overall the team is lacking both a solid Rock resist - almost a necessity in ADV - and a physical wall (Skarm doesn't count since Magneton is frequently paired with heavy physical attacking Pokes). The de facto answer to this problem is adding a Swampert, but you have other options as well. The first five Pokes on the team indicate a pretty offensive squad, and Blissey doesn't exactly fit well in that kind of team. But like you said, you're quite Water/Electric weak. One option that I can think of is fast ish (245 Speed) CM Roar Suicune over Blissey, and CB Flygon over Tauros. You get a Water resist in the Cune, an Electric immune/Rock resist in the Flygon, and you keep your heavy offensive presence with the CB.

CurseLax shouldn't ever really get the opportunity to set up on this team outside of Alakazam, so I don't feel like he'll be as big a threat anymore.

Regarding Team 2:

This team looks pretty standard and like you said it wasn't your own build, so I won't recommend changes so much as comment on certain things.

Flamethrower on Tar is so you can hit both Forry and Skarm hard. Though Roar Tar + Gengar means CurseLax can never win without hax unless it's last mon. If Lax chose Shadow Ball as its coverage move then Tar can sit in and phaze it for days (watch out for Dugtrio, a common CurseLax partner); if Lax chose Earthquake then it can't touch Gengar. But Perish Song Celebi alone really should be enough to completely neutralize CurseLax so I don't think it's an issue.

Seems like Gengar should have Ice Punch over Fire Punch, especially since you chose Fire/Grass on Blissey. You need more coverage vs. Mence/Flygon.

Pursuit Tar is about the most common partner for Forretress there is. The idea is that Tar switches in on the Gengar attempting to block Forry's Rapid Spin. With Pursuit, you can trap the Gengar and let your Forry spin at will for the rest of the match. The whole situation is more nuanced than I'm letting on, but the best way to understand the dynamics of it is to experience it yourself.

I hope my comments helped! Have fun battling :)

 

[HaraValuari]

Hi and thanks for posting! Let me give some feedback for both teams individually.

Regarding Team 1:

Looks like you could use some help on your EV spreads. Gengar should have a Timid or Modest nature with the set you're using. If Timid, aim for 330 Speed minimum. If Modest, 300 Speed is the way to go. The main thing with Gengar is that you want to be EV'd to survive a +1 DD Salamence/Gyarados HP Fly from full health and then retaliate with your own OHKO. This is why virtually every Gengar under the sun carries both Ice Punch and Thunderbolt. There are a number of ways to achieve this - the damage calculator is your friend. I just did a quick and dirty calc myself and found this one:

+1 252+ Atk Salamence Hidden Power Flying vs. 148 HP / 100 Def Gengar: 252-297 (84.5 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Hopefully someone else can chime in with a more efficient spread. Also, consider Fire Punch over Taunt since you look a little Forretress weak, and Taunt is usually paired with Will o Wisp. This new Gar will hit all three main Spikers of the tier super hard, so I wouldn't worry about them.

Taunt Skarmory is fine and well, and he requires quite a bit of Speed investment, but 252 EVs is overkill. Try aiming for perhaps ~200 or ~220 Speed stat with the remaining EVs in SpDef and a Careful nature. Also, use Whirlwind over Roar. Roar is only used when paired with Drill Peck, since WW and DP is an illegal combination. Whirlwind is preferred since you don't want Mr. Mime (Soundproof ability) blocking your attempts at phazing in a BP chain.

Both Aero and Tauros look fine to me.

Psychic and Fire coverage on Alakazam is decent, but consider adding HP Grass over Encore so you can punish Tar and Swampert switch ins.

Blissey looks fine.

Overall the team is lacking both a solid Rock resist - almost a necessity in ADV - and a physical wall (Skarm doesn't count since Magneton is frequently paired with heavy physical attacking Pokes). The de facto answer to this problem is adding a Swampert, but you have other options as well. The first five Pokes on the team indicate a pretty offensive squad, and Blissey doesn't exactly fit well in that kind of team. But like you said, you're quite Water/Electric weak. One option that I can think of is fast ish (245 Speed) CM Roar Suicune over Blissey, and CB Flygon over Tauros. You get a Water resist in the Cune, an Electric immune/Rock resist in the Flygon, and you keep your heavy offensive presence with the CB.

CurseLax shouldn't ever really get the opportunity to set up on this team outside of Alakazam, so I don't feel like he'll be as big a threat anymore.

Regarding Team 2:

This team looks pretty standard and like you said it wasn't your own build, so I won't recommend changes so much as comment on certain things.

Flamethrower on Tar is so you can hit both Forry and Skarm hard. Though Roar Tar + Gengar means CurseLax can never win without hax unless it's last mon. If Lax chose Shadow Ball as its coverage move then Tar can sit in and phaze it for days (watch out for Dugtrio, a common CurseLax partner); if Lax chose Earthquake then it can't touch Gengar. But Perish Song Celebi alone really should be enough to completely neutralize CurseLax so I don't think it's an issue.

Seems like Gengar should have Ice Punch over Fire Punch, especially since you chose Fire/Grass on Blissey. You need more coverage vs. Mence/Flygon.

Pursuit Tar is about the most common partner for Forretress there is. The idea is that Tar switches in on the Gengar attempting to block Forry's Rapid Spin. With Pursuit, you can trap the Gengar and let your Forry spin at will for the rest of the match. The whole situation is more nuanced than I'm letting on, but the best way to understand the dynamics of it is to experience it yourself.

I hope my comments helped! Have fun battling :)

Thanks for all the advice.I will try to do everything you said.Looking forward to battling with the new variant and thanks again for taking the time to read through my teams and helping me out.