"A Daunting Task"
Building:
Crawdaunt is an incredible Pokémon with one major flaw: it's speed. To circumvent this, I decided to structure my team around spreading Paralysis for Crawdaunt to have a better match-up against offensive teams. It also needs methods of coming in safely. The first two additions were easy to decide upon as Blissey is phat and Dragapult exploits T-wave spam with Hex.Building:
Since I got this idea during the clusterfuck that was the Cinderace + Magearna meta
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+I did not have a means of hazard control. Zapdos seemed like a good candidate since it counters Kart, Scizor, and Rillaboom and can spread Paralysis with Discharge.
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After playing around and trying to find a sixth, I could not a proper fit for the team. I soon became disinterested and my teambuilder stored this half-baked idea. Recently, some great news got me thinking about crustaceans again, so I took another STAB at it. After the ban of Cinderace, I felt like I did not need Slowbro and Zapdos became less attractive. Time to (kinda) start again. I kept the first three for reasons stated in the beginning.
++After playing around with some ideas in my head, I went with Hippowdon and Corviknight as they are quite sturdy. Hippowdon can free up a slot on Blissey for rocks and and Corviknight helps with Tapu Lele.
+++Lastly, I wanted an offensive pivot with an Electric immunity and something that can outspeed opposing Dragapult. The first thought that came to mind Zeraora. I was impressed with its performance during SPL and it fit both criteria. In addition to this, I could run Discharge to spread Paralysis.
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The team worked. I won a decent amount (the low GXE is because of trying out dumb shit) but something seemed off to me. I asked people in the Trainer Academy room to look at it. One user (whom I forget the name of) suggested that Hippowdon and Corviknight are too passive for a Crawdaunt team and suggested replacing them with Lando-T and Heatran, respectively.
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+These changes helped me earn an extra 200 points (@1730 currently on 'dackit') and significantly increased pressure with the only real downsides of being weaker to Dracozolt, Kartana, and Rillaboom; however, counterplay is possible. Unfortunately, my custom spreads go unused. Sorry if all of this shit looks standard, because it is.
The Current Team:
Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance
I built this team around Crawdaunt and its ability to shred through bulky teams. The set is just what Crawdaunt has used for the past three generations. Adaptability and Life Orb are what make it destroy shit (or Choice Band if you are so inclined) and are further bolstered by an Adamant Nature and max Attack and Speed. I thought about running Jolly as it would be faster than Paralyzed Dragapult, but the loss in power is not worth it. Knock Off and Crabhammer are main STAB moves with Aqua Jet to revenge kill shit like Scarf Lando or -1/-2 Garchomp. Swords Dance is to increase damage output. I am considering switching to Choice Band Crawdaunt as I don't use SD often, but it comes in handy when it gets used.
Blissey (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 16 Spe
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Teleport
- Thunder Wave
This Blissey is quite standard except for maybe T-wave over Toxic. Boots prevent it from taking hazard damage. Natural Cure is used cause Blissey. Bold Nature and Defense EVs are so it does not get murdered by Psyshock. Seismic Toss is for damage, Softboiled for healing, Teleport to bring in Crawdaunt and others safely, and yellow magic is integral to the team. I only want 16 Speed IVs for opposing Blissey in dual Teleport turns while still outspeeding uninvested Hippowdon. I really can't say much as it is boring old Blissey but slower.
Dragapult @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hex
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
Dragapult spreads Paralysis and pivots. This Dragapult is probably the most interesting thing I have on my team. Hex Dragapult is supposed to run only enough speed for Koko and invests in HP for 2 CB? Rillaboom Grassy Glides. The simplified EVs are not anything to write home about, but a 33% berry is interesting for a number of reasons. Let me preface this explanation by saying I tested items. Heavy-Duty-Boots seemed like a good option; however, I decided against this as most good teams only have two boots users at most. The logic here is faulty and my philosophy professors would laugh at me if they knew what the hell I was talking about. Anyway, I tried Leftovers and came to a simple yet accurate conclusion: Lefties sucks on non-Substitute Dragapult as most of the damage it takes is from hazards. After testing, a 33% berry appears to be the best option. Not only does the berry give you health when weakened, it allows you to bluff Choice Specs or even Scarf as Pult either uses those or boots. I employ this stratagem to get things Paralyzed. Hex takes advantage of Paralysis. U-turn is for pivoting. Draco hits Kyurem and other Dragons.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
- Toxic
Lando-T is hands-down the best Pokémon in the tier. The team does not have any means of preserving it through methods such as Leech Seed and Wish so it is built to last as long as it can until the things it need to check are gone or sufficiently weakened. Rocky Helmet helps in that end along with allocating as much to Defense as I can. The speed is enough for opposing Crawdaunt as Magearna is, thankfully, banned. Defog is used over rocks as Heatran gets them up just fine and I don't have another mon to clear hazards. Toxic is for opposing Landorus-T and other Pokémon which are immune to Thunder Wave and those whose speed is low enough for Paralysis not matter such as Slowbro.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 140 SpD / 120 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Heatran just does Heatran stuff. Magma Storm is nice for chipping stuff and bringing in another team member without the fear of a double switch. Earth Power hits opposing Heatran and Toxapex. I have been a fan of Protect on Heatran since 2014 since it synergies perfectly with Magma Storm and Leftovers. It is also nice for scouting but I keep forgetting that Surging Strikes bypasses it. The Speed is for Modest Aegislash and Magnezone.
Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Volt Switch
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
Out of everyone on the first completed draft of the team, Zeraora has undergone the most changes. As the building process states, it used to carry Discharge and run a mixed set with 152 Attack to OHKO Ttar with CC. I eventually discarded Discharge as it was unnecessary for spreading Paralysis since Blissey and Dragapult had it covered. Now it is just a physical Zerora, nothing special about it
Obligatory Threatlist:
Major Threats:
: Dracozolt is extremely threatening. The only way I can deal with it is to stall out sand and sack enough things to kill it.Moderately Threatening:
: Urshifu is hard to switch into due to my lack of Water-resists. Dragapult and Zeraora can revenge kill it easily.(dd): DD variants do well against this team since Clear Body blocks Intimidate: Again, daunt bonks shit
: Hits hard, but easy to rkKinda Annoying:
: It's Zapdos, ofc its annoyingI missed some stuff, but this covers most of it. Ty for reading and rating!
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: To improve your matchup against Kartana and Rillaboom I'm going to suggest going back to Corviknight as your Steel-type. You mentioned that it could be too passive for this team but I don't believe that's true, especially considering your running Blissey anyway. Speaking of which, physically defensive Corviknight is a nice partner with Blissey with one being a SpDef blanket and the other a PhysDef blanket. It also relives some of the pressure from Landorus-T when trying to check things like SD Garchomp, Excadrill, or opposing Landorus-T. I don't know what set you were running before but I suggest running U-turn to hopefully make sure it doesn't drain momentum for this team. I gave you a set with maxed out physical defensive, although there are other spreads that run extra SpDef for things like Tapu Lele which you should definitely consider, but with Blissey on the team it isn't a compulsory change.
Stealth Rock > Defog : With Heatran gone and Corviknight in to act as a Defogger, it makes sense to put Stealth Rock on Landorus-T. I also edited the EVs a little to make it outrun Bisharp and Timid base 60s like Aegislash and Magnezone. You can also consider running Leftovers as the item to give a little more longevity, although Rocky Helmet is still a solid option. 
Item choice: I see that you've tested multiple items including the standard Heavy-Duty Boots but decided to opt for Aguav Berry which is an interesting option, although I find your reasoning a little odd. 
