Mega-Pinsir is dumb

[FOUREYES69]

Hey everyone! I've been messing around with this team a bit on PS, and I'd love some feedback!

The goal of this team is basically to set up a Pinsir sweep. To me, this means having my side of the field clear of hazards and having rocks on theirs, their walls weakened, and in an ideal scenario, a couple defense/speed boosts on Scolipede to pass to pinsir so it can easily set up an SD and finish the game. Let's get started!

The goal of this team is pretty much the same as above, but the way it achieves that goal has changed significantly. Now, instead of relying on Scolipede to BP defense/speed boosts to Pinsir, I rely on hazard pressure from SkarmBliss and offensive pressure from Kyu-B and Azumarill to break down their team and create opportunities for Pinsir to set up and sweep.

EDIT: I've made some pretty heavy changes to this team; if it's just a move I just crossed out the move and wrote the new one next to it, if it's an entire mon or set I just crossed out the name and replaced the old set with the new one. Cheers!

EDIT 2: I've made another round of big changes that warrant an update to the OP, enjoy!

Scolipede @ Black Sludge
Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Teravolt
56 HP / 216 SpA / 236 Spe
Mild

- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Substitute

I used to run Iron Defense Scolipede in this slot, but the lack of offensive pressure was seriously harming my team and leaving me overly reliant on clutch BPs to Pinsir to clean things up. Now I run Kyu-B, and I have absolutely no regrets. This thing is a monster; it provides me with a very solid counter to the best/most common M-Pinsir counters, and it's saved my ass so many times when I screw up and let Pinsir die early or lose skarmbliss to something I wasn't expecting. Cube and Azumarill are almost my entire midgame at this point, providing me with extremely solid switch-ins to a lot of scary things. Kyu-B has almost single handedly helped me boost my ELO from the low 1400s to the high 1400s/low 1500s, and it's only going up from there.

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Sturdy
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish

- Brave Bird
- Defog Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost


Originally my defogger, I switched to Spikes because I found myself with a lot of free opportunities to do something more than Defog with this guy, and Spikes provide me with a lot of pressure and free switches thanks to predictable defogs/rapid spins. It's surprisingly easy to get up three layers of spikes at my ELO, and I've literally won games because of spikes damage. It's a seemingly small change that's made my team a lot stronger and more viable. SkarmBliss isn't as good as it used to be, but they've been extremely useful in insuring that I can win the early game and put on a lot of hazard pressure without sacrificing any bulk in the rest of my team.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Blissey @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
252 Def / 252 SpDef / 4 HP
IVs: 0 Atk (barely matters lol)
Impish

- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Softboiled


I originally ran a bulky special attacker Heatran to set up rocks, but I found myself getting torn apart by any special attacker capable of killing it without a ground attack, and after switching to Skarmory, I figured I'd go for the classic SkarmBliss core. Blissey sets up rocks and soaks up special attacks for my team, in addition to spreading paralysis, which I've found to be extremely useful in setting up the desired Mega-Pinsir sweep. I opted for Blissey over Chansey because Knock Off is everywhere and I like lefties recovery when I can get it.

Latios @ Choice Scarf Life Orb
Levitate
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid

- Psyshock
- Dragon Pulse Draco Meteor
- Calm Mind Hidden Power Fighting
- Roost Defog


Latios has been on a journey with this team; first it was my scarfer, then it was a CM sweeper, now it's a pretty standard aggressive defogger. After switching Defog for Spikes on my Skarmory I still needed a way to keep pebbles off the field for Pinsir and Kyu-B. Latios does this pretty effectively, doing good damage with its STABs and serving as a good lure for Bisharp, who can really fuck with my team on account of it being fucking Bisharp. Latios can be the least/most useful member of my team; sometimes I switch it into a hit it can't take and am left in a really shitty situation, sometimes it does its job perfectly, getting rid of rocks and denting/killing half of the other team. It almost depends more on my skill vs. the other players skill more than any actual counters they may or may not have. I run HP fighting pretty much just to fuck with its common switch ins; HP Fighting OHKOs Bisharp and seriously dents Tyranitar no matter what set it runs.

Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Azumarill @ Assault Vest Choice Band
Huge Power
252 Atk / 164 HP / 92 Spd
Adamant

- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower


I originally ran AV Azumarill because I was overcompensating for a perceived weakness to special attackers; however, Blissey can take pretty much any special attack thrown at it, and my team needed more offensive pressure, so I swapped the Assault Vest for a Choice Band. Azumarill gives me a a fuckload of damage, and has enough coverage to fuck with almost anything besides Mega-Venusaur, which is not a huge problem for this team. The speed EVs outrun min-speed Tyranitar.

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Hyper Cutter/Aerialate
252 Atk/ 252 Spd / 4 SpD
0 Happiness
Jolly

- Frustration
- Feint
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance


Mega-Pinsir is what I built this team around. This set is pretty friggin standard; Frustration > Return because fuck Ditto, Feint > Quick Attack because at +2 it pretty much wrecks everything anyway and I hate Talonflame, Hyper Cutter > Moxie because it's slightly more situationally useful and Moxie on Pinsir is more of a "win-more" thing than an actual win condition; if I can kill something with an unevolved Pinsir feint than I was probably going to win anyway, and intimidate happens often enough that I'd rather counter it than sometimes get a +1 attack boost. Earthquake > Close Combat because seriously Aegislash already fucks with this team enough.

Importable

Ice Kyub (Kyurem-Black) @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
Happiness: 0
EVs: 236 Spd / 216 SAtk / 56 HP
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Substitute

Bread (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Butter (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 HP / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled

I'm running Defog (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Defog

Raiblu (Azumarill) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 Spd / 252 Atk / 164 HP
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower

OH SHIT ITS MEGA PINSIR (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Feint
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Issues -
Baton Pass chains suck, usually all I can do is set up with Scolipede along with them and pass to Pinsir, hopefully building up enough swords dances to break through.
Baton Pass chains still suck, but I have a few more tools to handle them now with Skarmory's whirlwind, and if I'm really desperate I can just try to set up alongside them with Pinsir.

Aegislash is a huge thorn in my side; I can handle sub-toxic sets alright with SkarmBliss, but Mixed sets are going to kill something unless they're straight up dumb/bad. Pinsir mows right over them once it's set up, but it's pretty much limited to revenge killing since it can't tank a Shadow Ball/Sneak combo and can only 2HKO Aegislash when it's in Shield form if it's not set up. My best response to Aegislash is pretty much to let something die (usually Blissey or Latios) and send in Kyu-B to mop it up with Earth Power.

Charizard-Y wrecks my team if Blissey is dead or weakened, but that's more on me to make sure Blissey stays healthy enough to tank two Focus Blasts/Flamethrowers.

Defiant Thundurus is really scary under the right conditions; if it gets a Defiant boost it is GOING to kill half my team; the best case scenario under that circumstance basically involves letting it kill Latios, then hitting it with Azumarill's Aqua Jet and hoping it kills itself with recoil, which is only guaranteed to work if Azumarill's at >85% AND it's running Life Orb/a Hasty nature for a surprise special attack; if it's running Jolly + Mental Herb Fly or something like that I'm basically screwed.

Thanks in advance for any advice! I'm open to anything, I just want this team to be better!

 

[Stardust Dragon]

First suggestion, if you want a M-Pinsir sweep, use some "Priority" users (Reliable Priority.. not a Sucker Punch sweep), I recommend Azumarill replacing either Scolipede or Bisharp with this set to weaken your opponents Pokemon and then easily sweep with your Mega Pinsir.

Hide

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Knock Off / Ice Punch

Aqua Jet is your Priority, Waterfall if you outspeed, Superpower covers Ferrothorn which otherwise with Heatran dead, your team is walled by. Finally, Knock Off or Ice Punch is really your choice.

For Mandibuzz, not really a must have but Foul Play and a Rocky Helmet for Knock Off and your Leftovers. I'm sure you already know but Defog gets rid of your own hazards too. Unless you're that scared off Landorus and Gliscor use this set for Latios, and Latias works too.

Hide

OR

Latias / Latios @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 216 Def / 36 HP / 4 SpD | 252 SpA / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold | Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock

Alright, Calm Mind, Calm Mind, Roost, Calm Mind, Calm Mind, Roost... Psyshock / Dragon Pulse... Sweep. The End.

That is all I have to say, BYE!
Edit: Put Swords Dance over Knock Off on Bisharp because it usually forces a switch.

 

[AM]

I would replace Toxic spikes on on Scolipede with Protect. The reason why is so that it can get speed boosts more safely and then being able to pass to another mon or use Iron Defense after the speed boosts.

Edit: Forgot to mention, use Frustration over Return on M-Pinsir. The last thing you want is a Ditto with max happiness to have the benefits of using your M-Pinsir to it's full potential.

 

[TheManlyLadybug]

I recommend replacing Mandibuzz with Skarmory. This gives you something to deal with Mamoswine and Baton Pass teams, a physical wall, and a Defog user and a Stealth Rock setter all in one. This also opens up a team slot where Heatran was. You still need to take care of Greninja and Unaware Quagsire, and Keldeo less so. So I suggest replacing Heatran with AV Goodra. This will give you an immensely bulky special wall that can take any hit and dish them out as well. Goodra can take hits from all three Pokemon and OHKO them in return. It is literally a full stop (and more) to every single special attacker in existence. Use it wisely and you'll be pleased with the results.

 

[NotBruceWayne]

Hello there. Nice team here. Here are some of my suggestions

• I suggest trying out Foul Play on Mandibuzz. Foul Play turns the tables on those XZards and Mega Scizors who try to setup and muscle past Mandibuzz.
• My previous Sand team had trouble with Mamoswine too. A solid fix that was suggested to me was Slowbro. Slowbro has Regenerator and Slack Off making him a pain to take down.
• Should you replace Mandibuzz with Slowbro, Greninja becomes an even bigger threat. I would suggest AV Azumarill. Azumarill resists some moves Greninjas potential carry like Surf, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, U-turn and HP Fire (for Ferrothorn and Scizor I guess). It can't take a lot of hits so Wish support seems nice.
• Scarf Latios is pretty good. I can revenge a lot of stuff like +1 XZard. However, it's rather easy to Pursuit trap with Bisharp and Tyranitar should you be left locked in on an unfavorable move. I would suggest running Trick over Tbolt to dump Scarf to a potential switch in and be able to change moves. I'd also recommend you try out Timid to outpace Jolly Scarfchomp.
• Not much to suggest since the team since it looks quite well.

Set/s

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Ice Beam / Psyshock
Standard physically defensive Slowbro. No explanations needed. You could try out OTR Slowbro too.

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower
EVs are enough to outspeed 0 Spd Tyranitar. Only takes 24% max from standard LO Greninja's Hydro Pump.

Hope my suggestions help. Good luck with your team!

 

[FOUREYES69]

Alright, thanks so much for the advice everyone, I've taken your suggestions into account and made a lot of changes to my team, bear with me as I try to respond to all of you!

First suggestion, if you want a M-Pinsir sweep, use some "Priority" users (Reliable Priority.. not a Sucker Punch sweep), I recommend Azumarill replacing either Scolipede or Bisharp with this set to weaken your opponents Pokemon and then easily sweep with your Mega Pinsir.

Hide

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Knock Off / Ice Punch

Aqua Jet is your Priority, Waterfall if you outspeed, Superpower covers Ferrothorn which otherwise with Heatran dead, your team is walled by. Finally, Knock Off or Ice Punch is really your choice.

For Mandibuzz, not really a must have but Foul Play and a Rocky Helmet for Knock Off and your Leftovers. I'm sure you already know but Defog gets rid of your own hazards too. Unless you're that scared off Landorus and Gliscor use this set for Latios, and Latias works too.

Hide

OR

Latias / Latios @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 216 Def / 36 HP / 4 SpD | 252 SpA / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold | Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock

Alright, Calm Mind, Calm Mind, Roost, Calm Mind, Calm Mind, Roost... Psyshock / Dragon Pulse... Sweep. The End.

That is all I have to say, BYE!
Edit: Put Swords Dance over Knock Off on Bisharp because it usually forces a switch.

Love the Azumarill idea, I've switched him in for Bisharp, but with an Assault Vest set instead of a CB one. CM Latios is a great idea; I don't really have another way to win if M-Pinsir dies so Latios can do the job if it needs to.

I would replace Toxic spikes on on Scolipede with Protect. The reason why is so that it can get speed boosts more safely and then being able to pass to another mon or use Iron Defense after the speed boosts.

Edit: Forgot to mention, use Frustration over Return on M-Pinsir. The last thing you want is a Ditto with max happiness to have the benefits of using your M-Pinsir to it's full potential.

Great ideas; I've implemented both, but I decided to drop Poison Jab for Protect instead of Toxic Spikes; I never attack with Scoli anyway, and if a priority taunter switches in than I'll just hard switch.

I recommend replacing Mandibuzz with Skarmory. This gives you something to deal with Mamoswine and Baton Pass teams, a physical wall, and a Defog user and a Stealth Rock setter all in one. This also opens up a team slot where Heatran was. You still need to take care of Greninja and Unaware Quagsire, and Keldeo less so. So I suggest replacing Heatran with AV Goodra. This will give you an immensely bulky special wall that can take any hit and dish them out as well. Goodra can take hits from all three Pokemon and OHKO them in return. It is literally a full stop (and more) to every single special attacker in existence. Use it wisely and you'll be pleased with the results.

I like this idea a lot; however, I don't like having SR and Defog on the same poke. I went with a Rocky Helmet Skarm that runs WW over SR, and replaced Heatran with SR Blissey

Hello there. Nice team here. Here are some of my suggestions

• I suggest trying out Foul Play on Mandibuzz. Foul Play turns the tables on those XZards and Mega Scizors who try to setup and muscle past Mandibuzz.
• My previous Sand team had trouble with Mamoswine too. A solid fix that was suggested to me was Slowbro. Slowbro has Regenerator and Slack Off making him a pain to take down.
• Should you replace Mandibuzz with Slowbro, Greninja becomes an even bigger threat. I would suggest AV Azumarill. Azumarill resists some moves Greninjas potential carry like Surf, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam, U-turn and HP Fire (for Ferrothorn and Scizor I guess). It can't take a lot of hits so Wish support seems nice.
• Scarf Latios is pretty good. I can revenge a lot of stuff like +1 XZard. However, it's rather easy to Pursuit trap with Bisharp and Tyranitar should you be left locked in on an unfavorable move. I would suggest running Trick over Tbolt to dump Scarf to a potential switch in and be able to change moves. I'd also recommend you try out Timid to outpace Jolly Scarfchomp.
• Not much to suggest since the team since it looks quite well.

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower
EVs are enough to outspeed 0 Spd Tyranitar. Only takes 24% max from standard LO Greninja's Hydro Pump.

I pretty much solved the Mamoswine problem with Skarmory but I like your Azumarill set a lot so I used it for my Azumarill over CB Azu.

Here's what my team's looking like now:

Mega-Pinsir is dumb Changes

Scolipede @ Black Sludge
248 HP / 252 Spd / 8 Def
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid
- Protect
- Toxic Spikes
- Iron Defense
- Baton Pass

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Blissey @ Leftovers
252 Def / 252 SpDef / 4 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rocks
- Thunder Wave
- Softboiled

Latios @ Life Orb
252 SpA / 240 Def / 16 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Roost

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
252 Atk / 174 HP / 92 Spd
Adamant
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
- Play Rough

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SpDef
Jolly
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Any gaping holes that I'm not noticing? I feel like my team functions better now but it (and I) could definitely improve.


EDIT: Changed Scarf Keldeo to the CM Latios set that Stardust Dragon suggested; I need a secondary win condition and scarf keldeo doesn't cut it

 

[Stardust Dragon]

Alright, thanks so much for the advice everyone, I've taken your suggestions into account and made a lot of changes to my team, bear with me as I try to respond to all of you!



Love the Azumarill idea, I've switched him in for Bisharp, but with an Assault Vest set instead of a CB one. CM Latios is a great idea; I don't really have another way to win if M-Pinsir dies so Latios can do the job if it needs to.



Great ideas; I've implemented both, but I decided to drop Poison Jab for Protect instead of Toxic Spikes; I never attack with Scoli anyway, and if a priority taunter switches in than I'll just hard switch.



I like this idea a lot; however, I don't like having SR and Defog on the same poke. I went with a Rocky Helmet Skarm that runs WW over SR, and replaced Heatran with SR Blissey



I pretty much solved the Mamoswine problem with Skarmory but I like your Azumarill set a lot so I used it for my Azumarill over CB Azu.

Here's what my team's looking like now:

Mega-Pinsir is dumb Changes

Scolipede @ Black Sludge
248 HP / 252 Spd / 8 Def
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid
- Protect
- Toxic Spikes
- Iron Defense
- Baton Pass

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Blissey @ Leftovers
252 Def / 252 SpDef / 4 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Bold
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rocks
- Thunder Wave
- Softboiled

Latios @ Life Orb
252 SpA / 240 Def / 16 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Timid
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Roost

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
252 Atk / 174 HP / 92 Spd
Adamant
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
- Play Rough

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SpDef
Jolly
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Any gaping holes that I'm not noticing? I feel like my team functions better now but it (and I) could definitely improve.


EDIT: Changed Scarf Keldeo to the CM Latios set that Stardust Dragon suggested; I need a secondary win condition and scarf keldeo doesn't cut it

Thanks for looking at my changes. Usually most people don't update or are just plain out stupid and deny everything someone says to give advice. For god sakes it's an RMT, people are supposed to rate it.

 

[FOUREYES69]

Thanks for looking at my changes. Usually most people don't update or are just plain out stupid and deny everything someone says to give advice. For god sakes it's an RMT, people are supposed to rate it.

Thanks for rating! I'm at like 1400 ELO right now, I obviously have room for improvement. There's no point in trying to use RMT to "show off" your team unless you're rated like 1900 or higher imo.

 

[Stardust Dragon]

You should make an importable so people can directly copy and paste the team into Showdown.

 

[Stardust Dragon]

Also, if you replaced TS with Sub, you could protect, outspeed then sub, then protect, and get speed like that easily.

 

[FOUREYES69]

You should make an importable so people can directly copy and paste the team into Showdown.

Done!

Also, if you replaced TS with Sub, you could protect, outspeed then sub, then protect, and get speed like that easily.

I actually tried that, but I felt like I got more out of the toxic spikes than I did from the Sub. If anything, I'd probably replace TS with Spikes. I've been thinking about replacing Scoli's set with a more aggressive one, with something like Megahorn/Earthquake/Protect/BP to just pass straight up speed boosts and surprise people expecting straight BP sets. I've also considered replacing scoli with another, more offensive threat like gengar or infernape in the event that scoli's banned to stop BP chains. Ideally it'd be something fast that either resists fighting or lets me pressure a little more than the super-passive skarmbliss; right now only half my team can do any real damage and it leads to a lot of awkward situations where all I can really do is set up and hope they can't do anything about it.

EDIT: lol wait I don't need a fighting resist, mostly I just need more offensive pressure so I'm gonna test out infernape and the alternate scoli set

 

[Electrolyte]

Hey there, cool team!

There is a crippling lack of offensive support for Mega Pinsir on this team. You're trying to get some form of status control going here, but you're not directly addressing each and every check and counter to Mega Pinsir, leaving you counter-teamed by a lot of common matchups. You simply don't have answers for a lot of Mega Pinsir counters; Skarmory, Zapdos, Rotom-W, and even Thundurus all pose huge defensive and offensive threats to the team by simply preventing you from getting significant amounts of damage done. Latios and Azumarill help a little bit but do not directly and efficiently deal with these threats.


Scolipede is really dragging the team down. I can't say that anything on the team actually benefits as much from Speed boosts as the slot is worth, and Toxic Spikes are not very useful in a metagame where Mega Venusaur runs rampant. Instead, you need something to beat anti-flyingspam- so I would recommend Substitute Kyurem-B instead of Scolipede.

This is an unusual suggestion, but it really seems like it will help. With its colossal bulk and resistances, Kyurem can easily set up Substitutes on the Electric-types that Pinsir bait in. From there, it can nail the Flyers with Ice Beam / Fusion Bolt, and it can hit Rotom-W with Teravolt Earth Power. Kyurem provides valuable mixed coverage and also a lot of bulk as well. Synergywise, it provides another Electric resistance, and does not burden the team as Fighting-, Rock-, and Dragon-types are really not problems for this team. With Kyurem, you gain a Pokemon that can handle a lot of Mega Pinsir's counters and pair well with Latios / Azumarill for offense.

With Kyurem-B you:
~Reliably counter Mega Pinsir's counters, set up, and once again gain a massive amount of momentum
~Gain a valuable source of bulk and resistances
~Gain important coverage moves and a mixed attacker to beat standard VenuSkarm defensive teams


Now for some minor changes.

Spikes instead of Defog on Skarmory.

Choice Band over Assault Vest on Azumarill.

Change Latios to LO Defog.

~You gain access to Spikes and a fairly reliable way of setting it. Spikes would really help the team's cause and adds more roadblocks for opposing sweepers.
~Defog then goes to Latios to replace the CM set. You don't really have time for / need CM Latios. A faster acting LO Defog set would suit you better, also steadily checking things like Keldeo, Venusaur, and Landorus.
~Choice Band on Azumarill because you don't need any more special bulk. Instead, you need power; power for revenge killing, and power for checking rampaging Char-X's.


Good luck! I hope this helped!

Sets

Kyurem-B @ Leftovers
56 HP / 216 SpA / 236 Spe
Mild
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt

Latios @ Life Orb
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Thunderbolt / Roost / Hidden Power Fire

The last slot is up to you; TBolt hits Azumarill, Skarmory, and Mega Char Y. Roost keeps you healthy. HP Fire nails Scizor and Ferrothorn, which would give Mega Pinsir and Kyu-B problems

 

[FOUREYES69]

Hey there, cool team!

There is a crippling lack of offensive support for Mega Pinsir on this team. You're trying to get some form of status control going here, but you're not directly addressing each and every check and counter to Mega Pinsir, leaving you counter-teamed by a lot of common matchups. You simply don't have answers for a lot of Mega Pinsir counters; Skarmory, Zapdos, Rotom-W, and even Thundurus all pose huge defensive and offensive threats to the team by simply preventing you from getting significant amounts of damage done. Latios and Azumarill help a little bit but do not directly and efficiently deal with these threats.


Scolipede is really dragging the team down. I can't say that anything on the team actually benefits as much from Speed boosts as the slot is worth, and Toxic Spikes are not very useful in a metagame where Mega Venusaur runs rampant. Instead, you need something to beat anti-flyingspam- so I would recommend Substitute Kyurem-B instead of Scolipede.

This is an unusual suggestion, but it really seems like it will help. With its colossal bulk and resistances, Kyurem can easily set up Substitutes on the Electric-types that Pinsir bait in. From there, it can nail the Flyers with Ice Beam / Fusion Bolt, and it can hit Rotom-W with Teravolt Earth Power. Kyurem provides valuable mixed coverage and also a lot of bulk as well. Synergywise, it provides another Electric resistance, and does not burden the team as Fighting-, Rock-, and Dragon-types are really not problems for this team. With Kyurem, you gain a Pokemon that can handle a lot of Mega Pinsir's counters and pair well with Latios / Azumarill for offense.

With Kyurem-B you:
~Reliably counter Mega Pinsir's counters, set up, and once again gain a massive amount of momentum
~Gain a valuable source of bulk and resistances
~Gain important coverage moves and a mixed attacker to beat standard VenuSkarm defensive teams


Now for some minor changes.

Spikes instead of Defog on Skarmory.

Choice Band over Assault Vest on Azumarill.

Change Latios to LO Defog.

~You gain access to Spikes and a fairly reliable way of setting it. Spikes would really help the team's cause and adds more roadblocks for opposing sweepers.
~Defog then goes to Latios to replace the CM set. You don't really have time for / need CM Latios. A faster acting LO Defog set would suit you better, also steadily checking things like Keldeo, Venusaur, and Landorus.
~Choice Band on Azumarill because you don't need any more special bulk. Instead, you need power; power for revenge killing, and power for checking rampaging Char-X's.


Good luck! I hope this helped!

Sets

Kyurem-B @ Leftovers
56 HP / 216 SpA / 236 Spe
Mild
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt

Latios @ Life Orb
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Thunderbolt / Roost / Hidden Power Fire

The last slot is up to you; TBolt hits Azumarill, Skarmory, and Mega Char Y. Roost keeps you healthy. HP Fire nails Scizor and Ferrothorn, which would give Mega Pinsir and Kyu-B problems

WOW. I implemented all of these changes and they've been working brilliantly; since adding Kyurem and spikes I've managed to gain around 75 ELO; I consistently hover around 1450-1475, breaking 1500 on good days. I opted for HP Fighting on Latios to lure and OHKO Bisharp, who my team has trouble dealing with in the midgame. I've noticed a bit of an Aegislash weakness as of late; mixed sets can easily deal with skarmbliss, and while Pinsir can hit it hard with EQ, it can easily OHKO me with shadow ball after rocks, with EQ only OHKOing after a swords dance. Zard-Y also poses a huge threat if blissey's at 50% or below, but that's more on me to just keep Blissey healthy until zard-Y isn't a threat. Ferrothorn can be a bit of a pain in the ass once they realize my Blissey runs Flamethrower, especially protect variants, but again, Pinsir can deal with it fairly easily later in the game.

Physical Thundurus, though rare at my ELO, is REALLY FUCKING SCARY. I can kind of play around it like I do with Aegislash, but if I mispredict and it switches into a defog it's basically game over for me.

I run enough hazards that I'm starting to think a Heavy Offense version of this team with DeoSharp replacing SkarmBliss might be a good idea. The current idea I'm messing around with involves Mixed Kyu-B, Standard Deoxys-D and Bisharp, Assault Vest Excadrill for RS support, Sheer Force Landorus, and M-Pinsir. I could also try for a Bird Spam variation where I replace Mixed Kyu-B with Mixed Aegislash and run CB Talonflame over Landorus or something, but both of these ideas need a lot of work and are different enough from the original idea that I might just make a separate RMT once I've worked out the kinks.

I've edited the OP with more changes and analysis, and I cannot emphasize enough how much all of your thoughts and suggestions have helped me improve, both as a teambuilder and as a player. Thank you so much to everyone that's helped so far, I really appreciate it.

 

[Sucker Lunch]

Just a brief heads up, you may want to change Frustration to Return once you cross 1600+ because Dittos have caught on to the Frustration Trick.

 

[FOUREYES69]

Just a brief heads up, you may want to change Frustration to Return once you cross 1600+ because Dittos have caught on to the Frustration Trick.

I just officially crossed the 1600 threshold!

Posting mostly to brag because I'm really excited and proud that I've made this much progress with this team and as a player! I started at 1400 with a much weaker and haphazardly thrown together version of this team, and now I'm roughly 100 ELO away from being in the top 500!

Updates to the team: I'm messing around with a few changes to Latios' third moveslot, mostly because I've learn a bit about how to play around Bisharp and I don't feel like the HP Fighting lure is as necessary; I'd rather be able to hit opposing Azumarill's, Zard-Ys, and Gyarados' harder with tbolt or have a stronger response to Aegislash that tend to come in on Latios with HP Fire. I'll post updates when I've reached a conclusion. Any advice on handling Aegislash, Defiant Thundurus, and Zard-Y is still greatly appreciated; I can usually play around them but I'd definitely like to have a more solid response than "hope Kyu-B can do something about it after I let something die".

EDIT: I've started running into Tornadus more as well; that thing is actually pretty difficult to deal with for me, especially if it's running a mixed set. That could easily just be my own inexperience in dealing with it though.

 

[Stardust Dragon]

Just one thing, change Impish on Blissey to Bold because you have Flamethrower