SM OU My first serious team in Sun and Moon (Balance is what I was going for)

[Electabuzzard]

Hello, good people of Smogon. I recently decided to begin dabbling in competitive battling on Pokemon Showdown. I mainly play just for fun and don't plan on getting too serious, but I would like to improve this team that I've been using for a little while now. I decided that if I could make my way up to 1400+ on the ladder with this team, then it would be worthy of a review on the forums. I do fear that this will be seen as a team that cannot be effective unless completely overhauled, but I'd still like to receive any feedback I can.

Dempsey (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic
- Scald
​

This Pokemon was very attractive to me due to its incredible defensive prowess. I typically use him to disarm dangerous setup sweepers(Zygarde, Volcarona, Mega Charizard x, etc.) using Haze. I appreciate Toxic's ability to pressure offensive Pokemon by forcing them to switch out after a certain point to avoid taking too much poison damage. I can also stall poisoning with Recover in the case of offensive threats that decide to stay in, as well as stall out Heatran when trapped in a Magma Storm. Scald causes potential burns on physically powerful attackers, allowing my other team members to tank their hits and defeat them more easily.

M1 Abrams (Aggron) (M) @ Aggronite
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake
​

I believe Mega Aggron makes a good partner for Toxapex with his massive physical defense and interesting move options. He provides an alternative typing that makes him a good fallback when Toxapex is threatened by strong Psychic-types. Heavy Slam hits various Fairy-types such as Tapu Lele/Bulu and Clefable for heavy damage. Eathquake is used to deal with opposing Steel-types like Heatran, Magnezone, and Mega Mawile(unboosted Sucker Punch is a 4HKO against Mega Aggron). Thunder Wave slows down faster threats such as non Water Shuriken Greninja and Serperior,(Greninja in particular is a huge issue for this team), making them easier to clean out before they can deal significant damage I was initially running Stealth Rock in its place, but opted for T-wave tohelp my team deal with the extremely threatening Greninja. Taunt is to stop entry hazard setters and stallers like Celesteela, Ferrothorn, etc.(but unfortunately not Mega Sableye) dead in their tracks.

​

Janitor (Latios) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Recover
- Psychic
- Defog
​

Latios mainly serves to keep entry hazards and screens off the field while scoring potential easy KOs with his strong STAB attacks. Draco Meteor often kills Pokemon that do not resist it, although I do have to be cautious not to invite Fairy-types to absorb it. Recover keeps Laios in good health so that he can continue to come in and clean up entry hazards. Psychic is a good move for crushing Keldeo and Mega Lopunny, as well as hitting many other Pokemon for strong damage without tanking my Sp. Atk. Defog, of course, cleans up Stealth Rock and other entry hazards, which is absolutely crucial for my Volcarona to be effective.

Bulma (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Cosmic Power
- Moonlight
​

I selecgted Clefable to provide Toxapex further backup, mainly to help wall the many powerful Ground-types that can deal massive damage to or even kill Toxapex. She also helps clean up setup sweeping Dragon types thanks to Unaware. Moonblast hits said Dragons for strong damage. Aromatherapy is to keep my team free of status so that they can perform their tasks optimally. I find it much harder for this team to run efficiently without some form of cleric support, so this move is a must for me. Cosmic Power helps me beef up my defenses and take on Ground-types like Gliscor and Landorus(although Excadrill can still prove a threat).I would run Soft-Boiled over Moonlight, since it has more PP and doesn't have its recovery nerfed by certain weather conditions, but when I tried to add Soft-Boiled, the teambuilder gave me this message:

Your team was rejected for the following reasons: - Bulma (Clefable)'s move Soft-Boiled can only be learned in past gens without Hidden Abilities.

I suppose this means that I can only run Soft-Boiled wien running Magic Guard, but Unaware is much more useful to my team, especially considering I have Aromatherapy.

Bamboo Burner (Volcarona) (F) @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
​

Volcarona is on this team mainly for one reason: CELESTEELA. I initially had Tangrowth in this slot, but I switched him for Volcarona when I realized how horribly Celesteela walled my entire team. As for the set, Giga Drain is mandatory for dealing with Mega Swampert, who will tear my team to shreds otherwise. If the opponent sends in Pelliper first to set up rain, I throw up Volcarona to get rid of Mega Swampert on the predicted switch. It is the only way I can win against that combination. Quiver Dance boosts her special stats and speed, greatly increasing her power and allowing her to sweep and end games quickly(given that checks like Dragon and Fire-types have been dealt with. I chose Flamethower ovr Fiery Dance due to its slightly greater initial power and small chance to burn, and over fire blast due to its perfect accuracy. Would hate to have a sweep cut short because I missed. Bug Buzz can easily pick off Greninja if its running Water Shuriken as its primary Water move, as Volcarona will be very likely to survive if her berry is still intact. Speaking of which, the Aguav Berry allows Volcarona to recover her health if she is forced into Stealth Rocks that Latios was unable to remove before dying, despite it only activating if she is pushed to the brink. I know I could use a Sitrus Berry to get immediate recovery after the Stealth Rock damage, but sometimes they lower her to 51% rather than 50%, in which case the berry will not activate.

Jet (Garchomp) (M) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
​

My main cleaner. If he can safely get up a Swords Dance and there are no faster threats on the enemy team(or Aggron has paralyzed them), he can end matches very quickly. I opted for Dragon Claw over Outrage due to how easily Outrage can be exploited by Fairy-types for an easy kill. Earthquake is an alternative STAB option that heavily damages many Steel-types like Excadrill, but it is often used to safely switch in the many Flying-types or Levitate users that I encounter. Fire Fang pressures Ferrothorn and gives me some sort of offesnisve option against Celesteela. Swords Dance greatly boosts his physical attack, allowing him to deasily kill almost any Pokemon that doesn't outspeed him. I like using Garchomp to protect my other teammates from Knock Off, since his Z-Crystal cannot be knocked off and the attacker gets chipped by Rough Skin. Devastating Drake allows me to blow away Landorus at +1, as well as any other Pokemon that is too bulky for me to OHKO without a boost. This move can be a godsend for dealing with Hidden Pwer Ice users that stand in the way of a clean sweep.

Conclusion​

I believe the main problem with this team is synergy. Everyone has specific roles and performs them well, but they do not have much of a way to support one another. One fix I've considered is switching Garchimp for Dragonite, since it suffers less from being outsped after a Dragon Dance, which it is very likely to get set up thanks to Multiscale.

So that's it, I guess. I hope this team description is sufficient enough to not get locked. If not, I apologize in advance. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.

Importable

Dempsey (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic
- Scald

Importable

M1 Abrams (Aggron) (M) @ Aggronite
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake

Janitor (Latios) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Recover
- Psychic
- Defog

Bulma (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Cosmic Power
- Moonlight

Bamboo Burner (Volcarona) (F) @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz

Jet (Garchomp) (M) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance

 

[Mawilover]

Hey there, i'm Mawilove!
I am the Sweet Mawile, and I like to make Decorated and Structured Rates to help other players and share my knowledge :)​

Hello, your team is very cool! And your post was very beautiful, having everything you need: Images of the complete team at the beginning + Images of the pokémon for each explanation + The importável at the end. Congratulations.

• Your team is reasonable, but it has a few strange options. Your defensive core is very well done, but he has no ability to handle certain psychic pokémon, such as Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele, because Mega Aggron (besides not being so good overall) is not a really effective counter for both, as he dies for Fighting-type coverage and has no access to reliable recovery.
• Its offensive core is good, but the unconventional set of VolcaronA, as well as the redundancy of Latios (which is not usually a good pokemon at present), are damaging it considerably.
• Your team also has a low speed control, but this is acceptable for the presence of Unaware Clefable, but I think a little more speed control would help a lot, especially against the Aurora Veil and Rain Offense out there.

Finally, I think your team has very little hazard control, this is terrible, especially considering that you have a Volcarona on the team. Latios alone will not be able to keep Stealth Rock out of the field, and you do not have Stealth Rock on the team. Every team needs Stealth Rock.
After the tests done on your team, I was able to find your threatlist, here it is, and below are the suggested changes:

Threatlist

Offensive Core​

Latios >

Mega Diancie
Mega Diancie with Protect is amazing, and will work much better as a mon offensive that controls hazards. She will keep hazards out of the field thanks to Magic Bounce + Protect (Important on account of Volcarona), and will still put Stealth Rock in the enemy field.
It has great synergy with Volcarona and Garchomp, and does not have the redundancy of being another Dragon-type, in addition to weakening some common checks with Garchomp, or to appreciate the weakening of them by the same. (Or even appreciate when they are obliterated by Volcarona), some examples are Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu. Lastly, it acts as an offensive check for Mega Medicham and Mega Pinsir. It is worth remembering that Protect will help you a lot by stalling turns of Rain, Aurora Veil and Terrains, both three give you a certain problem.

Garchomp >

Zygarde
Zygarde deals much better with Celesteela and Skarmory, and brings a greater speed control to the team on behalf of Extreme Speed to revenge kill threats and Glare on the switch in or after endured a hit. The speed difference is annoying against Mega Medicham and both Charizards, but the Mega Diancie is already an offensive check for all of them (And Toxapex counters Mega Charizard Y). In addition, it opens the Z-Move slot for Volcarona.

Volcarona |

Aguav Berry >

Buginium Z | Giga Drain > Hidden Power Ground
You need Buginium Z to kill Zygarde, Garchomp and Tyranitar. And Hidden Power Ground for Heatran. And Giga Drain is not an option for Swampert, as he will outspeed you by and kill you in the rain anyway, Giga Drain is an option for Gastrodon and Tapu Fini, but Buginium Z is enough for Gastrodon, and Tapu Fini is not as relevant as Heatran.

Defensive Core​

Mega Aggron >

Celesteela
Celesteela will actually hold the Psychic-types, as well as acting as a Ground Immunity that your team is in need of. It also has more longevity, which is important, and especially: Opens the Mega Evolution slot. It's also important to say that it is better against Grass-types and Water-types.

Clefable | Cosmic Power > Thunder Wave | Aromatherapy > Protect | Moonlight > Wish
Thunder Wave is a great choice, especially with Unaware. Clefable will survive setup-sweepers who threaten your team like Kartana, and then use Thunder Wave to make them easy to deal with, and that's very important to increase your team's speed control, preventing you from being swept away by offensive threats, especially considering your team weakness to Hyper Offense builds.
Aromatherapy is not necessary since you now have Mega Diancie, and even before, it would not be as necessary since status is not as prevalent as in ORAS, and you have good absorbers for burn, paralyzis and poison. (Volcarona, Garchomp and Toxapex / Celesteela, respectively). Protect will help by stalling the turns of Rain, Terrain and Aurora Veil, as well as reclaim your HP for leftovers, and it's especially important to stay safe to receive Wish. Incidentally, Wish is highly appreciated by your teammates, especially Celesteela, but even your offensive mons appreciate Wish, as they are bulky enough to depend on HP many times, and they lack reliable recovery. Lastly, Wish will not fade during the Rain.

Other Options
Knock Off is a good option to use in Clefable, helping to deal with annoying defensive monsters like Celesteela.
Keeping Garchomp using a Life Orb is a reasonable option.
Skarmory is an option in place of Celesteela, since they are very similar, and Skarmory has access to Stealth Rock (letting Mega Diancie use Earth Power / Hidden Power Fire), and Defog, which will help keep hazards off the field. However, Skarmory does not handle Psychic-Types very well.
Ferrothorn is a great option in place of Celesteela, as it resists the electric type, and can be cured by the Clefable (and also has access to Stealth Rock), but losing its Ground immunity is a certain problem. Chople Berry + Thunder Wave would work fine, paralyzing Mega Alakazam, Tapu Lele, Mega Medicham and Mega Lopunny mainly.
Gastrodon is an almost mandatory choice in place of Toxapex, since it holds Psychic-types with ease, is not weak to the Ground-type, and mainly: Has immunity to Electric-type, which is essential for your core. I just did not suggest this change at the beginning because you do not seem very willing to change Toxapex.

Final Considerations​

For your first serious team, you made a very well-structured team, with the exception of the lack of Stealth Rock.
I tried my best not to change your team a lot, which is why you will see only changes to Pokemon very similar, so you do not feel much difference (Except the exchange of Latios for Mega Diancie). What a mess, it was your choices ... Strange ... I think if you had used pokémon and better sets in general (Buginium Z Volca ... An OU Steel-type ...) you would need less modifications. Since this is your first serious team, I recommend you to use better pokémon in metagame. Of course, it is not wrong to use pokémon outside of the metagame, but they are generally more difficult to use, because they have considerable flaws or are very specific niche.
You do not have to follow ALL the modifications, but this is extremely recommended, so do not disrupt your team.
I'm sure you'll like the changes when testing, and I hope you'll respond to my rate with your opinions.
Feel free to PM me on Showdown whenever you want ;)
Here's your new team! Feel free to change shinies and nicknames!

Blessed from Mawilove

Slave (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover

Majesty (Diancie-Mega) @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Protect

Queen (Clefable) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave

Duchess (Volcarona) (F) @ Buginium Z
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Princess (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower

King (Zygarde) @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Glare

 

[Electabuzzard]

Mawilove, thank you so much for reviewing my team. Based on your post, I have decided to replace Mega Aggron with Ferrothorn and Latios with Mega Diancie. I also changed Clefable and Volcarona's sets exactly as recommended. For now, I've put Dragonite in place of Garchomp rather than Zygarde, as it too can run Extreme Speed as well as Dragon Dance to help with speed control, and it has much greater initial power without having to rely on a Choice item, though I do acknowledge that Zygarde doesn't have to worry about Stealth Rock and its precious Multiscale being broken. I'll probably switch to Zygarde later down the road anyways. I just want to see how Dragonite will do for now.

I will say, after making your changes, I've lost quite a few matches, but I think that's more due to me not really remebering to use Diancie to block hazards. I am liking Mega Diancie a lot more than Latios so far, I will say. Once again, many thanks for reviewing my team, and I'll try to PM you so I can thank you in person. :)

Edit: I might switch Ferrothorn for Skarmory, as it carries Defog, which eases me predicting when the opponent will try to set up hazards.