Other First Team Please Help

[cubone_is_life]

This is my Casual play team I use against my friends. Looking for any and all tips on how to improve it.

Klefki @ Left Overs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Magnet Rise
- Play Rough
Klefki is the first one out. I use him to stack Spikes and priority Thunder Wave to paralyze as many of my opponents as possible. Magnet Rise keeps him away from Ground type moves leaving Klefki weak to only Fire.

Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Brave Nature
- Double-Edge
- Bonemerang
- Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
Marowak is my favorite evolved pokemon. Double edge is here for the damage and to take advantage of Rock Head. Bonemerang is here to try and get the OHKO on pokemon who may have sturdy. Earthquake is for the power and dependability. Thunder punch is to handle any flying types and water types that may get in the way.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Scald
Greninja is my go to special sweeper. This move set was picked with maximum coverage in mind.

Metagross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 SpD
Hardy Nature
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
Metagross is my answer to Fairy types. Meteor mash is the main damage move, while Bullet Punch makes a great STAB priority move as well. Zen Headbutt is the best option for a Psychic STAB move that I know of. Earthquake is for Electric Types that I may have to switch into if Marowak is no longer in the fight.

Scrafty @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Bulk up
- Rest
- Drain Punch
- Iron Head
Scrafty is bulky and hits hard as well. Bulk Up powers up attack and defense making Scrafty close to unstoppable. I just switched High Jump Kick out for Drain punch to more reliably recover and counter act the life orb damage. Now Rest is all but useless and I have no idea what to use in its place. Iron Head is to deal with any Fairy types that may switch in on Scrafty.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs:
Hasty Nature
- Double-Edge
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
Salamence is a great physical sweeper. Dragon Dance makes him hit like a tank and outspeed almost anyone. Double-Edge decimates especially with Dragon Dance boosting power. Roost is a reliable heal keeping the recoil under control. Earthquake is to hit what ever resists Double-Edge.

As I stated before I am looking for any help, whether it be a move set tweak or even a pokemon you think would perform better in my team. Thank you all in advance for the advice.

 

[RebornFX]

Okay first off some more information about what kind of rules you and your friends play by. I assume that you don't use any of the Ubers legendaries (Arceus, Primal Groudon, Rayquaza etc.), but you do use ubers like Greninja and Mega Mence. My suggestions are going to be going off the assumption that you are allowed to use OU legendaries and below.

Okay, so considering you are allowing the use of Mence and Greninja I'm going to try to play to their individual strengths. Mega Mence can single handedly destroy opposing teams once it gets a chance to sweep. I personally find (or found, back when you could use it outside of ubers) that a bulkier set with substitute gave it more opportunities to sweep and just generally more utility than the coverage that EQ provides. This is a set that I would recommend. The spread is fairly simple, just having enough HP and Sp.Def so that an uninvested Rotom-W never breaks your sub with volt switch, enough speed to outspeed max speed base 70s (Breloom and Bisharp, avoiding a spore with sub for the former and Sucker Punch from the latter.)

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 44 SpD / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Substitute

I chose return over Double-Edge since I personally don't value the extra damage over the lack of recoil. +1 Return still OHKOs uninvested Mega Kang. Adamant nature because Hasty didn't make any sense (Jolly would have made sense if you were running max speed, since you don't have any special moves).

Next up Greninja. The main reason Greninja got banned in the first place was that it got access to Gunk Shot, allowing it to OHKO Azumarill (and even live a +6 Aqua Jet) and prevent fairies from easily switching in (which they couldn't really do anyway considering how strong it hits). This is the set that i would run. The attack EVs OHKO standard AV Azumarill 100% of the time, with a Naive nature as to not reduce your attack. I replaced Scald with Hydro Pump since honestly you will mostly be spamming Ice Beam if you need a reliable attack anyway and the base power difference is very noticeable.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse

Next up Marowak. I hate to break it to you, but that thing is PU for a reason. It's slow, weak, frail, has a useless ability and just generally outclassed by most ground types. Your team also lacks entry hazards, which is almost a staple on any singles team. Landorus-T just simply outclasses it in every possible way. It's bulkier, hits harder, has a good speed stat, has a great ability and gets access to U-turn. Having a slow u-turn allows you to scout for what your opponent is going to do and bring in the appropriate counter (being Greninja to pick up a KO or Mence to set up and win). The set is totally standard.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Next up, Metagross. AV Metagross is actually pretty viable, and this set is more than usable (however, it is often used on team which require a pursuit user, which I would say your team doesn't as you have Greninja which outspeeds and KOs most Psychics barring Mega Zam. I would personally probably swap metagross out for Scarf Jirachi. This forms a nice volt-turn core with Landorus, provides the team with another revenge killer in case you don't want Greninja to take LO damage, Healing Wish support for Mence since the team doesn't have hazard removal or in case it gets statused and if all else fails a really nice flinch chance.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Heart Stamp/Fire Punch
- Healing Wish

Next up Klefki. I don't really think that Klefki works too well on a team like this. I don't feel spikes are too necessary and I feel the lack of recovery kind of hinders Klefki a bit. I would personally run CM T Wave Clefable instead. It still can spread the yellow colour, while not being totally passive after you have set up your hazards and spread status and actually being pretty threatening once steels have been removed. The set is standard.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave

And finally Scrafty. I just don't really see this set having too much success when you are allowed to use such scary mons like Mega Mawile and Mega Mence. I feel like having a dedicated way of removing steels from the game is more valuable for things that get walled by them like Mence and Clefable. So I added specs Magnezone to trap and elimate them with HP Fire.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Hopefully these changes are allowed in the rules that you and your friends are playing by. If they aren't, I suppose you could replace Lando with Tank Garchomp and keep Metagross, though I really find the volt-turn core to be invaluabke for getting those threats in unharmed.

 

[cubone_is_life]

Okay first off some more information about what kind of rules you and your friends play by. I assume that you don't use any of the Ubers legendaries (Arceus, Primal Groudon, Rayquaza etc.), but you do use ubers like Greninja and Mega Mence. My suggestions are going to be going off the assumption that you are allowed to use OU legendaries and below.

Okay, so considering you are allowing the use of Mence and Greninja I'm going to try to play to their individual strengths. Mega Mence can single handedly destroy opposing teams once it gets a chance to sweep. I personally find (or found, back when you could use it outside of ubers) that a bulkier set with substitute gave it more opportunities to sweep and just generally more utility than the coverage that EQ provides. This is a set that I would recommend. The spread is fairly simple, just having enough HP and Sp.Def so that an uninvested Rotom-W never breaks your sub with volt switch, enough speed to outspeed max speed base 70s (Breloom and Bisharp, avoiding a spore with sub for the former and Sucker Punch from the latter.)

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 44 SpD / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Substitute

I chose return over Double-Edge since I personally don't value the extra damage over the lack of recoil. +1 Return still OHKOs uninvested Mega Kang. Adamant nature because Hasty didn't make any sense (Jolly would have made sense if you were running max speed, since you don't have any special moves).

Next up Greninja. The main reason Greninja got banned in the first place was that it got access to Gunk Shot, allowing it to OHKO Azumarill (and even live a +6 Aqua Jet) and prevent fairies from easily switching in (which they couldn't really do anyway considering how strong it hits). This is the set that i would run. The attack EVs OHKO standard AV Azumarill 100% of the time, with a Naive nature as to not reduce your attack. I replaced Scald with Hydro Pump since honestly you will mostly be spamming Ice Beam if you need a reliable attack anyway and the base power difference is very noticeable.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse

Next up Marowak. I hate to break it to you, but that thing is PU for a reason. It's slow, weak, frail, has a useless ability and just generally outclassed by most ground types. Your team also lacks entry hazards, which is almost a staple on any singles team. Landorus-T just simply outclasses it in every possible way. It's bulkier, hits harder, has a good speed stat, has a great ability and gets access to U-turn. Having a slow u-turn allows you to scout for what your opponent is going to do and bring in the appropriate counter (being Greninja to pick up a KO or Mence to set up and win). The set is totally standard.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Next up, Metagross. AV Metagross is actually pretty viable, and this set is more than usable (however, it is often used on team which require a pursuit user, which I would say your team doesn't as you have Greninja which outspeeds and KOs most Psychics barring Mega Zam. I would personally probably swap metagross out for Scarf Jirachi. This forms a nice volt-turn core with Landorus, provides the team with another revenge killer in case you don't want Greninja to take LO damage, Healing Wish support for Mence since the team doesn't have hazard removal or in case it gets statused and if all else fails a really nice flinch chance.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Heart Stamp/Fire Punch
- Healing Wish

Next up Klefki. I don't really think that Klefki works too well on a team like this. I don't feel spikes are too necessary and I feel the lack of recovery kind of hinders Klefki a bit. I would personally run CM T Wave Clefable instead. It still can spread the yellow colour, while not being totally passive after you have set up your hazards and spread status and actually being pretty threatening once steels have been removed. The set is standard.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave

And finally Scrafty. I just don't really see this set having too much success when you are allowed to use such scary mons like Mega Mawile and Mega Mence. I feel like having a dedicated way of removing steels from the game is more valuable for things that get walled by them like Mence and Clefable. So I added specs Magnezone to trap and elimate them with HP Fire.

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Hopefully these changes are allowed in the rules that you and your friends are playing by. If they aren't, I suppose you could replace Lando with Tank Garchomp and keep Metagross, though I really find the volt-turn core to be invaluabke for getting those threats in unharmed.

I should have been more clear and i apologize for not talking about our rules in the original post. The only real rule we use is no legendary pokemon. That being said I will be implementing quite a few of your suggestions. The reason for some of the natures being wacky is I do not have a decent ditto to use for breading so it takes me quite a few tries to get decent IVs. Once i get IVs that are decent I usually stick with that one and dont continue breeding trying to get the IVs and nature to match up.