Gen 6 is by far my favorite gen of competive and I've tried out several different teams but after playing and tweaking with this one in the past, something just feels substantially off. I'm not really sure what's wrong with it so I would love someone else's opinion. Pokemon X was the first game I ever played and Xerneas holds a special place in my heart as the first Legendary that I captured so I tried to build a team around it. As I was building this team, I realized that since there is so many people that don't like un-unique teams and legendary spammers, the formerly ununique and cliche legendary spam teams, have actually become unique to a certain extent. It is such an obvious team for a low elo player to run that it becomes unexpected. At least that's what I think, although I could be completly wrong. Whelp anyway...
The TeamXerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpaA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
-Moonblast
-Geomancy
-Thunder
-Hidden Power Fire
Xerneas is primarily here as a setup sweeper. While it is certainly cliche at this point, only hard checks can Xerneas can stop a successfully setup Geomancy Xerneas. Moonblast is there for STAB and Thunder is there for coverage mostly against Primal Kyogre and Hidden Power Fire is there for more consistent hits on the reads of steel-type switch-ins. Xerneas can also act as a last resort revenge killer against slower targets that Xerneas is guaranteed to outspeed.
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 130 Atk / 130 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Return
-Earthquake
-Roost
-Dragon Dance
This is another Gen 6 Cliche but I felt it was needed on the team as the best Groudon check I have to offer. It can switch into Groudon Relativly safely with rock moves being the only thing that really poses much of a threat to it which is further amplified by his bulk as well as Intimidate. The main plan is to DDance and then proceed to sweep the opposition after threats have been removed. Roost provides reliable recovery if too much damage it taken from Hazards plus other damage. Return is here instead of Double Edge mostly because of the fact that its gonna be taking some damage before beginning its sweep most of the time meaning that the recoil might end up being too heavy. Earthquake is there to take down Groudon and any other mons.
Arceus @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Mulitype
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Swords Dance
-Extreme Speed
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
Yeah, you guessed it, another obvious, unoriginal, cliche pokemon in the form of ExKiller Arceus. Not really much to expalin here. The extrmely standard base arceus set that can reliably revenge kill just about anything, as well as setup and sweep with swords dance. Earthquake for coverage against Groudon, and Stone Edge for Lugia and Yveltal. EVs are also incredibly standard and are mostly set towards revenging and sweeping as said earlier
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Rock Polish
-Swords Dance
-Precipice Blades
-Stone Edge
While this is a slightly different than the norm Groudon set, Groudon is an incredibly powerful sweeper. It can OHKO almost the entire metagame after a swords dance, and outspeed a large portion of the metagame after a rock polish. Double Dance also isn't the most popular set and it can ussually catch some people off gaurd who aren't expecting a hyper offensive Primal Groudon. Precipice blades is a must on just about any groudon set, and stone edge is mostly there for coverage against Salamence who can check Groudon under the right circumstances. Groudon also serves as a very good partner for Xerneas being able to take out threats to Xerneas so that it can set up and sweep. It is also able to take out potential pase threats to all sweepers like Mega Gengar.
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
-Dark Pulse
-Foul Play
-Oblivian Wing
-U-Turn
Yveltal is another strong revenge killer with Foul play, as well as a Lugia counter. Oblivian wing for healing as well as for coverage and stab. Dark pulse for a strong stab move and U-Turn for momentum. Choice scarf is here to outspeed whatever it needs to revenge kill bar exKiller Arceus, and there is also make EVs is Spa and Spe to dish out some serious damage.
Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
-Magic Coat
-Skill Swap
-Stealth Rock
-Taunt
Another extremely standard set here with the lead Deoxys Speed where you try and be as much of an annoyance as possible. The normal spread for a Deoxys S lead to provide max support along with a focus sash to avoid OHKOs. Magic bounce is there for other dedicated leads and skill swap is needed to perform against Mega Sabelye and the like. It can also be a major pain for Wonder Gaurd users as well as Cloyster who need their ability to do decent damage and perform well. Most games start with a Taunt, Magic Coat, or Skill Swap depending on the situation, the ussually followed by a stealth rock. Being able to lock someone into attacking stopping them from setting up Hazards can be a major bonus to start the game.
So most people are gonna look at this team and assume its just a base group of sets taken straight off of smogon. And they are absolutly right. As the saying goes, expect the unexpected. But when everyone expects the unexpected, the expected suddenly becomes the unexpected and can be used to catch opponets off gaurd. And if you think this is philosophy is stupid, there's a change you're right, but I think the metagame can shift over time as people begin to expect different things, which means going back to OG methods can keep people on their toes. Let me know your guy's thoughts and we'll see where this thing goes.
The Team
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 184 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpaA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
-Moonblast
-Geomancy
-Thunder
-Hidden Power Fire
Xerneas is primarily here as a setup sweeper. While it is certainly cliche at this point, only hard checks can Xerneas can stop a successfully setup Geomancy Xerneas. Moonblast is there for STAB and Thunder is there for coverage mostly against Primal Kyogre and Hidden Power Fire is there for more consistent hits on the reads of steel-type switch-ins. Xerneas can also act as a last resort revenge killer against slower targets that Xerneas is guaranteed to outspeed.
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 130 Atk / 130 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Return
-Earthquake
-Roost
-Dragon Dance
This is another Gen 6 Cliche but I felt it was needed on the team as the best Groudon check I have to offer. It can switch into Groudon Relativly safely with rock moves being the only thing that really poses much of a threat to it which is further amplified by his bulk as well as Intimidate. The main plan is to DDance and then proceed to sweep the opposition after threats have been removed. Roost provides reliable recovery if too much damage it taken from Hazards plus other damage. Return is here instead of Double Edge mostly because of the fact that its gonna be taking some damage before beginning its sweep most of the time meaning that the recoil might end up being too heavy. Earthquake is there to take down Groudon and any other mons.
Arceus @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Mulitype
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Swords Dance
-Extreme Speed
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
Yeah, you guessed it, another obvious, unoriginal, cliche pokemon in the form of ExKiller Arceus. Not really much to expalin here. The extrmely standard base arceus set that can reliably revenge kill just about anything, as well as setup and sweep with swords dance. Earthquake for coverage against Groudon, and Stone Edge for Lugia and Yveltal. EVs are also incredibly standard and are mostly set towards revenging and sweeping as said earlier
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Rock Polish
-Swords Dance
-Precipice Blades
-Stone Edge
While this is a slightly different than the norm Groudon set, Groudon is an incredibly powerful sweeper. It can OHKO almost the entire metagame after a swords dance, and outspeed a large portion of the metagame after a rock polish. Double Dance also isn't the most popular set and it can ussually catch some people off gaurd who aren't expecting a hyper offensive Primal Groudon. Precipice blades is a must on just about any groudon set, and stone edge is mostly there for coverage against Salamence who can check Groudon under the right circumstances. Groudon also serves as a very good partner for Xerneas being able to take out threats to Xerneas so that it can set up and sweep. It is also able to take out potential pase threats to all sweepers like Mega Gengar.
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
-Dark Pulse
-Foul Play
-Oblivian Wing
-U-Turn
Yveltal is another strong revenge killer with Foul play, as well as a Lugia counter. Oblivian wing for healing as well as for coverage and stab. Dark pulse for a strong stab move and U-Turn for momentum. Choice scarf is here to outspeed whatever it needs to revenge kill bar exKiller Arceus, and there is also make EVs is Spa and Spe to dish out some serious damage.
Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
-Magic Coat
-Skill Swap
-Stealth Rock
-Taunt
Another extremely standard set here with the lead Deoxys Speed where you try and be as much of an annoyance as possible. The normal spread for a Deoxys S lead to provide max support along with a focus sash to avoid OHKOs. Magic bounce is there for other dedicated leads and skill swap is needed to perform against Mega Sabelye and the like. It can also be a major pain for Wonder Gaurd users as well as Cloyster who need their ability to do decent damage and perform well. Most games start with a Taunt, Magic Coat, or Skill Swap depending on the situation, the ussually followed by a stealth rock. Being able to lock someone into attacking stopping them from setting up Hazards can be a major bonus to start the game.
So most people are gonna look at this team and assume its just a base group of sets taken straight off of smogon. And they are absolutly right. As the saying goes, expect the unexpected. But when everyone expects the unexpected, the expected suddenly becomes the unexpected and can be used to catch opponets off gaurd. And if you think this is philosophy is stupid, there's a change you're right, but I think the metagame can shift over time as people begin to expect different things, which means going back to OG methods can keep people on their toes. Let me know your guy's thoughts and we'll see where this thing goes.