Dragonite Lead [OU, 4th Gen]

[ruf]

The Team

Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Spd/252 SpAtk
Quiet nature (+SpAtk,-Spd)
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- ExtremeSpeed
- Fire Blast

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/224 Def/34 Spd
Bold nature (+Def,-Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Wish

Forretress (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/112 Atk/146 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def,-Spd)
- Explosion
- Payback
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes

Togekiss (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/222 Spd/36 SpAtk
Modest nature (+SpAtk,-Atk)
- Air Slash
- Heal Bell
- Nasty Plot
- Roost

Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/6 Spd/252 SpAtk
Modest nature (+SpAtk,-Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power
- Moonlight
- Psychic

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/34 Spd/228 SpDef
Bold nature (+Def,-Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power
- Roost
- Thunderbolt

Building Process
I'm not so good with team building (you can tell from some of the reasoning behind my Pokemon choices), and I am relatively new to the DPP metagame having been playing it for about three weeks. Help and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Building Process

One day, I decided to make a team based on Dragonite. So I did so. However, Dragonite has a bad weakness to both ice and dragon type techniques, so I found a Pokémon that covers those weaknesses.

I love Jirachi. This was actually the first team I've used it on a team; it serves as an excellent special sweeper, and takes really good care of Blissey who actually tends on staying in enough so I can get a few calm minds in (until it realizes its presence doesn't do anything). Wish passing is its second function, since Dragonite has no reliable form of recovery (fortunately, people enjoy sending earthquake and fire moves to Jirachi, both of which Dragonite fares well against) . Now, I've got those bases covered. I enjoy setting up a few entry hazards here and there, so...

Forretress sets up spikes and spins them away if my team is ever threatened by them (obviously), and that's his purpose on my team. In the case of a physical sweeper gone wild, I explode to save myself.

I've added Togekiss in to come in and relieve the team of any status condtions. It's also very fun to play around with air slash. My team is not exactly frail at the moment, but I decide to add a wall in to support my team's defenses.

Cresselia is the best and very rarely lets me down. My goal with Cresselia is to successfully absorb any and almost all attacks, Calm Mind, and wipe out an opponent or two. At this point, I want one more Pokemon to cover up any weaknesses my team has. I think I have a lot of bases covered. Since I can't find any for now, I've decided to add in Zapdos who will serve as a cover (having a wide variety of moves, and an excellent speed).

Here it is!

Past Edits

Edits I have made in the past

• DD Tyranitar and Heatran were wrecking my team up. I replaced HP Fire on Cresselia (wrisking Pursuit Scizor KOing, which I haven't seen much of anyway) with HP Fighting.
• Rotom(H) likes giving my team trouble. I placed Payback instead of Gyro Ball on Forretress, so I switch into something safe and Payback to catch Rotom trying to block a spin. I can handle the choice band variants, but this technique generally works a lot of the time in terms of actually eliminating it from the other side.
• HP Grass on Zapdos has been replaced with HP Ice. This is to take care of Dragons, who I don't enjoy countering with another dragon.
• To be continued...

Threat List
I haven't seen a lot of major threats in the time I've been using this team, but again it hasn't been very long. If you can see something off of the bat, pointing it out would be excellent.

List

• I need to be careful with allowing other Pokemon to get more than one DD in. I don't have a form of Phazing to counter this.
• Roar/Slack-Off Hippowdon gives this team a lot of trouble. I would explode Forretress but I like to keep my Pokemon alive. However, I almost never see Hippowdon around so I suppose that will not be a norm.
• Baton Pass teams can be a pain for this team. I have no direct way of dealing with them, so I need to tread carefully in those waters. Extremespeed on Dragonite helps deal with the lead passer, but that is it otherwise.

 

[BKC]

Alright, this is going to be kind of hard to rate with no descriptions for your pokes, but I'll try.

Problems:
1. no Stealth Rock
2. no bulky water
3. no spin blocker with multiple layers of hazards
4. problem with setup sweepers

How to fix
1. Stealth Rock over Explosion on Forretress
2. Offensive Suicune over Cresselia
3 & 4. Choice Scarf Rotom-W over Togekiss

Explanation
1. Stealth Rock should be a part of every team. It is considered the best move in the game by many and has been calculated to do 200% damage (i'm pretty sure it was that much) in the average game, not bad a for a move that takes one turn to use. I think that you could throw it on over Explosion on Forretress because Explosion is generally something used if you have nothing else useful to use in the last slot and you need something that can help out in a pinch vs. DD Gyarados, Kingdra, etc. However, you cover those well between Wish CM Jirachi and defensive Zapdos, so it is not needed.

2. Cresselia is, in this Scizor and Tyranitar-infested metagame, just a bad Pokemon, to put it bluntly. It can't hit hard enough, it's weak to common types, weak to Pursuit, and it can't recover reliably thanks to the ever-common presence of sandstorm. You also have no bulky water, which is considered a must in today's metagame with the presence of the ever-so-common Heatran and Infernape. Suicune is a great check to both of these Pokemon, and provides you with a much more effective Calm Mind sweeper. The set is:

Suicune @ Leftovers
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Electric

3. Teams with multiple layers of entry hazards pretty much always have a ghost type so teams with Starmie, Forretress, Tentacruel, Blastoise(lol) can't stop your strategy with a single use of Rapid Spin. You'll also have some trouble against setup sweepers. For instance: Swords Dance/Nasty Plot Infernape can grab a boost against Forretress and run through your team. You can't rely on Dragonite to stop it because it is an attacking lead holding a Life Orb that is weak to Stealth Rock, so after a couple hits from Life Orb (which it will undoubtedly take in the first few turns) and a Stealth Rock hit or two, then Ape can pick it off with a +2 Vacuum Wave or Mach Punch. This is all assuming Dragonite is still alive.

Scarf Rotom-W provides a check to alot of setup sweepers such as the aforementioned Swords Dance/Nasty Plot Infernape, AgiliGross, Swords Dance Lucario, Dragon Dance Tyranitar, and Dragon Dance Gyarados. The set is:

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SAtk / 216 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick

Will-O-Wisp, while seemingly out of place on a Choiced Pokemon, does have its uses, being able to burn +1 Speed Tyranitar (Hydro Pump does not KO), +2 Lucario, but it really shines once the Scarf has been tricked away onto something like CurseLax or Blissey, allowing Rotom to act like a defensive and offensive set all in one.

This somewhat opens you up to the combination of AgiliGross+DD Gyara (Metagross weakens the Rotom so Gyarados can sweep) but as long as you keep Zapdos alive you should be fine (maybe consider shifting it to a physically defensive set).

Good team and good luck.

 

[ruf]

I have description of my Pokemon... I've listed their contributions to my team under "Building Process".

Before I respond, I will absolutely take into consideration as much as I believe is logical, and I thank you for taking the time to respond to my thread. However, I do feel the need to ask a few questions / respond to some of your opinions.

It looks like you just read Smogon's description of Cresselia without even using the Pokemon yourself (though I'm not suggesting so); Calling Cresselia "just a bad Pokemon" is really insulting to an excellent Pokemon who has more applications to the metagame than you might think (she tends to absorb hits like nothing matters and, contrary to your take, does hit hard after one or two calm minds when Tyranitar can no longer fare well against HP Fighting). I will, nonetheless, try out your Suicune suggestion.

I will also try out Stealth Rock on Forretress and test the Togekiss vs. Rotom-W switch. Thanks for the suggestions. ;)