Evasion team

[Daynus]

I'm tossing up between 2 teams that I've already trained to use at the Australian battle competition. VGC 2011 rules, except no team preview and wonder launcher is in play. One team's a gimmicky evasion team and the other's a bit more balanced. It could be one team of 6 to play around with, except there would be 2 with focus sash and there's no team preview, so I have to pick 4 before a battle anyway. I'm more looking for advice on which team would be best to use over the other, but any minor tweaking is welcome also. Some of the natures aren't ideal, but they're what I've got in game and they're not horrible.

Team 1

Chandelure@Focus sash
Quiet
Flame body
252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4 SpDef
Minimize
Flamethrower
Shadow ball
Calm mind

Sets up 3 minimizes if all goes well and then either starts attacking or gets in a calm mind or two. Struggles to accomplish much if opponent leads with rock slide, water spout, etc on both their pokemon. If it goes down before passing stat boosts to something else then the match is pretty much lost unless I'm really lucky.

Amoonguss@Mental herb
Relaxed
Effect spore
200 HP, 160 Def, 148 SpDef
Rage powder
Spore
Giga drain
Protect

Draws in attacks or spores users of rock slide, water spout, etc while Chandy sets up minimize. Ideally it gets knocked out after Chandy gets 3 minimizes in.

Zoroark@Brightpowder
Hasty
252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Night daze
Focus blast
Nasty plot
Psych up

First turn use psych up on Chandy/Reuniclus, then either nasty plot or attack. Night daze rather than dark pulse to exploit evasion further.

Reuniclus@Lax incense
Bold
Magic Guard
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpAtk
Psych up
Psychic
Shadow ball
Focus blast

First turn use psych up on Chandy/Zoroark, then attack. If I need Chandy to get an extra stat boost in before copying stats I send Reuniclus out before Zoroark, or if trick room is up and Zoroark can't safely psych up yet.


Team 2

Scrafty@Lum berry/Chople berry
Brave
Moxie
252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Def
Fake out
Drain punch
Protect
Crunch

Having fake out/protect alongside a decent attacker/taunter is a pretty good combo to counter a lot of common leads like trick room or Whimsicott/Terrakion, but has trouble with some others. I went with moxie over shed skin because I figured being a lead, he'd have a chance to get a couple of boosts in and Thundurus is there to taunt stuff that might status him.

Thundurus@Focus sash
Hasty
252 SpAtk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Thunderbolt
Taunt
Nasty plot
Dark Pulse

Pretty obvious reasoning here. Priority taunt coupled with a powerful attacker makes for a good lead. Sash lets him take out stuff that would otherwise stop him in his tracks. Not sure about nasty plot, as I don't get a chance to use it very often. Although when I do it makes a huge difference to the rest of the battle.

Reuniclus@Life orb
Bold
Magic Guard
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpAtk
Trick room
Psychic
Shadow ball
Focus blast

Once Thundurus goes down it becomes a trick room team. If needed I can draw attacks with Amoonguss while Reuniclus sets up trick room, otherwise Scrafty can protect while it trick rooms.

Amoonguss@Mental Herb
Relaxed
Effect spore
200 HP, 160 Def, 148 SpDef
Rage powder
Spore
Giga drain
Protect

Standard Amoonguss used as an annoyance. Takes hits while trick room goes up and then spores as much as possible.

 

[BlackRoija]

Taunt ruins Team 1.

 

[ΩDonut]

Taunt ruins Team 1.

Rage Powder + Mental Herb gives Chandelure the opportunity for +4 Evasion. Taunt is the least of this team's worries.

Since this is VGC with bring-6-pick-4, you should have 6 Pokemon on each team. I recommend trying this alternate to Amoonguss:

Mienshao @Focus Sash
- Fake Out
- Wide Guard
- Drain Punch
- Rock Slide

Chandelure is weak to a lot of multi-target attacks like Rock Slide, Earthquake, Surf and Water Spout. Wide Guard helps out a lot in this regard.

Also, instead of Calm Mind you should run Substitute+Leftovers on Chandelure. Calm Mind won't help much, but Substitute acts as a buffer in case your opponent gets lucky and hits through your evasion.

 

[BlackRoija]

Rage Powder + Mental Herb gives Chandelure the opportunity for +4 Evasion. Taunt is the least of this team's worries.

Unless it's paired with a Fake Out user.

 

[Daynus]

I would have Mienshao as an alt to Amoonguss, except like I said, the tourney I'm going to isn't "bring 6 pick 4". It's just "bring 4 use 4". Taunt isn't usually an issue with rage powder and mental herb. You're right that it does sometimes stop me when paired with a fake out user, but even when that happens, I find that Amoonguss usually attracts taunt more than Chandelure, so if I protect turn 1 and then rage powder I'm fine. Any thoughts on team 2 or which is more likely to do better? (keeping in mind no team preview)

 

[Daynus]

I'll give substitute a go on Chandy. I dunno about leftovers though. The sash is good as a buffer for when I can't avoid something like rock slide hitting me on the first turn.

 

[Faladran]

3. Have some actual words in your post beyond your six Pokemon and their moves. Not following this makes your post quite boring to read and rate. All Pokemon should have a good reason for being in your team anyway, so why not post that reason? If you are having trouble with this one, start by giving an explanation for each team member. Why are they there? What role do they serve? How do you get them in? Then, give an explanation of how you would open with the team and how you would go about using it. All of these things help people rate your team and allow us to offer more helpful advice.

Your descriptions are lacking, which puts you in violation of the rule above. Please elaborate more on each team member - about 3 or 4 solid sentences per member is a good goal to reach for. Also, please post only one team at a time. The RMT archive contains some examples of well-written RMTs. If you fix your descriptions, PM me with the updates and I'll be happy to unlock your thread.