Somewhat new to Metagaming. Help please.

[SoaringLust]

Heya. I'm somewhat new to the Pokemon meta-gaming scene. Only started last year and got to the 4th round of the VGC '11 and I'm pretty excited about this year.

Can I ask everyone's opinions on my new team?

Landorus.

Increased SPD and ATK
Life Orb

Rock Slide
Earthquake
Brick Break
Sandstorm


Tyranitar

Increased SPD and ATK
Rock plate

Rock Slide
Crunch
Dragon Claw
Protect


Rotom-W
Increased HP and SP. ATK
Zoom lens

Hydro Pump
Hidden Power
Thunderbolt
Confuse Ray


Scizor
Increased ATK and HP
Steel plate?
Technician ability

Bullet punch
Vacuum wave
Protect
X-Scissor

 

[Drifblim]

I'm sorry, but you are far too new to be posting a team here. You should go get a lesson in battling 101 or something else like that. You would also have to have noted your pokemon's natures, and what each of them did for the team.

 

[voodoo pimp]

It is expected that you know the game to a certain degree of proficiency before posting your team for a rate here. Recently there has been a surge of teams made by players obviously brand new to the competitive scene -- there is little that can be done to help you here I'm afraid. This is the 'rate' my team forum, not 'rebuild my team for me' forum. Best place to go to in that situation would be Battling 101, and the Introduction to Competitive Pokemon article on site.

In your case, you'll want to check out Battling 202 when the next round starts if you think having a tutor might help, the VGC subforum is a good place to discuss ideas with other people and get involved in the community, or you could try watching battles on the Skarmbliss server on Pokémon Online to see some of the top players in action.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to send a message to me or one of the other VGC regulars - most will be happy to help you out as long as you don't overdo it.

 

[SoaringLust]

Well I've been tutored offline for about a year (or so) now plus I've been forced to watch quite a few battles.

I'm happy and proud of my current team but I just wanted some critique on it.

 

[voodoo pimp]

Well, it does have quite a few problems, the most glaring being that mixed Infernape would likely KO everything besides Rotom. Brick Break is redundant with Earthquake on Landorus, and Sandstorm is mostly pointless because of Tyranitar. Dragon Claw is mostly inferior to Ice Beam, and Rock Plate doesn't add enough damage to be worth losing a more useful item like a Chople Berry. Zoom Lens, again, doesn't add enough to be worth it, and is useless against Trick Room teams, and Confuse Ray is somewhat unreliable (also, what type is Hidden Power?). And Vacuum Wave on Scizor just doesn't make any sense.

 

[Drifblim]

I have to disagree w Voodoo, sandstorm on Landorus was used by some dude who won a Master's at the Regionals last november. I posted that article here. It can be a surprising way to reinstate your weather. Vacuum wave on Scizor is next to useless, their sp atk is just too low for it to do much. Use brick break instead and just give up the increased priority. As was said above, the team has many notable flaws, and you still need to note 2 other pokes, as VGC is 4 pokes out of a party of 6

 

[ShadowFang]

I am new to VGC 2012 as well. I'm also new to Smogon, but I've lurked for a while now and know a little about VGC and teambuilding. The first thing you should know is that you want 6 pokemon because of the Team Preview option this year.

On Landorus, you should put Protect over Sandstorm for defensive predictions, and either put Explosion or Hammer Arm over Brick Break. Also, you might want to put a Yache Berry on it to help it survive some Ice type moves. The "Increase" in stats you talk about are EVs. There are a lot of articles on EVs throughout the internet, but basically they are things you get when you KO certain pokemon. Some increase Attack, and others increase HP. There are EVS for every stat, but you can only put 255 in each stat. For each 4 EVs, you get on more stat point. You can overall have only 510 EVs, so use them for what each specific pokemon needs. Also, there are certain natures that increase one stat and decrease another. For example, Landorus should either have an Adamant (Atk+, SpA-) or Jolly (Speed+, SpA-).

On Tyranitar, everything looks decent, except for the item. I would use either a Focus Sash to survive at least one hit or a Chople Berry to survive Fighting type attacks easier. The nature should probably be Adamant.

On Rotom-W, I would either use Sitrus Berry or Electric Gem over Zoom Lens. Also You should run a Modest (SpA+, Attack-) nature to increase your damage output. Confuse Ray should either be replaced with Thunder Wave or Protect. And you should use Hidden Power Ice or Grass, which I assume you already have.

And finally, Scizor. You should either run a Steel Gem or Occa Berry to increase the output of Bullet Punch or survive Fire type attacks. I would use an Adamant nature and replace X-Scissor wth Bug Bite because Bug Bite gets the Technician boost, making it stronger. Vacuum Wave should be replaced with Superpower or some other filler move.

I would recommend using the Marriland Team Builder to find weaknesses in your team, and fix it accordingly. So yeah, basically just Google these: Pokemon EVs, Pokemon Natures, and Marriland Team Builder. On Marriland Team Builder, it doesn't support Rotom-W, so type in Lanturn and ignore the Ground Weakness. Hope this helped.

 

[Saboros]

Umm... am I the only one who sees the terribleness of this RMT.... it's not even constructed correctly, and it really needs to be. Read a couple RMTs so that you know how to construct them, dude. Just wow...