Rate My Team?

[Neo]

Alakazam @ Life Orb

Trait: Synchronize

Nature: Timid

EVs: 252 SpA/ 6 SpD/ 252 Spe

- Psychic

- Focus Blast

- Signal Beam

- Calm Mind

Personally, I know for a fact that if my Alakazam manages to use at least one Calm Mind, and isn't under a status condition, Psychic or Focus Blast can at least take out one or two Pokemon. The only move that gives me trouble here is Focus Blast, due to 80% accuracy, sometimes it's hard to rely on it.

Weavile @ Choice Band

Trait: Pressure

Nature: Jolly

EVs: 42 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 216 Spe

- Night Slash

- Pursuit

- Ice Punch

- Brick Break

I modified this revenge Killer Weavile and replaced Ice Shard with Ice Punch because I personally like Punch more, and included Brick Break in case I ever run into a Rock type or a Steel Type.

Infernape @ Life Orb

Trait: Blaze

Nature: Naive

EVs: 194 Spe/ 64 Atk/ 252 SpA

- Flamethrower

- Grass Knot

- Close Combat

- Hidden Power (Ice)

This is one of my favorites, since it's good move set along with it's nature and EV's help me handle a diverse amount of Pokemon types. I prefer Flamethrower over Fire Blast any day, more accuracy helps and the 40 damage less won't mind thanks to his SpA Ev's.

Gliscor @ Life Orb

Trait: Sand Veil

Nature: Jolly

EVs 252 Hp/ 42 Def/ 216 Spe

- Earthquake

- U-Turn

- Taunt

- Roost

My stallbreaker and second favorite, the Earthquake/Taunt/Roost combo is great if played correctly, and I also like to Taunt and then use U-Turn for a decent effect, depending on the enemy Pokemon.

Tentacruel @ Leftovers

Trait: Liquid Ooze

Nature: Calm

EVs: 252 Hp/ 122 Def/ 136 SpD

- Surf

- Ice Beam/Sludge Bomb

- Toxic Spikes

- Rapid Spin

Tentacruel is my support, sometimes I switch to him so I can blow away Spikes/Stealth rock with Rapid Spin and then attack or switch and use Toxic Spikes and then attack, it depends on what I'm facing, really.

Jolteon @ Choice Specs

Trait: Volt Absorb

Nature: Timid

EVs: Def 6/ 252 Spe/ 252 Spa

- Thunderbolt

- Shadow Ball

- Hidden Power (Ice)

- Baton Pass

This girl is a freaking murder machine. I've seen her take out a decent amount of Pokemon thanks to Thunderbolt or Hidden Power (Ice) with insane speed EV's. The only drawback is that sometimes people switch out to a Pokemon type that is resistant to Thunderbolt, which is the attack I use the most, forcing me to switch from time to time and costing me damage on my next Pokemon.

Overall, the big flaw this team has is that a good Ground type could take out Tentacruel, Infernape and Jolteon, but I usually switch to Gliscor. The only other threat is a Water type, a good one like Gyarados or Starmie, could OHKO or 2HkO either Infernape or Gliscor if I don't switch to someone like Tentacruel.

[randomspot555]

Alakazam @ Life Orb

Trait: Synchronize

Nature: Timid

EVs: 252 SpA/ 6 SpD/ 252 Spe

- Psychic

- Focus Blast

- Signal Beam

- Calm Mind

Alakazam already has ridiculously high special attack and pretty good speed too. It's base special defense is decent, but with physical and mixed attackers running rampant and a pathetic HP stat, it's usually not the best choice.

Pokemon that are great users of +1 offense +1 defense type of moves (Calm Mind, Curse, etc...) are Pokemon that have decent defenses in the non-boosted stat. Tyranitar can Curse up because it gets a 50% special defense boost in a sand storm. Snorlax can Curse because of it's good HP and special defense AND access to Amnesia. Blissey can use Calm Mind (but usually doesn't) because of a high HP stat and most invest a lot of EVs into physical defense to take neutral damage physical attacks.

Infernape for example, gets Calm Mind too. But because of it's horrible defense stats, you'll never see one running it.

For better or for worse, special sweepers aren't the big threats they used to be. Alakazam might get ONE chance to set up. And I think it'd be better utilized getting behind a Sub, Trick-Choice, or Knock Off (maybe Encore).

It also gets access to screens, but there are tons of other Pokemon that set up screens much better.

THAT all being said, it really sucks as a lead. It can take on Azelf. That's about it. Metagross, Swampert, Aerodactyl, etc... all laugh at it.

Trick-Choice is a pretty decent lead, though it certainly isn't limited to Alakazam. Here's your decision:

Trick-Scarf will outrun those Sash leads and hopefully get them stuck onto a Taunt or Stealth Rock.

Trick-Specs will cripple lead Metagross. IT'll only slightly benefit lead Swampert since it usually runs Ice Beam. Scarf is sort of okay because it boosts speed, but it still sticks the on one move.

Overall, I'd say Trick-Specs is better. Just be ready to start attacking the suicide leads right away rather than Tricking them.

I also do not advocate using Focus Blast on frail Pokemon. Go for HP Fight if you want that same typing. Ice/Fire/Ground are also viable options.

Weavile @ Choice Band

Trait: Pressure

Nature: Jolly

EVs: 42 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 216 Spe

- Night Slash

- Pursuit

- Ice Punch

- Brick Break

Standard. Though Weavile is so frail and will lose 25% due to Stealth Rock, I don't see the point in putting any into HP. Just stick it in speed.

Infernape @ Life Orb

Trait: Blaze

Nature: Naive

EVs: 194 Spe/ 64 Atk/ 252 SpA

- Flamethrower

- Grass Knot

- Close Combat

- Hidden Power (Ice)

Standard enough, though I think Fire Blast is worth the slightly less accuracy but the major boost in power.

Gliscor @ Life Orb

Trait: Sand Veil

Nature: Jolly

EVs 252 Hp/ 42 Def/ 216 Spe

- Earthquake

- U-Turn

- Taunt

- Roost

Leftovers over Life Orb. Don't try to sweep AND defend. Just choose one or the other.

Going with the defense theme, I don't think U-Turn benefits it much. Knock Off however, will cripple whatever switches in. Use it to your full advantage.

Tentacruel @ Leftovers

Trait: Liquid Ooze

Nature: Calm

EVs: 252 Hp/ 122 Def/ 136 SpD

- Surf

- Ice Beam/Sludge Bomb

- Toxic Spikes

- Rapid Spin

Poison gets crap coverage. Always use ANYTHING other than Sludge Bomb.

Adding in HP Electric will at least make you not completely useless if Gyarados comes in.

Jolteon @ Choice Specs

Trait: Volt Absorb

Nature: Timid

EVs: Def 6/ 252 Spe/ 252 Spa

- Thunderbolt

- Shadow Ball

- Hidden Power (Ice)

- Baton Pass

Standard.

Now, that being said:

Shared weaknesses: You have THREE ground weak Pokes, and the other two are so frail they might as well be ground weak. To make up for that, you have one ground immunity. Gliscor and Tentacruel are the only two Pokemon who are capable of taking any real amount of damage and living to fight.

Stealth Rock: Stealth Rock is used, according to Shoddy stats, on something like 99% of all teams. There's a good reason for this. It keeps Zapdos, Dragonite, Salamence, and Gyarados in check so they don't just flat out dominate, turns many 2hkos into ohkos, and keeps Pokemon like Staraptor and Crobat from ever being used a lot.

Your team lacks Stealth Rock. Ironically, you realize SR is a threat and have a Rapid Spinner.

So what to do about this?

Alakazam and Jolteon are performing essentially the same role as "special sweeper" Replace them with someone who can lay down rocks. Additionally, someone with some bulk. Any number of Bronzong or Swampert sets will do this and can even be effectively used as starters.

Making those changes won't make your team perfect, but at least a bit more viable.

[Enkidu]

Adding onto what random spot said, Alakazam does not make a good lead and you should consider changing it. As you've actually posted a reasoning behind your team I'm just going to point out some flaws that I'm fairly confident that you can fix yourself and make a few suggestions and I'll leave the major changes up to you.

1: You lack any time of priority move, this means Choice scarf users like salamence/flygon/jirachi will have a field day with your team, and revenge killing a DD dos/mence is impossible. Lacking a restistance to Steel is a huge disadvantage for any Offensive or balanced team and number 1 is the most dire concern for the success of your team.

Because of your teams offensive nature ( Infernape, alakazam, Jolteon and weavile ) it surprises me that you do not have a designated revenge killer and designated priority user.

Common ones to consider are Scizor/Lucario/Metagross/Azumarill/weavile/Gallade/Dusknoir/Emploeon/Infernapeand Breloom. The one you pick depends on the role you need it to fill on your team of course.

2: Shared ground weakness and only one immunity, After gliscor is gone a Choice scarf/+1 speed earthquake pokemon will run through your entire team. :F This is a huge problem as pokemon that commonly EV to outspeed your fastest pokemon after a DD are Gyarados and Salamence, both also commonly carry earthquake and to even further add to that weakness you don't have stealth rock on the field.

3: You lack any way to counter any of the popular special attackers or dragon type pokemon that commonly runt through teams. what really worries me is how Gyarados weak your team is, he can come in one three of your 6 members, setup with 1 dragon dance and then proceed to sweep your entire team from their with only Earthquake + waterfall.

This is partially remedied by using a steel type to take those powerful Outrages and draco meteors that the metagame is filled with. Metagross gets special mention as he gets priority, has high physical defense and is a steel type.

4: I can't tell what your central strategy is, Jolteon sweep? Late game infernape clean up? Each of these pokemon are both capable of taking out a weakened team on its own, however together its like playing a match only starting with 4 pokemon, 3 if your lead dies early. Which seeing as how scizor can switch in on any of the attacks you have listed and OHKO him with Bullet punch as you retaliate I foresee happening more often than not. So my suggestion here is get what your team is trying to do straight and then come back with some changes, even if your goal is simply to counter a large portion of the metagame I feel that you need to rework your members.

[SilentFox]

Not having a specific strategy is a definite problem maybe putting Alakazam in as a late game sweeper ... i do have my set for that but i have to actually look at it this time instead of writing whatever comes to mind....

And having a swampert,hippo,or bronzong lead to put down rocks would be good.

Brongzong may even aliviate your ground weakness with 0 Iv's in speed and put gyro ball in .... but if thats how your gunna do it dont lead off with that set ok.

Another thing and maybe people may disagree and thats fine is that a metagross may very well end your gyara problems ... zapdos does too as we definitely do not want yet another ground weakness

and btw another way to end your ground troubles is the basic yet frustrating Pikablu Azumarill set which may help tenta

[sprite]184[/sprite]

Pikablu the Azumarill@leftovers

HP 252 Def 176 SPd40 Att or Spa 40 depending on attacks

Rain dance

Substitute

Waterfall/Surf/HydroPump

Toxic/AquaRing/BellyDrum for waterfall

if this set fails people have been known to fix it

[Illithian]

Heya NeoDraven. Boy do we have work to do.

Alakazam: Just for clarification, Focus Blast has a pitiful 70% accuracy and not 80%. Moving on. Alakazam is the most powerful special sweeper in OU. However, as a lead, you are completely wasting his abilities. Alakazam is meant as a lategame sweeper. If he gets one Calm Mind off, he is singularly the most powerful cleanup pokemon available to you in OU, coming alarmingly close to the power available to DD Salamence's Outrage. As a lead, Alakazam is destined for failure. He will be able to kill the lead, but if you choose to CM up the first turn, you will lose Alakazam period. Most leads run a Focus Sash, so they'll explode in your face after you attack them with that CM boosted SE hit. Essentially, you need to move him. As a lead you are totally wasting him.

Weavile: Wait, I'm confused. What exactly do you intend to use Weavile for? Ice Shard is the main reason Weavile does what he does best: revenge kills. A generic Choice Bander he is, but that doesnt stop that Weavile is one of the most powerful revenge killers and by removing Ice Shard you cripple him. I can't fathom why you would use Ice Punch over Ice Shard; quite honestly, Ice Punch will not score more OHKOs then Ice Shard will. Ice Shard will take down any dragon bar Kingdra. Ice Punch will do the same; except Flygons, which are all Scarfed, outspeed and kill you; DD Salamence and Dragonite follow suit. You're creating yourself unnecessary weaknesses.

Infernape: You're right, on a STAB Fire type, Flamethrower can be more useful. Still, on that set, Fire Blast is much more advantageous; without the Nasty Plot boost, Infernape looses out on some massive power and that alone will kill your nape more then anything else.

Gliscor: As a stallbreaker, Gliscor is extremely effective. As smogon puts it, he can take down a stall team almost singlehandedly.

Unfortunately, thats a little outdated. It isn't going to happen as easily anymore. The Gliscor threat is not new to stall teams, and the ubiquitous ice weaknesses that can be found littered through teams make Gliscor a massive target for Ice moves, especially from places where Gliscor expected to wall. Stall teams themselves take great precautions against Gliscor.

Thankfully the stallbreaker Gliscor can still function well against a large amount of setup pokemon. With good typing, Gliscor can safely force out a number of pokemon that can quickly setup for a sweep. However, you'd find Gliscor could function much better with a CB Tyranitar to support him.

Tentacruel: Brutally honest, Tentacruel is useless. Yeah, its nice to wall the special side, but unfortunately, past that, Tentacruel's goodness ends. His dismal defense and mediocre stats make him barely fit for OU; the only reason hes here is because he soaks up Toxic Spikes. And Toxic Spikes are getting less common by the day. More often then not, you'll find Tentacruel being moderately annoying for the other team, but its a complete waste of a slot. Tentacruel isn't doing anything at all to support your team.

Jolteon: Jolteon is a magnet for Electivire, but aside from that, he can work. However, Specs Jolteon serves a similar purpose to Alakazam, so theres a conflict here.

In summary, this team has problems. As a lead, Alakazam is pretty useless, and Jolteon fights for the only position Alakazam can play effectively. Tentacruel is a support pokemon that doesn't do your team a thing. Weavile doesn't do anything at all.

Firstly, you need a new lead. Common leads include Azelf, Empoleon, Metagross, Infernape, Weavile, Bronzong, and Tyranitar. However, a lead set should set up stealth rocks and leave; there are no opportunities in the Platinum metagame to setup stealth rock in the middle, as there were in D/P.

Secondly, you need a T-tar. Preferably a CB Ttar. I would almost suggest replacing Weavile.

Thirdly, every team needs a revenge killer. Weavile can easily take that if you give him Ice Shard. However, Scizor can do a better job with more coverage; scarftran can aswell; as can any scarfed pokemon.

Fourthly, the team itself needs the magic of experience. Play 10 or more matches on TU, or Smogon. Watch the weaknesses of your team. We can rate it, but experience does tons more; it will set in stone what we say and will discern what actually works for you. It will help you see what pokemon are useless. Not only that but it will help you find new strategies, because often people are willing to help you a little after a battle if you ask nicely.

I'm too tired to go over threats. Good luck!