My Projected ORAS Team

[DJLowrider]

So here's what I'm looking to use, covering Pokemon that I like and that I figure will give me good type coverage throughout the game.

Swampert
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Rock Slide
- Surf

Swampert's Sp. Atk is bad, but Surf is there for utility rather than damage. I may replace it just prior to the E4 with something else. Waterfall is my Water STAB with Earthquake for Ground STAB.

Talonflame
- Roost
- Bulk Up
- Flame Charge
- Brave Bird

Pretty standard Talonflame, here. Priority Brave Bird, of course. Flame Charge isn't the strongest Fire move, but it should get me through things with a Bulk Up or two.

Galvantula
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Thunder
- Volt Switch

I couldn't run the game without my favorite Electric- and Bug-type. She'll be leading the charge when I get to the E4. Sticky Web is just too much fun to use.

Blissey
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-boiled

Blissey is always a solid Special Wall and has served me well in the past. Granted Eviolite Chansey is technically better, I'm not sure I want to bother keeping her un-evolved for the core game.

Aegislash
- King's Shield
- Flash Cannon/Shadow Ball
- Shadow Claw/Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance/Iron Defense

Aegislash easily became my favorite new pokemon of Gen 6. So many resists, it can take a beating and just keep on trucking, and there's so many offensive options. I'm planning on running with one physical attack and one special attack, in case of Intimidate or other Attack-reducing moves. Still tossed up on whether to roll with Swords Dance or Iron Defense, but either way Aegis will likely be holding the Leftovers once I get them.

Mawile
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Play Rough
- Protect

I also couldn't roll through this game without my all-time favorite pokemon on the team. I'm just hoping Mawilite will be available pre-E4. Even if it isn't, between Intimidate and her immunities and resistances Mawile can still help the team out in places.

And of course I'll probably pick up a Zigzagoon to be an HM slave for everything else, but this is the team I intend to focus on using for the game. Thoughts and criticisms are welcome, of course.

 

[3fiddy]

Aegislash being a dual attacker is very good.

Aegislash@ Leftovers

-Kings Shield
-Flash Cannon
-Sacred Sword
-Shadow ball

 

[Skullkraken]

Not sure why you would use Flame Charge over Flare Blitz on Talonflame. It already has good speed and priority. I second adding Sacred Sword onto Aegislash since you have no Fighting moves on your team

 

[DJLowrider]

Pardon the thread bump, but I've done a fair bit of re-thinking of my ORAS team. I still am for that matter, and I could use some advice but here's the new projected team I'll be using.

Talonflame
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-Turn
- Tailwind

I dropped Roost and Bulk Up in favor of Tailwind for a speed boost and U-Turn for scouting.

Galvantula
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball
- Volt Switch

I figured since Talonflame's going to be using priority Tailwind, Galvantula doesn't really need Sticky Web for now. So I'm giving him Energy Ball instead for some Ground & Water coverage.

Metagross
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Brick Break

Since we're being guaranteed a Metagrossite right out the gate, why not have him as part of my team? He's a favorite of mine anyway. Yes I know Hammer Arm hits harder, but I don't want the speed drop. Brick Break has utility and will still hit pretty hard with Tough Claws.

Flygon
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- U-Turn
- Feint Attack/Steel Wing

I almost completely forgot that I had a female Dream Ball Flygon from Gen5, so I bred her a bit and now have a Trapinch I'll be bringing to ORAS. Can't quite decide between Feint Attack and Steel Wing for the last move, though I'm leaning towards Steel Wing.

Kabutops
- Waterfall
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off/Night Slash

I've kind of always wanted to give Kabutops a go and now I think I've got an opportunity to bring him on board. With 3 members of my team having switch-in moves and Kabutops not being particularly affected by Stealth Rock plus being a Rapid Spinner, I think he'll have a nice niche. Not to mention he'll hit decently hard with his STAB moves. Knock Off is there for further type coverage and utility, though I could go with Night Slash instead.

So this is where I stand now. I need a sixth and I'm having a hard time deciding what to bring or where I still need coverage. Part of me thinks Toxicroak would be a good fit for further coverage, but he's kind of flimsy. Part of me thinks Lopunny would be a good add, but then I'm running two Megas. Plus we don't know yet if Lopunny's mega stone will be available pre-E4.

Suggestions and thoughts are welcome, by all means. Thank you for your time and consideration, as well as the thoughts provided so far.

 

[3fiddy]

I jus completed a Playthru with Flygon. My team was a lot weaker and had terrible typing issues so the need to phase out or stall someone prolly isn't needed for you. Flygon really came in handy for me for this. I use toxic+ dig while holding leftovers. Very noobish idea but it's in game.

Your team is pretty Physic and Flying strong. Maybe try a fighting type. Just a random fighting idea :

Meinshao
Jolly , regenerator
-Fake Out
-High Jumpkick
-Baton Pass or u-Turn
-Substitute or another attack move

Passes a free substitute for a switch then heals it off with Regenerator.

 

[DJLowrider]

I do like Mienshao, it was one of my favorites from Gen5. As it happens, I'm training one up right now for XY battling. Regenerator Mienshao has served me well before so it could be a good standby. Plus it would work in with my overarching Volt Switch/U-turn strategy. Maybe I'll breed another Mienfoo and toss them into the team. Thanks for the idea!

 

[Tsumiki]

Talonflame
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-Turn
- Roost

I'm honestly not too fond of Tailwind for ingame use. It's nice, yes, but given how quick ingame battles end up being, I find a long-term stat buffer like Tailwind to be more than it's worth. I'd honestly keep Roost as Talonflame is going to be killing itself fast with the dual STABs you've given it making the healing very nice to have.

Metagross
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
- Agility / Ice Punch
- Brick Break

I find having two Steel STABs on Metagross slightly redundant when you already have Zen Headbutt functioning as a perfectly usable STAB move. Bullet Punch would be the better STAB to use for priority, so replacing Meteor Mash is the best way to go. What I'd recommend is that you give Metagross Agility. It may be slightly redundant with Bullet Punch, but if you have an Agility up you can throw around STAB Zen Headbutts around without worrying about being outspeed and the damage difference between it's STAB moves is huge. Alternatively you can give it Ice Punch to deal with Ground types better.

Flygon
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- U-Turn
- Fire Blast

A Fire type move is Flygon's best coverage move. The Fire + Dragon combination hits everything but Heatran for neutral damage. Fire Blast also counters Ice Types which threaten Flygon.

Kabutops
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
-Aqua Jet
- X-Scissor

I find that Swords Dance + Aqua Jet Kabutops is very threatening. Priority +2 Aqua Jet running of Kabutops' naturally high Atk stat manages to destroy a lot of things while you still have Rock Slide as a good enough STAB to use without being forced to use. X-Scissor is Kabutops' best coverage move, imo, as it allows it to deal with Grass types that threaten it.

Looking at your current team coverage wise, I'd like to throw out Scrafty as a recommendation. It manages to patch up the holes to you team nicely while also giving it a more defensive Pokemon to sort of balance out your more hyper offense styled team.


Scrafty @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Atk - SpA)
Shed Skin / Intimidate
~ Drain Punch
~ Crunch
~ Bulk Up
~ Rock Slide / Ice Punch

A Bulk Up Scrafty is an amazing Physical tank, while it's natural SpD stat lets it take special hits relatively well. Fighting + Dark STAB is a fantastic dual STAB to have as it hits the majority of the game for neutral damage at the very least. The last move is a bit of a throw up, both are able to deal with Flying types nicely making it a choice of which move's coverage you'd prefer

 

[DJLowrider]

To clarify something here, my plan is to level this team up to this point from the start of OR/AS. So I'll be pulling from the bank Fletchling, Joltik, Beldum, Trapinch, Kabuto, and one other at the start. With that in mind, onwards!

I was planning on giving Talonflame Leftovers as well for some recovery. Maybe a Sitrus Berry instead? Granted I'd only be using Tailwind for gym battles and a few trainer battles, it's still got a lot of utlity for the team as a whole.

No chance of Ice Punch for Metagross I'm afraid, unless OR/AS has a move tutor to teach it to him. My Beldum is already bred in BW2 and has Iron Head and Zen Headbutt from move tutors. It can't get Ice Punch until it become Metang and I won't be leveling it up prior to putting it in the bank for transfer to OR/AS. Also, there's the question of how much speed Mega Metagross is gaining so I'm not entirely convinced on Agility. Especially if I keep Tailwind on Talonflame and just switch out to Metagross via U-Turn.

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of moves with less than 90 accuracy. I used to have Greninja with Hydro Pump and that move missed for me far too often. I might go with Flamethrower instead here if I want a special Fire-type move. Flygon's special attack stat isn't awesome though, which is why I was looking at Steel Wing which would hit super-effective on Ice-types that could threaten him.

Somehow I missed that Kabutops learns Aqua Jet while leveling up! Definitely will be using that move considering the power he's packing. Especially with a boost of some kind from Swords Dance or even Bulk Up.

I hadn't considered Scrafty before simply because he's so slow, but those defenses and a passable attack stat are pretty attractive despite that low HP. I like the look of him, but I'm not entirely sold just yet. I just haven't used Scrafty before whereas I have used Mienshao. I will consider him though, so thanks for the suggestion as well as your other thoughts. I do appreciate it.

 

[3fiddy]

I was jus gonna mention Sitrus Berry in game I think disappears after consuming it. Unlike battles.

 

[DJLowrider]

Yeah, but I'm betting there'll be an easy enough way to grow berries in the game so I'm not worried about running through them.

Edit: Just had a thought, more for battling with Mega Metagross rather than playing through the core game of OR/AS. Facade as part of a moveset? M-Metagross is going to be a big target for burns. Facade with Tough Claws would make a lot of Will-o-Wisp users regret their decision pretty quickly.

 

[3fiddy]

That adds to the play thru. I like.

 

[DJLowrider]

So in the long run we're probably looking at this for Mega Metagross:

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Adamant or Jolly Nature, Clear Body Ability (becomes Tough Claws on Mega)
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP or Spe (depending on tastes) / 4 Sp. Def.
- Bullet Punch / Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Facade
- Hammer Arm / Pursuit / Ice Punch

Jolly may be an option for Natures here, though again that'll depend on the speed boost M-Metagross gets. If it does end up being a viable option, then Atk/Spe for EVs would make more sense here and take Meteor Mash for the Steel STAB move instead of Bullet Punch for the harder hit and chance at attack boosting. Zen Headbutt for the Psychic STAB. Facade gives some added coverage for if/when burns happen. The last moveslot can be a swing slot. Hammer Arm being the hardest hitter and gives Dark-type coverage, Pursuit for catching switch-outs and Ghosts, and Ice Punch for Ground-types and Dragons.

Oh, and inb4 M-Metagross gets added to Smogon's banlist as well... XD

 

[Cosmic Fury]

@ the OP, Scraggy can learn Dragon Dance by breeding. It's a great alternative to Bulk Up as a setup move. Sure, your defense suffers because you can't boost it now, but on the other hand it's a convenient solution to his subpar Speed stat.

 

[DJLowrider]

That is interesting, but I think if I do end up using Scrafty I would stick with Bulk Up. It'd take too many Dragon Dances to get his speed up to snuff, and his defenses will let him take a hit and then heal it up with Drain Punch and/or Leftovers.

Edit: Given Scrafty's slowness, would Payback be a better Dark STAB move than Crunch?

 

[Cosmic Fury]

It likely will. However, you might want to beware of some threatening walls more, if you plan on running max speed. The power drop in such situations will be felt pretty badly.

 

[DJLowrider]

Looks like I have my finalized team for ORAS now: Talonflame, Galvantula, Metagross, Flygon, Kabutops, and Scrafty. Who are all starting life out as Fletchling, Joltik, Beldum, Trapinch, Kabuto, and Scraggy.

Fletchling, Kabuto, and Beldum are all Adamant. I went with Brave on Scraggy since I actually want to keep her nice and slow to get the most out of Drain Punch and Payback eventually. Joltik is the speedster here, she's Timid. Trapinch won't be outspeeding anything for a while, but she's got a Jolly nature so when she evolves to Vibrava there'll definitely be a speed gain.

Starting movesets and EVs look like this:

Fletchling (252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe)
- Thief
- Roost
- Aerial Ace
- Flame Charge

Joltik (252 Sp. Atk. / 252 Spe / 4 HP)
- Thunderbolt
- Infestation
- Energy Ball
- Volt Switch

Beldum (252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def.)
- Take Down
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt

Trapinch (252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP)
- Bite
- Earthquake
- Bug Bite
- Rock Slide

Kabuto (252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def)
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall

Scraggy (252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def.)
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch
- Drain Punch

Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and advice. I'll hopefully be keeping a journal of my progress through ORAS with this team as well.