VGC My First RMT: I am stuck and need to figure out what to change

[Godot13]

Hello, this is my first attempt at a rate my team, so I apologize for any rough edges on this post. This is my third year attempting VGC play and I have run into a wall with team building. I had success last year with a bulky, tailwind team that could create offensive pressure (with little setup) and shut down trick room. After struggling with a Volcarona-Kang-Bulu team I decided to try a similar team to that which worked for me last year (including my previously used Tapu Koko and Kartana). I have gotten several victories on battlespot, but I have been unable to maintain a consistent win streak.

My Team

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Zapdos @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 8 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Tailwind
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Heat Wave

Zapdos is the Tailwinder of my team. My goal was to create a Zapdos bulky enough to survive hits from a Choice Scarf Landorus-T, set up Tailwind, and threaten opponents. Thunderbolt is my STAB, with Hidden Power Ice to stave off Landorus-T and Heat Wave to defeat Steels and Grass (although this move has about 20% accuracy when I use it). I went with a Pinch Berry since I am using Electrium Z on Tapu Koko and want Zapdos as healthy as possible.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Landorus is here to mount offensive pressure and get off intimidate. Earthquake, Rock Slide and U-Turn are givens. Knock Off is there primarily to remove items (primarily on switch ins). I gave him an Assault Vest to increase his lifespan and an Adamant nature to focus on dealing damage and figure that Tailwind can make up for the speed loss (I am also open to Choice Scarf).

Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Protect
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword

Kartana is my late game sweeper. He usually comes in after one of my Mons faints and he can get a clean kill to activate Beast Boost and sweep. I am open to giving him Tailwind, but am unsure I want to give up his coverage (Protect is mandatory, Leaf Blade is his most powerful move, Secret Sword has strong coverage, and Smart Strike is needed for Fairies and to hard counter Amoonguss).

Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
- Taunt

Tapu Koko is my wallbreaker. Gigavolt Havoc can one-shot the majority of Pokemon that don't resist electric attacks. Dazzling Gleam is for dark types and neutral hits. Taunt is my ace in the hole to shut down Trick Room, which can completely shut down my team (this helped me out greatly last season). My Tapu Koko can also use Hidden Power Ice, and I am open to using it, but I have been unimpressed by its power.

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stomping Tantrum
- Zen Headbutt
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch

Metagross is one of my favorite Pokemon and is a physical powerhouse. He can outspeed and 1KO Landorus-T with Ice Punch. Stomping Tantrum is there for Steel Types (Primarily other MegaGrosses). Iron Head and Zen Headbutt are the stabs. I am heavily considering adding Protect, but am unsure of what move to get rid of.

Tapu Fini @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 140 SpA / 28 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Taunt
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Tapu Fini is here to take hits, stop Trick Room and end Landorus-T. I went with a Calm nature so that it could better handle hits. (I also have a Fini with a Modest nature, if Calm Mind if it is determined to be more beneficial). Moonblast and Ice Beam are my primary attacks. Taunt is needed so that I am not at the mercy of Trick Room teams.

Conclusion:

I like my Mons, but the teams isn't working as well as I hoped. My guys just seem to be frailer than I would hope and do not hit hard enough to offset this. My team currently can also be hit pretty hard by fire moves. IV spreads have never been my strong suit and I get the feeling that at least one of my mon's should be replaced, but I am unsure what that Pokemon that should be. I hope I have given you enough to work with. Thank you for any help you can give.

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

It seems like you know how Doubles works, so good on that. However, I do have some suggestions for improving your team (even though I don't do VGC all that much):

Iapapa Berry -> Misty Seed

You have Tapu Fini on the team and Zapdos can take advantage of the Special Defense boost very well as it enable Zapdos to stay in the field for a long period of time. While I'm at it...

Hidden Power or Heat Wave -> Roost

Roost is one of the important moves for Zapdos since it provides recovery. However, this also means that Zapdos has to drop one of its coverage moves for it. Keeping which moves depends on which Pokemon would otherwise be too problematic for Zapdos.

But judging by your comment, it's highly likely that you would replace Heat Wave with Roost.

Stomping Tantrum -> Protect

While not a bad move per say, Protect should be a high priority for Metagross.

Ice Beam -> Muddy Water

Tapu Fini already has Moonblast for dealing with Dragon-types and it should let its other teammate handle if there's any Grass-type Pokemon. Muddy Water is a better choice as Tapu Fini gains STAB from it and the chance to lower the opponent's accuracy.

Taunt -> Calm Mind

Again, Taunt isn't exactly bad and I get your intent. However, Calm Mind enables Tapu Fini to hit harder with special attacks and tank more special hits, potentially giving Tapu Fini a better matchup against Trick Room team.

 

[Godot13]

Thank you. I will test some of those out. I am also breeding up an Incineroar to test out. I will let you know my findings. I was considering Muddy Water and Protect also.

 

[Level 51]

Hi Godot13, posting here to disagree with a few points in HeatEdgeSword's rate. I personally find a berry on Zapdos more useful than a Misty Seed; in VGC, the main part of Zapdos which you would need to support is its initial ability to set Tailwind—the berry is much more useful than the seed here. The seed helps more with overall longevity, but in shorter VGC matches this isn't as important as getting consistent speed control. So I'd say stick with your berry set. (One thing to note, though, is that the seed could help you stall out Trick Room more easily, so if that's a particular concern for this team then you could try a seed. I don't see why it would be though)

On Metagross, I think you should instead replace Zen Headbutt with Protect. HeatEdgeSword is correct in stating that Protect is a high priority; as a semi-bulky high-value attacker, Metagross often faces double targets from opponents seeking to remove this key offensive presence, so Protect is very valuable. However, since you don't have Tapu Lele on your team, Iron Head is usually just a straight-up better move than Zen Headbutt, with an increased chance to flinch, no miss chance, and a roughly similar damage output on most targets. Therefore, I'd remove Zen Headbutt instead of Stomping Tantrum here.

As for Tapu Fini, just adding on to what HeatEdgeSword pointed out. I agree a Calm Mind set is probably more beneficial for this team, just by merit of "usually being better overall" for most teams. On the other hand, if you want to try a more support-based set, you could try a set with Icy Wind. This would help provide a secondary form of speed control for your team, which would be helpful in situations where you need speed control but can't effectively bring Zapdos.

Good luck with your team!

 

[Godot13]

Thank you for your help.