Which Pokemon to use for 3rd great league slot
I am putting together my future great league team (when I grind out the dust to level everything up fully). Not sure what would be better for my third slot. Team is as follows:
1) Azumarill 15Atk/14Def/15Sta 98%IV Lvl 36 at 1492CP with Ice beam/ Play Rough
2)Altaria 15Atk/13Def/12Sta 89%IV Lvl 26.5 at 1499CP with Sky Attack/ Dragon Pulse
3A)Steelix 14Atk/15Def/13Sta 93% IV Lvl 22 at 1500CP with Heavy Slam/ Crunch
or
3B)Toxicroak 13Atk/14Def/11Sta 84% IV Lvl 21.5 at 1495CP with Dyamic Punch and Sludge Bomb.
or
3C) A different pokemon that covers Azumarill and Altaria's weaknesses better than the previous mentioned two pokemon? Steelix seems the better choice, since it doesn't leave any glaring lack of coverage with Toxicroak's crippling weakness to psychic, but it doesn't seem like a shoo in option either.
Thanks for your input!
Answers
There isn't a perfect option for this, or if there were, the meta would be solved. Steelix is good, as it checks Skarmory and most electric types and its weaknesses are very well covered by Azumarill and Altaria, but it's not the strongest in neutral matchups.
Toxicroak I think is a bad idea because it doesn't help you against Skarmory. It does work against some steel-types, but I'm not sure why you'd want fighting/poison over Medicham's fighting/psychic or fighting/ice movesets. Or Hitmonchan's unpredictable and spammy charge move coverage, which can destroy the aforementioned Skarmory.
I just would not use Toxicroak in any of the leagues simply because of its glaring double-weakness to Psychic, low Defense, and only decent HP.
Steelix is a fine pokemon for PVP, especially at exactly 1500CP and 15 defense because it can optimize its bulk. At great league level, don't expect Metagross in there, but in case anyone decided to throw any Steel or Poison at your Azumarill, Steelix resists both types. Steelix makes a great cover here.
For your Altaria, Steelix can make an OK swap, but not the best, since it takes neutral to Ice and only single-resists Fairy, but with Heavy Slam, you should be able to deliver super-effective to both Ice and Fairy. Again, you're covered.
Overall, Steelix has great bulk and should serve you well in PvP to cover both Altaria and Azumarill.