RMT AmoonGross / Metagatr

[arulz]

Hello! I was directed here from King Arceus and am hoping to get some feedback on my team. Open to suggestions, and also battles followed by a critique. Keep in mind that this team is already really solid, and nets me a 60% - 70%+ win rate both on Showdown and on my low-ranked VGC online endeavours (and most losses are due to my own misplays ).

70% of my games begin with Feraligatr and Amoongus leads. The only time I don't is if they have a good chance of leading with two Pokemon that can tank a +1 Waterfall, a strong grass attacker, or some other random threats. My main strategy is to Protect and Spore T1, Rage Powder and Dragon Dance T2, another spore/protect on T3, and see how it goes from there. It varies on what they're running of course. This usually results in two pokemon either being asleep or dead by turn 4, leading to a huge amount of strong starts. The rest of the team is picked based on the team I'm playing against.

I'm not sure how to go about further refining the EV spreads for my pokemon, so if you have suggestions for those, I'm more than willing to check them out.

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 248 Atk / 8 SpD / 248 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

Originally Mega Gyarados, I switched to Feraligatr once his hidden ability was released. A bit more power traded for lesser defences and a loss of mould breaker earthquake, but I have room for another mega slot. After a dragon dance he's insanely strong, and nets a huge amount of KO's you wouldn't expect. Crunch has been an adequate coverage move, helping with my trick room matchups quite a bit as well.

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Protect
- Rage Powder
- Giga Drain
- Spore

Feraligatr's partner in crime. He almost perfectly compliments Feraligatr's weaknesses, and absorbs many electric and grass attacks that feraligatr hates seeing. In addition though he's a huge support force, as if they target feraligatr while I protect, something is going to sleep. One of the most frustrating and integral parts of my team. Sadly, he's also my only Rotom Wash counter, so I have to keep him alive as long as possible during those matches.

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 Atk / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect

Originally added as an alternate mega to Gyarados, Metagross' original function was to give Sylveon and other fairies a hard time. He's turned into something of a mainstay though because of how strong he is, and I bring him to over half of my battles at this point. Ice punch is the coverage move of choice to cover salamence/mega salamence and especially Landorus (I know he's weak to EQ but you'd be surprised how tank metagross can be). Paired with an Amoongus, or coming in after some threats are asleep, he can be deadly to my opponent in the mid to late game.

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Atk /8 Spd
Naughty Nature
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Overheat
- Protect

A huge help in my trick room matchup, and also for those pesky grass types that give the Feraligatr-Amoongus lead trouble. His taunt is rarely used, but when it is, it's very effective at shutting down some support pokemon. Originally had life orb but had to give it up for feraligatr, and he's honestly been better off with leftovers. Overheat is chosen over Flare Blitz because most pokemon I'm using fire on are steel and have very high defence, so overheat still does stacks of damage, and also it gives me a much better chance at defeating Aegislash. Protect is vital at stalling out rock slides.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 8 Atk / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Stone Edge

Originally running Assault Vest (oh I miss the shock and awe in my opponent's eyes when I survived an ice beam...) I switched to choice scarf to combat mega salamence. it's been very successful. Stone edge is there almost exclusively to cover mega charizard Y and Talonflame, and it works wonderfully. Otherwise he's a late game cleaner.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp

In my opinion, one of the strongest Pokemon in the game. He's a perfect fit for my team as his only weakness is grass, and my plethora of resistances of the type make opponents consider carefully before they bring their grass pokemon. He's a little bit annoying in the way two of his moves are rather inaccurate, causing a couple frustrating misses resulting in losses or near-losses, but it seems to be worth it. He's been a mainstay of nearly every Pokemon team I've built in VGC, and serves as my only electric attacking type, an excellent talonflame counter, and generally just a really solid choice for almost any battle.



If you've gotten this far, I can't thank you enough. Any suggestions or points of notice you have would be much appreciated =)

 

[King Arceus]

Feraligatr I'd honestly switch Crunch to Ice Punch because it does more damage to more of the metagame. Not very many Pokemon Crunch would do more damage to than either Waterfall or Ice Punch. You can check that out using the One vs All mode of Showdown's Calculator.

Amoongus it looks like you decided to split the defenses. The standard support set uses 252 HP, 180 Def, and 76 SDef. If you want to look at everything it survives, use Showdown's Calculator and set the mode to All vs 1. Tier will be VGC 2014.

Metagross I would definitely get rid of Zen Headbutt because you honestly won't use it that often and it has bad coverage. You could opt for either Earthquake which will do significant damage to both opposing Pokemon ( and yours if you don't use Protect ) or Thunder Punch which will get the Touch Claws boost and cover some random Pokemon. Meteor Mash I would definitely change to Iron Head because you don't lose that much power, but you gain perfect accuracy; additionally you are faster than a lot of the meta so you could get flinches. Once you've started to lose games to misses you'll quickly appreciate Iron Head.

Did you get the Taunt idea from me on Talonflame? I also think you should give Quick Guard a try instead of Protect because it covers both of your Pokemon. It blocks Prankster Taunt / Twave, Gale Wings Brave Bird, and Sucker Punch. I think it would compliment Salamence better because of priority being the main way to hit it.

 

[arulz]

Those are some really solid suggestions. I had ice punch on feraligatr before, and I had a hard time with some Pokemon, but if I give metagross thunder punch that gives a great answer to water types. I think I'll do that.

I'll check out those EV's for amoongus thanks.

I've changed to Irön head in my real game but not on smogon (exactly like you said, lost a game because of the miss ) so good suggestion there haha.

Pretty sure I wanted a taunt Pokemon and searched through everyone who could learn it and he was on there and already a member of my team, but perhaps I saw someone use it when i battled them and it was you, who knows =)
As far as switching to quick guard...I like it, I've used it, but I'm hesitant to give up protect as rock slide is still prevalent and it's nice to stall for a turn while his partner takes out the threat. But I'll give it a try.

 

[Team Rocket Fan]

Why give Metagross Iron Head when Meteor Smash is available?

 

[King Arceus]

Why give Metagross Iron Head when Meteor Smash is available?

Meteor Mash becomes Meteor Miss at key times. Iron Head only has 10 less base power, but has perfect accuracy. Iron Head also has a good chance of causing flinches with Mega Metagross' 110 base speed. Almost every top player you will talk to will say the same thing.

 

[arulz]

@Team Rocket Fan, yeah King Arceus nailed it.

Just to give you an update, after doing most of the changes you suggested (all but quickguard talon flame, just haven't gotten around to trying it out) things have run very smoothly. Thunder punch has been more helpful than zen headbutt most of the time, and ice punch on feraligatr has been huge.

 

[Team Rocket Fan]

My mistake...I thought meteor Mash's power was 100 and 90 accurassy.

 

[arulz]

It is, it's just that for only 10 drop in power you get perfect accuracy. Plus if you invest in speed like I do, that flinch chance iron head gets is really beneficial somrtimes.