ORAS OU Megagross Balanced Offense

This is basically my first competitive team. It's supposed to be balanced and will sometimes stall them out with Clefable and can also sweep with Manaphy and Megagross. Nothing too crazy but it seems like a solid core so far.

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Hammer Arm

This guy is the starting point for the team, and he was chosen for his raw power. He hits hard, moves fast and can take a beating without stopping. It's hard to describe his role because he's just good in a lot of situations, he can sweep, revenge kill or just switch in aggressively into a lot of pokemon. The set has Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt as the obvious STABs, Ice Punch helps him kill dragons and birds while Hammer Arm helps counter Steel types.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 24 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Another obvious pokemon. One of his major roles is to switch in, debuff with intimidate and then u-turn out. He also acts as a good revenge killer. U-Turn is the go-to attack, while the other three are there for coverage.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast

One of the best pokemon on the team. He walls a lot of the format, can get Stealth Rock up and he can threaten a lot of the pokemon that defog (Fire Blast hits Skarmory, Excadrill and Scizor while Moonblast gets Lati@s and Mandibuzz). His bulk and Soft-Boiled gives him tons of survivability.

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Energy Ball

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Energy Ball


Tail Glow makes him a powerful sweeper, and Leftovers/Rain Dance give him a lot of durability, along with the high natural stats. Scald and Energy ball help to round out the damage you can do, the Grass helping with Rotom-W and Scald working as a good STAB that crushes a lot of the fire and ground types that hurt Metagross.

EDIT: I've updated this with Surf over Scald because it puts a few things into clear OHKO range. The best so far was Mega Houndoom, where it was a 100% OHKO while Scald would have been a 37.5% OHKO.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpA
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpA
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave


This is one I'm a little less sure about. He's a pivot with Defog, a recovery ability and a STAB that does decent damage. He's very useful when he has targets that don't like electricity but I feel like I'm playing him poorly and not getting him up to where he should be.

EDIT: I've switched out Volt Turn for Heat Wave to help deal with threatening Steel types. I'm still considering switching him out for Mandibuzz or Lati@s but he's pulling his weight right now.

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 148 SpA / 80 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sludge Wave

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 148 SpA / 80 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Disable


This is a somewhat stall-ish Gengar. Substitute and Disable gives him the ability to stall a lot of aggressive pokemon and he can spread WOW or hit hard with his STAB. This is another one I'm not quite sure about, he's got some power but it feels like he's hard to use on this team and would probably work better with a poison attack in there.

I've replaced disable with Sludge Wave. Gengar is not a tank when he's built like this and I need more aggressive moves on him so he can get rid of Faeries and Grass mons.
 
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Hiya! This team is pretty cool, and I have some suggestions:
  • I would try using Earthquake over Hammer Arm on Metagross. While providing you with coverage against opposing Steel types and hitting as hard as Hammer Arm does, the former move lowers your speed and is inferior due to the importance of speed in the meta. Earthquake also has perfect accuracy, and missing a Hammer Arm with its 90% accuracy can cost you a game.
  • You might want to try using Surf over Scald on Manaphy. Since you want Manaphy to hit as hard as possible, Surf is a better option that can help you OHKO certain threats. Take a look at the calcs below:
    [*]+3 252 SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y in Sun: 240-284 (80.8 - 95.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

    [*]+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y in Sun: 270-320 (90.9 - 107.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

    [*]+3 252 SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 374-444 (96.8 - 115%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

    [*]+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 422-500 (109.3 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

    [*]+3 252 SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 120 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Excadrill: 374-444 (95.6 - 113.5%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

    [*]+3 252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 120 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Excadrill: 422-498 (107.9 - 127.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

    In addition, I would recommend using Ice Beam or Psychic over Energy Ball. Ice Beam is an important coverage move on Manaphy, allowing it to OHKO Lati@s, Dragonite, and Amoonguss while 2HKOing Mega Venusaur. In addition, Surf itself at least 2HKOs Rotom-W. Psychic is another choice to hit Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur harder, although I would recommend choosing Ice Beam for the sake of better coverage.
  • This may be a small change, but you should probably use U-Turn over Volt Switch on Zapdos so that you can pivot out of Ground-types. However, if you seem to be having trouble with using Zapdos, I would try using Mandibuzz instead. While walling Ghost and Dark types that can threaten Metagross, Mandibuzz is a reliable defogger that synergizes well with your team. Try a set like this:
    Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
    Ability: Overcoat
    EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 108 SpD / 16 Spe
    IVs: 0 Atk
    Bold Nature
    - Foul Play
    - Roost
    - Taunt/Whirlwind
    - Defog
    This set capitalizes on Mandibuzz's great bulk to wall effectively while acting as a good support Pokemon. The EVs and nature are invested to allow Mandibuzz to tank hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum, while giving the rest to speed to possibly allow it to outspeed certain threats. The 0 Attacks IVs are to reduce confusion damage and damage from moves like Foul Play, and it won't affect your own Foul Play because the move relies on the opponent's attack stat. Defog is the main part of this set, as Mandibuzz has enough bulk to reliably clear hazards. Taunt is there as a means of discouraging set-up sweepers or other support Pokemon, although it can be switched with Whirlwind to provide phazing support. Roost prolongs Mandibuzz in the game, and Foul Play is there to punish physical attackers while preventing it from succumbing to Taunt. Mandibuzz synergizes well with Metagross, which can wall Ghost and Dark types that threaten Metagross as well as switch in on an Earthquake or other Ground-type move because of its immunity. On the other hand, Metagross can remove most of Mandibuzz's checks and counters with its heavy offensive presence.
  • I would maybe use Hex over Shadow Ball on Gengar. Hex becomes immensely powerful when an opponent is inflicted with status, and since Gengar has Will O' Wisp, you can burn the opponent and then proceed to hit hard with Hex. Also, since you're not PerishTrapping, Disable isn't very handy and you would probably benefit from using Sludge Wave instead for STAB coverage.
  • As a note, make sure all of your specially-oriented Pokemon have 0 IVs in Attack. This reduces confusion damage and damage from moves like Foul Play. The Pokemon affected by this are: Gengar, Zapdos/Mandibuzz, Manaphy, and Clefable.
That's about it from me. Remember that these are only suggestions, you don't have to use all of them. Hope I helped, though!
Good luck on your team! =)
 
With respect to Lunistrius disagree with some suggestions.

First off I can understand Hammer Arm over Earthquake. After you drop a few speed tiers it is possibly to smack Skarmory after it Roosts with Hammer Arm for supereffective damage. While I don't have a ton of experience with Mega Metagross, I think it's mostly a toss up on HA vs EQ. Also, I think Energy Ball is fine on Manaphy. Mega Metagross mostly has issues breaking through bulky waters, and after a Tail Glow Manaphy can nuke them all with Energy Ball. Mega Venusaur gets hit hard by Metagross' Zen Headbutt, as well.

I agree, I think Mandibuzz might make a great defensive partner for the core. If you keep Zapdos, I'd consider Heat Wave over U-Turn or Volt Switch to hit things like Scizor and Ferrothorn much harder.
 
Thanks for the input, right now I'm playing around with Heat Wave on Zapdos, replacing it with Mandibuzz, Sludge Wave on Gengar and Surf on Manaphy. Obviously not all at once. I tried Hex on Gengar and it feels a bit too hard to keep statuses on active with this team (might work better if I had Prankster Thundurus with Thunder Wave), and replacing Energy Ball on Manaphy weakens the core a lot by making it harder to hurt Slowbro, Rotom-W, (M) Gyrados or Keldeo. Surf seems to help a bit though.

I'm looking forward to trying all of this out, thanks for the help.

EDIT: Thanks for the Surf idea on Manaphy. I went against a Nasty Plot Mega Houndoom and Surf was a 100% OHKO while Scald would have been a 37.5% chance to OHKO. That was actually very useful.
 
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