phantom
Banned deucer.
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Gaining a charming Mega Evolution in ORAS, Camerupt has established a niche in the RU tier as a formidable special tank that is capable of using its unique typing and enhanced bulk to check various Grass-, Fire-, Steel-, and Electric-types such as Whimsicott, Houndoom, Escavalier, and Eelektross; in particular, Mega Camerupt's immunity to Volt Switch makes it quite effective versus VoltTurn teams. Furthermore, with Sheer Force, a phenomenal base 145 Special Attack stat, and access to near-unresisted STAB moves, Mega Camerupt is incredibly difficult to switch into. As a result of its nearly flawless coverage between its STABs, Mega Camerupt has the spare moveslots to employ Stealth Rock and Toxic in order to support its team and cripple its checks, respectively. Unfortunately, Mega Camerupt is painfully slow and possesses a 4x weakness to Water-type attacks, both of which make it rather easy to exploit, and its lack of reliable and even passive recovery mandates Wish support to consistently check the threats it needs to.
Mega Tank
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name: Mega Tank
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Stealth Rock
ability: Solid Rock
item: Cameruptite
evs: 248 HP / 176 SpD / 84 Spe
nature: Calm
Moves
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Flamethrower is Mega Camerupt's most reliable Fire-type STAB move in terms of perfect accuracy, PP, and power. Earth Power compliments Flamethrower well by dealing with most Pokemon that resist Fire, such as Rhyperior, Druddigon, opposing Mega Camerupt, and Kabutops, whereas Toxic allows Mega Camerupt to cripple its various checks, such as Slowking, Alomomola, and Cresselia. Mega Camerupt makes for a great Stealth Rock user, as it can easily take down many entry hazard removers such as Shiftry, Hitmontop, and Golbat.
Ancient Power may be used over Stealth Rock in teams that are particularly vulnerable to Fletchinder; on the flip side, Mega Camerupt has no business trying to tangle with it nor vice versa. Fire Blast is another option that may be used over Flamethrower on sets that focus moreso on damage output.
Set Details
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With the given Speed EVs, Mega Camerupt can outspeed uninvested base 50 Speed Pokemon before Mega Evolving and uninvested base 30 Speed Pokemon after Mega Evolving, such as Registeel and Slowking, respectively. Surprisingly, Camerupt needs no Special Attack investment in order to wallbreak, as Toxic and minimal entry hazard support in Stealth Rock allow it to break through just about everything when played well; however, on more offensive teams that utilize either Sticky Web or Trick Room to some degree, maximum Special Attack investment is certainly an option.
Because Mega Camerupt does not need maximum Special Attack investment, the remaining EVs are put into HP and Special Defense, as Mega Camerupt's typing is more suited towards checking specially based attackers including Magneton, special Mega Abomasnow, and mixed Shiftry. A physically defensive spread is an option, though, as it allows Mega Camerupt to better check the likes of Virizion, Doublade, and Cobalion, among other physical attackers.
Usage Tips
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Mega Camerupt can make use of its Electric immunity to come in on Volt Switch users such as Rotom-C, Jolteon, Magneton, and Eelektross. Furthermore, Mega Camerupt can be used to block Trick from Whimsicott or sponge Knock Off from the likes of Shiftry. Mega Camerupt also makes a very good switch-in to most defensive Pokemon, as they have difficulty threatening it thanks to its typing and bulk. Of those Pokemon, Mega Camerupt can take the opportunity to set up Stealth Rock against Weezing, specially defensive Drapion, Aromatisse, and many more. Should Mega Camerupt be facing a team that carries a bulky Water-type, then it can anticipate their switch by hitting them with Toxic. This makes it easier for Mega Camerupt to overwhelm them over the course of the match.
Team Options
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Water-types tend to work very well with Mega Camerupt, as they appreciate its ability to combat Electric- and Grass-types. Alomomola in particular is Mega Camerupt's best partner, as it can pass Wishes to Mega Camerupt in order to keep it healthy. Slowking makes for a good partner too, as it can sponge Water-type attacks and eventually boost its Special Attack stat with either Nasty Plot Or Calm Mind enough so that it can overpower opposing bulky Water-types, but unlike Alomomola, it can also take an even greater offensive approach and aid Mega Camerupt with Trick Room support.
Grass-types also make for good partners by dealing with Water-types such as Alomomola, Slowking, and Jellicent as well as Rhyperior; in return, Mega Camerupt can easily beat many of the Poison- and Steel-types that they detest, such as Amoonguss and Doublade. Of the offensive Grass-types that work well with Camerupt, Whimsicott can support Mega Camerupt by spreading around paralysis via Stun Spore, Tangrowth can form a potent wallbreaking core with it, and Rotom-C can cripple the likes of Cresselia with Trick and get Mega Camerupt in safely with Volt Switch.
Other Options
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A RestTalk set can be used so that Mega Camerupt is less dependent on Wish support to check what it wants to, and Roar may be used for phazing and works effectively against Calm Mind Cresselia and certain Baton Passers such as Combusken and Togetic. In a similar vein, Yawn is also effective at forcing switches and can be quite annoying if timed correctly. Another defensive option is Will-O-Wisp over Toxic to punish physical attackers; however, most of Camerupt's switch-ins tend to be specially based attackers that are more susceptible to Toxic.
In terms of more offensive options, Rock Polish may be used in order to sweep more offensive teams, but it requires that Camerupt run maximum Speed and a Timid nature, and even then, Sticky Web support is needed to outspeed anything of value. Lastly, Explosion can be quite useful by taking out Slowking after an Earth Power, but it has no other use. Growth can boost Mega Camerupt's Special Attack stat, but it's only by one stage and Mega Camerupt is a little too slow to make use of the boost anyhow.
Checks & Counters
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**Bulky Water-types**: Slowking, Gastrodon, Quagsire, Jellicent, and Alomomola can all switch into a Fire-type STAB move and, at the very least, 2HKO Mega Camerupt with their Water-type STAB moves, although none of them like switching into a Toxic, and Alomomola and Quagsire lose if they switch directly in on an Earth Power.
**Special Walls**: Cresselia, Audino, and Mega Audino can easily tank hits from Mega Camerupt; however, Cresselia has difficulty dealing with Camerupt if it switches directly in on a Toxic, and Audino has difficulty inflicting much damage back.
**Faster Attackers**: Clawitzer, Seismitoad, and Samurott can all switch into any attack at least once and outspeed and KO, making them good checks.
