Other Metagames [AG] Never Gonna Give You Up (Peaked #1, 2052 Elo, 94.9% GXE)

Pigeons · Sep 15, 2016

Never Gonna Give You Up
A 100th post RMT

Hello AG people, welcome to my 100th post RMT. I've been using this team for a while now so most of you have probably faced it at some point or another. This is my take on dual Xern offense, a pretty mindless yet very effective archetype. Originally I just built this team to get through low ladder extremely fast but it ended up being effective in many matchups.

Some tunes for you to listen to while you read this:

Teambuilding Process

I started with a core of Mega Rayquaza and Xerneas. Choice Band Ray is great at smashing the everloving shit out of everything which makes it quite easy for GeoXern to clean up later in the game.

I'd pretend there was a lot of thought behind the next 3 members but there really wasn't, these are just the 3 goons I tend to slap onto offense to check a lot of the AG meta. Paradancer Groudon is a good emergency Xerneas check and secondary wallbreaker, Bulkceus is on all my teams and checks most physical attackers and also sets rocks, Scarf Xern checks Darkrai and can revenge kill stuff and clean teams.

Lastly, I wanted a second Darkrai check and Klefki answer, so I added EKiller to patch those weaknesses and have another solid late-game sweeper.

Team Breakdown

The Lizard King (Rayquaza-Mega) @ Choice Band
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- V-create
- Waterfall

Arguably the best wallbreaker in the game, Mega Ray breaks down defensive cores with ease and can get a KO almost every time it gets a free switchin. On this team, Mega Rayquaza can get in for free very easily with double switching thanks to the dual Xerneas core forcing a lot of switches. The moveset is standard so I won't detail it too much, Dragon Ascent is STAB and smashes everything, Extreme Speed picks stuff off and lets Ray clean teams, V-create beats Steels and Waterfall bops PDon. I've considered other moves in the last slot but 1HKOing PDon is pretty useful for this team so I decided to keep it. The EV spread is nothing special either, Adamant was chosen because I wasn't too concerned about outspeeding Diancie or tying with other Mega Ray, plus the extra power is really nice against things like Giratina.

Pride Deer (Xerneas) @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 160 HP / 24 Def / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Naturally a powerful wallbreaker should be paired with a powerful cleaner, and GeoXern fits that description. GeoXern reaches incredible levels of power in just 1 turn, so it only takes 1 misplay or good read to finish games (or just a free switch). Mostly standard moves again, Geomancy enables Xern to sweep, Moonblast is STAB and Focus Blast breaks past Steels and PDon. The one move that isn't as standard is Psyshock, I realized Thunder wasn't doing a whole lot for me, Ho-Oh always EVs to live it unless Rocks and Lugia lives it without rocks. In addition, I'd been seeing more Poisonceus, so I figured Psyshock would be the best choice since a +2 Psyshock still KOs Ho-Oh after rocks and Moonblast gets Lugia. The EVs ensure Genesect gets a SpA boost pre-Geo, with the rest in HP to tank various hits better and get more setup opportunities. SpA is maxed to ensure a clean sweep, while the Speed outspeeds Scarf Rachi after a Geomancy with a bit of creep.

Dinobuddy (Groudon-Primal) @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Atk / 48 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Wave

Paradancer PDon is a set I've really enjoyed since being introduced to it, it works very well as an emergency Xern check but retains a lot of wallbreaking power. It also switches into Ho-Oh and provides Speed control, making it very useful in all matches. Standard set as usual, Precipice Blades is STAB and misses too much, but the power is needed so w/e. Stone Edge has great coverage with PBlades and also misses too much, Swords Dance lets Groudon demolish bulkier teams easily, and Thunder Wave lets me hax the opponent to death and control sweepers like Xerneas. The EVs survive a +2 Focus Blast from Xerneas and has a bit of Speed to creep opposing Groudon, the rest is put into Attack.

Alpaca (Arceus) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Bulkceus is on all my teams, it's my preferred EKiller check because it isn't bopped by any coverage moves, and setting rocks is always nice. Bulkceus acts as a fallback if I make a bad play vs an EKiller or Mega Ray, allowing me to Roar them out and keep the match relatively in my favour. These are the same moves as my last RMT, Extreme Speed lets Bulkceus deal with Magic Coat EKiller and bluff offensive sets, Recover keeps Bulkceus alive, Stealth Rock is important on this team to chip Ho-Oh and anything else that would wall my sweepers, Roar stops threatening setup sweepers like EKiller and DD Ray. HP and Defense are maximized to check EKiller and other threats as well as possible.

Pride Deer (Xerneas) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 28 Def / 244 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Sleep Talk
-

Scarf Xern is one of the most reliable Darkrai checks, but also threatens a lot of other Pokemon thanks to Moonblast's decent coverage and power. ScarfXern completes the awesome Dual Xern combination, which aims to chip down PDon by having it switch into ScarfXern, opening the door for a GeoXern sweep (most Groudon can't survive a Moonblast from ScarfXern and a +2 attack from GeoXern). In the interest of checking Darkrai, only 2 moves are run. Moonblast is Xerneas's powerful STAB, and Sleep Talk lets it switch into Dark Void then immediately KO with Moonblast. The EVs outspeed Deoxys-A, and the Defence gives Genesect a Special Attack boost, with the rest in Special Attack.

Alpaca (Arceus) @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Magic Coat
- Swords Dance

A staple of the AG metagame, EKiller finds its way onto a lot of teams as a late game sweeper and Klefki check. I've been asked a few times why I run Life Orb and Magic Coat, so I'll elaborate. Currently, Klefki usage is very low and I haven't been seeing as much Darkrai. Because of this, I decided that i could get away with running Life Orb, which lets EKiller clean more effectively. If Klefki usage increases I'l definitely change this to Lum. Standard moves, Extreme Speed defines Arceus as an attacker and lets it revenge kill all kinds of stuff, Earthquake beats Steels and hits Ghosts, Magic Coat is a bit weird on a LO set but even more unexpected (making it more effective) and Swords Dance lets EKiller run through frail teams. Standard EVs, Jolly was run to tie with opposing Arceus at worst, making a sweep a bit easier.

Threatlist

Mega Gengar: By far the biggest threat, Mega Gengar can trap Bulkceus, both Xerns (though it can't switch in on Scarf) and Mega Ray if it has too many Defence drops. If it's running Focus Blast, then the only thing that isn't 1HKOd is PDon. Luckily, I've also not been seeing a whole lot of Gengar, but it's really hard to play around. Best way to deal with it is make a lot of aggressive reads and double switches.

Lugia: This thing is so obnoxious, it's often free to spam Toxic and Roost with little repercussion. Getting rocks up is key, catching it off guard with Magic Coat can also help as well. Once rocks are up this is fairly easy to deal with.

Swagger / Baton Pass / Moody Spam: I grouped these all together because they're all cancer <3. I don't really have any dedicated counterplay to these, just hope for the best. Setting rocks and roaring with Bulkceus works fairly well vs BP, EKiller and PDon can usually beat a few Keys (6 is hard) and Moody is pretty uncommon so these haven't been huge issues. This team really is supposed to take advantage of things like Swagger in BP being low in usage and things like Arcspam being more common, so it's not as much of an issue as I used to think.

Proof of Peak

The Lizard King (Rayquaza-Mega) @ Choice Band
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- V-create
- Waterfall

Pride Deer (Xerneas) @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 160 HP / 24 Def / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Dinobuddy (Groudon-Primal) @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Atk / 48 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Wave

Alpaca (Arceus) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Pride Deer (Xerneas) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 28 Def / 244 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Sleep Talk
-

Alpaca (Arceus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Magic Coat
- Swords Dance

Shoutouts

TylerWithNumbers One of my best friends on PS, keep going for that peak man! :D
Thimo Your strats are wicked, also we're besties (tfw Quag PP stalls a Darkrai)
Chloe. Best RO #1 <3
Megazard Best RO #2, both of you do a ton for the community <3
dragonite drake Stop using Moody, it makes it difficult to like you ;-;
PurpleGatorade Awesome person and player :)
megaqwer:D Another awesome person and player :D

And of course, the rest of the AG room/fam. You're all wonderful people and make this game worth playing <3 Sorry if I forgot to give you a shoutout, just remind me if I did :)

SaturnZelda · Sep 15, 2016

I got mentioned! :O. But seriously, double Xern is so hard to defeat easily. ~~I would've beaten you a lot more if you didn't hax me every time~~ This team is really good, and fine. I'll stop being lazy. See you at the top (maybe)

Thimo · Sep 16, 2016

What up, nice team bro. Just a couple of things. The GeoXern spread should be changed imo, 152 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 76 Spe lets you outspeed Deoxys-Speed after a Geomancy, useful if you wanna keep Light Screen off. It also seems like you have a quite hard time with setup sweepers overall though. Which is why I think getting a Ditto on the team will help, a Ditto will also help you vs Baton Pass if you play correctly. However, wether you wanna use it or not is up to you. Lastly, add Geomancy on the ScarfXern because Sleep Talk can't call it. Not much use, but if you wanna try to be fancy when Yveltal knocks you off, then be my guest.

Thanks for the shoutout (even though you didn't mention we're bffs </3) and please mention from who you stole the ScarfXern spread :(

Mq · Sep 17, 2016

HI Erotic :3, nice HO team there and thanks for the shoutotus <3 , I like how you put losses too in the replays.I want to suggest Perish song>Magic coat.It's a personnel opinion, I dont think you need anything else for darkrai while you have stalk mono moonblast xern.With Psong, you will be able to force out swagger/stall mons and just destroy BP teams.I've myself used it and it catches them off-guard.

Again, it's a just a suggestion, up to you if you wanna try it :3
10/10, great RMT

Other Metagames [AG] Never Gonna Give You Up (Peaked #1, 2052 Elo, 94.9% GXE)

Pigeons

pidge pidge

SaturnZelda

formerly TylerWithNumbers

Thimo

Mq

It's Megaqwer's Time!