VGC A Big 6 Variant (record: 11-3)

[Misdreavus]

Here's a team that I took to a Premier Challenge. I was pretty happy with it, but I'd like to cover up some weaknesses that were exposed in my top 8 loss, which I will explain at the end.

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
Brave nature
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpA / 140 SpD
IVs: 1 Spe (same stat as 0 Spe)
-Precipice Blades
-Fire Punch
-Eruption
-Protect

Ah, Primal Groudon - the most feared Pokémon in the 2016 meta. This is a fairly standard mixed set. Precipice Blades needs no introduction. Fire Punch is a more reliable Fire-type attack, while Eruption offers more power (and spread coverage), provided that Primal Groudon is at good health. With Trick Room in play, Primal Groudon is generally one of the slower Pokémon on the field, and can often move first with Eruption before the opponent has a chance to weaken it. The EV spread, along with some of the calculations, are courtesy of hydreigone.

100+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 176-210 (100 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Primal Groudon: 169-200 (81.6 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Primal Groudon: 85-101 (41 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Primal Groudon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Primal Groudon: 176-210 (85 - 101.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
12 SpA Primal Groudon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T in Harsh Sun: 163-193 (98.7 - 116.9%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (double target)

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Modest nature
EVs: 204 HP / 44 Def / 68 SpA / 20 SpD / 172 Spe
-Moonblast
-Dazzling Gleam
-Geomancy
-Protect

The moveset is standard. Geomancy allows Xerneas' stats to reach absurd levels, and Power Herb lets it all happen right away. Pick your poison - Dazzling Gleam is a spread move, while Moonblast is a more powerful single-target attack. This EV spread was based on the one in this video, but I added 8 Speed EVs (moved from Special Defense) in order to outspeed Wolfe's Kyogre and other Pokémon that are designed to Speed creep Smeargle.

+2 68+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Fairy Aura Xerneas: 211-250 (104.4 - 123.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 204 HP / 44 Def Xerneas: 97-115 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO

/

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
Adamant nature
EVs: 228 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpDef / 52 Spe
-Double-Edge
-Low Kick
-Sucker Punch
-Fake Out

This Kangaskhan was designed to be bulky and to function well both inside and outside of Trick Room. My original thought was Return over Double-Edge to help its longevity, but the added power of Double-Edge is hard to say no to. Low Kick is mainly for other Kangaskhan, and random things like Ferrothorn. Sucker Punch is standard, but it's a move that I'm not too fond of, as it requires good prediction and can be played around by skilled players, so I'm open to swapping it out. Fake Out can buy me a turn for something like Geomancy. This EV spread was also given to my by hydreigone. It outspeeds Pokémon that outspeed Mega Salamence after an Icy Wind.

252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 228 HP / 12 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 180-214 (86.1 - 102.3%) -- 3.9% chance to OHKO
44+ SpA Primal Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 228 HP / 4 SpD Mega Kangaskhan in Heavy Rain: 178-211 (85.1 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

/

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Hasty nature
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
-Double-Edge
-Hyper Voice
-Tailwind
-Protect

Salamence is my second Mega Evolution. In its base form, Intimidate weakens popular threats such as Primal Groudon, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Rayquaza. Much like Xerneas, Mega Salamence has both a powerful single-target STAB attack and a spread STAB attack. Tailwind is an alternate form of Speed control for my team, but I never used it, so maybe something else would be better here. Speed is maxed to tie with other Mega Salamence. The Attack EVs guarantee that I OHKO any Amoonguss, and the rest are dumped into Special Attack to maximize Hyper Voice's damage output.

Smeargle @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Moody
Bold nature
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Def / 92 SpD
IVs: 8 Spe
-Dark Void
-Spiky Shield
-Wide Guard
-Crafty Shield

Smeargle is a utility Pokémon with access to one of the most defining moves in the metagame, Dark Void. Putting both of the opponent's Pokémon to Sleep can be a huge momemtum booster. Spiky Shield is like Protect, with the added bonus of causing minor damage to any Pokémon that targeted it with a contact move. Wide Guard protects against the numerous spread attacks, most notably Precipice Blades, Origin Pulse, and Water Spout. Crafty Shield protects both of my Pokémon from status moves, such as Taunt and opposing Smeargle's Dark Void. The HP and Defense EVs allow Smeargle to suvive a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge after an Intimidate. The rest is dumped into Special Defense. Speed IV is set at 8 in order to underspeed min Speed Primals by 1. I chose Chesto Berry as my item to sponge Dark Void from other Smeargle, but I think Mental Herb would be a much better choice.

Bronzong @ Lum Berry
Ability: Heatproof
Relaxed nature
EVs: 228 HP / 220 Def / 52 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
-Gyro Ball
-Gravity
-Hypnosis
-Trick Room

Bronzong is another utility Pokémon, and a much more bulky one at that. Gyro Ball does massive damage to Xerneas and can put a dent in other fast Pokémon. Gravity allows my Primal Groudon's Precipice Blades to hit Flying-type Pokémon and Pokémon with Levitate. It also improves Precipice Blades' accuracy to 100%, and the same goes for Hypnosis. Last but not least, we have Trick Room. Many of my slow, bulky Pokémon thrive in the twisted dimensions of Trick Room, and Bronzong itself is no exception. The Lum Berry can allow me to get Trick Room off in the face of opposing Smeargle. The EVs are to survive Primal Groudon's Ground-type attacks.

252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 228 HP / 220+ Def Bronzong: 144-170 (84.2 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Primal Groudon Earth Power vs. 228 HP / 52 SpD Bronzong: 144-170 (84.2 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

How did it do?

At the Premier Challenge, I swept my opponents in rounds 1 through 4, and made a comeback in round 5 after dropping game 1 (the tournament was best 2 out of 3). I was the 1st seed, so I was facing the 8th seed, but a very dangerous 8th seed that qualified for Worlds last year and is one of the best players in my region. He was running a dual Primals team with Mega Gengar. In both games, he brought Mega Gengar, Kyogre, Hitmontop, and Bronzong. Game 1 began with Mega Gengar trapping up Smeargle and Mega Kangaskhan. He repeatedly switched his Hitmontop in and out, with the aid of Eject Button, to repeatedly lower Mega Kangaskhan's attack. His Mega Gengar further crippled Mega Kangaskhan by burning it with Will-o-Wisp, and used Taunt on my Smeargle. Without a way out, I was forced to Struggle with Smeargle while doing miniscule damage with Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge. Eventually, both of my Pokémon fainted, and he had Primal Kyogre and Bronzong out. My Primal Groudon came in and activated Desolate Land, but his Bronzong's Skill Swap, which moved first in Trick Room, kept the weather in his favor, and my Primal Groudon didn't stand a chance. I don't remember game 2 as well, but I do recall a similar strategy involving Shadow Tag and repeated Intimidate to severely lower Mega Kangaskhan's attack. I tried to get Xerneas set up, but I had to try to protect it from Bronzong's Gyro Ball and Mega Gengar's Sludge Bomb, and I believe it eventually fell to Primal Kyogre.

What changes can I make to improve my Mega Gengar matchup? How should I best play against it? As previously stated, I'm thinking a Mental Herb on Smeargle over the Chesto Berry, and it would be nice to have a Taunt user somewhere. I've seen Roar on Salamence, but I'm not sure how effective that would be.

I have another Premier Challenge in 2 weeks, so I'd like to get this team patched up soon. I'm open to all suggestions, including replacements for any of my Pokémon. Thanks in advance!

 

[Bright Size]

It sounds like your issue is with Mega Gengar. Which honestly I'm a little happy to hear about personally because I'm trying out Mega Gengar on my own Big 6 variant to deal with Big B teams like this one. :p

Anywho you could run Cresselia > Bronzong if dislike Mega Gengar enough. Psychic on it can usually allow for a decent answer against it; it also provides the Trick Room that Bronzong had and you could also use skill swap with it for better weather control. Both Cresselia and Bronzong work really well on Big 6 teams, though Bronzong is better for facing Big 6 and Cresselia is better against Dual Primal teams generally speaking.

Cresselia @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand / Psychic
- Skill Swap
- Trick Room / Thunder Wave
​

The EVs are pretty bland on it... It's just bulk stressed on the SpD side which Big 6 teams can seem to lack outside of Geomancy Xerneas. One thing I've liked about Cresselia over Bronzong is that instead of just having Trick Room as its only form of Speed control it also gets Icy Wind and Thunder Wave; I often run Icy Wind and Trick Room at the same time on mine and use whichever is appropriate in my current situation. Psychic helps with your Mega Gengar match up; they don't seem to be running Shadow Ball all too often. Skill Swap gives you your own way of controlling the weather. Bronzong does this too, though if often takes the GravNosis route like yours.

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 172 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Power-Up Punch
​

I changed the EVs up. It's ideal to have max speed on Mega Kangaskhan so you don't lose speed ties to other Mega Kangaskhan and that you're faster than max speed unboosted Xerneas (by a single point). In your description of Mega Kangaskhan you had Hammer Arm on the set but Low Kick in the description. I'm confused by that; I'll just put Power-Up Punch there because it works pretty well. It allows you to get a nice +2 Attack boost to amplify your power. Also helps counter Intimidate Pokemon like Mega Salamence and makes up for the power I dropped from your Adamant spread. The EVs survive a Low Kick from opposing Jolly max Attack Mega Kangaskhan 98% of the time. Keep in mind that Mega Kangaskhan usually aren't Adamant max Attack (at least they shouldn't be).

Quickly regarding Mental Herb/Chesto Berry on Smeargle... Either works fine. It's just one of those odd scenarios where if you're against a Taunt user you'd want Mental Herb but against another Smeargle you'd want Chesto Berry. I guess looking at the team it feels like there's enough to handle Dark Void from Smeargle without Chesto Berry... but... it will never be enough; Smeargle will still be Smeargle.

Mega Salamence and Xerneas seem fine, I don't really see any issues with those two.

Primal Groudon is also fine, though I prefer max Speed on my Primal Groudon. Personal preference I guess. I run Jolly even with Eruption on mine, I feel like it does enough damage.

Hope I've helped.

 

[Misdreavus]

It sounds like your issue is with Mega Gengar. Which honestly I'm a little happy to hear about personally because I'm trying out Mega Gengar on my own Big 6 variant to deal with Big B teams like this one. :p

Anywho you could run Cresselia > Bronzong if dislike Mega Gengar enough. Psychic on it can usually allow for a decent answer against it; it also provides the Trick Room that Bronzong had and you could also use skill swap with it for better weather control. Both Cresselia and Bronzong work really well on Big 6 teams, though Bronzong is better for facing Big 6 and Cresselia is better against Dual Primal teams generally speaking.

Cresselia @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand / Psychic
- Skill Swap
- Trick Room / Thunder Wave
​

The EVs are pretty bland on it... It's just bulk stressed on the SpD side which Big 6 teams can seem to lack outside of Geomancy Xerneas. One thing I've liked about Cresselia over Bronzong is that instead of just having Trick Room as its only form of Speed control it also gets Icy Wind and Thunder Wave; I often run Icy Wind and Trick Room at the same time on mine and use whichever is appropriate in my current situation. Psychic helps with your Mega Gengar match up; they don't seem to be running Shadow Ball all too often. Skill Swap gives you your own way of controlling the weather. Bronzong does this too, though if often takes the GravNosis route like yours.

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 172 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Power-Up Punch
​

I changed the EVs up. It's ideal to have max speed on Mega Kangaskhan so you don't lose speed ties to other Mega Kangaskhan and that you're faster than max speed unboosted Xerneas (by a single point). In your description of Mega Kangaskhan you had Hammer Arm on the set but Low Kick in the description. I'm confused by that; I'll just put Power-Up Punch there because it works pretty well. It allows you to get a nice +2 Attack boost to amplify your power. Also helps counter Intimidate Pokemon like Mega Salamence and makes up for the power I dropped from your Adamant spread. The EVs survive a Low Kick from opposing Jolly max Attack Mega Kangaskhan 98% of the time. Keep in mind that Mega Kangaskhan usually aren't Adamant max Attack (at least they shouldn't be).

Quickly regarding Mental Herb/Chesto Berry on Smeargle... Either works fine. It's just one of those odd scenarios where if you're against a Taunt user you'd want Mental Herb but against another Smeargle you'd want Chesto Berry. I guess looking at the team it feels like there's enough to handle Dark Void from Smeargle without Chesto Berry... but... it will never be enough; Smeargle will still be Smeargle.

Mega Salamence and Xerneas seem fine, I don't really see any issues with those two.

Primal Groudon is also fine, though I prefer max Speed on my Primal Groudon. Personal preference I guess. I run Jolly even with Eruption on mine, I feel like it does enough damage.

Hope I've helped.

Thanks! I'll definitely consider Cresselia. I'm pretty sure that the Mega Gengar I faced ran Sludge Bomb, Will-o-Wisp, Taunt, and Protect (no Shadow Ball). Isn't Icy Wind and Trick Room on the same set a bit contradictory, or does it just allow me more options?

For the record, using the EV spread for Wolfe's Gengar:
0 SpA Cresselia Psychic vs. 92 HP / 4 SpD Mega Gengar: 84-102 (57.1 - 69.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

My original moveset for Kangaskhan used Return and Hammer Arm, but I changed it to Double-Edge and Low Kick (and thought I updated the post to reflect that, but I guess not). Power-Up Punch would definitely be nice in the situation that I experienced where I was trapped in via Shadow Tag and had repeated Intimidates dropped on me.

 

[Bright Size]

Feel free to fudge the Cresselia EVs. It's just all bulk, no offense. I don't think I mentioned it but it would probably be ideal to invest some SpA in it if you ran Psychic which you showed with the damage calc.

Icy Wind and Trick Room on the same Cresselia set are fine; I've always liked it because it allowed me to slow my opponent and if they were doing the same to me or using Thunder Wave or something I had the option of turning it around with Trick Room. It also allows as a nice counter to opposing Trick Room users by undoing it.

 

[Misdreavus]

Feel free to fudge the Cresselia EVs. It's just all bulk, no offense. I don't think I mentioned it but it would probably be ideal to invest some SpA in it if you ran Psychic which you showed with the damage calc.

Icy Wind and Trick Room on the same Cresselia set are fine; I've always liked it because it allowed me to slow my opponent and if they were doing the same to me or using Thunder Wave or something I had the option of turning it around with Trick Room. It also allows as a nice counter to opposing Trick Room users by undoing it.

Psychic is going to be a 2HKO on Gengar no matter what, so I don't think more EVs are needed for Gengar specifically. 68 SpA EVs is enough to 2HKO Wolfe's Hitmontop, so maybe I could go that route, or close to it. Did your EV spread come from any particular calculations that I should know about before modifying it? Would you recommend dropping some of your EVs for SpA, and if so, from what stat?

EDIT: A Quiet nature (and 0 EVs) accomplishes the same exact damage output as 68 SpA EVs, as shown below.

68 SpA Cresselia Psychic vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Hitmontop: 80-96 (50.9 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Cresselia Psychic vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Hitmontop: 80-96 (50.9 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Bright Size]

The EVs didn't come from anything particular from what I recall. They came from somewhere, but it has been a while. Try dropping the EVs from SpD for SpA. Experiment with the spread a little bit. I would try to plug in the EVs to a damage calc but I'm on mobile currently so I'll look into it later if I remember.

 

[Misdreavus]

Played in another PC today with this Cresselia over Bronzong. I went 3-2 and missed cut/points (13th place out of 31 Masters). I was really hoping to do better.

Cresselia @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Sassy nature
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 68 SpA / 132 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
-Psychic
-Icy Wind
-Skill Swap
-Trick Room

EVs allow Psychic to 2HKO Wolfe's Hitmontop.

It did help against Mega Gengar, as I won my only matchup against it, but I'm not sure if it's worth keeping. I don't know that running Cresselia over Bronzong is why I didn't do as well (although I did lose to a Xerneas team, which Bronzong helps against). I'm not sure what it was overall (despite an obvious misplay in one game that probably cost me the match).

I still feel like my team could use a bit more tinkering before Regionals (in 2 weeks).

Any and all help is appreciated!

EDIT: I also used the Jolly Kangaskhan with the spread and moveset that Bright Size recommended. No problems there.