It doesn't have any moves that make No Guard worth using. Really. All you need is Close Combat anyway, if you want to use Zen Headbutt or WoW they're accurate enough to work.
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ORAS Doubles Metagame Discussion
- Thread starter Arcticblast
- Start date
I agree with Arcticblast inner focus is a great ability on doubles, since fake out is truly powerful, I believe that Gallade was mostly created in order to stop mega khan, whom was the most centralizing threat in XY Doubles (or VGC), still, inner focus has its uses, and not only vs Kanghaskan.
Inner Focus is the best ability because it prevents rock slide flinches.
Yeah, but will that really be doing that much damage? I could run some calcs, but I am not sure if that justifies running that over the physical one unless the metagame heavily shifts towards Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp to shut it down.
Can we talk about mega-Loppuny? I swear that it is amazing. It has perfect coverage with Drain Punch / Return, so it has a free slot to run either Fake Out or Encore. What other moves could be efficiently run in that third slot? I was thinking of trying Heal Bell, but I'm sure there are other options that could be even better.
It's not very good, sorry
Why would you use Drain Punch? That's like using Strength Mega Kangaskhan. Low Kick is a much better option (the things hit harder by Drain Punch are usually hit harder still by Return).
Also fuck Protect, go hard or go home
I forgot about low kick... But what set would you use?
I personally like it. It can shut down TR easily with fake out and can support it's team with heal bell or encore.
How exactly does fake out shut down TR...
It lets you stall it for a turn so you can break a sash and KO the setter on the next turn.
Heard of the move "Protect"?
I briefly tried out Mega Lopunny alongside Sub Aegislash and it seemed very consistent when it came to disrupting the opponent and creating free turns with Fake Out and Encore. The two covered eachothers weaknesses extremely well and matched up nicely against a lot of other leads.
I also used High Jump Kick because, as Arcticblast said, fuck Protect. Such a fast Encore heavily discourages the opponent using Protect, which in turn makes HJK safer to use.
I also used High Jump Kick because, as Arcticblast said, fuck Protect. Such a fast Encore heavily discourages the opponent using Protect, which in turn makes HJK safer to use.
So they Protect and then you Encore them. If they switch you still get the free turn. That's how Lopunny works.
Lopunny is painfully average: Fake Out + Encore does not guarantee you momentum.
If you Fake Out something like a Terrakion, which uses Protect, then using Encore is not risk free at all. Considering the fact that pretty much every team right now has either scarf lando or megamence, they can quite safely switch into the obvious encore. You aren't gambling a free turn for yourself vs nothing, you are gambling a free turn for yourself vs a free switch to a huge threat for your opponent. Considering that mence and lando completely shit all over it, as they even eat up returns, it will almost always be the safer play.
Also because of the fact that Mega Salamence, Mega Diancie, Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Swampert, Mega Charizard(s), Mega Mawile, and Mega Metagross are all better than it in most given situations, it's quite a waste of your mega slot unless your opponent somehow has no idea, that it has Encore...
This works in theory against everything, and probably actually works well against Trick Room setters, but it's also extremely obvious, and does not always give you a free turn against fast paced teams, which is what you want from a mon with a Speed tier like Lopunny's.
If you Fake Out something like a Terrakion, which uses Protect, then using Encore is not risk free at all. Considering the fact that pretty much every team right now has either scarf lando or megamence, they can quite safely switch into the obvious encore. You aren't gambling a free turn for yourself vs nothing, you are gambling a free turn for yourself vs a free switch to a huge threat for your opponent. Considering that mence and lando completely shit all over it, as they even eat up returns, it will almost always be the safer play.
Also because of the fact that Mega Salamence, Mega Diancie, Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Swampert, Mega Charizard(s), Mega Mawile, and Mega Metagross are all better than it in most given situations, it's quite a waste of your mega slot unless your opponent somehow has no idea, that it has Encore...
Has anyone tested M-Altaria? I've been really disappointed lately, especially by its low speed, leaving it far behind M-Metagross and stuff like that... Plus the typing is good but not that great either, defensively speaking (weak to Steel, Poison and Ice, the latter being quite common considering the M-Salamence threat). It does have a very good ability and spread moves to go with it though, but that 80 Spe really makes me chose M-Gardevoir over it. Am I wrong?
lmao @ dragon/fairy is not a good defensive typing
I really like altaria. I use tw / hyper voice / draco / protect and it hits hard, it can tank a mega salamence attack and is immune to dragon so it can set up a tw qute easily, then it wrecks. Obv use fire/fighting type to support offensively if using tw over a fire attack.
I Just felt like it took a lot of hits and surviving long enough.
I'll give it a try, thx
I run this Mega Altaria in a trick room team:
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Cloud Nine
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Earthquake
EQ runs a pretty good chance of OHKOing Heatran with Helping Hand and still wallops without, and the Hyper Voices hit pretty hard. Cloud Nine also undermines Politoed pretty hard.
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Cloud Nine
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Earthquake
EQ runs a pretty good chance of OHKOing Heatran with Helping Hand and still wallops without, and the Hyper Voices hit pretty hard. Cloud Nine also undermines Politoed pretty hard.
You don't have 0 speed iv's, which could be a problem, but tbh I think that mega Altria just isn't unique enough to justify that much usage. Sylveon takes its role on tr teams as well as bulkier offensive teams just as mega gardevoir does on faster teams. Also with monsters like mega mence, kang, and metagross out there it's hard to think of a reason to use when sylveon dies the same job and doesn't take a mega slot.
It's might actually be more useful to run 5 Spe IV's on TR Altaria, so it can outrun and OHKO 0 Spe Scrafty outside of Trick Room, since Scrafty annoys quite a few setters with Knock Off and Fake Out. Yeah, the speed won't be helpful versus Fake Out, but the subsequent turn, you might find having it might be useful. Also, there's very few things worth having min base 80 for anyway, only regular Gallade and Chand, neither of which is doing anything to Altaria anyway.
Also Qwertypops, Mega Altaria has an excellent defensive typing (7 resistances and 1 immunity), and can handle quite a few threats, including pretty much every other Dragon, and virtually any fighting type, amongst others. Altaria can run Earthquake, Tailwind, Heatwave / Fire Blast / Flamethrower, Safeguard, Dragon Dance, and even Ice Beam, and can attack from both offenses, none of which Sylveon can do, so don't say Sylveon does the same job. Altaria can break past bulkier Steel types, such as Heatran or Ferrothorn, which Sylveon can't, and Aegislash can't just switch in on it since it gets 2HKO'd by Fire Blast. Is Altaria as good as MKang, Mence, or Gross? No, no it's not. But it's definitely a threat, and is quite unique.
Also Qwertypops, Mega Altaria has an excellent defensive typing (7 resistances and 1 immunity), and can handle quite a few threats, including pretty much every other Dragon, and virtually any fighting type, amongst others. Altaria can run Earthquake, Tailwind, Heatwave / Fire Blast / Flamethrower, Safeguard, Dragon Dance, and even Ice Beam, and can attack from both offenses, none of which Sylveon can do, so don't say Sylveon does the same job. Altaria can break past bulkier Steel types, such as Heatran or Ferrothorn, which Sylveon can't, and Aegislash can't just switch in on it since it gets 2HKO'd by Fire Blast. Is Altaria as good as MKang, Mence, or Gross? No, no it's not. But it's definitely a threat, and is quite unique.
I already run a Sylveon. Pixilated Hyper Voice is so sick I need two of it on my TR Team.
Like Shaian said, Altaria has a really good movepool. Between Heat Wave and EQ it can threaten a lot of the things that'd stop Sylveon. Though, I am considering what to use in that Mega slot, since it was the first Mega I tried that really worked. Mega Mawile is most likely better even though it lacks spread moves. I think I may just be overrating spread.