As we all know, Aggron got a sexy new toy in Head Smash courtesy of HGSS. I figured what's basically CB-Stone Edge with no drawbacks could be pretty useful, and tried to make a team around RP Aggron, and just barely cracked the leaderboard.
The team:
The lead:
Jirachi @ Focus Sash
Jolly, 80 HP / 252 atk / 176 speed
~Thunder Wave
~Stealth Rock
~Iron Head
~Fire Punch
"the best pokemon in the game" sets up rocks against every lead (except when Azelf gets smart and Taunts first turn). Fire Punch can 2HKO most Magnezone with Rocks, and most Forretress. Focus Sash lets me paralyze lead Heatran / Infernape, outspeed and lay down rocks so anyone else can come in and take them out. Rocks first against Metagross leads, and then Fire Punch lets me see if they're Occa or Lum. If Meta simply EQs first turn, I'll switch out to Rotom-h, who can 3HKO leadgross with Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt. Outruns all Roserade, and 70% of the time they don't even get to do anything. Smeargle and Roserade can be kind of annoying if they don't get flinched. Swampert leads force me out, so I just go for Rocks and then switch out to Rotom-h. Once Swampert's burned, Hippowdon can usually stall out its Surfs/Ice Beams, or just Roar it out. Other Jirachi leads are always unpredictable, so I usually go with Rocks just to get them down in case a I get tricked. Jirachi's also good to keep around for the lategame, and loves to get tricked a Scarf for Iron Head hax.
The defense:
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Impish, 252 HP / 168 def / 88 sp. def
~Earthquake
~Slack Off
~Roar
~Toxic
Absorbs unboosted outrages like a champion, and is just all around terrible to take down. Starts up the sandstorm for Aggron, which really helps it come in on special attacks. Toxic lets it outstall Swampert, who is otherwise really annoying. Usually, he comes out early-game to Roar the other time around so I can see what needs to be dealt with for an Aggron sweep (getting rid of bulky waters w/ toxic, steels w/ earthquake). Deals with Tyranitar and Metagross pretty well, who are both kinda annoying for Aggron to take down. Hipp takes <45% from unboosted DDGyara waterfall, which lets him just Roar Gyarados out (which basically means most Gyarados come in the second time with 50% health, making them much easier to deal with).
Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Bold, 252 HP / 114 def / 144 speed
~Thunderbolt
~Shadow Ball
~Overheat
~Will-o-wisp
Really conveniently immune to both of Aggron's 4x weaks, and a great partner in general. Comes in when Aggron got out too early and was otherwise about to get wrecked. EV'd to be faster than all Tyranitar, so it can get the burn on DDTar / live through CBTar's Crunch. Lategame, Rotom also makes perfect pursuit bait, and Aggron and Lucario both love to come in on pursuits. Also totally stops Metagross, who is an otherwise annoying lead to deal with as Jirachi can only usually 3HKO, and is 2HKO'd by Earthquaking leadgross.
Latias @ Choice Scarf
Timid, 6 HP / 252 sp atk / 252 speed
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
~Trick
Trick really comes in useful, as trick'd dark/ghost attacks let either Lucario or Aggron set up. Draco Meteor smacks stuff around, and it's great to be able to revenge +1 Salamence / kingdra / ScarfFlygon, etc. Perfect typing complement for Aggron again, as it resists all of his weaks. Trickscarf over any other set, as Latias really is just facilitating Aggron's sweep any way possible. I usually try to Trick as soon as possible, to make it really easy to get Aggron or Lucario in to set up.
The offense:
Lucario @ Life Orb
Jolly, 6 HP / 252 attack / 252 speed
~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Crunch
~ExtremeSpeed
Lucario and Aggron both hit really hard, and once Gliscor/Gyarados are gone Lucario is devastating. Jolly is mostly just to beat other Lucario, which is priceless endgame. Pairs well with Latias as well, who resists fire/fighting and is immune to ground. Sometimes Lucario comes out early if I think there might not be anything able to stop it hiding in the wings, or at least to lure his lategame counters out and deal with them (Gyarados particularly). Both Lucario and Aggron can come in on the same attacks, so at least one of them is virtually guaranteed a set-up. The only real drawback with Jolly is losing the chance at a OHKO on 248/0 Scizor, but that really doesn't end up counting for too much.
Aggron @ Life Orb
Jolly, 72 HP / 252 attack / 180 speed / 4 sp. def
~Rock Polish
~Head Smash
~Fire Punch
~Ice Punch
The whole point of the team is to get this guy a Rock Polish and pray Head Smash doesn't miss. Ice Punch doesn't guarantee the OHKO on Gliscor after rocks, but it does better than Head Smash. Fire Punch is usually for when I can't get a Rock Polish, as it OHKOs Scizor who is almost always outsped. Head Smash is just grossly powerful, 2HKOing Skarmory, Celebi, Vaporeon, and just about everyone. The only things that really give Aggron problems are Metagross (even Adamant EQ doesn't OHKO Meta), Swampert (takes like 35% from Head Smash), and sometimes Machamp (who only takes 45%). The EVs are just to outspeed anyone who barely outpaces the base 130s after a Rock Polish, meaning I still have to watch out for Scarftran (who is easily handled by Latias). 72 HP EVs keep Life Orb at 29 HP per turn instead of 30, which is nice.
Comments
Overall, the team just doesn't really like waters. If Swampert is around not in the lead position, it's a pain taking him out (usually either Hippowdon's Toxic, WoW from Rotom or +2 CC from Lucario). Gliscor makes it hard to get Aggron an RP, but once Aggron's got it it's no problem. Probably the biggest challenge is maintaining the health of the defensive core (Rotom-h, Latias, and Hippowdon) because once they go down, it's really hard to regain momentum. I've tried Swampert over Hippowdon, and Celebi over Rotom-h at different times and found they didn't work as well. The sandstorm is not only beneficial to Aggron, it actually helps a lot with residual damage on the opponent's team (otherwise Gengar would be a real pain). Hippowdon's recovery is also greatly appreciated, and Celebi adds another fire weak (and I only have one fire resistance, which is none too good already).
I'm still not sure if Lucario is the best partner to Aggron, but they've complemented each other really well so far. The only problem is that without any chances to set up, they're both wrecked by anything faster than Jolly Luke with Earthquake (which is oftentimes Gliscor). If Gliscor can manage to live through the rest of my team, then it's always gg.
The team:
The lead:
Jirachi @ Focus Sash
Jolly, 80 HP / 252 atk / 176 speed
~Thunder Wave
~Stealth Rock
~Iron Head
~Fire Punch
"the best pokemon in the game" sets up rocks against every lead (except when Azelf gets smart and Taunts first turn). Fire Punch can 2HKO most Magnezone with Rocks, and most Forretress. Focus Sash lets me paralyze lead Heatran / Infernape, outspeed and lay down rocks so anyone else can come in and take them out. Rocks first against Metagross leads, and then Fire Punch lets me see if they're Occa or Lum. If Meta simply EQs first turn, I'll switch out to Rotom-h, who can 3HKO leadgross with Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt. Outruns all Roserade, and 70% of the time they don't even get to do anything. Smeargle and Roserade can be kind of annoying if they don't get flinched. Swampert leads force me out, so I just go for Rocks and then switch out to Rotom-h. Once Swampert's burned, Hippowdon can usually stall out its Surfs/Ice Beams, or just Roar it out. Other Jirachi leads are always unpredictable, so I usually go with Rocks just to get them down in case a I get tricked. Jirachi's also good to keep around for the lategame, and loves to get tricked a Scarf for Iron Head hax.
The defense:
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Impish, 252 HP / 168 def / 88 sp. def
~Earthquake
~Slack Off
~Roar
~Toxic
Absorbs unboosted outrages like a champion, and is just all around terrible to take down. Starts up the sandstorm for Aggron, which really helps it come in on special attacks. Toxic lets it outstall Swampert, who is otherwise really annoying. Usually, he comes out early-game to Roar the other time around so I can see what needs to be dealt with for an Aggron sweep (getting rid of bulky waters w/ toxic, steels w/ earthquake). Deals with Tyranitar and Metagross pretty well, who are both kinda annoying for Aggron to take down. Hipp takes <45% from unboosted DDGyara waterfall, which lets him just Roar Gyarados out (which basically means most Gyarados come in the second time with 50% health, making them much easier to deal with).
Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Bold, 252 HP / 114 def / 144 speed
~Thunderbolt
~Shadow Ball
~Overheat
~Will-o-wisp
Really conveniently immune to both of Aggron's 4x weaks, and a great partner in general. Comes in when Aggron got out too early and was otherwise about to get wrecked. EV'd to be faster than all Tyranitar, so it can get the burn on DDTar / live through CBTar's Crunch. Lategame, Rotom also makes perfect pursuit bait, and Aggron and Lucario both love to come in on pursuits. Also totally stops Metagross, who is an otherwise annoying lead to deal with as Jirachi can only usually 3HKO, and is 2HKO'd by Earthquaking leadgross.
Latias @ Choice Scarf
Timid, 6 HP / 252 sp atk / 252 speed
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
~Trick
Trick really comes in useful, as trick'd dark/ghost attacks let either Lucario or Aggron set up. Draco Meteor smacks stuff around, and it's great to be able to revenge +1 Salamence / kingdra / ScarfFlygon, etc. Perfect typing complement for Aggron again, as it resists all of his weaks. Trickscarf over any other set, as Latias really is just facilitating Aggron's sweep any way possible. I usually try to Trick as soon as possible, to make it really easy to get Aggron or Lucario in to set up.
The offense:
Lucario @ Life Orb
Jolly, 6 HP / 252 attack / 252 speed
~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Crunch
~ExtremeSpeed
Lucario and Aggron both hit really hard, and once Gliscor/Gyarados are gone Lucario is devastating. Jolly is mostly just to beat other Lucario, which is priceless endgame. Pairs well with Latias as well, who resists fire/fighting and is immune to ground. Sometimes Lucario comes out early if I think there might not be anything able to stop it hiding in the wings, or at least to lure his lategame counters out and deal with them (Gyarados particularly). Both Lucario and Aggron can come in on the same attacks, so at least one of them is virtually guaranteed a set-up. The only real drawback with Jolly is losing the chance at a OHKO on 248/0 Scizor, but that really doesn't end up counting for too much.
Aggron @ Life Orb
Jolly, 72 HP / 252 attack / 180 speed / 4 sp. def
~Rock Polish
~Head Smash
~Fire Punch
~Ice Punch
The whole point of the team is to get this guy a Rock Polish and pray Head Smash doesn't miss. Ice Punch doesn't guarantee the OHKO on Gliscor after rocks, but it does better than Head Smash. Fire Punch is usually for when I can't get a Rock Polish, as it OHKOs Scizor who is almost always outsped. Head Smash is just grossly powerful, 2HKOing Skarmory, Celebi, Vaporeon, and just about everyone. The only things that really give Aggron problems are Metagross (even Adamant EQ doesn't OHKO Meta), Swampert (takes like 35% from Head Smash), and sometimes Machamp (who only takes 45%). The EVs are just to outspeed anyone who barely outpaces the base 130s after a Rock Polish, meaning I still have to watch out for Scarftran (who is easily handled by Latias). 72 HP EVs keep Life Orb at 29 HP per turn instead of 30, which is nice.
Comments
Overall, the team just doesn't really like waters. If Swampert is around not in the lead position, it's a pain taking him out (usually either Hippowdon's Toxic, WoW from Rotom or +2 CC from Lucario). Gliscor makes it hard to get Aggron an RP, but once Aggron's got it it's no problem. Probably the biggest challenge is maintaining the health of the defensive core (Rotom-h, Latias, and Hippowdon) because once they go down, it's really hard to regain momentum. I've tried Swampert over Hippowdon, and Celebi over Rotom-h at different times and found they didn't work as well. The sandstorm is not only beneficial to Aggron, it actually helps a lot with residual damage on the opponent's team (otherwise Gengar would be a real pain). Hippowdon's recovery is also greatly appreciated, and Celebi adds another fire weak (and I only have one fire resistance, which is none too good already).
I'm still not sure if Lucario is the best partner to Aggron, but they've complemented each other really well so far. The only problem is that without any chances to set up, they're both wrecked by anything faster than Jolly Luke with Earthquake (which is oftentimes Gliscor). If Gliscor can manage to live through the rest of my team, then it's always gg.
