"Main" SV so to speak has been a somewhat rocky experience, putting it mildly. OU's polarizing breakneck pace with Tera and NatDex's sheer everything-ness can be a bit stressful to try and keep up in regularly. It can be exhausting to the point where maintaining a medal spot in OU feels more like a chore than an actual game. I've recently been finding occasional reprieve in generations of OU, but at the same time they also never really felt like tiers I wanted to fully take seriously, or at least not anymore. So when I picked up AAA on a whim, I was surprised at just how charming and engaging the metagame was despite all its entropy. It was kind of Ubers-esque in how the collective brokenness coalesces together into something that works, but with the familiar tempo of something resembling OU. AAA started off as something of a side pleasure, so to speak; something to play to unwind after churning out another gruesome ladder session in the main format. But before I knew it, I found myself near the very top of the leaderboard. So I figured, I like this metagame already, might as well start a whole tryhard sesh for that #1 spot.
Deoxys-Speed @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 32 Atk / 252 SpA / 224 Spe
Rash Nature
- Psychic
- Superpower
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Deo-S was the very beginning of the team and the initial 'Mon I wanted to premise around. Gives you all the power of a Sheer Force wallbreaker while having the speed reminiscent of a Scarfer. Absolutely shatters most bulky offense when the RegenVester gets Knocked. Superpower doesn't just have the luxury of a crisp 100% hit rate but actually lets Deo break through hyper special walls like AV Moon, AV Goodra, and the occasional Blissey by targeting their weaker side, at the cost of actually incurring Life Orb recoil (but absolutely I just run it because it hits lmao). Deo is also very important as a check to Zamazenta and because it almost always goes first it can reasonably go mano-e-mano with most offensive threats that don't immediately fatally threaten it. Speed investment outruns Tusk with Webs up. Can consider slotting Shadow Ball over Thunderbolt to ease the Gholdengo and Scream Tail matchups.
Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Throat Chop
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Swords Dance
Most common win condition of the team, where lots of games ended have been focused on Pao finding its opportunities: coming in on slow U-turns or timely double switches, breaking in the midgame, SDing and cleaning in the lategame. Excellent coverage in STABs alone means Adaptability can be used so Meow gets Sword of Ruin. Between naturally high speed stats, Scarf Meow, and Ice Shard priority, the offensive core is well-equipped to threaten most of the offensive metagame. Throat Chop shuts down Boomburst from Scream Tail which is pretty funny. Icicle Crash is a necessary evil over Ice Spinner as a non-contact move that bypasses Fluffy. You can go back-and-forth between HDB Adapt and LO Magic Guard; Magic Guard avoids Helmet chip and Toxic while HDB helps against Webs. Was originally LO with Adaptability and was shifted to Boots later. LO Adapt definitely still works and nets you some ridiculous numbers like potentially 2HKOing non-Intimidate Corv with Rocks up. It just forces Pao to be used much more frequently and aggressively before it drowns in passive damage.
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 SpA / 0 Spe
- Knock Off
- Haze
- Roost
- Flip Turn
Severely underrated IMO. Volt Absorb Emp slots in as the Electric, Psychic, and Fairy check as well as a pretty fair catch-all special hit taker due to how difficult it is to hit super-effectively for most special attackers. Notably absolutely stonewalls Zapdos. Emp does not need to take up the Regenerator slot due to a recovery move in Roost, allowing Tusk to have Regen instead, forming a very self-sufficient pair with excellent longevity and boatloads of utility between them. Emp escapes passivity whenever it comes in despite this set not being able to damage anything worth squat due to always threatening long-term progress with Knock or pivoting out. Knocking Assault Vests notably makes Deo much more dangerous. Haze is a blanket response to anything like Crown, Prim, or Scream Tail that may otherwise be able to brute force their way through Emp by using it as setup fodder. Roar could definitely be used as well as a similar option to pseudo-break Substitutes and scout sets, but the team lacks Spikes to really take advantage of the shuffling and Haze seals the deal against last 'Mon situations. You can try fitting Surf somewhere in there, but it's pretty unlikely it's something you'd want to click over anything else. Could run Boots, but Lefties help a lot in setup-Haze wars.
Moltres @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Desolate Land
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Weather Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- U-turn
All-in-one FWG answer and that rounds out the defensive backbone by handling the grassy and watery physical attacks that Emp and Tusk can't and fitting out the team's resists, where the combination of Molt, Emp, and Tusk resists every type in the game. Molt has much higher punch power than something like Pecharunt while still having excellent immunities to Ground and Water, being an actual Fighting resist, and answering Volt Absorb Corviknight. Wisp is a catch-all click that almost always accomplishes something. Scorching Sands can also be considered to partially replicate the effect while letting Molt respond to most Iron Moth. Weather Ball vs Flamethrower just generally comes down to whether you want to bypass Bulletproof or Primordial Sea. Speed investment outruns Modest Prim so Molt can safely U-turn against it in any case.
Meowscarada @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Flower Trick
- Knock Off
- Trick
- U-turn
Meow backs up Deo in speed control as a Scarfer a la Scarf Moon: hits fast and hard, checks opposing Deo, pivots. Meow has the distinct advantage of outrunning and threatening every other common Scarfer in the tier. The centerpiece of the set, and why Meow finds its way onto the team over Moon, winds up being Trick; it gives Meow a massive wrench to throw at bulkier structures it'd otherwise thud uselessly into as well as be a blanket check to setup sweepers by pigeonholing them into something you can respond to. Because Meow and Pao share counters, a common win condition is engineering situations where Meow lures in and forces a Trick on a shared response like Corv who is then sacked over the course of the game or sets their own trap by locking into a move that gives Pao a free SD, with either route opening Pao up to take the game. Trick does require a bit more caution when it lands against a target, as Knock clicks with Emp have to be much more precise and purposed.
AAA is also cool because it's a tier where Scarf Meow is actually a good set.
Great Tusk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Earthquake
- Body Press
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
Blanket physical check that sticks around with Regenerator. Regen gives Tusk the liberty to play much more recklessly and aggressively, taking a hit from something like Boulder, Meow, Mamo, or Pao in order to remove them and heal off the damage. The longevity of Regen also allows Tusk to both set and remove hazards multiple times over the course of a game, and lets it gain a lot more mileage out of Helmet by being able to come in and get hit more. Regen Tusk alongside Moltres is also an important agent of counterplay against CB SoR Zamazenta even if it gets 2HKOd by CC, scouting out its initial move and pivoting out or staying in depending on whether CC or Stone Edge was clicked, healing off the damage to replicate the interaction later. Rocks were fitted on Tusk instead of Emp in order to let Emp run Haze and be able to click Flip and Knock more often. Tusk is also naturally far less passive and tends to switch in more times per game. Headlong Rush gets some pretty nice rolls against stuff like Pech and Prim, but is also contact and makes you more fragile. Speed is the same as Moltres and hits 220 for Modest Prim, and is also good insurance for being able to outspeed any given defensive Pech.
Threats:
Entei
Public enemy number one. This thing is an absolute nightmare when it actually shows up. It's a physical Fire that Moltres is incapable of checking because of Stone Edge and forces Tusk to eat burns, severely impeding all its capabilities to respond to it. Pixilate ESpeed picks off both Pao and Meow. The gameplan becomes quite contingent on keeping Deo out of ESpeed range to KO it after chipping it with Tusk somehow. Boots sets are especially nasty.
Bulky Spikes
Spikes when backed by Pech and the occasional Sinistcha are incredibly difficult to Spin against. Deo and Meow are put on timers and Emp has to give up more turns to heal off damage. Pao becomes very overloaded in this regard. The Spikes teams in AAA aim to play the longer game, so it has to become a matter of winning before Spikes tear you apart.
That's just about it. AAA has been a very enjoyable metagame, much more so than current OU somehow (ahem, no Tera, ahem). It's a very charming meta where cool 'Mons like Meow and Empoleon are actually pretty useful.
Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
