Bye Bye Bisharp (Bulky offense, currently peaking at ~1700)

[Insorak]

Introduction
(Updated 3/21)

The concept for this team originally came about from my frustration at the Dark-type moves that were being spammed in the current metagame. In particular, I wanted to create a team that could easily deal with LO Bisharp and LO Greninja -- but without my opponent realizing that it could. For a long time I thought about what pokes and what sets I could use to achieve these two goals, and one day, as I was wasting endless hours browsing through old DPP sets, the answer came to me.

Mew.

(Bear with me for the Mew section; I know it's absurdly long but I have a lot to say about this Pokemon. The rest of the RMT is slightly more concise. If you're that kind of guy, here's a tl;dr: Mew can beat Bisharp and Greninja one on one, and its bulk is underrated and ridiculous and PRAISE COLBUR)

At this point you might think it's ludicrous that I can be at 1700 using Mew as an answer to Greninja and Bisharp. So without further ado, I present you not the ferocious sweeper or fearsome wallbreaker of my team, but the quiet yet so ridiculously important utility check that holds it all together.

old set

Mew @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 68 Atk / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Superpower

Mew @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 196 HP / 248 Def / 48 Atk / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Superpower

Say hello to my new favorite lure of all time. I can't even begin to explain how much confusion, rage, and just general unease this set has caused my opponents, because who expects Mew to be anything except Bisharp fodder? Responses have varied from "physical attacking mew wow you are trash" to "dont sass me when ur getting ur ass kicked" (who I managed to sweep by turn 14) to "omg wtf gg".

The usage of Defog needs no explanation. Roost is included for longevity, since this Mew set has no Leftovers recovery. Knock Off is an excellent utility move overall and reduces the effectiveness of the tanks and status absorbers that like to switch in. (I once Knocked Off a tank's Lum Berry, followed by the tank using Toxic on me, and thereby poisoning itself via Synchronize.) Superpower is the move of choice of this set because, let's be real -- a "guaranteed OHKO" with Focus Blast is, in reality, only a 70% chance to OHKO (and usually feels more like 40%). The stat drops that come with Superpower are unfortunate, but no other move will work on this set.

Synchronize is a garbage ability overall but has niche uses with Synchronizing Toxic and Thunder Wave. Obviously, its main shortcoming is that it is usually only useful once (the rare exceptions are freezing and Hypnosis or Dark Void induced sleep). I would have preferred another ability but I'll take what I can get!

I trust that at this point, the function of this set is clearer, but let me fully explain its purpose with the calcs below.

Bisharp
Talking to people in the OU chat room made me realize that Jolly maximum Speed Bisharp is much more common than I thought -- it was the most used (~21%) Bisharp EV spread in February. Formerly I didn't think it was important that this Mew beat Jolly Bisharp every time -- and now I do. The EV distribution has been adjusted accordingly. 196 HP / 248+ Def allows Mew to survive a +2 Knock Off from Jolly LO Bisharp (by one hit point!). Adamant Sucker Punch is considerably weaker than this, and so Mew survives it with plenty of room to spare. 16 Speed EVs are necessary and non-negotiable, in order to outspeed Adamant maximum Speed Bisharp and never die to Knock off. 48 Attack EVs are not necessary for Bisharp, but rather for Greninja.

It's definitely worth noting that the EVs are balanced on a razor's edge non-negotiable. Changing any EVs even by 4 will create a chance (albeit a slight one) for this set to fail at its mission.

48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 360-428 (107.7 - 128.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• 252 HP Bisharp is cleanly OHKOed, so obviously the standard 32/0 and 4/0 sets would be as well. At -1, the numbers look less good; 32 HP Bisharp will likely not be OHKOed but will take significant damage.

• What can Bisharp do back? Against this set, honestly not a whole lot. The EVs are carefully crafted to specifically win against all possible Bisharp sets. 16 Speed EVs allows Mew to outspeed max speed Adamant Bisharp. The defensive investment allows it to avoid the OHKO from the Jolly Bisharp that do happen to outspeed it, as well as never dying to Adamant LO Bisharp's Sucker Punch.
  
  +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 196 HP / 248+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 263-309 (67.4 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [Adamant Bisharp, who will never outspeed]
  +2 252 Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 196 HP / 248+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 289-341 (74.1 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [Jolly Bisharp, which outspeeds but (barely!) doesn't OHKO]

All these calcs assume +2, with Life Orb. If Bisharp is any lower than +2 and holding anything else, the calcs don't matter because Mew will win every time.

For people trying to use this set (I've seen at least two or three on the ladder today, and I honestly feel really honored and flattered!), here's an important thing that probably seems obvious but is easy to forget in practice: this set is a lure. This set is not a Bisharp counter. It is a solid Bisharp check, but it cannot switch in and win. You must come in on a KO, double switch, slow U-Turn, or whatever you desire -- losing Colbur Berry makes Mew unable to tank the subsequent hit. Even more optimally, Superpower Bisharp on the switch and use Colbur Berry to tank another Dark move.

old calcs

68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 372-440 (133.3 - 157.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

• Standard 32 HP Bisharp is cleanly OHKOed by Superpower. Even at -1, Superpower still has a 31.3% chance to pop the power ranger, which is not perfect, but still wonderful, considering that this is at -1.
  • 252 HP Bisharp will never be OHKOed at -1, unfortunately, but since both 252 HP Bisharp and trying to KO Bisharp at -1 are uncommon occurrences, this minor inadequacy sits with me just fine.

• What Bisharp can do back: Against this set, not a whole lot, honestly. The standard 224 Bisharp set is outsped and OHKOed by Superpower, and cannot OHKO back even at +2:
  
  +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 96+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 298-352 (73.7 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 96+ Def Mew: 298-352 (73.7 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (same base power after Colbur Berry)

• The speed investment guarantees that Adamant Bisharp will never outspeed Mew, which is why a Knock Off calculation was not included above. However, while uncommon, max+ Speed Bisharp's Knock Off will outspeed and has a chance of OHKOing:
  
  +2 252 Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 308-364 (76.2 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
  
  Again, this scenario is quite uncommon and the chance to OHKO is fairly low, so I am not overly concerned about this.

All of these calcs assume that Bisharp is at +2 with Life Orb. If it is any lower than +2 or even holding Dread Plate instead of Life Orb, Mew will beat it one on one every time.

Greninja
Compared to the old set, which had full HP investment, this set is considerably less Specially bulky. It also loses the ability to always OHKO 4/0 LO Greninja after one round of recoil. The trade-off was unfortunate, but no amount of EV optimization could change the simple fact that more EVs had to be allocated to the defensive stats. Thus, I settled for the next best thing: guaranteed OHKO after rocks. It's worth noting that 48 EVs has a fairly high chance to OHKO after one round of LO recoil anyways; it's just not certain, like it was before.

48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 252-298 (88.1 - 104.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

• Guaranteed OHKO after rocks, highly probable OHKO after LO recoil. Not much about this calc that hasn't been discussed above.

• What can Greninja do back? LO Greninja will lose to this set almost every time. Its Protean Dark Pulse will do a hefty chunk of damage, but will certainly not KO:
  
  252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Colbur Berry Mew: 144-172 (36.9 - 44.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  
  It's worth noting two things here. Firstly, despite what the calculator says, this is not a 3HKO, but rather a 2HKO -- for the simple reason that after the first hit, you don't have Colbur Berry anymore. Secondly, if Greninja happens to not die to Superpower, it will be so low that it will KO itself via LO recoil on the next turn if it does not switch out.

• What about non-LO'd variants? Ironically, they actually perform better due to the lack of recoil. The Expert Belt set is not guaranteed to be KOed by Superpower without Rocks, and can 2HKO fairly comfortably:
  
  252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Colbur Berry Mew: 133-158 (34.1 - 40.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 266-317 (68.2 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  
  This is one weakness of the set. However, I find this weakness acceptable for several reasons. Firstly, additional Attack investment would not allow this Mew to beat all offensive Bisharp sets one on one, which is its primary purpose. Furthermore, Expert Belt Greninja does not have any means of recovery, and therefore will be debilitatingly weakened by Superpower. Finally, a switch-in will have a much easier time tanking two Dark Pulses and KOing a 12% Greninja than it will a 100% one. Thus, I find this shortcoming of the set to be unfortunate but acceptable.

• Lefties Greninja is pathetically weak and is not even guaranteed a 2HKO.
  
  252 SpA Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Colbur Berry Mew: 111-132 (28.4 - 33.8%) -- 0.6% chance to 3HKO252 SpA Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 222-264 (56.9 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  
  If Rocks aren't up, Mew has a very minuscule chance of being 2HKOed, while either KOing or seriously damaging Greninja in return. If rocks do happen to be up, Mew has a harder time. I'm considering running Vacuum Wave for scenarios like this and the previous, but am hesitant because I feel as if that would make the set too specialized and not have enough utility overall. Thoughts?

old calcs

68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 258-304 (90.2 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

• 68 Atk EVs guarantees the OHKO on LO Greninja after one round of Life Orb recoil and has a higher-than-Scald-burn-rate chance to OHKO anyways. Previously I had 184 Atk EVs to cleanly OHKO 4/0 Greninja; however, I've decided that the ability to beat almost all conceivable Bisharp one on one is more important than this OHKO. Thus, despite the existence of Lefties Greninja (which IMO is terrible), I've traded the Attack investment for more overall bulk (and a bit of speed).

• What Greninja can do back: With Colbur Berry on, even LO Greninja's Dark Pulse does a pathetic amount (and is immediately wiped by Superpower):
  
  252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Colbur Berry Mew: 144-172 (35.6 - 42.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

• Okay, you say, LO Greninja's guaranteed to be OHKOed. What about non-LO? The only viable non-LO set in my opinion is Expert Belt, and it stands a small chance of beating this one on one:
  
  252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Colbur Berry Mew: 133-158 (32.9 - 39.1%)
  252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 266-317 (65.8 - 78.4%)
  
  Mew will win even this one on one a more than respectable amount of the time, if rocks aren't up. Lefties calcs are not worth showing because it will never 2HKO with Dark Pulse.

The Others
Those were the most relevant calcs, the ones that in my opinion justify my usage of this set. Here are some others that are kind of nice as well:

• 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 256-304 (63.3 - 75.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 336-396 (83.1 - 98%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

• 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 256-304 (74.8 - 88.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock -- this set is becoming increasingly common as a DDtar set and the massive damage Mew can inflict on this is great
  • 252+ Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 196 HP / 248+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 124-147 (31.7 - 37.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage

• 48 Atk Mew Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 97-115 (13.7 - 16.3%)
  • 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Chansey: 360-424 (51.1 - 60.2%) -- okay, so Mew's not breaking through Chansey any time soon, but this damage (and the utility that comes from removing Eviolite) is significant and could feasibly change the outcome of a battle.

• 252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 196 HP / 248+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 142-168 (36.4 - 43%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • Knock Off does miserable damage and Superpower OHKOs Weavile twice over.

• 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 198-234 (61.3 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • 252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion X-Scissor vs. -1 196 HP / 248+ Def Mew: 282-332 (72.3 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
    
  • Superpower is nowhere near a OHKO and even the 2HKO is not guaranteed; however, the Superpower-damage-on-Terrakion calc is still relevant because barring Stone Edge (or generalized) hax, Terrakion cannot even 2HKO Mew with anything but Banded X-Scissor without a Superpower defense drop, allowing Mew to 2HKO on the switch.

• 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 274-324 (64.6 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

• 48 Atk Mew Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Deoxys-S: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • The damage itself is not particularly impressive, but Mew can wear down Deoxys-S, even stalling out Recover if necessary due to Knock Off's massive 40 PP. Deoxys-S cannot significantly damage Mew with any of its ordinary movesets, and Mew can simply Roost off chip damage and Defog away any hazards and screens the space virus might have left behind.

• 48 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 198-234 (60.9 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • Hydreigon is an uncommon but massively underrated threat in my opinion, and being able to severely damage it definitely matters.

old calcs

• 68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 260-308 (64.3 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

• 68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Tyranitar: 260-308 (76 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
  • 252+ Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 132-156 (32.6 - 38.6%)

• 68 Atk Mew Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 99-117 (14 - 16.6%)
  • 68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Chansey: 366-432 (51.9 - 61.3%)
    
  • It won't 2HKO with Superpower due to the Attack drop, but this is a lot more than chip damage. It's worth noting that any Chansey carrying Toxic will be forced out due to Synchronize, while Mew Roosts off Toxic and Seismic Toss damage.

• 252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Colbur Berry Mew: 152-179 (37.6 - 44.3%)
  • I've seen a ton of Weavile around lately and this calc makes me really happy. It goes without saying that Superpower will OHKO Weavile, twice over.

• 68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 204-240 (62.9 - 74%)
  • This is nowhere near an OHKO but still quite relevant, considering that non-banded X-Scissor hits harder than Stone Edge and doesn't even 2HKO

• 68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 280-330 (77.3 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • This is big since 252+ Atk Earthquake fails to OHKO at -1 Def.

• 68 Atk Mew Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Deoxys-S: 164-194 (53.9 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • Deo-S can't touch Mew with any of its commonly used sets, including the increasingly popular LO SR + 3 attacks. Mew can simply spam Knock Off, then Defog away any hazards and screens.

• 68 Atk Mew Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 204-240 (62.7 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
  • Even with the Attack drop, Superpower will still OHKO 0/0 Hydreigon.
  • 252 SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Colbur Berry Mew: 151-178 (37.3 - 44%)
    
  • 252 SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mew: 246-289 (60.8 - 71.5%)

I'm probably boring all of you to death by now, so on to the rest of the RMT! Since the primary goal of this Mew set is to eliminate Bisharp and Greninja, any Pokemon that appreciate them gone would obviously be a good fit for this team:

Offensive Buddies

Aegislash @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Ball
- Iron Head
- King's Shield

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Psychic
- Calm Mind

I've enjoyed tag teaming these guys since the beginning of XY. Aegislash is just an amazing pivot and mixed attacker, and they have great offensive synergy and pretty good type synergy together. Aegislash enjoys Greninja gone because although it can switch into some Protean Dark Pulses or Hydro Pumps, it does not like doing so repeatedly. Lacking Sacred Sword, it also cannot touch Bisharp at all. Landorus can actually comfortably survive Bisharp's +0 LO Sucker Punch, but again, will fall to it repeatedly. The sand genie also cannot do anything to Greninja whatsoever.

The sets are pretty standard fare. Iron Head is chosen over Sacred Sword on Aegislash due to the ability to wreck Clefable and Togekiss, while still maintaining great damage on all Tyranitar variants. Sacred Sword itself is also less necessary due to how well Mew can deal with Bisharp and other Dark-types. This is the first time I've used Crumbler with King's Shield, but I have to say, I actually quite like it due to its ability to let him stay in for extended periods of time. The mindgame potential is also very strong; I can't count how many times I've seen Megatar DD only to be met with an Iron Head KO.

Landorus is also running a fairly typical set. Sludge Wave and Psychic are used over Focus Blast because on this Calm Mind set and for this team, the ability to cover fairies and Mega Venusaur is more important than Focus Blast's coverage. The only real time Focus Miss might come in handy would be against Chansey, who this Landorus just uses as setup fodder. It's also worth noting that a +3 Earth Power will always 2HKO Chansey, so Lando will usually win out even if Chansey carries Toxic.

Also, fuck Chansey.

Aegislash's an amazing mixed pivot throughout the entire game and is played as I see fit every battle. Landorus is played more carefully, usually as a late-game sweeper. I trust everyone who might comment on this RMT knows what Crumbler can do, but maybe not all of you are familiar with the behemoth that is CM Landorus:

• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Manaphy: 341-402 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Venusaur: 387-458 (106.3 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO (which is absurd)
  
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 429-507 (103.6 - 122.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Rotom-W: 166-196 (54.6 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
  • Only Specs Rotom-W's Hydro Pump can OHKO back at +1 SpD
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 192-227 (63.5 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
  • Neither Surf nor Draco Meteor will OHKO +1 Landorus
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Togekiss: 317-374 (84.7 - 100%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
  
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 372-439 (94.4 - 111.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
  • It will win even against Unaware Clefable, since Unaware Clefable does not generally carry moves that can 2HKO Landorus
• +1 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Scizor: 341-402 (99.1 - 116.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

You get the idea. This thing hits like a truck. And I'm sure you're all familiar with how hard Lando hits even without a boost.

At this point I'm realizing that this team probably wants something that can sponge fast hits, as well as a rocks setter. To that end, I introduce a poke that I've only recently gotten to know, but have had surprisingly good results with.

The Tank Line

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Avalanche
- Earthquake
- Focus Punch

Rhyperior's gotten a lot of hate for being slow, having an absolutely terrible Special Defense, and possessing two 4x weaknesses. However, if you try to play any Pokemon to its weaknesses, you will obviously have consistently terrible results, and for some reason nobody comments on Rhyperior's numerous strengths, including being the most consistent Talonflame counter I have ever used. Its physical bulk is simply unreal:

• 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rhyperior: 93-111 (21.4 - 25.5%)
  
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solid Rock Rhyperior: 216-257 (49.7 - 59.2%)
  
• 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solid Rock Rhyperior: 195-231 (44.9 - 53.2%)
  
• 252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solid Rock Rhyperior: 220-261 (50.6 - 60.1%)
  
• +1 252+ Atk Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rhyperior: 262-310 (60.3 - 71.4%)
  
• 252+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solid Rock Rhyperior: 144-171 (33.1 - 39.4%)

In return, Rhyperior can OHKO Garchomp, Staraptor, and Dragonite (straight through Multiscale for 4/0 Dragonite, which is almost unheard of using unSTAB moves -- in comparison, 252+ Atk Rhyperior's STAB Stone Edge hits for 72% max) with Avalanche, OHKO Bisharp with Earthquake, and severely damage the others. Rhyperior's astounding physical attacking power, reaching 416 Attack with 252+ investment, cannot be ignored. Finally, although it has garbage Special Defense, its huge HP stat helps redeem that somewhat, that in combination with a great ability in Solid Rock lets it tank super effective coverage moves surprisingly well. For instance, Timid Leftovers Thundurus does 41% max with HP Ice, and defensive Heatran can fail to 2HKO with Earth Power.

The EVs are standard for a physical tank with a base stat distribution like Rhyperior's.

The moveset might seem a little odd but functions extremely well both due to the amazing coverage provided by Avalanche and Earthquake and the surprise factor from using Avalanche itself, as not many people seem to realize that Rhyperior gets it. Avalanche allows Rhyperior to beat not only Garchomp and Dragonite, but also Landorus-T and Gliscor, two Pokemon that it would otherwise have a lot of trouble with. Focus Punch is used to take advantage of certain switches that Rhyperior can force, and hits as hard as STAB Earthquake. Standard physically defensive Rotom-W, a common switch-in, takes 59% minimum, for instance. In addition, Focus Punching on the Roost lets Rhyperior defeat Mandibuzz in conjunction with Avalanche without having to rely on Stone Edge's miss chance and low PP.

Unfortunately, other than countering Talonflame, Rhyperior's defensive typing is kind of garbage and doesn't have much else to offer. It does get a nice Electric immunity, which is helpful occasionally -- most notably against the Thundurus formes, as Rhyperior gets a free switch-in against any who do not carry Grass Knot.

In this meta, giving Rotom-Wash a free switch is never a good thing -- that's like half the reason for running Focus Punch on this set! It's never a bad idea to have a switch-in to that annoying WoW, or to status in general, so let me introduce...

The Other Tank Line

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off

This set is standard to the point of boredom and mostly self-explanatory, but it's exactly what my team needs. Switching in on Hydro Pump or Will-o-Wisp is extremely comfortable, and from there Conkeldurr can proceed to Knock Off or Drain Punch to his heart's content. Conkeldurr and Mew serve as a surprisingly good defensive Knock Off core, and it's not uncommon for me to have knocked off more than three of the opponent's items in a game.

This guy's job is to be the tank we know and hate, and get in everyone's face (and items). This team needs a solid status absorber because nobody on it likes being poisoned, burned, or paralyzed, and Guts Conkeldurr is an excellent candidate. It's also great at forcing in Togekiss so that I can grab a free Landorus switch-in.

And now, the last Pokemon. The team thus far has no Water resists -- and a bunch of Pokemon that hate it. The bulky offensive nature of this team calls for the not-dragon that we've loved since Generation I:

THE OBLIGATORY DRAGON THINGY

------>

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 Spd / 252 Atk / 8 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Welcome to the ferocious monster known as Megados. Intimidate as an ability is just fantastic for bulky offense, and allows Gyarados to switch into some super effective physical moves, as well as soften up other setup sweepers a little. Unfortunately it can't hold Lefties since it's holding a Gyaradosite, significantly reducing its bulk in longer games.

Though mega evolving removes Intimidate, Mold Breaker, uh, breaks through certain major threats, such as Rotom-W and the Latis. The mega evolution also removes its quadruple Electric weakness, allowing it to survive things like STAB Volt Switches and get Dragon Dances off.

EV investment is fairly self-explanatory for a physical setup sweeper. 248 Speed allows Megados to outspeed max+ base 128 Speed Pokemon at +1. I am in general not concerned about winning the speed tie with other Gyarados because if I am switching in on one, it will more likely than not already have a Dragon Dance speed boost. As far as OU relevant threats go, this includes Greninja, Talonflame, Weavile, Tornadus, Alakazam, and everything slower. At +2, Megados outspeeds base 108 Scarfers -- most notably Keldeo and Terrakion and less commonly Infernape, who would otherwise easily revenge kill it. It only requires 248 EVs for these two tasks; sacrificing 4 Speed gives up the guaranteed outspeeding of max+ Speed Meloetta-P (which is clearly a relevant OU threat) for the speed tie instead. Any other amount of Speed investment is either unnecessary or falls short of the second benchmark. The remaining 8 EVs ensure that regular Gyarados can switch into Stealth Rock five times if necessary, while providing marginally more bulk than 0 EVs does (it could matter, just look at the damage calcs for Mew up there!). Adamant is the nature of choice for maximum damage output.

Megados is a particularly good sweeper for this team which, in the late game, might not have enough power to stop an Unaware Clefable sweep. Mold Breaker is an exceptional and underrated ability and ensures that Unaware will not be enough to stop Megados. In addition to serving that role, it serves to KO the Latis and all Rotom formes through Levitate, and destroys Dragonite with Stone Edge.

Megados is walled mainly Grass types, especially the few Grass/Fighting ones. Chesnaught is especially problematic since it is also immune to Aegislash's Shadow Ball. Landorus serves to complement this weakness very nicely.

Team Weaknesses

• Mega Charizard Y is easily the biggest threat to that team. For some reason, all the ones I've come across run Flamethrower over Fire Blast, and that's the only way I managed to muscle past them (Fire Blast is a clean OHKO a solid 2HKO on AV Conkeldurr in sun, while Flamethrower is not). Landorus outspeeds and does like 46% min with Sludge Wave, and regular Gyarados can try to Stone Edge (but it can't even switch in!), but these are the only real answers I have. Everything else is either OHKOed by one of its coverage moves, or not fast enough to make an impact on it. (I do not consider Charizard X a threat to my team as it can be easily stopped by Conkeldurr, Landorus, or Gyarados and, if necessary, cleaned up with Shadow Sneak.)
  • Potential Solution: Replace Rhyperior with a SR tank Tyranitar set. Sand Stream will cancel out Charizard's sun, forcing it to come back in to do anything. Tyranitar can also run an identical moveset to the Rhyperior one listed here, albeit with a considerably weaker Earthquake. The obvious downside of this is that I will have to deal with my own Sandstorm, which is mostly a hindrance to Megados's longevity. Another solution is to use Drizzle Politoed, but Toed can't fill anywhere near the same role that Tyranitar does. Rain will power up Gyarados's Waterfall but it will also exacerbate my team's already big Water weakness.

• Speaking of water weaknesses, my team seems to have one in general. It does fine against frailer water types, such as Keldeo; however, bulky hard-hitting waters have been giving it a ton of trouble. The most notable offenders are Specs Rotom-W, which essentially 2HKOs my entire team, and CM / Rain Dance Manaphy, which only Landorus even has a chance of 2HKOing, and has the coverage and staying power to potentially dismantle my team.
  • Potential Solution: Difficult. Water is a pretty tricky attacking type to stop. Switching Rhyperior for Tyranitar again may help, but even Tyranitar doesn't like switching into Hydro Pump all day. To be totally honest I'm not totally sure what options I have with respect to this.

• Fast powerful Scarfers. My bulky offense team doesn't have the speed to keep up with that kind of attacker. If they have good enough coverage moves, they can literally run circles around me as I try fruitlessly to KO them. I haven't come across one yet but Scarf Keldeo would completely destroy everything on this team except Gyarados.
  • Potential Solution: Honestly, aside from running Deoxys-S or a fast Scarf of my own, I don't really see anything I can do about this without changing a lot about the team. This is where bulky offense fails, I guess.

• Opposing Landorus. For all the reasons Landorus is such a good fit on my team, an enemy Landorus could potentially tear it to pieces. This one is less serious because I can speed tie with my own genie, as well as predict Earth Powers and switch in fliers, but the weakness is there. Beating enemy Landorus heavily depends on me outplaying.

• Most walls don't give the team too much trouble because it has a lot of firepower and fairly good coverage, but Skarmory is a bit of a jerk. The only way I have to seriously damage it is to nail it with Aegi's Shadow Ball. Again, can be played around, but any suggestions are welcome.

• Chansey has given this team problems historically. Although it has two strong setup users that can rapidly break through it, neither of them like being poisoned or repeatedly subjected to Seismic Toss; the rest of the team has a lot of trouble breaking through it if its Eviolite is not removed (Rhyperior's Focus Punch up to 84% even with Eviolite attached, but if Chansey knows Seismic Toss, the scenario becomes a 50/50 prediction and the Chansey user will not fall for it again).

• Finally, Mega Venusaur has proven to be quite the pain to deal with! Landorus at +0 can 2HKO most variants,

Sorry this turned out to be really long! It's my first RMT, so let me know if I did anything wrong. Any suggestions and comments and criticisms are welcome, both about the team and about the RMT itself.

Cheers, Smogon. :)

changelog

3/21. Fully optimized Mew's EV spread to be able to legitimately beat every offensive Bisharp. Tweaked Gyarados's EV spread to reduce Stealth Rock damage and moved 4 unnecessary Speed EVs. Added Chansey and Megasaur to team weaknesses.

3/20. Initial RMT posted.

3/18. Idea for team drafted. Team was created and playtested, eventually bringing me up to 1700 ELO.

 

[Jaroda]

Honestly this is a very good team with some nice ingenuity, particularly with Mew, which I'm tempted to steal lol. Indeed, Water and fast special moves in general are trouble for you as well as speed. Might I suggest replacing Rhyperior for Excadrill? With Mold Breaker you have a new weapon against Rotom-W and are still able to lay down rocks, as well as spin. This could actually free up a spot for Mew over Defog like with Will o Wisp. WoW let's you play around Sucker Punch and really extend Mews longevity and can prove useful against other threats like a slower Landorus T for example. The issue with Excadrill is that he can't switch into Water or Fire, and he needs a scarf to outspeed CharY and nail him with Rock Slide, which does not work well with Stealth Rock. So consider a Rapid Spin scarfed Excadrill and putting Stealth Rock on Mew instead. There's also specially defensive Tentacruel who resists Water, Fire and Fighting so he's great against CharY and Keldeo. He can use Giga Drain on Keldeo or simply Toxic either of them, but he doesn't mitigate your Landorus issue. And if you have trouble with Skarmory try Taunt on Gyarados. Skarmory now at best has Brave Bird and if not you get more turns to dance to the point you should be able to take care of him with Waterfall with the help of stealth rock

 

[[Le] Butler]

for the MGyarados you might want to replace SE for ice-fang, since it hits these grass types good and also hits d-nite harder (x4)
Other than that, very nice team you have there, Sir

 

[TheCamelDude]

for gyarados, run the last 4 in sp.def, not hp. trust me, its b/c u have no hp recovery, having 0 hp evs = odd hp = damage rounds down, giving u a chance to survive w/ 1 hp. its a rare occurrence, but when it happens, ull thank me. also, i like to run rock polish on landorus instead of calm mind and focus blast over sludge wave (of course i take risks a lot, but...) anyway, if u have rock polish, u can easily outspeed greninja if they bring it in after u set up, and honestly, lando doesnt need calm mind to make easy kos. on rhyperior, i dont recommend focus punch. unless you have sub, its such a risk even i wouldnt do it. for aegislash, i dont know about spooky plate. if you try weakness policy, air balloon, or leftovers (my personal choice), it might be better. also if you run flash cannon over shadow ball and sacred sword over iron head, you can have it using steel, ghost, AND fighting moves, thus creating better coverage.

this is just my advice, so you can take it or leave it

 

[8-BIT Luster]

Solid, solid team here.
The Mew set is unique and pretty great.
However, I do have a few changes.
Firstly, Gyro Ball>Iron Head on Aegislash. Running 0 speed IVs and a -Speed nature means you won't be flinching anything, so why not run a move with far more power? The low PP is kind of bad, but it hits like a truck. (Spooky Plate still works for an item)
Second, Tyranitar>Rhyperior. This helps mitigate your Ice weakness while at the same time providing some indirect damage to the opponent. However, TTAr won't enjoy taking water hits despite the SpDef boost it receives in sand.
I never use CM+ 3 attacks Landorus, but it seems to work so keep that.
Conk is fine.
Lastly, use Ice Fang> Stone Edge on Mega Gyarados. This provides better coverage.

 

[Insorak]

Thank you all for your overwhelmingly positive reception of my Mew set!! I legitimately did not expect it to be this well received and I am really just humbled and floored by your praise.

Indeed, Water and fast special moves in general are trouble for you as well as speed. Might I suggest replacing Rhyperior for Excadrill? With Mold Breaker you have a new weapon against Rotom-W and are still able to lay down rocks, as well as spin. This could actually free up a spot for Mew over Defog like with Will o Wisp. WoW let's you play around Sucker Punch and really extend Mews longevity and can prove useful against other threats like a slower Landorus T for example. The issue with Excadrill is that he can't switch into Water or Fire, and he needs a scarf to outspeed CharY and nail him with Rock Slide, which does not work well with Stealth Rock. So consider a Rapid Spin scarfed Excadrill and putting Stealth Rock on Mew instead.

Scarf Excadrill has actually been one of my favorite sets since the beginning of XY, boasting the ability to potentially OHKO Rotom-W (depending on EVs) and OHKO both Megazards with the appropriate move. I will definitely take this suggestion into consideration.

There's also specially defensive Tentacruel who resists Water, Fire and Fighting so he's great against CharY and Keldeo. He can use Giga Drain on Keldeo or simply Toxic either of them, but he doesn't mitigate your Landorus issue. And if you have trouble with Skarmory try Taunt on Gyarados. Skarmory now at best has Brave Bird and if not you get more turns to dance to the point you should be able to take care of him with Waterfall with the help of stealth rock

SpD Tentacruel has long been one of my favorite bulky waters to use, simply by virtue of its surprisingly good movepool (it gets Magic Coat!!), amazing speed for a defensive Pokemon, and obviously its great bulk. Interestingly enough, with full SpD investment it has a chance of avoiding the OHKO from Landorus even after rocks, which speaks volumes about its overall bulk.

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tentacruel: 289-343 (79.3 - 94.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
4 SpA Tentacruel Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 260-308 (81.2 - 96.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

I'm toying with the idea of Air Balloon Tentacruel but that's probably just awful. :P

Will definitely consider running Taunt though. I'll playtest it and see how it goes. I feel like Taunt on Pokemon like Gyarados, Tyranitar, and Haxorus is really underrated.

• for the MGyarados you might want to replace SE for ice-fang, since it hits these grass types good and also hits d-nite harder (x4)
• Lastly, use Ice Fang> Stone Edge on Mega Gyarados. This provides better coverage.

I can definitely see the wisdom in this. However, Stone Edge is an essential move, not for this set, but for my team as a whole, for one reason only: Mega Charizard Y. Without Stone Edge (and its shitty 50% accuracy), I have exceedingly few answers for Megazard Y.

Here's an idea that might be worth discussing: Rock Slide Conkeldurr. Losing the coverage of Ice Punch is unfortunate, as it no longer allows Conkeldurr to defeat its mortal enemies Landorus-T and Gliscor. However, it is a clean OHKO on all of Megazard Y, Talonflame, and physically bulky Volcarona. This is especially nice because all of these Pokemon are common switch-ins to Conkeldurr. Although losing Ice Punch coverage is unfortunate overall, the effects are somewhat mitigated by Rock Slide allowing it to hit Flying types, such as Dragonite, Mandibuzz, and Togekiss, just as hard. In this case I prefer Rock Slide over Stone Edge due to it having half the miss chance -- a miss here could be literally gamebreaking since Conkeldurr can only survive one sun-boosted Fire Blast, and the extra power is not needed to OHKO 4x weaknesses. Obviously, if I did this, I would switch Stone Edge on Megados to Ice Fang. Thoughts, anyone?

for gyarados, run the last 4 in sp.def, not hp.

Thank you for catching that!! I love numbers and usually pay attention to what every single one of my EVs are doing, but (uncharacteristically) forgot to give Gyarados a SR number.

also, i like to run rock polish on landorus instead of calm mind and focus blast over sludge wave (of course i take risks a lot, but...) anyway, if u have rock polish, u can easily outspeed greninja if they bring it in after u set up, and honestly, lando doesnt need calm mind to make easy kos.

Totally agree with all of this. I have used Rock Polish Landorus before and it is a beast of a cleaner. However, a cleaner isn't exactly what I'm looking for with the Landorus on this team. Calm Mind lets it assume its role as an answer to Megasaur much more readily in the mid-game, as well as allowing it to avoid several crucial OHKOs. For my purposes, Landorus doesn't have the bulk and doesn't always have the firepower to run Rock Polish on this team.

on rhyperior, i dont recommend focus punch. unless you have sub, its such a risk even i wouldnt do it.

I'm considering scrapping Focus Punch. The only reasons I hold onto it are that it lets me heavily dent Rotom-W, nearly KO Chansey, and win one on one with Mandibuzz. I'll get back to you guys on this one; Focus Punch is always sort of a mixed bag.

for aegislash, i dont know about spooky plate. if you try weakness policy, air balloon, or leftovers (my personal choice), it might be better. also if you run flash cannon over shadow ball and sacred sword over iron head, you can have it using steel, ghost, AND fighting moves, thus creating better coverage.

I personally am rather fond of the Aegislash set you stated, but it's not entirely suited for my aim of having it be a bulky pivot. This set doesn't necessarily require coverage to be effective; Shadow Ball and Iron Head hit almost everything they need to. The only Pokemon I would use Sacred Sword for on this set are Tyranitar, which takes significantly more than half from Iron Head, and Bisharp, who is the primary, uhh, victim of my team.

Firstly, Gyro Ball>Iron Head on Aegislash. Running 0 speed IVs and a -Speed nature means you won't be flinching anything, so why not run a move with far more power? The low PP is kind of bad, but it hits like a truck. (Spooky Plate still works for an item)

This seems to be true intuitively, but quite interestingly, the properties of opposing Pokemon themselves make this not actually optimal. Let's take a look at what Aegislash ideally is trying to hit with Iron Head: Clefable, Togekiss, Tyranitar, Chansey and Blissey (Iron Head's 24 PP has won me stall fests against the blobs, because Softboiled only has 16), Kyurem-B, and Sylveon. These are Iron Head's primary targets. Notice what all of them have in common: bulky Pokemon, either weak Defensively or weak to Iron Head, and slow. The strongest hit from Iron Head against any of these mons would be against Choice Scarf Tyranitar -- where it only outdamages Iron Head by one point! For all of the other mons on the list, it hits with half of Iron Head's base power, more or less. Even Mandibuzz, considered a fast wall, is only hit with a 43 base power Gyro Ball.

So why not use it against faster Pokemon? Simple. Faster Pokemon are frailer and more vulnerable to the Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak combination that make Crumbler so beautifully effective. In addition, many fast threats actually take more damage from the Ghost moves, whether it's because they resist Steel (Keldeo, Greninja, Talonflame) or because they are hit super effectively by Ghost (Gengar and the Latis -- it's worth noting that Aegislash can revenge kill Latios from as high as 83% health using Shadow Sneak). Overall, I feel like Iron Head is more worth it for the team; it is used for coverage and damage and the flinch chance is honestly mostly irrelevant.

Second, Tyranitar>Rhyperior. This helps mitigate your Ice weakness while at the same time providing some indirect damage to the opponent. However, TTAr won't enjoy taking water hits despite the SpDef boost it receives in sand.

Rhyperior has two primary roles in this team: to be a massive physical tank, and to be the very best Talonflame counter, that no one ever was. The only viable move Talonflame has to break through Rhyperior is Will-O-Wisp; a Passho Berry Nature Power (which is a 80 base power, 4x weakness move) does a pathetic 42% max. Tyranitar might be able to fulfill the mixed tank role with an Assault Vest, but it will never be as good at checking Talonflame, as Choice Banded U-Turn is a 2HKO after switching into Stealth Rock twice. I seriously considered Tyranitar for this team due to the Mega Charizard Y weakness and Sand Stream mitigating that hugely, but ultimately Rhyperior has a unique niche on this team that Tyranitar doesn't really fill. The only way Tyranitar could conceivably beat Talonflame is via Pursuit, and it must have a free switch-in for that to be viable.

Although I might not agree with all your suggestions I really love and appreciate that you all took the time to comment on my team, and it's really nice to see that it's been so well received! Please keep the ideas coming, no team is perfect and I know for a fact that there are improvements to be made to this one. You're all awesome!

 

[8-BIT Luster]

I keep forgetting gyro ball is a reverse electro ball. Keep iron head.

What I like using on TTar is Assault vest pursuit trapper.
Talonflame does not like taking base 80 power Stab moves, especially coming off of a tyranitar. If it switches it gets nuked. If it stays in, nuked. You could adapt the Smogon Special Gliscor set, running 184HP/252Atk/72Def set as AV TTar usually invests in HP and Atk anyways. However yo do lose Stealth Rock support...
And I'm not sure about rock slide on Conk. Seems solid. Have to run some tests.
The reason why I suggested ice fang is because you can't switch in on zardY with gyarados at all. It hits yo with a Solarbeam and Kos you on the turn you dd. So it only works with gyarados at plus-1 speed. Rhylerior is crazy solid though. Hope this helps

 

[Insorak]

Yeah, I know Gyarados can't switch in on Charizard. He can only revenge kill something with Stone Edge, which is suboptimal. I did end up putting Rock Slide on Conkeldurr, and it actually has a really nice surprise factor -- people will consistently switch stuff into it:

Turn 1
mchangye withdrew Landorus-Therian!
mchangye sent out Talonflame!
Conkeldurr used Rock Slide!
It's super effective! The opposing Talonflame lost 100% of its health!
The opposing Talonflame fainted!

I'm very interested in your AVtar idea, actually, because he has a Focus Punch and Avalanche of comparable power to Rhyperior (134 Attack as opposed to 140, though my AVtar might not run 252+). I'll be sure to test that out, though I'll be so sad to see Rhyperior go. I'm also considering switching to AV Rhyperior to help him tank Special hits better (252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Solid Rock Rhyperior: 102-121 (23.5 - 27.8%)), but I feel like the loss of Leftovers recovery would be significant. If I went either of these routes I would put Stealth Rock on Mew, most likely getting rid of Knock Off.

 

[Swami]

For Mega Gyrados, I wouldn't worry about getting outspeed by choice scarfers. The item has fallen from glory. Nobody really uses it anymore.

 

[Freddy_48]

I am here to say that I have seen this mew set on another team and it resulted in my greninja being destroyed. The one change that I could recommend is tyranitar over your current rypherior because they both have similar stats and typing.

Great team

 

[aVocado]

For Mega Gyrados, I wouldn't worry about getting outspeed by choice scarfers. The item has fallen from glory. Nobody really uses it anymore.

Except not really.

 

[Insorak]

To the Focus Punch haters, it's things like this that make it amazing:

Turn 5
You have 150 seconds to make your decision.

SLASHER, come back!

Go! MEGATNAK (Rhyperior)!

The opposing Magnezone used Hidden Power!
It's not very effective... MEGATNAK lost 15.0% of its health!
Turn 6
You have 150 seconds to make your decision.

MEGATNAK is tightening its focus!

HSNBRG withdrew Magnezone!

HSNBRG sent out Excadrill!
The opposing Excadrill breaks the mold!
The opposing Excadrill floats in the air with its Air Balloon!

MEGATNAK used Focus Punch!
It's super effective! The opposing Excadrill lost 100% of its health!
The opposing Excadrill's Air Balloon popped!

The game was mostly decided by that Focus Punch.

I did try replacing Rhyperior for Tyranitar, but it turns out that Tyranitar's physical bulk is really disappointing in comparison to Rhyperior's, more due to the lack of Solid Rock than anything else:

+2 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Solid Rock Rhyperior: 391-460 (90 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 136 Def Tyranitar: 530-626 (131.1 - 154.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

AVtar has considerably better special bulk, but by swapping Rhyperior out for Tyranitar I lose an extremely good Garchomp switch-in. I did end up switching Lefties on Rhyperior for AV, which actually has provided him a considerable amount of Special bulk. Check this out:

252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Solid Rock Rhyperior: 102-121 (23.5 - 27.8%) -- 85.2% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Heatran Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Solid Rock Rhyperior: 318-375 (73.2 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (I've seen a few of these running around)

Yeah, after an AV boost Rhyperior becomes ridiculously bulky on the Special side as well and can stomach nearly every unSTAB coverage move, even the 4x ones.

For Mega Gyrados, I wouldn't worry about getting outspeed by choice scarfers. The item has fallen from glory. Nobody really uses it anymore.

Scarfers are less common but by no means nonexistent, and my team is definitely still weak to them. (Mega) Gyarados is extremely vulnerable to Scarfers before, and even after, a boost.