[OVERVIEW]
- Solid defensive Pokemon in the tier that is able to check powerful Pokemon such as Sharpedo, Seismitoad, and Rhyperior.
- Can provide sleep support with Spore and stop fast Pokemon such as Aerodactyl and Durant with Stun Spore.
- Fairly slow, which means it will have to take a hit before doing anything when it's on the field.
- Can be lured in and crippled with super-effective coverage from Pokemon it is meant to check.
[SET]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Spore
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Clear Smog
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Stun Spore
item: Black Sludge
ability: Regenerator
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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- Spore provides ever-useful sleep and cripples threatening Pokemon such as Absol and Tyrantrum.
- Giga Drain allows it to check Water-types, 2HKOing Samurott, as well as OHKOing Sharpedo and Seismitoad, along with providing recovery if Amoonguss stays in.
- Sludge Bomb generally hits harder against Pokemon that don't resist it. It also has a fairly high chance to poison the foe, preventing it from using Amoonguss as setup fodder.
- Clear Smog is weaker and doesn't have a chance to poison the foe, but allows Amoonguss to not be setup fodder, as it resets all stat boosts, while Sludge Bomb generally does more damage to things that don't resist it.
- Hidden Power Fire lets Amoonguss at least harm Steel-types. It is weak, even if it hits super-effectively, but Amoonguss can at least not be forced to switch out.
- Synthesis can be used for recovery if you stay in, and Regenrator can offset its low PP. However, it is offset by being weakened by hail, which can be bad if Mega Abomasnow switches in.
- Stun Spore paralyzes fast Fire-types or Steel-types after something is put to sleep with Spore.
Set Details
========
- The given EVs and a Bold nature allow Amoonguss to have good mixed bulk, walling Pokemon such as Rotom-C and Tangrowth, as well as avoiding a 2HKO from Hitmonlee's High Jump Kick or from Sharpedo's Ice Fang, or the OHKO from special Samurott's Ice Beam or Durant's X-Scissor.
- Regenerator allows Amoonguss to heal itself reliably just by switching out, preventing it from getting worn down from entry hazards and weaker attacks.
- Black Sludge provides passive recovery, as well as deterring Trick from Pokemon such as Rotom-C or Medicham due to Black Sludge dealing damage.
Usage Tips
========
- Best used as a defensive pivot, due to being able to take hits from a lot of Pokemon and Regenerator healing it when it switches out.
- You can only put one Pokemon to sleep with Spore, so be wary and choose wisely which Pokemon you are going to put to sleep.
- After you use Spore, use Stun Spore whenever the opponent switches in a fast Fire-type such as Delphox or Flying-type such as Aerodactyl.
- Bring it in on Pokemon that can't do much to it, including Water-types such as Samurott and Sharpedo, Ground-types such as Rhyperior and Seismitoad, all of which Amoonguss can hit for good damage with Giga Drain, as well as Electric-types such as Jolteon and Rotom-C, which are frail and hit fairly hard by Sludge Bomb.
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- A second Pokemon with Regenerator such as Alomomola can form a core with Amoonguss, with Alomomola taking Fire- and Ice-type moves and Amoonguss taking Grass- and Electric-type moves.
- Rock-type Pokemon such as Rhyperior, Aggron and Tyrantrum can switch into Flying- and Fire-type moves aimed at Amoonguss, as well as take on Fire-types such as Houndoom, and Flying-types such as Fletchinder and Aerodactyl, while Amoonguss can switch into Fighting-, Water-, and Grass-type moves aimed at the Rock-types.
- Steel-types such as Mega Steelix and Aggron can take on Ice-types such as Mega Abomasnow as well as switch into Ice-type coverage moves such as Ice Beam from Samurott, while Amoonguss can switch into Fighting-, Water-, and Ground-type moves. The former can set up Stealth Rock to make Ice-types easier to check and the latter can also check Flying-types.
- Dark-types such as Absol, Houndoom, and Sneasel can switch into and deal with Psychic-types such as Meloetta and Slowking, while Amoonguss can switch into Fighting-type moves as well as some Bug-type moves.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- Amoonguss can run pure physically defensive or pure specially defensive spreads if you need to take hits better from specific Pokemon such as Absol or Exploud. However, this leave you more vulnerable to mixed attackers as well as no longer being able to check both physical and special attackers.
- Toxic can be used to cripple Pokemon that Amoonguss walls, such as Eelektross, Jellicent, and Alomomola. However, Amoonguss doesn't have the space for it, as if it is used over Hidden Power Fire, Amoonguss will not be able to actually hit Steel-types, and if used over Stun Spore, Amoonguss won't be able to deter fast Fire-types or Flying-types from switching in.
- Foul Play can hit strong physical attackers such as Durant, Sharpedo, and Aerodactyl. However, this is a subpar option due to the fact most of what Foul Play would hit has very high Defense, such as Tyrantrum, Rhyperior, and Aggron, or resists Dark, such as Emboar, Hitmonlee, and Absol.
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Most of these checks and counters can be crippled with Spore, making them fairly difficult to switch in until something else has been put to sleep.
**Ice-types**: Ice-types such as Mega Abomasnow, Mega Glalie, Jynx and Sneasel can easily switch in and heavily damage, if not outright OHKO, Amoonguss with strong STAB moves such as Blizzard, Refrigerate Return, Ice Beam, or Life Orb Icicle Crash, respectively.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Mega Camerupt, Houndoom, Emboar, and Delphox can switch in and easily OHKO, or at the very least, heavily weaken Amoonguss, with a powerful STAB Fire Blast, or in Emboar's case, Flare Blitz. Delphox can even negate Stun Spore or Spore with Substitute.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Meloetta, Slowking, and Medicham can very easily overpower Amoonguss with Psychic, or in Medicham's case, Zen Headbutt. Meloetta can also use Substitute to negate Spore.
**Strong Attackers**: Despite Amoonguss having good mixed bulk, strong attackers in general, such as Exploud, Escavalier, and Tyrantrum, can overpower Amoonguss with powerful neutral hits.
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Braviary and Fletchinder can switch in on any attacking move it might carry and KO with Brave Bird or Acrobatics, respectively. However, Fletchinder fears Stun Spore, although Braviary can negate this somewhat with Substitute.
**Super-effective Coverage**: Super-effective coverage moves from Pokemon Amoonguss is meant to check, such as Zen Headbutt from Virizion, Ice Beam from Samurott, and Fire Blast from Flygon from can easily KO or weaken Amoonguss to the point where it cannot check what it's meant to.
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