Hey all, this is the team I recently got my Mega Metagross requirements with and I thought I’d take the chance to share it before Ash-Greninja gets the boot in about a month and since the team isn’t stall or baton pass. So let’s get started.
Greninja-Ash @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Surf
So the way I build my teams is that I choose one or two Pokemon that I really like and build a team to support them. Ash-Greninja is probably my favorite thing to come out of Gen 7, and was the first Pokemon I wanted to use. I’ve gotten some crap for running Ash-Greninja the way I do, but having played around with Choice Specs, Life Orb was my preference since I like being able to switch moves. Ice Beam was chosen over U-turn to deal with Tapu Bulu, Tangrowth, Garchomp, and Zygarde, and burning 10% of your HP just to U-turn is a waste unless you have Protean. Surf is used over Hydro Pump for consistency. Hydro Pump guarantees the OHKO on Tapu Koko and Mega Medicham however.
Charizard (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Roost
- Focus Blast
Charizard is the second Pokemon I wanted to base my team around. Charizard is here to hit hard, unhindered by intimidate users. Flamethrower was chosen over Fire Blast for consistency, since I was already running the inaccurate Focus Blast. Fire Blast does guarantee ohkos such as against Landorus-T, but teams only get one mega slot, and it didn’t make sense to throw a ton of inaccurate moves on such a vital Pokemon. I have been considering running HP Ground since it hits Heatran all the same and more consistently, and also gives me a better option against Charizard-X, but Focus Blast did come in handy against the random Tyranitars I ran into.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
The second part to the typical Charizard-Y core. Tapu Fini is the first of the two defoggers, and is there to take all sorts of hits for the team. Scald was used despite the Misty Terrain to get the potential burn on Mega Pinsir, Landorus-T, Celesteela, and incoming Tapu Bulu. The rest is staple.
Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch
- Screech
Dugtrio – The third part to the typical Charizard-Y core. This team doesn’t run entry hazards since I have 2 defoggers, which lets my opponent switch with no drawback. Dugtrio was necessary for trapping things that prevented Charizard or Greninja from running over the entire team, such as Chansey, Magearna, and Toxapex (make sure Sun and/or Misty Terrain is up first). It was also used to take out things that were problematic for the team as a whole such as Mega Medicham and Ash-Greninja right after it gets its kill. Earthquake and Reversal are standard. Sucker Punch was used for the many instances where Dugtrio left the opponent with a sliver of health, but Rock Slide can work well here for Volcarona and Zapdos. Screech was essential for getting rid of Chansey, and once Chansey’s taken down stall loses to Charizard pretty much single handedly. If the Chansey Toxics you first, screech a second time so that they can’t just spam Soft-Boiled.
Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Knock Off
Scizor is mainly here as a second defogger. With Tapu Fini as my main way for tanking hits on the team, I felt it necessary to add a second defogger since I’m running both Charizard-Y and a Focus Sash Dugtrio. There’s no offensive investment on this Scizor since its main objective is to defog, and attack later if it has to. Outside of defogging, it was useful in dealing with Tapu Bulu, Choice Scarf Gengar, and sometimes Ash-Greninja that gave the rest of my team trouble. Knock off can be replaced by Roost, but I was taking more than 50% from common moves such as Landorus-T’s Earthquake and Thunderbolt from offensive Tapu Koko, so I chose to go with Knock Off to get rid of whatever troublesome items I could. With Mega Stones and Z-Crystals running around, the move isn’t as good as it used to be though.
Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Toxic
Pretty typical banded Zygarde set, and serves as another hard hitter of the team. Even at +1, Zygarde’s power can be a bit underwhelming at times, so it made more sense to have Zygarde as an immediate attacker than a set up sweeper. Toxic came in handy for troublesome walls such as Mantine, but was rarely used otherwise. Zygarde’s more common switch ins such as Landorus-T and Tangrowth never stay in for long, meaning poisoning them doesn’t really do much. I also messed around with Superpower, but it was barely ever used also, and I feel having toxic is more important.
The team isn’t perfect, and it took me 2 solid attempts to get the requirements (I needed to win the 70th game on my first run and lost to Timid Shuca Berry Magearna and missed the OHKO on Tapu Koko with Greninja). I do like the team a lot and it does allow me to play the way I like to. I did reach a point where I “wanted” to run into stall teams which was kinda funny. I do think it’s interesting that the old Mega stones are slowly getting added to the game, changing the metagame alongside these suspect tests, so you have to keep adjusting your teams. But yeah, let me know what you guys think.
Baton Pass / Heavy Set up teams: There was no good way to go about fighting these teams, especially since the team lacked any set up sweepers itself. What seemed to work for me was to chip Scolipede out with Tapu Fini, deal with their first Baton Pass threat, then pressure with priority from there.
Trick Room: With no taunt, trick room gets set up for free constantly, so I’m playing by their rules most of the time. The more common teams were built so that even Ash-Greninja couldn’t OHKO the Cresselias and Uxies.
Tapu Koko: Outspeeds my entire team pre-Ash transformation, threatens OHKOs on 3 members, and can U-turn out of Dugtrio. Lately they’ve all been running Iapapa berry, making any chip damage that Scizor can get pointless. The only ways to deal with it were to get Ash-Greninja up early, or keep Zygarde healthy so it can survive the HP Ice. Using Tapu Fini to mess with the terrains to soften the electric blows helps too.
Tapu Bulu: Troublesome since its terrain weakens Dugtrio and Zygarde, and it threatens Greninja and Tapu Fini. It can also use Stone Edge, making it so that Charizard can’t switch in freely. Preserving Scizor was vital to fighting Bulu.
Volcarona: If it gets a boost, Zygarde is the only good answer to it. Luckily the ones I ran into didn’t carry HP Ice.
Protean Greninja: This thing caused me more grief than I expected. It has a ton of different options, and I think I’ve seen about all of them on my last climb through the ladder including low kick, rock slide, and even water shuriken. Losing speed ties doesn’t help either :/
Mantine: After the 150+ games I played on this suspect test, I only fought one, but this thing walls the team very effectively and can’t be trapped or killed by Dugtrio. Luckily I had toxic on Zygarde.
Trick Room: With no taunt, trick room gets set up for free constantly, so I’m playing by their rules most of the time. The more common teams were built so that even Ash-Greninja couldn’t OHKO the Cresselias and Uxies.
Tapu Koko: Outspeeds my entire team pre-Ash transformation, threatens OHKOs on 3 members, and can U-turn out of Dugtrio. Lately they’ve all been running Iapapa berry, making any chip damage that Scizor can get pointless. The only ways to deal with it were to get Ash-Greninja up early, or keep Zygarde healthy so it can survive the HP Ice. Using Tapu Fini to mess with the terrains to soften the electric blows helps too.
Tapu Bulu: Troublesome since its terrain weakens Dugtrio and Zygarde, and it threatens Greninja and Tapu Fini. It can also use Stone Edge, making it so that Charizard can’t switch in freely. Preserving Scizor was vital to fighting Bulu.
Volcarona: If it gets a boost, Zygarde is the only good answer to it. Luckily the ones I ran into didn’t carry HP Ice.
Protean Greninja: This thing caused me more grief than I expected. It has a ton of different options, and I think I’ve seen about all of them on my last climb through the ladder including low kick, rock slide, and even water shuriken. Losing speed ties doesn’t help either :/
Mantine: After the 150+ games I played on this suspect test, I only fought one, but this thing walls the team very effectively and can’t be trapped or killed by Dugtrio. Luckily I had toxic on Zygarde.
Charizard (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Roost
- Focus Blast
Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Toxic
Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Knock Off
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch
- Screech
Greninja-Ash @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Surf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Roost
- Focus Blast
Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Toxic
Scizor (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Knock Off
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
Dugtrio (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch
- Screech
Greninja-Ash @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Surf
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573689766
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573695413 Koko and Medicham
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573916927
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573936397
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574086424 Baton Pass
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574091138
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574102696
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574108498 Trick Room
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574178204
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574274843
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574287994 Baton Pass
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574359650 Trick Room
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574492062
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574497118 Stall
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573695413 Koko and Medicham
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573916927
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-573936397
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574086424 Baton Pass
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574091138
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574102696
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574108498 Trick Room
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574178204
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574274843
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574287994 Baton Pass
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574359650 Trick Room
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574492062
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574497118 Stall