DOWNTOWN
Introduction
Introduction
Welcome Smogon, to my fifth RMT and first of the new generation. Today I'd like to share one of the most successful teams of the early stages of National Dex Anything Goes. In a metagame strangled by unstoppable menaces like Life Orb Yveltal and Geomancy Xerneas, this team has not only managed to avoid using those, but establish itself as consistency and efficiency embodied.
My original idea for the team was to combine the powers of both Band and Life Orb Yveltal to stifle opposing teams with pure power. However, I later realized
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was far too susceptible to Xerneas, so I changed Life Orb to 
.This team became moderately successful, peaking at 1830 and #1, but after getting 6-0ed by Dragon Dance Zygarde twice in a row, I opted to swap out
for Arceus Ground. The current and final version of the team then became realized: | | | | | 
. This greatly improved the team, and as of writing this, the team has the highest peak of Gen 8 AG, at 1949. Additionally, I managed to achieve a respectable 91.7 GXE using it.In-Depth
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Yveltal @ Choice Band
Ability: Dark Aura
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP | 252 Atk | 252 Spe
Moves: Knock Off | Foul Play | U-turn | Sucker Punch
Choice Band Yveltal has been a thing since the early days of AG, but has always been pretty average, and definitely didn't appreciate the support Arceus meta of USUM. With the death of both Hyper Offense and support Arceus forms, Band Yveltal is not only good, but easily one of the hardest to deal with Pokemon in the entire meta. The easiest way to explain why is that there is simply no good switchins to Knock Off plus Foul Play. There are only two relevant mons that don't take >50 from its moveset, being Arceus Ground and Xerneas. Not only can Xern never afford to switchin to Knock, but Arceus has to be both healthy and not statused to deal with Yveltal.
This set wasn't being explored much in the very early days of Natdex, due to the opportunity cost of not being able to run Life Orb Special Yveltal. I didn't start playing natdex until around a week into January and I didn't really pick up on this set until later. Nevertheless, my usage of this set and my notoriety has finally established Band Yveltal's place in the metagame. With all this being said, let's get into the set:
Yveltal's great 131 Atk stat, Dark Aura ability, and access to Koff make it an extremely potent breaker. The lack of support arcs that can tank its hits and simultaneously the increase in items that can be Knocked have propelled its viability. Foul Play is also a reliable move that does upwards of 80 to Zacian Crowned. U turn capitalizes on the many switchins Yveltal forces, and also does around 60 to Ttar, a common check to the Special variant. Sucker Punch also gives it a means to revenge kill faster threats such as Scarf Rayquaza, Ultra Necrozma, and a boosted Xerneas. I opted for a Jolly nature, as it allows it to always get the jump on Xerneas and LO Yveltal and knock their item, which can be critical for the game. Standard EVs are used to maximize both Speed and Attack. Note that there is a "Counter" to this set, in Defensive Zygarde, which takes 55 from Knock and then activates Complete Form. Yveltal can pivot around it with U-Turn, chipping it and allowing me to switch in my check to it.
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| | | Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk | 4 Def | 252 Spe
Moves: Behemoth Blade | Wild Charge | Substitute | Close Combat
Zacian is the cover Legendary for Pokemon Sword and has instantly become the poster child for overpowered. While more checks to Zacian exist in Natdex than any other format, it is still an immense beast capable of tearing teams apart with its unmatched combination of Typing, coverage, speed, and power. Most teams are required to run 2-3 checks to Zacian to not auto lose to it, and the meteoric rise of Ditto to handle it has caused the death of a playstyle, Hyper Offense. As this was one of my first builds after starting natdex, I obviously wanted to use this pokemon. This mon became a great wincon and late game breaker, along with the ability to handle more offensive teams from the start of a game.
The obvious thing that jumped out at me is that it hit 148 Spe. While this is lightning fast, it didn't jump out at me for the reasons you might think. With an Adamant nature, Zacian is able to outspeed the huge base of 130 Speed pokemon by one point, hitting 395. This is huge, as it allows Zacian to operate at maximum power, while losing out on almost no important speed tiers. Behemoth Blade is the move of choice, as it hits the majority of the meta for consistently great damage. Wild Charge is imo a necessity on Zacian, as it allows it to hit the omnipresent Ho-Oh, dent Arceus Water, and potentially beat Lugia on the switch. Close Combat is a standard option as the best way to hit Steels and Primal Groudon. Substitute is here, as it allows Zacian to capitalize the most on the switches it forces, while also allowing it to avoid losing to Ditto and dodge status moves such as Wisp and Thunder Wave.
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| | Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP | 56 Def | 200 SpD
Moves: Precipice Blades | Toxic | Stone Edge | Stealth Rock
Primal Groudon was introduced in ORAS, and almost overnight became the face of Ubers and a consistent menace in AG. Two generations later, Pdon's superb stat spread, movepool, typing, and most of all, ability, make it a dominant presence in Natdex AG. The extreme popularity of Steels in the meta, such as Zacian and Necrozma, has arguably made Pdon even better than last generation, and it serves as a key glue mon on common teams.
I opt to run the above EV spread to avoid a potential 2HKO from Zacian's CC, while still capitalizing on its solid typing to tank special attackers such as Dynamaxed Xerneas lacking Hidden Power Ground. Precipice Blades is my STAB move of choice, as it hits a majority of the meta for solid damage, and most things it doesn't hit are dealt with by Stone Edge, which has become almost mandatory coverage to the surge of Ho-Oh usage. Toxic is great for crippling pokemon such as Arceus Ground and Xerneas. Stealth Rock is the final move here, running it here on Pdon frees up a slot on my Dusk Mane, which is important, and it can still set rocks on most of the meta, being able to OHKO Ho-Oh, and cripple Groundceus and Lunala, all common Defoggers. It's important to note that my team has only this as a switchin to Kyogre, which means identifying it on preview is important, as otherwise it will be able to claim a kill every time it comes in if Pdon is dealt with.
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| Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP | 192 Def | 52 SpD | 16 Spe
Moves: Sacred Fire | Brave Bird | Defog | Toxic
It's interesting to note how much Ho-Oh has evolved over the past few years. Early into the USUM metagame, Ho-Oh shockingly rose to A+ on VR before falling back to A almost immediately. It was deemed a liability at times, as its crippling weakness to Stealth Rock could often mean you were playing a mon behind. The extreme prominence of Support Arceus by the end of the generation once again lead to Ho-Oh rising, and this time staying, at A+. With proper team support and Defog control, it could prove to be almost unkillable to the Bulky Balances that ruled the meta. With the introduction of one of the most influential and best items of all time, Heavy-Duty Boots, Ho-Oh removed its single biggest problem and became an instant staple on almost all Balances. Its incredible stats complemented with its great typing and movepool, along with the stupidly broken ability Regenerator has forced the metagame to adapt by almost necessitating Knock Off on teams, and by Zacian carrying Wild Charge almost always.
The above EV spread is the most optimal that I could find. 248 HP and 52 SpD ensure that it will always live non Dmaxed plus two Xerneas' Thunder. 192 Defense and an Impish nature allow Ho-Oh to have respectable physical bulk and allow it to live both a Life Orb Dragon Ascent and a Wild Charge from Zacian at full health. 16 Speed EVs seems random, but since I opt to run Brave Bird on my set, the given EVs allow it to outrun Adamant Mray at plus one speed from Max Airstream, Jolly Zacian at plus two, and Scarf Mega Rayquaza at plus three. This is important as most often Ho-Oh will be the mon I choose to Dynamax in a given game. Sacred Fire is a great STAB option with a key 50% chance to burn, allowing Ho-Oh to stave off setup sweepers such as Ekiller and fish for a burn. Brave Bird is mostly run here to optimize Ho-Oh's Dynamax, but is also useful in PP wars, and chipping Pogre, Pdon, and Eternatus. Defog is run here as Yveltal is crippled significantly by Stealth Rock, and the rest of my team does not appreciate hazard stack from the likes of Ferrothorn. Finally, Toxic allows Ho-Oh to be an incredible nuisance against pokemon it otherwise can't hurt, such as itself, and Primal Groudon.
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Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Solganium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP | 252 SpD | 4 Spe
Moves: Sunsteel Strike | Toxic | Swords Dance | Moonlight
When one thinks of "Anti-Xerneas" chances are, they're thinking of the behemoth known as Necrozma Dusk Mane. Utilizing its ability, solid defenses, and typing, it managed to establish itself as THE Xerneas answer in USUM. Although Xerneas got way more broken than ever before with access to Dynamax, Dusk Mane is still the one check that still consistently works. Not only that, but Dynamax has allowed it to become an almost unkillable death machine when using an offensive set. With this set, however, I return it to the roots of USUM and my most successful team to this date.
While most opt to now run defensive Mane, I kept it classic with a set I helped pioneer in gen 7, SD Spdef. I chose Solganium over leftovers because it allows me to kill Dynamaxed Xern with little to no chip, which additionally preserves my Dynamax. The stat spread allows it to best tank hits from Xerneas, Groundceus, and Eternatus, avoiding the 2HKO on both of the latter mons. Toxic allows it to 1v1 both Groundceus and Ho-Oh because Dusk Mane is incredibly stupid. Moonlight allows for reliable recovery, and I opt to run it over Morning Sun because it sounds cooler. The bread and butter of this set is SD, allowing it to become a frightening breaker while simultaneously being nigh impossible to kill in one hit. Necrozma's solid 157 Attack means that it doesn't require investment to be scary after a boost. Combined with its Z-move, it allows it to break past would be checks such as Ho-Oh and Giratina.
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Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
Nature: Bold
EVs: 244 HP | 248 Def | 16 Spe
Moves: Ice Beam | Judgment | Stone Edge | Recover
Arceus Ground was one of the most threatening Calm Mind sweepers for Balance to face last generation. Part of its particular danger lead to the surge in Ho-Oh usage at the latter half of generation 7. It also had a solid defensive set that could be annoying to face for many teams. Ho-Oh being literally everywhere and the metagame getting faster and stronger has killed the viability of Calm Mind, but Defensive has managed to survive the death of support Arceus and become the most prominent one in Gen 8, mostly due to the extreme weakness most teams have to Ground/Ice coverage.
The above set is another innovation of mine, at least for the moveset. 16 Speed allows Groundceus to speed creep 252 speed neutral base 90s, most importantly Primal Groudon. Max HP max Defense are optimal to check Zacian to the best of its ability. Ice Beam, Judgment, and Recover are the standard options, giving Arceus Ground a spammable STAB move, reliable recovery, and the ability to hit Flying Types and Zygarde. Stone Edge was a thought I had when I realized how little Magic Coat and Toxic helped it in avoiding auto losing to Ho-Oh. With Edge, Groundceus now can prevent the bird from consistently switching in. Bold Nature is put here instead of something like Relaxed, as the loss of Attack power rarely matters. Edge still does >60 to Ho-Oh, so a loss in an important defensive stat or speed isn't required.
Importable And Information
Yveltal:
Due to my teams lack of Life Orb Yveltal switchins, the general gameplan vs this mon is sack, hopefully wasting two Dynamax turns in the process, and the sending in Arceus Ground or Ho-Oh to Dynamax and kill it back. This is obviously not a very good strategy but it is far from an auto loss.
Ultra Necrozma: Yeah, this mon sucks to deal with. Either kill it with Solganium Z since plus one EQ never kills, or try and Sucker Punch it and hope they don't see it coming.
Zygarde: This should be self explanatory; I have one answer to it. If it dies, you probably lose. Don't let Arceus Ground die.
Due to my teams lack of Life Orb Yveltal switchins, the general gameplan vs this mon is sack, hopefully wasting two Dynamax turns in the process, and the sending in Arceus Ground or Ho-Oh to Dynamax and kill it back. This is obviously not a very good strategy but it is far from an auto loss.
Ultra Necrozma: Yeah, this mon sucks to deal with. Either kill it with Solganium Z since plus one EQ never kills, or try and Sucker Punch it and hope they don't see it coming.
Zygarde: This should be self explanatory; I have one answer to it. If it dies, you probably lose. Don't let Arceus Ground die.
To be Added soon
Overall, while I haven't enjoyed Natdex AG nearly as much as gen 7 AG, it was still fun laddering and playing with this team. I'm excited for the future of AG, and I'm also hyped to build new, innovative and unique teams to share with you all throughout the course of gen 8. With all that being said, I bid you all adieu!
This has been MDB,
Signing off.
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