National Dex AG - THE HO PANDEMIC - PEAK #211 - 1671 ELO - 80% GXE

[Sagdiyev]

lol wtf i actually hit ladder for a non-roa meta
proof:

THE HO PANDEMIC CONTINUES IN UBERS AND NATIONAL DEX AG! PLEASE SAVE YOURSELVES BY USING DITTO, TWO YVELTALS AND A SHIT TON OF NDMS!

Click this text and not the sprites for the link to the team!

I've been had this team for a real long time, but I never had any real success with it on ladder until like Sunday after I tilted from 15 something to 1490. Went up to 1671 using this team only, and haven't looked back. Here's the group.

slap! (Greninja) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Taunt ​

Greninja actually might be the big star of the show here. Even though it's just a silly spikes lead, it gets it up very well against most rockers, and can lay down Toxic Spikes, which really fucks with defensive cores on teams sometimes. Male gender is used to try and bluff Ash-Greninja with SR + SD PDon, but you probably shouldn't be caught dead with Greninja as not your lead.

Silence of the Lambs (Necrozma-Dusk-Mane) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Sunsteel Strike ​

DD NDM is here as one of the team's two Dynamax options and as a check to Zacian-C, who would blow through this team without a sweat in this matchup. It when Dynamaxed, is a behemoth; Yveltal will drop to +1 Max Rockfall, or take a serious pounding from Stone Edge. It almost feels like it's a requirement on every serious NDAG team alongside the next guy in the group.

Scarface (Yveltal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Roost ​

Yveltal needs no introduction and is a serious requirement on every single team in the National Dex AG meta. If you don't have it, you will fold ASAP to any person with Calyrex-Shadow and a brain. This set is the preferred one on hyper offense to stop slow defogging, kill Calyrex-S in one hit and stop slow Xerneas from using Geomancy.

Corleone (Groudon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace ​

Base Groudon is a surprisingly half-decent choice as a Dynamax Abuser. Being able to check Zacian-C to some extent via Dynamaxing and using Max Airstream into Max Quake is very nice as an abuser of the move. It also can 1v1 Primal Groudon, since it's not weak to Ground and can boost its Speed with Max Airstream.

Shame of a Meta (Calyrex-Shadow) @ Buginium Z
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Astral Barrage
- Pollen Puff
- Psyshock ​

lol its caly shadow. click astral barrage and shit drops. Bug Z drops Arceus Dark and chips Yveltal for huge damage.

Enter the Dragon (Rayquaza) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Ascent
- Earthquake ​

Enter the almighty Mega Rayquaza. This is a beast. After a DD and at a decent health range, nothing short of incredibly strong moves, like Yveltal's Sucker Punch or Modest Scarf Calyrex-S's Astral Barrage can kill it. Only great walls, like Zygarde after its transformations can stop it, but even that is exploitable by teammates. Dragon Dance allows it to boost its Speed and Attack at once, while Dragon Ascent is required to make sure it can Mega Evolve. Earthquake nails Necrozma-Dusk and Zacian-C, while Extreme Speed keeps sweepers in check.

CHECKS AND COUNTERS​

• The most problematic enemy to this team is likely Marshadow. It can come in and click buttons, and it can revenge kill 2 of your 4 main sweepers with Shadow Sneak.​
• As with many hyper-offense teams, Ditto will always be an issue plaguing them since it steals the boosts your sweeper has and counter sweeps.​
• Zygarde-100 is also a fat wall who can really sit around and wall everything, however if it is forced to Rest, you might have a chance to boost and win.​
• Xerneas, in tandem with Zacian-C will likely 6-0 this team as they break down Necrozma quite easily with each other.​
• The fringe Giratina-O is quite the nuisance as it can Dynamax, and nobody on the team wants to switch in on one of Will-o-Wisp or its STABs.​

I really hope you enjoy this team I made god knows how long ago! May your laddering go successfully with any team you use!

​

 

[adem]

Hey Sagdiyev , this is a rlly nice team, and I love spamming HO in AG; however, there are the issues as you have previously mentioned which can be fixed with some changes.

Original team:

Major Changes

>

Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Recover

Arceus Ground is generally a much better breaker than base Groudon, as it still has solid utility outside of DMax, which base Groudon doesnt, as well as having much better longevity with recover, while still mantaining (and doing it better) the ability to improof your Necrozma Dusk Mane. It can also break much better, as it isnt reliant on Max Airstream (or DMax).

>

Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Magic Coat

Deoxys Speed is a miles better suicide lead than Greninja in tiers not named ORAS AG, as it boasts a much faster taunt as well as Magic Coat to deflect stuff like Slurpuff Yawn. It also can use Stealth Rock, which is generally a much better Hazard than TSpikes, for faster paced games like HO, as TSpikes really needs both layers to mess with teams and doesnt pressure say, Knocked Ho-oh / Yveltal.

Minor Changes



Shame of a Meta (Calyrex-Shadow) @ Buginium Z
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Astral Barrage
- Pollen Puff
- Psyshock > Substitute

Substitute lets you improof your own Calyrex, to prevent opposing Dittos from reverse sweeping you, and is overall more useful than Psyshock.



Enter the Dragon (Rayquaza) @ Heavy-Duty Boots > Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Ascent
- Earthquake > V-Create

Life Orb gives Rayquaza the power it needs to bust through threats like Primal Groudon, Waterceus, and Necrozma Dusk Mane consistently. V-Create is much better on this build as your own Groundceus can take advantage of stuff like Tyranitar and Rockceus, as well as Earthquake being generally far too weak to break Necrozma Dusk Mane. However, if you do decide to keep this, I can understand why as its generally much more spammable than VC.


Scarface (Yveltal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots > Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe > 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature > Hasty Nature
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off > Dark Pulse
- Roost > Oblivion Wing

Physical Yveltal is much worse in NDAG due to the prominence of Arceus formes, Z Moves, and Primals, meaning Knock Off is generally much much weaker. Dual Wing Beat is also a weaker option, making a physical set wholly inferior to a special one. Sucker Punch is still maintained to revenge kill Marshadow and Caly S, although Heat Wave in conjunction with a Timid Nature and fully Special oriented EVs can also be used to hit Zacian C hard. The longevity of Roost also isnt really needed, as heavy HOs like this can often win fast vs opposing teams, same goes with Life Orb. This turns Yveltal from a relatively passive (HO-wise) designated Caly Check, to a terrifying DMax breaker, tearing through teams.

Other than these changes, this is a really cool team and HO is really what got me into playing AG, hope you like the team^^

Finalised team:

 

[sawamura]

Good job adem