reading the rules I figured AG should be counted as a metagame, if not, the mods have my sincere apologies. I decided to give this a shot as after quite a lot of testing, and some changes, I figured my team was pretty good, it's probably quite far from perfect, but isn't that what this forum is for?
also just saying, this is not a gimmicky team, if you're kind of unoriginal or just kind of a copycat this team should probably let you climb the AG ladder to around top 200 easily (if that's good or not can be argued)
but without further ado, here's my team:
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse
you may wonder why I picked Sableye over lets say...mega ray, well first off, I think mega ray is really overrated as most teams pack a ditto or a klefki, or something that can easily revenge KO it and proceed to sweep most of your team. Not only that but sableye makes an excellent slot for my team overall, as we could use a sustain pokemon that can boost itself to oblivion, it has mostly defense EVs because it can calm mind for SpDef. Lastly, in AG a magic bounce is almost necessary thanks to all the klefkis running around. I really don't believe this pokemon needs any changes.
Drifblim @ Leftovers
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Baton Pass
- Minimize
- Stockpile
- Will-O-Wisp
this one can be used as a lead (but usually not), this drifblim's role is generally to minimize three times then stockpile if possible, maybe put a will o wisp out if possible as well, if this pokemon gets set up it will baton pass into a sweeper or maybe sableye, suddenly you have a tanky beast over there which can 2HKO most pokemon, not only that, but it has 3x evasion. That's stupid. You may be wondering why I'd pick drifblim over something like smeargle, and that's because smeargle simply is too frail, it can baton pass one target and it's probably useless the rest of the match. Drifblim however, should it be kinda lucky will give two pokemon 3x evasion and stockpile. The only reason I can imagine using smeargle is if I dare to shell smash, which seems rather risky to me...Also I don't know if the mega ray didn't have full EVs in attack but if I remember correctly, this thing can survive a mega ray dragon ascent assuming they have no stat boosts.
Mewtwo @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psystrike
- Taunt
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
This spot used to be klefki, until I realised klefki simply isn't that good, mewtwo however is a special sweeping monster in comparison, chances are this pokemon will be my lead, as a lot of people like to lead with the likes of ferro, smeargle, drifblim or other set-up pokemon. mewtwo can taunt these pokemon to become useless and they will often be forced to switch, mewtwo can usually proceed to destroy whatever they switch to or at least chunk it pretty hard.
Darkrai @ Life Orb
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Void
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Bomb
I'm not sure if I want to keep this guy on my team, honestly, but he's by no means bad, my darkrai serves as a special set-up sweeper and can often be used as a lead to stuff like deoxys speed, most speed deoxyses will try to taunt it, just to get a dark pulse in the face leaving them at 1% assuming they have a focus sash. darkrai is pretty fast compared to a lot of pokemon so chances are it will dark void, nasty plot, and then sweep some of their team. one of the important things about darkrai is that it is my main counter to stuff like xerneas and other fairy types, because as long as it outspeeds them, it can probably OHKO it with sludge bomb...although at the same time, if they don't get OHKOd or outspeed it, darkrai will suffer from an OHKO back.
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Polish
This is probably one of the best physical sweepers, I honestly don't know what to say about him, it should be kinda obvious to most experienced players, but really, as long as this dude gets drifblim boosted and gets a rock polish, he should beat your whole team unchallenged (assuming you haven't boosted someone as well). I really don't know what to say, I just figured I needed a physical sweeper and well...can you name anyone that could replace groudon?
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform
Well...this one is pretty obvious, this is my main way of dealing with mega ray, among other threats that may give my team problems otherwise, choice scarf is obvious as it allows you to outspeed almost all mega rays you'll see. At the end of the day ditto will just revenge KO your sweeper, or the pokemon you worked so hard to statboost, and he will laugh at you while doing it. I cannot imagine what could replace him (her? it?)
my apologies if my thread wasn't up to standards...I hope it was, and I'd love to see whatever you guys think about it.
lastly I'll list some things I know could potentionally trouble my team, I don't know what I can do to deal with it but it's not always that common so I don't know, maybe you guys have a good suggestion for something I can replace darkrai with or something?: my team has trouble with choice scarf xerneas, as it will most likely OHKO four of my team members, luckily I don't see choice scarf xerneas in many teams. second, my team can get "outboosted", by for example a smeargle with shell smash, if mewtwo doesn't stop you, you might be able to sweep my team if you baton pass a few times into a pokemon that can sweep.
also just saying, this is not a gimmicky team, if you're kind of unoriginal or just kind of a copycat this team should probably let you climb the AG ladder to around top 200 easily (if that's good or not can be argued)
but without further ado, here's my team:
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse
you may wonder why I picked Sableye over lets say...mega ray, well first off, I think mega ray is really overrated as most teams pack a ditto or a klefki, or something that can easily revenge KO it and proceed to sweep most of your team. Not only that but sableye makes an excellent slot for my team overall, as we could use a sustain pokemon that can boost itself to oblivion, it has mostly defense EVs because it can calm mind for SpDef. Lastly, in AG a magic bounce is almost necessary thanks to all the klefkis running around. I really don't believe this pokemon needs any changes.
Drifblim @ Leftovers
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Baton Pass
- Minimize
- Stockpile
- Will-O-Wisp
this one can be used as a lead (but usually not), this drifblim's role is generally to minimize three times then stockpile if possible, maybe put a will o wisp out if possible as well, if this pokemon gets set up it will baton pass into a sweeper or maybe sableye, suddenly you have a tanky beast over there which can 2HKO most pokemon, not only that, but it has 3x evasion. That's stupid. You may be wondering why I'd pick drifblim over something like smeargle, and that's because smeargle simply is too frail, it can baton pass one target and it's probably useless the rest of the match. Drifblim however, should it be kinda lucky will give two pokemon 3x evasion and stockpile. The only reason I can imagine using smeargle is if I dare to shell smash, which seems rather risky to me...Also I don't know if the mega ray didn't have full EVs in attack but if I remember correctly, this thing can survive a mega ray dragon ascent assuming they have no stat boosts.
Mewtwo @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psystrike
- Taunt
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
This spot used to be klefki, until I realised klefki simply isn't that good, mewtwo however is a special sweeping monster in comparison, chances are this pokemon will be my lead, as a lot of people like to lead with the likes of ferro, smeargle, drifblim or other set-up pokemon. mewtwo can taunt these pokemon to become useless and they will often be forced to switch, mewtwo can usually proceed to destroy whatever they switch to or at least chunk it pretty hard.
Darkrai @ Life Orb
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Void
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Bomb
I'm not sure if I want to keep this guy on my team, honestly, but he's by no means bad, my darkrai serves as a special set-up sweeper and can often be used as a lead to stuff like deoxys speed, most speed deoxyses will try to taunt it, just to get a dark pulse in the face leaving them at 1% assuming they have a focus sash. darkrai is pretty fast compared to a lot of pokemon so chances are it will dark void, nasty plot, and then sweep some of their team. one of the important things about darkrai is that it is my main counter to stuff like xerneas and other fairy types, because as long as it outspeeds them, it can probably OHKO it with sludge bomb...although at the same time, if they don't get OHKOd or outspeed it, darkrai will suffer from an OHKO back.
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Precipice Blades
- Rock Polish
This is probably one of the best physical sweepers, I honestly don't know what to say about him, it should be kinda obvious to most experienced players, but really, as long as this dude gets drifblim boosted and gets a rock polish, he should beat your whole team unchallenged (assuming you haven't boosted someone as well). I really don't know what to say, I just figured I needed a physical sweeper and well...can you name anyone that could replace groudon?
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform
- Transform
Well...this one is pretty obvious, this is my main way of dealing with mega ray, among other threats that may give my team problems otherwise, choice scarf is obvious as it allows you to outspeed almost all mega rays you'll see. At the end of the day ditto will just revenge KO your sweeper, or the pokemon you worked so hard to statboost, and he will laugh at you while doing it. I cannot imagine what could replace him (her? it?)
my apologies if my thread wasn't up to standards...I hope it was, and I'd love to see whatever you guys think about it.
lastly I'll list some things I know could potentionally trouble my team, I don't know what I can do to deal with it but it's not always that common so I don't know, maybe you guys have a good suggestion for something I can replace darkrai with or something?: my team has trouble with choice scarf xerneas, as it will most likely OHKO four of my team members, luckily I don't see choice scarf xerneas in many teams. second, my team can get "outboosted", by for example a smeargle with shell smash, if mewtwo doesn't stop you, you might be able to sweep my team if you baton pass a few times into a pokemon that can sweep.