AAA Almost Any Ability

omegamark64 said:
Yo quick question: how do you counter cinderace? He's annoying and him speed-tieing with roaring moon just makes things worse
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Fire Immune Pokemon (well-baked body anything, primordial sea waters/zapdos) are the most direct counters, but the common Regenerator Swampert and Manaphy can be very effective checks at all points throughout a game, as well as Pecharunt being a hard wall. Defensive Moltres and Great Tusk in a pinch (not fluffy, as that will take extra damage from pyro ball) can also work. All teams have to be prepared for fire types in AAA with desolate land being a thing and most forms of Anti-Fire will cover cinderace. Oh also shoutouts to bulletproof iron treads for blocking pyro ball lol
 
omegamark64 said:
Yo quick question: how do you counter cinderace? He's annoying and him speed-tieing with roaring moon just makes things worse
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Cinderace is a pretty mediocre Pokemon, all it brings to the table is mostly offensive qualities that other Pokemon do better whilst having barely any defensive qualities. This means getting in to actually do anything is hard for it, so simply limiting opportunities for it to enter play is enough.

As for specifics, balance simply checks by running Swampert or Manaphy among others can answer anything it can output and then pivot or attack it. Offensive teams simply deny opportunities through pressure and faster Pokemon such as Zamazenta or scarf stuff.

Fundamentally, Cinderace is highly flawed, it has severe 4mss (4 moveslot syndrome, meaning it can't fit everything it wants to answer everything) where'd it wants to run court change, pyro/flare blitz, Wisp, Uturn, Sucker, Gunk, etc... but can only choose something specific. It's low defenses also don't help it so as a whole the Pokemon is not problematic in AAA.
 
It should be mentioned that Cinderace’s main role is not as a breaker (which would be bad as Giagantic said) but as a fast pivot with good defensive utility and Court Change being a fantastic tool against cheese archetypes like Webs and Screens (to a lesser extent). Cinderace doesn’t fit in a lot of structures but can be good if built around properly
 
:Gholdengo::Zamazenta::Primarina::Iron Treads::Moltres::Chien Pao:

I wanted to build a prima ghold team as the synergy there is insane. Ghold rising in viability is expected as one of its best offensive checks was booted from the tier, I think with time adaptations will come to deal with the defensive gholds like was seen during DLC 1. I don't think its #1 in the tier, it's still clearly moon, and that mon not being in S is actual trolling but w/e.

I think knock>volt on treads now, too many grounds/vabs mons running around to completely wall, knock lets you always make progress. Also helps in the immunity ghold mu as you can get rid of the colbur. Similarly, I think gleam>MiR simply because being able to flip the vest moon mu is too important and fairy ghost coverage is op.

Outside of this, I also wanted to try out a new variant of idbp zama I cooked up, and feels much cleaner than other variants I have tried.

:sv/Zamazenta:
toxic (Zamazenta) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 108 Atk / 148 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Heavy Slam

I was inspired after seeing qt using mglo howl CC in ladder/tour, but cc is a bad move so I thought why not trade for the much better IDBP. Defense to 2HKO fluffy corv at +6, rest dumped into attack for stronger crunch/slam for pech and stail respectively. I think this also solves the issue that IDBP zama struggles with even with lefties, which is passive damage from helmet, status, and/or hazards. There have been so many games I played where balance/fat teams gameplans get totally derailed because the chip damage they need to deal with set-up zama gets invalidated. MGLO also lets you essentially get the SOR boost, without revealing or having it get cancelled by opposing sor so thats a plus. Other items could easily be explored, but one would have to play around with the spread/movepool.

Mon isn't perfect, still needs support for pech, zap, and molt as these would otherwise stomp it. Realistically the biggest hurdle is pech, as this is the only mon it can't brute force through even after chip unlike the ladder two. Due to this your team will need a robust way of beating it, but that isn't really that hard to account for in builder and just leads to things like ghold and rmoon/chien being great partners for it, you're stacking top tier mons so its a non-issue.

Replay of the zama being able to pp stall a pex out of recovers/shows off the general synergy of the team:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-2326490172-14inybnk0y24dhxwwksuv20ar1gbwmxpw

Hit #1
Screenshot 2025-03-23 at 10.38.10 PM.png

got two other guys in there too

Open has been fun to watch, low-key want an underdog/someone unexpected to win/have a deep run since thats the tour I got the come up on and think it was a great experience, though the aaa landscape looks so different from then. Goodluck to everyone!
 
Hey sorry if I disturb again, first of all thanks for the advice against cinderace (my previous team had slower pokemon that were one shot or two shot and could not do much in return or faster pokemon that were weak to u turn, it also did not help that everyone always lead with that stupid rabbit). However now I have a more important issue: I do not have an electric immune/resistant which is causing evident issues (not every team has one but even not having volt switch immunity is problematic).

Here's the team: https://pokepast.es/0b4d1788641c8fa2

My issue now is that everyone has multiple useful roles that I would lose if I changed something: Roaring and Oger are the physical breakers and together they deal with every mon; azelf is the designated scarfer, blocks priority and with trick he also has utility against bulkier teams; corv is the defogger and physical wall almost necessary in this tier (the physical wall not corv); prima with good typing is the secondary wall, more inclined on the special side but can easily deal with a lot of physical threats especially roaring moon; and zap is the fire immune and is a good glue mon in general.

Any critique is appreciated, also thanks in advance
 
omegamark64 said:
Hey sorry if I disturb again, first of all thanks for the advice against cinderace (my previous team had slower pokemon that were one shot or two shot and could not do much in return or faster pokemon that were weak to u turn, it also did not help that everyone always lead with that stupid rabbit). However now I have a more important issue: I do not have an electric immune/resistant which is causing evident issues (not every team has one but even not having volt switch immunity is problematic).

Here's the team: https://pokepast.es/0b4d1788641c8fa2

My issue now is that everyone has multiple useful roles that I would lose if I changed something: Roaring and Oger are the physical breakers and together they deal with every mon; azelf is the designated scarfer, blocks priority and with trick he also has utility against bulkier teams; corv is the defogger and physical wall almost necessary in this tier (the physical wall not corv); prima with good typing is the secondary wall, more inclined on the special side but can easily deal with a lot of physical threats especially roaring moon; and zap is the fire immune and is a good glue mon in general.

Any critique is appreciated, also thanks in advance
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A possible change is switching Zapdos to regenvest pert and then changing prim to fluffy plus calm mind with leftovers. Corv can then go with intimidate since prim can handle all the mons you need fluffy corv for.
Alternatively stamina, sflo or primsea specs are options on prim.
If you want to go spicy, take physdef investment on pert and run mglo moon so that pert can handle mons like ace and moon can deal with powerful water moves. The lower power on moon won't be an issue because oger can cover on that end.
Also taunt roost knock uturn moon gives you a strong tool against stall or defensive teams that helps to guarantee progress into walls.
 
Subsonic72 said:
A possible change is switching Zapdos to regenvest pert and then changing prim to fluffy plus calm mind with leftovers. Corv can then go with intimidate since prim can handle all the mons you need fluffy corv for.
Alternatively stamina, sflo or primsea specs are options on prim.
If you want to go spicy, take physdef investment on pert and run mglo moon so that pert can handle mons like ace and moon can deal with powerful water moves. The lower power on moon won't be an issue because oger can cover on that end.
Also taunt roost knock uturn moon gives you a strong tool against stall or defensive teams that helps to guarantee progress into walls.
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This seems like a good basis to start, now I can start expanding on my own. I needed this outside imput I can't thank you enough. Also sidenote, everyone seems to hard punish defog on corv meaning stealth rocks ruin my life with oger being the wallbreaker and all (skill issue, I just wanted to complain tbh with this one)
 
Just some rambling because why not.

:pmd/sinistcha:
Sinistcha @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Colbur Berry
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Matcha Gotcha
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Strength Sap

Sinistcha is like, really good at the moment I feel, and in my opinion surpasses even Earth Eater Gholdengo as a spinblocker, mostly by virtue of being able to freely run an ability without shitting its pants over Earthquake or Headlong Rush from Great Tusk. Even excluding the spinblocking aspect, I've found Sinistcha to be an extremely scary wincon, since as soon as you're either able to remove certain threats like Zapdos or SFLO variants of Deoxys-S or if you get enough Calm Mind boosts this can just win on the spot. You don't give a fuck about the normally scary guys like Zamazenta and Roaring Moon, and with how absolutely broken Strenght Sap is you can use virtually any physical attacker as setup fodder. If I'd known earlier I would have 100% voted this mon higher, definetly recommend using if you wanna try a spinblocker that isn't gholdengo (Using Sinistcha also means you get to use yet another one of Gholdengo's broken sets!!!)


:pmd/zamazenta:
Zamazenta @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Heavy Slam / Wild Charge / Quick Attack / whatever fucking physical move who cares

Zamazenta @ Expert Belt / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Heavy Slam / Wild Charge / Quick Attack / whatever fucking physical move who cares

This dog is like, still hella strong and in my opinion the #1 mon in the format, but I've been finding myself using Choiced sets less and less and to be honest, I think just going AoA makes it a lot more scary, as the whole "prediction" factor can simply be ignored which both lets you sometimes surprise your opponent by for example sniping their Moltres with a surprise Stone Edge after clicking Crunch, and while the damage drop-off can suck I think it's worth giving up over the Choice lock (And it's not like non-choiced hits weak, it's still super fucking strong).


:pmd/iron moth:
Iron Moth @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Energy Ball
- Agility

AAAAHHH I love this set the more and more I use it. To be honest, Iron Moth was on my fraud radar for a very long time with the mediocre DesoLand sets, but AoA feels so strong, and especially when paired with Agility which once again, can just win on the spot. I know Boots sets exist with Hadron that run Dazzling Gleam > Sludge Wave, but personally I value the raw power of SFLO Fire Blast a lot, and Sludge Wave overall hits like a truck, even 2HKOing RegenVest Roaring Moon.
"But RegenVest Roaring Moon outspeeds you, and it's not like you're getting an agility up!" you might say. And to that I present you the new savior of AAA:


:pmd/great tusk:
Great Tusk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- It's Great Tusk,
- you can literally
- run whatever moves
- Rapid Spin

Yep. Have you ever been annoyed at how many people just mindlessly click U-turn? Ever heard AAA being called a "U-turn" meta? Well here is the solution! (30% of the time atleast). What's great about Static is that there is not a single way for your opponent to know until it's too late, and most people will rarely question why you keep switching in Great Tusk on their Roaring Moon like c'mon, that's common sense to do. What this set can also let you do is run kind of "overload" teams, where you run a bunch of strong mons that are all coincidentally super prone to getting revenged by Roaring Moon. If they bring it? Keep switching in that Great Tusk until you get the proc and then win. If they don't bring it? Well, then you have a bunch of scary guys that can't be revenged as easily. And again, it even helps vs other U-turners! You just gotta be careful so you don't throw in your Great Tusk into an Expanding Force because you expected Azelf to click U-turn for the 7th time.

Big Stall™
Bit unrelated but I genuinly think stall isn't is as bad of a place as a lot of people claim, and this open alone I think I've seen more stall teams than all of 2024. People like to overexaggerate and say that AAA simply has too much to account for, but with how centralised the tier has slowly become I find this to be less and less true. I'll post the one stall team I've had pretty good success with (yes I lost with it in open but that's because I'm bad):

:sinistcha: :skarmory: :chesnaught: :tinkaton: :blissey: :toxapex:

Is this perfect? Probably not, and I'm certain there are dozens of different ways to make it better / creating different stall teams. Overall I think it's about time people actually start considering stall just a wee little more, and I hope this at the very minimum can inspire someone to innovate stall further, even if you are a bit more reliant on good matchups so to say.

With all that said, I'm planning on retiring from council here. I will be forever grateful to AAA as a whole, as it was essentially the reason I got into smogon as a whole and I'll probably still tinker with it from time to time, but as it stands I've lost a lot of interest and motivation for the tier over the last couple months, and I don't see that coming back really soon. For reference, here are all "real" teams I've built since around November, which is well, not a lot, and I don't find myself getting dragged into wanting to build or play much either, especially when comparing to other tiers currently. So, cya, I'll be around ofc but I will probably not dedicate as much to this tier.
 
The team above looks like a variation of my original tinka stall team, with some more stability into things like zamazenta in exchange for losing to firepon. The main issue with this structure is that despite running mono boots, you still lose to spike stack due to the prevalence of knock in the tier.
:tinkaton::blissey::toxapex::chesnaught::roaring moon::ting-lu: (aaapl)
:tinkaton::blissey::toxapex::chesnaught::corviknight::skarmory:(ompl)
I've also seen people run matte 's stall team recently, which autoloses to pnoise stail and lacks reliable ways of making progress (no flame body). I think stall has a ton of potential if brought against an unsuspecting opponent since it comfortable counters most of the common teamstyles and only loses to more niche breakers/spike stack.
:Goodra-Hisui::Mandibuzz::Hippowdon::Chesnaught::Blissey::Toxapex:
1743961313257.png

This is the team I've been testing, with the main idea being that mandibuzz can (somewhat) handle all the spikers, while rocks aren't an issue with resists/boots. Blissey can eat trick/knock from dengo and zelf, letting av hoodra sit on all the spattackers. Putting fluffy on chesnaught gives it more freedom to set spikes, and fbody hippo still covers the common targets like moon and tusk. Infernape is the only answer to both chienpao and hearthflame (fluffy magcargo is pretty cool too). Team loses to mamoswine and has a hard time against libero deos and cobalion. Stall as a whole is extremely limited in its options for defensive walls and utility such as hazard control/hazards.

Also if all the mons on a team were faster than manaphy, you could always get the faster switch and trace regen 100% of the time.
 
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Decided to stop tanking my AAA ladder score with teams like marvel scale palossand, or dual wish pass vaporeon/scream tail, or even tinted lens Quiver Dance Ribombee, among others... and top the ladder with a serious team of my making. And the mood struck me, went from 1300 to 1700 with just this team as seen below:
ba70a299355fb65a711112542c5f8618.png


Low elo/coil but meh, I like using fun stuff to much to fix that... will probably tank it again later so whatever...

Team is as follows:
:Landorus-therian::Zamazenta::Iron Crown::Kingambit::Cinderace::Zapdos:

:Landorus-therian: Landorus-therian is the teams physical tank and can sweep teams and dismantle and abuse stuff like Corviknight which is often used as a switchin to Landorus, setting up a sub on the corv, or bulking up, and then forcing the opponent to constantly switch in order to avoid the subsequent EQ. Handles most physical sets in the metagame though not all and as such there are some Pokemon you have to be cautious of such as Chien-Pao, and Meowscarada. Is also forced out by EE Gholdengo though.

:zamazenta: Zamazenta is similarly a sub IDPress set with Roar and Scrappy, phasing stuff that tries to beat it with setup of their own (BU Great Tusk, Opposing IDPress Zamazenta's, Corvs, Chesnaughts) and then breaking them in spite of Fluffy with the statistical differences of a setup Zamzenta and fresh whatever. Roar is extremely important in this regard but it isn't fullproof, smart play on the opponents part with stuff like Zapdos, Pecharunt, etc.. can hurt this and most importantly Scream Tail is the best answer to this set as it is 4x resisted and bypasses sub with Boomburst.

:Iron Crown: Iron Crown is the teams special eater and unlike normal is an AV WBB set to as I ran into SFLO Iron Moths a bit to often and they can break Zapdos with a smart perdict with Sludge Wave. It also isn't foolproof, however, and Deoxys-speed can prove problematic if mixed with Knock.
Tinted Latios, and the rare Hydreigon can prove troblesome as well.

:Kingambit: Kingambit is the teams SR'er and often cleans teams that don't respect it with tinted Suckers and an sd here or there. Strong but dislikes Fluffy stuff, such as Great Tusk and Corviknight.

:Cinderace: Cinderace is the teams only source of hazard removal and is a pretty great answer to the gimmicky screens / Sticky Web HO teams running around. Opts to run Sucker Punch for double priority coverage in case something goes awry. Desolate Land gives it defesive utility especially when paired with the final team member Zapdos.

:Zapdos: Zapdos is totally standard PrimSea Zapdos and is used just as much for its offensive Thunder/Hurricane/U-turn prowess as its defensive utility.

Team is fairly aggressive, you simply don't have the longevity to have games too prolonged, Lando/Zama are key players find opportunities to get them behind a sub and setup to break opposing teams. Have Fun!
 
Here is the battle I had against this user. Btw, no hate to him at all, it's great he found this out. He was most likely running a Prankster Mimikyu with Phantom Force making the thing unbeatable unless you PP stall him which is almost impossible unless you have a normal type. Cool strategy nonetheless, but maybe something should be done? I really don't wanna be an a** here about it, but almost nobody runs a normal type, unless Slaking or Regigigas were unbanned. Maybe Lopunny-Mega or Zoroark Hisui at best.



P.S. I know what my response was(in the battle) when I figured out the strat; suspend or ban me if you have to, I apologize though to the user and the staff for the use of the letter f:))).
 

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Lucificus said:
Here is the battle I had against this user. Btw, no hate to him at all, it's great he found this out. He was most likely running a Prankster Mimikyu with Phantom Force making the thing unbeatable unless you PP stall him which is almost impossible unless you have a normal type. Cool strategy nonetheless, but maybe something should be done? I really don't wanna be an a** here about it, but almost nobody runs a normal type, unless Slaking or Regigigas were unbanned. Maybe Lopunny-Mega or Zoroark Hisui at best.



P.S. I know what my response was(in the battle) when I figured out the strat; suspend or ban me if you have to, I apologize though to the user and the staff for the use of the letter f:))).
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There are a couple of other things you could try bringing for this strategy. There's pseudo-hazing moves like roar and whirlwind, on contact triggers like Rocky Helmet, Static, Wandering Spirit, and Flame Body, bringing your own priority moves (including protect) so copycat triggers off them instead of the Phantom Force, No Guard to hit them in their pseudo-invulnerable turn, or even just having tspikes on the field so they have a limited number of turns regardless. For the PP stalling, you can make use of non normal types with intimidate or regen cycling, or just running bulky non normal type walls with healing; even Leftovers works if the Pokemon in question is bulky enough.
 
QT said:
There are a couple of other things you could try bringing for this strategy. There's pseudo-hazing moves like roar and whirlwind, on contact triggers like Rocky Helmet, Static, Wandering Spirit, and Flame Body, bringing your own priority moves (including protect) so copycat triggers off them instead of the Phantom Force, No Guard to hit them in their pseudo-invulnerable turn, or even just having tspikes on the field so they have a limited number of turns regardless. For the PP stalling, you can make use of non normal types with intimidate or regen cycling, or just running bulky non normal type walls with healing; even Leftovers works if the Pokemon in question is bulky enough.
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That is true, I completely agree with you. I guess I overreacted a bit. Thank you for explaining this to me, indeed I forgot that copycat isn't a priority move itself. Then I apologize for making a fuss out of nothing.

Appreciate it!
 
I've seen a lot of Kommo-o running around lately and im having trouble taking it down since once it's up it usually over. Does anyone have any advice or experience to deal with this guy? Im just not sure how to fit things like taunt or unaware into a team just to prepare for a single mon. I will say its usually Clang and Sub but ive seen a sun set with harvest and using golduck with simple beam and a trace kommo-o to setup. Wild stuff out here
 
Here are some teams

:deoxys-speed: :gholdengo: :gliscor: :iron moth: :roaring moon: :tinkaton:
This is a great 6 not only because this team works well as it is, but also because a lot of the mons here are flexible ; for example you can go Fluffy or WBB on Gliscor and Regen on Tink or Roaring Moon, you can put an immunity on Ghold if you feel like it ; and obviously Deo-s is extremely flexible. Probably the strongest offense i've built recently.

:corviknight: :moltres: :iron treads: :pecharunt: :roaring moon: :zamazenta:
This is an old structure of mine but it still works decently. The defensive core centered around Regen Corv is pretty interesting. The Zama slot is quite flexible because the team has double removal ; it used to be Band Pao but tbh it could be any strong breaker you want like SFLO Moth or whatever. Not the most cheese-proof team ever it must be said.

:garchomp: :great tusk: :manaphy: :polteageist: :smeargle: :zamazenta:
Gross Webs team featuring the very scary Normalize Polt (got the idea from ghostlike). Offensive Scrappy Tusk is a key element of the team, dealing with hazards (and potential opposing Webs) very consistenty and providing momentum with Eject Pack. The rest is quite straight forward.

:blissey: :corviknight: :manaphy: :pecharunt: :zamazenta: :zapdos:
Wanted to build a team around NG Zapdos which takes advantage of people checking Primsea Zapdos with the likes of Iron Moth and Roaring Moon. Need Manaphy to consistently knock the AV off Swampert. The rest is quite normal. I usually avoid using Fluffy Corv but it can be good alongside Manaphy to absorb some Knocks.
 
Here are some teams as well but i only want to talk about 1 of them which i really like, the rest are like fine ig idk not my best work

:sinistcha: :skarmory: :great tusk: :iron crown: :roaring moon: :zapdos:
Wanted to build a newer version of my old volcarona sample. Very cool hazard stack with plenty of defensive mons that plays aggressively.
Future sight is cool and underexplored, easy to fit combination is fsight + scrappy cc tusk always* claims one.
The sinistcha is the star here though and a truly very strong and underrated set. Never been a fan of the passive max/max bold immunity cm sets as i feel they are way too slow and invalidated by zapdos/ghold/fires/etc. Those sets also still get owned by Darks/Zamazenta crunch without fluffy. This set however brings much more utility via "offense is best defense", and ohko's all of the afformentioned mons at +2 and is generally very strong. Fast sap makes up for the lack of bulk in still letting you spinblock tusk. Being fast and strong in general will always provide value and outs in any given game. Its naturally good matchup against manaphy/swampert/iron treads makes pairing it much more realistic with hadron engine users. I brought it a couple times in open but watch this one where it goes lebron: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9almostanyability-836011

Im also gonna plug my RMT here check it out even cooler team

https://pokepast.es/28618d472d94f4d5
https://pokepast.es/6e37fd48d528de2c
https://pokepast.es/67847bac5fbcdce6
https://pokepast.es/3afae8f32b745f4a
 
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Autismic47 said:
I think you should try and restrict contrary rather than ban, so if you’re Pokémon learns like anything that directly lowers stats by two stages (close combat counts) you can’t use it. (Or can’t use that move if you have contrary) It would probably only be used as a defensive measure but I think it would be cool
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That would make no sense as far as policy and tiering is concerned.

The only way contrary could be let free in AAA is if a native ability clause was introduced but that topic has been killed through polling.
 
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anyone have any thoughts on prankster destiny bond? its not OP but it just doesn't really seem like a fun and interactive play. similar to 2015 patron warrior from hearthstone.

youre just forced to dance around it or sack it 1:1, it's just not really fun, but anyone care to share their thoughts?
 
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