[Overview]
<p>With the seemingly endless amount of Grass / Poison Pokemon in the game, why in the world would you ever use Amoonguss? It seems like it's just the same thing as every other bulky Grass-type: good bulk, powder moves, and a decent Grass-tpye STAB. It also has a terrible match-up against some of the most common threats in DW OU, like Tyranitar, Chandelure, and Genesect. That's not even considering its sparse movepool and mediocre offenses. So, with all things considered, why would you ever use Amoonguss?</p>
<p>The reason: Amoonguss has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. 114/70/80 defenses are great, and its typing is handy-dandy against rain as it can take even strong STAB Water-type moves from both sides of the spectrum. In addition to this, it is quite possibly the best counter to the "Volt" part of VoltTurn cores, as it takes miniscule amounts from any Volt Switch and can Regenerate the damage off later. Amoonguss also has Spore, the famed 100% accurate Sleep move. Amoonguss is far and away the bulkiest user of this move and can use it to the fullest. However, the big reason why Amoonguss is so good in DW lies in its ability; Regenerator. Recovering 1/3rd of its HP merely by switching is fantastic, and greatly aids its walling capabilities.</p>
[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Spore
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Clear Smog / Stun Spore
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice
item: Shed Shell / Leftovers
nature: Bold
ability: Regenerator
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is basically the epitome of any Amoonguss set, and with good reason. Amoonguss is capable of taking physical hits nearly as well as the mighty Skarmory. Not even Life Orb Terrakion can reliably KO Amoonguss at +2. In addition, due to its massive HP stat, special hits can be tanked as well, thanks to a combination of good bulk and Regenerator.</p>
<p>The one move that most people know Amoonguss by is Spore; which is considered to be among the best moves in the game. With Spore, Amoonguss can incapacitate one of its counters, such as Genesect or Tyranitar, for a good number of turns, which is very useful as letting down Amoonguss can open the path for many set up sweepers such as Terrakion. Giga Drain is a solid STAB move capable of healing Amoonguss, which in tandem with Regenerator can make Amoonguss a solid defensive wall. For the third slot, both moves listed have their merit, and both attempt to stop sweeps. Clear Smog is a weak, but STAB, Poison move which warrants the same effect as Haze on the opponent’s Pokémon. This is handy for things like breaking Multi Scale on Dragonite, or stopping a Keldeo from boosting up too many times before Giga Draining it. However, Stun Spore is a very worth move too which is used to cripple some of Amoonguss’s top counters or just to stop a sweep in general. The last slot is normally the hidden power of choice. Fire can be used in order to deal with Genesect and Ferrothorn, while Ice provides better coverage against Dragons. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs are very straightforward; HP and Defense are maxed out to deal with physical threats as well as possible. For an example of Amoonguss’s physical bulk, a +1 Dragonite can hit for about 75% with Outrage. Amoonguss can then either Clear Smog to break Multi Scale and reset the boosts, Spore or Stun Spore to cripple Dragonite if it lacks a Lum Berry, or just flat out HP Ice it if it has taken some previous Stealth Rock and residual damage. A specially defensive set, however, has plenty of merits. Many of Amoonguss’s weaknesses come from predominantly special attacks (Fire, Ice, Psychic), which can be improved upon with special defense EVs and sometimes Rain. </p>
<p>Despite Amoonguss’s seemingly endless uses with just its bulk and movepool, Amoonguss is very limited in scope without its true claim to fame; Regenerator. With the ability to gain a third of your health merely by switching, it is easy to see why Amoonguss is so useful as a wall.
As far as items go, it is basically a toss up between extra recovery that is given from Leftovers, or the ability to switch out of the deadly Chandelure. While the latter is recommended, Leftovers can be very useful for cancelling out Sand damage and lets you switch in with hazards more. </p>
<p>It is important to note that, despite its stats, Amoonguss should not be used as a wall, or at least as other walls are seen. While other walls try to knock down HP slowly while buffering hits, Amoonguss lacks a recovery move and any moves (besides Toxic) capable of making it a complete wall, per se. Rather, Amoonguss is instead used for stopping enemy sweepers in their tracks before they can begin to knock down your team. With its flurry of moves to do this, Amoonguss is very capable of performing its job as a sweeper stopper very well.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Amoonguss has a few other noteworthy moves it can use. It has access to Payback, which can damage Gengar a good deal and ward off Chandelure from Substituting on it and Calm Minding up. For the most part, however, it has miniscule uses and these are belittled even more when compared with the support movepool available to Amoonguss. Synthesis is available, although not recommended due to the amount of sand and rain going around. Still, if you are running Sun and don't want to rely on Regenerator, then it's certainly an optionToxic is available for dual status if Stun Spore is not your thing, and it can be used very effectively; especially by something as bulky as Amoonguss. If you are running rain or sun with Amoonguss, sticking Rain Dance or Sunny Day on the mushroom may be very helpful as a backup solution or just something to put pressure on your opponent (or, y'know, provide weather support if necessary). While it may seem a bit tempting due to its power, Sludge Bomb has mediocre coverage, but it has that good chance of poisoning. Overall, Amoonguss suffers from a small movepool with little to do but the options already provided. Many of Amoonguss's moves are very hard to be replaced as well, as it has a heavy case of 4-moveslot syndrome.</p>
<p>Amoonguss also is just as easily capable of running a specially defensive set instead of a defensive one, if your team happens to need it. It should be noted that with the combination of Spore, Stun Spore, Clear Smog, and Giga Drain, specially defensive Amoonguss is one of the best Keldeo counters under rain. Amoonguss gives many common rain sweepers a lot of trouble, and this is amplified if specially defensive is used.
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Note that all of the following counters are only true "counters" after Amoonguss has used up its one Spore. Another thing to note is that Amoonguss is a Pokemon which is tailored to do a certain thing: stop set up sweepers in their tracks. Now, beyond this, Amoonguss has some pretty serious issues with very common Pokemon. Without a Shed Shell, Chandelure incapacitates Amoonguss no matter what set it is running. Tyranitar isn't hurt too badly by any of Amoonguss's attacks, and can retaliate with a strong STAB move or a super effective move. In addition, Tyranitar can just set up Stealth Rock while Amoonguss tries to do some sort of damage. Genesect takes Giga Drain with ease, is immune to Clear Smog, and takes pitiful damage from Hidden Power Ice. However, it must be wary of Stun Spore or Hidden Power Fire. Some more common bulky Pokemon that counter Amoonguss include Heatran, who only fears Stun Spore, Skarmory, who can set up hazards or just flat out attack with a STAB super effective Brave Bird, and Chansey, who takes a pittance from any of Amoonguss's "attacks". Manaphy is also a solid counter as well, since it is immune to Spore and Stun Spore while rain is up, and is not 2HKO'd by GIga Drain, meaning that it can freely Tail Glow and Rest before blasting Amoonguss away with Ice Beam. Ninetales, in a similar fashion to Heatran, will take practically nothing from Amoonguss's coverage moves and only really fears the Powders, while it can Substitute or do massive damage to Amoonguss with a STAB fire move. </p>
<p>Probably the most reliable counters to the fungus are the dreaded Magic Bounce users: Xatu and Espeon. With Xatu's resistance to a good amount of Amoonguss's attacks, and Espeon's powerful STAB Psychics floating around will both cause huge trouble for Amoonguss. Natural Cure users, such as some Celebi and Chansey, also take pittance from Amoonguss's attacks.</p>
<p>With the seemingly endless amount of Grass / Poison Pokemon in the game, why in the world would you ever use Amoonguss? It seems like it's just the same thing as every other bulky Grass-type: good bulk, powder moves, and a decent Grass-tpye STAB. It also has a terrible match-up against some of the most common threats in DW OU, like Tyranitar, Chandelure, and Genesect. That's not even considering its sparse movepool and mediocre offenses. So, with all things considered, why would you ever use Amoonguss?</p>
<p>The reason: Amoonguss has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. 114/70/80 defenses are great, and its typing is handy-dandy against rain as it can take even strong STAB Water-type moves from both sides of the spectrum. In addition to this, it is quite possibly the best counter to the "Volt" part of VoltTurn cores, as it takes miniscule amounts from any Volt Switch and can Regenerate the damage off later. Amoonguss also has Spore, the famed 100% accurate Sleep move. Amoonguss is far and away the bulkiest user of this move and can use it to the fullest. However, the big reason why Amoonguss is so good in DW lies in its ability; Regenerator. Recovering 1/3rd of its HP merely by switching is fantastic, and greatly aids its walling capabilities.</p>
[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Spore
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Clear Smog / Stun Spore
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice
item: Shed Shell / Leftovers
nature: Bold
ability: Regenerator
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This is basically the epitome of any Amoonguss set, and with good reason. Amoonguss is capable of taking physical hits nearly as well as the mighty Skarmory. Not even Life Orb Terrakion can reliably KO Amoonguss at +2. In addition, due to its massive HP stat, special hits can be tanked as well, thanks to a combination of good bulk and Regenerator.</p>
<p>The one move that most people know Amoonguss by is Spore; which is considered to be among the best moves in the game. With Spore, Amoonguss can incapacitate one of its counters, such as Genesect or Tyranitar, for a good number of turns, which is very useful as letting down Amoonguss can open the path for many set up sweepers such as Terrakion. Giga Drain is a solid STAB move capable of healing Amoonguss, which in tandem with Regenerator can make Amoonguss a solid defensive wall. For the third slot, both moves listed have their merit, and both attempt to stop sweeps. Clear Smog is a weak, but STAB, Poison move which warrants the same effect as Haze on the opponent’s Pokémon. This is handy for things like breaking Multi Scale on Dragonite, or stopping a Keldeo from boosting up too many times before Giga Draining it. However, Stun Spore is a very worth move too which is used to cripple some of Amoonguss’s top counters or just to stop a sweep in general. The last slot is normally the hidden power of choice. Fire can be used in order to deal with Genesect and Ferrothorn, while Ice provides better coverage against Dragons. </p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs are very straightforward; HP and Defense are maxed out to deal with physical threats as well as possible. For an example of Amoonguss’s physical bulk, a +1 Dragonite can hit for about 75% with Outrage. Amoonguss can then either Clear Smog to break Multi Scale and reset the boosts, Spore or Stun Spore to cripple Dragonite if it lacks a Lum Berry, or just flat out HP Ice it if it has taken some previous Stealth Rock and residual damage. A specially defensive set, however, has plenty of merits. Many of Amoonguss’s weaknesses come from predominantly special attacks (Fire, Ice, Psychic), which can be improved upon with special defense EVs and sometimes Rain. </p>
<p>Despite Amoonguss’s seemingly endless uses with just its bulk and movepool, Amoonguss is very limited in scope without its true claim to fame; Regenerator. With the ability to gain a third of your health merely by switching, it is easy to see why Amoonguss is so useful as a wall.
As far as items go, it is basically a toss up between extra recovery that is given from Leftovers, or the ability to switch out of the deadly Chandelure. While the latter is recommended, Leftovers can be very useful for cancelling out Sand damage and lets you switch in with hazards more. </p>
<p>It is important to note that, despite its stats, Amoonguss should not be used as a wall, or at least as other walls are seen. While other walls try to knock down HP slowly while buffering hits, Amoonguss lacks a recovery move and any moves (besides Toxic) capable of making it a complete wall, per se. Rather, Amoonguss is instead used for stopping enemy sweepers in their tracks before they can begin to knock down your team. With its flurry of moves to do this, Amoonguss is very capable of performing its job as a sweeper stopper very well.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Amoonguss has a few other noteworthy moves it can use. It has access to Payback, which can damage Gengar a good deal and ward off Chandelure from Substituting on it and Calm Minding up. For the most part, however, it has miniscule uses and these are belittled even more when compared with the support movepool available to Amoonguss. Synthesis is available, although not recommended due to the amount of sand and rain going around. Still, if you are running Sun and don't want to rely on Regenerator, then it's certainly an optionToxic is available for dual status if Stun Spore is not your thing, and it can be used very effectively; especially by something as bulky as Amoonguss. If you are running rain or sun with Amoonguss, sticking Rain Dance or Sunny Day on the mushroom may be very helpful as a backup solution or just something to put pressure on your opponent (or, y'know, provide weather support if necessary). While it may seem a bit tempting due to its power, Sludge Bomb has mediocre coverage, but it has that good chance of poisoning. Overall, Amoonguss suffers from a small movepool with little to do but the options already provided. Many of Amoonguss's moves are very hard to be replaced as well, as it has a heavy case of 4-moveslot syndrome.</p>
<p>Amoonguss also is just as easily capable of running a specially defensive set instead of a defensive one, if your team happens to need it. It should be noted that with the combination of Spore, Stun Spore, Clear Smog, and Giga Drain, specially defensive Amoonguss is one of the best Keldeo counters under rain. Amoonguss gives many common rain sweepers a lot of trouble, and this is amplified if specially defensive is used.
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Note that all of the following counters are only true "counters" after Amoonguss has used up its one Spore. Another thing to note is that Amoonguss is a Pokemon which is tailored to do a certain thing: stop set up sweepers in their tracks. Now, beyond this, Amoonguss has some pretty serious issues with very common Pokemon. Without a Shed Shell, Chandelure incapacitates Amoonguss no matter what set it is running. Tyranitar isn't hurt too badly by any of Amoonguss's attacks, and can retaliate with a strong STAB move or a super effective move. In addition, Tyranitar can just set up Stealth Rock while Amoonguss tries to do some sort of damage. Genesect takes Giga Drain with ease, is immune to Clear Smog, and takes pitiful damage from Hidden Power Ice. However, it must be wary of Stun Spore or Hidden Power Fire. Some more common bulky Pokemon that counter Amoonguss include Heatran, who only fears Stun Spore, Skarmory, who can set up hazards or just flat out attack with a STAB super effective Brave Bird, and Chansey, who takes a pittance from any of Amoonguss's "attacks". Manaphy is also a solid counter as well, since it is immune to Spore and Stun Spore while rain is up, and is not 2HKO'd by GIga Drain, meaning that it can freely Tail Glow and Rest before blasting Amoonguss away with Ice Beam. Ninetales, in a similar fashion to Heatran, will take practically nothing from Amoonguss's coverage moves and only really fears the Powders, while it can Substitute or do massive damage to Amoonguss with a STAB fire move. </p>
<p>Probably the most reliable counters to the fungus are the dreaded Magic Bounce users: Xatu and Espeon. With Xatu's resistance to a good amount of Amoonguss's attacks, and Espeon's powerful STAB Psychics floating around will both cause huge trouble for Amoonguss. Natural Cure users, such as some Celebi and Chansey, also take pittance from Amoonguss's attacks.</p>
