I was pretty upset that Megagross ended up not being banned, so I built a team filled with mons that represent reasonably decent checks/counters to the damn monster. I started using it a bit when I was already reasonably high up on the ladder and lo and behold, it's actually done pretty well, even against non-megagross teams. I think I'm currently in the top 30, but I'll probably be able to get higher tonight. I'm just posting this so if you're as bitter about the megagross ban as I am, you'll have a team that'll make it seem like a good thing, if you can believe that.
Here's what our team looks like so far, I'm definitely open to making changes if anyone can convince me to:
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Steel Wing
I decided to start this team out with Talonflame, as
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Mega Metagross: 368-434 (122.2 - 144.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO. Basically Megagross has ruined most of my past teams, and I wanted to start with something that would be able to put a huge dent into it. Talonflame has excelled as the star of the team, as there really aren't many things in ou that enjoy taking a banded brave bird to the face, as it's even able to ko uninvested Dragonite, even when factoring in multiscale (
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 122-144 (37.7 - 44.5%)) which won me a game. Steel wing's for Diancie and I guess T-tar, though I'm sure there are better moves to use, but non popped out to me, and steel wing made some sense I guess. U-turn is great for scouting and setting up favorable matchups on the switches this monster often forces.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
I've never used Talonflame before, but I know it has that 4x weakness to rocks, so I decided to throw Starmie on the team as a spinner. I really don't have too much experience using Starmie either, so I pretty much just copied the set on smogon with recover over thunderbolt. However after playing a few games I found that I had never used recover, and Starmie was a liability when it came to being swept by Gyarados, so I switched recover for thunderbolt.
Max hp and max speed makes sure Starmie outruns everything under 115, including things that would threaten this team otherwise like Diancie and Serperior, and I was surprised at how bulky it was with 252 in hp. It lived a +1 dragon claw from dragonite, which surprised me, and can generally live 1 super effective hit. It's also a great switch in to Keldeo, and it certainly does a great job at clearing hazards thanks to its speed and bulk.
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Quick Attack
- Iron Head
Banded Terrakion has always been one of my favorite mons, and how it doesn't have more usage I'll never understand. There's an incredibly limited list of things that are able to take a banded close combat from this monster, and bringing it on things that it outspeeds, which is a significant portion of the metagame, normally results in something being koed.(
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 348-410 (98.8 - 116.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO,
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 166-196 (49.7 - 58.6%) -- 71.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery)
Stone Edge will allow it to hit things like Slowbro and Gengar reasonably hard, as well as ensuring a ohko on flying threats. Quick attack is a rarely used priority attack that has swung a few battles in my favor over the years. Though it doesn't hit very hard (
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 72-85 (22.2 - 26.3%) -- 11.7% chance to 4HKO), the ability to pick off extremely weakened opponents to steal the victory is something that I will never get tired of seeing. Iron head is to put a serious dent into Clefable (though it doensn't ohko, it can live an uninvested moonblast allowing it to take clefable on 1v1), and a reliable ko against gardevoir (ie not having to rely on stone edge), closing out one of my all time favorite sets.
Max attack and speed is fairly obvious I think.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
Defensive Lando-T is another mon that appears regularly on my teams, as it's ability and typing make it a threatening wall to many common physical attackers,it is able to hit pretty hard with minimal attack investment, including being able to knock off key items in the early going, as well as it's reliability in getting up stealth rocks, are all things I highly value and haven't been able to find anything that does a better job. In addition, it's synergy with magnezone and Manectric is unrivaled. U-turn is also a huge asset that I love about this thing, as it gives me the ability to switch in to a physical attack, take another or force a switch, and then u-turn into something equipped to take on whatever physical mon is being discussed. If I can get lando in before rocks are up on my side, or after I remove rocks, I've found bluffing a scarf to be a viable strategy as well.
Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Another staple that appears on all my times, assault vest Magnezone is used as a special pivot. It does a great job of tanking special and physical attacks, as long as it resists them, and can retaliate with strong electric attacks or set me up with positive matchups using volt switch. Trapping ferrothorn and skarmory is also a nice asset, and bluffing a choice scarf allows this thing to often come up with key koes. It pairs very well with lando-t as well, as it can switch into ice and water attacks (though it hates scald burns) while lando-t is able to switch into ground attacks.
The evs are so that it has a pretty good chance of living a +6 aqua jet from azumarril after rocks while being able to outspeed bulky variants with speed creep.
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Manectric is there as my final Mega Metagross check, as it's able to lower its attack, outspeed, and hit decently hard with a strong flamethrower, though it won't ohko, volt switch + flamethrower will. Mega manectric is also great against non megagross teams, as it can effective wear down opponents with reasonably powerful volt switches, and forcing switches, which, when paired with rocks, puts serious strain on opposing teams. Hp ice is a nice filler for hitting lando-t, lando i, garchomp, and Dragonite pretty hard.
All-in-all this team has done really well on the upper end of the OU Ladder. There really aren't any mons that come to mind when I'm thinking of things that give me trouble. I hope that if you have megagross as much as I do this team will come as some condolence for it not being banned. Hope you all have a lovely day, unless of course you voted no ban.
Ps. this is my first post on this thread, so if I fucked something up, please feel free to yell at me.
Here's what our team looks like so far, I'm definitely open to making changes if anyone can convince me to:
Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Steel Wing
I decided to start this team out with Talonflame, as
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Mega Metagross: 368-434 (122.2 - 144.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO. Basically Megagross has ruined most of my past teams, and I wanted to start with something that would be able to put a huge dent into it. Talonflame has excelled as the star of the team, as there really aren't many things in ou that enjoy taking a banded brave bird to the face, as it's even able to ko uninvested Dragonite, even when factoring in multiscale (
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 122-144 (37.7 - 44.5%)) which won me a game. Steel wing's for Diancie and I guess T-tar, though I'm sure there are better moves to use, but non popped out to me, and steel wing made some sense I guess. U-turn is great for scouting and setting up favorable matchups on the switches this monster often forces.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
I've never used Talonflame before, but I know it has that 4x weakness to rocks, so I decided to throw Starmie on the team as a spinner. I really don't have too much experience using Starmie either, so I pretty much just copied the set on smogon with recover over thunderbolt. However after playing a few games I found that I had never used recover, and Starmie was a liability when it came to being swept by Gyarados, so I switched recover for thunderbolt.
Max hp and max speed makes sure Starmie outruns everything under 115, including things that would threaten this team otherwise like Diancie and Serperior, and I was surprised at how bulky it was with 252 in hp. It lived a +1 dragon claw from dragonite, which surprised me, and can generally live 1 super effective hit. It's also a great switch in to Keldeo, and it certainly does a great job at clearing hazards thanks to its speed and bulk.
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Quick Attack
- Iron Head
Banded Terrakion has always been one of my favorite mons, and how it doesn't have more usage I'll never understand. There's an incredibly limited list of things that are able to take a banded close combat from this monster, and bringing it on things that it outspeeds, which is a significant portion of the metagame, normally results in something being koed.(
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 348-410 (98.8 - 116.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO,
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 166-196 (49.7 - 58.6%) -- 71.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery)
Stone Edge will allow it to hit things like Slowbro and Gengar reasonably hard, as well as ensuring a ohko on flying threats. Quick attack is a rarely used priority attack that has swung a few battles in my favor over the years. Though it doesn't hit very hard (
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 72-85 (22.2 - 26.3%) -- 11.7% chance to 4HKO), the ability to pick off extremely weakened opponents to steal the victory is something that I will never get tired of seeing. Iron head is to put a serious dent into Clefable (though it doensn't ohko, it can live an uninvested moonblast allowing it to take clefable on 1v1), and a reliable ko against gardevoir (ie not having to rely on stone edge), closing out one of my all time favorite sets.
Max attack and speed is fairly obvious I think.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
Defensive Lando-T is another mon that appears regularly on my teams, as it's ability and typing make it a threatening wall to many common physical attackers,it is able to hit pretty hard with minimal attack investment, including being able to knock off key items in the early going, as well as it's reliability in getting up stealth rocks, are all things I highly value and haven't been able to find anything that does a better job. In addition, it's synergy with magnezone and Manectric is unrivaled. U-turn is also a huge asset that I love about this thing, as it gives me the ability to switch in to a physical attack, take another or force a switch, and then u-turn into something equipped to take on whatever physical mon is being discussed. If I can get lando in before rocks are up on my side, or after I remove rocks, I've found bluffing a scarf to be a viable strategy as well.
Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Another staple that appears on all my times, assault vest Magnezone is used as a special pivot. It does a great job of tanking special and physical attacks, as long as it resists them, and can retaliate with strong electric attacks or set me up with positive matchups using volt switch. Trapping ferrothorn and skarmory is also a nice asset, and bluffing a choice scarf allows this thing to often come up with key koes. It pairs very well with lando-t as well, as it can switch into ice and water attacks (though it hates scald burns) while lando-t is able to switch into ground attacks.
The evs are so that it has a pretty good chance of living a +6 aqua jet from azumarril after rocks while being able to outspeed bulky variants with speed creep.
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Manectric is there as my final Mega Metagross check, as it's able to lower its attack, outspeed, and hit decently hard with a strong flamethrower, though it won't ohko, volt switch + flamethrower will. Mega manectric is also great against non megagross teams, as it can effective wear down opponents with reasonably powerful volt switches, and forcing switches, which, when paired with rocks, puts serious strain on opposing teams. Hp ice is a nice filler for hitting lando-t, lando i, garchomp, and Dragonite pretty hard.
All-in-all this team has done really well on the upper end of the OU Ladder. There really aren't any mons that come to mind when I'm thinking of things that give me trouble. I hope that if you have megagross as much as I do this team will come as some condolence for it not being banned. Hope you all have a lovely day, unless of course you voted no ban.
Ps. this is my first post on this thread, so if I fucked something up, please feel free to yell at me.
