DragMag and Friends

[sunshinesan]

DragMag and Friends
​

​

First RMT. The inspiration for this team came from two sources – The 4Drag2Mag built and the popular Offensive Momentum strategy(i.e. Volturn). 4Drag2Mag is highly offensive, but very inconsistent, so I decided to mix the two to test the results.


Team Building Process

Hide

Haxorus is the linchpin of the 4Drag2Mag strategy, as few nonsteels can survive and tell the tale of a banded outrage to their faces.

I decided to only have 1 Mag in the form of Magnezone on this team. This team is built to be a little bit more flexible than 4Drag2Mag, so it will suffice.

Scizor for the latter half of the strategy. Choice banded U-Turn to gain momentum and set up for the kill with my dragons. Resistance to ice is icing on the cake.

I needed more dragons, thus Dragonite was chosen on account of it being… very good at what it does. Its bulk and DD set differentiates it from Haxorus and gives me more options.

Not to go overboard, but the theme was still not complete with just 2 Drags, and I opted for one more, in the form of Choice Scarfed Special Mence.

Finally, to round off, Life Orbed Mienshao makes the cut. This thing probably surpasses Scizor in its ability to keep the pressure on.

Closer Look

Mienshao @ Life Orb

ABILITY: Regenerator
EVs: 252Atk 4SpA 252Spe
NATURE: Naive (+Spe, -SpD)

MOVESET:
Fake Out
Hi Jump Kick
U-turn
Hidden Power Ice (IV: 30Atk, 30Def)

With the popularity of steels, I usually lead with him. Fake out then Hi Jump Kick if I predict a stay in, and U-Turn immediately if I sense a switch. Regenerator on this guy is one of the sickest things ever, and more or less negates the side-effect of its life orb. If I team preview a ghost on the opposing team, using him becomes trickier, and U-Turn usually becomes its only attack until the threat is eliminated. Hidden Power Ice coupled with its decent speed allows me to kill a majority of the rampaging dragons in the tier, as well as Gliscor and Landorus.

Haxorus @ Choice Band

ABILITY: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4HP 252Atk 252Spd
NATURE: Adament (+Atk, -SpA)

MOVESET:
Outrage
Earthquake
Brick Break
Dual Chop

If I don’t see a steel on the opposing team (Team preview really makes this team more viable), 50% of the time I lead with this guy, and the other with Dragonite. I usually just go for an outrage, which will put me up one or two pokemon before this behemoth is dealt with. With correct prediction, Earthquake, Brick Break and Dual Chop are used in the rare cases in which Outrage is not the best option. There is an emphasis on RARE. Of course, if I’m not leading with him, he is an immediate send in once I’ve dealt with all the steels or if the remaining steels are weakened enough to be within K.O. range.

Dragonite @ Lum Berry

ABILITY: Multiscale
EVs: 4HP 252Atk 252Spe
NATURE: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)

MOVESET:
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Fire Punch
ExtremeSpeed

My other lead option if there are no steels. Dragonite is more flexible and thus sometimes more viable than Haxorus. Due to his Lum Berry and Multiscale, I am guaranteed a DD, after which I Outrage. If I don’t lead with it, Dragonite becomes a great pokemon that gives me lots of options unlike a lot of my choiced pokes. Fire Punch can be used with Magnezone to help me get rid of pesky steels. Extreme Speed is utility and can be used to combat priority. I’m contemplating whether to put roost on it or not at the moment.

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf

ABILITY: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4HP 252SpA 252Spe
NATURE: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)

MOVESET:
Volt Switch
Flash Cannon
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power Fire (IV: 30Atk 30SpA 30Spe)

With a scarf, this thing can outspeed anything below dedicated 115 base speeders. Considering its job is to kill steels, and steels tend to be slow, more or less it moves first when I want it to do so. Timid allows me to OHKO 252HP Scizor 100% of the time with the added bonus of being very difficult to outspeed. Volt Switch is also great on it if I make a mistake and don’t want my opponent to set up on it. Volt Switch goes well with the Volturn strategy, but I rarely use it to the extent as to call it a defining aspect of my team. I am considering Rotom – W so that I can legitimately plant this strategy in my team, but I am not certain who I would boot in that scenario.

Scizor @ Choice Band

ABILITY: Technician
EVs: 252HP 252Atk 4Spe
NATURE: Adament (+Atk, -SpA)

MOVESET:
Superpower
Bullet Punch
Pursuit
U-turn

Offensive Pressure, a picture of this guy can be found under this phrase in the Big Book of Phrases if such a thing existed. Stabbed, banded U-Turns leave not dents, but holes in anything that doesn’t resist it. Bullet punch is great; the notion of having such a powerful attack that always goes first without the need of speed investment is a scary thought. Scizor can be a potential weak link in that if I get choiced into pursuit or superpower, despite it netting me a kill can spell my demise sometimes as it becomes a set up bait for one turn.

Salemence @ Choice Scarf

ABILITY: Intimidate
EVs: 4Atk 252SpA 252Spe
NATURE: Rash (+SpA, -SpD)

MOVESET:
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Outrage
Earthquake

Salemence to finish off the theme. Even though it shares its weakness to ice with its other brethren on the team, this Mence is completely distinguished by the fact that it is a scarfed special attacker. I’ve contemplated to use a more dedicated specially inclined dragon for the role, i.e. the fast Latios or Hydreigon, but it is the surprise factor of this beast that puts it over the top. Very rarely will my opponent be able to decipher the fact that it is both scarfed and specially dedicated, and that mistake will usually net me a kill. Surprise factors can only be useful for so long in a battle though, by that I mean they become useless the moment the secret is revealed. To remedy this, intimidate is great on Salemence. The utility of intimidating a pokemon with an incoming fighting move and retaliating with an ultra-fast Draco Meteor really illustrates the versatility and deadliness of this set despite it being scarfed.

Threats

This team is allergic to dedicated stall teams, but more importantly, those with people who know how to use them. Due to the heavy reliance on choice items in this team, Stall can run circles around it with good prediction. However, without the choice items, I feel that my team wouldn’t have enough raw power to effectively pull off its main strategy, but I could be wrong.

The threat list is in very much in need of assistant. I have ideas from playing the team, but no definite one has manifested in my mind, let alone paper as of now.

Conclusion

This isn’t a perfect team by any means. I maximize my trade for power with flexibility, and a one wrong move is amplified so much more on this team then on other more well-rounded teams. Luckily, dragon is resisted by only steels, and if they are eliminated or were never present in the first place, flexibility becomes a less pressing issue. This team is a blast to play, and hopefully more so as it improves with the help of you guys’ suggestions and critiques.

 

[Bossness]

Magnezone's moveset is wrong.^_^

 

[dice]

Hi!

Welcome to Smogon! This is a cool team, I'm particularly fond of DragMag teams since nowadays a lot of teams are just cookie-cutter VoltTurn, and teams like this are a breath of fresh air in the metagame. By the way, your Magnezone set is the same as your Mienshao one, might want to fix that. Now, one of your teams biggest weakness is the following:

Yes, hazards, namely Stealth Rock. Due to being weak to hazards, you're inevitably going to be weak to stall teams, since how that is how their team damages you. Since you're not running a spinner, and a spinner is simply hard to fit on the team, I recommend you test out using 248 HP on Scizor and throwing the extra EV into speed. It's a small change, however it allows you to switch into Stealth Rock and one Layer of Spikes one more time, situational as it may be. To break common stall teams along with Magnezone, I also recommend you test out a SD Haxorus instead of your current Choice Band'd one. With Swords Dance you're able to change moves freely, which helps a ton considering your team has many other Choice'd Pokemon, and it also beats Skarmory 1v1 with Taunt, and Taunt prevents hazards being set up on your side of the field! It's a win-win move change. Also: It beats Quagsire who is currently a fatty to your current team. Here's the set:

NOMNOMNOM

Haxorus @ Lum Berry / Life Orb
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- Outrage
- Earthquake

I believe Lum Berry suits your team better, since it keeps Haxorus alive longer, however you seem to be a big fan of power so Life Orb can be used as well!

Lastly, I don't believe that Salamence is a very good Mix Attack'ing Choice Scarf'd pocket mon'. He's often seen being used as a physical attacking one with Fire Blast to beat Skarmory, and that's typically the only special move he utilizes. Also, he has access to Moxie which gives him a +1 after each kill, giving him both a Scarf and a Band after a kill! So, I believe you should try out the Standard Choice Scarf Salamence Due to your slight Volcarona weakness, I think you should use Stone Edge / Rock Slide as well. Here's the set!

NOMNOMNOMN2

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Outrage
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

If you're displeased with Stone Edge's accuracy, try out Rock Slide! It's all your preference. Once again, very cool team!

Have a nice day.

 

[sunshinesan]

Magnezone's moveset is wrong.^_^

Thanks, fixed.

 

[LUST]

Hey

Solid team user sunshinesan, I like it. This team really seems to be going in the right direction, but I think that there are a few things that could be improved upon. First of all, I highly encourage you to change up roles for your few mons which will essentially make them function even smoother. Since you pack Magnezone, I don't see why you shouldn't be running Double Dance Haxorus instead of the Choice Band variant. By using both Swords Dance and Dragon Dance on the same set, Haxorus gains the ability to set up flexibly and destroy almost any team after the appropriate boost. It has the potential to decimate many well-balanced rain teams which are quite problematic to face considering the fact you only have 3 sweepers who resist water-type moves. Swords Dance is mainly your potent weapon against Stall-oriented teams where Dragon Dance is reserved for offensive teams with faster pokemon. Earthquake enhances its ability to hit levitate users such as Bronzong, Gengar and Rotom-W thanks to Mold Breaker and Outrage just literally demolishes anything that does not resist it. Lum Berry is an ideal item over Life Orb because it heals off status and outrage induced confusion. The sheer power of CB set won't be missed after my next suggestion. On Dragonite I greatly recommend you to tryout a Choice Band variant which will complement extremely well with your other sweepers. The main reason for this would be sun teams with fast chlorophyll sweepers. Thanks to its gigantic attack stat and bulk from Multiscale, CB set picks off already weaken mons. Extremespeed 2HKOs both Venasaur and Volcarona who are a major threat for this team. Outrage is Dragonite's only stab move and hits like a truck. Fire Punch demolishes steel and grass-type mons for Haxorus to be golden. Earthquake works well in the conjunction with Fire Punch and Outrage and allows you to effortlessly defeat Tyranitar and Heatran. If you find Gliscor being annoying to encounter Waterfall is an excellent alternative over Fire Punch. Adamant nature is again chosen for more power which is the most important idea behind this set.

Double Dance Haxorus

Haxorus @ Lum Berry | Mold Breaker
Adamant | 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
~ Dragon Dance
~ Swords Dance
~ Outrage
~ Earthquake

Choice Band Dragonite

Dragonite @ Choice Band | Multiscale
Adamant | 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spd
~ Outrage
~ ExtremeSpeed
~ Fire Punch / Waterfall
~ Earthquake

I don't know if you noticed but your Magnezone has Mienshao's EV spread and movepool, which is an easy fix. It should be running a substitute set with 3 Attacks to lessen off the pressure from Haxorus to kill bulky-steel types such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory. Choice Scarf variant does gets the job done but poorly and makes you a set-up fodder for many bulky mons. Thunderbolt puts an end to Skarmory's existence who don't run Shed Shell, HP Fire is essential to revenge Scizor locked into Bullet Punch and Ferrothorn. Flash Cannon is your stab boosted move for ground-types such as Gliscor and Landorus and comes handy in many critical situations. You could possibly try a sub charge beam set which has more potential but it makes your team very slow paced. Lastly Salamence should be running Dragon Claw over Draco Meteor with a Naive nature. It should be used for either late-game sweeping or when Salamence cannot afford to lock itself into Outrage. Other than that your most common enemies are entry hazards which are preventable if you continue to pressure your opponent and give him less chances to set them up. Overall brilliant team dude, Good Luck!

Substitute + 3 Attacks

Magnezone @ Leftovers | Magnet Pull
Timid | 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
~ Substitute
~ Thunderbolt
~ Hidden Power Fire
~ Flash Cannon

Oh got ninja'd by above two posts.

 

[sunshinesan]

Hide

Hi!

Welcome to Smogon! This is a cool team, I'm particularly fond of DragMag teams since nowadays a lot of teams are just cookie-cutter VoltTurn, and teams like this are a breath of fresh air in the metagame. By the way, your Magnezone set is the same as your Mienshao one, might want to fix that. Now, one of your teams biggest weakness is the following:

Yes, hazards, namely Stealth Rock. Due to being weak to hazards, you're inevitably going to be weak to stall teams, since how that is how their team damages you. Since you're not running a spinner, and a spinner is simply hard to fit on the team, I recommend you test out using 248 HP on Scizor and throwing the extra EV into speed. It's a small change, however it allows you to switch into Stealth Rock and one Layer of Spikes one more time, situational as it may be. To break common stall teams along with Magnezone, I also recommend you test out a SD Haxorus instead of your current Choice Band'd one. With Swords Dance you're able to change moves freely, which helps a ton considering your team has many other Choice'd Pokemon, and it also beats Skarmory 1v1 with Taunt, and Taunt prevents hazards being set up on your side of the field! It's a win-win move change. Also: It beats Quagsire who is currently a fatty to your current team. Here's the set:

NOMNOMNOM

Haxorus @ Lum Berry / Life Orb
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- Outrage
- Earthquake

I believe Lum Berry suits your team better, since it keeps Haxorus alive longer, however you seem to be a big fan of power so Life Orb can be used as well!

Lastly, I don't believe that Salamence is a very good Mix Attack'ing Choice Scarf'd pocket mon'. He's often seen being used as a physical attacking one with Fire Blast to beat Skarmory, and that's typically the only special move he utilizes. Also, he has access to Moxie which gives him a +1 after each kill, giving him both a Scarf and a Band after a kill! So, I believe you should try out the Standard Choice Scarf Salamence Due to your slight Volcarona weakness, I think you should use Stone Edge / Rock Slide as well. Here's the set!

NOMNOMNOMN2

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Outrage
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

If you're displeased with Stone Edge's accuracy, try out Rock Slide! It's all your preference. Once again, very cool team!

Have a nice day.

Thanks for your comments. I try to follow trends but usually avoid exact cookie cutter teams, so it is nice that some people can see that through this team. I will definitely give the 248 HP EV thing a shot, it's these little things that add up and make a team the best it is after all. As for your advice~

My main enemy is stealth rocks, and good eye in exactly pinpointing it. I can't afford to 'stick around' by setting up, or using combat tricks (I will get inevitably, out maneuvered, by stall/more balanced teams), I need to get in there and tip the playing field to my side by killing things as fast as possible, that is my temporary (not absolute) but workable strat against stealth rock. If I do go for a spinner, or a more balanced outlook, I'll have to heavily change my team, and that is not the plan now. Thus I don't think I can afford to set up with my Haxorus; it has no defenses as it is.

I don't want to change my Salamence because it's free utility that I can't pass up in a team that values every turn so crucially. The free Atk drop allows me to keep offense up will protecting my team from a physical sweep. Salamence is infinitely more 'powerful' as a physical attacker with Moxie, but in this team, it is filling in the shoes as a surprise Special killer, and so far it is working for me well enough that I will not change it.

Again, thanks for the advice.

Hide

Hey

Solid team user sunshinesan, I like it. This team really seems to be going in the right direction, but I think that there are a few things that could be improved upon. First of all, I highly encourage you to change up roles for your few mons which will essentially make them function even smoother. Since you pack Magnezone, I don't see why you shouldn't be running Double Dance Haxorus instead of the Choice Band variant. By using both Swords Dance and Dragon Dance on the same set, Haxorus gains the ability to set up flexibly and destroy almost any team after the appropriate boost. It has the potential to decimate many well-balanced rain teams which are quite problematic to face considering the fact you only have 3 sweepers who resist water-type moves. Swords Dance is mainly your potent weapon against Stall-oriented teams where Dragon Dance is reserved for offensive teams with faster pokemon. Earthquake enhances its ability to hit levitate users such as Bronzong, Gengar and Rotom-W thanks to Mold Breaker and Outrage just literally demolishes anything that does not resist it. Lum Berry is an ideal item over Life Orb because it heals off status and outrage induced confusion. The sheer power of CB set won't be missed after my next suggestion. On Dragonite I greatly recommend you to tryout a Choice Band variant which will complement extremely well with your other sweepers. The main reason for this would be sun teams with fast chlorophyll sweepers. Thanks to its gigantic attack stat and bulk from Multiscale, CB set picks off already weaken mons. Extremespeed 2HKOs both Venasaur and Volcarona who are a major threat for this team. Outrage is Dragonite's only stab move and hits like a truck. Fire Punch demolishes steel and grass-type mons for Haxorus to be golden. Earthquake works well in the conjunction with Fire Punch and Outrage and allows you to effortlessly defeat Tyranitar and Heatran. If you find Gliscor being annoying to encounter Waterfall is an excellent alternative over Fire Punch. Adamant nature is again chosen for more power which is the most important idea behind this set.

Double Dance Haxorus

Haxorus @ Lum Berry | Mold Breaker
Adamant | 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
~ Dragon Dance
~ Swords Dance
~ Outrage
~ Earthquake

Choice Band Dragonite

Dragonite @ Choice Band | Multiscale
Adamant | 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spd
~ Outrage
~ ExtremeSpeed
~ Fire Punch / Waterfall
~ Earthquake

I don't know if you noticed but your Magnezone has Mienshao's EV spread and movepool, which is an easy fix. It should be running a substitute set with 3 Attacks to lessen off the pressure from Haxorus to kill bulky-steel types such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory. Choice Scarf variant does gets the job done but poorly and makes you a set-up fodder for many bulky mons. Thunderbolt puts an end to Skarmory's existence who don't run Shed Shell, HP Fire is essential to revenge Scizor locked into Bullet Punch and Ferrothorn. Flash Cannon is your stab boosted move for ground-types such as Gliscor and Landorus and comes handy in many critical situations. You could possibly try a sub charge beam set which has more potential but it makes your team very slow paced. Lastly Salamence should be running Dragon Claw over Draco Meteor with a Naive nature. It should be used for either late-game sweeping or when Salamence cannot afford to lock itself into Outrage. Other than that your most common enemies are entry hazards which are preventable if you continue to pressure your opponent and give him less chances to set them up. Overall brilliant team dude, Good Luck!

Substitute + 3 Attacks

Magnezone @ Leftovers | Magnet Pull
Timid | 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
~ Substitute
~ Thunderbolt
~ Hidden Power Fire
~ Flash Cannon

Oh got ninja'd by above two posts.

Thanks for your suggestions. The swap between Haxorus and Dragonite's roles is interesting. I recently got demolished by a sun team by a dancing Volcarona. I had a modified team with your advices in mind, but I was unable to 2HKO it with a banded Dragonite, and got demolished. It must have been a not standard one. I will keep your advice in mind, mainly for the idea of the banded extreme speed. I will further elaborate why Dragonite is the setupper and Haxorus is the bander. Dragonite, with Lum Berry and ridiculous bulk, can guarantee a free turn to set up, Haxorus might survive a hit to SD or DD, but it will usually get killed before being useful. Haxorus, with a Band, because of his higher attack stat, will immediately put me up a pokemon if I play things right. Even if he is gotten rid of, the immediate danger and profit gained from a source that can more reliably kill something is indispensable. This is my reason.

I think I'll take your advice about a bulkier, more flexible Magnezone though. On account of my team is screaming for something to be more flexible. Magnezone can still kill skarm/scizor if bulky, but can also be more useful overall if I get rid of its choice item. I'll be testing with leftovers and most likely subs and a different spread.

 

[Legend Leader]

I, for one, am a big fan of this team. While it seems to be running a bit on the Physical side, it is really very solid considering the only things stopping you Physically, really, are Steels and Dragonite with Multiscale. You destroy most Steels with HP Fire and Thunderbolt. Flash Cannon can take care of some Tyranitars and can blow some pretty good holes in Gliscor. In the case of opposing Magnezones, you have the upper hand unless they switch into you. In that case, hope for some crits.

On the other hand, you should not be getting demolished by a Dancing Volcarona. I don't care how high its Special Attack gets (to an extent), you should be able to kill it with Dragonite. In addition, Banded Scizor gets anywhere between something like 32-45% with Bullet Punch on offensive variants, more than enough to take care of it after achieving some wearing down with Mienshao. You also have a huge problem with Rocks, which-though it has already been established-is a problem nonetheless. Versus trying to keep tabs on the Pokemon that do have Rocks in their arsenal, you might want to keep something that can spin. Also, you yourself might want some hazards. It doesn't really fit the offensive flow of your team, I know, but you might want to make a few tweaks. These are just in my opinion. I'm new here, but I've played for a very long time.