VGC Mega Gallade is Prime

[TheHoodedGamer]

Hello Smogon! It's TheHoodedGamer here and I'm showcasing my first VGC team. Like I said, it's my first VGC with help from some people on Smogon, specifically my friend AceTrainerBen1, who is ranked 6 best VGC player in Washington. Might as well get on with the team!

Seto Kaiba (Gallade) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Protect
My fabulous Mega! I decided to use Mega Gallade because he is The president and owner of Kaiba Corp pretty strong and is very versatile. His role is to punch holes in the opposing team and to clean up because his amazing Attack stats even without set-up.Close Combat is Gallade's hardest-hitting STAB move, dealing high amounts of damage with any neutral hit and KOing almost anything hit super effectively. Zen Headbutt takes out Fighting- and Poison-types and hits foes such as Mega Charizard Y neutrally which Close Combat cannot. Ice Punch is a great coverage move, used to deal with Dragon-types as well as Flying-types and Ground-types, particularly Mega Salamence and Landorus-T. Protect is a staple to me in VGC and it allows Gallade to get the speed boost from Mega Evolution for free and can save me from some KOs. Galladeite lets Gallade Mega Evolve, turning him into the offensive terror that he is. Full Attack and Speed investment with a Jolly nature allows Mega Gallade to maximize damage output as well as Speed tie with other base 110 Speed Pokemon and outspeed things below, such as Terrakion. Justified is useful before Mega Evolving for switching into a Dark-type move, particularly Knock Off.

Da King (Bisharp) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Protect
I chose Bisharp because he is too cool an amazing physical attacker. Bisharp makes for a great Trick Room check since it can hit most Trick Room setters super effectively, KOing them before they can set it up. Knock Off is the main move on this set and is notable for being both more powerful and more reliable than Sucker Punch while also stripping opposing Pokemon of their items, making Bisharp hard to switch into. Sucker Punch is for Pokemon that outspeed Bisharp, allowing it to pick them off before they can strike. However, the fact that it fails when the opponent isn't attacking makes it easier to play around than Knock Off, so when facing a Pokemon that Bisharp outspeeds, it's usually safer to go with Knock Off. Iron Head is a secondary STAB attack that's mainly used when Bisharp encounters something that resists its Dark-type attacks, or you're relying on a flinch. Protect is used to shield Bisharp from damage, which is especially useful as a strong attack will often put it out of commission. Life Orb is chosen to augment Bisharp's already high Attack to deal as much damage as possible, making it into an even more threatening attacker. The EVs give Bisharp as much power as possible, with an Adamant nature chosen over Jolly since Bisharp doesn't really need the extra Speed. Defiant allows Bisharp to get free Attack boosts from users of Intimidate and Icy Wind, which is great since they are very common.

Scrotom-Wash (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 60 SpA / 148 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
I chose Rotom-Wash because he can wash my clothes is pretty bulky. Rotom-W's role is to switch in to start spreading burns with Will-O-Wisp and deal decent damage to any foe that doesn't resist its STAB moves. Thunderbolt is a reliable STAB attack and hits opposing Water- and Flying-type Pokemon. Hydro Pump is less reliable due to its accuracy, but it's more powerful than Thunderbolt. Will-O-Wisp lets Rotom-W cripple physical attackers and do something to Grass-types that resist Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump. Protect confers decent utility upon Rotom-W by letting it scout and avoid getting hit by multi-hit attacks. The given HP and Special Defense EVs allow Rotom-W to survive Mega Charizard Y's Solar Beam from full health, and Rotom-W can get back to a comfortable health range with its Sitrus Berry. The EVs in Defense allow Rotom-W to survive Mega Mawile's maximum Attack Play Rough. One point is invested in Speed because level 50 EV investment leaves Rotom-W with one free point. The rest of the EVs are invested in Special Attack to dish out harder hits with Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump.

Spiderpig (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 244 HP / 132 Def / 28 SpA / 4 SpD / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Heat Wave
- Substitute
- Protect
I chose Heatran because he can so whatever a spider pig does is a pretty good fire type. His role is to be a check to most Fairies. Protect and Substitute help me abuse Leftovers’ HP recovery, since my Heatran is running a bulky EV spread and will be sticking around a while. Heat Wave is used to hit Steel-types hard with STAB, and Earth Power provides excellent secondary coverage, letting me hit other Heatrans and deal decent damage to most Pokemon that resist Heat Wave. 244 HP gives my Heatran a total of 197 HP, which is not divisible by four, allowing me to create at least 4 Substitutes even if Leftovers recovery is negated by Hail. 132 Def allows Heatran to always survive an unboosted Metagross Earthquake, ensures that Breloom’s Mach Punch is only a 3HKO, and gives my Substitutes a decent chance of enduring a Tyranitar Rock Slide. 100 Speed lets me outspeed Hitmontop with no Speed EVs and setup a Substitute to absorb the Close Combat and burn up the Fighting Gem. The remaining EVs are put into Special Attack for some offense and 4 Special Defense for good measure.

Duh Kittah (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Superpower
I chose Landorus because he can be adorable clean up pretty well late game. His role is to take out the opponent's sweepers. Earthquake and Rock Slide are Landorus-T's main forms of offense, as spread damage coming off a base 145 Attack is very useful. U-turn helps Landorus-T bounce out to allow safe switches or just to get damage off while ensuring another Intimidate. Superpower is a coverage move. Choice Scarf lets Landorus-T outspeed the majority of the metagame and spam Earthquake and Rock Slide. Choice Scarf Landorus-T prefers to have its Attack and Speed maxed.

Goldmarill (Azumarill) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
I chose Azumarill because it is solid gold it is an amazing physical attacker. It's role is to take out Fire types and to be a Fairy. While it may not be Azumarill's main STAB attack of choice, Aqua Jet is arguably one of the most important moves on its Choice Band set. As a priority move, it remedies Azumarill's poor Speed stat and helps chip off HP from weakened opponents. Aqua Jet has decent power, letting Azumarill take down even mildly weakened opponents and making it a very reliable revenge killer. Play Rough and Waterfall are next on the list as Azumarill's main STAB attacks. Both hit with a lot of power, have good coverage, and have useful secondary effects. When Azumarill holds a Choice Band, few Pokemon can sponge multiple attacks from it unless they resist its chosen move. Superpower smacks Steel-types, namely Ferrothorn, and OHKOes Mega Kangaskhan. Choice Band is used to grant an immediate boost to Azumarill's Attack stat, giving it explosive power and the ability to revenge kill a much wider range of opponents. Maximum Attack investment and an Adamant nature make Azumarill as powerful as possible, and the Speed EVs let it outspeed uninvested base 61s and below, beating key threats such as Tyranitar. The remaining EVs are put into HP for additional bulk.

Well there's my team! Any and all feedback is accepted because I know there are some things that could be changed.
P.S. I changed the way I formatted this and I'm wondering if this looks better than my previous RMTs.

My Team :D

This is my updated team!
Seto Kaiba (Gallade) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Protect

Da King (Bisharp) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Protect

Scrotom-Wash (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 60 SpA / 148 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

Spiderpig (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 132 Def / 28 SpA / 4 SpD / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Heat Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Protect

Duh Kittah (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Superpower

Goldmarill (Azumarill) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower

 

[TheHoodedGamer]

EDIT: I found what the EVs were for for Heatran.

 

[Yellow Paint]

Minor Notes: your heatran subbing before fighting gem hitmontop is pretty irrelevant, considering gems are unreleased. Also, all of your sprites are shiny, which in my opinion removes the significance of having shiny sprites at all.

You have a bit of physical bias, which is not necessarily bad, as well as double water. I'd say replace azu with sylveon, who keeps fairy typing while hitting harder and making you slightly less ruined by amoong+mence and bulky thundy.

I'm not very familiar with lvl 50 spreads, but here's aaron zheng's, which seems to be quite popular.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 92HP / 116 Def / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Hyper Beam
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

 

[TheHoodedGamer]

Minor Notes: your heatran subbing before fighting gem hitmontop is pretty irrelevant, considering gems are unreleased. Also, all of your sprites are shiny, which in my opinion removes the significance of having shiny sprites at all.

You have a bit of physical bias, which is not necessarily bad, as well as double water. I'd say replace azu with sylveon, who keeps fairy typing while hitting harder and making you slightly less ruined by amoong+mence and bulky thundy.

I'm not very familiar with lvl 50 spreads, but here's aaron zheng's, which seems to be quite popular.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 92HP / 116 Def / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Hyper Beam
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

I'll try that out thx. Also, I only have the .rar file for the shiny sprites and I couldn't find the regular sprites.

 

[I Am Doz]

A little bit of a suggestion that could help, I have been testing a more bulky spread for Gallade, with reasonable success.

Something through a little testing has proven to be a potential dark horse is Mega-Gallade. Through its ridiculous Attack, good speed, decent movepool and immunity to Flinches, it carves out a great niche against Mega-Kangaskhan and generally hits hard throughout a battle. I have opted for a more bulky spread which grants Gallade a lot of staying power compared to a standard 252/252 spread.

Gallade (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 52 Def / 192 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide/Zen Headbutt
- Protect

With this spread Mega-Gallade outspeeds everything from Garchomp downwards (so base 102's), the 12 Attack EVs ensure the OHKO on most builds (covers up to 252 HP sets) Mega-Kangaskhan with Close Combat, also securing the OHKO on Landorus-T (2HKO after Intimidate). The HP and Defence EVs allow me to survive a Double-Edge from Kangaskhan (useful if they are under Tailwind) Rock Slide is the third move, mainly for the Charizard's and potential Talonflame switch ins. Zen Headbutt can be used for Mega-Venusaur. Protect is used to guarantee the Mega Evolution, and seen as this is VGC, it is weird not to use Protect. There were some other calcs that influenced the spread, but I can't remember them for the life of me.

 

[TheHoodedGamer]

A little bit of a suggestion that could help, I have been testing a more bulky spread for Gallade, with reasonable success.

Something through a little testing has proven to be a potential dark horse is Mega-Gallade. Through its ridiculous Attack, good speed, decent movepool and immunity to Flinches, it carves out a great niche against Mega-Kangaskhan and generally hits hard throughout a battle. I have opted for a more bulky spread which grants Gallade a lot of staying power compared to a standard 252/252 spread.

Gallade (M) @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 52 Def / 192 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide/Zen Headbutt
- Protect

With this spread Mega-Gallade outspeeds everything from Garchomp downwards (so base 102's), the 12 Attack EVs ensure the OHKO on most builds (covers up to 252 HP sets) Mega-Kangaskhan with Close Combat, also securing the OHKO on Landorus-T (2HKO after Intimidate). The HP and Defence EVs allow me to survive a Double-Edge from Kangaskhan (useful if they are under Tailwind) Rock Slide is the third move, mainly for the Charizard's and potential Talonflame switch ins. Zen Headbutt can be used for Mega-Venusaur. Protect is used to guarantee the Mega Evolution, and seen as this is VGC, it is weird not to use Protect. There were some other calcs that influenced the spread, but I can't remember them for the life of me.

Thx I Am Doz! I will try that set out.

 

[Lord Biscuits]

Sylveon @ Life Orb
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 92HP / 116 Def / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Protect
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

This is my preferred vgc sylveon set. If you use this you might want to consider replacing life orb on bisharp with a focus sash.

 

[Doctor.Tomo]

Don't know if this has already been said, but your team is Intimi-Bait. Way too many physical attackers. I myself have the same problem with my team, or at least, I do up to a certain extent (3 phys., 3 spec., but only one spec. is made for offense), and I know how hard it is to just let go of team members because of sentiment (and I can see that sentiment is definitely there with all of those nicknames), but you're going to need to get rid of one of those physical attackers. Not Bisharp, because that thing might be the only pokemon on your team to make the opponent consider not using Intimidate, but maybe Azumarill or... the Gallade? Ofc, the Landorus serves it's purpose as an Intimidateer, but Azumarill is just offensive and decent bulk. You've already got a bulky water type. The Gallade, however, is similar, in that it has no purpose outside of offense. But it's the mega.
I don't think you want to get rid of the mega.
So you gotta say bye-bye to the Pikablu or whatever it's called.
And with the Gallade's moveset... no.
The base 68 HP isn't enough to make it bulky unless you give it that 252 like Doz recommended, and that's just a waste of EVs. With Gallade, you've got two options.
1. 252 atk/252 spe/4 spdef
OR
2. A really complicated set using the damage calc to try and counter some of Gallade's threats.
Another thing I saw with it was the moveset. It's cool that you've got Ice Punch (get it? cool... okay) on the thing, but that's just there for team coverage -- not Gallade coverage. I suggest Poison Jab, as it's a great fairy counter, and keeps your team from being run over by Sylveon.

 

[TheHoodedGamer]

Don't know if this has already been said, but your team is Intimi-Bait. Way too many physical attackers. I myself have the same problem with my team, or at least, I do up to a certain extent (3 phys., 3 spec., but only one spec. is made for offense), and I know how hard it is to just let go of team members because of sentiment (and I can see that sentiment is definitely there with all of those nicknames), but you're going to need to get rid of one of those physical attackers. Not Bisharp, because that thing might be the only pokemon on your team to make the opponent consider not using Intimidate, but maybe Azumarill or... the Gallade? Ofc, the Landorus serves it's purpose as an Intimidateer, but Azumarill is just offensive and decent bulk. You've already got a bulky water type. The Gallade, however, is similar, in that it has no purpose outside of offense. But it's the mega.
I don't think you want to get rid of the mega.
So you gotta say bye-bye to the Pikablu or whatever it's called.
And with the Gallade's moveset... no.
The base 68 HP isn't enough to make it bulky unless you give it that 252 like Doz recommended, and that's just a waste of EVs. With Gallade, you've got two options.
1. 252 atk/252 spe/4 spdef
OR
2. A really complicated set using the damage calc to try and counter some of Gallade's threats.
Another thing I saw with it was the moveset. It's cool that you've got Ice Punch (get it? cool... okay) on the thing, but that's just there for team coverage -- not Gallade coverage. I suggest Poison Jab, as it's a great fairy counter, and keeps your team from being run over by Sylveon.

Ughhh. This is so hard lol. I'll try using your suggestions

Sylveon @ Life Orb
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 92HP / 116 Def / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Protect
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

This is my preferred vgc sylveon set. If you use this you might want to consider replacing life orb on bisharp with a focus sash.

I might try that set instead of Aaron Zheng's

 

[TheHoodedGamer]

My updated team is here