SM OU MegaGross and friends.

[assassinfred]

Introduction:

Hello, Smogon! Welcome to my first OU team in Sun and Moon. This is a team that I've been having some success with so far, but there are definitely some issues that need to be worked out. This team was built around my favourite Mega that is currently available (besides Beedrill who was just released), Mega Metagross. MegaGross has been a beast pretty much since it was released in ORAS and it has done some serious work for me so far in SM, too. So, without further ado, let's dive in, shall we?

Teambuilding Process:

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So, obviously I started with the Pokemon I built around, Mega Metagross. MegaGross is one of the premier wallbreakers in OU, and dishes out a ton of damage to the opposing team. Plus, it has a real nice typing of Steel/Psychic, allowing it to hit really hard.

Following MegaGross, I looked for a Pokemon that can serve to help dish out some damage and synergize well with him. Buzzwole fit the bill. Bug/Fighting gave me some more good coverage options, and Buzzwole's bulk and sky high attack stat lets it help out MegaGross a lot.

After the addition of Buzzwole, I looked for some defensive options. At first I tried the likes of Pelipper and Garchomp in those slots, but I didn't really like the way they synergized with the team. I eventually landed on Tapu Fini and Defensive Landorus-T. Tapu Fini provides the team with a very useful Fairy typing, a Defogger, and Misty Terrain to stop the burns that give this team all kinds of trouble. Landorus-T, on the other hand, provides Stealth Rock support and great Physical bulk, along with some momentum from U-Turn and the infamous EdgeQuake for some more coverage options.

Satisfied with my defensive pairings at this point, I looked to add some offense from the other side of the spectrum and add a special attacker or two. At first I looked at the likes of Tapu Koko or Ash-Greninja, and while they were powerful options, they didn't really seem to fit. It was here when I decided to give Magnezone a shot, and it has worked out wonders for the team. Magnezone provides some excellent offensive type coverage with Electric, a back-up plan for Fairy types should Mega Metagross go down, and not to mention its ability to trap and kill Steel types (especially Celesteela, which this team had trouble with), and it also provides a nice VoltTurn core with Landorus. All of these combined proved invaluable for the team.

So, with Magnezone added to the squad, the team was looking to be in good shape. All that was really lacking was a general attacker that could rain down the hurt on the opposing team. I considered some boosting sweepers here, such as Volcarona, Alolan Marowak or SD Garchomp, but instead settled on Latios. Latios was appealing to me for a number of reasons. It completed the team's Fairy-Dragon-Steel core, it hit from the Special side which my team still lacked, it gave another Ground immunity and it had great offensive typing. All in all, Latios rounded the squad out well, and here we are today.

The Team In-Depth:

Stone the Metagross@Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body > Tough Claws
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Sp. D/252 Spe
-Meteor Mash
-Zen Headbutt
-Ice Punch
-Bullet Punch

Let's start things off with the core of the team. Mega Metagross is one of the premier wallbreakers in OU, and Stone is no exception. The set here is pretty standard and very straightforward. Meteor Mash is the go-to STAB move, hitting incredibly hard with the Tough Claws boost, STAB, and MegaGross' stupidly high Attack. Zen Headbutt is a nice secondary STAB option which also gets the Touch Claws boost and hits the likes of Buzzwole hard. Ice Punch is a great coverage move that lets Metagross threaten the likes of Garchomp, Salamence, and Gliscor. Finally, Bullet Punch gives Metagross a nice STAB priority option, that also gets the Tough Claws bonus.

Siren The Tapu Fini@Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Calm Nature
EVs: 248 HP/192 Def/16. Sp. D/52 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
-Taunt
-Nature's Madness
-Moonblast
-Defog

Next up, we have the first defensive Pokemon of the squad, Tapu Fini. Tapu Fini provides nice bulk and support options for the team, thanks to Misty Surge and Defog. Taunt is useful for stopping set-up sweepers, such as Alolan Marowak or Mega Alakazam, from setting up, and it is also useful in stopping a Pokemon from getting Stealth Rock up. Nature's Madness is an incredibly useful move, always doing half of the Pokemon's current HP, allowing Tapu Fini to help wear down threats the rest of the team might otherwise have trouble with. Moonblast is a nice STAB option that hits decently hard, and Defog keeps the field clear of hazards and lets the rest of the team switch in without having to worry about the hazard damage.

Magneto the Magnezone@Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
Modest Nature
EVs: 128 HP/252 Sp. A/128 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power [Fire]
-Volt Switch

Magnezone is a great Pokemon in the current metagame for its ability to trap and kill Steel types, and this Magnezone is no exception. Magnezone was brought in to help deal with the likes of Celesteela, Scizor (Mega or otherwise), and Ferrothorn, and it does its job well. Thunderbolt is the STAB move of choice here, providing the team with some valuable Electric coverage and hitting the aforementioned Celesteela hard, as well as helping deal with Water types such as opposing Tapu Fini or Ash-Greninja. Flash Cannon gives Magnezone a nice secondary STAB option and allows it to help deal with Fairies, such as the Tapus (especially Tapu Lele), or Mimikyu. Hidden Power Fire is the gem of the set, allowing Magnezone to take out trapped Ferrothorn, Scizor, or opposing Magnezone. Finally, Volt Switch gives the team some switch priority, which is always helpful for the team. I chose to run Assault Vest over Choice Specs due to it giving Magnezone the luxury of switching moves and more overall bulk, which helps it deal with opposing Magnezone more easily.

#SwoleLyfe the Buzzwole@Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Adamant Nature
EVs: 204 HP/192 Atk/12Sp. D/100 Spe
-Substitute
-Focus Punch
-Leech Life
-Poison Jab

Buzzwole provides us with some bulky offense and a bit of utility to keep the team in it. I went with the SubPunch set for two reasons, 1- I'm a sucker for SubPunch sets and 2- it provides Buzzwole the benefit of some protection. Now that that's out of the way, Buzzwole hits like a truck. Substitute and Focus Punch are obviously the core moves of this set, allowing Buzzwole to get off a mighty Focus Punch from behind the safety of a cute little Poke Doll and deal tons of damage to whatever decides to face the 'Swole head on and help grab a KO and a Beast Boost. Leech Life is a nice secondary STAB option and gives Buzzwole a bit of recovery, allowing it to set up more Substitutes. Finally, Poison Jab is a nice coverage option for Fairy types that can hit decently hard, especially if it has a Beast Boost up.

Mufasa the Landorus-T@Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
Impish Nature
EVs: 252 HP/216 Def/24 Sp. D/16 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Stone Edge

And, forming the second half of the team's defensive core, is Landorus-Therian. Defensive Landorus-T is a truly phenomenal Pokemon, and combines for a really solid defensive core with Tapu Fini, and Ground/Flying gives him two immunities. Landorus-T is the most common choice for a lead I got with as it is very good in a variety of sitautions. The set here is pretty straightforward. Stealth Rock is pretty much mandatory for any team in OU, and Landorus-T is a great setter of it. Earthquake gives Landorus-T a very powerful STAB attack that can combat Steel, Rock, and Fire types effectively. U-Turn is a great move for keeping momentum, and allows Landorus to form a nice VoltTurn core with Magnezone. Finally, Stone Edge adds some Rock type coverage that the team otherwise lacks, allowing Landorus to check the likes of Volcarona, and has amazing type coverage alongside Earthquake.

Jets the Latios@Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
EVs: 252 Sp. A/4Sp. D/252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock
-Recover
-Hidden Power [Fire]

Last, but certainly not least, we have Latios. Latios is on the team for a couple of reasons. First, he rounds out the team's Fairy/Dragon/Steel core, giving the team a large variety of resistances. Secondly, Latios is pretty fast, and speed is something the team was lacking a bit. Thirdly, Latios hits like a truck from the Special side, and the team was lacking a general attacker. The set itself is pretty standard. Draco Meteor is a nice nuke that can take out a large variety of threats, and makes the team less susceptible to the likes of Garchomp or Salamence. Psyshock is a nice secondary STAB option that lets Latios hit opposing Special walls on their physically defensive side, and also provides great coverage against the likes of Buzzwole. Recover is nice to have to gain back some HP, and lets him live longer with the Life Orb. Finally, Hidden Power Fire rounds out the coverage, and lets Latios hit the likes of Tangrowth or Ferrothorn much harder.


In Closing:

Well, there's the team. Thanks for taking the time for reading through this RMT, and I appreciate any suggestions you have to make the team better. Mega Metagross is an absolute monster and Metagross himself has been one of my favourite designs for a while, so I'm glad I finally got around to building a team around him. The team works really well right now but I know it can always be improved upon. I appreciate any rates I might get. Thanks for reading!

Importable:


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Stone (Metagross-Mega) @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Bullet Punch

Siren (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 16 SpD / 52 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast
- Defog

Magneto (Magnezone) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

#SwoleLyfe (Buzzwole) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 204 HP / 192 Atk / 12 SpD / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Leech Life
- Poison Jab

Mufasa (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

Jets (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Fire]

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[AbrarWasee]

Hey man! You have a nice bulky offensive team. I can see that it can generate offensive pressure while still having a defensive backbone. I would like to drop in some suggestions if you do not mind.

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  Your team is weak to opposing Mega Metagross, as Landorus-T falls against Ice Punch, my suggestion would be to use Air Balloon over Assault Vest on Magnezone. Assault is nice since it can tank Special attacks better, but I think that Air Balloon would be better against Metagross.
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  I know you like Buzzwole, but your team does not have any wincon which is disappointing. It is also weak to Tapu Koko. I would suggest to use Raikou over Buzzwole. Raikou gives you another Electric-type to pressure Water-types since Magnezone cannot stay in for longer due to not having Assault Vest, gives you great Speed, and a great wincon. It also helps against bulkier teams which your team struggles to get past. My suggestion is to use Electrium-Z set, as it lets you get past a lot of things that walls Raikou. You can use the Substitute+Calm Mind set if you want though.

Ok, not much change since the team was nice. Good luck with your team!

Raikou set

Raikou @ Electrium Z
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

 

[Sun]

hello assassinfred, interesting team you have here. At first glance, I noticed that your team suffers a lot strong wall breakers likes of Volcarona and Charizard Y, these pokèmons are rising in usage, and due to they Fire+Grass coverage can deal with ease with your Tapu Fini, also I would say that Latios is not a really reliable Charizard y check in battling because Charizard y is usually paired with a pursuit trapper like Tyranitar, alolan Muk or Weavile. Instead, Volcarona, having the ability to get a free boost to Magnezone and the ability to beat Tapu Fini with Giga Drain, is much more difficult to handle compared with the problems that Charizard Y give you. Your team has, in addition, some issues with stall teams, your Buzzwole can't beat the common Clefable that stall teams run nowadays, and your Tapu fini can be afraid by many Pokemon as Zapdos and Dugtrio if it is weakened enough to die by Earthquake. My rate will try to cover these weaknesses keeping the team's main idea.

First of all, in order to cover your Charizard Y and Volcarona weakness, I'd suggest to use Coil Zygarde over Latios, this change helps your team to deal better the aforementioned threats, provides, with its high special defensive bulk, take special wall breakers likes of Gengar and tapu Koko , it's also a really good Stallbreaker in addition to tapu fini. Zygarde can setup the sub with ease against defensive pokèmon likes of toxapex and Chansey. A cool variant for this team might be using Scarf Garchomp over Latios, Scarf Garchomp provides a better management of foe's mega Metagros and tapu Koko. Garchomp, also, appreciates the Magnezone's ability to get rid steel types the likes of skarmory, Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor and Celesteela which give him trouble. Of course, I recommend using Garchomp if you believe that tapu Fini is enough against stall, which I honestly don't think, since tapu Fini doesn't have a reliable recovery that would allow it to stallbreak effectively on its own.

After the removal of Latios, the team lacks a Win Condition, also i would say that after the addition of a second ground type in the team, Pheromosa becomes hard to deal with even if you can answer it with tapu Fini and metagross' bullet punch. To solve this problem i'd use Firium Volcarona over Buzzwole, Volcarona, being very synergic with tapu fini, it's a very interesting addition for the team, provides a reliable wincon against a lot of offense teams around, having Hidden power Ground, it's able to break Heatran and alolan marowak. with it's typing, it's able to take Pheromosa and checks it very well.

Finally, i would use Hidden power ice over stone edge on landorus because this helps you to prevent foe's DD landorus and salamence setup with ease.




that's all! Hope i've helped

 

[assassinfred]

Hi guys! Thanks for the rates! You're correct in saying this team suffers from stall a lot, and I'll definitely give the changes a try. Both Raikou and Zygarde are Pokemon that never even crossed my mind when building this team, so I'm interested in seeing how they work with everything else.