Hello everyone, here is one of my first NatDex AG RMTs. I have been playing NatDex since Ultra Sun and Moon, therefore I am relatively familiar with the metagame. I have only started being serious with NatDex AG recently, and have been finding quite a large number of successes with this team, getting to top 500 on the ladder for a period of time. Any suggestions will be very helpful for me.
The Team at a Glance:
(Click on the icons for the team.)
The Team in Detail:
This is one of the primary breakers in my team. Zacian-Crowned is one of the most powerful Pokemon in NatDex AG, and very few Pokemon can actually switch in to it, barring mainly Necrozma-Dusk-Mane.
As you may notice, I run an Adamant nature with Zacian. Though this brings the Speed down quite a bit (being 395), it still outspeeds most of the metagame. More importantly, the additional power of the Adamant nature helps break past Necrozma-Dusk-Mane. Its speed is a smaller issue, in fact, since my team members carry Thunder Wave to cripple Pokemon that may be faster than it on the switch in.
This is a fairly standard defensive Necrozma-Dusk-Mane set, with a key difference being that it runs both Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave. The main goal of this Pokemon is to check and either cripple or eliminate opposing Zacian-Crowned, since their higher Speed (thanks to them running Jolly) mean that my Adamant Zacian cannot finish it.
The reason for running both Rocks and Thunder Wave is to aid my other Pokemon. Other than being able to switch in on Zacian, it can also (not very safely) switch in on Mega Rayquaza and perhaps paralyse it. Rocks are very useful to chip into opponents such as attacking Yveltal and Mega Rayquaza, therefore I opted for both. The other two moves are fairly standard: Sunsteel Strike for doing some damage and Morning Sun for recovery.
This is my other breaker, the first one being Zacian-Crowned. Surprisingly, it also has very interesting defensive utility in stopping Primal Groudon from going for Precipice Blades and setting up a free Dragon Dance against it. Other than Primal Groudon, it also does well against most of the metagame, only really struggling with defensive Arceus formes after it has set up Dragon Dance.
Its item, Life Orb, is to enhance its power and make it even more threatening, and the moves are relatively standard for this Pokemon: Dragon Ascent for big damage, Extreme Speed to chip weakened foes or chip Pokemon it knows it will faint against so a revenge killer can come in safely, V-Create to demolish Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and Zacian-Crowned after Dragon Dance, and Dragon Dance to boost its mediocre speed to high heaven, outpacing Calyrex-Shadow and Zacian-Crowned. The Attack boost will also allow it to have an easier time with Dusk Mane Necrozma.
This Pokemon serves as a check to dangerous special attacking threats: offensive Yveltal and Calyrex-Shadow. As you can see, I opt for Snarl instead of other moves such as Sucker Punch and Knock Off. This is mainly for decreasing the Special Attacking stat of Calyrex-Shadow and Yveltal, especially when a Nasty Plot has been passed to Yveltal. The other offensive move used is U-Turn. Since most Calyrex players will switch out their Pokemon seeing Yveltal, Yveltal is able to U-Turn and choose the Pokemon best able to countering the original Pokemon. The EV spread is quite standard. Max HP and max SpD allows it to take hits from Calyrex-S very well, living Savage Spin-Out at +2, even.
Now, this is a very unique Arceus form. You can see that instead of a classic Refresh or Calm Mind, I use Magic Coat. The reason for this is this Pokemon is supposed to be an anti-lead, similar to how Safety Goggles Zygarde work: being able to bounce moves like Spore, Stealth Rock and Spikes back to the opponent. The EV spread allows it to take any attack from Zacian-Crowned once (and only once), which can be handy for revenge killing it in an emergency situation.
This Pokemon also allows one to check Primal Groudon to a certain extent, as Judgment would OHKO non-Defensive sets very handily. Ice Beam is used to target threats like Mega Rayquaza and to chip other Flying types like Ho-Oh and Lugia, and Recover is a very good recovery move having more PP than Morning Sun.
This Groudon is one of the most bulky sets I have used. Its main role is to go in on threatening Pokemon like Zacian-Crowned and Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and either eliminate them or cripple them with Thunder Wave. Even when the opponent switches out into a Pokemon that will be able to handle it, such as Mega Rayquaza, Groudon can catch them on the switch by going for Thunder Wave.
Overheat is mainly for dealing with defensive Necrozma-DM, as this attack goes by Special Attack instead, and can almost certainly OHKO opposing Necrozma-DM. The other moves are quite self explanatory, with Stone Edge hitting Pokemon like Ho-Oh and Precipice Blades being a STAB move and hits almost everything quite hard.
How to play with this team
The lead is almost certainly the Ground Arceus, unless the opponent has a Shadow Calyrex and no dedicated lead, in which case one should lead with Yveltal. From there, the player should slowly chip away at the opponent's Pokemon, crippling them little by little with paralysis and chip damage. After that, Mega Rayquaza and Zacian should be able to knock out the opponent's final Pokemon in the endgame.
So, what do you think about this team? Any suggestions and comments? Please let me know and thank you!
The Team at a Glance:
(Click on the icons for the team.)The Team in Detail:
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat
- Behemoth Blade
- Swords Dance
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat
- Behemoth Blade
- Swords Dance
This is one of the primary breakers in my team. Zacian-Crowned is one of the most powerful Pokemon in NatDex AG, and very few Pokemon can actually switch in to it, barring mainly Necrozma-Dusk-Mane.
As you may notice, I run an Adamant nature with Zacian. Though this brings the Speed down quite a bit (being 395), it still outspeeds most of the metagame. More importantly, the additional power of the Adamant nature helps break past Necrozma-Dusk-Mane. Its speed is a smaller issue, in fact, since my team members carry Thunder Wave to cripple Pokemon that may be faster than it on the switch in.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
Ability: Prism Armor
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
This is a fairly standard defensive Necrozma-Dusk-Mane set, with a key difference being that it runs both Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave. The main goal of this Pokemon is to check and either cripple or eliminate opposing Zacian-Crowned, since their higher Speed (thanks to them running Jolly) mean that my Adamant Zacian cannot finish it.
The reason for running both Rocks and Thunder Wave is to aid my other Pokemon. Other than being able to switch in on Zacian, it can also (not very safely) switch in on Mega Rayquaza and perhaps paralyse it. Rocks are very useful to chip into opponents such as attacking Yveltal and Mega Rayquaza, therefore I opted for both. The other two moves are fairly standard: Sunsteel Strike for doing some damage and Morning Sun for recovery.
Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- V-create
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- V-create
This is my other breaker, the first one being Zacian-Crowned. Surprisingly, it also has very interesting defensive utility in stopping Primal Groudon from going for Precipice Blades and setting up a free Dragon Dance against it. Other than Primal Groudon, it also does well against most of the metagame, only really struggling with defensive Arceus formes after it has set up Dragon Dance.
Its item, Life Orb, is to enhance its power and make it even more threatening, and the moves are relatively standard for this Pokemon: Dragon Ascent for big damage, Extreme Speed to chip weakened foes or chip Pokemon it knows it will faint against so a revenge killer can come in safely, V-Create to demolish Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and Zacian-Crowned after Dragon Dance, and Dragon Dance to boost its mediocre speed to high heaven, outpacing Calyrex-Shadow and Zacian-Crowned. The Attack boost will also allow it to have an easier time with Dusk Mane Necrozma.
Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Snarl
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Snarl
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
This Pokemon serves as a check to dangerous special attacking threats: offensive Yveltal and Calyrex-Shadow. As you can see, I opt for Snarl instead of other moves such as Sucker Punch and Knock Off. This is mainly for decreasing the Special Attacking stat of Calyrex-Shadow and Yveltal, especially when a Nasty Plot has been passed to Yveltal. The other offensive move used is U-Turn. Since most Calyrex players will switch out their Pokemon seeing Yveltal, Yveltal is able to U-Turn and choose the Pokemon best able to countering the original Pokemon. The EV spread is quite standard. Max HP and max SpD allows it to take hits from Calyrex-S very well, living Savage Spin-Out at +2, even.
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 192 HP / 216 Def / 100 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Judgment
- Magic Coat
- Recover
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 192 HP / 216 Def / 100 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Judgment
- Magic Coat
- Recover
Now, this is a very unique Arceus form. You can see that instead of a classic Refresh or Calm Mind, I use Magic Coat. The reason for this is this Pokemon is supposed to be an anti-lead, similar to how Safety Goggles Zygarde work: being able to bounce moves like Spore, Stealth Rock and Spikes back to the opponent. The EV spread allows it to take any attack from Zacian-Crowned once (and only once), which can be handy for revenge killing it in an emergency situation.
This Pokemon also allows one to check Primal Groudon to a certain extent, as Judgment would OHKO non-Defensive sets very handily. Ice Beam is used to target threats like Mega Rayquaza and to chip other Flying types like Ho-Oh and Lugia, and Recover is a very good recovery move having more PP than Morning Sun.
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 228 HP / 28 Atk / 252 Def
Lax Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Thunder Wave
- Overheat
- Stone Edge
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 228 HP / 28 Atk / 252 Def
Lax Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Thunder Wave
- Overheat
- Stone Edge
This Groudon is one of the most bulky sets I have used. Its main role is to go in on threatening Pokemon like Zacian-Crowned and Necrozma-Dusk-Mane and either eliminate them or cripple them with Thunder Wave. Even when the opponent switches out into a Pokemon that will be able to handle it, such as Mega Rayquaza, Groudon can catch them on the switch by going for Thunder Wave.
Overheat is mainly for dealing with defensive Necrozma-DM, as this attack goes by Special Attack instead, and can almost certainly OHKO opposing Necrozma-DM. The other moves are quite self explanatory, with Stone Edge hitting Pokemon like Ho-Oh and Precipice Blades being a STAB move and hits almost everything quite hard.
How to play with this team
The lead is almost certainly the Ground Arceus, unless the opponent has a Shadow Calyrex and no dedicated lead, in which case one should lead with Yveltal. From there, the player should slowly chip away at the opponent's Pokemon, crippling them little by little with paralysis and chip damage. After that, Mega Rayquaza and Zacian should be able to knock out the opponent's final Pokemon in the endgame.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1337047457: Thanks to Rocky Helmet, NDM was able to chip Marshadow and this makes way for a lategame Zacian sweep, along with the fact that one of the greatest checks to Zacian (NDM) was removed early by Mega Rayquaza.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1351055142: After a lucky miss of Precipice Blades and some failed attempts at stopping SR from Excadrill (whoops), Necrozma was able to pull out a surprise Dynamax and use its +1 in SpD to take a Max Quake from Dynamax Xerneas.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1351055142: After a lucky miss of Precipice Blades and some failed attempts at stopping SR from Excadrill (whoops), Necrozma was able to pull out a surprise Dynamax and use its +1 in SpD to take a Max Quake from Dynamax Xerneas.
So, what do you think about this team? Any suggestions and comments? Please let me know and thank you!
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, and also, close combat dont give you great benefits.
, 'Necrozma-Dusk-mane' and others. With dragon dance you need in time to get buffs.
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