Gen 7 Stars Align BIG BANG ! [USUM AG 2233 ELO 98.8% GXE]

[Skarph]

I recently broke the GXE n ELO record with the highest peak ever (on an incredibly dead ladder but we take it) so I figured that I should make a showcase of the team I've been using. I'll be going over a little bit of the teambuilding process, different moves and spreads that I ran with this team, and how to outplay certain matchups that this team struggles with.

Honestly, I didn't think I'd be using this team for my entire run on the gen 7 AG ladder. I simply stuck with it because I was having so much success and didn't want to change anything up and possibly ruin my streak. This team is far from perfect and I know the many flaws that it has. What I believe makes it good is that regardless of the weaknesses, it features high in viability pokemon which do their jobs very well. I made this team defense-oriented because the key to consistency on ladder is to make the most accurate and safe plays. At the same time, you can not let yourself get walled by stall because you will certainly lose the hazard and status game if you do not have very specific defoggers or clerics (this team doesn't). I'll go through what sets I run on each mon now.

Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create
- Outrage / Waterfall
- Extreme Speed

This has always been my breaker of choice for ladder. Choice Band allows you to mindlessly click Dragon Ascent and claim lives without much thought but the real reason I use it over Life Orb is because of the longevity. I typically go with a Jolly Nature because this team does not have the best MRay and Will-O-Wisp Poisonceus counterplay. Adamant Nature is great for crushing Lugia and you also get that nice 100% Ascent roll on 0 HP/Def Arceus so if I'm feeling more about my power at the time then I'll switch it up. As Primal-Groudon is one of the biggest threats to this team due to having poor defensive checks to it, Waterfall can be nice to have at times (It also hits Ttar and Rockceus which is good, not everyone wants to be stuck in Outrage..). Outrage is mostly here to break Defensive Zygarde instantly but it also has its useful moments where you don't want to be lowering your defenses and your opponent doesn't have a Fairy type or Dragon resist left. If I had to pick, I'd probably go Outrage most of the time simply because Zygarde is difficult to handle otherwise. The times I do go waterfall I always make sure that Marshadow is LO HP Ice.

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpD
Careful / Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Precipice Blades
- Dragon Tail / Stone Edge / Overheat

SpD PDon is the best USUM PDon and I will hear no argument. Such a consistent and good mon is hard not to throw on every team due to how well it does its job of laying rocks, spreading poison to support arcs, and being one of the few things that can defensively check POgre. I personally prefer a +SpD nature over Relaxed or Impish because I think you take too much from POgres Icebeam and Arceus Judgment even with 248 HP / 204 SpD. The little bit of defense is mostly there for MRay and Marshadow. I almost always run Dragon Tail as MRay is such a large threat and it gets a pretty free switch in without DTail being here. Stone Edge is clearly here to snipe Ho-Oh but it does hit a non mega'd Rayquaza switch in quite hard (if it hits lol), as well as Yveltal. Overheat is goated but I don't like running it too much on this team. MRay is just too big of a threat due to the lack of defensive switch-ins.

Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Hasty Nature
- Close Combat
- Spectral Thief
- Shadow Sneak
- Toxic / Pursuit / Hidden Power Ice

Marshadow is a great late game hero and it honestly invalidates a lot of ladder teams that aren't built to check it very well. It acts as my safety net I fall back on when the opponent is trying to go for a setup sweep with DD MRay or SD/CM Arceus. The set I typically run is Toxic actually, as it doesn't need help from any other pokemon to start chipping away at defensive Arcs. Pursuit is good but I don't find going for the 50/50 with MGar on ladder to be very rewarding and I also don't think my team is that bad off vs Lunala. As mentioned earlier, if MRay is waterfall then Marshadow must be Hidden Power Ice. You do not want to be breaking Zygarde with Band MRays Ascent, especially if Jolly Nature. It will barely do 40% in Complete form and you will cry.

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Solganium Z
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake / Stone Edge

This next mon is the true MVP. Having such a reliable Xerneas check is amazing on ladder and this SD set is absolutely capable of putting on some pretty big pressure. I almost always run Earthquake unless I feel that I might run into you know who's stall, which I then sometimes switch it out for Stone Edge and absolutely obliterate it. There isn't much more to say about this mon, it hardly even cares about taking super effective hits and just SD's and nukes something. Great mon for consistency, helps soft check many things, can typically break through teams late game.

Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Defog
- Toxic

Everyone knows this mon and set, it's always been the standard. Fairyceus obviously checks many key things that this team needs such as Yveltal, Marshadow, Zygarde, Darkceus, Etc. In this case I believe max defense is more important that 88 speed (298 outspeeds modsest Yveltal) or 96+ speed (330 for Ada MRay) because the priority here is to check Marshadow and DD MRay reliably. The rolls on 88 speed are not to my liking and even though this team is slightly weak to LO Yveltal I do not feel that it is worth giving up the extra defense.

Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Perish Song
- Whirlpool

Yes I know, this team is very standard and boring. Boring, but great at getting wins on ladder. I personally prefer to run Perish/Pool over CM/Refresh because you never know what you'll run into on ladder. Whirlpool is a useful move anyways, even if you whirlpool a Fairyceus you're still getting the free switch into PDon or NDM without having to worry about an incoming MRay double. The EV spread is to outspeed +speed base 90s like Jolly PDon. I also enjoy using this because it means I'm faster than Modest Lunala and Yveltal. Darkceus doesn't necessarily need to be max defense but I do prefer 248 HP / 136+ Def over 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe due to it being a more consistent UNecro check.

By far I tell you, by far. The Calm Mind set especially straight up TEARS through this team and can only really be stopped by Toxic or a strong move like Marshadows Close combat or NDMs SSS. MRay can tank +1 Icebeam and kill it with ascent but switching in is very risky and Stealth Rocks must be off the field. There have been moments where I had to sacrifice PDon just to toxic this thing... truly sad moments. Outplayable? Totally imo. A mon will most likely be lost in the process if Groundceus comes in at full in an advantageous position but the key to beat this while being able to still win the game is to pick the right sacs.

This team honestly struggles with every set. MRay is a possible switch in but things can get ugly depending on what move the PDon clicks. Even support can still lay rocks and possibly get a DTail or Toxic off on MRay. Waterfall is used to help with this weakness slightly more but imo running Outrage and just clicking Ascent and doing 70% is usually fine. Darkceus and Fairyceus typically have to check other things in the game so it isn't usually good to go straight to either of them. If there's a situation where it's PDon vs PDon I would almost always Precipice, getting chip on this monster is huge for my team. If your opponent doesn't have a Necrozma or Lunala on their team then I would say going Darkceus on PDon is an alright play because it's more expendable in those situations.

I believe the hardest set to deal with is the defensive set. It walls most of my breakers fairly hard and if you pair it with something like Ferrothorn or NDM then it becomes a nightmare to break. Pressure defensive Zygarde teams with MRay and try not to let it get into complete form (especially rested..). A neat trick is to V-Create the first Zygarde switch in, go to Fairyceus to force it out, then the next time Zyg-C should be in range for Ascent. Other than that, maybe try to chip it just outside of Complete range with PDon, NDM, or Darkceus.

Any team with Band MRay + Fairyceus is bound to have some problems with this mon. If paired with Marshadow or especially Zygarde then things get complicated very quickly. I feel the best way to go against this is to try and get a kill with Band MRay before MGar gets a chance to mega (possibly lead marshadow). As for playing with Fairyceus, just don't be stupid. It's fine to go Darkceus on Zygarde or PDon on Marshadow once in a while.

In my opinion this one isn't that bad due to the fact that if Band MRay ever comes in then you're claiming a life. Still though, with proper switch-ins and defog cores this birb can be a real pain for this team to deal with. Nothing takes Toxic + Sacred Fire well.

This is another pokemon I never want to see on my screen. Hazards + Leech really just gives this team a hard time. The best way to deal with this is to either get MRay in, Whirlpool + Perish Song it with Darkceus, pressure with Marshadodw, or just straight up try to nuke it with NDM. Definitely an annoying mon that can give this team a really hard time especially late game imo. Can not let it drain your mons HP too much or things will get out of hand.

No switch ins to the god of AG over here (unless it's some meme trash like scarf or leftovers). Both Arceus Dark and Fairy are slower than it so if they're in Ascent range then they die and Marshadow will need to revenge. It's not the most horrid matchup but it's definitely the mon I find myself playing around the most. It's kind of a game like "who can kill more stuff with their MRay?" Yep, this typically decides the battle.

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I probably won't be laddering anytime soon (probably shouldn't take my word though), it just feels good to break all of my previous records one last time. Maybe I'll go for 99 GXE eventually but that isn't happening at this Glicko-1 Lel. If I do ladder some more then I guess I'll update the peaks and maybe even throw in some edits to the team if I see a way to improve it. Feel free to ask questions I guess lol, thx for reading

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I know you're making fun of the title right now but just know that I have 98.8% GXE and you do NOT, therefore, I am completely and entirely UNPHAZED anyways cya

 

[Skarph]

did the menacing iron defense body press leech seed ferro ever give you any trouble?

Body Press was introduced in Gen 8 and this is a Gen 7 team thankfully
Ferrothorn + Zygarde + MGar still give me nightmares to this day though

 

[The one and only buck]

Do you have any replay vs Lance’s stall?