VGC Yanmega's Redemption

RoyalUmbreon

RoyalUmbreon

I remember, a few years ago, seeing a video where a Yanmega with a speed boost from a Detect used Swagger on a Pokemon with a Lum Berry and Earthquake which then completely dominated the other team. That was when I saw that Yanmega could really be an effective Pokemon, and I wanted to try it out on a team but never got around to it. I did not want to use the swagger strategy, but I did want to use Yanmega. So I created this team revolving around Yanmega's weaknesses so I could finally use the speedy dragonfly. (Anything bold indicates a change I made)

yanmega.gif

Yanmega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Detect
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- HP Ice

The Pokemon that started the idea of this team. I wanted to use Yanmega for a while after seeing one completely dominate on a video a while back, and I finally decided to make a team including it.
Focus Sash was probably the most useful item since Yanmega has several weaknesses. Detect is for scouting and staying in longer, and also getting a free Speed Boost. Detect cannot be imprisoned which is a nice bonus. Bug Buzz and Air Slash are it's STABs, and they are both nice offensively except against Steel and Rock types. The last slot is undecided but it definitely needs to be a coverage move. Hidden Power Ground is good for the common Pokemon that resist Yanmega's stabs. The EV spread is to maximize it's offensive capability.

landorus-therian.gif

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Knock Off

While boring, I decided Landorus-T was an incredibly effective partner for Yanmega. Earthquake cannot hit Yanmega and both Earthquake and Rock Slide are very nice attacking moves. Yanmega cannot hit Charizard-Y, while Landorus completely threatens it. U-turn can safely bring in another Pokemon, while Knock Off is good for getting rid of pesky items and also is good for coverage. The item and EV spread is self-explanatory.

suicune.gif

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Tailwind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Suicune, I decided, was a good switch in for any ice type moves Yanmega and Landorus may experience, and Tailwind is great speed control. Suicune provides defense for this team, and scald furthers its bulk by possibly burning attackers.

thundurus.gif

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 36 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
Calm Nature
- HP Ice
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
I originally thought Mega-Manetric should have this slot, but Raikou essentially hits the same Pokemon for super effective damage, while not being super frail. Flamethrower from Manetric is useful but not needed as I am able to hit Steel and Grass types for super-effective damage already. Raikou covers Suicune's and Yanmega's Electric weakness and also is helpful against the many birds found in VGC. It is also fairly bulky, and Snarl is good for weakening Special Attackers. Suicune and Raikou together can easily weaken the other team, and I also think they look really cool together.
Originally Mega-Manetric, then Raikou, Thundurus came through as the most helpful option for this slot. Prankster Thunder Wave is great speed control, and Taunt is extremely helpful for me. The standard Thundurus set is great support, more than Raikou could do. (Doesn't look as cool though.)

scrafty.gif

Scrafty @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
Brave Nature
- Fake Out
- Super Fang
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

By changing Scrafty to this set, it is able to sponge special attacks better, be slower than Aegislash to hit it with a Knock Off when Aegislash is in Blade Forme, and have coverage against other bulky Pokemon by using Super Fang. Fake Out support is useful for Yanmega, and Intimidate weakens the many physical attackers.

mawile-mega.gif

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 60 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Substitute
- Protect

With tailwind, Mawile is a big threat. Mawile essentially covers any other type my team has trouble against. As Ice Beam on Suicune was the only good offense against Dragons, Mawile can come in to take care of any Dragon Pokemon. I chose Hyper Cutter as the ability because Landorus-T and Scrafty can both provide Intimidate if I decide Intimidate should be Scrafty's ability, and also prevents any attack drops against Mawile before I mega evolve it.
I had used a Mawile with Knock Off, Play Rough, Substitute, and Protect on a previous team I made and it proved to be very effective. Mawile could hide behind a sub to prevent any status moves (Several times I was able to prevent Will-O-Wisp by using a surprise substitute), and Knock Off was great because I could bait an Aegislash to change form with another Pokemon (for example, Togekiss) and then Mawile, slower than Aegislash, was able to OHKO it. However, as I already have Knock Off on 2 Pokemon, Iron head is probably a more useful option.
I changed Knock Off for Sucker Punch for when Tailwind runs out, and the new EV spread allows it to actually outspeed when it is under Tailwind.

What I think: Opposing Pokemon with Defiant and Competitive are a potential problem as I cannot use Landorus-T. If I do not have Landorus or Scrafty on the field, Pokemon like Bisharp and Terrakion are a serious Problem. Blizzard/ Ice Beam poses a serious problem for Yanmega and Landorus, and Thundurus to certain extents.
 
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You should replace Suicune with Milotic and Raikou with Zapdos. Milotic will give you coverage against Intimidate users. This takes away Suicune's Tailwind, so replacing Raikou with Zapdos will fix that. Now on to the rate...
Scrafty: You could replace Quick Guard with Protect, as your team doesn't have that much coverage against Fairy-types. However, you have Mawile, so you should be fine otherwise.
Well, that's all of the advice I can give you. Good luck with Yanmega, it looks fun to use as people don't expect it!
 
What's up man, that's a pretty sweet team! I think it's great when people use lesser used Pokemon such as Yanmega. One major problem I can see with your team, however, is that it struggles against Sun and Rain teams so I'll be focusing on improving your matchup against those teams.

For starters, I suggest using Hidden Power Ice on Yanmega over HP Ground / Giga Drain. HP Ground only hits Heatran, which you have 3 Pokemon for, and it doesn't even OHKO it, so it's a lot better to leave Heatran to Yanmega's partner. The same logic applies to Giga Drain. The two most notable targets for Giga Drain are Rotom-W and Suicune; however, Giga Drain is only a 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery, meaning that Rotom-W and Suicune will almost always beat Yanmega 1v1. HP Ice, on the other hand, is a guaranteed OHKO on Landorus-T, which is currently somewhat of a problem for your team. It also has a 43% chance to OHKO Mega Salamence too, which is pretty neat.
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Hidden Power Ground vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 136-160 (81.4 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 66-78 (42 - 49.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Suicune: 74-88 (35.7 - 42.5%) -- 1.5% chance to 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 168-200 (101.8 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 156-184 (91.2 - 107.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

Scrafty is cool but Shed Skin is super unreliable. Using Intimidate is a lot better because it increases Scrafty's bulk. I know that it triggers Competitive/Defiant, but Scrafty beats Bisharp 1v1 and Milotic isn't a big problem for your team, since you have a lot of strong physical attackers. Intimidate can weaken the opposing physical attackers and thus allowing Scrafty to live super effective hits, such as Close Combat, without the use of Chople Berry. This frees up your item slot in which I suggest you use Assault Vest as Scrafty's newest item. While not a full stop to weather teams, AV Scrafty does, however, improve your matchup against those teams, as Scrafty will be able to sponge the Special Attacks a lot better and thus allowing you to weaken the opposing weather abusers. Because AV prohibits the use of non-attacking moves, I suggest replacing Quick Guard with Super Fang. Quick Guard isn't needed at all, since you have 3 reliable Talonflame switch-in in Landorus-T, Suicune, and a Pokemon who will replace Raikou. Super Fang is a super cool coverage move that helps mitigate Scrafty's mediocre offenses by being able to halve your opponent's Pokemon's HP. This is SUPER handy when facing bulky Pokemon, such as Suicune and Rotom-W that your team struggles with. I also suggest changing Scrafty's EV spread to 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def with a Brave Nature and 0 Spe IVs. 252 HP and 60 Def allows Scrafty to survive a -1 Close Combat from Terrakion and -1 Choice Band Brave Bird from Talonflame. Scrafty doesn't need the Speed that much and it doesn't benefit from Tailwind at all; a Brave Nature with 0 Spe IVs allows Scrafty to underspeed Quiet 0 Spe Aegislash, meaning that Aegislash will move first so Scrafty can hit it hard with a Knock Off while Aegislash is in Blade Forme.

  • -1 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 60 Def Scrafty: 116-138 (67.4 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • -1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 60 Def Scrafty: 138-164 (80.2 - 95.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

As for Mawile, I suggest changing it's spread to my variation of Ryosuke Kosuge's 2014 spread of 108 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 148 Spe with an Adamant Nature. Mawile is super slow, even with Tailwind; so if you're using Mawile on a team that utilizes Tailwind, you need to invest a lot of Speed into it. 148 Speed allows Mawile to outrun Terrakion and anything below under Tailwind with the HP number optimized for Substitute. An alternate spread of 60 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe with an Adamant Nature can be used, as it allows Mega Mawile to outrun Timid Mega Salamence and anything below under Tailwind with the HP number optimized for Substitute as well. A lot of Mawiles nowadays tend to forego Attack investment for a bulkier spread; however, on a Tailwind-centric team, Mawile doesn't really need all the bulk and would much rather hit as hard as possible instead. Instead of Knock Off, using Sucker Punch will be much more beneficial for your Mawile. Tailwind doesn't last forever, so after it peters out, you're left with a slow Mawile again. Sucker Punch allows Mawile to somewhat mitigate that weakness by allowing you to finish off faster Pokemon that are weakened after Mawile's rampage under Tailwind. It makes the matchup against Aegislash worse but everything else better so it is definitely worth it.

For bigger changes, I suggest replacing Raikou with Thundurus. Thundurus essentially does what your Raikou is doing while offering more. Thundurus, however, gives you another Ground immunity, thus allowing your Landorus to use Earthquake freely. On top of that, Thundurus offers Thunder Wave and Taunt support, which helps immensely with your weather and Trick Room matchup. Against Rain and Sun, your best bet is to set up Tailwind and then try to eliminate the weather abusers; however, both Rain and Sun have ways of stopping Suicune. With Thundurus, you can threaten the weather sweepers with priority Thunder Wave while also threatening the respective setters with Thunderbolt. A standard spread of 252 HP / 120 Def / 36 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe with a Calm Nature allows Thundurus to tank a Modest Life Orb Hydreigon's Draco Meteor and make Landorus-T and Terrakion's Rock Slide pretty much a 3HKO. 28 Spe outruns positive base 70 Speed Pokemon, most notably Breloom. Thundurus does add to your Ice weakness unfortunately, but the most common Ice-type attackers you'll see are Suicune and Milotic and both of those are threatened by Thundurus. If you still want Snarl support, you can always replace Protect on Suicune with it but I find it unnecessary for your team.

  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 68+ SpD Thundurus: 156-185 (83.8 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 120 Def Thundurus: 108-128 (58 - 68.8%) -- 62.5% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 120 Def Thundurus: 88-104 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 18.8% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

That's pretty much it man, once again sweet team! Still be careful against Sun and Rain teams, as they can plow through your team once Thundurus is gone. Hope I helped man and good luck with the team!!! :]

yanmega.gif

Yanmega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Detect
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power Ice

suicune.gif

Suicune @ Leftovers (Sitrus Berry benefits Thundurus a lot more, Suicune is a lot bulkier than Thundurus so Leftovers works the best for it as a replacement)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Tailwind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect

scrafty.gif

Scrafty @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe- Fake Out
- Super Fang
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

mawile.gif

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 108 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 148 Spe or 60 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Substitute
- Protect

thundurus.gif

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 36 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
 
hexmarie said:
You should replace Suicune with Milotic and Raikou with Zapdos. Milotic will give you coverage against Intimidate users. This takes away Suicune's Tailwind, so replacing Raikou with Zapdos will fix that. Now on to the rate...
Scrafty: You could replace Quick Guard with Protect, as your team doesn't have that much coverage against Fairy-types. However, you have Mawile, so you should be fine otherwise.
Well, that's all of the advice I can give you. Good luck with Yanmega, it looks fun to use as people don't expect it!
Click to expand...

I am keeping Suicune, but Scrafty has been changed to have an Assault Vest with Super Fang instead of Quick Guard (From DaAwesomeDude1's review.) I thought about Zapdos, but Thundurus, which replaced Raikou, offers more of what I want, and then Suicune gives the Tailwind support which Thundurus cannot use. Thanks for the luck!
 
DaAwesomeDude1 said:
What's up man, that's a pretty sweet team! I think it's great when people use lesser used Pokemon such as Yanmega. One major problem I can see with your team, however, is that it struggles against Sun and Rain teams so I'll be focusing on improving your matchup against those teams.

For starters, I suggest using Hidden Power Ice on Yanmega over HP Ground / Giga Drain. HP Ground only hits Heatran, which you have 3 Pokemon for, and it doesn't even OHKO it, so it's a lot better to leave Heatran to Yanmega's partner. The same logic applies to Giga Drain. The two most notable targets for Giga Drain are Rotom-W and Suicune; however, Giga Drain is only a 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery, meaning that Rotom-W and Suicune will almost always beat Yanmega 1v1. HP Ice, on the other hand, is a guaranteed OHKO on Landorus-T, which is currently somewhat of a problem for your team. It also has a 43% chance to OHKO Mega Salamence too, which is pretty neat.
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Hidden Power Ground vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 136-160 (81.4 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 66-78 (42 - 49.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Suicune: 74-88 (35.7 - 42.5%) -- 1.5% chance to 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 168-200 (101.8 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • 252+ SpA Yanmega Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 156-184 (91.2 - 107.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

Scrafty is cool but Shed Skin is super unreliable. Using Intimidate is a lot better because it increases Scrafty's bulk. I know that it triggers Competitive/Defiant, but Scrafty beats Bisharp 1v1 and Milotic isn't a big problem for your team, since you have a lot of strong physical attackers. Intimidate can weaken the opposing physical attackers and thus allowing Scrafty to live super effective hits, such as Close Combat, without the use of Chople Berry. This frees up your item slot in which I suggest you use Assault Vest as Scrafty's newest item. While not a full stop to weather teams, AV Scrafty does, however, improve your matchup against those teams, as Scrafty will be able to sponge the Special Attacks a lot better and thus allowing you to weaken the opposing weather abusers. Because AV prohibits the use of non-attacking moves, I suggest replacing Quick Guard with Super Fang. Quick Guard isn't needed at all, since you have 3 reliable Talonflame switch-in in Landorus-T, Suicune, and a Pokemon who will replace Raikou. Super Fang is a super cool coverage move that helps mitigate Scrafty's mediocre offenses by being able to halve your opponent's Pokemon's HP. This is SUPER handy when facing bulky Pokemon, such as Suicune and Rotom-W that your team struggles with. I also suggest changing Scrafty's EV spread to 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def with a Brave Nature and 0 Spe IVs. 252 HP and 60 Def allows Scrafty to survive a -1 Close Combat from Terrakion and -1 Choice Band Brave Bird from Talonflame. Scrafty doesn't need the Speed that much and it doesn't benefit from Tailwind at all; a Brave Nature with 0 Spe IVs allows Scrafty to underspeed Quiet 0 Spe Aegislash, meaning that Aegislash will move first so Scrafty can hit it hard with a Knock Off while Aegislash is in Blade Forme.

  • -1 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 60 Def Scrafty: 116-138 (67.4 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • -1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 60 Def Scrafty: 138-164 (80.2 - 95.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

As for Mawile, I suggest changing it's spread to my variation of Ryosuke Kosuge's 2014 spread of 108 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 148 Spe with an Adamant Nature. Mawile is super slow, even with Tailwind; so if you're using Mawile on a team that utilizes Tailwind, you need to invest a lot of Speed into it. 148 Speed allows Mawile to outrun Terrakion and anything below under Tailwind with the HP number optimized for Substitute. An alternate spread of 60 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe with an Adamant Nature can be used, as it allows Mega Mawile to outrun Timid Mega Salamence and anything below under Tailwind with the HP number optimized for Substitute as well. A lot of Mawiles nowadays tend to forego Attack investment for a bulkier spread; however, on a Tailwind-centric team, Mawile doesn't really need all the bulk and would much rather hit as hard as possible instead. Instead of Knock Off, using Sucker Punch will be much more beneficial for your Mawile. Tailwind doesn't last forever, so after it peters out, you're left with a slow Mawile again. Sucker Punch allows Mawile to somewhat mitigate that weakness by allowing you to finish off faster Pokemon that are weakened after Mawile's rampage under Tailwind. It makes the matchup against Aegislash worse but everything else better so it is definitely worth it.

For bigger changes, I suggest replacing Raikou with Thundurus. Thundurus essentially does what your Raikou is doing while offering more. Thundurus, however, gives you another Ground immunity, thus allowing your Landorus to use Earthquake freely. On top of that, Thundurus offers Thunder Wave and Taunt support, which helps immensely with your weather and Trick Room matchup. Against Rain and Sun, your best bet is to set up Tailwind and then try to eliminate the weather abusers; however, both Rain and Sun have ways of stopping Suicune. With Thundurus, you can threaten the weather sweepers with priority Thunder Wave while also threatening the respective setters with Thunderbolt. A standard spread of 252 HP / 120 Def / 36 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe with a Calm Nature allows Thundurus to tank a Modest Life Orb Hydreigon's Draco Meteor and make Landorus-T and Terrakion's Rock Slide pretty much a 3HKO. 28 Spe outruns positive base 70 Speed Pokemon, most notably Breloom. Thundurus does add to your Ice weakness unfortunately, but the most common Ice-type attackers you'll see are Suicune and Milotic and both of those are threatened by Thundurus. If you still want Snarl support, you can always replace Protect on Suicune with it but I find it unnecessary for your team.

  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 68+ SpD Thundurus: 156-185 (83.8 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 120 Def Thundurus: 108-128 (58 - 68.8%) -- 62.5% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 120 Def Thundurus: 88-104 (47.3 - 55.9%) -- 18.8% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

That's pretty much it man, once again sweet team! Still be careful against Sun and Rain teams, as they can plow through your team once Thundurus is gone. Hope I helped man and good luck with the team!!! :]

yanmega.gif

Yanmega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Detect
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power Ice
suicune.gif

Suicune @ Leftovers (Sitrus Berry benefits Thundurus a lot more, Suicune is a lot bulkier than Thundurus so Leftovers works the best for it as a replacement)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Tailwind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect

scrafty.gif

Scrafty @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe- Fake Out
- Super Fang
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

mawile.gif

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 108 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 148 Spe or 60 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Substitute
- Protect

thundurus.gif

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 36 SpA / 68 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am changing Mawile's EVs and adding Sucker Punch, Raikou to Thundurus, and changing Scrafty's set. Thanks for liking the team!
 
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