Other Metagames [AG] Old Faithful (Peaked #1)

Pigeons

pidge pidge
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Introduction


I'm alive guys! Since I've been very inactive for nearly a month now, I figured there was no better way to celebrate than making a RMT of the team I've been using for the past 6 months now. If you've faced me at all on ladder or in tournaments, you've likely seen this team before. I first built it during the first round of the Core Laddering Challenge, and since then it has proven to be very consistent both on ladder and in tournaments. While you're reading this, do give a listen to this song from NEVERMORE the musical, which I had the pleasure of working on for the past month with my school's theatre company.

Teambuilding Process


The team began with a core of Mega Gengar and Calm Mind+Iron Defense Arceus-Dark. This was a core I and a few others had experimented with in Gen 6, the idea is that Mega Gengar eliminates the fairies that would check Darkceus so that it can sweep. Even though it was decent in Gen 6, it looked even more promising in Gen 7 given the introduction of threats such as Lunala and Solgaleo that Arceus-Dark could perform well against, as well as the buffing of other things it could check such as Arceus-Ghost and Deoxys-Attack. This combined with the buff from new Mega evolution speed mechanics that Mega Gengar received made me think this core would be a solid choice for the new generation.


While Mega Gengar is able to eliminate most of the more defensively oriented fairies of the tier, its low bulk prevents it from being able to switch into more offensive ones such as Xerneas or Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy. In addition, the newly introduced Magearna was a huge nuisance since it could take away Arceus-Dark's boosts and wasn't trappable with Mega Gengar. Ho-Oh provides a nice defensive sponge for most Fairy-type attackers and puts immense pressure onto Magearna, making it an excellent choice for the next slot.


Due to its 4x weakness to Stealth Rock, Ho-Oh always requires some form of Defog support when it is used. Looking over the team as it was, Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh and Zygarde were all fairly difficult to kill and/or wall with the team unless Arceus-Dark had already set up a fair amount. Because this team was built during the first round of the Core Laddering Challenge, adding Arceus-Water with Ice Beam worked out very nicely to check the previously mentioned threats but also made this team eligible to be used during that laddering period.


Ferrothorn was a very easy Pokemon to add in the next slot, the team as it was desperately needed a Stealth Rock setter, a Primal Kyogre check and a Steel-type. Ferrothorn provides all those things, but also boasts great synergy with Ho-Oh and Arceus-Water and is generally an amazing Pokemon for wearing down the opposing team with Leech Seed, Iron Barbs and hazards.


With the team nearing completion, figuring out the last member was a fairly easy task. As the team was, Mega Rayquaza was clearly a massive threat, after a Dragon Dance only Arceus-Water could live a hit, and nothing could revenge kill. Banded sets were also extremely hard to face, essentially forcing me to sack something then revenge with Mega Gengar. I also found that a stallbreaker was needed, as the addition of Alolan Muk meant Mega Gengar was no longer sufficient on its own. In the end I settled on a set I had greatly enjoyed in Gen 6, Substitute+Calm Mind Arceus-Rock, which by typing could somewhat check Mega Rayquaza and could plow through bulkier teams.


The team as described above was the one I used for the first round of the Core Laddering Challenge, and though I was pleased with my results (achieving gold and coming within 50 Elo of platinum), I still felt that many changes were needed. The biggest issue by far was Mega Rayquaza, Earthquake variants were usually able to sweep with little effort after a Dragon Dance, and after trying switching the set on Arceus-Rock to support I eventually replaced it with Arceus-Fairy. Arceus-Fairy allowed me to take any one hit from a boosted Mega Rayquaza and 1HKO back, and if it gets 2HKOd by the Choice Band or Mixed sets, Mega Gengar can eliminate the Rayquaza immediately afterwards. Having lost my designated stallbreaker, Arceus-Dark was changed to Calm Mind+Refresh to compensate. Finally, with Rockceus gone, Ho-Oh was more of an issue, so Ice Beam was replaced with Judgment on Arceus-Water. And with those changes, the team in its current form came to exist.

Team Breakdown


Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Substitute
- Taunt

Mega Gengar is easily the most important member of the team, as it is able to adapt to almost any matchup and perform well. Gengar adds much needed speed to a relatively slow and bulky team and as such is usually used as the team's revenge killer, while still performing the usual task of eliminating Fairy-types and other passive Pokemon such as Chansey. STAB moves are standard, the last two moves have done a fair bit of shuffling around but I've found Substitute and Taunt to be the best combination. Substitute pairs excellently with the high amount of residual damage this team is capable of racking up through multiple Toxic users and Ferrothorn's Leech Seed, it allows Gengar to buy time until the opponent is within range of an attack, amplifying its abilities as a revenge killer. Taunt's purposes may somewhat overlap with those of Substitute but the utility it provides is too much to pass up, specifically against stall teams with Lugia or Confide Chansey.


Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Refresh
- Recover
- Calm Mind

As mentioned earlier, Arceus-Dark got a lot of buffs this generation, taking it from a fairly niche pick to something that finds a place on many teams. In most games Arceus-Dark is preserved as a late-game win condition, however against teams where Lunala, Deoxys-Attack or Arceus-Ghost are present, late-game sweeping is usually abandoned to keep those threats in check for the rest of the team. Because Arceus-Dark focuses more on accumulating multiple boosts rather than raw power when stallbreaking, HP was maximized rather than Special Attack to maintain a solid defensive presence and create more setup opportunities. Maximizing Speed was less necessary but it gives Arceus-Dark a better shot in Calm Mind Arceus mirrors and also helps vs slightly faster teams.


Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Atk / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Whirlwind

Chloe's favourite and a Pokemon I'm growing very fond of as well, Ho-Oh simply does a fantastic job of not dying so long as Stealth Rocks are not on the field. Ho-Oh acts as a critical check to the myriad of Steel-types in the meta, doing a better job than most thanks to Regenerator making Leech Seed chip irrelevant and having enough power to 1HKO the majority of them. Thanks to its high Special bulk, Ho-Oh is also the team's primary check to many Special sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas and Calm Mind Arceus forms. Whirlwind is less common on Ho-Oh but I found it necessary to check the previously mentioned Special sweepers properly, and it is useful as always to rack up hazard damage. Life Orb was chosen because Leftovers recovery was not needed and the increased power makes 1HKOing most Steel-types a possibility.


Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Recover
- Defog

The first of the team's Defog users, Arceus-Water excels in the role thanks to its strong matchups against common Stealth Rock users such as Primal Groudon and Excadrill. While in some matchups it needs to be preserved for threats like Ho-Oh and Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Water is usually quite expendable once the opposing hazard setter(s) is dead, so it often gets sacked for free switches or chip damage. Arceus-Water is still extremely important though, having a second physical wall to fall back on if Arceus-Fairy is overwhelmed or trapped is crucial against EKiller spam or teams where Mega Gengar is present. The EV spread ensures Arceus-Water outspeeds all base 90 Pokemon so random things like max Speed Band Ho-Oh don't meme me while also making the lead matchup easier vs Excadrill, with the rest in bulk.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

Arguably the most splashable Steel-type in the tier right now, Ferrothorn excels at wearing down teams and being a general nuisance with Leech Seed. On this team in particular, Ferrothorn is useful as a backup check to offensive Fairy-types if Ho-Oh is weakened or Stealth Rocks are down while also being the team's only real counterplay against Primal Kyogre. Due to its ability to set Stealth Rocks and great bulk, Ferrothorn is also a key member when it comes to fighting Tapu Lele teams, as getting rocks down in that matchup can usually mean the difference between a win and a loss. As long as hazards are down, Ferrothorn almost always just clicks Leech Seed in hopes of wearing down the opposing teams, it is worth noting that Leech Seed can pair excellently with Mega Gengar's Substitute, particularly against bulkier sweepers such as EKiller Arceus.


Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Recover
- Defog

The final member of the team, Arceus-Fairy is tasked with checking the omnipresent Mega Rayquaza, as well as many other physical attackers the team has no dedicated check for thanks to its high bulk. I've been asked a few times about why I run 2 Defoggers so I'll elaborate a bit. The first reason is that keeping Stealth Rocks off the field is extremely important for teams utilizing Ho-Oh as this one does, especially because sweepers such as Geomancy Xerneas are able to cleanly sweep if rocks are up. Having two Defoggers not only ensures I get more chances to remove rocks, but the combined PP of Defogs on this team is greater than the PP of Stealth Rock (assuming one setter), meaning my Defogs cannot be stalled out by the opposing rocks setter. The set is otherwise standard, with a bulkier spread being chosen over a fast one so Arceus-Fairy can check a boosted Life Orb Mega Rayquaza.

Threatlist
Mega Lucario
- Mega Lucario can almost 6-0 this team, and if Stealth Rocks are up nothing stops it after a Swords Dance. Trying to keep rocks off the field is your only hope, if rocks are clear Ho-Oh can live one hit from full and KO back, and Mega Gengar can sometimes live a Bullet Punch and 1HKO after a Special Defense drop.

Tyranitar
- Being able to trap Gengar, wall Ho-Oh and take almost anything from Arceus-Dark, Tyranitar is able to shut down almost all of this team's offensive presence. While the remaining Pokemon are capable of handling it, they are all fairly passive and as such a well built Tyranitar team is extremely difficult to beat.

Gothitelle
- Gothitelle is able to remove both support Arceus on this team as well as Ferrothorn in certain situations. Because it can leave such holes in the team's defenses, playing as aggressively as possible is your best chance at winning against Gothitelle teams.

Mega Rayquaza
- While it is always threatening, Mega Rayquaza can be particularly troublesome for this team. Most sets are handled fine by Arceus-Fairy and Mega Gengar, but Dragon Dance sets with Life Orb are always able to inflict massive damage on the team, and worse yet if it a boosted Rayquaza scores a critical hit or Arceus-Fairy has been weakened, the game is over. With careful plays this matchup is winnable but always be mindful of Arceus-Fairy's HP.


Replays
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-523966212 vs MAMP (AG open)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-526779617 vs Chloe (AG open)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-557883613 vs Hunterstorm
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-551654630 vs PurpleGatorade
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-541343460 vs Thimo
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankanythinggoes-505448306 vs dontstealmypenguin (Earlier version of the team)
I don't save replays that often but these are a few decent ones

Importable
Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Substitute
- Taunt

Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Refresh
- Recover
- Calm Mind

Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Atk / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Whirlwind

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Recover
- Defog

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Recover
- Defog


Proof of Peak


Shoutouts
Thimo Amazing teambuilder and great dude. Thanks for building so many fun teams with me and being one of my besties
TylerWithNumbers Great friend and OMs player, Sceptile still isn't viable though
Synoptic PurpleGatorade DonnotheFirst Quantum Tesseract For being great driver buddies, I love all of you <3
Catalystic Another great friend
Chloe. Megazard For doing so much to organize the community and being great people in general
And the rest of the AG roomauth / community for making this game as enjoyable as it is

Conclusion
That's about it for the RMT, I do plan to use this team less and maybe even try using something other than fat balance for a change. This team has been extremely reliable for me in the past and I suspect it will continue to be so in the future, even with some metagame changes. Thanks to anyone who read this, I hope it was at least somewhat enjoyable.
 
Last edited:

MZ

And now for something completely different
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An actual AG rmt and with my favorite core of Darkceus+Mgar yay! Actually it's weird, I also have a hooh+gar+darkceus+dual support arc+steel team, but that one's built around Dialga and sucks. The point is I really like the base of the team, it uses the Gar+Darkceus core really well, and most of what I have to offer is just small nitpicks. For example, there's really no reason not to bump Fairyceus's creep up to 16. That should be obligatory on any arc form, max Speed base 90s aren't terribly common but it costs you practically nothing. I'm also still not terribly convinced that dual Defog is necessary, but it just depends on how reliant you tend to be on Ho-Oh. If you really don't want rocks going up even late game it's understandable, but my reasoning is that freeing up a slot on Fairyceus could let you pick up Iron Defense which could help out a fair amount in the SD Pdon matchup. Although it's not on the threatlist, I definitely see a well played SD or Dual Dance Pdon as the biggest annoyance here. Iron Defense is far from a perfect solution, but as long as I'm the only person running Jolly SD it would be the only method you have for walling out Don rather than your current method of beating it, sacking things until it dies to Toxic (which is admittedly helped by Sub Mgar). Replacing Toxic is another option, but just makes other random stuff more annoying so idk about that one. The team does have some other weaknesses like Ttar, Mluke, and MMY, but those start from the premise of Gengar+Darkceus and I don't think there's a whole lot you can do to improve those matchups nor is it totally necessary given the relative rarity of the mons you're weak to. I hope these helped slightly improve the team, it's still pretty damn good anyway.
 
Hey man,
Fantastic team and thanks for the shoutout. I just have a couple suggestions for you, and that would be to 1) Replace Substitute on Mega Gengar with focus blast and 2) Replace shadow ball with hex. You listed tyranitar on your threatlist, and while it isn't super common I do believe having perfect coverage allows mgar to be even more useful. It also allows you to pick off ekillers from higher hp, and imo just has more general utility than substitute. The second option is one that I think is almost 100% necessary, because given that you have 3 status users on this squad there's no reason not to abuse that with hex. This will allow you to get rid of opposing sr setters quicker and revenge kill certain mons easier. Other than that, the team is super solid (I should know, I always get rekt) and I hope u find these changes helpful.
 

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