[RATE MY TEAM] Mega Salamence team (In Progress)

[Marcusube]

What's up everybody! :D

As of recently, I have seen the need to get more "radical" with team building. My idea was to use a team with Choice specs Aurorus and round. What I want is a team with Trick Room as an option but attackers that could function without it - a semi trick room team. After much effort and testing on showdown, I came to up with this team



I decided Mega Salamence would make a great fit with its Aerialate ability which turns all normal type moves to the flying typing meaning that round would be a flying type move. Also Salamence has enough speed to outrun common threats to Aurorus which in turn allows Aurorus to use Round before getting hit if it didn't take out the opponent. Blaziken was for type coverage against Normal, Rock, Grass etc, mainly Landorus-Therian, Kangaskhan and Amoonguss who threatened my strategy. Cresselia is great for setting up Trick Room and also works as a fairly decent support mon outside. Azumarill is one of the most dangerous attackers under Trick Room which is why I chose it and Amoonguss for redirection.

During team testing, I realized that I never brought Aurorus to any matches due to type matchups and speed tiers. Before I go further, here is the set I was running

Aurorus @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Refrigerate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 80 Def / 236 SpA / 28 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Round
- Protect
- Earth Power

I EV'd it to survive most special attacks, for example, Scald from Ludicolo in the rain and things along the line.

I decided to give up on the initial Aurorus + Round strategy and just go for a standard Mega Salamence team. I swapped out Aurorus for sashed Bisharp and taught Salamence Rock Slide over Round to make my matchups against Zard Y less of a pain since it does threaten everything on my team.

There We Go (Salamence-Mega) @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Hyper Voice
- Double-Edge

Typical EV spread so I won't get into it. Rock Slide I explained already, Hyper Voice is for spread damage and Double Edge is Salamence's most powerful offensive option

Kentucky (Blaziken) @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 136 Atk / 4 Def / 124 SpA / 244 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

EV'd to outspeed Landorus-T by 1 point after a speed boost and OHKO it with Hidden Power Ice. It also picks up OHKOs on defensively invested Amoonguss. Superpower now OHKOs Mega Kang. The real MVP of my team because its damage output along with Mega Mence's always picked up the necessary kills though for the life of me I always get stopped by a Mega Zard when using him

Scum (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 164 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Protect
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Spore

I stole this EV spread because I really don't know how to run Amoonguss and to be honest I really don't want to because I hate both using and facing this Pokemon. It's only purpose is to cushion the weaknesses of Pokemon on my team but it has failed to do so countless of times in matches. Basically every match I bring this thing to it gets destroyed on the first turn it is sent it.

Luna (Cresselia) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 140 Def / 148 SpA
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Calm Mind
- Ice Beam
- Moonlight

Ugh, dear lord. Cresselia was a tough pick on my part to be honest. I almost never used Trick Room because there was too much pressure on the field or there was an Amoonguss on the opponents team and I really didn't want to get spored to death. Calm Mind Cress has put in work and has won me games by itself, however, Ice Beam has proven more and more as a bad offensive option because apart from the genies, it always ended up as a 2 hit kill even after 2 calm minds. Moonlight never even had a chance. Either I got fully paralyzed or my greed with the Calm Minds screwed me over. The EV spread is to survive LO Bisharp's Knock Off as well as OHKO Landorus-Therian with Ice Beam. If you're wondering why I picked Safety Goggles, simple, Amoonguss....

Day (Azumarill) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 124 HP / 236 Atk / 100 Def / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Superpower

The second MVP on my team. Azumarill put in work. A lot of work. I opted for Assault Vest just so Azumarill would have a fighting chance against the common electric types before fainting. The EV spread allows me to survive Mega Kang's Double Edge and the remaining EVs were dispersed randomly.

Bisharp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Protect

Boy, oh boy. If I had a penny for every bad decision I made with this team, I could buy me some gumballs. If only I could find the coin slot  . But anyways, I never liked the idea of sashed Bisharp solely because of its piss poor damage output in comparison to the Life Orb variant. On that note, I opted for Swords Dance over Knock Off and regretted that decision ever since. It has won me matches but its performance hasn't impressed me one bit for me to want to keep it on this team.

I currently don't have any recordings of my practice with this team simply because of my utter frustration experienced when testing it.

I really need some help on this one. Take out any team members except Mega Salamence, Blaziken and Azumarill. I would appreciate suggestions on more optimal movesets and also I still want to make the Aurorus idea work in VGC. In terms of team synergy, I think it is still undeveloped because most of the moveset options were under the premise of "I lost a match because I didn't have x move so let me switch in x move in place of y".

[Confused Q]

It might not be a bad idea to have a fallow me user if you find this team not working out as well as you'd hope. If you use something like a clafable it will neutralize dragon threats to your mega salmanance, but this isn't a bad team either. Good coverage and a small amount of super effective ranged across the board.

[Slec]

Marc, ur a scroob for using Mega Salamence (says the guy who uses mega mence)

[Marcusube]

(Jul 15, 2015, 02:54 PM)MudkipLegend Wrote: Marc, ur a scroob for using Mega Salamence (says the guy who uses mega mence)

I'm using Mega Salamence because I wanted to execute a specific strategy so I really don't care

[z2porygon]

http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/battle...-249987047
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/battle...-249988439
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/battle...-249989660

Marcus 3-0 so far

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor
- Double-Edge

Aurorus @ Expert Belt
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 80 Def / 236 SpA / 28 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Protect
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power

Cresselia @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP / 172 Def / 4 SpA / 92 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Helping Hand
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 136 Atk / 124 SpA / 244 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Protect
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 188 HP / 164 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 5 Spe
- Protect
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Rage Powder

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Atk / 28 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower

[GiMYz]

Gastrodon in TR imo has the same role as Aurorus + Azumarill: It can OHKO or 2HKO things with Ice Beam, Earth Power and Scald. You don't have a Fairy type anymore but you already have M-Mence/Cresselia to deal with Fighting types and Blaziken to OHKO Hydreigon (which is a threat to this team). Now that you have a free slot, i would use Rhyperior. Once TR is up, this monster can spam Rock Slide to deal with M-CharY and Thundurus. You have Gastrodon to protect Rhyperior from Water attacks and the redirection from Amoonguss to avoid any Fighting type move. It also allows you to put HP Ice on Blaziken again.

[Marcusube]

Alright guys, I took the suggestions made in the thread and came up with this team. It has been winning a majority of matches on showdown and I'm starting to dig the team synergy. My only issues would probably be handling status moves primarily Perish Song teams and Thundurus-Incarnate. This is what I have at the moment



There We Go (Salamence-Mega) @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 236 Atk / 20 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge

I changed the EV spread so that Mega Salamence will always OHKO Sylveon with Double Edge if it is 252 EVs in HP and none in defense. I also opted for Earthquake because it has helped me in more matchups than Hyper Voice has plus I needed Ground coverage.

Kentucky (Blaziken) @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 180 Atk / 4 Def / 80 SpA / 244 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

The EV spread was slighty modified to OHKO Charizard Y 100% of the time with Rock Slide if it is not a bulky variant.

Day (Azumarill) @ Assault Vest/Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Def / 4 SpD / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Superpower

The EV spread hasn't been finalized yet but what it does is to allow Azumarill to speed creep uninvested base 60 Pokemon, most specifically Tyranitar.

Genie Meenie (Aurorus) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 52 Def / 236 SpA / 28 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
- Blizzard
- Protect
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power

The EV spread here hasn't been fully finalized either but it is intended to outspeed Scrafty and base 60s by 1 point but to not outspeed Tyranitar with 31 IVs and 0 speed EVs. I opted for Snow Warning to make my matchups against weather teams much more manageable and that decision has proven more beneficial than harmful.

It's Fine (Clefairy) @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 84 Def / 52 SpA / 136 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Follow Me
- Thunder Wave
- Helping Hand

In the end, I scrapped Cresselia and Amoonguss for Clefairy. Reason being, all the things I needed both mons to do, Clefairy does it and does it better thanks to Friend Guard, it's defensive typing and it's overall natural bulk. 52 EVs is to OHKO Hydreigon with Moonblast.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp

I'm still unsure as to what to put in this slot. I need something that makes my matchups with Aegislash, Mega-Gengar + Liepard/Whimsicott and Ludicolo + Politoed easier to handle. I still think I need Grass/Electric type coverage offensively as well as a taunter. And no, not Thundurus-Incarnate

[Marcusube]

Lol, quick update. So I decided to use Thundurus-Incarnate and since I made that choice I have been winning a lot more games. It has proven to be a very reliable support mon as well as it removes the threats of bulky water types and its prankster ability came in handy in a lot of situations. Here is the set,



Father Hefting (Thundurus) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 80 Def / 144 SpA / 92 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
- Swagger

I also updated some of the EV spreads as follows

Day (Azumarill) @ Choice Band
EVs: 124 HP / 212 Atk / 60 Def / 20 SpD / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature

I also run Aqua Tail over Waterfall

Aurorus @ Expert Belt
EVs: 140 HP / 124 Def / 204 SpA / 20 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature

EV'd to speed creep Scrafty and Sylveon. Also I cut back on the special attack and invested defensively to take Rock Slides and Earthquakes better.

So, tell me what you guys think