[TEAM REPORT] Last memories of a M-Mence team

[GiMYz]

Yesterday a new Team Report on Nugget Bridge popped out so i decided to give a look at it.. but i could have never imagined that i would have seen something like that.. especially because the team that i built before the Regional i was preparing for, shares exactly the same core of M-Salamence, Porygon2, Tyranitar and Aegislash that you can see in that team report. It looks like i made the right metagame calls but in the end i was not in the right mood to attend that Regional.

Since i don't want my team to seem like it is copied by someone else, i must write a report on my variant  :P I've created this team last week and i've tested it for 2-3 days into the "vgc2015 ladder" on Showdown, touching a peek of 1520 at some point, which is cool because i don't even take Showdown as seriously as i take Battle Spot, but i didn't have the material time to test the team on BS; instead i could make quick adjustments and many more battles on Showdown before breeding the final version of the team.

Team preview:







Salamence @ Salamencite  
Ability: Intimidate  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe  
Naive Nature  
- Double-Edge  
- Hyper Voice  
- Draco Meteor  
- Protect

No surprise. M-Mence has everything: speed, raw power, a support role (thanks to Intimidate) and a good moveset. On paper, Salamence doesn't like to face CHALK-T (Lando's Intimidate, Thundurus, Cresselia and Heatran are tough opponents for it) but with the right supporters i could try to deal with these threats. This time i've opted for a Naive nature and a mixed set with max Atk and Speed to abuse of Double-Edge power and to speed tie with any other M-Salamence, which is something i consider essential in this team since i don't have any form of speed control to slow down my opponent's team. Double-Edge allows me to OHKO or nearly OHKO most of the M-Gardevoir and Sylveon bulky sets as long as i have no Attack stat drops. It's also a consistent damage output to weaken my opponent's team as fast as possible. Hyper Voice is more a late game cleaner and anti-redirection move. It's important to know that a -2 Atk Double-Edge still deals more damage than Hyper Voice unless it's a single target and, only then, Hyper Voice is more powerful. Draco Meteor is used to OHKO opposing M-Mence and Hydreigon but at the same time, it is something to consider to hit Rotom, Zapdos and Thundurus for about 40-50% damage depending on their bulk.




Porygon2 @ Eviolite  
Ability: Download  
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 236 SpA / 8 SpD  
Quiet Nature  
- Ice Beam  
- Hidden Power [Ground]  
- Recover  
- Toxic

Literally the MVP in every match i decide to bring it. This slot was a Cresselia with some speed control and bulk, but i wasn't satisfied by its damage output and it was just a dead weight most of the matches. I decided to test Porygon2 because i needed a defensive support pokemon for safe switches but at the same time something that could hit hard particular targets. This is an offensive spread that Porygon2 is able to run thanks to the Eviolite already boosting its defences to insane levels. I'm using Download because i appreciate the (let's say 50%) chance to get a free +1 SpAtk boost just by entering the field (it works like Gardevoir's Trace imo.. you can Trace an Intimidate immediatly on turn 1 and put yourself in an advantageous situation, but if it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world). Ice Beam and HP Ground are my coverage moves of choice - and because i run HP Ground, i've decided to use a Quiet nature to underspeed a Modest Aegislash to hit it when it's in Blade form. A +1 HP Ground has 83% chance to OHKO a 252HP Blade Form Aegislash.  Ice Beam hits double genies, Amoonguss and.. what else? No, don't make fun of a +1 Ice Beam. This Porygon2 is able to 3HKO a 4HP M-Kang with a +1 Ice Beam! For the last moves, i'm running Recover + Toxic combo. Thanks to its bulk and Recover, this duck can stay on the field for a lot of time (and Porygon2 really likes to stay in front of CHALK). Toxic helps against bulky Water types and CM Cresselia.




Tyranitar @ Lum Berry  
Ability: Sand Stream  
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Rock Slide  
- Crunch  
- Superpower  
- Protect

I hate facing Thundurus and i hate facing Rain teams. I've always used my own Thundurus to solve the problem, but not this time. Lum Berry Tyranitar shuts down Thundurus thanks to its strong Rock Slide and, at the same time, thanks to Sand Stream i can also shut down rain and Swift Swim users (such as Ludicolo and M-Swampert) to allow my M-Mence to be the fastest thing on the field again. Lum Berry is also useful to avoid possible Scald and W-o-W burns, but its primary utility is to absorb a TWave from Thundurus and strike back with Rock Slide (which has a 56% chance to OHKO a standard 4 HP LO Thundurus by the way). The spread is simple: Adamant and max Atk for the best damage output, 52 Spe EVs to outspeed my own Aegislash while underspeeding opposing neutral speed Politoed.. this way Sand Stream activates after Drizzle and Ludicolo doesn't even get Swift Swim boost from turn 1. The rest of the EVs are on HP for general bulk. Crunch and Superpower are its coverage moves against Cresselia, Aegislash and Heatran in particular.




Aegislash @ Safety Goggles  
Ability: Stance Change  
EVs: 204 HP / 252 SpA / 52 Spe  
Modest Nature  
- Shadow Ball  
- Flash Cannon  
- Wide Guard  
- King's Shield

Safety Goggles Aegislash, in my opinion, is a good metagame call against the rise in popularity of Belly Drum Azumarill + Amoonguss. At the same time, it wins against a classic M-Gardevoir + Amoonguss combination under Trick Room, which is always something scary to face without having a Heatran on your side. I had Life Orb on this set but somehow, Amoonguss has given me a lot of problems if paired with something like Milotic or Suicune, since i couldn't use both Entei or M-Mence to deal with Amoonguss, while Rotom-W can't really TBolt that Water type without fearing a potential Spore/Giga Drain. Modest 52 Spe EVs are used to outspeed the common 48 Spe EVs Sylveon and to potentially outspeed any Aegislash. I don't mind not being able to OHKO my targets and being KOed back (by a HP Ground Sylveon or by a slower Aegislash) because i just want to put them in KO range for the rest of my team, or if possible, i can also deal chip damage on them with something else and, only then, hit those targets with my fast Aegislash. Shadow Ball, Flash Cannon and King's Shield are self-explanatory. Wide Guard over Substitute because this team sometimes needs a safe turn from a Hyper Voice or Earthquake/Rock Slide to adjust momentum in my favour.




Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Levitate  
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 4 SpA / 20 SpD / 132 Spe  
Bold Nature  
- Hydro Pump  
- Thunderbolt  
- Will-O-Wisp  
- Protect

I realized that Toxic was not enough to deal with bulky Water types. I also wanted another Ground immunity, something to wall Heatran and something to stop Bisharp (which could Knock Off both Porygon2 and Aegislash and Iron Head my Tyranitar). Rotom-W amazingly fits in this team for all these reasons. This is another simple spread, with a Bold instead of Calm nature and enough investment to make a -1 Adamant Return from M-Kang a 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery, 132 Spe EVs to outspeed Bisharp and burn it with W-o-W. I didn't feel the need to have more SpAtk since Rotom's primary objective is to spam W-o-W on physical attackers and to threaten Water and Fire types with a supereffective attack. Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt already get the 2-3HKOs i need for my team even without SpA EVs investment.




Entei @ Leftovers  
Ability: Pressure  
EVs: 148 HP / 100 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Sacred Fire  
- Snarl  
- Substitute  
- Protect

Ray's set. This Entei was originally a bulky Safety Googles + Roar set to chase every Trick Room setter out in front of a Rage Powder Amoonguss. This thing works in theory, but in practice i just wanted to be fast and spam Sacred Fire and Snarl everytime i had the opportunity, just because they are such good moves. In the end, i opted for a Substitute Leftovers set; Jolly max speed is able to speedtie with Jolly M-Kangaskhan, it outspeeds Adamant M-Kang, Jolly Landorus-T, Timid Heatran, Modest M-Gardevoir, Modest M-CharY and so on - i can threaten everything i listed with a potential burn or a special attack drop, while sitting behind a Substitute if possible. Pressure also gives me the opportunity to check the speed on my opponent's team based on the abilities without having to lead with Mence's Intimidate, which is great in a BO1 to check a potential Scarf or AV/CB on Landorus-T.


Common Leads:

+
I can immediatly put a lot of pressure on my opponent's M-Kangaskhan, Landorus-T or Heatran and i can predict a switch to setup a Substitute with Entei instead of attacking.

+
Once Porygon2's threats (Fighting type moves) are weakened by Salamence's Intimidate, Porygon2 is able to stay on the field for as long as i need, threatening Landorus and Thundurus with strong Ice Beam and Steel types like Aegislash and Heatran who think they are safely setting up a Substitute.

+
Solid lead against Rain teams, unless they have M-Metagross or M-Mawile. I can force Politoed to switch out and Ludicolo to be slower than M-Mence already on turn 1.


Final thoughts:

Yes, i've used both of Ray's suggestions but i haven't done it on purpose. I wanted a Fire type pokemon and Heatran, Arcanine and Blaziken didn't fit in this team. I also tried an offensive Expert Belt Cresselia with Ice Beam, HP Ground, Toxic, Moonlight but its damage output was still disappointing and Moonlight wasn't a reliable form of recovery because of my own Sand Stream, so i had to try something else and Porygon2 solved every problem i had. This team is fun to use, even if i miss some speed control and i have problems facing Tailwind teams (i was on the point of using TWave instead of Protect on Rotom-W and Icy Wind on Porygon2 but i wasn't sure). Intimidate, W-o-W, Sacred Fire, Snarl and Toxic also function as my win condition to make Porygon2 completely impossible to take down for weakened attackers, as i can just Recover again and again while watching my opponent go down for a status condition.

[Marcusube]

Another outstanding team, GMX. I like the creativity with Lum Berry T-Tar and that you're using Porygon2 as an anti-meta solution. Keep it up man!

[Pokeventurer]

C0PYCAT!!!!one2111






Great report GMX! i would trip when facing goggles aegi if i have an amoongus/breloom, kewl team!