Other Metagames Mix and Mega: Criminally Underrated

[Zephyr Dragon Lord]

Criminally Underrated​

Introduction​

Mix and Mega's been one of my favorite Other Meta ideas for a good while now, and I attribute it as the primary reason I've been staying around. This is one of my many, many Mix and Mega teams in my teambuilder, but it's one of the more successful ones, having peaked at 1702 at #2 on the Mix and Mega ladder, thus completing the Core Laddering Challenge as well, taking at least one game off of big name people such as jrdn and Funbot. It wasn't pretty around the later parts, but this ragtag squad turned out to be pretty nice.

The construction of this team was pretty interesting, actually.

This team began from the CLC core, which was Darkrai and Mamoswine. They're both monsters offensively, each of them being able to clean up by themselves. Mamoswine also became my rock setter later on. Sadly, these two don't get along too well defensively, both being weak to Fighting, and covering no resistances between each other. I would drop Darkrai in an instant if I could for something like Lunala, but alas.

I then proceeded to go to the tried and true method of asking the RNG for advice. It gave me a Flygon. I thought pretty hard about it, and then realized it compliments both Darkrai and Mamoswine very nicely as an offensive Dragon Dancer.

I then... added Arceus-Poison. Before Altarianite was released again. Yep, I'm a madman. As it turned out though, Poison is a pretty good defensive typing, covering both Mamoswine and Darkrai's Fighting weakness thouroughly, and it brought me a long way, thanks to Arecus's incredible bulk and overall utility.

Seeing as I had no specially defensive tanks at the time, I enlisted the help of Ho-oh, and for the most part, the rainbow bird is incredibly effective... excluding when I faced water types. Then there was a problem. However, Ho-oh is tanky enough to wipe the frailer ones right off the map with a Supersonic Skystrike, which LO Ho-oh wasn't quite able to do. It also eliminated both the Pheromosa and the Kartana problem at once.

And then, ignoring the fact that I had 2 Water weaknesses and no resistances, I added Metagross. Needless to say, when I hit the mid-ladder of Mix and Mega, issues started popping up. So my Arceus form and last slot was in a bit of a frenzy.

I eventually settled on Arceus-Water, which served as both my Mamoswine (and general Ground-type) answer and my -ate speed check, and Tapu Lele, which is both my cleric and stallbreaker. A tip for those making teams; if random status is angering you, a well-placed Absolite or Sablenite stone can really do wonders for that status control.

Now then... on to the team!

Darkrai @ Absolite
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam

Since I had to use Darkrai, I might as well make it as fast and strong as possible. I hated relying on Focus Blast.... so I just dropped it for BoltBeam. It takes quite a few experts by surprise, actually. Nasty Plot is there to boost everything on some downtime, Dark Pulse is vital STAB, Thunderbolt 2HKOes Absolite Manaphy, which is important, and Ice Beam nails Dragonite and Zygarde.... and all of the other dragons that you may encounter.

Mamoswine @ Lucarionite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock

Speaking of Dragon slaying, Mamoswine is perfect for it. I decided to go for bulk over speed on Mamoswine, as taking an attack and using Icicle Crash or Earthquake is much better than trying an Ice Shard... though there are times you will really want an Ice Shard handy, such as when a weak Xerneas or Manaphy is going out of control, which happens more times than I'd like to admit. You'll sometimes have an opportunity to set up Stealth Rocks, but Mamoswine is so powerful, that you'll likely be able to get a KO any time you want to set up rocks...

Flygon @ Pinsirite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Roost

Yes, Flygon. Dragon Dance was enough of a buff for it to be in the big leagues now, and I can call it underrated as heck after using it. In Pinsirite form, adamant Pinsirite Flygon can take an Aqua Jet from a Blue Orb Golisopod from full health, has a chance of OHKOing Manaphy after a Dragon Dance, and can (barely) survive an Aerilate Pinsirite Extreme Speed from a Dragonite. After even one Dragon Dance (easily gotten off of a Primal Groudon or a passive wall), Flygon has a truly threatening amount of power, backed by a really solid type. It also outspeeds Shiny Raikou, but only when Mega evolved. Roost lets Flygon stall out Arceus-Rock rather well, especially if it lacks Will-o-Wisp.

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Defog
- Ice Beam
- Recover

Arceus can be a very potent tank, and this one is no exception. Boasting Judgment and Ice Beam, most physical attackers in the tier were checked by this Arceus. I put a little bit of speed creep in to make sure this Arceus could heal versus other support Arceus. It also can 1v1 a Pheromosa if it needs to, but as it lacks Earth Power, do be aware of any Red Orb users. Defog is also vital to keep away rocks from your side of the field, which helps Ho-oh live.

Ho-Oh @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 20 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Earthquake

First of all, the obvious. This Ho-oh is probably one of the strangest EV and item spreads you'll see. But it all has a specific purpose, which is providing a blanket check against a ton of special threats in Mix and Mega, while outspeeding the Primals, even those that have a little speed creep. And yes, this is the famed Arceus-Water/Ho-oh core. Rejoice. This Ho-oh is bulk invested in order to take hits from numerous threats, including Magearna, Kartana, Pheromosa, and many others. It can also take a hit from Manaphy and Raikou from ~80% of its health. Sacred Fire can get burns (if you're lucky). Supersonic Skystrike is the highlight of this set, vaporizing anything that's not bulky in a single hit, including Manaphy, while also surprising tanks that think they are barely safe from Ho-oh's wrath. And if you don't need that, Brave Bird does good damage, as well. Earthquake is mostly for Red Orb Raikou, but it also hits Primal Groudon harder than Brave Bird, too. Lucarionite/Aerodactylite Pheromosa does have a chance at 2HKOing this Ho-oh with High Jump Kick (this is fixed with some more Defense EVs).

Tapu Lele @ Sablenite
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind

Tapu Lele does not seem like it can take too many hits on the surface, but throw in a Sablenite, and you suddenly have a bulky wall that can also hit like a truck. Aromatherapy is in case your Arceus or Ho-oh gets poisoned, and don't want to have them taking passive damage. Calm Mind allows Tapu Lele to have an incredible damage output, Psychic Terrain saves it from Dragonite sometimes, and Moonblast and Psyshock are both solid attacks that hit both physical and special walls alike.

Threatlist​

As much as I want to say this is covered... it's not. Raikou's brutally hard to wall, and only Flygon is a remotely good answer. After that goes down, the team suffers from it. Max speed Mamoswine does deal with Raikou nicely, but you'll have to sacrifice all of the extra bulk to do so.

There are not many Ghost switches, and Ho-oh is the only one that resembles one...and it gets smacked around by Psyshock. Hypnosis variants are especially bad, since they can also incapacitate a member of the team. It also survives a Darkrai Durk Pulse from full health, thanks to Shadow Shield.

Even though Ho-oh and Flygon both survive Aqua Jets, they don't with prior damage. There's also rather little that can make Golisopod worn down, so keep Arceus-Water healthy, and pray it doesn't have Swords Dance.

There's no switches for this, due to no Red Orb. All you can hope to do is wear it down as fast as possible, as most good teams do not include one in their lineup. Still remains a big threat, regardless.

Conclusion:​

After all the time with Mix and Mega, it's nice to bring a fun one near the top. This was also my first RMT, so pardon any messes that I may have made here. And thanks for looking through this. I appreciate it.

 

[Sylveon.]

Hello!
No need to say, this is a really well made team, Mamo + Darkrai isn't exactly the most useful core, but it's nice to see a team utilizing some under appreciated threats like ho-oh. I personally have been using sablenite lele for some time, and it's actually quite a potent set since it does live a decent amount of attacks and acts as something that could take on stall mid-game.
Just a few minor minor nitpicks I'll like to point out,

One major thing which struck out, was the team's vulnerability to kartana specially when you have rocks up, though you do have ho-oh, but ho-oh gets 2hkoed by smart strike after rocks. Not to say, some even carry the odd return on metagrossite set, which just 2hkoes ho-oh regardless. Just leaving darkrai the job to revenge it. So, the best way to combat this issue is to try cobalion over flygon for that lovely steel/flying typing and quick attack for pheromosa. Along with that, it takes of some pressure from arceus-water to take on all the aerialate sweepers in general.

Also, another much more minor thing is that you can shift 140 evs from special attack to defense on lele, allowing it to always survive a +1 pinsirite dnite return and kartana smart strike, it doesn't really mind the drop in special attack and in turn gets to utilise it's added bulk much better. It also ensures it's never 2hkoed by lucarionite pheromosa's u-turn.

One last point is toxic on arc-water over Judgement, because speedy pdons match-up for this team does look kind of tough, and imo judgement doesn't really hit much relevant stuff in general while toxic allows you to punish red orb users since you lack a blue orb user yourself to counter them.

Anyways, gl :)

 

[Zephyr Dragon Lord]

Hello!
No need to say, this is a really well made team, Mamo + Darkrai isn't exactly the most useful core, but it's nice to see a team utilizing some under appreciated threats like ho-oh. I personally have been using sablenite lele for some time, and it's actually quite a potent set since it does live a decent amount of attacks and acts as something that could take on stall mid-game.
Just a few minor minor nitpicks I'll like to point out,

One major thing which struck out, was the team's vulnerability to kartana specially when you have rocks up, though you do have ho-oh, but ho-oh gets 2hkoed by smart strike after rocks. Not to say, some even carry the odd return on metagrossite set, which just 2hkoes ho-oh regardless. Just leaving darkrai the job to revenge it. So, the best way to combat this issue is to try cobalion over flygon for that lovely steel/flying typing and quick attack for pheromosa. Along with that, it takes of some pressure from arceus-water to take on all the aerialate sweepers in general.

Also, another much more minor thing is that you can shift 140 evs from special attack to defense on lele, allowing it to always survive a +1 pinsirite dnite return and kartana smart strike, it doesn't really mind the drop in special attack and in turn gets to utilise it's added bulk much better. It also ensures it's never 2hkoed by lucarionite pheromosa's u-turn.

One last point is toxic on arc-water over Judgement, because speedy pdons match-up for this team does look kind of tough, and imo judgement doesn't really hit much relevant stuff in general while toxic allows you to punish red orb users since you lack a blue orb user yourself to counter them.

Anyways, gl :)

Alright, thanks for the reply.

Sablenite Tapu Lele has made it much easier to mess Blissey up, considering how much power it has. It's nice for this team. I fully agree about the EV spread; it'll also help Tapu Lele stick around in pre-mega form, too.

The team is pretty vulnerable to Return Kartana, yes. Solving that's probably going to involve messing around with Darkrai/Mamoswine's team slots. Probably Darkrai, because Mamoswine is actually really nice for revenging on this team. Replacing Flygon with Cobalion is one solution, but then...

This team suddenly becomes even more super weak to both that speedy Primal-Groudon and Red Orb Raikou. Flygon deals with them both beautifully. EQ does a metric ton of damage to any Primal-Groudon that dares run an offensive spread.

If anything's getting replaced by Toxic on Arceus-Water, it's Ice Beam. Judgement's kind of needed for its damage output here against most neutrals (and Golisopod), and since I have Ho-oh, I need a solid Defogger...

Thanks for the luck.