ORAS OU Starring Mega-Metagross: An OR/AS OU RMT

[Ze Diglett]

Well, now that the new megas are out, I decided to make a team of my own starring my favorite of the megas (and favorite Pokemon overall), Mega-Metagross! Let me know what you think of it and how it could improve. You all know the rules, no essay rants or troll comments.

Metagrossberg (Metagross) @ Metagrossite | Ability: Clear Body -> Tough Claws
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe | Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Agility
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

Obviously, since Mega-Metagross is my favorite mega introduced in OR/AS, it made sense for me to try it out. I played around with a few sets and I found the Bulky AgiliGross set to be the best. As is true for pretty much any other team it's on, MegaGross is the muscle of the team. It comes in once its checks and counters are removed and cleans up the house. Iron Head is the main STAB of the set, since it hits more reliably than Meteor Mash and also has a handy 30% flinch chance. Ice Punch takes out many Dragons that otherwise threaten my team, such as M-Mence, the Lati-twins, Garchomp, and more, and also removes Landorus-T. Earthquake, while it doesn't get boosted by Tough Claws, provides some vital coverage against many Pokemon that resist Metagross's other attacking moves, most prominently Steel-, Fire-, and Water-types (bar Rotom-W). The EVs and nature are so MegaGross can outspeed Adamant Excadrill in Sand after +2 from Agility, while still hitting like a truck and maintaining insane levels of bulk.

I'm Horny (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs | Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe | Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Scald

I read on the OR/AS Mega Speculation thread (RIP) that a Mega-Metagross/Keldeo core was really good, and as much as I love to hate Keldeo, I decided to give it a try. And boy, does it do work! Keldeo does a good job at taking out Metagross' checks and counters so it can come in and sweep. Hydro Pump and Secret Sword are my main STABs. Secret Sword is useful for hitting special walls like Chansey, while Hydro Pump has more pure power behind it. HP Electric gets past Waters that threaten to wall Keldeo, and also removes Flying-types like Skarmory. Scald is an alternative STAB for whittling down defensive mons that resist Secret Sword. Timid nature to boost speed, since it's already Specs boosted.

Speed Demon (Gengar) (M) @ Life Orb | Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave

After my team nearly got swept by a Mega-Swampert, I realized I needed a Ground-resistant (or immune, in this case) mon that could also fire back at Swampert. That's when I got the idea to use Gengar. Gengar is mostly a coverage mon, as he fires back against many Pokemon that otherwise give me team trouble. It's got a wide variety of coverage moves to hit virtually any Pokemon that's put in front of it. He also helps pave the way for Metagross's sweep by taking out key targets that Metagross has trouble taking out. Energy Ball is for hitting bulky Waters and Ground-types like Quagsire, Rotom-W, and the aforementioned M-Swampert that previously gave my team a lot of trouble, and Focus Blast is mostly for hitting Pokemon that resist Gengar's STABs, like Bisharp and T-Tar. Shadow Ball and Sludge Wave are mainly STAB and coverage. Timid nature because it already has LO power backing it up.

Heatranny (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers | Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpA / 68 Spe | Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Earth Power

Heatran has some very nice synergy with the rest of the team. It soaks up Fire-type attacks for Metagross and Ferrothorn, sponges Grass-type attacks for Keldeo and T-Tar, and walls the hell out of many OU mons, such as Talonflame, Scizor, and M-Manectric. Its typing and its bulk let it find a lot of opportunities to come in on many Pokemon, offensive or defensive. Lava Plume is standard STAB and hits many of the things it typically comes in on (Bug, Steel, and Grass-types), and Earth Power hits a bunch of other stuff (Electric, Fire, and Rock-types). Toxic is for crippling sweepers, bulky attackers, and walls alike, and Taunt prevents sweepers from setting up on Heatran and defensive mons from using their support moves. Calm nature to sponge special hits.

TRIPLE PENETRATION (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers | Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Def / 172 SpD | Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect

At this point, I noticed that my team was super weak to Water- and Ground-type attacks. So, I decided to add Ferrothorn to the team. Ferrothorn, obviously, functions as a wall and eats hits that the other party members can not. He also slowly chips away at enemy health with a combination of hazard damage, Leech Seed, Sandstorm damage, and Iron Barbs. As such, Ferrothorn manages to check many Pokemon that otherwise threaten the team, including Azumarill, Excadrill, Gliscor, (Mega) Gyarados, and more. Power Whip is the one offensive move on this set, just so Ferrothorn doesn't become total taunt fodder for Sableye and the like. Leech Seed is for placing a timer on walls and bulky attackers to wear them down slowly over time, while recovering some HP myself. Stealth Rock is, obviously, for setting up entry hazards, which really helps Metagross and Keldeo's sweeping potential. Protect is for stalling out Leech Seed and Sandstorm and gaining Leech Seed and Leftovers recovery. Impish nature to take more hits on the physical side and dish out more Iron Barbs damage.

Bunchie Sanic (Tyranitar) (M) @ Choice Band | Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe | Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Crunch

For my last party member, we have Tyranitar. T-Tar serves as a bulky attacker of sorts, and also provides some valuable Rock- and Dark-type coverage. His main niche on the team comes in his ability to summon Sandstorm, which is greatly appreciated by MegaGross, Heatran, and Ferrothorn. Banded STAB Stone Edge hits many things extremely hard, and Pursuit traps many Psychic- and Ghost-types that can't really do anything to T-Tar in return. Superpower is for coverage against Rock, Steel, and Normal-types. Crunch is a more powerful Dark STAB, mostly for hitting things that resist Stone Edge. Adamant nature for POW!

 

[leremyju]

Ok what are you doing running agility in MAX SPEED MEGA METAGROSS WHOSE BASE SPEED IS 110. Taking that out will let you run zen headbutt.

Anyways this team is pretty solid but there's no point in agility unless you run a bulky spread

 

[Ze Diglett]

Ok what are you doing running agility in MAX SPEED MEGA METAGROSS WHOSE BASE SPEED IS 110. Taking that out will let you run zen headbutt.

Anyways this team is pretty solid but there's no point in agility unless you run a bulky spread

Because even with the massive buff to his speed, Mega-Metagross still gets outsped by many key threats, such as Greninja, Mega-Manectric, Talonflame, and too many scarf users to count. He absolutely needs a little extra speed in order to effectively sweep.
I'll definitely look into the EV spread, but I'm not dropping Agility. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[MZ]

Oh man, I love this team. I entirely disagree with the "agiligross is bad" argument, it's actually been amazing at smashing up offensive teams. I've gone 7-0 so far with the Landorus-T version of the team, Ferrothorn makes more sense tho. As far as the few uncertain move sets, I would go with Zen headbutt over ice punch as the team already has answers for Landorus and Gliscor. Also keep sludge wave and scald because they're pretty helpful and I've never needed Thunderbolt or Surf's extra power, but run Gyro ball over protect on Ferrothorn (as well as - speed 0 IVs etc). Metagross's EVs are good for now because in plenty of situations you'll need to outspeed things pre agility.

 

[Ze Diglett]

Oh man, I love this team. I entirely disagree with the "agiligross is bad" argument, it's actually been amazing at smashing up offensive teams. I've gone 7-0 so far with the Landorus-T version of the team, Ferrothorn makes more sense tho. As far as the few uncertain move sets, I would go with Zen headbutt over ice punch as the team already has answers for Landorus and Gliscor. Also keep sludge wave and scald because they're pretty helpful and I've never needed Thunderbolt or Surf's extra power, but run Gyro ball over protect on Ferrothorn (as well as - speed 0 IVs etc). Metagross's EVs are good for now because in plenty of situations you'll need to outspeed things pre agility.

I'll definitely keep Sludge Wave on Gengar, though I'm a little iffy about your Gyro Ball suggestion. The Ferro set I'm running mostly aims to sponge hits and deal chip damage in return, which is why I have Protect in the first place. Gyro Ball over Protect seems to go against what I aim to do with it, though it doesn't seem like a terrible idea. I've grown fond of Ice Punch's ability to reliably KO Dragons, so switching over to Zen Headbutt will be difficult. I'll definitely try it, though. Thanks!
EDIT: Regarding the EVs on Metagross, I ultimately went with a bulkier set, so it can still outpace any unboosted Mon after an Agility while retaining some of its bulk.

 

[MZ]

I'll definitely keep Sludge Wave on Gengar, though I'm a little iffy about your Gyro Ball suggestion. The Ferro set I'm running mostly aims to sponge hits and deal chip damage in return, which is why I have Protect in the first place. Gyro Ball over Protect seems to go against what I aim to do with it, though it doesn't seem like a terrible idea. I've grown fond of Ice Punch's ability to reliably KO Dragons, so switching over to Zen Headbutt will be difficult. I'll definitely try it, though. Thanks!
EDIT: Regarding the EVs on Metagross, I ultimately went with a bulkier set, so it can still outpace any unboosted Mon after an Agility while retaining some of its bulk.

After playing more, I would keep ice punch on Gross, so never mind about that. I should have explained about why Gyro Ball in my original rate, and it's to help address the huge Breloom weakness of the team, as well as hitting Mega Mence as it boosts its speed with DD.

 

[yogadhan]

You can using bullet punch instead EQ for revenge kill some fast but frail threat.and for gothitelle,you can using CM instead HPp ice if your point using trick is just to distrupt your enemy.

 

[LittEleven]

Nice team, but a flaw is seen
ROTOM WASH
Yeah walls metagross wowing everything and even volts out on goth. You need a counter that stops it or you are screwed. SCREWED. Gengar can energy ball it, but pursuit trap rly sux and rotom runs rampant then.

 

[Ze Diglett]

After playing more, I would keep ice punch on Gross, so never mind about that. I should have explained about why Gyro Ball in my original rate, and it's to help address the huge Breloom weakness of the team, as well as hitting Mega Mence as it boosts its speed with DD.

First of all, "huge Breloom weakness"? Gengar is immune to one of Breloom's STABs and resists the other, and still manages to avoid the OHKO by Rock Tomb and outspeeds Breloom to boot. MegaGross both outspeeds and outlasts Breloom, with a 1/4 chance to get 4HKO'd by Mach Punch at best and gets 5HKO'd the rest of the time. Ferrothorn eats up pretty much any hit Breloom throws at it, even tanking 3 Mach Punches before going down, and being immune to Spore. Gothitelle, while slow, avoids the OHKO from Bullet Seed and can fire back with Psyshock or HP Fire. While Spore is certainly an inconvenience, Breloom is still easily beaten with a little prediction.
As for MegaMence, Metagross's EVs allow it to eat up an Earthquake/Fire Blast from Salamence and hit back hard with Ice Punch, and he can outspeed +1 M-Mence after an Agility. T-Tar also eats an Earthquake (let alone any of M-Mence's other attacks) and hits back with Stone Edge. Even Ferrothorn can survive a worst-case-scenario Fire Blast and plant a Leech Seed.
Sorry if this came off as rude, but I just don't see much point in dedicating a moveslot to countering 2 Pokemon that my team already handles well enough (one of which is inevitably going to Ubers once the meta develops anyway).

You can using bullet punch instead EQ for revenge kill some fast but frail threat.and for gothitelle,you can using CM instead HPp ice if your point using trick is just to distrupt your enemy.

Umm... what?
Without EQ, MegaGross gets walled to hell and back by many common Steel-types, Fire-types, Water-types, what have you. Not to mention Agility + Bullet Punch is extremely redundant. As for Gothitelle, it'll often need to hit stuff hard with Specs power, so CM would pretty much be a waste of a moveslot a majority of the time. Not to mention CM + Specs is even more redundant.
gothitelle doesn't have HP ice

 

[leremyju]

You get OHKOed by choice band adamant talonflame over 90% of the time, and you can't hit it with any of your moves for a OHKO, even if you have agility set up.

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 170 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 332-392 (96.7 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Greninja can revenge kill if you don't have agility,
252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 170 HP / 0 SpD Metagross: 268-320 (78.1 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You don't even outspeed mega manectric on the first turn running 96 speed, and get 2HKOed by manectric, while 2HKOing manectric back because of intimidate.
-1 252+ Atk Metagross Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Manectric: 208-246 (74 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Mega Manectric Overheat vs. 170 HP / 0 SpD Metagross: 270-318 (78.7 - 92.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

You need an agility to even think of beating these threats, and you really can't beat them 1v1. You outspeed all of them if you get +2, even if you run 248 HP and 8 spd EV's. With this spread your chances of winning against these threats are better, although you really shouldn't be trying to go 1v1 against talonflame

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 332-392 (91.4 - 107.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO



So I'm suggesting 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spd adamant mega metagross.

 

[yogadhan]

First of all, "huge Breloom weakness"? Gengar is immune to one of Breloom's STABs and resists the other, and still manages to avoid the OHKO by Rock Tomb and outspeeds Breloom to boot. MegaGross both outspeeds and outlasts Breloom, with a 1/4 chance to get 4HKO'd by Mach Punch at best and gets 5HKO'd the rest of the time. Ferrothorn eats up pretty much any hit Breloom throws at it, even tanking 3 Mach Punches before going down, and being immune to Spore. Gothitelle, while slow, avoids the OHKO from Bullet Seed and can fire back with Psyshock or HP Fire. While Spore is certainly an inconvenience, Breloom is still easily beaten with a little prediction.
As for MegaMence, Metagross's EVs allow it to eat up an Earthquake/Fire Blast from Salamence and hit back hard with Ice Punch, and he can outspeed +1 M-Mence after an Agility. T-Tar also eats an Earthquake (let alone any of M-Mence's other attacks) and hits back with Stone Edge. Even Ferrothorn can survive a worst-case-scenario Fire Blast and plant a Leech Seed.
Sorry if this came off as rude, but I just don't see much point in dedicating a moveslot to countering 2 Pokemon that my team already handles well enough (one of which is inevitably going to Ubers once the meta develops anyway).

Umm... what?
Without EQ, MegaGross gets walled to hell and back by many common Steel-types, Fire-types, Water-types, what have you. Not to mention Agility + Bullet Punch is extremely redundant. As for Gothitelle, it'll often need to hit stuff hard with Specs power, so CM would pretty much be a waste of a moveslot a majority of the time. Not to mention CM + Specs is even more redundant.
gothitelle doesn't have HP ice

CM+specs+trick just for distrupt enemy,like when you facing set up sweeper,you can use trick to force your enemy to setup and you can proceed set up CM to sweep,just saying