Introduction:
Since I’ve done many laddering challenges in the past for hacked Pokemon, I thought I’d try a laddering run of Gen 6 Pure Hackmons. The objective of the run was fairly straightforward: try and get 1st place on the Gen 6 Pure Hackmons. However, as with the vast majority of my laddering runs this one ended up being a resounding failure. Regardless, the team used for this attempt contained unique techs like Scarf Pursuit and Pokemon such as Mega Absol that hadn’t been explored much in Pure Hackmons prior and had significant success on the ladder. Hence the existence of the RMT.
Pokepaste for The Vantablack Hourglass:
https://pokepast.es/ad45825c45ae0a78
The Vantablack Hourglass:
FatalSuperstitions (Absol-Mega) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Gear Grind
https://pokepast.es/ad45825c45ae0a78
The Vantablack Hourglass:
FatalSuperstitions (Absol-Mega) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Gear Grind
Mega Absol possesses a huge 150 base attack stat and a speed tier on par with Mega Rayquaza, which allows it to have both a high damage output and outspeed practically everything in the game with a Choice Scarf including other common Choice Scarf Pokemon. Absol’s Huge power in tandem with Close Combat, Gear Grind, and Knock-Off, allows it to consistently outspeed and KO the most common Wonder Guard Pokemon such as Xerneas and Arceus with relative ease. Additionally, Absol also mauls Giratina, which is one the biggest threats to the rest of the team since it often carries Encore and Curse. However, what makes Mega Absol a true powerhouse is its strong and quick Pursuit which allows it to consistently trap and remove many powerful but frail offensive threats such as Mega Gengar, Mega Latios, and Mega Mewtwo Y before they can do anything meaningful.
SandsofDespair (Garchomp-Mega) @ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Dragon Rush
- Thousand Arrows
- Pursuit
Mega Garchomp serves as the team’s primary wallbreaker. With its massive 170 attack stat in tandem with its near-perfect Ground and Dragon STAB combination and Mold Breaker few if any Pokemon can avoid being OHKOed or 2KOed by its attacks. Garchomp is chosen over Primal Groudon for its STAB on Dragon Rush which allows it to KO max defense Giratina after a bit of chip damage. A Choice Band set is used over a Shell Smash set as Mega-Garchomp has many exploitable weaknesses which means it must make the most of the turns it has on the battlefield. Pursuit might seem odd on this set since it doesn't hit any offensive or defensive barricades. However, it can trap and remove level 2 Sableye and Spiritomb whose spam of moves such as Curse, Will-O-Wisps, Psycho Shift, and Pain Split will slowly ruin the rest of the team.
AbyssalPrisoner (Slowbro-Mega) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Parting Shot
- Recover
- Destiny Bond
- Haze
Mega Slowbro serves as the team’s answer to Groudon and other insanely strong Mold Breaker physical attackers with its titanic 180 defense and water and psychic typing. Slowbro uses Prankster with a moveset composed of Haze, Parting Shot, and Destiny Bond to shut down physical set-up sweepers, consistently escape Shadow Tag users with priority pivoting, and lastly to trade itself in to remove a threat that cannot be defeated easily otherwise. Safety Goggles are used on this set to shut down Spore variants of set-up sweepers and to have the most consistent defense against Sleep strategies. Mega Slowbro also fills the important role of being an Imposter Proof for Garchomp as an Imposter’s attacks will do next to nothing to Slowbro and Parting Shot will weaken its attacks so other teammates can take advantage of the Imposter.
FallaciousSavior (Arceus) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Topsy-Turvy
- Parting Shot
- Encore
- Recover
While Mega Slowbro is a formidable barricade for physical attackers, its special bulk of only base 80 in tandem with its Psychic typing leaves it vulnerable to many special attacks. As such the team’s secondary Prankster Pokemon Arceus covers for both the ghost weakness and vulnerability to Mold Breaker special attackers with its excellent neutral bulk and specially defensive EV investment. Arceus carries the moves Encore, Topsy Turvy, and Parting Shot to lock set-up sweepers into disadvantageous moves, Flip boosts gained through means such as Shell Smash, and lastly consistently escape Shadow Tag with priority switching. Like Slowbro, Arceus uses Safety Goggles to avoid the most common sleep move: Spore. Arceus also serves the team as the Imposter proof for the 2nd Arceus with its immunity to its Spore and its ability to lock it into unfavorable moves so Absol can force it out with the threat of a Huge Power boosted Close Combat.
EldrichTimepiece (Scizor-Mega) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Powder
- Defog
- Baton Pass
- Recover
Mega Scizor is the first component of the team’s Wonder Guard core. Scizor’s excellent Steel and Bug typing give it only a single weakness to fire and immunity to Poisoning and Toxic Spikes. Since Scizor is the only pokemon on the team with an Immunity to Toxic Spikes, Defog is placed on Scizor to minimize the damage they can cause to the rest of the team. The last two relevant moves on Scizor are Baton Pass to reliably slow pivot into an attacker and ensure that Substitutes from the 2nd Wonder Guard user stay intact through pivoting, and Powder to scout for Fire-Type moves that could potentially OHKO Scizor. Scizor uses a Shed Shell as the sleeping immunity offered by Safety Goggle or Lum Berry isn’t very useful against the No-Guard abusers that it checks. Scizor, additionally imposter proof’s Absol as Absol doesn’t have a Fire Move and thus can’t touch it.
FallaciousSavior (Arceus) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Recover
- Spore
Arceus serves as the 2nd component of the team’s Wonder Guard core. Arceus’s excellent combination of typing, bulk, speed, and sole weakness in Fighting makes it an excellent support pokemon. Its moveset: Spore, Recover, Substitute, and Baton Pass, allows Arceus to put foes to Sleep and Pass Substitutes to Garchomp and Absol to give the frail duo more opportunities to attack and more resistance to status conditions. Arceus’s Substitutes and Sleep Spam also assist greatly in mitigating the disadvantages of Choice locked attackers by forcing in either passive walls that have Safety Goggles or frail Mold Breaker Pokemon, both of which are easily taken advantage of by Absol and Garchomp. Arceus uses Safety Goggles to ensure that it can’t be put out of commission by Spore and so it’s more imposter resistant.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6purehackmons-1613279009-hdbz5j9cfwy76wkkqfhs097fa2djudgpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6purehackmons-1613478486-y21ie6u0mg1ha5d6w5qhe8qz0dss363pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6purehackmons-1613911054-juj7ssxu9bjrlc5okcwosgqb2i8y2nwpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6purehackmons-1612056087-guu2wijqeyg5wr2rz35yo673k234996pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6purehackmons-1613201377-l9t8y7thcjuotgsm57xsn26cmyxcu38pw
Threat List:
Dark Void:
While Spore is easily countered with Safety Goggles, Dark Void is another Story. Mold Breaker + Dark Void is guaranteed to Sleep anything outside of Magic Coat users. The best bet to avoid Dark Void is to hide behind Substitute if possible.
Shadow Tag Pokemon with Priority :
Pokemon such as Shadow Tag Regigigas can easily trap and remove Absol and cause major damage to Garchomp if caution isn’t taken.
Curse:
While Encore is more manageable, Curse can cause large amounts of damage fairly quickly. To play around Curse consider what Pokemon can take the most chip and switch around to position an Encore to force out the Curse User. For non Prankster, Giratina Curse users Pursuit trapping with Mega Absol is also an option to remove said users.
Bad RNG:
Since The Vantablack Hourglass makes heavy use of strong but inaccurate moves like Dragon Rush, Precipice Blades, and Gear Grind, getting unlucky and missing several in a row can prove to be problematic. There isn’t really much of a way to play around this factor aside from careful positioning and having a contingency plan in case of an unlucky miss.
Proof of Peak and Alt Ownership:
Additional Notes / Shoutouts :
Considering the absolute cancer that was generation 8 Pure Hackmons, it was a pleasant surprise to see that Gen 6 Hackmons was balanced, diverse, and straightforward to play.
Shoutouts to Daylight for suggesting Gen 6 Pure Hackmons.
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