Rate my Gen 8 AG team

Question

I've used this team a lot. I know this team has some flaws such as the Kyurem set having not having max speed or things like Ttar instead of Yveltal but I don't care.

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Crunch
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat

Pretty much standard Zacian set. I use Crunch over Assurance because I don't know how to make it work. I also use Jolly over Adamant so Ditto won't 2HKO my Dusk Mane.

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave

Dusk Mane set. Sunsteel is STAB, Twave is for Paralysis, Stealth Rock to break sash and stuff, and Morning Sun for healing.

Tyranitar (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Foul Play
- Stealth Rock
- Rest

Now you may be wondering why I have Ttar over Yveltal. That's because I can pressure mons like Yveltal, Ho-oh, Kyurem-W, and even Caly-S. While not the best Caly-S counter, it still works. Foul Play is STAB that hits Ghost types and DM and Zacian that try to switch in. Rock Blast hits flying mons and can help break subs. Rest is for recover, and another Stealth rocker in case DM dies or Defog birbs go crazy.

Gothitelle (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Cosmic Power
- Rest
- Stored Power

I love using Gothistall. My main counter to stall, Duskmane and some others. Cosmic power makes Goth hard to hit. Taunt helps to avoid haze, whirlwind, status, and others. Rest is for recovering, and Stored Power so I can deal some damage.

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform

Revenge killer, pressures Zacian, non-scarf Caly Shadow, and others. Not much more explanation needed.

Kyurem-White @ Utility Umbrella
Ability: Turboblaze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Fusion Flare
- Roost
- Sheer Cold

In the past, I found Kyogre to be a huge pain in the Froslass. Then I found out how great this thing was. Soon, my Kyogre problems went away. I use max HP and Special Defense to makes sure I can switch into Kyogre without taking too much damage. Freeze Dry hits things like Kyogre and Yveltal, Fusion Flare to hit any steels that may come in, Roost for recovery, and Sheer Cold for the chance to OHKO any Chanseys, DuskManes, or other mons that switch in/are annoying. Sheer Cold go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

That's all I got. I feel like my biggest problems are Groudon and DDance Photon Geyser Sunsteel Morning Sun Dusk Mane. Also I know I got no defogger (I care way too little about hazards than I should...). Let me know what changes I should make. Thanks :)

Comments

The problems you mentioned at the end basically say “I struggle against Makaai”

Seriously though nobody runs DDance Photon Geyser Sunsteel Morning Sun Dusk Mane other than him

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i'm not great at competitive, but i want to give some thoughts :)
- gothitelle can't hit dark types
- why 30 attack IVs for Ditto? (there is probably an explanation to this lol idk)
- is there a better option that sheer cold? i know it has its uses but it is high risk high reward. nothing wrong with that tho
- crunch is an alternative to foul play, but i appreciate it is also for hitting Zacian-C for example

nice team :D

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The reason Assurance is used because Necrozma-Dusk Mane would probably switch in, predict a Behemoth Blade, but you use an Assurance with Stealth Rock when it switches in and Close Combat after it would KO Necrozma-Dusk Mane.

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Your team is weak to hazards, notably if opponent has Ferrothorn in the team preview you lose automatically. Toxic Spikes Eternatus phases out Gothitelle as it carries Dragon Tail most of the time, so that's a problem too. Marshadow is the most threatening thing for this team as it just 2HKOes everything. Groudon is also annoying, though it's relatively easier to revenge kill with Ditto provided it has Swords Dance. Also @PrimordialSea Makaai is absolutely s*it. His sets are just made to counter team specific MUs, and DD Ndm in reality shouldn't be a problem as it runs Earthquake meaning Ditto can revenge kill it. Not sure about those who runs Photon Geysers as it's a terrible set which no one uses. I will answer by tommorow with changes as I'm feeling sleepy at 1 AM here now :(

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@~Polaris~ Gothitelle never cares to hit Dark-types. Yveltal is just too thick for it to break. Sheer Cold is high risk reward but it's mainly to fire against passive things like Kyogre that can't touch you. There really isn't a better alternative. Tyranitar never needs Crunch over Foul Play as it would lose harder to Zacian, also not mentioning setup sweepers that just make it a bait.

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The reason I mentioned that Necrozma set is because I faced it before and struggled hard against it. As for Ditto, I don't know why it has 30 Attack IVs. As for the hazards, I don't find the two you mention to be too much trouble, as I have my ways of killing them. Thanks for the heads up though, and while hazards to give me trouble sometimes, it's not all the time.. As for Marshadow, It does give me some trouble, but I find that Dusk Mane can weaken it or do some chip damage so I can kill it with Zacian or Ditto. Thanks for the advice on Groudon.

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@Da Viper you won't even on ladder. It's bad, and almost anything can be made to work there. As for Marshadow, Kyurem White, Tyranitar and Gothitelle are some things that it can easily setup on and annoy. Well ladder has the stupid sash loving syndrome which won't be problematic, but against good teams it had struggle. We can battle with this team to prove it.

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@Frozen Inferno I know lol, he’s the only person who’d run..Morning Sun and Photon geyser on dragon dance

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I'm not clear on what you are referring to. Do you mean the Necrozma, which I now know doesn’t exist, the Marshadow, both, or something else?

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Both. Ladder prefers their stupid sash marsh for some reason.

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Okay. Sash Shadow isn't too big of a threat anyways lol.

Answer 1

This team has some key issues, with the notable of those being:

• Marshadow
  The Pokemon with #7 usage this month. It's extremely scary for this team to deal with. as it can just come in a switch-in to passive Pokemon like Tyranitar, Gothitelle, Kyurem-W, etc. and threaten to OHKO them. Yveltal isn't a solution to it, as it still gets 2HKOed by Close Combat. Also, about saying that you're using Necro DM to chip damage it through Rocky Helmet, it won't work. Poltergeist doesn't make contact, and is a clean 2HKO on it. Ditto can't reliably revenge kill it as it gets choice locked into Sneak which can be taken advantage of. Zacian-C can check it, but it's not a counter and can get wear down through various ways as well.

• Groudon
  Another threatening Pokemon for this team. Unlike Marshadow which is extremely frail, Groudon's impressive bulk allows it to make Necro Dusk Mane totally a set-up bait with SD. Kyurem-W being slow hurts even more, as it can't outsped and properly revenge kill it. Sword Dog can also only defeat Groudon if it has been heavily chipped only. The best way to deal with it is to lure SD bait for Ditto to properly revenge kill, though that's not reliably allowing the team to effectively check it.

• Hazards + Lack of Defog
  I'm extremely surprised that you have forgo Defog, which is one of the basic things to build around. If you want to ensure longevity against teams that rely on hazards, Defog is a must. I can imagine Groudon sweeping this team easily if its teammate manage to set-up Sticky Web on your side. Ferrothorn, and Eternatus, which have been already addressed above, are also annoying. Specifically, they chip Kyurem-W badly enough that it can't properly deal with Kyogre, has the said Eternatus set-up Toxic Spikes. Gothitelle isn't enough to beat that—Eternatus having Toxic Spikes carries Dragon Tail fairly common which can just allow escape from Shadow Tag.

How to fix them

Gothielle --> Lunala

Lunala @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shadow Shield
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
- Moongeist Beam
- Roost

God I hate using this awful Pokemon. Gothitelle has a hell match-up reliant usability that makes it subpar niche. There's also the number of offensive teams that are more common in ladder than stall, which makes it have a hard time. Lunala, on the other hand is a great counter to Groudon, Zekrom, Zygarde, etc. while being a reliable Defogger. It also defeats DD NDM pretty easily, so you destroy the ones running that weird set (though IDK who even uses Photon Geyser DD Morning Sun NDM).

Ditto --> Xerneas

Xerneas @ Leftovers
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Rest
- Thunder Wave
- Aromatherapy

While Ditto is a great revenge killer, the core of NDM + TTar + Xern + Lunala pretty much covers every offensive threat that exists, including set-up sweepers. In that case, you can forgo Ditto for a Aromatherapy user that provides support to the team while being a great Marshadow check. Lunala and Kyurem-W hate being statused, as it weakens their capability to act as a defensive check which allows Groudon, Kyogre, and other common sweepers to break through their walls. Hence, Aromatherapy support prevents them from getting wore by status.

Zacian-Crowned should have Adamant over Jolly as the extra power is better than the speed. Crunch is worse Assurance ngl, something like Swords Dance would even fit here better.

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Final Team

Comments

Okay thanks. I'll see how well this works. Also, does forgo me forget or something else?

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No problem, and forgo means not going for that.