Pokémon Rate My Team
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Very recently, I've gotten back into Gen 8 AG. I constructed this team, and it did well, getting me to 1820 elo on my first day using it, then over 1700 on my second day (and yes, I know those aren't impressive, but I have account and dead ladder issues), and I've managed to defeat several high ladder opponents. I'd like to improve my team, but just know I've been fairly out of touch with the Meta, so if I have weird EV spreads, that's probably why.

The Team

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

My Stealth Rocker, as well as my Zacian counter. The set is pretty self-explanatory. I set up Rocks, Thunder Wave to paralyze faster threats, Sunsteel is STAB, and Morning Sun heals.

Xerneas
X (Xerneas) @ Leftovers
Ability: Fairy Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

My main answer to Physical Yveltal, Marshadow, Zygarde, and others. Aromatherapy heals my team of unwanted stats conditions, and it also pairs well with the RestTalk combo I have, allowing Xerneas to potentially wake up early.

Yveltal
Y (Yveltal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost

My defogger and Calyrex-S Counter. I chose Dark Pulse for a consistent strong dark STAB, for the flinch chance, and to give me a chance against Groudon if I need it. Toxic is for opposing defensive Pokemon like Ho-oh or other Defog Yveltal. The rest are self-explanatory.

  • I chose Dark Pulse, but should I choose something like Knock Off instead?

  • Should I run something like Taunt over Toxic?

  • I chose the EVs to maximize my chances of living hits from CalyShadow. Should I run other EVs instead?

Zygarde
Z (Zygarde) @ Life Orb
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Glare

DDance Sweeper. I chose it to add a Physical attacker to my team, although it is the mon I'm most unsure about.

  • Are there certain EVs I should run to make Zygarde Bulkier?

  • I chose Glare to Paralyze faster mons and mons that switch in. However, should I run another move, like Rest or Stone Edge instead?

  • Is there a move I could use instead of Outrage, since it locks me in?

  • If Zygarde isn't the right choice for this team, what else could I use?

Palkia
P (Palkia) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spacial Rend
- Thunder
- Fire Blast
- Hydro Pump

A while ago, I decided to try out Palkia, and it served me quite well as a Kyogre counter. Thunder hits Kyogre (and mons like Yveltal) super-effectively, has a chance to Paralyze it (or whatever else may switch in), and is 100% accurate with Kyogre's rain. Spacial Rend hits Zygarde and Eternatus for a lot of damage. Fire Blast hits Ferrothorn and Zacian, and Hydro Pump is powerful STAB, hitting Ho-oh for a lot of damage. Assault Vest makes Palkia bulkier, and allows it to tank Water Spout from Kyogre.

Calyrex
CS (Calyrex-Shadow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock
- Trick
- Draining Kiss

Fast Special Attacker. Scarf allows Calyrex to outspeed the whole unboosted Meta, aside from opposing ScarfRex, as well as crippling other Pokemon. Psyshock hits the pink blobs, and Draining Kiss gets some damage on Yveltal on the switch-in.

  • I already have Aromatherapy on Xerneas, but should I run that or a different move over Draining Kiss?

Concerns

  • Dmax Yveltal, specifically the Special one is a huge threat for me, as I don't have much of an answer to it.
  • Opposing Calyrex are troublesome if Yveltal takes too much damage, and I don't like relying on speed ties.
  • If Palkia gets too low, Kyogre becomes a huge threat to my team.

That's about all I can think of right now. Changes and advice are heavily appreciated. Thanks.

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1 Answer

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Best answer

First of all, congratulations on your team's success on the ladder. "XYZ" or in other words, the Aura Trio is quite an interesting core because you know how much meta-defining they are. Yveltal is something that's almost in every team due to its specially defensive set being mandatory to check Calyrex-Shadow and a solid Defogger, Xerneas also has respectable defensive capabilities and utilities as a cleric while LO Zygarde is a very potent sweeper.


However, there are some flaws which can be seen at first glance.

The first one is that you struggle very much vs Ground-types, primarily Groudon. It can easily set-up a Swords Dance on Necrozma-DM and then it can claim in a few kills until you do a desperate Dynamax, or something like outspeding and using Glare with Zygarde-C and proceeding to revenge kill with Calyrex-S or Palkia. Nonetheless, Groudon is very scary considering your Yveltal doesn't have Foul Play nor outspeeds most of the fast sets it runs.

Kyogre, as you'd mentioned is also very troublesome. Bulky sets mainly can shrug off any damage or status and fodderize most of the team as CM bait. Palkia does not have the longevity, nor the means to dish out enough damage to force Kyogre out after it sets up Calm Mind. Choice Specs set also win long-term, due to Palkia's lack of reliable recovery and constant chipping from hazards. Palkia itself is a very mediocre Kyogre check, easily outclassed by the likes of even Kyurem-White, ignoring the fact that Eternatus is just miles better.

Ferrothorn. This team is total dead-weight when facing Ferrothorn, as it doesn't have any issues against 4/6th Pokemon of the team. Palkia is prone to Spikes and Leech Seed chip and Calyrex-S has the unfavorable scenario of getting Thunder Wave'd or Knock Off'd. Yveltal can not hold a candle to it, and there's nothing that can soak up Leech Seed PP like Eternatus or Ho-Oh does in general.

Geomancy Xerneas and Leech Seed / Baton Pass Calyrex-S are also very bothersome for this team. The former threatens getting a free Geomancy boost on most of the team, which is very concerning. Choice Scarf Calyrex-Shadow lacking Haze fails to stop Xerneas that is not within the range of Psyshock.

Not only that, SubSeed Caly-S has an ugly match-up where your Yveltal can't touch it totally, and in a prolonged stalement it wins due to Yveltal getting Leech Seed' on switchin and everything else fearing to tank a hit from boosted Nasty Plot. Even if you were to try revenge-killing with Caly-S, there's also the risk of the opposing Caly-S Baton Passing SpA boosts to something like LO Yveltal—and against this kind of team, you lack any defensive counterplay and can not make progress in the course of the game.

Both of the above issues can get a quick-fix by adding Haze on Calyrex-S over Draining Kiss, which is most of the time redundant as you're better off using Trick versus Yveltal.

Ferrothorn, Groudon and Kyogre, however need more serious attention and restructuring of the entire team.



NDM (Necrozma-Dusk-Mane) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave / Earthquake
- Sunsteel Strike
- Morning Sun

This is a minor change, but 32 Spe allows you to outspeed paralyzed max speed Zacian-Crowned. There are no significant changes in defense calculations for shifting out the 28 Def EVs, rest assured. Also, you can switch it to Earthquake in case Zekrom is a problem, but with Scarf Caly-S and Xerneas it shouldn't be much of a worry.


Y (Yveltal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD -> 248 HP / 68 SpD / 192 Spe
Calm Nature -> Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse -> Foul Play / Knock Off
- Toxic / Taunt
- Defog
- Roost

Dark Pulse from a slow Yveltal is not something you can count on as enough for Groudon, as there are also faster sets that can just OHKO or deal massive damage to Groudon before you can do something in return. This is not to mention that Kyogre also takes null damage, so you can change that slot without hesitation. Foul Play chunks Zacian-C coming on the switch-in hard, and OHKOes offensive Groudon sets after a SD.

Meanwhile, Knock Off can make Kyogre and Eternatus less worrisome. Toxic imo is fine, and it can also help vs offensive Yveltal sets. Taunt can clutch Ferrothorn at times, so it's also worth. Ultimately, it's up to your preference.


Z (Zygarde) @ Life Orb
Ability: Power Construct
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature -> Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Glare -> Rest / Stone Edge

The EVs are mostly fine, just slightly optimized to minimize Life Orb recoil. Adamant Nature is also the way to go in my opinion—outspeeding Non-Scarf Caly-S at +1 comes at more risks than advantages, and the significant drop in power is easily noticed.

Glare has no use in this set whatsoever, you already have Necrozma-DM's Thunder Wave for speed control and we just made Yveltal faster for Groudon. Rest has perfect synergy with Aromatherapy support from Xerneas, as it allows you to come on Ho-Oh more frequently without being scared of Sacred Fire burns and gives extra longevity. Stone Edge can also find an use in doing severe damage to Ho-Oh and Yveltal unboosted.

Also if you're that scared of Outrage lock, you can try some other niche options such as Crunch (Lunala), Iron Tail (Xerneas), etc. but it's generally not worth it. You can simply click the Dynamax button and get rid of Outrage lock, or simply reserve it until the Fairy-types have been taken out.

->
Eternatus @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 164 SpD / 92 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Toxic / Sludge Bomb
- Recover
- Mystical Fire

As I've already explained above, Palkia is a very mediocre Kyogre check that also makes you struggle when facing Ferrothorn. Not only that, any physical attacker also does tons of damage and it is not good at soaking Leech Seed PP nor Sacred Fire from Ho-Oh as good as our good ol' Eternatus.

You mentioned that Dynamax Yveltal is one of the key concerns to the team. That's where Eternatus is quite good at: it can easily absorb any of the special Yveltal hits (you have Xerneas for physical sets) and forces it to Dynamax to actually have a chance. Then again, Mystical Fire is quite nasty against such special attackers.

Sludge Bomb can help with the Xerneas match-up—remember that Eternatus lives a +2 Moonblast from non Dynamaxed Xerneas, which can help in scary situations. Heavy-Duty Boots means you won't get chipped by hazards nor affected by Sticky Webs. Eternatus is also good at walling Kyogre and has good recovery.

Xerneas and Calyrex-Shadow have quite fine sets. You could think of maybe making Xerneas Air Balloon with Knock Off Yveltal for Groudon, apart from that it's mostly fine. Calyrex-S should have Haze over Draining Kiss as pointed out before.

Bold: Important parts
Italics: Team changes


Final Team
Hope I was of any assistance, and good luck for laddering further! If you have any questions, please ask.

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Thank you so much.
You said the EVs on Dusk Mane let me outspeed Max speed Zacian? Then how come a Zacian was able to outspeed me after I paralyzed it? Are you sure the EVs are correct?
It was for Adamant max spe Zacian-C (395/2=197.5 rounded down to 197). I didn't mean +Spe natured Zac-C because Jolly sets are not good but it might be ladder. My bad for not mentioning that.
Okay, thanks for clarifying.