Wigeons
An AG RMT ~ Peaked #1 ~ 2-1 OMPL Record
Introduction
Sup, it's been over a year since I last did a RMT and I thought this would be a good way to commemorate both my 300th post and the end of this year's OMPL. So originally I was going to RMT the team built around Defensive Primal Kyogre and Choice Band Ho-Oh that PurpleGatorade and I co-built (you can find that team here if you're interested), but I decided to RMT this one instead because it's one I built mostly on my own and it just feels more like "my" team. While this team is slightly more tailored to beating bulkier builds, it has very solid matchups across the board and I don't think it has any weaknesses that amount to an autoloss. This team works well against experienced and less experienced players alike which has made it one of my go-to teams recently. Without further ado, here's the team.
Teambuilding Process
The original inspiration for this team came from one of PurpleGatorade's teams he used against me in spring seasonal. There's not a ton to say about it, I thought it was a very solid build and I liked that the team had some counterplay to common threats while also stacking sweepers.
This was my adaptation of Purple's team. The only Pokemon change that occurred was changing Dusk Mane Necrozma to Primal Kyogre, but I made edits to many of the individual sets as well. Primal Kyogre improved the team's special Groundceus matchup a ton (something I tend to struggle with when building offense) and the immediate power it provides through Water Spout made the team much better at keeping Excadrill's hazards on and exploiting any momentum generated by Rock Tomb's speed drops. I used this team in roomtours and on ladder quite a bit, but for a long while it sat in my teambuilder until I decided to adapt it for use in OMPL.
The first change I made while prepping for bdov was swapping Yveltal to Marshadow which accomplished quite a lot: it made the team much more reliable against opposing HO builds, it provided actual counterplay to Swords Dance Arceus forms and it synergized well with Mega Rayquaza's ability to weaken support Arceus forms. I decided to run Bulk Up Z-move Marshadow because it seemed easy to underprep for given that many bulky offenses only run a single bulky Arceus to check it. Additional priority combined with Marshadow's already good revenge-killing abilities make momentum losses with this team much less catastrophic.
The team above was very solid and performed decently in tests, however I consistently felt that EKiller Arceus was not doing much work. In one of our test games Catalystic suggested Calm Mind Steelceus as a replacement and I absolutely loved the change. Steelceus takes advantage of support Fairyceus (which was very annoying beforehand) and has amazing synergy with the rest of the team. It takes advantage of Rockceus for Mega Rayquaza, chips Primal Groudon so Primal Kyogre can break past and appreciates Primal Kyogre's ability in turn to threaten Ho-Oh (and keep rocks on). One minor change that occurred with this was changing Mega Rayquaza from Earthquake to V-Create to better deal with Celesteela. This version of the team is the one Purple and I used in OMPL and I'm extremely happy with it all around.
Team Breakdown
Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
In terms of suicide leads, I find Excadrill strikes a very good balance between being able to set hazards against bulkier teams (specifically Mega Sableye and support Arceus forms) and being able to deny opposing offenses their own hazards. Excadrill generates a lot of initial momentum on this particular team, Rock Tomb's speed drops make it very easy to bring in Primal Kyogre after Excadrill goes down and immediately put massive pressure on the opponent. Usually when leading the best move combination is Rock Tomb into Stealth Rock, but exceptions to this are when facing Pokemon with priority moves or Pokemon you know are slower (in which case Stealth Rock should be the first move you click).
Moves here are fairly standard, Rock Tomb generates momentum as mentioned and prevents speed-boosting opponents like DD Mega Rayquaza from setting up in your face, Rapid Spin wins most hazard wars against other suicide leads, Toxic pressures support Arceus forms and other Defoggers and Stealth Rock is obligatory. One notable disadvantage of this move combination is that most Substitute sweepers can set up in front of you, this is kind of unavoidable when using a suicide lead like Excadrill but you can try running Earthquake instead of Toxic to mitigate this (DD Zygarde still sets up on you though). The EVs outside of Speed don't really matter but the Attack investment can help against other suicide leads like Smeargle or Deoxys-Speed.
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Fire Blast
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Defensive CM Fairyceus is a bit of an odd choice for a HO team given that it offers very little immediate pressure, but I believe this is justified by how well Fairyceus deals with common threats to offensive teams. DD Zygarde, Marshadow, Scarf Mega Rayquaza and Scarf Yveltal all tend to be problematic for offensive teams, having a defensive fallback against these threats goes a long way in making this team more consistent than some standard HOs. Xerneas has ok matchups against these threats and is more powerful but fails to actually switch in, meaning a loss in momentum is still problematic. It's not like this set is entirely passive either, after a few Calm Minds it can be threatening to balances or bulky offenses relying on Primal Groudon as a check.
Nothing too exciting here in terms of moves, Judgment allows Fairyceus to threaten the things it checks, Fire Blast covers Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Celesteela, Recover lets Fairyceus stick around to check the things it needs to and Calm Mind makes Fairyceus fairly threatening after a few boosts. Max defense with Bold is pretty important because you can't consistently switch into Scarf Mega Rayquaza otherwise, a faster spread also leaves you more vulnerable to boosted Z-moves from Marshadow and Zygarde.
An AG RMT ~ Peaked #1 ~ 2-1 OMPL Record
Introduction
Sup, it's been over a year since I last did a RMT and I thought this would be a good way to commemorate both my 300th post and the end of this year's OMPL. So originally I was going to RMT the team built around Defensive Primal Kyogre and Choice Band Ho-Oh that PurpleGatorade and I co-built (you can find that team here if you're interested), but I decided to RMT this one instead because it's one I built mostly on my own and it just feels more like "my" team. While this team is slightly more tailored to beating bulkier builds, it has very solid matchups across the board and I don't think it has any weaknesses that amount to an autoloss. This team works well against experienced and less experienced players alike which has made it one of my go-to teams recently. Without further ado, here's the team.
Teambuilding Process
The original inspiration for this team came from one of PurpleGatorade's teams he used against me in spring seasonal. There's not a ton to say about it, I thought it was a very solid build and I liked that the team had some counterplay to common threats while also stacking sweepers.
This was my adaptation of Purple's team. The only Pokemon change that occurred was changing Dusk Mane Necrozma to Primal Kyogre, but I made edits to many of the individual sets as well. Primal Kyogre improved the team's special Groundceus matchup a ton (something I tend to struggle with when building offense) and the immediate power it provides through Water Spout made the team much better at keeping Excadrill's hazards on and exploiting any momentum generated by Rock Tomb's speed drops. I used this team in roomtours and on ladder quite a bit, but for a long while it sat in my teambuilder until I decided to adapt it for use in OMPL.
The first change I made while prepping for bdov was swapping Yveltal to Marshadow which accomplished quite a lot: it made the team much more reliable against opposing HO builds, it provided actual counterplay to Swords Dance Arceus forms and it synergized well with Mega Rayquaza's ability to weaken support Arceus forms. I decided to run Bulk Up Z-move Marshadow because it seemed easy to underprep for given that many bulky offenses only run a single bulky Arceus to check it. Additional priority combined with Marshadow's already good revenge-killing abilities make momentum losses with this team much less catastrophic.
The team above was very solid and performed decently in tests, however I consistently felt that EKiller Arceus was not doing much work. In one of our test games Catalystic suggested Calm Mind Steelceus as a replacement and I absolutely loved the change. Steelceus takes advantage of support Fairyceus (which was very annoying beforehand) and has amazing synergy with the rest of the team. It takes advantage of Rockceus for Mega Rayquaza, chips Primal Groudon so Primal Kyogre can break past and appreciates Primal Kyogre's ability in turn to threaten Ho-Oh (and keep rocks on). One minor change that occurred with this was changing Mega Rayquaza from Earthquake to V-Create to better deal with Celesteela. This version of the team is the one Purple and I used in OMPL and I'm extremely happy with it all around.
Team Breakdown
Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
In terms of suicide leads, I find Excadrill strikes a very good balance between being able to set hazards against bulkier teams (specifically Mega Sableye and support Arceus forms) and being able to deny opposing offenses their own hazards. Excadrill generates a lot of initial momentum on this particular team, Rock Tomb's speed drops make it very easy to bring in Primal Kyogre after Excadrill goes down and immediately put massive pressure on the opponent. Usually when leading the best move combination is Rock Tomb into Stealth Rock, but exceptions to this are when facing Pokemon with priority moves or Pokemon you know are slower (in which case Stealth Rock should be the first move you click).
Moves here are fairly standard, Rock Tomb generates momentum as mentioned and prevents speed-boosting opponents like DD Mega Rayquaza from setting up in your face, Rapid Spin wins most hazard wars against other suicide leads, Toxic pressures support Arceus forms and other Defoggers and Stealth Rock is obligatory. One notable disadvantage of this move combination is that most Substitute sweepers can set up in front of you, this is kind of unavoidable when using a suicide lead like Excadrill but you can try running Earthquake instead of Toxic to mitigate this (DD Zygarde still sets up on you though). The EVs outside of Speed don't really matter but the Attack investment can help against other suicide leads like Smeargle or Deoxys-Speed.
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Fire Blast
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Defensive CM Fairyceus is a bit of an odd choice for a HO team given that it offers very little immediate pressure, but I believe this is justified by how well Fairyceus deals with common threats to offensive teams. DD Zygarde, Marshadow, Scarf Mega Rayquaza and Scarf Yveltal all tend to be problematic for offensive teams, having a defensive fallback against these threats goes a long way in making this team more consistent than some standard HOs. Xerneas has ok matchups against these threats and is more powerful but fails to actually switch in, meaning a loss in momentum is still problematic. It's not like this set is entirely passive either, after a few Calm Minds it can be threatening to balances or bulky offenses relying on Primal Groudon as a check.
Nothing too exciting here in terms of moves, Judgment allows Fairyceus to threaten the things it checks, Fire Blast covers Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Celesteela, Recover lets Fairyceus stick around to check the things it needs to and Calm Mind makes Fairyceus fairly threatening after a few boosts. Max defense with Bold is pretty important because you can't consistently switch into Scarf Mega Rayquaza otherwise, a faster spread also leaves you more vulnerable to boosted Z-moves from Marshadow and Zygarde.
Arceus-Steel @ Iron Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Steelceus dropped off in usage for a period of time because of a surge in Marshadow and Ho-Oh usage, but has since bounced back due to how immensely threatening it is while also providing significant defensive utility. Fairyceus and Rockceus each counter one of the team's physical sweepers, Steelceus's ability to pivot into these threats easily then becomes immensely valuable for retaining momentum. Steelceus provides a Flying resistance as well which is pretty mandatory in AG, Steelceus usually makes a fine initial switchin to Mega Rayquaza and can force it out immediately after (assuming they used Dragon Ascent) which is great for scouting sets. With a lot of bulky offense builds carrying very squishy checks to Steelceus (like Primal Groudon or Scarf Mega Rayquaza) it's not uncommon for Steelceus to outright sweep after a few members of the opponent's team have been chipped, so preserving Steelceus for the late game is usually ideal.
This is pretty much the bread-and-butter CM Steelceus set, Judgment is as good as special Steel STAB gets and tends to hit fairly hard after a CM boost, Earth Power hits Primal Groudon as well as some Steel-types supereffectively and provides decent neutral coverage alongside Judgment, Recover lets you consistently pivot into support Arceus forms and makes it possible to boost very high against passive threats, Calm Mind is what makes Steelceus scary. I have tinkered with Thunder to ease the Ho-Oh matchup here, but chunking Primal Groudon is usually much more beneficial. EVs are standard, ties with opposing Arceus in case of a CM war and hits as hard as possible.
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Origin Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Water Spout
- Calm Mind
If one Pokemon had a standout performance in OMPL, that in my opinion would be Primal Kyogre. Our team became almost infamous for bringing it to every game, but between physically attacking, defensive CM, all-out attacking and Water Spout sets there's so many ways Primal Kyogre can threaten the opposing team and all of them have different counterplay. For this team the immediate pressure of a Water Spout set is ideal for keeping hazards on in the first few turns of a game and absolutely ruining anything switching in that isn't a Primal Groudon. Primal Kyogre is usually the first Pokemon to come out after Excadrill has set hazards and also one of the first to go down in most cases, but the amount of damage it is able to do in the few turns it is alive often dictate the outcome of a game. Of course preserving it for later is always possible, you'll generally want to do this against bulkier balances with Primal Groudon as the primary Primal Kyogre check or against hard stall.
As unreliable as it can be at times, Origin Pulse is Primal Kyogre's best option for a primary STAB that isn't reliant on its HP, Ice Beam hits Mega Rayquaza extremely hard and chips Primal Groudon as it switches in, Water Spout does most of the heavy lifting and outright 1hkos most things that don't either resist it or have absurd special bulk. Water Spout in conjunction with Calm Mind lets this Primal Kyogre get past 2 of its biggest checks: Ferrothorn and the Blissey line. Calm Mind might not seem needed to do this given that Water Spout heavily threatens both on the switchin, but Water Spout is a roll to 2hko Ferrothorn and Chansey, being able to Calm Mind either on Ferrothorn's Protect or Chansey's Softboiled allows Primal Kyogre to quickly get past these Pokemon, which is especially useful for denying Ferrothorn hazards. There's little reason to run anything other than max Speed and max Special Attack here, you could add some bulk but it's unlikely to ever be significant.
Marshadow @ Marshadium Z
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Bulk Up
The only Pokemon to almost be banned from AG, Marshadow has cemented itself as one of the most consistently threatening Pokemon in the metagame through its combination of high speed, strong attacks and perfect neutral STAB coverage. Marshadow is particularly apt at picking apart offensive teams, Spectral Thief's ability to steal stat boosts discourages Swords Dance sweepers from setting up and forces them to switch if brought in on a sack, leaving room to use Bulk Up and run through the opposing team. Naturally, Marshadow's revenge-killing abilities are the main way this team fights opposing HO teams, Marshadium Z is quite nice for this because it outright KOs frailer sweepers that could otherwise eat a hit such as less bulky Geomancy Xerneas or DD Mega Rayquaza.
Marshadow's moves tend to not deviate from the norm and this set is no exception. Spectral Thief is the best Ghost-type STAB in the game, the utility of stealing boosts is amazing and the immediate power of Soul-Stealing Seven Star Strike makes Marshadow extremely scary. Close Combat is your most reliable Fighting move, in addition to neutral coverage the supereffective hit on EKiller Arceus is particularly important for HO. Shadow Sneak can pick off a weakened Mega Rayquaza, Mega Mewtwo or Geomancy Xerneas, though Mega Rayquaza's Extreme Speed is usually needed to put these threats in range (Shadow Sneak can also put these threats in range of Mega Rayquaza). Bulk Up gives Marshadow a shot at breaking past a weakened support Arceus, it can also set up against EKiller Arceus in a pinch when facing offense. Marshadium Z can easily be replaced with Life Orb here (in which case Bulk Up should be replaced with Rock Tomb) which is mostly useful for stronger priority, there's advantages to both sets and I don't think one is strictly better than the other, I just prefer Bulk Up here.
Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
On HO there's generally no reason to not use Mega Rayquaza unless you're specifically building with the intention of using another mega, massive initial power combined with solid sweeping potential and many switchin chances make DD Mega Rayquaza one of the most (if not the most) threatening Pokemon in the metagame. Mega Rayquaza gets used a lot as a pivot on this team, because counterplay to it is so limited it tends to force the opponent to play in a predictable manner, which often gives you chances to bring in Primal Kyogre or Steelceus to heavily pressure the opponent's team. While it is certainly capable of sweeping, more often Mega Rayquaza gets used to weaken the opposing team and open up chances for aggressive double switches.
Dragon Ascent is an awesome move STAB that even Flying resists don't switch into unscathed, generally even Rockceus is forced to recover after coming in (or else Mega Rayquaza can break past it with a Dragon Dance boost) which results in huge gains in momentum for the team. V-Create was chosen over Earthquake because Celesteela becomes a big annoyance otherwise, Rockceus is dealt with very well by Primal Kyogre and Steelceus anyways. Extreme Speed is very important for fighting Geomancy Xerneas and other fast sweepers. Dragon Dance elevates Mega Rayquaza's threat level and is a great way to put a support Arceus in Marshadow range in a late game scenario. Either Choice Band or Choice Scarf can work here instead. Choice Band is much better at forcing recovers and doesn't get worn down from LO recoil, the stronger Extreme Speed can be helpful too. The disadvantage of Choice Band is that predictions against Celesteela teams become much more difficult and the team has some issues with Celesteela as is. Choice Scarf is an option if you expect your opponent to bring offense but is otherwise inferior.
Threatlist
Replays
OMPL
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-768966242 Week 3: Pigeons vs bdov (W)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-771420160 Week 4: hamhamhamham vs PurpleGatorade (W)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-789795992 Finals: Pigeons vs Catalystic (L)
Other
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-789767435
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-779498272
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-769757823
Importable
Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Fire Blast
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Arceus-Steel @ Iron Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Origin Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Water Spout
- Calm Mind
Marshadow @ Marshadium Z
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Bulk Up
Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Fire Blast
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Arceus-Steel @ Iron Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Calm Mind
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Origin Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Water Spout
- Calm Mind
Marshadow @ Marshadium Z
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Bulk Up
Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
Proof of Peak
This is an older peak with an earlier version of the team, haven't had the time or energy to ladder more recently.
Shoutouts
Catalystic PurpleGatorade The squad. Thanks for being great friends and awesome testing partners, it really makes playing worthwhile.
Chloe Megazard The best co-ROs I could ask for and the tier leaders AG deserves. Thanks for all the hard work and sorry for being dead the past month.
Zesty43 Thanks for a ton of tests and being willing to pass teams last second, really glad you got involved in AG because you're an amazing builder and player.
GL Volkner You're an awesome dude and super easy to get along with, grats on an awesome finish in OMPL this year! Go Kois.
TylerWithNumbers Bad player, good dude. Be more active tho.
vivalospride Alexender /me pat pigeons
DaWoblefet Thanks for making AG tours in the VGC room and supporting me during finals!
Super cool AG roomstaff people: Arushi cromagnet42 GRNBLN HunterStorm Ransei Zenithial BaconEatinAssassin DonnotheFirst Holy Break Quantum Tesseract Xynix y'all do a great job watching the room and are super fun to talk with
AG room voices: bdov Gunner Rohan Leafstorm121 lotiasite Paycard Thimo Velvet Blood Sir_JaKrispy thanks for contributing to the room (in varying amounts) and being cool peeps in general
All the Bewears: Uselesscrab ScarfWynaut Alpha Rabbit byronthewellwell Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) MultiAmmiratore skysolo14 Osra ihhca itsKimbo Emperor2 SectoniaServant sugarhigh Thanks to all of you for an incredible OMPL season
Chloe Megazard The best co-ROs I could ask for and the tier leaders AG deserves. Thanks for all the hard work and sorry for being dead the past month.
Zesty43 Thanks for a ton of tests and being willing to pass teams last second, really glad you got involved in AG because you're an amazing builder and player.
GL Volkner You're an awesome dude and super easy to get along with, grats on an awesome finish in OMPL this year! Go Kois.
TylerWithNumbers Bad player, good dude. Be more active tho.
vivalospride Alexender /me pat pigeons
DaWoblefet Thanks for making AG tours in the VGC room and supporting me during finals!
Super cool AG roomstaff people: Arushi cromagnet42 GRNBLN HunterStorm Ransei Zenithial BaconEatinAssassin DonnotheFirst Holy Break Quantum Tesseract Xynix y'all do a great job watching the room and are super fun to talk with
AG room voices: bdov Gunner Rohan Leafstorm121 lotiasite Paycard Thimo Velvet Blood Sir_JaKrispy thanks for contributing to the room (in varying amounts) and being cool peeps in general
All the Bewears: Uselesscrab ScarfWynaut Alpha Rabbit byronthewellwell Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) MultiAmmiratore skysolo14 Osra ihhca itsKimbo Emperor2 SectoniaServant sugarhigh Thanks to all of you for an incredible OMPL season
Conclusion
That's that for the team, I think it's a pretty strong build which is reflected in how well it did in OMPL (the one loss came down to a speed tie) and how strong it is against every playstyle. I'll probably end up submitting this to samples anyway but I recommend giving this team a shot since it's pretty easy to use. This sort of marks the end of my inactivity for the summer so hopefully I can start getting more involved in things again, especially the AG analyses and the resource thread. Thanks again to y'all cool people on this site for making things fun.
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