(This is my first post, lmk if I screwed up on anything, copied the format from Pigeon’s RMT)
Introduction
National Dex Ag is one of the most intriguing and hard to play tiers due to the myriad of threats, stemming from the lack of restrictions or rules. However, this is also have mained for a few years. After lots of testing, I have come to the conclusion that semi stall is the most consistent way to ladder (Or maybe I’m just too bad at using anything else).
Team building Process
I wanted to build a bulky team without using the stall mons such as Quag and Lugia, so I referred to balanced teams to find my defensive core.
Necrozma is one of the most common defensive walls in the tier, with Zygarde being a secondary defensive mon to switch into Primal Groudon and V-create from Mega Rayquaza.
Yveltal is the necessary special wall for Calyrex-Shadow and opposing offensive Yveltal. Blissey deals with the special attackers that Yveltal can’t handle, such as Xerneas, Kyogre, and calm mind Arceus forms.
Even with my defensive Mona, I still found myself weak to Ultra Necrozma, Mega Rayquaza, and dynamax Yveltal. Arceus Fairy is able to check all of these threats, while just simply being an excellent defensive mon in general.
The last slot of the team was the most flexible and the one I messed around the most with. I wanted a hard hitter that can threaten other defensive teams and help revenge kill against more offensive ones. After testing Mega Rayquaza, Zacian, Mega Banette, etc., I eventually decided on Marshadow for it‘s speed tier, priority, and unresisted stab.
Team Breakdown
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Sunsteel Strike
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
Necrozma is the standard Zacian counter in the tier, being able to switch in to everything besides the rare assurance or crunch, and KOing with sunsteel strike after rocky helmet chip. NDM can also switch into Mega Rayquaza from Zygarde to scout for draco meteror/scale shot and potentially break a sash with rocky helmet, but must switch out immediately for fear of a following V-create. Necrozma also serves as the rocker for the team and an emergency check to Geomancy Xerneas, matching it’s dynamax and doing enough damage to put it in range of shadow sneak from Marshadow. This is only if the opponent doesn’t have a zacian crowned waiting in the back, as even the slightest chip can put Necrozma in range of two close combats. The set is pretty standard, with max defense and hp to best take hits from Zacian and Rayquaza, and 4 speed to outspeed other defensive Necrozmas.
Relevant Calcs:
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 160-189 (40.2 - 47.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 328-386 (82.4 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Zygarde @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Power Construct
Evs: 204 HP / 248 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
-Thousand Arrows
-Glare
-Rest
-Haze
Zygarde is the second defensive wall of the team, being a blanket check to almost all physical attackers. This includes Ho-oh, offensive Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, swords dance Arceus forms, Primal Groudon, and opposing offensive Zygarde. Zygarde can easily take even boosted attacks, remains healthy with rest, and spread paralysis with glare. It is also one of the only viable mons with the move haze (pex doesn‘t count), letting it deal with said setup sweepers. Another important role Zygarde fills is to deal with the omnipresent sleep spread by spore Smeargle and sleep powder Vivillion, completely shutting down an otherwise annoying strat. 56 speed lets Zygarde-Complete outspeed Calyrex-Shadow after a glare, and the rest of the evs go into defense and hp for obvious reasons.
(Somewhat) Relevant Calcs (I’m using Zygarde-Complete cuz it looks more impressive):
+1 252+ Atk Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 409-483 (65.5 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 222-263 (35.5 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 339-399 (54.3 - 63.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 153-180 (24.5 - 28.8%) -- 99.4% chance to 4HKO
+1 252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 127-151 (20.3 - 24.1%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Refrigerate Glalie-Mega Explosion vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 1284-1512 (205.7 - 242.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 4SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Snarl
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
Yveltal is the mandatory Calyrex-Shadow counter every team needs. Ho-oh and Tyranitar are also both excellent in this slot, but Yveltal has advantages over both of them. Firstly, the team needed a defogger, which Tyranitar is unable to provide. The sandstorm set by Ttar, while giving it a special defense boost, also cuts into Necrozma’s morning sun healing, making the team weaker to Zacian. Ho-oh has neither of these problems, but can’t always switch into the most common rocker, Necrozma, to defog for fear of a knock off. Ho-oh is also only neutral to ghost and psychic, allowing Calyrex to break through it more easily. Yveltal also helps with opposing dynamax Yveltal, weaking it with snarl and wasting turns with roost. Snarl also punishes cocky Calyrex-Shadow behind a sub, although the dark stab can also be replaced with knock off to be annoying, or foul play to chip physical attackers.
U-turn prevents me from getting 6-0ed by perish song Darkceus, pairs well with a calm nature for slow switches against other defensive Yveltal, and breaks sashes on Calyrex and sucide leads for Marshadow to revenge kill. Evs optimized for taking special hits.
Relevant Calcs:
+2 252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Max Starfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 380-448 (83.3 - 98.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Max Airstream vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 222-263 (48.6 - 57.6%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
Arceus-Fairy is the backbone of the team and my answer to situations where Idk what the opponent’s mon will do. An Arceus form is always good to have because of it’s massive stats and limitless coverage, letting it put in work against any team. It is my usual lead of choice, spreading status to anything it outspeeds or lives a hit from. It helps handle threats like Mega Rayquaza, Ultra Necrozma, and dynamax physical Yveltal that might be able to overwhelm Zygarde and Yveltal respectively. 124 speed lets it outspeed the Primals, and the rest goes into defense to live hits and kill with judgement.
Relevant Calcs:
+2 252 Atk Arceus-Ground Earthquake vs. 132 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 196-232 (47.3 - 56%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 132 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 341-402 (82.3 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 132 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 139-165 (33.5 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKOIntroduction
National Dex Ag is one of the most intriguing and hard to play tiers due to the myriad of threats, stemming from the lack of restrictions or rules. However, this is also have mained for a few years. After lots of testing, I have come to the conclusion that semi stall is the most consistent way to ladder (Or maybe I’m just too bad at using anything else).
Team building Process
I wanted to build a bulky team without using the stall mons such as Quag and Lugia, so I referred to balanced teams to find my defensive core.
Necrozma is one of the most common defensive walls in the tier, with Zygarde being a secondary defensive mon to switch into Primal Groudon and V-create from Mega Rayquaza.
Yveltal is the necessary special wall for Calyrex-Shadow and opposing offensive Yveltal. Blissey deals with the special attackers that Yveltal can’t handle, such as Xerneas, Kyogre, and calm mind Arceus forms.
Even with my defensive Mona, I still found myself weak to Ultra Necrozma, Mega Rayquaza, and dynamax Yveltal. Arceus Fairy is able to check all of these threats, while just simply being an excellent defensive mon in general.
The last slot of the team was the most flexible and the one I messed around the most with. I wanted a hard hitter that can threaten other defensive teams and help revenge kill against more offensive ones. After testing Mega Rayquaza, Zacian, Mega Banette, etc., I eventually decided on Marshadow for it‘s speed tier, priority, and unresisted stab.
Team Breakdown
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Sunsteel Strike
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
Necrozma is the standard Zacian counter in the tier, being able to switch in to everything besides the rare assurance or crunch, and KOing with sunsteel strike after rocky helmet chip. NDM can also switch into Mega Rayquaza from Zygarde to scout for draco meteror/scale shot and potentially break a sash with rocky helmet, but must switch out immediately for fear of a following V-create. Necrozma also serves as the rocker for the team and an emergency check to Geomancy Xerneas, matching it’s dynamax and doing enough damage to put it in range of shadow sneak from Marshadow. This is only if the opponent doesn’t have a zacian crowned waiting in the back, as even the slightest chip can put Necrozma in range of two close combats. The set is pretty standard, with max defense and hp to best take hits from Zacian and Rayquaza, and 4 speed to outspeed other defensive Necrozmas.
Relevant Calcs:
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 160-189 (40.2 - 47.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 328-386 (82.4 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Zygarde @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Power Construct
Evs: 204 HP / 248 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
-Thousand Arrows
-Glare
-Rest
-Haze
Zygarde is the second defensive wall of the team, being a blanket check to almost all physical attackers. This includes Ho-oh, offensive Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, swords dance Arceus forms, Primal Groudon, and opposing offensive Zygarde. Zygarde can easily take even boosted attacks, remains healthy with rest, and spread paralysis with glare. It is also one of the only viable mons with the move haze (pex doesn‘t count), letting it deal with said setup sweepers. Another important role Zygarde fills is to deal with the omnipresent sleep spread by spore Smeargle and sleep powder Vivillion, completely shutting down an otherwise annoying strat. 56 speed lets Zygarde-Complete outspeed Calyrex-Shadow after a glare, and the rest of the evs go into defense and hp for obvious reasons.
(Somewhat) Relevant Calcs (I’m using Zygarde-Complete cuz it looks more impressive):
+1 252+ Atk Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 409-483 (65.5 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 222-263 (35.5 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 339-399 (54.3 - 63.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 153-180 (24.5 - 28.8%) -- 99.4% chance to 4HKO
+1 252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 127-151 (20.3 - 24.1%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Refrigerate Glalie-Mega Explosion vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 1284-1512 (205.7 - 242.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 4SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Snarl
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
Yveltal is the mandatory Calyrex-Shadow counter every team needs. Ho-oh and Tyranitar are also both excellent in this slot, but Yveltal has advantages over both of them. Firstly, the team needed a defogger, which Tyranitar is unable to provide. The sandstorm set by Ttar, while giving it a special defense boost, also cuts into Necrozma’s morning sun healing, making the team weaker to Zacian. Ho-oh has neither of these problems, but can’t always switch into the most common rocker, Necrozma, to defog for fear of a knock off. Ho-oh is also only neutral to ghost and psychic, allowing Calyrex to break through it more easily. Yveltal also helps with opposing dynamax Yveltal, weaking it with snarl and wasting turns with roost. Snarl also punishes cocky Calyrex-Shadow behind a sub, although the dark stab can also be replaced with knock off to be annoying, or foul play to chip physical attackers.
U-turn prevents me from getting 6-0ed by perish song Darkceus, pairs well with a calm nature for slow switches against other defensive Yveltal, and breaks sashes on Calyrex and sucide leads for Marshadow to revenge kill. Evs optimized for taking special hits.
Relevant Calcs:
+2 252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Max Starfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 380-448 (83.3 - 98.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Yveltal Max Airstream vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Yveltal: 222-263 (48.6 - 57.6%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
Arceus-Fairy is the backbone of the team and my answer to situations where Idk what the opponent’s mon will do. An Arceus form is always good to have because of it’s massive stats and limitless coverage, letting it put in work against any team. It is my usual lead of choice, spreading status to anything it outspeeds or lives a hit from. It helps handle threats like Mega Rayquaza, Ultra Necrozma, and dynamax physical Yveltal that might be able to overwhelm Zygarde and Yveltal respectively. 124 speed lets it outspeed the Primals, and the rest goes into defense to live hits and kill with judgement.
Relevant Calcs:
+2 252 Atk Arceus-Ground Earthquake vs. 132 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 196-232 (47.3 - 56%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 132 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 341-402 (82.3 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Blissey (F) @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Soft-Boiled
- Confide
- Recycle
Leppa berry + recycle Blissey, my masterpiece. The idea for this set came from the endless battle clause, which involves using block, recycle, heal pulse, and recover to trap and infinitely stall the opponent. Although this Blissey has no damaging moves whatsoever, the main point is to force the opponent out with it’s sheer longevity. This can even become a wincon, if rocks are up against mons that can’t touch Blissey. Confide nullifies boosts from geomancy and calm mind, and is a great tool to weaken and stall out special attackers. Stall teams have no way of touching Blissey, as it’s defense evs allows it take minimal damage from Tyranitar and Quagsire. 128 special defense evs allows Blissey to avoid the two hit KO from water spout Primal Kyogre, although it can still lose dynamax Xerneas. However, Blissey can still drop Xern to only +1 with confide, stall two dynamax turns, and lets Necrozma revenge kill with it’s own dynamax and a max guard.
Relevant Calcs:
252 SpA Kyogre-Primal Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Blissey in Heavy Rain: 298-352 (41.7 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Blissey: 289-342 (40.4 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Tyranitar Rock Tomb vs. 252 HP / 128 Def Blissey: 223-264 (31.2 - 36.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after sandstorm damage
0 Atk Quagsire Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 128 Def Blissey: 252-297 (35.2 - 41.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Marshadow @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
Marshadow is the offensive pressure, revenge killer, late game cleaner, and pursuit trapper. Choice band lets Marshadow hit quite hard with proper prediction, although it will struggle to break Zygarde and Arceus-Fairy. Close combat and Spectral Thief are the standard unresisted STABs, with shadow sneak to pick off Calyrex-Shadow, weakened Zacian, lead Deoxys after a u-turn, and set up sweepers such as Mega Rayquaza and Ultra Necrozma. Pursuit can surprise and KO threats to the team such as nasty plot+baton pass Calyrex-Shadow, banded Mega-Rayquaza, and Mega Gengar. Max speed allows Marshadow to outpeed Mega Rayquaza and Arceus, and the rest of the Evs goes towards attack.
Relevant Calcs:
252 Atk Choice Band Marshadow Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyogre-Primal: 313-369 (91.7 - 108.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Technician Marshadow Rock Tomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Yveltal: 298-352 (75.8 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Technician Marshadow Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zacian-Crowned: 127-151 (39 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Marshadow Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus: 492-578 (110.8 - 130.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Marshadow Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 229-270 (58.1 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Marshadow Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 195-231 (48.9 - 58%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO
Threatlist:
:After a dragon dance, Ultra Necrozma can OHKO Zygarde or Arceus Fairy with Light That Burns The Sky. The best play is to bait out the Z-move with Yveltal, and take the following stone edge by switching back to Zygarde. From there Zygarde livesphoton geyser and can spam glare/haze.
:Like with all stall teams, Mega Gengar is a huge pain to deal with as it can easily trap and pick off passive members. To deal with Gengar, I send in Marshadow to immediately pursuit and get rid of it.
:Depending on its set, Rayquaza can easily two hit KO the entire team. Zygarde must be wary of draco or scale shot, Necrozma dies to dragon ascent into V-create and Arceus is unable to outspeed after switching in on dragon ascent. Proper prediction and pivoting is required to avoid losing a mon, but Marshadow can trap and revenge kill with pursuit.Proof Of Peak
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1572905652-vqkagmwntqmmh90nvbthxnnq4334evrpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1584415195
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1495447254
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1584794228-l9tqxzisrnlgrdlwv6l0dmf85mqr0copw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1583580191-xqeshf41mtegvpr945o3qm6y5to8gaupw
Importable
https://pokepast.es/d6da0d8044fa8715
Last edited:
