Hey Smogon people! I have another team for you all today! This is my second post here, with my first being a DOU team(please check it out I need help with it lmao). This team is a NDAG team that I’ve been using consistently on mid-high ladder(1600s to 1700s, sometimes higher or lower depending on my opponents) and it’s been fairly successful so far.
Using this team I think I peaked at around rank 101(I peaked consistently at around ~150), which I’m pretty happy about. This team has 3 iterations, and I’ll be going through them all.
V1:https://pokepast.es/d39d7981bdfc95d9
It’s a strong team with the weak point being offensive Yveltal. This mon is still a good caly counter but it can absolutely get beaten up due to the lack of bulk+LO+no recovery.
V2:https://pokepast.es/6c4f0c492b7870b2
I replaced sucker punch with dark pulse on the bird, but otherwise it’s the same. Still dies to caly if worn down.
V3:https://pokepast.es/d6c53740a670d100
I know I’ve only been changing the Yveltal sets, but I’m really happy with this version. I finally decided to make the bird defensive(thanks AG discord) so it can reliably check caly shadow and/or ditto’d versions of my caly.
BREAKDOWN:
Arceus @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Refresh
- Recover
- Ice Beam
It’s the standard smog Arceus set, but it’s probably one of my favourite sets of all time. This thing is(in my opinion) one of the best neutral leads of all time. Below I have a list of common NDAG Pokemon that it hard wins, soft wins, soft loses and hard loses against from a lead matchup.
Hard wins: Hard wins mean that Arc ground either wins or forces a switch. Always.
1:Pdon. Pdon cannot touch arc in any meaningful way, and arc either 2HKOs or OHKOs all Pdon variants.
2:NDM. Physdef NDM may only get 3HKOed by arc ground, but it can’t do anything to it either. It’s main form of attack, sunsteel strike, only has 8 pp and does 27% max. Moonlight/morning sun, it’s main form of healing, also only has 8 pp and can be stalled out. Offensive sets are even worse as they have very little recovery, and can be killed by arc if they try to DD on it. If they decide to ultra burst on me, they get destroyed by ice beam.
3:Zygarde. Ice beam is an easy 2HKO on zig, even with power construct. If my opponent decides to be a moron and Dynamax, it’s even worse. 3 max quakes only do 71.4% to arc, and arc 4HKOs back with ice beam, which may sound like a lot, but considering that this thing flat out walls a max and can even recover through it if needed, I’d say that it’s good.
Soft wins: Soft wins mean that Arc usually wins or forces a switch, but there are some exceptions.
1:Mega ray. Arc wins against all mega ray variants unless it’s carrying waterfall, which is a very uncommon move. However even if this is the case it’s still possible to switch to a different mon to take it on, or even sac the arc to deal a ton of damage to the dragon.
2:Regular groudon. Same with Pdon, but some variants use pomeg dmax with hailstorm to break through, so while regular don usually loses 1v1, it can take a win.
3:Yveltal. Defensive sets can roost off the damage, however they can’t do anything back either and I can also try fishing for a freeze with an ice beam. Offensive sets suffer even more, as any bird that tries to max right out of the gate will just get a max from me in response, which they die to.
4:Ho-oh. This bird hurts my team a lot, as none of my mons like switching into a sacred fire or toxic(burns or just general annoyance) but Arc can stall it out by fishing for a freeze and in general pissing it off. Ho-oh can’t do anything back to me(it usually only runs sacred fire as it’s attacking move, which is stallable due to it’s low pp. Any toxics can be shrugged of using refresh, and it doesn’t carry anything else significant.
Soft losses:A soft loss means that Arc isn’t outright OHKOed by any of these mons and hurts them, but they do force a switch.
1:Xerneas. It’s always geomancy, so I can safely go for a judgment and deal something to it. I can then switch to an NDM and tank whatever they throw at me.
2:Zacian crowned. Arc does a shit ton with judgement and tanks a hit back, but then I need to switch to NDM because arc cannot tank another one.
3:Caly shadow. Same issue. Arc does a decent amount with judgement, then switch to Yveltal to snarl or knock or something else.
4:CM arc variants. If I run into mons like fellow arc grounds, arc dragons, arc steels, arc darks or arc faries, I’ll usually throw off an attack to see if they’re CM or not. If they reveal CM then I switch out to my counter. Otherwise it’s a soft win.
Hard losses:A hard loss means that Arc cannot do anything to these mons. If my opponent leads with this then I’m in trouble and I’ll probably have to sac a mon.
1:All Kyogre variants. Any and all ogre vars win against this mon. Even an origin pulse KOs and I usually have to sac a mon to this thing.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Transform
It’s a standard scarf ditto sweeper. The ultimate revenge killer, this mon takes out anything and everything in it’s path, with exception to any mons with sash intact or scarfed mons(then it's a 50/50). Ditto is still very reliable and can absolutely punch holes in any team by taking out a threat(or it's switch in) and then switching out again to preserve itself.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sunsteel Strike
- Thunder Wave
- Moonlight
NDM is my rocker and statuser. I put rocks on the field and throw paras on anything that gets in my way. I love this thing. I have had suggestions from the AG discord to put knock off in place of twave, however I prefer twave here as Yveltal is my knocker and Twave is good for hitting anything that's not a ground type.
Calyrex-Shadow @ Ghostium Z
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Substitute
- Draining Kiss
- Nasty Plot
Ghostium Z caly shadow with subplot. It’s a standard set with the ability to KO mons like Zacian from full. Sub also means that it’s a lot harder for scarf ditto to come in and revenge kill. In theory I could run sash on this to set up a line of +2 sub caly shadow with rocks up breaks through marsh and suckerless yveltal with 1hp but I've grown to really like ghostium because no one really expects it.
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Wild Charge
It’s a 4 attacks sword doggo. I replaced crunch with charge because I can shit on mons like caly shadow or NDM in other ways. This mon breaks through Ho-oh fairly well if it's weakened, but that's an ordeal in itself due to it having regenerator, so I'd have to either hit it on the switch, chip it consistently and slowly with other mons, or get rocks up and knock it. None of these are fun options.
Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
- Snarl
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
Finally, the defensive bird. Mf tanks anything and everything from mons like caly, even +2 draining kiss doesn’t do that much. Snarl goes through sub and KO is just super useful, for instance I can knock Ho-oh and then pop rocks so I can easily break it down. Roost is for longevity and defog is for any hazards on my side that I want gone.
THREATS:
1:Ho-oh. If I don’t play well or my team is weakened, Ho-Oh is a big problem for my team as it’s super tanky.
2:Kyogre vars. They can really mess me up. Scogre in particular is really annoying as Ditto isn’t a reliable revenger.
3:Blunders. This isn’t an issue with the team moreso an issue with myself, but there have been several instances where I got to an endgame with a favorable matchup that I probably could have won, but blundered and lost.
I’m almost certain that someone is going to tell me to replace arc ground with pdon, but my reasoning for not doing so is that I lose the hard win versus other pdon and zyg, and I also lose against mega ray vars carrying waterfall even harder.
In conclusion:This is a team that I very much enjoy playing with, and I think that it’s a pretty decent team. It does have a few glaring weaknesses obviously(kyogre) but I like how it plays.
Using this team I think I peaked at around rank 101(I peaked consistently at around ~150), which I’m pretty happy about. This team has 3 iterations, and I’ll be going through them all.
V1:https://pokepast.es/d39d7981bdfc95d9
It’s a strong team with the weak point being offensive Yveltal. This mon is still a good caly counter but it can absolutely get beaten up due to the lack of bulk+LO+no recovery.
V2:https://pokepast.es/6c4f0c492b7870b2
I replaced sucker punch with dark pulse on the bird, but otherwise it’s the same. Still dies to caly if worn down.
V3:https://pokepast.es/d6c53740a670d100
I know I’ve only been changing the Yveltal sets, but I’m really happy with this version. I finally decided to make the bird defensive(thanks AG discord) so it can reliably check caly shadow and/or ditto’d versions of my caly.
BREAKDOWN:
Arceus @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Refresh
- Recover
- Ice Beam
It’s the standard smog Arceus set, but it’s probably one of my favourite sets of all time. This thing is(in my opinion) one of the best neutral leads of all time. Below I have a list of common NDAG Pokemon that it hard wins, soft wins, soft loses and hard loses against from a lead matchup.
Hard wins: Hard wins mean that Arc ground either wins or forces a switch. Always.
1:Pdon. Pdon cannot touch arc in any meaningful way, and arc either 2HKOs or OHKOs all Pdon variants.
2:NDM. Physdef NDM may only get 3HKOed by arc ground, but it can’t do anything to it either. It’s main form of attack, sunsteel strike, only has 8 pp and does 27% max. Moonlight/morning sun, it’s main form of healing, also only has 8 pp and can be stalled out. Offensive sets are even worse as they have very little recovery, and can be killed by arc if they try to DD on it. If they decide to ultra burst on me, they get destroyed by ice beam.
3:Zygarde. Ice beam is an easy 2HKO on zig, even with power construct. If my opponent decides to be a moron and Dynamax, it’s even worse. 3 max quakes only do 71.4% to arc, and arc 4HKOs back with ice beam, which may sound like a lot, but considering that this thing flat out walls a max and can even recover through it if needed, I’d say that it’s good.
Soft wins: Soft wins mean that Arc usually wins or forces a switch, but there are some exceptions.
1:Mega ray. Arc wins against all mega ray variants unless it’s carrying waterfall, which is a very uncommon move. However even if this is the case it’s still possible to switch to a different mon to take it on, or even sac the arc to deal a ton of damage to the dragon.
2:Regular groudon. Same with Pdon, but some variants use pomeg dmax with hailstorm to break through, so while regular don usually loses 1v1, it can take a win.
3:Yveltal. Defensive sets can roost off the damage, however they can’t do anything back either and I can also try fishing for a freeze with an ice beam. Offensive sets suffer even more, as any bird that tries to max right out of the gate will just get a max from me in response, which they die to.
4:Ho-oh. This bird hurts my team a lot, as none of my mons like switching into a sacred fire or toxic(burns or just general annoyance) but Arc can stall it out by fishing for a freeze and in general pissing it off. Ho-oh can’t do anything back to me(it usually only runs sacred fire as it’s attacking move, which is stallable due to it’s low pp. Any toxics can be shrugged of using refresh, and it doesn’t carry anything else significant.
Soft losses:A soft loss means that Arc isn’t outright OHKOed by any of these mons and hurts them, but they do force a switch.
1:Xerneas. It’s always geomancy, so I can safely go for a judgment and deal something to it. I can then switch to an NDM and tank whatever they throw at me.
2:Zacian crowned. Arc does a shit ton with judgement and tanks a hit back, but then I need to switch to NDM because arc cannot tank another one.
3:Caly shadow. Same issue. Arc does a decent amount with judgement, then switch to Yveltal to snarl or knock or something else.
4:CM arc variants. If I run into mons like fellow arc grounds, arc dragons, arc steels, arc darks or arc faries, I’ll usually throw off an attack to see if they’re CM or not. If they reveal CM then I switch out to my counter. Otherwise it’s a soft win.
Hard losses:A hard loss means that Arc cannot do anything to these mons. If my opponent leads with this then I’m in trouble and I’ll probably have to sac a mon.
1:All Kyogre variants. Any and all ogre vars win against this mon. Even an origin pulse KOs and I usually have to sac a mon to this thing.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Transform
It’s a standard scarf ditto sweeper. The ultimate revenge killer, this mon takes out anything and everything in it’s path, with exception to any mons with sash intact or scarfed mons(then it's a 50/50). Ditto is still very reliable and can absolutely punch holes in any team by taking out a threat(or it's switch in) and then switching out again to preserve itself.
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sunsteel Strike
- Thunder Wave
- Moonlight
NDM is my rocker and statuser. I put rocks on the field and throw paras on anything that gets in my way. I love this thing. I have had suggestions from the AG discord to put knock off in place of twave, however I prefer twave here as Yveltal is my knocker and Twave is good for hitting anything that's not a ground type.
Calyrex-Shadow @ Ghostium Z
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Substitute
- Draining Kiss
- Nasty Plot
Ghostium Z caly shadow with subplot. It’s a standard set with the ability to KO mons like Zacian from full. Sub also means that it’s a lot harder for scarf ditto to come in and revenge kill. In theory I could run sash on this to set up a line of +2 sub caly shadow with rocks up breaks through marsh and suckerless yveltal with 1hp but I've grown to really like ghostium because no one really expects it.
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Behemoth Blade
- Close Combat
- Play Rough
- Wild Charge
It’s a 4 attacks sword doggo. I replaced crunch with charge because I can shit on mons like caly shadow or NDM in other ways. This mon breaks through Ho-oh fairly well if it's weakened, but that's an ordeal in itself due to it having regenerator, so I'd have to either hit it on the switch, chip it consistently and slowly with other mons, or get rocks up and knock it. None of these are fun options.
Yveltal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
- Snarl
- Defog
- Roost
- Knock Off
Finally, the defensive bird. Mf tanks anything and everything from mons like caly, even +2 draining kiss doesn’t do that much. Snarl goes through sub and KO is just super useful, for instance I can knock Ho-oh and then pop rocks so I can easily break it down. Roost is for longevity and defog is for any hazards on my side that I want gone.
THREATS:
1:Ho-oh. If I don’t play well or my team is weakened, Ho-Oh is a big problem for my team as it’s super tanky.
2:Kyogre vars. They can really mess me up. Scogre in particular is really annoying as Ditto isn’t a reliable revenger.
3:Blunders. This isn’t an issue with the team moreso an issue with myself, but there have been several instances where I got to an endgame with a favorable matchup that I probably could have won, but blundered and lost.
I’m almost certain that someone is going to tell me to replace arc ground with pdon, but my reasoning for not doing so is that I lose the hard win versus other pdon and zyg, and I also lose against mega ray vars carrying waterfall even harder.
In conclusion:This is a team that I very much enjoy playing with, and I think that it’s a pretty decent team. It does have a few glaring weaknesses obviously(kyogre) but I like how it plays.