OU RMT Metagross -Agility

[XahhFink6]

Note: Changes in Bold
Introduction
Hi all! Ok, I got the idea for this team the other day when I was watching a pro pokemon fight. I think it was one of the BOTW's... definetely on smogon's youtube channel... and I was amazed by the guy's togekiss. It managed to get all four of the opponent's remaining pokemon paralyzed, while roosting off its damage. The thing that confused me is that when he switched in his metagross, the first thing he did was agility - pointless against a team of pokemon at 1/4 speed.

So, my idea for this team was to try to replicate those conditions. I've always seen Agiligross as one of the most powerful sweepers in standard, so i decided to make a team with agility metagross sweeper without agility.

Team Building Process​

I started the team off with the two pokemon that it was based arond, Togekiss and Metagross

I wanted another paraylsis supporter, in case togekiss gets killed. I needed someone with body slam to hit ground types and electric absorbers, so I went with the man who made body slam popular: Snorlax

Assuming that I wanted to paralyze most of the opposing team, I immediately knew that heal bell users would be trouble, so I was looking for a pokemon that could counter both celebi and blissey, and went with a heatran faking choice scarf

I rounded the team off with a defensive ground type who could set up rocks for me, and since I had been meaning to try out gliscor, he was the perfect choice.

Then all I needed was a lead. Starmie is one of my favorite pokemon, it covers my weaknesses to water and fighting, lets me rapid spin, and is a great pokemon overall. So I decided to try out a lead set for her.

After some testing, I found snorlax as the weak point on this team... his paralysis was rare and wasn't easy to set up metagross, and his weaknesses kept making me lose pokemon to cover for him. I decided instead to try jirachi, who worked much better.​

This team was working very very well for me on my test account, I won 17/19 games that I played with it on the ladder, but when I switched to my main account, hydro pump never hit again. (seriously, I was counting and for a streak it went 3/18). After raging, cursing (and unfortunately losing almost 100 rating goddamnit) I figured out that the problem with the team was that with hydro pump, air slash, meteor mash, fireblast, AND stone edge, I was too prone to a single hax costing me the game. I tried surf but it lost too many crucial ko's... I was also having some trouble with powerful electric special attackers and with very fast pokemon, particularly those that can't be twaved (Starmie, Jolteon and Gliscor for example) So, I decided that I could afford to lose my rapid spinner by making gliscor my lead with taunt, and that a scarf latias would better cover my weaknesses. So:​

Final Team​

A Closer Look

Gliscor @ Leftovers
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
Ability: Sand Stream
Hp 252/Def 40/Spe 216
-Taunt
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rocks
-Roost

Pretty basic lead gliscor set, taunt help protect me from SR which are a pain in togekiss' side when she needs to survive a hit to rooststall, such as against a choice attacker. Getting my own rocks up isn't crucial, but is very helpful, as togekiss, jirachi, and meta all force switches. I chose roost over u-turn or stone edge because I like having him around to absorb electric attacks and counter lucario later in the game.

Synergy:
Ice - Heatran, Jirachi, Metagross
Water - Latias

Heatran @ Expert Belt
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Naive (+Spe, -SpD)

-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Explosion
-Hidden Power Grass
4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Spe
This pokemon has been very enjoyable, fire blast, especially with a boost kills many pokemon, particularly that darn celebi. I try to fake the scarf for as long as possible until I've seen much of the opponents team, and para support makes it easy to seem scarfed when they don't know their speed. Explosion is to take out blissey's that stay in, Hidden Power Grass is one of the best ways for my team to kill swampert, and earth power kills heatrans that switch in for flash fire. My +Spe nature lets me take out other Heatran, because choiced ones will usually fireblast assuming i'll switch, and I outspeed ones that try earth power.

Synergy:
Water - Latias
Ground - Latias, Togekiss, Gliscor
Fighting - Gliscor, Latias

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Calm (+SpD, -Atk)
252 Hp/4 Def/252 SpD
-Thunder Wave
-Air Slash
-Roost
-Substitute

The star of the team. There are very few attacks that can kill this thing, so she is able to paralyze them, roost (usually making their attack to half damage), and sub/roost until healed full. She then switches to metagross on an ice/rock move (or fully para) and he kills them. I chose substitute over aura sphere to protect against status (para = death) and to scout for super effective moves.

Synergy:
Ice - Heatran, Jirachi, Metagross
Electric - Latias, Gliscor
Rock - Jirachi, Metagross

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Impish (+def, -SpA)
240 Hp/160 Def/32 Spe/76 SpD
-Wish
-U-turn
-Body Slam
-Ice Punch

Great team pokemon here, able to wish pass to almost anyone on the team, particularly to metagross, who happily takes the healing and eats the paralyzed pokemon. Body slam is primary attack, pulling off para's before passing the pokemon off. I tried Iron Head for more flinch-hax, but it didn't hit any of the things I needed jirachi to (I'd rather pass to meta if they are para'd and steel kills them). Ice punch rather lets me kill gliscor and outrageing salamence and other ground types.

Synergy:
Fire - Heatran, Latias
Ground - Latias, Togekiss, Gliscor

Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid (+Spe, - Atk)
4 hp/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Surf
-Thunderbolt
-Trick

With this team, there are SO many chances for this pokemon to come in, kill something, and switch out. I have a bit of fear of pursuit users, but there's nothing that can be done about that. She outspeeds and ohko's +1 Gyara and Salamence, She kills starmie, she ohko's jolteon, she kills ground types with surf, etc. I'm considering switching trick for dragon pulse, as she has had little opportunity to need trick, but I think it might be worth keeping in case of heavy stall teams. I've also found many chances to pass her a wish, keeping her going for more kills.

Synergy:
Dragon: Heatran, Jirachi, Metagross
Bug: Gliscor, Heatran, Jirachi, Togekiss, Metagross
Ice: Heatran, jirachi, Metagross
Dark: Heatran
Ghost: Heatran, Togekiss

Metagross @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
248 Hp/252 Atk/8 Spe
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
-Zen Headbut
-Explosion

Its basically Agility gross, but the extra move lets me add something that hits levitaters and such, also since he doesn't need the speed ev's, it lets him get enough to switch in and kill. I'm still not positive on his moveset, I've tried mixed with shadowball for gengar/rotom, but it doesn't do all that much, zen headbut has some possibilities but I haven't tried it... thunderpunch is a little redundant on this team and would also be NVE on rotom. Hammer arm is a powerful move that would ensure kills on things like bliss and magnet rise magnezone, but also wouldn't hit rotom, meaning I'd have to lose my explosion. Advice on moveset here would be appreciated, but this is my main pokemon for finishing off opponents. Unlike agilitygross, it also has the option to switch out and finish its sweep later, coming in to kill the para'd pokemon then running. Zen Headbut is my most powerful move against Rotom, Zapdos, and some others while Ice is covered by other pokemon. 8 Speed ev's let me outspeed standard magnet rise Magnezone, just in case.

Synergy:
Fire: Heatran, Latias
Ground: Gliscor, Togekiss, Latias

So thats my team, I've been really enjoying it and could use some advice on how to perfect it. Cool side note - None of the pokemon on my team are susceptible to Toxic spikes, meaning I laugh at roserade leads! :-D

Final Look​

 

[Taang]

Hello,

On Gliscor definitely change your nature to Jolly and get rid of Yache for Leftovers. This will give you enough speed to outrun Jolly Lucario allowing you to take the designated Extreme Speed/Close Combat and always OHKO'ing with Earthquake. Yache Berry seems kind of useless with the lack of Ice type moves on leads nowadays and Leftovers will give you reliable recovery as Gliscor is one of the few mon' to be immune to Sandstorm.

Latias' nature should be changed to Timid, this will allow you to outpace many more threats something this team obviously needs.

Heatran would greatly benefit from Life Orb over Expert Belt as it will give him more power allwoing you to take out more threats. Taunt over Hidden Power will give you a nice stall breaker, something your team is in dire need of.

The last few nitpicks I have to offer would be on your two main Pokemon. If you want a more reliable Togekiss sweeper, I suggest you change him to the standard Nasty Plot version. Nasty Plot/ Roost/ Air Slash/ Aura Sphere along with 252 HP/ 152 SpA/ 104 Spe will give you a much more reliable sweeper that can still retain it's bulk that you like. On Metagross Thunder Punch will greatly benefit you as it will be a reliable check to Gyarados as well as Bulky waters. With Ice Punch and Draco Meteor on Jirachi/Latias respectively having a check to Dragons, Ice Punch on Metagross is not really needed.

Good Luck with the team!

 

[wildfire393]

A couple comments:

You say "Agilry" instead of Agility, and NFE (which is short for Not Fully Evolved) instead of Not Very Effective in your Metagross description.

Why Yache on lead Gliscor? The only lead I can think of that ever occasionally runs Ice moves is Swampert,and you don't have a chance of really beating him anyways (just set up rocks and gtfo). Leftovers seem to be a much better option. Also, if you want to be a Lucario counter, consider being Jolly, which lets you outspeed Jolly Luke. Additionally, with Jolly and Maxed speed you can guarantee to tie with Roserade Leads, possibly getting off your SR before you're slept.

Versus Rotom, Ice Punch is only as effective as Meteor Mash (100*1.5/2=75). Zen Headbutt is your most effective attack against him (80*1.5 STAB), but has mediocre coverage otherwise, hitting very little else harder than Mash/Quake (the few that come to mind are Zapdos, Tentacruel, Gengar, Weezing, Crobat, Gyarados, Machamp, Heracross, and Breloom)

@Taang: You missed the part where he uses Togekiss to set up Para, rather than simply sweeping.

 

[yond]

Synergy is good to go.

Really Solid team. I really like it in general and i like the main idea of the team.

I don't agree with your decision to switch to a LO sweeper metagross though. If you do stay with it though thunder punch will be more useful over ice punch
Agiligross actually works well with this team and could set up many sweeps if used correctly.

i know you argue that since most pokes will be paralyzed and you wont require speed i beg to differ. Most teams carry clerics or status absorbers now-a-days.( To name a few Heal Bell celebii,dnite, and the newly gained vaporeon and the now common rest talk rotom, crocune, etc)
Togekiss though able to take hits is ruined by things like status absorbers and thats where metagross comes into play.

Latias, gliscor, and togekiss are all perfect lures for him to set up. Latias in particular. Assuming you have latias mid-to late game agiligross could easily sweep through teams.

Once latias is in wait for one of the more common counters such as scizor, flygon, scarftar , etc. Mainly most pokes that like switching in on latias, gliscor hate meta.

Then you have your agility set up. As for the exact moveset
-Mash
-Earthquake
-Agility
-Thunderpunch
is what i prefer on my set. You already have a explosion user with heatran and gyara walls you with the more over used ice punch should be taken downf or thunderpunch as the fourth slot.

Hope this helps at all

 

[symphonyx64]

Just a nitpick, but I hope you're aware with a Modest nature on your Latias, you fail to outspeed a +1 Naive Salamence. Which is certainly less common than the typical Naughty one, but still, they exist. Just wanted to make it clear to you that you don't outspeed all +1 Salamences. Anyways, if a Salamence does manage to get a Dragon Dance off, your team is in real jeopardy.

To remedy this, you could easily switch your nature to Timid. Yes, you lose significant attacking power, but it could easily make the difference from a win to a loss. You still get the OHKO on Salamence with Draco Meteor. In addition to having a Timid nature, you ensure to tie opposing Timid Choice Scarf Latias when Scarfed and outspeed or tie all non-scarfed variants when you decide to Trick your Choice Scarf away.

 

[XahhFink6]

Some changes made already, Timid on Latias to outspeed max speed +1 pos nature salamence, Leftovers over Yache berry on Gliscor, and Zen headbut on meta with some speed ev's to outrun magnezone revenge killers. I will try jolly if I have problems with lucario, but I almost never see him jolly.

As far as putting agility on my gross, it feels like a waste of a moveslot, but I will try it out, as that opportunity has come up to use it, although remember that the same openings that togekiss latias and gliscor open for metagross can also be used by jirachi to get more paralysis or healing for my team.

Still working on his moveset, but I put thunderbolt on latias over dragon pulse specifically for gyarados/bulky waters, and I don't think that thunderpunch is going to counter as many problems as zen headbut will, although if I went agility it is probably the move I will try.

 

[MetaGross66]

Honestly, if you are going with paralysis why Metagross? If you are going to abuse paralysis, try out FO SD Heracross. It is a largely overlooked threat that can break stall arguably more reliably than even mixmence as DM causes a special attack drop which hinders it in some instances. With Heracross, you have consistent power and can even OHKO Skarmory with CC. Paralysis support is already provided by your team and the team already seems fit to lure out and KO/paralyze most things that trouble Heracross like Scizor. Without scarf Latias, you might have trouble with opposing Salamence. This is where a Scizor of your own can do you some good taking out Salamence and serving as a scout. It helps seeing as they have similar counters. Hope this suggestion helped and GL! :)

 

[XahhFink6]

As a question to anyone viewing, has anyone seen the match that I am refering to? It turns out that it is NOT on the Smogon youtube channel, and I have been trying to find it everywhere, particularly so that I can ask for a rate from the person I got it from. All I remeber from the match was the player's togekiss + metagross, and that the opponent had a salamence (that toge successfully soak'd and para'd)

Also, as I kinda said in my last post, Flame orb hera would lack the sustainability and re-use that metagross has... even with the chance of jirchi passes. Thanks for the reference symphony

Edit: Ok, someone appears to be deleting posts from this thread, I answered Metagross by responding that I use metagross for his sustainability and excessive power, but would look into other sweepers such as rhyperior, but would see no opportunity for heracross (especially a flame orb'd one) to switch in multiple times. I also put some question into what metagross meatn about removing scarf latias. Two other people posted here, giving only clarification on Metagross's point - one of which was symphony.

If this is a mod that is deleting these posts, please send me a private message so that I can correct whatever rule has been broken, as I am confused to why they are dissapearing. Thanks!

 

[MetaGross66]

No need to switch in multiple times if your team has a pokemon that shares Heracross's counters, and can eliminate them, as well as a pokemon that can switch into whatever Heracross would normally switch into. Scizor serves both these roles quite well. Also, if you have something like wishbliss (which is kinda hard to fit in now) it'll be far easier to pass wishes with Heracross's resistance to fighting type attacks.

 

[Snorlaxe]

Hello there.

Cool team, but there are a few changes I would make. First off, this team has a very large weakness to Adamant or Jolly Lucario. The only Pokemon that can actually counter it is Gliscor, but even he is KOed by a +2 Extremespeed after he falls down to 55% of his health. This is not an uncommon situation, seeing as Gliscor is your lead. From there, every member of your team is outsped by Lucario and is OHKOed by a Swords Dance Close Combat (barring Latias, who is OHKOed by Adamant Lucario's Extremespeed). An easy way to patch this up is to change Heatran to a Scarf Rotom-H. I suggest a spread of 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, a Timid nature, and a set of Thunderbolt, Overheat, Shadow Ball, and Trick (item obviously being Choice Scarf). Choice Scarf Rotom-H easily checks all Lucario, as well as Gyarados. The real benifit to using Rotom-H is that now Latias can afford to run a different set, as Rotom-H covers Gyarados as well. Trick is also a fun little surprise for your opponent, completely crippling any wall that switches in.

If you do decide to run Rotom-H, then Latias's moveset becomes free. I am going to suggest that you use a Life Orb three attacks variant. Go for a spread of 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe, a Timid nature, and a set of Draco Meteor, Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, and Recover. Life Orb Latias is an extremely diverse threat in the OU metagame, capable of dealing massive damage to every Pokemon that resides there, barring Steel-types, which are countered by Rotom-H and Gliscor. Draco Meteor is fantastic STAB, dealing massive damage to everything that switches in...even Steel-types will want to think twice. Thunderbolt allows you to KO water-types as well as flyers. Grass Knot is my preffered choice for the third slot as it allows you to OHKO Swampert, and deal heavy damage to Tyranitar. Recover is great instant Recovery, and makes the recoil damage from Life Orb a nonfactor. You can also run Dragon Pulse in the first slot if you dont like having your Special Attack reduced.

Lastly, as a small nitpick, I think that you should run Leftovers on Metagross instead of Life Orb. The extra recoil damage can really add up over time, and seeing as Metagross is by no means a fast Pokemon and many things outspeed it, even with paralysis support, you are going to want to be focusing more on survivability. Anyway, hope I helped the team, and good luck! ;)

 

[MadHater]

I havent really looked through the team in depth, but at a glance you appear to have a severe weakness in general to bulky waters. They may not neccesarily 6-0 you with little effort, but you seem to struggle against them and you dont have many if any switch ins or options against them. Crocune himself seems like it sweep you if they remove latias before hand or he has already tricked the scarf, same thing can be said about gyarados. Vaporeon alone can come in and effectively wall your team or cause alot of havok.

To combat this fault i would add a celebi in there somwhere. Not neccesarily sure what to switch out since i dont know how your team plays (maybe over latias? which will lead you vulnerable to ape but that can be solved by switching heatran out for a bulky water). But celebi adds to your teams synergy pretty significantly and fixes the bulky water problem. He can also be tailored to fit your theme with thunder wave, although i would reccomend leech seed to effectively "counter" crocune as much as possible.

If you do decide to go the route of a bulky water you could try rest talk Twave gyarados

If you go the route of both gyarados and celebi you can afford to make your jirachi a more specially defensive variant which allows you to use him as an effectively special wall and wish passer making it so you wont have to risk your metagross or togekiss (trick scarfing) to the likes of latias. There is also the possibility of leading with jirachi so you wont have to waste a moveslot on gliscor and can afford to use toxic.

The team also seems like it would really like rapid spin but i dont think you would be willing to lose togekiss, plus i cant actually think of a rapid spinner that would function like togekiss does. Another option you may want to consider on togekiss is heal bell over sub. Since it helps deal with status for not only togekiss but your team as a whole that seems to suffer from not having an actual status absorber.

The type synergy is there but i just dont see the pokemon synergy personally.

Heres a list of weakness i noticed :
Bulky waters
Status
Breloom in general
Stall
infernape (scarf latias is one of the easiest pokemon in OU to trap and kill)
Mono stat raisers ("cro-sets")

Maybe consider a new direction for the team, instead of trying to support metagross by building up to his potential sweep with para sweep maybe consider trying to lure, trap, and kill all of his counters while defensively supporting him until he can sweep.