Other Metagames Aegislash Godly Gift

[AustinXX555]

Hello everyone, today I've decided to make a Godly Gift team. This metagame stood out to me, and I was wanting to make one for a while now, and I think I've found one that works. Unfortunately, Showdown is (at the time this was made) unable to host Godly Gift matches, so I'm currently unable to test out the team, but I will make sure to play the metagame once it's open for the people again. I also don't expect this to get many replies (considering how many replies I got on my CAP team), but I do wish for your rates. Anyway let's get to the team.

Quick Disclaimer: I own nothing in this thread

If you couldn't tell by the title already, I chose Aegislash as my god. I mainly chose Aegislash for its defensive stats, allowing me to use bulkier pokemon. Aegislash's type is also phenomenal, and great for almost any team.

I figured a good pokemon to take Aegislash's plain attack (when at it's defensive form) is Mega-Gardevoir. Although there are other megas that could take this spot better, Mega Gardevoir was the one I chose due to it's great speed on top of a super strong special attack.

Bulky Volcarona anyone? No? Just me? Oh well... I figured a good setup sweeper that can set up incredibly well would be a good niche for the team, and it won't be the last niche on this team.

Just like with mega Gard, I need a mon to tank the special attack drop, and Garchomp was the one to do so. A SD chomp can easily setup and destroy opposing teams. This is all thanks to its decent natural bulk overall.

Time for niche number two, Tangrowth. Thanks to its natural physical bulk, Tangrowth made an easy pick for the Special Defense slot.

I'll admit, the last slot was the hardest to pin down. Aegislash's slow speed didn't go well with most of the OU pokemon. I originally went the Rotom-W, but its lack of coverage left me skeptical. Instead I went with Manaphy. If there's a better option for the sixth slot, please let me know, but for now Manaphy will be the sixth pokemon on this team.

To the sets!

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield
​

Aegislash being the god of my team is superb at that role, giving wonderful defensive capability in the forms of Volcarona and Tangrowth. Aegislash also plays a great offensive role thanks to its ability and move pool. The set itself is a rather standard SD set, which can also tank hits thanks to King's shield. Aegislash can also use priority against the opponent, but why Sacred Sword over Iron Head. For 1 Sacred Sword's effect is much more helpful to Aegislash than Iron Head's. With Iron Head, you're required to outspeed the opposing pokemon in order to make use of the flinch chance, but even then it's only a chance to flinch the opponent. Aegislash also struggles to outspeed most of the OU pokemon, let alone Ubers. Sacred Sword on the other hand negates any stat boosts from the opponent, meaning Iron Defense users won't be safe from a Sacred Sword (unless they quad resist it). Sacred Sword also gives Aegislash a fighting chance against common checks such as Weavile, Bisharp, and others. So next time you make an Aegislash build, you know what to go for.

Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
​

Hyper Voice Gardevoir hist incredibly hard, especially with a SpA stat of 429, and that's with a timid nature. Psyshock is there to mainly deal with special walls (even though Chansey and Blissey are banned from Godly Gift), and Shadow Ball is there for the pesky ghosts along with something to give you against steel types. Destiny Bond is there to throw the opponent off guard, and take out a possible threat. This is all complemented by a speed stats of 328, allowing Gardevoir to outspeed a great portion of the opposition.

Volcarona @ Life Orb
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Bug Buzz
​

One thing I like to do in this metagame is experimenting with different teams, and see what possible stats I can get on certain pokemon. Volcarona here is a good example of just that given the fact that it's in the defensive slot. That being said, the set up king returns on one of my teams once again, but this time, bulkier than before. This set is rather standard, but thanks to QD and Giga Drain, it can become a rather threatening tank, able to take hits both physical and special, and hit back like a truck, while being able to outspeed the opponent. All of that right there can easily spell success for my team.

Garchomp @ Expert Belt
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
​

Let's see here... powerful attack stat check, decent bulk check, The best set up move in the meta check, Item to make Garchomp even stronger, check. It's no surprise that Garchomp is one of the best SD users in the current OU meta, but Garchomp's offensive type and coverage give it an edge against the others. The set is very standard, so standard that even non competitive pokemon players probably use it. That's all there is to say really, the rest speaks for itself...

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
- Protect
​

Have no fear, Tangrowth, the wall that can stall the pants off of any team is here! With Tangrowth's amazing bulk thanks to Aegislash, an ability that promotes swaps, and four moves that can stall almost anything, Tangrowth is here to clean up. This stall set allows for great recovery, annoying status, and is very difficult to kill. That's all to say here really, now on to the last pokemon!

Manaphy @ Choice Specs
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball
​

Like I said before, I'm not exactly sure about Manaphy, due to the fact that its base 100 stats now meet a cripple in speed. However, this is what my team needs, a water type that can deal massive damage, and has good coverage. Although the Tail Glow set is slightly better, Manaphy's new speed along with the fact that half of my team already has setup moves, makes the specs set more appealing in my eyes for this team. The only problem is that Manaphy's ability doesn't really support this set, then again it doesn't support the Tail Glow set either.

Threat List and Replays
​

will sadly have to wait until further notice.

Conclusion
​

So that's my Godly Gift team. What's good about this team and what's bad about it? What would you do to make it better? I'll be glad to know.

 

[AustinXX555]

And yes, I do intend to edit in the Replays and Threat List once Godly Gift is back up on the OM of the Month, but until then, I'll be waiting for your thoughts.

 

[Yuelia]

First things first: I suggest the following quick fixes right off the bat:

Gardevoir to HP slot (68 to 60 isn't much of a downgrade)
Aegislash to Speed slot (this way, nothing else loses Speed)
Manaphy to Attack slot (self-explanatory, really)

One thing that stands out to me right off the bat about this team is the lack of hazards or, more importantly, hazard removal. Without any way of removing hazards, you're just asking for Volcarona to die early, and its newfound bulk is seriously hampered. Since you were unsure about Manaphy, here's what I suggest:

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
- Scald / Moonblast
- Taunt

Tapu Fini not only fixes the problem of hazard removal, but also sets Misty Terrain for a team that really, really hates status in general, fixing another problem at the same time. Speaking of status, that brings up another problem with your team: your Tangrowth's set is frankly awful. Tangrowth has 100/110 offenses, and it's a shame to let them go to waste in favor of status spam that doesn't even include Sleep Powder. It's hard walled by Ferrothorn, Venusaur, and even Kartana, which isn't even defensive. I suggest the standard physically defensive Tangrowth set on site, which is as follows:

Tangrowth @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 48 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power Ice

This set solves most of the issues with your Tangrowth build, preventing it from being a total sitting duck - and it helps that nothing else on your team has Knock Off, so Tangrowth can fill that niche as well. One final fix to make: you'll probably want something to set up Stealth Rock, since as mentioned above, your team currently has no hazards. I suggest adjusting your Garchomp's set to something more like this:

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance

This set fixes not only the issue with lack of hazards, but also accounts for your lack of a Z-move user, giving Garchomp a lot more power without the standard drawback of Outrage. If you don't use this set, I strongly suggest putting a Z-move on Volcarona instead, as Life Orb runs counter to the idea of giving it more bulk. It might also be worth considering Roost on it for this reason, though I can understand not wanting to lose out on coverage. Either way, Aegislash as a god is an interesting and unique idea, and I really hope your team works well for it. Best of luck!

 

[AustinXX555]

Thanks for the rate. While I'm not exactly sure about the changes you purpose (except the team slot changes, thanks m8), I will consider trying them out once Godly Gift is back up.

 

[SovereignC2]

First things first: I suggest the following quick fixes right off the bat:

Gardevoir to HP slot (68 to 60 isn't much of a downgrade)
Aegislash to Speed slot (this way, nothing else loses Speed)
Manaphy to Attack slot (self-explanatory, really)

One thing that stands out to me right off the bat about this team is the lack of hazards or, more importantly, hazard removal. Without any way of removing hazards, you're just asking for Volcarona to die early, and its newfound bulk is seriously hampered. Since you were unsure about Manaphy, here's what I suggest:

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
- Scald / Moonblast
- Taunt

Tapu Fini not only fixes the problem of hazard removal, but also sets Misty Terrain for a team that really, really hates status in general, fixing another problem at the same time. Speaking of status, that brings up another problem with your team: your Tangrowth's set is frankly awful. Tangrowth has 100/110 offenses, and it's a shame to let them go to waste in favor of status spam that doesn't even include Sleep Powder. It's hard walled by Ferrothorn, Venusaur, and even Kartana, which isn't even defensive. I suggest the standard physically defensive Tangrowth set on site, which is as follows:

Tangrowth @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 48 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power Ice

This set solves most of the issues with your Tangrowth build, preventing it from being a total sitting duck - and it helps that nothing else on your team has Knock Off, so Tangrowth can fill that niche as well. One final fix to make: you'll probably want something to set up Stealth Rock, since as mentioned above, your team currently has no hazards. I suggest adjusting your Garchomp's set to something more like this:

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance

This set fixes not only the issue with lack of hazards, but also accounts for your lack of a Z-move user, giving Garchomp a lot more power without the standard drawback of Outrage. If you don't use this set, I strongly suggest putting a Z-move on Volcarona instead, as Life Orb runs counter to the idea of giving it more bulk. It might also be worth considering Roost on it for this reason, though I can understand not wanting to lose out on coverage. Either way, Aegislash as a god is an interesting and unique idea, and I really hope your team works well for it. Best of luck!

The 48 spdef was to live an icebeam vs starmie or smth so dont think its needed on this tang