Other Metagames The Squad of Squads 1v1 (peaked #1)

[Gross Sweep]

The Squad of Squads
Created By: Gross Sweep

Background

I’ve been playing Pokémon with a truly competitive mindset for a little over a year now, and it’s been great (mainly OU and OM’s). I started playing 1v1 when I saw the perish song suspect test, which I got reqs for, and have never looked back. Sadly though the ORAS Meta game is coming to a close in just a few days. So with the end of an era approaching I would like to say a final goodbye to one of my favorite and most successful teams in my favorite tier 1v1.


Warning to raters

As anyone who plays 1v1 with any consistency knows the 1v1 ladder is a wonderful place full of counter teaming. This causes no team of three to ever be perfect. I’m sure they all lose to some obscure gimmicky set, or one of the other several hundred mons in the tier. With this in mind remember that while I’m sure this team does have a weakness or two I did manage to peak number 1 on the ladder with it (proof will be provided later), and got 2 accounts into the top 10 at the same time solely using this team on the climb up – so it’s not that bad, and I won’t replace any mons no matter how good your argument may be (The Team Is Retired).


The Team

Team building process

The first Mon I used on this team was M-Gyarados. This Mon has been my rock through 6th gen 1v1, and never disappoints – truly deserves the S+ rank it holds, and is fitting that it stars my last team.

The second Mon was Aegislash. Aegislash helps the team deal with fairies like Gardevoir along with providing a decent match-up vs most normal types – primarily hyper beam spammers.

The final Mon selected was Landorus. Landorus beats every Charizard set which plagues the 1v1 tier (except scarf HP ice, which isn’t a thing thankfully), and deals with grass types that stop Gyara.


Closer Look

Mega Gyarados

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 96 Def / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Crunch​

The Gyarados definitely has the most complex EV spread on the team, but I can assure you it’s not just nonsense. Mega Gyarados is EV’d to take 2 Fusion Bolts from Kyurem-B in mega form, 2 Solar Beams in regular form from Zard-Y, out speed base 102’s after 1 Dragon Dance, and the rest were just poured into attack to hit as hard as possible to go along with an Adamant nature. Aside from a killer spread Gyarados also has two great abilities intimidate and mold breaker. Intimidate allows for Gyara to severely cripple physical attackers giving it extra bulk that’s greatly appreciated. Then after mega evolution it accesses mold breaker which allows Gyara to OHKO mons that are looking to live a hit thanks to sturdy like Golem or Aggron, as well as beat fear - which every good team should have a way of doing.

The move set is pretty simple: Dragon Dance to boost speed and power, Crunch and Waterfall as great dual stab, and Outrage to hit dragons and Zard-y in the sun. While M-Gyara does beat a large portion of the metagame it does have a few weaknesses like M-Sableye, grass types, Specs Porygon-Z, and most fairies. It may seem like a lot, but it actually isn’t that bad by 1v1 standards – and besides that’s what teammates are for…


Aegislash

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak

The first thing that comes to mind when talking about Aegislash has to be its ability Stance Change allowing Aegi to switch back and forth between being an offensive and defensive juggernaut. Another advantage to this ability is the way it changes stances through a move called King’s Shield allowing Aegi to cripple any Mon that launches a physical contact attack at it. This leads to some interesting 50/50’s due to the fear of King’s shield, that can potentially allow Aegi to win some games it probably shouldn’t on paper – The prime example being Gyarados, you can win if you predict correctly 8 turns or so in a row (I’ve only done it once, so not a reliable answer). Another advantage Aegislash has is the ability to beat endure Custap strategies thanks to priority and King’s Shield.

The move set is pretty standard: Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon provide strong stab moves, King’s shield allows you to change back to Shield form from Blade form, and Shadow Sneak allows Aegi to pick up KO’s Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon barely miss out on – and priority is always nice to have. Also the EV spread is very simple, max HP to maximize Aegislash’s bulk and max Special Attack to hit like a truck. Pair that max special attack with a weakness policy and you get a truly dangerous combination allowing for Aegi to take on mons like Greninja which it couldn’t beat normally.


Landorus

Property of Glyx (Landorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Substitute
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide
- Sludge Wave

The glue, the missing piece, the final mon of the team – Landorus-i. First a little side note, every Landorus I run I nickname “Property of Glyx” because she was the first one to introduce this mon to me in the 1v1 format – so thanks, and I encourage everyone reading this to also nickname there Lando Property of Glyx.

Getting back to the actual competitive part of this, Lando beats all Zards. Simply substitute turn 1 then click rock slide if they’re Zard-Y and Earth Power if Zard-X. Landorus also beats M-mawile with earth power, which threatens the rest of the team. Substitute can also be used to stop endure custap strategies, beat fear, and take on M-venuasur. The final move is Sludge Wave which beats whimsicott that stalls out the other 2 members of my team, along with taking on other fairies and grass types that otherwise cause the team trouble. The EV spread is simple, max speed and max special attack to hit as hard and fast as possible, and when you mix that with Sheer Force and Life Orb you get a really dangerous Combination.



Checklist of top tier threats and how to win
​

Mons listed in this section are S or A in the viability rankings, keep in mind other viable mons exist when building I just don't have the time to go through every playable mon in the tier

(As I stated before you wont be able to beat everything, but you should come close. This section is to detail how my team of 3 deals with every top tier threat in the meta game.)

(also the site for the sprites didn't have ORAS megas so they will be represented by there base forms)

4 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard Y: 551-650 (185.5 - 218.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You click substitute first turn to establish what Zard you’re facing, then click Rock Slide

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard X: 523-616 (176 - 207.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You click substitute the first turn to establish what Zard you’re facing, then click Earth Power

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Kyurem-B: 390-458 (99.7 - 117.1%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

Flash Cannon should KO, and you can finish with Shadow Sneak if it doesn’t. Also if Kyurem-B used Earth Power you’ll be at +2 so easy kill

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 244 SpD Mega Mawile: 374-445 (123.4 - 146.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just click Earth Power turn 1, and beat any M-Mawile

No calc here I’m just going to explain. My Gyara is super bulky so it usually wins the 1v1, click DD twice then spam Outrage (The spread for Gyara ranges so drastically it's not worth showing a calc)

252 SpA Choice Specs Porygon-Z Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 190-224 (58.6 - 69.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Aegislash eats specs Dark Pulse from PZ and easily KO’s back with Flash Cannon thanks to weakness policy

252 SpA Choice Specs Meloetta Hyper Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gyarados: 289-342 (73.3 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Gyara can take a Hyper Beam then KO with Crunch

68+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Meloetta: 360-426 (105.5 - 124.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

68+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Outrage vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragonite: 304-358 (94.1 - 110.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

With the intimidate and mold breaker just DD turn 1, then click Outrage

236 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 234-276 (72.2 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Take the Dark Pulse in shield form, then KO with Flash Cannon

+2 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Greninja: 469-553 (164.5 - 194%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just pray no dark pulse flinch

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 176 SpD Mega Slowbro: 314-372 (79.6 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Spam Shadow Ball, or even Shadow Ball into Sneak

-1 252 Atk Choice Band Garchomp Outrage vs. 252 HP / 92 Def Mega Gyarados: 168-198 (42.6 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

You take a hit, so you can get off a DD and click Outrage

+1 60+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Outrage vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 452-532 (126.6 - 149%) -- guaranteed OHKO

4 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 380-452 (140.2 - 166.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just click Rock Slide turn 1

68+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rhyperior: 468-552 (107.8 - 127.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Mega and click Waterfall

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Whimsicott: 821-967 (254.1 - 299.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just click Sludge Wave turn 1

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 240 SpD Filter Mega Aggron: 316-374 (91.8 - 108.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

It’s rare for Aggron to run that much Sp Def in 1v1 in the first place, so you should KO – but still Sub turn 1 to avoid possible Metal Burst

+2 68+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 385-454 (54.6 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Chansey is a bit difficult (especially fully physical Chansey), but try to get +2 then spam Waterfall. Stall is hard to play against with this team.

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 16 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gardevoir: 248-294 (88.2 - 104.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

Flash Cannon into Shadow Sneak for an easy KO

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 421-499 (139.8 - 165.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Click Earth Power turn 1, if they carry Protect you could Sub first turn if you predict the Protect

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 284-336 (91.3 - 108%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

Flash Cannon into Shadow Sneak for an easy KO



Proof of peak

proof

http://imgur.com/a/52pu8

Importable
Property of Glyx (Landorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Substitute
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide
- Sludge Wave

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 96 Def / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Crunch

Closing thoughts on ORAS

Even though ORAS is leaving, it will never be forgotten. Gen 6 was my introduction to competitive play, and I can’t wait to build off my experiences and hopefully have an even more successful time in Gen 7.

Shout-outs to those who have made ORAS Great

I’d like to take the time to shout out those people who made not just 1v1, but my experience on the Smogon forums and Pokémon showdown chat rooms so great by either being a friend or giving me advice, your all great people who made me feel welcomed to the smogon community
(yes, I’m sucking up so you like the post ;)

Shout outs

CT Leaders p2 quziel MrAldo
CT Friends explodingdaisies Smile4me sniperr
1v1 squad Whaleeeee The Official Glyx dusk raimon Uselesscrab Dream Eater Gengar Elo Bandit

and to anyone else I might of forgot, sorry didn't want to take a ton of time on shout outs - if you want to be added let me know

The End, Goodbye ORAS

​

 

[Elo Bandit]

I've only got two suggestions, but they're pretty tiny. You've done a great job building this team.

First, if you stick 8 more EVs into mega Dos speed, you can outspeed Jolly Chomp after one DD. This lets you deal with those annoying Jolly BandChomps that otherwise 2hko you.
Second, 20 EVs into Aegislash's spDef lets you survive a +2 Modest Porygon-Z Dark Pulse. This is important because you kinda get screwed over vs defensive custap/nasty plot PZ.

That's all. Overall fantastic team, and I'm looking forward to play with you in SuMo 1v1!

 

[Gross Sweep]

I've only got two suggestions, but they're pretty tiny. You've done a great job building this team.

First, if you stick 8 more EVs into mega Dos speed, you can outspeed Jolly Chomp after one DD. This lets you deal with those annoying Jolly BandChomps that otherwise 2hko you.
Second, 20 EVs into Aegislash's spDef lets you survive a +2 Modest Porygon-Z Dark Pulse. This is important because you kinda get screwed over vs defensive custap/nasty plot PZ.

That's all. Overall fantastic team, and I'm looking forward to play with you in SuMo 1v1!

First off thanks for the critiques, but like any team builder I'm gonna have to give my 2 cents on the proposed changes.

First when dealing with Garchomp - The calc in the thread actually doesn't include the intimidate drop on chomp (my fault for a bad calc), and with the drop gyara avoids the 2hko from jolly band outrage. Although I still will increase the speed, just isn't mandatory to win.

Then onto PZ. I actually don't think moving ev's to sp def is really warranted, because for the most part the team deals with PZ fairly well. In order for PZ to be a problem it first has to be the endure set over the common specs or scarfed sets, then it has to be modest over timid (I'm sure more are modest, but this will still eliminate a few), then it has to carry dark pulse - it will have nasty plot/endure/hyper beam/filler so the chances of it having dark pulse aren't 100%, and then it has to pretty much get a max roll, and the chances of that happening just aren't enough for me to make a change for one mon specifically. - trying to look at the big picture, and I feel the extra power will be more beneficial overall.

+2 252+ SpA Porygon-Z Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 278-328 (85.8 - 101.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Also if it is the endure set with dark pulse I can just go lando and start to set up substitutes for a fairly easy win - if played correctly.

Yes all critiques had merit, but it's starting to slip into that over centralized approach where you start to look at a few odd possibilities in depth, instead of the meta game as a whole. Like yes that PZ set has an outside chance of being an issue, but in the grand scheme of things a random crit or flinch is more scary and a bigger problem for the team.