PU Spotlight: Aggron

By allstarapology, StickingGum, and TJ. Released: 2019/01/30.
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Art by Bummer

Art by Bummer.

Introduction

Despite never being a bad choice in PU per se, Aggron was often glossed over towards the beginning of SM PU for a couple of reasons. While its Choice Band set has always been able to easily put unprepared teams on the back foot, its below average Speed tier coupled with its poor special bulk made it easy for offensive teams to revenge kill it. Despite its typing providing it with a number of useful resistances and one immunity, it leaves Aggron extremely vulnerable to Fighting-, Ground-, and Water-types. The issue regarding its typing is especially bad, as Fighting-types dominated the early stages of the metagame and are still fairly popular, and its weaknesses prevented it from reliably keeping Pokémon like Archeops and Kangaskhan in check. Other wallbreakers like Pyroar as well as the aforementioned Archeops and Kangaskhan also gave it competition due to them being easier to fit on teams, forcing Aggron to be content with its B- status on the Viability Rankings.

However, things soon began to look up for Aggron. Palossand, a great defensive switch-in, rose to NU in April, and three great revenge killers in Passimian, Magmortar, and Archeops were banned. Balance became extremely popular after the latter two were banned, and Aggron's ability to heavily pressure most balance teams led to it increasing in popularity. Despite Ferroseed and Gastrodon being common, Aggron still managed to shine and slowly rose up the Viability Rankings, though the July tier shift was what changed everything. Ferroseed and Gastrodon rose to higher tiers, Spikes became metagame defining and easily wore down switch-ins, more experimentation with other sets, mainly its offensive Stealth Rock set, was conducted, and it saw consistently high usage throughout PUPL IV. Aggron had finally cemented itself as a top-tier threat and rose to A+ on the Viability Rankings until the metagame started to adapt to it with an influx of new checks. Mudsdale and Poliwrath became more popular on balance teams; wallbreakers like Jellicent exploited its Speed tier; Oricorio-E and Mesprit started running Hidden Power Fighting and Hidden Power Ground, respectively; and Quagsire and Gastrodon dropped down to PU. While it isn't as good as it was in past metagames due to adaption, Aggron is still a formidable threat.

Aggron

It's not difficult to see why this is Aggron's most popular set. Because of the move receiving boosts from both STAB and Choice Band, Head Smash is among one of the strongest moves in the tier and can shred through most Pokémon with ease. Even Tangela has a high chance of being 2HKOed after Stealth Rock by Jolly Aggron, while Adamant Aggron can 2HKO most of the time without Stealth Rock if it doesn't miss. Certain Rock-resistant Pokémon like offensive Poliwrath can also struggle with consistently switching into Aggron because of its sheer power. While Aggron can be checked by bulkier Rock-resistant Pokémon such as Mudsdale and Probopass, it can potentially dispatch them with the appropriate coverage moves. Two main things that make this set a massive annoyance to defensive teams are Aggron's Speed and typing. Aggron's resistance to Stealth Rock and immunity to Toxic can give it multiple opportunities to switch in against bulkier teams, and though its Speed isn't very impressive against offense, it is high enough for Aggron to outpace most defensive Pokémon. It can also make use of its typing to switch on threats such as physical Skuntank and Stoutland locked into Return, Pursuit, or Facade and wreak havoc.

Aggron

Despite not being as powerful or seeing as much usage as the Choice Band set, Stealth Rock Aggron is still quite a threatening set. Aggron is an effective user of Stealth Rock for a couple of reasons. Aggron's good offensive presence discourages most entry hazard removers from switching in, and it can still use its typing to check threats like physical Skuntank and set up entry hazards. As mentioned before, Aggron outspeeds a lot of defensive Pokémon, which gives it an easier time shutting them down and potentially forcing them out with Taunt. This set is especially dangerous for bulkier teams to face due to its ability to threaten common Defog users found on these teams like Articuno and Altaria while also preventing recovery with Taunt. Shuca Berry and Chople Berry were initially the go-to items for this set, as they shore up Aggron's nasty 4x weaknesses to Ground- and Fighting-type moves and allow it to more easily take on offensive teams as well as Pokémon like Kangaskhan and Hitmonchan. However, Rockium Z began to see usage following PU Premier League IV for its ability to make up for the set's lack of immediate wallbreaking power compared to the Choice Band set.

Counterplay to Aggron

As a direct result of Aggron's prominence, defensive teams adapted to it in various ways in order to prevent it from easily claiming an OHKO every time it switched in. A great example of this is Mudsdale, a Pokémon considered wholly mediocre at the beginning of SM PU. However, its newfound access to Stealth Rock through USM move tutors and ability to keep threats like Aggron as well as Lycanroc and Alolan Dugtrio in check led to it rising from C+ to A on the Viability Rankings. Poliwrath, a Pokémon that had also been on the rise for its ability to check these threats, soon began running more defensive sets to more solidly check them, and this was majorly due to Aggron. Quagsire dropping was a massive boon for balance and stall, providing the playstyles with a hard check to Aggron that also handled setup sweepers like Gurdurr thanks to Unaware. The most recent adaptation to Aggron is Metang, a previously niche Pokémon. Metang found a place on balance teams, mainly for its ability to check prominent Pokémon such as Stoutland, Aurorus, and Dodrio, but also for its ability to prevent Aggron from spamming its STAB attacks freely. While defensively checking Aggron can be hard, it is possible and has gotten easier. An important thing to keep in mind is that its defensive measures aren't overly niche and have worth outside of dealing with it.

On the other hand, offensively checking Aggron has always been relatively simple, as its multiple weaknesses, low Speed, and poor special bulk leave it vulnerable to offensive threats like Primeape, Jellicent, and Lilligant. Pokémon such as Oricorio-E and defensive Mesprit run Hidden Power Fighting and occasionally Hidden Power Ground, respectively, which prevents Aggron from easily switching in and pressuring them.

Closing Words

Aggron's had quite the ride ever since Sun and Moon PU was released, going from just another slow wallbreaker to an offensive juggernaut that must be prepared for. Recent metagame shifts haven't been kind to Aggron, with Quagsire and Gastrodon returning, two new offensive checks in Jellicent and Dodrio dropping, and switch-ins like Mudsdale only becoming more and more common; however, it's still a formidable threat that should be considered if you need a wallbreaker as well as accounted for when building.

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