Other Metagames AAA – ISN'T EVERYONE (peaked 1743, 91.2 GXE)

[Glory]

ISN'T EVERYONE
Kingambit Bulky Offense

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Table of Contents:
1. Introduction

2. Proof of Peak

3. Building Process

4. The Team

5. Weaknesses

6. Alternate Options

7. Replays

8. Shoutouts

Introduction​

Welcome. My name is Glory, though if you didn't already know that then I don't know how you ended up here. I am primarily an Anything Goes player—at the time of writing this, at least, subject to change—though I don't particularly enjoy nor play it that much right now. My first exposure to Almost Any Ability was last year during AAAPL where I was drafted by the worst performing team, was benched the first three weeks, and was given next to no support. I still did quite well and greatly enjoyed the meta, so I've stuck with it until now, with some on and off breaks.

Sadly the meta has gotten vastly worse since I started. I was drafted by the Heart Takers in OMPL to support AAA, during which time I heavily disliked the tier, which was reflected in my uninspired (and often mediocre) builds. I still think the meta is kinda bad but I've softened my view quite a bit, mostly owing to expanding my horizons when it came to my builds. I still find myself disagreeing with a lot of prevalent players on the metagame, which honestly just makes it more fun since nobody likes when everybody agrees on the most boring takes possible.

As I was messing around with a bunch of shit I find cool I inneviteably built a good amount of teams. I laddered quite a bit with a team I liked just to mess around with some stuff and I kept winning. It crossed my mind that I might've built something really solid. Then I kept winning and I decided to make this RMT. And yes, there will be a lot of yapping.

Proof of Peak

warning, ladder contained within

View attachment 655945
View attachment 655946

Building Process

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For me, one of the hardest parts of building a team is the beginning. It's tough trying to find an interesting enough idea to build around while still being good. The core idea for this team came about when I decided to dip my toes into OU and saw that Zamazenta had joined Kingambit as an S rank Pokemon. I've always been an advocate for Kingambit in AAA, and it had been very solid on another recent team of mine so I was certain it was good in the current meta. IronPress Zamazenta is something that I really started to pay attention to recently, and it seemed like a good partner for Kingambit due to the latter's advantage against Psychic-types and utter dominance over Pecharunt.

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I added Iron Treads because I decided I didn't want to be scrambling to fit hazard control later. I chose Iron Treads because I liked the defensive utility of soft-checking Zapdos and Scream Tail.

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Landorus (both Therian and Incarnate) are more mons I think are criminally underrated. At this point I was very weak to Fighting- and Ground-type moves, and Fluffy Landorus-T covers both of those excellently, on top of carrying both Stealth Rock and U-turn. Most of the physical attackers are pretty well covered with both Lando and Zama.

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I needed a special wall that could cover Fire- and Water-types, so I added Manaphy. That's about it.

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Scarf Meowscarada is a good cleaner that synergizes well with the other attackers, being the best way to pressure Water-types for the team, while being able to fit Toxic Spikes to make the team that much harder to handle.

I completed the team, but felt unsatisfied. It wasn't bad, for sure, but nor did it particularly enthuse me. In all honesty, I had tried to make a good team with the combination of Kingambit and Zamazenta all the way back in March, and I was starting to doubt that it would be possible. I decided to give it one more shot.

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See above.

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Deoxys-Speed seemed really nice as it can offensively check pretty much everything that Kingambit and Zamazenta cannot. I settled on a Hadron Engine set because I didn't want Psychic Surge to interfere with Kingambit, and because Hadron Engine Psycho Boost is a beautiful thing.

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For all the shit I talk about this mon, a bulky physical wall with Defog, U-turn, great typing, and a great matchup into most of the top physical attackers will never be bad, especially on ladder where players are much worse at punishing the bird.

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Corviknight and Swampert have some remarkeable synergy, don't they? Only a few things are able to get through the two of these.

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At this point I still needed Stealth Rock as well as some way to not get 6-0ed by IronPress Zamazenta, which really does limit my options. Luckily enough Scream Tail was pretty much the perfect fit, as it can help handle many of the biggest threats in the meta, while having great longevity that it can extend to the rest of the team via Wish.

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I had literally no water resist before. Oops. Thankfully changing Deoxys-Speed to Scarf Latios massively helped the issue—as well as overall defensive stability—while still performing all of the same key functions.

The Team

ISN'T EVERYONE (Kingambit) @ Muscle Band / Black Glasses
Ability: Tough Claws
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Kowtow Cleave
- Low Kick
- Sucker Punch
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Maybe the single most important team member, Kingambit is a brutal wallbreaker, cleaner, and sweeper that can brute force through most of its checks and end games with a devastating punctuality. I opted for a set with Low Kick instead of the standard Iron Head in order to OHKO Ting-Lu after a Swords Dance, do large damage to Iron Hands, and to OHKO Heatran unboosted. Tough Claws is used instead of Sword of Ruin both to not reveal Low Kick and to increase Sucker Punch damage into opposing Sword of Ruin Pokemon. I opted for the rarely-seen Muscle Band as the held item for its ability to achieve notable calcs with both its Dark-type moves and Low Kick (contained below.) Black Glasses is equally valid as a held item though, as the marginal boost in power is relevant against a few key targets. Kingambit is a crucial piece of the team's gameplan both as a sweeper and as speed control due to its powerful Sucker Punches keeping many threats in check. Its defensive utility is also very important in beating the broken Psychic-types like Deoxys-Speed and Azelf, as well as helping handle Chien-Pao, Roaring Moon, and Meowscarada.

Muscle Band vs Black Glasses calcs

Muscle Band:
+2 252+ Atk Muscle Band Tough Claws Kingambit Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ting-Lu: 520-614 (101.1 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Muscle Band Tough Claws Kingambit Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Great Tusk: 168-198 (45.2 - 53.3%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Muscle Band Tough Claws Kingambit Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Hands: 396-466 (88.1 - 103.7%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Muscle Band Tough Claws Kingambit Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Zamazenta: 152-179 (46.7 - 55%) -- 68.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+4 252+ Atk Muscle Band Tough Claws Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 366-431 (104.2 - 122.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Black Glasses:
252+ Atk Black Glasses Tough Claws Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 231-273 (71.9 - 85%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (I faced so many scarf or specs zapdos on ladder so this definitely matters)
252+ Atk Black Glasses Tough Claws Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Moth: 304-358 (100.9 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Black Glasses Tough Claws Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Manaphy: 352-415 (87.1 - 102.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Paranoid (Zamazenta) @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 80 HP / 32 Atk / 240 Def / 12 SpD / 144 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam / Stone Edge
- Substitute
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Another key member of the team, Zamazenta is the primary win condition as well as one of the best ways to handle certain physical attackers. Heavy Slam and Stone Edge are both good options on this team as Scream Tail and Zapdos are about equally threatening. I personally used Heavy Slam due to ladder's infatuation with the loud pink ball, and because I believed it would be easier to outplay Zapdos with Latios. Substitute is indispensable because it provides security against random scarfers or fast mons, as well as enabling setup in situations like a Manaphy spamming Scald. 144 Speed with a Jolly nature lets Zamazenta outspeed Iron Boulder (I was initially 140 Speed for Meowscarada then lost a tie against Boulder, hence increasing the speed) while 32 Attack will always 2HKO uninvested Scream Tail even with Protect. 80 HP with 12 Special Defense has a 75% chance for Sub to survive Manaphy's Scald, allowing you to set up quite consistently without fearing getting Burned.

A.D.H.D. (Latios) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Hadron Engine
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock / Luster Purge
- Trick / Flip Turn
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One of my favorite mons to use in AAA and probably my favorite Pokemon overall, Latios is both the team's primary speed control and a potent wallbreaker. Hadron Engine is far superior to the more standard Adaptability because it effectively gives a third STAB move with incredible coverage. Psyshock and Trick are my preferred last two moves to better handle stall, though Luster Purge and Flip Turn are valuable options to consider. Modest is the best nature but I ran Timid on ladder to outspeed +Spe Deoxys-S.

Modest calcs

252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Corviknight in Electric Terrain: 426-502 (106.5 - 125.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Timid is only 80% chance to OHKO)
252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Swampert: 208-246 (51.4 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Roaring Moon: 408-482 (98.7 - 116.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Pecharunt: 346-408 (91 - 107.3%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zamazenta: 338-402 (104 - 123.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Iron Boulder: 289-342 (90 - 106.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Hadron Engine Latios Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Scream Tail in Electric Terrain: 165-195 (44.4 - 52.5%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Nightcall (Corviknight) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog​

Yeah. Maybe Corviknight isn't so bad after all. There's not really much to explain with this mon, everything is bog standard. I guess it's worth noting that Body Press is entirely unnecessary with Zamazenta so Corviknight should always be Brave Bird. Leftovers is used over Helmet for added longevity.

Mother (Swampert) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 1 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab​

Another incredibly basic set, Swampert is the team's only special wall and only Fire-type resistance with longevity. It can't really be any other RegenVest because all of the others either lose to the electrics (Manaphy), lose to the fires (Iron Treads), or lose to Scream Tail (Roaring Moon). Poison Jab is run as the last move to handle Scream Tail better and to fish for poisons on stuff like Manaphy. 1 Speed IV is because I really hate speed ties. I'd rather know that opposing Swampert will always have pivot advantage because that means I can feel comfortable clicking Knock Off or Earthquake or whatever. It also means you don't have to worry about speed tying minimum speed Empoleon so you can EQ.

NEW MAGIC WAND (Scream Tail) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 84 HP / 16 Def / 132 SpA / 24 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Protect
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Tying the team together is everybody's favorite ball of love, joy, and hearing damage. Scream Tail sets Stealth Rock, checks every slower offensive threat with its speed, checks every faster offensive threat with its bulk, and keeps everyone healthy with Wish. The EVs are optimized to have good odds to live +1 Dragonite's Extreme Speed and Choice Specs Primarina's Weather Ball. Scream Tail does a lot for this team and will likely be on the field for 1/3rd of the average game. As long as you are smart with how you Wish, you can pass it to pretty much any teammate, massively improving the team's longevity.

Weaknesses​

The team was awfully reliant on either keeping Scream Tail in pristine condition or winning a Sucker Punch 50/50 with Kingambit in order to not be absolutely ruined by DD Roost Dragonite. Funnily enough my only loss to it despite the weakness was to it critting Swampert. Thank god this dumbass is banned now.


Three mons are slower than it and the entire team is 2HKOed. Kingambit and Zamazenta both can let it in too (unless running Adaptability and Iron Head on Kingambit.) If you can sacrifice something to get Swampert in to remove the Choice Specs, it becomes much easier to handle.


The other Fire-types (Iron Moth, Heatran, and Moltres) are also very annoying, but Cinderace is the worst to face as both Latios and Swampert aren't particulary good into it, and it can even bypass Sucker Punch with Will-O-Wisp.


RegenVest Treads walls both Scream Tail and Latios, denies hazards, and is just a bitch. Trick it with Latios ASAP so you can at least get rocks on it with Scream Tail.


Don't run into Ceruledge.

Alternative Options
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This version of the team is arguably better. It turns some otherwise solid matchups into uphill battles (Zamazenta, Roaring Moon, CB Great Tusk, Ogerpons, and Meowscarada) in exchange for drastically improving the bad matchups into Primarina, Cinderace, and Dragonite. Stone Edge Zamazenta is probably better here due to having two solid checks to Scream Tail, with Kingambit being Adaptability just in case. The EV spreads are adjusted accordingly to the new sets and team structure. Manaphy name is from here.

In general the team is flexible as long as you keep the same general idea. Wanna run some random immunity on Corv to ease some of the bad matchups? Be my guest. Fluffy Tusk instead of Zama so you can run Skarm and drop rocks on Stail? I really wouldn't recommend it but you do you. Most of the sets can be tweaked a little bit (Fluffy Corv, Ice Beam Pert, Adapt Gambit) and still retain their effectiveness.

Replays​

an actually good BO
band ceru
screens
a blatant counterteam
a more blatant counterteam (same person too, back to back games)
beating dnite and regen hands after getting haxxed (focus blast ghold was also just for me)
unironically the hardest game I played
regen stail + fluffy tusk
caneless zapdos gets 6-0ed :O

Shoutouts​

Swas
Maybe 5% of our conversations are ever about mons, but who cares. You've been an absolute pleasure to interact with in pretty much every way, even if you can be annoying at times. I wish you nothing but the best and hope I can spend more time with you.

Geysers
You were by far the most influental person when it comes how I do anything Smogon today. You've been a great friend for the past twenty or so months.

Isaiah
For better or for worse you are the reason I care even a little about AAA now. It's too bad that you dislike the current meta so much, as fair as that opinion is. Still always a great time talking with you.

PrimalKyogre
God you're such a fucking nerd.

Frozoid
There is literally nobody more qualified to be leading the AG community, I hope you keep up the great work.
ponchlake come back I miss you

AG people

RL
Rose
Lana
Bread Sandwich
Ransei
aerobee
Wildfiree

I don't really have anything in particular to say to any of you, just wanted to let you know that you're all great.

OM people

Ivar57 and ojr thank you so much for drafting me to the Heart Takers, it was by far my favorite team environment I've ever been on.
HiZo and SammyCe123 to add on to my previous statement, the two of you were a large part of why I enjoyed being on the team so much. I really hope I get another chance to be on another team with either of you.

Quantum Tesseract we don't interact very often, but when we do it's always a good time.
DeepFriedMagikarp you were the only person I discussed the meta with at all for the past few weeks, thanks for that.
Gimmicky I don't really know you all too well, which is a shame, but you're always a great presence.
kenn you're a great guy, it's a shame you're always doing pointless shit like "having a family."

other folks idk that well but am tagging for likes

Evie Slither Wing UT matte BoingK SpaceSpeakers Murphy Lawden Kinetic temp Fluore hidin Clas

Probably a few people I missed but eh, I don't really care.

songs I listened to while laddering

I listen to a very wide variety of stuff lmao. Here's most of what I played, in addition to the nicks.

m.A.A.d city
Shoot to Thrill
Future Club
Runnin' Down A Dream
Fuel
Kingslayer
Fortunate Son
Collard Greens (why does this video hate epileptics?)
Mr. Brightside
RISE
Born in the U.S.A.
The Man Who Sold the World
N.Y. State of Mind
Tenebre Rosso Sangue
Uebok - YMIR Remix
Enter Sandman
The Blacker The Berry

I had this entire thing sitting for nearly two weeks what is wrong with me?

 

[PrimalKyogre]

so I sit down and check smogon, right? and im like, “why am I tagged in this post?”

PrimalKyogre
God you're such a fucking nerd.

oh yeah, cool team

 

[Wildfiree]

Goat

 

[RL]

so I sit down and check smogon, right? and im like, “why am I tagged in this post?”


oh yeah, cool team

SAME
also congrats on the peak bro, fire team