But Relicanth knows Rock Polish as well.
I had Aggron on Sapphire, and was very impressed as well. CB Aggron appeals to me best, as it hits most Pokemon in the game for SE damage:Aggron has been one of my favourites ever since I first saw it on my Ruby cartridge, so I'm very happy that it's finally usable in standard play. Anyway, here's an interesting set that I found while looking through the New and "creative" moveset/EV spread thread. It was posted by fmsYEAH. I haven't had a chance to test it yet, because Shoddy isn't working properly for me at the moment, but I'm defiantly going to test it when I get the chance.
But Relicanth is not liking the 50% recoil regardless and his stats are inferior to Aggron.
But that's just me.
Aggron is just more hyped than Relicanth for its Steel-typing (meaning resistance to SR and immunity to Toxic Spike), its awkwardly high physical emphasis, and the 44 greater attack points than Relicanth's. Then the different move-pool and that's about it.
Who'd switch heatran into a aggron and risk a cb head smash.
But it loses out on that nice Swift swim.
Then aggron just switches out?Revenge killing.
Ah right, i didn't see the part about RP aggron.Good, then Aggron loses his Rock Polish boost. And he can't stay in to deal damage. Sounds good to me.
And, as I said before, Relicanth's speed means that Scarf Heatran can't revenge kill it after a Rock Polish, whereas Aggron will fall to Earth Power unless it's Jolly, in which case the difference in attack power is not that big.
Who'd switch heatran into a aggron and risk a cb head smash.
Revenge killing.
Good, then Aggron loses his Rock Polish boost. And he can't stay in to deal damage. Sounds good to me.
Ah right, i didn't see the part about RP aggron.
RP aggron outspeeds all scarf heatran if aggron's jolly, so it won't be revenge killing.
Since it would appear that people want to compare Relicanth and Aggron in OU, I'm going to outline the pros and cons of both in this post (I've used both in OU quite a bit, so none of this is theorymon):
Relicanth
Pros:
- Though his resistances are few, the 4x Fire and 2x Ice resistance are extremely helpful
- Nearly unresisted STAB combo
- Physical Fighting and Ground attacks are pretty much required to have STAB and Choice Band to kill him in one hit --> the standard 252/40 Gliscor is only 4% more physically defensive than 0/0 Relicanth, and we all know how hard that thing is to kill with unboosted physical attacks
- Grass Knot, the main attack for hitting his 4x weakness in OU is only 40 BP due to his light weight, effectively making it as powerful as a 2x weakness
- Incredibly difficult to kill under Sandstorm due to the special defense boost patching up his only sub-par defensive stat, instead making it one of his best ways of switching in
- His Head Smash, although a little weaker, still kills most frail sweepers with little investment
- Outspeeds Timid ScarfTran after 1 Rock Polish with Adamant instead of Jolly
- Isn't nearly as vulnerable to revenge-killing if Head Smash misses with Choice Band, also his Choice Band set still 2HKOs most of the walls that Aggron does
Cons:
- Fewer resistances make it a bit harder to switch in
- Doesn't hit as hard, therefore being less of a wallbreaker
- Vulnerable to Toxic Spikes
- Doesn't resist Stealth Rock
- His second ability, Swift Swim, is not viable because it just makes him a worse Kabutops, regardless of what people think
Aggron
Pros:
- Hits hard enough OHKO a lot of tough walls
- Has tons of resistances to switch in on
- Able to get rid of his Ground weakness for a few turns with Magnet Rise
- Just by maxing HP, he has better physical defense than the standard Skarmory
- Immune to Toxic Spikes and resists Stealth Rock
- Able to compensate for the lower special defense with specially-oriented resistances and sandstorm
- His Life Orb Head Smash hits just about as hard as a Choice Band Relicanth Head Smash
- Jolly LO Aggron still hits harder than Adamant LO Relicanth, meaning that Aggron will always hit harder with the Rock Polish set
Cons:
- Extremely vulnerable to revenge-killing due to easily exploitable 4x weaknesses
- Can't outspeed Timid ScarfTran after 1 Rock Polish
- His other STAB either sucks or is inaccurate
- Special Defensive capabilities are still not very good even after Sandstorm
- Can't use RestTalk very well to compensate for a lack of recovery --> far too vulnerable when he's asleep
Honestly, both of them are very viable in OU. Personally, I still like Relicanth in OU more than Aggron because, it seems that if Aggron's Head Smash misses, he's either forced to switch out (CB), or gets killed the same turn (LORP). Don't get me wrong, the CB set hits like a truck, but on the road, if a truck is trying to ram into something, it probably doesn't have good control and has a good chance of missing. That's why I'm a fan of the SubRise Aggron set, which can survive way longer than CB or LORP, and it still dishes out enough damage to 2HKO a lot of walls, though it doesn't OHKO them like the CB set. This stuff doesn't really happen with Relicanth, since he can take one hell of a beating even from his weaknesses with just sandstorm and no investment. I personally wish that both of them could make it into OU (though I still have my doubts that Aggron's going to make it there either, though he'll definitely come close), but it doesn't seem like people care much for Relicanth.
Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause, Soul Dew Clause
Ollivak sent out Dragonite (lvl 100 Dragonite ?).
-GZ- sent out Metagross (lvl 100 Metagross).
Dragonite used Fire Punch.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 37% of its health.
Metagross used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
---
Dragonite used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 54% of its health.
Metagross used Gravity.
Gravity intensified!
---
-GZ- switched in Relicanth (lvl 100 Relicanth ?).
Dragonite used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Relicanth lost 60% of its health.
Relicanth's leftovers restored its health a little!
Relicanth restored 6% of its health.
---
-GZ- switched in Metagross (lvl 100 Metagross).
Dragonite used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 9% of its health.
-GZ-'s Metagross fainted.
---
-GZ- switched in Mamoswine (lvl 100 Mamoswine ?).
Mamoswine used Ice Fang.
It's super effective!
Dragonite lost 80% of its health.
The Yache Berry weakened Ice Fang's power!
Dragonite used Superpower.
It's super effective!
Mamoswine lost 100% of its health.
-GZ-'s Mamoswine fainted.
Dragonite's attack was lowered.
Dragonite's defence was lowered.
---
-GZ- switched in Starmie (lvl 100 Starmie).
Starmie used Thunder.
Dragonite lost 20% of its health.
Ollivak's Dragonite fainted.
Gravity returned to normal!
---
Ollivak switched in Gengar (lvl 100 Gengar ?).
Pointed stones dug into Gengar.
Gengar lost 12% of its health.
Starmie used Hydro Pump.
Gengar lost 88% of its health.
Ollivak's Gengar fainted.
---
Ollivak switched in Lapras (lvl 100 Lapras ?).
Pointed stones dug into Lapras.
Lapras lost 25% of its health.
Starmie used Gravity.
Gravity intensified!
Lapras used Thunderbolt.
It's super effective!
Starmie lost 97% of its health.
Lapras lost 10% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
---
Starmie used Thunder.
It's super effective!
Lapras lost 50% of its health.
Lapras is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
Lapras used Surf.
It's not very effective...
Starmie lost 10% of its health.
-GZ-'s Starmie fainted.
Lapras lost 10% of its health.
---
[B]-GZ- switched in Relicanth (lvl 100 Relicanth ?).
Relicanth used Rock Polish.
Relicanth's speed was sharply raised.
Lapras is paralysed! It can't move!
Relicanth's leftovers restored its health a little!
Relicanth restored 6% of its health.
---
Relicanth used Earthquake.
Lapras lost 5% of its health.
Ollivak's Lapras fainted.
Relicanth's leftovers restored its health a little!
Relicanth restored 6% of its health.
---
Ollivak switched in Jolteon (lvl 100 Jolteon ?).
Pointed stones dug into Jolteon.
Jolteon lost 12% of its health.
Relicanth used Head Smash.
Jolteon lost 88% of its health.
Ollivak's Jolteon fainted.
Gravity returned to normal!
Relicanth's leftovers restored its health a little!
Relicanth restored 6% of its health.
---
Ollivak switched in Infernape (lvl 100 Infernape ?).
Pointed stones dug into Infernape.
Infernape lost 12% of its health.
Relicanth used Head Smash.
Infernape lost 88% of its health.
Ollivak's Infernape fainted.
Relicanth's leftovers restored its health a little!
Relicanth restored 6% of its health.
---
Ollivak switched in Metagross (lvl 100 Metagross).
Pointed stones dug into Metagross.
Metagross lost 6% of its health.
Relicanth used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 45% of its health.
Metagross used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Relicanth lost 65% of its health.
Metagross's Shell Bell restored a little health!
Metagross restored 9% of its health.
Relicanth's leftovers restored its health a little!
Relicanth restored 6% of its health.
---
Relicanth used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 44% of its health.
Metagross used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Relicanth lost 12% of its health.
-GZ-'s Relicanth fainted.
Metagross's Shell Bell restored a little health!
Metagross restored 2% of its health.
---
-GZ- switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Metagross lost 16% of its health.
Ollivak's Metagross fainted.
-GZ- wins!
Ollivak has left the room. [/B]
Every physical attacker runs either earthquake or a fighting move, so Aggron has fewer switch ins than one may think. The list is literally condensed to:
1. Outrage
2. Choice band locked attacks
Assume sandstream and Aggron will actually have more opportunities to switch in on the special side. Therefore, its 60 base special defense is the more important statistic, and it follows that the 76 spare EVs on the CB moveset should be reallocated to special defense. It should be noted that without sandstream, Aggron is pretty much dead weight in OU.
Consider that after rock polish, it remains too slow to sweep (due to choice scarfed revenge killers). For this reason alone, I do not rate that particular moveset. Consider also, that Aggron usage with Tyranitar is undesirable due to weakness duplication, and Hippowdon is significantly less useful.
I am more interested in metal burst to be honest. I think a focus sash/stealth rock/head smash/earthquake/metal burst lead has greater potential than all of the movesets listed. I think Aggron will find a place in UU, but its new toys have not added enough value to make it viable in OU.