AAA Almost Any Ability

[Isaiah]

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Power Spot
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost


Does power spot work in singles? I've been experimenting and can't really tell if the damage boost is being applied or not.

 

[PrincessGardevoir]

View attachment 210816
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Power Spot
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost


Does power spot work in singles? I've been experimenting and can't really tell if the damage boost is being applied or not.

Power spot boosts ally attack rather than the user's. If it is boosting ally attack then that's likely an error.

Similarly (to also answer the question), Steely Spirit raises the USER'S Steel-type moves AND their allies, so think like a second Steelworker.

The interesting thing would be to see AAA Doubles and see if Steely Spirit, Steelworker and STAB all multiply off each other...

 

[Isaiah]

This

Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Throat Chop
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Brick Break

Snorlax @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 156 HP / 88 Atk / 100 Def / 144 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Facade
- Curse
- Darkest Lariat
- Protect

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze

Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Avalugg @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Avalanche
- Recover
- Iron Defense

Corviknight-Gmax @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

Updated version of the weavile team. With so many ghosts running around, having doublade tends to do more harm than good, and hippowdon + avalugg + toxapex seem to do a decent job of covering everything anyway. Snorlax all around tends to do me more justice than Goodra just because things like triage hatterene kind of just beat goodra out, whereas Snorlax can at least dent it or even outright beat it. Also decided on flash fire corviknight just because fire coverage seems to be really strong this gen.The magic bounce on hippowdon helps with non-power whip ferro and hazard setters in general, and mbounce in general will probably become just as good if not better than it was last gen if ngas gets banned. Other than that I don't really have a lot to say about it--a lot of my games in this gen of AAA have been just a matter of switching in counters to offensive mons and then getting corviknight in for a free turn into weavile and a kill--hopefully it works that way for whoever else uses it :]

>If you REALLY want, I guess you could run rapid spin on avalugg...? Don't think that would turn out so well, though

 

[Iynhe]

Snorlax @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 156 HP / 88 Atk / 100 Def / 144 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Facade
- Curse
- Darkest Lariat
- Protect

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze

What do the evs on Snorlax and Toxapex do, exactly?

Oh boy, steely Spirit+Steelworker. Plus Power spot maybe.
I now want AAA triples or maybe i'll just try regular triples XD

 

[Isaiah]

What do the evs on Snorlax and Toxapex do, exactly?

Oh boy, steely Spirit+Steelworker. Plus Power spot maybe.
I now want AAA triples or maybe i'll just try regular triples XD

Just recycled the EV distribution from last gen bc I haven't seen or done any relevant calculations to imply the viability of anything else. I guess you could make it more focused on [specially] defensive capabilities if you want, but those EV spreads have done me justice so far so I'm not exactly inclined to change them. You're free to do whatever you want with the EVs if you've found something better, though; in fact, I encourage it.

 

[PokePoindexter]

Shell Smash + White Herb + Unburden =

A load of crab:

Crustle @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake

I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Shell Smash doubles your Attack and Speed, the White Herb restores your Defenses, and Unburden triggers when the White Herb gets used. After all that, you can go to town with your near-perfect neutral coverage.

 

[PrincessGardevoir]

Shell Smash + White Herb + Unburden =

A load of crab:

Crustle @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake

I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Shell Smash doubles your Attack and Speed, the White Herb restores your Defenses, and Unburden triggers when the White Herb gets used. After all that, you can go to town with your near-perfect neutral coverage.

Only issues I can find with this are getting one shot because you're still a rock bug with few resistances, a Stealth Rock weakness, and the problem of Prankster Haze Toxapex completely shutting you down.

Not to say it can't work but losing to one of the best defensive walls rn ain't a good look.

 

[Tetrinovix]

Hey guys, i'm new to AAA and loving so far.
Haven't seen this guy around here.

Orbeetle @ Leftovers
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hypnosis
- U-turn
- Sticky Web
- Protect
Been using as my lead and maaan, it helps a lot with pranksters and other teams hazard leads. Cinderace can easily check tho.

 

[Nugget]

For who still don't know, in SwSh, it seem that Silvally forms can now change thier typing without have RKS System, and by extension, respective Memory. It is pretty cool change in AAA, since we have now a 570 BST mon with AAA ability for every type!

How does this work? Is there a way in-game to change the type without holding the disc or is it just that the game now treats the different Silvally forms as separate entities?

 

[urkerab]

How does this work? Is there a way in-game to change the type without holding the disc or is it just that the game now treats the different Silvally forms as separate entities?

In Gen 7, if you hacked a different ability (which is the premise of this metagame) on to your Silvally, it would always revert to Normal type, even though you could make it appear as a different type (except in the status screen).

In Gen 8, Silvally only reverts to Normal type if it has the Ability but not the Memory. So you can hack a different Ability on to your Silvally and then get to change the Item too while still keeping its type.

 

[Jrdn]

With the OU dynamax suspect concluding with a ban, reinforcing the council's belief of how unhealthy the mechanic is, dynamax will no longer be usable in the AAA Metagame.

tagging The Immortal

 

[Jrdn]

Greetings fellow AAA-ers, the council has come to some conclusions regarding what we believe to be the least balanced aspects of the current AAA metagame. Below you will find each council members vote along with their support for what they believe for each respective item.

Neutralizing Gas
Council Vote:
Aesf: Ban
Funbot: Ban
Geerat: Ban
Jrdn: Ban
Racool: Ban

Neutralizing Gas Rationales

https://pastebin.com/L0x2Hn7e

Result: 5 Bans, 0 Abstain, 0 No ban. Neutralizing Gas will be banned from AAA


Gorilla Tactics
Council Vote:
Aesf: ban
Funbot: Ban
Geerat: Ban
Jrdn: Ban
Racool: Ban

Gorilla Tactics Rationale

https://pastebin.com/zcV8Di32 (note that Me, Funbot, and Aesf grouped Intrepid sword and Gorilla Tactics together)

Result: 5 Ban, 0 Abstain, 0 no ban. Gorilla Tactics will be banned from AAA.



Intrepid Sword:
Council Vote:
aesf: ban
funbot: abstain
geerat: no ban
jrdn: ban
racool: ban

Intrepid Sword Rationale

https://pastebin.com/tVdLy5hV

Result: 3 Ban, 1 Abstain, 1 No Ban. Intrepid sword will be banned from AAA


Dracovish
Council Vote:
aesf: ban
funbot: no ban
geerat: Abstain
jrdn: ban
racool: ban

Dracovish Rationale

https://pastebin.com/acaXPVys

Result: 3 Ban, 1 Abstain, 1 No ban. Dracovish will be banned from AAA



Neutralizing Gas, Gorilla Tactics, Intrepid Sword, and Dracovish will be banned from AAA. With this, the council believes we are kicking off the metagame in the right way. Allowing for far less restricted teambuilding and thus a more fun and dynamic tier to play and build for.

Tagging The Immortal

 

[Atha]

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
Impish Nature
- Agility
- Roost
- Power Trip
- Bulk Up

Depending on your opponent's team, it will have from 0 to 1 or 2 mons that can prevent this set from 6-0ing (especially after ngas is gone). Prankster pex is one of them, and some strong special attackers. Not broken at all, as it will do nothing before its counters are gone, but definetly not bad.

 

[PokePoindexter]

Two more sets. The former is something everyone sleeps on until it wipes out 4-5 mons on their team (or is the one using it to sweep), and the latter is something nobody sleeps on but I'm surprised nobody else has suggested.

Feed me seeds, Seymour!

Morpeko @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aura Wheel
- Stomping Tantrum
- Seed Bomb
- Fire Fang

Being a Dark-type means it isn't affected by PranksterPex, and with Aura Wheel boosting its Speed, it basically gives a free Dragon Dance boost with a KO. Just thought I should share this thing before someone decides to get smart and use something like Motor Drive Gyarados to ruin my fun. And no, I don't know why I always find new metagames to use Morpeko in, but it always seems to win me matches wherever I use it, hence why I keep talking about it (that and I wrote its OU analysis).

And then there's this:

I is fish... from HELL.

Barraskewda @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect / Agility
- Liquidation
- Psychic Fangs / Drill Run
- Close Combat

Take what's already one of the most ludicrously strong Pokemon introduced in gen 8 and double its Attack. Totally not a next level monstrosity, right? This is intended to be more of a wallbreaker than a sweeper (hence the Adamant nature and Protect), but it can roll either way. After a Guts boost, there's virtually nothing Barraskewda can't 2HKO.

 

[aesf]

Posting 3 of my best teams that worked prebans so they'll hopefully work post-bans too. In order of viability (best to worst):

https://pokepast.es/a1ccb704e54ce4a2
Set up hazards with ferrothorn if possible, u-turn with dragapult against steels to trap with dracozolt, and win with dragapult or lax.

https://pokepast.es/b1176e7deb27f193
I'm sure this team could be updated/improved more, but it's pretty fun as is. AV toxtricity is kind of a meme but it does work fairly well

https://pokepast.es/92b51874a0616d94
This team is just 6 stupid sets that all work pretty well together for whatever reason. The hydreigon set is nasty, I think it has a lot of potential.

 

[Isaiah]

'Til the fat table sings (Avalugg) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Rapid Spin/ Avalance
- Recover
- Iron Defense/ Avalanche


Posted teams with this before but wanted to highlight it specifically. As someone whose favorite types of team are fat (i.e. stall) this thing is practically a staple for me. It switches in on so many physical attackers it's not even funny, nullifying if not hindering them. It answers the problematic question of how to switch into Mamoswine, eats fishious rends, bolt beaks, SUPEREFFECTIVE CLOSE COMBATS and plenty more, and generally works pretty well. If you're having trouble building a team and need an overall check to physical attackers, Avalugg's your bet. I've been seeing people run it a lot more (not sure how much my teams/laddering has impacted that), and I'm sure that once all of those bans go live, it'll become even better.

 

[Atha]

Got #1 with this fire team recently (decent winrate).

It's a HO that I built around psychic terrain. In the beginning it was a psyspam, but the psyspammers didn't do shit so I only kept the good part of it. Psychic terrain is here for 2 purposes : preventing priorities and activating psychic seed for sweeps.
In order to play it, you need to understand your wincond at preview (aka the mon you're going to sweep with) and get the job done (this is the actual concept of any HO but whatever). I honestly think this team's main strenght is that it will always have 1 mon that almost 6-0s.

Mew is the utility mon. Puts up terrain, prevents hazards and stuff with taunt, gets up rocks. Almost nothing ohkoes it, so it will always do what you want. Slow nature to try and get a slow u-turn, although it still outspeeds 60% of the metagame. Be careful about mbounce.

Cinderace is basically here as an emergency option against hazards. It still hits really hard. I pretty often sacrifice it for some useful chip.

Gengar is a really good sweeper as it outspeeds and ohkoes at +2 a large part of the metagame. Sash helps it at setting up as well as the immunities. It loves psychic terrain preventing priorities. Keeping the sash is key if your opponent has a strong and fast mon like Noivern, opposite Gengar, etc ; not to get swept. It also prevents a lot of sweeps. Taunt is for bulky stuff, as you don't need coverage.

Sheer force Dragapult is sooo good. Nothing walls it completely, so I often sweep with it. With rocks up it's absolutely unstoppable. Speed nature is an option but you loose too much damage imo.

Hydreigon gets in, activates unburden while boosting its spdef, sets up a nasty plot and say bye to your team.

Same for Togekiss.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1036914079 What is stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1036919199 Togekiss playing
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1034375980 same
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1034353059 keeps going
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1036162249 Hydreigon steamrolling
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1034368712 Dragapult litterally 6-0s

edit :

Spoiler

 

[Isaiah]

Drapion @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Fang
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab

Reminds me of Alolan Muk from last gen. deals with all the special psychic types pretty well, and also handles gengar--also pulls off cheeky poison fangs against random switchins. Got the idea from a different ladder player, and found that this set works really well on most balance builds.

 

[The Number Man]

I'd like to talk about some sets I used on the ladder today that really impressed me.

N11 on ladder

1) Galvanize Drill

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Galvanize
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Facade

Works nicely as a Corviknight/Mandibuzz lure (for non VA variants), not to mention Ghosts can't spinblock it. Of course ground types can, but most ppl dont think to go into Ground types on an expected spin. Refridgerate would prob be a possibility too, but that doesnt punish corvi as hard. I'm not sure that running a second normal is even necessary or that facade is the right move (CrushClaw is another option with a nice 50% chance to get a def drop, just running Iron Head might be better too). Anyway it's really nice for punishing corviknight/ghosts that try to spinblock you, especially since the spin speed boost can let drill snowball out of control.

2) Psea Inteleon

Inteleon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Weather Ball
- Ice Beam
- Scald/Hydro Pump
- U-turn

I've been using a scarf set myself, and it's really impressed me. It's speed tier is already very nice but scarf lets it outpace a lot of stuff even at +1 which helps with revenge killing and it actually seems to ohko any offensive mon that doesn't resist water with the PSea boost. Weather ball is a really nice spammable accurate 100 BP stab, way better than hydro pump imo. It also has some utility in hitting desoland switchins for some nice chip instead of being completely negated. A specs set could probably work well as a wallbreaker, although you lose utility vs offense.

3) Unaware Corvi

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Body Press
- Roost
- Iron Head

This thing is a nice blanket check to a lot of setup mons (most importantly Pheal Lax and opposing BU Corviknight) and can even muscle past most physical Fire/Elec types after enough Bulk Up boosts.

Other than that, I'd like to echo what Thinkerino said about Drapion - its a really nice check for Gengar and special Pult, as well as most other psychics and ghosts. Can help vs Toxtricity as well as it likely lives any one hit and OHKOs back w EQ.

 

[Isaiah]

Idk either (Grapploct) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Octolock
- Taunt
- Drain Punch
- Protect

I don't think this set needs very much explanation because it's pretty straightforward, but it's actually pretty awesome when it gets a good matchup. It's one of those things that's insane when the matchup is good, but honestly kind of awful when it's bad--so I run it on stall, because usually even a 5v6 matchup can be finessed in most cases. A couple of examples of things it can trap are toxapex and non-mbounce ground types like Rhydon, Hippowdown, and Seismitoad. Otherwise, it's just a matter of seeing what you can trap with it and going for the opportunities whenever they're available. I have a couple of replays with it that got saved (unfortunately against the same player, so it's the same matchup twice), but you can see how annoying Grapploct can be when given the chance.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1043252344
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8almostanyability-1043454889

 

[Pokemon guy]

played some AAA and I made some sample sets

Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
It's not the best corviknight set but rocky helmet+rough skin is a lot of passive damage on physical attackers let corviknight play offense and defense at the same time.

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
A counter to fire and ghost type pokemon that stays healthy with regenerator and lives most fighting type attack with chople berry.

Also does anyone have any good pokemon for magnet pull

 

[Isaiah]

Also does anyone have any good pokemon for magnet pull

Couple of common ones I've seen pretty often.


Arcanine @ Choice Band
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- Extreme Speed


Dracozolt @ Choice Band
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake

I'm not sure how popular of an opinion this is, but to me magnet pull is pretty difficult to pull off. More often than not, the mon you're running magnet pull on can't do a whole lot versus defensive mons that can eat its physical/special attacks. However, if you can come up with other cool magpull ideas to hit opponents with the surprise factor, it makes trapping their steel types a whole lot easier.

 

[grizzz]

A set I made that's been putting in some work on ladder.

Excadrill @ Life Orb

Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Facade

The set is fairly one-dimensional so I'll keep the explanation short: Aerilate gives Excadrill Ground/Flying coverage. This is a very potent combo in this metagame, resisted by few mons outside of Corviknight. A flying-type rapid spin is an almost guaranteed way to get hazards off, as your opponent cannot simply switch into a ghost type. Facade provides a powerful flying-type attack, while also discouraging burns. Overall this set is quite the strong wallbreaker, able to surprise fighting-types attempting to switch in and much more.

 

[The Number Man]

Also does anyone have any good pokemon for magnet pull

I'm not sure how popular of an opinion this is, but to me magnet pull is pretty difficult to pull off. More often than not, the mon you're running magnet pull on can't do a whole lot versus defensive mons that can eat its physical/special attacks. However, if you can come up with other cool magpull ideas to hit opponents with the surprise factor, it makes trapping their steel types a whole lot easier.

I don't think Magnet Pull is that good this gen. Along with what Thinkerino already said there are some other issues. The only 2 steel types are Ferrothorn and Corviknight and Ferrothorn almost always runs FF. Additionally, Corviknight also often likes to run FF or VA so it's almost impossible to find a puller that can reliably oneshot both of them. You also really dont want to be running choice items, as if your intention is to trap Corviknight hitting it with the wrong SE move (Fire if its FF, Elec if its VA) means they get huge uturn momentum into whatever they want with you being locked. You can't even really run setup based magnet pullers (as in, run sth that traps a steel type and abuses it to set up to max and then tries to sweep) to reliably remove steel types since Corviknight can just uturn out.

Id say your best bet for a universally useful magpuller is rotom H since it can hit any corviknight super effectively and it has trick (which makes choice items not a liability) to cripple ferrothorn. Scarf to also trap drill, Specs to hit harder.

 

[Jrdn]

Long time council member and friend Racool is stepping down from her council role :(

To fill the void, rozes will be stepping in. He's been around AAA for years and has competed at the highest level in many OM tournaments throughout the generations!