AAA Almost Any Ability

[cosmogii]

so i'm a complete and utter garbage player, and i want to preface this before getting into anything.
BUT, this is one of the most fun metas i've ever played, and i've been lurking in these forums since sword and shield. when i saw that gengar got unbanned, i figured i'd jump at the opportunity to try and make an actual okay team for once since its always been one of my personal favorites. so lets get into these mediocre mons, shall we?

the booger boys

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Encore
obviously, its gengar! nothing necessarily special about the set, but i do think that ditching sludge bomb for encore is better overall since you can mess with a lot of mons and potentially get a free nasty plot up. standard ghost/fighting coverage, focus miss blast is absurdly strong with sheer force, capable of blasting holes in the opposition.

Azelf @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Expanding Force
- U-turn
- Trick
- Flamethrower
so i realized that things like cheem-pao and kingambit would be a big issue to gengar since they both have priority that can screw with gengar because of its frailty. welp, time to throw in the towel, there's nothing more we can do- oh wait, azelf exists. yeah this thing is really fantastic, it screws with the priority that would immediately threaten our squishy gengar and has a nuts stab attack in expanding force. trick is to mess with bulky mons, flamethrower is for corv, nothing too special here.


Muk-Alola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Poison Fang
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
when making the team, it dawned on me- how do i deal with opposing azelf? its already a pretty good and common mon, and setting up psychic terrain myself just means gengar will be weaker to it. and thats where muk comes in, this thing is a freaking blob of pure special absorbing prowess. it can take hit after hit, and regen means it'll come back with a weird trash filled grin on its face. really good mon, but MAN does poison fang suck. i use it for the toxic chance, but if you want immediate power, poison jab all the way. i just find that muk is a bit weaker overall, and the poison spreading can help.

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Well-Baked Body/Intimidate
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- U-turn/Body Press
with all this poison on the field, we need a way to stop ground types from eating us alive, and.. yeah. that's corv in a nutshell. hazard removal, good defensive abilities, and can synergize with muk to help tank physical hits. if you're running well baked body, i'd use body press over u turn, and vice versa if you're using intimidate. i don't have a huuuuge preference, but i do appreciate having the ability to completely snuff hearthflame or iron moth out. fire types tend to have a (slightly) easier time against this team, since it can be hard to switch into.

Chien-Pao @ Choice Band
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Sacred Sword
- Crunch
- Ice Shard
this is mainly just to wallbreak. everybody knows what chien-pao does, its nothing fancy- just a butt ton of damage and the tears of any dragon type that isn't called dragonite.

Ogerpon-Cornerstone (F) @ Cornerstone Mask
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stomping Tantrum/Encore
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- U-turn
and this here, is our pivot! there's also nothing super neat to say, it just does really good damage consistently, good stab combination, etcetera etcetera. stomping tantrum is for steels, but if you wanna be a silly little goober you can run double encore to lock a mon into a setup move and beat it over the head with a stick. (ivy cudgel) horn leech is for a bit of longevity, but you can always swap it out for something like power whip for that extra damage. i don't personally use it cause i'm a stickler for accuracy.

THREATS TO THIS TEAM:
Dragonite- holy shit, this mon completely destroys us. no reliable espeed switch in, unless you run intimidate corv. bulky sets are moderately okay to deal with, but they still suck dogwater. stall is annoying too, albeit not nearly as much as aerilate. good luck against this thing, pray to god you can predict with your chien-pao to wear it down. KEEP CORV HEALTHY.

Priority- i know psychic terrain is there, and its literally part of why the team works, but a lot of these mons can't realistically always deal with the ice shards and sucker punches of ou. be wary, and make sure you can time your plays with terrain up.

Ogerpon- this is less of an immediate issue, but it can still really screw with you. hearthflame means you have to run well baked body on your corv, but cornerstone and wellspring mean intimidate is also a viable option to help lessen their damage. play carefully around this mon, she's no joke. you do NOT want to eat an ivy cudgel to the face.

Iron Moth: once again, less of an immediate issue, (and even less so because of azelf being on our side.) but its not to be underestimated. well baked body corv can help, but eating a discharge to the face is liable to put you on a shirt and in someone's twitter bio. just keep azelf around and you'll be fine.

if you're like me and are too lazy to read through all that, the team is here! https://pokepast.es/a8d6b13bf5d0a4bb
either way have a lovely rest of your day/night/evening, drink water, and remember: crime is legal if you don't get caught!

 

[Giagantic]

PSA! POKEMON SHOWDOWN ANNOUNCEMENT! PSA!

Hello, it is I, Gia, a sometimes competent, often incompetent AAA player who has been discussing a certain set for the last day! (I am also brutally trying to escape from certain personal circumstance by doing this)

Drum rolls please!

Iron Treads @ Terrain Extender / Life Orb / Expert Belt / Leftovers
Ability: Hadron Engine
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock / Knock Off / Rapid Spin

Now, I am sure those that haven't been enlightened yet will be flummoxed by this set, "A fully specially invested Iron Treads, with Hadron Engine, NANI," you may yell, disturbing your family, friends, random strangers/classmates in the starbucks, library, or school room you are in! But hold your judgment for but a moment, for this set does some interesting things.

1. It 2hko's common switchins to Iron Treads, whether that be Great Tusk or Corviknight both are dealt massive damage by the relevant move (Flash Cannon for Tusk, Volt Switch for Corv).
   Hide

   252 SpA Hadron Engine Iron Treads Volt Switch vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Corviknight in Electric Terrain: 204-242 (51.1 - 60.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery / 252 SpA Hadron Engine Iron Treads Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk: 196-232 (45.1 - 53.4%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO
2. It sets Electric terrain meaning you can run other stuff on say, Sandy Shocks, or better yet use it in tandem with a Surge Surfer such as Hoopa who goes from pitiful speed to one of the fasted non-scarf Pokemon in the meta under the terrain.
3. It is cool, let's be real, everyone wants to use something unique unless you are boring and hold onto your Intimidate Corvs and Regen Manaphys, this set is definitely cool and unconventional to the extreme! *I use both
4. You can run other stuff with it then the aforementioned such as Steel Roller.
5. It's mixed and handles many specially defensive mons with just EQ alone such as Goodra-H, Empoleon(unless EE but then it takes massive damage from Volt Switch)
6. Running SR baits in Corvs like a fish goes after a hooked worm!

That is all!

 

[LOrd Fernado]

sample time :>

this hazard stack team features all three types of hazards, with toxic debris great tusk, spikes ogerpon-h, and stealh rock scream tail. corviknight is for the sketchy thundurus match-up with volt absorb (i'm also scared of lash out chien-pao), walking wake is a revenge killer to make the team faster due to it's well, slow nature. it also forms a desolate land + primordial sea core with ogerpon-hearthflame. scream tail is for the kommo-o and azelf match-up, and provides the team an anti-set-up mon.

this team becomes incredibly weak to kommo-o if scream tail dies, and thundurus is corvknight dies. also, great tusk is the only mon that can hit toxapex for super effective damage, and chien-pao / weavile are scary in general but can be managed with scream tail.

 

[ToluTTT]

Am I the only one struggling to build teams without defensive Quaquaval? Chien Pao and Weavile are both really difficult to check without it. Unless I'm just not being imaginative enough and there are other counters I'm not thinking of

 

[inc0gnito]

Am I the only one struggling to build teams without defensive Quaquaval? Chien Pao and Weavile are both really difficult to check without it. Unless I'm just not being imaginative enough and there are other counters I'm not thinking of

Stamina Corv is a good answer to both

 

[DeepFriedMagikarp]

Am I the only one struggling to build teams without defensive Quaquaval? Chien Pao and Weavile are both really difficult to check without it. Unless I'm just not being imaginative enough and there are other counters I'm not thinking of

Physdef Regen Manaphy, Zamazenta-Crowned, and Intimidate Corviknight are pretty good and splashable checks

 

[Isaiah]

Closed the survey due to stagnation of responses for what makes several days now.

We were able to collect 49 total responses responses (22 combined AAAPL/high ladder AKA "qualified" responses) on the tiering survey this time around.

The first part of the survey asked questions about perceived metagame enjoyment/competitiveness.

On a scale of 1-10, how enjoyable do you find the current metagame?

Average ratings:
Qualified: 7.64/10
General: 6.59/10

It appears that the metagame is overall considered enjoyable, although there is some room for improvement.

On a scale of 1-10, how competitive do you find the current metagame?

Average ratings:
Qualified: 7.36/10
General: 6.96/10

It looks like the metagame is overall considered more competitive than it is enjoyable, which is an interesting state for the tier (also, the qualified ratings are higher in both cases).

The next section polled respondents on how they feel about the prospect of the tier's ability clause being changed.

Do you think SAC is healthy or unhealthy?

Approximately 90% of all respondents recorded that they think Single Ability Clause is healthy.

Would you be interested in suspect testing 2AC back into the tier?

Qualified: 9/22 yes, 11/22 no
General: 18/27 yes, 9/27 no
55% of all respondents were in favor of a 2 Ability Clause suspect test, which notably would not reach the 60% needed for an unban if this was a suspect test vote. Internally, the council split for whether or not to have a 2AC suspect test is typically 3-4 against conducting one. Seeing that there isn't an overwhelming amount of support--but there's still at least a moderate amount of contention--there will likely be a suspect test to fully settle this with a community vote, but the earliest projected timeline is at some point after the release of DLC 2. Further breakdown shows that among the qualified responses, there is a far more even split of those interested in a 2AC suspect test than compared to the general responses.



Regarding Pokemon, we had questions on three individual Pokemon in alphabetical order. The scale for ranking each Pokemon was provided and is as follows: 1 indicates very healthy, 3 indicates potentially unhealthy, and 5 indicates very unhealthy. Here are the responses to each question!

Weavile

Average ratings:
Qualified: 3.27 out of 5
General: 2.93 out of 5

Dragonite

Average ratings:
Qualified: 2.95 out of 5
General: 3.33 out of 5

Kommo-o

Average ratings:
Qualified: 3 out of 5
General: 3.07 out of 5

To take the temperature of what the [overall] council stance is on hot topics in the meta right now (and all surveyed options since they all averaged out to be potentially unhealthy at minimum), we decided to do a fairly big voting slate on the three individual Pokemon in the survey and several elements that came up several times in the free response sections:

	Isaiah	Atha	DFM	QT	LB	Tranquility	Ivar57	Result
Dragonite	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	BAN	DNB	DNB	1-6 DNB
Weavile	DNB	BAN	DNB	BAN	ABS	DNB	DNB	2-4-1 DNB
Kommo-o	DNB	BAN	DNB	DNB	BAN	BAN	DNB	3-4 DNB
Ogerpon-Cornerstone	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	BAN	DNB	1-6 DNB
Toxic Debris	DNB	DNB	DNB	BAN	DNB	DNB	DNB	1-6 DNB
Walking Wake	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	BAN	BAN	DNB	2-5 DNB
Gengar	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	BAN	DNB	DNB	1-6 DNB
Gholdengo	UNBAN	UNBAN	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	UNBAN	UNBAN	UNBAN	5-2 UNBAN
Sneasler	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	KEEP BANNED	0-7 KEEP BANNED

Gholdengo? Sneasler?
Context: Council discussion in recent weeks has shown moderate interest in giving Gholdengo another try (previous voting slates for Home/right before DLC drop did, too). Now that some time has passed since the initial DLC 1 drop, we felt that the combination of Home and DLC additions warranted at least settling the discussion with a vote, and well...Gholdengo is now unbanned! The Sneasler reasoning is everything previously stated + it was posited that Gholdengo is a decent Sneasler answer in theory (didn't save it form the banlist, though).

We'll see how things continue to develop over time. Happy building!

Tagging Kris for implementation :]

 

[cat]

ooh boy here we go.

sets

Defensive Nasty Plot (Gholdengo) @ Leftovers
Ability: Well-Baked Body / Earth Eater / Bulletproof / Volt Absorb / Water Absorb / Toxic Debris / whatever you want, its a gholdengo
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain / Focus Blast
- Recover

Offensive Nasty Plot (Gholdengo) @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard / Beads of Ruin / Hadron Engine / same stuff as above
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Steel Beam / Make It Rain
- Focus Blast / Recover / Thunderbolt

Choice Item (Gholdengo) @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Magic Guard / Beads of Ruin / Hadron Engine
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Steel Beam / Make It Rain
- Focus Blast
- Trick / Thunderbolt

some form of gholdengo is probably gonna be found in 2/3 teams - you could probably run hex + tdebris support, spdef, you name it, you can, and will, run into it. i strongly feel that this is not broken in the slightest, however ive barely touched this mon (in the current meta) so...

and re:offensive builds -- it can do a million if it really wants to with stuff like steelworker making it more do more than ohkoing gambit at +2 but its really not that hard to seperate it from other nukes like gengar or specs wake. it's also like, super slow, which doesn't help it at all so that's not much reason to use offensive np + damage amp over gengar unless you really wanted steel stab or some bulk over speed

 

[GAVYNPLAYSPOKEMON]

https://pokepast.es/b5bb1c14d53b9910

This is a Webs offense team i made with and offensive core of Zapdos, MGLO Cinderace, and Aerilate Dragonite. After adding a teravolt manaphy, i noticed a huge electric weakness with three flying types, a water type, and no electric resists, so i changed it to motor drive to boost its speed. It is my main surprise factor, and with tail glow it becomes a huge threat. Corv is just there to soak up priority attacks, and acts as a physical wall/pivot.

This team got me from 1100 to 1550 peak, but right now i am in the 1300s.

Please give me advice and i would love to see some new versions of this team to make it better!

 

[Giagantic]

Topped ladder on my test alt and want to do a short discussion of what I think of the metagame in general after playing about 30 games taking my test alts GXE from around 68 to 77.2.

​

First things first, the team I used was this:

Very boring standard team, playing it is a lot about pressuring the opponent with hazards and checking what you can check obviously. Toxic Debris Great Tusk really punishes pivoting and forces the opponent into playing in a specific way (prioritizing hazard removal or bringing out token Poison mon) or being at risk of being status'd. Empoleon is running Ice Beam purely because when I was laddering there was a fluffy Ursaluna-BM user that really was difficult to handle, make it Knock Off for consistency, it also checks most Gholdengos as very few can afford to run Thunderbolt, even more to the point running Tbolt means lacking something else whether that be recovery, setup or a stab, and Hex lacks the immediate power to threaten the team (it just pivots off of Gholdengo). Corviknight is bog standard, Gholdengo is Well Baked Body and defensive which let's it handle the like of many Ogerpon. Sandy Shocks is Water Absorb for a variety of reasons firstly, it let's it damage Manaphy heavily with a lot less risk, let's me switch into all variants of Zapdos as a soft-check of sorts, and is just handy in general for all things water, spikes obviously is great to pressure the opponent. Finally, Roaring Moon is scarf regen which let's it act as a revenge killer, status absorber, light tank of sorts and handy pivot.

The post-Gholdengo metagame heavily centralizes around these 3 Pokemon, Gholdengo, Great Tusk, Corviknight.

1. Gholdengo is extremely flexible in terms of ability which changes the dynamic of how you use it from MGLO to use as a heavy hitting breaker to immunity Gholdengo to target specific elements of the metagame. It is very strong and needs to be prepped for. It grants teams great defensive typing, decent bulk, and great move kit that is complete with STAB + Recovery + Setup for the most part. It however, isn't unbeatable but it is definitely gonna be centralizing as it's characteristics are simply undeniably handy aka a combination of great defensive and offensive utility. Is it broken, some may argue it is, I know there are those that will absolutely revile the various abilities it can run, by this same token I'd argue that immunities are just great in general as they let you fix whatever Pokemon you deem. I could, however, see it leaving the metagame given peoples opinion.​
2. Great Tusk is a great physically bulky and offensive choice that can act as a setup sweeper, hazard remover, and hazard spreader in one kit. Its best set is absolutely Toxic Debris which lets you punish pivoting and weaker moves, forcing your opponent into playing in a specific, predictable way if they want to avoid status-ing their team. Toxic Debris is extremely powerful, and I think there is a real case for it being suspected as it heavily warps in-game plays with very little effort, Tusk in of itself is balanced from my perspective, it's weak spdef, relatively middling speed, prevalence of many things capable of eating it alive really helps neuter it's potential. It is, however, top tier regardless of my previous statements.​
3. Corviknight, abusable, reliable, predictable, and handy, really I don't think I need to highlight just how important of a glue Corviknight is for many, many teams, it is the thing that makes many pokemon in the metagame actually feel balanced and holds these elements back from being overbearing. It can also run a wide-variety of abilities depending on your needs and doesn't have to be pigeon holed into being only intimidate.​

The metagame is interesting, I think there is a solid arguement that can be made for addressing Toxic Debris, but outside of that I think I am in the mentality of wait and see how the metagame develops.

 

[cosmogii]

rip to any and every gengar set ever, bulletproof gholdengo makes it painful unless you run dark pulse or something

oh and to stop this from being a nothing-burger of a post, lemme just add on to how amazing bulletproof ghold is:
shadow ball immunity means it can reliably switch in on (non choice-trick) sets and set up on them, since make it rain just won't be doing that much.

magic guard steel beam isn't really a big issue since it's only a 3hko after leftovers
252 SpA Life Orb Gholdengo Steel Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gholdengo: 164-192 (43.3 - 50.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
i already mentioned earlier how it snuffs gengar and opposing ghold, which is already really good on its own, but it can also screw with cinderace running pyro ball, it can be your ghost immunity,(or at least, your shadow ball immunity, but lets be honest there arent many good physical ghosts bar ceruledge) your fairy killer, your stallbreaker, defensive pivot, etc etc. pairs really well with corv as mentioned above, since that means it isn't forced to run air balloon and can get the extra leftovers recovery. if you opt to equip focus blast due to head trauma, it can mess with roaring moon when it tries to switch in, along with iron treads that might force you out otherwise. it struggles slightly more against tusk, but tusk really doesn't want to switch in anyways. eating a shadow ball to the face is, contrary to popular belief, not good for its health. shocking, i know.

 

[CrazyLasagna]

Am I the only one struggling to build teams without defensive Quaquaval? Chien Pao and Weavile are both really difficult to check without it. Unless I'm just not being imaginative enough and there are other counters I'm not thinking of

Thick Fat Corv with Body Press. Run leftovers to more consistently wall both or run Utility Umbrella to screw with weather attackers. Doesn't handle choiced attackers very well but it laughs at Weavile and Chein-Pao and with Umbrella can take on non-CB physical fire attackers like Ceruledge.

 

[LordBox]

Gholdengo @ Life Orb
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Hex
- Make It Rain

Quick set post because this set seems kinda funny and I'm too busy to build with it myself rn. Difference between other AOA Ghold sets is that it trades SBall + 3rd coverage slot for Thunder Wave + Hex which work quite well together as most Ground-types are scared to shit about boosted MiR and potential Focus Blasts (Free Swampert!).

Pros:
OHKOs RegenVest Manaphy with +2 Hex on second interaction after you Hex it.
Outspeeds and OHKOs Iron Moth with Hex after TWave on switch whereas normally you just do 80 and are forced out.
Forcing TWave onto RegenVest Moon means you can outspeed on second interaction and OHKO it with +2 MiR.
Beats random Bulletproof mons who think they completely wall you (like Bulletproof Gholdengo).

Cons:
Needs ample opportunity to work best, needs extra turns to Paralyse stuff.
Loses coverage like Focus Blast to blow up Goodra-H (but you still do like 80-90 with +2 Hex lol and you're not clicking Focus Blast so that's a win)
Loses a bit of immediate power over SBall which might be annoying but they'll probably assume SBall anyway so doesn't really matter.

Making this quickly so go calc yourself to check if these are correct yourself lol. Is this set good? Idk I haven't actually tested it myself but you should go find out for yourself, it seems to have some benefits at least with some scary looking calcs maybe freeing Gholdengo was a mistake actually but idk I guess we'll see soon.

 

[CrazyLasagna]

Gholdengo @ Life Orb
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunder Wave
- Hex
- Make It Rain

Quick set post because this set seems kinda funny and I'm too busy to build with it myself rn. Difference between other AOA Ghold sets is that it trades SBall + 3rd coverage slot for Thunder Wave + Hex which work quite well together as most Ground-types are scared to shit about boosted MiR and potential Focus Blasts (Free Swampert!).

Pros:
OHKOs RegenVest Manaphy with +2 Hex on second interaction after you Hex it.
Outspeeds and OHKOs Iron Moth with Hex after TWave on switch whereas normally you just do 80 and are forced out.
Forcing TWave onto RegenVest Moon means you can outspeed on second interaction and OHKO it with +2 MiR.
Beats random Bulletproof mons who think they completely wall you (like Bulletproof Gholdengo).

Cons:
Needs ample opportunity to work best, needs extra turns to Paralyse stuff.
Loses coverage like Focus Blast to blow up Goodra-H (but you still do like 80-90 with +2 Hex lol and you're not clicking Focus Blast so that's a win)
Loses a bit of immediate power over SBall which might be annoying but they'll probably assume SBall anyway so doesn't really matter.

Making this quickly so go calc yourself to check if these are correct yourself lol. Is this set good? Idk I haven't actually tested it myself but you should go find out for yourself, it seems to have some benefits at least with some scary looking calcs maybe freeing Gholdengo was a mistake actually but idk I guess we'll see soon.

Minor optimization by running Adaptability over BoR. Gives you SLIGHTLY more damage but more importantly hides what ability you're running.

 

[Atha]

You thought they would never come, yet here are some AAAPL shoutouts. The Number Man thanks for captaining with me; you strike me as a very reliable person and a pillar of the OM community. I look forward to collaborating again with you in the future (maybe next AAAPL :] ). ojr ghostlike I have to do a collective shoutout to both of you because you guys carried the team harder than anyone else and your record, although amazing for AAA rookies, doesn't show how much the team (and to some extent the AAA metagame) owes to you two. Thanks for your dedication, and I don't think ghostlike goes for less than 10k ever again in an AAAPL. Ojr I knew you would do amazing with some dedication given your success in other tiers. Gwanian SammyCe123 even though you guys only played 2 games each you were also pillars of the team, thanks for all the teambuilding support. Gwanian I think you have a solid grasp of AAA teambuilding and you should find success in any AAA tournament you enter except when you use Glaceon. Sammy I was particularly impressed by your ingame skills. You're a very scary tournament opponent. I hope you guys will stick with AAA. Ivar57 I did not think the other captains would allow me to draft you but they did... I wouldn't say you surpassed the expectations because they were very high but you met them comfortably. Thanks for making our team unstoppable. Speaking of unstoppable, PociekMociek and PandaDoux kind of the same thing. You guys were expected to do amazing and you did. Not much else to say, thanks for carrying the team. Damn every person carried the team... Except Concept Everything ! :] Jokes aside I drafted you because I remembered you were goated when we teamed up in CAPPL. This time the roles were reversed, you were our backup. It would seem the team was a bit too powerful for your help to be required but nevertheless thanks for your help and for being a nice presence throughout the tour. Siamato Osake on avait pas besoin de votre aide mais bon merci d'être venu bande de nullards. Osake tu me le feras pas répéter mais jte trouve vraiment très fort au jeu quand tu mobilises tes neurones et que t'es pas sur 5 tâches en même temps. Gman <3

I won't talk about my 2AC teams and experience because I'm too lazy for that. I'll say that much : 1AC is better than 2AC not only because Regen cores are too strong, but also because they're annoying to both use and face. The freedom 2AC offers in the builder is clearly outweighed by its overall impact on the way we play AAA.

On the current AAA meta, I like it and look forward to playing it in OMWC. My main concern rn is Toxic Debris given people started spamming this ability and the very polarized nature of Toxic Spikes ; a team without one of the few viable Poison types will often lose to Toxic Debris Great Tusk. Now one could argue Great Tusk is the only Toxic Debris user so we should ban it rather than the ability, which I have to admit would require some bad faith to deny. I just find Great Tusk cool and generally healthy so I'll say in all bad faith that Toxic Debris Garchomp and Corviknight have also been used with great success in the past.

See you in OMWC

 

[Notagamer]

He its yalls favorite bh/ce/ph player here just got into aaa after unbans wanted to make a team.
https://pokepast.es/59522f0ac3c95314

Eye catch mon, mglo steel beam is always fun.

Another eye catch mon that also very coincidentally works with gholdengo because of knock off, very awesome, very official.

Wanted to prepare for dragonite cause I heard it’s like super goated rn. Also checks other setup but that’s like ok.

Initially wbb but I heard my team was weak to weavile so I edited it to intimidate.

Checks wake, decent spd pivot.

I must always have a regenvest no matter what.

 

[LOrd Fernado]

He its yalls favorite bh/ce/ph player here just got into aaa after unbans wanted to make a team.
https://pokepast.es/59522f0ac3c95314

Eye catch mon, mglo steel beam is always fun.

Another eye catch mon that also very coincidentally works with gholdengo because of knock off, very awesome, very official.

Wanted to prepare for dragonite cause I heard it’s like super goated rn. Also checks other setup but that’s like ok.

Initially wbb but I heard my team was weak to weavile so I edited it to intimidate.

Checks wake, decent spd pivot.

I must always have a regenvest no matter what.

why is empoleon torrent?

 

[Isaiah]

SOME TEAMS OF THE SAMPLE VARIETY ARE NOW AVAILABLE

Sample Teams!
Last updated: 10/23/2023
*Click the Pokemon icons to get the paste of the team!
*Sample Submissions are ALWAYS open



Wandering Spirit Gholdengo Balance by Isaiah


CB Scrappy Great Tusk + Adaptability Garchomp Bulky Offense by Atha


Motor Drive Gholdengo Balance by Tranquility


Water Absorb Sandy Shocks Balance by Giagantic


"Payload Pon" Bulky Offense by UT

If you have teams you'd like to share, KEEP POSTING. Keeping samples up-to-date is a neverending process.

 

[Tbolt]

I built a few teams for AAA TotW for last week, as well as a AAA tour held at my uni. Now that both of those have concluded, I figured I'd share all of the teams I built and used over that span.

Click the teams for the paste:







All of these teams started out with No Guard Zapdos, Desolate Land Heatran, Regen Great Tusk, and broken Rockpon. These four give me a solid core, both offensively and defensively, against most threats in the tier. After these four, the team has their pick of a wallbreaker and Choice Scarfer. If I had to pick a "best" one, I'd go with the Band Roaring Moon + Scarf Azelf version since that version is the most resilient to Stealth Rock, but that doesn't discount how dangerous Chien Pao, Weavile, and Walking Wake can be.



This was the first team that I made when Gholdengo was unbanned. I was excited to use my favorite Gholdengo set again (Magic Guard Life Orb Steel Beam), so I again used No Guard Zapdos to give it paralysis support. This let me put more bulk on Gholdengo so that it could take on broken Rockpon's STAB moves. I used Regenvest Manaphy as my specially bulky pivot to handle opposing Gholdengo and other special attackers. To combat the new spinblocker in such a hazard-oriented tier, I used another of my favorite sets: Scrappy Great Tusk. This one carries Ice Spinner so that it can hit Gliscor and the Landorus formes, and carries Bulk Up to pose a sweeping threat. After adding Scarf Azelf (the best Scarfer in the tier), I needed a physically bulky Pokemon that could handle Weavile and Chien Pao while also setting up Stealth Rock. The Pokemon that filled all of those boxes was Color Change Garganacl.



This is a fun team, albeit one that I don't think is very good. Evidently, stacking 3 Ground-types and a Gholdengo makes you very weak to Chien Pao and Weavile, but I wanted to experiment with some hazard stacking offense. Gholdengo can afford to be slower and bulkier since it has Levitate instead of being an offensive threat with Magic Guard and Life Orb, and then it is paired with Manaphy for a resilient core. Perhaps a more synergistic hazard-setting core would support Gholdengo's ability to deny Rapid Spin and weaken Corviknight that want to Defog. I don't think that Boots Sandy Shocks, Fluffy Landorus-T, and Well-Baked Body Iron Treads are bad on their own, but together my team becomes really weak to the aforementioned offensive Ice-types.

I might get into AAA after DLC2 releases, but I enjoyed my time playing AAA for this month or so (except I don't think Ogerpon-Cornerstone is healthy for the metagame, ban that thing ASAP).

 

[Betticus IV]

Hello, I don't usually post here, but I did something I'm pretty proud of yesterday. For the first time I was able to reach the top 10... then again... and then again. I was able to have 3 accounts in the top ten concurrently (yes my main immediately plummeted out but we don't talk ab that). The teams I used were very standard, but I was encouraged by UT to still share them. I mainly used 2 teams, both of which are below.

Team 1:
https://pokepast.es/86b4ce041837a7ec
Team 2:
https://pokepast.es/4a5efcc85a1e6fb8

The main goal of these teams is to check some of the big offensive threats in the meta game, such as weavile, chien, zelf, zam, and the pons. The goal is to slowly wear them down with hazards (specifically t-spike), knock spam, and pivoting. The speed tier I was aiming to beat with my offensive mons was 350, as that is where things such as gar, moth, and the pons are. For example, that is why I put the speed EV's that I did into Tusk, as it outspeeds a specs zelf at +1. The team does struggle a bit with scarfers, but I was banking on the defensive core to sponge the weaker hits, which it was able to do pretty consistently. Ghold I was flip flopping between EE and WBB, but always kept getting the wrong match-up when I would switch it, in the end I found EE more consistent than WBB and prim sea already helped w the fire weakness. I got the ghold EV spread from Isaiah in the discord and just went with it bc I wasn't too sure what else to use for it. Moon spamming a fast strong knock off facilitates t-spikes, late-game clean, and can usually do big damage to corv even after an intim (outright 2HKO w lash out without rocks). Adaptability also has the added benefit of not revealing your ability like SoR, and does around the same amount of damage. Weather is also key, as it gives the team much needed immunity from fire/water, further adding to the defensive core. Choosing which weather really depended on what I felt the team was weaker to, and what it could handle easier if the immunity wasn't there. I usually use regen moon, but I have finally seen the way w manaphy, thing is so good and splashable I should've started using it sooner.

On team 2, I ran a scarf lando bc of the uptick in sandy shocks and I wanted some better speed control. It also has good match-ups against iron moth, the pons, CB meow, fires, grounds (usually as a pivot), common regenvesters (hoodra, melo, and moon), non-EE ghold, and chipped tusk. It does get checked pretty hard by corv, zap, and manaphy, but I would usually try and play around this with u-turn pivoting and bringing it out only when it was safe to do so.

I struggled against HO, Weavile, and chien with these teams, and fire & zam for the 2nd team. Losing the 50-50s usually meant multiple things were getting sacked or losing outright. The teams can also get worn down by hazards so it's important to keep those off as much as possible, even if defogging gets rid of ur own.

The core of corv, tusk, regenvest, weather, breaker/weather/ghold, breaker is very consistent and checks a majority of the meta. My new goal is to branch out from this team building core and try new things, as the team is very flowchart and can get stale, but its consistency is what always kept bringing me back to it. Also need to get better at using ghold, as I always felt I wasn't using it right/it wasn't doing it enough, but I think that's just cuz I'm not used to using it yet.

This is my first time making a post like this, so I apologize if I didn't go in-depth enough or if anything was unclear, please let me know if that is the case.

ladder + proof of acc ownership

 

[JDandTurk]

Hey folks,

First time ever posting on discord so apologies I don’t know how to get the little Pokémon images to show my sample team!
Thought I would share as I finally made it to Top 50 on the weekend, with what I think is a fun team. You’ll see me on the ladder under JDandTurk or BandedKiss

https://pokepast.es/f02ab407bd1e7a83

Weavile Technician Loaded Dice:
Two forms of priority with fake out and ice shard are to catch off guard scarf ice weak Pokémon. Offensive Zapdos is KO’d by both (depending rolls and on defensive investment). I don’t have any speed control on the team, so Fake Out is also needed to slowly whittle down other various scarf Pokémon- most critically banded ES Aerilate Dnite. I used to have beat up on Weavile but after many games only clicked it twice. I swapped it for swords dance and immediately started doing much better in games. A regular phase of play is:
Open Weavile opponent switches out into defensive intim corvi. Icicle spear does 30% on 4 hits. I switch into rocky helmet Treads, and corvi is down to 54%.
I keep Corvi out, and next time I have Weavile in, I click SD as Corvi comes in. 4 hits +1 icicle spear does 60% to take out the biggest defensive check. The team is then normally cracked open for Weavile to sweep, or Roaring Moon to make constant progress.

Scream Tail Pixilate Choice Specs
My special sweeper. Catches a lot of folks off guard as they expect a passive turn when Screamtail switches in. But Fairy is such an amazing offensive type in this meta. So many dragons, darks, and fightings about. Boomburst BP is incredible, with SpAtk investment, the power output even of 65 base SpAtk Scream Tail is incredible. Again- OHKO offensive zapdos. 2HKO fully SpDef Manaphy after vest is knocked off. 2HKO Physdef corvi after two rounds of rocks.
111 base speed is also elite- out speeding so much of the meta. And with its natural bulk, it takes less than 75% from a CB aerilate ES from Dnite. Psyshock to catch iron moth off guard after a couple switches into Boomburst (Psychic only does 90%). Trick to cripple a defensive check when needed. And Wish/Stealth rocks depending on your play style.

Roaring Moon Regenerator Assault Vest
My favourite Spdef pivot in the game. Sponges everything. Surviving specs Draco Meteor from Walking Wake. This Pokémon’s Spdef is key to be able to knock off scarfs (so Weavile outspeeds and revenges). Or Assault Vests, so Scream Tail can 2HKO. Corvi has SpDef investment, so I can switch it in, if my U-turn is slower and I’m threatened with being taken out (especially by fairy moves). EVs may be able to be optimised on this mon- but I went with Adamant to have better chances to 2HKO or OHKO special mons that may stay in. E.g Iron Moth is OHKO by knock off after rocks (KO used in case it’s earth eater instead of SFLO). Or generally force switch outs so I can U-turn. Earthquake for Goodra-H, Shocks, or more damage on Fluffy Pokémon. Dtail for Pokémon that will obviously set up, or chip if rocks are up, or to maybe luck a switch to a Pokémon I can U-turn on.

Corvinight Unaware Leftovers
The main check on the team for set up Pokémon both on the Phys and Special side hence dual investment. Leftovers as I’ll likely be staying in many turns as the opponent tries to get +6 on me and I’ll be Brave Birding. Brave bird over body press to be able to do enough damage to at least 4HKO set up mons, or ghosts such as Polteageist. Due to lack of enough phys def investment or intimidate, it does get 3HKO by a lot of fighting/ice attackers. So keeping it healthy is important. It also struggles with physical Dland fire attackers- hence Well Baked Treads on the team. Due to SpDef investment it also allows me to stay in on volt switches to U-turn for initiative. Other than that, it’s just a Corvinight doing Corvinight things.

The above 4 are the main core of the team. The next two are interchangeable, and are mostly on the team to add the “glue” per se, to plug holes in my core. These are what I’ve had most success with.

Iron Treads Well Baked Body Rocky Helmet
As you can probably tell, my team struggles with switching into fast Physical fire attacks. A Well Baked Body Pokémon was needed here. I chose Iron Treads for role compression- rapid spin, rocks, are self explanatory. Knock off as mentioned is key to remove scarfs so Screamtail and Weavile can outspeed. Or AVs so Screamtail can 2HKO. Also leftovers/helmets/choice bands to give my pivots more survivability. Body Press over Earthquake is to deal enough damage back after being hit by a fire attack, and make progress against Corvinights (Body Press not affected by Intimidate). Also, it will result in surprise KOs against Chien Pao as they don’t expect a full phys def Iron Treads which can take a swords of ruin banded Sacred Sword. Rocky Helmet is also needed to get much needed chip on Banded Aerilate ES Dragonite (as even corvi takes too much from this), or Pokémon that have managed to get speed boosts on me. If they’re not armor tail/dazzling etc, Weavile can then pick them off with 2 forms of priority.

Iron Moth Desolate Land Heavy Duty Boots
Probably the only Pokémon on the team with a standard EV spread/moves. This Pokémon is essentially my switch into scald or fairy attacks. Roaring moon can take most water attacks, but if burnt, it struggles to make progress. I use sludge wave over toxic spikes so I can attempt to force set up scream tail/ manaphy out - as long as I don’t let them get too many calm minds. Set up scream tail can be a problem- however if it has stored power and dazzling gleam, moth can handle it as sludge wave does too much damage, and scream tail can’t wish/protect it off. If only stored power, roaring moon can handle it. If only dazzling gleam, corvinight can solo it. Manaphy can normally only click resisted moves with Dland up, if it doesn’t have stored power. Iron moth is also on the team as a fire attacker for steel types- since weavile only has normal/ice, and scream tail only fairy/psychic moves. Luckily there’s not too many offensive steel types in the meta (pre Gholdengo), so if a steel type is well baked body, it can generally be whittled down with my defensive core. Moth being moth is generally just a good mon too- absorbing toxic spikes. Morning Sun to heal 75% for longevity. U-turn to pivot. And with its speed tier and fiery dance procs, it can also be a sweeper.

Counters-
I’ve mentioned some of the main counters above, but the biggest single Pokémon that 6-0’s this team is Zamazenta Crowned. Weavile and Scream Tail get outspeed and OHKOd. Both Treads and Roaring Moon get Iron Defensed on, don’t do any damage and then OHKOd. Iron moth can’t switch into it, as it is outsped and 2HKO by body press after an Iron Defense. The only check is Corvinight. The only time I’ve taken out a Z-crowned is when the opponent let me get enough Brave Birds on it, while it tried to get +6 on me.
As mentioned this team can struggle with physical fight/ice spam. Lack of intimidate/full phys def on Corvi means it’s 3HKO by offensive Great Tusk CC’s. Technician Mamoswine Icicle Spear does over 50% with 5 hits. Scream Tail can switch into the Great Tusk CC’s attacks a few times, but if a rapid spin is clicked, it won’t take a following earthquake/headlong rush. The plan is to keep clicking roost, and try to drain PP with sacks/scream tail switch ins. Or to sack and revenge with Weavile/Scream Tail so long as rapid spin (or too many bulk ups) hasn’t been used.
Magic Guard Cinderace can also be a problem- HJK does too much damage to Iron Treads and it won’t take rocky helmet damage. No earthquake is a problem here. So the response is to chip it down with one attack from Treads, and 1-2 Fake Outs + icicle spear.

There’s a lot more nuances, and I’m happy to explain to anyone if they want more! Thanks all for being such a great metagame to play in!

JDandTurk

 

[cosmogii]

is anyone else having a pretty difficult time checking roaring moon? obviously stuff like stamina/intimidate corv exists but it feels pretty oppressive, even with chien-pao/weavile being so good and having priority against it. maybe its just skill issue, i'm not very very good, but having to account for such strong knock-offs is quite difficult, especially since its coverage is just good enough to be an issue. plus the rare queenly majesty/armor tail appearance has given me a headache. feels like i need at least two dedicated mons there to deal with it at all times, elsewise i get put on someone's twitter hashtag!!! any tips on how to deal with it, maybe some other players who feel the same?

 

[inc0gnito]

is anyone else having a pretty difficult time checking roaring moon? obviously stuff like stamina/intimidate corv exists but it feels pretty oppressive, even with chien-pao/weavile being so good and having priority against it. maybe its just skill issue, i'm not very very good, but having to account for such strong knock-offs is quite difficult, especially since its coverage is just good enough to be an issue. plus the rare queenly majesty/armor tail appearance has given me a headache. feels like i need at least two dedicated mons there to deal with it at all times, elsewise i get put on someone's twitter hashtag!!! any tips on how to deal with it, maybe some other players who feel the same?

Fluffy Scream Tail and Physically Defensive Regen Tusk

 

[ToluTTT]

What's your favorite AAA mon that you've played with so far? It doesn't have to be good, just fun.

I had a lot of fun with Serence Grace Decidueye Hisui earler in the gen with spammin flinches and defense drops. I even put a razor shell on him to increase crits for all the RNG fun

I also love using fluffy Corv and seeing every possible move just bounce off it

Finally, Tinted Lens choice specs ursaluna catching Corv by surprise will always be hilarious.

 

[inc0gnito]

What's your favorite AAA mon that you've played with so far? It doesn't have to be good, just fun.

Fluffy is both fun and been the MVP of most my matches https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-gen9almostanyability-1977692826