Other Metagames Breaking Walls (Balanced Hackmons)

[TheTapDancer]

With the recent changes to the balanced hackmons metagame, I found myself with two problems. The first, the surge in stall due to the death of Primal Groudon. Second, the death of all of my teams, because why wouldn't I have a Primal Groudon. Tiring of trying to find replacements, I decided to build the most anti-stall bulky offence I could think of.

This asks one question: What's the best wallbreaker in balanced hackmons? Psychic Surge Mewtwo-Y? Imprison SS Gengar? Something awful and physical?
To put it simply, it's this behemoth:

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Strength Sap
- Night Shade
- Extreme Speed

There is a damn good reason parental bond is banned in BH. Combined with Nature's Madness and good bulk, this guy is taking 75% off of any wall. It's intensely spammable when supported by Extreme Speed, and Night Shade always hits for exactly 200 damage, enough to do 25% to almost anything. I've seen people use Seismic Toss instead to beat Regigigas, but I was going anti-giratina.

So, without further stalling for time, here's the team I built around this monster.

What's a Wall? (Kangaskhan) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Strength Sap
- Night Shade
- Extreme Speed

I've explained what this guy does. I haven't quite explained how well he does it. What people forget about Kangaskhan-Mega is its surprisingly decent 105/100/100 bulk. While this isn't going to let him last long against wallbreakers, he can eat a Psychic Surge Mewtwo-Y's Psycho Boost (assuming Z-crystal or other no-damage item). With Strength Sap, and keeping him away from obvious breakers, he can survive to chip away for a very long time.

Illusion is the best ability by a long way. While something like Intimidate might seem tempting, the ability to draw Ghost attacks by posing as Giratina or forcing switches by posing as Zygarde is immensely useful. Especially as Showdown has a strange way of dealing with imposter megas, leaving them as the shape they assumed until they switch out, even if they take a hit. That won't help against a savvy opponent, but someone's going to use this on low ladder at some point.

Mum (Giratina) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spore
- Strength Sap
- Pursuit
- Spikes

I had hoped Gen 7, with its ability busting moves, would remove the necessity of bringing a Shedinja check. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Mold Breaker Giratina can always come in on a Shed, and kill it with Pursuit. Spikes are a good way to waste turns when saccing, and we'll be trying to magic bounce back rocks, so I always go spikes. Spore and Sap are self-explanatory. (remembering that sap can't be bounced due to Mold Breaker.)

Mr. Steal Yo Gurl (Zygarde-Complete) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Spectral Thief
- Baton Pass
- Milk Drink

We need a Magic Bouncer, we need a defogger, we need a physical wall. Audino was my initial choice, but it struggles in a metagame full of sunsteel strikes, so this is the next best thing. BP can't be bounced, and synergises with Spectral Thief even on a non-unaware set. Milk Drink is chosen as Shore Up has been popular recently, and I don't like getting my recovery imprisoned.

BZZZZZZZT (Beedrill-Mega) @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Leech Life
- Thousand Arrows

Offensive Core time. Beedrill is wierdly good in the balanced hackmons metagame. There's a lot of fairy attacks running around for him to sponge, and access to Leech Life helps his survivability. His ridiculous speed allows him to outspeed all mewtwo variants and smack them with bug STABs. U-turn ensures that I can always bring in Kangaskhan should they go to something I can't deal with, and Poison Jab is necessary. Thousand Arrows lets us hit Solgaleo on the switch, and gives us something spammable.

Walk Away (Sceptile-Mega) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Core Enforcer
- Seed Flare
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Another monstrously fast attacker to break the offence teams that might otherwise threaten me. Core Enforcer OHKOs things like Father and Giratina, something often not played around. Trick catches Audino on the switch, crippling it, and Volt Switch allows us to get a real vortex going with this and Zygarde. Seed Flare is a horrendously powerful move, capable of late-game muscling through whole teams due to the SpDef drops.

Metagame McGee (Chansey) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Rapid Spin
- Heal Bell
- Parting Shot

Yawn. It's a Chansey. It copies things. It reverse sweeps. It encourages players to get greedy with imposterproofs. It kills the things faster than my offencebreakers. Good guy, would recommend.

Strategy

The team plays very differently depending on matchup. In most games, you're going to want to get the hazard game under your control, then vortex your opponent until you can pick off walls with Kanga. Kanga will want to disguise as one of our walls, depending on what the opponent brings, and how easily you can make him force switches. You can also disguise him as Beedrill, as this lets him lure in Giratinas and Zygardes to Nature's Madness. Against defensive teams, keeping their hazards off is more important than keeping yours up, as they don't help Kangaskhan all that much. Against offensive teams, hazards let you claim key kills with coverage attacks from our offencebreakers.

Threats

This guy. 438 speed can suck my dick. Luckily, not that many people use him, and those who do are often bad enough to let chansey eat him. Not always though, in which case prepare to lose.

Our lack of priority-blockers and outstanding weakness to Ice makes Refrigerate a serious threat. Clever play with Kangaskhan can deal with these, but not without taking serious chip. These two are the real reason Kangaskhan has full bulk - if he dies to Boomburst, it's game over.

That's basically it. There are no defensive threats to this team, and we check Mewtwo as hard as possible. Beedrill can beat Diancie with Thousand Arrows, and Sceptile can handle Zekrom. Rayray only threatens us if it carries Core Enforcer, at which point it's weak to Chansey. Bulky Poison Heals don't threaten us either, and Zygarde lets us beat Regigigas.

 

[RNGIsFatal]

Hello TheTapDancer I enjoyed reading your RMT. Mega Kangaskhan is a fearsome wallbreaker indeed, since it can take away 75% from anything that is not called Shedinja, and in the current state of the metagame where stall is prevalent, it is one of the notable threats Balanced Hackmons has to offer. In addition, I am glad to see one of the very few people who see the usefulness of Mega Beedrill, an anti-meta offense that threatens Mega Mewtwo Y, which is the greatest threat to all balance teams at this moment. The problem I have with your team is that once Poison Heal Regigigas sets a single Shift Gear, your team will hopelessly collapse, and also your team doesn't have a reliable breaker that can beat down Steel-types or other colossal walls like Giratina or Zygarde-C. While your Mega Kangaskhan can dent them using Nature's Madness, the likes of Regenvest Solgaleo can switch in, take a hit, and pivot out into faster counter while recovering itself. Giratina and Zygarde-C, while they are threatened by Sceptile, are usually paired with other walls like Mega Audino which basically forces you to rely on predictions. Also your team lacks switch-in's against premier threats like Pixilate Mega Diancie or Psychic Surge Mega Mewtwo Y; Imposter can switch into Diancie couple times but without Eviolite, it is susceptible to getting KO'd by three Boomburst, and Beedrill can only come out and attempt to revenge kill MMY once you sacrifice something. As much as you had interesting RMT, I am glad to go through this with you. Let's begin.

Major Changes:

->

Registeel @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Haze
- Destiny Bond / Glare
- Recover
- U-turn

I have a feeling that every time opposing MMY switches in, someone in your team will have to be sacrificed by Choice Specs + Psychic Surge Psycho Boost, and because your Imposter lacks Eviolite, it can't switch in more than just couple times. Since MMY nowadays mostly carry coverage moves that are dedicated to hit Dark-types like Yveltal / Mega Tyranitar / Mega Gyarados, Registeel should be a safe switch-in. Also it can switch into -ate users like Mega Rayquaza or both Kyurem you have mentioned in the threatlist. Unlike Solgaleo, it is resilient to the lure sets like Choice Specs Magma Storm from Kyurem-W that Solgaleo cannot handle. Also unlike Solgaleo, it can handle setup spams by using Haze to handle rare yet relevant Power Trip users. Also because -ate user love to carry V-create to smack Steel-types nowadays, Registeel can take them down using Destiny Bond, or Paralyze them and let your Imposter countersweep. Glare might sound like it is off-standard but it is something I am testing on Prankster users nowadays - it is amazing because most sweepers lack Magic Bounce, and after they are paralyzed, Imposter is sure to outspeed them while carrying Eviollite. As a bonus, after using Prankster Glare on threats like Unburden + Belly Drum Kartana, your Imposter can outspeed it with Choice Scarf or go for speed tie while holding Eviolite. Level 99 is in order to pivot slower than other 50 Speed walls like opposing Registeel and Mega Audino.

->

or

or

I can recommend multiple special wallbreakers that your team needs to break Giratina and Zygarde-C. But I would say don't use Sceptile because first, having Beedrill means you have a fast, reliable revenge killer, meaning haivng another fast attacker with mediocre power will be redundant when it comes to your team's role compression. If you still want fast yet powerful attacker, use Modest Choice Scarf Kyurem-W which can threaten to OHKO both Giratina and Zygarde C, Choice Specs Mega Rayquaza which heavily pressures slower teams, or Mega Diancie which provides your team a Core Enforcer switch-in from passive walls like Giratina, a revenge killer with an access to Pixilate Extreme Speed, and a breaker with Boomburst + V-create, all at the same time.

Kyurem-W

Kyurem-White @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Refrigerate
Happiness: 100
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Core Enforcer
- Magma Storm
- Volt Switch

Mega Rayquaza

Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Rash Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Core Enforcer
- Secret Sword
- Volt Switch / Extreme Speed

Mega Diancie

Diancie-Mega @ Pixie Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Boomburst
- Extreme Speed
- V-create
- U-turn / Sunsteel Strike

Minor Changes:

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Night Shade
- Anchor Shot
- Shore Up

This change is not mandatory, but it is something to test. This Kangaskhan can successfully lure Imposter and remove it, thanks to the fact that you survive your Imposter's Anchor Shot after taking Nature's Madness:

252 Atk Parental Bond Kangaskhan-Mega Anchor Shot vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Kangaskhan-Mega: 85-100 (20.5 - 24.1%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

Also I chose Shore Up over Strength Sap because Magic Bounce users can play around you, and also Mega Kangaskhan will struggle against faster threats, meaning it will most likely take a hit and faint before it gets a chance to weaken them with Strength Sap. While it might have been relevant option in the metagame where Primal Groudon was legal, it is banned now and etagame is flooded with faster threats like Mega Rayquaza and Mega Mewtwo Y it is not like Extreme Speed will do well against offense. Shore Up actually lets you have consistent recovery and I generally find it better than Strength Sap or Extreme Speed. However, if you are going to use Mega Kangaskhan as a early breaker and don't mind much about its longevity, I would say you are good to go with your current set.

Giratina @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
- Core Enforcer
- Strength Sap
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock

252 SpA Draco Plate Giratina Core Enforcer vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Giratina: 228-270 (45.2 - 53.5%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO

(Draco Plate gives the same boost as Griseous Orb does to Giratina but calculator apparently doesn't calculate it right way) Griseous Orb looks like a good fit. Core Enforcer in addition to this lets you pressure other Giratina by 2HKOing them after Stealth Rock, should they switch in to Defog away the hazards. It also lets you reliably check Regigigas, since Knock Off will always have 65 BP against Giratina and Safety Goggles won't help since Regigigas will knock off the goggles and put you to sleep anyway. Also I suggest you to run Stealth Rock over Spikes - while Spikes does good job wearing down bulkier teams with Steel-types, your Mega Kangaskhan can dent them using Nature's Madness and the major changes I have applied above can deal with them. Stealth Rock can also wear down Flying-types like Mega Rayquaza, and this is something your team should value.

Adaptability -> Tough Claws
Leech Life / Thousand Arrows -> V-create
You need a meaningful way to threaten Steel-types. 1k Arrows doesn't even 2HKO Registeel, and it is not like Leech Life will do something meaningful against your own Imposter or other Steel-types. V-create, with Choice Band, you can OHKO both Registeel and Solgaleo. Power loss from Adaptability -> tough Claws is negligible since 4/3 is almost equivalent to 1.3. Also Tough Claws doesn't give Imposter a second chance to switch in, if it comes in on V-create.

252 Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Beedrill-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Eviolite Chansey: 748-880 (106.2 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO

(Chansey's Def set to 40 and typing to Bug / Poison)

If you think V-create takes away momentum, it isn't a serious problem. If you don't press U-turn and mispredict, you lose momentum anyway.

Since your Registeel can either shut down or cripple setup sweepers, I think you can consider running Eviolite on this guy. It lets you switch into -ate user or MMY in emergency much more reliably.


Conclusion:

My changes won't make your team perform better immediately, but I hope it helps the team to prepare premier threats while handling standard walls in the tier. I wish you luck adjusting to the metagame after it has gone through a huge chance after Primal Groudon ban, and feel free to shoot me PM or make a quoting post if you have anything to ask. Thanks and have a good day.

Edit:

So sorry! I forgot to recommend you a pokemon that would remove hazards. Giratina can forgo Pursuit to use Defog since Shedinja can't do much against it anyway, and hazard naturally pressures it.