Garganacl Gambit Balance Team

miguel345 · Jul 28, 2023

This is a balance team I have been using around 1400-1500 and have had decent success with it so far:

GargaNaCl @ Leftovers :Garganacl:

Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Salt Cure
- Protect
- Recover
:Garganacl:

serves as a good check to many of the meta games threats such as :Zapdos:

,

and

while also being able to beat almost anything after terastalising into a water type. If the enemy team has :Zapdos:

I usually save my tera until after it has been fainted or is very low otherwise this team can just lose to :Zapdos:

carrying Thunderbolt as it outdamages your own :Zapdos:

Discharge. It runs Stealth Rock instead of Curse because I wanted a more offensive :Great Tusk:

Great Tusk @ Heavy-Duty Boots :Great Tusk:

Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
:Great Tusk:

serves as a check to opposing :Garganacl:

and

. Headlong Rush is good ground STAB, Ice Spinner is to pick off low :Zapdos:

and threaten :Dragonite:

and

. Knock off is a good utility move and can cripple opposing :Garganacl:

by removing leftovers or other tanky walls. Rapid Spin is our team's hazard removal and can sometimes lead to some sweeps as well. I rarely terastalise Tusk so it's tera type is ground to increase damage.

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots :Zapdos:

Ability: Static
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Discharge
:Zapdos:

is very well positioned in this meta game and it sort of has a rock-paper-scissors relationship with :Great Tusk:

and

where it beats :Great Tusk:

as long as you land your Hurricanes but loses to :Garganacl:

. It's dual STABS in Hurricanes and Discharge are hard to switch into as there are not many common pure Electric types. I run U Turn since it can't be blocked by opposing Ground types and Roost is good recovery.

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet :Amoonguss:

Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Foul Play
I feel like :Amoonguss:

fits well onto this team as it can check this team's weakness such as :Iron Valiant:

and

. It is my only water resist on this team so that can lead to problems if :Garganacl:

is not terastalised yet. I run rocky Helmet for opposing physical water attackers e.g. :Azumarill:

or the occasional :Basculegion:

. The moves are pretty standard: Spore for status, Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb as STAB and Foul Play to hit :Gholdengo:

on the switch but I'm open to changing the move to perhaps maybe Toxic.

Kingambit @ Leftovers :Kingambit:

Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
The team's backup win condition. There's a reason it's being suspect tested and also fits well onto this team. It can check opposing :Gholdengo:

,

and

that don't run Flamethrower. I'm running Leftovers since it will switch in often and Tera Flying eliminates its fighting and ground weaknesses. Swords Dance for boosting attack, Kowtow Cleave and Iron Head as STAB and Sucker Punch as priority to pick off low enemies.

Enamorus @ Choice Scarf :Enamorus:

Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Mystical Fire
- Healing Wish
Lastly, :Enamorus:

functions as the speed control for the team running a choice scarf. Even with a scarf, Moonblast OHKO's :Dragapult:

,

,

and many other Fairy weak pokemon. I run contrary for the odd parting shot against :Grimmsnarl:

and obviously max speed and max attack. Running it modest outspeeds most of the non-boosted metagame and increases power. Earth Power as coverage for :Heatran:

and

and :Mystical Fire: to threaten :Corviknight:

Healing Wish is good as well if I need to heal my Kingambit or Garganacl for the win and can also remove a potential burn from :Kingambit:

.

Overall, this team is working well on mid-ladder but it can lose to set-up sweepers especially :Baxcalibur:

as it can muscle through my :Great Tusk:

and

or Terastalise in front of :Enamorus:

to prevent being OHKO'd by moonblast.
Any advice on how to improve the team is greatly appreciated as I've only been playing for around two months.

matte · Jul 28, 2023

I'm going to make some recommendations to you team and address some weaknesses.

Big Changes:

Swap :zapdos:

for

. I wouldn't normally recommend this but it fits pretty good on your team. Dondozo serves as a check to alot of phys attackers but mostly :Baxcalibur:

and

which you team struggles with. Zapdos isn't really needed because you have Amoonguss already and having to many ice weaks forces a tera or a sac. I went with a curse talk set as I think thats the most consistent thing for walling/checking. This change opens you up to zapdos more but you will always have :Garganacl:

and

(provided you scouted for h-cane) to check it. Tera fighting is for Kingambit as some of them might run tera dark so you need that extra defensive power against it.

Dondozo @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Liquidation
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Small Changes/Notes:

Swap :rocky-helmet:

for

. This forces things out like :Basculegion:

or potential sweepers, while letting you get a free spore off on something important. (eg an :iron-valiant:

.)

I think that a bulkier set on tusk would be better as its your only form of hazard removal and running an offensive set can really open you up to hazard stack teams that use :samurott-hisui:

and friends to chip down your tusk until hazards are on the field for the rest of the game. (Your team looks like it has to switch alot for checks which hazard damage racks up a ton.) You could also run :cinderace:

over

. This keeps a more offensive profile while being able to get rid of hazards and get them on the other side.

real one (Great Tusk) @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 Spe
Impish Nature
- Ice Spinner
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

I noticed that your team doesn't really have a strong Spd wall. All of your walls are mixed and can get really messed up with a spa setup sweeper like :Cresselia:

or

. This can lead to a tera being forced or things being sacked which opens up your team more. I think something like :ting-lu:

or some other phaser is good as they can either get rid of boosts or force them out. Ting-Lu also can give hazards to your team besides :Garganacl:

's rocks.

Thats all! Hope this helps. Go get em!

miguel345 · Jul 30, 2023

Thanks for the advice. Dondozo gives my team a lot more breathing room.

Garganacl Gambit Balance Team

miguel345

matte

miguel345