Hello, Smogon! I have had great success with this team and I have lent it to some of my friends who have experienced success with it as well so I am posting it here.
Introduction
As many of you may know, Se Jun Park recently placed 1st at World's with a team using Mega Gyarados. Seeing him play with it on the live stream inspired me to build a really solid team using Gyarados. So I got to work making the team! Obviously the first place to start when making a team built around Mega Gyarados is Mega Gyarados, so, the great water snake thing became team member #1. I've seen people use Amoonguss with Gyarados to redirect attacks to make set-up easier, I've seen people use various Lightning Rod users to remove the pressure that Pokemon like Rotom and Manectric put on Gyarados, and I've even seen people jump on the Pachirisu bandwagon. But I wanted to take my team in a different direction. From what I've seen, people want to make setting up with Dragon Dance as easy as possible. I wanted Gyarados to come in late-game and clean up after it's counters have been severely weakened or eliminated from the game, so the team is built around removing Gyarados' checks and other threatening Pokemon like Kangaskhan and Mawile.
Teambuilding
Gyarados is, obviously, the base of a team oriented around Mega Gyarados.
Ferrothorn was the next member for a couple reasons. First, it can take Electric-type attacks really easily thanks to it's Grass-typing and great bulk. Secondly, I wanted to make a Fire-Water-Grass core, with Gyarados filling the Water spot and the Grass spot going to Ferrothorn. Finally, Ferrothorn provides a solid check to Water-types that Gyarados has trouble breaking past.
Rotom-Heat! Rotom completes the Fire-Water-Grass core, obviously filling the Fire-type spot. It checks Pokemon that annoy Ferrothorn and Gyarados like Charizard-Y and Talonflame. You may notice that Gyarados and Ferrothorn are both Pokemon that rely on physical attacks to deal damage so Rotom-H adds a special attacker to the mix. It can also absorb Will-O-Wisp's for Mega Gyarados and Ferrothorn.
I was skimming through reports on Nugget Bridge and found Ben Kyriakou's report for his World's team. He used Ferrothorn paired with Florges since it has Flower Veil to protect Ferrothorn from crippling status and Intimidate's which seemed really cool so I decided to give it a shot and I was not disappointed. It also provides a Fighting resist to back up the Dark-type Gyarados and the Steel-type Ferrothorn.
Mega Kangaskhan has dropped in usage since World's but it is still a threat to be accounted for. Gengar is one of the best checks to Kangaskhan in the format since Kangaskhan can't do anything to Gengar before being Will-O-Wisped. I can also use Taunt to deal with Smeargle and Prankster users.
For the final member of the team I wanted something that could just use it's sheer power to threaten other Pokemon. Garchomp fit the bill for this spot. It almost always gets a KO when it comes in if you play it correctly and can be difficult to take out since the team covers it's weaknesses with great effect.
The Team In-Depth
Gyarados (M) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Protect
If you haven't noticed the other times I have said it, this team is built around Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados. Mega Gyarados is certainly not the most common Pokemon in the format but a few players managed to utilise Gyarados with excellent results at World's this year, including World Champion Se Jun Park and Ben Kyriakou who placed 15th at Worlds and also inspired a lot of the strategies used in the team. I found that Gyarados lacked power without a Dragon Dance boost, especially in the case of the non-STABed Earthquake that has reduced damage in double battles, and even at +1 I missed out on a couple KO's. Regardless, it has become one of my favourite Mega Pokemon in the time that I have been using it. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I will explain why I chose the EV spread and the moveset. iirc, the Speed EV's allow me to outspeed max Speed Aerodactyl and everything slower than it at +1. This means I miss out on outpacing Mega Manectric, a big threat to my team, but if I keep Rotom healthy than Manectric is managable. Dragon Dance is, in my opinion, what makes Gyarados so strong. Grabbing an Attack boost and a Speed boost in one turn can turn Gyarados in a very Intimidating (pun sort of intended) threat. Waterfall was my STAB move on choice. I did actually try out Aqua Tail but the boost in power was definitely not worth the drop in accuract, so Waterfall is here to stay. Earthquake provides a way to hit the entire field at once (sadly including my own Pokemon) and after a couple DD's I can finish up a game in a turn or two. Protect is fairly self explanatory because it's a double battle format and Protecting for a turn can change the outcome of an entire game.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
Ferrothorn is kind of a wild card. Against some teams it is great and against others it is absolutely useless. But when it is up against one of those teams it matches nicely with, it definitely pulls it's weight. The EV spread is the one Ray Rizzo used to win Virginia Regionals in the winter. For those of you who don't know, the Attack investment allows Ferrothorn to OHKO the standard 44 Defense Rotom-Wash that people typically use. This spread is most commonly paired with a Lum Berry, but as I mentioned briefly in the Teambuilding section, Florges and Rotom can deal with burns which allowed me to run Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers. Plus, Ferrothorn doesn't mind taking a paralysis for something else since it will make Gyro Ball stronger, as well as protect it from burns without the help of Florges and eat up Dark Voids from Smeargle (lol probably the only Pokemon that wants to be paralyzed). Brave Nature and 0 Speed IVs are to maximize the damage output from the aforementioned Gyro Ball. Power Whip provides a strong and decently accurate Grass STAB to bash Water-types, mainly Azumarill and Rotom-Wash, although if Florges gets a Light Screen up Ferrothorn can also deal with Mega Blastoise effectively as well. I originally had Leech Seed in the third spot but found my team appreciating speed control from Thunder Wave more. Once again, Protect doesn't need any explanation.
Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 140 SpA / 12 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Rotom-Heat completes the Fire-Water-Grass core of this team. Rotom-H may seem like an odd choice since my Gyarados absolutely obliterates Rotom with EQ, but if you look more closely you can see Rotom's utility. Firstly, one of the biggest threats in the format, Mega Mawile, is brought to a halt by Rotom, and can be crippled with a Will-O-Wisp or outright KOed by an Overheat and it can also wall Talonflame and KO with Thunderbolt. Safety Goggles make Rotom the best Mega Charizard Y + Venusaur counter in VGC. Rotom-H can 2HKO Charizard and OHKO Venusaur with a sun-boosted Overheat, without fearing any attacks from these two or Sleep Powder. The EV spread is variation of one used by Ray Rizzo. The 140 Special Attack EVs and the Modest Nature allow Rotom to OHKO Ray's Mawile (180 Special Defense, Careful Nature) with an Overheat. The Special Defense allows me to survive a Hydro Pump from 76 SpA Rotom-W and 28 Speed to outspeed Rotom running 20 Speed EVs. The rest was invested into physical defense to take Rock Slides from Tyranitar, Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Aerodactyl better. The moveset is standard for Rotom-Heat, but I will give some insight any way. Overheat is one of the most powerful attacks in the format and grabs a lot of KOes and can really weaken Pokemon it doesn't outright knock out. Thunderbolt bashes the aforementioned Talonflame and Charizard, as well as any slow Water-types that are in range of KO. Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers, mainly Mawile but it can hit Tyranitar as well.
Florges (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Flower Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 164 Def / 52 SpA / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Light Screen
- Protect
I touched on my choosing Florges over another Fairy earlier, but I will go over it again. I oringinally got the idea from Ben Kyriakou's World's team, which my team share a lot of characteristics with. Flower Veil works really well with Ferrothorn since it guards fellow Grass-types from non-volatile status and stat drops that are not self-inflicted. It also hits Dragon's that threaten Garchomp. I honestly can't for the life of me remember everything that this EV spread but I know that it can survive a Double-Edge from Adamant Mega Kangaskhan even without the Sitrus Berry. If you want to find out exactly what the spread does you can check out Kyriakou's World's report. Florges' impressive special bulk allows it wall a large portion of the metagame, which is especially useful since many people run more special attackers because of all the Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp support running around willy nilly. Moonblast is the obvious STAB move of choice, since it it the most powerful special Fairy move and has a neat chance to reduce the targets Special Attack stat. Psychic provides the coverage to hit Poison-types like Gengar and Venusaur that would normally shrug off a Moonblast. Light Screen might seem odd on a Pokemon with the special bulk the Florges boasts but it is actually very helpful. Like I mentioned, the metagame has leaned more towards special attacks, so being able to better sponge Draco Meteors, Heat Waves, and various other powerful attacks is great.
Gengar (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Protect
Gengar, like I said earlier, is one of the best Mega Kangaskhan checks. While Pokemon like Mawile and Aegislash like to take attacks from Kangaskhan and KO back, Gengar prefers to cripple Kangaskhan with Will-O-Wisp and attack Kangaskhans partner with Shadow Ball. The EV spread is a simple 252/252/4 spread since it is pretty redundant investing in bulk when you have a Focus Sash. Most Gengar run Shadow Ball and three of Sludge Bomb, Will-O-Wisp, Taunt and Protect. I have already explained Will-O-Wisp but I haven't yet discussed Taunt in much detail. Smeargle is probably one of the most annoying Pokemon in the format just because of Dark Void. Gengar can shut down non-Scarf Smeargle with Taunt without fearing Fake Out from Kangaskhan or any other Fake Out user. It also provides a way to stop Swagger/Confuse Ray spam from Prankster users like Meowstic and Sableye. Another use of Taunt is "trapping" Aegislash in it's Shield Forme so it can be OHKOed. And Protect. This Protect I will explain. I could have chosen Sludge Bomb to hit Fairies and Ludicolo but Protect has so much versatility I couldn't overlook it.
Garchomp (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 12 HP / 212 Atk / 36 SpD / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Protect
Ok, we're almost done. Garchomp rounded out the team with a straight up, powerful attacker. Garchomp forms a Fantasy (Fairy-Dragon-Steel) core with Ferrothorn and Florges and the three can deal with a large portion of the metagame, so that Gyarados has room to clean up. The EV spread allows Garchomp to survive Timid Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice and, iirc, KO back even after the Intimidate drop. Lum Berry is because Garchomp is huge burn bait and also allows me to absorb a Dark Void/Spore/Swagger if need be. Dragon Claw and Earthquake are standard attacks on Garchomp but whatever, I'll explain. Dragon is STAB that hits other, slower Dragon's like Choice Specs Hydreigon. Earthquake provides spread to hit everything on the field, in a similiar vein to Gyarados' EQ. Substitute is really cool on Garchomp. It allows me to take status moves after Lum Berry is consumed and can keep Garchomp alive just a little longer, which can actually turn games around. I had Rock Slide there but I felt I had sufficient methods for dealing with Talonflame/Charizard.
Closing Thoughts
I really like how this team turned out. It is bulky and fast and strong all in one, and cover's its weaknesses as well as most of the metagame pretty well. I learned alot about VGC '14 and playing double battles from building and using this team. I'm definitely going to continue playing VGC next season when Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire come out (definitely building a team with Mega Altaria!). I really hope you guys like my team, because I sure do! Please leave a rate. All input is greatly appreciated.
Introduction
As many of you may know, Se Jun Park recently placed 1st at World's with a team using Mega Gyarados. Seeing him play with it on the live stream inspired me to build a really solid team using Gyarados. So I got to work making the team! Obviously the first place to start when making a team built around Mega Gyarados is Mega Gyarados, so, the great water snake thing became team member #1. I've seen people use Amoonguss with Gyarados to redirect attacks to make set-up easier, I've seen people use various Lightning Rod users to remove the pressure that Pokemon like Rotom and Manectric put on Gyarados, and I've even seen people jump on the Pachirisu bandwagon. But I wanted to take my team in a different direction. From what I've seen, people want to make setting up with Dragon Dance as easy as possible. I wanted Gyarados to come in late-game and clean up after it's counters have been severely weakened or eliminated from the game, so the team is built around removing Gyarados' checks and other threatening Pokemon like Kangaskhan and Mawile.
Teambuilding
Gyarados is, obviously, the base of a team oriented around Mega Gyarados.
Ferrothorn was the next member for a couple reasons. First, it can take Electric-type attacks really easily thanks to it's Grass-typing and great bulk. Secondly, I wanted to make a Fire-Water-Grass core, with Gyarados filling the Water spot and the Grass spot going to Ferrothorn. Finally, Ferrothorn provides a solid check to Water-types that Gyarados has trouble breaking past.
Rotom-Heat! Rotom completes the Fire-Water-Grass core, obviously filling the Fire-type spot. It checks Pokemon that annoy Ferrothorn and Gyarados like Charizard-Y and Talonflame. You may notice that Gyarados and Ferrothorn are both Pokemon that rely on physical attacks to deal damage so Rotom-H adds a special attacker to the mix. It can also absorb Will-O-Wisp's for Mega Gyarados and Ferrothorn.
I was skimming through reports on Nugget Bridge and found Ben Kyriakou's report for his World's team. He used Ferrothorn paired with Florges since it has Flower Veil to protect Ferrothorn from crippling status and Intimidate's which seemed really cool so I decided to give it a shot and I was not disappointed. It also provides a Fighting resist to back up the Dark-type Gyarados and the Steel-type Ferrothorn.
Mega Kangaskhan has dropped in usage since World's but it is still a threat to be accounted for. Gengar is one of the best checks to Kangaskhan in the format since Kangaskhan can't do anything to Gengar before being Will-O-Wisped. I can also use Taunt to deal with Smeargle and Prankster users.
For the final member of the team I wanted something that could just use it's sheer power to threaten other Pokemon. Garchomp fit the bill for this spot. It almost always gets a KO when it comes in if you play it correctly and can be difficult to take out since the team covers it's weaknesses with great effect.
The Team In-Depth
Gyarados (M) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Protect
If you haven't noticed the other times I have said it, this team is built around Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados. Mega Gyarados is certainly not the most common Pokemon in the format but a few players managed to utilise Gyarados with excellent results at World's this year, including World Champion Se Jun Park and Ben Kyriakou who placed 15th at Worlds and also inspired a lot of the strategies used in the team. I found that Gyarados lacked power without a Dragon Dance boost, especially in the case of the non-STABed Earthquake that has reduced damage in double battles, and even at +1 I missed out on a couple KO's. Regardless, it has become one of my favourite Mega Pokemon in the time that I have been using it. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I will explain why I chose the EV spread and the moveset. iirc, the Speed EV's allow me to outspeed max Speed Aerodactyl and everything slower than it at +1. This means I miss out on outpacing Mega Manectric, a big threat to my team, but if I keep Rotom healthy than Manectric is managable. Dragon Dance is, in my opinion, what makes Gyarados so strong. Grabbing an Attack boost and a Speed boost in one turn can turn Gyarados in a very Intimidating (pun sort of intended) threat. Waterfall was my STAB move on choice. I did actually try out Aqua Tail but the boost in power was definitely not worth the drop in accuract, so Waterfall is here to stay. Earthquake provides a way to hit the entire field at once (sadly including my own Pokemon) and after a couple DD's I can finish up a game in a turn or two. Protect is fairly self explanatory because it's a double battle format and Protecting for a turn can change the outcome of an entire game.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
Ferrothorn is kind of a wild card. Against some teams it is great and against others it is absolutely useless. But when it is up against one of those teams it matches nicely with, it definitely pulls it's weight. The EV spread is the one Ray Rizzo used to win Virginia Regionals in the winter. For those of you who don't know, the Attack investment allows Ferrothorn to OHKO the standard 44 Defense Rotom-Wash that people typically use. This spread is most commonly paired with a Lum Berry, but as I mentioned briefly in the Teambuilding section, Florges and Rotom can deal with burns which allowed me to run Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers. Plus, Ferrothorn doesn't mind taking a paralysis for something else since it will make Gyro Ball stronger, as well as protect it from burns without the help of Florges and eat up Dark Voids from Smeargle (lol probably the only Pokemon that wants to be paralyzed). Brave Nature and 0 Speed IVs are to maximize the damage output from the aforementioned Gyro Ball. Power Whip provides a strong and decently accurate Grass STAB to bash Water-types, mainly Azumarill and Rotom-Wash, although if Florges gets a Light Screen up Ferrothorn can also deal with Mega Blastoise effectively as well. I originally had Leech Seed in the third spot but found my team appreciating speed control from Thunder Wave more. Once again, Protect doesn't need any explanation.
Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 140 SpA / 12 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Rotom-Heat completes the Fire-Water-Grass core of this team. Rotom-H may seem like an odd choice since my Gyarados absolutely obliterates Rotom with EQ, but if you look more closely you can see Rotom's utility. Firstly, one of the biggest threats in the format, Mega Mawile, is brought to a halt by Rotom, and can be crippled with a Will-O-Wisp or outright KOed by an Overheat and it can also wall Talonflame and KO with Thunderbolt. Safety Goggles make Rotom the best Mega Charizard Y + Venusaur counter in VGC. Rotom-H can 2HKO Charizard and OHKO Venusaur with a sun-boosted Overheat, without fearing any attacks from these two or Sleep Powder. The EV spread is variation of one used by Ray Rizzo. The 140 Special Attack EVs and the Modest Nature allow Rotom to OHKO Ray's Mawile (180 Special Defense, Careful Nature) with an Overheat. The Special Defense allows me to survive a Hydro Pump from 76 SpA Rotom-W and 28 Speed to outspeed Rotom running 20 Speed EVs. The rest was invested into physical defense to take Rock Slides from Tyranitar, Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Aerodactyl better. The moveset is standard for Rotom-Heat, but I will give some insight any way. Overheat is one of the most powerful attacks in the format and grabs a lot of KOes and can really weaken Pokemon it doesn't outright knock out. Thunderbolt bashes the aforementioned Talonflame and Charizard, as well as any slow Water-types that are in range of KO. Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers, mainly Mawile but it can hit Tyranitar as well.
Florges (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Flower Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 164 Def / 52 SpA / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Light Screen
- Protect
I touched on my choosing Florges over another Fairy earlier, but I will go over it again. I oringinally got the idea from Ben Kyriakou's World's team, which my team share a lot of characteristics with. Flower Veil works really well with Ferrothorn since it guards fellow Grass-types from non-volatile status and stat drops that are not self-inflicted. It also hits Dragon's that threaten Garchomp. I honestly can't for the life of me remember everything that this EV spread but I know that it can survive a Double-Edge from Adamant Mega Kangaskhan even without the Sitrus Berry. If you want to find out exactly what the spread does you can check out Kyriakou's World's report. Florges' impressive special bulk allows it wall a large portion of the metagame, which is especially useful since many people run more special attackers because of all the Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp support running around willy nilly. Moonblast is the obvious STAB move of choice, since it it the most powerful special Fairy move and has a neat chance to reduce the targets Special Attack stat. Psychic provides the coverage to hit Poison-types like Gengar and Venusaur that would normally shrug off a Moonblast. Light Screen might seem odd on a Pokemon with the special bulk the Florges boasts but it is actually very helpful. Like I mentioned, the metagame has leaned more towards special attacks, so being able to better sponge Draco Meteors, Heat Waves, and various other powerful attacks is great.
Gengar (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Protect
Gengar, like I said earlier, is one of the best Mega Kangaskhan checks. While Pokemon like Mawile and Aegislash like to take attacks from Kangaskhan and KO back, Gengar prefers to cripple Kangaskhan with Will-O-Wisp and attack Kangaskhans partner with Shadow Ball. The EV spread is a simple 252/252/4 spread since it is pretty redundant investing in bulk when you have a Focus Sash. Most Gengar run Shadow Ball and three of Sludge Bomb, Will-O-Wisp, Taunt and Protect. I have already explained Will-O-Wisp but I haven't yet discussed Taunt in much detail. Smeargle is probably one of the most annoying Pokemon in the format just because of Dark Void. Gengar can shut down non-Scarf Smeargle with Taunt without fearing Fake Out from Kangaskhan or any other Fake Out user. It also provides a way to stop Swagger/Confuse Ray spam from Prankster users like Meowstic and Sableye. Another use of Taunt is "trapping" Aegislash in it's Shield Forme so it can be OHKOed. And Protect. This Protect I will explain. I could have chosen Sludge Bomb to hit Fairies and Ludicolo but Protect has so much versatility I couldn't overlook it.
Garchomp (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 12 HP / 212 Atk / 36 SpD / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Protect
Ok, we're almost done. Garchomp rounded out the team with a straight up, powerful attacker. Garchomp forms a Fantasy (Fairy-Dragon-Steel) core with Ferrothorn and Florges and the three can deal with a large portion of the metagame, so that Gyarados has room to clean up. The EV spread allows Garchomp to survive Timid Mega Manectric's Hidden Power Ice and, iirc, KO back even after the Intimidate drop. Lum Berry is because Garchomp is huge burn bait and also allows me to absorb a Dark Void/Spore/Swagger if need be. Dragon Claw and Earthquake are standard attacks on Garchomp but whatever, I'll explain. Dragon is STAB that hits other, slower Dragon's like Choice Specs Hydreigon. Earthquake provides spread to hit everything on the field, in a similiar vein to Gyarados' EQ. Substitute is really cool on Garchomp. It allows me to take status moves after Lum Berry is consumed and can keep Garchomp alive just a little longer, which can actually turn games around. I had Rock Slide there but I felt I had sufficient methods for dealing with Talonflame/Charizard.
Closing Thoughts
I really like how this team turned out. It is bulky and fast and strong all in one, and cover's its weaknesses as well as most of the metagame pretty well. I learned alot about VGC '14 and playing double battles from building and using this team. I'm definitely going to continue playing VGC next season when Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire come out (definitely building a team with Mega Altaria!). I really hope you guys like my team, because I sure do! Please leave a rate. All input is greatly appreciated.