Team built around Mega Gyarados.

[Swagata]

Hello guys, I'm playing on PS for about a year and have made many teams, but after the release of XY my favorite pokemon, Gyarados, got its very own mega evolution.I was pretty excited to try and made this team which I use in PS and also for in-game wifi battles.

Team Building Process​

First, I take the main pivot of the team, M-Gyarados. Then I Move onto select its team mates, and the first thing that comes to my mind is hazards, so i need a spinner but there are no fast spinners other than excadrill so i take a deffoger instead, and it is Aerodactyl.

Now, both of these pokemon are weak to electric types, so I might as-well take a ground type.And I choose Excadrill.

Now I'm taking another of my all time favorites, Garchomp.I'm taking him because I just want him.I can't explain it.

Now 2 pokemon share Ice type weakness,I need something to counter it hardand get a good special seewper, so Volcarona.

Finally I need something that can be an annoying, so Rotom.

And I have a balance team built arround Mega Gyarados.

In depth look.​

You'll see some better sets(which are beside my preferred ones and they are recommended, but I use my personal sets because ..I can't explain.

Nicknames in bracket.

Mega Gyarados-(Imperial Rage)
Item-Gyaradosite
Ability-Intimidate->Moldbreaker
EVs- 252 Att/ 252 Spe /4 HP
Adamant Nature
Moves-Dragon Dance, Waterfall,Ice-fang,Earthquake.

The pokemon around which I built my team,one of the best bulky DDancers with decent speed.The concept is simple like other dragon dancers,getting it in on something that can't touch it,and Set up DDances. Intimidate helps to make it last longer with the increased bulk it gains from M-evolving.Waterfall is the main STAB, with Ice fang and Earthquake for coverage.

Aerodactyl-(Yao)
Item-Focus Sash
Ability-Pressure
EVs-252 Spe/ 100 HP/156 Att
Jolly Nature.
Moves-Defog, Stealth Rock,Stone Edge,Taunt.

His main purpose in my team is to take out rocks,I don't use SRs myself that much but if the opposing team lacks a spiiner then I deposit rocks aswell, Taunt lets me surprise leads like Smeargle and most of the time forcing a switch, and Stone Edge is there just to hit something if needed.

He was too fragile so I later put Latias instead of him.

Latias
Item-Leftovers
EVs-252 SpAtt/252 Speed/ 4HP
Timid Nature
Moves-Magic Guard,Defog,Draco Meteor,Psychic

I put him in instead of Aero and serves the same purpose and lets me deal with fighting type priority users like Infernape,Conkeldurr,Breloom etc.Magic Guard for Smeargle leads and Draco meteor for dragons.


This is my preference

Garchomp-(Yamcha)
Item-Rocky Helmet
Ability-Rough Skin
Jolly Nature.
EVs-252 Att/252 Spe/4 HP
Moves-Substitute,Swords Dance, Dragon Claw,Earthquake.

I kept him on my team because he is one of my Favorites.Sub and Swords Dance lets me set-up on pokemon like rotom-w or rotom-h. I keep him for Dragon type coverage and cover up my weakness to electric types for Aerodactyl and Gyarados, while Mega Gyarados,Rotom-w and Volcarona cover up its weakness to ice.It has good synergy with my team so I can't see a better choice.

But this is recomended.
Item-Choice Scarf
Ability-Rough Skin
Adamant Nature
EVs-252 Att/252 Spe/4 HP
Moves-Dragon Claw,Stone Edge,Earthquake,Fire Blast

Volcarona
Item-Rocky Helmet-but Leftovers is recommended.
Ability-Flame Body.
Modest Nature.
EVs-252 SpAtt/ 252 Spe/ 4HP
Moves-Quiver Dance,Giga Drain,Bug Buzz,Fiery Dance.

This bug has not changed much from the past generations,rocky helmet and flame body makes physical attackers take some nasty recoil with a 30% chance to get burned.Bug Zuzz and Fiery Dance are the main moves with a nice boost in from Quiver dance and Giga drain for coverage for pokemon with quad weakness to grass.But its Biggest threat in the current metagame is Talonflame, which gets completely walled by by next pokemon, Rotom-W.

Rotom-W-(Dude)
Item-Leftovers
Ability-Levitate
Calm nature.
EVs-252HP/ 252 SpDef/ 4Spatt (need help with EVs, should I invest in Def. or SpeDef?)
Moves-Thunder,Hypdro pump,Wil-o-wisp,Pain Split.

I use him to annoy people, give out burns, wall Talonflame for my Volcarona,and also tank ice type moves for Garchomp and Aerocatyl and sometimes if the team has no good checks for rotom-w, this can do pretty nasty damage. It has do quite nicely to take out pokemon like skarmory,so thats about it, it is pokemon which is there just to annoy.

Excadrill-Crush Claws.
Item-Airballon
Ability-Mold Breaker.
Jolly Nature.
EVs-252 Att/ 252 Spe/ 4 HP
Moves-Swords Dance, Earthquake,Iron Head,Rock Slide.

I keep him for the same reason as Garchomp, for switching in on electric types. Excadrill with mold breaker can completely annihilate pokemon like rotom-w, and can take out quite a few pokemon if the odds are in its favor after a swords dance.Iron head is there fir coverage to fairies as Garchomp and Mega Gyarados is weak to it.Earthquake can take care of most things,and rockslide for flying types.


Thats all of my team, please do comment on what you think and feel free to suggest improvements, they are very much appreciated.
Thank you for reading, it was lengthy(I know) but still thanks!

 

[V_Cliff]

Some small improvements:
Mega-Khan is gone,you really do not need two Rocky Helmet users
Volcarona: Replace Rocky Helmet with Life Orb or Leftovers
Because your team lacks priority and a scarfer, you have no real way of revenge kill certain threats. Instead of SubSD chomp you can use garchomp as Scarfer

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
^
(Plus XY OU Preview)
This prevets fast threats like greninja and and DDCharX tor rip throught you team after their counters are heavily weakened
Since you don`t have any rain support in you team,there is no reason to use Thunder over Volt switch or Thunderbolt

Otherwise the team looks quite solid. Im not really sure about Aerodactyl , you may use more sturdier Defogers (Scizor,Skarmory,Empoleon,Mandibuzz), because Aerodactyl cant really switch in the most common harzard setters,is weak to SR,and is damm fragile


(On MegaGyarados you may use Substitute instead of Ice Fang.Works really nice against harzadr leads,prankster and every user of WoW.But this is my personal opinion)

(Edit: Timid over Modest on Volcarona.You need a + Speed nature for Jolly Excadrill and offensive Lando-T.)

I hope I've helped you a bit

 

[Swagata]

Some small improvements:
Mega-Khan is gone,you really do not need two Rocky Helmet users
Volcarona: Replace Rocky Helmet with Life Orb or Leftovers
Because your team lacks priority and a scarfer, you have no real way of revenge kill certain threats. Instead of SubSD chomp you can use garchomp as Scarfer

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
^
(Plus XY OU Preview)
This prevets fast threats like greninja and and DDCharX tor rip throught you team after their counters are heavily weakened
Since you don`t have any rain support in you team,there is no reason to use Thunder over Volt switch or Thunderbolt

Otherwise the team looks quite solid. Im not really sure about Aerodactyl , you may use more sturdier Defogers (Scizor,Skarmory,Empoleon,Mandibuzz), because Aerodactyl cant really switch in the most common harzard setters,is weak to SR,and is damm fragile


(On MegaGyarados you may use Substitute instead of Ice Fang.Works really nice against harzadr leads,prankster and every user of WoW.But this is my personal opinion)

I hope I've helped you a bit

Thanks for the feedback!
The reason i kept rocky helmet on Volcarona is because it can dish out a burn and also do some damage. I used leftovers Volcarona before, and it is quite good but i have been using this set and it works nicely with team.But i will try leftovers again to see if it works tho.

And about scarf Garchomp,I prefer freedom to switch moves. I have the faster threats balanced with rotom-w and Volcarona,I've dealt with some today and with a calm mind(not the move) and prediction can wall a hit and then hit back but I will also try scarf Garchomp and see how it works with the team.

And about Aerodactyl, I prefer it for its speed,taunt helps against other leads and stone edge can hit also.I don't think I'm switching him out just quite yet.

 

[Wyzra]

It seems like you're building based around types/weaknesses yet you have three water weaks. Azumarill and other M Gyarados, for example, have almost perfect super-effective coverage against your team. You're also weak to other things like Ferrothorn. As you may have noticed, Mega Gyarados sweeps many teams but he's somewhat easily countered. Check out my Gyarados RMT for how to solve some of these problems.

 

[Swagata]

It seems like you're building based around types/weaknesses yet you have three water weaks. Azumarill and other M Gyarados, for example, have almost perfect super-effective coverage against your team. You're also weak to other things like Ferrothorn. As you may have noticed, Mega Gyarados sweeps many teams but he's somewhat easily countered. Check out my Gyarados RMT for how to solve some of these problems.

Rotom-W and if M-Gyara get +2att then azumaril is not a big problem, for Ferrothorn I have Volcarona which also helps against other unboosted M-Gyara.

And where can i find your thread? Can you link it please?

 

[V_Cliff]

And where can i find your thread? Can you link it please?

Link for Wyzras Team

So, i played a bit with your original team (with the changes on Garchomp and Volcarona)on my Test alt and noticed the good synergy between Rotom-W,Garchomp,Gyarados and Vocarona.The latter two
are a very efficient offensive core, both can usual handle the counter of the other.
One of the largest hindrance was the transience of Volcarona.Without reliable recovery the Atlas-Moth is somewhat easy to wear down and fails to accumulate multiple boosts.So change the Volcarona set a bit.

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spd
Timid nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Roost

Roost instead of Giga Drain. Yeah this is not revolutionary, but this changed alot. Suddenly Volcarona starts to 6-0 teams .With the spd boost from QD and roost Volca can use special attacker as setup fodder and roost off the damage,with enough boost under its belt, and without strong priority or Heatran in the opposing team, this set almost guaranteed a win. This set allows the Atlas-Moth to survive much longer.

Another problem for this team were ,like Wyzras said, strong physical setup sweepers. Dragonite,Mega-Gyarados,Garchomp,Azumarril and Mega Pinsir threatens the team immensely,even with scarf Garchomp and Rotom-W still intact.
Aerodactyl really adds nothing to the team synergy and tends to die a bit fast,so drop it for a mor stable Harzard setter/Defog User.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Defog

Easily switches in a bunch of physical threats,has reliable recovery, a phazing move, SR and Defog.Taunt completely disable this set,but works otherwise really well.

This team needs no third sweeper , especially no one with the same problems like Gyarados ,so Excadrill is a bit redundant .Banded Scizor provides utility with U-Turn and Defog switches in Fairys with ease and acts as revenge killer with Bullet Punch.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Defog

You might drop defog for pursuit or quick attack.But Defog is really useful if Skarm is already gone.

(Im using Substitute on Gyra instead of Ice fang, and a Jolly nature. Just to srew over smeargle leads and status in general)
Tested the changed Team with an Ladder alt and it works wonderful.

 

[aPandaCub]

I would suggest Passho Berry or Lum berry on Volc. Leftovers is generally on the bulkier bold sets.
Bite on Mega Gyarados is superior in most cases, nails celebi and Trevenant harder than Ice Fang. Does leave you a but open to dragons though.
I would suggest something like Deoxys S or Deoxys D for hazards instead of Aero, they both have taunt or Magic Coat to deal with Smeargle.
Changing thr Excadrill set to one with shadow claw and rapid spin is a good idea if you ditch Aero.
Just watch out for Scarfed Genesect, it can deal with basically 4 of your mons.

 

[Swagata]

I would suggest Passho Berry or Lum berry on Volc. Leftovers is generally on the bulkier bold sets.
Bite on Mega Gyarados is superior in most cases, nails celebi and Trevenant harder than Ice Fang. Does leave you a but open to dragons though.
I would suggest something like Deoxys S or Deoxys D for hazards instead of Aero, they both have taunt or Magic Coat to deal with Smeargle.
Changing thr Excadrill set to one with shadow claw and rapid spin is a good idea if you ditch Aero.
Just watch out for Scarfed Genesect, it can deal with basically 4 of your mons.

How about Latias for Defogger and it can also get magic guard and completely nails smeargle and some leads. It also lets me get rid of fighting types which you might notice the team has trouble with.

Using this set instead if Aero and it works well.
Latias (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Magic Coat

It also has good special bulk without any investment so its not all that bad.
and yea, Scarfsect is really annoying if it doesn't die to Volcarona early in the game.

 

[aPandaCub]

It might be better to use an anti-lead such as sash Infernape.

Anti-LeadFocus SashIron FistNaive
MovesetEVs
~ Fake Out
~ Stealth Rock
~ Overheat
~ Close Combat
252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe

Fake Out to break Smeargle leads sash, Close Combat to kill. Set up Rocks. Pretty much enough to make any Smeargle to cry for mommy. This is basically a suicide lead, but you can preserve it to hit hard later in the match if you need.

 

[Swagata]

It might be better to use an anti-lead such as sash Infernape.

Anti-LeadFocus SashIron FistNaive
MovesetEVs
~ Fake Out
~ Stealth Rock
~ Overheat
~ Close Combat
252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe

Fake Out to break Smeargle leads sash, Close Combat to kill. Set up Rocks. Pretty much enough to make any Smeargle to cry for mommy. This is basically a suicide lead, but you can preserve it to hit hard later in the match if you need.

Thanks for the reply.
It looks nice but i prefer keeping Latias instead, this one can put up rocks and deal with smeargle, but it can't take out rocks.