ORAS NU NU Goes Global! [Aggron Offense ~ Peaked #292 (for now :D)]

[ultraplayer]

Hello! My name is ultraplayer. I've been playing competitive for a while and have mainly focused on higher tiers the whole but recently have been trying to get into the lower tiers again. When Aggron made its way to NU, I decided it was time! This team has been doing very well since I built with only one small change made since the first time I built it! Time to see if I can make it better!

Teambuilding process:

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The star of the team! Aggron possesses great offensive capabilities in NU with only a handful of things not getting 2HKOd by the combination of its Rock/Steel/Fighting coverage.


After looking around and doing some calcs I found that Ludicolo and Aggron compliment each other well, taking care of each other's checks and destroying teams left and right.


At this point I decided to make the team offensive and took advantage of another of NU's newest additions and added Smeargle for hazards.


Since I was hazard stacking, I felt the need to get a spinblocker as well as a Defog deterrent. I grabbed Rotom and Primeape as they also offer me a VoltTurn core which really benefits the team.


I finished with Xatu to have some degree of bulk + hazard control as well as a good Malamar check as the loss of Quagsire has seem to make it more of a threat.

In depth analysis:


Jazz (Aggron) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Head Smash
- Heavy Slam
- Low Kick
- Rock Polish

Aggron high powered STABs combined with Rock Head to nullify Head Smash's recoil makes Aggron a great late game cleaner once Rock Polish is used. Head Smash is the main STAB move that can 2HKO some mons that resist it. Heavy Slam is the secondary and more accurate STAB that is much safer to click. Low Kick 2HKOs Steeliz and OHKOs opposing Aggrons. EVs are standard for an offensive mon. Jolly nature allows me to outspeed all the Adamant ones running around and Low Kick them. Aggron is generally used as a late game cleaner but can be brought in mid game to pressure the my opponent if needed.



Miror Miror (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam

This thing is insane, seriously why is it NU. Ludicolo makes a great backup cleaner as well as pairs extremely well with Aggron. Rain Dance turns Hydro Pump into an absolute nuke while Giga Drain helps mitigate Life Orb Recoil and provides a second STAB option that also hits Water types. Ice Beam hits Grass and Flying types reliably. Standard EVs with Modest for maximum damage output. Ludicolo works well at any point in the match due to its sheer power and speed in the rain.



Ross (Smeargle) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Skill Swap
- Stealth Rock
- Spore
- Sticky Web

Smeargle is the hazard setter of this team, with rocks and webs ready to go at a moments notice. Originally I had Spikes over webs but found myself insanely weak to Tauros and put Sticky Web to slow it down and allow me to check it with more ease. Spore as the desired sleep move as the only things that can't be Spored are grass types and Magmortar, neither of which typically outspeed Timid Smeargle. Skill Swap allows me to stop Xatu from being cheeky and bouncing back my hazards. However Smeargle is not so cut and dry, people look at Smeargle and just think hazards and sleep but Smeargle has a unique gift...the power to change how people start matches. If you start a match in which you see Smeargle you're gonna try and minimize the hazards damage, however this is exploitable. Let me explain: Say an opponent of mine sees Smeargle and is going to lead his Cacturne, I can lead Primeape predicting that and immediately gain the upper hand by clicking U-Turn and either getting a quick kill or getting immediate initiative. Also the combination of Focus Sash + Skill Swap can be an opponents undoing if I decide to not lead with hazards. Such as if someone is using a weather team, I can keep Smeargle in the back and bring it on the sweeper and take away its Swift Swim/Chlorophyll/Sand Rush. Smeargle is a lot more deadly than people give him credit.



Applied (Rotom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp

Rotom makes an excellent spinblocker for the few mons that actually carry Rapid Spin. Of all the sets I chose Choice Scarf as it gives me some immediate speed, something my team was lacking, a revenge killer, and some support with Trick and Will-O-Wisp, allowing me to cripple a wall/sweeper respectively. Volt Switch grants me STAB momentum allowing me to keep the upper hand during the battle. Shadow Ball is the Rotom's secondary STAB move that keeps it from being walled by Ground types. Standard EVs once again.



NEWYORK (Primeape) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

With Defiant as an ability Primeape is very good at keeping Defog from being an easy move to click as a Banded Close Combat is hard enough to switch into without the +2. Choice Band maximizes Primeape's offense, allowing it to tear through anything that doesn't resist it or is immune to it. U-Turn compliments the team by giving me more momentum which is crucial for offense. Stone Edge and Earthquake provide near perfect coverage for Primeape leaving next to nothing to be a 100% safe switch-in. Standard EVs? Who would've guessed?



Totem (Xatu) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Psyshock
- Signal Beam

Thanks to Magic Bounce, Xatu makes it harder for my opponent to set up hazards against me and thus makes it less important to have hazard removal. Xatu also gives me a bit of bulk as well as a wincon that set up on certain things that Aggron and Ludicolo can't. Roost gives Xatu reliable recovery and allows to set up with more ease. Psyshock is the main STAB move while Signal Beam provides nice coverage against Psychic and Dark types. The speed investment and Colbur Berry allow Xatu to check Malamar, a prominent threat (especially with Quag gone) that tears through the rest of my team. The rest of the EVs make Xatu more bulky and take hits better. The Colbur Berry also allows me to halt some threats whom's only way to hit Xatu is a Dark type move.




Overall the goal of this team in any given match is to constantly pressure the opponent while wearing down checks to the best possible wincon of the team. (As with most offense) Since the team isn't exactly the bulkiest, predicting the opponents can be the only way to win sometime so that has to be kept in mind when using it.


Threat list:

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Scyther is an interesting threat to this team. While it has the means in its arsenal to OHKO basically everything, it can still be handled depending on the set. For instance: It needs Aerial Ace for Primeape, U-Turn/Bug Bite for Ludicolo, Brick Break for Aggron, and Knock Off for Rotom. The only set that would carry all those is a choiced set, and if it's choiced into something then I can send out the proper mon to handle it depending on the move it's locked into. However it is still a very hard mon to switch into.


Tauros obliterates my team. The only reason Smeargle has Sticky Web is for this thing so it doesn't outspeed everything and kill it. Rotom does outspeed it with the Scarf and Wisp it, but nonetheless it's very hard to switch in to.

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The cheeky combination of these two are very annoying to deal with. While the typical Baton Pass + Stored Power trick isn't commonly seen, when it is seen it is very dangerous.

Importable:

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Jazz (Aggron) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Head Smash
- Heavy Slam
- Low Kick
- Rock Polish

Miror Miror (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam

Ross (Smeargle) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Skill Swap
- Stealth Rock
- Spore
- Sticky Web

Applied (Rotom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp

NEWYORK (Primeape) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Totem (Xatu) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Psyshock
- Signal Beam

Thanks for taking the time to look at my team! I eagerly await your responses! :D Until next time!​

 

[ryan]

Disclaimer: I haven't played NU in a while, so most of my critiques is based on structural issues rather than metagame trends.

Just glancing at the basic outline of your team and the sets on each Pokemon, your team looks really easy for a very offensive or very defensive team to exploit. The main issue is that your team carries two Choice-locked pivots. This would be fine, except after pivoting, what comes next? Against more offensive teams, you have few options because your team is generally slow. Sticky Web can help this a bit, but even then, you have to worry about Flying and Levitating Pokemon and it shouldn't be too difficult to Defog against your team. Against more defensive teams, the opponent likely has an answer to whatever you're going to bring in, and you can't really pressure them with hazards because all you have is Stealth Rock.

On offensive teams, I generally like to have a general outline that looks something like hazard setter / fastmon / priority / priority / cleaner / breaker. I know this is stupid vague, and it's hardly the end-all-be-all of offense shells. But looking over your team, the structure is more like hazard setter / cleaner / cleaner / fastmon / breaker / random Xatu. The cleaners are also questionable because they both require setup, and the setup moves themselves can be completely dead in some matchups. It feels like you just grabbed some Pokemon you thought looked fun and tossed them together. That's fine, but it doesn't equate to a synergistic team. In your teambuilding process, you mention that Ludicolo and Aggron do a great job of beating each other's counters, but a good player isn't going to let those Pokemon die when they still need to counter one of the duo. This is why hazards are so great on offense; your opponent doesn't always have a choice but to let their check/counter get worn down if you keep forcing it to come in.

With that in mind, I'd recommend keeping only either Ludicolo or Aggron and replacing the other with a breaker that can actually beat on the checks and counters for a Rotom/Ludicolo or Aggron cleanup. If you keep Aggron, I'd recommend Kangaskhan, as it offers you some priority to combat offense and a way to wear down stuff like Rhydon and Steelix, which tend to be primary responses to both Normals and stuff like Aggron. Remember: you don't have to kill all of Aggron's checks and counters in order to win with it. You only need to wear them down to where it can finish them off.

If you'd rather keep Ludicolo, something like SD Samurott can break for it, wearing down or breaking Waters and Grasses and again, offering priority. This also helps much more against Combusken, which, as you point out in your threatlist, is pretty important.

Lastly, as I point out when looking at the shell of your team, Xatu doesn't make a lot of sense here, especially if you're not using U-turn on it. Your team doesn't have anything weak to hazards, and as long as you play well, the opponent won't be able to get up more than Stealth Rock in most games. Cutting Xatu gives you room to patch up general weaknesses. The Samurott / Ludicolo build doesn't have much to switch into Vileplume and Roselia, which is bad because they are naturally switches into Samurott and Ludicolo. Ferroseed is also pretty annoying for this build because it wears down Primeape whenever you bring it in against it. HP Fire Mesprit would help against these things and gives you a Psychic resist, which you lack without Aggron.

If you'd rather go with the Kangaskhan / Aggron build, something to beat Combusken is pretty much a requirement, and a Fire/Water resist in general would be nice. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of options here, but luckily, offensive Pelipper would handle all of these things decently. It also gives the team another pivot, which is cool because it can be really difficult to bring in most of the members of your team unless you predict really well.

Lastly, I'd recommend replacing Sticky Web with Spikes on Smeargle. As I mentioned before, your team struggles to pressure defensive teams without the extra residual damage throughout the game, and with the changes I recommended, beating offense isn't as difficult anymore.

Recap:

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either Kangaskhan > Ludicolo or Samurott > Aggron

Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf | Scrappy
40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe | Adamant
Fake Out / Double-Edge / Aqua Tail / Sucker Punch

Aqua Tail is for the stronger hit against Rhydon while keeping coverage for Steelix, and although Sawk is no longer in the tier, outrunning Adamant Pinsir and Skuntank is still nice.

Samurott @ Splash Plate | Torrent
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe | Adamant
Waterfall / Megahorn / Swords Dance / Aqua Jet

You can run a slower spread for extra bulk, but I think it's more important to be able to outspeed Barbaracle before it can Shell Smash because after that, you're pretty much lost unless they miss Stone Edge.

if Kangaskhan > Ludicolo, then Pelipper > Xatu

Pelipper @ Leftovers | Keen Eye
136 HP / 248 SpA / 124 Spe | Modest
Scald / Hurricane / Roost / U-turn

Speed guarantees you outrun Jolly Rhydon and creeps tons of defensive Pokemon.

if Samurott > Aggron, then Mesprit > Xatu

Mesprit @ Life Orb | Levitate
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Modest
Psychic / Calm Mind / Signal Beam / HP Fire

Smeargle: Spikes > Sticky Web