Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
I decided to build around Mega Gyarados mostly because Mimikyu and Celesteela are common and can be difficult to cover without including narrow answers on my team.
It’s a pretty standard Jolly set. In a world with fewer Celesteela running around, I’d run Ice Fang over Substitute.
Muk-Alola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 SpD
Brave Nature
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- Clear Smog
- Shadow Sneak
Tapus Koko and Lele are both painful for Mega Gyarados unless it's already set up. It might seem strange to cover those fairy-types using another Dark-type, but Muk-Alola does the job really well. It almost always forces a switch, often resulting in the switch-in losing its item and/or getting poisoned. Muk also efficiently answers a number of other commonly-seen pokemon like P2 and PZ. Clear Smog lets you win from neutral ground against setups from stuff like Mimikyu or Cloyster.
Attack EVs OHKO the typical non-invested Tapu Lele with Poison Jab. Only 37.5% chance to OHKO Tapu Koko, but that's plenty since they're often using Life Orb and/or likely switching, plus Muk has a good chance to poison and I can always just Shadow Sneak afterwards anyway.
It’s afraid of Earthquakes but Gyarados covers those pretty well.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Rock Slide
- Poison Jab
Sometimes I want to have an anti-electric partner for Gyarados and for whatever reason Muk wouldn’t be ideal. Garchomp does that and is obviously just a strong revenge killer in general.
I’ve always liked Rock Slide for its slightly better accuracy than Stone Edge and random flinch hax. But there honestly aren’t many flying-types running around right now so maybe something like Fire Fang or Toxic would be better.
Tapu Koko @ Focus Sash
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- U-Turn
Koko is obviously an overall strong pokemon and forces people to bring answers to it that often struggle against the rest of my team. It’s mainly included here as a panic button for a handful of common and potentially difficult situations, mainly set-up Mega Gyarados and Kingdra in rain. It is notably the only member of the team that’s strong against Buzzwole, which I will touch upon later.
I’ve considered switching Tapu Koko’s item with Garchomp’s, as both would still be able to perform the functions they’re here to serve while providing a 90% chance of victory in a Koko to-the-death mirror and making U-Turn useful against opposing Scarf-wearers.
Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- King's Shield
Swords Dance Aegislash is a big threat that many teams are hard-pressed to answer. Adding a third weak-to-ground team member sounds like a bad idea on paper, but I’ve found that Aegislash more often than not survives those and punishes hard with a Weakness Policy-boosted Sacred Sword.
Since everyone else is running Toxic-Sub, I often get a free Swords Dance or painful Sacred Sword hit on Steel-types expecting to meet a Toxic.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 164 Def / 48 SpA / 52 SpD
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Recover
With three team members weak to ground, I wanted to add something else that can comfortably switch into most Earthquake users. I ran Celesteela in this slot for a pretty long time for that reason, and have had roughly equal success with both options. But since I usually want to bring Gyarados, it seems preferable not to present a second electric-type weakness in team select.
Bulk EVs survive two Earthquakes from most Garchomps and Mamoswines as well as two hits of Crunch from +1 Jolly Mega Gyarados, while also having enough SpD to survive two hits from non-Specs Tapu Koko, Timid Lele, and usually Modest Lele.
Notes and observations:
- Tapu Koko is the only team member that performs favorably against Buzzwole. I’m often able to just brute force past, but it’s it’s definitely an obstacle - thankfully, not a commonly-used one.
- As with Buzzwole, I can usually brute force through Scizor and it isn’t that common, but a more elegant solution would be welcome.
- I can’t remember any instances of being punished for having three team members vulnerable to ground, but it’s definitely a glaring stacked weakness.
- As mentioned before, I’m still not sure whether P2, Celesteela, or something else is the best choice for the last spot. I climbed to 1400+ on the PS ladder with Celesteela on the team, then did it again with P2.
