Tales from Battle Spot Singles blog #10 — Bulky-Xurki Rizzagross/MetaZard (S16)
For the start of Season 16 I went so severely overboard with failed original jank that a palate cleanser was in order for the initial climb. To this end, I found myself dusting off the old BSS standby, Metagross + Charizard X. To make things a bit more interesting, included herein are also a slightly unusual Bulk Up Landorus set, as well as the eponymous bulky Xurkitree.
nouthuca:
blogs:
QR code: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-40C2-85D5
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/24e1ce7883769e8d
1) Team overview:
Please see links above for builds.
Xurkitree
Bulky Xurkitree plays out as a wallbreaker against slow bulk and stall, but also enjoys leading against Tapu Koko and whenever turn 1 Z-Thunderbolt has a reasonable chance of blowing a hole for your presumptive win condition later on against things like Aegislash, for example. The defensive EVs, too, are reflective of this, letting Xurkitree lead and live a +252 Psychic from Scarf Tapu Lele, survive an uninvested Earthquake from things like Hippowdon and Gliscor, and still hit a repsectable real Spd stat (125) that lets it outspeed bulky things like Assault Vest Landorus or even click Tail Glow on slower, SpDef-orientated Heatran. This being the case, whenever hitting a non-hyper offensive QR team with Landorus on it, it's probably worth the time to look it up like one would do against QR Greninjas, even at the risk of ending up overthinking things.
Offensively, for example, Grass Knot off +52 SpAtt only consistently kills fully physical defense invested would-be-Stealth Rock Hippowdon in the lead matchup, with anything resembling 252 HP / 124 SpDef spreads, for example, already being well out of reach—something cutting Spd for a combination of more SpAtt and Def would easily remedy.
Greninja
As far as Metagross cores are concerned, Tapu Fini is far and away the more consistent water-type option defensively, and can also run Z-Hydro Pump to have some reach. Forfeiting the bulky water component altogether, this team instead uses Life Orb Greninja to deter things like opposing Blaziken with Water Shuriken, and offensively complement both of your mega slots, Metagross and Charizard: the former appreciates the bruising Greninja's HP Fire gives Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Celesteela; and, the latter can have a chance of breaking through Tapu Fini once it has been hit by Grass Knot or, indeed, let Greninja itself come out on top after suiciding into it with Flare Blitz.
Protean HP Fire also enjoys the novelty of being able to live Mimikyu's +252 Snuggle (64.6 – 76.1% damage), and doing a number on opposing Metagross (70.3 – 81.9% against fully offensive variants), killing it after it has switched in to tank a Tapu Lele hit, for example. Grass Knot also gives a full health Greninja a move to click against +1 252 mega-Gyarados after living an Earthquake from it with its 55%+ chance of survival for the double-KO.
Metagross
Max Spd Metagross contests the mirror match when it walls the Tapu Lele lead you talked yourself into with barely enough bulk to take a Landorus Earthquake from full (+252 ones 1HKO 37.5% of the time), too. More often than not, having both Metagross and Tapu Lele on the team baits opposing Celesteelas in for Landorus to abuse, provided they are running standard defensive sets, of course.
Psychic Terrain empowered Zen Headbutt remains a good move to click against a great many things, and complements Greninja's inability to break things like Toxapex or even the occasional Venusaur.
Landorus
Alongside its defensive pairing with Metagross, this Landorus carries an offensive set-up option against opposing Landorus and Celesteela; the latter of which straight up hard walls Metagross. This reality is therefore reflected in the slightly unusual EVs: Landorus' Substitute will withstand a hit from opposing Landorus' Rock Tomb, as well as taking one hit from both uninvested Heavy Slam and Flamethrower from standard defensive Celesteela, providing a safe Bulk Up platform which also still runs enough Spd (125) to not get surprised by even the fastest possible Substitute + Leech Seed Celesteela (124), and avoiding being outsped by Adamant Breloom (122).
What all this means is that while this Landorus can act as an out of sorts against defensive play centering on things like Skarmory and Gliscor in addition to the aforementioned Celesteela and opposing Landorus, it is also way less splashable as a defensive check against some of the very physical threats Landorus is usually good against, being strictly speaking worse against things like Mimikyu, for example, whose fully offensive variants not only outspeed this set, but also avoid the 1HKO from Earthquake. Things like Porygon2 and Tapu Fini are also major obstacles since they can't be set up on and the lack of U-turn makes them less abuseable in general.
Tapu Lele
Sash Lele as a lead plays towards its strong image as a Scarf attacker, making Taunt all the more stronger, and giving it the flexibility to take a trade that sets up your team's lategame by clicking Taunt against Aegislash, for example, making something like Charizard's Flame Charge free. Even in games where it looks like a sub-par lead option, the viability of having access to a relatively fast Taunt should not be discounted.
The Psyshock slot, mostly intended for Volcarona, Mimikyu and screens leads, would be just as well served with HP Fire (Ferrothorn) or Ground (Heatran), whereas if it were to drop Psyshock for, say, Reflect, Charizard would have an easier time running something like a Dragon Dance set, or be replaced altogether by Gyarados or Atk-boosting Blaziken, to name but two alternatives.
Charizard
After a Flame Charge opener, few things can live a hit from +252 Charizard X. Even if, at first, untrue on paper, the rest of the team is intended to make this reality in practice. Having the option of Swords Dance lets Charizard break through passive, defensive play from the physical side.
2) Usage notes:
Breloom is something for which this team does not have an easy answer, relying on Taunt in the lead matchup to avoid the sleep, and having to just trade into it in any other matchup, which is exactly what it wants.
When bringing a Metagross composition, opposing Gyarados momentum is virtually impossible to overcome without a Sash intact Tapu Lele in the back, which means Metagross should probably benched against it. Ideally, when facing Gyarados, then, you probably want to have the opponent to be forced to insert it into Greninja, since mega-evolving it immediately is tempting to limit something like Ice Beam damage, giving Grass Knot the KO.
Without access to things like Mimikyu or Heatran, Naganadel momentum is also a massive problem. Although Metagross and Landorus can both take an unboosted hit, they can't afford to switch in to take any chip damage.
Opposing Tapu Fini is another thing that bears repeating in what a major defensive hurdle to overcome and a priority target for getting damage on it is when playing for anything other than Metagross as a prospective win condition.
2.1 — Usual team compositions
Tapu Lele-Greninja-mega
Xurkitree-Greninja/Landorus-mega
2.2 — Most drafted, by rate/member (descending)
The ranking below is based on my games climbing to 1700 during the first few days of season 16:
Obviously, as one gets higher in rank, things like Xurkitree should see increased viability as players get more confident with defensive play and with greed in general.
1. Tapu Lele
2. Greninja
3. Charizard
4. Xurkitree
5. Landorus
6. Metagross
2.3 — Drafting and leading cf. matchup-archetype list
See link for my basic archetype checklist:
https://tinyurl.com/archetypes101
"Kabamanda"
Salamence/Hippowdon/Aegislash/Koko
Xurkitree-Greninja-mega
This should be one of Xurkitree's best matchups, letting it click Z-Thunderbolt on turn 1 or click Grass Knot on a hippo. Tapu Lele can also lead Taunt against both Aegislash and Hippowdon, although hitting Tapu Koko in the lead matchup can be annoying since it can Volt Switch out or go hard into Aegislash, either way preventing Greninja from sweeping so long as its health remains above Shuriken range, and theatening Metagross with Z-Thunderbolt.
"Rizzagross / Kabarizza"
Charizard/Metagross/Greninja; Charizard Y/Hippowdon
Xurkitree-Tapu Lele/Landorus-mega
Tapu Lele-mega-Greninja
Barring the random, one off Charizard X opener, Xurkitree should be able to lead against rizzagross/metazard, whereas Tapu Lele is more consistent against Charizard Y + Hippowdon because of the risk of hitting Charizard Y in the lead matchup.
"Landorus momentum"
Suicide lead Landorus + set-up sweepers (Naganadel, Dragon Dance megas, NagaScizor etc.)
Greninja-Tapu Lele-mega
Tapu Lele-Landorus/Greninja-mega
Timid Tapu Lele can lead Taunt, but dies to Rock Tomb + Earthquake, whereas Shuriken lead Greninja forces Landorus to either click Stealth Rock or Rock Tomb, in which case you either potentially have a Sash-intact Lele in the back for Gyarados and Naganadel, or a healthy Greninja that still outspeeds and has moves to click against the most common Landorus follow-ups. Leading Landorus yourself is also viable, so long as care is taken to click Substitute on an Explosion turn.
Rain core modular
Politoed/Pelipper/Swampert/steel type/Tapu Koko
Tapu Lele-Greninja-Landorus/Charizard X
Xurkitree-Greninja-Tapu Lele/Landorus/Charizard X
Swampert 1HKOs everything, meaning possible outs are as far-fetched as suiciding Landorus on it to get Intimidate off so that Greninja's Grass Knot has a chance at connecting, or somehow getting enough chip on it so that Water Shuriken highroll in the rain does it in.
"Mimigassa / suropoke"
Mimikyu/Breloom/Mawile/Porygon2
Tapu Lele-Landorus-Xurkitree/mega
Tapu Lele's Taunt shuts down both Trick Room and Spore, also ideally putting enough damage onto Porygon2 for the megas to break through.
Dedicated stall
Chansey/Toxapex/Sableye/Celesteela/Slowbro/Skarmory/Venusaur/Shedinja/Gliscor etc...
Tapu Lele-Charizard X/Landorus-Xurkitree
Greed is the name of the game, and both Xurkitree and Charizard bring it with their respective offense-boosting options. Landorus can act as an un-phazeable final pokemon win condition.
Dedicated Baton Pass
Blazikenpass, Eeveepass, Memento leads e.g Whimsicott, Uxie, Latios, Dual Screens lead etc.
Tapu Lele/Xurkitree-Charizard-Xurkitree/Landorus
Tapu Lele should be leading Taunt against most things, especially against Screens leads, who it can break on whichever defensive side they did not buff on turn 1, assuming it is running Psyshock, that is.
Dedicated Glalie
Cripple lead (Glare Serperior, Thunder Wave/Will-o-Wisp Mimikyu, Light Ball Fling users etc.), Thunder Wave + Lunar Dance Cresselia, Glalie
Tapu Lele-Charizard X-Greninja/Xurkitree
Charizard X is mandatory as it should be able to win out on Spd by repeatedly clicking Flame Charge against Glalie's Substitute + Protect cycle.
3) In conclusion:
As for potential changes to the team not mentioned above, well, Xurkitree would certainly be benefit from Substitute over Grass Knot in order to not get automatically put to sleep by Breloom or get crippled by a slow status user, for example, or be a more consistent lead role option across multiple matchups if its Spd were cut almost entirely to accommodate more bulk and SpAtt, more specifically to bop things like 252 HP Aegislash in shield forme, 1HKO every Hippowdon variant, while still having favourable odds against openers like Lopunny Fake Out + Return and 252 Salamence Earthquake.
Likewise, Greninja could also opt for a full-on Grassium Z approach to wreck opposing Tapu Fini instead of the 40% or so it is currently doing to HP-invested ones. This would also delete (70-80% damage) non-mega Gyarados that tries to Dragon Dance on it without going mega to mitigate Ice Beam damage, for instance.
But the single biggest moveslot open for iteration, again, I felt was Tapu Lele's fourth slot. Both HP Ground and especially HP Fire, as alluded to before, are easy to make a case for over running Psyshock, which I only ever clicked against a screens lead or Chansey after clicking Taunt on it.
In regards to what I am thinking for July, I really want to make SpAtt lure mega-Kangaskhan work, and will probably be experimenting with it on my alternate ROM after getting a big boy rank on my main. Hopefully both outcomes come to fruition, but if not, I'm sure nouthuca's season 15's pickings will yield something interesting to pilot and type up.
- Tox
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tox.146/
