Mega Slowbro spins back into NatDex!
***
Do you remember when Mega Slowbro had a viability ranking of A- in National Dex? Seems hard to believe that this mon is now completely unranked in the tier. Obviously a lot of this has to do with metagame shifts and Dracovish being banned, but Mega Slowbro is such a unique pick for fat teams that I really wanted to do something with. It's pretty niche unlike its non-evolved form but definitely has its uses. I've been able to adapt an old team from SM OU into the NatDex format and make use of Mega Slowbro without feeling like I'm sacrificing viability by not using a more standard fat pick for my mega slot. I think this is maybe the best team I've built in NatDex and certainly the most consistent when played correctly.
(Click for PokePaste)
***
This team features a Fire/Water/Grass core with two regen mons to help make the team more resilient in longer battles and to better handle hazards given that this stall team lacks Mega Sableye. The first of these is AV Tangrowth which is an excellent blanket check to many mons if kept healthy. Specifically, this is the team's primary answer to Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, Tapu Fini, Kartana, and Rillaboom. Tang makes progress by knocking off items and can spread poison with sludge bomb which is also used to check the rare but dangerous SD Bulu. The slight defensive investment allows Tangrowth to survive two ice punches from Mega Swampert after stealth rocks.
The second part of the FWG core is a very standard Sp. Def Heatran which helps with Volcarona, Mega Scizor, and Mega Mawile among other things. This is a tried and true mon, so I see no point in changing what already works best. Heatran sets up stealth rocks for the team and threatens most defoggers that aren't Gliscor. It spreads toxic and traps with magma storm, basically standard Heatran stuff. 52 Sp. Att EVs allows earth power to OHKO offensive Heatran and your own bulk narrowly avoids death, effectively winning the 1v1. I almost always take this trade if the opponent offers it since risking Gliscor, the teams only defogger, to a Z move KO is not ideal. Speed investment on heatran outruns 252 Mega Mawile (199) and creeps 200 speed which is a pretty common benchmark for stuff like banded Ttar.
Next up we have the star of the show, Mega Slowbro. Slowbro completes the FWG core. It is also a potent physical wall that takes on a tremendous number of meta threats like Lando-T, Garchomp, Mega Garchomp, SD Gliscor, Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham, Victini, and the list goes on. Disappointing as it may be, Slowbro has to stay unevolved for the early part of most games as losing regenerator too soon can be a potential throw. It's important to have the regen core of Tangrowth and Slowbro intact because this + Gliscor is crucial for stalling and can often allow you to force a tie vs other stall teams if going for the win isn't possible. There are usually two situations where you will want to evolve Slowbro. The first is if you need the extra bulk to survive an incoming attack such as from +2 Z move Garchomp or Lando-T. The second is to get an extra boost of power on your special attacks since Slowbro gets +30 base Sp. Att when it mega evolves. These situations often go hand in hand and I have EV'd Slowbro accordingly to OHKO Mega Garchomp and Gliscor with ice beam after activating the mega. Just keep in mind that Slowbro tends to be far less resilient to chip damage after mega evolving and weigh the costs of making this play carefully. The speed investment on Slowbro hits 101 so that you can paralyze and be faster than Mega Mawile and Ttar, similar to the Heatran speed investment.
Gliscor is the chosen defogger since it fits the best in a fat/stall team structure. It's nice to have a mon that can sit in front of Toxapex without caring about status, switch into Heatran with near impunity, and generally be an unkillable nuisance for mons that would otherwise be quite decent at breaking down fat teams. I chose to spend my free moveslot on toxic since I already have knock off support on the team and there isn't much use for u-turn momentum. Although being hard walled by Corviknight is not amazing, this mon makes very little progress vs the team anyway and opponents without a Corviknight, Skarmory, or Gliscor tend to have a horrible time dealing with the EQ + toxic combo. Speed EVs on Gliscor outrun modest Heatran with a couple additional points to also be faster than Landorus, Gliscor, and Zapdos that are aiming for the same benchmark. 52 Def investment survives a Mega Mawile play rough into sucker punch and provides an extra buffer against Mega Lopunny.
The last two picks to round out the team are honestly more unusual than Mega Slowbro itself, but they each serve important roles to help the team survive in certain matchups. Ttar functions as a pursuit trapper which is a pretty common strategy seen on fat teams, usually with banded Weavile, to safely remove a threatening mon and limit it to one KO at most. Because Ttar is scarfed, it lacks the sheer trapping power of banded Ttar or Weavile. However, the team greatly appreciates some form of speed control with Scarf Ttar outspeeding up to the base 115 benchmark. Although not the fastest, this stall has solid answers for pretty much every relevant mon that falls above this speed tier like Ash Greninja, Tapu Koko, and Mega Lopunny and outspeeding opposing choice scarfers is not particularly important. Aside from the surprise factor of scarf Ttar, the extra speed also handles a number of anti-meta mons that would otherwise tear apart this stall including Mega Pinsir, nasty plot Thundurus-T, Hoopa-U, Mega Charizard-Y, Mega Latios, and Blacephalon. Ttar is also great at partial trapping Greninja and Weavile since these mons need to lock into their dark STABs to make progress vs this team at which point Ttar switches in and chunks them for almost half their health with pursuit. The last and most important function of scarf Ttar is having some sort of insurance against SD Z move Kartana. Kart can pretty much pick and choose its counters based on the Z move that it runs so no stall is ever truly safe against it. Although Tangrowth is my primary switch in to Kartana, scarf Ttar is a nice back up that can OHKO it with fire punch so I don't have to lose on the spot if Tang goes down.
The final and least often used member of the team is the classic unaware Clefable with a bit of a twist. Clef is probably one of the only mons in the tier that can actually make some use of utility umbrella. In this case, Clefable acts as a very important answer to rain Manaphy and Mega Charizard-Y. Manaphy in rain is a notoriously hard to check wallbreaker that heals itself with rest + hydration and hits like a truck after just 1 turn of setup. Thankfully, this Clef cares very little about rain and stays dry with its Utility Umbrella meaning Manaphy doesn't get a 1.5x boost on its water moves leaving you free to CM up and win the 1v1. Similarly, Clef benefits from ignoring weather when switching into Zard-Y since the flamethrowers hit a bit weaker and the weather balls hit like, well, a 50 base power normal type move. Walling Zard-Y is a bit scarier than Manaphy since the flamethrowers/fire blasts still do a lot of damage, but you should get an opportunity to trap or otherwise KO with scarf Ttar at some point. Just don't switch hard into a focus blast. I use the last slot on Clefable to pass wishes to the team since Heatran and Ttar both greatly appreciate this and the extra sustain on Clefable if you're running low on soft boiled PP is pretty clutch. I'm forced to invest a ton of EVs into Sp. Def to properly check Manaphy unlike a standard unaware Clef which wants Phys. Def to 1v1 SD Garchomp, Lando-T, and others. This is where ice beam Mega Slowbro's niche comes in, an enormous physical wall that dampens certain threats that this Clefable can no longer deal with. Thanks Mega Bro.
***
And that about completes the build. I'm glad I was able to find a use for this mega. It's really surprisingly difficult to build with and I kept finding myself wanting to go back to more standard Mega Sableye stall structures. I encourage you to try this team if you like playing fat/stall, but also advise you to take your time getting used to it as the team is a bit weird and requires some practice to get a handle on. Also, click the spoilers below for some extra info!
It wouldn't be fair to not include this mon as a threat, but mainly you only have to worry about the SD sets. You can definitely lose to this mon but you also have the tools to potentially deal with it.
Scary af mon to go up against depending on the set. Clefable can deal with some sets thanks to heavy Sp. Def investment but not specs. You will have to play proactively with scarf Ttar to trap or KO it. Also sub DD is a pain in the ass.
Only one set that is really dangerous and thankfully it's the least used. Offensive bug bite + superpower sets kinda wipe this team, but they also lack roost so there's maybe room to beat them without the whole team dying.
Hazard Stacking
This isn't about any particular mon, just the playstyle in general. Since Gliscor is the only defogger, you will be somewhat limited in dealing with stealth rocks + spikes/tspikes. In a longer game, you probably won't be able to prevent hazards from staying up which can cause issues for the regen core. Keep this in mind and work your gameplan accordingly.
And that about completes the build. I'm glad I was able to find a use for this mega. It's really surprisingly difficult to build with and I kept finding myself wanting to go back to more standard Mega Sableye stall structures. I encourage you to try this team if you like playing fat/stall, but also advise you to take your time getting used to it as the team is a bit weird and requires some practice to get a handle on. Also, click the spoilers below for some extra info!
It wouldn't be fair to not include this mon as a threat, but mainly you only have to worry about the SD sets. You can definitely lose to this mon but you also have the tools to potentially deal with it.
Scary af mon to go up against depending on the set. Clefable can deal with some sets thanks to heavy Sp. Def investment but not specs. You will have to play proactively with scarf Ttar to trap or KO it. Also sub DD is a pain in the ass.
Only one set that is really dangerous and thankfully it's the least used. Offensive bug bite + superpower sets kinda wipe this team, but they also lack roost so there's maybe room to beat them without the whole team dying.
Hazard Stacking
This isn't about any particular mon, just the playstyle in general. Since Gliscor is the only defogger, you will be somewhat limited in dealing with stealth rocks + spikes/tspikes. In a longer game, you probably won't be able to prevent hazards from staying up which can cause issues for the regen core. Keep this in mind and work your gameplan accordingly.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1490371470-nq9if7y9fy5kvy24f8526a1n48z797opw
vs fat + Mega Diancie
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1490360432-yjohfymhek8anhakqcsne0ohbsy8y8tpw
vs Mega Pinsir HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1490355324-5xchsgokyvqujhmh5lyb8hty3a6hbcepw
vs Mega Mawile HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1488455497-j9lem0xjyu294t2zjrvaaynkzjsabv3pw
vs Kyurem offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1445697651-zp5jil8sjcvk37ky84hooa2m5pbzvqmpw
vs sub Kyurem balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1436650921-t2rswlanne3xkbshhgnnpvr9dqaf9ofpw
vs stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1426349872-zhykx2xr7eo5n8ysc2r4nd0yvzddnb4pw
vs stallbreaker Nidoking
vs fat + Mega Diancie
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1490360432-yjohfymhek8anhakqcsne0ohbsy8y8tpw
vs Mega Pinsir HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1490355324-5xchsgokyvqujhmh5lyb8hty3a6hbcepw
vs Mega Mawile HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1488455497-j9lem0xjyu294t2zjrvaaynkzjsabv3pw
vs Kyurem offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1445697651-zp5jil8sjcvk37ky84hooa2m5pbzvqmpw
vs sub Kyurem balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1436650921-t2rswlanne3xkbshhgnnpvr9dqaf9ofpw
vs stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1426349872-zhykx2xr7eo5n8ysc2r4nd0yvzddnb4pw
vs stallbreaker Nidoking
Attachments
Last edited:
