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Ducky

Aw Phooey
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Zapdos-Galar @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thunderous Kick
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Close Combat

MGLO Zapdos-Galar is a powerful breaker, with Thunderous Kick helping it power through common defensive Pokemon with minimal chip. This makes it pair very well with Garchomp, who shares many of the same checks as Zapdos-G. The two form a strong overload core against most team, as Zapdos-G can significantly damage Pokemon such as Corviknight and Skarmory, allowing Garchomp to clean up the remaining Pokemon. Zapdos also resists Grass-type moves, allowing it to switch in on Pokemon like Zarude and Tapu Bulu, whose priority moves threaten major damage against Garchomp. Due to Magic Gaurd, Zapdos is also able to stay healthy over longer games, as it cannot be worn down by hazards or Rocky Helmet. One caveat is that this core has trouble vs Choice Scarf Tapu Fini, so Pokemon who can threaten it, such as Tapu Koko and Genesect, are good partners.
 
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hayedenn

forgotten me already?
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
:ss/zapdos:
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Volt Switch / Thunder
- Weather Ball / U-Turn
- Roost

Zapdos is one of the most prominent special attackers and pivots at the moment in AAA and it's easy to see why. With its great special attack stat, dual STAB combo, and access to coverage in Weather Ball, Zapdos is able to threaten many common defensive cores, especially when paired with powerful physical attackers such as Garchomp. Some of the main stopgaps to Garchomp, such as Mandibuzz, Slowbro, and Tapu Fini are easily threatened out by Garchomp, while Garchomp in return is able to threaten the most prominent special walls, such as Chansey/Blissey and RegenVest users such as Jirachi, Silvally, and Landorus (kinda). This core does falter some against faster attackers such as Tapu Koko and Barraskewda, so RegenVest users such as Jirachi, Rocky Helmet Pokemon like Toxapex, Scarfers such as Genesect and Azelf, or Water Absorb users can pair well.
 
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:ss/talonflame:
Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Garchomp and Talonflame are both broken breakers and they can work together to overwhelm their checks. For example, After taking 1 Earthquake from Chomp and healing from Regen, Fini cannot switch into Talonflame anymore / die to +2 Brave Bird. Both are also excellent at whittling down even the sturdiest counters like Unaware Hippo and Dauntless Mew and they get pp stalled by Talon either way. Talonflame also threatens Corviknight and Scarf Mew, especially the latter because Chomp is cripped by burn / ice beam and Talon doesn't care about those.
 
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Tapu Koko @ Flame Orb
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Taunt

Tapu Koko is one of the main threats to the majority of walls, while being an exceptional pivot for the likes of Garchomp. These pair quite well together as Tapu Koko lures in Pokemon that Garchomp love to use as setup fodder, such as RegenVest Jirachi and Heatran while, Tapu Koko also checks Corviknight, Tapu Fini, and Mandibuzz who immediately wall Garchomp without any boosts. Taunt temporarily cripples walls like Skarmory and Toxapex which allows it to pivot on these to ensure Garchomps setting up remains safe. Once the aforementioned walls are out of the way, it faces very little bother in breaking apart the rest of the team, as Garchomp disposes of non-Flash Fire Ferrothorn, non-Tinted Lens Cinderace, and Blissey. Despite the myriad of benefits that this core has, they both share a weakness to Dauntless Shield Mew meaning Talonflame is a great additional teammate to this core.
 
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iapt

the unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley
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:ss/cinderace:
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Gunk Shot

Garchomp often struggles with breaking through the steel birds, and likes having something that can help with that. Regenerator chomp has great longevity and survivability, which is why i chose to go with boots cinderace rather than choice band. Together, they can overload physical walls like dshield mew. Cinderace can also help out Garchomp by being a pinch switchin to priority like Draining Kiss from Lele and Togekiss. HJK is to hit Heatran or Flash Fire Steels for super effective damage, and gunk shot is useful for annoying fairies like fini.
 
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Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Gyro Ball

one of garchomp's biggest issues is struggling with bulky, physically defensive mons like regen fini, intim corv, and ds mew. whats the best way to wear these mons down? spikes, of course. bulletproof ferro can pair with garchomp to beat quite a few offensive sets, while potentially knocking the boots off of something with its very spammable knock off. checks that chomp would usually lose to, triage lele and special koko, get countered by this ferro set and threatened with a gyro, meaning you can get spikes pretty easily. leech lets it stay healthy and get spikes down throughout a game, even in the face of defog. do note that this core isnt flawless though, as some threats like tinted latios and mainly unburden kommo can break through it quite easily
 

UT

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Appeals + C&C Lead
Thanks for all the great submissions! Congratulations to iapt (Cinderace), beauts (Zapdos), avyrie (Talonflame), and Reece (Tapu Broko) for their winning submissions!
Week 44: MnM Bulk Up Zeraora!
:ss/Zeraora:
Zeraora @ Lopunnite
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Bulk Up​
Oh look, another broken fighting type in MnM. Lopunnite Zeraora posses blistering Speed, fantastic Attack, and a STAB combo that threatens many of the primer defensive mons like Ho-Oh, Slowbro, and Blissey. Since it can basically forgo coverage moves, it can afford to pivot and carry setup, allowing to do work both early- and late-game. What will you pair with Zeraora to help it break down and break through opposing teams?

Submissions will open until Sunday, May 1st, 11:59 AM GMT + 5:30. Remember reservations are only good for 24 hours, so post your sets and explanations quickly!
 
:zapdos-galar:

Zapdos-Galar @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Thunderous Kick
- Brave Bird

Who would have ever thought that dual fightings were broken in mix and mega? Forms a great voltturn core with zeraora, allows it to break past its counters like hippo and lando by virtue of its flying typing and its immense breaking power. With these 2, you can make serious progress against pretty much any team.
 

iapt

the unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley
is a Tiering Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
:ss/hippowdon:

Hippowdon @ Pinsirite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Curse

zeraora can often struggle with its tendency to be easily revenge killed, especially by extreme speed users like entei and eleki. it also offers a sturdy check to ground types like groudon or landorus-therian. Curse can enable hippo to act as a sort of pseudo-wincon if you can start stacking up boosts and does a surprising amount of damage even when unboosted. Having a ground type with recovery is amazing for zeraora, since it struggles greatly with regieleki and other altarianite users, which hippo can handle well.
 
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zastra

you didn't even notice
is a Tiering Contributor
:ss/slowbro:
Slowbro @ Sablenite / Manectite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Teleport
- Slack Off
- Ice Beam

Zeraora struggles to break through Ground-types like Landorus-Therian and Pinsirite Hippowdon, and Altarianite Dragon-types like Zygarde and Dragonite. Slowbro can reliably switch-into these mons and hit back with Scald/Ice beam. It can even provide opportunities for Zeraora to set-up (or even gain momentum with Volt Switch) by (repeatedly) pivoting with Teleport.
 
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in the hills

spreading confusion
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:ss/slowking-galar:
Slowking-Galar @ Cameruptite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Slowking-Galar seems like a fun partner to Zeraora despite a common shared weakness to Ground-types. Slowking-Galar is able to capitalize on a lot of the Pokemon that Zeraora is weak to such as Regieleki while Zeraora can handle things that might annoy Glowking like Milotic or Whirlwind Ho-Oh. As I mentioned before the Ground-type weakness is real but they both can cheese past the ones without recovery pretty fast so really just play aggressively and watch out for Hippowdon
 

The Dragon Master

So you have chosen, Death
is a Pre-Contributor
Thanks for all the great submissions! Congratulations to (it pains me to say this) TectonicDestroyer (Galarian Zapdos), iapt (Pinsirite Hippowdon), in the hills (Galarian Slowking) and Aggrometaile (Slowbro) for their winning submissions!
Week 45: STABmons Assault Vest Toxapex
:Ss/toxapex:
Toxapex @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Flip Turn
- Knock Off
- Clear Smog
- Poison Fang
Assualt Vest Toxapex has been rising in STABmons ever since the ban of Tapu lele, utilising its shiny new pivot move along with Walmart haze and dollar store toxic to annoy people while having ridiculous special bulk thanks to the vest. How will you support this massive pain in the ass(ault vest)?

Submissions will open until Sunday, May 8th, 11:59 AM GMT + 5:30. Remember reservations are only good for 24 hours, so post your sets and explanations quickly!
 
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in the hills

spreading confusion
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:ss/rillaboom:
Rillaboom @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Strength Sap

Rillaboom is a decent partner that can cover up AV Pex’s many weaknesses such as Zeraora, Seismitoad, and other random offensive Pokemon. AV Pex can support Rillaboom by beating Gengar and Corviknight as well as pivot around for Rillaboom.

Pls pick viable mons for these in the future ;-; av pex loses to almost every relevant special attacker at the moment and regular pex does everything better bar the one gengar mu which isn’t relevant when you lose out on beating like 3 top mons… if u pick a meme set at least make it more fun than spdef pivot
 
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drampa's grandpa

cannonball
is a Community Contributoris a Community Leader Alumnus
Ban AV Pex from DLC 1 tho

:ss/steelix:
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Shore Up
- Thousand Waves
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Toxic

Steelix makes a good partner for Pex! It shores up (hurr hurr) the Zeraora matchup, while being able to set up hazards of your choice for Pex to abuse with its momentum gaining shenanigans. They're both absurdly bulky and their types largely complement each other, with Pex eating Fire, Fighting, and Water moves aimed at Steelix and Steelix eating Psychic and Electric moves aimed at Pex.

This core is weak to ground and has nothing besides raw bulk and Toxic for the popular Specs Washtom, so be sure to cover those. Both mons are also obscenely weak to Trick, but since this is more of a balance core than a stall core you should be able to play around that with the rest of your team.
 

The Dragon Master

So you have chosen, Death
is a Pre-Contributor
Only 2 subs this time so still Congratulations to in the hills (Rillaboom) and drampa's grandpa (Steelix) for winning! They will be added to the hall of fame!
Week 46: BH Desolate Land Ho-oh
:Ss/ho-oh:
Ho-Oh @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Nuzzle
- Recover
- Spikes
Desolate land hooh can function as a sturdy check to BH's most dangerous threat in Xerneas, while being no slouch Offensively with its adamant sun boosted V-creates tearing through everything that does not resist it, while using yellow magic and spikes to make progress in the face of its few checks. How will u support this birb?

Submissions will open until Sunday, May 15th 11:59 AM GMT + 5:30. Remember reservations are only good for 24 hours, so post your sets and explanations quickly!
 
Passivemon #1 (Zygarde-Complete) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Anchor Shot
- Entrainment/Volt Switch
- Topsy-Turvy
- Recover

Cool improof To this ho-oh set that's great at making progress vs most teams. This bounce zygC can check the ever-present spikes gigas(as long as its not carry glance), ho-oh, spikes zamac variants, and be a nuisance to much of the metagame.
 

a loser

I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me?
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:bw/palkia:
Palkia @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Glare / Stealth Rock
- Dragon Energy
- Quiver Dance

Poison Heal Palkia Imposter-proofs this Ho-Oh after its orb is activated and can punish Imposter with Glare or setup with Dragon Energy. On the other hand, Ho-Oh can improof the Palkia set as it blocks Fishious Rend with the strong sunlight and the Imposter doesn't benefit from passive healing, meaning Dragon Energy gets weaker and Imposter gets hit with Nuzzle. Palkia is also a nice teammate because it deals with opposing Primordial Sea users like Zamazenta-C and Magearna, although it must watch out for them using Entrainment or being offensive variants. Aforementioned "yellow magic" from both of these mons should help break past these guys though.
 
Zygarde-Complete @ Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Boomburst
- Volt Switch / Nuzzle
- Recover

Refrigerate Zygarde perfectly improofs ho-oh while also being an incredibly threatening pokemon. Boomburst does a minimum of 60% to eviolite imposter, so with some chip it struggles to switch in, especially on a rapid spin. Boomburst also does a whopping 36% on average to regigigas and xerneas, meaning they cannot safely switch in if there is a full stack of hazards already on the field (and xern is knocked). Volt switch and nuzzle both exert immense pressure on would be switch-ins like zamazenta-crowned and kyogre.
 
Time For Sleepies (Zygarde-Complete) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Rest
- Psycho Shift
- Sleep Talk

Zygod being the go to Ground Dragon type in the tier makes it a perfect user of the never seen sleep inducer. Not only does this set manage to be fully blocked by PH Xerneas but it's also useless against all poison healers. this set will guarantee you a quick game with a 5v6 lead for the opponent!
 


Aberration (Zekrom) @ Choice Band
Ability: Tough Claws
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Def
- Bolt Strike
- Dragon Hammer
- U-turn
- V-create

Ho-Oh struggles to make progress against bulky Water and Dragon types such as Giratina, Tapu Fini and Zygarde. This is especially true if they carry Magic Bounce which can send its hazards back at its teammates. Tough Claws Zekrom however, can take advantage of such pokemon by using them as an opportunity to wall-break with it's STABs. In addition to that, however, Zekrom also serves as a punish to an Imposter Chansey attempting to take advantage of Ho-Oh as if they try to do so Zekrom gets a bunch of free turns to wall break for its team.
 
:Xerneas:
Xerneas @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Boomburst
- Spikes
- Strength Sap

These two form a perfect hazard setting core. Ho-oh sets hazards on magic bounce steels, while Xerneas is able to set hazards on magic bounce dragon and magic bounce ho-oh. Also, Ho-oh is able to quite conveniently improof this Xerneas set. Although it does get spiked on, it can paralyze imposter and put Xern in a position to 1v1 it in the future.
 

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