Community PotW #063

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and we have another absolute corker.

It's Metagross. The awesome Steel/Psychic-type which is always a force to be reckoned with, even though it now has two extra weaknesses.

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/376.shtml

Go nuts



Also, Mega Metagross is included in this, and that Mega Evolution is an absolute beast

 

[SkyDriver]

Metagross @ Choice Band
Adamant
Clear Body
252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch / Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch

Powerhouse. Opvious moves are just powerful and cover each other well, 3rd slot if hit Gliscor / Landorus or Mega Venusaur. Final slot some priority cuz it kills Ice types and others.

 

[Mestorn]

Metagross, one of the 2 pseudo-legendaries introduced in Generation 3. As anyone who has fought Steven can attest, this thing is a monster.

Metagross took a heavy hit this last generational shift. With Steel no longer resisting Dark and Ghost, Metagross’ weaknesses just doubled. In additional the generational power creep has left Metagross flailing behind more popular sweepers. That doesn’t mean Metagross is a pushover. Oh no. Metagross is still a terror to face. 135 ATK is far more than passable and Metagross’ signature move (yeah I know other stuff can use it, but Metagross is by far the best user) Meteor Mash in addition to doing insane damage has a chance of buffing that to even higher levels. Defensively, Metagross is no slouch either: 80/130/90 defenses are definitely above average and 8 resistances + 1 immunity due to its typing meaning Metagross can wall and tank many assaults. Unfortunately not all is sunshine and roses for the killing machine. Its SATK, while usable, pales in comparison to its ATK, but a base 70 speed is horrific, ensuring that Metagross is readily outsped in and out of Trick Room. In addition, 3 of its weaknesses (Ground, Ghost and Dark) are very common in today’s metagame ensuring that almost every team has several ways of dealing with Metagross. But without such attackers, the possibility of being routed by Metagross skyrockets.

Omega
Metagross (Clear Body)
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers/Lum Berry
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
-Agility/Rock Polish
-Pursuit/Zen Headbutt/Ice Punch/Thunder Punch/Rock Slide
Nature: Adamant (+ATK, -SATK) or Jolly (+SPD, -SATK)
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPD/4 HP OR 252 ATK/252 HP/4 SPD

FFV reference anyone? No? Agiligross, as this set is more commonly referred to patches up Metagross’ one weakness in its stats: its speed. After a single Agility/Rock Polish, Metagross outspeeds almost everything that isn’t Scarfed, or speed boosting, allowing you to smash and tank attacks with impunity. Meteor Mash is a powerful, ATK boosting STAB move. What’s not to love? (ok, maybe the less than stellar accuracy). Earthquake. Your final move is up to preference. Pursuit allows you to deal with things that flee, Zen Headbutt is secondary STAB that flinches, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch, while weak, offer great coverage, and Rock Slide is basically a non-STAB Zen Headbutt with excellent coverage.

Terminator
Metagross (Clear Body)
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
-Pursuit
-Trick
Nature: Adamant (+ATK, -SATK) or Jolly (+SPD, -SATK)
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPD/4 HP OR 252 ATK/252 HP/4 SPD

Choicegross or Scarfgross. Very similar, yet very different. Choicegross is a wall breaker, using its crushing power to muscle past walls. Scarfgross is a revenge killer, striking down weakened targets sans fear of retaliation. Meteor Mash is a fantastic STAB, Earthquake is Earthquake and Metagross provokes a lot of switching, especially when Choiced making Pursuit Ideal. Trick can neuter one target and opens up Metagross’ options.

Other Options

Stealth Rock
-Best Move in the Game

Bullet Punch
-STAB Priority? Sign me up.

Gravity
-Lots of hijinks to be had with this one

Hammer Arm
-Most powerful Fighting attack Metagross has.

Assault Vest
-Patch up Metagross' biggest weakness

Countering Metagross
Kill it with Fire. Not only is Metagross weak to Fire attacks, aside from the freak Special Metagross, all Metagross rely extensively on their physical attacks and bulk. Burning Metagross robs it of both of those attributes. Special volleys are also ideal, as Metagross' SDEF can't stand some of the harder hitters in the tier, though Assault Vest users can take a hit or two. Be warned though, that after an Agility/Rock Polish, Metagross is fairly difficult to outspeed without employing a similar tactic. Aegislash has a potent STAB Shadow Ball and Shadow Sneak, though be warned that Earthquake will still take over half of the Shield form's HP. Skarmory can take everything except Thunderpunch (which 4HKOs) but can't do much in turn. Paralyzing Agility varients, while not as effective as burning, make those varients much more manageable. Beyond Leftovers and Rest, Metagross has no recovery, so repeated assaults will wear it down.

 

[gars129]

I honestly cant think of a reason to use regular Metagross over its mega. Why use such a slow scarfer when its mega is almost as fast and a lot more powerful (in fact, more powerful than Life Orb variants, except when it uses Earthquake). Band variants are horribly outclassed by Scizor, who has technician and Uturn. Seriously, never use regular Meta if its mega can be used in that tier. In OU, its hard enough justifying its use even if you couldnt use the mega.

 

[ger9119]

All-Out Attacker
########
name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Meteor Mash
move 2: Zen Headbutt
move 3: Bullet Punch / Grass Knot / Ice Punch
move 4: Hammer Arm / Earthquake
ability: Clear Body
item: Metagrossite
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly / Adamant

Rock Polish
########
name: Rock Polish
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Meteor Mash / Iron Head
move 3: Zen Headbutt
move 4: Hammer Arm / Earthquake / Ice Punch
ability: Clear Body
item: Metagrossite
evs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
nature: Adamant

Two most common sets right here.

 

[Kraleck]

Metagross. Wow. I'm just going to say this Pokémon needs little introduction and get on with it...

Stats:
-HP - Above Average - Base 80 HP is okay for a Steel Type and nice for a Psychic Type.
-Attack - Incredible - Base 135 is a huge asset. Base 145 and a boost from Tough Claws Ability is better
-Defense - Incredible - Base 130 means it can shrug off most of its Weaknesses' primary Moves and Base 150 makes it seem absolutely futile to use Physical Moves.
-Sp.Atk - Good-bordering-Great/Great - Base 95 isn't shabby, but pales to that Base 135. Similarly, Base 105 doesn't do justice with that Base 145 Attack + Tough Claws Ability.
-Sp.Def - Good/Great - Base 90 is pretty sweet as is, even when considering it's the lower defense. Base 110 isn't too far off either.
-Speed - Dead Zone/Great (non-Trick Room) - Metagross has the Stats to work around its bad Speed, but Mega Evolution is another way out of the Dead Zone.

Abilities:
-Clear Body - Ignores Stat Debuffs that aren't self-inflicted. Pretty nice when you can ignore things like Intimidate, Icy Wind, and other things that could otherwise cripple Metagross's offense.
-Light Metal (Hidden, Available) - Haha...no.
-Tough Claws - Huge asset to STAB Meteor Mash/Bullet Punch/Iron Head, STAB Zen Headbutt, Hammer Arm/Brick Break, Pursuit, Aerial Ace, Façade, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, and the occasional Rollout (Transfer).

Overall, Metagross is as its name suggests: Meta and grossly overpowered. It can tank quite spectacularly and is a huge threat to almost anything that can hit its weakpoints - Fire Types fall prey to Earthquake and Rock Slide/Stone Edge, Dark Types are handled by Hammer Arm/Brick Break, Ghost Types are mostly Weak to Pursuit, and Ground Types hate Ice Punch and often have a Weakness to Ground or Steel on the side. Facing Metagross and surviving often boils down to Speed/Priority and high damage hits to KO it or Will-o-Wisp to Burn it ASAP.

 

[Buuz]

Adamant (Mega) Metagross
@ Metagrossite
Clear Body/Tough Claws
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

Tried this set in the Battle Maison and it works pretty well. It covers a lot and priority Bullet Punch is just great. Plus most of its moves take advantage of Tough Claws.

 

[Chinonso]

Metagross was such a cool Pokemon until it got destroyed by one simple change from Smogon:

Positives:
+ As standard Metagross, base 135 Attack allows it to hit like a truck. It's almost as strong as Mega Absol and it's not even Mega!
+ Base 130 Defence allows it to simply shrug off hits that it can resist/take neutral damage from.
+ Special Metagross is viable, but not recommended.
+ 80/130/90 bulk is nice.
+ 8 resistances allows it free switch-ins because it'll probably switch in to a move it resists.
+ A nice design.

Negatives:
- The biggest problem I have with Metagross is that since it got its Mega Evolution, it got moved up to OU. This is very irritating because Metagross thrived in UU, but now it kinda has a difficult time dealing with Pokemon like uh... Aegislash (yeah, it learns Earthquake, but it gets outsped in Sword form with a Scarf.)
- Base 90 Special Defence could be better.
- Meteor Mash likes to miss.
- Standard Metagross has base 70 Speed which puts it in the "Dead Zone" (where it's too fast to be in Trick Room, but too slow outside of it.)
- Two extra weaknesses.
- It might become an OU Suspect.

Abilities:
Clear Body - This Pokemon cannot have its stats lowered. This does not include self stat drops. This is actually pretty good against Charm users and Intimidaters because they don't affect this hunk of metal.
Light Metal - This Pokemon's weight is halved. Low Kick is a thing, you know.
Mega Ability (Available):
Tough Claws - Moves that make Physical contact have a power boost of 33%. Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Pursuit, the Elemental Punches among many others are part of the very, very long list of moves that get boosted.

 

[ClefairyRox]

Ever since Gen 3 Metagross has been a popular choice. And why not? It has beastly stats except for its meh Speed and a fantastic typing that gave it a boatload of resistances and few weaknesses. Then Gen 6 came along and nerfed the Steel type, leaving Metagross vulnerable to the Dark and Ghost attacks that it could previously take. Thus, it fell in usage. But with a powerful new Mega Evolution with a fantastic ability, I can see Metagross climbing the usage ranks once more.

Recommended tiers: UU (Normal), OU (Mega), Uber

Clear Body will be the ability you want to use. Preventing all stat changes is pretty nice, but the biggest boon this gives you is that you're immune to Intimidate. Metagross is usually physically oriented, so this is really good for it.
Light Metal halves your weight. This lowers the damage you take from Grass Knot and Low Kick but increases the damage you receive from Heat Crash and Heavy Slam. You will generally not be taking any of these moves, so stick with Clear Body.
Upon Mega Evolution, Metagross gains the Tough Claws ability. This gives you the equivalent of a Life Orb boost to all of your moves that make physical contact with the opponent. All of Metagross's core physical moves except for Earthquake benefit from this ability, so you'll be hitting like a truck.

Being a genderless Pokemon means you have no Egg Moves, but Metagross has a very large movepool that contains all the tools it needs. Metagross is one of the lucky few Pokemon that gets Meteor Mash (in fact, the only other Pokemon that get it through level-up are pre-evolution Metang and my favorite, Clefairy) and it is hands-down the best user of the move. It's strong, reliable, has a nice 20% chance of upping your Attack stat, and benefits from Tough Claws. Earthquake is an important move; while it doesn't get the Tough Claws boost, the coverage it provides is too important to give up. Hammer Arm and Brick Break are also good coverage moves, although the former reduces your speed. Zen Headbutt gives you an additional STAB move to throw around, but it doesn't provide much coverage. Thunder Punch and Ice Punch aren't particularly powerful, but are good for Waters and Dragons, respectively. Agility or Rock Polish can patch up normal Metagross's poor Speed, turning it into a terrifying cleaner. Bullet Punch is another way around your low Speed and can pick off weakened faster opponents. Even the faster Mega Metagross can get good use out of it because of Tough Claws. Metagross forces a lot of switches, so it's a fantastic user of Pursuit. You can even have Metagross set up your Stealth Rocks. Finally, Metagross can go out with a bang by using Explosion, but it isn't as effective as in Gen 4 because of the nerf to the move.

Metagross's Special Attack is also usable, though it is largely outclassed at the job and its special movepool isn't as wide as its physical. With Psychic, Flash Cannon, Grass Knot, Icy Wind, Shadow Ball, and Sludge Bomb, it has just enough to throw a set together, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Countering Metagross:
Mandibuzz was my top switch-in when encountering Mega Metagross on Pokemon Showdown. It has the defenses to stand up to it and can 2HKO with Foul Play. Bulky Waters are also a good choice, but beware of Thunder Punch. I'd say (Mega) Slowbro would be the best choice because of its huge defense stat and resistance to both of Metagross's STABs. Burning or Paralyzing Metagross is also very effective. It's typing and stats give it great bulk, but its weaker on the special side so moves like Fire Blast and Earth Power will be your best bet.

 

[TurtwigAndSquirtle]

Positives:
Physical offense and defense are both good
Good mega
Negatives:
Shallow movepool

Mega Rock
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Brick Break/Power-Up Punch
- Stealth Rock

Meteor Mash is a good STAB and can raise attack. Zen Headbutt its only physical psychic attack, and can flinch. Brick Break is for steel types and can break barriers, or switch into Power-Up Punch if you like the attack boost. Stealth Rock is really awesome and can counter fires, or replace it with a coverage move, or Bullet Punch.

 

[Arbo Kawso]

Because I'm special!
Item: Assault vest
nature: Modest
Ability: Clear body
Ev's: 252 sp.atk, 104 hp, 152 sp.def
Psychic/psyshock
Flash cannon
Grass knot/shadow ball
HP ground/fire

This set is meant to suprise the opponent, as you are using metagross's good, but subpar special stats. The item assault vest allows you to take a few more special hits, which several resistances help.

 

[philzone]

For doubles, this was the flagship for the old doubles strategy of Swag-Lum, which consisted of swaggering your own pokemon, and curing confusion with a lum berry. It was the strategy that Ray Rizzo used to win Masters division in 2012. It is still a viable strategy, but it isn't used much anymore

 

[Shaymin is God]

Megagross
Metagross (Clear Body)
Item: Metagrossite
-Hone Claws
-Bullet Punch
-Meteor Mash
-Zen Headbutt
Nature: Jolly (+SPEED, -SATK)
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPEED/4 DEF

Metagross's only status move to boost attack is Hone Claws which also boosts accuracy for Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt which really need the accuracy boost. Once Metagross's attack is up, it really takes out a lot.

 

[Razor Shiftry]

Grass knot should be on every offensive set or at least seriously considered as a way to get around Mega-Bro and other Bulky Waters, plus gives you a strong attack if you're burned. Curiously, it counts as a "contact" move which means it gets the Tough Claws 33% boost.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Light Metal halves your weight. This lowers the damage you take from Grass Knot and Low Kick but increases the damage you receive from Heat Crash and Heavy Slam. You will generally not be taking any of these moves, so stick with Clear Body.

Actually Metagross is so heavy that even at half weight it still falls in the heaviest weight category that causes Grass Knot and Low Kick to hit at 120 BP. It's 550kg without Light Metal, 275kg with Light Metal, and you need to be below 200kg to actually get into the lower weight regimes for Grass Knot and Low Kick. Only if Metagross also holds the Float stone does it actually get light enough to reduce its damage taken. Grass Knot and Low Kick hit at 100 BP then. Obviously it's not worth sacrificing both Clear Body and your item slot just for that.

It's really too bad that Metagross doesn't get Heavy Slam, especially its mega form could've made great use of it, as MegaMeta is 942.9kg, so anything that's under 188kg (which is most things out there) would take it as a 120BP move.

 

[Deltadromeus]

Metagross was never a pokemon I really used. It's really cool, but its non mega form is pretty much destroyed by Garchomp. It does have some very good stats, and it's mega got one of the best offensive ability in the game, as well as every stat it needed to be amazing. I won't cover the base Metagross, simply because I don't use it. Mega Metagross, on the other hand, that gets me exited.

Pros:
-145 Base attack with Meter Mash, as well as Tough Claws, which is scary, especially of you get one attack boost.
-150 Defense is Carbink level, and it has base 80 Health, so Earthquake can't kill you instantly.
-Base 110 Speed is, while not as good as it used to be, is still pretty amazing.
-110 Bese Special Defense is also good.
-It looks very, very angry, and its shiny is super awesome.

Cons:
-On the turn it mega evolves, it's slow.
-It does have quite a few weaknesses, but its bulk and speed basically make up for it.
-It is gender less, and has no egg moves.

As for move sets, I can only suggest one

Metagross : Metagrossite
Clear Body
Jolly (+Spd, - SpA)
252 Atk, 4 SpD, 252 Spd
-Meteor Mash
-Bullet Punch
-Earthquake
-Zen Headbutt

This set it not to different from most, and pretty self explanatory. Mega Evolve, take a hit, Meteor Mash, Bullet Punch if necessary. If you can get +1 with Meteor Mash, then you are in amazing shape. Bullet Punch can finish off Focus Sash and faster foes, Earthquake is for coverage, and Zen Headbutt is a strong stab move with a chance to flinch. There is a bit of luck with these moves, as your main STAB moves only have 90% accuracy, but its worth it.

 

[Black Murder Heavangelon]

Just as a side note, I argued with some peeps on Showdown that we'd see a lot of Mixed MegaMetagross using Grass Knot since it's Meta's most reliable way of removing Grass Types. Granted, Rotom-W still walls you hard (small chance of 2hkoing with Zen Headbutt), but everything else will be tripping over Meta's mixed options.

 

[jasmohit]

Mega Metagross

I was wondering when would Starters of Hoenn would come.Anyways Here is the moveset I use

Pros-
-145 base attack is insane.And it even gets scary by tough claws and then by Meteor Mash
-150 def lets you take earthquakes from choice scarfed landorous-t and then KOing with Ice Punch
-Base 110 speed allows you to outspeed many and who doesn't wants the speed of latios
-Its defences are nothing to laugh at.80/150/110 can take a hit easily
-Its even immune to toxic!!
-If it gets an attack boost ,IT IS SUPER SCARY!

Cons-
-it would start with a 70 speed well that's not good
-Meteor Mash can miss and even zen headbutt however if you can use hone claws then..
-It doesn't gets Swords Dance.It only gets hone claws ...Aww ok
-It has no egg moves
-Will-o-Wisp can ruin its day
-And even t-wave can

Hone-Claws MegaGross
252At/252sp/4Sp. Def
Jolly Nature
-Hone Claws
-Meteor Mash
-Zen Headbutt
-Bullet Punch/Earthquake/Grass Knot/Pursuit/Ice Punch

Hone Claws boosts the levels of attack to insane levels.What's even more that it leads to cover occasional misses from Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt.
Meteor Mash would luckily increase the attack of megagross and Zen Headbutt would flinch some.Rest is your choice on 4th slot depending on the coverage you need.

 

[IndigoTribesman]

My tank is under assault!

Metagross @ Assault Vest
Adamant/Careful
252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 SpD

Bullet Punch
Earthquake
Zen Headbutt/Meteor Mash
Ice Punch/Hammer Arm

Nature all depends on if you want the extra hitting power or the extra defense against special moves.

Bullet Punch to get in a priority hit when needed especially with Metagross' low speed, Earthquake for coverage against most Fire Types, Ice Punch/Hammer Arm for coverage depending on what you need to hit. Zen Headbutt if you want Psychic STAB and possible flinching or Meteor Mash if you want to hit Fairies hard and boost your attack.

This can be fiddled with in various ways.

 

[venom1950]

i love metagross. one of my favourite pokemon and it has my favourite typing,steel.
metagross has awesome BS and for the BS it has, it has a fitting and powerful movepool. even though people will say it doesn't have a wide movepool but you have the most powerful steel and psychic physical attacks and plenty of moves to cover its typing like EQ and shadow ball and hammer arm.
its mega is even more powerful as it gets huge boosts and most importantly it gets boost in speed so with max speed it can outspeed certain threats (citation needed).
i personally use this set but will replace wide lens with metagrossite and since it get a huge boost to speed i'll retrain it and max out speed instead of HP:

Metagross
@wide lens
nature:adamant
abillity:clear body
EVs:252 hp/252 att/4 speed
-meteor mash
-zen headbutt
-earthquake
-magnet rise

magnet rise is awesome on metagross. if you have an opportunity to set it, you won't regret. from that point metagross is unstoppable. it can wreck literally anything. with wide lens it won't miss that often. i had 6-0 a couple of times with metagross after smeargle baton passed it one or two gear grinds.