[Overview]
<p>The main and only reason to use Amoonguss in Doubles is because it is an incredibly bulky Rage Powder user. That's more than enough, though; being able to redirect every single-target attack in the game
into towards an entirely expendable team member
is a powerful effect for is very useful when using moves or Pokemon that require help setting up, such as Trick Room
or and Manaphy. Of the four viable Rage Powder or Follow Me users in the tier,
Volcarona and Togekiss tend to mostly use offensive pressure, and have Follow Me as a card in their back pocket to redirect troublesome attacks occasionally. On the other hand, Amoonguss
does have only has direct competition from Jirachi
for as a damage sponge that does little save spam Rage Powder
(add comma) as Volcarona and Togekiss tend to mostly use offensive pressure and have Follow Me more as a card in their back pockets to redirect troublesome attacks occasionally. Compared to Jirachi, Amoonguss has more reliable healing, a great move in Spore, and arguably better bulk due to its incredibly useful Water- and Fighting-type resistances, which help it take on rain teams. However, Regenerator is not as good as it
may might seem; it's tempting to keep Amoonguss on life support forever, as it is certainly capable of surviving for that long, but Amoonguss is entirely useless as a last Pokemon. The biggest point in its favor, though, is that Amoonguss is usually the best choice for teams that use Rage Powder to help set up Trick Room; most of Jirachi's support movepool is
Speed speed control, which is entirely useless under Trick Room, and Amoonguss has an incredibly fast Spore once it's helped set up. Furthermore, Amoonguss can be quite useful in beating Trick Room,
since as it can Spore the opposing team's setter for
a an almost guaranteed stop to the move.</p>
<p>Of course, Amoonguss isn't
the easily better
version of than Jirachi, either. Amoonguss's movepool is nearly empty, while Jirachi's is deep. Low Speed
may might be a boon under Trick Room, but outside of it, being outsped by every common Fake Out is a pain
which that Jirachi doesn't have to deal with. Jirachi's Dragon-type resistance (and many other resistances) also help to put it above Amoonguss, though Amoonguss still has the raw bulk not to be KOed by
any neutral move most neutral moves. Perhaps most importantly, Amoonguss lacks any offensive presence, often failing to break Substitutes of Pokemon that don't even resist Giga Drain. Still, Amoonguss's unique resistances and access to Spore make it an old standby for any team in need of a sponge.</p>
[SET]
name: Rage Powder
move 1: Rage Powder
move 2: Spore
move 3: Protect
move 4: Giga Drain
item: Sitrus Berry / Mental Herb
ability: Regenerator
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD
ivs: 0
Speed Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Rage Powder is the main draw of this set; to put it simply, Amoonguss should not be used if your team doesn't need Rage Powder. Rage Powder simply has so many neat applications, such as helping a frail sweeper survive another turn or letting a Trick Room user set up the move without fear of Taunt. When it doesn't need to use Rage Powder,
(remove comma) though, Amoonguss loves having Spore, a move that allows it to cripple virtually any Pokemon, though only one at a time. Amoonguss's other two moves are useful only in much more niche situations. Protect should mostly be used in the case of an obvious Fake Out (as it can outspeed Amoonguss's Rage Powder), in which case Amoonguss and its partner both protecting can save your strategy from disaster. It can also be used
instead of Rage Powder if Amoonguss is certainly going to be double-targeted,
instead of Rage Powder, but
predicting this is incredibly risky
in this scenario and thus rarely advised. Giga Drain seems good at first, dealing damage and healing, but it's so weak that it can't break the Substitute of bulkier Pokemon
which that are neutral to it, such as Garchomp. As such, it's really only good when Amoonguss is Taunted or can use it to secure a KO. The most important thing to remember when using Amoonguss is not to be fooled into thinking that all four of its moves are equally useful: Giga Drain and especially Protect will mostly only find themselves as options in specific situations, so after activating Sleep Clause,
it's Amoonguss is usually better off just using Rage Powder until it is KOed.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Amoonguss's Speed is absolutely minimized because it is used most of the time under Trick Room, in which case it usually becomes the fastest Pokemon on the field and can Spore almost anything. Meanwhile, its given EV spread allows it to tank almost every hit in the game; 64 Defense EVs
lets let it survive a non-item-boosted Zen Headbutt from Metagross, and putting the rest in Special Defense is just enough to avoid the KO from a full health non-item-boosted Eruption from Heatran.
These EVs, in conjunction with Sitrus Berry letting Amoonguss When Sitrus Berry is used in conjunction with these EVs, Amoonguss can take yet another 25% of its max HP in punishment,
guarantees guaranteeing that it almost always lives to the second turn,
being able to Rage Powder again or Spore an opponent. It though it still must be
aware, however, of a 2HKO, wary of being 2HKOed if the opponent leads with two strong attackers
, which can just as quickly end its run before it can use Spore.
(there are other ways to change this if you don't like what I did, but the two ideas of things to watch out for when using Sitrus Berry and Mental Herb is an alternative seemed a little awkward here) However, if Thundurus is a major threat to your team,
Mental Herb Amoonguss can
use Mental Herb to redirect its attacks (all of which Amoonguss shrugs off) without worrying about being shut down by Taunt. Effect Spore's 30% status effect is great when it activates, but it is less reliable than Regenerator and doesn't boost Amoonguss's greatest selling point,
(change to colon) his longevity. Amoonguss's Speed tier is also almost fully customizable,
(remove comma) if you are not running him on a Trick Room team,
since heas it has another junk stat in Attack and 31 IVs to work with. For example, 27 Speed IV Calm Amoonguss can outspeed paralyzed Choice Scarf Tyranitar outside of Trick Room, while still
outspeeding outpacing minimized base 50 Speed Pokemon in Trick Room.</p>
<p>When it comes to picking good partners for Amoonguss, the two most important things to consider are as follows: 1) Does this Pokemon appreciate Rage Powder support more than any other type of support? For example, if it needs a little help dealing damage, Helping Hand users would be better, or if it is kind of slow, but not Trick Room slow, then
Paralysis paralysis or Tailwind support is optimal. 2) Is this Pokemon irreparably weak to common spread moves? If it is, then Amoonguss cannot help,
since as Rage Powder does not redirect Earthquake, Surf, Heat Wave, etc. What this paring process generally leaves is Pokemon
which that function well either after a turn of setup or under Trick Room. For example, Tail Glow Manaphy appreciates Amoonguss's redirecting of powerful Electric, Grass, and Dragon attacks and can spam powerful Surfs while doing minimal damage to Amoonguss. Another
infamous well-known teammate is Water Spout Jellicent
paired up with Amoonguss,
since as Amoonguss can redirect Taunts that would stop Jellicent from using Trick Room, while simultaneously redirecting all single-target moves so Water Spout stays at full power. Many such team options are possible with Amoonguss—though it is important to make sure that Amoonguss is not on your team only to help out one other Pokemon.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Amoonguss without Rage Powder and Spore should
literally never be considered. Protect and Giga Drain serve niche, but equally important, roles in making sure the set can fulfill its function: Protect so it is not Fake Out weak and Giga Drain so it is not Taunt bait
or and absolutely useless once it has used Spore (not to mention entirely necessary in the case of Amoonguss being your last Pokemon). As such,
its Amoonguss's moveslot customization options are extremely limited, but they do exist. First, Giga Drain can be replaced with Sludge Bomb or Grass Knot for more situational power but less overall utility. It can also be scrapped for Clear Smog, but Volcarona and Bisharp, two of the most common
boosting Pokemon in Doubles
to have a boost, do not fear it. Stun Spore and Toxic appear to be good options for Amoonguss
since as they are more crippling than Giga Drain in almost all cases, but they leave it completely open to Taunt and are thus inadvisable. Synthesis is a bad idea in most cases because although it lets Amoonguss use Rage Powder more times over the course of the match, Amoonguss has to stop using Rage Powder in order to use Synthesis, and the turn wasted is rarely worth it. Substitute over Protect trades the ability to block Fake Outs on turn one with the great utility of being able to redirect non-damaging effects at no cost, but
it is hard to set up. That said, it is probably Amoonguss's best alternative move,
since as it can be extremely useful.
(maybe move it to earlier then? Your call though) Hidden Power Ice can be used on teams that need a check to Flying- and Dragon-types such as Thundurus, Salamence, and Shaymin-S, but
it is only two-thirds as strong as Giga Drain
on neutrals against neutral targets and doesn't have any healing property. The only other move that Amoonguss should ever consider is After You, as it allows Trick Room teams running a fast tech
(should this be a different word or is this just a term I don't know?) to use that Pokemon while Trick Room is up without any ill effects. Lastly, Amoonguss can run Lum Berry, which is extremely useful for Spore Breloom and Amoonguss leads but absolutely pointless otherwise, or Black Sludge, which is better than Sitrus Berry if Amoonguss survives more than four turns, but should only be considered alongside Substitute, as otherwise Amoonguss should not be on the field that long.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best way to counter Amoonguss is not to chip away at it—as long as it has redirected attacks, it has done its job. The best way to counter Amoonguss is to keep it from using Rage Powder and Spore at all. As such, Taunt is absolutely invaluable, as is Fake Out, as long as the Amoonguss user is not prepared for those moves. Though spread moves such as Heatran's Heat Wave
or and Abomasnow's Blizzard don't actually stop Rage Powder, they circumvent it,
(remove comma) while simultaneously dealing a massive chunk of damage to Amoonguss,
(remove comma) and are thus some of your best options. If you can OHKO Amoonguss (especially with a fast Pokemon, whose partner can then proceed to attack Amoonguss's partner), it's a great way to beat it. Note that this basically will require a Gem-boosted STAB move, such as Tornadus's Acrobatics or Chandelure's Heat Wave. Speaking of Chandelure, it is the number one way to beat Amoonguss which are on Trick Room teams, as it can Imprison Trick Room instead of having to Taunt to stop it,
(remove comma) and can OHKO Amoonguss with Heat Wave while simultaneously attacking its partner. Though they can't ignore Rage Powder, bulky or Grass-resisting Pokemon with Substitute have nothing at all to fear from Amoonguss, which cannot break their Substitutes or Spore them when they are behind one. Lastly, Spore Breloom functions as a pseudo-Taunt user, being able to shut down Amoonguss for a couple of turns, but is very frail. If your team carries none of the above, the best way to beat Amoonguss is simply to beat it down as quickly as possible and remember not to target its partner with a single-target move that Amoonguss resists.</p>
