Some questions on Regenerator Amoonguss?

Question

Ever since the release of Regenerator Amoonguss, I have been anxious to use it. I recently did in my Bromoonguss UU team. I have some questions about Amoonguss and combos it can form, so bear with me.

• I have heard of two different types of defensive cores used along with Amoonguss: Slowbro and Amoonguss (Bromoonguss) and Amoonguss and Alomomola. Are there any more combos with Amoonguss with a Defensive core?

• I currently run Bromoonguss with Slowbro with 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk, Bold, with Scald, Psyshock, Fire Blast, and Slack Off and Amoonguss with 252 HP / 28 SAtk / 228 SDef with Calm and Spore, Stun Spore, Giga Drain, and Clear Smog. I run Amoonguss and Alomomola with Amoonguss with 248 HP / 64 Def / 196 SDef with Calm and Spore, Stun Spore, Giga Drain, and Clear Smog, and Alomomola with 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef with Waterfall, Toxic, Wish, Protect. Is there any way to improve these two combinations?

• In combinations revolving around Amoonguss as a defensive core, there can be loads of statuses in Toxic, Thunder Wave, Stun Spore, and Spore to be handed out to cripple the opponent. But as Spoink pointed out in my UU team, too many statuses might ruin what you want to cripple, such as paralyzing a Wall, while running more offensive sets don't work due to the lack of investment in the SAtk stat. Is it more beneficial to run status or offensive when running a core around Amoonguss?

• Often while using Amoonguss in UU, the Bromoonguss combo makes me go entirely Special, causing Special walls to cause problems. I have thought of Physical Amoonguss with Seed Bomb and Foul Play over Giga Drain and Clear Smog. Is it viable? If not, what can be done about Physical Amoonguss?

Comments

Clear Smog is one of the reasons Amoonguss is so good. The ability to screw stat boosters. Although Foul Play partly gets the job done, Calm Mind is a problem for it then.

Answer 1

Okay, well being a long time user (and abuser) of Amoonguss, I feel like I can answer this question well enough. I am kind of tired at the moment, so if my thought processes aren't clear enough, feel free to tell me and I'll explain. I'll put all of the sets I came up with at the end of the post, so it looks nicer :P Anyway, let's get right in!

• Yes, there are lots of pokemon that work well in a core with Amoonguss. Being a Grass type, it can take Water, Grass and Electric attacks. It also appreciates something to take powerful Fire and Bug hits. It doesn't matter which defensive stat they excel in because Amoonguss's excellent mixed bulk and HP lets it go both physical and special wall. Here are some other good cores I know of / thought up just now:

• Defensive Amoonguss and Specially Defensive Slowking, in RU. They both have Regenerator, which means they can safely switch out of any mispredictions into the appropriate counter while healing themselves. This is similar to TanKing, except that Amoonguss has a nice secondary Poison typing and a 100% accurate sleep move, as well as some actual special bulk. They have the same excellent defensive synergy as Bromoonguss, which is nice. Slowking also has the advantage over Slowbro of Dragon Tail, which allows you to get some dual phazing and possibly parashuffling going on. This also solves the 'which status' problem but we'll get to that later.

• Specially Defensive Amoonguss and Defensive Arcanine in UU. Bulkynine is actually amazing now, with Sand gone from UU forever. Intimidate, Fire typing, and reliable recovery let it check so many of the physical threats that give SDef Amoonguss trouble, such as Victini, Darmanitan, Heracross, Honchkrow, and Escavalier. He can also run a physical set with Flare Blitz, meaning you are free to run Special based Amoonguss. His access to Will-O-Wisp is nice, but it does bring up that status problem again... I'd say put one pokemon to sleep, and then just burn both attackers and walls, residual damage is always nice.

• Specially Defensive Amoonguss and Bulky Swampert. Swampert doesn't have reliable recovery, but its typing ties in nicely with Amoonguss's (who has a 4x resistance to the Grass moves Swampert hates) and can also set up Stealth Rock, in case your team is lacking it, to take advantage of the many switches Swampoonguss (lol) will cause. He can also phaze pokemon behind substitutes with Roar, unlike Amoonguss's Clear Smog, and tank attacks well with 110 / 90 / 90 bulk.

• Not going to write a load about this one but Specially Defensive Amoonguss and Defensive Regirock seem to have awesome synergy. Regirock has no problem with Fire and Flying attacks, while Amoonguss can take any Grass, Water, or Fighting attack aimed at Regirock. I'll try it out sometime if I can be bothered :P

• For Bromoonguss: Yeah, 3 attacks is just not good. And this is a very tricky question, one that has caused me many sleepless nights :/ But thanks to your awesome Foul Play idea, I think I finally have a solution! On Slowbro, go with Scald / Psyshock /Toxic or Thunder Wave/ Slack Off. On Amoonguss, go with Spore / Seed Bomb / Foul Play / Clear Smog. Even though you're mainly Physical, Clear Smog's utility cannot be denied, so we're keeping that. This actually gives you some freedom on Slowbro to pick a status that benefits your team more. Generally regen cores are more pivot switches, so I'd go Thunder Wave to cripple offensive pokemon, but it's your call in the end.

• For Alomomoonguss: It looks almost perfect. However, I've found that the Double Powder set just isn't that great in NU, whether it's the prevalence of Guts pokemon like Swellow and Ursaring, or just that many of Amoonguss's common switchins (Emoboar!) couldn't really care less about paralysis, or maybe that it's those damn statuses interfering with each other! Synthesis is nice reliable healing to have, and helps you stall with Alo's Toxic. However, I've found HP Ice to work just as well, hitting Swellow, Braviary, and Rotom-S on the switch. Try both out I guess...

• Okay so I've half covered this question already. But I think our problem is solved. If you're using Amoonguss with a special attacking wall, like Slowbro, go with the Spore / Foul Play / Seed Bomb / Clear Smog set. Then, you have room for just one status move on the other pokemon. For Slowbro / Slowking, this could be Toxic or Thunder Wave; For Arcanine, Will-O-Wisp; For Alomomola, Toxic. Of course, as I said already the status move you choose depends on your team. Toxic is helpful if your team struggles against walls, specifically bulky Water types like Milotic and opposing Slowbro. However, Thunder Wave is great if you have some pokemon with average Speed stats who need paralysis support to sweep. For example, even though I suggested Scarf Chandelure instead of Specs, you could easily switch to Life Orb and sweep. ALSO as I pointed out, Regenerator cores make awesome pivots, so paralysing something on the switch and then going into a counter is just lovely.

• If you're using a Physical attacking wall, like Alomomola or Arcanine, Special Amoonguss is your best bet. Spore / Giga Drain / Clear Smog / FOUL PLAY or just Synthesis could work fine, I expect. This will balance out your defensive core's attacks to both sides of the spectrum, letting you have less trouble with Physical / Special Walls. That said, and partly answering your last question too, remember this is a DEFENSIVE core. Even with STAB, your uninvested Scalds / Giga Drains aren't going to be doing a whole lot. And what exactly can a wall do back to you? So spreading out offenses and coverage aren't your main concerns here. Although Foul Play is still a fantastic move on like, everything that learns it :3

• Yeah, I've also already gone through this. But Physical Amoonguss is entirely viable. The only problem I have with it is that it doesn't have the reliable healing of Giga Drain. Clear Smog is a great move on it too, and you can use a Relaxed nature to keep its power too. Also, I just realised, if you do go for Thunder Wave on Slowbro / Slowking, then Stun Spore is entirely fine on Amoonguss. I'm just not so sure it's worth the moveslot.

Okay, I think I'm done. Wow, that took a while to write and now my fingers hurt :P so I hope it was worth it Mew. I HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT! hint hint xD Sets will come in the next answer.

Comments

Just realised, I put Emoboar instead of Emboar. It's oddly fitting, considering he hurts himself using all of his strongest moves. xP

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Haha "Emoboar". 'das one loooong answer

Answer 2

Physically Defensive Amoonguss:

Amoonguss (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spore
- Seed Bomb
- Foul Play
- Clear Smog

Specially Defensive Amoonguss:

Amoonguss (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Synthesis / Hidden Power [Ice] / FOUL PLAY :D

Physically Defensive Arcanine:

Arcanine (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Extremespeed
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
- Morning Sun

Specially Defensive Slowking:

Slowking (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Psychic
- Slack Off

Physically Defensive Slowbro:

Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Thunder Wave / Toxic
- Slack Off

Bulky Swampert:

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Waterfall / Ice Punch
- Roar

Physically Defensive Alomomola:

Alomomola (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Waterfall / Knock Off
- Toxic

And for the lolz:

Physical Tank Regirock:

Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Thunder Wave / Drain Punch

I've explained most of the moves and stuff in the other answer so yeah. But there's a couple of things I should say:

• It should be obvious but the physically defensive EV spreads are supposed to go with the specially defensive Amoonguss, and the specially defensive spreads for physically defensive Amoonguss. I might add a few more cores if I can find the time.

• Psychic or Fire Blast over Psyshock due to the prevalence of physically defensive walls like Qwilfish.

• Don't ask why I like the 252 / 196 / 60 EV spread so much, it's just because the numbers look cool :3 feel free to change it if you find something better but tell me as well :]

Comments

Why do you like that 252 / 196 / 60 EV spread so much? XD

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It is oddly satisfying ;]

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Damn........ I am using these sets ;D