Magnezone is a particularly good partner for DD M-Altaria as it traps stuff like Skarmory and Ferrothorn that give it trouble.
SD Diggersby is another cool less used option to weaken opposing teams for Alt.
This was brought a long time ago, and I believe while it is theoretically possible, it was pretty much unanimous that tier leaders didn't want to tier Megas separately from their base forms. (Here's the thread for reference: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/tiering-mega-evolutions-separately.3500303/)
Then why are Mega and non-Mega forms ranked separately in viability rankings? Why isn't Mega Gyarados just considered the most viable "set" of Gyarados?
I realize this. I was asking in relation to the notion that Megas are just "sets." If that were true, Gyarados would have one placement on the rankings, which would represent the combination of effectiveness of both the Mega and non-Mega sets. Scarf Jirachi and Sub Toxic Jirachi have distinct roles, but they don't have their own ranks (except in that one other thread).
But that's true of all sets on all Pokemon. This is from the sets viability thread:
But then it would be quick-banned by UU. I don't see the issue.
Whether or not you count Megas as a set or a separate mon, the fact that only one Mega "set" can be used per 6 sets on a team would still merit separating the mega sets from other sets. After all, if I run one of Metagross's Mega sets I've eliminated the possible sets I can run on other mons, which can't be said for something like Choice Band Scizor, which doesn't inhibit other sets I can run. In terms of viability, if I'm going to run a set that limits my options beyond the normal limit set by the Species Clause, it's worth noting whether or not the set is worth it.
You dropped a mon that was OU by usage and forced it to hold an item. Assuming UU could adapt to it and kept it in the tier, now there's precedence for dropping a mon into a lower tier provided that it runs an inhibiting item. It's a bad precedence that shouldn't be set, and even if you quick-ban it, you've still set the precedence.
Ferrothorn maybe? It abuses rain to reduce its 4x weakness to Fire moves, can provide Stealth Rock / Spikes for Rain teams and be quite annoying for the other team with options like Leech Seed.
Yes
Altaria @ Altarianite
EQ is one of the best options because it helps you past fire types like Heatran and Victini. Modest is fine as the -10% attack drop won't make a big difference against Heatran
It's gonna fall back to NU at least as it was there before koko pretty much banned it from 3 tiers at once.
Mega Altaria does very well against some mons that threaten Sand such as Breloom and Chesnaught, while Excadrill can tank Poison attacks and Tyranitar's high SpD in Sand helps mitigate Ice attacks. Altaria in turn provides a resistance to Fire, Water, Grass, and Fighting, the last being huge for the common T-Tar/Drill core Sand is based around.
It's recently been updated such that a mon can't carry both Baton Pass and a way to boost speed plus another stat. Hopefully it'll be implemented with a teambuilder check soon. For more info on the ban itself, here's the post
Does that mean a scolipede can't pass both a swords dance and a speed boost or two?
That's correct
