Gen V 1 vs 1 Metagame

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META OF THE MONTH YEAH BABY!!1111!1!!

The return of a classic. 1 vs 1 is the most basic of all Pokemon battles; just one Pokemon versus another. Without team mates, a Pokemon faults become more glaring, so it has to rely upon its best traits to win games more than any other format. Despite the limit of use to one Pokemon, 1 vs 1 has a surprisingly large amounts of strategies that one can run. The strategy you chose to run is a hard choice since you only have 4 moveslots to cover the entirety of all other Pokemon. This creates an environment where 1 vs 1 is highly matchup based; almost a Rock-Paper-Scissors environment where some strategies will blatantly win or lose to others. However, the matchup-based environment of 1 vs 1 can breed creativity; the key to victory maybe a surprise deviations of Pokemon. With such a short amount of time in a battle (1 to 3 turns) surprises certainly punish opponents expecting a standard much harder than any other format. Simply put, an opponent will not have enough time to recover from a surprise.

Banlist

  • Arceus
  • Blaziken
  • Darkra
  • Deoxys-A
  • Deoxys
  • Dialga
  • Giratina
  • Giritina-O
  • Groudon
  • Ho-Oh
  • Kyurem-W
  • Lugia
  • Mewtwo
  • Palkia
  • Rayquaza
  • Reshiram
  • Shaymin-S
  • Zekrom
  • All Suicidal moves: (Explosion, Perish Song, Destiny Bond, Healing Wish, etc).

Unbanned Pokemon:
Deoxys (Defense, Speed Forms)
Excadrill
Genesect
Manaphy
Thundurus-I
Tornadus-T


Since the 1 vs 1 metagame takes away key support from some "once OU but now Uber Pokemon", paticularly weather, the 1 vs 1 metagame will welcome a few Pokemon back with some welcome arms. Out of all the unbanned Pokemon on the list possibly Thudurus-I, Deoxys-S, and Genesect will stand to make the greatest impact. Their wide movepools and pumped up stats will make them an enormous offensive presence in the tier. More maybe coming soon so keep a look out!


Strategies

Sleep

Sleep is an extremely popular and viable strategy in 1 vs 1. The short duration of the battles (1 to 3 turns) means the opponent will be completely incapacitated for the large majority of the match. Sleep also has a wide variety of users of different types to chose from, diversifying the strategy. Sleep has been expanded to Yawn users in 1 vs 1. With the inability to switch, Yawn+Protect can knock a Pokemon right out of the match. While Sleep is great against Focus Sash users, its own popularity launches Lum Berry into the limelight of commonplace use. Beware because a sleep-inducing move to a Lum Berry user can lose you a turn and quite possibly a match!


Breloom (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Focus Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Spore

  • Breloom gold standard for Sleep Inducers.
  • Breaks Sashes with Bullet Punch, priority to take down faster Pokemon, immediate power with Focus Punch after Sleep
  • Other known users: Gengar, Jynx

F.E.A.R

F.E.A.R abuses the top item of the tier, Focus Sash, to the greatest extent. Coming out with full-health right off the bat means that little can be done to stop low-defense FEAR users from ruining an attackers day. The best endeavor users can snipe down their opponents with priority to make sure they get the game-winning strike. While F.E.A.R. is strong against attackers, it falters to sleep-inducers, Toxic-stallers, and Pokemon with faster priority.



Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Oblivious
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd (0 HP IV, 0 Def IV, 0 SpD IV)
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Endeavor
- Icicle Spear

  • Mamoswine: Many weakness, low defenses, decent speed, immunity to hail+sandstorm, and priority make it a prime Endeavor user
  • Has decent attack in case it does not have the ability to endeavor. Icicle Spear breaks sashes.
  • Other users: Smeargle, Infernape

All-Out Attacker

All-out-attackers use their great coverage and power to get by in 1 vs 1. Oftentimes, they only need one move to get the job done against the opponent. All-out-attackers are stymied by the heavy usage of Focus Sash, which prevents the OHKO on targets. All-out-attackers also get destroyed by Counter-Coat users.


Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Superpower / Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed

  • Dragointe: Multiscale acts as a pseudo-Focus Sash, allowing it to survive nearly any hit. Lum Berry makes sure he can not be stopped by Sleep
  • Good power, great coverage, and access to +2 Extremespeed to beat out opposing priority makes him have great match against a large amount of targets
  • Other users: Machamp, Thundurs-I, Terrakion, Genesect, Deoxys-S
Counter and Mirror Coat

In a similar fashion to F.E.A.R., CounterCoat preys on opponents that use attacking moves to KO the opponent back. The difference is that CounterCoat users rely on a bit of bulk instead of frailness to get the opponent (they do not need priority either). The use of only one Pokemon by the opponent and most likely one move that the opponent can win with means the prediction involved in using CounterCoat is significantly lessened compared to other formats. Oftentimes, Pokemon shoehorn Counter or Mirror Coat into their movesets if their coverage falls short. CounterCoat users can easily fall to Trick users and Toxic-stallers.


Gastrodon (M) @ Rindo Berry
Trait: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
- Surf / Toxic
- Protect

  • Gastrodon has one weakness, which can be mitigated by Rindo Berry, making him a great user of countercoat
  • Gastrodon is also immune to sandstorm and immune to trick with sticky hold
  • Surf to get Pokemon with Substitute, Toxic to get targets he won't attack
  • Other users: Tyranitar, Blissey, Wobbufett, Swampert

Choiced Items

Choice items become incredibly useful in 1 vs 1 because the need for prediction is eliminated since the opponent can not switch. Oftentimes only 1 move is necessary to get the job done against the opponent. Choice Scarf is possibly the most useful, since the extra power of Choice Band or Choice Specs might go to waste because of Focus Sash. Choice users can also pack trick to get around their usual counters, such as CounterCoat users. They can even pack Sleep Talk for expected Sleep users.


Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf

  • Latios has high speed and power, great STAB in Dragon, hit on the other defensive side with Psyshock
  • Also can stop counter counters or set up sweepers with a fast Trick
  • Other users: Jirachi, Keldeo, Kyurem-B, Abomasnow

Boosting

The inability to phaze in the tier means boosters can not get their snowball stopped by the opponent. Unlike other attackers, boosters can often get around CounterCoat users by just boosting away to victory while they waste turns Countering or Mirror Coating. Even Toxic-stallers can fall to certain boosters since the Toxic damage can be recovered off or not accumulate fast enough. However, boosters can fall to the powerful Choice users or all-out attackers of the tier if they can not respond fast enough with their own attacks.


Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Rock Slide

  • Great bulk allows Tyranitar to set up easily, and has a good STAB for mono attacking
  • Can beat certain Sleepers with Rest Talk
  • Leftovers is a highly unused item, so Tyranitar's Sandstream will sure add up
  • Other users: Dragonite, Volcarona, Suicune, Genesect

Toxic Stalling

The inability for many Pokemon to recover is their downfall, since the Toxic count can not be delayed by switching in 1 vs 1. If the Toxic user can wall the attacker in question, it is almost assured victory. Toxic is especially useful against MirrorCoaters and F.E.A.R, since they will not be able to activate their strategy to the fullest extent without getting hit. Toxic also gets around Focus Sash. Toxic-stallers are susceptible to Choiced-attackers / Trick Users or boosters that can overwhelm them before the Toxic timer gets to do meaningful damage. Lum Berry and Taunt can also be a thorn in the side just as it is for Sleep, forcing you to waste a turn. It is also important to note Toxic does not work against Steel-types or Poison-types, so Toxic-staller's main win-condition is completely nullified!


Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 28 Def / 236 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Toxic

  • High speed and inability to get hit with Substitute+Protect+Poison Heal is quite annoying
  • Gliscor has a status immunity with Poison Heal and is unable to be beaten by certain endeavor users with poison heal
  • Other users: Blissey
Berries

Berries retain an important niche in doubles. Lum Berry is the most common of berries, giving the user an immunity to status and a good match-up against Sleep-inducers and Toxic-Stall users. A more unorthodox berry to use is the Custap Berry. Certain Sturdy users and Substitute users can abuse it to gain a pseudo-priority move. Type-resisting berries can also be used, but there usage is quite niche unless the Pokemon you are using has a small amount of weaknesses.


Magnezone @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd (0 HP IV, 0 Def IV, 0 SpD IV)
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SpD)
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Mirror Coat
  • Powerful attacker with good coverage
  • Any Special attacker can be taken down by Mirror Coat
  • If Magenezone hits sturdy, he has a clutch chance to attack the opponent with a priority move

Get Out There

While 1 vs 1 does not have its own ladder set up on PS! at the moment, it can easily be played by playing challenging someone to Ubers and using a Pokemon with only 1 team. You can find opponents opponents on #othermetas on synirc. You can also make a splash in live tournaments, which will be further elaborated on below.
 
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Live Tournaments

Live Tournaments

The short duration of 1 vs 1 battles makes it perfect for live tournaments. These live tournaments will be organized weekly. They will be best out of 3 for one round.

Tournament 1 - May 25th

Participants:

ThePillsburyDoughBoy
TheUnluckyOne

Hall of Fame

Tournament 1 - May 24th

????
 
Scarf Jirachi is especially fun with its flinchax. Alternatively, a bulkier set can be run with Body Slam + Iron Head + Lum Berry.
 
ScarfKeldeo and Hydreigon are quite beastly, one for its superb coverage and power, the other for its complete immunity for CounterCoat.
 
Sub/Protect/Leech Seed/Toxic Whimsicott
can't beat Ferro, but otherwise, a fantastic mon. struggles with priority to an extent, but since the only priority that hits it for super effective damage is Ice Shard, this is usually not that big of a deal. and if you can manage to Leech Seed your opponent, you can just Protect and Sub spam until it dies.
 

eric the espeon

maybe I just misunderstood
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
I wonder if anyone has an interest in making something like this 1v1 matchups chart? It seems like something that would be pretty awesome for new players to have. Feel free to use that as a layout, it's publicly editable for now (and would be easy to make a version editable to just a few people but publicly viewable).

And if someone knows where to find usage stats for the meta without Deoxys-N that would be cool, I removed it from those ones but it'll distort usage stats I'm sure.
 

Stratos

Banned deucer.
a 1v1 matchups chart weighted by stats indeed looks very cool; unfortunately i don't know how to work google docs lol (i tried splitting the cell for Cloyster to make room for its two sets [sash smash vs scarf] but it didn't work)
 

eric the espeon

maybe I just misunderstood
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
To add an extra set, add a column (for your example, right click G, select insert one right) then merge the cells with the Pokémon's name then the Pokémon's usage with the blank cells adjacent to them. Then do the same set of things adding a row with sets, ideally.

Edit: Done Cloyster, and adding this explanation to the spreadsheet.
 
The first live tournament is now in the works for this Saturday, May 25th @ 9:00 PM EST! If you want to play, come join us on #othermetas on SynIrc. The matches will be best out of 3 to give you a chance to come back! Despite being best out of 3, the live tournament will play out fairly quickly because 1 vs 1 matches are at most 5 turns usually. If you want to participate, please PM or VM me.


___________________________________


With that out of the way, I would also like to introduce one of the most crucial moves in 1 vs 1: Fake Out. If you have ever played VGC or Doubles (on Smogon), then you are familiar with Fake Out's importance for guranteeing a free turn. However, Fake Out's most signifcant niche in 1 vs 1 is neutralizing the value of the metagames most used item, Focus Sash. Here are my personal favorite users of Fake Out:

Hariyama (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Bullet Punch

My creation that has become articblast's 1 vs 1 poke of choice. Hariyama's decent bulk means it does not have to rely upon Focus Sash to do some big damage to the opponent. Fake Out not only breaks Focus Sash, but it also means that you can set up Toxic Orb safely. Guts is a great ability in 1 vs 1, since it acts both as a Choice'd boost and an immunity to Sleep. Unlike other Pokemon who boost their power, Hariyama's power does not go to waste because it can break Sashes that prevent OHKO's. Close Combat is icing on the cake.

Jynx (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Forewarn
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fake Out
- Lovely Kiss
- Ice Beam
- Nasty Plot

Jynx is an interesting Pokemon, since it can scout with both Fake Out+Forewarn to indicate an opposing Pokemon's moveset. It can further retain its Focus Sash by putting something to sleep with the decently accurate Lovely Kiss. From there Jynx can safely boosts its power with Nasty Plot. Sometimes STAB Ice Beam does not need any boosts because Ice-weakness is a very common one in 1 vs 1.

____________________________________________

eric_the_espeon and treecko37 i will get to you guys later but i gtg
 
I have used conkeldurr in 1v1 tournaments all the time. Run 252hp/252atk/4spe, guts and leftovers, with bulk up, drain punch, mach punch and ice punch. you 2hko alakazam with ice punch/mach punch, can heal off damage with drain punch, boost to oblivion, etc.
 
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf/Focus Sash
Trait: Justified
Timid Nature
-Hydro Pump/Surf
-Secret Sword
-Hidden Power Ghost/Bug
-Icy Wind/Aqua Jet

This guy just wrecks face with its 108 speed tier and a scarf. Only Lati@s outspeeds, but without the massive coverage Keldeo sports, you'll not likely find it often. Seeing as it is 1v1, you can afford to lock yourself into Hydro Pump or Secret Sword, with HP bug/ghost for Celebi/Jellicent and Icy Wind for Dragonite, Garchomp, etc. I think only Alakazam really can beat this guy, and only with a sash, although the Mirror Coat Magnezone will give it trouble too.

With a Sash on and Aqua Jet, you can beat CounterCoat simply by sashing down in your attack turn, then follow up with Priority, even against opposing Scarfed mons. Lati@s still gives it trouble, more so now than the Scarf set, but you get a free attack on it with the sash.

Edit: Slashing some extra options on here.
 
Encore is a great move in 1 vs 1 if you encore a pokemon into a non-attacking move its often gg.

my favorite pokemon for encore is Liepard.
Liepard @ leftovers
Trait: prankster
jolly nature
-substitute
-swagger
-encore
-foul play

This set is awesome and really fun to play with. I know leftovers isn't normally good in in 1 vs 1 but it lets you make more substitutes while you wait for the other pokemon to hurt itself from confusion.
 
Encore is a great move in 1 vs 1 if you encore a pokemon into a non-attacking move its often gg.

my favorite pokemon for encore is Liepard.
Personally I prefer Whimsicott with a set of substitute, encore, protect and leech seed
 
What about Shedinja?

Most Pokémon which have no access to Sandstorm/Hail/Toxic/WoW/any Flying/Rock/Dark/Ghost move/Entrainment have big problems with this beast. So you always should have something against this beast.
 

ElectivireRocks

Banned deucer.
I think Liepard should be banned from this metagame.
It takes no skill whatsoever and has essentially a 45% (factoring Swagger's 90% accuracy) chance to win at worst against anything without Own Tempo or Lum Berry.
 

Arcticblast

Trans rights are human rights
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It's not like that makes it broken - running Lum Berry is perfectly viable in the first place for things like Breloom and Jumpluff who will try to put you to sleep. You can also use Dragonite, Lucario or Arcanine (Extremespeed!) to out-priority it or the move Magic Coat to bounce back Swagger (although if it Subs first you're in trouble) - to this extent, Espeon can work as well, but needs Choice Specs (Espeon isn't OHKOd by Foul Play and OHKOs in return with Signal Beam)
 
Basically anything with high defense and low attack will work, too. Torkoal comes to mind, but don't use Torkoal in this metagame.
 
Time to share the trolling with everyone.

Cottonee (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Prankster
Level: 1
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Def / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Encore
- Protect

Cottonee uses Leech Seed on the first turn (priority), then Substitute over and over for GG. Alternatively, Encore can be used to lock the opponent into a move. Also, Protect is used to stop Fake Out so there is still a 90% chance of getting the Leech Seed in. This set loses only to three things: priority, Magic Guard, and Grass-types.

Machoke (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Impish Nature
- DynamicPunch
- Payback
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Machoke is pretty simple; however, the strangest thing about it is the fact that I am using it in the first place. "Why not Machamp?" A fine question, good sir. However, Machamp cannot run Eviolite, and thus is not as bulky as Machoke. Machoke is able to take extremely strong attacks and still wreck shit. Furthermore, with RestTalk, no status has complete control over Machoke, and with proper prediction, Machoke should be able to confuse any non-Ghost early on and wall that Pokémon long enough to run a RestTalk cycle whenever necessary. Machoke is pretty weak offensively with these EVs; however, Confusion and recovery allow him to still beat out most things. Payback is for the Ghosts, of course, and it works on Psychics, too. Many things can beat Machoke, but the only common ones are Own Tempo (I hate you Slowbro), powerful Psychics (I hate you Reuniclus/Alakazam), and Ghosts with the power to break through Machoke prior to him running the RestTalk cycle. Oh, also hax. Hax ruins him.



Finally, here is my favorite Pokémon in 1v1, and the one which has gotten me to #1 on the ladder twice (once before and once after the reset):

Deoxys-Defense @ Mail
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Recover

Deoxys-Defense, finding himself unbanned in this hazard-less tier, still finds an amazing niche. Firstly, Deo-D has immense bulk with the right EV spreads. For example, Deo-D takes a mere 40% from an unboosted Lum Berry Dragonite's Outrage. With Recover and Outrage's confusion, Deo-D only needs to fear the occasional crit from Dragonite; it can wall any other attack. With the given EV spread, Deo-D can wall nearly the entire physical end of the tier, only falling to Sawsbuck's Megahorn, Weavile's Night Slash, and a few other rare moves. Unfortunately, this leaves Deo-D's special side a bit weak, allowing Deo-D to fall prey to such Pokémon as Gengar. Nevertheless, Deo-D can wall most of the tier. The final 4 EVs go into Special Defense because none of the other stats matter. The lack of Atk IVs is to minimize confusion damage from Pokémon such as Sableye and Liepard.

With this bulk, Deo-D needs something to do; why not throw on a stall set? With Toxic, any non-Steel non-Poison Pokémon will be put on a time limit. Alternatively, for low health Pokémon or Steel or Poison Pokémon, Night Shade (chosen over Seismic Toss to stop Gengar) can kill any other Pokémon given enough time. With Taunt, no Pokémon can setup on Deo-D easily, and it prevents other Pokémon from using Roost, Recover, Rest, Sleep Talk, and other useful moves which would make Deo-D's job harder. Finally, with Recover, Deo-D can heal off any damage, even stalling just by repeatedly using Recover after poisoning the opponent.

Finally, Deo-D's item choice is very important. One may ask, "Why not use Leftovers to more effectively wall things, or Lum Berry to win Toxic wars?" The answer, dear sir, is Trick. Or Switcheroo. Trick or Switcheroo. Mail is the only item in the game which will guarantee Trick and Switcheroo fail when used. This is vital, as a Scarf given to Deo-D will ruin its day. The ability to change moves is more important than 6.25% or preventing a status. As it is, Deo-D can Taunt most status-setters before they move. Guaranteeing that Deo-D will never receive a Choice item is more important than the marginal health regeneration or the one-time status removal.

With that, I'm off to go wreck more people with the best 1v1er, Deo-D <3
 
Managed to get the number 2 spot on the ladder currently with this Breloom set although I believe its a fluke:
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Protect
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Slide

Max speed is for a better chance to get spore off first.
Spore is pretty standard and what makes Breloom so good and is the crux of the set.
Bullet Seed is also pretty common and lets me break subs and even does decent damage to the above Deo-D and other bulky mons.
Protect is odd but it allows me to avoid all fake outs which is huge because its almost a guranteed Spore or 2 hits.
Rock Slide is so I can beat lol Shedninja(which I havent seen once in the 30 total 1v1 battles Ive had) but also Rock Slide has proven invaluable against Flying and Fire types that think they have an insta win. Rock Slide over Stone Miss because I hate that move =_=
This poke relies heavily on luck though. If sleep doesnt last long enough, Bullet Seed doesnt hit enough times or Rock Slide misses its GG so be warned.
Pretty fun regardless although like I said the Ladder rank is probably just a fluke.
 
Deoxys Defence @ Mail has worked for me too. I've been experimenting a lot with this metagame, from Echoed Voice Blissey (4 wins, 2 losses), Deo-D (18 wins, 3 losses), Shell Smash Cloyster (2 wins, 2 losses) and perhaps my favourite, Metal Burst Aggron (16 wins, 6 losses). Choice Scarf Haxorus can put in serious dents with Outrage, but I think a simple Dragonite set is the best option, due to Multitype.

The Aggron set (Can be beaten by Breloom and Hariyama):

Aggron @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk
IVs: 0 Speed
Brave Nature (+Atk,-Spe)
- Metal Burst
- Toxic
- Protect
- Rock Slide

Toxic can stall out Wobuffet, Protect shields you against Fake Out, Metal Burst is your go-to move whilst Rock Slide + Custap Berry finishes the opponent off.
 
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