Metagame Trends

[Meru]

Approved by kokoloko

Please read the entire OP first. you can gloss over the example tho

This thread is meant to serve a different purpose from the np thread that we've currently got going on in the forum. While the UU tier is constantly testing new drops, many metagame shifts occur. Some of these changes stick around even if the suspect doesn't remain in the tier, while others only last for the duration of the suspect. As such, this thread will be used to talk about either underrated sets, Pokemon, or even items that you've been using, either because of the suspect or just because of newfound ~*innovation*~ in the tier.

Some examples of this include the rise of Aromatisse/Granbull, the decline of Toxic Spikes usage, the recent popularity of SubCM Chandelure, Victini switching from being a common Scarf user to solely being a Band user, and Rocky Helmet's recent ubiquity on Slowbro. While many of these can be attributed to suspects' presence, some of these stuck around regardless of the suspect being booted back to BL, namely Rocky Helmet Slowbro being used for Staraptor only to still be used to this day.

Try to give as much information as possible about why the trend has gained recent recent popularity, how its niche operates, some of its perks, and maybe some calcs to go along with it. Here's an example of a post that you should be making.

Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy

Come on guys. Florges isn't the only Fairy-type in the tier. Did we forget that Fairy's resistances are much more suited to walling physical attackers? You're looking at the sturdiest thing that can take on both of Heracross's STABs and KO it right back (sorry Gligar, Aerial Ace sucks). This thing also eats up Knock Offs from Mega-Absol, Krookodile, Mienshao, and Machamp. It pairs well with Slowbro, as both Bug- and Dark-type physical attacks just pierce right through his Psychic-typing, and Aromatherapy cures the burns and poisons Slowbro hates (and unfortunately, is often hit with). In return, Slowbro resists the V-creates, Sacred Fires, and Flare Blitzes that blaze through Aromatisse's slightly-above-average bulk, which is important as physical Fire-types easily switch into Moonblast. Similarly, Poison-types switching into Aromatisse are taken out by Slowbro's Psychic/Psyshock. Slowbro also takes Iron Heads from Cobalion and Jirachi as well as Heavy Slams from Mega-Aggron looking to flatten Aromatisse to bits. Gyro Ball doesn't even work on Aromatisse, as it's way too slow to be affected. Due to actually having a half-decent ability, even "Stallbreaker" Mew can't stop it from Wish Passing, as Aroma Veil makes Taunt fail. Although good players will probably already know about this, while laddering, a lot of UU players in particular are unaware of her ability. Also one last thing to mention is the importance of Moonblast, which like Florges, is a very strong STAB at your disposal. However, PDef Aromatisse actually lures in special attackers to muscle past it, making the Moonblast proc much more potent.

252+ Atk Choice Band Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Florges: 215-253 (59.7 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Florges: 144-169 (40 - 46.9%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 138-163 (33.9 - 40.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

One final note is that this thread is meant to be separate from suspect discussion. While suspects are definitely going to be a part of the discussion due to their heavy influence to the tier, please make sure not to post anything regarding reasoning as to why they're broken. This thread is also meant to give more users an avenue towards making good posts that contribute to Community Contributor and to a lesser extent, the subjective requirements of Tiering Contributor, so make the most of it

 

[Kink]

Scarfbat.

Extensive post to follow

 

[Bouff]

stealing c_ls thread,,,smh nice job nerd.

ugh you mentioned granbull fuck you ;-; this isn't really a "trend" per se but ive been using it to p good success on the ladder

FIRST (Heracross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

Now, I'm gonna get some sped who'll ask me "b-b-b-but bouff what about muh choice band", and while band is certainly hera's most common / best set, this set takes advantage of the fact that pokemon such as Blissey, Umbreon, and Alomomola (as well as a weakened Florges, to an extent, although by that point they'll have known you're lefties most likely) using Protect to scout out what move Hera will be locked into, thinking it'll be a choiced set, only to notice that Heracross is at +2, which turns Hera into a much more potent threat. Basically at +2 Hera can OHKO nearly the entire meta barring stuff like Aroma and Granbull; however, it's very easy to notice the lefties, and hera still has the problems it has had in the past, which would be being checked by common threats such as Victini and Crobat (altho neither can switch into a knock off!! ;)) )

will also write about virizion and healing wish mola when i have time

 

[Stef0w]

I actually found a pretty neat set, while derping around with some of the research-week mon's.

Abusive (Kingdra) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Focus Energy
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]

This thing is essentially god under sticky web support, as it's STAB's are only countered by Whimiscott, marill, and empoleon, two of which are nailed by HP.

The Calcs say it all.

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon on a critical hit: 253-298 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery.

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Surf vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Florges on a critical hit: 199-235 (55.2 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery.

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Hidden Power Electric vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Empoleon on a critical hit: 189-225 (50.8 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery.

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Aromatisse on a critical hit: 229-270 (56.4 - 66.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery.

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey on a critical hit: 325-384 (45.5 - 53.7%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

The best wall's are outsped and KO'ed under sticky web, not to mention it's piss-hard to revenge kill.

 

[RowDog]

Well, I can definitely say why Toxic Spikes is beginning to drop out of usage, and why I stopped using it. Guts Heracross is really the biggest problem for it, as you really don't want to be giving that thing the Guts boost:
252+ Atk Choice Band Guts Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 207-245 (50.9 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
It's not fun to have to switch into that. And this combined with the fact that there are quite a few viable grounded Poison-types running around just make it hard to justify the moveslot in quite a lot of cases.

 

[Patrick1088]

Stef0w critdra is very good, but mixed set with lonely nature and 180 atk and 76 sp atk allows it to tear apart the meta. specifically you left out the pinkest blobiest walls of the tier...blissey. empoleon umbreon and florges are all outclassed by blissey who is one of the most used mons atm.

252+ SpA Sniper Kingdra Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey on a critical hit: 325-384 (45.5 - 53.7%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

While still impressive, odds are not in your favor to win 1v1.but if you go mixed, then you get the following...

180+ Atk Sniper Kingdra Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey on a critical hit: 445-526 (62.3 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

76 sp. Atk is still enougb to 2hko most physical walls that arent carrying assvest, but then waterfall allows you to bypass assvest.

Also, that base 95 speed while good, is still considered slow when you think scarfed +speed natured base 85s even under sw can still easily ohko. Lets not forget scarf hydreigon as well...

I usually run critdra with agility and mixed to just clean up late game once everything is weakened..

 

[g]

Alomomola has been rising in popularity from what i have seen (Grand Slam replays and ladder experience) as Victini is probably the best Pokemon in the tier and the fat fish is bulkier than Slowbro (i think it even avoids the 2HKO from Bolt Strike without Stealth Rock up through the use of Protect, it is still murdered by Thunder but takes even Life Orb Max SpA Grass Knot like a boss even uninvested) and, thanks to its mono water typing, a better pivot switch overall as for example it can switch into Choice Band Heracross and then go to a resistance with ease or take on even Crunch variants of Mega-Aerodactyl without a coff and pass Wish and shit to teammates (Mega Ampharos has AWESOME Synergy and makes for a strong core in balanced teams).

Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic

While a physically defensive spread can save Alomomola from 2HKOs against Pokémon such as Victini a Mixed spread lets it check a lot of special attackers like Chandelure and Focus Sash Alakazam while retaining most of its bulk but you should have teammates for special attackers anyway because it can only do so much. Knock Off, Healing Wish, and Waterfall are options on some teams but i think that using Scald (to prevent setup to an extent) and Toxic (for special attackers on the switch mostly) it the best way to use it.

 

[Bad Ass]

galbia alomomola NEEDS 252 def / 252 sdef spread or else it is just a shitty mon overall. without the special defense it is limited to ONLY switching in on physical attackers, many of which can boost up on it and fuck it over anyway. with the special defense it handles so many special attackers; hydreigon, chandelure, alakazam, fairies, etc etc etc cant break through it with spdef evs. the 252 hp / 252 def spread is just so bad

 

[RyanKoopa]

Scarftini's dead? That's news to me. How come?

 

[Sage]

I have experience using the max Defense and SpD spread on Alomomola and the ability to take on stuff like Mixed/Special Infernape, some variants of Chandy, and sashzam is super useful. I find myself not wishing I had the physical bulk instead being able to counter a more diverse wealth of mons. Also for Toxic Spikes the number of grounded Poison pokemon is very high in UU right now. Roserade, Nidos, Tentacruel, Amoonguss, Toxicroak, etc. Also people realizing GutsCross is better than MoxieCross helps a little. Still, I think the move is viable on stall, but now there are lots of ways to clear it, more so than other hazards.

 

[Calloflochie]

Why are people worried about the alo spread? This is a metagame trends thread lol.

So before the actual metagame was around it basically went Cube, Scoli Pass to Mega Hera, Rain, Thundy, Weav etc etc Broken shit got banned and then the real metagame started.

So basically the metagame has been changing a lot (not only for the drops but also the natural shift of the metagame). Early on it was all about balance, the bulky waters ran rampant, Limitless had just created the original 'pink core' and Pokemon like Toxicroak were used a lot just cause Suicune was basically one of the most used mons. With the rise in Suicune, saw the rise in people using CM Slowbro as their Suicune counter.

Then came the HO Azelf Lead metagame as a result of Research Week that resulted in basically 50/50 battles between Azelf half the time (oh and this was also the time when Scarf Hydreigon rose to the popularity rank it is today). These HO teams also featured a particular doge, mega doge who really rose to popularity after Koko got 6-0'd by Flame Charge Mega Doge in UUPL. This in turn lead to the increased use of Mega Aero and Crobat, who became two of the best answers to offensive teams. Also around this time in UUPL, we saw a lot of innovation. I ran Anticipation Toxicroak to ruse Suicune which unfortunately didnt work out for me.

This went around in circles between Stall, HO, Balance etc until the drops came. Nasty Plot + CC Ape, Bliss being added to the pink core, Mega Alakazam soloing stall. This basically shifted the metagame back towards a more offensive one with Pokemon like Mixed Hydreigon and Mixed Infernape rising in usage but before long ended up dropping back. Fletchgod also made a slight cameo featuring on semi stall teams like FLCL's and becoming quite the infamous bird with lots of Pokemon adjusting their movesets to deal with this bird (it also set up on Mew which everyone used throughout these metagames i've detailed since it was pretty god tier. That fell out of favour, stuff was getting released and tested, I innovated with Gothorita and then that got banned so rip then Bulky Offense got popular again to kinda combat all the more offensive teams. And now Granbull is rising in popularity to deal with Haxorus so that's about where the metagame is at now. Oh also somewhere in here, Koko made Empire so Spike Stacking got popular but no one cares about Koko so that's basically it. Missed a few details, but that is basically the metagame since the now BL mons got banned for the first time. Hope you enjoy xo

Edit: I also innovated Sub CM chandy because of my Dark Horse team, so you can all lick my balls xo

 

[Shy Glizzy]

Edit: I also innovated Sub CM chandy

ok bud

 

[chimpact]

Calloflochie is a really good player. I'm going to start watching his battles to see what he innovates next.

Maybe CM Blissey?

 

[Calloflochie]

Calloflochie is a really good player. I'm going to start watching his battles to see what he innovates next.

Maybe CM Blissey?

I can't believe THE chimpact just tagged me in one of his posts. Call me a fanboy,,,,

 

[Bluwing]

stealing c_ls thread,,,smh nice job nerd.

ugh you mentioned granbull fuck you ;-; this isn't really a "trend" per se but ive been using it to p good success on the ladder

FIRST (Heracross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

Now, I'm gonna get some sped who'll ask me "b-b-b-but bouff what about muh choice band", and while band is certainly hera's most common / best set, this set takes advantage of the fact that pokemon such as Blissey, Umbreon, and Alomomola (as well as a weakened Florges, to an extent, although by that point they'll have known you're lefties most likely) using Protect to scout out what move Hera will be locked into, thinking it'll be a choiced set, only to notice that Heracross is at +2, which turns Hera into a much more potent threat. Basically at +2 Hera can OHKO nearly the entire meta barring stuff like Aroma and Granbull; however, it's very easy to notice the lefties, and hera still has the problems it has had in the past, which would be being checked by common threats such as Victini and Crobat (altho neither can switch into a knock off!! ;)) )

will also write about virizion and healing wish mola when i have time

This set should run Flame Orb + Facade to lure stuff like Aromatisse, Alomomola, Crobat, Granbull etc, you will then basically always get a ko in a match with Heracross. The second really nifty thing you gain is the power of choice band with the ability to switch moves, I find that a lot more usefull because Lefties Heracross hits like piss without a boost and knock off is inferior too boosted facade in this meta anyway.

 

[Patrick1088]

galbia i never realized how bulky alo was. the one thing that separates it from blissey, florges and aromatisse is that it doesnt really lose momentum like the rest of them. Regenerator lets it hop back and forth and in and out with ease. I threw an offenive team together and its got to 1300 pretty quickly.

I think the top two wishpassers in the tier atm are aroma and alo since the former cant be taunted and the latter has regenerator plus huge wishes. Blissey is good too, but fighting types and subcm chandy are really popular. Florges is just falling behind the rest. It doesnt have the huge wishes, nidos are everywhere, and crobat with taunt shuts it down pretty hard.

 

[Kink]

Crobat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Cross Poison

This Crobat, put it simply, irks people. I mean, why wouldn't it. You don't expect one of the fastest Pokes in the meta to carry scarf. However, you'd be surprised by how effective it is. Firstly, scarf automatically allows Adamant, cause no scarfer needs 394 speed. 176 evs hit 340, enough to outspeed scarfshao. Don't bother with scarfape, it's not scary enough. Secondly, those leftover 80 hp evs are a godsend for cleanup sweep situations where Brave bird kills anything under 25% (accounting for hazard damage), or when anything under 50% decides to switch in. Thirdly, and most importantly, choicescarf u-turn is fundamentally anti-meta. Play a scarf-hydreigon. Watch it fail. With support from pokemon like Umbreon, scarfbat is able to pull of incredibly diverse feats. Even Empoleon can't switch in, for the mega-tinipharos combo wears almost anything down. To put it mildly, scarfbat cleans up.

So, why defog? Cause hazards, particularly toxic spikes+stealthies, are no good. Luckily, there are 3 pokes on this team that can work around that particular hazard, but why risk it? A sure thing is a sure thing, and frankly, scarfbat doesn't need the extra moveslot. For example, running rapid spin on forry + defog on bat ensures no bad end-game situations where one may have misplayed and be facing a poor hazard situation.

 

[Kingpoleon]

Mienshao is something I have noticed usage coming up a lot lately, as is Hydreigon. I don't know what sets Mienshao usually is, but I use a Hydreigon so it's probably
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spe/252 SpAtk/4 HP
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- U-Turn
ScarfGon. U-Turn and Draco Meteor are the two main moves; one gives momentum and the other kills something. Dark Pulse is for strong STAB without a drawback and Fire Blast is when you can feel a steel incoming.
It's getting popular for its strong Draco Meteor people are just now noticing and for the momentum U-Turn gives. Draco Meteor and over 95 base speed Scarfer is it's main niche.

 

[chimpact]

Mienshao is something I have noticed usage coming up a lot lately, as is Hydreigon. I don't know what sets Mienshao usually is, but I use a Hydreigon so it's probably
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spe/252 SpAtk/4 HP
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- U-Turn
ScarfGon. U-Turn and Draco Meteor are the two main moves; one gives momentum and the other kills something. Dark Pulse is for strong STAB without a drawback and Fire Blast is when you can feel a steel incoming.
It's getting popular for its strong Draco Meteor people are just now noticing and for the momentum U-Turn gives. Draco Meteor and over 95 base speed Scarfer is it's main niche.

Seriously...?

Going on what bouff said about hera. Guts hera is seeming to see more and more play as bulky waters are spamming scald with random twave users in the tier as well. Heracross is such a dangerous pokemon against stall if they're not running crobat as its capable of 2hko'g a lot of mons without boosts.

I've definitely been noticing a lot of sub boosting mons as well. Sub CM Chandy, Sub SD hera, Sub CM Suicune (it's pretty savage).

A pokemon that Ive been experimenting with lately is Entei.

zuko (Entei) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Substitute
- Howl

I'm still wrking on the EV spread. Been pairing it up with Roserade nd Ampharos to deal with bulky waters. I think going a bit bulkier could help, but it needs like max spdef to even take a scald from Alomo without breaking substitute. Sacred Fire with Howl is cool as you can start setting up on mons that you wouldnt be able to normally with the burn. Sub is cool for dodging status but because entei's are usually choiced, the opponent will try to sack a mon if they dont have a bulky water and you can easily just get up a free sub for the next mon that comes in. With Pressure and Substitute, you can also troll Hydreigons after they fired off a Draco Meteor.

Like I said, I'm still playing around the set, but its showing promise. Substitute is a move in XY that I feel is really underrated and should be abused more.

 

[Skankovich]

Here's a mon that's been working well for me when I'm randomly matched with people waaayyy higher up on the ladder.

Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Synthesis
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Stone Edge

I wanted an offensive switchin for Hydreigon, and although cobalion appealed to me with the dragon resist, its special defense is pretty piss and it has no recovery. So I turned to its friend virizion with fantastic spdef, recovery and a resistance to dark, and it's really impressed me.

Most people opt for swords dance on Virizion, but in the current meta I don't feel it's worth it, as 90attk isn't really fantastic and it struggles with a lot of the mons that outspeed it, like crobat, starmie and megadoom (also dem infernape speed ties). Instead, Synthesis provides virizion with fantastic longevity through the match, letting it come in on the threats it checks repeatedly. Not only that, this added longevity prevents you from being easily worn down by stall, which is really helpful as Virizion's typing is great against the current typical stall mons like Slowbro, Alomomola, Blissey, Aggron, Hippowdon etc.

The main issue I've had so far is status, mainly scald burns which makes it pretty useless. I'd use Lum berry, but as I said earlier 90attk is nothing special, so you really need that life orb boost. Another issue is the close combat defense drops, which are counter-intuitive to the sustainability this set tries to provide. The only other option is Sacred Sword, and again you really need to milk all the power you can get from this mon, so I think it'd be worse overall.
I could go special, but then you have to rely on Focus Blast so...

Again, not a "trend" but something that I find has a favourable matchup against a lot of typical teams in the meta.

 

[Meru]

Virizon can definitely be seen as something of a recent Metagame Trend, as it's a lot more viable now that Florges doesn't dominate the tier, and Blissey does. I gave it a whirl back before the June drops and it was underwhelming, but now with how good Blissey and Bulky Waters in general are, Virizion is much more capable of pulling its own weight. I have been made fun of a lot quite recently for it but I've been using that same set with SD > Synthesis and Lum Berry, playing a lot more conservatively, but being very good at breaking open holes mid-game. Also helps that it can't be revenged by Scarf Hydreigon without a CC drop. Overall definitely a cool 'mon. Waiting for Limitless to get down the alphabet on the viability thread to get him to move Virizion up.

 

[RyanKoopa]

Two mons I've been seeing more of lately are Rocky Helmet Arcanine and Sub-CM Chandelure. Most Flogres I see these days are CM variants as well, probably in an attempt to set it apart from Blissey though it's of questionable effectiveness.

 

[Fat Lenny]

Virizon can definitely be seen as something of a recent Metagame Trend, as it's a lot more viable now that Florges doesn't dominate the tier, and Blissey does. I gave it a whirl back before the June drops and it was underwhelming, but now with how good Blissey and Bulky Waters in general are, Virizion is much more capable of pulling its own weight. I have been made fun of a lot quite recently for it but I've been using that same set with SD > Synthesis and Lum Berry, playing a lot more conservatively, but being very good at breaking open holes mid-game. Also helps that it can't be revenged by Scarf Hydreigon without a CC drop. Overall definitely a cool 'mon. Waiting for Limitless to get down the alphabet on the viability thread to get him to move Virizion up.

This, especially when/if heracross moves up to ou, virizion will fill a much needed bulky-water-setup mon slot

 

[Sleepless]

This, especially when/if heracross moves up to ou, virizion will fill a much needed bulky-water-setup mon slot

I just want to mention that a better contender for that role might probably be Toxicroak, since it is immune to Scalds. ( and actauly recovers health upon switching to them )

 

[Meru]

Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Zen Headbutt
- U-turn

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Volt Switch

Another metagame trend that has been skyrocketing is Forretress/Victini/Mega Ampharos. Most of this notoriety may be due in part to King UU and his RMT, which has proven to be very splashable balance core, similar to the previous pink core, although much more offensively oriented. All three members of the core individually have problems with Swampert, but together, they're able to wear him down with Band V-Creates doing a minimum of 34%, Dragon Pulses doing a minimum of 49%, and Toxic to rob it of any leftovers recovery. Bandtini has problems with bulky waters that Mega Ampharos can easily pivot off of while Bandtini and Forretress cleanly switch into any Florges threatening to take out the sheep dragon. Forretress makes sure to Rapid Spin away any hazards, ensuring that the Volt Turn shenanigans continue unpunished. Victini and Mega Ampharos are two of the best ways to force out Sableye, giving Forretress a good advantage in momentum against the annoying goblin.

SR setter, Fighting-type counter and a revenge killer are all this trio needs to bring home a solid win. Definitely one of the top combos at the moment, and something that might potentially be pushing Band Victini into possible banworthiness.