Metagame NP: RU Stage 4: Do My Thang (READ POST #2)

[EonX]

Been toying around with Sneasel and Sigilyph on the ladder with a team I threw together in about 5 minutes just to test them out. Had a really interesting battle that was actually against someone who's good:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ru-155046698 - So, this was kind of a difficult matchup, if only for the fact he seemed to know a few of the exact sets I was running (Cobalion especially) thus making the match a bit more difficult. And because I threw this team together in 5 minutes, I made it ass-weak to Doublade, so that sucked more. Aside from that, Cobalion + Accelgor makes for a really nice hazard core for HO (I'll credit Meru for that idea) and Sneasel put in some pretty nice work late-game. Sad that Sigilyph got to do jack shit other than die, but you'll have to watch it to see if Sneasel and others could make up for that.

Explorer, that troll Fire Blast miss and the crit that actually helped.

 

[Explorer]

Well it works in my favor, not just because I won but because it gave Torterra a chance to shine.

Torterra (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This is the set I'm running. Attack is pumped to the max, speed outspeeds Alomamola with up to 8 Speed EVs, HP hits a Life Orb number, remainder placed in defense. With good prediction I can get rocks up and save myself in terms of hazards if Accelgor dies right away (which it usually does) and then my opponent gets a Defog on me early.

And by the way, I have used Scarf Torterra. I used two whole videos on my YouTube series, Pokemon Showdown Adventures, to highlight Scarf Torterra's use in OU. Here, I generally prefer the semi-bulky offensive SR set or the RP cleaner set (which worked really well alongside Yanmega and Doublade in Stage 3).

 

[x MAD AXES x]

Been toying around with Sneasel and Sigilyph on the ladder with a team I threw together in about 5 minutes just to test them out. Had a really interesting battle that was actually against someone who's good:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ru-155046698 - So, this was kind of a difficult matchup, if only for the fact he seemed to know a few of the exact sets I was running (Cobalion especially) thus making the match a bit more difficult. And because I threw this team together in 5 minutes, I made it ass-weak to Doublade, so that sucked more. Aside from that, Cobalion + Accelgor makes for a really nice hazard core for HO (I'll credit Meru for that idea) and Sneasel put in some pretty nice work late-game. Sad that Sigilyph got to do jack shit other than die, but you'll have to watch it to see if Sneasel and others could make up for that.

Explorer, that troll Fire Blast miss and the crit that actually helped.

I'm guessing that is choice band sneasel and can you tell me what set sigilyph was running since it died, because it has many sets it could run.

Also what do you think sigs most effective set will be, tinted lense?

 

[Ares]

I'm guessing that is choice band sneasel and can you tell me what set sigilyph was running since it died, because it has many sets it could run.

Also what do you think sigs most effective set will be, tinted lense?

Wasnt choice band was LO, went for knock off then ice punch, i think Eon just wanted extra LO damage or something by switching out.

On sigi, the thing that makes it so good is magic guard, tinted lens could work but its much easier to check with rocks. Not only that, sigi gets great coverage so getting nuetral coverage isnt an issue.

 

[x MAD AXES x]

Thanks Montsegur, guess I wasn't paying attention to the match enough XD

I think scyther may soar in usage aswell, Possibly a set like this:

Scyther @ Life Orb
Jolly Nature
Technician
252 Atk 252 speed 4 Sp.def
Bug bite
Aerial ace
Swords dance
U-turn/roost

Bug and flying aren't resisted by many pokemon (registeel only really), aerial ace and bug bite are both stab and gain the technician boost aswell making them base 90 with stab being factored. Just like the Yanmega and Dugtrio core U-turn lets you switch out on a predicted registeel switch and gives dugtrio the chance to take it out for Scyther, whiler roost gives it longevity, sword dance is to raise his already good attack stat higher so you can set up on something that needs to switch and no hp evs so it gets 51% instead of 50% when rocks are up

Scyther destroys all the psychics that will rise in usage (except scarf delphox) and after +2 nothing takes his stabs well (registeel thats it i think) and has enough bulk to survive neutral attacks if it has to.

 

[EonX]

Wasnt choice band was LO, went for knock off then ice punch, i think Eon just wanted extra LO damage or something by switching out.

On sigi, the thing that makes it so good is magic guard, tinted lens could work but its much easier to check with rocks. Not only that, sigi gets great coverage so getting nuetral coverage isnt an issue.

To clarify, I switched out of Yanmega because when I calc'd Ice Shard, the min was like 49.2%, so I wanted to make sure I killed the damn thing.

x MAD AXES x I was using Roost + 3 Attacks LO. Reason I stayed in was because I had Heat Wave, so was hoping my opponent would get greedy and SD. But, no dice. As for Scyther, I think it'll be one of those "hit or miss: Pokemon. It definitely gets better with Yanmega gone (same typing, so next to impossible to use both) but it absolutely needs hazard control, which is hard to provide with Doublade around unless you use Sandslash or Defog support. To make matters worse, Scyther can't do anything with Doublade, unless it uses Knock Off.

 

[Punchshroom]

A lot of people have been covering the obvious things that will likely see a boost in usage, but I'm going to delve down a little further:

Explorer already touched on Sigilyph, but it becomes quite the intriguing Psychic-type now. It loves not having Zoroark around to Sucker Punch / Knock Off its face (eye?) off and Yanmega generally outclassed it as a specially based Flying-type. While Meloetta will likely nuke shit with Specs-boosted attacks and Reuniclus will likely be breaking stall in half, Sigilyph is the only relevant Psychic-type (bar Xatu) to get Fire-type coverage. This is key since shit like Escavalier and Registeel will likely rise up to try and take hits from these Psychic-types. The difference between Sigilyph and Xatu is Magic Guard. This lets Sigilyph poop on Stall more easily than Xatu while still faring decently well against offense, unlike Reuniclus (outside of TR of course) It can run a 4 Attacks set (Psyshock, Air Slash, Heat Wave, Energy Ball) Roost + 3 Attacks, CM + Flame Orb, and CM + Roost quite effectively. It might have been NU to start XY, but I can see it becoming pretty viable with Zoroark and Yanmega gone.

I have been using Sigilyph even during the Yanmega/Zoroark era, and I have been thoroughly impressed by its versatility, especially since I wrote the analysis @3@ I don't really condone a 4 attacks Sigilyph (what does Air Slash even hit??), but 3 attacks, Flame Orb + CM, and CM + 2 attacks are all very potent in the meta. A sweeper with residual damage immunity, reliable recovery, wide coverage, and good boosting move is very scary on paper, and perhaps even more in practice. The Electric and Ice weaknesses are annoying, but possessing Delphox's Fire coverage while being completely immune to hazards is totally something I can live with. Sigilyph seems to be a combination of everything good about its RU Psychic-type brethren: has Delphox's desirable coverage, Meloetta's versatility, Reuniclus's Magic Guard, and Cresselia's support potential. Which is why I find it all the more hilarious when I found that Sigilyph can be checked by all of them.

Even if Sigilyph gets better in the meta, there was a reason why it fell to NU in the first place; the other Psychics either managed to outperform it in a more specialised role, or outshow it in a one-on-one fight. Delphox has better offensive stats than Sigilyph, Reuniclus has Magic Guard + bulk, Cresselia has speed + massive bulk, and Meloetta is even more versatile than Sigilyph and boasts a Ghost immunity. Meanwhile, Delphox can either overpower Sigilyph with its own Calm Mind, or can Switcheroo to mess it up, Reuniclus and Cresselia win boosting wars, and Meloetta is basically a hard stop to anything a non-boosting Sigilyph tries to do (never mind Assault Vest or, heck, Perish Song Meloetta @3@). By no means is Sigilyph bad, but the competition is just too damn strong (which, if anything, is a testament to the potency of potential Psychic dominance), especially since they too will rise due to the recent bans. I just hope Sigilyph gets the respect it deserves this time around.

 

[EonX]

Yeah, I kinda derped a bit with Air Slash tbh Punchshroom. But the coverage it gets is absolutely amazing. It quite literally has Delphox's coverage, minus the hazards weakness and plus reliable recovery. I feel like it should at least be RU by usage considering its ability to trash some common Psychic-type switch-ins. CM + Flame Orb seems especially interesting considering it can force in the likes of Escavalier, Drapion, and Spiritomb to stop it, Psycho Shift a burn onto them, thus allowing something like Meloetta or Reuniclus to decimate the opposing team (or just bash Escavalier with Heat Wave)

I feel like CM + Flame Orb will become the primary set for Sigilyph considering no other Psychic-type can really do that, and it can easily set up other Psychic-types for a potential sweep.

 

[Punchshroom]

Yeah, I kinda derped a bit with Air Slash tbh Punchshroom. But the coverage it gets is absolutely amazing. It quite literally has Delphox's coverage, minus the hazards weakness and plus reliable recovery. I feel like it should at least be RU by usage considering its ability to trash some common Psychic-type switch-ins. CM + Flame Orb seems especially interesting considering it can force in the likes of Escavalier, Drapion, and Spiritomb to stop it, Psycho Shift a burn onto them, thus allowing something like Meloetta or Reuniclus to decimate the opposing team (or just bash Escavalier with Heat Wave)

I feel like CM + Flame Orb will become the primary set for Sigilyph considering no other Psychic-type can really do that, and it can easily set up other Psychic-types for a potential sweep.

That was what I felt when I first made the analysis, but QC convinced me to list its more offensive sets first. CM + Flame Orb is cool as hell, but a tad easier to stop with Knock Off, opposing boosters, phasers (CM + Flame Orb Sigilyph won't hit them hard enough, unlike LO Sigi), and certain Flying resists (fuck you Magneton).

 

[termi]

By the way, there are some new threads that will prolly be up in the next few days =)

EDIT: I know i mentioned suspect testing in the OP as something to talk about, but can we at least wait a bit before hopping on the bandwagon? It's only been a single day, if even that since the Yanmega and Zoroark bans have become official (the ladder hasn't even been reset yet for god's sake). As Spirit mentioned below, can we please actually get some experience in the new metagame w/o yan or zoro before calling something extremely broken?

I only listen to the songs when they are good. That is to say, I don't listen to the songs (fuck atomicllamas music taste imo :[)

Anyway I'm gonna explore the meta for a bit to find things I can bitch about. I personally am looking very hard for reasons to ban Exploud because I don't like it but other than the fact that I don't like it and it's basically a button you click to watch something die there's not much I can say about it :[

 

[aim]

I feel that spike stacking is so easy and effective in RU. Omastar probably being my favorite as it is able to out-speed Gligar and take it out with ice beam, preventing the defog. Weak Armor is also nice as you can potentially get the boost allowing yourself more Hazards. It's not like it is a weak mon either being able to threaten with one of the best moves in the game, Scald. Spikes just allowing pokemon like Meloetta, Moltres, Hitmonlee, Mega Abomasnow and others to just wreck.

Standard, but strong set.

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Scald
- Ice Beam

New Breed's RMT of Hand Grenade has to be my favorite spike stacking team so far. Pre Yanmega Ban, this team was a monster.

Hand Grenade

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/hand-grenade-peaked-1.3514150/

Other great spikers like Accelgor and Crustle also deserve the mention.

 

[atomicllamas]

I only listen to the songs when they are good. That is to say, I don't listen to the songs (fuck atomicllamas music taste imo :[)

mad @ miley

I feel that spike stacking is so easy and effective in RU. Omastar probably being my favorite as it is able to out-speed Gligar and take it out with ice beam, preventing the defog. Weak Armor is also nice as you can potentially get the boost allowing yourself more Hazards. It's not like it is a weak mon either being able to threaten with one of the best moves in the game, Scald. Spikes just allowing pokemon like Meloetta, Moltres, Hitmonlee, Mega Abomasnow and others to just wreck.

Standard, but strong set.

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Scald
- Ice Beam

New Breed's RMT of Hand Grenade has to be my favorite spike stacking team so far. Pre Yanmega Ban, this team was a monster.

Hand Grenade

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/hand-grenade-peaked-1.3514150/

Other great spikers like Accelgor and Crustle also deserve the mention.

Omastar is v strong and Accelgor is actually really cool too, but Crustle is actually pretty bad in RU as opposed to NU where it is very solid. In fact the analysis that got approved for Crustle has Hidden Power Ice and Max Special Attack in order to have a chance at preventing Gligar's Defog (HP Ice 2HKOes after rocks), but the other good defoggers (Physically Defensive Golbat, Shiftree, and Skuntank) all get free defogs on Crustle. Accelgor at least has Final Gambit which not only blocks Defog but also blocks Rapid Spin which is pretty cool in a pinch. Omastar just reks 3/4 of the common Defoggers with Ice Beam and its good SpA and Skuntank is afraid of burn. The only real niche is that Crustle can run Mental Herb (or Lum Berry) to take care of taunters, but Omastar donks most things that commonly carry taunt, and Accelgor just outspeeds them.

Basically Crustle sucks, but I do agree Spike Stacking HO teams are pretty strong even after the bans, as a lot of good Pokemon really appreciate Spike Support (Specs Meloetta and Sharpedo come to mind in particular). Hazard Lead / Doublade / Hitmonlee / Sharpedo / 2 fillers has always been a really good template for teams in RU, and I don't really see that changing anytime soon.

 

[Hiddenfreezer]

252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Bullet Seed (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Omastar: 344-406 (122.4 - 144.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Bullet Seed on Shiftry is decent, treat it like an option compared to Mamoswine using Icicle Spear in OU over Icicle Crash sometimes.
(yeah, my point is short. I like to use Shiftry in RU for a decent Knock Off, Defog and dealing with Omastars everywhere)

 

[EonX]

I feel that spike stacking is so easy and effective in RU. Omastar probably being my favorite as it is able to out-speed Gligar and take it out with ice beam, preventing the defog. Weak Armor is also nice as you can potentially get the boost allowing yourself more Hazards. It's not like it is a weak mon either being able to threaten with one of the best moves in the game, Scald. Spikes just allowing pokemon like Meloetta, Moltres, Hitmonlee, Mega Abomasnow and others to just wreck.

Standard, but strong set.

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Scald
- Ice Beam

New Breed's RMT of Hand Grenade has to be my favorite spike stacking team so far. Pre Yanmega Ban, this team was a monster.

Hand Grenade

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/hand-grenade-peaked-1.3514150/

Other great spikers like Accelgor and Crustle also deserve the mention.

Agreeing that Omastar is great, but I honestly prefer Accelgor to it. Now don't get me wrong, Omastar is a great option for plenty of HO teams, but I just feel Accelgor is more reliable as a whole. Unless it's a Prankster Taunt user, Accelgor is guaranteed a layer of Spikes. It might not be able to beat opposing Defoggers, but considering many of them are vulnerable to Rocks, a full (or high) health Final Gambit is really taking the wind out of their sails so to speak, and Bug Buzz is ruining Shiftry for sure if Accelgor still has its Focus Sash in tact. Even if Accelgor is down to its Sash, a Final Gambit keeps Defog from happening and allows you a free switch-in for whatever you have to beat the Defogger on the field. This also works for Rapid Spin users, which is nice as Hitmonlee, Kabutops, and Sanslash aren't the fastest and / or bulkiest Pokemon out there. Accelgor pairs pretty well with most Stealth Rock users, but Taunt + SR Cobalion is definitely the best to pair with it. A fast Taunt shuts down opposing hazard leads (bar opposing Accelgors obviously) and it can easily set Rocks as well. Volt Switch can give Accelgor an easy chance to start setting Spikes, or make it easier for Accelgor's teammates to deal with opposing Defog users before it even has to come out. The replay I showed earlier demonstrates just how well this duo can work as Accelgor didn't find an opening until turn 9 to enter battle (ironically after Cobalion got KOed) but because Cobalion could Taunt the opposing hazard lead without fear turn 1, Accelgor still had its Sash in tact to do its job to its fullest potential. Here's full details of the core for anyone interested:

Hide

Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Encore
- Final Gambit
- Bug Buzz

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 160 HP / 96 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Volt Switch
- Close Combat

 

[Pearl]

...

Don't have many experience on suicide leads, but that Cobalion set is excellent, to the point where I have it in pretty much every team I made after learning about it. Definitely one of the best pivots for offense.

And speaking of excellent things, I'd like to bring one Pokemon into discussion:

I know it's received some brief mentions already, but I'm really enjoying using Spiritomb, since it checks a HUGE amount of top threats, such as Delphox, Meloetta, Hitmonlee, Doublade, Sharpedo, Slowking and probably some more. I'd run this over Doublade everyday (since everyone is already over prepared like hell to it).

 

[Mew2]

I know it's received some brief mentions already, but I'm really enjoying using Spiritomb, since it checks a HUGE amount of top threats, such as Delphox, Meloetta, Hitmonlee, Doublade, Sharpedo, Slowking and probably some more. I'd run this over Doublade everyday (since everyone is already over prepared like hell to it).

Wow wow wow stop right there! You can't use one over the other because they have different roles; Spiritomb is more of a pivot/ wall and Doublade is a bulky attacker/ sweeper, you can't compare this two just because they have Ghost typing and counter some common things (Fighting types). While Spiritomb checks top tier things like Delphox and Meloetta, he has a though time against things like Aromatisse and Toxic cripples him heavily; stuff that Doublade has an easy time with not to mention that he is bulkier, hits harder and has access to SD. In conclusion, don't compare two pokes that have different roles but I agree, Spiritomb is a cool mon :)

 

[Pearl]

Wow wow wow stop right there! You can't use one over the other because they have different roles; Spiritomb is more of a pivot/ wall and Doublade is a bulky attacker/ sweeper, you can't compare this two just because they have Ghost typing and counter some common things (Fighting types). While Spiritomb checks top tier things like Delphox and Meloetta, he has a though time against things like Aromatisse and Toxic cripples him heavily; stuff that Doublade has an easy time with not to mention that he is bulkier, hits harder and has access to SD. In conclusion, don't compare two pokes that have different roles but I agree, Spiritomb is a cool mon :)

I know, was sort of exaggerating it to leave a point, but it's still true that most teams do have a lot of checks to Doublade (and it's still good af due to how many things it keeps in check too)

 

[Ares]

Wow wow wow stop right there! You can't use one over the other because they have different roles; Spiritomb is more of a pivot/ wall and Doublade is a bulky attacker/ sweeper, you can't compare this two just because they have Ghost typing and counter some common things (Fighting types). While Spiritomb checks top tier things like Delphox and Meloetta, he has a though time against things like Aromatisse and Toxic cripples him heavily; stuff that Doublade has an easy time with not to mention that he is bulkier, hits harder and has access to SD. In conclusion, don't compare two pokes that have different roles but I agree, Spiritomb is a cool mon :)

I mean you can compare them in the fact that both are extremely bulky spin blockers. Which is what I think Pearl was going for.

 

[aVocado]

Haven't played that much with Kricketune yet (only like 20 games) but it's been doing really great so far, and so has Sticky Web in general. It's access to Taunt is really amazing, outspeeding all Defoggers except Shiftry. It can also Taunt Omastar leads which are slower, has access to Knock Off to cripple any Pokemon, and Sash + Endeavor is a cool combo that can bring down any Pokemon to low HP.

Sticky Web is still as easy to build as it was with Shuckle, and I doubt there's any surprise there. You just pick Kricketune, Doublade, Hitmonlee, and 3 other Pokemon of your choice. It's hard to find opportunities to set up both Sticky Web and SR however, and Lee can provide free switches to Gligar (not as free as it can lose an Eviolite, but its still an opportunity to Defog) so you should be careful not to let that happen.

Overall I kinda liked playing with Kricketune and Sticky Web so far, pretty fun stuff.

 

[Explorer]

An extension of post #15.

Yanmega broke through a lot of powerful Pokemon with just STAB moves alone. Here are some that are now more viable with Yanmega gone:

Fighting-types, particularly those without secondary typings, were given a lot of trouble by Specs Yanmega as it didn't really have to predict, just switch in safely. In particular, Yanmega outspeed an unboosted Lee and nuked it, regardless of which set Yanmega was running. Other Fighting-types felt a similar fate, but now these Pokemon are more viable with a major wall breaker gone.

Many frail threats did poorly with Yanmega around as they could check it at best. The Speed Boost set could use Protect once and fly past all these guys and KO them before they could retaliate.

Doublade was the most common of the 3 RU Pokes with a 4x bug resistance (the others being Emboar and Moltres; Togetic is also worth mentioning). Yanmega had a free slot to run Shadow Ball specifically for it, so Doublade's up and cheering now.

In particular I've seen Hitmonlee on almost EVERY team I've come against, plus the team I now run on the ladder--Spikes + Acid Spray Accelgor lead + tank + 4 HO mons. I am starting to suspect that it may be broken, but I'd like to bounce such ideas off everybody else. The best "counter," Doublade is ripped clean with the help of Knock Off, and with Hippowodon in UU, there are only two counters to lee: Alomamola, and Aromatisse. And Aromatisse has to run a physically defensive spread. Sure, these Pokemon would still be viable if Lee were gone, but the forced use of one of these three (or sometimes all of them) Pokemon makes me feel like Hitmonlee is over centralizing RU a little bit. It is easy for Hitmonlee to spin hazards away as it gets access to Knock Off, perhaps too easy as two of its three counters can't stop it from spinning and the third is utterly crippled with Knock Off removing its only recovery. This makes both stall and hazard-stacking HO teams harder to play with. Plus the Fake Out set is still an option for those who think they can check Lee with something like Delphox. Thoughts (I know it's too early to start another test, but it's not too soon to start thinking about it).

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

An extension of post #15.

Yanmega broke through a lot of powerful Pokemon with just STAB moves alone. Here are some that are now more viable with Yanmega gone:

Fighting-types, particularly those without secondary typings, were given a lot of trouble by Specs Yanmega as it didn't really have to predict, just switch in safely. In particular, Yanmega outspeed an unboosted Lee and nuked it, regardless of which set Yanmega was running. Other Fighting-types felt a similar fate, but now these Pokemon are more viable with a major wall breaker gone.

Many frail threats did poorly with Yanmega around as they could check it at best. The Speed Boost set could use Protect once and fly past all these guys and KO them before they could retaliate.

Doublade was the most common of the 3 RU Pokes with a 4x bug resistance (the others being Emboar and Moltres; Togetic is also worth mentioning). Yanmega had a free slot to run Shadow Ball specifically for it, so Doublade's up and cheering now.

In particular I've seen Hitmonlee on almost EVERY team I've come against, plus the team I now run on the ladder--Spikes + Acid Spray Accelgor lead + tank + 4 HO mons. I am starting to suspect that it may be broken, but I'd like to bounce such ideas off everybody else. The best "counter," Doublade is ripped clean with the help of Knock Off, and with Hippowodon in UU, there are only two counters to lee: Alomamola, and Aromatisse. And Aromatisse has to run a physically defensive spread. Sure, these Pokemon would still be viable if Lee were gone, but the forced use of one of these three (or sometimes all of them) Pokemon makes me feel like Hitmonlee is over centralizing RU a little bit. It is easy for Hitmonlee to spin hazards away as it gets access to Knock Off, perhaps too easy as two of its three counters can't stop it from spinning and the third is utterly crippled with Knock Off removing its only recovery. This makes both stall and hazard-stacking HO teams harder to play with. Plus the Fake Out set is still an option for those who think they can check Lee with something like Delphox. Thoughts (I know it's too early to start another test, but it's not too soon to start thinking about it).

Gligar, Spiritomb and Golbat counter Lee as well. And he is checked by a good amount of mons like Meloetta and whatnot.

It is way too early to state anything being broken. And I personally do not add in mons to my team to specifically stop Lee. I run stall and by default carry Gligar's Defog ability and Spiritomb's Spin blocking and more importantly Meloetta stop abilities.

Also, Alomomola does not counter Lee. The fish is 2HKOd by LO Reckless Hi Jump Kick.


Just... wait with calling out on potential broken mons for a week or even better three. Let the meta settle, and let's not run a steamtrain of suspects.

 

[thee gary oak]

I lol'ed because it's true.

I'm planning on trying out Sticky Web again, as since the departure of Shuckle nobody is actually prepared against them anymore and the tier is still full of cool wallbreakers such as Clawitzer and Exploud, despite the leaving of Yanmega and Zoroark. Who do you think the best sticky webber is right now? Masquerain, Kricketune or Leavanny? I think it is Kricketune because it has access to Taunt and Endeavor to softening walls, but I'd like to hear everyone's opinion.

 

[CutForBiebarel]

Just looking at the current metagame, there is really only one poke that I could see as being possibly deserving of suspect tests.

Doublade, I feel, has very good reason to be suspect tested for the same reason as its older bro, aegislash: it's versatility. Doublade fulfills multiple roles in the current metagame, and does them all extremely well. It is a strong set up sweeper, an amazing spinblocker (can often set up on pokes that foresight it), a physically bulky wall, and a counter to a plethora of powerful pokes in the meta (coballion, virizion, aromatisse, cresselia just to name a few) while having relatively few solid counters to it (it can set up and beat a gligar that has been knocked off, and alo needs to get a burn or else it gets annihilated). For the above reasons, doublade is viable on literally any playstyle, whether it be HO, where it blocks spin, provides some needed bulk, and can become a late game spinner, or even in stall, where it provides good immunities, spinblocking, and often becomes the win condition late game. As such, doublade is not only extremely overcentralizing to the meta but also very limiting on teambuilding, where any good team must take careful preparations in order to deal with the omnipresent doublade.

I am not really saying that doublade is automatically banworthy or even automatically suspect test worthy, but as of now I see it as the biggest threat in the ru metagame, and extremely overcentralizing to the meta. Feel free to give your opinion or bash mine, because mine's really not set in stone at this point.

-CFB

 

[aVocado]

Versatility? Doublade literally has 1 set lol

 

[CutForBiebarel]

Versatility? Doublade literally has 1 set lol

I guess I meant versatility in the sense that its one set fulfills a bunch of different roles. It blocks spin, walls pokes, and can set up. That was my point.