Ladder STABmons (the old one)

[DinaIsha]

I can definitely see Thousand Arrows being broken. All the points have already been shared and it is definitely worth at least considering for a ban, since it cancels the chance of a prediction (Which is huge and will either force all teams to have uncommon counters or increase sand offense teams to the point of it being a centralized strategy). Banded things spamming Ability-boosted Thousand Arrows doesn't sound all too healthy.

On the topic of uncommon movesets, try Smack Down on Diggersby. It's definitely not better than Wild Charge to take care of Skarmory, but the thing is, once you use Smack Down on a predicted Skarmory switch, you can threaten to take down the opponent's best bet against Diggersby, or force him to switch out for something, a pivot that can't afford to take a hit from Digger or a sweeper, that will take a huge hit and probably come into KO range, if not KOed already. It gets ruined by a team that has Skarmory and Landorus (Other birds won't dare switch into Diggersby fearing ESpeed), but chances are you'll never face one.

 

[EV]

Also, here's a UU set I've theorymoned but haven't had the chance to use yet because ded ladder.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- King's Shield
- Volt Switch
- Doom Desire
- Thunderbolt

The idea is to cause switches with King's Shield and Doom Desire, giving you really powerful Volt Switches or Thunderbolts. When Doom Desire hits, it's also incredibly powerful especially if you moved last the turn you used it (I think). It doesn't do much for coverage, tho HP Whatever can go over Thunderbolt I guess. I didn't do minimum Speed because it still might be nice to get the jump on slower things, though there aren't many. Life Orb can go over Leftovers but last I checked King's Shield activated the 10% HP loss so I don't know if that's fixed yet.

It makes a nice switch into Thundurus also, resisting both STABs and can force out both physical and special sets because they can't touch you except for Focus Blast. Don't switch into Superpower tho: 252 Atk Life Orb Thundurus Superpower vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Magnezone: 278-328 (80.8 - 95.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Not even King's Shield can save you after that.

 

[w0rd]

Here's an underused set that I'm liking a lot:

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Diamond Storm
- Water Shuriken

Rain has kind of fallen out of favour in Gen 6 STABmons since Politoed kinda sucks in comparison to Mega Tyranitar and Mega Charizard Y, but it is still a powerful playstyle thanks to Pokemon like Kabutops. Water resists are pretty uncommon in the current metagame (in fact, most of the top ranked mons are weak to it) so there are very few pokemon that can safely switch into a rain boosted Crabhammer. It can be tricky to revenge kill as well since most priority doesn't bother it - Extremespeed is resisted and thanks to Swift Swim, Water Shuriken outspeeds any Sucker Punch users.

Kabutops is also one of the rare stat boosters that doesn't really fear Sableye too much. After a Swords Dance, Water Shuriken has a good chance of taking out even max defense Sableye before it can Topsy Turvy/Destiny Bond.

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Water Shuriken (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sableye in Rain: 258-303 (84.8 - 99.6%) -- approx. 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Bice]

Oh god Whimsicott. Grass-types benefit from STABmons a lot, but Whimsicott takes the cake. With Access to PranksterSpore, Whimsicott becomes a threat to watch out for, namely thanks to being the fastest Prankster user.
Other additions:

Togekiss: While Togekiss doesn't get too much, Moonblast and Hurrricane are godsends to Togekiss. Hurricane now has a 60% chance to confuse, while Moonblast is a better Fairy STAB than DGleam.

Pretty much any rock type: Diamond Storm. Enough said.

Flygon: Flygon had an amazing movepool, but unfortunately did not get Dragon Dance. However, with STABmons, Dragon Dance is given to Flygon. Flygon also gets Spikes, which is pretty nice.

 

[yikes]

Oh god Whimsicott. Grass-types benefit from STABmons a lot, but Whimsicott takes the cake. With Access to PranksterSpore, Whimsicott becomes a threat to watch out for, namely thanks to being the fastest Prankster user.
Other additions:

Togekiss: While Togekiss doesn't get too much, Moonblast and Hurrricane are godsends to Togekiss. Hurricane now has a 60% chance to confuse, while Moonblast is a better Fairy STAB than DGleam.

Pretty much any rock type: Diamond Storm. Enough said.

Flygon: Flygon had an amazing movepool, but unfortunately did not get Dragon Dance. However, with STABmons, Dragon Dance is given to Flygon. Flygon also gets Spikes, which is pretty nice.

Why Flygon when you can Garchomp?

 

[skies]

Crobat @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Coil
- Gunk Shot
- Acrobatics
- Hypnosis
​

Yeah, I like weird sets. Crobat is neat because it's like never used but Infiltrator is a really cool ability n_n. Coil is like my favorite move because Coil + Gunk Shot is available on all Poison-types so of course it's neat. Coil makes Crobat have some actual power and now Gunk Shot actually hits. Hypnosis is a neat move, and the accuracy boosts really help and allow Crobat to boost further. Sitrus Berry brings it up to boost again and Acrobatics spam can start! Kind of a bit gimmicky, but very fun to play with nonetheless.

 

[DinaIsha]

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Calm Nature
- Torment
- Recover
- Parting Shot
- Will-O-Wisp

Torment on Sableye is arguable. This is best utilized on Stall team with Wish mons. If the opponent chooses to stay in and attack you with alternating moves, you can quite easily play around it while also recovering your team's health. It also makes the process of Stall much more easier. But if Stall is not your playstyle, then this becomes ultra-gimmicky.

 

[Kit Kasai]

The Eevee General brought up Heracross for discussion in the Viability rankings thread, and I thought it was pretty interesting.

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Sleep Talk

or

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Sleep Talk

The above spread outspeeds Timid Keldeo, the latter outspeeds positive natured 100s. HP is to be able to take Diggersby better.

Heracross is interesting because it serves as a great revenge killer / clean up sweeper, with the notable advantage of not being walled by Sableye. Only problem is it's hard walled by Landorus-T / Gliscor. What do you guys think?

 

[DinaIsha]

Skarmory can roost off the damage from CC; not mention that some carry Brave Bird. Otherwise, all SleepTalkers are a great check to Sableye. Bullet Seed in there would help against Quagsire (You don't really need Knock Off since Sableye is pretty much the only viable Ghost in STABmons, besides the ocassional Gengar).

 

[Adonzo]

Whatchu fools talkin bout, Scarfcross without U-turn? This is STABmons!

 

[DinaIsha]

Whatchu fools talkin bout, Scarfcross without U-turn? This is STABmons!

CC/Megahorn/UTurn/SleepTalk - Get rekt by Gengar.

 

[Adonzo]

More like CC/Megahorn/UTurn/KnockOff - eat Gengar for breakfast (all 3 of them). Should be eating WoW / Toxic with a Guts Heracross anyways, not Sleep, which would then activate Guts and allow you to switch into Sleep anyways.

Alternatively, you know, U-turn out of Gengar. Pivot. It's what it's there for.

 

[DinaIsha]

CC/Megahorn/UTurn/KnockOff - Get rekt by Skarmory (And Talonflame, besides the point anyway). Heracross just isn't that viable. Could function well only walls like Sableye, Quagsire and Chansey are left.

 

[skies]

Here's a bit of theorymonning for you:

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Heal Order
- Pin Missile / Focus Punch / Drain Punch
​

This is a set that takes advantage of Heracross' high bulk and its already sky high Attack. To put it into perspective, a Pokemon with 135 Attack will have on point less Attack when fully invested vs. Heracross with no investment. Yikes. This set aims to setup a Bulk Up and go to town. This thing is scary to come in at any time where it forces something out - a prime example would be versus Chansey. Then, it can just go to town. It's a tricky task to break Heracross' Substitute at +1 because of its really good bulk all-around. Heal Order is a neat addition that keeps it alive for the match and works will with Cleric support. The last slot is up for debate. Pin Missile has nice coverage and blasts through Quagsire and just blasts through a lot of things in general. Focus Punch is, of course, great with Substitute. But, I don't like it when Heracross has a low health and cannot setup a Substitute or recover. The reliability concern is there. Drain Punch is what I would pick, as the continuous health regeneration is neat. The reason you don't go straight for Drain Punch is because this set can setup on Sableye which is really cool and if you run Drain Punch you lose the ability to beat it. I'm going to try out all three, but I'm leaning towards either Pin Missile or Drain Punch. Do note I have not tested this, but I am going to and see how it goes, it looks intriguing!

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Mach Punch
- Rock Blast
​

Scizor 2.0 right here. Swords Dance boosts Heracross' Attack to a soaring height and this, coupled with Mach Punch, turns it into a ferocious threat. Mach Punch's priority gets around Heracross' Speed concerns and still hits hard. U-turn is odd on a boosting set, but the idea behind it is to use it as a counter comes in to smack them hard with it and gain momentum. Rock Blast is for Lando-T and Flying-types of course. Some other options to run are Bullet Seed, Drain Punch, High Jump Kick, or Substitute. One thing about High Jump Kick, it's really strong. At +2, it OHKOes Skarmory, OHKOes Mew, 2HKOes Clefable, and pretty much all resists are beaten down and beaten through. The miss chance kind of sucks, but it's a risk I'd take.

Both are cool sets and Mega Heracross in general is a cool Pokemon, go try it out!

​

 

[EV]

Skarmory can roost off the damage from CC; not mention that some carry Brave Bird. Otherwise, all SleepTalkers are a great check to Sableye. Bullet Seed in there would help against Quagsire (You don't really need Knock Off since Sableye is pretty much the only viable Ghost in STABmons, besides the ocassional Gengar).

Hey now. What about Aegislash?

 

[DinaIsha]

Hey now. What about Aegislash?

Aegislash? Do you mean Diggersby's toothpick?

meh.. actually more viable than Gengar imo

 

[EV]

Aegislash? Do you mean Diggersby's toothpick?

meh.. actually more viable than Gengar imo

It actually does quite well with a balloon and considering a lot of Diggersby forgo coverage for Protect and setup, they can't touch it.

 

[DinaIsha]

Setup Digger is for kids. Revenge killer Digger is the best. And as the trend suggest, many are adopting to it. I rarely see Set up Digger anymore and an increasing number of them are running Bulk for a good measure. I guess this is what you get by making a ladder permanent - a more thought-out action plan from the players as opposed to yolo setup sweeping.

 

[EV]

Setup Digger is for kids. Revenge killer Digger is the best. And as the trend suggest, many are adopting to it. I rarely see Set up Digger anymore and an increasing number of them are running Bulk for a good measure. I guess this is what you get by making a ladder permanent - a more thought-out action plan from the players as opposed to yolo setup sweeping.

True. My post above wasn't meant to condone setup on Diggers because I agree, the revenger is sublime, but you should still be prepared for SS/BD/SD on it.

 

[skies]

Hey guys! The STABmons council is starting something! I present,

STABmons Frontier​

Hello all! Welcome to STABmons Frontier. Let's face it, the STABmons ladder isn't the most exciting of ladders. This is a project to help get some people involved with STABmons and possibly aid some new people! This will be similar to other tier versions such as Lost Cave; however, there's a twist involved with STABmons Frontier. It's not some regular tier, no, it's much different. Instead of having just four people starting then winners being added on - we start with seven users you must beat in order to be added as an eighth member. Here are the basic rules:

Challengers:

• You may challenge the users in any way you'd like! Do note, however, that they're in this list for a reason. Hint hint.
• All matches are best of one.
• All challenges are to be played in the current metagame. If Diggersby gets banned halfway through your challenge, it may not be used from that point on.
• Timer must be ON.
• You may change your team throughout the challenge!
• If you lose a match during your challenge, you must start over and wait at least 48 hours before rechallenging.
• If you are caught cheating (eg giving me false results) you will be disqualified from the challenge!
• You may challenge by contact through forums, IRC, PS!, or whatever you want, but forums are by far the best way to contact because you can message a user without them being online, and you should not claim your opponent is inactive if you have not contacted them on forums.

Frontier Brains:

• You may not decline a challenge without a good reason.
• Inactivity will result in you being subbed out!
• You may change your team throughout the challenge.
• You must post here after winning or losing a match.
• Like Smogon Frontier has, we are having a 'wildcard Frontier Brain' who you can challenge if you want to enter yourself. You have to challenge the wildcard player at the beginning of the challenge.

Here's the lineup of elites you must go through in order to become a champion:

Dome Ace The Eevee General (Eevee General)

[4-2]

Record

Beat Gym Leader Alan
Beat insanelegend
Lost to Scarf Wynaut
Beat Anttyaz
Lost to Anttyaz
Beat New Old Competitor

Pike Queen unfixable (unfixable)

[3-4]

Record

Beat asterat
Beat Zewwok
Lost to Ellipse
Lost to insanelegend
Beat insanelegend
Lost to Scarf Wynaut

Salon Maiden Pikachuun (Pikachuun)

[2-2]

Record

Lost to Scarf Wynaut
Lost to Anttyaz
Beat New Old Competitor
Beat insanelegend

Palace Maven The Reptile (DreMZ)

[2-2]

Record

Beat Ellipse
Beat Gym Leader Alan
Lost to Scarf Wynaut
Lost to insanelegend

Arena Tycoon Vansalon (Seraph's Fire)

[3-0]

Record

Beat Flame Emblem
Beat FishInABox
Beat Vansalon

Factory Head DinaIsha (DinaIsha)

[3-2]

Record

Lost to Scarf Wynaut
Lost to Anttyaz
Won against New Old Competitor
Won against Ranger Mike
Won against El-Soldier

Pyramid King w0rd (word)

[8-4]

Record

Beat Kingslayer2779
Beat dino party
Beat Gym Leader Alan
Lost to Zewwok
Lost to Insanelegend
Beat Scarf Wynaut
Beat insanelegend
Lost to Anttyaz
Beat Ranger Mike
Lost to Scarf Wynaut
Beat Asterat

 

[OM]

So When Will the STABmons frontier start?

 

[skies]

So When Will the STABmons frontier start?

now

 

[skies]

Beat asterat :].

 

[Seraph's Fire]

Beat Flame Emblem.
he made the mistake of transforming into sableye when chans was his last mon

 

[F Amadon]

Note to self: When challenging a Frontier member, do not borrow team from said Frontier member.