Metagame SM RU - RU Alpha Discussion - Month 2

[Homiedino]

Look, I known that I'm known for making very anti-meta "meme teams," but I've had a lot of success with this team that I spontaneously created in a frustrated attempt to beat those stupid sticky web teams. I hope you enjoy this team.

Team

Guzzlord @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 108 Def / 252 SpA / 140 SpD / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave

This Guzzlord set is meant to not only take hits from the physical and special side, but also dish out hits. The 108 in defense is meant to make Adamant CB Entei's sacred fire and e-speed a 4hko and allow it to be one of the best answers to Bruxish:
252 Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Bruxish Crunch vs. 0 HP / 108 Def Guzzlord: 103-121 (17.5 - 20.6%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Bruxish Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 108 Def Guzzlord: 101-121 (17.2 - 20.6%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
The special attack allows it to do massive damage with draco meteor, an easily spammable move. Fire Blast hits steels like Registeel, Escav, and Lucario, and Sludge wave hits pesky fairy types like Shiinotic, Togekiss, and Whimsicott. The rest was put into Spdef so it could tank scalds from bulky waters, leaf storms from lurantis, and volt switches from electric types. The 8 evs in speed are just to creep Araquanid and opposing Guzzlord. Guzzlord is best used to sponge up Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric moves all day, and punish switches with powerful attacks.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Encore
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain

The most annoying mon on the team. Whimsicott stops set-up sweepers in their tracks with encore and taunt. Taunt prevents hazards and status moves like toxic, t-wave, and recover. Encore locks a pokemon into a certain move, which gives Whimsicott's teammates a great opportunity to switch in. Encore on a non-attacking move + taunt renders an opponent useless, and forces it to either switch, or struggle. The ev spread is fairly common, with enough speed to outspeed modest/adamant Kommo-o, and adamant Lucario. This pokemon is a great way to check dark types like Crawdaunt and Mega-Absol, bulky waters like Milotic, Suicune, and Swampert, and dragon types, especially dragon types that like to set up, like dd Flygon, dd or sd Haxorus, and Kommo-o.

Araquanid @ Assault Vest
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leech Life
- Liquidation
- Poison Jab
- Crunch

Thanks to its ability, Araquanid's liquidation hits like a freight train. That move is easily spammable, and has the potential to lower opponents' phydef by 1. Leech life gives araquanid some decent recovery, poison jab hits Shiinotic and Whimsicott for near Ohkoes, and Crunch smacks Jellicent. Due to its already incredible base 132 base spdef, an Assault Vest is a great item for Araquanid, allowing it to sponge sludge waves from Nidoqueen/King, Draco Meteors from Goodra, moves from both special and physical Lucario, and allowing it to 1v1 sub-roost Kyurem.The 16 evs allow it to speed creep past min speed minus speed nature diancie, and hit it with a powerful liquidation. Also, water bubble gives it a super-resistance to fire, and an immunity from burn, making this a great switch in to scalds. This spider can 1v1 nearly every water type in the tier (watch out for toxic)!

Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Toxic

While outclassed as a spinner in many regards, Hitmontop's all around good bulk provides it an excellent opportunity to be a decent spinner and dark check. Hitmontop's intimidate ability weakens opponent's physical attacks, allowing it to further take attacks from physical attackers, especially Mega Absol, Crawdaunt, and Pangoro. Close Combat gives Hitmontop some offensive presence and hits most rockers for decent damage. Toxic cripples bulky waters like Alomomola, Araquanid, and Milotic, which otherwise could give Hitmontop a difficult time. Hitmontop not being weak to water gives it a slight edge over Donphan in this regard, especially with the abundance of bulky waters in the tier. Sucker punch is run over foresight to give Hitmontop a surprise revenge kill against Bruxish, Alakazam, and a Guaranteed OHKO on Hoopa.

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Magic Coat

This is a fairly standard Milotic set. With some great bulk and good HP stat, Milotic is a very good bulky water. On top of that, its base 100 Spatk gives it some offensive presence, unlike some of its counterparts like Blastoise and Alomomola. It has reliable recovery in recover, and ice beam to hit dragon, grass and flying types. Magic coat is a fun move that bounces back hazards like rocks, spikes, and sticky web, as well as status like toxic and will o wisp. This gives it an advantage over standard Milotic that carry toxic, allowing it to toxic opposing Milotic by using magic coat. Also, competitive is run over Marvel scale to punish sticky web users and defoggers. When one of Milotic's stats are lowered (sticky webs, defog by Crobat, and parting shot by Persian-A for example), its special attack is raised by 2, making it a dangerous pokemon to switch into.

Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock

Ever since late ORAS RU, this little pig has gotten better and better, and I think has gotten better with the prevalence of dragon, flying, and ground types in the tier. With an eviolite and thick fat, Piloswine can take powerful neutral hits and return fire with strong earthquakes and icicle crashes. For example, it avoids a 2hko from a lead Galvantula bug buzz and does takes it out with eq + ice shard. Ice shard gives it some great priority to finish off weakened pokemon. And of course, stealth rock is one of the best moves in the game, and weakens opponents on switch in, which really helps the team. Its biggest advantage is its immunity to electric and pseudo-resistance to ice. Piloswine stops volt switch and thunderbolts and immediately threatens the opponent with powerful attacks. And it is an amazing answer to Mega Glalie, a super strong wallbreaker.

2 Big Tips:

1.) This team is a tad weak to flying spam, especially Braviary, so rocks + ice shard is very important.
2.) Status, most importantly toxic, is its biggest weakness. Try to avoid getting worn down with toxic and try to limit the amount of pokemon poisoned. If all 6 pokemon are badly poisoned, it is nearly impossible to win.

With all of that out of the way, have fun!!!!!

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

So this is a cool Suicune set that I feel is pretty underrated in the current RU Meta:
Yes I know Natural Talent has this set listed in one of his teams 2 posts above me

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 152 HP / 252 SpA / 104 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Tailwind

Offensive CM Suicune is pretty nice for serving as a bulky offensive sponge and sweeper, all in one. It's pretty linear in how it functions...Pivot into a mon Suicune checks, get the Calm Mind up if you're able to sweep, then set a Tailwind and watch the opponent get rinsed. The EVs I have listed here are to allow Suicune to outrun Scarf Mienshao under Tailwind, which makes Suicune extremely hard to revenge kill against offensive teams, and is the absolute most Speed Tailwind Suicune should ever need to run. There's a number of benchmarks you can toy with based on what you need Suicune to outpace; for instance, Natural Talent's Speed EVs on his Suicune are 144 with a Modest nature, which allows Suicune to outpace +1 Haxorus under Tailwind. If you're worried about +1 base 100s such as Flygon or Celebi, a spread of 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe Timid will allow you to creep them under Tailwind. If you want to use Modest nature and some more bulk, 184 HP / 252 SpA / 72 Spe Modest lets Suicune get the jump on Scarf Rotom appliance forms, as well as Heracross and the occasional Dragon Dance Kommo-o at +1. I really wouldn't aim for anything lower than that, as these are all key threats to Suicune that appreciates being able to beat with Tailwind up.

Also, the difference in power between Modest and Timid nature should be taken into consideration:

+1 252 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roserade: 218-258 (84.1 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roserade: 240-284 (92.6 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

+1 252 SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Metagross: 228-268 (75.7 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Metagross: 250-295 (83 - 98%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Homiedino]

So this is a cool Suicune set that I feel is pretty underrated in the current RU Meta:
Yes I know Natural Talent has this set listed in one of his teams 2 posts above me

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 152 HP / 252 SpA / 104 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Tailwind

Offensive CM Suicune is pretty nice for serving as a bulky offensive sponge and sweeper, all in one. It's pretty linear in how it functions...Pivot into a mon Suicune checks, get the Calm Mind up if you're able to sweep, then set a Tailwind and watch the opponent get rinsed. The EVs I have listed here are to allow Suicune to outrun Scarf Mienshao under Tailwind, which makes Suicune extremely hard to revenge kill against offensive teams, and is the absolute most Speed Tailwind Suicune should ever need to run. There's a number of benchmarks you can toy with based on what you need Suicune to outpace; for instance, Natural Talent's Speed EVs on his Suicune are 144 with a Modest nature, which allows Suicune to outpace +1 Haxorus under Tailwind. If you're worried about +1 base 100s such as Flygon or Celebi, a spread of 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe Timid will allow you to creep them under Tailwind. If you want to use Modest nature and some more bulk, 184 HP / 252 SpA / 72 Spe Modest lets Suicune get the jump on Scarf Rotom appliance forms, as well as Heracross and the occasional Dragon Dance Kommo-o at +1. I really wouldn't aim for anything lower than that, as these are all key threats to Suicune that appreciates being able to beat with Tailwind up.

Also, the difference in power between Modest and Timid nature should be taken into consideration:

+1 252 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roserade: 218-258 (84.1 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roserade: 240-284 (92.6 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

+1 252 SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Metagross: 228-268 (75.7 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Metagross: 250-295 (83 - 98%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

What might be interesting to try out would be extrasensory, given that it's still hitting roserade and venu hard, and also fashions as a lure for toxicroak

 

[666lumberjack]

So this is a cool Suicune set that I feel is pretty underrated in the current RU Meta...

Just a note, 152 HP / 160 SAtk / 196 Spe Modest hits the same speed with two more points in special attack.

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

What might be interesting to try out would be extrasensory, given that it's still hitting roserade and venu hard, and also fashions as a lure for toxicroak

Extrasensory is definitely a cool option, though you lose out on Celebi and have a tougher time with Haxorus and the like. Air Slash would be great if it didn't force you to run Relaxed...oh well lol, either move could be used on a different Suicune set if your main intent is luring its usual checks

 

[shooting star]

Just a note, UU has quickbanned Scolipede.
http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...rona-scolipede-banned-post-165.3591786/page-7

 

[Moon]

Successful team. You can forgo spin and Donphan can be Nidoking/Queen. Slowking can be 'Bro/Suicune. Went 24 wins to 1 loss on ladder with this on my alt.

importable

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Play Rough
- Magnet Rise

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin

Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- U-turn
- Heat Wave
- Sleep Talk

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 72 Def / 188 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Heal Bell

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpA
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Psychic
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast

 

[EonX]

Jirachirite brings up a pretty interesting topic. As we're about halfway through the first month of alpha, we've all been talking about and using the strongest Pokemon that likely won't make it out of Beta when that starts down the line. However, with the multiple (10+ I think) quickbans UU has done, I want to talk about some Pokemon I don't see staying with us just due to usage and why:

+

With Slowbronite getting the boot and these two Pokemon not being too far below the cutoff to begin with, I think it's a pretty sure bet that neither one will be with us next month. Crocune obviously will get the chance to shine once more in UU with stuff like Mega Zard Y and Mega Slowbro being banned from UU. Slowbro will obviously get more usage on teams that were using Mega Slowbro more for its resistances than its ability to set up and win games. That said, Slowbro I think has a higher chance to stick with us for another month, but it's very unlikely Suicune will remain with us.

With the likes of powerful priority users in Diggersby and Weavile getting the boot, there's also a pretty decent chance Alakazam will move up to UU next month as well. While this one isn't as clear cut as Suicune imo, there's no denying that Weavile was a massive thorn in Alakazam's side in UU due to its ability to hit with STAB Pursuit and outspeed naturally, meaning Zam was a gonner regardless of whether it stayed in or not.

With the bans of Dragonite and Salamence, Haxorus has a chance to move back up to replace them as a Dragon Dance user. While it obviously isn't nearly as powerful as those two titans, it's natural for players to immediately look for the next best thing when a Pokemon on their team gets banned. Whether it will stay in UU or not is an entirely different story as Haxorus was close to dropping on quite a few occasions in ORAS, but the whole theory of "replace the banned Pokemon with the next best thing" might be enough to move Haxorus up to UU for next month.

I don't think there's many ways Mienshao is going to stay with us next month. With Dnite, Mence, Mega Bro, and Torn-T being removed from UU, a lot of the ways to instantly deter Shao from locking into HJK are gone. While priority is still a powerful thing in UU with Scizor, I don't think it's enough to keep Shao from making UU usage.

Breloom is likely to get a massive boost with all of the recent bans, and Celebi has traditionally always been offense's answer to Breloom in almost every generation. With this knowledge, no way Celebi hangs around with us for next month as UU offense will need Celebi to handle Breloom now that the likes of Torn-T, Dnite, Mence, and Volcarona are gone. (all of which also happened to deter the use of Celebi)

Swampert was the first Pokemon below the cutoff to begin with, and UU has lost some powerful physical sweepers that could run through it or push significant damage onto it (Dnite, Mence, SD Scolipede) so it's pretty likely that Swampert will get just enough usage to move back up to UU. It also helps that Electric P-Z needs Pert signficantly worn down before it can KO (needs Pert at around 50%, which is kind of high all things considered) Much like Mienshao, there's still going to be things that hold Swampert back in UU, but probably not enough to keep it down here.

These are just things we likely will end up losing. This doesn't take into account some Pokemon that might end up dropping to us. So what other Pokemon might we lose as a result of UU's quickbans, and what Pokemon might we be graced with next month?

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Kommo-O could also be a Dragon Dancer to replace Mence and Dragonite. It can use a Z-Crystal to boost its worse STAB, and has bulk like nite to an extent. It also has a solid Specs set, though I haven't used Kommo-O myself in UU so I don't know how exactly good it is.

As for mons likely to drop, I don't think any will drop to be honest. Even the worst things that are in UU usage right now (which is just Dhelmise, Forretress, Decidueye, and Tsareena) will only get used because they can remove hazards and UU lacks good hazard removers at the moment. (At least that's what people tell me; The tier has fucking Starmie and Latias (hell you can even go for Gliscor, though that makes it lose its fantastic ability of Poison Heal), use them) Tsareena can reliably stop Azumarill though (wouldn't it die to boosted Play Rough though?) so that's nice I guess...... Still, if Dhelmise stays UU I'll flip tables.

 

[Olly]

Togekiss will almost certainly move up. I'm surprised it's not UU anyway, but no way does it not end up in UU.

Now they banned Mega Slowbro and the dragons I'd expect the fire types to move up too. Ie. Entei and Darmanitan.

I will be surprised if we don't get new spinners or defoggers. There are way too many spinners and defoggers in UU right now, they have 6 spinners (Forretress, Starmie, Mega Blastoise, Tentacruel, Tsareena and Dhelmise) and 5 defoggers (Scizor, Latias, Mew, Decidueye and Empoleon), tiers never have this much hazard removal. On top of that a lot of the reasons to absolutely need hazard removal have just been banned. Some of them will move down to RU eventually where they are much needed tbh because the hazard removal in RU right now is limited pretty much to Donphan, Crobat and Gligar.

 

[Mikael]

tsareena, dhelmise and decidueye will certainly drop. they have no business in UU. as far as the rest goes, maybe forretress has the potential to drop too, since it's been on a decline

 

[Raikou237]

This mon is ridiculusly broken and underrated in the meta

Crawdaunt @ Splash Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off

This set has no counters and very few checks, specially under rain. wtf is politoed doing in RU

Most teams only carry a bulky water as they water resist, and they are all fucked by +2 knock off, so crawdaunt can clean sweep the rest of the team

Seriously, I dont know why people use araquarind instead of this monster

 

[enzobro16]

Aren't those pokemon banned from RU? They have to be unbanned, otherwise, they will end up in BL2.

 

[aVocado]

Aren't those pokemon banned from RU? They have to be unbanned, otherwise, they will end up in BL2.

Nothing is banned from RU unless it's in UU or OU. If you're referring to Mikael's post, they're banned from RU because they are in UU currently, but mikael is saying they're likely to drop.

 

[burntBREAD]

tsareena, dhelmise and decidueye will certainly drop. they have no business in UU. as far as the rest goes, maybe forretress has the potential to drop too, since it's been on a decline

Tsareena actually has a good niche in UU in a utility role: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...e-banned-post-165.3591786/page-4#post-7179506

Dhelmise and Decuidueye aren't good, though, you're correct about that.

 

[david0895]

I'm not following the meta.
Is there something that seems to be overpower at the moment?

 

[Mikael]

Tsareena actually has a good niche in UU in a utility role: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...e-banned-post-165.3591786/page-4#post-7179506

Dhelmise and Decuidueye aren't good, though, you're correct about that.

Still, this niche is not strong enough to justify it saying in UU. Imo, anyways

 

[Venoxio]

Just wanted to make a post about a toy I've been playing with in RU:

Type: Fat (Type: Null) @ Eviolite
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Flame Charge
- Shadow Claw

The nickname exaggerates nothing. The bulk this thing has is insane. It can tank hard hits like CB Araquanid Liquidation and proceed to set up in its opponent's face. Being normal type also helps as its not really damaged by much outside of Fighting type attacks, but it can generally live one unless its CC from a Lucario or something like that from what I've seen. Shadow Claw and Flame Charge pretty much speak for themselves coverage-wise, not to mention Flame Charge's secondary effect helping Null out A LOT. Return really smacks anything after a boost (at least a 2HKO, but most opponents can't do much to Null anyway) not named Doublade which Null wins against due to Shadow Claw. I've found this mon to be the new P2 where its on a similar level of good than its evolution if not better in some aspects, or at least I'm comparing them in that way. This thing is very interesting to use and I'll sure be using it more.

 

[6ft Torbjorn]

Am I the only one to think of this?

Golisopod @ Assault Vest
Ability: Emergency Exit
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sucker Punch

Let's think about this: most Golisopods are all out attackers (see the LO/Choice Band sets). But also, you naturally have 140 base defense and a slightly less impressive 90 base Sp.Def. With AV you have, at bare minimum, 135 base Sp.Def (if not more, knowing how bases are calculated). Couple that with Leech Life sustain and the fact that Goli' generally hits hard, and I'd say you have a pretty effective set. Taking into account Stealth Rock, Emergency Exit, and the inflexibility of CB / Recoil from LO, I would argue others were kind of shooting themselves in the foot with it - so I hope this will be taken into consideration.

 

[Wandering Wobbuffet]

Am I the only one to think of this?

Golisopod @ Assault Vest
Ability: Emergency Exit
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sucker Punch

Let's think about this: most Golisopods are all out attackers (see the LO/Choice Band sets). But also, you naturally have 140 base defense and a slightly less impressive 90 base Sp.Def. With AV you have, at bare minimum, 135 base Sp.Def (if not more, knowing how bases are calculated). Couple that with Leech Life sustain and the fact that Goli' generally hits hard, and I'd say you have a pretty effective set. Taking into account Stealth Rock, Emergency Exit, and the inflexibility of CB / Recoil from LO, I would argue others were kind of shooting themselves in the foot with it - so I hope this will be taken into consideration.

I was actually using this on an HO team with aqua jet over sucker punch (for fire types like entei and chandelure). First impression is really really really nice priority coming off of that attack stat and it's bulk is actually very impressive. While emergency exit was quite annoying a lot of the time on occasion it would be nice to get a free switch into another offensive threat. Also I was running enough speed to outspeed uninvested donphan since it's so common in the tier right now. I'll try to get some replays of it putting in work now that I'm currently around 1350 on the ladder which is decent.
This is the set I'm using
Golisopod @ Assault Vest
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Aqua Jet

Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankrualpha-519678059 Golisopod pressured slowking while taking out donphan and weakening swellow with the first impression (in case he got a boomburst and knocked me into emergency exit) which I was then able to follow up with an aqua jet picking him off since he wouldn't save a 25% swellow with rocks up. Toxicroak was a pretty big stop to it but every time I get a safe switchin to toxicroak I could just bring in banded haxorus and get a kill with earthquake with his swellow eliminated and his togekiss lured with offensive stone edge + ice shard donphan (I took him out with a stone edge crit but ice shard would pick him off anyways.)

 

[Amaroq]

I got bored, built a team, and laddered for a bit, so now I guess I'll share my team and thoughts. I gave up after passing 1450 because grinding out the necessary games to climb much higher didn't seem worth it.

Proof

Importable

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise
- Dazzling Gleam

Crobat @ Sky Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roost

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Earth Power

Kommo-o @ Choice Specs
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower

Absol-Mega @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail

I built a pretty simple bulky offense team that revolves around setting hazards and then breaking through the opposing team with strong attackers. I started with Nasty Plot Celebi + Choice Specs Kommo-o, added Swampert, Klefki, and Crobat for a defensive backbone that also provided hazards and hazard control, and finished with Mega Absol to provide some more speed and a strong physical presence. It worked decently and had counterplay to most things, but the lack of a good Togekiss answer was really problematic. I pretty much had to rely on luring it in with Kommo-o or Absol and keeping up the offensive pressure. At this point, I'm too lazy to restructure it to add better Togekiss answers.

Kommo-o @ Choice Specs
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower

I like what I've seen of Kommo-o so far. It has good bulk and decent Speed and power. Kommo-o actually survives quite a bit, thanks to 75/125/105 defenses and its abilities. It provides useful defensive synergy since its typing allows it to check some prevalent threats in this meta, like Crawdaunt, Araquanid, Rotom-H/C, and more, and it can also survive plenty of neutral hits and weak super-effective attacks. This set doesn't care about burn, so it provides a nice way of pressuring a lot of the common bulky Water-types in this meta. A lot of people ran teams without Dragon resists, so I pretty much just clicked Clanging Scales 90% of the time and occasionally used Focus Blast or a coverage move. Focus Blast is there because Kommo-o doesn't get Aura Sphere for some reason, Flash Cannon hits Togekiss and other Fairies, and Flamethrower covers Steel-types without forcing me to hit Focus Blast.

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise
- Dazzling Gleam

Klefki is a great utility Pokemon in this meta. Spikes, Prankster Thunder Wave and Magnet Rise, good defensive typing, and usable defensive stats allow it to check a ton of threats and provides a lot of insurance in a single slot. It's one of the best Pokemon at providing role compression in the current meta. I think that Klefki holds the meta together right now by serving as such a splashable check to so many dangerous Pokemon. It's also really annoying to play against.

Togekiss is also obnoxious, but I haven't used it much and my team was pretty weak to it, so I may be too biased to discuss it objectively.

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

I think Z-celebrate Venusaur is a monster

Not sure what the best ev spread is but E-quake/HP fire, giga drain, and sludge bomb all surprisingly hit hard and keeps Venusaur pretty healthy, also when people try to stall it of a move with sub/protect its funny to use celebrate when they can't touch You either.

Anything deal with it at +1 everything?

 

[guan123]

I think Z-celebrate Venusaur is a monster

Not sure what the best ev spread is but E-quake/HP fire, giga drain, and sludge bomb all surprisingly hit hard and keeps Venusaur pretty healthy, also when people try to stall it of a move with sub/protect its funny to use celebrate when they can't touch You either.

Anything deal with it at +1 everything?

Crobat and talonflame are the ones which come right off the bat (but talonflame doesn't like switching into anything). Escavalier blocks it without HP Fire, registeel blocks it without earthquake. Faster scarfers like scarf kyurem also revenge kill Venusaur, even at +1.

 

[EonX]

Amaroq , Togekiss answers are a complete and utter myth. Finding actual reliable answers for it is, well, lol. It'll outlast them if they're smart and have any sort of luck. I've been playing around with a couple of Pokemon that haven't gotten a lot of attention, and I've liked them thus far in somewhat limited testing. Keep in mind that these two sets are designed to work together:

Diancie @ Normalium Z
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Heal Bell
- Earth Power / Toxic / Stealth Rock

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 244 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Foul Play
- Taunt

So these two Pokemon are designed to work together on more defensive teams to check the vast majority of special attackers in the tier right now. However, they also aim to fix key problems for the Pokemon. Diancie's main issue is the fact that it lacks reliable recovery and hates being Knocked Off despite being a Fairy-type since its only form of recovery is usually Leftovers. With Z Heal Bell, Diancie is able to fully recover its HP one time on its own and act as a nice Knock shield for more defensive teams. The rest of the moves on Diancie are pretty simple with Earth Power being there to chip away at the likes of Lucario, Nidos, etc. Toxic and Stealth Rock are options for obvious reasons; Toxic stops fat waters from coming in at will and Stealth Rock is there if the team lacks another setter.

Umbreon is the typical Umbreon set with one key difference considering Diancie has Heal Bell; Taunt. Now, Umbreon is relatively slow so it may seem really odd to throw Taunt onto a Pokemon like Umbreon, but this can pay huge dividends against some of the common issues stall-oriented teams face. Usually, Reuniclus is able to take advantage of the passiveness of defensive teams and boost up in their faces. However, despite doing minimal damage with Foul Play, Umbreon can easily wear down Reuniclus thanks to Taunt blocking its way of boosting and healing and even 1v1 Reuniclus if it lacks Focus Blast (not common, but hey, profit if its there) This also allows Umbreon to completely block the likes of Alomomola and Diancie from supporting their teams, which can be huge given some Toxic Spikes support. The Speed EVs try to ensure Umbreon outspeeds Alomomola and those creeping around it (notably outspeeds Jolly Doublade bc everyone knows how paranoid I am with that mon >.> ) You can add some more if outspeeding Florges is important to your team, but it can easily push damage onto Umbreon once you reveal Taunt, which will usually come back to haunt you later as it can be 2HKOed by something it should be able to deal with.

This core loves Toxic Spikes support to outlast most special attackers in the tier, so Nidoqueen is nice to actually have a Fighting resist and way to beat CM Florges (another mon that can give defensive teams issues)

 

[phantom]

- Pretty anti-meta Pokemon rn. Both Choice Scarf and Specs are excellent. I've found out because of Infiltrator that this works quite nicely versus Aurora Veil teams and can revenge kill quite a few Pokemon like Sub Hawlucha with Scarf. Flash Fire is good too since it's one of the few decent Entei checks on offense, as well as one of the most reliable Lucario checks.

- VoltTurn with Choice Band Crawdaunt is so much fun to use. The tough part with Crawdaunt is trying to get it in, so supporting it with two high-powered VoltTurn users that draw in Pokemon that Crawdaunt is capable of 1HKOing brings out the best in Crawdaunt's potential. Rotom-C in particular is pretty good in the current meta due to the great defensive utility it provides in the Ground immune and ability to check nearly every Water-type, mainly Suicune, whereas Mienshao is one of the best Choice Scarf users in the tier and revenge kills nearly everything. Only thing I dislike about Crawdaunt is that using it as your Water-type means you're inherently weak to Entei, so you're stuck recycling through the same frameworks to make a Crawdaunt build work, although it's very much worth it.

- Probably the two most reliable Stealth Rock users in the tier right now, unsurprisingly. They beat pretty much every hazard remover reliably - the relevant ones like Crobat, Donphan and Gligar, and provide phenomenal defensive synergy. Building around these two is pretty easy and leaves a lot of room for flexibility. Great Pokemon.

- Aside from Klefki, both Metagross and Escavalier have been really popular in my experience. AV Metagross blanket checks so many different Pokemon and can even Pursuit trap Alakazam and Gardevoir. Swords Dance Leftovers Escavalier stays amazing just like it was in ORAS. It's not as hard to counter now given the presence of Arcanine and Rotom-H, but the wider range of Pokemon it's capable of beating makes it very effective nonetheless.

- Defensive Rotom-H is pretty solid and the only hard counter to Togekiss. That alone makes it worth using, but it has a lot of other perks in its ability to maintain momentum as a defensive Pokemon and check a lot of other significant Pokemon like the Nidos.

- I've been seeing this everywhere and it's very good. AV is actually pretty effective on it given the fact that it can check nearly every special attacker, and of the few it can't KO, it can get a surprise kill with Mirror Coat. It's a Water-type that counters Celebi too, so that's something. The tier is pretty heavy with bulky Waters right now so using this thing as a wallbreaker with Choice Band isn't very smart since no good defensive core will fold to it, and I'm not too sure what else it can do.