Metagame 1v1 Metagame Discussion

[DEG]

The State of the Meta: It's not in a good state. Bulky Offense has dominated the metagame, likely since gen 6. It makes sense, being able to sponge attacks and retaliate strongly works very well in a 1v1 situation. However, it's never been this polarizing. Gyarados-Mega isn't the only offender. Crustle, Donphan, Mega Metagross, and Sawk can easily be considered Bulky Offense threats. Even typically Offensive threats are sacrificing Speed and Power for bulk, beyond Charizard-Mega-X, and Kyurem-B. Standard Offense and Stall don't have a chance against these threats. Thanks to Z-Moves this playstyle is incredibly popular and effective. If you don't believe me ask Porygon-Z and Greninja.

Playstyle of 1v1 is something that we cannot really touch. It just changes based on metagame brands, how would you even fix bulky offense? Do you want to ban Crustle, Donphan, Mega Metagross and Sawk? That's seriously impossible and out of hands. Running bulky offense in 1v1 is like THE playstyle to go as you want to tank hits as much as you want to retaliate even harder. And I wonder how you think Bulky offense is something bad in the metagame yet you are anti-ban for Mega Gyarados? That Pokemon is one of the faces of Bulky Offense in 1v1. Also your "statement" seems probably not a hundred percent true, there's lot of offensive Pokemon still running around which even the best defensive spreads cannot touch such as Greninja, Porygon-Z, Tapu Koko, some Zard X and Kyub and more... While Stall can still be present but not many people like using such tactics, but we still see the Deoxys-D, Chansey, Whimsicott, Mega Slowbro... Also we shouldn't categorize teams as playstyle, it's the Pokemon itself that is the playstyle.

Mega Mawile: Please, please, please, please, no. This monster is insane. It already has the highest attack stat in the game, combined with the best defensive typing, intimidate, and good physical and special bulk, priority, set-up moves, taunt, metal burst, and great Dual STAB, why would this thing ever be allowed in 1v1 in the first place. And no, the sucker punch nerf is not enough to keep this thing from being absolutely broken. The meta doesn't need this monster. PLEASE.

Your first statement about it having the highest attack in the game with the best defensive typing is true but it isn't necessarily broken. We cannot compare last generation to this generation. Last gen prominent threats were infact weak to Mega Mawile but this gen a lot of things have changed. Donphan, Tapu Koko, Crustle, Charizard X have a chance against Mega Mawile. No I'm not saying it's not broken right now, I'm saying that we cannot judge for the time being without having it back in 1v1 firstly.

Z Moves: I know most people in the community agree that there has been a consensus about Z moves the last time we talked about them, but we talked about them in a much more nascent meta. Z-status moves had just started being discovered. Hell KyuB wasn't even considering running Icium Z. The discussion was centered around Tapu Koko mostly, which I doubt many people would consider the best Z-user nowadays and IF Mega Gyarados gets banned our BEST answer to Z-users will be gone and they'll be excessively splashed on to most pokemon.

That's a topic I can seriously get behind after we take out more problematic stuff before and I really want to go more deep into it so I'm leaving it for the end. At this moment the procedure that we will take in discussion is:

-Mega Gyarados post Mega Mawile
-Mega Mawile
-Z-moves.

 

[lost heros]

Playstyle of 1v1 is something that we cannot really touch. It just changes based on metagame brands, how would you even fix bulky offense? Do you want to ban Crustle, Donphan, Mega Metagross and Sawk? That's seriously impossible and out of hands. Running bulky offense in 1v1 is like THE playstyle to go as you want to tank hits as much as you want to retaliate even harder. And I wonder how you think Bulky offense is something bad in the metagame yet you are anti-ban for Mega Gyarados? That Pokemon is one of the faces of Bulky Offense in 1v1. Also your "statement" seems probably not a hundred percent true, there's lot of offensive Pokemon still running around which even the best defensive spreads cannot touch such as Greninja, Porygon-Z, Tapu Koko, some Zard X and Kyub and more... While Stall can still be present but not many people like using such tactics, but we still see the Deoxys-D, Chansey, Whimsicott, Mega Slowbro... Also we shouldn't categorize teams as playstyle, it's the Pokemon itself that is the playstyle.

I know we don't judge by playstyle and that Bulky Offense will always be the most effective playstyle in 1v1. However, I think it's become apparent that Bulky Offensive playstyles are unnaturately dominant over the metagame. I don't mean to imply that we should ban anything that has bulk + power (boy that would suck), I'm saying there is something in the metagame right now that is allowing for this. Whether it's Z-moves providing artificial power with little drawback like we see with Donphan and Crustle, or just overall power in the metagame that prevents offensive threats from overcoming the Bulk. I don't want to ban Mega Gyarados, because I don't find any particularly broken about it. The metagame has wrapped around it because it has significant bulk AND its own ability to beat defensive abilities to beat other Bulky Offense Pokemon. It's another product of the bulky offense meta, not the cause of it.

Your first statement about it having the highest attack in the game with the best defensive typing is true but it isn't necessarily broken. We cannot compare last generation to this generation. Last gen prominent threats were infact weak to Mega Mawile but this gen a lot of things have changed. Donphan, Tapu Koko, Crustle, Charizard X have a chance against Mega Mawile. No I'm not saying it's not broken right now, I'm saying that we cannot judge for the time being without having it back in 1v1 firstly.

Donphan, Crustle, and Charizard X already handled Mega Mawile. The only new threats are Tapu Koko, (when it runs special) Tapu Fini, and Primarina. Celesteela also can beat it, but it's weird and hard to theorymon.

Meanwhile Mega Mawile easily handles Gen 7 newbies like
Tapu Lele!
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Iron Head vs. +1 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Lele through Reflect: 208-246 (74 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Mimikyu!
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mimikyu: 594-702 (236.6 - 279.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Mimikyu Never-Ending Nightmare (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 220-259 (72.6 - 85.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Kartana!
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Kartana Smart Strike vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 121-144 (39.9 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kartana: 114-135 (44 - 52.1%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO (I recommend Play rough first in case of sub)

Pheromosa!
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 183-216 (60.3 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Pheromosa: 588-693 (207.7 - 244.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Tapu Bulu!
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 440-518 (156 - 183.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

and more! Let's not forget that Mega Mawile can also easily turn match-ups around by investing more in bulk and running metal burst and taunt. Or maybe Substitute+focus punch. The pokemon's insane.

 

[DEG]

With the recently release of Mega Mawile, it's no secret that the metagame will shake up. This Pokemon is no stranger from the 1v1 environment and we have all seen what this monster can do as most of us were witness in Generation VI. Many things changed during this transition, more importantly the trend that runs the metagame. Last generation we had a spike in usage of offense and bulky Pokemon so the usage of a lot of Pokemon which Mega Mawile can beat were used such as Kyurem-Black, Mega Gyarados, Dragonite and Porygon-Z while its checks weren't that abundant, plus most of the cores that Mega Mawile was put it were easily able to keep in check the foe. However with this gen shifting more toward bulky offensive and more Ground-, Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon being in the tier Mega Mawile might not be as overpowered as last generation.

However, this does not stop from it being used alongside Pokemon which perfectly covers its weakness which is the main point of why this Pokemon is considered a threat. Last generation the ladder was plagued by Mega Mawile / Mega Charizard X / Mega Gyarados as all of them were easy solutions to the whole metagame. And this generation doesn't really seem different from last gen, that team still covers the whole metagame. With that being said, what do you think of Mega Mawile in the 1v1 metagame? Is Mega Gyarados still considered broken by the pro-ban side after that introduction?

Happy Discussion!

 

[lost heros]

Ok so I did some polls in the 1v1 group chat we have set up to see the opinions about the most controversial or at least talked about pokemon and aspects in the 1v1 metagame right now.
I'll summarize the results and give some of my own insights, and post the full polls. Some disclosures the contingent bans/unbans were poorly worded after Gyaradosite and Mawilite and may not accurately reflect what I intended them to reflect, which is the first option if some other aspect is removed first. I.E. Gyaradosite if Mawilite is banned, therefore the results as I present them MAY be misleading. I don't believe them to be, but it is possible. Another disclaimer the room grew over the course of these polls, so there were slight differences in respondents which may have some bias and there is some bias in that these polls were only done in the 1v1 tour group chat and didn't include the larger OM community. I also am currently conducting a priority poll and will edit this post when it is finished.

Gyaradosite (I forgot to include a wait/idk options sorry)
Ban - 5 certain, 6 contingent - 46%
Don't Ban - 13 - 54%

Yes was pretty split on other contingent bans so it's not necessarily a strong ban argument as it seems. As well what I've noticed when talking to people it seems to be split along generational lines. That is if you played frequently in gen 6 1v1 you might not see MGyara as broken as if you started or played more in Gen 7.

Mawilite (This poll was conducted pre-release)
Ban - 3 certain, 5 contingent - 26%
Don't Ban - 8 - 26%
IDK/Let's See - 15 - 48%

Because this was done pre-release it's understandable why there was more IDK/Let's see then either side. Yes and no are pretty equal and I doubt those opinions are going to change. I'll probably do another poll about Mawilite later to see if any opinions form.

Z moves
Ban all of them - 6 - 17%
Ban some of them - 7 - 20%
Do not ban them - 17 - 49%
Idk/Let's see - 5 - 14%

This one is pretty straightforward. The plurality of votes clearly favors in not banning which is the pseudo-consensus we reached after the first time we talked about them in the beginning of the generation. Furthermore, the pro-ban them all is pretty small in numbers which suggests that the community doesn't seem to think there is anything broken about the mechanics of Z moves.

Darkrai
Unban - 11 certain, 6 contingent - 50%
Do Not Unban - 7 21%
Idk/Let's see - 10 29%

The pro-unban side seems to be the majority, and has the majority of the unban voters being certain, which seems to suggest that the community wants to at least play around with Darkrai in a suspect test or play more in the unban tours we do in the room. After we're done talking about the earlier 3 we should definitely review Darkrai.

Blaziken
Everyone wanted it unbanned and no one said otherwise
Well practically
Unban - 16 certain, 3 Contingent - 65%
Do Not Unban - 6 - 21%
Idk/Let's see - 4 - 14%

Now this is by far the most decisive of any of the polls, with the Certain Unbans being the clear majority. It's astounding that we're not talking more about this because it clearly seems like the community wants to do something about Blaziken.

Power Construct (Zygarde-C)
Unban - 13 certain, 3 contingent - 48%
Do not unban - 11 - 33%
Idk/Let's see - 6 - 18%

Another pretty split one where I think we should review later down the line after we finish talking about everything else.

 

[aesf]

What's the point in unbanning ubers? If anything, all you're doing is adding 1 new pokemon and you risk adding something that's broken and might ruin the 1v1 meta for a month or so until it gets banned again, not to mention that spamming that new pokemon is gonna make other things fall out of viability too.

 

[lost heros]

What's the point in unbanning ubers? If anything, all you're doing is adding 1 new pokemon and you risk adding something that's broken and might ruin the 1v1 meta for a month or so until it gets banned again, not to mention that spamming that new pokemon is gonna make other things fall out of viability too.

If we unban an Uber Pokémon it'd be because it isn't broken and is actually balanced for the 1v1 meta. Also you assume that said unnamed uber would Pokémon would break the 1v1 meta, which I don't agree with considering we have a number of other balanced Ubers in the game right now. Unbanning or banning any Pokémon will obviously shift the viability of other Pokémon, but if we unban something that can beat top threats like Charizard Y, Mawile, KyuB and other less viable Pokémon, but loses to top threats like Mega Gyarados, Porygon-Z, and Charizard X and assorted less viable Pokemon. Do you honestly think that shift would be bad?

 

[Kentari]

What's the point in unbanning ubers? If anything, all you're doing is adding 1 new pokemon and you risk adding something that's broken and might ruin the 1v1 meta for a month or so until it gets banned again, not to mention that spamming that new pokemon is gonna make other things fall out of viability too.

Because why not? They're not Ubers in 1v1. 6v6 has nothing to do with 1v1. If Blaziken isn't broken, why shouldn't we be able to use it? Any game mode could always use one more good pokemon.

With the recently release of Mega Mawile, it's no secret that the metagame will shake up. This Pokemon is no stranger from the 1v1 environment and we have all seen what this monster can do as most of us were witness in Generation VI. Many things changed during this transition, more importantly the trend that runs the metagame. Last generation we had a spike in usage of offense and bulky Pokemon so the usage of a lot of Pokemon which Mega Mawile can beat were used such as Kyurem-Black, Mega Gyarados, Dragonite and Porygon-Z while its checks weren't that abundant, plus most of the cores that Mega Mawile was put it were easily able to keep in check the foe. However with this gen shifting more toward bulky offensive and more Ground-, Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon being in the tier Mega Mawile might not be as overpowered as last generation.

However, this does not stop from it being used alongside Pokemon which perfectly covers its weakness which is the main point of why this Pokemon is considered a threat. Last generation the ladder was plagued by Mega Mawile / Mega Charizard X / Mega Gyarados as all of them were easy solutions to the whole metagame. And this generation doesn't really seem different from last gen, that team still covers the whole metagame. With that being said, what do you think of Mega Mawile in the 1v1 metagame? Is Mega Gyarados still considered broken by the pro-ban side after that introduction?

Happy Discussion!

Anything that prevents the spread of Charizard X, Gyarados, Mawile teams gets my vote. I don't know what the best option for this is, but that team is the worst.

 

[Gross Sweep]

We Have a Problem​

+

+

Anybody who played 1v1 in Gen 6 knows that the team of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard X, and Mega Mawile practically ran the Meta, and now…it is back. Since Mawile’s release many players have started to spam this team mindlessly on the ladder, and it’s starting to hurt the creativity that makes 1v1 so great.

The team consists of 3 juggernauts who can dominate the Meta game by themselves, but also have great synergy together allowing them to take on almost any team without fear. This is why I feel it’s time the 1v1 community comes together for a public brainstorm on how to slow down this beast of a team. (I will be referring to the team as a beast from now on)


I’m including an example of what this team could look like, set wise, in case you want to try it or need something to base Cteaming around. However, I must warn you all three of these mons have multiple sets, so just beating the three sets included isn’t a guarantee for taming the beast. Try to think about the bigger picture.

The Team

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 96 Def / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Crunch

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp

The Zard is generic, but let's be honest it's probably the most common on the ladder by people who haven't discovered the power of bulky zard.

Personally, I spammed this team like crazy in Gen 6, but I’d like to see some change in Gen 7. I don’t want the Meta to fall into a dark state where you hit the same team in about ¼ of your games – that’s unappealing, and will greatly reduce interest in the 1v1 tier.

Another option the beast has is running Zard-Y. The team usually uses Zard-X, but if Cteaming gets to specific this monster in its own right can come in and help keep the beast moving forward through its opponents. Also since this change isn’t apparent at team preview it can be tricky to maneuver around – since you don’t know when the adjustment will be made, and how long it will last. Just another tool the beast has in trumping the ladder.


At the end of the day no 1v1 team is perfect, and this team is included, so I’m going to strongly urge players to help out the community by making public what they’ve been using to try and tame the beast.

 

[The Official Glyx]

What's the point in unbanning ubers? If anything, all you're doing is adding 1 new pokemon and you risk adding something that's broken and might ruin the 1v1 meta for a month or so until it gets banned again, not to mention that spamming that new pokemon is gonna make other things fall out of viability too.

The point is for OMs to be distinguished from the standardized tiers. Pokemon are naturally going to have differing levels of viability when you apply the different contexts of each OM to them, like how Regigigas and Slaking are broken in any OM where you can change their ability, and how Mega Gengar is broken in nearly any 6v6 meta. We already have a multitude of Ubers unbanned from 1v1 strictly because they don't perform well as a single mon with no team backing them up.

Bans and unbans both have that chance at "ruining" a meta, just like how 1v1's been downhill ever since Salamence got banned.

As for having things fall out of viability, I believe that's what 1v1 needs right now, because if 1v1 gets more centralized towards the good things being good, then that means the cancerous things like Jumpluff, Sleep spammers, accuracy droppers, and more will start vanishing, thus making 1v1 somewhat skill-oriented again, as opposed to the Monotype likeness that it has right now where the risk of losing before the battle even starts is always present. Of course, the unbanning of Blaziken won't make 1v1 competitive again, but it will at least be a possible step in the right direction to forcing out things that don't belong in any competitive circumstances. Bear in mind that this portion is all my opinion rather than being based on fact, I will gladly admit I'm wrong if someone can provide a legitimate "universal smogon mindset" for how bans/unbans are handled. I will also elaborate if anything is unclear, because I didn't want to overshadow the original point of this post by trying to explain my whole thought process.

 

[Felucia]

We Have a Problem​

+

+

Anybody who played 1v1 in Gen 6 knows that the team of Mega Gyarados, Mega Charizard X, and Mega Mawile practically ran the Meta, and now…it is back. Since Mawile’s release many players have started to spam this team mindlessly on the ladder, and it’s starting to hurt the creativity that makes 1v1 so great.

The team consists of 3 juggernauts who can dominate the Meta game by themselves, but also have great synergy together allowing them to take on almost any team without fear. This is why I feel it’s time the 1v1 community comes together for a public brainstorm on how to slow down this beast of a team. (I will be referring to the team as a beast from now on)


I’m including an example of what this team could look like, set wise, in case you want to try it or need something to base Cteaming around. However, I must warn you all three of these mons have multiple sets, so just beating the three sets included isn’t a guarantee for taming the beast. Try to think about the bigger picture.

The Team

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 96 Def / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Crunch

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp

The Zard is generic, but let's be honest it's probably the most common on the ladder by people who haven't discovered the power of bulky zard.

Personally, I spammed this team like crazy in Gen 6, but I’d like to see some change in Gen 7. I don’t want the Meta to fall into a dark state where you hit the same team in about ¼ of your games – that’s unappealing, and will greatly reduce interest in the 1v1 tier.

Another option the beast has is running Zard-Y. The team usually uses Zard-X, but if Cteaming gets to specific this monster in its own right can come in and help keep the beast moving forward through its opponents. Also since this change isn’t apparent at team preview it can be tricky to maneuver around – since you don’t know when the adjustment will be made, and how long it will last. Just another tool the beast has in trumping the ladder.


At the end of the day no 1v1 team is perfect, and this team is included, so I’m going to strongly urge players to help out the community by making public what they’ve been using to try and tame the beast.

I'm expecting to see this team being spammed. But then some players will top ladder with a team that beats it and in an effort to beat those players the meta will break apart again. I am expecting this team to not rule the ladder like it did last time.

Edit: Just after I said this I topped ladder with stunfisk, point proven

 

[fanyfan]

I'm here to post about my experiences with the godsquad (Mega maw, mega gyara, mega zard x). I have played over 50 games with the squad, and want to share a few observations.

- It is by no means unbeatable. There are counters like: stunfisk (for a megagyara not packing taunt) (credit to UnleashOurPassion), yawn/protect/z-belly drum/double-edge snorlax (credit to Fertile Crescent), scarf emboar, and jumpluff does well just to name a few.

-However, this does not mean it isn't broken. Taking a look at the mons I just mentioned, only jumpluff is decent, the rest (especially stunfisk) are not really very good typically. If you find yourself running a stunfisk to win vs this team, then there's definitely problems

- It's hard to identify the broken element.
- Mega Zard X most likely isn't the broken element, as outside of this team, it isn't broken, just a great mon
- Mega Mawile could be, but it's really too soon to tell, and it isn't that bad outside of this team in my experience
- Mega Gyarados is what I personally think the broken element is. It eliminates or sometimes beats so many mons that would otherwise give this team major problems like: crustle, donphan, stunfisk if taunt (ha, UnleashOurPassion), and more.

In conclusion, because of my experiences with the godsquad, I believe that team is too strong and mega gyarados is broken.

(Off topic, but this is why Durant is hard to use. I misplayed and still won. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-546983969)

 

[Felucia]

partys over there is point in mentioning it because Fannyfan made a mistake, Gyarados with taunt still loses to Stunfisk it just becomes a 50/50.
Stunfisk needs to use Thunder on a taunt and yawn otherwise, there is no way for God Squad to guaranteed beat Stunfisk, all they can do against it is create more 50/50 plays like:

1. Taunt Gyara, Thunder or Yawn
2. ZardY, Endure or Yawn (blast burn is KO, solar beam is not)
3. Substitute ZardX, [see point 4] or Yawn
4. ZardX in general, Thunder or Earth Power
5. Mawile just dies.

 

[fanyfan]

5. Mawile just dies.

That is actually not true if it's a bulky mawile. If it is, you need the spattack boost to ohko it.

252+ SpA Stunfisk Earth Power vs. 236 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 248-294 (82.6 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The rest of your post was good however.

 

[The Official Glyx]

If you want counters to Maw/Gyara/Zardx, there's a decent variety of options.

Specs Porygon-Z:

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252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Porygon-Z Hyper Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile-Mega: 287-338 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Typically more bulk than people usually run on Mawile, but can be switched to Download if you really want the job done.

252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Flare Blitz vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Porygon-Z: 277-327 (88.7 - 104.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Porygon-Z Uproar vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 378-446 (127.2 - 150.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs (Download) Porygon-Z Uproar vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 285-336 (95.9 - 113.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Uproar used for the sake of Substitute Charizard-X, seeing how it holds relevance again. If you know that their Charizard is physically defensive, then you can run Download and just win. The only real threat is the potential of them switching to Charizard-Y.

Blastoise-Mega:

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252+ SpA Blastoise-Mega Hydro Cannon vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 315-372 (106 - 125.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Bops any Charizard-X lacking substitute, but comes down to a 50/50 between Dragon Pulse and Cannon if you don't have the bulk necessary to tank a +1 Outrage
+1 252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Outrage vs. 252 HP / 188 Def Blastoise-Mega: 306-361 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

It has a bit of a tricky relationship with Gyarados, but can almost always win with the combination of Fake Out turn 1, Dragon Pulse turn 2, and then another Dragon Pulse or Aura Sphere turn 3.
-1 0 Atk Blastoise-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados: 19-23 (5.7 - 6.9%)
Important chip damage
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Blastoise-Mega Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 157-185 (47.4 - 55.8%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Blastoise-Mega Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 124-147 (37.4 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Blastoise-Mega Aura Sphere vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 236-278 (71.2 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This covers many contingencies, since most people would not Mega Evolve their Gyarados turn 1 vs a Blastoise, which means Dragon Pulse can come in for the 2HKO, but the only flaw is if they don't Mega at all, which puts it at a 50/50 between whether they do or don't, since a 2nd Dragon Pulse on Mega evolved Gyarados needs multiple high rolls to do the trick.

252+ SpA Blastoise-Mega Hydro Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile-Mega: 288-339 (94.7 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
After a Fake Out, it just plain bops Mawile.

Greninja:

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The classic Specs bopper. Only really threatened by this team if Gyarados is packing either a lot of HP investment or 216 Speed evs or more, which is asking a lot.
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 167-197 (50.4 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Just bops the other two with Hydro Cannon

Bulk Up Pinsir-Mega:

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With renewed viability due to outspeeding the Charizards turn 1, Pinsir is now a counter to them, only really being threatened by Mawile, which it can counteract with Bulk Up and a pinch of HP investments.
+1 224 Atk Pinsir-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 304-358 (100 - 117.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. +1 56 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 159-187 (55.7 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. +1 56 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 83-98 (29.1 - 34.3%) -- 5.4% chance to 3HKO

224 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados-Mega: 246-289 (74.3 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
224 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados-Mega: 67-79 (20.2 - 23.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
Gyarados' only real hope is the ~1/4 chance of winning with a +1 Waterfall crit/flinch if you go the Bulk Up route, but if you Giga Impact first then use Quick Attack, you can negate that flinch chance with a very likely chance of 2HKO-ing.

Primarina/Tapu Fini:

Hide

Choice specs just bops all three of them easily, do you really need calcs for this?

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Tapu Fini: 231-273 (67.1 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Tapu Fini: 60-71 (17.4 - 20.6%) -- possible 5HKO
Okay Tapu Fini needs a smidgen of Def evs to not risk getting 2HKO'd by Mawile, my bad.

Keldeo:

Hide

252+ SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile-Mega: 306-361 (100.6 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Requires Modest to safely OHKO Mawile 80% of the time, but I don't believe that's asking too much.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 336-396 (93.3 - 110%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Can even take on DEG's bulky Charizard.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hidden Power Electric vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 172-204 (51.9 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I know HP Electric sounds silly but it's really helpful and even helps with physically defensive Slowbro.

Volcanion:

Hide

Bops Char and Mawile, but struggles with Gyarados
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Hidden Power Electric vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 432-512 (130.5 - 154.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 344-406 (103.9 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It's already a 50/50 relationship, but Focus Blast's accuracy puts it at an even bigger disadvantage, I'd only advise using this if your prediction game is on point.

Bewear:

Hide

This one might surprise you, but it actually does beat this team.
252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Bewear: 255-301 (66.9 - 79%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Flare Blitz is still contact, so Fluffy is just neutralized rather than doubled, not sure why the calc has it doubled.
252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 288-339 (96.9 - 114.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Bewear: 150-177 (39.3 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados-Mega: 156-184 (47.1 - 55.5%) -- 75.8% chance to 2HKO
The only risk here is that Gyarados gets a flinch or crit with either of its two chances to Waterfall, which is 2 chances at a 1/4 chance.

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Fluffy Bewear: 254-300 (66.6 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 192-228 (63.1 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Fluffy shows its potential in this matchup, making even a super effective hit from Mawile look sad. Only risk here is that the opposing Mawile might be speed crept in an attempt to outspeed you.

I really hope I did the hide thingies right.
Edit: Yay, I did!

 

[Felucia]

That is actually not true if it's a bulky mawile. If it is, you need the spattack boost to ohko it.

252+ SpA Stunfisk Earth Power vs. 236 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 248-294 (82.6 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The rest of your post was good however.

Correction: Mawile just dies if I get more than a single sleep turn or predict it to not attack at all or if it misses play rough

If you want counters to Maw/Gyara/Zardx, there's a decent variety of options.

Specs Porygon-Z:

Hide

252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Porygon-Z Hyper Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile-Mega: 287-338 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Typically more bulk than people usually run on Mawile, but can be switched to Download if you really want the job done.

252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Flare Blitz vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Porygon-Z: 277-327 (88.7 - 104.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Porygon-Z Uproar vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 378-446 (127.2 - 150.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs (Download) Porygon-Z Uproar vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 285-336 (95.9 - 113.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
Uproar used for the sake of Substitute Charizard-X, seeing how it holds relevance again. If you know that their Charizard is physically defensive, then you can run Download and just win. The only real threat is the potential of them switching to Charizard-Y.

Blastoise-Mega:

Hide

252+ SpA Blastoise-Mega Hydro Cannon vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 315-372 (106 - 125.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Bops any Charizard-X lacking substitute, but comes down to a 50/50 between Dragon Pulse and Cannon if you don't have the bulk necessary to tank a +1 Outrage
+1 252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Outrage vs. 252 HP / 188 Def Blastoise-Mega: 306-361 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

It has a bit of a tricky relationship with Gyarados, but can almost always win with the combination of Fake Out turn 1, Dragon Pulse turn 2, and then another Dragon Pulse or Aura Sphere turn 3.
-1 0 Atk Blastoise-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados: 19-23 (5.7 - 6.9%)
Important chip damage
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Blastoise-Mega Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 157-185 (47.4 - 55.8%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Blastoise-Mega Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 124-147 (37.4 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Mega Launcher Blastoise-Mega Aura Sphere vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 236-278 (71.2 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This covers many contingencies, since most people would not Mega Evolve their Gyarados turn 1 vs a Blastoise, which means Dragon Pulse can come in for the 2HKO, but the only flaw is if they don't Mega at all, which puts it at a 50/50 between whether they do or don't, since a 2nd Dragon Pulse on Mega evolved Gyarados needs multiple high rolls to do the trick.

252+ SpA Blastoise-Mega Hydro Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile-Mega: 288-339 (94.7 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
After a Fake Out, it just plain bops Mawile.

Greninja:

Hide

The classic Specs bopper. Only really threatened by this team if Gyarados is packing either a lot of HP investment or 216 Speed evs or more, which is asking a lot.
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 167-197 (50.4 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Just bops the other two with Hydro Cannon

Bulk Up Pinsir-Mega:

Hide

With renewed viability due to outspeeding the Charizards turn 1, Pinsir is now a counter to them, only really being threatened by Mawile, which it can counteract with Bulk Up and a pinch of HP investments.
+1 224 Atk Pinsir-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 304-358 (100 - 117.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. +1 56 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 159-187 (55.7 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. +1 56 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 83-98 (29.1 - 34.3%) -- 5.4% chance to 3HKO

224 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados-Mega: 246-289 (74.3 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
224 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados-Mega: 67-79 (20.2 - 23.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
Gyarados' only real hope is the ~1/4 chance of winning with a +1 Waterfall crit/flinch if you go the Bulk Up route, but if you Giga Impact first then use Quick Attack, you can negate that flinch chance with a very likely chance of 2HKO-ing.

Primarina/Tapu Fini:

Hide

Choice specs just bops all three of them easily, do you really need calcs for this?

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Tapu Fini: 231-273 (67.1 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Tapu Fini: 60-71 (17.4 - 20.6%) -- possible 5HKO
Okay Tapu Fini needs a smidgen of Def evs to not risk getting 2HKO'd by Mawile, my bad.

Keldeo:

Hide

252+ SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile-Mega: 306-361 (100.6 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Requires Modest to safely OHKO Mawile 80% of the time, but I don't believe that's asking too much.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 336-396 (93.3 - 110%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Can even take on DEG's bulky Charizard.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hidden Power Electric vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 172-204 (51.9 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I know HP Electric sounds silly but it's really helpful and even helps with physically defensive Slowbro.

Volcanion:

Hide

Bops Char and Mawile, but struggles with Gyarados
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Hidden Power Electric vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 432-512 (130.5 - 154.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 344-406 (103.9 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It's already a 50/50 relationship, but Focus Blast's accuracy puts it at an even bigger disadvantage, I'd only advise using this if your prediction game is on point.

Bewear:

Hide

This one might surprise you, but it actually does beat this team.
252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Bewear: 255-301 (66.9 - 79%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Flare Blitz is still contact, so Fluffy is just neutralized rather than doubled, not sure why the calc has it doubled.
252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 288-339 (96.9 - 114.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Bewear: 150-177 (39.3 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Gyarados-Mega: 156-184 (47.1 - 55.5%) -- 75.8% chance to 2HKO
The only risk here is that Gyarados gets a flinch or crit with either of its two chances to Waterfall, which is 2 chances at a 1/4 chance.

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Fluffy Bewear: 254-300 (66.6 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 192-228 (63.1 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Fluffy shows its potential in this matchup, making even a super effective hit from Mawile look sad. Only risk here is that the opposing Mawile might be speed crept in an attempt to outspeed you.

I really hope I did the hide thingies right.
Edit: Yay, I did!

For volcanion a set you could consider is the following:
Overheat
Sunny Day
Solar Beam
Steam Eruption

Firium-Z
I haven't lost to a single gyarados with this set

 

[RNGIsFatal]

We Have a Problem​

+

+

I have recently started playing 1v1, and this is my first post in this thread, and I noticed we have been discussing (or at least have been) the three aforementioned 'mons, and it made me want to explain my stance on them.

I haven't faced Mega Mawile too many times so I decided not to mention about it until I gain more experience.

About the first two threats, I barely had any problem against the first two 'mons, because I have this guy in the team:

Pinsir-Mega (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker -> Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Giga Impact
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance


I understand The Official Glyx has mentioned many threats but I thought this Pinsir is worthy of a separate mention due to these facts:

+1 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gyarados-Mega: 465-547 (140.4 - 165.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- Assuming 1 Swords Dance after Intimidate

252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 306-360 (103 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

When it comes to taking damage,

+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir-Mega: 190-225 (70.1 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir-Mega: 190-225 (70.1 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

So Pinsir always outspeeds both Mega Charizard's, and survives at least one boosted hit from Mega Gyarados. That means it won't lose unless it misses Giga Impact, or gets crit damage from Gyarados after Dragon Dance (don't even know why am I talking about this).

So I think this guy can help your team stay offensive, while letting you deal with Magnezone and level 1 shenanigans thanks to Mold Breaker before Mega Evolution, and deal with first 2 aforementioned threats.

What do you think? (Maybe some Charizards or Gyarados invest in bulk but I am not too sure and tried to talk based on seemingly the most general EV spread)

 

[lost heros]

I have recently started playing 1v1, and this is my first post in this thread, and I noticed we have been discussing (or at least have been) the three aforementioned 'mons, and it made me want to explain my stance on them.

I haven't faced Mega Mawile too many times so I decided not to mention about it until I gain more experience.

About the first two threats, I barely had any problem against the first two 'mons, because I have this guy in the team:

Pinsir-Mega (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker -> Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Giga Impact
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance


I understand The Official Glyx has mentioned many threats but I thought this Pinsir is worthy of a separate mention due to these facts:

+1 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gyarados-Mega: 465-547 (140.4 - 165.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- Assuming 1 Swords Dance after Intimidate

252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 306-360 (103 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

When it comes to taking damage,

+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir-Mega: 190-225 (70.1 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir-Mega: 190-225 (70.1 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

So Pinsir always outspeeds both Mega Charizard's, and survives at least one boosted hit from Mega Gyarados. That means it won't lose unless it misses Giga Impact, or gets crit damage from Gyarados after Dragon Dance (don't even know why am I talking about this).

So I think this guy can help your team stay offensive, while letting you deal with Magnezone and level 1 shenanigans thanks to Mold Breaker before Mega Evolution, and deal with first 2 aforementioned threats.

What do you think? (Maybe some Charizards or Gyarados invest in bulk but I am not too sure and tried to talk based on seemingly the most general EV spread)

Mega Pinsir is a very good pokemon, especially when dealing with the god squad. (Although that might be it's only accomplishment)

Some comments on your set:
I don't recommend the 252 investment in speed. 216 is enough to outspeed Base 100s and that's really all you need. The extra EVs should go in to HP, which makes a difference in the roll against max attack Mega Mawile.

Next, don't run Mold Breaker. Mega Pinsir doesn't break any sturdy or multiscale pokemon aside from magnezone, which can just run air balloon anyways and electroweb anyways.
Hyper Cutter is much more useful in preventing Attack drops from not only Mega Gyarados and Mega Mawile, but also from the likes of Lando-T which has a similar usage as Magnezone anyways.

Next, trade out Swords Dance for Bulk Up. You get enough the same attack boost as with Mold Breaker + SD, and is really useful in defensive boosts for living against Mega Mawile, Mega Gyarados, and Foul Play users.

Unfortunately, Mega Pinsir gets crushed by defensive Mega Charizard X, pretty much all Rockium Z users, practically all scarf Pokemon, and most steel types even when you have earthquake or Close Combat, so keep that in mind when team building.

 

[Felucia]

Mega Pinsir is a very good pokemon, especially when dealing with the god squad. (Although that might be it's only accomplishment)

Some comments on your set:
I don't recommend the 252 investment in speed. 216 is enough to outspeed Base 100s and that's really all you need. The extra EVs should go in to HP, which makes a difference in the roll against max attack Mega Mawile.

Next, don't run Mold Breaker. Mega Pinsir doesn't break any sturdy or multiscale pokemon aside from magnezone, which can just run air balloon anyways and electroweb anyways.
Hyper Cutter is much more useful in preventing Attack drops from not only Mega Gyarados and Mega Mawile, but also from the likes of Lando-T which has a similar usage as Magnezone anyways.

Next, trade out Swords Dance for Bulk Up. You get enough the same attack boost as with Mold Breaker + SD, and is really useful in defensive boosts for living against Mega Mawile, Mega Gyarados, and Foul Play users.

Unfortunately, Mega Pinsir gets crushed by defensive Mega Charizard X, pretty much all Rockium Z users, practically all scarf Pokemon, and most steel types even when you have earthquake or Close Combat, so keep that in mind when team building.

If you're going to make a difference for the roll, then throw the EVs in defense...

 

[lost heros]

If you're going to make a difference for the roll, then throw the EVs in defense...

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. +1 40 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 159-187 (56.5 - 66.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. +1 40 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 83-98 (29.5 - 34.8%) -- 13.7% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. +1 0 HP / 40 Def Pinsir-Mega: 153-181 (56.4 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. +1 0 HP / 40 Def Pinsir-Mega: 79-94 (29.1 - 34.6%) -- 8.9% chance to 3HKO

It's actually the exact same roll (some 7/256 chance to be KOed)

 

[RNGIsFatal]

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. +1 40 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 159-187 (56.5 - 66.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. +1 40 HP / 0 Def Pinsir-Mega: 83-98 (29.5 - 34.8%) -- 13.7% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. +1 0 HP / 40 Def Pinsir-Mega: 153-181 (56.4 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. +1 0 HP / 40 Def Pinsir-Mega: 79-94 (29.1 - 34.6%) -- 8.9% chance to 3HKO

It's actually the exact same roll (some 7/256 chance to be KOed)

Apparently UnleashOurPassion meant that such minor different in the roll can affect my GXE or something. Thanks for feedback overall.

 

[Deleted User 91486]

Has anyone thought about this?

Volcanion @ Assault Vest / Grassium Z
Ability: Water Absorb
Quiet Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef
- Steam Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave / HP Ice / Solar Beam

It survives even stuff like Mega Pinsir's Giga Impact, Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt (with the AV) and Garchomp's Earthquake - and OHKOes back with the appropriate coverage move.
I think it would do very well against the above mentioned god team with Mega Gyarados, Charizard X and Mawile, especially when Gyarados doesn't run earthquake or Volcanion has Z-Solar Beam.

 

[Deleted User 91486]

After playing some battles in 1v1, I noticed that crits are making this OM extremely luck-dependant, since a single crit decides the entire game. In the standard 6vs6 matches, crits happen too and can cost you a pokemon, but in most cases they don't decide the entire match, since you have another 5 pokemon left to battle with, but in 1v1, there's only one pokemon per player.
In my opinon (as a strictly competitive player) this is way too much RNG influence for a metagame to be anywhere near "competitive", and the Elo rating is completely useless since it only shows how much luck which player had in his matches.

Just a few examples, where crits decided the game:

• My Scarfchomp vs a Scarf Koko without HP Ice: Koko's Dazzling Gleam is only a 2HKO against Garchomp, so this matchup should be an easy win for the Garchomp - but Dazzling Gleam was a crit and killed Garchomp.
• My Volcanion vs Togedemaru: Would be an easy win for Volcanion - but Togedemaru's Zing Zap critted, OHKOing Volcanion
• My Volcanion vs +2 SpDef Primarina: opponent wanted to toxic stall me with his special defensive Primarina, which would be an easy win for him, since Volcanion lacks recovery - but my Sludge Wave critted and killed Primarina, ignoring the SpDef boost.

I was at about 1400 Elo, then had a series of bad luck (not even mis-predictions/guessings about what pokemon the opponent would use) and dropped down to 1200. Not because I made misplays or mispredictions (which was the reason for my recent drop on the BH ladder), just because I had bad luck.

So my suggestion is to disable critical hits in 1v1. What do you think about this?

 

[sin(pi)]

After playing some battles in 1v1, I noticed that crits are making this OM extremely luck-dependant, since a single crit decides the entire game. In the standard 6vs6 matches, crits happen too and can cost you a pokemon, but in most cases they don't decide the entire match, since you have another 5 pokemon left to battle with, but in 1v1, there's only one pokemon per player.
In my opinon (as a strictly competitive player) this is way too much RNG influence for a metagame to be anywhere near "competitive", and the Elo rating is completely useless since it only shows how much luck which player had in his matches.

Just a few examples, where crits decided the game:

• My Scarfchomp vs a Scarf Koko without HP Ice: Koko's Dazzling Gleam is only a 2HKO against Garchomp, so this matchup should be an easy win for the Garchomp - but Dazzling Gleam was a crit and killed Garchomp.
• My Volcanion vs Togedemaru: Would be an easy win for Volcanion - but Togedemaru's Zing Zap critted, OHKOing Volcanion
• My Volcanion vs +2 SpDef Primarina: opponent wanted to toxic stall me with his special defensive Primarina, which would be an easy win for him, since Volcanion lacks recovery - but my Sludge Wave critted and killed Primarina, ignoring the SpDef boost.

I was at about 1400 Elo, then had a series of bad luck (not even mis-predictions/guessings about what pokemon the opponent would use) and dropped down to 1200. Not because I made misplays or mispredictions (which was the reason for my recent drop on the BH ladder), just because I had bad luck.

So my suggestion is to disable critical hits in 1v1. What do you think about this?

This is true for literally every metagame*. "My Mandibuzz got critted and now Hoopa-U sweeps me" can arguably have an equal effect on the game; in this example, Hoopa gets a kill every time it comes in. Banning hax means we're no longer following cartridge mechanics, which goes against Smogon policy.

If you want to play a haxless metagame similar to 1v1 then may I suggest 0v0?


*Except Haxmons and Skillmons.

 

[Deleted User 91486]

Sorry, but I think you don't understand my point.
In other metagames, you have more than one pokemon. So, if Hoopa-U crits your Mandibuzz and kills it, you can, for example, revenge kill it with another faster pokemon or a pokemon that has access to priority like Pheromosa, Golisopod, Tapu Lele, Scizor... etc. Or you can abuse the momentum you gain after your critted mon faints to bring your own sweeper and set it up to strike back. So crits are definitely manageable and a single crit is rarely the reason for losing a battle.
In some rare situations crits can even be bad for the one who scored the crit. Example: Your opponent has a severely weakened Ferrothorn in the battle, you have a Scizor/Landorus/Pheromosa and use U-turn. Ferrothorn barely survives the U-Turn, you gained momentum and can now set-up your Charizard X, abusing the passivity of Ferrothorn. But when your U-Turn crits, Ferrothorn dies, meaning you switch out first, and lose all momentum to your opponent.

So, in a 6on6 there are multiple ways to handle crits, since a pokemon dying always means that you have the momentum and can make a "free" switch to another pokemon - but in 1v1 you have only one pokemon, so that a crit always means that the player who got the crit wins -> RNG decides the battle.

Banning hax means we're no longer following cartridge mechanics, which goes against Smogon policy.

I also don't want to ban hax entirely, only crits are problematic in my opinion. Also, you aren't following the cartridge mechanics with implementing OMs like this, since there's no format in the cartridge games where players have teams of three pokemon and battle with one of them.

 

[Kentari]

After playing some battles in 1v1, I noticed that crits are making this OM extremely luck-dependant, since a single crit decides the entire game. In the standard 6vs6 matches, crits happen too and can cost you a pokemon, but in most cases they don't decide the entire match, since you have another 5 pokemon left to battle with, but in 1v1, there's only one pokemon per player.
In my opinon (as a strictly competitive player) this is way too much RNG influence for a metagame to be anywhere near "competitive", and the Elo rating is completely useless since it only shows how much luck which player had in his matches.

Just a few examples, where crits decided the game:

• My Scarfchomp vs a Scarf Koko without HP Ice: Koko's Dazzling Gleam is only a 2HKO against Garchomp, so this matchup should be an easy win for the Garchomp - but Dazzling Gleam was a crit and killed Garchomp.
• My Volcanion vs Togedemaru: Would be an easy win for Volcanion - but Togedemaru's Zing Zap critted, OHKOing Volcanion
• My Volcanion vs +2 SpDef Primarina: opponent wanted to toxic stall me with his special defensive Primarina, which would be an easy win for him, since Volcanion lacks recovery - but my Sludge Wave critted and killed Primarina, ignoring the SpDef boost.

I was at about 1400 Elo, then had a series of bad luck (not even mis-predictions/guessings about what pokemon the opponent would use) and dropped down to 1200. Not because I made misplays or mispredictions (which was the reason for my recent drop on the BH ladder), just because I had bad luck.

So my suggestion is to disable critical hits in 1v1. What do you think about this?

Might I suggest Battle Armor or Shell Armor if you don't want to get crit? Mega-Slowbro is a very good pokemon in 1v1 that has Shell Armor. It will only get crit by pokemon with Moldbreaker.