Offstat Metagame

[Level 51]

As requested by numerous people on numerous occasions

Introduction

A bit of history

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The Offstat Metagame stems from the Offstat Tournament, originally hosted by user: Level 51 in October-December 2012. During its run, a whole bunch of people pestered him into making a thread about the "metagame" he had unwittingly created... and so he did.
To see the signups (and subsequent threads) from the Offstat Tournament, you can click the links below.

| Signups | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Semifinals | Finals |

Offstat is essentially like standard OU - no hacks, nothing. Just nice, legal movesets. What sets it apart, though, is the limitations that have been placed on the allowed moves. The main "gimmick" of the metagame is:

No Pokemon may use an attacking move corresponding to its higher base attack stat.

Now this is all very good and well. You may be thinking, what's all the buzz about this for? Can't we just bring in physical Hydreigons and special Landoruses and all that jazz? Well, no. This is because of the second limitation:

No Pokemon may be used if the difference between its two attacking stats is less than 50.

Because of this clause, only the following Pokemon are allowed:

Abra
Absol
Aggron
Alakazam
Anorith
Armaldo
Axew
Beheeyem
Bisharp
Blissey
Bonsly
Bouffalant
Braviary
Breloom
Chandelure
Conkeldurr
Cranidos
Darmanitan (Zen Mode Darmanitan is not allowed, because it always breaks Clause 2)
Darumaka
Dodrio
Doduo
Donphan
Drilbur
Druddigon
Duosion
Durant
Escavalier
Espeon
Fraxure
Gallade
Garchomp
Gardevoir
Gastly
Gengar
Geodude
Gigalith
Glaceon
Gliscor
Golem
Golurk
Granbull
Gurdurr
Gyarados
Hariyama
Haunter
Haxorus
Heracross
Hitmonchan
Hitmonlee
Hitmontop
Jynx
Kabutops
Kadabra
Kangaskhan
Keldeo (Keldeo-R is not allowed, because it must by definition always utilise Secret Sword, hence Breaking Clause 2)
Kingler
Krabby
KrookodileLampent
Leafeon
Lilligant
Machamp
Machoke
Magnemite
Magneton
Magnezone
Mamoswine
Meloetta (Meloetta-P is not allowed, because it must first come from a Relic Song-using Meloetta, which breaks Clause 2)
Mr. Mime
Musharna
Omanyte
Omastar
Pinsir
Porygon-Z
Rampardos
Regice
Regigigas
Regirock
Reuniclus
Rhydon
Rhyhorn
Rhyperior
Roggenrola
Roserade
Sandshrew
Sandslash
Sawk
Scizor
Scyther
Shedinja
Slaking
Smoochum
Sneasel
Solosis
Staraptor
Stoutland
Sudowoodo
Tauros
Terrakion
Throh
Timburr
Togekiss
Trapinch
Ursaring
Volcarona
Weavile
Zangoose

There are also two other clauses that one may or may not use when playing matches. In order of importance:

Entry hazards are not allowed; this is to counteract the use of stall. (This was employed in the Offstat Tournament.)

Kyurem-B is not allowed; it is too overpowered. (This was employed in Round 2 of the Offstat Tournament.)

What rules the metagame? Should Blissey be banned? Should Kyurem-B be allowed? Should entry hazards be allowed? Would the return of entry hazards make Kyurem-B significantly easier to handle? As you can see, this metagame, being relatively new, is full of questions that need answering. Give it a try; good luck, have fun! .‿.

[Level 51]

Reserved.

[Ghostbone]

Somehow I see hustlekiss dominating this meta.....oh and special ramardos, who actually has legitimately powerful special attacks >.>

Other than that Swords dance Keldeo would be pretty fun to use, as well as maybe curse regice.

And SpecsChomp best set, just sayin.

Anyway, seriously, since this metagame is clearly massively different from regular OU, perhaps it's worth unbanning uber pokes that actually meet the requirements. (Groudon, Kyogre, Excadrill and Kyurem-W) to see if they're actually broken. (I don't see excadrill or Groudon being anywhere near broken lol, though physical kyogre and kyurem-W would still be scary)

And I'd keep hazards banned...since (correct me if I'm wrong) no rapid spinners actually exist (or are allowed to use it if they learn it).

[DTC]

Special Groudon would still be pretty insane. Base 100 Special Attack is really high for this metagame and thanks to Drought, it essentially has two amazing STAB's. Groudon would also be incredibly difficult to take down thanks to its amazing bulk.

Excadrill is the only one of the four that you mentioned that should be allowed. In fact, I kind of doubt that Excadrill would be that stellar. 50 base Special Attack is not that good even in offstat and its special movepool is limited.

[Relados]

Are Ubers formally banned or can we use Special Groudon, Physical Kyogre and the likes? If they're allowed, I could imagine them dominating this metagame almost as much as Kyurem-B would.

[Ghostbone]

Even if we think it's likely that they'll dominate the metagame it's still worth testing them out (groudon would find it impossible to get past blissey or togekiss for example, kyogre is checked by basically any water resist, kyurem-W....would admittedly probably still be broken, but if kyurem-B started out legal it at least deserves a shot...)

[Level 51]

Of all the Ubers, the only allowed ones are Kyogre, Groudon, Kyurem-W and Excadrill.

For obvious reasons, I don't think Excadrill would be very good, even with Sand Rush. Sand Force might be interesting, giving Excadrill around the equivalent of 80 SpA (the same as Garchomp) for Earth Power, at the cost of an ability slot. However, in terms of special attacks, it basically has Earth Power, Focus Blast, Sludge Bomb and Hidden Power as its only reasonable forms of offense, being unable to utilise even Flash Cannon :/

Groudon is interesting. With 100 SpA, Drought and access to Earth Power, Dragon Pulse and Eruption (further strengthened by Drought), I think it's safe to say that it should remain banned,

Kyogre doesn't have much in the way of physical offense, but the combination of Aqua Tail/Waterfall, Avalanche and Earthquake provides good coverage; furthermore, its superb special bulk lets it check threats such as Garchomp and Rampardos.

Kyurem-W also gets excellent coverage from Outrage/Zen Headbutt/Stone Edge, but is unfortunately completely walled by Magnezone due to it lacking Earthquake. Its bulk, though, like Kyurem-B's, means that it can run a stall set (like almost every other legendary :|).

In fact, stall is one of the most dominating playstyles of this metagame, which is why I banned entry hazards in the first place. >_>

[Theorymon]

Oh man I wish this thread was more active, this metagame is almost as crazy as glitchmons sometimes! (granted, a very different kind of crazy). ANYWAYS, Im shocked at how little people seem to prepare for Blissey. Considering how this metagame works, getting stalled out by Blissey is a VERY real threat that needs to be taken into consideration!

As far as Curse users go, I haven't tried Regice, but one mon I have had success with is Musharna. It has both Heal Bell AND an immediate recovery move in moonlight, so after a few curses, it can actually wreck stuff with Zen Headbutt of all things! It also gets Baton Pass which is pretty nice.

I can also confirm that Hustle Togekiss IS indeed strong. I use a sorta bulky attacking set with Work Up / ExtremeSpeed / Roost / Steel Wing or Drain Punch. Drain Punch is cool, but I usually used Steel Wing because I was pretty scared about Gengar. Togekiss's only real problem is that of course, Hustle can screw you over at the WORST times x_x

I'll post some more intresting mons when I have more time!

[Arcticblast]

I got out R1 but I guess I'll post here anyway.

In my eyes, there are only four really viable physical attackers: Omastar, Musharna (Theorymon o_o), Togekiss and Keldeo. Omastar gets Shell Smash, which is just an amazing move on any Pokemon. Musharna can just use Curse or it can go THEORYMON SMASH and Baton Pass to something like Togekiss who can clean up with Extremespeed. Togekiss gets Hustle, which is amazing with the low stats of Offstat attackers, and it gets Work Up Extremespeed and Drain Punch to boot. Keldeo is blessed with Swords Dance and the strongest Fighting-type move in the entire tier, making it an excellent Blissey killer. It also gets priority in Aqua Jet. From my experience, Porygon-Z isn't actually that great despite its awesome potential, as it has an awful physical movepool (STAB moves, Iron Tail, Aerial Ace, Zen Headbutt, ...Thief?).

Sets for the above Pokemon that I've used (note: I haven't used Musharna at all, I don't know Theorymon's EV spread though...):

Click me

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Omastar @ White Herb
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Return / Double-Edge

Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 Atk / 172 HP / 84 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Zen Headbutt
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Slide
- Curse
EVs give Porygon-Z a Special Attack boost, just made those up, don't kill me)

Togekiss @ Choice Band
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Drain Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Trick

Keldeo @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Aqua Jet
- Substitute / Aqua Tail

Damn, just remembered Curse Regice... Hooray for Close Combat Keldeo! It's interesting to note that it might be the only physical attacker that can reliably beat Garchomp though, since Rough Skin + Draco Meteor will bone most physical attackers.

Stalling is absolutely everywhere. Blissey is pretty much the best Pokemon in the tier since so little can stop it, and Pokemon are forced to use their lower attacking stat which makes everything seem bulkier.

[Level 51]

Originally Posted by Fat Arcticblast

Porygon-Z isn't actually that great despite its awesome potential, as it has an awful physical movepool (STAB moves, Iron Tail, Aerial Ace, Zen Headbutt, ...Thief?

Interestingly enough, Natural Gift works kind of like a Physical Hidden Power if you don't mind wasting an item slot. :P

I also thought Fling might be an interesting option, with Burn, Toxic and Thunder Wave added in by Flame Orb, Toxic Orb and Light Ball.

[rlyn99]

As far as I can see, there is a lack of good grass types in this tier, as most grass types have pretty balanced offenses

The only ones that would be worth looking at are Breloom and *maybe* leafeon.

Sheer force Braviary is actually a pretty cool set, with Air slash, HpFighting and Heat wave rounded off with roost.

I know everyone thinks Blissey is overpowered, but honestly, it's not too prominent considering Keldeo is one of the top pokemon in this tier, and Blissey just gets ass-raped by CC.

[DTC]

Breloom is great. Just don't waste your time using Technician; Poison Heal is where Breloom shines. I remember struggling to get past zfs's Substitute / Spore / Leech Seed / Giga Drain Breloom.

Braviary I would forgo using Hidden Power Fighting. Yeah you miss out on Rock-types, but they are generally pretty frail and not so great. Substitute would have more utility than Hidden Power Fighting.

[Joim]

Even though I got owned in round 1 by a baton pass team, I find this metagame very enjoyable and interesting. I consider Groudon could be broken even if it's walled by Blissey, 100 base stat is too much for an offstat.

[Level 51]

This is kind of a necrobump, but OffStat can now be played on Joim's server — http://joimslab.psim.us/. If OffStat becomes the OMotM an OffStat ladder may also appear in the main server. Have fun!
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In other news, should Groudon, Kyogre, Excadrill and Kyurem-W remain banned on the new ladder? Discuss n_n (reference for pros of each of the 4 ubers)

[Heroes and Cons]

Volcarona has a decent physical and support movepool (including stuff like Flare Blitz, morning sun, will-o-wisp and toxic), so with its nice speed it could be interesting.

On another note, it's a damn shame there wasn't 6 more points between Mewtwo's offensive stats. Physical Mewtwo would be devastating if ubers were allowed to be tried out, with access to Bulk Up, Recover, the elemental punches, focus punch, etc coming off base 110 attack (which is insane for this meta).

Thirdly, Regigigas is actually viable here. Base 80 special attack isn't bas at all in this meta, the special attack stat isn't affected by Slow Start, and instead of investing in speed you can invest in its bulk to turn it into a great special-attacking tank. It only really gets Thunderbolt, Hidden Power and Focus Blast for viable special attacks so it would be quite predictable, but no less difficult to face (it could use chesto-rest or lefties with sub to make it even harder to take down).

[Arcticblast]

Since stalling is much more prevalent here, Regigigas would probably have difficulty in OffStat. Without Rest, Protect, or any form of recovery, there's nothing it can do to similarly stall out the opponent, and if said opponent has Substitute you're out of luck.

Also, I think Excadrill should definitely be unbanned. Low Special Attack with no way to boost really spells Excadrill's doom, and even if it tried to pull off a stalling set it would probably get destroyed by the multitude of Gengar and Keldeo in the tier.