Lockdown (Now Playable!)

Sugarbear

Sugarbear

Formerly ChrystalFalchion
Approved by The Immortal​

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Banner by Sobi​

Lockdown
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Lockdown is a metagame which is all about the first 6 turns of the battle. At the end of Turn 6, the Battlefield is locked into its current state. This means that whatever entry hazards, weather, rooms, terrains and even sports are in effect will remain in place until the end of the battle.

Rules

Mechanics: From Turn 7 onward, the following battlefield conditions become permanent:
  • Stealth Rock, Spikes, Sticky Web, Toxic Spikes
  • Trick Room, Wonder Room, Magic Room, Gravity
  • Electric Terrain, Misty Terrain, Grassy Terrain
  • Sun, Rain, Sandstorm, Hail
  • Mud Sport, Water Sport
Clauses: OU Clauses
Bans: OU Banlist, Heat Rock, Damp Rock, Smooth Rock, Icy Rock

Strategy

The possibility of permanent weather, Trick Room and Terrains opens the door to a whole load of strategies not normally seen in OU. Trick Room can be devastating. Slow powerhouses like Conkeldurr and Mega Camerupt become very fast powerhouses that can still take a hit if need be. Bulky boosters like Mega Slowbro can become nigh unbreakable with Misty Terrain negating their weakness to status. And of course, who could forget the devastation Sun and Rain teams can cause?

Increased Viability

Here are some Pokémon that get a viability boost in Lockdown

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Mega Camerupt is an absolute beast in Trick Room, as 145 base Special Attack combined with Sheer Force let it 2HKO most things. It also has good 75/100/105 defenses, so it can take nuetral hits quite well. While Mega Camerupt is happiest in Trick Room, it's also good on Sun teams as well for its ability to check opposing Trick Room teams and opposing Fire-types.

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With its great bulk and typing combined with an immunity to Taunt, Aromatisse is a great lead. It can set up Trick Room, Sunny Day, Rain Dance and Misty Terrain, the latter of which Aromatisse is easily the best user of the move.

Decreased Viability

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With the increased use of Trick Room, Rain and Sun, base 125 Speed isn't what it is in the standard meta, and Weavile's intense frailty mean it's KOd quite easily. On top of that it doesn't really benefit from any team archetype

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Much like Weavile, Gengar's intense frailty makes it cannon fodder for Swift Swim and Chlorophyll users, and against Trick Room teams it's pretty much already dead. And while Gravity can give it a 100% accurate Thunder, Focus Blast and Hypnosis, it also negates Levitate.

Q&A

Q: What about Screens, Tailwind etc.
A: Nothing happens to them. If it's not listed under Rules, it functions as normal

Q: What happens if I try to set up Stealth Rock, Spikes etc. after Turn 7?
A: The move will fail. If you bring in a Pokémon with Drought/Drizzle etc. the ability will fail.

Q: What happens if I try to remove entry hazards after turn 7?
A: Defog will still destory screens and lower evasion, but won't remove hazards. Rapid Spin still deals damage, but won't remove hazards.

Q: Is it playable?
A: Yes, you can play it on The Galaxy Server

Resources
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Viability Rankings
S

A+

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Clefable
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Cresselia
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Diancie-Mega
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Thundurus


A

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Aromatisse
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Camerupt-Mega
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Charizard-Mega X
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Charizard-Mega Y
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Klefki
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Tornadus-Therian
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Tyranitar

A-

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Ferrothorn
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Hippowdon
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Mew
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Keldeo
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Swampert-Mega
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Venusaur-Mega
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Whimsicott

B+

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Bronzong
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Cofagrigus
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Forretress
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Ninetales
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Politoed
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Serperior
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Slowbro
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Talonflame
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Volcanion

B

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Abomasnow-Mega
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Chandelure
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Diancie
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Jellicent
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Metagross-Mega
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Rhyperior
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Scizor-Mega
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Smeargle
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Slowbro-Mega
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Uxie


B-

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Aerodactyl
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Alakazam-Mega
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Azumarill
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Froslass
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Jirachi
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Reuniclus
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Scizor

C+

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Alakazam
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Dusknoir
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Gardevoir-Mega
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Mesprit

C

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Azelf
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Lopunny-Mega
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Porygon2

C-

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Gengar
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Rampardos
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Xatu

D

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Goodra
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Espeon


Ban History

Nothing yet.​
 
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You need to set Trick Room up between turns 3-6, which gives your opponent ample time to Taunt you. And I personally think Cresselia will be more threatening than Smeargle due to its superior speed and, more importantly, titanic bulk.
 
aromatisse will be really good here since it's immune to taunt, really bulky, and can use trick room. I feel like bisharp is really good here since its typing allows it to beat like 90% of TR setters before they can set up
 
A strat I expect to see on weather squads (aside from having the respective weather move on your weather ability mon to catch switch-ins) is to have something in the back that can reverse Trick Room during the first six turns of the match. Alternatively, counter-TR 'mons such as Mega Camerupt may become commonplace, and as such I expect Ninetales will have a niche here to keep that teamslot full. Because I like sun, here are things I could potentially see being things:

Ninetales @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 240 HP / 12 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Hypnosis

Camerupt @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Stealth Rock / Will-O-Wisp

EVs outpace uninvested Quag

Chandelure @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Imprison

Imprison allows it to lock the opp out of TR for a guaranteed reversal or to prevent it from being set in the first place.

Also can I clarify one thing: are hazards only permanent from turn seven onwards, or are they permanent from the moment they're laid? Because if its the latter then that sounds borked AF (as does the former, albeit very slightly less so).
 
No, hazards can still be removed on turns 1-6. Only on/after turn 7 do they become permanent.
 
I think there are a lot of Pokemon that stand out in this metagame. One that I was thinking about is Azelf. Normally, it's run as a suicide rocks / screen lead, and that would be really helpful in this meta. One of the downsides would be if the opponent has Defog, as the screens would go, but overall, I think Azelf is a Pokemon that I'd probably use if I was playing this.

I'd give it this set:

- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Explosion
- Taunt
Item Attached: Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Any ideas on Azelf / suicide leads in this metagame?
 
Why are weather rocks banned? Making it last longer is pretty much useless since you only need it up on the sixth turn, seems like a silly thing to automatically get rid of
 
Stuff:
  • Tailwind (Can be used as a Trick Room that can't be dispelled. Be sure to remove opponent's Trick Room though)
  • Safeguard (No more status. Pretty much the same as Misty Terrain, without weakening your Dragon moves.)
  • Mist (Can be used to counter Sticky Web, if you don't want a web of your own. Also stops Intimidate.)
  • Nature Power (Used in tandem with terrains, gives some Pokemon some much-needed coverage moves. Sceptile-Mega and Serperior get a 135 BP Thunderbolt to hit Flying-types, for example.)
  • Mud Sport / Water Sport (You can now freely use things that are weak to Electric and/or Fire.)
  • Wonder Room (Swaps Defense and Special Defense stats of everyone. Not sure if it's useful. It would be funny to see Chansey stomach a Close Combat though.)
  • Magic Rom (Suppresses item effects. Same as above, dubious use. It does weaken a lot of Pokemon though.
  • Heal Block (No more healing.)
Safeguard/Misty Terrain + Heal Block is probably enough to shut down stall teams.
 
Megazard said:
Why are weather rocks banned? Making it last longer is pretty much useless since you only need it up on the sixth turn, seems like a silly thing to automatically get rid of
Click to expand...

Because unless your opponent has a weather setting ability of their own, turn 1 weather with a rock is basically guaranteed weather the entire game. Basically every weather team would start turn 1 with Politoed/Ninetales/Hippowdon.

This metagame looks really interesting. Aromatisse I think will be really good on Trick Room teams. Hazard Stacking looks extremely powerful if you can manage to get them up. Magic Bounce may be preferable over Rapid Spin/Defog as the latter become useless after turn six. Mud Sport and Water Sport also look rather interesting.
 
runbabyrun said:
Because unless your opponent has a weather setting ability of their own, turn 1 weather with a rock is basically guaranteed weather the entire game.
Click to expand...
If they don't have a weather setting ability, the same goes for turns 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
edit: maybe not 2 depending on the mechanics
 
Sobi said:
I think there are a lot of Pokemon that stand out in this metagame. One that I was thinking about is Azelf. Normally, it's run as a suicide rocks / screen lead, and that would be really helpful in this meta. One of the downsides would be if the opponent has Defog, as the screens would go, but overall, I think Azelf is a Pokemon that I'd probably use if I was playing this.

I'd give it this set:

- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Explosion
- Taunt
Item Attached: Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Any ideas on Azelf / suicide leads in this metagame?
Click to expand...

Mega Diancie can set up Stealth Rock, Sunny Day and Sandstorm (and technically Trick Room, although it's much too fast to use it well itself), is fast and has Magic Bounce to reflect back Taunts. It can also use a fast Explosion to stop the opponent Defogging. Aerodactyl is the fastest Stealth Rock setter, and it also has Taunt and Sandstorm. Klefki has Prankster giving it priority on Spikes, Sunny Day, Rain Dance and Screens. Espeon has great Speed, Magic Bounce and can ret up screens, Rain Dance and Sunny Day.

Just to clarify, Screens and Tailwind still function as they would in normal battles.
 
Megazard said:
If they don't have a weather setting ability, the same goes for turns 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
edit: maybe not 2 depending on the mechanics
Click to expand...

I'm just speaking from what I see in the OP, although it is true that auto-weather without another weather setter is still possible in the later turns. ChrystalFalchion what was your main reason for banning the rocks?
 
As I said in the OP, I banned the weather rocks because you could just click Sunny Day (or whatever) on turn 1 and if your opponent didn't have a weather setter they'd be in massive trouble. Especially since Thundurus, Klefki and Whimsicott have Prankster, giving them priority on Rain Dance and Sunny Day. Thundurus and Whimsicott have Prankster Taunt as well. The rocks would make setting up weather far too easy in my opinion.

Of course we'll have to wait for it to get coded and hosted before knowing for sure.
 
It would definitely be about 50 times as threatening with the weather rocks because it means that it could be permanently abused right from turn 3 as opposed to permanently abusing it from turn 6 onwards, which is much easier to counterplay for due to the capacity to take out any threats to your weather stop. However, I think that it is definitely balanced out by the improvement to Trick Room, as being able to have a permanent speed reversal will balance Chlorophyll/Swift Swim/Sand Rush. However, it is still questionable as to how balanced it would be because sun has Mega Camerupt, sand has Sand Force Hippo and rain has Azumarill/Crawdaunt to counteract this as well as Sun having access to Imprison users.

Stuff like Abomasnow+slow U-turn/Parting Shot user would be cool to counteract weather because you can get in after they come in on the last turn to put up their weather, allowing Aboma to come in after them and get the initiative with the weather - and as such neutering their weather sweepers.
 
Stall looks really interesting, seeing as u only need to prevent hazards for 6 turns. It isn't hard to do that if u have fake out mega Sableye, u burn a turn like that. You can also set up screens to make stuff like chansey and unaware users that much bulkier. Seems like a good meta.
 
Asumi said:
Stuff:
  • Tailwind (Can be used as a Trick Room that can't be dispelled. Be sure to remove opponent's Trick Room though)
  • Safeguard (No more status. Pretty much the same as Misty Terrain, without weakening your Dragon moves.)
  • Mist (Can be used to counter Sticky Web, if you don't want a web of your own. Also stops Intimidate.)
  • Nature Power (Used in tandem with terrains, gives some Pokemon some much-needed coverage moves. Sceptile-Mega and Serperior get a 135 BP Thunderbolt to hit Flying-types, for example.)
  • Mud Sport / Water Sport (You can now freely use things that are weak to Electric and/or Fire.)
  • Wonder Room (Swaps Defense and Special Defense stats of everyone. Not sure if it's useful. It would be funny to see Chansey stomach a Close Combat though.)
  • Magic Rom (Suppresses item effects. Same as above, dubious use. It does weaken a lot of Pokemon though.
  • Heal Block (No more healing.)
Safeguard/Misty Terrain + Heal Block is probably enough to shut down stall teams.
Click to expand...

Actually I never thought of the Sports, permanent Water Sport/Mud Sport could free up some interesting new strategies, same for Mist. Permanent Screens and Tailwind though would be OP, same for Heal Block. If screens were included, Light Clay would need to be banned for the same reason as the weather rocks.

What do you think? Permanent Water Sport, Mud Sport and Mist, Yay or Nay?
 
Permanent terrain is a thing now?

Serperior @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Grassy terrain
- Leaf Storm
- Sunny Day
- Dragon Pulse/Hidden Power Fire

Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Growth
- Nature Power
- Taunt
- Moonblast

Nature Power's been mentioned, but this one doesn't care about Trick Room. With Grassy Terrain, you will have a Super strong Leaf Storm Serperior that boosts itself each turn and a 135 BP STAB priority move, boosted x2 by Growth in Sunny Day. This may be gimmicky, but it doesn't care about Trick Room since it's priority. Taunt is for stall teams.
 
ChrystalFalchion said:
Actually I never thought of the Sports, permanent Water Sport/Mud Sport could free up some interesting new strategies, same for Mist. Permanent Screens and Tailwind though would be OP, same for Heal Block. If screens were included, Light Clay would need to be banned for the same reason as the weather rocks.

What do you think? Permanent Water Sport, Mud Sport and Mist, Yay or Nay?
Click to expand...

uh Water / Mud sport might be useful, but imo, it won't be one of the most common strategies used. It could work, but I don't think it would be the no.1 strategy people will use. Same for Mist - it could be useful, but it won't be very common.

In my own opinion, the commonly used moves (in order of how good they'll be) will be:
  • traps {leech seed, spikes, toxic spikes, stealth rocks} especially on Turn 6, before the game goes into "lockdown" mode, to deal damage to the opponent upon entrance.
  • Status moves {will status inflictions be able to be removed? If I burn the opponent on turn 6, will they stay burnt, or can they use Heal Bell to remove it?} to cripple the opponent.
  • Sunny Day / Hail / other weather-inducing moves, to increase the power of certain moves, and to activate certain abilities that will be rather helpful.
  • Trick Room, to allow slower but bulkier Pokemon to move first.
  • Screens / Tailwind, to reduce damage taken throughout the whole game / increase the speed of all Pokemon throughout the whole game.
  • Terrain moves, to prevent status.
 
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Also, Misty Terrain will probably be the most useful move in this meta. Can't be statused with anything is huge. Will definitely use it, probably because I hate getting Toxic'd or Will o wisped so much.
 
Chopin Alkaninoff said:
Also, Misty Terrain will probably be the most useful move in this meta. Can't be statused with anything is huge. Will definitely use it , probably because I hate getting Toxic'd or Will o wisped so much.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah! Misty Terrain would probably be the best counter to statuses. If statuses are permanent in this meta, I think people will use Misty Terrain to prevent getting poisoned, which will be the first thing most people do. Lemme add that to my list c:
 
One poke that is interesting is Charizard--Y. You want to waste a turn getting up misty terrain? Gone. It also controls weather. Curious if kyurem-black will get banned, seeing as it is op / banned in almost every other metagame.
 
Permanent Terrain = Gogoat's time to shine.
In all seriousness though, this meta sounds amazing. I am really looking forward to all the weather teams and Trick Room teams. Will Mega Steelix and Giglaith be used on Sand Trick Room teams (not saying its good, just thinking out loud)? What about Mega Garchomp, will it see a rise in usage? How will stall deal without status in the case of Misty Terrain? Trick Room Rampardos and Marowak anyone? I really hope this gets coded soon because I can't wait to play it.
 
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