Metagame NP: RU Stage 5: Gods and Monsters (HOUNDOOMINITE IS BL2, READ POST #178)

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aVocado

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I really think you guys are exaggerating about how good Virizion is. There are multiple reasons why it's B- in the viability rankings, and they're what's keeping it from really being "dominant." First of all, let's see how it can check the Water types of RU. It certainly threatens them, but it can't just switch in as easily because Slowking can potentially OHKO with Psyshock, Clawitzer has Ice Beam, and Alomomola is set-up bait so yeah, there's that. I realize you said check, but still, it's pretty shaky. Other than that though, there are just a lot of Pokemon that can easily keep it from doing its job consistently. Mega Lopunny has a big chance of OHKOing with High Jump Kick, Mega Houndoom roasts it with Fire Blast, Mega Pidgeot blows it away with Hurricane, and while Sceptile can't really touch it with the special sets outside of HP Fire, the physical ones 2HKO with Outrage. Even Mega Sharpedo has a way to get past Virizion now, which is through Ice Fang. The overpopulance of Fletchinder and Dragalge doesn't help it either.

As for retesting Zoroark, definitely not. Not only are we a bit too early to start revisiting some bans (we're not done potentially banning the potentially broken mons in RU right now), but Zoroark really wasn't healthy in RU. It wasn't healthy in a metagame where Registeel, Alomomola, and Gligar were all over the place, and I don't think it would be healthy now.
 

EonX

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Let me reinforce this. Virizion is a-fucking-mazing this meta. Being able to take on practically all Water types with its Swords Dance set is powerful, especially in a meta where premier checks to powerful pokemon such as Slowking, Clawitzer, Alomomola, among others. Any physical walls also get bones by SubCM set. It's such a versatile pokemon that's just honestly an amazing addition to any team.

Another note I would like to bring up is the retesting of some BL2 Mons, namely Zoroark. With the power creep this meta (Mega Bunny, MPidgeot, Virizion) I feel like Zoroark is actually pressed for competition as an offensive pokemon this meta around. Defense has been on the rise, with Gligar, LoveFish, and Registeel all over the tier. Personally, I think it should get retested. Any other takers?
The power creep is actually precisely why Zoroark wouldn't be a good place to start imo. It was most commonly seen on offensive teams. How would it feel to see your best answer to the likes of Mega Sceptile, Mega Lopunny, Pangoro, Dragalge, and other such scary Pokemon just be wiped out because you switched them into what you believed to be the threat they can beat when it was actually Zoroark.

As for Virizion, there's just so many things that hold it back now. Not the least of which is the fact that Mega Sceptile is generally better overall. It's much faster, has virtual immunity to paralysis thanks to Lightningrod and a Grass typing, has a secondary Dragon STAB which is an easy click in the absence of Aromatisse, and still gets the Fighting coverage Virizion gets, albeit a little weaker, regardless of the set it runs. (tho SD generally prefers EQ) I mean, I love Virizion don't get me wrong. But I just don't feel it's that good in the current metagame. It's certainly usable, but I really would only find myself using it if I needed an offensive Grass-type, but already had a Mega on my team.
 
Let me reinforce this. Virizion is a-fucking-mazing this meta. Being able to take on practically all Water types with its Swords Dance set is powerful, especially in a meta where premier checks to powerful pokemon such as Slowking, Clawitzer, Alomomola, among others. Any physical walls also get bones by SubCM set. It's such a versatile pokemon that's just honestly an amazing addition to any team.

Another note I would like to bring up is the retesting of some BL2 Mons, namely Zoroark. With the power creep this meta (Mega Bunny, MPidgeot, Virizion) I feel like Zoroark is actually pressed for competition as an offensive pokemon this meta around. Defense has been on the rise, with Gligar, LoveFish, and Registeel all over the tier. Personally, I think it should get retested. Any other takers?
Zoroark was worse than hax.

Regarding Virizion it is definitely decent if you are already using a Mega that is not Sceptile. As Arikado already said all the new threats out speed and take it out with relative ease (and Glalie has priority Ice Shard) while its speed was one of its most notable traits in XY and the typenasvantage they have makes life for it even harder (and not to mention Slurpuff that sets up on it).
The SD also has some problems with the rise of Weezing and Dragalge that force it to run Zen Headbutt over Stone Edge, which is needed to beat Moltres. Anyway it is still decent but not worth using over Sceptile most of the time.
 

Holiday

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Okay, so maaaaaaaaaybe possssssibly Zoroark is 2 strong rn but are we going to retest anything? I mean I feel like Zoroark was the "weakest" of the BL2 (iirc, it's friends are Froslass, Shuckle [two monsters of hazards] Yanmega [resident speedster] Azelf [Mr. I run any set] and Kyurem [ice dragon slayer of dimensions thingy]) obviously I agree with the fact we have other priorities (new Megas, Pokemon with amazing new movepools etc) to ban/vote on/keep whatever, but will we ever get around to retesting BL2, or are those *gulps* gone 4ever
 

phantom

Banned deucer.
Retesting something for the sake of retesting is a bad a idea. Unless something changed to warrant any of the current BL2s from coming down, such as one of them gaining like 5 new good checks or something along those lines, then a retest might be in order; however, I don't think anything like that has happened in regards to the current BL2 mons, and for Zoroark, I wouldn't call it the "weakest" considering it was banned because of Illusion bullshit, which makes its case independent of the other banned mons due to the addition of new checks/counters not having too much of an impact on the way it plays.
 

Holiday

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Retesting something for the sake of retesting is a bad a idea. Unless something changed to warrant any of the current BL2s from coming down, such as one of them gaining like 5 new good checks or something along those lines, then a retest might be in order; however, I don't think anything like that has happened in regards to the current BL2 mons, and for Zoroark, I wouldn't call it the "weakest" considering it was banned because of Illusion bullshit, which makes its case independent of the other banned mons due to the addition of new checks/counters not having too much of an impact on the way it plays.
Alright. Thanks for clearing that up!
 
Just realized how well Tangrowth checks Lop. It takes around 38% from HJK and IP. (That is the phyisically defensive variant of Tangrowth) It can then proceed to Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, and Focus Blast (If you run it) So yeah, another COUNTER for all those people saying its OP.
 

Holiday

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Just realized how well Tangrowth checks Lop. It takes around 38% from HJK and IP. (That is the phyisically defensive variant of Tangrowth) It can then proceed to Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, and Focus Blast (If you run it) So yeah, another COUNTER for all those people saying its OP.
Does it beat SubPass or SubPUP set? Unless you hit all Focus Blasts, or mispredict and sleep powder/leech seed, good luck.
 

EonX

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Alright, I've had a chance to play with virtually all of the new Megas now, and I wanted to share my thoughts on them. I'll generally be trying to list them in order from least useful (imo) to most useful (again, imo) I may dump some sets that I used while working with the new Megas later as well.

Glalie: I just don't really understand what it's supposed to do... actually, let me rephrase that. I get that it's supposed to be an attacker, but it's just not a good one. The Speed is too low, the Special Attack is wasted because you need so much investment to make Freeze-Dry remotely worth it, and doing so would make your physical moves not hit as hard as they should. Ice-type Explosion is a really neat asset, but I just don't feel it's worth a mega slot, ever. Compared with the rest of the new Megas, this one is a serious let-down.
Sharpedo: This doesn't mean Mega Sharpedo is bad. It's still pretty solid. But you also have to take the base form of the Pokemon into account as well, and Mega Shark doesn't do much to improve upon normal Shark. The only moves that hit harder are Crunch, Ice Fang, and Poison Fang. The latter of which doesn't even matter since it's still weaker than Poison Jab. The bulk Mega Sharpedo gains does allow it to live some priority moves, but the power lost from not being able to run Life Orb really hurts when it comes to revenge killing and cleaning late-game. You need more prior damage to do what Sharpedo is supposed to do. It's still better than a lot of Pokemon in the tier, but I just don't feel that Mega Sharpedo does a lot to improve upon the original.
Audino: This one is similar to Mega Sharpedo. Only the difference here is that Audino is largely a mixed bag of pros and cons. Secondary Fairy-typing, massive defense buff, and an actual offensive presence are all significant improvements on regular Audino. MonoCM is pretty dangerous if you can set it up, and thanks to those defenses, it'll be tough to break after a boost or two. However, all of this comes at a major price; Regnerator. Regenerator is the single greatest ability in the game for a defensive Pokemon, aside from maybe Solid Rock or Magic Guard. A lot of times, I find myself really having to question whether I want to Mega Evolve Audino right then and there to begin setting up, or just pivot in, attack, and switch back out to get Regenerator. While Mega Audino gets a lot of great boosts, the loss of Regenerator really holds it back from being a top tier bulky set up sweeper in RU imo.
Steelix: Mega Steelix is basically a direct upgrade from regular Steelix. More defenses, more Attack, more weight to throw around. All of these are really solid. It can take Knock Offs for days and can easily run a SpDef spread with that natural 230 Defense it sports. However, because it's a direct upgrade from regular Steelix, it still suffers from some of the things that hold it back in the first place. Low Speed, weaknesses to Fire, Fighting, Ground, and Water, as well as an ability that isn't useful kinda hurt. The boosted special bulk is nice, but is sort of mitigated by the inability to run Leftovers. Curse Steelix is a serious threat for stall teams to use, and that added weight from Mega Evolution makes Heavy Slam hurt that much more. Not the most dangerous imo, but you'd better not sleep on it either.
Camerupt: Much like Mega Steelix, Mega Camerupt is a direct upgrade from regular Camerupt. With an abysmal base 20 Speed, Trick Room support is absolutely deadly for a Pokemon with such high Special Attack and Sheer Force to power up its already powerful STAB moves. It can run Stealth Rock for its team, but this usually comes at the cost of Explosion, which can be a nice one-off move to catch Slowking and get rid of it for a fellow teammate. The Water weakness sucks ass though, and can really make it challenging to get Camerupt to work outside of Trick Room. No Leftovers recovery, good but not amazing defenses, and a piss poor Speed stat may make Trick Room a near necessity, but it's quite possibly the most dangerous abuser of it in the tier. And that defensive typing does help to shore up those defenses. Without a Water- or Ground-type move, you can be sure you'll lose at least something to this beast.
Sceptile: Mega Sceptile is the Grass / Dragon type we were all hoping Serperior would be in BW, and does it ever make its presence felt. Sub + 3 Attacks, all-out attacker, and SD are all very dangerous sets. Base 145 Speed makes it impossible to outspeed without a Choice Scarf user or some other type of Speed boosting move. What's more is that Lightningrod + a Grass typing makes Sceptile immune to all common forms of paralysis aside from Body Slam (which is never seen in RU) and Glare (Druddigon is the only common user and why you'd want to bring Sceptile in on Druddigon and vice versa is beyond me) While Mega Sceptile is most certainly versatile and very threatening, Steel-types, particularly Bronzong and Escavalier, are safe responses as they wall Sceptile's STAB combination and can take Focus Blast / Earthquake reliably. However, aside from these bulky Steel-types, finding a way in on a Mega Sceptile can be quite the daunting task, especially if it switches into an Electric-type move with special set.
Pidgeot: It was a hard choice as to whether to put Mega Pidgeot 2nd or Mega Sceptile 2nd. In the end, it was the improvement on regular Pidgeot that put Mega Pidgeot as the 2nd best Mega in RU. Whereas normal Sceptile had a solid niche in RU before its Mega, Pidgeot was never seen, ever. A gigantic boost to its Special Attack + No Guard can make Mega Pidgeot one of the most annoying Pokemon to face in the entire tier. 100% accurate STAB Hurricanes are nothing to laugh about, especially when it's commonly seen in VoltTurn cores on Spikes offense to wear down its counters quickly. Mega Pidgeot doesn't have amazing bulk by any means, but Roost allows it to switch-in with a bit more freedom than it otherwise would have, and it's nice to just be able to not have Rocks ruin you as much. About the only real drawbacks of Mega Pidgeot are the Speed and No Guard. While Base 121 Speed is great, Jolteon still outspeeds it and can live a single switch-in. No Guard makes Mega Pidgeot the dangerous threat that it is, but this ability can also easily be used against it. Stuff like High Jump Kick, Stone Edge, and Draco Meteor have 0 chance of missing, and these are sometimes the only chance you have at salvaging a win. And with Mega Pidgeot's mediocre bulk, it won't be standing up to these attacks any time soon.
Lopunny: And finally, the most controversial Mega. Mega Lopunny is easily the best Mega in RU overall. Not only does it greatly improve upon normal Lopunny, but it is also one of the most viable late-game sweepers in the tier. Between Frustration / Return, High Jump Kick, and Scrappy, Mega Lopunny can deal serious amounts of damage to virtually any type of team. Base 135 Speed means that only Mega Sceptile, Accelgor, and Choice Scarf users can naturally outspeed it. While Mega Lopunny does have some issues with bulkier teams, especially with fat Poison- and Psychic-types, there's no denying its ability to threaten offensive teams and provide team support through SubPass or Healing Wish. And its bulk may just jump up and surprise you as well.


yes becaue i just cant giga and get rid because lop is so bulky of your sub
nice try :/
SubPass Lopunny works a lot like SubPass Jolteon does. Using Sub to scout a predicted switch-in, and then giving your counter to whatever the opponent brings in free access to the battle.
 
EonX I have to disagree regarding mega glalie, as i think it's easily one of the nastiest new megas to face. its purpose? it's literally a wrecking ball. for the record, the set i'll be posting about will be the following:

Glalie @ Glalitite
Ability: Inner Focus -> Refrigerate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Explosion
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Shard / Super Fang

4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 104 HP / 156 SpD Alomomola: 254-300 (51.1 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Qwilfish: 284-336 (85 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kabutops: 236-282 (90.4 - 108%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 336-396 (100.9 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

freeze dry needs no investment at all, just a non hindering nature. alomomola is the tier's premier bulky water type, and is promptly 2HKOd. it's useful for gligar too, as this way you don't have to resort to double edge (if using double edge over Return of course). kabutops and qwilfish also cant stop it. the fact is, glalie is just one of the best wallbreakers i've used, and the fact that its mega evolution gives it 100 base speed means that it actually has a very large range of possible targets, since a lot of RU's top mons are under base 100 Speed. i wont bother with the ones it hits super effectively, but here might be some surprising ones

252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Houndoom: 208-246 (71.4 - 84.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 52 HP / 0 Def Slurpuff: 273-322 (85.8 - 101.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Meloetta: 298-352 (87.1 - 102.9%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Pangoro: 297-349 (89.7 - 105.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

the last slot is where it gets pretty interesting, and is more customized to what suits your team more. ice shard prevents mega glalie from being revenge killed, and in fact allows him to do some revenge killing of his own against the deadly mega sceptile, dugtrio, mega pidgeot (after two SR switchins) etc. super fang is better for teams that don't want to pair mega glalie up with a steel trapper, as if you hit the incoming registeel/bronzong/escavalier with it on the switch (pretty easy to see coming) and then switch out again, youve brought their steel type down to half health, at which point they are no longer able to live two double edges, leaving you free to spam it. explosion is obviously mega glalie's big attribute, which allows him to KO nigh anything defensive that doesnt resist it. a naughty nature can also be used if you intend to make mega glalie deadlier vs defensive teams, but i like naive for the ability to do better vs offensive teams, as it then outruns positive natured hitmonlee, moltres, houndoom, meloetta, etc. its obviously not flawless though, as its hard countered by doublade (which isnt too hard to wear down though) and it has some trouble with slowking if it doesnt explode on it. cobalion is also a pretty hard counter

4 ice moves is also pro af
 
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EonX

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EonX I have to disagree regarding mega glalie, as i think it's easily one of the nastiest new megas to face. its purpose? it's literally a wrecking ball. for the record, the set i'll be posting about will be the following:

Glalie @ Glalitite
Ability: Inner Focus -> Refrigerate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Explosion
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Shard / Super Fang

4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 104 HP / 156 SpD Alomomola: 254-300 (51.1 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Qwilfish: 284-336 (85 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kabutops: 236-282 (90.4 - 108%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 336-396 (100.9 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

freeze dry needs no investment at all, just a non hindering nature. alomomola is the tier's premier bulky water type, and is promptly 2HKOd. it's useful for gligar too, as this way you don't have to resort to double edge (if using double edge over Return of course). kabutops and qwilfish also cant stop it. the fact is, glalie is just one of the best wallbreakers i've used, and the fact that its mega evolution gives it 100 base speed means that it actually has a very large range of possible targets, since a lot of RU's top mons are under base 100 Speed. i wont bother with the ones it hits super effectively, but here might be some surprising ones

252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Houndoom: 208-246 (71.4 - 84.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 52 HP / 0 Def Slurpuff: 273-322 (85.8 - 101.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Meloetta: 298-352 (87.1 - 102.9%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Refrigerate Glalie Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Pangoro: 297-349 (89.7 - 105.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

the last slot is where it gets pretty interesting, and is more customized to what suits your team more. ice shard prevents mega glalie from being revenge killed, and in fact allows him to do some revenge killing of his own against the deadly mega sceptile, dugtrio, mega pidgeot (after two SR switchins) etc. super fang is better for teams that don't want to pair mega glalie up with a steel trapper, as if you hit the incoming registeel/bronzong/escavalier with it on the switch (pretty easy to see coming) and then switch out again, youve brought their steel type down to half health, at which point they are no longer able to live two double edges, leaving you free to spam it. explosion is obviously mega glalie's big attribute, which allows him to KO nigh anything defensive that doesnt resist it. a naughty nature can also be used if you intend to make mega glalie deadlier vs defensive teams, but i like naive for the ability to do better vs offensive teams, as it then outruns positive natured hitmonlee, moltres, houndoom, meloetta, etc. its obviously not flawless though, as its hard countered by doublade (which isnt too hard to wear down though) and it has some trouble with slowking if it doesnt explode on it. cobalion is also a pretty hard counter

4 ice moves is also pro af
Yeah, I guess the problem I have is that I ran Earthquake when I used it, which limits it to one of Ice Shard or Freeze-Dry to keep Explosion on the set. Having both really gives it some utility by killing off physical walls and picking off weakened sweepers at the same time. I'll have to give this set a spin when I have the time because it does look intriguing.
 
Houndoominite and by hence Mega-Houndoom is getting banned on the next hours (already got majority). Just wait until Molk an official announcement tho

Still, regular Houndoom is a cool pkmn in the tier; savior dog.
 

Meru

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Haven't played/ posted in a while, time to post my fav pokes atm:

Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Thunder Wave

This thing is the only good counter to Mega Lopunny, takes less than a third from return, resists High Jump Kick and can retaliate with a STAB Psychic or cripple with T-Wave for the rest of the match. She also posses reliable recovery in the form of Moonlight and can take special hits well. If you need a mixed wall that counters OP Mega Bunny use this thing.
Fun calcs:
  • 252+ Atk Lopunny Return vs. 252 HP / 152+ Def Cresselia: 130-154 (29.2 - 34.6%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Sceptile Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 104 SpD Cresselia: 242-285 (54.5 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  • 52+ SpA Life Orb Sceptile Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 104 SpD Cresselia: 157-187 (35.3 - 42.1%) -- 88.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
  • 252 SpA Choice Specs Moltres Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 104 SpD Cresselia: 193-228 (43.4 - 51.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
I can attest to how good this thing is in the meta. Cresselia is back just like it was last gen to wall everything, this time without even needing Poliwrath by its side. With Thunder Wave in tow, Cresselia just flat out dismantles offensive teams, paralyzing everything but Ground-types and Rotom-C (Jolteon and Heliolisk aren't gonna want to eat Psyshocks, and can't break her anyways). Alongside some slow wallbreakers like CB Escavalier, it gives them the support they need to pull their weight against offense while crushing stall at the same time (Gligar can't wall CB Escavalier Megahorn with Roost)

I've been running into people running things as absurd as Toxic Dugtrio and even Toxic Lopunny has become something of a standard sight. It's definitely amazing at the moment in this meta, as it singlehandedly shuts down Lopunny. Lopunny leaving will open up more HO mons to take it down, but Cresselia is still very near broken territory in my opinion.
 
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Cresselia didn't get anything between ORAS and XY, so if people think it is broken now, I would be rather confused...

btw what is the general opinion on Mega Steelix? I compared its stats to Mega Aggron, an UU Pokemon:

HP: 70
Attack: 140
Defense: 230
Sp.Atk: 60
Sp.Def: 80
Speed: 50
MEGA STEELIX STATS
HP: 75 +5
Attack: 125 -15
Defense: 230 +-0
Sp.Atk: 55 -5
Sp.Def: 95 +15(!)
Speed: 30 -20

In other words: Mega Steelix has overall more bulk than MegaAggron! (Even slightly more physical bulk) and it gets a double stab, which makes things look promising. Its ability isn't the best, but could be used with Mini-Hippo and Stoutland

Did someone try it out in RU yet?
 

Ares

Fool me...can't get fooled again
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Cresselia didn't get anything between ORAS and XY, so if people think it is broken now, I would be rather confused...
It's cause the ORAS tier is completely different from the XY tier and something incredibly bulky with reliable recovery is great for checking / countering all if the new threats. Just because a mon isn't broken in one meta doesn't mean in the next meta that it won't have a chance to be broken.

Edit @ next page: probably no chance of you seeing this now lol, but I wasn't saying Cress was broken, I was saying that just because one poke isn't broken in a meta doesn't mean than in a different meta it could be broken.
 
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i really don't think that cresselia can be seen as broken o.o it seems more like an antimeta pokemon to me, it's nice having something that can stand up to high powered offensive threats. yes it can easily handle some of the hyper offensive threats (mega sceptile, lopunny, pidgeot, scarf moltres, etc), but it also now has to deal with mega sharpedo's crunch, houndoom, knock off pangoro, and more. doublade, escavalier, skuntank, shiftry and drapion are all also still alive and kicking. mega abomasnow cuts its lefties recovery, cuts its moonlight, and can use it as setup bait for its swords dance set. just because it beats the fast and frail new megas doesnt mean that it's suddenly too hard for the metagame as a whole to handle

just off the top of my head, it can't stop sweepers like DD lum tyrantrum (which will probably see more use now with outrage). you dd up as it switches in, crunch it as it either twaves or moonblasts (will deal like 54-64%, if it has it) and then just crunch again. lum isnt only useful for stuff like cress's twave, its also nice to snap out of outrage confusion. crunch is also useful for bronzong, which will see more use in this meta too, as it nicely handles a lot of new mons. just start running some new and fun sets, i dont think that cress's influence on the tier is bad at all
 
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EonX

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In other words: Mega Steelix has overall more bulk than MegaAggron! (Even slightly more physical bulk) and it gets a double stab, which makes things look promising. Its ability isn't the best, but could be used with Mini-Hippo and Stoutland

Did someone try it out in RU yet?
As I made the effort to try out all of the new Megas, I do have some experience with Mega Steelix. I was honestly a bit surprised by it. Going in, I wasn't expecting too much considering the fact that Mega Lopunny is so fucking common and Mega Lix isn't a good matchup, but it turned out to be a pretty neat offensive pivot. I know others have tried the Curse set and apparently have had pretty good success with it, but I decided to go another route with it:

Steelix-Mega (M) @ Steelixite
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Atk / 164 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic / Roar

It isn't anything special that I got down to an exact science in terms of the EVs, but I was mainly aiming for an offensive pivot that could lure in and Toxic Slowking as I have Scarf Moltres on the team I used Mega Lix with. Because I had Defog support, I decided to forego Spikes support, making Toxic an even easier option for me. That said, Roar is a fine option should you provide the team with Spikes support. I honestly kind of liked the team I was testing it out on and will probably be one that I go back to work on some more once the meta settles a bit as I think Mega Lix does have a good bit of potential as a Curse sweeper and offensive tank. The weaknesses kind of suck, but running it with stuff like Slowking and Dragalge can make for a pretty neat starting point.
 

Molk

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Alrighty guys, if you didn't already know, the RU Council has actually been holding a quickvote on Houndoominite since the 11th (i mentioned this multiple times on irc and in the SQ/SA thread). The final vote actually came in yesterday, but i just wanted to make sure that i got into contact with a PS admin and a media person before making this announcement so we were all on the same page. So, without further ado, here are the results of the vote! :).

Houndoominite is now BL2 and was voted there in a nearly unanimous 8-0-1 vote. Only the mega stone is banned, so please keep in mind that you can still use regular Houndoom if you want. Reasoning in the tags below:

Mega Houndoom is a very fearsome threat in the RU tier. The most common set is Nasty Plot, Fire Blast, Dark Pulse, and Flame Charge. With this set alone, Mega Houndoom is able to destroy nearly the entire tier on its own. Nasty Plot gives Mega Houndoom the ability to break through bulky teams while Flame Charge ensures that offensive teams won't have an easy time revenge killing it. On the subject of revenge killing Mega Houndoom, this can even be diificult to do without it using Flame Charge thanks to decent bulk and a solid set of resistances. Even Life Orb Hitmonlee can't OHKO with Mach Punch after Stealth Rock, meaning you'll generally need something that naturally outspeeds Mega Houndoom and hits it for super effective damage. That list is severely limited to Dugtrio, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Sceptile. Of common Choice Scarf users, Meloetta is the only one that can run a super effective move against Mega Houndoom, but not only does it rarely run Focus Blast, but it also is very shaky against Mega Houndoom regardless. While Flame Charge is the best move in the last slot, Mega Houndoom can choose to run Substitute, Destiny Bond, or even Sucker Punch in the last slot if needed. Perhaps the only downside to Mega Houndoom is that it's weak to Stealth Rock, but this doesn't come close to making up for all of the ridiculously good qualities it has. Because of this, the council has decided to quickban Houndoominite to BL2, thus effectively removing Mega Houndoom from RU. Of course, this only affects Mega Houndoom. Regular Houndoom is still perfectly legal in RU.

Written by EonX


People who voted ban on Houndoominite: Molk, SilentVerse, atomicllamas, EonX, Omfuga, -Tsunami-, New Breed, Hot N Cold

People who abstained: Afro Smash

People who voted Do Not Ban on Houndoominite: nobody did lol

ALSO, something else to note, unless we decide to revisit Lopunnite in the form of a council quickvote, This or Lopunnite will be the final Council vote of the ORAS RU Metagame for the forseeable future, anything else that might deserve to be voted on will be suspected as usual :).
 
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