OU Theorymon

[alexwolf]

Hello everyone! In this thread, you can talk about the metagame that we create each month in this thread. If you want to learn more about how those Pokemon are created and help create some of them yourself, just read the rules found in the thread linked above, and you are free to participate in the project. Here, you can talk about impressions of the theorymons we created, good partners, effective sets, impact in the metagame, and everything that is relevant to those theorymons really.

Here are our theorymons for February, with their best sets mentioned below them:

+ Regenerator (alexwolf)

Good Sets

Empty

+ Fairy typing (UnicornDemon)

Good Sets

Empty

+ Roost (Seiterman)

Good Sets

Empty

+ Fairy typing replacing Flying (Cshadow)

Good Sets

Empty

+ Parting Shot (alexwolf)

Good Sets

Empty

+ Bulletproof (Chou Toshio)

Good Sets

Empty

+ Fairy typing (Liquidocelot)

Good Sets

Empty

Feel free to contribute and post effective and good sets about those Pokemon, as i am only one person and help is definitely appreciated. Just post the set in the proper format and some explanation, and it is possible i will add it in the OP. Here is the format for the sets:

Pokemon @ Item
Ability: N/A
EVs: N/A
Nature: N/A
- Move 1
- Move 2
- Move 3
- Move 4

The metagame can be found in the battles format > OM of the Month > OU Theorymon. Have fun!

 

[U-Ralph]

Well some words more about mismagius : actually i played it with Nasty Plot / Shadow Ball / Dazzling Gleam / Substitue and it is very hard to manage for the opponent; it has several ways to come and set up. If you see a priority attacker ( scizor/bisharp/talonflame) then just set a sub a deal good damage with one attack. The sub is also an opportunity to set up on chansey/blissey or other defensive mon whithout phazing moves. What about his checks : They are really few : Pursuit attackers with good bulk can correctly deal with it after they break its substitute (scizor/AV bisharp/Tyranitar), Blissey can annoying it if it goes with flamethrower with a little SAtk investisment but can't really threaten it otherway. Heatran is a good check with roar or flash cannon, with the max SDef spread it takes something around 48% from +2 252 SAtk shadow ball, finally an other good check is empoleon that can phaze or hit back with flash canon.
However the only true counter is Bullet Proof Metagross (it's somewhere interesting to see we add threat and counter :D) as it can easly take dazzling gleam (even boosted) is immune to shado ball, can deal sever damage with meteor mash/bullet punch/pursuit.
As a end word, mismagius is a good theorymon and force the meta to change a bit as every team have to get one check for it. It is not also an over powered added threat as already high ranked mons check it, and it is quite frail.

Some few words for metagross : Metagross is really interisting with bulletproof, but i have to admit, if i use it in one of my teams, it's only in order to counter mismagius which can be a pain other way. Anyway it can also be a good check for aegislash and can have some utility as put the SR or trapping lati@s.

Now Mega Ampharos : OMG Mega Ampharos, it's a love when it is in your side, a devil in the opponent team, it is a so good pivot, adding powerfull special moves for a team, geting momentum, good bulk (enormous with regenerator), lovely support with heal bell ... Moreover, it counters the overseen Rotom-W, check the annoying talonflame, ... Even if you have good specially defensive mon, you still can be surprised by a super effective move (focus blast/ dragon pulse) or an offensive replacment after a voltswitch. Mega Ampharos is a very good theorymon, but i think regenerator was a too big change for it, that transformed it in a monstruous pivot, somewhere more monstruous than rotom-W.

Arcticblast edit: what the hell is a pharamp

 

[acestriker19]

As everyone has already said mismagius is one of the best theorymon and Pokemon in general on the ladder. I've been running an old little cup missy set with mismagius: trick specs. With specs missy is a very powerful fast wallbreaker who with four immunities gets plenty of switch-in opportunities. Mismagius forces lots of switches especially into metagross who hates getting tricked specs. Then later in the match missy can nasty plot with its counter crippled.

I'd also like to talk about scizor who has gotten really indirectly buffed by the changes in the theorymon ladder. Scizor is a reliable check to missy for one thing. Mega scizor even deals with trick specs. Cress and Altaria are both set up fodder for Scizor to pick up a swords dance. Heatran is also very happy with the metagame changes as he is the only mon who 4x resists fairy. Specially defensive heatran is one of the best counters to both cress, missy and Altaria with its toxic stall set.

Intimidate Parting Shot Scrafty is a way more annoying utility counter than I expected. It can along with another intimidate pivot keep my physical sweeper from boosting with ease. For any physical sweep to occur especially with my Scizor I'm forced to eliminate Scrafty first. While he can be chipped down because of the lack of reliable recovery. The amount of offensive momentum Scrafty can screw you out of makes it great in the current metagame.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense I'm typing on my phone.

 

[alexwolf]

I agree with everyone about Mismagius being fucking great. Flawless coverage with just its STABs, Nasty Plot, WoW, Taunt, a good set of immunities and resistances, and a great Speed tier make it a very threatening Pokemon. Nasty Plot + Taunt Mismagius eats defensive teams for breakfast once you get rid of that one bulky Steel-type that is stopping you from sweeping. You can even use Taunt + WoW to get past bulky Steel-types and special walls at the same time, while a mono-Ghost Nasty Plot set is still very good. If you don't have Heatran, there is no surefire way to shield your team from Mismagius. SpD Heatran might even start using Flash Cannon, as Lava Plume can only 3HKO Leftovers Mismagius, while Mismagius 3HKOes back at +2 with Shadow Ball.

Mismagius is a testament to just how powerful STAB Ghost moves have become. I would even go as far as to say that Ghost has exceeded Dragon's dominance in 5th gen as the best attacking type. We knew this to a certain degree with Aegislash already, but Aegislash lacked the proper non-attacking movepool and Speed to truly demonstrate just how great Ghost STAB is. With just a set of Nasty Plot + Shadow Ball + Taunt + Will-O-Wisp, Mismagius has only one true counter in OU, Flash Cannon Heatran, while being pretty fast, almost impossible to OHKO with faster special attackers (while most of them are OHKOed back), and faster physical attackers need to be careful while switching in, as WoW wrecks them. All in all, Mismagius is easily one of the most dangerous offensive Pokemon in OU imo, and it exceeded all my exceptions by a big margin.

It's a funny coincidence how Buleltproof Metagross is in the same metagame with Ghost / Fairy Mismagius, as checking two of the best Pokemon in OU, Mismagius and Aegislash, is certainly a huge boon over other Steel-types, and makes Metagross plenty viable.

Scarfty is exactly the way i imagined it. Intimidate + great bulk gives it ample switch-in chances, and Parting Shot is a great way to help offensive Pokemon get the set up chances they need. The best set i have used is the one i posted in the Theorymon thread, with max HP / max Def+, Taunt, Knock Off, Parting Shot, and Drain punch. I have been using Calm Mind Landorus and Nasty Plot Mismagius with it, and it has been working out pretty well. CM Landorus can OHKO / 2HKO most of the new theorymons with just Earth Power / Sludge Wave / (Psychic / Focus Blast), making it a great choice in this metagame. Chansey is a problem and it is everywhere, but it is not that hard to wear down with SR and a few double switches.

Mega Ampharos is great, no questions asked. Even in a metagame where Mismagius, Excadrill, and Cresselia are everywhere, it manages to stay relevant because of its great bulk, Regenerator, Volt Switch and Heal Bell. I also haven;t seen much Rotom-W around, which could be a hint towards Mega Ampharps superiority as a pivot and utility Pokemon, but Rotom-W's fall in usage could also just be because the metagame in general is not kind to it. After all, Rotom-W doesn't deal particularly well with any of Cresselia, Mismagius, Scrafty, and Mega Ampharos, which are the best theorymons of February.

Cresselia is great too, although Dragon-types are way less common with Mismagius around. Heal Bell being everywhere also makes Cresselia a bit more ineffective, but as long as you have a way to threaten clerics and Steel-types, she won't disappoint. She is best used on offensive teams that can take advantage of the defensive Pokemon that stop her cold, such as Chansey, Excadrill, Metagross, and Scizor. Lunar Dance is also great on those kind of teams.

Empoleon is really mediocre, as expected. Having Roost is nice, and it can kinda checks Mismagius with Flash Cannon, but that's it. There are still better Defog users, better special tanks, and better SR setters, so i haven't found much use for Empoleon.

The only theorymon that i haven't used or faced is Altaria, so no opinion here.

Overall, i think that most of our theorymons have been really great, and almost all of them managed to make otherwise really niche or completely unviable Pokemon relevant or even great in OU, with the exception of Empoleon. Mismagius is more of a bitch than i imagined, and it punishes defensive teams big time, but other than that, most of our additions managed to slow down the metagame quite a bit, which is a nice change of pace imo!

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

So first impressions on the ladder are the prevalence of fairies. Mismagius is undeniably a boss, but the other new fairies do their jobs pretty well too. I've personally gotten a kick out of Alex's Cresselia set that uses a rest talking psycho shift set and a flame orb. Heal Bell really dulls it though.

Because of this, a way to deal with fairies is a must. Bullet proof Metagross with bullet punch works well, as does (mega) scizor and even scarf Jirachi.

Speaking of steels, possibly due to the fairy abundance, they're everywhere too. If possible, they're even more popular than on the regular ladder.

This ladder is very bulky based. Stall and HO both can work, but without the ability to take a hit while putting out some damage, I don't see a pokemon succeeding in here. Toxic stalling is ok, but the hype of Altaria led to a huge rise in status absorbers. WoW is less effective, Twave is almost nonexistant, and toxic is hard to enforce. If the ladder sticks around, I can see it leveling out, but that's a long way away and any status based pokemon need to be used carefully.

 

[Salt]

I've always been a fan of bulky pivots and VoltTurn teams, so that's why Mega Ampharos is my favorite theorymon by far. When I went back and read the discussion about it, it seemed like people were really underestimating it. With Regenerator, M-Ampharos is the perfect pivot. The only other Pokemon Pokemon that have Regenerator and either of U-turn/Volt Switch are Tornadus-T and Mienshao, neither of which are known for taking hits, and are too fast to bring something in safely. M-Ampharos can live even some super-effective STAB hits, Volt Switch out after taking the hit, and bring a check in safely. Sort of an obvious statement there, but that's what it does and it does it well. Regenerator helps it do this many times, unlike every other slow pivot that has to either waste a turn using recovery or go without it. It doesn't give a fuck about Toxic either because of Heal Bell. M-Ampharos can also force a lot of switches and gain massive momentum because nothing really likes taking attacks from 165 SpAtk, even uninvested, unless they resist it. I usually find myself clicking Volt Switch 90% of the time, and Heal Belling when any of my other mons are statused.

I'm also a fan of Scrafty. I was skeptical of him at first, but Intimidate + Parting Shot is really really nice. Along with great all-around bulk, semi-reliable recovery in Drain Punch, and excellent utility in Knock Off, Scrafty also makes an amazing pivot. He's also slow, like Ampharos, meaning he can take a hit and soften the opponent up with a Parting Shot before letting a threatening sweeper in. It's kind of odd how two Pokemon that are horribly weak to Fairies in a Fairy-infested metagame can have such an impact, especially considering they're both aggressively mediocre at best in standard play. Gonna hate to see these two go next month.

Along with those two, Cresselia has been interesting, though not as powerful as I initially thought. While it's bulky as hell and has a now excellent defensive typing, I find a lot of things can just leave it helpless. Fairy isn't as good of a mono-attacking type as you would think, especially considering Cresselia is extremely weak without boosts. It's also extremely susceptible to status if you don't use Psycho Shift or RestTalk, so a cleric is necessary, (but with M-Ampharos, that support isn't too hard to provide).

Bulletproof Metagross would have been extremely underwhelming if it weren't for Mismagius. The fact that it's the only thing that resists both Ghost and Fairy (besides Pyroar but who gives a fuck about that) carves it a niche as pretty much the only true Mismagius counter, but it still has to watch out for Will-o-Wisp. It can easily revenge kill it with Bullet Punch or trap it with Pursuit.

Not much to say on the rest. Everything good about Mismagius has already been said, and I haven't fought or used Altaria or Empoleon enough to get a large enough impression on them.

 

[LeekSlap/ChewyDonuts]

Um I don't understand a few of the changes.

Why Metagross with Bulletproof and Altaria plus fairy typing?

As for a set, let's get the obvious one out oof the way.

Ampharos@Ampharosite
Ability: Static-> Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/96 Def/160 SDef
Nature: Bold
-Light Screen
-Reflect
-Toxic/Hidden Power Ice
-Volt Switch

 

[Ranger Mike]

while i havent used that set yet it seems that amphys insane SpA is ignored which is amphys selling point also it cant hold light clay.

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

Um I don't understand a few of the changes.

Why Metagross with Bulletproof and Altaria plus fairy typing?

As for a set, let's get the obvious one out oof the way.

Ampharos@Ampharosite
Ability: Static-> Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/96 Def/160 SDef
Nature: Bold
-Light Screen
-Reflect
-Toxic/Hidden Power Ice
-Volt Switch

Metagross with Bulletproof lets it wall things like Gengar and Mismagius, and Fairy Altaria can wall things like Charizard very effectively.

As for use of Ampharos, I've found him most effective at taking blows and dealing light damage as opposed to trying to KO opponents with powerful attacks. His in-and-out nature makes dual screens reasonably effective and annoying to go up against. His main "selling point," Ranger Mike , would probably be his amazing bulk AND power to be an amazing slow pivot

 

[Salt]

I think I'll go ahead and post some of the sets I've been using:

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static ----> Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Heal Bell
- Focus Blast/Hidden Power Ice/Toxic

A specially defensive set is probably Ampharos' most effective set, as it takes advantage of the resistances the Dragon typing gives it. Ampharos shrugs off Volt Switches, Scalds, Flamethrowers, etc, and Volt Switches out to Regenerate most, if not all, of that damage taken. It can take even some supereffective STAB hits and retaliate. The other three moves, at least in my experience, are not used too often. Dragon Pulse can hit Dragon-type switchins like Latias who try to tank a Volt Switch, and HP Ice does the same for Ground-types. Focus Blast can be used for more raw power, and I've found that Toxic is useful for crippling other switchins to Ampharos, like Cresselia. Heal Bell makes it so it and it's teammates don't have to worry about status, and it can come in and use Heal Bell multiple times thanks to Regenerator. I've switched up between all the moves listed in the fourth slot and each of them have their advantages, so it's up to preference what you use.

Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef
Careful Nature
-Parting Shot
-Knock Off
-Drain Punch
-Toxic

Like Ampharos, a specially defensive set is one of Scrafty's better choices. Intimidate gives it fantastic mixed bulk, so it can come in on a wide variety of threats. Parting Shot turns Scrafty into a fantastic pivot, making physically based Pokemon have -2 Attack should they take Intimidate and Parting Shot. Knock Off is one of Scrafty's best moves, as it forces a reasonable amount of switches and can opt for removing the opponent's item instead of weakening them with Parting Shot. Drain Punch provides some form of recovery and another reliable STAB. Toxic is great in the 4th slot since Scrafty is huge Fairy-bait and not many of them like being poisoned, Cresselia especially.

Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake

Star Mismagius counter here. Being immune to Shadow Ball and resisting Dazzling Gleam, Metagross can easily come in on Mismagius and pick it off with Bullet Punch or, in the more likely scenario, kill it with Pursuit as it tries to escape. Not much to say here since Metagross' role is pretty straight forward. Meteor Mash is the strong STAB, and Earthquake is for Aegislash and Heatran. The EVs are for outspeeding defensive variants of Heatran.

Mismagius @ Leftovers/Life Orb/Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Nasty Plot
-Shadow Ball
-Dazzling Gleam
-Substitute/Taunt/Will-o-Wisp/Trick

Probably the most threatening Theorymon of this batch. With Nasty Plot, good attacking stats, a bunch of useful immunities to use for setup opportunities, and nearly unresisted STAB make Mismagius a terrifying sweeper. While Dual STAB and Nasty Plot are the mandatory moves here, the 4th slot has many options to make Mismagius extremely unpredictable. The option that offers the most utility is Substitute, as it protects it from status and revenge killing. Taunt fucks with walls like Chansey (though Sub does as well) and Will-o-wisp can neuter Metagross and Scizor switch ins. Trick is an interesting option that I've not used myself, but has caught me off guard by crippling one of my walls while allowing Mismagius a turn of setup.

 

[Seven Lions]

Ok so I was gonna ladder as high as I could with this team and then post it, but getting to 9-0 has taken me literally 2 hours like this is fucking GSC or some shit. Will only post like general shit so it's not a full on RMT.

Gold (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 76 SpD / 68 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Protect

Basically this is the best Aegislash and Mismagius counter in the fucking tier aside from WoW from Mismagius. EVs look funky as shit but bear with me, basically it's designed to outspeed SpD Heatran and OHKO it with EQ while maintaining as much special bulk as possible. SR is SR, nothing new about the most broken move in the game since it's introduction. EQ for Aegislash and Heatran and Meteor Mash for Mismagius. Uh I like to slap protect on filler slots to scout but you can do whatever you please for final spot.

Thunderclap (Ampharos) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Pulse
- Toxic

So uh, basically the cleric on the team with it's great typing in terms of taking special hits, resisting common types such as Water, Grass, Electric, and Steel. Volt Switch punishes various shit like Skarmory and Talonflame. Dragon Pulse is consistant STAB that hits fairly hard without investment. Heal Bell is mainly what Ampharos is here for and Toxic > Focus Blast cause uh. haven't really found much use for Focus Miss.

Wonder (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird

So building off the previous two, I needed to patch up an obvious EQ weakness so what better to put than fucking Skarmory, doing the same shit it's done since GSC. Keeping this short. Basically everyone knows what it does so I don't need to dwell into much. Had Iron Head > Brave Bird expecting a lot of Fairy-types but nah.

Rise & Fall (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Haze
- Knock Off
- Toxic Spikes

So uh, I needed a spinner on the team and basically Tentacruel stood out for providing me some Water typing which is nice on defensive teams to take Ice Beams and shit. Rapid Spin is rapid spin nothing much to say. Haze stops stuff like Volcorona from setting up all over the place. Knock Off is a nice surprise for Gliscor and Mismagius switch ins. Toxic Spikes just adds another form of hazards but thinking of just swapping to Toxic to actually shutdown setup boosters like Volcorona.

Need Your Heart (Mismagius) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Will-o-Wisp
- Substitute

So basically with all these hazards, I needed a spinblocker. Mismagius, thanks to this metagame gained Fairy-typing which is awesome, removing it's Dark weakness. Max Speed EVs for speedy WoW which is nice on something like Garchomp. Taunt serves as a Stallbreaker along with Substitute. Shadow Ball > Pain Split so Gliscor doesn't wall it to hell.

Lullabies (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss

So basically with some of the team lacking recovery, why not add one of the best, if not the best WishPasser in the game. Takes all special attacks pretty fucking easily along with neutral physical attacks well. Toxic since I have Mega-Ampharos as cleric.


So yeah. Have fun, steal it or whatever. Keep the fucking nicknames though you thieves.

 

[Holiday]

Well, I've been using Empoleon, so here we go.

Empoleon @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Agility
- Surf
- Flash Cannon
- Grass Knot

With all this fairy hype, I've found many opportunities to switch in and set up Agility. From there, just hit the appropriate move to hurt your opponent. Mach Punch is a problem, but that's about it.

 

[Ranger Mike]

If your going to run offensive empoleon it better be sub petaya also why are you not using empoleon's new toy in roost?

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

I was overall disappointed with empoleon. It was cool to partner with mag to absorb inevitable steel moves, then pursuit metagross became a thing and I had trouble justifying its use

 

[acestriker19]

I was overall disappointed with empoleon. It was cool to partner with mag to absorb inevitable steel moves, then pursuit metagross became a thing and I had trouble justifying its use

Have to agree with Empoleon being very disappointing Ampharos loves Empoleon for a free switch in and Regen. Roost just isn't enough as Empoleon weaknesses are in most every prominent coverage combo, such as Edgequake, Boltbeam, Drakequake etc, and these mons can often OHKO or severly cripple Empoleon.

Its intriguing how many people are running Band Pursuit Metagross as I think Assault Vest is a better set to both take out Missy reliably (Except Will-o-Wisp variants) but also to deal with Mega-Ampharos and the Lati twins reasonably well.

I'm just retired my Theorymon team that got me to #1 on the ladder and posted a RMT about it here. My team used 4 steel types to explore the indirect changes to theorymon ladder and did not feel redundant at all which really speaks volumes for the massive indirect buff the OU theorymon ladder gave to steels.

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

So, are we going to still fill in sets and stuff with March ending? And on that note, how soon can we expect to see the transition to March theorymons? Can't wait to start using Snorlax and Drapion (the others too of course, but mostly the two).

If we are filling sets still, there's the:
-Standard Ampharos (Salt's post)
-Dual Screens Ampharos (Leekslap)
-Life Orb Mismagius
-Specs Mismagius
-Standard Altaria (I'll post if I have to. I might have been one of the only users)
-Scrafty (not sure if Salt's set is standard or not, it's the only one I used)
-Band Metagross (Salt's post, but I'd slash ice punch)
-AV Metagross (Talk to Ace)
-Standard Cresselia
-Psycho Shift Cresselia (I think I was the only user, but it's Alex's set)

There's more, but those are the ones I saw/heard enough of to list

 

[acestriker19]

I'll post sets but I think the most important part of this discussion is not the theorymons but how they change the metagame. So I think we should come up with a list of regular mons who the ladder has effected.

For instance: Gengar. Gengar is much worse on the theorymon ladder than regular OU. First metagross is immune to both its stabs and really only fears will-o variants. Gengar also faces stiff competition from missy who can do everything gar can and is only 5 points slower (outspeeding the musketeers is notable though) and has better dual stabs. Missy has more versatility as the fear of a nasty plot enables it to use alternative sets better than gengar (sub-disable/WoW) as it more likely to get free turns off of switches. Poison STAB is inferior to fairy STAB in almost all situations except against sylveon and clefable. All in all Gengar finds itself both outclassed and has to deal with more counters in the meta making it much less viable in the theorymon ladder.

I've already talked about why I feel Scizor is much better in this meta: gains new set up fodder mostly.

I would write more (probs about Rotom-W) but I only have my phone with me where I am :(.

 

[Shounen]

Let's see, where do I start? Okay, let me post some of my sets that I've been using on the ladder, it's quite fun really, it's a small ladder and you barely every meet new people and it allows for you to A. Make friends, B. Try out new teams on people you know while still gaining points. Okay, let me stop rambling and post some sets!

Metagross @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Zen Headbutt
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
So here is my main man, Metagross. This is similar to the very viable AgiliGross, but with a twist. See, Metagross has great bulk, and the usual way to beat him is a super-effective move(which he usually survives, even with little HP EV'S), with that however my Metagross actually deems as useful. This set is greatly unexpected and has swept many-a people, if you take anything from this set analysis at the least take the Weakness Policy/Agility strat, it's very useful. Other than that, it's a great counter to Amphy, Missy, and Cress.



Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 108 Def / 252 HP / 52 SAtk / 96 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Toxic

Alright, this is one of the tanks on my team. Cress is a great Toxic staller and a great Calm Minder as well, but, since Metagross is very popular, it lowers here viablility. I generally kill whatever Steel/Poison type the other team may have and bring in Cress, especially when most of the really good Theorymon are special. Being an ultimate tank, I had her stats reflect the said Tank-Like-Power(or TLP). The defense is to be able to take a physical hit relatively well, and the special defense if for Missy and Amphy as they're general problems for my team after Metagross dies. I imagine you know why I run a bit of Sp. A, but it's so the Moonblast could do some decent damage.


Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 156 SDef / 100 SAtk / 252 HP
Sassy Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
- Heal Bell

I currently don't run this on my team, but I once did and this was my set. So, I decided that his Sp. A was way too high as it was and focused a bit more on the Sp. D, so it could tank Missy and Cress. Volt Switch was impassable after you guys gave him Regenerator as when he switches he both does damage and gains health, which is an awesome buff. That's all I have to say really, everyone else explained him much better than I can.


These are the three I've used, hope they help!

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

To follow up what Ace was talking about, Mega Ampharos made Char Y, Rotom, and Talonflame pretty ineffective, being able to take their hits and heal their status while dealing decent damage back. He is still helpless against most ground types as they trap him in and can usually O or 2HKO him. He pairs well with flying/levitators for that reason, I especially like Mismagius or Cresselia for their ground and dragon immunities (I suppose Togekiss could work as well, but never tried it and don't really feel like it).

Mismagius made Gengar pretty unimportant, and is the main reason steel types (especially bullet punching Metagross and Scizor) work so well. There's already been plenty of talk on her, but I'll just add that at one time, I had 3 slots devoted revenge killing her. As it is, she's still a pretty big win condition as if you lose your counter, you'll lose half your team. I pair her with Ampharos to take steel hits and the two of them make the closest thing to a theorymon core I've used so far.

Scrafty didn't directly effect the meta that much, as he wasn't too common, and when I used him, he was more likely to force a switch than anything. He probably contributed to the much less physical nature of the meta (comparatively), and he made volt turn teams even better, so there's that.

Altaria was cool, it's viability was hindered by all the status absorbers ruining it's Toxic stall, but it effectively ruined Charizard's viability. I used him quite a bit, but he needed support to deal with fairies (CURSE YOU MISMAGIUS!). Also, something to deal with those pesky status absorbers. I liked pairing it with Bandnite, as it can KO almost anything with an outrage, revenge kill weakened with Espeed, KO Mega Ampharos with EQ, and fairies with iron head, while surviving unboosted attacks thanks to multiscale. I'll be honest though, it was an imperfect system and that's part of the reason I stopped using Altaria while laddering.

Metagross, ah Metagross. At first I thought you'd be a good theory, but never used, then Mismagius became so popular and you were almost required on a team. Obviously he's great against all special ghosts, and pursuit sets shut down all psychics as well, but bullet punch is still great for general revenge killing, especially common fairies. He still has flaws in sucker punch and EQ, but his bulk often surprises and can sometimes survive a hit and KO back with EQ or Ice Punch. Despite those, he still likes support from flying/levitating mons, so he also pairs well with Mismagius and Cresselia, though, they don't appreciate inevitable knock offs.

More later, but I'd love to hear other's thoughts on what theorymons counter, are countered by, and synergize (is that a word?) with.

 

[acestriker19]

Just remembered another one: the fall of Scarfchomp and Drakequake.

Drakequake is a very solid Stab combo with excellent neutral coverage in OU but with both Fairy Missy and Cress added with immunities both Scarfchomp really struggles in this meta. I used Scarfchomp briefly as a revenge killer and I found myself spamming Stone Edge and praying more times than I used EQ or Outrage/Dragon Claw because I could sense the incoming switch-in to a fairy. Sure Scarfchomp can run Iron Head instead of Fire Blast but now it is walled by any steel type which makes inferior to other Scarfers of the same category: Landoge and Excadrill. Excadrill can use mold breaker and its Steel STAB to deter Cress and Missy from switching in while Landoge can use these switchs to its advantage with U-Turn or Knock Off. On the theorymon ladder Scarf Excadrill or Landoge and superior to Garchomp.

Togekiss finds itself very outclassed in this metagame as well as its typing isn't as unique as it once was. Cress can perform more defensive roles better than Togekiss while Missy can do offensive Nasty Plot sets better. The only thing while it is significant Togekiss has over Cress and Missy is defog but Togekiss struggles to find a moveslot to fit it in while still performing its niches in the metagame. Togekiss really isn't the best in regular OU but it is even worse here.

At this point I'm kinda sensing a pattern Missy and Cress have a huge combined impact on the metagame. They both have very similar resistances and immunities and these stack to counter and check nearly the same pokemon in different ways. This means that pokemon who find Missy difficult to deal with or that missy outclasses most often find Cress difficult to deal with or outclassed by Cress as well, stacking counters and outclassing mons and multiple role which leads to the largest effects to the metagame as a whole.

 

[TalkTakesTime]

/necrobump
The ladder for this has recently been updated with the March/April theorymons. Sorry about how late it was! Joim and I have both been busy so this is as early as we could get them up

 

[Charizardian]

I agree with you ace, i beleive that togekiss' typing has well gotten him outclassed by other paraflinch users. In addition, I would also like to bring up that dragon types are also majorly 'nerfed' because of the introduction of fairy types

 

[Wooper215]

With all these new viable fairies and other types, I kind want Monotype Theorymon to be a thing...

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

The problem with Theorymon Monotype would be that it wouldn't drastically change the meta like it does to OU. The changes are made with OU in mind, and all they'd do in Monotype is make different teams have more options. They dynamic of overcoming bad match ups in Monotype limits what theorymons could do.

Now for real, has anybody else had trouble connecting to the ladder? Every time I try it gives me some socket error BS.

 

[skies]

Someone fight me it's literally been 45 minutes and I've not got one battle ffs.