Trademarked

[I like donkeys]

One Pokemon that's taken my interest is mega medicham, it can boost with bulk up as it's trademark and mega evolve to get pure power, which is basically a belly drum without the HP loss and can't be blocked by unaware/haze;
(seriously compare this shit)
+1 252+ Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 291-342 (85.3 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Medicham High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 284-334 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Or maybe you could make his trademark substitute as to block statuses and transform mew.

 

[Chopin Alkaninoff]

Because this meta reminds me of Linked, I wanna share a duo that I used in Linked, which was Jirachi + Azumarill. This time, I'm using Marowak instead because Azumarill loses Huge Power if it has other Ability.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trick Room
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Trick
- Healing Wish
- Iron Head

Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability: Swords Dance
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
IV: 0 Speed
Brave Nature
- Low Kick
- Bonemerang
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off

So basically you instantly set up Trick Room with Jirachi, then U-turn to +2 Marowak and start destroying stuff. Before you say "HAHAHA CHOICE SCARF TRICK ROOM NOOB", Choice Scarf is intended for Jirachi to have a "slow" U-turn in Trick Room, giving Marowak a full health switch in.

Other possible partners for this is slow but powerful attackers like Hoopa-C (with it's instant Nasty Plot), Snorlax (which has instant Belly Drum), Bisharp, or anything slow but has high Offensive power and a set up move.

Well then, why choose Trick Room over regular fast sweepers? Because of three reasons:
1. Trick Room mons are significantly bulkier than regular sweepers because they tend to carry bulk, which makes it harder to wear down
2. It's anti-meta
3. Scarf Transform Mew can't outspeed and revenge you. Idk if Imposter Ditto/Mew will be common here or not, but it was common in Linked because the meta is heavily offensive, though in here, probably not.

Edit: forgot the best mon that is perfectly compatible with this, called Power Trick Shuckle, which made me proud when I used it in Linked.

 

[Mysterious Player]

Am I missing something? What's with the 116 Attack EVs?

originally, I was running espeed. So I put the attack on for the sake of power. Without ESpeed the attack investment is not needed.

 

[SpiderKoloPL]

(...)
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trick Room
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Trick
- Healing Wish
- Iron Head

(...)
Choice Scarf is intended for Jirachi to have a "slow" U-turn in Trick Room, giving Marowak a full health switch in.
(...)

On Scarf place, I could sugest for you Lagging Tail, expect you predict anti-Trick Room oponent, who could carry Trick Room for this one, and them Outspeed him outside the Trick Room with Iron Head.
In other situation, Lagging Tail give for you option to always be last in your priority bracket, so... also your U-Turn becomes propably the slowest in any fight you will try with this set.



Also... Because Trick Room, Macho Brace becomes better Choise Scarf what Halved Speed... what in trick room means your oponent will have some problems with outspeeding you.
Like this Victini:

Victini @ Macho Brace
Ability: Trick Room
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpA OR 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 filler
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- V-create
- Energy Ball / Filler
- U-turn
- Quick Attack / Filler

92 points of speed after Macho Brace.
V-Create takes more speed from Victini after use. In Trick Room this actually becomes boost for Speed. 180 physical STAB move what give for you more speed after usage? Thats looks really bad for all pokemons what must take a hit.
U-Turn give for you option for flee from field, dealing by this action more damage. Propably not worth to use against Sucker Punch Dark pokemons, but when Trick Room will ends in last turn, this move actually bright your victini safety to your Ball, and remove debuff for defensive stats.
Quick Atack is for priority and against Sturdy/Sash pokemons. You can use other move on place of Quick Atack, when you really want.
Energy Ball is clearly against Unaware Quagsire. Here you can use other move when you want.

For cost of puting Trick Room, Victini lose perfect accurate 180 move (now with 95% accuracy). Huge cost?

I feel this metagame could be really interesting...

 

[Ghoul King]

Part 2

Pretty much anything not found in either of my posts either literally does nothing or basically does nothing. Or is banned from Trademarking.

Aqua Ring

Leftovers healing, except the enemy can't remove it and it can be Baton Passed. Could be a nifty stall tool, maybe.

Agility, Autotomize, Rock Polish

Probably better than running a Scarf, in all honesty. Radically redefines Speed tiers, allowing many normally slow Pokemon to outrun everything that isn't Scarfed or running its own Speed boosting.

Tailwind

The above, but it benefits your entire team. Combine with a switching move and you've got a lot of HO potential here -lead with a Tailwinder that switches out, and bring in Band/Specs attackers running extremely boosting. Suddenly Ursaring outspeeds and kills everything.

Destiny Bond

The ultimate sacrifice, able to instantly destroy any setup sweeper no matter what. Key flaw is that if you ever switch it in before you use it for that purpose, it gives away the game, reducing the odds of the enemy falling for it.

Grudge

Just use Destiny Bond, come on.

Imprison

Maximum anti-meta: if you want to stop a move, any move, run Imprison and switch in while carrying the move. Assuming Smeargle doesn't get banned, anything can be blocked this way via Smeargle.

Ingrain

Has the same effect as Aqua Ring, but with a key difference: it blocks attempts to force-switch you. Could be useful on setup sweepers to laugh at phazing attempts. Might prove limited in utility if Haze, Topsy-Turvy, etc become the dominant anti-setup tools.

Conversion, Conversion 2

Change your type! Conversion 2 is random in its choice, probably not worth using, but Conversion can be used to change Porygon's STAB -it goes by the move in your first slot, so now Porygon-Z can abandon its awful Normal typing for something useful, such as Ghost, Electric, or... well, okay, STAB on Shadow Ball or Thunderbolt is about it. It's no Protean, but it means Porygon-Z can be customized to suit your team, to an extent. Nasty Plot might be better if all you care about is offensive capacity, but changing defensive typing can be useful -Electric Porygon-Z is immune to Paralysis attempts, and Ghost acts as a spinblocker, among other benefits.

Guard Split

Weaken walls on the switch-in. Accelgor is probably the best user of this, with a solid 80 HP and poor defensive stats otherwise. It's mostly found on wall-y Pokemon that have no business using it, unfortunately, but in addition to Accelgor Alakazam could be an acceptable user of it, especially if you're planning to Mega and go for a sweep -doing something about Alakazam's awful Defense could keep it in the game long enough to pull off the switch. (Well, assuming Guard Split isn't overridden by Mega Evolution -I'm not sure how it works in tat regard)

Power Split

Weaken attackers and bolster your own offenses. Shuckle is probably the best user by far -make sure you minimize EVs in Attack and Special Attack for maximum effect. Note, however, that it will never be better than roughly halving the target's offenses. As such, stage-based modifications aimed at the relevant attack stat will generally be better unless the target is a mixed attacker, specifically.

Sleep Talk

Rest, turn into a status absorber that uses a random move on switch-in every time. Gimmicky, but might be useful anyway.

Refresh

Reverse-Natural Cure. Natural Cure's timing is probably superior, in all honesty, but the Pokemon that get Refresh don't necessarily get Natural Cure. If you've got Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, those are probably better choices, unless you're running a lot of Guts/Poison Heal Pokemon for some reason.

Guard Swap

Anti-meta go! Mega Slowbro getting you down with its instant Iron Defense? Not anymore, that's your +2 Defense now.

Only useful if stuff like Cotton Guard Trademark becomes strongly popular.

Power Swap

More reliable, just because setup sweepers using moves like Swords Dance or Dragon Dance are more common than defensive setup. Did you know Medicham gets this? Yeah, switch into someone who set Belly Drum as their Trademark, Mega Evolve, annihilate their entire team with Bullet Punch by itself.

Heart Swap

The best of both worlds! But only Manaphy and Smeargle get it, and they both probably have better things to do with their slot.

King's Shield

Since only Smeargle is legal with access to it, it's a bit limited. Still, making it easier for Smeargle to directly switch in by blocking the attack and harshly lowering Attack has potential.

Reflect Type

If you don't like your type, I guess this has utility. Maybe.

Powder

Awful distribution, unfortunately. If you could get it on Scizor or something, it could be amazing. As-is... why?

Endure

Could be useful for ensuring you can switch in and trigger a low-health item. I'm not sure why you'd care, though.

Embargo

Instant item fail, just add switching! Flexible, though not hugely notable. A big advantage it has is that it can't backfire, unlike, say, Trademarking Switcheroo/Trick.

Magic Room

Embargo, but it keeps going even if the enemy switches and also effects your team. Seems a bit niche.

Transform

Basically Imposter. Not much cause to run Ditto when Mew has better HP and can run actual moves if its Transform attempt is blocked somehow.

Power Trick

Attacker is a wall, wall is an attacker. Obviously, this hugely accelerates Trick Room Shuckle sweeps, and... well, that's about it, really. Most Pokemon with Power Trick have sufficiently similar Attack and Defense that it's a fairly small effect, probably not worth pursuing over a different choice. Machamp's 130 Attack vs 80 Defense is the biggest separation after Shuckle, and I have difficulty imagining it as a wall of some kind.

Lucky Chant

Crit-be-gone. Primarily notable because Focus Energy Scope Lens means critspam is a lot more viable.

Focus Energy

Add a Scope Lens and you are a critmaster! Draco Meteor spam is obvious, but Magmortar and Infernape provide competent Overheat spam (There's other options, but these two stand out the most to me, for power and Speed, respectively), and it can also be used by several Pokemon to reduce the impact of Superpower. Has the anti-meta advantage of punching through most defensive boosting. (Beware Mega Slowbro, though)

Safeguard

No more major status effects! Also block Confusion, notably. Invaluable to hyper offense and stall alike, completely neutering attempts to spread statuses via Ability or move. Meanwhile, it doesn't block self-inflicted attempts -you can still Rest! Beware Defoggers, though.

Topsy-Turvy

The ultimate in anti-setup, kind of. Bounced by Magic Bounce, so stuff like Swords Dance Mega Absol laughs at you, and is blocked by Substitute, which is essentially universally accessible. Still, it's a means to do something about Choiced instant boosters, for example.

Recycle

Item comes back on switch-in. Combine with Chesto Berry to have a Rest abuser that can shrug off tons of damage repeatedly, only needing to switch out and back in. There's probably other creative uses.

Psych Up

Countersweep! With a Scarf, you have something kind of like Scarf Ditto Mew, only, um, worse? Notable user: Mega Alakazam, which can potentially do something like Psych Up a Quiver Dance and then Trace the Quiver Dance for a one-turn Geomancy.

Reflect, Light Screen

Screens in an instant. Can be used to offset a Pokemon's flaw (Reflect Alakazam?) while providing team support, with no risk of setting off Defiant or the like. Ignored by Infiltrator and destroyed by Brick Break, but those are only liable to be popular if these prove amazing. Even then, note that Defog wipes screens, and Defog is liable to show up as a Trademark regardless.

Perish Song

Switch or die.

If trapping moves aren't banned (And they should be, given that they're better than Shadow Tag) then you should never use this as a Trademark: trap, then Perish Song.

If they are banned, Perish Song is an iffy tool for forcing out Pokemon of various sorts. It's primary strength is that it can be used to force out anything... except Soundproof Pokemon. It even goes through Substitutes!

Assist

INSTANT V-CREATE JUST ADD SWITCH.

... plz ban

Pain Split

Finally your bulky Ghosts and the like might be passable walls. Switch in at 20% health, instant Pain Split! As it gets in damage at the same time, it's a pretty cool tool.

Magnet Rise

Suddenly, there goes that Ground weakness. Unlike Levitate, Mold Breaker doesn't bypass it! Magnezone might appreciate it just for providing brand-new switching opportunities -Mold Breaker Haxorus carrying Dragon Claw/Earthquake/Poison Jab/Dragon Dance can't do jack to it, for example. That kind of thing.

Bestow

Instantly toss your Item onto the enemy. A strategically slow alternative to Trick or Switcheroo, with the key advantage that it won't take the bestowed item back. So: Knock Off, switch in Bestow Choice Scarf. Tada! Wall is crippled, and your Bestower just has a dead Ability slot. Potentially a worthwhile trade.

Snatch

Uh. Hmm. Depends on the mechanics. Definitely easier to use than Snatch-the-Move, anyway, and probably makes for a good anti-lead -go ahead, have Shuckle try to set a hazard on its first turn.

Magic Coat

One-turn Magic Bounce. Put it on your hazard-setter-murderer, switch in on their hazard setter, and now you've got hazards up and they need to switch or die.

Key flaw is it might prove underwhelming when many effects are being set by Trademark instead. Even if it works on them, it will require really good prediction to get what you want.

Haze

Setup sweeper no more. A fantastic tool for punishing Belly Drum in particular, but usable to mess with setup effects in general. The ability to stop Stored Power sweeps is another great utility.

Attract

Really unreliable. Frankly, if it were to find a niche at all, it would probably deserve a ban as uncompetitive.

Spite

Ehhh. Could be useful for running through recovery PP or something? Not sure how practical it is.

Copycat, Mirror Move

Whatever was last done, your switch-in does. Could be a nasty revenger effect, allowing you to get in a free attack just for switching in after a strong attacker was just made, but it can also be used to do things like grab a recovery usage for yourself, set a hazard not actually on your team, etc.

Mist

Blocks stat-downs. If stat-down spam is popular, this is your answer. Cleared by Defog, though.

Ghost Curse

Use it as a lead, switch out? Can also be used as a sacrifice to force a setup sweeper to switch or die. Main flaw is that you're only going to switch in maybe three times before you die, if you have no support or recovery of your own.

Acid Armor, Barrier, Cotton Guard, Defense Curl, Harden, Iron Defense, Withdraw

Bolster Defense. Upsides: can't trigger Defiant/Competitive or benefit Contrary, works even if the enemy switches to something else afterward, not cleared by Defog. Downsides: doesn't benefit teammates, can't stack with ally effects as well, cleared by Haze. You can end up with some ridiculous Physical bulk to offset the ridiculous Physical attack people will be throwing around.

Baby-Doll Eyes, Charm, Growl, Play Nice, Feather Dance

Weaken the enemy's Attack. Stacks, but doesn't stick around when the enemy switches. Also risks benefiting Contrary or Defiant/Competitive. Blocked by Mist. Basically Intimidate, but more widespread... and better, in Charm and Feather Dance's case.

Amnesia

Only dedicated Special Defense booster. Huh. Same basic idea as when I covered Defense, but for Special Defense.

Screech, Leer, Tail Whip

Lower enemy defenses. Notably, bypasses Unaware (Unaware ignores enemy stat modifications, not your own), stacks with itself, etc... but is also cleared when the enemy switches or faints, making it less effective at nabbing a sweep, and can trigger Defiant/Competitive.

Fake Tears, Metal Sound

Blah blah blah you know the drill.

Calm Mind

Choice Specs and Assault Vest in one Ability. Nice.

Bulk Up, Coil, non-Ghost Curse

More setup. Curse is good for Trick Room teams, and Coil turns moves like Stone Edge into 100% reliable.

Hone Claws

Never shall Stone Edge miss! A good option for Pokemon that have another boosting move they'd like to use anyway and inaccurate coverage/STABs -I'm thinking of Tyranitar here, which may well be decent with Hone Claws as its Trademark while still running Dragon Dance. Mega Tyranitar in particular could be amazing with such a setup.

Cosmic Power, Defend Order

Mixed bulk! Problem: this is really better as a regular-use move that you build up over multiple uses.

Captivate

Only -2 to Special Attack that isn't suicidal. Problem: gendered.

Confide

Special Attack -1. Honestly, Calm Mind is probably better. Not to mention...

Eerie Impulse, Parting Shot, Noble Roar

Mixed reduction. They all have somewhat poor distribution, though. Parting Shot is at least usable, albeit very silly, as it's nearly impossible to actually get Pangoro in if it's using Parting Shot as its Trademark. (You could use Smeargle, but Pangoro's Stealth Rock resistance is relevant, and Smeargle has no many amazing things it can be doing with its Trademark)

Scary Face, Cotton Spore, String Shot

Probably better off trying to Paralyze enemies. Might be useful for revenging foes you can't Paralyze, though.

Nasty Plot, Tail Glow

Combine with Choice Specs for some nasty murderizing. Sacrificing the ability to stack the boosting can be a problem for breaking the likes of Chansey, though, even if you're not running Choice.

Howl, Swords Dance, Meditate, Sharpen

Instant Attack boost. Could help some Pokemon get relevant, and a lot of Swords Dance sweepers really only grab the one Swords Dance anyway.

Growth, Work Up

Mixed attacker go? Growth is particularly interesting for a Sun team, though, giving you fairly epic mixed attacking potential.

Shift Gear

Normally you use it once and sweep. Good deal. Problem: Klinklang still sucks.

Shell Smash

Same basic idea as Shift Gear, though with better distribution. Makes it more difficult to switch in the Shell Smasher to have it automatic, though, and one of the staple Shell Smashers -Cloyster- resents losing Skill Link.

Quiver Dance

Again, you often use it once and get going. If it weren't for Baton Pass Clause, Venomoth would have some incredible potential as a Baton Passer using Quiver Dance as its Trademark. As-is, the biggest thing of interest is that Volcarona is less subject to 4MSS -it can actually afford to run STAB/STAB/Giga Drain/Die Heatran, Die.

Belly Drum

Risky but powerful. The fact that you don't spend a turn means revengers and leads are a lot more competent with it as a Trademark. Linoone in particular can potentially solo some HO teams, thanks to Extreme Speed. Mega Charizard X running Belly Drum as its Trademark could be nasty as a stallbreaker.

Dragon Dance

More prone to being used multiple times, making it more of a trade-off to slot it in as your Trademark. Still, having a Scarf and a Band, effectively, makes for great revenge potential, even if it's less effective for sweeping, overall.

Geomancy

Essentially irrelevant. Xerneas is an Uber, Smeargle can't Baton Pass it because of the Clause, and Smeargle certainly isn't sweeping with it.

Roost, Slack Off, Soft-Boiled, Recover, Milk Drink, Heal Order

Switch-in, instantly heal. Might be useful to give a wall an emergency lifeline -even being down to 20-30% might not make it impossible to switch in. Problem: most Pokemon don't have multiple on-demand recovery moves, so Trademarking your recovery move will often cripple your ability to stall the things you're supposed to stall. For Pokemon like Mew or the Latis that have multiple such moves, though, it can be a useful insurance that they don't die just because they end up low on health and having to switch into an attack.

Moonlight, Morning Sun, Synthesis

Like the regular on-demand recovery moves, but affected by weather. Does have the key advantage that these moves normally have poor PP, and Trademarking them bypasses that.

Dark Void, Hypnosis, Grass Whistle, Lovely Kiss, Spore, Sleep Powder, Sing

Put the enemy to Sleep.

A key question here is whether Accuracy applies to Trademarks. If it does, the unreliable Sleep moves still have some potential just because you're not actually spending a turn on trying to put the target to Sleep, but if it doesn't than suddenly Sleep-inducing moves are all amazing. (With Spore and Sleep Powder actually being the worst of the bunch, and Sing and Grass Whistle being godly for ignoring Substitutes)

Stun Spore, Thunder Wave, Glare

Paralyze! A fantastic tool for ensuring your revenger outspeeds, or for just spreading around 25% Fully Paralyzed chance. Glare is the best, obviously, as only Pokemon outright immune to Parlaysis are protected.

Poison Gas, Poison Powder

Use Toxic or Toxic Spikes instead.

Venom Drench

Noooo. Even if you're spreading around Poison/Toxic, this is just... unreliable, and with mixed messages besides -your walls probably don't care that much about outspeeding, and your attackers would probably rather lower the targets defenses alongside its Speed.

Sweet Scent

Lower's enemy Evasion one stage. Could theoretically be useful for opening up stuff like Hurricane to reliability, but probably not worth it. Defog does the same with a bunch of other benefits, for one.

Tickle

Lowers Attack and Defense. Bit of a mixed effect here. Other stat-lowering options are probably more desirable.

Will O Wisp

Spread the Burns! Can be great for ensuring Physical setup sweepers are crippled, even the Dragon Dancers.

Toxic

A great tool for ensuring that a stallmon -like Hippowdon- is hit with Toxic, bar super-great prediction. It can also be used in an emergency to put a hard timer on a setup sweeper's rampage.

Taunt

No Status moves! A key question is if it effects Trademarks -if it does, it's godly. If it doesn't, it's primarily a nifty stallbreaker tool, one that might not even be that effect in practice, depending on various factors.

Protect

Safe switch-in ensured. Flaw: you're not putting in any work with your switch, unless time passing is all you need. (Such as Toxic already being on the foe) Might actually be one of the best possible Trademarks for revengers.

Spiky Shield

Protect, except you punish contact with damage. Only a little bit of damage.

Sticky Web

An obvious Trademark, an obvious lead. Primary flaw is that Trick Room is more viable than ever.

Trick Room

Instant Trick Room! No more having to spend a turn and then outspeed. Trick Room is liable to be a viable archetype, now.

Torment

Sort of a poor man's Taunt+poor man's Disable, able to punish Choiced foes and prevent healing spam alike while not being very good at either one. Might find a niche anyway.

Yawn

Delayed Sleep effect. Encouraging foes to spend their turn switching can be useful, but is probably less useful in Trademarked than in most metas. I question the utility, really.

Rest

Full heal+wipe statuses. Combine with a Heal Bell teammate and you have stupendous potential to just soak damage. Doesn't do anything on your first switch unless there's hazards, though, and frankly you probably don't really appreciate it triggering on Stealth Rock damage. Requires proper team support to be good, I suspect.

Stealth Rock

Instant-Stealth Rock lead could be really useful stuff, assuming no anti-lead. Even fast U-Turn can have its options restricted by a Stealth Rock Trademark switch-in -no, it is not safe for you to switch in Charizard via U-Turn, because I switched in a Stealth Rock Trademark.

Spikes

It comes in layers, but all too often you end up setting one layer and then switching out of the switch-in. Being able to set multiple layers through repeated switch-ins might work better -especially since you can spend your actual turn on other activities, such as punishing the expected switch-in with Toxic or Knock Off or whatever, while still getting Spikes layers in. It also makes it easier for more aggressive teams to layer Spikes, potentially.

The fact that switching is a lot more powerful and appealing in Trademarked also makes Spikes layers a lot more powerful. Trademarked Defog might be an issue, though, as most Defoggers are immune to Spikes.

Toxic Spikes

After one switch-in, every enemy switch-in is Poisoned. After two, they're all Toxiced. Could be nice if you don't want to have to repeatedly switch in your status-spreader, and has the advantage that even with Trademarks it can often take two turns to undo one turn of Toxic Spikes. (One turn to clear the Toxic Spikes, another turn to clear the Poisoning they inflicted)

Defog

Hazards and screens? All gone. Flaw: If you want to lay down hazards yourself, you may find yourself involuntarily clearing out your own hazards. Still, for teams that aren't too aggressive in their own hazard usage, Trademarked Defog can be amazing, and even for teams using hazards, it can save your bacon, since only killing the switch-in with hazards will prevent a Trademarked Defog from going off. Since most Defoggers are immune to Spikes, that will generally leave Stealth Rock alone to do the job -and Skarmory is neutral to Stealth Rock. Good luck getting it down to 12~% to prevent the Defog. You're more likely to KO it outright than you are to maul it and then have Stealth Rock prevent it from switching in.

Defog as a switch-in is also bad at preventing manual Spikes stackers from putting in work -you switch in before they lay their first layer of Spikes, if you switch in promptly, and you have to switch out and back in to actually re-clear Spikes, instead of just clicking Defog. On the other hand, PP stalling Defog isn't possible if it's a Trademark...

Wish

Trademarked Wish is incredible. Let's say Chansey switches into Mega Manectric -if Mega Manectric uses Thunderbolt as Chansey switches in, Chansey is free to stay in and use Toxic or set Stealth Rock or whatever, regardless of whether Mega Manectric stays in or switches out/Volt Switches out. If Mega Manectric switches out as Chansey switches in (Probably via Volt Switch, in its case, but most Special attackers will be relying on a double-switch prediction) and brings in some nasty Physical attacker (Probably with Knock Off), Chansey is completely free to then switch to a Physical wall which will then benefit from the Wish Chansey set by virtue of switching in. It literally doesn't matter what Mega Manectric does -Chansey is putting in work and stalling foes out just by virtue of Mega Manectric ever being out on the field.

This is an incredible utility, making it much easier for stall to keep key members healthy. I strongly suspect Trademark Wish Chansey will be a stall staple, as it's a completely ridiculous effect, and Chansey retains the ability to heal itself directly via Softboiled. (Where for instance Jirachi and Alomomola are sacrificing the ability to use a Move to heal themselves if they set Wish as their Trademark)

Trademarked Wish is, in all honesty, probably the best of all recovery moves to set as a Trademark, allowing the Pokemon to switch into the things it wants to switch into and heal after accepting a couple of hits or pass healing off to an ally.

The primary flaw with is is that if you get too Wish-happy with your Trademarks, they'll start interfering with each other. A team is probably best off with Trademark Wish Chansey and no other Wish Trademarks.

 

[11pikabro]

This meta looks really fun!
I think I'll just hold my breath until this is coded to see how I'll feel about Block...
Also, consider the threat of forcing uncompetitive coin flips with Confuse Ray and the like as potentially ban-worthy? I can think of ways to get around this, but being able to drop free confusion on the opponent gives me Prankster Swagger vibes.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some of the support moves that I was thinking about:

After You / Quash
Hey, these moves could see some niche use in a sort of pseudo Custap Berry scenario or possibly as to gain an edge on simultaneous switch-ins (unless they simply fail if used in a Single Battle, I don't remember how they operate in Singles)!

Destiny Bond
Could potentially be used to halt momentum and immediate sweeps from unforeseen offensive threats.
If your opponent runs into it, then that's just like a typical double K.O., almost like a defensive Explosion.
If you don't get it triggered, then it could also be the mindgame you need to get a pinch move in like a layer from Spikes, a crippling status move, or simply an attack.

Perish Song
No more need to waste a turn using Perish Song anymore as your opponent gets a move in, just apply it immediately!
It could potentially work great with entry hazards, too, once any 'mons with the Defog Ability are removed.
It can also be your win condition by pinning your opponent's last Pokémon, if you can handle a mere three turns of waiting.

Psych Up / Power Swap / Guard Swap / Heart Swap
For those who want to steal their opponents' stat boosts in the same way people use Choice Scarf Imposter Ditto to one-up their targets. These moves are not as good as Transforming to scout moves, but at least you get to revenge K.O. them with a moveset you know you can use.

Psycho Shift
Could be used to abuse those Toxic Spikes your Pokémon just happened to land on or to just be a general nuisance to your opponent.
It's unreliable and is useless once all of your opponent's Pokémon are crippled, but it'll find repeated use when your opponent has Heal Bell for an ability.

Sketch
Uh, similar reaction to what Ghoul King said about Mimic. I'd like to know simply for debugging purposes.

Stat-boosting and Stat-dropping moves
To Growl, or to Howl?
We've seen the likes of Intimidate and Download be powerful abilities in standard metagames and OMs alike (just see them get used in AAA as an example), so I'm excited to see a whole selection of superior counterparts to them in this metagame.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are there abilities I'd rather keep over a Trademarked one? Unaware, Regenerator, and Magic Guard are definite keeps for the most part. Natural Cure is one I'd like to keep for the convenience of being status free upon switch out, but pretty much all Pokémon with Natural Cure have support options that are magnitudes better than that ability.

 

[Reeksquad]

Weather seems significantly buffed due to the wide distribution of Rain Dance & Co., meaning there's a whole slew of new and arguably better weather setters than just Politoed. Just type in /ds all, rain dance on ps and look at the 100+ pokes that can be run as your weather setter. There're a good handful of mons with the combination of Rain Dance + U-Turn/Volt Switch, with the best one being Raikou as it can take advantage of a perfectly accurate Thunder. Probably the biggest buff is type synergy; most pokemon who take advantage of weather such as rain are the same type as the rain setter, making type synergy very poor. But with this buff, you can now run pokemon that cover type synergy problems while at the same time being your weather setters.

 

[Akumeoy]

Weather seems significantly buffed due to the wide distribution of Rain Dance & Co., meaning there's a whole slew of new and arguably better weather setters than just Politoed. Just type in /ds all, rain dance on ps and look at the 100+ pokes that can be run as your weather setter. There're a good handful of mons with the combination of Rain Dance + U-Turn/Volt Switch, with the best one being Raikou as it can take advantage of a perfectly accurate Thunder. Probably the biggest buff is type synergy; most pokemon who take advantage of weather such as rain are the same type as the rain setter, making type synergy very poor. But with this buff, you can now run pokemon that cover type synergy problems while at the same time being your weather setters.

If you want bulky rain setters that can pivot while enjoying the rain, you also get bulky stuff like Manaphy and Jirachi, the latter of which even gets Healing Wish for the late-game. Tornadus(-T) can do this and spam Hurricane as well, and Scizor has a stronger U-Turn than Jirachi but IMO its support options aren't quite as good. Zapdos gets Thunder and Defog.

For sun, you have stuff like Gliscor, Darmanitan, Infernape, and Victini that can pivot about and love the sun, but Gliscor is really the only support option here -- Infernape and Darmanitan are not bulky, while Victini should be abusing Work Up/Substitute + Choice item for devastating V-Creates if it's on a sun team. Celebi hates fire, but a functional Solar Beam is quite nice.

Archeops is the only Sandstorm+Pivot user that actively benefits from Sandstorm (Rock-type), but hey, SR + Head Smash + EQ + U-Turn is a solid offensive lead anyways. Bulky setters that don't take sandstorm damage include Cobalion (kinda bulky), Forretress, Gliscor, Jirachi, Lando-T, and Scizor. I feel like Scizor would really rather just nab a SD or Agility boost and BP it, but whatever. The thing about sand is that it's not exceptionally impressive here. Oh, Excadrill starts out at +2 speed? I can just give something an Agility trademark and suddenly that's not very impressive. Stick with sun and rain, IMO.

 

[Lcass4919]

something i thought about that will make one of 2 strategies pretty "interesting" is how rest will work. do "attacking abilities" tick off a sleep turn? if so, then that might make rest a pretty decent move for stall, as switching in ticks off a counter. if it doesnt tick it off, then something funny/broken to run is sleep talk rest+roar/dtail. as you can imagine, its a 50% chance(or 66% if you run 2 phasing moves) to "force phase" out your opponent, allowing you to effectively bypass the roar/whirlwind clause, while not being TOO detremental to your team if you get unlucky, as you can pack a wishpasser like chansey.

 

[Quite Quiet]

I did a thing...

Timing is a big deal with abilities, but from what I read of this thread all of these should work roughly like how Intimidate/Sand Stream/Drought/Drizzle does (in that you take hazard damage first, then move).

Mod the importable to set abilities, then you're good to go (the teambuilder will reject non-existent abilities from being set, so you have to do it yourself). I tested far from every combination, but it looks like it's working from my tests.

config/formats.js

Hide

    {
        name: "Trademarked",
        section: "Other Metagames",

        mod: 'trademark',
        ruleset: ['OU'],
        banlist: ['Ignore Illegal Abilities', 'Slaking', 'Regigigas'],

        onValidateSet: function (set) {
            let move = this.getMove(set.ability);
            if (!move.exists) {
                let abilities = this.getTemplate(set.species).abilities;
                let legalAbility = false;
                for (let a in abilities) {
                    if (abilities[a] === set.ability) {
                        legalAbility = true;
                    }
                }
                return !legalAbility ? ['' + set.species + ' cannot have ' + set.ability] : [];
            }
            if (move.name === 'Roar' || move.name === 'Whirlwind') return ['' + set.species + ' has an illegal trademark ability', '(' + move.name + ' is not allowed as a trademark ability)'];
            if (move.category !== 'Status') return ['You can only trademark status moves', '(' + set.species + '\'s trademark is ' + move.name + ')'];
            if (set.moves.indexOf(move.name) >= 0) return ['You cannot use a move that is trademarked', '(' + set.species + ' has ' + move.name + ' as ability and a move)'];

            let template = this.getTemplate(set.species);
            let added = {};
            let canLearn = set.species === 'Smeargle';
            do {
                // We don't care for how it obtains the move as long as the Pokemon learns it
                added[template.species] = true;
                if (template.learnset[move.id]) {
                    canLearn = true;
                    break;
                }
                if (template.prevo) {
                    template = this.getTemplate(template.prevo);
                }
            } while (template && template.species && !added[template.species]);
            if (!canLearn) {
                return ['' + set.species + ' cannot learn ' + move.name];
            }
        }
    },

mods/trademark/abilities.js
http://pastebin.com/dSbrgErV

Not the prettiest solution, but it does the correct timing on things... And you can change up if you want to limit other abilities too, I guess.

 

[Ghoul King]

Something I forgot to talk about when I covered Focus Energy is that one thing it brings to the table it mixed attackers appreciating it. Only Growth (In Sun) and Shell Smash can do better than +1/+1 offenses instantly, and they both have trade-offs. (And Shell Smash has limited distribution, too)

Now, for instance Work Up Infernape gets to put a Life Orb in its Item slot where Critmaster Infernape needs a Scope Lens to reliably get the boost, but on the other hand Critmaster Infernape performs better when stat modifications come into play -for instance, a Physically Defensive Amnesia Pokémon (Slowbro?) is something that Critmaster Infernape does 150% damage against on the Special end relative to "No modifications of any sort of either party's side" where Life Orb Work Up Infernape is actually slightly behind, on the Special end, compared to "No modifications" and loses health for the privilege of attacking. Alternatively, when Eerie Impulse hits them, Critmaster Infernape suffers no ill effect at all, while Work Up Infernape loses a third of its damage, ending up behind even with a Life Orb. Etc.

Speaking of boosting, there's a somewhat roundabout point to consider: in Standard, Weavile facing off against Skarmory can use Swords Dance to double its firepower, and in the long term it can reach +6 to quadruple it, potentially letting it push past an overly passive Skarmory. (Something like Defog/Spikes/Stealth Rock/Roost) On the face of it, Weavile being able to come in with an instant +2 via Trademarking Swords Dance is to its favor, but if Skarmory runs Iron Defense as its Trademark then they end up back where they started... only overall in Skarmory's favor. After all, if we pretend for a moment that Weavile retains access to Swords Dance even when Trademarking it, Swords Dance Weavile against Iron Defense Skarmory still only gets a 50% boost to its damage after one turn spent boosting, and worse yet will end at double where it started, not quadruple. This means Skarmory has more time to do whatever it feels like before it's in real danger, and it also lowers Weavile's roof damage. (Bar crits)

+6 252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Icicle Crash vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 195-230 (58.3 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Now, Weavile has high enough Attack and neutral STABs that Iron Defense Skarmory is an inadequate wall if it has enough time to boost. (Problem being: it's next best is... Hone Claws, which will take 4 turns to get from +2 to +6) How about a non-mixed Garchomp?

+6 252 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Stone Edge vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 161-190 (48.2 - 56.8%) -- 37.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Well, if it has a Life Orb it has a small chance of 2HKOing Iron Defense Skarmory with Stone Edge. (I'm willing to assume Garchomp used Hone Claw and therefore can't miss, whether as its Trademark or as an actual move)

Plenty of Garchomp run mixed specifically to beat Skarmory, of course, but I'm illustrating a point here -that Trademarked's boosting-as-Ability effects overall favor the walls, potentially causing matchups where the attacker could boost far enough to 2HKO or even 1HKO (And the wall probably lacked defensive boosting) into situations where the attacker needs to get a crit somewhere in there to beat the wall.

So instant boosting offensive boosting is actually a lot less scary/influential than it first seems.

After You / Quash
Hey, these moves could see some niche use in a sort of pseudo Custap Berry scenario or possibly as to gain an edge on simultaneous switch-ins (unless they simply fail if used in a Single Battle, I don't remember how they operate in Singles)!

These might be useful for leads and maybe revengers, depending on how turn order considerations work, but any mid-turn switch-in will get zero use out of them. After You seems especially likely to do nothing, period, to me -its effect is to make the target take its queued right after After You, so I'm pretty sure it'll do nothing if they have no action planned. (Which would be the case for revenging/leading)

Are there abilities I'd rather keep over a Trademarked one? Unaware, Regenerator, and Magic Guard are definite keeps for the most part. Natural Cure is one I'd like to keep for the convenience of being status free upon switch out, but pretty much all Pokémon with Natural Cure have support options that are magnitudes better than that ability.

Natural Cure is arguably inferior to having Heal Bell/Aromatherapy (Or even just Refresh!), as the net result either way is that you hit the field clear of major statuses (They don't do anything when you're off the field), and Heal Bell/Aromatherapy will benefit allies and render you immune to Toxic Spikes, due to the fact that hazards hit and then Abilities trigger. (Refresh doesn't benefit allies, but it still renders you immune to Toxic Spikes) Note that Trevenant is the only fully evolved Pokemon in the entire game to have Natural Cure without access to any of those three Moves... this is so rarely run that I didn't even know Trevenant got Natural Cure until I was dsing for this.

Unaware and Magic Guard are obviously unreplicable by moves, and Regenerator's timing of healing can be critical even though it heals less than a recovery move, so they have clear niches.

In fact, let's go over all the Abilities. (That aren't already useless/useless in Singles/banned from OU in practice or, as with weather Abilities, previously covered as having been replaced)

Regular Abilities

Stench

Small chance to Flinch is too minor to really matter.

Speed Boost

Rarely going to be more beneficial than an instant +2 to Speed. Note that Yanmega is the only Speed Booster that doesn't get Agility, and it does get Tailwind, which doesn't even require Baton Pass to benefit teammates.

Battle Armor/Shell Armor

A trade-off compared to Luck Chant. Not a big deal, because Mega Slowbro is basically the only abuser anyway.

Sturdy

Being able to survive one hit consistently is still relevant. Problem is, it's still a fairly niche benefit, especially compared to stuff like setting Spikes or clearing hazards.

Damp

Almost never used by people as-is, and arguably inferior to stuff like switching in a Protect Trademark on the anticipated Explosion -which will cause the Exploder to faint to no effect, instead of simply spending their turn doing nothing.

Limber

Arguably inferior to moves like Safeguard, bar the point that Infiltrator bypasses Safeguard by not Limber. (Mold Breaker technically bypasses Limber, but then Limber instantly cures the Paralysis)

Sand Veil/Snow Cloak

Meh. Too unreliable, rarely run as-is.

Static

Only real advantage over Thunder Wave is that it works on Ground types. The problem is that Ground types are probably not making contact with you in the first place.

Volt Absorb/Water Absorb

Immunities that get you healed are pretty nice. Unfortunately, Volcanion is one of the only Pokemon that actually appreciates the immunity in question -usually the Pokemon getting the immunity is already resistant. As such, most Pokemon will overwrite these and not look back.

Oblivious

Taunt-proofing is cool, and may prove to have a niche if Taunt Trademarks become overly common. On the other hand, the historical primary use of Oblivious -ensuring Trick Room gets set- is questionable when you can just Trademark Trick Room.

Cloud Nine/Air Lock I guess

Weather is liable to be a lot more relevant to Trademarked, so being able to ignore it may be a big deal. On the other hand, this is arguably inferior to having a setter of your own -why have Golduck use Cloud Nine to switch into Mega Charizard Y when you could run a Rain Dance Water type to outright wipe the weather? That kind of thing.

Compound Eyes

Likely to be situationally overridden by other options in the movepool. Galvantula can set Rain Dance if it wants accurate Thunders, for example. It's never been an impressive effect anyway, and unfortunately the Pokemon that have it are largely underwhelming.

Insomnia/Vital Spirit

Again, likely to be outclassed by Safeguard, Misty Terrain, Electric Terrain...

Color Change

As if anyone actually runs it.

Immunity

Again, likely to be outclassed by Heal Bell/Aromatherapy/Refresh/Safeguard...

Flashfire

There will probably still be Heatran running Flashfire, but most Flashfire abusers would rather run a Trademark.

Shield Dust

An incredible Ability with awful distribution.

Own Tempo

Again, likely to be outclassed by Safeguard.

Suction Cups

Arguably inferior to Ingrain, except not really because Ingrain prevents you from switching, yourself. Smeargle is the only Ingrain user that gets a switching move of any kind, so you can't just run Ingrain and U-Turn out. Suction Cups real problem is that it has awful distribution.

Intimidate

Inferior to Charm and Feather Dance, directly upgrading the likes of Arcanine (Charm) and Staraptor. (Feather Dance) May still be run on Pokemon that can't replace it with an equivalent, superior option, such as Landorus-Therian. (Bulk Up provides it equivalent protection, but doesn't act as team support. It does get Confide, though, allowing it to hit on the Special end instead, which may prove a more noteworthy niche for it to fill. Maybe. (There's a lot of Confide U-Turn/Volt Switch-capable Pokemon)

Shadow Tag/Arena Trap/Magnet Pull

Directly inferior to the trapping moves unless those get banned.

Rough Skin/Iron Barbs

There's no move that slaps down a lingering punishing effect, so these still have a place.

Wonder Guard

Godly Ability. If people are running Shedinja in Trademarked, it's still going to be with Wonder Guard.

Levitate

Essentially inferior to Magnet Rise, unless you expect to actually stay in a full five turns and still be afraid of Ground moves at that point. May still be run on natural Levitators that can't replace it, though. Immunity to Ground is a big deal.

Effect Spore

Too random, rarely run as-is.

Synchronize

Probably better off passing around a Status directly, such as Trademarking Toxic.

Clear Body/White Smoke/Hyper Cutter/Big Pecks/Keen Eye

Largely inferior to setting Mist.

Natural Cure

Already covered: basically inferior to Refresh, Heal Bell, and Aromatherapy.

Lightning Rod/Storm Drain

Complicated. Boosting-wise, they're usually inferior to just taking Nasty Plot or whatever, but they come with an immunity as well. The combination is not directly invalidated... but the combination is also not actually strongly synergistic.

Serene Grace

Not directly replaced by any move. Jirachi and Togekiss still have reason to run it.

Swift Swim/Chlorophyll/Sand Rush

Impressive, until you realize Agility doesn't require weather support. May still see use in weather teams anyway.

Trace

Arguably inferior to Skill Swap, which denies the enemy their Ability in the same motion. Only Porygon and Porygon2 get Trace without getting Skill Swap, too.

Huge Power/Pure Power

Not directly invalidated by any move. Medicham won't run it, though, since it'll Mega Evolve to get Pure Power.

Poison Point

Just Trademark Toxic, jeez.

Inner Focus

As no move offers Flinch protection, this still has a valid niche. A small one, mind...

Magma Armor

Still inferior to Safeguard.

Water Veil

See above.

Soundproof

Sound immunity is actually a big deal, and potentially a bigger deal in Trademarked, depending on actual mechanics.

Rain Dish

Ludicolo and Surskit are the only Rain Dishers that don't get Aqua Ring. Aqua Ring is 100% better, and neither of those two should be run with ain Dish in OU Trademarked anyway.

Pressure

Double-Spite cores are arguably better than Pressure, but that's about it. Main problem is so few Pressure 'mons are OU-legal and actually useful with Pressure.

Thick Fat

Not strictly invalidated by any move.

Early Bird

Not strictly invalidated by any move. Probably not worth running, though.

Flame Body

Just run Will O Wisp, come on.

Pickup

Oddly, not directly invalidated by any Status move. Questionable in its utility regardless.

Hustle

I'm pretty sure Delibird is the only 'mon that doesn't have some kind of boosting move. Admittedly, Hustle stacks with boosting and it bypasses Unaware, but it also lowers Accuracy. Togekiss really probably rather would run Work Up or something, if it wanted to go Physical at all... that kind of thing.

Cute Charm

Run Attract if you think it's worth the effort.

Plus/Minus

Nigh useless in Singles anyway, and mostly invalidated by stuff like Nasty Plot even if we were talking Doubles.

Forecast

Castform is questionable with it, worthless without it.

Sticky Hold

No Status move can be used to block item removal, so it still has a place. A small one.

Shed Skin

Generally inferior to Safeguard outside of Rest-abusing sets hoping to get an early wake-up out of Shed Skin. Within those sets it's still very unreliable.

Guts/Toxic Boost

Still excellent Abilities with no proper competition.

Marvel Scale

Why not just boost Defense directly? Milotic would probably rather run Coil if it wants its Defense up via Ability, which throws in Hydro Pump not missing, Dragon Tail not missing, boosted damage on Dragon Tail... Dragonair has no Defense boosting effect, admittedly, but other effects still seem more useful even if Eviolite Dragonair becomes a thing.

Liquid Ooze

Heal Block is considerably more general, though admittedly it won't ever cause an opponent to kill themselves in trying to steal your health.

Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent/Swarm

NO BAD WHY WOULD YOU RUN THESE

Rock Head

No Status move protects from recoil damage, but then again you can probably run boosting and use a non-recoil move to do similar or greater damage. Hone Claws makes Stone Edge just as powerful as Head Smash while removing the miss chance, that kind of thing.

Tangled Feet

An awful Ability in the first place.

Motor Drive

Like Lightning Rod, you get an immunity plus a boosting effect. Like Lightning Rod, it's not a strongly synergistic combo.

Rivalry

Too unreliable to be worth it. It'll usually make more sense to run an Attack booster, just because it's more reliable.

Steadfast

How about just boosting your Speed in the first place?

Gluttony

Not particularly competed with by Trademarks.

Anger Point

Probably inferior to running a Belly Drum Pokemon. They both involve hitting +6 with a big sacrifice to health, but Belly Drum is under your control, not the RNG's.

Unburden

Probably inferior to running Agility or the like. The fact that it stacks with them is just not as significant an argument as with attack/defense-type modifications.

Heatproof

It's not like Bronzong runs it as-is.

Simple

Still an epic Ability.

Dry Skin

A Water immunity plus healing in Rain passively is actually pretty great. Too bad it has mediocre distribution.

Download

Just run Nasty Plot, come on.

If Genesect makes it into the meta for some reason, it might still want Download... though honestly, it'd probably rather run Shift Gear.

Iron Fist

Too small a boost for it to actually matter that it bypasses Unaware etc etc. Turn into a critmaster or run Bulk Up or whatever.

Poison Heal

An incredible Ability with no competition whatsoever.

Adaptability

Often a significant Ability in OMs, but I suspect here it will tend to be outclassed by Trademarks. Depends in part on how dominant Unaware/Haze/Topsy-Turvy/etc is and how calc benchmarks for Adaptability-capable Pokemon work out.

Skill Link

This is a completely ridiculous Ability, opening up reliable access to 135 BP moves. (125+the hidden 2 BP five times. Yes, that means Skill Link Icicle Spear is stronger than Boomburst/Draco Meteor/etc) While Skill Link-capable Pokemon will likely give serious thought to other options, Skill Link is not invalidated.

Hydration

An incredible Ability that is considerably easier to support in Trademarked. The ability to just Rest-spam for healing is insane.

Solar Power

Questionable, as it's a 50% boost in a specific situation while burning 1/8th of your health every turn. If you've got boosting, the boosting is probably better. If you don't... well, Charizard has no Special boosting, but it has Dragon Dance and Belly Drum and can Mega Evolve into Mega Charizard X. Why even consider Solar Power Charizard?

Quick Feet

Just take Agility or whatever, come on.

Normalize

The uses it has are not particularly relevant to Singles, and are not invalidated by Trademarked. It doesn't budge particularly.

Sniper

Not actually inferior to anything, per se, but for instance Sniper Kingdra is likely to be replaced by Focus Energy Hydreigon.

Magic Guard

No Status move does its job, and it's an exceptional effect.

No Guard

Nothing directly replaces it, but a lot of Pokemon can get a similar effect with Gravity -Gravity Alakazam doesn't have to worry about Focus Blast missing, for instance.

Stall

Whyyyyy

Technician

Depends on the Pokemon. Non-Mega Scizor going for a sweep would probably rather have Technician and manually set Swords Dance, Mega Scizor obviously wants a Trademark, but for something like Ambipom where Technician only really benefits Fake Out, an actual Attack boost is probably the better choice.

Leaf Guard

Largely inferior to Safeguard.

Klutz

Not strictly inferior, but most of the time you'd rather run something with a Trademark -Trick/Switcheroo to instantly give away a negative item, Magic Room to shut off your negative item and shut off the enemy's positive item, that kind of thing.

Mold Breaker/Turboblaze/Teravolt

Still relevant, though its case is liable to be hurt by various points like "Does not bypass Magnet Rise".

Super Luck

Focus Energy is better.

Aftermath

Destiny Bond is largely superior.

Anticipation/Forewarn

For scouting purposes, Transform Mew is better.

Unaware

Still relevant!

Tinted Lens

Still relevant!

Filter/Solid Rock

Not strictly invalidated, but you're probably better off with other options -if Rhyperior is being hit with a super effective move on the Special end, it's probably dead regardless. Just commit to Physical bulk if you care.

Scrappy

Superior to Foresight and Odor Sleuth.

Ice Body

Not actually invalidated by anything. Technically.

Frisk

Still relevant!

Reckless

Just... boost Attack or something. Same thing as with Iron Fist.

Flower Gift

+50% Special Attack and +50% Defense is neat, but this is Singles and Cherrim isn't good enough to make boosting itself that notable. Run a different Pokemon.

Pickpocket

Not strictly inferior to anything.

Sheer Force

Life Orb Sheer Force is still perfectly good.

Contrary

Still relevant!

Unnerve

Eeeeeh.

Defiant/Competitive

Still relevant! But only if you think you can bait out multiple stat-down hits -keeping in mind that Parting Shot counts twice, for example, and that you can switch into Sticky Web and a stat-down effect. (Defog, say)

Cursed Body

Disable will usually be better.

Weak Armor

Just run a Speed booster per se, jeeze. Omastar would rather run Shell Smash outright, for example.

Heavy Metal/Light Metal

Not strictly inferior... but why are you running these?

Multiscale

Still actually a godly Ability.

Flare Boost

Drifblim gets Focus Energy. Run that and a Scope Lens instead of this and a Flame Orb.

Harvest

Recycle has similar, yet broader utility, but Recycle only triggers on switch-in. Still relevant.

Overcoat

Not actually invalidated. If you're looking for spore/powder immunity in specific, though, it's largely inferior to Safeguard.

Poison Touch

Run Toxic, come on.

Regenerator

Weaker healing than a recovery move, but the timing can be key.

Wonder Skin

Almost never run as-is.

Analytic

Might actually still be worth using, maybe. Magnezone and Starmie don't actually have boosting on the Special end, for one, and switching is going to be even more common than usual in Trademarked, so Analytic will trigger a lot even when you actually outspeed.

Illusion

Still relevant! Main flaw is that the very act of not triggering a Trademark will often be suspicious.

Imposter

Ditto has been invalidated by Mew.

Infiltrator

Still relevant! Arguably more relevant, since foes can enter the fight with a Substitute, putting up Safeguard, or setting a screen.

Mummy

Less relevant! Might be useful, but if Trademarks are king it will rarely do anything.

Moxie

Still relevant! Usually up-front boosting will be better, but Moxie can turn a misplay or two into a runaway train of pain for the enemy.

Justified

Just... just run Swords Dance or whatever.

Rattled

Just run Agility or whatever.

Magic Bounce

Still relevant!

Sap Sipper

Stuff I've said before about like Lightning Rod applies here too.

Prankster

Still relevant! Somewhat less so, though, as the utility is partially supplanted by Trademarks, as switching goes first.

Sand Force

Stronger than the likes of Iron Fist, but still so weak and limited in moves it effects that you're probably better off with a boosting Trademark.

Zen Mode

Nobody runs this.

Victory Star

Strictly speaking, Victini can't replace this with anything -it doesn't have Coil, Hone Claws, or Gravity- but the effect is tiny, and if you care you can give it Gravity support from a teammate -like Landorus-Therian.

Aroma Veil

Super-Oblivious. What I said there applies here.

Cheek Pouch

Wish is probably better, in all honesty.

Protean

Utterly ridiculous and not replaced by anything.

Fur Coat

Cotton Guard is better outside of crits and extreme Baton Passing shenanigans. Furfrou gets Cotton Guard. Not that anyone runs Furfrou, mind...

Magician

Still not strictly inferior to a Trademark.

Bulletproof

Key immunities can be nice.

Strong Jaw

Strong enough to potentially-maybe be worth running over a boosting Trademark.

Refrigerate/Aerilate/Pixilate

Not supplanted!

Sweet Veil

Safeguard etc etc

Gale Wings

Not inferior to anything, though it's worth noting that Talonflame is so fast that it doesn't necessarily need Gale Wings to do its job.

Mega Launcher

Same basic idea as Strong Jaw. Clawitzer doesn't even have any Special boosting or Focus Energy or anything anyway.

Grass Pelt

Just... just run Defense boosting. Outside of crits, it'll be better.

Tough Claws

In that range of boost that's notable enough to be likely to matter against Unaware but still weaker than a single stage of boosting. However, we're talking about Barbaracle here, and it gets Shell Smash. It probably would rather have Shell Smash than Tough Claws.

Gooey

Goodra doesn't have any other way to lower enemy Speed. Still, I think I'd rather have Acid Armor.

 

[gragon73]

Hmm, let's make a team...

Persian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Assist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn

Furret @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Assist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn

Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Assist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn

Purugly @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Assist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn

Liepard @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Assist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn

Monferno @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Assist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn

Snaquaza - you might want some clause/ban for this.
Maybe call it the Registry Clause, and no two pokemon on the same team can have the same trademark?

 

[nv]

I thought I would provide a compendium of sorts for a few setup moves, including weather and terrains, and common healing moves while also doing some honorable mentions.

Key
Move Name
Role (what a Pokemon using this as their Trademark will be offering up for a team)
Users (Pokemon that can viably use the move)

Setup Moves

Agility/Autotomize/Rock Polish
Role: Pokemon with these Trademarks can become excellent revenge killers as +2 Speed right off the bat can help pick off every weakened Pokemon possible. It can also allow slow wallbreakers to now be fast, which can become an issue for the opposing foe's team. The issue with this as a Pokemon's Trademark is that thanks to healing moves becoming potential Trademarks, Pokemon are less likely to be worn down.
Users: Agility

->

->

->

| Autotomize N/A | Rock Polish

->

Nasty Plot/Swords Dance/Tail Glow
Role: Pokemon with these Trademarks can become huge wallbreakers as a +2 on the switch in, back by good STABs and/or coverage, makes these Pokemon hard to counter. These Trademarks also puts a ton of offensive pressure on the opponent, forcing them to play more defensively.
Users: Nasty Plot

->

| Swords Dance

->

| Tail Glow

Dragon Dance/Quiver Dance/Shell Smash
Role: Pokemon with Trademarks like these are particularly aimed to sweep the opponent and can be very potent. The only downside to using these particular moves as the Pokemon's Trademarks is that they can't grab more than one boost, making it not as "threatening" as the previous setup Trademarks.
Users: Dragon Dance

->

->

->

| Quiver Dance

| Shell Smash

Field Effects

Electric Terrain/Grassy Terrain/Misty Terrain
Role: Being able to automatically set up a Terrain makes them on par viability-wise with weather moves now which is really nice for specified teams that can abuse it with ease.
Users: Electric Terrain

->

| Grassy Terrain

->

| Misty Terrain

Rain Dance/Sandstorm/Sunny Day
Role: Given the fact that there are a ton of Pokemon that learn these moves, weather setters have become really unique in a sense since most can now synergize well with the team that is using the weather rather than stack type weakenesses. (I left Hail out as it is still less likely to be used over the other three Trademarks)
Users: Rain Dance

->

->

| Sandstorm

->

->

| Sunny Day

->

Trick Room
Role: Giving one of the most sought after gimmicky strategies in standard play a way to auto set TR can be really nice as it allows more bulky yet slower Pokemon to flip the offensive teams that may abuse Agility or weather on their head.
Users:

Gravity
Role: Pokemon with this Trademark means that they can use inaccurate moves such as Thunder, Fire Blast, and Zap Cannon more easily while also grounding Flying-types, making grounded moves like Earthquake a lot more spammable.
Users:

Healing Moves

Recover/Roost/Slack Off/Soft-Boiled
Role: Being able to get 50% of your health back upon switch-in can allow a Pokemon "down in the dumps" to be able to fight back and forces the opponent to overcome the Pokemon with these Trademarks.
Users: Recover

| Roost

| Slack Off

| Soft-Boiled

Honorable Mentions

Charm/Confide/Feather Dance
Role: Basically Pokemon with these Trademarks are able to upgrade Intimidate as they can now double the drop or use the drop against Special Attackers, making these particular Trademarks very good for pivoting.
Users: Charm

| Confide

| Feather Dance

Magic Coat
Role: Essentially this gives Magic Bounce to any Pokemon that can make this their Trademark.
Users:

Magnet Rise
Role: Essentially this gives Levitate to any Pokemon that can make this their Trademark.
Users:

I really like this OM as it basically takes normally unused moves within a Pokemon's own movepool to potentially serve as a very good ability, although from what bits of research I have done, I can say without a doubt that I am certain stall is going to be heavy in this metagame thanks to all the new "stally abilities" the status moves can potentially give.

 

[gragon73]

Besides protecting from AssistTurn wins, I also feel like having a Registry Clause (or whatever you want to call it) will just make for more interesting teams all around (rather than just having teams with 3 rain dancers or whatever), as well as being really good for flavor.

Having read the post below...
Or just ban moves that allow usage of attacking moves, as that sort of ruins the point, right?

 

[mallpal]

Your clause isn't sufficient to prevent the infinite u-turn thing, the same thing can be achieved with one assist user and one copycat user.

 

[The Guy Who Has Many Alts]

to be honest there was another meta called "Linked" where you can use your first 2 moves in one turn. It was possible to infinitely switch with Fake Out + U-Turn but when I played it, it wasn't centralising since almost every team had prepared for it with a TankChomp or even Gliscor which could take hundreds of Fake Out U-Turns and still shrug off all the damage off with Poison Heal and Protect. My point is even if something like U-Turn spam becomes centralising the meta will just adapt to it and put Rocky Helmet on their fat mons to punish U-Turn.

 

[mallpal]

Yeah there seem to be at least several ways to beat the strat at team preview basically. Could only imagine it'd be annoying to lose to, though.

Edit: at least one, that is: Protect/Detect (trademarked on at least two, preferably not hazard weak team members). Maybe Static, Flame Body and Imprison, too.

 

[Isa Simple]

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Screech
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Crunch

Tyranitar is a very versatile pokemon with a lot of options already, and now even more when choosing an ability. Other notable options would be Block (pls ban), Focus Energy (+ Stone Edge), Curse, Dragon Dance, Iron Defence, Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave and Rock Polish. But the option I find most interesting and perhaps most valuable is Screech. Screech offers quite a lot to Tyranitar, the most important thing however is the invaluable buff to Tyranitar's ability to Pursuit trap. Firstly, the heavy defence drop provides incentive to switch, secondly, the lowered defence makes Pursuit as powerful as standard Crunch without the defence drop (meaning Latios is dead without the ability to get some Draco dmg in as a last laugh), and finally, you can obviously KO fleeing targets from twice as much HP as before. So there are some substantial buffs to its Pursuit trapping abilities, possibly making it the best Pursuit trapper, which I believe will become a very important role in this meta. Particularly against stall, as each mons Ability will hold valuable utility on stall teams, so having any pokemon Pursuit trapped would be bad news. But the buff obviously doesn't just buff Pursuit. With Scarf you effectively have +2 Atk and +1 Speed vs the target you come in on, making Tyranitar a very dangerous revenge killer, and allowing it to drill massive holes. What's also cool about Screech over SD is that you can still pound Unaware walls, giving stall even more trouble. But basically the main point is just that Screech + Pursuit is an epic combo, and Tyranitar does it best.

This is the power of Pursuit vs a fleeing target:
252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. -2 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 268-316 (78.5 - 92.6%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[gragon73]

to be honest there was another meta called "Linked" where you can use your first 2 moves in one turn. It was possible to infinitely switch with Fake Out + U-Turn but when I played it, it wasn't centralising since almost every team had prepared for it with a TankChomp or even Gliscor which could take hundreds of Fake Out U-Turns and still shrug off all the damage off with Poison Heal and Protect. My point is even if something like U-Turn spam becomes centralising the meta will just adapt to it and put Rocky Helmet on their fat mons to punish U-Turn.

The thing is, they'll be switching enough that you probably won't get enough damage from rocky helmet on them unless you literally invest entirely in bulk.
The clause would fix this though.

 

[Ghoul King]

More precisely, the difference between this and Linked is that they'd spend all of one turn on cycling through. Poison Heal Protect or whatever is useless. Looking at TankChomp vs the listed team we get...

252+ Atk Choice Band Infernape U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 80-95 (19 - 22.6%) -- possible 5HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Purugly U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 69-82 (16.4 - 19.5%) -- possible 6HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Persian U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 62-74 (14.7 - 17.6%) -- possible 6HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Furret U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 66-78 (15.7 - 18.5%) -- possible 6HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Monferno U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 67-79 (15.9 - 18.8%) -- possible 6HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Liepard U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 73-86 (17.3 - 20.4%) -- possible 5HKO

(There is no reason to run Choice Scarf except maybe to counter-team other Assist-abusing teams, as you'll act the instant you switch in regardless)

What happens under the current rules is that Tankchomp hopefully leads against the Assist-abusing team with a Rocky Helmet, and promptly is Assist-KOed by infinite U-Turn having taken out one, maybe two Pokemon (1/8th+1/6th is about 50%-100% faster than the 15-20% damage Tankchomp is generally taking from the U-Turns -1/8th is 12.5%, 1/6th is roughly 16.5%, which totals to just under 30% per hit), assuming the Assist team doesn't spread the damage around because they're so lazy they can't be bothered to do anything beyond alternating Infernape and Liepard.

To actually be a hard stop to such Assist-abusing teams, you'd need Tankchomp+Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn+some other 'mon (Skarmory with Rocky Helmet double-resists, so probably it), and demanding that on basically every team is ludicrous.

 

[mallpal]

^Stealth rock tho.

I'm going to stop repeating myself about this now, it's surely not helping anyone.

Moving on, does anyone know if the effect of Mist persists after switching out? If so it's probably the best way of dealing with that screech ttar set for defensive builds, as well as having utility for offense if charm etc. catch on.

E: also, Magic Room seems legit useful here for disabling niche picks like mental herb, shed shell and rocky helm to support abuse of taunt, block and assist/copycat respectively. Latias, Cress and Mew are probably the best users.

People may also forget to prepare for standard threats in all the hype around trademarking, so the likes of GW Talonflame will be pretty powerful imo.

 

[Ghoul King]

^Stealth rock tho.

I'm going to stop repeating myself about this now, it's surely not helping anyone.

That's getting needlessly specific, and honestly an Assist team can probably afford to slot in a Defogger to shut down checking Assist-Turn with even Trademarked Stealth Rock.

Moving on, does anyone know if the effect of Mist persists after switching out? If so it's probably the best way of dealing with that screech ttar set for defensive builds, as well as having utility for offense if charm etc. catch on.

Mist is a 5-turn effect that lingers if switched.

 

[mallpal]

Yeah I'm aware, but the assist team could also afford to slot a magic room trademarker to deal with rocky helmet, couldn't they? It's a cycle of styling and counterstyling that you can't really puzzle out by theorising; we'd need to see it playing out. Either way i think we're agreed that trademarking u-turn in general is busted. In general I don't think much would be lost if all the attacking trademarks (assist, copycat, mirror move, nature power, metronome) were banned, they seem very niche at best when they're not broken.

Stealth rock trademarking does seem very viable for offense btw, gives you a big leg up in the hazards/clearing momentum game, especially considering the good offensive mons that get it. Not everything needs to set up.

 

[Mega-Serperior-Z]

Imma help this meta cause I'm bored atm.

OU Pokemon + Move Abilities

Universal - Protect
Semi-Universal - Rain Dance (basically Drizzle), Sunny Day (basically Drought), Sandstorm (basically Sand Stream), Hail (basically Snow Warning), Thunder Wave, Toxic, Substitute.

- Spore, Synthesis, Stun Spore* - Other Options: Sweet Scent, Worry Seed.

- Belly Drum, Sing*, Supersonic* - Other Options: Encore, Perish Songs, Amnesia, Aqua Ring, Charm, Copycat , Refresh , Soak.

- Hone Claws, Mean Look, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Taunt - Other Options: Iron Defence, Magnet Rise, Metal Sound, Role Play.

- Spore, Bulk Up, Swords Dance, Leech Seed, Stun Spore*, Synthesis - Other Options: Mind Reader (+Dynamic Punch), Worry Seed, Refresh, Fake Tears, Charm.
Notes: Even with Technician gone, it can still do heaps of damage with Swords Dance as an ability. The most notable ability is Spore, which allows Breloom to set up a manual Swords Dance. It can also be used for Leech Seed, Synthesis and even things like Mind Reader + Dynamic Punch.

- Aromatherapy / Heal Bell, Soft Boiled, Stealth Rock, Wish, Sing*, Sweet Kiss* - Other Options: Healing Wish, Charm, Copycat, Gravity, Skill Swap.

- Hone Claws, Roost, Swords Dance, Dragon Dance, Will-o-Wisp, Tailwind, Block - Other Options: Scary Face, Belly Drum, Defog (note you get hit by Stealth Rock before Defog activates).

- Roost, Dragon Dance, Will-o-Wisp, Tailwind, Block - Other Options: Scary Face, Defog (note you get hit by Stealth Rock before Defog activates).

- Aromatherapy / Heal Bell, Calm Mind, Moonlight / Soft Boiled, Stealth Rock, Wish, Trick, Cosmic Power, Sing*, Sweet Kiss* - Other Options - Encore, Magic Coat (basically the CAP ability Rebound), Trick, Amnesia, Charm, Fake Tears, Gravity, Copycat.

- Calm Mind, Heal Bell, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock, Trick Room - Other Options - Skill Swap, Sharpen (for Diamond Storm), Iron Defence, Magnet Rise.

- Agility, Haze, Heal Bell, Hone Claws, Dragon Dance, Roost, Tailwind - Other Options - Barrier, Defog.

- Hone Claws, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance - Other Options - Metal Sound, Iron Defence, Magnet Rise.

- Block, Curse, Leech Seed, Stealth Rock, Spikes, Swords Dance - Other Options - Gravity, Worry Seed, Ingrain, Iron Defence, Hone Claws.

- Hone Claws, Swords Dance, Stealth Rock - Other Options - Scary Face.

- Calm Mind, Destiny Bond, Heal Bell, Pain Split, Taunt, Will-o-Wisp, Wish, Confuse Ray, Hypnosis*, Mean Look, Sing*, Trick Room - Other Options - Skill Swap, Psych Up, Charm, Memento, Healing Wish, Disable, Encore.

- Destiny Bond, Pain Split, Taunt, Will-o-Wisp, Confuse Ray, Hypnosis*, Mean Look, Trick Room - Other Options - Skill Swap, Role Play, Reflect Type, Psych Up, Embargo, Curse, Perish Song, Disable.

- Agility / Rock Polish, Defog, Roost, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Tailwind, Taunt, Power Trick - Other Options - Screech.

- Iron Defence, Stealth Rock, Will-o-Wisp, Taunt - Other Options - Scary Face, Metal Sound, Iron Defence.

- Stealth Rock, Slack Off, Curse, Yawn - Other Options - Stockpile.

Other Notes: Hippowdon's main niche being setting sand is pretty much gone unless you are willing to just use a Sandstorm set, but that's wasting potential for stuff like Slack Off, Curse, Yawn or Stealth Rock.

- Calm Mind, Cosmic Power, Refresh, Stealth Rock, Trick Room, Trick, Wish - Other Options - Gravity, Healing Wish, Iron Defence, Psych Up.

- Calm Mind, Taunt - Other Options - Swords Dance (physical Keldeo?).

- Calm Mind, Light Screen, Reflect, Spikes - Other Options - Psych Up, Magnet Rise, Iron Defence, Heal Block, Switcheroo.

- Hone Claws, Roost - Other Options - Safeguard (burns).

Notes: While Kyurem-Black may not have much good status abilities, Hone Claws is decent enough. Safeguard also helps for the burns and switching into Will-o-Wisps.

- Bulk Up, Block, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance - Other Options - Role Play, Gravity.

- Calm Mind, Defog, Roost / Recover, Tailwind, Wish, Refresh, Reflect Type - Other Options - Charm, Healing Wish, Trick.

- Calm Mind, Defog, Roost / Recover, Tailwind - Other Options - Heal Block, Trick, Memento.

- Agility, Heal Bell, Sweet Kiss*, Work Up - Other Options - Charm, Copycat, Cosmic Power, Encore, Fake Tears, Entrainment, Foresight (no abilities I think), Healing Wish.

- Gravity(+Zap Cannon), Magnet Rise - Other Options - Refresh, Iron Defence / Barrier, Electric Terrain.

- Tail Glow - Other Options - Calm Mind, Skill Swap, Aqua Ring, Supersonic*, Psych Up, Charm, Acid Armor.

- Other Options - Eerie Impulse, Electric Terrain, Magnet Rise.

- Bulk Up, Recover - Other Options - Acupressure, Gravity, Mind Reader (and then HJK), Pain Split, Psych Up, Role Play?, Work Up.

- Agility / Rock Polish, Refresh, Block, Hone Claws, Stealth Rock - Other Options - Miracle Eye, Psych Up, Gravity, Magnet Rise, Iron Defence.

- Block, Transform, Bulk Up, Defog, Calm Mind, Gastro Acid, Heal Bell, Hone Claw, Hypnosis*, Nasty Plot, Pain Split, Rock Polish, Roost / Soft Boiled / Synthesis, Swords Dance, Tailwind, Taunt, Will-o-Wisp, Trick, Trick Room - Other Options - Work Up, String Shot, Skill Swap, Role Play, Reflect Type, Me First, Iron Defence, Gravity, Embargo, Amnesia.

Notes: Mew is the most versatile Pokemon in this meta. There may be standard sets like Will-o-Wisp or a Nasty Plot / Swords Dance + Baton Pass, or maybe even stuff like Reflect Type.

- Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Bulk Up - Other Options - String Shot, Me First, Iron Defence.

- Curse, Recover, Yawn - Other Options - Amnesia, Eerie Impulse, Encore, Haze, Stockpile.

- Calm Mind - Other Options - Psych Up, Magnet Rise.

- Confuse Ray, Will-o-Wisp, Pain Split, Trick - Other Options - Charge, Psych Up.

- Calm Mind, Confuse Ray, Mean Look, Moonlight / Recover, Pain Split, Taunt, Will-o-Wisp, Trick Room, Nasty Plot, Block - Other Options - Gravity.

- Agility, Swords Dance, Defog, Roost / Morning Sun, Tailwind - Other Options - Iron Defence, Safeguard (burns).

Notes: Without Technician, its +2 Bullet Punch doesn't do quite as much but it can still break walls.

- Aromatherapy, Calm Mind, Coil, Gastro Acid, Glare, Leech Seed, Mean Look, Swords Dance, Synthesis, Taunt - Other Options - Worry Seed, Sweet Scent, Grassy Terrain.

Notes: Serperior really got screwed over this meta. With Contrary gone, it gets outclassed by Mega Sceptile.

- Autotomize / Agility, Curse, Defog, Roost, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Tailwind, Taunt - Other Options - Iron Defence, Metal Sound.

- Calm Mind, Slack Off, Trick Room, Block, Yawn - Other Options - Amnesia, Iron Defence, Disable, Me First, Skill Swap.

- Confuse Ray, Cosmic Power, Recover, Trick Room - Other Options - Trick, Skill Swap, Refresh, Reflect Type, Psych Up, Pain Split, Gravity.

- Swords Dance, Will-o-Wisp, Roost, Bulk Up, Tailwind, Taunt - Other Options - Agility, Hone Claws, Me First.

Notes: Talonflame also kinda got screwed. Its signature Gale Wings is gone but it still has its speed.. Staraptor is kinda outshining this.

- Nasty Plot, Agility - Other Options - Bulk Up, Charge, Embargo, Heal Block, Role Play.

- Bulk Up, Tailwind, Taunt - Other Options - Agility, Embargo, Role Play.

Notes: Without Regenerator or Roost as an ability, Tornadus-T I think isn't really viable in this meta.

- Block, Curse, Dragon Dance, Hone Claws, Rock Polish, Stealth Rock - Other Options - Iron Defence.

Notes: Like Hippowdon, its niche of being a sand setter is gone. Again, you can use Sandstorm as an ability or even Sunny Day, but stuff like Block might be more useful. Even Iron Defence might be useful for taking physical Fighting moves.

- Curse, Grass Whistle* / Sleep Powder*, Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Synthesis, Block - Other Options - Amnesia, Charm, Grassy Terrain, String Shot, Sweet Scent, Worry Seed.

- Will-o-Wisp - Other Options - Haze, Mist.

- Swords Dance, Hone Claws, Taunt - Other Options - Assist?, Calm Mind / Nasty Plot (special Weavile?), Embargo, Psych Up, Agility.

- Defog, Roost, Tailwind - Other Options - Agility, Charge, Metal Sound.

[* means if accuracy isn't applied]​

other stuff

Other thing to point out: Block and Mean Look are basically Shadow Tag. Pokemon like Slowbro can just trap physical attackers and set up freely on them, while Mega Glalie can boom or Return on switch-ins to Grass / Flying / Dragon / Ground types. Mega Charizard X can just switch in to a helpless Pokemon to +6 Dragon Dance.

Mean Look can also be used by Pokemon like Mega Sableye, who can create a PP stall fest and set up to +6. Bisharp can just use Sucker Punch vs 4 move opponents. Mega Gardevoir can just use Hyper Voice on switch in and trap Dragon / Fighting / Dark types. Gengar can just do the annoying Sub + Disable set and troll them to death.

I could see stuff like Shed Shell to counter this strategy but still, Shadow Tag was banned in OU even though there was Shed Shell. Not only that but there were only a few Pokemon that had Shadow Tag. Now Pokemon that get access to Block or Mean Look basically have it. You might want to consider banning or testing it.

Also, Sleep Talk might work because of potential Amoonguss / Venusaur / Breloom Spore spam.

Aromatherapy / Heal Bell could help to get rid of status conditions on the team or the Pokemon itself. Safeguard and Refresh could also work for Pokemon without Aromatherapy and Heal Bell.

Haze would be a pretty good ability due to Manaphys with Tail Glow and Swords Dance users everywhere.

Protect / Detect / Spiky Shield allow Pokemon to switch in safely which is pretty neat.

Mew can basically get Imposter with Transform.

Magic Coat is like the CAP ability Rebound.

I don't know how it will work but Skill Swap / Entrainment / Role Play might work depending on how it is coded and stuff.

Status moves like Thunder Wave, Toxic and Will-o-Wisp can help cripple fast attacking mons or stall them out.

Hazards such as Sticky Web, Stealth Rock, Spikes and Toxic Spikes can be set way easier than before.

Snatch might work depending on coding and stuff.

Charm is basically a better intimidate.

Confide is basically a special version of Intimidate.

Set up moves such as Tail Glow, Swords Dance and Nasty Plot can just be switched in and potentially sweep teams behind a sub.

Worry Seed and Gastro Acid most likely not work because of all the abilities activating first turn but you never know. Fast mons might be able to do it first turn or when you and your opponent switch.

Magnet Rise could help Pokemon like Magnezone and Raikou stay alive.

Defensive set up moves like Barrier, Iron Defence and Amnesia can help bulky Pokemon cover their weaknesses. Like Amnesia on a Mega Slowbro...

Defence lowering moves like Metal Sound and Screech can help offensive mons break walls.

Speed increasing / decreasing moves like String Shot, Autotomize and Agility can help slower mons outspeed faster mons.

Recovery moves like Soft Boiled and Roost get access to a better Regenerator. Flying types with the Roost ability also can switch into Ice / Electric / Rock moves.

Gravity could become a thing with Magnezone and Zap Cannon.

Sleep inducing moves such as Sing, Grass Whistle, Spore, Sleep Powder and Lovely Kiss could be useful in this meta depending on whether accuracy is put into play or not. Luckily, the sleep clause helps out deal with this.

Psych Up could become a thing for Pokemon that don't have reliable set up and Psych Up things like +3 from Manaphy.

Destiny Bond can just become death fodder for easy kills. You'd probably want to do this with a more frail Pokemon like Gastly or Inkay so you can kill Pokemon faster.

Lapras gets access to Block and then can use Perish Song afterwards and stall the other Pokemon out if it can take the hits.

Same goes for Gengar with Mean Look and then using Perish song to stall the other Pokemon.

Moves like Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Hail and Rain Dance aren't really useful because of the loss of Pokemon with Chlorophyll, Swift Swim and Sand Rush but can still provide type usages. Like Sunny Day and Fire Moves or Rain Dance and Hurricane or Thunder.

Breloom can use Spore + Wake-up-Slap for a base 140 move if the opponent doesn't switch.

Moves like Memento and Healing Wish can be used as automatic death fodder for some other Pokemon to switch in and heal theirselves or set up.

Copycat and Me First might work depending on how it is coded. From my assumption, it will be like for Copycat:

- Previous turn move is used on switch in.

For Me First I think it'll be

- Switch-in and use the opponent's upcoming move on switch in.

Hope I helped a bit :3

 

[Jrsmash9]

Smeargle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imprison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform
- Filler
- Filler
- Filler

If you do not out speed a scarfed smeargle then you cant attack.