Speaking of ice types, thoughts on Glalie? Base 80 across the board is decent, and it has access to spikes and explosion.
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Metagame ORAS/XY PU (Serperior Banned)
- Thread starter WhiteDMist
- Start date
- Status
It'll play somewhat similarly to Froslass, but I doubt it'll be anything to write home about. Especially since
I am really pro this idea. Unlike last gen, there are many more viable options this time around. For once, there are fully evolved spinner in the tier - Torkoal and Avalugg. Since both are SR weak, a viable consideration for the tier could be to suspect Stealth Rocks as a move all at once ( or maybe due to Defog being super common it won't be much of an issue).
Glalie might actually have a decent niche on hyper offensive teams as a suicide lead. Access to Taunt and Explosion makes it pretty decent in this role, and seeing as most of the Defoggers/spinners in the tier are defensive, you can easily gain enough offensive momentum with Explosion to prevent the spikes from being removed using just your sheer offensive pressure. That base 80 Speed lets it stop many opposing hazard setters as well with Taunt (watch out for Leavanny). Of course, Garbodor and Roselia are more consistent Spikers on other teams because they can pivot in throughout the match and set up due to their good defensive typings.
I am sadly still learning about the competitive play so I am not sure I can have an educated opinion about Glalie.
Btw, is PU going to be an official tier? Or it is simply going to be an other metagame?
the main advantage of using glalie over other spikes users would come from its speed and access to taunt. this allows it to deter defoggers from coming in and ruining all of its hard work on setting up, something that garbodor and roselia are unable to do outside of putting them to sleep in roselia's case. it still isn't quite as consistent as garbodor / roselia as whitedmist said, but it does have the ability to generate a lot of offensive momentum.
i think what separates garbodor and roselia from the other spikes users is that they can create a lot more opportunities to gain free turns. they also have access to toxic spikes (and can absorb opposing tspikes), which is huge considering the lack of viable poison types and ways to preserve health in this metagame. roselia has the special bulk required to take on big threats such as special samurott and liligant, and has sleep powder which can nab it even more opportunities.
garbodor can setup on practically any defensive mon lacking a super effective stab move, and there is so little pokemon that can outpace it while being able to ohko it, meaning that it pretty much always gets at least one layer of hazards up. additionally, its utility extends to not only its movepool options (gunk shot, drain punch, pain split, rock blast, etc.), but also items; things like leftovers, rocky helmet, air balloon, and even red card really works wonders. red card would probably be less common than everything else, but being able to force your opponent out into something that can't touch you can turn the momentum in your favor by a significant margin.
i think what separates garbodor and roselia from the other spikes users is that they can create a lot more opportunities to gain free turns. they also have access to toxic spikes (and can absorb opposing tspikes), which is huge considering the lack of viable poison types and ways to preserve health in this metagame. roselia has the special bulk required to take on big threats such as special samurott and liligant, and has sleep powder which can nab it even more opportunities.
garbodor can setup on practically any defensive mon lacking a super effective stab move, and there is so little pokemon that can outpace it while being able to ohko it, meaning that it pretty much always gets at least one layer of hazards up. additionally, its utility extends to not only its movepool options (gunk shot, drain punch, pain split, rock blast, etc.), but also items; things like leftovers, rocky helmet, air balloon, and even red card really works wonders. red card would probably be less common than everything else, but being able to force your opponent out into something that can't touch you can turn the momentum in your favor by a significant margin.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-148811854
There is my revenge on Robert Alfons. With Trapinch trapping all major Flying resistances and Dodrio possibly Knocking Off Eviolites and softening walls Scyther can easily sweep. You might blame my win on Robert Alfon's mediocre teambuilding skills (only one flying resist smh) but in practice this strategy is pretty reliable with a good Defogger like Togetic around to help Scyther. Too bad Trapinch has shitty stats other than Attack.
There is my revenge on Robert Alfons. With Trapinch trapping all major Flying resistances and Dodrio possibly Knocking Off Eviolites and softening walls Scyther can easily sweep. You might blame my win on Robert Alfon's mediocre teambuilding skills (only one flying resist smh) but in practice this strategy is pretty reliable with a good Defogger like Togetic around to help Scyther. Too bad Trapinch has shitty stats other than Attack.
A revenge that took u like 5 battles but hey it ok ;o
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-148837501
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-148840453
some battles i had with Fagtron and galbia. I was using a Sticky Web team, although the playstyle wasn't fleshed out much due to team matchup in those two battles, there were some interesting points I got:
1) as expected, Samurott is really good, even moreso with webs down
2) Marowak is quite a dangerous Stealth Rock setter. My EV spread probably wasn't ideal because I wasn't aiming for max Speed Golem, but max Speed Marowak ties with max Golem and threatens to ensure Stealth Rock isn't on the field. In addition Marowak gets the nice Stealth Rock as well as good coverage moves like EdgeQuake, Fire Punch and Double Edge posing a great offensive threat while covering the entry hazards department for SWeb teams. Counters would include like Tangela and Poliwrath, but as you can see from the replays Marowak is quite threatening vs offensive teams that don't carry hard counters if given a free turn, especially if it runs Substitute. btw the spread I was running was 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe aiming for Smashkoal which tank Golem usually aims for as well.
3) Barbaracle / Carracosta are dangerous, setting up on the birds of the tier that galbia was hyping up so much and not much really revenge kills it after it gets the easy setup. With Spikes support these things look really hard to stop, especially Barbaracle which can break through Tangela / Poliwrath depending on coverage (PJab / Grass Knot). Carracosta does have greater physical bulk + Solid Rock though, so it can find more setup opportunities
nice Carracalcstas: 252+ Atk Bouffalant Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Solid Rock Carracosta: 126-148 (43.59 - 51.21%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Golem Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Solid Rock Carracosta: 189-222 (65.39 - 76.81%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
also beats Trapinch if they try to trap you :]
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-148840453
some battles i had with Fagtron and galbia. I was using a Sticky Web team, although the playstyle wasn't fleshed out much due to team matchup in those two battles, there were some interesting points I got:
1) as expected, Samurott is really good, even moreso with webs down
2) Marowak is quite a dangerous Stealth Rock setter. My EV spread probably wasn't ideal because I wasn't aiming for max Speed Golem, but max Speed Marowak ties with max Golem and threatens to ensure Stealth Rock isn't on the field. In addition Marowak gets the nice Stealth Rock as well as good coverage moves like EdgeQuake, Fire Punch and Double Edge posing a great offensive threat while covering the entry hazards department for SWeb teams. Counters would include like Tangela and Poliwrath, but as you can see from the replays Marowak is quite threatening vs offensive teams that don't carry hard counters if given a free turn, especially if it runs Substitute. btw the spread I was running was 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe aiming for Smashkoal which tank Golem usually aims for as well.
3) Barbaracle / Carracosta are dangerous, setting up on the birds of the tier that galbia was hyping up so much and not much really revenge kills it after it gets the easy setup. With Spikes support these things look really hard to stop, especially Barbaracle which can break through Tangela / Poliwrath depending on coverage (PJab / Grass Knot). Carracosta does have greater physical bulk + Solid Rock though, so it can find more setup opportunities
nice Carracalcstas: 252+ Atk Bouffalant Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Solid Rock Carracosta: 126-148 (43.59 - 51.21%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Golem Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Solid Rock Carracosta: 189-222 (65.39 - 76.81%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
also beats Trapinch if they try to trap you :]
Never thought about using Trapinch since STag was banned. Could prove useful to trap stuff, or maybe take an offensive role on trick room teams. Also, for anyone who cares, I've been playing with Glalie a bit recently, and it definitely has some perks. A set of Spikes/Taunt/Ice Shard/Explosion has been working well as a suicide lead. The ability to rapidly set hazards thanks to its solid base 80 Speed, Taunt any incoming defoggers, and potentially weaken a Pokemon to set up bait/outright kill it is a blessing, and has let me use lesser known pokemon ie Linoone to a more full potential.
Here is a battle I had against my friend TheBurgerKing99, where, although we had very rushed teams, we noticed a pretty big anti-lead threat: Rampardos. I threw the following set onto a team:
Rampardos @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
The reason I'm putting this here above all else is that IT 2HKOED (what I'm assuming is) DEFENSIVE TANGELA. This set here is especially dangerous because it OHKOes Golem through Sturdy, courtesy of Mold Breaker, forcing out one of the tiers more common leads and getting a free turn of set-up a Rock Polish.
Also, METANG GOT A KILL
Rampardos @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
The reason I'm putting this here above all else is that IT 2HKOED (what I'm assuming is) DEFENSIVE TANGELA. This set here is especially dangerous because it OHKOes Golem through Sturdy, courtesy of Mold Breaker, forcing out one of the tiers more common leads and getting a free turn of set-up a Rock Polish.
Also, METANG GOT A KILL
Samurott @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
Samurott is probably the most terrifying wallbreaker in the tier (bar maybe Exeggutor but that's another post~) with almost nothing being able to switch in with hazards support (i guess you can run HP Electric over Scald for Mantine but Scald is always Scald) and being an absolute terror with Sticky Web up. The SD set is equally as terrifying on paper but in the 2 games i have been using it i ended up just attacking
I debate running scald and HPump on the same set. What does this achieve? Is the chance of burn worth it? I can see maybe for reliable accuracy, but idk.
Samurott @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
Stuff
Yo this set is bumpin. Really digging it.
Iirc, a certain qt3.14 is in PU. Idk how to put in pics for a given pokemon, like Galbia did for samurott, but it's munchlax.
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Body Slam/Return
- Earthquake
- Pursuit/Whirlwind
- Sleep Talk
This set has proven to be a wonderful status absorber and special tank. Body Slam is a reliable STAB and can spread paralysis, while Return hits much harder. Earthquake hits Steel and Rock types hard that resist your STAB. Pursuit is good for hitting Ghost types and switches, while Whirlwind phases well on heavy hazard teams. Keep in mind that without pursuit, you can't hit Mismagius. Sleep Talk is the crux of the set, giving you a reliable sleep absorber for your team.
Munchlax is really obnoxious in NU imo, let alone PU. Sneasel's (possibly brief since shiftry is rip) existence hinders it's abilities a tad since eviolite is crucial to the set working, but in general not much can deal with it. Another variant a lot of people use is:
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Curse
- Body Slam
Since it's speed isn't exactly an asset (aka its literally the slowest mon in the game), running curse for boosting is basically drawback-free. Of course, you'll have to eliminate any opposing ghosts before attempting to boost with this, but once you clear those this has no issue sweeping with relative ease.
You want to find a sprite database, (just google it. I would provide a link, but shit internet atm), and then click the picture of two mountains on the top of this thing (it's right next to a smily face and some film) and just put the link to the picture on the sprite database.
Also, any thoughts on pikachu? I know it lacks bulk, but it has decent speed and amazing attack stats courtesy of light ball, and has nice coverage moves.
ATTENTION!
As discussed by the Site Staff, PU is currently in the Theorymon Stage until September. That means the current banlist is unofficial and that Antar will create an official banlist in September, when all the tier shifts occur. As of right now, the only thing we are really doing is challenging other PU players in the Showdown lobby, and making theories regarding what the metagame will look like. Also, I'd like to remind people that PU is NOT going to be an official metagame (meaning it doesn't get its own sub-forum).
As discussed by the Site Staff, PU is currently in the Theorymon Stage until September. That means the current banlist is unofficial and that Antar will create an official banlist in September, when all the tier shifts occur. As of right now, the only thing we are really doing is challenging other PU players in the Showdown lobby, and making theories regarding what the metagame will look like. Also, I'd like to remind people that PU is NOT going to be an official metagame (meaning it doesn't get its own sub-forum).
You can say that, but the connotation of the word "Beta" might make people assume that PU will become official once the Beta stage is over, similar to how UU, RU, and NU went from a Beta thread in OM to having their own sub-forums. Unofficial is just more accurate, because that won't happen.
I've been waiting for this for a while, and thinking of prospects for it way before even the formation of higher tiers. Before I talk about some of the coolest new Pokemon in this tier, I'd just like to offer my help for anything that may be necessary within this metagame, seeing as it's one of the most interesting ones in turns of Pokemon allowed, since I'm generally the sort of guy that uses these Pokemon in OU, haha.
In general my preferred playstyle is hazard offense, it's plays itself in a sense. There are examples of this in almost every tier I play: Deoxys-D pre Stage 4 OU, Scolipede / Deoxys-S in Ubers, formerly Froslass and currently Accelgor and Omastar in RU, Azelf and again, Froslass in UU, and Omastar, Accelgor, and Crustle in NU. PU has a ton of potential Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Sticky Web leads for offensive teams at its disposal. We have Garbodor, one of the better Spikers / Toxic Spikers from BW NU, which has decent bulk, and can cripple Wartortle with Toxic. Roselia is a great wall, which also has both Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Cacturne is a third, which can also setup Spikes on Choice-locked Water-types, which seem to be quite large in this meta, Specs Samurott is a decent wallbreaker for these teams. Then there's Kricketune (and Leavanny), which are pretty much your standard suicide Sticky Webbers. Golem is a pretty standard Stealth Rock lead. There aren't too many options for hazard removal, you've got Wartortle (which could've been a nice Sneasel check without Knock Off), the incredibly bulky Avalugg, and not too much else to be honest. Closely related to hazards is Defiant Purugly which could be a real beast depending on the popularity of Defog; it is deceptively fast for PU standards.
Offensively, Water-types are a pretty prominent part of this metagame, with there being a couple of very powerful options. Barbaracle is the most obvious, as it's a powerful Shell Smash sweeper with not much to wall it, to be honest. It has plenty of setup opportunities with its decent resistances and nice base 115 Defense stat, it's very similar to Cloyster really. Tough Claws is pretty cool too, just giving it even more power. It's a pretty easy sweeper to use to be honest, especially with dual screen support from something like Meowstic (which is really cool!). Then of course there's Samurott which is super strong with Specs or even just the simple LO set. I could see a sort of double Water core with Specs Samurott breaking down the team early game with Shell Smash Barbaracle in the wings just waiting to clean up. I guess there's Carracosta too but I can't see too many reasons to use it over Barbaracle.
I'll probably comment more later on things like Lilligant and Musharna which are definitely interesting as well.
In general my preferred playstyle is hazard offense, it's plays itself in a sense. There are examples of this in almost every tier I play: Deoxys-D pre Stage 4 OU, Scolipede / Deoxys-S in Ubers, formerly Froslass and currently Accelgor and Omastar in RU, Azelf and again, Froslass in UU, and Omastar, Accelgor, and Crustle in NU. PU has a ton of potential Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Sticky Web leads for offensive teams at its disposal. We have Garbodor, one of the better Spikers / Toxic Spikers from BW NU, which has decent bulk, and can cripple Wartortle with Toxic. Roselia is a great wall, which also has both Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Cacturne is a third, which can also setup Spikes on Choice-locked Water-types, which seem to be quite large in this meta, Specs Samurott is a decent wallbreaker for these teams. Then there's Kricketune (and Leavanny), which are pretty much your standard suicide Sticky Webbers. Golem is a pretty standard Stealth Rock lead. There aren't too many options for hazard removal, you've got Wartortle (which could've been a nice Sneasel check without Knock Off), the incredibly bulky Avalugg, and not too much else to be honest. Closely related to hazards is Defiant Purugly which could be a real beast depending on the popularity of Defog; it is deceptively fast for PU standards.
Offensively, Water-types are a pretty prominent part of this metagame, with there being a couple of very powerful options. Barbaracle is the most obvious, as it's a powerful Shell Smash sweeper with not much to wall it, to be honest. It has plenty of setup opportunities with its decent resistances and nice base 115 Defense stat, it's very similar to Cloyster really. Tough Claws is pretty cool too, just giving it even more power. It's a pretty easy sweeper to use to be honest, especially with dual screen support from something like Meowstic (which is really cool!). Then of course there's Samurott which is super strong with Specs or even just the simple LO set. I could see a sort of double Water core with Specs Samurott breaking down the team early game with Shell Smash Barbaracle in the wings just waiting to clean up. I guess there's Carracosta too but I can't see too many reasons to use it over Barbaracle.
I'll probably comment more later on things like Lilligant and Musharna which are definitely interesting as well.
there are actually very good reasons to use Carracosta over Barbaracle. First thing is its ability to find setup opportunities, with Solid Rock giving it opportunities to smash on things Barb can't, ie. Tauros, Bouffalant, etc. Secondly, it's a lot more versatile than Barbaracle. The most Barb can do with regards to switching up options is change its last coverage move. However Carracosta can easily go with a mixed set / fully special set to aid in water spam / just break down stuff. For example, Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, and HP Grass on special sets can smash through Tangela, Musharna, and Poliwrath or at least weaken them by a large amount. In addition, tank set with Solid Rock is a solid (hahaha) SR setter than can also hit back relatively hard. iirc at the ending stages of BW NU there was this nifty SR + Smash + Hydro Pump set that was floating around that was supposed to set up rocks and punch holes early on, although I'm not entirely certain because I didn't try it. So ya they're at the very least on par.
Also, Huntail is nice because it's basically a less powerful Gorebyss, ie. Smash, sweep a bit, and pass to teammate. I run it with Memento support and it's pretty cool but you kinda need to set up to do damage (cant even OHKO Piloswine ;-;)
So where do you guys play this? Is there a particular server/room this is most played on? I really want to try this.
You can challenge people anytime to a NU battle, and both players simply have to agree on bringing PU teams. You can makes these challenges on the Showdown lobby, Neverused room, or go on IRC and challenge on #othermetas or #pu.
After talking a bit more about PU with some people and playing a game, it is definitely a really fun tier. It actually has quite remarkable playstyle diversity, as it is feasible to play with Hazard Offense, Stall, Sun, Rain, and Sticky Web, I've started to look into Hail since we have things like Walrein and Glaceon which can really appreciate it. I'm specifically going to talk about some of the top threats in this metagame at the moment:
Samurott is a pretty huge one, and I'm going to go ahead and call it the best Pokemon in the tier. It simply has so much worth on a team, whether its the common Life Orb 3/4 Attacks set, which uses strong coverage to back up a high Special Attack stat, the powerful Choice Specs set which is a terrific early-game wallbreaker, or the underrated Swords Dance set which can break past its common counters. All of its stats are pretty good, especially offensively, but it doesn't slouch defensively either as 90 / 85 / 75 bulk isn't really too bad. The Water-typing is also such an amazing typing at the moment with so many viable cleaners to take on the many resists that have tried to tank hits from Samurott early-game.
To carry on the strong Water-type motif, we have Barbaracle and Carracosta, two similar Shell Smash sweepers which can very easily clean up after Samurott. They have a few advantages over each other though, Carracosta has Solid Rock to create easier setup opportunities, priority Aqua Jet to somewhat make up for its low Speed after a Shell Smash, and much higher bulky physically. However, Barbaracle is much faster freeing it up to run Adamant, has Tough Claws which actually makes it stronger, and has a higher Special Defense. Both are still great though, and can be devastating with team support.
Lilligant is an amazing Pokemon in this metagame. Not only does it have ways of beating all the Water-types in the tier, but it has three devastatingly effective roles it can carry out. The first is a Quiver Dance set reminiscent of BW RU, which can setup on things like Samurott and just win games. A tier without Flying-type priority for once! With Sleep Powder, it can almost always gurantee two boosts, getting a QD as a Water-type switches out, then a Sleep Powder, then another QD, then it can just win with Giga Drain / Hidden Power Fire. It also finds a home on sun teams, where it can use Chlorophyll to become a late-game cleaner. Finally, the Choice Scarf set can revenge Carracosta while also having the supremely clutch Healing Wish to restore a weak / statused teammate.
Speaking of Grass-types, it also appears to be a rather dominant type in the tier at the moment. Swords Dance Leafeon is a great sweeper with Leaf Blade, Knock Off, and either Substitute or Baton Pass. It also thrives in the Sun. Exeggutor is another great Sun mon that is incredibly strong with Choice Specs and is one of the tier's better wallbreakers. Defensively, Roselia is bulky with Eviolite and has both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and is one of the glues on Stall teams at the moment. Tangela is similar but much more physically bulky with an amazing ability, Regenerator.
As for hazard offense, it's pretty hard to remove hazards with such reliable setters and terrible hazard removers. Garbodor is my favourite setter at the moment, it is bulky enough to get many layers of Spikes and Toxic Spikes. However, it can't OHKO Kricketune with Rock Blast which sucks, and has a poor matchup against other common leads such as Piloswine and Golem. Kricketune and Leavanny are Sticky Web leads which support a powerful playstyle with things like Guts Flareon, Guts Ursaring, etc. Kricketune is better though as it has Knock Off and Endeavor. Golem and Piloswine are good Stealth Rock leads, with the ladder being much bulkier but without Sturdy, while having priority for things like Lilligant. Golem loses to Roselia though, whereas Piloswine can potentially weaken it with its Ice Shard. Glalie is one of the fastest Spikes leads, and has Taunt which is a godsend in lead matchups, but it loses to Golem. In terms of hazard removal, there really isn't much. Wartortle, Avalugg, Torkoal, Articuno, Murkrow. Nothing really that special or stand-out in any way, though they do have little advantages; Murkrow is especially promising as it has priority Thunder Wave to stop sweepers cold.
Musharna is another Pokemon that makes this seem all too similar to BW NU. It is a great defensive Pokemon with very nice bulk, as well as a cool supportive movepool with the likes of Moonlight, Thunder Wave, Yawn, Toxic, and Heal Bell. While there are less Fighting-types for it to check and a lot of Pokemon now carry Knock Off, it can still wall common threats such as Poliwrath, Tauros, Golem, Piloswine, and most common defensive Pokemon. There aren't too many other common Psychic-types outside of Exeggutor, but of the few that are viable, Meowstic-M is a huge one, as its priority dual screens greatly help in setup. Kadabra is another strong, powerful Pokemon, though it unfortunately lacks Focus Blast.
In terms of fast powerful threats, two of the best at the moment are Sneasel and Raichu. Raichu has a great base 110 Speed, which allows to revenge kill a whole lot of Pokemon including Barbaracle, Carracosta, and Samurott. Having a STAB attack to take on most of the Water-types in the tier is very beneficial. It's a very powerful, hard to wall special attacker with good coverage between Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, and Focus Blast. With Nasty Plot, it becomes very similar to OU's Thundurus, whereas with Encore it can create setup opportunities by capitalising on something like Musharna locked into Toxic.
Samurott is a pretty huge one, and I'm going to go ahead and call it the best Pokemon in the tier. It simply has so much worth on a team, whether its the common Life Orb 3/4 Attacks set, which uses strong coverage to back up a high Special Attack stat, the powerful Choice Specs set which is a terrific early-game wallbreaker, or the underrated Swords Dance set which can break past its common counters. All of its stats are pretty good, especially offensively, but it doesn't slouch defensively either as 90 / 85 / 75 bulk isn't really too bad. The Water-typing is also such an amazing typing at the moment with so many viable cleaners to take on the many resists that have tried to tank hits from Samurott early-game.
To carry on the strong Water-type motif, we have Barbaracle and Carracosta, two similar Shell Smash sweepers which can very easily clean up after Samurott. They have a few advantages over each other though, Carracosta has Solid Rock to create easier setup opportunities, priority Aqua Jet to somewhat make up for its low Speed after a Shell Smash, and much higher bulky physically. However, Barbaracle is much faster freeing it up to run Adamant, has Tough Claws which actually makes it stronger, and has a higher Special Defense. Both are still great though, and can be devastating with team support.
Lilligant is an amazing Pokemon in this metagame. Not only does it have ways of beating all the Water-types in the tier, but it has three devastatingly effective roles it can carry out. The first is a Quiver Dance set reminiscent of BW RU, which can setup on things like Samurott and just win games. A tier without Flying-type priority for once! With Sleep Powder, it can almost always gurantee two boosts, getting a QD as a Water-type switches out, then a Sleep Powder, then another QD, then it can just win with Giga Drain / Hidden Power Fire. It also finds a home on sun teams, where it can use Chlorophyll to become a late-game cleaner. Finally, the Choice Scarf set can revenge Carracosta while also having the supremely clutch Healing Wish to restore a weak / statused teammate.
Speaking of Grass-types, it also appears to be a rather dominant type in the tier at the moment. Swords Dance Leafeon is a great sweeper with Leaf Blade, Knock Off, and either Substitute or Baton Pass. It also thrives in the Sun. Exeggutor is another great Sun mon that is incredibly strong with Choice Specs and is one of the tier's better wallbreakers. Defensively, Roselia is bulky with Eviolite and has both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and is one of the glues on Stall teams at the moment. Tangela is similar but much more physically bulky with an amazing ability, Regenerator.
As for hazard offense, it's pretty hard to remove hazards with such reliable setters and terrible hazard removers. Garbodor is my favourite setter at the moment, it is bulky enough to get many layers of Spikes and Toxic Spikes. However, it can't OHKO Kricketune with Rock Blast which sucks, and has a poor matchup against other common leads such as Piloswine and Golem. Kricketune and Leavanny are Sticky Web leads which support a powerful playstyle with things like Guts Flareon, Guts Ursaring, etc. Kricketune is better though as it has Knock Off and Endeavor. Golem and Piloswine are good Stealth Rock leads, with the ladder being much bulkier but without Sturdy, while having priority for things like Lilligant. Golem loses to Roselia though, whereas Piloswine can potentially weaken it with its Ice Shard. Glalie is one of the fastest Spikes leads, and has Taunt which is a godsend in lead matchups, but it loses to Golem. In terms of hazard removal, there really isn't much. Wartortle, Avalugg, Torkoal, Articuno, Murkrow. Nothing really that special or stand-out in any way, though they do have little advantages; Murkrow is especially promising as it has priority Thunder Wave to stop sweepers cold.
Musharna is another Pokemon that makes this seem all too similar to BW NU. It is a great defensive Pokemon with very nice bulk, as well as a cool supportive movepool with the likes of Moonlight, Thunder Wave, Yawn, Toxic, and Heal Bell. While there are less Fighting-types for it to check and a lot of Pokemon now carry Knock Off, it can still wall common threats such as Poliwrath, Tauros, Golem, Piloswine, and most common defensive Pokemon. There aren't too many other common Psychic-types outside of Exeggutor, but of the few that are viable, Meowstic-M is a huge one, as its priority dual screens greatly help in setup. Kadabra is another strong, powerful Pokemon, though it unfortunately lacks Focus Blast.
In terms of fast powerful threats, two of the best at the moment are Sneasel and Raichu. Raichu has a great base 110 Speed, which allows to revenge kill a whole lot of Pokemon including Barbaracle, Carracosta, and Samurott. Having a STAB attack to take on most of the Water-types in the tier is very beneficial. It's a very powerful, hard to wall special attacker with good coverage between Thunderbolt, Grass Knot, and Focus Blast. With Nasty Plot, it becomes very similar to OU's Thundurus, whereas with Encore it can create setup opportunities by capitalising on something like Musharna locked into Toxic.
Beheeyem @ Assault Vest
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpA
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball
The EV's are designed for NU as I had been running into a lot of Banded/Scarf Sawk and I felt like I needed an answer for it. 232 EV's guarantees I can live a Jolly Banded Knock Off and then OHKO with any of my STABS (I have answers for Adamant Band). From what I've seen and what I've read so far, I've yet to see mention of how good Beheeyem can be. It can work well as a Specs user, an all-out attacker with LO/E-Belt, and even an AssVest tank. I've only just recently started testing things out, but here are a few calcs for the AssVest set which is my preference:
Lilligant:
+1 252+ SpA Lilligant Petal Dance vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Beheeyem: 201-237 (56.7 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
24+ SpA Analytic Beheeyem Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lilligant: 193-228 (68.6 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Samurott:
252+ Atk Life Orb Samurott Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 232 Def Beheeyem: 302-356 (85.3 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
24+ SpA Analytic Beheeyem Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Samurott: 306-360 (92.4 - 108.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
Going off of these, I feel that hazards and speed control is going to absolutely massive this gen, as it will determine what can OHKO what. Sneasel is going to be ridiculous with its presence in the form of Fake Out + Ice Shard, Barbaracle with Smash/ Scarf + Switcheroo, and the various eviolite walls (Piloswine, Togetic, Roselia, Shelgon, etc.). Other things to look for are Frogadier (can be physical/special), CurseLax, and Sawsbuck. This is all stemming from my first perusal of the list, but it looks like it's shaping up to be a very weather and hazard-stacking central meta.
EV
Banned deucer.
I don't see Beheeyem beating Lilligant because it gets 2HKO'd as it is and Lilligant can just put it to sleep.
Beheeyem @ Assault Vest
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpA
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball
The EV's are designed for NU as I had been running into a lot of Banded/Scarf Sawk and I felt like I needed an answer for it. 232 EV's guarantees I can live a Jolly Banded Knock Off and then OHKO with any of my STABS (I have answers for Adamant Band). From what I've seen and what I've read so far, I've yet to see mention of how good Beheeyem can be. It can work well as a Specs user, an all-out attacker with LO/E-Belt, and even an AssVest tank. I've only just recently started testing things out, but here are a few calcs for the AssVest set which is my preference:
Lilligant:
+1 252+ SpA Lilligant Petal Dance vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Beheeyem: 201-237 (56.7 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
24+ SpA Analytic Beheeyem Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lilligant: 193-228 (68.6 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Samurott:
252+ Atk Life Orb Samurott Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 232 Def Beheeyem: 302-356 (85.3 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
24+ SpA Analytic Beheeyem Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Samurott: 306-360 (92.4 - 108.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
Going off of these, I feel that hazards and speed control is going to absolutely massive this gen, as it will determine what can OHKO what. Sneasel is going to be ridiculous with its presence in the form of Fake Out + Ice Shard, Barbaracle with Smash/ Scarf + Switcheroo, and the various eviolite walls (Piloswine, Togetic, Roselia, Shelgon, etc.). Other things to look for are Frogadier (can be physical/special), CurseLax, and Sawsbuck. This is all stemming from my first perusal of the list, but it looks like it's shaping up to be a very weather and hazard-stacking central meta.
Also, I feel like the Modest nature is wasted when you're investing so much into physical bulk. Either run fully defensive to survive and hit back with Analytic boosted attacks or let something else be your Sawk check.
- Status