OMotM/LCotM Spotlight: Alphabet Cup and Trademarked
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Art by anundeadboy.
What is an OMotM/LCotM?
The OMotM, or Other Metagame of the Month, is the metagame that is voted by the players to have a ladder for a specific month. The LCotM, or Leader's Choice of the Month, is a second ladder that is chosen specifically by OM Forum Mods. For the most part, the LCotM is a metagame that needs more love, as it may not be able to compete with the metagames that get nominated for the OMotM voting.
For June 2023, the OM of the Month is Alphabet Cup, while Leader's Choice is Trademarked.
Introduction to Alphabet Cup
Alphabet Cup expands movepools by allowing every Pokemon to learn every move that starts with the same first letter as their species name. Dragonite now learns Dragon Ascent, Corviknight now learns Cotton Guard, Skeledirge gets Salt Cure and Spikes, etc. Additionally, Pokemon can also get moves their pre-evos "learn" through the Alphabet Cup mechanic, meaning Mortal Spin Toxapex and Milk Drink Annihilape are on the table. Pokemon that start with S, T, and R (or have pre-evos that do) are typically big winners here, while those that start with Z get very little.
Threats in Alphabet Cup
Walking Wake @ Choice Specs- Ability: Protosynthesis
- Tera Type: Water
- EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Timid Nature
- IVs: 0 Atk
- - Water Spout
- - Hydro Steam
- - Draco Meteor
- - Water Shuriken
Walking Wake gains access to Water Spout, giving it a nuclear STAB option to blast through normally solid counterplay, as well as Water Shuriken to snipe faster threats that could otherwise outspeed it.
Muk-Alola @ Leftovers- Ability: Poison Touch
- Tera Type: Poison
- EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
- Careful Nature
- - Knock Off
- - Mortal Spin
- - Milk Drink
- - Glare
Alolan Muk has an excellent typing, bulk, and native support movepool that is even better in Alphabet Cup. Its biggest limitation in standard play is the lack of reliable recovery, which it patches up here with Milk Drink. It also gains valuable utility in entry hazard removal (Mortal Spin) and paralysis support (Glare, from Grimer) in addition to its native Knock Off.
Volcanion @ Heavy-Duty Boots- Ability: Water Absorb
- Tera Type: Fire
- EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Adamant / Naughty Nature
- - V-create
- - Victory Dance
- - Earthquake / Steam Eruption
- - Volt Tackle
Volcanion may seem like an odd Pokemon to benefit from Alphabet Cup, but V actually comes with some very good moves. Most notably, it gains one of the best setup moves in the game with Victory Dance and the most powerful STAB attack possible in V-create. Volt Tackle lets it delete pesky Water-types that try to wall it, while it dips into its native movepool for either Ground coverage or mixed attacking abilities.
Introduction to Trademarked
While Alphabet Cup provides new moves, Trademarked lets Pokemon use old moves in new ways. In Trademarked, Pokemon can replace their ability with a status move they learn naturally, which will activate as they switch in. Defensive Pokemon can utilize a wide range of options from Recover to Light Screen to Thunder Wave to Haze to Heal Bell to Spikes to support themselves and their teammates, while offense Pokemon can nab a Dragon Dance boost or Tailwind activation when they hit the field. Setup moves run rampant, as it's hard to pass up a free Calm Mind or Bulk Up on entry. Entry hazards are another common Trademark, as they can fire off quickly and reliably. A few Pokemon even opt to keep their native abilities, as Good as Gold blocks opposing status moves, and Unaware provides an important check to setup attackers.
Threats in Trademarked
- / Dragapult @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Choice Specs
- Ability: Thunder Wave
- Tera Type: Ghost
- EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Timid Nature
- - Hex
- - Draco Meteor
- - U-turn
- - Fire Blast
Dragapult trades its mediocre native abilities for status infliction upon switching in, crippling opposing attackers and powering up Hex at the same time. It also pairs well with other pivots thanks to U-turn, allowing it to get multiple activations of its Trademarked move per game; Choice Specs is a great option for teams with Defog Trademark support.
Iron Valiant @ Life Orb- Ability: Agility
- Tera Type: Electric
- EVs: 80 Atk / 236 SpA / 192 Spe
- Rash Nature
- - Close Combat
- - Moonblast
- - Thunderbolt
- - Knock Off
Iron Valiant has excellent mixed attacking stats, and after an Agility boost, is very difficult to outrun; this spread lets it outrun Dragon Dance Dragapult. It can even Tera Electric to dodge incoming Thunder Wave attempts at slowing it down and then blast through offensive teams.
- Corviknight @ Leftovers
- Ability: Light Screen
- Tera Type: Water
- EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
- Relaxed Nature
- IVs: 0 Spe
- - Brave Bird
- - U-turn
- - Defog
- - Roost
Corviknight has no shortage of Trademarked options; it can run Iron Defense for bulk and a powered-up Body Press, Defog to clear the ever-present Spikes, or Roost to have a better Regenerator. Perhaps the most interesting option is Light Screen, not only turning it into a fantastic mixed wall but also supporting its teammates.
Conclusion
Alphabet Cup and Trademarked are both metagames that buff Pokemon in wildly different ways and offer unique experiences for anyone to enjoy. Enjoy these metagames this June and check out the Other Metas room on PS! to discuss them.
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