OMotM/LCotM Spotlight: Force of the Fallen and Inheritance

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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 July 2023, the OM of the Month is Force of the Fallen, while Leader's Choice is Inheritance.

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Introduction to Force of the Fallen

In Force of the Fallen (FotF), when a Pokémon is KOed, it passes its fourth moveslot to the rest of the team! This means after one KO, your remaining Pokémon now have five moves, after two they have six, and a last-mon has a whopping nine moves in its arsenal. Pokémon with rare and powerful coverage moves like Bitter Blade, Gigaton Hammer, and Dire Claw can pass those to teammates, while Pokémon that normally lack setup moves can suddenly be blessed with Shift Gear, Swords Dance, or even utility moves like Encore. Kingambit stands out as a particularly powerful threat; Supreme Overlord already makes it a good last-stand threat, but the addition of coverage and priority moves takes its sweeping potential through the roof.

Threats in Force of the Fallen

This sample offensive team (shoutout KaenSoul) is a great example of how teammates can work together and support each other. Meowscarada and Tinkaton can set entry hazards and provide powerful coverage moves in Flower Trick and Gigaton Hammer; Iron Valiant and Ceruledge are great wallbreakers while also donating Bitter Blade and Swords Dance; and then Kingambit and Dragonite are the main end-game cleaners. Kingambit has tremendous power with Supreme Overlord, Taunt + Substitute + Encore + Swords Dance to overwhelm bulkier checks, and Sucker Punch + multiple coverage moves to break apart offensive teams. Dragonite on the other hand gets Swords Dance + Extreme Speed to blow through faster teams. All of these Pokémon serve both an individual role in the team while powering up their teammates as well.

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Introduction to Inheritance

In Inheritance, a Pokémon can "inherit" the moves and abilities of any other legal Pokémon at the cost of their own. For example, any Pokémon in the metagame can run Adaptability with some combination of Draco Meteor, Focus Blast, Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, and Sludge Bomb thanks to Dragalge, but they would forfeit their native movepool in the process. There are generally two classes of Pokémon in Inheritance, those that are good donors (have great movepools and abilities) and great receivers (have great stats and typing). Finding the right combination of moves and abilities to pair with the right base stats and typing is the name of the game.

Threats in Inheritance

• Dragapult @ Choice Specs
• Ability: Adaptability
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Shadow Ball
• - Draco Meteor
• - Thunderbolt
• - Hydro Pump / Focus Blast

Dragapult has excellent Speed and offensive typing, but in standard play it is held back by its lackluster ability. In Inheritance, it can receive Adaptability from Dragalge and fire off a super-charged Shadow Ball (which Dragalge also learns, surprisingly) at anything in front of it.

• Goodra-Hisui @ Assault Vest
• Ability: Regenerator
• EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
• Relaxed Nature
• IVs: 0 Spe
• - U-turn
• - Dragon Tail / Dragon Pulse
• - Rapid Spin
• - Knock Off

Cyclizar has a truly amazing support movepool with U-turn, Knock Off, Rapid Spin, and Dragon Tail but is stuck with paper-thin bulk. Hisuian Goodra, on the other hand, has amazing bulk and with the addition of Regenerator becomes an amazing support pivot with titanic special bulk.

• Gholdengo @ Weakness Policy
• Ability: Soul-Heart
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Modest Nature
• IVs: 0 Atk
• - Shift Gear
• - Shadow Ball
• - Aura Sphere
• - Stored Power

What if Gholdengo was fast? Well, with a well-timed Shift Gear courtesy of Magearna, it can be! With Soul-Heart and Weakness Policy potentially boosting its Special Attack even higher, Gholdengo can use its excellent defensive and offensive typing to blow through opposing teams.

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Final Thoughts

Force of the Fallen and Inheritance are both metagames that buff Pokémon in wildly different ways and offer unique experiences for anyone to enjoy. Enjoy these metagames this July and check out the Other Metas room on PS! to discuss them.

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