Beginners Guide to SV Balanced Hackmons

By Tea Guzzler. Released: 2023/04/28.
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Beginner's Guide to SV Balanced Hackmons art

Art by Albatross.

Balanced Hackmons (BH) has historically been...less than great to get into. This mostly comes from the style of play being so drastically different from most other tiers as a result of breaking the confines that define standard tiers, namely moveset and ability allocation. This article is going to introduce you to both how BH works and how the current meta fits in.

What is BH and how is it different from other tiers?

Balanced Hackmons is an Other Metagame (OM) which is pretty much what it says on the tin—subject to balancing restrictions, any Pokémon can use any move or ability in the game. Pokémon with forme changes can use any forme without needing the respective item or ability to transform first, such as Zamazenta-C without the need for Rusted Sword and Palafin-H without the need for Zero to Hero. EVs are also unrestricted, which means that the 510 EV limit isn't in play (although you're still limited to a maximum of 252 EVs in each stat); you aren't forced to run 252 EVs if you don't want to, though. SV BH also allows for otherwise unobtainable formes that are in the game code (most notably the Pokémon HOME releases currently unavailable in other tiers).

Now this is all well and good, but what does it actually mean for gameplay? Well:

How is BH's gameplay different from other tiers?

This can be pretty much summed up in two phrases—entry hazards and Imposter.

Entry hazards are much more important in BH than standard tiers. This has to do with literally everything being able to set Spikes (which is much more relevant than Stealth Rock), Magic Bounce and Magic Guard being widespread, and entry hazard removal being much more flexible than usual. In BH, entry hazards are easy to set and hard to maintain, which means that knowing how to create hazard pressure is one of the most important aspects of high-level play. Thanks to how bulky everything in the tier is, entry hazards are often the most effective and reliable method of making progress against the opponent, and as such many balance teams rely on them to set up a win. SV BH has an almost unrecognizable and totally unique field of play thanks to Ceaseless Edge, Tidy Up, and Mortal Spin, but most prior metagames play similarly to each other, as Magic Bounce has a much more pronounced presence and -ate ability + Rapid Spin is the go-to option for clearing entry hazards.

I already have another article on Imposter in BH, but to sum it up, Transform keeps the user's HP stat and held items work based on the original species, meaning that Imposter Chansey with Eviolite becomes whatever's in front of it but with base 250 HP and the Eviolite boost. While this seems pretty absurd, it's a necessary and intricate tool in keeping the tier held together, as it keeps offensive menaces in check and helps turn the opponent's utility against them with its massive bulk and virtually infinite PP. Imposter is the single most centralizing thing in BH (matching and possibly even beating notorious Pokémon like GSC Snorlax and RBY Tauros), as literally every Pokémon needs to bear its presence in mind when choosing its set, and so it must be prepared for without fail if you want any consistency.

There's also some more intricate elements of BH that might surprise outside players. Most common is the fact that Choice Scarf is virtually absent, even on Imposter users (where it was once omnipresent). This is thanks to all of the inflexibility, lack of effectiveness (the chances of you claiming a KO from a surprise Choice Scarf are unlikely at best), and the unreliability in disposing of it via Trick, as a good amount of Pokémon run items that make them immune to Trick (especially in SV BH, where Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia are all very common). Other elements of note are the much greater emphasis on status and much lesser emphasis on entry hazards that aren't Spikes.

Thanks to the ability to use almost any move, BH also has a higher emphasis on scouting than in other tiers. Offensive threats have a wide variety of coverage with which to prey on unsuspecting walls, and defensive Pokémon have multiple different ways to both directly and indirectly impede the foe's progress. As a result of this, knowing exactly what the opponent is capable of is much more important then normal. Some of the best scouting tools in this regard are Imposter users, RegenVest users, and Covert Cloak users. Notably, Imposter scouts all four moves and the ability at once, which can be written down for future reference.

How do I build good teams?

Building a good team is never a straight-forward process and it takes time to master. However, there's a few ground rules which you can use to guide your teambuilding process:

How do I know if my sets are good?

This is much more important for newer players, both in terms of complete novices and of new-ish players who understand what to use but make some errors with move choices. Probably the most common instance is that people pick up the tier and then either build with cheese strategies (often involving Regieleki, Serene Grace, or sometimes both) or unviable sets that don't really accomplish anything. While these can be fun to use, they really aren't good. I'll run through some of the most common examples:

Regieleki

You're almost guaranteed to encounter some variant of this whichever generation you're in. This isn't good because the Pokémon just doesn't do anything except pray that it gets the flinches, which is both unlikely and also easily preventable with strong priority, Rocky Helmet, and the new Covert Cloak. Sets going for this sort of luck-dependent strategy are generally never viable options when the luck can fail and the opposing team needs to be equally unviable to lose to it.

Regieleki

Notice anything? Regieleki (or a fast equivalent like Deoxys-S) is almost always the source of unviable strategies thanks to its Speed being a misleading magnet for newer players. This is more of a rule of thumb for BH in general, but dedicated entry hazard leads are basically unviable, even on hyper offense. It's trivial to undo any impact that they have on the game in a single turn due to the ubiquity of entry hazard removal, which is often unblockable, and the lack of offensive pressure these fast Pokémon exert. Dedicated leads in general are not good thanks to their predictability and the scope of threats they have to deal with.

Dondozo

It's not immediately clear why a set like this isn't good - it seems fine and this Dondozo has a clear role that it fills in the team, being setup control. The issue comes from the move choices - this selection makes Dondozo complete fodder for Dark-types (who are immune to status moves boosted by Prankster) and Imposter users (nothing to threaten them with), giving both foes free turns to do whatever they want, normally healing. There are some ground rules that you can use as a sort of checklist for seeing if a set is good:

The last point is the easiest to work around as Imposter isn't in every game despite its massive teambuilder impact, and other teammates can help pressure Imposter users into vulnerable positions. An example from SV BH is below:

Arceus-Fire

Arceus-Fire has a near-unmatched V-create that gives it terrifying wallbreaking potential which is further boosted by Growth, and Earth Plate + Judgment removes Dondozo and other bulky Fire-resistant foes like Fur Coat Eternatus. This has a poor Imposter matchup even despite Earth Plate + Judgment as the Imposter user's Judgment does roughly the same proportional damage, so Arceus-Fire is often reliant on teammates to paralyze the Imposter user or weaken it into Judgment range. Given this support, however, Arceus-Fire is still highly effective.

What is the current metagame like?

At the time of writing, the current metagame is pre-Pokémon HOME SV, meaning that BH has access to unreleased Pokémon and various new additions but many key components of the tier, like Core Enforcer and Spectral Thief, are still absent. I've outlined these points in another article. To sum up:

BH is definitely hard to get into as a result of it being so unique, but I hope this has helped get you into the mindset of how it works. Feel free to swing by the main BH thread for up-to-date metagame information, check out the resources thread for the VR, and come by Pokémon Showdown! to join the Other Metas room and play on BH's permanent ladder.

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