leader of the solomods forum finally has an active solomod again, that's crazy
I've genuinely had 6 or so mods of this magnitude or greater coded and ready to post (and will post at least 1 of them later in the generation) but flaked on for one reason or another, including this one before I went back and decided to release it after all, so let's get right into it.
Name of Mod: Stadium YB
Mascot:
Link to Changes: HERE
Summary of the Mod: Taking inspiration from Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Battle Revolution, Stadium YB is a random battle format where each player is given a number of rental Pokemon to battle with. Like in Stadium, these rental Pokemon, chosen from a "regional dex" of (currently) 231 options, have all of their information laid out to both players, through both the spreadsheet linked above and Forced Open Team Sheets. Thus, you'll have to make to best mon choices based on the wealth of information laid out in front of you.
The metagame has 2 modes, one where each player is given 6 Pokemon and picks 3 to battle with, and another where each player is given 12 Pokemon and picks 6 to battle with. I consider the 6v6 mode to be more competitive, since it's less likely that you'll get screwed over by being given a number of weak Pokemon, but 3v3 goes by a lot faster and serves a quick bit of fun.
The pool of 231 Pokemon includes Pokemon as weak as Pawmi or Ralts all the way up to Pokemon as strong as Blaziken or Genesect, so with everything being at Level 50, a number of balancing factors were put in place:
- Like in Pokemon Stadium, unevolved Pokemon tend to have more powerful movesets than evolved or Legendary Pokemon
- Most fully evolved Pokemon have 0 IVs in all of their stats, while all NFEs with prevolutions have 15 IVs in all of their stats.
-- Ditto and Kirlia still have 31 IVs in all of their stats, while Smeargle, Luvdisc, and Delibird have 15 IVs in all of their stats.
- Like in regular random battles, all Pokemon still have 85 EVs in all of their stats.
-- While currently unreleased, when/if box legendaries gets added to the metagame, they will have 0 IVs and 0 EVs in all of their stats.
Generally, the best Pokemon still tend to be legendaries and fully evolved mons, but a fair number of unevolved Pokemon end up being pretty good options because of these factors
The metagame is meant to be played in a Best of 3 or Best of 5 format, especially if you're playing the 3v3 mode, to lessen the effects of getting unlucky matchups.
Stadium YB is a random battle format, but because everything about its available Pokemon is set in stone and public information, you can also play it like Pokemon Stadium's Rental format by using these sets in Custom Game with Open Team Sheets. You can use this paste to not only insert all of the sets into the damage calculator, but also into your teambuilder to create teams.
Lastly, I'd like to shoutout ViZar, as along with the inspirations from Stadium and Battle Revolution, this mod is heavily based on his former solomod Best of Rentals, and thus gave me permission to make use the idea to make something similar.
Competitive Overview: I've done a good amount of playtesting, so I've provided a few write-ups below, but note that since all of this playtesting was against myself, it's all very speculatory.
And that's all! Stadium YB is meant to be something that's very easy to pick up and play and have fun with, so I really hope that you give it a shot!
I've genuinely had 6 or so mods of this magnitude or greater coded and ready to post (and will post at least 1 of them later in the generation) but flaked on for one reason or another, including this one before I went back and decided to release it after all, so let's get right into it.
Name of Mod: Stadium YB
Mascot:
Link to Changes: HERE
Summary of the Mod: Taking inspiration from Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Battle Revolution, Stadium YB is a random battle format where each player is given a number of rental Pokemon to battle with. Like in Stadium, these rental Pokemon, chosen from a "regional dex" of (currently) 231 options, have all of their information laid out to both players, through both the spreadsheet linked above and Forced Open Team Sheets. Thus, you'll have to make to best mon choices based on the wealth of information laid out in front of you.
The metagame has 2 modes, one where each player is given 6 Pokemon and picks 3 to battle with, and another where each player is given 12 Pokemon and picks 6 to battle with. I consider the 6v6 mode to be more competitive, since it's less likely that you'll get screwed over by being given a number of weak Pokemon, but 3v3 goes by a lot faster and serves a quick bit of fun.
The pool of 231 Pokemon includes Pokemon as weak as Pawmi or Ralts all the way up to Pokemon as strong as Blaziken or Genesect, so with everything being at Level 50, a number of balancing factors were put in place:
- Like in Pokemon Stadium, unevolved Pokemon tend to have more powerful movesets than evolved or Legendary Pokemon
- Most fully evolved Pokemon have 0 IVs in all of their stats, while all NFEs with prevolutions have 15 IVs in all of their stats.
-- Ditto and Kirlia still have 31 IVs in all of their stats, while Smeargle, Luvdisc, and Delibird have 15 IVs in all of their stats.
- Like in regular random battles, all Pokemon still have 85 EVs in all of their stats.
-- While currently unreleased, when/if box legendaries gets added to the metagame, they will have 0 IVs and 0 EVs in all of their stats.
Generally, the best Pokemon still tend to be legendaries and fully evolved mons, but a fair number of unevolved Pokemon end up being pretty good options because of these factors
The metagame is meant to be played in a Best of 3 or Best of 5 format, especially if you're playing the 3v3 mode, to lessen the effects of getting unlucky matchups.
Stadium YB is a random battle format, but because everything about its available Pokemon is set in stone and public information, you can also play it like Pokemon Stadium's Rental format by using these sets in Custom Game with Open Team Sheets. You can use this paste to not only insert all of the sets into the damage calculator, but also into your teambuilder to create teams.
Lastly, I'd like to shoutout ViZar, as along with the inspirations from Stadium and Battle Revolution, this mod is heavily based on his former solomod Best of Rentals, and thus gave me permission to make use the idea to make something similar.
Competitive Overview: I've done a good amount of playtesting, so I've provided a few write-ups below, but note that since all of this playtesting was against myself, it's all very speculatory.
The Pokemon you bring to any given game obviously depends a lot on what you and your opponent get, but it's just as obvious that some Pokemon are generally better than others. The following are some of the absolute best Pokemon in my opinion, the types of mons that you're lucky to get and should almost always be brought, and could even be nerfed in the future (and many have been nerfed over the course of playtesting).
These Pokemon are listed in the order that they're seen on the spreadsheet and the damage calc paste.
Pecharunt @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Level: 50
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Venoshock
- Hex
- Imprison
- Poison Gas
Expect to see a lot of the legendaries and mythicals in this section. Turns out having high stats is better than having low stats, who knew. All of the Loyal Three are pretty good in Stadium YB, especially Munkidori with its strong Psychic Noise, but their leader in Pecharunt really shines. Pecharunt's gameplan is very simple, poison the foe with Poison Gas, activate Poison Puppeteer to give it a pinch of cheese factor, and hit hard with Hex and Tera-boosted Venoshock. This simple strategy ends up being extremely effective thanks to Pecharunt's amazing bulk giving it many opportunities to land a Poison Gas while letting it easily outdamage the opponent with its boosted STABs, all while Poison Puppeteer's confusion lurks in the background waiting to ruin your day 33% of the time. Originally, Pecharunt had Black Sludge over Covert Cloak and Fake Tears over Imprison, but without those it's now a lot easier to eventually bring down while not being able to get through poison-immune foes as easily anymore.
Marshadow @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Hex
- Force Palm
- Sucker Punch
- Snatch
Marshadow is similar to Pecharunt, being a Mythical with Hex, an offensive Tera, and a way to spread status. However, while Pecharunt kinda needs status to be effective, Marshadow's Technician-boosted Force Palm is more than enough to get by, being one of the stronger moves that any fully evolved mon in the metagame possesses. Marshadow used to be more status-based as it had Will-O-Wisp instead of Snatch, but that made it an insanely good check to physical attackers thanks to its high Speed and then it'd just melt things with Tera-boosted Hex. Still, having to rely on Force Palm is only a little bit of a downgrade for Marshadow, it's still a monster
Genesect @ Metronome
Ability: Download
Level: 50
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Fury Cutter
- Struggle Bug
- Metal Claw
- Shock Wave
Get a Download boost and then click the appropriate snowballing move, usually Fury Cutter. Do not be surprised if you find yourself getting swept by Fury Cutter, it may be an awful move, but +1 Atk, Tera Bug, and Metronome multipliers stack up REAL fast. Be sure to keep something that can offensively threaten this thing handy, since it does need a turn or two to get going, more if it's forced into any of its other moves
Dragonite @ Enigma Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Air Slash
- Dragon Tail
- Icy Wind
- Rock Slide
This Pokemon does not die. While its prevolutions get to have fun with the tools it usually uses in OU and VGC, Dragonite just rolls up with 4 random attacking moves and stat checks everything to death. Dragonite's natural bulk and Multiscale give it plenty of chances to smack things around with decently strong Air Slashes and Dragon Tails, the latter of which can really mess with setup sweepers and switch-ins, making dealing with it all that much harder. While much weaker than the Assault Vest I originally gave it, the Enigma Berry is also nice for a bit of extra health after getting hit by a super effective move, synergizing well with Multiscale. Not to mention, Tera Steel is great for a bulky Dragon. Luckily, DNite can and will get worn down and it hates everything that resists either of its STABs, especially Steel-types.
Ribombee @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sweet Veil
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Aromatherapy
- Leech Life
- Alluring Voice
- Powder
Probably the most out of place mon outside of the honorable mentions, but this mon has performed way better than it had any right to in playtesting. High Speed and a spammable STAB in Alluring Voice make Ribombee a good offensive threat, Leech Life hits hard enough against things weak to it while also providing a little bit of recovery, Powder lets you play mindgames with Fire-types, Ribombee's best answer, and Aromatherapy is the cherry on top on a nice support move. All of these comes together to make a shockingly effective option to bring to your battles
Togekiss @ Scope Lens
Ability: Super Luck
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Air Cutter
- Fairy Wind
- Mirror Move
- Heal Bell
You know this mon is good because I had to nerf it by giving it Fairy Wind of all moves and it's still probably really good. STAB Air Cutter's guaranteed crits along with Togekiss' high Special Attack let it hit super hard, making Togekiss a premier wallbreaker in the tier. You'll be glad that I replaced Draining Kiss with Fairy Wind, as crit Draining Kisses also gave Togekiss an insane amount of longevity that really pushed it over the edge. Heal Bell is also always nice to have and maybe you can do something funny with Mirror Move one time
Honorable Mentions:
Mentioned briefly when I talked about Pecharunt, STAB Psychic Noise off of 130 SpA still hits pretty hard while its Heal Block effect and chance of Toxic Chain activating let it bully recovery-reliant switch-ins. Fake Out is also great for spreading poison
Dracozolt's bulk is deceptively huge thanks to its Assault Vest and ability to shut down physical attackers with repeated Breaking Swipes that you can power up with Tera Dragon
Swords Dance + Sacred Sword + Mythical stats giving it decent bulk make Keldeo a pretty great cleaner, even with Aqua Jet and Aerial Ace being very weak
No I'm not joking. In a metagame with a pretty low power level, Mightyena's strategy of fishing for toxic poison with Poison Fang and then spamming Protect genuinely works wonders, with Leftovers, Intimidate, and a great defensive Tera in Poison making up for its meh bulk. Maybe not a top tier mon, but it's way better here than what its usual competitive history would tell you
I'll talk about it more in the next section but Munna genuinely is a great option here, not just among other LCs, as one of the best support options in the metagame
You'll find yourself usually bringing this just because of its stats alone, but its moveset is pretty mid, pretty honest mon here
I'm definitely willing to believe that I just consistently misplayed around this mon in playtesting, but from that playtesting, this mon is a shockingly effective wincon, it can really snowball hard if it gets the chance to Stockpile up. Also, Tera Normal Spit Up being the strongest move in the game at 3 Stockpiles
These mons are pretty similar, both being strong and fast physical attackers with good STABs and a Focus Sash, and a nasty surprise in Counter. Almost guaranteed to put in some kind of work
Would be an insane mon if it didn't die in two seconds considering how it's allowed to have a move as strong as Land's Wrath. Also, unlike its currently unreleased 50% form or all the other unreleased box legends, Zygarde-10 still has EVs.
Click Lumina Crash. Dark-type in the way? Either click (Tera Bug) U-Turn or use Trick to give them your Ring Target and then click Lumina Crash
Assault Vest, good bulk, 4 pretty good moves. That's a good Pokemon, simple as that
Do NOT hit an Armarouge or Skarmory with a physical attack, worst mistake of my life
These Pokemon are listed in the order that they're seen on the spreadsheet and the damage calc paste.
Pecharunt @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Poison Puppeteer
Level: 50
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Venoshock
- Hex
- Imprison
- Poison Gas
Expect to see a lot of the legendaries and mythicals in this section. Turns out having high stats is better than having low stats, who knew. All of the Loyal Three are pretty good in Stadium YB, especially Munkidori with its strong Psychic Noise, but their leader in Pecharunt really shines. Pecharunt's gameplan is very simple, poison the foe with Poison Gas, activate Poison Puppeteer to give it a pinch of cheese factor, and hit hard with Hex and Tera-boosted Venoshock. This simple strategy ends up being extremely effective thanks to Pecharunt's amazing bulk giving it many opportunities to land a Poison Gas while letting it easily outdamage the opponent with its boosted STABs, all while Poison Puppeteer's confusion lurks in the background waiting to ruin your day 33% of the time. Originally, Pecharunt had Black Sludge over Covert Cloak and Fake Tears over Imprison, but without those it's now a lot easier to eventually bring down while not being able to get through poison-immune foes as easily anymore.
Marshadow @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Hex
- Force Palm
- Sucker Punch
- Snatch
Marshadow is similar to Pecharunt, being a Mythical with Hex, an offensive Tera, and a way to spread status. However, while Pecharunt kinda needs status to be effective, Marshadow's Technician-boosted Force Palm is more than enough to get by, being one of the stronger moves that any fully evolved mon in the metagame possesses. Marshadow used to be more status-based as it had Will-O-Wisp instead of Snatch, but that made it an insanely good check to physical attackers thanks to its high Speed and then it'd just melt things with Tera-boosted Hex. Still, having to rely on Force Palm is only a little bit of a downgrade for Marshadow, it's still a monster
Genesect @ Metronome
Ability: Download
Level: 50
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Fury Cutter
- Struggle Bug
- Metal Claw
- Shock Wave
Get a Download boost and then click the appropriate snowballing move, usually Fury Cutter. Do not be surprised if you find yourself getting swept by Fury Cutter, it may be an awful move, but +1 Atk, Tera Bug, and Metronome multipliers stack up REAL fast. Be sure to keep something that can offensively threaten this thing handy, since it does need a turn or two to get going, more if it's forced into any of its other moves
Dragonite @ Enigma Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Air Slash
- Dragon Tail
- Icy Wind
- Rock Slide
This Pokemon does not die. While its prevolutions get to have fun with the tools it usually uses in OU and VGC, Dragonite just rolls up with 4 random attacking moves and stat checks everything to death. Dragonite's natural bulk and Multiscale give it plenty of chances to smack things around with decently strong Air Slashes and Dragon Tails, the latter of which can really mess with setup sweepers and switch-ins, making dealing with it all that much harder. While much weaker than the Assault Vest I originally gave it, the Enigma Berry is also nice for a bit of extra health after getting hit by a super effective move, synergizing well with Multiscale. Not to mention, Tera Steel is great for a bulky Dragon. Luckily, DNite can and will get worn down and it hates everything that resists either of its STABs, especially Steel-types.
Ribombee @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sweet Veil
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Aromatherapy
- Leech Life
- Alluring Voice
- Powder
Probably the most out of place mon outside of the honorable mentions, but this mon has performed way better than it had any right to in playtesting. High Speed and a spammable STAB in Alluring Voice make Ribombee a good offensive threat, Leech Life hits hard enough against things weak to it while also providing a little bit of recovery, Powder lets you play mindgames with Fire-types, Ribombee's best answer, and Aromatherapy is the cherry on top on a nice support move. All of these comes together to make a shockingly effective option to bring to your battles
Togekiss @ Scope Lens
Ability: Super Luck
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Air Cutter
- Fairy Wind
- Mirror Move
- Heal Bell
You know this mon is good because I had to nerf it by giving it Fairy Wind of all moves and it's still probably really good. STAB Air Cutter's guaranteed crits along with Togekiss' high Special Attack let it hit super hard, making Togekiss a premier wallbreaker in the tier. You'll be glad that I replaced Draining Kiss with Fairy Wind, as crit Draining Kisses also gave Togekiss an insane amount of longevity that really pushed it over the edge. Heal Bell is also always nice to have and maybe you can do something funny with Mirror Move one time
Honorable Mentions:
Mentioned briefly when I talked about Pecharunt, STAB Psychic Noise off of 130 SpA still hits pretty hard while its Heal Block effect and chance of Toxic Chain activating let it bully recovery-reliant switch-ins. Fake Out is also great for spreading poisonDracozolt's bulk is deceptively huge thanks to its Assault Vest and ability to shut down physical attackers with repeated Breaking Swipes that you can power up with Tera DragonSwords Dance + Sacred Sword + Mythical stats giving it decent bulk make Keldeo a pretty great cleaner, even with Aqua Jet and Aerial Ace being very weakNo I'm not joking. In a metagame with a pretty low power level, Mightyena's strategy of fishing for toxic poison with Poison Fang and then spamming Protect genuinely works wonders, with Leftovers, Intimidate, and a great defensive Tera in Poison making up for its meh bulk. Maybe not a top tier mon, but it's way better here than what its usual competitive history would tell youI'll talk about it more in the next section but Munna genuinely is a great option here, not just among other LCs, as one of the best support options in the metagameYou'll find yourself usually bringing this just because of its stats alone, but its moveset is pretty mid, pretty honest mon hereI'm definitely willing to believe that I just consistently misplayed around this mon in playtesting, but from that playtesting, this mon is a shockingly effective wincon, it can really snowball hard if it gets the chance to Stockpile up. Also, Tera Normal Spit Up being the strongest move in the game at 3 StockpilesThese mons are pretty similar, both being strong and fast physical attackers with good STABs and a Focus Sash, and a nasty surprise in Counter. Almost guaranteed to put in some kind of workWould be an insane mon if it didn't die in two seconds considering how it's allowed to have a move as strong as Land's Wrath. Also, unlike its currently unreleased 50% form or all the other unreleased box legends, Zygarde-10 still has EVs.Click Lumina Crash. Dark-type in the way? Either click (Tera Bug) U-Turn or use Trick to give them your Ring Target and then click Lumina CrashAssault Vest, good bulk, 4 pretty good moves. That's a good Pokemon, simple as thatDo NOT hit an Armarouge or Skarmory with a physical attack, worst mistake of my lifeLike I said earlier, fully evolved Pokemon generally tend to be the best options, as even with all the balancing factors in place, good stats still taken you far. However, because of those balancing factors, there are a number of unevolved Pokemon that can not only hang with the Pokemon that possess much better stats, but even thrive in such conditions.
LCs
Both of these LC Water-types doing basically the same thing. They click their setup move and then deal absolutely nuclear damage with their ability-boosted STABs. Do not let their low stats fool you, these two can 2HKO a good portion of the metagame even unboosted, so you can only imagine how crazy they can get if they actually manage to setup, especially Totodile since Dragon Dance helps it offset its low Speed.
Dratini @ Eviolite
Ability: Shed Skin
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Aqua Tail
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
Take what I said about Totodile and swap the superpowered STABs with enough bulk to actually get multiple boosts. You'll notice that a lot of the best unevolved mons use Eviolite, as the item is even better at patching up the frailty of these Pokemon when evolved Pokemon also have worse IVs, making their attacks even weaker. Thus, it's not that hard for Dratini to net 2 or even 3 Dragon Dances, giving it the power it needs to deal real damage with Outrage or Tera Water Aqua Tail.
Munna @ Eviolite
Ability: Synchronize
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Thunder Wave
I already mentioned it in the Best Pokemon in General section, so naturally Munna is one of the best LCs here, too. Munna is an extremely simple to understand wall, with 2 decent offensive moves, recovery, and utility in Thunder Wave, all good but nothing spectacular. But, considering how Pokemon with higher stats have worse IVs and thus don't hit as hard, Knock Off's rarity, a perfect defensive Tera that makes Moonblast hit pretty hard, and Munna having some of the best bulk out of anything with Eviolite and you'll quickly see how Munna ends up being such a good support mon, stopping sweepers in their tracks with Thunder Wave and being able to stand up some of the scariest mons in the metagame better than a lot of fully evolved mons can.
Because of the rules of how I handed out IV nerfs, the Sneasels get to have their best possible stats while having good enough stats to pass as at least a middle evolution. Thus, the Sneasels get to have pretty powerful movesets while hilariously having mostly higher stats than Weavile, who's already one of the better Pokemon in the metagame. Sneasler is hilariously the worst of the four Pokemon in the Sneasel line but if you know me then that actually pretty on brand.
Shelmet @ Eviolite
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 50
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Skitter Smack
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Recover
Shelmet serves as a very funny wincon with Curse, being able to stonewall any physical attacker after a couple boosts and abuse special attackers that try to break through it with Skitter Smack drops, being able to do it with impunity thanks to Shell Armor. Can be genuinely hard to deal with against the right teams, though it's very weak to status since it lacks Rest
Trapinch @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 50
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Gust
Trapinch sports Arena Trap, the only trapping ability in the metagame, making it an insane revenge killer, sniping anything in First Impression range with ease. Its terrible bulk and Speed means that it can't come in on anything other than a predicted Electric move, so you have to pick your spots carefully, but as long as you play smart, little Trapinch can be downright oppressive.... unless they Tera out of their weakness, but forcing Tera is a plus in its own right. Ban Diglett, Ban Dugtrio, and Unban Arena Trap in Gen 9 OU, pretty please
Oddish @ Eviolite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonblast
- Stun Spore
Probably the most surprising thing here, but Eviolite is just a REALLY good item. With its great Eviolite bulk, Oddish makes more a surprisingly hard hitting tank, dealing good damage with Sludge Bombs and Leaf Storms, while also being able to annoy faster threats with Stun Spore much like Munna's Thunder Wave. Does get worn down very fast due to its low Speed and lack of any recovery, though
Flittle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hypnosis
- Stored Power
- Tera Blast
The fact that I put this set into my metagame probably makes me a bad person. This mon is all or nothing, either you hit that Hypnosis, get 2 or 3 Sleep turns to let you get 1 or 2 Calm Minds, and then win the game, or you miss or don't get enough boosts to OHKO everything with Stored Power and just die. Focus Sash and Tera Fighting give it a little bit of a safety net, but yeah, pick this mon if you want to gamble or just really miss OU Espathra
Mienfoo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Poison Jab
I'm talking about good LCs and Mienfoo is in this metagame, of course it's one of the best. So much so that I had to un-optimize it by giving it Jump Kick and Assault Vest over Close Combat and Eviolite, it simply didn't need the help.
Sizzlipede @ Eviolite
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Fire Lash
- Coil
- Power Whip
- Leech Life
I love Fire Lash!!! Can become a very scary wincon thanks to its amazing Steel Tera giving it a crazy defensive profile with Flash Fire, Coil and Eviolite bulk to help it last, Leech Life for recovery, Power Whip for Waters, and Fire Lash to let it eventually break through anything
Porygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Download
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Tera Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
There are a couple Offensive Trick Room sweepers, but Porygon very clearly does it the best. If you get a SpA boost from Download and get a Trick Room off, the game could actually be over, especially in 3v3. Tera Blast and Shadow Ball give great coverage, especially with the option to change your offensive and defensive profile with Tera Fairy, and Porygon's bulk is decent enough without Eviolite to get Trick Room up somewhat safely
NFEs
There aren't as many good NFEs, and really the NFEs being good is a bit less impressive, so these will be brief
All of the starter midevos are extremely mid, even my beloved Combusken, but at least it can sometimes get a sweep with Hone Claws and Speed Boost
Choice Band Tera Normal Extreme Speed my beloved. Very solid revenge killer.
Considering how good Eviolite is on babies like Oddish and Munna, you can imagine how good a pseudo-legendary midevo with Eviolite can be, not even considering its pretty good moveset
Fast, hits decently hard with Phantom Force and Dragon Rush, keeps up momentum with U-Turn, and the everlasting threat of Cursed Body screwing over your opponent all make sure that Drakloak keeps the trend of pseudo-legend prevos being good
Overheat off of a decent Special Attack stat actually hits like a truck, especially Tera Stellar boosted, and you can Power Swap the drops from Overheat and Stellar Tera Blast to cripple something if you want
This mon isn't actually good at all but please tell me someone gets the reference
This set was designed around Head Smash before I realized that only Aegislash gets Head Smash in this line, but Choice Band Iron Head, Shadow Sneak, and Tera Rock Rock Slide are all still super strong
Truthfully pretty mid but I severely underestimated how strong this thing is with Guts active, Facade just 2HKOs so many things, even OHKOs some of the fully evolved mons, it's crazy
LCs
Totodile @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Punch
- Hydro Cannon
- Liquidation
Corphish @ Mystic Water
Ability: Adaptability
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Chip Away
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Punch
- Hydro Cannon
- Liquidation
Corphish @ Mystic Water
Ability: Adaptability
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Chip Away
Dratini @ Eviolite
Ability: Shed Skin
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Aqua Tail
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
Take what I said about Totodile and swap the superpowered STABs with enough bulk to actually get multiple boosts. You'll notice that a lot of the best unevolved mons use Eviolite, as the item is even better at patching up the frailty of these Pokemon when evolved Pokemon also have worse IVs, making their attacks even weaker. Thus, it's not that hard for Dratini to net 2 or even 3 Dragon Dances, giving it the power it needs to deal real damage with Outrage or Tera Water Aqua Tail.
Munna @ Eviolite
Ability: Synchronize
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Thunder Wave
I already mentioned it in the Best Pokemon in General section, so naturally Munna is one of the best LCs here, too. Munna is an extremely simple to understand wall, with 2 decent offensive moves, recovery, and utility in Thunder Wave, all good but nothing spectacular. But, considering how Pokemon with higher stats have worse IVs and thus don't hit as hard, Knock Off's rarity, a perfect defensive Tera that makes Moonblast hit pretty hard, and Munna having some of the best bulk out of anything with Eviolite and you'll quickly see how Munna ends up being such a good support mon, stopping sweepers in their tracks with Thunder Wave and being able to stand up some of the scariest mons in the metagame better than a lot of fully evolved mons can.
Sneasel @ Black Glasses
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Punishment
- Beat Up
- Icicle Crash
- Surf
Sneasel-Hisui @ Big Nugget
Ability: Keen Eye
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Bulk Up
- Low Kick
- Poison Jab
- Fling
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Punishment
- Beat Up
- Icicle Crash
- Surf
Sneasel-Hisui @ Big Nugget
Ability: Keen Eye
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Bulk Up
- Low Kick
- Poison Jab
- Fling
Shelmet @ Eviolite
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 50
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Skitter Smack
- Body Slam
- Curse
- Recover
Shelmet serves as a very funny wincon with Curse, being able to stonewall any physical attacker after a couple boosts and abuse special attackers that try to break through it with Skitter Smack drops, being able to do it with impunity thanks to Shell Armor. Can be genuinely hard to deal with against the right teams, though it's very weak to status since it lacks Rest
Trapinch @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 50
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Gust
Trapinch sports Arena Trap, the only trapping ability in the metagame, making it an insane revenge killer, sniping anything in First Impression range with ease. Its terrible bulk and Speed means that it can't come in on anything other than a predicted Electric move, so you have to pick your spots carefully, but as long as you play smart, little Trapinch can be downright oppressive.... unless they Tera out of their weakness, but forcing Tera is a plus in its own right. Ban Diglett, Ban Dugtrio, and Unban Arena Trap in Gen 9 OU, pretty please
Oddish @ Eviolite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonblast
- Stun Spore
Probably the most surprising thing here, but Eviolite is just a REALLY good item. With its great Eviolite bulk, Oddish makes more a surprisingly hard hitting tank, dealing good damage with Sludge Bombs and Leaf Storms, while also being able to annoy faster threats with Stun Spore much like Munna's Thunder Wave. Does get worn down very fast due to its low Speed and lack of any recovery, though
Flittle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hypnosis
- Stored Power
- Tera Blast
The fact that I put this set into my metagame probably makes me a bad person. This mon is all or nothing, either you hit that Hypnosis, get 2 or 3 Sleep turns to let you get 1 or 2 Calm Minds, and then win the game, or you miss or don't get enough boosts to OHKO everything with Stored Power and just die. Focus Sash and Tera Fighting give it a little bit of a safety net, but yeah, pick this mon if you want to gamble or just really miss OU Espathra
Mienfoo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Poison Jab
I'm talking about good LCs and Mienfoo is in this metagame, of course it's one of the best. So much so that I had to un-optimize it by giving it Jump Kick and Assault Vest over Close Combat and Eviolite, it simply didn't need the help.
Sizzlipede @ Eviolite
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
- Fire Lash
- Coil
- Power Whip
- Leech Life
I love Fire Lash!!! Can become a very scary wincon thanks to its amazing Steel Tera giving it a crazy defensive profile with Flash Fire, Coil and Eviolite bulk to help it last, Leech Life for recovery, Power Whip for Waters, and Fire Lash to let it eventually break through anything
Porygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Download
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Tera Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
There are a couple Offensive Trick Room sweepers, but Porygon very clearly does it the best. If you get a SpA boost from Download and get a Trick Room off, the game could actually be over, especially in 3v3. Tera Blast and Shadow Ball give great coverage, especially with the option to change your offensive and defensive profile with Tera Fairy, and Porygon's bulk is decent enough without Eviolite to get Trick Room up somewhat safely
NFEs
There aren't as many good NFEs, and really the NFEs being good is a bit less impressive, so these will be brief
All of the starter midevos are extremely mid, even my beloved Combusken, but at least it can sometimes get a sweep with Hone Claws and Speed BoostChoice Band Tera Normal Extreme Speed my beloved. Very solid revenge killer.Considering how good Eviolite is on babies like Oddish and Munna, you can imagine how good a pseudo-legendary midevo with Eviolite can be, not even considering its pretty good movesetFast, hits decently hard with Phantom Force and Dragon Rush, keeps up momentum with U-Turn, and the everlasting threat of Cursed Body screwing over your opponent all make sure that Drakloak keeps the trend of pseudo-legend prevos being goodOverheat off of a decent Special Attack stat actually hits like a truck, especially Tera Stellar boosted, and you can Power Swap the drops from Overheat and Stellar Tera Blast to cripple something if you wantThis mon isn't actually good at all but please tell me someone gets the referenceThis set was designed around Head Smash before I realized that only Aegislash gets Head Smash in this line, but Choice Band Iron Head, Shadow Sneak, and Tera Rock Rock Slide are all still super strongTruthfully pretty mid but I severely underestimated how strong this thing is with Guts active, Facade just 2HKOs so many things, even OHKOs some of the fully evolved mons, it's crazy
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- Loosing its Mega sucks, but I'd say it is overall the best Bug. It only wallbreaks, but it is something.
- The 2nd highest speed in the tier, but sadly it can only attack with it and does not do something else.
- While the other two are better Pokemon, this is going to be used more because of Sticky Webs and a lot of the good Pokemon have good speed.
- Good speed, good attack and good moves in Knock Off and Sucker Punch. Might honestly be the best or 2nd best Mega.
- Good utility and decent stats make it a decent switch into Psychics and Ghosts.
- By far the best Dragon. It is decently fast but most importantly, it is immensly destructive. SD might even be better than DD here.
- A bulkier Dragon that can be either be physical or special, but is still the 3rd worst Dragon. Would've been the worst if Druddigon wasn't here.
- Get rid of the Fairy on the opponents side and click Draco Meteor or Dragon Energy.
- SubCM or Offensive Pivot sets are great since HP Ice covers all of its relevant weaknesses and Scald can be used to spread burns.
- Probably the best Mega, really fighting Absol here, and that's thanks to its speed and Intimidate, so it provides great utility.
- No weakness go brrr.
- Hit that Z-Hypnosis and hope you win from there.
- Fastest and most relevant Pokemon. It is good and it benefits from a lot of Pokemon like Rillaboom and Grounds being so few.
- Electric Terrain....
- Really versatile and strong. Unaware and Magic Guard are amazing sets it can use.
- Better match-up into Haxorus.
- More offensive Calm Mind user.
- I included it since Rage Fist can be dangerous but getting to that point might honestly be too tough.
- Great wallbreaker and check to many sweepers thanks to Mach Punch.
- Great Pivot that can also wallbreak to lure some Pokemon like Psychics, Ghosts and Tornadus.
- Great bulky option that can also potentially sweep with Curse and ESpeed.
- Specs Sun Eruption go brrr.
- Better Arcanine when it comes to offensive sets and set-up sets.
- Sun setter that can also spin away hazards or set hazards.
- Sheer Force Sun Flare Blitz go brrr.
- Good offensive and utility oriented Pivot. Can either burn and court change or be a SD wallbreaker.
- Your only option. Has Regen, great utility and good offensive options.
- Use therian. Unless you want stronger NP sets at the expanse of better bulk and speed... Yeah use Therian
- lol
- Burn, Calm Mind and Levitate are great traits to have and they allow Mismagius to wallbreak or sweep.
- Neutralizing or weakening physical attackers is great but lacking recovery really sucks for it.
- Shell Smash go brrr. Priority sucks for it tho and there are great priority moves.
- Last Respects is banned, but Sand sure appreciates another sweeper.
- Probalby the weakest sweeper/wallbreaker since it relies on Rillaboom and ideally you don't wanna stack Grasses, but you can.
- Good bulky Pokemon that helps check Rain, Sand and Rillaboom in addition to other physical attackers.
- Dangerous sweeper and general annoyance with Paralysis, Substitute, and Knock Off.
- Sun sweeper and pretty much the only relevant Chlorophyll Pokemon. Has Sleep and/or Growth to be a threat.
- Great offensive Pivot with really good utility moves in Rapid Spin and Knock Off.
- The best Grass in the meta. Grassy Surge and Grassy Glide checks so much in the tier and makes Sand and Rain teams harder to use.
- Good wallbreaker and sweeper, but needs to Tera in order to be truely good.
- Pretty much just used for Sand Rush shenanigangs, but Houndstone is better since it does not stack Ground weaknesses.
- Better Sandslash, outside of Sand. Knock Off, Rapid Spin and STAB EQ are great.
- Sand setter and great physical bulk, which isn't that useful since Water and Grass are good physical attacking types here.
- Hippo but no recovery and sand, but Stamina and more Body Press potential.
- 3rd best Mega, but only because Banette sucks. Explosion, Spikes and priority are all good.
- Snow setter
- Outclassed by Cetitan but is more powerful without set-up, so it can wallbreak with CB.
- Slow bulky sweeper. Needs a lot of support.
- Best Snow sweeper. Needs set-up and has 4MSS but can go out of rail easily.
- Really bulky but hates Knock Off and a lot of the most dangerous sweepers and wallbreakers have their ways around Chansey.
- Not having to fit so many moves is great, but it is still rather weak.
- Less bulky Chansey but less support reliant thanks to boots.
- Scary set-up sweeper, especially with +2 priority on Espeed and Tera Normal but hard to set-up.
- Meh anti offense mon.
- Insane special wallbreaker with Z-Conversion and or Adaptability Tera Normal STABs.
- Sand sweeper with better stats than Stoutland, than either clean or wallbreak. Can also trap.
- Loaded Dice Technician go brrr.
- Loaded Dice Technician go brrr 2.
- Immune to Knock Off effect and has good special bulk, but lacks recovery and offensive pressure.
- Poison with Levitate or it can remove abilities from play. Same issues as Muk tho.
- Strong, fast and has amazing moves in its toolkit.
- Weaker and slower Alakazam, but it "check" Grounds and set-up hazards then blow up.
- Bulky sweeper and Trick Room setter for slower Pokemon like Glastrier and Snorlax.
- Bulkier variant of Alakazam. Less immediately threatening but more dangerous potential.
- Great set-up sweeper and really versatile.
- Incase you wanna do hard Sand teams.
- Can be infuriating but Tera Rock hurts it and can be taken advantage of.
- Really bulky and has some good traits and effective sets.
- Versatile hazard setter and bulky attacker.
- A steel that can check Grounds and requires either Fire or Fighting coverage from other mons.
- Great wallbreaker, but struggles thanks to its speed.
- Rain setter.
- Dangerous bulky sweeper a la Cresselia.
- Valuable defensive Pokemon.
- Rain sweeper/wallbreaker
- Most dangerous sweeper in the tier.
- Rain sweeper/wallbreaker 2
- Good bulky check to sweepers.
Rotational Other Pet Mod Metagames
(in memory of Contrary Palkia)
Mega Venusaur have stolen Mega Abomasnow’s Ability! With Aurora Veil and naturally high bulk, Mega Venusaur can either stay and tank hits, or allow it’s allies to bring the pain. It also have perfectly accurate Blizzard as long as Snow stays active.
Although Mega Beedrill’s Swarm isn’t helpful due to it’s frailty, base Beedrill have Simple, which means that if it manages to set up a Swords Dance, or score a KO with Fell Stinger, then troubles will be brewing. The base Beedrill is very bad on it’s own, though, so it is easy to KO before it can sweep. Still, not something to sleep on, and can demolish unprepared defensive teams.
Houndoom’s Mega Evolution summon the grassy field with Grassy Surge… to burn all Water-type, Rock-type and Ground-type foes standing on it’s way with it’s newly gained Grass-type coverage.
Mega Swampert only have Lingering Aroma, which is situational despite Mega Swampert’s naturally high physical bulk. The secret comes in with base Swampert’s Glastrier version of As One, allowing the base Swampert to rack up Attack boosts, then Mega Evolve when needed as a late game sweeper.
With Protean, Mega Gardevoir can switch it’s type on the spot to power up it’s first move, be it Mystical Fire, Charge Beam or Shadow Ball. Remember that Protean and Libero were nerfed to work only once per switch-in, which means Mega Gardevoir have to switch-out if it want to activate the Ability again.
Alongside the following additional moves (Sacred Sword, Aqua Cutter, Night Slash, Bitter Blade, Stone Axe), Mega Banette’s new Ability in the form of Sharpness grants it much needed power boost. While it’s other stats remain cumbersome, it can be a terror with Sticky Web support.
Due to a modified clause that disallows Rayquaza to hold any item if it have Dragon Ascent, Mega Rayquaza have to contend with effectively no item (in-line with other Mega Evolution) as well as the nearly useless Magma Armor as it’s Ability. Their Attack and Special Attack are still sky-high, which allows for a rare role of an unorthodox mixed sweeper.
While the other Mega Pseudo-Legends have less powerful Ability to balance them out, Mega Garchomp instead have Contrary. Which allows it to finally make use of it’s base 120 Special Attack via Draco Meteor. Whoops.
Mega Lucario remained banned since, despite Tough Claws being strictly physical, it a significant boost to almost all of Mega Lucario’s best moves, including Extreme Speed, making it just as offensively oppressive, if not even more.
Mega Medicham lost Pure Power in favor of Desolate Land. Meanwhile, Mega Gallade is the one who gets Pure Power. You can see why it’s an immediate ban from me.
+ 
), Groudon lost it’s valuable Desolate Land in favor of the useless-in-singles Propeller Tail, while Kyogre at least enjoys Aerilate for extra coverage if it Primal Reverse. Ultra Necrozma’s Dazzling is less helpful, but nonetheless allows it for seamless sweeping without fear of priority moves.
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![Pokémon Emerald - Battle Pyramid [Restored] Extended - YouTube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dvQ1y2pI63I/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLBTVOxYV5ue4RstF_z6j3vTRYccrg "Pokémon Emerald - Battle Pyramid [Restored] Extended - YouTube")
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Speaking of Golden Orb Weaver, it's one of the 560 BST Ancient Pokémon and has a Bug/Rock dualtype. It's known for setting hazards, like Sticky Webs or Stealth Rock and is able to quickly spiral out of control if an opponent doesn't pay attention to what they're doing. After all, like all other Ancient Pokémon, Golden Orb Weaver has an ability called Reconfiguration, which boosts one of the user's stats depending on the target's best stat. With the right timing and positioning, Golden Orb Weaver could outspeed even most Choice Scarf users or clean lategame with Meteor Beam and an additional SpA boost from its ability. Some Ground and Steel Pokémon can try to keep it in check, like Gholdengo, Hippowdon, or Gravessor (Poison/Steel).
Starmie-Ma'adowr (Rock/Ground) isn't as much of a threat as some other Rock Pokémon, but it is a viable Rapid Spin user and hazard setter able to exert good offensive pressure, especially when its moves are boosted by Analytic. Like the regular form, Starmie-Ma'adowr also has access to a colourful movepool. Gastrodon, Bronzong, and Gravessor should be able to keep it in check.
