Metagame SV OU Metagame Discussion v4

I don't think thats really true since its still gonna get free setup with tera and still has a very good coverage move pool to get pass checks. For example take one of its better checks in unaware clod, which still gets cooked by tera psychic well.....psychic. 252+ SpA Tera Psychic Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 240-284 (51.7 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I don't really think this is that big of a deal. In said scenario, clicking Tera Dark and trading tera to win the matchup is more than reasonable in my opinion. (before someone suggests bug buzz, the opportunity cost of bug buzz means you have to drop one of a fire move (becoming walled by steels woo), morning sun (severely cuts into your longevity for literally anything else), or quiver dance (LOL why would you even use volcarona then), on top of already not being able to run sub/willo) making it almost useless for anything but some weird tournament fish. On top of that, psychic volc is already opening yourself to get absolutely smoked by ting-lu, a far more common specially defensive ground. TBless volc certainly has a plethora of coverage moves, but metagame trends (there are definitely more rock moves being slotted for molt, so volc has to make far more calls on when to tera and against what) and having less versatility on its moves (has trouble hitting most of the dragons now honestly) makes it far less ridiculous than it was before. I can't say it'll definitely be OU, but I believe with a TB ban it absolutely warrants a suspect test.
 
Without Tera Blast, Volcarona would be fine in Gen 9. Yes, it can defensively tera into different typings to try to attain multiple defensive boosts, but it can't now attain coverage it should have never had. An example of a core that could deal reasonably well with Volcarona is Toxic Glowking+Sp.Defense Gliscor. With toxic, Glowking can threaten Volcarona out, and if they have tera steel, well, gliscor can come in (potentially tera if it needs to something like water or dragon) and revenge kill.
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Steel Volcarona: 294-348 (94.5 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Now, sub variants could make it a bit more of a problem for this core, but then it can't break through fire types or something like primarina/garg, which are going to wall it for a while.
It also would have decent 4mss. It has the required Quiver Dance and Fiery Dance, but then wants Bug Buzz, Morning Sun, Substitute, Giga Drain, Psychic and Will-O-Wisp (niche option, but it can use it on more defensive variants). If it doesn't have these options, it simply cannot break through some key mons.
This mon would also want a lot of tera types, all of which are very important. It wants Tera Grass to setup on water types and boost Giga Drain, Tera Steel to avoid Toxic's, Tera Bug to boost the power of Bug Buzz, Tera Ghost to avoid E-speed, Tera Dark in order to setup on Kingambit easier and resist Sucker Punch and Tera Psychic to actually break through clod. But these all have there issues. Tera Grass becomes weak to Fimp from Lokix and means that Fire types dominate it even more, Tera Steel means Zamazenta can now revenge kill it and it becomes weak to the mulitude of ground moves in the tier, Tera Bug doesn't provide it much defensive value, Tera Ghost makes it weak to Kingambit sucker punch, Tera Dark makes it weak to Fighting and Fimp and Tera Psychic makes it weak to Fimp and Sucker Punch while being ass defensively all round.
Finally, Volcarona can never break through Heatran. Yes, it can boost up to extreme heights and try to brute force its way through, but its going to have to be morning sun to actually beat it, as its constantly chipped by magma storm chip+earth power, eventually dying.
+6 252 SpA Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 212+ SpD Heatran: 108-127 (27.9 - 32.9%) -- 80.7% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Reminder this is +6, which its probably going to struggle to get to and waste a lot of morning sun pp.
The problem with this is there wasn't Tera in gen 8. Even with a hypothetical TB ban, which I'm in favor of, Volc would still be able to defensive Tera to brute force QD boosts. It would quickly become untouchable to almost any special attacker, especially with a Tera like Fairy.

Volc also has plenty of options for most mons even without TB. Like there was also that Bug Buzz/Swarm set lurking around. A gen 8 Volc couldn't get double STAB on something like that. I'm not saying that would be the sole factor, but Volc's set diversity would still be fairly high.
Yes, it could brute force QD boosts. Just like every other mon with tera... Also idk why you are trying to hit it on the special side, its got way weaker physical defense (yes, flame body, but if you are taking down a very powerful boost sweeper, then I'd say that's potentially worth it).
Yes, it has options, but it can't have all of them. Refer to the list above about all the moves it really wants in order to actually sweep.
252+ SpA Tera Psychic Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 240-284 (51.7 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Volcarona would absolutely need to run timid, as it means it can actually check Kyurem, which is one of the main reasons why people want t-blast being unbanned (though it being a matchup fishing tool that can bypass there usual checks is a big one).
252 SpA Tera Psychic Volcarona Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 218-260 (47 - 56.1%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO
Reminder, clodsire can defensively tera in return and toxic it back (tera dark is a decent tera type on it). And if it isn't tera psychic, well...
252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 146-174 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 87.4% chance to 3HKO
Tera Psychic also leaves it weak to Lokix's First Impression and Kingambit's Sucker Punch, which are big attacks that simply deny it. I would doubt people would use that tera type at all.
 
I don't really think this is that big of a deal. In said scenario, clicking Tera Dark and trading tera to win the matchup is more than reasonable in my opinion. (before someone suggests bug buzz, the opportunity cost of bug buzz means you have to drop one of a fire move (becoming walled by steels woo), morning sun (severely cuts into your longevity for literally anything else), or quiver dance (LOL why would you even use volcarona then), on top of already not being able to run sub/willo) making it almost useless for anything but some weird tournament fish. On top of that, psychic volc is already opening yourself to get absolutely smoked by ting-lu, a far more common specially defensive ground. TBless volc certainly has a plethora of coverage moves, but metagame trends (there are definitely more rock moves being slotted for molt, so volc has to make far more calls on when to tera and against what) and having less versatility on its moves (has trouble hitting most of the dragons now honestly) makes it far less ridiculous than it was before. I can't say it'll definitely be OU, but I believe with a TB ban it absolutely warrants a suspect test.
I agree, a suspect test is a given if tera blast goes. The main point I wanted to emphasize is that it shouldn't be instantly dropped into the tier if a tera blast ban happens. Also yeah, every volc set has weaknesses and mons it can't touch, the issue stems from the fact that you aren't always goanna have said pokemon/you don't know what they are running (hence, matchup moth)
 
Yes, it could brute force QD boosts. Just like every other mon with tera... Also idk why you are trying to hit it on the special side, its got way weaker physical defense (yes, flame body, but if you are taking down a very powerful boost sweeper, then I'd say that's potentially worth it).
Yes, it has options, but it can't have all of them. Refer to the list above about all the moves it really wants in order to actually sweep.
QD is an objectively broken move on mons with more than like 300-400 range base stat totals. Getting to +2 on many sweepers is often enough to snowball.

Why are you attacking it with special attackers? Well, what do you have left to hit it with? If you take out, chip, or cripple all the physical attackers, Volc just wins outright in many cases. There are mons that can stop it like Clod, Heatran, and maybe Blissey. But Heatran is sadly niche in gen 9 and the other two are mostly stall exclusive.

You mentioned Glowking and Gliscor. But I think you are banking too much on very specific conditions like Tera Steel. Glowking is setup fodder unless status, which still might not stop Volc before it gets multiple KOs. Gliscor loses to Volc that is already set up, which would be the criteria since you are trying to check Volc. Like in your scenario, you try to Toxic with Glowking but Volc Tera Steels. So it's at +1. Then you try your next check. Chilly reception or hard switching takes a turn while Volc gets to +2. Volc at +2 is already very dangerous. If you can't 1HKO it or RK it with physical priority, you really might lose on the spot.

To further elaborate, Volc 2HKOs even specially defensive Gliscor at +2 with any good Fire move. No offensive Tera or item required. If Gliscor Tera Waters to take a Fire hit, even Fiery Dance will do 28-33%. And if Volc has Giga Drain, it will then do 70.4-83.9% to finish off Tera Water Gliscor. What if Volc survives because of Grassy Terrain or some other factor? What if Gliscor was chipped beforehand? And this has already assumed that your scenario went to plan. It's very specific, requires specific Teras, and is not all that reliable given that Volc has many wild cards it can play.
Volcarona would absolutely need to run timid, as it means it can actually check Kyurem, which is one of the main reasons why people want t-blast being unbanned (though it being a matchup fishing tool that can bypass there usual checks is a big one).
252 SpA Tera Psychic Volcarona Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 218-260 (47 - 56.1%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO
Reminder, clodsire can defensively tera in return and toxic it back (tera dark is a decent tera type on it). And if it isn't tera psychic, well...
252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 146-174 (31.5 - 37.5%) -- 87.4% chance to 3HKO
Tera Psychic also leaves it weak to Lokix's First Impression and Kingambit's Sucker Punch, which are big attacks that simply deny it. I would doubt people would use that tera type at all.
You mean Volc can check special Kyurem. Physical is much harder to justify, especially considering Kyurem would likely be at +1 with the DD by the time Volc comes in to check it. You could maybe Will-O-Wisp if you live a hit, I guess, but most Volc sets would have a hard time fitting that. Kyurem can also be Tera Fire. Even without TB, you still have to play guess the set.

In general, the whole idea of Volc's alleged defensive utility has been really overblown. It's a cheese sweeper. QD is a cheese move. Flame body on a setup sweeper is cheese. QD favors the mon that sets up first. Mons that setup before Volc tend to do a lot. This is key because, if Volc is supposed to be an actual check, it needs to switch into offensive threats. But it needs QD or an RNG burn to actually have defensive utility in most cases. That is not true defensive utility.

What you are describing with Tera Psychic is just Matchup Moth in action. Depending on the set, it might beat what your team happens to have. Banning Tera Blast only takes the edge off that. It doesn't change matchup fish nature. It also doesn't change the fact that you can run it more offensive, more defensive, or even fast with some defense investment depending on what you want from it.
 
Why are you attacking it with special attackers? Well, what do you have left to hit it with? If you take out, chip, or cripple all the physical attackers, Volc just wins outright in many cases. There are mons that can stop it like Clod, Heatran, and maybe Blissey. But Heatran is sadly niche in gen 9 and the other two are mostly stall exclusive.
You mean like every mon lol? Like, ignoring an entire category of mons because "they can be taken out" can be said for every mon. And if your opponent successfully eliminates every physical attacker you have by overwhelming them, I'd say they earned that sweep.
Also Heatran would be a lot better without T-blast, as it can reliably check Volcarona, Iron Moth. Serperior, Special Valiant (some have been running t-blast ground) and overall just gets better as it doesn't have to fear any surprise ground coverage. Clodsire can be used on balance teams as a good stopgap to lots of pokemon, it isn't simply just a stall mon.
You mentioned Glowking and Gliscor. But I think you are banking too much on very specific conditions like Tera Steel
Literally went over that example dude. Unless its sub (good set, but struggles to fit it in its coverage movepool as its blanked by fire types,), then that combo can deal with it, as Glowking can bait Tera Steel by threatening Toxic, and then Gliscor can e-quake it as it attacks, which will likely KO volcarona. If it isn't Tera Steel or Sub, like say Tera Grass Giga Drain, guess what? Glowking Toxic's and now you win. You can pivot to Gliscor and stall turns between the two before its knocked out lol.
Glowking is setup fodder unless status, which still might not stop Volc before it gets multiple KOs.
Most Glowking are status, whether T-wave or Toxic. And both heavily cripple Volcarona.
Gliscor loses to Volc that is already set up, which would be the criteria since you are trying to check Volc.
It can survive a +2 fiery dance from offensive Volcarona, and threaten it back with either e-quake or toxic.
+2 252 SpA Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 244 HP / 228+ SpD Gliscor: 267-315 (75.8 - 89.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
Like in your scenario, you try to Toxic with Glowking but Volc Tera Steels. So it's at +1. Then you try your next check. Chilly reception or hard switching takes a turn while Volc gets to +2. Volc at +2 is already very dangerous. If you can't 1HKO it or RK it with physical priority, you really might lose on the spot.
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Steel Volcarona: 294-348 (94.5 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Cool, so you just proved how my example is correct and that combo actually works. Also why don't you have physical priority on your team? Unless you are using Rillaboom, Raging Bolt (can prob take volcarona's hits and deal big damage back) and Weavile, your priority user should be able to finish it off. Cinderace, Darkrai (sucker punch sets are popping up more), Dragonite, Kingambit, Hamurott and Lokix all do decently well against volcarona.
To further elaborate, Volc 2HKOs even specially defensive Gliscor at +2 with any good Fire move.
Only need to take one, as you can either toxic or e-quake it lol.
If Gliscor Tera Waters to take a Fire hit, even Fiery Dance will do 28-33%. And if Volc has Giga Drain, it will then do 70.4-83.9% to finish off Tera Water Gliscor.
And what if it isn't Giga Drain? It doesn't have Sub, so it isn't blocking Glowking's Toxic. It also isn't morning sun so it has to try to commit to that sweep when it switches in a lot more. It has to pick and choose its moves way more and can't blast through checks nearly as easily.
What if Volc survives because of Grassy Terrain or some other factor? What if Gliscor was chipped beforehand? And this has already assumed that your scenario went to plan. It's very specific, requires specific Teras, and is not all that reliable given that Volc has many wild cards it can play.
If its G-terrain, then you play around that, and that still doesn't stop the threat of toxic, and makes itself weak to fighting type moves if its Tera Steel. And Gliscor can commonly get itself to high hp and get itself out of KO range.
The plan was a simple one, meant to demonstrate how it could work. Alolomola+Moltres, Heatran+Alolomola, Dragpult+Gliscor, Skeledirge+Toxapex. All of these are varying amounts of good, but they can work.
You mean Volc can check special Kyurem. Physical is much harder to justify, especially considering Kyurem would likely be at +1 with the DD by the time Volc comes in to check it. You could maybe Will-O-Wisp if you live a hit, I guess, but most Volc sets would have a hard time fitting that. Kyurem can also be Tera Fire. Even without TB, you still have to play guess the set.
Physical Kyurem would be dead without T-blast, as it can't ever break through steel types. So yes, it can check Kyurem. Mixed sets can do 30% to it at neutral before getting blasted by fiery dance. Subtect sets get setup up on and bypasses sub with bug buzz.
In general, the whole idea of Volc's alleged defensive utility has been really overblown. It's a cheese sweeper. QD is a cheese move. Flame body on a setup sweeper is cheese. QD favors the mon that sets up first. Mons that setup before Volc tend to do a lot. This is key because, if Volc is supposed to be an actual check, it needs to switch into offensive threats. But it needs QD or an RNG burn to actually have defensive utility in most cases. That is not true defensive utility.
Yeah, it was overblown before, but now that it can't cheese its way through lots of its answers with tera blast. Also Flame Body is absolutely defensive utility. Its part of the reason why Zapdos and Moltres are so good. They both wouldn't check nearly as many mons without it. It also checks Kyurem, Valiant, Enamorus, Darkrai, Gholdengo, Rillaboom and Zamazenta. Yes, they may have some ways around it, but it can still switch in and force them out lol.
What you are describing with Tera Psychic is just Matchup Moth in action. Depending on the set, it might beat what your team happens to have. Banning Tera Blast only takes the edge off that. It doesn't change matchup fish nature. It also doesn't change the fact that you can run it more offensive, more defensive, or even fast with some defense investment depending on what you want from it.
You are also using a really ass set otherwise, that doesn't even work if the opponent realises they also have tera lol. Like, sure, its still a bit of a matchup fish, but its not nearly as effective. You have a lot more answers to its sets because it can't click the funny tera button and gain new coverage. Skeledirge and Heatran would get a lot better as they resist all of its moves, and they do more then just check Volcarona. This would help curb other threats such as Zamazenta, Kyurem (skeledirge can take 2 e-powers) and Valiant (though Valiant is way less problematic rn then the other two at all, but its still a deadly mon).
 
I blame Gamefreak's developers for probably wanting to play hyper offense on Pokemon Showdown during down time but getting wrecked by Toxic or Rillaboom, which may be part of the reason why Toxic distribution was gutted, and Grassy Glide took a huge nerf despite their competitive format being VGC 'cause it was easy to farm them on ladder with their poorly made HO teams.
If gamefreak actually played pokemon showdown (and especially the singles metagames) Gen 9 would not have been nearly as insane. They would probably make tera way more fair and they would actually try and add new pokemon/mechanics that benefit both the singles and doubles playstyle.
 
If gamefreak actually played pokemon showdown (and especially the singles metagames) Gen 9 would not have been nearly as insane. They would probably make tera way more fair and they would actually try and add new pokemon/mechanics that benefit both the singles and doubles playstyle.
Terastallization is pretty fair I'd say. It does what it needs to do. They were very conservative with Stellar that no one uses it LOL. Serperior was just new toy syndrome and it became UU and Enamorus uses other Tera types
 
Terastallization is pretty fair I'd say. It does what it needs to do. They were very conservative with Stellar that no one uses it LOL. Serperior was just new toy syndrome and it became UU and Enamorus uses other Tera types
Well I did say more fair as I do not believe it is broken. However it would probably have been "nerfed" in many aspects. (I put nerfed in quotations because the nerfed tera for us would be just tera for the pokemon playerbase in this hypothetical timeline.)
 
Gamefreak only does things for 2 reasons, flavor (it makes sense, its cool, its fun, it makes the narrative better) and vgc (it makes the pokemon better/worse, we want the legendary to be used in its debut meta). sometimes they throw a bone to bss because they do want that mode to be enjoyable, even if its not their priority. Toxic cut was a mix of flavor and avoiding stall in bss. Rillaboom nerf was just balancing it for the tera vgc meta and its still really good.

Would a tera blast ban open up for another tera suspect, if its a well received change? I'm neutral on both, but after natdex (sorry for mentioning it again), there is a small drive from people to review tera i feel
 
Also Heatran would be a lot better without T-blast, as it can reliably check Volcarona, Iron Moth. Serperior, Special Valiant (some have been running t-blast ground)
The tragedy of special fighting types. Let Valiant have 100 acc Focus Blast, it deserves it. While you're at it, give it 100 acc Play Rough, Nasty Plot, EQ, Triple Axel, Extreme Speed, Earth Power, and gen 8 Protean.
 
I think Volcarona would merit a resuspect if Tera Blast was banned, but it’s not a given that it would be balanced.

Tera Blast was a key factor that pushed Volcarona over the edge. But with TB gone people will explore other sets, particularly bulky Volcarona. For example, bulky Tera Grass with Substitute beats Toxic Gliscor, Clodsire, and Garganacl. Bulky Tera Steel with Wisp cripples Ting Lu and Dragonite and beats Glowking. Certain defensive combinations like Gliscor + Glowking can handle the possibilities on paper, but with chip and a lucky Fiery Dance boost even these cores can fall apart. It’s still matchup moth.

The meta has changed too. For example, Gouging Fire checked most non-Tera Blast Volcarona sets and is now banned. And Glowking now often wants physdef to take Knocks and Zama Crunch.

There’s a chance it’ll be fine, but I don’t think it’s guaranteed. Time and time again players have predicted a mon being “fine” or “not fine” on paper and have been proven wrong. We just don’t really know until we see it in action.
 
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I'm clearly joking, Valiant of all things does not need moveset buffs. I thought it was funny that a special fairy/fighting type is walled by a steel because special fighting moves aren't real.

Just looked at it and Special Fighting Mons aren,t either. We have:
Arceus Fight (duh)
Blaziken (more Attack than Special Attack and better coverage on physical moves, not just Stats)
Cobalion (base 90 Special Attack, same as physical, has CM, but also SD)
Emboar (more Attack than Special Attack... plus Reckless)
Decidueye Hisui (funnily enough has more Special Attack than Cobalion, but again, better physical)
Infernape (same Attack than Special Attack, also Iron Fist)
Valiant (again, better physicall Attack, but at least this time, Moonblast is actually better than Spirit Break)
Keldeo (Finally, a purely Special Fight Mon, also with a cool special Fight move)
Kommo-o (More Attack than Special Attack, but at least has a better Special movepool, can abuse Throat Spray... however, almost never uses Focus Blast or Aura Sphere)
Lucario (more Special Attack than physical, but competent at least)
Toxicroak (again more physical Attack and better movepool there)
Virizion (same as Cobalion)

Pheromosa (unreleased, but counts, though rarely uses Focus Blast)

They almost never actively tried to create a Special Fight Mon, the only ones that use special sets more often than physical ones are Valiant, Keldeo and Kommo-o. 3 Mons in 9 Gens (4 if we count Arceus Fight)
 
I'm clearly joking, Valiant of all things does not need moveset buffs. I thought it was funny that a special fairy/fighting type is walled by a steel because special fighting moves aren't real.
Doesn't it get Vacuum Wave and I don't know if it gets Aura Sphere
 
Doesn't it get Vacuum Wave and I don't know if it gets Aura Sphere
it gets both but it doesn't really need priority that badly (not like vacuum wave can hit any priority users super hard anyways) and aura sphere is a fake move when cc does just as good on its special sets and it loves coverage from stuff like shadow ball or tbolt
 
it gets both but it doesn't really need priority that badly (not like vacuum wave can hit any priority users super hard anyways) and aura sphere is a fake move when cc does just as good on its special sets and it loves coverage from stuff like shadow ball or tbolt
But Close Combat isn't a special move :P
 
But Close Combat isn't a special move :P
close combat has an extra 40bp which makes up for the lack of offensive investment when considering how high val's physical attack is. it's even possible to ev manage your val to snipe certain special walls and it does really good into stall because blissey doesn't wall you anymore (although that's a pretty fringe use case on account of stall being a washed archetype now)

drawback doesn't really matter either because val is not taking any hits that aren't dark type
 
You mean like every mon lol? Like, ignoring an entire category of mons because "they can be taken out" can be said for every mon. And if your opponent successfully eliminates every physical attacker you have by overwhelming them, I'd say they earned that sweep.
Not even close, dude. QD obviously boosts speed. So any physical mon that isn't speed control enough gets cooked. That's basically priority mons, rain Barraskewda, Unburden Hawlucha. Priority like Scizor or Rillaboom are resisted, though. And Bolt is special so QD cooks it.

Really fast BE speed mons like Valiant and maybe Moon can work once at +1, though not at +2. Something like Moon is almost always BE attack. More importantly, Volc is almost always going to be able to brute force up to +2 with Tera because of reasons I already stated..

Anyways, the amount of speed control mons a team has varies. But generally a team would only have 1-2 physical mons for speed control in this way. (Playstyles like stall care less about speed control.) So you really only need to target 1-2 mons in most cases.
Only need to take one, as you can either toxic or e-quake it lol.
Not really. Toxic by Gliscor in this example comes way later than it does with Glowking. If Volc is already +2 by the time Gliscor has Toxic, Volc will have enough momentum to claim multiple mons before it falls. Gliscor taking a hit to Toxic is too late unless Volc isn't set up yet.

As I stated before, EQ is an unreliable bet since it requires the very specific circumstances you mentioned without other specific circumstances like GT, prior chip, or some other factor. Or even just different sets.

I also find the idea of Gliscor as a check to Volc to be dubious in general given it is often forced to Tera earlier from Ice moves. Furthermore, a Tera will almost always be worse defensively for Gliscor due to its original typing being better. Ultimately, your scenario of trading Teras only works because it assumes a rather optimal chain of events and specifics.
It can survive a +2 fiery dance from offensive Volcarona, and threaten it back with either e-quake or toxic.
+2 252 SpA Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 244 HP / 228+ SpD Gliscor: 267-315 (75.8 - 89.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Steel Volcarona: 294-348 (94.5 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
Cool, so you just proved how my example is correct and that combo actually works. Also why don't you have physical priority on your team? Unless you are using Rillaboom, Raging Bolt (can prob take volcarona's hits and deal big damage back) and Weavile, your priority user should be able to finish it off. Cinderace, Darkrai (sucker punch sets are popping up more), Dragonite, Kingambit, Hamurott and Lokix all do decently well against volcarona.
More accurately, I pointed out how your example only works under optimal conditions with very little margin for error. Your scenario assumes that Glowking and Volc get in on the same turn, that both sets happen to be what you state, that Gliscor is also a specific set, has a very specific Tera to burn, and no other factors (which I gave several examples of) upset your scenario.

Why don't I use physical priority on my team? Dude, I do. It's necessary. But here is the problem. You will normally have limited amount of those per team. Unless you are running 6 physical priority mons, none of which are the wrong physical priority mons for that particular Volc set, and/or don't get burned on contact, you might not have what you need for the situation.

Realistically, how many reliable priority mons are commonly used in OU? Rillaboom, Scizor, and Weavile are more or less disqualified just because of Volc's base typing. Bolt is disqualified because of QD. D-nite is usually very good against Volc, unless Tera Ghost or possibly Steel. Gambit could beat Volc, but could also lose to Tera Fairy or could lose SP mind games. Either of those two mons getting burned by Flame Body also shuts them down.

In general, saying just priority it is poor reasoning for claiming that something isn't broken in a metagame where they can flip their type chart any time.
And what if it isn't Giga Drain? It doesn't have Sub, so it isn't blocking Glowking's Toxic. It also isn't morning sun so it has to try to commit to that sweep when it switches in a lot more. It has to pick and choose its moves way more and can't blast through checks nearly as easily.
What if it isn't? What if it is? What if Gliscor isn't Tera Water? What if Glowking was AV for Kyurem or something? The whole reason why Volc is called Matchup Moth is, while it can't get everything at once, any particular set just might have what it needs to cook your team. You are seriously underestimating not only Volc's set variance without TB, but also how well built teams are built around Volc to compliment their specific Volc's sweeping potential.
If its G-terrain, then you play around that, and that still doesn't stop the threat of toxic, and makes itself weak to fighting type moves if its Tera Steel. And Gliscor can commonly get itself to high hp and get itself out of KO range.
The plan was a simple one, meant to demonstrate how it could work. Alolomola+Moltres, Heatran+Alolomola, Dragpult+Gliscor, Skeledirge+Toxapex. All of these are varying amounts of good, but they can work.
Why not play around Tera Water Gliscor? Why not chip it or force it to Tera early? Why not play around anything at this point?

What Fighting moves are you using to beat a +2 Volc? Even if Tera Steel, there is no Mach Punch mon that is currently OU. Vacuum Wave loses to QD for obvious reasons. Unburden Hawlucha? It's a bit niche, but it's the only thing I can think of. Maybe a +1 BE speed Valiant before Volc gets to +2? But you have to switch that in both on the right turn and early.

The problem with demonstrating how these cores could contain Volc is that it ignores how the very same Matchup Moth could have the right set to counter that in nearly every case mentioned here besides Heatran and maybe Skeledirge, both of which are again quite niche in current OU. I understand you think Heatran will rise without TB, but I think it really misses Toxic.
Physical Kyurem would be dead without T-blast, as it can't ever break through steel types. So yes, it can check Kyurem. Mixed sets can do 30% to it at neutral before getting blasted by fiery dance. Subtect sets get setup up on and bypasses sub with bug buzz.
I have heard similar sentiments expressed about physical Kyurem by others. I just don't buy the idea that Steel types will suddenly make it unviable when it can run things like EP or even something niche like Body Press on DD sets. Not to mention how any competent player teambuilding with physical Kyurem would be sure to take Steel types into account. This is similar to how non-Boots sets get anti-hazard support.

Once again, you are using logic that assumes the right type of sets for your given scenario. I really don't think it would always play out that way.
Yeah, it was overblown before, but now that it can't cheese its way through lots of its answers with tera blast. Also Flame Body is absolutely defensive utility. Its part of the reason why Zapdos and Moltres are so good. They both wouldn't check nearly as many mons without it. It also checks Kyurem, Valiant, Enamorus, Darkrai, Gholdengo, Rillaboom and Zamazenta. Yes, they may have some ways around it, but it can still switch in and force them out lol.
It still is since you can still cheese your way through many situations with extra QD's, double STAB, and/or extra STAB on a coverage move.

Flame Body is defensive utility on Moltres because Moltres has other actual physical utility from its bulk and typing. It doesn't solely rely on getting a burn proc to take physical hits. That's an added bonus. Volc not only needs to burn to take physical hits, but also is mainly using that as means for a sweep rather than checking something actually defensively.

Most of the mons you listed are special attacking, which is literally because of QD cheese. Valiant depends on the set as certain sets can beat Volc quite easily. ID Zama with Roar beats you unless burn. 4 attacks Zama is more likely to have coverage like Stone Edge. So Volc isn't really even a reliable check for Zama. Rillaboom's priority is double resisted, which is useful, but like so do Moltres, Corv, Scizor, and numerous other mons. There is nothing unique about Volc that Moltres cannot do defensively besides special Kyurem.
You are also using a really ass set otherwise, that doesn't even work if the opponent realises they also have tera lol. Like, sure, its still a bit of a matchup fish, but its not nearly as effective. You have a lot more answers to its sets because it can't click the funny tera button and gain new coverage. Skeledirge and Heatran would get a lot better as they resist all of its moves, and they do more then just check Volcarona. This would help curb other threats such as Zamazenta, Kyurem (skeledirge can take 2 e-powers) and Valiant (though Valiant is way less problematic rn then the other two at all, but its still a deadly mon).
I'll grant you that Tera Psychic has limitations. It isn't something I would probably use. Clod is generally a pretty good Volc check.

However, the only types that resist Psychic are Dark, Psychic, and Steel. The latter is beaten by Fire STAB, except for Heatran. The rest are taken out by Bug moves. This provides nearly perfect coverage with 3 moves + QD. Obviously, this is a more offensive set and Psychic isn't a good Tera type. It's probably viable, though. It might even run Swarm.

Sadly, I have a hard time believing Dirge is going to be good in a metagame with so many threatening Dark types.
 
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If you take out, chip, or cripple all the physical attackers, Volc just wins outright in many cases.
So does Blissey. And if you think Blissey is OP, then you either are trolling, somehow can't beat stall, or forgot to take your meds in the morning.
For example take one of its better checks in unaware clod, which still gets cooked by tera psychic well.....psychic. 252+ SpA Tera Psychic Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 240-284 (51.7 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
lmao do you unironically think this is a good argument you not only have to run an offensive spread, have Tera psychic AND psychic, (making you weak to sucker and bug) and Clodsire can literally just Tera back, which does not compromise Clodsire’s utility, but Volc teraing into a Psychic Type definitely does.
I'm sorry man but comparing blissey to volcarona is ridiculous lmao. Blissey is obviously only a passive wall that can even be overwhelmed by even special attackers over time (especially with recovery moves only be 8pp, awful change btw), meanwhile volcarona is a pokemon that can quite literally end the game in 1-2 turns. Also you need to chill man, telling someone they forgot "to take your meds" is f*cking insane lmao.I don't think thats realmo
(It was a joke.)
bro, I listed 1 example lmao. Lets just ignore the fact that clod is a pokemon that only fits on heavily defensive teams (especially since its a liability aganist scor lmao). Let's ALSO just completely ignore the fact that 90% of the teams in this metagame can't even afford an unaware mon. I think volc should be tried for a retest, but tbh this metagame already has enough cheese as is, and we should be focusing on removing it, not adding more
Let's just ignore the fact that you haven't provided any other examples.
 
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So does Blissey. And if you think Blissey is OP, then you either are trolling, somehow can't beat stall, or forgot to take your meds in the morning.
I'm sorry man but comparing blissey to volcarona is ridiculous lmao. Blissey is obviously only a passive wall that can even be overwhelmed by even special attackers over time (especially with recovery moves only be 8pp, awful change btw), meanwhile volcarona is a pokemon that can quite literally end the game in 1-2 turns. Also you need to chill man, telling someone they forgot "to take your meds" is f*cking insane lmao.I don't think thats realmo
lmao do you unironically think this is a good argument you not only have to run an offensive spread, have Tera psychic AND psychic, (making you weak to sucker and bug) and Clodsire can literally just Tera back, which does not compromise Clodsire’s utility, but Volc teraing into a Psychic Type definitely does.
bro, I listed 1 example lmao. Lets just ignore the fact that clod is a pokemon that only fits on heavily defensive teams (especially since its a liability aganist scor lmao). Let's ALSO just completely ignore the fact that 90% of the teams in this metagame can't even afford an unaware mon. I think volc should be tried for a retest, but tbh this metagame already has enough cheese as is, and we should be focusing on removing it, not adding more
 
Let's just ignore the fact that you haven't provided any other examples.
Do I really need to list every tera type volcarona can use to cheese its checks? If you know literally anything about gen 9 ou you should no that no form of speed control is actually reliable aganist boost sweepers. Any scarfer or priority user can lose to a viable volcarona tera type. Before the brainrot takes roll in saying "you can use tera too!", keep in mind that you ALSO need tera to check the 6 million other cheese sweepers in the tier
 
Do I really need to list every tera type volcarona can use to cheese its checks? If you know literally anything about gen 9 ou you should no that no form of speed control is actually reliable aganist boost sweepers. Any scarfer or priority user can lose to a viable volcarona tera type. Before the brainrot takes roll in saying "you can use tera too!", keep in mind that you ALSO need tera to check the 6 million other cheese sweepers in the tier
If this was true, then HO would be the only viable playstyle. Wait...
 
I don't think anyone ever said HO is the only viable playstyle LMAO. The point is that setup sweepers on all playstyles being able to freely invalidate speed control options is unhealthy
The only way to remedy what you are complaining about is the ban tera, yet the tier is pretty good, and most good players enjoy what Tera brings to the game. I also think it is very unlikely for us to get a suspect for tera as well.
 
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