Metagame Relay Race

[M_Hoopa]

I haven't seen much issue with Wellspring but i do see how it can be much harder to deal with on crit teams.

Perish song has been a nuisance but able to be handled without it being too much of an issue.

While Unaware is definitely a need in a format about stacking boosts, Skeledirge definitely seems to be too strong getting free boosts for its team while being able to deal with majority of set up chains and even ignores substitutes while boosting.

Focus energy passing is pretty strong, being my most recent offence team being able to quickly break apart teams that rely on too much set up and can even keep pressure against teams with red card spam despite the reset.

Im not sure how i feel about Tera, While it makes Wellspring a big threat that passively passes special defence which nothing else can doing so makes you vulnerable with the rest of your team. No tera steel clefable on gholdengo make it rain, no tera fairy to block dragon tail, and you wouldn't be able to block a stored power with a right timed tera dark. It definitely enables alot but is a decent option to continue a chain or break through one.

 

[Steam Buns]

Ehhh I don’t think Eject Button warrents looking at.
You consume it after a Pokemon uses U-Turn or any attacking move, and then you can’t block U-turn after that. Since Perish Song is more immediate in its threat than Curse, Leech Seed, or Gastro Acid, it makes sense why it might be busted for Perish Song teams. However it’s not that big of a deal if you can’t U-turn out one time against the other timers since they are more generous and can be stalled with healing anyways.

you can block U-turn with protect.

There are only a few very specific ways to "beat" perish song -> protect -> ebutton -> protect. All of which are far more committal than the act of clicking perish itself. (I would also be interested to see people experiment with Imprison + u-turn)

Either way I feel the strategy is far too restrictive and either one or both of perish song and ebutton need to go.

I feel similarly about good as gold, based on first impressions it makes dealing with teams that try to snowball way too volatile because of how incredibly limited your counterplay to setup is while ghold is on the field, but I need to play more before I can confidently say its broken.

 

[VannAccessible]

Terastal, Ogerpon-Wellspring, Skeledirge and Perish Song have been banned! ​

The results of our council’s second tiering action vote are in!

Subject​	VannAccessible​	Clas​	Sawkasm​	Sandwiches42​	InkyDarkBird​	Result​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	BAN​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	DNB​	BAN​	BAN​

Regrettably, with one week in to the month of April, two members of our council are MIA, but as tier balancing is necessary while we have an active ladder for the month, I am going to post the results of vote of the remaining council who are active for implementation. (Edit: Sawkasm has voted Ban across the board, so there is no ambiguity of what the results are.)

Reasonings:

Terastal Clause

Terastal was always a dubious fit for Relay Race. It brings with it all the same annoying issues it does in standard play. It also doesn’t necessarily enhance omnipresent Baton Pass as a concept, but serves to distract from it.

These issues alone are not justification to ban Tera, but a matter of preference. However, the meta is also currently very matchup fishy, so it’s hard to gauge what is actually consistently good. What is peak one day falls off the next, which actually makes most tiering calls difficult, as not much is actually showing consistent results. In this environment, no Pokemon exists in a vacuum and everything with any tool that gels well with Baton Pass is viable, so the early meta is constantly in flux.

Banning Tera is the best first step toward tier stability. Having no Tera forces mons who benefit from the meta mechanics/trends the most like Clefable, Malamar, Kommo-O, and Torterra to commit to their typings and as a result, the meta can begin to coalesce around solid core-mons like Gholdengo, Hatterene, Alomomola, Glowking, Dondozo, Landorus-T, Gliscor, Ting-Lu, Samurott-H, Glimmora, Okidogi, Darkrai, Kingambit, Roaring Moon, Dragapult, Iron Moth, Zamazenta, the free Ogerpons, Serperior, Excadrill, Pecharunt, Trevenant and Cyclizar. and start to calm down.

Tera was a fun experiment, and I am glad we tried it first, but it needs to go.

Ogerpon-Wellspring

Ogerpon-Wellspring gets nearly every tool you could want in this format, so you cannot reasonably prepare for it. It is also far from Tera dependent, even though the auto-Sp. Def boost is absurdly good in practice. It’s just that good out of the box, without even having to commit to Tera.

Water def typing. Water Cudgel, and Water Absorb stopping Flip Turn make it the best Ogerpon, by far. Banning it allows the other two Ogers rise, so we can assess if they’re more manageable.

Skeledirge

Skeledirge is the perfect Pokemon for this format by virtue of Torching through Substitutes and boosting as it does so, on top of ignoring opposing boosts with Unaware. Like Wellspring, it also does not need Tera to be good.

Besides Clodsire, it has no defensive counters. Way too OP.

Perish Song

Whether you prepare for it or not, the threat of Perish Song demands an immediate response every single time, or you will lose a Pokemon. It is, by far, the best progress maker in the format.

While players have discovered how good pivot cores are in general, and Gholdengo and Kommo-O are everywhere helping keep PSong in check, there are other issues at play. Primarina and Meloletta matchup well with Dengo and Kommo-O, and counterplay to the counterplay of U-Turn has developed, making Perish Song more absurd. The fact that Protect and Eject Button can stop U-Turn and Taunt stops non-damaging pivots like Shed Tail, Parting Shot and Chilly Reception simply push Perish Song over the edge. It’s almost an afterthought that Fake Out stops all pivot options, ensuring a Perish Song KO.

Ultimately, the format will be much healthier without having to deal with cheesy teams like this.

Pinging dhelmise for implementation!

 

[Cuddly]

Terastal, Ogerpon-Wellspring, Skeledirge and Perish Song have been quick banned! ​

The results of our council’s second tiering action vote are in!

Subject​	VannAccessible​	Clas​	Sawkasm​	Sandwiches42​	InkyDarkBird​	Result​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	BAN​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​	BAN​
​	BAN​	ABS​	BAN​	DNB​	BAN​	BAN​

Regrettably, with one week in to the month of April, two members of our council are MIA, but as tier balancing is necessary while we have an active ladder for the month, I am going to post the results of vote of the remaining council who are active for implementation. (Edit: Sawkasm has voted Ban across the board, so there is no ambiguity of what the results are.)

Reasonings:

Terastal Clause

Terastal was always a dubious fit for Relay Race. It brings with it all the same annoying issues it does in standard play, and it also doesn’t necessarily enhance omnipresent Baton Pass as a concept, but serves to distract from it.

These issues alone are not justification to ban Tera, but a matter of preference. However, the meta is also currently very matchup fishy, so it’s hard to gauge what is actually consistently good. What is peak one day falls off the next, which actually makes most tiering calls difficult, as not much is actually showing consistent results. In this environment, no Pokemon exists in a vacuum and everything with any tool that gels well with Baton Pass is viable, so the early meta is constantly in flux.

Banning Tera is the best first step toward tier stability. Having no Tera forces mons who benefit from the meta mechanics/trends the most like Clefable, Malamar, Kommo-O, and Torterra to commit to their typings and as a result, the meta can begin to coalesce around solid core-mons like Gholdengo, Hatterene, Alomomola, Glowking, Dondozo, Landorus-T, Gliscor, Ting-Lu, Samurott-H, Glimmora, Okidogi, Darkrai, Kingambit, Roaring Moon, Dragapult, Iron Moth, Zamazenta, Ogerpon-Teal, Serperior, Excadrill, Tornadus, Pecharunt and Cyclizar etc. and start to calm down.

Tera was a fun experiment, and I am glad we tried it first, but it needs to go.

Ogerpon-Wellspring

Ogerpon-Wellspring gets nearly every tool you could want in this format, so you cannot reasonably prepare for it. It is also far from Tera dependent, even though the auto-Sp. Def boost should be absurdly good in practice. It’s just that good out of the box, without even having to commit to Tera.

Water def typing. Water Cudgel, and Water Absorb stopping Flip Turn make it the best Ogerpon, by far. Banning it allows the other two Ogers rise, so we can assess if they’re more manageable.

Skeledirge

Skeledirge is the perfect Pokemon for this format by virtue of Torching through Substitutes and boosting as it does so, on top of ignoring opposing boosts with Unaware. Like Wellspring, it also does not need Tera to be good.

Besides Clodsire, it has no defensive counters. Way too OP.

Perish Song

Whether you prepare for it or not, the threat of Perish Song demands an immediate response every single time, or you will lose a Pokemon. It is, by far, the best progress maker in the format.

While players have discovered how good pivot cores are in general, and Gholdengo and Kommo-O are everywhere helping keep PSong in check, there are other issues at play. Primarina and Meloletta matchup well with Dengo and Kommo-O, and counterplay to the counterplay of U-Turn has developed, making Perish Song way too good at forcing progress. The fact that Protect and Eject Button can stop U-Turn and Taunt stops non-damaging pivots like Shed Tail, Parting Shot and Chilly Reception simply push Perish Song over the edge. It’s almost an afterthought that Fake Out stops all pivot options, ensuring a Perish Song KO.

Ultimately, the format will be much healthier without having to deal with cheesy teams like this.

Pinging dhelmise for implementation!

And Terapagos is unbanned, right?

 

[VannAccessible]

And Terapagos is unbanned, right?

Heh, not just yet.

 

[Faux Focalors Furina]

If Pagos was unbanned:
(EVs are left blank since I don't know the best evs for each set)

I could see it being used as a boost passer since it can atleast live a hit or two.

Boost Passer (Terapagos-Terastal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tera Shell
Tera Type: Stellar
IVs: 15 Atk
- Rock Polish
- Calm Mind
- Dark Pulse
- Tera Starstorm

Or as a boost receiver and use its omni-coverage for stuff.

Boost Receiver (Terapagos-Terastal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tera Shell
Tera Type: Stellar
IVs: 15 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Tera Starstorm

And even do it's usual antics in NatDex as being one of the best spinners :D

Anti-ghold (Terapagos-Terastal) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tera Shell
Tera Type: Stellar
- Rapid Spin
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Tera Starstorm

It can also be a phazer since it has roar but I don't know how to make a theoretical set for one ^^"

 

[Sandwiches42]

It can also be a phazer since it has roar but I don't know how to make a theoretical set for one ^^"

Here you go:
Terapagos-Terastal @ Leftovers
Ability: Tera Shell
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 16 SpA / 156 SpD
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Roar
- Calm Mind
- Tera Starstorm
Passes boosts, while preventing opponents boost (you could run flame or earth power over calm mind to beat Gholdengo)

And for good measure, make sure you use stored power on the boost receiver.
Terapagos-Terastal @ Leftovers
Ability: Tera Shell
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 15 Atk
- Tera Starstorm
- Stored Power
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower

 

[VannAccessible]

Council Developments

Sadly, Clas and Sawkasm are leaving the tiering council. They both have IRL commitments preventing them from playing the format adequately to make informed votes and are not communicating with us regularly. I wish them well, but we need our voting council available while we are able to playtest the OM for the month of April.

Good news though!

Anchor9 is joining us! Anchor is another proven ladder contender and has expressed interest in organizing a Relay Race Tour on Showdown, so look out for that! Welcome aboard!

Update:

I chased down sockperson aka poopnutt7000/quagzacian/bobthemango141 on Showdown, who's been tearing up the ladder, currently ranked at #2, #14 and #17 respectively. Those ranks talk. See his post below for what a peak ladder team looks like.

Seems like he knows what's going on in this meta and has agreed to join us to help with balancing. Welcome to the council and forums!

Waiting is the hardest part…
While we wait for the bans to be implemented, we can chat about what meta trends we can expect and what should potentially be addressed next.

Watchlist Updates

Pokémon

• Ogerpon
• Ogerpon-Cornerstone
• Pecharunt
• Regieleki
• Serperior
• Terapagos
• Trevenant

Moves

• Belly Drum
• Focus Energy
• Shed Tail

Reasonings:

Terapagos and Regieleki

We just banned Tera, but now we’re talking about freeing its mascot! The irony.

Now that Tera will be gone I think it’s ok to consider freeing Regieleki and Terapagos from the ban list. Freeing them would grant the meta two new hazard control spinners; ones that threaten Samurott-H HO Hazard Stack and Gholdengo.

The tier is populated by good ground types, namely Landorus-T, Gliscor, Ting-Lu, Excadrill, Torterra, Garchomp, Great Tusk and Donphan, not to mention many great Dragon and Grass types. I don’t think Regieleki would be broken, as it doesn’t get coverage to beat these guys.
Regieleki also gets Thunder Cage which is nice for chipping stuff and Magnet Rise, which is passable. That just sounds like good fun and pro-format premise. I can dig it. :)

I’m a bit more hesitant to free Terapagos. While its stats are Mew-like on paper, it also has the pseudo-Multiscale ability Tera Shell, which would make breaking Subs passed in front of it a nightmare, if at full health. However, Shellboy is likely locked into Heavy Duty Boots, lacks recovery, and you can just phaze or Curse it.

Now Dragonite exists, has comparable stats, Multiscale and recovery, but is far from a world ender. Dragonite also doesn’t get Stored Power, but I’m going to argue Clefable, Hatterene, Reuniclus, Malamar and even potentially Espeon are still better at being stat chain recipients. Unaware, Magic Bounce, Magic Guard and Suction Cups are all just really good, although in exchange you would get access to Body Press for Dark types.

Serperior

Serperior is my Public Enemy #1 right now. While U-Turn weak, the combination of its bulk and speed, Leaf Storm spam, Glare and Leech Seed is really hard to play around. Paraspam nets you a lot of free turns, and Serp is the best at spreading it.

It also has Taunt, Gastro Acid and Dragon Tail. It flips stat drops on their heads with Contrary. If you come in on Defog with it, you get an evasion boost, which is a horrible position to be pitted against…It’s just a lot.

I’m saving this game of Anchor’s here for all to see because it basically sums up my thoughts on Serp. Behold, Dengo the Serp “check.”

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9relayrace-2338313279-ckyl4fvh3ee4y1dirq7ow7sf9q5ollbpw

The Ogerpons

The two remainging Ogerpons (who should be assessed independently of one another BTW) have Wellspring’s excellent tool set, notably access to Focus Energy, but lack its superior typing, Water Cudgel, or Water Absorb, as blocking Flip Turn was a huge selling point of Wellspring. They also will not have access to Tera going forward for their respective auto-boosts.

We’ll watch them both, but I think these guys will be a better fit for the format.

Clefable and Stored Power

Clefable and Stored Power full chain teams have been falling off a bit in consistency since the ladder launched, so we’re dropping these from watch. I’ve gotten some objection for this. If you feel like speaking out, please do and I’ll consider putting them back.

Full chain builds are slow to acquire boosts, giving you time to break with HO, and otherwise susceptible to Haze, Infiltrator and Curse-mons that threaten Gholdengo. If even one Pokemon is KO’d, the whole team falls apart and struggles to recover. Kingambit feasts on such builds, and is very strong in this format, as is Whirlwind Ting-Lu.

Stored Power also just sort of flops around against Pressure stall, which can just Sub and Protect on these builds all day long.

While losing Tera is a mixed bag for full chain teams, Tera enabled Super STAB to break chains easily, Clefable will no longer be able to swap to Steel type on whim, making them susceptible to Toxic Spikes (Clef wants Unaware), and Malamar will be stuck with an atrocious 4x weakness to U-Turn.

Power Trip

Power Trip never has had results to show for its name itself to my knowledge, and was more of a package deal in principle with Stored Power. Unless someone can show me some strong results, off it goes!

Eject Button

Eject Button can be used to maintain momentum and stat boosts, while stopping U-Turn pivoting, which lets you prevent your opponent from shedding their stat drops and afflictions. This is all at the cost of an item slot and only works once per game. This is all very balanced in principle.
No Perish Song, no problem.

Belly Drum and Focus Energy

Belly Drum and Focus Energy are both great, but arguably healthy for the format, as we need offensive options to beat defensive boosting, lest the tier become a total stall-fest.

Counterplay has developed for these guys like Ability Shield Unaware and Double Def Dance Shield Armor Torterra. And priority, again, Kingambit is really good.

Excadrill losing Electric Tera makes it much more difficult for it to beat Corviknight and Dondozo. FE just lost its most splashable user in Ogerpon-WS.

I think these are fine. but I’ll leave them on watchlist for discussion now, I’m sure they’ll continue to be controversial for a while.

Pecharunt and Trevenant

Curse is controversial (I’m having TD flashbacks rn) but we aren’t watchlisting the move itself, because Curse is actually two moves, and it’s definitely not broken on something like Goodra-H.

Instead we will watch the best Ghost-Cursers Pecharunt and Trevenant. I think Curse is pretty balanced, the HP halving prevents it from being spamable, and again, it’s good counterplay to both Substitute and defensive boosting.

Shed Tail

Even in a meta where SubPassing is everywhere, Shed Tail is controversial for its ability to set Sub, shedding afflictions and grabbing momentum all at once. Please discuss more.
Rather than watching Cyclizar itself, both Standard play and OM precedent deem Shed Tail to be a broken element, and losing Cyclizar would be unfortunate collateral damage, as the tier is already hurting for hazard control.

Kingambit

The other peak mon we could watchlist is Kingambit who just wrecks chain teams and Unaware mons alike, but it may be more easier to contain now that it doesn’t won’t have Tera Dark super STAB.
I think he’s strong but important to have in the tier. Something needs to consistently beat Stored Power chain teams, Gholdengo and Clefable.

If you want to argue for or against anything on Watchlist, or to add anything to the list, dew it.

 

[sockperson]

Hi I've been playing the format a bit this month and it's been pretty fun. After the Dirge/Wellspring ban I made this team which I used to get to 1417 ELO #2 on ladder. It uses 2 Substitute users to facilitate switchin opportunities for the rest of the team and is able to deal with most team archetypes well.

Alomomola: Bulky pivot that can clear effects like Leech Seed/Curse and also still pass heals with Wish + Baton Pass.

Gliscor: Underrated pokemon, I don't really see many people use this much. It gets Substitutes up very easily and can stall Curse turns with Substitute + Protect.

Gholdengo: Max speed offensive set so it can speed tie with other Gholdengo who is very common in the format. Stops Curse and Parting Shot. Item can probably be whatever, something else like Air Balloon, Heavy-Duty Boots, Custap Berry is probably ok.

Pecharunt: Physical wall that can also stop slow Baton Pass chains with Curse. Fast spread to outspeed Gholdengo and hit it with Shadow Ball if it tries to stop Curse.

Serperior: This mon I think is a bit too strong especially after the Skeledirge ban. Has many great moves such as Leech Seed, Glare, and is naturally able to fit Substitute on its set. It can attack, get +2 SpA and then if some wall comes in you can switch out and pass a free Nasty Plot boost to something else.

Iron Valiant: Generic fast sweeper that can make use of passed SpA boosts. Vacuum Wave for strong priority if it is passed +2 or +4.

Update: got to #1 with an updated version of this team!

 

[Jrdyop]

While the tera ban does screw up this strategy a decent bit, as the featured mon here is a great abuser of it, I was kind of experimenting and found something, if not viable then at least funny.

!! Numel! :0

The Goodest Camel

By virtue of being the only mon with simple, it is the fastest way to get general stats in the entire format.
Your options for such are growth, curse, amnesia, and stockpile, while an amnesia curse set does sound like quite some fun, I’ll be focusing on the stockpile/growth angle.
Now there’s some issues with numel, as should be obvious. It’s a lil baby, it’s passive* (we’ll get to that part), gets put in its place by taunt, no recovery, etc. But it’s not as bad as it looks.
Numel has access to a couple key traits that actually make it kind of okay enough to sit through the burden of it being well… a numel. In particular…

Roar​

Roar is huge for the lil guy as it allows it to actually deal with opposing setup while accumulating its own stats.
In addition its defensive typing is actually pretty good, and when combined with eviolite and a ton of investment, it can tank some okay hits, obviously nothing huge or too set up, but the lil dude has surprised me with how well it can stomach moderate neutral hits.
In addition, it checks a few problem mons really well.
Namely,
Clefable is self explanatory, you outscale it so fast, resist its fairy stab, can roar it out if it starts to steamroll, and if you’re ahead of it you just switch in a stored power resistant sweeper and win the game. It’s by far numels best matchup and clef really can’t do anything against you, and I think completely exploiting the #1 boogeyman of the tier for free sweeps is a major accomplishment.
Gholdengo is in a similar vein though sometimes more dicey. You’re immune to its status, resist make it rain and dgleam, and if you have a stockpile, you can shrug off sball. It can be a little dicey if both are unboosted, but if you have a turn advantage, you win no questions asked unless a crit happens. Not to mention after a single boost, EP deletes it.
Now toxapex is one I had to engineer a bit for, but if you look at the spread that’s what it’s for. Normally this sort of teamstyle can thud into haze pex, but I’ve got the ingenious solution of: Numel ain’t no wuss
+4 60 SpA Numel Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 108 SpD Toxapex: 306-360 (100.9 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The Lil Guy’s Friends

Now comes the matter of how we get him to do the best he can. In particular one mon is absolutely amazing in facilitating the transfer of boosts to the rest of the team.

The most underrated mon in the tier

Fishe

This wish fish is the best friend a camel could ask for. In particular with baton pass. Not only can Alo comfortably switch into anything that would threaten numel, but baton pass gives you a slow pivot that easily enables you to bring in the little dude’s offensive partners while preserving their setup. The defensive typings also compliment eachother beautifully, so that one always can sponge for the other unless there’s a really strong grass move or something.

this one might seem like a stranger pick, but it works trust me, it’s essential

Fox

So, Ninetales is the thing that turns this from a gimmick to something with actual potential, as instead of just getting +2 in your offenses with growth, numel now hands you +4. Straight up. You only typically need one/two numel turns while sun is up and you’ve gathered an insane collection of boosts. In addition as to why I picked Ninetales over Torkoal is twofold. 1. Baton Pass and Agility, It’s good to gather intel, and you can often sneak in a speed boost to really get the ball rolling. 2. Offensive potential. This thing has stored power and sun boosted flamethrowers, which makes it already a good recipient for numel, and the passed bulk gives it enough breathing room to set up an agility, and shred with the nuclear psychic move. Of course, Ninetales ain’t the primary sweeper, just a secondary one to be used if the situation calls.

Mr. Cheese! Uh…. It’s gholdengo… On a boost stacking team… I wonder where I’ve seen that before…

monopoly money

Gholdengo is pretty self explanatory. Don’t wanna get phased? Don’t wanna deal with status? Don’t wanna uh…. Really have anything happen to you ever? Yeah this is the guy. He’s good. It particularly helps against stallier teams and phazing which are both sort of issues for this team.

the kil

the power within

If this thing wasn’t about a silly camel, this would be the true star of the show. Though it truly can be replaced with any stored power sweeper of your choosing, I’d bet even a power tripper would work, but the primary reason I picked this one is that it handily covers for the one stat that Numel does not provide. Speed. Regardless, the synergy here is insane. Stored power frequently hits the 200s in Base Power within just a couple turns of being set up, alongside a minimum of 3x SpAtk, and STAB? Not much tanks it outside of darks. Overall it’s just your main offensive centerpoint, and the primary vessel of Numel’s Blessing, do whatever works for you in this slot. I’ve been using Stomping Tantrum as coverage, it just generally hits hard, busts through steels, and is really good neutral coverage against everything that could switch into stored power. Plus you don’t have to predict their switchin. I’m running ice beam as well though for security against the Dark/Flyers and to help mitigate lando-t and salamence.

I don’t uh… actually know what to do with this slot. But he checks specs dengo and is speedy so yeh

the filler

I just needed a general glue for the team. He’s good at it. Hits hard, does knock off and actual physical damage which the rest of the team lacks. Hits fast. Can manual pivot to clear seeds and curses. And most importantly the typing is amazing defensively, I’m running a more utility boots set with roost to act as the spdef piece the teams been missing a little. Notably though, roaring moon’s excellent speed tier gives the team a second inheritor for the numel boost, as it greatly appreciates both the added bulk and damage outputMight swap him out though, possibly for Excadrill, but I’ll update the post if I finalize any changes.

The Crew

https://pokepast.es/8ba3b399678d1d9f

The overall gameplan is, get the sun up, put numel in against something that needs to setup to threaten it, get a couple turns of setup, roar, and then bring in your real threats.
W’s:
complete setup fodder
clefable but slightly more dangerous, still chilling though just don’t let it get too many boosts or else this is no longer a W
team is overall well equipped for it, numel helps a lot
numel kills this guy
pretty much any slow, passive pivot is prime prey for this team. get your timing right, play it patient, the reward will come
literally does nothing vs you if you don’t get caught royally off guard
you beat this guy too but he’s gone

L’s
tera dark clodsire is the bane of your existence. Try to force them to do anything else with their tera, likely with roaring moon. If not, knock it off, scald burn it, and get ready to play the long game with gholdengo. If it ain’t stockpile though you can 2hko it with tera fairy gleam.
she’s gone but man is she a tricky mu, one crit and things really start going downhill, manage your hp with moon and alo wisely, possibly even rip tera grass on alo if you need to
scary guys, they just generally match up well into you, try to play around with ghold, alo, and deo-s, but a lot of the time this thing will be able to pass really scary boosts to its team and you’ll just have to recooperate from there or try to build up your own, but they hurt way too much to challenge with numel.
:sv/-therian: just a really annoying mu, you have the tools for it and it’s not that bad, but just remember eq does a lot more than you’d think
can be scary because of the sun, and +2 Tera poltergeist doing a trillion damage, just don’t give it the speed boost and you should be aight

Note: If Curse and Leech Seed give you a lot of trouble, you can swap wish for Aqua Ring on mola
Note 2: With tera, you dont really fear inteleon like ever, just tera water the numel and start boosting. But without it that matchup is probably a lot scarier

 

[continuumg]

Why is No Retreat banned? You can't switch anyways, so it won't be passed.

 

[VannAccessible]

Why is No Retreat banned? You can't switch anyways, so it won't be passed.

Shed Shell and Ghost Tera. Smeargle + Baton Pass too.

Believe me, it would have been exploited to the fullest.

 

[Cuddly]

Ok so I kind of just realized that Volbeat might have a niche.
The main thing about Volbeat in this metagame is obviously passing Tail Glow. There are 3 Pokemon that even learn Tail Glow in the game, being Volbeat, Manaphy, and Smeargle.
Manaphy has the stats
Smeargle has the movepool
But Volbeat has Prankster
In addition to priority Tail Glow, you also get priority Roost, priority Taunt, priority Substitute, priority Thunder Wave, and priority Swagger.
If you’re looking for a fast way to boost SpA and Sub while also having to option to Taunt curses, leech seed, haze, opposing boosts, ect. on a Pokemon with priority healing, Volbeat is your guy.

 

[Sandwiches42]

Relay Race Viability Rankings
Here are the Initial Viability Rankings.
Enjoy!
(P.S. Skeledirge and Ogerpon-Wellspring are not on this list, as they have been banned, even though they are still available on ladder)
(P.P.S. Take this with a grain of salt, with how volatile this new meta has been)​

S+
Gholdengo

S
------------

S-
Hatterene
Corviknight
Trevenant
Pecharunt
Dragapult
Ogerpon-Cornerstone
Samurott-Hisui

A+
Serperior
Clefable
Alomomola
Cyclizar
Landorus-Therian
Kingambit
Ting-Lu
Excadrill
Toxapex
Zamazenta

A
Gliscor
Garganacl
Slowking-Galar
Darkrai
Ogerpon

A-
Heatran
Manaphy
Clodsire
Whimsicott
Roaring Moon
Kommo-o
Glimmora
Kyurem
Primarina
Iron Crown
Cinderace
Quaquaval

B+
Deoxys-Speed
Malamar
Brambleghast
Araquanid
Great Tusk
Espathra
Moltres-Galar
Haxorus
Zapdos-Galar
Dondozo
Salamence
Iron Moth
Weavile

B
Goodra-Hisui
Okidogi
Chandelure
Gallade
Tinkaton
Skarmory
Meowscarada
Latias
Latios
Ditto
Torterra
Iron Treads
Weezing-Galar
Ribombee

B-
Murkrow
Inteleon
Mimikyu
Iron Valiant
Tentacruel
Incineroar
Spidops
Moltres
Chesnaught

C+
Reuniclus
Muk-Alola
Veluza
Basculegion-F
Blissey
Garchomp
Dragonite
Porygon2
Ninetales

C
Raging Bolt
Grimmsnarl
Zapdos
Galvantula
Mudsdale
Noivern
Espeon

C-
Vileplume
Krookodile
Leavanny
Ninetales-Alola

 

[Jrdyop]

nooooo
no on the vr this is a travesty
Ima be real, I feel like it’s probably better or on par with zebstrika and the other C-s (except , that thing is too low probably, try sub on it)
but take my dumb words with a grain of salt
Just think the mon is real and has a niche

 

[VannAccessible]

Holy cow, that VR is huge. I absolutely love how diverse this format is. So much to experiment with. Everything is viable. Who had Gallade on their radar? STAB Sacred Sword is a GOATed move.

——————

Thanks to the whole council for collaborating on that, especially Anchor9 for kickstarting it and Sandwiches42 for arranging it in its current form.

Jrdyop and everyone please bear with us, we will continue to update it as things develop. Yes, the best way to get something in VR is to advocate for your mon and post some results. I do like that team btw, got any replays? I want to see Numel in action.

————-

I can also see use cases for and too, but I have no results to point to and they are all theoretical at this point. Maybe Tinted Lens Bug Buzz too? Anyone have anything to show on these guys?

Torn is a fast, bulky Regen Serp check that confuses stuff with its Flying STABs, and Taunts, passes RegenSubs, U-Turn pivots etc. Golurk can 100% confuse stuff with No Guard DPunch backed by STAB Poltergeist for Ghosts. The others can bypass Subs, which is an excellent trait in this meta.

———-


Let’s talk about freeing these two in a post-Tera environment. We’ve been discussing them a lot on Discord, if they would be broken, and what they would bring for the meta (hint: Spinners). I’d like to post a deeper dive on them here as food for discussion, and everyone else can pipe in if they want to add to it. Warning, long take incoming…

Terapagos

Council consensus on the turtle: It would be a very strong option in the format, both in mid and endgame roles. The ongoing debate is, would it be too strong?

Terapagos has got a lot of tools, and jack of all trades master of none Mew-like stat spread, but Mew does not have Multiscale. This would make it very hard to break Substitute passed to it, and thus, a very powerful option at accruing Calm Mind and speed boosts with Rapid Spin. You know how Quiver Dance is banned? This thing IS Quiver Dance, just spread across two moves, that also happen to remove hazards and Leech Seed.

Terapagos is balanced by it not having recovery or resists (besides Ghost), and being pretty much locked to HDB to consistently use its ability, and being vulnerable to Curse and phazing.

Now you can argue: is it actually vulnerable to Curse and phazing if it can pack Dark Pulse for the Ghosts and a decently fast Roar?

Well… yeah. Dark Pulse starts off pretty weak. It also has terrible 4mss, and it can only do so much on one set. I think the optimal spin set moves lock into Rapid Spin, Dark Pulse and Calm Mind to not get overwhelmed by Dengo, leaving you with a hard call between Tera Starstorm for STAB and any general offensive presence or Roar, to force Trev out from behind its Subs and otherwise avoid being too passive.

So maybe it’s a little unpredictable at preview, but its slow gameplay style and modest offensive stats gives you ample time to scout out what its set is. Clefable and Clodsire can totally sit on this thing all day. It sounds pretty manageable in practice. For all that bulk, it doesn’t have the space to run Substitute itself, and doing so would only break Tera Shell.

All in all, Dragonite has similar BST, Multiscale and Roost, and it is far from a world ender in this format.

Having cast all that doubt, here’s why I think you can argue why Terapagos would be a valuable tier inhabitant:

Gholdengo is the best mon in the format.

Dengo being good inherently makes hazard stack good (and it already is, by result).

Most spinners do not have the longevity to outlast Dengo, the exception being Cyclizar. Great Tusk and Donphan and Iron Treads threaten Dengo, but lose to it behind a sub and lose to it long term. They all also have to contend with Trevenant, who is very good as one of the tier’s 3 best Curse users.

Cyclizar needs Overheat/Temper Flare to force Dengo out, and might still lose to Flash Cannon or Make it Rain. (And many don’t have space for fire moves.)

Dengo blocks Defog and Mortal Spin. Glimmora can threaten back with Earth Power, but it can’t come in on Steel STABs.

Thus, the format effectively has little or no consistent hazard control.

Terapagos can force out Dengo from behind a sub, even if boosted, and that makes it very valuable.

I don’t think Terapagos makes full chain teams much better. Full chain teams would rather use Cyclizar as a spinner since it has Regenerator, and Clefable, Hatterene, Malamar and even Reuniclus are all arguably much better end of chain sweepers, as their abilities are simply better suited for this role. None of them have Body Press for Dark types though, so there is that…

Ultimately, the jury is still out. I don’t think this thing breaks chain teams, and it might help stall a bit, but stall is really weak in this format. I think it mostly makes balance better. It would pair well with Lando-T’s Intimidates and Sub/Wish Pass Alomo for a very sturdy balance core, adept at diffusing Curse and Leech Seed (both still controversial elements to some), keeping hazards away, accruing boosts, and getting in offensive threats. And balance being good indicates a healthy meta.

If we don’t vote to free it, the other option is we wait and see if Regieleki alone is good enough at containing Hazard Stack. If not, maybe we pursue action on Samurott-H eventually if hazards prove too OP.

Regieleki

Far less controversial mon.

The consensus of council seems to be Regieleki is probably fine without Ice Tera Blast. It does not get native coverage to hit Ground, Grass and Dragon types, and the tier is chock full of those, so you would not be pressed to go out of your way to cover Eleki. The selling point is Rapid Spid, but it also gets useful tools like Volt Switch, Agility, Thunder Cage for trap chipping and Magnet Rise, which is passable. That’s just pro-concept and sounds like fun. :)

Why it’s a valuable piece to the meta: It’s an offensive spinner that threatens all of Gholdengo, Samuott-H, and Glimmora, making it a great option against hazard stack, which is peak ladder rn.

It’s also immune to Glare, can spin/switch away Leech Seed, and helps outspeed and contain Serperior, who is quite annoying and questionably overtuned.

 

[Jrdyop]

Holy cow, that VR is huge. I absolutely love how diverse this format is. So much to experiment with. Everything is viable. Who had Gallade on their radar? STAB Sacred Sword is an GOATed move.

——————

Thanks to the whole council for collaborating on that, especially Anchor9 for kickstarting it and Sandwiches42 for arranging it in its current form.

Jrdyop and everyone please bear with us, we will continue to update it as things develop. Yes, the best way to get something in VR is to advocate for your mon and post some results. I do like that team btw, got any replays? I want to see Numel in action.

————-

I can also see use cases for and too, but I have no results to point to and they are all theoretical at this point. Maybe Tinted Lens Bug Buzz too? Anyone have anything to show on these guys?

Torn is a fast, bulky Regen Serp check that confuse stuff with its Flying STABs, and Taunt stuff, pass RegenSubs, U-Turn pivot etc, while Golurk can 100% confuse stuff with No Guard backed by STAB Poltergeist for Ghosts, while the others can bypass Subs, which is an excellent trait in this meta.

———-


Let’s talk about freeing these two in post-Tera environment. We’ve been discussing them a lot on Discord, if they would be broken, and what they would bring for the meta (hint: Spinners). I’d like to post my thoughts on them here as good food for discussion, and everyone else can pipe in if they want to add to it. Warning, long takes…

Terapagos

Consensus on the turtle: It would be a very strong option in the format, both in mid and endgame roles. The ongoing debate is, would it be too strong?

Terapagos has got a lot of tools, and jack of all trades master of none Mew-like stat spread, but Mew does not have Multiscale. This would make it very hard to break Substitute passed to it, and thus, a very powerful option at accruing Calm Mind and speed boosts with Rapid Spin. Terapagos is balanced by it not having recovery or resists (besides Ghost), and being pretty much locked to HDB to consistently use its ability, and being vulnerable to Curse and phazing.

Now you can argue: is it actually vulnerable to Curse and phazing if it can pack Dark Pulse for the Ghosts and a decently fast Roar?

Well… yeah. It also has terrible 4mss, and it can only do so much on one set. So maybe it’s unpredictable at preview, but its slow gameplay style and modest offensive stats gives you ample time to scout out what its set is.

All in all, Dragonite has similar BST, Multiscale and Roost, and it is far from a world ender in this format.

Having cast all that doubt, here’s I think you can argue why Terapagos is would be a strong, and valuable, tier inhabitant:

Dengo is the best Mon in the format.

Dengo being good inherently will make hazard stack good (and it already is, by result).
Great Tusk and Donphan and Iron Treads threaten Dengo, but lose to it behind a sub and lose to it long term.

Most spinners do not have the longevity to outlast Dengo, the exception being Cyclizar.
Cyclizar needs Flamethrower to force Dengo out, and might still lose to flash cannon or make it rain. (And many don’t have space for Flamethrower.)

Dengo blocks Defog and Mortal Spin. Glimmora can threaten back with Earth Power, but it can’t come in on Steel STABs.

Thus, the format effectively has little or no consistent hazard control.

Terapagos can force out Dengo from behind a sub, even if boosted, and that makes it very valuable.

I don’t think Terapagos makes stall or full chain teams much better? Full chain teams would rather use Cyclizar as a spinner since it has Regenerator, and Clefable, Hatterene, Malamar and even Reuniclus are all arguably much better end of chain sweeper, as their abilities are simply better suited for this role. None of them have Body Press for Dark types though, so there is that…

Ultimately, the jury is still out. I don’t think this thing breaks Stall or chain teams. I think it just makes balance better. It would pair well with Lando-T’s Intimidates and Sub/Wish Pass Alomo for a very sturdy balance core, adept at diffusing Curse and Leech Seed, keeping hazards away, accruing boosts, and getting in offensive threats. And balance being good indicates a healthy meta.

If we don’t vote to free it, the other option is we wait and see if Regieleki alone is good enough at containing Hazard Stack. If not, maybe we pursue action on Samurott-H eventually if it proves too OP.

Regieleki

The consensus of council seems to be Regieleki is probably fine without Ice Tera Blast. It does not get native coverage to hit Ground, Grass and Dragon types, and the tier is chalk full of those, so you would not be pressed to go out of your way to cover Eleki. The selling point is Rapid Spid, but it also gets useful tools like Volt Switch, Agility, Thunder Cage for trap chipping and Magnet Rise, which is passable. That’s just pro-concept and sounds like fun. :)

Why it’s a valuable piece to the meta: It’s an offensive spinner that threatens all of Gholdengo, Samuott-H, and Glimmora, making it a great option against hazard stack, which is peak ladder rn.

It’s also immune to Glare, spin/switch away Leech Seed, helping outspeed and contain Serperior, who is quite annoying and questionably overtuned.

Yeah no worries, I have a couple replays so far but they’re mostly just comedic ones, I’m going to actually try to do some serious ladder climbing with the team and get replays against competent opponents as I work out the final kinks in the team I’m using alongside it. I will make a post about that when the time comes, but from experience this team or some version of it definetly has the tools to work in the long run, it’s just a matter of time (which I’ve been a bit crunched on)
Sorry if it felt like I was criticizing or rushing you btw, this is a very good preliminary meta analysis and I was mostly joking around because of my silly little

For now though
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9relayrace-2339238049
Here’s one of the few sorta legit ones I have saved up

 

[VannAccessible]

It has happened.

!?!?!?!?!

 

[Turn Up]

My submission for on the VR, IMO probably a B rank mon

Very diverse mon with a lot of application, Regenerator is a no brainer top tier ability in this meta, and it's moveset is pretty insane, has both Curse and Nasty Plot for being a bulky setup pivot, Dragon Tail for resetting non Clefable set-up cores. My current heat tech is Red Card + Recycle on a defensive setup team, can force out basically any hit that isn't an ice type or crit Draco, and Regen/Recycle to do it over and over, and is a good answer to not getting reverse swept through psych-up.

Probably a lot

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9relayrace-2341032340

Have been climbing ladder with this team, got pretty high before i got a pretty bad rng loss streak but for the most part has not let me down

Really fun meta keep it up i'll probably be back vouching for some other mon

 

[Anchor9]

Hello everybody! Hope everyone is enjoying Relay Race as the metagame develops. I bring news from the council!

Relay Race Survey!

With tera gone, Relay Race has become less volatile. After the main broken mons such as Skeledirge and Ogerpon-W were removed, the metagame has been pretty stable. There is nothing clearly broken in the tier as of now, so the council has decided to create a survey to see what the playerbase thinks in order to determine the direction the tier should take!

Click HERE to respond to the survey.

Survey closes August 18 11:59 P.M. -5!

Sample Team Submissions Open!

With the bans being implemented, now is a good time to open sample team submissions. If you want to submit a sample team, post one here or in the Discord with some explanations! We'll probably close this and decide on the teams in a week or so.

 

[VannAccessible]

Watchlist update!

These two moves have been removed from Watchlist, reflecting both council opinion and the survey questions. If you still have concerns about them, you are welcome to write on them either here or in the survey comments.

Moves

• Focus Energy
• Shed Tail

Reasoning:

Focus Energy

Focus Energy is a strong but healthy presence for the meta, as it offers offensive counterplay to debuffing, defensive boosting and Unaware. Focus Energy still has counterplay on the defensive end due to Shell Armor mons like Goodra-Hisui and Torterra being options, as well as phazing, Curse and Leech Seed. It also has offensive checks such as Sticky Web and priority moves.

Banning Focus Energy would only serve to make defense too strong and tip the meta towards Stall dominance. Offsetting this, Focus Energy did just lose its most splashable user in Ogerpon-Wellspring, who was overwhelming for other reasons, while the other Ogers remain on watch.

Shed Tail

Shed Tail is a strong option on Cyclizar, useful for shedding debuffs, Curse and seeds, while also passing a Sub and grabbing momentum. However, this is balanced by the fact that the move does not pass boosts either, and is otherwise stopped by Taunt.

 

[Cuddly]

Braviary-Hisui (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tinted Lens
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Esper Wing
- Roost
- Stored Power
- Hurricane/U-turn
One thing I’m surprised to see is no one really talking about Braviary-H.
Why?
Well Braviary-H has some great qualities.
Firstly Braviary-H has the signature move, Esper Wing. Not only is it decently strong, not only does it increase your Speed like Aqua Step, but to top everything off it has a High Critical hit chance too. Esper Wing is one of the few High Crit chance special attacks in the game. Get a Focus Energy and Esper Wing always crits.
Second is Stored Power + Tinted Lens. In conjunction with Esper Wing giving +1 Speed, Stored Power + Tinted Lens is even harder to wall since Steel and Psychic are not an issue. The opponent has to have some really solid raw SpD or Dark type to stop either move, which it has powerful Hurricanes for. Additionally Tinted Lens means Braviary can deal tons of damage to Gholdengo with either Esper Wing or Hurricane.
Third is Roost. Health is a pretty important aspect with passing boosts. Fainting means you lose everything and most timers are now health drain based.
Fourth is that it really dunks of the 2 best Curse users with its STABs in Pecharunt and Trevenant.

 

[Anchor9]

Relay Race Tour!

Hello everyone! I'm hosting a Relay Race kickoff tour to help metagame development! Anyone who wants to play are invited to join!

Tournament Thread 'Relay Race Kickoff No Johns (Won by VannAccessible)'

Apr 13, 2025

Relay Race Kickoff Tour!

Hosted by Anchor9. Approved by OM Moderators​

Hello everyone! I hope you’ve had fun with Relay Race! Welcome to the Relay Race Kickoff! The metagame is still early in development and I’m excited to see how players will innovate! This tournament will be single elimination best of three no johns. What does no johns mean? It means rounds will go by quicker than usual and that there will be no extensions. All replays must be posted to the thread for a win to count. The length of each round will be determined by signups...

• Anchor9
• Replies: 14
• Forum: OM Archive

• 
• 

 

[Papry]

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psych Up
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Stored Power
I had fun with this Clefable set, it can punish some teams very well with Psych Up to steal their boost and explode them with Stored Power

 

[VannAccessible]

Sample Teams are Posted!

The good folks on Showdown chat were asking for Sample Teams, so we decided to compile the teams posted here and open it up a little early.

If you want to dip your toes into the ladder if you aren’t sure what to build yet, these should get you going.

Thanks to everyone who contributed. Keep them coming!