Metagame USUM Pure Hackmons

[sussyamongusdrip]

Personal VR Post-HPL II
like i said in my semis winpost (where i won using imo the best usum team i built this tour, https://pokepast.es/fd56631229247192) vrs hella outdated due to the phpl meta shift towards almost exclusively offense/ho/some bo teams. hpl has shown that this meta is relatively stable even though there is definitely still some development to be made, especially in the cleaners that people are picking-i think setup multihit/pbond users, mguard sweepers, and naturally fast non-scarfers are all underused. im intending for this to be used as a source of opinions for a potential future vr update, still its def based a lot on my own personal perception of the meta. mons are ordered within tiers, wg vr is not separate and factored into main rankings
S RANK
S
Blissey
S-
Chansey
A RANK
A+
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Slaking
Aerodactyl-Mega
Gengar-Mega
Regigigas
Kartana
Mewtwo-Mega-X
A
Yveltal
Arceus
Groudon-Primal
Pheromosa
A-
Audino-Mega
Deoxys-Speed
Zeraora
Lunala
Zygarde-Complete
Gyarados-Mega
Meloetta ( Oranguru)
Muk-Alola
B Rank

B+
Diancie-Mega
Celesteela
Rayquaza-Mega
Deoxys-Attack
Slowbro-Mega
Scizor-Mega
Giratina-Origin
Doublade
Kyogre-Primal
Houndoom-Mega
Marowak-Alola
Alakazam-Mega
Lopunny-Mega
Ferrothorn
B
Solgaleo ( Necrozma-Dusk-Mane)
Ash-Greninja
Kyurem-White
Ho-oh
Sableye-Mega
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Aggron-Mega ( Steelix Mega)
Heatran
Hoopa-Unbound
Swampert-Mega
Kyurem-Black
Sceptile-Mega
Registeel
Metagross-Mega
B-
Articuno
Banette-Mega
Guzzlord
Type: Null
Necrozma-Ultra

Barely viable nonsense

Bisharp
Heracross-Mega
Weavile
Excadrill
Pidgeot-Mega
Pikachu
Zekrom
Giratina
Landorus-Therian
Reshiram
Aegislash-Blade
Umbreon
Lugia
Regice

in hindsight i probably should have added a c rank just like how in hindsight building mmx spam in hpl 1 would have annihilated the entire meta

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

YOOOOO MAERO ON A+

as you might not know usually one liners is banned because if the thread is fulfilled with one liners it will become harder to find useful informations. i can understand that you want to reply to those post but cant come up with a informative long answer, in such situation we usually comment in discord

 

[hello1433]

hi, as you are being honest, I'm gonna be honest too. So this team is not good, and the sets on their own on the last 3 mons are very bad. I will recommend you to play gen 6 pure hackmons as beedrill is really a big thing there, but in gen 7 its mostly outclassed by pheromosa as a no guard uturn user, and huge power mbee can potientially be sth but still its not really good. I can build you a team with mbeedrill that can beat the ladder tho if you want.
https://pokepast.es/d1183dd7bd95678d
so sth like this can beat the ladder.
modified from https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ng-positive-innards-out-hazard-stack.3757712/

thanks this is the new team https://pokepast.es/b25d9a000a3ea9fa for gen7 ph

 

[Child of Night]

Stall building guide​

---

Introduction​

Hello, I like Stall. I have been playing and making stall teams for PH USUM for about a year now, but it has sadly grown stagnant. This is why I want to make this guide: to help newer players make their own creative teams. Diversity is a strength, and as such, having more players play the archetype will surely push it forward to even greater heights than it is currently.

(I categorize Stall as a team that mainly does damage passively and shall treat Semi-Stall as normal Stall.)

---

Generally, you can start building a team with any mon, but I think it is good to start with arguably the most important part of a stall team; the Wonder Guards (WG for short). Basically, every stall team should have at least two Wonder Gurads that are NOT weak to the ground or ice type so they can block the moves Sheer Cold and Fissure, which are really common. Having only 1 is not enough due to users of said moves commonly having ways of removing your ability, so you should have at least 2 that you can switch around with. Also, since you are playing Stall, you can have 3 or 4 Defensive WGs, but that's kind of pushing it. The sweet spot is usually 2 so you can fill your other 4 Pokémon slots with more diverse abilities.

Commonly used defensive WG pokemon

Audino-Mega -Immune to Moongeist Beam and only weak to Steel and Poison. Usually used to wall special attackers, as it is not common for them to run Steel or Poison moves, with the exception of Mega Gengar, who sometimes uses it. To stop setup sweepers, it usually runs a recovery move, Spectral Thief, and then two supporting moves of your choice, like Heal Bell, Defog, or Stealth Rocks.

Ho-Oh -Extremely bulky special wall that resists Steel, making it capable of walling certain physical threats, but not most. It absolutely needs Magic Bounce as support for it due to its 4X weakness to stealth rocks, and defog on another WG is also ideal. Commonly uses Spectral Thief and Sacred Fire. Safety Goggles are usually its item.

Gyarados-Mega - Mega Gyarados resists every single Moldy move and is decently specially bulky, but it is weak to a lot of common coverage moves, like Fighting, Bug, Fairy, Grass, and Electric. With so many weaknesses, it is not commonly used on Stall but can sometimes work. Usually used to wall Special attackers, and it has a wide array of abilities it can use, such as Spectral Thief, Knock Off, Pursuit, and others.

Meloetta - Works pretty much the same as Mega Audino, but it is weak to Dark and Bug type, while also being much more vulnerable on the physical side, making it a bit worse at doing its job of walling Special threats.

Muk-Alola - Very good special wall that is only weak to ground, which means it is weak to Fissure. Because of this, it is usually used in teams with 3 WGs so the other two can wall Fissure users. Sometimes it runs Air Balloon as its item, but only on teams that really dislike dealing with No Guard. Usually runs Spectral Thief, Knock Off, Pursuit.

Slowbro-Mega -The bulkiest Physical wall in the gen 7. It is weak to Bug, Dark, Electric, Ghost, Grass though which makes it a bit hard to wall certain mons. Loves to run WIll O Wisp + Whirlwind, Scald, and sometimes Spectral Thief.

Oranguru - Same as Meloetta.

Celesteela - Steel type Physical wall that isn't weak to Fighting or Ground, and is not 4x weak to Fire, which can come in handy sometimes. Usually runs WIll O Wisp + Whirlwind.

Ferrothorn - Similar to Celesteela, but it is weak to Fighting and 4x weak to Fire in exchange for being immune to Spore. Runs similar sets to Celesteela.

Scizor-Mega - Similar to Celesteela, but it is 4x weak to Fire while not being weak to Electric. Runs similar sets to Celesteela as well as U turn.

Swampert-Mega - Physical Wall that is only weak to Grass and only resists Sunsteel Strike, making it a subpar Physical Wall. Usually runs Spectral Thief or WIll O Wisp + Whirlwind.

Kyogre-Primal - Similar bulk to Ho-Oh, but it is not weak to Rock. In exchange, it is weak to Grass and only has Water stab, which makes it worse against Kartana. Usually runs Spectral Thief and Steam Eruption or Scald

Sableye-Mega - For the most part, walls Pokemon that cannot hit it due to its unique typing, but it should only be run in 3 WG cores where the other two can actually wall Special and Physical attackers. Mostly runs supporting moves like Hazards, Heal Bell, and so on.

Honorary Sturdy mentions

Heatran - General Wall, but is not that bulky (usually used to stop Huge Power Kartana). Usually runs Lava Plume.

Doublade - Extremely bulky Physical Wall that uses Eviolite and usually runs Will O Wisp + Spectral Thief

You can, of course, use other Pokémon outside of this list, but there is a reason they are the most commonly used. Firstly, all of them are not weak to ground or ice moves (Except the Sturdy Pokemon, but they are an exception). Secondly, all of them have a great bulk. They can take hits from strong Pokémon and live. Third, most of them either resist or are immune to (or are bulky enough to take on) the 3 most used moves in the format: Moongiest Beam, Sunsteel Strike, and Photon Geyser, which all have the secondary effect of ignoring abilities, which means WG will not stop them.

WGs usually work in cores, where 1 is a physical wall and the other is a special wall, but this isn't always necessary, as you can have 1 of them be for utility instead, for example.

After choosing your 2 WGs, you will have to choose their item and moves. Defensive WGs basically only run 2 items, Safety Goggles and Shed Shell. Spore is a huge threat, so Safety Goggles are basically a must-have item on at least 1 Pokémon, usually on Special Walls. Shed Shell is used to counter trapping moves and abilities that can be deadly to passive Pokémon.

Onto which moves you should use, there is a lot to consider, but I have made a list of moves that are commonly used on passive WGs.

Commonly used moves on defensive WG pokemon

(Any self-healing move, such as Recover) - Basically, every WG (and realistically EVERY Pokemon on your team) should have a way to reliably heal themselves.

Defog - You should have at least 1 WG with this move to remove hazards

Aromatherapy/Heal Bell - Highly recommend having on at least 1 WG to remove harmful Status conditions

Stealth Rocks, Spikes and Toxic Spikes - Used to punish switching

U-Turn/Baton Pass/Parting Shot - Used to pivot around your Pokémon

Toxic - Used to deal passive damage

Will-O-Wisp - Used to deal passive damage and cripple Physical attackers, but only has an 85% hit chance

Spectral Thief - Used to stop Setup Sweepers, but is unreliable against other WGs

Roar - Used for stopping Setup Sweepers and phasing out Pokemon, but is ineffective against Ingrain and Magic Bounce

Haze - Used to stop Setup Sweepers, but is a bit unreliable

Lava Plume/Scald - Both have a 30% chance to burn the opponent and they deal damage

Sacred Fire - 50% chance to burn the opponent and does direct damage

Knock Off - Item removal and it deals damage

Examples of WG/Sturdy sets

Audino-Mega (F) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Soft-Boiled
- Aromatherapy
- Spectral Thief
- Defog

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Magic Coat

Ho-Oh @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shore Up
- Sacred Fire
- U-turn
- Spectral Thief

Celesteela @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roar
- Shore Up
- Will-O-Wisp

Muk-Alola @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Aromatherapy
- Shore Up
- Knock Off

Heatran @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Recover
- King's Shield
- Defog

Slowbro-Mega @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roar
- Shore Up
- Will-O-Wisp

Meloetta @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Defog
- Spikes
- Soft-Boiled

Sableye-Mega @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Shore Up
- Magic Coat
- Parting Shot

Sableye-Mega @ Flame Orb
Ability: Wonder Guard
Level: 1
Hardy Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 1 Spe
- Psycho Shift
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Curse

Despite the name "Passive WG", you really shouldn't just let your opponent keep hitting you unless you are trying to waste their PP. Because of this, on at least 1 of your Special and Physical wall WGs, you should have at least 1 way of stopping Setup Sweepers (Pokémon that use Setup moves such as Shell Smash).

---

Although WG Pokémon are very important, you will probably want other abilities on your team as well. On Stall, the three most popular abilities to use other than WG are Magic Bounce, Prankster, Fur Coat, and Imposter.

Magic Bounce (MB for short) - One of the best abilities to use on Stall and against Stall. Passive damage is actually a big problem for Stall, but MB can help a lot against it as it bounces back a lot of Status moves. Similarly, since Stalls' primary way of dealing damage is Passive damage, MB can also be extremely difficult to deal with, so bring some ways of dealing with it. Magic Bounce can also be a great way to Imposter Proof your Pokémon.

Prankster (Prank for short) - Also a very good ability to use on stall, it is used to stop Setup Sweepers by using (priority) Haze.

Fur Coat - A pretty good way of stopping big Physical Threats. They usually run sets that are identical to Passive WGs but should always use moves that can stop Setup Sweepers.

Imposter (Imp for short) - Almost exclusively used by Chansey and Blissey. "As soon as the user comes into battle, it transforms into its opponent. Broadly, the target's appearance (including form), types, Ability, stats, and moves are copied; the user retains its HP and level." Chansey and Blissey are considered by many to be the best Pokémon in the format due to this Ability (alongside Innards Out). If you can fit it, I highly recommend having one Imposter Pokémon on your team as it can basically perform any role you give it, and is the best Pokémon for scouting the opponents' sets. Common items used on it are Shed Shell, Choice Scarf and Safety Goggles. Imposter is also a big threat to Stall so be sure to Imposter Proof (Improof for short) your own team. This can be quite hard for newer players to do, so don't be afraid to ask for help from others. I won't get too into it here but the gist is that you should have an answer to every Pokémon on your team.

Improof example

https://pokepast.es/c4c7d83b7deb1ee9

You can see here that Imposter basically can't do anything (except with ,Chansey but it isn't too big of a deal). You can see if it turns into any Pokémon on my team, I can just switch around my team to not let it do anything. For example, if it turns into Celesteela, I can just switch between Zygarde and Ho-Oh since both of them are immune to Will O Wisp, making Imposter at most a waste of time and not at all a threat. You don't have to go this far with your improofing, but it is nice to have in longer games. Just make sure you don't struggle to much into it and you should be fine.

Commonly used Magic Bounce Pokemon

Zygarde-Complete - General Wall (most used MB Pokemon)

Steelix-Mega - Physical Wall

Aggron-Mega - Physical Wall


(Honorary mentions)

Ferrothorn - Mostly a Physical Wall

Heatran - General Wall

Commonly used Prankster Pokemon

Zygarde-Complete - General Wall (most used Prankster Pokemon)

Slowbro-Mega - Physical Wall

Ho-Oh - Special Wall

Lugia - Physical Wall

Ferrothorn - Mostly a Physical Wall

(Honorary mentions)

Kyogre-Primal - Special Wall

Blissey - Special Wall

Commonly used Prankster sets

Zygarde-Complete @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Thousand Waves
- Heal Order
- Reflect

Lugia @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Order
- Reflect
- Baton Pass
- Haze

Steelix-Mega @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Shore Up
- Reflect
- Thousand Waves

Commonly used Fur Coat set

Slowbro-Mega @ Shed Shell
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roar
- Shore Up
- Will-O-Wisp

Magic Bounce Pokémon can use a wide variety of moves to great success, but they usually run moves similar to Passive WGs. It is also common to use trapping moves such as Anchor Shot or Thousand Waves to trap and kill Imposter Pokémon. There really isn't a "common" MB set, but generally, it should be able to heal and somehow do passive damage to opponents.

---

After adding at least 2 WGs, an MBer, an Imp, and Prank Pokemon, you will likely have 1 or 2 slots left to fill. Here, you can get really creative and put basically whatever you want on your team.

Commonly used Filler Abilities

Shadow Tag (Stag for short)

Innards Out

Harvest

Now, you may think that is a small number of abilities to choose from, which, to be fair, it is, but all of them have a wide variety and roles that can be used.

Shadow Tag Pokémon are commonly used to trap threats to your team, like passive WGs who can get rid of your hazards or cure status, or just generally offensively threatening Pokémon.

Commonly used Shadow Tag sets

Lugia @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Perish Song
- King's Shield
- Encore
- Shore Up


Groudon-Primal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Trick
- Thousand Arrows
- V-Create
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom

Innards Out can be really nice to have on a team, as it is basically a get-out-of-jail-free card that you can use almost whenever. If the opponent has a Pokémon that is hard for you to deal with, just sacrifice Innards Out Chansey to it. There are some ways of countering Innards Out Chansey, like Magic Guard Pursuit, so watch out for stuff like that.

Commonly used Innards Out sets

Chansey @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Trick
- Taunt
- Baton Pass
- Shore Up

Harvest is a pretty unique ability that is almost exclusively used with the item Leppa Berry and CFZ (Crystal Free Z-Move)s. It can be a bit difficult to Imposter Proof these sets so be careful. Besides that, they can be extremely powerful sweepers that are very hard to stop for certain teams.

Commonly used Harvest sets

Slaking @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Recover
- Substitute
- Extreme Evoboost
- Searing Sunraze Smash


Giratina-Origin @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom
- Clangorous Soulblaze
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Extreme Evoboost


Dialga @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Searing Sunraze Smash
- Substitute
- Clangorous Soulblaze
- Recover

---

Besides all of what I have mentioned so far, you can use basically anything else, this is just what is commonly used. Go wild. But, to help you, I want to talk a little more about the threats you will be facing.

Specific threats to Stall

I have already mentioned No Guard (NG for short) + OHKO (One Hit KO) move sets, but I will clarify a bit more about how they work. The best NG sets will have ways to punish WGs like Sing, Gastro Acid, and Stealth Rocks, which can be very annoying to face against. I don't really have more tips to face these, so good luck.

Common NG sets

Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Stealth Rock
- Sing
- Gastro Acid

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fissure
- Zap Cannon
- Photon Geyser

The other biggest threat to Stall is Huge Power (HP for short) Pokémon. Mainly Kartana and Mewtwo-Mega-X (MMX for short). These sets can cleanly OHKO even some of the bulkiest Pokémon in just one hit after using a boosting move. It is very hard to deal with them because if they have the right coverage moves, they can always beat you. This is why having 2 or more Physical Walls on your team is crucial, just make sure they don't share type weaknesses. Huge Power sets come in a huge (pun intended) variety, so I will just put like, three of them as an example, as there are truly too varied to realistically display.

Common HP sets

Slaking @ Lum Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Extreme Evoboost
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- V-Create
- Photon Geyser

Groudon-Primal @ Focus Sash
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Thousand Arrows
- Ice Shard

Even though Harvest is commonly used on Stall, it is at the same time one of the hardest things for Stall to deal with. There is basically no way to chip it down if they have a recovery move, no way to PP stall it as they have infinite PP and so on. Sadly, the best way of dealing with them is to use Innards Out Chansey or Blissey. You can try to poison them with Toxic and delay their progress with Phazing moves such as Roar, but if they have countermeasures to these, there is basically nothing you can do to stop Harvest Pokémon from destroying your team. Refer to earlier Harvest section for common Harvest sets.

(I will lump offensive Magic Guard and WG Pokémon in here since they are both pretty easy to play against if you are prepared, they can be quite tricky if you are not. Have some way to hit Magic Guard Pokemon with direct damage and WG Pokemon with Status, or just phaze them out.)

Another very big threat to Stall is something that every threat so far commonly uses, which is CFZ moves. Moves with such high base power that also ignore abilities can be hellish to play around, and you will often have to sacrifice less Important Pokémon to stop threats that use CFZ. For clarity, Light That Burns the Sky (LTBtS for short), Searing Sunraze Smash (SSS for short), and Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom (MMM for short) are the CFZ that ignore abilities. CFZ are one of the main reasons to have Ghost and Psychic immune Pokémon on your team, as even if you resist these moves, they will often times still deal huge amounts of damage. CFZ can be used on basically any Pokémon, so be sure to scout your opponents' sets whenever possible, preferably with Imposter.

This may sound a bit silly, but Normalize Gengar can be a threat to Stall. Common ways of dealing with it are Trick and MB.

Basically the only Normalize Gengar set

Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Normalize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Entrainment
- Judgment
- Moongeist Beam
- Shell Smash

Lastly, I would like to mention that Offensive threats are far from the only ones you should worry about. Other Stall can be a very tough matchup if you are not prepared, and Balance as well, to a lesser extent. Stall is a numbers game, and you should always have more than your opponent and find ways to spend fewer resources than them at any given moment. PP stalling is a legitimate strategy I have had to use in MANY games, and you may be forced to do so as well, so play smart and use your resources when needed. Using things like Status and Hazards is a great way of slowly chipping away at your opponent, but it is also very useful against Stall, so be prepared.

Anyway, there are, of course, other threats that I failed to mention, but USUM PH just has so many that I don't think I could ever list them all.

---

Before getting to the end of this post, I just wanted to mention a huge part of team building that I cannot help you with. Playtesting is extremely important, and in my eyes, without it, a team is considered bad. Pay attention in your games and see where your team is struggling, and try to find ways to fix flaws in your team, rewatch your matches if you have to.

---

Alright, well, that's basically it. I will leave you with some of my own Stall teams here and some replays with them, but the rest is up to you. I hope to see more Stall on Ladder in the future!

https://pokepast.es/d42f8cac6ba3229a - Big Bird Stall
https://pokepast.es/c4c7d83b7deb1ee9 - The first Ho-Oh Stall team (Fav)
https://pokepast.es/c41e223c12e69b23 - Big Bird Stall 2
(I may be a bit biased towards Ho-Oh)

---

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2446141622-nmt9ps72qii9w62njuxpw97ywdf0cjcpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2443443343-h6bh7fdojcu59cwbb5jn1ipi06jt0xspw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2301275538-uvkr7u4iso2air8v6hsv01k7p61v7w6pw
(I am the person using Stall in these replays, just on alts)

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

Stall building guide​

---

Introduction​

Hello, I like Stall. I have been playing and making stall teams for PH USUM for about a year now, but it has sadly grown stagnant. This is why I want to make this guide: to help newer players make their own creative teams. Diversity is a strength, and as such, having more players play the archetype will surely push it forward to even greater heights than it is currently.

(I categorize Stall as a team that mainly does damage passively and shall treat Semi-Stall as normal Stall.)

---

Generally, you can start building a team with any mon, but I think it is good to start with arguably the most important part of a stall team; the Wonder Guards (WG for short). Basically, every stall team should have at least two Wonder Gurads that are NOT weak to the ground or ice type so they can block the moves Sheer Cold and Fissure, which are really common. Having only 1 is not enough due to users of said moves commonly having ways of removing your ability, so you should have at least 2 that you can switch around with. Also, since you are playing Stall, you can have 3 or 4 Defensive WGs, but that's kind of pushing it. The sweet spot is usually 2 so you can fill your other 4 Pokémon slots with more diverse abilities.

Commonly used defensive WG pokemon

Audino-Mega - Usually used for either utility or walling special threats

Ho-Oh - Special Wall

Gyarados-Mega - Resists every Moldy Move but is weak to a lot of common coverage

Meloetta - Special Wall but is weak to some coverage

Muk-Alola - Special wall that is weak to ground

Slowbro-Mega - Extremely bulky Physical Wall

Oranguru - Same as Meloetta

Celesteela - Physical Wall

Ferrothorn - Physical Wall immune to Spore

Scizor-Mega - Physical Wall

Swampert-Mega - Physical Wall

Kyogre-Primal - Special Wall

Sableye-Mega - Walls Pokémon with only Photon Geyser as their Moldy Move

Honorary Sturdy mentions

Heatran - General Wall but is not that bulky (usually used to stop Kartana)

Doublade - Extremely bulky Physical Wall that uses Eviolite

You can, of course, use other Pokémon outside of this list, but there is a reason they are the most commonly used. Firstly, all of them are not weak to ground or ice moves (Except the Sturdy Pokemon, but they are an exception). Secondly, all of them have great bulk. They can take hits from strong Pokémon and live. Third, most of them either resist or are immune to (or are bulky enough to take on) the 3 most used moves in the format: Moongiest Beam, Sunsteel Strike and Photon Geyser, which all have the secondary effect of ignoring abilities, which means WG will not stop them.

WGs usually work in cores, where 1 is a physical wall and the other is a special wall, but this isn't always necessary, as you can have 1 of them be for utility instead, for example.

After choosing your 2 WGs, you will have to choose their item and moves. Defensive WGs basically only run 2 items, Safety Goggles and Shed Shell. Spore is a huge threat, so Safety Goggles are basically a must-have item on at least 1 Pokémon, usually on Special Walls. Shed Shell is used to counter trapping moves and abilities that can be deadly to passive Pokémon.

Onto which moves you should use, there is a lot to consider, but I have made a list of moves that are commonly used on passive WGs.

Commonly used moves on defensive WG pokemon

(Any self-healing move, such as Recover) - Basically every WG (and realistically EVERY Pokemon on your team) should have a way to reliably heal themselves.

Defog - You should have at least 1 WG with this move to remove hazards

Aromatherapy/Heal Bell - Highly recommend having on at least 1 WG to remove harmful Status conditions

Stealth Rocks, Spikes and Toxic Spikes - Used to punish switching

U-Turn/Baton Pass/Parting Shot - Used to pivot around your Pokémon

Toxic - Used to deal passive damage

Will-O-Wisp - Used to deal passive damage and cripple Physical attackers, but only has an 85% hit chance

Spectral Thief - Used to stop Setup Sweepers, but is unreliable against other WGs

Roar - Used for stopping Setup Sweepers and phasing out Pokemon, but is ineffective against Ingrain and Magic Bounce

Haze - Used to stop Setup Sweepers, but is a bit unreliable

Lava Plume/Scald - Both have a 30% chance to burn the opponent and they deal damage

Sacred Fire - 50% chance to burn the opponent and does direct damage

Knock Off - Item removal and it deals damage

Examples of WG/Sturdy sets

Audino-Mega (F) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Soft-Boiled
- Aromatherapy
- Spectral Thief
- Defog

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Magic Coat

Ho-Oh @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shore Up
- Sacred Fire
- U-turn
- Spectral Thief

Celesteela @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roar
- Shore Up
- Will-O-Wisp

Muk-Alola @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Aromatherapy
- Shore Up
- Knock Off

Heatran @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Recover
- King's Shield
- Defog

Slowbro-Mega @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roar
- Shore Up
- Will-O-Wisp

Meloetta @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Defog
- Spikes
- Soft-Boiled

Sableye-Mega @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Shore Up
- Magic Coat
- Parting Shot

Sableye-Mega @ Flame Orb
Ability: Wonder Guard
Level: 1
Hardy Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 1 Spe
- Psycho Shift
- Substitute
- Pain Split
- Curse

Despite the name "Passive WG", you really shouldn't just let your opponent keep hitting you unless you are trying to waste their PP. Because of this, on at least 1 of your Special and Physical wall WGs, you should have at least 1 way of stopping Setup Sweepers (Pokémon that use Setup moves such as Shell Smash).

---

Although WG Pokémon are very important, you will probably want other abilities on your team as well. On Stall, the three most popular abilities to use other than WG are Magic Bounce, Prankster, Fur Coat, and Imposter.

Magic Bounce (MB for short) - One of the best abilities to use on Stall and against Stall. Passive damage is actually a big problem for Stall, but MB can help a lot against it as it bounces back a lot of Status moves. Similarly, since Stalls' primary way of dealing damage is Passive damage, MB can also be extremely difficult to deal with, so bring some ways of dealing with it. Magic Bounce can also be a great way to Imposter Proof your Pokémon.

Prankster (Prank for short) - Also a very good ability to use on stall, it is used to stop Setup Sweepers by using (priority) Haze.

Fur Coat - A pretty good way of stopping big Physical Threats. They usually run sets that are identical to Passive WGs but should always use moves that can stop Setup Sweepers.

Imposter (Imp for short) - Almost exclusively used by Chansey and Blissey. "As soon as the user comes into battle, it transforms into its opponent. Broadly, the target's appearance (including form), types, Ability, stats, and moves are copied; the user retains its HP and level." Chansey and Blissey are considered by many to be the best Pokémon in the format due to this Ability (alongside Innards Out). If you can fit it, I highly recommend having one Imposter Pokémon on your team as it can basically perform any role you give it, and is the best Pokémon for scouting the opponents' sets. Common items used on it are Shed Shell, Choice Scarf and Safety Goggles. Imposter is also a big threat to Stall so be sure to Imposter Proof your own team. This can be quite hard for newer players to do, so don't be afraid to ask for help from others. Imposter Proofing is very complicated, so I sadly won't be explaining it here.

Commonly used Magic Bounce Pokemon

Zygarde-Complete - General Wall (most used MB Pokemon)

Steelix-Mega - Physical Wall

Aggron-Mega - Physical Wall


(Honorary mentions)

Ferrothorn - Mostly a Physical Wall

Heatran - General Wall

Commonly used Prankster Pokemon

Zygarde-Complete - General Wall (most used Prankster Pokemon)

Slowbro-Mega - Physical Wall

Ho-Oh - Special Wall

Lugia - Physical Wall

Ferrothorn - Mostly a Physical Wall

(Honorary mentions)

Kyogre-Primal - Special Wall

Blissey - Special Wall

Commonly used Prankster sets

Zygarde-Complete @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Thousand Waves
- Heal Order
- Reflect

Lugia @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Order
- Reflect
- Baton Pass
- Haze

Steelix-Mega @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Shore Up
- Reflect
- Thousand Waves

Commonly used Fur Coat set

Slowbro-Mega @ Shed Shell
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roar
- Shore Up
- Will-O-Wisp

Magic Bounce Pokémon can use a wide variety of moves to great success, but they usually run moves similar to Passive WGs. It is also common to use trapping moves such as Anchor Shot or Thousand Waves to trap and kill Imposter Pokémon. There really isn't a "common" MB set, but generally, it should be able to heal and somehow do passive damage to opponents.

---

After adding at least 2 WGs, an MBer, an Imp, and Prank Pokemon, you will likely have 1 or 2 slots left to fill. Here, you can get really creative and put basically whatever you want on your team.

Commonly used Filler Abilities

Shadow Tag (Stag for short)

Innards Out

Harvest

Now, you may think that is a small number of abilities to choose from, which, to be fair, it is, but all of them have a wide variety and roles that can be used.

Shadow Tag Pokémon are commonly used to trap threats to your team, like passive WGs who can get rid of your hazards or cure status, or just generally offensively threatening Pokémon.

Commonly used Shadow Tag sets

Lugia @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Perish Song
- King's Shield
- Encore
- Shore Up


Groudon-Primal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Trick
- Thousand Arrows
- V-Create
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom

Innards Out can be really nice to have on a team, as it is basically a get-out-of-jail-free card that you can use almost whenever. If the opponent has a Pokémon that is hard for you to deal with, just sacrifice Innards Out Chansey to it. There are some ways of countering Innards Out Chansey, like Magic Guard Pursuit, so watch out for stuff like that.

Commonly used Innards Out sets

Chansey @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Trick
- Taunt
- Baton Pass
- Shore Up

Harvest is a pretty unique ability that is almost exclusively used with the item Leppa Berry and CFZ (Crystal Free Z-Move)s. It can be a bit difficult to Imposter Proof these sets so be careful. Besides that, they can be extremely powerful sweepers that are very hard to stop for certain teams.

Commonly used Harvest sets

Slaking @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Recover
- Substitute
- Extreme Evoboost
- Searing Sunraze Smash


Giratina-Origin @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom
- Clangorous Soulblaze
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Extreme Evoboost


Dialga @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Searing Sunraze Smash
- Substitute
- Clangorous Soulblaze
- Recover

---

Besides all of what I have mentioned so far, you can use basically anything else, this is just what is commonly used. Go wild. But, to help you, I want to talk a little more about the threats you will be facing.

Specific threats to Stall

I have already mentioned No Guard (NG for short) + OHKO (One Hit KO) move sets, but I will clarify a bit more about how they work. The best NG sets will have ways to punish WGs like Sing, Gastro Acid, and Stealth Rocks, which can be very annoying to face against. I don't really have more tips to face these, so good luck.

Common NG sets

Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Stealth Rock
- Sing
- Gastro Acid

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fissure
- Zap Cannon
- Photon Geyser

The other biggest threat to Stall is Huge Power (HP for short) Pokémon. Mainly Kartana and Mewtwo-Mega-X (MMX for short). These sets can cleanly OHKO even some of the bulkiest Pokémon in just one hit after using a boosting move. It is very hard to deal with them because if they have the right coverage moves, they can always beat you. This is why having 2 or more Physical Walls on your team is crucial, just make sure they don't share type weaknesses. Huge Power sets come in a huge (pun intended) variety, so I will just put like, three of them as an example, as there are truly too varied to realistically display.

Common HP sets

Slaking @ Lum Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Extreme Evoboost
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- V-Create
- Photon Geyser

Groudon-Primal @ Focus Sash
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Thousand Arrows
- Ice Shard

Even though Harvest is commonly used on Stall, it is at the same time one of the hardest things for Stall to deal with. There is basically no way to chip it down if they have a recovery move, no way to PP stall it as they have infinite PP and so on. Sadly, the best way of dealing with them is to use Innards Out Chansey or Blissey. You can try to poison them with Toxic and delay their progress with Phazing moves such as Roar, but if they have countermeasures to these, there is basically nothing you can do to stop Harvest Pokémon from destroying your team. Refer to earlier Harvest section for common Harvest sets.

(I will lump offensive Magic Guard and WG Pokémon in here since they are both pretty easy to play against if you are prepared, they can be quite tricky if you are not. Have some way to hit Magic Guard Pokemon with direct damage and WG Pokemon with Status, or just phaze them out.)

Another very big threat to Stall is something that every threat so far commonly uses, which is CFZ moves. Moves with such high base power that also ignore abilities can be hellish to play around, and you will often have to sacrifice less Important Pokémon to stop threats that use CFZ. For clarity, Light That Burns the Sky (LTBtS for short), Searing Sunraze Smash (SSS for short), and Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom (MMM for short) are the CFZ that ignore abilities. CFZ are one of the main reasons to have Ghost and Psychic immune Pokémon on your team, as even if you resist these moves, they will often times still deal huge amounts of damage. CFZ can be used on basically any Pokémon, so be sure to scout your opponents' sets whenever possible, preferably with Imposter.

This may sound a bit silly, but Normalize Gengar can be a threat to Stall. Common ways of dealing with it are Trick and MB.

Basically the only Normalize Gengar set

Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Normalize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Entrainment
- Judgment
- Moongeist Beam
- Shell Smash

Lastly, I would like to mention that Offensive threats are far from the only ones you should worry about. Other Stall can be a very tough matchup if you are not prepared, and Balance as well, to a lesser extent. Stall is a numbers game, and you should always have more than your opponent and find ways to spend fewer resources than them at any given moment. PP stalling is a legitimate strategy I have had to use in MANY games, and you may be forced to do so as well, so play smart and use your resources when needed. Using things like Status and Hazards is a great way of slowly chipping away at your opponent, but it is also very useful against Stall, so be prepared.

Anyway, there are, of course, other threats that I failed to mention, but USUM PH just has so many that I don't think I could ever list them all.

---

Before getting to the end of this post, I just wanted to mention a huge part of team building that I cannot help you with. Playtesting is extremely important, and in my eyes, without it, a team is considered bad. Pay attention in your games and see where your team is struggling, and try to find ways to fix flaws in your team, rewatch your matches if you have to.

---

Alright, well, that's basically it. I will leave you with some of my own Stall teams here and some replays with them, but the rest is up to you. I hope to see more Stall on Ladder in the future!

https://pokepast.es/d42f8cac6ba3229a - Big Bird Stall
https://pokepast.es/c4c7d83b7deb1ee9 - The first Ho-Oh Stall team (Fav)
https://pokepast.es/c41e223c12e69b23 - Big Bird Stall 2
(I may be a bit biased towards Ho-Oh)

---

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2446141622-nmt9ps72qii9w62njuxpw97ywdf0cjcpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2443443343-h6bh7fdojcu59cwbb5jn1ipi06jt0xspw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2301275538-uvkr7u4iso2air8v6hsv01k7p61v7w6pw
(I am the person using Stall in these replays, just on alts)

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2446141622-nmt9ps72qii9w62njuxpw97ywdf0cjcpw
Look Familiar?

Scenes like these are happening all over the ladder, right now!‍

You could be next.

That is unless you make the most important decision of your life.(*snap*)

Prove to yourself that you have the strength and the courage to win.

Join...the wall breakers.

Become part of an elite peacekeeping force.

See exotic new sets.

And spread Managed Democracy througout the ladder.

Become a hero.

Become a legend.

BECOME A WALLBREAKER.

learn more:

Metagame Post in thread 'USUM Pure Hackmons'

Aug 5, 2025

HOW TO DO OFFENSIVE WALL BREAKING
progress:80%/100%​

Ever been trolled on ladder? Or just want to stop being annoyed by your friends? The Stall archetype has been playing these roles for years. Today, I will explain how to beat viable Pure Hackmons stall teams. But first, we must discuss the fundamentals of Beating PH stall teams, such as:

1. You will need to generally need a mon without a hard check to win. because else they can literally stall you out. Soft checks could be fine as long as you have ways to chip them down.
2. The stall team usually...

• AnsonIsTheBest

• 
• 

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

Post hpl VR with sets​

Pokemon will be ranked in descending order; there is no divide in viability inbetween ranks. There is no differentiation in offensive and defensive Pokemon.

Metagame Definer tier

Chansey (Impostor)

S tier

Chansey(Innards Out)

Blissey (Impostor)

S- tier

Blissey (Innards Out)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Huge Power)

Slaking(Huge Power)

Regigigas(Huge Power)

A+ tier

Mewtwo-mega-y(Innards Out)

Mewtwo-mega-y(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Mewtwo-mega-y(No guard)

Zygarde-Complete(Prankster)

Zygarde-Complete(Arena Trap/Shadow Tag)

Gengar-Mega(Parental Bond)

Slowbro-Mega(Wonder Guard)

Slowbro-Mega(Fur Coat)

Slowbro-Mega(Prankster)

Steelix-Mega(Prankster)

Groudon-Primal(Huge Power)

Groudon-Primal(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Mewtwo-Mega-X(Shadow Tag)

A tier

Audino-Mega(Wonder Guard)

Meloetta(Wonder Guard)

Deoxys-Attack(Huge Power)

Deoxys-Attack(Psychic Surge)

Mewtwo-Mega-y(Psychic Surge)

Mewtwo-Mega-y(Protean)

Gyarados-Mega(Wonder Guard)

Gyarados-Mega(Magic Guard)

Greninja-Ash(Wonder Guard)

Greninja-Ash(No Guard)

Kartana(Wonder Guard)

A- tier

Gyarados-Mega(Magic Bounce)

Deoxys-Attack(Protean)

Muk-Alola(Wonder Guard)

Kartana(Huge Power)

Gengar-Mega(No Guard)

B+ tier

Gyarados-Mega(Prankster)

Lunala(innards Out)

Mewtwo-Mega-Y(Comatose)

Yveltal(Magic Guard)

Yveltal(Magic Bounce)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Pheromosa(No Guard)

Pheromosa(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Arceus(Wonder Guard)

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane(Huge Power)

Deoxys-Speed (No Guard)

B tier

Deoxys-Attack(Magic Guard)

Necrozma-Dawn-Wings (Wonder Guard)

Groudon-Primal(Mold Breaker)

Kyogre-Primal(Wonder Guard)

Gengar-Mega(Magic Guard)

B- Tier

Gyarados-Mega(Huge Power)

Marowak-Alola-totem(Huge Power)

Kyogre-Primal(Posion Heal)

Gyarados-Mega(Posion Heal)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Magic Guard)

Lunala(No guard)

Kartana(Magic Guard)

Mewtwo-mega-x(No Guard)

Deoxys-Attack(No Guard)

C+ tier

Mewtwo-mega-y(Huge Power)

Rayquaza-Mega(Aerilate)

Necrozma-Dawn-Wings (No Guard)

Necrozma-Dawn-Wings (Magic Guard)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Wonder Guard)

C tier

Kartana(No Guard)

Gengar-Mega(Queens Majesty/Dazzling)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Innards Out)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Physics Surge)

Mewtwo-mega-x(Harvest)

Zygarde-Complete(Fur Coat)

Deoxys-Speed (Mold Breaker)

Deoxys-Attack(Mold Breaker)

C- Tier

Rayquaza-Mega(Triage)

Lunala(Magic Guard)

Kartana(Magic Bounce)

F Tier

Shedinja(sturdy)

Entei(Wonder Guard)



N/A Tier(N/A stands for No Aura)

Non totem Marowak-Alola

Completely No Aura compared to Marowak-Alola-Totem

Note for myself:

Solgaleo(Huge Power)

Solgaleo(No Guard)

Solgaleo(Innards Out)

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane (Huge Power)

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane (No Guard)

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane (Magic Guard)

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane (Harvest)

Zygarde-Complete(Magic Bounce)

Gengar-Mega(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Mewtwo-Mega-Y(Wonder Guard)

Mewtwo-Mega-Y(Magic Guard)

Groudon-Primal(Magic Guard)

Groudon-Primal(No Guard)

Groudon-Primal(Wonder Guard)

Rayquaza-Mega(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Rayquaza-Mega(Magic Guard)

Rayquaza-Mega(No Guard)

Gyarados-Mega(No Guard)

Gyarados-Mega(Arena Trap/Shadow Tag)

Yveltal (Huge Power)

Yveltal (Posion Heal)

Yveltal (No Guard)

Yveltal (Arena Trap/Shadow Tag)

Greninja-Ash (Magic Guard)

Greninja-Ash (Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)

Greninja-Ash(Huge Power)

Slaking(Harvest)

Slaking(Wonder Guard)

Regigigas(Harvest)

Regigigas(Wonder Guard)

Giratina-Origin (Innards Out)

Giratina (Innards Out)

Giratina (Magic Bounce)

Giratina (Prankster)

Giratina (No Guard)

aerodactyl-Mega (No Guard)

Aerodactyl-Mega (Shadow tag/Arena Trap)

Diancie-Mega (Pixilate)

Diancie-Mega (No guard)

Diancie-Mega (Magic Guard)

Diancie-Mega (Harvest)

Diancie-Mega (Shadow tag/ Arena Trap)

General VR without sets:
(disclaimer: this have no help in your team building and im writing this only because I want to waste my time)

fraud is those you should not consider while teambuilding but better look out for if they appear in your opponments team. Blacklist is basically useless mons that smh appears often

 

[splodge]

Post HPL II VR​

View attachment 774286View attachment 774287

(with abilities (possibly with sets in the future) AND overall!)
(technically my 6th new project while I have 5 unfinished)


Pokemon will be ranked in descending order; there is no divide in viability inbetween ranks. There is no differentiation in offensive and defensive Pokemon.

With sets:
Metagame Definer tier
Chansey (Impostor)

S tier
Chansey(Innards Out)
Blissey (Impostor)

S- tier
Blissey (Innards Out)
Mewtwo-mega-x(Huge Power)
Slaking(Huge Power)
Regigigas(Huge Power)

A+ tier
Mewtwo-mega-y(Innards Out)
Mewtwo-mega-y(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)
Mewtwo-mega-y(No guard)
Zygarde-Complete(Prankster)
Zygarde-Complete(Arena Trap)
Gengar-Mega(Parental Bond)
Slowbro-Mega(Wonder Guard)
Slowbro-Mega(Fur Coat)
Slowbro-Mega(Prankster)
Steelix-Mega(Prankster)
Groudon-Primal(Huge Power)
Groudon-Primal(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)
Mewtwo-Mega-X(Shadow Tag)

A tier
Audino-Mega(Wonder Guard)
Meloetta(Wonder Guard)
Deoxys-Attack(Huge Power)
Deoxys-Attack(Psychic Surge)
Mewtwo-Mega-y(Psychic Surge)
Mewtwo-Mega-y(Protean)
Gyarados-Mega(Wonder Guard)
Gyarados-Mega(Magic Guard)
Greninja-Ash(Wonder Guard)
Greninja-Ash(No Guard)

A- tier
Gyarados-Mega(Magic Bounce)
Deoxys-Attack(Protean)
Muk-Alola(Wonder Guard)

B+ tier
Gyarados-Mega(Prankster)
Lunala(innards Out)
Yveltal(Magic Guard)
Yveltal(Magic Bounce)
Pheromosa(No Guard)
Pheromosa(Shadow Tag/Arena Trap)
Arceus(Wonder Guard)
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane(Huge Power)

B tier
Greninja-Ash(Huge Power)

B- Tier
Gyarados-Mega(Huge Power)
Marowak-Alola-totem(Huge Power)

C+ tier
Mewtwo-mega-y(Huge Power)

C tier

C- Tier

D Tier

F Tier
Shedinja(sturdy)
Entei(Wonder Guard)

N/A Tier(N/A stands for No Aura)

Non totem Marowak-Alola

Completely No Aura compared to Marowak-Alola-Totem

I would like to know what voices in your head made you forget to rank Kartana.

I would also like to show that Lunala is a pretty diverse mon and should have more sets listed and stop this post being a one-liner. (ok this is more of a crackhead lunala sets showcase than a personal vr nom but whatever)


Lunala @ Lunalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Tail Glow
- Moongeist Beam
- Photon Geyser
- Light That Burns The Sky

My personal favourite set. After a Tail Glow, this nukes almost everything in the tier barring Alolan Raticate and specially defensive Pranksters with Stealth Rock up. The reason I use this over NFW (Necrozma-Fraud-Wings) is so it isn't dead weight into offense, as it outspeeds MMY (and some other mons) with Sticky Web up, while NFW doesn't. The extra bulk is also nice. Psychic/Ghost is also a pretty nice offensive type into offensive mons, so you don't always need to set up (but unfortunately, even with rocks up it doesn't always OHKO MMY without the Z-move (252+ SpA Adaptability Lunala Moongeist Beam vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 348-412 (83.6 - 99%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock).


Lunala @ Lunalium Z
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- Photon Geyser
- Light That Burns the Sky

Similar to the set above, except with Shell Smash so it isn't reliant on Sticky Web to outspeed things. This set runs Tinted Lens over Adaptability as not running Tail Glow makes it not OHKO as many resisted mons even with Z-moves, but unfortunately it no longer OHKOs as many neutral hits without a Z-move, like Not-a-fraudino (I already know that the people will disagree with me) and Arceus.


Darktrix's favourite set (Lunala) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Haze
- Roost
- Reflect
- U-turn

Inspired by Yourself, this is a much different set, being defensive over offensive like the others. This set takes advantage of Lunala's resistance to Photon Geyser, immunity to Normal and Fighting moves, and overall solid bulk on both sides. It works as a decent soft check to MMX not running coverage for it (252+ Atk Huge Power Mewtwo-Mega-X Sunsteel Strike vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Lunala through Reflect: 136-160 (28.4 - 33.4%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO) and Slaking. Unfortunately it is 4x weak to Moongeist and Dark moves, which does limit its capability as a wall.


Lunala @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Extreme Evoboost
- Moongeist Beam
- Roost
- Destiny Bond

I've saved the weirdest (and sheistest) for last. This does seem like a very weird set at first, but there is some reasoning to it. With Prankster, it can click Evoboost before getting attacked, and Calm nature allows for calcs like 252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Mewtwo-Mega-Y Moongeist Beam vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ SpD Lunala: 365-437 (76.3 - 91.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Even without +SpA, +2 Moongeist still OHKOs most offensive mons. Roost is for longevity, and I chose Destiny Bond over coverage so it can always trade with an offensive mon it can't beat, instead of only chipping certain targets.

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

I would like to know what voices in your head made you forget to rank Kartana.

I would also like to show that Lunala is a pretty diverse mon and should have more sets listed and stop this post being a one-liner. (ok this is more of a crackhead lunala sets showcase than a personal vr nom but whatever)


Lunala @ Lunalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Tail Glow
- Moongeist Beam
- Photon Geyser
- Light That Burns The Sky

My personal favourite set. After a Tail Glow, this nukes almost everything in the tier barring Alolan Raticate and specially defensive Pranksters with Stealth Rock up. The reason I use this over NFW (Necrozma-Fraud-Wings) is so it isn't dead weight into offense, as it outspeeds MMY (and some other mons) with Sticky Web up, while NFW doesn't. The extra bulk is also nice. Psychic/Ghost is also a pretty nice offensive type into offensive mons, so you don't always need to set up (but unfortunately, even with rocks up it doesn't always OHKO MMY without the Z-move (252+ SpA Adaptability Lunala Moongeist Beam vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 348-412 (83.6 - 99%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock).


Lunala @ Lunalium Z
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- Photon Geyser
- Light That Burns the Sky

Similar to the set above, except with Shell Smash so it isn't reliant on Sticky Web to outspeed things. This set runs Tinted Lens over Adaptability as not running Tail Glow makes it not OHKO as many resisted mons even with Z-moves, but unfortunately it no longer OHKOs as many neutral hits without a Z-move, like Not-a-fraudino (I already know that the people will disagree with me) and Arceus.


Darktrix's favourite set (Lunala) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Haze
- Roost
- Reflect
- U-turn

Inspired by Yourself, this is a much different set, being defensive over offensive like the others. This set takes advantage of Lunala's resistance to Photon Geyser, immunity to Normal and Fighting moves, and overall solid bulk on both sides. It works as a decent soft check to MMX not running coverage for it (252+ Atk Huge Power Mewtwo-Mega-X Sunsteel Strike vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Lunala through Reflect: 136-160 (28.4 - 33.4%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO) and Slaking. Unfortunately it is 4x weak to Moongeist and Dark moves, which does limit its capability as a wall.


Lunala @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Extreme Evoboost
- Moongeist Beam
- Roost
- Destiny Bond

I've saved the weirdest (and sheistest) for last. This does seem like a very weird set at first, but there is some reasoning to it. With Prankster, it can click Evoboost before getting attacked, and Calm nature allows for calcs like 252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Mewtwo-Mega-Y Moongeist Beam vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ SpD Lunala: 365-437 (76.3 - 91.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Even without +SpA, +2 Moongeist still OHKOs most offensive mons. Roost is for longevity, and I chose Destiny Bond over coverage so it can always trade with an offensive mon it can't beat, instead of only chipping certain targets.

I would like to know what voices in your head made you forget to list no guard luna there.
Lunala @ Lunalium Z / Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moongeist Beam
- Fissure / Sheer Cold
- Photon Geyser / Light that burns the sky
- Shell Smash

No more suffer from yveltal and alola muk
pretty self explained set



Also I did not forget kartana I just havent decided where should the sets go yet

 

[PenultimateToast]

hi, it's ptoast. haven't seen much meta discussion lately (tho with hpl ending recently i'm expecting a bit more) so i'm here to talk about pbond sweepers, as i really only see pbond on scarfers nowadays and i think pbond sweepers have a decent amount of potential right now.


Diancie-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Moongeist Beam
- Moonblast
i love this guy. sunsteel geist fairy coverage so you're really only walled by wg arc/slak and kyogre/ho-oh, pbond to ignore sashes, and you can take prio if needed due to your typing. broken as fuck mon go use her


Gengar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- misc coverage 1
- misc coverage 2
easier to wall but in return you don't have to worry about espeed even if you're on sash, and you're easier to proof. don't like this guy as much as pbond diancie cause of how easy it is to wall (most geist walls will end up walling him) but he isn't bad in my opinion either. go use him he's cool

i feel like there's other unexplored options out there, though i haven't messed around with them at all so i can't say for sure.

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

hi, it's ptoast. haven't seen much meta discussion lately (tho with hpl ending recently i'm expecting a bit more) so i'm here to talk about pbond sweepers, as i really only see pbond on scarfers nowadays and i think pbond sweepers have a decent amount of potential right now.


Diancie-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Moongeist Beam
- Moonblast
i love this guy. sunsteel geist fairy coverage so you're really only walled by wg arc/slak and kyogre/ho-oh, pbond to ignore sashes, and you can take prio if needed due to your typing. broken as fuck mon go use her


Gengar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- misc coverage 1
- misc coverage 2
easier to wall but in return you don't have to worry about espeed even if you're on sash, and you're easier to proof. don't like this guy as much as pbond diancie cause of how easy it is to wall (most geist walls will end up walling him) but he isn't bad in my opinion either. go use him he's cool

i feel like there's other unexplored options out there, though i haven't messed around with them at all so i can't say for sure.

the biggest problem for such nukes are that they are hard to proof, especially when they are a sweeper which means having not a self proof is bad, and relying on innards to improof is not a good idea

 

[LemonLime78]

hi, it's ptoast. haven't seen much meta discussion lately (tho with hpl ending recently i'm expecting a bit more) so i'm here to talk about pbond sweepers, as i really only see pbond on scarfers nowadays and i think pbond sweepers have a decent amount of potential right now.


Diancie-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Moongeist Beam
- Moonblast
i love this guy. sunsteel geist fairy coverage so you're really only walled by wg arc/slak and kyogre/ho-oh, pbond to ignore sashes, and you can take prio if needed due to your typing. broken as fuck mon go use her


Gengar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- misc coverage 1
- misc coverage 2
easier to wall but in return you don't have to worry about espeed even if you're on sash, and you're easier to proof. don't like this guy as much as pbond diancie cause of how easy it is to wall (most geist walls will end up walling him) but he isn't bad in my opinion either. go use him he's cool

i feel like there's other unexplored options out there, though i haven't messed around with them at all so i can't say for sure.

Pbond mgar mentioned


Gengar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moongeist Beam
- Sludge Wave / Bug Buzz
- Aura Sphere
- Shell Smash

This is the set I generally like to run as it's pretty much unwallable except by either meloetta or maud of your choice (or normal/flying but no one uses that), although that does make it more obvious which move you're running on preview. I think pbond mgar has especially great synergy with pursuit mg to remove hazards and innards. Overall, mgar can be an extremely potent endgame sweeper if it's allowed to set up once its checks are removed.

 

[GhastlyPixie]

Pix’s guide to building:
I am mainly making this post as I am bored and want to involve myself more in the USUM community. My tour teams were mostly successful (my USUM PH teams) with only two losses that I can remember and I’ve had decent success with various teams I’ve built on ladder currently sitting at 1607 (top 25).

HYPER OFFENSE GUIDE
I built a decent amount of HO teams and my advice on building HO is for one, always have at least 1 innards or imposter user, both of these options will help into any opposing structure, imposter is especially great because on HO teams you are already claiming kills with a lot of your mons so you can usually clear improofs and maybe even sweep with your opponents breakers. You also want to make sure you have outs into setup, otherwise you’ll find yourself losing to evoboost sets like harvest. Spectral thief is always good and can be easily slotted on mons like MMX and Kartana. You also want to make sure that your team is cohesive and works well together as well as fitting anti offense, one of my regular picks for this is scarf pbond users like MMX, MMY and MGAR.
I also generally try to use some offensive wg as an improof to certain mons or in a pinch will proof with innards.

I’ll post some examples of HO teams below:
https://pokepast.es/158aa83aef07530d
Edited version of the finals team that lost, I feel like with Slaking it is less fishy and the MGAR proof was fraudulent anyway. This team has worked decently for me tho I haven’t saved any replays.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2456866822-3dsbgs6m2h3vlkpxnlsaywc5cbb99x9pw?p2

https://pokepast.es/171db1b7cd371951
This team worked beautifully in Aidan’s tour match despite not being the up to date version.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7purehackmons-870948
https://pokepast.es/04ecaba66a3b933c

This team really focuses on wearing down teams with double imp and can cheese wins with scarf pbond mgar, bounce is here as a soft check to ng leads (assuming they aren’t fissure) as well as hazard/spore leads.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7purehackmons-869036

https://pokepast.es/a25e15ddc9ade077

This team ultimately lost in tour and I could definitely optimize this a lot more but the phero + illusion mmy + harvest yvel and having stag in the back is an amazing combo that has definitely won me games.

https://pokepast.es/e0316d0cf4cba499

This team is a favorite of mine tho it does struggle into scarf pbond mgar.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2425209086-6363vivx7xlbgvrar3dqjcocrqmmxawpw

https://pokepast.es/2c6e22262a9a74f5

I don’t have any replays of this team as far as I know but innards spam is always simple enough and illusion cheese works well to secure wins.


Bulky Offense Guide:
For Bulky Offense you want bulkier mons who can still secure kills while not dying to a breeze, I make use of mons like pdon and msciz a decent bit for these teams, you also still want to have outs into setup and note that even the bulkiest of teams can’t always take HP LTBTS very well so you have to play around HP MMX very well still. Just generally make sure you have outs into offense as well as not losing to stall too hard.

https://pokepast.es/8ca35680e9193ac6

This team is a bit stupid but I’ve had decent enough success with it.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2452803942-2ubkupib3isvnox3pbg46uu6mtvvmblpw

Original iteration beat Lycanroc.

https://pokepast.es/c7a436956969d109

Team is old af but still holds up well.

https://pokepast.es/2cc0bb3a1e6d9040

Team has been successful for me on ladder.

https://pokepast.es/3672ff5d6f4c21cb

One of my favorite teams ever, has proven valiant for me on ladder and in tour.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7purehackmons-864032

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2453122193-br3n44fqlpb2a577044iwr0e12mbrmjpw

That is all I have for now, feel free to use this post to cteam me in PHPL.

 

[ZeldaFan1]

Pix’s guide to building:
I am mainly making this post as I am bored and want to involve myself more in the USUM community. My tour teams were mostly successful (my USUM PH teams) with only two losses that I can remember and I’ve had decent success with various teams I’ve built on ladder currently sitting at 1607 (top 25).

HYPER OFFENSE GUIDE
I built a decent amount of HO teams and my advice on building HO is for one, always have at least 1 innards or imposter user, both of these options will help into any opposing structure, imposter is especially great because on HO teams you are already claiming kills with a lot of your mons so you can usually clear improofs and maybe even sweep with your opponents breakers. You also want to make sure you have outs into setup, otherwise you’ll find yourself losing to evoboost sets like harvest. Spectral thief is always good and can be easily slotted on mons like MMX and Kartana. You also want to make sure that your team is cohesive and works well together as well as fitting anti offense, one of my regular picks for this is scarf pbond users like MMX, MMY and MGAR.
I also generally try to use some offensive wg as an improof to certain mons or in a pinch will proof with innards.

I’ll post some examples of HO teams below:
https://pokepast.es/158aa83aef07530d
Edited version of the finals team that lost, I feel like with Slaking it is less fishy and the MGAR proof was fraudulent anyway. This team has worked decently for me tho I haven’t saved any replays.


https://pokepast.es/171db1b7cd371951
This team worked beautifully in Aidan’s tour match despite not being the up to date version.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7purehackmons-870948
https://pokepast.es/04ecaba66a3b933c

This team really focuses on wearing down teams with double imp and can cheese wins with scarf pbond mgar, bounce is here as a soft check to ng leads (assuming they aren’t fissure) as well as hazard/spore leads.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7purehackmons-869036

https://pokepast.es/a25e15ddc9ade077

This team ultimately lost in tour and I could definitely optimize this a lot more but the phero + illusion mmy + harvest yvel and having stag in the back is an amazing combo that has definitely won me games.

https://pokepast.es/e0316d0cf4cba499

This team is a favorite of mine tho it does struggle into scarf pbond mgar.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2425209086-6363vivx7xlbgvrar3dqjcocrqmmxawpw

https://pokepast.es/2c6e22262a9a74f5

I don’t have any replays of this team as far as I know but innards spam is always simple enough and illusion cheese works well to secure wins.


Bulky Offense Guide:
For Bulky Offense you want bulkier mons who can still secure kills while not dying to a breeze, I make use of mons like pdon and msciz a decent bit for these teams, you also still want to have outs into setup and note that even the bulkiest of teams can’t always take HP LTBTS very well so you have to play around HP MMX very well still. Just generally make sure you have outs into offense as well as not losing to stall too hard.

https://pokepast.es/8ca35680e9193ac6

This team is a bit stupid but I’ve had decent enough success with it.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2452803942-2ubkupib3isvnox3pbg46uu6mtvvmblpw

Original iteration beat Lycanroc.

https://pokepast.es/c7a436956969d109

Team is old af but still holds up well.

https://pokepast.es/2cc0bb3a1e6d9040

Team has been successful for me on ladder.

https://pokepast.es/3672ff5d6f4c21cb

One of my favorite teams ever, has proven valiant for me on ladder and in tour.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7purehackmons-864032

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2453122193-br3n44fqlpb2a577044iwr0e12mbrmjpw

That is all I have for now, feel free to use this post to cteam me in PHPL.

Very cool guide, I especially like the replays provided.

However...

I have to ask: What is the point of the Reshiram on the final team in the post? Like why is it here over something like a Steelix or Aggron or Zygarde or something? Magma Storm is inconstant, and it seems the main mon to hit with it would be Kartana, because the Scizor is improofed. But, if Kart is the threat to check with it, then why not Aggron? It is more specially bulky I guess, but with no resistance to Moongeist or Photon and only 100 120 SpD it is not bulky enough to compensate. And Aggron clearly beats it on the physical defense side. In terms of typing, Fire Dragon is only better then pure Steel in not being weak to Fighting and Fire, but in exchange it is weak to Stealth Rock, still weak to Ground, and without the Toxic Immunity and resistance to Psychic that a pure Steel type gives. The only reason I could ever see to run it is to Improof the PDon, but is that PDon set really worth running a generally garbage Mon to Improof it? Also, I like the replays, but they are not doing Reshiram any favors. In both replays, Reshiram just kinda dies without doing anything. I just don't see Reshiram being able to justify a team slot, and I don't see the PDon set being good enough to justify needing to run a generally trash Mon to Improof it.

...Yeah, I don't like Reshiram.

 

[GhastlyPixie]

Very cool guide, I especially like the replays provided.

However...

I have to ask: What is the point of the Reshiram on the final team in the post? Like why is it here over something like a Steelix or Aggron or Zygarde or something? Magma Storm is inconstant, and it seems the main mon to hit with it would be Kartana, because the Scizor is improofed. But, if Kart is the threat to check with it, then why not Aggron? It is more specially bulky I guess, but with no resistance to Moongeist or Photon and only 100 120 SpD it is not bulky enough to compensate. And Aggron clearly beats it on the physical defense side. In terms of typing, Fire Dragon is only better then pure Steel in not being weak to Fighting and Fire, but in exchange it is weak to Stealth Rock, still weak to Ground, and without the Toxic Immunity and resistance to Psychic that a pure Steel type gives. The only reason I could ever see to run it is to Improof the PDon, but is that PDon set really worth running a generally garbage Mon to Improof it? Also, I like the replays, but they are not doing Reshiram any favors. In both replays, Reshiram just kinda dies without doing anything. I just don't see Reshiram being able to justify a team slot, and I don't see the PDon set being good enough to justify needing to run a generally trash Mon to Improof it.

...Yeah, I don't like Reshiram.

A part of my guide should have included tournament building. A lot of these teams were built with certain opponents in mind but proved consistent on ladder and in friendlies so the Reshiram is a cteam and my reasoning for running it was that it wasn’t weak to stag oceanic operetta and it beats wg kartana which my opponent in said tournament match used commonly (which I did encounter but sadly had to sacc Reshiram.

The reason to not use pdon here was because of stag oceanic operetta and the reason I didn’t use mlix, maggron, or zygod is because mlix and maggron are weaker on the special side so they can be overran by mixed shadow tag users. Reasoning for not using zygod is that I wanted to resist sunsteel as Reshiram was strictly a cteam to wg kartana. I do believe a more optimized version for ladder should include zygod over Reshiram or even pdon but zygod also has a glaring weakness to let’s snuggle forever without reflect.

As for your remark on the inconsistency of magma storm, I generally like magma storm here because it guarantees kos on every kartana that isn’t magic guard and magma storm honestly hits more than you’d think. If you are scared of accuracy or pp tho then you can easily go lava plume. The pdon set is very viable btw, it is a commonly used set and I could easily improof with wg pdon if I wanted to or something else.

 

[Bobsican]

Even though Harvest is commonly used on Stall, it is at the same time one of the hardest things for Stall to deal with. There is basically no way to chip it down if they have a recovery move, no way to PP stall it as they have infinite PP and so on. Sadly, the best way of dealing with them is to use Innards Out Chansey or Blissey. You can try to poison them with Toxic and delay their progress with Phazing moves such as Roar, but if they have countermeasures to these, there is basically nothing you can do to stop Harvest Pokémon from destroying your team. Refer to earlier Harvest section for common Harvest sets.

There's a few more ways to play around Harvest + Leppa Berry that fit in big stall...

More specifically, while they can't be PP stalled forever, Harvest does not always trigger, meaning that Taunting them out and fishing for turns where Harvest doesn't restore their Leppa Berry can open up breathing room for gaining momentum to hinder them as they Struggle themselves in lack of offensive moves (especially if they're trapped, lol Shadow Tag), eventually placing them into KO range of an attack, or sometimes even straight up fainting due to the recoil, this applies even more to Harvest users with only a single attacking CFZ.

A fast Knock Off also is a death sentence for these users, as losing their Leppa Berry this way means that Harvest won't restore it ever again, relegating them into a glorified sack slot once they run out of PP on attacking moves (which happens quickly out of overly relying on CFZs). However, some momentum is required for this, as Knock Off won't remove the item if they're behind a Substitute, or if they move first then immediately eat their berry, as then Knock Off would hit when the target technically has no held item, so Harvest would still restore it.

Harvest users also often run Substitute, so it's possible to prepare the Imposter user of a team to specifically answer them, as then it won't transform when switching in as long the Substitute is up, and while the pink blobs may be too physically frail to answer junk like a +2 SSS, sufficient support like burn spreading and Haze by its allies can soften the blows so that it can afford acting as a check without transforming, for example a dedicated anti-Harvest moveset can include Fairy Lock + Perish Song, but other tools like phazing, Chatter, and Spectral Thief can prove to be useful.

The following replay showcases well what I mean:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2456482956

In particular I wanted to make this post as it seems like everyone's acting like Harvest is a fool-proof way to dismantle big stall, but that's far from the truth IMO.

 

[CSicula]

Deoxys-Attack Guide

Hi, I'm posting this as I want to integrate more with the hackmons community, and I've really enjoyed using Deo-A, so I decided to showcase a few cool builds this guy can run.
The main advantage of Deo-A imo is how versatile this thing is. The mixed attack and high speed allow you to make most offensive combinations with either attack or SpA work.
Some general tips for Deo-A:
- Works best in ho teams
- Always use shell smash instead of extreme evoboost (pointless with defences that low anyway)
- Pretty much always give it a choice item or sash
- Be extremely wary of priority moves, or set up psychic terrain
- Deo likes to have substitute up
- It can be useful to have a wg pivot alongside

Here's a link to a pokepaste of the builds I'm discussing and a couple extra alongside: https://pokepast.es/c3979b408f2b49e7
Scarf Huge Power

Deoxys-Attack @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Pursuit
- Photon Geyser
- Sunsteel Strike
- Shadow Sneak

Deo-A is probably the best mixed attacker running huge power, and with scarf outspeeds the entire meta. Deo can run any choice item but I feel scarf justifies running Deo over, say, mmx, as well as providing a way to improof. This set is great for advancing the flow of the game, with pursuit ensuring the destruction of Deo-S and other Deo-A sets. Ltbts works great on this set too if Deo is struggling to break walls like zygod or mgyara. The option for mixed attack makes it unpredictable, and difficult to make a specific counter.
Espeed and shadow sneak are of course a huge threat, so like most Deo-A sets, running psychic terrain can be hugely beneficial. Furthermore, huge power deoxys with substitute, rocks and sash can be a great alternative.

Magic Guard

Deoxys-Attack @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 251 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Shell Smash
- Mind Blown
- Light of Ruin
- Photon Geyser

I've been using this set as a late/mid game sweeper and it's been surprisingly effective. This set also has a huge number of options, but I believe running these coverage options works best, as it can catch out kartana, mega scizor, and mega sableye, which Deo-A can sometimes struggle with. This set is also only consistently walled by prankster zygod.
Improofing and sashes are difficult to deal with, so try to have a pivot alongside this with sub pass and rocks (pursuit also works well for revenge kills). Some other moves that can work great with this set include spectral thief, pursuit, any priority, or even steel beam (I guess?)
The reason for the 251 SpA is to deal with innards blissey (phys photon geyser), and completely remove this as a threat. Of course running sunsteel strike or a +Attack nature also work, but Deo-A can sometimes struggle without the STAB option or extra speed, respectively.
The main issues with this set is spectral thief, which destroys this set, and alolan muk, which cannot be hit at all lmao (but is an option for improof).

Offensive Mold Breaker

Deoxys-Attack @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 Def
- Shell Smash
- Power Trip
- Spectral Thief
- Photon Geyser

Another unique set, this one is specifically designed to be a late game sweeper, or a wallbreaker. I've had huge success with this specifically against harvest slaking/arceus, as it OHKOs after shell smash, even if they have extreme evoboost up. This thing can be a monster if the opponent has no innards users, and Deo-A having the option of special coverage makes it extremely difficult to wall.
The minimum defence is actually for a weird improof; as long as you still have sash up, and the impostor is not running sash, then you are virtually guaranteed to win the matchup as spectral thief will always OHKO. This set is also happy to run clangblaze/ genesis supernova/ spore.

Here's a game that showcases a couple of these Deo-A sets against a stall team (ignore my weird plays lmao) https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2456828247

Overall Deoxys Attack is one of the most versatile attackers of usum, and has a sickass design, so try experimenting with different sets, and feel free to check out the other more meta sets in the pokepaste above.

(P.S. this is my first post on smogon despite playing usum ph for over a year now, so feel free to proide some constructive critisism.)

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

Deoxys-Attack Guide

View attachment 778249

Hi, I'm posting this as I want to integrate more with the hackmons community, and I've really enjoyed using Deo-A, so I decided to showcase a few cool builds this guy can run.
The main advantage of Deo-A imo is how versatile this thing is. The mixed attack and high speed allow you to make most offensive combinations with either attack or SpA work.
Some general tips for Deo-A:
- Works best in ho teams
- Always use shell smash instead of extreme evoboost (pointless with defences that low anyway)
- Pretty much always give it a choice item or sash
- Be extremely wary of priority moves, or set up psychic terrain
- Deo likes to have substitute up
- It can be useful to have a wg pivot alongside

Here's a link to a pokepaste of the builds I'm discussing and a couple extra alongside: https://pokepast.es/c3979b408f2b49e7
Scarf Huge Power

Deoxys-Attack @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Pursuit
- Photon Geyser
- Sunsteel Strike
- Shadow Sneak

Deo-A is probably the best mixed attacker running huge power, and with scarf outspeeds the entire meta. Deo can run any choice item but I feel scarf justifies running Deo over, say, mmx, as well as providing a way to improof. This set is great for advancing the flow of the game, with pursuit ensuring the destruction of Deo-S and other Deo-A sets. Ltbts works great on this set too if Deo is struggling to break walls like zygod or mgyara. The option for mixed attack makes it unpredictable, and difficult to make a specific counter.
Espeed and shadow sneak are of course a huge threat, so like most Deo-A sets, running psychic terrain can be hugely beneficial. Furthermore, sash huge power deoxys with substitute, rocks and sash can be a great alternative.

Magic Guard

Deoxys-Attack @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 251 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Shell Smash
- Mind Blown
- Light of Ruin
- Photon Geyser

I've been using this set as a late/mid game sweeper and it's been surprisingly effective. This set also has a huge number of options, but I believe running these coverage options works best, as it can catch out kartana, mega scizor, and mega sableye, which Deo-A can sometimes struggle with. This set is also only consistently walled by prankster zygod.
Improofing and sashes are difficult to deal with, so try to have a pivot alongside this with sub pass and rocks (pursuit also works well for revenge kills). Some other moves that can work great with this set include spectral thief, pursuit, any priority, or even steel beam (I guess?)
The reason for the 251 SpA is to deal with innards blissey, and completely remove this as a threat. Of course running sunsteel strike or a +Attack nature also work, but Deo-A can sometimes struggle without the STAB option or extra speed, respectively.
The main issues with this set is spectral thief, which destroys this set, and alolan muk, which cannot be hit at all lmao (but is an option for improof).

Offensive Mold Breaker

Deoxys-Attack @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 Def
- Shell Smash
- Power Trip
- Spectral Thief
- Photon Geyser

Another unique set, this one is specifically designed to be a late game sweeper, or a wallbreaker. I've had huge success with this specifically against harvest slaking/arceus, as it OHKOs after shell smash, even if they have extreme evoboost up. This thing can be a monster if the opponent has no innards users, and Deo-A having the option of special coverage makes it extremely difficult to wall.
The minimum defence is actually for a weird improof; as long as you still have sash up, and the impostor is not running sash, then you are virtually guaranteed to win the matchup as spectral thief will always OHKO. This set is also happy to run clangblaze/ genesis supernova/ spore.

Here's a game that showcases a couple of these Deo-A sets against a stall team (ignore my weird plays lmao) https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2456828247

Overall Deoxys Attack is one of the most versatile attackers of usum, and has a sickass design, so try experimenting with different sets, and feel free to check out the other more meta sets in the pokepaste above.

(P.S. this is my first post on smogon despite playing usum ph for over a year now, so feel free to proide some constructive critisism.)

this is only a tip of the iceberg...
nuke (Deoxys-Attack) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Photon Geyser
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Moongeist Beam
- U-turn

lead (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
- Stealth Rock
- Spore
- Psycho Boost
- Knock Off

sweeper/cleaner (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Photon Geyser
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike / coverage
- Light That Burns the Sky / coverage

nuke/cleaner (Deoxys-Attack) @ Life Orb
Ability: Parental Bond
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Photon Geyser
- Moongeist Beam / coverage
- Destiny Bond / coverage
- First Impression / coverage

game saver/lead (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Defog
- Copycat
- Light That Burns the Sky / photon /moongeist

zgod bait cleaner (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Sing
- Photon Geyser
- Fissure / sheer cold
- Shell Smash

game saver/cleaner (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shell Smash
- Spore
- Photon Geyser
- Light of Ruin

stag (Deoxys-Attack) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- First Impression
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom
- Destiny Bond / filter

fake speed bait cleaner (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Shell Smash
- Photon Geyser
- Spore / coverage
- Moongeist Beam

explanation coming later

PRAISE THE DEOA

 

[ZeldaFan1]

I've been using this set as a late/mid game sweeper and it's been surprisingly effective. This set also has a huge number of options, but I believe running these coverage options works best, as it can catch out kartana, mega scizor, and mega sableye, which Deo-A can sometimes struggle with. This set is also only consistently walled by prankster zygod.

Mega Houndoom sobbing in the corner...

To me, Deo-A feels like a MMX and a MMY had a baby, and that baby was born with no skin, bones made of toothpicks, and glass teeth. Bro is so frail, which makes it very hard to play because there is so much random bullshit that can just kill it. Random priority on a Mon? Deo-A is cooked. Random Scarf? Deo-A is cooked. Random Mon that you did not calc and lives whatever the hell you threw at it? Deo-A is cooked. With both MMX and MMY, they have surprisingly good bulk, making it far harder to revenge kill than something like Deo-A. MMX can randomly tank Sunsteels from stuff that is not HP Kart, as well as Espeeds and Shadow Sneaks. MMY is way more bulky then it looks, and can also somewhat take Shadow Sneaks, as well as some Moongeist Beams. Deo-A cannot take anything without breaking a leg and having shards of broken glass from its teeth puncture its eyes. Deo-A feels like a pokemon that is theoretically good if you get every play right and never get hit, but in practice is probably just a worse MMX and MMY that burns when exposed to air.

 

[WindySnivy_]

WHAT YOUR FAVORITE TOP 10 USUM PH POKEMON SAYS ABOUT YOU
(ROASTING EVERY TOP 10 USUM PH POKEMON)
(disclaimer: please don't take any of these seriously)​

you're generic and boring. nobody likes this person.
you have a horrible gambling addiction.
you're a nerd.
you have no friends irl.
you fail to cover up your horrible gambling addiction.
you're not mysterious and everyone knows it.
you're old.
you always lose to people who are generic and boring.
you're evil.
you're bad at the game.

 

[ItzEmanBoss]

COVERAGE MOVES TOOL
Idk why but I just thought of a semi useful tool because of coverage moves, personally I struggle to find good coverage and knowing the amount of value I will get by hitting all the mons that I need so I’m going through all the types to see what meta or semi meta mons you can hit with difference coverage moves. (A semi meta Mon is anything B on sussyamongusdrip’s Pokémon VR because of its recency and they a know what they are talking about. B- is kinda gimmicks still which is why It is not included. Will not list any of the semi meta mons(sometimes)

Normal: Jack shit don’t run coverage normal unless it’s extreme speed for neich cases.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: nothing gng
Resisted by: 6 meta mons, 6 semi meta mons.

Immune by: pretty much all WG Pokémon

Pairs best with ghost moves

---

Grass: Pretty ok in my opinion hits m-slowbro and m-Gary but that’s about it, but there are so many resists so I wouldn’t really recommend.
Conclusion

Super effective against: 4 meta, 2 semi meta.

, semi relevant (

)
Resisted by: 12 meta, 13 semi meta.

No immune
Useful moves: Petal Blizzard, Power Whip, Wood Hammer
Paired best with fire moves
WGS hit

---

Fire: Goated coverage especially if you’re a special attacker because of all the karts in this game meta game. Bonus points for being the only super effective move against Scizor.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 6 meta, 7 semi meta.Semi relevant(

)
Resisted by: 10 meta, 3 semi meta.

Semi relevant(

)
No immune
Useful moves: V-create, Mind Blown, Searing Shot, sometimes Sacred Fire
Paired best with Ice (specifically Freeze-Dry) or Electric moves
WGS hit

---

Water: Ehhhhhhhhh really does not hit anything too meta defining but it’s neutral against a lot of non-WGs.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 5 meta, 3 semi meta.. Semi relevant (

)
Resisted by: 6 meta, 4 semi meta.
No immune
Useful moves: Steam Eruption
Paired best with Ice moves specifically Freeze-Dry)
WGS hit

---

Fighting: Goated coverage especially because it’s the only thing that can hit WG Arc for super effective damage and other meta mons.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 10 meta, 7 semi meta.

. semi relevant ()
Not very effective against: 10 meta, 2 semi meta.

(all forms)

Immune:
Useful moves: Close Combat, Secret Sword, Sacred Sword, Aura Sphere
Best paired with Ghost moves
WGS hit

---

Flying: From my knowledge not used very often because it doesn’t hit really any defensive walls but it does hit MMX.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 3 meta, 1 semi meta.
Not very effective against: 5 meta, 7 semi meta.

No immune
Useful moves: Dragon Ascent, Oblivion Wing
Best paired with Fire or Ground moves

---

Poison: Hits Maud, nuf said. Ok actually only use this coverage if you have a death wish against any Mauds on the special side.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 1 meta, 1 semi meta
Not very effective against: 11 meta, 3 semi meta.semi relevant ()
Immune:
Useful moves: Sludge Wave, Sludge Bomb
Best paired with Fire moves
WGS hit

---

Ground: Even better than in regular metagames because of Thousand Arrows hitting Flying types, but it can only hit Flying for neutral which would make a difference if Celesteela or M-Aero could be hit for super effective. And it could be better if it could hit any other WGs besides A-Muk.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 8 meta, 7 semi meta.semi relevant ()
Not very effective against: 1 meta, 1 semi meta.
Immune (if no Thousand Arrows):
Useful moves: Thousand Arrows, Bonemerang, Earth Power
Best paired with Ice moves
WGS hit

---

Rock: Not really used ever? Except the very uncommon Splintered Stormshards (don’t let ZeldaFan1 catch you using Accelerock).
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 5 meta, 3 semi meta.Semi relevant()
Not very effective against: 5 meta, 7 semi meta.Semi relevant()
No immune
Useful moves: Diamond Storm
Best paired with Fire moves
WGS hit

---

Bug: This metagame is riddled with Psychic types and U-turn? Goated coverage.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 7 meta, 3 semi meta.(

)semi relevant (

)
Not very effective against: 14 meta, 5 semi meta.
No immune
Useful moves: U-Turn, Megahorn, Bug Buzz, sometimes Bug Judgment
Best paired with Ghost or Fire moves
WGS hit

---

Ghost: Again Psychic is a very common type in this metagame so MGB does hella work.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 11 meta, 4 semi meta.
Not very effective against: 4 meta, 2 semi meta.
Immune:
Useful moves: Moongeistbeam, Judgement Ghost
Best paired with Fighting moves
WGS hit

---

Electric: Usually not used for Fire or Ghost coverage but it can work on the right teams.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 6 meta, 2 semi meta.(semi relevant )
Not very effective against: 4 meta, 3 semi meta.
Immune:
Useful moves: Zap Cannon (NG), Plasma Fists, Bolt Strike
Best paired with Fire moves
WGS hit

---

Psychic: I can’t put into words how much this type does for the metagame, BUT Psychic is mainly a good general STAB option so I wouldn’t run Psychic as a coverage type but I will do this just because someone may want it.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 3 meta, 0 semi meta
Not very effective against: 11 meta, 8 semi metasemi meta()
Immune:
Useful moves: Photon Geyser, Light That Burns The Sky
Best paired with Fighting moves

---

Ice: Holy goated coverage, especially freeze dry and ice shard? The best priority move and the best type for hitting the most types? Sign me up
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 4 meta, 1 semi meta
Not very effective against: 7 meta, 7 semi metasemi meta()
No immune
Useful moves: Freeze Dry, Ice Beam, Ice Shard, Ice Hammer
Best paired with Fire or electric moves
WGS hit

---

Dragon: Only hits dragon. Disappointing also only use if it’s a main stab option. Not showing meta/semi meta mons
Conclusion,

Super effective against:
Not very effective against:
Immune:
Useful moves: Clanging Scales, Clagorous Soulblaze
Best paired with Fire moves

---

Dark: YUM YUM YUM PSYCIC, anyways yes we do hit the 2nd most common type in the game (2nd to steel) which makes this a great coverage.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 10 meta, 4 semi meta
Not very effective: 8 meta, 1 semi meta
No immune
Best paired with Ground or fairy moves
WGS hit

---

Steel: Say it with me SUNSTEEL STRIKE, by far the most common coverage type and move in the game, not because of favorable matchups because of its consistent matchup spread against the A and A- Pokémon.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 3 meta, 2 semi meta
Not very effective against: 11 meta, 9 semi meta semi meta()
No immune
Useful moves: Sunsteel Strike, Searing Sunraze Smash, Flash Cannon
Best paired with Fire moves
WGS hit

---

Fairy: Last but not least, fairy. It’s aight, nothing to special and does not matchup well into steel types but with the right stab moves this can definitely be a good coverage type.
Conclusion,

Super effective against: 9 meta, 6 semi meta(semi relevant )
Not very effective against: 7 meta, 8 semi meta(semi relevant)
No immune
Useful moves: Moonblast, Play Rough, Let’s Snuggle Forever
Best paired with Fire Coverage
WGS hit

---

That has been my very useful tool that is to nice thank you for probably not reading.

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

Mega Houndoom sobbing in the corner...

To me, Deo-A feels like a MMX and a MMY had a baby, and that baby was born with no skin, bones made of toothpicks, and glass teeth. Bro is so frail, which makes it very hard to play because there is so much random bullshit that can just kill it. Random priority on a Mon? Deo-A is cooked. Random Scarf? Deo-A is cooked. Random Mon that you did not calc and lives whatever the hell you threw at it? Deo-A is cooked. With both MMX and MMY, they have surprisingly good bulk, making it far harder to revenge kill than something like Deo-A. MMX can randomly tank Sunsteels from stuff that is not HP Kart, as well as Espeeds and Shadow Sneaks. MMY is way more bulky then it looks, and can also somewhat take Shadow Sneaks, as well as some Moongeist Beams. Deo-A cannot take anything without breaking a leg and having shards of broken glass from its teeth puncture its eyes. Deo-A feels like a pokemon that is theoretically good if you get every play right and never get hit, but in practice is probably just a worse MMX and MMY that burns when exposed to air.

the bulk is also why deoa is good. The harder for your opponent to rkill your mon, the harder for you to rkill the impostor. And 150 spe is good enough to differ it from both mmx and mmy, outspeeding nearly the whole meta unboosted. And a bonus you have free improof if you have sash on

 

[Ransei]

I and the rest of the USUM Council have acknowledged that our resources haven't been updated in a very long time, so we've looked into changes being made to update things to the current state of the metagame and what draws players in. The VR Update is currently being worked on and will be posted some time in the near future. For now, we have sample teams updated.

After lots of consideration to the effectiveness of submitted teams as well as their overall appeal in the meta from incoming players, here list of teams and updates:

Sample Teams
(Most offensive <---> Most defensive)


MMX Spam Hyper Offense by sussyamongusdrip


Lopunny + Psychic Terrain Hyper Offense by gold0987


White Kyurem Offense by aerobee


Ash Ketchum Offense by Ransei


Diamancie Revamped by Eyeos


Yveltal Spam by Archey


Shadow Tag Gyarados Stall by Eyeos

Legacy Samples

Z Pdon + No Guard Greninja Offense by NToTheN


Power Trip Gyarados + Ice Shard Leppa MMX Balance by NToTheN


Shedinja Semistall by aerobee


Z-Lovely Kiss Greninja Baton Pass by aerobee


Anchor Shot Audino + Scarf Imposter Stall by aerobee


Dual Magic Guard Triple MMX Hyper Offense by Bahamut


MMX + Lunala Balance by NToTheN


Primal Groudon Spam by aerobee


Smash Mega Gyarados Psychic Terrain Hyper Offense by aerobee


No Guard Lopunny Hyper Offense by Bahamut


PBond Gengar + Bounce PDon Offense by NToTheN


Zenith Mode by Ransei


Altrove by @AV Cosmoem


CLOCKUP FLOWERS by Akira 153


Trick-or-Treat Yveltal Balance by @AV Cosmoem


Huge Power Primal Groudon Balance by NToTheN


Substitute Harvest Slaking Semistall by sussyamongusdrip

Changelog:

Changelog

February 10, 2024

• Changed HP EVs to 248 on BP sample Greninja

August 12, 2024

November 2, 2024

• Moved Z-Lovely Kiss Fullpass team to legacy
• Moved Anchor Shot Mega Audino stall to legacy
• Added Stag Gyara Stall to samples
• Added Sub Harvest Slaking Semistall to samples
• Added Z Pdon + No Guard Gren to legacy
• Added Power Trip Gyara + Ice Shard MMX to legacy
• Added Shedinja Semistall to legacy

November 5, 2024

• Fixed EVs in Stag Gyarados Stall by Eyeos
• Fixed a few teams not linking to author account correctly

December 28, 2024

• Moved Dual Magic Guard Triple MMX Hyper Offense to legacy
• Added Zenith Mode to samples
• Reordered the sample teams to better reflect how offensive/defensive each team is

February 9, 2025

• Moved MMX + Lunala Balance to legacy
• Added Trick-or-Treat Yveltal Balance to samples

April 2, 2025

• Moved Primal Groudon Spam to legacy
• Moved aerobee's psychic terrain HO to legacy
• Moved No Guard Lopunny HO by Bahamut to legacy
• Moved Pdond Gengar + Bounce PDon Offense to legacy
• Moved Zenith Mode to legacy
• Moved Diamancie to legacy
• Added MMX spam hyper offense to samples
• Added gold's Lopunny + psyterrain HO to samples
• Added Altrove by samples
• Added CLOCKUP FLOWERS to samples
• Added Huge Power Primal Groudon Balance to samples
• Added Diamancie revampled to samples

April 3, 2025

• Fixed moves on Lopunny + Psyterrain HO

October 18, 2025

• Moved Altrove to legacy
• Moved CLOCKUP FLOWERS to legacy
• Moved Huge Power Primal Groudon Balance to legacy
• Moved Substitute Harvest Slaking Semistall to legacy
• Added White Kyurem Offense to samples
• Added Ash Ketchum to samples
• Added Yveltal spam to samples
• Removed Diamancie from legacy

Enjoy!

 

[Child of Night]

Sample team submission

Prima Kyogre stall





https://pokepast.es/5a328bd4b5f722e5​

---

I have been cooking up this team for about a year now, and I feel like it would make a fine sample at this point. I have made some changes recently to make the team a bit easier to pilot while not really diminishing its effectiveness, and to account for recent ladder usage trends. It has shown great results over the past year and has continued to get better recently due to HO spam teams becoming rarer, and other playstyles becoming more common (which it has a good MU into). It has consistently proven effective across all levels of play, from low ladder to high, and even in tournament settings.


I would also like to mention the impact this team has had. Even though it is absent here (I decided it would be easier to pilot as having rocks up with Pogre is much easier to deal with than when using Ho-Oh), it was the first stall team to incorporate the use of WG Ho-Oh, which has made a huge wave in teambuilding to the point I see it in almost every new stall team I see. Besides using Ho-Oh, I have seen a decent amount of newer players throughout the last year taking inspiration from the team and using it as a base to make their own.


Recently, it has also made a pretty big achievement, in being the first ever stall team to reach 1800+ elo and on top of that I am currently on a 21 game win streak while on top of ladder.

Variations of this team against high level players

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2306316657-jxs7apsr8w8lomd4dbulp745x8vlvcdpw?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2301275538-uvkr7u4iso2air8v6hsv01k7p61v7w6pw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2320440140-5y8j5yf4o9t8jsvbn4bsusylxm2f7mcpw?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2271107898?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2265070024-m0jnk1iul9ker03ykompb7l97spdi7ipw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2258643958?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2299538018

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2335488575?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2336202944?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2325475264-v0avgh3pe9triqh96oicyhehasdf3gbpw?p2

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2282953244 Ransei

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7purehackmons-2342419166?p2

Variations of this team

https://pokepast.es/5a28fc6f248b5bd1
https://pokepast.es/d8d2a8c787a846a3
https://pokepast.es/45d66e71c122104f
https://pokepast.es/7a2ea84096de8c09
https://pokepast.es/9bc2eebd08af7ca4 A bit of a weird one
https://pokepast.es/1d9d2341dda3e591
https://pokepast.es/3f5e4f42f4f56842 Fell off

---

View attachment 780334

View attachment 1760910753947.webp

 

[PenultimateToast]

here's some cool sets i've been messing around with recently


Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Shell Smash
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Let's Snuggle Forever
- Earth Power
big cfzs eviscerate everything. but seriously photon/fairy/ground is pretty good coverage only missing like melo ndw and cresselia i guess??? aside from that you can just use this like a typical innards guy, you can actually just throw this guy at mmx cause you get ohkoed by photon. you can also probably vary the coverage too (sss/mmm/lsf doesn't sound too bad), though this is the one i've been using.


Mewtwo-Mega-Y / Deoxys-Attack @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Moongeist Beam
- Light of Ruin
no stab is kinda weird though tbh i don't really find myself missing it. sunsteel/moongeist/fairy is broken and mmy's attack stats are high enough to not need stab on this set. haven't tested this set out on deo-a though it's probably fine, hella frail though extra speed and stronger sunsteel are probably good enough to be worthwhile. coverage is probably variable though i haven't messed around with that at all.


Groudon-Primal @ Focus Sash / Life Orb / Leppa Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Shell Smash
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Light of Ruin
- Precipice Blades / Bonemerang / other ground moves idk
stole this from akira but it's really funny. does the mguard pdon stuff (mainly just baits in innards) and also baits in traditional mguard pdon answers (ho-oh heatran etc) and nukes them with ground move/ltbts. one ltbts usage without leppa kinda sucks but cool set regardless i also considered running sunsteel geist fairy on this


Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 176 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Light That Burns the Sky
- Photon Geyser
- First Impression
- Close Combat / Sunsteel Strike / Searing Sunraze Smash / fucking whatever
probably a pretty well known set though i'm shilling it anyways. leppa ltbts is broken cause you just ohko everything, photon is your basic stab move for when you don't wanna rip ltbts, fimp is big priority and hits random darks/megabro, and the last slot can pretty much be whatever tbh though cc/sunsteel/sss are the most common options for pretty obvious reasons. 176 special attack is so photon is physical at -1 but it's as strong as possible specially when you're at -2, not gonna come up ever but you might as well.


Kyogre-Primal @ Safety Goggles / Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Heal Order
- Defog / whatever
- Circle Throw
- U-turn / Parting Shot / Baton Pass
checks wg arc with circle throw, which also has some other uses especially if you pair her with hazard support (which you should probably be running anyways cause sash is broken). aside from that basic support guy, hazards > defog could probably work but haven't tried it


Giratina-Origin @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Shell Smash
- Searing Sunraze Smash
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom
- Let's Snuggle Forever
surprised no one's used this before, this feels pretty obvious. sunsteel geist fairy once again cause it's broken, everything else should be self explanatory. improofed with mega heat topsy arceus

The Funky Cooks™ (barely/straight up not tested)

Kyogre-Primal @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Moongeist Beam
- Light of Ruin
more sunsteel geist fairy yay!!! use your bulk to set up then you sweep, rc suggested mind blown/steam eruption over geist which probably works


Arceus @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Clamp
- Spore
i remember someone on ladder using subseed arc so i decided to try it out, sucks into bounce but this guy does stuff sometimes. clamp with 136 attack evs fucks over innards chans/bliss don't remember which one. wouldn't use this seriously but he's funny


Kyogre-Primal @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Water Shuriken
- Beat Up
fucks with ng leads and that's about it. used over kyurems for surprise factor mainly, probably usable with other guys though this is the only one i've actually made a set for


Groudon-Primal / Kyogre-Primal / idk @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty / Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Moongeist Beam
- Moonblast
got the idea from remembering isleep2late talking about protean kyogre in the discord a while back, i'd rather run pdon cause strong sunsteel differentiates it a bit from mmy but the idea is just you use your initial typing to get a setup opportunity and potentially sweep. other mixed guys probably work though they don't use the idea of using your typing to setup and sweep so i didn't put them here. realistically mmy is just better but i felt like talking about em they seem funny

tldr photon fairy ground is broken and sunsteel geist fairy is broken

 

[AnsonIsTheBest]

Someone have posted some cool sets earlier and they aren't cool enough imo, so I decide to post some truely underrated sets


Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Scarf / Leppa Berry / Figy Berry
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Dragon Ascent
- Clangorous Soulblaze / Core enforcer
- Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom
- Trick / Shell Smash

with full ev invest ment is just 2 hp lower than mmx and mmy, capable of blowing a good amount of things up, while also not being weak to pursuit. Rock weakness does hurt but in exchange you have immunity to tspikes and spikes and sticky web, and first impression resistance. With Clangorous Soulblaze Mray is capable of taking down a zygarde attempting to haze it, while core enforcer provides a better matchup against magic guard users. The lack of the power is the main concern here, any of the four moves can we switched into utility moves like defog/spikes/sr/tspikes depending on the need of your team


Guzzlord @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Shore Up
- Parting Shot
- Knock Off
- Defog

Pursuit resistance matters.


Guzzlord @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Innards Out / Mold Breaker / Wonder Guard / No Guard / Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Power Trip
- Extreme Evoboost
- Judgment
- Light That Burns the Sky / Clangorous Soulblaze / Sheer Cold / Fissure / Core Enforcer / Moongeist Beam

+2 252 SpA Pixie Plate Guzzlord Judgment vs. +2 252 HP / 252- SpD Eviolite Chansey: 368-436 (52.2 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Chansey Power Trip (220 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 252 Def Guzzlord: 191-225 (29.3 - 34.6%) -- 7.4% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Guzzlord Clangorous Soulblaze vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zygarde-Complete: 444-524 (69.8 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Pixie Plate Guzzlord Judgment vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zygarde-Complete: 288-340 (45.2 - 53.4%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Pixie Plate Guzzlord Judgment vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-X: 372-438 (89.4 - 105.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
+2 252+ SpA Guzzlord Clangorous Soulblaze vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-X: 427-504 (102.6 - 121.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Guzzlord Power Trip (220 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Mewtwo-Mega-X: 475-561 (114.1 - 134.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Guzzlord Power Trip (220 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 1188-1400 (285.5 - 336.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Guzzlord Power Trip (220 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Kartana: 394-465 (122.3 - 144.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Guzzlord Core Enforcer vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Kartana: 215-253 (66.7 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Fishes for some mu. With cl soulblaze and pixie judgement it can 1v1 prank zygarde w/o light screen. Mold breaker help a bit with the struggle with wonder guards, while No Guard can delete prank haze mons in balance/Stalls. Magic Guard helps against innards especially when you can hardly fit in another good pursuit mguard user with this sht. It does 1v1 eviolite impostor without support, making it standing out among other innards sweepers.