Metagame SV Pokebilities AAA

[Lavender Vice]

Something About Meowscarada:
Pokebilites AAA Edition

I said I would rant about this

Meowscarada has proven to be a menace by virtue of the metagame, but it dropped from S to S- on the VR after the changes. It’s still one of if not the best mons in the format though. Let’s talk about why it’s so good and how it can be countered.

1. It has one of the best speed tiers in the game, and outspeeds Greninja by one stat point.

2. It can hit like a truck. Choice band and Adaptability allow Meowscarada to output lots of damage to many different Pokemon in the format, making it a… force to be reckoned with (I’m bad at writing so forgive me for my lingo).

3. It has great utility. Sun, Rain, Sand, and Snow, it can fit on all of those weather teams without much problem due to Protean constantly changing its type. It also has access to lots of different moves, like Flower Trick, Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Triple Axel, U-turn, Low Kick, Play Rough, and Acrobatics, allowing it to be very flexible.

4. However… it is rather frail, so naturally it has counters. It can get outspeed through means of abilities, Choice Scarf, Tailwind, and priority snipes. It also gets countered by mons with natural bulk and high defense Pokemon. Here are some answers to it below.

Cinderace @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant or Jolly (if you really want to outspeed Meow.)
EVs: 252 Atk. & Spd./ 4 Def.
Ability: Adaptability
- Pyro Bal
- U turn
- High Jump Kick
- Gunk Shot / Sucker Punch

No I’m not including him just cause he’s my favorite Mon. It’s pretty strong too (being A- on the VR), boasting a pretty good speed tier, only four stat points behind Meow, which easily gets boosted with the help of Scarf. TBH, Meow doesn’t do much damage to Cinderace anyway, the most impactful move probably being Knock Off /Sucker Punch. Even still, Cinderace can get around all of Meow’s tricks, except maybe a switch-out.

Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def./ 4 Sp. Def.
Ability: Fluffy/Intimidate
- Brave Bird
- Body Press/ U-turn
- Iron Defense/ Defog
- Roost

Meowscarada won’t be doing much damage to Corviknight, with max HP and Defense, and being punished by not only Rocky Helmet, but also Intimidate and Fluffy. Meowscarada could get past that through Magic Guard or Long Reach, but Corv is still a decent counter to Meow.

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk and Spd./ 4 HP
Ability: Magic Guard
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Tailwind


If you can’t outspeed them, snipe em with priority! Jokes aside, talonflame is able to take out Meowscarada within one hit without a scratch to show. It is also faster than meow naturally and can still take it out with a flare blitz or u-turn or get your mons faster than meowscarada with Tailwind.

Zamazenta @ Life Orb
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Spd. & Atk./ 4 HP.
Ability: Magic Guard
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Play Rough
- Iron Defense

Zamazenta has the bulk. It’s not too often I find myself or someone else using Play Rough on Meowscarada, or Acrobatics for that matter. It is also faster than meow and has the bulk to survive some of its moves.

I’m sure that there are more mons that counter Meow but I’m lazy so I just put the most obvious ones in my eyes. Bye!

With the advent of weatherspeed, Meow has been knocked down a small peg because turns out adding a dozen more Regielekis into the format makes Meow's nuts speed tier not as rare to hit anymore.

That being said, I overall agree with you and still think Meowscarada is a problem for the format. It REALLY hasn't gotten much worse, and if anything has only gotten better in other aspects because it no longer really wants to run Long Reach because we nuked Garchomp. It still OHKO or 2HKOs nearly every single pokemon in the format, has STAB Knock and Uturn, etc.

imo I think there's a lot of massive cope that it isn't broken and an overreliance on Corvi to keep Meow in check rn. People treat Corvi like some unbreakable God when it has to constantly come in and try to check often 2-3+ mons on a team because nothing has the defensive profile Corvi has (and if you aren't running an ability like Intim or Fluffy physdef Meow 2HKOs the bird anyways lmfao)

Dragalge @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Flip Turn
Am I crazy or does this seem usable? Not good, but useable.

I've seen RegenVest Dragalge. It ain't that good, but it has a small niche. It just really isn't as bulky as you want it to be, even with an assault vest and Poison/Dragon isn't a very good STAB combo for the format imo.

 

[I'm me 321]

Beast boost battle bond greninja with a higher spa than speed can easily snowball out of control, and anger shell swords dance ogerpon-rock also works

Edit: I remembered that as one exists, that allows a speed boosting nature on greninja

 

[Miss Crisis]

POKEAAA SURVEY #2 RESULTS!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey! Thanks x2 to Lavender Vice, who answered the survey, forgot about it, and then filled it out again!

ENJOYABILITY, COMPETITIVENESS, AND PARTICIPATION

The average enjoyability ranking was 8.3, with a median of 9! It's so cool to see people enjoy this silly little metagame

The average competitiveness ranking was 7.6, with a median of 8! PokeAAA has had some previous struggles with metagame and mechanic balance, and we're glad to see it's taken seriously competitively

Only 36% of the participants of the survey played or will play team tournaments featuring PokeAAA. PokeAAA's previous inclusion in OMMPL marked its only major Generation 9 tournament appearance, while the relatively active ladder has caught the interest of players often uninterested in tournaments.

RECENT METAGAME SHIFTS
We had some big shakeups lately, and asked respondents about their opinions on 2 Ability Clause and the new Weatherspeed users in the tier.

It seems like the move to 2AC was rather popular, with a 68% supermajority approving the change. 1AC was a relic of the generation shift to align PokeAAA with AAA, and 2AC adds a bit more flexibilty to a format where you could already bypass 2AC by using Pokemon with the same base abilities.

Weatherspeed Users

The council decided to poll opinions on the most prominent weatherspeed Pokemon. With several of the most broken users preemptively banned, these often unimpressive Pokemon saw usage in an attempt to abuse the mechanic. Notably, the majority or plurality of answers in every topic were in favor of no tiering action. Exeggutor recieved the most pro-action sentiment, with 22% of respondents believing it to be broken and another 22% who would not mind tiering action, followed closely by Pelipper at 13% and 31%, respectively.

METAGAME STAPLES
We asked respondents their opinions on pretty much every Pokemon that has been discussed as potentially broken.

63% of respondents believe Iron Hands should not recieve tiering action. Iron Hands was highlighted as potentially broken due to its fast and extremely powerful Surge Surfer set. The development of Punching Gloves as the item of choice enabled it to bypass Fluffy avoid contact punishment with all three of its attacks, making it far more difficult to blanket check with Pokemon like Corviknight and Great Tusk. Now that Hadron Engine has left the tier, Surge Surfer Iron Hands has become significantly more difficult to build a team around, and Iron Hands has seen more use as a slow pivot or setup sweeper, far easier to check.

50% of participants believe Keldeo should not recieve tiering action. Keldeo's absurd damage output and excellent STABs make it one of, if not the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier. Unfortunately, it has an extremely poor, often impossible, matchup against Clodsire and Slowking, two of the most popular Pokemon in the metagame, while its minimal set variety and reliance on Choice Specs makes it vulnerable to adequate predictions and its own linear gameplay.

The opinions on Meowscarada are evenly split! Meow's controversial spot as the premiere offensive Pokemon in the tier has caused some controversy, as its fantastic power, speed, and coverage limit its reliable in-builder checks to a small pool of Pokemon... including Corviknight. Its prominent weaknesses to hazards, priority, and contact chip damage in a format are able to keep it in check. Its several viable sets are able to mitigate these weaknesses, but always in exchange for something important. The recent introduction of Weatherspeed means that Choice Scarf Meowscarada is no longer the fastest Pokemon in the tier, which has definitely knocked it down a peg. I'll say the same thing I've said for the last three months: Stay tuned for some tiering action on Meowscarada!!!!!

There has been some chatter about Samurott-Hisui's role in the tier, but 63% of the respondents do not believe Samurott-Hisui should recieve tiering action. Its excellent tools in Ceaseless Edge, base Sharpness, and wide movepool gives it fantastic set variety, but Samurott-Hisui faces many obstacles in the metagame, most notably its middling speed tier and Corviknight's omnipresence.

A 71% supermajority agree that Talonflame should not recieve tiering action. Its powerful priority STAB make it one of the better offensive Pokemon and win conditions in the format, even considering its common checks and aversion to taking hits. Talonflame serves as a check to many other offensive Pokemon in the tier, literally preying upon them, but most people seem to think this is a healthy niche to occupy.

MISCELLANEOUS
One question and a few selected free-response questions

Manaphy has been the topic of recent discussion amongst the playerbase. It was a legacy ban from the start of the generation, and also free in Almost Any Ability. A supermajority of respondents believe that Manaphy should be tried out in a Suspect Test!

I'm gonna be honest there's not a lot of value in showing these responses but some of them are pretty funny

Is there anything you'd like to say that wasn't included in the survey?
Ban swift swim and chlorophyll
Let's wait on this until we start scraping the bottom of the barrel for weatherspeed users. I'll call you back during the Gloom suspect test
new sample teams
Please submit any teams you've enjoyed playing with to us! Just show them off on the thread or in the #pokeaaa channel in ommcord, we'd love to feature them in our resources!
I was testing Zoroark-Hisui, Illusion doesn't activate nor are you prompted at team preview to choose the order of the team. Is there gonna be a fix to that?
There will likely not be a fix to this. It requires patching the base mechanics of Pokebilities and will have other consequences.

Do you have any questions or comments for the council, or general feedback about the format?
When (and why) was Hadron Engine restricted?
Hadron Engine was restricted during our recent rules restructuring, dubbed "PokeAAA 2", where we removed all of the complex bans present in the tier. Previously, the combinations of Hadron Engine + Quark Drive and Hadron Engine + Surge Surfer were restricted. In the absence of these complex bans, the specific broken part of these combinations is Hadron Engine, and tiering action was taken on it instead of any other part of the combo.
Might be worth looking into a tiering history thing, can be useful to keep track of bans and reasonings.
yeah you got me there, will get that done on a day off sometime soon
Is there a way to disable abilities we don’t want on mons that would be really good without that banned ability? Magic Guard Magnezone was something I wanted to try but couldn’t because Magnet Pull is banned. Without Magnet pull this thing would be a menace though and might even be too powerful anyways?
No <3
Please dear god fucking ban Meowscarada already it's so braindead and uncompetitive, there's zero good argument to keep that thing in this tier where it can genuinely handle every single threat or wall it faces.
Not an unpopular opinion, and one I'm personally partial to. We're likely not going to be able to squeeze in any tiering action before AAAPL, so we'll see what happens when a bunch of team tournament players get to play with it for a few weeks.

Thanks for playing and participating, everyone. Stay tuned for updates!

 

[Cherry786]

https://pokepast.es/26b21db1f28796da

I found this on the sample hub and found it to be very fun to play with (won like 6 billion pokeaaa tournaments in TP or maybe im just goated)
the original sample had uh what was it vessel of ruin

then I loaded into Eterrain spam and lost like in 6 seconds? Yeah then I changed it to volt absorb

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2651006332
the game is 164 turns because fuckass crawdaunt was hired by the IDF (Iron Treads Defense Federation) to make it live a banded adapt JET.

Vabs is so good on slowking it literally goes from B to S+ on the team

https://pokepast.es/b11c1c52632102b0

second team I cooked with Iron Boulder (used to be unemployed leaves but that guy is such a fraud kekw) leaves played 2 games and needed to go
This team is actually fine used to struggle into exeggutor but since I'm cherry786 I won

iron boulder does more damage than iron leaves funnily enough because it FUCKING outspeeds stuff

252 Atk Sword of Ruin Meowscarada Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Colbur Berry Bronzong: 153-180 (45.2 - 53.2%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Meowscarada Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Colbur Berry Bronzong: 148-175 (43.7 - 51.7%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO

FUCK YOU FELINE

bring back champions accuracy already bro

 

[Miss Crisis]

quick & casual post about a few sets i've been playing around with on three metagame staples:

1. Protect Heatran

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Desolate Land / Fluffy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpD / 80 Spe or 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 Spe
Calm Nature or Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Protect
- Earth Power / Power Gem
- Stealth Rock / Power Gem

i've seen some hate on DesoTran recently and would like to remind said haters that it's one of our best anti-cheese defensive options, and that uninvested Magma Storm under sun hits way harder than it has any right to. i have also been playing with physdef fluffy and have found it to be pretty effective. anyways, Protect has fantastic synergy with the mandatory Leftovers (Heatran is bulky enough that the 6.25% recovery is *very* noticeable), and greatly improves Heatran's matchup against Choiced attackers that are forced to predict if Heatran is switching to a teammate to handle their atack, notably Keldeo, Cinderace, and Samurott-Hisui.

2. Long Reach Rillaboom
Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Long Reach
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Wood Hammer

i think that when i took garchomp out back an old yeller'd it, Long Reach Meowscarada died alongside its biggest obstacle: the frankly absurd chip of Triple Axel into Rough Skin + Rocky Helmet. i am currently of the opinion that Rillaboom is the only viable user of Long Reach (maybe banded Mienshao, but the SD set is more than powerful enough by itself). what gives it this niche? many Rillboom switch-ins, notably Rocky Helmet Corviknight, Zapdos, and Heatran, take zero damage from Glide, while punishing its attempt with chip, paralysis, and burn. not only does Long Reach bypass these effects, but it also removes the occasional Fluffy damage reduction from walls hoping to tank a weak hit. one more bonus: LR Rilla is far easier to keep healthy throughout a game, which lets you count on two things: keeping Grassy Terrain up and tanking one (1) decently powerful hit and remaining useful afterwards. Grassy Terrain has fantastic synergy with many defensive Pokemon vulnerable to chip, like Heatran (especially Protect Heatran) and Great Tusk, and removing Electric Terrain while halving the damage of Earthquake is consistently useful in many matchups. give it a try, you'll be grateful for the freedom to click U-turn into literally anything without consequences.

3. Power Herb Iron Moth

Iron Moth @ Power Herb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Meteor Beam
- Fiery Dance / Flamethrower
- Solar Beam / Substitute
- Discharge

unlike the other two sets mentioned, this is not good. you cannot stop me from using this.
pros:
-solid damage option into Heatran and psea Zapdos
-huge surprise factor
-guarunteed +1 is pretty neat and can complement fiery dance or replace it with a stronger fire move
-4 attacks moth set that has options into fire types
cons:
-no boots
-hadron's restriction makes eterrain way less splashable
-doesn't actually OHKO anything besides Zapdos lol, everything else requires chip
-it's cool to do +spe quark drive but unfortunately it needs +spa to hit a few important benchmarks

use the first two, don't use the last one. have fun on ladder and good luck to the poor souls playing this in AAAPL <3

 

[adriancosmoem]

​

I didn't actually realize we had gzap on banlist for a while. I didn't understand why this mon was banned because it's nowhere near broken or even good in AAA and all it gets is defiant, which is a cool ability but not gamebreaking or anything. So I asked about it in ommcord, and after I did that I understood even less. Ommcord drowns ppl out with spam and nonsense easily so I have to make my point here. Bottom line is we really should look into freeing gzap

Basically people were saying this mon should be banned because it can beat corv with niche sets, which I think is super disingenuous
1) The niche sets don't do a good job at beating corv
2) The niche sets do worse vs the rest of the meta
3) Even the good sets aren't particularly good into meta

I'm gonna use sets that the ban voters posted for this one


Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Long Reach
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunderous Kick
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- U-turn / Close Combat

I was told that you can run two fighting stabs on this set, but I really don't like double fight move on choice, so I slashed it for u-turn. I also think lr is horrible and I'm sick of having this convo about lr, mold is always better. However, this might actually be the only time lr is better because you don't want to bypass mirror armor. This set exists to cheese corv as hard as possible bc it's the only one where tkick > +2 tkick into corv will actually kill vs all sets, unless they're tablets for some reason. Issue is that you aren't actually good at corv cheese. Why? Because due to keld qwils zama barra, almost all teams will have a non-intim fight resist which can pivot into band tkick without trouble, so you have more than one switch-in. That means you probably won't even get a chance to hit a tkick on corv. If you aren't fighting corv, then non-amp gzap's power issue becomes really evident with how many kills it misses

Impressive calcs incoming!

252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 354-416 (68.8 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 237-280 (44.3 - 52.4%) -- 19.1% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian: 331-390 (86.6 - 102%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. +1 0 HP / 252 Def Zamazenta: 272-324 (83.6 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Thunderous Kick vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Garganacl: 326-386 (80.6 - 95.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Slowking-Galar: 342-403 (86.8 - 102.2%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Tornadus-Therian: 313-369 (86.4 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Considering you're a band fight with a good but revengable speed tier, you really need to kill stuff you're hitting to be worth the slot rn


Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Scarf / Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Sword of Ruin / Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat / Thunderous Kick
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- U-turn / Blaze Kick

This is the set that I'd go for in this meta. Mglo > band lr because tkick is a lot better when you can switch moves and threaten pseudo +1 bb. Problem is you now can't 2hko fluffy corv unless you run blaze kick, which is hard to justify since it's just a lot less useful than u-turn is. This mon would actually be quite a helpful scarfer to help check things like deo, meow, and offtorn while being haz resistant, so it would probably improve the meta by weakening the strongest structures. Band is powerful but I just think band fighters are so whatever in this tier, it's really easy to stuff them or deny entry. Gzap speed tier is good but outsped by a lot of important mons, so it's not hard to contain

Few more things I want to put here:

1) Gzap does NOT take advantage of defog well! Even band lr doesn't ohko corv at +2 unless you have cc, and like I said double fight move on choice is not good. So your best scenario is trading gzap for corv while allowing them to defog, since def drop allows bb to kill, which is probably only a winning line sometimes on stack. The other good defogger is talon, who doesn't lose to gzap for obvious reasons

2) If a mon is good vs your favorite playstyle, that does not make it broken. The fact that it can cause trouble for corv + mola does not make it broken, unless we're trying to ban hands too? Gzap is undeniably good at playing the long game even with choice since it's quite chip resistant, but the teams that want to play the long game are gonna have a fat fight resist or two that'll stop gzap from making meaningful progress

3) I try not to make statements like this, but it needs to be said; some people in the OMMs community are extremely rude and/or condescending. Disagreement is a good thing, but not when it's paired with terrible attitudes, which is often the case esp in cord. Also, if you're going to be condescending, don't post uninformed opinions! When you combine those two, you turn discussions into miserable ego battles, which is all that has been happening lately. We have got to do better. That is all

 

[UltraSword]

Last night there I was about ready to fall asleep when suddenly Volcanion popped into my mind. I am a gen 6 OU player at heart who knows how cool Volcanion is so I decided to think about how to utilize all of those cool sets in Pokebilities AAA. Keep in mind that all of this is theorycrafting but if they work this mon could be really fun and be ranked way higher than C+.

To start with the general reason of why I think Volcanion could be really great is that it is an extremely effective check to desolate land and primordial sea pokemon (which I will probably refer to as dl and ps pokemon respectively). It is immune to water moves and quad resists fire moves while also having great bulk and power and a broken move in steam eruption. I would not suggest running dl or ps on this pokemon because while it powers up one STAB it completely neuters the other when it should be using both. However, Volcanion will have some major hurdles to overcome such as hazards and its middling speed. I have 2 major sets in mind for this pokemon both of which are inspired by gen 6 OU and while the movesets will be exactly the same between both they will play very different roles.

Volcanion @ Assault Vest/Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Motor Drive/Volt Absorb/Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Bomb
- Earth Power

First, I will start with what will probably be the better set of the 2 and I want to focus specifically on assualt vest plus motor drive. As mentioned already Volcanion is theoretically great into dl/ps but the big exception is Zapdos. Electric types would already be hard enough to deal with anyway, but Zapdos takes it a step further with it even threatening to OHKO with thunder through assualt vest.

252 SpA Zapdos Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Volcanion: 254-302 (84.3 - 100.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

This obviously isn't a guaranteed OHKO at full health but any chip over the course of the battle will lead to it getting one shot. Because of this there is only really one solution, that being one of the electric immunity abilities. Volt absorb can be used here and work fine but I want to use motor drive because at plus 1 speed, while you aren't extremely fast, you still manage to outspeed pretty much every pokemon that could realistically threaten you. Great Tusk and Iron Treads? Obliterated by steam eruption. Meowscarada? It is literally toast unless it is scarf (and even then). Wogerpon? Gets hit by sludge bomb. If this mon gets to plus 1 it is an extremely scary offensive threat because of the potency of its STABs and solid coverage moves. This is even helpful outside of Zapdos because there are plenty of either electric type mons or pokemon with electric coverage or thunder wave. I think assualt vest is better here because it allows you to tank moves from those special attackers you unfortunately can't one shot but if you aren't confident in your removal (or don't have any) you can also use heavy duty boots to come in more safely on hazards. This need for an electric immunity is also the main reason why I wouldn't suggest running regenerator on Volcanion but there are other reasons such as your weakness to hazards and the lack of great utility moves that something like Incineroar has. Imo you should be focusing on power and motor drive will make the most of it while also making Volcanion's defensive profile even better. You could also use mold breaker on this set, but I can explain why it is useful with the other set.

Volcanion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker/Magic Guard/Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Bomb
- Earth Power

This set probably isn't good as the other one but if you want speed without relying on motor drive then this set is probably your best bet. While you are choice locked you still have the advantage of outrunning most of the mons that threaten you and you become even more threatening thanks to mold breaker. This set is already going to be pretty prediction reliant thanks to how dl and ps work so being able to at least ignore things like Corviknight's well baked body or Wogerpon's water absorb is pretty useful. Even less ability combos like water absorb Great Tusk or levitate Pecharunt are useful things to ignore and that is the use mold breaker can provide. If you are more afraid of hazards though, magic guard is also great for that and absorbing toxic that may be thrown your way by Pecharunt or Clodsire (who's water absorb you also ignore if you use mold breaker instead). Even volt absorb is useful for Zapdos and the stray Regieleki that may come your way.

Overall, I think Volcanion has serious potential and it should be experimented with more thanks to it being able to handle both dl and ps. I encourage you to try these sets and I will also try to make my own team to test these out myself (though it might not be very good). Thank you for reading.

 

[Miss Crisis]

VIABILITY RANKINGS
(updated 5/26/26)​

POKEMON: Grouped into tiers, sorted alphabetically	CHOSEN ABILITIES: Sorted alphabetically, primary abilities are bolded
S RANK: Metagame-Defining Pokemon
S
Corviknight	Delta Stream, Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Intimidate, Tablets of Ruin
S-
Meowscarada	Adaptability, Long Reach, Magic Guard
A RANK: Important Pokemon in the tier
A+
Heatran	Desolate Land, Immunity Ability, Regenerator
Pecharunt	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Intimidate, Prankster, Tablets of Ruin
Samurott-Hisui	Adaptability, Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
Slowking	Immunity Ability, Shadow Shield, Terrain or Weather Ability, Vessel of Ruin
Slowking-Galar	Immunity Ability, Shadow Shield, Terrain or Weather Ability, Vessel of Ruin
Ting-Lu	Immunity Ability, Regenerator
A
Alomomola	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Primordial Sea, Terrain/Weather Setting Ability
Deoxys-Speed	Protean, Psychic Surge, Sheer Force
Iron Hands	Earth Eater, Regenerator, Surge Surfer, Sword of Ruin
Keldeo	Adaptability, Primordial Sea
Latios	Adaptability, Beads of Ruin, Dragon's Maw
Talonflame	Fluffy, Magic Guard
Tornadus-Therian	Intimidate, Magic Guard, Primordial Sea, Shadow Shield, Sheer Force
A-
Cinderace	Desolate Land, Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
Clodsire	Corrosion, Immunity Ability, Thick Fat, Vessel of Ruin
Goodra-Hisui	Regenerator
Great Tusk	Chlorophyll, Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Regenerator
Iron Moth	Beads of Ruin, Desolate Land, Electric Surge, Sheer Force
Ogerpon-Wellspring	Grassy Surge, Primordial Sea
Ogerpon-Cornerstone	Grassy Surge, Rocky Payload
Overqwil	Primordial Sea, Regenerator
Zamazenta	Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
Zapdos	Delta Stream, Fluffy, No Guard, Primordial Sea
B RANK: Pokemon with valuable roles in the tier
B+
Ditto	Magic Guard
Hatterene	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Regenerator, Stamina
Hydrapple	Beads of Ruin, Fluffy, Shadow Shield
Iron Crown	Beads of Ruin, Electric Surge, Magic Guard, Psychic Surge, Regenerator
Landorus-Therian	Desolate Land, Immunity Ability, Regenerator
Lokix	Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
Moltres	Desolate Land, Immunity Ability, Magic Guard
Qwilfish	Primordial Sea
Rillaboom	Galvanize, Long Reach, Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
Vileplume	Desolate Land
B
Barraskewda	Primordial Sea
Blissey	Magic Guard, Regenerator, Unaware
Breloom	Guts, Fluffy, Marvel Scale
Chansey	Magic Guard, Regenerator, Unaware
Chesnaught	Flame Body, Fluffy, Immunity Ability
Cobalion	Magic Guard, Regenerator
Crawdaunt	Mold Breaker, Primordial Sea, Sword of RUin
Exeggutor	Desolate Land
Glimmora	Fluffy, Immuntity Ability
Greninja	Adaptability
Hydreigon	Adaptability, Dragon's Maw
Ludicolo	Primordial Sea
Mienshao	Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
Pelipper	Immunity Ability, Magic Guard, Swift Swim
Primarina	Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Stamina
Sandy Shocks	Adaptability, Immunity Ability, Mold Breaker, Refrigerate
Scream Tail	Intimidate, Immunity Ability, Pixilate, Unaware
Shiftry	Desolate Land
Toxapex	Corrosion, Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Prankster
Tyranitar	Immunity Ability, Regenerator, Sand Rush
B-
Brambleghast	Sword of Ruin
Deoxys-Defense	Regenerator, Unaware, Vessel of Ruin
Garganacl	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Vessel of Ruin
Gastrodon	Fluffy, Magic Guard, Vessel of Ruin
Haxorus	Protean, Sword of Ruin
Incineroar	Regenerator
Iron Boulder	Electric Surge, Sharpness
Iron Treads	Bulletproof, Electric Surge, Immunity Ability, Regenerator
Kommo-O	Galvanize, Regenerator
Lilligant-Hisui	Desolate Land, No Guard
Regieleki	Refrigerate
Rotom-Wash	Intimidate, Primordial Sea, Regenerator
Sinistcha	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Stamina
Skeledirge	Desolate Land, Immunity Ability
Slither Wing	Fluffy, Regenerator, Sword of Ruin
Swampert	Regenerator
Tinkaton	Immunity Ability, Regenerator
C RANK: Pokemon with solid ability synergy and potential niches within the tier.	Many of these Pokemon will perform worse than other Pokemon in the same role, but have specific niche interactions that could make them worth using
C+
Dondozo	Immunity Ability, Magic Guard
Grimmsnarl	Immunity Ability, Pixilate, Regenerator, Sturdy
Gumshoos	Protean, Toxic Boost
Hippowdon	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Sand Rush
Iron Leaves	Electric Surge, Sharpness
Lanturn	Regenerator
Quaquaval	Fluffy, Immunity Ability, Magic Guard, Primordial Sea
Toxtricity	Galvanize, Refrigerate
Volcanion	Desolate Land, Immunity Ability, Magic Guard, Primordial Sea
C
Araquanid	Primordial Sea
Chandelure	Desolate Land, Immunity Ability, Mold Breaker
Fezandipiti	Corrosion, Immunity Ability, Pixilate, Regenerator
Forretress	Regenerator
Heracross	Quick Feet, Toxic Boost
Hitmonlee	Scrappy, Sword of Ruin
Jirachi	Immunity Ability, Regenerator
Polteageist	Dazzling, Normalize, Pixilate
Regidrago	Beads of Ruin, Magic Guard
Ribombee	Aroma Veil, Prankster, Sturdy
Rotom-Heat	Desolate Land, Mold Breaker
Scizor	Steely Spirit, Well-Baked Body
Serperior	Galvanize
Vaporeon	Primordial Sea, Regenerator

Fantastic news everybody: We have an updated Viabiliy Rankings, FAQ, and Sample Teams! Additionally, we'd like to welcome adriancosmoem to the PokeAAA council!

 

[DiegoVstar]

Aw my team isn’t up there

 

[mason75]

Fantastic news everybody: We have an updated Viabiliy Rankings, FAQ, and Sample Teams! Additionally, we'd like to welcome adriancosmoem to the PokeAAA council!

Hydreigon got ranked? No mega launcher like ive been running on every team but… a win is a win

 

[VannAccessible]

Been experimenting with some stuff:

The best TR breaker cleaner I could find, besides Mold Breaker Craw. This thing’s list of base abilities are a bevy of riches. Guts and Adaptability Facade backed by Strong Jaw Crunch is a drug in Trick Room, and then there’s also Stakeout. It also has lots of coverage options and U-Turn. Band Protean does fine too, but I personally find Facade too hard to pass up.

Harvest + Leppa Berry = near infinite Revival Blessings. Mmm, cheesy.

Levitate (either itemless or Colbur Berry) Pecharunt is probably the best spinblocker, denies Tusk, Treads and Brambleghast. It’s also just genuinely nice to be Spikes and Ground immune, and KOing Meowscarada after it tries to take you out with a weakened Knock Off.

Prankster with Destiny Bond is some degenerate fun that either forces a trade, or allows Pecha to lob a free attack with Malignant Chain or its Ghost STAB. (Even more cancerous in tandem with Revival Blessing.) Also priority Parting Shot is very nice.

Decent balance and stallbreaker with Taunt. It cannot use Rest because of Vital Spirit, so appreciates Wish or Revival Blessing support. I was using Purifying Salt to make it fully status immune (which is the main method of passive teams attempting to beat it) besides just PP stalling it. You could also go with Fluffy, Vessel of Ruin or Tablets of Ruin to make it generally tankier, since you still pack Taunt, but become vulnerable to Scald, MChain, Flame Body, etc.

All its VR abilities listed are offensive, but Rilla can make a great defensive pivot and support mon with both U-Turn and Knock Off and lots of sustain between Leftovers, Terrain and the best harassing move besides Salt Cure, Leech Seed. Consider giving it Grassy Pelt, Fluffy, or Vessel of Ruin for defensive sets.

Mycelium Might makes Chilly Reception have lower priority, letting it safely slow pivot out to a breaker after setting Trick Room. The benefit of MM vs Lagging Tail is that Slowking can still attack first when TR is up. Niche tech for Trick Room teams, but handy.

Shed Skin with Rest gives you a renewable special wall that absorbs status, and has the longevity of Regenerator, without consuming that prized ability, while also still letting you use hazards and Whirlwind. Alternatively you could use Early Bird or Natural Cure, but I think SSkin is best because it doesn’t necessarily force the use of Rest in the former to shed a poison or burn, and doesn’t force a switch out on something you’re trying to wall, in the later. (I don’t think PSalt is advised here, as you lose access to Rest.)

I also think Regenerator Vest Uxie is a decent enough side-grade to Deoxys-D to be listed. You lose Night Shade (which is undoubtedly handy for stuff like Hatterene) but you gain a Spikes immunity (an amazing quality for a RegenVester) and more importantly U-Turn, thus letting it do Regen loops more safely, or slow pivoting in breakers, making it an arguably better fit on balance teams.

 

[Lavender Vice]

Been experimenting with some stuff:

The best TR breaker cleaner I could find, besides Mold Breaker Craw. This thing’s list of base abilities are a bevy of riches. Guts and Adaptability Facade backed by Strong Jaw Crunch is a drug in Trick Room, and then there’s also Stakeout. It also has lots of coverage options and U-Turn. Band Protean does fine too, but I personally find Facade too hard to pass up.

Harvest + Leppa Berry = near infinite Revival Blessings. Mmm, cheesy.

Levitate (either itemless or Colbur Berry) Pecharunt is probably the best spinblocker, denies Tusk, Treads and Brambleghast. It’s also just genuinely nice to be Spikes and Ground immune, and KOing Meowscarada after it tries to take you out with a weakened Knock Off.

Prankster with Destiny Bond is some degenerate fun that either forces a trade, or allows Pecha to lob a free attack with Malignant Chain or its Ghost STAB. (Even more cancerous in tandem with Revival Blessing.) Also priority Parting Shot is very nice.

Decent balance and stallbreaker with Taunt. It cannot use Rest because of Vital Spirit, so appreciates Wish or Revival Blessing support. I was using Purifying Salt to make it fully status immune (which is the main method of passive teams attempting to beat it) besides just PP stalling it. You could also go with Fluffy, Vessel of Ruin or Tablets of Ruin to make it generally tankier, since you still pack Taunt, but become vulnerable to Scald, MChain, Flame Body, etc.

All its VR abilities listed are offensive, but Rilla can make a great defensive pivot and support mon with both U-Turn and Knock Off and lots of sustain between Leftovers, Terrain and the best harassing move besides Salt Cure, Leech Seed. Consider giving it Grassy Pelt, Fluffy, or Vessel of Ruin for defensive sets.

Mycelium Might makes Chilly Reception have lower priority, letting it safely slow pivot out to a breaker after setting Trick Room. The benefit of MM vs Lagging Tail is that Slowking can still attack first when TR is up. Niche tech for Trick Room teams, but handy.

Shed Skin with Rest gives you a renewable special wall that absorbs status, and has the longevity of Regenerator, without consuming that prized ability, while also still letting you use hazards and Whirlwind. Alternatively you could use Early Bird or Natural Cure, but I think SSkin is best because it doesn’t necessarily force the use of Rest in the former to shed a poison or burn, and doesn’t force a switch out on something you’re trying to wall, in the later. (I don’t think PSalt is advised here, as you lose access to Rest.)

I also think Regenerator Vest Uxie is a decent enough side-grade to Deoxys-D to be listed. You lose Night Shade (which is undoubtedly handy for stuff like Hatterene) but you gain a Spikes immunity (an amazing quality for a RegenVester) and more importantly U-Turn, thus letting it do Regen loops more safely, or slow pivoting in breakers, making it an arguably better fit on balance teams.

I want to also mention Wind Rider Rillaboom, it actually lets it with a SpD set check a decent amount of attackers in the tier like Peli and Torn-T. Rilla def is underrated as a supportive mon, GSurge, Leech Seed, Uturn and Knock, Taunt, even has built-in prio in GGlide or speed control in Drum Beating.



Speaking of interesting sets, I've been experimenting now that my hiatus is over.
Meowscarada @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Spikes
- Flower Trick

MG Focus Sash support Meow is really interesting to me. Yes, it gets walled HARD now by stuff, but Sash with MG allows it to very often trade your sash to kill an opposing setup mon, and stay comfortably in Overgrow range for what are essentially CB Flower Tricks. Spikes is also really neat, and I've been experimenting running TAxeless because without a boosting ability/item Meow struggles to kill things that TAxel would normally be used for, and setting up spikes and/or dodging potential Volt Switches is very fun.

Altaria @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Rest

Def wanna play around with this more but I have also been digging MG Altaria. It's a nice little built-in Keldeo check (ICY WIND ISN'T REAL), checks Moth if you run EQ over something like Wisp, can heal to full with Rest + Natural Cure (or if you so want go Roost), can defog, and with MG can run lefties while dodging rocks damage and being immune to Brave Bird recoil. Not amazing, especially since MG and Natural Cure are a bit redundant together for status, but still an interesting little mon.

 

[Lavender Vice]

Hiatus over, new team(s, multiple this time!) that I used to climb to 1600 after tanking my elo to like 1400 with some abysmal dogshit pressure stall shenanigans lol. Because there's two this time and I just... listen, I'm tired and the second team that got me to 1600 in the final push is really basic, the yapping is gonna be a bit less structured.


RegenVest Forretress Semi-Stall

https://pokepast.es/7a17d63dfb8e0b08


So, weird little team and I know, I know, haha Lavender is the RegenVest girl, it's her shtick atp, mhm- BUT, I do think RegenVest SpD Forre is really interesting in spite of it having such good status moves at its disposal. Rapid Spin is amazing as always, and Volt Switch is good for pivoting, but also as I've alluded to in previous iterations I REALLY like the insurance that Sturdy + Counter provides as a backup anti-setup move (and just punishing strong attackers like Meow). Iron head is in the last move as a way to punish non-mystical fire Hatt and other fairies, and just being nice STAB. It has a really nice typing and decent enough mixed bulk that it can survive more hits than you'd expect.

I will say, and this is a bit more blasphemous, the more I play with Hamurott the more... disincentivized I am to say it should hold such a lofty position on the VR. It's still good, don't get me wrong, Ceaseless Edge is free progress (WHEN IT HITS) alongside STAB Knock and Flip Turn, it's very potent as a mon. So, what's the issue? It's that in practice, unless you're playing against slower and/or more passive teams, it REALLY struggles to actually safely get in. Maybe games unless you run very bulky sets (which then don't do much damage) it can get off maybe a single Ceaseless Edge and dies because it, frankly, doesn't have a great typing for the majority of basically every mon in the tier's coverage, bleh bulk, and a pretty bad speed tier outside of outspeeding the slowest of mons like Heatran and Crawdaunt. Because of this, while yes, Ceaseless Edge 'forces progress', it's such a herculean task to get Hamu in safely without it basically just being a suicide spike button, I can't in great faith say that it deserves to be above other, imo better mons that have far better longevity than it. Perhaps this is just a playstyle difference however, I definitely value longevity and bulk more than other folk (also why I went with MGLO Hamu over other sets).

I don't have much else to add, the rest of the team is very basic. What I will say is, while not included on the team, try out Bulletproof Hatt sometime gang. Immunity to SBall and SBomb is pretty fun, and hardwalling Breloom is really good too.


Onto the other team...

Woger Hazard Stack

https://pokepast.es/86c274d7812e5ff1

Once again, another pretty basic team, this one especially so there really aren't any standout members or 'neat tech'. Earth Eater Tinkaton is nice as a dragon check, DesoDirge as always is a great unaware wall and water counter. I decided unlike what I usually do in going Ditto, went Lokix for a more proactive and offensive way to handle fast/setup mons. The team does struggle to break the bulkiest of stall teams, but playing your cards right to wear down opposing Corvis so you can hazard stack effectively helps, and Lokix is a decent-ish wallbreaker, especially with Leech Life. Woger I wanna start seeing ore of tbh, it's still really good and PrimSea Ivy Cudgels still hit super hard. Its been powercrept a bit with the advent of weatherspeed and so many more water immunities running around, but I still think it's amazing and a great water counter in and of itself with Water Absorb.

Lastly, I just really like Regen Great Tusk. I rarely build with it because I find it a little hard to slot in over other regen mons, but being such a tanky regen tank with access to spin and taunt feels really nice, and has carried quite a few games by itself. BPress making you 'immune' to intimidate drops is also super handy. Lastly, being able to run a different 4th move by having another rocker on the team so it can turbo hard wall Corvi (you take a lot from Brave Bird but Corvi takes so much in recoil I'd argue it's a good thing with Regenerator to keep yourself topped off) and stop it from defogging.

Solid team, was the one that got me that final stretch. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but hey, sometimes simple, good sets (that aren't stupid dumb sets I LARP as being good) are fun too. Also yes, yes, two Corviless teams, it's the end times lol.



Anywho my hiatus for the most part is over, life is a bitch but it's nice to be back in the saddle building and climbing again! :)​

 

[DiegoVstar]

I feel like with the recent restriction of Hadron Engine, should at least receive a second chance. It was banned previously because of its access to the combo of Hadron and Rising Voltage dealing insane damage. I feel that some strong abilities could be Transitor or Drought to increase its damage output, but we’ll see. All and all, I’d like to see an unban of this

 

[BandedBodyPress]

I feel like with the recent restriction of Hadron Engine, should at least receive a second chance. It was banned previously because of its access to the combo of Hadron and Rising Voltage dealing insane damage. I feel that some strong abilities could be Transitor or Drought to increase its damage output, but we’ll see. All and all, I’d like to see an unban of this

It still gets Electric Surge, boss. I think that it’s not a great fit for the tier but I’d like to be wrong.

 

[EtherealLouser]

It still gets Electric Surge, boss. I think that it’s not a great fit for the tier but I’d like to be wrong.

I still feel like Raging Bolt is probably, maybe, too much; BUT, it definitely would not because of Electric Surge. In fact, Electric Surge is a bait set, and the only evidence you need to prove it's bait is NatDex AAA. Hadron is also banned there, but Raging Bolt is still strong and, imo, banworthy because its STABs are so good together and its power is so high even with resisted hits.

I feel like with the recent restriction of Hadron Engine, should at least receive a second chance. It was banned previously because of its access to the combo of Hadron and Rising Voltage dealing insane damage. I feel that some strong abilities could be Transitor or Drought to increase its damage output, but we’ll see. All and all, I’d like to see an unban of this

Imo, the real reason this thing should not be unbanned here in PokeAAA is because of boost stacking. Drought Specs is probably its best ability: Any wall not named AV Ting-Lu, AV Hoodra, and Blissey is folding to the combination of Weather Ball or Solar Beam/Draco/Volt with Proto-SPA and Choice Specs. Unlike many other weather abusers, Raging Bolt thrives in all weather, bar Delta Stream (even then, Delta Stream on WHAT mon), so trying to clear the Sun is not really an option for most teams; you have to tank its hits. And guess what, with bulk like that, Calm Mind sets are never out of the equation, especially when Booster Energy gives them a free boost + more power ala Beads of Ruin or Immunity abilities like Earth Eater so that Grounds can't touch you.

 

[Ducky]

wanted to share my teams from aaapl. didn't do too well but I'm happy with the teams I built. s/o BPP and sleepfwog for the support
click the sprites for the pastes and the names for some awesome music

Week 1 vs. Baddy (L) - Replay
- Manning Fireworks

Since this was the first tournament in the new meta, I wasn't really sure what to bring. I think Glimmora is pretty under-explored so I decided to bring that. I also wanted to bring Overqwil because I wasn't sure how people would prep for it.

Week 2 vs. adriancosmoem (L) - Replay

- Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Hamu is so strong so I just decided to build a pivot spam to just click moves with it. Unfortunately a bulky Rillaboom threw a wrench in my plans and Meowscarada once again proved to be a fraud.


Week 3 vs. TheHisuiRegion (L) - Replay

- Attempted Mustache

THR was bringing a lot of fat balances so I wanted to build something similar. Specs Adapt Greninja has pretty crazy calcs and Low Kick fries Hoodra and Heatran. Here I played around the Gastrodon pretty poorly and got a turn wrong at the end. I also built an alternate version of this team with Scarf Greninja and SoR Life Orb Mienshao that you can get here.

Week 4 vs. hida (W) - Replay
- Milo Goes to College

Was feeling pretty unhappy with how I'd been playing so decided to build something super simple around Hamu and Talonflame, which is probably the best cleaner in the tier. Scarf Scream Tail really helps open things up for the other two breaker if you can land the Trick on something good. The positioning got a little awkward near the end but Talonflame did Talonflame things and won the game.

Week 5 vs. Miss Crisis (W) - Replay

- Stomping Ground

I felt like Hamu had been working out for me so I decided to bring it again, this time pairing it with a different Fire-type in Cinderace. I think Ace is also not used enough for how good it is, it has an awesome movepool, a strong move that beats Fluffy, and a good speed tier. I finished off the offensive core with Iron Crown cuz I wanted something not weak to Rocks cuz I worried my removal was a little sketchy. Intimidate Zapdos is a good general physical wall and Tusk and Ting Lu just always provide a ton of utility.


Will probably post general meta thoughts after AAAPL and TPP are finished so stay tuned!

EDIT: forgot to add but I originally built this for week 5 before I accidentally leaked the team. The defensive core is a little wonky but I think it's solid. https://pokepast.es/dc5fa0c79f9fa707

 

[mason75]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2681305573-pntynosjuu4v78dyjt57tpn3w35b49spw
(last replay)

Folks, I have finally reached Rank #1 on the Pokebilities AAA Ladder! After several attempts, reaching Rank #2 twice even, I have came up with this version of my Munkidori Balance strat. https://pokepast.es/466f695b1da89d3c

I've actually achieved 2 goals in this journey, the other being to prove to myself that you don't need a Fire OR Water immunity in this format in order to win. That was a belief I held for a long time as strong weather abusing sets were popular and difficult to tank naturally. I settled here on Vessel of Ruin Corv paired with Hydreigon and Kommo-o as both Fire AND Water resists, the latter of which having Bulletproof. The Vessel of Ruin is much preferred over Water-Absorb/Well-Baked Body as Regidrago would rip apart this team otherwise. Kommo-o was chosen not just for its stronger damage output compared to Arcanine, but also for its Rock Resistance. Ogerpon-Cornerstone would shred you apart if not for Kommo-o, as well as other Rocky Payload users. Hydreigon is simply the glue that holds it all together, having great typing that you can't get elsewhere, and debatably the only good user of Mega Launcher in the format. Pawmot has only changed to Close-Combat as it is just better overall. Focus Punch sure is funny when it lands though. I also made it Jolly since you do actually want to outspeed things like Iron Crown and Zapdos. The Munkidori set has changed a bit, no more Future-Sight as I now have Belly Drum Kommo-o to wallbreak or sweep on its own. Focus Blast is a good addition as hitting Steels with Base 130 SpA even uninvested can do the trick. This lets you chip Heatran faster which is greatly appreciated as we now lack U-turn. Venoshock was added because we are oh so weak to Fairy types now and we still were losing to a simple Calm Mind Hatterene setting up if we didn't get Toxic Chain to activate. I think you could try a variety of Poison STABs of choice in this slot, I happened to go with this one for the double damage vs Poisoned foes and having no secondary effect of Poisoning the foe; I want the Toxic status more than anything. Now Sub/Drum Kommo-o is a choice I went with to be both strong, tanky, as well as have a way of boosting Speed. With 252 Atk and an Adamant Nature, 5-Hit Scale Shot hits incredibly hard. And after a Belly Drum? It basically can only be stopped by a Fairy type or an Unaware user however, I chose Skill Link Scale-Shot rather than Adaptability or some other damage boosting ability because the Substitute + Leftovers combo actually let's you win the 1v1 vs certain Unaware users as you still do plenty of damage to force recovery.

I am excited to hear what you all think of this team, Thanks for reading. Pig Perfect... out! :)

Lolamalol (Alomomola) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fluffy
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Protect
- Scald
- Wish



Neverbored. (Corviknight) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn



Sky Hygh (Hydreigon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Dragon Pulse
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn



H. J. Scale (Kommo-o) @ Leftovers
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Drain Punch
- Scale Shot
- Substitute



Mojo Jojo (Munkidori) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fake Out
- Focus Blast
- Psychic Noise
- Venoshock



Ehander Pawlyfield (Pawmot) @ Punching Glove
Ability: Sword of Ruin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off
- Thunder Punch

 

[Lavender Vice]

WHAT'S UP LOVELIES! I'm back with a new team after falling a LOT of elo due to... issues. REGARDLESS, I have climbed back up to rank 1 (which admittedly hasn't been too too tedious, but, yk, at least a good few dozen games) with a team I genuinely have not had as much fun building with as I have ever before. (small edit I forgor to add my ELO screenshot as is standard atp for my posts)

PIROUETTE MELOETTA SEMI-STALL

https://pokepast.es/7bd9abe4fdd51b05

Meowscarada @ Choice Band
Ability: Long Reach
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Triple Axel
- Thunder Punch

'Meowscarada is a fraud' 'Long Reach Meow is fake' now, we are all allowed to have opinions, and I, respectfully, believe these opinions to still be dead fucking wrong lmfaooooo. LR is still Meow's best ability by far, and if you get at ALL creative with Meow (and use its actually good sets) it rips teams apart without mercy. Now, we have the obvious outlier here, Thunder Punch! Now, why TPunch on Meow you might ask? Well, what is Meow's only real splashable check in the tier? Corviknight! Well, how do we beat Corviknight then without sacrificing too much on Meow? This had me wracking my brain for a bit, but I realized- you don't NEED Flower Trick. TAxel hits the grounds like Tusk plenty strongly, and TPunch, though weaker, with Long Reach still blasts Mola super hard (guaranteed 2HKO). But now, we GUARANTEED TWO HIT KO non Tablets or Intimidate Corviknight, and still blow it away really damn hard with TPunch doing 38-45 to Intimidate max/max Corvi without needing to gamble on TAxel hits. Now, this isn't a full stop kill Corvi button, but unless they are running a VERY specific Corvi set, giving up defensive utility with immunity abilities, raw bulk in Fluffy, hell, if they aren't running Corvi at all you just run over teams with this monster.

The cat is unwallable and this continues to ring true, again and again no matter how much the naysayers want to say otherwise.

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

I was originally running Fluffy, switched to Tablets because of the shaky fire matchups aka Talon and Cinderace (and just being more reliable overall into things like Woger for example). It's... it's Corviknight. What do you want from me lmfao

Clodsire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 212 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Spikes
- Recover

Standard Corrosion Clod. Went with Corrosion because I wanted it to not be so passive and serve as another way to threaten opposing Corvis that want to switch in and defog your hazards away (or punish them Uturning for free with a potential poison point).

Iron Hands @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Fake Out

My standard Regen Hands set with a physdef spread and rocky helmet this go around. Went with Rock Slide over EQ because it's physdef and I wanted a safe matchup into Talon without being burn fished, as well as a way to chip Lando-T if need-be. Fake Out as always remains amazing as a way to chip down offense teams.

Meloetta @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Relic Song
- Close Combat

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites."

For the longest time, yk, I've thought this quote was a load of horseshit. ofc I'm known atp as the weird girl who keeps bringing weird ass niche mons with wack sets to #1 on ladder, but never with my FAVORITES you know? I mean, I'm pretty lucky all things considered, though Gulpin is... yk, Gulpin, and Shuckle isn't in the game, I've always been lucky my what I'd probably say is my #3 favorite mon has been a metagame staple in Clodsire.

But, a mon I sometimes forget about because it's rarely good outside of niche OMs and never really talked about, has once more reminded me why above all else is my favorite mythical, and favorite Pokemon of all time. Meloetta is such a cool mon conceptually, you know? A music Pokemon (which as someone whom music was their life and escape growing up loved) that is just a cute little fairy, but can also become this sick looking alternate form with an amazing design, cool stats, unique (until Bewear) typing- like, it's just AWESOME you know? If only it wasn't shackled to having to use fucking Relic Song, a weak normal SPECIAL move to get that form in battle. And so while I ADORED Meloetta and its Pirouette form in both design and stats, I just... couldn't ever really find a way to use it because obviously! There's so much investment you need to put into just getting it into its form until you inevitably have to switch it out again.

But, as I was building this team and wanted a RegenVester as I am known for atp, I decided on Meloetta for its unique typing, good specially defensive stats, and it's just a strong Uturn and Knock bot. Standard if not very midly niche, right? But then I got to thinking about ways to improve my matchup into Ting Lu and Hamu specifically, and I realized... wait a second. This mon has native Serene Grace. Wait a second. This mon has Close Combat. And it only needs 16 Spe IVs because of how blazing fast Pirouette form is to outspeed 295s... like Hamu.

Do you see it? The potential?

And suddenly I realized other avenues that this set excelled in! You know rip Blisseys apart with Close Combat! Those sleep fishes can come in clutch in SEVERAL games! HOLY SHIT THAT HYDREIGON SUDDENLY DOESN'T BEAT MELOETTA ANYMORE BECAUSE I RESIST DARK? OH! And Crawdaunt that thought it had a free switch-in just got 'call an ambulance, but not for me'd!

And so, you know gang. Sometimes, it can be really hard to find a way to win with your favorites, and to be frank- sometimes, in most metagames- you can't! BUT! BUT BUT BUT- If anyone reading this ever takes ANYTHING away from my teams and explanations of them, and the philosophy I have for building for and playing mons, it's that creativity is your greatest strength and the most fun part about this hobby. Don't be afraid to get weird with it, or try 'fake' sets, things that fall out of the normal convention for what is deemed viable and good. Because sometimes, you find true gold, and discover a way to win with your favorites despite all odds being stacked against them- and NOT in spite of them.

Scream Tail @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Wish
- Protect
- Stealth Rock

So I just got done writing that fucking from the heart essay as I jammed out to L's battle theme, but unfortunately the team order (that I am now too lazy to change) mandates I write something here for the most cookie cutter boring ass Scream Tail set. Uh... it's good. It walls shit. It sets stealth rocks. It's fairy so you don't get matchup fished. Sometimes boring can be good and fun too lmfao


Jokes aside I fucking love this format, so many endless possibilities for creativity and I really don't think I'll ever find another meta I'll love as much as it ever again, despite all its flaws. Keep on teambuilding gang, try out weird shit, make... idk, fucking Mabostiff or whatever your favorite mon is a go! This format really is able to make ANY Pokemon shine if you're willing to build around them and get creative.​

 

[Miss Crisis]

Pokebilities AAA is holding another survey!
Respond using this link to give us your thoughts on the metagame, tournament play, and potential tiering action!

 

[noobdueler]

i have a question. if trying to boost offensive strength is there any reason to not pick sword/beads of ruin over any other offensive abilities at all? especially with the 2 ability clause. the only exception i would think are for running multi hit moves(skill link) or long reach? i am not the most knowledge mons guy

 

[EtherealLouser]

i have a question. if trying to boost offensive strength is there any reason to not pick sword/beads of ruin over any other offensive abilities at all? especially with the 2 ability clause. the only exception i would think are for running multi hit moves(skill link) or long reach? i am not the most knowledge mons guy

That's a loaded question, where do we even begin....

For starters, it's important to note that Sword/Beads of Ruin (SoR and BoR for short, respectively) give about the same amount of boost as Adaptability, give or take. Sometimes Adaptability does slightly more, sometimes the Ruin abilities do more; you can equate the 2 abilities on average. Notably, Meowscarada and Greninja lean towards Adaptability for their Choice sets, their most popular sets, because you're only using one move at a time anyway, and you don't reveal an ability immediately.

However, SoR/BoR/Adaptability are not the highest amps you can give. The Primal Weathers, Desolate Land and Primordial Sea, give a 1.5x boost for Fire and Water moves, respectively, while also changing Weather Ball's type. Obviously, weather speed is allowed, so any mon with the base abilities Swift Swim and Chlorophyll will almost always choose Primal Weather for the 1.5x boost in power (Weather Ball too if possible) and double speed (think Barraskewda and Exeggutor). Conversely, a mon that already sets weather as a base ability (notably Pelipper; Tyranitar too, I guess) will do the inverse: equip Swift Swim for the speed, as they need the extra speed to compete with other weather breakers. DesoLand and PrimSea give immunities as well, so you'll see stuff like PrimSea Zapdos over BoR Zapdos because it benefits from perfect accuracy Thunders/Hurricanes, coverage for ground-types in Weather Ball, and a useful Fire immunity to blank Chlorophyll mons and Heatran.

Then, you have mons whose unique combination of moveset, base abilities, and role in the meta means they can take advantage of other abilities better than just SoR/BoR. Examples: Hydreigon sometimes uses Mega Launcher over BoR/Adaptability on certain Choice sets, as it boosts Dark and Dragon Pulse, while Dragon's Maw gives you a bigger punch on Nasty Plot sets due to the lack of Fairies; Deo-Speed runs SFLO or Psychic Surge over BoR on Nasty Plot sets because its movepool consists of a lot of Sheer Force boosted moves, while the latter helps block priority and boosting Expanding Force; Ogerpon Cornerstone is a case that spams Rock moves the most because most teams lack solid Rock resists, so it makes better use of the 1.5x boost provided by Rocky Payload; and lastly, sometimes, a boosting abilities are unideal on some offensive threats and they would rather have ultility abilties, such as Mold Breaker Crawdaunt (ignores Fluffy) and Magic Guard on Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Samurott Hisui (certain sets like to offset recoil and Helmet chip).

The general trend I notice (not an exact science) is this:
- for physical attackers, SoR is used most on physical attackers that commonly use coverage outside of their STABs, and don't have any way in their kit to take advantage of a 1.5x boosting ability (ex. CB Zamazenta, Brambleghast, Lokix)
- physical attackers who can take advantage of a 1.5x boosting usually take it if it boosts their most clicked moves (ex. aforementioned Cornerstone, Sharpness Iron Boulder, PrimSea Ogerpon-Wellspring) or if it synergizes with their base abilities (ex. aforementioned Swift Swim and Chlorophyll mons like Barraskeda, Overqwil, Qwilfish, Shiftry; Guts on Breloom who already uses Toxic Orb for Poison Heal)
- special attackers have a lot more variance than physical attackers as they can take advantage of Sheer Force better (more special than physical moves have secondary effects), have moves that contain anti-synergy with BoR (notable ex. Psyshock and Secret Sword are NOT boosted by BoR), and take advantage of Weather Ball better (which makes Primal Weather more appealing)
- thus, BoR is only really used on Special attackers if you can't take advantage of these other options (ex. Nasty Plot Hydrapple who likes the boost to Earth Power, Regidrago)

TLDR: I highly recommend looking at the VR, and ask yourself why an ability is used over another, like BoR/SoR. Much like everything in Pokemon, context matters a lot, which in this case is the mon's base abilites, movepool, and surrounding metagame. If your're just starting out, stick mainly to the VR, as this OM is NOT new-player friendly due to how many unique ability interactions you have to account for.

 

[Lavender Vice]

I want to make a small note that SoR and BoR are nullified if both mons on the field have the ability, and the ruin abilities both announce their presence on the field.

Now, sometimes this be both good AND bad for you. Hamu for example if running SoR instead of adaptability, even IF you are running all dark and water moves (and not using another ability) can be used to bait your opponent into thinking you've brought Sacred Sword- I mean, why bring it over Adaptability right? You're just giving the opponent free information about what Hamu set you're running. But they still can't know for certain if you did bring Sacred or not.

At this same time, I almost ALWAYS go Adaptability over SoR on Lokix because 99/100 times you're running mono STABs on Lokix, and that little small bit of information you aren't sharing to your opponent about what ability you're running (Long Reach? Magic Guard? Some... other ability that no Lokix ever runs? They don't know!), alongside the small interactions of not having your damage amp be nullified when it's needed against, say, Zamazenta when you're First Impressioning it can be important.

These are just small optimizations that won't make or break a set/Pokemon, but they CAN be important to keep in mind both when building and playing.

 

[mason75]

i have a question. if trying to boost offensive strength is there any reason to not pick sword/beads of ruin over any other offensive abilities at all? especially with the 2 ability clause. the only exception i would think are for running multi hit moves(skill link) or long reach? i am not the most knowledge mons guy

This has inspired me to make use of Tough Claws which is less of an increase than both SoR/BoR (1.3x/1.33x) however if you were to be a mixed attacker that uses Grass Knot or Draining Kiss for coverage, you would prefer Tough Claws as they both make contact despite being Special attacks. I’m looking at Azelf, Eelektross, and Pikachu for candidates right now. Let me know if you think of something else worthwhile!

 

[noobdueler]

That's a loaded question, where do we even begin....

For starters, it's important to note that Sword/Beads of Ruin (SoR and BoR for short, respectively) give about the same amount of boost as Adaptability, give or take. Sometimes Adaptability does slightly more, sometimes the Ruin abilities do more; you can equate the 2 abilities on average. Notably, Meowscarada and Greninja lean towards Adaptability for their Choice sets, their most popular sets, because you're only using one move at a time anyway, and you don't reveal an ability immediately.

However, SoR/BoR/Adaptability are not the highest amps you can give. The Primal Weathers, Desolate Land and Primordial Sea, give a 1.5x boost for Fire and Water moves, respectively, while also changing Weather Ball's type. Obviously, weather speed is allowed, so any mon with the base abilities Swift Swim and Chlorophyll will almost always choose Primal Weather for the 1.5x boost in power (Weather Ball too if possible) and double speed (think Barraskewda and Exeggutor). Conversely, a mon that already sets weather as a base ability (notably Pelipper; Tyranitar too, I guess) will do the inverse: equip Swift Swim for the speed, as they need the extra speed to compete with other weather breakers. DesoLand and PrimSea give immunities as well, so you'll see stuff like PrimSea Zapdos over BoR Zapdos because it benefits from perfect accuracy Thunders/Hurricanes, coverage for ground-types in Weather Ball, and a useful Fire immunity to blank Chlorophyll mons and Heatran.

Then, you have mons whose unique combination of moveset, base abilities, and role in the meta means they can take advantage of other abilities better than just SoR/BoR. Examples: Hydreigon sometimes uses Mega Launcher over BoR/Adaptability on certain Choice sets, as it boosts Dark and Dragon Pulse, while Dragon's Maw gives you a bigger punch on Nasty Plot sets due to the lack of Fairies; Deo-Speed runs SFLO or Psychic Surge over BoR on Nasty Plot sets because its movepool consists of a lot of Sheer Force boosted moves, while the latter helps block priority and boosting Expanding Force; Ogerpon Cornerstone is a case that spams Rock moves the most because most teams lack solid Rock resists, so it makes better use of the 1.5x boost provided by Rocky Payload; and lastly, sometimes, a boosting abilities are unideal on some offensive threats and they would rather have ultility abilties, such as Mold Breaker Crawdaunt (ignores Fluffy) and Magic Guard on Rillaboom, Cinderace, and Samurott Hisui (certain sets like to offset recoil and Helmet chip).

The general trend I notice (not an exact science) is this:
- for physical attackers, SoR is used most on physical attackers that commonly use coverage outside of their STABs, and don't have any way in their kit to take advantage of a 1.5x boosting ability (ex. CB Zamazenta, Brambleghast, Lokix)
- physical attackers who can take advantage of a 1.5x boosting usually take it if it boosts their most clicked moves (ex. aforementioned Cornerstone, Sharpness Iron Boulder, PrimSea Ogerpon-Wellspring) or if it synergizes with their base abilities (ex. aforementioned Swift Swim and Chlorophyll mons like Barraskeda, Overqwil, Qwilfish, Shiftry; Guts on Breloom who already uses Toxic Orb for Poison Heal)
- special attackers have a lot more variance than physical attackers as they can take advantage of Sheer Force better (more special than physical moves have secondary effects), have moves that contain anti-synergy with BoR (notable ex. Psyshock and Secret Sword are NOT boosted by BoR), and take advantage of Weather Ball better (which makes Primal Weather more appealing)
- thus, BoR is only really used on Special attackers if you can't take advantage of these other options (ex. Nasty Plot Hydrapple who likes the boost to Earth Power, Regidrago)

TLDR: I highly recommend looking at the VR, and ask yourself why an ability is used over another, like BoR/SoR. Much like everything in Pokemon, context matters a lot, which in this case is the mon's base abilites, movepool, and surrounding metagame. If your're just starting out, stick mainly to the VR, as this OM is NOT new-player friendly due to how many unique ability interactions you have to account for.

loaded was what i wanted so i can have an answer :). you know i forgot mega launcher was 1.5x, i forgot its stronger. i was asking because i was trying to see if there is any point to tough claws/punk rock vs the ruin 1.33X and forgot there are some abilities stronger than 1.33x. some of the other interactions i didnt know so that helps a lot.

This has inspired me to make use of Tough Claws which is less of an increase than both SoR/BoR (1.3x/1.33x) however if you were to be a mixed attacker that uses Grass Knot or Draining Kiss for coverage, you would prefer Tough Claws as they both make contact despite being Special attacks. I’m looking at Azelf, Eelektross, and Pikachu for candidates right now. Let me know if you think of something else worthwhile!

idk if any of these mons would even be viable here or would prefer something else already but infernape? Meme mixed grenjinja(Liquidation, Aqua Jet, Knock Off and Sacred Sword+ grass knot ).elektross seems cool tbh. mew?comfey(meh). H samurott gets grass knot plus boosts physical moves but idk why you would. Jirachi(tough claws boosted iron head, u turn, drain punch + grass knot+serene grace), metagross(mega metagross at home) emboar? cant really see why it would be used tho. especially with the role compression in the tier