Resource ORAS OU Simple Questions, Simple Answers (Read the OP First!)

[pika pal]

Kurona pika pal but conk is slower and has less special bulk and stikl runs AV yes ita supposed to be eating scalds but metagross has better defensive stats overall and its faster putting in risk several special attackers... also can run stealth rock (of course Avless)... im not good enough to actually prove on the ladder if it is good buttheorymoning looks pretty C to me

Conk has Drain Punch to keep his health up and actively benefits from Scald burns on the AV set because of Guts. He also gets overall better coverage than Metagross and access to Knock Off, to name some other things.

Metagross's defensive stats are better, but Conk's recovery offsets that difference, and both have common weaknesses. And while this might be reaching, using Base Metagross for his AV set or such means no Mega Metagross, who is arguably the second best Mega in the game (depending on how you compare him to Altaria).

 

[Kurona]

One good turn deserves another; so I'd like to add onto what pika pal said since he done it for me before.

The problem is that theory almost always turns out to be a lot different to what actually happens in practise. Take (non-custap) Forretress, for example - it seems incredibly solid were you just to look at what it has at face value. It has access to almost all types of hazards aside from Webs, very solid defences, only one weakness, the ability to rapid spin, a guaranteed turn of set-up (fake out and the like notwithstanding) with Sturdy, and even the ability to pivot with Volt switch. So at face value you might assume Forretress to be one of the better leads or defensive Pokémon in the game; but in practise it finds itself just sort of sitting there and not doing anything. It has no offensive presence, it leads to free turns for your opponent, has no sustainability aside from leftovers and there's honestly a ton better hazard removers in the game; especially with the rise of Defog.
A lot of the same can be said for Metagross. On paper it might seem solid with all the good points you've found, but in practise it's really underwhelming and before the discovery of AV Pursuit was the reason it wasn't even on the viability rankings and went to UU for a long time before ORAS gave us Metagrossite. It provides almost nothing to a good team, it has too many weaknesses to effectively be used purely defensively, offensively it has far too much competition to be taken seriously, it has no way to boost it's attack aside from things like Power-up Punch and has no good ability for this role... realistically, unless your team really needs a Pursuit Trapper with Jirachi's defensive typing, when using it you'll be really underwhelmed and wishing you picked something else.
At the same time, if you want to use it and feel you can find a new unique use for it, go straight ahead. It's always nice to see something good and new rise in OU; I just highly doubt you'll find it in base Metagross.

 

[pika pal]

Always nice to be educated more about the Metagame.

Teach us Heropon Riki.

 

[Misdreavus]

Is this for an in-game set? Honestly, just about every set uses either Bolt Strike (physical sets) or Blue Flare and Glaciate (special sets). While you never need all three, you usually need one or the other.

It's speculation for a competitive set. I was wondering if the Virtuoso Victini (the one with V-Create / Fusion Flare / Fusion Bolt) was worth RNGing before I reset my White cart. I don't have the one with Bolt Strike / Blue Flare / Glaciate.

 

[pika pal]

It's speculation for a competitive set. I was wondering if the Virtuoso Victini (the one with V-Create / Fusion Flare / Fusion Bolt) was worth RNGing before I reset my White cart. I don't have the one with Bolt Strike / Blue Flare / Glaciate.

While it might not have the greatest competitive value w/out Bolt Strike and such, there are plenty of people who find trade value in event legendaries, so I'd say RNG it before restarting.

 

[MANNAT]

Where do i report showdown bugs?

 

[p2]

Where do i report showdown bugs?

here

 

[Gimmick]

What's with Custap Berry vs priority? If a Pokemon outspeeds another Pokemon and activates its Custap Berry, but the opposing slower Pokemon uses a +1 priority move, what happens?

According to this screenshot from PS, his Mamoswine's Ice Shard went first despite the fact that I was faster naturally and activated Custap Berry:

screenshot

Does Custap give +1 priority or is it some other weird game mechanic that's beat out by any form of priority?

 

[Karxrida]

What's with Custap Berry vs priority? If a Pokemon outspeeds another Pokemon and activates its Custap Berry, but the opposing slower Pokemon uses a +1 priority move, what happens?

According to this screenshot from PS, his Mamoswine's Ice Shard went first despite the fact that I was faster naturally and activated Custap Berry:

screenshot

Does Custap give +1 priority or is it some other weird game mechanic that's beat out by any form of priority?

It treats your speed as max/infinite for that turn, not give you priority, so it falls within the normal speed vs. priority rules.

 

[Random Passerby]

What are some viable sets to lure and take out Slowbro / M-Slowbro / Slowking? I am building a Zard-X team and thinking of ways to remove them. Manaphy / Starmie / Gengar couldn't do the job since Energy Ball / Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball is quite common and only scares them out instead of crippling or killing them.

 

[DarkNostalgia]

Toxic on various Pokemon that don't appreciate Slowbro/King such as Landorus-T and Heatran work well. Shadow Ball Latios also works, as does Power herb + Solarbeam Heatran.

EDIT: To clarify, Slowking can just Slack Off in Latios's face, which is pretty annoying. Toxic wears down Slowbro and Slowking pretty fast.

EDIT 2: Damn T-Punch Conkeldurr how did I forget that :(

 

[Celticpride]

What are some viable sets to lure and take out Slowbro / M-Slowbro / Slowking? I am building a Zard-X team and thinking of ways to remove them. Manaphy / Starmie / Gengar couldn't do the job since Energy Ball / Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball is quite common and only scares them out instead of crippling or killing them.

Grass Knot Infernape and LO SF Conk w/ Thunder Punch are two that come to mind.

 

[Random Passerby]

Grass Knot Infernape and LO SF Conk w/ Thunder Punch are two that come to mind.

Haha, I am currently using LO SF Conk too. Will try Thunder Punch over Poison Jab (this is to screw Mega Alt and Azumarill) and see how it goes then.

Toxic on various Pokemon that don't appreciate Slowbro/King such as Landorus-T and Heatran work well. Shadow Ball Latios also works, as does Power herb + Solarbeam Heatran.

EDIT: To clarify, Slowking can just Slack Off in Latios's face, which is pretty annoying. Toxic wears down Slowbro and Slowking pretty fast.

EDIT 2: Damn T-Punch Conkeldurr how did I forget that :(

Alright, replacing Fire Blast on my Garchomp with Toxic to test it out.

 

[DarkNostalgia]

You could actually run Fire Blast in tandem with Toxic, it has pretty good utility together because Fire Blast hits many things Toxic misses out on (i.e Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Scizor) that actually switch into Garchomp. Granted, Heatran is a problem, but it's not like Heatran will manually switch into Garchomp.

 

[Random Passerby]

You could actually run Fire Blast in tandem with Toxic, it has pretty good utility together because Fire Blast hits many things Toxic misses out on (i.e Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Scizor) that actually switch into Garchomp. Granted, Heatran is a problem, but it's not like Heatran will manually switch into Garchomp.

I know but removing the only way to damage Flying-types directly makes Garchomp a poorer Talonflame check.

 

[MANNAT]

What are some viable sets to lure and take out Slowbro / M-Slowbro / Slowking? I am building a Zard-X team and thinking of ways to remove them. Manaphy / Starmie / Gengar couldn't do the job since Energy Ball / Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball is quite common and only scares them out instead of crippling or killing them.

I know that this isn't a lure, but Serperior works great with zardx because it can threaten out the mons that kill zardx or kill them because they need their counters to be at 100% and set up contrary leaf storms easily. It can also take out Hippo and defensive Lando-T pretty well assuming it isn't at low HP. Considering how many things Serperior needs to take care of for Zard, you probably want to use the set below as it makes Serperior wear itself down a lot less.

Serp Set

Serperior @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Glare
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]

This may compound weaknesses but PH solartran is also a great lure for Slowbro and mega(AV Slowking tanks a solarbeam)

 

[Blazikarados]

For those who are experienced and good at using stall: what are some things that you wish you had known about the playstyle before you started? What are some general principles that make building and playing stall easier? I've been playing with bulky/hyper offense for a while but wanted to try out stall as well, so I'd like a few pointers before I jump in.

 

[Celticpride]

For those who are experienced and good at using stall: what are some things that you wish you had known about the playstyle before you started? What are some general principles that make building and playing stall easier? I've been playing with bulky/hyper offense for a while but wanted to try out stall as well, so I'd like a few pointers before I jump in.

Stall is... difficult to play in OU. I would say that what most people picture as stall (some Chansey-Skarmory-Gliscor switch fest) is probably dead and gone, and isn't coming back. At its core stall focuses mostly on reaction and picking up damage thorough more passive means (status and hazards mostly). Modern stall has to make plays, apply more pressure, and in general be more aggressive than in past generations. I guess no one is really sure where Stall as a playstyle is heading because honestly its changing pretty frequently. Honestly most of the "stall" teams of present day tend to be what in the past was more defensive balanced or semi-stall.

Quick answer: stack hazards especially Spikes, cover your bases from a threatlist standpoint, have some kind of wincon (CM Slowbro? SD Gliscor? SP Mega Latias?), and play outside the box a little bit.

 

[MANNAT]

For those who are experienced and good at using stall: what are some things that you wish you had known about the playstyle before you started? What are some general principles that make building and playing stall easier? I've been playing with bulky/hyper offense for a while but wanted to try out stall as well, so I'd like a few pointers before I jump in.

Stall is really hard to play with right now because of all the mons that are great against it, but try to have something to deal with the most common stallbreakers before anything else and hazard stacking is extremely important (ferro/skarm/tran and such).

Edit: Actually just listen to Celticpride I haven't played much stall in ORAS, but i used a lot in XY, and Celticpride knows what he's talking about.

 

[SketchUp]

What move does SpD Manaphy run outside of Scald / Rain Dance / Rest. U-Turn?

 

[AM]

What move does SpD Manaphy run outside of Scald / Rain Dance / Rest. U-Turn?

U-turn or Knock Off normally.

 

[Blazikarados]

Honestly most of the "stall" teams of present day tend to be what in the past was more defensive balanced or semi-stall.

Ah yes, I wasn't very clear in my original post--semistall/fat balance sounds more like the style I was aiming for. So for semistall teams, I would just get up hazards and weaken the other team to the point where I would be able to win with the wincon?

What are some roles that are vital on any defensive balanced teams, and what kinds of typical game scenarios should I look out for?

 

[pika pal]

What are decent offensive switch-ins to Mega Gardevoir? I notice my team is a bit Fairy weak, so I figure I should cover the hardest hitting one to alleviate that.

More than willing to rework the team, so just name any good answers regardless of the nature of support. I realize Gardevoir is a bit much to switch into, the move I'm mainly concerned with is Hyper Voice.

 

[AM]

What are decent offensive switch-ins to Mega Gardevoir? I notice my team is a bit Fairy weak, so I figure I should cover the hardest hitting one to alleviate that.

More than willing to rework the team, so just name any good answers regardless of the nature of support. I realize Gardevoir is a bit much to switch into, the move I'm mainly concerned with is Hyper Voice.

jirachi, metagross, scizor, heatran are some to.

 

[DaKakz]

Is Dragon Pulse a viable option for Mega Blastoise in OU ?