Trademarked

IMO, run a fast Taunt lead, because with the ability to use moves automatically it will probably be really easy to fall behind. Best to nip that in the bud and get the drop on your opponent.

So to clarify on the "Moves can be abilities" thing just a little: Are they callable by Assist, and are they affected by stuff like Skill Swap and Worry Seed? (Not that the latter two would really ever come into play outside of the lead matchup, but hey).

Running Magic Coat as your trademark gives you Magic Bounce Rebound. An extremely silly thing would be to run Camouflage Zygarde for STAB Espeed (just run Dragon Dance dunkass) Confuse Ray and friends will be infuriating probably. Haze could be good on stall. Power Split Shuckle would actually turn into a thing -- not that it should run an attacking move, but nothing beats Shuckle 1v1 at an effective -2.

252+ Atk Choice Band Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Shuckle: 81-96 (33.1 - 39.3%) -- 11.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (adjusted Attack)

Of course, Shuckle should still give serious thought to just trademarking its Sticky Web. But Trick Room will potentially outclass Sticky Web, since Sticky Web teams just lose if something hits +2 a lot of the time. Like Linked, the ability to use a move for free and the potential absurdness of offensive boosting will turn Trick Room into a very real strategy.

More thoughts later if I have any.
 
Okay, here's a quick (more unpolished than quick but w/e) mockup of what a balance team might look like here.
Manaphy @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Tail Glow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
- U-turn

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Heal Bell
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Wish

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Snatch
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit

Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Will-O-Wisp
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Rock Slide
- Synthesis
- Leech Seed

Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Stealth Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Defog
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Roost
If Choice Scarf manages to not lock Manaphy into a move it doesn't actually carry (please let this be how it works), it's effectively at +3/+1, which alongside its solid natural bulk made it seem like a good starting point for a team, since it performs against (almost) any archetype.

Manaphy is threatened by Electric-types and status (which, for real, will be how most sweepers are handled -- note to self, make a Ditto team), so auto-Heal Bell Chansey seemed like the best choice. Chansey also walls threatening Special attackers (sometimes) and passes the occasional Wish.

Because Manaphy is Choice-locked, it needs to have some things Pursuit-trapped, and Knock Off support is nice for random AV/Scarf/Eviolite users, so I ran Weavile. Snatch lets it counter-lead anything slower than it, potentially stealing opposing Swords Dances, Dragon Dances, Thunder Waves, Stealth Rocks... and so on.

At this point i was really hurting for a Keldeo answer (Calm Mind or CM sets aren't kind to Manaphy), and more generally an answer to Fighting-types that doesn't lose to Electric-types, so Gourgeist-Super was chosen for its ability to do those things and spread burns on the switch-in. This could plausibly be switched out for Jellicent, as Gourgeist doesn't like CM+Specs Keldeo.

Cobalion is my Stealth Rocker and Dark-type check, as well as something to spam Close Combat against stuff like Chansey, Ferrothorn, etc. A two-attacks + Swords Dance set, a hazard setter, and a volt-turner all in one set. Love it.

Latios lets me pressure Mega Sableye + Chansey cores while more-or-less defogging (it threatens a lot of hazard setters so I'm not concerned about the lack of manual Defog), and functions as a tertiary setup sweeper and secondary Keldeo check.
Overall this could perhaps be a better team, but it does a good job of showing off what the meta has to offer imo.
 

canno

formerly The Reptile
On my phone right now, but I just wanted to say Haze sounds like a good option for stallier teams to counter-act shit like Manaphy.
 
Does carrying 2 Protect mons and switch continously between two of them will work? I think something needs to be done for trademarking 2 Protects if it works because you can basically switch 2 Protect mons continously and your opponent can't punish it at all.
 
Does carrying 2 Protect mons and switch continously between two of them will work? I think something needs to be done for trademarking 2 Protects if it works because you can basically switch 2 Protect mons continously and your opponent can't punish it at all.
Well, they can use Hoopa-C or Mega Pinsir, but yeah, I see your point. That does, however, leave you very vulnerable to hazards, which they can just switch in super easily.
 
Presumably a Pokemon's trademarked ability will be restricted to its own movepool, otherwise things like tail glow, cotton guard, coil, shift gear, and shell smash would be way too prevalent to be healthy for the meta overall. This said, I think Smeargle should possibly be banned outright since it can learn any status move via sketch, making it largely unpredictable. Archeops should also probably be banned for the same reasons as Slaking and Regigigas.

Side note: The original post lists rapid spin as an example in the hazards/hazard control section. Is rapid spin an exception to the status move only rule or is that a mistake?
 
If you have two pokemon with trademarks that cause an automatic switch, you can create an infinite battle any time the field is clear of hazards. That's a bit of a problem, and I think it would be best to just ban these trademarks. Obnoxious as it sounds on paper, I can't see any legitimate reason to run stuff like "double Parting Shot" since the entire combo is shut down by hazards and just leaves you stuck in a hopeless 4v6 whenever hazards are up. It's gimmicky if hazards are up, and gamebreaking if hazards aren't up. So, I say ban any trademark that causes you to immediately switch out. That still leaves some edge cases with Copycat, but that could be solved by adding a rule to limit you to one trademark of a kind per team.

Skill Swap is another weird one, since it would recursively activate itself. The obvious solution is just to code it so it doesn't activate recursively, and if it works that way then it sounds like it could be a really fun and mind-gamey choice for trademark.

Well, they can use Hoopa-C or Mega Pinsir, but yeah, I see your point. That does, however, leave you very vulnerable to hazards, which they can just switch in super easily.
The problem is that removing your hazard setter then becomes a win-con for someone looking to create an infinite battle. Because a protect trademark is generally useful, double protect isn't even very gimmicky and could be run for entirely legitimate reasons and create infinite battle potential in otherwise serious matches. Heck, even a rule to limit you to only one trademark of a kind per team wouldn't stop this, as there are several protect clone moves.
 
Would just like to say that this idea is pretty amazing.

Some ideas that nobody else mentioned yet

-Geomancy will be godly (although it depends on how the charge works)
-Shell smash would be great, but cloyster would lose skill link. Huntail might be viable due to this, as a mixed set with sucker/waterfall/ice beam/filler (waterfall probably) can hit hard with STAB from both sides, has priority to avoid being revenge killed, and can kill grasses with +2 ice beam.
-Sub will be good with slow pivots.
-Belly drum. No explanation needed.
-Wish, give it to chansey/blissey, and heal
-I know it was already said, but due to all this boosting, haze will be required on stall.
-Protect variants will be great for being able to switch in without taking damage, although switching loses usefulness because with protect variants you dont get to have a good ability activate (Wish, haze, boosting)

Some mons I guess
-Aero will be a nice lead, with the fastest Stealth rock, fastest taunt, fastest tailwind, and having defog (although defog is useless for leading.) SPeed will be very important in the lead position to outspeed taunters and rockers go get rocks up/taunt them, respectively.
-belly drum bisharp will be scary with +6 STAB sucker punch off of 125 base attack.
-Cress is going to be amazing. Need a mon that can set up rocks throughout the match? Need a reliable hazard remover? Need a weather setter? Tailwind setter? Trick room setter? Cress can do all of those throughout the match and more with that bulk. Edit: Forgot that it has to be your own move.
-Mew becomes the new ditto, except 100 base hp is much better than dittos 48 (but 100 base speed isent too good, as you may transform before an ability such as swords dance activates, but if your slower you may get OHKOed, so it isent that good)
-As Akuemeoy showed, manaphy will be a threat with scarf tail glow. Volbeat can also pass tail glow boosts, so just slap a scarf on it, pass to a mon with agility as an ability, and you got a +3/+2 sweeper at the ready.
- Specs lanturn could be a scary momentum grabber. It is the only mon with Soak and a STAB SE to water types, so you can just click volt switch with soak as your ability and do a lot to something or gain momentum, with a STAB water attack to scare out ground types.
-Victini with trick room as an ability could freely spam band V-Create and get faster from it.

And to address this:

Presumably a Pokemon's trademarked ability will be restricted to its own movepool, otherwise things like tail glow, cotton guard, coil, shift gear, and shell smash would be way too prevalent to be healthy for the meta overall. This said, I think Smeargle should possibly be banned outright since it can learn any status move via sketch, making it largely unpredictable. Archeops should also probably be banned for the same reasons as Slaking and Regigigas.

Side note: The original post lists rapid spin as an example in the hazards/hazard control section. Is rapid spin an exception to the status move only rule or is that a mistake?
Yes, Smeargle can do many things, but its low stats prevent it from doing anything effectively, and it wont be able to switch in often to have the ability activate. I don't even think it will be good.

Note: I have no clue how to do spoilers. Telling me would be great.
 
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Presumably a Pokemon's trademarked ability will be restricted to its own movepool, otherwise things like tail glow, cotton guard, coil, shift gear, and shell smash would be way too prevalent to be healthy for the meta overall. This said, I think Smeargle should possibly be banned outright since it can learn any status move via sketch, making it largely unpredictable. Archeops should also probably be banned for the same reasons as Slaking and Regigigas.

Side note: The original post lists rapid spin as an example in the hazards/hazard control section. Is rapid spin an exception to the status move only rule or is that a mistake?
Yes, you can only use moves from your movepool.
Just out of question, why would archeops be banned? I understand it is held back by its ability, but it doesn't have the stats/movepool to be on the level of most ubers, especially since it has very few status moves to use as an ability.
I talked with snaquaza- it's a holdover from when any move was usable. He was planning on removing it.

More theorymon!
Keldeo looks like it'll be pretty sweet. It wasn't using it's ability, and a free CM is too good to pass up.
For a similar reason, the Lati twins will also likely be good. Admittedly, however, they may want Defog or Roost.
Clefable, meanwhile, goes from the #1 OU to a mediocre fairy.
Talonflame probably isn't worth using anymore. It does have a nice speed stat, I guess?
Weather setting abilities are now completely replaced by the respective move, which would be great if there were mons with abilities to abuse the weather. Such is life.
If you have two pokemon with trademarks that cause an automatic switch, you can create an infinite battle any time the field is clear of hazards. That's a bit of a problem, and I think it would be best to just ban these trademarks. Obnoxious as it sounds on paper, I can't see any legitimate reason to run stuff like "double Parting Shot" since the entire combo is shut down by hazards and just leaves you stuck in a hopeless 4v6 whenever hazards are up. It's gimmicky if hazards are up, and gamebreaking if hazards aren't up. So, I say ban any trademark that causes you to immediately switch out. That still leaves some edge cases with Copycat, but that could be solved by adding a rule to limit you to one trademark of a kind per team.
It isn't a 4v6- you can just pivot out to a teammate that doesn't have parting shot after you set them to -6, and then proceed to be able to ignore any attacks they try and use. It's free setup (more than usual for this meta), it lets you steal momentum, it lets you make any attempts to sweep meaningless... with no skill required. Honestly I don't see any reason to keep it.
 

lost heros

Meme Master
Yes, you can only use moves from your movepool.
Just out of question, why would archeops be banned? I understand it is held back by its ability, but it doesn't have the stats/movepool to be on the level of most ubers, especially since it has very few status moves to use as an ability.
I talked with snaquaza- it's a holdover from when any move was usable. He was planning on removing it.

More theorymon!
Keldeo looks like it'll be pretty sweet. It wasn't using it's ability, and a free CM is too good to pass up.
For a similar reason, the Lati twins will also likely be good. Admittedly, however, they may want Defog or Roost.
Clefable, meanwhile, goes from the #1 OU to a mediocre fairy.
Talonflame probably isn't worth using anymore. It does have a nice speed stat, I guess?
Weather setting abilities are now completely replaced by the respective move, which would be great if there were mons with abilities to abuse the weather. Such is life.

It isn't a 4v6- you can just pivot out to a teammate that doesn't have parting shot after you set them to -6, and then proceed to be able to ignore any attacks they try and use. It's free setup (more than usual for this meta), it lets you steal momentum, it lets you make any attempts to sweep meaningless... with no skill required. Honestly I don't see any reason to keep it.
It'd probably be best to limit it to one parting shot per team, so that they can still be used but not abused. Also recover/roost/etc is literally just better regenerator.
 
It'd probably be best to limit it to one parting shot per team, so that they can still be used but not abused. Also recover/roost/etc is literally just better regenerator.
Nah, then you can pair it with baton pass and still get the same effect.
And that's where you're wrong. Standard abilities aren't banned as far as we know, in fact, Clefable's hidden ability Unaware is vastly useful here due to the prevalent setup. I doubt it'll be the single most viable Pokemon anymore, but don't count it out.
Huh, I didn't notice that. You are completely correct.
 
It isn't a 4v6- you can just pivot out to a teammate that doesn't have parting shot after you set them to -6, and then proceed to be able to ignore any attacks they try and use. It's free setup (more than usual for this meta), it lets you steal momentum, it lets you make any attempts to sweep meaningless... with no skill required. Honestly I don't see any reason to keep it.
Getting your opponent to -6 requires switching 6 times. That means that Pangoro and Smeargle take Stealth Rock damage 3 times each (37.5% to Smeargle, 18.75% to Pangoro). While it's objectively better than Memento, it costs you two teamslots to run it instead of one moveslot. All this might still be arguable if it were consistent, but it isn't. A number of pokemon just straight up shut down the combo with their abilities (Contrary, Defiant, and Magic Bounce will do the trick), Focus Energy trademarks ignore it, and every team in this meta will be overprepared for setup sweepers anyways. Seems way too inconsistent to commit two team slots to running it to me.

Anyways, I fully agree it needs to go even if for slightly different reasons.
 
Nah, then you can pair it with baton pass and still get the same effect.

Huh, I didn't notice that. You are completely correct.
Why thank you. But anyway, onto some other stuff...
For a similar reason {calm mind}, the Lati twins will also likely be good. Admittedly, however, they may want Defog or Roost.
I've already mentioned Charm Latias in one of the first posts. Has literally no one noticed that post?

Another thing from that post that was seemingly ignored was Charm Mega Gardevoir. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to understand the appeal of that, given that it fixes Mega Gardevoir's main problem, but... Same real thing with Charm on Snorlax.
 

bp scrub

rub a dub dub one scrub in a tub
Heart Swap is also probably usable on Manaphy. You don't get auto Tail Glow, but you do get to steal the opponents stat boosts and you could always manually set up.

idk if this will be banned, but Copycat could be a nice way to revenge kill an opponents Pokemon since you get to use the last move that was used.
 
Yes, you can only use moves from your movepool.
Just out of question, why would archeops be banned? I understand it is held back by its ability, but it doesn't have the stats/movepool to be on the level of most ubers, especially since it has very few status moves to use as an ability.
I talked with snaquaza- it's a holdover from when any move was usable. He was planning on removing it.

More theorymon!
Keldeo looks like it'll be pretty sweet. It wasn't using it's ability, and a free CM is too good to pass up.
For a similar reason, the Lati twins will also likely be good. Admittedly, however, they may want Defog or Roost.
Clefable, meanwhile, goes from the #1 OU to a mediocre fairy.
Talonflame probably isn't worth using anymore. It does have a nice speed stat, I guess?
Generally OMs that allow you to replace abilities often automatically ban Archeops, Regigigas, and Slaking because they become super powerful when given another ability. They have their default abilities because their stats are so strong without it. An example of an Archeops set in this meta would be Hone Claws as the ability and stone edge, EQ, acrobatics/fly (depending on item, which choice band and scarf would be very viable), and knock off or u-turn, again, depending on item. Stone edge won't miss after hone claws, making stone "miss" a very deadly move, especially with its increased crit ratio.

As for your comment on Talonflame, even without Gale Wings, it's very fast, and running swords dance or roost as its ability would be very viable. Roost counters stealth rocks as well as its own recoil damage and swords dance allows it to be used as a fast wallbreaker.
 
... you know, it pays to check the OP before you have discussions about potential bans or clauses.
Clauses: Standard OU Clauses and Rulesets + Baton Pass / Parting Shot will only work for one automatic switch-in per turn.
can we please talk about other shit now
On my phone right now, but I just wanted to say Haze sounds like a good option for stallier teams to counter-act shit like Manaphy.
Theoretically yes, but Haze and Clear Smog have pretty limited distributions w/r/t mons that fit on defensive teams. I'm seeing Tentacruel, Vaporeon, and maybe kinda Weezing as mons that could do that without being really unviable, and none are staple picks for stall for good reasons. Maybe Amoonguss if you're okay with losing out on Spore or Regenerator. Offensive teams have more options here, including Manaphy (Heart Swap), Volcanion, and I guess Gengar (but all three would probably rather do something else). Teams that are really serious about fucking up setup (as stall should be) should stick to Transform Mew and Unaware, tbh.
Presumably a Pokemon's trademarked ability will be restricted to its own movepool, otherwise things like tail glow, cotton guard, coil, shift gear, and shell smash would be way too prevalent to be healthy for the meta overall.
Yeah, it is. This isn't a 100% degenerate version of Sketchmons, don't worry.
This said, I think Smeargle should possibly be banned outright since it can learn any status move via sketch, making it largely unpredictable. Archeops should also probably be banned for the same reasons as Slaking and Regigigas.
Smeargle still has no offensive presence or bulk, alongside mediocre speed -- and it can only use its Trademark to mitigate one, maybe two of these. If Smeargle had several very good sets with different answers and little room to mispredict, then its unpredictability might make it banworthy, but that hasn't been demonstrated. Archeops isn't so grossly out of line with the tier that it should get autobanned -- until shown otherwise, I'll have to assume that the presence of auto-status and auto-Trick Room and pre-boosted Scarfers would work together to keep it from being too gross. Not that CB+Tailwind sets won't be sick as fuck, but let's give it a chance eh?
Another thing from that post that was seemingly ignored was Charm Mega Gardevoir. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to understand the appeal of that, given that it fixes Mega Gardevoir's main problem, but... Same real thing with Charm on Snorlax.
Mega Gardevoir probably prefers a Will-O-Wisp, since it has no business trying to tangle with the tier's physically-offensive Fire-types anyways and in all other respects it's better. Charm Latias could have use, but Latias has lots of moves that it wants to run as its Trademark. Charm on Snorlax is probably okay, but I don't see a compelling reason to use it over Charm Chansey -- if you want it for its comparative offensive prowess, it should probably running Curse, just so its benefits aren't lost when the opponent switches out.

On a more positive note, what Gliscor set would you run?

... and Copycat looks great too. Wow. That is... almost as troubling as Block and friends -- revenge killing should never be THAT cut-and-dry.
 
And that's where you're wrong. Standard abilities aren't banned as far as we know, in fact, Clefable's hidden ability Unaware is vastly useful here due to the prevalent setup. I doubt it'll be the single most viable Pokemon anymore, but don't count it out.
If that's true, I can see Pokémon with Defiant or Competitive being even more useful here than they are in standard play. Namely because many defensive Pokémon (at least those without Will-o-Wisp or a paralysis move as spreading burn/paralysis is generally superior to lowering the stats they lower manually) will be likely to run moves that lower stats, and thus Pokémon with the ability to punish this should become more useful as a result. Bisharp is still Bisharp of course, but other Defiant/Competitive Pokémon with decent stats might become more viable too? Milotic perhaps?

oh, and I was going to point out the thing about Baton Pass/Parting Shot only allowing a free switch once per turn but Akumeoy beat me to the punch
 
Generally OMs that allow you to replace abilities often automatically ban Archeops, Regigigas, and Slaking because they become super powerful when given another ability. They have their default abilities because their stats are so strong without it. An example of an Archeops set in this meta would be Hone Claws as the ability and stone edge, EQ, acrobatics/fly (depending on item, which choice band and scarf would be very viable), and knock off or u-turn, again, depending on item. Stone edge won't miss after hone claws, making stone "miss" a very deadly move, especially with its increased crit ratio.
Slaking and Regigigas are already banned. Banning Archeops is completely unreasonable in almost all OMs unless you want to ban almost all Psuedo-legendaries as well. People tend to forget its 565 BST isn't that high.
 
Mew @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Transform
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roar / Skill Swap?
- Roost

Imposter Mew anyone? This is basically a Ditto with 404 max HP, with the added bonus of having moves other than Transform so it's not completely useless against Zoroark and Substitute. This does beg the question, though: when Mew (or Ditto, or Smeargle) transforms, does it copy the opponent's Trademarked ability, and if so, does said ability activate immediately upon transforming? Also, how does a "Trademark Clause" sound? That is, should teams be allowed to have multiple Pokemon with the same move as their ability?

Edit: if Skill Swap can exchange the abilities, will the abilities activate again?
 
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bp scrub

rub a dub dub one scrub in a tub
Destiny Bond could potentially be really powerful too; if your opponent attacks at the wrong time, it dies.
Grudge could also have a use too. Ofc not a lot of Pokemon get it, with Gengar as the only notable user, but it could be very powerful against choice users to take away a main stab and forcing them to struggle unless they switch out, which means a free turn of setup
 

MAMP

MAMP!
While this is a really cool concept, as it currently stands its hideously unbalanced - any mon that learns Swords Dance can effectively get a Huge Power boost, which is stupid when you consider the enormous distribution of SD. Same goes for other boosting moves, like Nasty Plot, Quiver Dance, Dragon Dance, Agility, Tail Glow, etc. These abilities pretty thoroughly outclass almost every other ability to the extent that I imagine they would centralise the metagame tremendously - I really struggle to see how they wouldn't be broken. As well, status-inflicting abilities like Spore, Will-o, TWave and the like seem potentially broken to me as well; the ease with with something like TWave Skarm could spread para around an opposing team seems almost impossible to deal with. As previous posters have mentioned, Block and Mean Look are basically Shadow Tag and definitely need to go as well.

A cool option that hasn't really been discussed yet is the weather setting moves; Rain Dance/Sunny Day/Sandstorm allow weather teams access to far better weather setters. No longer do rain teams have to rely on Politoed as their weather setter, now getting to use far better Pokemon like Raikou or Scizor. Magic Bounce mons like Mega Sableye gain a ton of utility thanks to their ability to shut down all the mons using abilities like Stealth Rock, Taunt, and such. Defog as an ability will make it really easy to support Pokemon with severe hazard weaknesses like Volcarona which I imagine will boost the viability of these Pokemon. Encore looks like a fantastic option on set-up sweepers, giving them free turns to set up (although this is largely outclassed by just putting the set-up move as your ability :1). In a somewhat similar vein, having Trick as your ability seems really fun and will make it easy to cripple walls with a choice item, and also lets you weaken offensive mons later on by swapping their boosting item for a leftovers or something. Gravity could be a cool option on Ground-types to let them hit flying/levitating mons with their STABs and to boost the accuracy of their coverage moves.

Couple of mechanics questions: does the Trademarked ability trigger before or after hazard damage? I assume that abilities go off in speed order, but the OP doesn't specify this. Is this the case? Also, do the Trademarks count as moves for the purpose of Taunt/Copycat/etc?
 

Martin

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While this is a really cool concept, as it currently stands its hideously unbalanced - any mon that learns Swords Dance can effectively get a Huge Power boost, which is stupid when you consider the enormous distribution of SD. Same goes for other boosting moves, like Nasty Plot, Quiver Dance, Dragon Dance, Agility, Tail Glow, etc. These abilities pretty thoroughly outclass almost every other ability to the extent that I imagine they would centralise the metagame tremendously - I really struggle to see how they wouldn't be broken. As well, status-inflicting abilities like Spore, Will-o, TWave and the like seem potentially broken to me as well; the ease with with something like TWave Skarm could spread para around an opposing team seems almost impossible to deal with. As previous posters have mentioned, Block and Mean Look are basically Shadow Tag and definitely need to go as well.

A cool option that hasn't really been discussed yet is the weather setting moves; Rain Dance/Sunny Day/Sandstorm allow weather teams access to far better weather setters. No longer do rain teams have to rely on Politoed as their weather setter, now getting to use far better Pokemon like Raikou or Scizor. Magic Bounce mons like Mega Sableye gain a ton of utility thanks to their ability to shut down all the mons using abilities like Stealth Rock, Taunt, and such. Defog as an ability will make it really easy to support Pokemon with severe hazard weaknesses like Volcarona which I imagine will boost the viability of these Pokemon. Encore looks like a fantastic option on set-up sweepers, giving them free turns to set up (although this is largely outclassed by just putting the set-up move as your ability :1). In a somewhat similar vein, having Trick as your ability seems really fun and will make it easy to cripple walls with a choice item, and also lets you weaken offensive mons later on by swapping their boosting item for a leftovers or something. Gravity could be a cool option on Ground-types to let them hit flying/levitating mons with their STABs and to boost the accuracy of their coverage moves.

Couple of mechanics questions: does the Trademarked ability trigger before or after hazard damage? I assume that abilities go off in speed order, but the OP doesn't specify this. Is this the case? Also, do the Trademarks count as moves for the purpose of Taunt/Copycat/etc?
Traditionally, hazards activate before abilities (if Politoed is KOed by Spikes, Drizzle won't activate). Therefore it is safe to assume that this is the case here as well.
 

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