Metagame 1v1 Metagame Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.

Elo Bandit

youtube.com/ EloBandit
is a Community Contributor
My thoughts on Marshadow, Deoxys Defense, and the current Suspect Test.


Here are some fun sets mentioned in the video:

Marshadow @ Marshadium Z
Ability: Technician
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat
- Substitute
- Bulk Up

Standard Marshadow, you can alt Will-O, Shadow Sneak, Fight Z, etc.


Marshadow @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 136 HP / 244 Atk / 44 Def / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Shadow Sneak
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab

AV Marshadow to bait special Koko, Lati@s, Fini, etc.


Marshadow @ Roseli Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 8 HP / 108 Atk / 252 Def / 140 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Substitute
- Endeavor
- Counter / Close Combat

Defensive Roseli Berry to bait Mega Mawile, Mega Lopunny, Mimikyu, and Magearna.


Deoxys-Defense @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 168 HP / 180 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Counter
- Mirror Coat
- Trick / Hidden Power [Fire]

The only Deoxys set worth using right now. Snipes Marshadow and Heracross, acts as standard CounterCoat otherwise. Trick shuts down setup/status/sub of pokemon without Z-Crystals or Mega stones. You can slide the HP and SpA around, I like this spread because it KOs most Marsh/Hera without sacrificing too much HP (countercoat effectiveness).
 
We quickbanned accuracy lowering and I am curious why is that is a more overpowered mechanic in 1v1 than putting mons to sleep. For example: if Venusaur uses Mudslap, the opposing Mawile has a 75% chance to land an attack and a 100% chance to set up a Substitute or Swords Dance next turn. Meanwhile, if Venusaur uses Sleep Powder, Mawile has only a 33% chance to do anything at all next turn. Additionally, accuracy lowering has 0 impact on landing a Z-attack or receiving Z-status boosts while Z-moves cannot be used at all while asleep.

Furthermore, I know people talk about probability management. Attacks missing is part of the game and part of probability management, which is why we don't see Blizzard or Thunder unless utilized with a Z-stone. And if probability management is such a big deal, why not unban OHKO moves which have the lowest probabilities in the game?

In the spirit of silly counters, which were used to poo poo banning sleep, accuracy lowering can be countered by abilities like Keen Eye & Clear Body, items like white herb & the 2 lenses, and by far the most common accuracy lowering - Mudslap - is countered by Levitate and any Flying type.

- don't make this a OHKO discussion, dummies
 

RNGIsFatal

Banned deucer.
We quickbanned accuracy lowering and I am curious why is that is a more overpowered mechanic in 1v1 than putting mons to sleep. For example: if Venusaur uses Mudslap, the opposing Mawile has a 75% chance to land an attack and a 100% chance to set up a Substitute or Swords Dance next turn. Meanwhile, if Venusaur uses Sleep Powder, Mawile has only a 33% chance to do anything at all next turn. Additionally, accuracy lowering has 0 impact on landing a Z-attack or receiving Z-status boosts while Z-moves cannot be used at all while asleep.

Furthermore, I know people talk about probability management. Attacks missing is part of the game and part of probability management, which is why we don't see Blizzard or Thunder unless utilized with a Z-stone. And if probability management is such a big deal, why not unban OHKO moves which have the lowest probabilities in the game?

In the spirit of silly counters, which were used to poo poo banning sleep, accuracy lowering can be countered by abilities like Keen Eye & Clear Body, items like white herb & the 2 lenses, and by far the most common accuracy lowering - Mudslap - is countered by Levitate and any Flying type.

- don't make this a OHKO discussion, dummies
Accuracy-lowering moves are inevitable in a form of Mud-slap or others, while Sleep-inducing moves such as Spore, Sleep Powder, and Hypnosis can be prevented by Electric Terrain from Tapu Koko (your fault for not using it), using Grass-types which can block sleep-inducing powder, or simply running Taunt or Magic Bounce.

I still agree sleep has uncompetitive aspect, but it was not prevalent and problematic as accuracy-lowering moves were.
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
Accuracy-lowering moves are inevitable in a form of Mud-slap or others, while Sleep-inducing moves such as Spore, Sleep Powder, and Hypnosis can be prevented by Electric Terrain from Tapu Koko (your fault for not using it), using Grass-types which can block sleep-inducing powder, or simply running Taunt or Magic Bounce.

I still agree sleep has uncompetitive aspect, but it was not prevalent and problematic as accuracy-lowering moves were.
Another thing I would like to add: Sleep Powder is a much rarer move, being almost exclusive to Grass types, most of which aren't even viable anyway. Meanwhile, almost everything up to and including Gen 3, as well as a good amount of stuff afterward can learn Mud-Slap.


With that said, let's move on to today's underrated Pokemon!

Dramps' Pokemon Showcases #2: Hydreigon



Hydreigon @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid/Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast/Flamethrower
- Surf

Hydreigon is a very looked-over pick for a team's Dragon type. First off, it's speed tier is very nice, allowing it to outspeed Landorus-Therian, Deoxys-Defense and Scarf-less Kyurem-Black. It also a great ability in Levitate, which saves it from Groundium Z Golem and Donphan. But what really sells it is it's incredible offensive strengths. With a large 125 Special Attack and a beautiful movepool to back it up, Hydreigon has a tool to heavily dent a lot of things. It also has a cool Dark/Dragon typing, giving it STAB on both Dark Pulse and Draco Meteor, two incredible offensive moves in their own right.

Unlike with Hoopa-Unbound, there are no intricate spreads or move choices to showcase here. Everything you see is purely for the sake of being as devastating as possible. You can choose either Scarf or Specs; the former outspeeds and KOes certain checks, while the latter secures KOs and 2HKOs.

Draco Meteor and Dark Pulse are obvious choices. Fire Blast and Flamethrower kill the bulky grasses/steel types. Surf is to beat Heatran and Landorus (It's better for beating Heatran than Earth Power since most Heatrans run Air Balloon). Alternative options include Taunt for wall-breaking and Head Smash to beat Zard Y.
 
Last edited:
Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Substitute
- Disable
- Taunt


It defeats almost any pokemon with a choice item.
 

Gross Sweep

Plan Ahead
is a CAP Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Substitute
- Disable
- Taunt


It defeats almost any pokemon with a choice item.
Yeah this was a set last generation, but even then it often floundered as it was a one trick pony easily avoided with the rise of opposing megas. This generation I see it taking an even bigger hit as Choice Items are becoming rarer as they're often outclassed by Z Moves, which on top of allowing you to switch moves break through a disable of the move you want to click the Z move of.
 

Nalei

strong, wild garbage
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Substitute
- Disable
- Taunt


It defeats almost any pokemon with a choice item.
Gross Sweep said pretty much what I wanted to say, but I would like to note that Banette isn't an entirely worthless pokemon. Here's a fun mean set I came up with:


Banette-Mega @ Banettite
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Claw
- Taunt

Will-O-Wisp+Cotton Guard allows Mega Banette to take next to no damage from physical attacks. Observe this series of calcs:
252+ Atk Donphan Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Banette-Mega: 106-126 (31.9 - 37.9%) -- 93.3% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk burned Donphan Earthquake vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Banette-Mega: 29-35 (8.7 - 10.5%) -- possibly the worst move ever
252+ Atk burned Donphan Earthquake vs. +6 252 HP / 252+ Def Banette-Mega: 18-22 (5.4 - 6.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever
4 Atk Banette-Mega Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Donphan: 100-118 (26 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after 1 layer of Spikes 2 turns burn and burn damage

So at that point, Donphan is taking more damage from the burn alone than it's doing with Earthquke. Even against a more powerful attacker like Dragonite, it can still hold it's own.

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Banette-Mega: 115-136 (34.6 - 40.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band burned Dragonite Outrage vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Banette-Mega: 57-68 (17.1 - 20.4%) -- possible 5HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band burned Dragonite Outrage vs. +6 252 HP / 252+ Def Banette-Mega: 36-42 (10.8 - 12.6%) -- possible 8HKO

At this point, Banette would have taken a maximum of about 73% from Dragonite (assuming 3 max rolls lol), meaning that 2 more won't KO, unlike Banette's Shadow Claw after some burn damage. Banette can also notably break stall mons like Chansey and Deoxys-D with Taunt. Banette struggles against dark types like Mega Gyarados because Prankster WoW won't work on them and also because they hit Banette super-effectively. Just about any special attacker will also take it down too. It's not something generally worth using and is outshadowed by Murkrow quite a lot, but still an interesting pokemon.

Also, here's a sample team I made about a week ago. After lots of testing, I'm yet to find any good mons/sets that it really autoloses to.

Jumpluff @ Wide Lens
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Substitute

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 12 HP / 240 Atk / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Outrage
- Flare Blitz
- Flame Charge

Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 108 HP / 176 SpA / 224 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]


Fairly standard Jumpluff because I felt like being a horrible person that day. Charizard X is really interesting, though. Flame Charge is used to ensure victory against Tapu Koko and Jumpluff while while Belly Drum takes on Deoxys-D with ease. Note that all of these pokemon seem like an autowin to the opponent making it an insane lure which results in a lot of easy wins. Magearna's insane speed investment also acts as a lure for Tapu Fini and Mega Venusaur. Of course, now that the team is public a lot of this lure factor is going to dissipate, but it's still a great team overall (especially if you want to pound the low ladder, who probably hasn't read this post). One thing to watch out for is the elusive Hidden Power Fire Greninja. Should you come into contact with it, immediately change Magearna's Hidden Power Fire slot to Hyper Beam. Have fun!
 
Last edited:
I've been messing around with some terribad mons that don't require Z-Moves to be decent, and I've stumbled across a decent mon. It requires some support, but without further ado, here is Marowak-Alola!

This is the set I run because EVs are fun to play with! Everything will be below in the tabs, nice and "neat"
Marowak-Alolan (Marowak-Alola) @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 200 HP / 196 Atk / 112 Def
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone/Counter
- Bonemerang/Low Kick is better, see below
- Stone Edge

Flare Blitz: it's there for a powerful STAB. and to burn things.
Stone Edge: it's there to hit the Charizards. and sorta maybe crit Kyurem-Black if you get the matchup wrong
Bonemerang: it's there to hit Magnezone if the Flare Blitz animation is not your favorite. But it's important in hitting Twinkle Tackle Mimikyu and Substitute mons, such as Lopunny-Mega.
Shadow Bone: it's here to round out STAB and hit things that it's super effective against; however it may drop off the moveset if Deoxys-Defense leaves. I would run it for a Slowbro-Mega check, but over all, you can replace it if you please.
Counter: tired of complaining to the 1v1 chat how you keep missing Stone Edge? Run Counter for Char X and Kyurem-B. But you still have to predict and hit that Stone Edge, so it's situational, but viable nonetheless.

Other moves you wish to run but may or may not work(will be edited with suggestions): Will-O-Wisp, Substitute, Swords Dance, Knock Off, Bone Rush?, Iron Tail, Thunder Punch, Belly Drum


Item: I wouldn't recommend changing the item. Marowak-Alola needs the Thick Club to double its Attack. However, if you would like to counter-team opponents, feel free to change the item and lose 9/10 times.
Ability: Lightning Rod is the greatest Electric Bait of all time, besides Volt Absorb. You can make Attidude people forfeit when they send in their Electrium-Z carrying mons. If you're having problems with Recoil, you can run Rock Head if you're confident your opponent thinks that you have Lightning Rod. In fact, you can even make a defensive Marowak-Alola set with Cursed Body and post it here, that would be fascinating indeed!
EVs: my EVs are here to tank a Fake-Out and Giga Impact from Jolly Lopunny-Mega most of the time, and some of the time with Adamant. Additionally, you can change up the EVs however you please to suit your well-being.


This section will be edited when I miss things lol

Things it beats: Magnezone, Tapu Koko, Charizard-Mega-X, Charizard-Mega-Y, Celesteela, Non-Dark Pulse Porygon-Z, Magearna, Genesect, Gardevoir-Mega
Things it does not beat: Gyarados-Mega, Donphan, Marshadow, Tapu Lele, Defensive Deoxys-Defense and Slowbro-Mega, Dragonite unless Counter, Venusaur-Mega(belly drum xd), Golem, Tyranitar-Mega
Things it beats if you're good: Lopunny-Mega, Counter for Kyurem-Black Outrage, Aegislash if it's slow, Porygon2 if it's still a thing and doesn't have Foul Play


A quick note with these Calculations: these are the most common sets and EVs that I will calculate. If someone wishes to counter-team you or "improve" their team by changing Natures, do not blame me, change your own EVs! These are also based on MY EVs, and surely you can do simple math to figure out how much a move would do if I was 252 HP or no Defense etc.
Science
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 57-67 (18.3 - 21.5%) -- possible 5HKO
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Giga Impact vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 211-249 (67.8 - 80%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 63-75 (20.2 - 24.1%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Lopunny-Mega Giga Impact vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 232-274 (74.5 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The Adamant, if I do my math right... is a roll from 94.7% to 112.2% roll, which means there is a 30% chance to live. I hope I did that right.

196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 298-352 (100.3 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Outrage vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 211-250 (67.8 - 80.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Blast Burn vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola in Sun: 258-303 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Outrage vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 220-259 (70.7 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Earth Power vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 246-290 (79 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 328-386 (83.8 - 98.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, but if you want you can take your risk...
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 346-408 (88.4 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Deoxys-Defense: 276-326 (90.7 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Slowbro-Mega: 252-296 (63.9 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Slowbro-Mega Scald vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 260-308 (83.6 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 414-488 (104 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 240-284 (77.1 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 324-384 (106.5 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Metagross-Mega Earthquake vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 216-256 (69.4 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 28+ Def Metagross-Mega: 368-434 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO this is the +1 Gyarados-Mega tanker spread, creds to Iron Crusher
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 279-328 (89.7 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aegislash-Shield: 318-374 (98.1 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Pixilate Gardevoir-Mega Hyper Beam vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 232-273 (74.5 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Overall, Marowak-Alola fills the following roles on your team: bait for Electric types, solid Physical Attacker with decent movepool, and an aesthetic factor that you so desperately need. Be wary that Marowak-Alola is rather slow, and it needs proper support. But if you protect it, it can suit you well in the future! Thanks for reading!

Edit: check out MaceMaster's post too, it's better than mine..

tl;dr- maro is wak and fancy, use it
 
Last edited:

Nalei

strong, wild garbage
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
I've been messing around with some terribad mons that don't require Z-Moves to be decent, and I've stumbled across a decent mon. It requires some support, but without further ado, here is Marowak-Alola!

This is the set I run because EVs are fun to play with! Everything will be below in the tabs, nice and "neat"
Marowak-Alolan (Marowak-Alola) @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 200 HP / 196 Atk / 112 Def
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone/Counter
- Bonemerang
- Stone Edge

Flare Blitz: it's there for a powerful STAB. and to burn things.
Stone Edge: it's there to hit the Charizards. and sorta maybe crit Kyurem-Black if you get the matchup wrong
Bonemerang: it's there to hit Magnezone if the Flare Blitz animation is not your favorite. But it's important in hitting Twinkle Tackle Mimikyu and Substitute mons, such as Lopunny-Mega.
Shadow Bone: it's here to round out STAB and hit things that it's super effective against; however it may drop off the moveset if Deoxys-Defense leaves. I would run it for a Slowbro-Mega check, but over all, you can replace it if you please.
Counter: tired of complaining to the 1v1 chat how you keep missing Stone Edge? Run Counter for Char X and Kyurem-B. But you still have to predict and hit that Stone Edge, so it's situational, but viable nonetheless.

Other moves you wish to run but may or may not work(will be edited with suggestions): Will-O-Wisp, Substitute, Swords Dance, Knock Off, Bone Rush?, Iron Tail, Thunder Punch, Belly Drum


Item: I wouldn't recommend changing the item. Marowak-Alola needs the Thick Club to double its Attack. However, if you would like to counter-team opponents, feel free to change the item and lose 9/10 times.
Ability: Lightning Rod is the greatest Electric Bait of all time, besides Volt Absorb. You can make Attidude people forfeit when they send in their Electrium-Z carrying mons. If you're having problems with Recoil, you can run Rock Head if you're confident your opponent thinks that you have Lightning Rod. In fact, you can even make a defensive Marowak-Alola set with Cursed Body and post it here, that would be fascinating indeed!
EVs: my EVs are here to tank a Fake-Out and Giga Impact from Jolly Lopunny-Mega most of the time, and some of the time with Adamant. Additionally, you can change up the EVs however you please to suit your well-being.


This section will be edited when I miss things lol

Things it beats: Magnezone, Tapu Koko, Charizard-Mega-X, Charizard-Mega-Y, Normal Deoxys-Defense, Celesteela, Non-Dark Pulse Porygon-Z, Magearna, Genesect, Gardevoir-Mega
Things it does not beat: Gyarados-Mega, Donphan, Marshadow, Tapu Lele, Defensive Deoxys-Defense and Slowbro-Mega, Dragonite unless Counter, Venusaur-Mega(belly drum xd), Golem, Tyranitar-Mega
Things it beats if you're good: Lopunny-Mega, Counter for Kyurem-Black Outrage, Aegislash if it's slow, Porygon2 if it's still a thing and doesn't have Foul Play


A quick note with these Calculations: these are the most common sets and EVs that I will calculate. If someone wishes to counter-team you or "improve" their team by changing Natures, do not blame me, change your own EVs! These are also based on MY EVs, and surely you can do simple math to figure out how much a move would do if I was 252 HP or no Defense etc.
Science
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 57-67 (18.3 - 21.5%) -- possible 5HKO
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Giga Impact vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 211-249 (67.8 - 80%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 63-75 (20.2 - 24.1%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Lopunny-Mega Giga Impact vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 232-274 (74.5 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The Adamant, if I do my math right... is a roll from 94.7% to 112.2% roll, which means there is a 30% chance to live. I hope I did that right.

196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 298-352 (100.3 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Outrage vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 211-250 (67.8 - 80.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Blast Burn vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola in Sun: 258-303 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Outrage vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 220-259 (70.7 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Earth Power vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 246-290 (79 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 328-386 (83.8 - 98.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, but if you want you can take your risk...
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 346-408 (88.4 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Deoxys-Defense: 276-326 (90.7 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Slowbro-Mega: 252-296 (63.9 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Slowbro-Mega Scald vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 260-308 (83.6 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 414-488 (104 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 240-284 (77.1 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 324-384 (106.5 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Metagross-Mega Earthquake vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 216-256 (69.4 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 28+ Def Metagross-Mega: 368-434 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO this is the +1 Gyarados-Mega tanker spread, creds to Iron Crusher
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 200 HP / 112 Def Marowak-Alola: 279-328 (89.7 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aegislash-Shield: 318-374 (98.1 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Pixilate Gardevoir-Mega Hyper Beam vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 232-273 (74.5 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Overall, Marowak-Alola fills the following roles on your team: bait for Electric types, solid Physical Attacker with decent movepool, and an aesthetic factor that you so desperately need. Be wary that Marowak-Alola is rather slow, and it needs proper support. But if you protect it, it can suit you well in the future! Thanks for reading!

tl;dr- maro is wak and fancy, use it
Sees unoptimized EV spread
This one gives you the same physical bulk with more special bulk: 224 HP / 196 Atk / 88 Def
I really feel like Bonemerang is a wasted moveslot. (You still beat Magnezone and Lopunny without it and still lose to Mimikyu with it).
In place of Bonemerang, I'd like to recommend Low Kick: 196+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 392-462 (100.2 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Low Kick beats Scarf Kyurem-B which is really nice (Counter doesn't work because it can use Earth Power). Your Deoxys-D and Mega Slowbro matchups are also incorrect. Deoxys will use Iron Defense before you can land an attack, outbulking you. Marowak can beat specially defensive Slowbro variants, but Bold variants with Iron Defense and Slack Off won't have any problems shrugging off your attacks. If you're struggling with these mons, you could replace Low Kick for Power-Up Punch (beats Deoxys-D without relying on a crit) or Swords Dance (beats Mega Slowbro). Alolan Marowak is actually a pretty good mon. Try it out some time!
 

Chickenpie2

red:active
is a Contributor Alumnus
Looked through the suggested sets page for 1v1, just wondering why so many mons run sitrus berry? Are there any explanations for the sets, like max hp def mega char y? Also ive noticed a couple errors so far:
1. The first kartana set has grassium z and two substitutes in the moveset instead of leaf blade
2. Manaphy has two rain dances
3. Im quite sure that the lando t set is meant to have rock tomb, instead of rock throw
sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but i thought i should let someone know.
 
Last edited:
Looked through the suggested sets page for 1v1, just wondering why so many mons run sitrus berry? Are there any explanations for the sets, like max hp def mega char y? Also ive noticed a couple errors so far:
1. The first kartana set has grassium z and two substitutes in the moveset instead of leaf blade
2. Manaphy has two rain dances
3. Im quite sure that the lando t set is meant to have rock tomb, instead of rock throw
sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but i thought i should let someone know.
haha sorry my bad thanks for pointing that out and it will be fixed.
that char-y set is mine and is ev'd to take a banded kartana giga impact and a p-z hyper beam at the same time
252 Atk Choice Band Kartana Giga Impact vs. 224 HP / 228 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 298-351 (84.4 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Hyper Beam vs. 224 HP / 0+ SpD Charizard-Mega-Y: 298-352 (84.4 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Edit: if you or anyone else sees any other mistakes please PM me and it will be fixed

Another edit: the mons that run sitrus are counter pyukumuku, countercoat deoxys-defense, pp-stall deoxys defense and belly drum azumarill and slurpuff these have sitrus berry for the purpose of living 2 hits, if there is any set that needs explaining i'm sure there will be someone in the 1v1 room capable of explaining the set.

More Edit: should be fixed now, again ty for noticing
 
Last edited:
Hello everyone. The results of the suspect have come in, and Deoxys-Defense is banned from 1v1. The community decided that the unhealthy reliance on critical hits from opposing Pokemon to defeat it combined with superior Defense- and Special Defense-boosting moves, an unparalled speed tier for a defensive Pokemon (often used in combination with Taunt), and its Pressure ability made it too strong for the current power level of the 1v1 metagame. Its immense stalling capabilities necessitated a wide variety of countermeasures from opposing Pokemon, namely various combinations of Substitute, Taunt, and Swords Dance or extremely powerful and/or Z-Crystal-boosted super-effective attacks. In spite of the quickban of accuracy-reducing moves, previously a major asset of Deoxys-D's, and the introduction of an incredibly rare hard counter in Marshadow, the community deemed the DNA Pokemon worthy of a ban, and so it shall join its fellow Ubers on the 1v1 banlist.

Speaking of Marshadow...
The 1v1 leadership team has voted to quickban Marshadow from 1v1. From its July introduction, the Pokemon warped teambuilding to an unprecedented degree, debuting at #1 in the recent July usage stats. Its high Speed and powerful signature Z-move in Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike gave it a variety of favorable matchups against top-tier offensive threats such as both Charizards, Mega Metagross, and Porygon-Z. And unlike other, similarly powerful and fast Pokemon, it had the additional asset of SSSSS's base move Spectral Thief, which in combination with Fighting-type STAB allowed it to cripple virtually any stall-based set. This unusual signature move, combined with assets such as Bulk Up, Will-o-Wisp, and Rock Tomb, allowed it to win even more unexpected matchups and serve as more than just a nuke in the vein of Tapu Koko. There is one point I would like to make clear: yes, Marshadow had counters, but that alone did not make it balanced. DEG outlined a variety of these counters, including the aforementioned Tapu Koko, Magearna, Mega Mawile and Mimikyu. But Marshadow was so dominant in facing off against the vast majority of 1v1 Pokemon that it centralized teambuilding around not only itself but these relatively few counters, resulting in a widespread and repetitive teambuilding format. Previously suboptimal sets such as Electrium Z Magnezone and Flyinium Z Landorus-Therian increased in popularity. Players were urged to adapt to Marshadow and it was expected that the metagame would return to a more even state, but alas, no such change came after quite a bit of waiting, and so the Gloomdweller Pokemon had to go.

That's all for us in terms of metagame-shaping decisions for now...check back soon for an exciting new tournament opportunity!
 

RNGIsFatal

Banned deucer.
Some commentaries about Gloomdweller aka Marshadow.


Marshadow has decent bulk of 90/80/90 which lets it survive strong neutral non-Z-move STAB attacks, 125 Attack, and 125 Speed that leaves Tapu Koko, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Gengar the only relevant option to outspeed it. While its base attack 125 may not seem to impressive compared to the hardest-hitting threats such as Mega Charizard X, Kyurem-B, Mega Heracross, Mega Mawile, and others, it is important to note that Marshadow's dual STAB is not resisted by anyone in the tier and in this game. This forces players to acquire a naturally bulky 'mon that is ready to handle Marshadow's dual STAB and hit back supereffectively. In addition, although it sometimes finds hard time fitting on Marshadow's moveslot, Shadow Sneak that is boosted by Technician lets Marshadow pick up on opponents who luckily survived its attacks with low damage rolls. While 125 Attack may still seem to lack power to net OHKOs on important threats, it is important not to forget this is the point where Soul-Stealing-Seven-Star-Strike steps in. Thanks to the sheer power of the Z-move itself, Marshadium Z is the most common set used so far, and many relevant 'mons in 1v1 meta have trouble even surviving it without significantly adjusting their investment:

(assuming Jolly 252 Attack Marshadow,)

Mega Charizard X, which is considered fairly bulky thanks to its typing and decent defensive stats, have 75% chance of being blown up uninvested, Mega Charizard Y is OHKOed without a question, Mega Heracross heeds 96 HP EV's to survive SS7SS while it can't do much back in return and Mega Pinsir needs 172 HP EV's to survive SS7SS while such EV investment may miss out OHKOing Impish Mega Gyarados with Giga Impact after Bulk Up boost. This severely limits number of 'mon that are able to handle Marshadow without relying on Sturdy or tweaking their EV investment to the degree where they will have significantly harder time against the rest of the metagame, with the most relevant ones being Tapu Fini (176 HP required). If Marshadow carries Substitute Buzzwole which can't do much back even with Lunge, Mega Venusaur will have to think twice before using Sleep Powder or predict and use Synthesis on SS7SS, and Donphan, Magnezone, and all others that is reliant on Z-move will lose if they have their Z-moves blocked.

Outspeeding Marshadow with boost or items isn't going to help; Choice Scarf doesn't help too much, with the exception Tapu Lele which will have considerable chance to Mega Gyarados or Kyurem-B in such case. No, Modest Scarf Greninja does not OHKO uninvested Marshadow with Hydro Cannon / Extrasensory. Adamant Mega Blaziken has less than 70% chance to OHKO Marshadow, and regular Blaziken with Firium Z will just weep in the abyss of oblivion if Marshadow sets Substitute on Protect. Being fatter does not help either; because of its signature move Spectral Thief, Marshadow will steal boost from any 'mons that attempts to improve their bulk using Bulk Up, Iron Defense, Curse, or whatever. Marshadow will gladly take everything boost they got and will completely shut them down if they can't do anything back without being reliant on boosts. The most prime victim to this is Buzzwole which sets Bulk Up to turn itself into a behemoth and take on stuff like Gyarados, Mega Heracross, Garchomp, Landorus-T, and others.

Usually, a 'mon with very high stats or formidable power can still be balanced in 1v1 metagame when it has:

* Poor coverage despite its overwhelming power - Tapu Koko is completely shut down by Ground-types, Tapu Lele loses to almost every single Steel-types, Mega Gengar loses to almost anything that doesn't get supereffectively hit by its STAB, Mega Gyarados is shut down by most Grass-types and Fairy-types with sufficient bulk
* Exploitable weakness - Mega Heracross which is devastatingly powerful but has common weakness to Flying and Fire, Charizard cannot abuse its pre-mega evo typing because of Water and Electric weakness and Mega Charizard X struggles with any relevant Earthquake users
* Too many weakness - Mega Tyranitar, Mega Pinsir, Kyurem-B(not sure if completely balanced but)

But when a 'mon lacks all of these qualities, it is just, broken. Countering Marshadow requires a player to make somewhat specific preparation when you have three team slots to deal with the "whole" metagame, Spectral Thief + SS7SS forces a player to just get a 'mon that has innate-superior Speed or very fat 'mon that can actually do something back. Also it can be stapled into almost any trio archetype of 1v1 teams because the other two allies just have to be something that are dedicated to counter Fairy-types or physically defensive 'mons. This simple trio already forms a team that is very difficult to stop without winning Rock-Paper-Scissor predictions. The latest usage stats clearly proves that Marshadow is splashable on almost any teams (0.4% lower than Mega Gyarados and has more raw usage) and be a deadweight to any teams that do not specifically prepare for it.

Due to Marshadow having these traits which is nowhere to be found from any other 'mons from 1v1 - being nearly unwallable without sending in dedicated counters, STAB combination, and its absurdly wide movepool and access to Bulk Up which boosts its power even further- I firmly believe Marshadow has nothing to do with 1v1 metagame and should be gently driven to its place in the banlist where its legendary Ubers folks give greetings. I believe Marshadow surely deserved quickban.
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
As you might imagine, I am quite content with the demise of Marshadow. One reason this is the case is because of all the Pokemon that Marshadow once beat that can now shine more due to it's absence.

image.jpg

I cannot begin to stress enough how much Marshadow's quickban is going to help Mega Gardevoir out. Gardevoir has so many unique and cool options: Besides Pixilate Hyper Beam, it also has a nice speed tier, along with Will-O-Wisp, Taunt to beat Slowbro and Hyper Voice to defeat Jumpluff and Whimsicott. It's one of my favorite Pokemon to use in 1v1, and definitely the most underrated in my opinion. But despite all of this, it saw little use for a while due to Marshadow's omnipresence. Now that it's gone, I hope more people try it out and create cool sets and options for it so we can kill the "inferior Tapu Lele" stigma and give Mega Gardevoir the usage it deserves.


image.jpg

Now, I have not tried out Kartana yet, but it seems like a super fun Pokemon with it's good speed and extremely high Attack, making it a menace upon attaching a Choice Band. And now that Marshadow is gone, usage of the paper-craft fighter will only rise. EDIT: I tried out Kartana. It's badass. May make an analysis of it soon.



image.jpg

For the past month or so, Mega Slowbro has been suffering from the exact same problem as Deoxys-Defense: Marshadow completely nullifying it's stall prowess with Spectral Thief. With the Gloomdweller being banned, Mega Slowbro's biggest opponent (aside from maybe Tapu Koko) is discarded, and whether you like it or not, more people are gonna use Slowbro, seeing as it will be much easier to build to beat it's checks.


image.jpg

With one big challenge gone, Snorlax will now be able to practice it's typical Belly Drum + Gluttony shenanigans with a little less adversity coming it's way. This is another interesting-looking Pokemon I myself plan to give a go at some point. More Snorlax usage is cool in my opinion: It's a very fun Pokemon if you can pull it off, and Snorlax has this silly, irresistable charm to it, and seeing it more on the battlefield will be a joy.
 
Last edited:

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
Excuse my double-posting, but since the thread has been pretty slow, I figured I would spice up discussion by talking about the two new megas that just got released.


Mega Ampharos is not really that great in my opinion. Sorry, but being fabulous is not the same as being high-rank. While it has a very high Special Attack and solid bulk, it's speed is awful, only tying with Crustle. Mega Amphy is not bad in theory: It's just that the role it performs of a Mold Breaker Dragon type is mostly done better by Kyurem-Black and, to a lesser extent, Haxorus. The former is Kyurem-Black, while the latter has a critical speed tier that allows it to naturally outspeed things such as Mimikyu and opposing Kyurem-Black and KO them with a STAB/Coverage move. Ampharos can't even beat Mega Gyarados.

252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ampharos-Mega: 208-246 (54.1 - 64%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Mold Breaker Ampharos-Mega Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 240-284 (72.5 - 85.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Unfortunately, I just don't see Amphy getting much use, due to it being mostly outclassed by Kyurem-Black. If Kyurem is banned, then maybe Ampharos might stand a chance, but for now, I'm putting it in C-.
EDIT: Actually, Mega Ampharos can beat Gyarados: See Chrispy Burns' set below. Still, pretty darn niche, and requires prediction.

Now, Mega Altaria is a different story. For starters, it has a super unique typing of Dragon/Fairy, which along with nice 75/110/105 bulk, means it can hard-stop certain mid-to-high-ranking threats like both Charizards, Mega Gyarados, Non-fairium Tapu Koko (252 SpA Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Altaria-Mega: 204-240 (70.1 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO), Ghostium Mimikyu, Non-Flyinium Dragonite, Blaziken, Mega Blastoise and Mega Swampert (these last two have coverage moves that can hit it super-effectively, but Altaria easily eats these up while outspeeding and 2HKOing back.) It can even run 124 speed EVs to beat all the most relevant Kyurem-Black sets! Mega Altaria also has the awesome Pixilate ability, which, combined with 110 in both Attack and Special Attack, means Altaria can use BOTH Giga Impact and Hyper Beam successfully. This leads into another thing I love about Mega Altaria: It's amazing versatility. Due to a fairly expansive movepool and super well-rounded stats, the cloud dragon can run a huge variety of sets, which includes DDance, bulky attacking on both the physical and special ends, stall-breaking with Haze, and even Cotton Guard + Roost stall. Very few megas in-game can claim to have this level of versatility and unpredictability: Most of them have only two viable sets at most.

Altaria isn't perfect. While it beats a lot of common things, it gets beat by just as many common things, including Specs Magnezone, Donphan, Magearna, Tapu Lele, Mega Aggron, Mega Mawile, Specs Genesect, etc, etc. Basically, any and all steel types will plow through it effortlessly. Despite this, I still think Mega Altaria could build a reputation as a strong anti-meta Pokemon, being able to defeat lots of huge players in the 1v1 meta. I nominate it for low A.

As a bonus, here's my favorite Altaria set, and the one I've had most success with:
Floofykins (Altaria-Mega) (F) @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Bulldoze
- Giga Impact
- Return
 

Attachments

Last edited:
smogon, can you please ban donphan?it beat marsh, which got banned, it beats koko, keldeo, etc. sturdy + tectonic rage kills a good half of the mons, and sashes aren't allowed so... and other people don't want to resort to scummy strats.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 72 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
- Counter
- Thunderbolt
- Cotton Guard
- Dragon Pulse

Say hello to the hair boys. This mega amph specifically checks gyara. It'll take predictions but no matter what gyarados does, amph will have a way to destroy it. The purpose of this amph is to show that it wont lose to gyara like said above.

72+ SpA Mold Breaker Ampharos-Mega Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 276-326 (70.2 - 82.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO: wins with a crit
72+ SpA Mold Breaker Ampharos-Mega Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 276-326 (83.3 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO: wins with a crit

252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 132 Def Ampharos-Mega: 232-274 (60.5 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO: uses counter to win, loses to gyara's crit
252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Outrage vs. 248 HP / 132 Def Ampharos-Mega: 278-328 (72.5 - 85.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO: uses counter to win, loses to gyara's crit

252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 132 Def Ampharos: 270-318 (70.4 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO: Uses counter to win
252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Outrage vs. 248 HP / 132 Def Ampharos: 162-191 (42.2 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO: Tbolt, Counter, or Static takes gyara to win.

+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. +3 248 HP / 132 Def Ampharos-Mega: 140-166 (36.5 - 43.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO: Gyara Used dragon dance, Mamph predicts with Cotton Guard. Mega amph wins with t-bolt, loses to crits, but also will win with a crit.
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Outrage vs. +3 248 HP / 132 Def Ampharos-Mega: 168-198 (43.8 - 51.6%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO: Wins with T-bolt, loses to a crit, wins with a tbolt crit.

While its way too niche to say its completely viable everywhere else, don't throw out assumptions that it can't beat gyarados with predictions.

On a lighter note, here's the doduo
Hell yeah (Doduo) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Endure
- Flail
- Rest
 
smogon, can you please ban donphan?it beat marsh, which got banned, it beats koko, keldeo, etc. sturdy + tectonic rage kills a good half of the mons, and sashes aren't allowed so... and other people don't want to resort to scummy strats.
Welcome to the 1v1 forum! Donphan has plenty of counters, such as bulky water types, Venusaur-Mega, Mold Breaker mons, notably Kyurem-Black and Gyarados-Mega, and mons that can Iron Defense up. It surely is much better since last Generation due to its Z Moves, but that doesn't make it near bannable. Side note that the likes of bulkier Will-O-Wisp or Bulk Up Marshadows usually take on Donphan.
 

Tol

Retirement house
smogon, can you please ban donphan?it beat marsh, which got banned, it beats koko, keldeo, etc. sturdy + tectonic rage kills a good half of the mons, and sashes aren't allowed so... and other people don't want to resort to scummy strats.
Not quite sure why you mention Koko, because Donphan is IMMUNE to Koko's main attack.
Also, the two Pokémon that are arguably the best in 1v1 (Mega Gyarados and Kyurem-Black) beat it easily. Let's not forget that it loses to literally any Grass type with more bulk than Kartana.
In fact, out of the top 6 Pokémon in 1v1, only ONE is beaten by Donphan consistently (unless no Sub on ZardY). Donphan is not broken, merely good, and is a part of many good teams. If you have trouble with Sturdy, use either Gyarados, KyuB, or Mega Charizard X with Will-O-Wisp.
EDIT: not to mention beating half the meta is nothing in the KyuB age...
 
Last edited:

charizard8888

Catch The Wave
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Some sets of non meta mons (cuz wynaut; makes it more interesting) which I found while memeing testing some Pokemon in 1v1
Lets have a look at them, shall we?

Silvally @ Choice Specs
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Def / 232 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower

Nice Special Attacker, originally made for 1v1 UU when Porygon-Z was banned but still works well in normal 1v1
Niche over Porygon-Z in some places is the coverage and bulk that lets it tank some moves and KO some Pokemon like Scarf Kyurem-Black, Mega Gyarados EVd for 2x Modest Uproar, Sturdy Donphan, Aegislash 100%, Tapu Fini, Mega Aggron without Metal Burst, Adamant Z Move Golem on roll, Bulky Banded Dragonite which is mostly slow (94% win chance), Mega Blastoise most of the time and also others which Porygon-Z already defeats such as Mega Pinsir, Megazard X, Scarf Genesect and others.
252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Outrage vs. 16 HP / 252 Def Silvally: 229-270 (68.3 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Silvally Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 428-504 (144.1 - 169.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Outrage vs. 16 HP / 252 Def Silvally: 216-255 (64.4 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 16 HP / 252 Def Silvally: 135-159 (40.2 - 47.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Silvally Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 80 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 194-230 (49.2 - 58.3%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Giga Impact vs. 16 HP / 252 Def Silvally: 273-322 (81.4 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Silvally Flamethrower vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir-Mega: 284-336 (101 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-615383026 Can take a 0 Atk hit
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-615388504
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-615389950
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-615386220

Ice Beam / Surf / Shadow Ball / Flash Cannon / Air Slash / Snarl can be used over Flamethrower for coverage depending on your team requirements.
Ice Beam would guarantee 100% win over Landorus, Landorus-Therian and Garchomp as they can Sub on Hyper Beam and then KO back


Kyurem-Black has the title of defeating every Sturdy Pokemon from at least one of its sets (Mega Gyarados loses to Air Balloon Magnezone rib) here comes Gigalith to dethrone it!
It can take in a Subzero Slammer and OHKO back with Continental Crush (Z-Stone Edge) so I was using the 240 HP / 12 Def / 248 Atk Adamant Spread but then I realized that Ground-Z Kyurem-Black exists and then looked up at Gigalith's coverage and found that it needs only three offensive moves and others like Superpower dont do anything significant so I added in Protect-o with 192 HP 64+ SpD spread to always survive Tectonic Rage + Earth Power after Protect. But what if the Kyurem-Black users predict Protect and use Tectonic Rage on the second turn instead of that? The answer to that lies in Sand! (Sand Stream by sacrificing Sturdy which only helps it in a few cases) Sandstorm would also let Gigalith defeat potential Fight Z (Focus Blast) Kyurem-Black making Gigalith (Dem Custap) a 100% Kyurem-Black counter. Other than that it can also defeat both Mega Charizard, Porygon-Z, Most Tapu Koko, Dragonite, Non Z Reflect Tapu Lele, Aegislash (Earthquake in Blade Forme), Rock Blast ---> Z-Edge gets all Mimikyu, Blaziken and Greninja (If Sturdy Gigalith), Latios, etc. Can fit into a lot of teams easily as a glue and Kyurem-Black counter mon, here's the moveset, (spreads given below)
Gigalith @ Rockium Z
Ability:
EVs:
Nature
- Protect
- Stone Edge
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
Icium Z
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Atk / 12 Def
Adamant Nature

Groundium Z 100% with Protect
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 SpD
Careful Nature

Groundium Z 100% No Protect (Includes Fight Z as well no extra investment required)
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Atk / 12 Def
Careful Nature

248 Atk Gigalith Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 200+ Def Kyurem-Black: 456-536 (100.6 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 12 Def Gigalith: 315-372 (84.4 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It can survive that but still go for Protect for more safety

252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Tectonic Rage (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0+ SpD Gigalith in Sand: 290-342 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0+ SpD Gigalith in Sand: 316-372 (84.7 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Outrage vs. 248 HP / 12 Def Gigalith: 220-261 (58.9 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Sturdy with Adamant: 248+ Atk Gigalith Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 346-408 (107.1 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Sandstream KOes 100% after Sand damage: 248 Atk Gigalith Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 315-372 (97.5 - 115.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 12 Def Gigalith in Electric Terrain: 310-366 (83.1 - 98.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gigalith: 294-346 (78.8 - 92.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
248 Atk Gigalith Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 346-408 (123.1 - 145.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
After Sub
248 Atk Gigalith Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko in Electric Terrain: 258-304 (91.8 - 108.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616135880


Breloom @ Salac Berry
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Endure

Not a big fan of sleep but I liek Breloom :] Here comes the jewel of life
Spore puts them to sleep, Endure Salac Berry for taking hits and increasing speed (Reaches upto 393), Focus Punch hits hard, Bullet Speed helps against Non Fairy Z Mimikyu
Wanted Technician but it was incompatible so went for Effect Spore which did help me but sometimes Paralyzed the opposing mons before I could put them to sleep so changed that to Poison Heal. Works well but not 100% reliable due to one turn sleeps.

What can this thing defeat
Mega Gyarados
Start with Spore, then Bullet Seed regardless of mega evolution, Bullet Seed again, Bullet Seed yet again, now they'll wake up and if they Dragon Dance follow up with Endure next turn to take an Outrage and Spore again then Bullet Seed, if they dont Dragon Dance and straightaway Outrage then use Spore on the next turn and then Bullet Seed

The Matchup
Breloom | Gyarados
Spore | SLP
Bullet Seed | SLP
Bullet Seed | SLP
Bullet Seed | Dragon Dance

Now Gyarados is faster
Outrage | Endure

Salac Boost activates
Spore | SLP
Bullet Seed | SLP
Bullet Seed (Hopefully KO)
Any Kyurem-Black slower than 393 Speed (AKA Non Scarf) | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616553057
Mega Charizard Y | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616554606
Endure on Blast Burn / Overheat then Spore then Focus Punch if they survive two then Endure and attack again
Mega Charizard X
Only if for some reason, they dont Sub and Flare Blitz on the first turn (We Endure anyway) and then Breloom uses Spore Focus Punch and Focus Punch

Mega Aggron | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616133966
Spore ---> Focus Punch ---> Focus Punch ---> Bullet Seed (If alive)
252 Atk Breloom Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 40 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 172-204 (50 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Dragonite | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616124206
Magearna | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616136692
Mega Mawile
Donphan
Magnezone
Mimikyu sometimes http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616124502
Choice Band Garchomp
Against Band Chomp, Endure ---> Spore ---> Bullet Seed ---> Focus Punch
Breloom wont outspeed after Salac Boost if Chomp is scarfed and will have to go for Spore on the first turn to win (Even then Chomp has a 43% chance of OHKOing)
SubTonic Rage and Devastating Quake carry Substitute so they always win
Non Scarf Genesect | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616136120
Golem
Non Scarf Greninja
Mega Heracross | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616193285
Meloetta
Primarina
Tapu Fini
Mega Blastoise
Chansey
Heatran
Jumpluff
Sawk
Prediction reliant
If Breloom uses Endure on Z-Close Combat it wins if Spore then it loses
If Sawk goes for Rock Tomb on the first turn and Breloom uses Endure then we lose, we win if Spore same for Scarf Sawk (25% OHKO Chance)
Snorlax | http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616553737
Mega Swampert
Mega Tyranitar
Non Scarf Aecheops
Blissey
Buzzwole with 8/8 predictions
Celesteela
Non Scarf Latios
Umbreon
Whimsicott without Moonblast
Water Z Keldeo
Fight Z Keldeo if Breloom wins the speed tie (Uselesscrab's Keldeo also has 262 Speed even then its prediction based)
Avalugg
Quagsire
Relicanth
Barbaracle
Carracosta
Non Scarf Nihilego
Pyukumuku
Zygarde
Aron
Mega Altaria http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616134131 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-616133140

Some Checks and Counters: Talonflame, Mega Venusaur, Mega Sableye, Scarf Kyurem-B, Tapu Koko, Scarf Lele, Porygon-Z, Sub Mega Pinsir, Fly Z Landorus-T, Landorus, Alolan Marowak, Blaziken, Mega Blaziken

As you can see this thing too can be fit in a team easily, has been doing good till now because nobody expects these moves, will do well until they adapt to it :^]
If you want a Pokemon to defeat slower attackers (Nah this is way better than Smeargle), Bulky Kyub, Mega Gyarados, SubSeeders then this is an interesting option

A team Yeah at last meta mons

Aggron-Mega @ Aggronite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Atk / 180 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash
- Metal Burst
- Avalanche

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Flare Blitz
- Substitute

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast

Fast Megacross because we have Mega Aggron for taking on Porygon-Z and fast mostly outspeeds bulky Ice Z Kyurem-Black, also takes out Heatran in the regular form (By the usage stats 252+ Speed Heatran are in the others category so it works). Offensive Zard X for power smh its the overhated though the beast set; the main purpose of defensive Zard X was to defeat Kyurem Black which is too difficult atm nvm this, Mega Aggron is designed to defeat Landorus-T, Dragonite and Garchomp with Avalanche. Mega Heracross (fast) and Mega Charizard X have 8/8 gr8 synergy. Mega Heracross eliminates Sturdy Donphan, Golem, Barbaracle, Crustle, Carracosta (excluding Magnezone in this case which can be dealt with by Zard), Primarina, Tapu Fini, Kyurem-Black, Mega Gyarados (Rock Blast + Bullet Seed), Non Fly-Z Dragonite, Psychium Z Tapu Lele, Mega Slowbro, Mega Venusaur, Meloetta, Mega Blastoise, Heatran, Sawk, Snorlax, Subseeders, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Swampert, Durant, Hitmonlee, Avalugg, Banded Kartana (mostly), Nihilego, Alolan Marowak, Chansey, SubReversal Luke (The ones equipped with Rock Tomb defeat Zard X), Umbreon and more at the same time Zard X eliminates Tapu Koko, Zard Y, Magearna, Mega Mawile, Mega Metagross, Aegislash, Genesect, Mega Gardevoir, Celesteela (too much listing boi we surely got one or two wrong) and such mons for Megacross. Mega Aggron covers the weaknesses of these two (Mainly the thing is Scarf Lele; Aggron defeats all Lele sets) Porygon-Z, Latios, Mega Mawile 100% of the time, Mega Pinsir, Greninja, Garchomp, Landorus, Landorus-T, Dragonite (Megacross cant take Fly Z) etc
Against Garchomp, Landorus and Landorus-T don't Mega evolve and use Avalanche, it'll defeat Landorus-T even if it sets up using Bulk Up while against Dragonite you'll have to mega evolve Aggron.

What all Pokemon can 3-0 this? I'm not sure about the Mega Altaria Vs Mega Aggron matchup probably that, Offensive Mew I think, and some 5/6 more
Chance of a critical hit: 1/16 = 6.25%
Chance of a critical hit after eight attacks: (15/16)^8= 59.7% 100%-59.7=40.3%
Chance of a critical hit after twelve attacks: (15/16)^12=46.1% 100%-46.1= 53.9%
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen71v1-607366747
 
Last edited:
I've been playing, among other OM's, 1v1 for the last few months and i would like to approach the subject of Charizard in this tier.

One thing that undeniably sets Zard apart from the other threats in the tier is its access to two separate Mega Evolutions, quite distinct in competitive terms. Their only similarity would be their viability, though that is debatable, with some preferring Y's immediate firepower (no pun intended), while others prefer X's overall bulk, typing and access to a boosting move.

The fact that both forms are so threatening already puts some pressure on the opponent through mindgames, that is, guessing which Mega it will be, and try to check it accordingly. Obviously it doesn't work on a 50/50 logic, as the other two pokemon could indicate what Mega Zard it will be, e.g. if the opponent has both two physically offensive pokemon, chances are its Charizard is going to turn Y. It doesn't always work like this, but it does more times than not.

Another point would be Zard's versality in dealing with its most common checks. Most Zards run WoW and Substitute now, as to give them a chance at beating Z-users, especially Zard X, who may run a bulky spread w/ Roost to beat Sturdy Z-users like Donphan, Crustle, Golem and Aggron, who are the most common response to offensive DD Zard X. Though bulky Roost isn't what breaks Zard for me, it is a testament to Zard's potential in narrowing down the list of viable pokemon that can deal with it.

I guess one could argue that Zard, while a threat on itself, helps keep the main three threats in the tier in check: Kyu-B, Mega Gyarados and Tapu Koko. Twinkle Tackle would require a Modest nature to have a chance (31.3% to be precise) at OHKOing Zard X, while Zard X will always OHKO it with 252 investment. Kyurem-B OHKOs with Scarf, otherwise it will always be outsped and OHKOd by Outrage, even with max HP investment. Gyarados gets crippled with WoW, but has the most solid chance at beating Zard X with Outrage, while losing to Zard Y due to Sun.

I don't think Zard's contribution to keeping these three pokemon in check should be a favourable argument to Zard not being at least suspected. As i see it, 1v1 is a lot like that scene from the Simpsons where a doctor explains to Mr. Burns that his organism is like an open door where a lot of diseases (represented by little critters) are trying to pass, but they each block each other, ending up in neither passing through and harming Mr. Burns.

However, Zard X's great attributes (imo the best out of the two) in its speed tier, natural bulk, typing, movepool coupled with its ability and setup move, while having an alternative moveset to deal with its most common checks, and another Mega Evolution that is perfectly viable in itself, though less threatening (again, debatable), push Zard over the edge and grant it, at the very least, a suspect discussion.

PS: I've thought about TTar, and ran it myself with a physically bulky set w/ Counter for a few matches, but its typing makes it susceptible to too many things, so i ended up dropping it. However, if Stone Edge hits, it's a great answer to both forms, though Focus Blast has a chance at OHKOing 252/0 Mega TTar.

PPS: Although i disagree with bulky Zard X being a simple niche set, which would imply it loses viability against the most common things it beats, to beat anothet set of pokemon, it could seem that i fell under 7) of the Suspect Guidelines in this meta. If so, feel free to disregard that part of my post.
 
Last edited:

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
Kyurem Black, eh?


More like...


KYUREM-BAN


What? Why?

Kyurem-Black has been one of the big boys of 1v1 since the very beginning. Incredible stats across the board, a lovely offensive typing, a solid movepool, and a huge ability in Teravolt that allows it to best Sturdy users with no effort. In short, it’s awesome in every single aspect. But over the past few months, more and more people have been questioning if it's a bit too awesome. So, is it? Did you read the title of this post, you dummy? Of course it is! And I'm here to prove why.

Let's start off by looking at those juicy stats.

Screenshot 2017-08-15 at 12.32.27 PM.png

Oh dear. This ain't too good...
Forgetting the obviously extremely high Attack stat, we also got 125/100/90 bulk. With proper investment, Kyurem can take STAB super-effective hits from Mega Mawile. MEGA. MAWILE. Kyurem is actually more bulky than Mandibuzz!
252 Atk Adaptability Lucario-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 284-336 (72.6 - 85.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Adaptability Lucario-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mandibuzz: 272-322 (75.3 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(I changed Kyurem's typing for the sake of comparison)


Something with this much raw firepower should not be able to do that. It also has 120 Special Attack, but we'll touch upon that later.

Now, let's take a look at it's offensive potential. Going off of physical movepool alone, this thing already hurts like a bitch. The lack of physical Ice STAB is compensated for by Icium Z boosting Freeze Shock to 200 BP. An Ice-type Self-Destruct that breaks Sturdy users while keeping you alive? Nope, don't see anything wrong in the slightest! Let's see how much Kyurem can hit with just Fusion Bolt, Outrage and Subzero Slammer.
Screenshot 2017-08-15 at 12.56.10 PM.png

So we got 5 super-effective hits against 5 fairly common meta types, and neutral hits against everything else. Again, nothing wrong here.
Those aren't the only tricks Kyurem has, though! Kyurem can also learn Earth Power, Focus Blast, Iron Head and Stone Edge. And this is where that 120 Special Attack comes into play. Let's assume that Kyurem had something like Gyarados, like, 70 Sp. Atk. Earth Power would become useless, and special/mixed sets would have no worth. But Kyurem instead has a Sp. Atk greater than Greninja and Tapu Koko, and only 10 points behind Tapu Lele and 15 points behind Porygon-Z! This adds an extra layer of unpredictability and versatility to an already incredibly strong Pokemon.

And here we reach my final point: Kyurem's versatility. Now, there's nothing wrong with being versatile: It's good. But there are instances of Pokemon being way too versatile for their own good. Kyurem-Black is one of these cases. Combined with it's stats, it has the potential to run a set to beat every one of it's counters. Mawile and Magearna a thorn in your side? Run Specs/Tectonic Rage! Scarf Outrage not quite picking up KOs on things you struggle with? Run Choice Band! The possibilities are truly endless, and a bright Kyurem player can cteam his/her way past nearly every Pokemon in the meta.

To show how strong it is, I made a little spreadsheet that highlights how much Kyurem can beat with merely TWO out of the countless possible sets. (It's actually technically three sets, but two of them are variations of the Choice Scarf so I'll count them as one)

The sets:​
1. UOP icium-Z (Kyurem-Black)
@ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 140 Def / 44 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Fusion Bolt
- Substitute
- Outrage



2. UOP Special Scarf (Kyurem-Black) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 156 Def / 252 SpA / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Focus Blast
- Earth Power



3. Generic Scarf (Kyurem-Black) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

Here's the spreadsheet itself. Partial credit goes to TGC Disunited for setting up the spreadsheet and helping with some of the calcs, and to UnleashOurPassion for the movesets.

You can take your time to look at all of these calculations and match-ups in detail, but here's the important part:
White: Kyurem loses with both sets
Green: Kyurem loses with one set, but wins with another
Red: Kyurem wins with both sets
Yellow: Kyurem 50/50s with at least one set

Overall, Kyurem has the potential to win against 77% of the metagame with just it's two most common sets. Now, this isn't quite as absurd as Marshadow, who could beat almost everything with one or two sets, but this is still complete crap.

And remember: This is just the two most common sets. But Kyurem can do so much more. Here are some examples:
  • If Kyurem runs Specs/Groundium Z, it can beat Mawile and Mega Aggron, as well as turn the match-up against Magearna into a 50/50 (assuming it isn't Air Balloon or Shuca Berry)
  • Scarf Iron Head Kyurem-Black beats Mega Gardevoir (252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 304-358 (109.7 - 129.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO).
  • While Jolly Scarf 50/50s against Mega Lopunny, Adamant/Naughty Scarf wins guaranteed. (252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Outrage vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Lopunny-Mega: 276-325 (101.8 - 119.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO).
Now, one could say that I'm grasping at straws and that none of these sets matter. But remember: You can't know for sure what Kyurem is gonna run. It's so versatile, that often, looking at the foe's team composition doesn't help. And I have seen all these sets in action at some point, some multiple times, so don't say they're rare or meaningless.

Another thing to keep in mind: There are plenty of mons out there that solely exist to defeat it. Like, what else does Genesect beat, for instance? Not much. A few things, but still not much. But yet lots of people use it because it beats Kyurem-Black. Terrakion is only decent in this meta. But yet, people advocate it's use quite a bit. Why? Because it's one of the few things that can consistently defeat Kyurem-Black. This is the kind of constraining effect that Kyurem's presence has had on team-building. It has forced the usage of Pokemon that should not be ranked the way they are ranked solely to beat it. Now that Deoxys-Defense and Marshadow are out of the way, it's time to finally tackle an issue that should've been tackled long ago.

Kyurem-Black. Ban now. Ples.
 
Last edited:
Kyurem Black, eh?


More like...


KYUREM-BAN


What? Why?

Kyurem-Black has been one of the big boys of 1v1 since the very beginning. Incredible stats across the board, a lovely offensive typing, a solid movepool, and a huge ability in Teravolt that allows it to best Sturdy users with no effort. In short, it’s awesome in every single aspect. But over the past few months, more and more people have been questioning if it's a bit too awesome. So, is it? Did you read the title of this post, you dummy? Of course it is! And I'm here to prove why.

Let's start off by looking at those juicy stats.

View attachment 86841
Oh dear. This ain't too good...
Forgetting the obviously extremely high Attack stat, we also got 125/100/90 bulk. With proper investment, Kyurem can take STAB super-effective hits from Mega Mawile. MEGA. MAWILE. Kyurem is actually more bulky than Mandibuzz!
252 Atk Adaptability Lucario-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-Black: 284-336 (72.6 - 85.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Adaptability Lucario-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mandibuzz: 272-322 (75.3 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(I changed Kyurem's typing for the sake of comparison)


Something with this much raw firepower should not be able to do that. It also has 120 Special Attack, but we'll touch upon that later.

Now, let's take a look at it's offensive potential. Going off of physical movepool alone, this thing already hurts like a bitch. The lack of physical Ice STAB is compensated for by Icium Z boosting Freeze Shock to 200 BP. An Ice-type Self-Destruct that breaks Sturdy users while keeping you alive? Nope, don't see anything wrong in the slightest! Let's see how much Kyurem can hit with just Fusion Bolt, Outrage and Subzero Slammer.
View attachment 86842
So we got 5 super-effective hits against 5 fairly common meta types, and neutral hits against everything else. Again, nothing wrong here.
Those aren't the only tricks Kyurem has, though! Kyurem can also learn Earth Power, Focus Blast, Iron Head and Stone Edge. And this is where that 120 Special Attack comes into play. Let's assume that Kyurem had something like Gyarados, like, 70 Sp. Atk. Earth Power would become useless, and special/mixed sets would have no worth. But Kyurem instead has a Sp. Atk greater than Greninja and Tapu Koko, and only 10 points behind Tapu Lele and 15 points behind Porygon-Z! This adds an extra layer of unpredictability and versatility to an already incredibly strong Pokemon.

And here we reach my final point: Kyurem's versatility. Now, there's nothing wrong with being versatile: It's good. But there are instances of Pokemon being way too versatile for their own good. Kyurem-Black is one of these cases. Combined with it's stats, it has the potential to run a set to beat every one of it's counters. Mawile and Magearna a thorn in your side? Run Specs/Tectonic Rage! Scarf Outrage not quite picking up KOs on things you struggle with? Run Choice Band! The possibilities are truly endless, and a bright Kyurem player can cteam his/her way past nearly every Pokemon in the meta.

To show how strong it is, I made a little spreadsheet that highlights how much Kyurem can beat with merely TWO out of the countless possible sets. (It's actually technically three sets, but two of them are variations of the Choice Scarf so I'll count them as one)

The sets:​
1. UOP icium-Z (Kyurem-Black)
@ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 140 Def / 44 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Fusion Bolt
- Substitute
- Outrage



2. UOP Special Scarf (Kyurem-Black) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 156 Def / 252 SpA / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Focus Blast
- Earth Power



3. Generic Scarf (Kyurem-Black) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

Here's the spreadsheet itself. Partial credit goes to TGC Disunited for setting up the spreadsheet and helping with some of the calcs, and to UnleashOurPassion for the movesets.

You can take your time to look at all of these calculations and match-ups in detail, but here's the important part:
White: Kyurem loses with both sets
Green: Kyurem loses with one set, but wins with another
Red: Kyurem wins with both sets
Yellow: Kyurem 50/50s with at least one set

Overall, Kyurem has the potential to win against 77% of the metagame with just it's two most common sets. Now, this isn't quite as absurd as Marshadow, who could beat almost everything with one or two sets, but this is still complete crap.

And remember: This is just the two most common sets. But Kyurem can do so much more. Here are some examples:
  • If Kyurem runs Specs/Groundium Z, it can beat Mawile and Mega Aggron, as well as turn the match-up against Magearna into a 50/50 (assuming it isn't Air Balloon or Shuca Berry)
  • Gigavolt Havoc/Band beats Fini guaranteed. (252+ Atk Choice Band Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Tapu Fini: 386-456 (112.5 - 132.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO)
  • While Jolly Scarf 50/50s, Adamant/Naughty Scarf wins guaranteed. (252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Outrage vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Lopunny-Mega: 276-325 (101.8 - 119.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO).
Now, one could say that I'm grasping at straws and that none of these sets matter. But remember: You can't know for sure what Kyurem is gonna run. It's so versatile, that often, looking at the foe's team composition doesn't help. And I have seen all these sets in action at some point, some multiple times, so don't say they're rare or meaningless.

Another thing to keep in mind: There are plenty of mons out there that solely exist to defeat it. Like, what else does Genesect beat, for instance? Not much. A few things, but still not much. But yet lots of people use it because it beats Kyurem-Black. Terrakion is only decent in this meta. But yet, people advocate it's use quite a bit. Why? Because it's one of the few things that can consistently defeat Kyurem-Black. This is the kind of constraining effect that Kyurem's presence has had on team-building. It has forced the usage of Pokemon that should not be ranked the way they are ranked solely to beat it. Now that Deoxys-Defense and Marshadow are out of the way, it's time to finally tackle an issue that should've been tackled long ago.

Kyurem-Black. Ban now. Ples.
1 correction:
Genesect actually beats lots of stuff
Other than that I totally agree with all of your points
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top