Theorymon
Long Live Super Mario Maker! 2015-2024
Yeah I still see Taunt on the tapus. Mental Herb still sounds worth it on Shuckle imoI still want an answer for my Taunt/Mental Herb/Shuckle question...
Also the issue of breaking Sashes with hazards/weather has been raised. Is there any potential for Hippowdon in this meta? A solid physical wall with Sand Stream, Stealth Rock, Whirlwind, Earthquake, Ice Fang(?) would seem to do well on paper. Better than A-Ninetails.
I actually haven't seen any Hippowdon, but it probably still works fine. Breaking Marshadow's sashes is honestly a huge boon! Just note, both Necrozmas can bust through it though, so Hippowdon doesn't wall stuff quite as well as usual. But the usual Yawn shenigans should still be fine!
Heh that reminds me, I've been using Focus Sash Timid Tyranitar. Idea is: I use Foul Play as the STAB to hit the Necrozmas, and fully invest in Speed and Special Attack to outspace slower Zygardes and mess with them. Might otpimize the EVs a bit more though, Timid might be going too far lol. I do like outspeeding slower Necrozmas though!
Overall, the big difference between this year and last year is that with both Necrozmas pretty much being top tier, people are using a lot of funky Dark-types. Bulky Dark-types like Umbreon and Mandibuzz are pretty great (I like how Mandibuzz outspeeds bulkier Necrozma in particular), but I've also seen quite a few frailer ones popping up. Biggest boon is that Darkrai is a lot better than it was last year just for hitting the Necrozmas. I've also seen some Focus Sash Weavile, whose pretty effective if only because it also hits Zygarde hard.
Silly as it sounds, I want to try Krookodile because while it's normally a worse Landorus-T, the Dark-typing and Foul Play make it a lot more interesting than usual. A Scarf set basically nukes any Necrozma that get a Swords Dance up, and it even gets Pursuit if you wanna smash switch-outs!
Speaking of Scarf mons, I broke the 1400 barrier on showdown using a VERY strange Pokemon!
Meloetta @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
-U-turn
-Trick / Thunderbolt / Hyper Voice
Yeah seriously, Scarf Meloetta! You'd think it'd just be a worse Tapu Lele, but there are three key things that have made it really worth it for me thus far: U-turn for breaking Marshadow sashes, the much higher bulk, and the Ghost-type immunity (trick has been nice too but I didn't always fit it in, but I do like it for messing with a lot of the bulkier Zygardes). While it isn't tooo powerful, Shadow Ball has at least been keeping Necrozmas at bay. In fact, since Meloetta is rather specially bulky, I've been beating Dawn Wings one on one desite Shadow Ball not doing all that much after it starts setting up Calm Mind, just because most Dawn Wings Necrozma lack moves that can blast it soon enough (Signal Beam seems to mostly stick on the scarf sets, which get owned by Meloetta lol).
It does also survive Marshadow Close Combat, though it does a ton of damage so it can be a bit iffy to switch in unless you're baiting a Ghost-type attack. Also, Serene Grace Special Defense drops are pretty funny lol. But yeah, this thing is far better than I ever expected! I might consider making a bulkier EV spread, since I feel like I only really need enough speed to outspeed Jolly Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados when using Thunderbolt, and could go even slower with the other moves. Only real big issue is that I'll get outsped by Pheromosa, whom, while not common, can be a real pain in the butt lol. I also like outspeeding Adamant +1 Zygarde, even if Meloetta does piss poor damage to it!