Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread (read the op before posting a thread)

I noticed that some Toxapex run a bit of Defense investment, 44 Defense EVs to be exact (this allows Toxapex to hit 351 Defense). I believe it’s for Pokémon like Landorus-T but I thought I would ask here since I can’t seem to figure out what it’s for exactly or to see if it’s outdated and if there’s a more optimal benchmark right now that I’m not aware of.
 
I noticed that some Toxapex run a bit of Defense investment, 44 Defense EVs to be exact (this allows Toxapex to hit 351 Defense). I believe it’s for Pokémon like Landorus-T but I thought I would ask here since I can’t seem to figure out what it’s for exactly or to see if it’s outdated and if there’s a more optimal benchmark right now that I’m not aware of.
I'm not really sure about this, but it's definitely not for Pokemon like Landorus-T. Both 4 Def EVs and 44 Def EVs are 2HKOed by standard Scarf LandoT while it's a 3HKO under Grassy Terrain. The on-site analysis suggests two alternative EV spreads, which are 248 HP / 196 Def / 64 SpD with a Bold Nature, improving its physical bulk while also being able to check Pokemon like Volcarona and Ash-Greninja, while 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD can be used with a Payapa Berry to live a Zen Headbutt from Mega Medicham, although that's really niche and another teammate should be checking Mega Medicham unless you're really pressed for roles.
 

Oglemi

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I actually did manage to cobble together rulesets for OU, based on /tier on PS and whatever I could find on the site clarifying whatever was necessary. They'd probably need verification of course, but I think they're accurate. Also it's worth noting that I was compiling the rulesets for irl tours, so idk I might've missed something in terms of clauses.

All formats implement Species and Sleep Clauses. Also, evasion moves, OHKO moves and Moody are banned in all relevant generations. These will not be listed below because that'd be redundant. If it's convenient, I'll list the moves here though
Evasion and OHKO (gen 1&2): Double Team, Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Minimize
Evasion and OHKO (gen 3 onwards): Double Team, Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Minimize , Sheer Cold

Tbh it's probably easier to just say "Ubers are banned" and point them to the appropriate page in the smogdex or whatever, rather than listing all pokemon that are banned, since the smogdex is a much more user-friendly way of displaying that info, even if it means an additional click.

RBY OU
  • Freeze Clause
  • Cleric Clause
  • Banned Pokemon: Mew, Mewtwo
  • Banned Moves: Dig, Fly, Psywave
  • Tradebacks from GSC are not permitted
GSC OU
  • Freeze Clause
  • Cleric Clause
  • Banned Pokemon: Celebi, Ho-oh, Lugia, Mew, Mewtwo
  • SleepTrap ban: having a sleep inducing move and Mean Look or Spider Web on a single moveset is not permitted
ADV OU
  • Banned Pokemon: Deoxys (all formes), Groudon, Ho-oh, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, Mew, Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Wobbuffet, Wynaut
  • Baton Pass clause: Smeargle cannot have both Ingrain and Baton Pass in its moveset
HGSS OU
  • Banned Pokemon: Arceus (all forms), Darkrai, Deoxys (all forms), Dialga, Garchomp, Giratina (all forms), Groudon, Ho-oh, Kyogre, Latias*, Latios, Lugia, Manaphy, Mew, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Salamence, Shaymin-S, Wobbuffet, Wynaut
  • Banned abilities: Sand Veil, Snow Cloak
  • Baton Pass clause: teams are not permitted to have more than one Pokemon with Baton Pass, and it may not be capable of passing Speed and any other stat simultaneously
*Haven't accounted for Latias retest. If people decide they want it to be unbanned, then I guess remove Latias and ban Soul Dew.

BW2 OU
  • Banned Pokemon: Arceus (all forms), Blaziken, Darkrai, Deoxys (all forms), Dialga, Genesect, Giratina (both forms), Groudon, Ho-oh, Kyogre, Kyurem-W, Landorus, Lugia, Manaphy, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Reshiram, Shaymin-S, Thundurus, Tornadus-T, Zekrom
  • Banned abilities: Arena Trap, Moody, Sand Rush, Sand Veil, Snow Cloak
  • Banned items: Soul Dew
  • Banned moves: Swagger
  • Baton Pass clause: teams are not permitted to have more than one Pokemon with Baton Pass, and it may not be capable of passing Speed and any other stat simultaneously
  • Teams are not permitted to combine Pokemon that have the abilities Drizzle and Swift Swim, or Drought and Chlorophyll.
ORAS OU
  • Banned Pokemon: Aegislash, Arceus (all forms), Blaziken, Darkrai, Deoxys (all forms), Dialga, Genesect, Gengar-Mega, Giratina (both forms), Greninja, Groudon (including Primal), Ho-oh, Hoopa-U, Kangaskhan-Mega, Kyogre (including Primal), Kyurem-W, Landorus, Lucario-Mega, Lugia, Mawile-Mega, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Reshiram, Sableye-Mega, Salamence-Mega, Shaymin-S, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zekrom
  • Banned items: Soul Dew
  • Banned abilities: Arena Trap, Shadow Tag
  • Banned moves: Baton Pass, Swagger
USUM OU
  • Banned Pokemon: Aegislash, Arceus (all forms), Blaziken, Darkrai, Deoxys (all forms), Dialga, Genesect, Gengar-Mega, Giratina (both forms), Groudon (including Primal), Ho-oh, Kangaskhan-Mega, Kyogre (including Primal), Kyurem-W, Landorus, Lucario-Mega, Lugia, Lunala, Marshadow, Metagross-Mega, Mewtwo, Naganadel, Necrozma-DM, Necrozma-DW, Palkia, Pheromosa, Rayquaza, Reshiram, Salamence-Mega, Shaymin-S, Solgaleo, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zekrom, Zygarde-C
  • Banned abilities: Arena Trap, Power Construct, Shadow Tag
  • Banned moves: Baton Pass

edit: ty GMars
Just remembered this, I added this to here https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/tournament-rules-and-general-guidelines.3642760/
 
Why am I seeing Metronome as a seriously considered item on offensive Pokémon now? It's come up in a few threads, but I thought the general consensus since gen 4 was that the item is garbage?
 
Why am I seeing Metronome as a seriously considered item on offensive Pokémon now? It's come up in a few threads, but I thought the general consensus since gen 4 was that the item is garbage?
The only 2 Pokemon with Metronome as recommended items that have OU analyses are Mamoswine and Kyurem.
Metronome Mamoswine allows it to stallbreak even against Unaware Quagsire and Clefable.
Kyurem, on the other hand, can utilize Substitute and Metronome, breaking through common balance cores like Clefable, Ferrothorn, Celesteela, Toxapex, and even Chansey to a certain extent.
The only other Pokemon that I ever run Metronome is Tornadus-T on Rain teams. It allows Tornadus-T to break through its traditional checks in Toxapex and Heatran (because Rain). To boot, Hurricane can't miss in rain.

Besides, "offensive Pokemon" includes a lot of Pokemon. Can you list out some you saw?
 

david0895

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From the suspect thread: "The suspect test will last for approximately 2 weeks and will end on Sunday, December 30th."

Does it mean that the votation will start in these days or after that date?
 
Just curious, while Zygarde 10 is obviously much worse than 50, how relevant is that speed tier? Will all the Zydogs be running Jolly(so frailer and weaker than 50)?
 

Astra

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Just curious, while Zygarde 10 is obviously much worse than 50, how relevant is that speed tier? Will all the Zydogs be running Jolly(so frailer and weaker than 50)?
115 Speed isn't that bad, but I could see it running a Choice Scarf to make use of it or a Choice Band set to replicate Zygarde-50's Choice Band set somewhat. That being said, I don't think it'll be relevant at all as a Zygarde-50 replacement since Zygarde-50's bulk is one of the main reasons why it's so good, and both formes won't be doing much without an Attack boost, but Zygarde-50 has enough bulk to get atleast some set up, while Zygarde-10 is too frail.

Edit: I didn't actually answer the other part lol, Jolly would probably be the best nature for it.
 
Why am I seeing Metronome as a seriously considered item on offensive Pokémon now? It's come up in a few threads, but I thought the general consensus since gen 4 was that the item is garbage?
It's a very niche item but I've seen it used on a few mons that have STAB moves that are very tough to switch into. I faced a metronome Ash Greninja and it punished my switches pretty hard. Example: Go into my Bulu on his Hydro Pump, then double into something else, then get hit with a boosted pump, then die and he gets Ash. Boosted Water Shuriken is frightening in the late game as well.

Other stuff I would consider using metronome on are Zygarde, Torn-T, Tapu Lele, and Araquanid (for real nibbas).
 
Hi guys!
Trying to build some teams for reqs in suspect and I would like to ask something
I saw somewhere in OU forum that steelium Excadrill + m ttar has gotten better in the past months, so I decided to build sand team with it, and my problem comes when needing some breakers to help Excadrill to get the sweep
Since I cant use zard Y, what other breakers fit on a sand team? Im thinking use some obscure things like NP LO HP Flying Thundurus (mega lol), but what else helps here?
Thanks you!
 

MANNAT

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Hi guys!
Trying to build some teams for reqs in suspect and I would like to ask something
I saw somewhere in OU forum that steelium Excadrill + m ttar has gotten better in the past months, so I decided to build sand team with it, and my problem comes when needing some breakers to help Excadrill to get the sweep
Since I cant use zard Y, what other breakers fit on a sand team? Im thinking use some obscure things like NP LO HP Flying Thundurus (mega lol), but what else helps here?
Thanks you!
Choice Band Tapu Bulu tends to fit pretty naturally with the those as a wallbreaker that simultaneously patches up a lot of the defensive issues that stack up when you pair Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill together. However, you need to ensure that the rest of the team is solid speed-wise because these 3 starting Pokemon are pretty slow for the most part.
Why am I seeing Metronome as a seriously considered item on offensive Pokémon now? It's come up in a few threads, but I thought the general consensus since gen 4 was that the item is garbage?
With bulky Pokemon such as Toxapex and Celesteela spamming Recover and Protect respectively, the item Metronome has gained viability for its ability to allow offensive Pokemon to bust past them as they spam these moves. From that point, people have also explored using them on Pokemon that have generally spammable STAB moves like Zygarde (Thousand Arrows), Tapu Lele (Psychic in terrain), and Araquanid (Water Bubble Liquidation).
Besides, "offensive Pokemon" includes a lot of Pokemon. Can you list out some you saw?
I'm not the person that posed the question, but Magearna, Araquanid, Tornadus-T, Mamoswine, Zygarde, Greninja, Tapu Lele, Kyurem, and Gengar have all seen varying degrees of usage of the item metronome this generation.
 

Finchinator

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Does anybody know an effecient counter agianst Zygarde ?
Weavile is by no means a defensive counter. A defensive counter can safely switch-in and defeat it. Weavile cannot tank many hits, sometimes even straight-up dying to offensive variants of Zygarde.

Tangrowth, Clefable, Avalugg, Ice Beam Slowbro, and Ice Beam Mew are the cloest you get to Zygarde counters probably.
 
Does anybody know an effecient counter agianst Zygarde ?
Well, it really depends on which set you want to tackle the most. Tangrowth and Bulu do a fine job switching into it most of the time but they really dislike SubToxic /Sub with toxic spikes support and Bulu has to watch out for the rare (Z)-Iron Tail. Defensive HP ice Lando can blanket check the more offensive variants, but it has a harder time against a healthy Weakness Policy variant due to the power boost.
EDIT: grammar.
 
Does anybody know an effecient counter agianst Zygarde ?
There’s no such thing as a Zygarde counter because it has a way to bypass every possible check, here are your best bets though:
  • Tangrowth (loses to RestTox and the bad set Dragonium Z)
  • Clefable (loses to Dragon Dance Z-move and Weakness Policy)
There are also a couple checks that can work but are far from fully covering every set:
  • Landorus-T (can make Zygarde less of a threat via Intimidate but is very prone to getting worn down)
  • Tapu Bulu (does a fine job against Choice Band but loses to Coil and status variants of Zygarde)
  • Mega Scizor (can handle most sets with Curse, but is more likely to lose to Coil Zygarde than to win against it. Dragon Tail variants can also beat it pretty easily)
  • Tapu Fini (it’s a pretty soft check but like Landorus-T it’s also prone to getting worn down. It doesn’t mind status variants though, for obvious reasons)
  • Gliscor (With enough Attack investment it can break Coil Zygarde’s Substitute and Toxic, but after some damage and depending on Gliscor’s Speed tier, Dragon Dance Z-move variants may overcome it. Rest variants use it as set up bait. However if it is SD Ice Fang Gliscor then it’s another story. The previous statements assume Stealth Rock Gliscor)
  • Mega Latias (Solid check, as it outruns Zygarde and hits it with an Ice Beam, Tectnic Rage doesn’t affect it unless Zygarde Thousand Arrows it first but that can’t be done without taking an Ice Beam and thus fainting which means Mega Latias beats Dragon Dance variants. Choice Band doesn’t do enough unless it packs Outrage. Weakness Policy can beat it though. Also Mega Latias is severely crippled by status)
There’s also a couple more reliable checks but they still have an issue or two and are hard to fit on most teams:
  • Alomomola (struggles with RestTox and Groundium Z variants)
  • Slowbro & Mega Slowbro (checks pretty much every set—except that Camouflage shit—but really dislikes getting Toxic’d. However with some considerable prior damage, Groundium Z Dragon Dance can pose a threat to regular Slowbro)
  • Avalugg (Only loses to Steelium Z Dragon Dance)
  • Buzzwole (Probably the best Zygarde check there is, only set that can possibly break it is the bad Dragonium Z but only after some chip)
Hopefully this helps you out against Zygarde in case it doesn’t get banned :toast:
 
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DC

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What are the advantages of dual screen koko over av ninetales? I presume initiative with taunt and u-turn plays a huge role, but are there other benefits that would make dual screens better?
 

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