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

[Shmirko]

If I look at the strategy dex entry for Mantine in OU, it says that it is a great special wall in OU and is capable of walling a significant portion of the metagame and that it is a great defogger, since it finds recovery in Roost, which is something that a water defogger like Fini lacks.

However, the mon is only in the C tier. What's the reason for that and why is the strat dex so positive about it when It's just a C in viability?

 

[volx757]

If I look at the strategy dex entry for Mantine in OU, it says that it is a great special wall in OU and is capable of walling a significant portion of the metagame and that it is a great defogger, since it finds recovery in Roost, which is something that a water defogger like Fini lacks.

However, the mon is only in the C tier. What's the reason for that and why is the strat dex so positive about it when It's just a C in viability?

It's just the result of analysis being written by a bunch of different people, there are differences in tone and how they talk about the mons. For example, Dragonite's dex opens with this:

"Dragonite is a devastating sweeper with Supersonic Skystrike"

whereas Gyarados says this:

"Gyarados is a good sweeper in OU"

Gyarados is obviously the better sweeper in OU, but this makes it sound like Dragonite is a monster in OU. You should use the viability rankings to determine how valuable a pokemon is in the tier, the dex intro paragraphs aren't reliable as they don't get updated much and can include the writer's opinion.

 

[Jordy]

That analysis was also written a while ago, back when Mantine was B+ or B rank.

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Why is Mega Manectric ranked, but Zeraora isn't?

 

[Finchinator]

Why is Mega Manectric ranked, but Zeraora isn't?

Mega Manectric is better than Zeraora. Both suck tho

 

[VCrakeV]

How imperative is it to have protect on Mega Sableye? I find it would be much easier to check certain Pokemon I want it to check if it had a spare move slot. For what it's worth, the team I'm currently working on has 2 defoggers and a spinner, so I'm hoping that could help if Sableye can't lead to mega evolve and deny hazards as soon as it switches on what it checks, like Toxapex and Ferrothorn.

 

[the pharoah]

How imperative is it to have protect on Mega Sableye? I find it would be much easier to check certain Pokemon I want it to check if it had a spare move slot. For what it's worth, the team I'm currently working on has 2 defoggers and a spinner, so I'm hoping that could help if Sableye can't lead to mega evolve and deny hazards as soon as it switches on what it checks, like Toxapex and Ferrothorn.

protect is useful for scouting moves on potential choice locked mons like Lele which would otherwise give your Sableye a lot of trouble if you couldnt see in which move they would lock themselves into. If you feel that is not a good enough reason to run it then might as well use some other move.

 

[Shmirko]

I just wanted to know what the place of Blacephalon is in the current OU metagame because it is only C+ and in my head, the clown is broken (guess I'm just stupid then lmao)

 

[VCrakeV]

protect is useful for scouting moves on potential choice locked mons like Lele which would otherwise give your Sableye a lot of trouble if you couldnt see in which move they would lock themselves into. If you feel that is not a good enough reason to run it then might as well use some other move.

I find it mostly just useful to protect turn one to mega evolve safely. I have a check for Lele. I suppose the best thing to do is just give it a try.

I just wanted to know what the place of Blacephalon is in the current OU metagame because it is only C+ and in my head, the clown is broken (guess I'm just stupid then lmao)

Blace is excellent at wrecking most stall teams, but I believe it is lower on the VR because of its matchup with other playstyles. It is extremely vulnerable to Tyranitar, which walls it and traps it with pursuit for the KO. It is also susceptible to priority moves, like sucker punch and water shuriken. It is also very frail, and outsped by common choice scarf users, as well as Greninja, Koko, and Tornadus (all very popular). Perhaps the VR doesn't quite do Blace justice, but it certainly has its weaknesses.

 

[Solaros & Lunaris]

I just wanted to know what the place of Blacephalon is in the current OU metagame because it is only C+ and in my head, the clown is broken (guess I'm just stupid then lmao)

Adding on to the above, Blace feels very hard to put on a team over other Fire-type breakers. It doesn’t have the utility of Heatran or Volcarona, and ZardX can often feel like a better version of the Specs set with less Speed. Of course, Blace has an incredible Speed tier and coveted Ghost-STAB, but much of the time (not all the time) these pros are minimal to its cons.

 

[Dreadfury]

I just wanted to know what the place of Blacephalon is in the current OU metagame because it is only C+ and in my head, the clown is broken (guess I'm just stupid then lmao)

I personally think the VR criminally underrates Blacephalon at the moment, but there is one thing that is always true of any Blacephalon set, be it Specs, Scarf, or either SubCM+Ghostium set: it is useless if Tyranitar is present. There are few things that can be seen as harder counters than Tyranitar vs. Blacephalon: it resists its STABs, Blacephalon literally cannot learn Hidden Power Fighting due to complications with Gen 6-7 IVs on special encounters, and it OHKOs Blacephalon with either of its STABs.

If Tyranitar so much as exists on your opponent's team, Blacephalon is a liability until Tyranitar is disposed of. As such it requires a tremendous amount of support in these surprisingly-common scenarios. But if Tyranitar is not present and its revenge killers are eliminated Blacephalon has an overwhelmingly favorable matchup, particularly if the opposing team is a Stall team and the Blacephalon is Substitute+Calm Mind as Chansey cannot so much as scratch it.

 

[Discharged Xurkitree]

Im trying to find some good teammates for a Koko-Cham-Kyurem core, any ideas? Im using defog pivot for koko, Icium Z for Kyurem, and running thunder punch on Medicham.

 

[the pharoah]

Im trying to find some good teammates for a Koko-Cham-Kyurem core, any ideas? Im using defog pivot for koko, Icium Z for Kyurem, and running thunder punch on Medicham.

Electric Seed Hawlucha synergizes pretty well with Koko and gives you a win condition. Then you would have to look for a rocker and a solid defensive backbone possibly.

 

[VCrakeV]

I have a couple of unrelated questions...

Firstly, I find myself almost always using Quagsire on my stall teams (which is all of my teams, btw) in order to check banded TTar and banded Victini. I'd like to use Pyukumuku to check special threats like Keldeo, Manaphy, and Blacephalon. However, I can't seem to fit checks to both TTar and Victini elsewhere on my team (be it with one 'mon or two). What might I be able to use to check those two 'mons that can bring something to the team (checking other breakers, hazard control, etc.)?

Secondly, I have of course considered trying a different playstyle; it may be too difficult or implausible to be prepared for the whole metagame, and more offensive playstyles don't have to worry about this. However, funny enough, I started competitive battling with hyper offense... I was not very good at. After not seeing much improvement, I tried bulky offense, and gradually switched to stall as I prioritized having switch-ins over having sweepers and breakers.

Anyway, the point is I don't think I'd be better off with a different playstyle, but I also feel like I have plateaued again. Is stall in a bad place in the current meta (I.e is it not as good as other playstyles)? Should I try a different playstyle?

 

[Solaros & Lunaris]

I have a couple of unrelated questions...

Firstly, I find myself almost always using Quagsire on my stall teams (which is all of my teams, btw) in order to check banded TTar and banded Victini. I'd like to use Pyukumuku to check special threats like Keldeo, Manaphy, and Blacephalon. However, I can't seem to fit checks to both TTar and Victini elsewhere on my team (be it with one 'mon or two). What might I be able to use to check those two 'mons that can bring something to the team (checking other breakers, hazard control, etc.)?

Secondly, I have of course considered trying a different playstyle; it may be too difficult or implausible to be prepared for the whole metagame, and more offensive playstyles don't have to worry about this. However, funny enough, I started competitive battling with hyper offense... I was not very good at. After not seeing much improvement, I tried bulky offense, and gradually switched to stall as I prioritized having switch-ins over having sweepers and breakers.

Anyway, the point is I don't think I'd be better off with a different playstyle, but I also feel like I have plateaued again. Is stall in a bad place in the current meta (I.e is it not as good as other playstyles)? Should I try a different playstyle?

For your first question, SpDef Kommo-o (wtf why do i love this mon) checks both, sets Rocks, checks Mgyara, Tran, Blace, ashgren, non-gleam koko etc and phazea. As for checks for each one, HSwap Mage is a pseudo-unaware mon that checks Ttar, has Volt and can occasionally run Heal Bell for the team. The other is a bit harder to manage with stall, and requires more niche picks. Victini is stonewalled by M-Alt who also Defogs and checks AshGren, while CB Weavile traps it and can give the team some offensive pressure if it needs it.

As for your second question, uhhh, stall isn’t the best playstyle right now, but its not unviable. I feel like the major issue I have with it is that no Defogger wins against the best Rockers in the tier, those being Rockium Garchomp and to a lesser extent, Mega Tyranitar and Heatran. Other than that, it hasn’t really gotten worse. If you really wanna try a different playstyle, I feel semistall/fat balance is kinda strong, especially if you can manage VoltTurn.

 

[Charmflash]

I have a couple of unrelated questions...

Firstly, I find myself almost always using Quagsire on my stall teams (which is all of my teams, btw) in order to check banded TTar and banded Victini. I'd like to use Pyukumuku to check special threats like Keldeo, Manaphy, and Blacephalon. However, I can't seem to fit checks to both TTar and Victini elsewhere on my team (be it with one 'mon or two). What might I be able to use to check those two 'mons that can bring something to the team (checking other breakers, hazard control, etc.)?

Secondly, I have of course considered trying a different playstyle; it may be too difficult or implausible to be prepared for the whole metagame, and more offensive playstyles don't have to worry about this. However, funny enough, I started competitive battling with hyper offense... I was not very good at. After not seeing much improvement, I tried bulky offense, and gradually switched to stall as I prioritized having switch-ins over having sweepers and breakers.

Anyway, the point is I don't think I'd be better off with a different playstyle, but I also feel like I have plateaued again. Is stall in a bad place in the current meta (I.e is it not as good as other playstyles)? Should I try a different playstyle?

First of all, banded Victini is quite the oddity, I wouldnt worry about being able to counter all of its moves too much, something along the lines of Pyukumuku + Gliscor/Hippowdon should serve your purpose well enough since those also happen to be some of the best switch-ins to Tyranitar.

As for your second question stall does have quite a few problems right now and definitely cannot cover every set in the current metagame but due to it being on the weaker side people have also been preparing less for stall which gives you quite a wide spectrum of fantastic matchups. Personally I still believe that stall is pretty formidable due to the aformentioned reason as well as the fact that you can influence the outcome of the game more than one would think with good play.

 

[FlockOfFlames]

What's the state of hail in OU ? Is there a tier where it's a viable strat ?

 

[Jordy]

There are no viable dedicated hail teams in OU. The closest you'll get is Aurora Veil Hyper Offense, which is just Alolan Ninetales + a Stealth Rock lead + 4 sweepers. Ice spam is a viable strat in PU, however, where I and some other users have used it countless times to get reqs.

 

[Katy]

What's the state of hail in OU ? Is there a tier where it's a viable strat ?

Hello,
hail isn't considered as a viable weather itself, however there is a viable but at the same time very very niche pokémon with hail, Alola Ninetales, but it is moreso used as a Aurora Veil setter, which in itself is already pretty niche and outclassed by Tapu Kokos Dual Screens, as it (Alola Ninetales) relies heavily on its weather, the Hail. Whereas Tapu Koko isn't dependend on a specific weather situation and Sand + Rain teams are rising in usage, in fact the ladder has a Rain Outbreak right now, as Rain is the permiere weather. Also Alola Ninetales has to be wary about common scarfers and also faster pokémon in this tier.

 

[Mugenman88]

If I wanted to make a team with a core of Z-Kommo-o, AV Magearna, and Mega zam what would be the more important pokes to prepare for?

 

[volx757]

If I wanted to make a team with a core of Z-Kommo-o, AV Magearna, and Mega zam what would be the more important pokes to prepare for?

So far this team is threatened heavily by dragon dancers, wallbreakers, and volcarona. So you'll need answers to boosted char-x, gyara, dnite, megatar, volcarona, magearna. And you need switchins to kartana, mawile, char-y, medicham. Of course there are other threats, but these are the common ones.

You can handle the breakers defensively with toxapex and lando, but it leaves your team very weak to sweepers without a fast scarfer to revenge. And you probably want a fogger if you have no spikes.

If you wanna skip defensive answers to char-y/volcarona and just rely on revenging/kommo being healthy, you can also skip pex and take scarf lando (for defog, u-turn, and revenging) RH tang (switch-in to physical breakers so lando can be healthy for his job) and take something more fun in the last slot.

idk just some thoughts but yea most dragon dancers eat this team after a boost with rocks up.

 

[robofiend]

If I wanted to make a team with a core of Z-Kommo-o, AV Magearna, and Mega zam what would be the more important pokes to prepare for?

Ash-Gren: you're relatively good on this front but you want some answer to spikes
Heatran: again, good, but stally status variants or Z movers can take out Kommo or Zam if played well - probably not both
Rotom-W + Zapdos: you're actually pretty good against these two since Kommo can nuke with Kommonium. Just be prepared for them to try to mind-game you by swapping out when you hit that Z attack.
Prot-Gren: you're ok on this front, Mage can get worn down by HP Fire
Tapu-Koko: you probably want something that can eat several Scarf Tbolts or cancel Electric terrain, like Bulu
Rockium/Scarf Garchomp: you're weak here. Chomp can threaten all of your current mons from full
Landorus-T: you have relatively nothing on Scarf Variants and could get dismantled by a SD variant
Magearna: none of your mons can beat CM+SG once it gets rolling, AV can just dance around you with Volt-Switch and can hard check both Kommo and Zam
Medicham, Mawile, Kart: all of these mons have strong, fast attacks and can threaten you. Lele can help to ease the threat of Fake Out but won't provide any help vs. Kart
KyuB: a threat to nearly every team that can be prepared for but not always beaten. AV Mage can eat a couple attacks but will eventually break. Since KyuB outspeeds neutral Kommo and Scarf RKs, your opponent can mindgame you. LO sets with Tapu Koko are your biggest weakness rn.
Volcarona: also a threat to every team that can be prepped for but not always beaten. While Kommo can check it, it's not a foolproof counter.
Tyranitar: while Magearna and Kommo-o resist this mon, it's strong enough to break you with coverage. Band variants are scary, as are DD and Rockers, either of whom might trap kill M-Zam. Sand itself is a threat given that M-Garchomp + Excadrill can break many common cores and none of your mons explicitly check them outside of Zam tracing SR after Exca nets a kill.
Stall: None of your mons are particularly good against stall, as Unaware Clef/Quag will hard-check Kommo-o, Magearna+Zam will be useless against Chansey, and M-Sableye can threaten you with Wisp or Knock Off to some degree.

There are a lot more mons, but these are the big things to consider when building a team, IMO.

 

[VCrakeV]

I've been using a slightly unusual Celesteela set lately, because I needed a check to Kartana (among other 'mons). It has flamethrower for Kart, but nothing on my team can consistently switch in on a FF boosted Heatran. If I click flamethrower on Kartana, and Heatran switches in, I'd be screwed. So I gave it an assault vest and stomping tantrum (EQ fails to always KO, especially 252 HP variants). I gave it heavy slam for Lele, and I haven't stuck with a fourth move yet. I tried giga drain to hit Fini for decent damage while healing Celesteela, but it didn't deal or heal much damage. What should I use in the 4th slot? Or is there a better way to avoid the flash fire issue?

 

[Finchinator]

I've been using a slightly unusual Celesteela set lately, because I needed a check to Kartana (among other 'mons). It has flamethrower for Kart, but nothing on my team can consistently switch in on a FF boosted Heatran. If I click flamethrower on Kartana, and Heatran switches in, I'd be screwed. So I gave it an assault vest and stomping tantrum (EQ fails to always KO, especially 252 HP variants). I gave it heavy slam for Lele, and I haven't stuck with a fourth move yet. I tried giga drain to hit Fini for decent damage while healing Celesteela, but it didn't deal or heal much damage. What should I use in the 4th slot? Or is there a better way to avoid the flash fire issue?

Running a proper Heatran check is necessary for any consistent team first off, so I'd try to restructure your team to have one of these. Regardless, if you are deadset on keeping it as is for some reason, try HP Ice for catching some 4x on very common Pokemon, perhaps.

 

[robofiend]

I've been using a slightly unusual Celesteela set lately, because I needed a check to Kartana (among other 'mons). It has flamethrower for Kart, but nothing on my team can consistently switch in on a FF boosted Heatran. If I click flamethrower on Kartana, and Heatran switches in, I'd be screwed. So I gave it an assault vest and stomping tantrum (EQ fails to always KO, especially 252 HP variants). I gave it heavy slam for Lele, and I haven't stuck with a fourth move yet. I tried giga drain to hit Fini for decent damage while healing Celesteela, but it didn't deal or heal much damage. What should I use in the 4th slot? Or is there a better way to avoid the flash fire issue?

Is there a good reason not to be running lefties + Leech/Protect? I can't really advise a team that is going to lose to an S-Rank mon like Heatran every time, but for me, I'd take Rock Slide since Cele can lure for Zard and Volcarona as well.