BH Balanced Hackmons

[Champion Leon]

you probably want to add poison heal on there, or recovery. also someone can switch into a resist/immunity of choice and pp stall

If he is using Prankster he cannot use Poison Heal, unless you meant a teammate.

Or, I guess if you had like a Poison Heal:

Swampert-Mega @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Dig / Thousand Waves
- Dive
- Bounce
- Curse / Coil

Bounce works to inflict Paralysis while immune due to being Poisoned, Curse / Coil prevents Imposter from overpowering it like Swords Dance would.

Curse allows you to go second and underspeed Core Enforcer, while Coil patches up Accuracy issues on Bounce, etc.

The other moves gain STAB so they deal decent damage. Thousand Waves can prevent switching PP Stall while still gaining STAB.

Or Maybe:

Rayquaza-Mega @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Bounce
- Swords Dance
- Dig
- Copycat

You go last, due to the item, when you attack, but go first when you use Copycat to outspeed the foe.

Dig serves as a coverage move to hit the Rock, Steel, and Electric types that resist Flying moves.

Swords Dance makes sense so Dig and Bounce do decent damage, and so the foe doesn’t just spam Recover.

Lagging Tail can enable Bounce so you don’t have to worry about under speeding the opponent.

Lagging Tail also lets you underspeed Imposter when both of you are using the same move during the same turn.

 

[AV Cosmoem]

If he is using Prankster he cannot use Poison Heal, unless you meant a teammate.

Or, I guess if you had like a Poison Heal:

Swampert-Mega @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Dig / Thousand Waves
- Dive
- Bounce
- Curse / Coil

Bounce works to inflict Paralysis while immune due to being Poisoned, Curse / Coil prevents Imposter from overpowering it like Swords Dance would.

Curse allows you to go second and underspeed Core Enforcer, while Coil patches up Accuracy issues on Bounce, etc.

The other moves gain STAB so they deal decent damage. Thousand Waves can prevent switching PP Stall while still gaining STAB.

Or Maybe:

Rayquaza-Mega @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Bounce
- Swords Dance
- Dig
- Copycat

You go last, due to the item, when you attack, but go first when you use Copycat to outspeed the foe.

Dig serves as a coverage move to hit the Rock, Steel, and Electric types that resist Flying moves.

Swords Dance makes sense so Dig and Bounce do decent damage, and so the foe doesn’t just spam Recover.

Lagging Tail can enable Bounce so you don’t have to worry about under speeding the opponent.

Lagging Tail also lets you underspeed Imposter when both of you are using the same move during the same turn.

no i meant the opponent, i edited the original post

 

[ElMustacho]

If he is using Prankster he cannot use Poison Heal, unless you meant a teammate.

Or, I guess if you had like a Poison Heal:

Swampert-Mega @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Dig / Thousand Waves
- Dive
- Bounce
- Curse / Coil

Bounce works to inflict Paralysis while immune due to being Poisoned, Curse / Coil prevents Imposter from overpowering it like Swords Dance would.

Curse allows you to go second and underspeed Core Enforcer, while Coil patches up Accuracy issues on Bounce, etc.

The other moves gain STAB so they deal decent damage. Thousand Waves can prevent switching PP Stall while still gaining STAB.

Or Maybe:

Rayquaza-Mega @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Bounce
- Swords Dance
- Dig
- Copycat

You go last, due to the item, when you attack, but go first when you use Copycat to outspeed the foe.

Dig serves as a coverage move to hit the Rock, Steel, and Electric types that resist Flying moves.

Swords Dance makes sense so Dig and Bounce do decent damage, and so the foe doesn’t just spam Recover.

Lagging Tail can enable Bounce so you don’t have to worry about under speeding the opponent.

Lagging Tail also lets you underspeed Imposter when both of you are using the same move during the same turn.

Please never post like this again. Both sets are terrible, and you suggesting like this worsens the meta by making new players use very bad sets, pollutes the thread with useless content and exacerbates people who has to fix the first two. Any half decent setupper will make short work of the first one, and checks to setup will wall that invariantly, or even force out with haze + core. The second set is the kind of stinky garbage that cannot be recycled. You picked a mon which is on the verge of being suspected for a large amount of very powerful sets, and you give it a Prankster, Lagging Tail, Bounce/Dig set. It's so bad I don't need to add anything. But I will, since you may have missed the memo; Mray can produce double the firepower in less than half the turns, why should anyone run the set of yours?

 

[Champion Leon]

Please never post like this again. Both sets are terrible, and you suggesting like this worsens the meta by making new players use very bad sets, pollutes the thread with useless content and exacerbates people who has to fix the first two. Any half decent setupper will make short work of the first one, and checks to setup will wall that invariantly, or even force out with haze + core. The second set is the kind of stinky garbage that cannot be recycled. You picked a mon which is on the verge of being suspected for a large amount of very powerful sets, and you give it a Prankster, Lagging Tail, Bounce/Dig set. It's so bad I don't need to add anything. But I will, since you may have missed the memo; Mray can produce double the firepower in less than half the turns, why should anyone run the set of yours?

It was strictly for the strategy on the prior page. I think you must have not read the full context.

Please read your own comment and apply it to yourself. You could have spared this thread by simply sending this privately.

Most people who see when someone replies to someone else understand it’s related to a prior topic. That means what you wrote looks uninformed and rude. #LookAtYou

P.S. I don’t think your bad, I just think it came off a little too strong bc you wanted to look superior. Please consider why I posted it (context).

I don’t have an issue with you, but your tone was harsh. Consider your tone. I don’t want your feelings to cloud your point.

 

[cityscapes]

im pretty sick of all of this

prank copycat in general is a super gimmicky strat that loses to many things. opposing pranks can wall it and shut down copycat with haze or recover, rocky helmet and stuff is super annoying, shed walls it, triage and priority beat it, etc. but the big issue i have with it is just how long it takes to do anything. most offensive mons thrive on forcing out a pokemon into another pokemon to get a setup opportunity. but even if youre able to do that with prank copycat, youre still not able to get too much done because the aforementioned threats still hard wall the set.

copycat also doesnt really beat offensive dudes because in general they dont do too much damage to themselves, stuff like diancie can just click espeed on you even if they used a ground move last turn while ph users all win. i guess you could beat some offensive smash users without dazzling or something but thats still kind of sketch.

while they technically do have a unique niche in that they can avoid being hit by things, most good teams are well prepared for them so i'd probably recommend something else that can put in work in the matchup. at the very least the set needs something to set it apart from all the easily countered low ladder stuff, but that might not be possible considering the fact that you dont have enough moveslots to work with. the poison heal set is really bad because it doesnt actually have priority so everyone just hits him.

Please never post like this again. Both sets are terrible, and you suggesting like this worsens the meta by making new players use very bad sets, pollutes the thread with useless content and exacerbates people who has to fix the first two. Any half decent setupper will make short work of the first one, and checks to setup will wall that invariantly, or even force out with haze + core. The second set is the kind of stinky garbage that cannot be recycled. You picked a mon which is on the verge of being suspected for a large amount of very powerful sets, and you give it a Prankster, Lagging Tail, Bounce/Dig set. It's so bad I don't need to add anything. But I will, since you may have missed the memo; Mray can produce double the firepower in less than half the turns, why should anyone run the set of yours?

ok bro stay posting literally nothing. if you dont like the posts the solution is obviously to not post outside of lame vitriolic callouts and never starting your own topics. keep it up dude u are improving the quality of the thread as we speak

 

[AV Cosmoem]

at long last, we have discovered a tapu useful in the current meta

THE WALL

Tapu Fini @ Icium Z / Safety Goggles
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- U-Turn
- Scald
- Haze

the other tapus don't really have anything going for them but fini has a unique typing that allows it to check mmx, necro-dm, solgaleo, mchomp, kyub, maero, mblaze lacking lens, and phero. being able to blanket check many physical attackers like this means that tapu fini has a good niche as a physical wall. running safety goggles allows you to check gigas and spore users but I prefer the utility of z-haze.

however it faces heavy competition from the variety of fur coat users, such as pogre, msable, and gira. the main disadvantage of fini is that it can't really run alternate moves but its competition can run topsy-turvy, parting shot, spectral thief, stealth rock, core enforcer, revelation dance, and more. fini can't afford to run tech like this, it has to stick to roost/uturn/scald/haze because it can't afford to lose any of these options and it doesn't even like losing icium for goggles. this also makes fini one dimensional and predictable. it is also easily shut down by taunt, removing its healing moves and basically forcing it to u-turn or switch. there are also physical attackers like pdon, mbee, and gigas without goggles that can break or shut down fini. however there is a niche for it as a blanket check.

if your team is looking weak to physical attackers, fini has your back.

 

[Champion Leon]

at long last, we have discovered a tapu useful in the current meta

THE WALL

Tapu Fini @ Icium Z / Safety Goggles
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- U-Turn
- Scald
- Haze

the other tapus don't really have anything going for them but fini has a unique typing that allows it to check mmx, necro-dm, solgaleo, mchomp, kyub, maero, mblaze lacking lens, and phero. being able to blanket check many physical attackers like this means that tapu fini has a good niche as a physical wall. running safety goggles allows you to check gigas and spore users but I prefer the utility of z-haze.

however it faces heavy competition from the variety of fur coat users, such as pogre, msable, and gira. the main disadvantage of fini is that it can't really run alternate moves but its competition can run topsy-turvy, parting shot, spectral thief, stealth rock, core enforcer, revelation dance, and more. fini can't afford to run tech like this, it has to stick to roost/uturn/scald/haze because it can't afford to lose any of these options and it doesn't even like losing icium for goggles. this also makes fini one dimensional and predictable. it is also easily shut down by taunt, removing its healing moves and basically forcing it to u-turn or switch. there are also physical attackers like pdon, mbee, and gigas without goggles that can break or shut down fini. however there is a niche for it as a blanket check.

if your team is looking weak to physical attackers, fini has your back.

I agree. This Pokémon + ability (no specific moveset highlighted) is featured in the VR, and after a recent discussion, people have informed me that the new preferred ability is Poison Heal.

However, the good thing about your set is that it’s Fur Coat handles so many things in one that gives it a niche over, say Slowbro-Mega, such as Tyranitar-Mega, Bannette-Mega, Yveltal, and has SpD to take more SpA in general.

In fact, in the BH Suspects Thread. We see discussion on the Rayquaza-Mega variants of Sets.

If Soundproof Tapu Fini ever becomes a thing, it could switch into Boomburst, Draco Meteor, V-Create/Close Combat, and not feel phased.

Kudos to you. It’s nice to see how helpful and informative your post is.

You informed us specifically on its niche for handling various offensive threats, bypassed any “you forgot this” with your comprehensive list and accurately made this thread back on topic with a new idea I could genuinely see people getting behind.

Not only does your set for Tapu Fini have your back, I have this set’s back bc I could see exactly the niche it fills and apply it myself. It reminds me of Darm-Z bc Fire and Water have similar resistances (Ice, Water), and Fairy adds a Fighting resist like how Psychic does.

I believe many people will agree that Tapu Fini properly fulfills the role you established and does so uniquely bc of its unique typing and immunity to Core Enforcer.

One thing you could use as an Other Option would be Whirlwind. The thing about Haze is that they can keep setting up, while Whirlwind forces them out to something they cannot control (it also helps you when you are aware they will use U-Turn, and want to take away momentum).
One thing I like about PHazing is forcing a switch to rack up Hazard damage so it can finish off or even flat out KO threats like Shedinja.

Whirlwind fails on Magic Bounce, or if the foe is down to their last Pokémon. However, it does free up an item slot on Icium-Z, and let’s you use Safety Goggles, since you mentioned you don’t like having to sacrifice the Goggles for Icium-Z.

 

[motherlove]

A few things of note.

I think Fur Coat Fini was added to the VR when Primal Groudon was still a thing. And given that I'm pretty sure I added it to the initial VR, it's because ppl were running Stakeout Groudon with Draco Meteor.
Fini could also handle contrary mixed Dragons which Kyogre, for example, couldn't. And as a fairy type, did well against power trip dark types.

I'm saying all this just to show that FC Fini while not bad, is definitely a little bit outdated in the current meta as its specific niche set of resistances is much less valuable.

 

[Chessking345]

Setpedia is an outdated resource because no one is actually regularly updating it.
Citing Setpedia in your arguments, as I have said again and again, is not helping it when it has ancient and bad sets in it such as RegenVest Hoopa-U and offensive PH Zygarde.

Fini is D on the VR purely because of the PH utility set which is able to harass defensive mons and is very difficult to switch into unpunished.
Furthermore FC in general is just in a bad shape rn in the meta because of how it just doesn't do much and the result is your team is now weaker to other threats.

If Soundproof Tapu Fini ever becomes a thing, it could switch into Boomburst, Draco Meteor, V-Create/Close Combat, and not feel phased.

Soundproof Fini is a bad idea because its basically a worse Soundproof Dino since its weak to Volt Switch and its worse bulk leaves it more vulnerable to Extreme Speed and coverage moves like Moongeist Beam.

 

[Champion Leon]

Er...yes. I wasn't really trying to make an argument exactly. edit: No, actually I guess I was arguing to update the setpedia. Work in progress I guess?

This is the discussion I was referring to, I should've mentioned.

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/balanced-hackmons-central-resources.3593766/post-8188015

Hey, its okay, you are brand new and there is not clarity on the details Chessking345 & motherlove explained in the actual thread’s OP. It’s like you would have to read thru pages to find that information specified by Flint or others and so I don’t fault anyone for not knowing initially. Also I like that you cited them, it shows you took the initiative to research what you could and prepare a rebuttal. Many new players just post opinions and I like that you backed up your claims.

Also the fact that the set for Tapu Fini supreeee posted matches the Setpedia shows that she must have based it off of the facts she found and researched.

Even though I agree with Chessking345 on the Setpedia, I do also recognize it’s harder for new players to know this, especially when lower ranked BH viable mobs don’t all have their Analysis pages updated or completed.

At that point it’s harder to point you in the right direction without telling everyone to just start following the thread, which you already showed you did bc you linked to the discussion and proved you went to collect their topic points.

Overall, I didn’t know the full context either behind Tapu Fini besides handling Contrary and set-up.
Don’t worry, take everything with a grain of salt. You guys did what you thought was solid information based on what was available.

No worries, and I respect your efforts to take the initiative.

Setpedia is an outdated resource because no one is actually regularly updating it.
Citing Setpedia in your arguments, as I have said again and again, is not helping it when it has ancient and bad sets in it such as RegenVest Hoopa-U and offensive PH Zygarde.

Fini is D on the VR purely because of the PH utility set which is able to harass defensive mons and is very difficult to switch into unpunished.
Furthermore FC in general is just in a bad shape rn in the meta because of how it just doesn't do much and the result is your team is now weaker to other threats.

Soundproof Fini is a bad idea because its basically a worse Soundproof Dino since its weak to Volt Switch and its worse bulk leaves it more vulnerable to Extreme Speed and coverage moves like Moongeist Beam.

I agree that’s true for the Specs Set.

I guess I meant to be more specific with the Mixed -Ate Set you posted in the suspect thread yesterday:

Time to actually make a good post on these stuff (rather than just saying a viewpoint and providing 0 support, cough cough)

Lets talk about this mon. Aka the most borked offensive threat present.
Rayquaza has 3 main offensive sets (Specs -ate, Band TC, Triage), 1 secondary offensive sets (Mixed -ate), and some other possible sets (Specs TL, Band TL, Quick Feet, DQM, Scarf, Adapt).
Note that I did not include any replays featuring a certain 6x Rayquaza spam team because the species overload definitely has something to do with the effectiveness and I wanted to make the replays show just the raw strength of Rayquaza.

Specs -ate

Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Naive / Modest / Rash Nature
- Boomburst
- Draco Meteor
- Secret Sword / Earth Power / Magma Storm / Blue Flare / Extreme Speed
- Volt Switch / Moongeist Beam / Extreme Speed

The most popular and probably effective Rayquaza set rn. Specs Boomburst is insanely difficult to switch into outside of very bulky resists or Soundproof. This set's effectiveness comes from the sheer power granting it many chances to come in on a slower offensive mon (PDon, Xern, etc) and threaten an OHKO.

Good checks: Soundproof Audino, Soundproof Ho-Oh, Soundproof Xerneas, RegenVest + Shed, Shield moves.
Decent checks: RegenVest Steel, FF/Levitate/Prank Registeel, FC Chansey, Shed, Mega TTar, Nihilego.
Offensive checks: SF MMY, Ice Move MMX, Ice Move MGar, Pixi Diancie, SF Deo-A, Kyurem-B, ESpeed Kyurem-W, Mega Aerodactyl.
Among the good checks note that Soundproof Dino and Xern are 2HKOed by Blue Flare, Ho-Oh takes chunks from Draco, and all hate Volt Switch. Resulting in having basically no good defensive check.

Specs -ate immensely pressures the opponent despite having a Shield mon and a Soundproof mon, and wins after hitting a risk-free 50/50.
Specs -ate 2HKOs Dialga and forces a Prank DBond trade.
Specs -ate breaks the opposing team that has a FF Registeel.
Both Specs -ate break the opposing team.
Sl's Specs -ate pressures despite FF Aegi.
Specs -ate despite being hard walled by Audino cripples Regi, opening up opportunities for TC.

Mixed -ate

Rayquaza-Mega @ Sky Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fake Out / Draco Meteor / Sunsteel Strike
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Precipice Blades / V-create / Thousand Arrows / U-turn

The worst of the 4 main sets. Compared to the other sets it either lacks breaking power or longevity. In return this set offers the utility of revenge-killing which can be valuable.

Good checks: Soundproof Audino Zygarde MegaBro, FF Celesteela, Shed, FC Chansey, Mega TTar, Levitate Nihilego.
Decent checks: FF/Levitate/Prank Steels, Imposter, Soundproof Xerneas, RegenVest POgre.
Offensive checks: Pixi Diancie, Kyurem-B, Kyurem-W, DQM MMY MMX MGar Deo-A, Refridge MMX, Mega Aerodactyl.
There are a lot more options for defensive checks now but offensive checks are reduced or worse because of how strong Plate-boosted ESpeed is.

Mixed -ate despite being walled by Soundproof Zyg is able to prevent Gengar sweep by revenge-killing it.
Mixed -ate cleans late game.

Triage

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb / Safety Goggles / Leftovers
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Oblivion Wing
- Tail Glow
- Moongeist Beam / Giga Drain / Earth Power / Secret Sword / Volt Switch
- Spore / Substitute / Any of moveslot 3

Ridiculously annoying to face because of the insane longevity provided by Oblivion Wing. Defensive checks are very lacking to this set because not only do they have to live +3 Boosted moves but they also need to be able to threaten back as otherwise it just shrugs off the damage. Life Orb boosted OWing is still very strong priority to revenge-kill.

Good checks: Unaware Audino Chansey POgre Zygarde, Imposter, RegenVest Giratina Zygarde.
Decent checks: RegenVest POgre, FC Chansey, Steels, Mega TTar, Nihilego.
Offensive checks: DQM MMY MMX MGar Deo-A.
Note how generally Defensive checks rely on Unaware or RegenVest, both of which are pretty bad rn, and offensive checks relying on DQM.

Triage takes out 2 mons and weakens a third.
Triage sweeps despite Spectral + Ice Beam Chansey.
Triage sweeps despite Prank Aegi and RegenVest Zyg.

TC

Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Dragon Hammer / Ice Hammer
- Close Combat / High Horsepower / V-create
- U-turn / Sunsteel Strike

The dangerous thing about this set is its ability to break past the special walls for the Specs -ate and Triage sets that tend to switch in on Ray. Its breaking power is also very dangerous and has a wide range of very powerful coverage moves. Compared to Specs -ate it also doesn't have an immunity to its main move.

Good checks: FC Slowbro Cresselia Celesteela, Prank Slowbro (w/ Sap),
Decent checks: Prank Tina Zygarde Steels, FF Aegislash, RegenVest Slowbro Celesteela, Shed.
Offensive checks: Same as Specs -ate.
Note how there are minimal good checks due to the coverage.

Tzop's TC breaks despite Zekrom and FC NDM. (Also note how dual ray makes it difficult to play around)
TC breaks after Regi is crippled.
TC effectively takes out 3 mons and possibly more if it wasn't sacked.

Others

Band Tinted Lens is an alternative to TC that trades breaking resists easier for more damage on neutral targets such as Dino and Ogre.
Specs Tinted Lens is like a hybrid of Triage and Specs -ate with breaking power and some longevity from OWing.
Quick Feet is an interesting late game sweeper that beats normal Imp and can beat Scarf Imp.
DQM is not that great but can still be used to surprise opponents and lure some priority.
Scarf is a nice surprise revenge killer against frail targets like MMY and MGar.
Adapt is a mixed breaker that can threaten both spectrums simultaneously with very strong STABs.

Overall

So why is Ray so dangerous and so broken? What makes it different compared to MMX and MMY and MGar and Mega Diancie? Does it satisfy the "guidelines" in the OP?

• A banworthy Pokemon should be considered first and foremost as a blank state with no ability or specific moveset, on the merits of its stats in both an offensive and defensive setting. It should outshine every other Pokemon in the tier and be considered head and shoulders above them.

Rayquaza's stats are very very good. 180 180 Mixed Offenses are only rivaled by Deo-A and its speed tier is enough for it to force out many slower offensive mons and prevent mons like Kyurems and Diancie from effectively revenge-killing it. The Mixed Offenses differentiate it from MMY and MMX because even though they have very good mixed offenses it is still not enough to run mixed sets effectively (as in sets from both end of spectrum). Compared to MMY and the similar offenses but better speed Deo-A, its bulk is better, which allows it to live hits the others cannot, especially priority. Its bulk is near identical to MMX, who already is very tanky and can live super effective hits with ease.

• In addition, their typing would grant both a great offensive STAB as well as uncommon or easy to patch weaknesses (e.g. by an ability), and also be neutral or resistant to common hazards.

Flying is a very good STAB to have, especially when compared to the Psychic STABs of Mewtwos. It doesn't have immunities, and the resists are rare outside of Steel and are easily covered by strong coverage moves (Ground is perfect neutral coverage, Fighting is solid coverage because Electrics suck, Dragon provides decent neutral coverage on the metagame already unlike MMX whose STABs are resisted by Psychic). This means that there are no super good 4x resists to its STABs because a) the 4x resists all suck and b) they all have a 4x weakness that is exploitable. Compare this to Psychic/Fighting which not only has immunities that they need to be wary of, but also has solid 4x resists (in the case of Psychic) that lack 4x weaknesses (Solg and NDM and Metagross).

Its typing defensively is also much better than MMYs and arguably just as good as MMXs if not better. Its lack of weakness to Spectral Thief means that sets like Triage can setup generally without too much risk because even the strongest Spectrals only do like 30. Core Enforcer weakness is less important compared to Spectral but even this weakness is somewhat covered by its own strong Dragon STAB to hit opposing Dragon types hard while no Core Enforcer mon can OHKO either. U-turn resist is obviously really good. Having an immunity to Ground is very good as well as it can generate free switches from Choice-locked mons. Spikes and TSpikes immunity helps out with the SR weakness while being immune to the rare Webs makes it a nightmare for those teams. Its typing also lets it be a one time check to some offensive mons like PDon (or more than one if its Triage because of the insane recovery). Ice weakness really sucks but Ice coverage isn't even great on defensive mons outside of the rare POgre and on weaker mons it doesn't even OHKO. In fact thanks to these traits Triage can be a decent defensive check to mons on an offense team.

• Because of its stats and typing, the Pokemon can run many different sets and different roles, all of which vary from passable to dominant in the tier, whether defensive or offensive

Defensive apart, it is very clear that Rayquaza can run a plethora of offensive sets with all different roles including Special Breaker, Physical Breaker, Mixed Breaker, Special Sweeper, Special Revenge Killer, Physical Revenge Killer, Semi-improof Sweeper. In addition, the main 4 offensive sets are all top tier offensive sets (maybe less for Mixed -ate but thats still a very good set).

• It is important to get past simply being the jack of all trades. There has to be a subset of the main sets that can be run on the 'mon that are unique to it, either from its STAB combination, defensive typing or more

Thanks to Rayquaza's insane stats, some sets are only really effective because they are used on this mon. Specs -ate for example is possible on other mons such as Diancie and Kyurem-W or even like Char-Y for Aerilate but they are less effective because of Flying being a generally better STAB and its higher speed tier. Tough Claws is another set that can be used on mons like Aerodactyl but the loss of power is very significant and the extra Dragon STAB really helps against the fat Dragons. Triage is another set that is really only good with Ray (Char-Y Triage is useable but its niche is beating Xern and the loss of power is quite significant).

• One of (or both):
  • It's difficult to win without using the banworthy Pokemon or
  • Checks and counters for this mon are insufficient, niche or uncommon to the point of forcing the decision to either prepare for the ban-worthy Pokemon uniquely or the rest of the tier

I wouldn't really say that one cannot win without using Ray, although as seen through OMPL many players are agreeing to no Ray simply because how busted it is. On the other hand...
Checks and counters to ray... basically non-existent. It is very difficult to even find good checks to the individual checks and its almost impossible to find a mon that checks TWO of the 3 strongest sets (exclude mixed -ate because its relatively easier to check). In fact, the only mon I can think of that can barely check two of the 3 strongest sets is Multitype Electric Arceus, and this can even lose if Ray is healthy (Ice Beam / Ice Rev Dance doesn't OHKO). In addition, even the sets that can only check ONE set are often still quite niche, as shown through my personal analysis on the possible checks to each set. These niche sets often can only a) check ray (even still not always safe) and b) improof your own ray, and in a meta like BH having a dead mon slot leaves you open to other threats in the meta such as the Mewtwos and Shell Smash and Shed and Imposter.

• The Pokemon is so good at different roles/sets that preparation for one leads to a loss against the other

This is pretty obvious when Ray can use one of the many different roles. A special check like RegenVest or Nihilego will easily die to the TC set or a fat mon like FC Chansey that is passive will lose to Triage. This connects back to how there is no blanket check to Ray and how it is even really difficult to scout relatively risk free (for MMY you can use NDM/Solg/Imp/FC Chansey/Cress to scout while for MMX you have Cress/Bro/Tina/Imp/Mega Sab to scout).

As we can see Rayquaza pretty much satisfies all of these conditions. If we compare Rayquaza to PDon we can see that PDon has more defensive utility and better STABs (unresisted outside of Fire immune abilities) and better STAB moves and can run some defensive sets to varying degrees of success while Rayquaza has a much better Speed tier and can run special sets more effectively.

You can probably tell I am a big supporter of a Rayquaza suspect (quickban pls lol) and I will post my opinions on Shed later on. Thanks for reading.

Rayquaza-Mega @ Sky Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fake Out / Draco Meteor / Sunsteel Strike
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Precipice Blades / V-create / Thousand Arrows / U-turn

Since it resists V-Create, and isn’t weak to Sunsteel Strike like Audino-Mega is.

Plus in this set it uses U-Turn so Volt Switch isn’t a concern.

Hide

252 Atk Sky Plate Aerilate Rayquaza-Mega Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 157-186 (45.6 - 54%) -- 3.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Aerilate Rayquaza-Mega Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 172-203 (50 - 59%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

VS:

252 Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 199-235 (48.5 - 57.3%) -- 46.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Sunsteel Strike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 221-263 (53.9 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

I guess it would be obligated to use King’s Shield to patch up its concern and stall for healing. In either case, neither is durable enough without King’s Shield/Burn.

 

[AV Cosmoem]

Kudos to you. It’s nice to see how helpful and informative your post is.

You informed us specifically on its niche for handling various offensive threats, bypassed any “you forgot this” with your comprehensive list and accurately made this thread back on topic with a new idea I could genuinely see people getting behind.

Not only does your set for Tapu Fini have your back, I have this set’s back bc I could see exactly the niche it fills and apply it myself. It reminds me of Darm-Z bc Fire and Water have similar resistances (Ice, Water), and Fairy adds a Fighting resist like how Psychic does.

I believe many people will agree that Tapu Fini properly fulfills the role you established and does so uniquely bc of its unique typing and immunity to Core Enforcer.

Thank you very much! It's nice to see my posts being appreciated by the community.

Well, ya know, this set is in the setpedia, it's ranked D on the viability rankings. It's been nominated to move up to C even multiple times.

So to add something, Poison Heal Fini was mentioned before too and (while usage obviously isn't the most vital stat) it *also* overwhelmingly runs Poison Heal instead of Fur Coat. If the setpedia is a showing of the most popular sets, maybe the Poison Heal ability set should be mentioned.

I used the setpedia set because I noticed Tapu Fini on the viability rankings and tried it, and it worked well, but I couldn't find other sets. I didn't actually know it runs Poison Heal, that sounds like a way to check new things, though it would be checked by a few other things like Mega Blaziken. Good thing he isn't very relevant.

Also the fact that the set for Tapu Fini supreeee posted matches the Setpedia shows that she must have based it off of the facts she found and researched.

Yeah, this is how I did this, I spent some time in the calculator too trying to find some extra checks, and I thought the amount of physical attackers fini checks deserved a post. but apparently it's already known in the community

 

[Champion Leon]

Thank you very much! It's nice to see my posts being appreciated by the community.


I used the setpedia set because I noticed Tapu Fini on the viability rankings and tried it, and it worked well, but I couldn't find other sets. I didn't actually know it runs Poison Heal, that sounds like a way to check new things, though it would be checked by a few other things like Mega Blaziken. Good thing he isn't very relevant.



Yeah, this is how I did this, I spent some time in the calculator too trying to find some extra checks, and I thought the amount of physical attackers fini checks deserved a post. but apparently it's already known in the community

Well, it’s still not known to new players. It’s good to see a thorough explanation since that oftentimes is the only clarity they will see, find, and use for their own teams.

Kudos to you, motherlove, supreeee, to an extent Chessking345 and myself for Re-establishing the discussion on what caused Tapu Fini’s use, and how it is used today.

Tapu Fini is like a cross between Slowbro-Mega and Audino-Mega.

Resists Bug, Fighting, Ice, Fire, Water, Dark, and immunity to Dragon. She surpasses the Gen 7 starter and I would argue that the Fur Coat ability can still be played well to patch up specific weaknesses to a team, and for example if you only have 1 slot left, and need to have the best of both Audino-Mega and Slowbro-Mega, pick Tapu Fini.

Lastly, I do disagree with Chessking345 on Fur Coat, especially since we all know Fur Coat Slowbro-Mega is used. I don’t think it will fit on everyone, but it certainly hasn’t lost its viability entirely. If you are using Fur Coat, it would make sense to pair it with something that has similar resistances to Slowbro-Mega since it would capitalize on the use.

Obviously, not being resistant to Steel and Psychic don’t do it any favors against Moldy Moves Sunsteel Strike and Photon, but they typically pack coverage moves anyways such as Bolt Strike on Kyurem-B, and Power Whip on Kartana, Knock Off on Tyranitar-Mega, Spectral Thief on Bannette-Mega, etc.

And for mixed sets especially, Tapu Fini can take Special Attacks better than Slowbro-Mega, and isn’t weak to Moongeist, while it’s also not weak to Sunsteel Strike like Audino-Mega is.
—————

I was not making an argument at all about Fini. I'm saying that the setpedia might a well be removed if it's not really consistently updated.

I was more concerned that Chessking345 said that he already mentioned before that the Setpedia is an outdated Resource.

My point was saying that as a new player you wouldn’t have known that unless you scoured through the pages of posts.

I wanted to be fair and that’s one of the reasons I decided to write my post.

I think the Setpedia should be updated to fit the VR, however, I will also say this:

The Setpedia will still have relevant sets if the VR ability and Role Compendum highlight the same ability for the Setpedia’s proposed set. For example, I don’t think anyone would accuse the Setpedia’s Shedinja Set as being outdated.

If a new player was like “Who uses Sturdy in BH? Why is that even listed?” And then sees the Setpedia, they would go from thinking “lame idea” to “wow it’s actually being suspected for a reason.”
So it doesn’t surprise me people wouldn’t know where to look for that, thinking it’s not done enough to be onsite. And while it is onsite:

https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/shedinja/bh/

When going thru the BH Central Resources thread, most people would just use the resources readily displayed, especially since the Setpedia has everything at once, and people might scour through it to build teams from there.

Lastly, when clicking Pokémon from the VIability Rankings post, it redirects people to the Setpedia.

C’mon, of course new people would think to use that when everything highlights that as the source.

Completed analysis are only a handful of Pokémon, (from the BH Thread post highlight the completed ones) including Shedinja, and even that one is much the same as the Setpedia.

If the Official Analysis are not always updated, then it becomes another outdated Resource, because new suspects and bans invalid some arguments/uses for/against a Pokemon’s Relevance. It’s impossible for everything to stay up to date, and my focus was defend new players such as yourself...

 

[cityscapes]

(mostly triage) MEGA RAYQUAZA CHECK/COUNTER ARCHIVE

mray has been a popular topic in the suspect thread, and for good reason, because many players are struggling to prep for it. even resists can get bypassed by the specs aerilate set or killed by coverage from triage ray. because of this, i'd like to share a bunch of sets that i came up with that actually have a decent matchup vs this mon. its time for the full experience.

TRIGGER WARNING: DISGUSTING POKEMON

section 1: scarfers

choice scarf users typically make good ray checks because they can handle triage while some are bulky enough to take on even aerilate boomburst. here are some scarf users that can take on mray:

Dialga @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sunsteel Strike
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

scarf dialga is a mon that i think is incredibly underrated. thanks to its flying resistance it can actually switch in on all moves from specs ray and threaten it out with faster draco. triage fails to do anything of note in the matchup as well. really the thing that makes this mon so good is that he actually gets momentum on both aerilate and triage ray so you can uturn out on their steel or get rocks which is a HUGE help vs mray. also kills shed and mega diancie and weakened xern/mmx/mmy/gars. overall a pretty nice mon, only issue is tc ray killing you with cc

Zekrom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Hammer
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn / Trick / Dragon Hammer
- Stealth Rock

similar vein to dialga except he can die to draco, tc hammer, and diancie espeed. not all bad though because he destroys ogre and has a different set of weaknesses so you can imposter proof with a different pokemon (dialga prefers ph mmx but you can use a much wider range of stuff including fairies and ices) and he can get rocks up in more matchups than dialga.

simba (Necrozma-Dusk-Mane) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Ice Hammer
- Sunsteel Strike
- U-turn
- V-create / Stealth Rock

simba. this mon isnt a dragon type so again, different set of weaknesses including ghost, dark, and fire to imposter proof with (you need offensive imposter proofing for all regens). the nature is kind of annoying because without jolly you miss out on mmy and the base 130 gang but without adamant you only have a 75% chance to ohko mmy. im pretty sure mega metagross or whatever is usable for this too so if you think metagross is good for whatever reason you can use him as well. anyway one of the biggest strengths of simba is his fairy resist and stab sunsteel giving him a MUCH better matchup against fairies like diancie and even allowing him to potentially switch into ph xern

Gardevoir-Mega @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Trick / Stealth Rock
- Fleur Cannon / Light of Ruin
- Psystrike
- Volt Switch

Kyogre-Primal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Water Spout / Trick / Stealth Rock

(obv other mons like blaziken/palkia/mray/etc are potentially usable with a set like this, anything that can actually ohko ray works. these are just the sets i believe to be most viable)

scarf dazzle is not the best mray counterplay because u cant switch into boomburst unlike the earlier scarfers, but the espeed immunity is pretty cool to allow it to take on triage as well as other ates. sometimes they can clean as well especially ogre if ur running spout and theyre better at killing off other mons like mmx/gar. basic idea is you can switch into anything except for like sleep move from triage ray and force em out.

section 2: assault vest

the idea of random av is that its usually on mons that would be running not super helpful like expert belt (im still a big fan of this item though) so you dont miss out on too much of the stuff the mon could do before while being able to take attacks from mray. its not super great though because you cant get up rocks to get initiative.

Kyurem-Black @ Assault Vest
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Bolt Strike

kyub was the first thing that came to mind because of his ability to evade coverage moves with espeed, normally he cant take +3 wing very well but with vest you can actually survive after rocks most of the time. the specific moves can be changed, this is a cool wallbreaker kyub set that im a fan of but you can run other stuff like vcreate, boomburst, explosion etc if desired.

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator / filler
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Spectral Thief
- Psystrike
- U-turn

this is an old dmdw set that im bringing back for a bit here. av mmy has actually really good special bulk and kills off mray with even timid icebeam. triage ray really has no way of breaking through it outside of sleep moves or maybe sash. mmy can also take on other pokemon such as ph xern with this set, there are other techs you can use like light of ruin (for mmx), steel coverage, and sunsteel (for diancie + shed) but im not sure where they would fit on this set.

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Dragon Ascent
- Icicle Spear / Head Smash
- U-turn

regenvest aero is a pretty wack mon but it provides a super consistent switchin to all mray sets except band sunsteel. i mean, +3 giga does like 55 to this mon and you can just spectral. the big issue with this guy is that you cant really kill ray without head smash, a generally weird move. i think aero in general should rise on vr maybe bc it matches up incredibly well vs ray, even without a dedicated counter set such as this one.

Zygarde-Complete @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Power Gem
- U-turn
- Thousand Arrows

regenvest zyg in general is a really solid triage ray counter because hes so fat and not weak to any common attacks. he can even switch into modest boomburst and live around two-thirds of the time. this set is kinda weird (power gem is to kill ray without dying to imposter) so maybe use some other moves if you want idk.

section 3: dazzling and stuff

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Aspear Berry / zmove
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Anchor Shot
- Recover
- Photon Geyser / Stealth Rock / Psystrike

im not a huge fan of this set because of its mediocre breaking power. unstabbed unboosted ice beam/anchor are good at killing ray and diancie but little else, same w psychic move. recover is to beat imposter. i dont know if psychic move is needed last slot bc no gar is staying in. aspear is to dodge imposter icebeam freezes (speaking of which freeze chance is honestly pretty nice for this set, helps u be less passive) while zmove is to actually kill things hopefully.

Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Shell Smash / Quiver Dance / Stealth Rock / Tail Glow / Sludge Bomb
- Secret Sword / Sludge Bomb

heres a much better pokemon in general, dazzle gar. this guy has a super flexible third move and can function as an early game breaker and a sweeper while being nearly completely imposter proof (imposter icebeam can hurt but by definition you cant get worn down into priority range). you need modest to guaranteed ohko ray from full, timid is a 50% roll, but if you have other ways to chip down ray and youre more scared of +spe variants like some aerilate ones then run timid.

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Fairium Z / filler
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Close Combat
- Stealth Rock
- Moongeist Beam

even more flexible mon than gar. im a big fan of mmx, i cant find the post but in bh suspects when pdon was legal, people were saying that all it needed to do the things it needed to do were its stabs and cb, the ability and other 2 moves were super flexible. mmx is a lot like that because you literally just need a fighting move then outside of that the set is rly customizable. this one is z fleur to kill gira and mray but you can run a ton of other things like something else over rocks (altho this mon is a really good rock setter). there are even other dazzling mmx sets like cb.

other dazzling guys like scept, phero, and bee are also viable but im not a big fan because they tend to have less breaking power and can also struggle to actually kill mray with no boosting item.

things that are actual garbage and should never be used: dazzling on defensive pokemon (they all lose to sword/moongeist), liquid ooze (u die).

section 4: teams + conclusion

so you guys might be wondering where these mons fit into teams. despite their decent viability, they can be pretty awkward to use, especially scarfers in particular are weird and can give up ur momentum. im not really used to using a lot of these pokemon because of my preferred slower playstyles, so i dont think im the best authority on this part. i'd like to see what you guys can come up with though.

i still think mega ray is too much for the meta because of how it makes a lot of stuff near unviable, but hopefully this compendium will make it stop being quite as dominant.

 

[Champion Leon]

(mostly triage) MEGA RAYQUAZA CHECK/COUNTER ARCHIVE

mray has been a popular topic in the suspect thread, and for good reason, because many players are struggling to prep for it. even resists can get bypassed by the specs aerilate set or killed by coverage from triage ray. because of this, i'd like to share a bunch of sets that i came up with that actually have a decent matchup vs this mon. its time for the full experience.

TRIGGER WARNING: DISGUSTING POKEMON

section 1: scarfers

choice scarf users typically make good ray checks because they can handle triage while some are bulky enough to take on even aerilate boomburst. here are some scarf users that can take on mray:

Dialga @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sunsteel Strike
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

scarf dialga is a mon that i think is incredibly underrated. thanks to its flying resistance it can actually switch in on all moves from specs ray and threaten it out with faster draco. triage fails to do anything of note in the matchup as well. really the thing that makes this mon so good is that he actually gets momentum on both aerilate and triage ray so you can uturn out on their steel or get rocks which is a HUGE help vs mray. also kills shed and mega diancie and weakened xern/mmx/mmy/gars. overall a pretty nice mon, only issue is tc ray killing you with cc

Zekrom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Hammer
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn / Trick / Dragon Hammer
- Stealth Rock

similar vein to dialga except he can die to draco, tc hammer, and diancie espeed. not all bad though because he destroys ogre and has a different set of weaknesses so you can imposter proof with a different pokemon (dialga prefers ph mmx but you can use a much wider range of stuff including fairies and ices) and he can get rocks up in more matchups than dialga.

simba (Necrozma-Dusk-Mane) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Ice Hammer
- Sunsteel Strike
- U-turn
- V-create / Stealth Rock

simba. this mon isnt a dragon type so again, different set of weaknesses including ghost, dark, and fire to imposter proof with (you need offensive imposter proofing for all regens). the nature is kind of annoying because without jolly you miss out on mmy and the base 130 gang but without adamant you only have a 75% chance to ohko mmy. im pretty sure mega metagross or whatever is usable for this too so if you think metagross is good for whatever reason you can use him as well. anyway one of the biggest strengths of simba is his fairy resist and stab sunsteel giving him a MUCH better matchup against fairies like diancie and even allowing him to potentially switch into ph xern

Gardevoir-Mega @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Trick / Stealth Rock
- Fleur Cannon / Light of Ruin
- Psystrike
- Volt Switch

Kyogre-Primal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Water Spout / Trick / Stealth Rock

(obv other mons like blaziken/palkia/mray/etc are potentially usable with a set like this, anything that can actually ohko ray works. these are just the sets i believe to be most viable)

scarf dazzle is not the best mray counterplay because u cant switch into boomburst unlike the earlier scarfers, but the espeed immunity is pretty cool to allow it to take on triage as well as other ates. sometimes they can clean as well especially ogre if ur running spout and theyre better at killing off other mons like mmx/gar. basic idea is you can switch into anything except for like sleep move from triage ray and force em out.

section 2: assault vest

the idea of random av is that its usually on mons that would be running not super helpful like expert belt (im still a big fan of this item though) so you dont miss out on too much of the stuff the mon could do before while being able to take attacks from mray. its not super great though because you cant get up rocks to get initiative.

Kyurem-Black @ Assault Vest
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Bolt Strike

kyub was the first thing that came to mind because of his ability to evade coverage moves with espeed, normally he cant take +3 wing very well but with vest you can actually survive after rocks most of the time. the specific moves can be changed, this is a cool wallbreaker kyub set that im a fan of but you can run other stuff like vcreate, boomburst, explosion etc if desired.

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator / filler
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Spectral Thief
- Psystrike
- U-turn

this is an old dmdw set that im bringing back for a bit here. av mmy has actually really good special bulk and kills off mray with even timid icebeam. triage ray really has no way of breaking through it outside of sleep moves or maybe sash. mmy can also take on other pokemon such as ph xern with this set, there are other techs you can use like light of ruin (for mmx), steel coverage, and sunsteel (for diancie + shed) but im not sure where they would fit on this set.

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Dragon Ascent
- Icicle Spear / Head Smash
- U-turn

regenvest aero is a pretty wack mon but it provides a super consistent switchin to all mray sets except band sunsteel. i mean, +3 giga does like 55 to this mon and you can just spectral. the big issue with this guy is that you cant really kill ray without head smash, a generally weird move. i think aero in general should rise on vr maybe bc it matches up incredibly well vs ray, even without a dedicated counter set such as this one.

Zygarde-Complete @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Power Gem
- U-turn
- Thousand Arrows

regenvest zyg in general is a really solid triage ray counter because hes so fat and not weak to any common attacks. he can even switch into modest boomburst and live around two-thirds of the time. this set is kinda weird (power gem is to kill ray without dying to imposter) so maybe use some other moves if you want idk.

section 3: dazzling and stuff

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Aspear Berry / zmove
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Anchor Shot
- Recover
- Photon Geyser / Stealth Rock / Psystrike

im not a huge fan of this set because of its mediocre breaking power. unstabbed unboosted ice beam/anchor are good at killing ray and diancie but little else, same w psychic move. recover is to beat imposter. i dont know if psychic move is needed last slot bc no gar is staying in. aspear is to dodge imposter icebeam freezes (speaking of which freeze chance is honestly pretty nice for this set, helps u be less passive) while zmove is to actually kill things hopefully.

Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Shell Smash / Quiver Dance / Stealth Rock / Tail Glow / Sludge Bomb
- Secret Sword / Sludge Bomb

heres a much better pokemon in general, dazzle gar. this guy has a super flexible third move and can function as an early game breaker and a sweeper while being nearly completely imposter proof (imposter icebeam can hurt but by definition you cant get worn down into priority range). you need modest to guaranteed ohko ray from full, timid is a 50% roll, but if you have other ways to chip down ray and youre more scared of +spe variants like some aerilate ones then run timid.

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Fairium Z / filler
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Close Combat
- Stealth Rock
- Moongeist Beam

even more flexible mon than gar. im a big fan of mmx, i cant find the post but in bh suspects when pdon was legal, people were saying that all it needed to do the things it needed to do were its stabs and cb, the ability and other 2 moves were super flexible. mmx is a lot like that because you literally just need a fighting move then outside of that the set is rly customizable. this one is z fleur to kill gira and mray but you can run a ton of other things like something else over rocks (altho this mon is a really good rock setter). there are even other dazzling mmx sets like cb.

other dazzling guys like scept, phero, and bee are also viable but im not a big fan because they tend to have less breaking power and can also struggle to actually kill mray with no boosting item.

things that are actual garbage and should never be used: dazzling on defensive pokemon (they all lose to sword/moongeist), liquid ooze (u die).

section 4: teams + conclusion

so you guys might be wondering where these mons fit into teams. despite their decent viability, they can be pretty awkward to use, especially scarfers in particular are weird and can give up ur momentum. im not really used to using a lot of these pokemon because of my preferred slower playstyles, so i dont think im the best authority on this part. i'd like to see what you guys can come up with though.

i still think mega ray is too much for the meta because of how it makes a lot of stuff near unviable, but hopefully this compendium will make it stop being quite as dominant.

Something I thought of would be Sandstream Aerodactyl-Mega:

Calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Rayquaza-Mega Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Aerodactyl-Mega in Sand: 244-288 (67 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Aerilate Rayquaza-Mega Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Aerodactyl-Mega in Sand: 157-186 (43.1 - 51%) -- 5.1% chance to 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Rayquaza-Mega Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Aerodactyl-Mega: 171-202 (46.9 - 55.4%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO

While some moves do over 50%, Shore Up heals over 66% and enables you to stall out hits like Draco Meteor that weaken per hit, and KO back with:

252 Atk Life Orb Aerodactyl-Mega Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Rayquaza-Mega: 395-468 (95.4 - 113%) -- OHKO after Sandstream’s 6.25% Damage

Going first let’s it switch in and either hit for a 1HKO or stall against Draco to recover 2/3 HP.

Sandstream also prevents Shedinja, and Focus Sashers from coming to threaten Aerodactyl-Mega. Further, if you have another Rock-type like Diancie-Mega it will also benefit from the SpD boost.

Adding the effects of Diamond Storm, which can double your Defense, you truly can take advantage of Sandstream already boosting your Shore Up, and SpD, to stay durable while threatening things like Ho-Oh, and non-FC Yveltal.

Overall, I think this could serve as an alternative to the AV set.

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Sandstream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant Nature
- Shore Up
- Dragon Ascent
- Diamond Storm
- Icicle Crash

Lastly, Aerodactyl-Mega is not limited to just handling Rayquaza-Mega, as KOs MMX, while still outspeeding Beedrill-Mega and Sceptile-Mega.

252 Atk Life Orb Aerodactyl-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Mewtwo-Mega-X: 416-491 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO

In the end, Aerodactyl-Mega is multi-faceted while being able to serve as a Specs check, and Triage Check:

Calcs

+3 252+ SpA Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Aerodactyl-Mega in Sand: 204-240 (56 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Rumors]

Asking over here to avoid derailing the suspect discussion, but, am I missing something or wouldn't normal Rayquaza be the "replacement" for Mega-Ray if its banned? I know like, Zard-Y hits slightly harder specially and is faster, but normal Ray still has a nice mixed 150/150 and it still outspeeds almost every wall due to all the min-speed junk.

I mean, as far as I can tell, Ray would replace its Mega but a bunch of potential alternatives open up for similar roles, like Zard-Y, Thundurus-T, Pinsir-M, Shaymin-S, Yveltal, and so on, assuming they don't end up sucking.

 

[Zovrah]

Yeah, base ray would be a possible replacement for something like mixed aerliate. Its disadvantages over other options are a lack of a certain one stat it specializes in. It would be good for mixed aerilate due to good all around stats, but for something like specs aerilate you might instead choose zard due to slightly higher speed and spatk, or maybe pick something like mega pinsir for the same thing, but with attack instead of spatk in the case of banded tc. One of the good things I can see coming out of mray ban is this kind of diversity in viable flying types. We have more options, all perfectly viable on their own, with none even coming close to matching rays oppressiveness due to multiple different factors such as altered weaknesses or stabs and lower bulk/power.

Oh I forgot to mention a few other mons, but mainly aero-mega, which could be a cool option for banded tc or even banded ate due to its speed

 

[motherlove]

Base Ray was used in the past before mega Ray existed. It was never the dominant force it is now, instead usually being overshadowed by Kyurems (mostly, at the time) and even Pixilate Xerneas (if memory serves right).

Granted Triage wasn't a thing at the time, but for triage I think CharY gets much more benefit out of using it's dual Stabs.

 

[sugarhigh]

With my OMPL run over I might as well post the teams I brought each week and discuss stuff about them:
Week 1: Loss https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-936063032

Week 1 Team

Rayquaza-Mega @ Sky Plate
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Boomburst
- Spikes
- Extreme Speed
- Precipice Blades

Slowbro-Mega @ Leftovers
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Anchor Shot
- Shore Up
- Parting Shot
- Defog

Gyarados-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Haze
- Destiny Bond
- U-turn
- Soft-Boiled

Zygarde-Complete @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thousand Waves
- Wish
- Topsy-Turvy
- Soft-Boiled

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 64 Spe
Brave Nature
- Shell Smash
- Photon Geyser
- V-create
- Power Trip

Team was basically trying to abuse jasprose tendencies to use kyogre primal and try to punish. It's a pretty average balance offense team. It did decent in tests and I thought it would do decently against him. Unfortunately it had a nasty matchup against the triage ray he brought so it ended up being a rough match. Overall pretty fun team and the Necrozma set is quite fun to use

Week 2: Win https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-940325885

Week 2 Team

Shedinja @ Protective Pads
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 1 HP / 252 Atk / 1 Def / 1 SpA / 1 SpD / 1 Spe
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Endeavor
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Extreme Speed

Gengar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Photon Geyser
- Destiny Bond
- Blue Flare

Chansey @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Final Gambit
- Switcheroo
- Lunar Dance

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Oblivion Wing
- Moongeist Beam
- Defog

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 64 Spe
Brave Nature
- Power Trip
- Shell Smash
- Photon Geyser
- Precipice Blades

After my loss to Jasprose I myself actually wanted to build a ho with Rayquaza-mega. Surprisingly in gen 7 I have never used shedinja once so I felt it was a good choice against volkner as a cteam pick. I also felt such a team would overwhelm the balance offenses he generally likes to use. He himself ended up bringing gengar-mega h-o in which I won because he couldn't kill shedinja in the end. Which was quite funny. Overall a fun mindless team to use. Same Necrozma set though I feel it works a lot better in this team. The point of it is to evolve and be faster than scarf chansey +2 ndm with necrozma ultra.

Week 3: Win https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-944456450

Week 3 Team

Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 2 HP / 252 Atk / 2 Def / 2 SpA / 2 SpD / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD
- Endeavor
- Extreme Speed
- Feint
- Sunsteel Strike

Shedinja @ Protective Pads
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 2 HP / 252 Atk / 2 Def / 2 SpA / 2 SpD / 2 Spe
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Endeavor
- U-turn
- Extreme Speed
- Pursuit

Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 2 HP / 252 Atk / 2 Def / 2 SpA / 2 SpD / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Endeavor
- Extreme Speed
- Sunsteel Strike
- Pursuit

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Boomburst
- Extreme Speed
- Close Combat

Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Normalize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Entrainment
- Shell Smash
- Judgment
- Boomburst

Zygarde-Complete @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Defog
- Shore Up
- Final Gambit

My magnum opus of a team. After shedinja doing amazing last week I wanted to use it to the extreme against Jeran. Honestly in a team tournament format such as this, this team provides a pretty comfortable matchup win to most teams. I knew I wanted to "cheese" Jeran as I never played him before and I felt this team would be the best way about it. Overall the team worked out well even though I was extremely drunk when playing the match lol. Had a lot of fun building this team and playing with it. Essentially the point of the team is to be able to trade down with shedinjas so your sturdinja and gengar-mega gets matchup advantage. Final gambit on prank zygarde complete is a cute tech as well. I used feint on one of the sash shedinjas just to bypass protect poison healers to eliminate them. Overall fun team and I highly recommend people to try it out.

Week 4: Win https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-948538178

Week 4 Team

Tyranitar-Mega @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 1 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Defog
- Spectral Thief
- Baton Pass
- Shore Up

Zygarde-Complete @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Rapid Spin
- Lunar Dance
- Thousand Arrows

Zygarde-Complete @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Rapid Spin
- Final Gambit
- Spectral Thief

Shedinja @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 1 HP / 252 Atk / 3 Def / 2 SpA / 3 SpD / 1 Spe
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Foresight
- Endeavor
- Volt Switch
- Ice Shard

Regigigas @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shift Gear
- Thousand Arrows
- Facade
- Avalanche

Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Normalize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Entrainment
- Judgment
- Boomburst

I knew mamp loved to bring sand so there was a high chance she would bring it against me to counter shed so I found the loophole which was safety goggles shedinja. It is actually quite the effective set even without protective pads though you have to be afraid of rocky helmet more. I knew the main way mamp went about beating gengar-mega normalize was through a magic bouncer so I paired the gengar-mega this time with two zyg scrappy gambits to trade down to get the matchup with gigas and gengar. It ended up being a very exciting match where the gigas got the break through. Thousand arrows+avalanche provides very good coverage though Precipice blades would be an equally good coverage move on gigas.

Week 5: Loss https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-951176789

Week 5 Team

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Nature's Madness
- Night Shade
- Sunsteel Strike
- Extreme Speed

Zygarde-Complete @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wish
- Thousand Waves
- Shore Up
- Metal Burst

Sableye-Mega @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Shore Up
- Core Enforcer
- Stealth Rock

Ho-Oh @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Nuzzle
- Spectral Thief
- Shore Up
- Spikes

Dialga @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Revelation Dance
- Volt Switch
- Core Enforcer
- Rapid Spin

Chansey @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Metal Burst
- Trick
- Whirlwind
- Milk Drink

This is an actually a very old team I built last OMPL for against Highlighter where it did phenomenally. I was planning on bringing a psychic sash spam team against SL but I chickened out of bringing it by highlighter himself who recommended me to bring this kanga semistall. Unfortunately it ended up having terrible matchup. It's still an overall solid semistall that highlights the strengths of kanga in this meta. Though it is a little passive in the current meta. Overall it taught me to never take advice from badlighter lmao.

Week 6:
Week 6 I did not play so instead I will post the psychic spam team I was going to bring against SL42 but did not.

Psychic Terrain Spam Team

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic Terrain
- Psycho Boost
- Destiny Bond
- Volt Switch

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psycho Boost
- Secret Sword
- Defog
- Volt Switch

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Focus Sash
Ability: Simple
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Close Combat
- Photon Geyser
- Spectral Thief

Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light of Ruin
- Shell Smash
- Mind Blown
- Photon Geyser

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Boomburst
- Psychic Terrain
- Photon Geyser

Tyranitar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Simple
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Trip
- Shell Smash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Knock Off

Psychic Terrain Abusers + Sash = profit. Its a pretty mindless team but it's quite fun.

Week 7: Win https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-958769722

Week 7 Team

GHOST HONCH 1 (Shedinja) @ Protective Pads
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 1 HP / 252 Atk / 1 Def / 1 SpA / 1 SpD / 1 Spe
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Endeavor
- U-turn
- Foresight
- Extreme Speed

HONCHGANG (Honchkrow) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Power Trip
- Icicle Crash
- Sunsteel Strike

GHOST HONCH 2 (Shedinja) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 2 HP / 252 Atk / 2 Def / 2 SpA / 2 SpD / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD
- Endeavor
- Extreme Speed
- Pursuit
- Sunsteel Strike

DRAGON HONCH (Zygarde-Complete) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Thousand Arrows
- Rapid Spin
- Spectral Thief

DRAGON HONCH 2 (Zygarde-Complete) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Rapid Spin
- Final Gambit
- Spectral Thief

DRAGON HONCH 3 (Rayquaza-Mega) @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Moongeist Beam
- Oblivion Wing
- Defog

Since the Honchkrows already clinched playoffs before week 7, Jrdn suggested for fun we all bring honchkrows to our playoff games. I felt the only effective way to do so in BHmons was to bring a hyper offense with a bunch of trades to hope for a sweep with a dazzling smash set. That's why there is a sash shedinja and two scrappy zygs to trade down. Rayquaza-mega for emergency priority and hazard removal and sturdinja for emergency defense. Overall an extremely fun team and I happy I was able to sweep with the Honchkrow for the win.

Playoffs: Loss ;_; https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-961483332

Playoffs Team

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Oblivion Wing
- Tail Glow
- Secret Sword
- Moongeist Beam

Rayquaza-Mega @ Sky Plate
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Boomburst
- Spikes
- Extreme Speed
- Rapid Spin

Rayquaza-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Close Combat
- Core Enforcer
- Shell Smash
- Brave Bird

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Oblivion Wing
- Tail Glow
- Taunt
- Moongeist Beam

Rayquaza-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Shell Smash
- Power Trip
- Core Enforcer
- Sunsteel Strike

Tyranitar-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Beat Up
- Close Combat
- Sunsteel Strike

I really wanted to use a ray spam team throughout this entire OMPL run so i thought it would be a perfect team to run against volkner. Rays are extremely easy to gain momentum and steamroll teams. The tyranitar set is extremely fun as beatup + 6 extremely high attacking stat mons = a very hard Pokemon to switchin and almost guaranteed at least 1-3 kills a game (shoutouts pazza for the set). Overall I am extremely disappointed in how I played the match. Though it looked not close it was an extremely close game in which i misplayed by not setting one layer of spikes to guarantee the chansey died and the mmy sash would break. Overall the team is very strong and was due to my poor piloting that resulted in the loss. Though volkner prepared well with 3 Pokemon with ice coverage. The team also showcased a very underrated set for ray-mega which is mixed smash magic guard mega ray. It is extremely hard to wall and guarantees quite a large amount of breaking potential. Furthermore taunt triage is extremely strong against its supposed counter the unaware audino-mega.I brought that set expecting volk to bring a balance team with it.

Closing Remarks:
Overall I am pleased with my overall play and teams I brought this OMPL. I could have perhaps gotten a better record than 4-3 with better team choices and pilot play but hindsight is 20-20. I extremely enjoyed this tournament experience with the Honchkrows.

Shoutouts to Honchkrows for picking me up and giving me the freedom to bring whatever I believed to do well. It allowed me to have a fulfilling tournament experience.

Shoutouts especially to: a loser highlighter Catalystic skysolo14 for playing so many practice matches with me and shoutouts to all my BH friends who are the main reason I still come back to this tier and who welcome me back every time I take a long ass break from this tier lmao.
<3 all of you guys

Overall, I hope these teams will help inspire some of you guys to build more out of the box in team structures you may not be accustomed to as this is a tier that rewards so. I also furthermore encourage the other BH players this OMPL to post their teams to discuss them as well.

PS:
Extra sand zygarde build that I really wanted to use but never got the chance to use:

Bonus Team (Chomp+Zyg Sand)

Zygarde-Complete @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Thousand Arrows
- Rapid Spin
- Lunar Dance

Garchomp-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Precipice Blades
- Dragon Hammer
- U-turn

Zygarde-Complete @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Thousand Arrows
- Rapid Spin
- Spectral Thief

Dialga @ Steelium Z
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Core Enforcer
- Tail Glow
- Shore Up
- Doom Desire

Tyranitar-Mega @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 1 Spe
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Baton Pass
- Shore Up
- Defog

Shedinja @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 1 Def / 252 SpA / 1 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 0 Spe
- Endeavor
- Ice Shard
- Volt Switch
- Foresight

I hope you all have a wonderful day :)

 

[SuperSkylake]

OMPL teams I used:

week1

replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-937027294
Rayquaza-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 60 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Boomburst
- Draco Meteor
- Magma Storm
- Extreme Speed


Solgaleo @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Anchor Shot
- Knock Off
- Strength Sap


Giratina @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Will-O-Wisp
- Spectral Thief
- Defog


Gengar-Mega @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Secret Sword
- Ice Beam
- Shell Smash


Diancie-Mega @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 0 SpD
- Boomburst
- Extreme Speed
- Heart Swap
- Sunsteel Strike


Dialga @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 116 Spe
Quiet Nature
- U-turn
- Core Enforcer
- Spectral Thief
- Revelation Dance

For this week 1i was playing Quantum Tesseract, who is no a BH main but is a solid player of the tier. He was also gone for a while and so was probably not as familiar with the current meta so I decided it was probably hopeless to try to prepare for him specifically. I just brought a solid team that I could pilot well and have tested on the ladder a good deal. Up to the very end I had chances to win, so I figured that the team was a good choice. Mold Breaker Solg is a very reliable spikes setter which gave me a great matchup against Sturdy Shed, and Regenvest Dialga covered special Mega Ray sets well (people hadn't really experimented with unconventional Triage sets or Tough Claws sets during this time). I had Dazzling Ice Beam Gengar to check Mega Ray sets guaranteed, a novelty at the time though variations of this set are commonplace now. Instead of losing momentum with a prank hazer I decided to use Sash Heart Swap Diancie to check setup users such as MMX, Regigigas or Tail Glow Arceus as well as just have a strong Boomburst to click if I got a free turn. By forgoing the pivot move on mega ray and going for Magma I had an extra coverage against Shed and and steels, which is generally nice coverage, and is often skipped over for moongeist beam. Moongeist Beam's coverage is just bad and Mega Audino can punish it really hard which is why I didn't bother to use it. Overall, I think this team could win most matchups that I was likely to see.

Week 5

replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-949953112

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Oblivion Wing
- Toxic
- Secret Sword


Gengar-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dazzling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moongeist Beam
- Venoshock
- Ice Beam
- Blue Flare


Tyranitar-Mega @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Low Kick
- Power Trip
- Sunsteel Strike


Zygarde-Complete @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Shore Up
- Thousand Waves
- Entrainment


Chansey @ Shed Shell
Ability: Imposter
Happiness: 80
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Toxic Spikes
- Final Gambit
- Shore Up
- U-turn


Bastiodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shore Up
- Defog
- Sunsteel Strike
- U-turn

Built this offense team with my stalwart teammates PDT and Rex. We started with the tried-and-true offense core of Triage Mega ray + Dazzling Mega Gengar which puts so much pressure on defensive cores. I had the idea of running Toxic to punish Unaware, Sand Streamers, Imposters and Sturdy Sheds trying to switch in so that I could wear them down during the long game. Owing + Secret Sword is excellent coverage on its own anyway, so dropping MGB wasn't much of a concession. To complete the offensive core, I added Tough Claws Shell Smash Tyranitar with Darkinium-Z which can just bust through a lot of stuff, including Prankster Giratina if it's below about 90% with Z Power Trip at +0. (He had Zygarde-C which unfortunatelly shuts down the set, so it never even got to be used.) I had Zygarde-C's Prankster set to deal with physical breakers like Kartana and Chomp and Shell Smash users like Mega Tyranitar. We ran Entrainment so that we can trap PH Xerneas and especially Ph Regigigas which would be annoying to deal with otherwise (Venoshock can almost KO Xerneas but takes a lot of damage from Earth Power). Bastiodon deals with choiced Ray sets not running Fighting coverage, and most of them don't, or are extremely afraid to use it because of Gengar. I also knew that GL Volkner liked to run Sheer Force Mega Mewtwo Y, which Bastiodon can wall adequately (Probopass cannot). Finally, Shed Shell Imposter was the sollution against a stubborn defensive core, with infinite PP.

Before the game he offered a deal that neither of us would use Shedinja. I decided to play the psychological mind game and not agree to this offer, though I had already planned that I wouldn't use Shedinja. I ensured that my team was heavily secured against Shedinja, with four of its members running moves that made it unable to switch in/stay in for free. his preparation for Triage Mega Ray was pretty bad with only Imposter to really force it out once it gets set up. Having only Scarf Imposter to handle Triage Mega Ray is never adequate.

Unfortunately, Mega Rayquaza is about to go, so you can't use either of these teams as they are. I thank my friends in the Money Magearnas who helped me test and gave me lots of building ideas. It was a great introduction to team tours experience, which will encourage me to join again next year.

 

[a loser]

Ok so this isn't a post-OMPL team sharing post since I only played and lost one game and the team isn't worth sharing, especially with Ray being banned now. However, I do have something I'd like to share with everyone.

Here is my personal Balanced Hackmons Setpedia. Aside from a few really bad ones and some I can't remember, here is almost every set I have used in Gen 7 BH. The mons are listed alphabetically but the sets for each mon are listed in no particular order, so don't think that the first set is the most viable or my favorite. I hope it is easy to access, with links to each mon or the outline bar on the left to help guide you to specific set descriptions. Some sets, like Poison Heal Mega Audino, have a ton a slashes with moves I've used on variations of the set so you'll have to pick 4 moves as you see fit.

I've been wanting to share this for a while but never really knew when the best time would be since it will always make me feel slightly exposed by sharing everything I have. The fact that they aren't grouped in teams and that there's a ton of sets here makes me feel better though. The potential for someone liking and using a set or being inspired to make something else also makes me think this is worth sharing. That being said, I hope this can be a useful resource to someone, whether it be trying out new stuff, brainstorming ideas, or just scouting against me. Any comments or questions on the sets are welcome, you can hit me up on here or on discord.

 

[Chessking345]

Welp OMPL is over and I definitely wish I didn't go winless but alas guess I'm just bad.
Anyways here are the 3 teams I used. Fortunately none of them have Ray so they are all legal still.

Week 5 vs Quantum Tesseract (No Ray No Shed)

Built around Kyurem-W as it is a very good wallbreaker that can pretty much break through everything, especially if QT didn't bring fat steels because of no Ray. MMX provides Spikes and is nice utility. Bounce Victini imposter-proofs both and is supposed to check Xern. Colbur is in case of Pursuit which QT sometime brings. Guzz acts as a nice scout to everything and checks Gar. Cele is the prank of the team and also acts as a Ground immunity and an emergency button with DBond. Chansey is Chansey, Shell helps against Zygarde which QT brings fairly often.

Kyurem-White @ Choice Specs
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Secret Sword
- Grass Knot
- Blue Flare

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Knock Off
- Spikes
- Will-O-Wisp

Victini @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Anchor Shot
- Sacred Fire
- Shore Up
- Entrainment

Guzzlord @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Core Enforcer
- Revelation Dance
- Rapid Spin

Celesteela @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Roost
- Anchor Shot
- Destiny Bond

Chansey @ Shed Shell
Ability: Imposter
Happiness: 5
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Whirlwind
- Metal Burst
- Shore Up

Week 6 vs MAMP

Built around Specs Diancie as MAMP typically doesn't bring sturdy checks to it. Sand Nihilego is the improof, and checks special Ray as well as Shed (since MAMP agreed to all aids). It also checks opposing Diancie which MAMP likes to bring. Zygarde improofs Nihi and is the hazard remover and helps against PH physical mons (didn't work out). MMX is good utility as always, Purify is needed to avoid Xern going rampant and also helps against the other PH (MAMP really likes PH) (Also didn't work out). Prank Bro checks all the physical threats such as TC Ray.

Nihilego @ Black Sludge
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Spectral Thief
- Revelation Dance
- Shore Up
- Volt Switch

Diancie-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Boomburst
- Revelation Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Magma Storm

Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Imposter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
- Metal Burst
- U-turn
- Shore Up
- Whirlwind

Zygarde-Complete @ Groundium Z
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Thousand Waves
- Spectral Thief
- Shore Up

Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Knock Off
- Purify
- Spikes

Slowbro-Mega @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Haze
- Anchor Shot
- Shore Up
- Strength Sap

Playoffs Tiebreak vs Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) (No Ray No Shed)

Team is built around Specs Ogre. Knock removes AV and Imposter items. PDon improofs, moveset is chosen to effectively pressure FF steels for NDM. NDM is supposed to lure fat Dragons and annoy stuff with Plume. Zyg can improof PDon if needed and allows Pogre to be played aggressively with Wish. Audino is hazard control and checks NormGar and PH MMX and Xern if he brings any while being able to Knock Off Shed Shell (I misplayed horribly with Audino). Cresselia is Prankster and can check SF MMY (SL brings it sometimes).

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Waves
- V-create
- Stealth Rock
- Strength Sap

Zygarde-Complete @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thousand Waves
- Defog
- Wish

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Ultranecrozium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Core Enforcer
- Anchor Shot
- Lava Plume
- Shore Up

Audino-Mega @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Anchor Shot
- Entrainment
- Shore Up
- Knock Off

Kyogre-Primal @ Choice Specs
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Water Spout
- Knock Off
- Volt Switch
- Scald

Cresselia (F) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Haze
- Shore Up
- Nature's Madness
- Anchor Shot

So Conclusion Time:
Shoutouts to OM room and drampa's grandpa for giving me the opportunity to play this OMPL, sorry I couldn't bring a win.

Shoutouts to all my teammates (TectonicDestroyer itsKimbo Dr. Phd. BJ Official Fissure Zesty43 Zenithial lotiasite 5gen Xayah) for being fantastic teammates and making this tour really fun to be in.

Shoutout to jasprose for being a great BH teammate and playing for most of the tour (and actually getting wins).

Big Shoutouts to Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) Willdbeast GL Volkner Zovrah dinodude Anaconja for helping out a lot in building and testing the teams.

Lastly, good luck to Jolteons and Klinks in the Finals!

Edit: How could I have forgotten this???
TYRANTRUMS RAWR!

 

[DarkBeserker]

we need new samples . might try submitting one soon c:

 

[pazza]

alright BOYS TIME TO SAMPLE BIG MAN ON CAMPUS + pdt goater team

samples are outdated. 5/8 of the teams have rayquaza which is banned. we must get mmx now.

"oh but pazza why are u submitting more than 1 species spam team aren't they bad?" i feel like sample teams are the easiest teams for new players to use since its very easy to cheese and win. hopefully this will bring more awareness about this problem.

here i will present u a good hyper offense. the one in the sample? BAD.

https://pokepast.es/477c33e1cd2d3499


uh i don't think i need to really explain much go read the rmt if u need explaining
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...wtwo-xs-and-a-tyranitar.3652085/#post-8173505



now let me try to as well sample this other species spam team made by PinkDragonTamer w/ edits from me

https://pokepast.es/bdf77a2c6ff7004e

2 shell smash mmx for sweeping
mold breaker gengar for leading
refridge mmx for zyg and gira
scarf gengar for anti lead vs deos and kill other mmx/gengar/mmy/imposter

i think these should be samples over other species spam teams because i rly think these are the best in the metagame rn

 

[anaconja]

Sniper MMX + Shedinja Semistall | more information
I've tested this team and it's pretty solid. Basically after a Focus Energy MMX kills any switchin besides Shed, not even caring about Strength Sap or King's Shield or anything. Shedinja improofs MMX, Regenvest Ho-Oh is a really fat special tank, Registeel bounces hazards to support Shed, Giratina walls almost any physical attacker, and Chansey is an excellent scout. I've also tried using Focus Energy Baton Pass Shedinja as a much cooler way to give MMX Focus Energy without it needing to take a hit or force something out, but I needed more insurance against opposing Shedinjas so I decided against it.

Snow Warning Lapras Stall
May seem like a meme but it isn't (really). Hail is a really nice way to chip things since it hits everything but Ice-types, and no defensive Ice-types really exist (besides Lapras). Regenvest Registeel is a nice blanket check to big special attackers like Specs Gengar-Mega and Mewtwo-Mega-Y; PH Giratina spreads burns, removes Toxic Orb and Safety Goggles for Lapras; Ho-Oh beats problematic mons like Diancie-Mega and Xerneas; Prankster Xerneas blanket checks physical attackers; and Chansey glues the team together.

Might add another team or two as I keep testing.

 

[DaWoblefet]

Apologies if this belongs in a SQSA thread, but it was most relevant to BH so I thought I'd post it here: is Sand common enough in BH to warrant running Shore Up over a move like Heal Order, Recover, etc.? Because Shore Up rounds down on 0.5 where moves like Recover round up, you'd lose out on recovery if your HP wasn't evenly divisible by 2 (I recently did research on HP recovery moves, but I assumed that part was already known). In addition, some Pokemon are using Recover variants on Pokemon with HP evenly divisible by 2, where I can't see a downside to using Shore Up. Some examples from the sample teams:

• a loser's sample: Giratina has 503 HP stat, which means it only recovers 251 HP from Shore Up. A move like Recover would restore 252 HP.
• OM's sample: Giratina has 504 HP stat but is using Milk Drink, when Shore Up recovers an identical amount of HP and would be optimal if there was sand.
• Superskylake's sample: Chansey, Zygarde-Complete, and Audino all have even HP stats, but only Audino uses Shore Up.

Basically, I'd like to know why Shore Up would ever be used on Pokemon with odd HP, and why Shore Up isn't always used on Pokemon with even HP. Thanks!