Metagame Sword and Shield Data and Speculation

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I know this is probably Ubers meta only and not OU, but...
Inteleon is more of a threat in OU than people expect.
Pretty good coverage for its weaknesses- Snipe Shot, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse/Shadow Ball, Air Slash.
A good SpA of 125 and a 120 base Speed that only a couple things in Galar OU can beat.
Give it Scope Lens, make it a special sweeper and give it Focus Energy.
Wait until its HA is officially released, then use Sniper.
One Focus Energy and all of its moves 100% crit if it has Scope Lens. If not, Snipe Shot still permacrits with Focus Energy.
If this thing is bumped down to UU or UUBL, it's going to be a menace.
If it's kept in OU, it's a potent sweeper but not Uber-worthy.
Please use the edit function rather than posting several times in a row. Also we have a thread for OU discussion here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/ou-metagame-discussion.3656245/
 
This is the best set for Zamazenta imo

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Zamazenta (Hero of Many Battles) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Play Rough

This checks Sand Rush Excadrill (which is a formidable Zacian check in sandstorm), checks Eternatus with Psychic Fangs, checks Aegislash with Crunch and checks Dragapult with Play Rough. Not having Ground and Fire weakness is a huge benefit imo. It's also very fast with 138 base speed and still quite bulky with Dauntless Shield.
You could probably run Iron Head in the Play Rough slot to catch regular Zacian as Crunch still hits Dragapult super effectively.
 
You could probably run Iron Head in the Play Rough slot to catch regular Zacian as Crunch still hits Dragapult super effectively.
You're right I guess. The 4th move slot is basically free since Zamazenta covers most checks and relevant mons with CC, Crunch and Psychics Fangs.
 
I have been exploring some powerhouses from lower tiers:

Excadrill @ Life Orb / Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin

Nothing too special with this one, but as most people say Sand Rush letting this mole rkill Zacian seems pretty nice, and spinning utility sounds cool as well. Checks like Rotom or Ferro do exist but I think it isn't overly hard to overwhelm them with the 'mons we are given to play around with in this gen.

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Power Whip / Taunt

Again nothing overly unexpectable. I am hearing that this thing is going nuts in OU and snowballing with Moxie is as just as threatening in Ubers as Gyarados has favorable matchup against two cover legendaries and sand squad.

Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet / Close Combat

I don't think the metagame has a very suitable answer to this Pokemon right now, assuming you get +1 with Sticky Web on the other side and dynamax saved up. There are not many Water-resists given in the first place and most of them just straight up drop to Knock Off. +1 Crabhammer pretty much nukes any neutral mons so this 'mon has a potency to be a scary toy for offense to play with.


Overall I think it is a complete nonsense to believe that 'Ubers will die / become stale' in Gen 8 as there are plenty of 'mons to explore around regardless of their BST / home tier and people who already dedicate themselves to experiment on tons of stuff in custom games despite Gen 8 Ubers format not being out on PS yet. Maybe now's the time to see how well theorymoning has been going for you before you embarrass yourself in the ladder maybe.

Also Eternatus is quite nasty to deal with tbf
 
I am hearing that this thing is going nuts in OU and snowballing with Moxie is as just as threatening in Ubers as Gyarados has favorable matchup against two cover legendaries and sand squad.
Gyarados getting outsped by Jolly Zacian even after a Dragon Dance seems like a significant issue -- it has to use Max Airstream to outspeed it, but Flying has almost no relevant coverage even in full Galar ubers.

Unrelated, but what are people thinking for the item slot on Eternatus? I thought Specs at first, but I can also see it running sets with Recover or Agility. (Maybe Shadow Ball?) I think Expert Belt could be good on it, especially in full Galar dex ubers, because most of the time it's using SE moves on anything it wants to stay in on. Unlike, say, Mewtwo, it uses neutral moves pretty rarely, and compromising its respectable 140/95/95 bulk with Life Orb feels like a waste.
 
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Gyarados getting outsped by Jolly Zacian even after a Dragon Dance seems like a significant issue -- it has to use Max Airstream to outspeed it, but Flying has almost no relevant coverage even in full Galar ubers.

Unrelated, but what are people thinking for the item slot on Eternatus? I thought Specs at first, but I can also see it running sets with Recover or Agility. I think Expert Belt could be good on it, especially in full Galar dex ubers, because most of the time it's using SE moves on anything it wants to stay in on. Unlike, say, Mewtwo, it uses neutral moves pretty rarely, and compromising its respectable 140/95/95 bulk with Life Orb feels like a waste.
Eternatus seems like it can do a lot of stuff reasonably well. The specs set can 2HKO max spdef Toxapex (252 SpA Choice Specs Eternatus Dynamax Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 150-177 (49.3 - 58.2%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO) but Pex has regen and there's no shortage of fairies in the tier. I think Life Orb probably isn't very good given that it will probably be whiffing a lot. Idk if Toxic Plate is in the game since Arceus got removed but a Toxic Plate/Poison Barb set with Toxic Spikes and Venoshock could be interesting.

I don't think running Agility will be worth it. It's already base 130 speed.
 
Idk if Toxic Plate is in the game since Arceus got removed but a Toxic Plate/Poison Barb set with Toxic Spikes and Venoshock could be interesting.
I feel like there are too many good mons immune to Poison for this to be useful, not to mention Eternatus itself clearing Toxic Spikes. The only real target is Zacian-Hero, plus any random fairies like Clefable or Shiinotic.

I think Specs is just as likely to whiff. It's certainly useful, and quite often you can get away with spamming Flamethrower, but being locked into a move with relevant resists/immunities is a liability, especially when the most commonly used Pokemon in the tier is immune to both STABs.

I'm currently thinking that Expert Belt Dynamax Cannon/Flamethrower/Sludge Wave/Agility might be the best set, because there are no reasonable conditions where +2 Eternatus is outsped by anything and it has SE coverage vs most things -- I haven't run the maths, though. Does it OHKO Zacian, Mewtwo or Excadrill? I think we can safely assume it loses to Necrozma-DM regardless.

Recover might be better vs stall, and Shadow Ball is nice vs Galarian Corsola and predicted Mewtwo switches. I can possibly imagine Shadow Ball replacing Sludge Wave for lack of relevant targets on the latter.

Incidentally, annoying side effect of the probable removal of Plates: no 20% Fairy item.
 
Wow, trying some gyarados dyna counter and realized (if serebii is correct) that Cleafable lost Counter ... anything still there for it?
 

Apagogie

Zee you later
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
https://pokepast.es/a098de556a78ca0a

I did some battles with the team posted above on the ladder and it works well.

It's maybe a bit early to give thoughts but I will still do it because why not. The combinaison of Zacian + Gothitelle + Ditto is really a nightmare to deal with. Every defensive mon which counters somewhat Zacian, except aegislash as notable exception, is trapped by gothitelle to dead. Gothitelle in itself is a threat because nothing, except dark types, stops it to click stored power at +6/+6. The only way where you are able to kill gothitelle is to try to weaken it in setting up. Generally, Gothitelle will still win the dual but in the case you manage to kill Gothitelle with your Zacian, Ditto can simply copy you and sweep you after that. I don't think there are good strategies to prevent that except using a dark type or aegislash but you have still 3 other mons to cover that. It's relatively early to say this but I'm confident that Gothitelle will be top tier in this generation.

- I dont think there is really a reason to play the two other legendaries (except if I miss something important). Other mons are just so good that I don't see a reason to add the other wolf or eternatus.
- Excadrill is very very strong. A lot of teams don't have a switch in to earthquake so it's definitely a mon to take into account in the teambuilding.
- Beside being weak to Zacian, I think Mandibuzz could be a good pick in the tier considering it prevents gothitelle to sweep your team and is a reliable eq switch in.
- I think Hawlucha and Gyaradoss will be threats in the metagame. Even in Ubers it's very difficult to deal with once they are set up and gothitelle can just trap to death every defensive mon which tries to stop them in their sweep. I personally play earthquake on Gyarados because ground coverage looks to be very good here.
- Aegislash will be good as well for its ability to handle pretty well Zacian outside of crunch variants. It is also a mon which doesn't invite Gothitelle and which cannot be trapped so I'm pretty confident that it will be a good mon this gen.

Here are my thoughts about my first battles in Ubers 8 gen, the tier is a bit brainless at the moment but i guess it's because it is the first moments of the generation. Zacian and Gothitelle both look really really strong though.
 
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Cynara

Banned deucer.
The format is now playable on PS. I've been building just now and I want to share some things and thoughts I want to share.
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Zamazenta @ Choice Band
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge / Psychic Fangs
- Crunch / Psychic Fangs
- Iron Tail

I honestly feel like Zamazenta has been grossly unexplored so I want to post a set that I feel has gone under the radar a bit during these discussions. Someone brought up Scarf and Im glad they did, because its the fastest natural scarfer the tier has to offer being able to outpace Jolly Excadrill in sand which is very nice. I do believe the best Zamazenta sets are choiced sets due to its movepool and capabilities. Choice band is a very fearsome wallbreaker and I envisage in seeing it on wallbreaking cores, especially due to its typing and coverage. We all know what Choice banded Ho-Oh is capable of and this Pokemon honestly feels like an upgrade.

Duantless Shield and its good natural bulk really help it out with staying around. It has the necessary coverage moves a Choice banded user could ask for. Choice banded Close Combat hits anything that doesnt resist it hard. Iron Tail is solely for fairies. Wild Charge smash bulky waters such as Toxapex and the Gigantamax Charizard that may see the light of day etc, though one could opt for Psychic Fangs over Wild Charge for Super-Effective coverage against Eternatus. Crunch is also really filler, good option vs potential Aegislash switch ins, since it doesnt get much for it.
1574198038336.png

Zamazenta @ Life Orb / Roseli Berry
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Howl
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs / Wild Charge

Here is another set I came up with. I expect to see this more on Sticky web teams (though it is effective outside of them) which is probably going to be a solid option for Offense archetypes with reliable Sticky Web uses such as Shuckle or Ribombee. Zacian-Crowned is a very important and alarming threat for offensive teams to outpace and Sticky Webs enables one way for teams to do this.

Howl (there is Work Up but Howl is more aesthetic and has superior PP) is sadly the best setup move it gets, but its still very useful, Zamazenta has a great offensive typing it wants to make use of and Zamazenta has the bulk and ability to set up with ease. You could try adamant with some Bulk benchmark on a Sticky Webs team but I honestly prefer Jolly to invalidate Excadrill as a revenge killer if its on a Sticky Web team, outside of Stick Webs, Jolly is necessary. Roseli Berry is a neat tech you could try to live a Play Rough from Zaican-Crowned to revenge kill it with Close Combat, but the difference in power is noticeable.

1574208654498.png

I'll touch on Zamazenta-Crowned briefly, I havent been able to find it much place in Ubers unfortunately. Its base forme usually outdoes it in offensive capabilities, steel type adds yet another weakness that Excadrill can capitalise on, but there is some light in the darkness. Steel-type is an interesting addition to it and increased bulk means Howl sets could /still work/ with a good degree of effectiveness, the addition of Behemoth Shield is also interesting to help it bypass dynamaxes. This pokemon is more of a beatstick with little defensive options going for it than anything but I did come up with the following sets for people to try:

Zamazenta-Crowned @ Rusted Shield
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Howl
- Close Combat
- Behemoth Bash
- Wild Charge


Probably not going to be seen outside Sticky Webs, Adamant is probably better than Jolly Max speed, its speed tier sucks especially when compared to Eternatus and Zacian. I've Ev'd it to be faster than Base 100s without the Speed drop such as Charizard and allow it to outspeed Zacian-Crowned which has received a speed drop.

Zamazenta-Crowned @ Rusted Shield
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 32 SpD / 44 Spe
Impish Nature
- Metal Burst
- Close Combat
- Behemoth Bash
- Rest


EV investment is mainly to deal with Zacian-Crowned Close Combat and OHKO it with Metal Burst. Behemoth Bash to deal with Dynamaxes. Rest with a cleric is probably worth exploring such as Cosmic Power Gothitelle, since it is Zamazenta-Crowned's only form of recovery.

+3 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 180+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 308-364 (79.3 - 93.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+3 252 Atk Life Orb Zacian Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 180+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 328-387 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

1574199309384.png

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 236 HP / 176 SpD / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Dynamax Cannon / Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
- Recover

Eternatus has a lot of options to go defensive and I felt like sharing this as something I came up with this set as a support Pokemon and many offensive sets have already been shared such as Jibakus Life Orb Agility. It has access to Toxic Spikes and Recover, while its stats make it a great Special defensive wall. I can honestly see this pokemon one of the best options for defensive backbones the tier has to offer. Physical defensive investment is probably possible due to its ability to be a solid fighting resist, though it has superior special bulk and there are other good physical walls such as GMAX Corviknight or Hippowdon to complement the defensive backbone.

The EVs arent too complicated really, 236 HP Evs hits 480 HP which is a leftovers number, which allows for the maximum efficiency of evs being invested into Special defense, with 96 Speed Evs and a timid nature, this allows you to outspeed base 110s such as Gengar whos GMAX may be relevant with a damaging trapping move, an alternative spread may be considered with less speed and bulk if you so desire.

1574206769107.png

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Play Rough
- Fire Fang
- Psychic Fangs / Wild Charge

Swords Dance is obviously a menacing set and I am surprised this hasn't been discussed yet, but substitute allows it to completely invalidate its usual defensive answers, Ditto cannot copy it, if its behind a substitute and Excadrill obviously cannot reliably revenge kill it. There are a lot of Ubers viable Pokemon that Zacian can use as Substitute bait such as Ferrothorn, Corviknight, or on predicted switch outs from targets that cant deal with Zacian.

I feel like this makes a great offensive core along with the previous Zamazenta sets I have posted, since a non SD Zacian-Crowned will need a wallbreaking partner.


Gyarados @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Substitute / Earthquake

Outside of the ubers, Gyarados feels like it could be very viable, especially with the ability to dynamax as a late game cleaner, it is one of the few pokemon that can afford substitute in Ubers, which allows it to Ditto-Proof itself, something that is important to do for setup users in Ubers as Ditto is a very meta relevant Pokemon especially as an anti offense option. Heavy duty boots are a big boon for Gyarados, hazard control is somewhat limited in Generation 8 Ubers. Sadly it falls short of Zacian-Crowned at +1, so it will probably be more of a late game cleaner or will successfully be able to Dynamax vs variants that lack Wild Charge.

1574201380776.png

Gengar-Gmax @ Payapa Berry / Colbur Berry
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

A out of the box idea I had. I don't see it working well in practice but Nasty Plot Gengar is rather Scary. Gengar is really strong and theres no reason to to not use The GMax forme and you dont have to Gmax with it if you dont need to / rather dynamax something else. But what makes this Gengar good is its ability to trap and invalidate defensive switch ins with its Ghost Type Gmax move. You can Gmax to defeat any offensive threats in a pinch due to the double HP the forme provides. I am unsure about the Item slot in all honestness, the Super-effective berries seem like the way to go, if you assume a nasty plot boost, you are able to probably live either Psychic Fangs or Crunch from Zaican depending on what it runs with ease in Gmax forme, provided you dont lose the coverage lottery against Behemoth Blade variants.

1574204214217.png

Dragapult @ Light Clay
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- U-turn
- Draco Meteor

I've seen the discussion of Screens offense brought up and I sadly feel this is the best screener the tier has to offer until Mewtwo is released which sports better bulk. Base 142 speed means its faster than Eternatus and base Zamazenta / Zacian. I don't expect to see screens to obtain usage really nor do I expect them to be fantastic, the cover legends with Psychic Fangs also clear screens and will be a common coverage move.

I only really expect to see them Baton Pass teams which will require the support of them and Baton Pass missing Extreme Evoboost and Smeargle is a hit to their viability, the best shell smasher that can Baton Pass is Polteageist. But like I've always seen from experience, people always seem to find a way with Baton Pass.


Anyways, moving on from sets.

----

I've been experimenting with team structures in general, Zacian is obviously very omnipresent in ubers as a offensive threat and ways of dealing it are rather scare, there are limited defensive options to deal with it. Offense feels like its going to be a dominant playstyle in generation 8 Ubers, Zacian clearly with limited defensive counter play, offense has to solely rely on options such as Sticky webs offense, Ditto, Choice Scarf Dugtrio (which imo is slightly unreliable) or weather options such as Excadrill or Barraskewda, obviously Excadrill being the more worthwhile option out of the two, Barraskewda could find place on Gyarados teams, but I doubt it.

Defensive teams could also be very worth exploring with all these new additions to the metagame, Eternatus + Ferrothorn makes a solid defensive core with the ability to hazard stack and is basically an upgrade of the generic OU core of Ferrothorn + Toxapex, options like Hippowdon can also be considered to expand the core, and I am sure we will see a lot of teams featuring them. Ditto almost feels mandatory for defensive teams like Stall, due to its revenge killing capabilities and a way for teams to deal with the overwhelming offensive threats that are present as of the moment in Generation 8 Ubers.
 
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I've been using Sticky Web a lot, I personally use Ribombee as a setter to actually do some dmg to opposing leads and Stun Spore is really useful if they have faster mons with scarf or those that are airborne (forget about me missing that twice in room tour lol).

When it comes to abusers of the said hazard Zacian is the obvious one, and some of my favorite ones are Gyarados and Hydreigon; the former can outspend Zacian-C after one DD thanks to the Speed drop. So far Waterfall and Earthquake is pretty much all it needs to hit most of the relevant tier so it can afford Taunt to take full advantage of stuff like Hippowdon and shut down Corviknight and Ferrothorn without Grass move (which I think are mandatory so that it can actually check gyara and exca). I think Heavy Duty Boots (from post ^) is the best option but I use Lum Berry to ease matchup vs pex and other 'mons throwing Toxic as a last ditch effort because losing 25% of health won't hurt as much in web team where you are likely having more support.

Other things I tried using are Hydreigon, Darmanitan-G, Kingler, and others. Just make sure none of them give free Defog to Corviknight and let their Ditto win for free.

I think possible spinblockers are Polteageist and Gengar. I use Polteageist most of the time because Gengar's offensive utility and ability to get rid of tspikes is outclassed by Eternatus and the only thing it separately has are access to setup and Taunt but like if it is gonna live any hit after clicking them... Aegislash is more durable alternative but its Speed means it can be a Defog fodder against just about every user. Mimikyu can be nice but it hits like a wet tissue. Assuming it has Red Card it loses 1v1 against hippow after SD, and its nightmares from previous gens (ferro / pex / steel+flying mon) are already common.

Ditto and Cinderace + Court Change seem to be the biggest threat to this strategy, but Ditto is possible to defeat if your sweeper lacks a supereffective move vs yourself and you saved dynamax. Cinderace is a big chad so I simply use Dugtrio on every team (Memento / SR) and use sweepers like Gyarados that can force it out.

--

When it comes to three legendary 'mons we have so far I think it isn't overly hard to tell which one's good and which ones aren't. Zacian is probably the best to be used as Zac-C for more immediate power, Steel-typing giving it more opportunity to set up with resistances and immunity to tox. Zamazenta is marginally okay just like how every cover legendaries have been regardless of their viability in competitive scenes but it pains me to not see suitable setup moves it can use (Howl...). Crowned forme compromises its defensive utility with sand teams around and it losing 1v1 against Zacian-C anyway. Scarf outspends Sand Rush Excadrill so try that if you hate sand with passion but I think using a teamslot with scarf Zamazenta already raises questions about opportunity cost and there are better counterplea vs sand.

Eternatus is probably a new Naganadel we get to play around with. It has Fire move, which is nice but it falls short to OHKO Zacian-C while holding anything weaker than specs. It has no setup but it is thicc enough to live Zac-C's Play Rough after a hazard chip and access to Recover means it can have some longevity. Rolls vs pex can suck if pex has Black Sludge but I think hazard support is gonna force a sac from pax's team to wall Eternatus and I think even Metronome is gonna be a nice way around it because unbolted STAB already kill what they need to KO. I personally use Shuca Berry on it because it doesn't miss any 2HKO it already nets and surprising Excadrill is nice, especially if people manage to fall to this and lose their sand abuser early.

Edit: It's been one day, but this team's been working well in ladder. #1 now but it will change soon lol
Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- Quiver Dance
- Stun Spore

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Behemoth Blade
- Close Combat

Eternatus @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Dynamax Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Recover / Shadow Ball

Polteageist @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Shadow Ball
- Stored Power
- Will-O-Wisp

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Taunt

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Memento
- Screech

Screen Shot 2019-11-19 at 5.50.58 PM.png
 
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What are u guys thinking a ditto ev spread would be for this series
Same as last generation (252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def / Relaxed Nature) because Ditto's role is practically the same. An explanation on Ditto's smogon strategy page shows you why those EVs are run. The IVs would be 31/31/31/31/31/0 with no variation from that spread now that Hidden Power is gone.
 
Baton Pass is no longer banned. Is this a bug? Also, Sticky web seems to be really strong, as there aren't many non-grounded mons around. Orbeetle seems to be the best setter for webs imo.
 
i like heatproof bronzong.
taking half the damage from zacians fire fang is much needed in this meta. also helps vs flamethrower eterna and other fire moves that are gonna be prevalent due to zacian and the steels that it forces onto every team. reflect is a rlly good move btw
stuff like dugtrio and sand exca are notable downsides but its def a worth consideration

whimsicott is also cool
checks zamazenta, forces 50/50s against eterna, keeps opposing zacian from brainlessly setting up and priority encore is going to win u games with that own setup zacian on ur team

-speed eternatus so that ur zacian outspeeds ur ditto'd eternatus is dogshit but kinda funny
toxic spikes suck on it imo
 

Alstone

Banned deucer.
Hi

Eternatus @ Black Sludge
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Flamethrower
- Dynamax Cannon

This set is kind of fun. I don't know why I play galvantulas and stuff but I just click this as my first pokemon and Substitude on it so that way it wouldn't touch me or worry about it using Sticky Web. It becomes a headache to my opponent to think about which pokemon to switch to this weather via a steel type like Zacian, Zamazenta, or Ferrothorn or to other things. It's pretty fun
 

Symphonic Sorcerer

Banned deucer.
Some current thoughts on the meta: I think it's safe to say that Zacian-C is the single most over centralizing threat in the tier. Every successful team needs to carry at least two dedicated methods of dealing with it. Before I began experimenting with certain builds, I immediately went with the mindset I had in Gen 7 and thought that Offense builds would probably thrive the most in the early stages of the meta. And to expedite the laddering process, I went with Hyper Offense as my play style of choice. Since hazard removal isn't nearly as important as it was last gen (consider the fact that you might enable your opponent to allow something to set up while you try to remove away your hazards), I decided to go with a Webs Build. Obviously, two webs setters came to mind immediately, Ribombee and Shuckle. The post Lotus made motivated me to try a double suicide lead core of Rimombee and Dugtrio. With Ribombee able to spread Paralysis with Stun Spore and quickly set up Webs and Dugtrio being naturally fast and being able to set SR while sacrificing itself via Memento to allow another threat to set up, I could focus on packing two to three major offensive threats. A few posts back, it was mentioned that Band Zamazenta was one of the best partners for Substitute Zacian-C. Indeed, both of these mons can wall break and blow through things making them a very potent wall breaking core. I decided to slap arguably the best Dynamax sweeper of this generation, Gyarados. Along with Heavy-Duty Boots, Sub Gyara is an extremely potent sweeper than can clean teams with Moxie boosts. Finally, Ditto was added as the mandatory revenge killer of choice. Thus, I came up with this build: https://pokepast.es/ff79523ab81e3f7...V3-e_3oBH0CRea0sFCKWQNAA-BGqjxQvuaGFk0yHbOK5w which did fairly well against offense but struggled to break down fatter cores consisting of Quagsire, Hippodown, Pyukumuku, and even G-Max Corviknight.

Since more people ran those fat mons on the higher end of the ladder, I decided to swap Rimombee with Shuckle and paired it with Scarf Gothitelle, which is probably the most broken thing in this tier aside from Zacian-C. Gothi can come in on something using non-damaging move, trap it and trick its Scarf on, and then begin to set up Cosmic Power. Heck, it can even Dynamax to set up Psychic Terrain and then smash things with Stored Power. If your opponent doesn't have a Dark Type or Aegislash, it is often game right there. You might think Zacian-C might be able to break Gothi, but at +6, it becomes very difficult to do. These changes made my team perform extremely well on ladder, I think I lost only one game to Lotus with it because I didn't immediately set up Hazards. This was the final version of the current team I am using to ladder: https://pokepast.es/f41801bce6b2fd0...xzlGBR7ESWxks2wO705ncInAMPe4bFLRDvi2lIflL7CMg

I peaked at #5 before I stopped laddering for a few hours, but I'll ladder more with some different teams. This generation does look promising though I suspect Gothitelle and Zacian-C may be the first to be suspected.


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Mysterious M

Sic mundus creatus est
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
I tried a balance with ditto, with my defensive backbone around ttar/quagsire/aegi. I wont really get deep into sets, one set that i enjoyed and can have a solid effect is the below one:

Eternatus @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Dynamax Cannon
- Sludge Wave
- Substitute

Sub lets you scout the potential Zacian switch, as well as set it vs other mons such as ferro,pex etc and has worked pretty well for me in ladder.

I used this team to go 54-0 and peak, although i think it has some flaws it was a fine ride. (evs and all are w/e)

Quagsire (i am using it with shed shell since gothi is spammed) is amazing in the meta, with stockpile making it able to handle all new ubers legends. Will try and post some more once i get a better view of the meta.
 
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