Metagame SS OU Metagame Discussion v2 [Usage Stats in post #581]

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The difference between dracovish and crawdaunt comes in several aspects that make dracovish holy superior. From a defensive standpoint, dracovish has above average bulk while crawdaunt is paper thin. Dracovish has 90/100/80 with two weaknesses and three resists, notably a quadra resist to fire and water, which gives it some free switch ins. Crawdaunt has 63/85/55 bulk with 6 resists and an immunity, and it has 5 weaknesses. Of that immunity, the only common psychic type user in the metagame is hatterene or mew, each of which has super effective coverage in Dazzling gleam and CC. Those resistances on Crawdaunt are meaningless since it's so frail. This is a notch in the cap of dracovish, but it doesn't end there.

Dracovish doesn't need prediction, and it can KO bulky resists with ease. It hits substantially harder than crawdaunt.

252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 176-208 (57.8 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 141-167 (46.3 - 54.9%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery

You'll notice that the difference between these calcs is mute. Both get the job done, but one needed prediction while the other didn't. Crabhammer only does 35% tops to toxapex. Dracovish doesn't need to worry about whether the opponent resists its stabs. You just click the button, and you're good. This applies to every counter out there. Another example would be ferrothorn. The difference between these two here is that unlike crawdaunt, dracovish cannot be KOed back after being switched in by ferrothorn. Crawdaunt gets OHKOed easily by power whip.

Mandibuzz is another great example of the raw power difference between these two.

252+ Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Dracovish Fishious Rend vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 372-438 (87.7 - 103.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Crabhammer vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 238-280 (56.1 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Now I know what you're thinking. "Didn't you just say toxapex's calcs differences were mute since they both get 2HKOed?" I did, but this is a different case. Mandibuzz is faster than crawdaunt with full speed when mandibuzz invests 56 speed EVs. At that point, it can knock off the crawdaunt, crippling its deeps. Crabhammer can also miss. Dracovish is faster than mandibuzz unless mandi has 216 EVs in speed. At that point, the mandibuzz gets blown away since it's taking those EVs from defense or health. This is actually my third point in dracovish's favor - he has 20 more points of speed.

This makes a jolly scarf set outspeed a modest dragapult. That's a useful utility to have, and crawdaunt is unable to offer up speed control outside of its priority. While its priority is pretty strong, it's not enough to take out something like barraskewda or dragapult without prior chip.

252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 86-102 (27.1 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Barraskewda: 103-122 (39.1 - 46.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Darmanitan-Galar: 218-258 (62.1 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Not saying Crawdaunt is awful as that's quite a chunk against barraskewda and that's an unholy blast against darm. It is worth mentioning, and it's in the discussion for viable OU mons. Comparing it to Dracovish does it no favors however, as it is strictly inferior outside of offering a stab, strong knock off and priority. This lets crawdaunt destroy siesmitoad, which is something dracovish can't really do, and it does offer some sweeping potential late game with heavy amounts of chip against its resists. At the same time, this Dracovish's weaknesses are easy to fix through toxic spikes, spikes, or other team building measures. Fixing Crawdaunts flaws are a much more daunting task by comparison.

Anyways, I think the main points for Crawdaunt are its water priority and it's knock off.
I wasn't saying that is was better than dracovish, but I think that there might be teams that want Crawdaunt more. Just saying just because Crawdaunt is outshined by Vish doesnt mean it has to be considered strictly inferior on teams. The point of my post was to bring light to a mon that got little attention and actually could work as alternative to vish in situations where you wouldn't want vish on your team. I was just showing Crawdaunt some love.
 
Good to see discussion about Crawdaunt; it was one of two things that I wanted to talk about in this post.



So Crawdaunt has direct competition with Dracovish as a Water-type wallbreaker. While Dracovish seems to be the more consistent pick, there are some trends that favor Crawdaunt in certain situations, mostly because of Dracovish's presence. For one, more teams are running Water Absorb Pokemon to better handle Dracovish. This is good for Crawdaunt as it would rather want to face Seismitoad than Ferrothorn + Toxapex. Secondly, Crawdaunt's retain of the move Knock Off should not be overlooked due to the lack of distribution. Finally, of course, the priority Aqua Jet is nice to have. The question I have about Crawdaunt is which is the better set: Choice Band or Swords Dance? While Choice Band has been the go-to pick in the past few generations for Crawdaunt, the ubiquity of a certain move that I want to talk about makes me feel less confident about it and lean towards the latter set.

The move? Protect.



I think Protect and its variants (Baneful Bunker, King's Shield, Obstruct (?)) are some of the best moves in the current metagame. The biggest benefit of the move is to scout on Choice-locked Pokemon, which is huge in current SS OU since there are so many of them: Galarian Darmanitan, Dracovish, Specs Dragapult, Scarf Rotom, and Specs Toxtricity for example. It is so much easier to play around those threats when you know what move they locked into, and it will be much easier after the Dynamax ban because the Choice-user cannot break the Choice lock. It is very nice versus Trick as well, making it harder for the opponent to cripple an important Pokemon on your team. Another benefit of Protect is the extra round of Leftovers recovery, useful for keeping Pokemon like Seismitoad and Rotom-W healthy. The extra round of recovery can also be important to avoid certain KOs like Pex getting 2HKOed from CB Dracovish. Finally, there are a large number of viable Wish passers that use Protect to ensure safe Wishes onto itself, so Protect is everywhere right now. A strong archetype I feel is balance with a good number of Protect users like the team Charmflash used in this replay.

So yeah, if you aren't using Protect, try it out! Or call a doctor, idk.
I definitely agree with you that protect is incredible right now. I have been really liking baneful bunker pex rn and it is so good vs rain. Protect has won a lot of games for me.
 
Hi.. This meta is more focus in Balance Offence rn. I see Screen Grimmsnarl and Web HO often but the ban on dynamax make this type of team less complicated to play around.
Also in the showdown chat people say of Stall and i doenst see one Stall team.
The balance team are two defensive pivot (Corv, Pex, Seis), a couple of wallbreaker and a scarf (mainly G-darmanitan). I have enjoyed pls this less crazy metagame...

A set I use and this is working for me is Band Dragapulk
Dragapult @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn
- Phantom Force
The higher attack stat lets run Jolly reaching 421 spe making revench kill more difficult. Darts and PForce hits like a truck and utility in Sucker Punch and Uturn is always needed.
Some calc:
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 274-324 (86.4 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Darmanitan-Galar: 174-205 (49.5 - 58.4%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 204-240 (62.9 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vaporeon: 228-270 (49.1 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Jellicent: 392-464 (97 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
 
Hi.. This meta is more focus in Balance Offence rn. I see Screen Grimmsnarl and Web HO often but the ban on dynamax make this type of team less complicated to play around.
Also in the showdown chat people say of Stall and i doenst see one Stall team.
The balance team are two defensive pivot (Corv, Pex, Seis), a couple of wallbreaker and a scarf (mainly G-darmanitan). I have enjoyed pls this less crazy metagame...

A set I use and this is working for me is Band Dragapulk
Dragapult @ Choice Band
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn
- Phantom Force
The higher attack stat lets run Jolly reaching 421 spe making revench kill more difficult. Darts and PForce hits like a truck and utility in Sucker Punch and Uturn is always needed.
Some calc:
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 274-324 (86.4 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Darmanitan-Galar: 174-205 (49.5 - 58.4%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 204-240 (62.9 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vaporeon: 228-270 (49.1 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Dragapult Phantom Force vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Jellicent: 392-464 (97 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Issue with Phantom Force is that even if Jelli/Corsola decide to stay in, they'll just hit you with a strength sap after you hit them and get all their health back, leaving you at -1
 
Issue with Phantom Force is that even if Jelli/Corsola decide to stay in, they'll just hit you with a strength sap after you hit them and get all their health back, leaving you at -1
If only he have a better STAB :(... Steel wing is a weak option if you want to hit fairy hard but still is a bad move..
 
STALL

I just wanted to talk about stall in general and how viable it is/could be in the meta going forward from my experience of laddering between the 1750-1800s with stall!

Viable stall mons:
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(Generally speaking)

I honestly think that stall could be very viable moving forward, especially considering the fact that dynamax has recently been banned. On top of that Gdarm also seems to be warranting a suspect test/quick ban recently. Generally speaking I think fatter teams are much more viable now, considering the amount of wall breakers that threaten stall that can be trapped by dugtrio relatively easily (lo clef,darm,toxtricity,etc).Dugtrio being able to trap pretty much anything that gives Stall trouble now is huge. The fact that stall isn’t obligated to run ditto anymore is also quite big since the extra slot can really help a lot in patching up holes that were previously left open, due to the fact that you were forced to run ditto to stop dynamax bs. Nothing really threatens stall too much atm other than maybe Cb Darmanitan which usually gets trapped by dugtrio and Dracovish which if played properly can destroy a stall team. Other than the fact that arena trap is broken, stall also has multiple ways to stop hazards (Corv,Mandi,Xatu,Avalugg,Hatterene) essentially taking away a another important tool vs stall.

Obviously I’m not trying to say that stall is a unstoppable force but I do think that it’s pretty good and will only get better in the meta!
 
Also people sleep on Bisharp that Pokemon is disgusting too. Actually keep sleeping tbh I can't be bothered facing it.
Glad to see some people bringing up Bisharp. I've been using it pretty much constantly this gen and it's an absolute terror. Along with conk it's the only reliable revenge kill on darm, but unlike conk it also laughs at clefable and hatterene. Defiant is also a godlike ability that is a free win 9 times out of 10 if you trigger it. There's a ton of stat lowering moves running around now, too: sticky web, spirit break, strength sap, and even some weaker mystical fire are all ways Bisharp can get a free SD and instawin. The only things it really struggles with are Haze pex, conk and hydreigon.
 
Sableye is being overlooked and I don't know why. In a meta with so many frightening physical attackers such as Excadrill, Barraskewda, soon to be Libero Cinderace, Darmanitan, and Dracovish (whether or not those last two are to remain in OU is yet to be seen), a mon with priority burns and recovery with the added benefit of Knock Off to cripple seems to have a really valuable niche in this meta. Try him out, the little guy's pretty solid
 
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The base defense stat of 75 isn't that bad considering it effectively doubles since he gets to burn first and will always restore half of his HP first. Being able to outspeed Scarf Darm and Drill/Skewda in their respective weathers to cripple their attacking stat and being able to go toe to toe with them thanks to priority Recover is a very valuable niche.
 
Sableye is being overlooked and I don't know why. In a meta with so many frightening physical attackers such as Excadrill, Barraskewda, soon to be Libero Cinderace, Darmanitan, and Dracovish (whether or not those last two are to remain in OU is yet to be seen), a mon with priority burns and recovery with the added benefit of Knock Off to cripple seems to have a really valuable niche in this meta. Try him out, the little guy's pretty solid
I'd like to second the sentiment and post a Sableye set that I've been experimenting with to pretty decent effect.

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp

This thing may be outclassed in some ways by Grimmsnarl but it's actually a damn near perfect answer to some troubling Pokemon like mixed Dragapult. Defense EVs to insure you can survive things like Dragon Darts if your W-Wisp misses. Calm Mind for boosts. Snarl is great for slowly wearing down switch-ins like Hatterene or other options so that you can get something else in there. Recover is of course for recovery.
 
tl;dr - Suicide Specs Cursola + Dugtrio with Sub or Protect can trap and eliminate most contact-attackers, including problems like Dracovish that Dugtrio cannot normally kill. Both team slots have their own uses outside of this combo: Cursola with its wallbreaking power and Dugtrio with its normal trapping. Its obviously a gimmick strategy with a lot of weaknesses but some completely unique perks, and is very fun to use as long as Arena Trap stays legal.



Cursola is not very good. At all. However, I think it does have one niche in OU that leads to a very cheesy trap setup which can eliminate physical threats that a lot of teams otherwise struggle to deal with. It's pretty easy to dismiss as a gimmick (which it is) but its a gimmick with real benefits for teambuilding, and it also a lot of fun to use and doesn't lead to two dead team slots like you may assume. Trapping in general has shown to be a pretty degenerate aspect of the game, and and since I don't know how much longer Arena Trap will last, I might as well bring this up now, as it widens the pool of targets which Dugtrio unavoidably remove of the enemy team.

I have seen one other person mention this, but they were trying to use some garbage defensive set with Eject Button. That's always going to be dead weight on pretty much any OU team. Better to actually make use of Cursola's few strengths (and even its weaknesses).

Cursola @ Choice Specs
Ability: Perish Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain

A defensive statline of 60/50 is so terrible that its actually a better idea to tank those numbers even further to get the most out of Perish Body. With a -Def nature, 0 HP and Def IVs, and 31 Atk IVs to maximize Foul Play damage, Cursola will not live any respectable contact move. This then triggers Perish Song, and leads into the unavoidable trap. The best part about this set is that most switch-ins are a win/win whether you can live or not, and is effective even if the opponent sees the gimmick at team preview.

If there is a specially-based support like Toxapex, Pelipper, Vaporean, or Rimbombee on the field, Cursola can easily switch in and take a hit, leaving the opponent to look for switch-ins to a 640 SpA move. If you get statused in some way, Cursola absolutely doesn't care, as it has a death wish regardless, and chip damage it on it is often a good thing. Its also a prime switch-in for its child Corsola, and even some slower special attackers like Hatterene.

On the other end of the spectrum, if the opponent has a strong physical attacker like Dracovish or even a physically-based support like Ferrothorn, you can immediately send Cursola to its death. If your opponent is smart, they can see this coming from a mile away, but even if they recognize what you're trying to pull off, there may not be anything they can do. Dracovish, for instance, only uses contact moves, so if Cursola and Dugtrio are both alive, it is legitimately unable to attack without dying. For supports like Ferrothorn, it can just choose not to click Power Whip or Knock Off, but Leech Seed is recovering basically nothing and it absolutely cannot take two Shadow Balls.

And because you have no reason not to run neutral max Speed, you can even get some surprise kills just from outspeeding slow Pokemon without investment, negating the need to use Perish Body right away. 159 Speed is enough to outspace uninvested Tyaranitar by one point, and everything slower, including prime targets like Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Quagsire, Sylveon, and Toxapex. Shadow Ball is obvious STAB, Psychic chunks Pex and snipes the occasional Conkeldurr, and Ice Beam + Giga Drain is solid coverage that takes out a few of the targets mentioned above. Other options are Hydro Pump to hit Ttar harder, and Earth Power > Psychic to hit Pex and Ttar in one, though I don't like being locked into a Ground move Flying types are good switch-ins to avoid Arena Trap. As we know from Specs Dragapult, Ghost is a very spammable type right now, and in cases where the opponent either can't kill you, can't outspeed you, or switches out to avoid the trap, good coverage combined with 640 SpA is bound to leave a mark on something.

But obviously we're here for Perish Body, so let's get onto part two.

Dugtrio @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- filler
- filler

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Earthquake
- filler

We all know what Dugtrio does; its somehow more one-dimensional than Cursola. Because the only move it really needs to function is Earthquake, both of the above sets can serve the same purpose as a normal Scarf or Sash Dugtrio, which are very valuable tools on the right build to straight up eliminate a problem Pokemon with no way to respond. The lack of counterplay to being trapped is why trapping abilities are so frequently banned, even though the Pokemon that get them are complete garbage. One downside to Dugtrio is that if it can't kill its target in one (or two, with Sash) hits, it has failed at its job. And this situation comes up a lot, given that base 100 Atk + only one reliable strong move is very lackluster, often requiring prior chip damage or a weakness to ground in order to achieve its task. But because Perish Body guarantees death in 3 turns (which Dugtrio is unaffected by), this downside is negated because Dugtrio no longer needs to Atk in order to successfully eliminate its mark. This widens your list of targets, while keeping Dugtrio's effectiveness on a normal team almost completely intact.

I have two sets here, both are very degenerate but they have their own pros and cons. Which one you use is team dependent, so I'll go over the pros and cons of each.

Choice Scarf + Substitute is such an insulting way to die, and the extra Speed widens your hit list to sub-120 Scarfers and fast Pokemon in general, even if Dugtrio takes damage from hazards beforehand. In a pinch, Scarf EQ is a half-decent response even to targets you can't trap, like weakened Dragapult. Dugtrio's health is nearly irrelevant, allowing you to Sub three times in a row and still stay alive to get a hit off when it next switches in. In general, Scarf is best on teams that would already appreciate Scarf Dug, and you can better eliminate fast targets even if hazards are up. The obvious downside is that being locked into Sub will immediately force a switch after the target faints, but Choiced Dugtrio frequently after a successful trap even in normal circumstances, as the next Pokemon will likely be able to easily take the next Earthquake (or is immune).

Focus Sash is a bit safer and more reliable but you will need to keep the Sash intact or faster targets will be able to kill Dugtrio in two turns, meaning you sacrificed two Pokemon and the target can just switch on turn 3. Rather than spamming Sub, the goal here is Protect > Sub > Protect, which means you only lose 25% of your HP, not 75%. You can also setup Stealth Rock on the Sub turn, especially if the target is going to oustpeed you and bring you down to Focus Sash. If your hazard control is strong, this set is the better choice, and its ability to possibly set up Rocks on the second turn is an extra layer of support.

So what does this combo actually do that Dugtrio normally doesn't do by itself? Below are a list of targets that a) can be trapped and b) use commonly use contact moves that can hit Ghost types, taken from the viability thread. I'll put a * by targets that Dugtrio can already reliably kill from full with EQ, given the right set. Trapping them this way, however negates Focus Sash, Shucca Berry, and Def investment that would ordinarily stop a successful trap.

Avalugg, Bisharp*, Conkeldurr, Durant, Excadrill*, Ferrothorn, Flareon*, Haxorus, Mew(?), Snorlax, Tyranitar*, Umbreon, Barraskewda (Rain or Aqua Jet stops Scarf Dug), Centiscorch* (has to hit Stone Edge), Cinderace* (U-turn stops), Copperajah, Darmanitan-G (Flare Blitz only), Dracozolt, Dracovish, Dreadnaw (Jolly + Rain stops Scarf Dug), Grimmsnarl (Taunt stops Scarf), Obstagoon

There are some threats here! In my limited time testing, the best benefit has absolutely been a foolproof way to eliminate Dracovish. Teams without a Water immunity pretty much have to sack anytime this abomination comes in already, so sacking a Pokemon meant to die anyway is no huge loss. I've also been pretty impressed with Specs Cursola in general. Its so hard to switch into that if allowed in on a double, death, or support Pokemon, you can easily get 2 kills--one from its own power and one from Perish Body. The reason its bad in OU despite immense power is that it requires a ton of support and a lot of things will kill it. With Dugtrio in the back, both of these downsides are reversed: Cursola becomes support instead of needing it and dying is actually a success state, not a failure state.

But as I said at the beginning, this is obviously a gimmick and should be treated as such. It requires two team slots which, while not useless on their own, are definitely not optimal. Any Ghost (physical Dragapult) or non-grounded target (Corviknight, Mandibuzz, Gyarados) will foil your plans, while some physical attackers simply need to click strong non-contact moves (Darmanitan, mainly).

With that in mind, this combo is very fun to play with, especially when Dracovish is on so many teams. I don't expect to see this is a tournament anytime soon, but as a ladder strat, its pretty neat and makes use of an otherwise lackluster Pokemon. Trapping tends to create unfair game states, and dying from Dugtrio just sitting there feels especially disrespectful. Enjoy it while Arena Trap lasts, and happy holidays.
 
tl;dr - Suicide Specs Cursola + Dugtrio with Sub or Protect can trap and eliminate most contact-attackers, including problems like Dracovish that Dugtrio cannot normally kill. Both team slots have their own uses outside of this combo: Cursola with its wallbreaking power and Dugtrio with its normal trapping. Its obviously a gimmick strategy with a lot of weaknesses but some completely unique perks, and is very fun to use as long as Arena Trap stays legal.



Cursola is not very good. At all. However, I think it does have one niche in OU that leads to a very cheesy trap setup which can eliminate physical threats that a lot of teams otherwise struggle to deal with. It's pretty easy to dismiss as a gimmick (which it is) but its a gimmick with real benefits for teambuilding, and it also a lot of fun to use and doesn't lead to two dead team slots like you may assume. Trapping in general has shown to be a pretty degenerate aspect of the game, and and since I don't know how much longer Arena Trap will last, I might as well bring this up now, as it widens the pool of targets which Dugtrio unavoidably remove of the enemy team.

I have seen one other person mention this, but they were trying to use some garbage defensive set with Eject Button. That's always going to be dead weight on pretty much any OU team. Better to actually make use of Cursola's few strengths (and even its weaknesses).

Cursola @ Choice Specs
Ability: Perish Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain

A defensive statline of 60/50 is so terrible that its actually a better idea to tank those numbers even further to get the most out of Perish Body. With a -Def nature, 0 HP and Def IVs, and 31 Atk IVs to maximize Foul Play damage, Cursola will not live any respectable contact move. This then triggers Perish Song, and leads into the unavoidable trap. The best part about this set is that most switch-ins are a win/win whether you can live or not, and is effective even if the opponent sees the gimmick at team preview.

If there is a specially-based support like Toxapex, Pelipper, Vaporean, or Rimbombee on the field, Cursola can easily switch in and take a hit, leaving the opponent to look for switch-ins to a 640 SpA move. If you get statused in some way, Cursola absolutely doesn't care, as it has a death wish regardless, and chip damage it on it is often a good thing. Its also a prime switch-in for its child Corsola, and even some slower special attackers like Hatterene.

On the other end of the spectrum, if the opponent has a strong physical attacker like Dracovish or even a physically-based support like Ferrothorn, you can immediately send Cursola to its death. If your opponent is smart, they can see this coming from a mile away, but even if they recognize what you're trying to pull off, there may not be anything they can do. Dracovish, for instance, only uses contact moves, so if Cursola and Dugtrio are both alive, it is legitimately unable to attack without dying. For supports like Ferrothorn, it can just choose not to click Power Whip or Knock Off, but Leech Seed is recovering basically nothing and it absolutely cannot take two Shadow Balls.

And because you have no reason not to run neutral max Speed, you can even get some surprise kills just from outspeeding slow Pokemon without investment, negating the need to use Perish Body right away. 159 Speed is enough to outspace uninvested Tyaranitar by one point, and everything slower, including prime targets like Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Quagsire, Sylveon, and Toxapex. Shadow Ball is obvious STAB, Psychic chunks Pex and snipes the occasional Conkeldurr, and Ice Beam + Giga Drain is solid coverage that takes out a few of the targets mentioned above. Other options are Hydro Pump to hit Ttar harder, and Earth Power > Psychic to hit Pex and Ttar in one, though I don't like being locked into a Ground move Flying types are good switch-ins to avoid Arena Trap. As we know from Specs Dragapult, Ghost is a very spammable type right now, and in cases where the opponent either can't kill you, can't outspeed you, or switches out to avoid the trap, good coverage combined with 640 SpA is bound to leave a mark on something.

But obviously we're here for Perish Body, so let's get onto part two.

Dugtrio @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- filler
- filler

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Earthquake
- filler

We all know what Dugtrio does; its somehow more one-dimensional than Cursola. Because the only move it really needs to function is Earthquake, both of the above sets can serve the same purpose as a normal Scarf or Sash Dugtrio, which are very valuable tools on the right build to straight up eliminate a problem Pokemon with no way to respond. The lack of counterplay to being trapped is why trapping abilities are so frequently banned, even though the Pokemon that get them are complete garbage. One downside to Dugtrio is that if it can't kill its target in one (or two, with Sash) hits, it has failed at its job. And this situation comes up a lot, given that base 100 Atk + only one reliable strong move is very lackluster, often requiring prior chip damage or a weakness to ground in order to achieve its task. But because Perish Body guarantees death in 3 turns (which Dugtrio is unaffected by), this downside is negated because Dugtrio no longer needs to Atk in order to successfully eliminate its mark. This widens your list of targets, while keeping Dugtrio's effectiveness on a normal team almost completely intact.

I have two sets here, both are very degenerate but they have their own pros and cons. Which one you use is team dependent, so I'll go over the pros and cons of each.

Choice Scarf + Substitute is such an insulting way to die, and the extra Speed widens your hit list to sub-120 Scarfers and fast Pokemon in general, even if Dugtrio takes damage from hazards beforehand. In a pinch, Scarf EQ is a half-decent response even to targets you can't trap, like weakened Dragapult. Dugtrio's health is nearly irrelevant, allowing you to Sub three times in a row and still stay alive to get a hit off when it next switches in. In general, Scarf is best on teams that would already appreciate Scarf Dug, and you can better eliminate fast targets even if hazards are up. The obvious downside is that being locked into Sub will immediately force a switch after the target faints, but Choiced Dugtrio frequently after a successful trap even in normal circumstances, as the next Pokemon will likely be able to easily take the next Earthquake (or is immune).

Focus Sash is a bit safer and more reliable but you will need to keep the Sash intact or faster targets will be able to kill Dugtrio in two turns, meaning you sacrificed two Pokemon and the target can just switch on turn 3. Rather than spamming Sub, the goal here is Protect > Sub > Protect, which means you only lose 25% of your HP, not 75%. You can also setup Stealth Rock on the Sub turn, especially if the target is going to oustpeed you and bring you down to Focus Sash. If your hazard control is strong, this set is the better choice, and its ability to possibly set up Rocks on the second turn is an extra layer of support.

So what does this combo actually do that Dugtrio normally doesn't do by itself? Below are a list of targets that a) can be trapped and b) use commonly use contact moves that can hit Ghost types, taken from the viability thread. I'll put a * by targets that Dugtrio can already reliably kill from full with EQ, given the right set. Trapping them this way, however negates Focus Sash, Shucca Berry, and Def investment that would ordinarily stop a successful trap.

Avalugg, Bisharp*, Conkeldurr, Durant, Excadrill*, Ferrothorn, Flareon*, Haxorus, Mew(?), Snorlax, Tyranitar*, Umbreon, Barraskewda (Rain or Aqua Jet stops Scarf Dug), Centiscorch* (has to hit Stone Edge), Cinderace* (U-turn stops), Copperajah, Darmanitan-G (Flare Blitz only), Dracozolt, Dracovish, Dreadnaw (Jolly + Rain stops Scarf Dug), Grimmsnarl (Taunt stops Scarf), Obstagoon

There are some threats here! In my limited time testing, the best benefit has absolutely been a foolproof way to eliminate Dracovish. Teams without a Water immunity pretty much have to sack anytime this abomination comes in already, so sacking a Pokemon meant to die anyway is no huge loss. I've also been pretty impressed with Specs Cursola in general. Its so hard to switch into that if allowed in on a double, death, or support Pokemon, you can easily get 2 kills--one from its own power and one from Perish Body. The reason its bad in OU despite immense power is that it requires a ton of support and a lot of things will kill it. With Dugtrio in the back, both of these downsides are reversed: Cursola becomes support instead of needing it and dying is actually a success state, not a failure state.

But as I said at the beginning, this is obviously a gimmick and should be treated as such. It requires two team slots which, while not useless on their own, are definitely not optimal. Any Ghost (physical Dragapult) or non-grounded target (Corviknight, Mandibuzz, Gyarados) will foil your plans, while some physical attackers simply need to click strong non-contact moves (Darmanitan, mainly).

With that in mind, this combo is very fun to play with, especially when Dracovish is on so many teams. I don't expect to see this is a tournament anytime soon, but as a ladder strat, its pretty neat and makes use of an otherwise lackluster Pokemon. Trapping tends to create unfair game states, and dying from Dugtrio just sitting there feels especially disrespectful. Enjoy it while Arena Trap lasts, and happy holidays.
One of the problems is that the very pokemon that this set is designed to kill, screws this gimmick over quite easily.
Ok, first it OHKO's Cursola, and you have Sash Duggy now(which most pokemon prefer) is outsped by Scarf Vish which then brings you down to 1% and dies(or it kills you if hazards are up which is more likely) so you basically sacrificed one pokemon and now you have another at 1% to be revenge killed. Quite embarrassing, 2 pokemon to take down 1.
 
Sableye is being overlooked and I don't know why. In a meta with so many frightening physical attackers such as Excadrill, Barraskewda, soon to be Libero Cinderace, Darmanitan, and Dracovish (whether or not those last two are to remain in OU is yet to be seen), a mon with priority burns and recovery with the added benefit of Knock Off to cripple seems to have a really valuable niche in this meta. Try him out, the little guy's pretty solid
I use Sableye in a monodark team and work pretty well.. you have to be aware of the fairies and dark turning around (srry google translate)

Also i see many people forget Prankters offensive moves (willowisp, twave) dont work against Dark- Types
 
Sableye is being overlooked and I don't know why. In a meta with so many frightening physical attackers such as Excadrill, Barraskewda, soon to be Libero Cinderace, Darmanitan, and Dracovish (whether or not those last two are to remain in OU is yet to be seen), a mon with priority burns and recovery with the added benefit of Knock Off to cripple seems to have a really valuable niche in this meta. Try him out, the little guy's pretty solid
252 Atk burned Gorilla Tactics Darmanitan-Galar Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye: 138-162 (45.5 - 53.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock +2 252 Atk burned Excadrill Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye: 210-248 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
 

Sir Isaac Mewton

I COULD BE BANNED!
Wow, here I thought we would never experience the awesomeness of 400 turn rest talk games coming down to crits or sleepiness again! Almost there! Gen 1-3 gameplay almost back lads! Let's just ban a few more mons and we're set to re-experience the best generations of pokemon! Them good old days of unwashed long pubic hair and reflect sleep snorlax are almost here, I have newfound trust on you smogon.

smh, yall must be 60 and listenin to the spice girls or somethin. this is so bad lmao
 
Wow, here I thought we would never experience the awesomeness of 400 turn rest talk games coming down to crits or sleepiness again! Almost there! Gen 1-3 gameplay almost back lads! Let's just ban a few more mons and we're set to re-experience the best generations of pokemon! Them good old days of unwashed long pubic hair and reflect sleep snorlax are almost here, I have newfound trust on you smogon.

smh, yall must be 60 and listenin to the spice girls or somethin. this is so bad lmao
If you don't like smogon, then why waste your time to comment? Go play another format instead.

Btw, every format has rules/bans so you can't escape that.

If you ever wanna attempt to stop a ban in a smogon tier, ladder for reqs during a suspect test or don't complain (assuming there's no quick ban of course).
 
Wow, here I thought we would never experience the awesomeness of 400 turn rest talk games coming down to crits or sleepiness again! Almost there! Gen 1-3 gameplay almost back lads! Let's just ban a few more mons and we're set to re-experience the best generations of pokemon! Them good old days of unwashed long pubic hair and reflect sleep snorlax are almost here, I have newfound trust on you smogon.

smh, yall must be 60 and listenin to the spice girls or somethin. this is so bad lmao
I see what you're getting at but stall teams still aren't even that great in this meta. Admittedly they have been picking up, but there's still very strong stuff that makes it difficult to use, like Band Darm-G who has no switch-ins and requires a ton of pivoting around and prediction for stall to even beat, there's Dracovish who forces in your water-immune in every single time, Hydreigon who stall has no counterplay for besides keeping your Clefable pristine throughout the match or Pyukumuku PP stall. And tons of other breakers that make stall cores cry, like Conkeldurr, Dracozolt, choiced Aegislash, the Goon, etc. I hate stall teams as much as the next guy but the meta doesn't feel too heavy on stall to me at all, at least right now.
 
I feel like Cloyster is a very underrated mon that can check and potentially truly counter darm. Even with Flare Blitz vs Cloyster uninvested it is a 3HKO vs scarf darm and a 53% chance to 2HKO after rocks. It has a great 4x resist to it's stab icicle crash and cloyster can easily kill darm with a skill link rock blast or force a switch and boost with shell smash.
Damage calcs for reference (Choice Scarf)
252 Atk Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 83-98 (34.4 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 83-98 (34.4 - 40.6%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Now for banded Darm that is a different story since the attack stat is insanely high and as said above revenge killers can easily take it out as well as prio
Damage Calcs (Choice band)
252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 124-146 (51.4 - 60.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 103-122 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO
 
I feel like Cloyster is a very underrated mon that can check and potentially truly counter darm. Even with Flare Blitz vs Cloyster uninvested it is a 3HKO vs scarf darm and a 53% chance to 2HKO after rocks. It has a great 4x resist to it's stab icicle crash and cloyster can easily kill darm with a skill link rock blast or force a switch and boost with shell smash.
Damage calcs for reference (Choice Scarf)
252 Atk Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 83-98 (34.4 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 83-98 (34.4 - 40.6%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Now for banded Darm that is a different story since the attack stat is insanely high and as said above revenge killers can easily take it out as well as prio
Damage Calcs (Choice band)
252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 124-146 (51.4 - 60.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 103-122 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO
You forgot to take Gorilla Tactics into account, which is forgivable because the ability isn't currently working in the calculator. Basically, those Choice Band calcs you made are the damage that Choice Scarf Darmanitan is going to be dealing, whereas Band will be doing this:

+1 252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 185-218 (76.7 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 
You forgot to take Gorilla Tactics into account, which is forgivable because the ability isn't currently working in the calculator. Basically, those Choice Band calcs you made are the damage that Choice Scarf Darmanitan is going to be dealing, whereas Band will be doing this:

+1 252 Atk Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 185-218 (76.7 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Oh my apologies I didn't realize that Gorilla Tactics was not working in the calculator that's quite unfortunate.
 
Wow, here I thought we would never experience the awesomeness of 400 turn rest talk games coming down to crits or sleepiness again! Almost there! Gen 1-3 gameplay almost back lads! Let's just ban a few more mons and we're set to re-experience the best generations of pokemon! Them good old days of unwashed long pubic hair and reflect sleep snorlax are almost here, I have newfound trust on you smogon.

smh, yall must be 60 and listenin to the spice girls or somethin. this is so bad lmao
Lmao, here's a novel idea. Maybe instead of keeping blatantly broken shit in the tier just to undermine stall teams, we ban the broken stall mons as well. If Toxapex + Dugtrio + Corviknight cores become absurd after G Darm and Dracovish are banned I'll gladly support your efforts to push them out of the tier too. What you've neglected to acknowledge is that what we have now is just as overcentralized as some of the early tiers, with virtually every team and most gameplay decisions revolving around checks and counters to 3-4 offensive threats. How are games that end with a single round of prediction any better?
 
Uh oh, meme alert.

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond

Froslass feels like a neat suicide lead to use in OU currently. Historically Froslass hasn't been too good since it matched up poorly against Magic Bouncers, its speed tier wasn't anything special, and it was mostly outclassed by Greninja. In SS OU Froslass doesn't face this competition anymore, and its speed is enough to put it ahead of a lot of the metagame. It also deals with Magic Bounce better, being able to 2HKO every possible user of the ability with Shadow Ball. Compared to Mew, who can also set up Stealth Rock, you might not see much reason to use Froslass, but Froslass has a few advantages, namely that it outspeeds opposing Mew. Mew also can't handle Hatterene if it runs Flare Blitz (4 Atk Mew Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hatterene: 90-107 (28.3 - 33.6%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO), so it needs Skill Swap to set up on it effectively, in which case it becomes completely passive Rapid Spin fodder once the Red Card is popped. Meanwhile, Froslass kinda naturally covers Excadrill and Hatterene. Being a Ghost type, it has a very solid matchup against lead Excadrill (the one with Steel Beam). At worst it doubles down with Destiny Bond while preventing hazards, but with prediction and potential Cursed Body procs on your side you can actually get up a Spike or two against it. And, as mentioned before, it 2HKOs Hatterene, meaning the maverick play of U-turning or hard switching into it against Froslass comes with a risk. Destiny Bond is a useful tool as well to keep opponents on their toes and potentially being more than just a sack later on.

The biggest con to Froslass is that it doesn't set Stealth Rock, which is generally more useful. This fact alone makes Froslass very niche compared to Mew or Excadrill. While I don't think suicide leads are very necessary in the current metagame for the most part, if you want to use one, Froslass might be worth a shot.
 
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