So for the record if we banned it this second it wouldn't help you in round 2 I'm afraid.
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BH Balanced Hackmons
- Thread starter XxLazzerpenguinxX
- Start date
i feel like shit unleashing the sword dog
i didnt think sword dog would be freed during bh open and i feel terrible knowing ive ruined it for some people
also on the topic of banning zacian-c and double iron bash im pretty sure that
1: we should wait until bh open is done
2: we shouldnt go harassing the council for waiting on a decision; they more than likely have other things to do outside of bh
i didnt think sword dog would be freed during bh open and i feel terrible knowing ive ruined it for some people
also on the topic of banning zacian-c and double iron bash im pretty sure that
1: we should wait until bh open is done
2: we shouldnt go harassing the council for waiting on a decision; they more than likely have other things to do outside of bh
Don't feel bad for giving us the info needed to make our battle sim more accurate. This discovery affected PH but this only helps since we want the meta to function as close to the Sword and Shield games as it could and freeing unrestricted Zac-C in BH wasn't necessarily your decision despite your confirmation of its eligiblity.
As for the Zac-C and Double Iron Bash discussion the BH council has been reading through these posts and continously thinking about the best course of action everyone on the council can agree with. It won't be too long before they make a decision and they have most of the week to continue making a formal decision before it impacts BH Open even further.
As for my own opinion on both, here is a summary. I haven't played BH since the Neutralizing Gas ban but I feel I know enough to say something regarding the state of this meta.
[02:20:24] #Ransei: Zac-C is like
[02:20:27] #Ransei: pdon but a dog
[02:20:55] #Ransei: but like pdon's first day
[02:21:13] #Ransei: there is something, a move as a whole that makes Zac-C more ridiculous than any other set it could carry
[02:21:40] #Ransei: once that is gone the entire community should be able to judge it based on what else it does
[02:21:47] #Ransei: but if they already fully have
[02:21:51] #Ransei: then quickban both asap
[02:23:47] #Ransei: so like
[02:23:56] #Ransei: in theory if dib was quickbanned a while ago like it should've
[02:24:03] #Ransei: this would be the perfect time to judge Zac-C
[02:20:27] #Ransei: pdon but a dog
[02:20:55] #Ransei: but like pdon's first day
[02:21:13] #Ransei: there is something, a move as a whole that makes Zac-C more ridiculous than any other set it could carry
[02:21:40] #Ransei: once that is gone the entire community should be able to judge it based on what else it does
[02:21:47] #Ransei: but if they already fully have
[02:21:51] #Ransei: then quickban both asap
[02:23:47] #Ransei: so like
[02:23:56] #Ransei: in theory if dib was quickbanned a while ago like it should've
[02:24:03] #Ransei: this would be the perfect time to judge Zac-C
Storm Eagle
Banned deucer.
I can't believe I haven't actually posted about Octolock. This is one of the things I've had the fortune to not face very much during the Suspect Test, so admittedly it was an afterthought. The few times I came across it, not once did I feel like I was outplayed when I lost a mon, sometimes not even then. Taking a hit at -1 defenses at best is going to deal huge damage to stuff that isn't fc/scales or otherwise a bulky resist given they have pivoting moves. If by some chance your mon doesn't a pivot move, you're shit out of luck and end up losing your mon unless you get a lucky Dynamax.
One thing immediately strikes me foul here.
Now I won't lie. I think fish beak are both potentially overpowered too. Possibly moreso than this. Double Iron Bash is also problematic with a high BP and flinch rate. Octolock is bad because its a trapping move that allows you to break walls, and is disliked because it stems from a frankly uncompetitive strategy. I've already put it formally. I'll just say it upfront: Octolock should honestly be banned because it feels like shit to play against while being cheese on the user's end.
One thing immediately strikes me foul here.
Dragapult is still a terribad Pokemon in this meta. If a shitty mon like this can go from bad to good solely due to Octolock, there is a problem. Worse, this set doesn't feel like it has adequate counterplay. Normalize Dragapult is a bad set that rarely works because it's very predictable. A good way to beat it is to straight up PP stall it with a wall because it's very weak. Except this set focuses on limiting counterplay as much as possible. Trapping the opponent and lowering their Defenses every turn is one way to get around Dragapult's weakness with ease, all while offering little drawback.
Now I won't lie. I think fish beak are both potentially overpowered too. Possibly moreso than this. Double Iron Bash is also problematic with a high BP and flinch rate. Octolock is bad because its a trapping move that allows you to break walls, and is disliked because it stems from a frankly uncompetitive strategy. I've already put it formally. I'll just say it upfront: Octolock should honestly be banned because it feels like shit to play against while being cheese on the user's end.
As for Dynamax, I don't think it should be suspected, at least not right now. I don't think Shed was the factor between it being balanced or not, and if that was the case it would have gotten banned weeks ago. 90% of the time I see Dynamax used to live a hit which would normally be an obvious KO. I rarely see it used offensively except when stall breaking, and that almost never succeeds in my battles. The secondary effects of Max Moves have little actual effect on battles, unless users are looking to boost their defense with Max Steelspike in which case would be another example of it being defensively used.
Max Airstream and especially Max Ooze are a lot less common than people give them credit for. There's no good Flying-type moves in Gen 8 and Poison-type moves are ass in this meta with the only Poison-type move I see used being Poison Fang. Doesn't help when 60-70% of the meta resist those types. Eternatus can't Dynamax and all Flying-types are inherently defensive, so STAB isn't even an excuse. No one is going to run inferior coverage just so they're better during Dynamax. Max Knuckle, Chessking might have a point here, but I still don't think it's horribly common either.
And I strongly disagree most of all with the notion that Dynamax restricts teambuilding. Not once during Gen 8 have I felt like Dynamax was something I'd have to consider when building my team. I can't say the same for Shed. With Shed, it was either you have at least 3 ways to check it or you usually lose to it. The way I see things, if your improof was beaten by Dynamax, it probably wasn't a very good improof to begin with. By default I try to build my team around immunities like Primordial Sea, strong walls (usually fc/scales), or self-improof mons. What you say sounds more like an "Imposter problem" rather than a "Dynamax problem".
I agree with the 50/50s issue Chessking brought up. I don't like that aspect of Dynamax either. It could be a troublesome issue which would shift my position on the state of Dynamax. I didn't think too much about choice breaking being an issue since occasionally it would be burdensome to lose the choice buff. I know scarf DGZ has this problem. All in all I'd probably wait and play more games to get a firmer stance on the matter.
Being impartial here, I think if anything this needs more time before anyone forms a concrete opinion on whether Dynamax is overpowered or not. There are way more problematic issues to tackle currently. And sadly the community has proven repeatedly that going after controversial and unpopular things like Dynamax currently is often results in unpredictable and usually counterproductive votes. Hence why the Council was afraid of banning Shed. Specifically highlighting Rumor's post:
With that being said, I mainly wanted for us to get a few Suspects/quickbans done then come back to this later. I clearly don't see this as a high priority issue given it hasn't had much support for either side... yet. One thing to keep in mind is that the meta will evolve, for better or worse for the Dynamax mechanic. If Double Iron Bash is banned, the next best offensive Steel-type move becomes Behemoth Bash/Blade, which can help somewhat. Changes like that add up. Just something to keep in mind.
Max Airstream and especially Max Ooze are a lot less common than people give them credit for. There's no good Flying-type moves in Gen 8 and Poison-type moves are ass in this meta with the only Poison-type move I see used being Poison Fang. Doesn't help when 60-70% of the meta resist those types. Eternatus can't Dynamax and all Flying-types are inherently defensive, so STAB isn't even an excuse. No one is going to run inferior coverage just so they're better during Dynamax. Max Knuckle, Chessking might have a point here, but I still don't think it's horribly common either.
And I strongly disagree most of all with the notion that Dynamax restricts teambuilding. Not once during Gen 8 have I felt like Dynamax was something I'd have to consider when building my team. I can't say the same for Shed. With Shed, it was either you have at least 3 ways to check it or you usually lose to it. The way I see things, if your improof was beaten by Dynamax, it probably wasn't a very good improof to begin with. By default I try to build my team around immunities like Primordial Sea, strong walls (usually fc/scales), or self-improof mons. What you say sounds more like an "Imposter problem" rather than a "Dynamax problem".
I agree with the 50/50s issue Chessking brought up. I don't like that aspect of Dynamax either. It could be a troublesome issue which would shift my position on the state of Dynamax. I didn't think too much about choice breaking being an issue since occasionally it would be burdensome to lose the choice buff. I know scarf DGZ has this problem. All in all I'd probably wait and play more games to get a firmer stance on the matter.
Being impartial here, I think if anything this needs more time before anyone forms a concrete opinion on whether Dynamax is overpowered or not. There are way more problematic issues to tackle currently. And sadly the community has proven repeatedly that going after controversial and unpopular things like Dynamax currently is often results in unpredictable and usually counterproductive votes. Hence why the Council was afraid of banning Shed. Specifically highlighting Rumor's post:
I didn't think this was relevant at first for Shed, but I absolutely think it's relevant here.
With that being said, I mainly wanted for us to get a few Suspects/quickbans done then come back to this later. I clearly don't see this as a high priority issue given it hasn't had much support for either side... yet. One thing to keep in mind is that the meta will evolve, for better or worse for the Dynamax mechanic. If Double Iron Bash is banned, the next best offensive Steel-type move becomes Behemoth Bash/Blade, which can help somewhat. Changes like that add up. Just something to keep in mind.
Funbot28
Banned deucer.
Hello! The BH Council is bringing the highly anticipated announcement on a few potential quickbans brought up numerous times throughout the thread and via other means.
Primarily, while there have been some big changes recently in the meta, one thing that the council unanimously agreed on is that the move Double Iron Bash is uncompetitive. It has high base power, an extremely high flinch rate, and no immunities. Only having 8 PP and being punishable by Rocky Helmet damage are really the only drawbacks, but even these can be played around. That being said, and regardless of potential future action against the newly freed dogs, the council has decided to quickban the move Double Iron Bash.
Secondly, the newly unrestricted Zacian-C has been causing quite a havoc in the current BH metagame to say the least. With phenomenal stats, a great offensive / defensive typing that enables it to threaten out and defensively come in against many threats respectively, and just general splashability as an offensive threat, Zacian-C has been truly causing quite an centralizing presence. While there are checks that can counteract Zacian-C to an extent, such as Golisopod, Steelix, Melmetal, Milotic, and Toxapex, it is apparent that most of the aforementioned checks fail to check the myriad of options that Zacian-C can utilize in order to bypass the minuscule amount of answers it already has. With all this in mind, the council believes that Zacian-C is too overbearing in it's unrestricted form, and thus will be quickbanning Zacian-C as well. Note that this still enables players to run Zacian-C via it's vanilla form equipped with a Rusted Sword (akin to regular Groudon holding a Red Orb in SM BH), however we feel that this will open up the amount of options teams have in dealing the it and thus will still enable it's restricted form to see competitive play.
This is all the news we have to give for now. Expect other updates regarding other possible suspects that posters outlined in this thread to be voted on as well. For the meantime, keep up the great activity!
Kris or The Immortal thanks in advance!
Primarily, while there have been some big changes recently in the meta, one thing that the council unanimously agreed on is that the move Double Iron Bash is uncompetitive. It has high base power, an extremely high flinch rate, and no immunities. Only having 8 PP and being punishable by Rocky Helmet damage are really the only drawbacks, but even these can be played around. That being said, and regardless of potential future action against the newly freed dogs, the council has decided to quickban the move Double Iron Bash.
Secondly, the newly unrestricted Zacian-C has been causing quite a havoc in the current BH metagame to say the least. With phenomenal stats, a great offensive / defensive typing that enables it to threaten out and defensively come in against many threats respectively, and just general splashability as an offensive threat, Zacian-C has been truly causing quite an centralizing presence. While there are checks that can counteract Zacian-C to an extent, such as Golisopod, Steelix, Melmetal, Milotic, and Toxapex, it is apparent that most of the aforementioned checks fail to check the myriad of options that Zacian-C can utilize in order to bypass the minuscule amount of answers it already has. With all this in mind, the council believes that Zacian-C is too overbearing in it's unrestricted form, and thus will be quickbanning Zacian-C as well. Note that this still enables players to run Zacian-C via it's vanilla form equipped with a Rusted Sword (akin to regular Groudon holding a Red Orb in SM BH), however we feel that this will open up the amount of options teams have in dealing the it and thus will still enable it's restricted form to see competitive play.
This is all the news we have to give for now. Expect other updates regarding other possible suspects that posters outlined in this thread to be voted on as well. For the meantime, keep up the great activity!
Kris or The Immortal thanks in advance!
Champion Leon
Banned deucer.
You also freed Darmanitan-Zen Mode, and Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Mode and for that I am very grateful.
I view you as a helpful person who is fair, objective, and kind.
You don’t need to worry. If anything Darmanitan-Zen Mode can walk each of their STABS without fear of Photon Geyser or V-Create.
Toxapex can wall Fishous Rend forms, and both better watch out for Scarf or Band Darmanitan-Galar Zen Mode (Zacian, and Zamazenta, respectively), and that can negate these two freed mons.
I believe you are an actual pivotal researcher, because the metagame wouldn’t be the same without you.
Don’t feel bad, feel good, you alone have helped shape 4 top tier Pokemon, and they largely are a result of Gamefreak, not your own fault. They chose to give them those stats, all you did was acknowledge they lack an item requirement.
I believe you might be able to help us define and determine new mechanics research in the future.
Pat yourself on the back, this could help future form change precedents in the future, and we can ban the dogs if they are that good, while maintaining your thoughtful and well established research for further expansion, such as the upcoming expansion packs, and later realized glitches / rules.
Edit: My phone didn’t load the Funbot post above. Well my post is just as warm and full of fun!
Edit, The Second 1: Storm Eagle Hey it’s been a while! Hope all is well.
Anyways, I agree on Dragapult it has many flaws, such as Magic Bounce, Comatose + U-Turn/Volt Switch, Normal-types/Fairy-types immune you the Multi-Attack STAB, and Ghost types can just switch. Plus Toxic, Burn, Leech Seed, etc. and no form of heal, and -Ate Speed is a big pain since it is weak to Pixelate and Refridgerate like Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Mode.
Dragapult needs a Recovery of some form.
But after reading your post, doesn’t Gyarados count as an Offensive Flying type? The Speed boost even helps it use Fishous Rend (and Bolt Beak). Do you think your post could add Gary the Gyarados in it?
And...
As for Poison, I could see Belch Unburden work in Gengar?
It can Gigantamax to trap via Max Ghost, then boost SpA via spamming Max Poison, and is Imposterproof thanks to Unburden. You could use Stuff Cheeks to trigger Petaya Berry, and gain a +2 Def boost to take priority moves with. Bear in mind by the time you finish you could be at +3 SpA or even +4 if you skip trapping. Blue Flare or Secret Sword could round it out for coverage.
It can Gigantamax to trap via Max Ghost, then boost SpA via spamming Max Poison, and is Imposterproof thanks to Unburden. You could use Stuff Cheeks to trigger Petaya Berry, and gain a +2 Def boost to take priority moves with. Bear in mind by the time you finish you could be at +3 SpA or even +4 if you skip trapping. Blue Flare or Secret Sword could round it out for coverage.
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Storm Eagle
Banned deucer.
The problem is Gengar are frankly shit. Gengar is worse than Lunala as a Ghost-type and worse than Eternatus as a Poison-type. It's bulk is absolutely horrid and leaves no room for gimmicks. It's weaker than Lunala and Eternatus. Gyarados also doesn't run Flying-type STAB. I did say there's no good Flying-type moves. Dragon Ascent was the best physical Flying-type move and Oblivion Wing was the best special Flying-type move.
The only meta Poison-types are Eternatus and Toxapex. Gengar (nor Toxtricity should anyone mention that) isn't used. The only meta Flying-types are Mandibuzz and to an extent Corviknight. While Gyarados does have Flying-type, it's mainly used as a Water-type setup mon, as Flying-type moves don't really hit anything useful.
To answer your question about specifically Belch Gengar. No, it doesn't work, because Gengar can't actually survive a hit from anything and Dynamax doesn't fare any better against it.
252 Atk Melmetal Anchor Shot vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Gengar: 153-180 (47.2 - 55.5%) -- 74.6% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Zekrom Bolt Beak (85 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Gengar: 168-198 (51.8 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Zamazenta-Crowned Behemoth Bash (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Gengar: 177-208 (54.6 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Reshiram Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Gengar: 223-264 (68.8 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Gengar is 2HKOed by basically anything. OHKOed by a lot more. I'm usually a fan of gimmicks. But I don't see this working.
Champion Leon
Banned deucer.
So these are the Calcs after the +2 Defense?
My immediate thought is: Stuff Cheeks, which triggers +2 Defense, +1 Special Attack from Petaya Berry, and x2 Speed from Unburden. Then next turn use Gigantamax to Trap, or boost SpA, etc.
Here:
252 Atk Melmetal Anchor Shot vs. +2 252 HP / 252 Def Gengar: 76-91 (23.4 - 28%) -- 89.5% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Teravolt Zekrom Bolt Beak (85 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 252 Def Gengar: 93-109 (28.7 - 33.6%) -- 0.3% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Zamazenta-Crowned Behemoth Bash (100 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 252 Def Gengar: 88-105 (27.1 - 32.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
The Behemoth Bash does the same after G-Maxing since it doubles in power, while Gengar doubles in HP.
This is assuming I get hit on the turn I use Stuff Cheeks.
Now, if they send in the Pokemon on the turn I use Stuff Cheeks, I can Gigantamax for some extra survival to cut that damage in half again, except Vs Behemoth Bash, and even cut the damage in half Vs Reshiram.
The goal is to Gigantamax for the extra trapping and boosting.
But how much is Gengar dealing back? Even without Gigantamax
+1 252+ SpA Gengar Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Melmetal: 480-566 (101.2 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Gengar Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned: 282-334 (72.6 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(Modest is for max damage with Unburden for Speed)
+1 252+ SpA Gengar Belch vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zekrom: 255-301 (63.1 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Gengar Belch vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Reshiram: 225-265 (55.6 - 65.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If I Gigantamax:
Once the Sun is set, next turn I actually will KO Zamazenta if it stays in.
Even if Melmetal uses Haze, the sun will set and be the equivalent 50% boost for a solid 1HKO.
Against Reshiram, and Zekrom I would get up to three turns of +1 SpA off of Max-Poison and continue to sweep, now at +4 SpA, or x3 (including Petaya Berry).
Gengar is not frail, it has double defense and double HP, and gets stronger under the sun, and/or accumulates additional +1 SpA boosts. It has double Speed to KO Imposter without fear as well.
Belch is 180 base power after STAB and keeps SpA sponges like RegenVest Primarina from switching in.
——————
For Gyarados, Brave Bird is still available for Magic Guard Life Orb sets, letting it pack Shift Gear/Bolt Beak, Fishous Rend, Brave Bird, High Jump Kick, removing Stealth Rocks, and other passive damage, and keeping Pokemon like Volt Absorb Golisipod in check.
HJK is a 2HKO even on Prankster Haze Melmetal (which cuts Fishous Rend in half by going first), and doesn’t fear Flash Fire like V-Create does (which also gets cut in half by Rain from Fishous Rend).
252+ Atk Life Orb Gyarados High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Melmetal: 242-286 (51 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Magic Guard also prevents Life Orb damage during Dynamax, so you can bluff Choice Band since the foe doesn’t see recoil.
Lastly Max-Fighting accumulates +1 Attack boosts so it can switch off with Max-Flying for Speed and Attack power, not using a moveslot for Shift Gear is, now optional.
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I've tried running Zacian-C in it's vanilla form equipped with a Rusted Sword and it always tells me that Zacian-C is banned. Am I misinterpreting the post or doing something wrong or was Zacian-C banned full stop by accident therefore disallowing the form to be used while using vanilla and rusted sword to transform?Hello! The BH Council is bringing the highly anticipated announcement on a few potential quickbans brought up numerous times throughout the thread and via other means.
Primarily, while there have been some big changes recently in the meta, one thing that the council unanimously agreed on is that the move Double Iron Bash is uncompetitive. It has high base power, an extremely high flinch rate, and no immunities. Only having 8 PP and being punishable by Rocky Helmet damage are really the only drawbacks, but even these can be played around. That being said, and regardless of potential future action against the newly freed dogs, the council has decided to quickban the move Double Iron Bash.
Secondly, the newly unrestricted Zacian-C has been causing quite a havoc in the current BH metagame to say the least. With phenomenal stats, a great offensive / defensive typing that enables it to threaten out and defensively come in against many threats respectively, and just general splashability as an offensive threat, Zacian-C has been truly causing quite an centralizing presence. While there are checks that can counteract Zacian-C to an extent, such as Golisopod, Steelix, Melmetal, Milotic, and Toxapex, it is apparent that most of the aforementioned checks fail to check the myriad of options that Zacian-C can utilize in order to bypass the minuscule amount of answers it already has. With all this in mind, the council believes that Zacian-C is too overbearing in it's unrestricted form, and thus will be quickbanning Zacian-C as well. Note that this still enables players to run Zacian-C via it's vanilla form equipped with a Rusted Sword (akin to regular Groudon holding a Red Orb in SM BH), however we feel that this will open up the amount of options teams have in dealing the it and thus will still enable it's restricted form to see competitive play.
This is all the news we have to give for now. Expect other updates regarding other possible suspects that posters outlined in this thread to be voted on as well. For the meantime, keep up the great activity!
Kris or The Immortal thanks in advance!
Try running Zacian @ Rusted Sword, which will cause it to transform to Zacian-C. It's the same way as running Groudon @ Red Orb last gen.
Not sure what changed, but now it is working. I had it that way earlier, but it wouldn't let me use it. Maybe I needed to click validate? Because that's the only difference this time and it worked. Thanks though.
Also, yes I'm curious about a resources page as well.
DarkBeserker
Banned deucer.
really really really late but hey might as well.
Team name: Heaven's Wrath
Authors: Fwqef And Darkbeserker
Team importable: https://pokepast.es/243e49cb9085ef15
Short description: busted HO team designed to overwhelm checks and win
How to use the team: RMT
matchups: works great against offense teams that don't have sash spam, absolutely shreds balance and occasionally stall
doesn't do so well against certain sets, and absolutely hates Primordial Sea Steels (Can be dealt with),Sash Spam and dragapult
Team name: Heaven's Wrath
Authors: Fwqef And Darkbeserker
Team importable: https://pokepast.es/243e49cb9085ef15
Short description: busted HO team designed to overwhelm checks and win
How to use the team: RMT
matchups: works great against offense teams that don't have sash spam, absolutely shreds balance and occasionally stall
doesn't do so well against certain sets, and absolutely hates Primordial Sea Steels (Can be dealt with),Sash Spam and dragapult
Funbot28
Banned deucer.
Soon, with all the recent changes / bans in place we wanted to wait a bit more until things stabilize a bit but it's mostly finished and should be up in the next couple of days.
Also, are we going to have sets posted on the smogon set site like OU does?
https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/om-analyses.575/
Here you can reserve Pokemon and write analyses on them.
(One-liner whatever no metagame comments other than this meta is a lot more healthy to play although ladder is still degenerate)
(Octolock Dynamax etc still garbage to play against btw, also can we get a Species Clause or something because Spam teams are really something)
DarkBeserker
Banned deucer.
when are samples gonna be posted? or is that just forgotten in time.
Since the samples were submitted, Shedinja and Double Iron Bash have been banned and Zamazenta-C has been reintroduced to the meta. All of these changes have affected the meta as well as the teams that were submitted. However, we are still considering the teams that did not use Shedinja and that still appear viable in the current meta. We will choose samples from these for the time being and likely open up for more submissions once the meta gets a chance to settle.
first of all, thanks for the support guys, especially you Champion Leon, your post really cheered me up :D
i feel a lot better about the doggo thing now
crowned shield doggo is now happy :D
second, i'd like to talk about a certain ability that i feel is underrated, its gorilla tactic's little cousin, hustle!
here's a sample hustle set i love to use:
Darmanitan-Galar-Zen @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Icicle Crash
- Close Combat
- Bolt Beak
now let's talk about it:
hustle as an ability is very risk reward. you either hit your attacks, or you don't. this risk reward factor is insanely powerful on dgz as its already sky high attack is boosted to tremendous levels with hustle + choice band. the special thing about this set is that hustle is easy to bluff with dgz's stabs; since v-create and icicle crash can already miss, if you do miss, it wont be immediately obvious you're using hustle. unlike intrepid sword, hustle isn't immediately revealed upon switchin, and the boost can't be removed by haze/topsy-turvy. the nature of hustle also makes it easier to improof, due to the miss chance on all of the imposter's moves, so even if the imposter isnt choiced locked and able to attack your improof, there's always the chance the imposter will miss their attack and allow you to retaliate. the boost in damage hustle gives is insanely good, here's some calcs to demonstrate:
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Melmetal: 384-452 (81 - 95.3%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 217-256 (61.6 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 380-448 (97.9 - 115.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 205-242 (67.4 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery (volt absorb pex for reference)
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Eternatus in Sun: 471-555 (97.3 - 114.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO (ETERNATUS IS OKHOD IN SUN OH GOD WHY)
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Eternatus: 272-324 (56.1 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (apparently fc etern is a set so i put it here cus etern is a pretty good v-create switchin normally)
the only wall that isnt 2khoed by any of this things moves that i calced is fc regular darm zen with hdb so thats a pretty good way to improof this set as well as other dgzs in general
also heres a replay of hustle dgz in action: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1048213630
i feel a lot better about the doggo thing now
second, i'd like to talk about a certain ability that i feel is underrated, its gorilla tactic's little cousin, hustle!
here's a sample hustle set i love to use:
Darmanitan-Galar-Zen @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Icicle Crash
- Close Combat
- Bolt Beak
now let's talk about it:
hustle as an ability is very risk reward. you either hit your attacks, or you don't. this risk reward factor is insanely powerful on dgz as its already sky high attack is boosted to tremendous levels with hustle + choice band. the special thing about this set is that hustle is easy to bluff with dgz's stabs; since v-create and icicle crash can already miss, if you do miss, it wont be immediately obvious you're using hustle. unlike intrepid sword, hustle isn't immediately revealed upon switchin, and the boost can't be removed by haze/topsy-turvy. the nature of hustle also makes it easier to improof, due to the miss chance on all of the imposter's moves, so even if the imposter isnt choiced locked and able to attack your improof, there's always the chance the imposter will miss their attack and allow you to retaliate. the boost in damage hustle gives is insanely good, here's some calcs to demonstrate:
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Melmetal: 384-452 (81 - 95.3%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 217-256 (61.6 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned: 380-448 (97.9 - 115.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 205-242 (67.4 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery (volt absorb pex for reference)
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Eternatus in Sun: 471-555 (97.3 - 114.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO (ETERNATUS IS OKHOD IN SUN OH GOD WHY)
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Eternatus: 272-324 (56.1 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (apparently fc etern is a set so i put it here cus etern is a pretty good v-create switchin normally)
the only wall that isnt 2khoed by any of this things moves that i calced is fc regular darm zen with hdb so thats a pretty good way to improof this set as well as other dgzs in general
also heres a replay of hustle dgz in action: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1048213630
DarkBeserker
Banned deucer.
DYNAMAX:
An analysis
What Is Dynamax?
Dynamax is a new mechanic introduced into Sword & Shield, it lasts 3 Turns and immediately doubles a mon’s HP and grants it the use of micro Z-moves with special effects when its in its Dynamax State. It also makes the user immune to weight based moves like Low Kick, phasing moves like Dragon Tail or Whirlwind, and also removes the effects of items like choice band or scarf (items like leftovers and Life Orb still work though).
What impact does it have on the BH metagame?
So far Dynamax has been a staple of the BH metagame in both Defensive and Offensive situations. It allows the user to live just about any unboosted hit at full health and often 2HKOing opposing mons with max moves. On the defensive spectrum it can completely wall things it wasn’t designed to check, which also makes revenge-killing imposter or sweepers near impossible.
Who makes primary usage of Dynamax?
Imposter - Imposter is almost always one of the best candidates for Dynamax given its already unheard of amount of bulk, which makes it nearly unkillable when Dynamax is active. For example a Dynamax Imposter of DesoLand Darmanitan-GZ can survive a banded V-create and OHKO DGZ back with Max Flare.
Zekrom - given Zekrom’s absurd attack stat and surprisingly good natural bulk, Zekrom is often used for dynamaxing late or early game due to Max Lightning setting terrain and giving a 1.3x boost to all of its electric STAB.
Reshiram - on the special side, Reshiram is one of the best options as offense things go. Mold Breaker sets can OHKO every steel in the metagame outside of Primordial Sea, and 2HKOs most special wall, especially if carrying setup moves with Mold Breaker.
Why is it broken?
In my eyes, Dynamax is broken for a multitude of reasons, one of them being the overall uncompetitiveness in its wake. As if the opponent clicks the right max move to surprise a switch-in. The switch-in either can’t counter it anymore, or just gets outright OHKO’d. Such is the case with Choice Specs Lunala being locked into Moongeist Beam against a normal type. It can dynamax to free the choice lock and nail predicted switch-ins like Tyranitar with a max move. Another case is with Desolate Land Darmanitan-GZ and FC Seismitoad. Seismitoad can wall a predicted V-create but is KO’d by Max Overgrowth if DGZ dynamaxes. Next on the issues with Dynamax, is the effects that they give. It has potential to give instant setup options with Max Knuckle, set up weather or set up terrain to just about any offensive or even defensive option, even allowing pixilate and other move changing abilities to take effect on it. Which on the topic of effects, it can let sweepers sometimes beat out other sweepers with a Max Phantasma or Max Wyrmwind due to stat drops they give. Due to this all of this, I believe that Dynamax in itself is broken and should either be quickbanned or suspected.
Credits:
Written By: DarkBeserker
QC’d By: a loser
An analysis
What Is Dynamax?
Dynamax is a new mechanic introduced into Sword & Shield, it lasts 3 Turns and immediately doubles a mon’s HP and grants it the use of micro Z-moves with special effects when its in its Dynamax State. It also makes the user immune to weight based moves like Low Kick, phasing moves like Dragon Tail or Whirlwind, and also removes the effects of items like choice band or scarf (items like leftovers and Life Orb still work though).
What impact does it have on the BH metagame?
So far Dynamax has been a staple of the BH metagame in both Defensive and Offensive situations. It allows the user to live just about any unboosted hit at full health and often 2HKOing opposing mons with max moves. On the defensive spectrum it can completely wall things it wasn’t designed to check, which also makes revenge-killing imposter or sweepers near impossible.
Who makes primary usage of Dynamax?
Imposter - Imposter is almost always one of the best candidates for Dynamax given its already unheard of amount of bulk, which makes it nearly unkillable when Dynamax is active. For example a Dynamax Imposter of DesoLand Darmanitan-GZ can survive a banded V-create and OHKO DGZ back with Max Flare.
Zekrom - given Zekrom’s absurd attack stat and surprisingly good natural bulk, Zekrom is often used for dynamaxing late or early game due to Max Lightning setting terrain and giving a 1.3x boost to all of its electric STAB.
Reshiram - on the special side, Reshiram is one of the best options as offense things go. Mold Breaker sets can OHKO every steel in the metagame outside of Primordial Sea, and 2HKOs most special wall, especially if carrying setup moves with Mold Breaker.
Why is it broken?
In my eyes, Dynamax is broken for a multitude of reasons, one of them being the overall uncompetitiveness in its wake. As if the opponent clicks the right max move to surprise a switch-in. The switch-in either can’t counter it anymore, or just gets outright OHKO’d. Such is the case with Choice Specs Lunala being locked into Moongeist Beam against a normal type. It can dynamax to free the choice lock and nail predicted switch-ins like Tyranitar with a max move. Another case is with Desolate Land Darmanitan-GZ and FC Seismitoad. Seismitoad can wall a predicted V-create but is KO’d by Max Overgrowth if DGZ dynamaxes. Next on the issues with Dynamax, is the effects that they give. It has potential to give instant setup options with Max Knuckle, set up weather or set up terrain to just about any offensive or even defensive option, even allowing pixilate and other move changing abilities to take effect on it. Which on the topic of effects, it can let sweepers sometimes beat out other sweepers with a Max Phantasma or Max Wyrmwind due to stat drops they give. Due to this all of this, I believe that Dynamax in itself is broken and should either be quickbanned or suspected.
Credits:
Written By: DarkBeserker
QC’d By: a loser
Champion Leon
Banned deucer.
Double the Darm-Z! Yipee!
I am so proud of you! You literally made an epic, humongous comeback from feeling bad, to feeling pretty rad!
I am excited to encourage others to explore Hustle as well. I used to promote it, and it was actually a set used last generation for Hoopa-Unbound because of a never-miss move.
One thing to recognize, however, is that Hustle doesn't impact the accuracy of Dynamax Moves! So, like Z-moves last generation, if you need to hit with Hustle during a pivotal turn, where a miss will cost you? Dynamax your Attack, and deal it right smack in their face!
While Choice Items are diabled during Dynamax, V-Create sets the sun (50% boost), Bolt Beak sets the Electric Terrain (30% boost + anti-sleep!), and Icicle Crash's power gains almost 50% from its Max-Ice equivalent attack (plus 6.25% from hail pushes it to 50%+), while Close Combat literally grants +1 Atk, so it is like you are using a Choice Band thanks to the boosts afforded to it. It's like a pseudo Choice Band, so you never miss! And never miss out on those same key KOs!
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Dynamax can certainly benefit Offensive Pokemon, but I also value the power of Defensive Pokemon that can Dynamax for double their HP. Overall, Dynamax is always acknowledged for the Offensive benefits, but people skip the often ignored Defensive benefits.
Afterall, if you send in a check for something that you thought was Choiced, but it just used Shell Smash, Dynamaxing to double your HP just negated that boost. Plus, Defensive checks often lack the power to force out offensive foes, or ever KO them, but Dynamax can turn a Primarina into a surprisingly powerful Water attacker from Max-Water + Rain.
Also, Dynamax can disable a few items like the aforementioned Choice Items, so not all is lost, as my point earlier on the stat, terrain and weather boosts only occur upon successful activation, so Flash Fire/Primordial Sea, Volt Absorb/Ground-types, Ghost-types, etc. can all switch in and block whichever move they are immune to, ultimately preventing its effect completely (such as Flash Fire Aegislash / Eviolite Doublade blocking Darmanitan-Galar-Zen Mode's V-Create, and Close Combat).
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Also, I would like to suggest we stop trying to focus so much on metagame ban/policy changes, it's hard for us to settle if everything keeps moving. I don't mind the policy changes in good measure, but people just try to bandwagon for another next suspect as if the generation is about to end.
We have to bear in mind that as the expansion pack is released, many of our expectations will immediately impact a new metagame, and we cannot assume that something that is released in just a few months will necessarily warrant us trying to make as many changes now as if they will be something we keep. It's a constantly moving metagame, where even in the summer after the first expansion pack, we immediately await as we get a second expansion pack released in the final quarter of the year, unstabilizing something we are trying to still establish ourselves and our metarelevant data/mechanics in the new generation.
For more context, I encourage people to review this point on tiering, and metagame expectations, because unlike prior generations, we have multiple equivalents of 3rd versions (hundreds of additional new/old *i.e. more* Pokemon, plus all of the re-released/new moves, forms, abilities, items, etc.) that occur, not once, but twice within just 1 year after a game's release. We owe it to ourselves to be realistic, so... how much will some people's want to ban something like an entire mechanic change in Dynamax, make sense, if we would have to consider having to unban it all over again if it isn't that big of a threat after all?
So yes, now is its own metagame, but since we evolve with the new releases, how much of it will matter in 4 months? We are not freezing BH in pre-expansion pack eras, so we may as well think of the long-term, because even if we do not know what the packs will completely include, we can at least focus on more specific demanding needs, than a general mechanic change that lasts 3 turns.
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DarkBeserker
Banned deucer.
but why? we are just trying to make the metagame better and an actually enjoyable OM. it’s obvious that there is a fuck ton of uncompetitive and or broken things in this new gen that haven’t gone over too well. take a look at shed, last gen it wasn’t broken as the community decided against banning it. But when Gen 8 came around, the introduction of heavy duty boots,Removal of pursuit and the overall removal of almost every legendary in the metagame tipped the community over the edge, so they gave opinions and decided to ban it. if we dont end up banning things we are gonna be headed into an broken metagame with a dead community. the community evolves with voice, not stagnation. take a look at things like octolock or dynamax. on paper they don’t look too bad right? but most people have decided that its unhealthy and should be tested, that’s perfectly fine and what should be expected this early in a new generation of BH. But if we decide to just ignore it, people will just start getting more upset with how the metagame is playing and will most likely end up quitting or outright leaving it altogether (Look at Unreleased Zacian). overall it’s alot more effective if we suspect more things (or at least have a vote) on a possible broken topic, then to leave it alone and make people upset.
Champion Leon
Banned deucer.
Yes, I don’t think we should completely stop, like I said “I don't mind the policy changes in good measure, but people just try to bandwagon for another next suspect as if the generation is about to end.”
I.e. Too much so soon.
This can make it feels like a campaign for change so rapidly it can also discourage people from playing if they feel like they are having to constantly adjust teambuilding, establish what is good/metagame worthy, and may simply feel like we didn’t settle between one ban to the next. Afterall, we cannot submit sample teams, and even a loser stated “once the meta gets a chance to settle”, which it never will if we try and make changes just about over a week since something else ended.
While we cannot please everyone, it’s a little rushed, and that doesn’t mean I necessarily disagree with all of the changes that were done. For example, I agree Zacian-Crowned was too powerful without an it’s item/ability lock.
Furthe, I am sure during each Expansion Pack people will actually show more interest, and gain interest in BH, just like a new 3rd version does in the middle of a generation.
If anything, having to spend more time reviewing and changing the metagame can take the fun out of it because it forces people to reconsider if they can use something. Dynamax specifically affects any type of player, and it goes from teambuilding choices to sudden surprises during a pivotal turn, and can benefit both offense and defensive strategies so it seems more balanced in practice.
I feel that this is why Nintendo is doing this, they want to keep things going in spurts so it is a consistent growth, unfortunately that doesn’t really always translate well here because instead of adding more we are emphasizing removing something that isn’t one-sided because both players can use the mechanic with the same limits.
My point is; I feel Dynamax, specifically, is so general because it can save your team’s check from a sweep, or save your sweeper from being revenge killed (such surviving a priority move), that it balances out to not be a strictly overpowered offensive burden.
Things like Zacian-Crowned are banned because it is so clearly one-sided and only benefits users to go all in and pick it as the top dog (pun intended), so much so that a team having more than one was not a detriment, like it is for many other Pokémon.
It, unlike Dynamax, was not something any player could just use at any given moment, and if you decided not to use it during a match it occurred during Teambuilding, while Dynamax is Free to use at any point by both players regardless of their team (except Legendaries), so it is a mechanic and not just a single teambuilding choice.
I understand your point, and I do respect it, but I also feel some people will get detached because they feel it’s this fast rolling ball that never stops and they may end up giving up on trying to stay up to date on changes so frequent, especially newer players who feel like they have to rethink how to use something over and over again.
Also, my point above was on how we are trying to decide on banning more general things like Dynamax, but how I feel specific things like Pokemon individually is okay, because you can simply have a team without that item, ability, Pokemon, etc. while Dynamax can be used at any point, and affect anyone who plays, generally,
Like what I said here:
“We are not freezing BH in pre-expansion pack eras, so we may as well think of the long-term, because even if we do not know what the packs will completely include, we can at least focus on more specific demanding needs, than a general mechanic change that lasts 3 turns.”
so i see my last post about hustle dgz got some good reception, so i decided to talk about another ability i think is underrated; this time its not something that's not probably outclassed by another ability. i want to talk about one of my favorite abilities, magic guard!
here are some sample sets using magic guard that i think are noteworthy:
Darmanitan-Galar-Zen @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Icicle Crash
- High Jump Kick
- Volt Tackle
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Def
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- Photon Geyser
- Spectral Thief
Duraludon-Gmax @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Steel Beam
- Dynamax Cannon
- Earth Power
now lets go into these sets in detail:
dgz: so a popular item on dgz is heavy duty boots due to its 4x weakness to stealth rock, which makes people not immediately jump to the conclusion of dgz having magic guard, which makes them assume that their answer to dgz isnt in much danger due to the lack of a boosting item; but oh how wrong they are. i understand that v-create is the go-to fire move on dgz, but flare blitz is not only still very strong, but also has no downsides thanks to magic guard removing the recoil from life orb, has 100% accuracy unlike v-create's 95%, and a rare (but still useful) 10% burn chance. high jump kick is stronger than close combat, so its able to 2kho ff/primsea melmetal without a damage boosting ability and tank a sunsteel strike/whatever attack melmetal uses in return. volt tackle sounds like a downgrade to bolt beak, but volt tackle helps against things like prankster pex/goli because of its consistent 120 bp at all times, and lack of any recoil thanks to magic guard.
necrozma-dw: this is more of a late-game sweeper set that could be used on really any pokemon, but i chose necrozma-dw because its a bit easier to improof by itself than other mons due to its 4x weakness to spectral thief. 0 def ivs and mild nature lets it okho imposter with shell smash boosted spectral thief thanks to a focus sash. magic guard is useful because the immunity to entry hazards makes it much easier to set up. inspired by this team: https://pokepast.es/5d6d326ddf23a696
duraludon: definitely a meme set, was just looking for a mon to take advantage of magic guard steel beam and dura was really the only good abuser. probably could be viable with webs/glare support tho. dynamax cannon is your dragon stab that nukes non-steel steel resists like pex and zek/resh and hits dynamaxed mons harder, and earth power hits flash fire/primsea steels. still an unset and walled by ice scales crowned zama, but at least it doesnt insta-die to fire moves so a fc set could work ig.
tl;dr, ban discussion is healthy, but lets not try to make it the only thing people talk about in this forum. we dont want another bh open r2.
here are some sample sets using magic guard that i think are noteworthy:
Darmanitan-Galar-Zen @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Icicle Crash
- High Jump Kick
- Volt Tackle
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Def
- Shell Smash
- Moongeist Beam
- Photon Geyser
- Spectral Thief
Duraludon-Gmax @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Steel Beam
- Dynamax Cannon
- Earth Power
now lets go into these sets in detail:
dgz: so a popular item on dgz is heavy duty boots due to its 4x weakness to stealth rock, which makes people not immediately jump to the conclusion of dgz having magic guard, which makes them assume that their answer to dgz isnt in much danger due to the lack of a boosting item; but oh how wrong they are. i understand that v-create is the go-to fire move on dgz, but flare blitz is not only still very strong, but also has no downsides thanks to magic guard removing the recoil from life orb, has 100% accuracy unlike v-create's 95%, and a rare (but still useful) 10% burn chance. high jump kick is stronger than close combat, so its able to 2kho ff/primsea melmetal without a damage boosting ability and tank a sunsteel strike/whatever attack melmetal uses in return. volt tackle sounds like a downgrade to bolt beak, but volt tackle helps against things like prankster pex/goli because of its consistent 120 bp at all times, and lack of any recoil thanks to magic guard.
necrozma-dw: this is more of a late-game sweeper set that could be used on really any pokemon, but i chose necrozma-dw because its a bit easier to improof by itself than other mons due to its 4x weakness to spectral thief. 0 def ivs and mild nature lets it okho imposter with shell smash boosted spectral thief thanks to a focus sash. magic guard is useful because the immunity to entry hazards makes it much easier to set up. inspired by this team: https://pokepast.es/5d6d326ddf23a696
duraludon: definitely a meme set, was just looking for a mon to take advantage of magic guard steel beam and dura was really the only good abuser. probably could be viable with webs/glare support tho. dynamax cannon is your dragon stab that nukes non-steel steel resists like pex and zek/resh and hits dynamaxed mons harder, and earth power hits flash fire/primsea steels. still an unset and walled by ice scales crowned zama, but at least it doesnt insta-die to fire moves so a fc set could work ig.
as much as i think that ban discussion is healthy for the lifespan of a metagame, i think there has to be a limit to how much discussion is about bans. if the forum becomes pages upon pages of ban discussion like when sword doggo was freed, actual discussion on things like meta trends, set discussion, and team building becomes buried in the endless waves of ban posts. we dont want people who just want to talk about the meta become a vocal minority, do we?DarkBerseker said:
tl;dr, ban discussion is healthy, but lets not try to make it the only thing people talk about in this forum. we dont want another bh open r2.
DarkBeserker
Banned deucer.
you thought i was done? nope not yet
DARMANITAN-GALAR-ZEN
Why it's broken: Darmanitan is by far the most broken offensive threat the metagame has seen thus far, being able to OHKO nearly the entire metagame while everything else gets 2-3HKO'd even as a direct counter, given its nearly unresisted STAB and perfect coverage options. thus makes it nearly uncounterable to nearly the point of unrestricted Zacian or Double iron bash. not even to mention it's incredible Stats, which grants it a nearly unrivaled speed tier and offensive capability, not to mention giving it the ability to Dynamax
What can it Run?: it can run pretty much anything you can think about, it normally runs Intrepid sword or Mold Breaker, but it can run other things like desolate land or Refrigerate, it can be extremely broken with just about any offensive ability you give it. as they can all justify running it on a certain team.
effect on the metagame: in the current state of the meta, Darmanitan is just about the best pokemon you can run given it has absolutely no counters given the lack of solid options and Dynamax. as Desolate land blasts through Primordial Sea mons like Ferrothorn and Melmetal, along with Seismitoad with a solar blade. Mold breaker beating nearly all fur coats or flash fires with v-create and icicle crash. and Intrepid sword beating everything in between. along with the aforementioned ability of Dynamax to possibly sun boost its already stupid high attack stat. in my opinion, it's overall more warping to the current metagame then freed Zacian ever was.
what can we do?: for the very least we could restrict it from using Dynamax, aside from that maybe give it either a quick ban or a suspect due to it warping the meta to such an extent, keep in mind it can be dealt with, but not consistently in any manner