My DPP SPL in review (as manager & teambuilder, lol)
Week 1 - vs BIHI
The team we brought goes all in on a bulky but powerful (Adamant) SD Gliscor. ScarfTar + Gliscor is one of the most synergistic pairings in DPP, they cover each other’s weaknesses super well and ensure a team offensively and defensively against mons like Infernape and Lucario for example. ScarfTar traps all of SD Gliscor’s annoyances, namely Gengar, Starmie, Latias, Rotom, etc. Magnezone was chosen to trap Bronzong and compensate for the already-apparent Skarmory weakness. The rest of the team went more on a defensive paraspam-oriented end with wt jira, force palm impish loom to absorb sleep and status as well as spread paras for Gliscor, and SR clef to round it out and help vs Heatran. Honestly, bihi was a rough draw for us week 1 because at the time it was a whole new metagame, he knows me & dbc really well, and he's difficult to prepare for. We ended up choosing something built before SPL and he came really prepared for my defensive style at the time of the dug metagame. Our biggest mistake was Clef lead. His Breloom lead was really smart because it prevented dbc from using Impish loom as the sleep absorb & subpunch check so momentum couldn't be gained in the battle and he played really well, huge props to him.
Week 2 - vs Malekith
Went with an attempt to revamp ipanema after the dug ban by using Scarf HP Ground Magnezone to trap opposing zone and pick off Heatran. Scarf zone > dug improved the matchup against Lucario and Skarmory but also made other matchups a bit harder (like Gengar). I think Skarm + Mag + Jira is still a really cool core and this team ended up getting a pretty decent matchup this week despite the result of the game.
Week 3 - vs Christo
We ended up using a small revamp of my spl team last year vs dbc, but went with Lum DD Gyarados > CB, and modified some of the EV spreads. The combo of offensive Gyarados and SD empo is amazing. This empoleon set is extremely underutilized and may be its strongest set right now because the priority, typing, and stallbreaking potential is insane. Also it feels so punishing to give empo even 1 SD boost, thing just wreaks havoc vs so many teams because sea incense gives its waterfalls the strength it needs to be really difficult to play around if it gets momentum.
Week 4 - vs august
Went for a breaker-style team here kind of built around CBtar. Used Lum > Macho Brace on Bronzong because of Breloom and Gengar (both huge issues for OTRZong + CBTar teams). Went for the Swampert + bulky Breloom offensive core supported by Scarf bulky HW Latias. Timid Lum Swampert was used to further assist with the Breloom matchup because we kind of cheated on fighting resists here. Magnezone feels so important to use with Bronzong because it can be huge deadweight against a lot of the Spikes setters. Team destroys stall more so than offense and needs to be played aggro to get early momentum.
Week 5 - vs Void (Sakito debut)
My take on Roserade balance featuring a lead Iron Ball Metagross combined with CroCune. IB Gross + Suicune is very strong synergy because Suicune really appreciates common iron ball targets being slowed down + grounded (Zapdos + Rotom + Skarm). Suicune can legitimately set up on and 1v1 these mons if they are slowed down, which is pretty insane. In addition, Trick + Iron Ball Metagross can function as a great trick absorber to support Suicune. The rest of the team fills itself out with standard Roserade balance mons (Roserade, Heatran, Gengar, Flygon)
Week 6 - vs Emeral
One of my favorite teams of the whole season. I talked about it in a previous post
here, but it was basically a build around MixGon + SD Endure + Salac Lucario.
Week 7 - vs ToF
I built this hyperoffense right after last SPL and modernized it with a bit of assistance from dbc. Used this a lot in DPP cup last year and had consistent success with it throughout the rest of the year. Azelf lead into the triple DD core (Dnite + Gyara + Tar) finished off by agility metagross to clean offenses and SD empoleon to break stalls apart works so nicely, once again featuring the Wacan DD Gyara (lure + remove Flygon and even Lati/Rotom with no rocks up) and SD empo. I think this team is the most consistent hyperoffense in the current metagame and the results it had this SPL showed — having been used 4 times in its current form and winning each time.
Replays from this SPL:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-544639 - DeepBlueC vs ToF
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-544860 - Emeral vs Void
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-545411 - Tamahome vs BIHI
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-551401 - mael vs Christo
Week 8 - vs mael
This team was entirely dbc’s and I won't reveal last publicly because it's not mine, didn’t have any influence here.
Week 9 - vs snøfall
Modified the CM clef paraspam soulwind used in classic playoffs. It’s probably one of the best ways to make double blob work in this metagame because Zapdos can do well against Swampert + Breloom-style teams which invalidate the old takes on that core. Machamp paraspam was overrated before SPL and now it’s underrated — it really hasn’t changed imo because Machamp punishes offense just as hard as it does defense.
Other SPL games:
Semifinals - Tamahome vs mael
A unique take on hyperoffense that utilizes Camerupt’s defensive and offensive attributes to enable an interesting combination of potent sweepers to function on the same team. Camerupt completely walls most RT rotom, does well vs Scarf Rotom/Zapdos, and it also can serve as offensive counterplay to lava plume heatran (completely fending off SpD tran). Lava plume is such a nuisance to switch into that camel at minimum should always trade 1 for 1 or better (burning/crippling other stuff, revealing team members, etc). Camerupt is especially good at booming on defensive Latias and Clefable. After testing, I found that CM 3 attacks Jirachi is an exceptionally good partner for it. In addition, Camerupt is great with Gyarados, Metagross, and Empoleon (the unrevealed last), stopping electrics and booming/removing/pressuring all of their defensive checks. I also like that Camerupt can use a bulkier spread and give the team defensive traits while still fitting Stealth Rock and Explosion so you don’t lose momentum on your HO. While it looks like Starmie is a nuisance, you force it to either KO you (keep rocks up and set up on it) or you trade with its spin and set up for Empoleon or something else in the back to clean.
Sets:
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
- Surf/EQ/Whirlpool
- Encore
-
Counter
- Recover
Quagsire is damn hard to build around but this set is really strong imo. The idea is that unlike almost no other defensive Pokemon, the combination of Encore, Water Absorb, and Counter enables it to check pretty much every DD sweeper in the tier. It pairs really nicely with Scarf Tyranitar because of this. Quagsire can still invalidate a lot of teams and it’s very underrated for its utility/niche that nothing else comes close to. Whirlpool is a cheesy option that's good with trappers. Try building around him (but don’t try cheating on Toxic Spikes cause that’s gonna make it suck).
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
- Stealth Rock
-
Toxic
- Protect
- U-turn
I absolutely love this set. It does an awesome job at crippling Ground-types and other targets with Toxic to set up for stuff like Bulky DDnite. Maintains the momentum + defensive-based approach of SR+Tect but is also better at keeping up against Starmie because of Toxic. Dropping iron head looks awful but a lot of teams can really appreciate this set over any other.
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
- Thunder Wave
-
Earthquake
-
Ice Beam
- Recover
This is the set we used on the MixGon + SD Endure Lucario team. Talked about it a little bit on that post.
Clefable @ Leftovers/Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
-
Knock Off
- Thunderbolt/Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Soft-Boiled
Made this set during last SPL but I’m finding it to be really good right now. Oftentimes in the Heatran metagame Clefable really wants to run boltbeam but not being able to pressure Heatran well over a long game can really suck. Knock Off gives Clef the best of both worlds. Grass Knot Clefable is strong to lure pert if you have Magnezone. Also as a side note, LO CM Clef is still really good in this meta too imo.
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Thunder Wave/
Toxic
Using status filler on ScarfTar is really neat imo. Toxic can be used very effectively against Swampert, Hippowdon, and even Milotic, which can set up nicely for something like Mixed Flygon.
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Impish Nature
-
Sunny Day
- Protect
- Leech Seed/Seed Bomb/anything
- Sky Uppercut
Sunny Day Breloom is the future of weather clearing, imo. It forces all the sand setters out and does a great job at maintaining no sand. You can also afford to drop leech seed because Sunny Day gives Breloom even more recovery (if you keep Leech Seed though the combination of no weather + Leech Seed on Breloom can be unbelievably difficult to deal with). I really like this set paired with CroCune. It provides counterplay to RestTalk Rotom, sleep absorbs opposing Breloom’s spore, and it clears sand for it. Honestly it doesn’t get more synergistic than that.
Gengar @
Custap Berry
Ability: Levitate
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Hypnosis
- Explosion
Cool set on a much more offensive build. You EV this to eat a Starmie hydro pump after SR + sand and it can do an effective job to spinblock and trade down. Custap has situational use outside of that but it comes up enough to the point where I really enjoyed the utility.
Ludicolo @
Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
IVs: 0 Atk
-
Leech Seed
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
Ludicolo outside of a rain team. Its typing is super unique and lets it do very well against Suicune, Starmie, Swampert, Milotic, and even Metagross and Bronzong (resisting Steel + Ground offensive coverage). Haven’t found an amazing fit for him yet but it has a ton of potential.
Thank you for reading my post! Huge thanks to
DeepBlueC and
Sakito for the really fun DPP season. And thank you
mael,
Tomahawk, and
Kristyl for the high quality overviews and once again doing a lot to facilitate this discussion thread. I enjoyed the reads and they added a lot of positivity to DPP this SPL. I also recommend reading august's post in the post-dug thread, it's really cool stuff.