But they can not have almost any ability. They can only have one ability. The power level is not what is bothering me. It's just that we are kind of screwing with the point of the format.
But they can not have almost any ability. They can only have one ability. The power level is not what is bothering me. It's just that we are kind of screwing with the point of the format.
im not really sure what you mean here, but they wont be "restricted" to one ability - theyll have access to almost any ability like any other mon. special cases like zamac are different since that directly goes against what cart allows. does aaa go against what cart allows? yes, but like any other OM, its decided by one simple rule and zamac having almost any ability is not decided by that one simple rule.But they can not have almost any ability. They can only have one ability. The power level is not what is bothering me. It's just that we are kind of screwing with the point of the format.
I am expecting mixed responses to this post but I believe that one of the most oppressive mons to teambuilding in gen 9 AAA is corviknight. A wide variety of viable sets with varying abilities means that you play a guessing game on whether or not your move will kill it or help it. Any physical attacking pokemon that cant handle corviknight is just not viable. Nearly every team runs a corviknight, and it is put in the highest viability ranking on nearly every viability ranking. Its versatility is incredible, and it can reliably defend from most physical attackers throughout an entire game. Access to defog, u turn, roost, screens, and multiple set up moves results in one of the most stacked movepools in the game. Corviknight is unlikely to be banned or have any tiering action because it is a defensive mon, and is subtle in its misdeeds. However, I still feel like a balance discussion should be on the table.
pao has rather poor odds to beat this team considering you need rocks off on your side vs a team that can get hazards up consistently + dondozo at worst trades vs pao cause wave crash + lo recoil + helmet kills pao + even if you do get past dozo then you need a flinch on a corvid with a suspiciously low amount of def evs that the original team doesn't even have. if it's band and you lock into crunch you risk having chesnaught swap in and burn you for daring to click what's otherwise a solid midground move. if you're winning vs this team with pao you're either super lucky or there's a massive skill difference.What's this unbeatable stall team we're talking about?
https://pokepast.es/a450aeea73d466b2 this one?
Because from my experience a simple SD Chien-Pao can pretty easily blow it open, or even Band if it gets a lucky flinch.
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Chien-Pao Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Corviknight: 351-413 (87.7 - 103.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Chien-Pao Crunch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 281-333 (55.7 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I did suspect run with this, was meh at best unfortunatelydamn, i was just about to build a team around WBB Enamorous-T to terrorize the ladder(and my ranking) with smh my head
Not sure why SoR is being brought up at all? If this is a balancing discussion or even general discussion on the general popularity of Fluffy and it being a somewhat concerning sign I don't think SoR matters much. It is mostly better than Adapt and Tough Claws but honestly the difference is minor enough people still use those abilities just so they can bluff other abilities on tons of mons (Chien-Pao, Roaring Moon, Iron Boulder, Slither-Wing, etc*), with very few mons being that noticeably impacted and Scrappy is kind of different in its own way. I don't see how it'd ever be problematic unless we considered general amps to be problematic which would definitely be a concern... but it isn't, and the other general amps (Adapt, TClaws) have existed for generations and been fine even without Fluffy.Wanted to give some food for thought about fluffy and the metagame as a whole as I saw a discussion about it in the discord earlier today that got me thinking about this topic more. Firstly, I don't think that fluffy is an issue, more of a band-aid over some of the physical threats in the tier that hit pretty hard. Fluffy has clear benefits and drawbacks, with most fluffy users eventually being worn down by physical attackers or just getting smacked w a spatk at some point. If fluffy were to go, then all the mons I mention would most likely have to go as well, which I don't think is a sign to an ability being broken and more the mons it's reacting to. I will go into the three main mons I believe are causing the fluffy warp as well as an ability that helps them further. Going to be talking about fluffy in the context of corv, as this is the most common user of it, although I do recognize that other mons are able to use it with success such as skarm and tusk.
Boulder is a mon that feels mid when I use it and mid when I play against it, but it still impacts the meta in a significant way. Due to its excellent attack/speed stat, decent spdef, coverage, and boosting ability, it finds itself in the position to OHKO or 2HKO most of the meta after an SD unless one builds correctly for it. This usually comes in the form of naturally faster physical threats, scarf, and fluffy. Fluffy in conjunction with one of these allows for a consistent way to stifle boulder and not allow it to mow a team down even after an SD. Although this leads to some pretty restraining ways of dealing with it, as fluffy is one of the main ways one can consistently switch in on this mon. If I am being honest this guy feels like the one that is causing the issue the most, as moon has been in the meta for a long time and by the end of DLC 1 there was some pretty decent variation in corv.
Moon still does apply immense pressure and is another reason for the rise in fluffy, although I think it is more in conjunction with boulder, as one can beat moon with intim, but not always boulder, so fluffy is able to check both more reliably. Knock is able to get rid of the consistent chip of helmet, and then allows for the corv to become pivot fodder for the rest of the game.
I have already given my thoughts about this mon a few times and my opinion has not changed. It is able to bypass fluffy with icicle crash which also throws a wrench into how you want to check this mon and the two above. While fluffy is great for crunch, one should have another measure for IC.
Honorable Mention
With this guy back and doing aerilate set-up, intim doesn't cut it, as d-dance sets are able to muscle through pretty easily. Though this can run coverage moves to help against fluffy as well as run special moves, requiring different measures. Although it is limited by its 8 es pp and psychic surge still being pretty popular.
The ability:
Sword of Ruin **adaptability, scrappy**
SoR is a pretty strong ability. Two of the three mons mentioned above utilize SoR as their main ability, it gives a boost to all moves regardless of type is what sets it apart from adapt, and while not giving as much of a boost, this tradeoff is significant and worth it more often than not. However I do believe that mons such as chien and moon would be able to pivot quite easily to adapt, as sets with these abilities have already shown to be usable/successful, so I don't think SoR is the real culprit, just an enabler for abusers.
Adapt and scrappy are abilities that are also used on strong physical breakers, but they have more significant tradeoffs and are easier to build around/play against when compared to SoR, which is why I wanted to *briefly* mention them to allow for some differentiation.
Honestly been having a fun time w this mon. Still think its best set is CB SoR, but if there were to be another set that rises, it's still gonna be doing insane damage. While I don't think zam is cause for concern, I think it will exacerbate people wanting to run fluffy corv on their teams, as this is a reliable check to zam and the aforementioned physical threats. Yes, there are other ways to beat all the mons I mentioned, but I hope one can see that a common thread among all of these is that fluffy is able to cover them all, and does it in just one slot, and allows for the most consistency in beating these mons (as these mons sometimes have different checks).
So what am I trying to get at in this post? I wanted to highlight some of the main reasons that fluffy is being used so heavily rn. Do I think action needs to be taken on all of them? No. Do I want action on some of them. Yes, specifically chien and maybe boulder. I know we are in the middle of a zam test, and Isaiah did say that there wouldn't be tests/(bans?) for a bit after this one, but I think it pertains to this topic as like I said previously zam would likely add fuel to the fluffy fire. I also understand that as you go higher in a meta there will be more centralization, but I thought it was interesting to highlight how there are quite a few mons that cause this and how some pull you in different directions in the builder (ex. chien vs moon). Or maybe it's just a skill issue and I need to get a bit more creative in the builder...
Would love to hear others thoughts about this, if I missed any mon/ability, didn't explain a point well enough, and/or if you disagree.
I mean the mons that make people use fluffy have to use an ability right? Of the five mons I mentioned three like to use sword of ruin, which I think warrants it at least being brought up. I don't think any action needs to be taken on any ability (almost did the thing), I even say in the post that SoR isn't the issue, just that it enables some mons better than others, and that adapt and scrappy are able to built around (this time I will say fairly easily, and will make it clear here I think they are good for the meta). In that section I wanted to highlight the 3 three abilities that are most common on some of the breakers that make running fluffy more worth it, not to say they should be gone from the tier. Maybe came off a bit too heavy handed in the ability section but just wanted to highlight it as SoR is the most common set for chien/moon, and adapt & scrappy cc spam has been a thing since forever ago.Not sure why SoR is being brought up at all? If this is a balancing discussion or even general discussion on the general popularity of Fluffy and it being a somewhat concerning sign I don't think SoR matters much. It is mostly better than Adapt and Tough Claws but honestly the difference is minor enough people still use those abilities just so they can bluff other abilities on tons of mons (Chien-Pao, Roaring Moon, Iron Boulder, Slither-Wing, etc*), with very few mons being that noticeably impacted and Scrappy is kind of different in its own way. I don't see how it'd ever be problematic unless we considered general amps to be problematic which would definitely be a concern... but it isn't, and the other general amps (Adapt, TClaws) have existed for generations and been fine even without Fluffy.