My semi-annual DPP post has arrived! This will be a mix of VR opinions, meta thoughts, and tour retrospective.
I came second in DPP cup, my highest tour placement yet! I had gotten off to a really bad start, going 0-2, but managed to pull it back and go 1-2 to qualify for the top cut portion of the tour. Even though I benefitted from the "1 win and in" structure, I wholeheartedly support the lengthened Swiss portion for oldgens tours going forward, since act wins being enough to get in was quite silly. It was a little disappointing to lose in the finals, but I'm still happy that I got that far and hope to match or exceed this performance in the next DPP tour. Plus, if there was anyone to lose to in DPP, I'm happy it was
DaAwesomeDude1. The teams I used are slight alterations of ones given to me by my DPP savior
Bless, the best builder in the tier, and the hero
sir jelloton (in addition to the ones I built with/stole from dad1). Some of them are in the samples and some in
his post above, and as always, the dad1 Registeel reigns supreme.
Teams
Here are some of the teams I relied on, plus a dogshit one I built for finals. Click on the sprites to access the pastes.
Kang Mence Lead + Lanturn (Credit: Bless/Sunrose)
It took me a while to warm up to Kang, but it's now my favorite lead in the metagame (more on that later). Lanturn is a really interesting option that matches up well into the omnipresent Zapdos - Gyara compositions. Salamence could probably be swapped for something as I don't believe a sub+three attacks set makes for an ideal lead (Latias runs this set often, and I don't think it's great on that either).
Regi Latias Lead + DD Gyara (Credit: dad1)
If you want to learn the tier or have something solid into every "meta" composition, this is the team for you (and probably one of the best teams overall). Registeel offers so much utility and so much bulk in one slot that Taunt becomes a mandatory bring on opposing leads, freeing Latias to set up a sub or do damage. The free turns from Thunder Wave and the chip from Stealth Rock allow Gyara and Scizor to set up more comfortably, and either can run away with the game once Tyranitar removes Zapdos and other checks.
Suicune Kang Lead + Zong Rhyperior TR (Credit: dad1)
Dad1 already posted this team earlier in the thread but I'm putting it here again because I think it's more relevant to the meta now that it was before. Kang leads are incredibly solid, and Suicune enjoys the reduction in Zapdos leads while eating up rain teams. Rhyperior has almost always been a fraud in my eyes, but it served me well in the Semifinals.
Kang Gengar Lead + Cress TR (Credit: Bless/Sunrose)
Sunrose had passed me a slightly more unhinged version of this team with a Fire-Water-Grass TR core, but I felt that particular unhinged mon was underperforming, so I swapped it for Band Scizor. I changed the Gengar set from bulky to max/max for a better overall lead matchup. The Cress set can be tinkered with, since no attacks Cress is dangerous if you run into taunt.
Zong Mew Lead + Full TR (Credit: Me) (lol) (wtf is this)
I didn't have nearly as much time as I wanted to build for DPP cup finals, but I knew that full, aggressive TR had potential - specifically Guts Hariyama and Camerupt. Dad1 and I had agreed not to bring Registeel to finals, so in hindsight, bringing a team built to beat steels wasn't the best idea. The fire-water-grass core is a solid enough idea given that there's enough coverage to deal with dragons. Celebi in particular is interesting - 100 speed is generally awkward for TR, but here it seems to work fine by underspeeding the fast Tier 1s/2s in Trick Room and outspeeding the uninvested/slow mons outside of it. Hariyama is obscenely powerful, but unfortunately has a really tough time staying on the field for more than a couple of turns. I had used Specs Swampert in the past and wanted to switch things up, so I went for a Curse physical set. This team needs more work to make it properly good, and I'd appreciate feedback/tips on how to improve it.
VR Thoughts
I had initially wanted to make VR noms before the voting slate but then I actually got to vote! I don't know the results yet, but here are some of my thoughts:
1 -> 2
Not immediately threatening enough to warrant T1 anymore; its utility options are solid but there's always an opportunity cost with running any set. You give up the power of specs if you're running screens/sub and vice versa, so it's exploitable to some degree by any solid team.
1 -> 2
Teams are overprepared for Swampert these days - HP Grass is widespread, and several mons can take advantage of its passivity to set up (mainly Gyara, which Pert can't touch).
2 ->3
Another victim of Gyara which is also weak to several common leads like Low Kick Kangaskhan (and Infernape lmao).
2 -> 2
I think dad1 has rightly pointed out that DD gyara is incredibly good right now, and as mentioned above it screws over a lot of the T1-3 mons. However, I'm hesitant to raise it to Tier 1 as it requires a lot of careful positioning to ensure it doesn't immediately die to the tier's powerful electrics, Zapdos and Raikou.
3 -> 4
I don't think redirection is as valuable in this tier as in others. It can definitely be incredibly clutch when pulling a twave away from a setup sweeper, but on the whole, Screens is enough damage mitigation and allows you to have two threatening mons on the field instead of one.
3 -> 2
Beats so many leads, dishes out multiple Twaves per game (or even Toxic if you want to stack DOT with sand), and reliably gets rocks up. It mandates Taunt on all teams and is ridiculously difficult to kill. It's a little passive however, which holds it back from T1.
4 -> 2
I was a skeptic, but I have now seen the light. In this damage trade meta, Kangaskhan's bulk, utility, and power all combine to boost it to the top of the lead rankings. There's no mon that compresses its damage output, ability to take hits, and Fake Out pressure so effectively. I would echo dad1's post above.
An Aside: Thunder Wave
Thunder Wave has been my favorite move to click since the start of this tier, although I no longer do it as blindly as I used to. I wanted to talk about why it's been so good, and why it might not be as present in the meta going forward.
One of the big differences between ADV and DPP DOU, aside from all the major mechanic differences, is the opportunity cost of Lum Berry, which is ubiquitous in ADV. This meta is highly centered around damage trades - wearing down opponents and putting them in a position to lose to your setup. In this context, using Lum Berry means you're giving up the value of health items like Leftovers and Sitrus Berry which can sustain your utility mons while they set up Rocks/Screens/Whatever or give your setup sweepers the ability to survive an additional hit (and therefore deal an additional hit). It also takes away the ability to use a Choice Item, meaning you'd have to spend additional turns to break walls. In the absence of Lum Berry and with very few para-immune mons, Thunder Wave allows you to tilt the balance in your favor - speed, damage output (through full paras), and free turns to set up (also through full paras).
However, since it brings speed down to one-fourth, it means there's additional risk when running Trick Room - and as you can see from the teams above, I really enjoy semiroom structures. You don't want your Trick Room sweeper to contend with a Metagross or Gyarados that suddenly underspeeds you. In addition, the damage trade argument goes both ways - every turn you're spending clicking twave is a turn you're not spending dealing damage. On the whole, the value you get from TWave is predicated on your team structure and how bold you are with setup predictions. My philosophy will remain "fuck it we ball" and manifesting full paras, but not nearly to the extent that it was before.
I've really enjoyed this tier
since it's the only one in which I have consistent tour results and am incredibly excited to see how the meta develops during Derby. Thanks again to Sunrose and Jello for supporting my run in DPP cup!
Flygon has started to impress me more as of late, as the mixed attacking set is pretty scary for middling speed tier Pokemon to answer. It walls any Zapdos lacking HP Ice which is a really rare trait in the current metagame. I think it's good with Latias as opposed to a Latias substitute, as it can click EQ and Fire Blast which lets Latias click Draco Meteor a lot easier.
cute n_n - Operates in a similar capacity to Celebi but has the added ability of being able to threaten spdef drops on top of it, at the risk of missing shit ass seed flare. With the dominance of a lot of the tier 1s and 2s even the steel types aren't safe to switch into shaymin due to the threat of a drop and earth power koing after.
Rotom-Heat 5 -> 4
Breloom 5 -> UR
Magmortar 5 -> UR
Mamoswine 5 -> UR
Mismagius 5 -> UR
Rotom-Mow 5 -> UR
Slowking 5 -> UR
Snorlax 5 -> UR
Staraptor 5 -> UR
