BH Balanced Hackmons

cityscapes · Oct 23, 2025

rest + sleep talk is generally very outclassed by recover/sap w/ optional take heart if you really don't like status. it just takes up way too many moveslots, being asleep also just totally sucks and sleep talk will never call the things you want reliably enough to be worth it. there's a very vague idea of forcing imposter to fall asleep if they want to heal, but sleep is mutually exclusive with other statuses you'd want to inflict on imposter.

so "normal" mons will probably not get much use out of this. what about gimmicks? there have been some over the years:
- sleep talk + psycho shift is no longer in the game
- z-sleep talk is no longer in the game (free this in gen7 btw its awesome)

so what we're left with is rest + sleep talk + circle throw + whirlwind/dragon tail on something fast like zamazenta. what this does is it rests, gets 2 opportunities to maybe force the opponent to take hazards, then after that it has to rest again. suffice it to say that if you manage to get into a position where this actually does something, it follows that the opposing team is so incredibly disadvantaged that pretty much anything threatening would get the job done.

i don't even think rest is necessarily that bad if you run it with natural cure or even on its own as e.g. a jungle healing alternative on vdance sweepers, but sleep talk is truly almost never worth it.

of course i'll truly never be happy until council complex bans comatose + sleep talk + phazing and lets us use choiced comatose breakers with sleep talk 4th move. the people have spoken and they want GAMBLING

RaptorTheRadiant · Oct 23, 2025

ANinjaDude said:
Second of all, almost none of these sets are good

Yeah I can definitely see this, even though I don't love the idea of needing to proof your team over one pokemon. My question is with these pokemon what would be good sets? I'd appreciate the help from you or anyone else to give me new sets (or maybe new pokemon suggestions to synergise better)

fiish said:
btw arceus-fairy and dialga-origin don't need their items you can run whatever

I def agree with your comments and appreciate the help. Especially thanks for that last bit, when I was building the Arceus I was playing around with pixilate and forgot to change the item. Dialga Origin I intentionally run orb for knock off proof and to have a safe switch for knock off users. But what item would you suggest?

BjordTPE · Oct 25, 2025

Shuckle @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
- Body Press
- Cotton Guard
- Recover
- Speed Swap

252 - 31
0 - 0
+252 - 31
0 - 0
252 - 31
-0 - 0

I use this shuckle on some teams to stop physical attackers from going haywire but it can't do anything to a ghost type and it gets hard stopped if I cant set up (which take 2 turns, maybe 3 for speed swap) and a mon uses a steel move on me. I come to you all wondering if you know either a good mon that I can switch into or some other way to stop the weaknesses. Also this is a valid way to stop normalize because they want to be fast so they can use entrainment before you attack and people don't know what is up with shuckle.

ANinjaDude · Oct 25, 2025

BjordTPE said:
Shuckle @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
- Body Press
- Cotton Guard
- Recover
- Speed Swap 252 - 31
0 - 0
+252 - 31
0 - 0
252 - 31
-0 - 0 I use this shuckle on some teams to stop physical attackers from going haywire but it can't do anything to a ghost type and it gets hard stopped if I cant set up (which take 2 turns, maybe 3 for speed swap) and a mon uses a steel move on me. I come to you all wondering if you know either a good mon that I can switch into or some other way to stop the weaknesses. Also this is a valid way to stop normalize because they want to be fast so they can use entrainment before you attack and people don't know what is up with shuckle.

Ok, so the reason this isn't working is twofold. One, Body Press is a shit move. Two, Shuckle is not good. I would recommend using a different FC that has actual bulk, and swapping from Body Press+Cotton Guard to a better moveset.

Onyx Onix 7 · Oct 25, 2025

BjordTPE said:
Shuckle @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
- Body Press
- Cotton Guard
- Recover
- Speed Swap 252 - 31
0 - 0
+252 - 31
0 - 0
252 - 31
-0 - 0 I use this shuckle on some teams to stop physical attackers from going haywire but it can't do anything to a ghost type and it gets hard stopped if I cant set up (which take 2 turns, maybe 3 for speed swap) and a mon uses a steel move on me. I come to you all wondering if you know either a good mon that I can switch into or some other way to stop the weaknesses. Also this is a valid way to stop normalize because they want to be fast so they can use entrainment before you attack and people don't know what is up with shuckle.

From my expeirments on the ladder, Shuckle surprisingly was pretty solid because it shut down Strength Sap and Pain Split as recovery options and undersped regen-vest users. The later of which meant the opponents breakers had to take the status move Shuckle was inflicting if they wanted to enter the field . However, I don't think Cotton Press sets are optimal. For one Fur Coat doesn't actually boost Body Press damage and secondly Ghost types blank your main damaging option. Also your set has a pretty severe vunerability to status as an opponent can just Mortal Spin you and pp stall your recovery. Shuckle also isn't a reliable Fur Coat user to begin with as it has weaknesses to Surging Strikes, Gigaton Hammer, and Sunsteel Strike, all of which you will find on physical threats on the ladder. However, once you replace Shuckle with something more reliable as your physical wall, I do recommend you try this set:

Squish (Shuckle) @ Leftovers / Covert Cloak
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Pain Split
- Burning Bulwark
- Leech Seed / Toxic / Mortal Spin
- Salt Cure

This set has a lot of chip damage, recovery denial, and momentum denial. Choiced Breakers, especially, aren't having a good time due to Burning Bulwark and Shuckles' low speed. This set is genuinely so annoying for a lot of builds. Also, Ghost types and status won't save your opponents like with the Body Press. S/O to Halward for making this set by the way. Quite a fun set to use and surprisingly effective.

Also, since I'm on the topic of Shuckle and mons, I'll be submitting this team as a sample: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...types-only-no-imposter.3772142/#post-10729971. Too long have the samples been disrespectful towards the skill of the users, I say we add at least one that is a true test of skill to use. We need to build some character within our playerbase and not foster a playerbase that thinks all bh boils down to is clicking V-Create 6 times on the most generic balance imaginable.

I'll also submitt this team as well to offer a solid HO team to the mix of teams: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ons-gen-9-bh-rank-1-ghost-types-only.3762697/. I don't know why this wasn't added earlier it got rank 1 on ladder (Not easy by the way for something as volatile as H.O. I've seen a total of two other H.O. teams do this across the entire gen) and defeated teams even with mutiple dark types, normal types, and fast ghost types like here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...49854880-v2osmwkd061vuisuuns3wxalw4llt6spw?p2. Also, Cirno H.O. also got accepted despite having a dodgy track record and rarely breaching 1400 on the ladder. Why Cirno was actually accepted despite having objectively worse performance than this beyond me? Had I been around to seriously use this in tours I think it unirionically would've just steamrolled a lot of the teams used there. Very few teams were actually prepared for the offensive onslaught, especially since counters like Ice Scales Ho-Oh and Dark Types are declining in usage. Also, this team obliterates Bomb Squad, and drops many Storm Eagle, Akira, and City teams on the spot. Essentially, only QT teams reliably beat this, but that is a small price to pay for the good match-ups it gets into most other approaches to teambuilding. Also, another bonus replay shattering an Eagle Sun team: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9balancedhackmons-2348366016-c005mt6qdsb0rosc8yjdcs3cw388s18pw.

The Guy Who Has Many Alts · Oct 25, 2025

I would also like to submit a sample team.

NEVER BEFORE SEEN BH TEAM
:eternatus:

https://pokepast.es/571ba5d94451b890

How to play: click NP and sweep gg ez go next.
Effectiveness: Yes
Weaknesses: No

Also here's a challenge code for new megas of anyone's interested.

/challenge gen9balancedhackmons @@@ +barbaracle-mega, +chandelure-mega, +chesnaught-mega, +clefable-mega, +delphox-mega, +dragalge-mega, +dragonite-mega, +drampa-mega, +eelektross-mega, +emboar-mega, +excadrill-mega, +falinks-mega, +feraligatr-mega, +floette-mega, +froslass-mega, +greninja-mega, +hawlucha-mega, +malamar-mega, +meganium-mega, +pyroar-mega, +scolipede-mega, +scrafty-mega, +skarmory-mega, +starmie-mega, +victreebel-mega

Codename C.A.T · Oct 26, 2025

not a sample submission, just a team i like

- cool as fuck mon that clicks boomburst into everything and either kills them instantly or simply dies and does nothing. you can prob remove sap for like vc or smth but i wouldnt, you just wanna click boomburst and espeed anyways. this team really likes leaving like zama at 40 and random bulky guys at 35 ish so ray can clean up pretty well if you sack or pivot with regi. just dont switch this guy in with rocks up he instantly explodes

:garchomp-mega:

- god i fucking love this guy. i was playing a ladder game today switched in and took 30 from a +2 mhera drain punch. like its not a strong move but holy hell man he is so god damn bulky, and at the end of the day its still a really strong chomp. moveset is bog standard sg stuff, not much to write home about, altho you do need to be careful w this guy on etern. could go scales if you wanna troll chans who think theyre safe to reverse sweep you after an sg but this guy prefers switching into random phys hits and just eating them imo

:eternatus:

- wish bulwark lets you heal all your guys while also making sure chans cant very freely wishpass since tcage traps and denergy threatens big chunks. bulwark is a bullshit broken aids cancer move as detailed in this thread already but its good to abuse it while you can. idk i dont have much to say its kinda just a levi etern with a pinch of chili powder

:registeel:

- you dont care about this guy

:arceus-steel:

- bounce steely is awesome. he does like 50 to neutral arcs at +2 and denies sap while being hella bulky himself, as well as obviously selfproofing. i think we should legalize liquid ooze but only for me and not for my opponents

:flutter-mane:

- this team has 3 life orbs lmao

my team has no weaknesses, except for the part where it has no cloak, loses to a half decent chomp, and has like 2 outs on steela. other than that it is completely flawless

tzaur · Nov 5, 2025

Codename C.A.T said:
- god i fucking love this guy. i was playing a ladder game today switched in and took 30 from a +2 mhera drain punch. like its not a strong move but holy hell man he is so god damn bulky, and at the end of the day its still a really strong chomp. moveset is bog standard sg stuff, not much to write home about, altho you do need to be careful w this guy on etern. could go scales if you wanna troll chans who think theyre safe to reverse sweep you after an sg but this guy prefers switching into random phys hits and just eating them imo

Love this team and set, but for this guy, what's the plan against Imposter? If it comes in at +1, does it not win on the spot if Glaive Rush snipes both of your other dragons while Headlong Rush snipes both your steels along with Flutter Mane? Or is the idea to send in Etern and hope for a burn? Asking because I want to take the team for a spin.

Codename C.A.T · Nov 5, 2025

tzaur said:
Love this team and set, but for this guy, what's the plan against Imposter? If it comes in at +1, does it not win on the spot if Glaive Rush snipes both of your other dragons while Headlong Rush snipes both your steels along with Flutter Mane? Or is the idea to send in Etern and hope for a burn? Asking because I want to take the team for a spin.

basically you fraud. for the actual answer you have a decent shot at pivoting around it with etern + flutter, and if youre careful about when it sets up, you can sometimes revenge with ray. honestly its pretty shaky since this team is mostly just for fun but you can def outplay imp here, esp with bulwark

Onyx Onix 7 · Nov 12, 2025

While I have already submitted the mono ghost team in earnest (genuinely one of the most consistent H.O.'s in gen 9 and easily got to rank one with few to no losses and very fun to use) and the mono-rock as a meme submission, there's one more submission I'd like to add: Assault Vest Dialga Offense. Here is the pokepaste if you want to import and use for yourself: https://pokepast.es/3d32c9dd01ef0584. I'm not going to waste my time with a full RMT as this took 10 minutes to build and wasn't anything particularly challenging, enlightening, or surprising. And what I mean by that is offense has been a viable strategy for a long time, even as certain people in the community choose to deny its existence and viability. Who knew that the strategy Cityscapes has been successfully using in tours and consistently topping the ladder with is actually viable, crazy indeed. And, no, it also isn't something crazy or esoteric that only Cityscapes or Akira can use consistently. It took me a whole 10 minutes to make a viable offense team and top the ladder with it, and I haven't even built a team that wasn't for some cruel and unusual laddering challenge in ages.

Team Synopsis:

Basically, a hybrid between a tank and a mixed attacker. Its bulk means it can come in on a lot of Pokémon, especially special attackers and just start clicking buttons. The great thing about this is that in most cases, your opponent's attempts at a switch in straight up will lose to Dialga. Registeel and Celesteela are straight-up KOed by Gigaton Hammer into V-Create, Ting-Lu takes 85% upon switching in and taking a Gigaton into a Clanging Scales, Kyogre doesn't fare much better, and Chansey just gets paralyzed by Nuzzle. Sure, an opponent can try bringing in their Fur Coat / Take Heart Arceus, but they can easily have half their health removed by Clanging Scales.

:Raikou:

Basically just stops Take Heart abusers from running rampant with a strong Thunder-Cage and leftover recovery. It also occasionally functions as a late-game wincon once physical attackers and set-up control on the opponent's end is removed, and Imposter-Proofs Dialga if it gets too weakened by stray hits.

:Arceus-Water:

A temporary physical tank to check physical attackers. It uses no recovery, so an Imposter's best case interaction with it is that it gets paralyzed and loses HP from Steam Eruption. Also sets Sticky Web for the team's physical breakers, so the rest of the team is much harder to offensively check.

:Landorus-Therian:

The team's main Strength Sap blocker and hazard control. Also puts on a lot of offensive pressure and is difficult to interact with defensively, thanks to a high attack stat and Good as Gold / Covert Cloak.

:Garchomp:

Just the standard Tough Claws Shift Gear set. Consistently does massive damage to Fur Coat walls even without setup due to high attack and massive BP on its moves.

:Blaziken-Mega:

Since the team only has Glare / Nuzzle for set-up control, Blaziken serves as a contingency plan with Destiny Bond and Copy-Cat. Other then that, it can put massive offensive pressure with Swords Dance and V-Create. Imposter-Proofed by trading itself with Imposter and by Arceus Water.

How to play the team:

Before you lead, look carefully at an opponent's team. If you expect an Imposter or physical breaker lead, then Arcueus Water is the correct option. If you expect a regen-vest lead bring in Chomp. Lastly, if you expect a special attacker to lead, go into Dialga. With this team, you don't want to switch around and play passively. Be sure every play keeps the opponent on the back foot and low on HP. Once you've weakened and sap-blocked physical walls, go for the win with one of the team's physical sweepers as soon as possible.

Proof of Peak:

My alt is Mr. Natas 666, and as can be observed, I got to rank 2 with ease. I could've easily gone for 1700 or even 1800 with this team, as it was overall incredibly consistent; however, because of my elo, I was spending more time in the queue than actually playing, so I think I'll stop here for now.

Note: While this was the alt I used for the mono-rock challenge, I didn't start at 1582 elo, but below 1400 for this team at a terrible gxe. This was because I was testing ideas for the challenge of reaching rank 34 on the ladder with an r34 theme team. As one can imagine, it did not go well.

Another Miscellaneous note and hot take on sample selection: Easy to use should not be used as a criterion for sample selection, it is basically just codeword for familiar/ in the style of the council members, and so even teams with good performance get discarded in favor of teams that are more familiar to the council but overall worse in quality and performance. Also, enjoyable to use should also be a criterion. Just look at the blunder video, nobody wants to play those awful regen-cycles (especially newer players).

Replays:

BH Balanced Hackmons

Take care of yourself.