SPOILERS! [SPECULATION] BATTLE STADIUM SINGLES

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DragonWhale

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If you complain about spoilers here despite the title clearly stating the purpose of the thread, let me know so I can ban you :blobthumbsup:



POKEMON SWORD AND SHIELD
BATTLE STADIUM SINGLES SPECULATION THREAD

The time has come. The dataminers have got their hands on the goods, and we have the information necessary to commence discussion!

Pokemon:
Comprehensive list of Pokemon with stats and abilities: https://pastebin.com/mBKX1Byd
Names and descriptions of abilities: https://pastebin.com/iifYQntd

Moves:
List of moves that are removed in SwSh: https://pastebin.com/3FTfUgzd
Learnsets: https://pastebin.com/Cyg8Rp53 and https://pastebin.com/c6EFsDjr
Move descriptions: https://pastebin.com/fXsN3Bvw
New moves for old Pokemon (courtesy of DHR-107): https://pastebin.com/NzCF28fR
Comprehensive move data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EqLkpIThrBLxd9B1u1bnHkfodYW8uWEhpNKnlPHh3QY/edit?usp=sharing

Use this thread to discuss potential metagame trends that you'll expect to see in SWSH BSS :psywoke:
 
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DragonWhale

It's not a misplay, it's RNG manipulation
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RELEVANT STUFF

  • General​
    • Pursuit, Hidden Power, Return, and Frustration have all been removed​
    • Multi-Attack has been buffed from 90BP -> 120BP​
    • Rapid Spin now gives +1 speed​

  • Aegislash
    • Nerfed from having 150 in offenses/defenses on their formes, to 140
    • Gained Close Combat
  • Gengar
    • Gained Nasty Plot
  • Cloyster
    • Gained Pin Missile
  • Steelix
    • Gained Dragon Dance
  • Gyarados
    • Gained Power Whip (for opposing water types?)
  • Rotom
    • Gained Nasty Plot
  • Conkeldurr
    • Gained Close Combat
  • Haxorus
    • Gained Close Combat
  • Incineroar
    • Gained Parting Shot
  • Kommo-o
    • Gained Clangorous Soul
      • Raises all stats in exchange for 1/3 HP
  • Darmanitan-Galar
    • Ice type, same stats as regular Darm
    • New Ability: Gorilla Tactics
      • Raises attack but can only use the first move selected (aka Choice Band)
  • More coming soon...

POTENTIAL SETS:

None....YET!
 
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Theorymon

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My first thoughts on Sword and Shield's New Pokemon

Fuck yeah, time to make a giant post about my random thoughts on all the Pokemon! Just a note though: the starters don't seem to have their wonderful HAs yet, as they are NOT in the raid encounters table. Same for the fossils lol. All the others seem in though!

For now, I'm just going to post about new mons, but some old mons I think are gonna be mega relevant are: Mimikyu, Toxapex, Hydriegon, Aegislash, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Excadrill, Gyarados, Rotom-H, Rotom-W, and probably a bazillion other things Im forgettingright now lol. I'll post about em later!

So, I'm gonna go over every Pokemon that I think doesn't look like total garbage, based on their dex order! Maybe tomorrow I'll update with sample movesets for my own purposes of testing (unless Dragonwhale wants to do that, then be my guest lol).

Rillaboom: This thing gets a really cool ass sig move: Drum Beating. With this, its basically like a base 80, 100% accurate Grass Rock Tomb! It gets decent coverage too, thanks to access to Superpower and Earthquake (and also High Horsepower, more on that lol). It even gets Knock Off, and U-turn! However, it doesn't have rock coverage, which, despite a lot of Flying-types getting nuked by dexit, is a bummer.

Ok now lets address the 1 ton gorilla in the room: this thing gets freaking Grassy Surge as an HA! Like I said, it probably is not avaaliable yet, which is a bummer. Still though, when it does, I think this might actually be an improvement over Tapu Bulu in some ways. Its only got a bit less attack, access to a Ground move (High Horsepower, woooo!), and U-turn sounds excellent, and of course, that god damn Drum Beating! I might mess around a bit with Overgrow, but my interest for this really begins with its HA, Grassy Terrain!

Cinderace:
Haha wow, a mono Fire-type I'm ACTUALLY interested in! The big thing here for now is Pyro Ball, a 90% accurate 120 BP Fire move, that I assume does not make contact. That's freaking rad, no Flare Blitz recoil here! In fact, Life Orb Cinderace OHKOs Aegislash, so yeah no King's Shield mindgames here!

It's pretty fast too, with 119 base Speed outspeeding a ton of annoying shit like Hydreigon (wow actually dexit did a number to the speed tiers lol). However, its movepool isnt all that versatile, its basically got Pyro Ball, High Jump Kick, U-turn, Flame Charge, and Zen Headbutt (for doing SOMETHING to Toxapex). I'm not 100% sure on this thing, but the good attack and speed makes me want to attempt to abuse blaze. Plus, since its really fast for a fire type, I'm sure Dynamax setting up Sun will murder stuff! I guess hypothetically, Bounce could be used with Dynamax to boost speed too, for outspeeding random Scarf stuff, but Flame Charge is already here ya know...

As most of you are probably thinking... this mofo gets Libero, which is a Protean clone. That sounds pretty killer. While Cinderace's movepool is small, its coverage will pack a kick with STAB! In particular, I like the fact that Zen Headbutt actually 2HKOs Toxapex with a Life Orb, though you'll probably want to do that on the switch because of Recover stall shenigans with LO damage. CB might help with that.

So overall: I'm interested in trying it BEFORE it gets Protean just because Pyro Ball sounds cool, and its a fast mofo. However, with Libero, this thing has a lot of potential imo!

Inteleon:
So I think this is could the worst starter (at least, when Rillaboom gets its HA), especially since its HA is just Sniper lol, though it does get Focus Energy. Anyways, the thing that sticks out to me is the 120 base Spe and 125 base SpA. With Torrent, it sorta sounds like you could use this like Torrent Greninja a bit, especially since it has similar speed and more power! Unfortunately, I think the loss of Z moves might really hurt this idea, since Max Moves dont seem to have nearly as much power, even if Inteleon is gonna like the rain.

That being said, it still hits pretty damn hard with Torrent is up, being able to pull similar stunts to what Greninja could do once the Z-move was used up. Think stuff like water moves doing over 50% to physdef Ferrothorn! Something annoying though, is that I think Toxapex is going to be better than ever this gen, and Inteleon is going to struggle mightly against that, even if you can do over 50% to it under certain circumstances. Coverage wise, this is no Greninja either, basically getting the usual constrained water movepool + U-turn and Shadow Ball.

Still though, it seems like it could hurt with Torrent, so I'll probably give this a try, even if I'm more intersted in Gyarados and Baraskewda when it comes to offensive waters atm.

Greedent:
What the hell, this looks way better than any rodent should rofl. It's actually fairly bulky (seriosuly why does it have 125 base HP lol), and gets Swords Dance, Earthquake, Cheek Pouch, and a sig move that immeditly eats its berry + gives it +2 Defense. Now I'm not gonna delude myself into thinking Greedent is gonna be amazing, but seriously what the hell at that stat spread lol. I'll probably meme with it idk, maybe it could be usable? Sounds like the kind of mon that will dominante some weird ass tournament gamefreak will inevitably make though lol. Maybe Swords Dance / Facade / Earthquake / Fire Fang? idk lol

Corviknight:
And here's our Skarmory replacement, since our old pal got the dexit hit! It's a bit less bulky than Skarmory physically, but it bulkier specially, and has a bit more power too. Unfortunately, unlike Skarmory, it can't set up Stealth Rock, which is a bummer. On the other hand, Mirror Armor frankly rules, meaning that Gyarados (and maybe Arcanine/Incineroar if people end up using that in singles) can't come in without getting -1 Atk!

It also happens to get Body Press, a new move that uses your Defense stat instead of your Attack stat for damage. Since its fighting type... this 2HKOs Excadrill, pretty handy stuff since that mon looks extremely scary with the Rapid Spin buff and sandmons still being alive! Also, thankfully, it gets Roost via egg moves! Just like Skarmory, Corviknight gets Roost, but unlike Skarmory, it gets Dual screens and U-turn, which is pretty neat!

Overall, this looks like a fine replacement to Skarmory. Lack of hazards is a bummer, but its got some cool new tools that I want to try out!

Orbeetle:
This does at least look a lot better than the usual awful starting bugs (huh, thats been a trend since XY), but despite its reasonable bulk and access to recovery, I'm not sure if I want to use this over any other Psychic type, the Bug typing isn't really doing it many favors, and we got better Calm Minders for sure. Not sure I see the point of this thing.

Eldegoss: This seems to be our bulky Grass-type of the gen? It's got decent bulk (softer on the physical side though), Sleep Powderm Leech Seed, and Regenerator, so its got good bulk for sure. I think it might be difficult to justify over Ferrothorn though, but Regen is pretty rad. Not sure if I'm that interested in it overall though.

Dubwool: This thing has ok stats and gets both Swords Dance and Thunder Wave for some bizzare reason. Not sure I'd really want to use it over Bewear though, even if this has better special bulk and speed, its also way weaker and has worse coverage. The one shining spot, is that for some reason, Dubwool gets Baton Pass, so I guess it could be a bulky Swords Dance passer (also gets Agility). Maybe Sword Dance / Facde / Zen Headbutt / Baton Pass? Not really exciting imo, theres crazier BP stuff out there.

Drednaw: This thing ended up actually not being super slow, but it also doesn't get Shell Smash which is a big bummer. It;'s Gigantamax sets up SR, but we got plenty of ways to set up Stealth Rock already, and its not like its sweeping without boosts either. Real missed potential that this doesn't get Shell Smash imo

Flapple: I'm just bringing this up because Hustle actually means Flapple hits harder than Mega Rayquaza lmao. Otherwise, its frail and got base 70 Speed. You could probably meme some people with Scarf or Dragon Dance because 110 base attack Hustle actually DOES hurt, but I'm not gonna be play lady luck there methinks. It does get a Gigantamax though, so idk maybe that could be scary? Same for Dynamax in general, it actually is probably scary powerful with a Dynamax loi. Still, theres stuff that doesnt need a Dynamax to be good out there!

Appletun: This thing is pretty reasonably bulky, and its got Thick Fat, so its a Grass / Dragon thats only 2x weak to Ice Beam! It's sig move lowers SpD which is cool too. Ferrothorn is probably by far the best Grass-type, but a Grass that isn't weak to Fire sounds pretty neat to mess around with, and it gets stuff like Leech Seed and Recover, so it can probably stick around for a while. I'll probably give this thing a shot! Just note, with Bounce being in the game... don't expect this to check Gyarados lol.

Sandaconda: OK I orginally bashed Snaconda pretty hard, but Yilx brought up a good point: its way of setting up sand is actually pretty cool! So basically, Sand Spit means that if you attack Sandaconda, it sets up sand. Seems lame right? Well, this ensures sand goes up for a bit longer like say, after you set up Stealth Rock rather than before. Also, against weaker Dynamax moves, you could prevent their weather from coming up depending on the order of Dynamax weather activation. Maybe even run a Focus Sash or something to sack Sadaconda while keeping favorable weather up! Also, it gets Minimize... ugh some of us are totally going to lose to that arent we lol.

To be clear, I think this is otherwise outclassed by Hippowdon who is much bulkier. But with Sand Spit, I think this might have a niche for teams based around Excadrill's Sand Rush!

Baraskewda:
oh shit, this looks like a crazy glass cannon! It's faster than Jolteon (seriously wtf), and has 1 less attack point than Gyarados. It doesn't have Dragon Dance which is a bummer, but it does have a pretty nutty movepool! It gets Close Combat for Ferrothorn, Drill Run / Psychic Fangs for Toxapex (haven't decided which is better yet lol), and Crunch / Throat Chop for Dragapult. Whats really nuts though, is that it has Swift Swim. So if you Dynamax and use Waterfall... BAM, Scarfers wont be outspeeding you! Pretty scary stuff imo, especially since Max Close Combat basically gives Baraskewda a 90 BP Power-Up Punch for 3 turns!

I think Gyarados still sounds scarrier to me because Bounce lets it boost speed regardless of the weather, its much bulkier with Intimidate, and it wrecks opposing Waters with Power Whip. Still though, Baraskewda sounds like a dangerous glass cannon to me, I'll certainly be experimenting with this! Especially since its so god damn fast and seems like an amazing Dynamaxer!

Toxtricity:
argh why is this so slow? It actually has a cool ability that boosts the power of sound moves, and gets an Electric type STAB for that + Boomburst... but base 75 Speed and the lack of bulk hurt. Maybe you could slap a scarf on it idk, and it gets Nuzzle so maybe it could be neat as a sash lead of sorts? Still, not impressed with this, would need to see someone make a good argument for it before I test it out early!

Centiskorch: bah, that speed and defense stat ruin this thing for me, even though it gets Coil and decent attacking options I guess. It's Giganatmax is also a straight downgrade over its Dynamax. I'd need some convincing to test this, this was not worth replacing Volcarona for >:(

Grappleoct: So this looks like a pretty unimpressive Fighting type at first, but its sig move, Octolock, has potential: its sorta like Mean Look, except for each turn your foe is trapped in, it gets a -1 Debuff to Defense and Special Defense! So, whys that got me interested? Well, if you Octolock Toxapex on the switch... Expert Belt Stomping Tantrum 2HKOs it, since it can't Haze away the constant defense drops! You could use something like Fighting move (probably Close Combat) / Stomping Tantrum / Substitute / Octolock to beat its ass, which is cool! Unfortunately, directly switching in and trapping Toxapex is a much tricker affair that requires loss of coverage. I think you could do it with something like Rest + Taunt, but this basically means mono fighting coverage which... yeah, that has problems.

Maybe it might be better to just except that Scald can burn Grappleoct, and use a Lum Berry or something like that. Then, you could run Octolock / Close Combat / Stomping Tantrum / Taunt, so you'll stop that stupid Haze and Recover BS!

This seems like a niche mon, but that trapping move has me pretty interested in Grappleoct, I'll probably mess around with it, if only because its a fighting mon that might really punish slower, stallier teams!

Polteageist:
Good lord, what the hell is up with this thing's movepool? It gets Shell Smash, Baton Pass, Strength Sap, Screens, Memento, Trick, Will-O-Wisp, and Stored Power. Like seriously what the hell! It even gets a bigger SpA stat than Gengar! However, its also got base 70 Speed, and is pretty physically frail (about as bulky as Gengar), despite having ok Special Defense.

But seriously, lets get to the point: Its a Smash Passer! With Stored Power, its actually more powerful than Shadow Ball and nukes Toxapex, and its got the same speed tier as Cloyster at least. You could even say, put a sash on Polteageist, since it gets Weak Armor, and get even faster!

While you CAN attempt a sweep with this, note that its best move vs Tyranitar is Giga Drain, not a great idea unless you Dynamax Polteagiest. I think I'd rather use Shell Smash / Shadow Ball / Stored Power / Baton Pass, and Pass the hell outta there once Tyranitar shows its ugly mug! Also, the Shadow Sneak weakness from Aegislash and Mimikyu does sound annoying, though Polteageist at least outspeeds Dragapult after a Shell Smash.

Overall, while Im a bit leery of its low Defense and Speed, Polteageist gets a freaking ridiclious movepool, and is probably the best Smash Passer in the game! I'm not sure if I'd use it outside of Smash Passing, but I certainly have to play around with it, I think Polteageist has some potential!

Hatterene:
I'm more interested in this for doubles, but I think it totally has potential to be great in singles too! It's got ok bulk (57/95/103, pretty damn slow speed (base 44 lol), great Special Attack (136). So what makes this so special compared to any other Trick Room setter? ITS GOT MAGIC BOUNCE! Yeah seriously, no setting hazards, status, or taunt against this mofo! That part Fairy Typing rules too, so stuff like Tyranitar and Hydreigon won't be OHKOing it! No Moonblast is annoying, but its got Dazzling Gleam, and it happens to get Mystical Fire so Steel-types won't totally wall it! In particular, its so slow that Ferrothorn has a pretty weak Gyro Ball against it I think!

Also of note: Hatterene gets a Gigantamax forme, which turns Fairy moves into G-Smite, confusing foes instead of setting up Misty Terrain. Frankly, that rules over getting rid of your Psychic Terrain, but in the Max Raid list, it says "any" for G-Hatterene's ability, so its possible that means no Hidden Abilities, since stuff that has HAs is labeled differently it seems. Cool as Smite is, I think Magic Bounce is way too good to pass up on, though I guess Gigantamax Hatterene could sweep a bit better... Oh yeah one last thing, for some reason this also gets Healing Wish and Nuzzle, pretty odd little support moves!

Overall, I think Hatterene might set a new standard for offensive Trick Room Pokemon, especially with the sad loss of Porygon2. I freaking loved that style last gen, so I'm absoloutly testing this out early in the gen!

Grimmsnarl:
GOOD GAINS GOBLIN! So at first, I was sorta disapointed in this: despite its looks, Grimmsnarl isn't really all that bulky (95/65/75), has base 60 Speed, and only 120 base Attack to make up for it. In exchange though.. we got a really damn good Prankster Pokemon! It gets Thunder Wave, Dual Screens, and Bulk Up. Rad thing here is that since its Part Fairy and has the STABs to use it (Play Rough, and a weaker, 100% accurate 75 BP move called Spirit Break that always lowers the SpA of your foe), switching in Tyranitar and Hydreigon to absorb the prankster Thunder Wave can have consiquences! It also has Superpower, so screw you Ferrothorn!

Stopping sweepers with Twave isnt the only thing Grimmsnarl can do though... because you see, Gigantamax Grimmsnarl has an absurd G-move that applies a Yawn effect to its powerful Dark-type attacks! Holy crap, its like Yawn except 130 BP, what on earth?! Grimmsnarl has a bundle of base 80 Dark-type moves to get it (Throat Chop, Darkest Lariat, and a new sig move that bypasses accuracy checks called False Surrender), alongside Sucker Punch for priority. Absoloutly maddening for a Gigantamax, this is a Pokemon we REALLY gotta find the raids for!

Overall, despite the disapointing stat spread, Grimmsnarl's access to Prankster, unique typing, and Gigantamax forme make it sound very deadly to me. Let's make sure to hunt for that Gigantamax Grimmsnarl raid so we can spam this mofo in that tournament 3 weeks from now!

Obstagoon:
I was interested in this thing till I saw the movepool. It lost Extreme Speed and Belly Drum, what a freaking bummer! I guess its actually pretty bulky... but yeah I think I'd rather use regular Linoone, what a screw up!

Cursola: What the hell, why does this have base 145 SpA and base 130 SpD?! Pretty crazy powerful, but its also got worse than Gengar physical bulk, and has the same base Speed as Snorlax. Seems pretty iffy right? Well... its Hidden Ability is nuts at least: it induces Perish Song if it with a contact move! That's pretty scary, I bet you there will be annoying Eject button strats with "bulky" Cursola + Gothitelle or Wobbuffet to remove problems, scary stuff! It also gets Steath Rock, Strength Sap, and Will-O-Wisp, which is neat. I'm not sure if I'm going to use this thing early, but that crazy hidden ability alone has me interested, I might have to try it!

Galarian Corsola:
Now why do I bring this up? Turns out, its bulkier than Cursola physically by a lot (60 / 100 / 100), and assuming Eviolite is in, should be pretty hard to KO. No Perish Body sadly, but its got Cursed Body, and Stealth Rock, Will-O-Wisp, and Strength Sap. Very interesting movepool for a Stealth Rock setter. If eviolite is in, I'm actually pretty interested in this as a stealth rock setter, pure ghost with that defenses and movepool sounds neat!

Sirfetch'd:
Hmm... its got ok Bulk (62/95/82), and a great Attack stat (135), but its also slow (65), and unlike say, Conkeldurr or Grappleoct, has basically nothing for Toxapex. I'm not totally feeling this thing sadly, but it does have one ace up its sleeve: It's Hidden Ability is Scrappy! This is going to sound weird, but I'm tempted to actually use a Choice Scarf set, and Dyanamax it to spam Max Knuckles, maybe it can snowball past Gengar and weakend Mimikyu! It does get Brave Bird too, so I guess a Dynamax Sirfetch'd could get some much needed Speed boosts. Shame it doesn't have Roost though. I'm a bit disapointed by Sirfetch'd, but Scrappy is pretty cool, so I'll probably mess around with it!

Galarian Weezing:
Honestly this just seems like Weezing with a Dragon immunity and Steel weakness to me. Not terribly impressed, but it does get a base 90 sig Fairy move (Strange Stream), and it gets Misty Terrain as a Hidden Ability for some odd reason. Not that interested, but maybe its got some cool niches I'm not thinking about right now beyond resetting terrain?

Galarian Darmitan: Jesus christ, we need more info on this but... it seems to basically get Choice Band as an ability?! Even if it's just a 20-30% boost, Scarf Galarian Darmitan is crazy powerful, despite that iffy pure Ice typing. Also, unlike pretty much any ice-type except Kyurem-W, it gets Fire-type coverage, in Flare Blitz this case! Yeah, Scarf Galarian Darmitan seems like a power house, and CB might straight up wall break. Oh yeah, to top it off, it gets U-turn too for scouting. If for any reason Gorrila Tactics gives it a 50% boost... holy shit, this is gonna wreck stuff! Even mighty Ubers like Zacian and Zamazenta will be in fear of this thing!

That's not all. Galarian Darmitan gets Zen Mode... which is FAR better than the regular Zen Mode! Zen Mode Darmitan gets 160 base attack and 135 base Speed... and is Ice / Fire! This sounds like a really potent offenive threat if you get the Zen Mode off. It even gets Belly Drum, so hey if it survvives the Drum with Sitrus Berry despite its iffy bulk, you're looking at a sweep here! Hell, maybe just Substitute + LO is fine, or LO in general, not like regular Galarian Darmitan doesn't hit like a truck, even without Gorilla tactics.

This could easily be an overhyped Pokemon depending on what we find out... but wow, this actually seems like a big improvement on Darmitan for me, I'll certainly be trying this out!

Mr. Rime:
God this is a weird mon... its got ok bulk unlike Mr.Mime, but is pretty slow at base 70 Speed. However, it gets Rapid Spin to boost its speed and remove hazards, and I have to admit an Ice-type that blasts Toxapex doesn't sound like a horrible idea, plus Thunderbolt for Corviknight. Still... not too impressed about this thing, and there are other slow, bulky Psychic-types I'd rather look at such as Hatterene and Reuniclus when it comes to Trick Room. Rapid Spin is neat though, maybe this might have a niche as a lead of some sort?

Runerigus: Oh shit, its a Ghost/Ground type with Stealth Rock! Screw you Golurk! Anyways, its got pretty good bulk, so setting up Stealth Rock won't be an issue, and Earthquake which is always nice, especially since its physically based. It also has a weird ability that acts like Skill Swap when using a contact move, and hey it does get Shadow Claw... thats neat! It also gets a bunch of other goodies like Trick Room, Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, etc. Runerigus looks pretty similar to Cofagrigus, which isn't really seen, but Stealth Rock and STAB Earthquake alone look like big selling points in comparison, so its probably more useful than its cousin. Seems like an interesting Stealth Rock setter to give a go!

Alcremie:
Decorate and its Gigantamax Forme make it sound amazing in doubles, but this is a singles thread, and the only reason I bring up Alcremie is because its Gigantamax forme does seem to restore about 25% of its health every time it uses a Fairy move. That's neat, but its stats aren't terribly impressive when its supporting only itself (though 110 base SpA and 121 base SpD is decent, its not super frail or anything). It's got Calm Mind, Recover, and Mystic Fire too, so it can deal with Steel-types alright. Not sure if I really want to use this thing in singles, but I'm curious to see if anyone can make it work. Doubles seems to be Alcremie's domain though, so we need to raid its G-max forme for sure!

Falinks: This thing's stats are nothing special, but it gets a crazy Omniboost move in No Retreat! It can't switch out after that, but I figure you'll only use this move when its time to sweep. Now unforutnately, you can't omniboost multiple times, which is a bit of a bummer since Falinks isnt that powerful. However, I think this could be a threat if you Dynamax, since now you can snowball with Max Knuckle! Thankfully, +1 LO Max Zenheadbutt also OHKOs Toxapex after Stealth Rock damage, and it gets Iron Head to at least do something to Fairy types, and get a defense boost while dynamaxed too! Hell, it even gets defiant, so You can use Throat Chop and hit Aegislash hard, and not worry about Intimidate! Of course, this means it does have 4mss syndrome, so maybe I'll pair it with Gothitelle and just not use Zen Headbutt lol.

Falinks seems a bit weird, but I actually want to make a team based around it just beacuse of No Retreat + Max Knuckle being amazing for a Dynamax mon!

Pincurchin:
When I did the stat estimates for this thing in voice chat on the Smogon discord server, I relentlessly made fun of this things stats. Little did we know... its the only Pokemon in the game to get Electric Surge rofl. This is no Tapu Koko though, as Pincurchin is mad slow (slower than Snorlax and Ferrothorn rofl), dosnt even get Volt Switch, and isn't particularly bulky. I guess it could have some sort of niche since Electric Surge rules, but man... this is not a good looking mon, not sure if I can really justify using it, I'd rather set up Electric Terrain with Dynamax at this point!

Frosmoth: A lot of us were hoping this would fill the hole Volcarona left, but unfortunately, its got base 65 Speed, which is a HUGE bummer, especially with it being Bug / Ice lol. However, its Hidden Ability, Ice Scales, does halve all Special Attacks against it, so it should actually be pretty bulky on the special side at least, and it still has Quiver Dance. Unlike Volcarona, coverage is NOT a strong point for this, especially with Hidden Power being gone. I can see Frosmoth screwing some people up thanks to its crazy special bulk with Ice Scales, but I'm reallly not sure about this thing yet. I guess I'll make a team around it later! This is certainly nowhere NEAR the level of Volcarona though, what a bummer.

Eiscue:
Ok, what the hell gamefreak?! This thing has a weird Disguise clone that only effects physical moves (or maybe it auto sets up an ice cube sub, not sure), and it can restore this with Hail. So before we got the datamine, a lot of us were thinking "lmao it can wall physical mons with Hail + Toxic". Now, unfortunatley, Toxic isn't even a TM / TR anymore, so no it doesn't get that. However...

Eiscue's real gimmick may have been shown in the datamine. This thing actually has different stats when its Ice Cube melts... 130 Base Speed?! Oh shit, that's really fast! And here's the kicker: Eiscue gets god damn Belly Drum! To top that all off, it gets Icicle Spear for annoying sash and Mimikyu shenigans, Liqudation for Steel-types, and Zen Headbutt for Toxapex. Holy fuck... is this some kind of god damn win condition agianst Physical mons?! Like, maybe we're missing something here with its ability... But if Ice Cube works like we think it does, I think Eiscue might actually be a top tier threat, what the hell?! God, this sounds too good to be true, we gotta test the mechanics of this thing!

Indeedee:
And this is our Tapu Lele replacement, with Psychic Surge as its Hidden Ability! Umm... yeah its certainly not on Tapu Lele's level, its got a way worse movepool and its less powerful. However, the male forme still has base 105 Special Attack and the same Speed as Tapu Lele, so it can still deal plenty of damage. It's also part Normal, so you can switch Scarf Indeedee into say... Gengar's Shadow Ball, and blast the mofo with Psychic! Coverage wise, its way worse than Tapu Lele, with basically all its got is Msyical Fire for Steel-types, Dazzling Gleam for Dark-types, and Hyper Voice for ignoring subs I guess.

So Scarf and Specs Indeedee seem like they'll be good, but unlike Tapu Lele, it does actually learn Trick Room! It's a bit fast for setting it up, but that may have some cool role compression potential! Plus, Indeedee Female trades power for bulk, and is a bit slower, so that might be cool for more supportive TR shenigans while still having decent power. It also gets Encore, which is neat. And before anyone asks: Yes, it gets Calm Mind! Overall, I'm gonna miss Tapu Lele, and Indeedee isn't a perfect replacement for it by any means. However, I think its stats are just good enough that it'll be a good offensive threat!

Copperajah:
So bulk wise its pretty usable (122 / 69 / 69), and its got Stealth Rock, always useful as a pure Steel-type. The real story here though, is that it gets Sheer Force! Copperajah has got plenty of moves to take advantage of it, such as Iron Head and Play Rough, and it even gets Heat Crash for hitting other Steel-types! It is also however, extremely slow, and I'm not sure I actually want to dedicate setting up Trick Room for this thing to work. Getting Stealth Rock is good and it hits hard, so it might still be useful, just not sure if this will be my first choice to set up Stealth Rock.

Dracozolt:
Ok this seems pretty unremarkable for a Dragon-type, its sorta slow and weak. Why am I even bringing this up? Well, it gets a signiture move it shares with Arctozolt, called Beak Bolt. Its an 85 base power Electric physical move... that DOUBLES when it goes first! What the hell, that's a god damn base 170 STAB, almost as strong as Victini's V-create! To give you a picture of what that means, Dracozolt straight up OHKOs Toxapex after Stealth Rock damage, and deals 81% minimum to Corviknight! Yeah, that means as a Scarf mon, this thing has some cleaning potential! Plus, it gets alright coverage too, such as Earthquake, Dragon Claw / Outrage for annoying Dragons like Hydreigon and Dragapult (though Dragapult outspeeds Scarf sadly). And don't even get me started with Choice Band, where Dracozolt can pull off stunts such as OHKOing max HP Tyranitar with Bolt Beak! I think Scarf sounds the best for now so it can ruin a bunch of offensive mons, but Choice Band / Life Orb might really mess up slower teams, especially since it gets nice coverage for stuff that resists Electric-type attacks.

Oh I should note, Dracozolt has very usable Special Attack too. Base 80 aint too hot, but it can roast Ferrothorn with Fire Blast / Flamethrower (both easy 2HKOs even with Jolly), and Draco Meteor has just enough oomph to OHKO Hydreigon with a neutral nature (you can use Jolly if you have Stealth Rock up too), so that way you won't be locked into Outrage with Choice Scarf!

One last thing: For some reason, Dracozolt gets Hustle. I hate Hustle because of the accuracy drop... but yeah, that sounds freakishly powerful rofl. Might be worth using with Dynamax so you roll the dice less!

Unfortunately, its Hidden Ability, Sand Rush, seems to be unavaliable, since the fossils are not in Max Raids. When it gets that, I think it'll diffenciate itself quite nicely from Excadrill, however! Also, I'd like to note that it doesn't get Dragon Dance which... might be for the best, I don't even want to imagine what kind of sweeps this would pull with a boosted Bolt Beak rofl. Regardless, despite this things sorta lame looking stat spread, I think Bolt Beak makes Dracozolt a legitmate threat to watch out for!

Arctozolt:
Oh snap, an Ice / Eelctric mon, sounds exciting right? Well, it has base 55 Speed, so at first, my excitement toally drained, what a waste of potential, right? And then, that Bolt Beak news hit, and the gears started turning in my head. Now, I think Dracozolt will be a better Pokemon vs offensive teams due to the speed, and it does much better vs Ferrothorn... but I think Arctozolt might be able to carve a niche out for itself. The nice thing here, is that with a neutral nature and no offensive items, Ice Beam gets a clean 2HKO on physically defensive Hippowdon, and you also got Icicle Spear for breaking through Mimikyu's Disguise. Arctozolt is actually pretty bulky too (90/90/80), though I think you might want to invest in speed to outspeed some of the slower mons such as Tyranitar and Corviknight, since neither of those two will like Beak Bolt at all. Thankfully, even without HP investment, it'll survive Hippowdon's Earthquake. I'm not sure what kind of EV spread I quite want on this thing yet though...

Oh yeah, nice time to bring up that Dynamax Icicle Spear is base 130, so you can still deal plenty of damage with it!

Also, despite that Speed stat being sad, due to how fercious Dexit was, I think you might be able to get away with a Choice Scarf! You'll outspeed up to base 107 Speed Pokemon with it and a +Speed Nature, so you'll outspeed some pretty annoying targets such as Hydreigon at least! Too bad it doesn't outspeed Gengar though.

So to be clear, I think Dracozolt is probably better vs more offensive teams since it has a reasonable enough Speed stat to put a Scarf on (doubly so when Sand Rush comes out), and it also does better vs Ferrothorn. Arctozolt's Speed stat is pretty miserable, and Hail isnt good enough for Slush Rush to make a mark methinks. Still, that Ice STAB helps a lot vs Hippowdon, and the lack of a Dragon weakness is cool vs Dragapult, so this might actually be a good pick vs slower, bulkier teams, and just Dragons in general compared to Dracozolt.

God, what is it with Gamefreak making me interested in Ice-types this gen?!

Dracovish:
Dracovish, like its abominations in the Zolt family, has a great signiture move that doubles in power when it moves first: Fishous Rend! As you can imagine, a 170 BP Water-type STAB does truckloads despite a base 90 Atk, getting a clean 2HKO on Hippowdon! Now unfortunately, I dont think it does as well vs defensive mons compared to Dracozolt and Arctozolt, as it doesn't really have anything good for Ferrothorn, and stuff like Corviknight and Gyarados are much bigger issues. Thankfully, Dracovish does get Strong Jaw, so with even just an Expert Belt, Psychic Fangs will actually 2HKO Toxapex, though watch out for that burn!

While I don't think Dracovish is gonna do as well vs bulkier teams as Dracozolt, Dracovish's big selling point over it imo is the much better defensive typing! The 4x water and fire resist are really cool, and with Max Outrage, despite its base 90 Attack, it can still deal good damage, with even Intimidate Gyarados taking 57% minimum from a Dynamax Outrage from Life Orb Dracovish. You could certainly slap a Choice Scarf on Dracovish, and kill a lot of frailer stuff (still doesn't outspeed Dragapult though, bummer), but I actually think Dracozolt probably does that better, since it has the potential to deal with a wider array of bulky mons (besides Hippowdon, which Dracovish does better vs). I think if using Choice Scarf, maybe Dracovish should use Fishous Rend / Outrage / Psychic Fangs / Ice Fang or Super Fang.

While I think Scarf might be viable, those Max Outrage calcs are ones I find pretty interesting, and with its cool water and fire resists, I think Dracovish might be better off taking a slower approach with an offensive item to mess with Hippowdon, maybe with paralysis support to mess with faster stuff. It also helps that Dracovish has good bulk, being able to survive stuff like Excadrill Earthquake unlike Dracozolt! Should also note, Dracovish DOES get Super Fang, so you can at least punish Ferrothorn for coming in! For a slower offensive set, I'm thinking Fishous Rend / Outrage / Super Fang / Psychic Fangs takes advantage of using Dynamax as a back up option the best.

Overall, I'm not quite as interested in Dracovish compared to the Zolts because it seems like it doesnt do as well vs a wider array of bulky threats, and for offensive physical water types, it certainly competes heavily with Gyarados and Baraskewda. However, that unique typing and bulk are still pretty attractive to me, especially the 4x resistance to Water and Fire. I'm certainly interested in trying it!

Arctovish:
God I don't know about this one... Fishous Rend is still great for Hippowdon, and its got good bulk (90/100/90), but man it doesn't break walls nearly as well as Arctozolt, and its still got that bleh base Speed. I guess to be fair, if you invest in it, it owns Tyranitar, Icicle Spear is still cool for Disguise, It does better vs Dragon-types than any of the other fossils, and it still gets Super Fang... I might try this before it gets Slush Rush, but I'm not nearly as intrested in it as the other fossils!

Duraludon:
Dragon / Steel is an amazing typing, but this certainly isn't Dialga level. 120 SpA is good, and 85 base Speed is totally usable, but the rael sucky thing here is its bulk (70/115/50). It'll take physical hits fine, but yikes its frail specially! I don't think that's a total deal breaker, however, but it also lacks a Fire-move, which sucks vs Ferrothorn. On the bright side, it gets Thunderbolt, so with even an Expert Belt, you get a nice 2HKO on Toxapex and Corviknight, and prevent Gyarados from setting up. Oh yeah, speaking of that, Duraludon's base speed is 85, so its good for outspeeding slower, bulkier offensive mons like Gyarados and Mamoswine! Shame that Excadrill is faster though.

It also gets Stealth Rock, which is pretty cool as a more offensive setter of it. Something like Draco Meteor / Flash Cannon / Thunderbolt / Stealth Rock might be cool, maybe even with a sash to surprise fast Special Attackers. I think Duraludon might make a decent user of Choice Scarf too. Note that while its not in its learn pool, we saw a trailer where Duraludon used Steel Beam, which is basically a Steel-type Mind Blown, which might be cool on a Scarf set! One last thing: Duraludon does get a Gigantamax, which seems to work as an offensive Spite when using Dragon-type moves. Not a bad idea, but note that Dynamax Dragon moves lower Attack, which might let Duraludon survive some annoying Ground-type moves.

Overall, I wanted something a bit more from Duraludon... but that typing is still amazing, and it seems to have JUST enough of a movepool to do stuff. I'll probably try it out on a few teams!

Dragapult:
Oh shit, here's our Pseudolegend! And my god, its so much faster than the other ones, 142 Base Speed is insane! It still gets 120 base Attack too, and decent bulk (88/75/75), so it doesn't lose out on that much! Offensively, the best part imo is Dragon Darts: a 2 hit 50 BP move that has 100% accuracy. That's right, you don't have to rely on stupid old Outrage, you got a great Dragon-type move that lets you escape from the big bad Fairy-types! Unfortunately, the only physical Ghost-type STAB is Phantom Force. That'll do good damage, but its very easy to take advantage of. On the bright side, it does get Psychic Fangs, so it isn't totally useless vs Toxapex, and its got Fire Blast backed up by 100 base SpA to hit Ferrothorn and Corviknight. It even gets... Steel Wing, which I guess would do something to Fairies? Not very powerful though.

My first imediate thought for this thing is that it might be a really good Choice Bander. Dragapult gets U-turn which is rad when you're this insanely fast, so Dragon Darts / U-turn / Psychic Fangs / Phantom Force or Steel Wings sounds totally legit. Life Orb is good too, maybe a mixed set since Dragapult actually has a pretty impressive special movepool.

But ok, is 142 base speed somehow not fast enough for ya? Good news, it gets Dragon Dance! Yeah, take that Scarf Hydreigon! I don't think its going to be the most amazing Dragon Dance sweeper, but Dragapult has a trick up its sleeve compared to the others... IT GETS BATON PASS! Good lord, I bet you can set up some sick sweeps with that! To make the deal even sweeter, Dragapult gets Clear Body, so no Intimidate shenigans here! It also gets Dual Screens, Will-O-Wisp, Curse, Disable, and Sucker Punch, so Dragapult actually has a nice amount of variety to it.

It may not scream "POWER" like some other sweepers, but the absurd speed and movepool means I think Dragapult will certainly be a big threat to watch out for! I can't wait to teambuild with this thing in mind!

Conclusion

Ok... This took about 3 hours to type, that was an intense papermoning session! Of course, the game doesn't even come out until this Friday. Theres probably a bazillion things I havent thought about, will be overhyped, underhyped, not work out mechanically, etc. And I haven't even covered old mons getting new stuff like Gyarados getting Power Whip!

Now, I'm not going to judge how a metagame works before its even started, that's silly. I will say this though: A lot of the new Pokemon seem to be keenly focused in very unique strategies compared to other gens, so I'm really excited to experiment with them, it seems like we got a really interesting new crew this time!
 
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I'm pretty excited to see how the meta will evolve without Hidden power, and despite my initial doubts, this gen is turning into a pretty interesting one

Dragapult: Oh shit [...] 142 Base Speed is insane! [...] U-turn [...] it gets Dragon Dance! [...] IT GETS BATON PASS! [...] It also gets Dual Screens, Will-O-Wisp, Curse, Disable [...]
*heavy breathing*

Screens + Curse on a Ghost-type? Can't wait.
Now outside of the screens, i easily see this thing becoming a great supporter with all of these tools.
Curse + U-Turn also is pretty cool. We've had this combination just on Decidueye, which couldn't really benefit from it due to its low speed.
Plus Disable too? Man i'm already in love with this mon
 
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Sun looks like it’s really threatening. Torkoal is strong drought setter, and all potential Sun sweepers got buffed pretty nicely. Venusaur got Weather Ball and Earth Power, while Leafeon got Solar Blade and regained access to Dig. Shiftry also exists for Dark STAB. There’s also Heliolisk and Charizard for Solar Power Abuse.
 
Some information on some important role defining moves/abilities relevant to BSS and their distribution in Sword and Shield:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yMhk0kMx7Bvm4IX57TDgPh_-yD9hCWKHdIwb4R0_nHQ/edit?usp=sharing

Few interesting things that aren't noted above:

Blastoise gets shell smash
Hydreigon gets nasty plot
Abomasnow and Vanilluxe get Aurora Veil

New weather abusers:
Rain - Drednaw, Barraskewda
Hail - Arctozolt, Arctovish
Sand - Dracozolt, Dracovish

Polteagist gets smashpass
Eiscue gets kind of a disguise plus belly drum

There is very little in the way of phasers or priority in SWSD
 
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I would like to propose new sets/moves for some old mons that we should notice!

Excadrill: Rapid spin now boosts +1 speed , giving enough speed to bypass +Spe Dragapult, if Exca is +Spe too, and Barraskewda. Defog and rapid spin weren't common at BSS previously, although Stealth rocks were. I can see Excadrill lead being common now, since Landorus-T isn't around. Mold breaker still amazing against Mimikyu and that Penguin (I forgot the name) with Ice Cube ability. Sand Rush is neat with Tyranitar, another mon I'm expecting seeing alot because of many Ghost-mon, like Polteageist with Shell Smash.

Hydreigon, Rotom, Gengar: Nasty plot is the word. There is no more to say. Gengar also gets Encore, so maybe we have a new stall breaker! Hydreigon gets DD, but I think Nasty Plot sets will be superior in usage, abusing Dark Pulse/Flamethrower/Earth power/Aura Sphere/Hydro pump/Draco Meteor. Rotom gets Stored Power and Helping hand (useful for doubles/VGC).

Gyarados: Gets Power whip! It is good against Gastrodon and Quagsire. But I dont think it will be so common at meta.

Snorlax: Gets Darkest lariat (?), Heat crash, Hammer arm. It still think that Double edge+EQ be predominant, but Heat crash seems good against Ferrothorn. Snorlax G-Max is like a free recycle.

0 Atk Snorlax Heat Crash (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 100-120 (55.2 - 66.2%)

Aegislash: Got nerfed, but still strong IMO. Close Combat > Sacred sword in power, but inferior as secondary effect. King's shield does -1 now.

Primarina: I don't know if we are capable of transfering it, but datamine tells yes, or probable. It gets two new moves: Calm mind and Life dew. I want so badly use it!:)

Venusaur: It has Weather ball and Earth power (too bad that Heatran isn't available now). LO sets arise!

Kommo-o: Clangorous Soul seems to boost its stats. It has access to Stealth rock, Taunt, Boomburst and Aura sphere. Perfect for a lead.

Milotic: we lost Koko, Zapdos and Raikou. Milotic has good typing and defences, so it might raise again!

Hippodown: Gets Body press, a move that power is associated to mon's defense stat.

Weavile: Gets Icicle spear. It has speed and attack. Knock off seems overpowered since Z-crystals and Mega are gone. And we are talking abaout a generation with new potential ghosts like Cursola and Polteageist.

Mimikyu: Lost it's toys, Ghostium-Z and Mimikium-Z. But anyone that used Focus sash + Swords dance knows that it has damage input. Since we got many slow mons, a Trick room set will be noice! Curse+Subs still annoying btw. I do think that Mimikyu and Snorlax as potential Dragapult's check.

Reuniclus: the anti-FerroPex core. Trick room + Dynamax + Max-Psychic (creates Psychic terrain)..and Oh lord!

Goodra: Gets Life dew. However cannot use it with AV sets.

Mystical Fire: not a mon, but many mons can use it, like Togekiss and Gardevoir! Talking about it, I've been thinking on Centiskorch. It speed is bad, but it has access to many supporting moves like WoW, Mystical Fire, Scald for burn. It also has Flash Fire. I'm going to give a chance to it.


Of course, none of these sets are definitive, we still have to be patient! But I'm excited to test many combinations. My initial concerns are Baton pass Polteageist and Rain-core with Barraskewda!! And I miss Tapu lele.
 
I would like to propose new sets/moves for some old mons that we should notice!

Excadrill: Rapid spin now boosts +1 speed , giving enough speed to bypass +Spe Dragapult, if Exca is +Spe too, and Barraskewda. Defog and rapid spin weren't common at BSS previously, although Stealth rocks were. I can see Excadrill lead being common now, since Landorus-T isn't around. Mold breaker still amazing against Mimikyu and that Penguin (I forgot the name) with Ice Cube ability. Sand Rush is neat with Tyranitar, another mon I'm expecting seeing alot because of many Ghost-mon, like Polteageist with Shell Smash.

Hydreigon, Rotom, Gengar: Nasty plot is the word. There is no more to say. Gengar also gets Encore, so maybe we have a new stall breaker! Hydreigon gets DD, but I think Nasty Plot sets will be superior in usage, abusing Dark Pulse/Flamethrower/Earth power/Aura Sphere/Hydro pump/Draco Meteor. Rotom gets Stored Power and Helping hand (useful for doubles/VGC).

Gyarados: Gets Power whip! It is good against Gastrodon and Quagsire. But I dont think it will be so common at meta.

Snorlax: Gets Darkest lariat (?), Heat crash, Hammer arm. It still think that Double edge+EQ be predominant, but Heat crash seems good against Ferrothorn. Snorlax G-Max is like a free recycle.

0 Atk Snorlax Heat Crash (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 100-120 (55.2 - 66.2%)

Aegislash: Got nerfed, but still strong IMO. Close Combat > Sacred sword in power, but inferior as secondary effect. King's shield does -1 now.

Primarina: I don't know if we are capable of transfering it, but datamine tells yes, or probable. It gets two new moves: Calm mind and Life dew. I want so badly use it!:)

Venusaur: It has Weather ball and Earth power (too bad that Heatran isn't available now). LO sets arise!

Kommo-o: Clangorous Soul seems to boost its stats. It has access to Stealth rock, Taunt, Boomburst and Aura sphere. Perfect for a lead.

Milotic: we lost Koko, Zapdos and Raikou. Milotic has good typing and defences, so it might raise again!

Hippodown: Gets Body press, a move that power is associated to mon's defense stat.

Weavile: Gets Icicle spear. It has speed and attack. Knock off seems overpowered since Z-crystals and Mega are gone. And we are talking abaout a generation with new potential ghosts like Cursola and Polteageist.

Mimikyu: Lost it's toys, Ghostium-Z and Mimikium-Z. But anyone that used Focus sash + Swords dance knows that it has damage input. Since we got many slow mons, a Trick room set will be noice! Curse+Subs still annoying btw. I do think that Mimikyu and Snorlax as potential Dragapult's check.

Reuniclus: the anti-FerroPex core. Trick room + Dynamax + Max-Psychic (creates Psychic terrain)..and Oh lord!

Goodra: Gets Life dew. However cannot use it with AV sets.

Mystical Fire: not a mon, but many mons can use it, like Togekiss and Gardevoir! Talking about it, I've been thinking on Centiskorch. It speed is bad, but it has access to many supporting moves like WoW, Mystical Fire, Scald for burn. It also has Flash Fire. I'm going to give a chance to it.


Of course, none of these sets are definitive, we still have to be patient! But I'm excited to test many combinations. My initial concerns are Baton pass Polteageist and Rain-core with Barraskewda!! And I miss Tapu lele.
Is it worth using Rapid Spin in 3V3? It’s a weak move, and you a sacrafice an arguably useful spot for it. Don’t see too much reason to use Milotic over Toxapex as defensive water type though it did get some nice buffs.

Some other thoughts:
Butterfree replaces Vivillon as Quiver Dance that can inflict reliable sleep.

Sylveon got access Mystical Fire, so it might see a resurgence. Will still face competition from Primarina and Hatterene.

Haxorus is the only Pokémon other than Excadrill to gain Mold Breaker which makes it the only Pokémon Dragon Dance who can bypass Mimikyu and Quagsire, so it can be strong candidate for wallbreaker. While it faces competition from Dragapault and Gyarados as a Dragon Dance user, it has the highest attack when compared to those two, as well as Mold Breaker, so it will definitely have its niche.
 
Does absolutely anybody have confirmation on how life dew works in singles? Is it 25 or 50 %? The game has been out for hours in some places so we should really know by now ._.
 

Theorymon

Have a wonderful day, wahoo!
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Yo just so you guys know, Disguise got nerfed a bit: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...echanic-questions.3655528/page-6#post-8283582

Basically, seems like Mimikyu takes about 12.5% of damage when Disguise breaks. So basically, don't use Focus Sash Mimikyu anymore, and I guess if you still want to use bulky Mimikyu (idk yet cuz no Z moves), you'll have to adjust EVs to account for this!

Also on Rapid Spin: Normally I'd never use this move, but I'm seriously considering it on a few Mold Breaker Excadrill sets because I think the Speed boost might come in handy. Probably gonna try it on AV Excadrill first, even if I might miss Horn Drill.

Anyways, Gyarados sounds like a freaking fercious Dynamaxer since it gets a Speed Boost from Bounce, and can set up Rain with Waterfall. I'm honestly struggling to think of great consistent checks for this thing, even Rotom-W gets blasted by Power Whip. At the very least, unless you're crazy and give up Dragon Dance (I guess using Moxie in that case), you won't be able to cover EVERYTHING.

Also, that reminds me of a batshit insane idea I thought of last night. So Gyarados got me thinking about how Dexit nuked the Flying type, and I was looking for offensive Flying mons that could boost before Dynamaxing...

I might try Nasty Plot Rotom-Fan

Yeah seriously, the joke of ALL god damn Rotoms, the Flying type with Levitate! Reason I'm considering it... turns out, +2 Dynamax LO Air Slash does like 90% minimum to Ferrothorn o_O. So, that's another Rotom that can mess with Ferropex cores, and the speed boost seems pretty dangerous! I'm thinking Nasty Plot / Thunderbolt / Air Slash / Dark Pulse (Dark Pulse is for flinches, hitting Dragapult a bit harder, it gets SpA drops in Dynamax, and its the best you can do to Excadrill lol).

This does get owned pretty hard by Tyranitar and I'm not super comfortable with th Excadrill match up... but ehh I've tested crazier things before, so I'm gonna give this a go this month!
 
Is it worth using Rapid Spin in 3V3? It’s a weak move, and you a sacrafice an arguably useful spot for it. Don’t see too much reason to use Milotic over Toxapex as defensive water type though it did get some nice buffs.

Some other thoughts:
Butterfree replaces Vivillon as Quiver Dance that can inflict reliable sleep.

Sylveon got access Mystical Fire, so it might see a resurgence. Will still face competition from Primarina and Hatterene.

Haxorus is the only Pokémon other than Excadrill to gain Mold Breaker which makes it the only Pokémon Dragon Dance who can bypass Mimikyu and Quagsire, so it can be strong candidate for wallbreaker. While it faces competition from Dragapault and Gyarados as a Dragon Dance user, it has the highest attack when compared to those two, as well as Mold Breaker, so it will definitely have its niche.
I presume that rapid spin is advantageous because of speed boosting than eliminating entry hazards. We still have Sand Rush as ability, but it looks like that weather war will be proeminent after Dynamax moves, so it might be unable to control sand every turn. I might be wrong. AV Exca seems good with rapid spin, I'll at least try it out.

True, Butterfree is a perfect replacement for Vivilion!

Does absolutely anybody have confirmation on how life dew works in singles? Is it 25 or 50 %? The game has been out for hours in some places so we should really know by now ._.
I think it is 25%

Yo just so you guys know, Disguise got nerfed a bit: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...echanic-questions.3655528/page-6#post-8283582

Basically, seems like Mimikyu takes about 12.5% of damage when Disguise breaks. So basically, don't use Focus Sash Mimikyu anymore, and I guess if you still want to use bulky Mimikyu (idk yet cuz no Z moves), you'll have to adjust EVs to account for this!

Also on Rapid Spin: Normally I'd never use this move, but I'm seriously considering it on a few Mold Breaker Excadrill sets because I think the Speed boost might come in handy. Probably gonna try it on AV Excadrill first, even if I might miss Horn Drill.

Anyways, Gyarados sounds like a freaking fercious Dynamaxer since it gets a Speed Boost from Bounce, and can set up Rain with Waterfall. I'm honestly struggling to think of great consistent checks for this thing, even Rotom-W gets blasted by Power Whip. At the very least, unless you're crazy and give up Dragon Dance (I guess using Moxie in that case), you won't be able to cover EVERYTHING.

Also, that reminds me of a batshit insane idea I thought of last night. So Gyarados got me thinking about how Dexit nuked the Flying type, and I was looking for offensive Flying mons that could boost before Dynamaxing...

I might try Nasty Plot Rotom-Fan

Yeah seriously, the joke of ALL god damn Rotoms, the Flying type with Levitate! Reason I'm considering it... turns out, +2 Dynamax LO Air Slash does like 90% minimum to Ferrothorn o_O. So, that's another Rotom that can mess with Ferropex cores, and the speed boost seems pretty dangerous! I'm thinking Nasty Plot / Thunderbolt / Air Slash / Dark Pulse (Dark Pulse is for flinches, hitting Dragapult a bit harder, it gets SpA drops in Dynamax, and its the best you can do to Excadrill lol).

This does get owned pretty hard by Tyranitar and I'm not super comfortable with th Excadrill match up... but ehh I've tested crazier things before, so I'm gonna give this a go this month!
Holy moly, I didn't know about Disguise. That's bad. We still have bulky sets!
 

1_TrickPhony

BSS Circuit Co-host
I might try Nasty Plot Rotom-Fan

Yeah seriously, the joke of ALL god damn Rotoms, the Flying type with Levitate! Reason I'm considering it... turns out, +2 Dynamax LO Air Slash does like 90% minimum to Ferrothorn o_O. So, that's another Rotom that can mess with Ferropex cores, and the speed boost seems pretty dangerous! I'm thinking Nasty Plot / Thunderbolt / Air Slash / Dark Pulse (Dark Pulse is for flinches, hitting Dragapult a bit harder, it gets SpA drops in Dynamax, and its the best you can do to Excadrill lol).

This does get owned pretty hard by Tyranitar and I'm not super comfortable with th Excadrill match up... but ehh I've tested crazier things before, so I'm gonna give this a go this month!
A really cool mon that also beats Ferrothorn, you might have heard of it: Rotom-H. LOL. Can run NP/Tbolt/Overheat/Dark Pulse as well and have way more firepower/better typing. Just curious as to your rationale of fan vs ez bake oven.
 

Theorymon

Have a wonderful day, wahoo!
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A really cool mon that also beats Ferrothorn, you might have heard of it: Rotom-H. LOL. Can run NP/Tbolt/Overheat/Dark Pulse as well and have way more firepower/better typing. Just curious as to your rationale of fan vs ez bake oven.
Oh dont get me wrong, of course Rotom-H is a better, more versatile mon. Rotom-S interests me specfically because it can get that Speed boost. Rotom formes arent actually that bulky when you don't invest, so outspeeding dangerous stuff like Hydreigon and Gengar sounds right up my alley. Because of the Max Airstream giving a speed boost and being a 130 BP STAB for Rotom-S, I think it probably has more sweeping potential than the other Rotom formes.

But if you just want an Electric type that messes with Ferropex alone, Rotom-H is totally the better choice because it checks a lot of good stuff. I was just looking for Flying-type sweepers because the Flying max move is so nuts, yet Dexit destroyed so many offensive Flying-types lol.

On that note, I sorta want to try Braviary too, since it gets Bulk Up and hits like a truck while Dynamaxed, even benefits from Intimidate via Defiant! I'm still also interested in Rotom-S because Nasty Plot and the Electric-typing makes it easier to wall break stuff, but Braviary is something I'll probably give a shot too!
 
I'm well aware that some may try to mock and throw some e-stones at me but here it goes: DD Dragapult with baton pass is the new speed boost Blaziken with SD and baton pass of this gen, sort of (as close to as it gets for gen 8). While people have been screaming at its shallow physical move pool with great disappointment, understandably, dragapult should be FAR from bad, especially in 3v3 singles. With its rather amazing offensive stats and notable moves - DD, baton pass, dragon darts, U-Turn, screens if you like them, and wide range of special moves - it can run various sets. Dragapult can most certainly run variations of DD, mixed, CB, LO, and maybe specs (?). While I understand people's disappointing regarding the physical movepool, I honestly am baffled at people that think this mon is bad or mediocre as a whole - for both 3v3 and 6v6. I can see this thing being a major threat.

Personally, I'm going to play around with naive- or jolly-natured Dragapult with DD/Dragon Darts/Fire Blast or Psychic Fangs/Baton pass. I honestly see this thing being a true top tier mon eventually. Again, I can't wait to try DD+BP Dragapult paired with a mon or two that can benefit from DD boost being passed down.

Just my thoughts anyways.
 
Hello, I haven't beat sword yet but I did a lot of collecting on ultrasun and just waiting for pokemon home to move all my perfectly ev/iv trained pokemon to the game. How does the online feel in this game? Are there lots of players? I know ultra sun had a certain "meta" but with that new gigantamax and no megas, alot of my teams need reworking. Not to mention certain missing pokemon.
 
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