AAA Almost Any Ability

[LordBox]

TERA BLAST DRAGONITE

Dragonite @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Aerilate
Tera Type: Fire/Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 44 SpA / 212 Spe
Naive/Hasty Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Tera Blast
- Dragon Dance

I may be overhyping this but it's such a cool set and when I was using it I had several people ask me how it was achieving certain calcs vs their physical walls. The star is Tera Blast. Dragonite is as we all know, busted. But it has a couple of answers, namely Corviknight and Fur Coat (especially Avalugg). How do you deal with this? Running a Fire move to hit both is sound, but if you run physical then you get walled by Fur Coat, while Special gets walled by Corv. Tera Blast is the answer. Prior to terastalizing, it's a *Special* Normal attack affected by Aerilate! AFTER terastalizing, it's a *Physical* Fire attack! This allows you to get the jump on Avalugg by 2HKOing it on switch pre-Tera, and OHKOing Corv post-Tera. It's like having a secret 5th move. Though it does lack the longevity of roost sets and sacrifices some power from losing Flying tera, it does something other Dragonite sets just don't do without sacrificing what makes it so powerful in the first place. Electric is good tera too to take opposing Espeeds and hit Baked Corv, though it won't live Fairy or Ice moves as easily. EVs are to outspeed Flutter at +1 so you don't have to risk Dazzling blocking you.

Cool Dnite set, although you could always slap FBlast and be done with roasting Avalugg. That being said it can't afford to run 3 attacks anymore lest losing to Scales Corv and Tera Electric has interesting defensive utility, but Tera Flying is just insanely powerful on DNite so it's kind of a hard trade for me. On topic of Dnite sets I've found myself gravitating towards using Banded Dnite more and more, mainly on teams where it's my main speed control, with Band it can pull OHKO's on a lot more mons without Tera or with Tera can act as a one man sweeping machine against some team or weakened cores.

Band Calc Dump

252+ Atk Choice Band Aerilate Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 349-412 (99.4 - 117.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 378-446 (101.8 - 120.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Tera-Flying)

252+ Atk Choice Band Aerilate Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Bundle: 237-279 (93.6 - 110.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Aerilate Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Flutter Mane: 213-251 (84.8 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (Tera-Electric)

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragapult: 222-262 (70 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Tera-Electric vs Tera-Flying)

252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Valiant: 192-227 (66.4 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Tera-Electric vs Tera-Flying)

Also, another funny DNite set that I've tested a bit is MBounce Dnite, full credit to DeepFriedMagikarp for the set.

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail / Thunder Wave
- Roost

MBounce is just a good ability and sits on a lot of passive mons like Ting-Lu. Dragonite specifically was picked as an MBounce mon for its immunity to Ground, which is the most common sole attack of a lot of mons which spam Hazards use (Ting-Lu, Hippowdown, Clodsire) and also for its decent bulk and Roost. SpD bulk allows DNite to handle Fire types like Iron Moth and Skeleridge and can synergise with IceScales Corv fairly nicely. IceBeam and EQ threaten previously mentioned hazard stackers as well and DTail can force chip from hazards while TWave can provide some nice utility. Main issue here is that you're not using Aerilate Dnite, but hey MBounce is cool and the main other alternative (IceScales Corv) is also extremely valuable on a lot of teams. I've also tried MBounce Slither Wing, which was on one of Isaiah's old stall teams and it was half decent as well and MBounce Salamence is also an idea? Although I haven't tested it.

RIP Unburden and Revival Blessing, fun to abuse while they were still around. I'm sure Grim_Blazer is loving the bans. On another note I've also seen some bulky Gholdnego NP sets either with Sub and Well-Baked Body or even IceScales/FurCoat which can abuse Corv being able to do nothing to it. In terms of the post above I'd honestly switch Flutter and Bundle in terms of how annoying they are to handle, but without Tera they will both probably be fine (but only because of FurScales).

 

[Uninteleon]

You ever just have one of those moments while you're thinking and go like: "This is it!". That's what I had 2 nights ago and this is the result:


https://pokepast.es/1ab11c2e13bea428

God, this team is so insane it got me from 1000 to 1400+ elo in ~2 days. It doesn't even NEED the last slot to function, however a ghost type would be nice.

90% of the time you lead Slither and Tera Bug into F-Imp/U-turn, however if you find yourself against playstyles like Spidops Webs HO you'll usually want to lead Garganacl/Corviknight just to see if they're Prankster, Mold Breaker, or Mycelium Might (yes im still supporting this because it has the unnoticed benefit of not popping up unlike mold breaker does) and potentially Magic Bounce the hazards away. Fur Coat Florges is a classic, however I changed it to Specs since I starting noticing I ended up Sacrificing it to Dragonite a lot, leaving Corviknight to do the unfinished work. Corviknight should be understandable, it serves as a primary hazard remover & SpDef wall. Garganacl helps with the sort-of obvious Fire weakness and provides immense support with Magic Bounce. Iron Treads is secondary form of removal that also isn't afraid of hitting Skeledirges trying to block rapid spin with a powerful Earthquake/Knock Off to the face, it also helps with killing Flutter Manes that Slither/Corv/DNite can't deal with for whatever reason. And finally, Dragonite, arguably the most interchangeable member on this team. Aerialite ESpeeds are nice, but it was a late addition to the team and I haven't seen it put in much work lately.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1733581023-ghlk1dbhjhzfzs6iy4huqoaejbmzwdhpw

Here's a replay of one of the lesser used members helping with obliterating a stall team in the 1400s, also one of the few times where not Tera'ing Slither T1 was how I got my wincon.

 

[Bandit Babe]

Bahaha! I didn't realize that caused you so much damage! Sometimes you gotta fight fire (stall) with fire, and stall causes ME psychic damage. So I gotta bring the pain somewhere.

The Traumatic but Hilarious 6-0

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1726990439

I'd like to share said team though, which I used to peak at 7 with my alt and 10 with my main, though now they're 12 and 15 respectively as I haven't played in a few days. I tried to use Pokemon that offered a lot of role compression to tackle as many threats as possible, and I'll go more in depth below. Yes everything has boots because hazard stack is annoying (hence why I'm using it lol).

Ladder Proof

View attachment 471644

AAA Hazard Stack Balance/Semi-Stall

Flutter Mane @ Leftovers
Ability: Dazzling
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Moonblast
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave

This is a slot I'm sort of torn on. I was using AV Regen Treads (I miss Rapid Spin ngl) here at one point, but I settled on this because I got tired of getting pressured by opposing Dragonite and Mold Breaker Tusk, the former which Garganacle can deal with but can still overwhelm by doubling out to a check, and the latter which utterly destroyed me whenever I saw it. I also like having another spinblocker. Damage is way lower than SFLO but TWave crippling Corv and stall, and Dazzling preventing Dragonite and Sucker Punch from working is just too good utility for my team. Does what you'd expect. Sub on switch, attack or TW, spam sub until full para hax if you'd like. Shadow Ball and CM over TW Hex is also great, but loses harder to Scales Corv.

Iron Valiant @ Life Orb
Ability: Download
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Moonblast
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance

I've been using this exact set since day 1 and I haven't ever felt compelled to take it off. Puts in work damn near every game and demolishes defensive cores. Clod and Skeledirge give it issues but other than that it's an extremely solid sweeper and revenge killer. Always OHKOs Flutter with Sneak with tera or at +1 no tera, always OHKOs Avalugg with +1 Moonblast, can OHKO SpDef Corv at +1 and always does at +2, etc. Ofc Dnite is a huge problem for this mon but I love this thing both in design and in battle so every team I make will use it lol.

Meowscarada @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flower Trick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Trick

I was using Dnite here, but I needed something that could pressure not just fast/frail offense, but also stall, and here it is. Knock and Trick work wonders vs stall and defensive mons, and MG Scarf makes it an excellent fast offensive pivot and revenger. Really good to lead as it nearly always can bait Corv into getting Tricked and OHKO Flutter/Pult leads, just Turn on all else. Flower Trick is also great for taking down non Fur Coat variants of Tusk, Ting, and Garg, especially since it doesn't take passive damage from Salt Cure. It doesn't always hit as hard as I'd like, but it serves its purpose very nicely.

Garganacl @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Fur Coat
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Salt Cure
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Recover

This thing is a demon. I had it used against me once when I was in a Fur Coat crisis, and I immediately picked it up and haven't looked back since. No physical attacker breaks this. You HAVE to toxic it or send in a special or Mold Breaker attacker, and at that point it's the prediction game as you can do major chip to special attackers switching in if you predict the switch and Salt Cure. I know Ice Scales is the most common set, but it's just so unbelievably bulky, and with tera there's almost nothing on the physical side that can take it down and it is a potent wincon, especially since Cure will force switches and subsequently hazard damage.

Gastrodon (Gastrodon-East) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake/Liquidation
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Recover

I was also torn on an Ice Scales mon. I like Corv but I found Hadron Shocks and Desolate Moth were becoming increasingly common, so I wanted something that could handle EVERYTHING while actually providing some utility to my team and not just being a useless wall, as Corv does still have U-Turn and Defog. It sets up hazards, walls things, and can attack. Unfortunately, you only have room for 1 attack and both have drawbacks. You NEED a physical attack for CM Sub Flutter, Liquidation gets blocked by Moth and EQ gets blocked by Flying mons like Kilowattrel. Fairy tera let's it switch in on a Bundle Freeze Dry, tera, live a second one, and Recover.

Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Flying/Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Torch Song
- Roar
- Slack Off

Here it is, the SINISTER, META-RUINING MONSTER ITSELF... Standard GaG Skeledirge lol. The only difference being Roar over wisp. I felt this was good for phasing setup, but ALSO for getting extra hazard chip. EVs are to outspeed Corv (I did this after my battle vs blasta) and opposing Skeledirge. Does exactly what you expect. Flying tera for living EQ and opposing ghosts, but Ghost is also an option if you want to live EQ and still spinblock. As you saw, vs blasta this thing 6-0d their stall with minimal support. Vs jrdn... Idk what demonic force is controlling them but I cannot break their stall team and it truly does damage my psyche lol. #1 on ladder for a reason.

I'll share the Dragonite and Treads sets I dropped as well, because they are still very good and I have a REALLY cool and creative tech on Dnite that on the right team I believe is busted.

TERA BLAST DRAGONITE

Dragonite @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Aerilate
Tera Type: Fire/Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 44 SpA / 212 Spe
Naive/Hasty Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Tera Blast
- Dragon Dance

I may be overhyping this but it's such a cool set and when I was using it I had several people ask me how it was achieving certain calcs vs their physical walls. The star is Tera Blast. Dragonite is as we all know, busted. But it has a couple of answers, namely Corviknight and Fur Coat (especially Avalugg). How do you deal with this? Running a Fire move to hit both is sound, but if you run physical then you get walled by Fur Coat, while Special gets walled by Corv. Tera Blast is the answer. Prior to terastalizing, it's a *Special* Normal attack affected by Aerilate! AFTER terastalizing, it's a *Physical* Fire attack! This allows you to get the jump on Avalugg by 2HKOing it on switch pre-Tera, and OHKOing Corv post-Tera. It's like having a secret 5th move. Though it does lack the longevity of roost sets and sacrifices some power from losing Flying tera, it does something other Dragonite sets just don't do without sacrificing what makes it so powerful in the first place. Electric is good tera too to take opposing Espeeds and hit Baked Corv, though it won't live Fairy or Ice moves as easily. EVs are to outspeed Flutter at +1 so you don't have to risk Dazzling blocking you.

AV Regen Treads

Iron Treads @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 212 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

Pretty standard, but reliable. EVs are to always make Shadow Ball from SFLO Flutter a 3HKO after Rocks, the rest in Def. Knock obv fits my team very nicely. I might put this back on just because it works so damn well with the team as a whole from a role compression and utility standpoint, but Flutter is just so easy to use and strong lol. Tera Ground hits harder but a defensive tera into Flying helps vs MB Tusk.

Hope you all got something out of this! Maybe I'll try to make a busted HO team with Dnite and ladder with that assuming tera isn't banned, and the MGLO Ghold set I posted because the short time I used that it was insane (and hard counters Garg), but this is all I have for now.

LOL I too have been boned by this on the ladder. Good as Goldshould DEF be on the watchlist!

 

[UT]

Terastallizing has been confirmed banned in AAA! Thanks to everyone who voted, debated, or otherwise contributed to this process!

The council will be keeping a very close eye on several mons over the next several days (Iron Bundle, Dragonite, Dragapult, Flutter Mane, to name a few) and once we've gotten the chance to see the post-Tera meta a little more may very well hold several quickban slates. Once we feel like the immediate needs have been addressed, we will likely open up discussion/looking into the more controversial abilities like FurScales, Poison Heal, and Magic Bounce.

As always, feedback on what you think is broken, and particularly replays and/or calcs showing why, are extremely appreciated! The discourse here, on discord, and in the room has been great, and we look forward to keeping it up!

 

[Atha]

Here's a threats list for me for you guys to make teambuilding easier. Things are ordered roughly from most common to least common. If your favorite pokemon's not here it's because I deemed it unworthy.

Physical :


Special :


Mixed :

 

[Racool]

Hi there been a while! Figured Id have a dabble with the new gen stuff and made a couple teams that feel good enough to post:

Moldy HO with sturdy Mastiff:
https://pokepast.es/1562735d5b9ed4c0
Team follows an archetype that ive always gravitated towards with HO teams - dont need hazard removal if youre immune to hazards yourself. It helps when the moldy hazard setter is broken as fuck too. This tusk thingy literally is absurdly tanky, with great typing, crazy stabs, knock and rocks. Pair it with standard dnite, speedy breaker in sflo draga, and your water immunity for the iron bundles of the world in the iron moth thingy. Honeslty could run tspike on it over uturn, ive never clicked the pivot move in like 50 games tbh. The last 2 slots are my favourite though. Scarf mg gholdengo is fucking fire - the steel beams hit like a truck and its amazing speed control with great typing to switch into stuff too, and then the trick just means you can properly fuck over a defensive backbone. Oh and then np up and fire off a brutal steel beam. 10/10 set would reccomend. Finally the dog is just your classic sweep stopper - boots sturdy to get around the ability clause, and comeuppance usually stops most sweepers in their tracks.

This team is great for mindless laddering which is what I made it for. Very much a clicking team, with enough surprise factor to catch a lot of people out. Fun and quick to ladder with in my experience :)


BO with bdrum ph iron hands:
https://pokepast.es/c2353d7432529f5c

This team is a bit harder to play, and suffers from a lot less counterplay against a lot of threats - honestly it could use some improvements.
The team is built around the defensive backbone of regen helmet ting liu, mbounce corv, and ph iron hands. Iron hands also doubles up as an offensive threat running pdrum ph for a bit of a surprise. Then comes in that same scarf gholdengo set from the previous team which I oh so love, offerince speed control and yeah all the rest it comes with, and finally sflo iron valiant which breaks a fuck ton of teams. The last slot is the slot I kind of hate, that being banded meoscarada. It just doesnt do enough I find - its neither fast enough nor strong enough nor bulky enough, and the typing isnt incredible either. I just haven't quite got a replacement to feel better.

The main issues are the lack of switchins to stuff like iron bundle and any strong fire attacker. As with the first team, you can get by using pressure as a lot of these mons cant really switchin, but also a lot of the time i get bailed out by ladder people not scouting for scarf on gholdengo if Im being honest, which isnt really suitable counterplay. That being said the team feels good when youve got pressure, and there are a lot of threats on it that can break through most cores. A few changes away from a really solid team I feel, but I dont really have the patience to further test it out.


Both are fun and relatively easy to use. Nothing crazy good but the best ive been able to come up with. Built these largely for non-terra meta because im assuming itll be banned - if not i cri. Lemme know what you think :) ---- Edit I just read up and saw terra got banned. Yay !

P.S while writing this I forgot about 3 ladder games i was playing and lost to timer losing 105 elo which had taken me the better part of the day to grind up. I am requesting dopamine in the form of likes to combat the total sadness this has caused me :/

 

[UT]

Your AAA council is hard at work, and we have done several things.

First off, we have undergone a major overhaul, adding Atha, DeepFriedMagikarp, Quantum Tesseract, and Jrdn to council! Please give them all a big congratulations!

Secondly, beauts has rolled off; they've been a huge help to AAA, and will be missed, thank you again for all you have done!

Now, quick ban time.

Poison Heal and Magic Bounce have been banned from AAA!​

Quick Ban...	UT	Isaiah	TNM	Atha	DFM	QT	Jrdn	Total
Poison Heal	Ban	Ban	DNB	Ban	Abstain	Ban	DNB	4-2-1 Ban
Magic Bounce	Ban	Ban	DNB	Ban	Ban	DNB	DNB	4-3-0 Ban
Kingambit	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	Ban	DNB	1-6-0 DNB
Iron Bundle	Ban	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	1-6-0 DNB
Flutter Mane	Ban	DNB	Abstain	DNB	Ban	Ban	DNB	3-3-1 DNB
Dragonite	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	Abstain	0-6-1 DNB
Dragapult	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	Ban	DNB	DNB	1-6-0 DNB

Poison Heal was broken last generation. This generation, we lost most of our slow pivots, making them harder to force out, most of our Gastro Acid and Skill Swap users, and recovery moves got nerfed to eight PP, making the near-infinite recovery of Poison Heal even more broken. Dondozo, Great Tusk, and Iron Hands are all great users, and even more off the wall stuff like Poison Heal Flutter Mane and Dragapult could sit on some teams. Poison Heal mons exert tremendous pressure just by existing and can afford to attack liberally thanks to their continuous passive recovery, making switching into them dangerous—especially if they have grabbed a turn or two of set up. This was honestly going to be a longer post, but then I had these two great games against QT that make the point far better than I could. Good riddance.

Magic Bounce is another returning ability from last generation that is getting banned for largely the same reasons as before. While it is less overtly broken, it adds an element of unpredictability and fishiness to the metagame that the council views as unhealthy. If the opposing Bouncer matches up well into your hazard setter(s), a normally consistent and reliable form of progress is literally turned into a detriment. Corviknight, Dragonite, and Slither Wing can all come in on common Rockers and Spikers and deny progress for very little trade off. In particular, fatter teams that typically rely on entry hazards and status can find their primary wincon blanked, unless they can slot in a moldy hazard setter on a team likely struggling to cover threats as-is.

The mons on this slate are undeniably powerful and controversial, but currently the council either believes they largely fit within the power level of the metagame, at least so far, or they need more time to be evaluated post-Tera. Flutter Mane even split the council, clearly cementing itself as at the top of the watch list. With more time and more room for innovation (especially since none of these mons relied heavily on Poison Heal or Magic Bounce), they may very well find themselves on another quick ban or suspect slate, especially given my next topic, but not today.

The most glaring omission on this slate is that we did not vote on Fur Coat + Ice Scales, which I am sure many were expecting action on. While these remain very high on the watch list, the council first wanted to take a vote on the abilities + mons listed above and give the metagame more time to settle post-Tera. Taking action on FurCoat would dramatically shape the direction of the tier and quite literally set the power level going forward, so this is action we want to consider carefully. Rest assured, it is not a question we will put off too long.

Again, welcome the new guys, thanks again to beauts, and thanks to y'all for playing and discussing and enjoying the metagame! As always, if you have any reaction to the news, new techs you have discovered, or more action you think is necessary, fire away!

Tagging Kris to implement Poison Heal and Magic Bounce bans, please and thank you!

 

[Isaiah]

Resource Updates!​

Viability List - This will be linked in the OP as well, just posting it now for an early look at what's decent right now :]

You might be wondering: "Why isn't this in alphabetical order?" HEY. Don't worry about that.

High

Flutter Mane	Sheer Force, Mold Breaker, Hadron Engine, Queenly Majesty, Fur Coat
Corviknight	Ice Scales, Fur Coat, Unaware, Well-Baked Body, Intimidate
Iron Hands	Fur Coat, Triage, Regenerator
Dragonite	Aerilate, Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Iron Bundle	Primordial Sea, Adaptability, Magic Guard, Mold Breaker
Great Tusk	Mold Breaker, Regenerator, Adaptability, Fur Coat,
Dragapult	Sheer Force, Hadron Engine
Garganacl	Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Iron Moth	Desolate Land

Mid

Skeledirge	Good as Gold
Ceruledge	Orichalcum Pulse, Desolate Land
Gholdengo	Fur Coat, Magic Guard, Regenerator, Earth Eater
Iron Valiant	Sheer Force, Sword of Ruin
Kingambit	Adaptability, Regenerator
Noivern	Aerilate
Volcarona	Desolate Land
Scream Tail	Pixilate, Fur Coat
Avalugg	Fur Coat
Slither Wing	Tinted Lens, Adaptability, Orichalcum Pulse, Unaware, Regenerator
Garchomp	Fur Coat, Regenerator, Ice Scales
Chi-Yu	Desolate Land, Sheer Force, No Guard
Florges	Ice Scales, Fur Coat
Roaring Moon	Regenerator, Sword of Ruin
Iron Treads	Regenerator
Cyclizar	Regenerator
Clodsire	Ice Scales, Fur Coat, Prankster
Ting-Lu	Regenerator, Ice Scales
Hippowdon	Fur Coat
Blissey	Ice Scales, Scrappy

Low

Palossand	Fur Coat
Sylveon	Ice Scales
Sandy Shocks	Hadron Engine
Quaquaval	Primordial Sea
Chansey	Ice Scales, Regenerator, Scrappy, Good as Gold, Magic Guard
Baxcalibur	Mold Breaker, Adaptability
Armarouge	Psychic Surge
Tinkaton	Regenerator
Toxapex	Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Meowscarada	Sword of Ruin, Sniper
Chien-Pao	Sword of Ruin
Houndstone	Supreme Overlord
Scizor	Regenerator
Rotom-Wash	Ice Scales, Regenerator
Polteageist	Queenly Majesty
Glimmora	Earth Eater, Ice Scales, Toxic Debris
Kilowattrel	Primordial Sea

SAMPLE SETS TOO!​

We're also now accepting submissions for sample sets!

Why: So that each ranked Pokemon will eventually link to the SmogDex to help people with building, like our viability rankings from last generation.

What does this entail? Here's an example:

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

- Switches into special attackers like Dragapult and Flutter Mane pretty well
- Min speed for slow pivoting
- The only good defogger in the tier

We'll be reading posts in this thread + adding good sets to the smogdex as we see them. If you don't see your set(s) get added, it probably just means someone beat you to it or we weren't able to fit every viable set into the dex. Even just posting in this thread will go a long way in metagame development, so don't hold back!

 

[Codename C.A.T]

first
Anyways, for the first nom:
Fur Coat, Regenerator, Sword of Ruin
Specifically on a scarf set, this can be very effective. Because Chomp can afford to run adamant on scarf, it’s got a devastatingly strong Earthquake and Outrage. It can also click Dragon Claw for big chip against a lot of EQ switch ins, aside from Fur Coats. However, it does have a good amount of opportunity cost, as you could be running another Chomp or a different scarfer or both. Still, I think it deserves a mention

 

[UT]

I will get started with some noms then!

Sets

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Scales / Well-Baked Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog

Corviknight @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat / Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Sets

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Hadron Engine
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Hex / Shadow Ball
- U-turn

Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Dragon Rush
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt

 

[Isaiah]

Some sets (just so ppl don't double post):

Sets

Flutter Mane @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Mystical Fire / Pain Split
- Taunt / Calm Mind

Flutter Mane @ Choice Specs
Ability: Hadron Engine / Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock / Mystical Fire

Flutter Mane @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Mystical Fire
- Hex / Mystical Fire / Psyshock

Hide

Ceruledge @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots / Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse / Desolate Land
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant or Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance / Will-O-Wisp / Close Combat
- Bitter Blade
- Solar Blade
- Shadow Sneak

 

[LordBox]

Armarouge Set

Armarouge @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Armor Cannon
- Expanding Force
- Trick
- Focus Blast / Psyshock / Destiny Bond / Will-O-Wisp

Moldy Great Tusk Set

Great Tusk @ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Spinner
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat

Garganacl Sets

Garganacl @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Iron Defense / Protect
- Body Press / Stealth Rock

Garganacl @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Iron Defense / Protect / Curse
- Body Press / Stealth Rock / Earthquake

Dragonite Set

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Sharp Beak / Choice Band
Ability: Aerilate
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Adamant or Lonely Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance / Ice Spinner
- Roost / Thunder Punch
- Fire Blast / Earthquake / Tera Blast

Fur Coat Gholdnego Set

Gholdengo @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain / Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Recover
- Shadow Ball / Substitute

 

[Ducky]

Sample Sets WOOO! Might do some more later but we will see

RegenVest

Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- Volt Switch
- Ice Punch

RegenVest

Tinkaton @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Gigaton Hammer
- Play Rough
- Skitter Smack

Mixed SFLO

Iron Valiant @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic

THE duck

Quaquaval @ Choice Band
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Aqua Step
- U-turn
- Wave Crash

 

[BugGoBrrrrrr]

Resource Updates!​

Viability List - This will be linked in the OP as well, just posting it now for an early look at what's decent right now :]

You might be wondering: "Why isn't this in alphabetical order?" HEY. Don't worry about that.

High

Flutter Mane	Sheer Force, Mold Breaker, Hadron Engine, Queenly Majesty
Corviknight	Ice Scales, Fur Coat, Unaware, Well-Baked Body, Intimidate
Iron Hands	Fur Coat, Triage, Regenerator
Dragonite	Aerilate
Iron Bundle	Primordial, Adaptability, Tinted Lens, Magic Guard
Great Tusk	Mold Breaker, Fur Coat, Regenerator
Dragapult	Sheer Force, Hadron Engine
Garganacl	Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Iron Moth	Desolate Land

Mid

Skeledirge	Good as Gold
Ceruledge	Orichalcum Pulse, Desolate Land
Gholdengo	Fur Coat, Magic Guard, Regenerator
Iron Valiant	Sheer Force, Sword of Ruin
Kingambit	Adaptability, Regenerator
Noivern	Aerilate
Volcarona	Desolate Land
Scream Tail	Pixilate, Fur Coat
Avalugg	Fur Coat
Slither Wing	Tinted Lens, Adaptability, Orichalcum Pulse, Unaware, Regenerator
Garchomp	Fur Coat, Regenerator
Chi-Yu	Desolate Land, Sheer Force
Florges	Ice Scales, Fur Coat
Roaring Moon	Regenerator, Sword of Ruin
Iron Treads	Regenerator
Cyclizar	Regenerator
Clodsire	Ice Scales, Fur Coat, Prankster
Ting-Lu	Regenerator, Ice Scales, Mold Breaker
Hippowdon	Fur Coat
Blissey	Ice Scales

Low

Palossand	Fur Coat
Sylveon	Ice Scales
Sandy Shocks	Hadron Engine
Quaquaval	Primordial Sea
Chansey	Ice Scales, Regenerator, Magic Guard
Baxcalibur	Mold Breaker, Adaptability
Armarouge	Psychic Surge
Tinkaton	Regenerator
Toxapex	Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Meowscarada	Sword of Ruin, Sniper
Chien-Pao	Sword of Ruin
Houndstone	Supreme Overlord
Scizor	Regenerator
Rotom-Wash	Ice Scales, Regenerator
Polteageist	Queenly Majesty
Glimmora	Earth Eater, Ice Scales, Toxic Debris
Kilowattrel	Primordial Sea

SAMPLE SETS TOO!​

We're also now accepting submissions for sample sets!

Why: So that each ranked Pokemon will eventually link to the SmogDex to help people with building, like our viability rankings from last generation.

What does this entail? Here's an example:


We'll be reading posts in this thread + adding good sets to the smogdex as we see them. If you don't see your set(s) get added, it probably just means someone beat you to it or we weren't able to fit every viable set into the dex. Even just posting in this thread will go a long way in metagame development, so don't hold back!

Petition for scrappy / good as gold to be put as sets

Sets

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock / Thunder Wave
- Calm Mind

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Good as Gold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Shadow Ball / Ice Beam
- Calm Mind

I personally have had success with both these sets on fatter builds (when my wifi wasn’t making me ff mid battle ofc)

 

[UT]

Can't Stop Won't Stop

hazards stay up

Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Good as Gold
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Torch Song
- Hex / Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp / Roar
- Slack Off

Santa

Iron Bundle @ Choice Specs
Ability: Primordial Sea / Mold Breaker / Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Freeze-Dry
- U-turn / Flip Turn

Iron Bundle @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Freeze-Dry
- Encore / Taunt
- U-turn

BATMAN

Noivern @ Choice Specs
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Draco Meteor / Roost / U-turn
- Flamethrower
- U-turn

Noivern @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Super Fang
- Roost
- U-turn / Taunt

 

[Isaiah]

Resource Updates!​

Viability List - This will be linked in the OP as well, just posting it now for an early look at what's decent right now :]

You might be wondering: "Why isn't this in alphabetical order?" HEY. Don't worry about that.

High

Flutter Mane	Sheer Force, Mold Breaker, Hadron Engine, Queenly Majesty
Corviknight	Ice Scales, Fur Coat, Unaware, Well-Baked Body, Intimidate
Iron Hands	Fur Coat, Triage, Regenerator
Dragonite	Aerilate
Iron Bundle	Primordial, Adaptability, Tinted Lens, Magic Guard
Great Tusk	Mold Breaker, Fur Coat, Regenerator
Dragapult	Sheer Force, Hadron Engine
Garganacl	Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Iron Moth	Desolate Land

Mid

Skeledirge	Good as Gold
Ceruledge	Orichalcum Pulse, Desolate Land
Gholdengo	Fur Coat, Magic Guard, Regenerator
Iron Valiant	Sheer Force, Sword of Ruin
Kingambit	Adaptability, Regenerator
Noivern	Aerilate
Volcarona	Desolate Land
Scream Tail	Pixilate, Fur Coat
Avalugg	Fur Coat
Slither Wing	Tinted Lens, Adaptability, Orichalcum Pulse, Unaware, Regenerator
Garchomp	Fur Coat, Regenerator
Chi-Yu	Desolate Land, Sheer Force
Florges	Ice Scales, Fur Coat
Roaring Moon	Regenerator, Sword of Ruin
Iron Treads	Regenerator
Cyclizar	Regenerator
Clodsire	Ice Scales, Fur Coat, Prankster
Ting-Lu	Regenerator, Ice Scales, Mold Breaker
Hippowdon	Fur Coat
Blissey	Ice Scales

Low

Palossand	Fur Coat
Sylveon	Ice Scales
Sandy Shocks	Hadron Engine
Quaquaval	Primordial Sea
Chansey	Ice Scales, Regenerator, Magic Guard
Baxcalibur	Mold Breaker, Adaptability
Armarouge	Psychic Surge
Tinkaton	Regenerator
Toxapex	Fur Coat, Ice Scales
Meowscarada	Sword of Ruin, Sniper
Chien-Pao	Sword of Ruin
Houndstone	Supreme Overlord
Scizor	Regenerator
Rotom-Wash	Ice Scales, Regenerator
Polteageist	Queenly Majesty
Glimmora	Earth Eater, Ice Scales, Toxic Debris
Kilowattrel	Primordial Sea

SAMPLE SETS TOO!​

We're also now accepting submissions for sample sets!

Why: So that each ranked Pokemon will eventually link to the SmogDex to help people with building, like our viability rankings from last generation.

What does this entail? Here's an example:


We'll be reading posts in this thread + adding good sets to the smogdex as we see them. If you don't see your set(s) get added, it probably just means someone beat you to it or we weren't able to fit every viable set into the dex. Even just posting in this thread will go a long way in metagame development, so don't hold back!

Some were curious about individual votes, so here they are: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...J8OPIb0C0kFx_bbuZ1k/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true

(Note that some of these will be inconsistent with the final viability list due to internal discussion amongst council after everything was tallied)

 

[BugGoBrrrrrr]

Have no fear this stall loving bastard is here.

Sets

Volcarona @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fiery Dance
- Amnesia / Quiver Dance / U-Turn
- Will-O-Wisp / Harden
- Morning Sun

I actually had a game or two where harden + amnesia put in a shit load of work alongside getting boosts from fiery dance. It’s a little mu reliant but when it gets the mu it’s beautiful. If you don’t wanna matchup fish tho just run wisp. I do suggest amnesia tho, really helps it deal with some things it shouldn’t be able to.

 

[Shandeur]

Bro think he Kyurem

Baxcalibur @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Mold Breaker / Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance / Swords Dance
- Glaive Rush
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake

 

[Iynhe]

Iron Valiant with Mold Breaker

Iron Valiant @ Life Orb / Heavy Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off / Swords Dance

Fur Coat and Ice Scales are obviously horrible to play against (I mean, I had a hard time doing stuff with STAKEOUT) so I started using this set. LO has been not ideal in my experience in the sense that I find myself seeng this die a lot before it takes out FurScales mons, but that's mainly me.
TBolt destroys Corviknight, Stabs are absolutely excellent and KOff is such a nice move.
Another set has the offenses flipped (so 4 spa, max attack, CM instead of SD or special coverage, Spirit Break & Aura Sphere/Focus Blast as STABs & Thunder Punch) but it feels a bit worse.

 

[Uninteleon]

Unban Magic Bounce, hazard removal is hard enough to find around here.

 

[Codename C.A.T]

yo samples?????

i made this set immediately after going 2-10 with a nago

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sword of Ruin
EVs: 88 HP / 236 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Stealth Rock

hbox pop off

Scream Tail @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind
- Boomburst

 

[Hera]

-Poison Heal ban was a good choice, no complaints here, the stall nerf sucks but the broken applications of this were way too much to be balanced for the tier
-Magic Bounce ban was dumb for the same reasons it was last gen (mostly hypothetical, it wasn't that good in practice, didn't even fix the MU issues in the tier), but it's even worse imo this gen because not only have Screens been nerfed because the best Screens setters, Dragapult, lacks Taunt, but it has literally been less than a month and we haven't had enough evidence that proves Magic Bounce is broken. Maybe if someone provided replays I would change my mind, but I haven't seen Magic Bounce be anything other than healthy
-Surprised that Flutter Mane wasn't banned, it has so much set diversity with so little opportunity cost to the point where it can easily pick and choose its counters. Wanna beat Ice Scales Blobs? Sub + Pain Split. Wanna beat Ice Scales Corv? Specs Hadron. Wanna beat RegenVest Kingambit? Modest SFLO (252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Flutter Mane Mystical Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Kingambit: 169-200 (41.8 - 49.5%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes). It's like if Gen 8 Genesect was 5x more broken. Beyond that, it has the raw power to break through 80% with just something like Mold Breaker. Hope it gets banned next slate, mon's absolutely ridiculous
-No Iron Hands on the slate is weird, I guess Unburden nerfed it quite a bit but PHeal and FurScales SD sets were almost unkillable. Was a PHeal ban so expected that it wasn't even voted on?

Anyway, I'm done complaining for a bit. Now to post some sets:


Finker (Tinkaton) @ Choice Band
Ability: Steely Spirit
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gigaton Hammer
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Fake Out

If you are a braindead button clicker like me, you will easily gravitate toward this set. Gigaton Hammer hits an insane 360 BP after usage, demolishing anything slower that doesn't resist Steel. Even stuff like Ice Scales Corv is 2HKOed by this thing... which admittedly doesn't matter due to the drawback, but because it gets Knock as well, it's very easy to force it in once to get Knocked, and then bring it in again which it's chipped into range. Or you can run Tinted Lens if you're scared of other resists or something.

:sv/tauros-paldea-fire:
He's On Fire! (Tauros-Paldea-Fire) @ Choice Band
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Raging Bull

I think when the meta settles this will be at least a B-tier breaker. Better Speed tier + Fighting STAB gives it a niche over Ceruledge, although it sucks that the STAB you wanna be clicking half the match kills yourself. Raging Bull is nice but it doesn't give you the funny big numbers that Flare Blitz does. It also gets Bulk Up so you could use something like HDB BU and it would probably work well.


Rocky (Houndstone) (M) @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Last Respects
- Substitute
- Protect
- Body Press

This was pre-Unburden ban so it will be of no use to anyone now, but the idea was to pair it with this Dragapult set to bait and trap Normal-types. EVs are to outdamage Soft-Boiled recovery 75% of the time on Chansey. This actually almost worked against tier leader Isaiah...until I realized the beta version of this spread had 0 Attack EVs, so Chansey eventually won the 1v1. Not to worry; a few good doubles with Rocks up and Chansey was dead anyway, which allowed Houndstone to eventually set up on a PHeal Dondozo and win. In hindsight, I might've wanted Howl over Protect for extra Attack boosts but whatever.

 

[drampa's grandpa]

BaxcaliburMold Breaker, Adaptability

Technician is at the very least a sidegrade and IMO an upgrade to Adaptability honestly. Bigger Ice Shard boost, Icicle Spear is a similar power to Glaive Rush without the same downside (although potentially unreliable).

Hide

Baxcalibur @ Life Orb / Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Spear
- Earthquake

 

[Tanny89k]

Sample set subs:

Cyclizar

Cyclizar @ Choice Scarf / Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Hasty Nature
- Shed Tail
- Draco Meteor
- Rapid Spin / Knock Off
- U-turn

Roaring Moon

Roaring Moon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch / Throat Chop
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Dragon Claw / Iron Head / Brick Break

 

[Giagantic]

Sample SETS!

Hide

Iron Treads @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

Pivot, Utility, Hazard Clear, Yes!

Hide

Sandy Shocks @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Hadron Engine
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power
- Spikes

This set is great, I will die on this hill! Nothing at the moment totally resists the stabs of Sandy Shock, set is fairly obvious with the 4th being complete filler (most options are inferior to stab so run utility).