AAA Almost Any Ability

I'm not sure how popular of an opinion this is, but to me magnet pull is pretty difficult to pull off. More often than not, the mon you're running magnet pull on can't do a whole lot versus defensive mons that can eat its physical/special attacks. However, if you can come up with other cool magpull ideas to hit opponents with the surprise factor, it makes trapping their steel types a whole lot easier.
I don't think Magnet Pull is that good this gen. Along with what Thinkerino already said there are some other issues. The only 2 steel types are Ferrothorn and Corviknight and Ferrothorn almost always runs FF. Additionally, Corviknight also often likes to run FF or VA so it's almost impossible to find a puller that can reliably oneshot both of them. You also really dont want to be running choice items, as if your intention is to trap Corviknight hitting it with the wrong SE move (Fire if its FF, Elec if its VA) means they get huge uturn momentum into whatever they want with you being locked. You can't even really run setup based magnet pullers (as in, run sth that traps a steel type and abuses it to set up to max and then tries to sweep) to reliably remove steel types since Corviknight can just uturn out.

Id say your best bet for a universally useful magpuller is rotom H since it can hit any corviknight super effectively and it has trick (which makes choice items not a liability) to cripple ferrothorn. Scarf to also trap drill, Specs to hit harder.
thanks for your opinion I'm going to do some teambuilding
 
I’m not sure where to ask this, but is a ComaTalk clause worth adding? Or does it only add ComaPhasing and is otherwise outclassed by Magic Guard/some ability that makes you immune to the attack drop from Burn?
 

Jrdn

Not a promise, I'm just gonna call it.
I’m not sure where to ask this, but is a ComaTalk clause worth adding? Or does it only add ComaPhasing and is otherwise outclassed by Magic Guard/some ability that makes you immune to the attack drop from Burn?
Comatose is Banned for that reason.




More unfortunate news for the council as aesf and Sylveon. are stepping down as well. :(

To replace them we'll be bringing in xavgb and Thinkerino! Welcome to the team
 

Isaiah

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Some findings from playing/watching games (it's a long one, be forewarned):

:Ferrothorn:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Power Whip / Protect / Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock

Very unexpectedly reliable switchin to the usual Gengar sets (sheer force life orb, adaptability, even no guard/normalize depending on their sets). Being grass/steel also makes it not really care about Thunderbolt and Sludge Wave. I'm not sure how much this set was used last gen, but with hidden power gone it kind of shuts offensive Gengar down from the getgo. I run physdef on mine because of how I play it on the team I'm using it on, but EVs can always be changed to whatever you see fit.


:mamoswine:
Mamoswine @ Icicle Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard

:chandelure:
Chandelure @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower ("but fire blast does more damage!" <--wait till you miss at crucial moments enough times
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball / Calm Mind / Pain Split(kinda bad though, attacking or setting up a sub are usually best)
- Psychic / Substitute

Mamoswine + Chandelure or Mamoswine plus ghost in general is a really powerful core. More often than not, Mamoswine sets up rocks or dents an initial switchin, and Chandelure can be doubled into on a spinblocker or on an expected recovery move. I'm sure everyone already knows how powerful Mamoking is at breaking teams who don't have things like avalugg or golisopod, especially with how every pokemon that learns icicle crash seems to also get serene grace , but Chandelure also has a roll to play in generally breaking down fat teams in general and being difficult to switchin against. Credits to Racool for initially bringing my attention to how powerful this can really be.


:Hydreigon:
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power

Does this really need an explanation? Even without getting the Nasty Plot boosts, Hydreigon is a threat. It has very viable coverage, a strong, spammable stab move in dark pulse, and a decent, abusable speedtier. One of its favorite partners on more offensively geared teams is Gengar, forming an extremely powerful GarGon (get it? gargon, gorgon, because they leave your opponents paralyzed at team preview? LOL at least I tried) core that's absurdly difficult to deal with (take Atha's team for example). When not on psysurge teams, this thing's biggest weaknesses are really only unaware (i.e. spdef mandibuzz) and triage stab moves like draining kiss and leech life--otherwise, it usually picks up at least one or two kills per game.


:Clefable:
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind / Aromatherapy
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect

One of my favorite things about AAA is when a perceptively unremarkable mon can actually put in work, and Clefable is a great example of that. On balance/stall builds especially, Clefable actually puts in a lot of work. It can stop annoying setup sweepers like Snorlax from going too far if it comes down to it, and serves as a nice counter to physical Dragapult and virtually all variations of Kommo-o. Additionally, in a pinch situation it can actually eat a Flash Cannon from SFLO Hydreigon and KO it back (252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Hydreigon Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 312-369 (79.1 - 93.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery), which can be nice for when it's +2 and in a position to sweep. Finally, calm mind gives it the sameslight edge in sweeping potential that it utlizes in OU, which is a nice add-on, or you can run aromatherapy to make it a full cleric.


:Seismitoad:
Seismitoad @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Protect / Gastro Acid(in my opinion protect is always better though, poison heal recovery without protect becomes a hassle in longer games)

If you were a fan of swampert last gen, then you already know exactly what this does. It covers a lot of the same roles as swampert did, serving as an excellent stealth rocker because the threat of scald burns makes defoggers like Mandibuzz and Corviknight scared to come in, and its amazing typing also makes it an electric immunity and fire resist, providing role compression that's kind of difficult to come by after dexit. Poison heal also makes it an excellent toxapex switchin and annoyance as long as you don't choke and let your Seismitoad get burned or lose its orb pre-activation.

:Mantine:
Mantine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Ice Beam
- Haze
While I don't necessarily have an argument for what this can do in the big picture, there are some specific things it pulls off with surprising consistency. It beats the two main steel beam users @ Duraludon and Lucario by resisting their stab and being immune to their coverage, it learns scald which gets free burns on a wide of variety of would-be switchins like Toxapex, and which also helps it wear down special attackers who stay in against it. I initially had mirror coat, but realized that with haze, the ice beam chip is virtually always better against things like Hydreigon who can play nasty plot mindgames against mirror coat. It can also do a pretty good job of walling special setup Kommo-o, no matter which -ate boomburst it uses, and as an electric immunity makes it hard for rotom forms to get free volt switches against your team. A BIG thing though, is that spdef Mantine is probably one of few mons that are completely prepared to take on SFLO Chandelure, no matter what its moveset is--beware of scarf/specs trick though, a lot of mons are running that nowadays. Overall, it's just a nice niche answer to a lot of special attackers.


At this point in the gen--and with dlc incoming on their respective release dates--a lot of the general consensus I've been seeing is that teambuilding is somewhat suffocated by the major decrease in moveset/pokemon options, and I agree with that to an extent. A lot of teams have very similar offensive and defensive options, and in a lot of ways it's become more difficult to build teams that have some kind of answer to everything, but have hope! Pokemon Home coming soon, and in time the meta will continue to develop on its own :D Can't wait to see what becomes of it all
 
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Bulldoze
- Ice Shard
- Rock Blast

Is this set any good
 

Isaiah

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Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Bulldoze
- Ice Shard
- Rock Blast

Is this set any good

Rock blast doesn't really hit anything that ice/ground coverage doesn't already handle. Usually, people opt for adaptability or maybe skill link on mamoswine if they're feeling extra spicy, because the goal with it tends to be to maximize damage. The utlity of bulldoze giving the minus one speed isn't really worth the loss in power, especially since that a lot of things mamoswine can stay in and attack tend to be either 1. slower anyway or 2. flying types
 
:Gothitelle:
Gothitelle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cosmic Power
- Stored Power
- Rest
- Mean Look

Shell Armor + Cosmic Power is a busted combo. They only way they can defeat this thing is by ppstalling

:Dragapult:
Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Steel Wing

Technician Dragon Darts become 150 base power. This team is made so Dragapult can sweep. It´s got screens support, we got a way of trapping steel types and fairies can be weakened by its partner Kommo-o

:Kommo-o:
Kommo-o @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clangorous Soul
- Clanging Scales
- Flamethrower
- Boomburst

Classic Kommo-o set, weaken the fairies to help Dragapult

:Arcanine:

Arcanine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp

Trap the steels and CC for Flash Fire Ferro

:Hydreigon:
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Dragon Pulse
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower

Fast and strong revenge killer

:Froslass:
Froslass (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Aurora Veil
- Safeguard
- Taunt

Spikes and screens support
 
Here's a fun Gengar set that's a bit unorthodox.

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 40 HP / 212 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

The premise of the set is simple: revenge something then sweep. The EVs are tailored so that Beast Boost boosts your Speed, creating a deadly threat in combination with Life Orb. Some other options include Taunt over Substitute, or Focus Sash instead of Life Orb. I've found this set is a great late-game sweeper, cleaning up tons of teams (provided you don't miss Focus Blast).
 
Traditionally, Water/Rock is pretty bad defensively, even if it has more resistances than weaknesses, since those weaknesses are pretty good offensively and its resistances are not that great either.
It’s a real shame since Drednaw has kind of good stats.
It has a decent Speed Tier for having 90/90/68 bulk and 115 Atk.
Luckily, abilities exist that can remove one of its weaknesses.
Drednaw @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper/Motor Drive/Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Liquidation
- Superpower/Rock Polish
Sap Sipper will definitely be the standard of Drednaw, primarily for removing its x4 weakness to Grass. It also will increase its Attack by 1 stage, giving it immediate power against Grass types.
Motor Drive lets it absorb the Electric Attacks, most commonly Thunderbolt, and then gain a speed boost off of it.
Levitate can also be used against opponents who think Drednaw will have Sap Sipper, and will try hitting it with Ground type attacks if it doesn’t have Electric or Fighting coverage.
Levitate will also use Double Dance if Drednaw gets the free turn from deception, allowing it to Sweep nicely against a weakened team.
 

Jrdn

Not a promise, I'm just gonna call it.
Hello all! Pokemon Home has been released. You can see the pokemon that have been released as well is the returning moves to some of the pokemon here

As you can see, among the pokemon returning, Kyurem-Black is one of them. With a restricted Pokemon dex and an improved moveset (freeze dry and dragon dance) and it already being broken in previous iterations of Almost Any Ability, the AAA council has unanimously agreed to ban Kyurem-Black from the AAA metagame.

we will be closely monitoring how Terrakion, Melmetal, Keldeo, and perhaps other new pokemon perform in AAA

tagging The Immortal. I know it will be a busy time with all the implementation still needing to happen. Thanks.
 
Last edited:

Jrdn

Not a promise, I'm just gonna call it.
Following up from the last post: After more than a couple days to play, test, and develop opinions on the new pokemon, the council has concluded that :Keldeo:Keldeo is too strong for the AAA metagame.

Tinted Lens alone makes this pokemon borderline impossible to wall with just one pokemon without use of a double immunity (water absorb or desoland Chandelure for example) or a 4x resist + immunity (Water Absorb Togekiss). Aside from that you're basically required to use multiple pokemon with the right ability to not lose a pokemon every time (Extremely phys def pokemon + extremely specially defensive pokemon) and without a THIRD type of regen pivot, making the wrong prediction can still just lose you the game over the long haul.

252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 198-234 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 294-348 (74.6 - 88.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Togekiss: 108-128 (34.7 - 41.1%) -- 62.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Golisopod: 292-344 (82.4 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Calculations with Rain:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 220+ SpD Mantine in Rain: 234-276 (62.5 - 73.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex in Rain: 296-350 (97.3 - 115.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Primarina in Rain: 174-206 (47.8 - 56.5%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO


As mentioned in the previous post, the council will still be discussing a pool of pokemon that includes: Melmetal, Zeraora, and Terrakion and will vote by the end of next week if we feel there needs to be quickban or not. I'll update here when the vote is made.

Keldeo is banned from Almost Any Ability. Tagging The Immortal
 

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:terrakion:

After playing some games, I feel that Terrakion definitely should be banned, I would totally agree with our council if they ban this. But why Terrakion is banworty is my opinon ? When do you see this on the teampreview, Terrakion is, well, scary. Unless if you have a specific check like Dauntless Shield Hippowdon, you are under the pressure in order to check Terrakion. Indeed, this thing is a brute force, being able to 2HKO or OHKO most of metagame pretty easily. Rock / Fighting is a so powerful offensive typing right now, allowing Terrakion to run Adaptability very very effectively. I have running a Double Dance set with SD/Rock Polish/the double STAB with the LO, and oh well, it has been worked very well. See the calc below :

For a better visual representation, I will color Pokémon to indicate their ability to handle or not Terrakion.
Reliable Checks : Green
2HKO'ed : Yellow
OHKO'ed : Red

S rank

:dragapult: Dragapult ; KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 359-424 (113.2 - 133.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:corviknight: Corviknight ; Is p easliy 2HKOed by Close Combat (252 Atk Choice Band Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 272-322 (68 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock) the only exception is if you run something like Dauntless Shield max def ? Bruh


A Rank

A+

:gengar: Gengar ; KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 426-504 (162.5 - 192.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:hydreigon: Hydreigon ; KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 738-873 (227 - 268.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:mandibuzz: Mandibuzz ; KO by Stone Edge even if you run max def ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 395-468 (93.1 - 110.3%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
:toxapex: Toxapex ; Most a Yellow than a real green, Toxa is quite pressured by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 151-179 (49.6 - 58.8%) -- 69.9% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

A

:avalugg: Avalugg - Thanks to insane physical bulk it avoid the OHKO but ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 208-250 (52.7 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
:cinderace: Cinderace KO by CC ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cinderace: 429-507 (142.5 - 168.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:ferrothorn: Ferrothorn KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ferrothorn: 536-634 (152.2 - 180.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:mamoswine: Mamoswine KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine: 816-962 (226 - 266.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:noivern: Noivern KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Noivern: 681-806 (218.9 - 259.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:snorlax: Snorlax KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 152 Def Snorlax: 785-925 (149.8 - 176.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

A-

:chandelure: Chandelure
:conkeldurr: Conkeldurr ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 354-419 (85.5 - 101.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after burn damage
:doublade: Doublade ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 66-79 (20.6 - 24.7%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
:gardevoir: Gardevoir ; KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gardevoir: 400-473 (144.4 - 170.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl ; KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Grimmsnarl: 481-567 (145.3 - 171.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:corsola-galar: Corsola-Galar ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Corsola-Galar: 135-161 (41.6 - 49.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
:golisopod: Golisopod ; KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Golisopod: 421-499 (118.9 - 140.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:goodra: Goodra ; KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Goodra: 455-536 (118.4 - 139.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:hatterene: Hatterene ; Actually more a OHKO than a 2HKO but you can run some bulk 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Hatterene: 294-348 (92.7 - 109.7%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
:hippowdon: Hippowdon Thanks to DShield it avoid the 2HKO 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 146-174 (34.7 - 41.4%) -- 67.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
:lucario: Lucario ; KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 910-1071 (323.8 - 381.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:seismitoad: Seismitoad ; 2HKO by CC ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 294-346 (71 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:sirfetch: Sirfetch'd KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sirfetch'd: 354-419 (133.5 - 158.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:silvally-steel: Silvally-Steel KO by Close Combat ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Steel: 707-837 (179.4 - 212.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:togekiss: Togekiss ; KO by Stone Edge ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 160+ Def Togekiss: 458-541 (122.4 - 144.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Oh also, some calc against Home Pokémon since they are not on the VR ;

:zeraora: ; Zeraora ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zeraora: 429-507 (135.3 - 159.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:primarina: ; Primarina ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Primarina: 270-320 (74.1 - 87.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:celebi: Celebi ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 4 Def Celebi: 281-333 (69.7 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:melmetal: Melmetal ; 252 Atk Life Orb Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Melmetal: 380-452 (80.1 - 95.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

So that it is only for defensive standpoint but does the offensive one is really better ? Like I have said, Terrakion has acces to Rock Polish to invalid these who relies on speed to RK Terrakion like Zeraora, what give us only with priority users like Celebi Triage, Hatterene Triage and thing like Mach Punch Conkeldurr for revenge kill and only revenge kill. (I must admit that it start to have some metagame theormying at this stade of this post) It lead us to a situation where the threat of Terrakion force the teambuilding into a situation where most of teams need to have 1) 1 or multiple users of priority in order to doesn't lose too quickly to Terrakion 2) Use a selected defensive mon who can take on Terrakion. Everything else may lose to Terrakion.

To conclude this post about Terrakion, I think that this ban is provably necessary on the long term in order to make the AAA balanced and competitive.

Have a nice day :')
 

shiloh

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the aaa council has decided to ban melmetal after some more time in the metagame post keldeo.

:melmetal:

unlike keldeo, melmetal has a multitude of abilities that it can viably run, that push it over the edge in the current metagame. it mainly relied on two strong offensive abilities in steelworker and tinted lens, however it could still run a multitude of defensive abilities which all together combined pushed it over the top. due to the power behind its signature move double iron bash (60bp steel move that hits twice), it becomes an absolute powerhouse just by spamming its stab move alone. while it might naturally have bulky water types as checks, things like toxapex have to be wary of tinted lens, and even being flinched down by other sets as double iron bash has a 30% chance to flinch with each hit. while it does have a lower base speed stat that would allow it to be revenge killed more easily, it still has base 135 hp, combined with 143 defense and 65 special defense which makes it an incredible tank as well. overall melmetal is the complete package when it comes to a strong physical tank in aaa, and due to the lack of reliable checks and counters, it is now banned from generation 8 almost any ability.
steelworker
252+ Atk Choice Band Steelworker Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 224-264 (53.3 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery*
252+ Atk Choice Band Steelworker Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 138-164 (45.3 - 53.9%) -- approx. 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery*
252+ Atk Choice Band Steelworker Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 324-384 (82.2 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*

tinted lens
252+ Atk Choice Band Tinted Lens Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 164-192 (51.4 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO*
252+ Atk Choice Band Tinted Lens Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 240-288 (60 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Tinted Lens Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 184-220 (60.5 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery*
252+ Atk Choice Band Steelworker Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Seismitoad: 224-266 (54.1 - 64.2%) -- approx. 96.9% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal

*all these can be outsped and flinched due to dibs 30% flinch chance with each hit

defensive calcs
252 Atk Adaptability Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 384-452 (81 - 95.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Zeraora Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 336-396 (70.8 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
the council is still keeping an eye on the other mons introduced with home, but we decided melmetal was the only one that required immediate attention before the next round of aaa open. tagging The Immortal to update ps.
 
incineroar.png




Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Thunder Punch/Filler
My favorite set to use in AAA right now. The standard regenvest Incineroar. What it does is simple, sponge special hits.
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Kyurem Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Incineroar: 172-203 (43.6 - 51.5%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Blastoise Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Incineroar: 306-360 (77.6 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
These are just some calcs.

It can beat most special attackers in the tier. It's not the best right now cause of the rampant Zeraora and Terrakion forcing it out all the time. It also loses to physical variants of Dragapult. Otherwise it's pretty solid and has done some work for me.
 
With the retirement from my position as AAA Tier Leader, I've decided to share all my post-home teams. Be warned as they range from standard-level absurd to "WTF is this?? Desolate land Dhelmise??"-level absurd. I really enjoyed using some of these teams tho and many have seen success on the ladder and off the ladder. They're in no particular order so just peruse and see if you find something you like.

https://pokepast.es/ce167f33f73d7174

If you have any questions about teams, please ask me and I'll be sure to try and convince you why the set works, even though it probably doesn't! I want to thank Jrdn for taking over my position as TL and for his unending support as I learned, mastered, and befuddled this lovely metagame.
 

aVocado

@ Everstone
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could we get an update on the vr, please? doesn't even need to be entirely accurate, but I just wanna see (even if roughly) the viability rankings post-home :[

it's hard to build for this meta when the playerbase is low and the resources are non-existent
 

Jerry the great

Banned deucer.
Hey! In the sample teams, I can only see the descriptions, no moves, items, abilities, or anything!

Anyways, I have something to show to you all.
Pokemon: Dracozolt @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Attack/252 Speed/4 Sp.Def
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
Moves: Bolt Beak, Outrage, Earthquake, fire fang

Basically, you can have an electric variant of Dracovish. Although Dracovish was better because rain, swift swim, and the list goes on... Anyways. Via the choice scarf, you can out speed much of the metagame. Bolt Beak is basically an electric version of Fishious rend. Via the choice scarf, you out speed nearly anything not named Dragapult or other scarf mons. Although not Out speeding Dragapult is a HUGE problem, that can be fixed by having sticky web up on their side, or... Defeating the Dragapult with another Pokemon. I personally prefer doing it via webs for consistency. Bolt Beak is the primary move, Outrage for dragons and very strong stab, and fire fang and earthquake are for coverage. Now, it's already good, right? Well let's add Moxie to it! Once it gets a moxie boost, which won't be all that hard with bolt beak destroying anything not volt absorb (which is now falling due to zeraora ban) or a dragon type (which gets wrecked by outrage, which also benefits heavily from moxie), you can destroy entire teams! Trust me, I've used it myself. Just think of it. An outrage or bolt beak, getting stronger and stronger from moxie, knocking out more and more... I swear a moxie boosted bolt beak that out speeds which won't be an issue due to scarf and moxie boosted outrage, and they keep getting stronger and stronger from the KOs they get... Yeah! Not safe to switch in your low HP Mon either, as that just means an easy moxie boost! Now, I just have 2 problems worth mentioning. Bolt beak and outrage both have things immune to it. Bolt beak is ground types and volt absorb, while outrage is fairies. So at times, this may be all up to "would he switch into this, or will he keep on this" as although for a good % of the metagame switching into moxie is a problem, the Pokemon immune to said choiced move chosen can stay in on this all day. So sometimes, you may need to predict if the opponent would switch, and what he/she may switch into. Lastly, Dragapult as already stated, can be a huge problem as it out speeds with no scarf! But via webs or using outrage when it switches in, it CAN beat it. But if it were 1 vs 1, with neither having speed lost, Dragapult would win.

And that's moxie for you! And Dracovish's lost cousin too! Try it out and tell me what you think!

Edit: Aight, someone alerted me that by clicking on the profiles of the Pokemon in the sample teams I'll get links to that information. So yeah, no need to worry.
 
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Isaiah

Here today, gone tomorrow
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UM/OM Leader
could we get an update on the vr, please? doesn't even need to be entirely accurate, but I just wanna see (even if roughly) the viability rankings post-home :[

it's hard to build for this meta when the playerbase is low and the resources are non-existent
An updated VR is in the works! It's coming pretty close to completion and should be rolled out soon.
 
Hey guys I'm back for the time of the year where I make a really long post ranting about AAA again. (Inspired by pokevangelical Andyboy 's post about MnM)

The Speed Control Problem
If I had to pin one major issue with AAA right now, it's that the fastest mons in the meta are also the hardest to switch into. The general problem with this dynamic is that it destroys offensive builds. Because of how fast the top threats of AAA are, the only way to often avoid getting destroyed by these threats is by running more defensive mons, which all tend to be extremely passive. Before I start, I'd like to clarify that I don't think HO or mostly offensive teams are unviable--I just think they're just far more limited than they should be. But enough abstract stuff -- here, I'll break down 3 mons which I believe are very unhealthy for the current state of the metagame:

:Gengar:
Sets to consider

The main problem with Gengar is its Sheer Force Life Orb set. At 110 speed, gengar outspeeds the vast majority of the relevant metagame. And Sheer Force + Life Orb is so strong that anything faster risks getting OHKO'd on the switch. At the same time, it has basically no switchins outside of bulletproof mons and very niche AV mons like Goodra and Milotic.

The problem with mons that do run bulletproof to beat gengar is that it means one out of 6 mons are running bulletproof. For a meta where role compression is absolutely critical given the variety of sets, and there's a significant power creep that comes from having the right ability, forcing your steel type or your ground type to go bulletproof can be extremely debilitating. The majority of games, gengar or strong mons walled by your bulletproofer don't even show up, and in those games where it doesn't, you're sitting with an essentially base form mon that's likely not very useful against a team of 6 roided up mons on the other side. And no matter what the game, playing a 5 on 6 is never a good thing.

So what's the alternative? There are sets, like AV regen Goodra, AV regen Milotic, AV Snorlax (sense a trend? yeah...no mon to my knowledge lives a +2 attack from gengar without AV)... but of course, there's a catch. They're extremely passive, and are taken advantage of extremely easily without proper team support.

I shouldn't have to explain why running super passive mons on teams that want continuous offensive pressure is bad. For this reason, Gengar has a greater impact on teambuilding than anything else, and the amount it oppresses teambuilding makes it unhealthy.

:Noivern:
Sets to consider

Same principle as Gengar. Except now, you know it's clicking boomburst. Noivern's even faster than Gengar, capable of picking off literally every relevant mon besides Weavile, Dragapult, Mamoswine, and Triage fairies. Furthermore, specs boomburst ohkos pretty much the entire speedy metagame, meaning again that, just like Gengar, players have to turn toward passive, slow mons to defeat it. Like Gengar, nearly all, if not all, of noivern's common checks are extremely passive. With recent ompl games such as Thinkerino vs Sabella and Rozes vs Dragonillis proving that the most viable traditional noivern checks, Snorlax, and Corviknight, aren't even true switchins, the remaining pool of possible switchins is extremely small, and just like Gengar's, passive. You could even run soundproof, but that ability's even less useful than bulletproof, and fails on teams for the exact same reason. They even both end with "proof"! What could this mean? I'm not completely sure, but I have reason to suspect that it's *proof* that noivern and gengar are not healthy in the current AAA metagame.

:Dragapult:
Sets to consider

Dragapult's a little different than Gengar and Noivern in that its checks fulfill a lot more roles and are generally more useful than noivern's and gengar's. The main problem with dragapult is that it can be any set, and by threatening banded adapt, specs, mixed sheer force, and banded galvanize all at once, the dragapult user more often than not will get one free chance to deal 80% or kill a mon on the opposing team. After the set is revealed, it either continues to break, or functions as one of the best speed control/late game cleaners in the meta.

This replay demonstrates how even as dragapult is one of the best forms of speed control on the field, it also manages to deal massive damage to a team loaded with dragapult checks. This isn't a unique replay, either; I've executed and seem similar plays several times (against jrdn in ssnl and with various ompl peeps in test games) because of a trait Dragapult has that no other mon does. Schrodinger's Dragapult is a famous theory that argues that until the set is revealed, your opponent's Dragapult is banded adaptability, specs adaptability, banded galvanize, and mixed sheer force all at once. And that presence alone weighs very heavily on gameplay - against a dragapult, the best play is usually not to go to your best check; rather your best play is to go to your most expendable mon that checks at least one set and pray. I think this is the most unhealthy aspect of dragapult.

This is leaving out that Dragapult's new Sheer Force set has a noivern/gengar-esque effect where it has few, if any relevant switchins while also being faster than pretty much the whole meta barring priority and random scarf. There's also a new set that I'm not allowed to talk about yet that has a similar effect.

Other Problematic Stuff
:Terrakion:
Realistically, this mon has like 4 checks in the entire AAA metagame: dauntless shield hippowdon, prankster toxapex, dauntless shield mew, and doublade. The problem for Terrakion is that in this current metagame, these four are everywhere, especially dauntless shield mew, which, given its utility and offensive presence with +1 body press, fits on all types of teams already. I can't say Terrakion is as high profile of a threat as the three listed above, but it's definitely something worth considering as unhealthy for the AAA metagame if not now then in the near future.

:Kyurem:
Just like the above Gengar and Noivern, the only real counterplay to Kyurem from a defensive standpoint is to run passive, often subpar mons. Between Specs Adaptability and Life Orb Sheer Force, kyurem is an enormous threat that every fatter team needs to have counterplay for. Unlike the 3 mons above, Kyurem's a noticeable bit slower, which hurts it a little bit. Aside from that, it's more of a huge strain on teambuilding than anything, and, similarly to gengar, it's capable of completely dismantling teams that don't prepare a good amount for it.

:Toxic Orb:
Maybe Poison Heal too but can't ask for too much haha right
(e: just to be clear I don't wanna group poison heal with these other 5, they're far bigger issues at the moment)

--------------
TL;DR The fastest stuff are too strong, so you have to run passive stuff, but being basically required to run multiple passive mons is bad for a meta.

Thanks for reading!
 
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