We are out of AAAPL, had a super fun time managing and building, I think it was nice to take a break from playing and just let our amazing players play. Really happy with the experience and thank you everyone on the moons y'all are great!
My goal this tour was to build a bit different from what I had been doing during ompl and ssnl, as I had made my team dump and basically gave free scout, but I think it was for the better as it helped me go in a different direction with building/didn't matter too much as dnite ban happened after w1. I think I'm just going to highlight my favorite builds from each week, as there are too many to go in depth about individually.
W1
Ivar liked a deos set I sent/wanted to build w prim, this is what we landed on. Originally the deos was psysurge, but has negative synergy w prank pech, which is one of the best defensive glue mons in the tier rn. Air balloon is prob its best item rn as it helps give you a consistent answer to ceruledge, non-scrap/knock tusk, and acts as the knock absorber it was gonna be anyway. Regen Prim is a nice blanket answer for many things but needs a primsea partner, this really only leaves zap and the rest of the team kind of fills itself out with treads acting as rocks/removal/stail/ghold answer and rmoon giving the necessary speed control. Really fun team, spikes deos is slept on s/o Jrdn and Clas for putting me on to it during ompl.
W2
Now with dnite banned regen hands became a lot better. Also wanted to use Ceru as I had never built with it/didn't really think Jrdn/Racool would expect it since I had never built w or even rlly mentioned using it during OMPL. Team is really clean, I was able to hit #1 with 90 GXE with this. The only downside is IDBP Zam basically wins on preview esp if zap gets low/its stone edge, but that mon wasn't being used too much atp/wasn't something I saw Jrdn rlly bringing. A way to mitigate this would be making the zap bulkier but even then it's not the best.
W3
Basically stacking all the old reliables with small changes to make them a bit different from what we usually bring. Scarf moon is really good now that dnite is banned, as mglo gets bullied by all the 370+ guys that were buffed by dnite being gone. I feel moon provides much better defensive utility than meow, while packing more of a punch, which is why I still prefer it on like 99% of teams despite being slower.
W4
Special Overload, what is there to say. 4A/offensive moth is heavily slept on as it has all the coverage it could need. I prefer desoland over something like sf because it makes it harder to tell what exactly it is/boosts fiery dance significantly. Specs zap was an idea I got after DFM used it w1. The zap was changed to primsea for the game, as that is a bit more consistent than ng, but I think both still work. I basically wanted it as a way to flip bp steel mu's on their head/make perts think they were safe coming in on this mon (they are not). Scarf stail as it is the one way to beat mglo moon, as otherwise that can drone forever.
Both Ivar and I were frustrated by volc being such a threat from the previous week, and decided on sp moon, as it doesn't rlly need its abil/can also wall stail. Since prim is still a good mon u need an answer for that and can't just bank on moon carrying the fairy mu so emp was used as well. I think this mon is still rlly good but niche, it fits a similar role that treads does but instead has reliable recovery/better mu into certain things (zap, chien). Rmoon + emp is also just a good defensive combo that is not seen enough unfortunately. This ended up turning into a physical overload after building a special overload so these being sister teams was interesting as I did not have that intention going into the week. Also s/o Clas for optimizing the hands spread this thing literally never gets one shot by anything its nasty asl.
W5
This was originally going to be used against Hera w4 but we already won the week so just saved it for later. Scarf regen moon is so much better now that dnite is gone. Feel like these types of structures can have more exploration/isn't fully realized here. Still a really good team though.
Shocks + Molt is a great special offensive combo, create a nice volt turn combo and paired with specs prim creates an even deadlier combo. Refrig Tusk is a bit trolling but spin can 2HKO moon and is a roll in your favor to 2HKO zap, prob should be taunt>knock on this type of build esp since this is a spike stack and this tusk allows corv to come in for free, but I wasn't rlly expecting a corv bring/everything else on this team bullies that mon.
Some Other Builds
A fez team that I think actually cooks, this fairy could actually be good now that dnite is gone
This was featured in an aim video twice so didn't want to bring
w1 Atha builds, kind of sold on these my b MZ but bp gambit could be cool
Thermal Exchange is funny, prob better on set-up moon but could've been a cook
Had a fun time building and laddering with these teams, I got into a bit of a competition with Siamoto, who I see overtook me again after I finally reclaimed the spot the other day with Done Miracles (after reclaiming with bibigharati earlier...). Seriously I just want to hold the #1 for more than 24 hrs LOL. The criteria I used for all these teams was top 10 and a respectable gxe, was able to get 82 min with all these teams, so that should speak to their effectiveness.
Meta/Mon Thoughts
Dnite ban really just buffed all the 370+ guys and made HO/offense much better, not really too much else to say. It kept nearly everything in check by virtue of +2 priority, probably better it was banned as it has caused less stress in the builder but there is still quite a bit of centralization as one mon doesn't change the dynamic too much.
I don't think the meta is that good rn. This is because there is so much defensive centralization, sure we have seen the advents of treads, AV hands, molt, but those don't feel meaningful/were already good before dnite (besides molt, but even then I still don't believe in it too much sorry DFM). There are just simply too many things to check and only a small handful of mons fit the bill to do this consistently, but even then you are giving up MU's to certain mons. Yes you could argue this is the ebb and flow of building but unless you stick to certain paths you really do give up quite a bit on certain MU's and it just makes the tier feel fish or ur just trying to win faster. While there are a few mons that stick out in my mind (zam & volc), idt the community as a whole can really point to anything concrete breaking the builder/game since everyone has their own opinions ab whats breaking it so I don't see immediate/any action happening. Prob just burnt out from building as well, been grinding for quite a few months so I am taking a long break and that could help my outlook, but I've felt this way in varying degrees since open so I don't really think these mons are just fads I don't know how to handle. Would really like to see action on multiple mons but I don't really see it happening tbh, will always give my opinion even if no one asked tho.
This mon actually got worse after dnite ban, but I think thats just because everything around it got better, still the best mon in the tier and I think its silly that having a tusk + pech + corv isn't enough for this mon. The meta can really only be as slow as this guy, if people want that then that's fine but I don't really understand complaints about the fast pace of the meta if this and other fast strong guys aren't being looked at.
Holy shit this mon is so annoying. Dnite was one of the best offensive checks to this mon and it feels like nothing can be reliable against this anymore as IDBP is actually good. Dnite always beat this so zama was usually pigeonholed into maxing out damage w mglo, sor, band, or scarf but that is not the case anymore. Pecharunt can get stalled out with Malig's/Clear Amulet/Soundproof and pech already has so much to deal with in a game it is not a tall order to overload/tech for it. Scarf stail would be good but soundproof is a very real possibility for it so I want to look to other methods of checking it as that makes it even more fish. Regular stail also just gets blown up by heavy slam. This thing is just a coin flip on if its banded/press/right coverage its a headache to prep and play against especially with all the other threats in the meta. Before dnite ban pech being its only reliable defensive answer already made it sus to me, that is highkey the reason I started spamming pech bc fluffy to answer this mon is exploitable and most of them get worn down long term anyway. This mon being able to pick and choose what it can lose to and patch it up with minimal team support is silly. Would not be sad to see this go.
Another mon that benefitted greatly from dnite ban. This mon is even more fish and I don't think it's healthy. Really the only consistent way of beating this is physical scarfer with rock coverage as on screens it can tank any neutral hit. Idt any of the WBB mons are too good of candidates as they either feel too niche or still end up losing (ghold). This mon is one of the main reasons I don't think scarf special mons r that good rn, because it can use them as fodder and just win at +2. If you build a team without these limited number of checks that don't really work you are just praying you don't load into this mon. This mon is prob the #1 reason I started spamming scarf moon, as it is very reliable against this and the many other things in this meta.
Similar to zam, set-up with it is now actually viable as dnite can not just come in to revenge. I think this mon is like fine-ish but the flinch chances make it unhealthy, just circumvents any counterplay that would exist and with +2 being a real possibility it's even more annoying.
Actually got worse as scarf meow + chien is everywhere/it lost its niche of being the 370+ guy who could actually take an espeed. Mon still feels under explored but I've definitely chilled in terms of opinion.
A little silly of a mon to build for tbh but with bulky moon and air balloon pech trending it's not too bad. Its one down side of mid speed is the real thing holding this back. Though with dnite gone shadow sneak being more reliable as priority is something in its favor. I think if we wanted to free up builder this mon would have the most immediate impact as you wouldn't need to run itemless WBB or other random/niche techs for one mon. Despite thinking its not too bad I wouldn't really be sad to see this go as this mon adds another unnecessary restraint in the builder.
A mon I'm actually... fine with? Idk this is prob cuz I spam vabs corv, regenvest moon, and bp treads, but I never really find myself too frightened by this mon. It definitely beats up on the standard cores which makes it annoying but idk. This mon does lock out certain scarfers, and paired with volc in the meta basically makes special scarfers very pigeonholed in what they can be, so I wouldn't be against a sus if it were put to a vote again.
and nuking everything to fishing with IronPress and forcing the opponent to pray that they don't have the ability that beats your whole teams. I think this mon is super unhealthy at the moment, and if I could choose I would 100% suspect this mon. That is all from me, have a good one folks.
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