AAA Almost Any Ability

[Osake]

dnite can only break corv if its para'd or dnite has the right coverage, that thunder punch calc doesnt work against volt absorb or fluffy, it needs thuner punch for wbb, fire punch for volt absorb, and flamethrower/fire blast for fluffy, and if you guess wrong you get walled, and its boned against intimidate, and this

+1 252+ Atk Dragonite Low Kick (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 102-121 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- 0.3% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Dragonite Low Kick (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 133-157 (33.2 - 39.2%) -- 12.3% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

is not enough to break corv

The point is that Corviknight is usually a set up fodder for Dragonite, and it can just Dragon Dance freely vs it and then it’s unbeatable in many cases.
Secondly, if Dragonite is usually unable to fully beat corv 1v1, there is no corviknight that can 100% check it ; you might always lose to a coverage move, and if it not happens all the time it’s still enough to make Corviknight a shaky answer (outside of the fact that you can usually just setup against it)
Lastly, Corviknight isn’t that hard to paralyzed with support mons/rockers etc (and it’s usually the Mon that will absorb the paralysis, depending of your ground type) and then, even idef corv can lose (and lose longterm anyway)

For all those reasons, there are more cases in the one Corviknight actually lose to a well-played Dragonite than cases in the one it actually checks it. I’ve swept many teams that had a Corviknight as a Dragonite check and were in fact losing if I was just clicking Dragon Dance twice it doesn’t mean you can’t handle it but you’re forced to run suboptimal sets like idef corv, who as I mentionned can lose to coverage moves/if it’s paralyzed, or Queenly Majesty mons (that still need corviknight to slowly pivot bc you can get hit on the switch, so you take the risk to be slower and die on Dragonite’s coverage move)

So yeah, Dragonite definitely has enough tools to break Corv in more cases than it should

 

[Hyper-Go-ons]

Not if Corviknight does the same to Dragonite with either Bulk Up or Iron Defense.

A +2 Atk Brave Bird does 74.3 - 87.6% to Dragonite, but Body Press does less.

 

[Osake]

Not if Corviknight does the same to Dragonite with either Bulk Up or Iron Defense.

A +2 Atk Brave Bird does 74.3 - 87.6% to Dragonite, but Body Press does less.

it doesn’t mean you can’t handle it but you’re forced to run suboptimal sets like idef corv, who as I mentionned can lose to coverage moves/if it’s paralyzed

literally read what I said, it isn't that hard

 

[Ren]

I find Dragonite super similar to Gholdengo in that it's able to pick its checks and decide which playstyles it's likely to do well against. Unlike Gholdengo, it's not the variety of abilities that let it do this, but moreso the variety of items and coverage/utility moves it's able to run. However, it lost one of its best checks in Gholdengo recently. This skyrockets the viability of Low Kick, which is absolutely insane coverage for it now that Gholdengo is out of the picture because it is unresisted coverage across the meta (Kilowattrel doesn't count as a resist, that thing is paper.) The Good as Gold ban helped it too, because now Corviknight has to choose between Bulk Up or Defog. You could run sets with both, but that's not good at all because Brave Bird from Corviknight is not worth being the sole move you run on it because of Garganacl existing.

Arguments from people arguing that Dragonite can't reliably beat Corviknight do an impressive job of missing the point. This is a Steel/Flying type trying to check a Pokemon that uses a Flying type move as its main attack, and it has to be the correct ability to respond and is pretty much locked into Bulk Up if it wants to be a good check. Prior to the bans, not running Bulk Up was fine because there were a plethora of options to U-turn into and Defog also was far less competitive for a moveslot. Now, Corviknight finds itself between a load of moves and abilities so that it can properly function as role compression (which it was already fairly fragile at). Dragonite does not help that at all.

The thing about arguing that a Pokemon is broken is that there'll always be people who say "This Pokemon can run x, y and z set" without realizing that they're listing a suboptimal set. Corviknight can afford to run Bulk Up on some teams, but that's not great to have to run. There's definitely more checks than Corviknight, but a lot of them are very easy to take advantage of. I'm not gonna through a list of ways to exploit checks, partially because I don't have the time/interest and also because I don't believe that it's necessary. Most people who have played AAA at a high level after the bans (and I'd almost daresay everybody) probably understand how easy games are if you're running a Dragonite.

 

[LordBox]

Sample submissions open? Well I do have teams but as a disclaimer I don't find any of these teams to be particularly good. I haven't really gotten the hang of building for the meta yet but managed to create some generic defensive cores and these teams have at least kept me afloat on ladder so I'll dump them here. (Some of the teams are pre-GaG ban, so probably can be optimized)

CB Chien Pao Balance




With Baxculibur rightfully gone from the tier, everyone and their mother seems to be abusing Fluffy cores (including me). I don't particularly agree with Fluffy being in the meta, disliking the dynamic it creates, but if you really pushed me on why it should be gone I'd come up short so eh. In any case, vanilla CB Chien-Pao takes advantages of these proliferation of Fluffy by bypassing it, potentially able to 2HKO Fluffy/WBB/VA Corvs with Crash and being pretty good in general with great speed and power (and yes, I use Adamant, you can't stop me). Rest of the team serves as defensive backbone or supports the offensive assault. Ace/Talonflame abuses Intim Corv while Dragonite provides a physical Fire-check with max HP while mixed TBolt lets it lure and chunk things like Corviknight and Dondozo for Chien-Pao to follow up on. As a final note, Iron Head could be run over Rapid Spin on Iron Treads to better check Hatterene.

Fluffy Corv Balance




Well, despite the drawbacks, a doubled defense boost against most physical attacks is definitely still appealing. Quav feels kinda awkward now that GaG is gone (can run Aqua Step/BU over Rapid Spin now as well), but synergises well with Fluffy Corv, so I've kept it, although I'd look at it and WBB Kingambit if you want to improve it. Dragonite serves as a potent offensive mon and Fire-check otherwise, although now coping against Chien-Pao. Any two offensive mons, really, can be fit into the free slots, or three slots if they synergise defensively.

MGLO Lucario Balance/Offense(?)




MGLO Lucario is actually quite a potent breaker in the context of the meta, breaking through all sorts of walls like Blissey, RegenVest Moon, Corviknight and Garganacl given correct play. Being fragile and somewhat slow, it needs a lot of VoltTurn support but hey, I was a SS AAA player before so it's not that hard to accomodate for. Kilowattrel frequently baits in Roaring Moon for Lucario and can chip down Iron Moth into Lucario 2HKO/OHKO range. Can potentially run EQ on Lucario for Iron Moth itself, but it makes killing Corv with Lucario more of a pain, or other relying on hitting FBlasts which is LOL not happening, at least for me. Could also run Choice Scarf Washtom on the 2nd team to accomodate it being fairly slow.

Specs Hydreigon Balance



RegenVest Garchomp is cool, so why not this gen? It can fake check the likes of Gengar/Zoro-H with its neutral bulk while stuffing Sandy Shocks. Pairing it up with Desoland Moth and Dazzling Greninja to take care of pesky Fairies and a nice TSpikes absorber. Rest of the team functions on its own, WBB Corv is a bit overloaded as a physical wall but I have enough offensive pressure that I can cope, could change to Intim and add a Fire-check though, or cope against Chien-Pao and run Fluffy. Slither/Hydreigon act as powerful offensive threats, using Beads of Ruin this time to let Hydreigon actually do something against Fairies.

Hisiuan-Zoroark Offense



Pretty generic team, spam offensive pivots with two generic blanket defensive pivots on each side of the spectrum with a primary breaker, that being Zoro-H. For more detail, Zoro-H is a powerful breaker when it lands FBlast able to run a mixed set capable of demolishing common defensive stalwarts like RegenVest Moon, SS Garg, Blissey and Clodsire. Everything else serves as pivots and defensive backbone into Zoro-H, while the offensive pivots have decent power themselves and can take advantage of the holes Zoro-H can punch open. Ace was originally here for Court Change support when GaG was free so feel free to replace it with whatever, still works nicely here though. Dazzling Greninja notably checks annoying priority like Hatterene and Dragonite.

As some final notes, Dragonite does feel pretty dumb to me. It can essentially pick and choose what matchups it loses and wins with what its 4th move is and you'll end up needing to account for it when building, which usually ends in losing to a coverage option and then coping by saying its rare. Able to viably run the likes of FBlast/FPunch, Low Kick, EQ, TPunch/TBolt which can all bust through usual Dragonite checks. Neither are any of these really unviable, it's just a 4th move and quite a few of these teams utilize the rare TBolt coverage to good success. Shed Tail also feels pretty stupid when wielded by someone who knows what they're doing but I don't have any solid arguments for that.

 

[LatiasDigs]

literally read what I said, it isn't that hard

setup corv is anything but sub-optimal, its crazy good and id recommend it for teams that already have another form of hazard removal

and i checked the replays, if you let your corv get para'd yeah it gets broken by dnite but i dont think that gameplan is reliable

 

[blastablasta]

Why are we now starting every post with this title format ​

it doesn't make any sense

anyway, now that tusk is gone, i'd like to talk a little about hazard removal in the new meta, since our options are possibly even fewer than last time around.


Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Whatever
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD or 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Sassy / Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Brave Bird / Body Press
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn / Iron Defense

defog corv is, at least in my opinion, going to almost completely monopolize hazard removal. you're already using it on the majority of teams you make and bulk up sets are niche enough to where they shouldn't be intruding on running defog. the lack of bax also helps, since you aren't forced into running ironpress or intim + idef just to handle it. this will probably be 80% of teams' removal, so good as gold will likely rise in popularity to block it.


Iron Treads @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Volt Switch

probably the most reliable removal option that also doubles as a special wall, and isn't now having to compete with tusk for the regen slot. this thing's main issues are that it's a regenvest that's weak to almost all of the relevant special attackers (gren, kilo, shocks, chi-yu), and that if you don't give it regen then it has no recovery. immune abilities will probably be decently common even if they rely on mono-leftovers for healing (or you can just wait for some madman to roll up with shed skin rest maybe?).


Donphan @ Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Spinner / Poison Jab / Stealth Rock

like siamato says above, this lacks the defensive weakness of its paradox forms and so matches a bit better into the meta, however something it also lacks is BST. 500 BST is serviceable but the stat spread is almost entirely physical, with poor SpD and Spe hindering its ability to actually spin in front of stuff even if it isn't being readily blocked by gholdengo anymore. once again, like with treads, unless you fancy rest shenanigans then it's reliant on the regen slot for recovery.


Quaquaval @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Wave Crash
- Rapid Spin
- Roost


Brambleghast @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Well-Baked Body
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
- Strength Sap

lumping these together as they both are relatively frail spinners that make up for their frailty with instant recovery. quaquaval will probably be the main offensive spinner, although it still hates its matchup into moth so many sets with spin will only be able to spin, and bramble can spin + set spikes + wall ace but has to rely on strength sap for recovery which has varying results. i can see quaquaval getting decent use but idk about bramble.


Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost

mglo talonflame is unique in that it can actually threaten most things trying to block its defog through good as gold, and if it isn't defogging then it's able to function as an offensive threat. probably the biggest issue with this is that garganacl gets rocks up permanently, and that defog competes quite heavily with wisp or SD, so becoming a mainstay for removal (maybe you go 1 attack/wisp/defog/roost?) is probably unlikely.


Altaria @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Fluffy / Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
- Roost

FLUFFY BIRD
this can remove stuff but i think wisp is the only advantage this has over anything else in this list. fluffy provides good physical bulk but it's unclear what fluffy lets you wall which max physdef wouldn't do for you already, especially now that tusk is gone. this is probably a side/downgrade corv unless you specifically want the fire resist, at which point vessel provides lower physdef bulk than fluffy but works on everything and presumably you 1v1 SD ace with it.


Drifblim @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Magic Guard / Well-Baked Body / Volt Absorb
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave
- Hex
- Defog
- Strength Sap

drifblim's high HP is both a blessing and a curse. on the one hand, it helps make up for drifblim's very poor defenses and grants it similar phys bulk to thundurus (which isn't a lot but it's something at least) / special bulk to shocks. on the other, strength sap heals for proportionally less than brambleghast gets. twave or wisp spread status and buff hex (meaning this isn't entirely passive) but can struggle to safely land and actually impact the thing you're hitting, and this mon gets ultra bullied by good as gold.


Glimmora @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock / Sludge Wave
- Mortal Spin

mortal is not reliable but theoretically mglo gives it enough power to not be spinblocked by corv (power gem 2HKOes physdef), though the typing is riddled with weaknesses and the speed leaves something to be desired for an "offensive" mon.

tl;dr - removal is not looking good

on the positive side of this thought, if everything is bad, and only great tusk was good this is still better in terms of gameplay and meta diversity than 1 good spinner that literally everyone has to use

kudos to aaa team for taking "drastic" action to make the tier playable again, I must say I was thoroughly bored with this tier from day one of sv launch but now it seems like it can be fun

I really want to make a team with regen toedscruel to take advantage of its great moves, might be possible now, although donphan still seems to be better overall, atleast you counter sandy shocks better which I've seen more of lately

Toedscruel @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes/Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Leech Seed/Giga Drain/Earth Power/Toxic

 

[Osake]

Sample Submission 2.0 cuz I'm a super good builder

-----

The team

Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Fluffy
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

The star of the team, I dreamed of it (and Atha too apparently) and it's stolen from the SubRegen SD bulky Chomp I enjoyed using last gen, but actually better because you have Fluffy so you can freely click Substitute on Corviknight, U-turn from fast attackers struggle to break the sub, you take 0 on ESpeed or Sucker Punch, etc, it has a really good MU vs Corviknight's structures, especially considering it's usually the only ground resist on the team and unless it is Iron Defense Press you're winning the 1v1 (and if it is, you can flinch/crit + have the rest of the team + they take a lot at +2 Rock Slide if they switch on you), but you could consider adding a Knock Off user/TWave user somewhere (Tinkaton my beloved) to help this MU, but I think it's fine


Quaquaval @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Wave Crash
- Close Combat
- Roost

Underrated mon and the greatest spinner as of now although you might struggle vs spikes + bramble or spikes + WA palo/skele but I think those structures are uncommon and Garchomp usually has a great MU vs them. Wave Crash does a ton on Corviknight and with Chomp support you're often able to bring it in the range of 2 Wave Crash/CC (if it's not fluffy) and the damages often suprise people. It also sits on Garganacl which is valuable and can absorb Toxic if needed


Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Hadron Engine
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump

it was an Hadron Engine Iron Moth at first (cuz Siamato believes it's strong..) and it's a cool set but the team was a little bit too slow and a bit struggling vs Talonflame notably, so I put Rotom instead because of Trick + pivoting, it also offers a safe Revenge Killer vs Gengar which is cool.
Thunderbolt is a free slot, Discharge or WoW probably work too. You're a bit weaker to Toxic Spikes but this slot is kinda free if you want to change it.


Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 99
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Iron Defense
- U-turn
- Roost
- Body Press

Basic stuff, you can run Defog > IDef if you're confident in your skills to handle Garchomp/Dragonite/Kingambit on your own, as you want. Also level 99 cuz I like it, but the team doesn't particularly need it it's just cool.


Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Torch Song
- Hex

Weird mon. It's both disappointing and super fun, and my own team struggles to answer it (the 8 EVs in Speed are basically for it), Water Absorb is great to stop Kilowattrel and Barras/Quaqua, but you could consider Bulletproof I guess to still check Kilo and Gengar (and HZoro) (actually, that might be better, but they're not landing Focus Blast anyway). WoW is also a super move, I love it.


Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Ruination
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind

Gengar check as long as they don't hit Focus Blast, great utility mon that can soft check a lot of things and helps vs Iron Moth, Rocks + Ruination is a super good combo. Also checks Sandy Shocks, nothing much to say.

Not the most amazing team you've ever seen (all the spreads are 252 252 cuz who needs spreads lol), clearly, even if the Garchomp is cool. Gengar and Moth MUs can be a bit tricky esp. if they get lucky with the boosts and win all the 50/50 but you have tools to play around and they can only take advantage of Corviknight freely. Solid team all around that got great results vs the ladder (I think I went from 1650 to 1700 with one lose due to Skill Swap Polteageist and me not clicking a missing move cuz I played as if they were using a real set..). You struggle if you can unlucky in the match-up such as Hazards stack Chomp + Desoland Ceru / WA Skele (f Siamato) but that is not the most common MU, if you're afraid of it you can run Defog on Corv though and outplay Dragonite (or drop U-turn if you really want to cover everything but ew)

Replays

The team is self explanative for its most part bc it's generic stuff, so I'm just posting replays to show Garchomp's strength

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1820684476-ciion53klmrx2xbl8bbhdv5xttcnvuepw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1820858536

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1820874325

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1821021155

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1821403222-fw36astisdlj2foctw1onzlok5pjodvpw

 

[Isaiah]

I built my own Shed Tail team, not really sure if it's consistent (did really well in testing though) but figured I might as well share it. Fluffy Garchomp behind a sub is a nuisance (stole that from Osake), and the other mons are just goodstuff mons that are generally effective when given free turns.

 

[Hera]

Sample submission. Kinda went over this during the Ghold suspect but to reiterate: Shed Tail is busted and once you get the flowchart of this team down, it is VERY difficult to lose barring a CT or something. Polt and Hari are your win cons, if you can't win with them immediately/are scared of potential Dazzling then use either Pao or Gar to lure and destroy their switch-ins. Dragonite also likes Shed Tail but I use it more as a lead in case I load into Moth lead. Only important EVs on the team are the 12 Speed on Dragonite to outspeed Scarf Sandy Shocks at +3 (potentially not that relevant but I was getting tired of losing to it). Quake on Orth is for any Ceruledge that thinks they can brainlessly setup on Orth. Here's a replay of me rubbing my two braincells together to beat a council member.

Also the nicknames are absolutely necessary to the success of the team, they mess with your opponent's mental.

 

[Adroqk]

anyone know any good iron moth counters its been frustrating because i have a pridomal sea quavqlava but everytime it just switches in and i cant do anything to it because its faster and it most likley has a choice scarf if anyone knows anything that can fit on my team and counter iron moth please let me know https://pokepast.es/3e569410c9fd7e46

 

[cat]

anyone know any good iron moth counters its been frustrating because i have a pridomal sea quavqlava but everytime it just switches in and i cant do anything to it because its faster and it most likley has a choice scarf if anyone knows anything that can fit on my team and counter iron moth please let me know https://pokepast.es/3e569410c9fd7e46

fyi delta stream doesnt work on volcarona. wbb corvi is a natural check to iron moths that lack discharge; if you really hate it wbb iron treads is immune to fire, poison and electric, however its not recommended as it(treads) has no form of recovery.

other team stuff

fyi delta stream doesnt work on volcarona, also not sure on that magnezone set

 

[blastablasta]

anyone know any good iron moth counters its been frustrating because i have a pridomal sea quavqlava but everytime it just switches in and i cant do anything to it because its faster and it most likley has a choice scarf if anyone knows anything that can fit on my team and counter iron moth please let me know https://pokepast.es/3e569410c9fd7e46

av regen donphan, sand stream gargle does sand stream end the deso sun, I have no idea and I'm 2 ranked on the ladder, well baked iron treads, spedef volt absorb pex, unaware blissey haha, unaware spedef umbreon, sap sipper gastrodon, well baked cloddy

 

[cumps]

anyone know any good iron moth counters its been frustrating because i have a pridomal sea quavqlava but everytime it just switches in and i cant do anything to it because its faster and it most likley has a choice scarf if anyone knows anything that can fit on my team and counter iron moth please let me know https://pokepast.es/3e569410c9fd7e46

in addition to blasta's suggestions above, spdef regen chomp is pretty good into moth. you could try it over zone on your team to provide hazards and some backbone against special attacks.

Garchomp (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 236 HP / 16 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake

same goes for ting lu, which is generally bulkier but gets chunked harder by energy ball or solar beam if moth is running either of those.

Ting-Lu @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 24 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Ruination / Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake

 

[LatiasDigs]

I would officially like to retract my previous statements about corv being able to effectively wall dnite, that was before i saw people on ladder running rocky helm/lefties on dnite which defog brave bird corv cant beat and doesnt rely on matchup luck like trying to hit corv with a SE coverage, id reckon lefties is the better of the 2 though

 

[blastablasta]

I would officially like to retract my previous statements about corv being able to effectively wall dnite, that was before i saw people on ladder running rocky helm/lefties on dnite which defog brave bird corv cant beat and doesnt rely on matchup luck like trying to hit corv with a SE coverage, id reckon lefties is the better of the 2 though

depends on the set, if you're stamina, and it doesn't have fpunch or roost you should win, if you have bulk up and it doesn't have fpunch you should win, but I forgot everyone has to run uturn, this is why people run garg or UNAWARE umbreon in the back, because if it doesn't have earthquake those mons win, and probably at +2 foulplay 1 hits it

 

[LatiasDigs]

depends on the set, if you're stamina, and it doesn't have fpunch or roost you should win, if you have bulk up and it doesn't have fpunch you should win, but I forgot everyone has to run uturn, this is why people run garg or UNAWARE umbreon in the back, because if it doesn't have earthquake those mons win, and probably at +2 foulplay 1 hits it

setup corv (stamina counting) can still beat these sets yeah, and i still stand by my statement that setup corv is a perfectly good set, but i was under the assumption that dnite couldnt break brave bird defog corv without SE coverage to which i was apparently wrong

 

[Atha]

I would officially like to retract my previous statements about corv being able to effectively wall dnite, that was before i saw people on ladder running rocky helm/lefties on dnite which defog brave bird corv cant beat and doesnt rely on matchup luck like trying to hit corv with a SE coverage, id reckon lefties is the better of the 2 though

Dragonite doesn't need lefties or helmet in order to beat Defog Corviknight. It sets up for free regardless (unless it's Defog + setup Corv which it doesn't want to be).

I don't see how I'm supposed to account for Dragonite in the teambuilder. Around 80% of the teams I see and build lose to one of the common DD Roost Dragonite sets. There's little offensive counterplay due to Extreme Speed. There's little defensive counterplay due to Roost + DD + good bulk.

The good teams from this post lose to, respectively, all Dnites, EQ/Low Kick Dnite, TPunch Dnite (this one's a bit safer), TPunch Dnite (same core), is safe with Fluffy Corv + Scarf Dazzling Greninja (lol), EQ Dnite, is safe (another Scarf Dazzling Gren), and is safe (yet another Scarf Dazzling Gren). Not mentioning that I can find a handful of less common sets that could beat each of these (again, with 0 counterplay).

I thought for a while Dnite was only broken against offense ; the truth is it's broken period.

 

[Alexender]

I was encouraged to submit a team for sample team consideration so here it is

- https://pokepast.es/08204e01213fd2da

Fairly standard balance team w/ MGLO Lucario and Kingambit as wallbreakers. Pivot around and try to bring Luke in. Flame Body Corviknight can be extremely punishing or completely useless, if you don't want to troll just use Fluffy. Thanks LordBox for the last min rate earlier today.

 

[Isaiah]

For anyone unaware, Decidueye is legal now! You should get in there and figure out if it's viable or not :P

 

[Uninteleon]

funny theorymon set for deci


Decidueye @ Leftovers / HDB
Ability: Regenerator / WBB / Bulletproof / Dazzling
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Defog / Spirit Shackle / Knock off / Shadow Sneak
- Knock Off / Shadow Sneak
- U-turn

 

[Grim_Blazer]

With the new VR I think I have created a set that actually deserves to be on there for the first time other than drumburden zard last gen. I also have decided to submit a sample team featuring, drumroll please.......



May I present to you assault vest Tatsugiri!

Tatsugiri @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Mirror Coat
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Rapid Spin

UT doesn't believe in it but trust me, this is an amazing special blanket check that has a couple of key benefits over some of the other regenvest mons in the tier. I believe Tatsu has 2 key benefits over the other regenvesters, first off is rapid spin. The only other regenvester I can think of that can run spin is iron treads, which can't do anything against Sandy Shocks without having to get some major predictions. Wanna guess who can? That's right Tatsugiri can!

252 SpA Hadron Engine Sandy Shocks Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri in Electric Terrain: 121-144 (35.5 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Magnet Hadron Engine Sandy Shocks Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri in Electric Terrain: 144-171 (42.3 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

Having a regenvester that is able to wall most variants of Sandy while at the same time being able to spin away any hazards laid is amazing. This alone means that Tatsu is able to take away a lot of the pressure that Sandy can exert on teams, all that's left is to find some way to punish them for clicking volt switch. Thankfully Tatsu was given access to a wonderful move called mirror coat! With mirror coat you're able to capitalize on obvious volt switches, firing off a super powerful move into the face of a mon that was meant to break through it, potentially killing it before it can do anything. There you have it, Tatsugiri is able to effectively wall the most common sets of one of the strongest and most prevalent special mons in the tier. If that doesn't give it a niche I don't know what would. This is also only considering the matchup vs Sandy, a mon who has the advantage of dealing neutral damage with both of it's STABS, what if we started considering the matchups vs the other popular special attackers?

Calcs VS most of the relevant special attackers I can think of

252 SpA Choice Specs Kilowattrel Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 117-138 (34.4 - 40.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Iron Moth Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 140-165 (41.1 - 48.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Beads of Ruin Iron Moth Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 124-146 (36.4 - 42.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 110-133 (32.3 - 39.1%) -- 98.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 147-174 (43.2 - 51.1%) -- 4.7% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Iron Jugulis Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 144-172 (42.3 - 50.5%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 124-147 (36.4 - 43.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Chi-Yu Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 113-134 (33.2 - 39.4%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO

Now if this isn't enough for Tatsu to be put on the VR I may have to attempt a coup against the council since this means they have decided that stuff like Glimmora, Magnezone, Dreadnaw, and Iron Thorns are better than a mon that can wall 90% of the relevant special attackers while still answering back with a lot of damage through mirror coat and draco and keeping hazards off with spin.



At the beginning of this post I promised a sample submission and here it is, this is a balance (I think???) team that revolves around getting gambit, ace, and hatt in repeatedly to kill things dead. The team is mostly straightforward other than Tatsugiri, which I already went over, and covert cloak gambit. I put cloak on gambit to have a better swap in to garg since it felt like it just got to click salt cure all the time, plus it can do the same thing that gholdengo did pre-bans where it just gets to setup vs stuff like garg really easily. (no fighting immune is meh but what're you gonna do?)

I only really have 1 good replay of this team since I was originally trying to use it in a tourney game before I had to call activity on my opponent. If you actually watch it you'll see tatsu do a lot of work despite the final position having 0 mons dead, Isaiah forfeited because he had to go do something but even he admitted that I was probably going to win at some point with the positioning that I had in the game.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9almostanyability-1820603767-qj9s6jg47baq6sivz38e4j36b03yaw0pw

 

[Hyper-Go-ons]

UT doesn't believe in it but trust me, this is an amazing special blanket check that has a couple of key benefits over some of the other regenvest mons in the tier. I believe Tatsu has 2 key benefits over the other regenvesters, first off is rapid spin. The only other regenvester I can think of that can run spin is iron treads, which can't do anything against Sandy Shocks without having to get some major predictions. Wanna guess who can? That's right Tatsugiri can!

252 SpA Hadron Engine Sandy Shocks Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri in Electric Terrain: 121-144 (35.5 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Magnet Hadron Engine Sandy Shocks Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri in Electric Terrain: 144-171 (42.3 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

Let's talk about Freeze-Dry and other strong special attackers...

252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Glaceon Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 504-600 (148.2 - 176.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mega Launcher Hydreigon Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 523-616 (153.8 - 181.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tatsugiri: 384-453 (112.9 - 133.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[Talpr0ne]

Let's talk about Freeze-Dry and other strong special attackers...

252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Glaceon Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 504-600 (148.2 - 176.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mega Launcher Hydreigon Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 523-616 (153.8 - 181.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tatsugiri: 384-453 (112.9 - 133.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

All your posts are basically "this Pokémon is OHKO'd by supereffective STAB".

 

[Grim_Blazer]

Let's talk about Freeze-Dry and other strong special attackers...

252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Glaceon Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 504-600 (148.2 - 176.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mega Launcher Hydreigon Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tatsugiri: 523-616 (153.8 - 181.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Gardevoir Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tatsugiri: 384-453 (112.9 - 133.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Sure specs hadron Engine garde can ohko tstsugiri, who cares? It’s not trying to check that in the first place lol. That’s like saying that you want your regenvest iron treads to come in and check a Sandy Shocks.