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I fully agree. Especially since it’s already got a good enough movepool, and now having access to one of the best letters in the format, S, i think Suicune can safely become an A- or solid A depending on what it’s used for like you’ve said
Works Pretty well given how S opens up WAY more options and Scale Shot gives it WAY more speed to punish Scarf users, and Dragons that come in it. Overall a good breaker set to hit both types of bulk.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Salt Cure
- Strength Sap
- Scald / Sparkling Aria
- Substitute / Spikes
Then we have our stall that can chip foes and spread said chip. This set + Knock Off users / Skill Swap Slaking can annoy opponents VERY quickly.
I gotta make some nominations to the official VR. Agree with Suicune being ranked. I don't feel like arguing more about Ninetales.
-> A-
I feel like this mon was probably just forgotten about? Archaludon is great and pretty distinctive from the omnipresent Hisui Goodra. It's got a ton of weird options you can lose to and is a good setup mon in general because Toxapex can't really do much to it in a lot of cases. Electro Shot makes it a great breaker for a rain team. Specs + Dragon Energy can let it get some surprise 2HKOs with extreme power. Doom Desire can be really punishing for some teams to dance around if you can punish Toxapex well. Armor Cannon is great coverage for non-rain sets. Agility + Power Herb can randomly pop up to destroy offense. Amnesia + Electro Shot is a weirdo set I encountered once that was really tough to break for my balance team. Dragon Dance is a dark horse that can be really effective against teams without Corviknight.
-> A-
One of the best spinners and it has a great matchup against a lot of the format's defensive backbone, it's pretty similarly flexible as in standard play. On a sun team, Protosynthesis gives it more utility, especially since the sun setters can pivot now which makes it easier to bring in. Also you can just throw it in front of Skill Swap Slaking.
-> B+
It's a really good stall breaker with Magma Storm + Taunt. A lot of teams have Toxapex as their Fire resist which can't even do anything to it at all unless it runs a water move. Defensive mons like Goodra-Hisui and bulky Salamence tend to favor Sacred Fire spam over EQ so Heatran can prey on that sort of teambuilding construction too. If you run Stealth Rock on it, it can always keep that up against Toxapex. Also it's Fire immune which can be a slapdash way to dissuade CB Volcanion or Cinderace from using certain moves.
-> B
You're gonna have to hear me out for this one. It plays differently enough from other offensive Water-types to have some good merit largely due to its better speed tier. Inteleon has great offensive stats and a powerful and spammable move in Specs Steam Eruption, especially since nothing really likes being burned. What's even better is it has Sandsear Storm which is like the perfect coverage for this meta. It hits Goodra-H, Toxapex, Volcanion, pretty much all the best water resists. The fact that there aren't many good bulky Grass types really lets it pull a lot of weight with this coverage set. It can be harder to dance around than Walking Wake cause it's not reliant on being at full health and it can hit targets that resist Water with a more spammable move than Draco Meteor, and it's faster too. Inteleon also has Switcheroo which means that it can just pass its Specs off onto that Goodra-H, Blissey or whatever if you prefer it. It's got a deep movepool too, like Ice Beam for Salamence, Seed Flare for bulky waters, Secret Sword for Blissey, can set up a Spike or pivot out, etc. Inteleon's really a sleeper hit that is easily overlooked due to a mid typing and no good abilities.
Sinistcha is honestly a good A- or B+ mon. Having access to both S (one of the best letters in the metagame) and P, helps it get more chances to fight against both its weaknesses with Scorching Sands, Sparkling Aria, and Psychic/Psyshock, and give it just enough leg room to answer its many
checks and bulkier foes.
Alphabet Cup
In addition to their normal moveset, all Pokémon get every move with which they share a starting letter.
Prevo Clause: Pokémon also gain access to letters available in their prior evolutions.
For example, Blissey is able to run moves that start with H and C because its evolution family includes Happiny and Chansey.
• Anything annotated with an asterisk is banned outright, meaning even Pokémon that natively have access cannot use them.
Arena Trap
Moody
Shadow Tag
Damp Rock
Heat Rock
King's Rock
Light Clay
Razor Fang
Watchlist:
Ogerpon-Hearthflame
Typhlosion-Hisui
Volcanion
Torch Song
One of the most significant benefits to this meta is that many Pokémon with less-than-stellar movepools get an opportunity to shine.
All Pokémon that start with S get access to all but one of the hazards (Toxic Spikes), Salt Cure, Scald, Soft-Boiled/Shore Up/Slack Off, Strength Sap, Substitute, Swords Dance, and, frankly, an entire suite of incredible moves.
Beyond S, the big winners are:
• R: Rapid Spin, Recover, etc.
• T: Taunt, Teleport, Toxic Spikes, Trick, Trick Room, etc.
With honorable mentions to:
• C: Calm Mind, Ceaseless Edge, Court Change, etc.
• D: Diamond Storm, Discharge, Dragon Dance, every other move starting with “Dragon”, etc.
• M: Meteor Mash, Milk Drink, etc.
• P: Parting Shot, Precipice Blades, Pyro Ball, etc.
Some Pokémon that get particularly nice boosts:
• Rotom (and forms): Good for all the usual reasons, but now with access to recovery moves and Rapid Spin.
• Toxapex: Mortal Spin and Teleport. Taunt and everything is nice, but those two moves on Pex turn its features up to 11.
• Corviknight: Cotton Guard + Body Press turns this wall into a full-on tank. It also gets Court Change and Rapid Spin.
FAQs/Comments:
• Moves not fully functional on cartridge (Pursuit, for one) cannot be used.
• Nicknames do not alter your access to moves. The names as listed by default in the teambuilder determine your access.
Further Notes:
• A lot of really amazing moves don’t get many opportunities to be used: Quiver Dance, Wish, and Extreme Speed to name a few.
• A lot of letters get almost nothing. J, K, Q (other than Quiver Dance), U (other than U-Turn), X, Y, and Z are all left mostly for dead.
• You can challenge your friends/rivals with functionality now added to PS!
When using the /challenge command, you can now add @@@ Alphabet Cup Move Legality to the end to have it validate our rules! Currently, there is no option in teambuilder but it still works as though we had it!
Example: open up the chat window for a person and type: /challenge gen9anythinggoes @@@ alphabetcupmovelegality, standard oms, sleep moves clause, -arceus, -calyrexice, -calyrexshadow, -dialga, -dialgaorigin, -eternatus, -fluttermane, -giratina, -giratinaorigin, -groudon, -koraidon, -kyogre, -magearna, -magearnaoriginal, -mewtwo, -miraidon, -palafin, -palkia, -palkiaorigin, -rayquaza, -weavile, -zacian, -zaciancrowned, -zamazenta, -zamazentacrowned, -acupressure, -batonpass, -lastrespects, *bellydrum, *filletaway, *glaciallance, *ragefist, *revivalblessing, *shedtail, *shellsmash, *shiftgear, *surgingstrikes, -arenatrap, -moody, -shadow tag
This will challenge someone to Anything Goes with the standard set of clauses (Sleep Moves Clause, etc.), but it will tell you if one of your sets is using a move with a letter it doesn't have access to. We hope to make things even more user-friendly soon!
We hope everyone likes this format and we look forward to seeing the creative sets that will arise!
Sinistcha is honestly a good A- or B+ mon. Having access to both S (one of the best letters in the metagame) and P moves, helps it get more chances to fight against both its weaknesses with Scorching Sands, Sparkling Aria, and Psychic/Psyshock, and give it just enough leg room to answer its many
checks and bulkier foes.
Mamoswine is also another great P user who is also granted with M and S moves to expand its physical offensive prowess. Magical Torque and Mach Punch helps it to combat Fighting- and Steel-type threats, and pick off weakened foes. Sacred Sword is a GREAT breaking move, and, in tandem with Solar Blade, can punish pesky Water-types like Dondozo, Primarina and Ogerpon-W. Pain Split, Psycho Cut, and Poison Jab can help deal with checks too. Since Mamo has the ability to answer all its type weaknesses, I do think it’s good for B+ or A- also, even though it’s rather poor defenses leave me wondering if B- might be a better scoring for it.
-> A-
-> A-
-> B+
-> B
Rotom (and forms): Good for all the usual reasons, but now with access to recovery moves and Rapid Spin.
Toxapex: Mortal Spin and Teleport. Taunt and everything is nice, but those two moves on Pex turn its features up to 11.
Corviknight: Cotton Guard + Body Press turns this wall into a full-on tank. It also gets Court Change and Rapid Spin.