l
ow ldr rating explained by testing and ag ladder is cancer, replays are just basic demonstration, so don't say shitty opponent, no need to quote
This tier is ridiculous and super hectic at the moment. Specialized checks through Pokemon or moves are needed to climb tho ladder or you are screwed by a certain archetypes. I want to do an analysis of what I see abusable through experience and watching other people use it.
Perish Song as
shrang said is an amazing move right now. In fact, its distribution is limited, but the fact it can be used by a Arceus and Mega Gengar makes it less of a problem. Pulling Baton Pass chains apart (Haze Darkrai is really useful for is too) is ridiculous, when Moody Smeargle is such a huge threat. Perish Song also allows you to stop set-up sweepers. In fact, Perish Song Gengar completely craps on SwagPlay teams which infect the ladder like crazy and are everywhere. It is not so hard to add Taunt to your team in AG when it is like mandatory, and if you get Mega Gengar in with a Taunted Liepard or Klefki, then you can Perish Song your way through SwagPlay. Shadow Ball | Sludge Wave | Pain Split | Perish Song is the most common set I see and have seen and being able to check Baton Pass chains and SwagPlay makes it an amazing choice at the moment. SubCM Dark and Fairy Arceus are immediate 6-0 killers versus SwagPlay especially if using a Lum Berry (ok these seem super specific but AG is overcentralized af so don't quote me about this I know). There is also like zero opportunity cost using a dedicated Arceus because of species clause being banished here.
Alright, I just wanted to talk about how cool Perish Song is, so I will do a break down of what playstyles and Pokemon are prominent, starting with the latter.
Alright, Mega Rayquaza is the best 'mon in the whole game and there is a reason why: Dragon Ascent coming from Base 180 Atk
and the ability to hold an item which throws it off the chart. Nothing can switch in safely and it absolutely wrecks after a Dragon Dance or Swords Dance under its belt. Delta Stream gives it easy set up oppurtunities, and being able to do it on Primal Groudon without Dragon Claw is ridiculous, while giving a resistance to Electric setting up on Choice-locked Zekrom and CM Electric Arceus. It just utterly destroys every team unless your opponent is carrying obscure things like Shuca Berry Rhyperior, Counter Skarmory, etc. which are super easy to play around or wear down. This is just one of the few reasons to prove how over centralizing it is and every team needs a way to "deal" (note I out it quotations) with it or they are swept instantly.
Darkrai hit the jackpot in the AG metagame with the absence of Sleep Clause. It can easily set-up on sleep induced targets and wreck havoc. It can tank priority which adds to the fact it can do stuff to non-Lum Berry Arceus...and being able to put multiple 'mons to this condition makes it one of the deadliest threats in the metagame. Dark Pulse has extraordinary coverage if paired with Sludge Bomb or Thunder. Nasty Plot itself is not even mandatory, so you can run both coverage moves (or even Haze to stop BP chains) because Life Orb Dark Pulses hit extremely hard especially backed up by unlimited sleep and compounding Nightmare damage making incredibly hard to stop and another incredibly centralizing 'mon.
Moody Smeargle is deadly on mono-Pass and Baton Pass chains. The ability to set up while stalling for your desired boost makes it an incredibly hard 'mon to play around especially if Focus Sash is still intact. On full chains, it makes Espeon in to the most deadly 'min in the tier - completely destroying everything. Haze Darkrai has risen in usage due this fact along with Perish Song Arceus and Mega Gengar. Moody Glalie is another powerful 'mon. I used SubSD Pass Scolipede and gave a +2 / +4 boost to Glalie, stalled a turn with Protect for Moody boosts and completely shitted on my opponent after MEvo. Mega Glalie is really a huge threat to prepare for. I did a similar combination with GeoPass Smeargle into Octillery and it would simply SPAM it's Water STAB while getting boosts along the way making it nigh impossible to stop. Moody + Baton Pass is an effective playstyle.
BP Chain
Scolipede + Moody Mega Glalie (v. shitty team, but this is basic demonstration of how good it is)
Alright, so playing with the Species Clause, I realized 5 Arceus + 1 Mega Gengar is a playstyle everyone needs to be cautious of if they can, and it is so powerful in terms on brute force. You power past your checks and Mega Gengar traps them and eliminates and you SPAM EKiller until your opponent goes in to oblivion. Another example of this is 5 Rayquaza + 1 Mega Rayquaza which also near impossible to stop. Another species clause abuse army is 4 Geomancy Xerneas + 1 Choice Scarf Xerneas + 1 MegaMixRay which breaks past all of the things Xerneas can't set up on along with different coverage on each Xerneas allowing you to demolish the opponent. Species Clause SPAM is that good.
5 Rayquaza + 1 Mega Rayquaza (might have to fix replay l8r)
SwagPlay is a crappy playstyle to be honest. It is a luck based thing where you only win like half of the time and you are completely crapped on by Numel which I actually see on HO teams and people are willing to give up a slot because Mega Rayquaza by itself can provide you a nigh-unstoppable win condition, but what is the pain? SwagPlay. It is really unreliable when climbing the ladder. There are much better options for playstyles when climbing the ladder.
With OHKO moves allowed, I see that people are interested in using Coil Moody Smeargle to stall for Accuracy / Evasion boosts and then pass to Zoom Lens Bisharp / whatever because your OHKO move should atleast have 70% accuracy and your coverage can help avoid PP crap. OHKO moves on random stuff like Primal Kyogre is something you see just to troll your opponent. OHKO clause wasn't as good as I thought because it is either luck based or you have to stall for a long time to get boosts and I even then, I would pass to Octillery to just destroy the living crap out of everything, and the process is much faster. I am pretty sure everyone here is time conservative.
No Evasion Clause pisses me off, but it is AG. We will find ways to deal with all these playstyles in the future, but as the metagame "stabilizes", we should get a good glimpse of how high level AG is. And when I mean by stabilize, I mean that the metagame will see more of X move of 'mon to deal with a certain playstyle.
These were my thoughts of AG right now. It is a fun tier and I am willing to help with this tier. It is pretty cool and I am glad it was made to make Ubers 10x more healthy. Anyways, this tier is really like preparing for as much as you can, but this was my analysis of what I see.
