Battle Spot Special: The Return of Inverse!

Theorymon

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The next battle spot special for Season 10 has been announced, and it heralds the return of what might be the most popular Battle Spot Special: Inverse Battles!

Now, since we had this metagame before in XY, the cool thing is that we can go into this season much more prepared for the battle spot special than usual, and I'm going to take advantage of that by using this post a quick and dirty primer to how the metagame was last season. In the near future, I want for us to have a threat list for this metagame, so it will be easier for new guys to join in on the fun! For now though, let's cover the basics!

What are Inverse Battles?

Inverse is a strange metagame that flips what you know about Pokémon on its head. Much like Battle Spot Singles, its a 3vs3 metagame, but with a huge twist: The typing chart is completely reversed! Pokemon that were weak to a type now resist it, while Pokemon who resisted or immune to a type are now weak to it! This DRAMATICALLY changes a lot of team building factors as you can imagine! Note though, status immunities (with the exception of Thunder Wave effecting Ground-types now) stay the same, so you won't be able to burn that Talonflame, sorry!

What are the big threats to watch out for?

Good question! Thankfully, the usage stats from last year's Inverse Ladder are still onsite, so browsing through it is a pretty good idea! I'll cover some of the threats below as well. You'll notice a lot of familiar faces from Battle Spot Singles in the top 12 in particular, but don't let your guard down: The typing changes still dramatically effect them!

The Top 12 From Last Year

1. Mega Kangaskhan

kangaskhan-mega.gif


In Inverse, NOTHING resists Normal, which makes Mega Kangaskhan even SCARIER than usual! Since Normal STAB covered everything anyways, Mega Kangaskhan no longer needed Earthquake, meaning it could carry Fake Out AND Power-Up Punch with pretty much no drawbacks! If you thought preparing for Mega Kangaskhan was important in Singles, then think double that for this metagame!

2. Mega Gengar / Gengar

gengar-mega.gif
gengar.gif


Being weak to Normal is normally really bad news for anything in this metagame, but Gengar bucks the trend thanks to its impressive speed, power, and Ghost stab. Mega Gengar often used Protect to save itself from Mega Kangaskhan's Fake Out, then used Shadow Ball to KO it after a tiny bit of residual damage, making it extremely valuable! Regular Gengar was no slouch either, since the fast Ghost STAB alone still made it worth it if you were planning on using the mega slot or someting else. This also lets Gengar keep levitate, making it one of the few Pokemon to have the valuable immunity to Earthquake!

3. Breloom

breloom.gif


Breloom absolutely loves Inverse. Grass is now an extremely potent offensive typing, hitting important types such as Dragon supereffectively. Most importantly though, it hits other Grass-types super effectively, making switching into Spore even more of an ordeal than usual! Mach Punch also gets a boost. While Breloom struggled more against Mega Kangaskhan than before, Mach Punch also now gets an easy OHKO on Mega Gengar, and smashes up Latios and Talonflame.

4. Garchomp

garchomp.gif


The king of Battle Spot Singles was still no slouch here! In some ways, Garchomp got even better: Nothing is immune to Earthquake or Outrage now, so Garchomp's choice sets are more deadly here than usual. It's also one of the few Dragon-types that isn't weak to Grass, which comes in handy since Garchomp can Earthquake those into the oblivion! Just note though, Garchomp is now 4x weak to Electric-type attacks, and can also now be paralyzed by Thunder Wave.

5. Porygon2

porygon2.gif


Porygon2 did do its usual defensive stuff in this metagame (note, this was before people really thought about Offensive Porygon2), but thanks to it having that amazing Norma-type STAB, Porygon2 never left home without Tri Attack! It actually did 88% to minimum HP Mega Gengar (this was more common than max HP because it needed the power for Mega Kangaskhan), so Porygon2 is harder to trap than normal. It also sometimes ran Thunderbolt, letting it score super effective hits against Garchomp, Latios, and Breloom.

6. Latios

latios.gif


Finally, a new face! Latios has the special disticnction of being one of the few Pokemon in inverse who can take both Dragon AND Ground-type attacks, which was the secret to its success. This thing was the most reliable offensive Garchomp check around thanks to its typing and Thunderbolt, and Latios could spam Draco Meteor with no problem now that only Dragon resisted it! Usually, they were Choice Specs, but Life Orb and Scarf weren't unheard of either. The Mach Punch weakness was a bummer, but thankfully, it also resisted Sucker Punch, meaning you could revenge Mega Kangaskhan with Draco Meteor!

7. Cresselia

cresselia.gif


Cresselia functions pretty similarly here as it does in Battle Spot Singles. While Ice Beam was sadly not nearly as good in this metagame, Cresselia still makes do with Psychic to hit Latios, and as a bonus, Mega Gengar didn't usually carry Taunt so Cresselia could tank its Sludge Bombs. Also, Thunder Wave hits Ground-types now too, so Garchomp still isn't a fan of Cresselia! You could even run Energy Ball if you were especially scared of Dragonite or Talonflame.

8. Talonflame
talonflame.gif

The Smogon bird runs pretty much the same exact sets as usual here, because as you'd expect, powerful priority Brave Birds are still pretty wonderful! However, something very interesting to note: A LOT more Talonflame ran Jolly than usual. The reason for this was because Jolly let Talonflame outspeed Latios, which came in handy since you could fry it with Flare Blitz. Especially handy if you're using Life Orb Talonflame, since Brave Bird would lose that 75% chance to OHKO Latios, while Flare Blitz still annihilated it. Also, funnily enough, Talonflame had a 4x resist to Stealth Rock, as rare as that was at the time. Just note though: Breloom is now a big problem for Talonflame, and Avalugg destroys you unless you run Will-O-Wisp.

9. Dragonite

dragonite.gif


Dragonite does gain an unfortunate array of weaknesses to stuff like Grass, Ground, Fire, and Water, but thankfully, Multiscale saved it! Most of these were Dragon Dancers, with a wide array of items ranging from Weakness Policy to Lum Berry. Dragon of course, is almost unreisisted in this metagame, so Dragonite was still a deadly sweeper. Choice Band was also a thing, which was helped by ExtremeSpeed allowing it to snipe Mega Gengar.

10. Avalugg

avalugg.gif


Avalugg is the posterchild for how inverse can make unusual Pokémon a LOT better! In inverse, Ice becomes a great defensive typing, being only weak to itself. Avalugg is INSANELY physically bulky, AND it has Recover. Pair this with Rocky Helmet, and you have a physical wall so great that 17% of Mega Kangaskhan were running Ice Beam JUST so they wouldn't lose to this thing! Be careful though: While its Special Defense sucks, around half of Avalugg were carrying Mirror Coat, which when paired with Sturdy, would let Avalugg often take out important Pokemon like Latios in emergencies!

11. Chansey

chansey.gif


Inverse makes Chansey a lot more annoying than usual. Gone is that exploitable Fighting weakness, so unless you're Gengar, you won't be exploiting its Ghost weakness very well. These things often used Minimize, which is honestly sorta scary if they pull it off. I mean sure, boosting physical Attackers such as Garchomp, Mega Kangaskhan, and Talonflame can still break past it... but still, this thing could be infuriating last year if you weren't prepared for it!

12. Greninja

greninja.gif


I'm gonna be honest: I wasn't really a big fan of Greninja in inverse, but it did make the top 12 for a reason! Greninja would often resist Mach Punch thanks to Ice Beam and Dark Pulse, meaning that unlike Gengar and Latios, Greninja was a special attacker that could ACTUALLY revenge kill Breloom! Also, Greninja usually ran Grass Knot. This was for more than just slamming Dragonite: It also gave Greninja a Flying resist, screwing up Talonflame! Extrasensory was around too, usually to hit Latios and Cresselia harder, while also giving it a Sucker Punch resistance.

What about other Pokémon?

Of course, there were more Pokémon used than just the top 12! I'm going to keep it brief for now since this thread is already getting rather big, but I'll expand on the other Pokemon later! For now, I'm going to have two hide lists with short descriptions. One about Normal types (seriously, Normal-types are huge in this metagame), and one about the other Pokémon. Make sure to look at the usage stats for more details!

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of Pokémon too, so let me know if you played last year and remember some Pokémon!

Snorlax: Snorlax comes back with a vengeance! Curselax was no joke, with that great special bulk to take a Shadow Ball, and perfect coverage giving it versatility in the last slot. Most of the time, I saw Rest + Sleep Talk, but I also saw some more exotic things such as Choice Band with Selfdestruct, elemental punches, and even Fissure!

Miltank: Miltank's big selling point was Sap Sipper. This thing was one of the more common Breloom checks, taking Spores and Bullet Seeds like nothing! It was also fairly versatile: The only real constant was Milk Drink, a Normal STAB, and often Rocky Helmet. Otherwise, expect to see anything from status spreading, Curse, or even Stealth Rock!

Porygon-Z: This was mostly a simple Choice Scarfer, and it was fairly powerful since nothing resisted Normal. On a weird note, a lot of them ran Uproar. Uproar is a bit more powerful than Tri Attack, but locks you in. The reason it was ran was because it made Porygon-Z immune to Sleep, which meant that Breloom couldn't Spore you (granted, Bullet Seed still did truckloads, but at least something else couldn't set up on you!)

Bouffalant: AFROBULL IS GOOD NOW! Not common, but it was a really good Choice Bander thanks to Sap Sipper making it a good offensive Breloom check. I had a lot of success with this thing myself, I should probably post the set later in this thread...

Furfrou: I almost never saw this thing without Chansey, so my team didn't have too much trouble with it. Usually, they ran Cotton Guard to make physical attacks hit like packing peanuts, and Return to hit Gengar switch-ins.

Mega Alakazam: This thing was a bit weird and ocasionally situational, but could be a serious threat just because of Mega Kangaskhan. With Trace and Shadow Ball, Alakzam could finish off weakened Mega Kangaskhan, and then rampage through teams with a Parental Bond of its own! It also used Protect to avoid Fake Out. Outside of that, it wasn't as great, but it wasn't without merit either. Energy Ball let it pick off Dragonite and Mega Gengar, Psychic / Psyshock anhilated Latios, and that Speed was helpful in general. Watch out though: Breloom owns you hard with Mach Punch!

Ditto: You know how a lot of Pokémon normally resist their own typing? Since this is inverse, a lot of Pokémon are weak to their own attacks, which makes Ditto a lot nastier than usual! Especially troubling if you are using a set up sweeper, since Ditto can turn the tables quickly on that. The mere presence of Ditto can be a effective psychological tool in general in this metagame.

Chesnaught: Thanks to Bullet Proof, Impish Chesnaught becomes a decent Breloom check. Usually, these ran Spiky Shield, their STABs, Leech Seed, and Rocky Helmet. Thanks to its bulk, Chesnaught was also a great Talonflame switch-in.

Gogoat: This wasn't too common, but a few of us ran this thing with success. Unlike any other Grass-type, Gogoat had Sap Sipper, making it not just a Breloom counter, but it even made Breloom set up fodder thanks to Bulk Up! The Grass-type also made it screw over Talonflame pretty hard with Horn Leech, and you could even run Grass Knot to nab a 2HKO on Avalugg!

Blaziken: You'd think that with Talonflame getting ruined against this in Inverse, that Blaziken would be everywhere. Not the case sadly: It was also weak to Sucker Punch, and physical variants were owned HARD by Avalugg. Still not a bad Pokemon though. Its still fast, and Flare Blitz slams Dragon-types pretty hard!


In a way, much of this post has been a reflection of the past, since Gamefreak had an inverse ladder last year as well. HOWEVER... This thread is more about the future! With Inverse returning, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's shake up, its now time to look at how the Inverse metagame will change! Let's use the past to figure out the future in this new, crazy metagame!
 
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I didn't want to put this in the first post since this is speculation on my part, but one Pokémon I think has the potential to be a HUGE new threat in this metagame is Serperior.

I mentioned before that Grass is a fantastic offensive STAB in Inverse, so imagine how that's going to be when its base 140 power and it keeps getting boosted! Serperior is fast too, and now that it resists Brave Bird, I imagine it's going to be a lot harder to revenge kill than usual. I'm fully expecting for the more rare Water-types from last year like Swampert and Suicune to shoot up in usage to deal with Serperior. I also expect Miltank usage to rise even further, and maybe some people will try Gogoat too.

On a similar token, I could see Mega Sceptile being pretty dangerous too, since Grass / Dragon is unreisted coverage. The 4x Energy Ball weakness could be annoying (and I expect a lot of Cresselia to start carrying that), but the Speed and Power could make it a potent offensive threat. Lighting Rod is also really handy here, since it means that Latios will be forced to use Energy Ball to have a shot at beating you. It also means that Porygon2 can't own you with Thunderbolt!

Finally, I can see Mega Salamence being around. Energy Ball and Water weakness is probably going to be a thorn on its side, but hey, its still fast and has Aerilate.
 
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Here's something that I've wanted to try ever since I missed the last one:

gyarados-mega.gif

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch / Earthquake

A pretty neat option for dealing with Breloom: after Mega Evolving, it resists both of Breloom's STABs and outspeeds it by one point, allowing you to set up a Substitute against its Spore and start to set up. Intimidate is also pretty great for the huge number of physical attackers in this meta. Of course, it's weak to Sucker Punch and you can't use Kangaskhan if you're using another mega, but it's a fairly good option for dealing with these. Not to mention, of course, that Avalugg walls this into the ground unless you have +3 :(

Running random Ice Beam on things like Tauros is a good idea for bypassing Avalugg, by the way~

edit: Just had another cool idea-

ninetales.gif
+
tangrowth.gif


Ninetales @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drought
EVs: 140 Def / 252 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Nasty Plot / Substitute????

Tangrowth @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 248 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power Fire
- Focus Blast

Neat little sun offense duo that hopefully will capitalise on Ninetales' positive matchup against Ground-types to set up sun, spread burns, then leave enough sun turns for Tangrowth to come in and put big holes in things. Ninetales has enough speed to creep Breloom and Tangrowth outspeeds Mega Gengar under sun, with the EVs compensating for the modified HP Fire IVs. I decided on Tangrowth because of it's great physical bulk, which can allow it to take Jolly Kangaskhan's Fake Out + Double-Edge with relative ease. Focus Blast bops Psychics like Slowbro and Latios - Ancient Power could be run here but a super-effective Ancient Power only slightly outdamages neutral Giga Drain so w/e lol
 
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I remember using a Silk Scarf, Fake Out/ Last Resort Ambipom. I got away with that sort of thing because nothing resists Normal in inverse. Also, Yanmega, with access to Ghost, Bug, and Grass type moves (Giga Drain), and that Speed Boost, seems pretty good. It doesn't care about Stealth Rock either, with a 4x resistance.
 
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No mention of the Inverse King himself, Espeed Linoone?

Man that thing actually sounds a bit scary if it manages to set up. I never saw one last year though, despite it being XY so Pokebank was allowed. Hypothetically I guess you'd use something like Belly Drum / ExtremeSpeed / Shadow Claw / filler (maybe Protect to save yourself from Fake Out). I'm guessing part of it was ExtremeSpeed being an obscure event (and it still is).

Looking at its stats from last year, I see that Uxie is a top teammate for it. Sounds like people were using dual screens to set it up?
 
Man that thing actually sounds a bit scary if it manages to set up. I never saw one last year though, despite it being XY so Pokebank was allowed. Hypothetically I guess you'd use something like Belly Drum / ExtremeSpeed / Shadow Claw / filler (maybe Protect to save yourself from Fake Out). I'm guessing part of it was ExtremeSpeed being an obscure event (and it still is).

Looking at its stats from last year, I see that Uxie is a top teammate for it. Sounds like people were using dual screens to set it up?
Yeah I never saw one either, but I heard quite a few people got swept by it (It can even OHKO Megamom!) I was just joking to mention it as a common threat though lol. It'll probably be rarer this year.
 
I am so glad I bred an HP Fire and HP Ground Serp w/Glare a few weeks ago. It's now going to get its revenge on the things that owned it before (Mega Mence, Talonflame, Aegislash).

Also, poor Mega Lopunny, its ability is pretty much useless in this format. :( Doesn't mean that it got any worse, though.
 
Ma nigga Glalie
Ma lil fren pet buddy Linoone 8D
and ma sea fortress, Avalugg.. We gon take over this world
Asnow Rhyp Volc Hera and Cune all on the same team with Jolteon is legit. Yung Artic1 freezing all da skies while we at it

edit: http://prntscr.com/719hfn (I wonder who's in yellow) (exactly 1 yr ago pretty much wow http://prntscr.com/719k8s)
This was my first time meeting and chatting with haban and I didn't even know anything other than I finally met some1 for the first time who played bss on ps forget about his many alts and his dominance on the ps ladder and that he was jpn etc.
This goes so back it was me pre-BS room. When I used to pick on ppl in the CompTut room to help out. Pre-YT channel and everything. This is where I knew DaAwesomeDude from and I knew him because he was the only person in comp tut that used to play battle spot (even if it was only for vgc special ladder).
 
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More mons:

staraptor.gif


Staraptor @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant/ Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Close Combat/ Final Gambit

Normally outclassed by the best revenge killer in the game, Brave Bird, in inverse Staraptor gets an immensely powerful, unresisted STAB in the form of Reckless-boosted Double-Edge. An unresisted STAB is a great boon to a scarfer! You can also creep down with speed and invest in HP to survive more Reckless recoil or even run Final Gambit in case of emergencies. Not to mention that without a weakness to SR, Staraptor can U-Turn with more confidence.


As for new possible threats…

sceptile-mega.gif


Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Energy Ball
- Dragon Pulse
- Nature Power/ Focus Blast/ HP Fire

As mentioned already by Theorymon, Mega Sceptile laughs evilly at its double weakness to the Electric-type thanks to Lightning Rod, and tends to wall Electric-types because of their rather barren movepools. It can also use a Nature Power Tri Attack to hit Rock-types hard. As the fastest user of Grass-type STAB, it might be worth a shot! What’s more, because of the mega, even regular Sceptile can play mind games against Electric-types.

beedrill-mega.gif


Mega Beedrill’s Drill Run allows it to hit grass types, which resist U-Turn and Poison Jab, super-effectively. With such a fast and powerful U-Turn, it might be threatening.

Also, Uxie doesn't need to set up screens, as it can also support Linoone with rocks, yawn and memento, but screens are always nice too. Linoone can run the terrifying Last Resort as well in order to OHKO walls (after having used ESpeed) like Porygon2 before they get off a Toxic or something. And speaking of Last Resort, Mega Lopunny does it better than Ambipom, so that’s scary too. So many speedy threats!
 
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Mega Sceptile laughs evilly at its double weakness to the Electric-type thanks to Lightning Rod

Mega Ampharos can finally make use of Mold Breaker!

I finally got my hands on a legit E-speed Linoone, and although it has poo IVs I'm still gonna at least give it a try. BD / ES / Last Resort / filler (maybe sub or something) sounds really fun. I'll probably pair it with a super-predictable Screens (+ maybe even Safeguard) setter and see if I can get it in safely. Will probably have a Fake Out + Last Resort Mega Lopunny in the back to clean up. Mono attackers seem so much more viable in this meta since there are no immunities (save for abilities), so Choice attackers and stuff like RestTalk set uppers could be fun to try out. I'll probably give Leaf Storm Serperior a go for obvious reasons. I'm pretty excited for this meta to start!
 
BD / ES / Last Resort / filler (maybe sub or something)
Maybe you could use Protect as your filler to prevent the opponent from trying to revenge you with Fake Out. Or you could even go to the move deleter and not even have a fourth move.
 
Taken shamelessly from #Pokemon (which yall should visit sometime, we talk plenty of battle spot among other Pokemon things!)

%nerd> use
14:53<%nerd> gastro acid serperior
14:53<&Theorymon> oh SHIT does it actually learn that
14:53<%nerd> yes
14:53<QuiteQuiet> y
14:53<&Theorymon> !learn Serperior, Gastro Acid
14:53<@TIBot> Serperior can learn Gastro Acid.
14:53<&Theorymon> hooooooly shit
14:53<&Theorymon> HOLY SHIT

Yeah uhhh... I had NO IDEA Serperior learned that! I mean, the Sap Sippers can still screw up Serperior if they avoid Gastro Acid... but wow. I think this means Water-types are gonna be a lot more common now to deal with Serperior!
 
Use Hidden power Poison on your Mega Abomasnow in special season this season to break past those Rhyperiors and other Mons that resist Grass/Ice!
 
What do you think about Gastrodon?
I was planning on using it on my team as a bulky water poke due to 4x grass resistance and ground stab, but 4 weaknesses seem to be a bit much.

(My team at the moment: M-Kang, Serperior, Avalugg)
 
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The new season has started, and with that, Inverse has returned! I played around 40ish matches today, so here are my current impressions on the metagame!

-YEP, Serperior is freaking everywhere! Most of them are Focus Sash users. This has been pretty annoying for my Mega Sceptile. Also, yeah Mega Sceptile is seen too!

-Sap Sipper usage seems to be down (though still seen). Im guessing this could be because people are paranoid about Gastro Acid Serperior. As a result of this...

-Suicune usage seems to have SKYROCKTED! This thing is extremely common. They are usually a rest talker of some sort, but Ive seen Chesto Rest as well. That Grass resist is extremely handy, and if you use Rocky Helmet, it can screw with Mega Kangaskhan as well!

-I've also seen some other bulky waters like Lapras, Mega Slowbro and Swampert. I saw some Scarf Rotom-W as well, but no defensive ones.

-Talonflame usage has taken a big hit, and I've seen less Latios and Avalugg too. I've only seen like 2 Talonflame. I'm guessing Serperior and Sceptile are the cause of this! They're still pretty usable though.

-Something interesting I saw was a Krookodile. You may think "oh that's just a bad Landorus-T" normally, but in Inverse, I think Krookodile offers some big selling points over Landorus-T: Krookodile has a resistance to Grass, isnt weak to Ground, and also resists Mach Punch (very important, as Breloom can own Landorus-T!)

-I've seen an increase in Blaziken. At first you'd think "oh this must be to deal with Suicune", but they've mostly been BP Passters to stuff like Mega Heracross o_O. I'm guessing this is a clever way of taking advantage of the instinct to Sucker Punch Blaziken with Mega Kangaskhan.

What do you think about Gastrodon?
I was planning on using it on my team as a bulky water poke due to 4x grass resistance and ground stab, but 4 weaknesses seem to be a bit much.

(My team at the moment: M-Kang, Serperior, Avalugg)

Gastrodon could be interesting. Storm Drain makes it immune to Water, so it could screw with Lapras and Suicune a bit, and Recover is cool. I'm personally more interested in Swampert though. Being physically based sounds helpful against Suicune. Still though, Gastrodon sounds worth trying.
 
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Sigh it looks like I won't be able to simply play oras inverse with an xy inverse team :(
My lack of time means I won't be able to team build to thoroughly :'(
 
Grass is definitely an awesome Attacking type but what's the best Defensive typing in Inverse world?
There isn't one, really. Most would say Ice because it has a lot of weaknesses in a normal metagame, but steel, fire, fighting, and rock aren't too common in inverse.

The most common attacking types are normal, grass, ghost, and psychic. However, no type resists two or more of them. If you're talking about dual-types, then idk.
 
Special Season 10 ladder is up on Showdown, but it's a bit broken: all games are currently played as 6v6 matches at Lv100, like the OM Inverse. Nonetheless, I've been playing on both the cart and the sim, and I've found another set that I've been having a reasonable amount of success with:

nidoking.gif

Nidoking @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam

This set allows Nidoking to outspeed and hit a bunch of common threats really hard with its stellar coverage, allowing it to deal heavy damage to threats like Serperior, Garchomp and Mega Gengar with its STABs while bopping frailer Normal-types like Linoone, Diggersby, Porygon-Z and Mega Lopunny with Shadow Ball (and doing about 50% to Mega Kangaskhan, a range that an Avalugg with Rocky Helmet can easily put it into). Ice Beam is a good choice for the last move slot to help you blast through Avalugg and Suicune. Thunderbolt may seem redundant when you have Sludge Wave for smacking Garchomp, but it could possibly be useful for dealing with Latios, which resists Ice Beam and Shadow Ball and retains its immunity to Earth Power, making it a decent check despite Sludge Wave still 2HKOing. The EV spread creeps down to outspeed Mega Gengar by one point and maximises power with a Modest nature.
 
What do you think about viability of steel Pokemon in Inverse?
It's a much better attacking type than defensive although lots of steel types tend to have good defensive stats to work with so if you pair it with a good secondary typing you can hit the jackpot. Scizor would be my steel of choice as it also benefits greatly from the defenses bug type brings in Inverse.
 
What do you think about viability of steel Pokemon in Inverse?

I don't think they're too great. They go from one of the best defensive types to one of the worst. They are now weak to the omnipresent Normal-type, as well as Grass (Serp and Mega Scept are big offenders) and Ice which is being thrown around quite a bit since it's the only move super-effective against Ice itself (now the best defensive type). It's also weak to Dragon which is arguably better in Inverse than normal singles.

If you look at the usage statistics on the PGL for this season's special, steel types are hit super-effectively by EVERY SINGLE POKEMON in the top 12!

  1. Mega Kangaskhan has the destructive normal STAB that defines the tier
  2. Serperior can spam Leaf Storm to gain boosts more freely thanks to Grass' greater neutral coverage
  3. Gengar can smack you with now-super-effective Sludge Bomb
  4. Porygon2 uses Tri Attack more freely now
  5. Garchomp is able to spam Outrage more easily, since fairy is no longer immune and Dragon itself is the only resist
  6. Breloom is happy to Bullet Seed you into oblivion
  7. Cresselia can use its STAB psychic against you (or Energy Ball / Ice Beam)
  8. Dragonite (see Garchomp). Can also pick you off with super-effective Extreme Speed
  9. Talonflame is the only thing you can hit super-effectively due to its Fire typing, but you need to survive a super-effective Brave Bird first
  10. Alakazam can obliterate you with its Psychic STAB
  11. Glalie resists your STAB and demolishes you with Return (or even Explosion lol)
  12. Latios can simply hit you with its Psychic move of choice, or nuke you with Draco Meteor
After going through that, it almost looks like Steel could be one of the worst typings in Inverse!
 
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