Metagame Broken Record

[Tranquility]

Broken Record Tier Update
​

The Broken Record Council after gauging public opinion as well as council discussions have elected to Quick Ban Melmetal, Dragapult and Rillaboom from the tier while allowing Zeraora and TR51 (Dragon Dance) to remain legal. Below are the full voting results for everything that was voted upon.

Quickban..	Melmetal	Dragapult	Rillaboom	Zeraora	TR51 (Dragon Dance)
Tranquility	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
Eggs	Ban	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban
Instruct	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
UT	Ban	Do Not Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
Dratios	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
Total	5-0 Ban	4-1 Ban	5-0 Ban	4-1 Do Not Ban	5-0 Do Not Ban

It came for little surprise that Melmetal emerged as one of the top threats within the tier. Boasting a strong physical stat spread and a variety of ways to overcome its one main flaw in a lack of speed with Agility or Dragon Dance, Melmetal proved to be problematic as paired with it's signature move Double Iron Bash that has a 51% to flinch foes paired with said speed boosting moves. In addition, it can also utilize swords dance to become near unwallable with its very high base attack and coverage options. As a result, the council has thus banned Melmetal from the main tier.

With potentially an extra move at its disposal, Dragapult became a huge offensive threat in the meta with the wide range of sets it can use. With moves such as Close Combat being available, Dragapult could make use of its high base physical attack along with dragon dance to become a potent sweeper. It could also use Nasty Plot as potential special sweeper with its wide coverage and strong STABs in Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor. Due to its power and versatility, the council has voted to ban Dragapult from the tier.

Already having one of the strongest priority options in the game and the ability to set its own terrain, Rillaboom is able to utilize the additional coverage that Broken Record provides to break what would be its traditional checks such as Corviknight with Flare Blitz or Zapdos with Stone Edge. The council has deemed this overbearing for and voted to ban Rillaboom.

While Zeraora and TR51 remain in the tier, they'll be placed on the watchlist and be reevaluated if they're potentially problematic for the tier.

Tagging Kris to implement this whenever possible, thanks!

 

[soral_a_raison]

Here is the team I used, around 1250-1300 ladder, you can prob still use it until the bans are applied.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ TR66
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 248 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Bulk Up
- Rock Polish
- Defog

It rarely sets up.

Jirachi @ TR84
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Wish
- Healing Wish
- Trick Room

Scald

Zeraora @ TR05
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 56 Atk / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Taunt

Mixed

Goodra @ TR76
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Dragon Tail
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic

Anti Volc

Rillaboom @ TR55
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Drum Beating
- Grassy Glide
- Swords Dance

Funniest pokemon on the team

Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Liquid Voice
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Hyper Voice
- Energy Ball
- Flip Turn

Sad to be forced to use a choice specs here.


To be fair, I was expecting a better OM, I don't like that we have new moves and only from the TRs. I'd prefer two things: no one can use an item (in the current Broken Records, i'm sure if you take a top OU team, you add 0 new move and you keep your items, and you will reach top ladder) and only access the current moves from the pokemon, not new random moves that make the OM unpredictable as most OM

 

[Dead by Daylight]

My First Set:

@ TR73
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Low Kick
- Gunk Shot
-------------------------------------
Weavile is a monster. If only it had a move that could obliterate Fairy-types from existence...oh! Gunk Shot! Weavile can click Gunk Shot on switchins trying to trigger adverse contact effects such as Ferrothorn (which you do respectable damage to with Low Kick) and Fairy-types such as Tapu Fini.

More later.

 

[CaptMicrowave]

I got to #1 with only one loss (to yellow magic).

It's all thanks to this evil fellow:

Sableye @ TR30
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover

This guy laughs at the teams of 6 physical setup sweepers. Burn, taunt, and encore every last one of them.

"Look at me, I'm the captain now."

 

[ponchlake]

I wanna give my thoughts on how the meta will change and talk about which mons will get worse and which will get better in light of the bans.

The Biggest Loser:


The only thing closely resembling a counter to any of the aforementioned mon was the Sire. Even then it only countered Melmetal, so I expect to see its already nonexistent usage to plummet even further until the meta needs him again. Other than that, I don't think anything particular mon in the meta gets worse in any capacity. The mons we were banning were just that good.

The 2nd Biggest Loser:



Trick Room seems pretty horrendous now without Melmetal cashing in on free kills. Marowak-Alola is busted as always, but you lack a truly viable secondary breaker with Melmetal being gone. Crawdaunt not being able to spam Knock Off really sucks, and the meta as it stands is not friendly to Stakataka. Like Quagsire, Trick Room's already nonexistent usage will likely fall off a cliff just the same.

What Gets Better



Rain gets even better now with Eleki and Rillaboom being gone. Rillaboom being gone is the more significant ban since Boom could single-handedly win you the game against Rain with a single SD. The removal of Dragapult also really helps as well. All in all Rain lost two great offensive checks who also resisted their main STABS.

Bulky Fairy Gang is absolutely rejoicing at the banning of their biggest threats. I don't think this requires much explanation. Rillaboom, Dragapult, and Melmetal did too much damage (especially against the Fairies I mentioned), but with them being gone, I could see a surge in Bulky Fairies.



I expect Poison types to get better with Melmetal being gone and Fairy types looking a lot better on paper. Gengar benefits from its biggest hater, Dragapult, being banned (Rip Bozo). It now gets the title of the meta's premiere Ghost type threat, as well as the best Fairy killer. Toxapex is a very tentative Fairy check, because Fini can run Taunt and Hatterene has Psychic STAB. It does have uses outside of Fairies though with Haze and Toxic Spikes being great into a meta where people don't run Boots. Buzzwole, Urshifu-Rapid, and Rain being some of the most noteable things it checks.



The man, Doryuuzu, looks like he gets way better with Dragapult and Rillaboom being gone. Rillaboom annoyed it with Grassy Terrain and threatened a kill with Glide, and Dragapult was a great spinblocker that also threatened it. With both being gone I could see Drill getting way better offensively. Spins are much more free, and you lack any true counter with Mold Breaker for Unaware mons and TR55 destroys Corviknight or Buzzwole. I also expect to see Koko getting more usage with Pult and Boom being gone, which is just food for Drill. It also does amazingly into Fairies as well save for Tapu Fini.



Lando-T feels a lot more freed up with all three being gone. Rillaboom was a great revenge killer and just did way too much damage. Melmetal did as well with the added benefit of being able to facetank any nonboosted move from Lando. Dragapult just does not care for Lando-T at all. Clear Body physical sets mowed down Lando since most aren't defensive to begin with, and special sets just nuke our poor boy. I could also see Corviknight seeing more usage as well with these bans, which would help rein in Lando-T.

Speaking of which, I feel like Corviknight gets better as well. Who woulda thought that Corviknight could possibly get better after its two best killers in Rillaboom and Melmetal are gone? Who woulda thought that Rillaboom and Melmetal would be really good at killing Corv? With two offensive staples being banned, we're going to see new ones get experimented with. I like Corv's MU against some like the aforementioned Lando-T, Dragonite, or Buzzwole. Corv is just also a really safe option to use while we explore the meta post-ban.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this as well.

 

[alephgalactus]

Broken Record Tier Update
​

The Broken Record Council after gauging public opinion as well as council discussions have elected to Quick Ban Melmetal, Dragapult and Rillaboom from the tier while allowing Zeraora and TR51 (Dragon Dance) to remain legal. Below are the full voting results for everything that was voted upon.

Quickban..	Melmetal	Dragapult	Rillaboom	Zeraora	TR51 (Dragon Dance)
Tranquility	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
Eggs	Ban	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban
Instruct	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
UT	Ban	Do Not Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
Dratios	Ban	Ban	Ban	Do Not Ban	Do Not Ban
Total	5-0 Ban	4-1 Ban	5-0 Ban	4-1 Do Not Ban	5-0 Do Not Ban

It came for little surprise that Melmetal emerged as one of the top threats within the tier. Boasting a strong physical stat spread and a variety of ways to overcome its one main flaw in a lack of speed with Agility or Dragon Dance, Melmetal proved to be problematic as paired with it's signature move Double Iron Bash that has a 51% to flinch foes paired with said speed boosting moves. In addition, it can also utilize swords dance to become near unwallable with its very high base attack and coverage options. As a result, the council has thus banned Melmetal from the main tier.

With potentially an extra move at its disposal, Dragapult became a huge offensive threat in the meta with the wide range of sets it can use. With moves such as Close Combat being available, Dragapult could make use of its high base physical attack along with dragon dance to become a potent sweeper. It could also use Nasty Plot as potential special sweeper with its wide coverage and strong STABs in Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor. Due to its power and versatility, the council has voted to ban Dragapult from the tier.

Already having one of the strongest priority options in the game and the ability to set its own terrain, Rillaboom is able to utilize the additional coverage that Broken Record provides to break what would be its traditional checks such as Corviknight with Flare Blitz or Zapdos with Stone Edge. The council has deemed this overbearing for and voted to ban Rillaboom.

While Zeraora and TR51 remain in the tier, they'll be placed on the watchlist and be reevaluated if they're potentially problematic for the tier.

Tagging Kris to implement this whenever possible, thanks!

Thank goodness, I was sick of winning matches this way.

Fair and balanced

I’d like to point out that I was burned.

As for the meta itself, I somewhat agree with soral_a_raison in that it really doesn’t seem super different from OU at the moment; I’m seeing a lot of the same mons I’d see in OU, but with slightly more Ditto, Shuckle and Quagsire, and occasionally le funny haha Skill Swap Regigigas. However, I disagree with the proposed changes of “no one can hold anything but TRs” and “Pokémon can only hold TRs they can learn”; both of these would make the meta much less diverse. Can anyone think of any changes that might make the meta a bit more interesting?

 

[ponchlake]

Thank goodness, I was sick of winning matches this way.

Fair and balanced

View attachment 435639
I’d like to point out that I was burned.

As for the meta itself, I somewhat agree with soral_a_raison in that it really doesn’t seem super different from OU at the moment; I’m seeing a lot of the same mons I’d see in OU, but with slightly more Ditto, Shuckle and Quagsire, and occasionally le funny haha Skill Swap Regigigas. However, I disagree with the proposed changes of “no one can hold anything but TRs” and “Pokémon can only hold TRs they can learn”; both of these would make the meta much less diverse. Can anyone think of any changes that might make the meta a bit more interesting?

I think we should just wait and see how the meta adjusts postban first. The bans were just voted on today, and they might not be implemented for another few days. I also disagree with the proposed changes since like you said they make the meta much less diverse on top of almost ruining the entire premise of the OM, and I think it's too soon to be proposing any sort of changes to begin with. This is the first time the BR OM has been played, and we're only a week in. It takes time for a meta to develop, so I think we should be more patient and see what direction it goes in first. As for it looking a lot like OU, I can see what you mean. This goes back to what I said though, let's wait for the meta to develop a bit with these bans first. But also, I feel that a lot of OM's tend to mirror OU to begin with in regards to what mons you see. OU is the meta-standard tier with the best Pokemon save for Ubers and AG after all. You do have a point though, and I would like to see the meta develop away from that. But also realistically speaking, BR does not allow for drastic enough changes in a Pokemon for you to all of the sudden see something like Dhelmise or Coalossal become really good like you would in say Inheritance or Camomons. You only get to add a single move, which favors mons that are already good with 4 moves aka OU mons. It doesn't play exactly like OU though, which is the basis from which I'm judging the OM on. And so far I'm having a lot of fun teambuilding and actually playing the game. We have an entire month, so there's no need to rush anything here.

looks fun
please post replays of this tier if you all have any
interested in seeing the tier in action

I don't know if Freezai is still looking for replays, but here's broken Melmetal. I see alephgalactus abusing Melmetal, and I raise you my own (RIP Trick Room).

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8brokenrecord-1612625042-vxtmjm5ke2v5fzz421612n5uvpam6dypw

 

[soral_a_raison]

Thank goodness, I was sick of winning matches this way.

Fair and balanced

View attachment 435639
I’d like to point out that I was burned.

As for the meta itself, I somewhat agree with soral_a_raison in that it really doesn’t seem super different from OU at the moment; I’m seeing a lot of the same mons I’d see in OU, but with slightly more Ditto, Shuckle and Quagsire, and occasionally le funny haha Skill Swap Regigigas. However, I disagree with the proposed changes of “no one can hold anything but TRs” and “Pokémon can only hold TRs they can learn”; both of these would make the meta much less diverse. Can anyone think of any changes that might make the meta a bit more interesting?

each OM is crazy batsh*t, with total unpredictability, when you think about a 5th move you don't expect it to be a random move but just an extra moveslot
imo, only an extra move slot would be interesting for another OM, not for this one ofc, it's not realistic to want to change totally the current OM to a vastly different one :)

 

[alephgalactus]

imo, only an extra move slot would be interesting for another OM

I’m pretty sure that gets proposed as an OM at least once a day. This one has the benefit of letting Pokémon learn certain moves they normally can’t.

 

[ponchlake]

each OM is crazy batsh*t, with total unpredictability, when you think about a 5th move you don't expect it to be a random move but just an extra moveslot
imo, only an extra move slot would be interesting for another OM, not for this one ofc, it's not realistic to want to change totally the current OM to a vastly different one :)

I find the main appeal of OM's to be the crazy and unpredictable stuff you could never see or do in standard play. If you look at all of the successful or popular OM's, one thing they have in common is that they completely flip the meta on its head. The OM you proposed feels a bit too ordinary IMO. It just seems like OU with extra steps.

 

[Nub11]

TR05 contains Ice Beam, which Regieleki can use to hit the Ground-types that previously walled it.

ground, grass, and dragon you mean. All the types that resist electric

 

[Nub11]

when I first saw this OM and learned what it was about, I got really excited cuz I figured that now anything could have trick room (I really like using trick room), but unfortunately trick room has only ever been a TM, so unfortunately I just have to use normal setters

 

[ponchlake]

I wanna highlight some mons that feel under-utilized and have the potential to be good.

This is my "Get Reverse Swept Bozo" group of Pokemon, because please include something that stops Ditto from doing Among Us shenanigans on you.



Entei with SD feels criminally underrated. +2 Sacred Fire does insane damage, as well as giving you a 50% to burn something. Something with Hex, like Gengar or Blacephalon, feels like a great partner to pair up with Entei since it allows you to muscle pass bulky Waters that otherwise counter you.



NP Togekiss already had a near perfect movepool to begin with, but now you can add an additional coverage move. I'm starting to see Stall as well, and Togekiss could already manhandle stall. Now imagine it with Taunt or Encore. Support Togekiss also gets a lot better because now you can run Scald or Sludge Bomb for the 60% to Burn or Poison respectively.



Liligant gets to relive some of its glory days from when it had Hidden Power and enjoy having coverage again. It can Quiver Dance and use Sleep Powder, which isn't something you can do with Volcarona. It also has great status moves like Encore or Healing Wish. Liligant's coverage is quite bad though, so you need to carefully consider what TR you put on it. Flamethrower helps you against Corviknight and Ferrothorn. Earth Power is the one-stop paintrain for Heatran. Ice Beam for Lando-T and Dragons. It almost becomes a guessing game for your opponent as well.


The next three are interesting Pokemon that could have really good niche uses.



I feel like for the most part the power level of the tier has died down enough for Goodra to become a great sleeper pick, especially under Rain. Hydration Rests mean full heals and immunity to status moves. Dragon Tail or Aqua Tail lets you counter Volcarona. Adding mixed bulk and moves like Power Whip means you can counter Rain and one shot Barraskewda and Seismitoad. Earthquake with SpDef investment lets you take on Tapu Koko and Zeraora. Goodra simply has way too many good moves. i.e. Ice Beam, Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Thunder, Sludge Wave, etc. You could run Rest along with any 4 coverage moves, which is crazy. Calm Mind and Bulk Up/Curse sets are also great here since Goodra has the bulk and natural movepool to utilize them.



Rotom-Wash seems like a sleeper offensive pick. It has a great typing and ability, and the offensive coverage of Electric + Water is good. It gets even better when you tech in something like Flamethrower or Ice Beam. With a NP up you can get some great damage. I feel that Rotom needs no more than 3 attacks in Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump, and then your TR move, which means you get an additional move if you have NP. This means you can tech in something like Wil-o-Wisp or Thunder-Wave if something tries to come in and set up on you. i.e. Dragonite if you have Flamethrower instead of Ice Beam. Defensively it is also great into the meta. We have a ton of physical threats and they hate getting burned from Wisp or Scald. You also always have the option of teching in Flamethrower or Ice Beam on your defensive set to catch people off guard. Having a defogger that matches well into this meta is extremely underrated.



Meteor Beam Nihilego is still really good, but there are good TR options that you could explore. Ice Beam, Earth Power, Flamethrower etc. NP is a no-brainer and is great at letting you snowball up boosts. You could adjust your EV's for either SpAtk boosts or Spd boosts. The incredible SpDef bulk is great against bulky Fairies and lets you stay in on faster Special Attackers like Zeraora or Tapu Koko. 4Attacks with Toxic Spikes is great at forcing switches out since it can run so many coverage moves, and getting caught off guard means you could potentially be giving Nihilego a Beast Boost. Lots of switch-outs means that Toxic Spikes pays its dividends in chip and spreading status. This could pair well SubStall sets with Taunt/Encore, Hex mons, or God Mode CB Merciless Huge Pecs Toxapex.

 

[multibandit]

I'd to bring attention to TR44 Cosmic Power and Mew. The unavailability of using choiced Trick to cripple defensive setup forces two other options to stop this kind of setup, those being Taunt and Haze. There are clear issues with these as well:
Taunting the mon setting up requires you to br able to withstand hits, be faster and also be able to otherwise punish Cosmic Power setup. Mons with ALL these qualities are not often found, especially due to the opposing mon being able to set up at least once before you can get your Taunt off.
Haze isn't commonly distributed, and its usage is 99% on fatter and slower mons that are susceptible to opposing Taunt themself.
Mons like Fini and Victini can use Cosmic Power+Taunt as mentioned.

The worst offender that uses either Cosmic Power or Body Press and something I find almost bannably broken is this:


Mew @ TR44/TR99
Ability:Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Spe/ 8 SpD
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
-Taunt
-Roost/Rest
-Stored Power
- Cosmic Power / Body Press

This is an incredible mon in the tier. Beats fat, beats a lot of offense. The dual attack of Fighting/Psychic hits pretty much everything thats viable in the tier, and I can't for the life of me find a viable set that beats this other than the same set itself or an otherwise useless Xatu. Dittoing it doesn't help at all, and any faster mons that could Taunt it just can't take consecutive hits. Slotting this into any kind of balance, BO or stall is just too easy and the continued presence of this really can start to restrict teambuilding in a massive way.

 

[Iynhe]

Yeah, Cosmic Power/Calm Mind Clefable is even worse in this regard. The boosts mean that it's not beaten by setup, Magic Guard means that using toxic is useless.
Gengar @ TR15
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Taunt
TR 15 is Fire Blast because Focus Blast is NOT reliable. Probably Flamethrower might be good too, but you don't always have the option to use Nasty Plot so the extra power is useful.
I have this set just to kill Clefable because I hate it that much and Poison Jab Buzzwole is useless/a 3hko (at least on a defensive set.) It might be useful against Mew too, but Gengar is weak to psychic so I guess that one option is using Gengar to weaken it and something else to finish it off.
EDIT while writing:
252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Mew: 260-308 (64.5 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery.
252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. +1 248 HP / 8 SpD Mew: 174-206 (43.1 - 51.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery.
+2 252 SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. +1 248 HP / 8 SpD Mew: 348-410 (86.3 - 101.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
Ah, ok, this is useless. Lmao.
252 Atk Weavile Throat Chop vs. +1 252 HP / 4 Def Mew: 168-198 (41.5 - 49%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
43.1+41.5 is NOT 100%. Ouch. This Mew kills both of the mons that I have that can hit it supereffectively. I mean, then it dies to something else, but OUCH. I hate life (and going back to the teambuilder even more, lmao.)
---
252 SpA Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 320-380 (81.2 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (This is the calm mind set)
252 SpA Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. +1 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 216-254 (54.8 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. +1 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 428-506 (108.6 - 128.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 4 SpA Life Orb Clefable Fire Blast//Thunder vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gengar: 187-221 (71.6 - 84.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
This Clefable has Life Orb, so if it is Leftovers that's even better. If if tries to kill us, it won't. If it tries to set up at +2, it's not a sure kill on us AND it's dead to the next mon.
---
Ew. Poor me. For now I just think the metagame should try to adapt to both//this kind of threats, but I wonder if we can. I'm not a good enough teambuilder/player to try to predict that.

 

[ponchlake]

Yeah, Cosmic Power/Calm Mind Clefable is even worse in this regard. The boosts mean that it's not beaten by setup, Magic Guard means that using toxic is useless.

Between Mew and Clefable, I'd say Mew is the much stronger mon between the two. Body Press is a significantly better coverage move to pair with Stored Power/Cosmic Power. Clefable only has Magic Guard going for it over Mew, which has base 100 Spd and a fast Taunt. Encore/Taunt is a great way to shutdown Pink setup, but there aren't many mons that can both outspeed Mew to taunt it and threaten it besides Gengar or Blacephalon. There are also a lot less Dark types running around due to Knock Off being a lot weaker, which favors Mew. Excadrill being really popular also doesn't do Clefable any favors, but it does for Mew because Body Press packs Drill up.

As far as actual adaptations, I don't think the meta needs to adapt to Clefable. It's been running around since day one and the meta has had a handle on it. Clefable is much more susceptible to Taunt and Encore, and does not immediately pose a problem until it gets too many boosts in. Excadrill, Heatran, Urshifu-Rapid, Gengar, Taunt Koko, and anything with Encore/Taunt are great at checking it or outright beating Clefable. For Mew, The Taunt + Encore Sableye set by CaptainMicrowave is also a complete counter to Mew in addition to being absurdly good into the current meta. Other than that, fast Toxic from Pokemon with more than 100 Speed or setting up Toxic Spikes prior cripples the set. Gengar or Blacephalon can threaten Mew if you bring them in early enough. Taunt Koko comes up again and can be good into Mew if you Taunt it early and then have some sort of way to setup on it (CM or NP). With even +1 SpDef, Mew starts taking 25.5 - 30.5% from Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain. I think Mew is worth keeping an eye on though since it could potentially be incredibly powerful if the meta allows for it. Having to potentially run something like Gengar/Blacephalon, Sableye, or a fast Taunt/Toxic or T-Spikes mon just for Mew does sound restrictive like multibandit said. Also, I'm fairly sad that someone brought this Mew set up before I could abuse it on the ladder whenever the bans got implemented like I originally intended. Shame on you, multibandit.

 

[KaenSoul]

So since the ban list update yesterday, I have been spamming rain and got 1401 elo (top 2 as of right now, was like 1200 elo before the update), the thing is, I'm not using TRs.
The team
The speed control from rain, ditto and scarf urshi let me clean most HO teams in the ladder without giving them a chance to fight back, ferro take care of electric types, bro is mostly to let the cleaners come safely. Had Lanturn/Gastro at first instead of urshi to better check zeraora, but urshi let me break pass cosmic power user much easier. Also had spikes on slowbro during the first 2 or 3 games but didnt click it and felt like boots would be better, and they have been much better so far.
I'm not sure if rain really become broken after banning all their good offensive checks or is just people not preparing for it, there are a lot of crazy wall breakers here, so it is not like it is easy to prepare for everything.

A replay
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8brokenrecord-1615702335

I don't really plan to keep playing for now.

 

[Iynhe]

Which mons do you use to lure Pelipper into safety and exterminate its kind?
I calced it and for 252 Hp/4 spdef (or 8 too) are needed 73 Spatk if Thunder is used and 93 is Thunderbolt is used (for a pokemon without stab, with no investment and neutral nature) and at least 66 speed without investment, or 35 with max investment (aka 168 speed ingame.)
Bonus if they're useful against the rest of the rain team too!
I tried Matine but it's useless against everything else. Specially defensive Latias is something no one expects, so Pelipper never u-turns in front of you.

 

[alephgalactus]

Which mons do you use to lure Pelipper into safety and exterminate its kind?
I calced it and for 252 Hp/4 spdef (or 8 too) are needed 73 Spatk if Thunder is used and 93 is Thunderbolt is used (for a pokemon without stab, with no investment and neutral nature) and at least 66 speed without investment, or 35 with max investment (aka 168 speed ingame.)
Bonus if they're useful against the rest of the rain team too!
I tried Matine but it's useless against everything else. Specially defensive Latias is something no one expects, so Pelipper never u-turns in front of you.

I’ve always been partial to using Thunder Ferrothorn with some Sp. Atk investment, which I’ve been using to dunk on rain teams since Gen 5. Scarf sets outspeed Pelipper and they’ll never see it coming, especially in a meta like this one where nothing uses Scarf, and you can still deal decent damage with Body Press and Power Whip. Pair it with a weather setter of your own to remove the rain as often as possible and force them to switch into Pelipper; Tyranitar is preferable because you can also run uninvested Thunderbolt on it to OHKO Pelipper instead of risking a Stone Edge miss. It’s stupid, but it works more than it has any right to.

You can also put either Thunder or Thunderbolt on Mew and run it as a hazard-setting lead, luring Pelipper in to Defog.

 

[Cuddly]

I ask this question a lot in many different metas, but

Will Zamazenta-Crowned be considered for an Unban in this Meta?
Since it needs to hold Rusted Shield, it wouldn’t utilize the main gimmick of the tier, and having only 4 moves in a Meta where players can hand pick from a pool of good moves to put as a fifth move is an aburdly bad trait.
Because if can’t use the coverage options other Pokemon can, and those Pokemon can slap on Close Combat, Body Press, Focus Blast, Flare Blitz, Heat Crash, Fire Blast, Overheat, Earthquake, Earth Power, Spikes, Nasty Plot, Sword Dance, Scald, Cosmic Power, or Iron Defense, all moves Zamazenta-C hates seeing, it definitely would not be an issue to deal with.

 

[HiZo]

Broken Record Tier Update

Zamazenta-Crowned is unbanned!
​

Hi friends. After a question raised by Cuddly, the council got together to discuss whether Zamazenta-Crowned has a place in the Broken Record tier, and we have unanimously agreed to unban it. Due to Zamazenta-C's forced item, it can't hold a TR and thus take advantage of its secret 5th moveslot. On top of this, Pokemon that this would normally switch into it like Weavile have options such as the TR for Flare Blitz to greatly damage it when normally it would be forced out. Another reason is a greater usage of Spikes, thanks to the TR, which forces Zama-C to be more susceptible to hazard damage than normal. We believe that since Zamazenta-C has a greater lack of options that other Pokemon have and will take advantage of, Zamazenta-C will be a healthy addition for the tier as a premier anti-offense option.

Voter	Zamazenta-Crowned
Tranquility	Unban
Dratios	Unban
Eggs	Unban
UT	Unban
Instruct	Unban

Tagging Kris to implement tysm

 

[Cuddly]

Broken Record Tier Update

Zamazenta-Crowned is unbanned!
​

Hi friends. After a question raised by Cuddly, the council got together to discuss whether Zamazenta-Crowned has a place in the Broken Record tier, and we have unanimously agreed to unban it. Due to Zamazenta-C's forced item, it can't hold a TR and thus take advantage of its secret 5th moveslot. On top of this, Pokemon that this would normally switch into it like Weavile have options such as the TR for Flare Blitz to greatly damage it when normally it would be forced out. Another reason is a greater usage of Spikes, thanks to the TR, which forces Zama-C to be more susceptible to hazard damage than normal. We believe that since Zamazenta-C has a greater lack of options that other Pokemon have and will take advantage of, Zamazenta-C will be a healthy addition for the tier as a premier anti-offense option.

Voter	Zamazenta-Crowned
Tranquility	Unban
Dratios	Unban
Eggs	Unban
UT	Unban
Instruct	Unban

Tagging Kris to implement tysm

Next up, Giratina-Origin form.
You can almost feel bad for Zamazenta-C with how bad it is. I don’t even think it will be that useful tbh. Well I stop feeling bad for him when you realize Zamazenta is from the Rothschild (Red Shield) family.
Anyways.

Volcarona @ TR03
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Roost/Psychic
- Hydro Pump
Volcarona is a Pokemon I’d say is worth it to drop Heavy-Duty Boots for a 5th. And while most will use Earth Power, I think Hydro Pump is more optimized.
Most Volcarona switch-ins are weak to some of the overlapping coverage. For instance, Toxapex is a Pokemon that resists it’s STABs, but is weak to Psychic, making it a check if it’s healthy. Since it is already weak to Psychic, Earth Power wouldn’t so much besides preserve PP or predict switches into Psychic resists like Heatran. However, you can do a similar thing with Hydro Pump Volcarona.
+1 252 SpA Volcarona Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 232+ SpD Heatran: 260-308 (67.3 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Hydro Pump (or if you want Surf for accuracy) also can hit Flying types and Airborne Pokemon, which makes it a safer option despite the lower accuracy.
If you’re fine with chipping down Heatran and also can deal with Volcanion too, you should use the TR for Hydro Pump over Earth Power on Volcarona.
As a side note, Volcarona will be great for a period as people will likely spam Zamazenta-C for a while until realizing it’s kind of ass here, as Volcarona is a great switch-in.

 

[multibandit]

Now that the month is coming to a close and BR will be gone for a while, I feel like I can share a team that has given me pretty straightforward success on the ladder after my slower start to adapting to the meta:


Mew @ TR99 Body Press
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cosmic Power
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stored Power


Tapu Fini @ TR46 Iron Defense
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 72 SpA / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Stored Power
- Draining Kiss
- Calm Mind


Victini @ TR68 Nasty Plot
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blue Flare
- Scorching Sands
- Energy Ball
- Glaciate


Zeraora @ TR05 Ice Beam
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Volt Switch
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Bulk Up

Encore
Sableye @ TR30
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Recover
- Foul Play
- Toxic


Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn


Fini and Mew are the top threats to any fatter teams, with the combo of misty terrain and rather fast taunts they can just set up in front of mons X Y and Z and steamroll with bulk and Stored Power. I still feel Mew is way too good with this set and shouldn't be allowed anymore.

Vic and Zera give a double whammy of speed and power. Glaciate on Vic catches a lot of people off guard, and if you're feeling safe about sacking it you can keep Dragon Dance users in front of you in check for zera without risking Sableye. Bulk Up Zera with VoltBeam is a good momentum mon that forces switches and something you really can't be safe about without knowing the whole set. Multiple times I had Volted or Beamed on a couple of turns, and later on Bulking up on a SpDef-oriented switch you can do some serious damage or just straight sweep a dented team.

Sableye does what Sab does here. It keeps the team safe from setup and helps out vs. passive teams with Toxic-Taunt. Top mon, really pivotal to the safety this team provides.

Mandi is just a Boots blanket check to things like Lando, ghosts and pranksters. Defog was really necessary for the team and the mere existence of Boots on a mon seems to catch people off guard, when they¨ve set up rocks they feel much safer thinking Mandi takes 25% upon switching in.

My W/L was probably negative before building this team, and now I win 95% of matches really comfortably and mostly without any wild predictions necessary. The team is really safe and filled with top threats that compliment each other really well. If you're struggling I suggest giving it a go!

 

[Iynhe]

https://pokepast.es/cfe35d065d960026
Last day of the OM team dump.
I might have already dumped this here, I don't remember and I am not really motivated to check. The team has flaws, I just was even less motivated to try and change them. I'll try next time to create a team around Volcarona because it's the mon that gave me the most satisfaction. Gengar is nice but didn't really work that much. Buzzwole was walled by something every time, same thing with Latios (i hated that I had to try different moves and failed to find the correct one every time); mew was useful, but Tbolt less so. Ditto is the only mon that i won't change, other than Volcarona. It's a boring and easy way to have to think about just 5 sets, but it works wonders.
It was fun when everyone was just trying stuff, but as the meta settled down it was too much of a hassle to understand it. Will be more motivated next time.

 

[HiZo]

As the meta comes to a close, I wanted to showcase a team I had the most fun using.



Since we unbanned Zama-C, I had an inkling that it might be too good and put together a weird stall-ish to enable it further. Since Trick and Knock are more unviable here, Chansey was found to be a prime member of the team as the extra bulk from Eviolite offsets the opportunity cost of running a 5th move. Scald Clef was really great to use, since it has only 73 def and the added benefit of making Heatran not a switchin proved extremely valuable. Zama might seem like an odd one out, but its power in closing games is unmatched, while also having the tools to handle opposing bulky set up mons like Clefable that Ditto would simply not be able to revenge kill. I would talk about the rest of the team but they all seem very self explanatory on what they do.

Zamazenta's entrance into the metagame was interesting to say the least, however I think it might be a little too strong for the meta. On the other hand though, being able to put HO in its place instead of being incredibly rampant allows other teams to ease off using Dittos when trying to improve its matchup plus I'm pretty sure Ditto is bugged anyways.