Metagame Camomons (Leader's Choice of the Month!)

[KamenAlliterator]

I haven't played Camo since the last time it was live, what is the meta atm?

Give me some ideas otherwise I am gonna default to my old favourite Scald / Belch [insert berry] Slowking!

Gargancl, Dragapult, Latios, Ting-Lu, Alomomola, Iron Valiant, Kingambit, and Hydreigon. Lots of typing for them that I can dive into if you’d like.

 

[EchoGaia]

Ive peaked top 1 recently and wanted to share my team if you'd like to try it:

Zamazenta @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Dauntless Shield
EVs: 168 HP / 84 Atk / 176 Def / 80 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Iron Head
- Imprison

IronPress Zama adding the steel typing to its already good fighting typing. That allows it to use STAB Iron Head to deal with Fairy and Ghost types. Imprison is a nice tool that allows it to win the mirror matches with other ironpress users like Garganacl thanks to Covert Cloak blocking the effect of Salt Cure. You can run Leftovers if you want but i really like Covert Cloak's ability to really turn the tables on Garganacl. If you run Leftovers, Substitute is an option over Imprison but then Garg might still overwhelm you if it has a typing that resist Body Press. The 80 speed investment + Jolly Nature allows Zamazenta to outspeed everything up to non booster energy Iron Valiant, and the entire unboosted metagame with Sticky Web up, including Scarf Iron Moth and Iron Valiant. 84 Atk allows it to 2HKO Fairy/Ghost Latios with Iron Head at worst, rest is poured into HP and Defense to maximize both physical bulk and Body Press damage output.

Samurott-Hisui @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sharpness
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Ceaseless Edge
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch

H Samurott lead. Fighting/Dark is a very good offensive typing and it can still pressure Fairies thanks to Swords Dance. STAB on Sacred Sword hits like a truck and beats most ironpress users provided they arent a Ghost type. and Ceaseless is Ceasless. Sucker Punch is there to revenge kill faster threats if need be, or to finish opposing leads.




Porygon-Z @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Nasty Plot
- Agility

Oh god how broken Porygon Z is in this. Depending on what you are facing, either go for Nasty Plot or Agility. It doesnt need to setup but if you manage to do so, it becomes unstoppable. Electric/Ice typing with Adaptability gives Porygon Z excellent wallbreaking tools to even dismantle the sturdiest cores and gives it an immunity to Thunder Wave. Heavy Duty Boots is the item of choice as it gives Porygon Z an edge over opposing Sticky Web teams, as they usually lack counters to this monster while giving it more longevity as it avoids entry hazard damage.





Masquerain @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Sticky Web
- Quiver Dance

This is the second lead of the team. Usually i start with it, but sometimes samu is a better one. Water/Ghost typing Masquerain gives it the ability to get up Sticky Web while blocking Rapid Spin, it's i think the only one that can do that while still being decent. It also packs Quiver Dance to pose a legitimate threat to the opposing team after Sticky Web have been setup. Shadow Ball nails the phletora of Ghost types in the tier while Hydro Pump is Masquerain strongest STAB move at its disposal. Trust me this thing is a real threat. Water/Ghost also gives it an edge in a one on one situation with one of the most popular rapid spinners in Great Tusk. With Intimidate, it can prevent some physical threats from taking advantage of the turn it setup webs, and its Hydro is strong enough to OHKO Great Tusk unboosted if it kept its Ground typing, and 2HKO it if it didnt.

Ceruledge @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brick Break
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Bitter Blade

Many people underestimate Ceruledge on Sticky Web teams with Flash Fire. Ghost/Fighting is self explanatory, and Bitter Blade is there to hit Normal/Ghost Pokemon with a decent attack when boosted. Flash Fire gives an additional immunity to Ceruledge being Fire, but most importantly, an immunity to Will-o-wisp. Brick Break is prefered over Close Combat for its ability to break screens, which sticky web teams kind of struggle against, while also keeping Ceruledge defenses.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draining Kiss
- Thunderbolt
- Calm Mind
- Substitute

The real demon of the team. Trust me, Fairy Electric Latias may have competition with Cresselia, but the more immediate power and Speed and access to Draining Kiss for recovery letting it not needing the use of Recover gives it an edge. This thing can end most games alone and is one of the most deadliest bulky sweepers ive ever seen. The new typing gives it key resistances to Fighting, Dragon, Bug and a neutrality to Steel, making Scizor unable to revenge kill it, and use Zamazenta as fodder. Electric also gives it a Thunder Wave immunity, which is always appreciated, and STAB on Thunderbolt, which has good type coverage alongside Draining Kiss. The Spread maximises physical bulk while also avoiding a 2HKO from Latios's Surf after Calm Mind. It also makes so that Cresselia's Moonblast never breaks the Substitute at equal boosts.

Most notable threats to the team:

Cinderace: While by itself Cinderace can be handled by some team members, its ability to use Court Change can be troublesome especially if it runs Heavy Duty Boots. Gunk Shot variants can beat Latias and Pyro Ball variants can beat Zama if played recklessly, so be careful. The most effective way is to pressure it with the leads and put it in a position where it cant beat Zama one on one.

Rain sweepers: While Rain isnt that common in the current metagame and can be handled by good plays and predictions, it is still a playstyle that poses a threat to Sticky Web teams, especially given the lack of Water resistances in this team. Latias no longer resists Water and while she can take some of the rain sweepers hits, she can be sometimes overwhelmed due to its lack of Water resistance. Most of the time, my advice is to quickly use Porygon Z to threaten them after you got webs up, as with them it can outspeed even rain sweepers after an Agility, and most of the rain teams cant handle its assaults. Then you use Samurott or Ceruledge to finish them with priority moves. It is also wise to keep Masquerain in the back if you managed to keep some health on it, as intimidate can slow down physical rain threats a bit.

Mirror Setup with Latias or Cresselia: While you can defintely beat them with good pressure, most of the time against those you will end up in a mirror setup situation using Latias. While she can beat them, she might ran out of pp after that and be useless, so be careful not to resort to her too early to deal with those Pokemon.

My thoughts on the metagame:

Pokemon that cause problems: Currently, there's no real Pokemon that is overpowered but maybe i'll say that Latias or Zamazenta can be troublesome. With a good typing those can get out of hand quickly, and kind of force checks into many teams to handle them.

Weather stones: Weather is always good in Camomons and with extanded weather stones available, it's even better to the point of some being broken. Torkoal can use Fighting to alleviate its weakness to Stealth Rock while giving it STAB on Body Press while Pelipper learns Ground type moves to turn its quadruple weakness to Electric into an immunity. Not to mention a lot of Pokemon can now benefit from the weathers like Goodra running Water, or stuff like Latios running Water as well, but also stuff like Venusaur can run Sunny Day to give them a fire type and thus STAB on Weather Ball. They might be too good to keep, who knows.

 

[Dorsia]

Hello there! I wanna talk about which is one of my top mon at the moment, it's just super good to pressure defensive cores from my experience.

The Monster

Hydreigon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast / Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Nasty Plot

I'm using Nasty Plot + 3 attacks, either Dragon/Fire or Dragon/Steel, including Earth Power to hit effectively most of variants (Dark/Poison, Water/Poison...) and other stuff without losing SpA with Draco Meteor. Even Water/Fairy can't switch in safely if you set up, unless there are AV.

The main issue this mon has is its speed tier: it's more than fine against slower things but there are faster mons that can come in and pressure you as well. So I was thinking using some Sticky Web to prevent that, but there might be this (bad) set as well :

Give Belch a chance

Hydreigon (F) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Belch
- Earth Power / Endure
- Nasty Plot

Here you have a cheap version of . Have fun using it but don't expect too much, at least Hydreigon learns Endure to make it work somehow.

 

[KamenAlliterator]

Hello there! I wanna talk about which is one of my top mon at the moment, it's just super good to pressure defensive cores from my experience.

The Monster

Hydreigon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast / Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Nasty Plot

I'm using Nasty Plot + 3 attacks, either Dragon/Fire or Dragon/Steel, including Earth Power to hit effectively most of variants (Dark/Poison, Water/Poison...) and other stuff without losing SpA with Draco Meteor. Even Water/Fairy can't switch in safely if you set up, unless there are AV.

The main issue this mon has is its speed tier: it's more than fine against slower things but there are faster mons that can come in and pressure you as well. So I was thinking using some Sticky Web to prevent that, but there might be this (bad) set as well :

Give Belch a chance

Hydreigon (F) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Belch
- Earth Power / Endure
- Nasty Plot

Here you have a cheap version of . Have fun using it but don't expect too much, at least Hydreigon learns Endure to make it work somehow.

You can always scarf the Hydreigon to outpace some of the threats in this tier, sure it leaves it choice locked, but the STAB makes up for it and can break a lot of things resist or not. Either way, these sets are REALLY good.

 

[PrincessGardevoir]

The few games I've been playing have all featured me setting up Shell Smash Dark-Tera Strong Jaw Drednaw and sort of just clicking Crunch? Poison Jab kills the Fairies that resist Dark, and you have a fourth move slot that certainly exists. Superpower hits opposing Darks and EQ hits Steel/Fighting mons.

you should definitely not listen to 2022 PG and unban drednaw thank you

To be more on point, is a very, very funny mon.

Flying/Electric

Regieleki @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Transistor
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 156 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Naive Nature
- Acrobatics
- Thunderbolt / Thunder Cage
- Volt Switch
- Rapid Spin

Flying/Electric, No Item

Regieleki
Ability: Transistor
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 160 Atk / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Acrobatics
- Thunderbolt / Thunder Cage
- Volt Switch
- Rapid Spin

Eleki's got so much speed it can afford to drop a significant amount of speed in favor of HP (or Atk if you're running no item), Acrobatics is an alright neutral hit into a lot of mons but it's mainly to give entry on random Ground type moves to either click spin or Acrobatics via ground immunity. I personally like Thunder Cage, because getting free chip on an incoming Glowking that inevitably is coming in is nice. Speed is to beat Deo-S by 2 points (any lower and you'd speed tie) and HP on the Sitrus set to have a multiple of 4, so you pop Sitrus after 2 rounds of stealth rock.

I've seen a handful of Electric/Normal Regielekis with STAB on Espeed and Explosion, and I've seen one running Electric/Rock with Ancient Power, but Flying feels pretty good. Shame you die to Chlorophyll/Sand Rush/Swift Swim mons, but hey, can't win them all.

Good? No. Fun? Yes.