Other Current Metagame trends

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If we ban Deoxys-Dick it would just be repleaced by other suicide hazard setters like Forretress, Deoxys-Speed and Shuckle of all things. Granted they are by no means as effective as Deoxys-Dick, but they are reasonable enough alternatives(and both Aegislash and Bisharp love Sticky Web being on the opposite side of the field).
 
If we ban Deoxys-Dick it would just be repleaced by other suicide hazard setters like Forretress, Deoxys-Speed and Shuckle of all things. Granted they are by no means as effective as Deoxys-Dick, but they are reasonable enough alternatives(and both Aegislash and Bisharp love Sticky Web being on the opposite side of the field).

The problem is not that good hazard setters exist, just that one of them is perfectly flawless.

Both Shuckle and Forretress are really slow and don't have Magic Coat so they are extremely susceptile to Taunt, and Forretress also has a very low SpDef.

Deoxys-S is outclassed by Deo-D because it's beaten by any lead with good attack power and priority (it sets rocks then dies, which makes it just as good as other suicide leads like mamoswine). Though you could argue that Deo-S is also the best revenge killer in the game and being amazing in two different things make it broken. I'm not sure.
 
I don't think Deoxys-D is too much of a problem, seeing as Espeon completely shuts down the standard HO set. SR/Spikes/Taunt all get reflected by Magic Bounce, and Magic Coat wont do anything useful. Unless you have an attacking move like Seismic Toss then there's really nothing you can do. Granted, Espeon's aren't exactly common on a standard, non-BP team though. But it can't be too hard to find one turn to Defog/Spin, right? Then Deo's efforts will be for nothing, anyway.
 
I don't think Deoxys-D is too much of a problem, seeing as Espeon completely shuts down the standard HO set. SR/Spikes/Taunt all get reflected by Magic Bounce, and Magic Coat wont do anything useful. Unless you have an attacking move like Seismic Toss then there's really nothing you can do. Granted, Espeon's aren't exactly common on a standard, non-BP team though. But it can't be too hard to find one turn to Defog/Spin, right? Then Deo's efforts will be for nothing, anyway.

You are right, Espeon is crap outside of Baton Pass

However, Deoxys defense is almost always paired with aegislash to spinblock (usually with an air balloon to hardwall excadrill), and a defiant user to punich the use of defog. Bisharp is the most popular defiant user, but thundurus-I is also good mon to use, using a mixed set to dismantle most defensive cores.
 
Disregarding the fact that all of Deo-D's favorite team mates (Aegislash, Bisharp and Defiant Thundurus-I) take a dump on Espeon, there is also this little gem:
0 Atk Deoxys-D Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Espeon: 158-186 (47.3 - 55.6%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

After that any Pursuit user can come in and take it out of the equation.
 
this isn't a deo-d/s suspect thread, but i will say these mons are definitely responsible for the staleness in offense atm. deosharp + keldeo/landorus + mega sweeper + 2 fillers is just so good, there isn't that much reason to run other stuff from a ho perspective at least. these teams are also ideal for the ladder because they make games quick and ridiculous offensive cores supported by hazards just dominate. i've talked to a bunch of people and there's a lot of sentiment that the deoxys formes, at least deo-d, are unhealthy for the meta, and imo part of why less offensive builds have more trouble. it's also a part of what basically requires hazard control in this meta, because without it you can't fight a team with sr + spikes up on the field and ridiculous offensive mons abusing them.

talking meta trends, deo-s is probably the best singular pokemon in ou right now. it requires literally zero support to function and is enormously threatening to offensive teams, while having versatility to handle all kinds of threats with varied movesets, whilst providing sr support for its team. it obviously has flaws but these are so few. there are also certain things that have seen some use lately such as a defensive rocky helmet deo-s and even screens that are, too, very solid. there's so much it does in one teamslot, as a supporter, revenge killer, and devastating offensive force that is dominating the meta atm.
Though I would say that it is not really that deserving of a suspect, since it is oddly easy to stop nowadays. Mainly you have priority up the rear nowadays (Talonflame, M-Pinsir, Bisharp, and Aegislash to name a few). Not to mention that it cannot stay in long (nor does it really have to against frailer teams) on account of the stat drop moves it loves spamming--which also make it pursuit bait. Granted it is VERY good, but not as degenerate as Deo-D (who I feel deserves to be looked at before Deo-S).
 
Im surprised no one (at least in the last 2 pages) has brought up sand offense yet. The TTar + Excadrill + Talonflame core is more prevalent than ever, and I see it way more than Deosharp. Sand Rush Excadrill is a Scary Sweeper, outspeeding even Deoxys-S With an Adamant Nature. The weather nerf has hurt this a little bit, but LO Excadrill puts immense pressure on opposing teams and is almost guaranteed to get a KO or three every game. Steel/Ground/Rock Coverage hits almost everything for neutral damage bar a few obscure things. Add on Rapid Spin and a 4x resist to Rock, you can basically guarantee hazards off the field, giving you further momentum.
 
So I've been laddering on the Suspect Test recently and this is what I've noticed:

-Basically every Thundurus is going with Defiant instead of Prankster right now. I've faced four Thundys all with Defiant in about 20 battles.

>Quite a bit of Birdspam with a few Staraptor, and the usual Talon and M-Pinsir.

>Greninja and Aegislash everywhere as usual.

*Edited to add that, trend or not, I've been seeing a lot of Sash Greninja as opposed to Life Orb. Makes sense considering it's frailty. It has to fear Mach Punch from heavy hitters, U-Turns from scarfed/strong attackers, and Superpowers from stuff like Deo-S and Azumarill.
 
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I've just finished my fifth match in a row against a Mega Medicham team.

This poke has become incredibly common after I got above the 1700 with my latest alt. It looks like a trend. Good news for Aegislash users, though Mega Medicham teams always have stuff like Bisharp/Mandibuzz/Diggersby.
 
I've just finished my fifth match in a row against a Mega Medicham team.

This poke has become incredibly common after I got above the 1700 with my latest alt. It looks like a trend. Good news for Aegislash users, though Mega Medicham teams always have stuff like Bisharp/Mandibuzz/Diggersby.

Yeah, I've been seeing a lot of Mega Medicham also. It's actually really good, Hi Jump Kicks hit ridiculously hard and it eats stall for breakfast, gets a lot of free switches on Chansey needing to Softboil and can 2HKO just about every usual stall member barring Aegislash. Having your STABs cockblocked by the living sword is always irritating but still it's a real monster and people are starting to realize it.
 
I've been using a fusion of Deo-S' two most common sets: the LO attacker set and the Sashed hazards set. So I Sash it, get off Rocks on Turn 1 (if you're interested in full hazards this set isn't for you), and then switch out on anything that doesn't pack Pursuit. Even with 1 HP Deo can work as a mid to late game sweeper/revenge killer so long as your opponent's priority pokemon are neutralized. The last three moves in this set are Psycho Boost/Superpower/Ice Beam for great coverage. It doesn't quite do either role as effectively but it's a cool hybrid set that's really worked for me. Something to mull over. Naive nature, max Speed, 64 Att to give Superpower more oomph especially after using it once, the rest in SpA.
 
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