I'm not really sure Vacuum Wave can do much."Well, Kartana lacks a good Special Steel move- it does get some decent status moves and Giga Drain, but aside from that, not much else. "
It gets the best one of all - Vacuum wave.
I'm not really sure Vacuum Wave can do much."Well, Kartana lacks a good Special Steel move- it does get some decent status moves and Giga Drain, but aside from that, not much else. "
It gets the best one of all - Vacuum wave.
It has 181 Special Defense, not Special Attack. Its Special Attack is only 131 (and Vacuum Wave is not STAB). I'm not super familiar with the level of damage one can expect in this meta, so maybe those Pokémon are frail enough for that to be significant anyway, but it doesn't seem as impressive as you're making it sound, haha.Priority is important in this meta due to the nature of the fast sweepers. Think Snorlax, Steelix, Avalugg, Rhyperior, Chansey, Blissey (if they came out). The power of 181 spa vacuum wave is not to be ignored.
Hitmontop's niche is strong Technician priority paired with Rapid Spin support. Rhyperior, Snorlax, Steelix, and Avalugg are all top tier threats who are both fast and powerful, and Hitmontop is probably the only priority user that can reliably OHKO all of them (Sturdy notwithstanding, but even then, Top can break these first with Fake Out). And while it's physical defense is garbage, its Special Defense is actually quite respectable, especially with an Assault Vest, so it can actually switch into all of the above bar Snorlax, unlike other good priority users like Primarina. Throw in Rapid Spin and you have a very splashable, anti-meta pokemon.Why is Hitmontop A+ rank?
70 / 110 / 35 / 90 / 95 / 50
Sure, it gets Intimidate, but 70 / 35 physical bulk is still trash, and 70 / 95 special bulk is nothing great. Attacking stats are usable I guess, but the speed is trash. What niche does it have? Technician-boosted priority? Access to Rapid Spin? Even if it's decent, I'm confused as to how it's on the same level as Goodra, Snorlax, and Steelix, and above Dragapult and Zeraora.
I think you brought up some really good points here. Earlier today I was thinking the same thing about Chandelure (maybe B), and I agree that the Rotoms, Torkoal, and Mimikyu deserve to be ranked somewhere. Maybe B-, B-, and C/C- respectively (they are brought down, respectively, by: low speed and lack of healing; heavy dependence on Choice items; limitation to Trick Rooms teams).I got a lot of hot takes about the current VR now, hopefully these are worth reading.
Good check to Keldeo, Jirachi and Gyarados and can soft-check many other things like Snorlax, Dracovish, Diggersby, Hitmontop, Araquanid, and even some special attackers like Rhyperior, Avalugg, and Steelix (although it's not very specially bulky so it can be overwhelmed if not careful). Defog is another great trick that it gets, since it can pivot in on and threaten out hazard setters like Rhyperior, Araquanid, Jirachi, and others.
A good pivot into Sylveon. Although it is less bulky than Arcanine, it has a lot of interesting resists that let it very soft-check Steelix and just generally make certain choiced mons like Goodra, Torkoal, Kyurem, Rhyperior, Avalugg think twice about locking into an Ice or Ground move. It also does not become setup fodder for Sub Keldeo or Gyarados, whereas Arcanine does. It can also Defog which can be great for the hazard setters it forces out. The lack of reliable recovery makes it more limited in longer-term games, so it definitely fills a more narrow niche than Arcanine. It also has Nasty Plot, but it seems way too slow to use it... unless you're using Trick Room, which Rotom is very fast under, so there's another niche there.
Throh has nice speed and respectable power with Guts. Sylveon checks it, but it is 2HKO'd by Facade. Throh can also use Protect to scout Sylveon, meaning that Choiced sets have to deal with a bit of mindgames in order to revenge kill it. Knock Off also lets it wear down its checks nicely. It's not strong enough to outright beat physical walls like Accelgor, Roserade, and Arcanine, but it can generally pressure them to heal and maybe deprive them of an item. In many respects it is similar to Hitmontop, who has similar coverage but is slower. Where Hitmontop has priority, Throh's speed lets it get the jump on a lot of things. It's still a pretty niche mon but I think it merits a place in one of the lowest ranks.
Even without Shell Smash, the meta is still somewhat offensive, and Ditto can definitely take advantage. It's also good for revenge killing stuff like Rock Polish Steelix. Besides that, it's Ditto. It hasn't really changed, and can almost always find some kind of niche use in every meta.
Belly Drum Zen Mode is a pretty nice sweeper under certain situations, but even something like Sub + 3 Attacks is viable to not cut your health as much. Darmanitan doesn't get a whole lot of setup opportunities, but it can easily take advantage of something like Arcanine or a special attacker locked into something it resists. It's also worth mentioning that once it becomes Zen Mode, it becomes very physically bulky, so much so that priority like Band Sylveon Quick Attack does only like 15%,
Bulky mon that's kind of a hybrid of Gengar and the defensive Dragapult set. It can burn through Subs with Infiltrator while also being able to check Sylveon with its 80/140/55 bulk. There are a lot of mons that would be able to set up a Sub on it were it not for Infiltrator, like Keldeo, Dragapult, Zeraora, Gyarados, Kyurem, and others. Its Special Attack is a relatively usable base 90, meaning that its Hex will hurt a little bit more than its contemporaries. It also has some other fun options like Pain Split to get some healing, Taunt or even Calm Mind to attempt a stallbreaker set, but something like Wisp / Hex / Pain Split / Flamethrower or Clear Smog is probably more consistent. I actually think this mon is better than Gengar in a lot of ways. The hazard weakness and vulnerability to Toxic sucks, but the ability to not turn over momentum to setup sweepers with Substitute and just generally not being so passive is a big help.
Even without Shell Smash, it's still viable just based on how strong it is. Choice Specs Torkoal is insanely powerful and can 2HKO stuff like phys def Arcanine, Rhyperior, and Goodra with Fire Blast, with the only real counter being SpDef Hydreigon (which is 2HKOd by max HP Eruption). It's only really fast enough for the slower stuff, but if you run it on a Sticky Web team it can get around that to an extent. Choice Scarf is another option to get around its low speed, but is consequentially weaker, although more than strong enough to lay the hurt against frailer teams.
Its physical bulk in Flipped is not much worse than in standard play, as such it's still one of the best and only consistent switch-ins to Dracovish (which is a little weaker too). It can generally check water-types like Keldeo, Araquanid, and Primarina, and can usually take at least one hit from most physical attackers, but I'd say overall its niche is a little more narrow than in standard play. Still though, Dracovish is a huge threat, and Seismitoad is one of the only really safe switch-ins to it that offers some utility too, so as such you can justify its use.
The usefulness of this mon has dropped a lot since you Shell Smash was banned, but it's still effective against most of the fast physically frail mons (bar Snorlax) with Shadow Sneak. It has decent power and speed that's good enough to outspeed the defensive mons it needs to beat with investment. It is majorly checked by Arcanine but can beat down most physical walls with SD, so its use is pretty niche and competes with Sylveon a little bit, but being able to safely put a stop to RP Steelix, DD Gyarados, any setup Virizion or Keldeo, etc. is nice. For what it's worth, it's also a good Trick Room setter too, outslowing pretty much everything viable (not Shuckle). You can also spinblock with it too if you're feeling ballsy. Overall I'd say Mimikyu is a C-ish rank mon.Excellent offensive check to Sylveon, with Scarf it can revenge kill Rhyperior, Snorlax, Kyurem, etc, and unless they have Arcanine you can generally clean with it late-game. Trick is a great tool as well, since you can trick Arcanine or Roserade and open up the door for your Sylveon that way. Even after you lose the scarf, Jirachi's neat speed tier still puts it ahead of Avalugg, Cobalion, Goodra, and others so it can still pressure them with Iron Head. Defensive sets are a legit option as a resilient check to Sylveon and Stealth Rock setter.
I think Keldeo is really good too. SD is a nice set since it can pick off Rhyperior and Steelix with Aqua Jet and actually be pretty strong, but I think SubCM is even better, since it surprises so many of the checks to the SD set. So many of it's would-be checks like Primarina, Zeraora, Clefable, Espeon are more frail on the special side and can have the matchup flipped on their heads if they get Scald burned.Very overrated mon that's easily checked by almost every relevant physical wall. Priority was very nice for dealing with Shell Smashers but now it is a lot less useful of a niche. Nowadays it deals with Rhyperior and Snorlax well but is far from able to answer to Sylveon since Bullet Punch doesn't do nearly enough damage and it can be outprioritized by Quick Attack. Most of the time I've faced this mon it's been a momentum suck as I was able to switch in on it fairly easily. Don't get me wrong, it's still.... usable, I just don't think it's anywhere NEAR the level the VR currently has it at.
I think Snorlax is a little overrated too. It really isn't all the powerful unless it gets a Belly Drum off (at which point it can be picked off fairly easily). Band Snorlax just isn't strong enough with it's middling-power mono-Normal STAB and 110 base Attack to break through most of the tanks you'll encounter unless you get lucky with Body Slam paralysis. And of course, Scarf Snorlax is a great revenge killer but lost a lot of luster with Shell Smash being removed.
I feel like pointing you lost with this team to me, and I feel you'd lose to any team using the same concept of abusing fake out + substitute (for salazzle, 1 sub mon is enough). You also won the same MU once, so I wouldn't say it's a guaranteed loss (clearly), but I feel It's worth notingHey, it’s me, the guy who currently sits at the top of the Flipped ladder as both AGuyWithAName and Soul Dew Latias, here to talk about the team I’ve been using and having a lot of success with. It revolves around a powerful defensive core with some offensive threats to back them up.
Stronk (Cloyster) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Mud Shot
- Surf
X-Balloon (Drifblim) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Aftermath
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Strength Sap
- Knock Off
- Defog
Desert Bus (Tyranitar) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Earth Power
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
Delete Button (Salazzle) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Corrosion
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Protect
- Rest
- Substitute
Uno Reverse Cat (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Psychic Fangs
Looking at Hands (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform
The main core of the team is Espeon/Tyranitar. Espeon is a defensive monster which uses high HP Wish for effective resurrection of its team members. It beats out strong physical Pokemon like the Hitmons, Snorlax, and pretty much anything that can’t hit it for SE damage. It also discourages many Pokemon from throwing out hazards or status moves for fear of having them turned around. Tyranitar is on the opposite end of the spectrum, acting as a mixed offensive powerhouse, taking down special threats with ease, acting as a check to even powerhouses like Steelix and Avalugg, as well as Cosmic Power Necrozma or Corviknight, and is a hard counter to Mandibuzz. It’s prone to getting worn down over time, but when combined with Wish support from Espeon, it’s got a lot more longevity to it. This core is backed up by two other strong defensive mons, Salazzle and Drifblim. Salazzle, while not as strong of a defensive mon as Espeon, can still take a fair amount of punishment. However, unlike Espeon, Salazzle is capable of wearing things down via Toxic, even Steels and Poison types, and is a flat out counter to Sylveon (Espeon can be vulnerable to boosted Facade or Banded Double Edge if it isn’t careful, Salazzle takes negligible damage from both of them). It’s able to stall out a majority of the metagame if it gets a Toxic off on them, and if it gets too low on health, it can bring it back up using Rest. Rest also allows it to PP stall certain things that it can’t explicitly stall otherwise. No offensive moves means it struggles against Substitute mons and Taunt mons, but Espeon can use Heal Bell to wake it up and get it back in the action very quickly. I think changing Rest to Encore could also work out, as it can help with the Substitute problem, but at the cost of some longevity. Wish can still keep it in the game, of course. Drifblim may seem like an odd choice for a mon to use, but I’d argue it’s one of the best users of Defog in this meta. First off, 80/90/80 bulk is not all that bad with investment. Secondly, with 150 Base Speed, you’ll be at 336 Speed even without any investment, which allows you to get off your stuff before most of the unboosted metagame. Finally, the thing that makes Drifblim the most worth considering is Strength Sap, an incredibly strong recovery option that lowers the foe’s Attack by one stage. With all of these elements to consider, Drifblim is able to wall surprisingly effectively, Defog away hazards with relative speed and safety, and cripple attackers with Burns and item removal. It also has some crucial immunities to various typings, including Ground, Fighting, and Normal, allowing it to switch in effectively against certain attacks. To round off the team, we have Cloyster and Ditto. Cloyster is, in my opinion, better than Avalugg due to having STAB on its Water moves. It lacks Sturdy, but in exchange, it’s much less vulnerable to Tyranitar due to having Overcoat, allowing it to potentially knock it out with Hydro Pump and live to Ice Beam another day. (It also synergizes well with my own Tyranitar for the same reason). Steelix would also work well here, but I like to have a strong Ice move to hurt things like Hydreigon, Dragapult, and other things like that. The Shell Smash ban only means I can run Surf instead, which helps when I don’t want to miss Hydro Pump. Lastly, Ditto exists and is good. It prevents setup sweepers like Steelix and DDance Tyranitar from running through the team, and can sometimes pull a counter sweep. It also OHKOes physical Araquanid with its own Liquidation, and with how strong Araquanid is, this can lead to additional destruction if the foe has no answers to it. The team overall has a few notable weaknesses. Drifblim is the only reliable switchin to a Banded/Scarfed Diggersby EQ, and even then, if it clicks Ice Punch or Thunder Punch instead, you’re left without a reliable way to answer it (even Espeon doesn’t take an EQ well). It also doesn’t deal with strong Substitute setup mons well, like DDance Dragapult, Bulk Up Zeraora, and that one absolutely wild DDance Kyurem with Icicle Spear as its only attacking move I faced once. Overall, I’ve found massive success with this team, the only revisions I’ve made to it after initially creating it are changing Zen Headbutt to Psychic Fangs on Espeon and changing Shell Smash to Surf on Cloyster after it got banned (but I found that I wasn’t relying a lot on it anyway). It’s been super fun to wade through this absolutely backwards meta with this squad.
Hi guys Its me, everyone's favourite ladder hunterHey, it’s me, the guy who currently sits at the top of the Flipped ladder as both AGuyWithAName and Soul Dew Latias, here to talk about the team I’ve been using and having a lot of success with. It revolves around a powerful defensive core with some offensive threats to back them up.
Stronk (Cloyster) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Mud Shot
- Surf
X-Balloon (Drifblim) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Aftermath
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Strength Sap
- Knock Off
- Defog
Desert Bus (Tyranitar) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Earth Power
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
Delete Button (Salazzle) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Corrosion
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Protect
- Rest
- Substitute
Uno Reverse Cat (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Psychic Fangs
Looking at Hands (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform
The main core of the team is Espeon/Tyranitar. Espeon is a defensive monster which uses high HP Wish for effective resurrection of its team members. It beats out strong physical Pokemon like the Hitmons, Snorlax, and pretty much anything that can’t hit it for SE damage. It also discourages many Pokemon from throwing out hazards or status moves for fear of having them turned around. Tyranitar is on the opposite end of the spectrum, acting as a mixed offensive powerhouse, taking down special threats with ease, acting as a check to even powerhouses like Steelix and Avalugg, as well as Cosmic Power Necrozma or Corviknight, and is a hard counter to Mandibuzz. It’s prone to getting worn down over time, but when combined with Wish support from Espeon, it’s got a lot more longevity to it. This core is backed up by two other strong defensive mons, Salazzle and Drifblim. Salazzle, while not as strong of a defensive mon as Espeon, can still take a fair amount of punishment. However, unlike Espeon, Salazzle is capable of wearing things down via Toxic, even Steels and Poison types, and is a flat out counter to Sylveon (Espeon can be vulnerable to boosted Facade or Banded Double Edge if it isn’t careful, Salazzle takes negligible damage from both of them). It’s able to stall out a majority of the metagame if it gets a Toxic off on them, and if it gets too low on health, it can bring it back up using Rest. Rest also allows it to PP stall certain things that it can’t explicitly stall otherwise. No offensive moves means it struggles against Substitute mons and Taunt mons, but Espeon can use Heal Bell to wake it up and get it back in the action very quickly. I think changing Rest to Encore could also work out, as it can help with the Substitute problem, but at the cost of some longevity. Wish can still keep it in the game, of course. Drifblim may seem like an odd choice for a mon to use, but I’d argue it’s one of the best users of Defog in this meta. First off, 80/90/80 bulk is not all that bad with investment. Secondly, with 150 Base Speed, you’ll be at 336 Speed even without any investment, which allows you to get off your stuff before most of the unboosted metagame. Finally, the thing that makes Drifblim the most worth considering is Strength Sap, an incredibly strong recovery option that lowers the foe’s Attack by one stage. With all of these elements to consider, Drifblim is able to wall surprisingly effectively, Defog away hazards with relative speed and safety, and cripple attackers with Burns and item removal. It also has some crucial immunities to various typings, including Ground, Fighting, and Normal, allowing it to switch in effectively against certain attacks. To round off the team, we have Cloyster and Ditto. Cloyster is, in my opinion, better than Avalugg due to having STAB on its Water moves. It lacks Sturdy, but in exchange, it’s much less vulnerable to Tyranitar due to having Overcoat, allowing it to potentially knock it out with Hydro Pump and live to Ice Beam another day. (It also synergizes well with my own Tyranitar for the same reason). Steelix would also work well here, but I like to have a strong Ice move to hurt things like Hydreigon, Dragapult, and other things like that. The Shell Smash ban only means I can run Surf instead, which helps when I don’t want to miss Hydro Pump. Lastly, Ditto exists and is good. It prevents setup sweepers like Steelix and DDance Tyranitar from running through the team, and can sometimes pull a counter sweep. It also OHKOes physical Araquanid with its own Liquidation, and with how strong Araquanid is, this can lead to additional destruction if the foe has no answers to it. The team overall has a few notable weaknesses. Drifblim is the only reliable switchin to a Banded/Scarfed Diggersby EQ, and even then, if it clicks Ice Punch or Thunder Punch instead, you’re left without a reliable way to answer it (even Espeon doesn’t take an EQ well). It also doesn’t deal with strong Substitute setup mons well, like DDance Dragapult, Bulk Up Zeraora, and that one absolutely wild DDance Kyurem with Icicle Spear as its only attacking move I faced once. Overall, I’ve found massive success with this team, the only revisions I’ve made to it after initially creating it are changing Zen Headbutt to Psychic Fangs on Espeon and changing Shell Smash to Surf on Cloyster after it got banned (but I found that I wasn’t relying a lot on it anyway). It’s been super fun to wade through this absolutely backwards meta with this squad.
Toxapex only has base 50 speed in this meta- HP and Speed swap.I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but Toxapex's speed is not properly changing. The last few matches I've played it has shown only a speed of 218, and by my calculations a 252+ Speed should be at 421.
Ah, thanks, I misunderstood how the mechanics worked.Toxapex only has base 50 speed in this meta- HP and Speed swap.
Sylveon quick attack ohko's hitmontop, irrelevantOk, Sylveon is WAY too overrated. What does it have for physical moves? Body slam, Dig, maybe Bite, Double-Edge, Quick Attack, Facade, Double Kick, and Iron Tail. That's it! And it can't use support because it just dies to strong special attacks. Other top notch pokemons, rhyp and steelix, to be exact, can easily KO it. Steelix after an Autotomise to outspeed, and Rhyp deletes sylveon with STAB Earth Power. I don't even need calcs for them.
Also even Hitmontop, a Fighting-Type thats slower than it and is physical, can 1v1 Sylveon if it use Double Edge
43.3% recoil from double edge
minimum of 22.6% damage from fake out
minimum of 45.2% damage from bullet punch
exactly 111.1% damage to sylveon (its legit 111.1)
Nomming Sylveon down to A/A-, and as I stated before, Kommo-o is good. Nomming it to go on the VR at B or B+ it suffers from sylveon and otherwise would be better.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8flipped-1111350685 <-- A switch-in to sylveon and the clutch crit allowed Kommo-o to sweep most of my opponents team. Also I misclicked clangorous soul and otherwise might've won.
Seconding how insanely tanky Necrozma is, but I run this set. Dark types are obviously a major issue (Sylveon helps), but this thing can tank an Ice Beam from Avalugg (and similar mons) and set up in its face. If the opponent deals with it poorly and doesn't have Toxic or a dark type, it can sweep entire teams pretty easily.just gonna repost my Necrozma set cause it's not on the VR and nobody's talking about it, even though it's really good...
Stats: 79/89/127/101/107/97
Necrozma @ Leftovers
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
-Stealth Rock
-Moonlight
-Psyshock
-Thunder Wave
Necrozma is crazy bulky with 79/127/107 defenses, and it acts as an amazing blanket check to many fast attackers, as well as a reliable Stealth Rock setter. It has few weaknesses and doesn't care about them a whole lot due to Prism Armor. Psyshock is used over Photon Geyser for mons like Rhyperior, Avalugg, Snorlax, and Hitmontop, who is hard-countered by Necrozma.
252 SpA Life Orb Rhyperior Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Necrozma: 133-156 (36.7 - 43%) -- 97.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rhyperior: 139-165 (62.8 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Avalugg Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Necrozma: 132-156 (36.4 - 43%) -- 97.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Avalugg: 163-193 (82.7 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(90% of Avaluggs run HDB)
252 SpA Coalossal Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Necrozma: 118-139 (32.5 - 38.3%) -- 3.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Coalossal: 105-124 (52.2 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Hitmontop Fake Out vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Necrozma: 68-81 (18.7 - 22.3%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Hitmontop Brutal Swing vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Prism Armor Necrozma: 152-179 (41.9 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Hitmontop: 384-452 (111.6 - 131.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Snorlax Body Slam vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Necrozma: 102-120 (28.1 - 33.1%) -- 88% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Snorlax: 123-145 (61.1 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO252 Atk Huge Power Diggersby Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Necrozma: 187-222 (51.6 - 61.3%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Diggersby: 150-177 (50.5 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Necrozma: 229-271 (63.2 - 74.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Sylveon: 81-96 (31 - 36.7%) -- 65.1% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Steelix Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Necrozma: 208-246 (57.4 - 67.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Necrozma Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Steelix: 69-82 (34.3 - 40.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
/dt [pokemon], flippedif there was a command that the player could use to look up the 'flipped' stats of a pokemon in battle. That will be pretty helpful
I've been worried about Steelix as well. It's got so many viable sets and scouting it is very dangerous if it does carry set up. It's not even that slow for this Meta, when it comes to running Scarf or outspeeding most defensive Pokemon. I think Dark Pulse is what really pushes it over the edge; breaks through some otherwise solid checks, while packaged with a nasty flinch chance that gives you a good shot at winning anyhow even if you weren't going to.The "Ban Steelix" Post
(insert steelix 2HKOing the whole meta)
I won't lie: I really hate Fishious Rend/Bolt Beak (impartial to their users, it's a funny concept). These two always end up being problematic somewhere, and with all 4 of the Dracos/Arctos having 90 Base Speed it feels like any of them could be a huge problem at some point, especially once/if those HAs drop.I feel like I don't need to explain this one as much, since what it does isn't too different than in standard play (where it is being suspected). Seismitoad handles Dracovish about as well as in standard play, which is to say, it takes a lot from Outrage and can be worn down. Roserade is probably one of the most splashable Fishious Rend switch-ins, but it can be 2HKO'd by Psychic Fangs and gets seriously pressured to heal by it. Offensive checks like Keldeo and Virizion are majorly hurt by Psychic Fangs too and don't take repeated Fishious Rends well at all. There are also obscure water-immune mons like Lapras and Heliolisk that lack recovery or longevity (or are just otherwise bad) to answer to Dracovish consistently. And while Scarf Dracovish lacks the oomph to break more odious physically defensive mons effectively like Espeon and Roserade, it has a much better speed tier than in standard, with the only real common offensive mon that outspeeds even Adamant Scarf Dracovish being Snorlax. Admittedly, Dracovish is pretty vulnerable to priority, especially from Sylveon and Hitmontop, and its Scarf speed tier still falls short on some key targets, but Band largely does much of what it does in standard.
Espeon is pretty linear in how it operates, yes it's frustrating but most of the time I only see them run Psychic Fangs for an attacking move. Which makes sense, it's other options are all pretty terrible. Dark types can really abuse it (along with the other supporting Pokemon you mentioned) and even with good HP, a Strong Special hit will go a long way.Maybe not broken since it turns over a lot of momentum to threatening breakers, but Espeon definitely makes me want to die whenever I play against it. Espeon gives me a similar feeling to Mega Sableye where it's a Magic Bouncer with recovery that's so bulky, it actively punishes you for using more passive hazard setters and just prevents you from accomplishing anything over the course of a match. Psychic Fangs is easy to throw out since most Steel-types aren't that physically bulky and get worn down (or struggle to even do much to Espeon), Dark types are vulnerable to Toxic, and the best physically defensive Psychic type immune to Toxic is Espeon itself. Sure it's passive as hell and turns over setup opportunities to almost anything with a Sub, but that slack can be picked up by its teammates, anti-setup mons like Encore Whimsicott, Dragapult (especially with Dragon Tail), or strong priority users; all of which appreciate Espeon's wish support. I'm still unsure whether Espeon is just an ugly truth of this meta or it actually warps the game too much; either way, Steelix currently dumpsters defensive cores so hard that it doesn't feel too strong at the moment.
Ridiculously good Pokemon. I love using it, and dread fighting it. Huge amount of item and moveset diversity, can hit practically anything it wants to Super Effectively, and if it can't, Earth Power may as well be Super Effective. Rhyperior's crippling Physical weakness definitely holds it back with all the powerful Priority and fast attackers, but that's what the rest of your 5 team members are for. This thing's S-rank for a reason: it's extremely hard to NOT consider using this on most teams.Feels a lot like Steelix lite in that it has some similar checks. Rhyperior actually has a few checks but can beat pretty much everything if it brings the right coverage and predicts correctly. The fact that it's not resistant to Sylveon's Quick Attack limits it a lot; it can actually be OHKO'd by Banded Sylveon's Quick Attack. In my eyes it's not too bad at the moment either (especially when Steelix does the "ground-type breaker" thing a lot better), but I'm interested to hear what others think.
Speaking of S-rank, this monstrosity is more proof than ever of how busted Fairy is as a typing. Granted, a lack of Steels which actually match-up well against it is a dream come true for Sylveon. It's definitely centralizing in the sense you need a way to deal with Sylveon, but that's not always indicative of an outright ban. There's a ton of different options to tackle the Sylveon problem; Roserade and Salazzle are some of the hardest Pokemon for it to break through. The former hits it back hard, tanks well, and can use it to get hazards up, or even Leech Seed and just sit there. Body Slam paralysis or the cheesey Yawn won't work long-term if running Natural Cure. Salazzle stonewalls it hard, can use it to easily begin it's really fun and enticing SubToxic torture, but has to fear stray status much more. Beyond these two, any defensively solid Fire/Poison/Steel type helps, with Arcanine standing out thanks to how naturally fat it is + Intimidate/Teleport.Centralizing. You need to bring a switch-in to Sylveon on every team. However, Sylveon's counters are all very strong answers to it, and they aren't useful just for their ability to counter Sylveon, either. Arcanine, Jirachi, Roserade, Salazzle all check more than just Sylveon and provide some sort of utility for the team. Again, doesn't feel broken to me but I want to hear what others think.