Metagame [Gen 8] Category Swap

threw together a balance team

:toxapex: :ferrothorn: :blissey: :tapu koko: :celebi: :volcarona:

basically smacked the first two guys on because i wanted to be able to switch into a large portion of the metagame. ferro literally stays around so much longer with giga drain, it's insane. blissey is there because i want a special wall (cough volcarona) and it can teleport into my own threats:

tapu koko is tapu koko, it clicks choice band thunderbolt. also serves as nice speed control. uturn might be better than volt switch idfk.

celebi is cool because most people think of it defensively when they see it. when they switch into something like a ferrothorn to try and make progress of their own setting hazards or such, you can proceed to wall their ass, get as many boosts as you want, and leaf storm away. the typing is nice defensively too.

volcarona is there because it's busted, flare blitz plus quiver dance and leech life is just nasty. wild charge over u-turn because why would i want to switch out

the biggest con is how thunderbolt gyara-weak it is. you pretty much have to play your ferro smart or just lose. or pray that they're adamant and go koko i guess. honestly it's decently vulnerable to a lot of setup sweepers if you don't play smart in general but this is the one that kept giving me trouble.
 
Apologies if this has been asked already but how does Burn work? Will it cut damage on special-now-physical moves?
In theory, yes. In practice, I've heard anecdotes that it halves the power of all moves, which definitely shouldn't be happening. Also, I haven't looked into how confusion works here.
 
In theory, yes. In practice, I've heard anecdotes that it halves the power of all moves, which definitely shouldn't be happening. Also, I haven't looked into how confusion works here.
Decided to test those mechanics for fun.

Burn:
Burn going second
Burn going first (prankster)
Burn going first (speed)
Ignoring my abysmal luck, burn halved the power of Special-now-Physical Thunderbolt, and didn't half the power of Physical-now-Special Wild Charge in every replay. Unless there's some bug I am unaware of, burn seems to work as intended- halving the power of Special-now-physical moves like Thunderbolt.

Confusion:
Confusion in CatSwap | Confusion in OU
Both of those did around the same damage. But since I'm dumb and couldn't figure out confusion uses the physical attack stat from there, I did one more battle (replay). Besides showing why confusion isn't viable, you can see confusion isn't swapped from physical to special, since the physical eleki took more damage from the confusion than the special drago.

TLDR; Burn halves Special-now-Physical moves, confusion uses physical attack stat

EDIT: As Schpoonman pointed out (thanks), I forgot that Regidrago having the 5th highest HP in the game could possibly mean it takes less damage than something with 120 less base HP. Retested confusion with Mew and Victini (replay). Confusion is definitely physical, !showteam at turn 9.
I hope those 16 33% chance misses mean I hit at least the next 4.
 
Last edited:
Decided to test those mechanics for fun.

Burn:
Burn going second
Burn going first (prankster)
Burn going first (speed)
Ignoring my abysmal luck, burn halved the power of Special-now-Physical Thunderbolt, and didn't half the power of Physical-now-Special Wild Charge in every replay. Unless there's some bug I am unaware of, burn seems to work as intended- halving the power of Special-now-physical moves like Thunderbolt.

Confusion:
Confusion in CatSwap | Confusion in OU
Both of those did around the same damage. But since I'm dumb and couldn't figure out confusion uses the physical attack stat from there, I did one more battle (replay). Besides showing why confusion isn't viable, you can see confusion isn't swapped from physical to special, since the physical eleki took more damage from the confusion than the special drago.

TLDR; Burn halves Special-now-Physical moves, confusion uses physical attack stat
Sorry to one-line this, but I'd retest Confusion. Drago has much much higher HP than Eleki, should test with a few base 100 Mythicals to better ascertain Confusion damage.
 
Both Salazzle and Heatran strongly resist Sylveon's Pixilate + Pixie Plate boosted Last Resort. But a Specially defensive Heatran Takes far less than Salazzle does.

Also Some pokemon that resist fairy and carry an Assault Vest like Volcanion, Magnezone, Celesteela, etc.

Salazzle takes about 43.6 - 51.2% from Last Resort.
 
Ok so we should talk about Keldeo.

So you know how Ferrothorn is a really good pokemon due to Giga Drain now?

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 380-450 (107.9 - 127.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Even Blissey can't switch in comfortably on it.

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Superpower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 450-530 (63 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Tapu Fini doesn't work because Keldeo gets Poison Jab.

If you want you can run Sacred Sword so special defense boosts are just ignored.

It also gets Aqua Jet and Flip Turn to pivot and get priority against revenge killers.

If people start running this, it's basically mandatory to run Toxapex or Galarian Slowking as none of its coverage can touch them well.

The only other option is to sacrifice a pokemon to safely get in something faster.

Literally the only downside of Superpower is losing defense if something faster is sent out, but you can always just switch out.

So Keldeo combined with anything to get rid of a possible Pex or Galarian Slowking just kind of wrecks havoc.
 
:ss/regigigas:
Regigigas can now use its once physical moves without worrying about the Slow Start attack decrease, though it will have to use its lower SpA stat. Though depending on whether or not Body Press is still affected by Slow Start, Regigigigas could use that to attack with its fairly high Defense stat.

:ss/malamar:
hehe contrary + stored power + superpower go brrrr (Yes I spread out EVs I don't want my stuff to just die)

Malamar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 188 HP / 228 Atk / 84 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stored Power
- Superpower
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
 
If people start running this, it's basically mandatory to run Toxapex or Galarian Slowking as none of its coverage can touch them well.

The only other option is to sacrifice a pokemon to safely get in something faster.

Literally the only downside of Superpower is losing defense if something faster is sent out, but you can always just switch out.
Yeah, this sounds about right, although I'm not sure saying that it's a mandatory Toxapex or Glowking is true. Pex is one of the easiest to abuse mons if it's just splashed on a team randomly, as Flip Turn gives a switchin to Koko or Magnezone for free. Superpower also isn't a complete 100% win button because Gengar is fairly common, as is Togekiss which loves switching into Close Combat. It's probably because I run HO, but sacrificing a 'mon to get another in often leaves Keldeo in an extremely terrible situation, and warrants mentioning.

If you can force a Keldeo to use anything but Flip Turn (namely, forcing Aqua Jet), a good answer is in Gyarados and Dragonite. Gyarados has the better coverage of the two and an easier snowball via Moxie or utility outside of stopping Keldeo in Intimidate, while Dragonite only really would fear crit Stone Edge, and giving Dragonite a turn of setup is the absolute last thing one wants to do. Neither wants to switch in on Keldeo, though, since it does so much damage to them if they don't run bulk.

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados: 145-171 (43.8 - 51.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 72-85 (22.2 - 26.3%) -- 19% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Liquidation vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite in Rain: 77-91 (23.8 - 28.1%) -- 94.6% chance to 4HKO (nobody runs Liquidation, but it's for the sake of including)
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 162-191 (50.1 - 59.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Kartana can eat an Aqua Jet and OHKO in return with Giga Drain if you're willing to risk a speed tie. Similarly, Koko eats roughly 50% off Aqua Jet but Dazzling Gleam does 81% minimum. Gengar gets to flex its superior speed tier and reasonable bulk to hit for good damage, or if you're running specs, one of the most free OHKOs imaginable. I'd also like to mention Thunder Punch Gengar with Electric Terrain as a cheesy, but remarkably easy, way to just delete Keldeo.

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kartana: 116-137 (44.7 - 52.8%) -- 25.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 124-147 (44.1 - 52.3%) -- 17.6% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gengar: 124-147 (47.5 - 56.3%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO

252 Atk Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 264-312 (81.7 - 96.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Gengar Poltergeist vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 294-346 (91 - 107.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Gengar Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo in Electric Terrain: 234-276 (72.4 - 85.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (Life Orb hits for 94.1 - 111.1%, guaranteed OHKO after rocks.)

Every Swift Swimmer (including Omastar) and Excadrill also outspeed under weather, Zeraora is a rare pick who gets either setup or a Volt Switch, and I've seen a few rogue Alakazams which would threaten it out immediately.

Still, sucks ass that Specs Keld sorta just... clicks buttons and wins against fat teams, although I think Clefable also isn't a bad idea. Shedinja also is a really funny pick because a lot of mons, like Koko, non Air Slash Kartanas, almost every Ground due to a lack of Rock Slide or Stone Edge, Rillaboom, and non-fire punch Psychics, can't hit it whatsoever. Non-Stone Edge Keldeo also straight up can't hit it.
 
Keldeo really gets screwed against Jellicent who is immune to Both Keldeo's STAB. It has nothing to hit it efficiently

Jellicent in Category Swap may be the true counter to Keldeo. Jellicent good moves in this metagame are Waterfall and Poltergeist, you can use Night Shade too.


Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Waterfall
- Night Shade
- Strength Sap
- Toxic / Will-O-Wisp



Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Gooey
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Outrage
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch / Superpower

Assault Vest Goodra is also a an good answer to Keldeo, with access to a lot of good moves, its also able to take it out with Power Whip.

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Superpower vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Goodra: 136-162 (35.5 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ SpA Goodra Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 278-328 (86 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO (50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock)

252+ SpA Goodra Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo in Grassy Terrain: 362-426 (112 - 131.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO



Mantine @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Electric Seed
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Waterfall
- Dual Wingbeat / Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Roost

Mantine also walls Keldeo very well, but it has to fear Stone Edge. It gets Special Earthquake and Dual Wingbeat, yay. Also it can have Acrobatics but it needs to give up Heavy-Duty Boots for that.

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Superpower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mantine: 109-129 (29.1 - 34.4%) -- 4.6% chance to 3HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mantine: 242-286 (64.7 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mantine on a critical hit: 362-428 (96.7 - 114.4%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Mantine may choose to Keep its Heavy-Duty Boots or go all out with Acrobatics with Tapu Koko as teammate


252+ SpA Mantine Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 228-268 (70.5 - 82.9%) -- approx. 2HKO

252+ SpA Mantine Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 308-366 (95.3 - 113.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO (guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock)

Those pokemon check Keldeo quite well, but also revenge killers that are faster than Keldeo such as Boltund, Ribombee, Chlorophyll Leafeon and much more.
 
Unaware could have contered Slurpuff.

I don't get it when Clefable runs Magic Guard more than Unaware...

Slurpuff is also weak to Bullet Punch, but in this Metagame, Lucario can run it.

+2 252+ SpA Lucario Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Slurpuff: 336-396 (109.8 - 129.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Lucario

Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Close Combat / Drain Punch
- Ice Punch / Earthquake
- Bullet Punch


Focus Sash allows Lucario survive a hit from Slurpuff (useless if there's Stealth Rock or Spikes) and set up Nasty Plot then OHKO it with Bullet Punch.


Magic Room and Unnerve also prevents Slurpuff from eating its Sitrus Berry and activating Unburden.


Unburden can also activate if its item was Knocked off, that isn't helpful.


Trick Room is very effective against Slurpuff, this needs someone such as Carbink with Heavy-Duty boots so it will be always at full HP or even swap its Unburden with Skill Swap.


Heatran also counters Slurpuff by having resistance most moves besides Thunderbolt and Surf. However it can be Survive +6 Atk Surf with Reflect or Aurora Veil.


+6 252 Atk Slurpuff Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Heatran through Reflect: 196-231 (50.7 - 59.8%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


+6 252 Atk Slurpuff Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Heatran with an ally's Aurora Veil: 196-231 (50.7 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage and Leftovers recovery


+6 252 Atk Slurpuff Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Heatran in Sun: 194-230 (50.2 - 59.5%) -- 81.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


Heatran

Heatran @ Leftovers
Bold Nature
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Heavy Slam
- Heat Crash
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake / Will-O-Wisp

The EV spread allows live a +6 Surf in Reflect, Aurora Veil or Sun. Heatran can Burn Slurpuff with Will-O-Wisp.


Aggron can also be 2HKOd by Surf, also it will activate Custap Berry to OHKO it with Steel Beam.


+6 252 Atk Slurpuff Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aggron: 266-314 (77.3 - 91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 
Slurpuff is banned.

While most Fairy-types suffer in this meta because almost all of them are dedicated special attackers, Slurpuff now has a lot of physical coverage it can use with its Belly Drum set, allowing it to sweep teams with minimal effort.
Honestly, good choice, even if I wasn't sure on it at first myself. Slurpuff against rain resulted in either praying that Slurpuff's coverage wasn't adequate to hit the primary resist (Kartana, in my case), killing it with Hurricane or Steel Beam before it had a chance to do anything, or just outright losing. The few games I've played on ladder not with rain were teams that all very unconveniently died to Flamethrower + Electric coverage Slurpuff.

For the post above, relying on fringe scenarios like having Screens up with a phys def Heatran, or using Unaware Clefable, which is better on slower teams, is not a healthy state to be in. Lucario is a fine answer, but lots of teams won't be able to fit it in, and their best answer is hoping Slurpuff's coverage isn't right and their Toxapex or Ferrothorn can wall it. And guess wrong and lose for it because of the sweepers right behind it.


...although, can't lie, these replays alone aren't really convincing. One team was mono fairy setting up Safeguard in the face of dual screens lead Regieleki.


___

Also, want to mention I'm trying to figure out the best stallbreaker mon, since there's a few folks roaming the ladder with Stall - I'm thinking SubNP Gengar with Poison Jab, but experimentation needs to go further before I figure it out.
 
Last edited:
This Tornadus Therian forme set can trade it's Heavy-Duty Boots for something more accurate than a Physical Hurricane.



Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Electric Seed / Grassy Seed
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Nasty Plot
 
Screenshot (1081)-1.png (1).png


Hi, since this OM's gonna be finishing up within a few days, I wanted to do one last write-up of things I found really, REALLY strong or omnipresent, since this is easily the OM I've dumped the most games into. This might be one of the simpler OMs, but y'all did a stellar job at making it as fun as possible.

___________________________________________________________________________
1661787681465.png

Koko's REALLY strong, and a lot of teams almost carry a mandatory Koko resist or check - Ferrothorn was the most common, but Kartana (for Volt Switch variants), Lando-T, Toxtricity, and Nidoqueen were also seen. Other electrics were also popular - Zeraora and Magnezone being the main two - but Koko stands out for its speed, Electric Terrain (enables Acrobatics Celesteela and Tornadus-Therian), and ability to just slot in U-Turn to do 50% to Kartana and pivot out of Lando and Nidoqueen. Lots of checks also are reliant on Koko not running Thunder over Thunderbolt, as Koko tends to turn 3HKOs into 2HKOs rather frequently. Ferrothorn stops being a switchin if it is even around 50% around Thunder Koko, since it takes minimum 30.9% on Specially Defensive sets. There were a few rogue Screens Kokos roaming about, and just added to Koko's innate threat level when it sets up Reflect on your Nidoqueen and you're suddenly on the backfoot.

The other electrics really do no favors, since Zeraora carries an even better speed tier and coverage to hit the Grounds, and Magnezone makes as effective a Ferrothorn deleter as ever and stops Kartana almost completely with Body Press, making an electric resist or immune just about mandatory.
1661787999990.png
1661788065110.png
1661788077772.png

In a surprise to exactly 0 people who played on the ladder, Dragon Dance Hurricane spam was absolutely terrifying, and often carried the ability to straight up win games because of just how strong it is. Dragonite's the best of the bunch - Multiscale saves it from being directly OHKO'd by Koko before a boost, and carries the same coverage of the other two. Salamence trades Multiscale for Moxie and a speed tier meaning it can run Adamant over Jolly to outspeed Koko at +1 (Dragonite hits 384 with Adamant, versus Koko's 394.) If you're going to test one of them, test Dragonite; Multiscale makes it a versatile nuker who doesn't care about the gamestate with Boots or can outright win games with Lum to block Scald/Thunder Wave. Salamence is scary, but I never found it to get anywhere once it got walled once, and Gyarados, while also intimidating, suffers from an even worse 4x weakness and lacks Salamence's speed.

(there's a re[play of Hurricanespam, but I put them below in the Rain section.)

1661788676910.png
1661788657367.png
1661788686215.png
1661788700193.png
1661787999990.png
-
1661788781141.png
1661788788729.png
1661788797410.png

Rain's fun. Pelliper is a great rain setter who has enough physical bulk to reliably switch in to most of the OM, including Nidoqueen (although you eat 70% from Sludge Wave on switch-in.) Rain's got a variety of great abusers across the type spectrum - Swift Swim Omastar and Kingdra were popular for instantly deleting teams, Tapu Koko gets to freely use its strongest STAB option, and the Dragon Dancers appreciate Hurricane becoming the best move in their kits. The real problem with Rain is Pelipper is either running Damp Rock to maximize weather turns, in which case Stealth Rock completely cripples it, or Heavy Duty Boots, in which case the benefits of rain are significantly reduced.

Sun also gets a special mention for, despite having a significantly worse weather setter, an excellent matchup against most of Rain's best abusers thanks to Grass types fearing nothing aside from Hurricanespam. Leafeon is an excellent mon with a variety of great matchups and Weather Ball for the Steels that normally plague it, giving it excellent coverage. It's also a free instakill on Tapu Koko if you're so inclined.



1661789017890.png

1661789004606.png

Thanks to Drampa's Grandpa for being based informing me of Kartana. Kartana carries the same excellent defensive typing as Ferrothorn, but comes with the benefit of the best instakill button in the game, +1 Steel Beam. There is no safe switchin. Ferrothorn who switch in to Thunder Wave, if Kartana has boosts, will just eat a comedic amount of damage. Volcarona, as seen above, is hilariously OHKO'd by the little paper death machine. Vacuum Wave rounds out the standard set, as a form of priority great for cleaning up games (but sadly not hitting Gengar or Marshadow.) Synthesis is an option for if you just really hate Ferrothorn's existence, as is Substitute to punish Thunder Wave, although you do absolutely nothing in return.

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Kartana Steel Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 226-268 (64.2 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Kartana Steel Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 174-206 (49.4 - 58.5%) -- 68.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Kartana Steel Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Celesteela: 284-334 (71.5 - 84.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Kartana Steel Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 312-368 (100.3 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Kartana Steel Beam vs. 248 HP / 156 Def Volcarona: 337-397 (90.3 - 106.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Kartana Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 169-199 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


1661790151382.png
1661790160190.png
1661790174863.png
-
1661790183844.png
1661790191112.png


Sticky Webs were also really popular and devastating if you lacked a good spinner or defogger, especially the suicide leads who could get reasonable damage off before dying. Araquanid has the best defensive profile thanks to great bulk, a typing that resists every STAB Ground-user in the OM, and one of the strongest Scalds along with packing Ice Beam to deter Dragons. Galvantula is the fastest, but it lost Energy Ball, making it worse against Lando, Nidoqueen, and others. Gaining Special Sucker Punch is nice, but if you want a fast Webber, Orbeetle exists. Orbeetle was the second most common (behind Araq) and the most successful, thanks to a great speed tier with good bulk, and utility in the form of Trick, Screens, Recover, and Body Press.

Lots of the best wallbreakers in the tier, namely Blacephalon and Nidoqueen who I saw on a few Orbeetle teams, appreciate the faster mons in the tier being slowed to their level or far below it. Flame Charge Blacephalon with Sticky Webs is a sight to behold as it casually nukes an entire team, and Nidoqueen can flex her attempt to replicate Nidoking's success. I even saw a rogue Arctozolt running around ladder earlier, was pretty funny.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
and a (dis)honorary mention to the two mons that absolutely failed!

1661790843840.png
Sylveon suffers from being the most one-dimensional mon in Category Swap, basically only running Last Resort sets. While Sylveon is by no means a weak mon, doing the same thing every time means that players will catch on to your gimmick, and Ferrothorn's ubiquity does it no favors. Quick Attack was more successful than Protect sets were, but that really says nothing. It's like asking what console Balan Wonderland runs best on (stolen joke, hurrah!) A friend who was playing the tier found it amusing
1661790868272.png
Rillaboom... sucks. It does nothing the other Grass types can't do significantly better, since having a powerful Boomburst and Leaf Storm can't make up for lacking Knock Off, a much weaker U-Turn, and losing out on the best tool it has in OU, Grassy Glide. Kartana with its limited movepool and Zarude with its mediocre movepool do a much better job with vastly better stats and typings that would make Camomons Rillaboom blush, and even specialists like Leafeon saw some good success on the ladder. If nothing else, it can work, since the strongest Grass STAB for Category Swap, Boomburst, and Earth Power for coverage does the job well enough, but you've got a lot of other, better options that offer more. It's sort of insane how much losing a great STAB Priority move decimated Rillaboom and how it just never did anything of note in games I played.

(and please remove the Slurpuff info from the first post, please!)
 

Attachments

Kartana on paper (heh) seems worse, but Steel Beam really does so much for it, since deleting yourself in front of a setup sweeper or nuking through a would-be wall is amazing for it, turning matchups like Volcarona into easy wins. Vacuum Wave also really helps it, since priority makes it that much harder to wall and lets it revenge kill without a scarf. It's been a blast to run with!
 
If Steel Beam misses, Kartana will be punished from everything. it has 95% accuracy. and Heatran and Magnezone strongly resist Steel Beam, Magnezone traps Kartana with Magnet Pull. Choice Specs Magnezone is able to OHKO Kartana with just a Wild Charge.
Kartana can't OHKO Magnezone and Heatran with a Swords Dance or Beast Boost boosted Vacuum Wave. it must have +3 Atk to OHKO at least Magnezone. and a Physically Defensive Heatran takes far less.
 
Sample team:

Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Knock Off

Gets good coverage

Suspect Test (Zygarde) @ Life Orb
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Core Enforcer
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave/Focus Blast

doesn’t even need thousand arrows, sludge wave for fairy types, focus blast for skarmory and corviknight

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Body Press
- Leech Seed

Ferrothorn with physical giga drain

Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Roost

Can actually use its attack stat

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- U-turn
- Toxic

Lando-t

Tornadus-Therian (M)
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Acrobatics
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Knock Off

Don’t need an item, acrobatics on this thing is really good, superpower is such a god send move although you can use brick break if you want so you don’t lower your attack
 
Last edited:
Meta's over, here's my team dump (click the icons!)
:jirachi::garchomp::ferrothorn::mandibuzz::naganadel::primarina:
This team uses some interesting picks. Primarina is a unique offensive mon and alternative to Keldeo that serves as a check to Keldeo on top of an offensive water. The EV spread is very specialized, allowing you to always avoid the 2HKO from Keldeo's Modest Specs Superpower, outspeed uninvested base 80s like Mandibuzz, and hit as hard as possible. Sub CM Jirachi is a capable sweeper, with the max HP for 101 HP subs. Although it doesn't have the best coverage, it can usually at least debilitate checks with paralysis. Scarf Naganadel is one of my favourite scarfers, being able to take out boosted Dragonite, Salamence, and Volcarona, and U-turn lets it pivot in the early game. Fire Blast is my tech for incoming Ferrothorn, but Dragon Claw is another good option here too. Ferrothorn is my main check for Tapu Koko and utility mon that can debilitate opposing Ferrothorn. Mandibuzz is a necessary check to Gengar and Marshadow and can defog and pivot. And Garchomp is an electric immunity for non-Koko electrics and can punish contact moves from opposing Keldeo and Nihilego, providing a last line of defense against them. The EVs let you outspeed Adamant Nidoqueen always. Speaking of which, Nidoqueen is a big threat, so you have to play aggressively around it.

:cinderace::slowbro::nidoqueen::mandibuzz::naganadel::garchomp:
I like Cinderace actually. It's a far cry from how good it is in standard but it's definitely a capable offensive mon. I think the three coverage moves given here give it the best coverage overall, and Court Change is actually a great utility move it couldn't quite fit in standard. It punishes reckless hazard and screen setting well. You'll also see my typical Avalanche Slowbro set here, this is because Cinderace is such setup fodder for Dragonite that I felt it was warranted. This is an especially great option against sets without Roost, but even still it can aid in pressuring Dragonite and forcing it to play predictably. Naganadel in the back dissuades it from getting too out of hand. Future Sight helps support Cinderace in wearing down switch ins like Landorus-T. Oh, by the way, Slowbro’s EV spread avoids 2HKOs from Modest Specs Keldeo Superpower. The rest is fairly self-explanatory, with Dragon Claw Naganadel being a more safe option for revenging Dragons, since that's such a priority here. Nidoqueen is great of course, and is your primary Koko check for this team. This team is very weak to Gyarados! It might be worth slashing something that manages it better than Garchomp, but I did want a secondary check to Nihilego, Zeraora, and Keldeo.

:tapu koko::mamoswine::slowbro::mandibuzz::ferrothorn::marshadow:
Scarf Tapu Koko is actually an awesome revenge killer in this format! It deals with Salamence, Gyarados, and a sufficiently weakened Volcarona and Dragonite excellently and is just great at grabbing momentum. Any Ground types or Ferrothorn that get lured in are defeated by Mamoswine or Marshadow, two excellent breakers. Mamoswine has kind of a narrow niche but is basically only stopped by Avalugg defensively, while Marshadow is a great offensive threat overall. The CM LO set is the best here to provide some special offense and just maintain the best power and priority. The rest of the team is your typical defensive complement. Scald Slowbro on this team, to be a bit less passive and because the team feels a bit safer against dragons to me. 28 Speed IVs is specifically to lower the damage from Cinderace's Electro Ball while still being slower than opposing slowbros that forget to minimize their IVs. Be wary with spamming Knock Off with Ferrothorn, as Marshadow has Poltergeist. It's a bit of an anti-synergy that can be worked around, but Knock Off is just so good to pressure opposing passive mons.

:accelgor::regieleki::landorus-therian::slowbro::mandibuzz::keldeo:
Here is my Accelgor Volt Turn. Accelgor is very fast and has a fairly strong U-turn for chipping down foes, although it's pretty weak overall, in which case Knock Off and Spikes are more useful. Simply set up hazards while you can while ignoring opposing hazards with your boots. Regieleki is an option over Tapu Koko that is a much better revenge killer thanks to its insane speed, although it still struggles with ground types, so double in your Keldeo if you can. Again, the rest is basic. Non-defog Mandibuzz seems weird, but I really wanted a stable counter to ghost spam and it's not that needed thanks to all the boots, so Brave Bird helps wear down some threats like Marshadow and Tapu Bulu easier.
 
Last edited:
New generation, new toys! What Pokémon do you think would be good in Category Swap in Gen 9? Both new Pokémon, and old ones with new moves.

The only one I can think of is Espartha, which can finally use its plethora of physical Flying moves, and special U-Turn could be interesting. Unfortunately, it's stuck with Zen Headbutt for STAB.
 
Iron Hands can run a way better Assault Vest set, thanks to having actual electric STAB and being able to run Volt Switch off its 140 base Attack, but has to run Fake Out as a terrible now Special move due to having jack for special moves normally.

Iron Valiant remains the same incredibly strong, fast, and versatile offensive behemoth, still can run all of the offensive moves it wants and get away with it.

Palafin gets to run recoilless STAB, a better Ice move, and Grass Knot for waters.

Enamorous (once released) gets a few new toys like Iron Head and Superpower for CM or Specs sets.

Zoroark-Hisui (once released) has a terrifying Nasty Plot Facade set that has 1 turn to set up before the lure breaks and it goes to town but really doesn't do much more than that (but it has Knock Off, Low Kick, and Sucker for coverage, so it's fine.)


...among others.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top