Metagame Godly Gift

[min min]

Why my Scizor didn't take the ATK of Zacian-C?
View attachment 266943
P.S : It only have 591 ATK with choice band

zacian-c is fixed to donate base zacian stats, as the crowned variant is a forme change at the beginning of battle.

anyway I'm bored of zacian-c teams, here's my rain build without one:

https://pokepast.es/62390220a8342209

it's not close to perfect but it'll cheese most matchups and get by others with some good plays. you probably autolose to a non braindead Ferrothorn core tho.

HP slot: Rotom-H serves as the catch-all pivot, taking hits from stuff like Zacian and Marowak-A and pivoting out to the rain sweepers. Zekrom gives it nice chunky HP so it won't die. Trick is absolutely vital to disabling a key wall like Eternatus, Shuckle, or Quagsire, and it's generally fine to click it immediately so you can do wall stuff later. Third slot is optional because you really only click Trick and Volt Switch, so Rain Dance/Defog/Toxic/Thunder Wave are legit options. I've been liking Thunder Wave for parahax - especially clutch when a wall or tank can't heal at the right time against your watery onslaught.

ATK slot: Seismitoad kills stuff off Zekrom's 150 attack. EQ two hits Pex on the switch, Power Whip one hits Quag and two hits most bulky waters, and Liquidation handles everything else under rain. PuP helps the Pex matchup even more, preventing it from spamming Recover, which makes me like the physical variant a lot more than the special one. LO can be Lefties, I think you kill walls all the same, but prepare to miss some kills on some offensive threats.

DEF slot: Excadrill is a decent suicide lead, it gets up rocks, spins webs away, and sacs with Steel Beam. Can be SDef slot honestly, but the Def makes it easier to deal with Pikachu if you save it for trades midgame. Speaking of trades, saving your sash for endgame is a good way to eliminate pesky Eternatus or Marowak when the chips are down and weather is gone.

SPA slot: Mantine is the most consistent Hydro Pump spammer here, since STAB Specs Hurricane is not a bad move to be locked into (unlike Kingdra or Ludicolo's coverage options). Being Ground-immune is also clutch against Sticky Web and TSpikes, which would otherwise severely sap your momentum. Click Surf or Hurricane 90% of the time, saving Hydro Pump for things like Zacian-C or when you really want to get that 40% chip on a grass-type. Fourth slot is optional: emergency Defog clears the field for your other sweepers when the fan's shat, and Roost is nice if you choose to run LO.

SDEF slot: Pelipper goes here, though it could easily trade spots with Excadrill. Generic set, nothing much to say. I don't like Defog or Roost as this team plays too fast. Weather Ball/Surf over Scald is acceptable, or Hydro Pump if you're feeling frisky.

SPE slot: Zekrom, the ace in the hole. This baby sets up on too many things. Rillaboom? Bait. Toxapex? Bait. Quagsire? 2HKO with +1 Outrage thanks to Unaware. Bolt Strike at +1 is a 75% roll to OHKO Zacian-C, which is nice when it hits. Fucked by Ferro and Tangrowth so you better chip them hard with your swift swimmers. Dragon Claw also works over Outrage if you're wary about being played around, but the power will be sorely missed at times. Same goes for Fusion Bolt over Bolt Strike.

Also this team has a Pikachu problem so just press X (or run Lefties + Protect on Seismitoad, or force it to 1v1 one of Exca/Zekrom, or somehow Trick it with Rotom).

edit: for extra fun, Excadrill can be replaced with a Clefable @ Damp Rock carrying SR/Moonblast/Healing Wish, and either Rain Dance or Softboiled. Healing Wish is great against teams that rely on stalling for LO recoil or poison to whittle the rain sweepers down. A second Rain Dance lets you set up rain more aggressively with Pelipper, and save Rotom-H to make trades later in the game. If you're running this variant, Mantine can be LO instead of Specs so you can click Defog more reliably.

edit2: other, friskier options over Mantine include Drednaw, which notably resists Pikachu's FO/ESpeed, and can potentially forgo specs with Power Herb Meteor Beam.

 

[Chessking345]

OU recently have banned Magearna and Cinderace to Ubers, so these two mons are no longer classified as receivers and are now donors (unfortunately also unviable as Cinderace has poor stats and Magearna is basically worse than Zacian-C).


In addition, the council has decided to quickban Toxapex. Toxapex has been a really splashable mon to use in the HP slot for basically every team because of the sheer bulk that it offers to blanket check the majority of the meta. This has basically warped the meta to be around breaking Pex and resulted in any setup mon that cannot break through Pex difficult to justify on a team. Toxapex being incredibly good in the HP slot also makes it difficult to justify any other mon in the HP slot, such as Rotom formes and Ferrothorn. Banning Toxapex was chosen over alternatives such as Regenerators because the other Regenerator mons such as Tangrowth are nowhere near as splashable and metagame defining and are likely not going to be problematic once Toxapex is gone.
Tagging The Immortal and Kris to implement.

 

[Young Killer]

When the ban of will be applied ? Because today I found a couple toxapex in the ladder...

 

[MattTheHero]

Electric terrain seems pretty fun in this meta, I can’t quite get it to work but Pincurchin with 125/140 HP is slightly above mediocre defensively and Raichu-A receiving SpA from Eternatus/Kyurem-W hits like a truck. Hawlucha is a nice Unburden sweeper under E-Terrain too. I can’t quite get it to work but I’m sure there’s at least something that could happen

 

[Tmi489]

Largely curious, but Is there a reason why Chansey/Blissey/Pex aren't available as gods? Coding could be an issue as well as just the 'idea' of the meta
(also the competitive implications of the blobs but still pex)

 

[JTD783]

Largely curious, but Is there a reason why Chansey/Blissey/Pex aren't available as gods? Coding could be an issue as well as just the 'idea' of the meta

From the OP:

What if I don't have an Uber on my team?
The Pokemon in the first slot (HP slot) acts as the God Pokemon. Although this strategy isn't necessarily the most effective option, it can most certainly work to some extent thanks to Pokemon with incredibly high stats.

Unless I'm missing something, they are in fact available as gods, since all mons should work in this case.

 

[Apathetic Inaction]

What happens when the God has a forme change?
The stats of the god prior to form change are what are used to gift to the other teammates. ...
What about the Gods themselves? Do they gain any stats?
No, they don't. Since they're "gifting" to themselves, their stats remain unchanged.

If a god with a form change gifts a stat that changes depending on their form do they get the base form’s stat? This doesn’t really matter—you aren’t going to be running zacian-c in your speed or attack slot after all, but I’m curious as to how this is handled.

 

[Zeusen]

After the Pex ban, it's clear that there is one giant elephant in the room: Eternatus.

Before the ban, Pex was the only reliable answer, but even then it could only stall out the LO set, and any other set, such as Metronome (if Pex doesn't have knock) or Cosmic Power could easily beat it. If Pex shared the same HP stat as Zacian, Dynamax Cannon is a clean 2HKO after rocks, so it has to invest in Sp.Def or inherit from a different pokemon. Even then, if Pex choose to inherit its HP stat from Eternatus, Eternatus can use Dynamax Cannon into Draco Meteor, which does a minimum of 80.3% and a maximum of 95.2%. But running Draco required it to drop a move slot, so it was manageable with a teammate like Clefable.

Now with Pex gone, Eternatus really has no answer. Its coverage of Dragon, Poison, and Fire is simply is too much too handle with Heatran gone. Anything that could take its hit either doesn't have reliable recovery, or they risk a poison from Sludge Bomb. You could even drop Sludge Bomb for Toxic Spikes and let the rest of the of the team deal with Clef. T-spikes are hard to remove with a defogger because Eternatus can set them right back up, and Eternatus can easily beat them.

Zacian-C resist both of its dual stab, so it makes a good check if it could come in safely. But it has to be healthy to take on Eternatus, and Eternatus has to be low. If both of those conditions are met, the Zacian user still risk a countersweep by Ditto. The same can be said to any other offensive check.

Eternatus can easily break any defensive cores when it comes in, and offensive checks risk a countersweep. It's extremely difficult to get rid of Eternatus' T-spikes without your own, and dealing with them means eventually losing. Killing Eternatus is difficult because of its gigantic bulk and access to a reliable recovery. I believe something should be done to Eternatus, preferably a quick-ban, because of its ability to invalidate any team.

 

[UnnerfTalonflame]

(First post, so sorry if the formatting is weird)

I want to talk about Mantine. It is currently on the viability rankings, but only as a defensive mon, and I think that undersells how good of a swift swim sweeper it can be.

Specs Mantine inheriting from Kyurem-W is a great sweeper and even wall breaker. Under rain it can out-speed everything up to +1 base 95 with a modest nature, enabling it to have insane power:

Hide

252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Eternatus: 378-445 (89.7 - 105.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zacian-Crowned in Rain: 394-465 (121.2 - 143%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight in Rain: 282-333 (70.5 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (with 120 base SP Def)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Ferrothorn: 318-375 (71.6 - 84.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (with 120 base HP)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Torkoal in Sun: 306-362 (89.2 - 105.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (with 120 base SP Def)

Mantine has a niche over the other main swift-swimmers (Kingdra and Seismitoad) due to how spammable its STABs are, especially hurricane. The only relevant mons that resist both flying and water are Zekrom, Dracozolt, and Rotom-W, and none of them can switch in:

Hide

252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zekrom: 181-213 (53 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dracozolt: 241-284 (75 - 88.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Mantine Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Wash in Rain: 256-302 (57.6 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (with a 120 base HP)

It is also immune to sticky webs which can be huge, and has decent enough bulk to take stray priority hits (except for Pikachu) and even moderately-powerful special attacks. Running it as the special attacker also allows you to still run Seismitoad as the physical attacker, which can handle whatever is leftover once Mantine is done.

I've been able to peak at top-15 on the ladder using a team I built in three minutes largely due to Mantine's sweeping potential (unfortunately I have only saved replays locally, not online). I think Mantine should be added as Special Attack receiver as virtually nothing in this tier can avoid the 2HKO from its STABs, and it outspeeds everything at +0.

Edit: grabbed a replay real quick, not the best example but does show it OHKOing a Dragapult with a resisted move: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1167134653-l8qge41j9c9a4ur0ww7lpszy1ve7v1spw

Edit: here's a better replay of it using Hurricane to break through and sweep:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1177168867-j1gn0unkx18rwqazro52ht84ewxrqiopw

Edit: here's a better replay of it nuking a lot of things:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1177783154

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1178849333-0nxv5hrloboj4fwxeovzoy0yrxsbnqcpw

 

[PokeKnight2545]

I beg to differ with one Pokemon in general on the receiving tier list: Snorlax. First off I will say Snorlax with defense is ok, and am not saying it's the wrong stat to receive. However one stat makes more sense to grab: Speed, specifically from Zacian-C. Scotland's biggest weakness is its speed. Well give it belly drum, jolly, Salac Berry, and gluttony it literally can ONLY be out sped by priority. The only things that can outpace it (Ninjask, Acellgor) can barely scratch it. Not even scafers will work because Lax has the salac boost. OP. And speed aside with B-drum up it has OVER A THOUSAND ATTACK. Suffice to say Snorlax should be A tier for sure.

 

[Ztest]

After the Pex ban, it's clear that there is one giant elephant in the room: Eternatus.

Before the ban, Pex was the only reliable answer, but even then it could only stall out the LO set, and any other set, such as Metronome (if Pex doesn't have knock) or Cosmic Power could easily beat it. If Pex shared the same HP stat as Zacian, Dynamax Cannon is a clean 2HKO after rocks, so it has to invest in Sp.Def or inherit from a different pokemon. Even then, if Pex choose to inherit its HP stat from Eternatus, Eternatus can use Dynamax Cannon into Draco Meteor, which does a minimum of 80.3% and a maximum of 95.2%. But running Draco required it to drop a move slot, so it was manageable with a teammate like Clefable.

Now with Pex gone, Eternatus really has no answer. Its coverage of Dragon, Poison, and Fire is simply is too much too handle with Heatran gone. Anything that could take its hit either doesn't have reliable recovery, or they risk a poison from Sludge Bomb. You could even drop Sludge Bomb for Toxic Spikes and let the rest of the of the team deal with Clef. T-spikes are hard to remove with a defogger because Eternatus can set them right back up, and Eternatus can easily beat them.

Zacian-C resist both of its dual stab, so it makes a good check if it could come in safely. But it has to be healthy to take on Eternatus, and Eternatus has to be low. If both of those conditions are met, the Zacian user still risk a countersweep by Ditto. The same can be said to any other offensive check.

Eternatus can easily break any defensive cores when it comes in, and offensive checks risk a countersweep. It's extremely difficult to get rid of Eternatus' T-spikes without your own, and dealing with them means eventually losing. Killing Eternatus is difficult because of its gigantic bulk and access to a reliable recovery. I believe something should be done to Eternatus, preferably a quick-ban, because of its ability to invalidate any team.

Toxapex gone made Eternatus much better but I don't think it's not this broken unchecked machine you are claiming.
I think the biggest problem with your post is that you are saying there are no offensive or defensive checks in a meta where you can make anything be an actual offensive or defensive check with minor tweaks.

Here are my major flaws with Eternatus and why I don't think it's broken:

-Eternatus can't be both an offensive LO attacker and a defensive T-Spiker simultaneously. It's a jack of all trades and that hurts it just like Arceus; in theory, you win every game with the right set but it's just not that simple.

-You can easily pump up the Spdef of a variety of mons and cover your team's weaknesses to Eternatus. Here are some examples that deal with offensive pressure + toxic spikes with just a single slot:
Snorlax
HDB Lunala
Corviknight
Reuiniclus
This isn't even mentioning mons that do care about being poisoned but can still reliably check Eternatus like Mandibuzz, Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Gastrodon, Hippowdon, and Mew. Also keep in mind that you can double up on these and Eternatus would never muscle through regardless of the set ie. Snorlax+Corviknight. Most of these do struggle with SD Zacian-C admittedly.

-Terrible defensive typing and 95 base defensive stats means that Eternatus requires a lot of support without giving much of anything back to it's partners. Because there's just simply not enough bulk to go around, all Eternatus teams have holes in their cores. Not to mention that getting Knocked Off on the switch in to Tangrowth really hurts any variant of Eternatus.

-I'm not gonna go too into offensive checks because there's just so many creative ones that I could list, from AV Mamoswine to the Necrozmas. Any real Kyurem HO team has no problems chipping and revenging Eternatus, it's just so weak to so many relevant things; Dragapult/Raichu for example.

I'm willing to meet in middle ground and say that a suspect test would be cool eventually, but advocating for quick ban when Pex hasn't been gone for a whole week really highlights how splashable it really was.
Edited to have better examples and be less stand-offish.

 

[NidoTheKing]

Okay, let me just say for the new rankings really quick:
Volcarona (Def or Spe) for A+, and Tangrowth (SpD or Spe) / Amoonguss (Def or SpD or Spe) for A-, Comfey (SpA) for B+, and Alolan Marowak (Hp or Atk or Spe) for A ranks.

I will go on the record saying this: Volcarona is quite possibly the best anti-meta pick in the whole tier, and is strong enough to take on other Gods with the right stat investments. How? Because Timid Volcarona inheriting Defense with max Hp can easily withstand and effectively counter some of the best Uber donors in the tier, by itself. It destroys Zacian-C, typically wins 1v1 against each Kyurem form, makes life hell for Nekrozma-Dusk-Mane, can outlast or strike down Eternatus if it lacks Toxic, and afterwards can force unwinnable situations against the rest of their teams by consistently boosting with Quiver Dance, healing with Roost, and overpowering obstacles with its STAB and coverage moves of choice. The secret to its success is its unique typing and Heavy-Duty-Boots removing most of the necessity of dedicated support required to make it functional, meaning it is much more consistent and thus immediately threatening. It can even choose to forgo defensive utility for raw power and inherit more Speed so that it can ensure that it outspeeds opponents for sweeps without as drastic of a drop in power as usual. It does suffer from 4MSS a majority of the time, or may need to acquire a boost to ensure it outspeeds what it needs and have enough power to ensure KOs, and has to be saves for the right time and cannot easily soak up too much damage over time and risk losing to what it would normally switch into. However, Volcarona is a setup sweeper to fear that can even dethrone even the literal gods of the tier, and to me should be considered one of the best receivers you could ask for, faulted or not.

Tangrowth has been a popular receiver in Godly Gift for a long time and for a very simple reason: It becomes a universal backbone to any team by patching up its pitiful Special Defense and making full use of Regenerator and its moves to become a staple utility slot. With access to useful tools like Knock Off, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Earthquake, and even Rock Slide, Tangrowth becomes a fantastic glue or pivot to a team, whether it be running Assault Vest or Rocky Helmet or Leftovers. I've also seen some run it in the Speed slot to make use of its tools while maintaining offensive consistency. Tangrowth is good for almost any situation and should be expected from most teams.

With that being said, if Tangrowth belongs in a certain tier, then Amoonguss has no reason to be placed any lower than it. While Tangrowth has Knock Off, Leech Seed, and higher overall stats besides HP and Special Defense, Amoonguss has a few tools that allow it to differentiate itself from Tangrowth, those being Spore, Foul Play, Clear Smog, and a useful Poison subtyping, and thus can play a significantly different role from Tangrowth despite their similarities. With the similar yet contrasting roles they play and differentiating tools they possess, I see no reason why Amoonguss and Tangrowth should be ranked any differently from each other.

Comfey has been a recently-popular pick as of late for its priority healing attacks plus Calm Mind, as well as newly-found access to Stored Power for nuke access. Comfey is a simple yet effective setup sweeper that can punish unprepared teams in an instant and seem impossible to play against for some. However, it is still hopelessly walled by Steel types and even some Fire types, and still holds an underwhelming Base Stat spread and movepool, thus having instances of being less reliable or impactful than anticipated. It's a dangerous receiver for sure and is one to be prepared for, but its natural shortcomings make it not nearly a meta-defining one.

Alolan Marowak is a classic Godly Gift nuke that needs no introduction. Whether it's using newfound Speed to rip past underprepared frailer teams, or acquiring more Attack to shatter any slower bulky teams in its path, Alolan Marowak bypasses the Pure Power and Huge Power ban with its Thick Club and can ruin teams that don't run acceptable answers to it. Even if you think you can wall its remarkable coverage, Alolan Marowak can crush any passive roadblock with its access to Swords Dance, recoil-less Flare Blitz, and now Poltergeist to break the mightiest walls. It can also fill a role as a reliable tank by sacrificing the raw power and forgoing speed and instead focusing on bulk and taking an Hp donation instead, letting it switch into some threats much more safely and finding unique opportunities to threaten the opponent. It takes a skilled player to pilot it well and manage its shortcomings, but whether it be in hyper-offense, balance, or Trick Room teams, Alolan Marowak can find opportunities to shift momentum back to its user when played smartly.

 

[Young Killer]

Hey guys I think like a donor is kinda broken,

252 SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Kyurem-White Fusion Flare vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Corviknight: 156-185 (39 - 46.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Reuniclus: 147-174 (34.6 - 41%) -- guaranteed 3HKO From 120 Atk

Raichu can break this core but get destroyed by ditto.

For the Atk and SpA you can run other supports for the team that not mind it in all the drop or just a regular offensive mon in the same way.

 

[Zeusen]

...

Thanks for replying, and sorry for the late reply. Though you made some extremely good points, those only address Eternatus solely. They are usually covered by its teammates. I'll be addressing your points one by one below:

- Eternatus can BOTH be an offensive LO attacker and a T-spikes setter. It usually drops Sludge Bomb to do that. This makes it walled by Clef and Sp.Def Mandibuzz, but the 5 other teammates can cover that.

- Corviknight does NOT beat Eternatus. For Snorlax, it has to run Rest to combat the poison (from either Sludge Bomb or T-Spikes), and doing so leaves it vulnerable to Urshifu, a common teammate in the Speed slot. For Lunala, it needs to not get poison, and it has to recover back to full HP, leaving it vulnerable to either Dragapult or Urshifu. The same applies to Reuniclus. Those other mons you mentioned lose to Poison and its ridiculous damage output, unfortunately.

- I heavily disagree with it having a terrible defensive typing. Resisting Water, Fire, Grass, and Electric is huge, and it can absorb T-Spikes to not autolose to the opposing Eternatus. It does not appreciate Knock Off, but it can absolutely function without an item. For the Tangrowth situation, defensives teammates such as Clef or Corviknight are brought in, since being put into sleep or paralyzed heavily cripples Eternatus.

- As for those offensive checks, they can only take so much of Eternatus' attacks, and they are easily taken care of by a teammate. As for H.O. teams, they are usually free wins in my personal experience just because of how well Ditto pairs with Eternatus, and how it absolutely destroys the Rain and Sun setters.

 

[Ztest]

Thanks for replying, and sorry for the late reply. Though you made some extremely good points, those only address Eternatus solely. They are usually covered by its teammates. I'll be addressing your points one by one below:

- Eternatus can BOTH be an offensive LO attacker and a T-spikes setter. It usually drops Sludge Bomb to do that. This makes it walled by Clef and Sp.Def Mandibuzz, but the 5 other teammates can cover that.

- Corviknight does NOT beat Eternatus. For Snorlax, it has to run Rest to combat the poison (from either Sludge Bomb or T-Spikes), and doing so leaves it vulnerable to Urshifu, a common teammate in the Speed slot. For Lunala, it needs to not get poison, and it has to recover back to full HP, leaving it vulnerable to either Dragapult or Urshifu. The same applies to Reuniclus. Those other mons you mentioned lose to Poison and its ridiculous damage output, unfortunately.

- I heavily disagree with it having a terrible defensive typing. Resisting Water, Fire, Grass, and Electric is huge, and it can absorb T-Spikes to not autolose to the opposing Eternatus. It does not appreciate Knock Off, but it can absolutely function without an item. For the Tangrowth situation, defensives teammates such as Clef or Corviknight are brought in, since being put into sleep or paralyzed heavily cripples Eternatus.

- As for those offensive checks, they can only take so much of Eternatus' attacks, and they are easily taken care of by a teammate. As for H.O. teams, they are usually free wins in my personal experience just because of how well Ditto pairs with Eternatus, and how it absolutely destroys the Rain and Sun setters.

Hi,
I don't want to spam the board with my responses to these. But I did agree with you that a suspect test would be cool, just not quick ban it. I also hopefully gave good examples for someone trying to beat Eternatus with a couple slots, and why quick ban isn't appropriate rn in my opinion. I'm not always right on calcs but we should keep playing and see how stuff turns out.
Thanks

 

[Lewi11]

Been playing a while now and here's my thoughts:

I enjoy the meta a lot! however there's obvious teams that seem to be winning at the moment and they all have Zacian-Crowned or Eternatus. Other teams are good, but don't match these two god pokemon.
Imo, it's a shame there's not more room for diversity because it's kind of limited to focus on beating the usual regen cores and these god pokemon. It get's kind boring imo.

Also, I think that Ditto is ridiculous in this gen. Not necessarily OP, but it is literally on every team I come across and it's just impossible for me personally to beat it unless I have my own one. Any thoughts good or bad on Ditto? Also any help to defeat it too?

:)

 

[min min]

Been playing a while now and here's my thoughts:

I enjoy the meta a lot! however there's obvious teams that seem to be winning at the moment and they all have Zacian-Crowned or Eternatus. Other teams are good, but don't match these two god pokemon.
Imo, it's a shame there's not more room for diversity because it's kind of limited to focus on beating the usual regen cores and these god pokemon. It get's kind boring imo.

Also, I think that Ditto is ridiculous in this gen. Not necessarily OP, but it is literally on every team I come across and it's just impossible for me personally to beat it unless I have my own one. Any thoughts good or bad on Ditto? Also any help to defeat it too?

:)

not a BH player, but it might be worth looking for ways to Improof your sweepers like in that tier. simple ways work, like running substitute or unburden or having a hard counter in the back, or even just abusing the fact that most dittos are still choiced and you just need to bring in a resist to tank it.

and regarding diversity: it's honestly a little frustrating to be facing the same tired zacian-c formula of shuckle lead/physically offensive core/regen core, over and over again.......... i suppose the very nature of the format restricts structure based on stat spreads, but the lack of originality really hasn't been helping this tier's replay value for me. there's good shit out there to explore like mewtwo, reshiram, or even solgaleo/necrozma-DM builds, but I guess the crutch of eternatus/zacian-c is really too hard to resist for beginning players.

 

[shrekthemaster]

There are a few approaches to handling shuckle (such as turn one taunting, running a rain team, bringing a multi-strike urshifu). But my favorite has to be bringing a mon with encore + mean look + (either a setup sweep, toxic stall, or subbing to prevent a ditto counter sweep). Lowkey though, even falinks can mess up a shuckle as long as it isn't carrying encore. In a meta where ditto is thriving so well the only set I've seen thus far completely shut it out was a eternatus set that was t-spikes flamethrower sub venoshock without a single dragon move (This was paired with a hex team).

 

[Mitchellenwebb]

If people are still having trouble with Zacian-C, I've had a lot of success with Rotom-H on HP slot with Kyurem-W. Max HP, max Def can take two max roll Adamant Close Combats, which is Zacian's best attack against it, and OHKOs with Overheat if Zacian's at -1 Sp. Def. Also, doubles as my Hazard control with Heavy Duty Boots and Defog.

As for Eternatus, Sp. Def slot Porygon2 with Trace does pretty well if it doesn't get poisoned. Eternatus does 50% max with Life Orb Draco Meteor, and since Porygon2 ends up copying Pressure with Trace, you can actually start stalling out Eternatus' attacks.

 

[NidoTheKing]

Volcarona (Defense Slot) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Psychic / Bug Buzz / Defog

Volcarona is quite possibly the biggest anti-meta threat in Godly Gift. It destroys Zacian-C, conquers both Kyurem forms, can outlast Eternatus without Toxic, and poses a huge dilemma for unboosted Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, and that's not even considering the non-Ubers, such as Rillaboom and Pikachu, that it stands in the way of as well. Quiver Dance is the key that turns Volcarona from a blazing tank into a snowballing menace that can sweep entire teams on its own. With it, Volcarona can boost its Speed high enough to waltz past Zacian-C, its power high enough to OHKO it back, and its Special Defense to remain standing tall against other offenses, all in one convenient attack slot. Roost is the second important ingredient that allows Volcarona to remain healthy to continue setting up, switch in, and even outstall some threats. Flamethrower is the reliable STAB move of choice, as other moves like Fire Blast or Fiery Dance are either too unreliable or too weak on their own to capitalize off the Quiver Dance boosts respectively, despite their merits. The last slot is a toss up between overall good coverage choices. Psychic offers great coverage against a majority of potential threats and can break through some obstacles that would otherwise be difficult to pass, like Eternatus and opposing Fire types such as Alolan Marowak and enemy Volcarona. Bug Buzz is a reliable STAB move that's overall stronger than Psychic, and comes with the added bonus of annihilating incoming Psychic or Dark types, destroying Mewtwo, and piercing Substitutes. Volcarona can make surprisingly good use of Defog alongside its Heavy-Duty Boots, as it has enough power to pressure most hazard setters it may come across trying to reset them. However, it may be hard to sacrifice the coverage to make room for it on this kind of set. While Toxic, Will-o-Wisp, Substitute, Giga Drain, and Hurricane all seem like appealing tech choices for the last slot, it is very difficult to warrant running any of those given their poor overall utility over the other better choices.

Heavy-Duty Boots are a mandatory item for Volcarona, as it mitigates the necessity to run hazard removal and lets Volcarona switch in much more frequently and be more immediately threatening more often. Flame Body makes Volcarona even more of a pain to break through with physical sweepers, as it now brings the off-chance of their efforts to break Volcarona rendering them near-useless. The EVs and Nature maximize Volcarona's overall effectiveness by creeping past both Kyurem forms, Urshifu, Solgaleo, and Lunala without needing a Quiver Dance beforehand, while taking full advantage of its newfound bulk. 28 Defense EVs gives it enough physical defense to go toe-to-toe with some of the most threatening staples of Godly Gift. With 115 Base Defense from Zacian and the like, +1 Jolly Zacian-C literally has no option to 2HKO Volcarona at full health without a Swords Dance. With Necrozma-Dusk-Mane's Base 127 Defense, it can switch into a +1 Adamant Zacian-C's Wild Charge at full health, and still be able to tank another and Roost it all off. There is no real need to invest in Special Attack or Special Defense, as Volcarona is already adept in those stats and does not need to waste more investment than necessary to reach any tangible milestone it may have.

Volcarona's best use is as a general anti-meta pick or mirror match counter for Zacian-C and Necrozma-Dusk-Mane teams, who gives enough Defense to let it outlast and overthrow opposing ones with minimal effort while dealing with other key threats. Zekrom also gives Volcarona a heafty 120 Base Defense to make use of, while being a great offensive utility Pokemon with unique coverage to base a team around. It can also make use of Melmetal's staggering Base 143 Defense and become a great reversal tool that punishes an opponent's passive or careless play. It's important to remember that the magic number for Volcarona's Defense is 115, as it allows Volcarona to not be 2HKOed by +1 Jolly Zacian-C's Wild Charge from full health with this investment, thus granting it the bare minimum requirements to deal with the large threats looming over Godly Gift. As such, while it is perfectly possible to adjust the EV Spread accordingly with the likes of Solgaleo, Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, or even Reshiram and Kyurem-Black to suit your own needs, Volcarona works best with donors with 115 or more Base Defense to give it.

 

[CarrotForNakama]

Sirfetch’d @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Final Gambit

Sirfetch'd with Eternatus' HP is a fun gimmick that most people aren't prepared for

 

[SamHPL]

Having played this meta a lot this month, I decided to share a few thoughts. With the reduced pool of gods, building fully defensive teams became a lot more awkward after Pex's (deserved) ban. Options like Lunala and Eternatus gave good HP stats, but the defenses were okay at best. Necrozma-DM 127 Def is probably the best you can get, and in a tier with multiple mons with offensive stats 145+, Rain and etc., it's prob not gonna be enough. For some time after Pex's ban I tried making Eternatus Stall work, but it just didn't have the bulk to withstand the oppressive breakers in the tier. It was in this context that I finally set aside my previous biases against god Shuckle as a gimmick and acutally decided to build a team around it.



That was the final version of my Shuckle stall team and it was surprising how well it worked. While the concept of Shuckle as a god for defensive teams has been around forever, I always brushed it off as a gimmick. Why would I give away the opportunity of having Lugia, Giratina or even Ho-Oh on my team and the flexibilty around the HP slot? Well, in gen8 not only we do not have these mons, but there was a drop in power from HO, meaning a lot more teams were worrying about breaking power over speed control. A Mar-A with Necro-DM Atk and Flare Blitz + Poltergeist requires something as stupidly bulky like Shuckle Def Quag to be walled.

Shuckle saw a lot of usage as god this month I feel like, and not just from stall teams. The impact of having those two hyper-bulky mons is incredible for any team. I'd also use this post a nomination for Shuckle to go up the VR ranks to A. It's easily the most viable god for stall teams and is also an amazing pick for balance teams.

This Kyurem is specially bulkier than Blissey, while also being decently fast, being able to stall stuff with Pressure and Sub + Toxic. It'd seem crazy to have your main Special wall be a Dragon mon, considering Eternatus, Kyu-W and Dragapult are all very common. The fact that Kyurem + Clef still managed to wall them consistently is proof of how good this mon is.

Threats (to this team and/or the meta):

Life Orb 3 attacks Eterna can break through most of teams in this meta tbh. While Dynamax cannon's low PP count means it can struggle to break through Kyu, Sludge Bomb's high poison chance can help it get around that. Eternatus is an amazing mon, both offensively and defensively, and while I'm not sure if it's banworthy, it is pretty scary.

WishPort Clef is so good in this meta. Keeping your super strong breakers healthy and giving them free switches is pretty invaluable.

Such a weird mon in this meta. It can sometimes single handedly win a match, a poorly built team using Zac-C can often lose on MU against a Ditto team, but Quag with boosted Def (even smaller buffs than to 230 lol) will keep in check forever. Is it broken? Maybe...? Really not sure how I feel about this mon, other than Zac-C's BO with Shuckle or Ditto on HP are pretty boring.

I feel like this mon was pretty undervalued this past month. Modest Rai-A is faster than p much all other weatcher abusers and Rising Voltage + Psyshock means it can hit hard both sides. It is pretty frail and priority destroys it, but its value as both a wallbreaker and revenge killer shouldn't be understated.

Overall I had fun playing Godly Gift this past month, and while the limited number of Ubers created some "weirdness" during teambuilding, I still think it was possible to have success with a lot of different mons and archetypes. Here's my peak using the Shuckle stall team by the way:

ladder

I'm weirdthings and Shuckle's

Here are some other teams I've used to decent success:

Nice BO, with great mu vs fatter teams with Defog Reshiram + WishPort Clef and LO Raichu-A and Band Urshifu as breakers.


Kind of a meme team, but still effective, CM SP Clef + BU Power Trip Corvi are the main sweepers, receiving screen support from Grimn.


Just my take on a TR team. Defensive Hat with Healing Wish and Specs Eruption Torkoal are amazing.


Rain Balance using Defensive TSpike Eternatus + WishPort Clef. Mantine is the preferred SpA rain sweeper due to stab on Hurricane.


My stall team pre-Pex ban. Not that good, Pigeons team was much better lol.

Anyway, this post was mostly so I didn't feel like my time playing GG was wasted lol hope someone gets something out of it. thanks for reading

 

[alaserdolphin]

I know Godly Gift isn't super active right now, but it's such a fascinating idea to me and it's great for theorymonning.

Now for the fun stuff:

It should go without saying, but Zacian-C is an absolutely incredible donor. It has 5 great stats (at least two of which are fantastic) and one mediocre stat, which means that it pretty much always goes in the SpAtk slot.

The tough thing about it is that it really suffers from 4MSS, and picking the wrong moves just absolutely blows chunks. Move 1 is almost always SD (as far as I have seen) and it's obviously a great choice because it helps it delete anything on the other side of the field that might otherwise eke by.

Beyond that is where it gets complicated.

- Double STAB + CC is really nice, but then you get walled by mons like Aegislash and honestly just bulky ghosts/poisons in general.
- You can run Crunch, but then you have to sacrifice CC (which it absolutely needs) or double STAB. It really doesn't want to lose either, because Iron Head/Behemoth Blade both help kill fairies, and it likes Play Rough because it hits fighting types (and is just generally good neutral coverage). You end up having to just roll the dice and hope for the best, and that's just for Crunch on the odd chance someone runs the specific check to your specific set. If they don't, you lose an insane amount of utility/opportunity.
- It gets so much deeper than that too, because it might want to run Ice Fang for flying mons and Psychic Fangs for poisons and Wild Charge for waters and just you name it.

Personally, I think that, with the arguable exception of Eternatus, Zacian-C is easily the optimal Uber to run. It's the king of Ubers for a reason, and I don't see how anyone could run anything else. That said, if anyone feels otherwise, I'm very curious!

 

[JojoBoss247]

In addition, the following Pokemon are banned completely:
Blissey, Chansey, Toxapex.

Yeah, where is Shuckle on this list? Not to be rude or anything, but this thing KILLS in Godly Gift, now having access to decent HP Bulk, which makes it hard to take down. A set run like this in the HP Slot could kill:

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 SpA / 0 Spe
- Infestation
- Toxic
- Encore/Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock

Please consider this. Thank you.

 

[Your Hopes and Dreams]

Yeah, where is Shuckle on this list? Not to be rude or anything, but this thing KILLS in Godly Gift, now having access to decent HP Bulk, which makes it hard to take down.

Having NO recovery and a bad defensive typing really cuts into Shuckle's longevity despite its potentially titanic bulk. For example, Zacian-C is one of the top two gods available, and a max defense Shuckle gifted Kyurem-W's HP stat is still 2HKOed by +1 Jolly Behemoth Blade:

+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Shuckle: 234-276 (51.5 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

It's still good, mind you - it isn't A+ in the viability rankings for no reason - but it's nowhere near as smothering as the aforementioned defensive threats.