GG Godly Gift

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.
 
I had talked about how great Zacian-C is earlier, and I doubt any informed person would disagree.
That said, I'd like to post what I've done with it and how I think its power can be really capitalized upon.
Pokepaste Link

As for the team:

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform

This is a pretty standard Ditto set. Given the prevalence of setup sweepers and honestly just legendaries in general, Ditto really shines. It's in the HP slot because it can't benefit from any of the other stats anyway.

Araquanid @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Poison Jab

This is often my lead. In a tier full of fast mons, Sticky Web does wonders. Hazard removal isn't super common, so it's often a nice piece of scenery that stays there for the match. Araq is in the Attack slot because, I mean, look at its ability and imagine that with 170 attack. It's also a soft check to Zacian-C. It absolutely loses to the Wild Charge sets, but it lives through everything pretty safely at least as a 2HKO. The only exception is Play Rough, which still isn't a guarantee.

252+ Atk Water Bubble Araquanid Liquidation vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Zacian-Crowned: 330-388 (101.5 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
There are obviously other calcs to show this, but this is one of my favorites.

Defensively:
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 289-342 (85 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 161-189 (47.3 - 55.5%) -- 77.7% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 128-151 (37.6 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 171-202 (50.2 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Obviously if they decide to stay in, they get deleted by Araq. I don't have it saved unfortunately, but one guy tried to SD on this thing, and his reaction to getting OHKO'd to this mon (which isn't even LO or Band) was not safe for the forums, to say the least.

Hitmontop (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake

I don't know if I would say that Hitmontop is underrated, but it's certainly not fully appreciated, to say the least.
By no means is it a check to Zacian-C (nor is it meant to be), but to give a general idea of how much it likes the 20 extra base defense, here's a little sample:
252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Hitmontop: 142-168 (46.8 - 55.4%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
This is with absolutely zero Defense investment and only 248 HP investment.

252+ SpA Mew Psychic vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Hitmontop: 168-198 (55.4 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This is off of a SE STAB max investment hit from a Mew, again, with only 8 SpD EVs.

I think you could probably optimize this a lot further, and I'm honestly not married to maxing out its attack stat. I do like that these kinds of things exist, though:
252+ Atk Hitmontop Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 626-740 (87.6 - 103.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

Ultimately, the big reasons I run Hitmontop here are Rapid Spin, Intimidate, and really well-rounded defenses. Giving it the 20 extra base Defense (and Intimidate!) helps it on that end, and the AV helps it on the special side of the story. 329 Def and 387 SpDef on a mon with 303 HP and Intimidate is nothing to sneeze at.

Additional note: I think Body Slam might be nice to run on this for the additional speed control and the skill of the para hax

Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Crunch
- Close Combat
The king (hehe I'm so clever, can't you tell?) of the show. I've already gone into detail about how great this mon is, and the only thing that really stops it is the infamous Quagsire. Honestly, this team has a bit of trouble with Quag, but the hope is that Araq and the rest of the team can pressure it enough so that it's dead by late game.

It's in the SpAtk slot because it's its worst stat and none of the other mons really want it either.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Teleport
- Stealth Rock / Toxic

Everyone's favorite OU set, but now with 115 SpDef. It does the exact same things, give or take the last move. It's primarily a status absorber/giver, pivot, and cleric. This team really loves that third category, and you're usually just sending this out to WishPort.

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Poltergeist
- Flame Charge
- Earthquake

This is one of my favorite sets in this meta. With (effectively) 518 Attack, access to SD, and 145 speed, this thing is a monster. I run Flame Charge because it really helps with the snowballing and your opponent can't immediately tell which ability you're running.

+2 252 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Poltergeist (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Shadow Shield Lunala: 1136-1340 (273.7 - 322.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Don't forget this is off of 145 Speed and not even Adamant.
If you get off just a single Flame Charge, you now outspeed Scarf Ninjask by a comfortable margin of 23 points.

This thing is also an RPS master, especially if the ability isn't revealed. One of my favorites is when they have an electric pokemon and can't decide whether or not to go for their STAB move. The best part is that no matter what they pick, you almost always get a free SD/Flame Charge. It's RPS but instead of choosing Rock, Paper, or Scizors Scissors, you just pull out G U N.

The only thing it really has trouble with is hecka strong Sucker Punches and sash sweepers and Knock Off but shh. Other than those two, with the arguable exception of if you let them get off a free sub, you're essentially just removing 2 or 3 mons for free. The only other thing that really blows (and you'll notice Knock Off is missing from this team intentionally) is if they lose their items. Poltergeist tends to be the Fishous Rend go-to move, and not being able to click it for free sucks.

I run EQ for coverage, but you have access to some decent alternatives. If your team is more capable of supporting it, you could even run your own sub there and just absolutely go AWOL.

I really like theorymonning this meta, and I really like this team. There is one set that I used to run in Gen 7 that I think should have been very banned, but the mon unfortunately doesn't exist now or in DLC2.

I'm happy to answer any questions!
 
After a few days since CT released, we are now gifted with Calyrex-Ice and Calyrex-Shadow.
And Jesus do these Pokemon have insane stats each (and of course other Pokemon as well).

100/85/80/165/100/150
Calyrex-Shadow, which is already making a name for itself in Ubers, hands out incredible SpA and Spe, while providing pretty decent HP and SpD. Consider that Zacian-C provides pretty much a Physical version of this, it won’t be a surprise seeing Calyrex-Shadow become instant S Rank. The potential it brings to HO teams will be exciting.

100/165/150/85/130/50
Calyrex-Ice equally broken stat distribution, and for Godly Gift can pretty much be better. Since its only weak stat is Spe and SpA, you have 4 Pokemon that get these grand stats. With its stats, it can be a provider for so many different playstyles. Calyrex-Ice can very well be the single best donor in the tier, and maybe should be looked at.

Some new and returning Pokemon that will be influential.
Regieleki:
Aside from Calyrex’s formes, Regieleki is easily the Pokemon with the most attention after. Finally kicking Deoxys out of its last bastion for the highest stats of Pokemon, Regieleki has an astonishing Spe of 200, which is enough to actually break Trick Room at +6 speed, and can outspeed Zeraora WITHOUT INVESTMENT, and can even outrun Kingdra in Rain without a Choice Scarf.
It can very well just pick where it wants to be on a speed tier list and will likely outspeed Pokemon with conditional speeds.
Anyways, the downsides are its terrible movepool, its frailty, and mediocre offenses.
That is outside of Electric moves, which get a x1.5 boost, making Choice Band and Choice Specs incredibly strong.
In Godly Gift, why be contempt with 200 Spe and mediocre to bad stats elsewhere, when you can have 150+ Atk or SpA depending on who your team’s god is.
Nothing says modestly like casually outspeeding Swift Swimmers and then blasting them with essentially a 303 BP move (after STAB, Ability, and Item) that comes from a Pokemon with Zacian’s Atk or Calyrex’s SpA.
Your only bet of survival is a good Ground type, bulky Goodras, or Abilities. Even then, that 170 Atk is still packing heat with Explosion, Extreme Speed, and Assurance (which is surprisingly good with Hazards and boot removal).
And that’s good and all, but this all backfires with any strong priority. It does have only 30 more base HP than Deoxys-N.
But wait, terrains exist on a good Pokemon besides Rillaboom, and Psychic Terrain defends you from all priority (although technically Grassy Glide stops being priority under Psychic Terrain).
Or you could pick a Groundon/Calyrex-Ice as your god, and give Regieleki impressive physical bulk, at the cost of a lot of power however.
It’s honestly impressive that Regieleki have gotten this much of a description than both Calyrex formes.
There is very little doubt that Regieleki will last that long, and will likely be quickbanned.

Regidrago:
Regieleki’s forgotten cousin. It’s stats are not as impressive, being similar to Guzzlord’s.
But don’t let that fool you. Regidrago has the dragon version of Transistor, and a signature move in Dragon Energy, a dragon version of Eruption.
With just Dragon’s Maw and its 100 SpA alone, it can outdamage Life Orb Crawdaunt’s Adamant Crabhammer.
Yup. A literally Timid weird looking crewmate has more fire power than the coveted wallbreak Crawdaunt.
There is some more customizability with being gifted its Stats. Of course, giving Regidrago more Atk or SpA will make its high BP Dragon moves deadlier, but you can also invest in Speed and Bulk. The thing has 200 HP, which would put it at Zygarde-Complete levels of bulk if receiving a Def or SpD stat.

Gapdos:
Honestly an excellent Pokemon already. It has pretty amazing stats already. HP, Atk, and Spe will be given to it just simply because Gapdos is already heavily optimized. 125 Atk is fine, but 150+ Atk is still pretty sweet.

Glastrier:
Yeah, a mini version of Calyrex-Ice is usable and can receive stats from Ubers. The obvious choice here is packing a high Spe stat onto it. Since only Calyrex learns Trick Room and not Glastrier, jumping its 30 base Spe to 130-150 Spe makes Glastrier insane. Matching Kyurem’s Formes BSTs without a huge waste in a stat you’re not using.
Glastrier also has an impressive movepool at that too, and its own version of Moxie.
The downside, Glastrier is an Ice type, and its bulk isn’t as good as Calyrex’s bulk.
 
guess urshifu banned now but cinderace is another great pokemon with 165 attack too

252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 343-406 (96 - 113.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO


252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 484-572 (102.1 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO


-1 252 Atk Life Orb Cinderace Pyro Ball vs. 0 HP / 12 Def Landorus-Therian: 220-259 (68.9 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 324-382 (45.3 - 53.5%) -- 37.9% chance to 2HKO
none of these have godly gift stats, im just using random examples to show how strong it is


252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Eternatus: 330-393 (68.1 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Regieleki: 308-364 (102.3 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO


252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 218-260 (71.7 - 85.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
none of these have godly gift stats, but im just using them as an example
For those too lazy to convert these, this is with 165 attack (all else equal, since there's too much variation possible):

252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def :Garchomp:: 343-406 (96 - 113.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 4 Def :Melmetal:: 484-572 (102.1 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

-1 252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: Pyro Ball vs. 0 HP / 12 Def :Landorus-Therian:: 220-259 (68.9 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def :Blissey:: 324-382 (45.3 - 53.5%) -- 37.9% chance to 2HKO

252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252 Def :Eternatus:: 330-393 (68.1 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def :Regieleki:: 308-364 (102.3 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Life Orb Libero :Cinderace: Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def :Toxapex:: 218-260 (71.7 - 85.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 
I was about to say that banning Calyrex-Shadow might be a bit hasty, but then I realized Chansey and Blissey are still banned. Yeah, there's no way it should be allowed in the tier currently. You can run a full special attacker team, with Lele providing Psychic Terrain to protect Calyrex-Shadow from Sucker Punches and powering up Psyshocks to bust through Sp. Def walls. Even the shitty Def. stat it gifts isn't bad for something like Nihilego, which can run 80 Def/176 Sp. Atk/252 Spe Timid Meteor Beam set and survive a Adamant CC from Calyrex-Ice-Atk-slot Hawlucha.
 

bp scrub

rub a dub dub one scrub in a tub
Is there any real reason why Zamazenta and Zacian Crowned don't donate their Crowned formes' stats? Both of the other examples given in the OP (Darmanitan and Aegislash) are in-battle forme changes and it makes sense that they would donate the stats that they start the battle with, but to my understanding, Zamazenta and Zacian Crowned already start the battle in their Crowned formes (as supported by Zama-C's capability of using any ability in AAA Ubers) and yet they donate the stats of their Hero forme, even though at no point in the battle were they actually in that forme. This is akin to Necrozma DM/DW donating base Necrozma's stats or Kyu-B/W donating base Kyurem's stats, but neither of these happen.

It would be nice to receive some clarity on this issue.
 

in the hills

spreading confusion
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Is there any real reason why Zamazenta and Zacian Crowned don't donate their Crowned formes' stats? Both of the other examples given in the OP (Darmanitan and Aegislash) are in-battle forme changes and it makes sense that they would donate the stats that they start the battle with, but to my understanding, Zamazenta and Zacian Crowned already start the battle in their Crowned formes (as supported by Zama-C's capability of using any ability in AAA Ubers) and yet they donate the stats of their Hero forme, even though at no point in the battle were they actually in that forme. This is akin to Necrozma DM/DW donating base Necrozma's stats or Kyu-B/W donating base Kyurem's stats, but neither of these happen.

It would be nice to receive some clarity on this issue.
Crowned formes are in-battle forme changes, and in game they even show as their Hero forme at team preview. This is not properly reflected on PS due to coding issues afaik, which causes confusion in metas like this (on that note AAA Ubers doesn't support this argument bc if it were an official format, that would most likely be patched out, but this isn't the place to argue about that). Regardless of whether you can see the in-battle transformation, it wouldn't follow the metagame concept to allow them to donate Crowned stats. It's convenient that this is the case honestly, because both would likely be banned if they did donate their Crowned stats anyways.

On another note, Melmetal is absolutely ridiculous as a receiver, having 150 Speed from Calyrex-S or honestly any decent Speed stat is broken when paired with Double Iron Bash. I don't really have much else to say about it bc lol,,,
 
Zacian-Crowned is currently not donating stats thanks to being banned to AG (im assuming the code only checks for Ubers mons when looking for a god to donate stats).
The code actually checks for mons banned from OU, although Zacian can't donate its Crowned stats anyway, so maybe that's what's confusing you?
 

bp scrub

rub a dub dub one scrub in a tub
The code actually checks for mons banned from OU, although Zacian can't donate its Crowned stats anyway, so maybe that's what's confusing you?
That's what someone else said yesterday too which is why we were confused why it wasn't working, but based on the replay above, it seems like even though Zacian-C was on the team, Ferro was the one donating its stats instead.
On turn 9, Ninjask's Life Orb Dragon Ascent only does 83% to Lele when this is what the roll should be like (Ninjask changed to 138 base attack, Lele changed to 100 base HP)
252 Atk Life Orb Ninjask Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 339-399 (99.4 - 117%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
 
Ok, so I was having some fun while builing my team and ended up with this:
https://pokepast.es/01ff5b03d543518f

Ok, let's review each mon:

OWO'nt (Shuckle) @ Red Card
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Encore
This is a pretty standart set. You got Sticky Webs and Stealth Rocks, Encore traps set up sweepers and Knock Off is OP as always. This set doesn't run Toxic because everything in the GG meta is either immune to it, has a way to remove status or simply isn't affected by it (Magic Guard). Red Card allows Shuckle to set up StickyRocks safely, or switch in to a sweeper and remove it from the field. The EV spread turns Shuckle into a decent mix bulk suicide lead, since it won't survive more than 2 hits from Zacian-C anyway.

Chad (Nidoking) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Toxic Spikes / Toxic
Nidoking is just good. It deals quite a lot of damage even against specially defensive foes like Corviknight and is a good Clefable check. But now the important part: you might have noticed that despite I said that Shuckle running Toxic in GG is a bad idea, Nidoking runs either Toxic or TSpikes, why is this? Quite simple, actually. Nidoking's typing means that Poison and Steel types will not want to deal with it, even Steel-Flying mons like Corv or Skarm will have to leave the field due to Nidoking having Fire Blast as coverage; and the best Magic Guard user, Clefable, is checked by Nidoking's Sludge Wave. This means that the only Pokémon that isn't affected by Poison and can also stay on Nidoking would be Snorlax and Reuniclus (Alakazam too, since it outspeeds and has STAB Psychic, but tbh it's not that good in GG). Nidoking can not only take care of common walls, but its typing also allows it to poison everything that could resist its attacks. As an extra, having 10 base attack allows it to switch in to Foul Play.
Also, decent Regieleki answer.

The Wall (Snorlax) @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity/Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Curse
- Body Slam / Facade
- Darkest Lariat / Earthquake
- Rest
This, this right here. My favorite mon since I was introduced to the franchise, former king of gen 2 and prince of gen 1, the powerhouse, the sleepy bear, the gluton sleep talker, Snorlax the Wall.
Inheriting Shuckle's physical defense allows Snorlax to fully invest into HP and Special Defense. The sheer amout of bulk that this thing offers is outstanding, Zacian-C can't even 3HKO it if they have the same stage boosts. Ironically, the best way to break Snorlax is with powerful special sweepers, specifically Regieleki and Porygon-Z, being the only Choice Pokémons who can consisnently deal more than 50% damage to Snorlax. Also, minimal speed allows to recieve minimal damage from Gyro Ball and not be stomped by the rare Trick Room teams.
In GG, both of Snorlax's abilities are incredibly useful. Due to most teams having between 2 and 3 bulky sweepers, tanks or walls, Toxic and TSpikes are much more important and see more use than in other OMs. Altough Snorlax uses rest as its main Recovery move, having to Rest every time you wake up is not really fun, so Immunity helps Snorlax not being that passive. On the other hand, Thick Fat helps Snorlax wall powerful sweepers like Marowak and Blacephalon, and survive Sun teams easier.
As its moves, Curse is the obvious choice. Belly Drum is a nice choice too tho, if you can take the risk and/or you are running a Gluttony set (maybe recycle instead of rest?), since its new bulk totally allows it to do so, multiple times even. Body Slam is the best choice Snorlax has for a STAB move, since Return no longer exists. If you're running Thick Fat instead of Immunity, you can also run Facade to no cripple against Toxic and Scald/Lava Plume, and become a terrifying sweeper until you have to Rest due to poison starting to deal more than 25% damage. As coverage, Darkest Lariat is insanely good, punishing opposing set ups for trying to win using essentially the same strat, and it also hits hard Lunala and Caly-S, while also being a good move against Flying-Steel. Another good choice is Earthquake; much more powerful and offers a wide coverage, however it can't touch Skarmory, Corviknight and Celesteela, who can just sit there and take x4 attack Body Slams without a problem. It's also recommended with the rare Belly Drum set for more immediate power. If Corviknight and Ferrothorn are giving you problems, yo could maybe try Heat Crash, but it's a very inconsistent move and Fire Punch just isn't worth it. And lastly Rest; nothing to say here, move on (actually you could run Recycle if you want to).

M E N A C I N G (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Defog
This is just Lando-T. Good answer to Zacian and Regieleki. Man this Pokémon is already good, it doesn't need to inherit anything.

Dino-Bull (Haxorus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
- Dragon Dance
Unaware sucks. A lot.
On another note, having 230 SpD allows to it to survive 2 hits from Regieleki without investing in special bulk and survive some other special sweepers. Lefties instead of LO for survivability purposes.
Outrage deals an amazing amout of damage, Close Combat hits Steel Types hard, and Poison Jab hits Fairy types. Dragon Dance is there, doing its job as always.
Mold Breaker allows it to hit trough Unaware, Marvel Scale, Fluffy, Fur Coat and other stuff I guess. That's prety much it.
Even if it has few specific roles, its huge attack stat and decent speed makes this thing a dangerous threat, outspeeding Jolly Regieleki after 2 boosts and Scarf Caly-S after 3.

Vaporeon??? (Vaporeon) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Flip Turn
- Heal Bell
Yeah... this thing...
I didn't find anything else for the speed slot. The best thing I can do with this is a slow-pivot WishBell user. Ok ngl this thing helps a lot against stall and bulky teams because it keeps everyone besides Snorlax alive during the whole match. Also switches in to Rain and Water sweepers. Protect helps to scout choice sweepers too!
 
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Yubellia

Banned deucer.
1617300896336.png

I think there is something wrong with the current code. Shoudn't my Zeroara have base 439 Atk as it is inheriting from Zacian's Atk stat?
This same issues applies to the rest of the mons of the team. I dont think the inherited mons Evs are being added in or something
 

Ransei

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I think there is something wrong with the current code. Shoudn't my Zeroara have base 439 Atk as it is inheriting from Zacian's Atk stat?
This same issues applies to the rest of the mons of the team. I dont think the inherited mons Evs are being added in or something
It inherits off regular Zacian in this format. Zacian-Crowned's stats are restricted from inheritance.
 
So when are we getting Zacian-C out of here? Its on damn near every team and dealing with it and its suped up goons is annoying. Never while building am I ever like “ i really need a Necrozma Dawn—Wings check” or “ hmm looking kind of weak to Kyurem-W” but I almost always need at least 2 ways of dealing with that sword-sucking son-of-a-b... I mean the thing was banned from UBERS for a reason right?
 
I recently learned that non-ubers mons can be used as donors if placed in the HP slot without any other ubers on the team. I think this is a really cool mechanic so I wanted to find the coolest non-ubers donors

Cool Mons:

20/10/230/10/230/5
As mentioned above, being able to donate 230 defense and special defense makes any mon absurdly bulky. Any mon with high HP can effectively become a makeshift Blissey. I find Shuckle the most useful in donating special defense or defense to a pokemon in order to patch up their weaker defensive stat. For example, donating special defense to Avalugg nets you an insanely bulky spinner with longevity and potential to set up with the deadly curse/body press combo. I haven't tried this yet, but donating defense to Volcarona could make its bulky quiver dance set much better and it sounds dangerous. The downside to Shuckle is having to donate 10 offenses and 5 speed. For the offenses, you could just put a pokemon that is already good with its attacking stat in these slots (e.g. Dragonite in spatk slot). For speed I would just put a bulky pokemon that does not require speed, although I found this slot more annoying to fill than the offenses.


59/181/131/59/31/109
Kartana immediately sticks out with being able to give any pokemon 181 attack. Prime examples of mons that benefit from this are Crawdaunt, Marowak-A, and really any good pokemon with access to strong physical priority or set up. Its defense is pretty good too, with many pokemon, Clefable and Mandibuzz to name a few, benefitting from this donation greatly. 109 speed is decent as well, but having to give 59 special attack and 31 special defense is kinda annoying.

83/89/71/173/71/83
Xurkitree is a bad donor, let's just get that out of the way. I only mention it because it has the largest possible special attack donation of any pokemon. However, its other stats are so bad that it is not worth it, especially since Kyurem-White has 170 special attack. I find it cool that a non-uber has the highest special attack stat available tho.

80/100/50/100/50/200
200 speed is kinda nice.
 
I’v been thinking about making a :Calyrex-Ice: team with a :Goodra: in the Def Slot (to abuse Body Press+Acid Armor with and making it insanely bulky on both sides).
Anyone got recommendations for good teammates?


Never Mind. Here is what I got.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Transform

Zoroark @ Black Glasses
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick

Goodra @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Acid Armor
- Body Press
- Rest
- Toxic

Calyrex-Ice @ Choice Band
Ability: As One (Glastrier)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Glacial Lance
- High Horsepower
- Trick
- Aromatherapy

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Defog

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Atk / 188 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance
:Ditto: is an excellent choice in this meta as a Zacian answer, as it was originally. While Substitute exists, that isn’t much of a problem since everything besides Weezing-Galar and Zoroark can break Zacian’s Subs with ease and most people run Swords Dance (which is just overkill) Being paired with a Neutralizing Gas Pokemon is also excellent at reversing a Zacian sweep since you could sack that Weezing, making it so Ditto will be at +3 or even +4 without them using Sword Dance. Ditto is also great against Xerneas and fast Glastrier, especially since Ditto’s HP is no longer a pathetic Base 48. Inheriting Calyrex’s HP gives Ditto 100 Base HP, which matches will against the common set up sweepers and cleaners. This added HP can also make Ditto even bulkier than the Pokemon it is copying.

:Zoroark: is what I decided on as a anti-ghost and anti-dark measures, as Goodra can’t at all hit Ghosts outside of Toxic, which Gengar and Aegislash are immune to, while Weezing can be worn down. It’s one of the fastest Dark types in the tier with access to Sword Dance and Sucker Punch, something Weavile and Persian do not have. Weavile may have Triple Axel, but that kind of overlaps with Calyrex-Ice, isn’t that accurate, and gets murdered by Rocky Helmet or Iron Barbs. The other reason why I picked Zoroark is because Calyrex-I does have some synergy with Dark. It resists Ghost and Dark, which while Calyrex would easily survive, it makes it so Zoroark can survive more easily without Focus Sash preservation. Zoroark also synergizes well because Calyrex-I gets Swords Dance, so when something switches, the surprise won’t be revealed at full health. The only issues are Bugs, Steels, and Fires, since the former is still SE to both Pokemon while the latter 2 hit Calyrex-I SE and Zoroark can’t take many resisted hits, and of course Stealth Rocks.
Also may be blind but I think As One may ruin the illusion, but at least Zoroark is still useful and has other teammates too.

:Goodra: was the main idea from before. Have a Pokemon with already good Special Defense that also knows Body Press, give it the highest possible Def in Ubers, and Goodra was the first candidate to come to mind. Having Acid Armor, 90 HP, and not already having massive Def like Registeel or Diancie, Goodra is a pretty fun pick. Because everything is getting stats from Uber Pokemon, Goodra’s 90/150/150 isn’t surviving everything, surprisingly. While setting up, Goodra can by threatened by extremely hard hitters such as Nidoking with a massive SpA or be burned. That’s why I have Rest as well with Chesto Berry. After taking a bunch of chip when you spam Acid Armor, or want to heal off Toxic, rest up, and you’ll not only be nearly unkillable, but also a huge threat. The only ways you can break past this after set up are with Urshifu (Single is kind of ass as God and Rapid is ass anyways, plus Goodra resists Surging Strikes) and other critmons, ust getting random crits, or brute forcing its special side. Unaware is possible, but most Unaware Pokemon won’t be running Physical Wall breaker sets, nor will they enjoy a Toxic. They can also be PP Stalled with Acid Armor’s large PP and Rest no draining turns.
I chose to invest into Max Def to maximize damage/bulk from a 1752 Body Press, and most things on the special side were going to threaten out Goodra anyways.

:Calyrex-Ice: is this team’s God, and provides some excellent stats. Something Zamazenta-C wishes it could do since it only passes its Hero form’s stats. 100 HP for Ditto, 165 Atk for Zoroark, 150 Def for Goodra, 130 SpD for Weezing-G, and 50 Speed for Rhyperior. I decided to put Calyrex-I in the SpA spot since the other Pokemon on my team don’t benefit from having 85 SpA, while Rhyperior appreciates the 10 extra speed to beat Hippo without investment. Calyrex-I is a unique God. It has the second highest passable Atk (Zacian-C does not pass its 170 Atk, which is tied by Kyurem-B anyways), has the highest passable Def, good HP, and a solid SpD, with its only faults being SpA and Speed. This makes it one of the best supportive Gods. It is also just incredibly strong. Almost nothing wants to take a CB 130 Atk Ice STAB with 100% accuracy and no downsides from a 165 Atk. You often can’t just avoid that damage by KO either as Calyrex-I is bulky. It is also pretty diverse as well. You can’t immediately tell if it’s running CB, Sub attacker, Defensive, or Trick Room with Weakness Policy. So there is always the risk that your Flamethrower may have screwed you over, your wall may have been tricked a CB, or you let it get a Sub up.
This also adds back to Zoroark. Zoroark typically runs NP, and Calyrex-I can run SD on Trick Room, so the illusion isn’t so easily broken (I mean, you can run NP on Calyrex-I for more trickery, but give up its excellent attacking stat). Calyrex-I also supports the team with its ability to switch into neutral/resisted attacks, be threatening, and even heal Goodra that used Rest.

:Weezing-Galar: is actually pretty bulky, especially with its Neutralizing Gas. Having a dark resist that can spread burns (even to the Water Spider), Defog, and also be a Pokemon that helps keep Zacian-C from coming in is always valuable. And like I said, you can cheese it by intentionally sacking Weezing so that Ditto gets more boosts. That Neutralizing Gas is always makes Weezing bulkier than it seems. Sheer Force doesn’t work. Tough Claws doesn’t Work. Intripid Sword doesn’t work. All offensive abilities do not work against Weezing. Also utility and defensive abilities like Magic Bounce, Magic Guard, ect. Weezing provides the valuable Defog so that Calyrex-I, Ditto, and Zoroark can remain as healthy as possible.

:Rhyperior: lastly, Rhyperior is the Stealth Rocker who;
A. Has Sword Dance for Zoroark
B. Have top tier physical bulk for Ho-Oh
C. Has Stealth Rock
D. Threatens Zacian-C leads with Earthquake
E. Is also all of these while gaining Speed that Calyrex-I gives, instead of losing it.
Honestly that mostly why I picked Rhyperior, especially when this team is pretty weak to Bird Spam and needed a Stealth Rocker.
 
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So when are we getting Zacian-C out of here? Its on damn near every team and dealing with it and its suped up goons is annoying. Never while building am I ever like “ i really need a Necrozma Dawn—Wings check” or “ hmm looking kind of weak to Kyurem-W” but I almost always need at least 2 ways of dealing with that sword-sucking son-of-a-b... I mean the thing was banned from UBERS for a reason right?
I second this notion. I thought this a few months back when it was playable. Even with it inheriting Zacian's stats now instead, the mon itself is imo, too centralising. Like you said, when it's literally seen in 9 out of 10 battles, it makes teambuilding very uninteresting and forces you to run a counter solely to deal with it alone. As you said, it was banned from Ubers for a reason, and it's the same story here.

I vote Ban Zacian-Crowned outright. This will open up other inheritors way more as let's be honest, you look at the other options and although some are great, you tend to still lean towards using Zacian-C only because it's such a monster on it's own. Oh you manged to defeat most of the team? Well, it's a shame that my Zacian-C finishes you off completely anyway.

Anyways, those are my opinions on the mon, love this meta, one of my favourites!

:)
 
I second this notion. I thought this a few months back when it was playable. Even with it inheriting Zacian's stats now instead, the mon itself is imo, too centralising. Like you said, when it's literally seen in 9 out of 10 battles, it makes teambuilding very uninteresting and forces you to run a counter solely to deal with it alone. As you said, it was banned from Ubers for a reason, and it's the same story here.

I vote Ban Zacian-Crowned outright. This will open up other inheritors way more as let's be honest, you look at the other options and although some are great, you tend to still lean towards using Zacian-C only because it's such a monster on it's own. Oh you manged to defeat most of the team? Well, it's a shame that my Zacian-C finishes you off completely anyway.

Anyways, those are my opinions on the mon, love this meta, one of my favourites!

:)
Agreed it should be banned, but not strickly because of the Uber by itself. While for donations, most of it’s stats are pretty mediocre. That is except for Speed, which even without its Crowned Form passing speed, it’s still the second fastest Uber donor available. The fastest being Pheromosa, which is a horrible donor.
This donation of 138 Spe to literally anything, while having respectable HP, Atk, and Def/SpD, on top of being Mega Mawile on Crack. Honestly, Zacian-C would be much more managable in this meta as a solo Pokemon. A Volcarona/Moltres in the Def slot of something like Calyrex-I and Groudon, or Rotom-Heat/Wash with a high HP stat, or just a Quagsire with better bulk.
That becomes more of a problem when you can have Marowak-A, Chandelure, Porygon Z, Conkeldurr and anything else that is incredibly powerful with 138 Spe while your teammates get to have backbones.
You “can” do the same with Zamazenta-C, since they give identical boosts, but literally no one is threatened by Zamazenta-C in this Meta.
 
As someone who loves Pyukumuku (this much should be obvious from my profile), I must ask: would Innards Out in the HP slot taking from, say, Giratina with 252 investment culminating in a total of 504 HP be viable? After all, it enables you to kill most enemies, even if they OHKO you. Unaware has its uses, yes, but dealing 504 damage whenever OHKOd is a powerful tool, one that could kill anything without Magic Guard if they have <190 base HP and no EV investment, and anything with less than 150 with it. Am I the only one seeing the potential of this? The B+ rank is deserved due to flexibility between Unaware and Innards Out. Despite a shallow movepool, it gets access to dual screens, Taunt, reliable recoveries (Pain Split, Recover), Soak for STAB removal on non-water types as well as adding reliable weaknesses to Freeze-Dry, grass, and electric, Memento (although this one is a tad moot on such a slow mon), Mirror Coat and Counter, and Toxic. Overall, a pretty solid wall! I think many a good defensive team in this mode would benefit from its inclusion to hinder set-up sweepers. Just mind its Taunt bait-iness.
 
As someone who loves Pyukumuku (this much should be obvious from my profile), I must ask: would Innards Out in the HP slot taking from, say, Giratina with 252 investment culminating in a total of 504 HP be viable?
No. If anything, 150/130/130 with Innards Out just defeats the purpose, since you’ll only ever be used against a set up sweeper, and unless they have Mold Breaker, you should just use Unaware instead.
Currently, I would actually recommend using a Trapper set to trap a Pokemon that otherwise would cause your team trouble to be a poorman’s Arena Trap.
 
As someone who loves Pyukumuku (this much should be obvious from my profile), I must ask: would Innards Out in the HP slot taking from, say, Giratina with 252 investment culminating in a total of 504 HP be viable? After all, it enables you to kill most enemies, even if they OHKO you. Unaware has its uses, yes, but dealing 504 damage whenever OHKOd is a powerful tool, one that could kill anything without Magic Guard if they have <190 base HP and no EV investment, and anything with less than 150 with it. Am I the only one seeing the potential of this? The B+ rank is deserved due to flexibility between Unaware and Innards Out. Despite a shallow movepool, it gets access to dual screens, Taunt, reliable recoveries (Pain Split, Recover), Soak for STAB removal on non-water types as well as adding reliable weaknesses to Freeze-Dry, grass, and electric, Memento (although this one is a tad moot on such a slow mon), Mirror Coat and Counter, and Toxic. Overall, a pretty solid wall! I think many a good defensive team in this mode would benefit from its inclusion to hinder set-up sweepers. Just mind its Taunt bait-iness.
See, the problem with using Giratina's HP stat on Innards Out Pyukumuku is:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Pyukumuku in Electric Terrain: 494-584 (98 - 115.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
That's a Tapu Koko with Eternatus's Special Attack stat, almost failing to OHKO a Pyukumuku with 0 Special Defense investment.
Here's another calc:
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Pyukumuku: 409-483 (81.1 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
That's Hawlucha with Calyrex-Ice-Rider's Attack stat, failing to OHKO a Pyukumuku with no Defense investment.

The thing I'm trying to get at, is that most mons fail to OHKO this thing. You either have to get hit by an overwhelmingly powerful SE move, or manage your HP meticulously to be in OHKO + Innards Out-counter-KO range, or send it out on a mon that's already boosted very high. But in the case of the latter, you're better off running Unaware Pyukumuku since you can shut most of them down without sacrificing your mon. So, you're basically running Innards Out to stop stuff like Xurkitree, Alolan-Raichu, Regieleki, Dracozolt, Rillaboom and...Venusaur? I guess that's fine, but it's very niche.
 

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