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GG Godly Gift
- Thread starter Les2BG
- Start date
DLC 2 Initial Restrictwave!
Ok so basically a DLC dropped with a lot of new potential gods, so we just decided to vote on every returning 600+ BST Pokemon (and Smeargle) on top of every new Pokemon.
| Kris | Lily | longhiep | Senko | TTTech | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Smeargle | Restrict | DNR | DNR | DNR | Restrict | DNR |
Lugia | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Ho-Oh | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Deoxys | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Deoxys-Attack | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Deoxys-Defense | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Deoxys-Speed | Restrict | DNR | DNR | Restrict | Restrict | DNR |
Regigigas | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Reshiram | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Zekrom | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Kyurem | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Kyurem-Black | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Kyurem-White | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Solgaleo | Restrict | Restrict | DNR | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Lunala | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Necrozma-DW | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Necrozma-DM | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Archaludon | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Hydrapple | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Gouging Fire | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Raging Bolt | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Iron Boulder | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Iron Crown | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
Terapagos | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR | DNR |
However, we quickly realized how broken Smeargle with good Attack would be, as well as how broken Terapagos-Stellar was... in general.... so we held another slate earlier today:
| Kris | Lily | longhiep | Senko | TTTech | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Smeargle | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Terapagos | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict | Restrict |
Therefore, Smeargle and Terapagos are also restricted in GG now.
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Looking at the Deo-S vote and it has 3 Restricts to 2 DNRs, shouldn't that Restrict it as it definitely needs to be since you can patch up either its Attack or Special Attack?
(+ Archaludon, Hydrapple, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, Iron Boulder, Iron Crown, and Terapagos but they don't have minisprites)
DLC 2 Initial Restrictwave!
Ok so basically a DLC dropped with a lot of new potential gods, so we just decided to vote on every returning 600+ BST Pokemon (and Smeargle) on top of every new Pokemon.From this, our initial DLC2 restrictions were Lugia, Ho-Oh, Deoxys, Deoxys-Attack, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem-Black, Kyurem-White, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, and Necrozma-Dusk-Mane.
Kris Lily longhiep Senko TTTech Result
However, we quickly realized how broken Smeargle with good Attack would be, as well as how broken Terapagos-Stellar was... in general.... so we held another slate earlier today:
Kris Lily longhiep Senko TTTech Result
Therefore, Smeargle and Terapagos are also restricted in GG now.
I don’t play GG, but could someone explain what made Smeargle so broken?
Smeargle with an Attack stat is a horrifying Fake Out + Extreme Speed monster (see: Pikachu getting banned in the past for the same thing) that also happens to be able to Sketch just about any and every coverage move you could ever want to run alongside. This + it can Tera to whatever is needed makes for an extremely dangerous threat.
Why not just use deo a tho btw I made a neat deo a team https://pokepast.es/29ae4cb72b754365
Decent speed control
Seen others use pao but Minior is like legit cool in speed slot and it’s still relatively bulky for a sweeper and acro does a lot.
My god, pretty cool, fast, deoxyses
Solid specs user with high spa.
Generic lead set, nothing special.
Speed slot, could be anything tho
Also I made a pretty cool ho oh team
https://pokepast.es/0651c039d5e0548c
Hi! For the start of DLC2 Fraise and I decided to make a small tierlist of the format's recevers. I'll explain our choices from tier S+ to A because the rest is much less important and it would be too long (the pokemons are also ranked among themselves!).
S+ tier :
The best receiver destructive stabs perfect coverage with the specs he leaves no hope to the opponent a set loaded dice scale shot is even possible but much less powerful
Excellent speed, a very correct bulk with a donation in HP/DEF, very effective stabs with the specs and the possibility of playing a CM + Sub set make it one of the most dangerous mon but not impassable.
The best spinner its typing is rather good its 115 in hp make it a very resistant mon it can be played in slot spdef defensively or offensively in slot speed which can lean on stabs like headlong rush or close combat to make big holes in the opposing team.
An extremely strong offensive pokemon whose forms are all powerful, typing water allows it to be an almost complete stop to alomomola while still being able to rely on moves like Encore and SD.
The stab rock is extremely useful, allowing you to be blocked by almost nothing in exchange for defensive typing that is much less good than wellspring. Cornerstone makes very good use of moves like spikes to put pressure on the opposing team.
The fastest pokemon in the tier with a donation in SPA for example and its very good movepool it can frighten almost all the tier and according to the set can very easily destroy the opposing team with moves like Tbolt or Psycho Boost while being able to be played rather versatilely (Nplot/Specs for example).
S tier :
The best defensive pivot in the tier his typing is very good his high HP stat allows him to be good in all defensive areas with the corresponding donation and his access to Wish is very useful with pokemons like Tusk or Heatran for example.
A very good pokemon with good speed, its two stabs are very threatening, especially with the help of pokemons like FMane and Gholdengo, while it can also use coverage moves like Hpump and Tbolt to get past Tusk and Alomomola respectively.
Very strong and unlike its other forms can use items such as the choice band with a large donation attack Ivy Cudgel becomes a weapon of mass destruction boosted by his tera giving him a boost in speed.
Absolutely incredible with access to Dragon Danse and protosynthesis under the sun it is divine and does enormous damage while taking advantage of the efficiency of sun teams thanks to pokemons like FMane
HE'S BACK! With Beat up Knock Off and Triple Axel it breaks a lot of teams very easily while being rather fast and can be played SD or Band (it does more damage than Chien-Pao what more could you ask for).
A tier :
Very strong can destroy defensive teams easily with Magma Storm + taunt while laying SR and being a good answer to FMane but lacks heal which greatly reduces its longevity without Alomomola/Jirachi for Wish.
Defensive-only version of Tusk with a typing resistant to Fmane's Stab fairy while being able to pivot with volt switch but having less hp.
With a Loaded dice + scale shot + icicle spear set, it is very threatening, especially against defensive teams unaffected by burn, while being useful against offensive teams with the threat of scale shot speed boost.
No one can resist his Luster Purge - he destroys everything with a specs with very few answers, but he can still threaten like Heatran.
Threatening against both offensive and defensive teams, but can struggle to take kills at the right time.
Can be used as a defensive pivot with AV or offensively with SD + Booster Energy or Belly Drum, but is still slow to set up and does much less work than before.
With the CB and an attacking donation, he can make big holes in the opposing team if they have no resistance to his Stab, or the Iron Defense set, which is very strong against offensive teams but can lack power against defensive teams.
It prevents hazards from coming onto your pitch (except for Ceaselless Edge/Stone Axe) while still being able to position itself with CM or annoy the opponent with Nuzzle.
Very good defensive pivot can now heal himself with Pain Split while being able to burn opponent pokemons with WoW
Prevents the opponent from defogging and is therefore very strong in hazards stack. However, it cannot block Tusk/Treads spin, which will always have a move to avoid being blocked by its air balloon version.
Can be extremely strong if it has the right set against the opposing team, but is very hard to play and not very consistent.
The stab fairy is very good he can be threatening with a SPA donation while laying the sticky web for his allies.
Good typing access to defog even if less useful and can rotate easily while having very little useful resistance at present.
Good typing, it's not passive with torch song, but it creates team structures that are often quite passive and need another pokémon to defend their physical face.
Difficult to pass he has the spikes + sr with whirlwind while having a very good bulk but his typing can cause him some problems while having longevity problems due to his lack of heal.
With a huge donation in attack he is very threatening in particular with Mighty Cleave but cannot play booster energy in speed and becomes rather slow.
Very good wall that can be placed with Curse and prevents many teams from playing their game, but can take pressure very easily, especially with hazards.
Can be dangerous with earth power but is limited by its need to tera to touch certain pokemon.
Earth power + Moonblast/Draining kiss is a very powerful Stab combo, but it is limited by its SR weakness and is slower than other pokemons for almost the same work.
Weavile with Sacred Sword and more speed but without Knock Off, Triple Axel, Beat Up and less damage
Requires a donation in attack and several turns of placement while having a low bulk but if placed with the speed given by unburden it is very threatening.
Must be burned to do good damage (and therefore have the flame orb) but with Facade + CC it does good damage while not fearing the burn.
Can land spikes offensively with Ceasess Edge while pivoting with Flip Turn, but is fairly slow and does little damage (it's also of little use against offensive teams).
We hope you enjoyed/appreciated it, if you have any questions about the tierlist, don't hesitate to contact one of us (preferably me, I didn't ask fraise for his opinion, if you contact him it's at your own risk). Maybe we'll do a gods tierlist later, we need time to recover from this one, which was long and difficult.
Bye !
S+ tier :
The best receiver destructive stabs perfect coverage with the specs he leaves no hope to the opponent a set loaded dice scale shot is even possible but much less powerfulExcellent speed, a very correct bulk with a donation in HP/DEF, very effective stabs with the specs and the possibility of playing a CM + Sub set make it one of the most dangerous mon but not impassable.The best spinner its typing is rather good its 115 in hp make it a very resistant mon it can be played in slot spdef defensively or offensively in slot speed which can lean on stabs like headlong rush or close combat to make big holes in the opposing team.An extremely strong offensive pokemon whose forms are all powerful, typing water allows it to be an almost complete stop to alomomola while still being able to rely on moves like Encore and SD.The stab rock is extremely useful, allowing you to be blocked by almost nothing in exchange for defensive typing that is much less good than wellspring. Cornerstone makes very good use of moves like spikes to put pressure on the opposing team.The fastest pokemon in the tier with a donation in SPA for example and its very good movepool it can frighten almost all the tier and according to the set can very easily destroy the opposing team with moves like Tbolt or Psycho Boost while being able to be played rather versatilely (Nplot/Specs for example).S tier :
The best defensive pivot in the tier his typing is very good his high HP stat allows him to be good in all defensive areas with the corresponding donation and his access to Wish is very useful with pokemons like Tusk or Heatran for example. A very good pokemon with good speed, its two stabs are very threatening, especially with the help of pokemons like FMane and Gholdengo, while it can also use coverage moves like Hpump and Tbolt to get past Tusk and Alomomola respectively.Very strong and unlike its other forms can use items such as the choice band with a large donation attack Ivy Cudgel becomes a weapon of mass destruction boosted by his tera giving him a boost in speed.Absolutely incredible with access to Dragon Danse and protosynthesis under the sun it is divine and does enormous damage while taking advantage of the efficiency of sun teams thanks to pokemons like FManeHE'S BACK! With Beat up Knock Off and Triple Axel it breaks a lot of teams very easily while being rather fast and can be played SD or Band (it does more damage than Chien-Pao what more could you ask for).A tier :
Very strong can destroy defensive teams easily with Magma Storm + taunt while laying SR and being a good answer to FMane but lacks heal which greatly reduces its longevity without Alomomola/Jirachi for Wish.Defensive-only version of Tusk with a typing resistant to Fmane's Stab fairy while being able to pivot with volt switch but having less hp.With a Loaded dice + scale shot + icicle spear set, it is very threatening, especially against defensive teams unaffected by burn, while being useful against offensive teams with the threat of scale shot speed boost.No one can resist his Luster Purge - he destroys everything with a specs with very few answers, but he can still threaten like Heatran.Threatening against both offensive and defensive teams, but can struggle to take kills at the right time.Can be used as a defensive pivot with AV or offensively with SD + Booster Energy or Belly Drum, but is still slow to set up and does much less work than before.With the CB and an attacking donation, he can make big holes in the opposing team if they have no resistance to his Stab, or the Iron Defense set, which is very strong against offensive teams but can lack power against defensive teams.It prevents hazards from coming onto your pitch (except for Ceaselless Edge/Stone Axe) while still being able to position itself with CM or annoy the opponent with Nuzzle.Very good defensive pivot can now heal himself with Pain Split while being able to burn opponent pokemons with WoWPrevents the opponent from defogging and is therefore very strong in hazards stack. However, it cannot block Tusk/Treads spin, which will always have a move to avoid being blocked by its air balloon version.Can be extremely strong if it has the right set against the opposing team, but is very hard to play and not very consistent.The stab fairy is very good he can be threatening with a SPA donation while laying the sticky web for his allies.Good typing access to defog even if less useful and can rotate easily while having very little useful resistance at present.Good typing, it's not passive with torch song, but it creates team structures that are often quite passive and need another pokémon to defend their physical face.Difficult to pass he has the spikes + sr with whirlwind while having a very good bulk but his typing can cause him some problems while having longevity problems due to his lack of heal.With a huge donation in attack he is very threatening in particular with Mighty Cleave but cannot play booster energy in speed and becomes rather slow.Very good wall that can be placed with Curse and prevents many teams from playing their game, but can take pressure very easily, especially with hazards.Can be dangerous with earth power but is limited by its need to tera to touch certain pokemon.Earth power + Moonblast/Draining kiss is a very powerful Stab combo, but it is limited by its SR weakness and is slower than other pokemons for almost the same work. Weavile with Sacred Sword and more speed but without Knock Off, Triple Axel, Beat Up and less damageRequires a donation in attack and several turns of placement while having a low bulk but if placed with the speed given by unburden it is very threatening.Must be burned to do good damage (and therefore have the flame orb) but with Facade + CC it does good damage while not fearing the burn.Can land spikes offensively with Ceasess Edge while pivoting with Flip Turn, but is fairly slow and does little damage (it's also of little use against offensive teams).We hope you enjoyed/appreciated it, if you have any questions about the tierlist, don't hesitate to contact one of us (preferably me, I didn't ask fraise for his opinion, if you contact him it's at your own risk). Maybe we'll do a gods tierlist later, we need time to recover from this one, which was long and difficult.
Bye !
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Hi ! this is the second part of our DCL2 tierlist with Fraise , this one on gods. I'll explain all our choices as there are fewer pokemons (they're also ranked among themselves).
S tier :
Extremely strong, very good typing to deal with threats like Zacian-C, good stats, especially on the SPDEF, which is monstrous and allows Alomomola, for example, to be a response to almost all special threats. It can burn with Sacred Fire while not being passive, with 130 attacks, everything is usable.
Correct typing but very good stat, the defensive stats are more than sufficient with the two offensive stats that can be played, you can play offensive or defensive sets on him which will suit him well even if he is mostly defensive. We regret the loss of Toxic which makes him much more passive than if he didn't have it.
Good typing with extraordinary speed and very good defences, but with a poor attack that will only suit a few pokemons (Wogerpon/Rogerpon/Hamurott.....), but that makes Zac-C a very good god against offences, but he's in trouble against very defensive teams.
Totally stupid offensive stats and divine speeds but counterbalanced by defensive stats which are what they are but this problem is circumvented by playing a suicide lead and deoxys-a in the defensive stats which gives us 3 incredibly complicated slots to manage it's just not competitive and in my opinion would deserve to be banned like Kyurem
A tier :
Extremely dangerous offensive monster that can be boosted with DD or Scale Shot while giving excellent stats, but is hampered by its weakness at SR and its difficulty in placing itself quickly.
Good typing allows it to be an answer to threats like Wogerpon while having good punching power and access to support moves like Toxic Spikes which are very useful. Stats in SPA and HP are very appreciable and the rest is correct with a decent speed.
Decent typing gives excellent defensive and attacking stats, the rest is pretty good. It has access to support moves such as Spikes/SR, which are very useful while setting the sun, allowing Fmane/Gouging Fire, for example, to be even more effective.
Extremely bad typing, but gives really excellent stats. Unfortunately, it has extremely low speed, while not being very good itself, which prevents it from being perfect (playing it in TR may be strong, but it's clearly not up to the level of what's above it).
All Arceus forms are listed here, but we'll only talk about the best ones (Water/Fairy/Normal). At first glance, he gives very good stats, but his offensive and speed stats are too low to be dangerous, forcing him to play much weaker offensive options or simply give useless stats.
Like Kyurem Black but with less offensive stats and less offensive potential, but with slightly better defensive stats and no weakness at SR.
B tier :
Huge offensive potential against defensive teams with excellent stats for what he wants to do, but his weakness at SR and his slowness given that he can't boost his speed make him struggle more against offensive teams.
Good typing gives very good balanced stat and can be very threatening with a scarf for example against offensive teams while being able to annoy the more defensive with Trick.
Typing correct very good against Alomomola for example while having good stats it can be very dangerous with sub + 3atq if the opposing team is not prepared for it against
Correct typing gives very good stats in SPA + SPDEF but the rest leaves something to be desired given that he only has 90 in speed he will have to play the scarf to be useful against offensive teams while losing access to specs and therefore a lot of damage. The current meta is not for him.
Bad typing gives pretty good stats but doesn't do the job as well as other gods and suffers from its SR weakness but does have Extreme Speed, which is very useful against Deoxys-A teams, for example.
Neither good nor bad, very bad typing, but made up for by very good stats, which can make it useful for very specific needs.
Same as Dawn Wings but with more attack and hp but poorer defenses and a much less attractive SPA.
C tier :
Generally not as good as Kyurem White but can have a different use thanks to his typing and better defensive stats.
Just not as good as his normal form, he doesn't want to lose his item and the exchanged stats are negligible.
Like Dialga-O
Bad the defensive stats gained are not enough to justify its use in place of Zac-C the loss of speed is very bad and as much play Zamazenta in HP / ATK it will be much more effective.
Just not as good as Necrozma-Dusk-Manes and not profitable to play.
An offensive god like the others but much less good in itself than its competitors while doing less well or like the other offensive gods.
Good in stall but stall is bad at the moment and apart from that it's not playable.
D tier(Otherwise known as "go play randbat, it'll be better for you and your mental state") :
Giratina... but does literally everything less well than her normal form, and it's not as if Giratina is very strong.
Everything sucks there is nothing to save all his opponents do 3 times better his job
Why ? Deoxys-A outclasses it by a huge margin
We hope you enjoyed it, it's been a lot of fun making this new meta, which is much more interesting than the previous ones. If you'd like more information/help with the tier, please don't hesitate to ask us, I'll be happy to help you.
Bye !
S tier :
Extremely strong, very good typing to deal with threats like Zacian-C, good stats, especially on the SPDEF, which is monstrous and allows Alomomola, for example, to be a response to almost all special threats. It can burn with Sacred Fire while not being passive, with 130 attacks, everything is usable.Correct typing but very good stat, the defensive stats are more than sufficient with the two offensive stats that can be played, you can play offensive or defensive sets on him which will suit him well even if he is mostly defensive. We regret the loss of Toxic which makes him much more passive than if he didn't have it.Good typing with extraordinary speed and very good defences, but with a poor attack that will only suit a few pokemons (Wogerpon/Rogerpon/Hamurott.....), but that makes Zac-C a very good god against offences, but he's in trouble against very defensive teams.Totally stupid offensive stats and divine speeds but counterbalanced by defensive stats which are what they are but this problem is circumvented by playing a suicide lead and deoxys-a in the defensive stats which gives us 3 incredibly complicated slots to manage it's just not competitive and in my opinion would deserve to be banned like KyuremA tier :
Extremely dangerous offensive monster that can be boosted with DD or Scale Shot while giving excellent stats, but is hampered by its weakness at SR and its difficulty in placing itself quickly.Good typing allows it to be an answer to threats like Wogerpon while having good punching power and access to support moves like Toxic Spikes which are very useful. Stats in SPA and HP are very appreciable and the rest is correct with a decent speed.Decent typing gives excellent defensive and attacking stats, the rest is pretty good. It has access to support moves such as Spikes/SR, which are very useful while setting the sun, allowing Fmane/Gouging Fire, for example, to be even more effective.Extremely bad typing, but gives really excellent stats. Unfortunately, it has extremely low speed, while not being very good itself, which prevents it from being perfect (playing it in TR may be strong, but it's clearly not up to the level of what's above it).All Arceus forms are listed here, but we'll only talk about the best ones (Water/Fairy/Normal). At first glance, he gives very good stats, but his offensive and speed stats are too low to be dangerous, forcing him to play much weaker offensive options or simply give useless stats. Like Kyurem Black but with less offensive stats and less offensive potential, but with slightly better defensive stats and no weakness at SR.B tier :
Huge offensive potential against defensive teams with excellent stats for what he wants to do, but his weakness at SR and his slowness given that he can't boost his speed make him struggle more against offensive teams.Good typing gives very good balanced stat and can be very threatening with a scarf for example against offensive teams while being able to annoy the more defensive with Trick. Typing correct very good against Alomomola for example while having good stats it can be very dangerous with sub + 3atq if the opposing team is not prepared for it against Correct typing gives very good stats in SPA + SPDEF but the rest leaves something to be desired given that he only has 90 in speed he will have to play the scarf to be useful against offensive teams while losing access to specs and therefore a lot of damage. The current meta is not for him. Bad typing gives pretty good stats but doesn't do the job as well as other gods and suffers from its SR weakness but does have Extreme Speed, which is very useful against Deoxys-A teams, for example.Neither good nor bad, very bad typing, but made up for by very good stats, which can make it useful for very specific needs.Same as Dawn Wings but with more attack and hp but poorer defenses and a much less attractive SPA.C tier :
Generally not as good as Kyurem White but can have a different use thanks to his typing and better defensive stats.Just not as good as his normal form, he doesn't want to lose his item and the exchanged stats are negligible.Like Dialga-O Bad the defensive stats gained are not enough to justify its use in place of Zac-C the loss of speed is very bad and as much play Zamazenta in HP / ATK it will be much more effective.Just not as good as Necrozma-Dusk-Manes and not profitable to play.An offensive god like the others but much less good in itself than its competitors while doing less well or like the other offensive gods. Good in stall but stall is bad at the moment and apart from that it's not playable.D tier(Otherwise known as "go play randbat, it'll be better for you and your mental state") :
Giratina... but does literally everything less well than her normal form, and it's not as if Giratina is very strong.Everything sucks there is nothing to save all his opponents do 3 times better his job Why ? Deoxys-A outclasses it by a huge marginWe hope you enjoyed it, it's been a lot of fun making this new meta, which is much more interesting than the previous ones. If you'd like more information/help with the tier, please don't hesitate to ask us, I'll be happy to help you.
Bye !
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Deoxys-Attack has been banned!
| Fraise | Kris | Les2BG | Lily | longhiep341 | senko | TTTech | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Deoxys-Attack | Ban | Ban | Ban | Ban | Ban | Ban | Ban | Ban |
As you can see from the table, please welcome Fraise and Les2BG to the council! Their activity and dedication are notable and we are confident they will be good additions to the team.Finally, we have updated sample teams! While the meta is still fresh and evolving, having teams at this moment hopefully can boost interest in the tier and encourages people to try out the ladder. If you have any team you have been seeing success with, we are pleased to accept new sample teams! We will try our best to release a Viability Ranking in the coming days.Sample teams
(Current as of 07/01/2024)
Kyurem-B Weavile Physical Offense by Les2BG
Kyurem-W Hazard Stack by TTTech
Necrozma-DW Trick Room by longhiep341
Eternatus Balance by longhiep341
OHH YEAHHH (Kool-Aid Man voice)! I've come from my lair deep in the Himalayan Mountains of Texas to cook up a set I've done absolutely 0 testing with.
Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Water / Flying / Fire / Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp
Okay so what does this do exactly? Well on paper this guy is supposed to be annoying as shit for defensive cores with some minor utility with Intimidate. I've noticed that common defensive cores like Rotom, Hatterene, Corvknight, Slowking(G), Skeledirge, Clodsire, Alolololomomola, Gholdengo, and even Great Tusk and Ting Lu don't like this guy. This set annoys a lot of these mons in one way or other whether it's because Incineroar threatens them offensively with its STAB coverage, or they really don't appreciate Knock Off + Wil-O-Wisp. Half of these guys kinda just fold to Incineroar, and the ones that don't really hate losing their items (Alomomomola, Skeledirge, Hatterene, Rotom, Ting Lu) or just hate getting Wisped (Great Tusks, Alomomola, Ting Lu).
The idea is to pair this thing with other mons who can take advantage of Incineroar being annoying like with hazards, Hex on something like Dragapulter, or strong choiced breakers who really appreciate the chip support (Dragonpult again for example). That said putting something in your Speed slot that's potentially slow with its breaking abilities can be kinda sketch, and you may be better off just running this as a stat dump. I think the Speed is nice though, and it does have the potential to be a strong late game sweeper that supports itself. It's also a pretty decent soft check to stuff like Chien Pao because of its unique typing and Intimidate. It does lack recovery, but that can be patched up by having a wish passer like Alomomola or with Grassy Terrain to a lesser extent.
Incineroar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Water / Flying / Fire / Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp
Okay so what does this do exactly? Well on paper this guy is supposed to be annoying as shit for defensive cores with some minor utility with Intimidate. I've noticed that common defensive cores like Rotom, Hatterene, Corvknight, Slowking(G), Skeledirge, Clodsire, Alolololomomola, Gholdengo, and even Great Tusk and Ting Lu don't like this guy. This set annoys a lot of these mons in one way or other whether it's because Incineroar threatens them offensively with its STAB coverage, or they really don't appreciate Knock Off + Wil-O-Wisp. Half of these guys kinda just fold to Incineroar, and the ones that don't really hate losing their items (Alomomomola, Skeledirge, Hatterene, Rotom, Ting Lu) or just hate getting Wisped (Great Tusks, Alomomola, Ting Lu).
The idea is to pair this thing with other mons who can take advantage of Incineroar being annoying like with hazards, Hex on something like Dragapulter, or strong choiced breakers who really appreciate the chip support (Dragonpult again for example). That said putting something in your Speed slot that's potentially slow with its breaking abilities can be kinda sketch, and you may be better off just running this as a stat dump. I think the Speed is nice though, and it does have the potential to be a strong late game sweeper that supports itself. It's also a pretty decent soft check to stuff like Chien Pao because of its unique typing and Intimidate. It does lack recovery, but that can be patched up by having a wish passer like Alomomola or with Grassy Terrain to a lesser extent.
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OHH YEAHHHH (Kool-Aid Man voice)! I've come from my lair deep in the Himalayan Mountains of Texas to cook up a set I've done absolutely 0 testing with. Anyways I've come to cook with another set bc Clas won a GG game with my Incineroar set vs a guy who just found out what GG was. That's enough to validate my set therefore I've come back with another one.
Slither Wing @ Silver Powder / Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- First Impression
- Close Combat
- Morning Sun / Poison Powder / Stun Spore / Wil-O-Wisp / Earthquake
Slither Wing is too long of a name to be consistently typing so I will be referring to it as Maurice. Anywho Maurice was my favorite Speed slot mon to use pre-HOME, but then HOME came out and this guy fell off the face of the Earth... Which is why I've returned to try to make him work. So what does it do actually? Well Maurice’s jobs are to U-Turn and revenge kill things. Now if you took a quick second to look through the tier’s defensive options, Maurice is quite ass. This thing gets straight up walled by dozens of different things. So how do you get it to work? You bring it in vs offensive mons (or favorable MU’s in general) and threaten them out or U-Turn vs them. Then you bring in Godzilla (Kyurem-W), which obliterates just about everything in front of it, namely all the things that are good switch-ins to Maurice. Tera + Kyu-W feels illegal, but it just means you can absolutely nuke everything in site.
First Impression is pretty cracked in a meta with Chien Pao, Deoxys, Mewtwo, Hamurott, Helectrode, Hoopa-U, Rillaboom, Ogerpon(s), and Calyrex-I. It can also chunk set-up sweepers like Kyurem-Black, Baxcalibur, or DD Arceus, especially with Tera Bug. Also, please run Stealth Rock to help ensure First Impression kills for Maurice. Your opponent using Tera can also work in favor for you as well I feel like, as sometimes mons will just Tera out of their resisted typings and make you susceptible to your STABS (like Tera Dark Zacian-C). On the other hand.. Tera can be a bastard for you as they can turn into Fairy or smth and potentially kill you. Pros and cons I guess.
The last slot is pretty flexible and you probably aren't ever gonna click them but there are applications. Morning Sun is probably the best and gives you longevity while giving you a free switch vs Ting Lu and Great Tusks. Poison Powder lets you chip your usual switch-ins and Stun Spore lets you annoy stuff like Eternatus. Earthquake also does the same while giving you a way to chunk Gholdengo. Wil-O-Wisp lets you burn whatever may try to switch-in on you, but I feel that it is maybe the most niche option.
Slither Wing @ Silver Powder / Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- First Impression
- Close Combat
- Morning Sun / Poison Powder / Stun Spore / Wil-O-Wisp / Earthquake
Slither Wing is too long of a name to be consistently typing so I will be referring to it as Maurice. Anywho Maurice was my favorite Speed slot mon to use pre-HOME, but then HOME came out and this guy fell off the face of the Earth... Which is why I've returned to try to make him work. So what does it do actually? Well Maurice’s jobs are to U-Turn and revenge kill things. Now if you took a quick second to look through the tier’s defensive options, Maurice is quite ass. This thing gets straight up walled by dozens of different things. So how do you get it to work? You bring it in vs offensive mons (or favorable MU’s in general) and threaten them out or U-Turn vs them. Then you bring in Godzilla (Kyurem-W), which obliterates just about everything in front of it, namely all the things that are good switch-ins to Maurice. Tera + Kyu-W feels illegal, but it just means you can absolutely nuke everything in site.
First Impression is pretty cracked in a meta with Chien Pao, Deoxys, Mewtwo, Hamurott, Helectrode, Hoopa-U, Rillaboom, Ogerpon(s), and Calyrex-I. It can also chunk set-up sweepers like Kyurem-Black, Baxcalibur, or DD Arceus, especially with Tera Bug. Also, please run Stealth Rock to help ensure First Impression kills for Maurice. Your opponent using Tera can also work in favor for you as well I feel like, as sometimes mons will just Tera out of their resisted typings and make you susceptible to your STABS (like Tera Dark Zacian-C). On the other hand.. Tera can be a bastard for you as they can turn into Fairy or smth and potentially kill you. Pros and cons I guess.
The last slot is pretty flexible and you probably aren't ever gonna click them but there are applications. Morning Sun is probably the best and gives you longevity while giving you a free switch vs Ting Lu and Great Tusks. Poison Powder lets you chip your usual switch-ins and Stun Spore lets you annoy stuff like Eternatus. Earthquake also does the same while giving you a way to chunk Gholdengo. Wil-O-Wisp lets you burn whatever may try to switch-in on you, but I feel that it is maybe the most niche option.
DLC2 has dropped for over a month, let's talk a bit about how the meta has developed, current meta trends, what the future has in store and such.
Initial DLC2 meta
Gotta say, DLC2 did change the meta in some ways, but old teams are still mostly viable, though we do have a lot more options to choose from now.
Using Smeargle was pretty fun, unfortunately it was too broken for its own good. Technician FakeSpeed was certainly the most heinous to deal with, especially if you ran any kind of offense not named Psyspam, as it could run stuffs like Shadow Sneak for Ghost or Mach Punch for Steel or Rock as well. If you really wanted to get creative you could even do stuffs like special Vacuum Wave or Water Shuriken probably, or like Pop Bomb, Beat Up, etc However, even for defensive builds, you basically had to hope it didn't have like V-Create. Turns out learning any move with a base stat to use it is quite broken, not to mention Technician.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9godlygift-2012720673-h68oejj30cg6394uoyn09hkrtmj9aj1pw You can see how hilarious this is, I even ran Jolly just so I always won against Adamant Smeargle.
Terapagos landed in quite an unfortunate spot. We didn't fully know what it did much like OU, and oh boy did it turn out to be bonkers. A 700 BST monster with the possibility of getting even more while firing an unresisted STAB 120 BP move is very well worth the Tera. Besides Tera Starstorm and Calm Mind, it could even fit basically anything in the other two slots, from Rapid Spin, Rock Polish to RestTalk or even Toxic. What's sad is why did Game Freak feel the need to create a fucking mini forme that serves no purpose other than screwing Godly Gift? If it only had the 600 BST forme it would be a pretty decent god, but because of this 450 BST forme it's doomed to irrelevancy and this is the first gen we only have 2 viable new cover legend gods. Heck gen 8 even gave Calyrex so we had even more, gen 9 is really a letdown with GG considering pre-Home meta had 2 blatantly broken gods that we couldn't even ban and now we get much more limited gods and even gen 6 legendaries being cut.
This is an interesting choice, a more polarizing version of Pheromosa and ultimately too good when combined with Psyspam. Like you could run Tusk in SpD and still have some defensive presence but you would inevitably be pushed by either a physical or special mon that destroys your non-existent defensive core. And Deoxys-A was actually already weakened by the lack of some options, namely Shuckle, Pyukumuku and Kartana. The only downside of using Deoxys-A was that you couldn't run Deoxys-S. Even then, Psyspam ended up too strong and we had to do something. Perhaps it will be revisited if Unburden takes the boot one day.
Current meta
New additions: We get some good gods back, let's talk about them for a bit. I will order them based on what I think is most viable -> least viable.
Losing Defog, Thunder Wave and Toxic really makes it less splashable, but it's still good, I don't think it's S worthy though since spreading status was one of its main strengths. However, it still matches up well into new threats like Kyurem and Deoxys-S which is huge, on top of its 154 SpD. What makes this annoying to build with is the presence of Weavile and Chien-Pao. You kinda feel like you want to opt for Skarmory or Def Alomomola and then to cover for their Electric weakness with Clodsire or some other Ground, which can kinda limit teambuilding a bit. Still good otherwise though and among the best gods. With Deoxys-S you kinda want to opt for Speed most of the time.
Necrozma-DM: Again, same problem and pretty much strengths as Ho-Oh but easier to cover defensively with its beefier Defense. Necrozma itself is still good and versatile, with sets ranging from PhysDef, SpDef to Dragon Dance, with moves like EQ and Knock to support. It also matches up well into Clodsire but does struggle against Def Alomomola unless it Tera Fire with Moonlight. Skeledirge is also annoying but it hates Knock so you can wear it down over time. Skarm is still a roadblock as usual but you can dedicate a slot to Magnezone if you want. Its lesser SpA slot can be used to power up Deoxys-S or filler slot better so you will usually find it in Speed slot.
Kyurem-Black is still a good god for offensive oriented teams, especially for HO. Losing Roost sucks since it loses much of its defensive utility but on the other hand, it now has Loaded Dice to run rampage with Scale Shot and Icicle Spear. Unfortunately no Persian-A is a big loss for Beat Up team and running Weavile means running 2 Ice-types which makes covering for other slots kinda tough. Can also run Tera Fire to decimate Skeledirge. Usually slotted in SpA or SpD, but I do recommend SpD or Spe since a special attacker is valuable when physical attackers can get stopped pretty frequently. Also goes well with Hawlucha, but Gholdengo's usage does hold it back for now.
New Pokemon with blistering Speed in Deoxys-S, Dragapult and Electrode-H are very welcomed by Kyurem-W. Kyurem-W itself matches well into existing Clodsire and Alomomola cores with Freeze-Dry, but it does hate Ho-Oh as usual. You might try opting for Rock Tera Blast in place of Ice Beam, but Ho-Oh's SpD receiver can still block its progress. There are also Glowking and Reuniclus, though the latter doesn't see much use due to Dragapult while Glowking is still useful against more threats. Its other slots don't differ much from Kyurem-B. but Kyurem-W isn't really fit for HO styles notably.
Lunala is kind of weird. Its 97 Spe was a good leverage last gen against many base 90 and 95 but this gen's speedcreep hurts it too much, in addition to entry hazards being everywhere limiting non-Boots sets. Tera is good for it though, with Tera Dark/Fairy both nice to combat Dark and Ghost, especially with it being able to run Moonblast as well. Losing Roost and recovery PP nerfs are also painful as it really wants to spam Roost to keep Shadow Shield intact. At least there's not much weather running around except for sun so Moonlight is still fine. In terms of donation, it kinda provides a middle ground, but again somewhat limits you to more common structures, but you can run some cool things with it in terms of offensive slots. I don't recommend going too offensive with this as Kyurem-W is probably better for that.
You really only use this if you plan to use Trick Room. Admittedly, Trick Room got a big addition in Deoxys-D with Trick Room and Teleport, but transfer move cut means losing out on other setters like Porygon2 and Slowtwins forced into Lagging Tail if they want to pivot safely, further compounding on Dark+Ghost weakness, which means other than the fact that Trick Room is already a matchup fish, running into Weavile forces you to Tera immediately just to set Trick Room.
Grouping these 2 together because they really suffer from no Roost. Whatever their defensive utility leverage is compared to their Kyurem versions is hurt hard, with Reshiram also losing Defog. Zekrom at least gained Stealth Rock but sadly with Kyurem-B receving more buffs overall feels like their time has come to an end.
Use Ho-Oh and Necrozma-DM. Lugia even lost Toxic, what else can it even do?
Since Les2BG already talked about some prominent receivers I will try to put more emphasis on some I think are underrated new additions and how they fit into archetypes.
Hyper Offense
People gloss over Iron Crown pretty fast, which is understandable but it does differentiate itself with Speed Booster Energy + Double Dance, which with its Steel type can spell death sentence to any team without Haze or phazing. Hyper Offense doesn't lack other options for Double Dance, or even traditional ones like Hatterene but sometimes the Speed comes in handy against some hard hitters, you can even run both to play around the other's weakness.
Speed Boost is a strong ability, you can see this get out of control very quickly after a Swords Dance or two, especially given a Def/SpD donation blocking common strategies like pivots going into breakers, since you will give Blaziken a +2 Speed that way, and if it's also Protect you will be in trouble without Skeledirge.
People don't usually associate Serperior with HO but it's a very good cleaner on such builds. For once, it also discourages Sticky Web completely, and with Glare you will find enough para turns to break through special walls with something on your team if you decide to use it first.
Look, I won't pull my all cat team replay to prove its worth, but a Spe/SpD can really help this go a long way with Flame Charge/Power Trip. Its typing makes it able to power through Skeledirge or force it to Tera, Intimidate gives HO some breathing room, and it can even slot Taunt to keep walls low while blocking Whirlwind.
Draining Kiss is a funny addition to pull off the shenanigan, and it does have a different typing and Levitate to set itself apart, in particular Tera Poison/Steel makes Clodsire deadweight.
Offense
No Megahorn is a bit of a nerf, but Atk slot Keldeo is still a nice surprise that can win games, Special on the other hand now has Vacuum Wave for a nifty revenge killing tool, and Tera Blast is also helpful. Being able to strike SpD Alomomola or other special walls with Secret Sword can win games, even if it hates Clodsire and has to use Tera Blast if it wants to make progress.
Psychic Fangs and Knock Off are great new toys, Heavy Slam is as well but in a meta with more heavy Ubers it isn't as good. Even if it struggles against physical walls like Alomomola and Skarmory it can use Trick to cripple them.
Bulky Offense
Swampert is a very underrated pick imo. With the new Knock Off, it can now provide an Electric immunity while still doing what it's known for, as its Flip Turn can't be blocked by Clodsire with Earthquake.
Golurk has some untapped potential. It has a very good typing offensively while also giving 3 immunities defensively. It can take a dump Speed slot quite well and either run Choice Band for wallbreaking or Scarf for some Speed control. It also has Klutz which means a more unorthodox set of Trick Klutz can cripple a wall completely, defintely worth a try.
Stall
Most people look at this as a BO mon mostly but imo in stall it's nice to provide a Ground resist while also forming a Regen core potentially. It can run Nasty Plot to slowly make progress, or if you are into it you can run Leppa Recycle Infestation Recover and never lose any PP battle again.
Random thoughts about some other Pokemon
This thing is mad annoying to use. On one hand you want SpA slot, on the other hand when you realize speed creep means many Scarfers outspeed Modest, and some like Flutter Mane just outspeeds even Timid, you start to feel how fishy it is these days. Old problems like 4mss still plague it. No Sludge Bomb? Food for Ho-Oh. No Earth Power? Good luck against Eternatus and Heatran. The list goes on and on.
I will never understand why people like to use this. Shell Smash is great and all, but there are better ones, and it isn't even that great at being a Shell Smash sweeper tbh.
Not as good as it is in OU due to some mons having more usage, most notably Hatterene and Geezing. Giratina also clears its hazards well while threatening Gholdengo still.
Problematic elements?
Currently, meta feels nice overall, a survey will probably happen in the future, but what are the hot topics?
Probably what most people feel to be overwhelming. However, with Ho-Oh, Necrozma-DM and other things, I think we do have enough answers for it, and Specs is probably the set with the most raw power. But no Roost means it can't opt for Sub sets or Boots sets as well, and in such an entry hazard centric meta it can really struggle to have many chances to come in. Because of that I think it's managable, but further development might make it too powerful. Physical sets are just done better by Baxcalibur.
If there's something that pushes this over the edge it's Nasty Plot, but having this as a natural speed control feels nice. It makes it so that your Scarf speed control should have at least 104 Speed (So Iron Leaves or faster), but overall I think that's a good thing since its initial threat lies solely in Psycho Boost, which can be irky still due to Psychic not being a good offensive type, and it dies immediately if it predicts wrong. This also assumes it has enough power to threaten OHKO, which basically means you are running Kyurem-W or at the very least Eternatus, and you still need to bring it in which isn't easy. Even after NP it can still be forced out, so I think it's an overall healthy mainstay.
Tera
Tera is perfectly fine right now and provide defensive emergency answers, no Tera will break more stuffs than having Tera (especially true now due to Tera Fairy being very good in a horde of Dragon), this should preferably stay until the end of the gen.
Unburden
I don't know about Unburden, but if something takes the boot I think it's Hawlucha only. Sneasler needs Tera Flying to do the same thing as Hawlucha, and Hawlucha can boost even more with Tera Flying or blocks burn and Fairy moves with Tera Fire.
The future
I can foresee whether a council vote or suspect for Kyurem, then after more meta development Deoxys-S and Unburden if the surveys call for them. Tera suspect is probably inevitable due to DLC1 meta not having one due to circumstances, maybe before Deoxys-S and Unburden. After that it might be hard to envision what will happen next. If Tera is gone then I guess a lot of Dragons will have to be limited and probably some more, between Gouging Fire and Dragapult, which will also free Regieleki, Ogerpon-H and Terapagos. After that, Booster Energy probably is a target to reduce HO influence. If Tera stays I think Hawlucha/Unburden will be tackled next, but I can't see what else at the moment.
Team dump
- Deoxys Offense
This was originally a Deoxys-A team with Smeargle in Atk slot but I felt like salvaging it. The result is not that bad I guess, with Rillaboom helping out Comfey a bit against Psyspam. Deoxys sadly lacks much power compared to Deoxys-A so feels like you should only use Life Orb, otherwise you will just be short of getting a KO. Comfey is interesting, it can win outright or be useless, but at the very least it can force Tera pretty often. Ditto was probably best with Deoxys-A but now I think Tusk can be in that slot without much of a downgrade if some defensive presence is needed.
- Groudon Sun
Note: This team is BAD. I hastily made this when DLC first dropped while I was still in OM Champs. This gets eaten alive by Psyspam, Dragon, Ghost and Fairy so uh, if you want to salvage this maybe just replace Venusaur, that thing is disappointing. Raging Bolt at least feels nice as a wincon against teams lacking Clodsire while Gouging Fire can just nuke stuffs.
- NDW TR
Currently sample, Deoxys keeping Teleport was the main reason I wanted to revisit Trick Room, Idk why I ended up with Rampardos but SFLO with giant Atk and SpA is pretty funny to say the least. Unfortunately SpD Ting-Lu can still hold it for a while and this team has no hazard control so if you face like Def Alomomola + SpD Ting-Lu it can't do much. Tera Blast Fairy NDW is pretty nice as well but is best used as a cleaner or if it gets an especially good mu. Ghost are problematic but you can try juggling around with Comfey and Tera Deoxys.
- Eternatus Balance
It feels tough to fit hazard control at times in this meta ngl, so this sample aims to break things before it gets overwhelmed. Skarm setting Spikes can also force Defog eventually while Skeledirge can spinblock in case of emergency. Deoxys-S helps stack Spikes further, probably can go Boots but I like having more power since Kyurem can already do the breaking against Ting-Lu and Alomomola. Haban on Eternatus helps against even more Dragon these days.
- Dual Sun/ETerrain
Seeing Raging Bolt now being the sole Rising Voltage user makes me want to build a sun Eterrain hybrid. Alas Koraidon would be such a perfect addition if not for its ban. When I think about what else benefits from both, well clearly a Fire-type Quark Drive Pokemon which is Iron Moth. Now all members are weak to Ground but like there's no better god than Zacian-C to fill up this slot. Filler Atk slot is now 100% a Ground immunity, probably can be something like Mandibuzz as well but good old Corv should work. Idk if full SpA Moth is better to maximize wallbreaking but either way you will want to rely on it to break stuffs before Raging Bolt can clean up. If you face SpD Alomomola then Raging Bolt might be able to win after some Calm Mind. Zacian-C doesn't need to be sent out sparingly like ordinary Zacian-C structures, you usually send it out to tank attacks more.
- Ho-Oh Balance
I kinda like Quaquaval atm as an answer to Chien-Pao and Weavile, spinner while also getting Knock. Also Isaiah are you in the same Scarf Deoxys-S club as me? 756 Speed means you only lose to madness like Scarf Flutter Mane in sun or like Idk some psycho running Eternatus Speed Timid Chlorophyll. Even Jolly Sneasler only reaches 744 so you should always be safe against them even if they run Taunt for your Skarm and Skeledirge. You will most of the time just Trick it to cripple opposing special walls though, which is very helpful against Ting-Lu among others. Triple Axel is a pretty good toy for Meowscarada for Geezing or Ho-Oh, accuracy is a bit annoying and Rocky Helmet nukes it back so it should still spam Knock first before trying to claim kills. Once Alomomola has been Knocked, Garganacl becomes annoying very fast, usually forcing it to take substantial chip if it wants to pass Wish, while Protect or going Clodsire also blocks Flip Turn, meaning the manual switch usually has to take Salt Cure as well. Overall a very solid build, which I will make a sample.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9godlygift-2031660569-2mnoresefili6px9nm7s5c9fdm8nj7qpw A replay of how this breaks Rest spam fat in action
- NDM Magnezone Pivot Spam
Hey UT, it's your favorite Magnet Pull striking again. Rillaboom feels very nice right now on BO builds in particular and offense in general even with Glide nerf. Emergency SpD wall, extra recovery, revenge killer. And well Magnezone supports Rilla and NDM by getting rid of Corv, Skarm, even opposing NDM and Treads if you can afford to use Tera (To a lesser extent Heatran but Rilla can already deal with it). Band Cinderace is pretty strong against most stuffs, with Gunk Shot poison coming in handy against Alomomola and Skeledirge and Court Chance being the best it has ever been. Speaking of which, Skeledirge is also a target for Magnezone to Tera, that will help immensely. NDM's SpA slot can also be filled by Dragapult or Deoxys-S, I just fancy having Helectrode there to utilize Grassy Terrain and pivot.
- Giratina Stall
A slightly different diversion from how gen 9 stall teams usually look like. Tyranitar was a solid option on stall last gen, though this gen does have some stuffs like Flutter that can give it some trouble. You can still take a hit from Specs to Knock it back, but general Ghost should be taken with some caution. I already talked about Hydrapple above, the rest are pretty standard bar the Geezing to ensure Defog works against Gholdengo unless your opponent cteams with Ability Shield.
- Classic Caly-I Lucha
Feels like Caly-I Lucha will always end up looking like this, just with slightly different stuffs like Clodsire or Alomomola instead maybe or slightly different defensive core, even now unless you decide to go more offense which is a big risk in itself. Reason? Tough to fit speed control, SpA slot for Helectrode, Deoxys-A or Dragapult isn't usable. Caly-I itself can be quite a drain against bad mu like Alomomola and Skarm, you also are compelled to fit a special mon somewhere, usually Flutter Mane if you go more offense with Grassy Seed, but then you risk losing to opposing Hawlucha yourself. In any case, using Hawlucha is a big risk, I haven't seen a structure that can be consistent with Caly-I so yeah.
- Kyurem-B HO
Most Screen HO teams prefer Grimmsnarl due to the increased Speed making Alolatales unreliable to get Veil consistently but I do think it can still work in structures like this. Kyurem-B really enjoys the Snow Def boost, as does Chien-Pao. Hell in Snow with Veil Chien-Pao can even live a Body Press from Skarm after Rock. Hamurott applies extra pressure by setting Spikes, you can also use it as a lead in some matchups. If you play it right you can force Tera pretty early and then decide the pathway to win from there.
- Kyurem-W Keldeo BO
With Slowtwin stocks dropping, Keldeo seems good. I crammed in as many pivotting moves as I could to bring it in. Scarf Kyurem-W is insufficient against Deoxys-S but I already have a hard check in Scizor, with Mandibuzz also being able to answer Shadow Ball/Focus Blast variants. Kyurem-W is still a great breaker against the common ClodAlo core though it can be used more offensively. Pecharunt has good defensive synergy with Mandibuzz to round out the pivot core, Malignant Chain crippling special walls is also nice. Also emergencily deals with Hatterene.
- Arceus Balance
Have you noticed I use a different god for every team? Arceus is the strongest left, though building with it in this meta can feel a bit awkward due to lacking that oomph to have some offensive presence. Thus I made my little awkward Volcanion set, which can smack even Mirror Coat Alomomola with no problem. Tera Flying means it can trap Clodsire as well. Serperior joins the disruption club with SubSeed, the last slot can range from Dragon Pulse, Tera Blast to Glare, but I figure Knock Off might be better for consistent long-term progress while essentially doubling Leech Seed chip against Leftovers, also helpful against RegenVest and Boots. Taunt Arceus is another solid late-game wincon, with Tera Ghost turning Skarm into complete setup bait. The lack of Dark resist can be dangerous so Glowking can fill up the role with Tera Dark. Golurk provides general speed control while also having very useful immunities to work with. Ground/Ghost is tough for offense to handle as well.
That's it for now, however THE REAL POST has yet to come, stay tuned for that.
Initial DLC2 meta
Gotta say, DLC2 did change the meta in some ways, but old teams are still mostly viable, though we do have a lot more options to choose from now.
Using Smeargle was pretty fun, unfortunately it was too broken for its own good. Technician FakeSpeed was certainly the most heinous to deal with, especially if you ran any kind of offense not named Psyspam, as it could run stuffs like Shadow Sneak for Ghost or Mach Punch for Steel or Rock as well. If you really wanted to get creative you could even do stuffs like special Vacuum Wave or Water Shuriken probably, or like Pop Bomb, Beat Up, etc However, even for defensive builds, you basically had to hope it didn't have like V-Create. Turns out learning any move with a base stat to use it is quite broken, not to mention Technician.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9godlygift-2012720673-h68oejj30cg6394uoyn09hkrtmj9aj1pw You can see how hilarious this is, I even ran Jolly just so I always won against Adamant Smeargle.
Terapagos landed in quite an unfortunate spot. We didn't fully know what it did much like OU, and oh boy did it turn out to be bonkers. A 700 BST monster with the possibility of getting even more while firing an unresisted STAB 120 BP move is very well worth the Tera. Besides Tera Starstorm and Calm Mind, it could even fit basically anything in the other two slots, from Rapid Spin, Rock Polish to RestTalk or even Toxic. What's sad is why did Game Freak feel the need to create a fucking mini forme that serves no purpose other than screwing Godly Gift? If it only had the 600 BST forme it would be a pretty decent god, but because of this 450 BST forme it's doomed to irrelevancy and this is the first gen we only have 2 viable new cover legend gods. Heck gen 8 even gave Calyrex so we had even more, gen 9 is really a letdown with GG considering pre-Home meta had 2 blatantly broken gods that we couldn't even ban and now we get much more limited gods and even gen 6 legendaries being cut.
This is an interesting choice, a more polarizing version of Pheromosa and ultimately too good when combined with Psyspam. Like you could run Tusk in SpD and still have some defensive presence but you would inevitably be pushed by either a physical or special mon that destroys your non-existent defensive core. And Deoxys-A was actually already weakened by the lack of some options, namely Shuckle, Pyukumuku and Kartana. The only downside of using Deoxys-A was that you couldn't run Deoxys-S. Even then, Psyspam ended up too strong and we had to do something. Perhaps it will be revisited if Unburden takes the boot one day.
Current meta
New additions: We get some good gods back, let's talk about them for a bit. I will order them based on what I think is most viable -> least viable.
Losing Defog, Thunder Wave and Toxic really makes it less splashable, but it's still good, I don't think it's S worthy though since spreading status was one of its main strengths. However, it still matches up well into new threats like Kyurem and Deoxys-S which is huge, on top of its 154 SpD. What makes this annoying to build with is the presence of Weavile and Chien-Pao. You kinda feel like you want to opt for Skarmory or Def Alomomola and then to cover for their Electric weakness with Clodsire or some other Ground, which can kinda limit teambuilding a bit. Still good otherwise though and among the best gods. With Deoxys-S you kinda want to opt for Speed most of the time.
Necrozma-DM: Again, same problem and pretty much strengths as Ho-Oh but easier to cover defensively with its beefier Defense. Necrozma itself is still good and versatile, with sets ranging from PhysDef, SpDef to Dragon Dance, with moves like EQ and Knock to support. It also matches up well into Clodsire but does struggle against Def Alomomola unless it Tera Fire with Moonlight. Skeledirge is also annoying but it hates Knock so you can wear it down over time. Skarm is still a roadblock as usual but you can dedicate a slot to Magnezone if you want. Its lesser SpA slot can be used to power up Deoxys-S or filler slot better so you will usually find it in Speed slot.
Kyurem-Black is still a good god for offensive oriented teams, especially for HO. Losing Roost sucks since it loses much of its defensive utility but on the other hand, it now has Loaded Dice to run rampage with Scale Shot and Icicle Spear. Unfortunately no Persian-A is a big loss for Beat Up team and running Weavile means running 2 Ice-types which makes covering for other slots kinda tough. Can also run Tera Fire to decimate Skeledirge. Usually slotted in SpA or SpD, but I do recommend SpD or Spe since a special attacker is valuable when physical attackers can get stopped pretty frequently. Also goes well with Hawlucha, but Gholdengo's usage does hold it back for now.
New Pokemon with blistering Speed in Deoxys-S, Dragapult and Electrode-H are very welcomed by Kyurem-W. Kyurem-W itself matches well into existing Clodsire and Alomomola cores with Freeze-Dry, but it does hate Ho-Oh as usual. You might try opting for Rock Tera Blast in place of Ice Beam, but Ho-Oh's SpD receiver can still block its progress. There are also Glowking and Reuniclus, though the latter doesn't see much use due to Dragapult while Glowking is still useful against more threats. Its other slots don't differ much from Kyurem-B. but Kyurem-W isn't really fit for HO styles notably.
Lunala is kind of weird. Its 97 Spe was a good leverage last gen against many base 90 and 95 but this gen's speedcreep hurts it too much, in addition to entry hazards being everywhere limiting non-Boots sets. Tera is good for it though, with Tera Dark/Fairy both nice to combat Dark and Ghost, especially with it being able to run Moonblast as well. Losing Roost and recovery PP nerfs are also painful as it really wants to spam Roost to keep Shadow Shield intact. At least there's not much weather running around except for sun so Moonlight is still fine. In terms of donation, it kinda provides a middle ground, but again somewhat limits you to more common structures, but you can run some cool things with it in terms of offensive slots. I don't recommend going too offensive with this as Kyurem-W is probably better for that.
You really only use this if you plan to use Trick Room. Admittedly, Trick Room got a big addition in Deoxys-D with Trick Room and Teleport, but transfer move cut means losing out on other setters like Porygon2 and Slowtwins forced into Lagging Tail if they want to pivot safely, further compounding on Dark+Ghost weakness, which means other than the fact that Trick Room is already a matchup fish, running into Weavile forces you to Tera immediately just to set Trick Room.
Grouping these 2 together because they really suffer from no Roost. Whatever their defensive utility leverage is compared to their Kyurem versions is hurt hard, with Reshiram also losing Defog. Zekrom at least gained Stealth Rock but sadly with Kyurem-B receving more buffs overall feels like their time has come to an end.
Use Ho-Oh and Necrozma-DM. Lugia even lost Toxic, what else can it even do?
Since Les2BG already talked about some prominent receivers I will try to put more emphasis on some I think are underrated new additions and how they fit into archetypes.
Hyper Offense
People gloss over Iron Crown pretty fast, which is understandable but it does differentiate itself with Speed Booster Energy + Double Dance, which with its Steel type can spell death sentence to any team without Haze or phazing. Hyper Offense doesn't lack other options for Double Dance, or even traditional ones like Hatterene but sometimes the Speed comes in handy against some hard hitters, you can even run both to play around the other's weakness.
Speed Boost is a strong ability, you can see this get out of control very quickly after a Swords Dance or two, especially given a Def/SpD donation blocking common strategies like pivots going into breakers, since you will give Blaziken a +2 Speed that way, and if it's also Protect you will be in trouble without Skeledirge.
People don't usually associate Serperior with HO but it's a very good cleaner on such builds. For once, it also discourages Sticky Web completely, and with Glare you will find enough para turns to break through special walls with something on your team if you decide to use it first.
Look, I won't pull my all cat team replay to prove its worth, but a Spe/SpD can really help this go a long way with Flame Charge/Power Trip. Its typing makes it able to power through Skeledirge or force it to Tera, Intimidate gives HO some breathing room, and it can even slot Taunt to keep walls low while blocking Whirlwind.
Draining Kiss is a funny addition to pull off the shenanigan, and it does have a different typing and Levitate to set itself apart, in particular Tera Poison/Steel makes Clodsire deadweight.
Offense
No Megahorn is a bit of a nerf, but Atk slot Keldeo is still a nice surprise that can win games, Special on the other hand now has Vacuum Wave for a nifty revenge killing tool, and Tera Blast is also helpful. Being able to strike SpD Alomomola or other special walls with Secret Sword can win games, even if it hates Clodsire and has to use Tera Blast if it wants to make progress.
Psychic Fangs and Knock Off are great new toys, Heavy Slam is as well but in a meta with more heavy Ubers it isn't as good. Even if it struggles against physical walls like Alomomola and Skarmory it can use Trick to cripple them.
Bulky Offense
Swampert is a very underrated pick imo. With the new Knock Off, it can now provide an Electric immunity while still doing what it's known for, as its Flip Turn can't be blocked by Clodsire with Earthquake.
Golurk has some untapped potential. It has a very good typing offensively while also giving 3 immunities defensively. It can take a dump Speed slot quite well and either run Choice Band for wallbreaking or Scarf for some Speed control. It also has Klutz which means a more unorthodox set of Trick Klutz can cripple a wall completely, defintely worth a try.
Stall
Most people look at this as a BO mon mostly but imo in stall it's nice to provide a Ground resist while also forming a Regen core potentially. It can run Nasty Plot to slowly make progress, or if you are into it you can run Leppa Recycle Infestation Recover and never lose any PP battle again.
Random thoughts about some other Pokemon
This thing is mad annoying to use. On one hand you want SpA slot, on the other hand when you realize speed creep means many Scarfers outspeed Modest, and some like Flutter Mane just outspeeds even Timid, you start to feel how fishy it is these days. Old problems like 4mss still plague it. No Sludge Bomb? Food for Ho-Oh. No Earth Power? Good luck against Eternatus and Heatran. The list goes on and on.
I will never understand why people like to use this. Shell Smash is great and all, but there are better ones, and it isn't even that great at being a Shell Smash sweeper tbh.
Not as good as it is in OU due to some mons having more usage, most notably Hatterene and Geezing. Giratina also clears its hazards well while threatening Gholdengo still.
Problematic elements?
Currently, meta feels nice overall, a survey will probably happen in the future, but what are the hot topics?
Probably what most people feel to be overwhelming. However, with Ho-Oh, Necrozma-DM and other things, I think we do have enough answers for it, and Specs is probably the set with the most raw power. But no Roost means it can't opt for Sub sets or Boots sets as well, and in such an entry hazard centric meta it can really struggle to have many chances to come in. Because of that I think it's managable, but further development might make it too powerful. Physical sets are just done better by Baxcalibur.
If there's something that pushes this over the edge it's Nasty Plot, but having this as a natural speed control feels nice. It makes it so that your Scarf speed control should have at least 104 Speed (So Iron Leaves or faster), but overall I think that's a good thing since its initial threat lies solely in Psycho Boost, which can be irky still due to Psychic not being a good offensive type, and it dies immediately if it predicts wrong. This also assumes it has enough power to threaten OHKO, which basically means you are running Kyurem-W or at the very least Eternatus, and you still need to bring it in which isn't easy. Even after NP it can still be forced out, so I think it's an overall healthy mainstay.
Tera
Tera is perfectly fine right now and provide defensive emergency answers, no Tera will break more stuffs than having Tera (especially true now due to Tera Fairy being very good in a horde of Dragon), this should preferably stay until the end of the gen.
Unburden
I don't know about Unburden, but if something takes the boot I think it's Hawlucha only. Sneasler needs Tera Flying to do the same thing as Hawlucha, and Hawlucha can boost even more with Tera Flying or blocks burn and Fairy moves with Tera Fire.
The future
I can foresee whether a council vote or suspect for Kyurem, then after more meta development Deoxys-S and Unburden if the surveys call for them. Tera suspect is probably inevitable due to DLC1 meta not having one due to circumstances, maybe before Deoxys-S and Unburden. After that it might be hard to envision what will happen next. If Tera is gone then I guess a lot of Dragons will have to be limited and probably some more, between Gouging Fire and Dragapult, which will also free Regieleki, Ogerpon-H and Terapagos. After that, Booster Energy probably is a target to reduce HO influence. If Tera stays I think Hawlucha/Unburden will be tackled next, but I can't see what else at the moment.
Team dump
- Deoxys OffenseThis was originally a Deoxys-A team with Smeargle in Atk slot but I felt like salvaging it. The result is not that bad I guess, with Rillaboom helping out Comfey a bit against Psyspam. Deoxys sadly lacks much power compared to Deoxys-A so feels like you should only use Life Orb, otherwise you will just be short of getting a KO. Comfey is interesting, it can win outright or be useless, but at the very least it can force Tera pretty often. Ditto was probably best with Deoxys-A but now I think Tusk can be in that slot without much of a downgrade if some defensive presence is needed.
- Groudon SunNote: This team is BAD. I hastily made this when DLC first dropped while I was still in OM Champs. This gets eaten alive by Psyspam, Dragon, Ghost and Fairy so uh, if you want to salvage this maybe just replace Venusaur, that thing is disappointing. Raging Bolt at least feels nice as a wincon against teams lacking Clodsire while Gouging Fire can just nuke stuffs.
- NDW TRCurrently sample, Deoxys keeping Teleport was the main reason I wanted to revisit Trick Room, Idk why I ended up with Rampardos but SFLO with giant Atk and SpA is pretty funny to say the least. Unfortunately SpD Ting-Lu can still hold it for a while and this team has no hazard control so if you face like Def Alomomola + SpD Ting-Lu it can't do much. Tera Blast Fairy NDW is pretty nice as well but is best used as a cleaner or if it gets an especially good mu. Ghost are problematic but you can try juggling around with Comfey and Tera Deoxys.
- Eternatus BalanceIt feels tough to fit hazard control at times in this meta ngl, so this sample aims to break things before it gets overwhelmed. Skarm setting Spikes can also force Defog eventually while Skeledirge can spinblock in case of emergency. Deoxys-S helps stack Spikes further, probably can go Boots but I like having more power since Kyurem can already do the breaking against Ting-Lu and Alomomola. Haban on Eternatus helps against even more Dragon these days.
- Dual Sun/ETerrainSeeing Raging Bolt now being the sole Rising Voltage user makes me want to build a sun Eterrain hybrid. Alas Koraidon would be such a perfect addition if not for its ban. When I think about what else benefits from both, well clearly a Fire-type Quark Drive Pokemon which is Iron Moth. Now all members are weak to Ground but like there's no better god than Zacian-C to fill up this slot. Filler Atk slot is now 100% a Ground immunity, probably can be something like Mandibuzz as well but good old Corv should work. Idk if full SpA Moth is better to maximize wallbreaking but either way you will want to rely on it to break stuffs before Raging Bolt can clean up. If you face SpD Alomomola then Raging Bolt might be able to win after some Calm Mind. Zacian-C doesn't need to be sent out sparingly like ordinary Zacian-C structures, you usually send it out to tank attacks more.
- Ho-Oh BalanceI kinda like Quaquaval atm as an answer to Chien-Pao and Weavile, spinner while also getting Knock. Also Isaiah are you in the same Scarf Deoxys-S club as me? 756 Speed means you only lose to madness like Scarf Flutter Mane in sun or like Idk some psycho running Eternatus Speed Timid Chlorophyll. Even Jolly Sneasler only reaches 744 so you should always be safe against them even if they run Taunt for your Skarm and Skeledirge. You will most of the time just Trick it to cripple opposing special walls though, which is very helpful against Ting-Lu among others. Triple Axel is a pretty good toy for Meowscarada for Geezing or Ho-Oh, accuracy is a bit annoying and Rocky Helmet nukes it back so it should still spam Knock first before trying to claim kills. Once Alomomola has been Knocked, Garganacl becomes annoying very fast, usually forcing it to take substantial chip if it wants to pass Wish, while Protect or going Clodsire also blocks Flip Turn, meaning the manual switch usually has to take Salt Cure as well. Overall a very solid build, which I will make a sample.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9godlygift-2031660569-2mnoresefili6px9nm7s5c9fdm8nj7qpw A replay of how this breaks Rest spam fat in action
- NDM Magnezone Pivot SpamHey UT, it's your favorite Magnet Pull striking again. Rillaboom feels very nice right now on BO builds in particular and offense in general even with Glide nerf. Emergency SpD wall, extra recovery, revenge killer. And well Magnezone supports Rilla and NDM by getting rid of Corv, Skarm, even opposing NDM and Treads if you can afford to use Tera (To a lesser extent Heatran but Rilla can already deal with it). Band Cinderace is pretty strong against most stuffs, with Gunk Shot poison coming in handy against Alomomola and Skeledirge and Court Chance being the best it has ever been. Speaking of which, Skeledirge is also a target for Magnezone to Tera, that will help immensely. NDM's SpA slot can also be filled by Dragapult or Deoxys-S, I just fancy having Helectrode there to utilize Grassy Terrain and pivot.
- Giratina StallA slightly different diversion from how gen 9 stall teams usually look like. Tyranitar was a solid option on stall last gen, though this gen does have some stuffs like Flutter that can give it some trouble. You can still take a hit from Specs to Knock it back, but general Ghost should be taken with some caution. I already talked about Hydrapple above, the rest are pretty standard bar the Geezing to ensure Defog works against Gholdengo unless your opponent cteams with Ability Shield.
- Classic Caly-I LuchaFeels like Caly-I Lucha will always end up looking like this, just with slightly different stuffs like Clodsire or Alomomola instead maybe or slightly different defensive core, even now unless you decide to go more offense which is a big risk in itself. Reason? Tough to fit speed control, SpA slot for Helectrode, Deoxys-A or Dragapult isn't usable. Caly-I itself can be quite a drain against bad mu like Alomomola and Skarm, you also are compelled to fit a special mon somewhere, usually Flutter Mane if you go more offense with Grassy Seed, but then you risk losing to opposing Hawlucha yourself. In any case, using Hawlucha is a big risk, I haven't seen a structure that can be consistent with Caly-I so yeah.
- Kyurem-B HOMost Screen HO teams prefer Grimmsnarl due to the increased Speed making Alolatales unreliable to get Veil consistently but I do think it can still work in structures like this. Kyurem-B really enjoys the Snow Def boost, as does Chien-Pao. Hell in Snow with Veil Chien-Pao can even live a Body Press from Skarm after Rock. Hamurott applies extra pressure by setting Spikes, you can also use it as a lead in some matchups. If you play it right you can force Tera pretty early and then decide the pathway to win from there.
- Kyurem-W Keldeo BOWith Slowtwin stocks dropping, Keldeo seems good. I crammed in as many pivotting moves as I could to bring it in. Scarf Kyurem-W is insufficient against Deoxys-S but I already have a hard check in Scizor, with Mandibuzz also being able to answer Shadow Ball/Focus Blast variants. Kyurem-W is still a great breaker against the common ClodAlo core though it can be used more offensively. Pecharunt has good defensive synergy with Mandibuzz to round out the pivot core, Malignant Chain crippling special walls is also nice. Also emergencily deals with Hatterene.
- Arceus BalanceHave you noticed I use a different god for every team? Arceus is the strongest left, though building with it in this meta can feel a bit awkward due to lacking that oomph to have some offensive presence. Thus I made my little awkward Volcanion set, which can smack even Mirror Coat Alomomola with no problem. Tera Flying means it can trap Clodsire as well. Serperior joins the disruption club with SubSeed, the last slot can range from Dragon Pulse, Tera Blast to Glare, but I figure Knock Off might be better for consistent long-term progress while essentially doubling Leech Seed chip against Leftovers, also helpful against RegenVest and Boots. Taunt Arceus is another solid late-game wincon, with Tera Ghost turning Skarm into complete setup bait. The lack of Dark resist can be dangerous so Glowking can fill up the role with Tera Dark. Golurk provides general speed control while also having very useful immunities to work with. Ground/Ghost is tough for offense to handle as well.
That's it for now, however THE REAL POST has yet to come, stay tuned for that.
Guys I think we need to suspect test maushold since it gained too many new and overpowered high base attack gods in the DLC 2 such as kyurem, ho-oh, deoxys, necrozma-dusk-mane, which are gods that have good defensive utility apart from being able to make maushold into an almost unstoppable nuke with the combo of tidy up + encore.
It can destroy pecharunt at +0 with only calyrex-ice's atk. If pecharunt cannot wall it, only stamina rocky helmet archaludon can strike fear into the emaushold user, pressuring the builder to put two checks to maushold on their team, which is very difficult to fit on anyways.
It can destroy pecharunt at +0 with only calyrex-ice's atk. If pecharunt cannot wall it, only stamina rocky helmet archaludon can strike fear into the emaushold user, pressuring the builder to put two checks to maushold on their team, which is very difficult to fit on anyways.
Maushold is in my opinion the symbol of the mon that works in the builder but not in the game in reality. You need to be able to place the TUp which is difficult given the bulk of Maushold and even at +1 speed you're not that fast and you get passed by a lot of Scarf and you get blown up by Deoxys-S especially since if you want to take K- O you have to use PopBomb but then you let Fmane in without any problem which puts you in permanent 50-50 situations that are difficult to play (Fmane in the kind of build where it's going to be the answer to the mons like Maushold). O you have to use PopBomb but then you let Fmane in without any problem which puts you in permanent 50-50 difficult to play (Fmane in the kind of build where it's going to be the answer to mons like Maushold won't be OHKO'd by these coverages especially as if he plays Booster Energy you get OHKO'd by Moonblast and you lose your big slot without having done anything) You can put him in Speed to really be fast at +1 but you do 0 damage. .. No matter how you play it, it's going to cause problems for your team and will often be better replaced by an Ogerpon for example, it only works if you're much better than your opponent if he knows how to play you'll never have the time to make it profitable like you can make other mon profitable.
Meta this, meta that, who cares? The only important thing players should focus on in GG is: how do animals fare against each other? Are you a dog lover? Maybe you prefer cats? Can I have some more exotic animals, you ask? You will get them all, as long as Game Freak threw them enough Pokemon to maneuver with. Unfortunately with dexit animals come and go, much like the zodiac. Perhaps something else other than animals can give you the kick you need? Who knows, but give it a try, perhaps you will find successes with these vile sets that will speedrun you to 1200 ELO on the ladder! (From 1400)
S tier
Dinosaur
In the first echelon of viability, we have a team so ancient, it's almost as old as some of the OM Room owners. Just look at all of these 4 Pokemon! They are the beacon of great teams, DLC truly blessed us with prehistoric monsters to relive the Cretaceous terror. After seeing creatures that outlast them for millions of years, surely your opponents will forfeit out of respect for the elderly. Unfortunately, you might just face disgraceful children that want to steal all of your pension, in which case you can just drop some Draco Meteors on them, the Chicxuclub doesn't spare anyone after all. When in danger, you can also roll the red carpet to ease their rampage, in this case it's whatever you want to call in your HP and SpA slot. Unfortunately Venusaur is not actually a dinosaur, otherwise you could actually get something resembling an actual team. Most fossil Pokemon are a thing of the past so you don't get much flexibility, but you can always slot Rampardos in if you want a nuke that will actually never nuke anything except itself due to Head Miss.
Cat
This team is best used by 3 players: Neko, nya and cat . Gen 9 blessed us with Meowscarada and Chien-Pao, and DLC2 brought back even more so we can say goodbye to our good old Persian, unlike Australia who can't say goodbye to their cats. Keep in mind there's no way you can master this team, this team masters you... Only the chosen servants shall be blessed with no critical hit under screens, timely server crashes and opponent's internet malfunction in the face of inevitable losses. Don't let the curiosity kill the cats except cat whose role is to provide safety to others. Once it's set, just leave others hungry so that they come to steal food from your neighbor which is coincidentally your opponent. Incineroar is the epitome of this behavior, it Power Trips harder than any Discord mod could ever dream of while still Taunting with outdated ligma jokes. If you ever feel generous you can also handicap yourself with lesser cats like Pyroar, Perrserker or Luxray.
Artificial
I get it, you are a true gamer so you are frightened by the prospect of seeing an animal in real life. Worry not, this team consisting of man-made tools shall make you right at home. However, my apology that Rotom-Wash is still a bit of a jumpscare because you hardly ever see it. Surely your childhood friend M3G4N, now powered with AI, will comfort you though. Drifblim is out of fashion a long time ago, but it will give you an entertaining trip that's to die for. Klefki won't get you some Steam games, but it can lock your heart against any romantic advancement to focus on the grind. Archaludon and Golurk can be seen in Minecraft or like most games, unlike you are me and play 2048. Surprisingly our objects are pretty well balanced unlike VGC, so we can tool with opponents by changing times on them last minute or something. You can also opt for other Rotom formes, like the familiar fridge you open every hour despite already knowing what it has/doesn't have or the fan that keeps running due to someone's carelessness. HOWEVER, it's ill-advised to use the lawnmower when you have no experience touching grass or the oven with your toddler-level cooking skill that somehow manages to burn the kitchen boiling water.
A tier
Multihead
It is said that three heads are better than one, which in theory should favor this team. Sadly, this is only true for some. If the three heads are American, it's actually worse than one because they will never be able to agree on one thing. Hydreigon has 3, however 2 of which are just secondary ones that blindly follow the main head, so we can safely assume this is some Asian boss-worker relationship. Manga/Anime readers also praise Japanese overlords so it all points to Hydreigon as the god here. Gweezing takes the boss's mantle but doesn't actually do much with it, you can blame nepotism for that, the boss will say because he is the only person with Defog but you know the truth. Based on the Price's law, in a company with n employees, √n employees do half of the work. Maushold is all those guys here, trying to sweep quite literally and figuratively. The rest help Maushold do a little while chilling with their salary. Corporate life might be difficult, but we know this will succeed and Maushold will get a raise!... I just got news Maushold got demoted due to Gweezing putting the blame on them for failure to control hazards. And such is life.
Snake
Many different legends describe snakes as creatures of atrocious sins, betrayal and cruelty that strike fear into hearts of helpless ordinary citizens. But those who tap into their potential, those that dare to tame the beast many are frightened to even think about are depicted as wealthy, successful and heartless beings capable of utter greatness. The choice is yours: Join force and unleash devastating venoms upon unfortunate victims, or be consumed by the endless wave of Glare and question your existence.
Dog
Just like clockwork, when you think Game Freak retires dog Pokemon they keep coming back, much like all those that "quit mons". However, they still can't even add a dog that resists Water despite dogs being better swimmers than cats, so let's just hope you don't run into any Kyogre along the way. You dogpile on your opponents with physical attackers to display dominance and because the only special dog Pokemon is dogshit, unless you successfully convince people (only UT will believe) that Walking Wake is a dog. Zacian - hero of many battles - is in charge ofgifting ELO matchup fish lead the pack, set Swords Dance and hopefully doesn't see any Unaware on the other side. Of course brute force is not the only way dogs can deal damage, you can let others spread rabies to their walls first before attempting to claim the territory. Should you fancy other breeds, Granbull, Houndoom, Lycanroc, Mightyena are some of the underdogs that will heel even faster in the heat of battle.
Horse
Horses are thriving, at least in this fictional world, in the fabric of reality called Paldea. Palkia suddenly becoming a horse, Arceus (you can call this a llama, a goat or whatever but it does resemble a mighty stallion), and Calyrex-I provide some nifty picks. I don't have a horse in the race, but how can you choose anything except GOD himself? It's not all rainbow and sunshine, quite literally without both Rapidash, but we have Kingdra to Fill In The Blank (let's pretend Zebstrika is not a thing). With all these horses, you can imagine yourself to be a monarch noble, and you can feel comfortable being on a noble mission indeed to rob from the rich (you) to give to the poor new players. If you are ever on the high horse, perhaps Spectrier or Glastrier can gallop to the occasional victory but don't bet on it, it's not like anyone other than Calyrex can ride them anyway.
B tier
Food
While these are not the pizza and coke we are used to in a true gamer's diet, they do well enough to satiate our hunger. For your opponent though, maybe they will drool so hard on their keyboard after seeing this squad that their keyboard breaks, making you win by default. Pecharunt provided a much needed powerhouse to make the team tough to swallow. An apple a day, fresh from Ponix LLC™, keeps the doctor away, unless they are PhD.BJ. Dachsbun and Alcremie from Paris Baguette™ and Tatsugiri from Jiro Sushi™ offer a wide choice for carbonhydrate, with the icing on top being extra fruit, sugar and protein for a healthy diet. However, all your savings are put on the luxurious Lipton™ Polteageist, which makes your opponent stay awake trying to anticipate its debut. A special thanks to all the sponsors for making this post come true.
"Flightless" bird
Debating about which ones should be flightless is a pain, like you can say Dodrio is flightless due to irl, but it learns Fly in game and is Flying-type, and then you have the opposite in Fezandipiti, so let's just say flightless means no Flying-type. Surprisingly this flock has a god that will fly the team to victory. As such, you should consume a lot of Redbull, which has the added benefit of keeping you sane while getting your ELO and wings clipped. Your Close Combat birds are the best bet to squawk out a win, but you can Close Combat your monitor instead in the event that they don't. Tip: Use this during Christmas so that you can say you are using a Christmas theme team and embracing Iron Bundle's role as a santa giving out presents left and right.
Deer
This team thrives mostly in the cold Arctic, now they gotta do something off-season for a change. Iron Leaves is the manager of the hotel you once went in, they mostly were in there due to his long tenure but you felt like it could be someone better, they are dedicated and use energy drink to stay focused at least. Cobalion is the old taxi driver, being grumpy about the young is in his nature, and he's always eager to tell stories of days long past, it's ok, you should just get him to bed. Also got a few cab call to Iron Leaves' hotel to boost his ego even more. Reminiscing professional athlete days, Wyrdeer now seeks to guide the next generation as a coach. Despite being scary, she's actually a softie that likes to set a good example despite never achieving much in the past. Sawsbuck is the McDonald's employee that messes up your menu on his first day at work, occasionally he gets the job done but don't count on it but hey, you might get something more expensive than what you ordered free of charge. Ting-Lu is the caring teacher that's in high demand, loved by most because of her service to create a safe environment for children. She also lets them play with some exotic toys - some may call it hazardous even. Iron Crown is related to Cobalion, they do their psychologist job pretty well, despite not everyone requiring the service, it's very handy when the situation calls for it.
Rodent
You can go full hardcore with Pikaclones or route 1 rodents to make use of the positivity provided by Plusle or the goofy Greedent but you probably should play Monotype GG in that case because let's face it, if you actually expect to win with those teams then you are just a Bibarel: Simple, Moody and Unaware. I also learned porcupines are rodents so that helps getting 3 big additions in, including a god. In fact, looking at the team you already know your win condition: opponents bringing Ash's team, Maushold somehow getting a free Tidy Up + opponent conveniently having 0 counterplay or opponent using mono weak to Fire. Alternatively, you can just get wins with timer, that happens pretty frequently even if you load only a level 1 Magikarp.
Turtle
Why doesn't turtle smash the shell to win the race against rabbit, is it stupid? No Carracosta, Shuckle or Turtonator, we barely have enough for a team, last I heard Golem can retreat into its shell as well so that maybe an alternative. In any case, show Cinderace that the real game only begins now. Terapagos is apparently a so called "god", but uh, let's just say things could have gone differently... Is the Stellar forme broken enough to carry its stat deadweight? Idk have you tried carrying pannu threatening to cancer in a team tour? This is about as hard as that.
C tier
Monke
This team slaps hard, well particularly Ambipom. Patience is a virtue like they say, you just need to wait for your opportunity to strike some W. In this case, it's mere millions of years so that your Pokemon can evolve into something more useful, in particular they will become more human-like Pokemon such as Gallade, Conkeldurr and Kingambit. If you can wait a little bit longer for just an extra 999 million years, then you might also get Iron Valiant. In the mean time, watch your team go ape and swing the vines all while you imagine yourself being Tarzan with the jungle under your command, even if the similarity stops at you banging your head against the keyboard the way he smashes into a tree. Cheaper bananas might only bait Passimian and Oranguru, so you need to pay up to feed your current monkey squads, but always free to feed ladder players.
Amphibian
Losing to Clodsire might feel bitter for you, but for this team, it's just another Wednesday. Some say Ludicolo might qualify as an amphibian, but it's actually based on a kappa, and even if it's indeed a frog of some sort, should you opt for it, its dance actually will just remind you of the same dance your opponent makes while facing this team, so best to just ignore it altogether. The dynamic of this team lies on Poliwrath, you just need to be a cointoss expert to grasp its full potential. While You are unique and cover something, You realize that it's probably just a mismatch and You don't synergize with her as well as You thought. Maybe turn to relationship advice on Twitter or Reddit to see how experts that stay single their entire life handle this situation.
Bear
It's sad to see our brothers Pangoro and Bewear stopped at the border, be sure to give them a hug. As such, we have to call upon Ursaring to fill their place, which at least is passable because of its once FE status. This team is pretty good, all it needs is a Fighting-resist, a Fairy-resist, a Grass-resist, a Dragon-resist, a Flying-resist, a Ground-resist, a Normal-resist, a Psychic-resist and an entry hazard setter, which are all pretty minor if you ask me. Outside of those tiny details, this team is well-rounded and honestly quite normal (two-third to be exact). Perhaps the unlikely alliance can hardly produce desirable results, but if you are into it, be my guest. You can mix things up with ordinary Ursaluna but let's be honest, your ELO will hibernate regardless of your choice.
Moth
We have delved into the realm of unviable but still with enough junk to make a garbage fire, which can keep you warm at night but also smells horribly. But oh does the fire attract all the moths, that fact hasn't and won't change for billions of years (it's due to a weird reason but it seems that way). It's inevitable that the moth army will crash similar to how a successful team does after inviting Waifu bot into their team Discord. At least you can look at this wall of calcs and delude yourself into buying this team's viability.
Dishonorable mentions
Lizards: They actually have enough for a team of 6, but really, without Koraidon and Miraidon, why even bother?
Elephants: Falls short of getting enough viable Pokemon, 3 Donphans, Mamoswine and Copperajah can almost muster something. But alas, 3 of them aren't even real, and neither is this idea.
Fish: Look, you should play Monotype GG instead or go to the seafood market for some fish representation. Are you that desperate to use Chi-Yu?
Rabbit: Lopunny and Diggersby are gone missing in Australia, all the remaining ones are hopping to OU.
Crab: You can count everything that has Crabhammer, unfortunately both Gliscor and Crawdaunt are restricted. This is not Christmas Island.
Cow: Imagine if there were no Species Clause... But as it stands you can't milk those unlike Charizard.
Spider: You already have a web, you don't need these.
Bird: Play Monotype GG
Sea mammal: Wailord is a bit too threatened by all the hunting and sadly you can't catch Genshin players to replace the whale.
Pig: Emboar, Grumpig, Oinkologne and Piloswine are 4, but since there are no more they are better served on the dish instead.
Human: You don't feel proud for being smarter and stronger than a cat now do you?
Conclusion
All of these are not set in stone. It all depends on your ability to gaslight and deceive, or if your opponent is already misguided. Some really think Suicune and Entei are dogs, but maybe just a bit of push can convince people Clefable is a cat or Alomomola is a dog in disguise.
S tier
Dinosaur
In the first echelon of viability, we have a team so ancient, it's almost as old as some of the OM Room owners. Just look at all of these 4 Pokemon! They are the beacon of great teams, DLC truly blessed us with prehistoric monsters to relive the Cretaceous terror. After seeing creatures that outlast them for millions of years, surely your opponents will forfeit out of respect for the elderly. Unfortunately, you might just face disgraceful children that want to steal all of your pension, in which case you can just drop some Draco Meteors on them, the Chicxuclub doesn't spare anyone after all. When in danger, you can also roll the red carpet to ease their rampage, in this case it's whatever you want to call in your HP and SpA slot. Unfortunately Venusaur is not actually a dinosaur, otherwise you could actually get something resembling an actual team. Most fossil Pokemon are a thing of the past so you don't get much flexibility, but you can always slot Rampardos in if you want a nuke that will actually never nuke anything except itself due to Head Miss.
Cat
This team is best used by 3 players: Neko, nya and cat . Gen 9 blessed us with Meowscarada and Chien-Pao, and DLC2 brought back even more so we can say goodbye to our good old Persian, unlike Australia who can't say goodbye to their cats. Keep in mind there's no way you can master this team, this team masters you... Only the chosen servants shall be blessed with no critical hit under screens, timely server crashes and opponent's internet malfunction in the face of inevitable losses. Don't let the curiosity kill the cats except cat whose role is to provide safety to others. Once it's set, just leave others hungry so that they come to steal food from your neighbor which is coincidentally your opponent. Incineroar is the epitome of this behavior, it Power Trips harder than any Discord mod could ever dream of while still Taunting with outdated ligma jokes. If you ever feel generous you can also handicap yourself with lesser cats like Pyroar, Perrserker or Luxray.
Artificial
I get it, you are a true gamer so you are frightened by the prospect of seeing an animal in real life. Worry not, this team consisting of man-made tools shall make you right at home. However, my apology that Rotom-Wash is still a bit of a jumpscare because you hardly ever see it. Surely your childhood friend M3G4N, now powered with AI, will comfort you though. Drifblim is out of fashion a long time ago, but it will give you an entertaining trip that's to die for. Klefki won't get you some Steam games, but it can lock your heart against any romantic advancement to focus on the grind. Archaludon and Golurk can be seen in Minecraft or like most games, unlike you are me and play 2048. Surprisingly our objects are pretty well balanced unlike VGC, so we can tool with opponents by changing times on them last minute or something. You can also opt for other Rotom formes, like the familiar fridge you open every hour despite already knowing what it has/doesn't have or the fan that keeps running due to someone's carelessness. HOWEVER, it's ill-advised to use the lawnmower when you have no experience touching grass or the oven with your toddler-level cooking skill that somehow manages to burn the kitchen boiling water.
A tier
Multihead
It is said that three heads are better than one, which in theory should favor this team. Sadly, this is only true for some. If the three heads are American, it's actually worse than one because they will never be able to agree on one thing. Hydreigon has 3, however 2 of which are just secondary ones that blindly follow the main head, so we can safely assume this is some Asian boss-worker relationship. Manga/Anime readers also praise Japanese overlords so it all points to Hydreigon as the god here. Gweezing takes the boss's mantle but doesn't actually do much with it, you can blame nepotism for that, the boss will say because he is the only person with Defog but you know the truth. Based on the Price's law, in a company with n employees, √n employees do half of the work. Maushold is all those guys here, trying to sweep quite literally and figuratively. The rest help Maushold do a little while chilling with their salary. Corporate life might be difficult, but we know this will succeed and Maushold will get a raise!... I just got news Maushold got demoted due to Gweezing putting the blame on them for failure to control hazards. And such is life.
Snake
Many different legends describe snakes as creatures of atrocious sins, betrayal and cruelty that strike fear into hearts of helpless ordinary citizens. But those who tap into their potential, those that dare to tame the beast many are frightened to even think about are depicted as wealthy, successful and heartless beings capable of utter greatness. The choice is yours: Join force and unleash devastating venoms upon unfortunate victims, or be consumed by the endless wave of Glare and question your existence.
Dog
Just like clockwork, when you think Game Freak retires dog Pokemon they keep coming back, much like all those that "quit mons". However, they still can't even add a dog that resists Water despite dogs being better swimmers than cats, so let's just hope you don't run into any Kyogre along the way. You dogpile on your opponents with physical attackers to display dominance and because the only special dog Pokemon is dogshit, unless you successfully convince people (only UT will believe) that Walking Wake is a dog. Zacian - hero of many battles - is in charge of
Horse
Horses are thriving, at least in this fictional world, in the fabric of reality called Paldea. Palkia suddenly becoming a horse, Arceus (you can call this a llama, a goat or whatever but it does resemble a mighty stallion), and Calyrex-I provide some nifty picks. I don't have a horse in the race, but how can you choose anything except GOD himself? It's not all rainbow and sunshine, quite literally without both Rapidash, but we have Kingdra to Fill In The Blank (let's pretend Zebstrika is not a thing). With all these horses, you can imagine yourself to be a monarch noble, and you can feel comfortable being on a noble mission indeed to rob from the rich (you) to give to the poor new players. If you are ever on the high horse, perhaps Spectrier or Glastrier can gallop to the occasional victory but don't bet on it, it's not like anyone other than Calyrex can ride them anyway.
B tier
Food
While these are not the pizza and coke we are used to in a true gamer's diet, they do well enough to satiate our hunger. For your opponent though, maybe they will drool so hard on their keyboard after seeing this squad that their keyboard breaks, making you win by default. Pecharunt provided a much needed powerhouse to make the team tough to swallow. An apple a day, fresh from Ponix LLC™, keeps the doctor away, unless they are PhD.BJ. Dachsbun and Alcremie from Paris Baguette™ and Tatsugiri from Jiro Sushi™ offer a wide choice for carbonhydrate, with the icing on top being extra fruit, sugar and protein for a healthy diet. However, all your savings are put on the luxurious Lipton™ Polteageist, which makes your opponent stay awake trying to anticipate its debut. A special thanks to all the sponsors for making this post come true.
"Flightless" bird
Debating about which ones should be flightless is a pain, like you can say Dodrio is flightless due to irl, but it learns Fly in game and is Flying-type, and then you have the opposite in Fezandipiti, so let's just say flightless means no Flying-type. Surprisingly this flock has a god that will fly the team to victory. As such, you should consume a lot of Redbull, which has the added benefit of keeping you sane while getting your ELO and wings clipped. Your Close Combat birds are the best bet to squawk out a win, but you can Close Combat your monitor instead in the event that they don't. Tip: Use this during Christmas so that you can say you are using a Christmas theme team and embracing Iron Bundle's role as a santa giving out presents left and right.
Deer
This team thrives mostly in the cold Arctic, now they gotta do something off-season for a change. Iron Leaves is the manager of the hotel you once went in, they mostly were in there due to his long tenure but you felt like it could be someone better, they are dedicated and use energy drink to stay focused at least. Cobalion is the old taxi driver, being grumpy about the young is in his nature, and he's always eager to tell stories of days long past, it's ok, you should just get him to bed. Also got a few cab call to Iron Leaves' hotel to boost his ego even more. Reminiscing professional athlete days, Wyrdeer now seeks to guide the next generation as a coach. Despite being scary, she's actually a softie that likes to set a good example despite never achieving much in the past. Sawsbuck is the McDonald's employee that messes up your menu on his first day at work, occasionally he gets the job done but don't count on it but hey, you might get something more expensive than what you ordered free of charge. Ting-Lu is the caring teacher that's in high demand, loved by most because of her service to create a safe environment for children. She also lets them play with some exotic toys - some may call it hazardous even. Iron Crown is related to Cobalion, they do their psychologist job pretty well, despite not everyone requiring the service, it's very handy when the situation calls for it.
Rodent
You can go full hardcore with Pikaclones or route 1 rodents to make use of the positivity provided by Plusle or the goofy Greedent but you probably should play Monotype GG in that case because let's face it, if you actually expect to win with those teams then you are just a Bibarel: Simple, Moody and Unaware. I also learned porcupines are rodents so that helps getting 3 big additions in, including a god. In fact, looking at the team you already know your win condition: opponents bringing Ash's team, Maushold somehow getting a free Tidy Up + opponent conveniently having 0 counterplay or opponent using mono weak to Fire. Alternatively, you can just get wins with timer, that happens pretty frequently even if you load only a level 1 Magikarp.
Turtle
Why doesn't turtle smash the shell to win the race against rabbit, is it stupid? No Carracosta, Shuckle or Turtonator, we barely have enough for a team, last I heard Golem can retreat into its shell as well so that maybe an alternative. In any case, show Cinderace that the real game only begins now. Terapagos is apparently a so called "god", but uh, let's just say things could have gone differently... Is the Stellar forme broken enough to carry its stat deadweight? Idk have you tried carrying pannu threatening to cancer in a team tour? This is about as hard as that.
C tier
Monke
This team slaps hard, well particularly Ambipom. Patience is a virtue like they say, you just need to wait for your opportunity to strike some W. In this case, it's mere millions of years so that your Pokemon can evolve into something more useful, in particular they will become more human-like Pokemon such as Gallade, Conkeldurr and Kingambit. If you can wait a little bit longer for just an extra 999 million years, then you might also get Iron Valiant. In the mean time, watch your team go ape and swing the vines all while you imagine yourself being Tarzan with the jungle under your command, even if the similarity stops at you banging your head against the keyboard the way he smashes into a tree. Cheaper bananas might only bait Passimian and Oranguru, so you need to pay up to feed your current monkey squads, but always free to feed ladder players.
Amphibian
Losing to Clodsire might feel bitter for you, but for this team, it's just another Wednesday. Some say Ludicolo might qualify as an amphibian, but it's actually based on a kappa, and even if it's indeed a frog of some sort, should you opt for it, its dance actually will just remind you of the same dance your opponent makes while facing this team, so best to just ignore it altogether. The dynamic of this team lies on Poliwrath, you just need to be a cointoss expert to grasp its full potential. While You are unique and cover something, You realize that it's probably just a mismatch and You don't synergize with her as well as You thought. Maybe turn to relationship advice on Twitter or Reddit to see how experts that stay single their entire life handle this situation.
Bear
It's sad to see our brothers Pangoro and Bewear stopped at the border, be sure to give them a hug. As such, we have to call upon Ursaring to fill their place, which at least is passable because of its once FE status. This team is pretty good, all it needs is a Fighting-resist, a Fairy-resist, a Grass-resist, a Dragon-resist, a Flying-resist, a Ground-resist, a Normal-resist, a Psychic-resist and an entry hazard setter, which are all pretty minor if you ask me. Outside of those tiny details, this team is well-rounded and honestly quite normal (two-third to be exact). Perhaps the unlikely alliance can hardly produce desirable results, but if you are into it, be my guest. You can mix things up with ordinary Ursaluna but let's be honest, your ELO will hibernate regardless of your choice.
Moth
We have delved into the realm of unviable but still with enough junk to make a garbage fire, which can keep you warm at night but also smells horribly. But oh does the fire attract all the moths, that fact hasn't and won't change for billions of years (it's due to a weird reason but it seems that way). It's inevitable that the moth army will crash similar to how a successful team does after inviting Waifu bot into their team Discord. At least you can look at this wall of calcs and delude yourself into buying this team's viability.
132 SpA Iron Moth Fiery Dance vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory (120 HP): 342-404 (77 - 90.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk (100 SpD): 288-338 (66.3 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Archaludon: 306-360 (79.8 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Venomoth Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Ice: 248-294 (61.3 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Well ok maybe not these
252 SpA Venomoth Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Magikarp: 508-598 (280.6 - 330.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Venomoth Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Sunkern: 806-950 (400.9 - 472.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Venomoth Sludge Wave vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Ice Scales Snom: 201-237 (99.5 - 117.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
Wait shit it actually might not even kill this.
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Feebas: 591-696 (326.5 - 384.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cosmog: 229-270 (100.8 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pichu: 681-802 (376.2 - 443%) -- guaranteed OHKO
After all, who doesn't want these meta staples taken down?
132 SpA Iron Moth Fiery Dance vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 612-724 (137.8 - 163%) -- guaranteed OHKO
132 SpA Iron Moth Fiery Dance vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Leavanny: 1 Mothillion-2 Mothillion (210.3 - 248.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Oh yeah just a tiny detail: I'm stepping down from GG council.
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Rayquaza: 628-744 (178.9 - 211.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 688-816 (180.1 - 213.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 652-772 (182.6 - 216.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk (100 SpD): 288-338 (66.3 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Archaludon: 306-360 (79.8 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Venomoth Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Ice: 248-294 (61.3 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Well ok maybe not these
252 SpA Venomoth Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Magikarp: 508-598 (280.6 - 330.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Venomoth Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Sunkern: 806-950 (400.9 - 472.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Venomoth Sludge Wave vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Ice Scales Snom: 201-237 (99.5 - 117.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
Wait shit it actually might not even kill this.
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Feebas: 591-696 (326.5 - 384.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cosmog: 229-270 (100.8 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
172 Atk Slither Wing Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pichu: 681-802 (376.2 - 443%) -- guaranteed OHKO
After all, who doesn't want these meta staples taken down?
132 SpA Iron Moth Fiery Dance vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 612-724 (137.8 - 163%) -- guaranteed OHKO
132 SpA Iron Moth Fiery Dance vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Leavanny: 1 Mothillion-2 Mothillion (210.3 - 248.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Oh yeah just a tiny detail: I'm stepping down from GG council.
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Rayquaza: 628-744 (178.9 - 211.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 688-816 (180.1 - 213.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 652-772 (182.6 - 216.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Dishonorable mentions
Lizards: They actually have enough for a team of 6, but really, without Koraidon and Miraidon, why even bother?
Elephants: Falls short of getting enough viable Pokemon, 3 Donphans, Mamoswine and Copperajah can almost muster something. But alas, 3 of them aren't even real, and neither is this idea.
Fish: Look, you should play Monotype GG instead or go to the seafood market for some fish representation. Are you that desperate to use Chi-Yu?
Rabbit: Lopunny and Diggersby are gone missing in Australia, all the remaining ones are hopping to OU.
Crab: You can count everything that has Crabhammer, unfortunately both Gliscor and Crawdaunt are restricted. This is not Christmas Island.
Cow: Imagine if there were no Species Clause... But as it stands you can't milk those unlike Charizard.
Spider: You already have a web, you don't need these.
Bird: Play Monotype GG
Sea mammal: Wailord is a bit too threatened by all the hunting and sadly you can't catch Genshin players to replace the whale.
Pig: Emboar, Grumpig, Oinkologne and Piloswine are 4, but since there are no more they are better served on the dish instead.
Human: You don't feel proud for being smarter and stronger than a cat now do you?
Conclusion
All of these are not set in stone. It all depends on your ability to gaslight and deceive, or if your opponent is already misguided. Some really think Suicune and Entei are dogs, but maybe just a bit of push can convince people Clefable is a cat or Alomomola is a dog in disguise.
quick post because i'm out of majors and i wanted to team dump. Warning: none of these are a) original or b) good at all, so use at your own risk
Hazard removal sucks, so what if we just ignored hazards completely? This team features 5 Heavy Duty Boots in an attempt to answer that question. Clodsire here opts for Water Absorb to completely stuff opposing Alomomola (which is not completely novel) and always make progress with Toxic or Stealth Rock. Etern, Clod and Incin all spread status for Dragapult to wallbreak. Incineroar actually puts in a lot of work (thanks ponchlake) with good stabs and Knock Off, to ensure you have the monopoly on the only relevant Pokemon shoes :tm:
I'm pretty convinced that Torterra is the truth. It only underspeeds Scarfers or Deoxys-S after a smash - which it can easily get due to fantastic natural bulk - and it has the coverage to smack a lot of common cores. With a more meaningful attack donation, it probably rips through teams, but here, it functioned as a late-game cleaner (and almost succeeded, had I not clicked Wood Hammer when my Tort was on low HP). The other members of the team are fairly conventional, except for the Zacian-Crowned, which is invested heavily in special bulk to soft-check many tier staples such as Kyurem and Deoxys-Speed.
This is actually just a basic bitch build; the most innovative thing here is AV Treads to not fold immediately to Deo-S and Specs Kyurem.
I am looking forward to GGUU. Will be fun to get hands-on, hopefully, a more diverse metagame.
Hazard removal sucks, so what if we just ignored hazards completely? This team features 5 Heavy Duty Boots in an attempt to answer that question. Clodsire here opts for Water Absorb to completely stuff opposing Alomomola (which is not completely novel) and always make progress with Toxic or Stealth Rock. Etern, Clod and Incin all spread status for Dragapult to wallbreak. Incineroar actually puts in a lot of work (thanks ponchlake) with good stabs and Knock Off, to ensure you have the monopoly on the only relevant Pokemon shoes :tm:
I'm pretty convinced that Torterra is the truth. It only underspeeds Scarfers or Deoxys-S after a smash - which it can easily get due to fantastic natural bulk - and it has the coverage to smack a lot of common cores. With a more meaningful attack donation, it probably rips through teams, but here, it functioned as a late-game cleaner (and almost succeeded, had I not clicked Wood Hammer when my Tort was on low HP). The other members of the team are fairly conventional, except for the Zacian-Crowned, which is invested heavily in special bulk to soft-check many tier staples such as Kyurem and Deoxys-Speed.
This is actually just a basic bitch build; the most innovative thing here is AV Treads to not fold immediately to Deo-S and Specs Kyurem.
I am looking forward to GGUU. Will be fun to get hands-on, hopefully, a more diverse metagame.
where can i request a mod to help with the teambuilding in godly gift? it is annoying to switch between slots in builder
Deoxys-Speed and Kyurem have been restricted!
| dhelmise | Fraise | Les2BG | Lily | Senko | TTTech | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deoxys-Speed | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT (6-0-0) |
| Kyurem | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT (6-0-0) |
This should probably come as a surprise to nobody. Deoxys-S was a hog of the Special Attack slot, and giving it a competent attacking stat combined with its insanely high Speed basically made it a Deoxys-A clone. Kyurem, similarly, hogged the Speed slot. its competent bulk and solid 130 Attack and Special Attack meant it only needed a good Speed stat to be reliable. Access to Freeze-Dry and solid coverage with Earth Power meant that Kyurem had little issue dealing with any sort of Pokemon, thus pushing it over the edge.
Why is godly gift in om of the month is it an unpopular om again?
gg teamdump since im out of majors
- Etern Sun
Probably the favorite team I made, loved piloting it. Its really efficient in breaking down most teams while being really fun to use. Wish on Flutter is honestly just filler, and the Def slot could be better but I found Moon to be pretty good here.
- Sub CM Tera Stellar Arceus BO
The idea behind this team was to build around this silly Arc set as a lategame wincon. Suicune felt like a potent wincon that also helps Arc win by draining PP from their checks. Serp also felt fun here and appreciates a check like Heatran being removed.
- Pikachu Webs
Pikachu is the star of the show here, hitting 1.5k SpA after a NP. It's really hard to check when it has BoltBeam coverage but since it has 1/1/1 bulk it dies to a light breeze. It also needs to be in the right position to click NP since it barely can live 1 weak neutral attack. Urshifu was a dump slot here I'm ngl, but it does things if you can get it up and running.
Less tested stuff
I don't really have much to say about these teams apart from half of them being ideas I wanted to test and most likely suck (i think i forgot teras on half the teams here)
banded meow fat
EKiller Booster Spam HO
PsySpam HO
Pao Fat
Kyurem-W Pult Offense
Do Not Use. Beat Up Weavile Offense
Silly Palkia-O Torn-T Rain
Overall, I think the current meta is pretty fun rn. Flutter still seems kinda suspect but otherwise I think the tier is fine rn.
- Etern SunProbably the favorite team I made, loved piloting it. Its really efficient in breaking down most teams while being really fun to use. Wish on Flutter is honestly just filler, and the Def slot could be better but I found Moon to be pretty good here.
- Sub CM Tera Stellar Arceus BO - Pikachu WebsPikachu is the star of the show here, hitting 1.5k SpA after a NP. It's really hard to check when it has BoltBeam coverage but since it has 1/1/1 bulk it dies to a light breeze. It also needs to be in the right position to click NP since it barely can live 1 weak neutral attack. Urshifu was a dump slot here I'm ngl, but it does things if you can get it up and running.
Less tested stuff
I don't really have much to say about these teams apart from half of them being ideas I wanted to test and most likely suck (i think i forgot teras on half the teams here)
banded meow fat EKiller Booster Spam HO PsySpam HO Pao Fat Kyurem-W Pult Offense Do Not Use. Beat Up Weavile Offense Silly Palkia-O Torn-T RainOverall, I think the current meta is pretty fun rn. Flutter still seems kinda suspect but otherwise I think the tier is fine rn.
Teamdump:
Ditto is cool, so i made a team and it actually works great.
Ditto is pretty good in godly gift, since the only stat it keeps is it's HP after transforming, with 120 base hp dontation, means you are almost always a better version of your opponent. Also you can copy your opponents god, which basically gives you 2. On stall, it is pretty good because it helps win the pp battle and at the same time be an anwser to setup sweepers. Clodsire and Alomamola are almost unkillable, Gholdengo is great to keep hazards on the field. Mandibuzz has a very strong knock off.
Also i made this webs team with stellar Serperior:
Araquanid with 170 attack is crazy, Huge Power is banned, but Water Bubble is basically Huge Power for water moves.
Update:
Fixed a mistake in the pokepaste
Ditto is cool, so i made a team and it actually works great.
Ditto is pretty good in godly gift, since the only stat it keeps is it's HP after transforming, with 120 base hp dontation, means you are almost always a better version of your opponent. Also you can copy your opponents god, which basically gives you 2. On stall, it is pretty good because it helps win the pp battle and at the same time be an anwser to setup sweepers. Clodsire and Alomamola are almost unkillable, Gholdengo is great to keep hazards on the field. Mandibuzz has a very strong knock off.
Also i made this webs team with stellar Serperior:
Araquanid with 170 attack is crazy, Huge Power is banned, but Water Bubble is basically Huge Power for water moves.
Update:
Fixed a mistake in the pokepaste
Last edited:
Huge Power and Pure Power have been unbanned!
Azumarill and Medicham have been restricted!
| dhelmise | Fraise | Les2BG | Lily | Senko | TTTech | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Azumarill | RESTRICT | DNR | DNR | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT (4-2-0) |
 Medicham | RESTRICT | DNR | DNR | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT | RESTRICT (4-2-0) |
Huge Power Pure Power | UNBAN | KEEP BANNED | KEEP BANNED | UNBAN | UNBAN | UNBAN | UNBAN (4-2-0) |
While losing Sap Sipper Azumarill as a switch-in to Ogerpon-W isn't fun, Azumarill and Medicham already had zero niche outside of that because of their heavy reliance on their Huge/Pure Power abilities. The reason why this ban is being switched around into a restriction for the two FEs of these lines is because we took a look at Pikachu and decided that Marill/Meditite would basically fulfill the same niche as Pikachu as being a frail NFE option with some obscenely high attacking stat to boon. While it is true that Marill has STAB Aqua Jet, that's pretty much all it has due to its Speed being so low. We will monitor this decision and act accordingly if it ends up to be too much for the meta, but for the time being, enjoy!