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Hey, so I've only really played one battle so far, but I'm pretty bored so I figured I would share my thoughts on Genesect. A lot of people in this tourney are much better than me, so forgive me if I make any mistakes in this.
For some background, before I took a long break from competitive Pokemon in general, I played a bit of XY OU back in the day, notably when they put Genesect in OU for a while, including other Ubers Pokemon that were once OU like Aegislash and ones that are OU now after being in Ubers like Mega Mawile, but that doesn't really matter since the differences between XY OU and SM OU are pretty major. It was banned mid-February along with Lucarionite for the following reasons, from History of XY/ORAS OU Bans.
Genesect brought tremendous versatility to the table. Whether it was Choice Scarf, Choice Band, Rock Polish, or one of its assortment of other sets, Genesect could fit in virtually any type of team. It also gained momentum absurdly easily thanks to a potentially Download-boosted STAB U-turn and a defensive typing that allowed it to pivot in very easily, so Genesect was very deserving of its selection as a suspect.
I believe that these reasons still stand in SM OU if Genesect was put into it. It's extremely great versatility in possible movesets and even its movepool alone would threaten a majority of OU to a point where it would otherwise be the toughest Pokemon to switch into by a longshot, among other things.
Genesect's great typing and good mixed offensive stats obviously make it an already good Pokemon. However, I believe that what really pushes it into Ubers is its ability, Download. Unlike other Pokemon with Download that usually only has one good offensive stat, both Genesect's Atk and SpAtk, both sitting at 120, are good enough to a point where if its running a mixed set, Download's boost will mostly be always beneficial on switch-in. Even if its only Atk move is U-Turn, it will still to a considerable amount of damage when calculating STAB and a Download boost. But typically, a SpAtk will always be great to pressure the opponent as many of its diverse moves come as Special moves, which leads into the next part.
Like I said before, Genesect's amazing movepool is what really sets it apart from other Pokemon in OU. Here's a list of its damaging moves to show how versatile and unpredictable it is (note that some might not be as good as the other but still have some usability in my opinion):
Very notable moves in bold. U-Turn
Bug Buzz
Flash Cannon
Iron Head
Dark Pulse Flamethrower
Flame Charge
Blaze Kick (still confused by this)
Giga Drain Gunk Shot
Blizzard Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Thunder Techno Blast (the Normal version, Drives are completely useless)
Psychic
Zen Headbutt
Shadow Claw Extreme Speed
Aerial Ace
Energy Ball
Explosion
Again, some of these are way worse to use over others like Shadow Claw and Psychic, but the point of how diverse its movepool is compared to other Pokemon is outstanding. Something to also note is that compared to XY, Genesect would have a rise in usage in Gunk Shot in OU as it hits all Tapus reliably, notably Tapu Bulu which can most likely live a Flamethrower or Ice Beam.
Here's some of it's moveset possibilities to show its overall versitility.
I can go on about how you can replace what with what, but this set is a pretty good Choice Specs set with a good STAB move and a classic BoltBeam combo, along with the obligatory U-Turn.
Genesect @ Choice Band
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-Turn
- Iron Head
- Extreme Speed
- literally anything else
Genesect also can run a reliable Choice Band set. Even though its Special moves have more to choose from, it still has a lot of great Physical moves to choose from.
Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Download
EVs: SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- U-Turn
- Iron Head
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower/literally anything else
In my opinion, this is Genesect's best set if was still in OU. Scarf allows it to revenge kill many Pokemon with its mixed moveset, along with being a fast pivot that would be amazing in VoltTurn cores.
Genesect in general can run many things with Life Orb, so I won't be listing any of them due to time, but overall it can run most variations of the sets above, especially the Choice Scarf set. However, I will show one to showcase how versatile this Pokemon is:
Genesect @ Life Orb
Ability: Download
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rock Polish
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
This is taken from an old RMT Archives XY OU post which can be found here. Although somethings might be outdated like the EVs, the general concept of this moveset is very different from what's listed above and shows how unique Genesect is in terms of unpredictability.
Something else I'm throwing out there is that I believe Genesect would help being chosen over Mega Scizor since it has more moves and mixed stats it can utilize and provide the team with a mega slot. However, Mega Scizor is the overall better setup sweeper, while Genesect is a better wallbreaker. Both are really good revenge killers.
Even with its great movepool that covers most of OU, there are some exceptions. What threatens Genesect rather than it threaten them? To generalize, anything similar to Heatran or Mega Sableye Genesect can't do much to. All of its listed notable moves don't really threaten Heatran, so it would be best to switch out obviously expecting the Fire-type move. Mega Sableye also has only one weakness like Genesect, but in this case its superior defenses wall many of Genesect's moves and would mostly likely push you to switch out, especially when expecting Will-o-Wisp.
Thanks for reading my thoughts on Genesect. I know it mostly echoes what a lot of others say, but I tried my best to keep it original. It would be nice to hear what you agree/disagree with too, since that's what this thread's for, right. Again, this was only after my first battle, but I figured I would share my thoughts on it beforehand. I'm interested at what everyone else thinks of Genesect!
tl;dr: Genesect's versatility and flexibility in both movesets and moves overall supported by its great typing, mixed offensive stats, good defensive stats, and the always beneficial effects of Download would make it dominate in SM OU due to its ability to run every Choice item efficiently, as well as Life Orb and other surprising movesets, which makes it extremely unpredictable and hard to switch into and prepare for at the start. Other factors that make too powerful for OU are its ability to fit on many team archetypes and how good it is as a pivot with U-Turn being an important part of most of its movesets, doing potentially much more damage than a U-Turn from other OU Pokemon because of the combination of 120 base Attack and being a STAB move and the potential Download boost
tl;dr of tl;dr: Genesect would be too powerful for SM OU because of how its versatility, diversity, and efficiency threatens many OU Pokemon and makes it very unpredictable, which would make it hard to prepare for.
A few people asked me for the team I used, so figured I would post it with my games out of the way. The team was built around a simple Venusaur + Heatran core, as I figured this could take on most Genesect sets / cores that would be brought. I added Landorus for speed control and hazard removal. The team was pretty flexible here, but I thought people would bring fat Pokemon like Chansey / Gastro etc to deal with Genesect, so I ended up on Specs Keldeo + Specs Genesect to pressure these teams. Specs Genesect with Flamethrower + Ice Beam + Thunderbolt + U-turn was really annoying due to its coverage, and with a U-turn core in Genesect + Landorus, I know I wanted some type of hard hitter in the last slot. Z-Move Kyurem eventually came to mind, being able to nuke anything with Icium Z to break for the rest of the team. Pretty cool team and solid from my experience outside of Flying-types like Hawlucha (hence HP Flying Lando).
As for Genesect, I definitely think it's too versatile for OU. It has too many sets that it can run, all of which can be used decently well - Band, Specs, Scarf, EBelt, SG, etc.., and I think it would just make the metagame unhealthier. Cores like Mawile + Genesect would be really annoying to deal with; actually, any hard hitter paired with Genesect would be extremely obnoxious lol
The team I used in both of my games. It's a really classic DD Reuniclus + T.Spikes team that I like a lot, I don't think Reuniclus is a good idea when there's Genesect out there but anyway. Toxapex here is my awnser to Genesect, even tho it's a really bad check to it, since it loses to Specs/LO with Thunderbolt. Zygarde is here to help against Heatran, SubTect coupled with TSpikes is still really strong. Celesteela helps against Mega Alakazam and Mega Latios which otherwise threatens the team, Clefable adds Stealth Rock, a Zygarde check and a Wish passer, and Scarf Genesect is here to get some speed control and revenge kills mons such as Mega Zam, Lando, Lele etc...
Medicham-Mega @ Medichamite
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
Tapu Koko @ Leftovers
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 20 HP / 252 SpA / 20 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fly
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
While I did use only one team, I did another one because why not. This one is a more offensive and really threatening. Basically, Scarf Genesect coupled with Medicham is just so fucking hard to deal with, it's also really good when paired with Tapu Koko, it forms a really wild Volt-Turn core that I like a lot. Ferrothorn puts Spikes to weaken mons such as Heatran for Genesect and checks Ash-Greninja. Lando can help against Heatran, gives me Rocks and a Electric immunity, while Slowbro is here to cripple switch-ins with Thunder Wave and counters Zygarde, non-TPunch Medicham etc...
For Genesect in itself, it definitly deserves its ban, it's just too versatile, Download is too much, and it's typing is really great both defensively and offensively (allowing it to check mons like SpDef Bulu and Scarf Kartana locked into Blade for exemple), it can pull off so much sets, like Scarf, Specs, Band, LO, Psysical SG, Mixed SG, and on all these sets, you cannot know all the moves it does have AND you can't counter all the sets while having a decent team that does well against the rest of the meta (That's my feeling about it), even if its "checks" are already used often. And like Indigo said, Genesect + a breaker is just too much for OU, but at least Genesect is really fun so unban it.
I want to post some of my thoughts about this round's Uber, Genesect
Gene brings into OU meta so much versatility as nobody else. A ton of viable sets like all three Choice items, Belt, LO and even Shift Gear sweeper. Its very diverse movepool causes some unpredictability. Its ability Download, in conjunction with aforementioned perks, make Gene broken for OU. Download boost into the right offensive stat + item boost make Gene a really terrifying attacker, as it reaches an insane Atk or SpA stat without wasting a turn to setup.
Recently I had a tournament battle vs WMSlifer, really hard battle, and I want to share my experience with Gene. Replay is here. My Gene set:
There's a description. Flash Cannon is a main move. 2HKOes almost everything that don't resist it if Download boosted SpA. U-turn is for momentum. Flamethrower is a great coverage option, preventing Gene from being walled by Ferro and M-Sciz. Techno Blast was chosen because I expected some Rain teams, it's this set's only way to beat M-Pert and Peli. Techno Blast also helps against some random Gastro or Moltres. I think Ice Beam is slightly subpar on Specs set, as Gene generally isn't walled by Lando and Zyg. Techno Blast also hits neutral both for Blast and Beam targets like aforementioned mons harder than Ice Beam.
I played vs mixed Scarf Gene running Iron Head, U-turn, Ice Beam and Thunder. Great revenge killer and momentum gainer. Iron Head and U-turn are STABs of choice, Ice Beam and Thunder create a BoltBeam coverage. Rain allows to use more hard-hitting Thunder over Thunderbolt. This Gene revenge killed my Zyg after two DDs.
Team that I used: click on icons for importable
Team was built around Gene+Zyg core. Gene softens up opposing team with its strong attacks, opening a path to sweep for Zyg. Zyg, in return, checks Heatran and takes on Fire attacks for Gene. RestTalk because of consistency in checking Heatran and bulk. Then I added Ash-Gren. Yeah, two Specs in one team may be bad, but I'm ok. Ash-Gren acts as an another wallbreaker and sweeper. It also puts Spikes, helping another mons to fuck opposing team. Heatran is my rocker and primary Gene switch-in. It also improves my stall matchup. Torn-T is my form of hazard control and a great pivot. Rocky Helmet chips physical Genes and other physical attackers. Heat Wave KOes Gene. Bulu gives my team a special bulk, physical attacking power and Grassy Terrain, which weakens EQ and gives my team passive recovery.
didnt make my own team I ended up just editing a team by Indigo Plateau
I went weavile > kyub bc I felt his team needed a bit more of speed control. went waterium z on keld bc it was looking stall weak etc.. Neat team and a fun game.
So genesect, I actually found quite a few mons that can handle it fairly well during my failed building stages and it actually didnt do all that much during practice games. Despite that, I feel like gene is too much for the tier. I saddens me to say it because this mon is super fun, but its versatility is just way too straining. Its literally a greninja on steroids where your team will always lose to one of its sets. There is a few mons that can handle it fairly well, however, A) they get pressured by other gene sets so you cant hard counter it or B) it would lead the meta into a more cookie cutter state than it is now. I'd much rather have a Meta where building variety exists, with gene in play you are forced to build way more defensive. These aren't necessarily valid points to ban the mon, however, considering its already banned from the tier and this is more so a way to test the waters. I can safely say that if this was unbanned the meta would have to shift to be really defensive to deal with a singular mon that you STILL dont have a 100% chance agaisnt, will lead to a boring and stale meta.
Completely agree, Genesect would just make OU more one-dimensional. The only Pokemon off the time of my head that can actually stop Genesect is Heatran, which is already one of the most used Pokemon in OU right now. This would lead to teams with Genesect to running Pokemon like Landorus-T to stop Heatran, but Genesect threatens Landorus-T with a potential Ice Beam, and it keeps on snowballing from there.
Slapped this team together in 5 minutes and won both games #OneTake
I won't post replays since I didn't ask for consent (will do if I win next round).
Didn't give this much thought; just thought "STAB U-Turn off a nice Attack Stat with the potential boost and the movepool to threaten many switches - think of the chip and momentum I can get with this".
STAB U-Turn off a nice Attack Stat with the potential boost and the movepool to threaten many switches. Scarf boom was also something I wanted to try out (I've been playing too much ADV/GSC lately), though in hindsight Flamethrower would have made more sense for the inevitable Genesect vs Genesect matchup.
I thought Heatran and maybe Toxapex would be the primary switch in for this so I figured I'd pair it with Mega Medicham and Ash-Greninja as these love free switch ins to these mons and are already a powerful offensive core in the tier which also add priority if opposing Scarf Genesect got out of hand
Needed my own Heatran, since I feel like it was a good switch in, and since I opted for a Z-set I figured why not add either Wish passing or Grassy Terrain? I went with the latter.
Zapdos kind of rounded off the team and could potentially stop a Scarf Gene or a Scizor run through the team while providing hazard removal if necessary. It also forms a nice Volt-Turn core with Genesect to help bring in my breakers.
In hindsight, I should have gone with a more defensive Heatran with Lava Plume, Leftovers, Toxic, the nice and nasty stuff.
Perhaps I could have gone with an Electric Z-move (Static for U-Turn spam?) Zapdos to weaken Heatran for Genesect.
Would have made me a bit weaker against stall but no one is bringing stall when they can abuse Genesect being legal for a week lol.
Honestly, I've been pretty busy this week and did not have too much time to think about Genesect in the tier, hence why I just went with the most simple set and made my team in such a short amount of time.
Genesect made it incredibly easy to chip things with a +1 STAB U-Turn from a respectable Attack stat which allowed me to bring in wallbreakers very easily - kinda like Specs Koko before everyone ran Gastrodon/Excadrill. The only thing I had to watch out for were potential Rocky Helmet or Static/Flame Body Pokemon.
The problem I have with Genesect is its extreme versatility.
I won't bother repeating the people above me but I'll just co-sign: Genesect has way too many viable sets. Specs, Band, Scarf, Expert Belt, Z-moves, Rock Polish, etc. Download is a nice icing to the cake too.
It was fun to play with but I think it's too much for the tier and is way too easy to abuse. However, it's not obscenely broken.
This is the team I rocked with R1. Won the first game with incredible luck and lost the second game. Yeah, I have no ground type, realized that when playing my games lol.
Genesect + Kyreum Black was actually a threatening core to play with since Genesect's ability to efficiently pivot into a beat stick forces your opponent to pick a sack, provided that hazards aren't there to chip your core. Crawdaunt gives Genesect more support with ridiculous power in Knock Off, which can handle the fatter mons Genesect has problems dealing with even at +1, such as Chansey and Celesteela. Heatran gets rid of fatter mons by trapping and taunting them away. Double pivot Koko makes pivoting into Crawdaunt and Kyurem-Black much easier without guessing against ground types. Zapdos is just there so I don't lose to EQ lol.
I'm actually gonna go out on a limb and say that to me personally, Genesect is a 50/50 when staying in OU. You could argue about its versatility, but there are a few mons in OU that I believe are a bit too much without having such versatility (looking at you Toxapex). In addition, the OU meta right now has shifted towards a more fatter balance meta where a mon like Genesect can't really break without setup and good teammate support. There are quite a few fat mons that can wall Genesect if your proceed to scout correctly. Often times, Genesect is using a Scarf Pivot set, which can't do much without the opposing team worn down to the point it can sweep on its own. It has access to many sets and tools, but so does Magearna, Landorus, Protean Greninja, etc.)
On the other hand, it's a cool mon to use, but can constrain team building. Meaning that you're more than likely gonna have to run a Heatran, or a fatter wall that can deal with its moveset(s). We've seen problems like this with Naganadel as the most recent example. Paired with a breaker, it can become a problem late game, once its "checks" are worn or taken out early. Download makes this beast a bit over the top, especially if it gets a +1 on top of a Choice Band or Specs, giving it unnecessary power from the get-go.
In summary, cool mon to use in OU as it can shake the meta a bit, but a bit too much in power and team building restrictions. 50/50 for me.
Hi, this is my first competitive discussion on this forum, I will drop what I used on my both games, Sadly I got haxed as f*** in g2, but both teams worked very nice and I will explain the reason of why Genesect needs to stay on Ubers, I built these teams with the help of Will of Fire .
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
Tornadus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog
This team was built around Diancie + Gene scarf, mainly to cteam Sticky Webs and Aurora Veil HO, these options were the most used when I discussed it with WoF, another reason about this core was Rain Teams, so Diancie was very nice here, after pick that core, we chose Water Resist (Toxapex with Shed Shell to Escape from Heatran) and Gliscor as Ground Inmunity and Heatran check, we had a solid structure in that point, but stuff like Magearna SG and Scizor were threatening, also, stuff like Toxapex and Stall were really bad Match Up, so we decided to use Heatran as Steel check and SR Setter, and Tornadus Therian to check ground types, stop Stall with Taunt, and prevent defog / toxic spikes with Taunt, Genesect is the main star with Choice Scarf, with good capability to KO threats like Clefable, Reuniclus, Tapus, Zygarde, and Thunderbolt as Toxapex and Skarm / Steela lure.
Team 2
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 36 Def / 224 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- U-turn
- Roost
- Toxic
Classic Rain, it features Stone Edge Swampert as Pelipper lure, Genesect is Water Drive to lure Heatran and Thunder to hit Toxapex, taking advantage of no miss due to Rain Support.
In-Conclusion about Genesect
Genesect is just too much for OU, being able to chip mons with U-Turn and creating boosts with Download, it can open posibility to sweep with almost everything, also this mon has like 0 switchs in, because it have lot of movesets, example Specs, Life Orb, Choice Scarf, Choice Band, Z Move set, and there are a lot of more sets with Drives as Item, Its fun to use it, but leave it in OU means that building would be more hard, tier would be unbalanced and probably Genesect centered Like Ubers is with Primal Groudon, thats my analysis, sorry for my bad english, hf on the tour.
Genesect is way too strong for the current OU metagame, and i don't think the meta could ever handle it. Its typing is fantastic, its bulk, while not incredible, is decent enough to take a few hits, its speed tier is nice, its offenses are amazing (especially coupled with download - Genesect is certainly the best download user of the whole game) and its movepool is one of the best (at least for a mixed powerhouse - seriously, the only things it lacks are EQ and EP). All of that means it can pull off almost any offensive set you can think of (mixed LO, Band, Expert Belt, scarf, shift gear, specs, Z-move lure ...) and make it work.
That also means its counterplay is ridiculously limited and depending on the set AND the moves it carries. Heatran is probably the closest thing that can be called a counter to genesect, but Heatran can be chipped by coming on repeated U-turns + rocks, trapped by Alolem, and non-SpDef variants can't take specs/EBelt HP Ground or even Z-thunder under electric terrain.
tl;dr Genesect is ridiculously good and would be way too centralizing if it were to get back in OU, to the point where you have almost no reason to not use it in all your teams. Keep that thing banned.
https://pokepast.es/c2c3d39affd969cd
This team was built around scarf genesect + random wallbreaker. I chose roost + 3 attacks Zard-X as it could soft-check the fire-types that can kill/come in on genesect, most notably heatran. It can also get rid of toxapex, celesteela and magearna so Genesect can freely spam U-turn instead of having to predict switches and click flamethrower (for celes/mage).
The genesect set is the classic DOU scarf, U-turn and iron head are here for obvious reasons, Ice beam + flamethrow lets you destroy the RH/Rough skin/Iron barbs mons, and offer nice coverage overall, and -Def nature prevents Zam and opposing genesects from getting SpA boosts.
Gliscor + Mew provide the hazard control I needed and another pivot, and check a lot of things overall. Hydreigon was mostly here for ash-gren that could run through my team at this point, and it really makes sure Heatran won't break this team. Finally, gren is here to try and lure toxa, and provide more speed control and another pivot for Zard.
https://pokepast.es/faae632e08e0ca6a
This team was based on genesect + Mawile, with one of them luring tran to help the other clean late-game.
I ended up with specs gene as the lure, and a decent wallbreaker overall. Mawile takes advantage of heatran being removed by genesect to more easily break the opposing team. I went for the SD variant to have a wincon (also AoA didn't seem as appealing with genesect).
Standard genesect set, BoltBeam for coverage, bug buzz for the STAB, HP ground specifically for heatran (has to get it on the switch sadly, but I'm not a fan of the Expert Belt set).
Tankchomp is here to punish voltturn and provides rocks,phazing and a switch-in to heatran (Protect was here to scout choice sets).
Heatran was here to lure gastro who was otherwise kinda problematic, and it also checks Genesect and mawile (and more stuff, but these were the ones I was really worried about).
Fini provides defog support and status immunity with misty terrain, and it can check stuff I was worried about, most notably Zard-X. The EV spread guarantees you don't get 2HKO'd by Band Zygarde's TArrows,Zard-X's Tpunch, and lets you live LO KB's Ice beam + Fusion bolt (you won't kill in return tho, but you can at least severely dent it).
Scarf tias gives me the speed control I needed, checks Zard-Y (another mon I was expecting) and provides healing wish support for mawile. HP fire was there for genesect, but it can also hit ferro if needed.
This thing is a base 100 scarf that can change moves, like wtf.
Apart from that, it's legit the strongest suicide lead of the whole game thanks to Taunt + double hazards + Skill swap (vs magic bouncers), and can also work as a decent wallbreaker thanks to its base 95 SpA, access to NP, and Psycho Boost's ridiculously high base power that more than makes up for Deo-S's SpA (Psycho boost from max SpA modest item-less Deo-S is as strong as modest MZam's Psychic). It also has decent bulk that lets it take some hits (it lives 252SpA Heatran's magma storm from full, and has a chance to survive if rocks are up) and a nice movepool, including moves like superpower, focus blast, dark pulse, thunderbolt, thunder wave, rock slide(which is nice considering 252+Spe deo-S outspeeds +1 volcarona timid), ice beam, knock off ...
Yeah, keep that thing banned
https://pokepast.es/36f003823a8bb033
This team was based around a psyspam core of Lele + Deo-S. I went for Z-tbolt on deoxys to lure celesteela so Lele could run through the other team (should've used scarf Lele tho, but whatever. Also I realized afterwards that Z-psycho boost at +2 under psychic terrain has a good chance to kill celesteela and heavily chunks Heatran as well)
Garchomp + Fini is my defensive backbone again, and it does the exact same thing it was supposed to do in my specs genesect team, control the hazard game, prevent statuses in a pinch, punish voltturn, prevent zygarde from running through the team, phaze, deal with stall, etc etc.
Kartana provides a wincon, speed control and another mon that takes advantage of celesteela and heatran being destroyed/chipped by Deo-S.
Finally, Celesteela was here 'cause I was really afraid of an opposing psyspam, so I needed something that could easily handle it (also kartana was annoying, altho it struggled to get in)
Hipster Bounce
Deoxys was too mainstream
Of course a HO team or a Psychic Terrain spam team were the first teams that came to mind, and I did try to build around them, but I didn't have fun with the HO team, and the Psychic Terrain spam team is not an archetype I particularly like as Tapu Bulu cancels terrain everywhere, people are quite prepared for it (and probably over prepared given the context of this tournament) and the two Psychics take up too many roles in the team.
I also thought that Mega Sableye would be incredibly good in this format, and so I thought it would be wise to prepare for either M-Sab balance, standard HO with Deoxys as the lead or Psychic spam.
With that in mind, Rotom and Scarf Kartana (which I don't usually like these days) work well against HO, and Diancie stops hazards going up if you feel like trading early (yes, Deoxys has Skill Swap, but this way it can only get one layer up against you, which is not too overwhelming to deal with). Clefable lets me keep rocks up vs Mega Sableye and Tapu Bulu and Celesteela are good against the Psychic spam teams along with allowing Kartana to not be cock-blocked by Mega Scizor and giving it Grassy Terrain.
I really liked Diancie having Magnet Rise, as it allows me to wall things like Hippowdon, Landorus and non-Flash Cannon Heatran.
Here is the only game I played (won the second game due to activity). As you can see, I had a near perfect matchup, with only Volcarona looking threatening, but it was not too difficult to deal with, especially as I was able to pressure with Diancie the entire game.
My thoughts on Deoxys-Speed:
From what I've seen, Deoxys-Speed is fine in the tier. That being said, I wouldn't take my word for it as I literally only played one game with a good matchup, nor was I around during the days it actually was allowed in OU. The types of teams Deoxys fits on are not too difficult to deal with, with it being frail and kinda weak. If we're talking Psychic spam, I'd rather just use Alakazam. If we're talking HO, there are a plethora of other leads we can use and, yes, while Deoxys is probably the best lead, that doesn't make HO teams overpowered.
I had fun in round 2 and can't wait to use Blaziken in the next one!
I don't think Genesect is super broken anymore. Common pokes like Heatran, Toxapex, Venusaur, Chansey, etc are very solid checks/counters, and they generally aren't devestated by midpredicting the set. Even so, it's hard to make the versatility argument when Zygarde and Heatran exist (especially the former).
That said, it's easily an S-rank (maybe a small chance to be A+) threat. Plus, even if it ends up being weaker than we thought after a couple weeks in the meta, it doesn't contribute anything good to the tier. I know we aren't supposed to tier based on fun or whatever, but that's like 80% of the reason people vote if we're being honest (note though that there is a very strong correlation between fun and brokeness, so ymmv).
It doesn't check anything or open any new strategies. It's just another obnoxious pivot-sweeper combo that makes team building more constricted than it already is.
I removed a portion discussing the unbanning of a mon that hasn't been legalized in the tournament. When the time comes to where it is legal to use in the round (and if you and / or your opponent use it or play tested with it!) feel free to post your thoughts then. Until then, let's keep the topic on point with what has been allowed:
