Pet Mod Hoenn Gaiden - Slate 14 (Return and Rework)

[Ema Skye]

Concept Name: Electric answer
Pokemon Name: Minun
Typing: Electric/Steel
Stats: unchanged from first buff
Abilities: Volt Absorb / Galvanize
Notable Moves: Meteor Mash, Iron Defense, Spikes, loses Sludge Bomb and Acid Armor
How It Fulfills the Concept: Electric immunity with an Ice resistance and access to Wish allows it to beat pretty much every Electric type except for Plusle.


Concept Name: devamped Fairy
Pokemon Name: Mr. Mime
Typing: Psychic/Ghost
Stats: 80/85/75/110/100/80
Abilities: Synchronize / Ice Body
Notable Moves: Shadow Ball, Rapid Spin, Slack Off, Growth
How It Fulfills the Concept: tried to fuse Mr. Rime into this too. Ghost type spinner makes the hazard game interesting.


Concept Name: new gen Uber
Pokemon Name: Pheromosa
Typing: Bug/Fighting
Stats: unchanged
Abilities: Limber
Notable Moves: HJK, Lunge, Ice Beam, Hidden Power, Rapid Spin
How It Fulfills the Concept: despite its stat similarities to Deoxys, it is more manageable due to its reduced movepool and poor stab. Could be an interesting revenge killer due to its speed.

 

[ViZar]

Wasn't sure if I wanna resub them


Concept Name: Devamped Fairy-type
Name of Pokemon: Diancie
Typing:

Stats: 50/100/150/100/150/50 (600)
Abilities: Clear Body

Notable Moves

Ancient Power, Diamond Storm, Explosion, Rock Slide

Psychic

Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Endure, Iron Defense

Useful Moves that don't exist in Gen 3

Earth Power, Meteor Beam, Power Gem, Stone Edge

Moonblast, Mystical Fire, Play Rough

Heal Bell, Stealth Rock, Trick Room

Description: Diancie is a slow, very bulky and decently strong Pokémon with a meh defensive typing. It might be more bulky than Celebi, but it doesn't pack the same recovery that Celebi has. It's main niche is going to be a tank that can either dish out damage with it's decent attacking stats or pass Calm Mind or Diamond Storm boosts. It is vulnerable to Taunt or faster and stronger Pokémon thanks to its passive nature to the former and low speed to the ladder.

Sample Set

Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Diamond Storm
- Baton Pass
- Calm Mind

Alright, hear me out on this one!

Concept Name: New Gen Uber
Name of Pokemon: Magearna
Typing:

Stats: 80/95/105/120/105/65 (570)
Abilities: Minus/Plus

Notable Moves

Brick Break, Explosion, Fleur Cannon, Shadow Ball

Ice Beam, Thunderbolt

Agility, Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Heal Bell, Iron Defense, Thunder Wave

Useful Moves that don't exist in Gen 3

Aura Sphere, Focus Blast, Iron Head

Energy Ball, Volt Switch

Pain Split (exists in Gen 3, but got removed), Shift Gear, Trick Room, Heart Swap

Changed Fleur Cannon

Type:

Category:

Base Power: 130
PP: 5 (max. 8)
Accuracy: 90%
Effect: Lowers the user's Attack by 2 stages.

Description: I know that Magearna is easily one of the most hated mons, but it actually ins't that bad without a good ability, lowered stats and Fairy-typing. It still provides good utility with Heal Bell, Baton Pass and boosting options. It can also run a CB set with good options in Explosion, Brick Break and the newly changed Fleur Cannon.

Sample Set

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Minus
EVs: 252 HP / 32 SpA / 224 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Iron Defense

Magearna @ Choice Band
Ability: Minus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Brick Break
- Explosion
- Baton Pass

Concept Name: Double Buff
Name of Pokemon: Tropius
Typing:

Stats: 99/70/83/95/87/101 (535) (-20 Atk, +10 SpA, +25 Spe)
Abilities: Chlorophyll/Thick Fat

New Moves

Fire Blast

Tail Glow

Description: With a new ability in Thick Fat, it can take better advantage of its decent defensive typing and with Tail Glow and Fire Blast, it is a way more dangerous attacker. It has better speed than Salamance and Celebi, the two mons it competed with and it has the potential to 1v1 them with its new speed and coverage against them.

Sample Set

Tropius @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Claw
- Giga Drain
- Fire Blast
- Tail Glow

Concept Name: Reliable Electric-type answer
Name of Pokemon: Delibird
Typing:

Stats: 94/82/82/82/82/103 (525)
Abilities: Volt Absorb/Snow Warning

New Moves

Brick Break

Description: I've been really mean to this Pokémon on the Discord Server, but I've decided to give it a chance in the meta as an Electric-type answer. It looses the role compression as a Snow Warning, Spikes and Rapid Spin Pokémon, but thanks to its better bulk and better special attack, it can pull the role compression of better. Still it is a solid Electric-type answer and the only one that can Spin or lay hazards.

Sample Set

Delibird @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Beam
- Brick Break
- Milk Drink
- Spikes

 

[Ema Skye]

24 hours until we vote

 

[Ema Skye]

Time to vote!

please pick your top 3 in each of the five categories. You can put yourself as first in two of the categories, provided you have filled out the ballot.

 

[G-Luke]

Devamped Fairy: Azumarill, Klefki, Mimikyu
Double Buff: Tropius, Armaldo, Roselia
Reliable Answer to Electrics: Piloswine, Togedemaru, Camerupt
New Gen Uber: Dracovish, Genesect, Magearna
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude, Weavile, Butterfree

 

[ViZar]

Devamped Fairy: Sylveon, Mimikyu, Diancie (SV)
Double Buff: Girafarig, Armaldo, Roselia
Reliable Answer to Electrics: Piloswine, Togedemaru, Camerupt
New Gen Uber: Magearna (SV), Genesect, Naganadel
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude, Nihilego, Weavile

 

[The Damned]

It's a bit funny how the "Reliable Answer to Electrics" is arguably the real "Double Buff" category, but here we are. So many good ideas, especially for the "Devamped Fairy" category, but these will probably remain my votes...probably. I'll make it clear if I do change something:

Devamped Fairy: Azumarill, Sylveon, Ninetales-Alola
Double Buff: Girafarig, Tropius, Roselia
Reliable Answer to Electrics: Delibird, Minun, Piloswine
New Gen Uber: Dracovish, Deoxys-Speed, Magearna
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude, Nihilego, Druddigon

 

[iceblazer]

Devamped Fairy: Sylveon, Azumarill, Ninetails-Alola
Double Buff: Tropius, Girafarig, Roselia
Reliable Answer To Electrics: Camerupt, Piloswine, Minun
New Gen Uber: Genesect, Dracovish, Deoxys-S
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude, Weavile, Butterfree

 

[Xzailow]

Devamped Fairy: Sylveon, Mimikyu, Klefki
Double Buff: Tropius, Roselia, Girafarig
Reliable Answer to Electrics: Camerupt, Piloswine, Pyroar
New Gen Uber: Genesect, Deoxys-Speed, Dracovish
Type/Category Dissonance: Butterfree, Weavile, Nihilego

 

[Best Gal]

Devamped Fairy: Mimikyu (JosJet), Sylveon (The Damned), Mr. Mime (Ema Skye)
Double Buff: Girafarig (SV), Armaldo (Yoshiblaze), Roselia (Xzailow)
Electric Answer: Delibird (ViZar), Camerupt (Mossy Sandwich), Piloswine (Yoshiblaze)
New Gen Uber: Dracovish (Yoshiblaze), Deoxys-Speed (SV), Magearna (ViZar)
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude (JosJet), Nihilego (iceblazer), Weavile (Yoshiblaze)

 

[Regic Boat]

Devamped Fairy: Mimikyu, Ninetales-Alola (SV), Mr. Mime
Double Buff: Tropius, Girafarig, Armaldo
Reliable Answer to Electrics: Delibird, Excadrill, Minun
New Gen Uber: Deoxys-Speed, Genesect, Magearna
Type/Category Dissonance: Nihilego, Zarude, Weavile

 

[JosJet]

Devamped Fairy: Sylveon, Azumarill, Mimikyuu
Double Buff: Girafarig, Tropius, Armaldo
Reliable Electric Answer: Camerupt, Minun, Piloswine
New Gen Uber: Magearna, Naganadel, Deoxys-Speed
Type/Category Dissonance: Zarude, Druddigon, Butterfree

 

[Paulluxx]

Agh I wanted to sub, but I had so many other things to take care of. Guess it is time to carry out my civic duty in the name of fun.

Devamped Fairy: Sylveon, Mimikyu, Azu
Double Buff: Girafrig, Armaldo, Tropius
Reliable Electric Type Answer: Minun, Camerupt, Piloswine
New Gen Uber: Mag, Mr Fish, Deoxys-Speed
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude, Weavile, Butterfree

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Devamped Fairy: Grimmsnarl, Azumarill, Sylveon
Double Buff: Girafarig, Roselia, Armaldo
Reliable Electric Answer: Piloswine, Camerupt, Excadrill
New Gen Uber: Dracovish, Deoxys-Speed, Naganadel
Type Category Dissonance: Druddigon, Weavile, Zarude

 

[Ema Skye]

Devamped Fairy: Mr. Mime, Sylveon, Ninetales-Alola
Double Buff: Girafarig, Roselia, Tropius
Reliable Electric Answer: Piloswine, Camerupt, Minun
New Gen Uber: Naganadel, Magearna, Deoxys-Speed
Type Category Dissonance: Zarude, Nihilego, Weavile

24 hours!

 

[Ema Skye]

Time is u

02. Submit a seemingly weird idea that would nag at me otherwise. This will likely be the only mon I submit for 7B, but we'll see:

*New moves
**Technically Physical if there's either no weather (due to Cloud Nine or otherwise) or Sand is up

Concept Name: Devamped Fairy
Pokemon Name: Sylveon
Typing:

Stats: 095 HP / 110 Atk / 130 Def / 060 SpA / 065 SpD / 065 Spe (swapped Atk with SpA, Def with SpD, and then Spe with new SpA | old Atk)
Abilities: Cloud Nine (new ability; replaces Pixilate from Gen VI) / Cute Charm
Notable Moves: (Ignores all of the basically universal moves like Hidden Power, Protect, Rest, Substitute, Toxic, etc. outside of Curse in this instance)
(This would still get Hyper Voice, but that's strictly inferior to Return--and Frustration--now, so I'm noting it here to note how it's not notable...)

Acrobatics*, Aerial Ace*, Body Slam, Bounce*, Double-Edge, Facade, Fly*, Hyper Beam, Iron Tail, Quick Attack, Shadow Ball, Weather Ball**

[NONE]

Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Curse, Heal Bell, Magic Coat, Mirror Move*, Psych Up, Sing, Skill Swap, Tickle, Wish, Yawn
How It Fulfills the Concept: Well, it was one of first new Fairy-from-the-start mons, so... ...What? Don't look at me like that. Dodrio doesn't have wings either & still gets to be Flying just due to being a bird while Sirfetch'd somehow doesn't despite having both clearly functioning wings and the birdness of a bird capable of flight, and I'm just going with the other interpretation of Sylveon's name that makes sense given "sylph" and given its fluttering (possibly) flesh ribbons--blegh. We basically "have to" make it a physical mon anyway given all of the other Eeveelutions--including the still absent Leafeon and Glaceon--take up all the other special types already besides Dragon type, which would admittedly be amusing in its irony. So really this submission is just taking up the role of the "physically offensive and defensive Eeveelution" that Leafeon would have to at least partially vacate anyway if it was ever added to this mod and was remade to be viable.

A Bunch of Air That's So Hot Right Now

As joky as this might initially seem, much like my Delibird submission apparently did (uh...sorry about that?), I think this could actually turn out well in its current form just with most of what Sylveon already had, the addition of Cloud Nine and actual Flying moves for STAB aside. The biggest evidence of this is that just by shuffling the stats around while keeping them Eeveelution appropriate, Flying-type Sylveon would become the secondmost physically bulky Flying-type in this Pet Mod, even over Gliscor's infamously bulky self, while simultaneously being one of the physically strongest. While placing second to only Skarmory of all things already isn't bad, it also doesn't have to worry about being trapped and murdered by Magneton like Skarmory does, especially since this Sylveon retains Baton Pass anyway. Sylveon (still) also actually resists Fighting unlike Skarmory, though at the price of being actually weak to Rock now.

Offensively, it's in theory rather decent too physically even with all of the Electric, Rock, and Steel mons running around and even with Flying moves being relatively...lackluster this gen unless you happen to get Drill Peck, which this intentionally doesn't; it can't be justified flavor-wise unfortunately, just like how Sky Attack arguably also can't. That said, Hidden Power both being able to be physical and 70 BP helps this a lot. The same goes for Shadow Ball happening to be physical now after being basically the only previously special move Sylveon got to keep of notable moves, especially when Hidden Power [Fighting] compliments Shadow Ball so well and breaks Tyranitar in half. Finally, this Sylveon is helped a lot by the fact that Acrobatics was one of the six winning moves of Slate 5, even more so when Sylveon can likely get away with not using an item (read: Leftovers) if it wants the power between retaining Wish and its newfound immunities to both Spikes and weather damage. (Just keep it away from status, particularly Burn, especially if you aren't using Heal Bell or Substitute.)

Between offense and defense lies its capacity for a supportive role, which is probably still there, especially with its access to Baton Pass as well as keeping Heal Bell and Wish. I can imagine its supportive moves could probably end up being used more "selfishly" now, however, given I'm almost sure that Wish would heal during Bounce or Fly and given the fact that Tickle, of all things, is in theory actually really good on something with both this much Atk and this much Def. Tickle possibly being good on anything, much less in Singles, is kind of hilarious as long as trapping (read: Shadow Tag) isn't involved.

Fortunately, it's not all sunshine and rainbows despite the literal Cloud Nine this now has. Aerodactyl, Skarmory, Tyranitar, and Zapdos commonly stalk the air and land, and even if Tyranitar at least kind of explodes if a strong Hidden Power [Fighting] so much as touches it and even if Stone Edge doesn't exist this gen (yet?), they're all still definitely problems. Additionally, when it comes to its other two weaknesses, this Sylveon probably explodes if a strong Electric or Ice attack so much as grazes it. Its Special Defense is lackluster in general now, so it gets bullied by the no longer resisted Pursuit and the newly added Sucker Punch being special in addition to every other non-Grass special attack; strong Grass attacks likely still dent this anyway; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this took non-CB Tyranitar's Crunch worse than it did its Rock Slide. Finally, it's still relatively slow despite the minor speed boost that now makes it as "fast" as its secondmost slowest brethren. (I never noticed until now that the original Sylveon is the slowest Eeveelution.)

I say "fortunately" between the fact there's actually not much I had to add to make it theoretically strong and the fact that mons should have some weaknesses. I feel like Jellicent was a good ceiling of a strong mon to add to this pet mod, and we started with that. So I'm just keeping that in mind, which is part of why this is probably fine without getting Aerilate, which doesn't exist (yet?) anyway. If this wins, then I guess we'll see. (This similar feeling is why I ultimately resisted the temptation to give this Whirlwind too. It already has enough good Status moves anyway.)

EDIT: I think I actually proofread things well for once, so outside of four minor changes, this edit is almost solely because I ignored that Sylveon learning Sing could count as "notable". So that's noted under the Status category now. Beyond that, I am just noting that this will indeed be my only entry for 7B since the four Uber mons ideas I've had have either already been done or likely wouldn't add much of value even if they didn't break things and since it would be weird to try to tackle one of other winning categories in my present state of ignorance. Oh well.

Concept Name: Double Buff
Pokemon Name: Girafarig
Typing: Normal / Ghost
Stats: 82/93/82/93/82/98 (BST: 530) ((+3 Attack/Special Attack, +2 HP/Defense/Special Defense, +8 Speed)
Abilities: Limber / Synchronize
Notable Moves: Will-o-Wisp, Trick
How It Fulfills the Concept: Hoenn Gaiden's current Girafarig buff simply doesn't offer anything tempting in comparison to the other ghostie boys, but its typing is sick, so we can more or less fix it with little effort. The changes are Limber > Inner Focus (you're only realistically protected from Slide flinches from Aero, +1 Tar, and Hitmonlee- now Girafarig outpaces Lee), WoW and Trick as its "i am actually a ghost now" kit, and the minor stat updates aside from this are...literally just trying to do minimal brush ups but 90/90 offenses aren't great for threatening the mons you're trying to take advantage of. It should be viable without being overbearing with these buffs.

Concept Name: New Gen Uber
Pokemon Name: Deoxys-Speed
Typing: Psychic
Stats: 50/85/70/85/70/165 (BST: 525) ((-10 Attack/Special Attack, -20 Defense/Special Defense, -15 Speed
Abilities: Pressure
Notable Moves: N/A
How It Fulfills the Concept: It's Deoxys Speed with nerfed stats. It's still number 1 fastest Pokemon, but now its attacks highkey just sort of go *tink* vs Jirachi. Yeah that's basically it it's gonna set Spikes and die. i really hate ubers mons so i wasnt gonna sub one but this seems fine.

Concept Name: Type Category Dissonance
Pokémon Name: Zarude*
Typing:

Base Stats: 80* / 110* / 95* / 50* / 75* / 105 [BST: 515*]
( -25 HP, -10 Atk/Def, -20 SpA/SpD | -85 BST )
Abilities: Cloud Nine* (Replacing Leaf Guard since it is another weather related ability)

Removed Moves

Superpower
Superpower is unnecessary on Zarude and was less distributed in Gen 3.

Notable Moves:

+Earthquake, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Acrobatics, Low Kick

+Foul Play, +Knock Off

Jungle Healing*, Substitute, Bulk Up
Jungle Healing: Heals 1/4 max HP, cures status.*

Description

I went for Zarude as a Pokémon with type category dissonance since it had a nice attack and speed stat. What makes Zarude stand out is its signature move, which not only recovers some hp, but also cures its own status. This would help it fit a niche as a physical attacker as it could cure its own burns. Bulk Up would also be more viable on it as it could cure its own Toxic.

Concept Name: Reliable Answer to Electrics
Pokémon Name: Piloswine
Typing: Ice/Ground
Stats: 100/100/95/100/75/50 (+10 SpA)
Abilities: Thick Fat / Ice Body
Notable Moves:

Earthquake, Rock Slide, Shadow Ball

Ice Beam

Slack Off, Toxic, Roar
How It Fulfills the Concept: Thick Fat and recovery are all this thing really needs to have a niche, annoying every Electric-type until the end of time, except Superpower Eelektross, while having an interesting STAB combo with decent power that makes it tough to switch into. It still has some of its old problems, like a weird Defensive typing with a ton of weaknesses and being super slow, but with Slack Off and Thick Fat, Piloswine instantly becomes usable. Also, Ice Body sets get a nice boon, since before it was too slow to really set up its shenanigans without getting severely weakened, though Cryogonal's speed might still make it better at this

Set

Piloswine @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Slack Off

Piloswine @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Toxic
- Slack Off

Congrats to The Damned, Best Gal, JosJet and Yoshiblaze.

The sheet will be updated with our winners soon.

We are now taking a playtesting break as we prepare to be put on the main Showdown server. This will likely be a few weeks and will really give us time to test out this meta more fully. I invite you to join our Discord server (in the first post) to discuss the meta with us. It's also the best place to go for teambuilding help or matchseeking.

Given the popularity of buffing mons this slate (even outside of the Double Buff concept), we are going to be doing some buffs at the end of the playtest slate. If you have ideas for how to buff mons, I again invite you to our Discord to discuss the ideas. Man, you really should join our Discord server. I'll even give you the link so there are truly no excuses.

https://discord.gg/pYAmgD2J3u

 

[Ema Skye]

Couple of announcement things!

1. Slate 7 is fully coded on dragonheaven. Check it out!
2. We have a dope ass banner from Albatr0ss!
3. We are holding a bunch of tours this weekend, beginning Friday and going until Sunday. Join us on Discord as we coordinate times so you ensure you don't miss out.

 

[Ema Skye]

The first night of the tours was a resounding success! Thanks to Best Gal, JosJet, Not_Shiva, Regic Boat, Ninjacid and Paulluxx. We will be holding more tomorrow and Sunday. Again, check our discord. We got in 30 games tonight!! We have lots of sample teams on our Discord if you want to jump right in.

Before I post our initial usage stats, our council has decided to nerf Sableye (the nerf reduces its bulk from 50/95/95 to 50/85/85. Everyone felt it was too bulky with Magic Guard and access to Recover to sponge, while crippling physical breakers with Knock Off and stalling anything out through Toxic. We wanted to have the nerfs live before the tours to make them more enjoyable but that didn't happen. As such, we are banning Sableye from our tours until the nerf is live and you won't see it in the stats.

Here you go:

Hoenn Gaiden OU

Hide

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Tyranitar          |   29 |  58.00% |  48.28% |
| 2    | Skarmory           |   21 |  42.00% |  52.38% |
| 3    | Eelektross         |   16 |  32.00% |  37.50% |
| 3    | Dugtrio            |   16 |  32.00% |  37.50% |
| 5    | Toxicroak          |   15 |  30.00% |  46.67% |
| 5    | Zapdos             |   15 |  30.00% |  46.67% |
| 7    | Ledian             |   14 |  28.00% |  42.86% |
| 8    | Magneton           |   12 |  24.00% |  58.33% |
| 9    | Metagross          |   10 |  20.00% |  70.00% |
| 10   | Swampert           |    9 |  18.00% |  44.44% |
| 10   | Gengar             |    9 |  18.00% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Jolteon            |    8 |  16.00% |  62.50% |
| 12   | Salamence          |    8 |  16.00% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Snorlax            |    8 |  16.00% |  25.00% |
| 15   | Celebi             |    7 |  14.00% |  57.14% |
| 15   | Girafarig          |    7 |  14.00% |  57.14% |
| 15   | Staraptor          |    7 |  14.00% |  42.86% |
| 15   | Zarude             |    7 |  14.00% |  50.00% |
| 19   | Jellicent          |    6 |  12.00% |  83.33% |
| 19   | Deoxys-Speed       |    6 |  12.00% |  50.00% |
| 21   | Starmie            |    5 |  10.00% |  80.00% |
| 21   | Aerodactyl         |    5 |  10.00% |  60.00% |
| 23   | Blissey            |    4 |   8.00% | 100.00% |
| 23   | Golem-Alola        |    4 |   8.00% |  25.00% |
| 23   | Cryogonal          |    4 |   8.00% |  25.00% |
| 26   | Suicune            |    3 |   6.00% |  33.33% |
| 27   | Lanturn            |    2 |   4.00% | 100.00% |
| 27   | Flygon             |    2 |   4.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Hitmonlee          |    2 |   4.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Claydol            |    2 |   4.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Cloyster           |    2 |   4.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Hariyama           |    1 |   2.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Mawile             |    1 |   2.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Piloswine          |    1 |   2.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Slowbro            |    1 |   2.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Cacturne           |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Gliscor            |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Exeggutor          |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Heracross          |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Ludicolo           |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Armaldo            |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Silvally           |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Talonflame         |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Jirachi            |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Plusle             |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Camerupt           |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Scizor             |    1 |   2.00% |   0.00% |

Initial thoughts and impressions:

• Hail was initially very hyped but seems to have completely fallen out of discourse, likely due to how reliable and consistent Tyranitar is at doing basically everything. Delibird has also completely fallen out of favor.
• Eelektross's access to an array of coverage moves is quickly cementing it as the de facto wallbreaker, as its access to Giga Drain means it can still break through Swampert without locking it out of Hidden Power Ice. It can even break SkarmBliss with its access to Superpower. Double Electric builds have been conceived to make use of Eelektross' ability to break through bulky Grass-types with Flamethrower as well as Swampert.
• Ledian has tapered off despite the initial hype. This is likely correlated to the massive, yet typical, Tyranitar usage, as Ledian struggles to break Tyranitar even with boosted Ice Punch.
• Trapping was everywhere, with Dugtrio, Magneton and Golem-Alola making frequent showings, as did Pursuit Tyranitar. Dugtrio in particular is fueling the increase in Eelektross, Zapdos and Jolteon usage as they cannot be trapped by it (Jolteon has Baton Pass), as opposed to others like Plusle that are Dugtrio bait.
• Baton Pass was also everywhere, with SD, Tail Glow, Agility and Substitute passes being seen. But most commonly, it was just dry passing to gain switch initiative.
• While low in usage, Jellicent boasts one of the highest winrates at over 83%. Access to Taunt allows it to completely shut down Skarmory, and aids in its performance against Snorlax despite a Shadow Ball weakness. Being able to burn physical attackers also augments its bulk greatly, and allows it to support allies like Blissey who are 4HKOed by Eelektross' Superpower now.
• With the highest win rate of returning Pokemon, Metagross has been able to adapt to the changing meta well and will likely continue being a fixture.
• Spikes and Sand yo. Some things never change.
• The metagame is very healthy right now, and should continue to thrive with nerfed Sableye.

 

[Paulluxx]

Paul's Personal VR to prevent Ema Skye from Quintuple Posting

S RANK
Crabominable
Tyranitar

A¹ RANK
Sableye (Prenerf)
Metagross
Zapdos
Celebi
Gengar




A² RANK
Swampert
Jirachi
Skarmory
Blissey
Salamence
Jellicent
Abomasnow
Ledian
Gliscor
Eelektross
Hitmonlee
Silvally-Fighting
Golurk
Cryogonal


B¹ RANK
Aerodactyl
Suicune
Dugtrio
Sunflora
Girafarig
Silvally-Ghost, Silvally-Flying
Staraptor
Slowbro
Piloswine
Cloyster
Plusle

B² RANK
Snorlax
Starmie
Zarude
Forretress
Claydol
Slowking
Moltres

C¹ RANK
Breloom
Milotic
Heracross
Ampharos
Delibird
Toxicroak

C² RANK
Flygon
Golem-Alola
Magneton
Hariyama
Jolteon
Lanturn
Gyarados
Skuntank
Sylveon

D¹ RANK
Camerupt
Charizard
Vaporeon
Porygon2
Venusaur
Medicham
Deoxys-Speed
Jynx
Silvally-Normal, Silvally-Dragon
Mawile
Houndoom

D² RANK
Kingdra
Smeargle
Raikou
Weezing
Talonflame
Regice
Steelix
Jumpluff
Umbreon

D³ RANK
Machamp
Donphan
Marowak
Blaziken
Ludicolo
Roselia
Armaldo

E RANK
Scizor
Dragonite
Registeel
Golduck
Crawdaunt
Dunsparce
Ninjask

F RANK
Regirock
Dusclops
Exeggutor
Alakazam
Sceptile
Rhydon
Mantine
Solrock
Slaking
Gardevoir
Articuno
Miltank
Minun
Volbeat
Illumise

 

[Ema Skye]

Ok so here's me again for a big announcement post!

We will be holding tours again on Discord for the remainder of the weekend, though these will be impromptu so if you're wanting to join in, just hop on in.

We have some balance changes to announce:

• Sableye's nerf is live on the server and so it is no longer banned. Initial testing suggests its still a viable part of the meta while not suffocating teams lacking set up sweepers.
• Minun was an awful Pokemon previously, and so we've given it a bit of a revamp. It is now Electric/Ice, is losing Overcoat and gaining Levitate, is losing Sludge Bomb and gaining Ice Beam, Hail and Blizzard. With STAB BoltBeam and a Ground immunity, Minun should easily find a foothold as a special breaker.
• Probably the worst Pokemon in the tier, Crabominable is gaining a buff to its bulk, going up to a spread of 100/132/87/62/85/43. This allows it to survive CB Aerodactyl's HP Flying as well as being 3HKOed by Zapdos' Thunderbolt, while being able to beat both of them with Ice Hammer.
• Volbeat is getting some smaller changes. Its spread is changing to 75/103/53/77/55/127, and it is gaining Galvanize while losing Overcoat. This allows it to be a strong mixed attacking Electric that has Bug coverage for Celebi, giving it a niche amongst other Electrics, while preserving its great speed tier.
• Simple one, Dunsparce is gaining Heal Bell. Dunsparce isn't a great Spiker due to its inability to threaten most spinners, but Cleric support gives it another role to do, and it is the only Cleric with a weather immunity.
• Another simple one. We are swapping its defensive stats, so its new spread is 50/90/80/90/120/70, and also giving it Recover. This will allow it to contrast better with our other spikers as a special tank, while also having Recover to stay as a competitive choice against Celebi.
• As a Gen 8 mon, Zarude doesn't normally get Hidden Power and Toxic. Well, now it does!
• It was selected as a rock resist, but it struggles against Tyranitar's Fire Blast as well as Aerodactyl, which are the main Rock type attackers. To improve its reliability, we are buffing its bulk. Its new spread is: 60/95/110/75/97/30. This ensures it lives Tyranitar's Fire Blast after spikes, ensuring it can better check it with Meteor Mash, while also ensuring it is never 2HKOed by Aerodactyl's CB Earthquake.
• These two are on our radar for buffs and we hope to have the final buffs determined by the end of the next slate. We welcome your input on Discord if you have ideas for where to take them.

Tagging ViZar to implement these changes.

We are going to end the playtesting break now. Subs are open again now, following the usual format of Concept Submission and then making metagame submissions.

 

[Not_Shiva]

Concept Name: Illusion Tech
Description: Illusion in a generation without team preview has the potential to create extremely cool tech and potentially an Illusion team-stlye.
Justification: Illusion would be a really powerful viability in a generation without team preview, allowing for Pokemon who have it to see an increase in ability. In order for it to be balanced, you'd probably have to lower BST of Pokemon who get it(or give it to low BST Pokemon). It'd allow for really interesting teams centered around Illusion and Pokemon with type immunities. Illusion doesn't have wide distribution, so subs would be none-Zoroark/Zorua Pokemon that could have the ability thematically. Because there aren't Flying-types that could have Illusion make sense thematically, Spikes are a reliable way of wearing down an Illusion Pokemon throughout the game along with helping figure out the Illusion. The omnipresence of Sand and Hail are also helpful in solving the puzzle.

Concept Name: Hail Abuser
Description: Hail would gain a Pokemon that can abuse it to its advantage, whether it be through abilities or movepool.
Justification: Hail has proven to be a lackluster weather with its setter not being the most consistent Pokemon on a game-to-game basis, so a Pokemon that could abuse hail.

 

[Ema Skye]

Concept Name: Devamped Mega Evolution
Description: Take a Pokemon that has a mega evolution and make it resemble its mega (see Mega Revolution for how this would look)
Justification: Megas are fun and help create viable options. There are a lot of Pokemon that have room to grow through emulating their mega.

Concept Name: Rock-resistant Spiker
Description: A Pokemon that both sets Spikes and resists Rock
Justification: These are two very valuable roles in ADV, and being able to condense both into one slot opens up a lot of options in teambuilding.

Concept Name: New Item
Description: Not a Pokemon, but an item, is added to the meta.
Justification: Increasing item diversity is a good thing for this meta. Just please don't add wallbreaking items!

Concept Name: Over 130 Base Speed
Description: A Pokemon that is faster than 130 base speed.
Justification: This helps teams create more options for dealing with Aerodactyl, which basically can sweep once a rock resist is gone as it can KO things before it could take damage.

Concept Name: Fast Fighting-type
Description: A Fighting-type Pokemon that is fast.
Justification: Many Fighting types have niche roles in HG (Hitmonlee, Hariyama, Toxicroak, Heracross) and they predominantly struggle due to their low speed. A faster Fighting-type (definitely over base 100) would be able to stay in offensive roles longer, without always being forced out by Salamence or Celebi.

Concept Name: Specially Defensive Phazer
Description: A user of Roar/Whirlwind that has high special defense
Justification: GlowPass is fun but it's also rather concerning. This helps keep our favorite new trick legal but with some counterplay.

 

[JosJet]

Concept Name: New Gen Ability
Description: Add a new ability that didn't exist in Gen 3.

Justification: This could be a way to create more niches in the meta. For example, Mold Breaker could be introduced on a mon with Earthquake to create a niche answer for Eelektross. Refrigerate is another example that could be introduced on a mon with Rapid Spin to create an unblockable spinner. Adding new abilities could be a great way to buff underpowered Pokémon by giving them a new niche, or by using abilities to make them stronger. This could also be an interesting opportunity to implement Pokémon with new signature abilities in the meta like Mimikyu (or even an opportunity to give Disguise to a completely different mon). This concept leaves a lot of room for creativity!


Concept Name: New Gen Move
Description: Add a new move that didn't exist in Gen 3. (This includes devamped Fairy-type moves.)

Justification: Some Pokémon are outclassed by more viable mons that share their typing, and this could be a way to give them new niches. Move distribution would be an important part of this concept -Will your added move be a signature move of one Pokémon? -Will your added move have a wide distribution? -Will your added move be distributed to mons with low viability? This would also be an opportunity for creativity since submitters could even submit moves that are very exclusive (-moves like Sappy Seed) or new gen signature moves (-like Clanging Scales).
(Including which generation a subbed move is from would also be important - some moves have differences between each gen.)

 

[TheRealEGR]

Concept Name: Defensive Spinblocker that isn"t affected by Sandstorm and Spikes
Description: A Pokemon that is imnune to the move Rapid Spin and isn't affected by Sandstorm and Spikes. Also is bulky.
Justfication: It would be cool to see a mon immune to Rapid Spin that isn't Dusclops (or you can buff Dusclops)


Concept Name: Viable Offensive Ghost/Fighting Type
Description: A mon that has gained the Ghost or Fighting type and use it for doing offensive damage.
Justification: A Ghost mon that can OHKO Ttar. Seriously a mon that uses his great STAB combination to sweep a huge portion of the metagame.

 

[The Damned]

*sees two of his winning mons being extremely underwhelming and pulls nonexistent collar like Rodney Dangerfield while interrupting this new slate*

Well...at least they're not broken in an overpowered way I guess. Yay? Maybe now-Flying-type Sylveon will be at least decent since the third time is supposedly a charm and all that.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that both test tours went well. I obviously wasn't able to make it given this week has been...subpar, but at least this laptop seems to work. So I am merely making this post to help update the first post with how Slate 7 ended up post-test and thank ViZar for coding so efficiently, especially since I noticed that the Slate 7 seemed to be done Wednesday night despite my being unable to make it this weekend. So, thanks.

...Or at least that was all I was going to do (just) the former until I checked the first post to see it was already updated, so I guess this will suffice as a double check and that I will instead summarize the post-playtest changes (too):

Slate 7 (second round of Desired Archetypes Concept Additions to Meta)

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...issions-are-open.3681339/page-12#post-8914268

[PARTS 1 & 2]
01. Devamped Fairy-type: {ultimate winner is a devamped Gen VI mon} Sylveon (gained Cloud Nine as its ability over nonexistent Pixilate; kept Cute Charm; Fairy typing replaced by Flying typing, resulting in pure Flying typing; swapped all of its stats around save for HP, resulting in base stats of 095 HP / 110 Atk / 130 Def / 060 SpA / 065 SpD / 065 Spe; also gained new moves Acrobatics, Aerial Ace, Bounce, Fly, and Mirror Move for sake of completely changed typing and, technically, Weather Ball)
02. Double Buff: {ultimate winner is an already buffed Gen II winner of Slate 2) Girafarig (gained Limber and Synchronize as new abilities over Inner Focus and Early Bird; also gained +02 more HP, +03 more Atk, +02 more Def, +03 SpA, +02 more SpD, and +08 more Spe; also gained new moves Trick and Will-O-Wisp)
03. Reliable Answer to Electrics: {ultimate winner is an already buffed Gen II winner of Slate 3} Piloswine (gained Thick Fat, which replaced previously kept ability of Oblivious; kept new ability of Ice Body; also gained +10 SpA; also gained new move Slack Off)
04. New Gen Ubers: {ultimate winner is a forme of a Gen III Ubers mon} Deoxys-Speed ("gained" -10 Atk, -20 Def, -10 SpA, -20 SpD, and -15 Spe)
05. Type Category Dissonance: {ultimate winner is a devamped Gen VIII mon} Zarude (gained Cloud Nine, which replaced the nonexistent Leaf Guard; also "gained" -25 HP, -10 Atk, -Def, -20 SpA and -20 SpD; also gained new moves Earthquake, Foul Play, and Knock Off)

Changes Made After Post-Slate-7 Playtest

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...issions-are-open.3681339/page-12#post-8920053

01. Sableye "gained" -10 Def and -10 SpD.
02. Minun gained Levitate, replacing its new ability Overcoat; kept new Volt Absorb ability; also gained Ice typing over new Poison typing, resulting in Electric / Ice typing; also gained new moves of Blizzard, Ice Beam, and Hail while losing new move Sludge Bomb.
03. Crabominable gained +03 HP, +10 Def, and +18 SpD.
04. Volbeat gained Galvanize, replacing its new ability Overcoat; kept Swarm still; also gained +10 HP, -20 -40 "more" Def, +30 SpA, and -10 more SpD. {EDIT: 2021/07/20 = Keeping the strikethroughs as a permanent record of my failure now that I've sent a streamlined copy that obviates this anyway.}
05. Dunsparce gained new move Heal Bell.
06. Roselia swapped new Def stat with original SpD stat; gained new move Recover.
07. Zarude gained new moves Hidden Power and Toxic.
08. Mawile gained +15 more Def, +30 more SpA, +52 more SpD, and -10 more Spe.

Presumably Minun is meant to keep Acid Armor and Haze despite its significant overhaul since they're generally low-powered moves.

Either way, I also finally just realized that I typoed Slate 3's explanation to be "Addition of Post-Gen III Abilities And then Adding Them to Mons While Said Mons" when the word "Buffing" should be between "while" and "said". So my bad, Ema Skye. I didn't see any other typos, but I'll triple check Monday or Tuesday and inform you either when voting starts or via PM. I obviously don't mind this particular bit of tedium, especially since I'm unreliable otherwise, so let me know what and how you would like things formatted if that make things easier for you and others. (I'll try to be shorter from now on too despite clearly being extremely bad at that in text. I can doubtless streamline the summations too.)

You may now return to your regularly scheduled slate since I will continue to abstain from suggestions for now due my complete lack of metagame experience, though I will at least link to the previous suggestions for the two similar slates starting here and here. Stay safe. Be well.