Ive been having a lot of fun with this OM and have spent the last week trying to perfect the team Ive been using to great success. After getting higher on ladder I started to see the dominant and optimal strategies and tried to incorporate them into a single team! Ive had great success with this team and it seems overall very consistent.
Sheer force Dpult is probably the best offensive mon in the tier. Its speed tier is outclassed exclusively by electrode-H making it the best revenge killer in the meta imo. This mon is also an amazing abuser of spikes as its biggest checks like Cresselia and a full health Regen Goodra-H or Alola-Muk struggle to switch in repeatedly with any layer of hazards up. Dpult is essential as its the main pivotee mon that benefits from Muk Uturn, combined you can switch into, and KO normally troublesome mons like Ironvaliant and Roaring moon. CC>EQ is personal choice. CC OHKOs Goodra starting at just one layer of spikes (12.5% of the time) while 3 layers is a guaranteed kill. Eq smacks alo muk.
This spot for a long time was occupied by Hisuian Goodra as with AV and Regenerator it becomes nearly invincible on the special side while maintaining great utility in knock off, U-Turn, and rapid spin. While Muk-A is less specially sturdy, it walls the popular CC sheer force Dpult much better although Earthquake pult seems to be rising to combat this. Most importantly it doesnt take increased damage from salt cure!!! Which is a huge downside for GoodraH trying to spin on any Garganacl inheritor. It also has the added benefit of clearing Tspikes when not able to spin vs an activated poison heal Annihilape. MukA is superior in pivoting on Iron valiant as it can eat a Superpower on a Uturn and gauge whether mixed, special, or physical. MukA also avoids being trapped by magnetpull great tusk that likes to pick off a slightly weakened GoodraH with bodypress+Rockyhelmet. A stronger knock off means thing like sub moltres and Annihilape are less inclined to use the cyclizar set as setup bait as they normally would with other users. Could be switched out for GoodraH but I find the above qualities a worthwhile trade off for less SpD.
Urshifu is suppppper pressuring on a ton of teams. The ability to wallbreak while also setting up unbounceable spikes is absurd. If it gets off a single spike and dies it has already done its job, but it does this while also threatening the majority of the meta with a 2hko. I use aqua jet over knock off because Volcorona set up sweepers with roost can be very deadly and jet after saltcure damage is usually enough to prevent a potential game ending sweep. I use assault vest to flip the table on Pult, turning a losing 1v1 into a KO and a free spike. This also lets you spike on a screamtail switch in, then proceed to 1v1 slower espeon versions, or hatterene versions if you are lucky with para.
Poison Heal Annihilape was mentioned in the OM thread and after testing i am in agreeance that it seems like Annihilape+hazards is one of the most consistent cores in the meta. The idea is that a ghost with dark neutrality and good defensive stats in a meta where the most popular hazard control is rapid spin makes for easy hazard stacking strategies. The most popular spinning mon is by far utility cyclicar sets, specifically on GoodraH, which this mon sits on completely denying hazard removal while being a good knock off AND status absorber. A defensive bulk up leech seed set was used at first because it literally wins on the spot semifrequently, however a protect toxic set ended up being much more consistent game to game especially because activating the toxic orb is absolutely crucial in executing the strat.
Garg-Cresselia is an essential glue mon. First of all saltcure is reason enough to use this mon, and combined with its insane defensive stat spread it becomes an absolute demon. Cress is very important in checking Dragapult as its about the closest thing you will get to a reliable switch in as ghost damage is halved by its new ability and its natural bulk shrugs off any coverage moves. Cress with salt cure is needed to stop set up mons that can either beat corv, out damage AV Muk, or outspeed dragapult (aka magearna) but also various Quiver dance mons. Particularly Enamorus-Therian as its immune to dtail phazing and Tspikes while also being able to beat corv. Not too much else to say about this, it just sits on and outstalls like 60% of mons while setting hazards.
I had unaware ting-lu at first but after getting smashed by a Sub ironvaliant I realized I needed a good fairy resist. Corv is another quintessential glue mon. Corv but with unaware and toxic spikes. It is exactly as nasty as it sound. Unaware+Toxic spikes almost autowins vs any screens team or offensive set up based strat. It also helps with the rain matchup as they usually rely on a cyclizar mon to spin. Better Garchomp answer and fairy resist than cresselia while being a safety net for the various and unpredictable myriad of set up mons you will face. Encore is a little tech for a lot of sub set up sweepers or drain punch mons that can outheal body press damage.
Wrap-up
Overall, this team seems like it can outplay almost anything if you play your cards right and keep the right mons healthy. Just due to the nature of the tier you will play a ton of unexpected mons but with the combo of unaware, toxic spikes, poison heal, spikes, and saltcure you can wiggle out of most sticky situations.
Threatlist
Rain can be tough sometimes as you dont have a resist to physical wave crashers. If using GoodraH you can eat a nonbanded wavecrash then pivot into cresselia, between rocky helmet and recoil you can KO barraskewda and other low HP wave crashers but at the expense of your cresselia. Muk versions have to rely more on getting up Tspikes, aqua jet, and cress recoil. Overall, still manageable.
Sub Skeledrige moltres is probably the biggest threat to this team. A sub mon that can beat corv, and can set up on Muk/Goodra and gets decent chances for a free sub on Annihilape. Between knock off, Saltcure, dragapult, and AV Urshifu, its beatable but takes good positioning and outplaying.
Roost QD versions get a special mention. Although not popular, they can be very dangerous if cress goes down. Trying to get a toxic off with SpD Annihilape and a saltcure is your best bet.
With hazards, all sets are potentially very overwhelming, easily kept in check if you get ahead in the hazard game. HOWEVER, if it ends up being the banded Cinderace set; then you just set up hazards for the other team and now every mon gets 2hkod.
Paste
Replays
Sheer force Dpult is probably the best offensive mon in the tier. Its speed tier is outclassed exclusively by electrode-H making it the best revenge killer in the meta imo. This mon is also an amazing abuser of spikes as its biggest checks like Cresselia and a full health Regen Goodra-H or Alola-Muk struggle to switch in repeatedly with any layer of hazards up. Dpult is essential as its the main pivotee mon that benefits from Muk Uturn, combined you can switch into, and KO normally troublesome mons like Ironvaliant and Roaring moon. CC>EQ is personal choice. CC OHKOs Goodra starting at just one layer of spikes (12.5% of the time) while 3 layers is a guaranteed kill. Eq smacks alo muk.
This spot for a long time was occupied by Hisuian Goodra as with AV and Regenerator it becomes nearly invincible on the special side while maintaining great utility in knock off, U-Turn, and rapid spin. While Muk-A is less specially sturdy, it walls the popular CC sheer force Dpult much better although Earthquake pult seems to be rising to combat this. Most importantly it doesnt take increased damage from salt cure!!! Which is a huge downside for GoodraH trying to spin on any Garganacl inheritor. It also has the added benefit of clearing Tspikes when not able to spin vs an activated poison heal Annihilape. MukA is superior in pivoting on Iron valiant as it can eat a Superpower on a Uturn and gauge whether mixed, special, or physical. MukA also avoids being trapped by magnetpull great tusk that likes to pick off a slightly weakened GoodraH with bodypress+Rockyhelmet. A stronger knock off means thing like sub moltres and Annihilape are less inclined to use the cyclizar set as setup bait as they normally would with other users. Could be switched out for GoodraH but I find the above qualities a worthwhile trade off for less SpD.
Urshifu is suppppper pressuring on a ton of teams. The ability to wallbreak while also setting up unbounceable spikes is absurd. If it gets off a single spike and dies it has already done its job, but it does this while also threatening the majority of the meta with a 2hko. I use aqua jet over knock off because Volcorona set up sweepers with roost can be very deadly and jet after saltcure damage is usually enough to prevent a potential game ending sweep. I use assault vest to flip the table on Pult, turning a losing 1v1 into a KO and a free spike. This also lets you spike on a screamtail switch in, then proceed to 1v1 slower espeon versions, or hatterene versions if you are lucky with para.
Poison Heal Annihilape was mentioned in the OM thread and after testing i am in agreeance that it seems like Annihilape+hazards is one of the most consistent cores in the meta. The idea is that a ghost with dark neutrality and good defensive stats in a meta where the most popular hazard control is rapid spin makes for easy hazard stacking strategies. The most popular spinning mon is by far utility cyclicar sets, specifically on GoodraH, which this mon sits on completely denying hazard removal while being a good knock off AND status absorber. A defensive bulk up leech seed set was used at first because it literally wins on the spot semifrequently, however a protect toxic set ended up being much more consistent game to game especially because activating the toxic orb is absolutely crucial in executing the strat.
Garg-Cresselia is an essential glue mon. First of all saltcure is reason enough to use this mon, and combined with its insane defensive stat spread it becomes an absolute demon. Cress is very important in checking Dragapult as its about the closest thing you will get to a reliable switch in as ghost damage is halved by its new ability and its natural bulk shrugs off any coverage moves. Cress with salt cure is needed to stop set up mons that can either beat corv, out damage AV Muk, or outspeed dragapult (aka magearna) but also various Quiver dance mons. Particularly Enamorus-Therian as its immune to dtail phazing and Tspikes while also being able to beat corv. Not too much else to say about this, it just sits on and outstalls like 60% of mons while setting hazards.
I had unaware ting-lu at first but after getting smashed by a Sub ironvaliant I realized I needed a good fairy resist. Corv is another quintessential glue mon. Corv but with unaware and toxic spikes. It is exactly as nasty as it sound. Unaware+Toxic spikes almost autowins vs any screens team or offensive set up based strat. It also helps with the rain matchup as they usually rely on a cyclizar mon to spin. Better Garchomp answer and fairy resist than cresselia while being a safety net for the various and unpredictable myriad of set up mons you will face. Encore is a little tech for a lot of sub set up sweepers or drain punch mons that can outheal body press damage.
Wrap-up
Overall, this team seems like it can outplay almost anything if you play your cards right and keep the right mons healthy. Just due to the nature of the tier you will play a ton of unexpected mons but with the combo of unaware, toxic spikes, poison heal, spikes, and saltcure you can wiggle out of most sticky situations.
Threatlist
Rain can be tough sometimes as you dont have a resist to physical wave crashers. If using GoodraH you can eat a nonbanded wavecrash then pivot into cresselia, between rocky helmet and recoil you can KO barraskewda and other low HP wave crashers but at the expense of your cresselia. Muk versions have to rely more on getting up Tspikes, aqua jet, and cress recoil. Overall, still manageable.
Sub Skeledrige moltres is probably the biggest threat to this team. A sub mon that can beat corv, and can set up on Muk/Goodra and gets decent chances for a free sub on Annihilape. Between knock off, Saltcure, dragapult, and AV Urshifu, its beatable but takes good positioning and outplaying.
Roost QD versions get a special mention. Although not popular, they can be very dangerous if cress goes down. Trying to get a toxic off with SpD Annihilape and a saltcure is your best bet.
With hazards, all sets are potentially very overwhelming, easily kept in check if you get ahead in the hazard game. HOWEVER, if it ends up being the banded Cinderace set; then you just set up hazards for the other team and now every mon gets 2hkod.
Paste
Replays
Ill get to it!!
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