Metagame Inheritance

[Pigeons]

Original idea by Snaquaza.

Art by KAIZA (Looking for new banner)

Inheritance

Any Pokemon in the metagame can "inherit" the moves and ability from a certain Pokemon. It has to inherit both the moves and the ability. You may only use the moves and ability from that Pokemon, so you lose your own (Unless you choose to inherit your own moves/ability). The game will just check if there's any Pokemon with it as a legal combination.

Council

Pigeons

Funbot28

Rules

Mechanic: Any Pokemon can inherit any Pokemon's movepool and abilities.

Clauses: OU clauses, Donor Clause (see below)

Banlist: OU banlist with the addition of the following

Bans:
Pokemon

Shedinja

Explanation

Shedinja inheriting from Togedemaru (or any mon with Sturdy) makes this a very annoying Pokemon as it becomes similar to Sturdinja from BH and, in the case of Togedemaru, has access to Endeavor to take out any mon with ease. While status, entry hazards, or weather would get rid of this with ease, it would in turn centralize the meta around these three things just to keep it in check and as such this is ban from being an inheritor.

Abilities
Arena Trap
Imposter
Huge/Pure Power
Water Bubble
Innards Out

Moves
Assist
Shell Smash

Donor Watchlist
These donors will start out legal but seem potentially broken - we'll be monitoring these closely and will quickban them if necessary

Dracozolt

Dracovish

Arctozolt

Azctovish

Explanation

All 4 of these Pokemon give access to the newly introduced moves Bolt Beak and Fishious Rend. These moves hit from 170 BP if the user moves first or if the opponent switches which makes them incredible donors for any offensive Electric-type or Water-type. Dracozolt and Dracovish are especially concerning because they donate Hustle and Strong Jaw respectively, which make their moves even more unbearable to switch into.

Donor Clause
• You cannot inherit from banned Pokemon
• No two Pokemon on your team may inherit from the same evolutionary line. The purpose of this rule is to encourage diversity, not to ban broken things.

Examples

You cannot Inherit from Toxapex and Mareanie on the same team
You cannot Inherit from Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Mow on the same team
You can Inherit from Vaporeon and Jolteon on the same team

Unbans: None yet!

Strategy:

With the ability to inherit from any Pokemon, a lot of Pokemon can use their typing and stats coupled with another mon's movepool and abilities and become even better than before. Toxapex can inherit Unaware from Quagsire and act as a potent defensive wall, or Excadrill can inherit from Dhelmise to run an incredibly strong attacking set with Steelworker. Inheritance leaves a lot of room to experiment and innovate, new combinations are always possible to discover!

Additional Rules / Clarifications:
- To inherit a moveset, simply give one Pokemon any combination of moves and ability that is legal on another (remember you lose your own moves and ability when inheriting). The game will just check if there's any Pokemon with it as a legal combination.
- Donor Reveal: The donor will display as a Pokemon switches in.
- You can only inherit from OU Pokemon and below. e.g. Bisharp inheriting from Zacian-Crowned or Dragapult inheriting from Eternatus are illegal (unless the Uber is unbanned)

 

[Pigeons]

Reserved for Sample Teams

 

[Pigeons]

Reserved for VR - you may now post!

 

[Dunsparce Fanboy]

Welcome back Inheritance, one of my favorite metas!
Onto the nu gen crew

--->

Darmanitan-Galar (Cinderace) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Has science gone too far? This gorilla-rabbit isn't bound to a 85 BP/90 acc STAB anymore, and can fully enjoy Gorilla Tactics+Scarf with a convenient 120 BP STAB and hot 119 speed tier. Galar Darm's got some pretty decent coverage as well, on top of that.

hot calc... sort of

252 Atk Choice Band Cinderace Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 271-319 (79.4 - 93.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Not sure if band would be better, though.

--->

Swoobat (Dragapult) @ Life Orb
Ability: Simple
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Heat Wave / Giga Drain / Psyshock
- Taunt / Roost / U-Turn

Simple + NP is my fetish. 142 base speed is my other fetish. Yeah, i like that thing.

bring yo unaware walls fam

+4 252 SpA Life Orb Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 850-1001 (249.2 - 293.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO (note: x2 super effective)

On the downside, it gets hard countered by Ice Scales Togekiss and other Frosmoth inheritors in general. Not sure if Psyshock would allow it to bypass them. It already kinda wants Taunt against Unaware fatmons, Giga Drain for Tyranitar, and Roost for longevity. Actually, even U-Turn might be an option for a bit of extra damage against TTar and Hydreigon.

--->

Cinderace (Centiskorch) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Pyro Ball
- Court Change
- Sucker Punch

Slow pivotty boi. Court Change is a really cool move. Pyro Ball is a really hot coverage. And the Heavy-Duty Boots are a really holy godsend. Seriously, having your hazard remover being x4 weak to SR isn't something i'd have thought possible last gen outside of Magic Guard shenanigans. And yet, here it is.

--->

Indeedee (Espeon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Psychic
- Mystical Fire
- Energy Ball

I'm at loss about what to say about it. Except for one thing: i can confirm that it hits hard.

>100/100 bulk x0.5 resists can't switch

252 SpA Choice Specs Espeon Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in Psychic Terrain: 165-195 (48.3 - 57.1%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO

EDIT: My life has been ruined, i learned that terrains are now only x1.3.

And huh

IT'S ESCARGOT DAY EVERYDAY IN GALAR!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

this spoiler tag served absolutely no purpose, but i'm glad you clicked!

--->

Darmanitan-Galar (Escavalier) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

To put it simply, this thing is brutal and hard to switch into. But a calc is always more convincing than words, so let's

RUINED

+1 252+ Atk Choice Band Escavalier Gyro Ball (147 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 609-717 (178.5 - 210.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

And there's also that less brutal (but still pretty brutal) version featuring Perrserker if your Darm slot is already taken by something. (which wouldn't be surprising considering this thing's raw power)

it explanates from itself

Perrserker (Escavalier) @ Choice Band
Ability: Tough Claws/Steely Spirit
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Gyro Ball
- Close Combat
- Crunch

Basically the same thing but with Tough Claws. Steely Spirit works too (assuming it really is x1.5 like Steelworker and really affects the user) if you want an even stronger Gyro Ball, at the cost of weaker other moves.

--->

Drifblim (Escavalier) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Strength Sap
- Gyro Ball
- Defog
- Haze

And for this last set, defogcavalier. Now with Strength Sap™.
Gyro Ball is still pretty brutal even without an ability or item to boost it, so it's not a completely passive support mon.
And Strength Sap is a pretty nice recovery move to have, especially with only 70 base HP.

• No two Pokemon on your team may inherit from the same evolutionary line. The purpose of this rule is to encourage diversity, not to ban broken things.

I'm a bit upset about this. It, imo, failed in its purpose to encourage diversity last gen. You could see stuff like protean spam with Kecleon and Greninja inheritors everywhere despite them not being from the same line, and yet it caused problems like preventing people from inheriting from Guts Larvitar if they had a Sand Stream Tyranitar inheritor in their team, even though both have very different uses.

As it's just a clause (and thus wouldn't fall in the complex ban territory), i'd suggest adding an exception to allow inheriting from Pokémon of the same line as long as they have different abilities.

 

[spookysocialist]

Barraskewda inheriting from dracovish seems extremely busted. All of the fossils seem like they will be over centralizing as donors.

Cinderace seems like it will be a donor on almost every team once it gets Libero and has huge implications for hazard stacking

Vikavolt is a strong donor passing along sticky webs, roost, volt switch, and levitate

 

[D2TheW]

Barraskewda inheriting from dracovish seems extremely busted. All of the fossils seem like they will be over centralizing as donors.

Cinderace seems like it will be a donor on almost every team once it gets Libero and has huge implications for hazard stacking

Vikavolt is a strong donor passing along sticky webs, roost, volt switch, and levitate

Unfortunately Vik lost roost this gen but it's still a decent donor

So this isn't a one liner, Coalossal seems interesting as a donor. Rocks, Spikes and Spin is a unique combo since Forretress got merked. Ferrothorn could be a good inheritor with Rocks,Spikes,Spin and Gyro with Flash Fire. Lacks recovery but so does normal Ferro and that gets a long just fine

 

[SectoniaServant]

I don’t normally play, but Cursola seems very interesting to inherit from. For one, Perish Body is a very interesting ability. Secondly, access to Strength Sap and Stealth Rock lets it donate a form of recovery + Stealth Rocks. It also donates Will-O-Wisp, Night Shade, Hex, and a few more other options that lets the receptor of Cursola not be entirely passive. It even carries some neat extras, like Scald, Curse, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, and more. I’m certainly interested in seeing what sets could be made from Cursola. It certainly could be interesting to see a special sweeper with Strength Sap as their recovery, and with Magic Bounce being limited to a very select few with limited recovery among those (except Xatu, fuck Xatu), it certainly could function as a decent Stealth Rocker.

 

[spookysocialist]

Interesting to see where frosmoth ends up as a donor. On the one hand, it passes along an amazing ability and quiver dance (or defog and uturn if you want to go defensive). But it's terrible offensive movepool leaves it with no option to hit steel's even neutrally and no way to hit fire types neutrally except air slash/hurricane. I could see togekiss using it with stab air slash and dazzling gleam to be a special wall. Shame it doesnt get earth power or roost.

Also female Indeedee, while inferior to male in standard play due to worse offensive stats, can pass along healing wish in addition to psychic surge, making for a nice scarf gardevoir set.

Btw, in case you were wondering about CB barraskewda...
+1 0 Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 24 Def Ferrothorn: 190-224 (53.9 - 63.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
That's with a 170 BP waterfall in place of fisheous rend and +1 to simulate strong jaw. That's without rain btw - with rain it does about 80%, so a ohko with some prior damage and rocks.

 

[sandragon13]

Longtime lurker, first-time poster. I had a concept that I was kicking around in the OM and Pet Mods workshops and many have advised me of the fact that the concept is simply a more restrictive version of Inheritance. Namely, same rules of replacing one Pokemon's ability and movepool with those of another, but with the added restriction that both Pokemon have to share typing (as in, Azumarill could donate to Tapu Fini, but not to Gyarados, and Pelipper could donate to Gyarados, but not to Blastoise). Given that everybody is already familiar with how Inheritance works, I thought it might be taken as a thought exercise.

 

[PrincessGardevoir]

Longtime lurker, first-time poster. I had a concept that I was kicking around in the OM and Pet Mods workshops and many have advised me of the fact that the concept is simply a more restrictive version of Inheritance. Namely, same rules of replacing one Pokemon's ability and movepool with those of another, but with the added restriction that both Pokemon have to share typing (as in, Azumarill could donate to Tapu Fini, but not to Gyarados, and Pelipper could donate to Gyarados, but not to Blastoise). Given that everybody is already familiar with how Inheritance works, I thought it might be taken as a thought exercise.

Sounds intriguing, although it really would be restrictive and basically moot since the most common type combos (normal/flying, pure water, grass/poison) all share movesets anyways. Very few mons would want another's moveset when they could just get their OWN set.

 

[sandragon13]

Sounds intriguing, although it really would be restrictive and basically moot since the most common type combos (normal/flying, pure water, grass/poison) all share movesets anyways. Very few mons would want another's moveset when they could just get their OWN set.

It falls into a few different categories, based on my research. These would be: overall higher stats than the original user (which can manifest using sets commonly seen on the original user or not), granting access to moves/abilities that improve the performance of the recipient even if the moveset is largely similar to its original one, or taking the movepool in a new direction.

An example of the first one, cited above, is the Azumarill>Tapu Fini build. It makes use of the fact that Tapu Fini is both bulkier in general and has a higher base Attack and Speed than Azumarill; giving it access to Huge Power and the other proven attacks that you'd normally use on Azu basically makes it a more successful version of Azu.

The second category can be seen with another pair of Water types, Araquanid>Golisopod. Golisopod sheds its detrimental Emergency Exit ability, in favor of the excellent Water Bubble, buffing the power of its Liquidation and preventing it from being burned.

For the third, how about Mawile>Magearna. Magearna tends to primarily run special attacks, even on sets using Shift Gear, which is often only for the boost in Speed, as it misses out on many good physical options besides Iron Head. Mawile gives Sheer Force and a bevy of strong, boosted attacks including Iron Head, Play Rough, Fire Punch and Ice Punch, alongside Knock Off, priority in Sucker Punch, and boosting potential with Swords Dance.

 

[PrincessGardevoir]

Few things while main's down that I had some messing around with conceptually with a friend of mine.

- Corsola-Galar has all of the pluses of Cursola but next to none of the downsides, with Will-o + Rocks + Strength Sap being enough to carry nearly any supportmon into at least viability, Calm Mind and Dual Screens for setup options (alongside aformentioned Rocks), and a fairly diverse movepool wide enough that it isn't too terrifying but has enough coverage for anything (Ground, Ice, Water, Ghost, Grass, Psychic, and even Rock with Power Gem). Even physically it's no slouch, but with no setup move and a much more restricted coverage of Water/Rock/Ground/Ice, it's best left for mons who are physically inclined supporters. Oh right, it also gets Haze, Destiny Bond, and Disable. Also, Cursed Body isn't a useless ability and can actually come into play screwing over certain mons who have their STAB get neutered after killing Corsola.

- Rotom Forms are not much different from previous gens; they are Electric/Ghost moveset inheritors with Levitate and a selection of limited yet useful support moves in Trick, Will-O, Twave, and dual screens. Gen 8 has blessed them, however, with the wonderful gift of Nasty Plot, turning several previously mediocre options into significantly scarier ones, giving certain Ghosts with a weakness to Ground an extra option for inheriting. For example, Chandelure can turn itself into an excellent balancebreaker with Nasty Plot + Overheat or can scare off normal checks with Leaf Storm. The lack of Hidden Power, however, is one of the biggest neutering factors into them, really showing the glaring flaws in their coverage.

- On the Vish and Zolt duo, both of the Arctos inherit significantly worse coverage than the Dracos and two worse abilities (all they truly give is Slush Rush and their respective Absorbs). Dracovish and Dracozolt on the other hand are terrifying monsters if anything can get their hands on that delicious STAB, and Dracovish happens to have, iunno, like 5 different abusers of it? Dracozolt only has Boltund as a good abuser right now, although with Zeraora on the horizon things could change real fast. Zolt is also a bit balanced out by Hustle's inconsistencies and by Volt Absorb being moot when all of the abusers will be Electric type anyways.

- Coalossal is best boi and is, as stated above, the best Rocker/Spiker combo that we currently have due to Dexit. Lots of support, own hazard removal, several support options and will-o combine with average coverage that can and will hit hard keeps it a good option. Steam Engine also is a meme and I love it. Will post more some other time due to work fsdafsaf

 

[Destin77]

()
Dragapult @ Expert Belt
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough
- Seed Bomb
- Close Combat

I know, it’s simple, but the extremely good Perrserker’s Movepool offer a good coverage, Ghost + Fight is a very good Offensive combo and Fairy and Grass is a very good coverage

()
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Calm Mind

A bulky Pokémon with Calm Mind + Wow Priorities And Recover, necessaries for Dark Physical bulky but easy to play
I can recommend this for Galarian Corsola

 

[Cuddly]

In AAA, you are allowed to use Silvally of any type due to a change in SWSH where Silvally would only revert back to its Normal type form if it had RKS system (meaning that you could give your Silvally a memory, replace its ability, and then removing the memory would make it stay to that type of Silvally).
For Inheritance, would the same logic apply? Inheritance is essentially AAA with movepool swapping (Edit: or at least was considering Dexit).

 

[TinCan]

Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Overdrive
- Volt Switch
- Hex

252 SpA Choice Specs Heliolisk Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Mew: 192-226 (47.5 - 55.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (power changed to simulate punk rock)

 

[CoolMan6001]

Some interesting things:

--->

Butterfree (Togekiss) @ Heavy_Duty Boots
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Hurricane
- Draining Kiss

The next "Vivillon" inheritor in Togekiss. Draining Kiss is used to help longetivity.

--->

Mawile (Gengar) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast

We lost a lot of out Sheer Force donors, but Mawile can still donate Sheer Force dual STAB to Gengar!

--->

Salazzle (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Sludge Bomb / Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam

--->

Chandelure (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Solar Beam

You have either Salazzle for the speed, or Chandelure for the power.

--->

Inteleon @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse

As far as offensive water-types go, Inteleon might be lit for that.

--->

Dhelmise @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Shadow Claw
- Stomping Tantrum
- Fire Punch

As far as Grass-Types are concerned, Dhelmise might be usefull. Obstagoon's movepool in general is great, so I can see usage on more mons.

 

[SergioRules]

Inheritance is always my favorite OM when a new gen rolls around and it eventually gets OMotM, but I've never posted so here's some stuff I've been thinking of while waiting to get a a ladder for it.

( )
Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
- Superpower

Someone just posted a Perrserker Dragapult, but inheriting from Barbaracle gives you dual STAB instead.

( )
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Recover
- Body Press
- Iron Defense

Honestly, a lot of things can inherit from Appletun and be pretty good set. Thick Fat, Recover, and an overall decent movepool, not lacking in offensive options. Doublade can use this to become a super hard ice resist, and just be a really tanky mon.

( )
Togekiss @ Choice Scarf / Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Trick / Ice Beam / Healing Wish / Stealth Rock / Filler

Scarf Togekiss with better Fairy move, Thunderbolt, and Stealth Rock immunity. Also can take advantage of Clefable's huge movepool to come up with some useful move in the last slot.

( )
Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Iron Head
- Fire Fang

Messing around with some more Sheer Force inherits. DD Steelix is definitely a nice one for just about anything because it has a pretty wide movepool. You could change Bisharp to a Tyranitar with Rock Slide, or a Weavile with Ice Fang, or even a special set with Duraludon.

( )
Barraskewda @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Ice Fang
- Psychic Fangs
- Crunch

A few people already mentioned it but this should probably just be banned. 2HKOing both Ferrothorn AND Toxapex is not something I'd like to see, even though it'd be sick as heck to use.
252 Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Barraskewda Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 24 Def Ferrothorn: 233-274 (66.1 - 77.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Strong Jaw Barraskewda Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 159-188 (52.3 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery

( )
Silvally-Electric @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Earthquake
- Low Kick
- Fire Fang

(I'm pretty sure from what I've seen in other OMs that Silvally can run other items and abilities but this set also can work with Morpeko that has the same Attack stat)
Why not ban Zolt too tbh. A little easier to manage because of Hustle's miss chance and Electric's lack of strong physical attackers, but this can still break through a ton of stuff that it probably shouldn't be able to.
252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Silvally-Electric Bolt Beak (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 24 Def Ferrothorn: 195-229 (55.3 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery