Metagame Inverse

Mossy Sandwich

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UUPL Champion
I believe it's time to talk about possible uber unbans in the format. Here are all the pokemons that could be unbanned:

:Darmanitan-Galar: Galarian Darmanitan
Ban
:Dracovish: Dracovish
Ban
:Eternatus: Eternatus
Ban
:Kyurem-Black: Kyurem-Black
Ban
:Kyurem-White: Kyurem-White
Ban
:Lunala: Lunala
Ban
:Marshadow: Marshadow
Ban
:Mewtwo: Mewtwo
Ban
:Necrozma-Dawn-Wings: Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Ban
:Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Ban
:Reshiram: Reshiram
Ban
:Solgaleo: Solgaleo
Not sure
:Zacian: Zacian
Ban
:Zacian-Crowned: Zacian-Crowned
Ban
:Zamazenta: Zamazenta
Ban
:Zamazenta-Crowned: Zamazenta-Crowned
Unban
:Zekrom: Zekrom
Ban

I think we can agree that anything over base 600 that's not a steel type is too good so here's the pool we're left with:
:Darmanitan-Galar: :Dracovish: :Marshadow: :Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: :Solgaleo: :Zacian-Crowned: :Zamazenta-Crowned:

:Zacian-Crowned:
Zacian is obviously too good. It's not weighed down by its bad defensive typing too muhc because it's the fastest non-scarfed pokemon as well as possessing 170 base attack and a +1 attack boost for existing. Even then, it still has good enough bulk to be able to live neutral hits or priorities. I don't see this thing ever being unbanned.

:Marshadow:
Next up is Marshadow. I doubt we can unban it. It hits like a truck and gets shadow ball to hit avalugg. Technician shadow sneak is really good and spectral thief is an unfair move. Ghost+Fightning is unresisted meaning it doesn't worry about coverage. With all these tools, it would be too much for most team to handle so it should stay banned.

:Necrozma-Dusk-Mane:
Now we're getting to pokemons who could be more controversial. First is Necrozma-Dusk-Mane. While it does carry 10 weaknesses for only 4 resistances, Necrozma-DM does have prism armor and massive bulk meaning a super effective hit won't be that bad for it. Due to that, it can probably run weakness policy even better than in Uber. Along with moves like rock polish or dragon dance, this can make Necrozma-DM a very dangerous sweeper that is hard to kill and that can set up easily. Even if you don't activate its weakness policy, its ability to set up offensively with amazing offensive stats make it incredibly hard to deal with and it should stay banned.

:Dracovish:
At first, I thought dracovish would be fine since dracozolt is also in the format. However, the only commonly used pokemons that can survive 2 band fishious rends are hippowdon, rhyperior and tyranitar. Let's not forget that only one of those has recovery. Pretty much every water absorber is unviable or viable because of an ability that isn't water absorb. Conclusion? Dracovish hasn't changed and needs to stay banned.

:Darmanitan-Galar:
Next is Galarian-Darmanitan. It has all the coverage it needs to cover ice with flare blitz, stone edge and earthquake though it does lack u-turn if it runs all of these moves. I didn't find a single counter to the band set and scarf still seems very hard to switch-into. Darmanitan should stay banned.

:Solgaleo:
Next up is solgaleo. Solgaleo may seem pretty similar to Necrozma-DM due to having the same type and similar stats, but there's one big difference between the two : their movepool. They both have good coverage but solgaleo has no good setup move. Along with its lower power, solgaleo is a lot easier to deal with using good physical walls such as hippowdon, avalugg, tangrowth, rhyperior or chansey. Solgaleo can run psychic to hit specially but that only works on avalugg and there's still a chance for it to live with leftovers. While it is easily walled without set up, it can easily run a weakness policy set thanks to its massive bulk along with having access to flame charge. If you're ready for it though, you'll just be careful and go into your walls. Speaking of its bulk, it usually lets it live at least one hit meaning offensive teams without a good switch-in to it may struggle against it. Solgaleo has amazing stats but its movepool and type let it down. Those stats may be enough to make it viable though. It could be too much for the metagame but I believe it could also be not too bad and be unbanned.

:Zamazenta-Crowned:
Now Zamazenta-Crowned. This pokemon is awful. 9 weaknesses including a double weakness to rock and u-turn, locked to basically having no item and absolutely awful coverage. It's hard-walled by rock and ice types which are common defensive types and has too low of an attack stat to justify that. It can't even get past avalugg by using special moves like solgaleo either since its special attack is even lower and it doesn't get STAB from its special moves. It does have work up to boost its special attack but it still deals under 50% with a special attack after a work up boost. It's stopped by pretty much every relevant defensive pokemon, has an awful typing and can't carry an item. If we look on the bright side though, it's nearly impossible to one-shot without rocks chip and it can still deal a lot of damage to most offensive pokemons so it has a good matchup against them. Keep in mind it's left with as much HP as a diglett after rocks so its defenses can't save it at that point. I believe Zamazenta-Crowned should be unbanned since it can't do anything to most defensive pokemons so it's useless in most matchups.
 
:Zamazenta-Crowned:
Now Zamazenta-Crowned. This pokemon is awful. 9 weaknesses including a double weakness to rock and u-turn, locked to basically having no item and absolutely awful coverage. It's hard-walled by rock and ice types which are common defensive types and has too low of an attack stat to justify that. It can't even get past avalugg by using special moves like solgaleo either since its special attack is even lower and it doesn't get STAB from its special moves. It does have work up to boost its special attack but it still deals under 50% with a special attack after a work up boost. It's stopped by pretty much every relevant defensive pokemon, has an awful typing and can't carry an item. If we look on the bright side though, it's nearly impossible to one-shot without rocks chip and it can still deal a lot of damage to most offensive pokemons so it has a good matchup against them. Keep in mind it's left with as much HP as a diglett after rocks so its defenses can't save it at that point. I believe Zamazenta-Crowned should be unbanned since it can't do anything to most defensive pokemons so it's useless in most matchups.
Do remember that unbanning Crowned Zama would also unban regular Zama, unless you want to get into a complex ban of "Zama is banned unless it holds the shield" whick... yuck.
 
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I think that Aegislash is not very good in inverse, being a steel-ghost type. A better priority user would be a fake out user, like a normal type, such as persian or Mienshao
But Aegislash is still a fantastic mon offensively, steel and ghost have good coverage. It has a higher att stat than any fake out user (Making shadow sneak one of the strongest and most reliable priority moves available), and still lives most hits in shield form. Plus keeping toxic immunity is always good for beating down stall.

I'm not saying it's the best, but it's certainly not bad. Nothing with 140 base attack and stab priority can truly be bad.
 

Mossy Sandwich

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UUPL Champion
But Aegislash is still a fantastic mon offensively, steel and ghost have good coverage. It has a higher att stat than any fake out user (Making shadow sneak one of the strongest and most reliable priority moves available), and still lives most hits in shield form. Plus keeping toxic immunity is always good for beating down stall.

I'm not saying it's the best, but it's certainly not bad. Nothing with 140 base attack and stab priority can truly be bad.
That's still a priority that only hits normal and dark types which is pretty mediocre since even a life orb sneak has a very low chance of OHKOing Porygon-z. And even though it has 140 defenses, it still has 60 hp and 11 weaknesses so I doubt it lives hits that well. I'd prefer using something like thwackey or conkeldurr which hits more targets.

Anyway I didn't make this post to talk about aegislash's downside but to post some teams after the rillaboom ban.

I'm not sure why or how this team works but I'll try to explain it as best I can. Thwackey is an insane revenge killer capable of 1-2 shotting most offensive pokemon. With eviolite and HP investment, it becomes bulkier than uninvested rillaboom. This means that, even if thwackey can't OHKO a pokemon such as Porygon-z, it can likely take a hit and win against it. Thwackey can also use taunt+leech seed to annoy walls and recover health. U-turn is pretty obvious to pivot on things like avalugg switch-ins. Dracozolt is here to destroy walls. Just hope the opponent doesn't have rhyperior/rhydon. Once the walls are down, thwackey can beat down the offensive pokemons. Chans-lugg core is the simplest to cover the most amount of threats. Pretty basic stuff, no need to explain. Zeraora is here to be annoying and outspeed everything. A lot of mons are weak to one of knock off or close combat and most mons don't like switching into a knock off. Volt switch annoys lugg and lets you pivot. Finally, you may have realised this team gets walled by water types and rhyperior. This is why I added urshifu-rapid-strike. Surging Strikes can hit water and poison jab gets through rhyperior. The rest is obvious coverage/pivot. Basically, kill walls with dracozolt and beat offensive pokemons with thwackey.

Xatu can switch-into most hazard setters and defensive pokemons. This protect your offensive pokemons from stuff like paralysis, burn, sticky web or chip. Xatu can also slow pivot out but it's not bulky at all so don't expect it to wall anything strong. Weavile can revenge kill stuff like shell smash cloyster with ice shard and can hit really hard and break through chans-lugg with knock off or triple axel. Brick Break hits ghosts and psychic types. Hippo+Tangrowth is weak to electric but is a pretty solid core otherwise. Hippowdon can take most physical hits and whirlwind threats out if needed. Tangrowth can't take strong special hits as well though. This means it can't counter threats like porygon-z or alakazam. Not much wants to switch-into it though since they can fear a super effective hit, a knock off or a sludge bomb poison. Leaf storm grabs kills giga drain wouldn't be able to get. Next is zeraora, same set as the other team. Knock off + Close combat for perfect coverage, volt switch to hit lugg and pivot and plasma fist to hit as hard as possible. Gengar is probably the fastest possible scarfer at the moment. Shadow ball+Focus Blast is unresisted coverage, sludge wave hits many types super effectively and trick can cripple walls when you don't need scarf. Gengar is a good late game sweeper thanks to scarf.
 
That's still a priority that only hits normal and dark types which is pretty mediocre since even a life orb sneak has a very low chance of OHKOing Porygon-z. And even though it has 140 defenses, it still has 60 hp and 11 weaknesses so I doubt it lives hits that well. I'd prefer using something like thwackey or conkeldurr which hits more targets.
Well, now I feel obliged to defend poor Aegislash against unjust criticism. I'll admit, it's a terrible defensive situation, though something like Chansey is still set up fodder and kings shield will generally give you that set up turn if they hit it. Conkeldurr might be a better option, but it is resisted by a lot of types too, normal being the worst, Ice being annoying too, but steel, rock, and dark are also there. Whilst Aegislash is resisted by only ghost and psychic, which this team handles pretty well. So that's hardly a downside in comparison.

Besides this, if you can hit most offensive mons for neutral damage and hit roughly 50% with your priority move, then you have a reasonable revenge killer in most situations, OKHOs are not needed. Though of course, swords dance is still an option, making OKHOs possible.

Add stealth rocks on top of that and you'll find the situation is actually in your favour.
For Example. Unboosted Aegislash against your proposed Porygon Z.
252+ Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Porygon-Z: 265-315 (85.2 - 101.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Again. I have not claimed it's the best or even a good pokemon in the meta. But it's far from bad, works with the team and is still one of the most reliable priority users available.

If the meta had more players and more time, perhaps the team would be better or more refined. But i just what works when i play and that usually means the teams are only built or tested against the 3-5+ players that play inverse in any given hour, and they usually tend to have pretty flawed teams as well. I'm also an anti-meta kind of builder, i don't like using the most popular thing like Clefable or Rillaboom, so I often settle for lower place options that do similar things or beat down the most overused stuff.
 
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Think I want to stir up some discussion on some other mons that might be broken post Rillaboom ban. I don't necessarily think all of these are broken, just trying to expand the conversation.

:cloyster:

I have been losing to cloyster a lot. It's honestly pretty annoying. Cloyster is afforded many more setup opportunities than in standard play since it's resistant to rocks and has a much nicer defensive typing, with four resistances and two weaknesses. Ice STAB isn't the best neutral coverage on it's own, although it hits key defensive mons like Slowbro and Avalugg, but Ice / Water also works really nice offensively, since Water moves can cover Grass and Dragon types, while Rock Blast can cover Ground types. So defensively, checking Cloyster can be quite tough really, but feasible. Bulky grounds like Hippowdon or Rhyperior can stomach a hit but generally can't do much back but phaze (unless you run Ice Beam Rhyperior which is a semi-consistent tech for Cloyster and Avalugg). Mandibuzz is probably one of the only viable mons to consistently check Cloyster with Foul Play, as well as perhaps Porygon2 by virtue of its bulk alone. It's when you get to checking Cloyster offensively that things start getting a bit tricky. Cloyster is only weak to Water and Ice, meaning it can be revenged by Aqua Jet or Ice Shard, but the thing is that Cloyster can run Ice Shard of its own and pick off all of the Ice Shard and Aqua Jet users first (since all of the best users are Ice and Water, like Crawdaunt, Urshifu-R, Weavile, or your own Cloyster. Mamoswine is the exception cause of thick fat, but even then its not that bulky). Ice Shard is also good against Cinderace, probably the best scarfer faster than +2 Jolly Cloyster. I have even seen Cloyster paired with Indeedee that just protects it from this priority altogether. And all of this doesn't mention the cheese that is King's Rock, which basically prevents the defensive mons I mentioned from even working all the time. Cloyster is definitely a big threat and its counterplay feels just a bit too specific to me, especially if you're using offense, in which a lot of cases the gameplan becomes "just don't let cloyster set up or you lose".

:porygon-z:

This mon is really stupid. Porygon-Z is an okay scarfer, although it suffers from a relatively unimpressive speed tier, but it can get some surprise KOs against offense before you know what set it is. The real scary set is Choice Specs. Specs Porygon-Z has like three switch-ins; Chansey, Blissey, and SpDef Porygon-Z, and all of them are susceptible to Trick. Tri Attack and Trick are the only real constants, and the last two slots can be whatever crazy techs you can come up with. Recover lets it actually beat down Chansey and Blissey that lock themselves into Seismic Toss after being tricked, but I have also seen Sub to punish them if they lock into Toxic. In fact, any set with Recover beats any Chansey or Blissey without Toxic. And let me emphasize this; literally nothing switches in on it. AV Max SpD Amoonguss and Slowking are things I have seen to attempt to switch in on Specs Porygon-Z, but even then they get forced out before Porygon-Z does, meaning something else has to take a Tri Attack. You literally need to run multiple checks to it in order to check it defensively. Hyper Beam is something else I've seen that can actually be pretty devastating against teams that lack the setup sweepers to capitalize on the recharge turn. Also Teleport, for if you don't feel like Tricking that Chansey right away and want to wear it down with more hazard turns first. Non-choiced sets are things I've seen too. Agility + NP caught me completely by surprise since I had my non-status Chansey against it and my priority mon wasn't able to revenge it from ~70%. Really this mon warps the metagame a bit due to the options it has, but even if it didn't have those options, it would still be fearsome due to just spamming Tri Attack.

:indeedee:

Probably the Psychic type most taxing to switch into just due to sheer power of Expanding Force. Indeedee's defensive checks include the same defensive Normal types (Chansey, Blissey, P2) that check Porygon-Z, but Indeedee also has the option to smack them harder with Psyshock (or just use Trick). There are very few viable Psychic resists in Inverse, so there really aren't many more checks than that. Fighting types generally lack recovery and aren't that bulky, not to mention they are weak to rocks, and defensive Poison types aren't really as good as in standard play (Poison has five weaknesses). That said, SpDef Toxapex or Amoonguss can act as checks to Indeedee (both can be 2HKO'd by specs Porygon-Z, fun fact), although both are somewhat niche. Scarf Indeedee is an option too that basically nets a kill against offense whenever it can come out against something slower than it. Psychic terrain also enables other scary sweepers like Polteageist, Alakazam, and Hawlucha.

:snorlax:

Snorlax was actually banned in previous incarnations of Inverse. The coveted Normal typing means Body Slam alone is all it really needs, letting it run RestTalk without fear. Checking Snorlax with an offensive team is very annoying, since early-game it will just throw out Body Slams and spread paralysis, punishing you for switching into your boosting sweeper that can overwhelm it early. Or it might actually go for Curse on a turn you don't switch-in to your own boosting mon (since you were afraid of Body Slam) and then you are in a tough spot. Against bulkier teams, the best counterplay is to run a super bulky phazer (which doesn't actually beat Snorlax, just delays its setup. Snorlax sets up all over Avalugg and Hippowdon), run Unaware mons that get stalled out, or run your own bulky booster that specifically doesn't lose to Snorlax, and even then you need to get it on the field and set up first before Snorlax has its chance. I guess Toxapex with Haze can stop it, but Toxapex is also weak to eight different types, so your choice if you want to do that.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax: 460-541 (87.7 - 103.2%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Also this. LO Gengar can't even OHKO Snorlax consistently unless you have rocks up. It's just way too bulky.

:porygon2:

Similar to Snorlax, it's really fat and only weak to Ghost, but it threatens all possible Ghost type switch-ins with Tri Attack. Teleport's addition serves to make it just more annoying by being able to gain momentum against things it walls. It's very vulnerable to status compared to most other Normal types which can hinder it a lot, but against offense its ludicrous bulk and respective offensive potential just carries it. Just come in on something you wall, heal up, and throw out Tri attacks that chunk pretty much anything that isn't pretty specially bulky. It's easy to use and carries a lot of reward, especially since it's so bulky that basically every boosting sweeper can't even OHKO it after a boost.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 338-400 (90.3 - 106.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
Again, Gengar fails.

:dracozolt:

CB Hustle basically does what Dracovish did in OU, more or less. You basically need Lightningrod or Volt Absorb to switch into Bolt Beak, and any of those possible switch-ins get manhandled by Body Slam, Dragon Claw, or Outrage. As it stands right now it's not super broken since the meta is relatively fast paced, but if stall teams were to rise in popularity they would have to deal with an almost insurmountable wallbreaker and basically just pray for hustle misses. Hustle being such a shit ability probably balances it out though, but on paper it just destroys everything.

Also regarding unbans, I feel like the only thing that can be unbanned safely is Solgaleo. While it will be okay offensively, it is still checked well by mons like Avalugg or Rhyperior and defensively it really sucks. Marshadow seems still pluripotent offensively (although it could be good to curtail Normal types), and Necrozma-DM is still extremely bulky (Prism Armor helps a lot) and versatile; even if it's vulnerable to rocks, Rocks as a whole feel weaker in this meta due to being easier than ever to remove (no spinblocking) and just hitting less types and viable mons super-effectively. I've found that I'm eschewing SR altogether on some teams since it often doesn't accomplish much that a single layer of Spikes can't. Also I feel like we can't unban Zamazenta-C without unbanning the base form, which I feel like is probably a no. If it is possible then sure, but I'm unsure about base Zamazenta. It's got great stats but a poor-ish offensive typing and weak to rocks, idk if it's enough to balance it.
 
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Mossy Sandwich

Gunning for the top
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
UUPL Champion
Think I want to stir up some discussion on some other mons that might be broken post Rillaboom ban. I don't necessarily think all of these are broken, just trying to expand the conversation.

:cloyster:

I have been losing to cloyster a lot. It's honestly pretty annoying. Cloyster is afforded many more setup opportunities than in standard play since it's resistant to rocks and has a much nicer defensive typing, with four resistances and two weaknesses. Ice STAB isn't the best neutral coverage on it's own, although it hits key defensive mons like Slowbro and Avalugg, but Ice / Water also works really nice offensively, since Water moves can cover Grass and Dragon types, while Rock Blast can cover Ground types. So defensively, checking Cloyster can be quite tough really, but feasible. Bulky grounds like Hippowdon or Rhyperior can stomach a hit but generally can't do much back but phaze (unless you run Ice Beam Rhyperior which is a semi-consistent tech for Cloyster and Avalugg). Mandibuzz is probably one of the only viable mons to consistently check Cloyster with Foul Play, as well as perhaps Porygon2 by virtue of its bulk alone. It's when you get to checking Cloyster offensively that things start getting a bit tricky. Cloyster is only weak to Water and Ice, meaning it can be revenged by Aqua Jet or Ice Shard, but the thing is that Cloyster can run Ice Shard of its own and pick off all of the Ice Shard and Aqua Jet users first (since all of the best users are Ice and Water, like Crawdaunt, Urshifu-R, Weavile, or your own Cloyster. Mamoswine is the exception cause of thick fat, but even then its not that bulky). Ice Shard is also good against Cinderace, probably the best scarfer faster than +2 Jolly Cloyster. I have even seen Cloyster paired with Indeedee that just protects it from this priority altogether. And all of this doesn't mention the cheese that is King's Rock, which basically prevents the defensive mons I mentioned from even working all the time. Cloyster is definitely a big threat and its counterplay feels just a bit too specific to me, especially if you're using offense, in which a lot of cases the gameplan becomes "just don't let cloyster set up or you lose".

:porygon-z:

This mon is really stupid. Porygon-Z is an okay scarfer, although it suffers from a relatively unimpressive speed tier, but it can get some surprise KOs against offense before you know what set it is. The real scary set is Choice Specs. Specs Porygon-Z has like three switch-ins; Chansey, Blissey, and SpDef Porygon-Z, and all of them are susceptible to Trick. Tri Attack and Trick are the only real constants, and the last two slots can be whatever crazy techs you can come up with. Recover lets it actually beat down Chansey and Blissey that lock themselves into Seismic Toss after being tricked, but I have also seen Sub to punish them if they lock into Toxic. In fact, any set with Recover beats any Chansey or Blissey without Toxic. And let me emphasize this; literally nothing switches in on it. AV Max SpD Amoonguss and Slowking are things I have seen to attempt to switch in on Specs Porygon-Z, but even then they get forced out before Porygon-Z does, meaning something else has to take a Tri Attack. You literally need to run multiple checks to it in order to check it defensively. Hyper Beam is something else I've seen that can actually be pretty devastating against teams that lack the setup sweepers to capitalize on the recharge turn. Also Teleport, for if you don't feel like Tricking that Chansey right away and want to wear it down with more hazard turns first. Non-choiced sets are things I've seen too. Agility + NP caught me completely by surprise since I had my non-status Chansey against it and my priority mon wasn't able to revenge it from ~70%. Really this mon warps the metagame a bit due to the options it has, but even if it didn't have those options, it would still be fearsome due to just spamming Tri Attack.

:indeedee:

Probably the Psychic type most taxing to switch into just due to sheer power of Expanding Force. Indeedee's defensive checks include the same defensive Normal types (Chansey, Blissey, P2) that check Porygon-Z, but Indeedee also has the option to smack them harder with Psyshock (or just use Trick). There are very few viable Psychic resists in Inverse, so there really aren't many more checks than that. Fighting types generally lack recovery and aren't that bulky, not to mention they are weak to rocks, and defensive Poison types aren't really as good as in standard play (Poison has five weaknesses). That said, SpDef Toxapex or Amoonguss can act as checks to Indeedee (both can be 2HKO'd by specs Porygon-Z, fun fact), although both are somewhat niche. Scarf Indeedee is an option too that basically nets a kill against offense whenever it can come out against something slower than it. Psychic terrain also enables other scary sweepers like Polteageist, Alakazam, and Hawlucha.

:snorlax:

Snorlax was actually banned in previous incarnations of Inverse. The coveted Normal typing means Body Slam alone is all it really needs, letting it run RestTalk without fear. Checking Snorlax with an offensive team is very annoying, since early-game it will just throw out Body Slams and spread paralysis, punishing you for switching into your boosting sweeper that can overwhelm it early. Or it might actually go for Curse on a turn you don't switch-in to your own boosting mon (since you were afraid of Body Slam) and then you are in a tough spot. Against bulkier teams, the best counterplay is to run a super bulky phazer (which doesn't actually beat Snorlax, just delays its setup. Snorlax sets up all over Avalugg and Hippowdon), run Unaware mons that get stalled out, or run your own bulky booster that specifically doesn't lose to Snorlax, and even then you need to get it on the field and set up first before Snorlax has its chance. I guess Toxapex with Haze can stop it, but Toxapex is also weak to eight different types, so your choice if you want to do that.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax: 460-541 (87.7 - 103.2%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Also this. LO Gengar can't even OHKO Snorlax consistently unless you have rocks up. It's just way too bulky.

:porygon2:

Similar to Snorlax, it's really fat and only weak to Ghost, but it threatens all possible Ghost type switch-ins with Tri Attack. Teleport's addition serves to make it just more annoying by being able to gain momentum against things it walls. It's very vulnerable to status compared to most other Normal types which can hinder it a lot, but against offense its ludicrous bulk and respective offensive potential just carries it. Just come in on something you wall, heal up, and throw out Tri attacks that chunk pretty much anything that isn't pretty specially bulky. It's easy to use and carries a lot of reward, especially since it's so bulky that basically every boosting sweeper can't even OHKO it after a boost.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 338-400 (90.3 - 106.9%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
Again, Gengar fails.

:dracozolt:

CB Hustle basically does what Dracovish did in OU, more or less. You basically need Lightningrod or Volt Absorb to switch into Bolt Beak, and any of those possible switch-ins get manhandled by Body Slam, Dragon Claw, or Outrage. As it stands right now it's not super broken since the meta is relatively fast paced, but if stall teams were to rise in popularity they would have to deal with an almost insurmountable wallbreaker and basically just pray for hustle misses. Hustle being such a shit ability probably balances it out though, but on paper it just destroys everything.

Also regarding unbans, I feel like the only thing that can be unbanned safely is Solgaleo. While it will be okay offensively, it is still checked well by mons like Avalugg or Rhyperior and defensively it really sucks. Marshadow seems still pluripotent offensively (although it could be good to curtail Normal types), and Necrozma-DM is still extremely bulky (Prism Armor helps a lot) and versatile; even if it's vulnerable to rocks, Rocks as a whole feel weaker in this meta due to being easier than ever to remove (no spinblocking) and just hitting less types and viable mons super-effectively. I've found that I'm eschewing SR altogether on some teams since it often doesn't accomplish much that a single layer of Spikes can't. Also I feel like we can't unban Zamazenta-C without unbanning the base form, which I feel like is probably a no. If it is possible then sure, but I'm unsure about base Zamazenta. It's got great stats but a poor-ish offensive typing and weak to rocks, idk if it's enough to balance it.
All of what you said is true but there's a bit more I'd like to add.

Cloyster actually suffers from 4mss. Icicle spear and rock blast are always there but the last move is a tough choice. If it doesn't run ice shard, it gets revenge killed by weavile. If it doesn't run a water move, it struggles against grass types. If it doesn't carry pin missile, it doesn't hit flying types. It also doesn't get close to 1HKOing urshifu-rapid-strike with ice shard and it gets outsped by scarf if it's running adamant. I do think it would be a shame for cloyster to be banned because it has a real niche as a defensive pokemon thanks to teleport and spikes.

Porygon-z feels overrated to me. Sure it can use unresisted tri-attack, trick and nasty plot, but gengar can run the same choiced sets with faster speed since it has unresisted coverage with shadow ball+Focus blast and it also gets trick+plot. It can also hit a lot of pokemons super effectively with its poison, ghost and fighting coverage. You also forgot the best special tank in the game as a counter: Goodra. Goodra is trouble to both indeedee and porygon-z since it hits hard with draco meteor and lives their hits pretty well. Wish support is also quite good with chansey, blissey and clefable being decent options so goodra doesn't mind being chipped too much. Porygon-z is also really easy to check since specs is outsped by many pokemons and scarf doesn't hit quite hard enough. I also don't think chansey, blissey and porygon2 are that weak to trick since they can still use their best move which is teleport and as I said, porygon-z is easy to check and teleport lets you switch in a pokemon for free.

Indeedee is basically the same as porygon-z but using psychic moves so I don't have much to add. Thwackey can use grassy terrain to weaken indeedee's expanding force so there's that too.

Snorlax actually isn't that bad. Yes it is annoying but phazing until they only have their snorlax gives you the advantage to beat it. Taunt can also stop it from resting making things much easier. Most offensive teams and many balance teams also use one of the urshifus who bypass snorlax's boosts and smack it quite hard. There are a lot of strong offensive mons in the format and snorlax can't take that much offensive pressure so teams with phazers or a strong breakers really don't have that much to fear from it.

Knock off is a really good move so I doubt porygon2 can be that bad. It's honestly just chansey but with better physical bulk and less passive. Sure it's hard to kill but with strong breakers, it's not that bad. You also mostly considered hitting it with ghost types but there are better ways to take care of it. Knock off makes its bulk a lot worse and with strong banders and nasty plot users such as weavile, urshifu, dracozolt, alakazam or porygon-z, it's pretty manageable.

There's only one pokemon that can survive any 2 attacks from band adamant dracozolt: Full HP, Full defense eviolite rhydon just barely survives 2 max roll outrages. But I agree that the meta is too fast for dracozolt to do any work other than against defensive pokemons who get slaughtered. But it's pretty much impossible to switch-into so a ban would be understandable.

As for unbans, I already said Zamazenta-Crowned and solgaleo could be unbanned. I will also say once again that unbanning the crowned form doesn't unban the hero form since they're counted as 2 different pokemons like different arceus or silvally forms.

Also there are some insanely good pokemons I haven't seen people use on ladder since they seem too focused on spamming porygon-z and avalugg

First is weavile. Weavile is great since it outspeeds and kills many serious unscarfed threats such as alakazam, gengar, indeedee, porygon-z and urshifu. Ice shard lets it revenge kill other pokemons notably the scarf versions of these other pokemons (except indeedee) and cloyster without ice shard. Knock off is an incredible tool since it gets rid of important leftovers, choiced items or eviolites. Band Triple axel can 2hko both chansey and avalugg and is really hard to switch-into. Weavile is frail but it is pretty hard to switch-into with the most common defensive mons and brings nice utility with knock off and ice shard.

Tangrowth is unique since it can counter many common pokemons such as cinderace, dragapult, gengar or scolipede and is immune to chip thanks to regenerator. It doesn't deal with the harder hitting pokemons too well but it does more than it should for a pivot. It annoys defensive pokemons thanks to knock off, sludge bomb poison and healing with giga drain. It can check scarf porygon-z and indeedee and can deal serious damage to most pokemons with leaf storm. Nothing wants to switch into it and a lot of mons don't like staying into it so it forces switches. It's hard to explain how good tangrowth is and it's not the the shining star in its team but it's really good since its strong enough to take out pokemons other defensive pokemons couldn't.

Thwackey is just crazy. Grassy glide gets rid of many offensive pokemons and eviolite with full hp makes it hard to OHKO. Leech seed and grassy terrain recovery can let it recovery a lot of health, knock off is a really useful move, u-turn keeps momentum, taunt can stop defensive set up and can annoy defensive pokemons and grass knot deals a lot of damage to avalugg. It can check or counter many offensive pokemons despite its highest stat being 85.

I think I'd consider Zeraora to be the best pokemon in the tier. Is it an amazing breaker or sweeper? No. Is it an unbreakable wall? No. Zeraora fills a role that is hard to explain. It uses knock off and volt switch for support and close combat and plasma fists to hit hard. It can check almost every pokemon and is the best lead I've ever seen. It's the fastest unscarfed pokemon and doesn't get one-shotted by any scarfers and can just knock off+plasma fist to kill all of them. Special walls hate plasma fists or knock off and avalugg hates volt switch. Slowbro doesn't quite switch-into close combat. The best ways to deal with it are mandibuzz and rhyperior. Outside of that, zeraora is able to 1v1 many pokemons and set the field up for a win condition to finish the game. Zeraora is overall amazing and has unmatched utility
 
Last edited:
How does freeze dry work?
Its special effect is that it declares Water to be weak to it and overrides anything that says to the contrary. Since Water is already weak to Ice in this meta, this doesn't really affect anything, unless you're in the incredibly specific situation where it's being used against a Heliolisk or Boltund who used Electrify on you and was previously made a Water-type with Soak.
 

Mossy Sandwich

Gunning for the top
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
UUPL Champion
Time to post in a dead meta!

In this post, I'll suggest the ban of a move which was one of the main reason rillaboom itself was banned: Grassy Glide.

Grassy glide is a 70 base power move with 100% accuracy. Nothing bad so far. However, the move also has the effect to gain +1 priority when used under grassy terrain AND it gets a 1.3x damage boost from grassy terrain making the base power 91. This is the strongest priority move acessible in the game outside of ones only available through abilities like gale wings brave bird. This move is usually handleable in regular play due to grass being a poor offensive type. However, this is inverse we're talking about meaning grass is one of the best offensive type and is only resisted by 3 uncommon types. This means that even thwackey with a 85 base attack is a serious threat to offensive pokemon thanks to this powerful move. Obviously thwackey has more trouble getting past bulkier pokemons but being able to decimate most offensive pokemons is still incredibly stupid. Even if thwackey has trouble with walls, that doesn't mean it can't use a taunt+swords dance set to win or another strong breaker such as dracozolt or urshifu can't break the wall. A team using the thwackey+dracozolt core has gotten one of my alt accounts to #1 on the ladder easily since grassy glide lacks offensive counter-play. Hyper offense teams pretty much need one of the few grass resistant offensive pokemon such as urshifu-rapid-strike or cloyster unless they want to get 6-0d by thwackey. To prove my point, I'll be sharing a replay from OM snake where thwackey was used.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8inverse-1178197018

Let's look at the team opposing thwackey. Notice that all 4 of kommo-o, scyther, dracozolt and blissey lose to thwackey. This means that, if urshifu and avalugg are weakened enough or KO'd, thwackey can win. A team built around thwackey will be able to deal with those threats and allow thwackey to take the win. Most teams only have one good way to deal with thwackey.

There are a couple options to consider:
-Banning Grassy Glide. The main issue is being able to take out almost every offensive pokemon and banning grassy glide would solve it.
-Banning Grassy Surge. Grassy Glide won't be used anymore either and it would get rid of a bit of rillaboom/thwackey's power.
-Banning Thwackey. Obviously banning the main abuser of the move would help. However, I belive grookey of all things would still be able to revenge kill too many pokemons. It seems absurd but I don't want to deal with grassy glide anymore.

I don't think any of these options would make rillaboom worth unbanning since scarf wood hammer from it is still very tough to deal with.

This opinion will likely be very controversial but thwackey is a pokemon I've never seen anyone else use on ladder and I wanted to make people aware of what it could do. Also, I wanted to revive this thread and maybe talk about possible unbans or about new pokemons coming with the crown tundra DLC.
 

shadowpea

everyone is lonely sometimes
is a Tiering Contributor
There are a couple options to consider:
-Banning Grassy Glide. The main issue is being able to take out almost every offensive pokemon and banning grassy glide would solve it.
-Banning Grassy Surge. Grassy Glide won't be used anymore either and it would get rid of a bit of rillaboom/thwackey's power.
-Banning Thwackey. Obviously banning the main abuser of the move would help. However, I belive grookey of all things would still be able to revenge kill too many pokemons. It seems absurd but I don't want to deal with grassy glide anymore.
Copying an idea used in BW:
Ban the combination on Grassy Surge and Grassy Glide on a team. Grassy Terrain without Grassy Glide is fine because the other aspects of Grasy Terrain (buff other Grass moves, nerf EQ and company, heal grounded mons) aren't broken in the least. And its not like Grassy Glide would be useful in any way without the Terrain (except (maybe) as a coverage move on random mons. Idk who gets the move and who doesnt)
 

Mossy Sandwich

Gunning for the top
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
UUPL Champion
(Sorry I love this meta too much, I can't help posting in it.)

With the Crown Tundra DLC approaching, I wanted to talk about some new pokemons, if I think they're gonna be viable, unviable or banworthy.

I'll be talking about the ultra-beasts first.

:ss/nihilego:
I think Nihilego will be pretty viable even though it has to compete with gengar. Gengar seemingly outclasses it offensively with higher speed, special attack, coverage, a way to hit chansey decently hard in the form of shadow ball and trick for choiced sets. Nihilego does have some things over gengar and those are entry hazards and beast boost. Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock can be quite useful though Avalugg is a very consistent spinner and poison types are very good so nihilego's hazard may be easy to remove. However, Nihilego threatens those pokemons with sludge bomb and sludge wave so it should be able to keep its hazards on the field. Beast Boost is very good for scarfed sets since you will get a special attack boost after each KO letting you sweep teams more easily than scarfed gengar sets. In terms of coverage, poison is only resisted by grass and fairy. Nihilego has thunderbolt or grass knot to hit the grass types but its only option to deal with fairies is foul play and fairies usually don't have a high attack stat. They aren't too common though so it seems to have good coverage.
Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Power Gem
- Foul Play

Nihilego @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt

:ss/pheromosa:
Pheromosa has already proven to be a really fast and threatening attacker in regular play. I think it's likely to be banned but it does have a chance to stay in the tier. First of all, being the fastest viable pokemon in the tier while also having access to stab u-turn in a format where bug type is actually pretty good offensively is seems pretty crazy. It's also a physical attacker that can obliterate Avalugg thanks to its high spatk and Ice Beam. Quiver Dance sets also seem threatening if they can set up and especially if they can get the spatk beast boost. Pheromosa does have some flaws in the form of being weak to mach punch and grass glide meaning it can get revenge killed without too much trouble. Its dual STAB is also resisted by dark though it can have Throat Chop for those. It could also struggle against bulky grasses though it can hit them with Drill Run. I think the main problem with it is that it can slowly weaken teams by spamming its very powerful u-turn since it can also get in easily with teammates such as teleport chansey or blissey. It's certainly going to be a very important part of the meta if it's not banned.
Pheromosa @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
- Ice Beam

Pheromosa @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam

:ss/buzzwole:
Not sure what to say about Buzzwole. It does have high attack, defense and HP. Just like Pheromosa, it struggles against dark and grass types but it can hit them with Earthquake and Darkest Lariat. It also can recover a lot of health with Roost, Leech Life and Drain Punch. Because of those, it seems like a good bulk up user. It could also work as a defensive pokemon that can hit hard. Choice Band probably wouldn't work since it's outclassed by urshifu.
Buzzwole @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Leech Life
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch

:ss/xurkitree:
Xurkitree may be taking a big hit with DLC since we don't know if tail glow will be coming back or not. The lack of hidden powers is also a big problem for it. The only sets that seem viable are specs and scarf as strong pivots that can seriously chip things that are slower than it while switching out with volt switch. One of its main problem is that its coverage is awful. It can only hit water types and Rhyperior with Dazzling Gleam. I don't think it's gonna be that good since pokemons like Zeraora or Tapu Koko will be better pivots.
Xurkitree @ Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam

:ss/celesteela:
Steel type with no real redeeming qualities. Huh... I guess this set may work?
Celesteela @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Autotomize
- Heavy Slam
- Air Slash
- Explosion
Basically, you try to find something you can set autotomize up on. Then, your Heavy Slam can OHKO many frail, neutral targets and you get an attack boost. Air Slash 2hkoes Avalugg and you can explode in doubt. (This thing actually OHKOes PZ that's pretty good) But yeah steel types are usually awful in inverse and Celesteela probably will be too.

:ss/kartana:
Ok that's a steel type that's getting banned. A fast and strong grass type attacker will always be good. Scarf Leaf Blade with Beast Boost can cleave through some teams too easily if Avalugg is weakened. Your secondary STAB also hits water types that could resist your Leaf Blades. If you really wanna KO a rock type, you've got Giga Impact and Knock Off is just Knock Off. This pokemon is actually so hard to deal with, there's no way it's staying in the tier.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Giga Impact
- Knock Off

:ss/guzzlord:
This pokemon has never truly been good. It does have high enough HP to take one super effective hit from things like Zeraora and it has the coverage to KO a lot of pokemons but it's most likely gonna be outclassed by... everything actually and it'll likely just go 1 for 1 in most matchups.
Guzzlord @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Brave Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Heat Crash
- Sludge Bomb
- Knock Off
You can fit a lot of things on this so choose what you want to hit what you need to hit.

:ss/blacephalon:
A special attacker that deals a bunch of damage to the blobs? Sign me up! Specs Shadow Ball deals over 40% to Chansey, it has access to trick and the DLC gifts it Scorching Sands to deal with Bug and Grass types that resist its fire moves. Its physical attack is also not bad so it could be able to run explosion. It's very strong and has high speed and it has a more useful ability than Gengar in the form of Beast Boost. I could see it replacing the choiced gengar sets though Gengar will be a better set up sweeper thanks to Nasty Plot. It's a pretty one-dimensional mon but it's gonna be good at what it does and that's what counts.
Blacephalon @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Scorching Sands
- Trick

:ss/stakataka:
Ok I get it Steel type and all that but hear me out. This thing has the strongest Body Presses in the game and can set up Trick Room and Iron Defense. It could actually be a really dangerous mon. Just get rid of Avalugg and this thing should deal serious damage. But yeah it's most likely going to be very niche and inconsistent. I just wanted to find something it could do.
Stakataka @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Toxic
- Trick Room

Edit #1 to analyze new mons even though people won't see it.

The tapus! They sure seem good this gen with the new terrain moves. But will those be banned in inverse? Let's see.

:ss/tapu koko:
With ground types no longer being immune to electric, Koko will have some fun. The only way to be immune to rising voltage is to have lightning rod, volt absorb or motor drive. Most pokemons with one of these ability are either electric types or rhyperior meaning they're weak to Koko's Brave Bird. The only pokemons immune to electric and that aren't weak to Brave Bird are Lightning Rod Marowak and Seaking which is... eh... Other than Electric immune pokemons what could be some other ways to deal with Rising Voltage? Flying and Water are the only two types that resist electric and flying types are not only rare but weak to Koko's Grass Knot. This means water types are probably the only pokemons who can take Koko on. The best answer to it will be suicune which is coming with the DLC while Slowbro and Tapu Fini may work too though they are weak to Close Combat from Koko. Having limited answers isn't usually considered a sign of balance especially when the pokemon itself is fast and versatile. I think Koko will end up banned.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rising Voltage
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch

:ss/tapu fini:
7 weaknesses for 3 resistances on a slow and bulky isn't looking good for Fini. I will say that resistances to both Grass and Poison which I consider the two best offensive types is really interesting though weaknesses to fighting, dragon and ice are also big. Its type may be bad but it does have some really good defensive stats and a solid support movepool with access to defog, haze, taunt, knock off, flip turn and nature madness so it could find a niche. I'm not sure how good it'll be but it seems hard to use being a defensive mon with a bad defensive typing so it could struggle.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flip Turn
- Defog
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt

:ss/tapu lele:
Hey remember how Indeedee is a big threat despite having worse bulk and less spatk than Tapu Lele? Yeah Lele seems really strong. Stab Moonblast sends poison types that resist Expanding Force to the shadow realm. Psyshock is really likely to 2hko Chansey. Basically, you'll need a fighting type if you want to take this thing on. The only fighting types we get with DLC are Pheromosa and Buzzwole and those aren't even close to switching into it safely. Full spdef Buzzwole takes over 70% from energy ball and don't even think about switching into it with pheromosa. I think your best bet will be AV Machamp or Conkeldurr with urshifu-rapid-strike countering it once from full health if no hazards are on being able to just barely live Expanding Force. Having to go to such lenghts to not be 2hkoed just proves to me that lele hits far FAR too hard.
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- Psyshock

:ss/tapu bulu:
Oh hey look a Grass type with Grassy Surge and Grassy Glide. Yeah this is rillaboom but it has stone edge to hit ground types. If you didn't witness Rillaboom while it was still legal here's a breakdown: If you don't have a resist, you lose. If you do have a resist, you get 2hkoed by +2 wood hammer. If you try to outspeed it, you get OHKOed by Grassy Glide. Rillaboom once started running boomburst to hit rhyperior but tapu bulu can just kill both it and hippowdon with stone edge anyway. I give it a maximum of a week before getting banned.
Tapu Bulu @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- Stone Edge
- Play Rough

Tapu Bulu @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Wood Hammer
- Grassy Glide
- Stone Edge

Edit #2: Buncha Legendary Trios

:ss/zapdos:
With its bad defensive typing, Zapdos doesn't seem like a good defensive pokemon. On the other hand, it faces a lot of offensive electric type competition from Zeraora, Tapu Koko, Raikou and Thundurus. While all of these pokemons are faster and stronger than it, Zapdos does have something going for it : STAB Hurricane. With it, Zapdos is most likely the best rain abuser of the group and has a reliable way to defeat Rhyperior which is only shared by Thundurus who can use Sludge Bomb. While it's not an incredible one, Zapdos can also fill the role of a pivot carrying defog especially since it can use an item other than Boots.
Zapdos @ Life Orb/Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Hurricane
- Weather Ball
- Volt Switch

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Volt Switch
- Hurricane

:ss/moltres:
I've heard some people say Moltres, Talonflame and Charizard have a bad defensive typing and taking 50% damage to rocks is pretty bad. But outside of that, fire/flying is actually quite good defensively with only 3 weaknesses (including a double weakness to rock), 6 resists including 2 double resists and 1 immunity. Well all those resists are back to haunt it. Weaknesses to Bug, Grass and Fighting are all very bad since these are all common coverage moves. Outside of that, it faces competition from other flying types such as the other legendary birds and the genies and is completely outclassed by the fantastic Blacephalon. However, since Blacephalon was banned last generation, it is possible that it'll banned in gen 8 too. This leaves Volcarona as Moltres' main competition. However, Volcarona seems able to do everything Moltres can do but better. The only thing Moltres can do is use a STAB Hurricane but that's most likely not getting it far.
Moltres @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hurricane
- Scorching Sands
- U-turn

:ss/articuno:
Finally, a good defogger! At first I wasn't too hyped for this thing until I realized the spdef sets can take hits from incredibly strong threats like Tapu Koko and Specs Blacephalon pretty easily. It also takes hits from other big threats like Porygon-Z, Zeraora, Gengar, Alakazam and Dragapult. While it may not be able to handle the set-up variants of some of these mons, it gets Whirlwind to avoid having to take their hits or U-Turn to switch-into something that can actually take them out. Articuno just seems to be able to handle most special and mixed threats while having access to a great utility movepool with roost, defog, u-turn, whirlwind and heal bell. The ice type competition it faces seems to be mostly physically defensive or lacking some important utility which Articuno does have access to. Articuno will be a very good option for bulky-offensive teams.
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
- Ice Beam

:ss/raikou:
Well this pokemon is usually used as a good calm mind sweeper with its sub/calm mind sets. It does have more weaknesses in inverse but those are rare weaknesses outside of electric so it won't affect the effectiveness of sub/calm mind sets. Outside of that, it has perfect coverage outside of rhyperior with an electric move + Aura Sphere + Scald. It fits well on rain thanks to Thunder + Scald though it can use Weather Ball on sun or sand teams to hit Rhyperior. It faces competition from pokemons like Thundurus, Zapdos, Zeraora and Tapu Koko though so I think it'll usually stick to sub/calm mind sets.
Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Scald

Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Scald
- Aura Sphere
- Volt Switch

:ss/entei:
I'm unsure where this pokemon will go. It's quite clear that it's outclassed by Cinderace who is faster, has STAB on all of its moves, u-turn and better options to deal with Avalugg. The only real niche it has is Extreme Speed which lets it revenge-kill threats such as Dragapult, Gengar or Alakazam. However, Entei's niche is almost entirely taken by Dragonite which also gets Extreme Speed but has a higher attack stat and is a lot more useful outside of that niche. Entei is just outclassed and is unlikely to be good.
Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stomping Tantrum
- Stone Edge

:ss/suicune:
This pokemon is gonna be very useful defensively with the influx of new Electric types. A pure bulky water is necessary in a meta of Tapu Bulu and Koko. It is able to take their hits pretty well and while it has more trouble against Swords Dance variants of Tapu Bulu, it doesn't want to stay in on Suicune's Scald and risk getting burned or simply killed. It can handle other threats such as Zeraora or other electric or grass types. I think it's gonna be a fantastic defensive staple and a dangerous calm mind sweeper that you will need to prepare for.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Scald
- Sleep Talk

:ss/regice:
While it may look attractive with its high spdef and ice typing, regice really doesn't do much. It just stands there and attack. Its lack of reliable recovery and support moves makes it outclassed by other defensive ice types with better support moves such as Articuno or Avalugg.
Regice @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Focus Blast

:ss/regirock:
Just like Regice, its lacking movepool makes it kind of useless in terms of utility. It also gets Stealth Rock but so does all its competition. It does have Iron Defense + Body Press and will likely be better at it than Avalugg thanks to its respectable special bulk so there's that I guess?
Regirock @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Defense
- Body Press

:ss/registeel:
Poor thing. Steel type with no offenses worth noting and completely outclassed. Yeah don't use Registeel.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Defense
- Body Press

:ss/azelf:
Just run Azelf as a suicide lead. Its special sets are outclassed by Alakazam/Tapu Lele and its physical sets are outclassed by Zen Headbutt Cinderace. Not much to say here other than set rocks and explode.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Explosion
- Knock Off

:ss/mesprit:
This is just outclassed by Mew. I guess if you want to run a weird move like Healing Wish?
Mesprit @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
- Knock Off

:ss/uxie:
I guess it is slightly bulkier than Mew but yeah it's like Mesprit.
Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Yawn
- Memento


I'll edit this when I feel like analysing other mons.
 
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Regieleki has no immunities.
let the Kokoleki begin

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Suicune in Electric Terrain: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey in Electric Terrain: 469-553 (65.6 - 77.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados in Electric Terrain: 153-180 (46.2 - 54.3%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (forgot how rising voltage works lol)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados in Electric Terrain: 98-115 (29.6 - 34.7%) -- 12.7% chance to 3HKO

bring your mantines and electro-immune abilities
 
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Regidrago seems easier to counter with goodra/chansey or kommo-o/avulugg on either d energy or outrage respectively because there's no dragon terrain
 

shadowpea

everyone is lonely sometimes
is a Tiering Contributor
Regieleki has no immunities.
let the Kokoleki begin

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Suicune in Electric Terrain: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados in Electric Terrain: 153-180 (46.2 - 54.3%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (forgot how rising voltage works lol)
252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados in Electric Terrain: 98-115 (29.6 - 34.7%) -- 12.7% chance to 3HKO

bring your mantines and electro-immune abilities
Oh my god I completely forgot about that thing. In OU literally the only things that stopped it in Electric Terrain are ground-types and those 4 or 5 other mons that doesn't get OHKOed. Now grounds aren't immune...

This thing is getting banned
 

Mossy Sandwich

Gunning for the top
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
UUPL Champion
Regieleki has no immunities.
let the Kokoleki begin

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Suicune in Electric Terrain: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

bring your mantines and electro-immune abilities
Yeah eleki is really strong. It has to use hyper beam to get through zeraora or rhyperior though and it doesn't do anything to flying types. It'll still probably be banned though since transistor is a really powerful ability. I guess I'll also use this opportunity to talk about other mons that arrived with DLC

Regidrago: Dragon is only resisted by dragon so, just like eleki, it has the potential to be really, really dangerous. It struggles against other dragons, maily Goodra and Kommo-o which are some of the bulkiest dragons. It still deals too much to kommo-o with dragon energy and can hit goodra with fire fang though so it's really threatening. We've had other faster dragons but none as strong as regidrago. With dragon's maw, it has the equivalent of base 180 attack and special attack when using a dragon move. We'll have to see if it's too strong.

Galarian-Moltres: I really don't feel like this offers much that Hydreigon doesn't already have outside of STAB Hurricane and that's not good compared to stab draco meteor.

Galarian-Zapdos: Not bad, it has decent offensive coverage. The main issue is that it doesn't hit hard enough to get through most common walls other than rhyperior. I could see the scarf set being a good pivot and revenge-killer though since it's dangerous to offensive pokemons.

Galarian-Articuno: Pretty decent offensive stats, u-turn and decent type. It doesn't hit fighting types but they aren't too common so it could be worse. It has psyshock to beat special walls but I'm not sure it'll be too successful because it's too average though.

Calyrex: Trash

Glastrier: Wow this is cursed. Ice type with ridiculous bulk, insane attack and swords dance. Its physical bulk isn't avalugg level but it's still way bulkier than any other ice types and it is on both sides of the attacking spectrum. High horsepower helps it hit grass and flying types. It can't hit dragons or grounds super effectively but it has other coverage moves to hit them neutrally. It doesn't have recovery which is a BIG relief but it can use wish support. I really don't see this thing staying, it's a great trick room abuser that's still insane outside of trick room due to its insane bulk and type.

Spectrier: 145 spatk and 130 speed is scary. Nasty Plot and Ghost's good neutral coverage is also scary. Spectrier is scary and can use normal type moves (Yeah I'm expecting it to use swift) to hit ghosts that resists its STABs. It probably wouldn't be an issue if it didn't hit chansey super effectively. Getting through the best special wall makes it 10x more dangerous and I'm not sure it'll stay in the tier.
 
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Does anyone have a sample team I can upload to ROM's Abyssal Bot?

I'm wondering what these type mechanics do about certain moves. For example:

Flying Press – It has been confirmed that its mechanics do not actually add Flying to its typing, but rather combines Flying's effectiveness with the base move's type. Ordinarily, if the move somehow got its Type changed to Flying, it would be double ineffective against Types that resist Flying and quadruply effective against Types that were weak to Flying.
I am wondering how that would play into this. Does it keep the ordinary effectiveness of Flying type, or is that inverted as well?

Freeze-Dry – Of course, it is always super-effective against Water. However, would that mean it deals 4x damage to Water now that Ice is super-effective against Water as well?
Conversion 2 – "Changes user's type to resist target's last move." :smogthink: Does it factor?


On a different note, the Tinted Lens Ability…
I guess it works like normal, detecting if the move did ineffective damage or not, right?

…What about the Anticipation Ability, though?


Lastly, field effects: What do Rain and Sunlight do to effectiveness of Fire and Water? Have healing processes, such as Shore Up, Morning Sun, Synthesis, Moonlight, etc. been affected?
This is how it's currently implemented; I don't know whether this matches on-cart behaviour.
Flying Press uses the inverse effectiveness of the Flying type.
Freeze-Dry is still just always super-effective against Water. However, this applies even if you use Electrify to change it into an Electric-type move, which Water normally resists in Inverse battles. As DrPumpkinz points out, it's not something you need to worry about.
Conversion 2 changes the user's type to be weak to the target's last move.
Tinted Lens takes effect whenever you get "It's not very effective".
Anticipation shudders if you resist one of your foe's moves.
Rain and Sun don't affect effectiveness.
 

OM

It's a starstruck world
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Hello! Mamp has resigned from inverse after leading it for gen 8. Thank you for all your work mamp :)

:kartana: :pheromosa: :regieleki: :spectrier: :naganadel:
After talking with the council, we have collectively decided to quickban all of Kartana, Pheromosa, Regieleki, Spectrier and Naganadel.

These pokemon benefit massively from Inverse's reflected typings, allowing their STAB attacks to hit like nukes due to less types and relevant pokemon resisting them, losing a lot of the issues they face in regular metas to a point where we believe they will be unhealthy for the metagame.

:tapu koko: :tapu bulu: :tapu lele: :dialga: :zamazenta-crowned:
We also would like to discuss whether to ban or unban the following pokemon: Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Lele, Dialga and Zamazenta-Crowned.

All three Tapus have been added to a watchlist due to their main STABS (electric, psychic and grass) being incredibly powerful, and when combined by their individual strength, along with being boosted by terrains, could push them over the edge. However, terrains have been nerfed this gen, and is this nerf able to keep them teetering or no?

As for Dialga and Zamazenta-Crowned, both uber pokemon have awful defensive types, and aren't exactly able to hit back / set up on pokemon, and the council is inclined to unban them. Thoughts?
 
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Mossy Sandwich

Gunning for the top
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
UUPL Champion
All right! I think all of the quick-banned pokemons deserved to be banned because they're all extremely fast and strong and can sweep easily since 4/5 of them have an ability that boost their stats after a KO.

As for the others, I'm of the opinion that Zamazenta-C is an easy unban, it's walled by far too much and its defensive typing wears it down so much it's not even worth putting on a team most of the time. Even if you do put it on a team it's only truly effective against hyper offense most of the time and that's not really unique so meh.
I'm unsure about the other 4 for now. I believe Bulu is the strongest since it has the best offensive type out of the tapus. However, it doesn't have access to Grassy Glide and its scarf sets get outsped by Dragapult so offensive teams should be able to deal with it quite well. I'm scared of its wallbreaking potential with Swords Dance, powerful Wood Hammers and decent coverage but if the metagame can deal with Dracozolt and Urshifu, Tapu Bulu could be manageable.
Tapu Koko is very fast and uses boosted Electric moves but I believe it's manageable. It's easily walled by Articuno which seems to be one of the best new pokemon from the DLC and Chansey will likely still be a solid staple that's able to handle it. Regular Electric type counters are put in a rough spot since Zeraora and Rhyperior are hit super effectively by Brave Bird. It's a threat I could see getting banned but I'd like to see it in action more beforehand.
Tapu Lele seems overhyped since Indeedee with Expanding Force hits harder than Lele with Psychic and those two are wallbreakers. They even have the same speed so scarf sets are also competing with Indeedee and Indeedee even has trick. However, Tapu Lele will hits harder with moves such as Psyshock and it's bulkier so it works better with a Calm Mind set. Overall, Lele faces a lot more competition from Indeedee in Inverse since hitting harder matters more when Expanding Force has no immunities.
Dialga is an offensive monster. Dragon+Any Fire or Electric move gives it the neutral coverage it needs and 150 base special attack is scary. You pretty much need a really bulky special sponge to take it on and Goodra get 2hkoed by Fire Blast even with Assault Vest and heavy spdef investment. Basically, you need Chansey or Blissey to wall it. It has trouble switching in with its steel typing and has average speed so it can be manageable. If we want to see this thing unbanned, we'd have to be very careful with it in my opinion.,
 
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