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Mew is bonkers and looks really fun to pilot.
I just got xerneas so in they go.
Slowbro-g is my fav mon to pilot
Xatu got a free tech so its gets a free chance. Show em your moves birdie
Selection process aside I do think this comp is fairly solid. Xerneas covers all my other mons getting smacked by dark, though a strong ghost threat could still suck.
Mew gives me insane hazard control with stone axe, court change, tidy up, mortal spin and can safely first order into most situations and diffuse set ups
Slowbro-g can be fed second orders and execute low hp mon
xerneas is mostly there to cover weaks and just life swap with whoever their opponent is, with potential to geomancy if someone screws up.
Xatu... we will see. I think they might be pretty obnoxious with the magic bounce vs comboes change, and they have a lot of strong comboes to second order for 0 tech.
Items
darkium-z is mostly there to try and z-harm nasty plot some people. I feel like this can't be that bad, but it does not seem like the most flexible tech use
choice specs gives extra oomph to execute situations, helping me hit break points and punishing counter swaps
never leave home without lucky egg, left overs, choice scarf
I feel like they are the generically most flexible items in the game
cleanse tag/safety goggles are to deal with nonsense. i think I maybe could have skipped cleanse tag vs hyjack, he does not have delcatty or similar
heavy duty boots for heavy hazard meta
sticky barb for insurance against light ball or other nonsense
focus sash is mostly there for xatu, though I am not sure how good focus sash nightshade x3 is any more. lost 6 damage and 9 en, ouch.
Start of Battle
Hyjack is playing a sandstorm team with heavy rock control, I am first send.
Aerodactyl and Saharajara are level 3.
Xerneas might sit on the bench here since there are 2 steel types and nothing that is weak to fairy.
Mew is most likely going to be on heavy duty boots + court change duty.
I think I will lead with slowbro-galar. If Hyjack attacks me I can take a trade then leave to proc regenerator. If he chooses to set up I can belly drum or acid spray combo and try to 2 round him. I don't think I want to lead z-dark here since that kind of funnels my actions. I do want to spend tech with slowbro-g since mew can't spend tech and xatu gets one for free. Dynamax can clear weather efficiently. Check timing rules on sand spit vs dynamax weather. I am pretty sure dynamax is on completion so "wins". DO NOT DYANAMAX WATER THE SAHARAJARA, JUST GO TO SNOW IF I NEED TO CLEAR.
specific line to look for, belly drum, avalanche into quick giga impact combo for lethal
I don't believe xerneas will see play into hyjack's team, so this could be a good opportunity to second order combo for value
Round 1
Belly drum was indeed the play, I think I would have clicked it pre buff as well.
I really am not a fan of proactive taunt, I thought it was normally weak before the nerf and it is much weaker now, even if I didn't have quickness I think sacrificing 50% of your turns to make me attack twice feels low impact.
unsure what will try to fight a +6 atk slowbro-g, maybe aggron? Either way my objectives are realise the attack stages and proc regenerator. If I can do those things my lead starts to look a bit insurmountable
I don't believe xerneas will see play into hyjack's team, so this could be a good opportunity to second order combo for value
Round 2
Wow that is a lot of damage. I guess if excadrill can do 30 damage a pop it makes sense that hyjack wanted the eject button.
I think despite this horrendous mu the previous round set up will carry me through and the plan remains the same.
Pending double, triple, quadrouple checking of new combo rules and damage calculations, rain dance + avalanche ~ tackle ~ power up punch(quick) will lethal and let me either stay in with +6atk still or swap out and regenerator.
As discussed I am very happy to second order combo here because mew costs no tech and can't spend tech, xerneas is staying on the bench, and xatu has a tech discount.
I should have 16 en left, so if saharajara tries to re-enter I will probably try to stay in and 1 shot them with giga impact + ice punch, though that would en ko me in return.
if I could actually use tech later in the fight then my line would instead be drain punch ~ drain punch ~ power up punch(quick) which I believe puts me in a position to prio ko him 75% of the time, and would kill me but leave him on 27 with no weather the other 25%.
Round 3
Well that was awkward and a huge blunder, but the game state should still be ok.
mew can execute excadrill and I turned off their speed with rain.
I think i will equip cleanse tag to try and pre-empt the camel, denying water absorb and sand spit. I do wonder if I should just have had a second leftovers in my bag, or a different/additional damage item. Choice specs is awkward on mew since they want the mix up on what attack to use, and it cripples their first order which is their big strength.
Excadrill does not seem to have any prio moves or protect comboes, so I just need to make sure I am making protect ~ endure ~ protect sufficiently painful to type. I would expect either camel or aggron to come out next, I guess at that point I will have to figure out how to second order on mew.
game still seems in a good spot but I do worry Xatu might just... not do anything, we will see.
I suppose I also do have the option of just bringing out the deer, but I am unsure if they can play into aggron.
Round 4
First time writing mew second order pool.
taking fake out/disable/spore/shadow force as sub eaters then my actual plan is trying to 2 shot the camel with speed adavantage.
As I get to the ordering portion of R4 I noticed that the heal from water absorb is actually not blocked by cleanse tag which feels really lame, but I think we can get through this.
if my calcs are right I eat a horn leech and then kill the camel. From there we see what Hyjack brings out and consider swapping. If it is aerodactyl I might consider xerenas, but it is probably going to be xatu. I want to see what this bird can do.
Round 5
Interesting that it is aerodactyl instead of aggron. I think being faster is a huge deal when you need a mon to pop off, but otoh the mu's seem significantly worse than they would be for aggron. I think this puts me on xerneas since as much as I want to try xatu walking into a se STAB mu for free seems like throwing.
oh hey, I think this is my first "real" first order this league, time to throw.
two reasonable options here.
Stay in with mew, expect to swap in my last mon with choice scarf or choice specs for an execute.
swap into another mon, slow down aerodactyl so that mew can do their own execute with bolt beak.
I think I prefer staying on mew, because nuzzle is my best speed drop and if I get the speed drop on aerodactyl that unlocks choice specs for significantly more damage from xerneas. Note that if I had 1 more tech I would have strongly considered swapping in xerneas and doing a first order hyper beam + thunder wave.
aerodactyl has protect, bide, decoy, torment, evasive and weather combo I would like to sub for.
I would also love to inflict para to gain speed advantage but it seems hard to protect that vs razor wind and still resolve what I want to. how bad is a hurricane weather combo. 12 damage and weather change? maybe I don't care.
Round 6
There is a good chance mew just takes it here. flinching last round as unfortunate but the game looks wrapped. even if mew dies I don't see any way this aerodactyl can burst through an entire new pokemon. Taking pretty much the same moves as last time, but I need some heals in case of giga impact comboes trying to 1 shot me, which would be very close (kill on crit?).
Hyjack ends up just ordering bite here, so ggwp.
Closing Thoughts
Well the most obvious note is mew is hilariously bonkers. I came into the match thinking of all the powerful utility mew had, and turns out the pink hamster just 30's people without a damage item. Probably shouldn't exist at current balance point. Separately from that I do think it is a bit sad for mew's play pattern how much the best attacks in the game can crowd out your other options. There are already plenty of high damage, high coverage pokemon players can choose from if that is what they are interested in, but there is only 1 mew. It is also possible that their intended positioning as "smeargle on steroids" still has inherent problems even without the boom factor. Should 1 mon really solo win any hazard wars, defuse any enemy stat set ups with attack swap/topsy turvy, have solid damage into all type mu's and threaten to sweep if given any room?
Belly drum seems really good. I do like its role as a punish for people who don't lower your mon's hp, but naievely it is something like -19 hp, + 96 damage right now which seems a tad pushed.
I still have no idea what to do with xatu. that is a shame, but I guess it happens when the last 2 mon are rocks and mew mews on people.
Unsure how I feel about new weather. It is easier to understand, but also makes it quite unreliable for any mon that does not do it's own set up. It probably feels fine on a9 and tyranitar.
Speed control is really important.
I feel like speed control is flying under the radar as one of the most determining factors of who wins a battle right now.
if you can match up a faster pokemon with a low hp opponent you just get ahead. it is that easy.
Mew used Fishious Rend!
Aerodactyl used Bite!
Choice Scarf
Choice Specs
Darkinium Z
Focus Sash
Heavy-Duty Boots
Lucky Egg
Safety Goggles
Sticky Barb
In Reserve
In Reserve
Fainting
Bluk Berry
Expert Belt
Iapapa Berry
Power Belt
Watmel Berry
Fainting
Fainting
