So now that DLC has dropped and we've got some (old) new toys to play with. I thought I'd drop my thoughts/speculation.
I've been having a fair bit of fun with this team that I whipped up in a few mins. It's far from perfect but it's enough for screwing around on the ladder.
https://pokepast.es/3d6dd3f8c606707f
- No surprise that this thing is going to hit like a truck as 20 SpA with a Timid Nature is insanely good. Pursuit being deleted from the game as well as the lack of Ghost-types running around certainly helps this thing be very threatening. The loss of Hidden Power is quite the nerf though as it has a much harder time hitting Steel-types. Life Orb sets could potentially run Fire Punch or Focus Punch if it wants to have a chance of hitting Ferroseed and hit Pawniard better as they have a 12% chance to 2HKO it. It's worth noting though that the rolls are exactly the same if you run Timid or a Hasty Nature for 19 Def Ferroseed, but if you run 36 Attack EVs and a Hasty Nature, then the rolls are better against 18 Def Ferroseed. I can also imagine Life Orb Sets will want to run protect these days to be able to combat Trapinch as First Impression destroys this thing, meaning it may struggle to find room to run Substitute. Regardless, this thing will be everywhere and will be something you'll absolutely have to prep for.
Can't say I really played SM, but the
SM Analysis kinda sums it up pretty well. Trick Room certainly isn't very strong in LC. It hasn't even really been used as a matchup fish and I don't see that changing. Gonna pull a shake here and call this unviable.
Not gonna lie, I thought this thing was kinda nice with that 19 Speed tier, then I saw that it lost return so it's best Normal-type move is Facade.
Carvanha is one of the few mons that got
Flip Turn. I don't see it using it much though as it's more of a late-game cleaner. A new Offensive water-type to play around with will be fun.
Clauncher also got the move Flip Turn, so I guess it doesn't need to run U-turn anymore. But at the same time, that still doesn't stop it from being outclassed by every other viable water.
Idk if PS is glitched but Cosmog seems to have the same movepool as Kommo-o in PS. I mean the exact same. Clangerous Soul and everything. Still has some of the worst stats ever though so still probably unuseable
Cubone didn't really get anything substantial. With so many things running Knock Off, and it's lack of bulk due to not being able to run Eviolite or Berry Juice, and it's rather average speed tier, I don't see this doing much.
So this thing can use Teleport now over idk Giga Drain or Psychic? Still one of the weaker Grass-types in the tier
Unfortunately this thing will always be a shell of its former self. I guess it can do some fun things with Eject Pack and Overheat cos then you might have an easier time getting a full power Acrobatics, but it'd face competition with Ponyta for doing that as Ponyta has a better Speed tier and STAB on Overheat. Probably outclassed by other birds too.
Fomantis was known as a poor man's Snivy last gen, so with Snivy out of the picture, you'd think this mon would get a chance to shine. However, with Hidden Power being deleted and a lack of any sort of other coverage and the amount of Foongus we're gonna see. I don't think this mon will be seeing any usage. If you don't use contrary though, it does have access to Swords Dance and gets Grassy Glide which has priority under Grassy Terrain, which could be cool if it's paired with Grookey? At the same time though. Its coverage would only be Grass + Poison, which isn't the best offensively.
Regenerator is just as powerful as ever and this mon basically does the same thing it did before. Losing Hidden Power is quite a nerf though as it invites Steel-types in for free - especially Ferroseed as now it literally cannot touch it. All the games I played on the ladder where my opponent had a Foongus, there were multiple tedious turns of Foongus v Foongus where we were both doing minimal damage to each other. Just the fact that this thing has impressive Bulk, Regenerator, access to Spore, and it isn't weak to Diglett and Trapinch means that this thing will be a solid pick. Abra being everywhere will be somewhat annoying but I can still see this being quite splashable.
There's still no reason to run this over Spritzee.
Yeah, Happiny hasn't done anything in LC in any generation ever. It got nothing in its movepool to change that in gen 8 either.
Horsea got flip turn, it's still outclassed by a lot of other offensive waters like Carvanha, Corphish, Krabby, and Staryu.
This thing being able to use Heavy Duty Boots is super nice. Everything does have Knock Off though and it's still weak to common typings, or even the things it resists will most likely have some sort of coverage to hit it naturally. I don't imagine this Pokemon will see much use.
Lickitung does give bulkier archetypes something else to work with, and having an Abra check is always nice. I can see this being on more passive teams with mons like Mareanie, Foonguss, Mudbray, Ferroseed and Spritzee.
Don't know if this Pokemon got anything new. Like most normal-types, it got nerfed because it lost Return. It's outclassed by most other Normal-type in LC though. It's stats and movepool are pretty bad.
Oh man, poor Magnemite. I think the only Pokemon that got more affected by the removal of Hidden Power more than Magnemite was Unown. Its evolutions at least got Body Press to hit Steel-types, but this thing got Magnet Pull and it can't even hit Ferroseed anymore. It can do its SturdyJuice stuff but still quite the nerf. Having more Electric-type Pokemon to choose from is nice though.
Oh man, this mon is back and it's better than ever. The lack of viable Ghosts means that this thing can click reckless High Jump Kick without thinking too much. 17 Speed means that it's got a great Speed tier for being a Choice Scarf user, especially when the only Pokemon running Scarf at that speed is Chinchou. Regenerator is still just as broken as ever so it'll still get to do what it's always done where it can U-Turn away and get free HP from it. It got access to Close Combat now, which could be nice on bulkier sets if you're absolutely petrified of missing HJK (Which I'm sure there are a few of you out there as we've all lost games before due to missing HJK's), but then again, the Defense and SpD drops you'd get means you're more susceptible to priority attacks. There's no doubt that this Pokemon will find itself on a lot of teams.
Maybe if we hadn't gone and banned Chlorophyll, this Pokemon might have a niche? But even still it'd be outclassed by Cherubi. There's a plethora of Grass-types that are much more splashable than this Pokemon.
This thing can still do its fast Belly Drum stuff it did before. It lost return so it kills itself faster if it opts to run Normal-type coverage, and it also didn't really gain anything substantial. Could still be fun though.
Only faced this thing a couple of times but god is this thing annoying. Its bulk is fantastic and unlike other normal-types, it's not been nerfed by Return being deleted. It doesn't have its broken Z-conversion set anymore so it's probably a healthy addition to LC.
Sadly this thing is just super slow and has really bad bulk. With plenty of other Water-types to choose from with much better stats, movepools, and abilities to fit your team's specific needs, there's really no reason to run this Pokemon.
This Pokemon's stats and movepool are still lackluster. You're better off using Onix if you want a good offensive Rock-Type.
Losing Pursuit was super rough for Sandile as it already faced competition as an offensive Dark-type from Pawniard and Vullaby and as an offensive Ground-type from Diglett last gen. The fact that so many things have Knock Off and this Pokemon isn't one of them is also pretty rough. It still does have good coverage and a nice offensive typing so it'll certainly be strong with the right kind of support, but I don't see this Pokemon being super common.
Sandshrew didn't gain anything new this gen and with Drilbur still in the Galar Dex, this Pokemon won't have much time to shine.
Sandygast got the fanstastic move, Scorching Sand which is literally like Scald but a Ground-type move. With the absense of Pursuit and lack of Ghost-type Competition, this Pokemon could be rather threatening. Its rather average speed is quite a setback though and the fact that most Pokemon will naturally run coverage options that hit this super hard will be a massive setback.
Skrelp got Flip Turn. Since it doesn’t have hidden power anymore, perhaps it might actually run this to gain momentum. Having an offensive Poison-type will be nice, however its speed really holds it back. Definitely faces competition with Mareanie and Tentacool and getting trapped by Diglett sucks.
Maybe if Chinchou weren't around, this thing might see some usage, however this Pokemon hasn't gained anything substantial so once again, there's no real reason to use this Pokemon over Chinchou
For some reason we don't have a mini sprite for the galarian version, but that's the one I'm talking about here. Not exactly new, but we can finally use it in LC now. This Pokemon doesn't really set itself apart from its regular forme other than its lack of water-typing means that it's not weak to Ferroseed I guess? It could be nice on defensive teams as Regenerator is always powerful and it has great physical defense and recovery in Slack Off.
This thing is just as powerful as before. Rapid Spin giving this a speed boost means that it'll be even harder to revenge kill, but even if it doesn't run that - all out attacking sets will still be powerful af. I personally haven't tried Defensive so perhaps that could also be solid, but its stats and movepool are just as great as they've ever been. It also got access to Flip Turn, but being a Special Attacker, there's no real point using this move.
This thing still faces competition from Mareanie and Skreip. Rapid Spin giving it a Speed boost means it can potentially avoid being trapped by Diglett, so that will be nice.
This thing still sets hazards and that's literally all it does. Ok as a dedicated lead on specific kinds of Hyper Offense teams, but that's about it. With the amount of hazard removal options available and better options with Dwebble or Ferroseed depending on what kind of playstyle you're after, there's not much of a reason to use this mon.
Yeah this thing isn't doing anything.
Illusion + decent stats will always mean this thing has somewhat of a niche. It has access to Sludge Bomb now meaning that it can actually hit Sptrizee, which will help it out a fair bit.
Anyway, despite some of these Pokemon being significantly better than others. I'd encourage you all to go out and build around with these new toys - even some of the niche ones and post teams/replays so we can all have some fun trying out some new things. Also would love to hear people's thoughts on either certain mons or the metagame as a whole
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