Metagame Metagame - [Gen 9] PoA Dex OU

[SquidSpring]

PoA Dex OU
Header art by ru_was_here
Discord | Document | Calc | Client
POA Dex OU Council

Jas

Arcato

anaconja

FlamPoke

Boshigoat

What is PoA Dex OU?
PoA Dex OU is a format where our members submit whatever Pokémon they can come up with to bi-monthly contests where they are voted on by the community for both their visual design and competitive potential! We have a constantly growing and welcoming community, and we'd love to have you here!

PoA Dex OU Ruleset
The following Pokémon, Moves, Items and Abilities are banned from PoA Dex OU

Pokémon

Bahamist

Blaziken-Delta-Mega

Electrode-Mega

Enchantobra

Entei-Supra

Florges-Mega

Growlsome

Harportia

Meditao

Robert Downey Jr.*
*Legal in OU on April Fool’s day

Sceptile-Delta-Mega

Snorlax-Frost-Mega

Suicune-Supra

Tyranitar-Delta-Mega

Moves

Shed Tail
Baton Pass
Accupressure
Last Respects
Permafrost
Livewire
Achilles’ Heel
New Moon

Abilities

Arena Trap
Shadow Tag
Moody
Multishot

Items

Quick Claw
King’s Rock
Razor Fang
Focus Band
Bright Powder
Lax Incense

Clauses

Sleep Clause: Limit of one Pokemon put to sleep
Endless Battle Clause: Forcing endless battles is banned
OHKO Clause: OHKO moves are banned
Evasion Moves Clause: Evasion moves are banned
Evasion Abilities Clause: Evasion abilities are banned
Evasion Items Clause: Evasion items are banned
Species Clause: Limit one of each Pokemon
Z-Move Clause: Z-Moves are banned
Mega Forms Clause: Regional Forms cannot use Mega Stones for the base forms.

PoA Dex OU Resources

Viability Rankings

New!

Arcaspark

Catastropede

Jawladin

Rakura

Sauphozoa

S-Tier

Niandertroll

Paldemaria

A-Tier
A+

Pestri

Staruhz

Heatran-Supra

Tanukief

Gilotherma

A

Sekrilon-Mega

Scaleslash

Loxicant

A-

Scorching Kiln

Sirentom

Furumo

Lunachi

Ockthane

Hoppyre

Rotom-Hisui-Armored


B-Tier
B+

Felapstan

Catzelwyrm

Tinkashank

Grand Mirage

Cetitan-Hisui

B

Kaleidleon

Sinister Sickle

Parashukado

Magnegauss

Porygon-Z-Rhinian

Tyranitar-Delta

Incandele

Dryguaro

Mochimechi

Wrighvern

Miasmiss

UU Cutoff

B-

Nestitan

Crayzigater

Feidan

Berserker Gene

Escarphone

Eidolburgh

Conductree

Kleavor-Delta

Scaly Terror

Regimyo

Varkacosm

Anneliark

Porygon2-Rhinian

Jovianshk

Manacra-Plated

C-Tier

Mosster

Golisopod-Shogun

Manacra

Drifbozu

Carcharus

Bohememoss

Treatern

Decidueye-Olul

Bewitwing

Nebulant

Ceraguard

Cactusplash

Silretro

Saturoceras

Raikou-Supra

Mephistoxin

Pandiz

Mjochiin

Malamancer

Snugglosis

Wyrmplode

Wyvarice

D-Tier

Omecha

Snowiibay

Penumbralith

Heracross-Subarctic

Gelazura

Suenami

Tyranisacer

Celestray

Iron Chamber

Snorlax-Frost

Slowbro-Rhinian

Cloudinyte

Incineroar-Olul

Whacksteroid

Utensitile

Calobera

Zorblob

Crenibex

Braskeptic

Fonspring

Unranked

Barrimander

Buntaki

Caramitti

Chronobour

Dracotion

Guarig

Hydroupa

Icyall

Iron Everlasting

Maggony

Monetoad

Poltank

Primarina-Olul

Pupitar-Delta

Rabbicicle

Reneguana

Rotom-Hisui

Sekrilon

Slowking-Rhinian

Soulply

Sweepdol

Tinkaton-Rhinian

Tofagrif

Torterra-Delta-Crystal

Toxice

Twinova

Unreleased
Mystduck
Hyterra
Eversheen

Pending Changes
Nothing here!

Sample Teams

More samples expected in the near future, with recent metagame developments to be adapted to!

HO / Offense
https://pokepast.es/c88e7b42a944054a Coil Sickle + HWish Staruhz HO by FlamPoke
https://pokepast.es/94a399afd94a78d2 Webs - SD Mirage + SD Tinkashank by FlamPoke
https://pokepast.es/e32f73b729b106b2 DD HCetitan HO by SquidSpring
https://pokepast.es/291fc1dca6c7f8a3 Cactusplash Rain by the great mega

Balance / BO
https://pokepast.es/2987ab47e35bf411 NianCat Spikes + Special Kaleidleon by FlamPoke
https://pokepast.es/7382c8252b79a505 NianGilo Spikes + StatusSpam by FlamPoke
https://pokepast.es/17610616bd689f8d SubNP Ock + NP Gilo BO by LTitan9
https://pokepast.es/e99060baf5f77c62 SFLO Conductree HazStack by FlamPoke
https://pokepast.es/a7e092f9acd317f9 Tyranisacer Spikes Balance 1 by the great mega
https://pokepast.es/129287097368b6bc Tyranisacer Spikes Balance 2 by SquidSpring
https://pokepast.es/a3b868b051bf1b9d Regimyo Regen Spam by SquidSpring
https://pokepast.es/67192941ad36f1fe Band Sacer BO by the great mega
https://pokepast.es/ff98acfdc53feda5 Dracotion Balance by the great mega

Stall
https://pokepast.es/2e77fdb375337fc5 Felapstan Stall by FlamPoke
https://pokepast.es/dd81e9a654d88b3e Manacra Hazardless Stall by Suuuuper Craig
https://pokepast.es/25a7d6e6b6bdb55d SubTect Sacer Stall by the great mega

Speed Tiers (Outdated)

Speed Tiers

Createmons Samples

For use in Balanced Createmons to test out your mons that you are planning to submit to the format, many Pokemon cannot be perfectly replicated due to custom abilities and moves. Any stats that cannot be perfectly replicated are 1 point under the original stat.
https://pokepast.es/429ac7d90cdf56f9

 

[SquidSpring]

Snugglosis, Bahamist and Incandele have released!

Snugglosis Convergent Reuniclus
Dark/Ground
85/110/75/85/125/30
Wind Rider, Sand Veil
Vampiric

Bite The Dust | | Ground | 95 BP | 100% Acc | 16 PP | Heals 1/8th of the user's max HP on contact.

Bite The Dust, Knock Off, Nuzzle, Pursuit, Sucker Punch

Scorching Sands

Defog, Encore, Haze, Moonlight, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Whirlwind

Snugglosis @ Assault Vest
Ability: Vampiric
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Bite The Dust
- Nuzzle

Functioning as a bulky Assault Vest user or hazard setter, Snugglosis leverages its incredible bulk and self-sustain with its ability Vampiric and signature move Bite The Dust to stick around on the field and annoy the opponent with its vast support movepool. Its typing lends it to being incredibly splashable on teams.

Incandele
Fire/Fairy
100/76/115/85/66/80
Magic Bounce, Gooey
Power Spot

Melting Aroma | | Fairy | - Acc | 16 PP | Heals the user and ally(s) by 1/4th their max HP, also removes their status condition.

Flame Charge

Dazzling Gleam, Draining Kiss, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Lava Plume, Stored Power

Acid Armor, Calm Mind, Healing Wish, Will-O-Wisp

Incandele @ Eject Button
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Dazzling Gleam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Healing Wish

Essentially a Fire-type Hatterene, Incandele acts as either a Magic Bounce pivot on hyper offense teams or a Calm Mind setup sweeper, with its incredible combination of ability and typing Incandele is only really held back by its lackluster movepool, where the Calm Mind sets struggle to find a fourth move and lacking Moonblast, despite this I believe Incandele will be a strong choice in the PoA Dex OU metagame going forward.

Bahamist
Water/Dragon
89/95/79/70/88/101
Sheer Force, Storm Drain
Thermal Exchange

Mist Barrage | | Dragon | 80 BP | 95% Acc | 16 PP | Ignores Misty Terrain debuff, 1.5x power in Misty Terrain. Has a 10% chance to confuse the opponent.

Aqua Jet, Fire Punch, Flip Turn, Ice Punch, Liquidation, Mist Barrage, Thunder Punch, Wave Crash

N/A

Coil, Dragon Dance, Substitute

Bahamist @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Mist Barrage
- Dragon Dance
- Thunder Punch

Bahamist is a Sheer Force setup sweeper with a wide coverage movepool, unfortunately this coverage is relatively weak and it is held back immensely by its stats so whether Bahamist will be viable in the PoA Dex OU metagame is still up in the air. Stay tuned to see if he will beat the odds, i'm rooting for him!

 

[SquidSpring]

Wyvarice and some new items have released!

Wyvarice
Dark/Dragon
127/57/67/117/67/107
Pickpocket, Runaway
Kleptomancy

Lucky 7s | | Dark | 100 Acc | 16 PP | +5 BP for each 7 in the user's stats.

Kleptomancy | When coins are scattered, recovers 1/3 max HP. 2/3 if holding Amulet Coin.

U-Turn

Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Flash Cannon, Lucky 7s

Calm Mind, Encore, Parting Shot, Substitute, Taunt

Wyvarice @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pickpocket
EVs: 8 HP / 28 Def / 192 SpA / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 11 HP / 0 Atk
- Lucky 7s
- Draco Meteor
- Switcheroo
- Parting Shot

Wyvarice is an interesting offensive pivot, with the provided spread above Lucky 7s reaches 115 BP, a very strong click into neutral targets. Wyvarice pairs exceptionally well with Loxicant as it is extremely vulnerable to fairy types. Switcheroo is great to punish switchins but it can also delve into its coverage movepool with options like Fire Blast and Flamethrower. Other item choices could be things like Boots and Life Orb.

Buddy Lantern
Holder deals x0.125 damage to allies.
Not really relevant in PoA Dex OU, but it was designed for doubles so if PoA Dex DOU ever becomes a thing it will likely be very useful.

Energy Drink
This Pokémon cannot fall asleep.
Very useful into the likes of Siren Song Paldemaria, Hypnosis Staruhz, the very rare Spore Parashukado and the like, this item was designed to mitigate the effect of Sleep on the metagame in a healthy way.

Mana Gel
The holder cannot have its stat changes cleared or stolen. Psych Up will fail when used.
A very useful item for setup sweepers, Mana Gel blocks the effects of several popular moves such as Sirentom's Haze and Staruhz's Mindwipe allowing for an easier time to set up and sweep.

 

[SquidSpring]

Been a while since I updated this thread, a lot has happened!

I’ll start with the bans we’ve had.

Wrighvern, Bahamist, Meditao and Light Clay have been banned in PoA Dex OU, and Barrimander has been Unbanned!

Wrighvern just did too much damage with specs, basically anything that wasn’t an incredibly fat flying resistant steel was melting to it. Screens hyper offense was also a huge problem with Bewitwing being a frankly absurd screens setter, and thus Light Clay was banned and Barrimander was freed. Bahamist pretty much just won after one DD, it did too much damage combined with its phenomenal coverage that hit virtually the entire metagame. Meditao was just an annoying stored power cheeser that we kind of got fed up with.

NEW POKÉMON!

Anneliark
Psychic/Ground
84/83/124/130/85/44
Mold Breaker, Strange Anatomy*

Strange Anatomy | Replaces foe's ability on when making contact. Reduces BP of the user's Physical moves by 5 each turn the user is on the field.

Future Sight, Psychic, Earth Power

Moonlight, Toxic, Teleport, Stealth Rock, Calm Mind

Bohememoss
Grass/Fairy
79/97/79/109/79/127
Beast Boost

Power Whip, Play Rough

Moonblast, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Earth Power, Psychic

Calm Mind, Strength Sap, Substitute, Swords Dance

Celestray
Ghost/Flying
96/119/90/60/65/95
Infiltrator, Frisk, Hidden Ambush*

Hidden Ambush | Boosts moves that require a charge turn by 50%

Acrobatics, Dual Wingbeat, Phantom Force, Shadow Sneak

Swords Dance, Trick

Fonspring
Water/Ground
94/52/116/98/70/65
Weak Armor, Natural Cure

Pump Up | | Water | 32 PP | Raises highest stat by 2 stages.

Dragon Tail

Earth Power, Scald, Scorching Sands

Stealth Rock, Shore Up, Toxic, Yawn

Furumo
Water/Ice
85/99/69/99/69/109
Water Veil, Pixie Power*, Refrigerate

Pixie Power | Boosts fairy-type moves by 50%

Rapid Spin, Return, Extreme Speed, Liquidation, Flip Turn, Play Rough, Drill Run

Freeze-Dry, Surf, Moonblast

Spikes, Encore

Malamancer
Psychic/Normal
95/70/100/110/70/90
Telepathy, Wonder Skin, Magic Guard

Double-Edge, U-Turn

Psychic, Psychic Noise, Psyshock, Hyper Voice, Moonblast, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Energy Ball, Focus Blast

Calm Mind, Trick, Toxic, Teleport

Nebulant
Bug/Psychic
91/66/70/108/71/114
Vacuum Bubble*

Vacuum Bubble | Ignores foe's defense and special defense boosts, including items. Immune to Pressure.

U-Turn

Bug Buzz, Meteor Beam, Mystical Fire, Pheroblast, Psychic, Psyshock

Recover, Substitute, Taunt

Reneguana
Electric/Dragon
70/100/110/110/50/75
Battle Armor, Berserk, Tailgun Railgun*

Tailgun Railgun | If Electric-Type moves at full PP, uses Charge.

Severed Sidearm | | Electric | 55 BP | 100 Acc | 32 PP | If User's HP is 50% or less: +1 priority.

Dragon Claw, Supercell Slam

Draco Meteor, Severed Sidearm, Thunderbolt, Volt Switch

Dragon Dance, Roar, Toxic

Saturoceras
Fire/Rock
65/60/75/115/95/85
Shell Armor, Speed Boost

Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Meteor Beam, Power Gem, Hidden Power Grass, Earth Power

Protect, Stealth Rock, Will-O-Wisp

Snowiibay
Ghost/Flying
100/68/73/95/85/76
Thick Fat, Windy Spirit*

Windy Spirit | This Pokémon's wind moves have 1.2x power.

Phantasmal Gust | | Ghost | 90 BP | 100 Acc | 16 PP | 10% chance to lower target's special attack by one stage.

U-Turn

Phantasmal Gust, Hex, Hurricane, Ice Beam

Roost, Defog, Will-O-Wisp, Haze

Torterra-Delta-Crystal
Rock/Fairy
95/109/105/75/85/56
Solid Rock, Crystal Mana*

Crystal Mana | Raises defense and special defense by one stage whenever terrain changes.

Body Press, Diamond Storm, Earthquake, Play Rough

Iron Defense, Moonlight, Spiky Shield, Stealth Rock, Toxic, Teleport, Roar

Twinova
Psychic/Fairy
70/52/101/77/101/109
Synchronize, Shield Dust, Telepathy

Draining Kiss, Moonblast, Mystical Fire, Psychic, Psyshock

Calm Mind, Defog, Roost

Omecha
Normal/Electric
84/42/69/110/104/111
Volt Absorb, Download, Pixel Perfect*

Pixel Perfect | +1 accuracy when missing a move.

Reboot and Retry | | Electric | 70 BP | 80 Acc | 16 PP | Power doubles if the user's last move failed.

Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, Hyper Voice, Heat Wave, Reboot and Retry

Switcheroo

Crenibex
Rock
100/111/130/50/84/65
Rock Head, Bulletproof

Rampart's Might | | Rock | 16 PP | Combination of Follow Me and Metal Burst.

Head Smash, Earthquake, Headlong Rush, Body Press, Heat Crash, Megahorn, Trailblaze

Stealth Rock, Bulk Up, Slack Off, Iron Defense, Spikes, Toxic, Yawn

Poltank
Bug/Normal
93/83/122/62/104/61
Adaptive Armor*, Shield Dust, Friend Guard

Adaptive Armor | Takes half damage from moves with the type of first move user is hit by.

U-Turn, Body Slam, Body Press

Infestation

Defog, Haze, Heal Bell, Recover, Toxic, Yawn

Zorblob
Psychic
90/72/78/105/110/85 (Base)
90/91/66/115/66/112 (Split)
Hive Mind*

Hive Mind | If Zorblob: Takes 0.5x damage once per switch-in, transforms into Zorblob-Split.

U-Turn

Future Sight, Psychic, Psyshock, Psychic Noise, Ice Beam, Moonblast, Meteor Beam

Calm Mind, Slack Off

Tanukief
Dark/Fighting
95/84/121/76/94/60
Coat of Arms*

Coat of Arms | Gains additional type based on form. Immune to secondary effects. (Form is selected in builder)

Body Press, Circle Throw, Counter, Drain Punch, Knock Off, Poison Jab

Curse, Iron Defense, Protect, Recover, Spikes, Taunt, Toxic

Will update the VR post with these new additions soon!

 

[Runo]

Hello, my name is Runo, but for the purposes of this post I would like to call myself the Butcher of POA. I slotted into this tier in week 2 and have dropped nearly every player that dares face me. I have to give shoutouts to xrn however for absolutely belting me in Week 7 and giving me my one and only loss of the season. I desperately crave the respect from other members of US South and would've hoped a skillful win would've helped with this. Clearly I still have my work cut out for me.

---

Week 1:
Ineros was slotted in, I didn't watch the game but I heard it went terribly and the team was ready to call this a sack slot going into week 2. Not gonna say what went into prep here because I didn't look at the channel whatsoever (I was originally bought to support/play ZAOU).

OLK seemed to be doing very fine on their own and Ineros wanted out of POA. Noglastica dialed the phone, and I had to pick up. Couldn't let down my love for a tour this important. To help assist with my future teambuilding, I had joined Pokeathalon cord and stole EVERY set from the pokepaste POA channel. You would not believe how much of a time saver this is in building teams for petmod/solomods. Onward to week 2!

---

Week 2 vs jscurf (W):
Word of warning that not all thoughts are going to be 100% captured because most of the teambuilding was done in the test games which we did not save for fear of teams being leaked. I do not remember enough about my own prep to explain a large chunk of why I put a mon/set on a team. Last minute building will be a reoccuring theme here.

Jscurf just had HO on the scout and I got a feeling from interacting with him in NatDex Cord that I needed to wipe whatever smug look he had off his face. I went into this tier with very little information to start out with, only that Gilotherma and Niandertroll are probably extremely good mons. Everything else needed to be picked up as I went along. Noglastica was urging me to load Dragon Dance Tyranitar-Delta but I didn't really buy it being broken, so I went with the alternative of making sure I didn't lose to it ever.

https://pokepast.es/837f15c51c58312b

I don't remember why I wanted some of these mons, but what's particularly important is the Dragon Dance Catzelwyrm. The samples sets were insistent on Technician for some reason, when Fluffy is just blatantly overpowered on this. This will come into play and prep later in the season.

The game - https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=jscurf26-runo-1768184085371
Insanely busted sweeper ends the game at turn 18 despite jscurf still having 5 mons left. No bulk investment whatsoever.

---

Week 3 vs Quinn (W):
Nothing particularly eventful about this week, didn't feel any particular way about Quinn. Good player in general. In test games Noglastica was straight up butchering me with Sinister Sickle Hyper Offense spam and it made me incredibly aggravated with building. Nog also let me know that Loxicant existed by mercilessly trapping my mons. Past this point I always will pack a hard response to both of them and be conscious of running mons weak to them.

https://pokepast.es/3338dc1564a7c48f

In prep I remember thinking that Raikou and Mega Sekrilon had a lot of offensive synergy. Pairing that with my miraculous find of SpDef Pursuit Tyranisacer to catch some pesky Staruhz completes the fantastic trio. Rest of the team is just neat anchors. The combination of Wisp Sirentom + Thunder Wave Niandertroll + Scarf Rotom + First Impression Tyranisacer locked down the potential HO matchup. But I still felt worried that I would load into it and ruin my week.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=quinnxd-runo-1768764630258
Nothing really special about the game, every mon gets the job done. Much to Noglastica's dismay, Sirentom was in fact useful. An incredible lesson to always go with your gut instinct pick and never give a voice to the doubters.

---

Week 4 vs SquidSpring (W):
By week 4 we start to have a pretty good idea on player tendencies, Nog suggested to be on the look out for Loxicant and Hoppyre. It was also at this point that we realized that mons may or may not be materializing in the builder out of thin air.

Spoiler

Beaf Cultist also joined up for a couple test games and proceeded to shred me with like 3 different insanely stupid cheese teams.

https://pokepast.es/16fa4cde4af4f223

My concept was essentially luring Squid's biggest hits in Hoppyre, with the Felapstan being kitted to tank a Poltergiest while OHKOing back in return. Ceragaurd was padding into Tinkashank because it was my concern of the week (I kept struggling into it in test games). My lovely Twave Niandertroll as always to mess with any Sinister Sickle. Now the big star here is Paldemaria and the double trapper core of Loxicant + Scaly Terror. Calm Mind Paldemaria actually gets pretty deadly if you run Hidden Power Fire on it to punish Loxicant and Niandertrolls that attempt to switch in. The double trap helps strike down a couple of things that try to check Paldemaria such as oppo Paldemaria or Mindwipe Staruhz.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=runo-jackiefreeze-1769381402709
This game was super scuffed the closer you get towards the endgame but I still had the tools to outlast their remaining mons, especially with Scaly Terror coming in clutch. W Yellow Magic. Fun Fact, naming your mons helps with your luck in this metagame.

---

Week 5 vs Ainzcrad (W):
This week, I really wanted to prove myself because Ainz was someone I haven't played in a while and I kept dropping me whenever I did (also this dweebo PHB11677 bolded against me 3 times in a row). Ainz scout had a lot of Staruhz as the big takeaway. The expectation was a generic Star,Troll,Gilo core. In test games I also learned to be more alert against Drifbozu because Nasty Plot can easily tear up unprepared teams or if you're unlucky with your physical attacking tanks.

https://pokepast.es/162b1eab45d5a620

Really really really wanted to use Tyranisacer again to capitalize on the Staruhz usage. The rest of the team is focusing on refining the Calm Mind Paldemaria concept from the prior week. Using Bewitwing as a means to disable Niandertroll, Loxicant, and Cetitan-Hisui for it. Miasmiss helps pad against Tinkashank. Once again gotta go with the Twave Troll to give myself an effortless out into Sinister Sickle. Nasty Plot Gilotherma was suggested by Noglastica, which worked out well in tests as Gilo and Paldemaria share a LOT of common buffers.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=runo-ainzcrad-1769979165785
Ainzcrad doesn't have a single Twave soak, so it's easy pickings for my Niandertroll here. Gilotherma gets a lot of nice early game pressure on board, Tyranisacer ends up 1v1ing the Cloudinyte and harasses the Loxicant for the rest of the game. His Catzelwyrm struggles to get off the ground after it gets paralyzed and eventually Bewitwing completely ruins it by tricking a Choice Scarf via Pixie Trick. Ainz cannot seriously defend against my Paldemaria at this point. Interesting sidenote about this game: Clicking Destiny Bond and getting trapped by Pursuit/Mindtrap/Rocket Grab will not kill the trapper!

---

Week 6 vs Anaconja(W):
We were expecting FlamPoke to play this slot but they swapped with Anaconja this week. I didn't have huge fears about it though since I figured they would share building tendencies. Being on the same team and prepping with each other and all. We saw a lot of Staruhz and Regen cores in the scout.

https://pokepast.es/afac31af572897c9

Ana/FlamPoke's team choices in the prior weeks made it feel like I could run Magneguss + Fairy Spam to get the job done here. Only one steel per team and most are Niandertroll. I don't remember why I had the other 3 slots, Saturoceras seemed like some Blaziken type shit. And I think Blaziken is just broken so. Loxicant is just bustedddd so gotta run with that too, make sure no pesky AV Paldemaria get in my way. Cactusplash helps pad the offensive Paldemaria matchup better.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=anaconja-runo-1770515631557
Well what do you know, someone also decided to load up Magnegauss + Loxicant. This unfortunately made dispatching his Gilotherma harder than anticipated but once his Loxicant was gone it made the game easier by a little bit. Eventually I have to take a burn while setting up with my DD Catzelwyrm but fortunately its typing carried me out of a bad situation.

---

Week 7 vs Xrn (L):
As I said in the start of the post, Xrn is someone I really wanted to get a win against (I would go as far as to say he's the only person I really cared about facing the entire tour). Nog's read on the scout was a bit similar to mine in terms of how teams were built: Not super standard safe brings, but not blatant matchup fishing or cheese either, but still has techs that need to be accounted for.

https://pokepast.es/54ab5899c638dbe7

I wanted to try to bring something that looked safe and standard on preview but still had some techs that could catch him off guard. This again takes the concept of trapper + Paldemaria + Gilotherma wincons. But I also had Offensive HP Fire Staruhz to further pressure Hoppyre and lure Niandertroll.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=anaconja-runo-1770515631557
Unfortunately, I did not account for Choice Felapstan and it ended up caving my skull in. In addition, not having substantial hard checks to Staruhz and its Mindwipe made making progress much too difficult.

---

Semi-Finals vs Ainzcrad (W):
For this rematch, I had asked Noglastica to remake all of Ainz's teams so I could practice against them alongside the samples. We were expecting an offense heavy lean, with Tinkashank, and speed boosting wincons. During that time I tried to practice better into Ghosts and Gilotherma as I understood how annoying they could get from the Xrn game.

https://pokepast.es/08a52896b0753254

Basically queue'd up a mon that beats Gilotherma really hard in Eidolburgh. Everything else is pretty boring standard for me. Finally figured out how I wanted to slot in Tanukief since it was giving me some crazy choice paralysis whenever I looked at it. Double Twave with Troll made me feel really secure. You do have a random tech in Curse Troll, but that was just meant to throw Ainz off his game as opposed to any hard justification.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=ainzcrad-wholesomeyurilover-1771793967297
This game was extremely bad for me since he loaded an Eidolburgh with HP Fire. Thankfully the Thunder Wave spam gives me agency to hold out until he gets lucked into a bad position. Pestri was a good call into me, but tragically Ainzcrad forgot to account for the Paralysis.

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Finals vs SquidSpring (W):
We were expecting Xrn's team to win so unfortunately a sunday of scouting was wasted. This was actually more beneficial for me though since I could easily no-diff SquidSpring to secure a win. Only needed some good prep to seal the deal. To help myself out, I told Noglastica to pretend he was SquidSpring and to load counter-teams to my scout. Nog definitely delivered with the cteams lmfao, he kept ruthlessly dicking me down with Dragon Dance Cetitan-Hisui teams. This was the hardest time I'd ever have making a team for this tour.

https://pokepast.es/73b8af1d891df356

Noglastica and I had been uber afraid of Bohememoss in the builder since we kept rolling over each other with it in test games. I'd figure this was the team where I could finally greenlight it being brought to a real game because holy fuck it's brokennnn. To aid in Mr. Moss's wholesome sweep, I employed a Booster Energy Scorching Kiln. Which has the incredible benefit of completely stonewalling any mon that attempts to spam Poltergiest into this team, most importantly Hoppyre. The double Choice Band is the real star of the team however, with both Tyranitar-Delta and Tinkashank dishing out obscene damage and wearing down each others checks with ease. And THEN the double trapper core of Loxicant + Mind Trap TTar. I pity the balance team that has to go up against this crew. And then Staruhz is there because free removal and offensive check to Sinister Sickle. Something really funny about this team that doesn't really matter until the HO matchup is Thunder Wave on the Tinkashank. This is specifically for Sickle. I have Sudden Strike over Sucker Punch for a near guarentee hit on Drifbozu too.

The game: https://replay.pokeathlon.com/#replay=jackiefreeze-runo-1772406790001
The Double Choice Band Core + Scorching Kiln clicking Wisp into the entire team made this an incredibly easy take down. Very rewarding build to make.

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Jumpheart and Noglastica fun teaming with you lot as always. I would've 100% dropped this tour if not for the fact that it was you two managing it. Thank you especially Nog for proving that we can expertly build any metagame if we just put our two brains together.

Will probably do a metagame post too, but w/e. This was a incredibly enjoyable tour run this season and despite a lot of the wacky threats and genuine red herrings in the builder (I completely ignored the VR) that exist here, I still found this tier has an abundance of good options to make teams with. A lot of buffers to a lot of threats, nice offensive mons that aren't too ridiculous but aren't weak as shit either. Amazing 9/10 tier, had to dock a point though because it's an Ana + FlamPoke ran metagame XD.