Another fun fact I just learned, a Commandered-up Tatsugiri is unaffected by Perish Song.
Lovely!
Lovely!
It seems like Cud Chew keeps getting outclassed. At least Pickup Sash Shedinja has the common downside of being able to die if double targeted since the Sash isn't restored until the end of the turn. Pickup Jaboca/Rowap basically does become a more consistent version of the banned Harvest strategy with both mons being able to sustain it instead of only one being in play at a time, until you pick up something else to break the chain. If Pickup + Jaboca/Rowap is banned then I imagine you could still do the poor man's version by having a Pickup partner without an item to start, which is pretty similar to how it is now but would only end up on one mon instead of going back and forth. This is bringing me back to Symbiosis Harvest and other convoluted strategies of which Pickup once was.I don't think this is implemented yet, but I'd like to point out Pickup + Focus Sash Shedinja and Pickup + Jaboca/Rowap Berry in advance so that they don't take over the ladder for a week before they're banned. As far as less broken applications go, Pickup with Kee Berry or WP could be really funny except for the part where ladder is like 50% Opportunist and 20% Unaware rn.
At the least the usage from the first week probably revolved around the dominance of Commander, though I would definitely believe that it is a pretty common pick in general even now. Even though the ideal Unaware Dondozo would not care about Opportunist, it still leaves a lasting impression when it activates visually and probably spread around quickly because of that. I do agree personally that it is in a very strong position right now and its impact is on another level, potentially going even beyond Neutralizing Gas in shutting down certain paths to victory by making them neutral and rather power creeping them out of the meta instead by making them a negative.I definitely agree that Opportunist is starting to get uncompetitive. It almost completely invalidates the effects of Weakness Policy, and heavily dissuades the usage of any stat-boosting strategy, such as Intrepid Sword, Download, Anger Shell?, and any terrain seeds. If we look at the usage stats from the first couple weeks of Gen 9, all of the top 10 most used Pokemon outside of Tatsugiri and Blissey have Opportunist in their top 2 most used abilities, with 21% usage on Dondozo, 33% usage on Mega-Heracross, 36% usage on Mega-Venusaur, 18% usage on Annihilape, 21% usage on Mega-Gengar, 22% usage on Mega-Sableye, 42%! usage on Baxcalibur, and 35% usage on Iron Valient. This is clearly demonstrative of the restrictiveness of Opportunist, as it is almost always the best and most used ability for any Pokemon. I am 100% in favor of either a suspect test or quickban.
It could be cuz you reflect something, activate Defaint - and activate Opportunist (which no one likes)Why do people use good as gold instead of magic bounce?
252+ Atk Abomasnow Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Eviolite Dusclops: 76-90 (26.7 - 31.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKOEllo folks.
I'm trying out a new team of Galarian Corsola and Scream Tail
Ability: Opportunist
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Metronome
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Metronome
I don't terastilize Corsola at all - so I just went with Fire. Opportunist is a way for it to deal meaningful damage and be even more annoying than before. Scream Tail - in spite of having 65 base attacking stats - is stupid with a Choice Band. The damage isn't too noticable, however, with Good as Gold in its arsenal, it can't be statused either. The dual Ghost combo thanks to the tera type of Scream Tail is good in general and doesn't need an explaination.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-1755394519 <- funny game
https://pokepast.es/0c0bef92d2bc940d <- team paste
That's all I got for now. See you next time everyone
Edit: Scream Tail has near equal bulk to Eviolite Gorsola wtf
Reflecting things and activating Defiant would have been a valid concern in Gen 8, but nowadays nobody runs Defiant because Opportunist eats it alive, and in this particular team’s case activating a foe’s Defiant or bouncing a Swagger would activate the ally’s own Opportunist, not the opponent’s, so Magic Bounce definitely seems like the better ability here. That said, Good as Gold does protect against a few moves that Magic Bounce can’t, including Trick, Skill Swap, and importantly Perish Song.It could be cuz you reflect something, activate Defaint - and activate Opportunist (which no one likes)
I'm pretty sure the Ting-Lu/Chandelure is me, and yeah don't run dual Chandelures it's bad, I just didn't realize Trick House didn't accept Metronome matches at the time lmao. Ting-Lu's popping off though, and deservedly so, it's definitely the best Unaware + WP abuser right now. As a tip for playing double Unaware, you don't have to Tera immediately; It's often optimal to wait to Tera whichever gets its WP proc first, since that leaves you with more weaknesses that can activate it. You can also use it reactively to protect whichever of your mons is getting low first, or to stop a multi-turn move you become immune to via Tera. If you suspect your opponents are Unaware too, or you've gotten a wincon like Perish Song or Mortal Spin off, then you Tera early.The viability ceilings (highest GXE of a player that used the pokemon) for this month are pretty low compared to past stats, which makes sense when having to start building up ladder rating mostly from scratch. Ting-Lu and Chandelure (pure double Specs Opportunist) take the lead at 76, followed by Iron Valiant, Dusclops, Type: Null, and Hisuian Arcanine at 73, and Glastrier, Diancie, Snorlax, and Mega Houndoom at 72.
Opportunist countermeasure is simple, use Opportunist mons you too.Don't know if it is a timezone problem or what but I can't find any opponent with 1300 elo or more. I am trying to get to 1400 but facing low rated players makes it nearly impossible (-40 for a loss and +10 for a win). The fact I face a lot of opportunist pokemon doesn't help my defant mega-heracross/competitive mega-ampharos team either.
I refuse to play thing I consider broken and think should never have been added to the game (like opportunist, unaware or regenerator)Opportunist countermeasure is simple, use Opportunist mons you too.
Let's use Opportunist Mega Heracross and Opportunist Mega Ampharos.