Every time I decide "hey metronome battles, I remember those from back in the day" and try this tier out I get reminded of how you can use CAP's and hackmons on this tier and stop playing. Requiring knowledge of all kinds of hackmons/CAP/pokéstar stuff really raises the bar of entry for new players and certainly keeps me from playing this more often. Even if hackmons is something that can not be conceded on I'd suggest at least limiting the meta to what's available to gen 8 cartridge, similar to gen 8 Balanced Hackmons.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Format Discussion Metronome Battle
- Thread starter Ivy
- Start date
You’re SERIOUSLY overrating how valuable information is about these hackmons/CAP/pokestars. First of all, you’re not playing OU, you’re rolling dice. You don’t need to know the enemy fakemon’s stats and type matchup to win and even if you do you can’t control the battle. Second of all, you don’t even need to play with these mons, there are a ton of good selections in the “normal pokemon” category and you don’t need a single fakemon to succeed.
Yeah, thanks to CAP making mons with actually usable stat spreads (read: not slow bulky attackers), they're actually pretty sub-optimal for Metronome. Same for Pokéstar, which are all 100/100/100/100/100/100 like Mew, which can certainly be nice with good typing (such as Pokestar UFO) but still has a lot of room for improvement.
This is kinda random, but I was just thinking... Could we have a viability ranking for metronome battles? I think it would be really cool, especially since the focus would be totally different than what you see on normal threads. What do you guys think?
Cramorant-Gulping ez C tier
Aye, I think it be a good idea to have a list of meta mons available at a glance. I wrote this rough draft up on a whim, so feel free to make suggestions or post your own opinions. It's pretty vague to say what's exactly better than something, since everything falls in some kind of archetype anyway, so I sorted it similarly to the ability tier list where ranks are based on categories and ordered mons based on my own values. Maybe in the future, we can have sub-tier lists about who the best Flower Veil user is.
Notes: I don't have a S rank because I feel that this format doesn't have any "must-have" choices for a team to be competitive.
My baseline for viability is Shedinja, since I think the strategy is awful but it also has a decent chance to win.
I haven't actually played recently, so I might be out of touch with any new meta developments.
A rank: The Meta
- Mega Heracross
- Ghost Types
A- rank: Bulky statboost
- Flower Veil (Venusaur, Necturna, Shaymin)
- Other defiant/competitive/weakness policy mons
- Type-immunity ability users (Mega Camerupt)
B+ rank: Strong bulk/good stat spread
- Mega Ampharos
B rank: Good in general
- Balanced high stats (Mew, Pokestars, Silvally)
- Bulky/slow mons (Type: Null, Snorlax, Wishiwashi)
B- rank: Gimmicky mons
- Sirfetch'd @ Leek
- Blissey (Imposter)
- Snorlax @ Kee Berry
- Cramorant-Gorging
C+ rank: C rank but viable
- Mega Gengar
- Dragapult
- Mega Sableye
C rank: Casual choices
- Mega Alakazam
- All the other vanilla Metronome users (Clefable, Snorlax)
- Alphabetical CAPs (Astrolotl, Arghonaut)
D+ rank: Bad gimmicky mons
- Shedinja (Power of Alchemy)
- Partner of Shedinja
D rank: Not viable
- Missingno
- LC mons
Hey there! Proud to announce I AM BACK, with exciting announcements.
I've been laying off Smogon Forums ever since, but I won't give up now.
I MAY or MAY NOT make another team for metro battles, since I'm a lazy head and have no inspiration.
All I can say: I'M BACK. Thanks for the amazing chance for return, jesus!
I may be happy to also take suggestions. I may be viewing them time to time.
UPDATED STATS:
- Sableye-Mega is very good, now that it's in the A rank of all things. Thank god or I would have died.
- Obstagoon is, say, A defense Pokemon that I didn't know that existed in the first place. I don't know if I should make a defensive Obstagoon team, should I?
This tier still is VERY GOOD, with it being updated continuously and for great causes. I was dozing off of this community just to see how it got better, and it surprisingly did! See you in the future somehow...
I've been laying off Smogon Forums ever since, but I won't give up now.
I MAY or MAY NOT make another team for metro battles, since I'm a lazy head and have no inspiration.
All I can say: I'M BACK. Thanks for the amazing chance for return, jesus!
I may be happy to also take suggestions. I may be viewing them time to time.
UPDATED STATS:
- Sableye-Mega is very good, now that it's in the A rank of all things. Thank god or I would have died.
- Obstagoon is, say, A defense Pokemon that I didn't know that existed in the first place. I don't know if I should make a defensive Obstagoon team, should I?
This tier still is VERY GOOD, with it being updated continuously and for great causes. I was dozing off of this community just to see how it got better, and it surprisingly did! See you in the future somehow...
It's (barely) October 1st, and that means it's time for September usage stats!
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2020-09/gen8metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2020-09/moveset/gen8metronomebattle-1630.txt
The Metronome Battles count is going steady with a surprisingly consistent 62061 battles. I did expect a decline, but it's still staying pretty strong.
Heracross and Venusaur remain high as always, though Heracross's usage percentage has fallen a bit.
1630 Top 10 + last month positions:
#1: Mega Heracross (no change)
#2: Mega Venusaur (no change)
#3: Dragapult (#4)
#4: Mega Sableye (#6)
#5: Necturna (#7)
#6: Dusclops (no change)
#7: Blissey (#9)
#8: Mega Gengar (no change)
#9: Mega Ampharos (#5)
#10: Mega Banette (#12)
Top 10 is mostly the same, though Banette snuck back in over Landorus. Blissey and Necturna rise up and overtake Ampharos, among others. Mew still sits in #11, though Spiritomb and Gallade rose up to #12 and #13.
Dark horse of the month is Entei in 16th with 524 uses, coming into unforetold success alongside Pajantom at #15. Someone's dedicated.
Haxorus also maintains its #107 position. I noticed this because I picked it for a sub-top 100 gimmick team alongside Aerilate Archeops. It's faster than Heracross, for what that's worth.
Moveset notes:
We can look forward to the Crown Tundra bringing back classic moves such as Lovely Kiss, Aeroblast, Scared Fire, Mist Ball, Lustre Purge, Roar of Time, Spacial Rend, Magma Storm, Crush Grip, Shadow Force, Lunar Dance, Searing Shot, Geomancy, Oblivion Wing, Land's Wrath, and Core Enforcer. You can really feel the tension between Game Freak and Heracross in this update.
There's also new mons, moves, and abilities to come, as well as the mystery of Calyrex. How will this affect the Flower Veil meta? Personally, I'm pretty excited for these new additions, though there's not much to say until the DLC is released and we find out what's actually usable. See you on the 22nd!
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2020-09/gen8metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2020-09/moveset/gen8metronomebattle-1630.txt
The Metronome Battles count is going steady with a surprisingly consistent 62061 battles. I did expect a decline, but it's still staying pretty strong.
Heracross and Venusaur remain high as always, though Heracross's usage percentage has fallen a bit.
1630 Top 10 + last month positions:
#1: Mega Heracross (no change)
#2: Mega Venusaur (no change)
#3: Dragapult (#4)
#4: Mega Sableye (#6)
#5: Necturna (#7)
#6: Dusclops (no change)
#7: Blissey (#9)
#8: Mega Gengar (no change)
#9: Mega Ampharos (#5)
#10: Mega Banette (#12)
Top 10 is mostly the same, though Banette snuck back in over Landorus. Blissey and Necturna rise up and overtake Ampharos, among others. Mew still sits in #11, though Spiritomb and Gallade rose up to #12 and #13.
Dark horse of the month is Entei in 16th with 524 uses, coming into unforetold success alongside Pajantom at #15. Someone's dedicated.
Haxorus also maintains its #107 position. I noticed this because I picked it for a sub-top 100 gimmick team alongside Aerilate Archeops. It's faster than Heracross, for what that's worth.
Moveset notes:
- Necturna are running Thick Fat and Neutralizing Gas. Fun fact: Necturna's speed was originally 81, but was nerfed down to 58 in 2019.
- Sap Sipper Zoom Lens Spiritomb is apparently weighted highest.
- Color Change edges out Competitive on Manaphy.
- 15% of Chansey run a pretty funny combination of Ring Target and Innards Out. At least they're gentle going about it.
- The 0 weight version can also be useful in its own way, usually showing more information and representing a different view of the ladder. It's not what performs best, but it can be pretty interesting to think about the raw stats.
We can look forward to the Crown Tundra bringing back classic moves such as Lovely Kiss, Aeroblast, Scared Fire, Mist Ball, Lustre Purge, Roar of Time, Spacial Rend, Magma Storm, Crush Grip, Shadow Force, Lunar Dance, Searing Shot, Geomancy, Oblivion Wing, Land's Wrath, and Core Enforcer. You can really feel the tension between Game Freak and Heracross in this update.
There's also new mons, moves, and abilities to come, as well as the mystery of Calyrex. How will this affect the Flower Veil meta? Personally, I'm pretty excited for these new additions, though there's not much to say until the DLC is released and we find out what's actually usable. See you on the 22nd!
It's me, I'm the 15%.
Makes for fast games LOL
EDIT: For example - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8metronomebattle-1196565434
Last edited:
I decided to make this since chansey's def is poor. This is the Protect The Chansey movement!
your mom (Chansey) (F) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Metronome
^ I decided to base this team around Chansey's poor defense, and give it an upgrade. Chansey becomes a bit more... say, viable now, because it's better to be defensive than wrong. Chansey is weak to fighting, and the defense boost plus Prism Armor helps it protect itself from fighting (physical) attacks.
going fast (Deoxys-Speed) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Metronome
^ This is what sets up everything. Normalium Z to get a huge amount of damage, because of its speed. Electric Surge due to Chansey's Electric Seed. Chansey = PROTECC. He justs busts a move, you know?
WEAKNESSES:
-Zeraora and electric types, they give them a huge advantage because of Electric Surge, luckily if there's none no damage will mostly be given
- Self-Destruct/Explosion. Sometimes it goes for Chansey, which means it's game over almost. LOL.
Oh, right...
"The Electric Seed raised your mom's Defense!"
Don't mind about that, LOL. More replays coming soon.
your mom (Chansey) (F) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Metronome
^ I decided to base this team around Chansey's poor defense, and give it an upgrade. Chansey becomes a bit more... say, viable now, because it's better to be defensive than wrong. Chansey is weak to fighting, and the defense boost plus Prism Armor helps it protect itself from fighting (physical) attacks.
going fast (Deoxys-Speed) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Metronome
^ This is what sets up everything. Normalium Z to get a huge amount of damage, because of its speed. Electric Surge due to Chansey's Electric Seed. Chansey = PROTECC. He justs busts a move, you know?
WEAKNESSES:
-Zeraora and electric types, they give them a huge advantage because of Electric Surge, luckily if there's none no damage will mostly be given
- Self-Destruct/Explosion. Sometimes it goes for Chansey, which means it's game over almost. LOL.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8metronomebattle-1196727220 - 1-0, Metronome got taunted and instant faint LOL.
"The Electric Seed raised your mom's Defense!"
Don't mind about that, LOL. More replays coming soon.
Why not Blissey?I decided to make this since chansey's def is poor. This is the Protect The Chansey movement!
your mom (Chansey) (F) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Metronome
^ I decided to base this team around Chansey's poor defense, and give it an upgrade. Chansey becomes a bit more... say, viable now, because it's better to be defensive than wrong. Chansey is weak to fighting, and the defense boost plus Prism Armor helps it protect itself from fighting (physical) attacks.
going fast (Deoxys-Speed) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Metronome
^ This is what sets up everything. Normalium Z to get a huge amount of damage, because of its speed. Electric Surge due to Chansey's Electric Seed. Chansey = PROTECC. He justs busts a move, you know?
WEAKNESSES:
-Zeraora and electric types, they give them a huge advantage because of Electric Surge, luckily if there's none no damage will mostly be given
- Self-Destruct/Explosion. Sometimes it goes for Chansey, which means it's game over almost. LOL.
Oh, right...https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8metronomebattle-1196727220 - 1-0, Metronome got taunted and instant faint LOL.
"The Electric Seed raised your mom's Defense!"
Don't mind about that, LOL. More replays coming soon.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Band
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Metronome
Necturna (F) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
edit: i dont know what that react means and im scared
Last edited:
My current ladder team for metronome.
Baby (Ampharos-Mega) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Competitive
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Metronome
Pranked (Banette) @ Banettite
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
Mega Ampharos is there to deal huge special damage, with boosts from competitive, and also using Z-Metronome for some more damage. It is also baby.
Banette is cool, because I can get the Intrepid Sword boost, and then mega-evolve to get prankster. I am 0 speed so that I can underspeed most popular mons in a perish song situation. The main weakness of this team is dark types, as they are immune to prankster, however I can just not mega-evolve in that situation and still be good.
Example match:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8metronomebattle-1199431925
Baby (Ampharos-Mega) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Competitive
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Metronome
Pranked (Banette) @ Banettite
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
Mega Ampharos is there to deal huge special damage, with boosts from competitive, and also using Z-Metronome for some more damage. It is also baby.
Banette is cool, because I can get the Intrepid Sword boost, and then mega-evolve to get prankster. I am 0 speed so that I can underspeed most popular mons in a perish song situation. The main weakness of this team is dark types, as they are immune to prankster, however I can just not mega-evolve in that situation and still be good.
Example match:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8metronomebattle-1199431925
Decided to stop fooling around with Cramorant and Ring Target Chansey and make an actual viable team:
Type: Null @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
They main mechanic of the team is Friend Guard + Eviolite. With this in mind, the team's goal is to be as bulky as possible and to either outlast non-leppa berry teams or have the staying power to close it out before the opponent can dish enough damage.
Probably the best part of using double Friend Guard + Double Eviolite is that even against a staple meta teams like ngas+comatose, you still have the boosts from Eviolite.
Maybe I'll go for #1 at some point, as I believe this team is pretty impossible to outright counter team, but after losing twice in a row right after reaching #2...I need a break
Fun metagame, glad there's no money on the line cause flipping coins is addicting
EDIT: pls no ban Friend Guard, thx!
Type: Null @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome
They main mechanic of the team is Friend Guard + Eviolite. With this in mind, the team's goal is to be as bulky as possible and to either outlast non-leppa berry teams or have the staying power to close it out before the opponent can dish enough damage.
Probably the best part of using double Friend Guard + Double Eviolite is that even against a staple meta teams like ngas+comatose, you still have the boosts from Eviolite.
Maybe I'll go for #1 at some point, as I believe this team is pretty impossible to outright counter team, but after losing twice in a row right after reaching #2...I need a break
Fun metagame, glad there's no money on the line cause flipping coins is addicting
EDIT: pls no ban Friend Guard, thx!
Last edited:
I think the meta is getting pretty stale by now, can we try some unbans or a slight BST increase to shake up the format a bit? Ivy
I already have discussed potential unbans (Primal abilities which I think are very overrated, Sturdy Shedinja who actually dies pretty easily and doesn't do a lot of damage and also hard countered by Ngas, Snow Warning which may bring viability to ice types) and a potential BST cap rise to 630 but they have all failed. I'm honestly down for high BST legendary metronome battles but I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with that ahaha.
I already have discussed potential unbans (Primal abilities which I think are very overrated, Sturdy Shedinja who actually dies pretty easily and doesn't do a lot of damage and also hard countered by Ngas, Snow Warning which may bring viability to ice types) and a potential BST cap rise to 630 but they have all failed. I'm honestly down for high BST legendary metronome battles but I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with that ahaha.
Last edited:
I think it may be worth giving Desolate Land and Primordial Sea a "retest" (i.e. unban and then ban later down the line if people complain lol). It should add some interesting top tier teams to the lineup to square up against double M-Hera (which are just barely not broken enough to get obliterated IMO, same ought to apply to the primals). Unbanning sturdinja seems fine as well; the chance of one sturdinja (with power of alchemy) winning is demonstrably pathetic, and having two of them can only help so much. And, of course, all of these get memed on by Neutralizing Gas as well, forever the equalizing force.
I'm hesitant to free Snow Warning since it just seems like throwing a bone to Ice-types for no reason and violating the guaranteed passive damage ban precedent.
Going to wait a bit and see if anyone else would like to chime in, otherwise I'll call our old friend Kris to patch these in.
I'm hesitant to free Snow Warning since it just seems like throwing a bone to Ice-types for no reason and violating the guaranteed passive damage ban precedent.
Going to wait a bit and see if anyone else would like to chime in, otherwise I'll call our old friend Kris to patch these in.
Sheesh, goes to show how out of touch I am; I never knew neutralizing gas was so omnipresent at the top of the ladder. That would kind of leave those ability changes in a useless spot.
Neutral gas alone is quite strong, but the fact that it still lets comatose work is rather adding insult to injury against people who opt out of the easy ngas route.
Neutral gas alone is quite strong, but the fact that it still lets comatose work is rather adding insult to injury against people who opt out of the easy ngas route.
Nothing much to add here but I can confirm that neutralizing gas is indeed prominent on high ladder at the moment. Some strategies like Imposter Blissey and Gulping Cramorant are heavily neutered by NGas. While it can be frustrating to deal with if you are trying to use gimmicky strategies, I don't think it is "overpowered." Having 1 comatose above the opponent doesn't make a huge difference and I have found that it is generally better to use other abilities against low ladders because they tend to bring useless abilities and you would much rather have something like defiant in that case.
I don't think the problem with NGas is the power level, it's the diversity stifling. If you run N-Gas + Comatose, you *will* have better abilities than your opponent, and there is no real counterplay to this beyond doing it yourself. It renders a whole part of the metagame irrelevant because, as you say, the only situation where it's not optimal is if the opponent chokes by bringing bad abilities. Ideally, this is a random format defined by variation, so we should seek to modify parts of the metagame which have become homogenised to this extent.
Honestly, I think we should consider increasing the BST cap to 700 or so (+/- 20 points; Mega Mewtwo, Mega Ray, Ultra Necrozma and Eternamax should remain banned, whereas I think Arceus and Zygarde-C are open to a judgement call), even as a temporary experiment. I would expect to see significantly more variation that way than the current meta, where Mega Heracross and Mega Venusaur have over 50% usage between them last I checked. The Steel-type ban would remain, which would remove most of the really egregious things (notably Metagross-M, Dialga, Arceus-Steel, Solgaleo, Necrozma-DM, Zacian-C and Zamazenta-C) from consideration. Additionally, it might reduce the emphasis on speed dumping by minimising the speed differential between the strongest Pokemon -- the vast majority of legendaries of that tier exist in the 90-100 base speed tier.
Last edited:
As #1 on the ladder I guess I should chime in 
Though I didn't get there with ngas, I had to account for it as I constantly played against it. I did so by using obscenely bulky Pokemon, with only a single weakness, so that while I don't have any ability I at least still have my eviolite. Also FYI fwqef ngas does not stop Cramorant-Gulping (That said, the only reason I was able to get to top 50 with Cramorant-Gulping was because I had ngas LOL).
I agree, ngas is dominant and should be banned. It should be banned in nearly any metagame that allows ngas on a Pokemon not named Weezing (except like, pure hackmons).
Thinking about what I would like unbanned... I like the idea of increasing the BST cap. I think the Primal abilities are worth testing, I doubt they'll be dominant tbh, but I have no clue what the meta will look like without ngas. I'll probably try to use Friend Guard + Eviolite with another account and see how far I can get again. Sturdy Shedinja seems fine, I can rarely get a 50% gxe even with the most efficient Receiver Shedinja.
Residual damage weather should stay banned, so should any healing abilities/items, so should harvest + residual damage berries. Oh, and yeah Steel types should stay banned.
The only other unbans I'd like to play around with is Fluffy and/or Fur Coat
Though I didn't get there with ngas, I had to account for it as I constantly played against it. I did so by using obscenely bulky Pokemon, with only a single weakness, so that while I don't have any ability I at least still have my eviolite. Also FYI fwqef ngas does not stop Cramorant-Gulping
(That said, the only reason I was able to get to top 50 with Cramorant-Gulping was because I had ngas LOL).I agree, ngas is dominant and should be banned. It should be banned in nearly any metagame that allows ngas on a Pokemon not named Weezing (except like, pure hackmons).
Thinking about what I would like unbanned... I like the idea of increasing the BST cap. I think the Primal abilities are worth testing, I doubt they'll be dominant tbh, but I have no clue what the meta will look like without ngas. I'll probably try to use Friend Guard + Eviolite with another account and see how far I can get again. Sturdy Shedinja seems fine, I can rarely get a 50% gxe even with the most efficient Receiver Shedinja.
Residual damage weather should stay banned, so should any healing abilities/items, so should harvest + residual damage berries. Oh, and yeah Steel types should stay banned.
The only other unbans I'd like to play around with is Fluffy and/or Fur Coat
Last edited:
my bad, good for you for reaching rank 1, I haven't been able to recreate the same success I had in gen7 ahaha. I think fur coat could be an incredible ability in metronome battles, defense is a lot more important than special defense in metronome battles IMO and I doubt it would be able to stay unbanned, but I'm all for experimenting.As #1 on the ladder I guess I should chime in
Though I didn't get there with ngas, I had to account for it as I constantly played against it. I did so by using obscenely bulky Pokemon, with only a single weakness, so that while I don't have any ability I at least still have my eviolite. Also FYI fwqef ngas does not stop Cramorant-Gulping
I agree, ngas is dominant and should be banned. It should be banned in nearly any metagame that allows ngas on a Pokemon not named Weezing (except like, pure hackmons).
Thinking about what I would like unbanned... I like the idea of increasing the BST cap. I think the Primal abilities are worth testing, I doubt they'll be dominant tbh, but I have no clue what the meta will look like without ngas. I'll probably try to use Friend Guard + Eviolite with another account and see how far I can get again. Sturdy Shedinja seems fine, I can rarely get a 50% gxe even with the most efficient Receiver Shedinja.
Residual damage weather should stay banned, so should any healing abilities/items, so should harvest + residual damage berries. Oh, and yeah Steel types should stay banned.
The only other unbans I'd like to play around with is Fluffy and/or Fur Coat
bonk, I just ran some tests on my custom server to see how your friend guard eviolite team matched up against the 2 most common archetypes in metronome battles: Band Intrepid Mega Heracross and Simple Flower Veil Mega Venusaur.
hera won 2773 / 5000 battles against bulk [this took 414.635757 seconds] (bulk is the TypeNull+Dusclops team)
venu won 299 / 500 battles against bulk [this took 50.845900 seconds]
As you can see, this team has a pretty bad matchup against Band Intrepid MHera and Flower Veil+Simple MVenusaur. With results as significant as these, there is a very low probability that "bulk" actually has a true winning probability against "hera" and "venu".
However, I think with that obscenely bulky setup you should have an incredible matchup against Imposter Blissey. Did you farm a lot of points against that Imposter Blissey bot running around? I'm just curious how your grind was like.
hera won 2773 / 5000 battles against bulk [this took 414.635757 seconds] (bulk is the TypeNull+Dusclops team)
venu won 299 / 500 battles against bulk [this took 50.845900 seconds]
As you can see, this team has a pretty bad matchup against Band Intrepid MHera and Flower Veil+Simple MVenusaur. With results as significant as these, there is a very low probability that "bulk" actually has a true winning probability against "hera" and "venu".
However, I think with that obscenely bulky setup you should have an incredible matchup against Imposter Blissey. Did you farm a lot of points against that Imposter Blissey bot running around? I'm just curious how your grind was like.