BH National Dex BH

[dtc09]

You can use :ss/pokemon-name: to put sprites in posts. In your case .

As for your set, it does look interesting, though I'm unsure if it'd be worth the setup seeing as Mega Mewtwo Y already has sets that can grant it immediate power. I'm welcome to be proven wrong but it looks to be outclassed.

i'd say it does have some qualities, as after a turn of setup not many stuff can outdamage it bare from something like tail glow lo sheer force:

252 SpA Sniper Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psycho Boost vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned on a critical hit: 424-501 (109.2 - 129.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+3 252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned: 511-602 (131.7 - 155.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

(zama's just to show the calc, ik overheat does more)

comparing it to something with absurd instant power like specs adapt:

252 SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psycho Boost vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned: 376-444 (96.9 - 114.4%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

crit does more damage and can keep spamming psycho boost. high-bp coverage options are also neat, as for example crit fleur cannon OHKOes non-scales darkceus while overheat nukes steels really hard. psy/fairy/fire is also only resisted by psea/ff steels.

it's pretty straightforward to improof too, as you don't even need to spend a teamslot, just slap in shell armor on something that isn't overly reliant on its ability and you're done. alternatively you could use a psea/ff steel but that's not as funny.

 

[Tea Guzzler]

done with suspect laddering, first time i've played the tier, here's some things


Diancie-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Head Smash
- Light of Ruin
- Mind Blown / Precipice Blades / Moongeist Beam
- Strength Sap

absolute menace, there is nothing this can't realistically kill. blades is so psea steels don't hardwall you, needs either para support or hitting blades on switch (para support is necessary for steelceus/zacc which just lives and anchors). moongeist is if you really hate solgaleo.


Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- V-create
- Precipice Blades
- Synthesis
dshield is for bozos, download's flaws (can get useless sp.atk boost / can't emergency check as easy as dshield) are overshadowed by the fact that you can spam +1 blades instantly, 2hkos imp with blades, etc. late game sweep is real, partner with ashgren/dgz/anything to bust fc mons and you're basically gold.


Greninja-Ash (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Wicked Blow
- Leaf Storm / Grass Knot
- Strength Sap
grass knot owns the most common fc mons (water), leaf storm does the same but you damage imp for more even if you aren't killing it (ash-gren is light and only takes 78bp gknot). otherwise, rend/wicked are OHKO machines, you're annoyed by non-water fur coaters but moldy band can remedy this somewhat. look out for pixispeed, i mostly improofed via zyg-c.


Arceus-Fire @ Earth Plate
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Growth
- V-create
- Judgment
- Synthesis

do not use. gets 2hko'd by ash-gren's wicked blow (even without life orb, so you aren't improofing it), basically only good for baiting in pdon/mdiancie and destroying them with earth plate judge. imp matchup is less than desirable when +2 v-create does about 70 despite you having plate advantage.


Arceus-Ghost @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Judgment
- Secret Sword
- Strength Sap

auto-improofed wincon, don't bring out until late game. memed on by scales, yveltal and fat pranks (usually zygc), otherwise you can grab a tail glow on smth like a choice locked mmx and run away with the game. recommended to for use with mixed wallbreakers that can beat said scales walls, magic guard mdiancie is great for this.


Solgaleo @ Leftovers
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Anchor Shot
- Topsy-Turvy / Poison Fang
- U-turn
- Recover

i lament this mon's existence but it's an easy check to mdiancie, kyu-w and dgz. u-turn is so you aren't complete fodder for anything not weak to anchor, poison fang can punish fur coaters and pdon hard-switching in.


Darmanitan-Galar-Zen @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Glacial Lance
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Strength Sap

excels at breaking teams that rely on conventional physical walls like waterceus. combined threat of ash-gren / dgz excels at breaking past these and running rampant, dgz requires more prediction but cleans exposed teams a lot easier. hates rocks, probably pair with an -ate spinner to remedy this. recommend running something like poison fang pdon to help you out against non-fire fc arcs / other fatmons, stabs should carry you through basically everything else.

meta definitely feels more offensive than others and centralized around the breakers, arceus has great flexibility but normally finds itself in defensive slots on most teams i've seen in order to try and handle all the other menaces.

 

[dtc09]

Arceus @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Boomburst
- Moongeist Beam
- Nuzzle

fun set to use, get the prank user out of the game and gg. immunity to thief lets it set up multiple dances easily and pheal lets it annoy the imp with nuzzle while having longevity. it does take your arc spot though.



Mewtwo-Mega-X @ Life Orb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Photon Geyser
- Fishious Rend / Glacial Lance
- Strength Sap

this set is insane honestly, everything is hit absurdy hard and it gets longevity with sap, which also lets it beat non-pr zacian 1v1 easily.

252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Mewtwo-Mega-X Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Groudon-Primal: 250-294 (61.8 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Mewtwo-Mega-X Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Zygarde-Complete: 308-363 (48.4 - 57%) -- 89.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Mewtwo-Mega-X Photon Geyser vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Water: 181-214 (40.7 - 48.1%) -- 64.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock (not even fc arc is safe)

252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Mewtwo-Mega-X Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Solgaleo: 304-359 (63.5 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Mewtwo-Mega-X Glacial Lance vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Giratina: 312-369 (61.9 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

and so on. as for improofing, mega slowbro works wonders.

 

[Crowned Mlvluu]

Heracross-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leech Life
- Drain Punch
- Horn Leech
Massive Attack, ability that nullifies Speed concerns, STAB moves that take advantage of said ability and give automatic recovery. Weak to Imposter, though.

 

[PhillipJPie]

Been trying to learn this metagame, could I get some advice on my team?

https://pokepast.es/d784b1dbd8dcebc6

 

[anaconja]

DGZ has been banned. For those in the kickoff tour, this ban will take place after this round.

Also, welcome XxLazzerpenguinxX and TTTech to the council! We'll be developing resources more, including setting up a VR and possibly a setpedia.

 

[Tea Guzzler]

Been trying to learn this metagame, could I get some advice on my team?

https://pokepast.es/d784b1dbd8dcebc6

• eternatus doesn't need quick feet. the only relevant niches are outspeeding imposter, zacian, mewtwos and deoxys-a, and another ability can generally get you more mileage. other mons can handle these faster threats, if you still want to go fast then draco plate + judgment with speed boost can work. there's also spooky plate arceus-ghost, which does a similar thing but also perfectly imposter proofs itself.
• having some more anti-setup on the team outside of imposter might be useful. as is, the team is pretty weak to setup that can beat primsea zama-c, and chansey not being eviolite doesn't help in this department. a prankster user might be helpful.
• volt switch on pheal xerneas doesn't do a whole lot. part of it's niche is that you can spam QD and beat imposter, so swapping to this might be good. having QD also helps prevent ghost types from spinblocking you fairly comfortably.
• the imposter-proofing here is a bit risky. most notably on deo-a, where nothing can safely wall it (zamazenta risks crits and paralysis), similar thing going for eternatus and using chansey as an imposter proofer.
• there aren't many switchins to big offensive threats like ash greninja (these like grass coverage such as grass knot), mega diancie, mega gengar and setup / poison fang variants of primal groudon.

 

[Arkm]

why is bolt beak banned but fishious rend is not?

 

[Tea Guzzler]

why is bolt beak banned but fishious rend is not?

similar to gen 8, but bolt beak has a significantly stronger typing that hits more walls for super effective, whereas fishious rend is mostly used as STAB only. natdex's most splashable physical walls are water type, which means you've got a tossup between one that doesn't lose to bolt beakers and one that doesn't lose to basically everything else.

 

[anaconja]

after some deliberation here are the new Viability Rankings
S
Chansey (Imposter)
Gengar-Mega
Zacian-Crowned

A+

Arceus-Water
Blissey (Imposter)
Groudon-Primal

A

Arceus-Fairy
Diancie-Mega
Greninja-Ash
Mewtwo-Mega-X
Mewtwo-Mega-Y
Zygarde-Complete

A-

Arceus-Dark

Arceus-Ghost
Eternatus
Kyogre-Primal
Xerneas
Yveltal

B+
Giratina
Regigigas
Slaking
Swampert-Mega
Zamazenta-Crowned

B
Arceus

Arceus-Steel
Charizard-Mega-Y
Deoxys-Attack
Dialga
Garchomp-Mega
Gyarados-Mega
Ho-Oh
Slowbro-Mega

B-

Arceus-Fire

Arceus-Ground

Arceus-Poison
Beedrill-Mega
Kartana
Solgaleo
Tyranitar-Mega

C+
Audino-Mega
Blaziken-Mega
Celesteela
Metagross-Mega
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Palkia
Snorlax
Zacian

C
Giratina-Origin
Kyurem-Black
Lunala
Melmetal
Necrozma-Ultra
Rayquaza
Salamence-Mega
Scizor-Mega
Suicune
Venusaur-Mega
Zekrom

C-
Chansey
Darmanitan-Zen
Kangaskhan (-Mega)
Lugia
Magearna
Steelix-Mega
Tapu Fini

D
Aerodactyl-Mega

Arceus-Ice
Cresselia
Dragapult
Guzzlord
Kyurem-White
Latias-Mega
Registeel

currently we are working on the setpedia and will also be opening up for sample team submission soon.

 

[Chessking345]

Gonna make some noms:

Drops

S -> A+
While I agree that MGar has disgusting offensive potential combined with potentially trivial improofing as well as ways to bypass most of its checks, I cannot agree that MGar is S-tier worthy. MGar notably suffers from its awkward speed tier, where it is tied with MMX as the slowest common breaker in the meta. This causes it to be rked by practically everything faster than it, which limits it offensive sweeping capabilities. Furthermore, MGar's typical offensive sets do struggle with some popular metagame picks, with the setup variants struggling against bulky Pranksters such as Zyg-C while Specs struggling against Bulky Ice Scales (mainly Darkceus).
Personally I would not be against making a S- tier and sticking MGar and Zac-C in it, I don't really see any mon in the meta matching Imposter since Zac-C has its own issues.
A -> A-
Diancie is slow. You never outspeed positive natured Arceus formes, and you don't have the best bulk to take hits, which means despite the power and spammability of Specs Boomburst you don't actually have the capability to force switches compared to the other breakers since the only commonly used mon you force out is Zyg-C and Giratina (Ice Scales Darkceus lives a hit and can punish you before you move). Mixed Pixilate is decent as a priority user but then you lose the power of Specs and lack even more power (Specs can 2HKO any resist with less bulk than neutral Solgaleo).
A- -> B+
Yveltal has a crippling issue where its Flying-type is very useful in checking MGar, making it more reliable than Darkceus at doing that, but renders it completely useless against MMY due to the extremely high usage of Bolt Strike/Volt Tackle. Tail Glow sets can be decent but Zac-C exists.
B+ -> B
Slaking's worse SpD matters a lot more than Regigigas's worse Def. The notable difference in calcs are (accounting for 1 turn of PH recovery):
Slaking Def:
Never 2HKOed by Zac-C Sunsteel, unboosted Regigigas Facade, and MG MMY's Psystrike.
Regigigas SpD:
Always lives Specs Diancie Boomburst, +3 Primal Kyogre Scald, never 2HKOed by MG MMY Light of Ruin, +1 Xern/Fairyceus Moonblast, +1 Primal Kyogre Scald.
As one can tell, the calcs favouring Regigigas are a lot more relevant. Always living Specs Diancie Boomburst, MG MMY always running LoR whereas Psystrike is not mandatory, and notably soft checking both PH Fairy and PH POgre is significant. In addition Regigigas takes less damage from the stray Core Enforcer and Scalds etc, while physical moves like Knock Off, Thousand Waves, and U-turn generally deal less damage.
B+ -> B
This is more of an iffy nom. I find Zama-C to be awkward as a Steel that doesn't resist Fairy nor Psychic. While it can always switch into Diancie Boomburst at full health due to it outspeeding, it takes enormous damage on the switch. It also cannot switch into Specs MMY while taking good damage from SF and MG's Psychic STAB move. The fighting type defensively only is good for Dark-resistance, but offensive Darks is basically just Ash Gren and you die to Fishious anyways even with FC. Offensively I don't think this mon is B+ worthy, with notable competition from MMX and Zac-C.

No comment on Swampert, I've never used it. It doesn't like the occasional usage of Grass-moves on stuff like Ash Gren and Zac-C for Waterceus but the Electric immunity is still nice I guess.
B -> C- (or lower)
MegaChomp is nowhere near the immensely strong breaker it was in gen 7, it suffers greatly from being slower than the key 106 speed tier for potentially outspeeding Arceus formes, and it also suffers from the overall less common Steel-type usage. There just isn't really a consistent Chomp set for breaking. Additionally improofing Chomp is always a pain.

B- -> D
I cannot think of why someone would want to run this. It takes up the Arceus slot, its not a great setup sweeper, its not self-improof, it has little defensive utility (like what does this check again?).
B- -> C (or lower)
Mega Ttar has practically no purpose. It only can check Specs MGar without Sword and soft check Specs MMY, while losing very hard to every other breaker (literally all of them have a SE STAB or are SF MG MMY). Its only use is Pursuit trapping unboosted MGar and MMY provided its at full health. Offensively its terrible since its speed is so low it can't even be patched by gimmicks like Webs and stuff like Giratina have lower usage.
C+ -> C- (or lower)
Blaziken suffers from the same issues MegaChomp has. It never outspeeds Arceus and the stuff weak to its STABs are lower in usage.

I can see Kyurem-B dropping for the same reasons but will refrain from nomming because it at least has priority.
C- -> D (or lower)
Would like to see this thing breaking against any Arceus forme while providing no defensive utility outside of a Ghost move switch in

Steelix-Mega feels extremely awkward as a high def mon that loses to 3/4 physical attackers without an ability, while having the Electric immunity seems redundant when you take Bolt Strikes well and you have no SpD without Ice Scales to take on stuff like MMY. Not going to nom it to D or UR though

Aerodactyl-Mega could probably drop to UR. The mon is pretty one dimensional (Band TC Ascent V-create GLance filler) and it suffers from Flying not hitting any defensive mons super effectively and lacking in damage to OHKO neutral targets. Thus its only way of forcing switches is against the breakers it outspeeds, but this role seems completely outclassed by MG Deo-A who not only also OHKOs every slower breaker but isn't Choice locked.

I am not sure if Kyurem-W has a clear niche in the meta when its so slow and MDiancie exists.

Latias-Mega feels like a relic, not sure what it does when it needs +Def to live Band MMX's CC and the Dragon-typing making it unable to check MMY as a psychic-type. Feel like you should just use Cresselia or Darm-Z for a psychic-type.

Rises

A -> A+
I cannot agree with MMY being in the same tier as MMX and Ashninja. MMY is simply the most versatile breaker in the metagame with its wide variety of sets and coverage options. Its speed tier means its only outsped by Zac-C (needs V-create or something like Wicked Blow to OHKO), Deoxys-A (needs LO Wicked Blow or 50% with Knock), and then some very rare mons, while its mono-psychic typing makes it deceptively difficult to OHKO with typical coverage moves, meaning they have to run a more situational move. Compared to the other breakers MMY is the only one to be able to relatively easily bypass any check, with maybe the exception of Arceus-Psychic/Cresselia.
If there was a S- rank I would nom MMY to S- actually.

B -> B+
I think Steelceus is overall the most versatile Steel-type, other than taking up the Arceus slot. It possesses the best bulk among Steel-types (other than Zama-C but mono-Steel is a much superior typing) and isn't passive unlike say Registeel.
B -> B+
Ho-Oh is one of the few viable -ate spinners that isn't a Fairy and its also one of the better Bounce users. It has its issues defensively, such as against Ashgren and MMY Electric move.
B- -> B
Kartana benefits greatly from the overall high usage of Arceus-Water, as it has a speed tier that can outspeed neutral Arceus while comfortably 2HKOing Waterceus with Power Whip (Jolly Band doesn't need ability). Opportunities to switch-in are limited but at least you force out the Fairies. Overall a relatively anti-meta breaker, I've been running TC Sunsteel Whip BP CC.
C+ -> B-
I think Zacian is sometimes an option over Xern and Fairyceus despite having worse bulk and awful STABs. The physical bulk difference to Xern is actually irrelevant so its only the SpD difference that matters but whats notable is you aren't switching against any of them anyways (its Gar Diancie Ghostceus Fairyceus) and you outspeed all of them. Meanwhile the speed tier is very useful against AshGren, with notably Desoland seeing some usage as an AshGren check while having some offensive presence with V-create. I do think PH seems pretty awful as you have terrible STAB options.
C -> higher Edit: stay where it is
This could be completely wrong because I haven't tested the mon out yet but Ultra has a pretty good niche in having the strongest special move in the meta with DMaw DEnergy (other than Specs POgre but that set isn't good). This nuke combined with a speed tier that outspeeds Arceus means that the only switch-ins are Fairy-types, which aren't typically SpD roles and get blown away by Psychic STAB anyways (Ice Scales Darkceus gets cleanly 2HKOed if neutral, if +SpD its a 75% without leftovers). You also OHKO MMY with Draco Meteor so you don't get forced out by SF (MG OHKOs with LoR though).
Edit: So I forgot to run calcs for the maw set but DMaw isn't very good actually because your psychic STABs have 0 damage output so you get walled by Fairyceus and to a lesser extent Xern. Without DMaw you might as well run Etern or MScept.
C- -> higher
Darm-Z has a really nice typing that lets it kind of soft check Mewtwos and Fairies in one slot, while not being a Steel. You also have 0 attack to block Saps. The main problem is the low bulk that basically forces it into Prank (it gets 2HKOed by MMX CC and MMY EForce), you also get OHKOed by MGar Judg so you can't really Glare it and then switch out on 1 hpish unlike say Cresselia.
D -> higher
Absurdly passive mon thats just mildly better than FC Chansey, but unlike FC Chansey you can run Prank and you are also one of the only mons to kind of blanket check MMY (and MMX too) while just taking general hits too. Highly susceptible to chip damage and is still a momentum sink against MMY as you do take rather significant damage from stuff like SF Bolt Strike but overall a decent Prank blanket check.
D -> higher
Similar to Cresselia but you trade the overall mewtwo blanket check to having better matchups against things like Diancie and Zac-C depending on your ability. Everyone knows this is worst mon on team but its not thaaaaat bad.
UR -> C- (or higher)
Sceptile is one of the few offensive breaker candidates that is faster than Arceus, and with Dragon's Maw it actually has pretty good power. Its damage output is the same as Specs Etern's so it ties for the second strongest special move in the meta behind UNecro, which means it can actually OHKO MMY. Specs Seed Flare also does minimum 100 to Waterceus so it can also take advantage of it. Still, its extremely one-dimensional, cannot take chip damage (so you really don't actually want to switch into Waterceus despite 4x resisting Water), has very little defensive utility, and struggles a lot against Zacian-C (Specs Blue Flare is 1/16 to OHKO, you need to run Eruption or Blast Burn to OHKO) as well as other Fairies (only Steel types that dodge 2HKO always are +SpD Steelceus and Zama-C). Though compared to Maw UNecro Mega Scept at least does better against Fairyceus with Seed Flare having a chance to 2HKO through PH not even accounting for SpD drops.

UR -> D (New)
Arceus-Psychic is almost completely outclassed by Cresselia in both bulk, low speed, and opportunity cost. However, it has a distinctive niche in being far less passive, which while is mostly unexplored, I'm theory nomming it for its Future Sight capabilities, as Psychiceus's Future Sight is just strong enough to chip common Zac-C checks into range of 2HKO, including Waterceus and PDon. In addition due to Psychiceus's ability to live an unboosted Judgment from MGar it can threaten back with a potential OHKO from a STAB move.

UR -> D (New)
Arceus-Electric seems like an interesting niche pick for a Poison Heal mon. Thunder Cage chip is quite annoying to deal with and can help with switches. Its main issue I see is heavy 4MSS, being forced to run Earth Power for PDon and Ice Beam for Zyg-C, but then it also kind of need TG to have immediate power (still not that much) as well as some utility moves like Taunt, Sap/Shield, and Spikes.

(If you guys cant tell already in my opinion the offensive meta is completely revolved around sets for Pokemon that have at least 106 speed that can threaten Arceus, as well as the defensive offensive utility mons like PDon + PH stuff)

Feel free to criticize any of the noms, especially due to my lack of experience with some of them.
Edit: Made some edits that are labelled in noms.

 

[Riotgamer2502]

will we be getting samples anytime soon?

 

[anaconja]

With the tour ended I'd like to post the usage stats and a brief analysis:

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| -    | Arceus-*           |   81 |  81.00% |  49.38% |
| 1    | Groudon            |   41 |  41.00% |  51.22% |
| 2    | Mewtwo             |   30 |  30.00% |  43.33% |
| 3    | Zacian-Crowned     |   28 |  28.00% |  58.93% |
| 4    | Chansey            |   27 |  27.00% |  62.96% |
| 4    | Kyogre             |   27 |  27.00% |  55.56% |
| 6    | Arceus-Water       |   25 |  25.00% |  44.00% |
| 7    | Yveltal            |   22 |  22.00% |  47.73% |
| 8    | Gengar             |   20 |  20.00% |  60.00% |
| 8    | Xerneas-*          |   20 |  20.00% |  55.00% |
| 10   | Arceus-Fairy       |   19 |  19.00% |  57.89% |
| 10   | Zygarde-Complete   |   19 |  19.00% |  47.37% |
| 12   | Greninja-Ash       |   18 |  18.00% |  44.44% |
| 13   | Eternatus          |   17 |  17.00% |  47.06% |
| 13   | Diancie            |   17 |  17.00% |  29.41% |
| 15   | Swampert           |   15 |  15.00% |  46.67% |
| 16   | Darmanitan-Galar-Zen |   14 |  14.00% |  42.86% |
| 17   | Giratina           |   13 |  13.00% |  42.31% |
| 18   | Ho-Oh              |   12 |  12.00% |  33.33% |
| 19   | Zamazenta-Crowned  |   11 |  11.00% |  45.45% |
| 20   | Regigigas          |   10 |  10.00% |  60.00% |
| 21   | Dialga             |    8 |   8.00% |  43.75% |
| 22   | Arceus-Steel       |    7 |   7.00% |  57.14% |
| 22   | Charizard          |    7 |   7.00% |  57.14% |
| 22   | Necrozma-Dusk-Mane |    7 |   7.00% |  57.14% |
| 22   | Palkia             |    7 |   7.00% |  28.57% |
| 22   | Arceus-Dark        |    7 |   7.00% |  14.29% |
| 27   | Zekrom             |    6 |   6.00% |  66.67% |
| 27   | Slowbro            |    6 |   6.00% |  58.33% |
| 27   | Solgaleo           |    6 |   6.00% |  50.00% |
| 27   | Lunala             |    6 |   6.00% |  50.00% |
| 27   | Zacian-*           |    6 |   6.00% |  33.33% |
| 27   | Arceus-Fire        |    6 |   6.00% |  33.33% |
| 33   | Arceus-Ghost       |    5 |   5.00% |  60.00% |
| 33   | Gyarados           |    5 |   5.00% |  40.00% |
| 33   | Tyranitar          |    5 |   5.00% |  40.00% |
| 36   | Registeel          |    4 |   4.00% |  75.00% |
| 36   | Celesteela         |    4 |   4.00% |  75.00% |
| 36   | Guzzlord           |    4 |   4.00% |  75.00% |
| 36   | Steelix            |    4 |   4.00% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Meloetta           |    4 |   4.00% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Muk-Alola          |    4 |   4.00% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Arceus             |    4 |   4.00% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Tapu Fini          |    4 |   4.00% |  12.50% |
| 44   | Dragapult          |    3 |   3.00% | 100.00% |
| 44   | Magearna           |    3 |   3.00% | 100.00% |
| 44   | Manectric          |    3 |   3.00% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Arceus-Rock        |    3 |   3.00% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Rayquaza           |    3 |   3.00% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Deoxys-Attack      |    3 |   3.00% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Darmanitan-Zen     |    3 |   3.00% |  66.67% |
| 44   | Giratina-Origin    |    3 |   3.00% |  33.33% |
| 52   | Salazzle           |    2 |   2.00% | 100.00% |
| 52   | Blissey            |    2 |   2.00% |  75.00% |
| 52   | Ampharos           |    2 |   2.00% |  50.00% |
| 52   | Garchomp           |    2 |   2.00% |  50.00% |
| 52   | Spiritomb          |    2 |   2.00% |  50.00% |
| 52   | Sableye            |    2 |   2.00% |  25.00% |
| 52   | Calyrex-Ice        |    2 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 52   | Kartana            |    2 |   2.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Kangaskhan         |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Audino             |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Snorlax            |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Aegislash          |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Pikachu            |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Type: Null         |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Arceus-Electric    |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Pheromosa          |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Ditto              |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Banette            |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Reshiram           |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Arceus-Grass       |    1 |   1.00% | 100.00% |
| 60   | Aerodactyl         |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Regieleki          |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Hoopa-Unbound      |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Thundurus-Therian  |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Doublade           |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Metagross          |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Kyurem-Black       |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Victini            |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Zamazenta-*        |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Abomasnow          |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Toxapex            |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Spectrier          |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Marowak-Alola      |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Sceptile           |    1 |   1.00% |   0.00% |

notes:

• somehow, these stats are somewhat flawed. tapu fini has a 12.5% winrate with 4 uses and blissey has a 75% winrate with 2 uses. might be worth keeping in mind.
• somewhat unsurprisingly, pdon is most used with 41% for its ability to act as a midground for most physical attackers and fairy-types, as well as its nuclear v-creates easily forcing switches. this is followed by zacian-c (i'm not counting mewtwo because the replay stats are terrible and lump mmx and mmy together) which is also unsurprising considering its massive attack and speed as well as its decent defensive prowess.
• despite being banned midtour, dgz had a negative winrate, most likely because it was overprepared for given the suspect test.
• diancie-mega shockingly underperformed, having an abysmal winrate given its usage. this could be due to most sets being pixilate and facing many pdons in addition to its somewhat awkward speed tier forcing it to go timid/naive to outspeed neutral arceus, lowering its potential offensive presence.
• additionally, there were many other underperforming top-usage mons such as zygarde-c, yveltal, ashgren, giratina, and hooh. i'm hypothesizing that these are noobtraps so many players who used it in the first and second rounds were eliminated but not entirely sure.

additionally, to answer Riotgamer2502's question, sample team submissions are finally open. as is expected of most metas, aim to sub fairly easy-to-pilot teams and make sure to provide an in-depth explanation.

i'll sub a few teams myself:

mg mmy + zacian-c balance

description

This is a standard balance where you have as a physical wallbreaker with as a special/mixed wallbreaker that can break down walls for each other - seed flare does big damage to and ohkos while softens up mixed walls for :mewtwo-megay: to finish off. :mewtwo-megay: is improofed by , which is a pretty standard regenvest mon that checks , can spread paralysis, remove hazards, and steals boosts. is improofed by , which slow pivots and checks ph in a pinch. is a nice midground and switchin to passive mons to set spikes. checks ph fairies which would otherwise threaten the team significantly. this peaked ladder with a 37-1 record.

other options:
- find a different spinner than as it's pretty passive and easily walled by . perhaps could be changed to something like pixilate or could fit defog somewhere.
- change to or to handle ph better. this makes you weaker to however.

weaknesses:
- spike stack + fat ghost: as mentioned regigigas is a pretty bad spinner so if you face or youre not getting hazards off easily at all. its not as terrible as it could be since half the team is immune to hazards but it's definitely not ideal.
- poison heal: depending on the set you could have a very hard time. stuff like with coverage for is very bad. for example is more manageable though.
- triage: if gets weakened its kind of game over especially if can't ohko back. try to play aggressively with your offensive mons to prevent it from safely setting up.

human ramen revival 1.3 (tinted lens steelceus + specs gengar-mega balance)

description

is the main wallbreaker on the team, punching holes with every neutral hit. It has a lot of pretty good improofs in , , and . supports it by poisoning fat special walls and doing big damage with +3 tinted lens steel judgments. it is totally improofed by . is an effective offensive utility mon that removes hazards, spreads paralysis, removes items, and generally does big damage. it is self-improof but in a pinch traps imposter although it gets paralyzed. and complete the defensive core, providing blanket physical and special walling, respectively. imposter does what it does best, scouting sets and acting as a good midground. here makes it more effective against ph.

other options:
- can opt for a more defensive set to make it handle special attackers better, such as flash fire or ice scales.
- can swap entrainment with spectral thief to handle physical setup better at the cost of being less effective against ph mons like mmx and regigigas.
- can be swapped with to handle better, but the decreased physical bulk mandates some shuffling of the team a bit as can't stand on its own as a sole physical wall.
- can replace glare with encore or destiny bond to provide more insurance against setup sweepers.

weaknesses:
- special ghost-types with fighting coverage: tg and are very hard to handle because they can 2hko snorlax with secret sword when unboosted. you can glare them but if they're speed boost you have to rely on full paras to not lose instantly.
- triage: due to the lack of spectral thief triage can become a serious problem. if it proves too much to handle you can swap 's role to handle this, or give imposter .

toxic spikes + ghostceus balance

description

is the crux of the team, cleaning house when the walls are sufficiently weakened. It is supported by , who can set toxic spikes and then shuffle the team to poison many opponents. It is improofed by and , the former who walls its attacks and the latter who removes tspikes from your side. is the blanket physical check, threatening fairies when needed and crippling speed boosted ph mons. is a weird mon, but it checks fairy types, phazes ph mons, lures and burns it, and tricks its scarf to cripple walls and normalize ghosts. provides both hazard setting and control, checks ghosts, and is a decent midground against :mewtwo-megay:. imposter scouts and midgrounds :mewtwo-megay:, :mewtwo-megax:, and .

other options:
- can shuffle its moveslot to hit zacian-crowned, such as slotting scald somewhere. swapping volt switch with uturn or parting shot allows it to pivot against ground types at the cost of not chipping arceus-water with momentum.
- can be swapped with a different set or different ghost resist that removes hazards. you could use something weird like ph/scales yveltal with knock or revdance/anchor/spin/shore up to prevent imposter from taking advantage of tspikes. an alternative is regenvest gyarados-mega.

weaknesses:
- with a ground move: being the physical wall makes twaves/pblades problematic. although twaves doesn't actually 2hko and it can threaten back somewhat with core enforcer and poison with sludge bomb, setup pblades is a bad matchup. imposter can swap in once to force it out at least.
- offensive ghost-types: is not a solid ghost resist so naturally ghosts are problematic. scales yveltal remedies this, however.
- : basically psychics with dark and steel coverage are a bit hard to play against. celesteela can burn mmx and volt tackle/bolt strike mmy and imposter can swap in a few times to force it out.

 

[Chessking345]

I'll give my thoughts on the meta as well as submit some samples. Keep in mind though that these sample submissions could be very flawed because ladder testing is both not great and also just no activity.

First the flawed stats for mons like Tapu Fini is because there was a tie.
I also manually did Mewtwo stats, below are total wins losses, somehow I'm missing a win in total, this can either be me screwing up or total is not accurate (see Arceus stats).
30 = 13 + 17
13 = 5 + 8
16 = 7 + 9

• Surprisingly MMX has more usage. Both having negative winrates could be because MGar is stronger as a choice breaker, Zac-C boasting more defensive utility, and also both being soft checked by Zac-C somewhat.
• Chansey has the highest winrate out of all 7+ usage mons, and hopefully all of its usage is in Imposter. Not really surprising as we all know how good Imposter is. I will mention that I think Blissey is practically not worth using over Chansey at all in single imposter teams, Lucky Punch Chansey has been used a bit more and it is imo highly effective and unpredictable.
• Yveltal has extraordinarily high usage despite having poor matchups against most breakers other than MGar. Comparatively Darkceus has relatively low usage compared to its high viability. Think this could be because of high Waterceus usage for DGZ pre-ban? Also has abysmal winrate lol.
• Some mons that had 0 usage despite being on the VR: Slaking, Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Poison, Beedrill-Mega, Blaziken-Mega, Lunala, Melmetal, Necrozma-Ultra, Salamence-Mega, Scizor-Mega, Suicune, Venusaur-Mega, Kangaskhan-Mega, Lugia, Arceus-Ice, Cresselia, Kyurem-White, Latias-Mega.

Sample team submissions:
The Blade that Ruled over the Land and Sea (Zacian-C + Groudon-Primal Balance)

Description

This is NOT my team, submitting for someone else.
A simple bulky balance team with several wincons. This team relies on its 2 primary sweepers Kyogre and Arceus-Normal to pressure the opponent offensively, something that they excel at in tandem with each other. The rest of the team is placed in order to faciliate Kyogre. Lunala handles Zacian and other physical attackers like Mewtwo-Mega-X in tandem with Primal Groudon and Zygarde Complete. Zacian exerts a decent amount of pressure and cleans offensive teams up while resisting Triage Oblivion Wings from the likes of Yveltal and Mega Charizard Y and dispatching them and being a very strong midgame revenge killer. Kyogre is the teams primary sweeper and threatens most every mon in the game, and almost every team after a few boosts, and it almost perfect self imposter proofed, although in the event of a critical hit one can either haze the boosts away with Zygarde or opt to destiny bond in order to make Arceus Normal's job easier. Speaking of which, Arceus-Normal is the teams primary special wall and proves as a great sweeper, as well as being able to boost up alongside other sweepers like Tail Glow Arceus. Groudon Primal shores up the teams matchup versus physically offensive threats and poses an extremely dangerous threat to bulky teams because of its ability to scare out poison healers and spread poisons freely.

Dual Zacian-C Balance

Description

Balance team built around running two , which allow for a wide variance of coverage moves. They can break down each others checks as well as force the opponent to guess which set is in if they are both at full health. Glacial Lance and Play Rough break past bulky Dragons and are necessary. is the physical wall of choice while complement it against Sunsteel users. is crucial to the team by providing a Prankster, a pivot, and help support the to break past their counters. Notably, they can easily 2HKO after a Future Sight and the Bolt Strike one 2HKOs after a Future Sight. Psychium-Z is opted here as a immediate Psychic STAB to surprise threats like , while also providing a situationally strong Z-Teleport that full heals while not conceding momentum. acts as a status sponge, a status spreader, hazard removal, and check. Lastly provides a blanket check and patches up the glaring weakness to special PH. improofs the V-create and improofs the other , Anchor improofs , almost everything improofs but is best.

can opt for Jungle Healing over Strength Sap but the defensive utility loss is significant, notably against threats like MMX. can be used over for improved bulk and better matchup against , in return it is much more vulnerable to TG with Secret Sword. moveset is customizable, knock off is probably better but I wanted some more security against random Normalize users.

There are some checks to the that can still check after a Future Sight, notably FC , so chip damage and help from the special attackers would be needed. Choice Specs can be very scary since Yveltal doesn't have reliable recovery and will take chunks from Volt Switch and Sludge Bomb, though both Zacian-C can provide speed control. outspeeds the entire team and can threaten every team member with at least a 2HKO.

Specs MGar Balance

Description

Specs is the main wallbreaker. takes advantage of the Dark-types forces in and is the supporting offensive role, setting Spikes to chip down foes like . is the special pivot and is the physical wall, acts as a Fairy resist and Psychic resist for threats like , , and while being a Prankster. does Imposter things while helping against PH users. improofs , improofs .

I went with Sludge Wave instead of Sludge Bomb to prevent from being poisoned but Sludge Bomb poisons can help break past Darks. can run something like Poison Fang instead of Knock Off which can enable to run Venoshock as Poison STAB. can have a coverage move instead of Strength Sap, I just went with sap for easier time switching in to stuff.

is hard to get past with just alone so will require stuff like Volt Switch chip, Spikes chip, and potentially Glare paralysis to break through. Sheer Force can 2HKO the entire team if it has Ice Beam, but it only can really come in on . is not the best Defogger so hazards game can be difficult.

Mega Salamence Balance

Description

is the main breaker, using Toxic to cripple would-be checks like and . PH provides a bulky special support by setting hazards, spreading burns, acting as a late-game sweeper (Tail Glow Scald is not strong), and takes advantage of Steel-types. clears hazards, provides some priority in emergencies, can lure in by living V-create and OHKOing back with Boomburst, and can force in Steel-types for . acts as the special wall by checking and removing it with Pursuit, as well as a pivot with Teleport. checks , acts as a Prankster, and soft checks and . improofs , and improof , is somewhat self-improof but can be improofed by and .

Quiver Dance is an option over Tail Glow to improve the imposter matchup, however do note that has pathetic damage output. can be used on to avoid Stealth Rock damage, but provides key benchmarks such as OHKOing after a V-create drop. Running V-create over Sunsteel Strike on is an option to deal with non Fire-Immune Steel-types better.

Bulky Steel-types can be annoying for and to break past, and requires chip from repeated Boombursts, Spikes, and potentially Scald burns. PH with a Dark or Ghost coverage can be very difficult since no longer checks. Opposing with Bolt Strike requires playing around with Imposter to check.

Looking back at the VR noms:

Stuff

is still IMO in a tier of its own, scouting and soft checking so many threats. is also very effective at breaking past would-be improofs (especially ) and also dealing with PH mons like and without crippling itself with . The winrate with it in the tournament also reflects this. Thus I think it should be in its own tier at S.
and should then be in probably a new S- tier.
is the only top offensive mon that has a good matchup against Imposter and it also has very limited checks. forces very bulky resists like , , or Normal-types but all can take heavy damage from Poison-type moves (especially Venoshock if poisoned), while Tail Glow blows past all of those listed checks except Yveltal with +3 Secret Sword. Very restricting mon in the teambuilder, especially when many of its checks arent very good at checking other prevalent attackers.
is super splashable, it provides good offensive power, revenge killing ability, and has a great matchup against almost every other fast breaker. Its moveset is pretty customizable, and despite having some issues with hard checks like Fur Coat and (PBlades is not easy to improof) its still very very good just by virtue of its role compression.
changed my mind on this one, this mon is still very good at breaking by 2HKOing everything with coverage but it really hates living just about any one hit, Imposter being so good, and barely having enough power to deal with neutral Arceus-formes. A seems good.
is just not very inspiring. Close Combat is strong but resists are common and it doesn't break past stuff like Fur Coat while Photon lacks enough power and also has common resists. Other sets that are not Band need to run V-create to not get checked by Sap which cuts into the limited moveslots. also can midground any move reasonably well. A- at best.
has awful winrate, Boomburst is strong but is resisted by so much common threats, also gets hard walled by Fire-immune Steels because you need V-create for . A- at best.
Its a really solid check to but it really doesn't do much else and pretty much is bait to and . Unlike you take a lot from Volt Switch as well and get instantly forced out by above mons. A- might be fine but I think B+ better.
is very hard to justify, compared to 2x Ice weakness doesn't really matter as you still die to GLance or Sunsteel, you resist Water but lose to Wicked Blow for , you straight up die to instead of soft checking, and Dark-types are relatively common. The only thing going for this is checking better but you still take a lot from boosted Ice Beam. Low usage, not great winrate. B.
is the best Triage user, and has seen good use in the later rounds of the tournament. Triage is pretty busted apart from and this mon can at least threaten it with super-effective STAB. Improofing is the only issue but something generic like Fire-Immune Steelceus can do a reasonable job. B+.
had 0 usage, for probably good reason. Its only good at checking Fairy-types, something that does similarly but at least doesn't let every offensive mon in and doesn't take up the Arceus slot. Maybe D.
also had 0 usage but I already nommed it down.
is like the best non-Arceus Steel-type that also can live a MMX CC which is nice. Should mean something.
saw 0 usage, just use and actually outspeed , heck even use over this.
is pretty much outclassed by Eternatus offensively, who is weaker but has better secondary typing and has enough power to OHKO anyways, and saw 0 usage.
Other stuff I can't be bothered to make minor edits for or have unchanged thoughts.