Project Old Gen Hackmons Megathread

[Real PHeal Spheal]

I'd say there have been some Ho-Oh, Skarmory, Zapdos, and Rayquaza roaming around the metagame at least. I've built one of each of them too.

I haven't seen any, but now that you mention them, they do sound fairly good.

This STAB Band Rayquaza

I think you may have misspelled this

I'll argue that despite Sacred Fire being special, Slaking would still love to run it and/or Flamethrower. These are special coverage moves Slaking could use with its base 95 Special Attack (which is fine in Gen 3), to KO Scizor. Sacred Fire could also be great for high burn chances without having to use Will-O-Wisp as this metagame is dominated by Taunt.

These are perfectly fine points, I forgot how strong burns were pre-gen7.

Slaking @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Body Slam
- Sacred Fire
- Taunt
- Baton Pass

I love this set so much already, and didn't even use it yet

 

[Foxxeyy]

Hi I’ve been looking at Gen 5 as well recently, and I’ve uncovered some pretty decent sets while spamming Ransei for battles.

Weavile Nuke

Weavile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Close Combat
- Earthquake / Knock Off / Icicle Crash / Leaf Blade / Pursuit / Poison Jab
- Earthquake / Knock Off / Icicle Crash / Leaf Blade / Pursuit / Poison Jab

I originally used Weavile while I thought Ice was immune to Sheer Cold in Gen 5, so I could safely switch in on Deoxys-Speed and then kill it. Then I found out it doesn’t actually have the immunity, but hey it’s useful anyway! If you can slow U-Turn into it while the opponent sets up a Quiver Dance or Dragon Dance, you can shock them by killing them straight away. Here’s a replay to show it’s usefulness against one of Ransei’s teams, even though I lost:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5ubers-959656589
When Zapdos set up the first time, Ransei didn’t know I was scarf so prepared to kill the Weavile, but with my Scarf I was able to Icicle Crash down the Zapdos. The same thing happened with Dialga when I Close Combatted it.

Zekrom Sweep

Zekrom @ Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bolt Strike
- Shell Smash
- Filler
- Filler

Works pretty much exactly the same as Latios, except it’s physical and has a much cooler design. The only annoying thing is that Dragon’s are quite common and the Swampert is viable. Unfortunately I do not have any replays of this sweeping.

Muk-Alola

Drapion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Recover
- Pursuit
- Spikes

It’s just the Gen 5 Muk-Alola. I made it to trap Deoxys-Speed and remove it from the game. Just make sure you don’t switch in on its Sing otherwise it can put you to sleep.

Gen 5 is by far the most diverse gen to play in and I really enjoy it.

E: Gen 4 sets as well

Gyarados Sweeper set

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Sacred Fire
- Dragon Dance
- Brave Bird

This Gyarados set is actually incredibly strong. Get a DDance up and it's basically GG for the opponent, unless this happens. Brave Bird pretty much KOs any non-resisting opponent, which is why we have Sacred Fire for Scizors and that lot and Aqua Tail just for general coverage.
Replays: the same one as above:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-960200886
I know I didn't win, but bye-bye STAG Gengar. As Manu said himself there, Aqua Tail hit and I swept. Also since when was bad Dreams Infernape a viable set lol.

Better Suicune

Palkia @ Lum Berry
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Recover
- Taunt
- Surf

I've seen a few people use Suicune in Gen 4, but honestly this set is just better. Taunt is for random Spiritombs and Haze for... hazing. Recover for recovery, and honestly surf is just a filler because fire types like Ho-oh and infernape are on nearly every team. It could be swapped out for Rapid Spin, Stealth Rocks or Spikes if that's what you need on your team.

I'd also like to submit a team

Untitled 143

Scizor @ Lum Berry
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Megahorn
- Roost
- Taunt

Palkia @ Lum Berry
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Recover
- Taunt
- Rapid Spin

Regigigas @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Fire Fang
- Knock Off
- Close Combat

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Sacred Fire
- Dragon Dance
- Brave Bird

Lugia @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psycho Shift
- Roar
- Aeroblast
- Spikes

Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sheer Cold
- Sing
- Stealth Rock
- Gastro Acid

Yes I promise the Lugia does have niche for reliably Toxicing the opponent and tanking hits like Regigigas Extreme Speed. Gyarados is the foxu of the team, and being immune to a very common hazard, Spikes is very helpful. Scizor and Palkia team up to defeat Deoxys-Speed with Sheer Cold, while Regigigas revenge kills the rest of the meta Pokemon that aren't wonder guard, leaving Gyarados a clean sweep. The entirety of the opponent's team being Toxiced helps with but can get in the way of Deoxys-Speed. Basically the team is dedicated to taking down wonder guards except Deoxys-Speed and Gyarados who clean them up.

Replays: Slightly different team up there with me facing Manu 11 which I had a 90% chance of winning but I lost it. Still it proves what Gyarados is capable of.
Other replays: WIP

 

[Tmi489]

Hi I’ve been looking at Gen 5 as well recently, and I’ve uncovered some pretty decent sets while spamming Ransei for battles.

As a note for the entire post, Knock Off is still 20BP in Gen 5.

Weavile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Close Combat
- Earthquake / Knock Off / Icicle Crash / Leaf Blade / Pursuit / Poison Jab
- Earthquake / Knock Off / Icicle Crash / Leaf Blade / Pursuit / Poison Jab

where's ice shard / espeed lol, even if its scarf
idt poison jab really hits anything, and pursuit should be mandatory really

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Sacred Fire
- Dragon Dance
- Brave Bird
This Gyarados set is actually incredibly strong. Get a DDance up and it's basically GG for the opponent, unless this happens. Brave Bird pretty much KOs any non-resisting opponent, which is why we have Sacred Fire for Scizors and that lot and Aqua Tail just for general coverage.

Sacred Fire will barely hit anything, because most WG's are Water... and resist both Water and Fire. Scizor also is rarely seen at all. You already have 2 stabs, so either Dragon coverage (to hit Palkia harder) or Extreme Speed (cleans Deoxys, other priority users) is better overall. Even though Sacred Fire has that burn, more likely than not something's gonna use priority and then die. I'm a bit iffy on Brave Bird since it hits nothing SE and it gives recoil, but its the best STAB Gyara's got. Also Waterfall > Aqua Tail.

I've seen a few people use Suicune in Gen 4, but honestly this set is just
better. Taunt is for random Spiritombs and Haze for... hazing. Recover for recovery, and honestly surf is just a filler because fire types like Ho-oh and infernape are on nearly every team. It could be swapped out for Rapid Spin, Stealth Rocks or Spikes if that's what you need on your team.

Suicune is used so that you aren't weak to Dragon, and is the bulkiest nautral water type. Most Fire Fang sweepers carry Dragon Claw as they could feasibly break through 2* resists but not Palkia's 4* resist. This set doesn't have any anti-sleep (can be on another mon) so its harder to check things in general.

Lugia @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psycho Shift
- Roar
- Aeroblast
- Spikes

Aeroblast isn't a good move because its measly 8PP means that you are Taunt bait anyways. I'd put Air Slash over it imo

 

[Foxxeyy]

As a note for the entire post, Knock Off is still 20BP in Gen 5.

Yeah OK I will never get used to these mechanics.

where's ice shard / espeed lol, even if its scarf
idt poison jab really hits anything, and pursuit should be mandatory really

I pretty much just put in Poison Jab for the sake of having more options. I don't see why espeed is necessary on an immensely fast Pokemon already, they just waste moveslots. Sure, they help out with Regigigas and strong espeeds like that but just not as helpful as some other moves.

Sacred Fire will barely hit anything, because most WG's are Water... and resist both Water and Fire. Scizor also is rarely seen at all. You already have 2 stabs, so either Dragon coverage (to hit Palkia harder) or Extreme Speed (cleans Deoxys, other priority users) is better overall. Even though Sacred Fire has that burn, more likely than not something's gonna use priority and then die. I'm a bit iffy on Brave Bird since it hits nothing SE and it gives recoil, but its the best STAB Gyara's got. Also Waterfall > Aqua Tail.

IDK, seemed to mess up your team pretty well here:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-960571970
I take your point about Sacred Fire, and I replaced it with Extreme Speed as well as waterfall > aqua tail.

Aeroblast isn't a good move because its measly 8PP means that you are Taunt bait anyways. I'd put Air Slash over it imo

It has a cooler effect though and that's what matters ;)

 

[Ransei]

It's about time we look into the Generation six metagame with some depth so here's a quick walkthrough of threats and common items in the metagame with explanations of how they work.

Each threat will have a couple Pokemon put down for representation. Please be aware that many of these roles and archetypes are not exclusive to the Pokemon shown for them. Rather, these Pokemon have been recognized as some of the best examples.

Threatlist

Deoxys-Speed and Mega Lopunny

Deoxys-Speed
Like in some of the previous generations Deoxys-Speed finds itself being the most centralizing Pokemon in the ORAS metagame. Its best set often goes like this:
Sheer Cold: The main OHKO move. Works better than the rest because nothing is immune.
Sing/Grass Whistle: Sleep-inducing moves unique for going through Substitute. These sleep moves are often favored for this trait.
Gastro Acid/Entrainment: Moves designed to manipulate or nullify the opposing Pokémon's ability. Entrainment holds more Power Points and replaces the opposing Pokémon's ability with your ability. Gastro Acid removes the opposing Pokémon's ability and has the nullification transfer through Baton Pass. It's also safer against Wonder Guard Pokemon who carry OHKO moves. On No Guard Deoxys-Speed, these two moves outclass other Ability changing moves since you can't Skill Swap Wonder Guard or lure Pokemon to sleep with Worry Seed.
Filler: The fourth move for Deoxys-Speed is often a filler move like Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, Magic Coat, or Fissure.

The combination of No Guard + OHKO moves on the fastest Pokemon restricts much of the metagame to carry checks for it. Without a check it cleans through teams. The best method of preparing for this Pokemon is by the use of two Wonder Guards. Sturdy, Choice Scarf, and priority are often alternative but less effective methods to deal with Deoxys-Speed. The difference between Deoxys-Speed and nearly any other Pokemon with this strategy is that due to its speed, Deoxys-Speed is able to use it more freely. It doesn't have to restrict itself with a Choice Scarf most of the time.

Mega Lopunny
Works the same as Deoxys-Speed, just slower but resists all of its weaknesses and takes less damage from Stealth Rock. These along with its still incredibly high base Speed stat are what make this Pokemon viable.

Random No Guards

Random No Guards
This is one of the most imfamous archetypes in the metagame. All viable teams prepare themselves for the expected No Guard Deoxys-Speed and Mega Lopunny, but what happens when they stumble upon a random Pokemon with No Guard? These types of Pokemon often carry Choice Scarf to outspeed Mega Mewtwo X or are Pokemon like Mega Manectric, Mega Mewtwo Y, and Mega Aerodactyl bluffing abilities they're better with. The best countermeasure is simply to use your Wonder Guards or Sturdy to scout suspicious Pokemon. Really any Pokemon could be a part of this archetype.

Huge Power / Pure Power

Huge Power / Pure Power
With the introduction of Mega Evolution Pokemon managed to find themselves with amped up Attack, leading to these abilities being significantly better than in generations prior. The main role of a Huge Power / Pure Power Pokemon is to ensure even the bulkiest Wonder Guards of the metagame get OHKOed by super effective coverage moves. In generation six they really just carry a bunch of coverage moves for the most part. The biggest advice someone could give for using them is to make sure they don't carry moves weak to both of their own Wonder Guards. Otherwise Imposter can beat the entire team. The biggest weakness of Huge Power / Pure Power is 4-Moveslot Syndrome. Huge Power / Pure Power Pokemon are often taken care of by scouting with King's Shield and / or Imposter. By scouting, players will be able to see the Wonder Guards a Huge Power / Pure Power Pokemon aren't able to hit and will proceed the game switching into that Wonder Guard. Some other ways these can also be taken down are by the use of Fur Coat, by Prankster Destiny Bond, and by faster offensive threats such as No Guard Deoxys-Speed and Mega Aerodactyl, who could also run Huge Power / Pure Power but along with several other abilities.

Fur Coat

Fur Coat
The objective of Fur Coat Pokemon is to be able to wall Huge Power Pokemon. They do this with the combination of double defense and King's Shield to lower their attack down even further. They all carry moves that fit into a defensive archetype, such as recovery, protection, passive damage, or pivot moves. If your goal is to deal with these types of Pokemon, run Mold Breaker, its variants, or possibly even special attacking moves.

Shadow Tag

Shadow Tag
On paper, Shadow Tag may seem like the most broken aspect of the metagame, but with the value of most items decreasing, Ghost-types being able to escape, and pivoting being popular, Shadow Tag is less wild than it seems. The main role of a Shadow Tag Pokemon is of course to trap and KO opposing Pokemon. Under most circumstances the target would be a Wonder Guard without Shed Shell. Perish Song Shadow Tag users often love Encore to make an attempt of preventing Wonder Guards from pivoting after they've used a different move. Perish Song then is used, along with Recovery and / or a filler, likely protect move in order to make sure the process goes by well. Outside of Perish Song, Shadow Tag users often also handpick individual Pokemon to target. For example, an offensive Shadow Tag Mega Aerodactyl is likely to target Mega Mewtwo X as if it traps this Pokemon, it can OHKO with Dragon Ascent. Primal Groudon favors this type of strategy the most as it's very much used to target Bug/Steel-types and can KO Wonder Guard Air Balloon Electric-type Pokemon and Wonder Guard Air Balloon Drapion with ease. When building, always have Shadow Tag in mind. It's best to pack in at least a Shed Shell, Ghost-type, or some pivoting moves to keep yourself safe.

Magic Bounce / Prankster Giratina

Giratina
Giratina simply gets its own spot because it is the best defensive Pokemon in the metagame. What makes Giratina so great is the combination of its 150/120/120 bulk and its Ghost-typing, allowing it to use the infamous Curse move against anything. In Generation 6 Curse is perhaps its signature move, which it uses to successfully stall against opposing Pokemon. Giratina likes running either Magic Bounce, which bounces back hazards and status, or Prankster, which helps to eliminate stat boosts, Taunt the opponent beforehand, and serve as a great sacrifice with Destiny Bond. Giratina even has its own Griseous Orb item that can't be tricked or knocked off. If you want to deal with Giratina, it's best you run Imposter, really hard hitters such as Huge Power Play Rough Mega Mewtwo X, Magic Guard, or Pokemon able to Taunt this beast.

Other Defensive Pranksters

Other Defensive Pranksters
Giratina isn't the only defensive Prankster out there. Just the best. Other defensive Prankster Pokemon often take part to cover for the weaknesses of Pokemon like Giratina, are used as surprising figures, or a part of a group of Pokemon setting up, likely showing in Baton Pass teams. If you want these Pokemon out of your way easier, the best options may be to utilize priority moves or remove / change their ability with Gastro Acid or Entrainment. These Pokemon also hate passive damage particularly more than others due to some of their reliance on Destiny Bond.

Other Magic Bouncers

Other Magic Bouncers
Other Magic Bouncers are around for reasons similar to Prankster users but instead of the priority from Prankster, they may rather prefer bouncing back status and hazards. Pokemon like these could often run as clerics, set up supporters, or just general defoggers. Magic Bounce users are often crippled by Mold Breaker, its variants, and any hard hitter.

Offensive Pranksters

Offensive Pranksters
Offensive Pranksters serve an odd role in the metagame. Like Deoxys-Speed they also thrive on the disappearance of Wonder Guards. Although seemingly rare, these Pokemon can catch players off guard by nowhere by running a priority sleep-inducing move, setting up, and then going for an attempt to sweep. Copycat is often used especially if they don't set up and are still able to clean the opposing team. It helps them repeat the same move they used after inducing sleep without the unwanted risk of losing a speed tie or being outsped. These are best taken down by the use of scouting, then depending on what Pokemon it is, running priority, switching into the right Wonder Guards and/or using Knock Off.

Gale Wings

Gale Wings
Gale Wings is a unique treat given to Generation six and it works because of the introduction of great Flying-type STABs and better Flying-type Pokemon. They are most often used to KO or scare away opposing Wonder Guards and other defensive threats with Forest Curse and a potential Dragon Ascent. Alternatively they could make use of faster recovery using Roost sometimes Oblivion Wing. Despite having better Flying-type STABs than the previous generations, the greatest offense moves for Gale Wings each reflect their greatest downside.
- Dragon Ascent has 8 PP and lowers defenses upon hitting. Users with it would have to be far more careful in the game. Otherwise opponents could easily stall players out with Wonder Guard or revengekill.
- Brave Bird has 33% recoil, forcing Gale Wing users to Recover at some point if they want to proceed. This could give opposing Pokemon a chance to take advantage of them
- Oblivion Wing is a special attack and only has 80 BP.

Regardless of these weaknesses Gale Wings should never be taken for granted as they are able to threaten an extensive portion of the offensive metagame.

Wonder Guards

General: Wonder Guard has been one of the most prominent threats in Hackmons since its introduction in Generation 3, but with the addition of Mega Evolution, a Fairy-typing, and better coverage moves, these types of Pokemon have became a lot more diverse and are given an additional unique purpose in the metagame. Here, Wonder Guards serve two key purposes in the metagame which often require an additional Wonder Guard or a backup check (Sturdy, priority, Choice Scarf) to fulfill. Their first key purpose is to serve as a wall for No Guard Pokemon carrying OHKO moves. No Guards can only hit Wonder Guards if they can nullify their ability or if a Wonder Guard is weak to an OHKO move. If they hit and KO a Wonder Guard, they are able to take down the rest of the team much easier since most Pokemon in a good team will not be able to take OHKO moves. Their other key purpose is to block Huge Power / Pure Power Pokemon. This involves some scouting but the reason why Wonder Guards are incredibly diverse in this generation is for teams to be able to stop Huge Power / Pure Power easier. As said, the biggest weakness of a Huge Power / Pure Power Pokemon is 4-Moveslot Syndrome. They don't have the moves to take care of all Wonder Guards. Here are some tips on how Wonder Guards should be used:

- Players should make sure their Wonder Guards have entirely separate weaknesses to make sure they're able to wall as effectively as they can.
- Wonder Guards should never be Pokemon weak to Ice. Since one of their key roles is making sure the team doesn't get run over by OHKO moves, being weak to the best one would make them mostly useless. An exception could be made if you're using two other Wonder Guards on your team, but ones who aren't weak to Ice.
- It's best having no less than two Wonder Guards in a team. Any less than decreases the likelihood of properly checking Deoxys-Speed as part of its main strategy is to nullify a Wonder Guard's ability before using an OHKO move. A second Wonder Guard exists to ensure No Guard Deoxys-Speed has a switchin whenever the other Wonder Guard has its ability nullified.
- It's also best having no more than two Wonder Guards in a team. Unless it's a stall team or some unusually weak balance team having more than two Wonder Guards on a team can actually limit the team's offensive and defensive capability. Most Wonder Guards aren't very good offensively with the ones who are good either having to rely on changing their ability through Mega Evolution or imposterproofing themselves with a range of coverage moves and Judgment. The latter is often a weaker variant of the Huge Power / Pure Power strategy and is often more difficult to pull off than Huge Power / Pure Power. Wonder Guards are incredible under defensive roles. Anything involving setting up hazards, clearing hazards, acting as a cleric, stat boosting + baton passing, or even just being a general walling Pursuit trap for specific Pokemon would serve Wonder Guards greatly. Regardless of their high defensive capabilities teams would also like to have the more beneficial Magic Bounce, Prankster, and Imposter abilities to give opposing players a harder time winning than any Wonder Guard could.

While there are plenty of suggestions to use Wonder Guard successfully, it is also important to remember that Wonder Guards are not in any way invincible or even hard to defeat. There are plenty of ways to take them down:

The best way to take care of Wonder Guards in Generation 6 is by the use of random moves on offensive Pokemon. Huge Power / Pure Power Pokemon master this capability. This method however requires the player to have knowledge about the Wonder Guards who are prevalent in the metagame. Outside of random coverage, Mold Breaker/Teravolt/Turboblaze can also work well to take down Wonder Guards. Most of the time they're used by sweepers to make sure they can make a clean sweep. There are a couple occasional wallbreakers however who run choice to do significant amounts of damage to these types of Pokemon. Last but not least each team has the capability of running loads of lethal passive moves. Hazards, status, Curse, Leech Seed, Trick, Shadow Tag, etc. All of these are small examples of what could tear Wonder Guards down. Anyone would be surprised.

Mega Evolution's Impact on Wonder Guards
These are some of the typical Wonder Guards players would use. Mega Evolution has made some of the best Wonder Guard users into overall bulky machines able to balance out the offensive boosts other Mega Evolved Pokemon were given. While they still get OHKOed by most Super Effective Huge Power / Pure Power coverage moves, they are able to take more hits from offensive Pokemon that aren't Huge Power / Pure Power.

Wonder Guards Outside Mega Evolution
Not all great Wonder Guards are Mega Evolved of course. Many other standard Pokemon with unique sets of few weaknesses and/or high defense stats often work. Expect well-known Pokemon with very small amounts of weaknesses to be usable Wonder Guards unless they're weak to Ice.

Random Wonder Guards
Once players become more experienced in the metagame they'll start to recognize all of the great Wonder Guards who are common and expected. Don't let this fool you as there are sometimes Wonder Guards you never see coming. These are mostly dangerous because they are often not used but yet have a rare set of weaknesses they don't really share with the common Wonder Guards of the metagame. A lot of these Pokemon do usually have some sort of disadvantage from the common Wonder Guards however whether it's just them being more frail or them being extra weak to hazards.

Mega-Evolving Wonder Guards
Perhaps the most unusual type of Wonder Guard in the metagame. These Wonder Guards are uniquely known to be the true offensive Wonder Guards of the metagame. Their plan so to utilize moves to help them prepare for set up, set up, Mega Evolve, then sweep. Only Gyarados and Ampharos are capable of successfully pulling this off since their Mega Evolution grants them the Mold Breaker ability, allowing them to break even opposing Wonder Guard with ease. The only large disadvantage they have of being used is just being able to have their own ability removed for Mold Breaker, which if not careful could allow No Guard to swoop back in and sweep even after setting up.

-ates

-ates
-ates are partially what defined Generation Six. They are threats to most other offensive Pokemon in the metagame simply due to their good -ate typing and priority. Fairy weakness isn't uncommon and outside Wonder Guard, Ice isn't uncommon either and Mega Rayquaza is more so able to take down some of the best Pokemon in the metagame and have a better chance of taking down uncommon Wonder Guards. All of the best -ates normally have stats to suit both offensive stats and the capability of running coverage moves against those who resist. The best ways to beat these Pokemon are often by the use of Wonder Guard, Pokemon who are defensive enough to take an Extreme Speed, or Pokemon who resist their -ate STAB in general anyway. Like Huge Power / Pure Power, -ates also have 4-Moveslot Syndrome and would do anything to provide more coverage.

Hard Hitting Mold Breakers

Hard Hitting Mold Breakers
These are the first of few types of Mold Breakers most players will encounter in the metagame. Their aim is just to break defensive walls or offensive threats and switch out. They are often at least relatively fast and are incredibly powerful whether it'd be through raw stats or choice items. The best ways to stop them is by providing hardwalls outside Wonder Guard. For example, neither Mega Aerodactyl or physical Mold Breaker Rayquaza do very well against Prankster Mega Slowbro. Physical Mold Breaker variants are often weak to King's Shield and special Mold Breaker variants can mostly be walled by specific Pokemon with high Special Defense. Otherwise running offensive or TrickChoice options may help as while these Pokemon do hit hard, they aren't the hardest hitting. More Pokemon are often able to survive these than they are against Huge Power / Pure Power and Mold Breakers that sweep.

Sweeping Mold Breakers

Sweeping Mold Breakers
Sweeping Mold Breakers make sure they have the opportunity to set up before they try sweeping. Most of them would carry a sleep-inducing move to give themselves that opportunity. When going against these make sure you carry Prankster Haze or some sort of phazing move like Whirlwind or Roar. These types of Pokemon will not hesitate to click set up moves whenever there's even the slightest opportunity. Mold Breakers are known to be the best types of sweepers in the entire metagame, but that's because they can ensure a Wonder Guard wouldn't block them.

Imposter

Imposter
These types of Pokemon are made to transform into your own Pokemon and scout your team. In most cases your Wonder Guards are likely able to imposterproof these folks, but they still have the potential to win games by themselves if they transform into a sweeper or a Pokemon that would break your team because a specific teammate fainted. Be really careful when using offense Pokemon against teams with Imposter.

Sturdinja

Sturdinja
Sturdinja can take any OHKO move and any hit that doesn't come from a Mold Breaker/Teravolt/Turboblaze Pokemon. On paper it seems difficult to stop but any passive damage takes it down. Shedinja still has a total of 1 HP and due to the prevalence of Giratina in addition to Wonder Guard, it's harder to pull off using successfully than it would be in Gen 6 Balanced Hackmons.

TrickScarf

TrickChoice
These types of monsters could be a major burden to any team, especially to defensive Wonder Guards. They come unexpected with a Choice Scarf, Choice Band, or Choice Specs and use Trick to give it to the opposing Pokemon. Oftentimes they can make use of the choice item but make sure the Pokemon it's tricking the item into can't. It's heavily advised that you're careful around any Pokemon you suspect to be carrying a choice item. The move Knock Off and the item Mail are the best ways to take care of this threat, but respective Mega Stones and Griseous Orb can also do the trick.

Baton Pass

Baton Pass
With the amount of utility Gen 6 Hackmons supports it comes with no surprise that Baton Pass is relevant here. These types of Pokemon are in teams that often carry a combination of many elements in the metagame. These are particularly but not exclusive to Magic Bounce, Prankster, Wonder Guard, and Mold Breaker. If not prepared for, these types of teams could bring yours to an end. The best ways to handle them are by running Prankster Haze, Gastro Acid, or phazing moves such as Whirlwind or Roar. Running certain items such as Safety Goggles and even Shed Shell could help at times as some Baton Pass teams may have a Shadow Tag for setting up.

Common Items

Common Items
Believe it or not the value of most items is often minimized in Hackmons. Their ability already does them beyond wonders and without any drawbacks like many of items would give them otherwise. Because of this items do not matter as much but very specific items are still given to maximize a Pokemon's utility or capability.
Focus Sash - Stops the Pokemon from being OHKOed if they have full HP. This just helps them setup or KO.
Shed Shell - Helps the Pokemon escape Shadow Tag.
Safety Goggles - Blocks the usage of Spore and Powder. Also prevents the Pokemon from being pelted by Sandstorm or Hail.
Lum Berry - Helps the Pokemon recover from status. Particularly helps for burns and sleep.
Mail - Sometimes all a Pokemon needs in its item slot is to not be given a bad item. Mail is unable to be tricked so it won't get locked by random choice items or statused by Flame/Toxic Orb.
Griseous Orb - Exclusive for Giratina, it's like Mail except it cannot be Knocked Off as well. Giratina shouldn't receive extra Knock Off damage unless it's carrying Metal Burst. If so, it can be given Mail.
/ Respective Mega Stones - These are exclusive to Pokemon that have a Mega Evolution. If they are given their own Mega Stone, their item also cannot be knocked off or tricked into. What's more is that they can also Mega Evolve and change their ability.
Choice Scarf - Helps to outspeed top speed threats in the metagame like Deoxys-Speed and Mega Mewtwo X. Can also help hinder defensive Pokemon and to an extent, certain offense Pokemon by being tricked into their item slot and locking one of their moves.
/ Choice Band / Choice Specs - Like Choice Scarf above except it boosts either Attack or Special Attack respectively. It can still hinder Pokemon by being tricked into their item slot and locking them into a move.

That's all for now. hopefully in the long run while the metagame slowly develops I could expand, revise, and make this post a more valuable resource for ORAS Hackmons.

On the side note, there is a special announcement to come with this post.

Old Gen Hackmons formats now have their own hidden subroom! Come check us out at Old Shark!

 

[Foxxeyy]

Thank you very much Ransei for posting so that I don't double post. In this post I will be going over some of the strongest Pokemon in the gen 4 metagame, as it's the only one I can play.

Ho-oh

Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fire Fang
- Dragon Claw
- Volt Tackle
- Dragon Dance

This Ho-oh set is very very strong. Firstly, here's some food for thought
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Ho-Oh Fire Fang vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dialga: 289-341 (71.5 - 84.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Get a single Dragon Dance up and you immediately KO some of the bulkier Pokemon of the metagame after a Spikes or 2. If you play under sun, which pairs extremely well with this Pokemon, you immediately gain a KO vs Arceus, Dialga and even Gyarados. Dragon Claw finishes up the likes of Palkia, Giratina, and Pokemon that don't get KOd by Fire Fang. Volt Tackle kills Gyara without needing sun or a boost as well as other Pokemon like opposing Ho-oh and Skarmory.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973699354 Kills Suicune and Cloyster and Tmi forfeited because I assume he knew I'd either sweep from there or just sweep with another mon, Giratina.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973697607 Just using this one because it shows Ho-oh OHKOing Arceus with Fire Fang
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973690128 I love Ho-oh. I also love Magic Coat
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973689320 I love beating my bro Ransei

Giratina

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat / Dragon Dance / Filler
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang

I. Love. Giratina. For those of you who have not seen me in the Old Shark room, I never stop going on about it, and rightly so. I think I'll let the replays do the talking
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973694936 He just died because he didn't have a defensive check. And Giratina ploughed through the team
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973692839 If Deo-A wasn't sash Giratina could have taken all the credit
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-973691256 I'm sorry tmi you shoulda had a chance. Next time run Ice Punch
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-966132403 IT'S STILL GOOD OK? Just because sneak didn't get the kill on latios doesn't mean it's bad. And it still did well there. I'm proud of you Giratina
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-960582585 Ban Baton Pass
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4customgame-960578833 This was the replay where I probably decided to use Giratina on every team.

Ok I'm done, may edit in some more stuff.

Ha Ha, not really. I'm here to submit a much better team than last time and you can see it's replays above. I believe it current has a 5-1 record vs tmi and 3-0 record vs Ransei (yeah that doesnt mean much but still. They're the gen 4 council).

Team

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Fang
- Close Combat
- Magic Coat
- U-turn

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang

Slaking @ Lum Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Extreme Speed
- Volt Tackle
- Fire Fang

Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fire Fang
- Dragon Claw
- Volt Tackle
- Dragon Dance

Gyarados @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Taunt
- Recover
- Fire Fang

Arceus @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Fang
- Extreme Speed
- Taunt

Infernape is a great Drought setter, and if there's another weather lead at the start, Infernape U-Turns out and lets the rest of the rediculously physically offensive team sort it out. The main Wonder Guard check is Fire Fang literally on every single Pokemon there, and Volt Tackle/Close Combat/Dragon Claw deals with the rest suprisingly well. Arceus was only added recently because the team needed a fast Taunter (Your leech seed giratina sucks tmi), and of course who doesn't love another sweeper! Baton Pass is also an option somewhere on Arceus because Gira may want set up if it's not running DDance. Rapid Spinner is Gyarados, but turn Arceus into another defensive WG if you feel it isn't reliable enough.


OK I'm done now

 

[Tmi489]

This Ho-oh set is very very strong. Firstly, here's some food for thought
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Ho-Oh Fire Fang vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dialga: 289-341 (71.5 - 84.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 pure power hooh i think actually ohkos tomb in sun and 2kos even swampert
i've used pure power band hooh and it works quite well, but needs real god support

5-1 record vs tmi

pff its me trying gimmicks on you

IT'S STILL GOOD OK? Just because sneak didn't get the kill on latios doesn't mean it's bad. And it still did well there. I'm proud of you Giratina

this is why i started using latias more

Arceus @ Shed Shell
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Fang
- Extreme Speed
- Taunt

arc is a weird DDancer and you maybe should use slaking, idk anything vulnerable to taunt thats faster than regi (and slower than arc)

 

[Enigami]

The "metas" for Generation 1 and 2 are not valid, because you can enter battle with any status and less than full HP/PP. This means Pokemon in Gen 1 and 2 should all be able to start with Poisoned status, which prevents Spore from working and thus Spore Electrode would not be nearly as dominating. In Gen 2, they could alternatively have each Pokemon asleep and just about to wake up, offering a shield against status until they move.

Edit: Alternatively, in Gen 1, they can be paralyzed instead to prevent Wrap from using Poison damage to kill things faster.

 

[Ransei]

The "metas" for Generation 1 and 2 are not valid, because you can enter battle with any status and less than full HP/PP. This means Pokemon in Gen 1 and 2 should all be able to start with Poisoned status, which prevents Spore from working and thus Spore Electrode would not be nearly as dominating. In Gen 2, they could alternatively have each Pokemon asleep and just about to wake up, offering a shield against status until they move.

Edit: Alternatively, in Gen 1, they can be paralyzed instead to prevent Wrap from using Poison damage to kill things faster.

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...t-at-max-hp-pp-etc-in-custom-battles.3653129/

This is still being worked on.

 

[berry]

I've been adding a bunch of FAQs to oldshark recently, so this post will serve as a library of these FAQs. These are used to easily inform new players of common terms or concepts that are frequently referenced in the room. If you have any issues, or have ideas for new suggestions, feel free to contact me on Pokemon Showdown! If you are staff in the oldshark room and you add / edit an rfaq, let me know and I will update this post ASAP!
note: this post will not include the "samples" or "rulesets" rfaq.

Oldshark Encyclopedia
​

whatis

Oldshark is an Other Metagames subroom that is used to host old generation Pure Hackmons tournaments. Pure Hackmons is a sandbox tier where there are no bans and anything that is possible on the cartriges, even with hacking, is allowed. This ranges from putting Spore on electrode in Gen 1 to putting Wonder Guard on pokemon with no weaknesses in Gen 5.

rfaq

arceus

Arceus without a plate is a Normal type, no matter what your screen says. The only time Arceus is non-normal type is when it has the ability Multitype and it is holding a plate.

bounce

Magic Bounce (commonly referred to as Bounce) is an ability in Generation 5 and onward that reflects status moves like Toxic or Stealth Rock to the opponent's side. These moves can only bounce once, so they will activate on your side even if your active pokemon has Magic Bounce. This is the same effect as Magic Coat.

classichackmons

Classic Hackmons was a variation of Pure Hackmons created in Generation 5 without the use of team preview. In Generation 6, it was played without an EV limit (with team preview). In Generation 3, it allowed use of illegal abilities. It was a variation created to drift away from the usual in-game mechanics, making itself lean more towards a Custom Game meta. As a result, it will not be supported.

defog

In Generations 4 and 5 defog only clears hazards (and screens, etc.) from your opponent's side of the field. In Generation 6, it clears all hazards from both sides of the field.

doomdesire

Doom Desire (and Future Sight) are typeless attacks which bypass Wonder Guard in Generations 3-4. Their damage is calculated using the Spa/SpD (Atk/Def) of Pokemon on the field on time of use, so initally using Doom Desire on a Deoxys-Attack will deal large damage no matter what is in two turns later. Of note, in Generation 3, Doom Desire is a physical move and is boosted by Pure Power.

encyclopedia

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/old-gen-hackmons-megathread.3649618/post-8241711

fakespeed

FakeSpeed is the combination of Fake Out and ExtremeSpeed on a pokemon. This move combo is usually paired with pokemon that use -ate abilities like Pixilate or Refrigerate (commonly called -atespeed attackers).

firefang

In DPP Pure Hackmons, the move Fire Fang goes through Wonder Guard. This is a mechanic that is present on cartridge.

formes

Pokemon can be sent out using unconventional formes in Pure Hackmons. For example, you can send a Meloetta out with its Pirouette form. The most common example of this is using the Mega forms without making them hold their stone. Another frequently used strategy is using alternate Arceus formes, however these forms are all Normal unless they are holding their respective plate and have the ability Multitype.

gen3

In Generation 3 Pure Hackmons, pokemon are not allowed to use non-native abilities (e.g. Sableye can not use Wonder Guard). This is because abilities were hard coded to the Pokemon that got them. Another restriction placed on Generation 3 Pure Hackmons is not being able to use two different Deoxys formes on the same team. This is because the only way to change Deoxys' forme is by trading it between games.

imposter

Imposter is an ability present in Gen 5 onwards. A pokemon with Imposter copies into the opposing pokemon, mirroring its stats, moves, and typing: however, the Impostor keeps its own HP (Chansey will have Chansey HP, not the HP of the pokemon it transforms into). Species exclusive items, like Eviolite and Light Ball, can be used even when transformed (with the exception of Ditto items).

noguardohko

No Guard + One Hit KO moves is a combo that is common Generation 4 onward. This combination allows a fast pokemon like Deoxys-Speed to always hit low-accuracy OHKO moves like Sheer Cold. This combo is usually paired with moves like Substitute, Gastro acid / Entrainment, Sing / Hypnosis, or priority attacks. It can rack up sleep and hazard damage even if it doesn't KO. This combo is powerful, but it can be countered by Wonder Guard Pokemon (with anti-sleep), Magc Bounce, or priority.

pokestar

Pokestar Studio Pokemon (like Pokestar Spirit) are usable in Generation 5 Pure Hackmons. They can be hacked into battles and are usable only in Gen 5.

pphp

Pure Power / Huge Power are two abilities that double the physical attack stat of a pokemon. Foul Play is boosted by the attacker's ability, not the defenders.

souldew

In Generation 6, Soul Dew can be used with Mega Latios and Mega Latias, multiplying their SpA and SpD by 1.5x.

struggle

Struggle is a viable move in Generation 3 because it both bypasses Wonder Guard and only does 1/8th damage dealt as recoil. However, it requires a large amount of boosts in order to be useful. If a Pokemon has a Choice Band, or 2 moveslots dedicated to Struggle, it can use the move without running out of instant Struggles. After Gen 3, Struggle deals 1/4th of the user's maximum HP, and Mold Breaker is a better option in taking out Wonder Guarders.

wonderguard

Wonder Guard (commonly shortened to WG) is an ability that makes your Pokemon immune to attacks that are not super effective against them. It is a staple ability in Generations 3 onward, and there is almost always a handful of Wonder Guard users on a team. There are many ways to bypass this damage invulnerability: Mold Breaker / Turboblaze / Teravolt pokemon's attacks ignore abilities, using status moves like Toxic, Curse, or Hazards, or using trapping abilities like Shadow Tag with Perish Song.

wonderloon

Wonderloon refers to any pokemon that is only weak to ground type moves, is holding an air balloon, and has the ability Wonder Guard in generations 5 and 6. These pokemon had no weakness in generation 5 (until the air balloon was popped), but can be hit by the move Thousand Arrows in generation 6. Electrode, Manectric-Mega, and Drapion are all pokemon who can use the Wonderloon strategy.

wondertomb

Wondertomb/Wondereye refers to the titular Dark/Ghost Pokemon with the ability Wonder Guard. In Generations 3-5, these pokemon had no weakness, so they could not be hit by any attacks unless they negated the ability (Mold Breaker, Gastro Acid, Gen 4 Fire Fang) or change resistances (Soak, Scrappy). Starting in Gen 6, they can be naturally be hit super effectively by fairy type attacks. (Mega) Sableye, Spiritomb, and Pokestar-Spirit (Gen 5) are all pokemon who classify as Wondertomb.

changelog

9/26/2019
- Created this post.
- Added souldew and encyclopedia.
- Tmi489 edited souldew, updated this post.
10/2/2019
- Updated pphp
- Updated defog
10/12/2019
- Ransei added rulesets, added this to the list of rfaqs not included in this post.
10/19/2019
- Added classichackmons
10/30/2019
- Added gen3
- Updated classichackmons

 

[Ransei]

Check this out! We got sick new art for this thread made by Blazenix!

Remember to thank them!

 

[doipy hooves]

This is a nitpick but Gen 3 should technically be left with vanilla abilities since only the ability slot is stored/editable in the save. In practice I don't think it will matter since the people playing are used to the current meta and you don't really think of adding more limitations with hackmons.

 

[Ransei]

Mega Evolved Pokemon were proven to be great in ORAS and Mewtwo was not an exception. During the 2012-2014 metagame Mega Mewtwo X has proven to be the most successful breaker with its Attack and Speed stats each being within a 97-100 percentile and access to Huge Power/ Pure Power. Having the best physical offense stat combination in the game and an ability doubling its physical attack allows the Pokemon to run a wide variety of coverage moves the majority of Pokemon would be unable to deal with by themselves. On paper, it seems impossible to find direct walls for this beast. However, they still exist.

Introducing:

Mega Slowbro

Slowbro-Mega @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Wish
- King's Shield
- Magic Coat
- U-turn

This is just one of the Mega Slowbro sets that can be put out there. It's designed to take advantage of Mega Mewtwo X's reliance on physical attack to act as a complete cleric for the entire team. King's Shield is the ideal protection move for this as it drives physical attackers even further away from their use cutting their attack in half and while it doesn't protect against statuses, Spore is likely to be the most common status inflicting move and Mega Slowbro's Safety Goggles helps against it. In case someone predicts their opponent would use a status move next turn they could also use Magic Coat which rewards them for being correct. It bounces back any status afflictions directly to the opposing user and punishes them with their own move. Outside of moves used to further cripple physical attackers and status users Wish can be used to restore HP the next turn. It's a more flexible recovery option useful for the greater generic walls and this Megabro holds at least two separate routes to go to when using Wish. It can either use Wish and then King's Shield to protect itself from damage and heal by the end of the next turn or it can use Wish and then U-Turn last on into the desired target so they could heal and continue to threaten the other team. Wish also allows Megabro to pursue a third option, similar to the second but is rather a hardswap into the desired target instead. This could be used if the user is confident that whatever they're switching into after Wish will survive whatever the opponent uses that turn.

tl;dr: The premise of this set is really simple. You just wall and heal against every physical attacker while punishing anything trying to hinder with status.

Here is the calculation of a standard Life Orb Mega Mewtwo X's Leaf Blade vs Fur Coat Mega Slowbro.

252 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Mewtwo-Mega-X Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Slowbro-Mega: 161-190 (40.9 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

It becomes this after one King's Shield

-2 252 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Mewtwo-Mega-X Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Slowbro-Mega: 81-96 (20.6 - 24.4%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

and in case it crits, this is the best it can do:

252 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Mewtwo-Mega-X Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Slowbro-Mega on a critical hit: 239-283 (60.8 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If you're looking for physical defenders in the metagame capable of dealing with Mega Mewtwo X, look no further than Mega Slowbro.

 

[Tmi489]

If you're looking for physical defenders in the metagame capable of dealing with Mega Mewtwo X, look no further than Mega Slowbro.

252 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Mewtwo-Mega-X Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Fur Coat Slowbro-Mega: 161-190 (40.9 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

That becomes a potential 2KO with rocks up. While MMX has to predict King's Shield, it means that Slowbro can't switch in more than once before having to heal (making it set up fodder to a potential special sweeper). However it still likely is a good check because Leaf Blade isn't used all the time , Mewtwo's taking LO damage, and set up isn't that big with the amount of options in Gen 6.

 

[Ransei]

Moving down one Generation from my previous post we're on to featuring a potential Generation 5 set! It's one I've mostly been putting on samples. Here's an explanation of how it works:


Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Scrappy / Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Shell Smash
- Close Combat
- Sacred Fire / Taunt
- Attack Order / Leaf Blade / Rock Slide

(Where extra attacks are put may be subject to change)

Say hello to Terrakion. This beast aims to destroy Wonder Guards with Coverage + Scrappy. Although it may also be useful as a Mold Breaker since it can hit every Wonder Guard, Scrappy would specifically target level 100 Pokestar Spirit and deal with it better since it can KO with super effective Close Combat STAB while also being easier to imposterproof. It can Shell Smash to boost its attack and speed and / or start using coverage moves right away if the opponent's Pokemon are chipped enough. Close Combat with Scrappy hits Arceus, Regigigas, Dialga, Slaking, Wondertomb, Pokestar Spirit, Bisharp, Registeel, and potentially many more great Pokemon once the metagame gets into higher development. Sacred Fire targets mostly the Bug/Steel Scizor, Genesect, Durant, Escavalier, or even Forretress. It can however deal with a number of other potential threats better than Close Combat such as Metagross, Galvantula, and Scolipede (not exactly sure how effective these are yet). Last but not least Attack Order is mostly there to cover common Psychic types who'd beat Terrakion after it Shell Smashes otherwise. These include but are not limited to Latios, Deoxys-Speed, Mewtwo, and Wonder Guard Meloetta. It's used over U-Turn because Terrakion will not want to switch after boosting its stats if it has the opportunity to sweep. Outside Attack Order you also got Leaf Blade, which targets Water-types such as Swampert, Suicune, or Kyogre, or Rock Slide which gives STAB and is super effective against the Flying-type Pokemon who resist its other moves. Ho-Oh most especially comes in mind for this.

As you can tell, this Terrakion set in mind is meant to be able to hit a wide variety of possible threats to the metagame. With Mold Breaker, it'll be able to hit more targets but would be harder to imposterproof. With Scrappy it would still hit loads of potential threats but less with the reward of making it easier for you to imposterproof.

Will tell you one thing, be aware of this Pokemon's weakness to Prankster. Prankster Spore cripples it after the first use and Prankster Groudon can revengekill or even switch in and KO with Nature Power Earthquake. You will also need a Pokemon to partner up with Terrakion in order to take down the Pokemon it cannot hit or have a harder time dealing with. Examples would be Wonder Guard Jolteon for Scrappy or Pokestar Spirit for Mold Breaker. That is all.

Edit: Taunt is a late addition and I forgot to explain it. Essentially, I put it there for Terrakion to have some way of dealing with Prankster Haze and other Prankster users on the spot if it manages to acquire Shell Smash boosts and still has its Lum Berry.

With this post, I'll like to announce that we now have a leaderboard for our tournaments in Old Shark! Hopefully this would encourage players with a competitive drive to get further into Hackmons. I will come up with an idea for how it'll be used and post here sometime within the next few days with my idea.

 

[Tmi489]

Gen 3: The New Meta
Having no abilities means so much for the Gen 3 PH metagame, and here are some potential options in the unexplored meta. Having illegal abilities will be Gen 3 CH, while PH uses legal abilities.

EDIT: This post was made when I believed the meta would be focused purely on offense. Without Pure Power, many things can survive boosted hits and retaliate or phase.

• Speed Boost

Instead of Deoxys-S wars, its now Ninjask that practically is the fastest Pokemon in the tier. Ninjask ties are incredibly risky - so get Ninjask on something it can Spore/Taunt/Fake Out/Sub on and gain momentum from there. Ninjask can also check weather users like Ludicolo and Eggy with its STAB, or use coverage to take out the rest. Thankfully (or scarily), Stealth Rock doesn't tie Ninjask down, but beware of Extreme Speed, Rock moves, and general bad bulk.

• Set Up Sweepers

Without Wonder Guard to stop them, Sweepers suddenly become the forefront of the meta. Beware of Spore spam along with either Dragon Dance or Dual Dance, or a Belly Drum on a switch. Abilities like Unaware, Prankster, and Impostor don't exist in Gen 3, nor Focus Sash, so a single setup can mean a game end.

• Priority

Slaking suddenly becomes worthless when a successful revenge kill means the opponent can set up. Ursaring becomes the best (Fake Out +) Extreme Speed user available for sheer power, with the amazing Guts to punish opposing status shenanigans. Granbull and Tauros carry Intimidate, making revenging easy even if they don't get the KO. Tauros, Dodrio, and Deoxys-A may be weaker, but are faster and can sweep or stop other priority users. Machamp is notable for carrying the only non-normal priority move in Mach Punch - this means that Ghosts are 100% immune to priority. Even non-stab priority can be used on etc. sweepers. Don't expect to KO even with Guts Ursarang, though.

• Pressure

8PP moves may be harder to justify, as certain walls and switchins will deplete 2 PP. Why use Sacred Fire when Ho-Oh eats a burn and drains your coverage? The best priority move, Extreme Speed, is stopped from PP Stall. Lugia is an amazing tank, and Suicune a decent one, so PP stall may be a valid strategy.

• Anti-Status

Magic Coat, Lum/Chesto Berry, and Sleep Talk are the only ways to really handle status outside of abilities. Natural Cure users like Blissey and Celebi can mispredict with these options and not get punished as much (unless it leads to a set up). Banette and Hypno are sadly the best Insomnia/Vital Spirit users - they may be required for Heal Bell support but aren't bulky enough to take on many sweepers. Guts users can punish burns and toxic, while Ho-Oh can specifically stop burns and counter with Pressure.
Note: Lack of good items may mean Lum Berry can be spammed easily on a team

• Weather Setters

Weather may become a perk of the already good Groudon and potential Tyranitar, rather than be the main focus of a team. Dedicated weather may be hard to pull off. Many Pokemon can benefit from a certain weather's power boosts/reductions, or Thunder's power. Tyranitar can clear weather to try and stop either abuser.

• Weather Abusers

Weather speed abusers can use their instantaneous speed to get Spore and set up their own boosts. Rain is better due to Water STAB and Rain boost, though that might bring a surge of anti-waters. Latios/Latias are very good, have high SpD, and resist both water and fire, and dedicated -Absorb counters also exist. Ninjask can also outspeed +2 weather abusers, other than Jumppluff, after getting +1. Gardevoir/Porygon2 can steal a weather ability with Trace and outspeed slower abusers. Rayquaza will also outspeed with Airlock. These abusers can boost speed, though have limited moveslots to do so. Other Pokemon like the power boost, like Kyogre itself and Ho-Oh.

• Ability Immunities

Just beware that some Pokemon can block attacks with their abilities. Quagsire's Water Absorb can block rain sweepers with Electric + Water immunity, where Mantine has good enough special bulk to take grass attacks. The Lati twins are great already and benefit more from Levitate. Other ability immunities may be useful in someway, depending on the team.

• Trapping

Dugtrio can target anything with a 4* weakness (that is grounded), or frail enough to be taken out by a *2 weakness, or Explode, or just Trickits Choice Band - there's no Shed Shell to stop it. Magneton can OHKO Skarmory (Thunder/Volt Tackle or Modest) and trap other non-EQ steels, while also checking Lati@s. Wobbuffet can Encore and setup on slower mons like the Regis and Blissey, or Perish Trap them. Porygon2 can trap the other trappers, tanking Dugtrio/Magneton and outspeeding Wobbo.

• Misc. Walls

Actual walls can survive and phaze sweepers, but may not have particularly good abilities nor are effected by their changes.

• Ghosts

Spinblockers (other than Sableye) can be targeted with just one coverage move, but block the ever important Spikes from coming out. (The meta COULD be too offensive to really care about spikes, though, and many top threats ignore Spikes). Spinblockers also have another important function - to block deadly normal type attacks. Whenever it be BellySpeed, Boom, or just general priority, Ghosts can punish (Encore) those who underestimate them.

 

[Ransei]

GSC

​

Introducing to you all the GSC metagame. With no IVs, natures, or abilities GSC Hackmons holds itself as one of the most distinguishable formats on this thread. Let me give it to you straight: You're gonna see lots of OHKO, priority, and attack-raising moves here with the most stopping them being sheer bulk, luck, and burns from Sacred Fire. So far it hasn't gotten very many plays but from the plays we have seen, this meta condones a mix of bulky and offensive strategies in one.

Here is a fine example of this idea:

Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: none
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Horn Drill
- Fissure
- Rest

A Lugia with both Horn Drill and Fissure to hit and KO every Pokemon. This set is as simple as it looks with the addition of Sleep Talk to counteract Spore users, and Rest to restore its HP and use more OHKO moves through Sleep Talk. Be aware that this set can only be so effective. Both OHKO moves still only just have 30% accuracy

Replay of Lugia's set being effective:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2customgame-998152587

Replay of Lugia's set being ineffective:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2customgame-998149249

Replay of Lugia's set being ineffective II:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2customgame-998145565

Replay of another set with both OHKO moves successfully showing the differences between effectiveness and ineffectiveness:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2customgame-959645089

These are the main replays that are shown on this post and will also be used as sources of use for most sets below.

Here's an attack-boosting set:

Mewtwo @ Mint Berry
Ability: none
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Belly Drum
- Protect
- Cross Chop
- Fire Blast

From what I've seen, the roster of moves in Generation 2 gives physical offense more of an advantage with only a couple of +1 SpA boosting moves and Pokemon who are noticeably bulkier on the special side of defense (See Chansey, Blissey, Ho-Oh). Because of this, Mewtwo seems to be liking physical moves more, but still has room for special coverage. Mewtwo in general can come with entire arsenals of sets including a diverse range of coverage moves to choose from to hit whatever threat is out there. Cross Chop, Ice Beam, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Megahorn, Explosion, Shadow Ball, and of course its STAB moves. These all can go with Belly Drum, Growth, or Swords Dance with another filler move to help it thrive, whether that's Protect to ruin exploding Pokemon it can't KO, Sleep Talk to still be able to move while asleep, or Recover to regenerate half of its health. Some of the same replays this is used in are above.

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: none
- Aeroblast
- Swords Dance
- Sleep Talk
- Sacred Fire

Guess I can't make a GSC post without featuring both mascots atm so here goes. This is simply a STAB Aeroblast Ho-Oh that benefits from Swords Dance attack boosts and high crit ratios. Aside from this feat Ho-Oh is also the best Sacred Fire sponge, which helps especially because it has made a prominent use in this meta. With attack-boosting moves leaving physical offense to have an upper hand, many Pokemon consider running Sacred Fire just to burn and cut any physical Pokemon's attack stat in half. With Sacred Fire being Ho-Oh's STAB and having its lowest stat tied on physical defense, there's no doubt it'll like running the move. Alternatively there are other fillers that can be given like Agility for speed, or Protect to block exploding Pokemon like Mewtwo's set above.

Gengar @ Mint Berry
Ability: none
- Shadow Ball
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- High Jump Kick

What do you get in a metagame where Horn Drill, Fighting-type moves, and priority have high frequency? You get Gengar! Gengar likes STAB and coverage but hates the existence of the Normal-types immune to Shadow Ball and TTar, who is the most physically fit Dark-type in Gen 2. Oddly enough like Mewtwo Gengar loves running physical moves despite having much higher Special Attack. This particular set is just the unresisted Ghost/Fighting coverage and can be used with Mint Berry to cheese strategic OHKO users like Electrode or Lugia. If you want, it itself may also be able to run the dual Fissure/Horn Drill combination successfully. Try it out and see if it works.

Electrode @ Mint Berry
Ability: none
- Spore
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Recover

I've been absolutely loving this lead set lately. It Spores the target user, subs, then baton passes into something else without much of a hassle. Normally Spore comes first but if you predict the opponent to run Mint Berry Explosion you can use Substitute right away. Assuming there'll be matches where you'd want to try passing sub again this Electrode has Recover to re-perform this strategy. The best part is how we don't have Taunt stopping this since it doesn't exist until Gen 3.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: none
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Belly Drum
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion

Priority was mentioned and here's an example of it. Snorlax Without the support of abilities allowing truly strong wallbreakers to exist as far as I know, Snorlax can take advantage of its high bulk to maximize its Attack stat, and with any move it'd of course choose to make up for its poor Speed by having the best priority STAB move! It carries a nigh-unresisted pair of attacks including Shadow Ball to deal with the Ghosts immune to its STAB, and Explosion to end virtually any non-Ghost-type it wants but at the cost of its own progression.

Snorlax Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2customgame-999197262-i2nwxosb705wcp66ekdpxrmhmzayuufpw

Blissey (F) @ Mint Berry
Ability: none
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Transform
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Spikes

Lastly comes Blissey. I have yet to try out this set but it seems to have some good potential. It's a specially bulky Pokemon able to send out spikes and recover if needed, but also transforms into any opposing Pokemon it desires with likely higher HP remaining than them assuming it survives. Surrounding Blissey in a pool of Sacred Fire Pokemon so far looks pretty good on paper. Blissey will need it since its physical defense stat is lacking.

What you see above is part of my insight regarding GSC Hackmons so far. It's mostly just me second-guessing the metagame after the first attempts of trying it out several months ago and the recent attempts within the past three days.

Here's one more GSC Hackmons replay showing what the meta could look like in detail:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2customgame-999184193
I was testing Pidgeot.

 

[Tmi489]

some other sets


Snorlax @ Miracle Berry
Ability: None
- Explosion
- Bonemerang
- Spore / Extreme Speed
- Spikes / Cross Chop

Suicideish lead. Bonemerang prevents Gengar and Electrode from successfully hiding under a Sub, letting Snorlax set up Spikes and take out an opposing 'Mon.


Aerodactyl @ Sharp Beak / Miracle Berry
Ability: None
- Belly Drum
- Aeroblast
- Aeroblast
- Spore
Alternatives: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Sacred Fire

Aerodactyl, under Sharp Beak, Spikes, and a Belly Drum, proceeds to OHKO everything that does not resist Aeroblast. That move's meddling PP leaves to be desired - so why not just duplicate the move? Gen 1 'Mons like Missingno can learn moves twice, so I assume Gen 2 mons can too. Aerodactyl is also the fastest Pokemon other than Electrode (tying with Mewtwo) AND resists Extreme Speed, making Aerodactyl the definitive sweeper.


Mewtwo @ Mint Berry
IVs: 26 Atk
Ability: None
- Psychic / Megahorn
- Megahorn / Sacred Fire
- Hidden Power [Rock] / Sacred Fire
- Explosion / Spore / Sleep Talk
Alternatives: Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump, etc.

Mewtwo is THE best 'Mon in Gen 2, no questions asked. It has a variety of possible sets and a blazing fast speed tier. Coveragespam makes Mewtwo effective at taking out threats, and Explosion gets rid of the few walls (like Lugia) that take it out.


Marowak @ Thick Club
IVs: 26 Atk
Ability: None
- Swords Dance
- Bonemerang
- Rest / Recover
- Sleep Talk
Alternatives: Megahorn, Extreme Speed, Earthquake, Sacred Fire

Marowak has the highest attack stat in the tier, and now it can actually recover. I haven't actually used it yet but it looks fine and physically bulky enough to take out threats. Has troubles with Skarmory and Lugia, as it doesn't like fitting in another coverage move for them. Make sure to give it 13 Atk EVs if you're using Swords Dance.


Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Thunderbolt / Thunder
- Growth / Surf
- Sleep Talk
- Rest / Recover
Alternatives: Aeroblast, Surf, Sacred Fire, HP Grass
Electric types have been overshadowed, able to take out the books and being bulky enough for 1 Mewtwo. They can even handle Lax after getting a +1 boost, using Sacred Fire, or after a decent amount of chip. Thunder 2KOs Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Mewtwo while also 4KOing Lax, but should be used for non boosting sets because Growth TBolt does the same thing.


Rhydon @ Miracle Berry
Ability: None
- Rock Slide
- Bonemerang / Earthquake
- Sacred Fire / Thunder Wave
- Recover

Rhydon @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Rock Slide
- Bonemerang / Sleep Talk
- Sacred Fire / Sleep Talk
- Rest / Recover
Tyranitar can run Pursuit/Crunch over ground moves.

Rhydon's physical power makes it great at taking out Snorlax (and Blissey), and its physical bulk allow it to take at least 1 hit and counter with a Sacred Fire. It feasts on the common Lugia and Ho-Oh, along with their Aeroblasts and Sacred Fires. Rock Slide is prefered to HP Rock due to the flinch chance on Snorlax. Suffers somewhat from 4MSS - it wants SlideQuake for effective coverage, Sacred Fire to punish Lax and switchins, and RestTalk to recover from status.


Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Heal Bell / Whirlwind
- Sleep Talk
- Sacred Fire / Whirlwind
- Recover

Having a dedicated Sleep check may be a must - everything must carry Mint/Miracle berry or have Sleep Talk to work out. A Heal Bell + Sleep Talk user prevents mispredictions from leaving a 'Mon out of commission. Having a phaser use Sleep Talk prevents leads like Electrode from setting up, too. Skarmory can wall most physical threats, but must watch out for the common Sacred Fire. Suicune is similarly bulky, but doesn't have the same resistances to Aeroblast and EQ immuntiy.


Gengar @ Mint Berry
Ability: None
- Encore
- Belly Drum / Growth / Swords Dance / Substitute
- Spore / Mean Look
- Baton Pass

Encore on set up moves, priority (like lax), or other resisted moves, and set up. Can use mean look + baton pass to 'trap' a switch in.


Ursaring @ Berserk Gene
Ability: None
- Extreme Speed
- Bonemerang / Hidden Power [Rock] / Cross Chop
- Shadow Ball / Megahorn
- Sleep Talk

BREAK THEM

 

[CringeMeta]

People in Old Shark chat mentioned that in addition to the ability-locking behaviour in Gen 3 Hackmons, it also shouldn't be possible to use multiple Deoxys formes on the same team due to cart restrictions. This could be enforced in a tour code like this:-

Gen 3 Hackmons, Deoxys Restricted

/tour new gen3customgame, elim
/tour rules -Nonexistent, Obtainable Abilities, -Deoxys-Base++Deoxys-Attack, -Deoxys-Base++Deoxys-Defense, -Deoxys-Base++Deoxys-Speed, -Deoxys-Attack++Deoxys-Defense, -Deoxys-Attack++Deoxys-Speed, -Deoxys-Defense++Deoxys-Speed
/tour setautostart 7
/tour name [Gen 3] Hackmons

 

[ArcticBreeze]

Gen 6: https://pokepast.es/19abd9dfd96af1c3
Super Self-explanatory .
Gen 3: https://pokepast.es/b7630d9cbc8abb4a
IMO baton pass it overated. Not much more to say.
Gen 2: https://pokepast.es/7a82c7d185bcacec
Electrode is the best lead as it is able to almost guarantee sleep/ sub pass. It can sometimes do both. Bonemarang Mint/Miracle Berry leads are something to be weary of. Snorlax I decided to chose miracle berry. Leftovers are not needed when you have recover. Berry just helps you set up without a sub where leftovers needs a sub. Ho-oh Is broken and immune to fissure.Great Bulk Gar is a nice spiker, explosion can help vs lax and other threats, while you are immune to extreme speed. Heal bell can come in clutch. Having a Horn Drill immunity is also nice. Tar helps vs lax and ho-oh and can pursuit non cross chop/hjk mewtwo and gengar. Suicune is a great back-up check to several pokemon.

Also https://pokepast.es/cc84ba451eca138a is a great team. There is one problem It automatically loses to xern with the only mon able to touch it weak to moonblast. In my opinion remove it or change it slightly. Removing KB or adding Tspikes might help it.

 

[Ransei]

Hey! Long time no post! I see how it is :(. Well anyway, I have some good news, some bad news, and some neutral news.

The good news:
Now that Generation 7 has concluded we will now be featuring it along with the rest of our old gens formats!

Gen 7 Hackmons

Leader: Ransei

Council:

Ransei

Resources:
Thread(s):
Gen 7 OM Mashups Megathread

Sample Sets:
None yet.

Sample Teams:

Double MMX Balance by NOC Unlucky 13

Tribute to Trambo Offense by Disciple_1

Dual MMX Shed Shell Offense by Disciple_1

Pdon Balance by manu 11

Psychic Terrain Offense by manu 11

Poison Spam Balance by manu 11

Bad Dreams MMY Offense by manu 11

PH Tour Champion Samples:

Innards Out + No Guard Psyspam by cscl

Innards Out + No Guard Balance by cscl

Leppa WG + Magic Guard Balance by cscl

Dual Deo HO by cscl

Sablenite Stall by cscl

RMT:

Cats and Rabbits Balance by Ransei

Other Resources:
Viability Rankings
Introduction Guide

FAQ:
Q: Can I use Crystal Free Z moves (CFZs) in my movesets?
A: Yes! But keep in mind that CFZs with variable base power (all of the one's associated with a type e.g. Bloom Doom) will have a base power of 1. Moves like Clangorous Soulblaze and Genesis Supernova have their full base power however.

The neutral news 1: I've done a council reset due to the current inactivity of those who were involved so I'm the only one running this format's resources again. Our viability rankings are outdated. Expect an update with lots of changes and explanations soon, perhaps within the next few weeks at latest.

The bad news:
Until we're able to remove cleric clause and enable our Pokemon to come into matches with a status condition, I've decided it's best to discontinue the progression of Gens 1 and 2 Hackmons. This project is based on the old generations of Pure Hackmons and these metagames are completely different without the mechanics they need to be played as "pure". For example, Electrode single-handedly dominates the current Generation 1 Hackmons metagame due to the lack of the prestatus mechanic needed to call this format pure. Both of these gens will be removed from the list and stored here for the time being.

Gen 2 Hackmons

Council:

Ransei

Resources:
Sample Sets:
None yet.

Sample Teams:

MMX before MMX Offense by Ransei

Gen 1 Hackmons

Council:

Ranseihttps://i.imgur.com/mpLZptG.png

Resources:
Sample Set:

The Entire Metagame

Electrode
Ability: Soundproof
- Spore
- Agility
- Night Shade / Filler
- Seismic Toss / Filler

Sample Team:

Spore Offense by Ransei

The neutral news 2:
I'm resetting the subroom leaderboard and implementing a Hall of Fame system. After each month the leaderboard will reset and whoever has the highest score by then will have their username listed on the OP of this megathread. I will start with our previous leaderboard.

Here are the leaderboard results from late 2019. The final placements for those who've played throughout the last two and a half months are here. Since I won, I'll put myself up in the Hall of Fame, but just for December 2019.
​

That's all I have to say today. Thanks for reading and take care!

 

[AV Cosmoem]

I wanna talk about a team I made for Gen 3 PH.

Kabutops Rain

importable

Kyogre @ Lum Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 248 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Water Spout
- Recover
- Baton Pass

Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Belly Drum
- Protect

Rayquaza @ Choice Band
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Aeroblast
- Ice Beam
- Extreme Speed
- Trick

Kabutops @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Ball

Ludicolo @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Blade
- Ice Beam
- Spore
- Tail Glow

Dugtrio @ Lum Berry
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Encore
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast

Alright so let me explain each part of this team.

SubPass Kyogre

Kyogre @ Lum Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Water Spout
- Recover
- Baton Pass

SubPass Kyogre is the lead, who was picked because he (obviously) sets rain. He will likely be slower than other leads, which means Lum Berry is mandatory. If the opponent leads with a mon such as Deo-S, immediately hit Substitute. You will likely be hit with Spore. Baton Pass a Substitute to any member you wish after this. Recover allows Kyogre to perform this strat multiple times. Water Spout abuses Kyogre's high Special Attack, Rain, and Recover, dealing huge damage to opposing leads. 248 Spe is to underspeed Jolly Groudon, making sure rain is up.

Belly Drum Kabutops

Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Belly Drum
- Protect

Kabutops is my wincon. This thing is a 6-0 machine, OHKOing Pokemon such as Lugia after a Belly Drum. Protect is used to stall Truant for a turn, giving Kabutops a free Belly Drum. This can give it the chance it needs to sweep. Even though Earthquake isn't a STAB move, you can pretty much treat it like one, since you're going to hit harder with it than with Rock Blast. Rock Blast was chosen over Rock Slide because it breaks Substitute, which is huge, since opponents could potentially phase you or kill you behind a Substitute.

Choice Band Rayquaza

Rayquaza @ Choice Band
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Aeroblast
- Ice Beam
- Extreme Speed
- Trick / Earthquake

This Pokemon is my wallbreaker, mainly aimed at the Latis, Kyogre, Groudon, other Rayquaza, etc. Choice Band Aeroblast does big damage, and while it can't obliterate defensive mons like Kabutops, it can do this:

Calc

252 Atk Choice Band Rayquaza Aeroblast vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Wobbuffet: 299-352 (51.1 - 60.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Yeah you can 2HKO most things without a resist. Ice Beam beats Groudon and other Rayquaza in one slot. Aeroblast misses the 2HKO on Groudon without Spikes while Ice Beam picks it up. Ice Beam also has around a 70% chance to OHKO other Rayquaza. Aeroblast does 2HKO though. Extreme Speed revenge kills weakened Pokemon that are also faster, like Mewtwo. Trick is your best shot against Lugia, seeing how Rayquaza can only achieve a 3HKO vs Bold Lugia. Earthquake beats Magneton and Kabutops, which wall you otherwise.

Choice Band Kabutops

Kabutops @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Ball / Trick

This Kabutops is my secondary wallbreaker. Rock Blast/Earthquake have already been touched upon. Extreme Speed is because priority is very important in this metagame, as many threats like to boost up with Dragon Dance. Shadow Ball is to nail Banette and Lati@s as they can be big threats to this team, or it can use Trick to mess up defensive walls that the team needs support to break such as Lanturn.

Tail Glow Ludicolo

Ludicolo @ Lum Berry . Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Blade
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
- Tail Glow

Ludicolo is pretty much special Kabutops. I needed a Pokemon to handle opposing Pokemon with Grass-type moves since I have 3 Pokemon that are weak to it (Ludicolo was added before Rayquaza and Lugia, but is still strong). Ludicolo does just that and also serves as my secondary sweeper. Rayquaza appreciates Ludicolo's support because it can handle Kabutops, a large threat to Rayquaza, and lets it freely run Trick. This Pokemon plays quite similarly to Kabutops.

Stallbreaker Dugtrio

Dugtrio @ Lum Berry
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Encore
- Disable
- Earthquake
- Explosion / Rock Blast

Dugtrio is broken and pretty much forces stall to have an offensive backbone to back it up, and also serves as my Electric check. It also is good against cheese strats like Minimize passing. It is able to force opposing Pokemon to Struggle, and then kill them with Earthquake in its free turn. Rock Blast is to break Substitutes. It can also just Explode on a target it really wants to kill: what's stopping it? Shed Shell?

Anyway this is my rain team. I posted it so that it might eventually be submitted into samples so we can finally have a Gen 3 sample. I also just wanted to show it to the thread and get some advice. Be completely honest about my team, even if you think it's trash. I really want to improve it. Have a good day!

EDIT: We're in Slaking meta now. I have changed the team accordingly.

 

[Ransei]

These are the leaderboard results for January 2020. Congratulations to Alexgrizz for making it into the Hall of Fame.​

 

[AV Cosmoem]

Dual Kabutops Rain - How to Deal with the Metagame
I created this because it may be unclear how to handle threats of the metagame, such as Slaking. I will be going over these threats alphabetically. Enjoy!

Banette
Choice Band Banette can be beaten by Band Kabutops, especially if it's locked into ESpeed. Band Cross Chop does a lot, but it's outsped and Band Shadow Ball does more, picking up the kill after small chip. Dragon Dance Banette is one of the worst matchups for this team, as it does not have a Pokemon that can switch in easily, however Dugtrio can switch into Dragon Dance, Encore Banette, and then Taunt it. Then you can easily remove Banette due to Arena Trap.

Charizard
Charizard is annoying because our lead is Kyogre. Your best bet is to just spam Water Spout. Using Substitute is risky, because it might use Tail Glow, and if you Substituted then Volt Tackle kills.

Deoxys-Attack
Choice Band Deoxys-Attack can be dealt with using either of the Kabutops. Scouting for the move with Protect on Belly Drum Kabutops is your best bet. All of the Swift Swim Pokemon outspeed and kill it, meaning it can't force switches on Ludicolo although it does take a lot from Extreme Speed. If Dugtrio is out, beware of Pursuit. Lum Berry Deoxys-Attack is just killed by the Swift Swimmers.

Deoxys-Speed
Deoxys-Speed is almost always a lead, so you just win by clicking Water Spout on Kyogre.

Dugtrio
All of the Swift Swimmers win because they can outspeed and OHKO. Rayquaza wins because it's not only Flying-type but it can also OHKO with Aeroblast. Kyogre wins because Water Spout cleanly OHKOs. Dugtrio just does not have a good matchup.

Dusclops
Dugtrio just traps and removes it. It can Substitute and then EncoreTaunt and Dusclops can do nothing.

Exeggutor
If Sun is up, go to Rayquaza, as Exeggutor never really carries coverage for it. If Rain is up, you can go to both Rayquaza and Ludicolo, who outspeeds and can Spore, set up on, and revenge kill Exeggutor.

Gardevoir
Really annoying Pokemon, your counterplay depends on what ability it copies. If it copies Drizzle Water Spout it, if it copies Swift Swim go to Rayquaza and Aeroblast it, if it copies Air Lock go to Choice Band Kabutops and use Shadow Ball, if it copies Arena Trap Encore-EQ it. You do not want it to copy Swift Swim because it outspeeds Ludicolo and ties with Kabutops so if Rayquaza dies you end up fishing for speed ties.

Groudon
If it comes in that means sun is up, which is bad. Most Groudon are Dragon Dance which means they just Rock Blast Rayquaza to death. The play is to go into Kyogre, resetting the weather, and then clicking Water Spout. Dugtrio unfortunately cannot EncoreTaunt Groudon as it outspeeds Dugtrio at +1. In the rain Ludicolo can win.

Gyarados
Both Kabutops can kill Gyarados with Rock Blast. Choice Band is preferred due to Intimidate.

Heracross
Heracross is usually used as a lead, so just Water Spout it and it dies.

Ho-oh
Ho-oh has a very poor matchup vs Rain and every member on this team bar Ludicolo beats it. However, it does wall Ludicolo.

Hypno
Kyogre just Water Spouts it to death, plus it can Substitute on Hypno and it can do nothing. Hypno does not a good matchup vs anything, as it can be set up on, get Tricked a Choice Band, or get trapped and EncoreTaunted.

Jirachi
Most Jirachi are Choice Band. Earthquake Rayquaza deals with it easily. Both Kabutops are also good at dealing with it. Belly Drum Kabutops can scout the chosen move with Protect, and Choice Band Rayquaza can outspeed and deal heavy damage with Earthquake.

Jumpluff
Usually Jumpluff is a passive Pokemon, using Substitute and a boosting move and then Baton Passing these to a team member so that they can sweep. The best way to deal with Jumpluff is to use Rock Blast against it, thus removing its Substitute and hurting it at the same time. This is especially useful if Jumpluff has used Belly Drum. If it's a random attacking set, go to Rayquaza and use Aeroblast or Ice Beam.

Kingdra
Very difficult matchup. Kingdra outspeeds Kabutops and Ludicolo, has Dragon STAB for Rayquaza, and we are unable to hit it super effectively. We have two options: go into Ludicolo who can't do much back unboosted or go to Rayquaza who dies to Dragon STAB. If Rayquaza is in Kingdra just sort of dies though as it doesn't outspeed Rayquaza. Be very careful around Kingdra.

Kyogre
Ludicolo 4x resists Water and can get a Tail Glow out of it too. You don't even need to Spore.

Lanturn
Lanturn is actually not that good. It is hard checked by Rayquaza and soft checked by Dugtrio and the Swift Swimmers. I anticipated this matchup as harder than it actually was.

Latias & Latios
The Lati twins are natural anti-weather Pokemon. The way to win is with Rayquaza or Choice Band Kabutops, if you have Shadow Ball. However, Kabutops may have trouble switching in depending on coverage. Rayquaza definitely needs to be careful because of Dragon Claw and Ice Beam. Another bad matchup, but not as bad as Kingdra.

Ludicolo
An annoying Pokemon because you can't just use Kabutops to win unlike other weather abusers. You just die if you try that. Rayquaza can come in but must beware of Ice Beam. If Rayquaza dies you just lose.

Lugia
Both Kabutops have Rock Blast. Rayquaza has Trick. Dugtrio has Taunt. This team came heavily prepared for Lugia, as it is one of the strongest Pokemon in the meta, so it's not really a threat.

Machamp
Rayquaza comes in for free and Aeroblast kills it easily.

Magneton
Despite its Electric type, the matchup against Magneton isn't so bad. It walls Ludicolo and non-Earthquake Rayquaza, but falls to Kabutops and Dugtrio, and cannot switch in to Kyogre.

Mewtwo
Lead Mewtwo takes around 95 health from a fully powered Water Spout. If Mewtwo attacks with Psychic, use Recover the following turn, as it does less damage than you can heal. If it's not lead, then Choice Band Kabutops 2HKOs it with Shadow Ball, and both Choice Band users can use Trick to make its coverage more risky. It is still a dangerous matchup in which you can be swept, but it is manageable.

Ninjask
Every member on this team can deal with Ninjask in some way. Kyogre just Water Spouts until it dies and can Substitute on it to prevent Spores, both Kabutops can use Rock Blast with Choice Band having access to Extreme Speed and Trick as well, Rayquaza can use Extreme Speed and Trick, Ludicolo can use Ice Beam, and Dugtrio can use Taunt and Rock Blast. Similar to Lugia, Ninjask is very dangerous and must be prepared for.

Omastar
Ludicolo easily deals with it due to its 4x resistance against Water and its neutrality to Thunder. Both of the Kabutops can use Earthquake against it and are faster.

Porygon2
Not really a threat to any member of the team. Even if it traces Swift Swim it's still outsped by all of the Swift Swimmers and Rayquaza. Unfortunately it runs EQ + Ice Beam which means Rayquaza can't come in and Kabutops has to be careful.

Quagsire
Ludicolo comes in for free and Tail Glows because there is no way that Quagsire is staying in.

Raikou
Kabutops and Rayquaza deal with it. Dugtrio can come in on a sack and trap it.

Rayquaza
Another natural anti-weather Pokemon. The main way to deal with this Pokemon is to send out Choice Band Kabutops and use Rock Blast. Trick will fail if it's a Choice Band Pokemon, and Rock Blast will hit it hard. If Rayquaza has some weird set like Choice Band Aeroblast/Ice Beam/Earthquake/Trick then you just lose. That never happens however.

Regice
Rock Blast users take care of it. It's especially helpful for Kyogre to pass a Substitute.

Scizor
Scizor is annoying because its typing blocks EdgeQuake but you can probably just Belly Drum on it.

Shedinja
Every member of the team can beat Shedinja except for Kyogre and Ludicolo, and Kyogre can pass Substitutes.

Skarmory
Kyogre can Substitute or Water Spout. Rayquaza can Band Trick and Choice Band Kabutops can also Band Trick. Dugtrio can Taunt it, but unfortunately cannot trap it.

Slaking
Immediately switch to Kyogre unless you're capable of killing Slaking or bringing it to below 50% of its health. Slaking copying any other ability is deadly. If you let Kyogre die earlier in the match, go to Dugtrio. If Slaking gets a sweep set up, use Kabutops to revenge kill it, as they can survive one Extreme Speed. Its health will be low after a Belly Drum.

Suicune
Setup bait for Ludicolo.

Swellow
Both of the Kabutops win with Rock Blast.

Tyranitar
Even though it removes your weather, it's still going to be slower than the rest of your team. Almost always carries Dragon Dance. Every member of the team except non-Earthquake Rayquaza can win.

Umbreon
Kyogre can pass Substitutes, largely helping in the matchup, and Dugtrio can EncoreTaunt it.

Ursaring
Dealt with in the same way as Swellow.

Victreebel
Victreebel usually does not carry Leaf Blade as it is a special move, and is usually a physical attacker carrying the combination of Sludge Bomb and Earthquake. Rayquaza can defeat it easily and Ludicolo can revenge kill it. Special Victreebel straight up 6-0's.

Wobbuffet
Kyogre can Water Spout Wobbuffet to its doom. Kyogre can force the opponent to sacrifice a Pokemon or use Baton Pass to escape. Belly Drum Kabutops can set up on it. Choice Band Kabutops and Rayquaza can Band Trick Wobbuffet, ruining it. Ludicolo can set up on it. Dugtrio can EncoreTaunt it. All in all, the team has a pretty good Wobbuffet matchup.

Zapdos
Seemingly, Zapdos is more difficult to kill due to the Ground immunity. However, this has opened up a new Rock and Ice weakness, making everything supposedly walled by the Ground immunity (Kabutops, Rayquaza, Dugtrio) have the ability to hit Zapdos super effectively. Plus, Ludicolo can hit Zapdos super effectively with Ice Beam now, makings its matchup even worse.

This is my guide for using Dual Kabutops Rain in Generation 3 Pure Hackmons. I hope you enjoyed reading!

 

[AV Cosmoem]

Generation 3 Official Viability Rankings
Hello everyone, I wanted to create a viability rankings for Generation 3 Pure Hackmons because it is one of my favorite metas. The Pokemon in the ranks are ordered from top to bottom, the most effective Pokemon in the tier at the top. The Pokemon will have its niches in parentheses to the side. Here are what the niches mean:

Niche Meanings

Wallbreaker: A Pokemon that has immense raw power, and uses it to break down bulky walls in just one or two hits. Stallbreakers are counted here.
Sweeper: A Pokemon that can use a boosting move, a Choice Band, or the like to sweep mid-late game.
Cleaner: A Pokemon that uses high Speed in conjunction with strong offensive stats to clean up weakened Pokemon at the end of a match.
Setup: A Pokemon that uses boosting moves to perform its job better.
Revenge Killer: A Pokemon that uses a high Speed stat or priority in conjunction with good offensive stats to KO weakened Pokemon after a sacrifice.
Choice Band: A Pokemon that commonly uses a Choice Band to become powerful wallbreakers.
Lead: A Pokemon that can be effectively run in the lead slot. This includes anti-leads as well.
Weather: A Pokemon that sets or benefits from the weather. Typically Pokemon with the ability Chlorophyll or Swift Swim.
Anti-Weather: Pokemon that are very useful at stopping teams based around Sun and Rain. Anti-Weather Pokemon do not have to be good against both weathers to be Anti-Weather, and a Pokemon can be classed as both Weather and Anti-Weather.
Disruption: A Pokemon that uses strategies such as Tricking a Choice Band or using Encore + Taunt to disrupt the opponent.
Sleep Immune: A Pokemon that is immune to sleep.
Trapper: A Pokemon that uses its ability to trap opposing Pokemon and pick them off.
Wall: A Pokemon made to wall various threats of the metagame with high bulk and a good typing. Walls do not need a good typing, however. Some walls shine despite their poor typing.
Baton Pass: A Pokemon that passes Substitutes and stat boosts to teammates using Baton Pass.
Spikes: A Pokemon commonly used to set Spikes due to their good bulk, speed, or their ability to force switches.
Hazard Control: A Pokemon that commonly uses Rapid Spin to remove Spikes from their side of the field. They are chosen for their bulk, ability to force switches, and ability to threaten spinblockers.
Spinblocker: A Pokemon that uses its Ghost typing to block the move Rapid Spin, keeping Spikes up.

With that out of the way, let's get to the VR!

Viability Rankings

S Rank
The top dogs of the metagame. These Pokemon possess an amazing combination of incredible offenses, wonderful utility, and key defensive aspects that make the Pokemon in this group easy to fit onto teams. Most good teams will contain one or more of them.

Rayquaza (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Revenge Killer, Choice Band, Anti-Weather, Disruption)

Groudon (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Setup, Lead, Weather)

Latias (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Cleaner, Setup, Anti-Weather, Wall, Spikes)

Latios (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Cleaner, Setup, Anti-Weather, Wall, Spikes)

Lugia (Anti-Weather, Disruption, Wall, Baton Pass, Spikes, Hazard Control)

A Rank
Excellent Pokemon with great offensive and/or defensive capabilities, They tend to be among the first considerations for certain roles and can accomplish them very well, though they may require some team support to function.

A+

Kyogre (Wallbreaker, Lead, Weather, Wall, Baton Pass)

Deoxys-Attack (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Cleaner, Revenge Killer, Choice Band)

Skarmory (Wall, Hazard Control)

A

Dugtrio (Cleaner, Revenge Killer, Choice Band, Disruption, Trapper, Spikes)

Ninjask (Lead, Disruption, Baton Pass, Spikes)

A-

Slaking (Sweeper, Setup, Disruption)

Kabutops (Sweeper, Cleaner, Setup, Choice Band, Weather)

Mewtwo (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Cleaner, Setup, Revenge Killer, Lead)

B Rank
These Pokemon have decent offensive and/or defensive capabilities and can fulfill specific roles pretty well, but generally require larger degrees of support than other Pokemon.

B+

Victreebel (Sweeper, Cleaner, Setup, Revenge Killer, Weather)

Kingdra (Sweeper, Cleaner, Setup, Revenge Killer, Weather)

Banette (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Setup, Choice Band, Sleep Immune, Spikes, Hazard Control, Spinblocker)

Wobbuffet (Disruption, Trapper, Wall)

B

Metagross (Wallbreaker, Choice Band, Wall)

Ludicolo (Sweeper, Setup, Weather)

Porygon2 (Revenge Killer, Anti-Weather, Disruption, Trapper, Wall)

Raikou (Sweeper, Setup, Revenge Killer, Lead, Anti-Weather)

B-

Ho-oh (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Setup)

Lanturn (Anti-Weather, Wall)

Ursaring (Wallbreaker, Cleaner, Revenge Killer)

Suicune (Wall, Hazard Control)

C Rank
These Pokemon can fulfill specific niches, but are often very reliant on the team to help them function and minimize their flaws. They may also be mostly outclassed in some respects by other Pokemon.

C+

Heracross (Wallbreaker, Sweeper, Setup, Choice Band, Lead)

Blissey (Wall, Baton Pass)

C

Gyarados (Wallbreaker, Choice Band, Disruption, Wall, Hazard Control)

Jumpluff (Weather, Disruption, Baton Pass)

C-

Gengar (Sweeper, Setup, Revenge Killer, Disruption, Spinblocker)

Solrock (Anti-Weather, Wall, Spikes, Hazard Control)

Jirachi (Sweeper, Cleaner, Revenge Killer, Choice Band, Disruption)

D Rank
These Pokemon are only capable of doing very specific things. You will very rarely put these Pokemon as teammates, but rather you will find yourself building around them instead. Use these Pokemon with caution.

Dusclops (Wall, Spinblocker)

Machamp (Wallbreaker, Cleaner, Setup, Revenge Killer)

Regice (Weather, Wall)

Shedinja (Wallbreaker, Choice Band, Disruption, Wall)

That's the Generation 3 Official Viability Rankings. If you have any questions, you can ask on the thread. I hope you enjoyed the read, and have a nice day!