Metagame SS OU Metagame Discussion (Usage stats in post #944)

[PimpParasect]

I'm on the fence with dynamaxing, I do think the mechanic opens up a lot of interesting builds and helps a lot of pokemon muscle their way into viability, but that's kinda the issue.. it lets pokemon muscle through would-be solutions to them, and in the case of already decent ones, thats terrifying.

Counterplay is pretty restricted to using your own pokemon with max guard moves to stall out the dynamax turns, but then you're still looking at a sweeper without a direct way of switching out to stop it from setting up more and sweeping as a base mon, not accounting all the bonuses it got from using the max moves (speed, weather, damage).

I'm just not sure whether or not its as broken as believed to be, there's obviously some major abusers like gyarados, and some meh dynamaxes. Is the list of stuff thats just too much to handle big enough to take the mechanic removal approach, or small enough to just cherry pick out hard abusers similar to SM Z-moves (dyna Gyarados being this gen's Z-draco Naganadel)? In national OU, I can see nearly half of previous OU being way too difficult to counter without either running the same defensive cores every game to deal with them or straight up losing team select immidiately (volcarona vs. a nonchansey team comes to mind, especially since heatran can't phase it, also kartana, by the time you deal with them, the damage is already done and half your team is missing.), but in galar OU, I think the what-the-actual-fuck pool is a lot lower.

EDIT: Side note - Aegislash feels way less effective. Its still good as a defensive switch in, but I feel like thats it, it can't beat some of the dynamax pokemon head-on and it can't utilitize dynamax well itself beyond just to stall turns with its stats and max guard. 50/50s aren't too much of a concern because a lot of pokemon that do make contact with it either still threaten it, or can setup followed by a dynamax dark move that aegislash can't one shot to retaliate. Bisharp got a lot better with the King's Shield nerf, and with nothing to switch into knock off, aegislash switching out isn't as free as it used to be with mega stones and z-crystals. The only thing is that it still hard walls a lot of potential pokemon that would shine (namely hawlucha) but not an unhealthy amount like ORAS (where half the tier didn't exist on account of how ridiculously hard aegislash blocked them, and from memory most of the ones brought up were megas with celebi, starmie, and hawlucha anyway). Confident a lot of what he's currently walling wouldn't make OU material without him, or would open the flood gates to making a few other things in the tier a bit too much (D-max hawlucha). I think the fact somebody hit #1 without using it says a lot compared to X/Y where aegislash was being splashed on every team and a lot of what decided a team's viability was if an aegislash was on it to handle the metagame.

 

[Robot7620]

Potential fixes to Dynamaxing
Ok, so we all know how broken dynamaxing is rn. Is there anyway to fix it?
Here are my thoughts:
1) Shorten the duration
Instead 3 turns of broken sweeping, why not change it to 1? That will possess some similarity to Z-Moves which I liked before.
With regard to choice items and LO, I believe they can pick a new move but after that they will locked into it. As for LO they will avoid recoil for that turn, and I'm thinking about maybe minor buffs to other items?
2) Let Protect block it
Again, similar to Z-Moves, we can let protect block 1/2 of the normal damage (or was it block 3/4 of the normal damage idk) and let max guard block it completely as well as give the buff intended.
Of course if 1) is implemented, than not a lot of people will use Max Guard but whatever.
3) Revert weight-based moves
I'm not too sure about this one, but just like increase the weight of the pokemon by 1000x so therefore Heavy Slam is practically invalidated anyways unless you too are dynamaxed.
Ok now I'm going to look at the new meta rn.
We all know how blatantly broken this shit is, moving on.
If the tapus were here, this would probably be so much better.
I see this thing moving up insanely fast to OU until Gyarados is quickbanned, due to it being the only safe check as of rn.
I'm sorry, I couldn't find the galarian form sprite.

This mon is insanely hard to deal with rn, the rapid spin buff practically means SR is barely used on teams that see a drill on the opposing team or just until the drill is gone (my tactic).
All the spinblockers hate switching into any of other Exca's moves (gengar and corviknight get oneshot by EQ before you can say fuck your speed boost)
Heavy Duty Boots
I see this thing becoming manadatory on Centiskorch especially on teams lacking Excadrill or some other spinner
It also works extremely well on Pelipper and Gyarados especially Gyarados as it doesn't really need LO or Lefties and it prevents some key KOs that other mons would have otherwise netted
Just a quick overview from the 20 something battles I've done over the about 10 shitty teams I've made with no knowledge whatsoever.
Edit: also berries are just completely useless rn with everything getting 1 shot or 2 shot
another edit: let dynamaxed be phazed i know it hasn't been impleneted yet so keep it that way plz

 

[Colonel M]

Isn't Liquidation for Barraskewda a much better option than waterfall?

Outside of Dynamax Waterfall has a 20% flinch chance. While you shouldn't rely on this, it could bail you out in a pinch situation from time to time.

Liquidation is better on slower Pokemon like Golisopod.

 

[PimpParasect]

Potential fixes to Dynamaxing
Ok, so we all know how broken dynamaxing is rn. Is there anyway to fix it?
Here are my thoughts:
1) Shorten the duration
Instead 3 turns of broken sweeping, why not change it to 1? That will possess some similarity to Z-Moves which I liked before.
With regard to choice items and LO, I believe they can pick a new move but after that they will locked into it. As for LO they will avoid recoil for that turn, and I'm thinking about maybe minor buffs to other items?
2) Let Protect block it
Again, similar to Z-Moves, we can let protect block 1/2 of the normal damage (or was it block 3/4 of the normal damage idk) and let max guard block it completely as well as give the buff intended.
Of course if 1) is implemented, than not a lot of people will use Max Guard but whatever.
3) Revert weight-based moves
I'm not too sure about this one, but just like increase the weight of the pokemon by 1000x so therefore Heavy Slam is practically invalidated anyways unless you too are dynamaxed.

Don't believe we alter mechanics of the game, afterall none of this can be replicated on the cartridge like sleep clause can.

Only thing we can control is the dynamax level allowed, dynamax pokemon can be either 50% or 100% boosted in health, at least that can be physically controlled to restrict it to a 50% health boost, making a few things a bit more managable to revenge kill or flat out still win 1 on 1. Still, I think the current abusers we're looking at right now aren't broken because of the health boost, they're just overwhelmingly strong offensively and cripple your team too hard before expiring, and even after expiring, still reap the benefits of the max moves such as stat increases, terrain, and weather.

 

[Sugaku]

Yo, The Dynamax is an Incredible powercreep... But I said for this mon

Dracozolt @ Choice Scarf/Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Earthquake
- Low Kick
- Outrage

Bolt Break double his damage if he hit first (170 BP + Hustle). Ditto is the best scraf in this meta ofc, but this mon is pretty good, very good revenge killer and wallbreaker.

Drill is a very good option for Barraskewda (close, drill, liquid and poison jab is a very good set) to hit Aegislash.

 

[DiscoDucky]

what are the general thoughts on coalossal? i feel like it won't be great but it has a niche with good support moves like rapid spin, spikes, rocks, wisp etc. and the ability to be a check to stuff like ferrothorn and other steel types. obviously though the type can be very bad because of huge weaknesses to ground and water so i just wanted to know what people think abt the mon

Steam Engine gives +6 Speed upon being hit with a Fire or a Water move. Coalossal theoretically would be able to punish Fire spam because of itx 4x resistance, but its Attacking stats are just too bad for it to make anything meaningful out of that +6 Speed. FYI, +6 Speed on Adamant Coalossal with 252 Spe yields 536 Spe.

 

[Ema Skye]

Been using a bunch of stuff throughout the day. Preliminary thoughts are as follows:

• Rillaboom: Was fun using this while it still had the HA. Should be dominate when it gets released because it's basically Tapu Bulu sans Fairy-type in terms of stats. Gets all the same coverage moves too.
• Corviknight: This is a Talonflame-level early bird! It's about as physically defensive as Skarmory and it's more specially bulky. No hazards though means it doesn't do much when tanking hits. I do think Mirror Armor is worth considering though. Reflecting the drops from Max Phantasm/Wyrmwind/Darkness make the Gigamax actually easier to deal with, and it's hilarious switching into a Max Flutterby to inflict the Sp.A drop. Also getting random bonuses like a -SpD drop from Shadow Ball or a -SpA from Moonblast. Situational, but it's very effective when it works.
• Orbeetle: Probably the best webs user now without Smeargle. Bulky enough to take some hits so it can set up Webs multiple times if needbe. U-Turn and Recover are also pretty awesome for utility. Body Press runs off of the Def stat and prevents Ttar from coming in.
• Eldegoss: Thought this would be like Tangrowth as a bulky Regen grass. Then I found out it doesn't get any non-Grass moves so it's really bad. Packs a lot of utility though in case you ever need Sleep+Spin in one mon.
• Coalossal: Thought this would be bad given the Magcargo typing. Actually very surprised. Stealth Rock + Spikes + Spin is fantastic role compression, though usually you only need one hazard. Wisp is also great. I've been running AV and it's pretty effective (3 attacks + spin). 110/90/90 with AV is very bulky, even with the array of weaknesses. Also not a fan of Steam Engine given how slow you are at -6 (and also trying to sweep with 80/80 offenses.
• Hatterne: Initially dismissed this as a bad Reuniclus but then I got around to playing with it more. Anything with Magic Bounce should at least warrant consideration. Unblockable Trick Room (since it can't be Taunted) is fantastic. Mystical Fire means it has a reliable way to beat Ferro (Reuniclus needs Focus Blast to land - at least twice). Plus native Psychic stab means you dismantle FerroPex, and you reflect the hazards they try to put up (also at min spd, Ferro Gyro Ball is a 3HKO, while you OHKO with LO Mystical Fire). Since so many teams are running HO right now, TR is amazing at screwing them over.
• Pincurchin: This is one I want to play with more. It invokes KokoLucha and I think it might even be better. Set up the Terrain so you don't need to waste a turn of Lucha Dynamax to set it up. Set up a Spike or two, and the Memento to give you the freest Dynamax of your life.
• Indedee: What is Lele were a balanced mon? Offensive Dedee shares Lele's 96 spd tier, and gets a similar moveset with Psychic STAB and Fairy coverage. Mystical Fire is a gamechanger though, as it breaks through Ferro much easier. Scarf with Trick as the fourth move seems surprisingly solid, though I want to test it more.
• Copperajah: Thought it would be good in TR., as Play Rough, Iron Head, Rock Slide and Zen Headbutt all get the Sheer Force + LO boost. In reality, the coverage just isn't there. Bulk wise, it's comparable to Excadrill (so not ideal), which is surprising given that it invokes Donphan so much. Very underwhelming.
• Arctozolt: Only fossil I've tried. Getting solid Electric STAB is awesome given that Wild Charge is awful. BoltBeam STAB is only seen by Rotom-F, which has a huge opportunity cost. This one needs Trick Room though or it's not going to be strong enough. Abilities are also pretty underwhelming.
• Dragapult: Specs seems to be the way to go as you get both STABs firing off the same stat without needing to use the recharge turn of Phantom Force. It also gives you a way to hit Steels, which you really need as a Dragon. Unfortunately, it gets walled by so many Fairies due to only having Steel Wing as an option to hit them. But I guess it doesn't fear them as much as Kommo-o or Hydreigon do. Also, I recommend Modest over Timid unlike Showdown suggests, as you'll tie with base 125s (which is just Weavile, which you aren't staying in on anyways) and the only thing in the game between 142 and 125 speed is Jolteon.
• Galar Weezing: Not a fan of Neutralizing Gas but love Levitate here. This one screws over pretty much every Dragon here, with an immunity to their STAB and a primary coverage move, as well as a 4x resist to another primary STAB. The Poison neutrality means Flash Cannon/Iron Head is the only way Dragons beat it. It also has an insane support pool: Toxic, Aromatherapy, Defog, Wisp and Haze being standouts. Totally recommend this guy; it's only flaw is an unreliable recovery due to Pain Split (it is basically a full heal against a dynamax though!)
• Galar Corsola: This is one bulky mofo. 60/100/100 is insane, and forms a fantastic core with FerroPex (you get all three hazards and a spinblocker). No spinner can break Corsola, especially when it has all of Wisp, Night Shade and Haze to prevent itself from being setup fodder. Right now it feel like a big gimmick to deal with the powercreep, akin to Alolan Marowak last gen, so we'll see if it stays. Reduced Knock Off distribution really helps right now too.
• Galar Darmanitan: Don't feel this is broken as it really struggles to break through bulky waters (Jellicent in particular). That said, it's strong as hell (Banded Flare Blitz is a 2HKO on standard Pex lel). Needs some hazard support as it will be going in and out a lot. Great at weakening stuff through U-Turn as it causes lots of switches. Should be an OU staple.

And other non-new stuff:

• Aegislash: Right now I'm not feeling like it's broken, but I don't know if that's just because Dynamax does a great job of keeping it in check. 3 attacks is still pretty solid and Stance Change is still as janky as ever. This one is going to need more time.
• Gyarados: Power Whip is so stupid lmao. I genuinely don't know what stops this. Right now I've only had luck by predicting the max move and switching to a resist. Toxapex feels like the only thing that keeps this in check.
• Hydreigon: Thought Dragon Dance would be awesome to prevent revenge kills, I've got more mileage out of the old Scarf set though. Haven't tried NP yet. Could be a sleeper though.
• Jellicent: Wasn't sure how effective bulky Waters would be due to Power Whip being a coverage move for lots of Pokemon now, but Jelly puts in work. Strength Sap is awesome and it still has fantastic synergy with Ferrothorn. Strength Sap is awesome at stalling out Max Moves, and it's already immune to Max Knuckle (so no Atk boosts through max moves). Sap + Wisp shuts down lots of physical mons, and it's a solid check to Barraskewda as a result (fearing only Max Darkness due to the Def drop).
• Ditto: feels like a requirement on nearly every team due to how easy it is to max. The presence of Ditto incentivizes delaying the Max since Ditto can always come in and countersweep due to the boosts. Also leads to a lot of teambuilding strategy so you can prevent a countersweep, because Ditto is on (what feels like) every other team.
• Hawlucha: Only Dynamax that Ditto can't revenge, which makes it a fantastic Dynamax choice. If you can set up the terrain with Indedee/Pincurchin, you're golden. Close Combat is awesome here as you don't need to worry about Aegislash switching into your HJK.

 

[1234hjkl]

After testing the meta gonna give some thoughts of my impressions till now.

New mons I used

Grimmsnarl is pretty dope, the typing itself it's pretty good, thanks to prankster it can be a wincon or be good support mon setting screens, spreading paralysis and on. Very pleased with Gains Goblin.

Dragapult it's kinda mediocre as DD, the real gold in my opinion is on mixed sets, the usual switch-ins for it bulky steels can't take too well a shadow ball or fire blast to the face, if you really hate pex then you use Tbolt or Psychic fangs, it also got some nifty tools like U-turn and Wow, I can see some unusual sets like Mixed DD coming up but I think Aoa mixed will be better.

Galar-Darmanitan is a beast, the choiced sets are absolutely brutal, you either nuke faster or nuke harder or do both and use BD Zen-Mode.

Eisicue is gimmicky, if your opponent don't have any special attackers it can sweep, but I think it's a little too situational.

Rillaboom works kinda like Bulu, it trades a bit of a lower atk for better speed and the loss of fairy type, but it got some neat toys, like knock off, U-turn and taunt, I really liked the ape, pity the HA isn't released.

Old mons I used

Rotom-W is pretty good in this meta, it saved my hide a lot of times even with Mold-Drill being spammed a lot, I think it might go down a little when more gyarados start packing Power whip to break through it.

Gyarados is a monster with dynamax, DDD set with either ground or grass coverage can sweep a lot of teams, I been thinking about using a set without DD and max coverage, in theory you use Windstream to get a 1+ then if you can get a 1+ on attack you just keep snowballing from there while breaking through the usual checks like Tox and Rotom.

Aegislash really feels a little weaker, this meta is not kind to it and the nerfs aren't doing any favor, it still doing a lot of aegis things like being a pretty good glue but even when I see an opposing aegis I feel it's more manageable. Also I seeing a lot of people choosing CC over sacred sword, The extra power might look attractive but dropping your defenses doesn't look like a nice trade-off, I can't think of many situations were CC would do better than SS, maybe I just need to test myself.

Hawlucha got a great boost this gen with two good stabs in BB and CC, I seen some people using the Herb+Umburden set but I been thinking of a Mold Breaker set with SD+stabs+Zen headbutt or taunt could work as a good stallbreaker, even a good D-Max if you can safely get a Windstream.

Gothitelle has been extremely underwhelming, I been trying to use it and most of the times I felt like I was playing 5x6, the only thing it can do is PP-stall and even then it can only do it to some extremely passive mons, the trick sets are garbage it lacks good coverage and even if you trick something unless its something mega passive it can just Dynamax and break through it, the meta is very unforgiving to it.

Hydreigon is a beast, It set ups and spams dark pulse till something dies but people are getting awfully creative with it, even saw a replay were someone used NP on a scarf drei then D-max it outspeeding a lof of mons of the oponent while killing everything with the stabs. Its kinda cool Dynamax let you ignore the locking of the choice items, but if G-Darm and that drei set are an example they can let to some things very difficult to play around.

Gengar is very strong, NP already made a very good mon a very dangerous one, I believe the NP+3attacks and the sub-hex set are going to be the best sets to gengar.

 

[bruno]

I played whenever i had free time today under the name rapier strike, honestly super sick meta so far, had to stop playing after seeing ppl run around with genesect and arceus. im actually on the fence about dynamax atm, i do think it deserves more time though and it's really not as bad as people are making it out to be.

anyway i wanted to talk a little bit about the 2 teams I used today, to both show people how the meta kind of looks like and throw in some ideas to develop things further

https://pokepast.es/b34fca619209d24a

this is the Actual first team I tried making once I finally understood how dynamax worked. Since unlike sm u can p much dynamax with whoever u want at any pt, I wanted to try setup spam, and I was finally convinced after seeing flcl sweep ppl with the tea. In the end though the idea was just ho and then the fish thrown in there to swift swim sweep lategame after gyara sets up rain upon dynamaxing(although I had some games where it set up rain for itself too). had boots on gyara in case drill failed to do it's job.
the tea is actually pretty sick. weak armor saved me a ton of times when I needed to have all my sacs alive, bc u can just throw it in on a threat then get weak armor and fire off an sball w 134 base spatk.
the aegi set is pretty cheesy but sometimes it autowins some games, it def needs balloon on this team though bc gyaras not enough for opposing drill.

https://pokepast.es/b198531fb5886c0e

I made this team in 5 minutes when blunder asked me for a darm team to record with lol, then I ran up with it on ladder and realized it's actually cool. Darm is easily, easily the most fun to use in the whole meta. Its so absurdly strong I can never have enough of it.
One thing I realized while using darm is that most pokemon are actually super fast or super slow, especially the new ones. 317 actually felt like enough to be considered decent speed control bc the mons that outsped me were levels beyond(barraskewda and dragapult for ex), which is a big stepdown from the tornadus/greninja/mega lati kind of metagame.
Another thing I wanna talk about here is that hawlucha though, although I know most people know of it by now. Not sure if Mannat actually made this or not but I saw a replay w him using this and it's just so sick. You basically activate terrain w dynamax tpunch which means lucha gets unnerve and, the most important factor of all here, is unable to get revenge killed by ditto unlike other sweepers. This is why to me atm luchas probably looking like the most potent dynamax mon. dynamax fighting and flying raise atk/speed as well. anyway not much else to talk about but sneak on aegi saved my ass every other game. also apparently hydres not supposed to be able to have roost and same with tox on aegi so this teams prob dead once they fix things.
Also Charizard actually is a bigass threat. dynamax fire activates sun+solar power+dynamax hurricane boosting speed is extremely obnoxious. I almost got swept on lead by someone running fblast/hurricane/focus/rest w chesto berry bc it was way too bulky

anyway just wanted to talk a little about how things are looking. def encourage people to try the metagame! it's the most fun I've had in some time

 

[MANNAT]

Wanted to post about some cool mons I've been using since the tier dropped that I've really liked. Everyone knows about the broken sweepers like Lucha, Gyara, Toge, etc and I wanted to draw attention to some other cool stuff, specifically some nice bulk up users.

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Mirror Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 220 SpD / 40 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird
- Roost

Not 100% sure about the EVs, probably want a bit more speed creep like enough speed to jump drag at +2 or something, but SubBU SpD Corviknight has been absolutely savage. This thing completely shuts down Excadrill and makes for a surprisingly potent win condition with speedboosting from BB in conjunction with BU boosts. I much prefer Sub over Power Trip or even Taunt because it means you can sub on stuff like Pex and Corsola (predicting wisp) and generally dodge annoying status. It can also be nice after you've speedboosted to burn dynamax turns from the opposition if need be. Cool set overall, nice utility mon on a ton of teams that I've liked so far.

Grimmsnarl (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Darkest Lariat / Spirit Break

Grimmsnarl makes for a fantastic prankster wincon as well as a check to a ton of stuff with a specially defensive set. Grimmsnarl is easily the best Dragapult counter in the tier and checks a ton of other cool stuff by virtue of its typing. SpD + Prankster BU Resttalk lets it set up really easily and can make for some funny sweeps against unprepared teams. I've really liked Darkest Lariat as the STAB move of choice to win the 1v1 vs Corv and opposing Grimmsnarl, but Spirit Break is probably better in all other situations and it's what I've used more often. Really fun mon that I recommend everyone tries. Babiri Berry can be a fun tech to surprise Excadrill, but I find Leftovers recovery to be pretty invaluable for this set when checking special attackers, especially Dragapult.

Just a general comment on sweepers and breakers in general, Substitute is really nice for stuff that doesn't have a way of easily circumventing Ditto (Lucha) so that it cant copy and reverse sweep you, makes the matchup a lot less stressful to play without the threat of getting reverse swept at any second. I've found this especially useful on Hydreigon and Gyarados.

 

[PokePoindexter]

Possibly unpopular opinion here: Let's give it a couple more weeks before we decide whether or not to ban Dynamaxing. New gameplay mechanics will always throw a wrench into how you play a game at first. People thought Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves were broken when they were first introduced as well, but cries for them to be banned became less vociferous as more players adapted to their existences. We're all still stumbling around and getting accustomed to this new metagame, so I think it's too early to decide whether or not Dynamaxing is banworthy or not.

On a different note, Duraludon runs a surprisingly good Assault Vest set.

 

[Marzbar]

I don’t have the powers that be to request a policy review, but I was wondering if Baton Pass could be suspect tested / the Baton Pass clause removed for the start of Gen 8?

Before I get attacked, I just think with the restricted Pokédex, removal of Z moves, removal of many threats, brand new Pokémon and abilities etc, Baton Pass should be reassessed. And yes I know Dragapult gets it.

 

[GnuGnu]

People have talked about the obvious stuff so I'll just mention some random things that I've tried.

Boots Shedinja is really interesting. By the end of Gen 7, Shedinja had a number of viable item options but I was always partial to Focus Sash because it was more forgiving for misplays. But Boots removes the entire stress of "i need to keep hazards off the field or this pokemon is literally useless". Given that good defog options are quite low due to dexit and Mega-Sab being non-existent, I imagine boots will become quite commonplace on this thing. It felt nice to play really recklessly with it, and although it still is an extremely high risk pokemon, it is no longer useless if a single hazard is placed down.

There's a hilarious lack of viable electric types anymore so I've been using Jolteon and it's not bad. This pokemon functions basically exactly how it always has but now has very little competition.

Hatterene has its flaws but magic bounce is just an amazing ability and it's a good enough pokemon that I think this thing will be used a lot. I'm still not sure how to build this optimally yet but its STAB combo + Mystical Fire really handles the FerroPex cores that everyone is spamming.

On a general note, this was the least fun I've ever had playing pokemon ever. It's funny cos I hated all the negativity preceding the release and even was pretty excited after the data mining showed a lot of potentially viable pokemon this gen. But as soon as I played it, I really hated every second. Obviously, the balance is completely bonkers but I don't think that's it cos I've played competitive since Gen 3 and still enjoyed the chaos of early Gen 6 and other completely broken metas when the games first came out. Dexit certainly contributes to this as it's kind of insane to open up the team builder and so many pokemon just don't exist. As someone who almost exclusively plays OU, I'm not used to such restrictions and I definitely dampened my mood a little.

I just find Dynamax extremely not fun and lame. I really disagree with the notion that it opens up team building, I feel like it does that far less than both the Mega and the Z-Move mechanic. I think the fact that those mechanics were specific to a single pokemon per team (pre-decided before the battle) made them much more fun and intuitive to build teams around. With Dynamax, you never know when you might have to "defensive dynamax" or adjust things on the fly so its actually way too risky to build around, so it mostly gets relegated to that thing you do in battles. The only exception to that are the hilariously broken abusers of the mechanic, they are worth building around but they aren't gonna last long in the meta due to there being very little counter play to them. If you're not using one of those abusers, I don't actually think Dyna-max is super broken, if anything it feels underwhelming. Mega and Z-Moves were often used aggressively but they actually had a variety of applications for other defensive purposes. Dyna-max is basically only good for abusive sweepers and defending abusive sweepers and not much else. The fact that if you're a support pokemon, all your moves become useless is a big tell to how lopsided the usefulness of the mechanic is. I know Z-Moves were controversial around here but I'd take them any day over this thing, even if they were mostly used offensively, there were still unique Z-Moves for every support move in the game's existence and gave that mechanic a lot of variety and utility. I don't enjoy playing against this thing, nor using it, and it definitely doesn't inspire me to team build outside the "let's see how broken I can make a specific pokemon" game.

I definitely don't agree with changing the mechanic as that's unprecedented and I'm not even sure I'd like it removed. I don't even want to whine about it really, just sharing my experience. I'll still be playing and seeing how the meta develops, especially after things inevitably get banned but I have a feeling that still won't help things for me. I 100% expected things to be broken out of the gates, and I'm fine with that, but I didn't expect it to be this unfun.

 

[LORD SAGIS]

I'm gonna post some cool sets I've been using.



Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword

This set is basically SubToxic but since toxic isn't legal yet I replaced it with Sacred Sword. Does normal Aegislash things with added benefit of SpD investment to be even better at checking Special attackers while lots of physical attackers hate dealing with King's Shield.



Hydreigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn
- Nasty Plot

NP U-turn Hydreigon is really cool because it gives a slow U-turn against faster teams, and a good Balance/Stall breaker. This set offers a lot of utility and hope more people pick up on it.



Tyranitar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake

Under screens, this thing just wins. This is further boosted by Dynamaxing to make it even harder to Revenge kill. Ttar has like 6/7 weakness and it can set up on like 5 of them because of its bulk under screens. Because of that, WP works really well here.



Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off/Facade/Poison Jab

I did this as a joke but I ended up really liking it. Conk is pretty good against most stealth rockers. This set provides, Wallbreaking, Priority, a Status Sponge, and Hazard Control. The last move is really what you want. Knock Off for ghosts, Facade against everything else, and Poison Jab so Clefable becomes less annoying.

124 Speed EVs outspeed uninvested Clefable.

 

[ab15]

Gonna ignore Dynamaxing til we know all of the mechanics in detail and it's implemented correctly.

YES please. People are complaining about it when we don't know all of the mechanics.
Is it confirmed that choice band does not work for dyna mons. What about life orb ect...?

Actually, Body Press is a big damn deal (IMO). Notably, Cofagrigus (and it's Galorian variant) and Bronzong (and Avalugg and some other notable mons) get it, letting them do serious damage (OHKO/2HKO, depending on how the mechanic works) to Tyranitar and Bisharp (and Excadrill), which earlier were huge threats that could switch in and Pursuit trap or threaten to set up.

Also does heavy slam do more damage if you are dyna'd?

 

[UHX]

Something I want to raise is how absurdly good corviknight can be. A large proportion of its checks are trapped and killed by dugtrio, which can make it almost impossible to kill. Bulk up + power trip is incredibly strong because at + 6 in both atk and defence it reaches an insane 260 bp allowing it to breeze past almost all mons, and corviknight gets lots of set-up opportunities, as it can walls so many physical attackers.

Sets

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Screech
- Stone Edge

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Mirror Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 200 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Power Trip
- Bulk Up
- Defog/brave bird/substitute
- Roost

My opinion of the gigantamaxing is that it in itself isn't broken, but has a number of abusers that can be broken such as gyra and lucha, who have very few checks. gyarados's really only check is corsola, as PW is almost a given, invalidating rotom and jellicent as checks. With so few checks, I would say it is broken. Another thing, it could run max crunch just to screw over corsola, which makes it even more threatening. As for luch, need i say more? max knuckle is already incredible, pair it with unburden, and great coverage and it's amazing. to further that it's unburden ability stops ditto from being able to revenge it.

 

[Take Azelfie]

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Superpower

I'm really happy the Crab made it back. Kind of an awkward mon to talk about since it hella sucks to have this mon on your team in this Gyarados/Lucha stage meta but I digress. This mon is hella good at shattering FerroPex as long as you get a good read which is important since it's one of the only defensive cores remaining in the tier right now. Priority also feels more scarce than before which makes Crawdaunt's Aqua Jet pretty priceless. Crawdaunt can also randomly benefit off of Rain being set up by your opponent by powering up Aqua Jet even further. Finally is the fact that this is really good Excadrill counter regardless of the position Excadrill is in making it super great in those matchups.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Substitute

Substitute Aegislash is such a great mon right now. It's ability to improvise scenarios with King's Shield + Substitute gives it a distinct niche on being able to pray on anything that's too passive. It's extremely polarizing to go against but also really great to use. I don't want to talk much about bans and whatever since things should be taken one step out at a time but Aegislash will most definitely need to be looked at more, it's not that it's any less oppressive as it was before it's just being out highlighted by Hawlucha/Gyarados at the moment and is most certainly still as powerful as it was before. Oh yeah it's also like the only Hawlucha check omegalul.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8oubeta-1011198619 - A replay showing that you need to be respecting Dynamax, it's not a "surprise mechanic" but it's something you should evaluate from your opponent at all times. There are going to be bad moments where you shouldn't worry about it but this exchange clearly favored me and blew my opponent out of the water.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8oubeta-1011211211 - People are talking about how 'Ditto is necessary' and I really don't see it. Sure this meta encourage boost and sweep more than any other meta and that's makes Ditto deadweight less often but it still retains it's same issues it always had and that's the fact you have control of what Ditto turns into most of the time. It prevents you from sweeping but having a whatever mon who probably can trade will more than likely do more than what Ditto is doing. Unless you are like bad and let Ditto on you I totally haven't speed boosted thinking I'll outspeed Ditto with scarf Galv even though it has both Scarf and +1.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8oubeta-1011206239 - A lot of people have been saying Dynamax is a brain dead mechanic which also isn't it true. A lot of the time you can't win off just clicking your dynamax move and will require you set up a scenario where the sweep works just like any sweeper in the past. Even stuff like Gyarados isn't completely free due to it's speed tier that sets it below choice scarf mons and the fact it can only steamroll after a +1 boost and that's only if they don't have any Gyara checks left/or they are incredibly weakened.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8oubeta-1011216131 - Similarly dynamax is not going to be the only way you can win the game. I got too quick on the trigger here and completely washed my Dynamax away. Also just goes to show what Aegislash can do at a basic level and how much it gets away with.

None of these replays are really meant to show off what the meta is like just thought I would use that as examples as discussion. In case you couldn't tell I think Dynamax is a fine mechanic. Dynamax Flying moves are absurdly strong (as in any time giving speed to other mons is) but for the most part I think this mechanic leaves for a lot of interesting exchanges and adds a new level of gameplay depth. Though of course that isn't too say this mechanic is 100% perfect I think it's very suitable for competitive play. I also know bans/suspects/whatever won't be happening for awhile but I'm just gonna throw out that Hawlucha/Gyarados will probably the first ones to be suspected (Gyarados 100%, Hawlucha 100% when Rillaboom's HA gets released) and then I expect to see an Aegislash suspect sometime after. I can also see a Kyurem Black suspect down the line when that thing drops but I never thought of it as completely broken though that was in a playtest meta featuring stuff like Keldeo, Jirachi, Terrakion, and Melmetal while also dealing with Hawlucha, Ferrothorn, and Aegislash.

 

[LRJ87]

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Superpower

I'm really happy the Crab made it back. Kind of an awkward mon to talk about since it hella sucks to have this mon on your team in this Gyarados/Lucha stage meta but I digress. This mon is hella good at shattering FerroPex as long as you get a good read which is important since it's one of the only defensive cores remaining in the tier right now. Priority also feels more scarce than before which makes Crawdaunt's Aqua Jet pretty priceless. Crawdaunt can also randomly benefit off of Rain being set up by your opponent by powering up Aqua Jet even further. Finally is the fact that this is really good Excadrill counter regardless of the position Excadrill is in making it super great in those matchups.

i would play close combat > super power, since it doesn't drop your attack

 

[lydian]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to chime in with my first impressions. So, dynamax is undoubtedly broken, I think we can all agree on that. But these broken early gen metagames are also kind of fun, when you mix the ridiculousness of the new mechanics with the novelty of the new Pokémon. Obviously a fun metagame is not good, but it's still a little something I wanted to point out because it makes my life a lot easier laddering (I can't stand playing more than like 3 ladder games in a row in SM anymore LOL). This metagame is definitely more offense oriented but bulky offense is still great and honestly a lot better than what I expected. I think the value of dynamax to that kind of team is a lot more than what I originally expected. Having a double HP Toxapex, Clefable, or Ferrothorn for a couple turns can really help to stomach a hit from that Gyarados / Hawlucha. So now my general thoughts on some of the new Pokémon (since most people seem to be talking about the old mons anyway):

Barraskewda
I think this just might be the best of the new Pokémon. Choice Band Barraskewda hits insanely hard, so it can really skew up your plans. It's speed is unrivalled under rain, and it's coverage is really out of this world. It can also straight up give itself free rain with dynamax so it's not even exclusive to rain teams or anything.

Dragapult
My new favorite pseudo is definitely up there as one of the best new Pokémon. I originally expected Dragon Dance to be the best before release but now Specs and Mixed (mixed DD is cool too) are looking the best. This pokémon has a lot going for it between a really colorful special coverage, outstanding speed (fuck you alola!), and arguably the best physical dragon move in the game (in singles that is).

Galarian Corsola
This thing is really fat and really good. It also has some outstanding moves for a wall like this, Stealth Rock, Strenght Sap, Will-O-Wisp, and Night Shade is all you need really. I can definitely see this being OU and even scarier when the metagame stabilizes and things are sorted out.

Galarian Darmanitan
CBCBDARM! This thing is literally impossible to switch into, jeez. Choice Scarf is also a really good revenge killer and it can literally just win versus some teams on its own if plays well. Can't wait to see how it fares in the long run, but I'm sure it's gonna perform really good simply because of how risk free this Pokémon is.

Corviknight
Corviknight is great. Bulk Up is pretty strong and it's typing is obviously a godsend. Corviknight will definitely take the place of Skarmory and Celesteela. Too bad it doesn't get Stealth Rock or Spikes, but it's gonna be a great mon nonetheless. Also looks like one of the better Defoggers if I may so add.

Grimmsnarl
Grimmsnarl is a lot better than what I originally thought before release. Dual Screens is obviously where it shines the most, having access to Taunt and Thunder Wave too. But offensive utility sets can be really good and Prankster Thunder Wave should never be underestimated.

Now I'll talk a bit about the team I used:

FIRE ON MARZZ

I think HO is really good right now. It obviously has some bad matchups, and I'm pretty bad at piloting it, but I think this is a pretty good team for this early meta. Everything should be pretty straight forward here. Excadrill for hazards, Grimmsnarl for screens, and the other four just wreak havoc. I'm convinced the other four are kind of locks just because of how undeniably good they are in a HO environment, Dynamax really pushes all four way over the edge and they all can sweep so easily. Aegislash uses a simple double dance set that can honestly destroy a lot of stuff especially since it has really good bulk to set up. A similar thing happens with Gyarados where it has great natural bulk, but just on a far more extreme level. Getting attack raises with Moxie and speed raises with Max Airstream on top of the Dragon Dance boosts is just insane. Kommo-o and it's new signature move are also really stupid broken too. Not only is it extremely bulky after set up, but Max Knuckle and Max Ooze can help further increase Kommo-o's attacking stats. Last but not least there's Hawlucha. I wanted something to outspeed Galarmanitan and Hawlucha is just deadly like in general. Not only does its STAB combo is one of the best but you can also get the best possible boosts with them. That's basically it for the team. Hope you guys enjoy :)

Team

Evil Spider (Grimmsnarl) (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt

Want Me Back (Aegislash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Claw
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Autotomize

Wishful Thinking (Excadrill) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Glitter (Kommo-o) @ Life Orb
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Clanging Scales
- Poison Jab
- Clangorous Soul

Afterlife (Hawlucha) @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Soaked (Gyarados) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Power Whip
- Dragon Dance

 

[Badger]

To all of those who think that trapping should be banned- all I gotta say is that it really beats down stall teams and forces them to run shed shell. That's all it does. The new mons this game hit too hard and are too fast to trap/abuse, and I think that it's the opposite of centeralizing. It gives a use to many mons, and although gothitelle is a pain in the butt, it's harder to fit on teams and it's decently easy to counter. Dugtrio is sort of a problem, but there's no mons that have 1-low enough speed to trap effecively or 2- have enough of a niche to be forced to run duggy to counter them.

In conclusion- your pex gonna get trapped? Run a shed shell and maybe a u-turn corviknight.

 

[garatoi]

• Copperajah: Thought it would be good in TR., as Play Rough, Iron Head, Rock Slide and Zen Headbutt all get the Sheer Force + LO boost. In reality, the coverage just isn't there. Bulk wise, it's comparable to Excadrill (so not ideal), which is surprising given that it invokes Donphan so much. Very underwhelming.

I don't agree since this monster has heat crash, power whip, earthquake : he has one of the best coverage in the game. I know these moves aren't boosted by sheer force but it doesn't matter because they are powerful enough to break through lots of defensive mons. The moves you cite are all walled by steel mons so yes it will not be good.
For example with life orb heat crash OHKO ferro and 2OHKO Corviknight full def. Earthquake 2OHKO pex. Power Whip has 31.3% chance to OHKO defensive rotom, 2OHKO pyukumuku.
I even think his other ability is better because an heavy slam with guarranted 120 bp deals more damge than iron head with sheer force and heat crash will also always be 120 bp.
I know the point of your set is to not take damage from life orb but i don't think this is the best way to play copperajah.

I don't even talk about gigamaxing copperajah, especially with G-Max Steelsurge which puts rocks (not implemented yet i think)

 

[Suck Tzu]

Mew is the most versatile mon out there, but is leaning toward the "OMG SO OP (rage quit)" category.
The secondary effect of the dynamax move, with its access to some of the strongest moves makes it unparalleled in the beta.
Physical: its combination of sword dance and dynamax Sky Attack (raising the speed) and Close Combat (raising the attack), it is unstoppable.
And Special: its combination of nasty plot dynamax Hurricane and Sludge Wave (raising the special att), make it, again, unstoppable.
Plus a little investment in HP, you can start sweeping turn 2.
In this situation, is it worthy of a ban ?

 

[trubbish]

My thoughts on dynamaxing are really conflicted. I know we don't technically know all the details of how the mechanic works, but I am seriously doubtful that we will be surprised with any mechanic changes. Besides, I think what we do know, that a Pokemon gets 3 turns of Z-move like attacks with incredible secondary effects, is already troubling, so I would like to just focus on that. I do not know what the policy for these things is, but I have read many arguments regarding them and I would like to just share my thoughts.

The Good:
Dynamax is interesting because it makes a lot of Pokemon very much more self-reliant. In the past, Pokemon who rely on weather needed to be built into a certain team archetype, which had to include certain Pokemon like Pelipper, Politoed, Ninetales, Tyranitar, etc. And while that is still true to an extent, many Pokemon are capable of achieving their weather goals on their own through their dynamax. Barraskewda is a good example, able to grant itself not only a powerful water attack but also simultaneously set up rain activating it's swift swim. Someone above mentioned Solar Power Charizard- once only a gimmick since it required partnership with an already niche mon. Now, you can benefit Charizard and it doesn't even particularly require much effort, as you can build Charizard normally and let ride on the capability of having a powerful Fire stab that also sets up Sun. In short, it allows many Pokemon to combo into themselves. Some may argue that this is good for allowing new strategies while others may argue it limits counter-team building and steps in the face of what Pokemon is supposed to be. Idk what the true answer is, but what have you.

In addition, it gives each Pokemon a comeback mechanic, so to speak. Say you find yourself in a pinch with your best wincon options having be incapacitated. Since any Pokemon can dynamax, you could potentially dynamax, say a Pelipper, and try to turn it into a sweeper. This probably won't be very common sight in too many battles, but giving every Pokemon on your team another option by default can drastically change how you approach the battle. Especially the early and late game.

Finally, I think the mechanic leads to some interesting gameplay, where players need to decide whether to dynamax early to burst through walls or to keep it for later to sweep or counter an opposing dynamax. Whether or not that type of gameplay is rewarding or not has yet to be seen.

The Bad:
Dynamax is powerful. We've all seen it. It allows certain Pokemon to become devastatingly powerful sweepers with less effort than ever before. Some argue that dynamax counters itself- but I sort of disagree. When you dynamax to meet an already dynamaxed Pokemon, you are not 'overcoming' it, you are simply meeting it where it is. It's not like checking something with a scarf- where you become faster, or a very defensive Mon who can take more than the sweeper can give. I don't agree that counter-dynamax is truly a balancing mechanic because it is only equalizing the playing field. Even then, the offensive capabilities outweigh the defensive ones, making the Pokemon who dynamaxed first usually have the advantage.

The Ugly:
Let's not lose sight of the forest for the trees. Or the sudowoodos. I'm not arguing that dynamax or any Pokemon in particular should be banned (yet) but Id rather not to ban a bunch of Pokemon that are broken *because of dynamax* rather than just axe the mechanic itself. That's my own personal preference though. When focusing on dynamax, let's be sure to focus on the entirety of gen 8- what do we want for this meta. What do we value in competitive Pokemon? No matter your side, I think we all agree that dynamax is a dynamic change to the fundamentals of Pokemon. When assessing it as a mechanic, we need to focus on how it warps the gameplay of each match around it.

I personally do not have enough data to share my thoughts on that particular issue. But I would like to hear what others have to say. I am personally on the side that it should be cut, but I think time will tell. I was already not a fan of Z-moves, and these are just those but to an extreme.

 

[DialgaTheTimeLord]

I don't claim to be an expert here, but from an outside perspective, here's some further thoughts on D-Max:

As several people are saying, regardless of whether they're calling for a ban or not, Dynamax is ABSURDLY powerful. But, it's only absurdly powerful on particularly offensive Pokemon, especially anything with offensive boosting or field effect setting coverage. It's actually useless on almost all defensive and support Pokemon, who rely on status moves to function. This leaves the meta extremely lopsided in favor of hyper offense, with the likes of Gyarados, Barraskewda, Hawlucha, and Scarf Ditto running rampant (not factoring in the Arceus and Genesect which are obviously an error on PS).

So say we ban all the abusers of it. No more of those previously mentioned mons, and anything else that finds D-Max ripe for abuse. Where does that leave the meta? It will probably leave the slower, bulkier mons to generally be the Dynamax choices, which without the hyper offensive mons to beat them, leaves them basically filling the same role. If we eliminate them too, what are we left with? A metagame solely made of stall vs stall? Sure, there will be some offensive mons left, but they'll all be nearly useless without Dynamax, so you'll end up with one offensive mon to be your dedicated Dynamaxer and pray that it can do its job, then go back to all your stall mons after.

EDIT: small note about Dynamax checking itself, I think it would if D-Max moves didn't provide setup. It would just be 3 turns of powerful moves that you could now absorb with double the HP. It would also help if only Protect variants became Max Guard, and regular status moves stayed like they were. Then you're just left with really high offenses versus really high defenses. It would even out a bit, though maybe not perfectly. Another option would be if it was only one turn, as you would only get one shot, so you would have to decide between a powerful boost or essentially an emergency Z-Move use. It'd be overpowered, yes, but it wouldn't be the unholy setup power it is now. That said, we're not here to change mechanics, just saying this kind of stuff lends to its inability to check itself.

TL;DR: I suspect banning the Pokemon rather than the broken mechanic that enables them will lead to the metagame swinging like a metronome in massive favor of stall, as any Pokemon that would be balanced during D-Max would be likely worthless outside of it, leading to the same lack of team variety that we have now as well as a horribly slow meta. D-Max can't keep itself in check due to boosts giving massive momentum (is that the word?).

 

[Zé Capáu]

what are the general thoughts on coalossal? i feel like it won't be great but it has a niche with good support moves like rapid spin, spikes, rocks, wisp etc. and the ability to be a check to stuff like ferrothorn and other steel types. obviously though the type can be very bad because of huge weaknesses to ground and water so i just wanted to know what people think abt the mon

Steam Engine gives +6 Speed upon being hit with a Fire or a Water move. Coalossal theoretically would be able to punish Fire spam because of itx 4x resistance, but its Attacking stats are just too bad for it to make anything meaningful out of that +6 Speed. FYI, +6 Speed on Adamant Coalossal with 252 Spe yields 536 Spe.

Aside of the Physical set, I have been taking notes on both Special and Utility set advantages:

With some investment on SpA, you can kill a Ferrothorn with Burn Up and then get rid of your 4x weaknesses, Flash Fire would work well here to neutralize the loss of Fire STAB, that if you switch in to a Fire-type move, or alternatively use Tar Shot to give them -1 Speed and weakness to Fire which might fit well agaisnt predictable switch ins.
Coalossal gets Scald, which means that you can punish Ground-type threats with a super-effective damage and by chance you can cripple an incoming physical powerhouse with a burn.
Body Press can also be used to make a mixed set and can even be used occasionally on utility/wall sets, making good use of its gigantic Defense.
If you run Flash Fire and use Will-o-Wisp instead of Scald, you can turn a Magic Bounce user (such as Hatterene) into your setup fodder by getting Will-o-Wisp back to you as a Flash Fire boost.
When Dynamaxing/Gigantamaxing Coalossal, Solarbeam becomes Max Overgrowth without need to charge it.
Spikes, Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin are pretty self-explanatory by now.

It's up to you what toys you pick, and Coalossal has lots of them at your disposal.