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Project OU Theorymon [Voting: Check Post #3272]

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Pangoro + Contrary

It breaks my heart, but it's the one that needs the most testing to evaluate its true power and its certainly the most fun option. I'll still be super jazzed if Reuni wins this though.
 
Our Winner is...
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+ Volt Switch

It was pretty obvious to see Reuniclus win this slate. Its ability to come in on multiple 'mons like Keldeo, Latios, Mega Sceptile, Mega Diancie, really almost any special attacker and 2HKO back is an amazing asset while recovering any damage off with Regenerator. Unlike Tornadus-T, Reuniclus has a slow Volt Switch allowing it get frail teammates in like Greninja (broken frog) to wreck havoc. Focus Blast Mega Pidgeot's ability to destroy the whole tier with correct prediction and Pangoro's boosting presence, however, was not enough. It was time we had the good times of BW Reuniclus fans. It seems power came short versus utility...

Speaking of our next slate, we have a nasty one full of huge, disgusting, or even terrifying Pokemon.

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+ Arena Trap (VKW)
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+ Normalize (Enigami)
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+ Tinted Lens (pika pal)
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+ Adaptability



DISCUSS!


 
Arena Trap Steelix is giving me the chills... Having that awesome defense stat with great attack makes it a much better trapper than Dugtrio. My question is, does Arena Trap activate on the turn you Mega, or can the opponent switch out on that turn?
By the way, please no more Regenerator crap. It's getting old when at least one Pokémon on every slate has something to do with Regenerator.
 
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Ok

Arena Trap M-Steelix sounds absolutely disgusting. I feel like what makes it garbage in the first place is an ability that provides pretty much nothing beneficial along with its typing that is counterproductive with other sand setters. That massive bulk + Arena Trap is hilarious for volt-turn cores and the ability to just remove switch advantage from grounded threats is definitely what would make this better. Seems nice.

I guess the luxury of Normalize Regigigas is that it's not having a terribad ability in Slow Start and hitting wicked hard with potential STAB. So basically a cannon that will never hit Ghost types. Definitely would have a niche but that lack of versatility with a subpar offensive typing Idk.

Tinted Lens Zygarde. Lol. We really don't need this. Having access to set up moves along with Espeed and coverage that is only stopping it from wrecking lives because of the resistants those moves provide is our current saving grace. This would just make it a monster to me personally and although it may not be unhealthy it just seems like a pain to handle. Then again it might still be mediocre with just some added benefit now.

Adaptability Galvantula is alright I guess. Makes it more of an attacker than anything else and would take it out of irrelevant territory in terms of viability in OU. Bug and Electric isn't exactly the most diverse of STAB though so this one is alright as well.
 
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Mega Steelix sounds absolutely ferocious. I think a simple set of Curse / Rest / Earthquake / Gyro Ball is enough to destroy all of the metagame not named Skarmory. The main basis of this set is that Steelix can trap a puny Normal-type and use its atrocious Defense to wall practically all attacks. Sounds like a very simple, yet destructive, set. I think what's holding Mega Steelix back despite Arena Trap would have to be its lack of recovery through any means bar Rest, which means it can be whittled down while not always doing enough in return. If I were to rank this, I'd say it would probably land in B+ Rank, simply because it's not too powerful and has several glaring flaws holding it back from being too strong. However, despite its useful niche and overall uniqueness this slate, it will not be receiving my vote!

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I'm not really a fan of this whatsoever. I think the idea behind it is actually pretty cool, I mean it does give Regigigas a niche in technically unblockable Thunder Wave, but is that enough to save it? Personally, I don't think it is. I mean, sure, the niche is something nothing else has, but it doesn't seem that valuable. Between Thundurus already spreading paralysis plenty well and balance running the meta atm, it just don't seem worthwhile to use Regigigas. Anyways, all Ghost-types are immune to it, and although they're less common than Ground-types, it's still hard because Regigigas is beat by them regardless of what move it uses. With subpar coverage, it could realistically be useful alongside Bisharp or something along the lines of that, but I'm going to have to pass on this one.
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Boy, this sounds horrifying! AM sums this one up fairly nicely; a powerful thing that may or may not be too powerful, depending on the actual in-game play. Personally, I think it wouldn't be broken in the slightest, just really strong. I'd be really excited to use this honestly, those Tinted Lens Outrage sounds juicy. But I have to question, what is really being provided? I mean, think about it. The only new thing Tinted Lens allows it to muscle past is Skarmory, the STAB combination is good as it is. Earthquake still hits all other Steel-types, so what's new? Dragon-type already smacks around Grass-types as it is, so not much changed. Fairy-types are unaffected by this change as well. I understand the hype, I just feel like not much would changed. Would only bump from Unranked to C Rank tbh. However, I do like this and am very interested by it!
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I know people will have their doubts about this one, and it is understandable, but I think this has a ton of potential. I'd like to compare it to Mega Beedrill for a moment. Mega Beedrill would have nearly no niche without Adaptability, and I think the same can be said about Galvantula. Boosted Volt Switch sounds like a godsend, as Sticky Web / Volt Switch / Bug Buzz / Hidden Power Ice can play a pivotal role with Sticky Web, which is very useful for a lot of teams. I think this thing is being really under credited, and I think it has a lot of potential!​
 
God damn unfix, always with the changing avis xD (not an issue but makes me laugh bud)

Will probably post better thoughts after some festivities but some fun options as always and loved the communities ideas this time (and well, ya know, Vertex and his fun Galv idea). Still, lot of ways these guys could be funny fun and or just agonizingly annoying.
 
Let me preface this by saying my idea was when I was considering flavor on something low ranked, so it wouldn't surprise me if it loses this slate.

M-Steelix brings a very different dimension to trappers. Most trappers either can only trap specific threats (Magnezone) or are frail enough that they can trap at most 1, maybe 2 specific opponents sufficiently (Gothitelle, Dugtrio). Steelix's disgustingly high Physical bulk, even with just HP investment, would let him trap a ridiculous number of Physical (he can "revenge trap" unboosted Gallade and basically any Metagross). Unlike Gothitelle, Steelix's immunity to Toxic and Thunder Wave, plus decent offenses mean he's not deadweight against a playstyle either, since he can stop almost any Stall Mon that doesn't use WoW.

Regigigas we already had on the slate earlier with Klutz. My problem is that Regigigas would probably be either equally unviable because the "limiter" abilities are almost all just that bad, or because with any useful ability, he'd be a ridiculous Wallbreaker with a lackluster offensive type.

Galvantula I'm interested but not quite sold on yet. Main thing for me is probably his speed tier being just slightly under whelming, because Dragalge's already shown Adaptability can more than compensate for a lower offensive stat. However, even with the neutrality, he has problems with Bird Spam because of his frailty, and he falls just short of offense's new Base 110 "standard".
252 Atk Sharp Beak Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Galvantula: 259-306 (92.1 - 108.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
That said, I'm interested if it would make him more viable as a Wallbreaker option, since he's fast enough to outpace the walls and is immune to Thunder Wave. Not to mention if increased viability would also maybe bring Sticky Web back.

Now, as for my own, I'll explain what my line of thinking was
Zygarde's big problem when I tried to use him was always his mediocre power requiring a boost or to ensure a neutral hit for adequate damage. However, as a DDer he was immediately outclassed by Zard-X, Dragonite, and Gyarados. So I looked to what traits Zygarde had to compete with them: his bulk, Extremespeed, Paralysis immunity, and Coil. However, Zygarde couldn't adequately play to all of them because of serious 4MSS (Boost/Outrage/EQ/Extremespeed/Sub|Resttalk): Zard and Nite had recovery options and better abilities (Tough Claws presented a threat to get healing/boosting chances, or Multiscale is... yeah), while Gyarados had Intimidate, and all 3 had more initial offensive presence. The thing I noticed with Zygarde is that what caused trouble was being locked into Outrage against all the resistors, who only need that time to force him out or do their job:
- Skarm can Roost and lay hazard
- Heatran can Roar, burn, or KO if it has HP Ice
- Metagross 2HKOs w/ Meteor Mash (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Outrage vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Metagross: 82-97 (27.2 - 32.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO)
- DD Altaria survives EQ and OHKOs with unboosted Return (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Earthquake vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Mega Altaria: 179-212 (58.3 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)
- Bulky Mega Scizor sets up on him, or KO's his LO (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Outrage vs. 248 HP / 0+ Def Mega Scizor: 79-94 (23 - 27.4%) -- 69.1% chance to 4HKO)
- Ferrothorn needs no explanation (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 133-156 (37.7 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery)
- Jirachi has a switch in if it runs Ice Punch (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Outrage vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Jirachi: 117-138 (34.3 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- Klefki gets up Reflect, and then has time to throw out at least 2 layers of Spikes.
- Empoleon gets a utility turn, and Specs can take a chunk out (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Outrage vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Empoleon: 129-152 (34.7 - 40.9%) -- 57% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery)
- Cleric Sylveon can do Wishtect and KO uninvested, while Specs survives even with a round of SR (252+ Atk Life Orb Zygarde Earthquake vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 274-325 (69.8 - 82.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)

Now, Tinted Lens obviously isn't the solution to Fairies, but Steels would have a harder time switching into Outrage, which means Zygarde can afford to stick to his two move coverage, which either lets him run Sub, ES to avoid Revenge, or maybe even serve as a Win-Con with a Cro-Garde set using Outrage, or maybe Dragon Tail to prevent opposing boosting. It would also make viable other sets/items like Choice Band (competes with arguably Nite's most viable set right now) or Scarf (Faster than Lando, easier prediction than Chomp). Whether that's enough to make him viable and/or a good addition to the Metagame I didn't have enough time to think it all through, but I could certainly see what it benefits from.
 
I really like the sound of Regigigas. Given that it can't use coverage you may as well give it a band or scarf now that Slow Start is gone. I think its cool though that even though all its moves become normal type there a still a lot to choose from such as: Return, Power-Up Punch, Knock Off, Heavy Slam, Drain Punch, Super Power and Retaliate. A Rock Polish + LO set could be good too, and the pre mentioned Thunder Wave being able to Paralyze ground types is cool for threats like Excadrill and Garchomp.

But the thing I like most about Regigigas is that it is probably the best Ghost Type lure in the game. Seriously, pair this with a strong Pursuit trapper and its RIP Ghost type who thought he had a chance.
 
Not just that, Normalized Earthquake allows it to hit as hard as Return can without making contact with opponents, giving Regigigas protection from things such as Rocky Helmet, Spiky Shield, etc. It also gets STAB Focus Punch. I really loved how many options for attacks it had even after Normalize, and how fun and difficult it was to think of which ones you'd want to go with.

Zygarde also has the same ability to paralyze Ground types with Glare as Normalize Regigigas can, and with Tinted Lens can potentially break through Steel types with Outrage as Pika Pal stated. It definitely becomes a larger threat.

Adaptability Galvantula gets stronger Volt Switch and Bug Buzz, and a slightly stronger and reliable STAB with Thunderbolt over Compound Eyes + Thunder. A solid buff to be sure, but I'm not sure yet if its enough. Bug isn't the best offensive type, so to me it depends on how much Adaptability Volt Switch helps it.

Arena Trap Mega Steelix I'm even less sure of. It consumes your mega slot, and (I think) before it can begin trapping, it needs to mega evolve. Plus its still vulnerable to Special attacks and is slower than practically everything. I think Arena Trap might've worked better on normal Steelix, allowing it to trap a potential target from the get go and set up on it before mega evolving or just attack as a regular Steelix and save the mega slot.

All the pokemon here are very interesting. I'm going to have a hard time choosing which to vote for. I'd say right now I'm leaning Regigigas or Zygarde, but I'm open to arguments for Galvantula and Mega Steelix.
 
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Nasty slate, and I mean that as a huge compliment.

Steelix is a very interesting piece of demon spawn. It can be useful to bulky teams that need a physical tank, HO teams who need to remove chansey, and pretty much every team. That turn it needs to get this ability is what makes it so interesting because it will need to switch in, then it again, giving your opponent a chance to boost a special sweeper, but at the same time it'll probably get a free turn too, meaning you can set up rocks, or curse, or just weaken whatever switch in they have. This is a theorymon I'd live to try out, but there are legitimate concerns about all trappers however about whether they really improves the meta or actually makes it worse.

It's been a while since we saw regi, good to see you again. Choice sets, sub, status, this is has definite uses, but the complete inability to get past ghosts worries me. If it gets popular, everyone will just also a ghost on their team and that will lead to popularity circles, which take more than a month to settle, so we could never learn exactly how this theory affects the meta. That's ask worth it though if I get to see my opponent's face when I pursuit trap them like a boss.

Galvantula, we really want SW to be a thing, don't we? I like this though, it gdp utility as its biggest problem was lack of power and bulk, and this solves one. Bulk can be ignored with a sash and volt switch, so we're good. It loses that accurate thunder, but adaptability t bolt is stronger so who cares. The point is that it can set up SW and sweep with it too now. If you slap on a couple physical options like heracross, any team will be adequately challenged trying to get past this.

Zygarde is my favorite Kalos poke, and easily one of my favorite pokes to use due to its unique stats and move pool. I'm not sure why you'd want tinted lens on this though. Its neutral coverage is amazing with the number of ou pokes that resist its edge quake or outrage being able to be counted on one hand. What Zygarde needs is special bulk and a way to deal with status

Leaning towards regi for now, but we'll see

Edit: thanks to enigami, I no longer have blatant factual errors, I've changed my mind twice since posting this, but I'm too tired to fix it now
 
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This slate is going to be a lot of fun. It's a shame all of these can't win, because I really like each and every one. I'll say this---of all the submissions we received, Enigami had the most convincing one with Regigigas. All of the relevant calcs were posted, potential move sets were highlighted, and a clear and definite niche was outlined (that being an unblockable Thunder Wave with the potential to hit very hard). I'd also like to edit in that you can run Foresight to smack Ghost types around.

I am VERY intrigued by Mega Steelix, however. I think that the ability to switch in on a multitude of physical attackers and support mons and then remove them from the game is extremely clutch. Would definitely be a bitch to play against if you don't cover your bases in team building.

If I vote for Galvantula, it's because Sticky Web just needs more relevance. Buffing Galvantula absolutely buffs Sticky Web teams, and I'd call this one a dark horse for my vote.

Zygarde sounds very good, but I'm less interested in it. Pretty easy to observe effect on the metagame.
 
This slate is going to be a lot of fun. It's a shame all of these can't win, because I really like each and every one. I'll say this---of all the submissions we received, Enigami had the most convincing one with Regigigas. All of the relevant calcs were posted, potential move sets were highlighted, and a clear and definite niche was outlined (that being an unblockable Thunder Wave with the potential to hit very hard).

I am VERY intrigued by Mega Steelix, however. I think that the ability to switch in on a multitude of physical attackers and support mons and then remove them from the game is extremely clutch. Would definitely be a bitch to play against if you don't cover your bases in team building.

If I vote for Galvantula, it's because Sticky Web just needs more relevance. Buffing Galvantula absolutely buffs Sticky Web teams, and I'd call this one a dark horse for my vote.

Zygarde sounds very good, but I'm less interested in it. Pretty easy to observe effect on the metagame.
Having no good setters is not the only problem that Sticky Web faces; the hazard itself is very match-up reliant and gives Bisharp a free boost whenever it hits the field. Giving Galvantula Adaptability would no doubt make the Mon itself significantly stronger, but it probably wouldn't make Webs more viable when you still can't set it multiple times on a consistent basis (and you still get beaten by Lati@s if you don't have an intact Focus Sash).
 
...If it gets popular, everyone will just also a ghost on their team...

...Zygarde is my favorite Kalos poke, and easily one of my favorite pokes to use due to its unique stats and move pool. Tinted lens greatly strengthens its Dragon dance set as it can use Dragon rush or stone edge reliably, but I'm not sure that's enough...
Isa made a good point about Pursuit trappers causing huge problems for Ghost switch-ins, so I don't think that'd be a problem.

As for Zygarde, Tinted Lens makes not very effective attacks do 2x damage, making Outrage hit Steel types twice as hard as it usually can. I think you got mixed up with Compound Eyes, which raises accuracy.

Edit: Oh, I forgot about something: Natural Gift doesn't get affected by Normalize, so you can potentially give Regigigas a one time 100BP coverage move. If you wanted, you could run Sitrus+Natural Gift to OHKO Gengar with a super-effective 80BP Psychic attack while retaining a recovery item if you don't need to use it. Or hit Sableye with a Roselia(80BP Fairy) or Kee(100BP Fairy, but can be wasted by being hit by a physical attack). Or you can use Watmel(100BP Fire) to burn through a troublesome Steel type, such as Ferrothorn or Skarmory, or Salac(100BP Fighting) or Apicot (100BP Ground) for hitting most Rock and Steel types. Bisharp in particular is OHKO'd by all three, twice over with Salac.

Edit 2: Something I brought up in my submission and forgot about, it can also run Foresight to force Ghosts out. Sableye can prankster Taunt it before that happens though, and Mega Sableye bounces Foresight. So, unless Regigigas is running a Fairy Natural Gift, Sableye is still a safe switch-in.
 
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Having no good setters is not the only problem that Sticky Web faces; the hazard itself is very match-up reliant and gives Bisharp a free boost whenever it hits the field. Giving Galvantula Adaptability would no doubt make the Mon itself significantly stronger, but it probably wouldn't make Webs more viable when you still can't set it multiple times on a consistent basis (and you still get beaten by Lati@s if you don't have an intact Focus Sash).

252+ SpA Adaptability Galvantula Bug Buzz vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias: 280-332 (93 - 110.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

I put a Modest nature on it because it can afford the speed drop with Sticky Web. You could actually KO their only Defogger first turn with a Focus Sash and then set SW at a later time. Not advocating that play, but I will say this: Latias will NOT want to switch in to Galvantula at all. All you need to do is KO Latias with a Pursuit trapper and you're golden. The thing about Galvantula is that you really only need to set SW once if you can remove the Defogger.

The Bisharp issue is completely mitigated by Mega Heracross on your team. Heracross can stomach any hit at +2 and KO's back. Hell--you could even run Chesnaught to get rid of him.
 
Zygarde is my favorite Kalos poke, and easily one of my favorite pokes to use due to its unique stats and move pool. Tinted lens greatly strengthens its Dragon dance set as it can use Dragon rush or stone edge reliably, but I'm not sure that's enough. Other dancers already have reliable stabs that do similar damages when you factor the mediocre attack stat, and this does nothing to alleviate its biggest problems of mediocre special bulk and no recovery/severe weakness to burns

Leaning towards regi for now, but we'll see
My logic behind this was, by making it easier to use Dragon Moves without Steel Resistances, Zygarde can afford to drop coverage slots for Sub or Resttalk (Coil/DD|Outrage|Extremespeed/Earthquake|Sub for example)

Zygarde does have means to overcome those weaknesses through Investment and certain move choices. One problem I noted was Steel Types walking all over those sets because without investment, stuff like Metagross could tank uninvested/unboosted Earthquakes, which left it with very severe 4MSS for coverage. The prospect of being able to pull Mono-Dragon, or at least not having to predict against Steels, turns Zygarde from needing almost every tank weakened to just needing Fairies removed or put in ES range.
 
Normalize Regigagas - Very interesting idea. It always makes me wonder what GF was doing when they made a pokemon like Regigagas that's supposed to be the trio leader and give it a horrific ability designed specifically to make it worthless in battle.

Normalize makes sense flavourwise and acts somewhat as a nerf in terms of severely limiting coverage (being useless against ghosts and generally ineffective against bulky steels) but at the same time opens up a whole lot of new playstyles that might revolve around using this ability. Probably my second favourite after my own submission(Mega-Steelix) but that could easily be the bias talking.

Tinted Lens Zygarde - I haven't really used Zygarde before, but tinted Lens definitely gives it an edge over other DD sweepers, that said I don't think it brings anything terribly unique in terms of playstyle to the meta, you'd still be using it in the exact same way it would just get a bit more of a buff offensively that lets it compete with other DD Sweepers.

Adaptability Galvantula - Solid buff, definitely makes Sticky web likely to be more viable due to Galvantula itself becoming more viable. I like it, just not as much as the others, probably because Galvantula already has somewhat of a niche whereas both Regigagas and Steelix are in the depths of NU, and I'd rather see some new faces in OU.


Arena Trap Mega-Steelix

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My own submission, frankly I was extremely disappointed with Mega-Steelix, which despite an awesome design got such a disappointing ability.

I figure Arena Trap fits flavourwise and not only gives it viability in OU, but also versatility.

So while M-Steelix's Arena Trap doesn't activate on the first turn, you could potentially run Roar, expecting your opponent to switch into his most threatening special attacker, only to phase it out and ensure that the pokemon that ends up being trapped is *not* that pokemon. Running a pink blob or Sylveon would also help reduce the risk of special attackers, and they can also pass on healing to Steelix who doesn't have reliable recovery of its own outside of rest.

M-Steelix could also boast a set-up set of Curse, Rest, Gyro ball and Earthquake/elemental fang if you're desperate for different coverage. It can switch in on a lot of common pokemon and set up with ease, especially pokemon locked into specs/scarf/band, like Volt Switch Magnezone or Bullet Punch Scizor. It also works well as a "reverse trapper" for pokemon like scarf Gothitelle or Wobbuffet.

It does well vs most stall teams due to being immune to toxic and paralysis. It also quad-resists stealth rock which is a nice bonus.

Steelix is also a really great way to put your enemy cleric (Chansey/Blissey, Sylveon, Clefable, etc) out of comission. The opponent might have to think twice before bringing in one of the aforementioned to heal bell or wish pass if they now it will guarantee the KO of that mon.

The biggest issues with M-Steelix are

1)That it doesn't get it's ability on it's first turn. This however I feel helps stop it from becoming too overbearing to deal with as a trapper, it also allows for mind games where if your opponent has an obvious switch in you can double switch into a counter of your own and get a free turn, or simply set up Stealth Rock or if so inclined run coverage moves that surprise your opponent (e.g. Stone Edge/Crunch/Aqua Tail/Ice Fang) and kill/weaken potential switch ins.

2) It's low speed and vulnerability to Special attacks. This makes it very easy for a number of pokemon to revenge kill it, which also, I feel, helps stop it from becoming too overbearing, as even if a player manages to get a Steelix Curse set up on a viable target, you'd still have had to eliminate most Sp. Attackers on the opponents team in order to guarantee a sweep.

3) And of course, one thing to keep in mind is that Arena Trap doesn't work on Flying/Levitate pokemon.

That said, I feel like M-Steelix would have just enough flaws to make it a manageable threat while still immensely improving in viability as well as having the flexibility to run various different sets depending on team needs.

Between Iron Defense/Toxic/Rest/Filler and work as a stall mon, or Curse/Rest/Earthquake/Gyro ball as a boosting set, or Stealth Rock/Roar/Earthquake/Heavy Slam as a SR setter/phazer, or Earthquake/Heavy Slam/Ice Fang/Stone Edge as an all-out attacker, or any combination of those, there are so many roles that M-Steelix could fill, each of which could fit on different styles of teams.
 
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