Metagame Partners in Crime

[Catzzadilla]

AAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAH BABY! IT'S PIC TIME!

Might I suggest a couple cool cats?

Regieleki + Xurkitree - Transistor off of Xurkitree's phenomenal SpA stat means everyone not packing an electric immunity will take big big damage. Tried this a little in AAA and while standalone Xurkitree was a little frail, with scarf it was a snowball sweeper. Support moves for regieleki could be beneficial here.

Blacephalon + Magic guard - Little bit of a similar concept here. Taking no damage from Mind Blown spells disaster for those not packing checks. Alakazam can be a great partner, being able to also sweep and benefit from Beast Boost.

Hustle + No guard could be a cool combination, an alternative to the banned huge/pure power, but at the drawback of being at the mercy of every stone edge, hurricane and focus blast.

Krookodile + Shell smashers could make Power Trip deadly

Adaptability can go easily out of control, espescially coupled with abilities like Steelworker, Steely Spirit and Dragon's Maw

Since it can inherit Regenerator from its teammate and has access to Recover and Black Sludge, Toxapex can run Merciless to act as a support mon, allowing Skill Link mons to have their own, longer Surging Strikes, and busting down Setup Walls.

Dubwool + Scrappy means it no longer fears ghosts.

Obligatory Technician Weavile mention

Analytic can be shared to Slower mons like Ferrothorn (who also shares Iron Barbs as a nice thank-you gift) to make Gyro Ball even deadlier. Just be warned that it gives a boost to the one who moves last, not the slowest, so in trick room, the fastest will get the boost.

Insomnia mons with eject button can allow an ally who just used Rest start moving again immediately. Electric Surge can also be used, as long as the ally is grounded.

Rough skin + Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet if you really hate physical attackers.

And probs more. This is my favorite OM, and I can't wait to see what people come up with! Just don't make it lame

Plus raises the users special attack by 1.5 if an active ally has it, which is always in this meta, while Magnetic Flux raises the defense and special defense of the user and its ally by 1 stage, and Gear Up does the same for attack and special attack. In theory, while passively boosting the special attack of its ally, it can give defensive or offensive boosts to itself and its ally.

Sounds like it'll be a nightmare to face alongside Stored Power Espeon

 

[Catzzadilla]

On its own, Persian-Alola doesn't seem too great. But it can come in very handy in PiC.

-Can share one of three great abilities (Fur Coat, Technician, Rattled)
-Great offensive and support movepool
-Pretty fast, can not only easily rack up stat boosts but also let its teammate grab them using Psych up

I think it's worth experimenting with

 

[shnowshner]

LCotM has reignited my desire to share bad opinions.


Okay imagine this, you have two +1.5x boosted Pokemon on the field both with Choice items. Pair that with other powerful offensive abilities. Click buttons and win.

I doubt that is a serious strategy but Gorilla Tactics is completely busted and sharing that with a partner allows for insane damage output. If it works like I imagine you can switch this in for a power boost and then switch it out to remove the move lock if needed. Honestly could be legit when paired with mons/abilities that help cover weaknesses.


So on the topic of fossils, I agree with others in this thread that banning Fishous Rend and Bolt Beak is preferrable to banning their users. Obviously I doubt they'll see much usage either way, but these moves are the sole problematic elements of the fossils and without them they're pretty mediocre compared to other options. Still I think giving players the option of using them for their other talents should be allowed since nothing about them specifically is an issue except the funny moves.


I am really interested in the viability of Stalwart since granting your side of the field immunity to redirection looks amazing for ensuring KOs or landing important utility moves on the right thing.

I do think an issue arises with all mons sharing moves + abilities on the field that makes this combo less appealing in practice. If your opponent sent out something Dusclops + Redirection to get TR up, you could obviously just ignore the redictor and go for Taunt or double-up on Dusclops to prevent it moving. However with moves being shared the other Pokemon could just set up TR instead, which means this ability to target whatever you want is less valuable than it may seem.

That being said against certain team comps and with the right mons I think this has uses, especially as it ignores Ally Switch


mm boomburst punk rock porygon z mm myes


Double Quick Draw seems super toxic, obviously you have to use Slowbro-Galar which isn't amazing in Doubles but as long as it's on the field it and its partner has a chance to move first which can be game-ending on a particularly bad turn. This and Moody should probably be looked at in the next coming days, doesn't seem particularly healthy all things considered even if unreliable.


Yeah Urshifu-R ignoring Protect and giving that ability to their ally is bonkers, it does only work for contact moves which is somewhat of a relief. Definitely going to run Urshifu + Kingdra or some BS on a Rain team anyhow. Very happy Single-Strike is banned else we'd be in serious trouble.

Would also recommend keeping an eye on Eleki simply because it can inherent actual coverage moves while still serving as excellent support.

Excited to try this out tomorrow

 

[jasprose]

Hey everyone, hope y'all are excited for LCotM! I've just got two quick announcements to share!
Firstly, we've got a cool new banner, courtesy of in the hills !
Secondly, for coding reasons golisopod and wimpod are banned!
Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!

 

[KaenSoul]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1368776221
I think abilities are really buggy right now, Snorlax had water absorb for no reason on turn 4. And in other games my mons would lose some HP from life orb with Lando on the field (who has sheer force).
And plus/minus is cool, you dont need both at the same time allowing you to stack them with a single mon.

 

[shnowshner]

What happens when your partner switches out?
You may not use a move of your partner when it switches out. Whether you use the ability of the partner depends on whether it takes effect before or after switching. Turn order is determined before switching, so if your partner has Prankster, it will take effect, but if it has Tough Claws it will (likely, unless you're using Pursuit) be after switching, so it won't work. It works similarly with the new partner switching in.

Yeah from the games I've been playing this is definitely not working properly

click me

Not only am I constantly able to user my switching-out partner's moves to my advantage this game, but I also have absolutely no clue what the hell was going on with Taunt (which probably isn't observable sadly), sometimes it would block both partner's moves and other times it wouldn't do anything. Hopefully I'm not just stupid like I've been today and this is an actual problem instead of me understanding it wrong.

Beyond the weird jank like that metas pretty fun, the team you see there is an experimental set-up team that would be really good if being good was equal to being wack. Boosting your defenses and spamming Mega Launcher Heal Pulse is so dumb.

 

[Low-Key]

(okay uhhhh i accidentally posted this when i was writing this and i'm sorry if i disturbed you lmao)


Weavile and Scizor could be really powerful (and I mean it) when they're paired. Scizor can share Technician to Weavile for some really bad combos that could leak the meta out of its place in this mod, and Weavile shares Pressure with Scizor, making the foe's moves always lose one additional PP. Because of this, this deadly force might be a bit too powerful.

The Two

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Taunt
- Triple Axel
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch

Scizor @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Technician
EVs: 240 Atk / 252 Def / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Defog
- Roost
- Dual Wingbeat

Because Pokemon share Moves and Abilities in this meta, it comes up to mind with full offensive capability. This pair is no excuse. Weavile was already too powerful in UU, sure, but grouped with a good user of Technician makes it too offensive to deal with. With Technician and Life Orb you can have a powerful Fake Out and basically kill a ton of things with Triple Axel and Dual Wingbeat. Roost is for healing, Bullet Punch for more priority and bigger damage, Taunt to stop abusers from lowering your Attack stat, and Power-Up Punch to increase your damage while going full-on offensive. tl;dr: Technician is probably broken with Weavile.

Only the speediest special attackers can take down this pair because they have poor special defense stats.

 

[9/11 Was An Inside Jeb!]

Going to make some changes but figured I'd get the ball rolling:

Palossand @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 4 SpA / 148 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Scorching Sands
- Shore Up
- Toxic

Water Compaction is the main way we'll be boosting our defense. Think of it like Justified for a Body Press sweep. This pokemon also provides recovery, toxic when needed, and two solid special moves for its main partner.

Accelgor @ Absorb Bulb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Water Shuriken
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball
- Baton Pass

Accelgo packs the stand in for Beat Up, a priority water shuriken sets up 3x or 4x defense. Baton Pass is legal in Doubles and lets it keep the defense high if necessary.

Diancie @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Def / 60 Spe
Impish Nature
- Ally Switch
- Psych Up
- Body Press
- Diamond Storm

Diancie is one of our sweepers. Body press hits like a truck while Psych Up and Diamond Storm give boosting options. Psych Up is a cool move in this format because it then be used by your next partner.

Whimsicott @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cotton Guard
- Encore
- Toxic
- Energy Ball

Whimsicott provides a second way to crank up defense with Cotton Guard. I like having Prankster around, but with Hatterene around one of these fairies is likely to get replaced.

Miltank (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Psych Up
- Milk Drink
- Thunder Wave

Miltank hits hard with Scrappy Body Press while being able to stay alive using Milk Drink. Thunderwave assists our low speed and helps get recovery off.

Hatterene (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Nuzzle
- Heal Pulse
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic

Magic Bounce really hasn't been that important in my play, but having a special cannon has been nice. Heal Pulse is solid and I've always liked Nuzzle on Hatterene. Shadow Ball and Psychic are nice coverage options for Accelgor.

 

[|Powerman|]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1368796857-3rayt5ydadzmcc7w0ucsswkd11cmmpgpw
Lol what is happening

 

[brokenmotor]

Not sure if it's intentional, but choice items seem to lock in both of your Pokémon. Also, looking at the teambuilder, Rillaboom seems really powerful, offering strong priority especially to those lacking coverage (see: Regieleki) or STAB users (see: Kartana).

 

[SonOfDusk]

Likewise to the above post, it seems Assault Vest Scrafty completely destroyed my team synergy since I couldn't use any status moves whenever it was in, including on my partner pokemon. Naturally that was an instant L as Scrafty+TR setup was DoA. I didn't see any mention of shared item effects in the description so I imagine this is a bug, but I may be wrong.

EDIT: Taunt also applies to both pokemon, and not only for the affected pokemon's moves.

 

[KaenSoul]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1368825912
Moody and spore are broken, there is no sleep clause and prankster spore is too much.

 

[Low-Key]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1368825912
Moody and spore are broken, there is no sleep clause and prankster spore is too much.

I totally agree they should put in Sleep Clause, without it sleep becomes too overpowered here, especially for Prankster users.

 

[KaenSoul]

What if the two Pokemon have the same ability?

The ability won't stack, and thus nothing special will happen.

Abilities are stacking, i wonder if it works for every ability or only some are bugged.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1368889075

 

[derpmagikarpthing]

very cool om

 

[CactuzFarmer]

There is an issue with choice items I had banded zygarde and all of it partners where choice locked into the same move even if they hadn’t even used a move yet

 

[jasprose]

Hi! Just wanted to announce that we've decided to have Moody banned and Sleep Clause implemented! tagging Kris to implement!
On another note, the way choice items work is that when a move is disabled for one Pokemon, such as through the use of a choice item or an assault vest, it will be disabled for its partner as well, and so both Pokemon will be locked in to the same move when using choice items. The OP has been updated to include this information

 

[Low-Key]

On another note, the way choice items work is that when a move is disabled for one Pokemon, it will be disabled for its partner as well, and so both Pokemon will be locked in to the same move when using choice items. The OP has been updated to include this information

But what about AV?

Likewise to the above post, it seems Assault Vest Scrafty completely destroyed my team synergy since I couldn't use any status moves whenever it was in, including on my partner pokemon.

 

[Remmub]

On another note, the way choice items work is that when a move is disabled for one Pokemon, such as through the use of a choice item or an assault vest, it will be disabled for its partner as well, and so both Pokemon will be locked in to the same move when using choice items.

It looks like this specific implementation for choice items and AV have pretty much made encore a broken move as it locks both mons into the encored move. This either forces a switch on one or both mons, especially if the encored move is a status move. I think this is just a bit OP and should probably be banned. If it's possible to isolate encore from the choice items so it doesn't lock in both mons, that might also be a solution.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1369051570

Also, Prankster's mechanics aren't working properly when shared with a partner. In Turn 3, Clefairy used Thunder Wave on Incineroar, despite Incineroar's dark-type immunity to prankster moves.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1369066687

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

Not sure if that's noteworthy, but Levitate doesn't share with its ally, this behavior is similar to Shared Power but it did work in Generation 7 Partners in Crime. You can see that on turn 2.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1369048815

Also, a Sheer Force user will still make the ally take Life Orb recoil even if it's using a move that interacts with Sheer Force like Thunderbolt or Moonblast, I wonder if whether Sheer Force was shared or not.

 

[CactuzFarmer]

Danm why can’t we have nice things so many bugs with pic this gen I’ll add another one when one Mon gets taunted they both have the effects of taunt, bring back gen7 pic

 

[Lukayaba]

Hi, just a quick bug report. I thought of the obscure strategy of utilising the Plus/Minus abilities however this does not work. Both pokemon don’t get the ability, thus the spa boost is never applied. Furthermore, magnetic flux only works on the pokemon who donates the ability.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1369085998

 

[Remmub]

I think there's a glitch that occurs when pokemon faint and their ability continues to be shared if the partner that was on field with them stays in.
In this replay, Diancie faints on Turn 12, but Clear Body is still active on Cresselia in Turn 15 and 16.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1369093699

 

[Cuddly]

A team archetype I like using in Doubles (Ubers) is Psych Up teams. Basically, they are the doubles version of a Baton Pass chain, and it's surprisingly effective.
Typically, they'd have Xerneas as a set up sweeper and a mix of support and psych up abusers, which is only possible in Ubers now and practically impossible in DOU given the frailty of good abusers not matching up to the boosts they'd be sharing.
While something like Xerneas isn't present in PiC, you can get insane set up strategies in this meta thanks to this dumb bat

With Simple, Swoobat (or Woobat) provide this meta with insane boosts that give you +10 across your stats depending on the move.

Set up:

Clangorous Soul, No Retreat, and Shell Smash provide some of the best boosting in the game already.
Clangorous Soul providing +2 to Atk, Def, SpD, and Spe always, and either +2 to SpA or +4 with Throat Spray. Clangorous Soul also belongs to arguably the best Pokemon among the set-up Pokemon of the team archetype, and is the one most likely able to sweep on its own thanks to its Stats and moves like Boomburst and Clanging Scales. It can get countered the hardest because of that though. Also because Swoobat can have Roost, so can Kommo-o, helping with the HP sacrifice.
No Retreat is like Clangorous Soul, but worse in most scenarios. The only time I think you would want to use it is with the Jaw Lock interaction (idk if it's a glitch), allowing Falinks to set up multiple time, or if you really want to remain healthy.
Shell Smash provides a double edge sword, giving +4 in Atk, SpA, and Spe, but also reducing your bulk even more. Blastoise has Follow Me and Fake Out, allowing either Swoobat or itself to take the assault by your opponent (which you'll need), while Omastar has Swift Swim, giving it 1434 Speed after a Simple Shell Smash and in Rain. This also prevents opposing Rain teams from using Barraskewda or Swift Swim on something faster.
Pretty much anything else is not worth it.

Psych Up Abusers:

Koko is the naturally fastest Pokemon capable of using Psych Up, while also providing Electric Terrain to boost electric moves, Rising Voltage, and preventing sleep.

The second fastest of the Tapus, and ties with Inferiorboom for the highest offense between them. It's definitely better to go Special in this meta because Intimidate will automatically lower Atk by 2 stages first turn and lowers it by 1 every time their partner switches. Plus Special attackers get +4 from 2 set up moves. Tapu Lele is special in that Lele helps block priority with Psychic Terrain, has Dazzling Gleam for spread damage, and Stored Power for anti-Unaware or really bulky Pokemon.

Chandelure has the honor of having the highest SpA for all legal Psych Up users, additionally also having a Ghost typing that isn't threatened by Boombusrt on your side (leting you use Overcoat or Bulletproof on your Kommo-o), as well as Extreme Speed and Mach Punch, while also bypassing Subs or giving a fire immunity. Gengar has those same immunities, besides Fire, and is slightly weaker, but provides better speed and gives better moves overall.

Exploud is slow, but provides Soundproof Boombursts, which is actually pretty strong already, but can also learn Psych Up too

With how many Intimidates are being thrown around, having a bulky water type with Psych Up, recover, and abuses stat drops is a good way to punish Intimidate spammers.

One thing important for abusers is to manage revenge killers. The previously mentioned abusers either prevented priority or prevented certain priority and were faster. All these Pokemon abuse priority and give it to their partner instead. Between the priority abusers, only Sucker Punch has that common of attackers, and these 4 have some niche over the other, and Entei has Extreme Speed (and Eruption). These guys are just filling the niche of priority abuse with some side niche like bulk or sun abuse.

These are examples of Bulky Pokemon with their main purpose being safe keeping for stat boosts. The entire strategy ends if the only stat booster you have is gone and no one used Psych Up. So safekeeping them on a bulky Pokemon is a good idea. Depending on your team, you can go for removing terrains while blocking status, blocking stat drops, having the utility of Mew, Follow Me support with Guard abilities, Immunity to ground, or immunity to Taunt with Oblivious while still being strong. You can also go for tons of other supports as well that I didn’t list here

Non-Psych Up Support:

Surprisingly one of the best supports, if not for its abililty Mold Breaker. No Pokemon with Mold Breaker, which is one reason why physical attackers are less desirable. Which sucks, since Unaware is a huge pain against this strategy. Throh is special in the fact that it’s bulky and can provide excellent support as well with Helping Hand and Wide Guard, outside of providing Mold Breaker for Unaware Clefable/Quagsire

Prankster Taunt, or Taunt in general, is also pretty good in this strategy as is one of the only ways to shut down Haze. Prankster is the safest option since Haze could be on a Pokemon with Prankster itself.
Whimsicott can also be useful as…

a screens setter. Due to the fragile nature of the set up Pokemon, screens are very valuable. Regieleki is extremely fast, Ninetales-A and Aurorus provide Aurora Veil (Ninetales-A being faster is better against non-weather teams, but Aurorus’s niche is being slower so that it can beat out weather first turn), and Whimsicott has both Prankster, Tailwind, and Memento as well.
Just remember, Aurora Veil doesn’t stack with Reflect and Light Screen.

I just also want to say such a team isn’t necessarily the most viable, but are very fun and can catch people off guard.

 

[Cuddly]

Excuse me, but wtf
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8partnersincrime-1369536500
Fling doesn’t remove the opponent’s item, so King’s Rock always flinches