Rules Past Format Battle Stadium SQSA

[Psynergy]

You're on the right track but it's not the moves that are banned, it's that specific Bronzong itself. What I mean by that is that the ranked ladder bans any Pokemon that doesn't have the Galar symbol in the summary screen, which means that the Pokemon needs to be caught or bred in SwSh itself (This means that stuff like Terrakion is also banned, who would normally be legal).

This effectively bans move combinations that require transfer from previous gens, but moves like Knock Off, Stealth Rock, and Toxic are fair game as long as the Pokemon can actually learn it in SwSh. In this example, Bronzong can learn Stealth Rock since it's a TR, but it cannot learn Toxic without transferring it from a past gen.

As a side note, there are some abilities and Pokemon that aren't obtainable within SwSh normally, but those are still allowed because you can just breed that Pokemon in SwSh and it will have the Galar symbol, such as Unaware Clefable and Primarina. Alolan Raichu and Kantonian Weezing are exceptions here though that are still banned, because at this time Pikachu and Koffing only evolve into the other form (maybe DLC changes this though).

 

[DirtyDan227]

You're on the right track but it's not the moves that are banned, it's that specific Bronzong itself. What I mean by that is that the ranked ladder bans any Pokemon that doesn't have the Galar symbol in the summary screen, which means that the Pokemon needs to be caught or bred in SwSh itself (This means that stuff like Terrakion is also banned, who would normally be legal).

This effectively bans move combinations that require transfer from previous gens, but moves like Knock Off, Stealth Rock, and Toxic are fair game as long as the Pokemon can actually learn it in SwSh. In this example, Bronzong can learn Stealth Rock since it's a TR, but it cannot learn Toxic without transferring it from a past gen.

As a side note, there are some abilities and Pokemon that aren't obtainable within SwSh normally, but those are still allowed because you can just breed that Pokemon in SwSh and it will have the Galar symbol, such as Unaware Clefable and Primarina. Alolan Raichu and Kantonian Weezing are exceptions here though that are still banned, because at this time Pikachu and Koffing only evolve into the other form (maybe DLC changes this though).

This actually makes a lot of sense. In this case then swapping protect for toxic is probably my best bet. Thanks for the quick response! I really appreciate it! :)

 

[CloysterCube]

Hello! I decided to try make changes to my current BSS team to try accomedate the new arrivals in July,
Original team: https://pokepast.es/9de6dd8ddcff86c5

Details

Sets screens for the team most of the time. I sack it after its done with its job. Twave + Hex is for a bit of offense.

The main sweeper of this team. Utilizes sand to outspeed the majority of the relevant meta, and deals with Lapras well. Weakness Policy pushes its offense to crazy levels!

Used to set up on sleep spammers on stuff like Umbreon and Hippo, and as a back up sweeper, Togekiss can stack up power against Yawn spammers. WIth Lum Berry, Togekiss gets a free +4 boost that wouldve set her to sleep otherwise.

Took out Cloyster awhile ago to put in something of more utility, Ttar. Can shutdown status abusers with Taunt, and set rocks. Smooth Rock provides free sand for Drill to abuse later on in the game. Rock Tomb for speed control. Crunch for a bit of offense. Sandstorm and bulk investment allows Ttar to sponge special hits.

The main wall and pivot of this team, Ferrothorn. This thornpod can takes hit and stall Dynamax with Protect. Leech Seed provides recovery and useful chip, and Power Whip and Gyro Ball for offense. Occa Berry to help deal with fire coverage better.

Fits like glue on this team. Rotom-W provides bulk support via burn, while still having good offense of it's own with Nasty Plot and Hydro Pump. A slo volt switch can bring teammates in safely,

The current team might struggle against the new arrivals, so I made some changes for next season.

July Revisions

https://pokepast.es/7ad2d19d8b840f4a

Togekiss with Weakness Policy might deal with Urshifu better, and maybe Cinderace with Steelspike. I sacrificed some speed and bulk to give her more power, since it was kinda weak before, and now a Modest Nature.
Excadrill is now given a Life Orb, deals with Volcarona, Talonflame, and Magnezone
Rotom-Wash is now Bold, for better tanking.

Now with the changes, dealing with Cinderace and Ttar will be harder, Azumarill looks annoying here, and I no longer have a check to sleep spamming. What changes should I make to deal with them better?

 

[AwesomeDave980]

Hello! I decided to try make changes to my current BSS team to try accomedate the new arrivals in July,
Original team: https://pokepast.es/9de6dd8ddcff86c5

Details

Sets screens for the team most of the time. I sack it after its done with its job. Twave + Hex is for a bit of offense.

The main sweeper of this team. Utilizes sand to outspeed the majority of the relevant meta, and deals with Lapras well. Weakness Policy pushes its offense to crazy levels!

Used to set up on sleep spammers on stuff like Umbreon and Hippo, and as a back up sweeper, Togekiss can stack up power against Yawn spammers. WIth Lum Berry, Togekiss gets a free +4 boost that wouldve set her to sleep otherwise.

Took out Cloyster awhile ago to put in something of more utility, Ttar. Can shutdown status abusers with Taunt, and set rocks. Smooth Rock provides free sand for Drill to abuse later on in the game. Rock Tomb for speed control. Crunch for a bit of offense. Sandstorm and bulk investment allows Ttar to sponge special hits.

The main wall and pivot of this team, Ferrothorn. This thornpod can takes hit and stall Dynamax with Protect. Leech Seed provides recovery and useful chip, and Power Whip and Gyro Ball for offense. Occa Berry to help deal with fire coverage better.

Fits like glue on this team. Rotom-W provides bulk support via burn, while still having good offense of it's own with Nasty Plot and Hydro Pump. A slo volt switch can bring teammates in safely,

The current team might struggle against the new arrivals, so I made some changes for next season.

July Revisions

https://pokepast.es/7ad2d19d8b840f4a

Togekiss with Weakness Policy might deal with Urshifu better, and maybe Cinderace with Steelspike. I sacrificed some speed and bulk to give her more power, since it was kinda weak before, and now a Modest Nature.
Excadrill is now given a Life Orb, deals with Volcarona, Talonflame, and Magnezone
Rotom-Wash is now Bold, for better tanking.

Now with the changes, dealing with Cinderace and Ttar will be harder, Azumarill looks annoying here, and I no longer have a check to sleep spamming. What changes should I make to deal with them better?

Togekiss should be fine against Cinderace honestly. Some calculations:

(assuming both Togekiss and Cinderace are Dynamaxed)

Adamant 252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace’s Max Steelspike vs 164 HP Modest Togekiss: 84.8 - 99.7% damage

This means that Togekiss can use a combo of Max Airstream + Max Flare to beat Cinderace, or even just use Max Flare due to its Weakness Policy if Cinderace has speed boosts already.

Adamant 252 Atk Life Orb Libero Cinderace’s Max Airstream vs 164 HP Modest Togekiss: 42.2 - 50% damage

236 SpA Modest Togekiss’ Max Airstream vs 0 HP/4 SpD Cinderace: 46.4 - 54.5% damage (58.6% 2HKO chance)

This means that Cinderace can almost never 2HKO Togekiss with just Max Airstream, though it’s not a 100% certainty that Togekiss will be able to actually KO Cinderace either.

In general, I think this team won’t fare too badly against Tyranitar and Azumarill; Ferrothorn and Rotom-W both have decent matchups against those Pokémon, and Excadrill doesn’t do bad against Tyranitar either. I’m not a fan of having two ‘setup’ Pokémon (Tyranitar, Dragapult) on the same team though; the setup Pokémon really can’t function well on the same three-Pokémon team, and this ultimately limits the number of combinations of Pokémon that you can use in battles, which isn’t the greatest thing to have. Since Tyranitar is kinda needed for Excadrill to be a big threat, I would recommend changing Dragapult’s set to be more of an offensive-based set. I would recommend likely using a physically based set with Phantom Force (to help with Dynamaxed Pokémon like Cinderace) here.

I hope this helps; if you have more questions be sure to ask!

 

[CloysterCube]

thx regarding cinderace v. togekiss!

but lemme tell u the reason behind my two setup pokemon:
never bring both at one game i was told that already
usually i would bring what that will work better for the teams matchup against the opponent. Dragapult + Togekiss, Tyranitar + Excadrill, Dragapult + Excadrill, etc.
I gotta mix it up a bit since one strat wont work everytime!

 

[TheFinestCheddar]

How are you supposed to use Volarona? It seems like he is weak to so many things it is so hard setting him up sometimes.

 

[AwesomeDave980]

How are you supposed to use Volarona? It seems like he is weak to so many things it is so hard setting him up sometimes.

Volcarona is only actually weak to three types (Rock, Water, Flying), it has a fair amount of good resistances (Grass, Ice, Fighting, Fairy, Bug, Steel), and it’s naturally good special defense allows it to set up Quiver Dances against certain special attackers like most Rotom forms, Toxtricity, and Sylveon. You wouldn’t want to switch Volcarona directly into battle most of the time though since Volcarona isn’t the strongest defensively, especially against strong physical moves. Volcarona can switch into Will-o-Wisp though, which is very helpful at times. You could run Focus Sash on Volcarona to ensure that it does something, since entry hazards aren’t super common in three versus three. You could also run Hurricane as the third coverage move to help you in situations where you have to Dynamax right away (and use Max Airstream to get a speed boost).

Hope this helps!

 

[eZaF Crash]

I’m having a bit of trouble fitting my Blastoise onto the team I made. It’s supposed to be kinda gimmicky but I’m using the Ubers set with a white herb so I can use a life orb on my Excadrill. I’d like to hear your suggestions.

I’m having a bit of trouble fitting my Blastoise onto the team I made. It’s supposed to be kinda gimmicky but I’m using the Ubers set with a white herb so I can use a life orb on my Excadrill. I’d like to hear your suggestions.

Disclaimer: This is an in-game team that I made and I’m re-using some Pokémon from my other teams so if it looks weird for Clefable to have Stealth rock, that’s why.

 

[Ketchup2]

What are some good team mates to use with Hippowdon outside of Steels and SR Excadrill? Been wanting to make a competitive Hippowdon, but I suck at making team synergy.

 

[marilli]

What are some good team mates to use with Hippowdon outside of Steels and SR Excadrill? Been wanting to make a competitive Hippowdon, but I suck at making team synergy.

Hippowdon is a good stealth rock user and a decent physical sponge. I would not worry about being forced to use Steels in order to stay immune to the sandstorm, or feeling forced to use Excadrill with it. The synergy is valid but shouldn't be overstated. Excadrill isn't even listed as a top 10 teammate for Hippowdon despite being on the top 10~ on usage stats individually. The chip damage is significant but honestly not a dealbreaker, and for faster Pokemon like Cinderace and Dragapult, the sand chip order can let you know of an opposing Choice Scarf in advance before they attack, so it's not like it's a strict negative for them.


Hippowdon @ Sitrus Berry
Level: 50
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Yawn
- Whirlwind / Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

This is a standard Hippowdon. Setting Stealth Rock first, then spamming Yawn can result in some nasty sequences, and other players would often be so scared of this option and would rather have a poor lead matchup vs something else, rather than give Hippowdon the rocks and Sleep. You need something to check the water-types that try to lead against Hippowdon and threaten a KO. Lots of options here - you could go offensive with something like Rillaboom, or could try finding a reactive switch-in with something like Porygon 2.

And of course, setup sweepers love the free turn provided by Sleep if you can manage to actually get the Yawn off.

 

[Ketchup2]

Hippowdon is a good stealth rock user and a decent physical sponge. I would not worry about being forced to use Steels in order to stay immune to the sandstorm, or feeling forced to use Excadrill with it. The synergy is valid but shouldn't be overstated. Excadrill isn't even listed as a top 10 teammate for Hippowdon despite being on the top 10~ on usage stats individually. The chip damage is significant but honestly not a dealbreaker, and for faster Pokemon like Cinderace and Dragapult, the sand chip order can let you know of an opposing Choice Scarf in advance before they attack, so it's not like it's a strict negative for them.


Hippowdon @ Sitrus Berry
Level: 50
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Yawn
- Whirlwind / Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

This is a standard Hippowdon. Setting Stealth Rock first, then spamming Yawn can result in some nasty sequences, and other players would often be so scared of this option and would rather have a poor lead matchup vs something else, rather than give Hippowdon the rocks and Sleep. You need something to check the water-types that try to lead against Hippowdon and threaten a KO. Lots of options here - you could go offensive with something like Rillaboom, or could try finding a reactive switch-in with something like Porygon 2.

And of course, setup sweepers love the free turn provided by Sleep if you can manage to actually get the Yawn off.

is Scorching Sands a viable option for Hippowdon too? It would focus less on damage and more on more overall utility since Hippowdon’s Special Attack is bad.

(NOTE: I have been on the OU thread for a bit, so my opinions are more accustomed to that, but I did an assessment of myself and found I play Stadium more since I play via the Switch).

 

[marilli]

I would rather rely on Yawn than the Scorching Sands 30% chance as my primary status move of choice. Burn on a special attacker could also interfere with your ability to use Yawn effectively. Hippowdon also has a monster base Attack for a wall, so its Earthquake really stings, and you're giving that up with Scorching Sands. However, it's probably your best move to use vs a Rillaboom switching in and that is a big deal. You are threatened, and they could just u-turn out the Yawn. I wouldn't personally recommend it, but you could try it and see how it works.

 

[g3od00d]

2. New TR Resonance (Greil's current cart team): https://pokepast.es/ccff845eeb972834

Team Description

This team has many elements of the previous Greil TR team, but swaps out Hydreigon to Scarf Dracozolt, due to the dearth of switch-ins available in the new meta. This variant of Trick Room enjoys the added effectiveness of Rhyperior, who handily beats out the new #1 mon, Cinderace. Aegislash is often used as a lead to effectively trade 1 vs 1, and Lapras serves as a special tank, while also having the option to set screens if it opts to Dynamax. The final pokemon is support pult, which helps prevent Cinderace from sweeping and preying on other status users.

What do the EVs on this Dragapult set accomplish? Thanks in advance!

 

[Blank22/7]

Hello, I'm fairly new to competitive pokémon in general but I've been using this team for a bit now.

https://pokepast.es/71f1432ee8e331b8


It does fairly well generally, but struggles against stuff like Cinderace, Rotom and later Mimikyu once I changed my Urshifu into an anti-Cinderace sash user from being a choice banded Mimikyu check.

My biggest issue is honestly is that I rarely, if ever, send out Grimmsnarl, since he doesn't synergize that well with anyone outside of maybe Corviknight, and even then he's kinda underwhelming as a lead (maybe I'm just using him wrong?), so I kinda want to replace him with something else.

So my question is, what should I replace Grimmsnarl with, and what else should I think about in regards to changing this team? (Maybe adding DDance to Dragapult?) Are there any good Cinderace checks I should be aware of?

 

[Zargon19]

How viable is Dig on Azumarill in this meta? Say over superpower/bounce. It seems like it could be okay for helping to stall out dynamax turns if you yourself aren't dynamaxed. I know bounce is probably the better option for that kind of thing, but I have corviknight for flying coverage, and I want some ground coverage on my team which I don't have otherwise. In addition, fighting is pretty well covered otherwise by urshifu and a cinderace with high jump kick, so superpower seems less necessary.

 

[marilli]

https://pokepast.es/71f1432ee8e331b8

So my question is, what should I replace Grimmsnarl with, and what else should I think about in regards to changing this team? (Maybe adding DDance to Dragapult?) Are there any good Cinderace checks I should be aware of?

Cinderace seems to be mainly checked 2 ways: with a super defensive core involving things like Intimidate + Wisp Arcanine, Toxapex, Stockpile Quagsire, or Slack Off or Kee Hippowdon (252 Atk Life Orb Cinderace-Gmax G-Max Fireball (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 107-126 (49.7 - 58.6%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery), most of these are super passive. Or, you can try to beat it offensively, 1v1: things like Gyarados of course, Counter Urshifu, Dynamax Dragapult, etc. are all things that beat Cinderace 1v1 even though they really can't switch in too well. Bulky Intimidate Gyarados is the best mix of offensive pressure + ability to switch in, especially if switching on the G-Max Fireball.

If you're having issues with Cinderace I'd really recommend you try limit the amount of things that get forced out by G-Max Cinderace (like the Lum Corviknight on your team for example) because you'd be forced to add those bulky stuff on your team. The bulky Pokemon also have the added bonus of dealing with Mimikyu, though.

How viable is Dig on Azumarill in this meta? Say over superpower/bounce. It seems like it could be okay for helping to stall out dynamax turns if you yourself aren't dynamaxed. I know bounce is probably the better option for that kind of thing, but I have corviknight for flying coverage, and I want some ground coverage on my team which I don't have otherwise. In addition, fighting is pretty well covered otherwise by urshifu and a cinderace with high jump kick, so superpower seems less necessary.

Teambuilding isn't a checklist of filling out offensive and defensive types. Just because you have a Flying type move somewhere doesn't mean you should try to get rid of Flying-type moves elsewhere. In order to use that other Flying-type move, you'd have to bring it, switch it in, and use it (and hope their Rillaboom / Amoonguss don't switch out of the Corviknight, lol) Max Airstream gives Azumarill gives a speed boost, and a move to hit opposing Grass-types. Using Dig on Azumarill you shouldn't ask if "do I already have a Flying move elsewhere" but rather how much you actually benefit off of Dig vs Bounce. Max Quake's only relevant use in the metagame is hitting Toxapex, and not hard enough at that.

252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Max Quake (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 100-118 (63.6 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

While Ground-type moves also technically hit Electric-types if you are just focused on the type chart, this is mainly a nonsense argument. Rotom formes are immune to Dig, Dracozolt is already hit super effectively by Fairy-type moves. Pokemon like Magnezone are hit super effectively with Superpower already, which doesn't force Azumarill to Dynamax like Dig because otherwise it will just give Magnezone the turn to switch out.

I would say in order to actually serve as a competent Toxapex lure, you want the damage boost from Life Orb.

252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azumarill Max Quake (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 130-153 (82.8 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 32-39 (20.3 - 24.8%) -- possibly the worst move ever

And the use of Dig would be completely dependent on how much your team benefits from luring out and KOing Toxapex.

 

[Blank22/7]

Thanks for the advice! I tried to change a few things and it turned out pretty great. I tried replacing Foul Play with Thunder Wave on Grimmsnarl, and that kinda made him go from being the odd one out to being like, one of my primary leads. Cutting the opponents speed in half is so useful for mons like Urshifu, Corviknight and Toxtricity since it gives them opportunities to pick off stuff they'd otherwise be too slow to touch. The screens are pretty neat too, makes it a lot safer to switch on more offensive teams.

As for other changes, I changed the nature of Indeedee to modest (thank you mints) so it can guarantee a kill on non-dynamaxed Cinderace while still outspeeding it. I overhauled Dragapult completely into a Weakness Policy Dynamax Sweeper, which meant redistributing EVs a little and changing the nature to adamant. This turned out to be a game-changer, as having an alternative dynamax sweeper when corviknight wasn't safe to pick made my offense a lot more consistant, while also putting pressure on Mimikyu and Cinderace. I had to sacrifice Fire Blast for an Adamant nature and Fly, but Ferrothorn/Magnezone hasn't been too much of an issue so far so I'll hold of on finding solid checks for those.

New team: https://pokepast.es/a57e13247e399f74

 

[Zargon19]

Thank you for the advice as well. It does seem like bounce is kind of just too good overall to really consider dig instead. And yeah, it does seem like I cover all of the super relevant electric threats some other way. I may post my team at some point in the future, but for now I'm probably fine with the options I have.

 

[AwesomeDave980]

Having trouble with the new Isle of Armor meta? Greil and I did too! To help make your learning curve a little less steep, here are some sample teams that we used to qualify for Battle Stadium Ladder Tour (#1 and #2 scores of the week, ending at just below 1600). I apologize for the somewhat lacking team descriptions (this isn't a RMT after all), but hope you find these useful regardless! PM me or greil if you have any questions :)

1TP's teams:

1. Zio Ferro-Pex Balance: https://pokepast.es/5281ce18000ded6a

Team Description

This is a team I made with my tutee, Zio. It has rocks lead Excadrill to pave the way for Life Orb Cinderace sweeps, a fairly common combination in the new meta. Sub Dragapult aims to take advantage of Wisp users, and then Prim + Ferro-pex provides a defensive backbone with generally good synergy with the main players of the team.

2. Offensive Hippo Semi-TR: https://pokepast.es/84fc6a505e74083d

Team Description

This team aims to take advantage of Cinderace and other more offensively oriented teams by encouraging Dynamax early then flipping the script with Trick Room. It has a special and physical TR abuser in Lapras/Hippo, setter with Mimikyu, and otherwise strong mons like Cinderace, Rillaboom, and P2, the latter two of which also can do pretty well in TR conditions. Hippo is a great lure as well, and doesnt necessarily need Dynamax to be successful.

3. Ladder peak team: https://pokepast.es/d1c2b113e04eb49a

Team Description

So idk what title to give this team, but its the one I got my highest score with. Much like team 1, Lycanroc does a great job of setting rocks for your Cinderace, as well as counter any physical threats early on, such as Rillaboom/Cinderace. Scarf Zolt is another common lead, outspeed most non-Pults and dealing hefty damage to a meta that is now somewhat lacking in Dracozolt switchins. Ferrothorn is used to break balance teams through ID/BP, and can also serve as effective lure to the likes of togekiss (also surviving many rolls of LO pyro ball from jolly cinderace if needed). Prim and P2 serve as special and physical checks when needed to patch up the team.

Greil's teams:
1. Original Meta Testing Team: https://pokepast.es/e155d6a8961a01ac

Team Description

This is the team Greil first used (and what cant say used on his first LT stream. This team has a variety of physical and special sweepers that tend to trade well, including the lifes of LO Cinderace (notice a theme in these teams LOL), WP Urshifu-RS, and Critkiss. Mimikyu exists to revenge kill at the end, but can also Dynamax if needed.

2. New TR Resonance (Greil's current cart team): https://pokepast.es/ccff845eeb972834

Team Description

This team has many elements of the previous Greil TR team, but swaps out Hydreigon to Scarf Dracozolt, due to the dearth of switch-ins available in the new meta. This variant of Trick Room enjoys the added effectiveness of Rhyperior, who handily beats out the new #1 mon, Cinderace. Aegislash is often used as a lead to effectively trade 1 vs 1, and Lapras serves as a special tank, while also having the option to set screens if it opts to Dynamax. The final pokemon is support pult, which helps prevent Cinderace from sweeping and preying on other status users.

I’m just curious; what do those specific Dragapult EV spreads accomplish? I’m looking to maybe use a similar Dragapult on my newer team, so if you could do that, I would appreciate it.

 

[greilmercenary9]

I’m just curious; what do those specific Dragapult EV spreads accomplish? I’m looking to maybe use a similar Dragapult on my newer team, so if you could do that, I would appreciate it.

The support Pult EVs on New TR Res survive +2 Life Orb Sneak from Mimikyu and give general bulk (especially physical bulk) to get off Wisps/TWaves and cripple relevant opposing mons. The DD Pult on the Zio team is running enough speed to outrun Cinderace by one point, with max attack and enough bulk to survive stuff like +2 PR from Kee Mimi, PR into Sneak from LO Mimi, and a better than half roll to survive Specs Draco from opposing Pult while maxed, and other assorted attacks (such as living a Freeze Dry into an Ice Shard from Modest unboosted Lapras after Lefties recovery while not maxed) that the extra bulk helps with.

Tl;dr: this support Pult EVs to max speed, survive Mimi priority, and get off status, while this phys Pult EVs to outrun Ace, have good attack, and give just enough bulk to live some SE attacks that opponents might expect it to drop to.

 

[misterdarvus]

I saw the BSS Viability Rankings that Dracozolt (+A Rank) is higher ranked than Dracovish (B Rank). Why is that?

 

[marilli]

Dracozolt is much better at using Dynamax. Dracovish's damage output plummets when it Dynamaxes. Dracozolt makes great use of Max Airstream, as well as boosting items like Life Orb or Weakness Policy.

Dracozolt has a much better Cinderace matchup, mainly due to it being a better Dynamaxer and it resisting Max Fireball and Max Airstream. A full HP Scarf Dracovish on the other hand will lose 1v1 trying to revenge a Dynamax Cinderace that just used Airstream and thus no longer takes boosted nor super effective damage from Fishious Rend.

Dracozolt's typing and coverage gives it immense matchup advantage against standard Cinderace / Rillaboom / Togekiss offense, resisting Grassy Slide and one shotting Togekiss with Bolt Beak. Look at the S tier Pokemon, and flipping the matchup against Rillaboom and Togekiss is huge. Dracovish on the other hand has to rack up more Ls on top of the Mimikyu and Dragapult already checking it.

Dracozolt threatens the myriad of water-types in the game trying to check Cinderace, mainly things like Lapras and Toxapex, but also Azumarill, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, and Primarina. Look at A tier Pokemon. Dracovish cannot beat them 1v1, while Dracozolt will KO all of them bar a Focus Sash or using Wacan Berry and Dynamax.

None of these faults individually make or break Dracozolt and Dracovish. However, considering all of these in combination results in Dracozolt having a significantly superior matchup vs offense and exerting a top-tier presence in the metagame. Of course, Dracovish with its Fishious Rend will always have a niche. BSS VR Council will always be on the lookout for metagame shifts and will be willing to adjust the VR as the metagame unfolds.

 

[OU yamper]

i competitively bred a cleffa to use clefable in x and y, and i made a moveset for it

Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Wish

is it good

 

[AwesomeDave980]

i competitively bred a cleffa to use clefable in x and y, and i made a moveset for it

Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Wish

is it good

What are it’s EVs and nature? I can’t really answer this question until I have those things.

 

[marilli]

i competitively bred a cleffa to use clefable in x and y, and i made a moveset for it

Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Wish

is it good

Assuming you're actually playing against sentient human beings, the problem with just wish as your recovery move is that it's actually pretty hard for you to get healed with it reliably. The fact that you're forced to alternate between Healing and attacking hurts, too, as it essentially halves your ability to regain health and you need to be taking half as much damage to get anything out of using a recovery move ( taking < 25% to actually get healed overall, as vs taking < 50% to get healed with Moonlight). Moonlight is the better healing move. If you want to use wish, you'd also want protect, then you shouln't be using Life Orb. For this reason of being forced to use Protect, Wish is practically never used. I think Unaware Kee Berry Minimize with full defense is the only set that's actually worth using against sentient human beings, but that's just a personal opinion.

But what is likely is that you're trying to beat Battle Maison, in which case yes, this offensive set would be better. It's pretty pointless trying to luck an opponent that you should be beating no problems. Further questions about Battle Maison would be better served in Orange Islands subforum. Thanks.