Metagame Pokébilities [META POLL: Page 9 Post 216]

Breloom has proven to be just as amazing, if not, even better in this gen of pokebilities compared to prior gens for multiple reasons such as terastalization and Loaded Dice. However, there are two specific pokemon that often infinitely switch in on Breloom if they're careful about hazard removal, those two being Azumarill and Farigaraf. I originally tried making a Roseli Berry set for Breloom with Gunk Shot, but I ended up finding that I'd often still get OHKOd by banded Play Rough even through Roseli Berry, Gunk Shot just wasn't enough to KO Azumarill often, and I wasn't staying in on Azumarill enough anyway to make Roseli Berry be worthwhile. After that, I did calcs with Expert Belt and realized it 2HKOd Farigiraf even without a super effective boost and min roll Gunk Shot into Mach Punch kills 252 HP 4 Def Azumarill, so Belt didn't help much. The best items on this set will probably end up being the items that Breloom already runs such as Loaded Dice, Toxic Orb, Focus Sash, and Choice Band.

TL;DR, do your calcs before trying to come up with cool sets to beat one single pokemon so you don't waste multiple games testing something completely suboptimal
 
i’ve been really enjoying this OM- it’s given me reason to use mons like Honchkrow, Bruxish, and Appletun, and I've gained some new favorite mons as well. however, even as i've cycled through a number of 6th team members (Pokepaste below), none of them have felt quite right for my team. do any of ya'll have any suggestions? additionally, is there a way to tell if Snarl on Toxtricity is boosted by both Technician and Punk Rock? i couldn't quite figure out a way to calculate that. thanks! (edit: realizing now that this is probably not the right place for questions like this, sry)
https://pokepast.es/97bafda2ff0ede9f
 
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i’ve been really enjoying this OM- it’s given me reason to use mons like Honchkrow, Bruxish, and Appletun, and I've gained some new favorite mons as well. however, even as i've cycled through a number of 6th team members (Pokepaste below), none of them have felt quite right for my team. do any of ya'll have any suggestions? additionally, is there a way to tell if Snarl on Toxtricity is boosted by both Technician and Punk Rock? i couldn't quite figure out a way to calculate that. thanks! (edit: realizing now that this is probably not the right place for questions like this, sry)
https://pokepast.es/97bafda2ff0ede9f
i'm not sure if snarl is tech/punk rock boosted, but i can try to help with the rest!
the only suggestion that jumps out at me is appletun's nature/evs - leech seed is already doing chip and apple acid is decreasing spdef, so you could go for more bulk on it rather than 252+ spatk
appletun is the only defensive pokemon you have, and while hyperoffense is good sometimes, it could def use this clod set i stole from typhlosion a while ago
Clodsire @ Ability Shield
Ability: Poison Point
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
not sure about a ship-themed name for it, though
if you want to keep on using an ho team, polly want a cracker (i don't know if this is good, just made this in a minute)
Polly (Squawkabilly) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Hustle
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Parting Shot
 
i'm not sure if snarl is tech/punk rock boosted, but i can try to help with the rest!
the only suggestion that jumps out at me is appletun's nature/evs - leech seed is already doing chip and apple acid is decreasing spdef, so you could go for more bulk on it rather than 252+ spatk
appletun is the only defensive pokemon you have, and while hyperoffense is good sometimes, it could def use this clod set i stole from typhlosion a while ago
Clodsire @ Ability Shield
Ability: Poison Point
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
not sure about a ship-themed name for it, though
if you want to keep on using an ho team, polly want a cracker (i don't know if this is good, just made this in a minute)
Polly (Squawkabilly) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Hustle
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Parting Shot
i totally just clicked the showdown recommended nature/ev button- changed that up and it's feeling much better, so thank you for the reminder. clodsire perfectly slots in to my team, and it helps against azumarill too (alongside toxtricity), which can be a big threat to my team otherwise. oh, and i named the clodsire ballast to keep with the theme. squawkabilly can work with my team, but (as you mentioned) ho is probably not the way to go in this meta, so i haven't used it much. thx!
 
So, Shed Tail was recently banned in base OU, which makes me curious if it will also get banned in pokebilities. I've seen Shed Tail have much the same effect, except to an even stronger degree by things such as allowing Ursaring a free Swords Dance or Azumarill a free Belly Drum. The argument of multihit moves+Loaded Dice and Dragapult just doesn't work against Shed Tail either. Yes, multihit moves are actually usable on non Technician or Skill Link pokemon now, but they're still very uncommon. For Dragapult, while it's definitely top 5 in the meta, any pokemon being straight up mandatory is just unhealthy for the meta imo. I've both abused and been up against Shed Tail to see the negative effects it has on the meta and I personally do believe that along with Chien-Pao and Annihilape, it is too much for Pokebilities
 
I've seen Shed Tail have much the same effect, except to an even stronger degree by things such as allowing Ursaring a free Swords Dance or Azumarill a free Belly Drum.
i'd argue that seeing trailblaze from ursaring behind a sub is more terrifying than sd tbh
hard agree on shed tail ban here. especially with tera predicts, setting up behind sub is wild. using ursaring an an example, if i go for a fighting move to break sub and the ursa teras ghost? whether sd or trailblaze, that's horrible for my momentum
not to mention that both shed tail users benefit a bit from this gimmick. not as much as others, sure, but it's definitely a bit much
orthworm gets sand veil and earth eater, which can be wild in a sand team. orthworm's main appeal is a slow shed tail, and if it can just evade a hit in sand to get a sub in with no downside, it's horrid
cyclizar doesn't benefit as much with shed skin, but i can still see some niche uses. maybe shedding burn to do decent chip with knock or uturn? or shedding para do get its insane speed tier back?
shed tail is just way too much for this meta. its ban in ou just kinda cemented that

also side note
I personally do believe that along with Chien-Pao and Annihilape, it is too much for Pokebilities
why would you say that annihilape is too much for pokebilities? last i checked, the abilities it gets are kinda antisynergistic. defiant gives atk boost on intim but inner focus blocks intim, vital spirit stops it from using rest+chesto, yknow?
 
probably isn't the place but i thought of how basculegion got buffed in radical red.

Basculegion-Male @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless / Adaptability / Swift Swim
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wave Crash
- Head Smash
- Crunch
- Last Respects

use this under rain, and you have something that just turns into a OHKO machine
Take in mind that Female Basculegion has less base attack than the Male Basculegion, This set will be something Relevant to it:

Basculegion-Female @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker / Adaptability / Swift Swim
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Hydro Pump / Surf
- Shadow Ball
- Ice Beam
- Last Respects
 
why would you say that annihilape is too much for pokebilities? last i checked, the abilities it gets are kinda antisynergistic. defiant gives atk boost on intim but inner focus blocks intim, vital spirit stops it from using rest+chesto, yknow?
Good question. If you want to know more in depth, I made a post a while back about it, so I'll be short in this discussion. While it can't get Defiant boosts from Intimidate due to Inner Focus and can't Rest due to Vital Spirit, slapping on Substitute to stop status is just as strong. It's true that you don't receive Rage Fist boosts from attacks behind Sub, but the status prevention that stops burn and para is massive. Along with that, Scarf Breloom used to be a check with Spore, but not anymore due to Vital Spirit. Adding on, Taunt can easily stop pokemon from trying to status you if you don't want to use Substitute. From both playing and testing throughout the first two weeks or so of the meta, what I found is that it's anti-synergystic abilities didn't bring it down much, if at all. Hope this explanation was easy to understand. If you want more info, you can also ask through DMs
 
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Take in mind that Female Basculegion has less base attack than the Male Basculegion, This set will be something Relevant to it:

Basculegion-Female @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker / Adaptability / Swift Swim
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Hydro Pump / Surf
- Shadow Ball
- Ice Beam
- Last Respects
There's no way that Last Respects won't be banned with Home, which will make male Basculegion completely outclassed by female due to lack of good physical stab (due to Phantom Force being two turn) without Last Respects and using your Tera whereas the female doesn't have to use one of your most valuable resources in order to spam strong, reliable ghost stab
 
Good question. If you want to know more in depth, I made a post a while back about it, so I'll be short in this discussion. While it can't get Defiant boosts from Intimidate due to Inner Focus and can't Rest due to Vital Spirit, slapping on Substitute to stop status is just as strong. It's true that you don't receive Rage Fist boosts from attacks behind Sub, but the status prevention that stops burn and para is massive. Along with that, Scarf Breloom used to be a check with Spore, but not anymore due to Vital Spirit. Adding on, Taunt can easily stop pokemon from trying to status you if you don't want to use Substitute. From both playing and testing throughout the first two weeks or so of the meta, what I found is that it's anti-synergystic abilities didn't bring it down much, if at all. Hope this explanation was easy to understand. If you want more info, you can also ask through DMs
that's super fair, i didn't even consider the spore immunity. while it does check breloom with vital spirit, i feel like bullet seed still invalidates sub sets without much counterplay (assuming breloom has some bulk, frail ones still drop to gunk shot or ice punch). i'm def gonna try and build a team for it, since you make some great points. ty for the clarification!
 
that's super fair, i didn't even consider the spore immunity. while it does check breloom with vital spirit, i feel like bullet seed still invalidates sub sets without much counterplay (assuming breloom has some bulk, frail ones still drop to gunk shot or ice punch). i'm def gonna try and build a team for it, since you make some great points. ty for the clarification!
I thought that to be a very likely possibility at the beginning too. You can even see me defending the idea of suspect testing Annihilape before the meta even released, but with testing, I've found that not even multihit moves are not great against Annihilape. In addition, you have to keep in mind the fact that every single hit of the multihit move after the one that breaks sub will give Ape an extra boost. For example, lets say a Loaded Dice Breloom hits a 5 hit Bullet Seed on an Annihilape that hasn't received any boosts whatsoever and the second hit of Bullet Seed breaks the Sub. In that case, you may break the Sub, but you also boost Rage Fist from 50 BP to 200 BP. We also have to acknowledge how bulky Annihilape is and the fact that most of its sets are Bulk Up variants that have Drain Punch for HP recovery, meaning its far from difficult to heal off the Substitute damage. Annihilape can also outspeed Breloom with not too much investment. In order to outspeed max speed Breloom with a plus speed nature, Annihilape just needs 188 speed EVs, which falls to only 96 if Annihilape runs Jolly, leaving plenty of room for it to invest in bulk in order to maintain its hit taking capability. Even Dondozo, the closest thing to a pure wall against Ape, gets 2HKOd without hazards guaranteed if Ape is able to get Rage Fist boosted to the highest possible power. And that's max defense Dozo

0 Atk Annihilape Rage Fist vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 277-327 (54.9 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Phasing seems like a solid argument at first, but then you realize how little viable pokemon actually run phasing moves, the four that come to mind are Arcanine, Ting-Lu, Garchomp, and Hippowdon, and phasing still doesn't remove the boosts Rage Fist has acquired. On top of that, one of those four pokemon, Garchomp, has to use Dragon Tail for its phasing, which not only boosts Rage Fist, but also has a 10% chance to miss. Yes, you also have Rough Skin and can run Rocky Helmet to punish Ape without boosting Rage Fist, but even then, its nowhere near a counter, merely a tool to temporarily stave off Ape, which gets harder when its you're taking hits from other pokemon in the process of laying hazards. The same logic can be applied to Ting-Lu except Whirlwind can't miss and it can't abuse Rough Skin or Rocky Helmet. Along with that, Ting-Lu is a free Drain Punch
 
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I thought that to be a very likely possibility at the beginning too. You can even see me defending the idea of suspect testing Annihilape before the meta even released, but with testing, I've found that not even multihit moves are great against Annihilape. In addition, you have to keep in mind the fact that every single hit of the multihit move after the one that breaks sub will give Ape an extra boost. For example, lets say a Loaded Dice Breloom hits a 5 hit Bullet Seed on an Annihilape that hasn't received any boosts whatsoever and the second hit of Bullet Seed breaks the Sub. In that case, you may break the Sub, but you also boost Rage Fist from 50 BP to 200 BP. We also have to acknowledge how bulky Annihilape is and the fact that most of its sets are Bulk Up variants that have Drain Punch for HP recovery, meaning its far from difficult to heal off the Substitute damage. Annihilape can also outspeed Breloom with not too much investment. In order to outspeed max speed Breloom with a plus speed nature, Annihilape just needs 188 speed EVs, which falls to only 96 if Annihilape runs Jolly, leaving plenty of room for it to invest in bulk in order to maintain its hit taking capability. Even Dondozo, the closest thing to a pure wall against Ape, gets 2HKOd without hazards guaranteed if Ape is able to get Rage Fist boosted to the highest possible power. And that's max defense Dozo

0 Atk Annihilape Rage Fist vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 277-327 (54.9 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Phasing seems like a solid argument at first, but then you realize how little viable pokemon actually run phasing moves, the four that come to mind are Arcanine, Ting-Lu, Garchomp, and Hippowdon, and phasing still doesn't remove the boosts Rage Fist has acquired. On top of that, one of those four pokemon, Garchomp, has to use Dragon Tail for its phasing, which not only boosts Rage Fist, but also has a 10% chance to miss. Yes, you also have Rough Skin and can run Rocky Helmet to punish Ape without boosting Rage Fist, but even then, its nowhere near a counter, merely a tool to temporarily stave off Ape, which gets harder when its you're taking hits from other pokemon in the process of laying hazards. The same logic can be applied to Ting-Lu except Whirlwind can't miss and it can't abuse Rough Skin or Rocky Helmet. Along with that, Ting-Lu is a free Drain Punch
i've been playing around with ape, and you def bring up amazing points. i wouldn't say it's meta defining at all (i hadn't even thought of it until your post), but it's a serious threat. the multihit point is pretty obvious, i'm not sure how i didn't think of that. the main check that i was facing with it was clod, which is an issue because it's just so prevalent right now. unaware shuts down bulk up strats, and rage fist is a scary game of chicken. you just keep subbing until you risk a rage fist and hope they eq to boost it - if they toxic or poison point activates, the whole set goes down. i'm sure you could find somewhere to fit ice punch to counter clod, but i'm not sure what to get rid of in the classic rage/drain/bulk/sub set. ice punch would also counter chomp and hippo
another point against chomp when it comes to phasing - dragon tail doesn't even bypass sub, and surely won't break it.
 
Annihilape can also outspeed Breloom with not too much investment. In order to outspeed max speed Breloom with a plus speed nature, Annihilape just needs 188 speed EVs, which falls to only 96 if Annihilape runs Jolly, leaving plenty of room for it to invest in bulk in order to maintain its hit taking capability. Even Dondozo, the closest thing to a pure wall against Ape, gets 2HKOd without hazards guaranteed if Ape is able to get Rage Fist boosted to the highest possible power. And that's max defense Dozo
I know a Max defense Dozo gets destroyed by a STAB Grass Knot, since has 120 BP.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Decidueye Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 758-894 (150.3 - 177.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Miracle Seed Abomasnow Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 576-680 (114.2 - 134.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Meowscarada Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 606-714 (120.2 - 141.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
 
I know a Max defense Dozo gets destroyed by a STAB Grass Knot, since has 120 BP.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Decidueye Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 758-894 (150.3 - 177.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Miracle Seed Abomasnow Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 576-680 (114.2 - 134.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Meowscarada Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 606-714 (120.2 - 141.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Nice joke XD. But you do have a point with how specially weak Dozo is without investment. That's even the reason why many sets have shifted to max HP max SpDef Careful, which coincidentally enough, makes it far worse at countering Ape.
 
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1LDK

Vengeance
is a Top Team Rater
I know a Max defense Dozo gets destroyed by a STAB Grass Knot, since has 120 BP.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Decidueye Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 758-894 (150.3 - 177.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Miracle Seed Abomasnow Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 576-680 (114.2 - 134.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Meowscarada Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 606-714 (120.2 - 141.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Imagine being this guy
get in forum
post unbelivably dumb calcs
get 1000000000 reaction points, 100000 people seetheing at him
and tommorrow he is gonna do it again

Anyways

I have been off the railroad when it comes to this sub meta
what are you guys doing, any advancement on the meta worth noting?
 
i've been playing around with ape, and you def bring up amazing points. i wouldn't say it's meta defining at all (i hadn't even thought of it until your post), but it's a serious threat. the multihit point is pretty obvious, i'm not sure how i didn't think of that. the main check that i was facing with it was clod, which is an issue because it's just so prevalent right now. unaware shuts down bulk up strats, and rage fist is a scary game of chicken. you just keep subbing until you risk a rage fist and hope they eq to boost it - if they toxic or poison point activates, the whole set goes down. i'm sure you could find somewhere to fit ice punch to counter clod, but i'm not sure what to get rid of in the classic rage/drain/bulk/sub set. ice punch would also counter chomp and hippo
another point against chomp when it comes to phasing - dragon tail doesn't even bypass sub, and surely won't break it.
You do bring up a good point with Clodsire, but there is one thing I'd like to mention in that matchup. If Ape comes in on Clod without getting hit by Toxic and already has its Rage Fist boosted, even physically defensive Clods have trouble walling Ape. Not only that, but after Sub, Ape can try to fish for Poison Point, meaning that it can't be hit by Toxic along with being unable to be paralyzed or burned, which is a huge deal. If you're normally poisoned, the damage doesn't repeatedly increase every turn like toxic poisoning, you don't have your uninvested attack halved like burn, and you don't have your speed halved with a 1/5 chance to not move every turn like with paralysis. If anything, it's much more beneficial for Ape to try to get the Poison Point proc and switch out afterwards because while it will already have weakened itself a lot from Sub, possibly repeatedly, and poison, it is still able to pose a major threat. Of course, you can always Toxic on the switchin, but going into prediction territory is something I only really like to do when bringing up how few switchins a mon has. Another important point is that while Clod does have a great type and ability to check Ape, Ape can still pose a major threat to it by repeatedly wasting its Recover PP, which is already limited at 8, and even if Ape just does that, it can be massive to cripple Clod like that
 
Imagine being this guy
get in forum
post unbelivably dumb calcs
get 1000000000 reaction points, 100000 people seetheing at him
and tommorrow he is gonna do it again

Anyways

I have been off the railroad when it comes to this sub meta
what are you guys doing, any advancement on the meta worth noting?
If you haven't been playing the meta the past two weeks or so, a new Clod set has popped up around last week with Ability Shield and tera steel to stave off Basculin, even walling it after tera, and avoiding a 2HKO after Rocks from itemless Hawlucha Acrobatics with Adamant max investment before tera. Since then, though, not much.
 

1LDK

Vengeance
is a Top Team Rater
Maybe is because Im in low ladder, but from the matches I have played, Basculin has given me literally 0 problem, so I don't really know how powerful really is. Hawlucha is something I haven't fought, but sounds even worse than Grafaiai which is already cancer
 
Maybe is because Im in low ladder, but from the matches I have played, Basculin has given me literally 0 problem, so I don't really know how powerful really is. Hawlucha is something I haven't fought, but sounds even worse than Grafaiai which is already cancer
Rain is pretty common specifically to boost Basculin even further. Tera water rain boosted Choice Band Adaptability Wave Crash is insane. Even off of base 92 attack, and even if you take out the tera, it's huge. One of the biggest threats the meta has bas so far. Does more damage than a banded Barraskewda Liquidation
 
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i'd argue that seeing trailblaze from ursaring behind a sub is more terrifying than sd tbh
the combo of quick feet / guts and the +1 trailblaze speed on ursaring is terrifying. stab burn boosted facades have a (albeit small) chance to ohko max hp and def clodsire, and do massive damage to other tanks such as pex and appletun (the latter actually does have a good chance to be ohkoed, and even if it survives it then can’t do berry shenanigans cause of unnerve). banning shed tail is the right decision, because otherwise it lets ursaring shrug off mach punches from checks such as breloom and then ko with facade
 
the combo of quick feet / guts and the +1 trailblaze speed on ursaring is terrifying. stab burn boosted facades have a (albeit small) chance to ohko max hp and def clodsire, and do massive damage to other tanks such as pex and appletun (the latter actually does have a good chance to be ohkoed, and even if it survives it then can’t do berry shenanigans cause of unnerve). banning shed tail is the right decision, because otherwise it lets ursaring shrug off mach punches from checks such as breloom and then ko with facade
another big thing with trailblaze is breaking sturdy/sash. so many pokemon get sturdy for free now (my personal fav being magnezone), and breaking that is invaluable. the unnerve point is also major, so many mons get it that i just forgot about
 
another big thing with trailblaze is breaking sturdy/sash. so many pokemon get sturdy for free now (my personal fav being magnezone), and breaking that is invaluable. the unnerve point is also major, so many mons get it that i just forgot about
the little bit of chip via trailblaze can be a win condition. damage and a free speed boost? yes please. only wish breloom got it :( sturdy on magnezone is definitely appreciated too. surviving an equake, mach punch or cc and then killing with tera blast ice/flying seems to be a favorite strategy of my opponents lol. and unnerve is just annoying, appletun could beat corviknight/ursaring/t-tar/etc. 1v1 if not for unnerve (or for mirror armor, the bane of apple acid and a forgetful player).
 
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the little bit of chip via trailblaze can be a win condition. damage and a free speed boost? yes please. only wish breloom got it :( sturdy on magnezone is definitely appreciated too. surviving an equake, mach punch or cc and then killing with tera blast ice/flying seems to be a favorite strategy of my opponents lol. and unnerve is just annoying, appletun could beat corviknight/ursaring/t-tar/etc. 1v1 if not for unnerve (or for mirror armor, the bane of apple acid and a forgetful player).
honestly, magnezone doesn't even need tera blast. i run tbolt/voltswitch/flashcannon/bodypress with magnet and it works fine. i'm sure you could run specs instead of magnet, but i like being able to switch on the spot
thank you for reminding me of mirror armor, i need to go build a corv set now... i've been running into too many appletuns on ladder
 

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