Resource Simple Questions & Simple Answers Thread

[Zpice]

With oricorio being qb and venomoth looking like a real worthy suspect next how many pokemon with qd would we ban before taking action on the move? just curious i dont think there should be action on it

I believe it would need to go into extreme lengths before the move must be taken into consideration. Smogon Tiering Policy priorities Pokemon bans first as it is the simplest form of tiering, but abilities (such as Unburden in our case) can get banned if far too many abusers exist (Grafaiai, Hitmonlee, Sceptile, Drifblim in order of viability)

If too many Pokemon end up getting banned, the next likely tiering action would be the Terrain Seeds* (Grassy/Electric Seed specifically for providing a defense boost for the Quiver Dance users among other sweepers) before tiering action such as banning moves can take place. Furthermore, Pokemon such as Masquerain and Vivillon aren't considered unhealthy presences as stand alone threats, so I don't believe a Quiver Dance ban will happen any time soon in ZU

*Do note I am not the one electing tiering decisions, take this information with a grain of salt

 

[Mightyena69]

is sticky web hyper offense any good?

 

[lettuce]

is sticky web hyper offense any good?

Short answer: Yes.

It's not top-tier meta defining or anything, and Vikavolt is good outside of webs too, but it's not bad like Electric Terrain lol. Setup on mons like Mesprit, Mowtom, and SD H-Qwil appreciate the speed support, and naturally fast mons like the Oricorios and Virizion would love to not be outsped by Floatzel.

I uh, actually have no idea of what HO looks like in this meta outside of trick room, sun, and grass/psy terrain, so I'm hoping those are the abusers. The last time I ran a webs team, it wasn't HO, and found that I didn't needs webs every game.

 

[Number1MagcargoFan]

Wanting to get into the ZU tier. Gonna try to test out my boy Magcargo. Any tips on the meta and potential good teammates for him? I’m leaning towards the shell smash set over the stealth rocks tanky set.

 

[lettuce]

Wanting to get into the ZU tier. Gonna try to test out my boy Magcargo. Any tips on the meta and potential good teammates for him? I’m leaning towards the shell smash set over the stealth rocks tanky set.

Here's a list of everything (off the top of my head) in the meta that can offensively check, defensively check, or (p)hase Magcargo:

checks

I'm assuming you are Focus Sash and are able to click Shell Smash, since there's probably no other way you are able to set up due to its frailty.

Encore ( )
Special Walls ( and it runs rock blast)
Things that get roar/dtail/haze (notably tera )
Hazards (breaks sash)
Priority ( )
these guys:
And anying base 110 speed or above (counting scarf Pass/Mowtom), which outspeeds you after a shell smash and notably includes Floatzel

which basically means pair it with twave/discharge lanturn and Sneasel-h and dont lose to whimsicott or the special walls, if you are going to keep using Magcargo. Sticky Web Vikavolt > Lanturn is also an option. The only way you are going to get Magcargo set up is with Focus sash, so hazard removal like Sandslash is important.

The VR is a good way to see what's good (and there's a reason Magcargo isn't on it lol). It needs a little update (eg. whimsicott is more common than currently implied) but its always a good resource for gauging the meta.

 

[Number1MagcargoFan]

Here's a list of everything (off the top of my head) in the meta that can offensively check, defensively check, or (p)hase Magcargo:

checks

I'm assuming you are Focus Sash and are able to click Shell Smash, since there's probably no other way you are able to set up due to its frailty.

Encore ( )
Special Walls ( and it runs rock blast)
Things that get roar/dtail/haze (notably tera )
Hazards (breaks sash)
Priority ( )
these guys:
And anying base 110 speed or above (counting scarf Pass/Mowtom), which outspeeds you after a shell smash and notably includes Floatzel

which basically means pair it with twave/discharge lanturn and Sneasel-h and dont lose to whimsicott or the special walls, if you are going to keep using Magcargo. Sticky Web Vikavolt > Lanturn is also an option. The only way you are going to get Magcargo set up is with Focus sash, so hazard removal like Sandslash is important.

The VR is a good way to see what's good (and there's a reason Magcargo isn't on it lol). It needs a little update (eg. whimsicott is more common than currently implied) but its always a good resource for gauging the meta.

Yeah I know he’s got a lot of problems. I always like to find ways to use him and I enjoy the challenge. Usually I do PU but figured I’d make it easier since it’s been a while. Thanks for the advice. I definitely will apply it

 

[Merryresult]

What are some teammate suggestions for Spiritomb? I really want to try it.

 

[wooper]

What are some teammate suggestions for Spiritomb? I really want to try it.

spiritomb needs some help getting past the fairy-type whimsicott, so pokemon like muk, charizard, and snorlax are good teammates. it also appreciates when regirock and opposing snorlax are weakened a bit before sweeping (assuming you are nasty plot + trick room), so again charizard and snorlax, as well as your own knock off users like mesprit, sandslash, and the aforementioned muk help to whittle them down

 

[cat111ca]

why is banned?

 

[wooper]

why is banned?

this thread outlines why it was initially suspect tested and ultimately banned via a vote. read through some of the users' opinions as well!

 

[Praise The Salt]

curious about the perspectives of the builders in this tier. what mons are on your must check list when you build? i think it would be cool if we set up a little guide like OU where we put our top threats that must be dealt with and a list of checks for them to refer to

 

[fansuki]

hey guys!
i'm kinda new to teambuilding and i decided to get my hands on ZU especially since my friend ash keeps yelling at me for memeing with meganium in OU.

is there some kind of gterrain team i can use for meganium or is this pokemon chronically cooked? if it helps i'd really like to use arboliva too since it looks cool + it's been warming up to me since a friend sometimes uses it in OU.

if it helps here's the team i used in OU
https://pokepast.es/bba47da5bd8f28e0

also which abilities are banned since i can't find them? i was heartbroken about unburden being banned because i really wanted to use gseed unburden drifblim

 

[zause]

hey guys!
i'm kinda new to teambuilding and i decided to get my hands on ZU especially since my friend ash keeps yelling at me for memeing with meganium in OU.

is there some kind of gterrain team i can use for meganium or is this pokemon chronically cooked? if it helps i'd really like to use arboliva too since it looks cool + it's been warming up to me since a friend sometimes uses it in OU.

if it helps here's the team i used in OU
https://pokepast.es/bba47da5bd8f28e0

also which abilities are banned since i can't find them? i was heartbroken about unburden being banned because i really wanted to use gseed unburden drifblim

unburden, drought, drizzle, and some rng abilities like moody, sand veil and snow cloak are banned. some other rng abilities are legal though, like cursed body and static.

 

[sleid]

is there some kind of gterrain team i can use for meganium or is this pokemon chronically cooked? if it helps i'd really like to use arboliva too since it looks cool + it's been warming up to me since a friend sometimes uses it in OU.

Meganium isn't worth using if you want the best chance of winning games. Tuthur made a post in the Team Bazaar that has a gterrain team that is still pretty solid here. You can probably substitute Meganium in here if you want to have some fun testing it out. Happy laddering!

 

[Remedy]

https://pokepast.es/28005d2632a3adaf here's ur team but edited still mid but usable in zu now

 

[PorygonBG]

How good is Toxicroak in ZU?

 

[lettuce]

How good is Toxicroak in ZU?

He’s pretty good, with a water immunity, good STABs, knock + sucker making it a good Tera dark option in a meta where we need more darks, and flexibility to run NP, imo he’s a viable meta threat with good traits, but nothing too crazy

 

[I'm Tapu Bulu]

how are your experiences with sunny day venu? Seems like it's one or two tier shifts away from breaking the tier...

For now Snorlax is here to save the day, but good god it has 518 base speed+LO, as well as a 120 BP+stab solar beam and a basically 150 BP Weather Ball. You tera fire and you get a blinding fast mon that spams 225 BP moves left and right, this is mind blowing for ZU... I've played with it a bit and with good positioning it shatters offense teams

 

[wooper]

how are your experiences with sunny day venu? Seems like it's one or two tier shifts away from breaking the tier...

For now Snorlax is here to save the day, but good god it has 518 base speed+LO, as well as a 120 BP+stab solar beam and a basically 150 BP Weather Ball. You tera fire and you get a blinding fast mon that spams 225 BP moves left and right, this is mind blowing for ZU... I've played with it a bit and with good positioning it shatters offense teams

a mixed defensive or fully spdef muk i suppose also works but i agree that a really well played or well positioned sunnybeam venu can be a death sentence. i also think that we have some mons that can trade down with it like glastrier, hitmontop, mesprit, zard, clawitzer, and im sure theres more! ive personally only played against one so this is just speculative and am happy to be wrong

 

[I'm Tapu Bulu]

a mixed defensive or fully spdef muk i suppose also works but i agree that a really well played or well positioned sunnybeam venu can be a death sentence. i also think that we have some mons that can trade down with it like glastrier, hitmontop, mesprit, zard, clawitzer, and im sure theres more! ive personally only played against one so this is just speculative and am happy to be wrong

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera Fire Venusaur Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Muk in Sun: 212-251 (51.2 - 60.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

and I was calcing with earth power lol. AV mons could work?

 

[zause]

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera Fire Venusaur Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Muk in Sun: 212-251 (51.2 - 60.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

and I was calcing with earth power lol. AV mons could work?

av muk is the good set but oricorio-f is another major roadblock for sunny day venu as someones who used it

 

[NotDake]

how are your experiences with sunny day venu? Seems like it's one or two tier shifts away from breaking the tier...

For now Snorlax is here to save the day, but good god it has 518 base speed+LO, as well as a 120 BP+stab solar beam and a basically 150 BP Weather Ball. You tera fire and you get a blinding fast mon that spams 225 BP moves left and right, this is mind blowing for ZU... I've played with it a bit and with good positioning it shatters offense teams

I think Sunny Day Venu is a fantastic late game sweeper, even if it gets demolished by the likes of Lax and Muk, though they can be overwhelmed by using a second special wallbreaker, it's a very skill expressive set imo. That being said, I think Solar Beam is a terrible move. You already have to run both Sunny Day + Weather Ball, having a third move that is virtually useless without the sun up is absurdly clunky. I think Gigadrain is significantly better as it can gives you much needed recovery vs weakened threats so you can avoid getting revenge killed and is strong enough to 2HKO stuff like Htop on the switch in, if raw power is what you are looking for, Tera Fire WBall is right there.