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As was pointed out on showdown yesterday, necrozma actually has swords dance and a decent attack stat. It sadly has to rely on psycho cut for physical stab, but it has x scissor, which gives it a better way to hit dark types then hp:fighting. You also get earthquake for houndoom.
But I do see Necrozma struggling to find itself a niche, assuming cress is in the tier. Cress has better defenses and a better ability. Necrozma's niche should be offensive presence, but cress has moonblast for that awesome coverage against dark types. Stored power sets with calm mind and iron defense are just asking for houndoom to switch in for free.
Persian @ Darkium Z
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Foul Play
- Parting Shot
- Toxic
- Taunt
So, this works sort of like Miyami~~ 's set, but instead of using Fake Out and Hypnosis, it exploits Z-Parting Shot. What Z-Parting Shot does is exactly what Memento and Healing Wish do, only Persian remains alive and the opponent's attacking stats are reduced. Outside of that, it's the exact same thing; a one-off move that allows the user to fully heal an ally Pokemon. This also makes Alolan Persian an amazing Knock Off shield as it naturally can check most Dark-types due to Fur Coat. Toxic is a better status I feel since it has such a fast Taunt, thus allowing it to stallbreak a bit on top of being a great team player. Foul Play lets it beat up on the physical attackers it's being used to check anyway. I think this will be a fun mon if it makes its way down, but Z-Parting Shot may make it mid or low UU; it's seriously game changing when pulled off well.
Necrozma: I'm really not sure what to think with this Pokemon. On the one hand, it has a fantastic support movepool and reliable recovery. On the other, its typing is lackluster defensively and its offensive movepool is kind of ass. I think it's likely to come down to RU due to the other supportive Psychics in higher tiers, but I"m not sure how reliable it will be if SM RU is anything like ORAS was. Of course, different generations are always a little different, but I'm just basing this off of ORAS simply because we have no clue what will be in SM.
Wishiwashi: Simply put, this is not going to be a good Pokemon. The HP is just a huge killer for this thing since it has to stay above 25% HP to actually do anything worthwhile, so I don't see it doing much at all. This seriously restricts the amount of Pokemon it can switch into, and usually means it can't be reliably used as an offensive switch in for Fire and Ground mons.
Alolan Ninetales: This is a Pokemon that I think will be pretty interesting to use. Fairy at least makes it half-decent defensively in lower tiers, and it does have a great Speed stat. Aurora Veil will probably be its main thing since it can get it off quickly and summons Hail automatically with its ability. That said, Light Clay is kind of pointless on it if I understand Aurora Veil correctly in that it only works during Hail (which would mean it's locked into 5 turns) If that's the case, I'd much rather run Focus Sash (if I'm using it on strict HO) or Icy Rock (on more Hail-based teams) than Light Clay. HP Fire will probably be better down here on Nasty Plot sets since Heatran will be locked away in OU and most Steels down here get hit by HP Fire harder (exception being Magneton obviously)
Persian @ Darkium Z
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Foul Play
- Parting Shot
- Toxic
- Taunt
So, this works sort of like Miyami~~ 's set, but instead of using Fake Out and Hypnosis, it exploits Z-Parting Shot. What Z-Parting Shot does is exactly what Memento and Healing Wish do, only Persian remains alive and the opponent's attacking stats are reduced. Outside of that, it's the exact same thing; a one-off move that allows the user to fully heal an ally Pokemon. This also makes Alolan Persian an amazing Knock Off shield as it naturally can check most Dark-types due to Fur Coat. Toxic is a better status I feel since it has such a fast Taunt, thus allowing it to stallbreak a bit on top of being a great team player. Foul Play lets it beat up on the physical attackers it's being used to check anyway. I think this will be a fun mon if it makes its way down, but Z-Parting Shot may make it mid or low UU; it's seriously game changing when pulled off well.
Necrozma: I'm really not sure what to think with this Pokemon. On the one hand, it has a fantastic support movepool and reliable recovery. On the other, its typing is lackluster defensively and its offensive movepool is kind of ass. I think it's likely to come down to RU due to the other supportive Psychics in higher tiers, but I"m not sure how reliable it will be if SM RU is anything like ORAS was. Of course, different generations are always a little different, but I'm just basing this off of ORAS simply because we have no clue what will be in SM.
Wishiwashi: Simply put, this is not going to be a good Pokemon. The HP is just a huge killer for this thing since it has to stay above 25% HP to actually do anything worthwhile, so I don't see it doing much at all. This seriously restricts the amount of Pokemon it can switch into, and usually means it can't be reliably used as an offensive switch in for Fire and Ground mons.
Alolan Ninetales: This is a Pokemon that I think will be pretty interesting to use. Fairy at least makes it half-decent defensively in lower tiers, and it does have a great Speed stat. Aurora Veil will probably be its main thing since it can get it off quickly and summons Hail automatically with its ability. That said, Light Clay is kind of pointless on it if I understand Aurora Veil correctly in that it only works during Hail (which would mean it's locked into 5 turns) If that's the case, I'd much rather run Focus Sash (if I'm using it on strict HO) or Icy Rock (on more Hail-based teams) than Light Clay. HP Fire will probably be better down here on Nasty Plot sets since Heatran will be locked away in OU and most Steels down here get hit by HP Fire harder (exception being Magneton obviously)
You can only use the move Aurora Veil when it's hailing, but I'm pretty sure it's affected by Light Clay. Using it out of fake out is the equivalent of using Spore on Venusaur.
Idk if its clicked for anyone but I have a strong feeling that well be saying goodbye to our good friend Registeel this generation. This mostly has to deal with, "Lost Megastone Effect" which has effected UU specifically in a lot of ways. The biggest thing is that Mega Aggron is done and so is its runner up Mega Steelix. Now that UU is at a lack of a good pure Steel-type Registeel might oncw again claim a spot in the UU tier. Also this probably effects Dpublade usage even more meaning we probably won't see this thing return sadly. Just a little inspection and theorymonning.
You can only set aurora veil while it's hailing, but the effects stay even if the weather changes. So light clay is probably the way to go on alolan ninetails.
Persian @ Darkium Z
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Foul Play
- Parting Shot
- Toxic
- Taunt
So, this works sort of like Miyami~~ 's set, but instead of using Fake Out and Hypnosis, it exploits Z-Parting Shot. What Z-Parting Shot does is exactly what Memento and Healing Wish do, only Persian remains alive and the opponent's attacking stats are reduced. Outside of that, it's the exact same thing; a one-off move that allows the user to fully heal an ally Pokemon. This also makes Alolan Persian an amazing Knock Off shield as it naturally can check most Dark-types due to Fur Coat. Toxic is a better status I feel since it has such a fast Taunt, thus allowing it to stallbreak a bit on top of being a great team player. Foul Play lets it beat up on the physical attackers it's being used to check anyway. I think this will be a fun mon if it makes its way down, but Z-Parting Shot may make it mid or low UU; it's seriously game changing when pulled off well.
Essentially the set I've been advocating for on theory. Provides a very cool amount of role compression to hyper offensive teams, checking annoying mons like Doublade, Sneasel, Dodrio, etc while opening up setup chances. STAB Foul Play is SO incredible for it, providing it with the ability to really threaten set-up sweepers. The bulk + combination of moves makes it really rough to switch into. I think balance teams may be interested in different spreads because of how much use it gets out of each additional point of bulk due to the combination of it's ability + low bases, but this seems like the way to go.
I think it's going to be an underrated threat, it's just got so many useful aspects to it.
Idk if its clicked for anyone but I have a strong feeling that well be saying goodbye to our good friend Registeel this generation. This mostly has to deal with, "Lost Megastone Effect" which has effected UU specifically in a lot of ways. The biggest thing is that Mega Aggron is done and so is its runner up Mega Steelix. Now that UU is at a lack of a good pure Steel-type Registeel might oncw again claim a spot in the UU tier. Also this probably effects Dpublade usage even more meaning we probably won't see this thing return sadly. Just a little inspection and theorymonning.
Several lower-tier megas are currently not available. This includes, as Azelfie said, Aggron and Steelix. As such, Pokemon such as Registeel and Doublade will likely fill their shoes once UU beta comes around, and they'll likely go up there because of that. (assuming they don't release the megas prior to RU beta)
So I'm bad and can't find moving sprites for these Pokemon for the life of me, so I'll just resort to listing them. The following Pokemon are ones in UU / OU that DO NOT have their mega stones available currently:
Idk if you're going to be able to transfer them through Pokebank (unlikely) but if these don't end up being available until the 3rd game, this is going to be a massive shakeup in the tiers as we knew them in ORAS. Which ones are the big ones that you think may affect RU the most?
So I'm bad and can't find moving sprites for these Pokemon for the life of me, so I'll just resort to listing them. The following Pokemon are ones in UU / OU that DO NOT have their mega stones available currently:
Idk if you're going to be able to transfer them through Pokebank (unlikely) but if these don't end up being available until the 3rd game, this is going to be a massive shakeup in the tiers as we knew them in ORAS. Which ones are the big ones that you think may affect RU the most?
Somehow forgot about it, but you're right. I'm bad :[ And yeah, it gets a nice boost with the base Speed buff. Slight nerf to Refrigerate may counteract that though in some situations
DOGGO (Lycanroc) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Accelerock
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
ROCK (Gigalith) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
These two are so fun to play with holy shit, I really hope they both end up in RU lol. Lycanroc keeps surprising me with how strong his LO (+2 or otherwise) Stone Edge is. When I used this team in OU since no one was around to play the speculated SM RU, +2 Stone Edge OHKO'd Toxapex @_@
Unboosted Stone Edge on its own almost 2HKOs 252/252+ Slowking after SR too which is pretty cool imo. Also Gigalith seems to be a Slowking magnet so getting Toxic on it is really cool to sweep later with Lycanroc. I might play around with Adamant too especially under sandstorm, but im not sure what it'll miss out on in terms of speed. cobalion seems like one threat, but i dont know if there are others.
I'm messing around with some more threats rn but honestly I'm not expecting much cuz they might never end up in RU lol. mainly playing around with Flygon, Florges, and specs vaporeon.
Surprisingly super good mons when I tried them out imo. Bruxish is just a beast lmao. Unboosted Psychic Fangs has the potential to 2HKO mola with SR, and +2 OHKOs with SR. It just breaks anything that wants to switch in. Slowking takes around 70-80% from Crunch. Doublade gets 2HKO'd, but Shadow Sneak does a lot to Bruxish so you wanna hit it on the switch or if fish is at 100% and you need it gone. I don't know what nature's best for now but I like Adamant a lot (all the calcs I gave were adamant), cuz Moltres gets hit by Aqua Jet. I guess it depends who'll be in the 80-90 speed range once the meta's actually established. CB also seems like a decent item on it (courtesy of spirit) with aqua jet/psychic fangs/crunch/waterfall or aqua tail, but I'm liking SD more right now for the versatility.
Alolan muk is a /decent/ Doublade soft check with Knock Off, and in general Knock Off is really good on him. It's also a good switch in to the likes of Florges, and can Pursuit trap Decidueye, Dhelmise (if it ends up RU), Doublade, etc. It also hits surprisingly super hard. You can run AV on it if you want. I like lefties myself just for the extra survivability against doublade.
In general I REALLY like the new mons that might end up in RU and I can't fucking wait for the tier to be released holy shit :D
Pyukumuku @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Curse
- Baton Pass
- Recover
- Toxic
Hello friends! As someone who used Focus Energy Pass a lot in ORAS, I decided it would be fun to try Baton Pass in SM. I was watching TDK play SM OU earlier, and he used this + Drifblim on a joke team. I think this set has a lot of potential in SM RU; it's ridiculously bulky, which makes it easy to set up. For those who don't know, Z-Curse boosts Attack an additional stage, making it a useful choice. Haze Milotic and Roar Pokemon are obviously threats to this Pokemon's success; Toxic is used to help cripple these Pokemon and allow Pyukumuku to successfully BP later in the game. Its main downside is its low Speed, which means it can be stopped by Pokemon with Taunt or potential Venusaur with Sleep Powder and the like. These flaws will keep it from being a broken or top tier Pokemon, probably but I can definitely see the great deal of potential it has in RU. Unaware is also a very useful ability since it keeps the opposition from being able to set up and break through Pyukumuku; remember that Memento is useless in tandem with Unaware, however.
Alola Ninetales is a really solid partner for this due to Aurora Veil; Healing Wish support from a Pokemon such as Gardevoir is also appreciated. The best Baton Pass receiver is easily Sceptile, which can run a set of Leaf Blade / Acrobatics / EQ / Substitute along with White Herb (stolen from Advantage's RMT) and easily sweep the opposition. Due to its already-blistering speed, Max HP and Attack along with an Adamant nature can be used. Drifblim is also an interesting partner, being able to run a set of Phantom Force / Knock Off / Acrobatics / Explosion (stolen from TDK) and achieve similar results to Sceptile. Long Live Baton Pass!!!
Haze Milotic and Roar Pokemon are obviously threats to this Pokemon's success; Toxic is used to help cripple these Pokemon and allow Pyukumuku to successfully BP later in the game.
Maybe Taunt is a good option to counter the phazer thanks to low priority, haze is still a problem but I think it's better than a Sharna CursePass Magic Coat. Ghostium Z curse is pretty nice by the way.
Idk if its clicked for anyone but I have a strong feeling that well be saying goodbye to our good friend Registeel this generation. This mostly has to deal with, "Lost Megastone Effect" which has effected UU specifically in a lot of ways. The biggest thing is that Mega Aggron is done and so is its runner up Mega Steelix. Now that UU is at a lack of a good pure Steel-type Registeel might oncw again claim a spot in the UU tier. Also this probably effects Dpublade usage even more meaning we probably won't see this thing return sadly. Just a little inspection and theorymonning.
As a UU player I can safely say you guys most likely aren't gonna be losing Registeel anytime soon lol. As long as we have stuff like Scizor and Doublade, and the occasional Bronzong which might be a thing on more defensive teams when the meta settles, there still isn't much reason to pack Registeel in UU...in its Alpha state the meta is so offensive, Registeel would just fall apart to the levels of offensive pressure.
But hey has anybody speculated formerly UU mons like Crobat to hit RU yet? I haven't seen anyone using it in the several UU games I've played....With other mons like Starmie, Latias, and bulky Scizor fulfilling hazard removal roles, new threats like Weavile (if it stays), Raikou, and Jirachi, and Mega Aerodactyl being even better than ever, along with other threats like Staraptor being better offensive Flying-types, Crobat is most definitely dropping down here by the looks of things. And tbh I feel like a large number of bans/OU rises need to take place before bat ever goes back to UU, so you're guaranteed to have it for several months I predict. It seems like it'd be pretty pivotal, as Crobat is a solid check to Virizion and Whimsicott (I wanna say Whimsicott might be here for a while too), while also being a nice offensive check to Ribombee, Decidueye, Scrafty, Dhelmise, and Araquanid, as well as Comfey and the potential Florges you guys may or may not be dealing with (most likely are gonna be dealing with Florges because defensive sets are outclassed in UU by Sylveon, and offensive sets by Togekiss/Primarina).
So after playing a bunch of battles over the past few days, I'd just like to bring up a few mons I've used/played against that really under or over preformed my expectations.
Oh good lord this thing is so bulky. Like, scarf tyrantrum outrage doesn't 3hko bulky. It also hits hard with stab drain punch, which combined with leech seed helps keep it healthy. It also sets up spikes easily. I've found a lot of success running roar > spiky shield, you get lots of fun with roaring out mons trying to set up on your shield. It also has synthesis, which would be really great if gigalith weren't so amazing right now. I haven't seen anyone else using this guy and have seen no hype for him, but I think he's one of the better drops we got. Gets walled by decidueye hard though, since it can also defog away your spikes. So pack a muk or something.
So take rhyperior and give it amazing spdef and team support at the cost of STAB eq? Yeah I'll take it. Not much too say about this, it's a good switchin to muk (which is really common) and a really strong tank that can beat a lot of the tier in 1v1. I will say though, I'm not sure how likely this is to stay RU. Not in terms of being banned, but this is really useful and could be UU if hippo doesn't drop.
"★Arikado:FUCK GARDE HOLY SHIT"
Really strong, decently fast, good moves. It's defense is crap (like 2hko'd by CB passimian's close combat crap) but it's special bulk is passable. It also has some nice utility options in trick, WoW, twave, etc. Trace can also be fun, isn't going to make a difference usually but you can do some fun things like be immune to both of flygon's stabs. It's let down by the fact that it's speed is kinda meh (tying with passimian is kinda lame) and that AV muk is everywhere. But at least you can use trick/WoW to screw with that.
So I was hyping this up a lot the past week. Yeah it's defenses are a bit lacking, but it has spore! And strength sap is really good. Unfortunately, I just haven't been able to use this mon to any success. It's really let down by it's stats. There's a lot of good grass and fairy types around that shiinotic is competing with, and it's moves and typing don't save it from the fact that it gets 2hko'd by a lot more neutral hits then it should. Spore is also asking minior to switch in for free. I wouldn't say it's unviable yet, but it is really niche.
This thing is pretty bad. It's decently fat, but not enough to make up for it's bad defensive typing and non-existent support movepool (doesn't even get roar). I used the rest talk set a lot, and the only battle it did anything was against an opponent without a fairy or a fighting type, and even then I got incredibly lucky and hit dtail with like 3/4 of my sleep talks. Every other battle this guy was just a free switch for a diance or emboar. Maybe something with heavy slam to lure in fairy types will see some use, but a lot of other mons do that better. I could see this guy ending up in PU pretty easily. At least he walls SD bruxish.
So yeah, just a few mons I have a lot of experience with that I haven't seen a lot of discussion about. I'd also like to know what people's experiences with minior and golisopod have been, since those two were fairly hyped up but I haven't seen them used much.
Quite a Fun set I've been using just enough speed to outspeed base 80s and to optimize its bulk with fur coat easily my favorite Alolan Persian set open to feedback regarding it but I feel it's good enough to post atm.
With raikou, rotom-H, and probably thundurus cemented itself as potential uu's electrics thus making more electrics from higher tiers drop to RU, combined with new toys we received this gen, and with mega steelix, mega camel, and duggy being absent, RU will be a fun place where electric pokes can have fun!
Prolly the best potential new electrics in this tier imo, having a decent fire power, superb coverage, highly spammable secondary stab move, and great, albeit troll-ish speed tier is a recipe for success. Its trollish speed doesn't seem much of a bother since it is higher than standard for RU (assuming it's similar previous gen) can outspeed musketeers, flygon, delphox, etc. heck, you can even slap choice scarf too. Its coverage moves can be tailored to your needs (i think focus blast is the best since it hits registeel, rypherior, gigalith, steelix, etc all in one slot, albeit low accuracy). Having walled by decidueye is sucks, but you can volt switch out
You may thinking: why should i use jolteon when heliolisk exists? well aside from higher speed and hitting decidueye with shadow ball, it gets a new toy to play with: Z-Celebrate!. Z-Celebrate can transform jolteon into terrifying wallbreaker/late game sweeper ala porygon-z minus actual ice coverage, adaptability, and recovery. Its boosted defense allows it to tank non stab eq or mildly powerful neutral attacks (too lazy do calcs). also with z-celebrate you can afford to run modest nature for better firepower (timid is still cool tho).
Jolteon @ Normalium Z
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball / Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Ice] / [Grass]
New Toy!! It has gigantic 145 spa, a decent secondary stab in bug buzz to hit grass types and other electric resists neutrally and coverage in energy ball to hit ground types super effectively. And as you may also know, it is veeryy slow, like it only hits 406 speed after an agility with timid nature and full investment, which is not enough to outspeed common scarfers such as medicham, delphox, flygon, etc; But it's still enough to outsped entire unboosted treats including aerodactyl, sneasel, jolteon even scarf tyrantrum. But still i think its potential best role is Trick room attacker as its slow enough to pull off trick room and synergizes quite well with tr setters such as slowking, bronzong, and diancie due to levitate, capable of breaking bulky waters and can pivot out with volt switch. It also form defensive role as fighting type checks but its bulk is not good enough and some of them carries stone edge (assuming mienshao and machamp ended up in RU)
Vikavolt @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball
- Volt Switch / Agility (max spe timid)
At first glance, it might look outclassed by z-celebrate jolteon or heliolisk, but it has secondary stab that hits venu, ammongus super effectively, coverage in surf or focus blast, and an option to annihilate offense with electric terrain, or annihilate stall with nasty plot all in one mon. Might be a niche option but still pretty cool
Raichu-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Surf
- Electric Terrain
We all know how dangerous webs in RU are/(or were in shuckle meta, brrrr...), and this mon is very viable web setters as it can beat the most popular hazards remover, blastoise, flygon, and gligar with thunder and hp ice respectively, even without webs, it still a very dangerous mon with almost accurate thunder and great speed tier. Prolly not going to drop but if it does, it's going to be very interesting
Galvantula @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Sticky Web
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Bug Buzz
This mon is pretty cool, it can be a deadly nuke with galvanize and choice band, it can make use of magnet pull to trap non eq registeel, bronzong, etc (idk if it can beat doublade tho), or as suicide lead with focus sash, galvanize, and explosion (custap berry is unavailable afaik). quad weakness to eq, losing stab eq, and slow speed are its downfall but hey, look at its mustache :)
Prolly will remain unchanged this gen, but with the new electric powerhouses being available, i think its defensive sets will outshine its offensive sets, having access to trick is still valuable tho
New Toy!! It has gigantic 145 spa, a decent secondary stab in bug buzz to hit grass types and other electric resists neutrally and coverage in energy ball to hit ground types super effectively. And as you may also know, it is veeryy slow, like it only hits 406 speed after an agility with timid nature and full investment, which is not enough to outspeed common scarfers such as medicham, delphox, flygon, etc; But it's still enough to outsped entire unboosted treats including aerodactyl, sneasel, jolteon even scarf tyrantrum. But still i think its potential best role is Trick room attacker as its slow enough to pull off trick room and synergizes quite well with tr setters such as slowking, bronzong, and diancie due to levitate, capable of breaking bulky waters and can pivot out with volt switch. It also form defensive role as fighting type checks but its bulk is not good enough and some of them carries stone edge (assuming mienshao and machamp ended up in RU)
Vikavolt @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball
- Volt Switch / Agility (max spe timid)
It counters Doublade and Cobalion (unless SD stone edge), is a hard check to Durant, and 2HKOs the former two with tbolt without any investment, while doing 92.6% minimum to Durant (!!!). You could run some more speed EVs to outspeed random shit or invest in a tiny bit of spatk to ensure OHKOing Durant and 2HKOing Doublade/Coba. I haven't used it yet but when I've played against it and the bulk surprised me, and when I realized it 2HKOs doublade without any investment I was really impressed.
0 SpA Vikavolt Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Durant: 238-282 (92.6 - 109.7%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Vikavolt Thunderbolt vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Eviolite Doublade: 153-181 (47.9 - 56.7%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Vikavolt Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Cobalion: 175-207 (54 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Hustle Durant X-Scissor vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vikavolt: 267-315 (74.5 - 87.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Doublade Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vikavolt: 172-204 (48 - 56.9%) -- 37.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
This is all in paper, in practice it can be a hot steaming pile of shit but I'm really liking this :0 it's the steels counter that we never had!! Also it fares decently well against Flygon since it also 2HKOs with bug buzz, but it cant take +1 LO Outrage very well. or +1 Outrage in general.
I haven't seen anyone talk about this Pokemon yet, but I think Sylvally has the potential to be a very key glue Pokemon for many bulky offense / balance teams. It has access to every single type thanks to its ability, but I'll keep this post to what I think its most useful formes will be (in no particular order) and provide a possible set as well
Steel is a fantastic defensive typing, and Sylvally has the right coverage and moves to take advantage of it. Flash Cannon and Parting Shot are easy givens. Pretty much every Silvally should be running a STAB move + Parting Shot. Thanks to Parting Shot, Sylvally can easily get in frailer teammates more reliably, or just make it easier for its bulkier teammates to handle powerhouses that try to come in on it. Flamethrower is cool for Steel Silvally since it OHKOes Durant (after you dodge Superpower) and 2HKOes Doublade and Cobalion. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam both catch Flying-types, thus allowing Sylvally to take advantage of this crucial resistance. Thunderbolt is able to 2HKO Moltres most of the time (or possibly OHKO with Rocks) while Ice Beam smacks Gligar. I personally prefer T-Bolt since it's a lot harder to switch into Moltres than it is Gligar. The EVs can probably be tweaked, but I think max HP / max Speed is a good starting point for most of Sylvally's sets simply because I feel it's best as a fast support mon with Parting Shot + coverage that can catch serious threats to your team.
Easily the best forme of a purely defensive Silvally is the Fairy version of it. Fairy is arguably the best pure defensive typing in the game, especially on the physical side. With heavy physdef and HP investment, Fairy Silvally becomes a very solid check to the Fighting and Dark mons of the tier. Sadly, Sylvally doesn't get a form of special Fairy STAB, so you'll have to use Multi-Attack and lessen your chances of 2HKOing Doublade with Flamethrower. Ice Beam is an alternative if smacking Gligar is more important for your team, but much like the Moltres vs Gligar issue with Steel Sylvally, it's generally harder to switch into Doublade than it is Gligar. Thunder Wave finishes the moveset for this Sylvally as more offensive Pokemon are liable to switch into Fairy Sylvally; namely Moltres, but also Durant if you should lack Flamethrower.
Sylvally @ Rock Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Parting Shot
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower / Thunderbolt
Behold one of the very few reliable offensive checks to Moltres that doesn't have to risk taking two moves from it. Rock Sylvally is probably the best Flying-type check offensive teams can use without sapping momentum. This set uses max Speed so that it can outpace Moltres and OHKO it with Multi-Attack before it has to suffer a second attack. Ice Beam is the primary coverage option as it bops Gligar and Flygon, the latter of which can't OHKO you and may try to set up on you. Flamethrower allows Sylvally to OHKO unsuspecting Durant as well as dealing respectible damage to Doublade, a Pokemon that otherwise sets up on you. Thunderbolt is a viable alternative to KO slightly weakened Bruxish as Sylvally has the bulk to handle a +2 Aqua Jet. Jolly is used as Sylvally's STAB move is physical and you're only using the coverage options when specific targets are in front of you.
Sylvally's best shot to not be a fast, bulky support mon is a Scarf set imo. It's unfortunately restricted to being a Normal-type, but it has the coverage to revenge kill some key threats on the opposing team. Due to its lackluster Special Attack compared to most Scarf users, you shouldn't expect it to clean up teams, but rather be a more supportive Scarf user; using Parting Shot to get your wallbreakers in more reliably and its coverage to cut down key dangerous threats. Thunderbolt and Flamethrower are the key coverage moves in Sylvally's arsenal; being able to revenge kill key threats in Swellow, Bruxish, Durant, and Cobalion. Parting Shot is a very key move to keep Sylvally from being outclassed horribly as a Scarf user; allowing it to support its team by allowing its teammates easier access to the battlefield. Tri Attack is Sylvally's best special STAB move and does decent damage to neutral offensive targets. Ice Beam is an alternative if you want to strictly revenge kill targets with Sylvally as it OHKOes DD Flygon (which needs a Z-move to OHKO at +1)
And finally, we come to Ghost Sylvally. Much like its Steel counterpart, there's always room for a solid Ghost-type on most teams due to its resistances and immunities. Being immune to Rapid Spin and Fighting-type moves gives Sylvally's Ghost forme a niche all its own. Very rarely does a Ghost-type have the ability to block Rapid Spin and still build momentum without being frail, but Ghost Sylvally can do this thanks to Parting Shot. This is also the best Sylvally to run a status move on as Shadow Ball condenses secondary coverage on Doublade and Bruxish. Thunder Wave can cripple the offensive Dark-types that may take advantage of Sylvally while Toxic is an option for the bulky support Pokemon that may use Sylvally's lackluster damage output as a chance to set up hazards, support their team, or set up their own sweep. Like all Sylvally sets, it needs coverage of some sort. Due to resisting Bug and usually being physically defensive, Flamethrower is a perfectly viable option to OHKO Durant and deal serious damage to Escavalier. Air Slash is a decent alternative to better exploit Sylvally's immunity to Fighting, but it's generally not as wholly useful as Flamethrower is. If you're running Toxic, it's highly advised to used Flamethrower to smack Durant and Cobalion. This Sylvally has the option to run max / high Speed if Bruxish is a big problem for your team, (you don't live +2 LO Crunch for the record) but this makes it much shakier against Durant and most Fighting-types in general. (Durant goes from never OHKOing at +1 w/ LO to always OHKOing after Rocks at +1)
What other sets can Sylvally run? Do its other types have good niches / uses other than the ones listed above? What are some cores you guys have used with it so far?
Hey this threads been p good in spite of my reluctance, like everyone I appreciate a good shit post (emphasis on good), but let's try to keep shit posts of all variety to a minimum please.
Hey this threads been p good in spite of my reluctance, like everyone I appreciate a good shit post (emphasis on good), but let's try to keep shit posts of all variety to a minimum please.
*ahem* Right, mons I think i'd see in BL3/RU. Uh...
Decidueye - RU:
I'm not saying Spirit Shackle is broken, but it's most of the reason I think it'll end up in RU. The things you can do with the locking effect, and the initiative you can find off of it is the main niche it has. Uturn is good if you lock anything slower than it (Steelix/Slowking etc.), and gets Roost/Defog. Also, I believe Trevenant ended up in RU nearer the end of ORAS, and IMO Decidueye has more options than it. It's stat structure is kind of clumsy, though - which holds it down.
Incineroar - BL3/RU:
The layout of offenses and bulk it DOES have might be a bit too much for NU, alongside the rather impressive amount of coverage it has on offer (Flare Blitz; Darkest Lariat; Leech Life; Cross Chop; Earthquake; Outrage; U-turn; Fake Out, and others). The thing that keeps it out of the higher tiers is it's low speed, and how specialized physical walls might give it trouble. Another thing I've just noticed is that Flare Blitz is the only good physical fire STAB it gets (besides Fire Fang... but who uses that?) - so it's likely getting warn down quickly from recoil.
BL3 for now - and maybe solid RU when Intimidate gets released.
Primarina - RU/Potentially BL2
Bulky waters are infamous for being annoying - and I think a lot of us know of how good the Water/Fairy typing is (See Azumarill/Tapu Fini). Having what is basically a poor man's version of those two might prove a questionable challenge for the lower tiers. If anything, it has a bit more coverage then those two, with Water/Fairy/Ghost coverage gives you max neutral coverage - akin to Azu's Water/Fairy/Dark coverage. It's speed could be higher... but that didn't stop Azumarill dominating, no?
Before I continue - I think it's worth mentioning that the starters signature Z-moves, and a thus - the bursts of surprise momentum that can be gained from them if timed right, is what IMO WILL keep the starters out of NU.
Crabominable - RU/Potentially BL2
Fighting/Ice is an amazing offensive typing, and Crabominable has PLENTY of attack to use it with. CC/Ice Hammer/Stone Edge/Earthquake gives you max neutral coverage - and with correct reads... basically nothing can switch into it. In spite of it's decent Base 97 HP stat - it's low defenses and CC drops leads it to getting revenge killed quite easily. Thus...
Sonic: YOU'RE TOO...
*BANG*
SHUT UP!
Oh, and when tutors come out (whenever that may be)... prepare your anus if this thing gets Knock Off lol.
Midday form is considered the best SR user atm in pre-bank... but it'll likely be post-bank by the time RU stabilizes, so it'll probably drop in usage by then. Other than SR and respectable offensive capability... it's really not doing much.
Midnight form... I'll leave that to everyone else.
Araquanid - RU/Potentially BL2:
Water Bubble is a frankly broken ability on a mon that doesn't look that great on paper. It's large SpDef should also bump it up a bit. I'm thinking maybe IF a suspect is in place - then suspecting Water Bubble would be better.
Despite how hard its Water STABs hit, it is pretty weak elsewhere and isn't too hard to beat if you have a sturdy Water resist, so I can see it ending up in RU which has plenty of those. That said, it should be an amazing Pokemon. Its special defense should also make it a good Fire check as well. I'm not really sure what the best set on this would be since it doesn't quite have enough moves for Choice Band. Maybe a tanky set with Liquidation / Leech Life / Protect / Toxic could end up doing pretty decently since it is really tanky on the special side as exemplified here:
252 SpA Life Orb Jolteon Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Araquanid: 268-320 (78.8 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I'm pleasantly surprised with how good Water Bubble is going to make this thing. I think Araquanid is going to perform at its best on bulky offense given what it has to work with. Between nuking offensive attackers with Liquidation, keeping itself healthy with Leech Life, and crippling most of the Pokemon capable of walling it with Toxic, it should assuredly be a top threat in the very likely event it ends up in RU.
I think having an AV wallbreaker that can't be statused and with only one weakness, alongside with superb coverage (Play Rough; EQ; Sucker Punch; Wood Hammer etc.) would probably be too powerful for NU. It also has support options such as Wish and stuff like that. Low speed and low defense can hold him down a bit, but still.
Guzzlord - RU/Potentially BL2:
Yeah... this thing will probably be quickbanned from this tier IF it ends up here. I know it's the worst UB in the game supposedly... but let that sink in... UB. U. B. As in Ultra Beast... you know, Beast Boost? The one ability that gives you reward for your opponent sacking a mon? Also that 223 base HP has really NO place in anything under UU. On the other hand... it's kinda just sitting on it's fat ass not doing much when fairies are involved, it's slow (hey, I've said that a lot, haven't I?) and in UU has competition from Hydreigon, which has higher stats basically everywhere.
