The masterplan is that I am going to make a post going over each team and game I played over the course of the season every few days -- this will likely begin soon!!! I will also be making videos for each team/game (one per SPL week), which I will include in the posts. Before I do this (and to begin my flooding of this thread), I wanted to start off by posting some of the more innovative and unorthodox sets I used this season. I feel some of these sets have a lot of potential in the metagame, some even making regular appearances already.
The Rise of the Swine
I used 3/9 Mamoswine this year, including 2/2 on Rain. I have never been one to frequent Mamoswine before now, even finding it challenging to use at all, but I now firmly believe that it is one of the most underrated Pokemon in the tier. Mamoswine's offensive presence is one of the strongest in the tier and it is also a severely underrated revenge killer thanks to STAB Ice Shard.
Before I get into the two unique variants I used, let's do a little experiment to explain why I feel this way. 100 (ok, 96 due to the activity win and dead game) BW teams were used in SPL regular season. How many of these teams had sufficient counterplay to Mamoswine? My guess: a very small handful...and that is if we're being generous. Let's explore why that would be my guess.
53 of these teams were Sand. Sand teams -- while admiteddly hard to generalize on most topics -- are naturally going to struggle to switch into the dual STABs of Mamoswine, even with Pokemon like Rotom-Wash and Skarmory having shaky odds in the long run. Sand teams also tend to only have 2 quicker Pokemon (1 if you look at some of the balances used in the middle weeks by people like SoulWind), which oftentimes are weak to Ice Shard. Defensively, we saw 0 Slowbro, 2 Mew -- one of which even lost to a Mamoswine team, and a few Milotic, which can only stand up against Jolly Mamoswine reliably. These can be seen as potential checks with Stealth Rock and Sand present, but this means that >95% of Sand teams relied upon keeping multiple Pokemon positioned well and pressure up the entire game in order to contain Mamoswine. Needless to say, Mamoswine was going to make good progress against most of these builds when put in the right hands. As a BW player, I find my game to revolve around momentum and positioning frequently given the proactive nature of the metagame, so Mamoswine was an absolute godsend already.
Ok, let's go one step further now and dig into some data with a reasonable enough sample. Rain teams are known for stacking Water types, especially faster (than Mamoswine) ones like Tentacruel, Keldeo, and even the periodic Starmie. Perhaps this will help against Mamoswine, right? Wrong. In fact, this is the furthest from the truth and I feel a lot of people have fell for this misconception over the years, including myself. Let's break down each Rain team's rough match-up vs Mamoswine defensively.
Bolds = Pokemon Ice Shard can often revenge kill from 50%+ -- 31 total Pokemon over 18 teams
Underlines = Pokemon that avoid 2HKO from Mamoswine defensively after SR (assume Ferrothorn takes any chip in early game like it does 95% of the time) -- 1 total Pokemon over 18 teams
Politoed / Kyurem-Black / Ferrothorn / Latios / Tentacruel / Thundurus-Therian
Politoed / Latios / Ferrothorn / Mamoswine / Tentacruel / Tornadus
Politoed / Keldeo-Resolute / Celebi / Tentacruel / Scizor / Thundurus-Therian
Politoed / Tentacruel / Ferrothorn / Garchomp / Keldeo-Resolute / Thundurus-Therian
Politoed / Thundurus-Therian / Keldeo-Resolute / Ferrothorn / Tentacruel / Latios
Politoed / Ferrothorn / Tentacruel / Kyurem / Latios / Landorus-Therian
Politoed / Thundurus-Therian / Ferrothorn / Tentacruel / Mamoswine / Latios
Politoed / Seismitoad / Gyarados / Tentacruel / Scizor / Magnezone
Politoed / Scizor / Tentacruel / Ferrothorn / Thundurus-Therian / Keldeo
Politoed / Toxicroak / Ferrothorn / Latios / Keldeo / Landorus-Therian
Politoed / Landorus-Therian / Jirachi / Kyurem / Tentacruel / Celebi
Politoed / Tentacruel / Jirachi / Breloom / Thundurus-Therian / Latios
Politoed / Ferrothorn / Tentacruel / Latios / Keldeo / Thundurus-Therian
Politoed / Tentacruel / Ferrothorn / Keldeo-Resolute / Thundurus-Therian / Jirachi
Politoed / Landorus-Therian / Ferrothorn / Tentacruel / Dragonite / Keldeo-Resolute
Politoed / Starmie / Scizor / Ferrothorn / Latios / Thundurus-Therian
Politoed / Chansey / Tentacruel / Gliscor / Ferrothorn / Keldeo
Politoed / Thundurus-Therian / Ferrothorn / Tentacruel / Keldeo / Mamoswine
The fact of the matter is that Rain cannot switch in to Mamoswine, but it lets it in more often than you imagine. Trick, Volt Switch (especially from Rotom-Wash), U-turn from a number of Pokemon, timely double switches, non-Focus Blast Thundurus-T (which was quite common btw), or coming in after something goes down on your side are all common enough causes for entry that you can expect for Mamoswine to enter safely 1-2 times every game at least when piloted correctly. That alone is not a lot, especially when compared to some other Pokemon like Keldeo or Latios which are similarly offensive, but consider the fact that almost every time Mamoswine comes in, it is threatening to get a kill and can usually use the leverage from the potential Substitute to force a kill rather than outright prediction -- then you have a massive threat.
While the aforementioned Keldeo and Latios are undoubtebly better Pokemon than Mamoswine, teams naturally prepare for them, bringing hard checks or soft counters frequently. Mamoswine does not demand this widespread respect and the tier can barely respect it if people decided it did, too, so it suddenly becomes a consistent offensive force to be reckon with. Couple this with the fact that Ice Shard is as potent as it is against faster threats (and I did not even get into how much better it is vs weatherless offense -- particularly DragMag) and you get a complete offensive Pokemon with breaking and revenge killing prowess, a Volt Switch immunity, and a lot of unexplored territory.
Speaking of unexplored territory, when you do not anticipate a Skarmory or Leftovers BoltBeam Reuniclus, the damage from the standard Never-Melt Ice boost is more of a luxury than a necessity. Even against those Pokemon, you can still put yourself in a fine position to flinch through if you have the right pressure from your supporting cast. Because of this, I ran three different items on Mamoswine over the three weeks I used it and none of them were Never-Melt Ice (or the traditional Life Orb / Choice Band options from before Substiute + 3A was mainstream back in the pre-2018 days). In my opinion, the item slot on Mamoswine can be toyed with on more teams than not and this can greatly improve an already strong Pokemon. Here are two examples from my SPL teams:
Golden (Mamoswine) (M) @
Salac Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Icicle Crash
Week 1 vs Frania. I expected a DragMag or set-up spam type build. Mamoswine is already a pain as they oftentimes stack Ground and/or Dragon types, making Ice Shard a pain when the main Ice resist is normally a slower, early-game focused Jirachi or the occasional Starmie/Volcarona. Salac Berry meant that when I was able to force a kill with Ice Shard or outrun the Pokemon I was in front of, I could substitute up like normal. However, if this Substitute worked -- forcing a switch or simply being broken by a slower, weakened opponent in range for EQ/Icicle Crash, then Mamoswine could function as a surprise win condition. With just a few rounds of SR on Scarf Latios, Scarf Landorus-Therian, Scarf Garchomp, Technician Breloom, etc., these type of teams suddenly are without a way to actually defeat a well-positioned +1 speed Mamoswine.
I feel that in a lot of games, you are a few rounds of Stealth Rock or one Pokemon removed away from this outright cleaning offense when presented with the free turn. Even if you do not get this turn, Mamoswine still functions just as well. It still has the potent dual STAB and overall offensive presence we alluded to above, so that is a non-issue. Salac Mamoswine is not the set for every build or even every opponent, but it has ridiculously high upside.
Golden (Mamoswine) (M) @
Chople Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 80 HP / TBD Atk / 4 SpD / TBD Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Icicle Crash
Week 8 vs Elodin. Chople Berry allows for Mamoswine to have a ton of surprise leverage in 1v1s against: Focus Blast Thundurus-Therian, non-Grass Knot Alakazam, SD Terrakion, Breloom, non-Choice Specs Tornadus, Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Focus Blast Reuniclus, Toxicroak, and Weavile. In particular, this Rain team I used it on was weak to all of these Pokemon in certain capacities, so it was the ultimate glue option that granted timely surprise value and practical 1v1s.
As an extension of this, I firmly believe that Rain teams need to have a plan against Thundurus-T with Focus Blast if they lack Latios. Common teams like
Scarf Scizor Rain structures basically lose a Pokemon every single time an accurate 3A Thundurus-T comes in, which should be often enough given that Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Tentacruel fail to 2HKO it, anywhere from 2-4 Pokemon get outsped, only 1 Pokemon OHKOs it, and everything is 2HKOd (4 of them being OHKOd). I do not see sufficient counterplay to Thundurus-T on these and I have spammed Latios on Rain teams for years due to this. In more recent times, I have flirted with Yache Garchomp on Rain, too, but the lack of Water resist and the vulnerability to Spikes makes it only viable on a ver limited number of Rain structures. Moreover, Chople Mamoswine shares those qualities, but gives you another revenge killing option and NOBODY is anticipating Chople Berry, which gives you a huge upper hand in the aforementioned match-ups if you pilot it correctly. Chople Mamoswine is great on the right team and should be used much more. Finally, not going to reveal my specific spread as it would disclose speed numbers and that is no fun.
This ends my novel on the fifth generation's favorite pig. I hope you enjoyed!
Nuclear Evolution: Latios in Modern BW OU
While Garchomp is the Pokemon in my custom avatar, many see just as much Latios on my side when I play BW games.
Last season, I (infamously? some people seemed pretty upset lmao) used 10/10 Latios and firmly declared that dropping Latios was foolish on most structures. It provided enough utility offensively and defensively to almost always carry its own weight. In that metagame state, I believe that assessment was true and I think my results throughout SPL, Classic, and the BW Circuit proved this to be correct. As last year drew on, some even asked for a Latios suspect in BW -- not the place for this and I do not necessarily support that, but point was: Latios saw a ton of usage and was ridiculously good.
What if I told you that Latios got even better this SPL? Because I believe it did. The metagame shifted drastically and I do believe there is less reason to use it as frequently right now due to the revival of Scarf Tyranitar, Scizor, and Protect spam, but despite this Latios managed to adapt in a sense that made it more threatening and versatile than ever before. Latios can still drop nukes better than anything else in the metagame, but suddenly there is also a variant of it that serves greater utility and can circumvent common counterplay.
It all started during week 1 when
SoulWind used Colbur Latios. I do not know what the fourth move is (assuming Draco Meteor / Surf / Roost / x) and I do not know if we will ever know as SoulWind is understandably private with his teams / metagame views usually. However, you have to give credit where it is due and SoulWind was the first person to use the item, which opened the flood gates for what was to come.
During week 2, I was pretty paranoid about Pursuit + Thundurus-T on Rain, Pursuit + Breloom, Gliscor, Terrakion, Keldeo, etc. on Sand, and my Magma Storm + Protect Heatran match-up among other things. In addition, I did not anticipate facing a team that I would need Trick for due to a strong Reuniclus match-up and my opponent never using Rain/Sun stall. After a while of toying around with the 6 Pokemon I quite liked for the week against just about everything else, I realized there was a perfect solution.
Fine Line (Latios) (M) @
Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Roost
-
Roar
Week 2 vs Insult. Colbur Berry Latios with Roar in the last slot was the solution. Why? Latios is able to bluff being choiced in most games, especially back when Colbur Berry was not actually used at all, which was the case during week 2 of SPL. As you guys see in the game, I was able to leverage my position to picking off the weakened Gastrodon with Draco Meteor. In most games, Latios is able to force a kill on a weakened Pokemon in the mid-game -- oftentimes Ferrothorn after Spikes trades and a few switch-ins. From there, the opponent is able to trap you with Tyranitar after they take entry hazards, which they could not do initially due to Choice Specs Latios muscling past most Tyranitar in 2H after SR + Spikes damage. However, if you have Colbur Berry + Roar, then you cannot be trapped. They naturally click Pursuit, topping out at around 30% damage, and get phased out. This means Latios is free to switch out, removing its -2 from the potential prior Draco Meteor and outlasting the Tyranitar, which has to take another round of hazards in most cases. In this game, this allowed for me to break the sash of an Alakazam after removing both Gastrodon and Tyranitar. Needless to say: this was insanely clutch and without any one of these huge pieces of progress, I would not have won this closely contested game.
Since this game, Roar Latios Colbur Berry Latios has become mainstream. It is one of the main sets on the new analysis for BW Latios, it has opened up a lot of new Sand structures with the Tyranitar interaction being less linear and limiting, and it has set off a slow-moving chain reaction of other trends as well. Finally, it is also worth noting that this helps combat Protect spam -- be it teams with Gliscor/Excadrill/Heatran that spam Protect to scout choiced Latios or Rain teams with Politoed/Tentacruel/potentially Jirachi to scout out attacks or Trick. You lose the option to trick, but you gain some breaking prowess when you are able to swap up moves. This is especially the case with the next set, that can punish Steel types like Ferrothorn.
Fine Line (Latios) (M) @
Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
-
Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
Week 4 vs SoulWind and
Week 6 vs Jimmy Turtwig. While Roar was a great way to circumvent Tyranitar, there are certain games where your team is ok with that trade and you want to focus on other things. One important aspect of every BW game is field control; carrying Hidden Power Fire on Latios allows for a surprising blow to Ferrothorn, notching a 2HKO, and a strong chunk on Skarmory, forcing Roost at worst while threatening to knock it out at best. Deterring Spikes or removing the defensive presences in return for their Spike in your face can go a long way for specific Sand teams, especially when paired with Spikers of your own and complimentary Pokemon. Alakazam also appreciates Steel types being chipped and removed whereas Tyranitar appreciates the Spikes being minimized.
Obviously I got very fortunate at the start of my game against SoulWind with a critical hit on Ferrothorn, but I still believe it is an effective set regardless of the critical hit and we have seen quite a few people use that specific triple Psychic 6 -- including SoulWind himself -- with the 3A Latios. Seeing as Ferrothorn is on almost every other team, it should not be shocking that covering it is an option worth considering here, but it is oftentimes hard to do beyond Trick on normal Latios. This gives a way of direct damage, which always 2HKOs outside of Rain, that you cannot attain otherwise with Latios. However, sometimes you do not need to outlast Tyranitar or even lure Steels, but rather you want to cripple them for the sake of a teammate functioning as an even scarier win condition when that condition is met.
Fine Line (Latios) (M) @
Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Roost
-
Thunder Wave
Unfortunately, I never got to play GaryTheGengar week 9, but my plan was to use a team with Thunder Wave Colbur Latios + Calm Mind Reuniclus. This core did very well against some Sand teams he brought and I firmly believe that Thunder Wave has a niche on Latios in current BW. It is likely less applicable than the two above variants, but the right team loves seeing Tyranitar, Jirachi, Tentacruel, etc. paralyzed.
In conclusion, Latios still has potent sets like the Choice Specs and even Dragon Gem variants. However, Colbur Berry adds a great deal to its arsenal and enables so many different teambuilding options. Choice Scarf Latios took a hit in overall usage perhaps, but even that is still worth using at times. Overall, Latios is a versatile Pokemon with the ability to break, provide utility, and it can come alongside surprise factor in the right setting. Latios is the true king of BW OU no matter how you look at it.
Other Sets
Sign of the Times (Magnezone) @
Salac Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe -- tinker accordingly to get proper Substitute/Salac number for hitting berry range at 25% instead of low
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Flash Cannon / Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Week 3 vs Caetano93. Luigi used this against SoulWind in Smogon Tour finals first and came up with the set, but I was the one who built with it back then and I wanted to hold onto it for whenever I next used Magnezone with Rapid Spin support. While this Magnezone does not provide the immediate trapping potential that normal variants assure, perhaps even letting up a full field of Spikes in some Ferrothorn match-ups, it trades this for being able to turn Ferrothorn's mere entry into a path to multiple kills -- if not an outright sweep against slower teams. In this game against Caetano, it did exactly what it needed to. Ferrothorn's entry led to Caetano getting hazards, but they were spinnable by Excadrill and Magnezone took advantage of the position by claiming a couple of vital KOs.
Flash Cannon is cool for cashing in against Ground types and Latios, but you can run Thunderbolt if you want to assure the OHKO against Skarmory with Sturdy broken or hit bulky Waters at +0 harder. Skarmory is still almost always 2HKOd and tends to go for Spikes as it stays in, so you do not need to worry too much about it regardless in my personal opinion, which is why I dropped Thunderbolt myself, but to each their own. The point is that this Magnezone is very cool on teams with hazard removal and it should see more usage due to its ability to flip games from potential losses to wins by getting the extra kill(s) after the trap.
Canyon Moon (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 16 Atk / 116 Def / 132 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs:
TBD Spe (less than 31)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Protect
-
U-turn
Week 4 vs SoulWind and
Week 6 vs Jimmy Turtwig. Slow U-turn Gliscor, which is an idea Posho and I came up with early in the season, has grown a ton in popularity since I brought it out. The idea is that you can use Gliscor as a pivot like SR Landorus-T while retaining the ability to scout with Protect, soak up status, and be stingy on both sides defensively.
Slow U-turn is especially helpful against opposing Gliscor as you can easily pivot out of it and bring in your faster Pokemon that threatens to kill it such as Latios, Alakazam, or Balloon Heatran without risking their condition or a double switch to Pursuit Tyranitar. In general, I quite like pairing this set with the Psychic types, who compliment it very well, and generic consistent offensive breakers like Terrakion or Technician Breloom. The idea of running slow U-turn on Gliscor opening up games flows super nicely on some teams, but Knock Off, Toxic, and Ice Fang still have a niche. On the teams I used against SoulWind and Jimmy Turtwig, they both greatly appreciated the momentum and had things like Ferrothorn, Jellicent, and Tyranitar to help spread passive damage, displace items, and so on. The attack allows for specific Pursuit + Sand sequences with my custom Tyranitar to get KOs, but you do not have to use it and probably should not unless you are ripping exactly from my import as it will not add up the same with different spreads.
I feel this set has a ton of potential to stick as a semi-common variant of Gliscor, which perhaps is unsurprising given how many different Gliscor sets are viable right now. Slow U-turn is super clutch at the right times and there are minimal drawbacks, so I advise trying it out if it fits your team.
Lights Up (Reuniclus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: TBD HP / TBD Def / 176 SpA / TBD SpD / TBD Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Week 4 vs SoulWind. This one is nothing too crazy. I wanted to be extra safe against opposing Gliscor and help open the door for Alakazam in the later game, so I ran a more offensive 3A + Recover Reuniclus. This meant I was never going to have to worry about Gliscor and Breloom, it was very possible to force damage on to Tyranitar for other Psychic types later in the game, and seemingly safe swaps to Encore Politoed to reset weather and stop CM sweeping got punished with a crippling, Life Orb boosted blow.
All in all, 3A + Recover LO offensive Reuniclus has seen sporadic usage in the past with Shadow Ball in that slot, but I think Hidden Power Ice is very important on teams lacking Skarmory + revenge killer. This set will probably not see a ton of mainstream usage aside from the one team with it already, but there is reason to explore with it when you do not need the extra dedicated win condition. Of course, Calm Mind Reuniclus is still phenomenal and you should not underrated it.
To Be So Lonely (Tyranitar) (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: TBD HP / TBD Atk / TBD Def / TBD SpD / TBD Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
-
Roar
- Pursuit
Week 6 vs Jimmy Turtwig. One of my many anti-cheese add-ons. Jimmy had used some off-beat strategies such as Hail, so I wanted to be safe against Substitute sweepers like Dragonite and Latias while also covering Baton Pass. Thunder Wave is a very good fourth move that we see more and more of lately, Ice Beam provides important coverage on specific builds, and I love dual Stealth Rock teams as much as the next guy, but sometimes the safety net is worthwhile and can save an entire game for you when you are in a tight spot otherwise.
This one is nothing too crazy, but I do believe we should see more steady usage of Roar in BW -- perhaps this and the Latios set gave that away to you already though. For what it's worth, Dragon Tail is ok I guess, but Roar is better due to it bypassing Substitute and I will always use it in favor of Dragon Tail despite the damage output.
Medicine (Terrakion) @ Rock Gem
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
-
Quick Attack
Week 7 vs jacob. Nothing too crazy, but Quick Attack over Substitute or Protect ensures that you break Alakazam's sash, setting up for an easier trap with Tyranitar or less reliance on conventional Choice Scarf users in general for revenge killing purposes, which is much appreciated on a lot of bulky offensive Sand teams right now.
This can also come in clutch after Sand and hazards vs specific weakened offensive presences, especially if you have an SD under your belt. A timely Quick Attack against a weakened Latios can turn the entire game in your favor occasionally. In general, Terrakion lacks hard defensive answers, so people rely on pressuring it and revenge killing it. This makes revenge killing it less reliable, so it is effective.
-Therian
FtDT (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 120 HP / 144 Def / 140 SpA / 104 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Substitute
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
-
Protect
Week 8 vs Elodin. I did not get to reveal this in the game due to not wanting to give a Baton Pass team a free turn ever, but between tests and a slew of smaller tournament games in recent months, Protect Thundurus-T is super clutch. Initially, I used Protect + 3A to scout Latios early on when using Rain. However, Substitute + Protect with Toxic Spikes is diabolical. So long as you can burn and/or Knock Off Ferrothorn early on, this set is almost foolproof with the aforementioned support. Protect makes choiced attackers like Latios, Keldeo, and the occasional Landorus-T much less effective in revenge killing or breaking you, Protect gives Thundurus-T so much longevity while opponents are progressively taking more damage from residuals and the strong special attacks. This adds up to absolute mayhem for the opponent -- you absolutely have to try this set out if you can fit the right conditions on your team. If not this set, then at least try Protect + 3A as it is also superb. I will admit that the increase in non-Choiced Latios is a slight hinderance, but if you can force Latios to Trick itself Black Sludge or eat status, then it is entirely moot. I won a lot of games outright by forcing an errant double switch when they thought I would pivot out Thundurus-T, forcing extra hazards or another free Substitute sequence on the switch back honestly. I feel that until people respect sets like these, they will be very good. Even come then, the concept is stll sound, but we will have to see how it ages in the metagame before drawing many more conclusions.
Lights Up (Starmie) @
Air Balloon
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt / Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
Semi-finals vs Elodin. This set is exclusively for weatherless offense and honestly might as well just be for Smurf, but it is absolutely the best Starmie on this team. Expert Belt only impacts a few calcs beyond circumstantial stuff you do not plan for unless you are incredibly big brained, which I sadly am not. Life Orb dies too quickly for a Pokemon that desperately needs to get a spin off in certain match-ups. Leftovers is very viable and an alternative if you are not woke enough for sure, but Air Balloon is the play.
Air Balloon Starmie may seem silly on the surface, but it has saved so many games. Being able to turn Dragonite being out vs Mamoswine or Scizor being out vs Excadrill in to a safe switch to your faster, offensive Rapid Spinner with a HO team in a game that is going to be defined by aggression and proactivity is huge. These games last 20-25 turns tops typically, barring lengthy Protect spam sequences by the opponent, so a free mid-late game spin with Dragonite and Volcarona being on board can be a life saver. In addition to this added leverage that nobody would expect to scout for in their first match against the team, you also improve the Toxic Spikes match-up by outright ignoring them the first time you swap in.
Obviously this should not be the mainstream Starmie on many teams, but it is the most reliable way to use it on Smurf HO.
Fine Line (Scizor) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
-
Swords Dance
- Superpower
-
Pursuit
I always disliked how Choice Band Scizor flowed with Smurf. If you had to click non-Uturn moves, then it felt like you had to fodder a Pokemon right afterwards. If you had to spam Uturn, then your trajectory was predictable and your damage output was minimized. Swords Dance Scizor, on the contrary, provides great cleaning potential and has the ability to go for timely priority while not locking into it to sap momentum. However, Choice Scarf Latios and Focus Sash Alakazam are monstrous threats to set-up spam, weatherless offense that lacks Tyranitar.
This Scizor -- Swords Dance + Pursuit -- gives the best of both worlds. After Latios or Alakazam pick off one thing, they get Pursuit trapped and cannot do so again. However, you do not lose momentum then or ever really as you can force the threat of Swords Dance. This does not even mention the surpirse factor as LO does ot exactly scream Pursuit and Pursuit does not exactly scream Swords Dance, leaving many opponents to go for some sloppy guesswork against this Scizor, ultimately growing to regret it after Scizor punishes them.
I will touch on this more later, but BW will see an uptick in Hyper Offensive teams -- it already has over the last few weeks. The jury is still out as to if it will be as massive a change as ORAS, which I personally do not think it will be. However, we need to start respecting these builds and also we need to start tinkering with them ourselves. There is so much room for creativity and integrating novel strategies such as the Starmie and Scizor sets -- try it all out yourself for sure!
---
These are all I have for now. I will be back in the coming days with videos and posts going over my teams and games. I am very excited for this, so stay tuned in this thread/on YouTube depending on which you prefer. Finally, I hope it is now abundantly clear that I am not an old man who sits there using the same boring, unadventurous teams with no creativity. I firmly believe I have been one of the main people helping develop the BW metagame in recent years and I hope to continue to help push the tier forward with my ideas. Each team I craft is based off of a certain strategy and I rarely default to standards automatically. Sometimes standards are the most reliable -- hence why they are the standard to begin with, but there is and will continue to be lots of room for adaptability in the BW metagame. I hope this post highlighted some examples from my season. I am looking forward to going over the games 1 by 1 now! Until then
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