Pet Mod SS OU Theorymon (Completed)

[Endrism]

New slate poggers

I think it's a little odd for me to comment on this because it's my submission. However still would really love to see this thing in the meta

Decent changes, like said by M24, Shadow Sneak probably won't really be used much as you can use utility instead. Maybe like EQ-Sneak-Wisp-Rocks? Could be okay, the HP helps it sponge hits a little better. Overall decent sub.

Diamond Storm is an odd one, and I believe it would be maybe too good on Terrakion. If you diamond storm on a switch-in to say Landorus and gets the +2, it can actually 1v1 Sp.Def Lando which is kinda troublesome imo. Can get +2 on Corv and then get an SD for basically free as Corv won't be even 3HKOing with BPress. Diamond storm actually prevents specific checks from stopping Terrakion and could make Terrakion possibly a little much imo

Really like this one. Raikou doesn't need much to find viability, but that little bit better matchup against things like Lando is exactly what it needs. Could pair really well with a Gapdos to form an ultimate anti-lando core

Why Morning Sun of all moves? Maybe like Shore Up would make sense but giving a water type Morning Sun seems weird, having a water types healing move be nerfed in rain just doesn't work. Giving it some much needed Sp.Def is nice, but Emergency Exit is just a bad ability that may not even make this thing very viable after the changes.

Right now my votes would be on and , in a very close 3rd, and could overtake Raikou.

 

[Beaf Cultist]

While this is cool and all, and Merciless is a very strong ability on the right abuser, I just don't think this hits OU. Firstly, HDB exists, so running Toxic is actually more consistent than TSpikes. Secondly, you can't poison nor hit some Steels (Corv and Ferro, mainly), which means most teams have a way to completely wall you. This is definitely a powerful threat, but I don't see it doing much in a meta full of Steels that aren't afraid of non-STAB Earthquake.

I saw the discussion of this on the Discord, and I'm honestly unconvinced this breaks into OU even with these changes. Sure, it shuts down some physical mons, but Ground/Ghost isn't exactly an amazing defensive typing, and common physical threats like Weavile and Zarude break it wide open.

An RNG-reliant, arguably-worse-than-Stone-Edge movepool addition to boost defense on an offensive mon with one of the worst defensive typings in the game. Not feeling this one (plus Scrappy Terrak is in the back somewhere :eyes:).

Was my sub, so I'll just try to be objective about it. Beats most defoggers in the tier, and Competitive also gives it a better matchup against Lando-T, as mentioned above. Could easily see this with an OU niche.

I get the idea, but could someone show me an example of an EExit mon with reliable recovery actually working as a defensive pivot?

 

[shadowpea]

love this slate honestly here are my thoughts on the ones i like the most

i feel like this sub is specifically designed to target lando but i dont care i love it anyway. and it would be fucking awesome at denying defoggers because all the good ones are scared of this thing. honestly raikou's problem in the past has always been that its too weak (my opinion) and competative is exactly what it needs while not making it be too overbearing (like youre not giving it transistor or something lol). specs can and will kill something if it gets a free boost or it can abuse the switches it force at +2 by running agility or CM. its problems imo are that its a bit reliant on boost or else its too weak, and you can clearly see it imo if you run a scarf set for example (speculation) where it would ideally want to clean games but grabbing that boost would be difficult because all the defogging action is over. overall although i feel its a tad too reliant on competative i like it. its got all the tools it need anyway between volt switch, cm/agility, scald, aura, shadow ball.

imagine not giving this synthesis smh i feel like that ppl are focusing too much on emergency exist and passing over its fabulous bulk after the buff. 75/140/110 is no joke and although eexit hinder's its walling ability i think it can run a killer support set that is incredibly unique. you take advantage of its huge bulk and throw it in front of a defensive pokemon (e.g. ferrothorn). either you lay some free spikes or they chip you down to below 50 in which case you run to your urshifu or something for free. then 10 turns later you throw it back in front of another defensive mon and moonlight morning sun back up, taking advantage of your massive bulk in the process. you can also do this to something like pult sball and set up your weavile from there. the best thing is that you really *want* to hit it or else it pulls something from its bag of tricks like spikes or toxic or knock off. first impression is cool too especially with stab coming off a base 125 atk. tldr my opinion is that it sacrifices consistant walling ability for heaps of momentum and im totally onboard with it.

 

[lavarina]

i am awake and can finally put my thoughts without bumping my phone on my forehead

its a cool mon, the attack boost could definitely help. but oh boy would it be hard to deal with steel types, maybe, i dont rly know— either way this is a cool buff

this is my sub here, and i feel Very ashamed. i thought that wandering spirit would transfer if runerigus attacks the target so i gave it shadow sneak— well to be fair, it has solid bulk and an entire bulky setup. so maybe you could run shadow sneak on this thing. i am still mad at myself.

almost nothing can switch in, thats for sure. but with its crippling defenses even after a boost, it could still be checked with water types and all that. though it might be like zarude all over again where we realize its too much and end up panicking—

lord, yes. i didn't even know that this mon existed until it was subbed. it might be a bit too reliant on competitive, but once it does get the boost it can hit hard. theres no way for it to become a screens setter though, since you'd rather use eleki. which is fine, ofc

mmm bulk. yummy. i have no actual thoughts on this one because i do not know how golisopod works except for "haha, stab first impression"

 

[shnowshner]

Sadly don't see this pulling its weight, it doesn't have amazing coverage, isn't really fast by metagame standards, and Merciless is just a bit too hard to pull off.

Would like to hear what this is going for and if you don't want to have it public I imagine Ardy won't mind posting the reason why. I really can't wrap my head around why these buffs in particular.
sniped lmao

Having a real STAB is honestly a big deal: most teams are often underprepared for Rock Coverage and Diamond Storm is about as good as it gets for Physical attackers. The +2 Defense chance isn't a super big deal but it might be enough to let you trade with Lando.

This is going to face inevitable competition from Zeraora and Koko and I'm not sure it's up to the task, especially when both of the former are able to outpace key threats like Weavile and Tornadus-T, or in Zera's case, Dragapult. Competitive is a nice addition as Raikou isn't exactly helped by its native abilities, but it's not a reliable one. I do think it has enough going for it to be usable: Scald and Aura Sphere means usual Electric checks like Lando, Hippo, Chomp, Ferro, and Zera will have to think twice about switching in. It's honestly pretty good coverage, and Scald is the kind of move that use can usually force progress with given time. I think that in combination with detering Defog/Indimidate and punishing stuff like random Moonblast drops could give it a slight niche.

Okay this sounds fun to use. Exit is always going to be a thorn in its side, but it's not useless. Spikes are a nice tool, and SD means it can apply a lot of pressure on the opponent to force it out. Such pressure can result in it bringing in teammates safely through Emergency Exit. In many ways it sounds strong on bulky archetypes looking for a Pokemon that can set hazards, threaten KOs, and provide pivoting support in a single slot. And yeah First Impression slaps on this mon.

 

[lavarina]

sniped lmao

pls i shoulder all the blame but this is slander

 

[Ardy]

To be fair even I didnt know that Wandering Spirit doesnt proc on your contact moves

Edit: just to give my own thoughts on the slate, I really really like drapion and raikou. Drap seems a little underwhelming at first but I think she could rly fuck up bulkier builds with the right team support. Raikou was originally not supposed to even be on this slate, but last minute I put this over another sub that I thought might be too overbearing, and I have really grown to like it. Its just a simple, unique buff that helps out a pokemon bordering on viability.

 

[Tapler]

People are severely overrating this one imo, the mon's just not good. 110/95 offenses with its typing and relatively weak STABs doesn't do nearly enough in this meta. Merciless is a cool ability on paper and while it's definitely better than any of Drapion's current abilities (speaking of, which ability is it replacing?), even with thorough support, you can't really make it work unless you build a mon to exploit the Steel and Poison types that you're never going to be able to poison, and Drapion just doesn't do that well. Don't rely on TSpikes either, they're not going to give you the breaking power you'd hope for with Boots and Flying-types on every team.


I also wish this had Faustian Pact's effect instead of vanilla Wandering Spirit, but alas we're stuck with what we've got. From some experience messing around with it in Monotype, Rune isn't completely awful at an OU power level, but there's no reason not to just run a better Ground, and the buff doesn't change that. Only thing you could maaybe try to pull with it is a TR + Rocks suicide lead, but even then just run Uxie or Carbink unless you're desperate for a Ground so you don't autolose to Eleki.


Like all physical Rocks, Terrak really struggles from Stone Edge's inconsistency, so having that extra 15% accuracy is a huge deal. The Defense buffs aren't something you're going to be relying on but they make it a big harder to revenge which is nice. Perhaps the simplest buff here but also one of the most welcome imo, perhaps my favourite this slate.


I have some mixed feelings on this one. Is it good? Yeah. However, as a Defog deterrent there's not much reason to use it over last slate's Thundurus-I, and as a more general generic fast Electric its only benefit over Zeraora and Koko is beating Lando-T. It's offers decent role compression but that's about all it has to offer, so while certainly viable, I can see this struggling to stand out from the competition.


This was my buff, so I may as well explain it. Golisopod was easily my favourite mon to use in OU in Gen 7, setting Spikes and allowing for multiple relatively free switches on my dumb offense builds via the use of a Figy Berry. EExit has a lot of interesting tech to it that can catch your opponent off guard, most notably cancelling the pivot from U-Turn and Volt Switch if it procks and not activating if a berry heals you above 50% hp after being taken below it. However, the Figy nerf hit it hard, leaving very little benefit to it over just slapping a Eject Button on your fatmon of choice. This change not only increases its special bulk significantly to allow it to tank hits on both sides, but also gives it the ability to activate EExit multiple times without a berry via Morning Sun (yes, I considered Shore Up, but decided that 16pp would be too much, you'll thank me later if this gets in), which is kind of insane if you play it right. The ability to switch into your Golisopod to tank a hit and then immediately bring in your counter to their threat cannot be understated, and if they decide not to activate EExit, you're free to set Spikes or spam Knock Off, not to mention the constant threat of FImping them in the face.

I get the idea, but could someone show me an example of an EExit mon with reliable recovery actually working as a defensive pivot?

FE Alpha's Doot is one of the strongest mons in the format (which, for context, is at around a low-to-mid Ubers power level), due to its ability to pull exactly what I've described above and provide free switches to its team, not to mention Regen on top of that.

 

[lavarina]

extra note, drapion's ability keen eye will be the one replaced by the new merciless
this sounds much more terrifying than it shld be when i typed it ii

 

[ImpSquare]

The fearful bug in armored shell/
Came from the depths of RU hell/
With head held low/
And stats too low/
The bug crept on through the night/
But with this new power and this new might/
The bug may give us a show/
With morning sun’s glow through enemies it will mow/
The RU bug a place it will claim/
In Smogon’s tier main

 

[Ardy]

mow

Rotom-Mow confirmed for next slate

 

[SLDR]

drapions needs an attack boost so yeah pretty good one. i don't really care about merciless, that ability is way too unreliable. i still would rather have sniper + scope lens + crit moves or battle armor as a defensive tspikes that can't be crit, poison dark is actually a very good typing. i gotta say tho having all three abilities around crit is fun.
shadow sneak is kinda neat although i think the biggest boost it could receive is shore up. shadow sneak has a chance to not 2hko gengar of all things. 20 hp i guess i can't complain about that
diamond storm is pretty good but come on guys give terrakion +2 speed so it outspeeds kartana, possibly 3 speed to outun latios and company. that would have been a much better boost. diamond storm clashing with close combat, sometimes its good sometimes its bad. 100% accuracy is pretty broken. rarely terrakion needs to crit in order to kill as well so i'd definitely run that over stone edge.
lando-t loves switching into electric so yeah pretty good as well, especially if raikou catches it lacking with a +2 scald. i feel like it would be a lot better for vgc though but i can't complain about this.
idk about this one but i mean that in the most innocent way possible because idk how to use emergency exit. i feel like golisopod would be better with a different ability, but giving it a recovery move seems like a pretty good idea for how bulky this thing actually is.

and are my favourites, so them > the rest > runerigus.

 

[Ardy]

24 hour warning for voting!

Edit: This just means voting will take place tomorrow. Wrap up discussion

 

[lavarina]

Voting Time has started! Vote up to two pokemon to be added to the OU Theorymon mod.

 

[Ehmcee]

+

 

[R8]

(yes this is edited)

 

[Gravity Monkey]

 

[shnowshner]

+

 

[TailGlowVM]

 

[Walletinspector62]

 

[ViZar]

&

 

[ImpSquare]

Drapion and Golisopod.

 

[Dilasc]

Raikou and Drapion

 

[Beaf Cultist]

+

gotta say though, i was really swayed by other arguments for terrakion. fsr i wasn't really thinking of it as an offensive tool, despite that being its main draw.

 

[SLDR]

and