STAB STABmons

[in the hills]

art by in the hills


STABmons
​

STABmons is the metagame where Pokemon have access to moves that match their type even if they can't normally learn them! Using Eevee as an example, it can now learn every Normal type move. This also applies to Pokemon that change type(s) during evolution. That means Eevee can pass Normal moves to all its Eeveelutions. New moves are "taught" as if they were TMs.

Rules:

Mechanic: Pokemon can learn any move that matches their typing. This transfers with evolutions and out of battle forme changes, so if a Normal-type evolves into a Psychic-type in the game, you can teach the Psychic-type Pokemon any Psychic and Normal moves.
Clauses: Standard OMs, Sleep Moves Clause
Bans:

• [Pokemon]
  • Arceus
  • Azumarill
  • Basculegion
  • Basculegion-F
  • Calyrex-Ice
  • Calyrex-Shadow
  • Chi-Yu
  • Chien-Pao
  • Cloyster
  • Dialga
  • Dialga-Origin
  • Dragapult
  • Dragonite
  • Enamorus-Incarnate
  • Eternatus
  • Flutter Mane
  • Garchomp
  • Giratina
  • Giratina-Origin
  • Groudon
  • Iron Bundle
  • Komala
  • Koraidon
  • Kyogre
  • Landorus-Incarnate
  • Lilligant-Hisui
  • Magearna
  • Mewtwo
  • Miraidon
  • Palkia
  • Palkia-Origin
  • Rayquaza
  • Regieleki
  • Spectrier
  • Ursaluna
  • Urshifu-Single-Strike
  • Walking Wake
  • Zacian
  • Zacian-Crowned
  • Zamazenta
  • Zamazenta-Crowned
  • Zoroark-Hisui
• [Items]
  • King's Rock
• [Moves*]
  • Acupressure*
  • Astral Barrage*
  • Baton Pass
  • Belly Drum*
  • Dire Claw*
  • Extreme Speed*
  • Fillet Away*
  • Gigaton Hammer*
  • Last Respects*
  • No Retreat*
  • Revival Blessing*
  • Shed Tail
  • Shell Smash*
  • Shift Gear*
  • V-Create*
  • Victory Dance*
  • Wicked Blow*
• [Abilities]
  • Arena Trap
  • Moody
  • Shadow Tag

*still available on native learners.


Council:

• 
  Fc
• Fissure
• Giagantic (Co-Tier Leader)
• In The Hills (Tier Leader)
• LBDC
• RoFnA

Strategy:

Because a lot of Pokémon can learn powerful new attacks that they previously couldn't use, STABmons can be a fast-paced metagame. Examples of strong wallbreakers include Boomburst Sylveon, and Dragon Ascent Gyarados. Setup is also very common. Dragon Dance Garchomp is a good example of a Pokemon that can abuse setup moves.

However, many Pokémon also get defensive or utility-based upgrades. For instance, Sylveon can learn Rapid Spin and Glare, and Wo-Chien can learn Strength Sap and Ceaseless Edge. This means that many fatter or more balanced archetypes are still viable.

Q&A:

Q: What about forme changes?
A: Similarly to how megas work, any forme changes that happen during battle won't transfer moves. Castform is a good example of this, as it only changes type with the ability Forecast while in effect during a battle. Any forme changes that happen outside battle will transfer types, with a few exceptions. See the Forme Type Changes tag below for the full list.

Q: Do Paldean formes trade types with their normal counterparts (e.g. can Paldean Tauros learn all Normal, Fighting, Water, and Fire moves)?
A: No. Unless a Pokemon is either the direct evolution or an out-of-battle forme change of another Pokemon it cannot get moves from its type.

Q: Why can't my Dark-type Tyranitar use Pursuit?
A: Moves that have been made unusable in the games code are unusable here. See below for a list of relevant moves that have been removed this generation.

Q: Can my Goldeen still use Acupressure even though that move is banned?
A: Yep! The banned moves only apply to Pokemon that don't normally learn them.

Q: Can I teach Max Airstream, a Max Move, to my Pokemon?
A: No. Max moves are only available at the time of use when Dynamaxed and thus cannot be "taught" outside of battle.

Q: Why was X banned?
A: Check the links above in the banlist for reasons (where you can find them).

Resources:

STABmons Resources thread: here
Playability: STABmons is playable on the main PS server or ROM.

Evolution Type Changes:

Full List

-> Grass & Poison

-> Ground, Steel, & Rock
-> Grass, Psychic, & Dragon
-> Ground, Ghost, & Fire
-> Bug, Flying, & Steel
-> Corresponding type & Normal
-> Rock, Dark, & Ground
-> / Normal, Fairy, & Water

->

Psychic, Fighting & Fairy
-> Bug, Flying, & Ground or Bug, Ghost, & Ground
-> Normal, Flying, & Dragon
-> Psychic, Ice, and Fairy
-> Dark, Poison, & Bug
-> / Normal, Flying, & Fire
-> Water, Poison, & Dragon
-> Grass, Flying, and Ghost

Forme Type Changes:

Full List

Every type is available to Silvally due to its ability RKS System. Because of this Silvally is banned.

Ghost, Electric, Water, Fire, Flying, Grass, & Ice are interchangeable between the Rotom formes. Last generation we had a special rule that prevented types from swapping but it felt arbitrary to include it when other formes can trade types so it was reversed.

Psychic, Ghost, and Steel are available to all three base Necrozma formes. It cannot get new Dragon moves, even if Necrozma-Ultra is reintroduced, as that forme is only obtainable in battle.

Psychic, Grass, Ice, and Ghost moves are available to all Calyrex formes. Spectrier and Glastrier do NOT get moves that are not their base type.

What doesn't apply:

The following Pokémon change only during battle and thus don't transfer types according to the rules of STABmons

This list may be updated as more Pokemon are released into Generation 9.

Join the OM Discord!

 

[in the hills]

Sample Teams
last updated 3/15/2023 (all banned now)(update soon:tm:)​

 

[in the hills]

reserved

 

[pannu]

Hi, yung cotta the STAB enthusiast is posting some day one thoughts!

However, before i get into thoughts new mons new moves etc etc i wanted to post some public teams! The meta is so new and we dont have any samples, and i know some people like to avoid building teams in a meta this chaotic. So i built some teams that i think might be good? Largely untested btw.

Shed Tail HO
Rain Offense
Lead Scream Tail Shed Tail HO
Dark Spam Balance

Most of these teams revolve around the same concept: out offending the opponent. Priority Spam, Swift Swim, Speed Boosting natures, etc. This meta (and the generation as a whole) are bound to be incredibly offensive, so i think thats what makes sense rn.

Now, for some meta thoughts?

Firstly, the immediately "broken" mons to me are Dragapult, Flutter Mane, and Iron Valiant.


Dragapult is just, insane. Last Respects make it into a terrifying breaker, and between CB and Dragon Dance sets i think its to hard to deal with, and impossible to wall. Definitely a mon i think should be banned ASAP

Fluttermane is also incredibly overbearing. Its insane minmaxed stats paried up with its incredible offensive typing (Ground is its best Tera type IMO, fuck pex.) and Crazy options in the fourth slot make it to hard to deal with, another mon i want gone ASAP.

Iron Valiant is just kinda silly, Victory Dance is incredibly stupid and IMO Iron Valiant is the best abuser ATM by leagues. Amazing STAB (if you cant tell fairy-types w/ ground tera are stupid af)

Imo, all 3 of these mons need to go. In the meantime, im using alot of Normal types like Scarf Cyclizar, Blissey and Chansey, as well as Priority users like Kingambit, Chien-Pao, and Ursaring to deal with these. Other pokemon id label as potential brokens are Chien-pao and Garchomp, Chomp im not to keen on however, as i think it might just be a very good Tera user (more on that later)

Being the best Ghost-resists now that Tyranitar sucks isn't the only thing Normal-types have going for them in the current meta though, they are absolutely insane.

FC is a terrible council member, focus on STAB instead of the "tier you lead" bro)

By far the most unhealthy broken stupid move in the tier rn is Shed Tail, free sub + pivot is stupid. Here's a game i played against Byleth (who demanded same turns rematch after clicking a dragon move on Iron Valiant) where i just kinda, get a Chansey shed tail up, switch into a broken sweeper that can set up on the mon i set up Shed Tail against, and win the game lol. This move is absolutely STUPID and needs to go ASAP. I also use it on Scarf Cyclizar, who fits a tad bit better on more offensive teams.

As for other broken moves? i do think that Victory Dance is the other big offender of being a totally stupid move. +1 to Speed and Physical attack is crazy for Fighting-types, who already got a ton of buffs and new additions this gen.

As for tera, i think its probably gonna have to go. It creates way to many mind-games and make many Pokemon way to hard to check defensively, imagine Hidden Power but on Crack. Same-type Tera is also very powerful, especially for Type-spam archetypes, which are very potent this gen.

 

[in the hills]

Hey guys! I haven't posted our updated initial watchlist yet

Watchlist:

Terastallization

Pokemon:
Chi-Yu
Chien-Pao
Iron Valliant
Iron Moth
Roaring Moon
Flutter Mane
Dragapult

Moves:
Fillet Away
Dragon Ascent
Extreme Speed
Final Gambit
Glaive Rush
No Retreat
Shift Gear
Thunderous Kick
Triple Arrows
Headlong Rush
Shed Tail
Tidy Up
Victory Dance
Last Respects
Rage Fist
Revival Blessing
Gigaton Hammer
Lumina Crash
Torch Song
Stone Axe
Ceaseless Edge

Looking at our watchlist, it's pretty broad just due to all the insane things added, but even one day in we've seen things stick out like a sore thumb off of this list. Here's how I'd personally currently rate the watchlisted threats

Personal thoughts

Needs to go ASAP:
Shed Tail
Victory Dance
one of Dragapult/Last Respects (maybe both)
Iron Valliant
No Retreat

Probably broken but want more playtime:
Ceaseless Edge
Chien-Pao
Fillet Away
Flutter Mane
Glaive Rush
Shift Gear
Terastallization

Unsure
Chi-Yu

Haven't seen enough of
Roaring Moon
Revival Blessing
Gigaton Hammer
Rage Fist

Probably fine for now:
Extreme Speed
Dragon Ascent
Final Gambit
Headlong Rush
Iron Moth
Lumina Crash
Stone Axe
Thunderous Kick
Tidy Up
Torch Song
Triple Arrows

Outside of that, the meta has been very chaotic and fun so far! Here's a few sets I've been using that I find fun:

Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Boomburst
- Fillet Away
- Psyshock
Sylveon is a great Extreme Speed user right now due to the large saturation of Dragon, Fighting, and Dark Pokemon right now. With Fillet Away, it can break through entire teams with ease and it's not terribly hard to find an opportunity. Tera Boomburst does pretty insane damage as well (hell, I OHKO'd a Corviknight with it lol), and makes Extreme Speed OHKO most offensive Pokemon.


Toxapex @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Scald
- Flip Turn
- Mortal Spin
- Clear Smog
Toxapex has been pretty fun to start, I've been using it for hazard removal and slow pivots into my breakers. I think this set will only get better as stuff gets banned.


Chi-Yu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Armor Cannon
- Fiery Wrath
- Torch Song
- Parting Shot
Chi-Yu probably has a lot better sets but right now I'm having fun using its raw power to just break through stuff and pivot around on switchins


Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Victory Dance
- Shore Up
This guy is pretty fun, Victory Dance is so borked lmao but its vulnerable to priority with Chien-Pao running around everywhere. Fun to use though while you can


Iron Hands @ Punching Glove
Ability: Quark Drive
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch / Volt Tackle
- Mach Punch
- Swords Dance
This is a funny set I haven't tried out yet but plan to if/when Dragapult gets banned. It seems great on paper but with pult running around on every team it probably isnt amazing just yet. Physical Electric stabs suck atm so Thunder Punch capitalizes on Punching Glove boost or you can just go with Volt Tackle for raw damage


Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Glacial Lance
- Ice Shard
- Ceaseless Edge
- Swords Dance
Chien-Pao is as fun and broken as I expected lol, really love seeing this mon on every team unironically. It'll be sad if this gets banned but we have Weavile in the back still at least.

Also, there's an error with the current banlist on the forums, Glacial Lance should be unbanned and Wicked Blow should be banned, that's my mistake for updating the OP wrong. Tagging Kris to implement

 

[drampa's grandpa]

Oh look it's a HO meta with lots of setup! Time to return to old faithful. With how common hazards, specifically Spikes, are in this meta Ditto can't answer everything on the opposing team, but it can often save you that one necessary time. So far I haven't built a team without the Impostrous blob. I've only built 1.5 but still.

Also I just played our esteemed ex-OM leader The Immortal in a STABmons battle. Towards the end he tricked me with a Terastyllized Annihilape whih turned Normal, thus beating my Dragapult. Smart move right? When I sent in Ditto to revenge it became Normal too. Interesting. I attempted to pull the same trick he did, and Terastyllized, becoming Ghost. Didn't actually work, he No Retreated so I switched out, then back in. I was Normal again.

Long story short, don't Tera your Ditto, it will just copy the opponents type o_O weird interaction

My best team so far!

Dragapult: This Pokemon is broken and is on 90% of teams right now. I opted for a fully physical build to optimize Last Respects and Life Orb because honestly in this metagame I felt the flexibility meant far far more than the lack of recoil, and Pult gets the KOs either way.
Chien-Pao: Another extremely popular and extremely spammed Pokemon. Free Pursuit. This boi will be even better when Glacial Lance is properly freed and I don't have to compromise on the Ice STAB. >:( ITH. But basically fast, strong, has priority. Honestly one of the weaker members of my team, considering changing the set around.
Ditto: Who cares about moves, it's Ditto time! Ditto has saved a number of matches for me already. Ditto makes the opponent not want to set up to 6-0 me. Thank you Ditto.
Palafin: This is my usual Terastyllization user, because it spams its Water moves so much. Despite going from ugly to uglier Palafin is both super strong and an incredibly priority user, with Jet Punch doing a ton of damage to a lot of the Pokemon in this metagame. The requirement to get the 650 BST forme is annoying but not difficult to achieve with Flip Turn.
Meowscarada: The Protean nerf honestly... doesn't feel incredibly nerfy to me. Maybe it's because of this cat's great movepool, but you can still choose the right move and wreak havoc as whatever type you want for a couple turns. Low Kick and Play Rough are really nice for all the Dark types and Dragons flying around, while Ceaseless Edge is the coolest new move in the meta. I was running Spikes but who wants that, I want to ATTACK STUFF RAWR honestly Spikes might be better to Volt Block or whatever but I don't care.
Iron Valiant: Iron Valiant is incredibly strong. Not only does it have several potentially broken moves in Triple Arrows, Victory Dance, Thunderous Kick, and No Retreat, it gets Booster Energy + Quark Drive, which in my brief experience with this metagame is scary to the point of being broken on Pokemon such as this and Flutter Mane where it is essentially just a one use Choice Scarf that, crucially, lets you switch moves meaning you can do things like set up or switch out.

Ceaseless Edge:
My favorite new move to spam. Spikes up as you force switches

QUICKBANWORTHY SHIT:
Dragapult: This should go before Last Respects. Last Respects is crazy and all, but Dragapult is BY FAR the biggest enabler of it, and has other insane sets. And none of its sets rely on Last Respects, its just the icing on the child-lauching cake. I don't know all of its sets yet, but I guarantee that you can run pretty much whatever it has in the past, which is pretty much whatever you want. Specs, Band, LO Mixed, LO Physical, LO Special, LO Mixed, Sub, Scarf, etc etc. I haven't even seen anyone abusing Tera on it yet which seems terafying (hurr hurr). With Fighting it can invalidate pretty much any check instantly.

Booster Energy: I went into this above, but the ability to +1 an offensive stat on switch-in with no requirements, without it going away is scary. These remind me a lot of Choice items, some of the best offensive items out there, but without the opportunity cost. And in a metagame as fastpaced and hyperoffensive as this one the Pokemon likely to use it (Iron Moth, Iron Bundle, Iron Valiant, Iron Jugulis, Scream Tail, Roaring Moon) aren't really likely to need to come in more than once, so my experience is that being able to switch moves at +1 speed when they do come in they'll likely take multiple other Pokemon down with them, if not just win on the spot.

Last Respects: May be lower than Dragapult but still fuck that shit.

Chien-Pao: My only hesitation here is that I feel part of the reason its so common is it revenges pult. But frankly it also murders everything because strong and good dual STABs.

SUSPECTWORTHY / LOW PRIORITY SHIT:
Terastyllization: Never thought I'd say this but so far it's definitely not the main thing setting the meta on fire.

Triple Arrows: I'm sorry but this is a silly move. All three of these effects are kinda dumb. Imagine if Thunderous Kick and terrible luck had a child. At least its bp is ONLY 90.

Iron Valiant: I believe Iron Valiant has access to broken tools at the moment. I would like to see Booster Energy at the very least discuss for a ban before we looked at this. Victory Dance is another very strong move it gets, as is Triple Arrows, and others. I think a QB would be very hasty, given that many of these tools are also on the radar.

I don't have strong feelings on anything else yet.

 

[Fissure]

Hello! I have played 12 games and i have some opinions about the meta already. I'll sort them in the order I'd wished they'd get taken care of.

quick ban

Victory Dance - Honestly it's the defense boost that makes me hate this move. If it was just dd but for fighting, this would probably be in the 3rd category but getting to sweep and get bulkier is too much.
Dragapult - Too fast, too strong, too good of a typing.
Last Respects - "Power increases by 50 with each fainted party member"
Terastallization - The extra boost to STAB is way too good in a meta where every mon gets the strongest, most broken stab moves it could ever dream of.
Shift Gear - I do not believe in a move that gives you + 2 speed and another stat should ever exist.
Fillet Away - I do not believe in a move that gives you + 2 speed and another stat should ever exist.

suspect worthy after like 2 weeks

Chien-Pao - Who would have thought that a faster and defense dropping "Weavile" would have been broken? Certainly not me!
Shed Tail - It's like Baton Pass, but instead of passing stats, you pass a substitute that lets the next mon set up stat boosts anyways!
Iron Valliant - A fast, strong mon with good stabs that can omni-boost? Say no more!
Gigaton Hammer -

Extreme Speed - SD into E-speed will never not be broken.
Booster Energy - I honestly think this is the problem and not all of the paradox mons that can use it, but tiering policy or whatever idk.

things i'd expect a suspect on after like a month

Final Gambit - Beating mons that you shouldn't be beating as well as opening up holes for your other sweepers to sweep is pretty nice.
Roaring Moon - Ban all fast and strong mons.
Iron Bundle - Literally what keldeo wishes it could be.
Flutter Mane - I don't think the mon will be that overbearing if everything above it gets banned. Definitely good, but not broken.
Garchomp - Can't have ground types in STABmons.
Iron Treads - Can't have ground types in STABmons.
No Retreat - I don't see this being a problem on the non-broken fighting types, just on the already broken ones mentioned above.

No matter what happens y'all know I'm still playing this meta. LONG LIVE HYPER OFFENSE!

 

[Giagantic]

I have some more atypical Pokemon that I think have potential but I have yet to fully test due to the ladder being fairly barren at the moment (due to most people playing the regular tier).

The first one is the predecessor of the dominant Iron Valient, Gallade whom has received several gifts that bolster it's offensive potential sky-high. First of these boons is the ability Sharpness which boosts Slicing moves like these by 1.5 power. Furthermore, (and until it inevitably gets banned) it gains the physical variant of Quiver Dance, aka Victory Dance. All these combine into a monster of a Pokemon that whilst likely losing to Iron Valient is still able to hold it's own.

Gallade (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sharpness
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Psycho Cut
- Shadow Sneak
- Victory Dance

Second, and one that admittedly a gimmick and mostly theory (I've played with it in 2 matches) is Grafaia. It is a pokemon that has access to Prankster and normal typing meaning it can run a vast array of utility moves that now have priority such as Transform, Glare, Court Change, Disable, Recover / Slack Off / Milk Drink, Fillet Away, Revival Blessing, and Tidy Up. Heck, I am probably missing some options but the point still stands that there is an immense amount of utility and even game changing power in priority moves such as these. What I have been using is as follows:

Grafaiai @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Glare
- Court Change
- Recover
- Transform

 

[Iynhe]

Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Victory Dance
- Close Combat
- Moonblast
- Knock Off

Just no. It's extremely fun to use, but I also feel dirty. Tera Fairy because it's the coolest stab. Ting-Lu is extra bulky though, watch out.
EDIT: Restricting Victory Dance MIGHT make this bearable.

Iron Treads @ Life Orb
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Gigaton Hammer
- Headlong Rush
- Shift Gear

I'm so happy no one posted this! (Unless I didn't see it, in that case pardon.)
It's SO good. SG will be on the chopping block in a bit, in the meantime have fun. Tera ground because I didn't want to think a lot. Steel is meh since it's main STAB can't be spammed (luckly.) Life Orb can be swapped with something else. Muscle Band (lol), Soft Sand, the item that boosts Steel moves.
Shed Tail from Chansey means that it can setup safely and will wreak havock easily.
---
I didn't play with other EXTRA fun moves for now, I'll be back in a while.

 

[Giagantic]

Okay, I have to bring up this set that I have run into and ran successfully several times.

Slaking @ Wide Lens
Ability: Truant
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Tera Blast
- Population Bomb
- Slack Off
- Doodle

The EV's don't honestly matter as they can be to your choosing whether that be speed or defensive; what does matter is Doodle a new move that lets the user copy the opposing pokemons ability similar to Skill Swap (without the swap component). I choose to run it without any sort of setup alongside Ghost Tera to bait in Fighting types but honestly you can just run coverage options instead. It is a very easy set to run, just press doodle, then press Population Bomb (if there is no Rocky Helmet mon) and BAM you should eradicate something. It is a two turn setup but the potency is undeniable, and with the overall bulk of Slaking it is easy to pull off and reliable. It isn't quite QB worthy nor is it more suspect worthy then some other elements but it is powerful.

On that note, Last Respects and/or Dragapult need to go ASAP, together they are hideously overpowered as a lategame sweeper and even ignoring Last Respect Dragapult has too many options to use it's normally obsolete attack. From Glaive Rush to Poltergeist, these stab options allow Dragapult to ravage just about anything at any point in the game or simply pivot out.

Also, pay attention to Azumarill, with access to SD, Espeed, Surging Strikes, and the new Jet Punch it is a priority sweeping monster.

Lastly, Grafaia is legitimately good, give it a try.

Edit: here is a replay in a Stabmon Tour where I ravage a team with Doodle Slaking
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9stabmons-1716206050

 

[in the hills]

Booster Energy, Dragapult and Flutter Mane have been banned! No Retreat, Shed Tail, and Victory Dance have been restricted!​

First ban slate is up! Lots of fun broken stuff in the meta right now but these are what stuck out to the council most as blatantly broken. Here's the votes below:

	Fc	in the hills	LBDC	pannu	RESULT:
Booster Energy	BAN	BAN	ABS	BAN	BAN (3-0-1)
Dragapult	BAN	BAN	ABS	BAN	BAN (3-0-1)
Flutter Mane	BAN	ABS	ABS	BAN	BAN (2-0-2)
No Retreat	RESTRICT	RESTRICT	ABS	RESTRICT	RESTRICT (3-0-1)
Shed Tail	RESTRICT	RESTRICT	ABS	RESTRIC	RESTRICT (3-0-1)
Victory Dance	ABS	RESTRICT	ABS	RESTRICT	RESTRICT (2-0-2)

Moving forward, we do have a smaller watchlist for the immediate future, though the mentioned threats won't be the only thing being looked at.

On the Radar:
Chien-Pao
Chien-Pao has been on nearly every team and for good reason; its insanely powerful, fast, and has priority for revenge killing. It will surely be on our next ban slate, will it stay in the metagame?

Tera
Unsurprisingly, Tera is still on our watchlist. While early perceptions of it seem that it is too strong, we want to give this more time to settle and playtest with the defensive counterplay aspect of it more.

Last Respects
Last Respects was largely seen on Dragapult- what, if anything, will take over and prove this move is just too broken for the metagame? Mimikyu? Annihilape? Something else? We'll have to see

Extreme Speed
Extreme Speed is freed every generation, and usually doesn't last long. While early on it seemed fine somewhat due to Dragapult's omnipresence, Normal-type Extreme Speed users may start cropping up more with it gone. Only time will tell if Extreme Speed will once again be banned

Fillet Away
On paper, this move seems insanely broken in the same vein as Shell Smash, but the drawback makes it a lot more difficult to find setup opportunities from early playtests. We just haven't seen enough of it to give a fair judgment yet, but now that less crazy stuff is in the meta I'm sure we can give this more focus

Shift Gear
Similar to Extreme Speed in that it always ends up banned, this has been on the backburner early on and I think now's the time for it to shine. We'll see just how manageable Shift Gear Pokemon are in this new metagame.

That's all for now, I'm sure our eventual ban slate may have something not listed above as we test more, maybe Cyclizar/Shed Tail will be up for a full ban, who knows? Hope you all are enjoying the early metagame as much as we are, peace!

Tagging Kris to implement Booster Energy, Dragapult, and Flutter Mane bans and No Retreat, Shed Tail, and Victory Dance restrictions.

 

[Giagantic]

First off I know my GXE ain't great I'd have a higher GXE if hax wasn't a thing but alas that is Pokemon in a nutshell, however I have topped the Stabmons Ladder and thus here is the team that mostly got me there (I made adjustments around the recent bans).

Edit:

(This was so painful, numerous instances of game-changing hax just for 2% gxe... cries)

Pokepaste of team here!

Annihilape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Last Respects
- Close Combat
- Triple Arrows
- U-turn

It is one of the replacements for Dragapult whom was just banned, and works similarly so, though it does miss the speed of a scarf Dragapult. You could run Rage Fist over Triple Arrow or rather run whatever in that slot to fulfill your needs. One of the benefits of Annihilape is that it has actual bulk meaning it can take hits much better and isn't weak to dark or ice meaning both sucker punch and ice shard are neutral versus it. Overall, not much has changed it still is a monstrous late-game sweeper due to Last Respects which should totally be banned.
____________________________
Slaking @ Wide Lens
Ability: Truant
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Tera Blast
- Population Bomb
- Slack Off
- Doodle

Stupid is the word of the day when discussing this set, even without Doodle-ing, Population Bomb is utterly disgusting on Slaking. Tera type is ghost to bait fighting types and beat incoming ghost types that think they can abuse a mono-normal Slaking.
____________________________
Bisharp @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break / Gigaton Hammer
- Ceaseless Edge
- Bullet Punch / Sucker Punch
- Shift Gear

You can run Kingambit, the difference ain't massive but either way they are tanky sweepers that with the current speed investment are able to outspeed Dragapult with one Shift Gear. You can opt for more powerful stabs if you don't care for the utility of Ceaseless Edge but as a whole this either evo's are extremely potent.
____________________________
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Jet Punch
- Extreme Speed
- Surging Strikes
- Swords Dance

This Pokemon is a monster, Surging Strikes alongside dual priority with Swords Dance (you could run Tidy Up but I want the extra power). Honestly, Azumarill is top tier right now, even in the event of an Espeed ban it would still operate well with just Jet Punch alone (and get run some other coverage).
____________________________
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Transform

It is ditto, it dissuades setup sweepers and will play a prominent role in the "meta" till things actually stabilize.
____________________________
Grafaiai @ Black Sludge
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Recover
- Glare
- Tidy Up

Originally ran Shed Tail and Court Change, however I now run an offensive option in Espeed alongside the stupidly good Tidy Up. Glare major threats, even if it means sacrificing itself, use stab espeed to pressure things at the correct times.

 

[The Immortal]

#1 on the ladder at the moment so i thought i share my team before the bans take effect.

Hide

Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Glacial Lance
- Sacred Sword
- Sucker Punch

Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Glaive Rush
- Last Respects
- Destiny Bond

Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- No Retreat
- Axe Kick
- Play Rough
- Zen Headbutt

Palafin @ Choice Band
Ability: Zero to Hero
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flip Turn
- Surging Strikes
- Jet Punch
- Close Combat

Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Mortal Spin
- Flip Turn
- Haze
- Recover

Wo-Chien @ Leftovers
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Body Press
- Ceaseless Edge
- Strength Sap

I don't know what the best Chien-Pao set is but this is what I ended up with pre-bans.

Scarf Pult is goat. Don't think I ever clicked Destiny Bond.

Booster Energy Iron Valiant to help me with opposing boosters, except Iron Bundle.

Not sure about Palafin but find it hard to replace his strong attacks/priority.

Mortal Spin is underrated.

My creation and probably my favorite mon on this team. Wo-Chien wins games.

 

[LBDC]

	Fc	in the hills	LBDC	pannu	RESULT:
Booster Energy	BAN	BAN	ABS	BAN	BAN (3-0-1)
Dragapult	BAN	BAN	ABS	BAN	BAN (3-0-1)
Flutter Mane	BAN	ABS	ABS	BAN	BAN (2-0-2)
No Retreat	RESTRICT	RESTRICT	ABS	RESTRICT	RESTRICT (3-0-1)
Shed Tail	RESTRICT	RESTRICT	ABS	RESTRIC	RESTRICT (3-0-1)
Victory Dance	ABS	RESTRICT	ABS	RESTRICT	RESTRICT (2-0-2)

Since there are some (valid) concern regarding my votes on this slate and to be 100 % transparent: my schedule didn't allowed me to have as much time that I would have liked, and as I didn't play a important number of game, I thus voted abstain. In other news, join SV STABmons kick-off tour and let's thrive STABmons this gen!

 

[Cuddly]

Reached top 5 and would like to share Defensive team I made without using the obvious broken shit.

>Stall it Dead

Tyranitar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 232 HP / 224 Atk / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shore Up
- Salt Cure
- Ceaseless Edge
- Stone Axe

Wo-Chien @ Leftovers
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Synthesis
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Foul Play

Ting-Lu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Shore Up
- Comeuppance
- Parting Shot
- Scorching Sands

Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Torch Song
- Infernal Parade

Clodsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Mortal Spin
- Shore Up
- Dire Claw
- Earthquake

Palafin @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Zero to Hero
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Step
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Jet Punch

Despite shit like Shed Tail Blissey and Slaking with Doodle+Population Bomb being around (maybe ban Slaking since it can now very easily replace its ability), this team does pretty well.
The 2 defensive Chinese Legendries are absolute Stalwarts that fend off tons of Pokemon.
Skeledirge is most certainly the best Iron Valiant counter, resisting both STABs and even more useful since Iron Valiant gets Victory Dance and No Retreat. It is also surprisingly threatening with Torch Song, which can help against Shed Tail spam.
I opted to use Water Absorb on Clodsire so I don't have to resort to Terastallizing something for the Water Weakness on the team, and also still have Skeledirge for Unaware stuff.
Tyranitar can run both Ceaseless Edge and Stone Axe for Hazard Stacking purposes, but you could run Sucker Punch on it as well. Salt Cure is amazing and will be better once Shed Tail is actually off the ladder.
Palafin is here because it's one of the best anti-offense options available with 160 Atk Jet Punches and also Aqua Step letting it hit hard while gaining speed.

 

[Adonzo]

Some additions for the evolution type changes in OP courtesy of PLA mons coming in later this gen:

Hisuian Braviary gets Normal+Psychic+Flying
Hisuian Decidueye gets Grass+Flying+Fighting
Kleavor gets Bug+Flying+Rock

 

[Don Vascus]

Im so good

Farmed the meta with a team with 4 sashes including banned mon pult, banned item booster energy, and banned move nr. Im not sharing bc i plan to use kinda sorta that team when the bans go up lol

Particularly proud of this set:
Iron Valiant @ Focus Sash
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- No Retreat
- Collision Course
- Stored Power
- Moonblast

Cool set. Replacing with bdrum ursaring when pult is gone

 

[Cuddly]

Can you guys really quick just ban Last Respects already? And Shift Gear? And also Extreme Speed too? And just ban Shed Tail as a whole as well? and Population Bomb?
This is what I was talking about with Smogon just letting obviously broken shit last too long and unbanning shit that's obviously broken with the "well we're gonna have to see if this obviously broken shit will be this time around".

 

[Giagantic]

I agree with Cuddly (which I've made clear already), Last Respects is broken regardless of the Pokemon. Running at least 1 Ghost types on your team is practically mandatory and is warping the metagame to be centre'd around always, and I mean ALWAYS having a normal type or risk having one or 2 pokemon sweep your entire team despite seemingly being in the lead with a 200-300 BP move. I faced Drampa's Grandpa recently and they had a Final Gambit spamming team with Annhilape and a Tera Normal Dragonite, I was running the two pokemon below on a offensive team. This is but an example of how strong Last Respects is and it will only get worse as more people begin moving into playing OMs more regularly after growing tired of "OU".

 

[Fissure]

Y'all already know my thoughts so I'll just say what I've been seeing on the ladder.

Ghost usage is up. Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu usage are up. Lead hazard setting with Ceaseless Edge and Stone Axe are up...in order to break sashes for sweepers to sweep. Speaking of sweepers... Azu usage is up, Gyarados usage is being brought up by me, Iron Valiant usage is down (haven't seen any since the bans), and E-speed usage is up with Slaking, Ursaring, and Zangoose. I've also seen alot more Gholdengo usage (it hasn't done anything noteworthy yet) and water checks like rotom-w and clodsire in order to help check all the jet punch sweepers currently.

Terra is currently being used to give extra STAB to priority sweepers or as a way to be immune to last respects. The only other use of it was I saw JRDN terra an amoonguss to fairy for something idk i just click buttons and things die.

The meta rn is set up and priority, so maybe we'll start to see teams change to counter this? Unaware Dondozo and wish Blissey could work here.

 

[in the hills]

Can you guys really quick just ban Last Respects already? And Shift Gear? And also Extreme Speed too? And just ban Shed Tail as a whole as well? and Population Bomb?
This is what I was talking about with Smogon just letting obviously broken shit last too long and unbanning shit that's obviously broken with the "well we're gonna have to see if this obviously broken shit will be this time around".

I'm sorry but this post is just flat out terrible.

There's a number of things that are just blatantly wrong about this post, so I'll try and explain the council's position for those who read the above post and agreed. also just because this plucked a nerve with me considering the council is working hard to balance this gen not please everyone who makes a condescending post.
First off, the generation has just started and your post is overlooking the very huge fact that in the past 2 generations, we've seen major cuts to the available Pokemon. Sure, Extreme Speed and Shift Gear have been blatantly broken in the past due to the wide array of Pokemon that get them, in Generation 8 Obstagoon and Diggersby were the main contributors to Extreme Speed being banned for example and neither of them are available this generation. We did not free just every move to add to the chaos, we want to give a chance to everything that we believe deserves one, which out of everything we freed, Extreme Speed and Shift Gear were the only unbanned moves that weren't nerfed or banned super late into last generation. We unbanned them under the pretense that they very well may be broken still so truly nobody cares about your random gotcha post if they do indeed turn out that way.

Secondly, your post was made prior to the bans of our last slate even being implemented on PS, it's a terrible expectation to set that we should be banning things when it's not even fully possible to properly test them yet. We're not even a week into the generation yet and sure there's a lot of broken introductions but we aren't going to make snap decisions based on one or two games played with these things against our friends, we're going to make sure we choose wisely because these early decisions will set the tone of the next 3 years, which is a lot longer than the 3 days you've decided is too long to wait. There's dozens of things that could be deemed as broken based on narrowly looking at the metagame and the council wants to be sure on our decisions when we make them, which we will be voting on our second ban slate tomorrow. We believe this to be a sufficient time to accurately assess the items on our watchlist and some other threats that have cropped up since our last ban.

There's been a lot of metagame development in just these few days and we're seeing checks to things considered broken pop up and other threats take the forefront as being broken. Defensive counterplay is starting to be explored some with things like Garganacl being absolutely amazing and Dondozo blanket checking half the tier and with another ban slate or two I believe we'll have a well functioning metagame and start building up some starting resources.

On that note, I've made a very rough personal viability list for the current meta if anyone is interested, we plan on making an official one after this next ban slate hopefully.

ordered alphabetically within ranks

 

[FiboDoesPokemon]

Today I present the highest form of cheese:

Blissey (F) @ Ganlon Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stuff Cheeks
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Super Fang

Stuff cheeks for the instant +3 defence, making you a 325 def, 307 spdef monster

Now the Special blob can switch into the dumb Misregeous and pengin, then wall and counter-kill any physical attackers with Sfang + Seismic Toss

Threatlist:
Any of the urshifu move users or flower trick will still ohko you, phasing moves can also be a problem

Also you can't kill ghosts, but blissey didnt do that anyway

 

[The Immortal]

On the Radar:
Chien-Pao
Chien-Pao has been on nearly every team and for good reason; its insanely powerful, fast, and has priority for revenge killing. It will surely be on our next ban slate, will it stay in the metagame?

Tera
Unsurprisingly, Tera is still on our watchlist. While early perceptions of it seem that it is too strong, we want to give this more time to settle and playtest with the defensive counterplay aspect of it more.

Last Respects
Last Respects was largely seen on Dragapult- what, if anything, will take over and prove this move is just too broken for the metagame? Mimikyu? Annihilape? Something else? We'll have to see

Extreme Speed
Extreme Speed is freed every generation, and usually doesn't last long. While early on it seemed fine somewhat due to Dragapult's omnipresence, Normal-type Extreme Speed users may start cropping up more with it gone. Only time will tell if Extreme Speed will once again be banned

Fillet Away
On paper, this move seems insanely broken in the same vein as Shell Smash, but the drawback makes it a lot more difficult to find setup opportunities from early playtests. We just haven't seen enough of it to give a fair judgment yet, but now that less crazy stuff is in the meta I'm sure we can give this more focus

Shift Gear
Similar to Extreme Speed in that it always ends up banned, this has been on the backburner early on and I think now's the time for it to shine. We'll see just how manageable Shift Gear Pokemon are in this new metagame.

That's all for now, I'm sure our eventual ban slate may have something not listed above as we test more, maybe Cyclizar/Shed Tail will be up for a full ban, who knows? Hope you all are enjoying the early metagame as much as we are, peace!

Tagging Kris to implement Booster Energy, Dragapult, and Flutter Mane bans and No Retreat, Shed Tail, and Victory Dance restrictions.

Extreme Speed needs to go. It is more broken this gen as stuff like Azumarill can Tera into Normal. Unsold on banning Tera for now; get rid of the other broken elements first then see how it plays imo. Leaning towards ban on Last Respects. Far too powerful, even if half your team is alive it's a 200 BP move with no drawbacks. Agree with what you said about Fillet Away. Iron Treads is the main Shift Gear user currently but it doesn't seem overpowered in my experience; just watch for now. Chien-Pao is fine, I would look at Iron Bundle before it.

 

[Giagantic]

Heyo! Here is another set of interesting Pokemon in Stabmons with plenty of POTENTIAL!

Farigiraf 120/90/70/110/70/60 Normal / Psychic

Armor Tail: Anti-Priority Ability similar to Queenly Majesty

Farigiraf is an interesting Pokemon in that it has access to the bane of Priority spam, the ability Armor Tail. On top of this it has great HP, a good movepool, a typing that let's it act as a counter to scarfed Last Respect Sweepers, and decent 110 SPA. It's defenses themselves aren't the great but they are serviceable once invested heavily into alongside that beefy 120 HP stat and it's access to normal moves means it isn't short on utility.

I have effectively used both of the following sets:
Farigiraf @ Leftovers
Ability: Armor Tail
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Lumina Crash
- Calm Mind
- Milk Drink

Farigiraf @ Leftovers
Ability: Armor Tail
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Boomburst
- Foul Play / Up to you
- Rapid Spin / Utility Move
- Milk Drink

The first will let you KO Bellydrum max-speed Azumarills most of the time, especially if SR is up or it has used Belly Drum+Sitrus. The second is a bit riskier but provides a greater degree of utility and bulk at the risk of being out sped by speedier variants of Azumarill but even this set can always 2hko Azumarill.

Hide

252+ SpA Silk Scarf Girafarig Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 322-381 (94.4 - 111.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Silk Scarf Girafarig Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 322-381 (94.4 - 111.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Girafarig Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 351-413 (102.9 - 121.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Girafarig Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 351-413 (86.8 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Girafarig Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 351-413 (86.8 - 102.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Girafarig Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 196-232 (48.5 - 57.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Girafarig on a critical hit: 405-477 (91.2 - 107.4%) -- approx. 31.3% chance to OHKO

Gargancl 100/100/120/45/90/35 Rock
Purifying Salt / Sturdy
Normally Rock types aren't seen the best of lights outside of the rare few such as Terrakion and Tyranitar but Gargancl is unique in several regards. It has access to reliable recovery, a good stat line that is decent even where more rock types are weak, SPD, and has access to Purifying Salt meaning Status isn't a problem and ghost types will struggle a bit more with breaking through it. It is a great alternative to Tyranitar, performing a similar role of setting up SR through Stone Axe, and applying pressure by utilizing Salt Cure or running Diamond Storm + Body Press for that delicious defensive offense.

Garganacl @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stone Axe
- Salt Cure / Diamond Storm
- Body Press
- Recover

 

[a girlboss]

i love bans and banning i just really love removing things from the game? like half of the following set should be criminalized

/
red taylors versio (Scizor) (M) @ Loaded Dice / Leftovers
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- Pin Missile / Fell Stinger / Close Combat
- Gigaton Hammer
- Bullet Punch / Pin Missile

Water Tera is there obviously to not get cooked alive. 156 Speed EVs puts you at 205 allowing you to outspeed Barraskewda, Iron Bundle and Chien-Pao by 2 points after Shift Gear. Gigaton Hammer. Pin Missile + Loaded Dice means you're dealing with either 150 or 187 BP on a move whose only drawback is a 5% chance to miss. You can just replace Pin Missile with Fell Stinger to snowball even harder. This set is kind of awful against Steels so either run good Fire-type teammates or drop the Bug move for CC. Bullet Punch because it's Scizor, though you can abandon it and slot Pin Missile here if you have Speed/Priority control and are confident that you can Shift Gear up.

also I WANNA USE URSALUNA SO BADDDDD GAME FREAK HURRY UP WITH POKEMON HOME