Gm, STABmons players!
Team drop time :)
(click on sprites to have the pokepast)

I wanted to build a HO. After trying Greak Tusk as a lead (see below), switched to Glimmora; it is a good lead because it has Toxic Debris and Stone Axe. Ceruledge is a good sweeper: Sash + Weak Armor (+ Rage Fist) works well, kinda powerful. Scizor bring in the steel-type capabilities, with LO Bullet Punch. Yeah it is easily a mid-tier Pokémon, even after the Shift Gear ban. Iron Valiant is fully physical, which I have found satisfying. Not sure why everyone else is so on board about special Valiant. Sandy Shocks is a bit slow but it is a great Electric-type wallbreaker, better than Iron Hands. This is because its Ground-STAB lets it to actually damage Electric-resistant foes like Garchomp and Iron Heads.



My original HO attempt. Kinda good but use the other team, please. Tried Great Tusk as a suicide lead as I saw potential with good Speed/Taunt/Hazards. I think it is OK-ish but it is far from dominant; not sure if a set including Rapid Spin can be worth. Roaring Moon CB is good, at least way better than DD, but frankly I think Dragonite is currently the superior Choice Band Dragon-type. U-turn is good, though. Gholdengo is super good Pokémon that is perfect; not too powerful yet very versatile (I have to try the Scarf Trick set that I have seen!). Iron Hands is a good Pokémon but I regret that I used it here. It ended up being too often way too slow. It fits better in balance structures.

Tried Brute Bonnet, I don't think anyone else has tried it so far. I ran Grav Apple / Knock / Sucker Punch / Close Combat. I'd say that it is not very strong; both its speed and bad defensive typing are detrimental to its success. I guess it is still viable, just not very high..? I don't know. Rest of the team is pretty standard, with CorviToxa as the premier defensive core. Prepare for it! I found out that Annihilape Choice Scarf is a good speed control tool but Triple Arrows flinch chance is ridiculous. Uncompetitive y/y?

Both teams are built before Iron Bundle ban, and the Iron Treads of the last team was originally Shift Gear. They're both cool, but underwhelming. Drag-mag was a concept I looked into, but Dragonite is really the only good abuser; Roaring Moon just DD and do nothing until it phazed away by Ting-Lu. On the other hand, Rotom-Wash team can work; you setup the Electric Terrain, volt to Iron Moth/Valiant/Treads and use your moves from there. It is very funny that I was able to beat Toxapex with Iron Moth, using Electric Terrain, Torch Song boost, and Discharge, something present-time Volcarona would dream to.
Just to respond to a few ITH points:
Hey I... actually agree with what you said. For me it felt genuinely no too strong..? We (STABmons playerbase) have to learn how to play better w/ tera, in which case using it, what types are the better. I won't go into the specific because I feel I won't explain well.
Very good Pokémon. What I found to most frustrating is how fast this thing is: 135 speed is like the fastest thing we have currently, and it has both Sucker and Ice Shard against any revenge sweeper. As such, revenge killing this guy is hard (yes, this is one of the reasons why I like Scizor in HO builds). Another bad time I have against it, is when I found that it is Choice Band and it does like 65% to my Toxapex with Knock Off... That being said, Glacial Lance is somewhere around in the whole picture too, I'm not sure where but it part of why it is so good.
Definitely favorable to a tiering action but not sure by which way (quickban/suspect/forum survey/???) I kind of believe we (STAB council) should seek ways to involve the playerbase so we should keep the door open to a suspect, if there's support for it of course.
That's the first time I see Gholdengo being called broken honestly. There two issues here that get mixed in a single Pokémon: sweeping potential and the stack hazards. The NP set felt balanced to me. However I do want to say that it is mainly because I found it easy to revenge kill it. There is a lot of Pokémon that outspeed it and can hit it hard / OHKO (Roaring Moon / Sandy Shocks / Iron Moth / Chien-Pao ofc for OHKO; if Gholdengo is weaken then Knock Off Iron Valiant can KO it too). The ability to block hazards however... definitely would keep a eye on it, wait if durable, reliable vs Gholdengo, Defog / Spin users emerge (Greak Tusk ftw??). Wouldn't ban it for the time being, though.
Moves (Gigaton Hammer, Ceaseless Edge, Dire Claw, Triple Arrows, etc.)
For context, here is a few lines in council chat, only from myself, about the subject of move:
My opinion on these two moves hasn't changed. Dire Claw is on a similar boat but IMO, we have to wait to see if it being abused by somebody. GameFreak did after all release Covert Cloak, which is a fairly decent item now, but I'm afraid to think it not good enough, because opportunity cost and you can use Knock Off / Corrosive Gas after all.
Now, speaking of moves, I'd also
watchlist some other moves for
brokenness, too, including but not limited to:
- Glacial Lance (if Chien-Pao doesn't get the boot)
- Magical Torque / Headlong Rush / Precipice Blades (too good offensive types)
- Lumina Crash
- Torch Song (mayybe) (it's fine when it is only on Skeledirge, super slow user, but on every single Fire-types it is more a problem)
- Rage Fist (very unsold on it)
All these moves feel partially broken to me in some ways to me, either by having too much raw power on too many users or by having insane secondary effects. At this point, I feel the need to repeat that this post only represent my personal view and not the STABmons council or anyone else. This list of a product of my own.
Now... a little set to conclude this post... Have a great day!
Code:
Sableye @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Rage Fist
- Taunt
- Recover
Upon realizing that Rage Fist was, in fact, available to every Ghost-type Pokémon, I immediately tried to abuse it... and I came up with this.
The plan is simple. First, eliminate any Normal-type like Cyclizar and Ursaring in the opposing type, otherwise you'll get walled to death. Secondly, find a setup opportunity, and use Prankster-boosted Bulk Up until an adequate number of boost is accumulated. You may have to use Taunt against Haze Toxapex to prevent it from removing your boost. Note that Toxapex can't use Mortal Spin to poison it, thanks to Covert Cloak. Similarly, you can use Taunt against a physical attacker to prevent it from boosting too much. Rage Fist power will increase. And then, using the ridiculous power of Rage Fist and your defense boost, you can sweep the opposing team! Sableye can use Tera Steel to avoid OHKO from faster Fairy-type Pokémon that could OHKO it, like Sylveon.
This is far from broken because it relies on setup to tank hits and if the opposent if smart they will keep their Normal-type to block Sableye. Whirlwind Ting-Lu can also phaze it, unless Sableye is the last Pokémon. Ideally, you want to have Cyclizar in your team. Well, yes hits that are taken by the sub aren't factored in Rage Fist power; however that'll give Sableye a easier time to setup at least one Bulk Up behind the sub, or more if the opposing Pokémon can't break the sub.
Thanks for reading!