Metagame SV OU Metagame Discussion

[pulsar512b]

ive been running fairy tera flutter mane w/ taunt. helps vs sucker punches (which is also a big plus of fighting tera id say). the one use of defensive tera ive seen all day that didn't absolutely suck
cyclizar shed tail isn't as broken as i thought. lead scarf cyclizar on HO's pretty cool tho, lets you bring in whatever you want for free. issue more generally tho is that esp because cyclizar doesn't force anything out really they just break your sub as it swaps out. still good but not quite as broken as i thought
tera in general feels a little less broken than i thought but there's still a lot of brokenness i do think, the unpredictability really sucks

 

[Mewthree69]

Scizor @ Choice Band / Metal Coat / Expert Belt / Life Orb
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn / Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Aerial Ace / Trailblaze

A bunch of teams that are being ran right now completely crumble to Scizor spamming Bullet Punch. Abuse it while you can.

 

[sand1234]

https://pokepast.es/4e53f7624d79ad08

Fun rain team I made. Iron bundle is super clutch outspeeding all the base 135s and has good physical bulk to boot. I've gotten a few shell smash Drednaw sweeps too. Any suggestions for Kilowattrel replacement appreciated, it doesn't pull it's weight consistently. I tried specs and HDB both.

 

[quziel]

Booster Energy is ridic on everything in such a fast paced meta. Being able to just outrun anything you want, or get a temporary band with no restrictions is insanely strong. I have seen a few flutter manes and great tusks not running it and they just simply should run it.

Also Booster Energy Great Tusk is a lead that can randomly end games at turn 2 using Rapid Spin, go use it.

Palafin is also a mon you should run on like every team. I've really been liking Taunt + HDB + Jet Punch, which really just lets you leverage your good bulk, and gives amazing anti offense power.

 

[HeartfulKitty]

This isn't particularly relevant in the initial chaos of this gen, I don't think, but an interesting little detail to me is that Mangezone, with the ability to terastallize and with tera blast, has finally overcome its main weakness of not having any real fire or fighting moves. (Body press kind of helped last gen, but y'know.) It's now significantly more capable of eliminating almost every steel type in the game, especially as it'll gain unique resistances depending on whether it's fire or fighting, making it much harder to eliminate before it eliminates your key steel type.

Of course, this is partially neutered by the fact that any steel type can also terastallize, but hey. Still worth pointing out, I think.

 

[Captain Marshadow]

Yo, uh, yeah, Maushold seems p strong on First Impression (ba dum tss). Technician obvs. I feel going Tera Fighting protects it against the strongest priority atm (Chien-Pao and Kingambit Sucker Punch) while also keeping it's neutrality against other good options (Sciz Bulet Punch, Palafin Jet Punch, potential Pawmot Mach Punches) as well as bolstering Low Kick for the mons it'll inevitably struggle to break, Steels and Rocks. On top of that, it can also run Bite to not just hit Ghosts, but to fish for flinchhax for things that're just out of Population Bomb range.
I feel like Pex, and other prominent bulky mons that might rise to prominence, like Corviknight (kinda shuts it down regardless though) and maybe Orthworm if slow Shed Tail gets to be in high demand, might start running Rocky Helmet to counteract this, but at that point they're giving up an entire item slot and the potential passive recovery from Black Sludge/Lefties just to not get nuked by Maushold, which is a massive win in and of itself because they're gimping their long-game potential something fierce, making them more susceptible to chip from the rest of the team as well as entry hazards (even with Pex's Regenerator taken into account).
Take this all with a grain of salt though, I'm far from the best player in here-or any other forum, for that matter. Maushold gets hardcore shut down by Dragapult, Flutter Mane, and other assorted faster threats if you don't manage to pull off a Tidy Up first. It's also not always going to get the chance to Tera, baring it's huge weakness to priority for all to see. Might be far too gimmicky to see long-term success all-in-all, but as for now, when no one knows what they're doing and they're running around like headless chickens, I think its pretty neat.
-Edit: After a few days of playing, Maushold is starting to look really fallible as things develop and people get a better grasp on relevant threats. If a Garchomp is on the enemy team it basically can't play the game until it's KOd, and Corv with Rocky Helmet completely blanks it while ALSO dealing with bigger threats like Roaring Moon and Chien-Pao, so shutting down Maushold is just a bonus. Despite Pop Bomb's ridiculous raw power, it also fails to take down many neutral tanks unboosted on account of Maushold's naturally underwhelming Atk, which means it can't break fat Unaware mons like Quag, Clod, and Dozo with any sort of ease if they're not significantly softened when it hits the field, which is easier said than done. To make matters worse, it's best means of setting up is from behind a Sub (almost assuredly courtesy of Shed Tail), but Tidy Up's effect means you can't really do it against slower mons that it can't one-shot but can knock it out easily in return, which is over half the "tier".
I guess we'll wait and see how it fares through the first wave of quickbans. A lot of the things that it struggles with are on the chopping block, but losing Cyclizar Shed Tail support might hurt a lot if Orthworm isn't up to the task.

 

[A_Wild_Noob_Appeared!]

I've been spamming an unoptimized Sun team to some success. Here's a set I've been using:

Roaring Moon @ Lum Berry
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Dragon Dance

Tera Steel gives an emergency check against Chien-Pao and Flutter Mane, and lets you set up on a lot in general. It can be threatening even with the low-power STABs due to the Protosynthesis multiplier. If it doesn't Terastalize, it's good against the Sucker Punch spam. Admittedly, it's only really good because nobody prepares for Tera yet, it's at best a 50/50 if they do expect it. I don't have the time/teambuilding skill to experiment with the item (which has never activated), but Booster Energy seems better (or maybe even something jank like Chople Berry to aid setup).

 

[Pokedom10]

Imagine Weavile but with 10 more speed, an actually good ability, and moves Weavile would kill for like Sacred Sword, Sucker Punch and Recover. That's Chien-Pao.


Chien-Pao @ Choice Band
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Spinner/Icicle Crash
- Sucker Punch/Crunch
- Sacred Sword
- Tera Blast

You can probably change the Tera type on this one but killing Fairies is nice. This is every bit the threat level that Weavile was in gen 8 with the added bonus of being able to change your type to suit your mood.


Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Recover
- Sacred Sword
- Ice Spinner

this one is probably not viable at all but is instead an incredibly messed up showcase of the hubris of man. you thought it was sometimes difficult to deal with swords dance weavile? meet swords dance chien-pao. adaptability STAB combined with recover in case you thought chip was gonna be a factor. and of course, boots. no ice type is complete without them.

Excited to see where this meta goes! Please ban Chien-Pao! Weavile is gonna be hard enough to handle!

 

[Joseph Gomes]

I personally think we should not consider banning any pokemon until Terastal is suspect tested.

 

[Unknown Warrior]

I personally think we should not consider banning any pokemon until Terastal is suspect tested.

Funny, I was just thinking "I hope they don't ban terastal before banning SV's most oppressive additions"

 

[1BluLizard]

One new mon that I thought was interesting, although maybe not OU worthy in the end, is Orthworm. Its ability Earth Eater makes its ground weakness an immunity, which lets it take hits from a lot of strong ground type users like Great Tusk. Its really high defense makes body press an actually pretty good move, and it can hit pokemon like Chien-Pao really hard with it. Iron Head or Heavy Slam are both not as strong but stab is still nice, and its attack is usable. Terastallizing into fighting type has been my favorite since it gives stab body press and makes Orthworm's fighting and fire weakness a neutrality, although of all the pokemon to terastallize Orthworm is usually not the best one. It also gets Stealth Rock and Spikes, which is nice utility. Overall, its can actually beat Chien-Pao because of its high defense, it even takes a sacred sword pretty well, which is really nice. Its not amazing but I've found it kind of fun and useful.

Orthworm @ Leftovers
Ability: Earth Eater
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Iron Head/Heavy Slam
- Body Press
- Rest
- Stealth Rock

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Funny, I was just thinking "I hope they don't ban terastal before banning SV's most oppressive additions"

If any mon is banned before terastal, then they would have to be suspect tested again after terastal is banned, thus wasting time and resources. It's best to take care of the mechanic first, since terastal misrepresents viability of a lot of pokemon

 

[Eeveeto]

Won't be able to play this for a week or 2, but just noticed Talonflame retained Defog. Can someone check if it still has Roost? Could be the second "viable" Defogger, after Corviknight

 

[manyproblems]

Some nice additions to competitive.

Corvinight is a solid with the influx of hazards and all the CB/DD users.

Ting Lu seems decent, 155/130/80 defensive stats with SR and Spikes. Dark/Ground typing meh.

Flutter Mane probs first to go. Most teams have a plan for it but overall disgusting mon.

Chien-Pao next to go.

 

[Bugboy]

I want to say that we probably shouldn’t quickban anything until all of the mechanics actually work lol.

I also want to say that houndstone/last respects on sand is absurdly broken and i suspect it’ll eventually be apparent that it’s one of the most oppressive things here (maybe even more so than flutter mane)

 

[Magcargo]

As someone who's not the best teambuilder, Tera is low-key pretty nice to cover up some otherwise massive holes that I might have. So far, I've mostly been using Tera defensively to cover up some crappy match-ups I have due to bad teambuilding. Like running Flying Tera on Iron Treads to take care of Great Tusks or Normal Tera on Slowking to bait a Shadow Ball from Flutter Mane and paralyze it in return. IDK, maybe this'll change the more I ladder and get use to the meta.

Speaking of Slowking, what set are people running? I've been running Chilly Reception / Thunder Wave / Slack Off / Future Sight w/ some Specially Defensive spread, but pretty much the only move I've been able to get off is Thunder Wave lol. Future Sight and Chilly Reception have been kinda hard to pull in the meta w/ big threats like Chien-Pao everywhere.

 

[SwaggerSylveon]

Hey all, ive been using houndstone on trickroom and i think this is probably going to be its best set
Houndstone @ Life Orb
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Last Respects
- Shadow Sneak
- Body Press
- Substitute/Howl
you are sooooooooo fat with fluffy and max defense this thing eats super effective suckerpunches like nothing, alotta people expected last respects to be op and it is pretty good imo, also shadow sneak ohko'd fluttermane like 6 time so far lol, and body press is super effective on everything that in theory eats last respects like kingambit and cyclizar(every time someone uses cyclizar it does nothing and dies) I also wanna mention that extreme spead normal tera looks really good maybe when things settle a bit and some bans happen i wanna try normal terra;
Arcanine @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Double-Edge
- Bulldoze
ive also seen people use normal terra dragonite which seems smart cause how hyper offensive everything seems, also mimikyu is really handy cause adamant play rough ohkoes the new weavile thing its done it like 4 times so far cause alotta people are using the weavile replacement and disguise saves your ass in this very offensive meta, also imo cetitan isnt good there is just too many better toys to use atm

 

[pokeclysm]

I've been trying out Iron Treads in the very early stages of the metagame, and I think it'll lowkey be a valuable part of the meta once all of the immediately devastating Pokemon get banned. Ground/Steel is a great typing, as Excadrill has shown, unlike Exadrill's pitiful defenses, Iron Treads actually has decent bulk at 90/106/70, allowing it to be a good Physical wall. And it can be valuable offensively, too; it has a solid 112 Attack and a 106 speed. On top of all of these good traits, it also has access to Stealth Rock, and, crucially, Rapid Spin, in a time when there are not many viable defoggers. It even has access to Volt Switch for pivoting! This role compression, in my opinion, is really good, and combined with a capable physical defense and higher speed, will give it an important role in the OU metagame.

Iron Treads @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Speed
Impish Nature
Tera Type: Steel (But you probably shouldn't be using Tera on this lol)
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

The idea with this set is to be a generally tanky physical wall while also having the speed to get Stealth Rock up. Earthquake is for general damage, as well as dealing with some pokemon like Iron Thorns and Toxapex. Heavy Slam is pretty much just for dealing with Flutter Mane, though because of how heavy it is it can be the best option for dealing with lighter Pokemon. Stealth Rock should be fairly obvious. Rapid Spin allows the clearing of hazards, and Iron Treads is really good at this, as it takes quartered Stealth Rock damage and no-sells Toxic Spikes- Particularly relevant as Glimmora is being experimented with.

That being said, there are some reasons why you would take Corviknight over this- no recovery- but overall this is a really solid Pokemon, and I expect to see it a lot as the meta progresses.

 

[Magcargo]

I've been trying out Iron Treads in the very early stages of the metagame, and I think it'll lowkey be a valuable part of the meta once all of the immediately devastating Pokemon get banned. Ground/Steel is a great typing, as Excadrill has shown, unlike Exadrill's pitiful defenses, Iron Treads actually has decent bulk at 90/106/70, allowing it to be a good Physical wall. And it can be valuable offensively, too; it has a solid 112 Attack and a 106 speed. On top of all of these good traits, it also has access to Stealth Rock, and, crucially, Rapid Spin, in a time when there are not many viable defoggers. It even has access to Volt Switch for pivoting! This role compression, in my opinion, is really good, and combined with a capable physical defense and higher speed, will give it an important role in the OU metagame.

Iron Treads @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Speed
Impish Nature
Tera Type: Steel (But you probably shouldn't be using Tera on this lol)
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

The idea with this set is to be a generally tanky physical wall while also having the speed to get Stealth Rock up. Earthquake is for general damage, as well as dealing with some pokemon like Iron Thorns and Toxapex. Heavy Slam is pretty much just for dealing with Flutter Mane, though because of how heavy it is it can be the best option for dealing with lighter Pokemon. Stealth Rock should be fairly obvious. Rapid Spin allows the clearing of hazards, and Iron Treads is really good at this, as it takes quartered Stealth Rock damage and no-sells Toxic Spikes- Particularly relevant as Glimmora is being experimented with.

That being said, there are some reasons why you would take Corviknight over this- no recovery- but overall this is a really solid Pokemon, and I expect to see it a lot as the meta progresses.

Yeah, I've been using this set and I think it is quite good. I think Iron Treads will be the Excadrill / Landorus-T of early SV OU since it packs a lot of utility between its good typing, spin, great stats, and Stealth Rock.

I've been using Tera Flying on this guy, and while my results have been...mixed to say the least, I think its still useful since it flips some of its type match-ups, specifically against Ground- and Fighting-type moves. If I'm using tera on this guy, its usually to emergency checking something like Roaring Moon or get an emergency Rocks or Spin off without losing Momentum and Tera Flying is quite useful for this specifically.

 

[escarlata]

After having playtested several matches on showdown, Fighting types really feel so valuable in this meta because half of all the broken stuff are weak to it.

So far, the MVPs for me are Breloom and Great Tusk.

Sash-Loom with Spore works great at covering all the crazy things running around, and everything just dies to Mach Punch for whatever reason.

Meanwhile Great Tusk just does everything, hazard control, Knock Off, and is super tanky with just Lefties + minimal investment. Also sweeps Sun teams lacking by itself after a Rapid Spin or two because of the free Proto boost.

Something else I have been enjoying a lot is good-ol

Rotom-W because it is one of the few good Ground immunities we have in the game right now that is not weak to Ice or Fire coverage.

 

[ritch.]

does fire tera just hit through baxcalilburs ability?

 

[Cdijk16]

Has anyone tried Sun HO so far? The meta has a ton of crazy sun abusers with Protosynthesis, and Torkoal's slow speed help win weather wars.
Here's a Ditto Sun Team I threw toghther. It might not be the best, but it does fine on ladder. It's not very optimized, I'm happy to take suggestions to improve it.
https://pokepast.es/b3691505c4ed10eb
Torkoal is the only legal setter. Scorvillain provides a good late game cleaner to the team. Ditto helps with a lot with opposing weather, it's like BW Rain Excadrill in a way. If you lose the weather war, you can copy the opponent the weather abusers. It also provides security against strong setup sweepers outside sun like opposing Roaring Moon, Fluutter Mane etc. Tera Fire Roaring moon is a really good breaker under sun, but the moveset the could be tweaked later. Flutter Mane has no switchins, and wallbreaks with CM. Slither Mane contribute to the team's Fire spam. The abusers are really good at breaking holes for each other, since they all share switchins.

I think Fire spam Sun HO is going to be pretty good this meta, I want to hear what others have to say about it.

 

[Shade1x]

I've been enjoying the meta so far - played for a few hours with a random team slapped together and hit top 10. However, a lot of mons seem overly oppressive, and I suspect that will continue unless some miracle counters are discovered. The first 3 already have a lot of discussion over them but I figured I'd weigh in anyways:

Palafin-Hero @ Life Orb
Ability: Zero to Hero
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wave Crash
- Flip Turn
- Jet Punch
- Tera Blast

I think everybody has both won with and lost against Palafin already. This mon is insanely strong with great power and wide flexibility due to how well it utilizes tera. In addition to having an extremely powerful stab in wave crash and pivot ability in flip turn, it can run tera water and throw out banded jet punches to blow through teams much like rillaboom did last gen or run tera electric to beat bulky waters. It is very easy to set up its transformation and no one mon truly checks it without blowing your own tera in response.

Chien-Pao @ Life Orb
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Spinner
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance

I expect that Chien-Pao is likely the same. Most people realized how strong weavile was last gen, and this mon is just better in every way (besides losing knock I suppose). Its outstanding speed tier allows it to run down almost everything that isn't boosted and its solid attack alongside its insane ability smashes through most teams. With the meta starting off so offensively, sucker allows it to take out pretty much anything built to outspeed it, meaning you have to be very careful when playing around it. I found myself using tera fighting or fairy on a couple different mons just so that I could take out this mon when it clicks sucker.

Flutter Mane @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Moonblast
- Mystical Fire
- Thunderbolt

I think Flutter Mane is also obviously too much for the meta at the moment. It outspeeds everything and clicks its stabs indiscriminately, and makes great use of tera offensively and defensively (I've been running normal to catch opposing ghosts). I think scarf is probably its best set since it kills everything not built to answer it anyways and being able to revenge quite literally everything that does not catch you off guard with a tera is invaluable in this meta. Only real way to deal with it that I've found is priority, especially from Palafin and Chien-Pao. I've also seen a good amount of scizors built to take on both Flutter Mane and Chien-Pao, but it typically allows Palafin to come in and put up some work. I'd consider these three to be the big trio so far, each a bit too much for OU.

Other mons I'd consider to have a lot of potential:

Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

Great Tusk is an outstanding mon. With an energy booster, it is easily capable of blowing holes through teams, with few mons able to come in on a boosted stab. Rapid spin is fantastic to remove hazards from the many suicide leads that have seen use so far and boosts its speed to a point where something else will need a boost to revenge it. Knock is always great as well, especially with its lower distribution this gen. I'd expect Great Tusk to see a lot of use due to its utility and power.

Speaking of suicide leads:
Glimmora @ Focus Sash
Ability: Toxic Debris
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Mortal Spin
- Memento/Spikes

Glimmora surprised me as a seriously fun mon so far. It can set 3 different hazards quite easily, with most games starting off with rocks + 1-2 layers of tspikes up on my opponent's side. It hits surprisingly hard and is often able to chunk or take out leads meant to set webs or taunt it or whatever. Mortal spin is also great in being a rapid spin that poisons, and memento punishes anything that wants to set up in front of it. Glimmora also pairs great with Flutter Mane, as anybody trying to autopilot spin with great tusk in front of it will often completely lose momentum and subsequently the game.

Houndstone @ Spell Tag
Ability: Sand Rush
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Body Press
- Last Respects

The dog seems a bit gimmicky, but it was certainly able to reverse-sweep through teams when set up properly. Last respects can often reach 250-300 power and will smash anything that is not a fat resist. Sneak allows it to catch scarf flutter manes that outspeed it, and terra fighting with body press allows it to get through chien-pao and kingambit's suckers without falling. I think Houndstone is ultimately not that great of a choice right now, but it could definitely be pretty nice later down the line.

Baxcalibur @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Thermal Exchange
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Glaive Rush
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash

The new pseudo, Baxcalibur, is certainly a very cool mon as well that I don't think can reach its true potential in the current meta. It is very powerful with a speed tier that allows it to outrun and kill pretty much everything with a dd up, which is quite simple to achieve given its natural bulk and ability to terra to a type that suits its defensive needs better. However, its signature move, glaive rush, leaves it open to the massive amounts of priority running around the tier due to its effect of causing the user to take double damage next turn, making it unlikely to do much more than trade 1 for 1 a lot of the time. I think it will be a great user of tera down the line and I expect it to pop off once Palafin is dealt with.

 

[OADES]

I've been trying out Iron Treads in the very early stages of the metagame, and I think it'll lowkey be a valuable part of the meta once all of the immediately devastating Pokemon get banned. Ground/Steel is a great typing, as Excadrill has shown, unlike Exadrill's pitiful defenses, Iron Treads actually has decent bulk at 90/106/70, allowing it to be a good Physical wall. And it can be valuable offensively, too; it has a solid 112 Attack and a 106 speed. On top of all of these good traits, it also has access to Stealth Rock, and, crucially, Rapid Spin, in a time when there are not many viable defoggers. It even has access to Volt Switch for pivoting! This role compression, in my opinion, is really good, and combined with a capable physical defense and higher speed, will give it an important role in the OU metagame.

Iron Treads @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Speed
Impish Nature
Tera Type: Steel (But you probably shouldn't be using Tera on this lol)
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

The idea with this set is to be a generally tanky physical wall while also having the speed to get Stealth Rock up. Earthquake is for general damage, as well as dealing with some pokemon like Iron Thorns and Toxapex. Heavy Slam is pretty much just for dealing with Flutter Mane, though because of how heavy it is it can be the best option for dealing with lighter Pokemon. Stealth Rock should be fairly obvious. Rapid Spin allows the clearing of hazards, and Iron Treads is really good at this, as it takes quartered Stealth Rock damage and no-sells Toxic Spikes- Particularly relevant as Glimmora is being experimented with.

That being said, there are some reasons why you would take Corviknight over this- no recovery- but overall this is a really solid Pokemon, and I expect to see it a lot as the meta progresses.

Yeah, I'd also expect as time goes on and which relevant speed tiers are present, you'd invest less into speed to try and get either more bulk/damage out of the mon. I've been running it with max attack and it hits decently well, but I'd wonder if a spdef tank is the role it will likely end up playing.

 

[escarlata]

I've been trying out Iron Treads in the very early stages of the metagame, and I think it'll lowkey be a valuable part of the meta once all of the immediately devastating Pokemon get banned. Ground/Steel is a great typing, as Excadrill has shown, unlike Exadrill's pitiful defenses, Iron Treads actually has decent bulk at 90/106/70, allowing it to be a good Physical wall. And it can be valuable offensively, too; it has a solid 112 Attack and a 106 speed. On top of all of these good traits, it also has access to Stealth Rock, and, crucially, Rapid Spin, in a time when there are not many viable defoggers. It even has access to Volt Switch for pivoting! This role compression, in my opinion, is really good, and combined with a capable physical defense and higher speed, will give it an important role in the OU metagame.

Iron Treads @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Speed
Impish Nature
Tera Type: Steel (But you probably shouldn't be using Tera on this lol)
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

The idea with this set is to be a generally tanky physical wall while also having the speed to get Stealth Rock up. Earthquake is for general damage, as well as dealing with some pokemon like Iron Thorns and Toxapex. Heavy Slam is pretty much just for dealing with Flutter Mane, though because of how heavy it is it can be the best option for dealing with lighter Pokemon. Stealth Rock should be fairly obvious. Rapid Spin allows the clearing of hazards, and Iron Treads is really good at this, as it takes quartered Stealth Rock damage and no-sells Toxic Spikes- Particularly relevant as Glimmora is being experimented with.

That being said, there are some reasons why you would take Corviknight over this- no recovery- but overall this is a really solid Pokemon, and I expect to see it a lot as the meta progresses.

Donphan is definitely getting a massive W this gen. Every teams I've tried building ended up having either Iron Treads or Great Tusk in the last slot because they just cover so much. The distribution of Defog is just terrible and the fact that both these guys have access to spin is just really good.

Personally I have been liking Knock Off over Heavy Slam because Earthquake is still taking out Flutter Mane after a bit of chip, and the ability for this thing to Knock really makes it even more similar to how annoying Lando-T can get.

And because I'm running Knock Off, Tera Dark actually becomes a pretty decent option to better answer things like Roaring Moon and Flutter Mane, among other threats like Chien and choiced Chiyu.