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Metagame SV Pokebilities AAA

Still low ladder but both Deo-S and Meowscarada feel very nice. I think Meowscarada especially benefits from a lot of its harder match-ups like Darkrai, Weavile, Kingambit, and Dragapult being banned, since it winds up being one of the fastest mons itself & difficult to pin down. Really like Magic Guard + Life Orb on it since it gives it immunities to a lot of the passive damage like mistimed axel into helmet, hazards, T-spikes, etc. And of course, being a Protean mon, power boosting abilities have a lot of utility on it as well. I could see some bullshit like Technican having some potential on it too to power up Axel / Bullet Seed to a ludircrous degree as well, though the standard fare of Sword Of Ruin / Adaptability probably works best.

As for Deo-S, Sheer Force + Life Orb is just really strong & fast + hard to swap into. Bro is probably versatile beyond this with other abilities like Psy Terrain, Protean, etc also being really good if I had to guess.
 
:SV/Cinccino:
Cinccino @ Choice Band
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Blast
- Triple Axel
- Bullet Seed
- U-Turn / Knock Off / Filller

I'm not 100% familiar with all the dynamics in this tier.... but this mon is an extremely strong breaker. Combination of Technician, Protean, Choice Band, and 125 BP moves let this Pokemon reach obscene damage thresholds on some of the tiers staples. IIRC, Rock Blast can 2HKO Fluffy Corviknight after rocks, and does crazy damage to other switch-ins like Heatran or Lando-T while also not making contact. Bullet Seed is a similarly strong move.

Main issue this mon has is getting outsped by other fast strong mons like cinderace, meow, etc.
 
Breloom and Guts users are still present in the game, so Corrosion/Flame Body are in a neutral position.
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For example, Breloom Guts with Future Sight support becomes a serious threat; Rock Tomb It's for flying types, In addition to decreasing speed, which is a great help to Breloom.
 
2/3rds of this are true. You still get contact damaged reduced with fluffy.
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Fluffy Corviknight: 99-117 (24.8 - 29.3%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO
It actually does that's why they put long reach on those shared power hyper offense teams to bypass fluffy.

Cincinno is honestly potentially banworthy? It 2hko-s even pecharunt with banded rock blast and 2hko-s intimidate corv with rocks up.
It slams offensive resists too , Iron Crown is easily 2hko-d.
Protean sets can even run tidy up since Protean won't activate on tidy up just like how Cinderace can not activate Libero while using pyro ball
Also Cincinno reminds of Sneasel. Was pretty fun using technician sets in AAA but Inner Focus is great to become immune to intimidate.
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Sneasel Triple Axel (120 BP) (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Primarina: 268-317 (73.6 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
It's super strong but super frail and in order for beat up to do anything you have to have 6 healthy mons
Regenvest Ting Lu is the only special wall you need (plus a magma absorber)
 

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Cincinno is honestly potentially banworthy?
Stamina still exists in the metagame, in fact being the preferred ability of Skarmory. But it's true that Cincinno breaks defenses that depend on Fluffy Corvy. Goodra H resist all Cinccino Attacks.
Honestly, I'd be more afraid of Maushold because low kick breaks steel types and encore is annoying. And you can punish Corvy in other ways, with Tank Chomp or Flame Body.
1773624509220.jpeg
 
Was going over and deleting all my Gliscor teams (rip to 90% of them) after the Gliscor ban and was about to delete one of the better stall builds I built initially when the meta first got its spotlight. After a few rough revisions I finally wanna share the team and get others suggestions from those who play the playstyle.


Chestnaught Hazard Stack Stall

Was looking for other Spikers to use after the best one by a landslide just got axed. When shuffling through the additions of the team, I kept struggling with the ever present threat to stall, Crawdaunt. Whether its SD or CB (esp under Rain), it can smash through most of the metagames best walls. Unfortunately, even the introduction of Dondozo isnt enough to beat Crawdaunt in the long-game after Knock Off + hazard support. I finally came across a solution to both my problems... Chestnaught! With its particular typing, amazing physical defensive endurance and access to Knock Off, it became an obvious pick that I gravitated towards and decided to edit from there.

Detailed Descriptions:
:Corviknight:: New best mon in the format and the meta's premier physical wall. Corviknight offers a ground immunity, hazard removal and with Well-Baked Body equipped, can handle scary threats to stall such as Heatran, Talonflame, and Cinderance on top of the usual stuff it normally checks. I originally had U-Turn, but decided to run two attacks as a means to threaten both Fighting and Steel types in the same set, ideal for Breloom in particular.

:Blissey:: Other half of the infamous "SkarmBliss" core, Blissey is the primary special wall of the team. Unaware enables it to check most Nasty Plot and Calm Mind threats alongside act as an emergency answer to Fiery Dance Iron Moth if it runs Discharge. It also provides Stealth Rock to punish switchins and Shadow Ball to threaten Pecharunt and Golurk who think they can switch in for free. 20 EV's in HP allows it to avoid the 2HKO from Desolate Land Iron Moth Overheat.

:Dondozo:: Dondozo's back and better than ever. Compliments Unaware Blissey beautifully and also has access to two other amazing abilities that prevent it from being burned and crippled by Taunt + Intimidate. This primes it to be the teams main win condition with Curse. I initially ran Magic Guard to help with its vulnerability to chip, but then decided to go with Natural Cure to allow Dondozo to play more proactively and frees up a slot from Sleep Talk to allow it to threaten Water immunes like Deso Land Heatran and Ogerpon-W.

:Pecharunt:: Corrosion Pecharunt is mainly here as a means of baiting in pesky Steel and Poison types like Corviknight, Toxapex, and Regen Iron Treads that can really be really annoying to deal with for the team's other members. From there, it can fire off more powerful Hexs and help disrupt foes with Parting Shot to enable better advantage states.

:Iron Treads:: Speaking of Iron Treads, it provides crucial role compression for the team. It not only acts as a secondary special pivot for the team, but also acts as secondary hazard removal with Rapid Spin which is really helpful for hazard stack teams that only rely on Defog. Pairs with Blissey well as it can help deal with Psyshock users like Hatterene, Reuniclus, and Deo-S as well which is cool.

:Chesnaught:: The star of the team, Chestnaught provides Spikes, Knock Off and a Crawdaunt answer lol. It also is a pretty cool wall besides that too, offering a ground resist, knock off switchin, and situational utility with Bulletproof. You can honestly go with either Flame Body or Fluffy/Intimidate. I just like Flame as it helps punish Scrappy or Offensive Tusk / Tread much better in the long-game then Corviknight once its Rocky Helmet is removed.

Team in action:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559919259-mppqe4by0bquyf1y8bucypn0ecf7v07pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559907189-foixqf7px53yclcpjp9rdy9v4s7kx1mpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559882439?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559894820

Let me know yalls thoughts!
 
Was going over and deleting all my Gliscor teams (rip to 90% of them) after the Gliscor ban and was about to delete one of the better stall builds I built initially when the meta first got its spotlight. After a few rough revisions I finally wanna share the team and get others suggestions from those who play the playstyle.


Chestnaught Hazard Stack Stall

Was looking for other Spikers to use after the best one by a landslide just got axed. When shuffling through the additions of the team, I kept struggling with the ever present threat to stall, Crawdaunt. Whether its SD or CB (esp under Rain), it can smash through most of the metagames best walls. Unfortunately, even the introduction of Dondozo isnt enough to beat Crawdaunt in the long-game after Knock Off + hazard support. I finally came across a solution to both my problems... Chestnaught! With its particular typing, amazing physical defensive endurance and access to Knock Off, it became an obvious pick that I gravitated towards and decided to edit from there.

Detailed Descriptions:
:Corviknight:: New best mon in the format and the meta's premier physical wall. Corviknight offers a ground immunity, hazard removal and with Well-Baked Body equipped, can handle scary threats to stall such as Heatran, Talonflame, and Cinderance on top of the usual stuff it normally checks. I originally had U-Turn, but decided to run two attacks as a means to threaten both Fighting and Steel types in the same set, ideal for Breloom in particular.

:Blissey:: Other half of the infamous "SkarmBliss" core, Blissey is the primary special wall of the team. Unaware enables it to check most Nasty Plot and Calm Mind threats alongside act as an emergency answer to Fiery Dance Iron Moth if it runs Discharge. It also provides Stealth Rock to punish switchins and Shadow Ball to threaten Pecharunt and Golurk who think they can switch in for free. 20 EV's in HP allows it to avoid the 2HKO from Desolate Land Iron Moth Overheat.

:Dondozo:: Dondozo's back and better than ever. Compliments Unaware Blissey beautifully and also has access to two other amazing abilities that prevent it from being burned and crippled by Taunt + Intimidate. This primes it to be the teams main win condition with Curse. I initially ran Magic Guard to help with its vulnerability to chip, but then decided to go with Natural Cure to allow Dondozo to play more proactively and frees up a slot from Sleep Talk to allow it to threaten Water immunes like Deso Land Heatran and Ogerpon-W.

:Pecharunt:: Corrosion Pecharunt is mainly here as a means of baiting in pesky Steel and Poison types like Corviknight, Toxapex, and Regen Iron Treads that can really be really annoying to deal with for the team's other members. From there, it can fire off more powerful Hexs and help disrupt foes with Parting Shot to enable better advantage states.

:Iron Treads:: Speaking of Iron Treads, it provides crucial role compression for the team. It not only acts as a secondary special pivot for the team, but also acts as secondary hazard removal with Rapid Spin which is really helpful for hazard stack teams that only rely on Defog. Pairs with Blissey well as it can help deal with Psyshock users like Hatterene, Reuniclus, and Deo-S as well which is cool.

:Chesnaught:: The star of the team, Chestnaught provides Spikes, Knock Off and a Crawdaunt answer lol. It also is a pretty cool wall besides that too, offering a ground resist, knock off switchin, and situational utility with Bulletproof. You can honestly go with either Flame Body or Fluffy/Intimidate. I just like Flame as it helps punish Scrappy or Offensive Tusk / Tread much better in the long-game then Corviknight once its Rocky Helmet is removed.

Team in action:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559919259-mppqe4by0bquyf1y8bucypn0ecf7v07pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559907189-foixqf7px53yclcpjp9rdy9v4s7kx1mpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559882439?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2559894820

Let me know yalls thoughts!
Very weak to Future Sight support + Fighting type mons, especially guts users.
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For example, Breloom guts + Slowking G. Especially those two mons together have ways of resisting stall teams.
 
Stamina still exists in the metagame, in fact being the preferred ability of Skarmory. But it's true that Cincinno breaks defenses that depend on Fluffy Corvy. Goodra H resist all Cinccino Attacks.
Honestly, I'd be more afraid of Maushold because low kick breaks steel types and encore is annoying.
View attachment 816313
Cincinno actually hits a majority of the steel times in this tier for enormous damage despite using 3 attacks resisted by steel for solid damage by virtue of the steel's secondary typings. For example, Goodra-Hisui is in great peril from a Technician boosted stab choice band triple axel (Stab was given via type change and HH emulates the technician boost)
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Triple Axel (120 BP) (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Goodra-Hisui: 356-423 (97.8 - 116.2%) -- 98.5% chance to OHKO
While it is true that Stamina exists in the metagame, it's clear that it's far from common, with Hatterene being the only abuser of it that I've seen used so far. While the stamina users are great at switching in, they do so by virtue of how easy it is for Cincinno to spam it's multihit moves. Reuniclus is also the only one who can switch in comfortably multiple times due to being able to recover off damage.
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Stamina Hatterene: 161-196 (50.6 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Even max phys def stamina Hatterene takes 50% minimum for switching in, needing to find a way to painsplit the damage off.
Stamina reuniclus is also potentially slammed enormously hard by banded knock off or uturn.

Maushold is not as threatening by virtue of a worse movepool, no skill link, and a far lower attack stat. Yes it gets Low Kick but that does not make it that much stronger against steels for the most part compared to Cincinno. You need to be Scrappy in order to beat Pecharunt (maybe beat up? but beat up is a terrible move), but you want to be Skill Link to ensure you have maximum hits on your multhits and not needing wide lens to make Pop Bomb consistent. Your main attack being contact and hitting an enormous number of times makes it very scary to throw it out consistently for fear of Rocky Helmet death or being crippled by Flame Body/Static. Giga walled by Corv too.
Cincinno can also run encore but runs CB as the premier set + can't fit it by virtue of actually having a number of good moves to click.

VR Rant - WHY IS SKARMORY RANKED?
Skarmory's main ability is stamina to counteract its innate ability of weak armor, so you end up with Sturdy, Keen Eye, and basically +2 speed on a Physical hit (also +1 def on a special hit but you don't take those well at all lmao)
Skarmory literally has worse stats than Corviknight, and has like -0.5 abilities compared to Corviknight's AAA ability, Pressure, and Mirror Armor which all have use. The +2 speed from Weak Armor just makes it harder to roost off attacks. Oops I can't roost of this Close Combat because if I do I lose flying type and suddenly become weak to it.
If I were to use Skarmory, it would not be as a wall but as a dual hazard lead with in built sturdy, but it would be far from one of my premier choices to do so over something like Deo-s, Glimmora, heck even Ting Lu due to its defensive utility.
The benefits of phazing, hazards, and marginally better physical bulk do not make it a better choice than Corv considering it does not have useful abilities, lacks pivoting and defog, and has much worse special bulk.

REGEN VEST LU IS GOD
252 SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Scream Tail Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 218-260 (42.4 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
Was going over and deleting all my Gliscor teams (rip to 90% of them) after the Gliscor ban and was about to delete one of the better stall builds I built initially when the meta first got its spotlight. After a few rough revisions I finally wanna share the team and get others suggestions from those who play the playstyle.


Chestnaught Hazard Stack Stall
Things like these is why Mixed SFLO Hamurott is the goat...
 
Cincinno actually hits a majority of the steel times in this tier for enormous damage despite using 3 attacks resisted by steel for solid damage by virtue of the steel's secondary typings. For example, Goodra-Hisui is in great peril from a Technician boosted stab choice band triple axel (Stab was given via type change and HH emulates the technician boost)
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Triple Axel (120 BP) (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Goodra-Hisui: 356-423 (97.8 - 116.2%) -- 98.5% chance to OHKO
While it is true that Stamina exists in the metagame, it's clear that it's far from common, with Hatterene being the only abuser of it that I've seen used so far. While the stamina users are great at switching in, they do so by virtue of how easy it is for Cincinno to spam it's multihit moves. Reuniclus is also the only one who can switch in comfortably multiple times due to being able to recover off damage.
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Stamina Hatterene: 161-196 (50.6 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Even max phys def stamina Hatterene takes 50% minimum for switching in, needing to find a way to painsplit the damage off.
Stamina reuniclus is also potentially slammed enormously hard by banded knock off or uturn.

Maushold is not as threatening by virtue of a worse movepool, no skill link, and a far lower attack stat. Yes it gets Low Kick but that does not make it that much stronger against steels for the most part compared to Cincinno. You need to be Scrappy in order to beat Pecharunt (maybe beat up? but beat up is a terrible move), but you want to be Skill Link to ensure you have maximum hits on your multhits and not needing wide lens to make Pop Bomb consistent. Your main attack being contact and hitting an enormous number of times makes it very scary to throw it out consistently for fear of Rocky Helmet death or being crippled by Flame Body/Static. Giga walled by Corv too.
Cincinno can also run encore but runs CB as the premier set + can't fit it by virtue of actually having a number of good moves to click.

VR Rant - WHY IS SKARMORY RANKED?
Skarmory's main ability is stamina to counteract its innate ability of weak armor, so you end up with Sturdy, Keen Eye, and basically +2 speed on a Physical hit (also +1 def on a special hit but you don't take those well at all lmao)
Skarmory literally has worse stats than Corviknight, and has like -0.5 abilities compared to Corviknight's AAA ability, Pressure, and Mirror Armor which all have use. The +2 speed from Weak Armor just makes it harder to roost off attacks. Oops I can't roost of this Close Combat because if I do I lose flying type and suddenly become weak to it.
If I were to use Skarmory, it would not be as a wall but as a dual hazard lead with in built sturdy, but it would be far from one of my premier choices to do so over something like Deo-s, Glimmora, heck even Ting Lu due to its defensive utility.
The benefits of phazing, hazards, and marginally better physical bulk do not make it a better choice than Corv considering it does not have useful abilities, lacks pivoting and defog, and has much worse special bulk.

REGEN VEST LU IS GOD
252 SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Scream Tail Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 218-260 (42.4 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO

Things like these is why Mixed SFLO Hamurott is the goat...
Now that you mention it, most of the metagame uses steel mons that lose against Cincinno.
Even so, I don't know if it's dangerous enough to being restricted. I found it more annoying when the Stench set existed.
I need to face Cincinno's matchup more often, because the ones I've faced have been with a team that uses Protect, Toxapex with BB, and then punishes with Rocky Helmet if have triple axel.
 
Now that you mention it, most of the metagame uses steel mons that lose against Cincinno.
Even so, I don't know if it's dangerous enough to being restricted. I found it more annoying when the Stench set existed.
I need to face Cincinno's matchup more often, because the ones I've faced have been with a team that uses Protect, Toxapex with BB, and then punishes with Rocky Helmet if have triple axel.
Tbh you don't even need Taxel to break except for like Chesnaught
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Goodra-Hisui: 180-215 (49.4 - 59%) -- approx. 99.9% chance to 2HKO
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian: 195-230 (51 - 60.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It is very prediction reliant but as long as you aren't being contact punished or thudding into a quad resist it is very difficult to not get mileage
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 145-175 (37.8 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Crown: 185-220 (57.6 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Helping Hand Bullet Seed (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Moth: 135-165 (44.8 - 54.8%) -- approx. 41.5% chance to 2HKO

Now that you talk about Protect and prediction, substitute sounds pretty nice, perhaps with a clear amulet to block intimidate (Life orb chip + Sub is really punishing), because substitute won't use up your Protean letting you scout switches and punish protect.

Stench was disgusting, though serene grace is still legal :P.
 
Now that you talk about Protect and prediction, substitute sounds pretty nice, perhaps with a clear amulet to block intimidate (Life orb chip + Sub is really punishing), because substitute won't use up your Protean letting you scout switches and punish protect.

Stench was disgusting, though serene grace is still legal :P.
That's why Maushold was annoying to that team. Maybe they had the Decidueye ability or Magic Guard, I don't know, but with Encore + Tidy Up, gg
 
The Mothish Cap (Iron Moth) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 120 HP / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Fiery Dance
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sludge Wave

Taking a leaf out of Jirachi in Gen 4, serene grace on Iron Moth gives you a guaranteed SpA boost on Dance, and more importantly, gives a 60% para chance to cripple most would be switch ins (Heatran, Glowking, Baked Corv, etc.), so with the booster speed, you essentially need a ground special wall or a natural cure wall to switch in on it.
 
Zoombra (Zebstrika) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard, Lightning Rod, Motor Drive, Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Supercell Slam
- High Horsepower
- Body Slam

Good Doggo (Houndstone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Spit, Sand Rush, Fluffy
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Poltergeist
- Pain Split
- Psychic Fangs

Scrimblow (Quaquaval) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician, Moxie, Torrent
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flip Turn
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Triple Axel

A very consistent trio that cover each other’s weaknesses well. Lightning Rod always activates first on Zebstrika unfortunately. Does anyone know why that is?
 
I've been experimenting some more and I've been finding some real great usage out of Regen SpD Forretress now!
Forretress @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Spikes/Counter
- Stealth Rock

With Gliscor gone, there are a lot less threatening ground types to force it out letting it stack hazards and VS relatively easily. It also the only mon with Spikes, Rapid Spin AND a pivoting move, meanwhile it has pretty solid bulk and an amazing typing with only one weakness. You can also run Counter over Spikes or Rocks if you want to be very cheeky and OHKO things like Cinderace because it also has innate Sturdy. Is it insanely strong? No, not really, but it fills a very specific niche that I've been finding great usage out of.

On a side note, I find it strange a lot of cheese abilities like Stench were restricted, but not Quick Draw which is also RNG dependent.
 
So been playing the meta more post Gliscor + other bans, definitely much less centralizing then before and I enjoy the versatility the tier has to offer as a result of these freed limitations. I decided to update the previous stall team to address the major issue of Fightings + Future Sight support. Didn't require much changes besides going Reuni <- Treads and some ability tweaks to optimize the team further.


Dondozo Double Regen Stall

So changing Treads to Reuniclus was the most obvious change to still maintain a secondary special check to threats that Blissey may not be able to handle alongside providing utility with Knock Off. Unfortunately, it does mean that Corviknight is the sole means of hazard removal that can also remove progress on the opposing side, however the steel bird is good enough of a mon to be able to reliably get them off for one and two the team is also pretty hazard resilient already. I changed the Dozo to Regen <- Natural Cure so that it can act as a more offensive presence without relying on even using Rest even once which is great for coverage options. Lastly, I changed Corviknight to Fluffy <- WBB as Dozo handled most Fire attackers already and Reuniclus now can handle most Heatran variants anyways so the added insurance versus contact attackers is nice. It can however be changed to Intimidate to help deal with Ogerpon forms a bit better.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2562496574-mxvxl2or9myap9868r0b3fs1rqicwwapw?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa-2562618929-r942v9f4jku4ximglfct0117gsjfq0lpw

Now for some VR thoughts:
reuniclus.png.m.1771754000
A+ -> S: I think Reuniclus has proven itself to be a great defensive and offensive presence in the current meta after the changes. Whether it chooses to run AV, CM, or even offensive LO variants, its customizability is quite outstanding based on its chosen ability. I tend to lean towards more defensive sets due to their utility and dynamics with a strong Future Sight, but offensive sets have also been popping up on latter to great success.

samurott-hisui.png.m.1771754000
A -> A+: Amazing progress maker and dangerous wallbreaker with SD and Choice Band sets (heck even Mixed LO has suprised me here and there. If it wasn't for the prevalence of Corviknight and Rocky Helmet Regen Garchomp this thing would be straight busted lol. Also can act as great speed control with Scarf and a surprisingly decent specially defensive pivot with RegenVest.

lokix.png.m.1771754000
B -> B+/A-: Only relevant mon left that can run the denomic combo of Tinted Lens + Adapt/SoR. Lokix's STABs are quite effective into the current meta and can be a nasty source of revenge killing thanks to First Impression + Sucker Punch alongside U-Turn momentum. It does get punished by Fluffy mons and certain regen pivots like Pex, Prima, and other mons like Flame Body Heatran, but still Lokix is a major threat that def appreciates Gliscor leaving.

Those are the major changes I can think of now.
 
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Just hit Rank 1, thought I'd dump the teams I used to climb.

Alcremie Semi-Stall
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https://pokepast.es/673238ab7c8fa0bc

Very experimental team, or rather, Alcremie is experimental. This core of 5 mons is already really strong on its own, thought I'd test out Alcremie instead of the obvious choice of Hatt because it has access to Recover, lacks the Ghost weakness and has a dark resist. Still have some more testing to do with it.

Jirachi Balance
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https://pokepast.es/84a7a7d9825b1010

Once again, experimental Jirachi set, definitely have to play around with it more and I'm not sure if I even necessarily like it. Point of it is to be a Mamo check while also hitting both it and Swampert hard with EBall and wish passing. The team isn't necessarily made for it though, and Dozo now being a thing also checks Mamo, so I definitely have to tinker with this team a lot more.

Forretress Balance
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https://pokepast.es/97641effb9665d91

Not much to say, use Forretress as a tanky pivot that can setup hazards and spin all in one. Ogerpon-W has Cudgel and Stomping for Desolate Land Heatran, since the team struggles a lot into Taunt Heatran. Long Reach is the best ability on Meow imo by far, makes it an incredible pivot and chunk Fluffy Corvs.

RegenChomp Stall
1773933832387.png
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https://pokepast.es/795947639302d959

Inspired by Sasha2808's team, though I made some changes to it that I think are crucial (and also preference). First off, I just hate Iron Treads, and I found the team lacking a way to keep away Corvis who want to defog, hence- Flamethrower Regen Chomp. 20 Spe (and the speed on Pecha) to always outspeed 252 Spe Modest Prima while not sacrificing Flamethrower damage. Volt Absorb on Dozo because the team falls apart to Eleki otherwise and I think Natural Cure unnecessary. Lastly, made Corvi SpD- I personally think any Phys Def Corvi that isn't Fluffy to just be subpar at best, it REALLY wants Fluffy to be able to properly check physical threats. SpD Corvi with WBB on the other hand serves as an amazing specially defensive pivot, while still crucially checking things like Lilli-H in a pinch. This was the team that got me to the top of the ladder in my final push :)


EDIT - A last minute thought I wanted to tack on. I definitely think Corvi is the best mon in the tier rn, but not in an overcentralizing way like Gliscor was. Like Lando-T, I think it serves as an amazing glue for just about any team. Admittedly it also serves my playstyle for bulkier archetypes.
 

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Found some good success with this psychic terrain psyspam team (currently in top 70)

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https://pokepast.es/3929f55d2dd5d7d8

You have 2 wincons in Iron Crown and Zamazenta. The goal of the team is to weaken their counters and speedier threats, before sweeping. Nice thing about them is you don’t need to commit to a full sweep when they switch in.

Iron crown can 2hko some Corviknight variants with steel beam, without any boost. A lot of times you don’t need to double dance with it to win, but the optionality is really nice.

Zamazenta can just sweep through entire teams if you get rid of pecharunt and reuniculus. Scrappy pulls that Zamazenta set together making the mono attacking nature of the set moot.

Zapdos has Delta Stream primarily for countering other weather teams, and to have a mon with no weakness.

I think the hatterene and glowking spreads could use some experimentation. Generally I’ve found this team to excel more in offense than defense, though you can definitely take a few hits thanks to the double regenerator + Zapdos core.

Rain can still prove to be trouble though with barraskewda, unless you get the static chance.

Another weakness is the fact that the team has no hazard control, other than magic bounce. Thankfully 3 of the mons are immune, but you need to deal with enemy hazard spreading mons quickly or force them to Defog.
 
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Can we ban Cincinno or at least put it up for a sus?
I think it's crazy that Intimidate Pecharunt is forced to recover on any hit (Even bullet seed!) Lest it just drops to rock blast the next time it comes in. It also has a crazy high chance to just crit through intimidate. It's an approximately 20% chance to get at least one crit per 5 hits, which just lets it invalidate intimidate mons . The only pokemon on the VR who resist Cincinno's trifecta of attacks are Iron Crown, Cobalion and Jirachi. Jirachi and Iron Crown are vulnerable to knock off or getting chipped by uturn, Cobalion needs to run regen in order to not get worn down due to no recovery and all three need defensive investment to avoid the 2hko from Bullet Seed.
Something like Technician Mamoswine is similarly threatening to a lot of physically defensive walls but is much slower and struggles versus bulky waters, which lets it be played around despite being enormously threatening (although only some Bulky Waters work, Rotom wash takes 42 min from technician rock blast with 4 hits and thus is a very shaky switch in).
Even stall struggles to switch in, for example in Lavender's Regen Chomp stall you only have to decide between clicking triple axel for Chesnaught and Garchomp, or clicking rock blast to demolish everything else.
Their forre balance has no switch in to rock blast, Sasha's double regen stall has Chesnaught be the only switch in to rock blast, making it dicey if that gets removed with taxel or by another mon it's supposed to check (Woger or maybe lured in by Hamurott)
That being said, I don't like Chesnaught as a Woger counter.
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Chesnaught in Heavy Rain: 174-205 (45.7 - 53.9%) -- 46.9% chance to 2HKO
252+ Def Chesnaught Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 160-189 (53.1 - 62.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 102-120 (33.8 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

SD Woger can muscle through you with just Cudgel, and your Body Press doesn't put it in range of Dondozo's Body Press usually and Pecharunt dies to +2 Cudgel with minimal chip due to being corrosion.
 
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