Metagame SV Pokebilities AAA

idk if it's a bug or not but i got 2 of my mons slept by effect spore yesterday
That is not a bug; first off, PokeAAA does not have Sleep Clause Mod (limit put one opposing mon to sleep), as it uses Sleep Moves Clause instead (bans all 100% sleep inducing moves).

Secondly, Sleep Clause Mod does not apply to secondary effects like Effect Spore. They can trigger multiple times, even in like SS OU, it's just rare because good Effect Spore users are rare in standard play.
 
my only savior against lead reun nowadays is tha boss MR CRAW

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POKEBILITIES AAA TIERING UPDATE:

:bw/reuniclus:

Effective immediately, Reuniclus is banned from PokeAAA!
(we're also banning Quick Claw and restricting Quick Draw but that's less important)

Reuniclus has long been a dominant defensive staple and offensive threat in the metagame. Thanks to having literally the best combination of base abilities in the game besides clefable, Reuniclus has a solid foundation to run nearly any ability, to any effect. Defensively, Reuniclus is the only Pokemon able to run the devastating defensive combination of Magic Guard + Regenerator + Shadow Shield, enabling it to take *any* one hit and fire back with a Knock Off or Thunder Wave or land a KO with its powerful (even when uninvested) special attack. It's capable of far more than that defensively, as Fluffy and Stamina enable a dangerous Calm Mind win condition set, invulnerable to passive damage and able to come in at multiple points of the game. Offensively, Reuniclus is a monster, taking advantage of a drawback-free Life Orb and applying pressure to defensive Pokemon with Psychic Noise and Knock Off, while sporting moves like Focus Blast and Thunder to nail specific checks. Frankly, Reuniclus has no drawbacks, can do anything, and will do whatever you want it to. We've had our fun playing with it, but unfortunately it's time to go.

:quick claw:Quick Claw and Quick Draw were uncompetitive and didn't belong in the tier. Just doing some cleanup.:slowbro-galar:
While in other tiers these aren't great because of the stark opportunity cost required to run these, PokeAAA's higher power level and additon of base abilities steeply lowers the opportunity costs associated with these items.


tagging dhelmise to implement thank you very much we appreciate you
 
POKEBILITIES AAA TIERING UPDATE:

:bw/reuniclus:

Effective immediately, Reuniclus is banned from PokeAAA!
(we're also banning Quick Claw and restricting Quick Draw but that's less important)

Reuniclus has long been a dominant defensive staple and offensive threat in the metagame. Thanks to having literally the best combination of base abilities in the game besides clefable, Reuniclus has a solid foundation to run nearly any ability, to any effect. Defensively, Reuniclus is the only Pokemon able to run the devastating defensive combination of Magic Guard + Regenerator + Shadow Shield, enabling it to take *any* one hit and fire back with a Knock Off or Thunder Wave or land a KO with its powerful (even when uninvested) special attack. It's capable of far more than that defensively, as Fluffy and Stamina enable a dangerous Calm Mind win condition set, invulnerable to passive damage and able to come in at multiple points of the game. Offensively, Reuniclus is a monster, taking advantage of a drawback-free Life Orb and applying pressure to defensive Pokemon with Psychic Noise and Knock Off, while sporting moves like Focus Blast and Thunder to nail specific checks. Frankly, Reuniclus has no drawbacks, can do anything, and will do whatever you want it to. We've had our fun playing with it, but unfortunately it's time to go.

:quick claw:Quick Claw and Quick Draw were uncompetitive and didn't belong in the tier. Just doing some cleanup.:slowbro-galar:
While in other tiers these aren't great because of the stark opportunity cost required to run these, PokeAAA's higher power level and additon of base abilities steeply lowers the opportunity costs associated with these items.


tagging dhelmise to implement thank you very much we appreciate you
FINALLY, this menace has literally no switchins with limited offensive counterplay

Addition: also we finally have a munchstats btw go check it out https://munchstats.com/gen9pokebilitiesaaa/0/Ogerpon-Cornerstone
 
POKEBILITIES AAA TIERING UPDATE:

:bw/reuniclus:

Effective immediately, Reuniclus is banned from PokeAAA!
(we're also banning Quick Claw and restricting Quick Draw but that's less important)

Reuniclus has long been a dominant defensive staple and offensive threat in the metagame. Thanks to having literally the best combination of base abilities in the game besides clefable, Reuniclus has a solid foundation to run nearly any ability, to any effect. Defensively, Reuniclus is the only Pokemon able to run the devastating defensive combination of Magic Guard + Regenerator + Shadow Shield, enabling it to take *any* one hit and fire back with a Knock Off or Thunder Wave or land a KO with its powerful (even when uninvested) special attack. It's capable of far more than that defensively, as Fluffy and Stamina enable a dangerous Calm Mind win condition set, invulnerable to passive damage and able to come in at multiple points of the game. Offensively, Reuniclus is a monster, taking advantage of a drawback-free Life Orb and applying pressure to defensive Pokemon with Psychic Noise and Knock Off, while sporting moves like Focus Blast and Thunder to nail specific checks. Frankly, Reuniclus has no drawbacks, can do anything, and will do whatever you want it to. We've had our fun playing with it, but unfortunately it's time to go.

:quick claw:Quick Claw and Quick Draw were uncompetitive and didn't belong in the tier. Just doing some cleanup.:slowbro-galar:
While in other tiers these aren't great because of the stark opportunity cost required to run these, PokeAAA's higher power level and additon of base abilities steeply lowers the opportunity costs associated with these items.


tagging dhelmise to implement thank you very much we appreciate you
Sad to see my baby go, but it needed to. It could run so many sets and every single one of them was effective as hell, not to mention its sheer existence made playing stall into it a living nightmare. Also YESSSS NO MORE QUICK CLAW DRAW IRON HANDS CHEESING ME ANYMORE!!
 
I want to bring attention to another mon that I find is wholly underrated in a role that might not seem suited for it at first glance, but I find is VERY effective and I'd argue even better than its more well-known offensive role- DEFENSIVE Breloom!

breloom.gif

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 Spe
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Focus Punch/Force Palm/Substitute
- Protect
- Bullet Seed

Now, I know what you might be saying- Lavender, you're cooking way too hard, this is on the same level as Protean Indeedee. BUT- I have been using this on a stall team to amazing success and let me tell you why.

First thing, Breloom's defensive profile because of its typing gives it four VERY nice resistances in Grass, Ground, but more importantly Dark AND Water. Because of this, it checks both Hamu and its less used but terrifying wallbreaker sibling in Crawdaunt. All the while it threatens back with a terrifying Bullet Seed and threat of Effect Spore. Because of Poison Heal also, as Gliscor showed us before it was banned, it has incredible passive healing and status immunity, giving it great longevity akin to that of a regenerator mon.

Oh, by the way, Marvel Scale, unlike Fluffy, ignores Mold Breaker AND frees up Fluffy for another mon (Fluffy Alo <3). So, what you get is a semi passive, but very threatening to physical attacker mon that checks a LOT of popular threats in Meow (scouting what it does with Protect), Hamu, Rillaboom, etc. all the while helping pressure setup threats with leech seed, punish switch ins with Focus Punch, or threaten status with Force Palm and Effect Spore, while also having amazing longevity. Oh, and the 64 Spe is to outspeed no speed Heatran. If you don't care about that matchup just go 252/252/4.

Some calcs below for the curious~

252 Atk Choice Band Sharpness Sword of Ruin Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom: 81-96 (25 - 29.6%) -- possible 6HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Sword of Ruin Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom: 130-153 (40.1 - 47.2%) -- 4.9% chance to 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery and Poison Heal
252+ Atk Choice Band Sword of Ruin Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom in Grassy Terrain: 159-188 (49 - 58%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery and Poison Heal
252+ Atk Sword of Ruin Great Tusk Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom: 169-201 (52.1 - 62%) -- 67.6% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal
 
I want to bring attention to another mon that I find is wholly underrated in a role that might not seem suited for it at first glance, but I find is VERY effective and I'd argue even better than its more well-known offensive role- DEFENSIVE Breloom!

breloom.gif

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 Spe
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Focus Punch/Force Palm/Substitute
- Protect
- Bullet Seed

Now, I know what you might be saying- Lavender, you're cooking way too hard, this is on the same level as Protean Indeedee. BUT- I have been using this on a stall team to amazing success and let me tell you why.

First thing, Breloom's defensive profile because of its typing gives it four VERY nice resistances in Grass, Ground, but more importantly Dark AND Water. Because of this, it checks both Hamu and its less used but terrifying wallbreaker sibling in Crawdaunt. All the while it threatens back with a terrifying Bullet Seed and threat of Effect Spore. Because of Poison Heal also, as Gliscor showed us before it was banned, it has incredible passive healing and status immunity, giving it great longevity akin to that of a regenerator mon.

Oh, by the way, Marvel Scale, unlike Fluffy, ignores Mold Breaker AND frees up Fluffy for another mon (Fluffy Alo <3). So, what you get is a semi passive, but very threatening to physical attacker mon that checks a LOT of popular threats in Meow (scouting what it does with Protect), Hamu, Rillaboom, etc. all the while helping pressure setup threats with leech seed, punish switch ins with Focus Punch, or threaten status with Force Palm and Effect Spore, while also having amazing longevity. Oh, and the 64 Spe is to outspeed no speed Heatran. If you don't care about that matchup just go 252/252/4.

Some calcs below for the curious~

252 Atk Choice Band Sharpness Sword of Ruin Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom: 81-96 (25 - 29.6%) -- possible 6HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Sword of Ruin Crawdaunt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom: 130-153 (40.1 - 47.2%) -- 4.9% chance to 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery and Poison Heal
252+ Atk Choice Band Sword of Ruin Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom in Grassy Terrain: 159-188 (49 - 58%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery and Poison Heal
252+ Atk Sword of Ruin Great Tusk Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ Def Breloom: 169-201 (52.1 - 62%) -- 67.6% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal
i have 2 questions. (idk about the intricacies don't judge me) why does outspeeding heatran matter? also why 252 hp evs over 236 for the exact 1/8 amounts of health each turn like how gliscor does in ou?
 
i have 2 questions. (idk about the intricacies don't judge me) why does outspeeding heatran matter? also why 252 hp evs over 236 for the exact 1/8 amounts of health each turn like how gliscor does in ou?
Idk about the second question but the reason why outspeeding Heatran is important is because it is a very powerful force in the metagame thanks to desolate land. If Breloom wants to do anything against Heatran it needs to outspeed it since Heatran easily threatens it with powerful fire moves.
 
Idk about the second question but the reason why outspeeding Heatran is important is because it is a very powerful force in the metagame thanks to desolate land. If Breloom wants to do anything against Heatran it needs to outspeed it since Heatran easily threatens it with powerful fire moves.
what is it going to do tho (the breloom)
 
i have 2 questions. (idk about the intricacies don't judge me) why does outspeeding heatran matter? also why 252 hp evs over 236 for the exact 1/8 amounts of health each turn like how gliscor does in ou?
For the first question... eh, idk? More HP to help tank special hits in a pinch, but honestly I don't think about it too much.

As for the speed, it can do multiple things depending on the set. Sub can stall out Heatran's Magma Storm PP, Force Palm can chunk it, if it lost its leftovers you can actually 1v1 it with the Sub set- and Heatran is just a VERY prevalent mon in the tier.

EDIT: I can't count apparently lmfao, my b. Swap first and second question in my thing
 
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Hi hello! Fairly new forum browser, long-time showdown player! I've recently been getting heavily invested in these OMs after getting bored with Gen 9 standard tiers, and I've taken an immense liking to this meta in particular! Forgive me if the reasoning can be found elsewhere, but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light as to why certain pokemon have been banned? Most of the bans are no brainers I can see, like the possibility of Primordial Sea Archaludon, Technician Cloyster, etc. But I'm curious about a few that, while clearly strong picks, some others don't seem strong enough to warrant a ban? With the ban of some blatantly broken abilities to create uncompetitive combos, some mons seem like they wouldn't have the potential to hang with even current meta threats.
More specifically, I'm curious about mons like Serperior, Ceruledge, Basculin, Hawlucha, Enamorus, Kyurem, Manaphy, Raging Bolt, Gapdos, and Hisui-Zoroark (especially with base Zoro being allowed, as Illusion seemingly not functional).
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read and clarify! If anyone is up for discussion as to whether these should stay banned I'd be happy to join as well :)
 
Hi hello! Fairly new forum browser, long-time showdown player! I've recently been getting heavily invested in these OMs after getting bored with Gen 9 standard tiers, and I've taken an immense liking to this meta in particular! Forgive me if the reasoning can be found elsewhere, but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light as to why certain pokemon have been banned? Most of the bans are no brainers I can see, like the possibility of Primordial Sea Archaludon, Technician Cloyster, etc. But I'm curious about a few that, while clearly strong picks, some others don't seem strong enough to warrant a ban? With the ban of some blatantly broken abilities to create uncompetitive combos, some mons seem like they wouldn't have the potential to hang with even current meta threats.
More specifically, I'm curious about mons like Serperior, Ceruledge, Basculin, Hawlucha, Enamorus, Kyurem, Manaphy, Raging Bolt, Gapdos, and Hisui-Zoroark (especially with base Zoro being allowed, as Illusion seemingly not functional).
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read and clarify! If anyone is up for discussion as to whether these should stay banned I'd be happy to join as well :)
You might wanna check the past posts of the forum for some answers.

serp was banned before tinted lens most likely leading to them still being banned till everything else is dealt with (balancing) .

I could definitely be wrong tho.

(I’m not an expert on the tier so I might not be the best source of info)
 
Hi hello! Fairly new forum browser, long-time showdown player! I've recently been getting heavily invested in these OMs after getting bored with Gen 9 standard tiers, and I've taken an immense liking to this meta in particular! Forgive me if the reasoning can be found elsewhere, but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light as to why certain pokemon have been banned? Most of the bans are no brainers I can see, like the possibility of Primordial Sea Archaludon, Technician Cloyster, etc. But I'm curious about a few that, while clearly strong picks, some others don't seem strong enough to warrant a ban? With the ban of some blatantly broken abilities to create uncompetitive combos, some mons seem like they wouldn't have the potential to hang with even current meta threats.
More specifically, I'm curious about mons like Serperior, Ceruledge, Basculin, Hawlucha, Enamorus, Kyurem, Manaphy, Raging Bolt, Gapdos, and Hisui-Zoroark (especially with base Zoro being allowed, as Illusion seemingly not functional).
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read and clarify! If anyone is up for discussion as to whether these should stay banned I'd be happy to join as well :)
I think bolt is banned because of its access to hadron engine in this format, which combines especially well with rising voltage to decimate most non electric immunities, plus draco off of a specs hadron full investment bolt can do what it says on the tin.
Gapdos is in a similar boat to bolt since it was so hard to wall when it was legal.
Manaphy is due to the primordial sea + hydration + tail glow allowing for a monsterous full heal set up sweeper.
Kyurem im guessing is for the same reasons as cinccino + unpredictibility
Enamorous im guessing is for its access to mold breaker so it can't be walled by unaware
Others im not sure.
 
You might wanna check the past posts of the forum for some answers.

serp was banned before tinted lens most likely leading to them still being banned till everything else is dealt with (balancing) .

I could definitely be wrong tho.

(I’m not an expert on the tier so I might not be the best source of info)
I did in fact just go through the previous posts, thank you!
I've been thoroughly convinced as to why Gapdos needs to remain banned, but I'm not entirely convinced about some others honestly. Although I'm sure with the recent tiering, such as Reun and Keldeo being banned and unbanned respectively, we'll see some others get looked at. If I may get the ball rolling on a few picks I think could have a second look at unbanning, I'd definitely start with mons like Serp, Enam, Hawlucha, Manaphy, and Zoroark.

Serperior @ (Magic Guard, Galvanize, Grassy Surge, BoR, any other ideas?)
-With Serperior, clearly we all know Leaf Storm + Contrary is an insane combo, even from Serperior's less than impressive base 75 SpAtk stat. While it has useful utility in moves like Leech Seed, Glare, and Taunt, it sorely lacks any real coverage. Being forced to run LS and D-Pulse as your main damage dealing attacks is negligible in front of most steel types. Now especially with the restriction of Tinted Lens, I don't personally see how Serp even begins to handle common walls like Corv, Heatran, and Skarm, or even to a certain extent, Crown, Scizor, or Zapdos. While it could potentially run an -Ate ability such as Galvanize with Tera Blast, that still does not account for the very real presence of Volt Absorb Corv or Skarm, nor does it even realistically threaten SpDef Heatran (the second most popular set on the second most popular mon in the tier.) We could get into further cases like Glowking or the plethora of viable AV Regenerators (rip Reuniclus), but I think my point has been made about its ability to be walled.

-Where I think it's incredibly helpful and healthy is in its ability to threaten common offensive threats and non-VA immunity spammers. It's unique speed tier, sitting at 357 max invested, is the perfect spot to threaten big damage on serious meta threats like Wogerpon, Latios, and Garchomp.
After one Leaf Storm, you're now able to threaten solid damage on OHKOs on several popular Regen pivots and Water Absorb users. Tanks like Alomomola, Dondozo, Tyranitar, Garganacl, and Primarina obviously hate to see you coming, while mons like Water Absorb Tusk and Treads have to actually fear their weakness to strong Grass damage.
If anyone sees any circumstance where Serperior becomes unhealthy for the meta, please do add on!

Enamorus @ (Sheer Force, Fairy Aura, BoR, No Guard)
-Now Enamorus is clearly a stupidly powerful pokemon, and throwing out SFLO Moonblasts, Earth Powers, Mystical Fires, Sludge Bombs, and Focus Blasts is certainly gonna be rough. I think this is the most on-the-line pokemon here, where keeping it banned is understandable, but testing it could also be interesting. As for checks, walls, and counters, admittedly not much can stand up to this thing. Our obvious pick is SpDef Heatran, assuming Levitate or Earth Eater. The only way Enam is even touching Heatran is with Focus Blast.
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Enamorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 315-372 (81.6 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Now clearly this hurts, no dip. However that's assuming you land Focus Miss, as well as assuming Heatran is full health. Meanwhile, completely uninvested Heatran is doing 89%-105% back with Flash Cannon. Even if Enam DOES land FB on Heatran, it's then very easily revenge killed by many common pokemon, as it sits in a very awkward 342 max speed. That leaves it open to common threats such as Boulder, Ogerpon of any kind, Latios, Cinderace, Moth, Scizor, scarf Zap, and so on and so forth. We can get into soft checks into Enam like SpDef Pecharunt, SpDef Corv, AV Mola/AV Regen in general, etc., but the premier singular check is undoubtedly Heatran.
-As for it's offensive presence, that clearly needs no justifying. It's a nuke, plain and simple. It has superb coverage for most every situation, it outspeeds base 100s, and still does good damage on non SFLO sets, though I believe SFLO to be its best possible set. Much of these same arguments could possibly be made in favor of Landorus-Incarnate, as well as the arguments against, but I'll leave that for a separate post.

Hawlucha @ (SoR, Tough Claws, what does this even do that other mons don't do better?)
-Now this one confuses me, it makes me feel like I must be missing something painfully obvious but I just can't tell what it is. As far as I'm aware, this would pull the same shenigans it does in any other tier; Unburden + Grassy Seed + Swords Dance with a partner Rillaboom. What does this thing achieve so spectacularly that warrants a ban? I can only assume it was banned due to a prevalence of Fluffy being relied on to check all physical threats, but I don't see this thing closing shop on the physical walls running Intimidate, Iron Barbs, Flame Body, or ToR. Genuinely, how is this thing touching a Corv, a Skarm, a Pech, lord forbid a Zapdos? Hawlucha pees his leotard at the sight of a defensive Landorus or Chomp. Even ignoring defensive checks, Hawlucha is incredibly vulnerable into the meta's most popular priority users. Talonflame obliterates even with Grassy Seed activates. Regieleki, while slower than Unburden boosted Lucha, is still threatening a 2HKO with Refrig E-Speed if physical, not to mention Eleki can dependably disrupt terrain wars if Hadron Engine, effectively neutering Lucha's speed and defence to begin with. Even phys def Hatterene can live a plus 2 acro well and revenge with Draining Kiss like nothing even happened.
-We all know what Hawlucha can do offensively, it's dead in the water into strong priority users and effective walls, but it does do great work into everything else. Great into common threats like Wogerpon, Zamazenta, Heatran, the elephants, theoretical Serp, and more less common but still relevant match-ups. Unburden + Swords Dance is a tale as old as time, or about as old as Gen 5 Sceptile. No need to go on further.

Manaphy @ (Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Fluffy, Volt Absorb, Motor Drive)
-Manaphy can do whatever it wants and we'll never know until it's sent out. Tail Glow with Motor Drive is nuts, Pirmordial Sea makes it immune to status with Hydration, Fluffy makes it a great physical wall, and Regenerator makes it a nice AV pivot. I think the hardest part about facing Manaphy is just figuring out what the hell it's about to do. It's scary to risk firing off a stong electric move in case it's Motor Drive/Tail Glow, but you'd hate to get Knocked Off by the AV Manaphy because you were scared to let it set up. It's a frustrating situation for sure, but I'm not convinced it's broken enough to be banned. For a meta game where every single pokemon has the potential to pull some crazy set from their ass that simply could not have been predicted, the sets tend to be very predictable. If that oppenent Heatran wasn't Desolate, it's Earth Eater. If that Eleki wasn't Hadron, it's Refrigerate. You get the point, most pokemon (with notable exceptions such as Corv, Pech, and Tusk) have a set that works best and you don't see any deviation from it. You don't see non Desolate Moth, or non Sharpness Boulder. I think a pokemon like Manaphy, with so much it can viably do, is a healthy addition to a meta that seems to have gotten comfortable with where it's at.

Zoroark-Hisui @ (Sheer Force, BoR, Protean)
-I'll be quick here. Zoroark-Hisui is banned based on the premise that it has the potential to be too powerful in conjunction with Illusion, making it frankly impossible for the oppenent to provide reasonable counterplay. This makes 100% sense, in theory. In practice, Illusion doesn't work. We KNOW it doesn't work, because it doesn't work for Unovan Zoroark. I personally would have a lot of fun with a functioning Zoroark, but in a meta where Zoroark is effectively ONLY working with the ability you give it, I see no reason for Zoroark-Hisui to be banned.

Thanks for anyone brave or bored enough to read my ramblings, if anyone has thoughts please share!
 
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I did in fact just go through the previous posts, thank you!
I've been thoroughly convinced as to why Gapdos needs to remain banned, but I'm not entirely convinced about some others honestly. Although I'm sure with the recent tiering, such as Reun and Keldeo being banned and unbanned respectively, we'll see some others get looked at. If I may get the ball rolling on a few picks I think could have a second look at unbanning, I'd definitely start with mons like Serp, Enam, Hawlucha, Manaphy, and Zoroark.

Serperior @ (Magic Guard, Galvanize, Grassy Surge, BoR, any other ideas?)
-With Serperior, clearly we all know Leaf Storm + Contrary is an insane combo, even from Serperior's less than impressive base 75 SpAtk stat. While it has useful utility in moves like Leech Seed, Glare, and Taunt, it sorely lacks any real coverage. Being forced to run LS and D-Pulse as your main damage dealing attacks is negligible in front of most steel types. Now especially with the restriction of Tinted Lens, I don't personally see how Serp even begins to handle common walls like Corv, Heatran, and Skarm, or even to a certain extent, Crown, Scizor, or Zapdos. While it could potentially run an -Ate ability such as Galvanize with Tera Blast, that still does not account for the very real presence of Volt Absorb Corv or Skarm, nor does it even realistically threaten SpDef Heatran (the second most popular set on the second most popular mon in the tier.) We could get into further cases like Glowking or the plethora of viable AV Regenerators (rip Reuniclus), but I think my point has been made about its ability to be walled.

-Where I think it's incredibly helpful and healthy is in its ability to threaten common offensive threats and non-VA immunity spammers. It's unique speed tier, sitting at 357 max invested, is the perfect spot to threaten big damage on serious meta threats like Wogerpon, Latios, and Garchomp.
After one Leaf Storm, you're now able to threaten solid damage on OHKOs on several popular Regen pivots and Water Absorb users. Tanks like Alomomola, Dondozo, Tyranitar, Garganacl, and Primarina obviously hate to see you coming, while mons like Water Absorb Tusk and Treads have to actually fear their weakness to strong Grass damage.
If anyone sees any circumstance where Serperior becomes unhealthy for the meta, please do add on!

Enamorus @ (Sheer Force, Fairy Aura, BoR, No Guard)
-Now Enamorus is clearly a stupidly powerful pokemon, and throwing out SFLO Moonblasts, Earth Powers, Mystical Fires, Sludge Bombs, and Focus Blasts is certainly gonna be rough. I think this is the most on-the-line pokemon here, where keeping it banned is understandable, but testing it could also be interesting. As for checks, walls, and counters, admittedly not much can stand up to this thing. Our obvious pick is SpDef Heatran, assuming Levitate or Earth Eater. The only way Enam is even touching Heatran is with Focus Blast.
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Enamorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 315-372 (81.6 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Now clearly this hurts, no dip. However that's assuming you land Focus Miss, as well as assuming Heatran is full health. Meanwhile, completely uninvested Heatran is doing 89%-105% back with Flash Cannon. Even if Enam DOES land FB on Heatran, it's then very easily revenge killed by many common pokemon, as it sits in a very awkward 342 max speed. That leaves it open to common threats such as Boulder, Ogerpon of any kind, Latios, Cinderace, Moth, Scizor, scarf Zap, and so on and so forth. We can get into soft checks into Enam like SpDef Pecharunt, SpDef Corv, AV Mola/AV Regen in general, etc., but the premier singular check is undoubtedly Heatran.
-As for it's offensive presence, that clearly needs no justifying. It's a nuke, plain and simple. It has superb coverage for most every situation, it outspeeds base 100s, and still does good damage on non SFLO sets, though I believe SFLO to be its best possible set. Much of these same arguments could possibly be made in favor of Landorus-Incarnate, as well as the arguments against, but I'll leave that for a separate post.

Hawlucha @ (SoR, Tough Claws, what does this even do that other mons don't do better?)
-Now this one confuses me, it makes me feel like I must be missing something painfully obvious but I just can't tell what it is. As far as I'm aware, this would pull the same shenigans it does in any other tier; Unburden + Grassy Seed + Swords Dance with a partner Rillaboom. What does this thing achieve so spectacularly that warrants a ban? I can only assume it was banned due to a prevalence of Fluffy being relied on to check all physical threats, but I don't see this thing closing shop on the physical walls running Intimidate, Iron Barbs, Flame Body, or ToR. Genuinely, how is this thing touching a Corv, a Skarm, a Pech, lord forbid a Zapdos? Hawlucha pees his leotard at the sight of a defensive Landorus or Chomp. Even ignoring defensive checks, Hawlucha is incredibly vulnerable into the meta's most popular priority users. Talonflame obliterates even with Grassy Seed activates. Regieleki, while slower than Unburden boosted Lucha, is still threatening a 2HKO with Refrig E-Speed if physical, not to mention Eleki can dependably disrupt terrain wars if Hadron Engine, effectively neutering Lucha's speed and defence to begin with. Even phys def Hatterene can live a plus 2 acro well and revenge with Draining Kiss like nothing even happened.
-We all know what Hawlucha can do offensively, it's dead in the water into strong priority users and effective walls, but it does do great work into everything else. Great into common threats like Wogerpon, Zamazenta, Heatran, the elephants, theoretical Serp, and more less common but still relevant match-ups. Unburden + Swords Dance is a tale as old as time, or about as old as Gen 5 Sceptile. No need to go on further.

Manaphy @ (Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Fluffy, Volt Absorb, Motor Drive)
-Manaphy can do whatever it wants and we'll never know until it's sent out. Tail Glow with Motor Drive is nuts, Pirmordial Sea makes it immune to status with Hydration, Fluffy makes it a great physical wall, and Regenerator makes it a nice AV pivot. I think the hardest part about facing Manaphy is just figuring out what the hell it's about to do. It's scary to risk firing off a stong electric move in case it's Motor Drive/Tail Glow, but you'd hate to get Knocked Off by the AV Manaphy because you were scared to let it set up. It's a frustrating situation for sure, but I'm not convinced it's broken enough to be banned. For a meta game where every single pokemon has the potential to pull some crazy set from their ass that simply could not have been predicted, the sets tend to be very predictable. If that oppenent Heatran wasn't Desolate, it's Earth Eater. If that Eleki wasn't Hadron, it's Refrigerate. You get the point, most pokemon (with notable exceptions such as Corv, Pech, and Tusk) have a set that works best and you don't see any deviation from it. You don't see non Desolate Moth, or non Sharpness Boulder. I think a pokemon like Manaphy, with so much it can viably do, is a healthy addition to a meta that seems to have gotten comfortable with where it's at.

Zoroark-Hisui @ (Sheer Force, BoR, Protean)
-I'll be quick here. Zoroark-Hisui is banned based on the premise that it has the potential to be too powerful in conjunction with Illusion, making it frankly impossible for the oppenent to provide reasonable counterplay. This makes 100% sense, in theory. In practice, Illusion doesn't work. We KNOW it doesn't work, because it doesn't work for Unovan Zoroark. I personally would have a lot of fun with a functioning Zoroark, but in a meta where Zoroark is effectively ONLY working with the ability you give it, I see no reason for Zoroark-Hisui to be banned.

Thanks for anyone brave or bored enough to read my ramblings, if anyone has thoughts please share!
I have rarely seen those capable of pulling paragraphs out like playing cards

You make some really good points in this but I’m still thinking about manaphy since it does funny !?!? with hydration rest sweeper sets

Edit : also zoroark hisui would be really funny if illusion worked tbh
 
I have rarely seen those capable of pulling paragraphs out like playing cards

You make some really good points in this but I’m still thinking about manaphy since it does funny !?!? with hydration rest sweeper sets

Edit : also zoroark hisui would be really funny if illusion worked tbh
Lol thank you!

I'd personally love to see some other Ubers get looked at that might not seem balanced at first. Lando-I seems pretty par for the course in terms of power in this meta, Annhilape could be fun with possibly a ban on Rage Fist, Solgaleo I think would be a phenomenal Regen pivot, even Gouging Fire doesn't seem broken in a meta with WBB Corv around every corner.

Edit: Maybe even Darkrai could put in some work, I imagine SFLO Darkrai would be an absolute force.
 
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Hawlucha @ (SoR, Tough Claws, what does this even do that other mons don't do better?)
I can attest that this mon is insane, something you forgot to mention (and probably what you are thinking about) is Protosynthesis @ Booster Energy, which can be EV'd to give Hawlucha 1.3x attack and 2x speed multipliers in 1 turn without needing to turn to a dedicated archetype like terrain. This combined with needing a major HP dump to give said attack Boost makes it fairly tubby, and its decent STABs means you have some freedom in your last slot like sub for intim/status, and also with Mold Breaker you have a decent chance to 1v1 most physical walls such as Dondozo with SD means that unless you have a priority revenge killer it is very hard to deal with once it gets going.
 
I did in fact just go through the previous posts, thank you!
I've been thoroughly convinced as to why Gapdos needs to remain banned, but I'm not entirely convinced about some others honestly. Although I'm sure with the recent tiering, such as Reun and Keldeo being banned and unbanned respectively, we'll see some others get looked at. If I may get the ball rolling on a few picks I think could have a second look at unbanning, I'd definitely start with mons like Serp, Enam, Hawlucha, Manaphy, and Zoroark.

Serperior @ (Magic Guard, Galvanize, Grassy Surge, BoR, any other ideas?)
-With Serperior, clearly we all know Leaf Storm + Contrary is an insane combo, even from Serperior's less than impressive base 75 SpAtk stat. While it has useful utility in moves like Leech Seed, Glare, and Taunt, it sorely lacks any real coverage. Being forced to run LS and D-Pulse as your main damage dealing attacks is negligible in front of most steel types. Now especially with the restriction of Tinted Lens, I don't personally see how Serp even begins to handle common walls like Corv, Heatran, and Skarm, or even to a certain extent, Crown, Scizor, or Zapdos. While it could potentially run an -Ate ability such as Galvanize with Tera Blast, that still does not account for the very real presence of Volt Absorb Corv or Skarm, nor does it even realistically threaten SpDef Heatran (the second most popular set on the second most popular mon in the tier.) We could get into further cases like Glowking or the plethora of viable AV Regenerators (rip Reuniclus), but I think my point has been made about it's ability to be walled.

-Where I think it's incredibly helpful and healthy is in its ability to threaten common offensive threats and non-VA immunity spammers. It's unique speed tier, sitting at 357 max invested, is the perfect spot to threaten big damage on serious meta threats like Wogerpon, Latios, and Garchomp.
After one Leaf Storm, you're now able to threaten solid damage on OHKOs on several popular Regen pivots and Water Absorb users. Tanks like Alomomola, Dondozo, Tyranitar, Garganacl, and Primarina obviously hate to see you coming, while mons like Water Absorb Tusk and Treads have to actually fear their weakness to strong Grass damage.
If anyone sees any circumstance where Serperior becomes unhealthy for the meta, please do add on!

Enamorus @ (Sheer Force, Fairy Aura, BoR, No Guard)
-Now Enamorus is clearly a stupidly powerful pokemon, and throwing out SFLO Moonblasts, Earth Powers, Mystical Fires, Sludge Bombs, and Focus Blasts is certainly be rough. I think this is the most on-the-line pokemon here, where keeping it banned is understandable, but testing it could also be interesting. As for checks, walls, and counters, admittedly not much can stand up to this thing. Our obvious pick is SpDef Heatran, assuming Levitate or Earth Eater. The only way Enam is even touching Heatran is with Focus Blast.
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Enamorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 315-372 (81.6 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Now clearly this hurts, no dip. However that's assuming you land Focus Miss, as well as assuming Heatran is full health. Meanwhile, completely uninvested Heatran is doing 89%-105% back with Flash Cannon. Even if Enam DOES land FB on Heatran, it's then very easily revenge killed by many common pokemon, as it sits in a very awkward 342 max speed. That leaves it open to common threats such as Boulder, Ogerpon of any kind, Latios, Cinderace, Moth, Scizor, scarf Zap, and so on and so forth. We can get into soft checks into Enam like SpDef Pecharunt, SpDef Corv, AV Mola/AV Regen in general, etc., but the premier singular check is undoubtedly Heatran.
-As for it's offensive presence, that clearly needs no justifying. It's a nuke, plain and simple. It has superb coverage for most every situation, it outspeeds base 100s, and still does good damage on non SFLO sets, though I believe SFLO to be its best possible set. Much of these same arguments could possibly be made in favor of Landorus-Incarnate, as well as the arguments against, but I'll leave that for a separate post.

Hawlucha @ (SoR, Tough Claws, what does this even do that other mons don't do better?)
-Now this one confuses me, it makes me feel like I must be missing something painfully obvious but I just can't tell what it is. As far as I'm aware, this would pull the same shenigans it does in any other tier; Unburden + Grassy Seed + Swords Dance with a partner Rillaboom. What does this thing achieve so spectacularly that warrants a ban? I can only assume it was banned due to a prevalence of Fluffy being relied on to check all physical threats, but I don't see this thing closing shop on the physical walls running Intimidate, Iron Barbs, Flame Body, or ToR. Genuinely, how is this thing touching a Corv, a Skarm, a Pech, lord forbid a Zapdos? Hawlucha pees his leotard at the sight of a defensive Landorus or Chomp. Even ignoring defensive checks, Hawlucha is incredibly vulnerable into the meta's most popular priority users. Talonflame obliterates even with Grassy Seed activates. Regieleki, while slower than Unburden boosted Lucha, is still threatening a 2HKO with Refrig E-Speed if physical, not to mention Eleki can dependably disrupt terrain wars if Hadron Engine, effectively neutering Lucha's speed and defence to begin with. Even phys def Hatterene can live a plus 2 acro well and revenge with Draining Kiss like nothing even happened.
-We all know what Hawlucha can do offensively, it's dead in the water into strong priority users and effective walls, but it does do great work into everything else. Great into common threats like Wogerpon, Zamazenta, Heatran, the elephants, theoretical Serp, and more less common but still relevant match-ups. Unburden + Swords Dance is a tale as old as time, or about as old as Gen 5 Sceptile. No need to go on further.

Manaphy @ (Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Fluffy, Volt Absorb, Motor Drive)
-Manaphy can do whatever it wants and we'll never know until it's sent out. Tail Glow with Motor Drive is nuts, Pirmordial Sea makes it immune to status with Hydration, Fluffy makes it a great physical wall, and Regenerator makes it a nice AV pivot. I think the hardest part about facing Manaphy is just figuring out what the hell it's about to do. It's scary to risk firing off a stong electric move in case it's Motor Drive/Tail Glow, but you'd hate to get Knocked Off by the AV Manaphy because you were scared to let it set up. It's a frustrating situation for sure, but I'm not convinced it's broken enough to be banned. For a meta game where every single pokemon has the potential to pull some crazy set from their ass that simply could not have been predicted, the sets tend to be very predictable. If that oppenent Heatran wasn't Desolate, it's Earth Eater. If that Eleki wasn't Hadron, it's Refrigerate. You get the point, most pokemon (with notable exceptions such as Corv, Pech, and Tusk) have a set that works best and you don't see any deviation from it. You don't see non Desolate Moth, or non Sharpness Boulder. I think a pokemon like Manaphy, with so much it can viably do, is a healthy addition to a meta that seems to have gotten comfortable with where it's at.

Zoroark-Hisui @ (Sheer Force, BoR, Protean)
-I'll be quick here. Zoroark-Hisui is banned based on the premise that it has the potential to be too powerful in conjunction with Illusion, making it frankly impossible for the oppenent to provide reasonable counterplay. This makes 100% sense, in theory. In practice, Illusion doesn't work. We KNOW it doesn't work, because it doesn't work for Unovan Zoroark. I personally would have a lot of fun with a functioning Zoroark, but in a meta where Zoroark is effectively ONLY working with the ability you give it, I see no reason for Zoroark-Hisui to be banned.

Thanks for anyone brave or bored enough to read my ramblings, if anyone has thoughts please share!
I won't explain Zoroark/Serp/Manaphy because I think those are the ones most likely to be balanced and as such hard to make a case against.

Enamorus is very deadly with a SFLO set, and you note some calcs where Heatran can 1v1 Enamorus and I'll bring 2 points up.
1. Flash Cannon is not very common on Heatran since Heatran has many moves it wants to run and Flash doesn't do very much
2. Heatran does not switch in at all, it wins the 1v1 but it does not switch in at all since it takes so much from Focus Blast

Otherwise, Mblast + Mystical Fire + EP + Blast has very few switch ins, (WBB Spdef Corv is 2hko-d by Focus Blast a fair chunk of the time), not to mention how it can Tech moves like Psychic for EE Clodsire and Toxapex, or Superpower + Play Rough to hit Spdef walls on their lower defense stat.
Contrary is also a bit annoying if you get +Evasion from Defog.

Hawlucha after Unburden is fast enough to outspeed every mon (Even the fast scarfers!) and while it is not the strongest, it still hits decently hard after a Swords Dance.
+2 252+ Atk Sword of Ruin Hawlucha Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 337-397 (80.2 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Zapdos can be teched with Stone Edge
+2 252+ Atk Sword of Ruin Hawlucha Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 404-476 (105.4 - 124.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
And while it is weak to Talonflame Brave Bird, it matches well into other forms of Priority, First Impression, Grassy Glide, and Sucker Punch
Landorus Therian does tank Hawlucha's hits well but is actually set up fodder since it can't damage Hawlucha very well at all.

It doesn't hit the hardest but it is incredibly fast and bypasses some common counterplay.

Basculin actually hits super had with its stabs considering the Reckless + Adaptability boost, and Mold Breaker lets it bypass some counterplay. CB Sword of Ruin Wave Crash is so strong in fact it threatens to one shot Corviknight from full. It spams its strong Water Stab (or maybe even Protean sets to take advantage of an incredibly powerful Head Smash)

Kyurem can go Special with SFLO, being very hard to switch into or Physical with Icicle Spear + Scale Shot and DD, which admittedly has more checks than the special variant but can completely flip the script on anyone expecting special. Although it is Stealth Rock weak, it has very good natural bulk and a surprisingly ok defensive typing paired with a decent 95 base speed makes it a very threatening breaker.
 
I can attest that this mon is insane, something you forgot to mention (and probably what you are thinking about) is Protosynthesis @ Booster Energy, which can be EV'd to give Hawlucha 1.3x attack and 2x speed multipliers in 1 turn without needing to turn to a dedicated archetype like terrain. This combined with needing a major HP dump to give said attack Boost makes it fairly tubby, and its decent STABs means you have some freedom in your last slot like sub for intim/status, and also with Mold Breaker you have a decent chance to 1v1 most physical walls such as Dondozo with SD means that unless you have a priority revenge killer it is very hard to deal with once it gets going.
I didn't think about this at all actually that's impressive! I'm glad yall chipped in it's nice to hear from more experienced players for sure.
I won't explain Zoroark/Serp/Manaphy because I think those are the ones most likely to be balanced and as such hard to make a case against.

Enamorus is very deadly with a SFLO set, and you note some calcs where Heatran can 1v1 Enamorus and I'll bring 2 points up.
1. Flash Cannon is not very common on Heatran since Heatran has many moves it wants to run and Flash doesn't do very much
2. Heatran does not switch in at all, it wins the 1v1 but it does not switch in at all since it takes so much from Focus Blast

Otherwise, Mblast + Mystical Fire + EP + Blast has very few switch ins, (WBB Spdef Corv is 2hko-d by Focus Blast a fair chunk of the time), not to mention how it can Tech moves like Psychic for EE Clodsire and Toxapex, or Superpower + Play Rough to hit Spdef walls on their lower defense stat.
Contrary is also a bit annoying if you get +Evasion from Defog.

Hawlucha after Unburden is fast enough to outspeed every mon (Even the fast scarfers!) and while it is not the strongest, it still hits decently hard after a Swords Dance.
+2 252+ Atk Sword of Ruin Hawlucha Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 337-397 (80.2 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Zapdos can be teched with Stone Edge
+2 252+ Atk Sword of Ruin Hawlucha Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 404-476 (105.4 - 124.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
And while it is weak to Talonflame Brave Bird, it matches well into other forms of Priority, First Impression, Grassy Glide, and Sucker Punch
Landorus Therian does tank Hawlucha's hits well but is actually set up fodder since it can't damage Hawlucha very well at all.

It doesn't hit the hardest but it is incredibly fast and bypasses some common counterplay.

Basculin actually hits super had with its stabs considering the Reckless + Adaptability boost, and Mold Breaker lets it bypass some counterplay. CB Sword of Ruin Wave Crash is so strong in fact it threatens to one shot Corviknight from full. It spams its strong Water Stab (or maybe even Protean sets to take advantage of an incredibly powerful Head Smash)

Kyurem can go Special with SFLO, being very hard to switch into or Physical with Icicle Spear + Scale Shot and DD, which admittedly has more checks than the special variant but can completely flip the script on anyone expecting special. Although it is Stealth Rock weak, it has very good natural bulk and a surprisingly ok defensive typing paired with a decent 95 base speed makes it a very threatening breaker.
I won't pretend like I didn't have ulterior motives for Enam (I just love that ugly ass fairy) but I'm genuinely surprised at how broken the combination of SFLO is for so many special attackers.

For Hawlucha I can concede that Talon BB is really the only counter once it gets going, but I DO see Talon in minimum every third battle it feels like.

Would Basculin not be hard walled by Water Absorb Tusk/Treads that was popularized to handle Hamu and Craw?

And what's your gut reaction with those other Ubers mentioned if you don't mind me asking? I'd be very curious to see a meta resembling OU, but including mons like Lando-I or Gouging Fire. There's not many sets I can personally cook up that make them obviously broken. Thanks for the insight tho!
 
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