Metagame Tera Donation

[PQRDG]

Tera Donation
Approved by KaenSoul and drampa's grandpa

Banner created by XavierTheCoolDudeX​

The first Pokemon you send out to the field Terastallizes immediately. Every other Pokemon in the party gets that Pokemon's Tera type as a Third type.

Banlist:

Pokemon

Annihilape
Arceus
Calyrex Ice-Rider
Calyrex Shadow-Rider
Chi-Yu
Chien-Pao
Darkrai
Dialga and Dialga-Origin
Espathra
Eternatus
Flutter Mane
Giratina and Giratina-Origin
Groudon
Iron Bundle
Koraidon
Kyogre
Landorus-Incarnate
Magearna
Mewtwo
Miraidon
Palafin
Palkia and Palkia-Origin
Rayquaza
Regieleki
Shaymin-Sky
Spectrier
Urshifu (Single and Rapid Strike)
Volcarona
Zacian (Hero and Crowned Formes)
Zamazenta (Crowned Forme only)

New: Pre-DLC2:
Lugia
Ho-Oh
Zekrom
Reshiram
Kyurem (+ Kyurem-B and Kyurem-W)
Solgaleo (+ Necrozma-Dusk-Mane)
Lunala (+ Necrozma-Dawn-Wings)
Deoxys (Base Form, Attack, Speed)
Terapagos

Abilities: Moody, Shadow Tag, Arena Trap
Moves: Baton Pass, Last Respects, Shed Tail
Items: King's Rock, Heat Rock, Booster Energy
Clauses: Standard OMs, Sleep Moves Clause, Min Source = Gen 9, Tera Preview Clause (Both players can see their opponent's Tera-types during team preview)

Watchlist: to be updated at a later time as the DLC2 meta is analysed.

Concept in Action: The first Pokemon to be sent out immediately Terastylizes, and becomes this new type. Like regular Terastylization, the Pokemon is exclusively this single type, but maintains the STAB bonuses from the types it previously was. Every other Pokemon in the team gets this new type added on to theirs, getting both the offensive and defensive benefits of the type.

Additionally, every Pokemon in the team that knows the move Tera Blast will have it become the type of this shared Tera type.

Viability Changes:

The Pokemon you lead with is going to impact the rest of your team. Some Pokemon may be less viable as leads, due to becoming a monotyped Pokemon. Some Pokemon may become more useful as leads, being able to change from a bad typing to a better one. Some Pokemon could be more effective with a third type to cover some of their previous weaknesses. Some Pokemon may appreciate having Tera Blast as a coverage move they normally would not have. Some Pokemon might just enjoy having more STAB moves at their disposal. How good a Pokemon can be is all in the imagination of the player.

Join Us At Our Discord!

Leader: PQRDG
Council: prunyy

Hall of Fame (Former Council Members): Momblast, Gimmickyasitgets

 

[PQRDG]

Reserved for VR

 

[PQRDG]

Reserved for Sample Teams

 

[PQRDG]

Resource: Tera Type Tier List!
v1.1.0​

Note: Rankings may not be 100% accurate at all times, but is rather the council's attempt to show what Tera Types are used frequently and bring with them the best benefits. Feel free to debate in the thread whether or not some Tera-types in this list are ranked too low or too high.

 

[zuki_]

Just wanted to say that i love this idea.

 

[prunyy]

Some first glances:

Tera Blasting whenever you want with a type that isn’t normal sounds like a bless. Instant coverage and STAB for your third type. Only problem is, it is the same type. I’m not sure if it is a good thing or not.

I’m assuming the team becomes a “hyper” monotype team with the existing types + the tera type of the lead pokemon. This makes the lead matchup SUPER important. If you lead tera ground against tera electric, the opponent will be in for a ride.

You will probably need some monotype thinking and teambuilding, and try to build around your worst matchups.

Weather also seems kinda broken, leading Drought tera fire, Drizzle tera water, Sand Stream tera rock, or Snow Warning tera ice means that you get boosts in fire moves, water moves, special defense, and defense respectively. I think something like Hippowdon or Abomasnow can make for interesting bulky offense/stall

Also being able to change on the fly during team preview sounds interesting. You can come up with interesting mind games based on your opponent’s tera types.

It is like monotype, but you have 6 different types at your disposal where you need to pick the best one against your opponent’s 6.

This isn’t much, but just some interesting first thoughts I decided to post.

 

[Inoue]

Here's a team I hastily crafted with no testing whatsoever

https://pokepast.es/87f5c129e1847575

 

[Momblast]

Took me a while, but here's my pre-meta analysis. I wrote a short summary of my thoughts on each type as a donation option. Hopefully this helps!

Bug

Definitely one of the most niche options; You make your whole team weaker to Stealth Rock as a tradeoff for 3 added resistances and a boost in damage to U-turn from already powerful users of the move such as Dragapult. It could also be strong on lead Lokix or Slither Wing (or Haxorus), granting a big 50% boost to First Impression. Still, two of the resistances granted (Fighting and Ground) can be made immunities instead using Ghost or Flying as your Tera Donation.

Dark

Dark seems like a strong situational choice. It's good into Prankster leads by preventing Grimmsnarl and Grafaiai from using Parting Shot, but not so much into pivot-heavy teams with multiple U-turn users who can abuse your added Bug-type weakness. If you wanted, you could choose Dark as your Tera Donation on a team with plenty of Ghost- and Poison- types to create the infamous Ghost/Dark and Poison/Dark type combinations, each with only 1 weakness (Fairy and Ground, respectively), but there are other options to use over Dark if you wanted actual resistances instead of just a lack of weaknesses.

Dragon

Dragon doesn't strike me as a desirable option, but it is one with interesting potential. Granting resistances to Fire, Electric, Grass, and Water can come in handy for Steel- or Water-types, like Corviknight or Dondozo, who already resist or take neutral damage from Dragon's 3 weaknesses. On the other hand, most pokemon (Dondozo being one exception) don't really benefit from having STAB on Dragon-type moves, since most pokemon don't learn any. Dragon is likely a considerable option for defensive teams, I would guess.

Electric

Thanks to having only one weakness, Electric looks to be one of the best types for offensive teams. A lot of non-Electric-type pokemon learn Electric-type moves as coverage, so granting STAB to those attacks can come in handy. I can see Gholdengo or special Dragapult/Iron Valiant with Thunderbolt making good use of an Electric Tera Donation, as well as Pawmot with Double Shock to take advantage of having to Terastallize as a lead.

Fairy

Fairy is only weak to Poison and Steel, which are both resisted (or negated) by Steel types. Shove a couple Steel-types together on a team and go nuts. As for who to lead with as your Fairy-type Tera user, I think Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk or Focus Sash Meowscarada are good options thanks to both learning Play Rough. (Though keep in mind, if you lead with Meowscarada, it won't get the benefit of Protean. Make sure to use Overgrow instead!)

Fighting

Fighting has fair coverage, but meh resistances. I wouldn't recommend it in general, but there might be good cases, such as on Justified Arcanine, Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk, or any Staraptor w/ Close Combat.

Fire

Despite the stealth rocks weakness, Fire is actually a good defensive type. Toxapex can benefit from an added Fire-type, becoming 4x resistant to five different types, as well as 2x resistant to 3 others! Fire also seems good on pokemon with Ground or Water-immunities or immunity-granting abilities like Hydreigon, Dragonite, or Gastrodon.
Another option to mention is Sun teams. Adding Fire STAB via Tera Blast to a Chlorophyll sweeper like Lilligant sounds pretty powerful.

Flying

Flying looks like a fantastic option in Tera Donation if you can find a way to deal with Stealth Rock. Iron Moth and Iron Thorns are two powerful pokemon that are 4x weak to Ground, so giving them an immunity to their greatest weakness can allow them to really wreak havoc.
Choosing the Flying type is also a way to give Dragonite and Gyarados access to STAB Tera Blast, which is nice.
(Almost forgot: Also makes your team immune to Spikes/Toxic Spikes/Sticky Web, which is good to consider!)

Ghost

I'll also be mentioning it further down in the Normal-type section, but I foresee Normal Tera Donation teams utilizing Extreme Speed and Boomburst being some of the most threatening teams in the meta. I recommend having a pokemon with the Ghost tera type as a flex option, should you encounter one of those teams. Dragapult is a good choice, since it can gain Tera Blast as a physical STAB option, and Garganacl with Purifying Salt will likely also benefit. Bulky Normal-types like Chansey/Blissey or powerful Fighting-types like Great Tusk and Iron Valiant will probably also benefit from an added Ghost typing.
(Almost forgot: Granting your entire team immunity to Rapid Spin may come in handy :) Perhaps also consider a Sticky Web lead if you're choosing ghost.)

Grass

Grass has a lot of relevant weaknesses and only 3 super-effective matchups, but I think it's a viable option as a way to deal with Ground-weak teams without adding a Stealth Rocks weakness. Pokemon with Flash Fire, such as Armarouge and Coalossal, might benefit from being the Grass Tera lead. As for pokemon that would benefit most from an added Grass typing, maybe Dondozo? I'm not too sure.

Ground

Ground has 2 very relevant weaknesses in Water and Ice, but it does help out by reducing Stealth Rock damage as well as granting a much appreciated Electric immunity. I'd try to lead with a pokemon that doesn't lose too many resistances by becoming pure ground-type, like maybe Toedscruel or Hippowdon, because most pokemon benefit more from being part-ground than pure-ground.

Ice

...You probably don't want to pick Ice. Probably one of the hardest to build around considering the 4 relevant weaknesses, the increased damage taken from Stealth Rock, and the lack of extra resistances (Ice only resists Ice). All things considered, I'm sure there's a way to make it work with some careful planning, but it's definitely a challenge I wouldn't bother with.

Normal

Ah, Normal. As I'm sure many of you have figured by now (especially if you read everything up to this point), Normal is likely going to be common. Arcanine and Dragonite running Extreme Speed, Noivern and Toxtricity running Boomburst, and hell maybe even Garganacl with STAB Explosion! These teams are going to be powerful, so make sure you bring Rock, Steel, or especially Ghost as a donation option on all your teams.

Poison

Perhaps surprisingly, I think Poison is a great option for Tera Donation. Poison has 5 resistances, immunity to being poisoned, and only two weaknesses in Ground and Psychic. Hydreigon is likely one of the biggest winners on a Poison-donation team thanks to being immune to both Psychic and Ground, while the Poison typing weakens incoming Fighting, Bug, and Fairy-type attacks that would normally OHKO it.

Psychic

Honestly, Psychic is almost worse of a choice than Ice. Granting only 2 resistances, but adding weaknesses to commonly-used U-turn and Knock Off, there's not much practical use to giving this type to your whole team. Similar to Bug, though, it does have some niche cases: Rattled + Weakness Policy Dudunsparce using Stored Power could pose a threat to an unsuspecting (and unprepared) opponent, and there may be similar strategies with Justified Lucario or Arcanine (or Weak Armor Armarouge).

Rock

Rock is a risky choice with its many weaknesses, but it does grant 4 resistances, one of which is Normal (which I've already mentioned will be quite relevant). The secret is sand; if you can keep a sandstorm running consistently, your whole team gets a hefty 1.5x special defense boost. It's up to you to determine if that's worth 5 extra weaknesses.

Steel

Finally we've reached the Steel type. Personally I'd keep Steel as an option on every team (unless it's a Sand team, then you could use Rock instead). The sheer value of having 10 extra resistances and 1 extra immunity is just wild. And it's not difficult to deal with Steel's 3 weaknesses; a Ghost-type to deal with Fighting, a Flash Fire pokemon (or Dachsbun) to deal with Fire, and a Flying-type or Levitating pokemon to deal with Ground. Et voila!

Water

Last, and certainly not least, is Water. Not only is it a great defensive type, it's also insanely threatening thanks to rain. Palafin may be banned, but there are plenty of strong Water-types (and Beartic) that are more than able to take its place.

 

[big miike]

Question: If you have tera fire as your team's tera type, do pokemon that are already fire types get the extra damage boost to their stab moves?

 

[prunyy]

Question: If you have tera fire as your team's tera type, do pokemon that are already fire types get the extra damage boost to their stab moves?

All pokemon have fire type added so they do have the boost. It is just that pokemon that are already fire type don’t get any further boost.

Also wanted to mention that, according to Kris, Tera Donation is now live! (hopefully)

 

[Clas]

Challengeable format is live! It's listed under challengeable OMs, so just be aware of this.

 

[PQRDG]

It has been about 36 hours since the OM went live, and here we are, being named Leader's Choice for the month of March. Thank you to you all for the support we have gotten in the past few days, between the people building teams for the tours, to the coders who got this all sorted, to those of you who have just been talking about it. I am overwhelmed by all of this positive support for a concept I came up with just a few short months ago. This is going to be a very interesting month for all of us, and I hope you all enjoy.

 

[zuki_]

Tera blast on anything but your lead doesn't work as intended and stays a normal spa move, this completly changes how this OM is played. please fix this and ping me when it is.

 

[PQRDG]

The Tera Blast situation noted above has been acknowledged, and is currently being looked at. It will likely be fixed within the next few days. We ask that you be patient as the situation is handled.

Edit: as of a few days ago this has been fixed, apologies for not updating the thread sooner to reflect that.

In other news, we welcome AlexSaysBruh123 to our council! Expect to hear a lot from him, and the rest of us, as the month unfolds.

 

[Career Ended]

What makes Chi-yu broken in OU applies to this metagame as well, maybe even more so due to the monotype factor of the metagame. I'd argue Tera's defensive application doesn't help keep Chi-yu in check more than just enable it to have additional coverage in tera blast. I think it warrants a quick ban personally and wanted to get the discussion rolling on it.

 

[prunyy]

What makes Chi-yu broken in OU applies to this metagame as well, maybe even more so due to the monotype factor of the metagame. I'd argue Tera's defensive application doesn't help keep Chi-yu in check more than just enable it to have additional coverage in tera blast. I think it warrants a quick ban personally and wanted to get the discussion rolling on it.

Yes! We were actually planning to QB Chi-Yu, as well as some other blatantly strong pokemon. We just wanted to wait until people got a bit of playtime on the ladder before we make our decisions final.

 

[blastablasta]

I've found amoonguss really benefits in this meta, also shed tail cyclizar in an ou based tier, and I've been doing pretty well with water volcarona

 

[April]

Annihilape, Houndstone, Espathra, Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, Booster Energy and Sleep-Inducing Moves have been BANNED in Tera Donation!​

	PQRDG	Alex	prunyy	Momblast	VERDICT
Annihilape	BAN	DNB	ABSTAIN	BAN	BANNED
Houndstone	BAN	BAN	BAN	BAN	BANNED
Espathra	BAN	DNB	BAN	BAN	BANNED
Chi-Yu	BAN	BAN	BAN	BAN	BANNED
Chien-Pao	BAN	DNB	ABSTAIN	BAN	BANNED
Booster Energy	BAN	BAN	BAN	BAN	BANNED
Sleep Clause	Change	Change	Change	Keep	SLEEP MOVES CLAUSE

These are not the only threats we had our eyes on, but these were deemed the most important to remove. New threats are going to be watchlisted and potentially voted on as well. Until then, keep an eye out for news regarding future tiering action!

Tagging Kris to implement

 

[prunyy]

Just wanted to add to this, a little more explanation for the bans.

Annihilape is already very strong in standard play as it is very tanky and can dish off huge damage with Rage Fist. Giving it a third STAB, or a better defensive typing like Fighting/Ghost/Dark will certainly wreck through multiple teams.

Houndstone has a 300 BP Last Respects as a late game sweeper and was very threatening in standard play already. Giving it a better type, or Sandstorm Rock support would have easily pushed the boundary of being broken.

Espathra usually sets up Subtitutes and spams Stored Power, with only dark types being able to have a safe switch in and dismantle it. Now, Espathra is able to click Tera Blast whenever is wants, and with a beneficial typing, it can also mow through a lot of teams.
Chi-Yu has a decent speed tier, but an immense SpA, which is further boosted by Beads of Ruin. Same problem as Espathra, as it has backup Tera Blast to break through everything. With sun having a lot more usage as well, its fire moves are extremely strong.

Chien-Pao has a very good speed tier and has strong moves and even priority to finish off weak pokemon. There doesn’t seem to be much usage now, but once everything broken settles, it would probably become a problem anyway. We just decided to ban it now instead of later.

Booster Energy: It gives an immediate offensive boost which is given to a variety of strong pokemon. Due to these paradox pokemon already being quite strong, it feels too much to handle for this meta. The removal of Booster Energy also brings rise to more Sunny Day/Electric Terrain dependency or just more variety in the sets of these paradox pokemon.

Sleep Moves Clause: Let’s be honest, sleep moves are annoying. We’ll just snap them so nobody has to pray for turn one wake ups.

What to expect in the future: Cyclizar/Shed Tail, Heat Rock, Damp Rock, Drought, and other stuff hopefully!

 

[Lewi11]

Tera Donation​

The first Pokemon you send out to the field Terastallizes immediately. Every other Pokemon in the party gets that Pokemon's Tera type as a Third type.

Banlist:
Pokemon: Annihilape, Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, Espathra, Flutter Mane, Houndstone, Iron Bundle, Koraidon, Miraidon, Palafin
Abilities: Moody, Shadow Tag, Arena Trap
Moves: Baton Pass
Items: King's Rock, Booster Energy
Clauses: Standard OMs, Sleep Moves Clause, Min Source = Gen 9, Tera Preview Clause (Both players can see their opponent's Tera-types during team preview)

I just battled a Great Tusk that used Booster Energy, it says here that it is banned. Am I missing something?

 

[April]

I just battled a Great Tusk that used Booster Energy, it says here that it is banned. Am I missing something?

The ban is not live on Showdown yet. It won't be until it's implemented in a hotpatch.

 

[Justwant2see]

I was experimenting with this meta a bit but unfortunately not many games going on. I built this team and played ~10 games with it.

https://pokepast.es/223fd89f85c27b68



Explanation:

I wanted to build a team centered around Hazard Stack + Corrosion Glimmora. was the obvious choice for Hazard Control, blocking all forms of removal except for Court Change. I made it max HP max DEF to counter Pokemon like Great Tusk. Adding the Grass type from tera-grass lead also weakens the damage Earthquake does, whilst not taking 2x damage from Stealth Rock from Flying type. It can also live hits from Chien Pao with its Physical bulk. is there with drizzle to mitigate the fire weakness added from the grass type. DEF can be good for setup sweepers like Dragonite and Volcarona. is the mon that Hazard Stacks and phases. Earthquake is the only coverage because I found tera Poison and Steel very common. in theory should be another SPDEF wall with Wish Pass but its 4x weakness to Poison makes it a difficult check. It's insanely bulky though and Thunder Wave can be good for Speed Control. Finally, has the corrosion toxic + substitute + protect and Earth Power as its attack to hit Gholdengo, Tera Poison/Steel Mons, and Great Tusk.

How to use:

Always lead . Get up Hazards and block removal with . This team cannot prevent Hazards from your opponent so play around that wisely. Use to toxic opposing walls.

 

[April]

i totally didn't forget to post this before shut up

We have a Discord server now, if you want a secondary space to discuss Tera Donation teambuilding, strategy, viability, etc!

PQRDG edit invite into intro pls

 

[vr1_bx]

Here's a HO team that I have been testing.

https://pokepast.es/4c0d8b18928201a3

A basic HO team. It basically plays itself. You just have to decide which tera type will make one of your mons more likely to sweep the opponent. Meowscarada is usually the lead but in order to have a specific tera type you have to lead with another mon.

Tera types and their main functions:

Ground

Meowscarada's tera

Is by far the most versatile tera type, if you don't know what to do just lead Meowscarada.

Offensively:

• Helps Volcarona deal with other fire types, most importantly allowing it to 2HKO Skeledirge.
• Allows Quaquaval to OHKO Gholdengo.
• Helps Cloyster deal with steel types.
• Powers up Baxcalibur's Earthquake.

Defensively:

• Gives the whole team an inmunity to Electric, which Cloyster and Quaquaval really apreciate.

Electric

Quaquaval's tera

Tera electric mainly helps Quaquaval and Cloyster.

Offensively:

• Helps Cloyster and Quaquaval deal with bulky water types.
• Gives Volcarona a stronger option against water types.

Defensively:

• Mono Electric on Quaquaval is actually a really useful typing, making it resists Electric and Flying attacks.
• Makes Cloyster neutral to Electric.
• Grants an inmunity to Paralysis.

Fairy

Baxcalibur's tera

This tera type main abuser is Polteageist.

Offensively:

• Polteageist is no longer walled by Dark types, making it almost impossible to stop.
• Helps Volcarona deal with Dragon types.
• Helps Quaquaval deal with some Dragon types, like Dragapult or Dragonite.

Defensively:

• Gets rid of Baxcalibur horrible Ice typing and replaces it with a good defensive typing.
• Makes Polteageist neutral to Dark.
• Gives the whole team an inmunity to Dragon type moves.

Fighting

Polteageist's tera

This is like tera Fairy but worse. It gets rid of Poltegeist's Ghost typing, which he actually apreciates because it allows it to stop Rapid Spin and Extreme Speed.

Offensively:

• Allows Polteageist to OHKO Kingambit (tera Fairy does not).
• Helps Cloyster deal with Steel types (not Gholdengo though).
• Gives Volcarona a stronger option against Rock types.

Defensively:

• Makes Polteageist resist Dark moves.

Water

Volcarona's tera

Use this tera type only if it allows Volcarona to be much more threatning. It does not help Cloyster and Quaquaval

Offensively:

• Helps Volcarona deal with other fire types, most importantly allowing it to 2HKO Skeledirge.
• Gives Volcarona a stronger option against Rock and Ground types.

Defensively:

• Mono Water is a much better defensive typing on Volcarona, and Grass types won't be a threat thanks to STAB Fire Dance.
• The additional Water type helps Baxcalibur a lot.

Fire

Cloyster's tera

This one is the least useful, it does not help Volcarona and additional Fire type is kind of bad in my experience, but it has some niches.

Offensively:

• Helps Cloyster deal with Steel types.
• Helps Quaquaval deal with Grass types.

Defensively:

• Grants an inmunity to Burn.
• Makes Quaquaval neutral to Grass.
• Makes Cloyster resist Grass moves.
• Makes Baxcalibur resist Fire moves, which makes it easier to take advantage of Thermal Exchange.

The team lacks some inmediate speed but Focus Sash helps with faster threats. Some changes could be made, like making Quaquaval or Volcarona more defensive, changing Baxcalibur's item (I don't usually use Icicle Spear) or even some tera types, although I think the team is already quite good.

 

[PQRDG]

Hello everyone. After some time to evaluate the situation of the meta, we have determined that there were two big threats that needed to be addresses: Cyclizar and Sun. Cyclizar continues to be a problem thanks to its good speed tier, and its access to Shed Tail + Regenerator. Meanwhile, Sun has proven to be a dominating force in the meta, and needed to be addressed in some way. After a vote from the council:

Cyclizar and Heat Rock are banned from Tera Donation​

	PQRDG	Alex	prunyy	Momblast	VERDICT
Cyclizar	BAN	BAN	BAN	ABS	BANNED
Drought	DNB	DNB	DNB	DNB	NO ACTION
Walking Wake	BAN	BAN	DNB	DNB	NO ACTION
Heat Rock	BAN	BAN	BAN	BAN	BANNED

We hope that this will be a positive change for the meta. We will keep an eye over the next few days to determine if further action needs to be taken. Thank you all for your patience in the time is has taken us to reach this decision.

Tagging Kris to implement

Edit: Also because we never made a post acknowledging it, we have a new banner! Thanks to XavierTheCoolDudeX for this amazing piece of art.