Recently, Pokemon Showdown added a ladder for BH for Brilliant Diamond Shining Pearl, which essentially combined generation 8 mechanics with the Pokemon, moves, and abilities of generation 4. When the ladder dropped, I decided to take a break from Sword and Shield, to explore some of the unique mechanics of the metagame. Among many attributes of the new metagame was the potential for abusing Tail Glow, since a myriad of anti-set-up moves such as Spectral Thief and Topsy Turvy had been removed, as well as many defensive road-blocks like Assault-Vest. And so a team centred around spamming and abusing Tail Glow was born.
Here is pokepaste for the team: https://pokepast.es/d5ff2680ddbdf4f9 .
Synopsis:
The team functions off of the principle that stacking many offensive Pokemon that require similar and specific checks can easily exhaust an opponent's defensive options and consequently force victories. In the case of this team, Arceus, Mewtwo, and Deoxys are all typically defeated by Dark types and bulky Steel Types. Through the massive boosts, Tail Glow offers and the disruptive potential of Taunt and Teravolt there are the tools to overwhelm common defensive answers, to clear the way for other Tail Glow abusers to pick up the slack and close the game.
The Team:
Otherworldly One (Deoxys-Attack) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Psycho Boost
- Psystrike
- Fire Blast
- Volt Switch
Deoxys acts as both this team's primary lead and its late-game cleaner. Early in the game, it performs the vital role of a psychic terrain pivot, so the team won’t fall prey to priority Pokemon like Fake-Out and ExtremeSpeed Rayquaza. In the later stages of the game, it can take a more active role and finish off teams whose Steel, Psychic, and Dark types have fallen, as those are the only Pokemon that can realistically take its Psychic Terrain Boosted moves. To put it in perspective, even Neutral Arceus Forms risk being OHKOed by Doexys’s powerful psychic moves.Otherworldly One (Deoxys-Attack) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Psycho Boost
- Psystrike
- Fire Blast
- Volt Switch
Diviner of Demise (Mewtwo) @ Mind Plate
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Tail Glow
- Judgment
- Focus Blast
Mewtwo is one of two of the team's primary wall-breakers. Its ability, Teravolt allows it to bypass some of the most common checks to special set-up Pokemon, including but not exclusively, Ice-Scales, Unaware, etc... Taunt might seem a bit weird on a Pokemon with the power level and coverage of Mewtwo, but it is also vital to shutting down Prankster Haze Pokemon such as Registeel, who can easily tank Mewtwo's unboosted attacks and remove its boosts. Lastly, Psychic Judgment is used over something more powerful like Life Orb Psychic for the reason that if an Imposter Chansey or Blissey copied a life-orb setup, it would be nigh impossible to Imposter-Proof.
Phantasmagoria (Arceus-Ghost) @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Judgment
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Arceus-Ghost is the team's primary and, by far, most dangerous wall-breaker. Arceus’s combination of bulk, its immunity to having its Ghost Plate knocked off, and perfect coverage makes it really difficult to stop it from getting a Tail Glow boost. Similar to Mewtwo, Arceus’s ability is Teravolt to bypass Unaware and Ice Scales, which are typically used to stop Tail Glow abusers. Again, Taunt is used to stop common Prankster Haze pokemon in their tracks and punish opponents for trying to use that strategy to stop Arceus.
Temporal Fractures (Dialga) @ Adamant Orb
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Spacial Rend
- Earth Power
- Destiny Bond
Ethereal Wretch (Giratina-Origin) @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Judgment
- Focus Blast
- Destiny Bond
Giratina-Origin is the team’s secondary Destiny Bond abuser in case Dialga isn’t enough on its own. This is especially important against other aggressive teams who may have multiple fast offensive threats that can threaten to heavily damage or sweep my team. Outside of Destiny Bond, this set is the same as Arceus Ghost’s. The combination of Ghost Judgment and Focus Blast ensures near-perfect coverage to maximize the offensive pressure on opponents and ensure Giratina gets all the OHKO’s and 2HKOS that it needs.
Living Conspiracy (Tyranitar) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Dragon Dance
- Throat Chop
- Facade
Tyranitar may seem out of place on a team focused on overloading an opponent's special walls, but nonetheless performs a few vital roles for the team. For one, it reliably Imposter-Proofs Deoxys-Attack, which can be an immense problem if an opponent gets a hold of it and manages to win the speed tie with an Imposter Chansey or Blissey. Secondly, it checks Pokemon like Unaware Cressilia and Lugia, which like to run a Quiver Dance Stored Power set. The combination of Unaware Quiver Dance is immensely problematic otherwise for this team, as such sets can use Giratina and Dialga as set-up bait because Unaware ignores their boosts. For Tyranitar, I selected a Poison Heal set to clean heavily weakened teams and ensure Imposter Chansey cannot take advantage of it.
How to play the team?:
As with any other hyper offense team, playing as aggressively as is reasonable is generally the route to take. Early in the game, the best lead is typically Deoxys since it forces in specific switches that are easily capitalized on and sets Psychic Surge, which powers up Mewtwo and blocks priority moves. If you happen to end up in a bad spot with this lead, however, just Volt Switch into Dialga or Giratina and set-up Tail-Glow and begin layering on the offensive pressure. Once you’ve scouted things a bit based on the opponents' reactions to threats, try to find an opportunity to bring in Mewtwo or Arceus to get through common checks to Tail-Glow. If you ever find yourself on the back-foot offensively, always attempt to safely go into Giratina or Dialga to clear away said threat with Destiny Bond, even if sacking a Pokemon is necessary to do so safely.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...-1472186993-bpiiwhhoa2mdvl56nwn6gwue52w6f0ipwhttps://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...-1471928962-kbddtok0x6pmhrmq3oqwdl7tt59ulmfpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...-1471901845-fxkod51zezorv3qwunphv0m5mxxazfwpw
Proof of Peak:
As can be seen, from the screenshot, I was easily able to take first place on the PS scoreboard. Unfortunately, I was only able to get a bit above everyone else ELO-wise, so this record probably won’t last, but it's a record nonetheless.
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