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Now that you mention it actually, Zeraora does sound like a pretty interesting mon for Electric, and beneficial at that. It'll definitely be Electrics' best Physical Attacker with moves like CC and Knock, and having an exclusive move such as Plasma Fists to Electrify Normal Moves and a blistering speed tier at 143 make it a solid addition. I'm curious to see how it interacts w/ moves that get -ate boosted (might've been tested already but I don't know).
Granted this is just my assumption of it on paper, but I guess we'll wait and see.
For those interested in type usage statistics for the latest team tour (Monotype Winter Premier), you can check out the link below. While there is a much smaller number of battles than there was in MPL due to the lack of a bo3 format, it does provide some interesting insight to usage in a competitive tournament. Please keep in mind that during the first two weeks of the tournament, Naganadel was still being suspected, so the usage for those two weeks is quite different than the following seven weeks.
For anyone too lazy to look at the link, out of 160 played games, Water has the most usage at 14.4%, followed by Psychic at 13.3%, Steel at 12.2%, and Flying at 10%.
If anyone is interested in the type usage stats for Monotype BLT, check out the link below. Even smaller number of battles than MWP, but it's still interesting to see how the metagame fairs in comparison to a tour from a few months ago.
TL;DR for USUM Monotype - 62 games played; Water has the most usage at 20.97%, followed by Psychic at 14.52%, Fairy at 12.90%, and Normal at 11.29%.
If anyone is interested in the type usage stats for Monotype BLT, check out the link below. Even smaller number of battles than MWP, but it's still interesting to see how the metagame fairs in comparison to a tour from a few months ago.
TL;DR for USUM Monotype - 62 games played; Water has the most usage at 20.97%, followed by Psychic at 14.52%, Fairy at 12.90%, and Normal at 11.29%.
Do you guys think it's worth it to use Dragon at a high level in this meta? As a fairy user myself at a pretty high elo (1700), I have never lost a game against dragon and I doubt I ever will. It's the only matchup I consider unwinnable at the moment. And with fairy being so common, it just seems like a recipe for disaster attempting to use it to any success, and this isn't even considering it's other horrid matchups (steel especially). I know there are a lot of good dragon players like Soma or Chompy, but skill can only take you so far in this matchup.
This is just a thing I've been pondering as of late and I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Do you guys think it's worth it to use Dragon at a high level in this meta? As a fairy user myself at a pretty high elo (1700), I have never lost a game against dragon and I doubt I ever will. It's the only matchup I consider unwinnable at the moment. And with fairy being so common, it just seems like a recipe for disaster attempting to use it to any success, and this isn't even considering it's other horrid matchups (steel especially). I know there are a lot of good dragon players like Soma or Chompy, but skill can only take you so far in this matchup.
This is just a thing I've been pondering as of late and I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I think that Dragon is a very good type for low/mid ladder (I’m around 1400-1500 rn), and definitely is one of the top HO types, but the fairy MU is too much for it. You need to catch Diancie on the switch to get the HP Steel 2HKO (I think it’s 2H for Hasty, 1 for naive [dont trust me]), and threats like Azu can pretty much take out dragon. Therefore, dragon isn’t really too good in the higher level meta, stick to types like fairy.
I think that Dragon is a very good type for low/mid ladder (I’m around 1400-1500 rn), and definitely is one of the top HO types, but the fairy MU is too much for it. You need to catch Diancie on the switch to get the HP Steel 2HKO (I think it’s 2H for Hasty, 1 for naive [dont trust me]), and threats like Azu can pretty much take out dragon. Therefore, dragon isn’t really too good in the higher level meta, stick to types like fairy.
I'd honestly argue that Dragon is one of the better anti-meta types out there. Sure it's not as amazing as it used to be in previous gens, even more so now with the inclusion of powerful Fairies like Tapu Koko and Mimikyu, but it still is one of the best HO types out there, regardless of ladder, and additions such as Mega Altaria and Kommonium Z have the power to put extra pressure on bulkier types of teams, Water and Normal included. If it's a question of whether Dragon is usable at high-level play, the answer is definitely yes.
I'd also argue that the Dragon vs. Fairy MU, while still heavily in Fairy's favor, has some potential to break under HP Steel Latios (Diancie falls to HP Steel regardless of nature after rocks), and CM Mega Latias (and even DD Kommo-o with EQ/PJab, but I really don't see that set being common). The only way to make sure you have a chance is removing Diancie and Tapu Koko. Usually by removing both of these threats, you enable CM Mega Latias to set up and sweep since there's not much Fairy at this point can do to prevent it without allowing another dragon such as Kyurem-B and Dragonite to create more damage (outside of Clefable, but it's way too weak to beat Latias after two CM's, and really needs to rely on para's from Klefki and Moonblast crits to break it.)
regarding what Drifting said - Dragon vs Steel really isn't a bad matchup by any means, Z kommo with CC + flamethrower can really hurt steel, then you have fusion bolt + Epower KyuremB and Band Dnite which generally carries fire punch and superpower. Garchomp puts in work too so idk why you'd think this is such a bad mu.
And C9, koko doesn't really do much in that MU cause dgleam is pretty rare. imo getting rid of screens asap is the most important thing so you're actually getting damage on stuff
Anyway to get to your main point, I don't think Dragon vs fairy is unwinnable either, tough yeah but not an auto-loss. HP steel on scarf latios forces out Diancie every time and you can double to something or your mega and set up with DD alt or cm latios trying to make inroads w that stuff. Ofc Diancie behind screens is terrible for dragon but dragon's definitely a solid type to use at a decent level and has the tools to break fairy.
I was recently playing in a Monothreat Dark tournament, and I used Protean Greninja on my team. Though I do not think that Greninja or Protean is at all broken, I do find it unfair that if a Pokemon has a Mega Evolution that changes it's type to a non-monotype team it cannot be used. If Protean and even a bunch of attacks can change the type of a Pokemon than why aren't they banned. I do not believe that they should be banned, but I believe that the changed-type mega rule should be unbanned. I just found it inconsistent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there really isn't much difference.
I was recently playing in a Monothreat Dark tournament, and I used Protean Greninja on my team. Though I do not think that Greninja or Protean is at all broken, I do find it unfair that if a Pokemon has a Mega Evolution that changes it's type to a non-monotype team it cannot be used. If Protean and even a bunch of attacks can change the type of a Pokemon than why aren't they banned. I do not believe that they should be banned, but I believe that the changed-type mega rule should be unbanned. I just found it inconsistent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there really isn't much difference.
The difference is, protean's type change is not permanent, greninja will always come in as water/dark type after leaving the field. Mega evolutions homewer cannot retain the typing, after a switch for example it may not belong to the specific type, thus breaking the mentality of "Monotype" ( Gyarados mega in flying teams for example )
Other than that, moves that change type are not used by your own pokemons ( I guess you are referring to Soak, Forest's curse and Trick or Treat cuz no other move changes your own typing ) has nearly no influence on the metagame, besides that the effect of those moves are also not permanent, original typings will be restored upon switching aswell.
I was recently playing in a Monothreat Dark tournament, and I used Protean Greninja on my team. Though I do not think that Greninja or Protean is at all broken, I do find it unfair that if a Pokemon has a Mega Evolution that changes it's type to a non-monotype team it cannot be used. If Protean and even a bunch of attacks can change the type of a Pokemon than why aren't they banned. I do not believe that they should be banned, but I believe that the changed-type mega rule should be unbanned. I just found it inconsistent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there really isn't much difference.
I would actually say the opposite as I found the old inclusion of mega evolutions was inconsistent. Take Mega Lopunny for example. The Mega is a Fighting type, but did not start as such, so thus could not be included in a Fighting Monotype. If that is the case, then why could something like Mega Gyarados be included on a Flying team? I was very glad that the change was implemented. This actually gave Flying a power boost from Mega Altaria, Mega Charizard X and Mega Gyarados being included in the monotype, even though two of them were banned when the change was implemented.
As for Protean, this enters the realm of complex bans, in my opinion. Protean Greninja using Dark Pulse while it is on a Dark team is fine, or Hydro Pump on a water team. It is the other moves that changes types, but because can follow the Monotype premise, it can be allowed.
Relic Song is another example of something that would cause a complex ban. If we wanted that to be consistent to monotype, Relic Song can only be put on to a Meloetta on a Normal Team because Pirouette is Normal/Fighting. It wouldn't be able to be included on a Psychic team because it loses the Psychic typing.
These would also be a complex bans, which we don't do. It's either full on ban, or no ban at all, and since neither Protean nor Relic Song are broken or over-centralizing in the metagame, they are not banned.
As for other moves like Soak and such, your opponent uses them on you. When you build your team, it follows the monotype rule, thus, you have no control over it. Also, again, since it is not over-centralizing to the metagame, there is little reason to ban it. These could go, potentially, but there isn't any real reason for it.
Those are just some thoughts with regards to some of the more complicated points for Monotype, where it could be seen that we break the rule.
None of type changing moves such as roost , burn up, conversions and others are permanent, they are gone upon switching so it basically falls under same category as soak and forest curse.
Just going to respond to all three of these posts at once. Appreciate that you guys all have interest in the current meta, but judging by the Pokemon you presented as possible suspects for unbanning, you most likely don't understand why these Pokemon were banned in the first place nor their affect on the Monotype metagame. Zygarde-10% was banned because it applies so much pressure on opposing teams. 10% has no drawbacks from simply spamming Thousand Arrows against just about any type that doesn't inherently resist Ground-type attacks. It also exacerbates bad matchups that teams already have against Dragon and Ground. What exactly are Electric, Fire, Poison, and Steel supposed to do against Zygarde-10% spamming Thousand Arrows? Choice Band can come in throughout the match with minimal team support and almost always guarantee a KO. Choice Scarf variants can run down any Offense outside of those containing mons that could potentially outpace like with Greninja on Dark or Water. Sand Offense alone would easily come to dominate the meta and invalidate a multitude of types and playstyles.
As somebody who just started playing monotype I am honestly shocked that zyg-10% is banned altough I do understand the typing philosophie behind thousend arrows. However, half of the typings you mentioned have OU viable counters to it auch as MegaZor on Steel and MegaVenu on poison. Fire and Electric dont but they are offensive types anyway and they already have a bad matchup against both ground and dragon as far as I know.
As somebody who just started playing monotype I am honestly shocked that zyg-10% is banned altough I do understand the typing philosophie behind thousend arrows. However, half of the typings you mentioned have OU viable counters to it auch as MegaZor on Steel and MegaVenu on poison. Fire and Electric dont but they are offensive types anyway and they already have a bad matchup against both ground and dragon as far as I know.
The short of it is that Zygarde shouldn't invalidate types all on its own like it does to Fire and Electric. That was the bulk of my argument when we originally banned it. Fire and Electric have ways to beat both Ground and Dragon, and while it's hard, that's healthy. The way that Zygarde makes it basically impossible for either of them to win is undesirable.
Also, for Poison, Mega Venusaur can't counter Choice Band with Stealth Rock up, which Ground typically doesn't have problems setting up. It also cannot handle any of the Dragon Dance sets, which all set up and sweep against Mega Venusaur unless you run like Sleep Powder. Mega Scizor is a somewhat fair argument, and I think I was pretty much the only person using Mega Scizor back then to stop Zygarde (and Mega Metagross in the mirror), since everyone was still running on Mega Metagross hype. However, it only really handles Choice Band and Dragonium Z. Dragon Dance sets with Groundium Z can still power right through even max Defense Mega Scizor with Stealth Rock support, which Steel almost never has a reliable way to remove.
All in all, the fact is you can stop Zygarde-10% (but not on all types) but it's just ridiculously strong (and fast don't forget) and the way it threatens certain types in Monotype is largely uncompetitive.
The short of it is that Zygarde shouldn't invalidate types all on its own like it does to Fire and Electric. That was the bulk of my argument when we originally banned it. Fire and Electric have ways to beat both Ground and Dragon, and while it's hard, that's healthy. The way that Zygarde makes it basically impossible for either of them to win is undesirable.
Also, for Poison, Mega Venusaur can't counter Choice Band with Stealth Rock up, which Ground typically doesn't have problems setting up. It also cannot handle any of the Dragon Dance sets, which all set up and sweep against Mega Venusaur unless you run like Sleep Powder. Mega Scizor is a somewhat fair argument, and I think I was pretty much the only person using Mega Scizor back then to stop Zygarde (and Mega Metagross in the mirror), since everyone was still running on Mega Metagross hype. However, it only really handles Choice Band and Dragonium Z. Dragon Dance sets with Groundium Z can still power right through even max Defense Mega Scizor with Stealth Rock support, which Steel almost never has a reliable way to remove.
All in all, the fact is you can stop Zygarde-10% (but not on all types) but it's just ridiculously strong (and fast don't forget) and the way it threatens certain types in Monotype is largely uncompetitive.
On Mega-Venusaur cant counter CB Zygarde with rocks up:
You are correct, M-venu cannot take two outrages with Stealth Rock up, but you cannot mindlessly click Thousend Arrows since that will fail to 2hko even with rocks up: 252 Atk Choice Band Zygarde-10% Thousand Arrows vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 115-136 (31.6 - 37.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
Additionally, Mega-Venusaur is able to OHKO Zygarde-10% with HP Ice with either rocks or a bit of investment: 0 SpA Venusaur-Mega Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde-10%: 236-280 (94.7 - 112.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
80 SpA Venusaur-Mega Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde-10%: 252-300 (101.2 - 120.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
HP Ice is also not a waste of a move since it can also hit other problematic Ground-types as well as Dragon-types.
On Mega-Scizor does not handle the Groundium-Z set:
Lets take the counter scenario where Mega-Scizor switches into Stealth Rock and Zygarde-10% uses Dragon Dance. In this situation Groundium-Z only does 60%-71.7% and Thousend Arrows does the same as Choice Band would (30.6 - 36.1%) and Mega-Scizor is able to set up a Swords Dance allowing it to priority-oneshot Zygarde-10% after Stealth Rock or with a bit of investment.. +1 252 Atk Zygarde-10% Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Scizor-Mega: 208-246 (60.6 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Zygarde-10% Thousand Arrows vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Scizor-Mega: 105-124 (30.6 - 36.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 0 Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde-10%: 244-288 (97.9 - 115.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 28 Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde-10%: 249-294 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It is true that certain typings Fire, Electric and to some extent Poison have trouble handling Zygarde-10% but I believe that is moreso due to the nature of monotype, and while Thousend Arrows might be playing into it I dont think it is worth banning an otherwise very mediocre Pokemon for,
especially considering there are worse, existing legal examples such as Victini against Grass or Mega-Diancie against Dark and many many more.
My argument that Fire/Electric are offensive typings anyway wasnt to disregard them, I just wanted to say that they dont really need/are able to counter things in general. They can check Zygarde-10% simply by combining shuca berry with hp ice (or even Will-o-Wisp in case of fire) on any pokemon, we do this in OU with Tapu Koko and its not like we lack other good options. This is especially effective since Zygarde-10% is very frail and easy to kill.
In addition to all of that, Zygarde-10% is also quite bad in a lot of matchups. Grass & Bug have a huge amount of counterplay, Flying has Landorus-Therian, Fairy has Tapu Bulu as well as Clefable, Dark has Mandibuzz, Water probably has 10 different counter, Psychic has Slowbro, Mew, Ice Beam Latis and the list goes on...
Zeraora is a great asset to Electric, and I can't wait to have some fun with Zeraora. Personally I would rather run Z-Plasma Fists with Work Up for that boosted HP Ice, but that Z-Bounce is a good guaranteed kill on Bulu
Hopefully Zeraora pushes electric to top 5, breaking up the monotony that has been Water, Steel, Psychic, Normal, and Fairy dominating the meta. (Or at least top 6 so it's in the upper 1/3 of all types.)
How exactly is it broken? It's only seen on Greninja, who makes good use of it, yes, but isn't overpowered to the point of where it drastically alters matchups that Dark or Water would traditionally not win.
Also, it doesn't exactly break the rules as the type change isn't permanent (which is the primary reason it is allowed by that rule) -- Greninja will still be Water/Dark when it switches out. Not to mention the fact that it can keep with the type of the team if Greninja runs Dark Pulse or Hydro Pump on Dark or Water respectively. Thus, it cannot always "break" the rules, and would end up being an extremely complicated ban to pursue (to the point of sheer stupidity to pursue a ban based off solely off of the type change aspect of it).
In addition, if we ban Protean on the basis of "breaking" monotype rules, then we'd have to go through and ban everything that changes types. Meloetta + Relic Song on Psychic, Porygon Z with Z-Conversion, etc etc. Instead of opening that can of worms, it's simply easier to let them be because they don't have that much of an impact on the metagame.
Long story short is that none of these things are harmful in the monotype metagame, so banning them for the type changing aspect is simply over complicated, and is not worth the energy at this point.
Edit: Sniped by roman. RIP
Edit Two: If you don't have time to do it right the first time, you have time to do it again ^
I know how stupid these questions will sound to you and how dismissed it'll probably be, but whatever :
- is the search for a battle on the ladder truly random ? It might sound familiar to you, someone saying how often (like 90% of the time) we get to battle our most terrible matchups...
- will there ever be something done about stall staples ? It's the same in every tier. Flying and Water stalls seem to get the highest winrates, dominate the metagame, and all that we do is banning offensive mons that can handle them. Not every type has access to viable stall/wallbreakers... It makes the game really annoying, and not only on ladder (see last World Cup's finals...)
Thanks for your answers (although I have no doubt that everything I pointed out will be said wrong)
I know how stupid these questions will sound to you and how dismissed it'll probably be, but whatever :
- is the search for a battle on the ladder truly random ? It might sound familiar to you, someone saying how often (like 90% of the time) we get to battle our most terrible matchups...
- will there ever be something done about stall staples ? It's the same in every tier. Flying and Water stalls seem to get the highest winrates, dominate the metagame, and all that we do is banning offensive mons that can handle them. Not every type has access to viable stall/wallbreakers... It makes the game really annoying, and not only on ladder (see last World Cup's finals...)
Thanks for your answers (although I have no doubt that everything I pointed out will be said wrong)
not sure about the specifics on ladder matchup, but it's quite literally impossible for everyone to get a bad match up 90% of the time
as for the other part, flying and water aren't stall. you'll typically see speed control in the forms of tornt / scarf landot on flying and scarf gren on water + you also see breakers as well. it's not stall but a bulky core - mantine + swampert + toxapex. anyway complaining about match up in a match up oriented tier isn't going to get you far, if you're distraught about balance flying and water then consider it when building or picking what you'll be playing with. for example, dragon matches up very well vs flying and water and has a very good win rate in mpl, maybe try getting some experience with them if the dominance of bulky types is getting to you
It's been a while since i last posted here, so why not talk about Rock, specifically how Alolan Golem has influenced Rock.
Back in the olden days, Rhyperior was Rock's main Mega Scizor check, due to its astronomical defensive stats, access to Solid Rock, and its high Attack stat to further bolster Fire Punch's power. It became a mandatory asset, since, without it, the Rock player would be forced to click x against Steel every time. While Mega Aggron could also serve this purpose, it would come at the cost of using Mega Diancie, which was inarguably the greatest offensive Pokemon on Rock teams, that also served as a check against Keldeo and Mega Medicham(assuming it wasn't running Bullet Punch).
Then, Generation 7 arrived and introduced Alolan Golem, who was a very promising addition to improve the Steel matchup. In the very beginning of SM, very few people actually used Alolan Golem due to the fact that its best Fire type attack was Fire Blast, which when coming off its measly 55 Special Attack would force Alolan Golem to carry a Z-move every time to even stand a chance against Mega Scizor. For reference, here's a replay from SM against Paleo during the Fall Seasonals of last November, right before USUM came out.
When USUM arrived, Alolan Golem finally received Fire Punch, making it much more effective against not only Mega Scizor, but against Steel as a whole, and finally solidifying itself as an option over Rhyperior. Free from the burden of Firium Z, it could now choose between Choice Band or Expert Belt, giving Terrakion the freedom to run Rockium Z much more often. It could also completely max out its Attack, a privilege it didn't have in SM due to the need to run Special Attack investment for Fire Blast.
However, with Alolan Golem becoming more prominent, the opportunity cost of Rhyperior became much more apparent. On Rock, Rhyperior was more than a Mega Scizor answer. It was a catch-all to nearly every physical threat in the metagame, ranging from Landorus-T, Excadrill, Ditto(if Terrakion was copied), Mega Lopunny, Mega Altaria, Gliscor, the list goes on. With Alolan Golem taking its place, many matchups featuring these Pokemon began to change. Using Alolan Golem meant you could never afford to run Life Orb Nihilego, as the absence of Rhyperior made Landorus-T a much larger issue for Rock teams. Alolan Golem absolutely had to be paired with a different Landorus-T answer, whether it be physically defensive Cradily, Choice Scarf Nihilego, or in some instances, Air Balloon Omastar. The lack of Life Orb Nihilego meant that breaking defensive cores on Water and Ground became much more difficult, and that Nihilego didn't have the raw power to punch through Gliscor in a single hit without it. Normal teams had a much easier time with a Ditto reverse sweep without Rhyperior to force it out 100%, forcing that job to fall on Shuckle to remove its Choice Scarf, whose Stealth Rock weakness made it incredibly difficult to be a consistent answer. Additionally, against offensive Mega Scizor variants, Sticky Web was a 100% requirement in order for Alolan Golem to outspeed and KO Mega Scizor with Fire Punch.
With all these benefits and faults in mind, I'd like to discuss a few Alolan Golem teams that I believe perform the best in the current metagame:
Team 1
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sticky Web
- Knock Off
- Encore
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch
Golem-Alola @ Expert Belt / Choice Band
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Brick Break / Stone Edge
This first team has Choice Scarf Terrakion as its primary revenge killer, being able to revenge kill threats such as Mega Lopunny, Excadrill in sand after Sticky Web, and Tapu Bulu since it's carrying Poison Jab. Mega Diancie's final move could be a wide number of things, but for this team in particular, it's best running Hidden Power Ice when considering the team's very large weakness to Gliscor. If Flying is still an annoyance, the team can opt for Assault Vest Tyranitar to dent Gliscor with Ice Beam. However, with how passive the team is already, Choice Band Tyranitar's wallbreaking potential aids the team more. Cradily serves as the team's main answer to Landorus-T, being able to switch into any of its attacks from full health and beat it 1v1, even after Stealth Rock damage. With Wild Charge+Earthquake+Fire Punch, Alolan Golem is able to beat most bulky Steel-types that it traps. Brick Break is the main option in the last slot to make sure you can consistently break Klefki's screens, but you could also run Stone Edge if you feel that the Rock STAB is more important. As previously mentioned, the main issue with this team is how slow many of its Pokemon are, but it does patch up some of the problems that giving up Rhyperior tends to cause against offensive threats. Here are some replays:
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sticky Web
- Knock Off
- Encore
This team is much more offensively oriented, with Nihilego being the revenge killer instead, allowing Terrakion to run a wallbreaking set with Swords Dance+Substitute. As stated before, Mega Diancie's last moveslot is largely diverse, but for this team I usually prefer either Calm Mind or Psychic. Calm Mind gives it the extra power it needs to get past a few pesky defensive checks like Rotom-Wash or Seismitoad, while Psychic makes Mega Venusaur easier to manage, since you don't have Cradily to switch in and chip it down with Mirror Coat. As for Terrakion, while it can choose to run Rock Polish, Substitute is more valuable for this team because of its vulnerability to Normal. Under sand, Terrakion's Substitute can take a hit from Porygon2's Discharge or Ice Beam, and while behind a Substitute Ditto is unable to copy it, which is extremely helpful for stopping a reverse sweep. For Nihilego, Toxic Spikes is a fantastic option for the last slot, specifically for the Fairy matchup, wearing down Azumarill and making it unable to outright win with Aqua Jet. However, what the team makes up for in offense, it's forced to give up Cradily's defensive utility, resulting in a much worse matchup against Ground teams, and forcing much more prediction against Flying and Swift Swim Water teams.
As such, here are some replays with this team to demonstrate how it functions:
Overall, Alolan Golem has created a significant shift in Rock's matchup against Steel, and has created a deeper level of prediction within matchups such as Flying, Fairy, and Ground. But despite all the benefits it brings with it, it still doesn't completely overshadow Rhyperior, who has maintained its prevalence on Rock for 2 generations as an effective blanket check. But anyway, I'd be interested in hearing what anyone else has to say about Alolan Golem's presence on Rock teams.
It's been a while since i last posted here, so why not talk about Rock, specifically how Alolan Golem has influenced Rock.
Back in the olden days, Rhyperior was Rock's main Mega Scizor check, due to its astronomical defensive stats, access to Solid Rock, and its high Attack stat to further bolster Fire Punch's power. It became a mandatory asset, since, without it, the Rock player would be forced to click x against Steel every time. While Mega Aggron could also serve this purpose, it would come at the cost of using Mega Diancie, which was inarguably the greatest offensive Pokemon on Rock teams, that also served as a check against Keldeo and Mega Medicham(assuming it wasn't running Bullet Punch).
Then, Generation 7 arrived and introduced Alolan Golem, who was a very promising addition to improve the Steel matchup. In the very beginning of SM, very few people actually used Alolan Golem due to the fact that its best Fire type attack was Fire Blast, which when coming off its measly 55 Special Attack would force Alolan Golem to carry a Z-move every time to even stand a chance against Mega Scizor. For reference, here's a replay from SM against Paleo during the Fall Seasonals of last November, right before USUM came out.
When USUM arrived, Alolan Golem finally received Fire Punch, making it much more effective against not only Mega Scizor, but against Steel as a whole, and finally solidifying itself as an option over Rhyperior. Free from the burden of Firium Z, it could now choose between Choice Band or Expert Belt, giving Terrakion the freedom to run Rockium Z much more often. It could also completely max out its Attack, a privilege it didn't have in SM due to the need to run Special Attack investment for Fire Blast.
However, with Alolan Golem becoming more prominent, the opportunity cost of Rhyperior became much more apparent. On Rock, Rhyperior was more than a Mega Scizor answer. It was a catch-all to nearly every physical threat in the metagame, ranging from Landorus-T, Excadrill, Ditto(if Terrakion was copied), Mega Lopunny, Mega Altaria, Gliscor, the list goes on. With Alolan Golem taking its place, many matchups featuring these Pokemon began to change. Using Alolan Golem meant you could never afford to run Life Orb Nihilego, as the absence of Rhyperior made Landorus-T a much larger issue for Rock teams. Alolan Golem absolutely had to be paired with a different Landorus-T answer, whether it be physically defensive Cradily, Choice Scarf Nihilego, or in some instances, Air Balloon Omastar. The lack of Life Orb Nihilego meant that breaking defensive cores on Water and Ground became much more difficult, and that Nihilego didn't have the raw power to punch through Gliscor in a single hit without it. Normal teams had a much easier time with a Ditto reverse sweep without Rhyperior to force it out 100%, forcing that job to fall on Shuckle to remove its Choice Scarf, whose Stealth Rock weakness made it incredibly difficult to be a consistent answer. Additionally, against offensive Mega Scizor variants, Sticky Web was a 100% requirement in order for Alolan Golem to outspeed and KO Mega Scizor with Fire Punch.
With all these benefits and faults in mind, I'd like to discuss a few Alolan Golem teams that I believe perform the best in the current metagame:
Team 1
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sticky Web
- Knock Off
- Encore
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Punch
Golem-Alola @ Expert Belt / Choice Band
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Brick Break / Stone Edge
This first team has Choice Scarf Terrakion as its primary revenge killer, being able to revenge kill threats such as Mega Lopunny, Excadrill in sand after Sticky Web, and Tapu Bulu since it's carrying Poison Jab. Mega Diancie's final move could be a wide number of things, but for this team in particular, it's best running Hidden Power Ice when considering the team's very large weakness to Gliscor. If Flying is still an annoyance, the team can opt for Assault Vest Tyranitar to dent Gliscor with Ice Beam. However, with how passive the team is already, Choice Band Tyranitar's wallbreaking potential aids the team more. Cradily serves as the team's main answer to Landorus-T, being able to switch into any of its attacks from full health and beat it 1v1, even after Stealth Rock damage. With Wild Charge+Earthquake+Fire Punch, Alolan Golem is able to beat most bulky Steel-types that it traps. Brick Break is the main option in the last slot to make sure you can consistently break Klefki's screens, but you could also run Stone Edge if you feel that the Rock STAB is more important. As previously mentioned, the main issue with this team is how slow many of its Pokemon are, but it does patch up some of the problems that giving up Rhyperior tends to cause against offensive threats. Here are some replays:
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sticky Web
- Knock Off
- Encore
This team is much more offensively oriented, with Nihilego being the revenge killer instead, allowing Terrakion to run a wallbreaking set with Swords Dance+Substitute. As stated before, Mega Diancie's last moveslot is largely diverse, but for this team I usually prefer either Calm Mind or Psychic. Calm Mind gives it the extra power it needs to get past a few pesky defensive checks like Rotom-Wash or Seismitoad, while Psychic makes Mega Venusaur easier to manage, since you don't have Cradily to switch in and chip it down with Mirror Coat. As for Terrakion, while it can choose to run Rock Polish, Substitute is more valuable for this team because of its vulnerability to Normal. Under sand, Terrakion's Substitute can take a hit from Porygon2's Discharge or Ice Beam, and while behind a Substitute Ditto is unable to copy it, which is extremely helpful for stopping a reverse sweep. For Nihilego, Toxic Spikes is a fantastic option for the last slot, specifically for the Fairy matchup, wearing down Azumarill and making it unable to outright win with Aqua Jet. However, what the team makes up for in offense, it's forced to give up Cradily's defensive utility, resulting in a much worse matchup against Ground teams, and forcing much more prediction against Flying and Swift Swim Water teams.
As such, here are some replays with this team to demonstrate how it functions:
Overall, Alolan Golem has created a significant shift in Rock's matchup against Steel, and has created a deeper level of prediction within matchups such as Flying, Fairy, and Ground. But despite all the benefits it brings with it, it still doesn't completely overshadow Rhyperior, who has maintained its prevalence on Rock for 2 generations as an effective blanket check. But anyway, I'd be interested in hearing what anyone else has to say about Alolan Golem's presence on Rock teams.
I'm really not a fan of Alolan Golem. The matchup I see it really shining in the most is the flying one (trapping and removing celesteela). I've laddered with rock for a bit now and I've noticed myself having far more difficulty against flying than I do against steel (or almost any matchup for that matter). Steel doesn't switch into close combat from terrakion very well, while flying does switch into stone edge very well. Outside of steel, bug, and flying, are there any other matchups that golem helps with? Is trapping klefki winning you games vs fairy? In the replay you did win vs fairy, he kinda threw away azumarill. If he went bulu first and then came in on your shuckle later, that might've been better on his part.
Side question, your teams distinctly lack stakataka. Do you not like it, or do you believe the other mons are more important and you can't fit it in?
