Thursday, December 3rd Seminar
Latias, Kommo-o, and Salamence
How does everyone feel about Latias?
BigFatMantis started off, stating that Latias as average in the tier.
Bandkrook says Latias is fine, but not overwhelming.
Monky25 mentioned Latias being a good check to the newest drops, being Blaziken and Zapdos-Galar.
bb skarm said they enjoy running a defog variant with soul dew, allowing it to check Blaziken from full HP, while also providing Hazard Control.
Fusion Flare mentioned Scarf Latias as enjoyable and usable. In general, everyone kinda agreed that Latias' Choice Scarf set was one of the best sets right now. Healing Wish is a nice attribute to abuse on these sets, making Latias more of a team player.
BigFatMantis mentioned Scarf and CM being most likely the best sets for Latias right now. Bandkrook agreed with this statement, adding CM being very potent in the tier.
What has everyone been using to deal with Latias?
BigFatMantis laid out that Celesteela is one of the more hard checks to Latias. Baphlet and
Bandkrook mentioned Primarina and Azumarill as checks to it as well.
Monky25 said that Aegislash was a nice check because Latias isn't running Mystical Fire as much, and also mentioned Incineroar and Scizor being able to take a Thunderbolt, and counter with Knock Off or U-turn. The general consensus was that Bulky steels and Bulky fairies did well against Latias.
What does everyone think of Kommo-o in the current metagame?
BigFatMantis stated that Kommo-o is a top notch defensive anchor better than he thought anyone would've imagined. They also mentioned that they thought that Belly Drum and defensive were the best sets.
Bandkrook pinned Kommo-o as very versatile, and that he didn't expect it to be this good without any recovery.
Bandkrook also mentioned that the Offensive Stealth Rocker set is pretty good, and that Body Press was a huge addition to Kommo-o's kit. Overall, people felt that Kommo-o is very solid in the current metagame.
What have you been using to check Kommo-o?
@MilkyOmo mentioned that they had been using the slowtwins, both Kanto and Galar, to check it.
Bandkrook followed up, mentioning Latias, Amoonguss, and Tangrowth can all check different Kommo-o variants.
Monky25 mentioned that Alakazam and Hatterene also work to beat it down.
Bandkrook restated that Belly Drum sets are harder to check, but Amoonguss and Tangrowth do a good job of keeping it in check.
BigFatMantis also mentioned that offensive Celesteela good check to Kommo-o, too.
BigFatMantis followed up, saying that checking its offensive sets is a lot different to checking its defensive sets.
What has everyone been pairing with kommo-o in a general sense?
Monky25 and
Bandkrook threw spdef Jirachi as a great partner, being able to check most of what bother Kommo-o, while also being able to provide Wish support. Crushy Soul also mentioned Aegislash as a good partner. Mygrein suggested Ninetales-Alola, being able to set Aurora Veil for Belly Drum variants of Kommo-o.
Bandkrook mentioned that Victini is a good partner for offensive variants of Kommo-o, being able to get past Amoonguss and Tangrowth, which offensive variants of Kommo-o struggle with.
How does everyone feel about Salamence in the metagame?
After
vivalospride's expression of passion for Salamence,
467 11 11p and xinc said "its fine".
467 11 11p commented further, claiming that they really doesn't think its ban worthy or troublesome at all.
Monky25 stated that they thought Salamence would be busted but its fine, solid A/A- mon, according to them. The general consensus was that defensive Salamence variants tend to be easier to slot in teams, and that defensive sets are overall better in the metagame right now.
Bandkrook mentioned that the addition of Heavy-Duty Boots help Salamence's longevity, alongside it having a solid defensive typing. As far as handling Salamence, Celesteela and Primarina were mentioned as good answers, as well as Azumarill, Rocky Helmet Skarmory, and Choice Scarf Latias being decent checks.
Monky25 rattled off a list of several checks to offensive and defensive variants, such as Rotom-Wash, Hatterene, Lycanroc-Dusk, Nihilego, and Alolan-Ninetails, all being able to threaten Salamence. General partners for Salamence tended to run the line of either bulky faries or bulky steels, as mentioned by
BigFatMantis,
Monky25, and
Bandkrook. Overall, it was decided that Salamence is a good part of the metagame, while not being absurd, and providing either a good defensive check to Fighting and Grass types, or being an offensive setup sweeper or wallbreaker.
Thanks to all for participating, thanks to
Estarossa for letting me host this at the last possible minute. Also thanks to
Moutemoute for being AFK the entire seminar so that they didn't have to see that mess unfold. The seminar lasted ~28 minutes, and had moderate participation. Till next time!
sorry for hl'ing tf outta you in that seminar viv :(