• Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!

What If? - Alternate Timelines (AT #10f: Smokomodo - Ability Discussion)

With another close vote of 5-4...AT Smokomodo's typing will be...Fire/Electric!

So with that we are onto the ability discussion. Reminder that the original concept of this was ability-move synergy and I am curious to see what all can be utilized within these 2 types to achieve not just the concept but theoretical viability!

I will leave discussion up until Saturday-ish before we get a slate going for a vote! Have fun!
 
I think Magic Guard has some real merit here, if not a little too much.
Defensively, it essentially adds on a third status immunity (Poison/Toxic) which gives AT Smokomodo incredible survivability. It removes the Fire type's Stealth Rock weakness which is a major detriment of the typing in the current meta, allowing this mon to carry an item other than HDB.
Offensively, it enables a lot of physical offensive potential. It removes the recoil and crash damage from Flare Blitz and Supercell Slam, enabling this mon to throw out powerful stab moves with significant longevity. This also pairs well with the Life Orb, providing a free boost to these moves. I think this ability is extremely well suited for this typing but may potentially be too powerful, I'd like to see what other people think.

A few lower power abilities I could see are Strong Jaw / Tough Claws since both typings have Biting or Punching moves and also opens room for strong coverage.
 
As viol mentioned, Fire/Electric has many routes it can take towards viability (sound moves, recoil, status spreader, pivot, etc).

I am a big fan of the idea of building this around pivoting (as a pivot and/or anti-pivot). Offensively, Fire can punish ground-type switch-ins to Volt Switch either through damage alone or the risk of a burn. We can double down on this threat on the damage side with something like Stakeout (which, admittedly, might be too powerful) or Analytic, or by increasing the chance of a burn/paralysis with Serene Grace (although people might be fatigued after Ram). Increasing the danger level of pivoting into/out of us would make our own Volt Switch more reliable, helping our concept of move-ability synergy. Given our own immunity to the two statuses induced by contact, it might be funny to build a contact physical build with stuff like Tough Claws.

Defensively, most abilities I can think of have already been put to good use. I like Sticky Hold to prevent our boots from being knocked off, but Shox has demonstrated this. Both Static and Flame Body seem too close to how the birds operate in OU, but are obviously viable.​
 
Dropped the ball a bit so I'm getting to this later than expected. I won't go through a list of options like with our previous starter, but I'd like to highlight just a few that haven't been mentioned:

For much of the same reasons as Strong Jaw or Tough Claws (which I both like) there's also Sheer Force or Iron First. Fire and Electric share a lot of similarities in their movepools, so it's no surprise there is a rich vein to mine. Other abilities like Rock Head or Punk Rock feel a bit trite.

I also like the idea of Stakeout or Analytic as laid out by guingil. Another ability that could serve a similar purpose is Download. Especially if we lean into...

Pivoting. With access to STAB Volt Switch and a means to punish the Ground types that may stop it, numerous resists, readied access to two disrupting status conditions, and a natural inclination to wear boots, this Pokemon is shaping up as a potentially strong pivot. There a quite a few abilities that could further lean into this role, namely Regenerator and Intimidate.

Edit: It was brought to my attention that Iron Fist is a strictly worse Tough Claws, so disregard that suggestion
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top