Metagame BDSP Pure Hackmons

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aerobee

Pure Hackmons
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
OP made by Ransei


Ever wanted to discover how an entire core series game being thrown at you was like through a chaotic mix of Pokémon, moves, and abilities? Ever wanted to maximize the true potential of any Pokémon by having them customized in your preference? Ever wanted to take one step above Anything Goes into a field where the best of the best matches are made from your own customizations? If you answered yes to any of these questions this thread just might be for you! Welcome to Hackmons, otherwise known as Pure Hackmons! This is the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl edition!
Premise: Anything that can be hacked in-game and is usable in local battles is allowed, with no bans or clauses. In other words, all existing Pokémon can use any move and any ability as long as it can be used in local matches against other players!

This is not Balanced Hackmons. Balanced Hackmons holds a banlist for the purpose of having a less centralized variant of Hackmons. For Generation 8 Balanced Hackmons, check out the Balanced Hackmons thread.

This is also not Anything Goes. Anything Goes is exclusive to legal Pokémon. For Generation 8 Anything Goes, check out the Anything Goes subforum.

This is Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl edition. Sword and Shield Pure Hackmons has been shut down and archived. Check out this post for further information.

Clauses: Team Preview, Endless Battle Clause

Rules for Posting:
1)
All forum rules still apply. Make sure you read and follow them.

2)
Don't post a set without any specific explanation of what it does. Your post will be deleted otherwise. If you are going to post about a specific set, it is greatly advised that you post with great detail of what exactly your set does, how it affects specific Pokémon, and why. You can't just simply say Wonder Guard Burn Up Arceus-Fire is the best because it cannot faint when the case is far from true and you lack sufficient evidence.

3) Be civil and on topic when posting on this thread.

FAQ:
Q:
Is this Custom Game?
A: No. Custom Game is based on what the Pokémon Showdown teambuilder is capable of, while Hackmons is based around what is hackable in game and usable in local battles. Specifically, in Hackmons you are limited to a maximum level of 100, a maximum of 4 moves, a maximum of 6 Pokemon, and Showdown specific moves and abilities such as Paleo Wave and Rebound are unusable, while in Custom Game there is a max level of 9999, the maximum number of moves is 24, the maximum number of Pokemon is 24, and Showdown specific moves and abilities are usable.

Q: Can I make my Pokémon invincible?
A: No Pokémon can be made fully invincible, and most gimmicky attempts in having them done end up bringing no impact towards the competitive metagame. Wonder Guard + Burn Up and Sturdy Shedinja are not reliable options.

Q: Why is there an Endless Battle Clause?
A: Endless Battle Clause exists in every Showdown metagame to prevent battles taking too long and lagging the server. This acts similar to the in-game timer system, but more loose, meaning battles can extend further with Endless Battle Clause than it could with in-game timer.

(Current Gen) Resources:
Sample Teams

(Other Gen) Resources:
Old Gen Hackmons Megathread

Social:
Pure Hackmons Discord

Accessibility:

Currently playable through PS! challenges and tournaments.

Council:
BahamutLagoon
Mbouchon (Leader)
 
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aerobee

Pure Hackmons
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Viability Rankings

S Rank
S
Arceus-Flying
Arceus-Ghost
Mewtwo

A Rank
A+
Arceus-Electric
Arceus-Grass
Arceus-Steel

A
Arceus-Dark
Arceus-Fairy
Arceus-Poison

A-
Arceus
Arceus-Fire
Arceus-Ground
Arceus-Ice
Regigigas

B Rank
B+
Arceus-Dragon
Arceus-Rock

B
Arceus-Fighting
Arceus-Water
Jirachi

B-
Lugia
Slaking

C Rank
C+
Arceus-Psychic
Giratina
Heatran

C
Arceus-Bug
Deoxys-Attack
Shaymin-Sky

C-
Blissey
Groudon
Ho-Oh
Kyogre

D Rank
Aerodactyl
Articuno
Deoxys-Speed
Dialga
Gliscor
Palkia

 
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Ransei

Garde Mystik
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderatoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
People have been wondering how Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Pure Hackmons works, here's an overall summary.

Also, here's a sample team so anyone can begin.


The Beginning - by Ransei

1) All abilities are programmed in the game - All abilities that exist in Pokemon Sword and Shield are usable in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl through hacking.

2) Not all moves are usable - ILCA (developers of BDSP) have picked out whatever moves would be considered unusable in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

List of unusable moves: https://www.serebii.net/brilliantdiamondshiningpearl/unusableattacks.shtml

3) You are only able to use the first 493 Pokemon. All Pokemon on the Pokedex from Bulbasaur to Arceus can be used, including Giratina-Origin. No Pokemon after Gen 4 is usable.

4) There are no new formes. The only usable forme introduced after Gen 4 is Arceus-Fairy, although the game does contain a new form of Giratina-Origin that is purely aesthetic and would be usable once implemented on PS! Nothing is changed about this form of Giratina-Origin aside from its appearance. It is only obtainable in the game through hacking.

3) Most items introduced after Gen 4 cannot be used. The exceptions are Eviolite, Eject Button, Pixie Plate, and Roseli Berry.

List of available items: https://www.serebii.net/brilliantdiamondshiningpearl/items.shtml

Additional Information
Unlike in Gens 6-7, Arceus becomes the type it's shown as in the teambuilder and on team preview. This time, if you add Arceus-Grass to a team, that Arceus is truly Grass-type even without a plate or Multitype. Multitype can still override the type Arceus is shown as in the teambuilder and on team preview.
 
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im happy that arceus formes keep the gen 8 change to multitype and rks system so wg arceus-fire can truly be a meme now
i was really hoping for no ngas but i guess we have to deal with it forever sigh
on the bright side we don’t have to deal with 0 defense/spdef bullshit anymore so that’s extra epic and cool
i have hopes for this gen but i feel like they’ll be dashed real quick lol
 

Ransei

Garde Mystik
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderatoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
I've watched a couple of matches from respectable players and have played one game. So far, BDSP Pure Hackmons is looking to be significantly more tame than Sword and Shield.

While Neutralizing Gas still exists, the lack of Eternamax, Dynamax, Zacian-Crowned, and insane moves like Double Iron Bash, Bolt Beak, Power Trip, and Fishious Rend have given everything more of a chance to not only be used, but to thrive in this metagame.

I think Dialga and Arceus-Grass are the best Pokemon so far but no player has genuinely found a particular Pokemon to be overkill as of yet. Our bulkiest Pokemon in this game are able to take on a x2 Shell Smashed Dialga, Rayquaza, and Mewtwo or even take on x4 Atk Extreme Speed Arceus decently fine to my surprise.

At first, several players and I were worried by the lack of Safety Goggles, but the lack of this item forces more Comatose users to be ran over Neutralizing Gas. If you don't run Comatose, you get steamrolled by Neutralizing Gas, but you also must run Magic Bounce to win against potential Comaphazing sets.

This metagame is working itself out so far with a cycle between Neutralizing Gas, Comatose, and Magic Bounce. Comatose's high necessity to be used allows for other abilities such as Shadow Tag and No Guard to stand with solid niches, and because it allows for those other abilities to be used, there's theoretically a whole lot of room for this metagame to diverse itself just fine.

(No one has asked but I'll edit this in just in case)
- Comatose is necessary specifically because of Spore. Comatose users and Grass-types are the only Pokemon blocking a Spore from Neutralizing Gas Pokemon. Without running Comatose or a Grass-type, Neutralizing Gas Pokemon can use Spore to put their opposition to sleep and set up past the point where anything can be done to counteract them.
- Arceus-Grass is significant because its Grass-type automatically blocks Spore. This allows Arceus-Grass to run a more diverse range of sets while having a great combination of base stats (120 across the board) to pull them off. Lastly, Arceus-Grass is the bulkiest Grass-type Pokemon in the game overall.
 
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hey! first time trying out ph and since this is a completely new meta i felt like this was a good time to try. thoughts on this for a team? https://pokepast.es/3a68ae5b737ed68f idea behind the more abstract sets are that gastro acid nullifies ngas so deo-s can get in another kill and sash lets it get the gastro acid off safely, mbounce haze dialga is a good answer to a lot of spore shell smash users, and wg dialga can break holes after the ngasers have been weakened throughout the game. this team is probably dogshit but i expect that
 
hey! first time trying out ph and since this is a completely new meta i felt like this was a good time to try. thoughts on this for a team? https://pokepast.es/3a68ae5b737ed68f idea behind the more abstract sets are that gastro acid nullifies ngas so deo-s can get in another kill and sash lets it get the gastro acid off safely, mbounce haze dialga is a good answer to a lot of spore shell smash users, and wg dialga can break holes after the ngasers have been weakened throughout the game. this team is probably dogshit but i expect that
Yo your team looks pretty nice, A few suggestions tho.
:Dialga: 2:

Dialga @ Lum Berry
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Spacial Rend
- Flash Cannon/Fire Blast/Close Combat
- Spore


Dialga is usually better as a ngas/mbounce mon. Running wg is bad not only because of ngas but specifically because many people run fighting type moves like cc in order to defend against dialga so your set would be easily beaten. That being said, changing the ability to ngas makes it more productive and a harder hitter due to it being able to avoid most if not all abilities. Since you are now going offensive on this mon, running a smash set would hit harder. Spacial Rend is better because it doesn't lower your sp.atk unlike Draco, and running flash cannon/fire blast/Close Combat is better than because all three of those moves will support Dialga and help it take out enemies like fairyceus,grassceus,or regular arc/dialga. Fire blast is better than magma storm since it hits harder and will kill a grassceus. Finally, if your running spore you probably won't need sub. So it is better to take that move out for a move that allows you to easily set up and beat the opposing mon, spore. Its also better because then you don't need to lose or set up sub just for it to be beaten. Since most dialgas run spore, it is important to be able to defend against it by using lum berry so u can wake up if attacked. Finally, speed is required for spore so running timid will give you the advantage.

:Dialga: 1:

Dialga @ Lum Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Sticky Web
- Recover


Dialga Mbounce is good, but running it offensive is not. Its better as a defense since your going to be running it when ngas isn't there so you can setup/do something useful. If you wanted to attack it would be better to run ngas. Since your still running bounce, lum is required because there still are ngas spore people that can bypass bounce. Since Mbounce dialga should be defensive running annoying sets like rocks/wind/webs is good to damage and slow down the opponent's team. In case of damage, it would be nice to heal since this mon could help get an advantage with rocks and webs.

:Deoxys-speed: 1 -> :arceus-grass:

Arceus-Grass @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Sheer Cold
- Gastro Acid
- Recover


No guard is a smart set, and deoxys is fast, but its not bulky. Its good to have a fast and bulky no guard that is not deo, luckily, arc-grass is a good fit since it doesn't need to worry about spore. That allows for good items and strategy. Spore is good to make them fall asleep so that you can use gastro acid to remove their ability if they have ngas. This will pressure them and make them switch so that they will take out another pokemon that you may be able to kill. Sheer cold works since nothing is immune to it in this generation. And, a hard hitting mon would be nice if it could heal so adding recover is a good touch. Timid, is for speed so that you can hit faster than the opponent.

:Deoxys-speed: 2:

Deoxys-Speed @ Focus Sash
Ability: Comatose
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Nature Power
- Chatter

- Whirlwind

This set it nice, but its better to focus on whirlwind. Using whirlwind annoyingly can allow you to hurt mons with rocks and not let them touch you. Scarf isn't really necessary so using an item that can help you tank a hit is good. Nature Power and Chatter can't be used by sleep talk so only whirlwind will that way you can be guaranteed on the whirlwind.

:Arceus:

Arceus-Grass @ Leftovers
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Recover
- Shell Smash
- (Filler)
- Close Combat


When it comes to running arc-grass, running cc is always useful incase you run into dialga or reg arc. You don't really require speed but that doesn't really matter. As for magma storm, its not the best move and you shouldn't really run it on arc-grass. That move though really depends on what you think you need so if you think you need that move, go ahead and run it.

:Rayquaza: -> :Arceus:

Arceus-Ghost @ Lum Berry
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Boomburst
- Shadow Ball
- Gastro Acid


There are already 2 dragons on your team right now, no need to make it three. You have most things covered on your team right now, so what you would need is a wg. The set is a simple wg smash set but you can change it to any other wg if you would like.

These are simply suggestions that I think would make your team better, you obviously can 100% ignore this but if you do wanna take them here would be the complete team: https://pokepast.es/532651ec229732b5
Hope you enjoy!
 

aerobee

Pure Hackmons
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
I've played a good number of games these last few days, and I'm liking this metagame more than when BDSP was implemented on PS.
______________________________________________________________________________

Ransei covered everything about the extremely early metagame, so I'll talk about what I've seen and tried recently.

In addition to Neutralizing Gas, Comatose, and Magic Bounce, I've also started to see No Guard, Wonder Guard, and Shadow Tag pop up as abilities with large niches.

No Guard capitalizes on the abundance of Comatose Pokemon (because of the ability's status as a necessity due to the relative lack of ways to deal with Spore), threatening an OHKO on much of the metagame. This is exacerbated by these Pokemon's ability to run Gastro Acid, forcing switches between two Neutralizing Gas Pokemon; what the opponent is forced into isn't even safe from OHKO. From what I've seen the best No Guard users are bulky Arceus formes (notably Arceus-Grass) and Mewtwo.

Wonder Guard solves all of that. It also greatly values Gastro Acid, and has proven to be able to work a variety of roles (I've seen SubPass, offensive, and supportive sets so far). I've found base Arceus, Arceus-Water, and Arceus-Ghost to work so far, as they don't have very severe weaknesses.

Shadow Tag isn't widespread as of now (I'm the only person to have tried it to my knowledge), but I feel it has a lot of potential with the sets that players are using. As Comatose is so prevalent of an Ability, pairing a Shadow Tag user with a Neutralizing Gas sweeper can trap unprepared sets very effectively; often they can straight-up win games. Be careful when building, people!

I think it's too early yet to call it an aspect of the metagame, but hyper offense seems a promising playstyle. From my few games with an HO team I made and revised I can say that Neutralizing Gas' ability to force switches, especially on offensive Pokemon, is exceptional - even then the switch-in can have trouble dealing with setup sweepers.

Here's an HO team I built and revised (there's still room for improvement, I think): https://pokepast.es/efb5a530f3b572e1

Again, this is my interpretation of the current metagame so take it with a grain of salt; the metagame is also just a few days old, so try finding something new that works!
 
Sorry for not rating this team earlier!
Unfortunately, it looks like half the members of this team use abilities that both get deactivated by Neutralizing Gas and cannot take advantage of opposing non-NGas mons quickly enough (namely Speed Boost Palkia, Pixilate Arceus-Fairy, and Pressure Deoxys-Speed). Those members sadly look more appropriate for a BDSP Balanced Hackmons team if they keep their abilities. In BDSP Pure Hackmons, they should be using Neutralizing Gas instead (at the very least to prevent opposing Magic Bounce and the several opposing guys trying No Guard from working). Also, Palkia's Nasty Plot is outdone by Tail Glow (boosts Special Attack by +3 instead of +2) and Shell Smash (also boosts Speed by +2, mons can often take one hit after getting -1 in Defense and Special Defense). The rest of your Palkia's moves look fine, though. Because the average BDSP PH team contains at least 3 and often 4 or more NGas users, Arceus-Fairy should probably be swapped out for Regigigas, Arceus-Normal, or Slaking to keep the hard-hitting STAB Extreme Speed while actually keeping Extreme Speed's STAB against NGas users.

My experience with going up against Sticky Web users is that the more successful ones use Taunt, Spore, or even Trick/Switcheroo with Choice Scarf to prevent others from using Defog and/or disrupting sweeper/wall/fellow hazards leads. I'd pull one of Psycho Boost or Discharge for one of those disruption moves. Take your pick about whether your Webs Deoxys-Speed should use Lum Berry or Mental Herb - Deoxys-S generally gets 2HKOd but not OHKOd, I find.

In fact, I'd only put Focus Sash on very frail mons (e.g. Deoxys-Attack) or mons meant to check sweepers. Mewtwo is fast enough to properly take advantage of a sleeping Arceus with a Shell Smash, while (your) Palkia needs to Shell Smash twice to outspeed that same Arceus. Palkia's Spacial Rend and Magma Storm also won't OHKO much of the meta without boosts (the meta has gotten kinda soft to Close Combat in my experience, though).

The No Guard Deoxys-Speed will regret using double OHKO moves whenever it runs into a Substitute user. Psycho Boost is a fine way to remove Substitutes (Psystrike might be more consistent at this job, though), but replacing one of the OHKO moves with Spore is a good idea to disable quite a lot of NGas (or the occasional Wonder Guard) switch-ins and give you room to use Gastro Acid.

You may want to change out some Spores for Taunts so your sweepers can actually disrupt opposing Comatose walls and Grass-types (dare them to Magic Coat you) and not have to gamble with possible opposing Lum Berry users.

The Dialga and Mewtwo look fine enough, although do be aware that Comatose Scarf Mewtwo moves second against any Mewtwo with a Shell Smash up its belt. I also generally prefer Timid over Modest on sweepers unless Modest achieves at least one KO that Timid does not, as in this NGas meta where abilities are mostly suppressed, raw stats matter more than ever, and winning speed wars is also more important than ever.

You probably want to find room somewhere for some combination of Magic Bounce, Defog, and/or Rapid Spin to have a chance against hazard-stacking Comaphazer teams (the Extreme Speed user will only be enough if you can reliably ensure that your opponent can only get up one layer of hazards or fewer against you). In fact, removing the Comaphazer Mewtwo for the Magic Bounce/Defog/Rapid Spin user looks like a good idea, as Stealth Rock alone is not good enough support for a Comaphazer, and even Scarf Deoxys-S as your Comaphazer gets pummelled before it can phaze out a Mewtwo with a Shell Smash (thus making one of the other roles for a Comaphazer on a team, that of the near-universal sweeper check, significantly worse).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, that rate was long enough, let's get on with some sets I've been trying out (and often liked)!

I'll say this as context, though - after the initial rash of Comatose walls, the meta fairly quickly shifted towards sweepers using Taunt instead of Spore. Sweepers often have such impressive bulk that they can mispredict with Taunt:
252+ SpA Dialga Spacial Rend vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Arceus: 139-165 (31.3 - 37.1%) -- 79% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Dialga Spacial Rend vs. -1 252 HP / 252 SpD Arceus: 208-246 (46.8 - 55.4%) -- 71.1% chance to 2HKO

You read that right, folks; that's Arceus Taunting and Shell Smashing in Dialga's face.

+2 252 Atk Expert Belt Arceus Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Dialga: 413-487 (102.2 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Don't underestimate sweeper Arceus.
Regigigas pulls off similar calcs (and not needing an item to OHKO Dialga with Close Combat) if Dialga is Timid instead of Modest. (Regigigas has a slim chance of falling to Modest Dialga if it mispredicts with Taunt and Shell Smashes a turn later anyway.)

The meta has also shifted considerably towards offence (do we call it Hyper Offence or Bulky Offence when the Shell Smashers are this bulky?) at the moment, with teams often being on the back foot for the rest of the game against Sticky Web. I bet some people are still trying balance teams, though.

If there is enough Taunt in the meta that people forget to bring their Comatose users, maybe the meta will cycle back to using Spore (or Lovely Kiss?) again. Lum Berry can swing turns and sometimes entire games, though.

:ss/Regigigas:
Regigigas @ Life Orb
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Shell Smash
- Extreme Speed
- Precipice Blades

This set is based on a similar Regigigas set I tried and liked in the Sword/Shield no Eternamax "PH" meta, where it OHKOd post-Shell Smash Regieleki with Extreme Speed, OHKOd Zacian-Crowned with Fishious Rend after a Shell Smash, and was Giratina-weak.

This set is still kinda Giratina-weak - if Giratina lands a burn, Regigigas's chances of sweeping often end right there - so I use Spore instead of Taunt here to increase the chance of getting multiple uninterrupted turns against Giratina (yes, I'm scared of Scald Giratina and coverage misses).

Regigigas admittedly can be Comatose to prevent getting burned, and Comatose also stops Magic Bounced Spore from affecting it, but having Neutralizing Gas to ignore the remaining Wonder Guard sweepers and delay the remaining No Guard users is nice.

Precipice Blades is coverage against Steel-types (and the one guy with a Rock-type) that still 2HKOs Giratina after a Shell Smash:
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Regigigas Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Giratina: 252-298 (50 - 59.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I'm sticking with Jolly on Regigigas for now because I'm still scared of Regigigas failing to outspeed things while in sweeper mode otherwise.

Speaking of sweeper mode, Life Orb Regigigas makes a pretty good revenge killer with its STAB Extreme Speed. Obviously, it appreciates better hazard support, but it's already quite good at revenging even without that support. I also lead with Regigigas against any obvious fast, weak, and very speedy probable lead in team preview that outspeeds my fastest mon (e.g. Deoxys-Speed, Ninjask - Deoxys-Attack is too strong, Shaymin-Sky is too slow, I risk Mewtwo speed ties).

:ss/Mewtwo:
Mewtwo @ Life Orb
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Taunt
- Stored Power
- Aura Sphere / Focus Blast / Earth Power

This set is not creative - the calc that Stored Power from exactly Life Orb Mewtwo guaranteed OHKOs sweeper Arceus after one Shell Smash was done and taken advantage of before me:
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mewtwo Stored Power (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Arceus: 469-554 (105.6 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The OHKO chance drops to 75% against +SpDef-natured Arceus neutral to Stored Power, though, and Stored Power naturally makes Mewtwo more Taunt-weak.

Taunt is used here because Mewtwo can actually take a hit or two (especially if Taunt actually stuffs an opposing turn) and is quite possibly the fastest mon in the meta with enough bulk to take two hits. Due to being the fastest mon on my team (the Timid nature helps here), Mewtwo is the lead the most often, and Taunt does a good job of preventing opposing Shell Smashes, Spores, Taunts, hazards, Gastro Acid, Whirlwind, and recovery - regardless of opposing ability thanks to Neutralizing Gas (watch as I hit Mental Herb on Sticky Web leads and Magic Coat on walls).

Aura Sphere currently takes advantage of the only popular Steel-type in the meta being Dialga, as it guaranteed OHKOs sweeper variants and remains super-effective against Dark-types:
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Mewtwo Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Dialga: 406-478 (100.4 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The moment people remember to play with Arceus-Steel and Arceus-Dark, though, Mewtwo needs Focus Blast instead to guaranteed OHKO them (not even Close Combat secures the guarantee), and Aura Sphere drops to a 50% chance to OHKO +SpDef-natured Dialga.

If all you care about is speedily eliminating Dialga and denting other Steels instead of Darks for more, I guess Earth Power is OK as coverage, although I must warn that it still doesn't OHKO Timid Arceus-Steel after a Shell Smash, and Stored Power 2HKOs Steel Him after a Shell Smash. ...And yeah, Stored Power somehow deals more damage than Earth Power to Mewtwo after a Shell Smash.

I'll sadly note that the current Mewtwo kit makes it have a tough time against opposing Mewtwos and other Psychic-types, so if the meta shifts completely towards Mewtwo spam and away from Dark- and Steel-types, switching the coverage move to Shadow Ball or Dark Pulse might be warranted.

:ss/Arceus-Fairy:
Arceus-Fairy @ Lum Berry
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Strength Sap
- Quiver Dance
- Taunt

Arceus-Fairy is here to take advantage of Dialga being one of the most popular sweepers in the earliest days of the BDSP PH meta (especially ones that pack Spacial Rend), Dragon Tail being a somewhat common phazing move, and there being no Steel-type move legal in BDSP not named Doom Desire with base power over Judgment's 100 (Gunk Shot is picking up, though).

Arceus-Fairy, being one of the bulkiest mons in the meta along with being quite fast, gets to use Taunt to disrupt walls and some sweepers.

Moonblast takes advantage of Quiver Dance being the boosting move of choice.

Strength Sap used to be a generic 50% recovery move, but since Arceus-Fairy has Neutralizing Gas (NGas definitely helps Him use Taunt) to deactivate Magic Bounce and I wanted to strengthen my team against offence, I switched it to Strength Sap. Do be aware that Strength Sap provides basically no recovery against Blissey and Chansey, though, and every single mon that doesn't use physical attacks is actively making your Strength Sap healing as low as possible.

Quiver Dance...oh, how divided I feel about it. It still boosts Speed so it can compete (at least in theory) with Shell Smash, it preserves Arceus-Fairy's bulk so a mono-attacking set is somewhat viable, and it even prevents Doom Desire from forcing Arceus-Fairy out:
252 SpA Dialga Doom Desire vs. +2 248 HP / 252 SpD Arceus-Fairy: 180-212 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Man, does Arceus-Fairy often need 2-4 Special Attack boosts to OHKO anything, though, and Shell Smash just plain racks up boosts faster than Quiver Dance:
+3 252 SpA Arceus-Fairy Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Dialga: 289-342 (71.5 - 84.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+3 252 SpA Arceus-Fairy Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Mewtwo: 310-366 (74.5 - 87.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 SpA Arceus-Fairy Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Giratina: 408-482 (80.9 - 95.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+3 252 SpA Arceus-Fairy Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Giratina: 510-602 (101.1 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Arceus-Fairy Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Palkia: 408-482 (106.2 - 125.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Arceus-Fairy Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Arceus-Dark: 408-482 (91.8 - 108.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

Lum Berry lets Arceus-Fairy ignore Spore and Toxic once, and this set is Timid so Taunt prevents as many Spores, Taunts, and Shell Smashes as possible.

I've found that Arceus-Fairy can unstoppably steamroll teams if He gets enough boosts thanks to having Taunt, recovery, and a boosting move that increases bulk instead of reducing it, and I can get those boosts often enough by getting Him in against a wall. ...Of course, this Arceus-Fairy does not pack a powerful enough move to revenge kill most sweepers (unlike any Arceus form with access to a STAB move with at least 120 BP), and this set cannot phaze or Haze sweepers, either.

:ss/Chansey:
Chansey (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Innards Out
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Gentle Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Def
- Roost
- Final Gambit
- Clear Smog
- Fissure

Disclaimer: this Innards Out Chansey is a high-risk set that leans heavily on others keeping at least one non-Neutralizing Gas mon (e.g. Comatose, Magic Bounce) on all of their teams, especially such a mon with at least one physical attack. The jig is up the moment they keep using NGas-using physical and/or mixed sweepers instead.

Somehow, opponents keep repeatedly falling for this Innards Out Chansey, though, despite pretty much all my replays having it.

...Or is falling for it the right term? I personally still think that Chansey is the best Innards Out mon in the meta due to suddenly OHKOing pretty much every non-NGas mon that uses a physical attack and being a fairly good special wall against NGas users. As long as the opponent tries using a non-NGas mon, Innards Out Chansey still provides a Shadow Tag-like effect that threatens to entrap and OHKO that non-NGas mon simply by switching in while it uses a physical attack (including weak ones like Rapid Spin and Dragon Tail). Even better, that Shadow Tag-like effect is applied to every single team member while Chansey still has full HP. Since non-NGas users might not be staying in for long, Innards Out users cannot afford to waste turns and lose the surprise factor and momentum by being too defensively bulky on both sides and not having enough HP.

This Innards Out Chansey has claimed its fair share of No Guard users, for example. ...I have to admit that I initially tried this Chansey as a way to suddenly eliminate Comatose walls so my sweepers get an opening, although the set still works even with no Comatose walls to abuse but other non-NGas users to target.

This Chansey has Lum Berry to prevent sleep (and Toxic) from disrupting it once.

Roost helps Chansey be a good special wall (precisely because everyone else picks Recover, never pick Recover as your 50% recovery move lest you get it Imprisoned off) and pumps up its HP so Innards Out works in more situations. I think Roost on non-Flying-types is hilarious.

Clear Smog is used as the anti-setup move because Chansey gets Taunted all day, and this set wants non-NGas users to stay in instead of switch out in favour of a NGas user. Most sweeper Dialgas are NGas users, anyway.

Final Gambit OHKOs nearly all walls who think Chansey is their opportunity to set hazards and do other nonsense. Final Gambit helps this Chansey fit better on offence teams by helping it lose less momentum.

Since Chansey still risks being passive, especially if I'm not interested in losing it to Final Gambit yet, Fissure is in the last slot to attempt to KO the mon in front of it fast enough (Toxic and Night Shade/Seismic Toss often don't even 3HKO, and Toxic gets Taunted off). This slot used to be Magic Coat, but I found it to waste a turn too often (e.g. opponent switches, sets up, or uses a special attack). Fissure should be more accurate than Sheer Cold, and nearly all Ghosts aren't immune to Fissure (unlike Horn Drill/Guillotine/Final Gambit).

If Innards Out doesn't completely eliminate all the HP of the opposing mon, at least my sweepers, especially Regigigas, can mop up the remainder. I do find that this Innards Out Chansey and my Regigigas set above have quite good synergy together.

Here's my BDSP PH team that contains all of these sets:
https://pokepast.es/7fd46e1248386fff

I have to admit I don't really like my Magic Bounce Arceus-Grass - it's quite passive, and it often cannot find the opportunity to set up Stealth Rock. Rapid Spin instead of Defog is currently a great idea because Rapid Spin dodges Taunt while Defog does not, but some day, there will be a Webs team with a Ghost (although Arceus-Grass being able to phaze out the Ghost fairly consistently with Dragon Tail is good). The 6th slot is meant to be anti-offence, and Gastro Acid on Wonder Guard Arceus-Fighting is meant to help against opposing sweepers as fast as or faster than Arceus (at the considerable cost of being significantly worse at disrupting walls). Maybe I should go back to Arceus-Dark or try a different anti-offence slot?

Finally, here is every single BDSP PH replay of mine that I've been able to find so you can evaluate how strong these sets are for yourself! Be aware that a lot of these replays have earlier versions of these sets, though, with some moves changed.
 
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aerobee

Pure Hackmons
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Hey! While there have been next to no high-level games in the last couple of months, the metagame has adapted to become extremely centralized around Arceus. Because of this I felt obligated to change the sample teams available to suit the current "metagame".

New Samples:


Dragon Tail Sweeper Steelceus Hyper Offense by BahamutLagoon


Metal Burst Grassceus Hyper Offense by Mbouchon


WG Taunt Eleceus Hyper Offense by BahamutLagoon
 

aerobee

Pure Hackmons
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
It's been some time since the last post here on the metagame so I figured I'd write something on its current state.

BDSP Hackmons seems significantly less tame than previously thought, with the prevailing playstyle being Hyper Offense with Neutralizing Gas spam (and sometimes a Comatose, Wonder Guard, or No Guard user). The idea's that there are few ways to reliably phaze opposing attackers, with the most effective way being Comaphazing. Since Comaphazers can't run recovery bulkier users are necessary, limiting potential Comatose users to Arceus formes and Mewtwo; the latter doesn't resist any dominant Arceus formes' STABs. Therefore Sticky Web prevents Comatose Arceus formes (bar Arceus-Flying) from always outspeeding unboosted sweepers and forcing them out. Complementing Sticky Web with Stealth Rock prevents Arceus-Flying from coming in as easily so I recommend running both whenever possible.

Pokemon choice has apparently become basically limited to Arceus formes - Regigigas and Slaking can't make progress against Quiver Dance + Strength Sap sweepers, and Mewtwo, while a scary pick, struggles without Life Orb, isn't as bulky as Arceus, and can't come in on sweepers due to the risk of getting outsped after switching in. Dialga was popular in the early days of the metagame but it's fallen off hard due to being outsped by Arceus and not hitting hard enough at +2 to justify usage. Arceus-Grass and Arceus-Ghost are centralizing forces in the metagame, as the former is immune to Spore without Comatose and the latter can take advantage of Ghost- and Fighting-type moves to hit much of the metagame supereffectively. Arceus-Flying is the biggest beneficiary of Arceus-Grass' centralization, as it threatens the Pokemon while also being immune to Sticky Web.

Neutralizing Gas Quiver Dance + Strength Sap sweepers have established themselves as the most potent offensive Pokemon in the metagame, with physical and mixed Shell Smash sweepers not far behind. In a full-EV metagame offensive threats can be fast and bulky at the same time, and once a player can Quiver Dance twice often the game ends on the spot. Strength Sap deals with physical Pokemon like Regigigas and Slaking while providing reliable recovery. The best users of this combination are Arceus-Flying and Arceus-Fairy, because they can come in on much of the metagame and set up without too much trouble, as well as damage everything with a decently powerful STAB (Aeroblast for Arceus-Flying and Moonblast for Arceus-Fairy). Belly Drum sweepers haven't done too well, partly because the risk of getting Taunted is too high, but also because of Arceus-Ghost's prevalence hampering Extreme Speed's offensive prowess.

No Guards have maintained much of their viability as a way to check Comatose users which can otherwise be problematic for teams spamming Neutralizing Gas; however, it's a matchup fish because it doesn't do much against opposing Neutralizing Gas spam. Wonder Guards are also quite useful in the current metagame for random No Guard users, helping to force switches with Gastro Acid and Taunt. The prevalence of Neutralizing Gas means that users of Huge Power, Shadow Tag, Prankster, and other conventional Abilities haven't done well for themselves.

Taunt has become the main form of disruption for sweepers because Spore is blocked by Arceus-Grass and Lovely Kiss has 75% accuracy; however Mental Herb users have risen in popularity in response. In a hyper-offensive metagame Lum Berry and Mental Herb being one-time use items doesn't mean much, so these two items are the most popular on offensive Pokemon. That only one form of disruption can be prevented by the item slot means that many high-level games are strongly affected by matchup.

However, while matchup can strongly affect gameplay even the most optimal sets have trouble making progress without being able to boost twice with Quiver Dance or breaking through opposing teams with Shell Smash users. Plays in a game seem to matter much more in BDSP Hackmons than in other metagames, with the team used not being nearly as important in high-level matches. In other words, the metagame is blind and game outcomes are usually dependent on reads made in the game and wearing down Pokemon on the opposing team that can phaze sweepers.

Something that hasn't been explored (due to lack of high-level games) but seems intriguing is paralysis, as it eliminates speed ties that would otherwise make progress harder to make. On hyper offense teams preparation for paralysis, like Aromatherapy, are hard to hit, increasing its potential effectiveness. Mewtwo has also been relatively unexplored in recent games, but I think if used it'd be a powerful force in the metagame due to outspeeding Arceus, getting STAB Stored Power, and having good enough bulk to use Shell Smash once (and then OHKO opposing Arceus formes with Stored Power).

Here are some BDSP Hackmons replays so the relative importance of in-battle plays can be fully emphasized:



(Yes, 2 people play this metagame.)

We have new sample teams so I'm not going to bother posting teams that display the metagame's one-dimensionality. You can check them out here.
 
:ss/shaymin-sky:
when's VR coming up anyways

Arceus-Grass and Spore are, within good reason, one of the best Pokémon and moves in the current metagame. I was thinking about Pokémon which can play around them without much apparent difficulty and a lot of the "options" I thought of were unorthodox and didn't have much viability in the metagame (like Ferrothorn). One Pokémon, though, stood out from the rest: Shaymin-Sky.

Shaymin-Sky has a lot of benefits by the current meta leaning towards mono-Arceus Offences, incorporating Arceus formes which Shaymin can take advantage of, such as the aforementioned Arceus-Grass, Mental Herb non-Magic Coat Arceus formes, bar Arceus-Flying and -Steel. If the Viability Rankings are worked upon, I'd love to see Shaymin at around B Rank. In this post, I'll go over the specifics of each of its advantages to be warranted a slot in a serious team.

1. Typing

Grass-/Flying- is a wonderful typing to sport because of the way the current meta is shaped. Grass-type grants Shaymin immunity to Spore, which is a very big factor because Spore (and Taunt) are the main anti-sweeper strategies right now. Even Arceus-Grass blocks Spore, though, so what makes Shaymin stand out from it? The secondary Flying-type is of importance here. A STAB-boosted Aeroblast secures 2HKO on every Pokémon which blocks Spore, i.e. the Grass-types, which include Arceus-Grass. This, in tandem with Spore of your own, would usually result in getting a successful Spore off of it. Grass- also gives Shaymin an extremely strong STAB move in Seed Flare, which can get 2HKO's on every non-resist Arceus forme after Stealth Rock. Every Pokémon being extremely bulky because of maximum EVs and natural bulk in the case of Arceus doesn't help Shaymin though, and that's where Spore + Shell Smash is extremely helpful. Flying- also gives it immunity to Sticky Webs, which is huge.

2. Base Stats

Shaymin-Sky has a workable 120 base Special Attack, which is the same as Arceus's base Special and Physical Attack, too. This honestly means that both are extremely weak without any boosts, because of the extremely bulky Arceus formes everywhere. But versus Arceus formes which Shaymin hits super effectively, it's usually a 2HKO and an OHKO after a +2 boost. With Life Orb, though, the situation changes and after a +2 you achieve a 2HKO on most Arceus formes (bar Steel-) The 100/75/75 bulk, on the other hand, is extremely low, making Shaymin-Sky prey to priority moves in Extreme Speed, thus limiting its ability to sweep immediately even after a boost. Another of Shaymin's advantages over Arceus is its speed. Base 127 speed means that it outspeeds everything up to the Arceus formes, which is almost the whole metagame. Getting a fast Spore or Taunt off is helpful when you're supposed to block and use the former anyways.


Here's a Shaymin set that I feel is good for it, suiting the current meta:
:shaymin-sky:
Shaymin-Sky @ Leftovers / Mental Herb
Ability: Neutralising Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Seed Flare
- Aeroblast
- Shell Smash

The set isn't very creative -- it's the moves that I've already talked about above and doesn't have a spice factor in it (outside Shell Smash, Shaymin is exceedingly weak after the defence drops, and without good Sleep turns or rolls it can go down easily), but works nevertheless.

Spore is Spore. It blocks the majority of the Shell Smash users (outside Mewtwo) and helps Shaymin to get a Smash of its own. Sleep is very frustrating to play against and is a factor that makes the metagame extremely centralised towards offensive teams and Arceus formes.

Seed Flare is a mandatory Grass-type STAB that hits Arceus-Rock for super-effective damage and is a good move overall because of its insane 120 base power, and the 40% chance to lower the opponents' special defence by 2 stages. After a boost, it's an average move to spam and gets some likely kills versus most Arceus formes, and in tandem with Toxic Spikes (incorporated in your team) to consume the Lum Berries, it can become very threatening all of a sudden. It also stamps on Sheer Cold Arceus formes, most common of which are Arceus-Rock and -Ghost.

Aeroblast is another preferred STAB choice, because of its high base power and overall ability to be irritating to play against. It helps versus Arceus-Grass and Arceus-Fighting, getting 2HKO's on both of them without boosts. Air Slash is another option but it's alarmingly weak so I wouldn't recommend it.

Shell Smash is the preferred boosting move here. It's better than Quiver Dance for Shaymin as it needs immediate damage after a boost, and because of its naturally low bulk, it's not surviving anything anyways. Shell Smash is the best boosting move in the metagame, as +2 Special Attack and +2 Speed can help any Pokémon a lot. Spore + Shell Smash can ensure that you do get a boost off versus most opponents.


Overall, Shaymin is by no means a perfect sweeper or an ideal choice, but it has some tolls up its sleeve to be considered on serious teams. If the Viability Rankings are underway, I'd say it's worth B- or even B, as every Pokémon below A- would anyways be matchup fish and would have considerably small niches. Shaymin is fun to play with, and I'd say is a workable Pokémon right now. When given the correct time and opportunity, Shaymin can become a devastating threat and can easily win with some support.
 
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Sorry about the double post but I just had to write this.

:heatran: UR to D

:ss/heatran:
UR to D

Heatran @ Mental Herb / Leftovers
Ability: Comatose
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Recover
- Magic Coat
- Nuzzle

Heatran is, in my opinion, underrated right now. I have never seen it being used even though I have advertised it a lot in the server as well as the chat. It's got great stats and a very good defensive typing in Fire-/Steel-, and Ransei very correctly stated that it's like Arceus-Fire/Steel. With the metagame being Arceus and the occasional Mewtwo (why's it so underused though?), Heatran can find its niche and work well in the meta.

Its Fire-/Steel- typing grants it resistance to Steel-, Fairy-, Grass-, Ice-, Flying-, Bug- among others, and immunity to Poison- and Toxic Spikes.
Toxic Spikes, in my opinion, is underrated right now. Almost every Pokémon either runs Lum Berry or Mental Herb, and Toxic Spikes consuming the Lum Berries on the switchin is very useful indeed. You either get free Spores off or Poisoned Arceus, both of which are vastly useful in the long run. Also, continual chip damage, on switches and as a whole too, is difficult to get in practice because of teams not being able to define Stealth Rock and/or Spikes (and even Toxic Spikes, for that matter, but it's gaining popularity). Sticky Webs is the best entry hazard in the meta and for good reason, but Toxic Spikes isn't very far behind.

Toxic Spikes also help to scout for potential Mental Herbs. Lum Berry and Mental Herb are the two of the most used items, with Choice Scarf a bit behind. It's awkward when you lose a turn due to an ineffective Taunt. Scouting for items is pretty damn busted because you benefit a lot from knowing what is what. Plus you get the pretty sweet poison.

It is just another reason why Arceus-Flying (and Arceus-Steel and -Poison, it also made Arceus-Poison rise to A on the VRs.) is one of the best Pokémon in the metagame. Being immune to Toxic Spikes (and two other hazards, too) makes them even difficult to wear down. I guess that's where paralysis comes in? because it seems completely broken on paper, and in practice, it's even difficult to face. Lum Berry makes both poison and paralysis a bit you can get free switches with it, and gain momentum by forcing out passive Pokémon, but those two status ailments are still meta-changing.
Among the aforementioned types, Arceus-Steel, -Fairy, -Grass, and -Flying are a few of the common Quiver Dance sweepers in the current meta. Quiver Dance is just second to Shell Smash as a boosting move, and paired with Strength Sap makes it an extremely threatening combination that can easily tear through most offences, especially those that aren't running Arceus-Steel or a ComaTalk phazer. Denting a Quiver Dance-boosted Arceus becomes a herculean task if you don't have one of your own -- and even then it mostly depends on the type your Arceus is, and what the opponents' Arceus is. Physical hits, especially in the form of priority, do minuscule damage to them, and other Shell Smash sweepers can get phazed away and/or potentially KO'd.

This is where Heatran comes in. It checks every QD sweeper as well as non-Ghost Shell Smash sweepers. It takes very less from boosted Arceus and can phaze them with Dragon Tail or cripple them with Nuzzle. Its moveslots are also very flexible, so you can fit Magic Coat and benefit versus ComaTalk phazers too. Checking most of the sweepers in a meta which is wound around offence is a great help to bulkier teams. If you can get hazards on your team, piloting Heatran becomes even fun because Dragon Tail + hazard chip damage would essentially mean that most offences would have a difficult time playing versus it. You can slap Lava Plume somewhere to benefit from the so many Arceus-Grass around, but I find Nuzzle and/or Magic Coat more useful. The centralisation of various QD and special Smash sweepers makes Heatran get a comfortable niche in the metagame where it can thrive.

The issue with Heatran is that it's forced out by Arceus-Ghost and every No Guard user, both of which are common sights. Heatran is also a bit passive if, after phazing, it brings out an offensive threat such as Arceus-Ghost, which can take advantage of Heatran's over-reliance on Nuzzle to force switches and can dent it or KO it easily. As a result, pairing it with two or more Neutralising Gas users (which are on every team anyways) and Arceus-Dark is important. It's easy to play around them, though, as nothing would like to switch directly into a potential Nuzzle, as paralysis would hinder the regular offences a lot.


---------------------------------------

:ss/mewtwo:
Maybe S to A+?

On an unrelated note, I seriously think Mewtwo isn't worth S Rank. The meta has wrapped around certain strategies and moves which render the utility and sheer power of Mewtwo useless unless it's played with well.

Firstly, there's its reliance on Life Orb. The item makes it get worn down quickly very easily, and even if you don't run Life Orb, you'll be missing on a few crucial KO's on bulky Arceus formes. It helps that hazards, outside Webs (I'll get to this below too) are not too common, so that's one issue addressed well, but it's not like they're really bad or something; they will be used eventually. It also makes Mewtwo susceptible to random Spores, and even though it is the fastest unboosted Pokémon in the tier, it needs to be careful of Webs and Scarf users. Life Orb is like a double-edged sword; you need it to get better rolls but it's hurting you as well.

Mewtwo is also very frail, and the prevalence of Sticky Webs doesn't help. While priority on its own isn't very good at the moment, the classic combination of FakeSpeed does not provide much utility, moves like Sucker Punch aren't behind. I have tried Sucker Punch Arceus-Dark and it's a great check to both Mewtwo and Arceus-Ghost. Outside priority, after Sticky Webs, Arceus outspeeds it and the most common formes, i.e. -Ghost and other QD setup sweepers, can setup on Mewtwo or straightaway KO it. With Life Orb chip + Webs, it's relatively easy to get over with and doesn't pose to be a very big threat if played around carefully.

It also suffers from a slight case of 4MS. Mewtwo would love to have both Spore and Aura Sphere (or Focus Blast) on its set, but with Smash, Taunt and Stored Power (or Psystrike), which it needs, it doesn't have much free space to condense both moves onto one set. You can forgo Taunt but then the matchup versus other setup sweepers and Spore users becomes worse.

You can get around most of these issues by running double Mewtwo, preferably with a Rapid Spinner. Double Mewtwo makes it a different threat, you can get past most of your checks easily and have room for extra moves such as Spore. It becomes very difficult to do much damage to a single Mewtwo if you misplay and let it setup, double that and boom, you got a Transformer behind you. With the meta largely being offence and Arceus, double Mewtwo takes heavy advantage of its speed and raw power, and one can hazard to say that it's a team archetype on its own.

Mewtwo isn't a bad Pokémon per se, it's better than a lot of Arceus formes. It's just not worth S, in my opinion. I'd love to hear what others have to say about it, though.
 
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aerobee

Pure Hackmons
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Here's a small update to the Viability Rankings as new ideas affecting the metagame have been shared. Keep in mind that the VR is largely speculative due to the relative lack of high-level games, and so VR placement may largely differ from specific Pokemon's metagame viability. Feel free to discuss other potential changes in the Old Shark room or the Pure Hackmons discord.


VR Changes:

:arceus: (Grass) from S to A+
:arceus: (Fairy) from A+ to A
:arceus: (Ground) from B to A-
:arceus: (Dragon) from UR to A-
:arceus: (Fighting) from UR to B
:giratina: from UR to C
:jirachi: from UR to C
:kyogre: from UR to C
:heatran: from UR to D
:palkia: from UR to D



Reasonings:

- Arceus-Grass is a good example of a Pokemon that's top-tier on paper but doesn't perform as well as it should in practice. Grass-types being the only Pokemon perpetually blocking Spore aside from Comatose users means that the Arceus-Grass warps the metagame around it, but that also means that it struggles more to make progress in practice. I personally believe that in actual games Arceus-Grass isn't on the level of Arceus-Ghost, Arceus-Flying, or Mewtwo, and so I have dropped it to A+.

- Arceus-Fairy resisting Fighting-, and being immune to Dragon-type attacks, is less important in BDSP Pure Hackmons than it is in other generations due to both types being fairly niche in the metagame. That being said, Fairy is still a very solid typing in the metagame, as being immune to Dragon Tail means phasing Arceus-Fairy is more difficult, and STAB Moonblast makes it more difficult to PP stall than metagame titans like Arceus-Flying. Arceus-Fairy drops to A rank as a result.

- Arceus-Ground benefits from the rise of paralysis and the fact that Nuzzle is much easier to run than Glare due to Taunt being so prevalent. However, Arceus-Flying being immune to its STAB means bulky setup variants need to use two moveslots for attacks instead of one, holding it back from being higher than A- rank.

- I forgot to rank Arceus-Dragon and Arceus-Fighting when I initially made the Viability Rankings; however, they're still very much usable. Arceus-Dragon resists Grass-, Water-, and Fire-type, meaning it takes care of Arceus-Grass and niche weather shenanigans for the most part. Arceus-Fighting has an honestly amazing STAB in Low Kick, which almost always has 120 BP in this metagame; however it suffers from Arceus-Flying and Arceus-Ghost's prevalence. Arceus-Dragon makes its debut at A- rank, and I placed Arceus-Fighting in B rank.

- Giratina was basically unused in the early stages of the metagame because of Dialga and Arceus-Fairy being much more popular choices, but them being less used now means Giratina retains a degree of relevance. Being able to run paralysis also helps Giratina significantly, as its relative lack of Speed is its greatest liability in the metagame. Mewtwo still muscles past it and against healthy foes Giratina struggles to make progress without Nuzzle, but I felt it was good enough to start off in C rank.

- Kyogre and Palkia were added onto the VR for extremely niche Rain strategies. Drizzle activates when a Pokemon with Neutralizing Gas switches, meaning it retains an extremely small amount of relevance. Kyogre has better overall special bulk, while Palkia outspeeds base 90 Pokemon unboosted and Choice Scarf Arceus and +1 Mewtwo after a Shell Smash. Both Pokemon enjoy paralysis support. I felt Kyogre was good enough for C rank, and Palkia starts off in D rank.

- Jirachi's a hard Mewtwo check that can paralyze most opposing Arceus formes that switch into it. Base 100 Speed means that it can outspeed paralyzed Arceus formes and Mewtwo even if they're holding a Choice Scarf. Jirachi also acts as an Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Flying, and Arceus-Grass in one. Jirachi starts off in C rank.

- Heatran comes in easily on unboosted Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Flying, Arceus-Grass, and even Mewtwo lacking Aura Sphere if healthy. The post directly above explains Heatran's relevance and I don't feel like echoing what it says so you're welcome to read the above post. Heatran makes its debut in D.


Other notes:

- I feel like Mewtwo is still worthy of S rank despite its shortcomings. Outspeeding Arceus formes while still having decent bulk means Mewtwo doesn't need to risk speedties against Arceus formes, which is extremely valuable. This means that Choice Scarf Comatose Arceus cannot phase Mewtwo out after it has used Shell Smash. It's true that a reliance on Life Orb hurts, but the sheer lack of reliable checks, and the options that Mewtwo has to threaten each one of them, means it's well worth it. Bug Buzz or Moonblast can be run for Arceus-Dark, and Fire Blast or Aura Sphere for Arceus-Steel and more niche checks like Jirachi and Heatran. Sucker Punch Arceus-Dark is extremely exploitable and doesn't even beat a healthy Mewtwo in a 1v1 unless it runs a specially defensive nature, severely hindering its usability in non-Mewtwo matchups. In a metagame where if a 50-50 is won Mewtwo can get a Shell Smash up, the lack of reliable checks that also pressure the rest of the metagame makes Mewtwo a ridiculously threatening sweeper. The metagame may progress and Mewtwo's influence on the direction of games may diminish, but at the moment I think that Mewtwo is still S rank-worthy.
 
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