Metagame Convergence [DLC 2 Bans]

[Hiusi guy]

The DLC got shown off a little bit and so did some returning mons, so here are some of the cooler tools from the retuning group that we know of right now

Oh no (Garchomp) @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Levitate / Rough Skin
Tera Type: Steel / Fire / Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Punch / Ice Punch / Dragon Claw
- Iron Head / Dragon Claw / Stone Edge / Substitute / Roost
Dragon Dance Garchomp is always fun to play around with bit not always fun to deal with especially with the limited unaware mons available as of now. Currently we only have fire types, clodsire and water grounds with unaware making it harder to deal with especially if roost comes back

PH my beloved (Landorus-Therian) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Normal / Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock / Swords Dance /Roost
- Earthquake
Lando with good passive healing?!?!? Lando is already pretty fine with intim but now it has the best passive healing we have access to rn and a risk free boosted facade also why does gliscor only get roost from an old tm

MGUARD IS BACK (Azelf) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast / Ice Beam / Focus Blast
- U-turn / Volt Switch
- Psyshock / Psychic / Fire Blast
- Focus Blast / Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball
With mguard being back that means that salt cure is basically non existent, especially when the type with mguard is the most cracked move and cracked stats wise with not only a really good offensive mon in azelf but also defensive in cresselia

Remember me :) (Ursaring) @ Eviolite / Protective Pads
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Fairy / Ground / Fighting
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Swords Dance
- Population Bomb
- Earthquake / Close Combat / Rock Blast
Funy that this doesn't even need technician or guts to be strong as ever, pop bomb being guaranteed to hit all ten times while holding evolite or protective pads is also a really big buff

Viable because sun (Iron Leaves) @ Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Fighting / Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance / Tera Blast
- Leaf Blade / Solar Blade
- Psyblade
A very mid but still very good mon, mainly carried from have 130 attack and sun not being nerfed. Tera Blast is probably a rly good way to nuke through a lot of teams but then again you could just use breloom who at least has a better stab combo, ice spinner, and vdance tho it obvi is worse defensive stats wise

Can't touch this (Cresselia) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster / Magic Bounce / Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt / Recover
- U-turn
Speeking of cress ig, Meowstic is coming back and so HO screen leads will now and always in the future be cresselia Though because prank is real now, mbounce will eventually be real as a lead option as well

 

[G-Luke]

A beautiful banner made by IMakeNoSense , give them a round of applause!​

 

[Don Vascus]

Hariyama @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Technician / Iron Fist
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off

If the hitmonlee line or timburr come back the day of reckoning will be upon us (mach punch is locked to dual fighting types pawmot and breloom)

 

[StompyStomps]

A post dlc part 2 convergence build
Gooey (Goodra-Hisui) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stamina (Archaludon)
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Body Press
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Heavy Slam

 

[Toxtection]

Confirmed DLC mons (according to the serebii lists, only listing things that I think will matter)

+

Magic Guard, Unaware, Moonlight, Stealth Rock, Great coverage

+

Swift Swim, Belly Drum

+

Drizzle, Sheer Force, Liquid Voice, Marvel Scale, Perish Song, Dragon Dance

+

Thick Fat, Skill Link, Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, Spikes, etc, All signature moves until smeargle gets banned

+

Poison Heal, Knock Off, Acrobatics, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Toxic?

+

Adaptability, Dragon Dance, Close Combat

+

Iron Fist, Unburden, Technician, Intimidate, Rapid Spin, Mach Punch

+

Weak Armor, Toxic, Roost

+

Whirlwind, Stealth Rock, Spikes, Swords Dance (not sure which one will be better, Corv has better special bulk while Skarm has a stronger bpress)

+

Unburden, Contrary, Seed Flare

+

Bulk Up

+

Dragon Dance, U-turn, Roost?

+

Reckless, Iron Fist, Mach Punch, Slack Off, Swords Dance

+

Mold Breaker, Sheer Force

+

Magic Guard, Regenerator, Prankster

+

Contrary, Superpower

+

Parting Shot, Fake Out

+

Huge Power receiver

(Archaludon) +

Stamina

 

[Notagamer]

Dlc conv posting
First the things to be qbed in my opinion.

135 spa 125 speed, stakeout and that coverage is a no no

On top of being generally difficult to check it gains a couple of things from convergence like u turn, nasty plot and hurricane.

Not as confident on this one but knock off chien pao is highly scary in this meta as well as the other more niche things it gains like poison jab.

Now the generally good stuff that probably won’t get banned

Since inteleon is banned this will probably be the best special water (more speed over Sam is important). Drizzle has also returned with . Speaking of rain setting this has the best mixed bulk out of all water types giving it a potential defensive niche over and (also mono water has belly drum now).

This was good before dlc but with the new tools of (which is good too) it improves greatly (toxic chain ability, knock off)

It’s mandi but it can also be setup control and rock setter with prankster as a nice bonus.

Belly drum and the new knock distribution make this thing pretty scary.

It’s like Manaphy but for mono grass, also bringing seed flare.

Like the above set posted a belly drum hariyama with Mach punch is pretty notable. Also can do a funny regenvest set because mienshao is back.

Hey this thing actually has flip turn now that’s pretty cool.

Knock off and heal bell with regen baybeeeeee.

It’s actually kinda decent with u turn and roost ngl.

Unfortunately it can’t do a funny and converge with its tera form to instantly drop with a boost. However fire ogerpon and water ogerpon can be interesting weather sweepers converging with scovillain and ludicolo respectively.

 

[Euphonos]

Since inteleon is banned this will probably be the best special water (more speed over Sam is important). Drizzle has also returned with . Speaking of rain setting this has the best mixed bulk out of all water types giving it a potential defensive niche over and (also mono water has belly drum now).

You forgot Tail Glow, which would be bonkers for Mono-Waters (via Manaphy) and Mono-Bugs (via Volbeat). In any case, would that move be in the watchlist for potential tiering action?

 

[G-Luke]

For the time being, my hands are tied. But by next week, I promise the council will have a ruling regarding the recent developments regarding DLC.

Have fun everyone!

 

[Zach Parrott]

Hey so I've been pretty busy for the past little while, but now that the DLC is out and I have a bit of free time, I figured I'd do a couple write ups about the DLC and what we can expect from it. I plan on doing multiple long form posts, with this first post focusing specifically on the new Pokemon, what they offer to the format, and some potential sets (either for the new mons or for their converged Pokemon). To start, here are the brand new Pokemon, and what they converge with:

• Ursaluna-Bloodmoon =
• Dipplin =
• Sinistcha =
• Okidogi =
• Munkidori =
• Fezandipiti =
• Ogerpon = Every mono Grass-type, notable examples include:
• Ogerpon-Hearthflame =
• Ogerpon-Wellspring =

Additionally there's Ogerpon-Cornerstone, which in this game has a unique type combination of Grass/Rock. Should Cradily ever come back, I'll discuss the potential of Ogerpon-Cornerstone in more detail. For now, it looks to do pretty much the same things it does in standard play atm, except in a higher power level format. Looking at these brand new Pokemon, the only one that sticks out to me that could immediately be problematic is actually Ogerpon-Base. Being a mono-typed Pokemon, Ogerpon-Base converges with a wide variety of Pokemon. Mono Grass-types such as Gogoat and Lilligant have seen success in the past (a lot of it comes from the Quiver Dance meta, but home did give Rillaboom too plays very differently), and Ogerpon with its solid offensive stat spread looks to be a big threat as well. One thing that sticks out to me is that Contrary is legal, and with access to Superpower, could potentially become a fairly potent snowball Pokemon. Here's a potential set you could run with Ogerpon making use of Contrary:

Set

Ogerpon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Power Whip / Wood Hammer / Ivy Cudgel
- Synthesis
- Knock Off

Another interesting idea is choiced with Protean. Ogerpon's solid speed tier and high attack make it a promising offensive pivot, and with a decent array of utility options both from itself and from other Pokemon, Ogerpon can potentially provide a lot as an offensive pivot. Here's a sample set with that idea in mind:

Set

Ogerpon (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes / Toxic Spikes / Rapid Spin
- Power Whip / Ivy Cudgel / Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Knock Off

This isn't even getting into the potential for Poison Heal sets, Grassy Surge sets (though not sure how worth that is now that Glide is 55 BP), or even potential sun abuse with Chlorophyll. Ogerpon-Base definitely looks to be an interesting Pokemon going into the DLC1 metagame, and I'm excited to see what sets come out as the best for it.

Next, lets talk about evolutionary relatives. Beginning with Ursaluna-Bloodmoon, this converges with its Hisuian counterpart, but honestly since these Pokemon are so similar movepool wise, the only thing Ursaluna-Bloodmoon really gets from Ursaluna are its abilities; and these abilities don't really benefit Ursaluna-Bloodmoon nearly as much as Mind's Eye does. Ursaluna-Bloodmoon being a special attacker means Guts isn't going to be worth it. Bulletproof has some defensive utility but ultimately isn't worth giving up Mind's Eye for. Unnerve is lol. What this means is that Ursaluna-Bloodmoon is in pretty much the same spot it's at in standard play. However, what about the OG Ursaluna? From Ursalun-Bloodmoon, Ursaluna 3 main things: 1) Blood Moon, a strong special attack nuke that Ursaluna as a Physical attacker will never use. 2) Mind's Eye, an ability that has potential for Ursaluna, though there is opportunity cost for giving up the immediate power of Guts. 3) Moonlight, which is actually pretty big for Ursaluna, as it allows it to shore up its longevity issues while also greatly increasing the potential of Swords Dance/Bulk Up sets. In essence, converging with Ursaluna-Bloodmoon has allowed Ursaluna to literally become more like it in the role that it fills, which I think is pretty neat. Here's a sample Bulk Up set featuring Moonlight to get you started:

Set

Ursaluna @ Leftovers / Flame Orb
Ability: Mind's Eye / Guts
Tera Type: Fairy / Normal / Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up / Swords Dance
- Moonlight
- Earthquake
- Body Slam / Facade

Of course without the same nuke factor in Blood Moon that Ursaluna-Bloodmoon has, this Ursaluna won't have the same threat after just one boost. However I like this thing's stat spread more than Ursaluna-Bloodmoon's on paper, so although its kit doesn't synergize as well as Ursaluna-Bloodmoon's does, there may be some merit to running Ursaluna as a bulky set up Pokemon like this.

Next is Dipplin, who in standard play is very underwhelming thanks to its extreme passivity and lack of utility. While its passivity isn't something that can really be fixed by converging with its apple brethren, it does get access to a ton of new utility options like U-turn, Leech Seed, Apple Acid, and even setup in Curse/Dragon Dance should that be something you want to go for. Dipplin can also get Thick Fat as an ability, though with the potential prevalence of Knock Off I'm not sure how much I'd want to give up Sticky Hold for its Eviolite. Here's a potential Dipplin set I could see being not terrible:

Set

Dipplin @ Eviolite
Ability: Sticky Hold / Thick Fat
Tera Type: Fairy / Water / Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- U-turn / Leech Seed
- Recover
- Apple Acid
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Tail / Substitute

Dipplin might function pretty well as a pivot thanks to its solid bulk, access to recovery and U-turn, and Apple Acid to actually force progress, but without being able to run Heavy-Duty Boots effectively (though I guess you could still do it if you don't mind giving up all that bulk), I could see it being outpressured and worn down quickly throughout the course of a game. Additionally, though Grass/Dragon has nice resistances to Water/Electric/Ground, its weaknesses to Ice, Flying, and U-turn make it a tricky typing to justify. We'll see if Dipplin can make a name for itself in Convergence, or if it'll go the way of its apple brethren.

Sinistcha is up next, and compared to the Grass/Ghosts we've gotten so far, Sinistcha is unique in being the only Special Attacker, and thanks to its decent Physical bulk and access to Strength Sap and Scald, can serve as a pretty decent check to Physical attackers. Of course with all the Knock Off going around and general opportunity cost of not running a Fluffy Ghost (like Polteageist)! I don't expect Sinistcha to have too much of an impact on the metagame. But access to Spikes, Rapid Spin, U-turn and a different suite of offensive options does give Sinistcha some potential at least. Here's a potential set:

Set

Sinistcha @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Heatproof
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Spikes / Rapid Spin
- Matcha Gotcha / Shadow Ball
- Scald / U-turn

Like I said it probably won't have a huge metagame impact, but it does have a really cool suite of tools that make it an interesting choice at least.

This post is pretty long, so I'll try and keep these last 5 pretty quick. First we have Okidogi, which looks to be more of a bulkier option compared to Sneasler. Honestly I think the only reason you'd ever run it over Sneasler is if you're trying to do something with Bulk Up, as otherwise I think Sneasler just outclasses this otherwise. Giving Sneasler more coverage options like Knock Off and Psychic Fangs is pretty scary though (and Toxic Chain is an upgrade over Poison Touch), and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a vote to ban Sneasler or Unburden soon anyway. Munkidori converging with the Glow twins gives it a really solid ability in Regenerator, as well as options like Fire Blast, Ice Beam, and Shell Side Arm. I can see Munkidori functioning pretty well both as an offensive pivot and as a late game wincon with the new options it has. Glowking will still be your go to for the best bulk, but Munkidori giving us an offensive spin on this type combination is really cool. Last of the trio is Fezandipiti, and converging with Weezing-Galar is a godsend for this thing, as it gains two excellent abilities in Levitate and Neutralizing Gas, a ton of utility options like Will-O-Wisp, Haze, Defog, and Toxic Spikes. In turn, Fezandipiti gives Weezing-Galar access to some cool utility options of its own, such as Roost and U-turn, a more reliable stab in Moonblast, and even setup potential in the form of Swords Dance and Nast Plot, though these are very much gimmicks at best. Weezing-Galar and Fezandipiti's kits converge together super well, and because their best defensive stats are different (Defense for Weezing-Galar, SpDef for Fezandipiti), there's a good chance that both of these Pokemon will see a fair amount of use in the format, which is really cool. Lastly are the two remaining Ogerpon forms, Hearthflame and Wellspring. Before I talk too much about them, I would like to remind that the terastalized ability for Ogerpon, Embody Aspect, only works on a terastalized Ogerpon and nothing else. Meaning that these abilities are effectively worthless when talking about Pokemon receiving them through Convergence. Now both of these forms of Ogerpon coverge with exactly 1 (fully evolved) Pokemon each; Hearthflame with Scovillain, and Wellspring with Ludicolo. Outside of like Growth and Chlorophyll, Scovillain gives pretty much nothing useful to Ogerpon-Hearthflame, as Scovillain doesn't learn any Physical fire attacks, and is known for having very poor utility to begin with. While Scovllain does receive a great amound of moves from Ogerpon-Hearthflame, its stats being poorer all around make it almost entirely outclassed by Ogerpon-Hearthflame. Because of this, I expect Ogerpon-Hearthflame to be about the same here as it is in standard play. For Ogerpon-Wellspring, you do get access to a fair few interesting coverage options, such as Ice Spinner, Drain Punch, Fire/Thunder Punch, and Focus Punch, but most of those options seem pretty niche. Ludicolo on the other hand gets access to moves like U-turn, Spikes, and Horn Leech from Convergence, but with how poor Ludicolo's stats are I don't expect it to be making much of an impact either. So like Hearthflame, Wellspring looks to be pretty similar to how it is in standard. Here are some sets for the Loyal Three:

Sets

Okidogi (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Toxic Chain / Dry Skin / Guard Dog
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Dire Claw
- Knock Off

Sneasler @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Toxic Chain
Tera Type: Dark / Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Knock Off

Munkidori (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fairy / Water / Fire / Fighting / Psychic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Parting Shot
- Psychic
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast / Ice Beam / Focus Blast

Munkidori (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fire / Fighting / Poison / Psychic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
- Fire Blast / Focus Blast
- Ice Beam / Sludge Bomb / Grass Knot

Fezandipiti (M) @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate / Neutralizing Gas
Tera Type: Fire / Water / Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- U-turn / Flamethrower
- Roost
- Defog
- Moonblast

Weezing-Galar @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Fire / Steel / Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Flamethrower / U-turn
- Roost

That should just about cover all the new mons, I'll have a more concise write up next time about my thoughts on the returning Pokemon, but I figured I'd leave this for now and let some discussion get going about the DLC1 meta. Also if you read the whole thing you're a real one ^^

 

[Zach Parrott]

Hey everyone! G-Luke has been busy with stuff irl for the past little bit, but the council has gotten together to discuss the DLC drops, and I'm here to share the bans the council has discussed!

Effective immediately, Darkrai, Shaymin-Sky, Chien-Pao, and Manaphy are banned from Convergence!​

	G-Luke​	Tapler​	Zach Parrott​	Clas​
Darkrai​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​
Shaymin-Sky​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​
Ogerpon​	Do Not Ban​	Do Not Ban​	Do Not Ban​	Do Not Ban​
Walking Wake​	Ban​	Do Not Ban​	Ban​	Do Not Ban​
Chien-Pao​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​
Ogerpon-Hearthflame​	Do Not Ban​	Do Not Ban​	Do Not Ban​	Do Not Ban​
Manaphy​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​	Ban​

Most of these should be of no surprise to anyone. For a brief rundown on why these mons were banned:

Dakrai is already an incredibly strong Pokemon in its own right, and receiving Stakeout from Mabosstiff pushes its wallbreaking capabilities to obscene levels. That combination of speed and lack of defensive counterplay has no place in Convergence.

Although Shaymin-Sky is still too consistent at being able to bypass its checks through sheer luck, either through Seed Flare Special Defense drops or through Air Slash flinches. Convergence gives Shaymin-Sky access to tools like Sleep Powder, Strength Sap, and Roost, to make it even more effective at beating things it shouldn't. It's simply still too uncompetitive.

Chien-Pao was already a threatening Pokemon Pre-DLC, despite not getting that much from Weavile. With Weavile getting Knock Off in the DLC however, Chien-Pao gets an upgrade to its stab that not only amplifies its damage output significantly, but also puts pressure on defensive counterplay by removing Leftovers/Heavy Duty-Boots, making them much easier to wear down. Chien-Pao with Knock Off makes progress far too easily to be healthy.

Manaphy was banned both for being an extremely threatening jack of all trades Pokemon, converging with every Mono-Water to get access to a frankly absurd amount of moves and abilities, but also for giving said Mono-Waters access to Tail Glow, allowing special Swift Swim outside of Manaphy such as Vaporeon to have an even more dangerous setup option (non Swift Swim users are just as capable of making great use of this move too). These traits make Manaphy a rather taxing presence on the metagame, and we felt it was right to ban it sooner rather than later.

I also wanted to quickly address the non bans, as well as some other threats the council is keeping an eye on:

• The council was pretty split on this one. Ultimately Walking Wake wasn't really buffed that much by the DLC in convergence (as its most potentially threatening sets in Nasty Plot can't really afford to fit Knock/Flip Turn, and Scald is only a minor upgrade), and we wanted to give it a bit more time to see if it's threatening with all the new DLC tools.
• and I've written my piece about these mons before, but I will say that I greatly underestimated the potential in Chlorophyll Ogrepon-Hearthflame on sun teams. Ogerpon is an unknown factor in Convergence, and despite Ogerpon-Hearthflame being a rather controversial presence in OU, we decided to keep it for the time being to see if it's really a problem here. It's worth noting that terastalizing Ogerpon-Hearthflame resets your ability, meaning you potentially trade speed for power should you go that route. While base Ogerpon being Mono Grass means it can converge with a rather large number of Pokemon, we'd like to see Ogerpon in action and some set exploration before action is taken on it.
• For Urshifu-Rapid Strike, Poliwrath being released gives this Pokemon access to Swift Swim, which in combination with Swords Dance and its high stats, makes for an extremely threatening Pokemon on paper, especially with the increased distribution of Drizzle holders in the DLC thanks to Politoed. Damp Rock's ban does limit the effectiveness of Drizzle Swim strategies somewhat, but the council is keeping a close eye on Drizzle Swim and Urshifu-Rapid Strike in particular.
• Doesn't converge with anything, but Scale Shot in combination with the introduction of Alolan Ninetales is what got Bax banned from OU in the first place, and there's a great chance it's capable of doing the same thing here.
• Very similar to Sneasler, just trades speed (and a touch of power) for much better bulk. This Pokemon is pretty threatening with Unburden, as the increased bulk makes it harder to kill while the loss in speed hardly matters at +2. Access Dire Claw also makes this mon a nuisance. I personally would advocate for action on Unburden in general before looking at Sneasler and Okidogi specifically, but both Pokemon look to be incredible threatening in the format atm.
• Similar to what Umbreon does right now, namely being a Fur Coat (or Fluffy in this case) Pokemon with a high Defense stat to take advantage of said ability. Dusknoir combos low base HP with access to Strength Sap, potentially making it a very annoying Pokemon for Physical attackers. Although not as immediately threatening as the above, the council is keeping on the state of defensive counterplay as well, to see if it's overbearing on Physical attackers.
• Access to Snow Warning through Alolan Vulpix makes Glastrier a threatening bulky attacker on paper, especially when you take into account its access to Recover. Slow Ice-types are always a bit of a hard sell, but Glastrier's combination of bulk and power is hard to understate.

I'd also like to give a warm welcome to Beaf Cultist to the Convergence council! Super excited to have you on.

Tagging Kris to implement these changes at your convenience (thank you c:).

As an aside, I'm still working on stuff for the returning Pokemon in the DLC (I've been busy moving back to college), but if you have any sets either featuring returning DLC Pokemon, or with Pokemon that converge from DLC Pokemon, by all means post about it. I'd love to see what y'all cook up c:

 

[AlexIGuessNotFound]

Hey, Convergence is looking to be OM of the month. It's been forever since the last time I played this tier so I'm excited to try it out again. (Edit - Sharing Is Caring seems to be winning although its pretty close)

Blaze Tauros absolutely loves the addition of as it now has *ACTUAL UTILITY* to work with, and lots of it.
(M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Slack Off
- Will-O-Wisp /
- U-turn / Stealth Rocks/ Taunt
- Raging Bull / Knock Off / Body Press
With Infernapes Movepool, Fire Tauros has a lot of options to take advantage of, most importantly being an instant recovery move in slack off. It can now be a rocks setter, a knock off abuser, a pivot, or a status spreader, this mon has a lot of potential just by virtue of 's insane move pool.

Additionally It Has The Capacity to Run a Much Improved Bulk Up set
(M)
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Slack Off
- Raging Bull / Close Combat / Body Press
- Mach Punch / Trail Blaze / Knock Off / Taunt / Wild Charge
In all honesty this set doesn't look all that amazing, and would probably be a waste of such a great utility mon when there are so many other options for Set-Up Sweepers

See you all later and Have Fun!
@ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Slack Off
- Body Slam
- Earthquake

 

[Iron Jugglenuts]

Wow can't wait to play Revavroom Lokix Iron Vaillant Great Tusk in this Metagame

 

[Hiusi guy]

Not even gonna sugar coat this, but ban walking wake and ogerpon hearthflame please. I may not have been playing for much long on ladder but I can tell that they are kinda centralizing, especially ogerpon geez. Walking wake was really powerful already to where it could single handly take down entire teams after one nasty plot, and now you have to add in an actually good fire/grass type teammate that outspeeds what little "checks" it may have had and destroys the few defensive checks it may have had whilst also running through everything else feels downright insane. I doubt banning heat rock will change much so it's probably best to just ban those two mons. (Also grats on become the omotm by technicality but like ban those two pls )

 

[genesis monster]

Let's go convergence is omotm,
Without wasting time let's jump in the broken stuff that should be qbed

PH Or poison heal is broken, not on grass fightings but on lando, I'm surprised it wasn't qbed immediately considering how good lando is even in standard play, imagine that now has ph and EVEN flying moves.Gliscor gives lando the 2 things it lacked recovery and flying stab, which makes lando too broken.Also only good mon which resists both stabs is like corv, but corv could be smacked down/stone edged, after a sd i think stone edge 2HKOs.(Mainly suggesting to ban lando and if ph continues to be broken on other mons, ban it)

Just ban shifu r already it's just broken, as a donor it can give to tauros aqua surging strikes and sd Or even quaquaval. As a receiver it can get moxie from quaquaval and even aqua step.

 

[Toxtection]

Let's go convergence is omotm,
Without wasting time let's jump in the broken stuff that should be qbed

PH Or poison heal is broken, not on grass fightings but on lando, I'm surprised it wasn't qbed immediately considering how good lando is even in standard play, imagine that now has ph roost and EVEN flying moves.Gliscor gives lando the 2 things it lacked recovery and flying stab, which makes lando too broken.Also only good mon which resists both stabs is like corv, but corv could be smacked down/stone edged, after a sd i think stone edge 2HKOs.(Mainly suggesting to ban lando and if ph continues to be broken on other mons, ban it)

Just ban shifu r already it's just broken, as a donor it can give to tauros aqua surging strikes and sd Or even quaquaval. As a receiver it can get moxie from quaquaval and even aqua step.

Gliscor lost Roost

 

[KaenSoul]

Some early meta thoughts, the tier is very very very broken and unbalanced.
Team I have been using:

https://pokepast.es/29a178cc799f578a
A high ladder replay to showcase the team
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9convergence-1959028057-d86n29mnplw21vumyilo337jx5hv0ripw


Ogerpon both base and flame are broken, I don't think is worth arguing this, I can imagine a world where Tera is banned, and they become ok, firepon would need sun nerfed tho, as is just a broken version of Scovillain, but Sun is broken by itself anyway, it was already broken last time we had a ladder but didn't realize until the month was over, Firepon and WW just take it to the next level, but between the offensive setters like Cinder, and the proto/chloro sweepers, there is just too much abusing sun.
Base form is too good of a Contrary sweeper, as you can force switches quite easily with the crazy coverage it gets and once you get +1 or +2 you can tera and get a speed boost to deal with most revenge killers.

Now that mono waters get Drizzle it may be time to ban it (and Drought too) and have the weather rocks legal in case anyone wants to use manual weather, there are too many setters now and even without Damp Rock you can do some crazy stuff with Flip Turn into a broken breaker like Urshifu-R (ban this too) or just make the setter the abuser, Tera Water Drizzle Barra just make holes on the opposite team, Wave Crash is a nuke, Flip Turn is a mini nuke and Aqua Jet is a ballistic missile. Most of my wins were just spamming Flip Turn until stuff were in range of Wave Crash.
252 Atk Mystic Water Tera Water Barraskewda Wave Crash vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Fur Coat Umbreon in Rain: 210-248 (53.2 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Who needs CB?
Banning Barra is an option, but is not the first time Drizzle is a problem and I doubt it will be the last.

This mon is broken and unfun to play against, it invalidates most defensive mons, so it murders balance and makes stall unviable, Neutralizing Gas should never be allowed on anything but vanilla Weezing. Use Fezan as a wallbreaker, stall breaker or defensive pivot, anything works, the ability is just dumb, not letting the opponent heal from Regen/PH while also ignoring Unaware and Magic Bounce is just part of what it can do.

I think tera may need to go, there are way too many bulky set up sweepers that may need action and only get worse with Tera letting them break pass their checks and supposed counters, Demon Cresselia, Coil Snorlax, BU Lando-T/Gliscor, VD Ches, both Ursaluna, Urshifu-R, etc. It may be possible to try to balance the tier with Tera on it, but a lot would need to go to call it balanced.

 

[genesis monster]

Gliscor lost Roost

Oh sorry forgot I'll change now

 

[Tankey6ia]

Cresselia

With the new(ish) pokemon from Pokemon Home, many pokemon got a boost to their available moves. One such example is Cresselia, which is helped by Chimecho. The major moves it gets from Chimecho are Heal Bell and Cosmic power. Here is a set I will post to take advantage of that.
Key: Bold means shared moves/abilties.

Cosmic Power Wall/Cleric

Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fighting
IVs: 0 Atk
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Heal Bell
- Cosmic Power
- Body Press/Toxic
- Recover

Set Explanation:
0 attack IVs is to reduce Foul Play and confusion damage to a minimum, while the EVs are used to boost the defenses to the maximum. Heal bell is to cure the status conditions of what you want to cure, such as sweepers. Yes, losing the poisoned status effect on a Poison Heal pokemon is bad, but you can just switch it in after a mon faints and use Protect to restore it. Magic Bounce is to bounce away hazards such as stealth rock and prevent it from being Toxic'd. Cosmic power is to improve overall defenses while Body press takes advantage of those defenses. Toxic is to chip down non-poison heal or poison/steel type foes. Finally, Recover is a better recovery move than Moonlight due to it not depending on weather.
Fighting Types and Prankster

With Riolu having Prankster, every mono-fighting type can get Prankster, which can be useful for hazard stacking and taunting. Fighting naturally beats dark types so dark types will be afraid to switch in against a fighting type, which means Prankster can go unblocked. There is also No Retreat from Falinks which gives an omniboost in exchange for being trapped, but guess what! U-turn from Primeape allows all pokemon to get away even when they are trapped! Primape also has Stealth Rock and Taunt so it can be a good utility role. While the fighting type may have no reliable recovery, it gets Drain Punch to heal by attacking. You also get Regenerator from Mienshao.

No Retreat Sweeper Set

Mienshao @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- No Retreat
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- U-Turn

Prankster Support

Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- High Jump Kick
- U-Turn

 

[quagsirefan888]

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Fluffy
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Mean Look
- Curse
- Strength Sap
- Night Shade

Deals with physical threats pretty well, trapping and completely walling them. Curse might be better off replaced by Haze or some other utility move but I like being able to deal more chip damage to get through things like Dragonite that it can wall but would lose a lot of PP due to the Dragonite roosting.

252+ Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Wave Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fluffy Dusknoir in Rain: 135-160 (45.9 - 54.4%) -- 58.2% chance to 2HKO
That's not only assuming they're using band and adamant, but before factoring in Strength Sap. Crunch does even less here (~30%)

 

[G-Luke]

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Fluffy
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Mean Look
- Curse
- Strength Sap
- Night Shade

Deals with physical threats pretty well, trapping and completely walling them. Curse might be better off replaced by Haze or some other utility move but I like being able to deal more chip damage to get through things like Dragonite that it can wall but would lose a lot of PP due to the Dragonite roosting.

252+ Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Wave Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fluffy Dusknoir in Rain: 135-160 (45.9 - 54.4%) -- 58.2% chance to 2HKO
That's not only assuming they're using band and adamant, but before factoring in Strength Sap. Crunch does even less here (~30%)

How does Barra's abilities or Tera factor into this?

 

[quagsirefan888]

How does Barra's abilities or Tera factor into this?

It could only OHKO by using tera and running Mold Breaker, or by using tera and getting a crit. All of that is assuming it's adamant, banded, and in rain.

 

[Tankey6ia]

(Bold is borrowed abilities/moves)
Snorlax

The main thing hurting Snorlax is the lack of reliable recovery, but there are a lot of Pokemon in the Normal type such as Dudunsparce that would help Snorlax with their moves and abilities! It gets a more powerful STAB, and it has access to reliable recovery with Roost, and a better setup move with Coil!

Snorlax Setup Set

Snorlax @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Coil
- Roost
- Hyper Drill
- Earthquake

Sinistcha

Sinistcha gets a few moves that it wants to deal with pokemon that resist it's stabs from Trevenant. Those moves are Toxic, Haze, and Will-O-Wisp.

Sinistcha Support Set

Sinistcha @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic / Will-O-Wisp
- Matcha Gotcha
- Calm Mind/Haze
- Hex

 

[G-Luke]

​

The Convergence council will be voting on these Pokémon (and abilities) tonight. Them being Walking Wake, Ogerpon-Hearthflame, Ogerpon, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Drizzle and Drought. These are the most dominant elements in the metagame right now, and the community and council both feel that these aspects are too potent, and have a negative presence within the tier. Stay tuned to find out the results of our deliberation either tonight or tomorrow morning!

 

[temp]

Had some fun playing this, gonna drop a team I used:

Teambuilding Process

I was scrolling through the Convergence channel to see what people were talking about and I saw talk about Neutralizing Gas Fezandipiti, so I instantly wanted to see what I could build with it. My interest in it increased even further when I learned Tera was also legal. The team essentially became based on using Fezandipiti to cripple the opposing team's defensive cores with Wisp, using Neutralizing Gas to hinder Poison Heal and Regenerator.

I wanted to further bolster the defensive aspect of the team before going forward, so I started looking for types that worked synergistically with Fezandipiti's Poison/Fairy. The most notable weakness of Fezan is easily Ground, and the most viable Ground-type at the moment is Landorus. I wanted to run a Ground immunity that can also threaten Lando in some capacity, which led me to Gyarados. I opted for Gyarados for all of its defensive utility and none of its offensive prowess, running a full-on hazard removing set with moves like Flip Turn to pivot. Gyara came with the added benefit of checking lots of big threats like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Cinderace (when commonly lacking Electric coverage).

I found it hard to pass up on Landorus-Therian, and it's extremely convenient that it works fantastically with Gyarados as mons to pivot between. The utility brought by Landorus-Therian can't really be understated, even if I'm only running a Stealth Rock set rather than something less passive like SubToxic or SD Facade. Its ability to scout with Protect makes my defensive core have a much easier time switching around Choiced threats.

At this point, the team felt passive, so I needed a Pokemon that could help my defensive core not be taken advantage of easily. Scarf Regenerator Cresselia came to mind immediately after thinking of the exact same set but on Mew. Both Scarf Wisp and Scarf Trick are insanely clutch when it comes to ensuring this team's backbone doesn't crumble fast. You can punish unknowing set-up sweepers easily with Trick, which ends up granting either insane amounts of momentum or an extra Spike on the switch. The special defense investment provides a much needed sponge against strong special hits.

The team needed a clear win condition, and what's a better win condition than Tera Kingambit? There was a little more thinking to this decision than that I promise, but yeah. The team basically needed a Steel-type, and it was also starved for Dark and Ghost resists. The latter made Gholdengo, who was going to be my initial choice to keep hazards up often, undesirable. Gambit can function as a powerful breaker in the mid-game and an unstoppable cleaner late-game thanks to Supreme Overlord and Tera. A lot of people are trying out new toys, leading them to easily forget about this Pokemon in the builder too.


Despite adding Kingambit as the "clear win condition," Kingambit didn't feel quite clear enough. I had a Pokemon that could abuse burned threats and a slew of hazards, but I needed something that provided not only more bulk, but something that can abuse Tricked Pokemon extremely well. Umbreon when a team's set-up breaker is Tricked and/or burned is nearly infallible, especially with Tera Poison. I originally had this set from Camoconvergence, a mashup of Camomons and Convergence, but upon realizing it was still legal and with Tera allowed, I couldn't pass up on it. Rocky Helmet was also very important to punish U-turns and, more importantly, obliterate Population Bomb cheese. There are several games where I've just sent Umbreon out and it wins on the spot.

Kingambit is a strong cleaner in the mid- and late-game that benefits heavily from the team's two Wisp users and hazard stacking defensive core. If you feel like the Pokemon in front of you is going to use Wisp themselves (or in other cases, something like a threatening Fire-type attack), don't be afraid to burn your Tera in order to avoid it. The team can feel rather passive without Kingambit's full power available. Gyarados is a super capable Defog user, and it's far from passive thanks to its high natural Attack and access to Brave Bird. Most hazard setters I've run into have simply outright lost to Gyarados, being forced to switch and letting you get off Defogs consistently. The team is not the most hazard weak ever, so Flip Turn in order to gain momentum rather than immediately removing hazards may be the play you need to stay in the game. Cresselia is often my lead, as it stunts the opponent's momentum so well. Its speed investment lets it be faster than Greninja, which is important as the team is not the most sturdy into Gren. Wisp physical attackers and Trick Pokemon that look like they're about to start setting up (especially bulkier CM users, as they can often 1v1 Umbreon if they have all the right scenarios). Use Cresselia's bulk wisely—switch it into moves often but don't completely forget that it's not invincible. Fezandipiti is a great Pokemon to pivot into after Flip Turn/U-Turn/Volt Switch, as Neutralizing Gas + Will-O-Wisp well weigh down opposing defensive cores heavily. It's rather fast too, and fast Wisps are always appreciated. Utilize the fact that you have max investment and fire off Play Roughs when you need to; don't SD unnecessarily, but rather when you feel like you can really break a fat mon or straight up clean. Umbreon is who you switch in vs almost all physical attackers that don't matchup super effectively. Even those, when burned, are fodder in front of Umbreon though. Absolutely always bring out Umbreon vs a mon that you suspect is about to use Population Bomb—even if they SD first, you will kill them with Rocky Helmet recoil. Due to the mixed EV spread, 1-2 Calm Minds is about all you need to fend off special attackers as well. And remember, Fur Coat comes with zero disadvantages unlike Fluffy. You're taking half damage from all physical attacks, and you don't become 2x weak to Fire. The last Pokemon is Landorus, which is just an all-purpose pivot that can absorb some status (once your Toxic Orb is already used) and set Stealth Rock well. You can really control the pace of the match with this thing. Protect to scout Choiced Pokemon, but use it sparingly in the face of things that can potentially set up or Sub up. Landorus, similarly to Gyarados, is not as passive as its set would lead one to believe, and this is once again thanks to its high base Attack coupled with a high BP STAB.

Threats

I never lost to Greninja, but it's not hard to see how it can be a threat. Adaptability sets are insanely potent, and with your fastest option being a Scarf Volt Switch from the rather weak Cresselia, you can find yourself in annoying positions. Being resistant to Kingambit's Sucker Punch is another major factor in its annoyance to the team. Pivot around with Cress, Gyara and Fezan well and you'll wear it down faster than you expect. Ceaseless Edge sets are much less concerning surprisingly, because they're just food for Gyarados.

For some reason, I kept fighting Chandelure. It's actually the reason my Landorus-T has 286 speed now. Torch Song makes having your team be so slow impressively annoying, and the threat of Substitute makes Kingambit a less than consistent answer. Switching around with Cress, Gyara and Lando will be your primary method for taking Chande down. Umbreon can also help, but preserving its HP is rather important in most matchups.

Not too threatening thanks to Gyara + Umbreon, but still worth noting down that playing around Cinderace can be annoying. I have no idea why pure Fire types have so much coverage LOL if you run into the wrong set (ie Banded Wild Charge/Stone Edge with Tera Fire Drought), you might be in trouble, but Intimidate + Moonlight Umbreon is enough typically. Use your Protect Landorus to scout what move they go for as well if they're confirmed to be Choice Banded.

Walking Wake should be far from fun to fight. Wisp could truthfully go a long way in beating it long-term, slowly chipping the mon into Kingambit range. Your Tera will become more important than any other matchup as well— Tera Water Fezandipiti and Tera Dragon Landorus-Therian can be extremely clutch.

Replays

1 Shows not only the threat of Tera Fire CB Cinderace with a random coverage move but also the importance of Kingambit.
2 Displays Umbreon's insane walling ability, also just a funny game.
3 :trollamos:
4 Really showcases how Umbreon is an auto-win button against ill prepared teams.
5 vs. Psychic Terrain, the importance of Umbreon and its Rocky Helmet cannot be understated. It took 44% from a +2 Adamant Gapdos Acrobatics man.

24-1 on ladder

Should be 25-0 but I lost to a last turn Wisp miss to the same Psychic Terrain team I later beat :cope:

In terms of the meta itself, I'd definitely say the Pokemon/abilties I'd be most concerned about are:

Tera I don't think the Pokemon can keep up with things having access to Terastallization.
Even without Tera, the ability to Nasty Plot up in combination with Protosynthesis is too much.
Feels silly to mention considering it gets nothing crazy from the OM's mechanics but Hearthflame is just too strong.
Drought It enables a playstyle much too unhealthy for the meta, and I don't think Heat Rock would be enough of a restriction.
Drizzle Same as above.
Fur Coat The only viable user is Umbreon, but I feel there's no way this should be legal with Tera present.

Very fun tier, maybe I'll do some more cooking later, maybe not! Never go Full Monkey.

 

[Tankey6ia]

(Bold is borrowed moves and abilities)
Thundurus-Therian/Zapdos
/
These Thunderbirds can fill a variety of roles depending on what you need. The moves and abilities they have are bolstered by Kilowattrel, Oricorio-Pom-Pom, and Rotom-Fan.
Thundurus-Therian

Thundurus-Therian Setup Sweeper Set

Thundurus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
Tera Type: Psychic
IVs: 0 Atk
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot / Calm Mind
- Grass Knot / Stored Power
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast / Roost

Set Details
Moves
Calm Mind is a slower but more defensive option for if you want to improve bulk alongside special attack. Nasty plot is if you are going fully offensive. Grass Knot is to hit ground types for super effective damage, but Stored Power boosts base power with the number of boosts you have, so after 3 Calm Minds, Stored Power is a spammable 140 BP move, which is very strong. Thunderbolt is just your STAB, nothing else to say. Focus Blast is to hit steel types that are not weak to the previous moves, and finally Roost is to restore HP.
Other Attributes
Timid Nature and 252 Speed EVs increase speed to the maximum, which is not as important as Gen 9 OU as the metagame has centered around Poison Heal, but is still important for outspeeding base 80s to base 100 speed. 252 special attack EVs increase the firepower of Thundurus to the maximum, while the remaining EVs go to Special Defense just for a tad extra bulk. 0 Atk IVs is to reduce confusion and Foul Play Damage, and Tera Type Psychic boosts your Stored Powers. Finally, Competitive is to keep your Special Attack the same or higher and Leftovers is for recovery, but you can go Life Orb for extra firepower.
Checks and Counters
/ Chansey/Blissey
The eggs stop any special attacker with their insanely high HP and Special Defense, and can take a lot of firepower if Thundurus is not running Focus Blast. They could damage you with Seismic Toss, and cripple you with Toxic (yes they get that because of the Dunsparce line), or just outright OHKO you with Final Gambit.
Greninja
Greninja is both faster and can have similar firepower with Adaptability boosting Water and Dark type STABs by 25%. Hydro Pump can do serious damage to Thundurus, and Ice Beam, while weaker when not Tera'd, when Tera'd, can straight up OHKO due to it being Adaptabilty boosted, super effective, and off of a pretty good 103 SPA.
Zapdos

Zapdos Support Set

Zapdos @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Ghost/Ground
IVs: 0 Atk
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp/Defog/Thunder Wave/Night Shade/U-Turn
- Spite/Defog/Thunder Wave/Night Shade/Hex
- Thunderbolt

Set Details
Moves
Roost is your recovery move. For the second slot, Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers via halving the BP of their moves, Defog removes hazards, Thunder wave can cripple non-electric, non-magic bounce Pokeon, Night Shade is consistant damage against Ground types, and U-Turn is for pivoting in a disadvantageous situation. You can also run Spite to lessen the foe's moves PP, and Hex to take advantage of status conditions. Finally, Thunderbolt is your STAB.
Other Attributes
252 HP EVs is to maximize bulk, 252 Spe is to go first more of the time, and 4 Spa is to deal slightly more damage with your special moves. A Bold nature and 0 IVs reduce attack to the mininum, and also increase defense a bit. Tera Ghost takes advantage of Hexes, but you can do Tera Ground if you don't run Hex. Rocky Helmet and Static punish contact via damaging and paralyzing respectively.