Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
1. bekama: This is a really creative way to continue Dugtrio's shtick flavorwise. Initially I wasn't sure about making the damage based on a Diglett's Atk stat, but I think this works better balance-wise than if it was just using Pursuit. 2. DrPumpkinz : Again, I think handles the flavor amazingly and feels like something GF would actually implement. That said, the fact it gets 1.3x damage for free could be a bit uncompetitive, hence why I like bekama's idea just a bit more. 3. okispokis
4. FierceHawk192: My personal favorite of the "3-heads" focused abilities, largely due to how it doesn't overcomplicate things. Sure, Feraligatr kind of already has the multi-hit thing going on, but still pretty good. 5. lydian: Ability is fun, but mostly I like that you got a little more creative with the stat spread. There is more to a good Mega design than just the ability, so I appreciate it when you guys go the extra mile. 6. fratelli bc: Eh, it's funny. Everlasting Taunt is a pretty neat idea. 7. Marshmallow_Fish_24: I don't think this would really be that good in practice, but the concept is just too hilarious to not at least mention.
1. okispokis
2. qways: Just a great idea for Wishwashi. Having an ability based around how your whole team is doing is an idea I really like (hence my idea for Falinks) and yet still functions as a no-nonsense attacker. It's ability is good, but it's also not entirely reliant on it; it's a great example of an ability that furthers the design rather than defining it. Wish it had done something with Solo form, but that one nitpick isn't a deal-breaker. 3. BlueRay: Of the subs, this one probably handles Solo form the best, making it not terrible while also making sense flavorwise. School form fits too, although it's a bit generic IMO. 4. Anzeigefehler: A bit basic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I feel this is different enough from our Spiritomb so as not to directly compete with it since it takes a much more offensive role. 5. Double Iron Bash: Doesn't entirely make sense with base mon, but this is just such a fun concept that I can overlook it. 6. jazzmat: Nice idea for Solo form.
1. okispokis
2. Magmajudis: One-time trapping is an interesting concept, and I feel Falinks is the perfect mon for an ability like this. 3. FierceHawk192: Simple, and effectively captures its inspiration since it mirrors how real phalanxes defended themselves. 4. qways: Good fit flavorwise, but what really makes it for me is that you at least gave options for using the ability besides No Retreat. Even if those moves never get used, it's a great attention to detail and makes it feel more like a complete idea. 5. ARandomPerson: Mirror Armor is such a cool ability, and given how wasted it is on Corviknight I like how you're giving it a second chance. I also really love how well this design pairs with Defiant. 6. BlueRay: Again, good use of a pre-existing ability. Overall solid design. 7. ChoiceScarfed: This is a meme. I can't in good faith put it any higher (the effect doesn't really fit Falinks, IMO), but it's just such a simple yet creative idea I can't help but respect it. 8. EeveeGirl1380: Again, multi-hit Mega is kind of retreading old ground, but this fits Falinks pretty well and the slight power boost sounds intriguing. I also like the added touch of Wild Charge, I think it fits well and is fairly decent competitively. 9. Furretfan: Not the most fitting concept for Falinks, but I like the imagination here. 10. Poke Legend: This makes no sense, yet I kind of like it anyways.
MechaKirbys:1.Me(IDK why but i have no chance so yeah)2.magmajudis 3.ausma
WimpyFish:Ausma
Dugtrio:Me(the same reason with mechar kirby)2.fratelli 3 drpumkinz 4 okispokis
11) Ema Skye 12) ChoiceScarfed 13) Magmajudis 14) Vipotis
I might do a comment later. But right now, I'm too tired after looking through all the subs. x.x
Know that I love the creativity and dedication you all put into them!
Good gods that's a lot of suggested slates on the poll. Having filled out the ones I wanted last night, I must admit I chuckled a bit at poor Hitmontop and Runerigus being lumped in with Wormadam-Trash. Freudian slip much?
Anyway, I guess I'll do this now given the Mega Revolution tour got delayed to another day and given I may end up forgetting to do this in the next two days otherwise. I guess I'll do 12 this time given the theme of 3, 2, and 6 (and given there's no way I'm doing 36 votes for each even if there were that many).
01. ausma
02. War Incarnate
03. fratelli bc
04. abismal
05. CrLmao
06. lydian
07. The Damned
08. Exilas
09. BlueRay
10. FierceHawk192
11. AP5Fanboy
12. Furretfan
P.S. Hematite, this isn't terribly important which is why I'm not devil-summoning you with "@", but I just wanted to make a minor note that you accidentally labelled the voting slate as Slate 28 instead of Slate 29. I'm merely pointing out it in case it's important to you since it's not like it actually changes anything one way or the other. Regardless, you and everyone else stay safe.
Mega Falinks
1: ausma
2: Ema Skye
3: lydian
4: Poke Legend
5: ARandomPerson
ausma: sue me, i like my sub
Ema Skye: it seems like an odd ability at a glance but i actually find this to be super super clever, both flavorfully and practically. has a lot of room to operate as a really dope bulky fighting-type and wallbreaker using its setup, and just in general this is rly cool. not too much else to say
ARandomPerson: a pretty simple, straight forward sub, but one that makes pretty cool use out of mirror armor and makes it so its setup is here to stay
lydian: also fairly straight forward, but packs a super cool concept in terms of design, packs cool dual STABs that bear in mind the base form, and is well balanced around no retreat!
Poke Legend: super interesting way to exploit your own mechanic, LOL. i feel like having this be a strictly detrimental ability is a bit weird, especially because you can still take advantage of your exploitation. giving falinks like a temporary defense boost or something in exchange for not being able to swap would be kind of heat
Mega Dugtrio
1: lydian
2: Gravity Monkey
3: Ema Skye
4: BlueRay
5: AquaticPanic
6: ausma
7: okispokis
lydian: absolutely hilarious but also sound flavor wise, with a really cool mechanic that rewards good positioning and opportunity seizing. just love the idea here, it's so good LOL
Gravity Monkey: this sub is intensely badass. duggie just drags you to the earth and makes you suffer as it tunnels you into oblivion. that being said though! i think this is a super clever, unique use of gravitas and i'm 100% for it because it doesn't really compete with orbeetle at all
Ema Skye: this is honestly a genius idea, gigantic fan of it in concept!! takes really cool advantage of the invulnerable turn while also letting duggie actually make effective use out of its signature move; it's really simple yet super neat and one-of-a-kind.
BlueRay: i love a unique trapper and this fits the bill super well, and actually serves a practical niche while being able to do work consistently. love it!
AquaticPanic: i feel like i'm just biased towards hazards, but triple spikes in a single turn is so scary and yet you balance such a powerful incentive pretty solidly. could see this having a potential balance issue just cuz spikes is so good, but at the same time HDB spam is a thing too so
ausma: i like my sub
okispokis: a really cool idea for a combo duggie sub, but i think duggie is a bit too reliant on switches to make it work consistently. could be neat tho especially because in concept telekinesis is a dope, underexplored volatile that really needs some more love
Mega Wishiwashi
1: inkbug
2: DrPumpkinz
3: ausma
inkbug: i think i expressed this a lot already, but for those who haven't seen: ink's submission is probably bar none my favorite submission ever made in this mod. there is a ton of flavor here, with a super intuitive design and a ton of majorly interesting options in execution that just makes me really wanna try it out. this is just an ideal sub, imo, primed with balance, care, intuition, and flavor.
DrPumpkinz: a very straight forward submission with a pretty cool niche for the regular form, taking advantage of wishiwashi's final cry with a super speedy endeavor that compliments the base form's wallbreaking in a really fascinating way. not too much to say here
.
ausma: i like my sub tbh
Love -> Like
Exilas, abismal, AquaticPanic, okispokis, BlueRay, shinxthe17, The Damned, SimpyShrimp, Inkbug, PalpitoadChamp, superstrike66, IlluznZoroark.
StarFalcon555 (only comment i'll say goes here, the lack of "order" moves is wasted potential as far as flavor goes), AquaticPanic, okispokis, abismal, fratelli bc, Poké Legend, RaimundoBita, qways, ausma, EeveeGirl1380
Before I get started, a quick run-down of how this works:
Each vote contributes one point to its first-place choice
The candidates are ordered based on both the number of first-place votes and the number of total votes, and eliminated from the bottom
Any vote whose first choice has been eliminated instead gives its point to its second choice, or whatever its next ranking is. (On the sheet, points that have moved in this manner are highlighted in yellow.)
The elimination and re-ranking process continues until there are two remaining, upon which the one with more points is the winner.
There were, uh, a lot of single votes this time, and I feel like I would not be doing my job if I didn't remind people that it's generally better if you do not do that? Like, you can if you want, but overall it just makes it more likely that your vote will end up not being counted at all. I understand that there are a lot of submissions to go through, but as a general rule it's best to rank as many as you find interesting at all!
(I've also seen people say that they rank less subs because they don't want to give me too much work in counting their votes, but this is quite simply not a problem at all! As long as there's a clear order and your post isn't too hard to read (it helps a lot if the separate pokemon are in separate hide boxes - especially if the pokemon in your post are not listed in pokedex order - and numbering the list also helps immensely if you've ranked a lot of subs) then I will have no trouble logging as many votes as you can possibly manage to make!)
All that aside, without further ado... Mega Dugtrio: lydian !!
Ability - Sand Veil, Arena Trap; Sand Force ➝ Mole-A-Whac (At the end of every turn, if the user wasn't hit by a contact move AND if the user didn't use a status move, the user's Attack raises one stage. If the user was hit by a contact move, its Attack stage is reset to 0.)
Movepoll Changes - n/a Competitive Corner - This seemed like a fun way to make use of Dig and make for a Pokémon that is able to punish switches but not too much, in a way, standing loyal to its Arena Trap legacy. Throw Dig, Substitute, some coverage, and you're set :) Flavor Corner - The idea here is that Dugtrio is based on Whac-A-Mole, and the only way to beat Whac-A-Mole is to "Whac" the "Mole", obviously, therefore, Dugtrio is rewarded for not being hit, in a way, reversing the roles, and Dugtrio might be the one "Whacing" you!
New Ability: Schooling --> SOS [Wishiwashi's SOS]
Wishiwashi called for help!
Upon Mega Evolution, Mega Wishiwashi reverts to its base Solo Forme if it isn't already. (Activation message if it's in School Forme when it Mega Evolves: "Wishiwashi's school got startled and fled..." or "Wishiwashi's school swam off to look for more friends!")
Over the course of the battle, Mega Wishiwashi calls for its friends to join its school, gradually gaining strength in numbers. At the end of each active turn (not counting switch-ins, ala Speed Boost), it gains +10 HP, +20 Atk, +25 Def, +20 SpA, and +25 SpD to its base stats, and it loses -11 Spe. These stat changes are persistent upon switching out, and cap out after 5 turns.
(This submission is actually currently playable in the MfA Submission Sandbox format on Dragon Heaven, where ideally we should be able to figure out what level of recovery is reasonable to give it. It has access to Wish, Life Dew and Recover. I will edit this once we've figured out what to give it more concretely, but until then, assume Wish + Life Dew and no Recover.)
(Another note about the sandbox: Wishiwashi's ability actually behaves slightly differently than described; it activates at the end of every turn, not requiring an active turn like Speed Boost. the final version definitely will require an active turn.)
Please send me these if you play any with it to test it out, so I can include it here for demonstration!
Highlights/things to note: Wishi 4 is Wishiwashi vs Wishiwashi and shows off both of them pretty well! They both support their teams with Wish and tank some crazy hits - I think this is one of the better ones Wishi 7 and Wishi 8 (myself and Hematite) are both really good ones to see I think! We used pretty different sets, and ours both succeeded at providing constant support and lasted pretty much the whole battle; these also both show effective ways to deal with them, effective ways to support them and address those shortcomings, and how bulky they are. It tries really hard to 1v1 a Zapdos with no special defense investment at the end of 7 and almost succeeds.
Desc: okay, now is the part where i have to justify myself! :'D
obviously the thing that immediately stands out about this is that it ... increases its hp ??? what the hell ink thats not allowed?? and to that i say. you are absolutely correct! pokemon gaining hp via mega evolution is not something we allow, as there is no precedent for it in the series.
however, a pokemon gaining hp from an ability is something that there is precedent for; and not only that, it's a signature effect to a pokemon that is mechanically defined by its nature asa collective of smaller creatures (Zygarde's cells). wishiwashi has that same flavor justification, and also conveniently already has a forme change mechanic that modifies its BST; in my eyes, this is maybe one of the only possible pokemon itd make sense to use this mechanic for.
it was actually Hematite's idea to include hp modification as part of the ability. i reeeeeally wasn't sold on the idea at first, but he made some very convincing points (especially re; the viability of the concept, because it was looking incredibly useless before this). here's his words about the subject, while asking for me in the discord if folks were open to the idea;
So his premise is basically like
his Mega Wishiwashi always starts in Solo Form and then its Ability changes its form to get stronger over time, and its maximum power level is equivalent to a Mega School Form, with a BST of 720
But he's having a hard time making it worthwhile, since School Form already isn't that impressive and this delays getting any good stats for much longer than most other subs (plenty of which don't even push Solo Form on it at all)
I was thinking like
probably the most fun take on this Ability - what would make working up to to School Form the most worthwhile - would be to do something like Power Construct: as it changes form, one of the stats that increases is its base HP
The problem is uh... obviously that Megas conventionally don't raise HP
but the reason I think this case warrants an exception is that the act of Mega Evolving doesn't change its HP stat at all - like every other Mega, its HP still doesn't change when it Mega Evolves
It's the Ability that causes that, and that's definitely well within the constraints of what Abilities are allowed to do in canon (following Power Construct's example) and it still ends up with a perfectly legal BST for School Form (720)
I feel like this is a useful mechanical choice to make the slow buildup to School Form worth it, since the low HP is a big part of what keeps even the bulkiest regular School Form Megas from being particularly impressive
and it also has the potential to create a really satisfying form of visual feedback, since seeing its HP change each time it changes form is a great way to emphasize that it's changed its stats and seeing it happen repeatedly over time satisfyingly draws attention to the incremental nature of the Ability
Personally I am all for this but I can understand why it would be controversial to change its base HP at all, so I felt like laying out the argument and inviting feedback rather than telling him outright that it was okay
(* also to clarify: its form isn't meant to revert when it switches out the Ability is already quite similar to Power Construct in nature and avoids all of the obvious reasons why HP doesn't normally change)
It is still a Mega first and foremost, of course - it's just taking advantage of the fact that the base form already has two forms of differing power levels, and using them as a justification for an otherwise-hard-to-explore kind of form change for the Mega
Personally I quite like his idea
and I feel like this suggestion has value as a way to make it, like, actually practical and worth considering I think it would be a cool addition
and folks were open to the idea, for the most part, so i put this together!
that's enough of the backstory, though-- let's get into what it can do mechanically!
mechanically, this thing is a hell of a tank. due to the nature of its ability, its incentivised to run protect, giving it spare turns for its ability to progress, making Wish its preferred type of recovery; plus it naturally gets flip turn and u-turn for team support! (and wish is also a funny move to give it because wish is in its name.)
most sets are probably going to want to run wish + protect + pivoting, and then the fourth moveslot can variably go to an attacking move, a utility move like scald, or something like toxic.
Ability: Stance Change (The ability is modified to also allow Mega Falinks to swap between two forms: Mega Falinks (Legion; its base form) and Mega Falinks (Combat). When using an offensive move, Mega Falinks will transform into Mega Falinks (Combat). If Mega Falinks uses King's Shield, it will retreat back into its base form.)
I'm going to be entirely honest, Stance Change is super cool, and is the closest we'll get to a "formation" in the series; so, why not play to that? Falinks is utterly begging for this kind of flavor, after all.
The main thing I found kind of lame about Stance Change is how, in recent times, it's usually better to just use your base shield simply for set up and switching in, and then staying in your offensive form until you switch out. So, I wanted to create an actual incentive to go into your defensive form: speed, and a lot of it. Basically, with this incentive, Falinks's offensive prowess can reasonably be obscenely high, especially as it encourages the user to carefully position their Falinks and actually strategize when and how to use its moves, like how warfare actually calls for in real life. The added Steel-type is not only for flavor, but to make its Legion form have some bulky merits to it, too, and not just to be the "time to get our speed back" form.
However, obviously, No Retreat is an incredibly important variable to consider, and is one I made care to attend to here. At +1, Combat Falinks only hits 310 speed with a positive nature, only outspeeding max speed Landorus-T at absolute best. This essentially means that, in order to make use of Falinks's speed and power alongside No Retreat, you are limited to two moves, which is really bad given Falinks in its base form is already picking and choosing between its coverage.
For the sake of giving an incentive to go special, I opted to give it both Flame Burst and Thunder as potential options, flavorfully accented with "thunderous marching" and cannonades utilized in real life warfare. While it seems obvious that you can go for Fighting + Fire + Electric coverage with No Retreat and cover every base; sure, but have fun being revenge killed with no sweat, and having no way to escape it due to No Retreat forcing you to stay in.
All in all, this design of Falinks pretty much optimizes the strategic "positioning" that Stance Change on Aegislash was so close to getting down, basically letting it perform with incredible power, but only if your strategic mind can make it work to its fullest like in actual combat.
Before I move on to the next slate, I have some scheduling business to announce! >>> Upcoming tournaments this weekend (March 6th/7th) <<< Sunday, March 7th at 6PM GMT: M4A VGC Tour #1 >>> (Wiki Homepage) (Challonge Signups) <<<
This is a tour we've been wanting to hold for awhile now! There's a lot of unexplored potential in M4A VGC, especially since the vast majority of Pet Mods players are singles-only. For those unfamiliar, here are the format guidelines for M4A VGC:
Since VGC is an unfamiliar format for many of us (myself included), feel free to pop into the #m4a-vgc-discussion or #team-sharing channels in our discord to fish for some tips or advice for teambuilding!
>>> Upcoming tournaments next weekend (March 13th/14th) <<< Saturday, March 13th at 6PM GMT: New Recruits Tour #2 >>> (Wiki Homepage) (Challonge Signups) <<<
Awhile ago, we decided to hold one of these periodically, to get a feel for the potential our new additions have for shaping the metagame in new and exciting ways. For this tournament, the teams you use are required to have a Mega Evolution that is either from any of the slates made after the previous New Recruits tour that are live at the time of the tournament, or one that has recently seen a significant buff or nerf. Here's the list currently, but it may be added to as we potentially poll more balance changes over the coming weeks: (both)
Sunday, March 14th at 7PM GMT: M4A Monthly #1 >>> (Wiki Homepage) (Challonge Signups) <<<
You know, we don't hold normal tours that often!! This one's just a normal tournament with no restrictions on what you can and can't bring (outside of like. normal MfA format rules), and I'd like to hold this kind of tour on a more regular basis.
And finally... Submissions for Slate 30 (!!!!) are now open!!
Submissions for Mega Floatzel, Mega Simisear, Mega Krookodile, and Mega Cinccino -- the representatives of our four remaining non-Uber council/comp council members -- will be open until 0:00 GMT on Sunday, March 7th, or 120 hours from this post. (Midnight GMT is a weird timeslot to keep in mind, at least for me, so hopefully this is a helpful example -- 0:00 GMT on Sunday in GMT is 4:00 PM on Saturday in my timezone (GMT-8).)
We also have a poll for the Mega Evolutions that will be the focus of Slate 31! >>> Slate 31 Poll <<<
All right, I think that's about it from me for now! Have a good one, and as always, I look forward to seeing your submissions!
Dig Dug - PalpitoadChamp, Ema Skye, lydian, inkbug, BlueRay, ausma, AquaPanic, DrPumpkinz, okispokis
Graduation School - PalpitoadChamp, inkbug, okispokis, ausma, BlueRay, The Damned, Yung Dramps
THIS IS SPARTA - PalpitoadChamp, ausma, kakaks, BlueRay, AquaPanic, lydian, AP5Fanboy, fratelli bc
(both) 
