Metagame NP: ZU Stage 3: Mask Off - Bans #11

[Tuthur]

The first DLC, the Teal of the Mask, was just released. With it, come new Pokemon and additions to movepools.

Here are some returning NFE that might be viable in ZU:

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Clefairy
Vulpix
Vulpix Alola
Weepinbell
Yanma
Gligar
Piloswine
Dusclops
Grotle
Monferno
Prinplup
Munchlax
Gurdurr
Vullaby
Hakamo-o

Here are some movepool additions that might affect the viability of some old ZU Pokemon:

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Banette +Burning Jealousy, +Poltergeist
Bramblin +Poltergeist
Eiscue +Flip Turn
Golduck +Flip Turn, +Knock Off
Greedent +Knock Off
Gumshoos +Knock Off
Hypno +Knock Off +Toxic
Kricketune +Knock Off
Krokorok +Knock Off
Lumineon +Flip Turn
Oinkologne +High Horsepower, +Lash Out
Oranguru +Knock Off
Persian +Knock Off
Pikachu +Knock Off
Sawsbuck +High Horsepower
Seviper +Knock Off +Toxic
Slaking +Knock Off
Sneasel +Knock Off
Stonjourner +Heat Crash
Vespiquen +Dual Wingbeat
Vigoroth +Knock Off
Wigglytuff +Knock Off, +Misty Explosion

As these changes completely reshape the metagame, the council decided to free every ZUBL Pokémon. Thus, the following Pokemon have been freed:


Council also plans to hold a quickban slate this weekend (16-17 sept). So stay tune and don't hesitate to share your first impressions on the new metagame here. Reminder that one liners are prohibited.

 

[Pabloaram]

Banette @ Life Orb
Ability: Insomnia
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Poltergeist
- Shadow Sneak
- Tera Blast

I fee like offensive Banette get a huge buff within regaining Poltergeist and the new added Sword Dance. Still i'm a bit skeptical with all the new Knock Off user that Polt isnt gonna be as good

Talking about Knock Off that increase on distribution is awfull for combating hazzard stack and the many evio user that love the extra bulk with stil no inknockeable objets in the game

 

[plznostep]

My Opinion's on all notable DLC Pokemon (+ Movepool Changes)
(i post too much on these forums btw I have no life LOL)
NFE's

- This is a good mon, has a great movepool and typing with solid bulk with Eviolite and an amazing ability in Magic Guard meaning it does not have to worry about status or hazards which is particularly big for a Pokemon who is forced to run Eviolite meaning no Heavy-Duty Boots.

- From first impressions, Dusclops looks like its gonna be an amazing Pokemon to have around for some of the new Fighting-types even if they all carry Knock Off as Dusclops already has amazing bulk as base anyways and otherwise our Fighting-type counterplay is a bit limited with it being Psychic-types (knocked) or Flying-types who cannot take Monferno's Fire STAB like Dusclops can unless you are Gligar.

- Speaking of Gligar, this Pokemon has amazing bulk with Eviolite while also carrying an amazing typing in Ground/Flying which offers great immunities to Electric and Ground moves. It's movepool is also great, with it learning all hazards apart from Sticky Webs, Knock Off, and a good pivotting move in U-turn while also carrying Swords Dance if you want to go offensive. The only thing its missing this gen is Roost but it can still stay around to help check offensive threats through sheer bulk and im sure someone will be able to pull off a nice RestTalk set with this Pokemon as well.

- Like Pupitar but more defensive in nature, has better physical bulk and hits harder for worse special bulk and lacks Pupitar's Shed Skin meaning it doesn't have a good way of recovering for Sturdy instead which i imagine will be used on HO leads but those sets are worse without Custap Berry available, so I can't really see this being used too much.

- I saw this being mentioned in the room, Galvanise is a wonderful ability which gives Graveler a very strong Electric-STAB move so there is that at least for maybe Choice Banded sets, it is Magnet Pull too but no Steel-types to trap really. Otherwise, it's slow and its typing is a bit bad since its completely destroyed by Ground-types so I think it will end up being mid.

- Gained Shell Smash which sounds like a meme set, notably lost Stealth Rock meaning this guys movepool kinda just sucks now and I can't see it being used except for like gimmicky Shell Smash sets sadly.

- One of the most influential drops we have, a great setup sweeper with amazing bulk with Eviolite and Bulk Up making it even better, and its abilities are both wonderful with Guts to ignore status and Iron Fist to give Gurdurr a boost its punching moves like Drain Punch and Mach Punch which can be a very nice option for it. It also has retained Defog which means you can use an offensive defogging set which also seems like a nice option for it. Overall very good.

- Has great bulk and a good ability in Bulletproof, Dragon Dance looks scary with that Dragon/Fighting typing and Iron Head coverage for Fairy-types like Clefairy, while defensive sets also look good with Dragon Tail while making use of its good bulk to check Pokemon like Stonjourner. Another Pokemon I can see being very good in the tier.

- I don't know how good it will be, but Ghost/Fire is a wonderful typing offensively and defensively with Flash Fire to also deal with Sun that is running around and wall Monferno's STABs, although it must watch out for Knock Off. It's weak to rocks which is something that it would absolutely hate but also has good coverage and utility, I can see it being at least viable.

- A very busted Pokemon at the moment, it's movepool is incredible with reliable recovery in Slack Off, Stealth Rock, Knock Off, U-turn, and most of the tier crumbles to its offensive STABs making it incredibly difficult to switch into. Choice sets do really well at cleaning or maybe even crippling walls with Switcheroo if you want to do that, I can't see this Pokemon staying since its just that strong.

- This is another really good mon, It has great stats and with Eviolite it's very bulky with great STABS which can be pretty difficult to switch into. It's Ground typing gives it a good matchup into Electric-types like Rotom-Fan, although annoyingly Tera Steel can just ignore Piloswine somewhat, and its priority Ice Shard gives it a good way of dealing significant damage before anything can attack it. And Thick Fat is also just a lovely ability, especially when a Pokemon can Terastallize to use Thick Fat to their advantage.

- Bulky Water-type with access to Roost, Haze, and Flip Turn. Sadly lost Stealth Rocks and Defog which would of made it probably one of the best Pokemon in the tier but its still really good if not slightly one dimensional in how it plays.

- This Pokemon is huge for Sun, having an automatic setter makes that teamstyle so much better and even though Vulpix has horrible stats it doesn't matter because Drought is all you need, but it is nice that Vulpix's support movepool is superb with Healing Wish to bring in a Sun Abuser, heal them, and start blasting things.

- This one is worse but still good for supporting Snow abusers like Beartic and Glaceon, but it notably lacks some of the support Vulpix has for getting in Pokemon in exchange for Aurora Veil which makes Pokemon like Glaceon, who already boast superb bulk, even bulkier and more difficult to beat.

- New Sun Abuser with access to Weather Ball and a nice typing to set up with, I can see this being used on a lot of new Sun teams that we'll be seeing with the arrival of Vulpix.

LC

- Fast mon with access to Webs, technically our only Quiver Dance user too but its stats are too bad to really make use of the broken move in my opinion. Maybe someone will do the impossible and make it work though.

- With so many Fighting-types around and Koffings nice movepool and abilities, I can see it being somewhat useful so mentioning it. Pain Split for recovery is nice and spreading burns with Will-O-Wisp is always great. Can also use Toxic Spikes, Haze, Memento, just a lot of options.

- With so many Fighting-types at the moment I can see Mienfoo struggling to make a name for itself at first but after all that I can see this mon being at least viable with its nice movepool and abilites, especially Regenerator.

- Has good stats with Eviolite, will it work? I don't know, it has Curse as usual but seems like its difficult to fit all it wants in one set, so the judge is out on whether it will work this time. Thick Fat is always a great ability though especially for Sun and Snow which are around at the moment.

- Might be worth using, has a good-typing in Ice/Steel making it neutral to Stealth Rock and its movepool isn't that bad, Slush Rush is what makes it useable though as a Snow abuser but I want to see how Snow plays out first before I say too much about it.

- I can see this being a wonderful Pokemon, its movepool is absolutely amazing, Knock Off, U-turn, Defog, Roost, Toxic. I don't need anything else from this. It's typing is also really great and it has decent bulk, being weak to Stealth Rocks is not amazing though but otherwise I see a lot of potential here.

Movepool Changes

+ Poltergeist - This will make Banette absolutely crazy, like Banded will hit incredibly hard and if you get hit by a +2 Poltergeist you are probably dead.

+ Flip Turn - Nice buff, giving Eiscue a way to pivot is really nice for HDB sets and perhaps Choice Specs

+ Flip Turn + Knock Off - As if this mon needed to get any better...

+ Knock Off - Appreciates that it can hit Ghosts harder now but everyone has Knock Off now so Greedent is falling off hard right now.

+ Knock Off - Everything that switches into Gumshoos dies anyway.

+ Knock Off + Toxic - Makes defensive Hypno sets way more appealing now and gives it something over its other Psychic-type friends.

+ Knock Off - Huge, this Pokemon will be very good now it gets access to Knock Off and i'm very happy it has it back now.

+ Knock Off - Makes physical Persian viable again, like actually such a good move for Persian.

+ Knock Off - Makes physical Pikachu way better but still probably not as good as Special Pikachu, but mixed also sounds appealing now.

+ High Horsepower - This Pokemon also did not need any new buffs, and this is a really nice one too.

+ Knock Off + Toxic - Nice moveset buff, Seviper really appreciates this to hit Ghosts harder.

+ Knock Off - Bye Bye Sneasel you are no longer apart of our tier.

+ Heat Crash - Kinda whatever, Choice Banded Heavy Slam already 2hko'd anyone who didn't resist it anyways, but nice for Grass-types I suppose.

+ Knock Off - Ew, I hate that this has Knock Off now, another guy who really did not need these buffs.

+ Knock Off - Lovely buff, Wigglytuff is already doing nice with Banette getting like way better and a Knock Off absorber is really nice too at the moment.​

 

[love chants]

I hit number one on the zu ladder, yippie hurray woo! Here's 2 teams.

I just wanted to use a bunch of new things mainly clefairy, cause I've been bored of spamming stonjourner as rocks for months. I think clefs should be running moonblast otherwise you're extremely easy to abuse, but I can see other filler options working like twave / encore. Frogadiers cool cause of the speed tier and it applies presure with spikes. I can see it being scarfed on this team as well. Grumpig and Sneasel are standard. +2 LO Poltergeist is strong as fuck and double dance tera fly gligar works more often than it should its surprisingly strong.
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Banette Poltergeist vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Gurdurr: 359-422 (95.9 - 112.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Banette Poltergeist vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Piloswine: 376-445 (93 - 110.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO


Wanted to use volturn and band monferno which is cool, probably one of the worse monferno sets though ill be honest. Everythings standard pilo, prinplup, gurdurr are your defensive pivots and none are passive as prinplup can flipturn now. Wanted to use persian with knock now as well which is still mediocre but hey its a buff. This team does very well on ladder cause of all the strong priority so its pretty anti cheese.

Click links for the sprites, decided to post this quickly at 12:30 before fish anemometer takes the spot on the ladder :x. I don't really have much thoughts on the meta yet as ladder is almost meaningless but all the knock off is extremely annoying I hope we get swalot back. Happy laddering!

 

[sinnabyss]

DLC 1 has been out for a bit and I'd like to talk about one of my favorite additions to the tier that i feel is a bit underrated:


Dusclops

Dusclops has a great blend of obscene bulk, nice movepool and good matchups into common mons. Even with the absurd amount of knockers in the tier clops can punish them hard with wisp, and its natural bulk is really high anyways. Haze can stop special attackers from trying to setup on it, night shade is good consistent damage to anything that isn't a normal type, and pain split gives it a form of, albeit somewhat unreliable, recovery. (Give it strength sap gamefreak you cowards) Hazards means it isnt the most resilient but defog is on, like, good mons now so its less of a problem. Mons that can deal with darks and ghosts like Gurdurr and Vullaby help clops a ton, especially since those two can remove hazards.

A few sets:


Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure / Frisk
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy / Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Haze
- Pain Split
- Night Shade / Hex

Physically bulky clops that handles mons like Beartic, Piloswine, Persian, Sawsbuck, Wuggy, Gurdurr (provided not guts) and even Sneasel in a pinch. Spdef could work as well with EV tweaks.


Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hex / Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp / Sleep Talk
- Pain Split / Rest

A fun set i've been using on ladder, CM clops uses its ridiculous bulk to be a scary endgame wincon. Even with its low offenses it still hits quite hard. Mono ghost coverage can be annoying but most normals don't want to eat a wisp so you're mostly fine. Watch out for trick tho.


Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Poltergeist
- Leech Life
- Pain Split
- Shadow Sneak

Funny. (dont show this to wooper)​

 

[RextheNoname]

QB slate opinions

hi here are my opinions onthe council slate. Im not a council member but id still like to give myopinion on the bans
- I think gurdurr is actually more problematic than Indeedee, just because so many of the games are heavily centralized around removing this mon . Gurdurr's easy applicabity to most team styles coupled with it being annoying to switch into to the point where games come down to a gurdurr 1v1 makes . And while I dont think that a lot of games come down to gurdurr just outright winning, I think there are far less games which aren't heavily affected by Gurdurr's presence. I do think that the presence of spikes in the meta is affected by gurdurr's defog, but Gurdurr's affect on spikestack pales in comparison to Vullaby's, meaning that Gurdurr leaving likely won't affect all that much. We have strong fighting types which can effectively fill gurdurr's niche without being as centralizing. ( , & ) Overall, I think Gurdurr is too centralizing, and its affect on the meta does more good than bad. BAN

- Basically everyone is on board that this thing needs to be banned. I don't think it's uncounterable, but the inability to revenge kill it with priority is what pushes it over the line for me, especially in a meta where walls are constantly being worn down by SR. BAN

- Even with gurdurr's presence this mon is still problematic. With the lack of HDB present (and likely continual lack of HDB Presence) Makes this thing rip apart teams. I mean just look at what this mon did last gen and you'll see. Same thing as indeedee where this mon isn't "Uncounterable" but the likely removal of gurdurr makes Sneasel very problematic. BAN

- Sun also doesn't feel super broken right now. I do think Gurdurr's mach punches are partly to blame but we have a big ol' zero magic bounce users in the tier ( im not counting this shit) Sun could still be balanced post-Gurdurr ban, but I'd still keep an eye on it as it's very potent even with a lot of priority in the meta. DNB

 

[Tuthur]

​

Council voted on Gurdurr, Indeedee-F, Sneasel, and Vulpix. As a result, Gurdurr and Indeedee-F have been quickbanned from SV ZU. Tagging Marty and Kris to update it.

 

[sinnabyss]

Ive got some spare time and I wanna talk about the problem mons in the tier rn.

Sneasel


Sneasel was already looking scary the second DLC dropped, and now with Gurdurr gone from the tier, it looks to be wayyy too powerful for the tier. May i remind you that it was ZUBL in SwSh, where the power was much, much higher, and it didn't have the option to terastalize out of its weaknesses. With tera ghost to fighting moves from Monferno and normal attacks from Dunny and scarf Sawsbuck. HDB SD is horrifiying in the lategame, and banded, while higher maintainence due to rocks, is freakishly strong. Knock completely invalidates almost every defensive check in the tier, and Sneasels naturally high speed means that only Wuggy can consitantly outspeed it, as Eiscue has to be in noice form and timid to outrun it and persian has to rely on fake out and speed ties, and is again rekt by tera ghost. I'd say that this thing gotta go soon.

Sawsbuck


Speaking of fast physical threats, Sawsbuck is another problematic mon that very much enjoys Gurrdurr leaving the tier. Sawsbuck's speed tier of 90 means that it only about 6 viable pokemon outspeed it. It is vulnerable to a lot of priority, but again, tera. Scarf sets allow it to outspeed everything, and swords dance sets allow it to sweep outright, with trailblaze as an option to allow it to outspeed everything. It's access to horn leech makes it hard to chip down, and high horsepower gives it near-perfect coverage. What makes Sawsbuck broken and generally uncompetitive, however, lies in its combination of STAB headbutt and serene grace. This allows buck to luck its way past walls and turn the game into a flinchfest quite favored to the Sawsbuck user, especially if teammates like Clefairy have spread paralysis prior. This mon is very unfun to play againts and should be banned soon, preferably along with Sneasel.

Rotom-Fan


When Fantom dropped into ZU at the beginning of september, everyone knew it was broken, and the only reason it wasn't quickbanned then was due to the DLC's immenent release. Even now, Fantom is still a massive problem. Nasty plot allows it to boost it's powerful, near unresisted STAB thunderbolts to high hell, with the few mons that can eat it either worn down by volt switch or destroyed by it's secondary stab air slash. It doesnt help that Fan is an excellent abuser of tera, with tera steel + levitate giving it resistances to all its prior weaknesses and only have one weakness in fighting, and Fantom outruns and OHKOs every fighter in the tier. Give this thing the banhammer, and quick!

Edit: and fire weakness too lol but fires basicly don exist outside of crocalor and monferno

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

Pokemon analysis counter: 10
Ladder games while writing counter: 3

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Sneasel @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Eviolite
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Fairy / Dark / Fighting / Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard / Low Kick / Shadow Claw

Sneasel is back and broken. With Gurdurr gone, there is nothing that is in any way or form comfy switching into it. More so, why switch out if you're just giving this thing an opportunity to go for Swords Dance? Counterplay is limited to the fact that this thing is frail and vulnerable to entry hazards, but this is a case in point too broken mon and it's unfortunate the meta will continue to have this shit in it. So just use it and win.

Can you justify Eviolite? Maybe, on some teams, sure. It's not bad to pair it with a good Tera typing to get more setup chances. Tera Fairy will give you the most resistances to priority (think Monferno's Mach Punch, Sucker Punch) and will always be a great defensive typing. Tera Dark removes its weakness to Stealth Rock while netting a nuke of a Knock Off, although there are no particular calcs I found to promote the extra power bar situational benefits. Tera Fighting is good to pair with Low Kick; the STAB bonus OHKOes Stonjourner. The tradeoff is losing Ice Shard, which of course limits your potential as a cleaner versus opposing Choice Scarfers and low HP sweepers. The last option that admittedly saw more use versus Gurdurr is Tera Ghost. This typing allows Sneasel to setup versus Fighting-types, specifically its counter Monferno, and then nail it with +2 STAB Shadow Claw; this lure set is too situational for most teams but can work in tours.

Choice Band is tough to justify because of how centralizing entry hazards are right now. Also, the revenge kill or setup dilemma that non-Choiced sets offer is why Sneasel is broken anyway. Beat Up + Focus Sash is null given we have Knock Off now. Other coverage and Tera typings can work surely, but the base set is insane as is; maybe Tera Steel + Tera Blast can be a thing to lure Tera Fairy Piloswine?

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Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
Tera Type: Dragon / Fairy / Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard

Pilsoswine is the bulky offensive glue in the metagame that basically every team should run. It can check both Sneasel and Rotom-S, a feat valued by any team, while also squeezing in opportunities to wallbreak, revenge kill, and set up Stealth Rock. This is thanks to its perfect STAB coverage, flinch chaces at a decent Speed with Icicle Crash, priority in Ice Shard, and general offensive pressure versus Defog Vullaby. You can never not use this thing. It 1v1s basically everything. Use Piloswine god damnit.

With Tera Dragon, Piloswine makes Thick Fat works once again, and does exceedingly well versus Rain and Sun teams, and generally can get the flip on Fire-, Grass-, and Water-types. Tera Fairy works best generally because with Thick Fat, you can wall Sneasel and trade a very strong Earthquake off (you can do this without Tera of course, but you either survive a hit you wouldn't normally or preserve your bulk thanks to this option). Strong Fighting-type attacks also can't break Piloswine if it uses Tera Fairy. The last option is Tera Ground, which offers the least defensive benefits for the perk of shedding its troublesome Ice-type weaknesses and gaining a nuke of an Earthquake.

Curse can be ran over Stealth Rock if entry hazards are covered elsewhere, and Piloswine could be a late-game priority cleaner and win condition. Speed creep is important on Piloswine for the mirror, but I have no optimal spread at this time; 96 Speed Evs is the most you can get before you risk a minuscule chance of a 3HKO from Rotom-S' Air Slash, disregarding critical hits and flinches. Very fast Choice Band sets or sets with Trailblaze sacrifice the vital bulk Piloswine can give your team for a cheap trick that probably won't even work.

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Rotom-Fan @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp / Discharge

Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Air Slash
- Trick


Rotom-Fan @ Salac Berry
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Air Slash
- Substitute

Rotom-S is still broken as FUCK!!!!!! The simple fact is that we do NOT have enough special walls nor defenses versus entry hazards to stop this thing from pivoting and breaking down its checks. It is also just fast enough to revenge kill the like of Golduck and Gligar, amongst other threats. While Piloswine was a good addition, it was not enough, especially given the go-to Tera Steel option Rotom-S has to counter Piloswine. This option is so good that I don't even recommend another Tera typing on basically any set; being a Steel-type with Levitate is godly.

The Heavy-Duty Boots set is awesome as a specially offensive pivot that can turn into a Nasty Plot sweeper / wallbreaker at any given time. The set also has room to run Will-O-Wisp for utility versus the Ground-type switch-in, or Discharge just to be annoying. Choice Scarf is a great revenge killer and works great with Trick also being a good deterrence versus walls. Substitute + Salac Berry is an option on HO or for a late-game cleaner, with the extra speed and defensive bonuses from Tera Steel being too much for some teams to handle.

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Sawsbuck @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headbutt
- Double-Edge
- Horn Leech
- Stomping Tantrum

Sawsbuck @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Normal / Fire / Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Trailblaze
- Headbutt
- Horn Leech

Sawsbuck is also broken because it is a competent fully evolved Pokemon with some nutty shit going on my God. Normal / Grass is a very good offensive combo given the lack of Steel-types and the use of Rock- and Ghost-types to check Normal-types; Horn Leech bops Stonjourner and is serviceable versus Banette and Dusclops. At a Speed tier faster than Rotom-S and Golduck, it's an excellent option for Choice Scarf. Now of course part of the allure of this set is Serene Grace Headbutt, which can autowin with luck, or at the very least you can fish for one or two flinches either late-game as a win condition or mid-game to wear down a wall. Stomping Tantrum is for the rare Steel-types, just to have it. Tera Normal can raise the odds of a Headbutt sweep or the damage needed to clean and wallbreak with Double-Edge.

Swords Dance + Trailblaze just makes sense, especially with Serene Grace Headbutt. Other defensive Tera typings like Fire and Poison can work: the former is a solid defense versus burn and Fire-types, the later for Toxic and Fighting-types.

Chlorophyl sets are fine on sun teams, especially with Tera Fire + Tera Blast. Choice Band sacrifices Heavy-Duty Boots with no speed boosting options, so I don't think it has as much potential as the other two sets.

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Golduck @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Cloud Nine
Tera Type: Water / Ground / Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Encore / Calm Mind / Knock Off
- Flip Turn / Tera Blast

Golduck @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cloud Nine
Tera Type: Water / Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Flip Turn
- Surf / Tera Blast / Knock Off

Golduck is a good offensive utility option, with teams gravitating towards its reliable offensive pressure and customizable movepool. Water + Ice coverage is great, especially given the relative dirge of Water-types in the tier. Even the niche Cloud Nine is nice given that weather teams can be dangerous otherwise. From there, Golduck can do a lot with a Heavy-Duty Boots set: Encore and Calm Mind are good for stallbreaking, and Knock Off works too but is more passive and fits with Flip Turn. With Tera Water + Hydro Pump, Golduck can OHKO Piloswine. Tera Grass + Tera Blast is perfect for the mirror and Storm Drain Lumineon. Tera Ground works well as a lure versus the faster Rotom-S, although it comes at the cost of losing Golduck's valuable Water resistance.

Choice Scarf sets benefit from Flip Turn as a pivoting option, and are generally great revenge killers, only dampened by the faster Rotom-S and Sawsbuck Choice Scarf sets. Given the commitment of Choice Scarf, having an accurate STAB attack in Surf is warranted for a more reliable wincondition.

Choice Specs sets can be okay as well, especially with Swift Swim on rain teams. Don't run Assault Vest you can't afford to lose Heavy-Duty Boots unless you need the speed of Choice Scarf.

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Vulpix-Alola @ Icy Rock
Ability: Snow Warning
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aurora Veil
- Blizzard
- Hypnosis
- Encore

Beartic @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Slush Rush
Tera Type: Water / Fighting / Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Liquidation / Play Rough
- Close Combat / Aqua Jet

Hey look! It's Ho3n writing about hail! Again! Hail is a two-Pokemon core of Alolan Vulpix and Beartic, where the former sets up the weather and the later sweeps. It's that simple folks, and yes its broken and forces the metagame to adapt with very fast Choice Scarfers just for +2 Beartic.

Alolan Vulpix is decently fast and is just meant to stay alive for a few turns on the field to set snow. Encore is usually a safe opportunity for it to get in early-game versus slower entry hazard setters like Piloswine and Glimmet. Aurora Veil is the perfect support for Beartic to setup Swords Dance safely. Hypnosis is another option to fish for sleep when playing expendably with Alolan Vulpix; sacking it to get Beartic in is just as valuable as actually landing the sleep in some cases.

Beartic is just a monster. Liqudation is a safe way to nail Piloswine without the defense drop of Close Combat, although the latter is still valuable for other opposing Ice-types as well as Steel- and Water-types. Tera Water means Beartic can have a more reliable and stronger Liquidation, and the defensive benefits means you can opt for priority in Aqua Jet given opposing Water-types wouldn't be as much of an issue. Otherwise, Tera Fighting offers the strongest neutral attack for Beartic to spam in STAB Close Combat. Lastly, Tera Fairy is a worthwhile defensive typing and can be paired with Play Rough to nail Fighting-types (less relevent with Gurdurr gone, however).

Choice Specs Glaceon is probably nutty to add on to hail. Other options for hail include a physical defensive Alolan Vulpic, Choice Band Beartic, and Alolan Sandscrew to add on. Doubt these are any good. Just ban this shit. Tuthur if you're reading this, you're a goober.

Hide

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Spikes / Stealth Rock
- U-turn

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Dual Wingbeat / Crabhammer

I know this thing lost Roost but wow it's underwhelming. Its best set is just as a defensive pivot on hazard stack teams, usually to add on with Spikes. Gligar is still very bulky on the physical side, and its fast Knock Off isn't bad offensive utility either. Tera Water is its best defensive typing to check physical Ice-types. The special bulk makes Rotom-S' Air Slash a guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock, the Speed EVs makes Gligar faster than Beartic outside of snow, and the remaining physical bulk means it can check Monferno and Stonjourner just fine.

Swords Dance is an option given Gligar's decent Speed tier and new attack Dual Wingbeat to hit Grass-types, although this option can be exchanged for Crabgammer to hit the mirror and Piloswine for the most damage, especially with Tera Water.

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Monferno @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
Tera Type: Steel / Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off

It's nerfed Gurdurr..? Monferno is just used because it's a check to Sneasel. Mach Punch always OHKOes and you can even afford to stay in and go for Knock Off. Tera Steel is nice for stall and getting a surprise KO on Psychic-type revenge killers, but it won't do well versus Ground-types. Tera Dark is better in that regard and buffs Knock Off. Monferno is usually too weak to actually pull off sweeps but at least this set can come in on Sneasel and be pretty disruptive, and that's all you need from it.

Of course there can be a slew of options to do with Monferno: stronger coverage options like Close Combat and Flare Blitz, utility in Taunt and Stealth Rock, pivoting with U-turn, Choice-item sets, even specially offensive sets with Nasty Plot and Vacuum Wave. I don't care for any of these yet because they're too niche and the above set just works on every team.

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Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Dragon / Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

Defog, hurray! Good special wall. Slow U-turn. Knock Off is a good utility move and with STAB you can check Psychic- and Ghost-types. Longevity with Roost. Tera Dragon for rain and sun, Steel for hail.

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Just skimming the legal list, these are some of the more viable picks that stand out.

If you can't tell, I think we need more bans, just sucks new meta in like a week lol. The metagame is just offense and there's barely any viable walls; the ones we have are secondary to offensive cheese. I like it though meta is fun, could probs just leave it as is till October, I don't really care either way. Let's just fix the counter I have above because these numbers are fucking embarrassing.

 

[Yuelia]

Tier shifts are confirmed!

Rises:
, , and to NU
and to PU (also Gurdurr, but that was ZUBL anyway)

Drops:
, , , , , and

 

[Tuthur]

Following the tier shifts, the SV ZU Council voted on 6 Pokémon. They all were pretty broken and we agreed to quickban them. Danny and OBB didn't get the opportunity to vote, but their vote wouldn't change the outcome. As such, Beartic, Lycanroc-Midnight, Raichu, Rotom-Fan, Sawsbuck, and Zangoose have been quickbanned from SV ZU. Tagging Marty and Kris to implement it on PS please.

 

[plznostep]

Spooky October Metagame

^
Me when I play this Metagame
This thread is dead so I am reviving it with my ultimate Flittle power.

You may be wondering who are the good mons now that these bans have come in, and I am here to answer your questions. I will ordering these based on relevance in what you should be prepared to have answers for on your teams. Also not gonna talk about every Pokemon in these types because I cannot be bothered.

Fighting-types


Remember when ZU didn't have any good Fighting-types? Those days are gone. Monferno and Hakamo-o are some of the best Pokemon in this tier. Monferno has great qualities to start off with, Fire/Fighting typing gives it a great offensive typing into the tier with access to moves like Knock Off to annoy potential switch ins like Mareanie and Dusclops. Swords Dance is also an effective set thanks to Monferno boasting priority in Mach Punch which is boosted by its Iron Fist ability making it very strong when boosted. Additionally, Iron Fist also boosts Drain Punch from Monferno, making it pretty strong while giving Monferno some great sustain, as Eviolite gives Monferno good enough bulk which allows it to switch in on Pokemon like Glaceon for instance. Monferno makes great use of Terastallization as well, since Tera Steel allows it to resist Psychic- and Flying-type attacks from the likes of Grumpig and Squawkabilly. Choice Scarf is also a great set on Monferno outpacing other notable Choice Scarf users like Grumpig and Stonjourner while also cleaning very well due to the aforementioned potent capabilities of the Fire/Fighting typing.

Hakamo-o is also a great option. It has an similarly good typing in Dragon/Fighting while boasting amazing bulk which allows it to switch into Pokemon like Stonjourner very well, which is especially notable because Stonjourner in general is difficult to switch into. Substitute + Swords Dance sets are a meance to society and if you run them I don't blame you because this Pokemon can run away with games. It has sustain with Drain Punch and is able to boost its Attack + Speed at the same time. Sure, the set struggles somewhat with Fairy-types but the only relevant one at the moment who takes Hakamo-o on is Clefairy, which Hakamo-o beats with Tera Steel, meaning that you really just have to Terastallize something like Grumpig instead, and then realise you've been caught out since they are actually running Iron Head bless. It also has defensive sets with Dragon Tail, and can also run Bulk Up or Dragon Dance instead of Swords Dance to either boost Attack and Speed in the same turn or boost its defensive capabilities with Bulk Up. Overall, this mon is scary and should always be accounted for in builder or you die.

Stonjourner


Stonjourner is back. How good is it? Very good. In fact probably better then it was before since it got Heat Crash, meaning that Pokemon like Bronzor and Eelektrik, who used to be able to wall it with Tera Steel, have to fear that option now. It still has that monsterous Attack and good natural Defense meaning it's able to naturally check Pokemon like Squawkabilly and Persian very well while being like, almost impossible to wall with mons like Hakamo-o and Ground-types still doing okay but it's the same problem as last time where hazards make these switch ins more risky and there is a lot around at the moment since the metagame is quite offensive. Oh and Choice Band sets are unwallable but leaves Stonjourner vulnerable to hazards, but like you always lose a mon everytime that mon comes in so you better hope this metagame doesn't slow down because otherwise Stonjourner will just destroy your teams. Rock Polish and Choice Scarf sets still exist and are decent enough as well.

Water-types


Water-types in this metagame do pretty well. Lumineon is probably the best one here due to having good utility options like Encore and it's ability in Storm Drain which allows it to answer opposing Water-types very well. It can also deal some good damage itself even though its not very strong but can be great in some offensive VoltTurn cores with Pokemon like Persian, especially since Lumineon does not struggle to come in on Pokemon at all since it's natural bulk is pretty good. Frogadier is the next best one, it has Spikes which can be nice since hazards in this metagame are king, and Protean is also really nice so you can get STAB on its other moves like Ice Beam and U-turn just for the extra chip damage. It hits much harder than Lumineon but otherwise, it does not do things defensively like how Lumineon does. Heavy-Duty Boots, Choice Scarf, or Choice Specs are all quite good I would say, I lean towards more Heavy-Duty Boots and Choice Specs but Choice Scarf can be good at cleaning as well.

Dewott is an offensive physical Water-type pivot with crucial access to Knock Off, Flip Turn, and priority in Aqua Jet which makes it quite different from the aforementioned Water-types. Eviolite gives it great bulk and Swords Dance means that it can boost up quite nicely and you must be careful of putting in low HP, lest you activate Torrent which makes hit incredibly hard. It's main flaw however is the reliance on the Eviolite, meaning that it can be quite weak to hazards so you usually want to pair Dewott with Hazard Control like Vullaby or Dartrix. Wugtrio is if Dewott went basically fully offensive and scrapped its bulk, pivot move, and Knock Off. It flops into Lumineon but outside of that match up can do really well versus offensive teams since it outpaces the entire metagame and has a really high Attack stat at 100 and priority to hit Choice Scarfers like Monferno.

Normal-types


Greedent has shown to be a very scary wallbreaker in this new metagame, being able to leverage its amazing natural bulk to setup with an equally great ability in Cheek Pouch which gives Greedent practically a full heal when it hits below half HP. Combine that with it's great coverage and you have a really solid Pokemon on your hands. It's main weakness is low speed, doesn't particularly like Knock Off which can limit what it switches in on, and Fighting-types but Greedent makes up for the low speed through being fat as hell and Tera Ghost beats Fighting-types. Additionally, if you take time to Knock Off Greedent while its already on the field, you are giving it free turns to setup and break holes into your team so I wouldn't advise you do that at all, and its new access to Knock Off meaning that Pokemon that rely on Eviolite for their bulk don't want to switch into Greedent either.

Vigoroth can also be similarly scary through its Bulk Up sets, with solid bulk thanks to Eviolite and a good movepool with access to Slack Off and Knock Off which can make particularly scary to face. It has some great set diversity on Bulk Up as well although it usually wants Tera Dark nowadays to give it STAB on Knock Off but if you want to solo the Fighting-types, Fairy with Play Rough, Poison with Gunk Shot, or Ghost with Shadow Claw do fine as well.

Squawkabilly has shown to be a frightening wallbreaker thanks to Guts + Facade giving it limited defensive answers, since most defensive walls straight up cannot take its hits at all. Stonjourner does fine but every Squawkabilly should be running Tera Ground anyways to hit Stonjourner so it may not be the best idea. Otherwise, Choice Scarf is a great set to use since Squawkabilly is fast and has great power as well meaning it can clean pretty reliably once facilitated lategame.

Finally, Persian has shown to be particularly effective on Spikes orientated offensive teams due to having a great Speed stat while having some nice priority with Fake Out, but what made Persian so good this time around is access to Knock Off which allows it to cripple it's switch ins like Stonjourner, severely limiting their ability to check it long term due to hazards cutting into their bulk. This makes Persian very threatening especially against opposing offensive teams due to how fast it is.

Dragon-types


Fraxure stands out from its competition as a Dragon Dance sweeper thanks to Mold Breaker and its notably better coverage than Dragonair which means its not stopped by Tera Steel Pokemon like Eelektrik and Stonjourner since Mold Breaker stops Levitate from Eelektrik so you can smack it with Stomping Tantrum. Iron Head also means it does better into Fairy-types although most Dragon-types can bypass Fairy-types by simply Terastallizing into a Steel-type anyways. It's also the strongest at base meaning if you wanted to run Choice Band, you would probably want to run in on Fraxure, especially since it has access to priority in First Impression as well. Otherwise, it's not great defensively so you may struggle to get it in sometimes.

Dragonair has some interesting options at its disposal, notably Shed Skin + Rest gives Dragonair some recovery and an option against status while Extreme Speed also gives it some nice priority to use against Scarfers that may look to revenge Dragonair. Otherwise, Dragonair can struggle against Pokemon that utilize Tera Steel as aforementioned due to not really having good coverage from them unless you run more niche moves like Hydro Pump for Stonjourner which isn't really worth it.

Psychic-types


Grumpig is a really good Pokemon at the moment thanks to its great stats and ability in Thick Fat which allows it to check Pokemon like Glaceon and Monferno while also being a great offensive threat as well with Nasty Plot. Tera Fairy gives it a great matchup into Pokemon like Monferno and Hakamo-o, which is amazing considering those two are probably the two Pokemon you should be the most scared of and Grumpig can provide some defensive against them in one slot. Choice Scarf is a good set as well, considering you can Trick away your Scarf to cripple Pokemon like Vullaby if wanted while also allowing Grumpig to clean lategame as well.

Girafarig can function either as a Double Dance sweeper with Agility + Nasty Plot, a bulk Calm Mind sweeper with Early Bird Rest as its recovery, or a defensive wall who deals with opposing Psychic-types quite nicely with access to moves like Wish for recovery and Future Sight. As a result, it's quite versatile and can be a bit difficult to answer, although Tera Steel Pokemon can generally do well into it since Girafarig has to Terastallize itself to have any chance of hitting them super effectively.

Lastly, Calyrex is seen similarly as a Double Dance sweeper that doesn't need to rely on Eviolite unlike Girafarig and thus can run other items like Heavy-Duty Boots or Weakness Policy to punish super effective hits and make its Stored Power even stronger. It has great natural bulk but it's typing can be unfortunate against Pokemon like Vullaby and Pawniard for instance, but it is strong choice nonetheless.

Electric-types


Dedenne can be really scary against teams lacking Camerupt (although that gets hit hard by Tera Water) due to its high speed and a good typing allowing Dedenne to take the occasional hit against Fighting-types and threaten them out with Dazzling Gleam or pivot on what comes in with Volt Switch/U-turn. Otherwise pretty one dimensional, you'll either see Choice Specs, Heavy-Duty Boots, or Scarf which all play relatively the same with Choice Scarf looking to clean/revenge Pokemon lategame.

Eelektrik is functions as a good defensive pivot thanks to one change it in its movepool; Knock Off. This allows Eelektrik to make pretty consistent progress against most teams and also has a great combination for the tier in Tera Steel + Levitate which allows it to wall the Psychic-, Dragon-, and Normal-types with ease. It also has the great benefit of allowing Eelektrik to avoid Spikes which is particularly great since Eelektrik has to run Eviolite, meaning no Heavy-Duty Boots. Discharge allows Eelektrik to spread paralysis as well, and Super Fang allows Eelektrik to majorly chip down anything it can't damage directly. Ampharos is quite similar, but instead trades Eelektrik's Levitate ability with Static, allowing it to punish Pokemon like Frogadier, Lumineon, and Persian that would otherwise pivot on it with a paralysis chance. It also does not have to rely on Eviolite meaning it can run Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid all hazards and isn't as scared of losing its item.

I can't be bothered to fit you into a type


Glaceon is the strongest special attacker in the tier in terms of raw power, nothing can really match it right of the bat and thus it can be a great wallbreaker especially since our Ice resists are not particularly bulky at the moment. It can also go for a bulky Calm Mind thanks to its great defensive stats and access to Wish, making it quite scary to stop. Choice Specs is the main set you'll probably see however due to how strong it is right off the bat and you'll occasionally see a Trailblaze set to try and offset Glaceon's mediocre speed.

Banette boasts a great defensive typing in the Ghost-typing which allows it to take advantage of Choice-locked Monferno and Fighting-types in general, giving it opportunities to setup with Swords Dance with some great priority moves in Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch. Banette can either go Knock Off or Poltergeist for it's STAB moves but Knock Off is preferred since Knock Off is a pretty fundamental move in the tier which most teams run, meaning Poltergeist most times can't actually hit anything.

Raboot acts as a threatening offensive pivot with an amazing Speed tier and ability in Libero, giving it STAB on High Jump Kick, Sucker Punch, and U-turn, which is a much appreciated power boost into Pokemon like Stonjourner and Grumpig. Not really much else to say, it's what it looks like, very strong, fits well on Volt Turn cores, use it.


​

 

[BaitWiz]

Well, I was going to make a giant metagame post before plznostep beat me to it, so I guess I'll just make a somewhat shorter one to highlight a couple groups of mons that he didn't mention and emphasize a couple of mons he did already mention.

Hazard Removal in ZU

Removal has gotten marginally better with the additions of Dartrix and Vullaby; however, Toedscool is basically a waste of a team slot these days due to its lackluster physical bulk and Knock Off weakness while Carkol isn't much better with its weakness-laden typing.

Baby Mandibuzz is the go-to removal of choice for most people in this offensive metagame. Knock Off, U-Turn, Roost, Toxic, and Foul Play all are excellent options in its movepool after the obligatory Defog, with it typically running an Eviolite to further boost its bulk.

This mon has surprisingly solid bulk while having Defog, Roost, and Knock Off, all of which are lovely tools for a bulky defogger. The lack of a pivoting move makes it pretty abusable, as does its quad weakness to Ice. It's a fairly difficult mon to fit, but can do well once its in.

Sandshrew has decent bulk boosted by Eviolite if you're truly desperate and don't want to use a spinner that's 4x weak to common coverage/STAB options. It has STAB EQ off of a decent 75 base attack and has both Knock Off and Super Fang to further dissuade switch-ins. It's probably our best spinner in the tier, though I still wouldn't call it good by any means.

Borderline Broken

These mons I think are *incredibly* good - having fairly limited counterplay or being able to circumvent their own counterplay with solid play, Terastalization, or simply moveset diversity.

Possibly the most broken mon in the tier - it has amazing bulk with Eviolite and has plenty of set diversity with Swords Dance, Dragon Dance, and Bulk Up all being viable options. It basically always carries Drain Punch and can run Scale Shot, Outrage, Iron Head, Substitute, RestTalk, and more. It can absolutely just steal games in the right scenarios and is just an excellent Pokemon overall.

Got Heat Crash back, so it can kill even more threats now that it can use Fire coverage instead of Heavy Slam, while Stone Edge + EQ are as nightmarish as ever to switch into. Band is basically impossible to switch into reliably while HDB and Scarf are still great options as well.

Might be a more controversial opinion, but I think this Pokemon is still absurdly good if not outright broken. Its solid Speed tier makes it quite difficult for several common offensive Pokemon to deal with it and Guts-boosted Facade is just an absurd neutral button, with Stonjourner once again being the only common, consistent switch-in. Squawk also benefits immensely from the metagame being as fast-paced as it is at the moment - I could easily see it becoming worse if the metagame slows down from the right drops or bans occurring.

Misc. Good Mons

This is just a small collection of mons I think are viable that haven't been mentioned much.

Pukes up a bunch of hazards then dies. Typically ran with an offensive set of Power Gem, Mud Shot, Stealth Rock, and Spikes alongside a Focus Sash to maximize hazards and be as annoying as possible. Toxic Spikes in general are really annoying for most of the tier to deal with, as Poison-types aren't used much outside of Glimmet.

Probably our best Fairy, has solid bulk with Magic Guard and has plenty of tools to make progress - Knock Off, recovery with Wish and Moonlight, Stealth Rock, status spam with Thunder Wave, setup options with Cosmic Power/Calm Mind, and so on. Pretty under-utilized at the moment imo, definitely keep an eye out for this one in the coming weeks.

While Dunsparce is hurt pretty badly by Knock Off being everywhere and status still being crippling, I think it still has a niche by virtue of being a Stealth Rock user that isn't instantly killed by Water-type moves. Serene Grace to spread status is still annoying and it still has solid recovery options, but it's also quite abusable due to its poor speed and not having as much of an offensive presence these days. It's also nice to free up another moveslot for Stonjourner, who often has 4mss since it loves having Tera Blast, Rock Blast, and/or Rock Polish but often has to skip them for Stealth Rock.

Sets rocks and has really nice defensive typing, but hates Monferno and Hakamo-o joining the tier. It's nice to abuse psychics lacking Focus Blast/Earth Power and has some of the best priority in the tier. It also does alright into Squawkabilly lacking Tera Blast Ground/Fighting and Persian.

And finally just echoing a few mons I don't feel like writing actual thoughts on but I think are still decent.

 

[Dorsia]

May I suggest these?

Calyrex @ Leftovers
Ability: Unnerve
Tera Type: Steel / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Giga Drain / Draining Kiss / Tera Blast

First of all, I don't really have experience in this tier but I can't help myself thinking Calyrex could have some niche. Mediocre typing, more-than-situational ability, medium stats and limited movepool...that's being said it became better in Gen9 since it can change its typing.
100 Base HP and 80 base everywhere is not ideal but there is worse so I think double-dance would be its best set. With a Steel typing it's much more threatening once it started to set-up, what could actually stop it?

If you look for another double-dancer, there is also another option that might work:

Girafarig @ Eviolite
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Tera Blast

It does the exact same thing but it's bulkier as long as it keeps its Eviolite while Sap Sipper is more useful than Unnerve. Tera Blast is 100% STAB whatever you decide to Tera or not. 412 Spe at +2 without investment should be enough for the tier I suppose so I've decided to invest everything in HP/SpA for survivability and burst.

Kricketune @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pounce
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Sticky Web

Cutiefly is faster as a web setter but Kricketune might have a niche as well and can support the team with some utility.

Talking about web, here something that would really appreciate to abuse with:

Meditite @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut
- Thunder Punch / Bullet Punch
- Trick

Monferno and Hakamo-O are much better as Fighting mons without a doubt but Medidite with web support will break anything that doesn't resist, and those that counter it won't appreciate to get Trick'd. Definitely fun but not reliable.

Please guys be indulgent, any remarks appreciated. See you around!