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Metagame Pokébilities [META POLL: Page 9 Post 216]
- Thread starter Ivy
- Start date
Pressure only reduces the additional PP if the pressure mon is being targeted by an attack; Recover self-targets and isn't affected.
So, obviously the meta has Mag and Eleki banned right now. I know that for the last time pokebilities was OMotM in April, bans weren't kept the same as base OU, and that didn't made the meta a bit more chaotic than otherwise. The big question is will it stay that way the next time it returns (if we're still in the pre-DLC era) where we keep mons like Chien, Volc, Zama C, and Urshifu RS?
in my humble opinion, i’m unsure if many of those mons should I be banned. out of all of them, only volcarona gets anything from the pokebilities gimmick, and even then i don’t understand why it was banned from OU. one thing i definitely think should be banned is eleki, as tera just makes it too powerful. for magearna, i’m not sure. the thing that made it too powerful (afaik) was stored power, and honestly i might be in favor of banning the move rather than the mon, though that could also potentially let espathra back
While the idea makes sense and I would also like it if a course of action similar to that was chosen, unfortunately Tiering Policy says that unless a move or item proves to be broken on most users (Baton Pass and Last Respects) or it adds unnecessary RNG to the game and makes the result of the turn rely on chance (King’s Rock) only then the move or item can be banned and Stored Power isn’t uncompetitive nor broken.
random theorymonning go! unsure if this would be any good but i’d like to present alolan persian. tons of utility with technician boosted snarl, icy wind and chilling water (it is a spatker weirdly enough), and fluffy is never bad. add on shadow ball (or swift ig) and you can run vest, making it a fairly useable mixed wall that can dish out damage and provide utility. it’s also fast- 115 base speed is nothing to scoff at. seems like it could be interesting, what do y’all (*cough cough* typhlosion787 *cough cough* alsoni *cough cough*) think?
As much as I hate to diss Alolan Persian despite its massive head due to nuzlocke experiences, competitive is a completely different scenario from in game. I looked at Alolan Persian the last two generations as a mon that had potential for a niche. Unfortunately, I just don't see that happening. While Fur Coat and Technician seem neat in one boosting defensive prowess and the other boosting offensive prowess, it does minimal to nullify the many weaknesses of Perisian.
It has some interesting tools such as Taunt, Parting Shot, and Switcheroo, but it doesn't have the stats to make them work.
While Fur Coat is an amazing ability, Persian has a pitiful base 65 HP to pair with it, and the SpDef is still meager in tandem with the HP despite AV giving the SpDef boost. We have to keep in mind how AV also means that Persian can't use any of its interesting utility except Foul Play, Snarl, Icy Wind, and Chilling Water, not even Knock Off now with gen 9 changes.
Ok, defensive stats are still awful except the ok physical defense (after Fur Coat is taken into account), so what about offensively? Base 60 attack is absolutely awful and 75 base special attack isn't much better, even with Nasty Plot to boost.
So, does the typing redeem it? Dark is a great offensive type not for how many types it hits super effectively (only doing so to ghost and psychic), but for how much it hits neutrally. Even with stab, though, Persian's dark type moves won't do much damage. To add on to that, while dark has the amazing and rare ghost resistance, it still is weak to two amazing and extremely common offensive types in fighting and fairy as well as the ever present U-Turn. But doesn't being hit by U-Turn raise your speed? What will raising your speed do if you take 20% and lose momentum with Leftovers and Rest as your only forms of recovery.
Utility is nice, but Persian offers nothing but utility and ends up just being a sitting duck. It's a debuff machine, but debuffing really isn't something you want a pokemon to spend most of its time doing in higher tiers where its stats simply don't match up and what it offers isn't unique enough to separate it from the competition and warrant using it seriously
With many new mons abusing Trick Room (Luna, H Braviary, the bad H Avalugg), I think it'll finally be a more legitimate and less gimmicky strategy. So how does this change it in pokebilities? Of course, you don't have the threats you did last gen of Melmetal, Crawdaunt, and Alolawak. That rendered Perrserker the only reason to use Trick Room. However, the new mons make a surprisingly solid Trick Room offensive core. This also makes me want to bring to light an amazing Trick Room Mon that got an indirect buff, Glastrier. Unfortunately, Trick Room doesn't go hand in hand with said buff, but it means Glastrier is legitimately usable on multiple styles of teams. That indirect buff, of course, is snow boosting ice type physical defense by 50%. So, on Trick Room, Glastrier becomes a scary snowball sweeper that can get out of control while on hail teams, it can soak up hits shockingly well despite its awful typing. Of course, Glastrier won't be the best or anything and doesn't really abuse the metagame gimmick, but I definitely think there's a good chance it will get solid usage numbers on both Trick Room and Snow
yeah, my thoughts exactly. good tools with very bad stats, and utility is useless if that’s all you can do and you can’t even do it very well. i’ll probably end up trying it a few times anyways, but i don’t expect much
i had a random thought that i thought y’all might have some interesting opinions on. as we all know, this om is all about making mons better and more interesting by activating all of their abilities at once. however, i’ve been wondering- is there any situation in which this would be a bad thing? i can’t think of anything off the top of my head, but i thought y’all would know for sure :D
Rivalry mons, Skarmory, Mandibuzz, Durant, Sableye. Many of those mons aren't in this gen as of now, but they all get pretty screwed over
I don’t think Mandibuzz becomes bad since Big Pecks blocks defense drops so it gets only +2 speed but don’t quote me on that, I never used Mandibuzz in Gen 8.
Big Pecks doesn't prevent defense drop since it is from your own other ability, not the opponent's move. It was temporarily just a speed boost with no defense drop in early gen 7 pokebilities, but that was found to be a glitch and patched out eventually. No longer has that ability.
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So, finally done. Took all Hisuian and Home pokemon out and will do those in another list, but here's my DLC threats document after all this time. And on my 19th birthday, nonetheless.
DLC threat list
DLC threat list
Female is definitely far better due to having reliable ghost stab, but I'll admit I underestimated male Basculegion quite a bit. Without Last Respects, though, not nearly broken.
So, I played some games today with someone using mostly lower tiered mons that abuse the meta gimmick. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show off Hisuian Braviary, and I was right.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilities-1892823756-03ppe2y0r3gwrnrn6zbykxij0153fbxpw
I may have lost the game, but this just goes to show how powerful Hisuian Braviary was. It was Modest, 252 SpAtk EVs, and had Life Orb, but it still shocks me to see it do as much as it did. OHKOing Alomomola and then Toxapex after Rocks is wild imo. I get Toxapex is weak to psychic, but that never stopped it from taking only around 60% from Lando T Earthquake and switching to shrug it off. Glad I got to use this monster, even with me forgetting to lower speed to no investment. New Trick Room monster
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9pokebilities-1892823756-03ppe2y0r3gwrnrn6zbykxij0153fbxpw
I may have lost the game, but this just goes to show how powerful Hisuian Braviary was. It was Modest, 252 SpAtk EVs, and had Life Orb, but it still shocks me to see it do as much as it did. OHKOing Alomomola and then Toxapex after Rocks is wild imo. I get Toxapex is weak to psychic, but that never stopped it from taking only around 60% from Lando T Earthquake and switching to shrug it off. Glad I got to use this monster, even with me forgetting to lower speed to no investment. New Trick Room monster
so my funky lil idea from earlier this month did have some merit after all! i can absolutely see this being an obscene trick room sweeper, if with just LO it OHKO’D PEX (after rocks) WITHOUT SPECS (rhyming is fun)!!! feels like it’s gonna be a phenomenal wallbreaker, very excited to use
So, the new directs and news came out and we officially have at the minimum what has already been confirmed before the direct, the Clefairy line, and now all starters from past games. I could talk about the starters another time, but you all know the reason I'm actually here. Let's talk about Clefable and what it would be like for the meta!
But first off, let's look at what it was like in the past two generations for pokebilities. In gen 7 pokebilities, Clef was undeniably top 5 in the meta. You had your basic USUM OU top 3 mons, then you had Conkeldurr (since it wasn't banned due to not being nearly as overwhelming in gen 7), and finally Clefable. An absolute pillar of the meta in every way. Holds teams together so well, it can be a hazard setter, item remover, status spreader, Trick abuser, Calm Mind sweeper, Cosmic Power+Stored Power, it was just extraordinarily versatile and had already gotten some complaints. In gen 8, however, Clef definitely started to become more problematic. The meta, while still strong, didn't have the same capability to effortlessly bust through Clef with things such as Z moves. It was like the prior gen with Clef being bulkier. Yes, there was a time when I defended it, but in retrospect, I was wrong when defending it in those days and my mindset then was much more a "broken checks broken" mindset where I was thinking to keep Clef in to check Dracozolt, Conkeldurr, and Phermosa, which were all broken in their own right. By the end of last gen's pokebilities, I definitely think Clef did become too much.
So, how will it be in gen 9 pokebilities? Well, I can't make a 100% accurate guess, but I can try. First off, Clef's competition has grown. Three new viable Unaware users it has to compete with, those being Clod, Dirge, and Dozo. Magic Guard isn't too common, but will have the team slot filled in by Reuniclus often times. It has more pokemon to compete with for the Unaware slot, but still can keep its best Magic Guard user award.
Anything to mention other than abilities? Actually, a bit. First, Clefable now can't use Knock Off itself, having to rely on teammates to do so in order for items to hold you back less. Second, the healing move nerf. Clefable can no longer nigh infinitely sit on a pokemon without question due to Softboiled PP being only 8. This gives Clefable a significantly harder time dealing with huge offensive hitters such as Valiant and Baxcalibur.
However, Clefable still has several positives. It's typing is brilliant, the movepool is incredibly deep, and the multiple roles it can perform are all vital to gameplay and versatile in purpose. Bulkier sets definitely dropped off, but I do think that set up will still be solid.
Of course, always open to discussion about this with anyone, just thought it'd be cool to discuss about it before the pokemon returns instead of after
Edit: So, at the time I originally wrote this, I thought that Clef could learn Softboiled not only from move tutor, but also from breeding. Turns out that it can't learn it from breeding, which nerfs Clef even more because it forced Clef to either run Moonlight, which gets nerfed in weather other than sun, or sacrifice two moveslots for Wish and Protect
But first off, let's look at what it was like in the past two generations for pokebilities. In gen 7 pokebilities, Clef was undeniably top 5 in the meta. You had your basic USUM OU top 3 mons, then you had Conkeldurr (since it wasn't banned due to not being nearly as overwhelming in gen 7), and finally Clefable. An absolute pillar of the meta in every way. Holds teams together so well, it can be a hazard setter, item remover, status spreader, Trick abuser, Calm Mind sweeper, Cosmic Power+Stored Power, it was just extraordinarily versatile and had already gotten some complaints. In gen 8, however, Clef definitely started to become more problematic. The meta, while still strong, didn't have the same capability to effortlessly bust through Clef with things such as Z moves. It was like the prior gen with Clef being bulkier. Yes, there was a time when I defended it, but in retrospect, I was wrong when defending it in those days and my mindset then was much more a "broken checks broken" mindset where I was thinking to keep Clef in to check Dracozolt, Conkeldurr, and Phermosa, which were all broken in their own right. By the end of last gen's pokebilities, I definitely think Clef did become too much.
So, how will it be in gen 9 pokebilities? Well, I can't make a 100% accurate guess, but I can try. First off, Clef's competition has grown. Three new viable Unaware users it has to compete with, those being Clod, Dirge, and Dozo. Magic Guard isn't too common, but will have the team slot filled in by Reuniclus often times. It has more pokemon to compete with for the Unaware slot, but still can keep its best Magic Guard user award.
Anything to mention other than abilities? Actually, a bit. First, Clefable now can't use Knock Off itself, having to rely on teammates to do so in order for items to hold you back less. Second, the healing move nerf. Clefable can no longer nigh infinitely sit on a pokemon without question due to Softboiled PP being only 8. This gives Clefable a significantly harder time dealing with huge offensive hitters such as Valiant and Baxcalibur.
However, Clefable still has several positives. It's typing is brilliant, the movepool is incredibly deep, and the multiple roles it can perform are all vital to gameplay and versatile in purpose. Bulkier sets definitely dropped off, but I do think that set up will still be solid.
Of course, always open to discussion about this with anyone, just thought it'd be cool to discuss about it before the pokemon returns instead of after
Edit: So, at the time I originally wrote this, I thought that Clef could learn Softboiled not only from move tutor, but also from breeding. Turns out that it can't learn it from breeding, which nerfs Clef even more because it forced Clef to either run Moonlight, which gets nerfed in weather other than sun, or sacrifice two moveslots for Wish and Protect
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i never played pokebilities in past gens so i hadn’t even considered clefable as a viable threat, thanks for bringing this to my attention. two very good abilities (and cute charm), great utility, solid spatk- not excited to face this lol. also i loved it when you said “It’s [sic] typing is brilliant…”; fairy really is putting in work this gen more than ever :)
Wow, what a DLC update. So, there's a lot to cover. Several pokemon returned, power creep has happened yet again, moves are back, so much, and if there's one thing that's certain, it's that if a pokebilities format ends up going through a drastic change, I will be here as soon as possible to speak about it. So, what will we be starting on? Well, since Basculin was so strong in the pre home pokebilities meta and then female Basculegion was so strong in the home meta, with both abusing weather extremely well, let's go over some weather related pokemon.
Since I just talked about rain, let's talk about it again. Ultimately, little difference... that is, on paper. In practice, while the addition of Politoed as a Drizzle summoner and Poliwrath and Ludicolo as Swift Swimmers does minimal to change rain, the returns of Crawdaunt and Manaphy are absolutely huge. One is a wallbreaker which is terrifying to switch into and normally wants to stay away from tera so it can spam dual stab while the other is one of the scariest setup sweepers imaginable that can often times run through a team after a measly one opening. To add on, the return of Flip Turn is monumental for rain teams. Basculin becomes even harder to play around, same with Basculegion, Barraskewda finally has the ability to use a switch move again, Floatzel is even scarier with pivoting ability, and it even extends beyond rain, but that is a topic for another day.
Sun is the least changed weather with Leavanny, Shiftry, and Victreebell returning for Chlorophyll sweepers and then Infernape, Ogerpon Hearthflame, and Chandelure for fire types. While not changed in any major way, sun does still have amazing abusers like H Lilligant, Great Tusk, and Iron Moth and the addition of more can't hurt.
Snow was already solid, mostly due to Cetitan spamming Sheer Force+Life Orb boosted Icicle Crash, Liquidation, and Play Rough, then the addition of Galarian Slowking and defense boosted Glastrier, but it got even more now. The change to the setter, being Alolan Ninetales instead of Abomasnow, is a huge change. A pokemon that can play at a much faster pace and provide better team support with Encore and Hypnosis, can hit Pelipper for 4x damage and Hippowdon and Politoed with 2x damage with Freeze Dry along with hitting Tyranitar for 2x damage with Moonblast, it just outclasses Abomasnow in every way. To add on, while Triple Axel didn't return, you do have the return of Knock Off making Weavile an option as well as Mamoswine and Alolan Sandslash returning to give a surprising boost to the playstile. Loaded Dice is a great option on all three and now you don't even have to add Great Tusk or anything for Rapid Spin thanks to Alolan Sandslash. Mamoswine getting Trailblaze is also a shockingly big buff since it allows you to overcome the issue of mediocre speed without the restriction that Choice Scarf forces on you. Overall, I'd definitely say that snow is the most buffed weather by far.
Finally, sand. While sand only got a couple of important additions, anything is welcome. First, the return of Poltergeist made Houndstone finally usable as a Sand Rush user, incredibly helpful for sand teams since they were reliant on Lycanroc and Alolan Dugtrio before. Along with that, Sandslash is incredibly helpful as a diet Excadrill (especially with Excadrill not even being in the meta and the guarantee that Excadrill would be banned if it were in the meta. An EdgeQuake spammer that can Spin as well as setting up with Swords Dance or laying hazards will always be useful if its stats aren't awful, and Sandslash's average stats will do enough.
So, weather wars have shaken up a fair amount. Weather will always be one of the more common playstyles in pokebilities with some of the really cool weather abusing ability combinations there are, so thought this would be a good starting point. Anyway, hope this was an enjoyable read. I've been sitting on some fried chicken I made for about ten minutes to finish writing this and I finally need to eat it, so I'll be back on the forums sometime soon
Since I just talked about rain, let's talk about it again. Ultimately, little difference... that is, on paper. In practice, while the addition of Politoed as a Drizzle summoner and Poliwrath and Ludicolo as Swift Swimmers does minimal to change rain, the returns of Crawdaunt and Manaphy are absolutely huge. One is a wallbreaker which is terrifying to switch into and normally wants to stay away from tera so it can spam dual stab while the other is one of the scariest setup sweepers imaginable that can often times run through a team after a measly one opening. To add on, the return of Flip Turn is monumental for rain teams. Basculin becomes even harder to play around, same with Basculegion, Barraskewda finally has the ability to use a switch move again, Floatzel is even scarier with pivoting ability, and it even extends beyond rain, but that is a topic for another day.
Sun is the least changed weather with Leavanny, Shiftry, and Victreebell returning for Chlorophyll sweepers and then Infernape, Ogerpon Hearthflame, and Chandelure for fire types. While not changed in any major way, sun does still have amazing abusers like H Lilligant, Great Tusk, and Iron Moth and the addition of more can't hurt.
Snow was already solid, mostly due to Cetitan spamming Sheer Force+Life Orb boosted Icicle Crash, Liquidation, and Play Rough, then the addition of Galarian Slowking and defense boosted Glastrier, but it got even more now. The change to the setter, being Alolan Ninetales instead of Abomasnow, is a huge change. A pokemon that can play at a much faster pace and provide better team support with Encore and Hypnosis, can hit Pelipper for 4x damage and Hippowdon and Politoed with 2x damage with Freeze Dry along with hitting Tyranitar for 2x damage with Moonblast, it just outclasses Abomasnow in every way. To add on, while Triple Axel didn't return, you do have the return of Knock Off making Weavile an option as well as Mamoswine and Alolan Sandslash returning to give a surprising boost to the playstile. Loaded Dice is a great option on all three and now you don't even have to add Great Tusk or anything for Rapid Spin thanks to Alolan Sandslash. Mamoswine getting Trailblaze is also a shockingly big buff since it allows you to overcome the issue of mediocre speed without the restriction that Choice Scarf forces on you. Overall, I'd definitely say that snow is the most buffed weather by far.
Finally, sand. While sand only got a couple of important additions, anything is welcome. First, the return of Poltergeist made Houndstone finally usable as a Sand Rush user, incredibly helpful for sand teams since they were reliant on Lycanroc and Alolan Dugtrio before. Along with that, Sandslash is incredibly helpful as a diet Excadrill (especially with Excadrill not even being in the meta and the guarantee that Excadrill would be banned if it were in the meta. An EdgeQuake spammer that can Spin as well as setting up with Swords Dance or laying hazards will always be useful if its stats aren't awful, and Sandslash's average stats will do enough.
So, weather wars have shaken up a fair amount. Weather will always be one of the more common playstyles in pokebilities with some of the really cool weather abusing ability combinations there are, so thought this would be a good starting point. Anyway, hope this was an enjoyable read. I've been sitting on some fried chicken I made for about ten minutes to finish writing this and I finally need to eat it, so I'll be back on the forums sometime soon
So, back again before I go to sleep in order to be at work on time tomorrow (it's 3:35 AM for me as I started writing this and I have work at 2 PM tomorrow, but I wanted to squeeze one out every few days at least), I want to talk about the post Teal Mask meta again. This time, a more concerning part. Now, normally, I am all for suspecting anything to drop down and be tested if it was previously banned. However, this is one of the cases where I would be against it.
So, let's give a bit of context. Last gen, Conkeldurr eventually got banned and I was one of the many who was advocating for and supporting the ban. Power creep has happened, though, so how can Conk keep up? Let's go through some common pokemon and see if Conk threatens them.
Gambit doesn't want to switch in unless it has used it's tera, and even then, Conk often carries coverage that deals with any type that Gambit tera's into such as Poison Jab for fairy, Ice Punch for flying, and Knock Off for ghost. Tusk doesn't want to switch into Ice Puncha. Valiant crumbles on the switchin to Poison Jab or Guts Facade. Gholdy hates Knock, Fire Punch, and Earthquake. H Samurrot and Bax hate giving Conk free Drain Punch recovery. Glowking hates Knock and Earthquake. Zapdos hates Ice Punch. Ting Lu doesn't want to give free Drain Punch recovery nor be smacked by Ice Punch or Knock (because Ting Lu loves it's Leftovers). Dragapult can't switch in unless a Drain Punch, Facade, or Mach Punch is guaranteed, taking a huge hit from any other coverage move if it decides to switch in
And that's just the top 10.
And Conk gets even more opportunities to free it's item slot and find status in other ways this gen compared to last. It loves facing Glimmora teams, Cinderace has shifted to mostly support with Wisp, Washtom is back to Wisp and T Wave, Sneasler's Dire Claw and Poison Touch gives an effective 65% of status if you switch in on Dire Claw, contact punishment is very prevalent with Clod's Poison Point, Heatran's Flame Body, Moltres's Flame Body, Zapdos's Static, and Amoongus's Effect Spore. Scald and Toxic not being everywhere anymore does still hurt Conk, but the opportunities it has to use an item that isn't Flame Orb while still abusing Guts continues to exist and in strong fashion.
Now, the big reason, tera. Now, even after all this time, I'm honestly not sure how to feel about tera as a whole. It's definitely very overwhelming in several cases and restricting to teambuilding and battling, but I'm not sure if I want it banned, restricted, etc. However, in the case of Conk, it does bring it to even more insane power levels. While tera types like steel, fairy, and water may stand out a ton because they allow more opportunities to get on the field and wreak havoc, the boosts to its offenses are even crazier. The one thing that avoided a 2HKO last gen were the Weezings. This is what happens if you are burned when Neutralizing Gas is active, but you have tera normal.
252+ Atk Tera Normal Conkeldurr Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing-Galar: 169-199 (50.5 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
So, after tera normal, which has the nice extra benefit of giving you the ability to switch into Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball, you OHKO the Weezings. N Gas doesn't work in the calcs, so I kept Conk burned, but gave it Sheer Force instead of Guts for the calc. Here is another calc against one of the most physically bulky pokemon we've had in a while, Dozo, where Guts does matter and I changed the power of Thunder Punch to 117 to match it's power after Sheer Force and Iron Fist
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 290-342 (57.5 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
So, nothing can avoid the 2HKO with proper coverage and tera. Like last gen, this forces scouting, and you only need to make one wrong prediction instead of a string of bad plays to make the hurdle impossible to get over.
However, there is one argument I can see in defense of Conk. I don't think it's a great defense, but it is one I want to hit off nonetheless. Gen 9's metagame is far more focused on speed and is much less bulk centered than that of gen 8. I don't like these kinds of defenses because it makes it sound like Conk getting in will always just lead to a Mon switching in on you and immediately threatening you out without taking into account that Conk is likely doing at least 43% or so to defensive checks, let alone the 70% or so it'd do to less bulky checks.
As someone who has witnessed the havoc Conk has wreaked in gen 8 pokebilities and is seeing it become even stronger this gen, the prospect of facing it again with even less ways to adapt and play around it is absolutely terrifying.
So, let's give a bit of context. Last gen, Conkeldurr eventually got banned and I was one of the many who was advocating for and supporting the ban. Power creep has happened, though, so how can Conk keep up? Let's go through some common pokemon and see if Conk threatens them.
Gambit doesn't want to switch in unless it has used it's tera, and even then, Conk often carries coverage that deals with any type that Gambit tera's into such as Poison Jab for fairy, Ice Punch for flying, and Knock Off for ghost. Tusk doesn't want to switch into Ice Puncha. Valiant crumbles on the switchin to Poison Jab or Guts Facade. Gholdy hates Knock, Fire Punch, and Earthquake. H Samurrot and Bax hate giving Conk free Drain Punch recovery. Glowking hates Knock and Earthquake. Zapdos hates Ice Punch. Ting Lu doesn't want to give free Drain Punch recovery nor be smacked by Ice Punch or Knock (because Ting Lu loves it's Leftovers). Dragapult can't switch in unless a Drain Punch, Facade, or Mach Punch is guaranteed, taking a huge hit from any other coverage move if it decides to switch in
And that's just the top 10.
And Conk gets even more opportunities to free it's item slot and find status in other ways this gen compared to last. It loves facing Glimmora teams, Cinderace has shifted to mostly support with Wisp, Washtom is back to Wisp and T Wave, Sneasler's Dire Claw and Poison Touch gives an effective 65% of status if you switch in on Dire Claw, contact punishment is very prevalent with Clod's Poison Point, Heatran's Flame Body, Moltres's Flame Body, Zapdos's Static, and Amoongus's Effect Spore. Scald and Toxic not being everywhere anymore does still hurt Conk, but the opportunities it has to use an item that isn't Flame Orb while still abusing Guts continues to exist and in strong fashion.
Now, the big reason, tera. Now, even after all this time, I'm honestly not sure how to feel about tera as a whole. It's definitely very overwhelming in several cases and restricting to teambuilding and battling, but I'm not sure if I want it banned, restricted, etc. However, in the case of Conk, it does bring it to even more insane power levels. While tera types like steel, fairy, and water may stand out a ton because they allow more opportunities to get on the field and wreak havoc, the boosts to its offenses are even crazier. The one thing that avoided a 2HKO last gen were the Weezings. This is what happens if you are burned when Neutralizing Gas is active, but you have tera normal.
252+ Atk Tera Normal Conkeldurr Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Weezing-Galar: 169-199 (50.5 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
So, after tera normal, which has the nice extra benefit of giving you the ability to switch into Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball, you OHKO the Weezings. N Gas doesn't work in the calcs, so I kept Conk burned, but gave it Sheer Force instead of Guts for the calc. Here is another calc against one of the most physically bulky pokemon we've had in a while, Dozo, where Guts does matter and I changed the power of Thunder Punch to 117 to match it's power after Sheer Force and Iron Fist
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 290-342 (57.5 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
So, nothing can avoid the 2HKO with proper coverage and tera. Like last gen, this forces scouting, and you only need to make one wrong prediction instead of a string of bad plays to make the hurdle impossible to get over.
However, there is one argument I can see in defense of Conk. I don't think it's a great defense, but it is one I want to hit off nonetheless. Gen 9's metagame is far more focused on speed and is much less bulk centered than that of gen 8. I don't like these kinds of defenses because it makes it sound like Conk getting in will always just lead to a Mon switching in on you and immediately threatening you out without taking into account that Conk is likely doing at least 43% or so to defensive checks, let alone the 70% or so it'd do to less bulky checks.
As someone who has witnessed the havoc Conk has wreaked in gen 8 pokebilities and is seeing it become even stronger this gen, the prospect of facing it again with even less ways to adapt and play around it is absolutely terrifying.
haven't thought about this metagame in a while, but I remembered it exists and I would like to propose Snowslash+Alolatales+Bax
idk i just remember basculin was busted so idk if slash was banned in the past or what but i think it could be cool w snow cloak/slush rush
idk i just remember basculin was busted so idk if slash was banned in the past or what but i think it could be cool w snow cloak/slush rush
Bax is already insane with Ice Body and no burn, but having an even better snow setter with a new snow sweeper is nice. It is annoying that you also have to deal with the 25% evasion chance on A. Ninetales and Snowslash, but the benefits they bring to snow are quite solid. A snow setter that can use Freeze-Dry to OHKO Pelipper and do really solid damage to Hippowdon with access to Encore and a sleep move is amazing utility. The addition of Snowslash is also really important because it gives snow teams not only another sweeper, but also hazard removal, so you don't have to free up another team slot to remove hazards. You have the faster snow setter that also supports through screens in A. Ninetales, a Snow Rush (I know it's called Slush Rush, but I'm gonna call it Snow Rush now) sweeper that can Spin, Bax getting the best of both worlds with it's abilities, Glowking for the bulkier snow setter with more longevity, and Cetitan as another Snow Rush sweeper that has potentially terrifying power with Life Orb+Sheer Force and moves like Icicle Crash, Liquidation, and Play Rough. I'm just glad it looks like Chien is definitely getting banned whenever the meta returns because that would be the nail in the coffin for other team styles
Edit: So, this is outdated less than 24 hours after I wrote it XD. If we go off of base OU bans and bans from past generation pokebilities, that means Bax has a really solid chance of being banned, especially when it doesn't have to choose between Thermal Exchange and Ice Body. While it is absolutely a huge nerf to snow, snow does still have a handful of other solid abusers
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So, another night, another post about a pokemon. This time, one that I began to grow quite fond of near the end of last gen's pokebilities metas. Galarian Weezing, or as I call it, Geezing. At the beginning, many, including myself, saw it as simply a check to what were the 3 top dogs, Phermosa, Conkeldurr, and Dracozolt. However, after the meta has settled and all of the three were banned for their overbearing and overly restricting effects in the teambuilder and in battle, Geezing started to die out some... Until the last week or so where some more Geezings popped up again. This was because people came to realize it wasn't just the big 3 and then Clefable that Geezing checked, it had so much more that it could halt a rampage from. And this gen is different due to Ability Shield (especially because it already saw usage in pre-home pokebilities on Clodsire and Gastrodon), but that doesn't mean Geezing doesn't still have its own place.
Now I won't deny that Geezing has flaws that hold it back. It's SpDef is rather low, no reliable recovery, and hazard chip are huge minor flaws that created the major flaw of the lack of longevity. Relying on Black Sludge+Protect (now Leftovers), Rest, or Pain Split for healing is incredibly unreliable when dealing with 30%+ at a time. That and being Knocked could ruin Geezing. You couldn't just switch in Geezing, you had to choose your spots wisely and that gave an extra dimension to the gameplay alone. It's like the Lando T of pokebilities.
Some pokemon that it checks this gen (keep in mind the word is check, not counter) if they don't have Ability Shield include: Azumarill, Clefable, Mienshao, Sneasler, Meowscarada, H Arcanine, Basculegion (male), Basculin, Breloom, Kleavor (taking the Stone Axe that was boosted by BOTH Sharpness AND Sheer Force all the way back down to 65 BP), Rillaboom, Hawlucha, Krookodile, Kommo-o, Hariyama, Heracross, Hippowdon, Sandaconda, Gliscor, Squawkabilly (incredibly rare, but potentially terrifying), and Ambipom.
And these are just mons that abuse the meta gimmick (I included Meowscarada and not the other starters because it takes more hazard chip to get into Overgrow range most of the time). There's so much that it can keep in check that doesn't abuse the meta gimmick, but is insane nonetheless like Tusk, Valiant, Garchomp, Lando T (which Geezing can actually Wisp even in Misty Terrain because Lando T is a flying type), Okidogi, Hisuirrot, Ting Lu (just watch out for Ruination), Zamazenta, and Roaring Moon.
Geezing is just so slappable if you're weak to physical threats because of how much it checks.
Then we go away from matchups and look at utility. Wisp for flyers (including things like tera flying Sneasler or Gambit), Clear Smog to remove stat buffs, Defog for hazard removal, Taunt to stop opposing utility moves, Toxic Spikes for a more rare, but still useful hazard
While Geezing is definitely going to get worse because of Ability Shield being an item now, I do still think it will be great on the DLC1 meta
Now I won't deny that Geezing has flaws that hold it back. It's SpDef is rather low, no reliable recovery, and hazard chip are huge minor flaws that created the major flaw of the lack of longevity. Relying on Black Sludge+Protect (now Leftovers), Rest, or Pain Split for healing is incredibly unreliable when dealing with 30%+ at a time. That and being Knocked could ruin Geezing. You couldn't just switch in Geezing, you had to choose your spots wisely and that gave an extra dimension to the gameplay alone. It's like the Lando T of pokebilities.
Some pokemon that it checks this gen (keep in mind the word is check, not counter) if they don't have Ability Shield include: Azumarill, Clefable, Mienshao, Sneasler, Meowscarada, H Arcanine, Basculegion (male), Basculin, Breloom, Kleavor (taking the Stone Axe that was boosted by BOTH Sharpness AND Sheer Force all the way back down to 65 BP), Rillaboom, Hawlucha, Krookodile, Kommo-o, Hariyama, Heracross, Hippowdon, Sandaconda, Gliscor, Squawkabilly (incredibly rare, but potentially terrifying), and Ambipom.
And these are just mons that abuse the meta gimmick (I included Meowscarada and not the other starters because it takes more hazard chip to get into Overgrow range most of the time). There's so much that it can keep in check that doesn't abuse the meta gimmick, but is insane nonetheless like Tusk, Valiant, Garchomp, Lando T (which Geezing can actually Wisp even in Misty Terrain because Lando T is a flying type), Okidogi, Hisuirrot, Ting Lu (just watch out for Ruination), Zamazenta, and Roaring Moon.
Geezing is just so slappable if you're weak to physical threats because of how much it checks.
Then we go away from matchups and look at utility. Wisp for flyers (including things like tera flying Sneasler or Gambit), Clear Smog to remove stat buffs, Defog for hazard removal, Taunt to stop opposing utility moves, Toxic Spikes for a more rare, but still useful hazard
While Geezing is definitely going to get worse because of Ability Shield being an item now, I do still think it will be great on the DLC1 meta
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