Metagame Pokemon Let's Go Cartridge Play (aka Candyless Anything Goes)

Theorymon

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Pokemon Let's Go: Cartridge Play! (I need to find someone to get a banner for this lol)




With all this talk about competitive Let's Go we do on Smogon now, it's a bit unusual that we rarely talk about playing on cartridge, isn't it? Even though Let's Go's launch has long since past, people still play on cart quite a bit, and I'm here to give you some valuable pointers on where to start!

In this format, there are no clauses of any sort, sorta like anything goes. However, unlike the usual Anything Goes, there's no Candy boosts, since most people will choose the "normal rules" that remove them.

As a result, we're left with a metagame that's very easy to learn if you know Let's Go OU! In fact, most Pokemon and tactics that work in Let's Go OU, will work here too!


The Mewtwo Factor

Let's address the genetic mutated cat in the room: If you want to play on cart, you better be prepared to deal with Mewtwo. Some people may avoid using Mewtwo out of respect or something, but screw that, we're playing to win! Since there's no species clause, you can even run more than one Mewtwo! Mewtwo in general, is basically Mew on steroids, so let's explore what to do with this beastly thing!

Calm Mind Mewtwo

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite Y / Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid
-Calm Mind
-Psychic
-Recover
-Shadow Ball / Thunderbolt / Earthquake

So the most obvious thing Mewtwo can do of course, is sweep. As you'd expect, Mewtwo is one hell of an effective Calm Mind sweeper, with Psychic obilerating anything that doesn't resist it unless its Chansey. Recover isn't needed per se, but unlike OU's Mega Alakazam, Mewtwo actually has decent bulk, so it can make it THAT much more dangerous. If you want to though, you can give it more coverage.

Shadow Ball is here mainly because it allows Mewtwo to do better against opposing Mewtwo (CM Mewtwo wars are ugly), but Thunderbolt is rad for doing more to Alolan Muk, and blasting the crap outta Mega Gyarados. Earthquake is an option too if you want to nail Alolan Muk with an easy 2HKO and hit Chansey hard after Mega Evolving. If you REALLY hate Melmetal (whose less common since its a pain in the ass to get on cart), Flamethrower works fine too.

Now here's the beauty of playing on cart: I know I have both megastones slashed in, but on cart, you choose during battle. Mega Mewtwo Y may seem like the obvious choice, but its lower bulk doesn't always make it the correct one. For example, if you need to say, set up an extra Calm Mind on Gyarados or a weakened Alolan Muk, nothing is stopping you from Mega Evolving into Mega Mewtwo X instead! Or of course, you don't even need to Mega Evolve, if you got something else that needs Mega Evolving, since Mewtwo kicks plenty of ass on its own.

Stallbreaker Mewtwo

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite Y / Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid
-Will-O-Wisp
-Taunt
-Recover
-Psychic / Shadow Ball

Mewtwo may not have Stealth Rock, but its superior speed and offenses still make it a fine option for the usual Will-O-Wisp shenigans Mew likes to pull. Psychic is the obvious STAB choice (and also makes this Mewtwo a useful way to force out Venusaur), but Shadow Ball is actually a reasonable option just because it hits opposing Mewtwo and Mew hard.

Bulk Up Mewtwo

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X / Mewtwonite Y
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
-Bulk Up
-Earthquake
-Recover
-Facade

This is a more specalized Mewtwo set (that I personally often use with another Mewtwo). This Mewtwo's focus is physical sweeping, which means Chansey won't stop it, and it's a horrific surprise to the Dark-types trying to bite a chunk out of Mewtwo. 90% fo the time, you'll want this to Mega Evolve into Mega Mewtwo X. Earthquake hits Psychic-types the hardest (and actually hits almost as hard as Brick Break would). Facade may seem a bit strange (and the lack of STAB), but this ensures that burns won't stop Mega Mewtwo X from sweeping.

Pokemon that change

Like I said before, almost everything that works in Let's Go OU works just fine in this format. However, with the lack of clauses and the plenty of Mewtwo, some Pokemon change themselves up a bit to adapt!

Alolan Muk

Alolan Muk may face the biggest changes in this format, because theres 3 big moves that are much more better than usual. First off is Foul Play. With this, Alolan Muk is guranteed to hit oppsing Mewtwo hard, even if they Bulk Up and are Mega Mewtwo X. It also OHKOs Mega Mewtwo Y. Secondly, there's the dreaded Minimize, which will make Alolan Muk a NIGHTMARE to hit! Thirdly, there's Haze, which is useful screwing with said Minimize strats from Alolan Muk (and also Chansey).

Mew

Even with Mewtwo's icy gaze, Mew is still handy for one big reason: Stealth Rock. It's still one of the best Stealth Rock setters. Just note though, Thunder Wave is more interesting on Mew than usual, just because Mewtwo can wreck havoc by setting up on Mew!

Chansey

Like I said before, Chansey has Minimize now, and it's a fearsome tool. Chansey can easily Toxic stall or Seismic Toss stall tons of mons if it dodges everything, making Body Slam a much cooler move than usual here.

Snorlax

Speaking of Body Slam, here's the best Body Slamer! It can be a bit hard to fit into Snorlax's moveset, since it might mean giving up on Facade or coverage. But trust me, Minimize SUCKS to deal with, so its well worth consideirng.

Mega Beedrill, Mega Aerodactyl, and Mega Alakazam

These mons don't change much, but I have to mention them because they all share an important quality: they outspeed Mega Mewtwo Y! Mega Beedrill in particular will kick the crap outta that one, though Mega Mewtwo X can be a problem. Same deal with Mega Aerodactyl, except it uses Crunch. Mega Alakazam may seem outclassed by Mewtwo, but outspeeding it and having Shadow Ball are very valuable assets for a sweeper in this metagame.

Mega Gengar

Even with it speed tying with Mewtwo (which is unfortunate), Mega Gengar is just as hard to switch into as usual. Except this time, it also happens to be an EXCELLENT troll against most Minimize Chansey (I guess they could run Shadow Ball or Psychic, but I've never seen that before). So it's still a very worthy choice in Mewtwo land.

Nidoking and Rhydon

As you can imagine, neither of these two are happy with Mewtwo running around. But there's one big thing they both have: Horn Drill! Horn Drill is lovely for scaring the crap out of bulky mons, and since it isn't effected by accuracy modifiers, it always has a 30% chance to hit, even those annoying Minimize mons!

That's all I have written for now. I'll be updating this list with more mons (maaaybe a viability list, but here's a hint: it'd be mostly the same as OU's, except Mewtwo is above S lol). Feel free to ask any questions about cartridge play here, both singles and doubles, getting certain things for cart play, etc.
 
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Theorymon

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This post is reserved for Doubles Cartridge Play. Unlike Doubles AG, I actually have some experience with this! But before I write up a ton about it, I want to play it again and see if anything has changed.

I can give you a few starting tips though: Rock Slide users like Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Mewtwo X are pretty nasty, screens are better than usual, and Fake Out Pokemon like Blastoise, Raichu, Kangaskhan, and Alolan Persian are usually good ideas to consider too!
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
What about Gyarados-Mega? I know you mentioned that is what Thunderbolt is for on MMY, but without that, and since MMX in your sets lack Brick Break, it seems like Gyarados-Mega wont be as easily stopped.
 

Theorymon

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What about Gyarados-Mega? I know you mentioned that is what Thunderbolt is for on MMY, but without that, and since MMX in your sets lack Brick Break, it seems like Gyarados-Mega wont be as easily stopped.
Yeah Mega Gyarados is pretty damn good! Just note though, in the case of Mega Mewtwo X, Bulk Up means it can easily set up on Mega Gyarados. It can Twave, but then that powers up Facade too. Thankfully, a lot of Mega Mewtwo Y drop Thunderbolt for Shadow Ball, so Mega Gyarados can decimate those kinds!
 
Hey there! Nice intro to the format!

Quick question: without the species clause, what's the maximum amount of a single 'Mon (I'm guessing Mewtwo) that you've seen/considered in a viable team? I'm guessing a team might fit all three of the Special/Physical/Stallbreaker movesets, but is it ever correct to run more (say, with slightly different coverage) just because it's so good or is it better to focus on other stuff at this point? Similarly, regardless of total number of Mewtwo, is it common/good to double up on one of the movesets for redundancy (say, just 2 special sweepers, or 2 special + 1 physical)
 
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Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Yeah Mega Gyarados is pretty damn good! Just note though, in the case of Mega Mewtwo X, Bulk Up means it can easily set up on Mega Gyarados. It can Twave, but then that powers up Facade too. Thankfully, a lot of Mega Mewtwo Y drop Thunderbolt for Shadow Ball, so Mega Gyarados can decimate those kinds!
Will it be added to the OP? With a section of its own?
Maybe a Roar moveset? Stops MMX, racks up Stealth Rocks Damage. Prevents setups. Thunder wave can be an option to shuffle things around, otherwise Toxic might be good.
 
From my personal time on there mew two users have only one or two. Remember cartridge users either don't hack (you only get one) or don't want to give anyone a reason to think they do (some pretty nasty stuff happens to your switch if you mess with your save files). I can't really say how effective a mewtwo horde is, I haven't fought more than two. Also, for whatever reason, almost all Mewtwo I fight go the coverage route rather than trying to setup. Watch out for that ice beam=).

Minimize is op but people can still hit you and the matches have a 20 minute limit on them, so pp stall type stuff cant really happen without the match ending halfway through. Most people I play against don't bother using minimize.

There's not a sleep clause so watch out for those green turtles. It can honestly get pretty annoying.

Melmetal and mew are ridiculously op on this format because they are more rare than they should be(they are really hard to get). Lots of people choose not to run the necessary things you see all the time on showdown, fire coverage especially. Honestly it's at a point where following Smogon rules with mew and melmetal makes me feel more powerful than most Mewtwo users who don't have a melmetal.

Because of Mewtwo being so common you'll see people stacking anything that checks him much more often, as mentioned in the op. So have fun countering the counters, and I hope my insights help!

(Some notes: mzam 2hitkos mewtwos and can usually win 1v1 thanks to speed advantage, MBeedrill takes super effective damage from earthquake and psychic, but can almost kill regular Mewtwo, and 0hitkos Mewtwo y with xscissor. Melmetal beats up all Mewtwo pretty good when they don't have special flame attacks. Mewtwo y shadowball only 2hitkos mew, so mew is still pretty useful despite all the mewtwos.)
 

Theorymon

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Is there a Pokemon that has the ability to check all kinds of Mewtwo, such as regular, Mega X, and Mega Y?
Not really, which is part of why Mewtwo is pretty busted :P.

Alolan Muk does do 50% min to Mega Mewtwo X with Foul Play however, even if Mega Mewtwo X can crush it.

Not at all a perfect "check", but lately Ive noticed a LOT more Electrode running around. Paralyzing Mewtwos on teams that lack Eevee make it a lot easier to handle, thats a mon I honestly severely underestimated!

BTW I've played much more doubles, so I plan on making a massive update including that, and some minor updates to singles, stay tuned!
 
Here's a Mega Aerodactyl set that has been a huge team player as of late: 4 Attacks.

aero.png

(This is a shiny that I got from Pokemon Go c:)
Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 70
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Wing Attack

In my opinion, this is basically one of the best revenge killers in the game. Hardly anyone uses Mega Aerodactyl, but there's quite a few teams with regular Aero leads, which this mon loves to prey upon. Wing Attack helps finish off weakened MM2X, Poliwrath, and Grass-types like Venusaur, (Alolan) Exeggutor, and Vileplume. Crunch hurts the many Psychics in 3 Pika, such as the other Mewtwo forms, (Mega) Alakazam, Starmie, and Mew. RockQuake doesn't need an explanation.

This pairs well with Starmie, which checks Melmetal and Rhydon. Together, they can really hurt the Grass/Poisons with their STABs, too.

Here's the team I've been running with. It's been putting in quite a lot of work, although Sleep Powder leads are annoying. https://pokepast.es/9a42d104713d8a2b
 
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LGPE 20 min timer is a big deal

There are 3 main factors that prevent showdown OU from being fun for a 3xPika head like me. It's weird but hear me out. (This is a cart format post)

1) Visible team information and damage taken percentages shown while Cart players are pen in hand trying to recall as much information as possible. This changes Mega mind games a lot with the 1min 30sec time limit. "I should Mega w- wait no!" Also no shit like cancel to "is he still picking?" LOL

2) Tactics like minimize and rest are actually nerfed via timer on Cart. You can't pull them off with a mon deficit on actual Cart ie sub seed pp v rest/minimize will not matter since you can strategically time them out (if you landed a seed) and force a switch (potentially reversing a timer stall). Fun as Hell.

3) Mega X or Y. Zard mono Fire Blast can win 1 in 15 games Jolly but it's really about Mewtwo surprise Brick Breaks. That is his main play in X guys and Psychic covers everything else but other Psychics. Loses v YTwo but that is what counters are for (or a last effort Shadow Ball in X lol (try Taunt though))

Cart is really fun and imo a B-Meta to current OU for the ages. Moves like Dragon Dance or Curse not in and the lack of abilities make Cloyster or Dragonite not the best Pokemon and prove the game is actually very well thought out strategically. (Also hooray for no Choice Scarf friggin Focus Sash surprise reversal anyone? If you're a numbers head you got all stats on all your opponent's team. Items is like making up chess moves as you go (1luv chesto rest tho)

C'mon guys you've been Stealth Rocking in 6v6 OU for years why not prove these Japanese players with 3on3 backgrounds don't only know this move is anti Zard like...

Yeah I go on 30, 40 streaks all the time but almost got my ass kicked on showdown then couldn't find someone (I go 10 or 15 if it's not Mewtwo on my team probably even not counting any Uber games so what takes more skill)

Ps. I'd like to post my tier list but I'll wait for discussion here first maybe see what you guys got

Edit: @ above poster. That set is really good but half your games gotta feel like "damn I can't suicide there." What else fits the bill when Dugtrio can't commit proper suicide since half games are other Aero Haha.

Master Aero play is "he can't afford to Mega, right there, this time, because he needs Rocks." Let it RIP boys
 
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