Metagame RU Stage 1 - Begin Again (Welcome to gen 9!)

[ishtar]

Quiver Dance in RU

With the addition of Tera to Gen 9, Quiver Dance has become an even more devastating move in competitive mons, and I thought itd be interesting to analyze some of the viable options that exist in the tier for Pokemon that have it, as I believe some of them are some of the most threatening but somewhat lesser talked about cleaners that exist within the tier, often overshadowed by the much more obviously broken Haxorus and Lycan, but that still could prove to be problematic later on. This should also be a good guideline of the main sets Ive encountered and/or used with these Pokemon, as well as their different intricacies and dynamics within the tier. Finally a last disclaimer is that a lot of these mons can utilize different Tera types to get past team specific threats, and this is more relevant as a showcase of what theyre generally capable of doing:


Venomoth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tinted Lens
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Sludge Bomb

Starting with the most common culprit of Quiver Dance in RU, Venomoth is back and it does what its always done, be really annoying with Sleep moves. Veno is probably the one mon in this list that doesnt really need Tera commonly. This is cause Tinted Lens and Tera Bug allows Venomoth to get past would be walls such as SpDef Magnezone with ease without relying on Tera Ground.

+1 252 SpA Tinted Lens Tera Bug Venomoth Bug Buzz vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Magnezone: 178-210 (51.8 - 61.2%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Venomoth currently stands as one of the least threatening Quiver Dancers in RU, in my opinion, due to its lack of recovery (ig Morning Sun could be used instead of Sleep Powder but then ur not using broken sleep....), propensity to priority such as Accelerock, Ice Shard, etc., and matchup with other users of QD. Its still a great mon that breaks balance and doesnt rely on Tera to get past some annoying walls that could help your mons in the back finish the job.


Frosmoth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Tera Blast
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain

Frosmoth is, in my opinion, one of the biggest nuisances in RU right now thanks to its amazing ability Ice Scales. This ability allows Frosmoth to not be easily revenge killed by common Choice Scarf users such as Gardevoir as well as being setup fodder for diverse common Special Attackers such as Tatsugiri, Mismagius and even Oricorio, whos unable to beat Frosmoth one on one.

+1 252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Oricorio-Pom-Pom: 384-452 (131.9 - 155.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 SpA Oricorio-Pom-Pom Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Ice Scales Frosmoth: 243-286 (86.4 - 101.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

The final caveat that makes Frosmoth such a menace, albeit at the cost of aTera Shard, is its ability to change type with Ice Scales. Tera Ground is probably the main set here, allowing Frosmoth to not be revenge killed by Accelerock and granting it a way to hit SpDef Pokemon or Steels such as Magnezone, Revavroom and faster would be counters like Tauros-Paldea Fire, Salazzle. Tera Fighting can also be considered for still resisting Accelerock but also not being hit supereffectively with Ice Shard while Tera Water allows you to not be easily revenge killed by Fire-types.

Frosmoths lower speed does make it easily revenge killed by Scarf Tauros-Paldea Fire and Salazzle, and its reliance on Tera does grant the player less flexibility with its teammates, but Moth is honestly threatening enough to a lot of teams without Tera, as well as being a great way to force switch-ins, and its ability to recover health with Giga Drain also means its often harder to take down with priority.


Oricorio-Pom-Pom @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Ground/Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Revelation Dance
- Hurricane/Air Slash
- Roost

Oricorio gaining Quiver Dance completely changes its whole game, and makes it a very valuable member of any team wanting a faster, surprisingly versatile wincon and breaker. An interesting dynamic to understand with Oricorio and the move Revelation Dance is that the typing of the move also changes when its Tera activates. So for example, one turn you could be using Pom Pom with Electric-type Revelation Dance, then Tera and have a Ground-type Revelation Dance.
This adds a great layer of depth to Oricorio, since it doesnt rely on Tera Blast to make use of its Tera STAB, meaning its able to hit Electric and Flying resists such as Toxtricity, Magnezone without having to drop recovery in Roost or either of its original STAB moves. This can also work against Oris favor tho, since its reliance on Revelation Dance could suddenly make it walled by a Ground immunity after Tera. Um, example might be an opposing Oricorio Pom-Pom, but this dynamic rarely happens.

Their Speed stat is also versatile: Youre able to drop a certain amount of Speed in order to outspeed threats such as Rotom and Heracross, but leaving you vulnerable to Scarf Flamigo . Even bulkier variants could be worth considering, which doesnt seem to be the case for the other Quiver Dancers mentioned in this post. Its higher Speed and Roost simply allow it to function as a breaker if you want it or as an all out sweeper depending on what you need.

All of the 3 Oricorio formes utilize Tera in a similar fashion, but theyre not interchangeable.

Ori Pom-Pom is probably the most reliable forme thanks to its solid defensive and offensive typing.

Ori Sensu has an even better offensive typing allowing it to be less reliant on Tera than the other two Oris able to hit Rotom formes for neutral damage. Ghost is also generally solid defensively and its able to remove its weaknesses to checks such as Naclstack, Krook thanks to Tera Fighting.

Ori Baile, probably the most niche one, has a great offensive typing thanks to the tiers main Rock-type having 75 65 bulk. It also holds the best matchup against Snow teams, especially if running Tera Fighting. It also might have the option of setting up on Tauros-Paldea if Scarf (ive never seen that thing click Wild Charge ever and u could also Tera Ground, but thats a pretty awkward mindgame...).


Hope this was worth reading and entertaining! These mons are all surprisingly distinct and fun to use, so if you wanna not win all of your games with broken ass Haxorus or Lycan, give these a shot! Prediction: these will be broken eventually.

 

[Ultraman1]

almost 1 shots max bulk naclstack
252 Atk Life Orb Flamigo Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Haxorus: 255-302 (87 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Flamigo Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Naclstack: 226-268 (69.7 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Flamigo Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bombirdier: 266-316 (94.6 - 112.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Flamigo Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Blissey: 1929-2272 (270.1 - 318.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Just saying Flamigo could do a lot in this meta, and its dual stab having a grand total of 3 fully evolved resists available in RU (Rotom gets hit by scrappy CC so doesnt count) would make its dual stab very powerful. It even gets tailwind for speed and swords dance for recovery

I'm probably missing something and Flamigo would be just terrible, but I feel like it is alright right now, especially with webs/tailwind support to mitigate its suboptimal speed stat.

One of the best revenge killer

 

[I am New]

Quiver Dance in RU

With the addition of Tera to Gen 9, Quiver Dance has become an even more devastating move in competitive mons, and I thought itd be interesting to analyze some of the viable options that exist in the tier for Pokemon that have it, as I believe some of them are some of the most threatening but somewhat lesser talked about cleaners that exist within the tier, often overshadowed by the much more obviously broken Haxorus and Lycan, but that still could prove to be problematic later on. This should also be a good guideline of the main sets Ive encountered and/or used with these Pokemon, as well as their different intricacies and dynamics within the tier. Finally a last disclaimer is that a lot of these mons can utilize different Tera types to get past team specific threats, and this is more relevant as a showcase of what theyre generally capable of doing:


Venomoth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tinted Lens
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Sludge Bomb

Starting with the most common culprit of Quiver Dance in RU, Venomoth is back and it does what its always done, be really annoying with Sleep moves. Veno is probably the one mon in this list that doesnt really need Tera commonly. This is cause Tinted Lens and Tera Bug allows Venomoth to get past would be walls such as SpDef Magnezone with ease without relying on Tera Ground.

+1 252 SpA Tinted Lens Tera Bug Venomoth Bug Buzz vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Magnezone: 178-210 (51.8 - 61.2%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Venomoth currently stands as one of the least threatening Quiver Dancers in RU, in my opinion, due to its lack of recovery (ig Morning Sun could be used instead of Sleep Powder but then ur not using broken sleep....), propensity to priority such as Accelerock, Ice Shard, etc., and matchup with other users of QD. Its still a great mon that breaks balance and doesnt rely on Tera to get past some annoying walls that could help your mons in the back finish the job.


Frosmoth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Tera Blast
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain

Frosmoth is, in my opinion, one of the biggest nuisances in RU right now thanks to its amazing ability Ice Scales. This ability allows Frosmoth to not be easily revenge killed by common Choice Scarf users such as Gardevoir as well as being setup fodder for diverse common Special Attackers such as Tatsugiri, Mismagius and even Oricorio, whos unable to beat Frosmoth one on one.

+1 252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Oricorio-Pom-Pom: 384-452 (131.9 - 155.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 SpA Oricorio-Pom-Pom Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Ice Scales Frosmoth: 243-286 (86.4 - 101.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

The final caveat that makes Frosmoth such a menace, albeit at the cost of aTera Shard, is its ability to change type with Ice Scales. Tera Ground is probably the main set here, allowing Frosmoth to not be revenge killed by Accelerock and granting it a way to hit SpDef Pokemon or Steels such as Magnezone, Revavroom and faster would be counters like Tauros-Paldea Fire, Salazzle. Tera Fighting can also be considered for still resisting Accelerock but also not being hit supereffectively with Ice Shard while Tera Water allows you to not be easily revenge killed by Fire-types.

Frosmoths lower speed does make it easily revenge killed by Scarf Tauros-Paldea Fire and Salazzle, and its reliance on Tera does grant the player less flexibility with its teammates, but Moth is honestly threatening enough to a lot of teams without Tera, as well as being a great way to force switch-ins, and its ability to recover health with Giga Drain also means its often harder to take down with priority.


Oricorio-Pom-Pom @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Ground/Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Revelation Dance
- Hurricane/Air Slash
- Roost

Oricorio gaining Quiver Dance completely changes its whole game, and makes it a very valuable member of any team wanting a faster, surprisingly versatile wincon and breaker. An interesting dynamic to understand with Oricorio and the move Revelation Dance is that the typing of the move also changes when its Tera activates. So for example, one turn you could be using Pom Pom with Electric-type Revelation Dance, then Tera and have a Ground-type Revelation Dance.
This adds a great layer of depth to Oricorio, since it doesnt rely on Tera Blast to make use of its Tera STAB, meaning its able to hit Electric and Flying resists such as Toxtricity, Magnezone without having to drop recovery in Roost or either of its original STAB moves. This can also work against Oris favor tho, since its reliance on Revelation Dance could suddenly make it walled by a Ground immunity after Tera. Um, example might be an opposing Oricorio Pom-Pom, but this dynamic rarely happens.

Their Speed stat is also versatile: Youre able to drop a certain amount of Speed in order to outspeed threats such as Rotom and Heracross, but leaving you vulnerable to Scarf Flamigo . Even bulkier variants could be worth considering, which doesnt seem to be the case for the other Quiver Dancers mentioned in this post. Its higher Speed and Roost simply allow it to function as a breaker if you want it or as an all out sweeper depending on what you need.

All of the 3 Oricorio formes utilize Tera in a similar fashion, but theyre not interchangeable.

Ori Pom-Pom is probably the most reliable forme thanks to its solid defensive and offensive typing.

Ori Sensu has an even better offensive typing allowing it to be less reliant on Tera than the other two Oris able to hit Rotom formes for neutral damage. Ghost is also generally solid defensively and its able to remove its weaknesses to checks such as Naclstack, Krook thanks to Tera Fighting.

Ori Baile, probably the most niche one, has a great offensive typing thanks to the tiers main Rock-type having 75 65 bulk. It also holds the best matchup against Snow teams, especially if running Tera Fighting. It also might have the option of setting up on Tauros-Paldea if Scarf (ive never seen that thing click Wild Charge ever and u could also Tera Ground, but thats a pretty awkward mindgame...).


Hope this was worth reading and entertaining! These mons are all surprisingly distinct and fun to use, so if you wanna not win all of your games with broken ass Haxorus or Lycan, give these a shot! Prediction: these will be broken eventually.

vivillon is invinsible...

 

[Loginator]

vivillon is invinsible...

Venomoth probably outclasses it.

 

[YataGarasu]

You could have just said this lol. Not trying to beat a dead horse but Garchomp, Gengar, and Chien-Pao calcs still aren’t relevant to RU, and you haven’t really made a point as to why to use Muk over other, similar options. If I wanted a Poison type, the single most broken mon in the tier is also Poison while being way more threatening. If I wanted a tank, I’d run Bellibolt or Hariyama (or hell, even Dudunsparce is probably better). — also let me add that a mon being able to Tera on a move it’s weak to and beating the attacker is uh, not a niche. Literally every mon has access to Tera and therefore every mon can do that

Well I just got free time so I haven't gotten around to the full explanation of why it's useful that I will do. I just thought I'd explain my reasoning in regards to the tera, that may be true however, unlike most others Muk doesn't tera to resist a weakness or make it immune such as King Gambit to Flying Tera (immune to ground), and it doesn't just use it offensively to boost it's stab moves. It uses it offensively and defensively in the same vain in this set. Yes SOME mons do that not all. IE: Garg doesn't usually run Fighting tera or Rock tera, it runs Fairy/GhostWater pure defensive use not offensive.

I understand it's also about RU, but my point about Muk is it has applications in all three metas why I was using examples such as Hax (RU at the moment anyway)/Gengar (UU), and even Chien Pao (OU) which is why I called it a tech Pokemon that has an interesting niche in all three tiers. Just making Mabo tera is not going to make it much more useful in OU against many of the top threats. Tera-ing Troxicity on basic sets still gets walled in higher tiers by common usage mons (Gholdengo)...

I understand this is a RU discussion thread, but that's why I posted about Muk to discuss it and if someone is also running different tiers it would give opportunity to use it in the same vain. but I'll re-edit that one post as I said I will do and work discussing it at better value.

Edit: I also never said it was a god Pokemon, I just said it was a solid choice for teams. I didn't specify primarily such as in balance teams since HO usually doesn't like slower mons.

 

[Beaf Cultist]

I understand it's also about RU, but my point about Muk is it has applications in all three metas why I was using examples such as Hax (RU at the moment anyway)/Gengar (UU), and even Chien Pao (OU) which is why I called it a tech Pokemon that has an interesting niche in all three tiers. Just making Mabo tera is not going to make it much more useful in OU against many of the top threats. Tera-ing Troxicity on basic sets still gets walled in higher tiers by common usage mons (Gholdengo)...

This’ll be my last post relating to this because I really don’t think there’s much more to be said here and I’d rather not clog the thread. From reading this post and your previous response, what I got was a whole lot of nothing. You’re making a lot of bold claims about Muk’s viability (especially in tiers not relevant to this thread!) without showing any evidence beyond walls of partially (arguably mostly) irrelevant calcs. Where are the replays? Where are explanations of roles it fills in THIS meta that other mons cannot? Saying you haven’t had time is a cop-out. You’ve made two long-form posts about the mon in the past week, so you’ve clearly had the time to test it if you wanted to. The reason people aren’t jumping on board the Muk train isn’t because they’re unwilling to change or try new ideas, it’s because you haven’t given them any reason to believe Muk is valuable as a mon in RU. Personally, I don’t have any intention of trying out or prepping for Muk until I see concrete evidence (read: replays) of its viability, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

 

[schlondark]

Could there be a niche for Sylveon? Comparing it in purpose to Toxtricity seems appropriate, as a 200BP Fairy attack (that also triggers throat spray) seems like it would compare reasonably to Tox's boomburst. On a specs set you're essentially just trading 15bst of speed for much greater special bulk. You can't really set up as well as shift gear but calm mind could do (and Tox sets are vulnerable before they start boosting due to the combination of his frailty and sluggishness). You also have draining kiss at 100BP (Though it seems like Mismagius does this better as its high speed is very helpful) and it seems like you could do something with Tera Blast as if not terrastalized it gains a boost from Pixilate. There might be stiff (lol) competition from gardevoir but the roles you fulfill are different. It certainly has way more in its toolkit than something like its icy brother.

You could always just run both (as long as tox remains in the tier) as a way to muscle past each others counters.

 

[YataGarasu]

This’ll be my last post relating to this because I really don’t think there’s much more to be said here and I’d rather not clog the thread. From reading this post and your previous response, what I got was a whole lot of nothing. You’re making a lot of bold claims about Muk’s viability (especially in tiers not relevant to this thread!) without showing any evidence beyond walls of partially (arguably mostly) irrelevant calcs. Where are the replays? Where are explanations of roles it fills in THIS meta that other mons cannot? Saying you haven’t had time is a cop-out. You’ve made two long-form posts about the mon in the past week, so you’ve clearly had the time to test it if you wanted to. The reason people aren’t jumping on board the Muk train isn’t because they’re unwilling to change or try new ideas, it’s because you haven’t given them any reason to believe Muk is valuable as a mon in RU. Personally, I don’t have any intention of trying out or prepping for Muk until I see concrete evidence (read: replays) of its viability, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

First off I wasn't trying to say people should be on the Muk train just that it was a solid mon, something that's decent and usable in the tier and in UU and in OU without needing full team support to KO threats, or do anything. I don't know where you got this straw man from but it's quaint, I'll give it that. Continuing to the replays:
*Note: This is not my normal OU team, bar Iron Valiant and Muk, just threw it together in five minutes on an alt to make some recordings Since I'm being accused of lying. *Iron Valiant is not running the set I usually run on it. Scizor even had SD on CB set haha. Also tested Rotom H at one time on this account with terrible results.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1778874897

Turn 7: Muk KO's Cinderace. Not too surprising as it's weak defenses. Turn 12/13: Slowking (UU Mon) eats over half it's health poison procs. Turn 17: Muk rips Dragapult's health in half with no tera and gets hit by Choice Specs Draco Meteor and survives only losing 67% health, *Even had it been 100% Muk would have 2HKO it, tera or no tera.

Which: 252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Muk: 265-313 (64 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO . Stands fully correct. It would have survived high roll as well. Just to make note of it. Turn 18: SS outspeeds Draga and rips it.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1778887628

Turn 5~10: Remember when I said Avalugg (RU Mon) usually loses the war of contrition. Yeah that happened just as I said it in my other post. Perfect demonstration had to Tera as I wasn't expecting EQ here actually caught me off guard. Sure it faints afterward it also got the luckiest rolls of it's life 5 turns of getting hit and not 1 posion proc. Generally Muk beats lug with way more health.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1778871147

Turn 17 Muk euthanizes Volc going for Quiver, 50% health, but meh I was risking Gunk Miss. Turn 18 Tricked a Choice Scarf over the Choice Band I'm running. Still 50% Rotom, and does 91% to Goodra (RU Mon) at full, mid roll that's with a scarf again. So anything neutral with 90 Health with invest and 70 def, I'm pretty sure wasn't invested will be near KO if not KO'd after one non-CB Gunk shot.

I had three more replays I was going to post: Three I saved but accidentally didn't upload they are available on disc.. One is OU Muk revenge killing 4 mons, including a full health Bax, taking a glaive rush surviving and KOing after 2-3 SS and having been chipped twice 24% off from SR switches. Another with Medicham in RU being 1HKO on SS tera, and Gholdengo hitting for around 12% while I 1HKO around 45% of its health on non-tera Muk SS.

I would have saved more RU replays but people kept quitting early and I didn't want to hear the excuse the player was nimrod and potential goal post moving.

Conclusions: Muk can near 1HKO without choice band Pokemon with base 90 HP/70 Def in one hit GS on neutrals. HP I'm pretty sure was EV maxed as well. Muk can do solidly in other tiers, and doesn't have to resort to tera to face choice threats that it is intended to handle.

It can often take 2 OU mons out and chip a third. Not amazing not 6-0 a team, just a decent solid mon that works outside it's tier as a tech mon.

My opinion: People have not adequately tested Muk, it is an old toy that hasn't been used, just like Hax is still somehow in RU despite being even more solid than Muk in OU and UU (do I need replays for Hax as well?) If it has been tested then the optimal set wasn't run, I don't know what to say, People not being willing to discuss things in a discussion topic or in good faith kind of makes it hard to figure out if people have tested or not, considering what I said was questionable makes me assume no. Some of these situations should be well known even without calcs, unless they weren't tested.

So if you want to QUESTION me or ask me to get them next time I will and I can get more Muk replays when I'm not busy, these are not 1 offs and random, or even my best performances with it and I'm average at best. That's just from a few battles in OU earlier today near in a row. My long posts are very quickly written because I type fast, do not assume that means I have tons of time, thank you this post took me less than around 10 minutes max.... I appreciate it, not to be snide but I don't like subtle treatment in the same vain of being straight called a liar, and just copping out because I can't prove any claims in one moment because I WAS BUSY! I get it you don't know me, but I was trying to be respectful and open it to more discussion. I see that's now how it works here so I'll remember that for the future. I can do some UU too if I need to present the point home further I just thought OU would make it easier to believe since I skipped straight to it, even if I'm not 1600 on that specific account or 6-0ing with Muk which I never claimed or whatever other accusation people are saying I said. I was fine with first poster because skepticism was fine I just thought I'd address my issues with my presentation no harm no foul. No need to be passive aggressive here with some of those statements.

I also think other people could do better using Muk than myself and think I'm average at best, which could misundrrepresent how good the mon itself is in or used as a tech mon in higher tiers not because it's my favorite, or I'm gasing it. I'm not trying to start everyone running Muk, just wanted to see if anyone had a better optimal set, had any better advice how to run it, or if had better success and could give me advice or show me something I didn't know or just recommend it because it has not been suggested very often that's just a plain fact, and there's no need to lie and pretend otherwise... That would have been an easier response then accusation after accusation with straw men and other absurdities and projections or bad faith arguments.

Either way, I'm done also clogging this discussion thread just felt I deserved at least a fair defense of levied accusations that seem more based on sophistry and emotion for whatever reason than sound logic. Even if some of the expectations aren't that bad (asking for replays not the accusing me of lying because because I said Muk was one of my favorite tech mons and was able to be solidly used in OU/UU and could handle major threats in each tier or that it didn't need Tera required to do it which is true, or that I'm bad at saving recordings which I am, or that I wasn't busy and my two posts which took me only a few minutes before work means I wasn't busy. If I sound personal, it's because most of it sounded like personal attacks on my character.

 

[Stories]

First off I wasn't trying to say people should be on the Muk train just that it was a solid mon, something that's decent and usable in the tier and in UU and in OU without needing full team support to KO threats, or do anything. I don't know where you got this straw man from but it's quaint, I'll give it that. Continuing to the replays:
*Note: This is not my normal OU team, bar Iron Valiant and Muk, just threw it together in five minutes on an alt to make some recordings Since I'm being accused of lying. *Iron Valiant is not running the set I usually run on it. Scizor even had SD on CB set haha. Also tested Rotom H at one time on this account with terrible results.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1778874897

Turn 7: Muk KO's Cinderace. Not too surprising as it's weak defenses. Turn 12/13: Slowking (UU Mon) eats over half it's health poison procs. Turn 17: Muk rips Dragapult's health in half with no tera and gets hit by Choice Specs Draco Meteor and survives only losing 67% health, *Even had it been 100% Muk would have 2HKO it, tera or no tera.

Which: 252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Muk: 265-313 (64 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO . Stands fully correct. It would have survived high roll as well. Just to make note of it. Turn 18: SS outspeeds Draga and rips it.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1778887628

Turn 5~10: Remember when I said Avalugg (RU Mon) usually loses the war of contrition. Yeah that happened just as I said it in my other post. Perfect demonstration had to Tera as I wasn't expecting EQ here actually caught me off guard. Sure it faints afterward it also got the luckiest rolls of it's life 5 turns of getting hit and not 1 posion proc. Generally Muk beats lug with way more health.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1778871147

Turn 17 Muk euthanizes Volc going for Quiver, 50% health, but meh I was risking Gunk Miss. Turn 18 Tricked a Choice Scarf over the Choice Band I'm running. Still 50% Rotom, and does 91% to Goodra (RU Mon) at full, mid roll that's with a scarf again. So anything neutral with 90 Health with invest and 70 def, I'm pretty sure wasn't invested will be near KO if not KO'd after one non-CB Gunk shot.

I had three more replays I was going to post: Three I saved but accidentally didn't upload they are available on disc.. One is OU Muk revenge killing 4 mons, including a full health Bax, taking a glaive rush surviving and KOing after 2-3 SS and having been chipped twice 24% off from SR switches. Another with Medicham in RU being 1HKO on SS tera, and Gholdengo hitting for around 12% while I 1HKO around 45% of its health on non-tera Muk SS.

I would have saved more RU replays but people kept quitting early and I didn't want to hear the excuse the player was nimrod and potential goal post moving.

Conclusions: Muk can near 1HKO without choice band Pokemon with base 90 HP/70 Def in one hit GS on neutrals. HP I'm pretty sure was EV maxed as well. Muk can do solidly in other tiers, and doesn't have to resort to tera to face choice threats that it is intended to handle.

It can often take 2 OU mons out and chip a third. Not amazing not 6-0 a team, just a decent solid mon that works outside it's tier as a tech mon.

My opinion: People have not adequately tested Muk, it is an old toy that hasn't been used, just like Hax is still somehow in RU despite being even more solid than Muk in OU and UU (do I need replays for Hax as well?) If it has been tested then the optimal set wasn't run, I don't know what to say, People not being willing to discuss things in a discussion topic or in good faith kind of makes it hard to figure out if people have tested or not, considering what I said was questionable makes me assume no. Some of these situations should be well known even without calcs, unless they weren't tested.

So if you want to QUESTION me or ask me to get them next time I will and I can get more Muk replays when I'm not busy, these are not 1 offs and random, or even my best performances with it and I'm average at best. That's just from a few battles in OU earlier today near in a row. My long posts are very quickly written because I type fast, do not assume that means I have tons of time, thank you this post took me less than around 10 minutes max.... I appreciate it, not to be snide but I don't like subtle treatment in the same vain of being straight called a liar, and just copping out because I can't prove any claims in one moment because I WAS BUSY! I get it you don't know me, but I was trying to be respectful and open it to more discussion. I see that's now how it works here so I'll remember that for the future. I can do some UU too if I need to present the point home further I just thought OU would make it easier to believe since I skipped straight to it, even if I'm not 1600 on that specific account or 6-0ing with Muk which I never claimed or whatever other accusation people are saying I said. I was fine with first poster because skepticism was fine I just thought I'd address my issues with my presentation no harm no foul. No need to be passive aggressive here with some of those statements.

I also think other people could do better using Muk than myself and think I'm average at best, which could misundrrepresent how good the mon itself is in or used as a tech mon in higher tiers not because it's my favorite, or I'm gasing it. I'm not trying to start everyone running Muk, just wanted to see if anyone had a better optimal set, had any better advice how to run it, or if had better success and could give me advice or show me something I didn't know or just recommend it because it has not been suggested very often that's just a plain fact, and there's no need to lie and pretend otherwise... That would have been an easier response then accusation after accusation with straw men and other absurdities and projections or bad faith arguments.

Either way, I'm done also clogging this discussion thread just felt I deserved at least a fair defense of levied accusations that seem more based on sophistry and emotion for whatever reason than sound logic. Even if some of the expectations aren't that bad (asking for replays not the accusing me of lying because because I said Muk was one of my favorite tech mons and was able to be solidly used in OU/UU and could handle major threats in each tier or that it didn't need Tera required to do it which is true, or that I'm bad at saving recordings which I am, or that I wasn't busy and my two posts which took me only a few minutes before work means I wasn't busy. If I sound personal, it's because most of it sounded like personal attacks on my character.

The main point is this is an RU thread and you're providing information in the context of the UU and OU tiers which are completely irrelevant to a Pokemon's viability in RU (see: Blissey being better in UU than RU as an example)

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

Probably been mentioned already, but I really like Crocalor so far. Obviously its the only usable Unaware mon in the tier and of course it moveset is very limited. Oh yea and the tier isn't the friendliest to Fire types at the moment and Knock Off neuters it. But I mean look it this lil guy, he's just havin a grand ol time.



So this is the set I've been running:
Crocalor @ Eviolite
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Slack Off
- Roar

Without getting Knocked Offed Crocalor is able to just sit in front a lot of dangerous mons like Primeape and a lot of Quiver Dancers (assuming he stays awake). Tera Water lets it deal with the Rock, Ground, and Water moves coming from Lycanrock, Haxorus, and Cloyster and none of them like being burned. Roar synergizes really well with Unaware as it can reset stats, wipe away Subs, and also just mess with switches. I'm interested in trying Encore, Curse, and Fire Spin as well, but not sure how good they'd be in practice. But I imagine someone better than I could use them to trap specific threats. Flamethrower is actually surprisingly okay with the 90 base SPA too. Anyways, that's all I got, croco bless.

(also if you have any optimized EV spreads lmk, I'd really appreciate it)

 

[I am New]

A mon that I have been seeing so much in ladder is bulky defog drifblim. What does it do? Is it not outclassed by altaria? I mean it blocks spin i suppose. Strength Sap is nice too but like cmon it cant have any other advantage right like missy is just better spin blocker. whats drifblims role then?

 

[Stories]

A mon that I have been seeing so much in ladder is bulky defog drifblim. What does it do? Is it not outclassed by altaria? I mean it blocks spin i suppose. Strength Sap is nice too but like cmon it cant have any other advantage right like missy is just better spin blocker. whats drifblims role then?

You already listed a ton of amazing qualities Drifblim has, I'm not sure how you can list all of these and conclude that its anything but good. It's physical bulk is comparable to Altaria's and is bolstered further by Strength Sap and even Aftermath on top of a superior typing which lets it wall stuff like Heracross and Hariyama which easily break Altaria. Blocking Rapid Spin is super useful especially in stall matchups where Drifblim completely walls Avalugg, although the other Rapid Spin users (Komala, Cryogonal, Tatsugiri) beat both Drifblim and Altaria anyway. Mismagius doesn't have any recovery and is often going to Terastallize anyway, and again loses to the most common Rapid Spin users anyway. Drifblim can Terastallize itself too which also lets it beat common breakers like Lycanroc-Dusk and Bellibolt while getting a jump on Magnezone and Toxctricity.

 

[TDanger]

I almost wanna try using banded basculin, due to its good speed tier and great offenses. The problems are that it doesn't have like any coverage so it lets in tatsugiri and vaporeon basically for free, but it can also revenge kill with aqua jet so I dont know

 

[ishtar]

I almost wanna try using banded basculin, due to its good speed tier and great offenses. The problems are that it doesn't have like any coverage so it lets in tatsugiri and vaporeon basically for free, but it can also revenge kill with aqua jet so I dont know

Bruxish is a pretty powerful wallbreaker that, albeit slightly slower, deal with the issues you mentioned with Basculin.
It's incredibly hard to switch into due to Wave Crash and Strong Jaw Crunch/Psychic Fangs and has Jet to easily revenge a ton of scary mons. Tera also helps it either boost its already great Water STAB or give it useful defensive utility with Tera Dark (as well as boosting Crunch damage of course). Incredibly handy against balance teams with tools for offense as well. Definitely deserves more attention!

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

I almost wanna try using banded basculin, due to its good speed tier and great offenses. The problems are that it doesn't have like any coverage so it lets in tatsugiri and vaporeon basically for free, but it can also revenge kill with aqua jet so I dont know

Just to add on to the Bruxish recommendation:

Despite being a bit slower, the STAB Psychic Fangs does a lot in this tier.
With Band it is able to (and Basculin is unable to without Tera):
OHKO Haxorus
OHKO all of the Quiver Dancers (I think)
OHKO every Fighting type and Poison type in the tier (other than Skuntank)
OHKO Blissey without doing 80+% to itself from Wave Crash (Also the same with a bunch of other stuff)
Have a chance at OHKOing Vaporeon and 100% OHKO Tatsugiri

I like Bruxish, its pretty good and if you want to use a fishy this is a good pick.

However, if you just want to use Basculin try this:
Basculin @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wave Crash
- Aqua Jet
- Psychic Fangs
- Ice Fang / Crunch

It will still hit whatever is in front of it very hard, but its lower attack stat + no Strong Jaw means everything other than the Water moves will be noticeably weaker. In terms of Tera, Water works well to just pile on the damage boosts but Adaptability works with Tera STABs so you could tailor your fish to take out specific threats with Ice or Dark or something. Overall, It can probably work because it can do some do some really neat things:

252 Atk Choice Band Adaptability Basculin Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Lycanroc-Dusk: 292-348 (100.3 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[Skankovich]

Hey! Here's some random stuff I've found solid on ladder:


Rabsca @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Synchronize
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Earth Power

Everyone just uses this thing as a Revival Blessing bot but it's actually really threatening to common defensive cores. Bug hitting 2/3 of Psychic's resists SE makes it an unexpectedly annoying STAB combo to switch into, especially with Psyshock pressuring mons that would otherwise wall you based on pure special bulk. Generally I think mixed attacking is really strong in this meta; with the threat of tera undermining type advantages people have naturally gravitated towards defensive mons with very strong bulk over those with advantageous typings, and since most of these are strongly biased to one side of the spectrum being able to hit from both sides becomes potent.

Earth Power covers the obvious gap of Steel types and you don't even need to worry about Bronzong because Bug Buzz is neutral on it. I go Tera Psychic since it's the main button click, the stronger Psyshock helps break through phys def bug resists.

What makes it really worth using imo is that it gets in pretty easily against lots of common fatmons rn and can do so across the match thanks to Recover. Slowbro, Umbreon, Mudsdale, Avalugg, Blissey, Bellibolt - all food for the mystical shitbug! Of course, in the common HO matchups it's not doing as much, but its strong natural bulk will still let it trade in that scenario.

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-1780092096-0affjndh1ypigg0lfg3x0mafyj9x8p4pw - bug chews up balance

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-1778006694 - bug chews up very fat balance

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Foul Play
- Yawn

This isn't really anything special but Phys def Umbreon is my favourite physical attacker catch-all rn. Stupid-tier physical bulk and STAB Foul Play really helps vs common HO archetypes, especially when you can tera into fairy and very few of our phys mons hit you SE any more. Haxorus, Cloyster, Drednaw, Revavroom, Weavile, Bruxish and Krook all fall foul of you even before tera though! Yawn further helps break up the flow of HO and lets you grab some momentum. Also Inner Focus is cool for ignoring annoying iron head and icicle crash flinches lol.


Flapple @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
Tera Type: Dragon / Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Grav Apple
- Sucker Punch
- Giga Drain / Outrage

People have already talked a bit about this mon but this has been by far the best set for me. Everyone immediately throws their Avalugg, Arcanine or Tauros into this but they all drop to Draco lul. Your phys moves have silly power even uninvested because of Hustle and LO and so Grav Apple will 2hko all the fairies anyway. Sucker Punch is similarly really strong prio and will nab you kills vs offense. Last slot is flexible, Giga Drain gives you a bit of recovery to help you keep coming in while Outrage is a mega nuke that will even blast past fat Steel types, especially after a Grav drop and/or tera. Could probably run a random Tera Blast and typing in this last slot if you wanted, but it does the job without tera thanks to its stupid power and our limited Steel types.


Salazzle (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Encore
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast

Again nothing special but barely see this thing for whatever reason. Its speed tier + power + encore makes it really annoying for offense while the combination of set up and encore makes it annoying for fat; you click sludge bomb a few times on a Blissey/whatever switch in and when it's forced to click a recovery move you NP, encore it into the recovery and NP again to sweep. A good set of resists give it more switchins than you'd expect for something so frail!


Drifblim @ Grassy Seed / Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Air Slash
- Strength Sap

I love some cheese! Stored Power + usable special flying STAB did a lot for blim this gen. Switching in on terrain you instantly get +1 Def and outspeed the whole tier, tera Electric with grassy terrain basically removes any weaknesses outside of Earth Power or the random High Horsepower, makes you immune to paralysis and lets you set up in the face of Magnezone, Bellibolt and the general steel types that resist Psychic/Flying coverage. Strength Sap stops physical mons breaking through your +1 Def and keeps you healthy enough to gobble prio (not an issue in psychic terrain!). Most things will die after you set up 2 calm minds and everything else dies after 3. Of course, this is something that requires team support, but considering Arboliva and Indeedee are great in their own right within the tier it isn't much of a burden.

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ru-1770467882-00ffrlpsswva75k7jrq1c9hh24mix4rpw

 

[TDanger]

Bruxish is a pretty powerful wallbreaker that, albeit slightly slower, deal with the issues you mentioned with Basculin.
It's incredibly hard to switch into due to Wave Crash and Strong Jaw Crunch/Psychic Fangs and has Jet to easily revenge a ton of scary mons. Tera also helps it either boost its already great Water STAB or give it useful defensive utility with Tera Dark (as well as boosting Crunch damage of course). Incredibly handy against balance teams with tools for offense as well. Definitely deserves more attention!

wait so bruxish being weirdly strong in randoms isn't just a fluke due to the leveling? i always figured it wasn't very strong, but like that actually looks cool, I'll have to see about using it

 

[Catalisador]

Camerupt is a very interesting defensive Ground-type I've been using. Its great dual typing allows it to reliably defensively check the likes of Magnezone, Arcanine, Rotom-C, Rotom-H, Revavroom, Florges and Bellibolt lacking Muddy Water while offensively threatening common Pokémon like Tauros-Paldea-Fire, Arboliva and Avalugg with its potent dual STAB and offering utility in Stealth Rock and Will-o-Wisp/Yawn.



Quaxwell stands out as a decent user of Rapid Spin with reliable recovery in Roost. Its defensive Water typing is very solid and, coupled with Eviolite, it turns into an decent wall. Since Knock Off's distribution isn't as wide in gen 9, it can usually mantain the bulk throughout the entire game and offer the team support. It is, however, very passive, although Encore can be interesting for dealing with bulkier Pokémon like Blissey, Umbreon, etc.

 

[EonX]

Just a couple of things I've been having fun with (also, yeah, hi)

Lycanroc-Dusk @ Life Orb
Ability: Tough Claws
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Accelerock
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs / Play Rough / Stone Edge

Tough Claws Tera CC? Yes please. I kind of like keeping Rock-type for STAB on Accelerock until I find the opening I want to start smashing stuff with CC. Crunch smacks Ghosts and Psychics looking to tank CC. Psychic Fangs is pretty nice to deal with Screens and also beats up non-Scarf Flamigo and Heracross. Play Rough OHKOes Haxorus assuming it hasn't changed through Tera (CC claps it if it Teras into Steel) and Stone Edge is there if you decide to use this on a team with something that also loves to Tera for sweeping. I guess you could SD or go Adamant Rock Polish, but I feel Lycan just does best when it can press buttons as soon as it comes in.

Flamigo @ Black Belt
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Swords Dance / Throat Chop
- Agility / Throat Chop

Am I secretly a fighter? Maybe. Is Flamigo kinda stupid? Yeah, kinda. Because Choice sets are so common with it (or at least, it feels like it haha) I decided to mess around with Black Belt to feign a choice item only to set up with SD or Agility. Tera Fighting because why would you not happily spam Scrappy CC? If you want coverage, Throat Chop is an option, but most Psychics kinda get nuked by Brave Bird or simply aren't hit hard enough by Throat Chop anyway. As with any Double Dance set, you use the boost that makes sense against the opposing team. SD against a fatter team and Agility up against a faster team. You could Life Orb if feigning a Choice item doesn't matter to you, but the fake out (heh) can sometimes open the door to a setup opportunity late-game and odds are, you're in trouble if you're having to use a move other than CC (unless it's weak to Brave Bird) to deal damage. If you want to more fully rely on it setting up, Lum Berry makes that easier against fatter teams.

 

[Lilo]

[Young Lilo] First time writing on a RU forum with a couple of things to discuss...

Current SV RU is a crazy but fun tier with a couple of mons that i'd consider ban-worthy or at least suspect material (Haxorus for ex.) but my biggest concern is how healthy is terastallizing as we go down in tiers.

As of now I feel like HO is the best playstyle in the tier since it's too early for big development in the tier, lots of players getting used to SV, etc, however if tera stays I feel that throughout these upcoming months any kind of offense will just overcome every other playstyles - Balance, Stall, maybe even BO tbh.

Current offense is really flexible, feels too good with Tera which as a mechanic is a lot more offense-driven imo since it allows the user to take one more hit than usual*, obtaining an opportunity to setup or just dish out incredible STABs.

Would like to hear more opinions on the matter.

Regardless of all that, the main dish:

Drake (Gardevoir) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Trace
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball/Psychic
- Healing Wish/Psychic/Knock Off/Trick

Magneto (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Volt Switch
- Discharge

So basic fairy + steel trapper with a little ghost tera action to help trap zong; Specs Garde hits like Will Smith (added psyshock for the blisseys, cryogonals); Regarding Garde's last slot is just whatever, most times i don't click it even though knock helps on a long lasting game.

Fun fact

Gardevoir tracing dancer on the switch as Oricorio clicks quiver will always be one of my favorite moments

Will probably add some replays later.

 

[TheTraininator]

I kind of like keeping Rock-type for STAB on Accelerock until I find the opening I want to start smashing stuff with CC.

Just in case you didn’t know, Tera keeps your offensive STAB bonuses from your original types no matter what regardless of whether or not you lose that typing after Terastalizing, so even after you Tera into a Fighting-type, Lycanroc wouldn’t lose STAB on Accelerock.

 

[Thundercalf101]

I am having quite a lot of fun using Klawf. It’s incredibly high attack with its decent speed makes it a fairly good offensive pivot. This is the set I use:

Klawf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Anger Shell
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 248 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brick Break
- Rock Slide
- High Horsepower / Trailblaze

Focus Sash to get anger shell activated, Swords Dance on the first turn before you get hit, brick break for coverage and to break reflect, rock slide for stab, and high horsepower for coverage or Trailblaze to boost Klawf's good speed once it gets the speed boost.

 

[viol and bass]

Toxtricity @ Assault Vest
Ability: Punk Rock
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Nuzzle
- Boomburst
- Sludge Bomb / Hex
- Volt Switch

This is kind of a gimmick but I've thought for a long time that Electric/Poison is one of the best defensive typings in the game, with a whole host of useful resistances and only weaknesses to Psychic and Ground. Toxtricity isn't naturally that fat, but Punk Rock both boosts the power of your sound moves and lowers those of your opponent, so with this set it can switch in on itself. Even Specs Tera Normal Boomburst doesn't 2HKO with rocks, and you can paralyze it or pivot into a faster check. You can pop tera if you've gotten low and need to tank another one in order to paralyze Tera-normal Tox.

Punk Rock is just funny:

252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Punk Rock Toxtricity: 39-46 (11 - 12.9%) -- possible 8HKO

It can switch in on stuff like Rotom-C, Magnezone, paralyze and pivot out of the quiver dancers, etc. It even resists Flamigo and Revavroom's STABs in a pinch (be careful of Bulldoze I guess). And it still hits pretty hard with Boomburst. Fun pivot.

Example replay where it checks a specs Sylveon, Rotom-C, and Goodra

 

[EonX]

Talking about more stuff that i've played with, against, and seen.

The Scarf set in particular is just so good for bulky offense teams, While I feel HO kinda needs Salazzle or Flamigo, Scarf Garde's utility with Trick, Healing Wish, and Trace is just incredible. With a lack in Steels (aside from Tera mons) it's easy to get away with just using dual STABs... ok, usually just Moonblast. Almost always run Tera Fairy on this because it's pretty rare for the Psychic typing to actually help Garde. I've seen Specs and even CM sets, but I feel they just don't do nearly as much as Scarf currently. They probably get better once the meta slows down a bit.

Picturing Pom-Pom as it's the one I've been using, but Sensu seems like it's really good too. QD is a good move and Revelation Dance is better Tera Blast. It's amazing when your Tera type basically becomes your coverage. While most use HDB (and for good reason) I'm a madman and use Lum Berry so I don't have to care about fat mons while setting up. Main Tera types are Ground and Fighting for the strong coverage alongside Flying, though I bet Sensu can use Ghost due to much more limited resistances and less reliance on Tera for sweeping can make it easier to use Tera elsewhere.

This thing is crazy. It lost Scald, which sucks, and also lost Teleport. But it gained Tera Fairy in a meta filled to the brim with Fighting types everywhere. Best part is that Slowbro resists Fighting normally, so you only need to Tera it if you're fearful of their Dark coverage or you need it to stop an Outraging Haxorus. Again, less reliant mons on Tera are pretty good. Slack Off and Surf are givens I feel like and then you kind of mix and match from there. Ice Beam, Yawn, Calm Mind, Future Sight, Psychic, and Body Press are all pretty useful alternatives. Oh, and don't forget this thing got Nasty Plot now. OTR looks mean in such an aggressive meta. But, yeah, you're probably sticking to phys def with helmet or lefties since your Tera type now acts as your counter to Darks.

This is a pretty underrated mon. I feel Band and offensive AV are the ways to go with it rn seeing as Salazzle, Flamigo, and Garde are more useful Scarfers for one reason or another in given matchups, but Stakeout Band is NOT fun to switch into. The whole "resist does not mean live" train of thought. It really wants something with U-Turn or Volt Switch to help it get in more easily, but Dark + Fairy coverage is pretty good rn. AV can even run Trailblaze if you want to get fancy, but it's fast enough to outpace most walls and some slower breakers (Toxtricity, Specs Garde, etc.) and bulky enough to usually take a decently strong neutral hit and likely KO back.

Obligatory tidbit about Haxorus and Lycanroc being absolutely stupid and Cloyster and Flamigo probably aren't too far behind them in terms of the crazy meter. Also, can we get some better hazard control UU? Please? It feels terrible using Drifblim or Tera Fairy Altaria... thx

 

[halpalumps]

I was thinking about this, and im not sure how great it is but rotom-frost looks like it could be good? Especially with snow and that defense boost i feel like its viable in someway?