Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers

Welcome to the gen 8 edition of the SQSA! The purpose of this thread is to act as the main place to ask questions that could be answered in a single post. Common topics include:

- What is the ideal <item/nature/moveset/Pokemon> for my Pokemon or team?
- How is the viability of a Pokemon in the metagame?

Here are some questions I can answer ahead of time:

Zacian ban?

Not anytime soon. For starters, the metagame has just released and everything is up in the air in terms of metagame viability and even mechanics behind how things are supposed to work. A quickban of Zacian is off the table - the only way it would be debated is via a suspect test, which requires the tiering council to create a tiering policy first, and that ball will quickly get rolling again if we feel there truly is a problem that must be addressed. There is also the fact that many returning Ubers Pokemon are not currently released despite existing in the code for SS, which makes assessing the true metagame very difficult. We would like to avoid taking any tiering actions until all the potential Pokemon are available to us, leaving an early suspect test as an absolute last resort. Should it come to that, we would likely re-test Zacian once everything is available.

National Dex Ubers?

A fun thought experiment, but nothing more than that. While a format may appear on the simulator that emulates an unlimited metagame, there are questions about mechanic interactions that cannot be answered through the cartridge games meaning that such a format is entirely unofficial in purpose and therefore unsuited for this forum. That said, we aren't going to close our eyes to the idea. If it is well executed and proves to be popular, integration with this subforum may be possible in the future.

And now for some quick guidelines:

- Discussing the potential of an Ubers Pokemon in OU is strictly prohibited. The viability of a Pokemon in Ubers has no relevance to its potential in OU.
- Topics around suspect or ban discussions are ideally kept to threads open for wide range discussion on potential suspect testing, like a "NP:" thread. If a suspect is currently running, our live chat areas are a better zone to ask and discuss these things.
- The answer may be present on our Smogon Dex, where you can find analyses of the Pokemon in our tier.
- This is not the ideal place to ask questions related to in-game teams or metagames. This forum is primarily for discussion of Smogon's Ubers metagame. Cartridge based metagames can be discussed in the Cartridge Formats section, while in-game play can be discussed in Orange Islands. Make sure to navigate to the ideal threads when visiting these subforums!

Community members are encouraged to help each other out here with answering new questions!
 
When imposter ditto comes in on Zacian/Zamazenta, does it trigger their abilities?

EX:
-Trainer A's Zacian comes in, goes to +1 attack with Intrepid Sword.
-Trainer B sends out Ditto, imposter activates, Ditto copies Zacian and its +1 Attack.
Does intrepid sword then activate for Ditto, getting it to +2 Attack?
 
Will Toxapex be any good in Ubers? It has brilliant defensive stats, but there’s still Kyurem-Black, and Specs Eternatus can 2HKO it with Dragon Pulse.
 

Ropalme1914

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Will Toxapex be any good in Ubers? It has brilliant defensive stats, but there’s still Kyurem-Black, and Specs Eternatus can 2HKO it with Dragon Pulse.
We can't say for sure by now because we don't have a meta yet, but if I had to give my opinion, it does have a niche by checking Zacian and Zamazenta if they lack Psychic Fangs. Also, just a small note, Eternatus has Dynamax Cannon as a STAB, it doesn't need Dragon Pulse.
 
How exactly does dynamax interact with choice items?
Does it nullify just the move lock, or the move lock and the boost?
And is scarf's speed boost taken into account the turn you dynamax if it does nullify it afterward?
 
How exactly does dynamax interact with choice items?
Does it nullify just the move lock, or the move lock and the boost?
And is scarf's speed boost taken into account the turn you dynamax if it does nullify it afterward?
It negates the boost. I think it also negates Scarf's speed boost, but I could be wrong.
 
How exactly does dynamax interact with choice items?
Does it nullify just the move lock, or the move lock and the boost?
And is scarf's speed boost taken into account the turn you dynamax if it does nullify it afterward?
It negates the boost. I think it also negates Scarf's speed boost, but I could be wrong.
The choice item is completely disabled during the Dynamax (both lock & boost), and reactivated once it ends.
If the Pokemon was choicelocked before Dynamaxing, it will lock again in same move once it ends.
 
Hi everyone. This is not directly related to gen 8, so please let me know if I should ask somewhere else.
Basically, I just had something weird happen on showdown.

I hit a garchomp on a Switch in with knock off, which caused my Pokémon to faint from rough skin. No item was appaently knocked off.
The next turn, that garchomp moves before my jolly 252+ mega lucario, even though there was no Speed modifier active on either side.

So my conclusion was: if the Pokémon that uses knock off faints from rough skin, the item is not removed. Is that how It works?
This was in gen7 doubles OU by the way.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Ditto's transformations seem to not follow some properties of the things it's copying (can't copy stance change, disguise, or ice face, for example)
So considering this, is it possible for a Ditto copying Zacian/Zamazenta/Eternatus to Dynamax when the originals can't?
 
When is Behemoth Blade(b.b) less effective vs. Dynamax? EX: 1x b.b vs 2x,4x other moves. || .5x b.b vx 2x,4x || .25x b.b vs 2x,4x

Thank you
 
When is Behemoth Blade(b.b) less effective vs. Dynamax? EX: 1x b.b vs 2x,4x other moves. || .5x b.b vx 2x,4x || .25x b.b vs 2x,4x

Thank you
Behemoth Blade is always the most effective unless:

1) Behemoth Blade is resisted and the other hit is both super-effective and of >75 base power.
2) Behemoth Blade hits neutrally and the other move is 4x super effective and of >75 base power.
3) Behemoth Blade is 4x resisted and another move of >75BP is at least neutral. (As far as I recall, this only applies to Todegemaru.)
4) Your opponent is holding a Babiri Berry, is not 4x weak to steel and another move of >75BP is 4x super effective.
5) Your opponent has Dynamaxed their Shedinja for some reason.

Think of Behemoth Blade as a 300BP move and calculate accordingly.

Ditto's transformations seem to not follow some properties of the things it's copying (can't copy stance change, disguise, or ice face, for example)
So considering this, is it possible for a Ditto copying Zacian/Zamazenta/Eternatus to Dynamax when the originals can't?
It is not possible for a Ditto to Dynamax while copying a Pokemon that cannot itself Dynamax.
 
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Hi when Lunala, Solgaleo and Necrozma drop in SwSh.. UltraNecrozma will disapear?? if there are no Z-moves how he will exist??
 
what roles can eternatus play??
what sets are recommended, i find it has kinda narrow moveset
You can run an offensive set with Dynamax Cannon/Sludge Whatever/Flamethrower and your choice of Recover, Agility, Toxic Spikes or Toxic as a support move. Shadow Ball is an option if you really hate Corsola or Gothitelle, but Eternatus is already a natural predator for Corsola regardless, and I haven't run the calculations for Gothitelle. Sludge Whatever is optional because poison currently has no important targets in ubers; Hero Zacian technically exists, but is almost never run. Defensive sets running Dynamax Cannon/Flamethrower/Cosmic Power/Recover also seem to be gaining popular. Personally, I like Dynamax Cannon/Flamethrower/Toxic/Recover.

You can either run a Timid 252 Sp Atk, 252 Speed setup, or a bulkier 252 HP Modest build. I prefer Timid for dealing with opposing Eternatus, but I won't claim to have any idea what the optimal choice is, and max speed doesn't hit any other relevant benchmarks at present. Eternatus is one of the very few good special attackers in ubers and will destroy any team not adequately prepared for it, so you should always fully invest in special attack.

If you're using Eternatus and Zacian, some kind of plan for dealing with ground-type attackers and Sand Rush Excadrill in particular is essential.

(Disclaimer: I might have a completely wrong read on the meta here.)
 
when and why did the baton pass clause get removed from the tier?
Start of gen 8, and because a lot of the most egregious abusers are gone. Eeveepass, Krookodile and Smeargle got snapped, and the teamstyle is also indirectly nerfed by the omnipresence of Ditto. I get the impression it's more of a field test than a commitment to the policy change, though.

For my own question: if Dynamaxing is banned in OU, is it likely that ubers will follow suit? So far, it doesn't seem overly strong here, but that's so far only because none of the Pokemon that are ubers by tiering can Dynamax, and we know that state of affairs won't last.
 

Ropalme1914

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For my own question: if Dynamaxing is banned in OU, is it likely that ubers will follow suit? So far, it doesn't seem overly strong here, but that's so far only because none of the Pokemon that are ubers by tiering can Dynamax, and we know that state of affairs won't last.
I'm pretty sure that Ubers tiering is totally unrelated to OU, so most likely no, it won't necessarily follow it (although if it does prove to be way overwhelming later on like Mega Rayquaza, nothing stops it from being banned I think)
 
when and why did the baton pass clause get removed from the tier?
New generation = cleared banlist (clauses are the only thing kept). Baton Pass was therefore unbanned.
For my own question: if Dynamaxing is banned in OU, is it likely that ubers will follow suit? So far, it doesn't seem overly strong here, but that's so far only because none of the Pokemon that are ubers by tiering can Dynamax, and we know that state of affairs won't last.
We make our own decision on this front and right now we have no plans to do so.
 

Ropalme1914

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Additionally, why doesn't sticky webs affect imposter Ditto?
Imposter copies all of the stats changes of the opponent - this includes ignoring all of Ditto's stats changes before it transforms, and Sticky Web triggers before Imposter. It's the same case against Intimidate: if Ditto starts the battle against a Intimidate user and is faster than it, then it'll first transform into the opponent and then have its Attack lowered, while, if it is slower, it would receive Intimidate, transform into the opponent and basically make the Intimidate useless.
 

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