Sword&Shield&Speculation!

Should we allow Melmetal in the base meta?


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Yung Dramps

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Galarian Ponyta has been confirmed! Aside from its currently confirmed ability list and typing, here's how I think its movepool could be managed

+Calm Mind, Confusion, Heal Pulse (shown using in trailer), Light Screen, Psybeam, Psychic, Reflect, Zen Headbutt
-All Fire moves, Drill Run and High Horsepower

Basic Psychic moves + removal of Fire moves and normal form's major tutor moves. I doubt it'll retain any fire moves even as coverage since it's a woodland pokemon for which the website mentions it consumes life energy. It even changed classification from the "Fire Horse" Pokemon to the "Unique Horn" (lol) Pokemon. All in all though, should be a cool mon in Little Cup. Vanilla Ponyta was already decent, but now it gets Psychic moves in a meta that has never had a viable physical Psychic type and where Abra doesn't exist anymore.

As for Rapidash, Psychic/Flying alicorn with the above movepool changes + Aerial Ace, Air Slash, Brave Bird and Roost. What else could it possibly be aside from maybe Psychic/Fairy, which would be lame imo but w/e

tl;dr galar pony for LC, Rapidash implemented possibly for experimental meta
 
Aren't those tutor moves, meaning they likely won't be available for them in the first game of this generation?
Drill Run is in USUM (though it's a TM in Let's Go), but High Horsepower is an egg move from Mudsdale.

I forget how breeding regional variants works. If you breed a Fire Ninatales in Alola, do you get a Fire or Ice Vulpix? And are applicable egg moves still passed?
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
Drill Run is in USUM (though it's a TM in Let's Go), but High Horsepower is an egg move from Mudsdale.

I forget how breeding regional variants work. If you breed a Fire Ninatales in Alola, do you get a Fire or Ice Vulpix? And are applicable egg moves still passed?
Ok then, we can allow High Horsepower since Mudsdale is confirmed!
 
Psychic + Ground is kinda interesting coverage, though the only things High Horsepower really helps hit at the moment are T-tar, Steelix, Duraludon, and Morpeko, most of which aren't implemented and/or aren't good.
 

Eve

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8D393188-B5C3-4AA8-B890-B8EC2F6A90BA.jpeg

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First picture contains Turtonator, and second contains Shuckle on the shirt- we can assume that a Pokémon wouldn't be shown but not useable, so both are now allowed!

EDIT: There's a Gothita behind Pikachu... We have another Uber.
 
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Going to cover Dragon Dance users in Doubles as well as some Pokemon that caught my interest.

:sm/gyarados:

Gyarados might be one of the more fearsome Dynamax users in the format with Max Geyser setting rain, I could see it fitting on rain teams as it has the ability to reactive rain, which can come in handy if a Drizzle user has fainted and Max Airstream boosting its speed further. Do note that Dynamax will turn all status move into Max Guard, so it needs to stay in its base form to use Dragon Dance first.

Gyarados @ Figy Berry/ Charti Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly/ Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

Waterfall will be Gyarados's main STAB attack. Bounce is more for Dynamax as Protect is common in Doubles, which can greatly cost momentum if it ends up hitting a Pokemon that's protecting. Figy Berry is fantastic for burst recovery which Doubles appreciated. Charti allows Gyarados to better check Rock-types such as Tyranitar that we'll get into later. Since Gastrodon redirects Water-type move with Storm Drain, having a Grass-type such as Ludicolo or Tsareena to KO Gastrodon is recommended.

Its other options include Moxie to avoid tasting its own medicine from Mirror Armor and Mew, Crunch for hitting Mew and Aegislash harder, as well as being more reliable without Dynamax but doesn't provide any notable supereffective coverage otherwise, and Earthquake, though it can be difficult to use since Earthquake targets an ally and doesn't gain STAB from it.

:sm/tyranitar:

Tyranitar will be a terror to behold with its impressive bulk, a high attack stat, and having a spread move in Rock Slide. However, without Dragon Dance boost, it is slow, and it has plenty of type weaknesses waiting for Tyranitar, especially Fighting-type as they resist its STAB and can demolish Tyranitar with Close Combat or Superpower.

Tyranitar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide/ Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

Since there's no relevant Pokemon that it would need Stone Edge to deal more damage, Rock Slide is more preferred for now. It's recommended to pair it with Fairy- or Psychic-type as they can threaten Tyranitar's biggest roadblock, Fighting-type.
I can't come up with a good bulky spread for Tyranitar, so if anyone has a better one, I would appreciate it.

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
- Rock Slide/ Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Low Kick

This Tyranitar works better under Trick Room with Choice Band gives it higher firepower immediately at the cost of not being able to freely switch moves. Alternatively, 252 Atk/ 4 Def/ 252 Spe with Jolly Nature can be run with Tailwind or Icy Wind acting as speed control instead. Fire Punch is for Ferrothorn and Low Kick is for and opposing Tyranitar and still unconfirmed Kommo-o. Ice Punch doesn't seem like it would do much for now aside from Kommo-o. Speaking of which...

:sm/kommo-o:

While there won't be Clangorous Soulblaze, Kommo-o's niche lies within being a Dragon Dance user with Max Knuckle that boosts its attack (Tyranitar doesn't have enough room to run both). Still, without its signature Z-move, it's more prone to its stats being lowered from Intimidate and its Close Combat, especially when special moves are no longer recommended on it.

Kommo-o @ Figy Berry/ Yache Berry
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant/ Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Iron Head/ Stomping Tantrum/ Thunder Punch
- Dragon Dance
- Protect

Since it doesn't have any good Dragon-type physical moves, it won't be running one anytime soon. Close Combat needs no explanation, anyway, Iron Head would be its method of combatting Fairy-type after a Dragon Dance boost, which can be extremely threatening for Kommo-o. Stomping Tantrum is for dispatching Aegislash which it otherwise can't touch, Thunder Punch is for Gyarados which Kommo-o also otherwise can't touch. Soundproof is useful for blocking Roar and Hyper Voice. Yache Berry allows it to check Ice-type better such as Weavile.

:sm/sylveon:

Sylveon was one of the best Pokemon in XY Doubles. Sadly, it ends up dropping to Doubles UU in SM where there's too many Steel- and Fire-types for Sylveon. The current Galar Dex rooster seems to be kind for it so far, but that depends on how dominating will Melmetal and Aegislash be in this format.

Sylveon @ Wiki Berry/ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 148 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Protect

(Survives a +2 Bounce from Jolly Gyarados unless it hits protect lol)

This set is based on a classic from XY Doubles. Substitute allows Sylveon to get a safer opportunity to set up Calm Mind, then fires off Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice that hits both foes. Sylveon appreciates Pokemon that provides speed control with either Tailwind or Trick Room, as well as Fake Out to give momentum for it to set up. Pokemon with Intimidate such as Hitmontop and Gyarados are also recommended for Sylveon to patch up its inferior defense.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 212 SpA
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock/ Hidden Power Fire

Moonblast for Kommo-o who will block Hyper Voice with Soundproof, Shadow Ball for Aegislash, Psyshock for anything with exploitable physical defense and Hidden Power Fire is for Ferrothorn.
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
if we're going off of t-shirts now, shouldn't we allow klink line since that was seen as a trainer card background at some point? personally i dont think it's very reliable way of confirming mons, but if we're gonna do it that way...
 

Eve

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if we're going off of t-shirts now, shouldn't we allow klink line since that was seen as a trainer card background at some point? personally i dont think it's very reliable way of confirming mons, but if we're gonna do it that way...
Do you really reckon they'd show a Pokemon in the game and not actually include it? They could just use a different mon for the shirt/background if these two weren't in. Unless anyone strongly disagrees with this, the Klink line is fine with me too.

Oh also, given the mention of Melmetal above I've made a poll for whether we should allow it :)
 

Eve

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No it isn’t, if it’s not in the regional dex with dexit existing it wouldn’t have been on the game
that's exactly my point- they could afford to have any mon on art in gen 7 as any mon exists within the game files and can therefore be obtained, but it doesn't make sense to show a pokemon player new to Gen 8 art of a pokemon they simply can't get at all ever
 

earl

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that's exactly my point- they could afford to have any mon on art in gen 7 as any mon exists within the game files and can therefore be obtained, but it doesn't make sense to show a pokemon player new to Gen 8 art of a pokemon they simply can't get at all ever
I guess, but that’s not a valid argument really. You can go to a Caribou Coffee in Florida but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna find a caribou there. All pokemon are still known, just some aren’t in the region.
 

Eve

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Well, regardless of that- I mostly put forward shuckle under the assumption that people wanted more to play with- me and Dramps have agreed that Shadow Tag as a whole is not fair and now banned. You can use Gothitelle and Wobb without it if you want!
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
These two seem like way more interesting additions than the last batch, which consisted of Turtonator and something that has a banned ability and is otherwise useless without said banned ability. Let's take a look, shall we?


Now you can feel free to take this with a grain of salt considering the obvious bias, but please bare with me here. Drampa stands to benefit majorly from the more Trick Room-oriented meta, the question is how good will it be on that playstyle. As it turns out, it could be very good! Compared to its biggest competitor and current TR special attacking staple Vikavolt, Drampa has:
-A stronger STAB nuke in Draco Meteor
-Marginally improved overall bulk
-Even lower Speed
-Berserk to boost its power even further
-And probably the most important of all, THAT MOVEPOOL THO. Seriously, this thing is Mew-tier: Fire moves, Focus Blast, Ice Beam, Hurricane, Surf, Thunderbolt, and that's just the special attacking side! For support you got Calm Mind, Defog, Roost, Tailwind and even Glare! The latter aren't particularly useful for Trick Room, but the point stands! You can do a lot with this guy, whether it be setting up with CM or going to town with a Choice Specs or Life Orb. Don't forget all the crazy Dynamax combinations that could be possible with its movepool, including Max Ghost Special Attack boosts!


With Mandibuzz officially a part of the meta, a question is raised: Can it set itself apart from Corviknight? In my opinion, the answer is a definite yes. While it doesn't have the latter bird's incredible Steel/Flying typing, its raw bulk is actually much higher on all fronts: 110 / 105 / 95 compared to 102 / 98 / 78, leaving it more durable against neutral hits. Its Dark/Flying typing gives it two big edges over Corviknight: It can counter special Ghosts like Gengar and Chandelure that don't have the appropriate coverage to deal with it, and it can be a check to Psychic attackers, notably Mew which cannot really hurt it with the standard option of Fire Blast. It also gets some interesting different moves, notably Knock Off, Foul Play and U-Turn. Overall, maybe it isn't as great as its metal colleague, but it has enough to set it apart.
 
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G-Luke

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What about the accursed Gigantamax Mons

Do we think its any chance Pikachu and Eevee will have stats that align more with their Let's Go Starter counterparts?
 
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The pikachu, eevee, and Meowth will be unable to evolve at all, and in the case of the first 2, they are LGPE save bonuses. Seems fair to say this is their answer to not transfering the starters mons from the main game.

That being said, i have no idea what to do with Meowth.could be as powerful as Tauros for all we know
 

Eve

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Xatu and Mamoswine have been confirmed via IGN and Eurogamer respectively! Both have potential to affect the metagame, especially the latter.


EDIT: Serebii also says that Dhelmise has been confirmed, and I suppose I should also mention that Persian is confirmed due to Meowth's appearance.
 
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That includes Alolan Persian, right?

Geez, between Kantonian Meowth, Alolan Meowth, Long Meowth, and the rumored Galarian Meowth, that line suddenly has a TON of forms.
 

Eve

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That includes Alolan Persian, right?

Geez, between Kantonian Meowth, Alolan Meowth, Long Meowth, and the rumored Galarian Meowth, that line suddenly has a TON of forms.
Alolan Persian has not been confirmed
 

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