Other Metagames XS [Godly Gift, 24-1 on ladder]

in the hills

spreading confusion
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:ss/shuckle::ss/blacephalon::ss/clefable::ss/kartana::ss/slowbro::ss/landorus-therian:
XS - A Godly Gift Team
Hey guys! Been a long time since I've done an RMT and as gen 8 closes out I really wanted to post a team so here we are! I'm a huge fan of Shuckle in Godly Gift, and used the suspect ladder as an opportunity to build with it and try it out on the ladder and ended up having a lot of fun and had a great record and 24 game win-streak with it and peaked at #35 on the ladder. Shuckle is a unique god in Godly Gift as essentially the only viable non-Uber god in the tier. Teams without an Uber in Godly Gift will pass the stats of whichever Pokemon is in the HP slot, and in this case you get to pass 230 Defense and Special Defense from Shuckle to two other Pokemon. This isn't fool proof however as its other 3 stats are abysmal, so you have to build very carefully around that. I chose the song XS from my favorite artist because the double meaning of XS (extra-small/excess) is similar to the dichotomy of the massive and miniscule stats Shuckle passes. Without further ado, let's take a look at the teambuilding process.

Teambuilding Process
note: team order is relevant in this metagame if you are confused about the formatting of this section

So obviously I wanted to start with Shuckle as my god here, so it was forced into my HP slot. As a Pokemon itself, it's pretty one dimensional, with hazards being your only option unless you want to run a niche passive damage set which in this case I did not. So with a basic hazards setting set, I knew the next thing I wanted to decide were my two defense inheritors.

The Defense inheritor was obvious to me. Magic Guard Clefable is an insane beast as is, and with 230 Defense it becomes the best blanket check to physical attackers the tier has to offer. Not only that, but with Calm Mind it can become a powerful wincon and finds many opportunities to set up. Passive teams have very little options to counter this as well as it's immune to Toxic and hazards and not much in the tier runs Haze. Next up, I wanted to choose a special wall that covered threats to Clefable.

After looking at the Pokemon that threaten Clefable, I knew I wanted to use a Regenerator Pokemon, and eventually landed on RegenVest Slowbro. An odd choice at first, RegenVest Slowbro is the perfect check to Nidoking and Nidoqueen and doesn't even need SpD EVs to do so. This allows it to double as a secondary physical wall for Steel-types and Victini, as well as utilize Body Press to its fullest potential. Future Sight support from it will also be great at providing support for the remaining Pokemon on the team.

Moving onto Shuckle's bad stats, the strategy is placing Pokemon that don't care about their stat being lowered. In this case I actually went with Blacephalon which loves having its Attack stat lower so that it takes less damage from Foul Play (0- Atk Dark Aura Yveltal Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Blacephalon: 44-54 (17.8 - 21.8%) -- possible 5HKO). Blacephalon also great as it can break past a ton of metagame threats or more importantly Trick pesky opponents to enable other Pokemon to sweep. It's a great choice to dissuade Steel-types, which can be annoying for Clefable.

For the Special Attack slot, I decided that Sticky Web alone wasn't adequate speed control, so I went with Scarf Kartana. Scarf Kartana outspeeds most of the metagame and is strong enough to still be a strong breaker. The great thing about both of my attackers on this team is the potential both of them have to snowball.
Therian Forme

To close out the team, I knew I needed a Pokemon that didn't mind being slow. While most people look at Shuckle's Speed stat and automatically assume they have to use something that's already naturally slow, I tried to keep an open mind for what I wanted. I knew the main thing I wanted to do with this last Pokemon is patch up the weakness this team had to Electric-types, particularly Tapu Koko. With that I knew I wanted a Ground-type, but I also wanted to have a way to remove hazards in a pinch, as Slowbro is a little bit susceptible to them. With that, the choice of Lando-T was obvious. Lando-T is very common in Godly Gift, but a 5 Speed Lando-T is definitely not something people think to use. Lando-T is a solid check to Tapu Koko and is still able to achieve its roles fine without Speed. It actually has a fantastic matchup against Trick Room teams thanks to its lack of Speed.

With that, we had our team of 6! Only made minor tweaks after this point that aren't worth mentioning. Let's take a closer look at each mon.
The Team
:ss/shuckle:
Therian Forme

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Sticky Web
- Infestation
As mentioned earlier, I went with a standard hazards set with Shuckle. Stealth Rock is the main move you'll be clicking for this team, as the chip damage helps all of your Pokemon. Ultimately for this team Webs is not the priority, as you'll mostly be sweeping with Clefable. However, there can be moments where they're needed to allow Blacephalon or Kartana to sweep, so be sure to pay attention to the situation. Encore and Infestation are both tools that help you keep hazards up or safely get a Pokemon in, and Encore in particular is great at ensuring setup sweepers don't take advantage of Shuckle. Mental Herb allows you to get a hazard up against Taunt users.
:ss/blacephalon:
Therian Forme

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Overheat
- Trick
Choice Specs Blacephalon is the main breaker of this team, and plays very simply. Click whatever STAB you think is best for the situation and hope you made the right choice, if not it's okay you probably did a huge chunk of damage anyways. Overheat can be clicked over Fire Blast in cases where the higher BP and accuracy will be relevant, but otherwise Fire Blast is more consistent damage if you'll be in for a few turns. Trick is key for this team in certain matchups, so be sure to use it wisely and keep Blacephalon alive in those matchups long enough to use it.
:ss/clefable:
Therian Forme

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
The main sweeper of this team is Calm Mind Clefable, which uses its Fairy typing to check a plethora of threats that would otherwise run through this team like Weavile, Persian-Alola, and Rayquaza. Like I mentioned before it finds a really easy time setting up against almost any physical attacker, even beasts like LO Rayquaza. Stored Power is the key to this set as it allows you to threaten Unaware Clefable and Corviknight while having a way to threaten the Nidos and opposing Calm Mind users. Clefable can struggle against powerful special attackers like Tapu Koko, so be sure to only stay in against them if you've already set up one or two Calm Minds.
:ss/kartana:
Therian Forme

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
Kartana is great at stopping opposing sweepers if you can get it in safely, since it's strong enough to KO a lot of mons with minimal chip. Knock Off and Sacred Sword provide good coverage and lets you hit Pokemon like Necrozma-DM and opposing Blacephalon and Kartana. Being Choice-locked an be unfortunate in some cases, but the speed tier is invaluable so do your best to not get your Scarf removed. Additionally, be sure to keep this healthy in matchups against offense as the odds are you will need it at some point.
:ss/slowbro:
Therian Forme

Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Body Press
- Future Sight
- Grass Knot
Slowbro is an amazing blanket check to the special attackers of the tier and wraps a Kyogre and Nidoking check into one. Scald makes Slowbro a decent check to Necrozma-DM, as you will very likely get a burn if it tries to set up against it. Body Press is great for Kyurem-White, Dialga, and Dark-types like Weavile and Bisharp trying to switch in, or even for taking a hit from them if you absolutely have to. Future Sight helps keep pressure on teams and makes it easier for this team to break past some bulkier threats. You can find a lot of opportunities to click it against special attackers as they often won't do enough damage in 2 turns to out-damage the HP recovered from Regenerator. Grass Knot is largely filler and could be replaced with other options like Flamethrower or Ice Beam, but I went with it here to damage Gastrodon and opposing Slowbro.
:ss/landorus-therian:
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Defog
For this team, keeping hazards up isn't really realistic compared to Webs HO teams, while keeping hazards off the field has clear benefits for the team. With that, I decided to go with Defog Landorus-T as it is pretty reliable at keeping hazards off the field. I went with Earth Power over Earthquake to hit Kartana, which otherwise can be a little difficult for this team to damage. Max Special Defense is so that it can check Tapu Koko and Regieleki more reliably. With such low speed (only 13 with minimum IVs), you're always going to be the slowest Pokemon on the field, so keep that in mind when clicking Toxic and use that to your advantage when slow pivoting with U-turn.​
Threats
Offensive Yveltal is the biggest threat to this team, especially ones with Taunt. Clefable can act as a soft check to it or win if it's already begun to set up and Landorus-T can attempt to Toxic it, but a well played Yveltal is very tough to beat. Defensive Yveltal doesn't pose a threat to this team as Clefable is a hard counter to it.
Galarian Form
Similarly to Yveltal, Moltres-Galar can be very difficult to beat for this team. Depending what it tries to set up on, you can try to Trick it, Encore it, or Toxic it. In other cases, there's very little you can do if it Double Dance sets get an opportunity on the right turn. Chesto sets are easier to check as you can offensively check it decently.
Bisharp is annoying for this team as it can break both Clefable and Slowbro and Landorus-T only makes it stronger, but it isn't foolproof as it can't always find opportunities to get in and everything but Shuckle can kill it or severely chip it while it tries to set up.
CM Taunt Tapu Fini is a minor threat for the team as it can stop Clefable from setting up and the rest of the team can struggle with it somewhat, though it does very little to Slowbro and is offensively checked by Kartana. Tricking it with Blacephalon is another option, but is very risky early on since you're essentially sacking your Blacephalon to hinder it. Other Tapu Fini sets are more common and much easier to check, though any set with Taunt can be a slight annoyance to play around.
Other minor threats: Trick, Taunt, Ferrothorn. A well placed Trick and Taunt can disable Clefable's sweep, which does make it more difficult in the long run but not impossible. Even a choice-locked Clefable can wall physical threats if played well, but sweeping with it is very unlikely. Ferrothorn is also a minor threat, especially if Clefable gets Tricked, because it can set hazards reliably against the team and annoys most Pokemon on the team. If you try out it becomes too much, try Flamethrower on Slowbro.

Conclusion
Thank you all for reading! I had a ton of fun building and using this team on the suspect ladder, and was honestly a little surprised by how well it performed since Godly Gift is far from the main OM I play. Hopefully other people can have as much fun as I did when using it and if not, I hope you at least had fun reading about it.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1620134021 vs Kyogre god, shows that Trick/Switcheroo can be difficult to play around but barely pulled it out
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1620193205-g4b7qt2shyvr3qv68w3ntw3txu51fvtpw vs Rayquaza god HO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1617274591 vs Kyurem-White god
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8godlygift-1617338655 vs Kyurem-Black god
1658446906348.png

1658446939324.png
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Sticky Web
- Infestation

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Overheat
- Trick

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword

Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Body Press
- Future Sight
- Grass Knot

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Defog
Tbh I'm not the kind of person to tag a million people with my shoutouts, just know I appreciate everyone I interact with and am thankful or you all! especially to the K and what is pogging squads or especially especially if I send you tiktoks and tweets, you all make this site great for me
also Aeonic smells
 
Last edited:

UT

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Appeals + C&C Lead
Hey! This is a great team already, and I even used it to get reqs as well. All of the changes I am going to suggest here are fairly minor, the team works really well as-is.

Because of the nature of Godly Gift teams, and especially Shuckle teams, it is really hard to replace teammates without fundamentally altering the team. I'll go through first with small suggestions for the existing team, and then then some more dramatic changes that more fundamentally change it.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Defog
I would switch back to Earthquake over Earth Power. The vast majority of Kartana you run into have at least 90 SpD, at which point Earthquake is stronger than Earth Power, and it is much stronger against other targets.
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kartana: 118-139 (45.5 - 53.6%) -- 41% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Landorus-Therian Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kartana (90 SpD): 109-130 (42 - 50.1%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO
Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Body Press
- Future Sight
- Grass Knot
I don't think I clicked Grass Knot once; Kyogre, the would-be main target of this, don't tend to sit in front of Slowbro, and other bulky Waters like Tapu Fini and Gastrodon aren't hit nearly hard enough to matter. You mentioned Flamethrower as an alternative to make Ferrothorn's life harder, which I think is a good upgrade, but I would also like to suggest Seismic Toss. Prevents (most) Sub users from setting up, and Calm Mind Fini can't out-recover Seismic Toss.
0 SpA Slowbro Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 144-172 (33.8 - 40.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Slowbro Grass Knot (40 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 46-56 (13.4 - 16.3%) -- possible 7HKO
(both of these are vanilla bulky waters too, no received stat)
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Sticky Web
- Infestation
I am not sure about you, but I very rarely found myself in a position where Mental Herb was useful. Generally, even if I was able to get Webs up early through Taunt, they had a way to remove them and I struggled to ever set them again. I would consider switching the item to Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots to give Shuckle a better chance at getting Webs up late game when Blace might be able to sweep; as you said, this team does not have enough offensive pressure to ensure they stay up. I would also consider Toxic over Infestation, but that is very much a side-grade.

With all that being said, here is my suggested paste for tweaking the existing team!

Now, with all that being said, this largely did not improve the matchups on your threat list, except for Calm Mind Tapu Fini and maybe having another Toxic to throw at the Dark Birds. Here are some more impactful suggestions, that more dramatically alter the team, and probably not strictly in positive ways, but are worth thinking about.
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Scarf / Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- Aqua Jet
- U-turn

Urshifu-R is another option for the SpA slot; it boasts more immediate power than Kart thanks to much higher BP moves that can also ignore screens, has access to priority which the team currently lacks, and provides another pivoting move you will probably rarely click but could be fun. This dramatically improves the Ferrothorn matchup, is harder for Moltres and Yveltal to switch into (both are cleanly 2HKOed by Scarf, and Moltres is KOed by Surging Strikes + Aqua Jet if it sets up). If you do go Urshifu, I would also think about making it Banded and making Blace the Choice Scarf, since it then has higher snowballing potential and Urshifu has priority.
Tapu Koko @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

I know this sounds like a meme, but hear me out. This is a Defogger pivot that switches into Yveltal, Tapu Koko, Galarian Moltres (up to a point), and has recovery. There's not a lot that does that, so here we are. It also badly wants toxic somewhere, but I have no clue what to drop to get that. Best bet is probably U-turn, but I am not sure I would do that myself. This switches very consistently into Koko and Yveltal, and has dicey switch ins to Moltres; notably, if paired with Choice Band Urshifu, Thunderbolt + Aqua Jet is a likely KO.
252 SpA Tapu Koko (154 SpA) Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Koko: 129-153 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Koko: 97-116 (28.1 - 33.7%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Yveltal in Electric Terrain: 246-290 (62.5 - 73.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Moltres-Galar (137 SpA) Fiery Wrath vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Koko: 145-171 (42.1 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252+ SpA Moltres-Galar (137 SpA) Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Koko: 177-209 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Moltres-Galar Fiery Wrath vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Koko: 158-186 (45.9 - 54%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Moltres-Galar in Electric Terrain: 200-236 (62.3 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 236 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

This allows Clefable to more consistently check Yveltal and Moltres-Galar, as well as other opposing set up, but at the cost of bulk and a weakness to status. I am not sure the trade off is worth it, but is worth mentioning if you happen to be laddering on a day the ladder is teaming with Dark Birds. If going this route, obviously keep the Landorus and Physdef Slowbro, since we are compromising raw physical bulk here.

252 Atk Kartana Smart Strike vs. 248 HP / 24+ Def Clefable: 128-152 (32.5 - 38.6%) -- 3.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Yveltal Oblivion Wing vs. 248 HP / 236 SpD Clefable: 148-175 (37.6 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Moltres-Galar (137 SpA) Hurricane vs. 248 HP / 236 SpD Clefable: 177-208 (45 - 52.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Slowbro @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Body Press / Teleport / Future Sight

I often found myself in a position where, with hazards up, Kyogre and the Nidos were making progress against Slowbro by barely out damaging Regenerator. While this set does forgo a lot of bulk, freeing access to Slack Off I think is worth considering. Even with Kyurem-W SpA, Nidoking Thunderbolt is an extremely low roll to 2HKO, and 0% with Leftovers if you are confident in your hazard removal. This set exchanges raw bulk for reliable recovery and access to Toxic is help win against Dark birds and opposing walls; the loss of physical bulk is also annoying, but it can still throw itself in front of Necrozma-DM and have several chances at landing a Scald burn. I won't call it an upgrade, but it's a consideration.
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking (170 SpA) Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Slowbro: 174-205 (44.1 - 52%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Slowbro: 170-200 (43.1 - 50.7%) -- 3.9% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Slowbro in Rain: 129-153 (32.7 - 38.8%) -- 99.4% chance to 3HKO
I hope you found this rate useful! Very cool and very good team, and I hope some of my suggestions help!
 

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