Yeah some of these mons can be checked by these E-speed mons but a Pokemon like Chi Yu for example has probably easily killed something beforehand because it has almost no switch ins. Like that post said it didn't even get anything useful and it is still probably the deadliest mon in the tier. Nothing that switches in on specs overheat is taking 2 tera dark pulses especially with almost everything getting hazards. And in my experience E-speed isn't as much as a problem to me than these other mons because usually the Pokemon I use to check Chien- Pao usually get the job done against the likes of Eiscue and Enamorus
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Metagame Alphabet Cup
- Thread starter Eli
- Start date
I want to thank Discordual for helping me cook this. Perish trap exists and it works well in ABC cup.
Annihilape @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rage Fist
- Milk Drink
- Perish Song
- Mean Look
Good bulk and good typing allow annihilape to be a good defensive mon. Covert cloak allows it to take hits from mortal spin, salt cure, dire claw etc. Defiant punishes sap sipper and intimidate users. Tera type ground allows it to prevent volt switch users from switching out. Most people expect annihilape to be offensive so they'll either deal with it quickly or stall it out to avoid adding rage fist damage. Doing the latter allows perish trap to work wonders on wall pokemon that dont have teleport, u turn or chilly reception. Doing the former adds rage fist damage (given its not super effective or crit moves its against). Of coure you don't want to perish trap mons that could kill the ape and perish trap doesn't work on ghost types. It also provides a good switch in for moves like ceaseless edge, stone axe, u turn etc by adding rage fist damage.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Perish Song
- Mean Look
- Milk Drink
- Protect / Magical Torque
Not as good as annihilape but does the job pretty good too. Again, opponents expect an offensive azumarill that typically runs belly drum. However, perish trap with minimal weaknesses to get rid of it works well. The added grass resistance is appreciated and unexpected and tera ground fixes its electric weakness and volt switchers. Magical torque is great for the numerous dark mons that populate this meta.
Annihilape @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rage Fist
- Milk Drink
- Perish Song
- Mean Look
Good bulk and good typing allow annihilape to be a good defensive mon. Covert cloak allows it to take hits from mortal spin, salt cure, dire claw etc. Defiant punishes sap sipper and intimidate users. Tera type ground allows it to prevent volt switch users from switching out. Most people expect annihilape to be offensive so they'll either deal with it quickly or stall it out to avoid adding rage fist damage. Doing the latter allows perish trap to work wonders on wall pokemon that dont have teleport, u turn or chilly reception. Doing the former adds rage fist damage (given its not super effective or crit moves its against). Of coure you don't want to perish trap mons that could kill the ape and perish trap doesn't work on ghost types. It also provides a good switch in for moves like ceaseless edge, stone axe, u turn etc by adding rage fist damage.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Perish Song
- Mean Look
- Milk Drink
- Protect / Magical Torque
Not as good as annihilape but does the job pretty good too. Again, opponents expect an offensive azumarill that typically runs belly drum. However, perish trap with minimal weaknesses to get rid of it works well. The added grass resistance is appreciated and unexpected and tera ground fixes its electric weakness and volt switchers. Magical torque is great for the numerous dark mons that populate this meta.
Also, here's all the eiscue counters since it's one of the biggest threats to this meta and it doesn't look like it will be getting banned soon.
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cosmic Power
- Shore Up
- Stored Power
- Torch Song
The classic set that is most people's number 1 counter to eiscue. Given the opportunity, getting to build cosmic power bulk makes this mon very hard to remove. Counters are: Darkshifu, lucky crits, heart swap (heatran, hawlucha), throat chop (especially from a dark mon), another unaware mon (can be done through transform also). Hawlucha was a good hard counter with taunt/heart swap/throat chop
Typhlosion-Hisui @ Throat Spray
Ability: Frisk
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Torch Song
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Focus Blast
Fire ghost is the best type to deal with eiscue. However, many eiscues run earthquake which you have to be careful of when using this mon. This is more of an offensive set that doesn't fully work as a hard counter but still does enough to kill eiscues if played correctly.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earth Power
- Heart Swap
Fire steel similarly is a great type defensively against eiscue. Earthquake threats can be fixed with tera grass and retaining its fire immunity. Heart swap is great for the countless setup mons in this format. Magma miss also bypasses the covert cloak users.
Gholdengo @ Covert Cloak / Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Glare
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Recover
Again a great defensive typing that fits fantastically for hazard setting teams. Just gotta watch out for that ground weakness
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Punching Glove
Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Not quite a hard counter, but it is really strong. Can withstand any eiscue attack (given that its not a crit) and does massive damage in return. Also is effective for the many screen teams thanks to glaresnarl and regieleki.
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Energy / Dynamax Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / any special attack
- Dark Pulse
Basically the idea is to be immune to extreme speed then outspeed its ice attack.
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Cosmic Power
- Shore Up
- Stored Power
- Torch Song
The classic set that is most people's number 1 counter to eiscue. Given the opportunity, getting to build cosmic power bulk makes this mon very hard to remove. Counters are: Darkshifu, lucky crits, heart swap (heatran, hawlucha), throat chop (especially from a dark mon), another unaware mon (can be done through transform also). Hawlucha was a good hard counter with taunt/heart swap/throat chop
Typhlosion-Hisui @ Throat Spray
Ability: Frisk
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Torch Song
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / Focus Blast
Fire ghost is the best type to deal with eiscue. However, many eiscues run earthquake which you have to be careful of when using this mon. This is more of an offensive set that doesn't fully work as a hard counter but still does enough to kill eiscues if played correctly.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earth Power
- Heart Swap
Fire steel similarly is a great type defensively against eiscue. Earthquake threats can be fixed with tera grass and retaining its fire immunity. Heart swap is great for the countless setup mons in this format. Magma miss also bypasses the covert cloak users.
Gholdengo @ Covert Cloak / Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Glare
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Recover
Again a great defensive typing that fits fantastically for hazard setting teams. Just gotta watch out for that ground weakness
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Punching Glove
Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Not quite a hard counter, but it is really strong. Can withstand any eiscue attack (given that its not a crit) and does massive damage in return. Also is effective for the many screen teams thanks to glaresnarl and regieleki.
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Energy / Dynamax Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt / any special attack
- Dark Pulse
Basically the idea is to be immune to extreme speed then outspeed its ice attack.
You can also use Magma Storm for Azumarill, if you want to go for a version that's able to potentially pick off the pokemon that you're trapping (probably if you're using Torque in the set)
I have had some success with this team, dispite it looking very odd.
Dudunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Dire Claw
- Diamond Storm
- Roost
- Coil
This is where I started, spamming Serene Grace moves to try to hax.
Blissey @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Court Change
- Comeuppance
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
This thing worked really well, even though the EVs are probally not right.
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Mach Punch
- Magical Torque
- Aqua Jet
Not many people actually scout for Mach Punch, and switch in their Kingambit thinking they can live a Play Rough, also not scouting for Magical Torque.
Jolteon @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Electro Drift
- Earth Power
- Energy Ball
Don't tell anyone that Jolteon can't touch Grass.
Cloyster @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Icicle Spear
- Scale Shot
Tera Dragon is pretty cool, removing weaknesses to Electric and Grass while also boosting scale shot. Just don't show Cloyster a Steel type. If you run a Water move of choice, say Crabhammer, maybe use Tera Fire, I got Will-o'ed by a Weavile before Shell Smashing.
Lurantis @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Fleur Cannon
- Leech Seed
- Tera Blast
This is the only mon I gave Tera blast, because baiting Corviknight and OHKOing it is awsome. Also Fleur Cannon... yeah that's it.
Dudunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Dire Claw
- Diamond Storm
- Roost
- Coil
This is where I started, spamming Serene Grace moves to try to hax.
Blissey @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Court Change
- Comeuppance
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
This thing worked really well, even though the EVs are probally not right.
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Mach Punch
- Magical Torque
- Aqua Jet
Not many people actually scout for Mach Punch, and switch in their Kingambit thinking they can live a Play Rough, also not scouting for Magical Torque.
Jolteon @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Electro Drift
- Earth Power
- Energy Ball
Don't tell anyone that Jolteon can't touch Grass.
Cloyster @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Icicle Spear
- Scale Shot
Tera Dragon is pretty cool, removing weaknesses to Electric and Grass while also boosting scale shot. Just don't show Cloyster a Steel type. If you run a Water move of choice, say Crabhammer, maybe use Tera Fire, I got Will-o'ed by a Weavile before Shell Smashing.
Lurantis @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Fleur Cannon
- Leech Seed
- Tera Blast
This is the only mon I gave Tera blast, because baiting Corviknight and OHKOing it is awsome. Also Fleur Cannon... yeah that's it.
1. Wouldn’t flamethrower or fire blast be better for lurantis? 2. How did you find weavile I thought it was banned?
Weavile is banned. Also run king's rock on cloyster since its legal and busted. Try 0 IV speed on your blissey so that it can always land its comeuppance and move first in the case of a trick room. I think enamorus could perhaps do a better job of what your lurantis is trying to do, just as a suggestion.
Jolteon can use Icicle Plate Judgment
https://pokepast.es/cba6a31b3f8e2140 I built a tr team.
Generic tr mon. Really strong sweeper. Sucker punch is for outside of tr/outpacing prio under tr. knock and behemoth blade are fantastic stabs of course. Choice band gives it the ability to fit precipice blades for most stab resistances I.e chi yu, opposing gambit. Edit: literally shaking and crying why would council do this:(
The even more generic tr mon and tr setter! Tr let’s it self sustain when pex and cress die/are not on the field, headlong and facade are fantastic stabs and fire punch lets it hit corv. Awesome mon.
1/2 of the defensive tr setters and a great hazard remover. Might remove milk drink for something else idk.
I was looking for a special tr mon and didn’t wanna use Braviary. Arboliva gains a lot of amazing moves from abc including apple acid, armor cannon, astral barrage, steam eruption and dragon energy which all together give it fantastic coverage and solid damage. (Sidenote: les fucking goooooo seed flare in dlc)
2/2 bulky tr setters. Pivoting on it is awesome. Ceaseless edge allows hazards. Lunar dance pivots very well into other things especially gambit
This slot was originally gonna be crabominable but I thought “hey hands already gets the neat ice move so why not that”. It’s pretty strong and bulky yada yada. (Side note: thunder punch is big stinky poo poo garbage give this thing volt tackle.)
(This team is decently weak to strong prio mons particularly
) (edit: les gooo massive tr w in da howse).
Generic tr mon. Really strong sweeper. Sucker punch is for outside of tr/outpacing prio under tr. knock and behemoth blade are fantastic stabs of course. Choice band gives it the ability to fit precipice blades for most stab resistances I.e chi yu, opposing gambit. Edit: literally shaking and crying why would council do this:(
The even more generic tr mon and tr setter! Tr let’s it self sustain when pex and cress die/are not on the field, headlong and facade are fantastic stabs and fire punch lets it hit corv. Awesome mon.
1/2 of the defensive tr setters and a great hazard remover. Might remove milk drink for something else idk.
I was looking for a special tr mon and didn’t wanna use Braviary. Arboliva gains a lot of amazing moves from abc including apple acid, armor cannon, astral barrage, steam eruption and dragon energy which all together give it fantastic coverage and solid damage. (Sidenote: les fucking goooooo seed flare in dlc)
2/2 bulky tr setters. Pivoting on it is awesome. Ceaseless edge allows hazards. Lunar dance pivots very well into other things especially gambit
This slot was originally gonna be crabominable but I thought “hey hands already gets the neat ice move so why not that”. It’s pretty strong and bulky yada yada. (Side note: thunder punch is big stinky poo poo garbage give this thing volt tackle.)
(This team is decently weak to strong prio mons particularly
) (edit: les gooo massive tr w in da howse).
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after a 9-1 run and a 6-3 run
its safe to say that cosmic power skeledirge is broken (at least for me, dont know for other people)
yeah unaware mons and things like skill swap slaking can beat it
but if those get removed from battle and the opponent lets you set up for one turn, it snowballs out of control
like there were matches where i was losing but my opponent let me setup a little bit with it and i reversed sweeped
i think its better to restrict cosmic power rather than outright ban skeledirge or cosmic power, since out of the 4 mons that learn the move naturally, two are not allowed and the other two are not good at all
(team i used if anyone wants: https://pokepast.es/6c34a806dacc163c)
(also i started laddering one hour ago so thats why i dont have many battles)
its safe to say that cosmic power skeledirge is broken (at least for me, dont know for other people)
yeah unaware mons and things like skill swap slaking can beat it
but if those get removed from battle and the opponent lets you set up for one turn, it snowballs out of control
like there were matches where i was losing but my opponent let me setup a little bit with it and i reversed sweeped
i think its better to restrict cosmic power rather than outright ban skeledirge or cosmic power, since out of the 4 mons that learn the move naturally, two are not allowed and the other two are not good at all
(team i used if anyone wants: https://pokepast.es/6c34a806dacc163c)
(also i started laddering one hour ago so thats why i dont have many battles)
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Alphabet cup is wrapping up, and I still feel like most of the stuff in my last post that is still in the meta is kinda broken, but the only one I encountered regularly enough to comment on right now is Dragonite which is just a stupid threat and now it also corners the market on extreme speed abuse. I also discovered the Tera Electric Double Shock set which completely invalidates Corviknight and Dondozo as checks unless you also have the correct tera type at precisely the right time. Dragonite definitely doesn't need it to be broken, but encountering that set made me just feel stupid for ever trying to check this mon defensively. The only check to Dragonite is to not let it set up, and as long as it exists in this meta and people are using it I kinda feel like this metagame is not even worth playing.
Re: Skeledirge, it's very potent and versatile thanks to Unaware and its huge movepool, being able to pivot, sweep, wall, set hazards, etc. The most "broken" set is the Cosmic Power set, but I find that it struggles with some common defensive mons even if it runs Covert Cloak. Muk-Alola knocks it off and forces poison onto it and easily wears down its PP, Ting-Lu stops it entirely, it hates random Tricks/Switcheroos, Toxics, Leech Seeds. If the meta were to stabilize to a point that you can more easily run defensive mons I suspect it wouldn't even feel broken to some, but right now it's very focused around broken sweepers like Dragonite, screens and the few unaware mons that can attempt to check them.
Re: Skeledirge, it's very potent and versatile thanks to Unaware and its huge movepool, being able to pivot, sweep, wall, set hazards, etc. The most "broken" set is the Cosmic Power set, but I find that it struggles with some common defensive mons even if it runs Covert Cloak. Muk-Alola knocks it off and forces poison onto it and easily wears down its PP, Ting-Lu stops it entirely, it hates random Tricks/Switcheroos, Toxics, Leech Seeds. If the meta were to stabilize to a point that you can more easily run defensive mons I suspect it wouldn't even feel broken to some, but right now it's very focused around broken sweepers like Dragonite, screens and the few unaware mons that can attempt to check them.
I’m not that great of a teambuilder, but with the alphabet cup monthly ladder coming to a close, I figured I’d share the team that I’ve been working on throughout the month that has gotten me to 1500 elo. This is my first time posting a team, and fair warning, the EVs are just random numbers. I did no calcs, I just stuck in numbers and honestly, it’s worked pretty well.
Team Paste: https://pokepast.es/3f71234da1b8e813
Proof of peak:
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake
The central mon of this team is Iron Hands, which I’ve found to be an absolute beast in this meta despite not gaining much for attacks. The original idea behind this team utilized Iron Hands and Rising Voltage Regieleki along with Pincurchin, but I eventually dropped the other two. Anyways, Iron Hands is a great bulky attacker, and so I used that to its full extent. Drain Punch provided longevity, and was a decent STAB move alongside Thunder Punch. Ice Shard was great for Iron Hands, giving priority to an otherwise slow mon. It was a great surprise factor too, helping against mons like Garchomp. Iron Hands is a really good lead for this team, so Ice Shard also helped dealing with sashed mons. For the last move I stuck on Earthquake, which has worked out great. The number of Typhlosion-H that have tried to set up on this is hilarious. Equake also helps when dealing with Clodsire, and to a lesser extent, mons like Gholdengo. I gave Iron Hands an Assault Vest just for the extra bulkiness, and it has in fact helped. However, it could probably be replaced for some other item like Punching Glove. Tera grass was so that Iron Hands could deal with ground type attacks, which became a major help. I did not choose tera flying because I enjoyed keeping the electric resist. Also, Iron Hands is what generally comes in on Slaking, since it’s ability can’t be Skill Swapped.
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 232 Def / 8 SpA / 20 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Torch Song
- Shore Up
- Cosmic Power
Not much to say about this Skeledirge set, it’s an absolute menace. As mentioned, the EVs are a bit wonky, but it’s worked out so far. I did briefly have tera poison for the toxic immunity to make it easier to sweep, but I found that Skeledirge did its job better if I used it more as a tank than a sweeper, so I stayed with tera fairy. Also, Annihilape is annoying, and this is what generally comes in to deal with it. I dont really have good Annihilape counterplay, I just keep Skeledirge in until they switch out.
Muk-Alola @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Mortal Spin
- Glare
- Knock Off
- Milk Drink
Alolan Muk is a great spdef wall, able to come in on a lot of things. Milk Drink keeps it healthy, and the rest of the moves are just great for hindering the opponent. Muk is also a really good Skeledirge check, because it can switch in on it, and with Mortal Spin and Knock Off, it will pummel the opposing Skeledirge down. Being a dark type also helps a lot, as it is immune to Stored Power.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Moonlight
- Moonblast
- Court Change
- Chilly Reception
Cresselia’s role is meant to just be an all around tank. As mentioned before, the EVs are just completely random, and would probably be hella improved through some calcs. Moonlight and Moonblast are pretty self explanatory, and I included Chilly Reception for those safe switches to Iron Hands and Dragapult. I gave it Court Change to help my team with hazard control, especially since Muk’s Mortal Spin is often blocked by the steel types in the meta like Goodra-H, Corviknight, and Kingambit before the ban. I did use Ceaseless Edge in place of this for some time, but I appreciated having Court Change more. I should mention, I did also briefly use Lunar Blessing in place of Moonlight because of the Corrosion users, but Moonlight is definitely much better to have. As for tera steel, it’s just a good defensive typing, and Levitate negates the ground weakness.
Goodra-Hisui @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Shore Up
- Salt Cure
- Stone Axe
- Strength Sap
Goodra-H is an absolute wall, able to come in on just about everything. It has covert cloak so that it can stay in on mons running salt cure, namely opposing Goodra-H and Galarian Slowking. Salt Cure and Stone Axe are great for spreading damage and getting up rocks. Strength Sap is wonderful, providing healing and weakening mons like Baxcalibur and Ursaluna to name a few threats. I didn’t really see a need for another damaging move, so I included Shore Up for the extra healing in case Strength Sap isn’t adequate at times. It’s worked out pretty well. Tera fairy is good for removing some of the weaknesses that Goodra-H has, notably now allowing it to be immune to Dragapult’s Dynamax Cannon or Dragon Energy (which would otherwise 2HKO if specs/tera dragon).
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower
Dragapult is just a nuke with choice specs. Dynamax Cannon and Shadow Ball are really strong STAB moves, and Dazzling Gleam and Flamethrower are good moves for added coverage. Thunderbolt is a good option as well, and honestly it might not be a bad idea to have U-Turn if you find yourself not clicking one of the moves. I did run through many different special attackers while trying to fill this role, and I like Dragapult because having Infiltrator allows it to bypass the substitutes of the annoying Corrosion Salazzles and Glimmoras that I’ve seen. I chose tera dragon for stronger dynamax cannons, but tera ghost could potentially be a better option.
So yeah, that's the team. It’s not the best, especially considering the EVs, but it’s worked out really well. Maybe someone could improve it or nevertheless use this to their benefit. Enjoy!
Some replays that are hopefully good:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1890639994 - Goodra-H being an absolute wall.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1892000416 - A pretty good display of the team’s defensive capabilites
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1888819951 - An old iteration of the team, but it showcases it well
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1891186857-9dkn4z7rygsoemdc1q64g9gv27tqsy0pw - An all around great team showcase
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1886063144 - The original version of the team if you were curious
Team Paste: https://pokepast.es/3f71234da1b8e813
Proof of peak:
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake
The central mon of this team is Iron Hands, which I’ve found to be an absolute beast in this meta despite not gaining much for attacks. The original idea behind this team utilized Iron Hands and Rising Voltage Regieleki along with Pincurchin, but I eventually dropped the other two. Anyways, Iron Hands is a great bulky attacker, and so I used that to its full extent. Drain Punch provided longevity, and was a decent STAB move alongside Thunder Punch. Ice Shard was great for Iron Hands, giving priority to an otherwise slow mon. It was a great surprise factor too, helping against mons like Garchomp. Iron Hands is a really good lead for this team, so Ice Shard also helped dealing with sashed mons. For the last move I stuck on Earthquake, which has worked out great. The number of Typhlosion-H that have tried to set up on this is hilarious. Equake also helps when dealing with Clodsire, and to a lesser extent, mons like Gholdengo. I gave Iron Hands an Assault Vest just for the extra bulkiness, and it has in fact helped. However, it could probably be replaced for some other item like Punching Glove. Tera grass was so that Iron Hands could deal with ground type attacks, which became a major help. I did not choose tera flying because I enjoyed keeping the electric resist. Also, Iron Hands is what generally comes in on Slaking, since it’s ability can’t be Skill Swapped.
Skeledirge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 232 Def / 8 SpA / 20 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Torch Song
- Shore Up
- Cosmic Power
Not much to say about this Skeledirge set, it’s an absolute menace. As mentioned, the EVs are a bit wonky, but it’s worked out so far. I did briefly have tera poison for the toxic immunity to make it easier to sweep, but I found that Skeledirge did its job better if I used it more as a tank than a sweeper, so I stayed with tera fairy. Also, Annihilape is annoying, and this is what generally comes in to deal with it. I dont really have good Annihilape counterplay, I just keep Skeledirge in until they switch out.
Muk-Alola @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Mortal Spin
- Glare
- Knock Off
- Milk Drink
Alolan Muk is a great spdef wall, able to come in on a lot of things. Milk Drink keeps it healthy, and the rest of the moves are just great for hindering the opponent. Muk is also a really good Skeledirge check, because it can switch in on it, and with Mortal Spin and Knock Off, it will pummel the opposing Skeledirge down. Being a dark type also helps a lot, as it is immune to Stored Power.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Moonlight
- Moonblast
- Court Change
- Chilly Reception
Cresselia’s role is meant to just be an all around tank. As mentioned before, the EVs are just completely random, and would probably be hella improved through some calcs. Moonlight and Moonblast are pretty self explanatory, and I included Chilly Reception for those safe switches to Iron Hands and Dragapult. I gave it Court Change to help my team with hazard control, especially since Muk’s Mortal Spin is often blocked by the steel types in the meta like Goodra-H, Corviknight, and Kingambit before the ban. I did use Ceaseless Edge in place of this for some time, but I appreciated having Court Change more. I should mention, I did also briefly use Lunar Blessing in place of Moonlight because of the Corrosion users, but Moonlight is definitely much better to have. As for tera steel, it’s just a good defensive typing, and Levitate negates the ground weakness.
Goodra-Hisui @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Shore Up
- Salt Cure
- Stone Axe
- Strength Sap
Goodra-H is an absolute wall, able to come in on just about everything. It has covert cloak so that it can stay in on mons running salt cure, namely opposing Goodra-H and Galarian Slowking. Salt Cure and Stone Axe are great for spreading damage and getting up rocks. Strength Sap is wonderful, providing healing and weakening mons like Baxcalibur and Ursaluna to name a few threats. I didn’t really see a need for another damaging move, so I included Shore Up for the extra healing in case Strength Sap isn’t adequate at times. It’s worked out pretty well. Tera fairy is good for removing some of the weaknesses that Goodra-H has, notably now allowing it to be immune to Dragapult’s Dynamax Cannon or Dragon Energy (which would otherwise 2HKO if specs/tera dragon).
Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dynamax Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower
Dragapult is just a nuke with choice specs. Dynamax Cannon and Shadow Ball are really strong STAB moves, and Dazzling Gleam and Flamethrower are good moves for added coverage. Thunderbolt is a good option as well, and honestly it might not be a bad idea to have U-Turn if you find yourself not clicking one of the moves. I did run through many different special attackers while trying to fill this role, and I like Dragapult because having Infiltrator allows it to bypass the substitutes of the annoying Corrosion Salazzles and Glimmoras that I’ve seen. I chose tera dragon for stronger dynamax cannons, but tera ghost could potentially be a better option.
So yeah, that's the team. It’s not the best, especially considering the EVs, but it’s worked out really well. Maybe someone could improve it or nevertheless use this to their benefit. Enjoy!
Some replays that are hopefully good:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1890639994 - Goodra-H being an absolute wall.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1892000416 - A pretty good display of the team’s defensive capabilites
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1888819951 - An old iteration of the team, but it showcases it well
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1891186857-9dkn4z7rygsoemdc1q64g9gv27tqsy0pw - An all around great team showcase
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9alphabetcup-1886063144 - The original version of the team if you were curious
ABC Stall (pokepast.es)
This team countered most of the common ladder threats pretty hard. Some games would get touchy when players brought unusual threats with broad coverage (the team is weak to ground), but tera could generally adapt one of your walls to the situation.
It has the potential to hazard stack thanks to Gholdengo, but most games were won with toxic from Glimmora. I only recently made Ting-Lu Water tera with toxic to help with Volcanion. Previously I ran heavy slam to get chip on fairies or pop balloons.
I think the team got even better with the Kingambit ban, that was one of the scarier Pokémon to face.
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Hey y’all this meta still exist there’s some dumb stuff that needs to be banned here’s a team with some of em
https://pokepast.es/9e5202b773d3636f
Steam eruption is dumb, sandsear kinda dumb, springtide upgrade overall over gleam, sludge bomb prob a niche option.
This thing is just silly, it’s like Stabmons but with worse ice stab and extremely good coverage + mortal and sd (yes mortal is viable)
We love abc skeledirge prime hazard stacker and unaware.
We love abc clodsire prime hazard stacker and unaware.
Ground immunity so why not, second spikes stacker, also spinner.
BAN THIS SHIT
https://pokepast.es/9e5202b773d3636f
Steam eruption is dumb, sandsear kinda dumb, springtide upgrade overall over gleam, sludge bomb prob a niche option.
This thing is just silly, it’s like Stabmons but with worse ice stab and extremely good coverage + mortal and sd (yes mortal is viable)
We love abc skeledirge prime hazard stacker and unaware.
We love abc clodsire prime hazard stacker and unaware.
Ground immunity so why not, second spikes stacker, also spinner.
BAN THIS SHIT
The council should ban all the new Uber Pokemon from the DLC.
