Metagame Alphabet Cup

[Eli]

Hi I'm sleep deprived but I did a thing! Noticed there wasn't a banner so I drew something like I did with Cross Evolution. (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/cross-evolution.3710953/)

Maybe alphabet cup can get rolling again with an OMotM or a LCotM, but it seems super fun this gen and I'd love to try it out sometime!
View attachment 516223
anyway I'm going to sleep now. ciao

I totally forgot to reply to this, but I like that art a lot, it's very good, since you made that I assume you would also be fine with it being banner art, but best to make sure

I do hope one day we can get omotm/lcotm since this hasn't been too active so far, I should also get playing more to help things along. It is fun.....

 

[Hiusi guy]

After getting blue balled by the Pokémon company I will now express my pain by posting sets for after home comes out next year

Snek Lady (Enamorus) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Earthquake
- Play Rough
- Extreme Speed
Fairy + Ground is already rly good but then you add Fighting boosting + Strong Normal priority and you get a really stupid and hard to beat sweeper

Cocaine Bear (Ursaluna) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Facade
- Headlong Rush
- Triple Axel / Triple Arrows / Close Combat
I was going to give it Tidy up but then I saw Tr + Triple axel. Bulky tr setter and abuser on top of having Ground stab+ Ice/Fighting coverage, probably rly good ngl

Ban Speedrun (Magearna) @ Life Orb
Ability: Soul-Heart
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- Magical Torque
- Iron Head
- Milk Drink
This more of a funy set than usefull tho it can most likely catch people of guard for the five seconds it's allowed

Ban Speedrun (Magearna-Original) @ Life Orb
Ability: Soul-Heart
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Shift Gear
- Moonblast
- Magma Storm / Mystical Fire
This is why it'll only be allowed for five seconds, and in general having healing on a fast tanky sweeper is kinda crazy

AV without AV (Goodra-Hisui) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball / Gigaton Hammer
- Slack Off
- Salt Cure
- Scald
Burn + Salt Cure + Gyro/Gigaton damage and healing, unlike some S mons Goodra has not only a good defensive typing, flexable defensive stats, but also a pretty good Atk and Spa stat to not be too passive

LMAO (Zamazenta-Crowned) @ Rusted Shield
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Zap Cannon
Point and laugh, for the mighty have fallen. If it's allowed, which it most likely will be, it'll be running its normal IronPress set with maybe adding Zen Headbutt or even Zing Zap

 

[IMakeNoSense]

I totally forgot to reply to this, but I like that art a lot, it's very good, since you made that I assume you would also be fine with it being banner art, but best to make sure

I do hope one day we can get omotm/lcotm since this hasn't been too active so far, I should also get playing more to help things along. It is fun.....

Yeah, totally, I'm cool with it! I just made it for fun.

 

[Notagamer]

Here’s another gimmick from your local gimmick maker. https://pokepast.es/87669976f380941b skeledirge has unaware to abuse the iconic spicy extract + foul play combo and tera flying avoids haxorus headlong rush (which to my knowledge is one of the only mold breakers in the tier). Other tera type options include steel/poison for toxic and dark for stab foul play.

 

[lotadloser]

Grafaiai @ Metal Coat
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Gigaton Hammer
- Copycat
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword

While maybe not the best Gigaton Hammer Mon in this meta, being able to spam it with a priority copycat looks fun to me.

 

[lotadloser]

Scream Tail @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Slack Off
- Strength Sap
- Spikes

Just a very bulky mon to deal with some of the crazy offensive sets flying around.

 

[lotadloser]

Pincurchin @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Parting Shot
- Recover
- Spikes

Iron Moth @ Air Balloon
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Agility

Iron Hands @ Punching Glove
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Hammer
- Swords Dance

Pincurchin finally has a move to help it set terrain much easier in parting shot. Unfortunately, all of the quark drive mons all have "Iron" in front of their names, meaning they get very few useful moves. I thought Iron Moth and Iron Hands benefitted the most from their slightly increased movepools.

 

[Notagamer]

Pincurchin @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Parting Shot
- Recover
- Spikes

Iron Moth @ Air Balloon
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Agility

Iron Hands @ Punching Glove
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Hammer
- Swords Dance

Pincurchin finally has a move to help it set terrain much easier in parting shot. Unfortunately, all of the quark drive mons all have "Iron" in front of their names, meaning they get very few useful moves. I thought Iron Moth and Iron Hands benefitted the most from their slightly increased movepools.

Plasma fist isn’t in the game.

 

[lotadloser]

Plasma fist isn’t in the game.

Yeah I had a feeling but it was really just a filler move at the moment cause you can't actually build with Alphabet Cup yet.

 

[alsoni]

revavroom has been my favorite paldean pokemon since the games came out, and i'm so hyped to see it be a menace in this meta
Revavroom @ Air Balloon
Ability: Filter
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Rage Fist
- Victory Dance
- Recover
air balloon with tera flying is my fav thing to do with setup vroom (they go for a random attack to break balloon, then tera flying on the ground move for extra setup (or threaten ko))
rage fist is 100% getting banned quickly, just bc the amount of r pokemon is wild. but it'll be fun to use while it's around! vroom is eved to be pretty specially bulky, and victory dance raises physical def. filter just makes super effective attacks even weaker. vic dance, recover, rinse and repeat until you can just sweep with max rage fist
side note on flying tera, predicts with it are super fun but it does leave you super vulnerable to toxic

i'm gonna edit this as i find more funny sets. i present sable "sweeper" eye
Sableye @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spirit Shackle
- Strength Sap
- Shift Gear
- Recover
the s pokemon are truly blessed. sableye can get shift gear and spirit shackle for funny offensive sableye, and prankster strength sap just shuts down physical mons.
Sableye @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Strength Sap
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
this is a much more realistic set LMAO
just getting strength sap with priority just makes sableye even better at shutting down physical sweepers. wow halves attack, strength sap lowers it even more and recovers hp, recover is for if they stay in at -47 atk and you can barely heal anything off of them.

 

[Chromate]

Now that home is here, here’s funny sets

Regieleki @ Choice Specs
Ability: Transistor
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Revelation Dance
- Volt Switch
- Literally Whatever
Eleki with better Tera blast that can also double as its main stab move prior to Tera


Arcanine-Hisui @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Rock Head
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Head Smash
- Grav Apple
- Morning Sun
Funny breaker with the combo of grav apple and it’s STABs


Volcanion @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Victory Dance
- Earthquake
- Volt Tackle
V-create go brrrr from last gen, now with victory dance


Walking Wake @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Water Spout
- Hydro Steam
- Draco Meteor
- Water Shuriken
Potential stronk rain sweeper that also works under sun


Muk-Alola @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Touch
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Mortal Spin
- Milk Drink
- Glare
Bulky mon that can spread status and remove hazards, as well as knock

That’s all for new stuff I could think of atm that people haven’t already discussed, prob missed some broken stuff

 

[alsoni]

Carbink @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Body Press
- Ceaseless Edge
- Protect
- Cotton Guard
i've only ever known carbink as a screen setter, but get ready for this monster. cotton guard + body press is insane, since you only need 2 turns to get to max def. ghosts are def gonna be popular (see: dragapult in every meta Ever) so i just slapped ceaseless edge for chip on them and hazards. protect is just there for leftovers recovery
c mons are pretty wild tbh, stuff like clangorous soul/combat torque sounds like it could be nice. gonna play around with them later

 

[Eli]

IT'S THAT TIME FOR THE ALPHABET CUP!!
HOME bans. also updated watchlist

Arceus, Calyrex-Ice, Calyrex-Shadow, Dialga, Dialga-Origin, Eternatus, Giratina, Giratina-Origin, Groudon, Kyogre, Magearna, Magearna-Original, Mewtwo, Palkia, Palkia-Origin, Rayquaza, Zacian, Zacian-Crowned, Zamazenta, and Zamazenta-Crowned are now banned Pokemon!!!!!!!

Last Respects is now banned entirely rather than restricted, since now we have the Basculegions, which would certainly cause issues.

We will also be restricting Rage Fist, a rather powerful move that Pokemon like Decidueye and Corviknight were able to make great use of, with several other potential options existing before, and now after HOME. Annihilape will be watched as before since it will be able to use it.

Volcanion will go on the watch list because this time around, in addition to V-create and Volt Tackle, it also gets Victory Dance, so high BP moves and a very good set up move make it worth keeping an eye on.

I FORGOR TO MENTION HOUNDSTONE IS ALSO UNBANNED SINCE LAST RESPECTS IS BANNED!

and spectrier is also banned.

that should be it Kris PLEASE!!! help us THANK YOU.

 

[Hiusi guy]

Woah Eli is alive on their metagame and they have blessed us with bans, yet one confuses me tho it's probably fine.

Spectrier @ Focus Sash
Ability: Grim Neigh
Tera Type: Ghost / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Shadow Ball
- Spikes / Sticky Webs
- Taunt / Dark Pulse / Springtide Storm
Spectrier is allowed!?!? And tbh I kinda agree with it but also am confused why it's allowed, this set is kinda weird but still useful seeing how it spin blocks and with taunt also blocks tidy up/defog. Probably the one of the best HO leads out there

Spectrier @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Grim Neigh
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute / Will-O-Wisp
- Nasty Plot / Slack Off / Shore Up
- Shadow Ball
- Springtide Storm
Reasons why I'm confused this is allowed. Sure it doesn't have secret sword anymore so in order to break past Blissey/Kingambit it has to deal with it before starting a sweep but it's still really deadly as a near unstoppable end game clean up mon or HO setup sweeper

Urshifu (Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes / Wicked Blow
- Knock Off / Poison Jab
- U-turn
- Close Combat

This also exists ig. Ngl it's kinda really mid seeing how all they get is a move they already have, one of the worst moves ever, and kowtow.

 

[Eli]

Woah Eli is alive on their metagame and they have blessed us with bans, yet one confuses me tho it's probably fine.

Spectrier @ Focus Sash
Ability: Grim Neigh
Tera Type: Ghost / Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Shadow Ball
- Spikes / Sticky Webs
- Taunt / Dark Pulse / Springtide Storm
Spectrier is allowed!?!? And tbh I kinda agree with it but also am confused why it's allowed, this set is kinda weird but still useful seeing how it spin blocks and with taunt also blocks tidy up/defog. Probably the one of the best HO leads out there

Spectrier @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Grim Neigh
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute / Will-O-Wisp
- Nasty Plot / Slack Off / Shore Up
- Shadow Ball
- Springtide Storm
Reasons why I'm confused this is allowed. Sure it doesn't have secret sword anymore so in order to break past Blissey/Kingambit it has to deal with it before starting a sweep but it's still really deadly as a near unstoppable end game clean up mon or HO setup sweeper

Urshifu (Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Surging Strikes / Wicked Blow
- Knock Off / Poison Jab
- U-turn
- Close Combat

This also exists ig. Ngl it's kinda really mid seeing how all they get is a move they already have, one of the worst moves ever, and kowtow.

well that was actually on the list to be banned but somehow i forgot to type it out when cleaning it up, so it is meant to be banned too sorry again Kris ............

 

[Schpoonman]

https://pokepast.es/bc8cea4ff0f53562

Let's get this dumpster fire (I say that with love, I adore this metagame) started.

EDIT alsoni : I've tried just about every other move under the sun (don't do it), trust me when I say gibbing Water/Ground-types is the most valuable move there.

 

[alsoni]

https://pokepast.es/bc8cea4ff0f53562

Let's get this dumpster fire (I say that with love, I adore this metagame) started.

oh my god v-create volcanion in trick room is wild
please replace vine whip tho the coverage isn't worth running a 45bp move, just throw eq on there or smth

 

[AIPS]

Here's a pretty fun sweeper, uses all its 3 stages to get a useful move from each one.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Atk / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Psyshield Bash
- Power Trip
- Lunar Blessing
- Tidy Up / Dragon Dance

Tidy Up is just a better Dragon Dance, unless you have hazard stack or Shed Tail.

Lunar Blessing is just like Jungle Healing, so being able to set up in front of Toxic mons is nice.

Psyshield Bash is a great move, boosting your defense while being able to hit fairies better if you haven't boosted enough, and does good damage with the tera.

Power Trip works very nicely with Psyshield Bash.


Chose Tera Psychic because of Psyshield Bash, and to resist fighting moves, while being mutual to any other weakness it previously had (besides Bug, but nobody uses Bug moves)

 

[Kitsune2468]

Hisuian Goodra is already a defensive powerhouse with it’s typing and stats. It now also gains access to Glare, all the hazards (minus tspikes,) salt cure, strength sap, shore up & softboiled, stockpile for mixed defense option besides curse, etc.
Add on to that Gigaton hammer (oof), a metric ton of coverage options, and it’s good mixed offensive stats, and you’ve got a real beast! Only downside is it’s speed, but with its bulk it’s not too bad of a downside.

H-Goodra Set

Goodra-Hisui @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 2 Atk / 88 Def / 134 SpD
Careful Nature
- Gigaton Hammer
- Dragon Tail
- Curse
- Shore Up

(This is one of the sets that I’ve been using, and it’s a beast! Leftovers can be replaced with rocky helmet, shore up with strength sap, and special rend is a good mixed option instead of dragon tail if you don’t want the phase.)

 

[SnowyVGC]

regidrago gets raging fury as fire coverage btw no more fire fang not that it does anything lmao

 

[Sandy Master]

Regieleki @ Life Orb
Ability: Transistor
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Revelation Dance
- Recover
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch




kinda speaks for itself.

 

[cat]

hi hi, ive gone 10-0 with this team and have the 3rd best GXE, id just like to say some words

Toxtricity is pretty crazy, I used Tera Normal at first but changed to Tera Fire due to it being better by far. I never clicked Overdrive nor Sludge Bomb once.

Tera is also pretty broke, might want to look into that

proof

 

[fjdkfj]

https://pokepast.es/fc4e07333efe1d9d
ursaluna has trick room

 

[KaenSoul]

Format been super fun so far, if anything needs to be hit right now it would be Kingambit, Behemoth Blade and Knock Off makes it much more powerful and Bitter Blade made it too difficult to take down with the usual answers, if it Tera at the right time it can just ohko most fighters that try to take it down. Bullet Punch is also great if you don't want to deal with Sucker Punch predictions. I have been using the following set:

Kingambit @ Air Balloon
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Behemoth Blade
- Bitter Blade
Sword Dance is also an option, but can't fit everything on 4 move slots, and it usually has more than enough power lategame anyway.

But outside that I think there is a lot to explore in the format to be taking action on too much stuff just yet, been having fun with an almost standard Unburden Sneasler-H abusing Dire rng paired with unnerfed Rillaboom that is quite the wallbreaker with Triple Arrows flinching and reducing def almost every hit. Another mon that I have been liking a lot is Scream Tail:


Scream Tail @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
There are a lot of secondary effects running around, so covert cloak is quite good and maybe even necessary somewhere in every team. Streaght Sap is broken recovery and open up a move slot from the regular wish + protect from other tiers so you get to use fairy moves to kill darks. Tera Poison stops Toxic and let you set up on Sneasler and other stuff that usually kills you.
It also makes fun of Skill Swap Slaking, please stop using that, is a noobtrap.

 

[fratelli bc]

Enjoying the meta. So far it's looking fun and somewhat balanced.

Some interesting pokemon beeing overlooked:


Magical Torque and Axe Kick are great upgrades from Play Rough and Superpower. Put a choice band on it and it will hit like a truck. The TR teams are sleeping on this.


STAB Gigaton Hammer and that bulk with access to the S movepool while beeing immune to crits is great for this. Saw a Strength Sap, EQ, Gigaton, SD one and this thing gave me nightmares (my moves missing it also helped a bit).


Speaking of the hammer, the OG one has access to Tidy Up and Triple Arrows, helping it's mid speed and meh attack to make use of those other stats and great typing.