Generation 9 Free-For-All

[Darvin]

Much trickier to get going in this format compared to others considering you can have 3 people attacking you once they realise whats up but I'm a sucker for stored power pokemon gimmicks

Espathra is definitely a huge threat in Free-For-All, but it has its flaws and has much more trouble in this format than it does in OU. One of its big problems is Dazzling Gleam, which has its power halved in this format due to being a spread move. It's effectively a 40 BP move, so most bulky Dark-types can actually live a hit even when Espathra is at +6. That's a big problem, and means that without Terastallization Dark-types are pretty much a hard stop to Espathra in this format. And you're absolutely correct that it's a huge opportunity cost to use your tera too early, as you often need it for the end-game.

In other news, we have some sample teams up in the main post now!

 

[Imbion]

Since sample teams have been added, I’d like to describe my own in further detail and what I considered while creating the team. Furthermore, this team was created with a specific teambuilding stucture. I'll explain how you can build this type of team with your own preferences in mind.

Keep in mind that I do assume some level of FFA knowledge. I'd like to create a guide for helping newer players with the rest of the council eventually, so I apologize if you end up feeling lost to some extent.



Offence Viability in Gen 8 (or lackof)

By far, offence was the most inconsistent teamstyle in gen 8. The typical results of it were Team A (an offense team) putting a massive dent into Team B. However, Team A ended up becoming worn down in the aftermath, and with two other relatively healthy teams more suited for longterm survival, Team A fails to survive against them.

Therefore, this team style wasn’t worth considering for serious optimal play, because you’d lose by teams better prepared to survive in the long term.

However, gen 9 changed things significantly for FFA. Scald is now an exclusive move. Recovery PP was nerfed. Defog distribution is low. Wishpassers aren’t as good. Heal Bell simply doesn’t. Toxic is banned (and even then, its distribution is much worse). I could list off a lot of other things, but TL;DR: Everyone has lost utility. Every team style (but offence) has lost something.

And then it so happened that offence gained a tool this generation that finally lets it work.

Why is Revival Blessing so good for offense teams in particular?

Simply put, Rabsca and Pawmot are kinda eh. Pawmot is ill-suited for the format because of its frailty. Rabasca struggles due to its snail paced speed and weaknesses.

Teams generally benefit more from running better mons in their moveslot. Why use them to revive one of your fainted mons, if you can just use something that will help you prevent those mons from fainting in the first place? Revival blessing tends to encourage risky behaviour that ultimately isn’t optional in FFA.

However, this doesn’t apply to offence teams. You’re already frail by default, and you’re very good at punching holes through other teams. It just so happens that you tend to faint before you punch holes in all three of the other teams. And now you can solve the fainting issue.


Putting Together a Double RB Offence Team

Revival Blessing Users & How to Use Them

It might seem like you can choose one or the other, but you need both of them. Rabsca and Pawmot are not interchangeable, due to the fact they cover the failings of each other very well.

Pawmot is made out of paper, but it's also decently fast. There are some scenarios where you really need to get a revival blessing off, and it doesn't particularly matter if your user faints in the process. Because FFA is generally a slower meta, 105 speed is fast, particularly with max investment.

In my experience, Pawmot with wishprotect, leppa, and a fighting/electric move is the most useful set for it. Wish passing has won me games in the past, and considering Pawmot is supposed to have a support role, it suits it best.

That said, Pawmot does have decent offensive stats. You could experiment with a more offense heavy set rather than support, though your milage may vary.

Rabsca can take quite a few hits, and thus can be expected to stick around for quite a bit. Rabsca is your user when there’s downtime during a game – such as your opponents have more defensive mons on the field, or mons that can’t hurt Rabsca that much.

My preferred set with Rabsca is resttalk, since there is a chance that it can call RB. That said, trick room and recover are also good sets for it.

Use revival blessing carefully. I’ve seen people send out their RB user when one of their mons faints immediately, only for them to get targeted before they get a chance to revive their teammates. Your opponents will figure out what you are trying to do, and sometimes they have the exact same idea (aka knock you out before you revive that mon they just knocked out). Wait for the right moment to use the move – such as when your opponents are trying to take down a bigger threat, or they’ve got defensive mons on the field.

Hazard Cleaning (I mean Maushold)

Technically, you do not need to use Maushold. That said, it is an excellent pokemon on this team style. It does two things well: It nukes the field of hazards with Clean Up, and it can nuke things very well with Population Bomb. It effectively works double duty, in that it clears your hazards (and buffs itself), and can hit stuff. My preferred set is Protect for some utility in an otherwise fast paced team, and a coverage move.

While hazardless is my preferred playstyle with this team composition, you might want to run hazards. If so, you don’t want to use Maushold, since it will clear the hazards you just set up. All of them.

You're going to want something to clear hazards regardless. If you want another offensive cleaner, Great Tusk, Quaquaval, or Iron Treads are your current options. You can also run a more defensive one. Corviknight, Cyclizar, and Altaria can accomplish this, though I do mainly recommend Corviknight since its currently the best defogger in the meta.

If you like living dangerously, you can also go for no hazard clearing. This is very risky and I don't recommend it, but unlike for other FFA team styles, this isn't the absolute end of the world for you.

Consider Your Bulky Options

If you didn’t choose a more defensive mon for your hazard cleaner, you have potential room for one. This isn’t mandatory, but it is a good idea to consider. There are many times in a FFA game where you will need some extra defence, and there are plenty of good defensive options to choose from.

When creating this team in particular, I choose Dondozo for its ability to set up curses and its ability unaware to ignore the boosts of other users.

That said, your options are either a bulky attacker or something that’s more defensive. If you want hazards, this is the team slot to put something that can stack hazards (like Clodsire).

Kingambit is worth mentioning in particular – Supreme Overlord does take into consideration the mons that have died and been revived by RB. It is a very good option, particularly because the rest of your team doesn’t have to faint for max stacking.

Choose Your Fighters

Okay, this is where you actually decide what offensive mons to use. Pretty much anything that hits fast and hard can go here. Just make sure they don't overlap with each other too much, since you want to make sure you can hit anything that an opponent can throw at you.

I chose Chi-Yu since it is very strong and powerful. I gave it a scarf to outrun faster mons like Chein-Pao, though Life Orb and Speces are also a decent option. Rather than using Fireblast, I also gave it Terra Blast with Terra Fairy for some extra coverage. Though it's by no means a dedicated Terra user.

My next member kept changing for a while, but eventually Iron Valiant is what I settled on. I wanted something that could actively threaten to sweep as a threat in the late game, while still shooting off threatening attacks at everything else. I grabbed the Calm Mind sample set from OU, and switched Booster Energy out for Leftovers. Booster Energy can only be used once, and boosting speed isn't as good in FFA considering our meta tends to be on the slower side.

Conclusion
Despite what hype initally feared, I'm overall really happy with the addition of Revival Blessing. My expectations were pretty low from the start, since Pawmot and Rabsca aren't that good. However, it turns out their existence makes a team style that otherwise consistently collapsed under the weight of optimal FFA teams viable.

While I wouldn't say offence is the best team style, it's able to compete with the others rather than being something that's just not that good. And I couldn't say that last gen, particularly with all of the offence teams that I saw on ladder that didn't last.

 

[wertiop1]

I believe rotom wash doesn't have reliable healing anymore because of it losing pain split.

 

[Pharnapus]

I'm gonna post some mons I've been having fun with, this post coincides with my Espathra post

Tinkaton @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 SpD
Careful Nature
- Gigaton Hammer
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock/Thunder wave

Great typing with some pretty decent bulk, Tinkaton is mainly my stealth rocker on my teams, with mold breaker allowing it to go through Magic Bounce since theres often a Hatterene or Espeon on an opposing team. TBH, fake out is one of my favourite moves and it comes in real handy sometimes when theres an opponent who has boosted up. Fake out skips their turn and allows the other players to hopefully clean up and get rid of the threat. Giagaton hammer because BONK and knock off for helping deal with stall type mons who want passive recovery. Sometimes I use thunder wave instead of stealth rock only if I have another stealth rock setter on the team

Brambleghast @ Big Root
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Substitute
- Protect

Lets be real, Brambleghast is fairly outmatched in this landscape but god I love the lil guy. Put up a sub, spam leech seed and protect away as you irritate your opponents. Most often you'll get one person who hard focuses you so this set as protect to play some mindgames and giga drain for a faster way to recover some health. This set suffers from no passive recovery unless a leech seed is down and even so, the person can just switch but its fun to be annoying.
Also immune to the e-speed dragonite set provided you don't tera which is useful sometimes but most often theres a lot of fire types around

 

[Darvin]

Tinkaton @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 SpD
Careful Nature
- Gigaton Hammer
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock/Thunder wave

Tinkaton has been doing surprisingly well in this format, given its lack of reliable recovery. It definitely appreciates a Wish passer, to help keep it healthy throughout the match. Knock Off and Thunder Wave are both great support tools to cripple an opposing team, and Gigaton Hammer is nice for letting it actually hit hard. And of course, the big thing that lets it succeed is that incredible typing.

I wouldn't recommend Fake Out, though. It's really not consistent at all since it relies on the other players working with you on a key turn into order to do anything. A move like Play Rough, Encore, or Foul Play would be more helpful. I'd also recommend Leftovers over Sitrus Berry. In most cases Tinkaton is going to get more than 4 turns on the field for Leftovers to give better value.

Brambleghast @ Big Root
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Substitute
- Protect

Celesteela ran similar sets last generation, and it had much better bulk and typing. What ended up coming to light eventually was that it was just too passive. Yes, it could stall things out, but it really couldn't make any progress. Leech Seed is limited but switches are not, and with Leftovers, Regenerator, and reliable recovery being so common in this format Leech Seed on its own struggles to make any progress. Eventually you just get PP stalled out. Still, this can be quite useful if the other players are attacking each other and ignoring your Grass-type healer. Just be mindful that if everyone else is playing defensively this guy is going to get PP stalled out relatively quickly.

 

[Pharnapus]

Tinkaton has been doing surprisingly well in this format, given its lack of reliable recovery. It definitely appreciates a Wish passer, to help keep it healthy throughout the match. Knock Off and Thunder Wave are both great support tools to cripple an opposing team, and Gigaton Hammer is nice for letting it actually hit hard. And of course, the big thing that lets it succeed is that incredible typing.

I wouldn't recommend Fake Out, though. It's really not consistent at all since it relies on the other players working with you on a key turn into order to do anything. A move like Play Rough, Encore, or Foul Play would be more helpful. I'd also recommend Leftovers over Sitrus Berry. In most cases Tinkaton is going to get more than 4 turns on the field for Leftovers to give better value.

So yeah, definitely wrote this before I realised this format allows multiple of the same item on seperate pokemon, definitely stuck in that mindset lmao

Sitrus berry been swapped with lefties and knock off with thunder wave, its doing me wonders and I highly recommend people invest in tinkaton as a bulky support

Meanwhile, I'm back with another set for one of my beloved
Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn

Hydreigon is eating good this generation, I love bringing it in to clean up late into the game. Sometimes I'll even start the game with it to blast of a Draco but honestly, it is not worth the risk of losing your Hydreigon really early in the game. Heat wave if theres multiple opponents left and since fire is a great offense type, its worth the damage drop being a spread move and all. Dark pulse for if you want to clean up but don't want to risk the stat drops making you miss a kill and finally U-turn, because pivot moves are grand!

I'm on the fence for the tera type, preferring to avoid the 4x fairy weakness but it still leaves Hydreigon weak to fighting. Tempted to look at alternatives like fire to boost heat wave or dark to further boost the dark pulses. TBF, this late in the game, sometimes I don't have my tera anymore so I'm not fussing over it

 

[Darvin]

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
- U-turn

Definitely go for Modest. There are very few Pokemon that Hydreigon's base 98 speed is outspeeding, and most of them aren't running full speed investment either.

Heat Wave is a spread move so its damage is halved, which means most Steel-types can just ignore it. For instance, it's only a 4HKO against Corviknight. It's so weak that there's little point in running it. Go for Flamethrower if you want Fire-type coverage. I feel that spread moves only really make sense on Pokemon that can use Nasty Plot or Swords Dance for major power, or if they have a secondary effect (Discharge or Lava Plume, basically).

I'm generally not a fan of U-Turn on Choice Specs Pokemon in Free-For-All. Getting them on the field requires careful positioning, and keeping them healthy requires ongoing team support from Wish passers. If you're bringing them onto the field, it's to start causing damage. If you just want to U-Turn, you shouldn't be bringing Hydreigon out and risking chip damage in the first place. Conserve your heavy-hitters for when they can have the biggest impact, and U-Turn with no attack investment is not a big impact.

 

[Pharnapus]

I appreciate all the help you've been giving on these posts lol, traded U-turn for flash cannon to hit fairy because you make a good point, since I mostly use Hydreigon as my last pokemon for clean up and I risk it getting hit by faster pokemon or chip damage getting in when I do click U-turn.

I do run a rapid spin Great Tusk so hazards aren't normally an issue mid to late game for my Hydreigon to take chip damage. For some reason in most of my games, people forget that they can set them up again?? Not too important but just a weird thing I've noticed, I suppose the difference is maybe people's hazard setters get killed early meanwhile I like to preserve my Tinkaton lol.

A quick question, are spread moves legitimately not worth considering? I assume the appeal of hitting every opponent on the field for damage is appetizing and it can be used to clear a kill on one pokemon whilst dealing damage to the others.

Regardless, appreciate the help with my set. I know this forum isn't too active but I like creating the little set idea posts for people to use or get inspiration from for their own teams. Enjoyed the random free for all format in gen 8 and I love that I can create my own teams for it now

 

[Nuclearstomp]

I appreciate all the help you've been giving on these posts lol, traded U-turn for flash cannon to hit fairy because you make a good point, since I mostly use Hydreigon as my last pokemon for clean up and I risk it getting hit by faster pokemon or chip damage getting in when I do click U-turn.

I do run a rapid spin Great Tusk so hazards aren't normally an issue mid to late game for my Hydreigon to take chip damage. For some reason in most of my games, people forget that they can set them up again?? Not too important but just a weird thing I've noticed, I suppose the difference is maybe people's hazard setters get killed early meanwhile I like to preserve my Tinkaton lol.

A quick question, are spread moves legitimately not worth considering? I assume the appeal of hitting every opponent on the field for damage is appetizing and it can be used to clear a kill on one pokemon whilst dealing damage to the others.

Regardless, appreciate the help with my set. I know this forum isn't too active but I like creating the little set idea posts for people to use or get inspiration from for their own teams. Enjoyed the random free for all format in gen 8 and I love that I can create my own teams for it now

Spread moves do a quarter of their usual damage so unless you hit extremely hard it's generally not worth it to use them.

FFA also had a Gen 8 Format that wasn't random, surprised you didn't play it.

 

[Pharnapus]

FFA also had a Gen 8 Format that wasn't random, surprised you didn't play it.

Oh wow, I must of been blind then, yeah all I remember seeing was the randomized format. From reading what is was like with toxapex and it being necessary for a status remover like heal bell blissey, maybe it was a good thing lol

 

[Darvin]

A quick question, are spread moves legitimately not worth considering? I assume the appeal of hitting every opponent on the field for damage is appetizing and it can be used to clear a kill on one pokemon whilst dealing damage to the others.

The problem is that spread moves have their damage halved. This is often the difference between clinching a KO, and or allowing an opponent to survive and get off a Recover. The damage difference between a half-power Earthquake (functionally 50 BP) and Stomping Tantrum (75 BP) is very noticeable. There's a reason the council is running Stomping Tantrum over Earthquake, because we'd rather have the ability to nab a key KO against a specific target than deal low amounts of chip damage to everything on the field.

There are also some other considerations. It's a severe tactical liability to be unable to focus your attention on one opponent if they're threatening to spiral out of control. Some of your opponents are likely to have a resistance on the field; it's far better to focus your full power Stomping Tantrum on a Steel-type than it is to get some chip damage on the other guy's Grass-type with a weaker Earthquake. Especially for coverage, which you generally want to use only when it's super-effective, hitting the whole field isn't that helpful because there's probably only one target it's super-effective against.

Oh wow, I must of been blind then, yeah all I remember seeing was the randomized format. From reading what is was like with toxapex and it being necessary for a status remover like heal bell blissey, maybe it was a good thing lol

We were listed with Other Metagames last generation. We definitely have better visibility now that we're under SV Singles.

Last generation was definitely interesting. You didn't have to run a Chansey/Blissey, and there were offensive Heal Bell options like Vaporeon or Dragonite which could provide useful support to more offensive teams while covering the cleric role. But there's no question that T-Spikes and Toxic in general were centralizing and you needed to be prepared for it.

 

[Pharnapus]

Done some more playing and got another favourite
CHOOH 2 (Revavroom) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Filter
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- Gunk Shot
- Spin Out
- Bulldoze

Imagine if this thing got power trip, anyway Revavroom is a suprisingly powerful mon after a shift gear and if you can get 2 off then its gonna kill something. Standard stabs in gunk shot and spin out although you have to be aware of the speed drop of spin out. Bulldoze for further speed control if you do click spin out. Now to explain the fun with air balloon.
People see the balloon, they know to hit with another move. Sometimes people will just continue to spam stuff like earthquake or bulldoze for the spread damage, bonus. The air balloon is gone and people think its safe to hit now. SUPRISE TERA FLYING.
Now gonna be honest, i've never been in a situation where this has come into play but that was the idea at least lmao

I also wanted to do a little list of pokemon I wanna talk about:
Kingambit - RESPECT THIS POKEMON, if you see this thing on a team then keep an eye on it. It'll most likely come out last and you better have a way to deal with it
Skeledirge - Unaware + Torch song, bulky with good typing, great support move pool, need i say more??
Garganacl - the pokemon equivalent of the great wall of china, if you need a defensive support then its the easiest choice to fit on a team
Maushold - Population bomb definitely seems appealing, with tidy up as well but honestly, I have seen this thing faint a lot more than I have seen it be a credible threat on the field. Not to mention theres a lot of ghost types around and some pokemon use rocky helmet so thats a one way trip to knocking yourself out
Gholdengo - this pokemon suffers slightly from spread moves being reduced in damage but its still worth being cautious about. It can learn nasty plot and then suddenly that damage reduction isn't a problem anymore. Feel like it is worth noting that some of the more popular spread moves hit Gholdengo for super-effective damage such as heat wave, earthquake, eruption, etc. Paralysis from discharge can also annoy it.

I've definitely missed some other important pokemon so I would like to hear what everyone else thinks? What pokemon are worth talking about and their role in the metagame?

 

[Pharnapus]

So with Pokemon day coming and and possibly soon news of Pokemon home compatibility, we're going to be getting some threats soon to this metagame. Thought I'd put together a list of the pokemon that are gonna be worth watching:

Landorus-T: Intimidate, great typing, stealth rocks, u-turn, etc. Obviously, we're going to see a lot of this guy going around when the home update drops, no question at all.
Ursaluna: An extremely powerful guts user with STAB facade to boot. It's slow and weak on the special side so I expect a lot of water and grass types will be taking advantage of that before this behemoth takes a lot of lives. Reminder here that this thing gets swords dance and bulk up for setting up (also who decided to let this thing have trailblaze???)
Hisuian Samurott: Although possibly will be a problem of new toy syndrome, this thing gets a move that deals damage AND sets up spikes. With Sharpness as a HA and having STABS that can both benefit from this ability, I feel like this will be the best of the 3 starters going forward
Hisuian Zoroark: its just a better zoroark IMPO, better typing and gets bitter malice for some reason?? (although it makes a lot of sense going by its lore). Important to note that species clause means that you cannot use Hisuian and Unovan Zoroark on the same team.
Heatran: Looking forward to this one personally, solid typing with flash fire means you can have the perfect help for all those fire weak pokemon on your team. 4x weakness to ground is extremely concerning though so you have to remain careful, especially since despite the nerfed damage people love to click earthquake and the likes.
Rillaboom: Grassy terrain setter, need I say more. Great with leftovers, choice band or an AV set, has u-turn to get in your sweeper (great synergy with unburden sweepers). HOWEVER, grassy glide is not in this generation so the gorilla will suffer. I expect it to really only be used for its grassy surge by I could be wrong

There are definitely more pokemon to talk about so I'll leave a list here of all the ones coming with the home update: https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/pokemon-home-scarlet-and-violet/

 

[Darvin]

Landorus-T: Intimidate, great typing, stealth rocks, u-turn, etc. Obviously, we're going to see a lot of this guy going around when the home update drops, no question at all.

Landorus-T actually gets a usable physical STAB move this generation. Stomping Tantrum isn't great, but it's definitely a huge improvement over Earthquake or Fly. Earthquake and Fly are pretty bad moves in Free-For-All, and that left Landorus with Crunch as its best physical attacking move. Never a good sign when your best attacking move is 80 BP coverage. It lacked reliable recovery so it got chipped down too easily and wasn't a good hazard setter or remover, and it was too fast to be a good U-Turn pivot as what you really need is a slow pivot to bring the partner in safely. Overall, Landorus-T was barely viable last generation, and its popularity was mostly as spillover from people knowing it as a good Pokemon in OU or VGC. It should be a little better this generation between terrastalization and Stomping Tantrum, but given its past underperformance in FFA it's not really high on our list of things to watch for.

The one to watch out for is Landorus-I, which is a crazy strong wallbreaker that potentially can become even stronger with terrastalization. Landorus-I was legal in Generation 8 Free-For-All and as a result will be legal initially this generation as well. The new Storm move is largely useless, so it'll probably run the same set it always did: Earth Power, Sludge Bomb, Focus Blast, Calm Mind. After one Calm Mind it's incredibly difficult to wall, and its base 101 speed is a cheeky benchmark. Terrastalization can be used both offensively and defensively, as many Pokemon handle this thing by carrying Ice coverage, but if you switch to something like Poison-type your defensive profile completely changes. Bottom line, Incarnate is the dominant Landorus in this format.

Ursaluna: An extremely powerful guts user with STAB facade to boot. It's slow and weak on the special side so I expect a lot of water and grass types will be taking advantage of that before this behemoth takes a lot of lives. Reminder here that this thing gets swords dance and bulk up for setting up (also who decided to let this thing have trailblaze???)

Trailblaze is probably not worth the moveslot, or at least shouldn't be the standard set. You're better off trying to outbulk opponents rather than outspeed them with this beast, and that means Rest is probably the better option here to stay healthy. You could run Rest/Talk or Rest Swords Dance, with Facade and High Horsepower being your go-to STAB moves.

Heatran: Looking forward to this one personally, solid typing with flash fire means you can have the perfect help for all those fire weak pokemon on your team. 4x weakness to ground is extremely concerning though so you have to remain careful, especially since despite the nerfed damage people love to click earthquake and the likes.

Magma Storm is devastating in Free-For-All. High damage and prevents you from switching out, and Heatran can follow up with Taunt to shut down recovery. I'm fully expecting Magma Storm/Earth Power/Taunt/Protect to remain its standard set, and defensive terrastalization looks absolutely fascinating on this Pokemon.

Rillaboom: Grassy terrain setter, need I say more.

It lost Grassy Glide, and probably won't be particularly noteworthy as a result. Chesnaught is the Grass-type that has caught my attention the most, as it can set Spikes very reliably.

Anyways, here are some other Pokemon I'm looking forward to:

Moltres: probably outclassed by Chi-Yu at the moment, but if the goldfish is banned then this one could take its place. It has bulk and Roost and hits pretty hard.
Zapdos: even if it does lose Defog as is the current indication, it should still be a nice offensive tool.
Tornadus-T: regenerator, nuff said. It loses Defog unfortunately, but it should still be a great offensive regenerator.
Chesnaught: interesting bulky grass-type with reliable recovery, distinguishes itself from Breloom with Spikes
Decidueye: Defog and Roost, reasonably bulky. Automatically viable.
Urshifu-RS: probably a bit better with Toxapex no longer as dominant as it used to be, even with the slight nerf to its signature move
Regieleki: could be very dangerous with Tera Ice. It will definitely be inconsistent, but it may be one of those things without any reliable answers.
Spectrier: still looks solid, probably runs similar sets as it did back in generation 8. Lack of coverage is its main problem.
Arcanine-H: Rock Head Head Smash and Flare Blitz with reliable recovery. Really looking forward to missing constantly with Head Smash!
Zapdos-G: still a really strong wallbreaker, but probably a bit worse for lack of reliable Wish passing to keep it healthy.
Slowking-G: regenerator Poison-type, probably a bit better now that Toxapex isn't competing with it as strongly for a Poison-type regenerator
Zarude: we could use a dark-type attacker with reliable recovery
Hoopa: looks like an absolutely brutal wallbreaker, potentially in both forms. Has just enough speed for this slow format, but its bulk is questionable

While I haven't conferred with the council on this yet, I suspect this will be our initial banlist on the new wave of Pokemon coming in Home. Probably no surprises here. Mostly box cover legendaries and mythicals of similar power level. The big question mark is Basculegion; we'll be mirroring whatever OU does with the Last Respects problem.

• Arceus (all formes)
• Basculegion (tentative based on what OU does)
• Calyrex-Shadow
• Calyrex-Ice
• Dialga
• Dialga-O
• Eternatus
• Giratina
• Giratina-O
• Groudon
• Kyogre
• Magearna
• Mewtwo
• Palkia
• Palkia-O
• Rayquaza
• Urshifu-Single-Strike
• Zacian
• Zacian-C
• Zamazenta
• Zamazenta-C

Edit: there's been some talk among the council of freeing Zamazenta-C immediately. This was something that was under consideration last generation, but we never did it. While it does get Body Press this generation, its signature ability got nerfed pretty hard and it still has its main issue of being surprisingly passive for a box cover legendary and lacking reliable recovery. We'll discuss this further, but the rest of the banlist is uncontroversial and that's what to expect.

 

[Pharnapus]

Really good points here, honestly a bit surprising hearing about Lando-T being fairly weak. Good to hear information from someone who has known the format though, theres only so much as a new voice to the meta that I can say.

I'm fully expecting Magma Storm/Earth Power/Taunt/Protect to remain its standard set, and defensive terrastalization looks absolutely fascinating on this Pokemon.

Think its funny to mention that a tera flying Heatran or one with an air balloon completely walls other heatran if ran with that move-set. Heatran will definitely be a strong force, can't wait to use it (especially the surprise choice scarf set >:) )

 

[Darvin]

With Pokemon Home still lacking a release date, the Free-For-All council elected to hold a vote now on the three most problematic Pokemon in the format. This vote was conducted with the understanding that anything that was not banned at this time would still be subject to a vote after Pokemon Home arrives. The Pokemon that were not banned today will be subject to another vote at a later time. You can see the voting record here, and the unanimous result is as follows:

• Chi-Yu is banned from Generation 9 Free-For-All
• Chien-Pao and Dondozo will not be banned at this time

Tagging Kris to implement

The sample team that used Chi-Yu has been updated.

This is one oppressive goldfish. Beads of Ruin makes everything on the field less bulky, even to attacks not coming from Chi-Yu itself, and makes it much more difficult to answer Chi-Yu because every other special attacker is also more dangerous. With both Specs and Nasty Plot, Chi-Yu presents a devastating offensive presence, and with the practical limitations of other players and long-term positioning your only real counterplay in most circumstances is to hope the Chi-Yu user targets a different player. While its lack of reliable recovery does limit it in some respects, and it rarely snowballs to control an entire match, its ability to force KO's with no meaningful defensive recourse is unacceptable. As a result, the council unanimously agreed that Chi-Yu is deserving of a ban.

While the council is definitely leaning towards banning these, we all agree that they are not as oppressive as Chi-Yu and dealing with them can wait until after Pokemon Home arrives. Chien-Pao is able to exert offensive pressure much like Chi-Yu can, but there are somewhat better physical checks, and its poor defensive typing and bulk leave it much less consistent. Its flimsy defensive qualities make it unable to effectively utilize its access to reliable recovery. However, there's no question it has devastating offensive presence and is one of the most brutal wallbreakers and cleaners in the format.

Dondozo, meanwhile, is utterly oppressive in the team-builder. There are very few things that can both switch into it safely and dislodge it, and with other players potentially being an interference Dondozo can often remain on the field uncontested for protracted periods of time. Dondozo can control the flow of the game in a way that no other Pokemon can. This can result in deadlock situations where nobody can make progress, especially if they've lost their Dondozo answers (which is more common than it sounds, since Dondozo can come in repeatedly and lure in the answers). On the other hand, Dondozo is far from unbeatable and there are a lot of ways to combat it. It can keep physical threats at bay, and provide key defensive glue to a composition. However, both Skeledirge and Clodsire are functioning as far more balanced Unaware users so we don't feel that Dondozo's presence is necessary for the meta.

Overall the feelings of the council are that these Pokemon will likely be banned after Pokemon Home if their situation doesn't change. However, we did not feel the urgency to deal with them like it was with Chi-Yu.

 

[Pharnapus]

What are the thoughts around the new paradox mons? Walking Wake seems especially powerful, encouraging more use of Torkoal especially.

Walking Wake @ Booster Energy/Life Orb/Choice Specs
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fire/Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse
- Hydro Steam
- Flamethrower
- Agility/Hurricane

This thing is definitely on the get in and hit hard side of things, powerful in sun and rain. I think that Booster Energy is probably the best item for it but Life Orb allows it to switch in again if needed later without losing the power boost. Walking Wake definitely prefers a tera type that boosts its offense rather than a defensive tera type.

Iron Leaves @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Psyblade
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance

Grass/Psychic is an awful typing, poor thing. It needs to tera to become a threat on the field and I feel fighting is its best bet. Swords dance tera close combat with boosted attack is gonna let this thing hit hard but Iron Leaves is definitely pigeonholed into a set like this. You could remove Leaf blade for Substitute and Booster Energy for Leftovers to let it stay on the field a bit longer, I suppose.

Walking Wake is just so much better, I wouldn't be surprised to see this thing be a really popular choice.

 

[Darvin]

Walking Wake seems powerful, but not overpowering. It's fairly one-dimensional, with only Agility (not worth running) as a boosting move and no real utility or recovery options. Choice Specs is looking like the only set worth consideration, as Walking Wake pretty much only ever wants to hit the field and start throwing off big attacks, then switch out when the field position shifts with a mind to come in and do it again later. I would not recommend either Life Orb or Booster Energy. In general, I find Booster Energy to be a terrible item in Free-For-All. There's just too much volatility where you can't plan around coming in once and only once, and it's far better to have a flexible item that can help you throughout the match. Given Walking Wake has Draco Meteor, it wants to switch around even more. Life Orb's downside is just too much a problem in Free-For-All. Walking Wake is already going to struggle with chip as it stands, and that item will just make things worse. This makes Specs the obvious item. Walking Wake will need Wish support to stay healthy throughout the match, and I'd say that's even more important than support.

While Walking does have synergy with Torkoal, the tortoise is itself a high-maintenance Pokemon due to its lack of reliable recovery. It may actually be better to go with manual sun. Scream Tail is already a good partner due to Wish passing, and it can set sun just fine. Scream Tail is already a momentum sink, and tempo is not really as important in FFA as it is in other formats. Overall, getting the support for Walking Wake will be a bit of a stretch but it has the power to be worth it. I'm anticipating it to be a solid part of the metagame.

Iron Leaves looks tenable, but it's running pretty much the same moves as Gallade except it doesn't get Sharpness. Iron Leaves gets better speed and bulk, but Gallade has significantly more power and better typing. I can't see this being anything more than a niche pick. There are better Swords Dance users. Also you definitely want to run Sacred Sword over Close Combat. The power drop is noticeable, but so is the defense drop of Close Combat, and Sacred Sword's ability to break through defense boosting is quite useful. Leftovers is the obvious item here, if you're using a Swords Dancer then you're intending to be on the field for protracted amounts of time and cleaning up chip damage is just too valuable.

 

[Pharnapus]

While Walking does have synergy with Torkoal, the tortoise is itself a high-maintenance Pokemon due to its lack of reliable recovery. It may actually be better to go with manual sun. Scream Tail is already a good partner due to Wish passing, and it can set sun just fine. Scream Tail is already a momentum sink, and tempo is not really as important in FFA as it is in other formats. Overall, getting the support for Walking Wake will be a bit of a stretch but it has the power to be worth it. I'm anticipating it to be a solid part of the metagame.

Coming from a few games with Walking Wake, Specs, Protosynthesis Sp.Atk Hydro Steam in the sun is absolutely nasty. Just like you said here, Scream Tail has been a great support for it as a wish passer and honestly, I can already see this combined with Revival blessing being very obnoxious. Just add Kingambit for clean up duty at the end and a way to get rid of hazards and thats a mighty fine team right there already. Fill the last sports with some faves, maybe Corviknight, Dondozo, Skeledirge or Garganacl for some defensive utility and you are good to go.
Love dino-suicune, it's staying on my team from now on

 

[Pharnapus]

So strangely enough, I've been having a lot of fun with Oricorio lately in my games. I feel like the lil bird is deceptively strong after a quiver dance and the way that tera interacts with its signature move Revelation Dance is pretty neat for mix ups. I wanted to talk about it a little:

Oricorio @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Revelation Dance
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Quiver Dance

So for those who don't know, Revelation Dance is a move that changes the type based on your pokemon's primary type. So here, Revelation Dance is a fire type attack because it is the primary type of the red Oricorio. Oricorio-Pom-Pom would have an electric type Revelation Dance and so on.
However, because tera changes the type of your pokemon, so does the type of the Revelation Dance. In the example I've provided up top, the move becomes a grass type move instead of fire type. This allows the fire type Oricorio to now match up extremely well against the water and rock type pokemon it would be terrified of originally.

Now some immediate problems in that 1. You have to use your tera for this little gimmick to work so you better hope you don't need tera for the rest of your team and 2. You gain a new bunch of weaknesses that you may have not been afraid of previously if you kept your typing. Sure I can hit water and rock types now for super-effective damage but becoming a grass type is not worth it defensively. I can justify it by saying that Oricorio is mostly here to do damage with quiver dance so I'm not expecting it to tank attacks but the opportunity to get kills is extremely limited because of its frailty.

It is also worth noting some interactions with Dancer. Obviously it copies moves that are classed as dancing such as Swords Dance, Quiver Dance, Petal dance, etc, but it can get crazy if you time your switch in right. I have seen a couple other people using Oricorio on their teams and its always fun watching as we both click Quiver Dance and boost up together. Regardless, It is worth mentioning here in case people weren't aware that if you click an attacking move that is regarded as a dancing move and another Oricorio is on the field, they will copy the move and target you with it. I have seen other Oricorios click Revelation Dance into a different pokemon only for my Oricorio to then attack them with the move as well. So in the end, you have to be a little cautious.

Lastly, if you don't want to use Oricorio as a damage dealer, it works perfectly well as a support pokemon

Oricorio-Sensu @ Heavy-Duty Boots/Leftovers
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Fighting/Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Revelation Dance
- Tailwind/Taunt/U-turn/Teeter Dance

Its got a pretty good move pool for helping the team with clearing hazards or being annoying with Taunt and Teeter Dance. There are definitely better options to clear hazards like Corviknight for a defogger or Great Tusk for a rapid spin but the birds still do have use outside that as supports.
However, its offensive movepool is pretty embarrassing with their only option for STAB moves being Hurricane, Air Slash and Revelation Dance (even then, Air Slash is a 75 power move, you're gonna need multiple quiver dances to get use out of that or risk using Hurricane).

Conclusion, I've become a sucker for the birds and I am advocating for everyone to use them at least once in their teams. I have yet to play a game where everyone has one but I think it would be pretty funny. Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts around Oricorio (I have written that name so many times now, I don't think its real anymore)

 

[Infodox]

So im pretty new at competetive. If the team is bad im sorry, any advice on how to make it better is welcome.


Jumpscare (Slowking) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Chilly Reception
- Blizzard
- Psyshock
- Surf

Annoying (Froslass) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Cloak
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Snowscape

Guess Whos Back (Pawmot) @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Iron Fist
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Revival Blessing
- Protect
- Thunder Punch
- Mach Punch

Trickster (Zoroark-Hisui) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Illusion
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Bitter Malice
- Hyper Voice

Bug (Masquerain) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Air Slash
- Bug Buzz
- Tailwind

Spin (Tsareena) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Leaf Guard
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Sunny Day
- Synthesis
- Seed Bomb


Explanation: Masquerain is my lead here. It never does tera, only reason i took it onto the team is it being fastest sticky web user avaible. I dont switch it out after setting sticky web, but let it do damage. I dont really know what item to give it, i literally never see taunt, which the herb counters.

Tsareena is only here to clear up status conditions on my side, other moves just to damage water types.

Zoroark disguises usually as Slowking, it has pretty good coverage, and great in my opinion offense.

Pawmot mostly instantly uses protect and then goes for revival blessing. It never hits the field first.

Slowking has his goal to set up snow with chilly reception. I made it as slow as possible so Froslass doesnt take any hits when replacing him on the field.

Froslass just spams blizzard, unless a threat enters. Then i either shadow ball Ghost types, or protect and then switch out into a better matchup. Snow cloak helps it stay longer on the field.

 

[Darvin]

Welcome, Infodox. You chose an interesting format for your first foray into competitive Pokemon.

Masquerain and Sticky Webs are not good in Free-For-All. A lot of teams aren't even trying to be faster than you anyways so you're giving up an entire teammate for something that might not be useful in the first place, and Defog is so common they will likely be removed very quickly into the game. It's not worth running such a weak Pokemon for such a situational bonus. Tailwind is more of a move you'd use in a Doubles format. It has a very short duration, and in formats where you only have one Pokemon on the field at a time it just does not last long enough to be useful.

Tsareena is an interesting choice for Rapid Spin support, and does have good recovery in Synthesis. Unfortunately, this doesn't work very well with Chilly Reception Slowking. Ideally you'd want to be able to use Slowking to safely bring in Tsareena to Rapid Spin and heal herself, but since Snow will be in effect she will need to spend a turn to use Sunny Day before healing. This is very dangerous, taking 2 turns to heal instead of 1 turn to heal means you're much, much more likely to get KO'd and completely lose Tsareena. So there's a lot of anti-synergy in your team in this respect.

Assault Vest doesn't make much sense for Zoroark, as it doesn't have very good defenses to begin with so it doesn't add much value. You might occasionally survive an attack that would have otherwise KO'd you, but you can get better value out of other options. Similarly, a defensive Terastallization like Fairy doesn't make sense because this Pokemon doesn't have good defenses. And you're not using all your move slots, you definitely want to do that. I would recommend using a Choice Specs and the move Trick. This would give you the flexibility to potentially get rid of the Choice Specs if you don't need them, and cripple something else in the process. I would recommend replacing Hyper Voice with Tera Blast; since Hyper Voice is a multi-target move its power is halved. This means Tera Blast is actually a much stronger Normal-type move. In a normal singles format Hyper Voice is better, but Free-For-All has distinct mechanics in this respect. Tera Blast would also allow you to take advantage of offensive terrastalization.

I'm not a huge fan of that Pawmot set. The advantage that Pawmot has over Rabsca is its hard-hitting offensive moves like Double Shock, and you aren't actually carrying any moves over 75 base power so this is more of a defensive set that isn't taking advantage of Pawmot's strengths. If you want a more cautious Revival Blessing Pokemon, Rabsca is the one to go with. If you want to use Pawmot, embrace its power with hard-hitting moves.

Slowking is a great Pokemon choice, but your move selection is questionable. Surf and Blizzard both have their power halved as multi-target moves, and are very weak as a result. Choice Specs also interferes with your ability to attack and then use Chilly Reception afterwards to pivot. It also prevents you from using the powerful combination of Chilly Reception and Future Sight. This allows you to launch an attack that will hit in 2 turns time, use Chilly Reception to switch out, and then attack with a different Pokemon on the same turn that Slowking's Future Sight hits for a vicious double-prong attack. Normal type terastallization makes no sense here, as Normal is not a strong defensive typing and you're not using any Normal-type moves. You might consider switching to Leftovers, Future Sight, Flamethrower, Hydro Pump, Chilly Reception, and Steel-type terastallization for strong defenses.

Frosslass is a very fragile Pokemon, and again Blizzard will be a very weak move since it is multi-target. To give you an idea of how weak this is, it will deal around 13-16% to Corviknight (edit: I realize I didn't explain why I used Corviknight as my example here. Corviknight has the ability Pressure which causes moves to deplete PP twice as fast when it's targeted by them. This means that while Corviknight is on the field you are using Blizzard PP twice as quickly. You will only get 4 Blizzards before running out of PP, and you're barely dealing enough damage to overcome Leftovers! The mere existence of Corviknight practically invalidates this Frosslass set!). Given how fragile Frosslass is, this is just too weak to be worth consideration on a serious team. Focus Sash is also a very questionable choice, as keeping Stealth Rock and Spikes off the field can be challenging even with a Pokemon dedicated to removing them. Offensive Pokemon also shouldn't run Protect in this format. This isn't Doubles, you don't have a partner Pokemon. If something is threatening to KO you this turn, it's probably still threatening to KO you next turn, and you're going to have to switch out anyways. While sometimes another player will bail you out and KO the enemy that's threatening you, any strategy that relies on other players helping you out is generally not a good idea in Free-For-All. If you want a strong offensive Ghost-type with a multi-target move, Gholdengo is an extremely good choice. Nasty Plot, Make It Rain, Shadow Ball, and Recover is a great set.

Overall I can see what you're going for here. It looks like you've been looking at strategies that work in Doubles or Singles, but might not be aware of how those strategies translate (or don't translate) to Free-For-All. You're also looking at some aspects of your team synergy, using Rapid Spin to keep Sticky Webs in effect instead of Defog, but you're overlooking dissonances you've accidentally introduced like your weather dissonance. You're also underestimating how easy some of your combos are to counter. None of your offensive Pokemon hit that hard (for example, your

Also, as a brief update for everyone else, we had intended to wait after Pokemon Home before doing viability rankings but Home seems to be in limbo so we're going to get something out. We've got S and A nailed down, and are working through B rank right now.

 

[Infodox]

Thanks for all the advice, here is the fixed team. Sorry if i shouldnt ask here for help with my team, just tell me that i shouldnt ask here, and i wont post more like that.
I do have basic competetive knowledge, both this, and original team have been made without looking at any strategies.
This isnt the format i started with, but its the one i feel most comfortable in.
Jumpscare (Slowking) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Chilly Reception
- Future Sight
- Hydro Pump
- Flamethrower

Ice Boi (Glaceon) (F) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Snow Cloak
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Tera Blast
- Freeze-Dry
- Snowscape

Ball Of Death (Rabsca) @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Synchronize
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Revival Blessing
- Trick Room
- Bug Buzz
- Psychic

Trickster (Zoroark-Hisui) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Illusion
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Bitter Malice
- Flamethrower
- Tera Blast

A fairy (Grimmsnarl) @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Light Screen
- Trick
- Thunder Wave
- Play Rough

Tire Man (Iron Treads) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Stomping Tantrum
- Iron Head

Explanation: I didnt have time to play with the team yet, so this might be wrong.

Slowking, mostly sets up hail for glaceon, nothing more to say from me.

Glaceon is mine froslass 2.0, Better defenses, different coverage.Gave it tera electric, so it can deal with corviknight, and defend from weaknesses. It also works under trick room. Dont know what to do with last move, currently it has calm mind.

Rabsca uses revival blessing, can use trick room to help slower team members. Its other moves are so it can deal damage.

Zoroark is here instead of gholdengo, since its faster, better coverage and no ghost weakness. I dont like tera blast on it tho, because after terastalizing (its tera is both defensive and offensive) it has no normal moves, dont know what to do with it.

Grimmsnarl uses thunder wave, sets screens and hits pretty hard with play rough.

Iron treads sets stealth rock, rapid spins entry hazards away and deals stab damage. Its tera lets it have weaknesses, weak to its regular stab types.

 

[Darvin]

We have our viability rankings up. We decided only to do down to B- since we expect to see some metagame shifts with Pokemon Home. And remember, FFA is a format where you can make almost anything work. What we're looking at on the VR is consistency and reliability, Pokemon that can consistently control the match and help you win in situations where things are going against you.

As for Infodox , you've made some good adaptations.

I'm still not a fan of Blizzard. Its power is just very low, and it's more dangerous for the Freeze chance than for the damage. Taking a turn to set up Snowscape is very slow on a Pokemon that doesn't have a recovery move. Without Choice Specs or Calm Mind, Glaceon is going to struggle to break through tough walls. Moreover, you will need to run at least 20 Speed EV's to beat Corviknight with Electric Tera Blast. Specially Defensive Corviknight (which is the standard set in this format) only takes 68% maximum from Electric Tera Blast and is naturally faster than Glaceon so it can use Roost to recover off that damage while losing its Flying type for the turn. You will need to be faster in order to consistently bet it. And even then, this set lacks the power to break through Pokemon that aren't weak to Ice and Electric like Garganacl or Scream Tail or especially Blissey.

For Rabsca, don't bother with Trick Room. Much like Tailwind, its duration is just too short to be worth using. Rest and Sleep Talk would be preferred.

For Grimmsnarl, if you want to run Trick use a Choice Scarf. The Choice Scarf is very crippling to Pokemon in Free-For-All, most of which rely on being able to switch up their moves. Very few want to be using a Choice item, and fewer still a Scarf. Use Spirit Break instead of Play Rough, it's slightly less powerful but its secondary effect is more useful and it's 100% accurate.

Iron Treads is not good at Stealth Rock or Rapid Spin in Free-For-All. Due to there being 3 opponents, there are going to be three times as many Pokemon that are trying to set hazards against you, and three times as many Pokemon that are trying to remove your hazards. This means your hazard setter and hazard remover is going to need to enter the field and stay on the field throughout the match in order to maintain control. A Recovery move is essentially mandatory to do the job well.

 

[Darvin]

So with Pokemon Home on the horizon and a release finally expected as of Monday (presuming they don't psyche us out again), I figure now is a time to talk about some of the changes that will be coming to Generation 9 Free-For-All with Pokemon Home. First of all, the Free-For-All council has held a vote nad we have our initial banlist.

Home Banlist

Pokemon Bans:
Annihilape
Arceus (all formes)
Calyrex-Ice
Calyrex-Shadow
Chi-Yu
Dialga
Dialga-Origin
Flutter Mane
Giratina
Giratina-Origin
Groudon
Iron Bundle
Koraidon
Kyogre
Landorus-Incarnate
Magearna
Mewtwo
Miraidon
Palafin
Palkia
Palkia-Origin
Rayquaza
Spectrier
Urshifu-Single-Strike
Zacian
Zacian-Crowned
Zamazenta

New Move Bans:
Last Respects

Unbans:
Houndstone

You can see the full voting record here

In accordance with Smogon's tiering policy, council votes require a super-majority to ban regular Pokemon, and to unban box cover legendaries that are Uber by default. This didn't actually have a big impact on the results, as almost all of the votes were a super-majority one way or the other. The only Pokemon that would have been banned with a majority vote but failed to pass the supermajority threshold is Hoopa-Unbound, which will we likely revote on after a few weeks to see how it plays out. We will also be paying close attention to many of the other Pokemon that did not receive a ban but are on our watch list, such as Regieleki and Ursaluna.

The Free-For-All council decided to unanimously follow OU's precedent and ban Last Respects. This means both formes of Basculegion and Houndstone will be legal in Free-For-All after Home drops.

But there are some big changes coming to Free-For-All, and we may as well start with the big dog, because the observant of you may have noticed something missing from the list of bans above.

Zamazenta-C
In a surprise turn of events, Zamazenta-C received a vote of 3 no ban, 1 abstain, and 1 ban, giving 75% supermajority for no-ban. We actually hadn't even discussed Zamazenta-C as part of the Home banlist. The council has discussed it several times before, including in Generation 8, as a potential candidate for unban. I put all the legendaries on the ballot just out of principle, and the votes were there to make the Shield Wolf legal in Generation 9 Free-For-All.

I'm excited to see how Zamazenta plays. With the nerf to its ability and its item slot locked up, it's very dependent on its high stats to perform. It relies on Wish partners or Rest to stay healthy, has limited options to set up, and is easily chipped down in a format where chip damage is a huge deal and racks up very fast. It also faces high competition from all the Steel-type alternatives. Lack of Leftovers is a huge problem for it. Overall, I expect this to be a fascinating addition to the metagame.

Landorus and Spectrier
For those that are unaware, Landorus-Incarnate and Spectrier were actually legal in Generation 8 Free-For-All. They were top threats, but they were held back due to their lack of reliable recovery and the sheer amount of bulk the metagame possessed to tank truly devastating hits. However, they were always on the cusp of being pushed over the edge. With Terastallization, Spectrier can deal with its lack of coverage options and break through would-be counters like Blissey or Umbreon. Meanwhile, Landorus now gets Nasty Plot and can use Terastallization to boost its Earth Power to reach truly insane levels of power. While these Pokemon were reasonable in Generation 8, with the buffs they received this generation we do not believe the meta can handle them anymore.

Ursaluna, Hoopa-Unbound, and Regieleki
These three avoided the ban-hammer and will be legal in Generation 9 Free-For-All, at least initially.

Hoopa-Unbound was the closest vote, with 3 ban to 2 no ban falling just a few percentage points short of a super-majority. This is a relatively slow format, so Hoopa's mediocre 80 base speed is not a serious concern for it. Its mixed offenses are practically impossible to wall, and due to how slow the metagame is it can outspeed most threats quite easily. Without knowing what set its running, you can't reliably switch anything in. Overall, the majority of the council is concerned that there just isn't good counterplay to this threat. We'll watch it carefully, but we will give it time before holding any re-vote.

Ursaluna was also a close vote, with a 2 ban to 3 no ban vote. Much like Hoopa-Unbound there is very little that can handle it, and it is incredibly bulky. With Rest for recovery and either Swords Dance or Sleep Talk this monster is an offensive powerhouse that is very difficult to remove. Overall, the sheer amount of power it brings to bear (no pun intended) leaves it without good answers. Unlike in a format like OU where its slow speed would hold it back, in this format speed is just not as important and its incredible bulk and ability to take chip damage is far more important. We'll pay close attention to this one and may hold a re-vote if it looks like it's too much.

Regieleki avoided the banhammer completely with a unanimous no ban vote, in spite of having been discussed as a potentially overpowered newcomer. There was some fear that with Tera Ice it could break through the Ground-types that had been flummoxing it previously. However, it's so fragile as to have severe consistency issues and is unlikely to be as strong in practice as it appears on paper. The biggest problem Regieleki had in Generation 8 was that if it clicked anything other than Volt Switch (or it got caught by someone switching to a Ground-type or using Protect) it had a very high risk of being KO'd. Terablast Ice is offensively terrifying, but Regieleki runs a mortal risk every time it tries to use it.

Buffed Pokemon
There are many Pokemon getting new moves to their movepools, and a few that are very impactful. Let's talk about a few of the standouts

Hippowdon
This A+ level threat in Generation 8 Free-For-All really fell from grace in SV. It faces steeper competition from more viable Ground-type competition (including newcomer Clodsire, and old favorite Gastrodon which is doing much better in the Generation 9 meta than it was in Generation 8) and it lost High Horsepower which made it a lot more passive. Well, Hippowdon is getting High Horsepower back! While it still faces higher competition, this should make it a harder hitting presence and a better fit on a wider variety of teams.

Charizard
With the addition of Roost, Charizard is once again worth consideration as a bulky attacker that can stay healthy throughout a match while putting on the pressure. It probably will only fit on Sun teams, an archetype that's only viable due to Walking Wake's power, but this should be enough to give this fan favorite some actual viability in the format.

Toxapex
It now gets Scald, finally giving it some offensive presence beyond Infestation. However, it still suffers from the banning of Toxic Spikes which has robbed it of one of its most important niches. It should be much more viable as a result of this, however.

Blissey and Chansey
Heal Bell has been restored to the movepool of the pink blobs, giving them the unique role as the only status curing option available in the metagame. Even with Toxic and Toxic Spikes banned, this is still invaluable for keeping your team healthy and at full performance. Many Pokemon can be ruined by burns, poison, or paralysis, and having the ability to cure their status can open up plays that are otherwise too risky to consider. While Blissey and Chansey are normally seen as stall Pokemon, in the context of FFA their cleric support is often in service of more offensive Pokemon, allowing you to use them a little more in the early-game without worrying about ruining key teammates that will be needed later.

The Newcomers
There are so many newcomers to go over, so let's just go through some highlights that have caught my eye as being interesting.

Arcanine-Hisui
Rock Head Head Smash and Flare Blitz with reliable recovery. This looks like a hard-hitter and I'm excited to use it. Its defensive typing is absolute trash, and you really want to use the terastallization offensively if at all. I'm not expecting it to be a metagame staple, but I'm excited to give it a try as it definitely has the tools to carve itself a niche in this format.

Zapdos-Galar
One of our best wallbreakers from Generation 8 is returning. Thunderous Kick provides it a way to break through Dondozo, which cannot take the defense drops, and also allows it a Fighting STAB that doesn't drop its defense. As with last generation, its biggest problem is that offensive teams are going to want to run classic Kantonian Zapdos as their Defogger, which runs into species clause issues if you want to use this as your wallbreaker.

Slowking-Galar
One of our best regenerator pivots returns, and this time Toxapex isn't overshadowing it. Galarian Slowking has that nice balance of offensive presence and staying power that makes it useful on all kinds of teams, and with Toxic Spikes banned its ability to spread poison with Sludge Bomb is more valuable than ever.

Heatran
A wickedly good stallbreaker, in a format that really appreciates good stallbreakers. With terastallization to get around its notorious Ground weakness, Heatran could become an incredibly strong contender in this new metagame. Its ability to just shut down enemies with Magma Storm plus Taunt is very difficult to handle, although it does rely on Wish passing for recovery.

Tornadus-Therian
It gets Regenerator and has good offense and bulk. While it has lost Defog so it can't fill that role, it should still have some viability as an offensive regenerator. We can already see this in our format with Amoonguss of all things having success with offensive sets. So I suspect Tornadus may have a good place in the metagame.

Thundurus-Therian
A great electric-type wallbreaker, but suffers due to lack of reliable recovery. It didn't really shine much in the last generation, but it definitely has the potential to make a showing this generation.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike
While Urshifu will appreciate that Toxapex is less prevalent in this meta, it still suffers the problem of being reliant on Choice Band to put in work and Close Combat as a Fighting-STAB which means it can take a lot of damage whenever it needs to use that. It remains to be seen how it will fare in this meta. The addition of Swords Dance is an interesting option, but Urshifu really benefits from immediate power of a Choice Band so I suspect that will remain its standard set in Free-For-All. However, Swords Dance will provide some alterantive.

Zarude
A niche but viable wallbreaker from last generation, this generation its ability to cure its own status ailments will be much more valuable. Moreover, it has a much better type matchup this generation. Last generation it lost typing-wise to the premier Unaware user, Clefable. This generation it has a super-effective STAB over Dondozo and Skeledirge. It remains to be seen whether this will be a major contender.