GG Open is finally over, so I guess it's time to teamdump and give some thoughts on the meta.
Pretty sure everybody can agree that Koraidon and Miraidon being overcentralized makes the meta pretty stale somewhat, as Pex and Ting-Lu are like on every team. While there are other answers for the two such as Clodsire, Toedscruel, Dachsbun and Skeledirge, Clodsire seems to have fallen out of favor (which is kind of weird considering it has reliable recovery and Toxic), and other answers are either too niche (Dachsbun) or still lose to some of the sets and require another check-in/Tera (Skeledirge is 2HKOed by Band Dragon Claw/Scarf Outrage or the rising Stomping Tantrum, Toedscruel and Iron Treads lose to Overheat from Miraidon).
The only way you can afford to go more lax on them is with offense, usually Web, but it's tough to still take all of their sets into account (Scarf especially), as we see many teams still have to run Ting-Lu on offense so it's limiting teambuilding to the extent that I feel not very healthy (but not much we can do when they are the only gods, the overcentralization is pretty much unavoidable pre-Home). There are definitely some underutilized Pokemon though, like Hippowdon which can handle Koraidon pretty well bar Band while also acting as Ground-type for Miraidon. Then you can opt for some pretty unique offensive threats as well, which I'll get to when dumping teams. Overall, there are still rooms for innovation, albeit limited. I'm really looking forward to Home and hope we can get a fresh look into just how great GG's potential in gen 9 is!
Now to the team dump part, do note that I will mark some of them as bad, so be careful when using them. I also already lost some teams, but only one of them is still legal.
- Start of gen 9 stall
I made this at the start of gen 9, but it still works pretty well now so I figure I can just keep it. It probably can be adjusted a bit for new meta like a sturdier Psychic answer but it fares pretty well even against some hazard stack teams.
- Smash spam
Remember my gen 8 Shell Smash team? Well currently there are only 4 FE Shell Smash users so I have to substitute one with Fillet Away which is close. You will want to focus on different order against threats. Veluza can more often than not clean fat/stall due to their overeliance on Unaware, Protect is not the most necessary but being able to scout for Choice Miraidon and Lokix can give it 2 Fillet Away, as well as improve the Lokix balance matchup. Against the standard Pex-Lu core, it will depend on what else they have but Torkoal will usually be your first sack to weaken Ting-Lu. The team definitely lacks a sturdy Miraidon answer which is why Drednaw, Torkoal and Veluza should carefully take advantage of Tera to sweep. Miraidon being a screen setter is pretty nice when opponent expects the usual set and goes Ting-Lu, allowing screens to go up pretty reliably. Drednaw and Veluza will be the main deterrent against Koraidon, especially when it's choice locked. When all else fails, hope Cloyster gets you out of jail with flinches.
- Psychic Terrain
While Miraidon's dominance makes Psychic Terrain a bit sketchy, it certainly can still work. Koraidon is obviously the only god to bolster Hawlucha and Armarouge (Armarouge can 2HKO Ting-Lu in sun). You might be able to get away with Weak Armor on Armarouge but I like having an extra Koraidon answer. Speaking of which, Tera Fairy on Pex is probably better for Koraidon, which can spam Dragon moves until Indeedee Tera. Do note that NEVER lead with Indeedee against Miraidon; if it's Scarf then it's ok, but if it's not you will reveal Scarf Indeedee and also have no terrain.
- Electric Terrain BO
This doesn't look that special, however do note I made this before AV Pex was a thing in OU. Otherwise though, there isn't much special about this. Tauros is a pretty decent secondary answer to Koraidon and Brute Bonnet as well. I went with Muscle Bond Iron Leaves cause I kinda hated LO recoil when Wild Charge is already there.
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MEME - Ultimate Necromancer
Inspired by my team from an OMM, I gave birth to this abomination. Meme rating:
Pro: 6-0 stall since you can just keep reviving and nuking, the surprise element can also claim an early kill or two against unaware opponents which means they might lack offensive gas after to prevent the necromancy. Con: Ting-Lu survives Final Gambit, much worse when your opponent knows what you are up to. It's a funny meme nonetheless, with Pawmot also preventing Miraidon from clicking Electric moves somewhat. Mabosstiff's Destiny Bond can be pretty rough as well, between Stakeout to discourage switches and Taunt to force Destiny Bond mindgame. Rabsca has Dig cause it can't be called by Sleep Talk.
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BAD - Pressure
I made a pretty annoying Pressure spam team in gen 8. This is pretty annoying as well, annoyingly bad that is. There simply are not enough Pressure mons atm, but Home will change it soon. Weak against both Koraidon, Miraidon and various other threats, you will lose before they run out of PP most of the time.
- UNTESTED - Dragonite balance
The idea is you overload the special walls for other special attackers. Iron Jugulis especially feasts on Ting-Lu and Clodsire with Taunt and Knock Off, which helps against Pex as well. Dragonite acts as the anti offense option and can clean depending on situations after forcing opponent to sack physical walls. The team still comes with nice defensive utility on offensive mons so even against stuffs like Tera Flying Gholdengo you have other mons to aid, but will need to be played faster. Iron Treads can take advantage of many Ground-weak teams, so be sure to utilize it carefully, as answers like Rotom-W, Ting-Lu and Corviknight don't like Knock Off + Volt Switch at all.
- Snow
Admittedly, this can use some tweaking cause Fire-types, especially with Koraidon, can seriously be problematic. Your best bet will be trying to win with Slowking into Beartic before getting overwhelmed. However, snow isn't very good to begin with due to Koraidon so not much you can do. Rotom will be the main tool to tear apart defense core and force Tera, as it's quite bulky under Snow and has very strong coverage. The last moveslot can be customized a bit, like Sub or WoW, but Idk what the best option is yet. Beartic similarly is tough to cover with Earthquake to hit Pex, Tera Blast is for Rotom-Wash and Dondozo basically. Decidueye is a pretty good hazard removal option since it can actually threaten Gholdengo with Knock, but still against hazard stack it's best trying to win first.
Grouping these 2 together cause they are probably not very serious teams. Basically, I saw no reason to do anything truly innovative when QT not only kept using the same 2 teams, but also in the exact same order. Some takes can still be drawn here though: 1. Alomomola is pretty good, it can trap and annoy quite a fair share of mons, but needs to Tera often as Pex is still better at handling most mons. 2. Tera Flying Magic Bounce can be pretty broken, though here I initially wanted to run Morning Sun which is why I used Espeon instead of Hatterene, but since you really need all 3 attacks + Sub I eventually settled with Hatterene for later teams 3. You need to build Web with Hatterene in mind and prevent it from getting in constantly and the team must still be functional without Web. Here even if QT realized my blatant cteam and changed Washtom to Hatterene, Masquerain could still force chips on it with Air Slash + U-turn which eventually weakened it enough. 4. Volcarona can randomly 6-0 more often than you think.
- Wack Web
This time, I wanted an actual Web team since VoltyPichu used more teams but with no hazard removal outside of Hatt, but to divert a bit from Gholdengo I needed to spice things up. Spidops is here with Tera Ghost to not only spinblock, but also 252+ Atk Stakeout Tera Ghost Spidops Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hatterene: 386-456 (95.5 - 112.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO. It can also act as an emergency revenge killer if somehow still alive. Bisharp punishes Defog, a pretty standard set from gen 8 except no Knock. Donphan is another emergency answer against boosted threats and also the team spinner. Ceruledge is just a good mon, especially with sun.
- Tinkaton + NP Slowbro
Continuing prepping for VoltyPichu, Rock Tinkaton seems like a surefire way to get hazards up. Remember NP Glowking in gen 9? Here's him now. The rest are pretty ordinary.
- UNTESTED - Regen
Sadly there's no Ho-Oh yet, but 5 Regen should be good enough. Slowbro and Miraidon will be the ones to force progress, while others just do what they are supposed to. Alomomola can also trap Pex and kill it with Psychic.
- Mixed Cinderace
While a centralized meta means it's not necessary to find a mixed attacker, getting one that works is still pretty nice. Even though I ended up not even sending it out, Cinderace can surprise Pex with Electro Ball, bonus point if in Terrain, and just chip Ting-Lu with U-turn for free. Hatt does what my Espeon did but better.
- MEME? - Unburden spam
Idk what compelled me to make this, but here it is. Turns out you might still need Ting-Lu in offense. The rest have a lot of Taunt to make sure walls stay low while we can set up without worrying about hazard. I expect this to just be a meme, but who knows, my memes sometimes work way beyond my expectations.
- Dual trappers
If you think this team looks crippingly weak to Ground, you are already one step into my trap, much like FC did. Roaring Moon is pretty similar to that Fluffy set it runs in AAA, but it still needs to run Max Attack cause turns out it needs +6 AND Protosynthesis to OHKO Koraidon from full. It can definitely just 6-0 though against something that expects its usual set like Ting-Lu. I did try finding the best item, from Lum Berry, Rocky Helmet to Leftovers. After the final, Covert Cloak seems like the most appealing option if the trend of AV Pex keeps up. Cyclizar is literally the definition of utility, it put in so much work and chip damage at the same time, I expect it to rise more in usage as well, with stuffs like SpD Vest and SpA utility Overheat+Draco. Gengar does exactly what it's meant to, walls switching in simply can't risk clicking Recover even if your opponent knows the set. In sun, it's solid against Pex and Sludge Bomb poison is just annoying. Once walls are weakened by Gengar, Koraidon will do the cleanup.