Here's some of my thoughts and a team. Been laddering a little the last week due to lockdown.
I think offense is always the strongest style in this tier - especially in a best of 1 setting where you can really take advantage of the balance of power/lack of team preview to create situations that your opponent can't respond to. However, I think it is still pretty unexplored/unsolved compared to other generations, where template offense teams find a lot of success even against opponents with perfect information.
I wanted to try "solve" Froslass offense. Froslass is pretty okay Spiking turn 1 and has a lot of other utility (twave, spinblocking, forcing choice lock mons). Here are the guys:
Froslass team
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A few things this team has achieved:
- Extremely luck resistant (only two moves below 100% accuracy plus always being on the front foot and having many moves with great secondary effects).
- Super Jirachi resistant (number one goal of this team actually - to ensure a Jirachi can't snowball it).
- Favourable match-up against Clefable builds provided Swampert can be chipped early.
- Currently first on the showdown ladder with 90% GXE (been up against a lot of noobs to be fair / what is a good GXE in DP anyway?).
Some general notes:
- Thunder Wave is clicked first most of the time - speed control (particularly to facilitate Metagross rocking) is important and it can go a long way against some of Froslass' common switches. Icy Wind is a secondary Thunder Wave which can be clicked against Azelf, Aerodactyl and sash users.
- Metagross was chosen for SR specifically for its match ups against Jirachi, Clefable and Starmie. ThunderPunch is chosen to pressure Skarmory and Starmie. Jirachi needs both Wish and Fire Punch to beat this guy even without Earthquake.
- I think DD Tar is the best sweeper in the tier, probably by a long way. Sandwiching him between Gyarados and Dragonite sweep attempts makes set up extremely easy as well.
- Double-Edge and Substitute are both super useful on Gyarados. Double-Edge is his best second move and Substitute is great helping with some unfavourable match ups (e.g. lead Metagross). This was the last guy I settled on - was trying to find something with a bit more immediate power, but he's so strong after a boost, especially early in the game. I need the resistances too.
- Dragonite is usually seen last and usually sets up on some choice-locked fighting/earth move. Breloom switch.
- Copycat Lucario has a lot of applications. The most reliable use is Copycat boom if you have a numerical advantage (or even a 2-2 depending on Tar/Gyara health). My favourite is +1 Gyarados against Skarmory with a couple of layers down, knowing that if I don't flinch/crit then there is a ~33% chance Lucario is coming in on the Whirlwind and sweeping with a reverse phase. I tried build a U-turn component into this team as well, but this team can't afford to waste any time. Lucario really takes advantage of the Spikes anyway and Gyarados/Metagross are super reliable at revealing the fight resists early game to allow for a CC clean.
- I tried to focus on sequencing/patterns of play and building a team that makes moves over multiple turns if that makes sense. These five guys really take advantage of their resistances and redundancies so well, and we've seen them so often on other builds (e.g screens offense).
- I'm glad to have finally ironed this out as I have had ~90% of the team in my head for a while.
Where this team could be improved:
- Skarmory and Rotom are annoying, but the redundancies against these two often work in my favour as these guys become a little too eager to come out early.
- Lack of immediate fire power (70% to Swampert is my barometer) to force out annoying Pokemon without resorting to Explosion. I possibly need a Life Orb somewhere.
- Metagross is a bit slow for setting Stealth Rock (Garchomp would be nice here).
- Do I get more mileage by just dropping Froslass for Azelf and changing Metagross (possibly to a mixed Jirachi)? Weirdly, I think there could be room for a Specs Latias somewhere too.
badabing - PM me if you're lurking