PiC Partners in Crime

Frixel

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I was going to make a dump after TPP, but since i forgot (I'm lazy) I will just post the favourite teams I have built
(press the pokemon for the paste)
Won't really comment on the team, just on possible changes and/or background

TPP vs Zoe
:tornadus::gholdengo::thundurus-therian::iron hands::volcanion::amoonguss:
The idea for this week was to avoid getting cheesed at all costs.

I just built around :volcanion::tornadus::amoonguss: and, after some versions, ended with this.

Notes:
  • Both iron hands and amoonguss carry protect due to finding themselves often with volcanion on the field. It would be possible to run clear smog on amoonguss, whatever on hands and whatever on volcanion; however, I think haze is a lot better and more versatile than clear smog
  • This team was made pre-DLC, but I still find it awesome whenever I'm playing with Hizo, although a little tweaking here and there would make it very good
  • Thundurus would probably enjoy a different set, but I haven't found a way to fit everything I want to (most of the time it will be used to pair with :tornadus: or :volcanion:

TPP vs Clas
:landorus::amoonguss::tornadus::tinkaton::orthworm::heatran:
I was going to build Sand Force Landorus

Notes:
  • This team was also made pre-DLC
  • A good worm team is composed of: worm + prankster + regenerator (Hizo :tm:)
  • Tinkaton has 5 less base SPA than base ATT and I think the special set would fit much more here (even though 80% of the time the objective is to press fake out or abuse mold breaker)
  • Tornadus could theoretically run Rain Dance to guarentee 100% on Bleakind or Sandsear Storm (which are boosted by Sheer Force)

TAILROOM HO (Europe's semifinals and finals)
:chien-pao::dragonite::ogerpon-hearthflame::diancie::ursaluna::rillaboom:
Notes:
  • This 6 is a sample now

Sneasler
:sneasler::indeedee-F::ogerpon-wellspring::roaring moon::landorus-therian::kingambit:
Notes:
  • This team was made for Hizo to play Hugo and is a bit untested
  • Sneasler + Moon are very good at creating pressure on the opponent because moon will outspeed everything (even if the opp has tw)
  • The team in general can be improved, the idea is there, but the fit still isn't

TPP vs Xrn
:iron bundle::regieleki::ninetales-alola::shaymin-sky::raichu-alola::volcanion:
  • This team is insanely fun to play (skymin is banned and it needs adjustments regardless)
  • I'm mostly sharing because it's fun

I don't think it would be fair for me to make a PiC post and not give a special mention to Instruct, who most certainly the sole reason of the ungodly amount of time that I have dedicated to playing this. Thank you for all the games we played and all the support/help you have game me, you're truly a great friend!
 

HiZo

我が為に苦しめ。我が為に狂い泣け。我が為に死ね。
is a Programmeris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus

yuki

Huh? Me? Not this time...
is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderatoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
With the release of The Indigo Disk, it's time to announce Partners in Crime's new set of quickbans!

First and foremost, the expected Doubles Ubers Pokemon have been banned, these are: Ho-Oh, Kyurem-White, Lugia, Lunala, Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, Reshiram, Solgaleo, Zekrom

Kyurem-B
:sv/Kyurem-Black:
Kyurem-Black will start as legal. Kyurem-B was an everpresent part of the Gen 8 Partners in Crime metagame thanks to its great stats and Teravolt - but never verging on broken at any point. This generation it feels a little more contentious, with Tera giving it plenty more options both offensively and defensively, as well as Loaded Dice giving it access to consistently good STAB moves in Scale Shot and Icicle Spear. Teravolt has taken a slight hit with the introduction of Ability Shield, as well.

Terapagos
We initially decided to wait on Terapagos to see what was happening with regards to Terapagos-Stellar. It seems that there isn't a clause to just ban Terapagos-Stellar, and thus in line with Tiering Policy, we are going to ban Terapagos. Terapagos-Terastal, while slightly annoying, only really benefited itself with a free turn while not having the ability to Tera (in a world where Terapagos-Stellar doesn't exist). This made it perhaps just a slightly better than average legendary. Terapagos-Stellar is where things get too crazy, unfortunately. The additional bulk, the higher base stats, unlimited boosts from Tera Stellar and spread Tera Starstorm make it just an absolute menace to deal with.

Contrary
:sv/Serperior: :sv/Enamorus: :sv/Malamar:
Initially, we just banned Enamorus back in DLC 1 as it was definitely the overwhelming force among Contrary Pokemon. With Serperior now in the game, Stellar Tera Blast giving some extra access to readily available stat drops, and even stronger stat-dropping nuke options such as Deoxys' Psycho Boost, Contrary has reached critical mass with the amount of annoying, broken things it can do. This same trend happened in Gen 8, and it's clear that it needs to be stopped now before it's inevitably deemed as far to broken to handle. This does also mean that Enamorus is once again legal, however it will only have access to Cute Charm.

Tagging Kris to ban Contrary and unban Enamorus.

Smeargle
:sv/Smeargle:
Remember the last time we had a redirector with access to Shell Smash? This is a recipe for absolute disaster in and of itself, but Smeargle does more than just pass these two moves. It passes every single move in the game. This means every single game where a Smeargle is present turns into a guessing game of "What does this thing have?" Will it have Fake Out? Will it have Follow Me + Shell Smash/Tail Glow? Will it be passing the Gholdengo Astral Barrage? Will it be passing the Chien-Pao Glacial Lance? With seemingly unlimited options of setup + redirection, broken moves, and endless supportive options, this is far too volatile for the meta.

Deoxys
:sv/Deoxys-Attack: :sv/Deoxys:
All Deoxys formes will be starting as legal. It's quite clear that with Expanding Force, Deoxys is going to be immensely good. Psyspam has the avenue to be a great archetype once again, but we feel at this point despite its strength, there is still sufficient counterplay to the Deoxys formes. Attack and Base are the two main formes to look at here as they are boasting the highest attacking stats of the group. That being said, they are made of paper, and will faint to the slightest breeze. Any decently strong spread move will pick them up, and there's very little that its partner Indeedee-F can actually do about that. Additionally, Rillaboom is still going to be exceptionally strong in DLC2, giving some additional counterplay to Psyspam in general. Lastly, there are still enough relevant Dark-types in the meta that can put up more than enough of a fight into Psyspam such as Ting-Lu, Incineroar, and Kingambit.
 
They literally prevent me to use this succesfully more than one time The idea is Easy, pass Supersweet Syrup to the foe and gain +2 in Evasion
Hydrapple @ Black Sludge
Ability: Supersweet Syrup
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Draco Meteor
- Tera Blast
- Pollen Puff



Malamar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Skill Swap
- Superpower
- Stored Power
- Knock Off



Armarouge @ Mirror Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Overheat
- Trick Room
- Armor Cannon



Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute
- Helping Hand
 

HiZo

我が為に苦しめ。我が為に狂い泣け。我が為に死ね。
is a Programmeris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
They literally prevent me to use this succesfully more than one time The idea is Easy, pass Supersweet Syrup to the foe and gain +2 in Evasion
Hydrapple @ Black Sludge
Ability: Supersweet Syrup
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Draco Meteor
- Tera Blast
- Pollen Puff



Malamar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Skill Swap
- Superpower
- Stored Power
- Knock Off



Armarouge @ Mirror Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Overheat
- Trick Room
- Armor Cannon



Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute
- Helping Hand
Contrary was banned a few days ago and should be implemented soon, my condolences to your strategy.
 


Got to number 2 on the ladder with my funny extremely bad gimmick team (and coulda made it further if people were playing while I'm awake, darn time zones). Set up TR, Skill Swap Intimidate, get to +4, nuke stuff with Expanding Force. Even if you can't get the gimmick off psyspam is just plain good.

Memes aside gotta say that Hitmontop is the unsung support hero of DLC2. So many mons rely on spread (the genies' signature moves, Expanding Force, self proc Discharge/Surf/Lava Plume, Eruption, Make it Rain) and forcing them into 50/50s on top of double Intimidate for physical sweepers and access to Fake Out, Feint, Coaching, Helping Hand, and Quick Guard is so good. Truly the little beyblade that could

Capture.PNG
 
Last edited:
Screenshot 2023-12-23 at 12.04.15 PM.png


Been sitting at #1 since last week with a psyspam team I built during Gen 8 PiC and I wanted to share it!

Couple notes on the team:
- I use a really bulky spread on Articuno-G because it increases odds that I'm able to get the skill swap intimidate combo off and that once its off, I can stay on the field for really long. Moreover, there are diminishing returns on running SpA investment because at +4, STAB expanding force in terrain OHKOs almost everything with 0 EV's.
- Psych Up on Indeedee is really good. When a +4 Articuno and +0 Indeedee are sitting on the field, the opponent almost always doubles into the +4 Articuno, allowing you to safely protect and psych up because psych up will go through the protect. Similarly, if Articuno is already OHKO'ing everything, the best way to maintain pressure is to pass the stat buffs over to Indeedee as well, who can pass the +4 SpA to the rest of the team when Articuno goes down.
- Prankster Tornadus gives another dimension to the team and lets it operate outside of Trick Room. Also, switching in Tornadus while Articuno clicks Recover allows you to extend the game.
- Moltres-G functions as a self-sustaining partner who synergizes with anyone on the board. Switching into the field if you expect Berserk to proc is a great way to get extra damage, and I've taken a number of KO's with Nasty Plot + Fiery Wrath Incineroar.
- Thundurus Therian helps shore up the glaring electric weakness on the team and functions as a wallbreaker that doesn't need stat buffs to take knockouts. In particular, it is very effective against Clefable and Dondozo

Considerations:
- I picked all of the tera types really quickly, and for the most part, it's been fine
- Might use Tera Blast instead of Recover on Articuno so I can hit dark types without having to switch another mon in (I'm using Recover just because that's what I used last gen and there are a lot of scenarios where I can outstall an opponent with Recover because of how much bulk I have)

Here's the team!
https://pokepast.es/afa13e72efafcd62
 

yuki

Huh? Me? Not this time...
is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderatoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
DLC 2 State of Play
We've had a little bit of time to play around with the new toys introduced in The Indigo Disk, and we think it's time to evaluate some of the options that we think are going to be good moving forward - as well as some of the winners and losers from DLC 1.

Psyspam
:SV/Indeedee-F: :SV/Hoopa-Unbound: :SV/Deoxys-Attack: :SV/Necrozma:
Clearly one of the biggest winners of DLC 2 is Psyspam, with Expanding Force finally returning with some decent distribution. Despite Indeedee-F not regaining access to it, newcomers Hoopa-U and Deoxys-A sport the strongest Expanding Forces in the game, while Necrozma has returned as a decently strong option with far superior bulk. Past the Expanding Force users, the rest of the Psyspam team looks fairly standard with options in Incineroar, Landorus-T, Amoonguss, Sinistcha and such remaining as good bulky options to fill out the rest of the team. Any team featuring Indeedee-F also become prime candidates to run big setup attackers such as Kyurem-B and Gholdengo fairly easily, making teams not as one dimensional.


Fullroom
:SV/Porygon2: :SV/Hatterene: :SV/Ursaluna: :SV/Hydrapple:
Sequel to Psyspam, Fullroom has a lot of promise in DLC 2 thanks to the return of Porygon2. Download is one of the truly great abilities in Partners in Crime, thanks to reactivating for the partner each time Porygon2 switches in. It's also exceptionally synergistic with one of Trick Room's exciting new toys, Hydrapple. Porygon2 loves to pivot to get more uses of Download for the team after setting Trick Room, and having a big attacker that both appreciates free Special Attack boosts and access to Regenerator is a massive boon for the playstyle. Past this, Hatterene regaining Expanding Force makes it a viable slower option for Psyspam TRs, as well as Diancie and Indeedee-F remaining as fairly viable TR setters themselves. Iron Hands, Ursaluna and such remain as exceptionally strong attackers, with the former able to run Clear Amulet Swords Dance thanks to the prominence of Indeedee-F as a partner.

Rain
:SV/Pelipper: :SV/Kingdra: :SV/Archaludon:
Rain appears to be at its most promising point of the whole generation. Kingdra seems to be the preferred Swift Swimmer, as it is the only special Swift Swimmer that can outspeed the likes of Booster Energy Iron Boulder. Additionally, Muddy Water returning as a TM is also huge for Rain, as it finally has a decent spread move, helpful for taking down Deoxys-A even when Indeedee-F is on the field. Archaludon is perhaps the most exciting new addition, with a really nice Steel/Dragon-typing as well as Electro Shot as good coverage and a nice boosting move for the team. With the team also requiring a Mold Breaker-like effect to get through the like of Volcanion and Ogerpon-W's Water Absorb, Triple Dragon is totally justified with Kyurem-B being an extra option for the team - potentially leading to ideas such as Dragon Cheer Archaludon long term. Rain's only real drawback seems to be the competition in the weather department, with the next two archetypes both giving it some stiff competition.

Sun
:SV/Torkoal: :SV/Lilligant-Hisui: :SV/Walking Wake: :SV/Raging Bolt:
Sun appears to have gained the least of the weathers, but it was already by far the best of the bunch. The only real difference between DLC 1 and 2 Sun is that it has access to a few new Protosynthesis users, as well as regaining Kyurem-B itself to break through the likes of Heatran and Armarouge's Flash Fire. Raging Bolt is perhaps the most exciting new tool for the team, with its Electric-typing being helpful in taking down otherwise problematic foes such as Volcanion and Manaphy.


Sand
:SV/Tyranitar: :SV/Excadrill: :SV/Iron Boulder:
Sand might finally have some viability this generation, without having to resort to Serene Grace as a bad gimmick. Excadrill is by and away the best Sand Rusher available, as was the case in Generation 8. Tyranitar is still in a weird position of viability, with it only really being amazing at providing the Sand for Excadrill and Iron Boulder. Iron Boulder is a fun new toy for Sand, with it being a very fast, pretty strong, and exceptionally bulky attacker in Sand. Mighty Cleave is a great new addition for the team, letting it bypass Protect and gain value from its limited Sand turns. This team does show a few notable weaknesses, however. Notably, its weakness to Fighting-, Water- and Ground-types such as Iron Hands, Kingdra, and Landorus-T leaves it with a fairly big hole to fill. As well as this, it is naturally a very physical team, meaning Intimidate-deterrents are very valuable. The most natural option for this appears to be Ogerpon-Teal, with its Defiant providing an effective deterrent to Incineroar and Landorus-T while also giving the team a much needed Water and Ground resist.


Stall
:SV/Garganacl: :SV/Deoxys-Defense: :SV/Ting-Lu:
When the metagame starts to focus around big attacking archetypes, you can be sure that the few really good defensive Pokemon will be around to slow things down a bit. Garganacl seems to be in a really nice patch of viability, despite the presence of Rain, Ogerpon and Gholdengo in the metagame. Wide Guard is very helpful for this team to shut down the likes of Gholdengo's Make It Rain and any Expanding Force. Salt Cure is also exceptionally forcing, giving the team better odds into Rain as it forces it onto a really heavy clock. Deoxys-D is not exactly a replacement for Cresselia due to its lack of Lunar Blessing, however Cosmic Power is particularly useful for this team to set up nigh on impenetrable walls. This archetype also has no issue pivoting into Hazardstack, with Roar Volcanion being a natural addition to the team, as well as multiple users of Stealth Rock or Spikes allowing the main hazards to fit onto the team easily.


Skill Swap Competitive
:SV/Articuno-Galar: :SV/Incineroar:
This is by far the most popular team I have seen on the ladder, and I personally don't understand it. As we saw in Generation 8, there are better ideas to use overall than this. This team sports a particularly negative matchup into Sand, which can just outspeed and ruin the main pieces of the idea. Additionally, Skill Swap gimmicks have become increasingly more difficult to even use this generation, with Gholdengo's Good as Gold, Ability Shield, Protosynthesis, and Quark Drive completely blocking the move from succeeding, leading to wasted turns. I think this team can be a bit of fun to use, but when facing some of the absolute top archetypes (in our opinions), it tends to fall flat as better players on better teams just don't let this combo work freely.

Priority Spam
:SV/Chien-Pao: :SV/Dragonite: :SV/Rillaboom:
Priority Spam is probably the biggest loser overall in the transition from DLC 1 to DLC 2.
Psyspam is at its absolute peak, making this team an absolute nightmare to face. In addition, it requires absolutely precise positioning in order to have Rillaboom coming in at the right times to take Psychic Terrain down, as well as having Dragonite (or a Defiant user) in when Incineroar is likely to switch in. There is likely still some room in the meta to see a more balance-oriented version of this archetype exist, with Incineroar Rillabom being a good core overall, and Chien-Pao being a great beneficiary of the introduction of Tera Stellar. It's by no means completely unviable, but the meta seems to be fairly against it at this stage, and it'll likely just require a little more creativity in order to get going

Balance
:SV/Incineroar: :SV/Kyurem-Black::SV/Amoonguss: :SV/Mew:
By far my favourite archetype to use since the launch of Indigo Disk, a really standard Balance idea feels like it finally has all of the necessary tools to be an amazing pick in the meta. Beforehand, Intimidate was somewhat complicated to have on these teams, with Landorus-T having to act as an Intimidate pivot with Stealth Rock in order to get by. Incineroar is a direct upgrade, with Fake Out, Knock Off, and Parting Shot all proving to be amazing tools to allow the common setup Pokemon on the team such as Dragon Dance Kyurem-B, Nasty Plot Gholdengo, and Swords Dance Iron Hand to all thrive. Mew has proven itself to be a great utility Pokemon for these teams with access to Tailwind or Trick Room as speed control, Stealth Rock, and Coaching. Rillaboom is an option that loves to receive Coaching boosts, as well as disrupting Psyspam very well, where Amoonguss provides Regenerator healing, redirection, and the ever-annoying Spore. This team also appreciates any immediately good bulky attackers, such as Raging Bolt, that can draw attention to itself while the rest of the team positions itself or sets up.

...And because it's Christmas, I feel it would be in the spirit of the season to reveal the team I have been using since the DLC released.

:Incineroar::Amoonguss::Gholdengo::Kyurem-Black::Mew::Raging Bolt: (Click the Pokemon for the Pokepaste!)
 

HiZo

我が為に苦しめ。我が為に狂い泣け。我が為に死ね。
is a Programmeris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
:sv/Kyurem-Black:
Kyurem-Black is banned from Partners in Crime
Kyurem-Black returned to this generation with a vengeance! While it was healthy in Generation 8, this generation's new tools have made it too much to handle. Loaded Dice gives it reliably strong STAB moves in Icicle Spear and Scale Shot, while Clear Amulet gives it the massive buff of being able to ignore Intimidate. Not to mention Terastal, which allowed it to flip matchups on its head exchanging its current weaknesses for a better defensive typing. While more supportive or mixed sets exist, Dragon Dance sets have been incredibly dangerous to face due to Dragon + Electric coverage 2HKOing everything in sight with enough setup. Typical checks in Intimidate fail due to Clear Amulet forgoing the need of other Intimidate blockers on the team, burns being negated by either Good as Gold or Tera Fire, and stat resetting moves such as Haze and Clear Smog hard to fit on certain teamstyles. Overall, this Pokemon has started to warp the tier around it in a way that isn't healthy, and is therefore banned.

tagging Kris to implement
 

HiZo

我が為に苦しめ。我が為に狂い泣け。我が為に死ね。
is a Programmeris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Small teamdump considering majors is almost up

:Lilligant-Hisui::Entei::Tornadus::Ogerpon-Hearthflame::Torkoal::Raging Bolt:
Decent sun that requires the user to play aggressively. Used vs. Frixel in Doubles USA vs. World to success. Won a few games in majors too.

:Ninetales-Alola::Kyurem::Gholdengo::Blastoise::Whimsicott::Farigiraf:
Blastoise is back and that means shell smash useable too. Screens is always pretty funny and combined with other new techs like Dragon Cheer makes this team super fun to play. Won in majors to some effect.

:Comfey::Iron Hands::Hydrapple::Gholdengo::Incineroar::Porygon2:
Triage is super fun, but the team is not in the best place vs Psyspam so I want to remake this eventually. It plays like a semiroom but feels more like a balance.

:Raging Bolt::Orthworm::Gholdengo::Ogerpon-Wellspring::Tornadus::Iron Bundle:
Shed Tail is one of my favorite playstyles and honestly Raging Bolt really fits here considering Orthworm. I should remake this as the team has hard time recovering.

:Ursaluna::Amoonguss::Gholdengo::Dragonite::Incineroar::Mew:
I don't know what it does but it works at least.

ty to dex hidin Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂ TTTech pannu for letting me feed teams for their majors run and for trying to learn to play the tier. Hope y'all keep playing.
 
:tyranitar: :excadrill: :zapdos-galar: :amoonguss: :volcanion: :incineroar:

This is a sand team ive been using a lot, and i feel its very good. Its based off of the current Sand Sample team.
I changed it to make it more of a bulkier offense, which really gives a lot of control in positioning.

I feel Sand is a very strong archtype right now, as :excadrill: is just such a threat. Steel/Ground is an amazing amazing typing rn and very hard to resist and also very hard to effectively hit. If you can get up one SD, it will claim a kill every turn for a lategame sweep. Especially if you spam protect with it and switch in your supporting mons to keep it alive. Just having it on your team threathens swapping it in on any given turn and doubling speed of your partner, forcing the opponent to play wary of it.

Tyranitar :tyranitar: is also a very respectable threat in its own right right now, having an extremely good matchup vs PsySpam and Trick Room teams and fending off weather. Sand is the weather that needs it the least, unlike the very all in Sun and Rain teams which gives you an advantage in the weather war. Dragon Tail is goated for bulky or setup teams like those Kommo-o / Gholdengo type of balances. Can really mess with peoples gameplans.

Galarian-Zapdos :zapdos-galar: is here as a replacement for Tornadus, as a source of flying type damage for the grass types in the tier. I didnt like how fast Tornadus died with the rocks weakness and such on this bulky offense kind of team. I think its an underrated mon in general. Even if Excadrill has a clear amulet as to not be dependent on support, this enables Tyranitar and even Incineroar to be offensive threats. Its a mon capable of getting a lot of ohkos which i like, or very close to it between Rocks + Sand chip and works great with Sand Rush.

:Volcanion: is here as another bulky attacker thats just meant to take sponge hits and hit them back. Im thinking it may need earth power right now to hit dragon types, probably over Haze. Any team with Exca + TTar is naturally going to be weak to water moves no matter how many other resists you have so having the Water Absorb support is nice.

Then the core of :amoonguss: + :incineroar: because theyre broken and resist everything and do everything. Amoonguss in particular has such good synergy with the other partners and heals up your entire team. You can also pass off super fast Spores with Sand Rush.
 
Good sinergies:
:kommo-o: + :ursaluna-bloodmoon:

double boomburst that doesn't hurt your allies and hits ghosts

:frosmoth: + :persian-alola:

with aurora veil on and hail, frosmoth can arrive to x6 defense, x4 spd. With such bulk (even uninvested), weakness policy can turn its multiple weakness into an advantage
 

HiZo

我が為に苦しめ。我が為に狂い泣け。我が為に死ね。
is a Programmeris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
:Deoxys-attack: Deoxys-Attack and Dragon Cheer are now banned from Partners in Crime! :scope lens:
So, it was revealed that Deoxys-A is super duper broken, you know, the one with 180 offenses and 150 speed? Who would've thought! Well, on top of it, the innate nature of the format makes explosive threats even more explosive. You can compound Deoxys-A with other threats, specifically those that can beat would be checks. Furthermore, PiC is no stranger to insane speed tiers, and while it is possible to outspeed it, it is equally possible for Deoxys-A to outspeed everything and OHKO them with Expanding Force. Combine this with an innate Psysurge immunity to priority as well as common tricks like ImprisonRoom to prevent the opponent from trying to get into an advantageous position, we simply have to ban it.


Dragon Cheer, on the other hand, is a weirder ban. There is no one abuser of Dragon Cheer, as any good Dragon-type with a useable offensive stat can abuse Scope Lens + Dragon Cheer. The current metagame has a fundamental lack of good, splashable, fairy types, which makes it all the easier to enable Dragon Cheer strategies. These kinds of teams also put a chokehold on bulkier setup, because any attempt to setup defensively would just get a guaranteed crit by a super duper strong Draco Meteor. While it wasn't as broken as Deoxys-Attack, it does feel rather stifling in terms of checking by forcing a (tera) fairy and/or dragon resist on every team.

After some discussion with the council, we realized that current metagame is currently quite explosive, but also very oriented to strong offensive teams. These two bans should give slower and bulkier teams more of a fighting chance. We hope everyone participating in open continues to enjoy the tier!

In other news, YoBuddy retired from council. Thank you for your service!
 

Evie

Nobody gets me like you
is a Tiering Contributor
:sv/landorus:
A- -> A+
Nomming this guy to A+, it hits really hard and has some super good synergies. The main pairing is with Tornadus, where it can fix Landorus's middling Speed tier and give Landorus a Sheer Force boosted, spread Flying STAB. It has good matchups into top threats such as Gholdengo, Incineroar, Iron Hands, Heatran, Raging Bolt, and Volcanion, and Ogerpon-W and Rillaboom with Tera Poison. Earth Power and Sludge Bomb is great coverage, and it can run a multitude of different third moves such as Sandsear Storm for a spread option, Substitute for Amoonguss and to take advantage of Protects, and even Imprison to stop Fake Out and Trick Room attempts alongside teammates like Incineroar and Sinistcha. Sheer Force boosts plenty of common moves in the metagame, such as Incineroar's Flare Blitz, Chien Pao's STAB moves, Raging Bolt's Thunderbolt, and a lot more; most Pokemon have at least one move that is Sheer Force boosted.

Example tournament replays of Landorus being really good:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9partnersincrime-756477
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-2098209193
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-2098213536
 

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