Metagame [SPOILERS] Generation 9 National Dex Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.

hi.naming is hard

disoriented birds
is a Site Content Manageris a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
pretty much

(excluding specs, standard agren spread)
Normal Gren spatk: 305
Normal Gren speed: 377
Normal Gren attack: 203

(excluding specs, standard agren spread)
AGren spatk: 405
AGren speed: 399
AGren attack: 293

(regular gren stats x 1.5)
New AGren spatk: 457
New AGren speed: 565
New AGren attack: 304


New AGren is p much a cleaner that is stronger and cant be revenge killed, however, it has to clean so you must eliminate the water resist or the dark resist first.
well that sucks, I actually like the ash gren sprite. Didn't they also nerf protean and libero to one time as well?
 
Anyone think that it would be better to ban the boosting item for the paradoxes than ban a bunch of individual mons? Obviously some are broken without the item but if the item is making multiple things broken, wouldn't it be better to ban the item? Kinda like banning drizzle instead of banning multiple swift swimmers.
 

Solaros & Lunaris

Hold that faith that is made of steel
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
Anyone think that it would be better to ban the boosting item for the paradoxes than ban a bunch of individual mons? Obviously some are broken without the item but if the item is making multiple things broken, wouldn't it be better to ban the item? Kinda like banning drizzle instead of banning multiple swift swimmers.
Given that the most proficient stat for many of the Paradox Pokemon is Speed, this seems unnecessary (various paradoxes need to run Modest/Adamant to boost their offensive stat, which loses out on alot of Speed benchmarks). In addition, Booster Energy is only used once, so it’s definitely not the item that’s broken here—it’s the Pokemon instead.

Speaking of Paradoxes, agreeing with R8 that Flutter Mane is just insane; 135/135 special offense with near unresisted STABs gives it the ability to mop offense (aka this gen’s playstyle) up and it’s even Weavile proof thanks to Pursuit neutrality, higher Speed, and Moonblast. Probably a day 1 or week 1 quickban, especially if Dragapult isn’t reallowed in the tier (Dragapult still loses of course, but its capable of ignoring Substitutes and is faster).

Next ban is likely to be Chien-Pao, given its equally insane offensive stats and great offensive typing. While the Ruin abilities aren’t fully understood (they don’t seem to be a full -1 but a good bit weaker), that doesn’t change the fact that it’s outrunning nearly the entire tier and has the manpower to utterly rip it apart. Bear in mind, though, that NatDex has solid revenge killers in Mega Scizor and Mega Lopunny, and it does face very niche competition with Weavile (who can still trap with Pursuit), but I don’t think it’s going to last very long.

Meowscarada, despite the Protean nerf, is an immense utility threat, getting all three of Spikes, U-turn, and Knock Off while not being hampered by bad Speed. Even its typing is not horrid, though that will hardly matter once it clicks a move. I expect it to at least outclass EuroGren especially after the Protean nerf, but time will tell if it begins to branch out into other niches.

Gholdengo has an incredible niche in this metagame; it punishes the use of Spikes with a free entry and is immune to many, many status moves while being a Ghost/Steel type to let it counter a number of offensive threats. Given its 133 Special Attack and Ghost STAB, it’s a perfect abuser of the hazards it protects as well. I highly doubt it’s going to be banworthy, but it’ll certainly be a threat to prepare for in the builder.

Tinkaton….sucks, due to its lack of real offensive power and facing compeition with more Steel-types than one can count. However, I wanted another Weavile counter, and this is GameFreak’s way of fulfilling my wish alongside Kingambit, so I will continue to pray to them for more things in the future (like an item that doubles Tinkaton’s Attack).

To wrap this up for now, I’ll bring attention to a current top 10 mon that seems really prominent in this metagame: Mega Lopunny. Nearly nothing new outruns it, and Scrappy lets it nuke most other Ghost-types—even Flutter Mane while it’s around. In addition, Fake Out and Quick Attack are perfect tools for revenge killing these fast, frail threats, especially with the aid of Spikes. Mega Scizor and Mega Medicham (now with CC) also have strong priority to help them keep pace in this new meta, but they can’t compete with Lopunny’s unresisted STABs and unmatched Speed. Therefore, I don’t think the new top 10 mons will be exclusively new—the rabbit will continue to see amazing usage.
 
Quaquaval seems insanely versatile ngl
The combination of moxie+signature move boosting speed is very nice, opening up and insanely snowbally band set that boosts its attack every kill and speed every turn, or a sub/taunt set that stacks up speed boosts on bulky mons while threatening offensive threates with potentially getting a KO with an attack boost.
The movepool is very cool as well, with access to Ice Spinner, CC, Taunt, U-Turn, Encore, Brave Bird, SD and potentially even Agility.
Not broken or anything, still has to compete with Urshifu RS which got SD, but overall looks like a funny mon
 
Not sure if this has been discussed yet but how will NatDex handle Terastalizing + Z-Move / Mega ? Will you make it so a Pokémon can do both? After all, Terastalizing doesn't take up an item slot. On the other hand, being able to do both could go out of hand.
 

S Rank

Basculegion
- Last Respects is a 50 BP Ghost-type move that gets stronger by 50 points depending on how much dead teammates you have. When every teammate you have is dead bar Basculegion, it is 300 BP. Basculegion also happens to get Adapatability and a base 112 Attack stat with it. I think you can figure everything out from there.
I dont think Basculegion is that good tbh. Sure its hard to switch into and has a silly comeback factor but its quite slow and not rlly that bulky. Its typing also isnt rlly good defensivly speaking since its vulnerable to pursuit which limits what it can do vs some teams. Taking adavantage of more defensive teams prob wont be that valuable in Gen 9 asw considuring the nerfs to those. Swift Swimm sets could be okay but rain is kinda limited in its temslots so idk. All in all just seems like another slow wallbreaker thats not hard to revenge
 
I dont think Basculegion is that good tbh. Sure its hard to switch into and has a silly comeback factor but its quite slow and not rlly that bulky. Its typing also isnt rlly good defensivly speaking since its vulnerable to pursuit which limits what it can do vs some teams. Taking adavantage of more defensive teams prob wont be that valuable in Gen 9 asw considuring the nerfs to those. Swift Swimm sets could be okay but rain is kinda limited in its temslots so idk. All in all just seems like another slow wallbreaker thats not hard to revenge
Just slap a scarf on it. Its faster than Dracovish and scarf vish did very well. Furthermore, the mon has ghost stab and we have exactly 2 viable normals in the tier, Lop and Chans. And if those catch an adaptability liquidation its over.
 
I’m proposing that Zamazenta-C begins the generation as nat dex OU. With the ability and stat nerf, I think there is a decent chance it is not that broken. The real reason though is that it could provide a balancing factor and counterplay for the increasingly offensive meta.

Testing it in at the beginning of the generation also is pretty low risk considering quick bans are surely on the table.
 
Just slap a scarf on it. Its faster than Dracovish and scarf vish did very well. Furthermore, the mon has ghost stab and we have exactly 2 viable normals in the tier, Lop and Chans. And if those catch an adaptability liquidation its over.
Its still outsped by every other scarfer there is and can only rlly click its ghost stab well in later stages of the game when one or two teammates have fainted and by then there might be too many hazards up for it to do be too late. Being scarfed also doesnt help that much when it comes to being trapped cause every pursuit trapper can take a scarf last respects even if highly boosted. Not a bad mon but def not S tier imo
 

R8

Leads Natdex Other Tiers, not rly doing ndou stuff
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a member of the Battle Simulator Staffis a Top Contributor Alumnus
National Dex Leader
I think u could just run it on rain with swift swim and the broken potentially 200 bp move last respects
 
I think u could just run it on rain with swift swim and the broken potentially 200 bp move last respects
Idk if rain cld fit it. Pelli and Mswamp r obv mandatory, Ferro is nice for hazards and lele, ull prob still need Zap for kart and Mana is a p great wincon and provides some utility w Hydration asw. Weavile cld prob be replaced but idt its worth it. Pursuit is rlly good on rain cs u can trap Latis and offensive threats in general. But mbe thatll change in the future kinda hard to say
 

R8

Leads Natdex Other Tiers, not rly doing ndou stuff
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a member of the Battle Simulator Staffis a Top Contributor Alumnus
National Dex Leader
tbh it depends how the meta will looks like, for ex if mana, weavile and zap utility will be much less valuable in the upcoming new metagame for whatever reason. U also mentionned kart, lele and latias but these mons might very well become much less relevant

If the current standard rain sucks vs whatever is going to be common in gen9natdex, it might very well go for other formulas. But as u said anything could change in the future, it's prolly too soon to tell
 
Last edited:

Clas

om majors 2nd place, in 0 om opens r3 (god gamer)
is a Tiering Contributor
Of all the mechanic changes changes that don’t relate adding things not in the game, you really want recovery’s PP to be doubled? Tons of really uncompetitive elements like accuracy, paralysis, critical hits, flinching, and freeze/sleep, but recovery moves being nerfed is where action needs to be suddenly taken? Action I was always told that Smogon couldn’t take against such luck based elements because it would lead to a slippery slope of mechanic changes.
as a whole we dont edit unconfirmed stuff into the game - sure its almost guaranteed to be the case that heal order will be stupidly nerfed like every recovery move, but we cant make that call logically. the only reason freeze and sleep clause exist is because freeze and sleep are both uncompetitive by nature (and kindly who is making a para limit justification, or a flinch edit request?). also on your mention of mechanics changing, quite simply heal order not being changed literally fits in with the whole not editing mechanics part youre whole argument is going on about.
Unless you support changes like only Fake Out is able to Flinch or Paralysis just being speed drop, then I won’t be supporting your proposal and suggest you go play older gens.
please point me in the direction of where para is just a speed drop because we all know it doesnt exist, even in petmods, and same with flinching because that was introduced with iron head in gen 3. in fact, the whole competitiveness issue is worse in older gens, so this is kinda contradictory in of itself.
 
as a whole we dont edit unconfirmed stuff into the game - sure its almost guaranteed to be the case that heal order will be stupidly nerfed like every recovery move, but we cant make that call logically. the only reason freeze and sleep clause exist is because freeze and sleep are both uncompetitive by nature (and kindly who is making a para limit justification, or a flinch edit request?). also on your mention of mechanics changing, quite simply heal order not being changed literally fits in with the whole not editing mechanics part youre whole argument is going on about.

please point me in the direction of where para is just a speed drop because we all know it doesnt exist, even in petmods, and same with flinching because that was introduced with iron head in gen 3. in fact, the whole competitiveness issue is worse in older gens, so this is kinda contradictory in of itself.
Well where is the line draw?
We gonna revert Hyper Beam back to its original Gen 1 form? Change Burn back to its damage from Gen 2-6?
The point of NatDex is to have a metagame as if each game still allowed you to simulate a meta where dexit never happened and you can transfer everything as if it arrived in the new games. Doing balance changes because you don't like how niche scenario plays out differently in the new game (which isn't even out yet) is completely irresponsible and goes against the whole purpose of the NatDex meta.
 

Clas

om majors 2nd place, in 0 om opens r3 (god gamer)
is a Tiering Contributor
Well where is the line draw?
We gonna revert Hyper Beam back to its original Gen 1 form? Change Burn back to its damage from Gen 2-6?
The point of NatDex is to have a metagame as if each game still allowed you to simulate a meta where dexit never happened and you can transfer everything as if it arrived in the new games. Doing balance changes because you don't like how niche scenario plays out differently in the new game (which isn't even out yet) is completely irresponsible and goes against the whole purpose of the NatDex meta.
this isnt a balance change though - its literally keeping something that isnt even in the game the same as its most recent showing in gen 7. your examples are before then, and the only precedences where weve not done that is because of something being something we have to assume (like dmax and mega/z because of z-dascent ray). draw the line at what we know, not what we think would happen.
 
So how are we handing Snow and Hail?

Snow Warning has been changed, and now sets up Snow, which boosts Defense for Ice types, but since we don't remove moves or mechanics, doesn't this mean Hail can be set up via the move Hail, and would still apply as it did?

Not that this really matters since most Ice types would prefer the former, but an interesting case nonetheless.
 

Peum

formerly Mandibuladel5555
Kingambit - Nice defensive typing with 100/120/85 bulk and a 135 Attack stat sound quite good. Supreme Overlord can clean up teams if it is on Trick Room or by just spamming Sucker Punch at the right times, otherwise I would stick with Defiant on this Pokémon. Knock Off's from this may also be nuclear.
A Tier for a mon that gets a free +5 attack boost for just entering? Its speed might be an excuse but
1668533112454.png
 
STALL'S NOT DEAD!

When we got confirmation that terastal would be permanent, everyone knew this was coming, which was why GF made sure to dexit it ban it to National Dex (if it gets banned from Nat Dex OU then Nat Dex AG it is)

:shedinja:
Shedinja @ Heavy-Duty-Boots/Air Balloon/Safety Goggles
Tera Type: Electric/Normal/Steel/Poison
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Poltergeist

(You would likely run baton pass for momentum too if it's legal/you're in natdex ag)

Here's a list of the tera types and their main strengths/weaknesses

Electric:

Immune to 99% of moves with air balloon
Vulnerable to all forms of chip damage
Can't switch into Thunder Wave to gain a status immunity

If chip damage is uncommon and/or you can deal with hazards well, run this

Normal:

Only vulnerable to fighting
Vulnerable to all forms of chip damage

If you're running boots and would rather have a fighting weakness over a ground weakness then this is better than electric

Steel

Weak to fire, fighting and ground, can mitigate one with air balloon
Immune to sandstorm
Immune to poison

BUT

Magnezone can trap it and OHKO with body press if it's running it, even adamant scarf with dig wouldn't save you

Poison

Weak to psychic and ground, can mitigate one with air balloon
Immune to poison

BUT

Can't absorb tspikes if running air balloon

If you're facing a specs Tapu Lele, don't tera unless you need it for something even scarier

Other pokemon will be able to use terablast to get super effective coverage against you, however, the odds are greatly stacked in your favor:

1. Because you can only terastal 1 pokemon per team, it would only really make sense to run terablast on 1 mon per team maybe two, otherwise you're basically wasting moveslots that could be used for other things

2. Megas, Zs, Primals and some other mons may not be able to terastal at all depending on how the nat dex team decides to implement this mechanic

3. Electric tera + Air Balloon will still wall them no matter what type they tera into

4. Most pokemon would rather use their tera type to either boost their STAB power or to help them cover the things that would naturally wall them, i.e the things that resist their STABs, aka they won't always be choosing Fighting or Ground just to hit the untiered 236 BST bug

5. Dexited pokemon will not be able to use terablast as they gain no new moves


When you can wall almost the entire meta in one teamslot, you can dedicate multiple mons to try and cover for Shedinja's weaknesses, mainly to keep hazards off the field and setup your own

cyclizar.jpg

Another interesting mon we're getting is Cyclizar, a Normal/Dragon type with Regenerator, U-Turn, Knock Off, Rapid Spin and a signature move Shed Tail that's basically Baton Pass + Substitute in one move slot, first of all it has the typing and ability to be a great Basculegion check:

(Note that 12 Spe Cyclizar (base 121) always outspeeds 252+ Spe Basculegion (base 78))

252 Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt (Base 112) Double-Edge (Wave Crash) vs. 244 HP (Base 70) / 252+ Def (Base 65) Drampa: 166-196 (48.5 - 57.3%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Crawdaunt (Base 112) Ice Fang vs. 244 HP (Base 70) / 252+ Def (Base 65) Drampa: 180-214 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

While a 2 HKO might seem like it wouldn't be a switch-in, consider that in a real scenario, Cyclizar would outspeed and go for knock off and live the next hit most of the time, then be able to U-Turn out and heal up most of its health with Regenerator, after the Choice Band is knocked off, all the 2 HKOs turn into 3 HKOs and Basculegion can be worn down through repeated knock offs until it's dead (knock off is a 3 HKO)

Shed Tail and Rapid Spin also synergize extremely well with Shedinja, one can remove hazards and has more PP than the hazard moves meaning it can outleast the hazard setters while using Regenerator to stay healthy and the other can be used to give Shedinja a status immunity, allowing it to sweep because it can't be hit by anything
anymore, as such, Cyclizar would be my 2nd pick for this hypothetical stall team, here's what a sub sweeper shedinja set would look like:

:shedinja:
Shedinja @ Air Balloon
Tera type: Electric
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature OR Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Poltergeist
- Secret Power
- Toxic/Will-o-wisp/Spite/Heal Block/Screech

Your main sweeping move is Poltergeist, Secret Power is a 70 Base Power Normal-Type move with 32 PP that can paralyze, great against pokemon that would otherwise stall you out, even if you don't break through, they'll still be crippled, the 4th move should be a utility move to help you break past things that would otherwise wall you, Toxic and Will-o-wisp for residual damage while you spam your 32 PP moves SD and Secret Power, Spite decreases the enemy's PP, Heal Block prevents them from healing and Screech lowers their defense and has 64 PP (note that you don't want them to use Struggle since that would hit through Wonder Guard, it would stop your sweep but that pokemon would basicaly be dead)

Now at this point what matters the most is filling the four remaining team slots with mons that can cover for Shedinja's weaknesses so what beats Shedinja?

-Hazards
-Tyranitar
-Hippowdon
-Excadrill
-Haxorus
-Veluza
-Tinkaton

Ttar, excadrill and tinkaton are all weak to ground, so if it starts out legal, Arena Trap :dugtrio: Dugtrio would make a great inclusion on the team to remove these problematic mons, likely running Groundium Z for a bit more fire power to help KO things on that first turn before they can KO it back

The next 2-3 teamslots would likely be dedicated to setting and removing hazards, Pressure defoggers like Zapdos and Corviknight could out-pp the hazard moves, a Magic Bounce user like Hatterene or Mega-Sableye, the team's mega slot could punish careless attempts to get hazards up while Corviknight and Zapdos with Leftovers could repeatedly switch into U-Turn without losing any health, Tornadus-T also deserves a mention because of Regenerator, it would not have Pressure but its ability to stay health throughout the match despite the recovery move PP nerf and its access to Heat Wave and Toxic to threaten most hazard setters make it another contender

As for a hazard setter, there are many many choices with the Gen 9 Spikes and Stealth Rock distribution, too many to really discuss, once the meta is playable I'm sure we'll settle down on a few, I'll point out some that look to be stand outs, Gliscor with Poison Heal and Stealth Rock/Taunt/Defog would be able to remain healthy without spamming Roost and get up rocks without letting the opponent do the same

:weezing_galar:

Given the sheer number of new pokemon with OP abilities, Galarian Weezing gets an indirect buff, probably not enough to keep it viable but it may have a niche for checking some of the crazy chinese dark types as well as being able to outspeed Kingambit to burn it with Will-o-wisp

Also on that note, can anyone clarify how the ruin abilities work? Are they an actual -1 that can be punished with Defiant/Competitive/Contrary or ignored via Clear Body/Full Metal Body/Big Pecks or do they just silently decrease defense by 1, if it's a true -1 then they might not be as problematic given that we now have three Defiant users that resist dark and have a secondary type to resist 2 of the 4 chinese dark types' secondary stabs, if any of the ruin pokemon get a kill, you could bring in a scarf Gapdos or Bisharp and KO something back, on the other hand, if it is a true -1 then it won't go away if Gastro Acid is used, though that's much less relevant

For these reasons, I honestly believe that terastal Shedinja will be become Stall's Great Destined Savior in early Gen 9 that will keep it viable
 
Last edited:
Alright, Gen 8 National Dex was truly a great experience. I enjoyed the variety of teams I could run, the bans and metagame shifts we've had, and more. Truly a great time :)

As for Gen 9 Natdex... we got some threats.
1668548709154.png

As much as I was anticipating another fast ghost type (since our current fastest is Gengar with only 110 Speed..) this is completely absurd. 135/135 offenses are already great, but this is taken even further with its great STAB combo, with ghost hitting fairy's resists for neutral and fairy hitting dark for SE damage. With options like Sub to blank chans/bliss, Hex to prey on slower statused foes, and potentially stuff like taunt and CM being in the mix I can see this mon being wayyy too much for the meta. Fast ghost types are simply a curse in this meta.


1668548700073.png

You thought kyurem was hard to switch into? Enter Iron Bundle. Freeze Dry + Water STAB is ridiculous to switch into, especially when said water stab is Hydro Pump. This pokemon also has a silly speed stat of 136, giving a jump on already fast threats like M-Lop,Tapu Koko, etc. With access to flip turn to take advantage of switches and stuff like taunt and encore to disrupt defensive answers even further I can see this mon being VERY annoying to deal with.
1668547439842.png

Weavile was already one of the scariest mons to fight, and now Chien-Pao enters. Although Weavile will still retain usage due to access to Pursuit and Knock, this mon's higher speed and defense reducing ability is DEFINITELY going to give it some use. With access to SD, reliable Dual Stab, Ice Shard, Sucker Punch, and Sacred Sword I can see this becoming a great offensive threat, especially with its 135 Speed.

1668548781757.png

Fairy/Fighting is an excellent type combo, and this is further compounded with Iron Valiant's great mixed attacking stats of 130/120 and a solid speed stat of 116. With access to SD, Spirit Break, CC, the elemental punches, Knock Off, etc, This mon is going to hit hard on the physical side, and even the special side can run Moonblast/Focus Blast/CM/TBolt. With other options like Trick and Taunt it can be a thorn to deal with defensively.

1668550862537.png

Gholdengo is an AWESOME pokemon. His main niche lies in his ability and typing. Good as Gold is simply an amazing ability, being able to block a variety of status. I don't know if it blocks hazards, but it does block defog which paired with it's typing makes removing hazards against this mon a pain in the ass. This will definitely change up which defoggers are good or not since some may be completely ineffective at threatening this mon. It also helps that this pokemon can still pose an offensive threat with its 133 Spatk and workable 84 speed. Overall, a very exciting mon that's sure to change up the game (and another M-Medi answer is NEVER a bad thing..)
There's plenty of other mons I'd LOVE to gush about but this is already getting pretty long so I'll save it for another post :') Looking forward to this meta for sure!
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Also on that note, can anyone clarify how the ruin abilities work? Are they an actual -1 that can be punished with Defiant/Competitive/Contrary or ignored via Clear Body/Full Metal Body/Big Pecks or do they just silently decrease defense by 1, if it's a true -1 then they might not be as problematic given that we now have three Defiant users that resist dark and have a secondary type to resist 2 of the 4 chinese dark types' secondary stabs, if any of the ruin pokemon get a kill, you could bring in a scarf Gapdos or Bisharp and KO something back, on the other hand, if it is a true -1 then it won't go away if Gastro Acid is used, though that's much less relevant

For these reasons, I honestly believe that terastal Shedinja will be become Stall's Great Destined Savior in early Gen 9 that will keep it viable
It’s a silent stat change. Works 24/7 while the Pokémon is out, like gen 6 legendaries.
 
So, just a quick question for my sanity, is gen 9 NDOU gonna be separate from gen 8 NDOU? I feel as though the distinction of mechanics between the generations is more than large enough of a gap to consider making them two separate tiers. The current state of those lower ND tiers is still developing, so I don't see a reason to reset everything after we JUST got settled into them within recent time as well.

yes, we don’t really see a reason to have them merged - S&L
 
Last edited:
I'm looking strongly at swift swim Basculegion. Rain is always a more hyper offensive style, and offtentimes mons can end up dying easily. As long as the enemy's sucker punch is gone/nonexistent, basculegion can be a highly effective rain cleaner.
 
  • Like
Reactions: R8
What you guys think of the roaring moon? What teammates would be perfect for him? Assuming NO sun support is the plan with boosting energy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top