Very excited for more bans. I gave the meta terrible scores mostly because screens HO cheese was still polluting the ladder when the survey came out, but things have already been more playable with just Mage gone. Losing Pao and Zama-C can only make it more open and fun.
Having fun with some of the new `mons. Glowking, Zapdos, all of the Genies, Urshifu, and Volcanion all feel like good additions to the tier to me. Hamurott is turning out to be pretty mid. It's got valuable role compression as an offensive hazard setter, but we've got a lot of Dark resists around, it's fragile, and its speed is just okay without scarf (and U-Turn + higher attack make Kleavor is the better Scarfer despite being a worse `mon, IMO).
The real fun for me has been in seeing how pre-Home `mons stack up (and occasionally toying with new sets):
Iron Hands @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 200 Atk / 160 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Low Kick
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
Iron Hands isn't much of a hard counter to anything (except may Kingambit), but neither is anything in a Tera Meta, and SD/Shuca Iron Hands has the bulk, power, and coverage to serve as an emergency check to pretty much anything, and with the right opening, it can tear teams up.
Pre-Home, I was a major proponent of Tera Steel + Heavy Slam on Iron Hands (whether AV or SD), but then Home brought Zapdos, Lando, and Thundurus back into the mix as Flying types that give zero effs about Thunder Punch (also Tera Ground Enamorus). That set can still put in work, but Ice Punch wallops those fools while also providing good utility against common defensive cores. Tera Electric gives you zero weaknesses until Shuca is consumed while also boosting Thunder Punch to provide a more reliable neutral ground play against `mons like Gholdengo, Hatt, Glowking, and others.
I haven't re-optimized the Attack EVs yet (200 was to make sure +2 Tera Steel Heavy Slam OHKOed standard Amoonguss), but the speed is just being cheeky and creeping folks trying to creep 4 Spe Corv. Remaining EVs can be split into Defense however you like, I like SpD to help serve as a more reliable Zapdos check.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1877758176
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1878535304
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1878533233
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1878724653-yjnijojga1sbcwbo0z23s7z63f64aippw
Iron Hands @ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Thunder Punch/Ice Punch/EQ/Heavy Slam
- Whirlwind
With the meta being crazy offensive to start, it seemed like it was time to check in on my old friend, ID/BP Iron Hands, too. Whirlwind continues to be the straw that stirs the drink here. It lets you switch in to all kinds of physical set up sweepers, set up along side them, and phaze away their boosts. Manages(/managed) to beat ID/BP Zama sets at their own game for as long as they're around, minus any Tera Ghost shenanigans. Can also run protect to for extra lefties recovery or RestoChesto instead of a second attack if you don't mind being completely walled by Ghosts.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879733003
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879628932-54or9ff7etutfghlrvcjilmocm3xlxypw (Hand was well positioned to close this one out, but apparently hax aren't just for Sneasler :/ -- paging
Ctann)
Iron Moth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Sludge Wave
- Energy Ball
- Agility
Nothing revolutionary here, but Modest Agility Iron Moth has also been super clutch for me after a long season of mostly preferring TSpikes + U-Turn. It doesn't do the Screens thing as well as Volc, but it still hits stupid hard, is a grounded poison type, and is super customizable as long (as you don't need it to hit Heatran without Tera). I'm back on the Tera Grass/Energy Ball bandwagon, but that's just my comfort zone.
A couple of Moth sweeps here:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1877734300
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1878491798
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Steel? I've never clicked tera on this
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Mach Punch
Sorry,
1LDK, but this may secretly be the bulkiest Grass/Fighting type around, Poison Heal is just that good. This probably isn't a "good" set, but it's annoying as hell and super clutch if you get a good read or two. Amoonguss is the only other `mon that can do the Toxic + Leech Seed thing now, and while Regenerator is great, Poison Heal recovering twice as much as Leftovers while making you immune to other status is just absurd utility (especially with the added turns from Protect). Mach Punch pushes it over the edge, since the Priority can let it chip that last bit of health off foes that have been worn down and avoid taking that last turn of damage.
Only one good replay of this one:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1875739040-o1johs8v9s5snzp0aef8xn253miwp4jpw
Roaring Moon @ Heavy-Duty Boots/Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 116 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Crunch
- Tera Blast
In 6+ months, I have never found a Roaring Moon set that I really liked until now. In Sw/Sh, I spent ages tinkering with and building around a bulky DD Flygon set in NU/RU and had solid success with it. This set is that kicked up by a thousand. Bulky Roaring Moon is nothing new, and maybe this particular set has been around the block without me noticing, but it's just nuts.
Fairy typing complements Dragon/Dark typing pretty much perfectly both offensively and defensively, suddenly resisting Fighting and Bug with a Dragon immunity while being neutral to Ice and Fairy attacks. Offensively, This set would have been trash a week ago with Mage ruling the tier, but now the only things that resists Dark + Fairy are...Tinkaton and Klefki (hey, Gamefreak, introduce some Fairy/Fire or Fairy/Poison types STAT).
With its special bulk and typing, Roaring Moon can pretty easily set up on `mons like Zapdos, Heatran, Hamurott, Pelipper, Walking Wake (at least outside of sun), and more. Dozo, Dirge, and status can all be problems, but honestly, that's about it. This thing gets to +2/+2 at the drop of a hat and +3/+3 pretty consistently, at which point most things are done.
144 Spe is enough to outrun max Lando, then top off HP and pump the rest into your unexpectedly solid SpD to create more setup opportunities. Boots lets you take advantage of bulk to set up multiple times throughout a match without concern for hazards. Booster Energy lets you kill stuff harder on your first switch (+1 with Booster Energy is basically as strong as +2 without, +2 with BE is stronger than +3 without and it scales from there).
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879696640
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879700515
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879283233
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879240937
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879238939
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1879230520
Looking forward to messing with some of the new drops now that I've got a better sense of how they work in the standard meta.
Hoping this guy picks up again post bans. Knock and Uturn and spikes + a move that beats through curse/id garg, curse dozo, etc. Such high value. Amazing mon, excited and hopeful for her return into the metagame.
can we have a retest for Pao with the dlcs?
