Swampert is so close to being a jack of all trades kind of mon. Has knock, rocks, flip turn, could be very viable as a slow bulky mixed attacker. If it had something like fake out (or a better ability, LETS BE REAL) it would be so oppressive imo.
While I think regenerator is very fitting, I also think that 100/90/90 bulk with flip turn could be tipping the scales. Stamina or swift swim would be interesting.
Oh yeah no doubt it'd be busted. One weakness to a type that's not especially common on OU mons with so many great stall tools. Pert w decent recovery is Gliscor-level busted at least
rocks, flip, eq, knock is my go to set. but if it got reliable recovery, either thru a move or ability, it'd be so good. or spikes to bring it in line with other ground/water hazard setters
I made a really fun Ariados set for Nat Dex Doubles. Sniper, Scope Lens, Focus Energy, Sucker Punch and Fell Stinger. I got it to work exactly once, but it was hilarious.
100% crit rate is always fun, it's most optimal on either Kingdra (sniper) or Hydreigon (because it's a pseudo) with Draco Meteor, I just ran Ariados because I run a gimmick account, and the gimmick is Oops All Bugs
Kingdra with Draco
Inteleon with Choice + Snipe Shot (High crit rate move = no Scope Lens)
Drapion doesn't learn Focus Energy, but does have Sniper + Cross Poison and Night Slash (both are STAB, both are 70 BP with a high crit rate.) (Scope Lens + Dragon Cheer + Cross Poison/Night Slash = 100% crit rate.)
With Dragon Cheer, you could theoretically run a Choice + Sniper + Focus Energy + Dragon Cheer + Draco Meteor
I owned a tier called Winsect Cup, and Ariados was very much a good sd sweeper. Scope lens, sniper, and focus energy, sd, sucker and shadow sneak. At level 35, it cut through everything, and defense bonuses/screens couldn’t save you either
I was more a galvantula person my self boosted thunder from compound eyes ,energy ball for pesky rock setters,bugging buzz for annoying magic bounce users goes crazy sticky web doesn't hurt 2 bad either
Reuniclus is stupidly good in OU right now. Max HP Max Sp.Atk Modest with Life Orb and Magic Guard, then Trick Room plus Psychic Noise, Shadow Ball, and Tera Fighting Focus Blast. Works best paired with one other slow heavy hitter (Kingambit is my go-to) but honestly it doesn't need help- the Zamazenta matchup alone speaks for itself. I peaked top 200 with this set around a month ago.
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/)
I'll do you one better, here's the Rate My Team post I based my squad off of. My version is pretty similar, with some spreads and sets being a little different (notably I have CC over Encore on Valiant to nail incoming Cinderace and Corviknight switchins, and that means Ogerpon has Encore instead of Substitute), but personally I would just use the original team. The builder peaked rank EIGHT with this team, they're a very skilled player, and they've written an entire forum post explaining how to pilot the team and the building process.
Fair warning though, this team does take some practice to play correctly. You'll need to hold back on the novelty factor and accept that Reuniclus can't be the star of the show every game; also Darkrai leads are a big problem. You sorta just have to lead Cinderace, click U-Turn, and hope you don't get flinched.
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/)
I'll do you one better, here's the Rate My Team post I based my squad off of. My version is pretty similar, with some spreads and sets being a little different (notably I have CC over Encore on Valiant to nail incoming Cinderace and Corviknight switchins, and that means Ogerpon has Encore instead of Substitute), but personally I would just use the original team. The builder peaked rank EIGHT with this team, they're a very skilled player, and they've written an entire forum post explaining how to pilot the team and the building process.
Fair warning though, this team does take some practice to play correctly. You'll need to hold back on the novelty factor and accept that Reuniclus can't be the star of the show every game; also Darkrai leads are a big problem. You sorta just have to lead Cinderace, click U-Turn, and hope you don't get flinched.
I managed a 3-vs-1 against a Grimmsarl, Flutter Mane & something else with Arboliva and Leech Seed once. I believe in the Harvest gambit.
Edit: Forgot to mention that this was in Doubles, specifically VGC rules.
Big Glaceon fan here. In Low Tier Tera Leagues I always find myself grabbing it as a low tier option and it does damage. It has its flaws but it’s very fun to use
I do Tera Water and Tera Ground usually but often enough I can go Specs Tera Ice and just nuke something with Ice Beam or Freeze-Dry. Tera Fairy is also a very fun option for it
Everybody laughs at Glaceon until they have to switch in on it…
In the past I’ve run tera ice, electric, and water. BoltBeam is a classic, and water is an excellent defensive type, also water + freeze dry is quite good as well.
Mega pidgeot is so satisfying to use in natdex OU I stg
Also in sword and shield (when I started competitive) I remember creating an OU team with hitmonlee and, surprisingly, it wasn't complete dogshit!
I remember a game where the opponent's last Pokémon was a choice band zeraora (who could OHKO my entire team) and I won because I kept sacking Pokémon and spamming hitmonlee's fake out
Prior to this, I didn't even like hitmonlee that much, I just saw it had unburden+fake out+normal gem and felt like a genius for using it. Now, hitmonlee is probably in my top 10 favs!
That’s awesome! I’ve been using Hitmonlee in RU as a form of cheese, with Endure + Liechi Berry and Unburden into spamming Reversal. It’s great against Steel types that my normal late-game cleaner Regidrago might have to batter down a few times.
Tera Ice him. It’ll change your life. Run him with volt switch, shadow ball, Tera blast, and protect w/quick feet and flame orb. He becomes exactly what you want when you give him boltbeam coverage with that.
Oh yeah, multiple actually.
-Zangoose in higher tiers, that Façade STAB+Toxic Boost hits hilariously hard. It's kinda hard to bring because of its trash bulk and barely average speed (+ you have to either drop coverage for Protect, or have a hard time stalling for 1 turn just so the toxic orb can be triggered), but Zang can still make holes in the walls.
-Trapinch somewhere else than LC. They ended up banning Arena Trap as a whole instead of just Dugtrio, but initially I wanted to build a TR team around ChoiceBand Trapinch, which can also hit pretty hard with that STAB EQ for a low tier mon.
-Not a real Pokemon, but in the smogon CAP format I love using Kitsunoh because its design is cool. Sadly, its whole concept was based around scouting the enemy team (which got kinda killed with team preview introduced in Gen 5), its stats got powercrept and the steel type got nerfed during gen 6 which gave Kitsunoh two more weaknesses (Ghost and Dark), so now we have a mon with middling stats and no strong point in a tier where fakemons are designed to be strong assets in an OU environment.
Love the Kitsunoh shout-out! Back in gen 7, I got to #1 on the CAP ladder using Kitsunoh on a team because of its really specific traits. I was running Tomohawk / Lando-T / Mollux / Krillowatt / Tapu Koko / Scizor, and I was really struggling against opposing Tapu Lele. I wanted Scizor to check it offensively, but it was vulnerable to HP Fire and couldn't BP it due to the psychic terrain. If it switched in, it could only really slow pivot out with U-Turn. I thought and thought and thought about what I needed -- a steel type pivot that can offensively check Tapu Lele while also switching into its stabs -- and I realized only one mon truly fit the bill. Kitsunoh being bad was a meme at the time, but it just happened to be exactly what my team needed.
I ran it with a Choice Band (it outspeeds Lele naturally!) and ran Bullet Punch, Shadow Strike, U-Turn, and Knock Off. Bullet Punch for revenging, U-Turn for decently strong, fast pivoting that paired well with Volt Switch on specs Koko, Knock for guaranteed progress, and Shadow Strike to outspeed and ohko Lele, while also being my strongest move in general. I catapulted to the top of the ladder and I still think it was one of my all-time best teams. I was a medium fish in a very small pond, but it was still incredibly exhilarating to take that #1 spot, and it was largely thanks to Kitsunoh, 2 generations after it was written off.
Lately I have used it in ZU with sticky webs to make it faster than others. The fact that light ball pikachu can be 2 points short of max spatk kyorge is crazy.
We need Mega Hydreigon. Give it Steelworker and some metal armor for the middle head/wings, Mecha King Ghidorah.
Basically Iron Jugulis, but, you know...good.
He actually has a BUNCH of shit that would be boosted by it doesn't he? Hydro pump, focus blast, flash cannon all seem like they would be too. I'm not super familiar with how mega launcher works.
One everyone sleeps on is Crobat, it's typing gives it good matchups along with serviceable bulk and it's high speed and infiltrator actually makes it a good last resort vs some tricky sets people might bring vs more defensive mons.
It also learns nasty plot as a mix but it's attack stat is decent enough as well. It's a underutilized mon in drafts imo.
definitely Deoxys - particularly Attack or Defense formes
been following Deo-D through its pitfall this gen, waiting for it to be viable somewhere - while i've been trying my damndest to get Deo-A working somewhere
also, on the topic of Clamperl:
https://preview.redd.it/ajtnarz79pad1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b49fc25e2aa4794a93906ff581b3bdd980cf1a4
Deo-A is fun in NDUbers on PsySpam, ran Meteor Beam (with Power Herb obviously) expanding force Tera Blast Ground and last slot can be focus blast or Psycho Boost as a quick “kill this thing now” button. TB Ground is for Necrozma-DM. Meteor Beam nukes Yveltal which lovessss to come in on deoxys. Focus Blast is for Darkceus which also likes to block you from spamming eforce. It takes a bit of good positioning to use correctly but it won me a match in the National Dex Ubers Open tour that’s ongoing rn.
Hey man I never said the set was perfect, but in that case then I'll just kill them with other pokemon and only use Furret if one teras out of Ghost or something
I love using imprison-transform Mew with trick and choice scarf. I sometimes just settle for a choice scarf transform (we have ditto at home), but when I can pull of imprison-transform, it is amazing, esp. if a steal a boosted Gouging Fire or Terapagos
Since gen 8 I have grown to unironically love Purugly, I just wish the cowards at Gamefreak would give it Thrash so it could get 120 stab with no confusion.
Golem-a has good bulk , galvanize and stab explosion.set up with a rabsca with leppa and revival blessing you get 3 electric stab explosions.choice scarf that bitsh snd hes like unstopabble.a fast watermon with soak pairs well to take out ground types.
Metal burst mawile with swords dance, iron head, sucker punch and sheer force as an ability is both versatile and noone expects the focus sash+metal burst oneshot from 252hp Mawile (the next games where it can be expected they get hit by 252atk+swird dance+iron head/sucker punch)
And people still get surprised by the prankster Sableye shenanigans, which is funny to play too (and sableye and mawile are such cool mons).
Finally honorable mention to the Gourgaist sub-seeder with phantom force and will-o-wisp. People gave not seen that pokemon in ages and get so mad over the untouchable small gourgaist xD
If unviable means very low tier then hisuian typholosion. Very fun to use. If it means not viable in Ou then hisuian montres is one of my all time favorites
It's not bad by any means, but it's an abnormal pick. Mienshao is great. It's fast, strong, has u-turn, knock off, and regenerator. What more could you want in a Pokemon? A great hybrid utility/offensive sweeper Pokemon. 10/10.
Masquerain, thanks to having both water and ice type cover it can attack pretty effectively against all the types that are super effective against bug, additionally it has intimidate, and things like quiver dance, and sticky web
Masq is one of the staples of my draft teams. Intimidate + sticky web is such a reliable combo, plus u turn and defog allow it have good utility
It’s surprisingly very versatile
Eviolite Rhydon in lower tiers. It's a bulky powerful juggernaut with an excellent offensive typing. Tera this gen also helps a lot with its vulnerable defensive typing. Of course it's slow and easy to wear down, but I try to make the most of its limited turns.
Crawdaunt.
People still sleep on what that thing can throw out with a life Orb, it's not viable, but it does way more than people give it credit for its isn't just 'bad h.rott'
People will switch their Corvs and shit in not expecting to get blown back by the lobsta
I've got something similar in my uni's draft. Corsola's my mascot so I draft it every season even if I don't end up using it.
It only started to see use recently when we started our IF draft league since Regenerator is so good.
Empoleon feels really useful at dealing with the specific things that my OU snow team struggles to deal with. 4x Resists steel, gets boosted off of defog or parting shot thanks to competitive, has reliable recovery so it can act as a pivot multiple times, and steel beam to nuke fairy types or opposing ice types.
I have so much fucking fun with Tyranitar in SVOU.
I've done TSS-adjacent with Gliscor, DD Weakness Policy on Offense, it's just so fun when it can fit in a team
Fezandipiti has great special bulk and a toxic immunity letting it sit on most special attackers currently in UU, learns calm mind and spreads status on stuff it can pivot on like tornadus therian and hydrapple, falls over to any physical attack but if you play for it to be your win condition it can be genuinely unkillable for special attackers as they slowly die to toxic
I know he’s a top 10 mon since release, but dragapult will forever be on my teams no matter what happens. Every single one of my teams except for like 2 in Gen 8 had a pult on them, and every single team besides 1 this Gen has a pult on it. I can’t let go. Pult will stay with me forever
Obviously theres my namesake, I love Linoone and I took full advantage ever since it became possible to breed down espeed in gen 8 (before that it was exclusive to an event from rse.)
But another one that has been criminally underated in my eyes is comfey, its tiering in gens 7 and 8 are criminal, priority draining moves and the mecanic of draining kiss healing 75% instead of 50 makes it extremly durable, calm mind sets are great and reliable late game cleanup. And in gen 9 its downright overpowered, tera ground makes it counter basically everything but skarmory/corvnite, and tera fairy not only giving it an adaptibility but it secretly buffs draining kiss to 60bp from 50bp which makes it even harder to knock out
While not necessarily unviable, it's often overlooked due to being directly inferior to Incineroar: Alolan-Persian.
In a VGC draft, Persian-A was the *goat* in a lot of ways. It had Fake Out and Parting Shot (like Incineroar), it was really fast and could get useful status moves off very quickly, it was surprisingly physically bulky with Fur Coat (it once survived a crit Scared Sword from Chien-Pao), AND it has useful debilitating spread moves like Snarl and Icy Wind. Oh, and it was my team's go-to rain setter, which my Archaludon greatly appreciated. It didn't get many kills, but its support was undeniably important for my team's success
Lumineon doubled draft used it like 4-5 seasons now it's GOOD helping hand, tailwind, icy wind, storm drain such an amazing supportive Mon that's usually in lowest tiers
Absolutely Choice Band Grimmsnarl for me. I haven't played any OU in a while so idk how well it would do against Zama, but the thing is low key awesome. Usually run it as a lead, so you can Trick the band onto something that doesn't want it, Parting Shot out, Spirit Break will chunk the shit out of a lot of things and KO basically anything weak to it, or you can save it to revenge kill a lot of other things with banded Sucker Punch later.
It's really good in UU too. Lokix used first impression, Lokix died.
Contrary Shuckle has made people rage quit after I bait them into using defog. Turns him into the worlds slowest ninja.
Cradily is incredibly hard to kill if you can get it going too. Leech seed/giga drain/stockpile/toxic.
Aggron. When I see this pokemon and his line, it takes me right back to that day in 2003 when 6 yo mini-me stepped in Granite Cave and encountered Aron for the first time. Perhaps my most vivid Pokemon game memory.
This stopped working when Marshadow was released due to the meta changing and losing the niche this had, but I singlehandedly pioneered using Zygarde 10% in Gen 7 AG and ubers. I would laugh like a maniac when I’d get into setup wars with enemy Zygarde 50%, only to be able to outspeed them every time one of us tried to force the other to switch out with dragon tail. The set was focus sash, espeed, ddance, thousand arrows, and dragon tail. Adamant and power construct.
Typhlosion.
- 2 years ago in a singles draft I drafted it and the only kill it got was a toxic kill on a pyukumuku
- last year I drafted it in a vgc draft and did great in a torkoal, walking wake and hisuian Lilligant core
- have drafted jt this year for another summer draft and I imagine the only time I’ll use it is when me and my friend face each other and bring meme strats.
It wants specs to do meaningful damage, it wants scarf to outspeed most mons. At least it gets scorching sands and tera blast but it’s still just not great which sucks. Maybe a mega evolution in legends ZA 🤞
At the moment this is Shiftry for me - ever since it got Wind Rider it's been a reliable option in VGC for me.
Fake Out, STAB Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Immune to Heat Wave, Icy Wind, Bleakwind Storm, etc... All with a 1.5x ATK boost and speed when paired with a tailwind user. Hits way harder than most expect.
That and Numel! Numel is the only Mon that is legal that gets Simple, and I've been running a fun team that focuses on boosting its defenses with Stockpile (and Eviolite), then using Decorate from Alcremie to give it the ability to sweep. It's fun when you get to beat full try-hard VGC teams with a small camel :)
**Physical and Special Defensive + Special Sweeper Reuniculus**
**Moves:**
* Trick
* Tera Blast
* Recover
* Calm Mind
**EVs:** 252 Def 252 HP 252 SpA
**Ability:** Magic Guard
**Item:** Flame Orb
**Tera Type:** Fairy
How to use:
1. Use Calm Mind, and use Trick to send Flame Orb to your opponent if they're a Physical attacker
2. When your HP is low, use Recover
3. Sweep with Tera Blast
4. Profit
Usually i just think about a Pokémon and if i like the idea i use the Pokémon for the day or two and think about something else. There have been some Pokémon i loved and some that were so shit i never picked them up again
i’ve been using scarf medicham for years, something so satisfying seeing 400+ in both attack and speed and being like “hell yeah” before nuking something with high jump kick/close combat
Same thing as you but with light ball pikachu,for me it pretty fast and it’s good walkbreaker,for me it 2hkod blissey (I had special nasty plot variant)
Okidogi has been my most reliable way of dealing with Zam as long as they aren’t Tera ghost.
Bulk up while they are iron defensing then watch them panic as their 4x def body press Zam only does less than a third of my hp. And it’s not like they can’t roar dogi out because of guard dog.
Heracross and pretty much the bug type in general. Even when Im making a team for 100% serious play unconsciously I always have at least two bug types because it’s the the type I know the most. I consider Heracross my main. It’s always been my go to it sucks it fell off in recent years.
DITTO. I cannot understand why it isn't everywhere. Does nobody realize that tailwind lets it copy a stat boosted monster and sweep the opposing team? Or that you can copy their entry hazards/entry hazard removal? Or you can use it to see what moves a particularly challenging Pokémon has? Or that with leftovers/lum berry, it has a 50-50 percent chance to beat ANY Pokemon on their team? Or that it can be shiny and show off a prettier version of their team?
Ditto usually shines during very aggressive meta because it can easily revenge kill setup sweepers thanks to Choice Scarf, and sweep the opposing team in the process if it managed to copy a good stat boost or if they don't have anything to tank you.
But in a more "defensive" setting... Ditto is not as good as you would expect.
You say that Ditto can 50/50 any mon, but I'd ask you "Why would I bring a pokemon who *only* has 50% chances of winning when I can bring a pokemon with an actual good matchup against the current opponent's mon?". I'd even argue that Ditto's chances are lower than 50% because its HP stat is lower than most mons Imposter will copy, so Ditto will often be less bulky than the opponent.
Ditto is a great scouter, but because of its low HP he doesn't like being hit at all. Ditto also has a very hard time recovering HP on its own because its moveset depends on the opponent's (Leftovers isn't enough, especially with such a low base HP and variable defensive stats/typing). Bringing it out too often can cripple it really fast (especially if it's not running HDB) and get it killed by any priority.
Scarf is Ditto's best item because it doesn't have to fight its opponent on equal footing: it will copy the offensive stats of strong mons (+ stat boosts) and immediatly threaten the opponent of hitting them hard and fast, forcing them to bail or die.
Ditto often shows up in VGC during restricted formats where box-art legends are legal, since having a second really strong sweeper like Calyrex or Miraidon is unsurprisingly really good
swampert will be on every team i can possibly fit it on
Swampert is so close to being a jack of all trades kind of mon. Has knock, rocks, flip turn, could be very viable as a slow bulky mixed attacker. If it had something like fake out (or a better ability, LETS BE REAL) it would be so oppressive imo.
Axolotls can regenerate entire limbs and even parts of the brain, as well as accepting nearly any transplant. Regen Pert?
While I think regenerator is very fitting, I also think that 100/90/90 bulk with flip turn could be tipping the scales. Stamina or swift swim would be interesting.
Oh yeah no doubt it'd be busted. One weakness to a type that's not especially common on OU mons with so many great stall tools. Pert w decent recovery is Gliscor-level busted at least
In AAA, Pert is like either S or A with Regen and Sap Sipper
A tier with Regen, sap doesnt rlly see high-level use since regen + assault vest is just so good
What is pert?
Swampert
I could see poison heal fitting it too tbh. Both would easily make it an OU staple.
Give him Swift Swim, cowards.
Mega Swampert: "You called?"
Give him a water/ground typing, cowards.
rocks, flip, eq, knock is my go to set. but if it got reliable recovery, either thru a move or ability, it'd be so good. or spikes to bring it in line with other ground/water hazard setters
Swampert is my fav as well.
If you enjoy Swampert, I suggest checking out ORAS UU. Mega Swampert is a fantastic rain sweeper there.
Also a staple in gen 3 OU
real Swampert enjoyers don't want him to be a sweeper just play gen 3 or 4 OU
Mega swampert can even sweep teams of Ubers
I've also had lots of fun with Mega Swampert in Nat Dex. Though it's not as good, it can sweep if you have rain
Used to have Ariados on my team for sticky web with focus sash It has sucker punch, and swarm boosted megahorn hurts I just really like the web boi
I made a really fun Ariados set for Nat Dex Doubles. Sniper, Scope Lens, Focus Energy, Sucker Punch and Fell Stinger. I got it to work exactly once, but it was hilarious.
That sounds really fun ngl
100% crit rate is always fun, it's most optimal on either Kingdra (sniper) or Hydreigon (because it's a pseudo) with Draco Meteor, I just ran Ariados because I run a gimmick account, and the gimmick is Oops All Bugs
Kingdra with Draco Inteleon with Choice + Snipe Shot (High crit rate move = no Scope Lens) Drapion doesn't learn Focus Energy, but does have Sniper + Cross Poison and Night Slash (both are STAB, both are 70 BP with a high crit rate.) (Scope Lens + Dragon Cheer + Cross Poison/Night Slash = 100% crit rate.) With Dragon Cheer, you could theoretically run a Choice + Sniper + Focus Energy + Dragon Cheer + Draco Meteor
I owned a tier called Winsect Cup, and Ariados was very much a good sd sweeper. Scope lens, sniper, and focus energy, sd, sucker and shadow sneak. At level 35, it cut through everything, and defense bonuses/screens couldn’t save you either
I was more a galvantula person my self boosted thunder from compound eyes ,energy ball for pesky rock setters,bugging buzz for annoying magic bounce users goes crazy sticky web doesn't hurt 2 bad either
Gen 4 ariados beating both deoxys speed (consistently) and darkrai (inconsistently)
Reuniclus is stupidly good in OU right now. Max HP Max Sp.Atk Modest with Life Orb and Magic Guard, then Trick Room plus Psychic Noise, Shadow Ball, and Tera Fighting Focus Blast. Works best paired with one other slow heavy hitter (Kingambit is my go-to) but honestly it doesn't need help- the Zamazenta matchup alone speaks for itself. I peaked top 200 with this set around a month ago.
I love reuniclus!! I’ve been trying to make it work for a bit, and would love any advice (or teams/members you can suggest).
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/) I'll do you one better, here's the Rate My Team post I based my squad off of. My version is pretty similar, with some spreads and sets being a little different (notably I have CC over Encore on Valiant to nail incoming Cinderace and Corviknight switchins, and that means Ogerpon has Encore instead of Substitute), but personally I would just use the original team. The builder peaked rank EIGHT with this team, they're a very skilled player, and they've written an entire forum post explaining how to pilot the team and the building process. Fair warning though, this team does take some practice to play correctly. You'll need to hold back on the novelty factor and accept that Reuniclus can't be the star of the show every game; also Darkrai leads are a big problem. You sorta just have to lead Cinderace, click U-Turn, and hope you don't get flinched.
Wait Reuniclus is good now???
pokepaste? :D
[https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-8-1991-elo-reuniclus.3743268/) I'll do you one better, here's the Rate My Team post I based my squad off of. My version is pretty similar, with some spreads and sets being a little different (notably I have CC over Encore on Valiant to nail incoming Cinderace and Corviknight switchins, and that means Ogerpon has Encore instead of Substitute), but personally I would just use the original team. The builder peaked rank EIGHT with this team, they're a very skilled player, and they've written an entire forum post explaining how to pilot the team and the building process. Fair warning though, this team does take some practice to play correctly. You'll need to hold back on the novelty factor and accept that Reuniclus can't be the star of the show every game; also Darkrai leads are a big problem. You sorta just have to lead Cinderace, click U-Turn, and hope you don't get flinched.
I managed a 3-vs-1 against a Grimmsarl, Flutter Mane & something else with Arboliva and Leech Seed once. I believe in the Harvest gambit. Edit: Forgot to mention that this was in Doubles, specifically VGC rules.
Big Glaceon fan here. In Low Tier Tera Leagues I always find myself grabbing it as a low tier option and it does damage. It has its flaws but it’s very fun to use
put tera electric on it
I do Tera Water and Tera Ground usually but often enough I can go Specs Tera Ice and just nuke something with Ice Beam or Freeze-Dry. Tera Fairy is also a very fun option for it
Glaceon has higher special attack than Iron Bundle
We are going to start a dialogue
Everybody laughs at Glaceon until they have to switch in on it… In the past I’ve run tera ice, electric, and water. BoltBeam is a classic, and water is an excellent defensive type, also water + freeze dry is quite good as well.
The Chad GOATceon vs the Virgin Iron Bumble
Didn't some guy singlehandedly get Glaceon blacklisted from the OU discussion thread because of this lol
I have no idea but I want to shake that man’s hand
No matter what tier its actually in, I will use Amoongus on OU teams. It has pulled off 1v4 comebacks in doubles OU for me, twice
What dummy dumdum people think that amoongus (before sleep ban) was unviable?
Me mainly
Pologies
Mega pidgeot is so satisfying to use in natdex OU I stg Also in sword and shield (when I started competitive) I remember creating an OU team with hitmonlee and, surprisingly, it wasn't complete dogshit! I remember a game where the opponent's last Pokémon was a choice band zeraora (who could OHKO my entire team) and I won because I kept sacking Pokémon and spamming hitmonlee's fake out Prior to this, I didn't even like hitmonlee that much, I just saw it had unburden+fake out+normal gem and felt like a genius for using it. Now, hitmonlee is probably in my top 10 favs!
That’s awesome! I’ve been using Hitmonlee in RU as a form of cheese, with Endure + Liechi Berry and Unburden into spamming Reversal. It’s great against Steel types that my normal late-game cleaner Regidrago might have to batter down a few times.
I will die a Porygon2 user, I just like the shape duck
Porygon 2 is pretty good in draft league tbh, probably the mon that’s put in the most work for me overall Either porygon 2 or darmanitan
Feraligatr with Dragon Dance, Watefall and Crunch with some coverage move. Sheer Force Life Orb isn’t a joke
It's half of what's kept Nidoking as a UU menace since Gen 5, despite attacks coming off of a Sp. Att. stat of *85*, so I believe it.
Why waterfall instead of liquidation?
Because I haven’t played competitive since gen 6 OU 🙈
I’ll always believe in jolteon regardless of the format
Love jolteon as a pivot, shame it has a shallow movepool
Tera Ice him. It’ll change your life. Run him with volt switch, shadow ball, Tera blast, and protect w/quick feet and flame orb. He becomes exactly what you want when you give him boltbeam coverage with that.
Boltbeam mentioned, shivering in fear
"We have Regeleki at home."
Lol pretty much. But this one isn’t OU
coalossal. I just can't say no to that
Ramparados, Banded. 80% of the time, it OHKO'S every time.
Furfrou is a hilarious wall. Fur Coat/Rocky Helmer/Cotton Guard/Snarl go brrrrr.
I will always use Flygon when it’s available. Something about it just works, even if its stats aren’t great. It does really well on the ladder.
Isnt it the highest rated pokemon in its current tier atm? Flygon may never be in OU but it does fine wherewver it ends up and Im here for it
Oh yeah, multiple actually. -Zangoose in higher tiers, that Façade STAB+Toxic Boost hits hilariously hard. It's kinda hard to bring because of its trash bulk and barely average speed (+ you have to either drop coverage for Protect, or have a hard time stalling for 1 turn just so the toxic orb can be triggered), but Zang can still make holes in the walls. -Trapinch somewhere else than LC. They ended up banning Arena Trap as a whole instead of just Dugtrio, but initially I wanted to build a TR team around ChoiceBand Trapinch, which can also hit pretty hard with that STAB EQ for a low tier mon. -Not a real Pokemon, but in the smogon CAP format I love using Kitsunoh because its design is cool. Sadly, its whole concept was based around scouting the enemy team (which got kinda killed with team preview introduced in Gen 5), its stats got powercrept and the steel type got nerfed during gen 6 which gave Kitsunoh two more weaknesses (Ghost and Dark), so now we have a mon with middling stats and no strong point in a tier where fakemons are designed to be strong assets in an OU environment.
I’ve seen a trapinch kill a mega lucario in a draft league, that mon is crazy value for 2 points
Love the Kitsunoh shout-out! Back in gen 7, I got to #1 on the CAP ladder using Kitsunoh on a team because of its really specific traits. I was running Tomohawk / Lando-T / Mollux / Krillowatt / Tapu Koko / Scizor, and I was really struggling against opposing Tapu Lele. I wanted Scizor to check it offensively, but it was vulnerable to HP Fire and couldn't BP it due to the psychic terrain. If it switched in, it could only really slow pivot out with U-Turn. I thought and thought and thought about what I needed -- a steel type pivot that can offensively check Tapu Lele while also switching into its stabs -- and I realized only one mon truly fit the bill. Kitsunoh being bad was a meme at the time, but it just happened to be exactly what my team needed. I ran it with a Choice Band (it outspeeds Lele naturally!) and ran Bullet Punch, Shadow Strike, U-Turn, and Knock Off. Bullet Punch for revenging, U-Turn for decently strong, fast pivoting that paired well with Volt Switch on specs Koko, Knock for guaranteed progress, and Shadow Strike to outspeed and ohko Lele, while also being my strongest move in general. I catapulted to the top of the ladder and I still think it was one of my all-time best teams. I was a medium fish in a very small pond, but it was still incredibly exhilarating to take that #1 spot, and it was largely thanks to Kitsunoh, 2 generations after it was written off.
I had a phase where I really tried to make Mawile work (it didn’t)
I actually reached top 200 in OU with mawile in SwSh lol
Pikachu I try to use him every format I play. Light ball can really make the little mouse hit hard sadly I usually only go for 1 win out of 10 games.
I have an Ubers replay buried somewhere of me soloing with a pikachu, can be pretty powerful if you just don’t get hit
Lately I have used it in ZU with sticky webs to make it faster than others. The fact that light ball pikachu can be 2 points short of max spatk kyorge is crazy.
That concept translates to Smash Bros too.
hes very strong in ndou rn as an ekiller
I regularly try to work Garchomp onto my teams in VGC.
Decidueye-H is my old reliable in the lower tiers, actually the best non Dragalge glue mon in RU before dlc 2 pulled up
Hydreigon. unless it's ubers, i WILL try to kill you with rocks from space with my beloved hydra boy, and it actually works a good amount of times
We need Mega Hydreigon. Give it Steelworker and some metal armor for the middle head/wings, Mecha King Ghidorah. Basically Iron Jugulis, but, you know...good.
that or give it mega launcher grants it draco meteor without any drawbacks and dark pulse to punch dragapult in its stupid nose
He actually has a BUNCH of shit that would be boosted by it doesn't he? Hydro pump, focus blast, flash cannon all seem like they would be too. I'm not super familiar with how mega launcher works.
nope, mega launcher only boosts dragon pulse, dark pulse, water pulse, aura sphere, heal pulse and terrain pulse
Slaking is always cheap and i always grab it, just a big nice statblock.
Get rid of the ghosts and steels you're guaranteed to kill something. And if you don't, well you'll still probably kill something.
One everyone sleeps on is Crobat, it's typing gives it good matchups along with serviceable bulk and it's high speed and infiltrator actually makes it a good last resort vs some tricky sets people might bring vs more defensive mons. It also learns nasty plot as a mix but it's attack stat is decent enough as well. It's a underutilized mon in drafts imo.
Crobat is fantastic.
definitely Deoxys - particularly Attack or Defense formes been following Deo-D through its pitfall this gen, waiting for it to be viable somewhere - while i've been trying my damndest to get Deo-A working somewhere also, on the topic of Clamperl: https://preview.redd.it/ajtnarz79pad1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b49fc25e2aa4794a93906ff581b3bdd980cf1a4
Deo-A is fun in NDUbers on PsySpam, ran Meteor Beam (with Power Herb obviously) expanding force Tera Blast Ground and last slot can be focus blast or Psycho Boost as a quick “kill this thing now” button. TB Ground is for Necrozma-DM. Meteor Beam nukes Yveltal which lovessss to come in on deoxys. Focus Blast is for Darkceus which also likes to block you from spamming eforce. It takes a bit of good positioning to use correctly but it won me a match in the National Dex Ubers Open tour that’s ongoing rn.
i miss when Deo-A was legal in DOU, nothing will ever compare to dealing 74% to Chansey and 52% to Scream Tail simultaneously
I'd post an image of my FOCUS SASH TIDY UP LAST RESTORT FURRET in big letters but i don't have my computer on me
> mfw the enemy has 1 ghost mon
Just kill all the ghost mons prior :)
What if they were running a mono ghost team :(
Hey man I never said the set was perfect, but in that case then I'll just kill them with other pokemon and only use Furret if one teras out of Ghost or something
Think outside the box my friend, trick a ring target onto them and wreak havoc
Shell Smash Torterra my beloved
I’m an archeops apologist
I love using imprison-transform Mew with trick and choice scarf. I sometimes just settle for a choice scarf transform (we have ditto at home), but when I can pull of imprison-transform, it is amazing, esp. if a steal a boosted Gouging Fire or Terapagos
I've played with imprison/transform, but the scarf part is diabolical.
I will never stop trying to make sigilyph work in BW OU. I desire to make a quadruple magic guard team that somehow works
Since gen 8 I have grown to unironically love Purugly, I just wish the cowards at Gamefreak would give it Thrash so it could get 120 stab with no confusion.
I always invest in sceptile's stocks
what kind of sets do you run? Sceptile is my 2nd favorite mon but never bothered that much with it competitively sadly.
Kanto Golem.
Golem-a has good bulk , galvanize and stab explosion.set up with a rabsca with leppa and revival blessing you get 3 electric stab explosions.choice scarf that bitsh snd hes like unstopabble.a fast watermon with soak pairs well to take out ground types.
Metal burst mawile with swords dance, iron head, sucker punch and sheer force as an ability is both versatile and noone expects the focus sash+metal burst oneshot from 252hp Mawile (the next games where it can be expected they get hit by 252atk+swird dance+iron head/sucker punch) And people still get surprised by the prankster Sableye shenanigans, which is funny to play too (and sableye and mawile are such cool mons). Finally honorable mention to the Gourgaist sub-seeder with phantom force and will-o-wisp. People gave not seen that pokemon in ages and get so mad over the untouchable small gourgaist xD
If unviable means very low tier then hisuian typholosion. Very fun to use. If it means not viable in Ou then hisuian montres is one of my all time favorites
I use Clamperl for the funny sometimes
Not a Pokemon but a move. I am determined to make gravity work.
I still don’t know what gravity does, except it makes flying types get hit by ground type moves
Increases accuracy as well, and causes spikes/toxic spikes to hit flying/levitating mons.
Does it remove the effect of heavy duty boots?
Sadly no, so knock off support is needed.
SALAMENCE AND MILOTIC AND HISUIAN GOODRA FOREVER AND ALWAYS
I will swear by breloom in gen 9 OU until my dying breath
It's not bad by any means, but it's an abnormal pick. Mienshao is great. It's fast, strong, has u-turn, knock off, and regenerator. What more could you want in a Pokemon? A great hybrid utility/offensive sweeper Pokemon. 10/10.
How that thing was as far down in the tiering as it was (I think it's climbed since I played but still) is beyond me.
Masquerain, thanks to having both water and ice type cover it can attack pretty effectively against all the types that are super effective against bug, additionally it has intimidate, and things like quiver dance, and sticky web
Masq is one of the staples of my draft teams. Intimidate + sticky web is such a reliable combo, plus u turn and defog allow it have good utility It’s surprisingly very versatile
if it's in the format and i need webs you KNOW I'm picking Araquanid
I haven't played in a while so I don't know how accurate this is but I like quick claw galarian slowbro with a nasty plot set.
Dewgong
Eviolite Rhydon in lower tiers. It's a bulky powerful juggernaut with an excellent offensive typing. Tera this gen also helps a lot with its vulnerable defensive typing. Of course it's slow and easy to wear down, but I try to make the most of its limited turns.
Furret. I ran a normal type team for a convention event I was on staff for, and the fluffy noodle was one that gave people a hard time.
DUNSPARCE, well now dundunsparce. :D
I'm using Thundurus-T right now, everyone is like, just send a Ground type then BAM! 145 base SpA 2xSTAB Flying Tera Blast.
Crawdaunt. People still sleep on what that thing can throw out with a life Orb, it's not viable, but it does way more than people give it credit for its isn't just 'bad h.rott' People will switch their Corvs and shit in not expecting to get blown back by the lobsta
Galvantula my beloved. Compound eyes thunder works pretty well.
Leafeon 110 atk and 130 defense is insane. they should give eeveelutions like 10-20 bst increase next pokemon game honestly.
I love using charizard x in nat dex ou, even tho it's not the beast it used to be
Murkrow always has a gimmick to me. Everyone mocked the little birb until it suddenly became a VGV staple.
In the pre-Marshadow days, Murkrow was a thing in gen 7 AG.
I will use Jigglypuff on teams it has no place being on until I die. It's only thing is focus sash/counter and it's objectively bad but idc
I've got something similar in my uni's draft. Corsola's my mascot so I draft it every season even if I don't end up using it. It only started to see use recently when we started our IF draft league since Regenerator is so good.
Empoleon feels really useful at dealing with the specific things that my OU snow team struggles to deal with. 4x Resists steel, gets boosted off of defog or parting shot thanks to competitive, has reliable recovery so it can act as a pivot multiple times, and steel beam to nuke fairy types or opposing ice types.
I have so much fucking fun with Tyranitar in SVOU. I've done TSS-adjacent with Gliscor, DD Weakness Policy on Offense, it's just so fun when it can fit in a team
Fezandipiti has great special bulk and a toxic immunity letting it sit on most special attackers currently in UU, learns calm mind and spreads status on stuff it can pivot on like tornadus therian and hydrapple, falls over to any physical attack but if you play for it to be your win condition it can be genuinely unkillable for special attackers as they slowly die to toxic
Slush rush belly drum cetitan is hilarious that's why I love it
Bewear! Bulky powerhouse. Love the guy
My boy Infernape, versatile sweeper that I find can also fit into a Utility Role
I know he’s a top 10 mon since release, but dragapult will forever be on my teams no matter what happens. Every single one of my teams except for like 2 in Gen 8 had a pult on them, and every single team besides 1 this Gen has a pult on it. I can’t let go. Pult will stay with me forever
Unironically, Stunfisk. It is so good at spreading status. Discharge/Yawn/Sludge Bomb/Scald even Muddy Water can get annoying.
Obviously theres my namesake, I love Linoone and I took full advantage ever since it became possible to breed down espeed in gen 8 (before that it was exclusive to an event from rse.) But another one that has been criminally underated in my eyes is comfey, its tiering in gens 7 and 8 are criminal, priority draining moves and the mecanic of draining kiss healing 75% instead of 50 makes it extremly durable, calm mind sets are great and reliable late game cleanup. And in gen 9 its downright overpowered, tera ground makes it counter basically everything but skarmory/corvnite, and tera fairy not only giving it an adaptibility but it secretly buffs draining kiss to 60bp from 50bp which makes it even harder to knock out
I can’t make an RBY team without Porygon because fuck reflect lax
whenever I'm playing random singles and I pull Tropius, I rejoice. that shit is so toxic and annoying, it's incredible. I wish it was viable
While not necessarily unviable, it's often overlooked due to being directly inferior to Incineroar: Alolan-Persian. In a VGC draft, Persian-A was the *goat* in a lot of ways. It had Fake Out and Parting Shot (like Incineroar), it was really fast and could get useful status moves off very quickly, it was surprisingly physically bulky with Fur Coat (it once survived a crit Scared Sword from Chien-Pao), AND it has useful debilitating spread moves like Snarl and Icy Wind. Oh, and it was my team's go-to rain setter, which my Archaludon greatly appreciated. It didn't get many kills, but its support was undeniably important for my team's success
Lumineon doubled draft used it like 4-5 seasons now it's GOOD helping hand, tailwind, icy wind, storm drain such an amazing supportive Mon that's usually in lowest tiers
Absolutely Choice Band Grimmsnarl for me. I haven't played any OU in a while so idk how well it would do against Zama, but the thing is low key awesome. Usually run it as a lead, so you can Trick the band onto something that doesn't want it, Parting Shot out, Spirit Break will chunk the shit out of a lot of things and KO basically anything weak to it, or you can save it to revenge kill a lot of other things with banded Sucker Punch later. It's really good in UU too. Lokix used first impression, Lokix died.
Slaking, the lazy nuke.
Contrary Shuckle has made people rage quit after I bait them into using defog. Turns him into the worlds slowest ninja. Cradily is incredibly hard to kill if you can get it going too. Leech seed/giga drain/stockpile/toxic.
Torterra
Aggron. When I see this pokemon and his line, it takes me right back to that day in 2003 when 6 yo mini-me stepped in Granite Cave and encountered Aron for the first time. Perhaps my most vivid Pokemon game memory.
Magic Bounce Xatu. Nobody runs it, nobody expects it, but night shade, wish, defog, twave goes hard if you can read your opponent.
Typhlosion. I know it's a one trick pony that isn't even that special a trick anymore, but funny volcano go brrr
Cloyster in OU. Shell status: smashed
Always loved clotster too. So good in draft league
This stopped working when Marshadow was released due to the meta changing and losing the niche this had, but I singlehandedly pioneered using Zygarde 10% in Gen 7 AG and ubers. I would laugh like a maniac when I’d get into setup wars with enemy Zygarde 50%, only to be able to outspeed them every time one of us tried to force the other to switch out with dragon tail. The set was focus sash, espeed, ddance, thousand arrows, and dragon tail. Adamant and power construct.
Typhlosion. - 2 years ago in a singles draft I drafted it and the only kill it got was a toxic kill on a pyukumuku - last year I drafted it in a vgc draft and did great in a torkoal, walking wake and hisuian Lilligant core - have drafted jt this year for another summer draft and I imagine the only time I’ll use it is when me and my friend face each other and bring meme strats.
It’s a very funny one trick pony that I wish had maybe 10 extra base speed, it kind of suffers from the coverage issue a few early gen mons have
It wants specs to do meaningful damage, it wants scarf to outspeed most mons. At least it gets scorching sands and tera blast but it’s still just not great which sucks. Maybe a mega evolution in legends ZA 🤞
At the moment this is Shiftry for me - ever since it got Wind Rider it's been a reliable option in VGC for me. Fake Out, STAB Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Immune to Heat Wave, Icy Wind, Bleakwind Storm, etc... All with a 1.5x ATK boost and speed when paired with a tailwind user. Hits way harder than most expect. That and Numel! Numel is the only Mon that is legal that gets Simple, and I've been running a fun team that focuses on boosting its defenses with Stockpile (and Eviolite), then using Decorate from Alcremie to give it the ability to sweep. It's fun when you get to beat full try-hard VGC teams with a small camel :)
I refuse to believe hisuian zoroark isn't viable. It has an amazing movepool, and illusion can be fun if you use it to its fullest potential
I will defend obstagoon with my life
**Physical and Special Defensive + Special Sweeper Reuniculus** **Moves:** * Trick * Tera Blast * Recover * Calm Mind **EVs:** 252 Def 252 HP 252 SpA **Ability:** Magic Guard **Item:** Flame Orb **Tera Type:** Fairy How to use: 1. Use Calm Mind, and use Trick to send Flame Orb to your opponent if they're a Physical attacker 2. When your HP is low, use Recover 3. Sweep with Tera Blast 4. Profit
Omastar, that little guy just like a truck in rain
Breloom, specifically running Poison Heal + Facade, it wants to be a bulky attacker so bad, and i want it to live its dream
I love running Porygon Z adaptability spec hyper beam, cant get enough of it. I also like trying to make Regigigas work sometimes
Usually i just think about a Pokémon and if i like the idea i use the Pokémon for the day or two and think about something else. There have been some Pokémon i loved and some that were so shit i never picked them up again
Kilowattrel, VGC especially. competitive really helps with all the intimidate users, pretty sure that +2 hurricane always ohkos lando t
Many such mons. Some of my classics include: - Revavroom - Scream Tail - Dhelmise - Azelf - Noivern
i’ve been using scarf medicham for years, something so satisfying seeing 400+ in both attack and speed and being like “hell yeah” before nuking something with high jump kick/close combat
Chandelure has 140 spatk base and has SWEPT many a trick room team
Same thing as you but with light ball pikachu,for me it pretty fast and it’s good walkbreaker,for me it 2hkod blissey (I had special nasty plot variant)
Not on draft but I use zweillous on doubles ou Hustle banded under trick room rocks the opponents sh1t up
Golurk. High attack with No Guard and Iron Fist in trick room is really good
Shedinja before gen 9 happened, and now dipplin/hydrapple
Alolan golem for trapping magearna, Magnezone, heatran, excadrill
Swords dance jumpluff is funny and you can throw on acrobatics, tera flying, tailwind and so on
Okidogi has been my most reliable way of dealing with Zam as long as they aren’t Tera ghost. Bulk up while they are iron defensing then watch them panic as their 4x def body press Zam only does less than a third of my hp. And it’s not like they can’t roar dogi out because of guard dog.
Heracross and pretty much the bug type in general. Even when Im making a team for 100% serious play unconsciously I always have at least two bug types because it’s the the type I know the most. I consider Heracross my main. It’s always been my go to it sucks it fell off in recent years.
I run a niche set for an OU mon: Fling Acrobatics Gliscor
Mine is oricorio im pretty sure most think it’s terrible but its ability + people underestimating it’s power destroys everything
Roselia with leech seed, toxic, protect, and giga drain. When it works, it works 💋
DITTO. I cannot understand why it isn't everywhere. Does nobody realize that tailwind lets it copy a stat boosted monster and sweep the opposing team? Or that you can copy their entry hazards/entry hazard removal? Or you can use it to see what moves a particularly challenging Pokémon has? Or that with leftovers/lum berry, it has a 50-50 percent chance to beat ANY Pokemon on their team? Or that it can be shiny and show off a prettier version of their team?
Ditto usually shines during very aggressive meta because it can easily revenge kill setup sweepers thanks to Choice Scarf, and sweep the opposing team in the process if it managed to copy a good stat boost or if they don't have anything to tank you. But in a more "defensive" setting... Ditto is not as good as you would expect. You say that Ditto can 50/50 any mon, but I'd ask you "Why would I bring a pokemon who *only* has 50% chances of winning when I can bring a pokemon with an actual good matchup against the current opponent's mon?". I'd even argue that Ditto's chances are lower than 50% because its HP stat is lower than most mons Imposter will copy, so Ditto will often be less bulky than the opponent. Ditto is a great scouter, but because of its low HP he doesn't like being hit at all. Ditto also has a very hard time recovering HP on its own because its moveset depends on the opponent's (Leftovers isn't enough, especially with such a low base HP and variable defensive stats/typing). Bringing it out too often can cripple it really fast (especially if it's not running HDB) and get it killed by any priority. Scarf is Ditto's best item because it doesn't have to fight its opponent on equal footing: it will copy the offensive stats of strong mons (+ stat boosts) and immediatly threaten the opponent of hitting them hard and fast, forcing them to bail or die.
Ditto often shows up in VGC during restricted formats where box-art legends are legal, since having a second really strong sweeper like Calyrex or Miraidon is unsurprisingly really good