OU Suspect Coverage: Pheromosa and Mega Metagross

By Celticpride.
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Introduction

Hello, and welcome to coverage of the third and fourth OverUsed suspect tests. The OU tier is still in its early stages and, following in lockstep with BW and ORAS, there are no shortage of threats that toe the line between strong and overpowered. In this edition of suspect coverage, we'll be looking at two titans of the OU metagame. The third round focused on Pheromosa, one the fastest and most overwhelming threats in OU history, which was deemed to be huge constraint to the development of the metagame. The fourth and more recent suspect focused on a more technologically advanced insect, Mega Metagross. This suspect was far from clear cut, with the council and voting public more split, and was a much closer test result.

Pheromosa

Pheromosa by Tikitik

Art by Tikitik.

A new metagame

Upon the reveal of the base stats from the datamine of Sun and Moon, Pheromosa immediately stood out. Ultra Beasts as a group had some unique stat distributions, with some of them (Xurkitree, Guzzlord, Kartana, Pheromosa, and Nihilego) receiving very uneven distributions. It possessed a sky-high base 151 Speed stat, blowing away almost the entire OU metagame unboosted. Additionally, Pheromosa sported fantastic Attack and Special Attack stats. Its stat distribution earned it the nickname "Deoxys-Roach Forme," due to its similar base stats to Deoxys and Deoxys-A. Not all appeared great on paper, as Pheromosa had brittle defenses, a rather lacking typing in some respects, and what was initially thought to be a shallow movepool. However, even taking those minor flaws into account, Pheromosa was still predicted to emerge as a force, and calls for a quickban were commonplace.

Pheromosa

In the early days of the SM metagame, Pheromosa had one initially prominent set, the physical Life Orb set. This set's popularity stemmed from its role as a fast attacker that had a very powerful STAB attack to take advantage of in High Jump Kick. STAB U-turn also made this set very effective at gaining momentum. Pheromosa rounded out its set with coverage options like Ice Beam, to eliminate common checks and Fighting-resistant threats such as Landorus-T, and Poison Jab, to threaten Fairy-types that resisted its STAB moves. However, that set was easily handled more often than not. At the very start of the SM metagame, Aegislash was a hard stop to Pheromosa (and following Aegislash's quickban, calls for a Pheromosa quickban gained a bit of steam). Other measures like Roost Buzzwole and Toxapex sprung up to deal with Pheromosa as well. The earliest VR rankings reflected this, as Pheromosa was ranked as low as A-.

Shifting tides

Initially, Pheromosa was thought to be a less versatile threat. However, over time more sets sprang up, as Pheromosa didn't need extensive coverage to be effective. Choice Scarf sets retained effective attacking power while doubling as a fantastic revenge killer. While more obscure and less noteworthy, Choice Specs and Choice Band sets provided alternatives to the Life Orb set while not being worn down as easily. Choice Band functioned very similarly to the physical Life Orb set, with the lack of recoil allowing Pheromosa to survive longer. Choice Specs provided a way to decimate switch-ins to the physical Life Orb set and allowed Pheromosa to use otherwise niche options like Hidden Power Electric and Hidden Power Ground to lure checks, such as Mantine and Alolan Marowak, respectively. A Rapid Spin + 3 attacks set also became a viable option, allowing Pheromosa to retain its attacking prowess while at the same time providing the ever-valuable hazard removal.

Pheromosa

Quiver Dance sets, with Fightinium Z in particular, became Pheromosa's defining sets. Quiver Dance allowed Pheromosa to sweep very effectively, as it was very difficult to revenge kill at +1 Speed outside of priority. Quiver Dance sets were also capable of wallbreaking, potentially using +1 Z-Focus Blast to blow holes in opposing cores. Beast Boost also contributed to this set's sweeping capabilities, as most Quiver Dance sets were EVed so Special Attack got the boost. This allowed such sets to snowball, especially using a Z-Move to get started. Bug / Fighting / Ice coverage was very potent and limited defensive answers to a constraining degree. Substitute could be used over Quiver Dance with Z-Focus Blast as well, as Pheromosa forced a lot of switches. Different Z-Moves could also be used with Quiver Dance, with Z-Hyper Beam heavily denting Toxapex as an example.

Suspect test and conclusion

When the time finally came for Pheromosa's reckoning, there was little to discuss. Pheromosa was banned with a 92% ban percentage, one of the highest in the history of OU suspect testing. While it had a longer-than-expected stay in the OU tier, it came to an end in due course.

Mega Metagross

Suspect test

Mega Metagross is no stranger to suspect testing, having avoided the banhammer last generation by the skin of its teeth. Mega Metagross's positive traits are numerous, and it's easy to see why it was a suspect-worthy threat. It possesses tremendous bulk, thanks to its typing and base stats. This made it easier for Mega Metagross to find opportunities to switch in and do damage, compared to "glass cannon" threats, such as Pheromosa and Greninja. Additionally, Mega Metagross has a fantastic Speed tier of 110. Its Speed tier also received a slight buff, as the Speed of the Mega Evolution now applies on the turn it Mega Evolves instead of the first turn after. This helped Mega Metagross beat threats like non-Choice Scarf Keldeo. For a wallbreaker with Mega Metagross's coverage, a high Speed tier benefits it; this is because slower checks can get beaten by a coverage move, and faster checks and revenge killers lack the bulk to switch in repeatedly. Its coverage is also quite varied, and Mega Metagross really only needed to run Meteor Mash. It could run Hammer Arm or Earthquake to beat common Steels, Ice Punch to beat Landorus-T and Garchomp, and even more niche coverage moves to eliminate certain threats, like Hidden Power Fire to beat Mega Scizor. It could also run utility options, such as Bullet Punch for STAB priority or Pursuit to trap threats that Mega Metagross checked, such as Psychics.

Mega Metagross

Mega Metagross's flagship set was a simple all-out attacker set. Meteor Mash carries a 20% side effect of boosting Mega Metagross's Attack by one stage. Mega Metagross was threatening enough without an Attack boost, and at +1 Attack it became that much harder to handle. Hammer Arm and Earthquake cover most Steel-types, essential for any wallbreaker. Thunder Punch hit bulky Waters such as Toxapex, and a few other targets such as Celesteela. In the last slot, Ice Punch could hit bulky Grounds hard, eliminating would-be checks like Landorus-T and Garchomp. Together, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch provided a "BoltBeam" combination affording Mega Metagross great neutral coverage. Zen Headbutt was also an option in the fourth slot, providing a strong secondary STAB move that most notably hit Mega Venusaur super effectively. Utility options such as Bullet Punch would generally fit in the last slot as well.

The anti-ban argument stemmed from Mega Metagross not being able to run every coverage move at once, and as a result it could be handled by tandems of situational checks that could beat Mega Metagross depending on what coverage it ran. Some defensive checks could also beat it 1v1; for example Landorus-T could beat Ice Punch Mega Metagross, assuming the 1v1 happened after Mega Metagross lost Clear Body. There were also quite a few revenge killers capable of beating Mega Metagross, such as Scarf Garchomp and Greninja. Mega Metagross was also very prediction heavy, and it could get worn down from hazard damage as well as Rocky Helmet damage, limiting its ability to remain effective over the long term.

Conclusion

The test was on the more controversial side, and the final ban percentage is a reflection of this, with a final tally of 63% of the voting populace voting ban. With two consecutive bans, the SM metagame is a fast-shifting one. The tiering process will continue to take course, with a few more suspects bound to happen, as SM looks to become a more balanced metagame.

HTML by Kris.
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