Metagame Pokébilities

approved by The Immortal and scpinion
original idea by Throbulator36
special thanks to XpRienzo and Snaquaza
was co-lead by me and Spandan

tyiwwPL.png
Here we are, in Generation 7! The new Generation brings many new and unique things - and with it, the possibility to have multiple abilities on a Pokémon!
Ever wished that Salamence can have both of its abilities - Intimidate and Moxie at the same time? Ever wished that a Pokemon could use all of its abilities to their full potential? Here is the OM for you!
In this meta, a Pokemon can have all of its abilities at the same time. Here's is the original thread from when it was a Pet Mod. An example is if you use Clefable, it will have all of its abilities- Cute Charm, Magic Guard, & Unaware at the same time. This gives it a huge buff since all of its abilities are quite useful.

Rules:
Mechanic: Pokemon can have all of their abilities at the same time. This excludes banned or unreleased abilities. This includes unreleased abilities.
Clauses: OU clauses, Evasion Abilities Clause
Bans: OU banlist, Excadrill, Porygon-Z, Bibarel, Bidoof, Diglett, Dugtrio, Glalie, Gothita, Gothitelle, Gothorita, Octillery, Remoraid, Smeargle, Snorunt, Trapinch, Wobbuffet, and Wynaut
Unbans: None at the moment

Strategy:
Abilities have a huge impact on how a Pokemon performs in a battle, and since now a Pokemon gains all of its abilities, it can receive a huge buff, offensively on some and defensive on some.
Increase Viability:
clefable.png
: Gaining both Magic Guard and Unaware gives it a nice buff. Cute Charm isn't that useful, but it might come handy.
hippowdon.png
: Sand Force + Sand Stream! This lets it it harder.
salamence.png
: Now this mon gets a HUGE buff, because Intimidate + Moxie is a nice combination, letting it setup easier and sweep.
Decreased Viability:
durant.png
: This is the only mon that I could think of, because it gets Truant.

Any Pokemon that gets Klutz.

Q&A:
Q: What happens if a Pokemon get Trace as an innate ability?
A: Trace was fixed, and now it is supposed to copy an ability from the opponent randomly.

Q: Do Mega Pokemon keep the innate abilities after Mega Evolution?
A: No, Mega Pokemon lose the innates and have their standard ability.

Q: Does Greninja get Battle Bond, Protean, and Torrent all at once?
A: No. In-game, there are actually three formes of Greninja: one regular Greninja with Torrent and Protean, one regular Greninja (stat-wise) with just Battle Bond, and Ash-Greninja. As such, Greninja doesn't get all three abilities at once in Pokebilities for the same reason that Tornadus-Therian doesn't get Prankster or Defiant. This also applies to Zygarde-10%, which means it doesn't need to be banned like Pokemon with Moody do.

Resources:

Replays:
[1] - This one is good
[2] - Another good one
[3] - Shows a team which uses TR

Playability:

Yes its Playable! It took a while to code, but yes its possible. At the moment its playable on DragonHeaven and ROM, and you can use the code below to implement it on your server!
Code:
Code by urkerab
Code:
{
   name: "[Gen 7] Pokébilities",
   desc: [
     "Pokémon have all their natural abilities at the same time.",
     "&bullet; <a href=\"https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/3588652/\">Pokébilities</a>",
   ],

   mod: 'pokebilities',
   ruleset: ["[Gen 7] Pokebank OU"],
   onBegin: function() {
     let banlistTable = this.getBanlistTable(this.getFormat('gen7ou'));
     let allPokemon = this.p1.pokemon.concat(this.p2.pokemon);
     for (let i = 0, len = allPokemon.length; i < len; i++) {
       let pokemon = allPokemon[i];
       if (pokemon.ability === 'battlebond') {
         pokemon.innates = [];
         continue;
       }
       pokemon.innates = Object.keys(pokemon.template.abilities).filter(key => key !== 'S' && (key !== 'H' || !pokemon.template.unreleasedHidden)).map(key => toId(pokemon.template.abilities[key])).filter(ability => ability !== pokemon.ability && !banlistTable[ability]);
     }
   },
   onSwitchInPriority: 1,
   onSwitchIn: function(pokemon) {
     pokemon.innates.forEach(innate => pokemon.addVolatile("other" + innate, pokemon));
   },
   onAfterMega: function(pokemon) {
     pokemon.innates.forEach(innate => pokemon.removeVolatile("other" + innate, pokemon));
     pokemon.innates = [];
   },
},
Code:
'use strict';

exports.BattleScripts = {
   init: function() {
     Object.values(this.data.Abilities).forEach(ability => {
       if (ability.id === 'trace') return;
       let id = 'other' + ability.id;
       this.data.Statuses[id] = Object.assign({}, ability);
       this.data.Statuses[id].id = id;
       this.data.Statuses[id].noCopy = true;
       this.data.Statuses[id].effectType = "Ability";
       this.data.Statuses[id].fullname = 'ability: ' + ability.name;
     });
   },
   pokemon: {
     hasAbility: function(ability) {
       if (this.ignoringAbility()) return false;
       if (Array.isArray(ability)) return ability.some(ability => this.hasAbility(ability));
       ability = toId(ability);
       return this.ability === ability || !!this.volatiles["other"+ability];
     },
   },
};
Code:
'use strict';

exports.BattleStatuses = {
   othertrace: {
     desc: "On switch-in, this Pokemon copies a random adjacent opposing Pokemon's Ability. If there is no Ability that can be copied at that time, this Ability will activate as soon as an Ability can be copied. Abilities that cannot be copied are Flower Gift, Forecast, Illusion, Imposter, Multitype, Stance Change, Trace, and Zen Mode.",
     shortDesc: "On switch-in, or when it can, this Pokemon copies a random adjacent foe's Ability.",
     onUpdate: function (pokemon) {
       let possibleInnates = [];
       let possibleTargets = [];
       for (let i = 0; i < pokemon.side.foe.active.length; i++) {
         let target = pokemon.side.foe.active[i];
         if (target && !target.fainted) {
           possibleInnates = possibleInnates.concat(target.innates);
           possibleTargets = possibleTargets.concat(target.innates.map(innate => target));
         }
       }
       while (possibleInnates.length) {
         let rand = 0;
         if (possibleInnates.length > 1) rand = this.random(possibleInnates.length);
         let innate = possibleInnates[rand];
         let bannedAbilities = {comatose:1, flowergift:1, forecast:1, illusion:1, imposter:1, multitype:1, schooling:1, stancechange:1, trace:1, zenmode:1};
         if (bannedAbilities[innate]) {
           possibleInnates.splice(rand, 1);
           possibleTargets.splice(rand, 1);
           continue;
         }
         this.add('-ability', pokemon, innate, '[from] ability: Trace', '[of] ' + possibleTargets[rand]);
         pokemon.removeVolatile("othertrace", pokemon);
         pokemon.addVolatile("other" + innate, pokemon);
         return;
       }
     },
     id: "othertrace",
     name: "Trace",
     rating: 3,
     num: 36,
     noCopy: true,
     effectType: "Ability",
     fullName: "ability: Trace",
   },
};
 
Last edited:
Some thoughts:

Not very many seventh gen mons benefit from this very much - telepathy is useless on the tapus, UBs only get Beast Boost, and Merciless is rather situational for toxapex. The only new mon likely to be OU who cares about this is Marowak-A; no recoil flare blitz is a major upgrade from fire punch if you wanted to previously avoid recoil.


From standard OU, Excarill really stands out to me seeing as how it now gets doubled speed and stupidly strong moves. Azumarill gets a grass immunity and 4× fire and ice resists with huge power. Ferrothorn is able to scout HP fire while keeping Iron Barbs. And Zapdos now gets Static, Pressure and Defog all on the same set. Breloom also gets stronger stabs on the poison heal set and a toxic immunity on its offensive ones

Idk why the OP mentions Salamence though. Its still a terrible option to run over the multitude of amazing dragon dancers in OU - Zard X, Mega Gyara, normal gyara and dragonite if you want to be hipster, and the newly viable Zygarde comes with amazing STAB, a better typing, and E-Speed. Salamence still has every issue it had 6th gen

Edit: oh shit porygod is amazing. Download + Adapatability is crazy strong
 
Some notes for some pokemon in the meta:

  • Toxapex becomes even dumber, gaining 120 Venoshock that crits every single time, immune to poison and paralysis and STILL getting the Regenerator boost. WHY
  • Kommo-o is now immune to Bullet and Sound moves, while become a perfect fit for weather teams with it getting Overcoat
  • Alolan Sandslash, Alolan Ninetails and Beatric become more annoying and more useful thanks to now having Snow Cloak
  • Pelipper can now restore its health with Rain Dish + Drizzle. This makes Pelipper even more bulkier.
  • Gigalith can now set up Sandstorm and deal great damage with Sand Force, all the while making sure that it will set up Stealth Rocks.
  • Breloom gets best of both worlds with Technician and Poison Heal.
  • Like I said before, lolporygonz
 
Yanmega gets speed boost and tinted lens at the same time, which makes it a dangerous sweeper.

Cinccino and ambipom get skill link and technician at the same time, which probably gives Cinccino the strongest possible STAB attack in the game. It would't be OU viable, but at least it would be fun to use.

I would also like to point out Bibarel, which gets two of the best abilities in simple and unaware, as well as moody.
 
  • Magnezone gets sturdy and analytic, which work great together, and magnet pull to trap steels
  • Porygon-Z, as stated
  • Sableye is completely useless b/c of stall
  • Bewear from Klutz as well
  • Reuniclus now is the best regenerator as Magic Guard ensures switching safely while overcoat protects it from weather.
  • Yanmega gets speed boost+tinted lense so specs/LO will hit hard. I'm not sure it'll become viable.
  • Azu is now even bulkier with Sap Supper and Thick fat. Setting up will be even easier and it loses 1 weakness.
  • Conkeldurr gets a massive buff now getting a 2.34x increase to all punching moves with effects. Drain punch won't do anything now
  • "Let's make Whimsicott even more annoying by giving it priority status and infiltrator! Sounds like a great idea!"
Some questions:
1. How to illegal/banned abilities work? I'm guessing they still apply, but considering how MnM went with stones...
2. What happens to abilities that work together, like Plus and Minus?
3. Battle bond?
4. Trace?
 
Last edited:
a few questions:
1. will pokemon with abilty-locked moves get those otherwise locked moves? ex: softboiled clef w/ unaware
2. will pokemon with banned abilities be banned altogether? ex: gothitelle
2.5. what about evasion abilities? ex: sand veil garchomp
3. Unreleased abilities? looking at you Incineroar
4. Trace and ability-based attacks? ex: skill swap
the OP mentions this in trace, but what about other moves
5. what happens whan pokemon with multiple abilites that grant an immunity get hit with the type it is immune to? ex: maractus
6. contradicting abilites? ex: sableye, mandibuzz (I think there are others as well, I just can't name them now)

with that out of the way...
Notable Buffs
Reuniclus: regenerator and magic guard, as well as an immunity to spore, gonna be hard to kill
Pelliper: drizzle and rain dish, gen 7 has been very nice to this toilet. Vanilluxe gets the same thing with snow warning and ice body, but it sucks :(
Cinccino: technician boosted skill link attacks, gonna be doing some damage with a life orb or choice band
Azumarill: sap sipper, think twice before using a grass type attack
Conkeldurr: all of its abilities give it an attack boost of sorts, and sheer force makes life orb the go-to
Yanmega: can now have both tinted lens and speed boost hitting everything and very quickly, also frisk is nice
Magnezone: is guaranteed to live one hit and will most likely ohko the steel type it is trapping w/ analytic
Excadrill: the SS tier premier sand sweeper

Notable Nerfs
Weak Armor: crippling for defensive pokemon, looking at you skarm
Klutz pokemon: unless they have something like a status orb or AV to trick/switcheroo, it's useless
Greninja(?): I don't know what to think about that
Zangoose: lol
 
a few questions:
1. will pokemon with abilty-locked moves get those otherwise locked moves? ex: softboiled clef w/ unaware
2. will pokemon with banned abilities be banned altogether? ex: gothitelle
2.5. what about evasion abilities? ex: sand veil garchomp
3. Unreleased abilities? looking at you Incineroar
4. Trace and ability-based attacks? ex: skill swap
the OP mentions this in trace, but what about other moves
5. what happens whan pokemon with multiple abilites that grant an immunity get hit with the type it is immune to? ex: maractus
6. contradicting abilites? ex: sableye, mandibuzz (I think there are others as well, I just can't name them now)
1. yes
2. No, they just wont get the ability.
2.5. Any ability banned by OU cannot be received by a mon.
3. Mons will not receive unreleased abilities either
4. Read the OP about trace, and skill swap swaps the original ability.
5. Both abilities activate.
6. I haven't tested it yet
 
Greninja(?): I don't know what to think about that

If you're talking about Battle Bond, I remember people saying there were actually two Greninjas:
1. Greninja with Torrent/Torrent/Protean
2. Greninja with Battle Bond/Battle Bond/Battle Bond
So there's no reason why Greninja would be affected negatively by this (Unless Torrent hinders it somehow).

Though i don't actually remember If it was confirmed.
 
If you're talking about Battle Bond, I remember people saying there were actually two Greninjas:
1. Greninja with Torrent/Torrent/Protean
2. Greninja with Battle Bond/Battle Bond/Battle Bond
So there's no reason why Greninja would be affected negatively by this (Unless Torrent hinders it somehow).

Though i don't actually remember If it was confirmed.
This is confirmed. PR has not made a final decision on tiering them seperately because of this, but I know that at least TI beleives they should be treated as seperate pokemon:
"Battle Bond Greninja is not like Meloetta-P and Darmanitan-Z. It is literally its own Pokemon, with fixed IVs and the lack of egg and past gen moves. The only thing it shares with Greninja is the same sprite before transforming. Not to mention, its transformation is permanent. It's far more similar to Mega Evolution than it is to Meloetta and Darmanitan, especially something like Charizard which transforms into either X or Y but has the same starting sprite. Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y are tiered separately so Greninja and Battle Bond Greninja should too in my opinion."
Which isn't entirely the same thing, but at the same time does mean they aren't the same pokemon.



Spandan , what happens with Pokemon like Zygarde, as power construct is banned in ou. Will it be banned from the start, or will perfect Zygarde start Unbanned, and potentially get suspected if broken?
 
This is confirmed. PR has not made a final decision on tiering them seperately because of this, but I know that at least TI beleives they should be treated as seperate pokemon:
"Battle Bond Greninja is not like Meloetta-P and Darmanitan-Z. It is literally its own Pokemon, with fixed IVs and the lack of egg and past gen moves. The only thing it shares with Greninja is the same sprite before transforming. Not to mention, its transformation is permanent. It's far more similar to Mega Evolution than it is to Meloetta and Darmanitan, especially something like Charizard which transforms into either X or Y but has the same starting sprite. Mega Charizard X and Mega Charizard Y are tiered separately so Greninja and Battle Bond Greninja should too in my opinion."
Which isn't entirely the same thing, but at the same time does mean they aren't the same pokemon.



Spandan , what happens with Pokemon like Zygarde, as power construct is banned in ou. Will it be banned from the start, or will perfect Zygarde start Unbanned, and potentially get suspected if broken?

Zygarde is the same as Greninja. They are separate Pokemon with the same sprites. In this OM, Greninja with Torrent/Protean is one Pokemon, Greninja with Battle Bond is one Pokemon, Zygarde with Aura Break is one Pokemon, Zygarde with Power Construct is one Pokemon.
 
ftr Prankster and Stall don't contradict; Stall is equivalent to Lagging Tail. So regular Sableye using Wisp will go before Return, but after a Lv1 Rattata's Quick Attack. Similarly Mandibuzz's abilities don't contradict, as Big Pecks only prevents drops from the opponent. this last bit might be wrong, see MacChaeger's post below

Mons:
Reuniclus is actually absurdly good, immune to spore, with Regen + MGuard. The Twave nerf also helps it. Bring your Sableyes!
...in fact, Sableye also helps in "walling" non-Conversion PZ. Stall staple?
Speaking of stall, it loses Skarmory which is pretty huge. On the plus side, Quagsire is now an excellent Keldeo counter (inb4 HP Grass), thanks to Water Absorb. Clef is a great wincon/cleric/etc, too. Mega Slowbro gains a minor buff pre-mega of ignoring Taunt, which is nice.
Togekiss is still a great stallbreaker though, especially now it crits twice as much!
It's almost a shame Cincinno can't touch Steels, because it hits harder than Mega Medicham with the same nature:
252 Atk Choice Band Technician Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 375-440 (109.9 - 129%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 354-417 (103.8 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Swellow has a cool niche of Scrappy Guts Facade, which hits pretty hard, and then there's Ursaring, which can now outspeed base 105s with Jolly and do this:
252 Atk Guts Ursaring Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 343-405 (100.5 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

What happens if my Zebstraika is hit by an electric type move?
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
gumshoos.gif

Gumshoos @ Life Orb | Adaptability + Stake Out + Strong Jaw
Adamant | 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Hyper Fang
• Return
• Crunch
• Earthquake

Gumshoos is actually quite threatening in this metagame. Strong Jaw and Adaptability (and Stake Out on some occasions) both boost the power of Hyper Fang, making it a really scary move to take. Here are some calcs to show its sheer power:

vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Manaphy: 330-390 (96.7 - 114.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 442-520 (68.8 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 328-387 (76.1 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
vs. 252 HP / 172 Def Clefable: 348-411 (88.3 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

Return takes advantage of Adaptability and is a very spammable move if you're conscious of Hyper Fang's shaky accuracy. Crunch allows Gumshoos to hit Ghost-types super effectively and for boosted damage from Strong Jaw. Earthquake allows Gumshoos to not be deadweight against bulky Steel-types, namely Jirachi (2HKOed) and Magnezone (OHKOed). As for the item, Life Orb is preferred in case you're opponent switches in a Normal-resistant or -immune and you need to switch your coverage; Choice Band would force you to switch out, but it is an item to consider if you just want to spam Crunch all day.

I'd say Gumshoos's only drawback is its Speed. If it was about 20-30 points higher, it would definitely be more threatening, but its good abilities greatly offset that.
 
In Golduck's case, does Cloud Nine just nullify Swift Swim? Or is there no conflict between the abilities?

Corsola is the only pokemon with both Natural Cure and Regenerator. Still won't be great (esp. w/Hustle), but that's pretty interesting synergy.

Anyway, Sand seems amazing with Hippowdon, Dugtrio, Excadrill and Landorus.
 
ftr Prankster and Stall don't contradict; Stall is equivalent to Lagging Tail. So regular Sableye using Wisp will go before Return, but after a Lv1 Rattata's Quick Attack. Similarly Mandibuzz's abilities don't contradict, as Big Pecks only prevents drops from the opponent.

Mons:
Reuniclus is actually absurdly good, immune to spore, with Regen + MGuard. The Twave nerf also helps it. Bring your Sableyes!
...in fact, Sableye also helps in "walling" non-Conversion PZ. Stall staple?
Speaking of stall, it loses Skarmory which is pretty huge. On the plus side, Quagsire is now an excellent Keldeo counter (inb4 HP Grass), thanks to Water Absorb. Clef is a great wincon/cleric/etc, too. Mega Slowbro gains a minor buff pre-mega of ignoring Taunt, which is nice.
Togekiss is still a great stallbreaker though, especially now it crits twice as much!
It's almost a shame Cincinno can't touch Steels, because it hits harder than Mega Medicham with the same nature:
252 Atk Choice Band Technician Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 375-440 (109.9 - 129%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 354-417 (103.8 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Swellow has a cool niche of Scrappy Guts Facade, which hits pretty hard, and then there's Ursaring, which can now outspeed base 105s with Jolly and do this:
252 Atk Guts Ursaring Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 343-405 (100.5 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

What happens if my Zebstraika is hit by an electric type move?
Actually, if I remember correctly from Enchanted Items (now Multibility), the Weak Armor drop isn't considered self-inflicted, as it actually adds the stat changes onto the triggering move as a secondary effect (as evidenced by Sheer Force's negation of Weak Armor when using a move that already has a secondary effect), and Weak Armor Defiant Bisharp was a thing. As such, Big Pecks should block the Defense drop, but not the Speed boost, potentially making Mandibuzz an interesting wall. That said, RIP Skarmory.
 
From what I'm seeing, sand is crazy in this meta. Excadrill gets both Sand Rush and Sand Force, Hippo and Gigalith both get to abuse Sand Force while setting sand, Gastrodon soaks up water attacks with Storm Drain, sponges Knock off for your sand setter(s) with Sticky Hold, and even gets a nifty boost to its ground moves from Sand Force, Landorus-Incarnate gets Earth Powers boosted by Sand Force AND Sheer Force, Heliolisk can act as a great answer to Waters with Dry Skin while making use of sand with Sand Veil, while Stoutland gets Sand Rush for speed, Intimdate for bulk, and can even spam Return without having to run Crunch thanks to Scrappy.

Rain gets... not a whole lot, really. Pelipper sets rain and gets spare healing from it thanks to Rain Dish, while Ludicolo gets Swift Swim + Rain Dish... but that pretty much covers it. I suppose Critdra being able to run Swift Swim is kinda neat? Idk.

Of course, Sun is horrible as always. It might actually be the worst weather now considering like, every Hail abuser gets Snow Cloak and some other way to abuse hail (Snow Warning, Slush Rush, Ice Body)
 
Some more nerfs:
Mons with Rivalry like the Nidos don't like the inconsistent damage, but I wouldn't really call it much of a nerf because sometimes you can big a huge hit off.
Darmanitan being forced into Zen Mode could be a big annoyance.
Mandibuzz hates having Weak Armor because every time it takes a physical hit defense is lowered so you can't wall physical attacks well.
 
Last edited:
Just some thoughts on some OU 'mons:

~
amoonguss.png

Effect Spore + Regenerator: While the latter is certaintly superior, Effect Spore is definitely useful for crippling physical attackers with a surprise burn / sleep / paralysis, and makes it even more of an annoying Pokemon to face.

~
azumarill.png

Huge Power + Thick Fat + Sap Sipper: Defensive Sap Sipper Azumarill always has one big flaw, which is a pathetic damage output due to the lack of Huge Power — well, now that's not a problem because it can get both abilities and Thick Fat as well. Sap Sipper makes it the ultimate Grass switch-in, raising Azumarill's Attack if it switches into one, meaning with Huge Power, Choice Band, and a couple of Sap Sipper Attack boosts under its belt, it is definitely a threat to watch out for.

~
garchomp.png

Rough Skin + Sand Veil: If you pair Garchomp with a Sand Stream Pokemon like Excadrill, it is certainly going to be annoying with x1.25 evasiveness, meaning it'll be able to dodge quite a few attacks — and if a physical attack does hit, the attack will lose a bit of HP. Garchomp's benefitted either way.

~
gliscor.png

Sand Veil + Poison Heal + Hyper Cutter: If you run Toxic Orb with Swords Dance, Gliscor already takes advantage of Poison Heal and Hyper Cutter, the former giving it passive recovery and the latter allowing it to keep its Attack boosts. If you manage to switch it in during Sandstorm, it gets an evasion boost, making setting up even more easier.

~
serperior.png

Overgrow + Contrary: Serperior's Leaf Storm definitely packs a punch, especially if Serperior has accumulated a couple of Special Attack boosts and it's in Overgrow range, meaning the move will 2/OHKO most Pokemon that don't resist it. Be careful of Azumarill, though, heh.
 
Hi

Buffs (That haven't already been stated on this thread):

Dragonite - A small buff. Multiscale + Inner Focus helps so a turn isn't wasted if Dragonite gets hit by a Fake Out.
All Starters (and other Pokemon with Swarm and have similar effects) - A small buff, because it's situational. Better hidden ability + an extra boost if low. Like Feraligatr with Torrent and Sheer Force.
Alolan Golem - A great buff. Magnet Bull + Sturdy + Galvanise allows Alolan Golem to trap and EQ steel types, while at the same time be able to have Sturdy and Galvanise.
Alolan Dugtrio - Not as big as the Excadrill buff. Basically, the gimmick is Sand Veil + Tangling Hair + Sand Force, so you have less chance to hit Dugtrio while in the sand, and Dugtrio hitting harder when you miss. Tangling Hair could just switch in on predicted Fake Outs.
Goodra - Gets to use all its abilities. Sap Sipper + Hydration + Gooey could make it work on rain teams, while having an immunity to grass to absorb the grass hits. Rest + Hydration restores it in the rain, while being able to slow the opponent down if physically contacted.
Staraptor - A great buff. Intimidate + Reckless makes it be able to do more Brave Bird and Double Edge damage, while still not having to sacrifice a slot for one of the best abilities in the game.
Registeel & Metagross - Tiny buff. Clear Body + Light Metal makes it take less damage from Low Kick. That's all I can think.
Machamp - A good buff for Machamp. Guts + No Guard + Steadfast (mainly Guts + No Guard) allows it to be status'd while being able to hit 100% accurate Dynamic Punches.
Mienshao - A great buff. Inner Focus + Regenerator + Reckless (mainly Regenerator + Reckless) allows Mienshao to do more damage with High Jump Kick, while being able to pivot out with a U-Turn and then later, when switched in, have health recovered.
Toxicroak - A small buff. Anticipation + Dry Skin + Poison Touch allows Toxicroak to have an immunity to water, while being able to have more of a chance to poison the opponent. Not only that, but you can use Anticipation without having to waste an ability slot.
Pokemon with Effect Spore (and other trolling contact abilities) - Doesn't have to waste an ability slot, while having the chance to get hax against your opponent.

Pangoro - No 1 ability slot syndrome (i made that up) - Iron Fist + Mold Breaker + Scrappy, 3 great abilities for Pangoro to hit hard, mold break and able to hit things like Sableye with Drain Punch or Superpower.

Nerfs:

Hustle Pokemon that don't need the attack boost
(like Togekiss) - Un-needed hustle accuracy debuffs are really bad for Togekiss, which usually is known for Air Slash flinch hax.

Pokemon with only one ability - Not really a nerf tbh, though not having the ability to change in this meta is kind of a nerf.

There are more buffs than nerfs in this tier imo, these are only a few I could come up with on the spot (not really lol)
 
Pangoro - No 1 ability slot syndrome (i made that up) - Iron Fist + Mold Breaker + Scrappy, 3 great abilities for Pangoro to hit hard, mold break and able to hit things like Sableye with Drain Punch or Superpower.
That matchup sounds useful in theorey, until you remember that Sableye is doomed to wander the earth alone, never to see another being again. This metagame does force it into Stall, after all.

That being said, this looks like a great metagame. I've wanted to see an all-abilities meta for a while now, haha.
 
Heracross - Swarm / Guts / Moxie
Definitely see some potential here. Scarf Moxie sets were never horrible, add boosted Megahorns at low health and a substantial buff when burned and this could be quite threatening.

Ursaring - Guts / Quick Feet / Unnerve
Guts + Quick Feet + STAB Facade. Very nice. Still not the fastest thing around even with Quick Feet but when you have that much power I think that the new speed tier will sit just fine.

Bruxish - Dazzling / Strong Jaw / Wonder Skin
Bruxish actually has 3 very cool abilities. Wonder Skin is hard to justify using in standards, but in this metagame it could prove to be very useful alongside the former two abilities. Bruxish still isn't the best pokemon around, but it sits at a solid speed tier for a Scarfer (Out Pacing Scarf Landog) and can fire off some very powerful Psychic Fangs boosted by Strong Jaw without fearing priority thanks to Dazzling.
 
Nerfs:

Hustle Pokemon that don't need the attack boost
(like Togekiss) - Un-needed hustle accuracy debuffs are really bad for Togekiss, which usually is known for Air Slash flinch hax.
Hustle only affects physical attacks, so Togekiss is fine (unless you run Espeed, but then you probably want the boost).

That matchup sounds useful in theorey, until you remember that Sableye is doomed to wander the earth alone, never to see another being again. This metagame does force it into Stall, after all.
see:
ftr Prankster and Stall don't contradict; Stall is equivalent to Lagging Tail. So regular Sableye using Wisp will go before Return, but after a Lv1 Rattata's Quick Attack.
 
Back
Top