NatDex Ogerpon-W Suspect Coverage

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Introduction

Outshined by its Hearthflame counterpart in the first few weeks after the Teal Mask DLC's release, it took a bit for people to catch on to how powerful Ogerpon-W was in NatDex. With the Ogerpon-H ban, Ogerpon-W thrived as its biggest team slot competitor was no longer usable, and it immediately made a statement in the tier. Boasting a solid Attack stat and a great base 110 Speed tier, it's an easy Pokémon to look past and brush off as just another good wallbreaker in a tier infested with them. Ogerpon-W's moves are where it makes up for its unassuming stats, with both its STAB attacks in Ivy Cudgel and Power Whip being above 100 BP as well as by Swords Dance, and having coverage to bypass nearly all of its limited checks makes it an extremely hard Pokémon to check defensively, with Pokémon being relegated to defensively Terastallize into a Grass- or Dragon-type just to stave it off. Ogerpon's signature interaction with Terastallization also impacts this, as alongside the power boost and type change, Embody Aspect gives a it +1 Special Defense boost, making it significantly harder to revenge kill with faster special attackers like Tornadus-T and Darkrai. However, Ogerpon-W is not flawless; while its Speed tier is great, it is still outsped by common speed control options such as Zamazenta and Mega Lopunny, and it is quite reliant on Terastallization to attempt to break past more of its sturdier checks like Tera Dragon Galarian Slowking. Furthermore, while Ogerpon-W's range of checks is limited depending on its moveset, it is unable to cover everything, as sets lacking Play Rough or Encore are unable to break past Dragonite or Raging Bolt without prior chip; if it drops Superpower, it cannot break through the ubiquitous Ferrothorn and Archuladon; and without Encore or Taunt, it can struggle to find easy setup opportunities. Nevertheless, its multiple positive traits led to multiple complaints from the playerbase, leading to it being suspect tested.

Sets

Swords Dance

• Ogerpon-Wellspring @ Wellspring Mask
• Ability: Water Absorb
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Tera Type: Water
• Jolly Nature
• - Swords Dance
• - Ivy Cudgel
• - Power Whip / Horn Leech
• - Superpower / Encore / Play Rough

Swords Dance Ogerpon-W is far and away the best way to maximize its potential as a powerful wallbreaker for offensive teams, blowing holes in unprepared teams and forcing checks like Alomomola and Galarian Slowking to Terastallize to check it sufficiently. Ivy Cudgel and Power Whip are Ogerpon-W's strongest STAB options, but Horn Leech can also be used to increase its longevity. Superpower is its best coverage option, nailing its most common check in Ferrothorn after a Swords Dance, but it also notably hits Archuladon and neutral targets like Raging Bolt and Tera Dragon Galarian Slowking. Encore lets Ogerpon-W set up on passive checks like Toxapex and Alomomola while also punishing Raging Bolt trying to catch it with Thunderclap or Dragonite trying to punish it with Roost. Lastly, Play Rough hits Dragon-types like Raging Bolt, Dragonite, and Tera Dragon Alomomola.

Team Example

The structure of this team by hidin perfectly encapsulates how easy it is to take advantage of Ogerpon-W’s wallbreaking power, with it wearing down or outright removing Ferrothorn and Toxapex and forcing Galarian Slowking and Alomomola to Terastallize to properly check it. This enables its partners in Iron Defense Zamazenta, Iron Crown, Iron Moth, and Raging Bolt to blitz through the team once weakened by Ogerpon-W. Ogerpon-W’s defensive liabilities are also highlighted here, with multiple Booster Energy Pokemon to make up for its rather awkward Speed tier, and Zamazenta to help check faster threats like Weavile who threaten to revenge kill it. This team aims to overload each Pokemon’s shared checks and deny the opponent turns to gain meaningful footing through sheer power. Landorus-T is a key part of the team, bringing in Ogerpon-W safely on Gliscor and opposing Landorus-T.

Ban

While Ogerpon-W‘s strengths went unnoticed for a while, it eventually rose to prominence as people experimented with coverage options and realized how much it tormented the Galarian Slowking + Alomomola cores that plagued the meta at the time. Swords Dance sets had very little in terms of consistent defensive counterplay, and some of its revenge killing options such as Darkrai and Tornadus-T were shut down with the Special Defense boost from Terastallization. Furthermore, its wide array of coverage options meant that no singular attempt to check it was safe and teams had to rely on multiple options including a consistent revenge killer, which made it extremely hard to deal with in the teambuilder.

Keep Unbanned

While Ogerpon-W has many clear defined strengths, many people were doubtful of how powerful it actually was. While strong, it fails to reach numerous KOs without Terastallizing, which, in addition to narrowing down the team's options, also means Ogerpon-W loses both Water Absorb and its defensive secondary Grass typing, which can be extremely detrimental in the rain matchup; this also prevents it from setting up against Toxapex and blocking Alomamola’s Flip Turn. Furthermore, Ogerpon-W is unable to cover everything, as it has only one free moveslot, so sets lacking Play Rough will struggle against Dragonite, Raging Bolt, and Tera Dragon Pokémon, while sets lacking Superpower are unable to break Ferrothorn. While fast, Ogerpon-W is also still outsped by common speed control options like Mega Lopunny and Zamazenta, who easily revenge kill it. Lastly, it can be worn down quickly by entry hazards, as it has to switch in multiple times to wallbreak consistently.

Results

Fortunately for it, Ogerpon-W did not surpass the minimum required votes to be banned from the tier, with an extremely close 41 Ban votes to 31 Keep Unbanned. While there is no arguing that Ogerpon-W’s influence on teambuilding and in-game play is notable, the community felt it was not enough to put it over the edge for a ban. This result has solidified Ogerpon-W’s place in the meta for the foreseeable future, and it will continue to be a powerful threat.

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