OMotM/LCotM Spotlight: Mix and Mega and BH Doubles

By nv. Art by anundeadboy.
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What is an OMotM/LCotM?

OMotM/LCotM art by anundeadboy

The OMotM, or Other Metagame of the Month, is the metagame that is voted by the players to be showcased on the main server for a specific month. The LCotM, or Leader's Choice of the Month, is one that is chosen specifically by Eevee General and The Immortal. For the most part, the LCotM is a metagame that needs more love, as it may not be able to compete with the metagames that get nominated for the OMotM voting.

Introduction to Mix and Mega

Mix and Mega is a very interesting Ubers-based metagame where fully evolved Pokémon are able to hold nearly any Mega Stone and Mega Evolve. All Pokémon that Mega Evolve can now gain the inherent ability and stat changes and possibly a new typing from the stone they are using. For example, Altarianite would give the user +40 Attack, +20 Defense, and +40 Special Attack with the ability Pixilate and a new secondary Fairy typing, which means Pokémon like Entei would now become Fire / Fairy rather than just plain Fire-type as well as gain the new stat boosts and ability.

A look inside Mix and Mega

Mix and Mega has a lot of complexities about it, as a player has to learn not only what are good users of certain Mega stones but also what makes a Mega Stone viable.

What makes a Mega Stone viable?

For a Mega Stone to be good on its own, it has to have the right combination of stat changes, ability, and versatility in terms of which Pokémon can use it effectively. For example, Sablenite offers not only a massive boost to both Defenses, but a great defensive ability in Magic Bounce as well, allowing nearly any defensive Pokémon to become an impenetrable wall. On the other hand, Abomasite provides boosts to every stat, yet it decreases Speed and provides Snow Warning as an ability, meaning it could only reliably be used on Ice-types, and most of them don't want to be slow and the defensive boost won't help the worst defensive type in the game.

Offensive threats in Mix and Mega

Altarianite Entei

Entei

Altarianite Entei is a top-tier threat in Mix and Mega due to its access to Pixilate Extreme Speed and a great primary Fire typing to complement its new secondary Fairy typing. Extreme Speed becomes a pseudo-STAB priority move that can help Entei clean up mid- or late-game, while Sacred Fire can help break down bulkier walls by hitting them hard and crippling them with its 50% chance to burn. Stone Edge nails the Fire-types that wall Entei's Fire / Fairy coverage. The last slot is filler, but each option serves a specific purpose, as Howl helps Entei break balance teams with ease, Bulldoze gives good coverage against foes like Heatran, and Return is a more powerful pseudo-STAB move to hit walls even harder than Extreme Speed and save its PP for Pokémon faster than Entei.

Pidgeotite Gengar

Gengar

Gengar appreciates the massive Special Attack boost and the ability No Guard that Pidgeotite gives it. Its set looks relatively unchanged from standard play, but thanks to No Guard, Focus Blast no longer misses, and Hypnosis now becomes a reliable sleeping move so that Gengar can put one of its checks or counters out of commission.

Defensive threats in Mix and Mega

Sablenite Blissey

Blissey

Blissey, with Sablenite, becomes a massive wall that can use Magic Bounce to pivot into status moves, as well as entry hazards, and bounce them back at the foe. While its offensive presence isn't the best, it is for sure one of the best options stall has for a mixed wall that can put the foe on a timer via Toxic.

Ampharosite Mew

Mew

Ampharosite gives Mew the always-great Mold Breaker to help it get past nearly every Magic Bounce user, making it a very potent stallbreaker. It also grants Mew fantastic 100 / 120 / 120 bulk, allowing it to take advantage of its resistances from its new, secondary Dragon typing. Psychic is also a great STAB move and hits decently hard with Mew's new base 150 Special Attack.

Introduction to BH Doubles

BH Doubles is pretty self explanatory, as it is essentially Balanced Hackmons in a Doubles format. Balanced Hackmons allows almost any Pokémon to run nearly any ability as well as any move, even unreleased moves such as Thousand Arrows.

A look inside BH Doubles

BH Doubles is a new outlook on a staple, as it puts the craziness of Balanced Hackmons into a Doubles setting, meaning new threats are bound to emerge that will thrive in a metagame where each Pokémon relies on their partner to overpower the opponent.

Differences between Balanced Hackmons and BH Doubles

In Balanced Hackmons, there are common offensive and defensive trends that run rampant throughout the metagame, making it pretty predictable to a veteran of the craziness that is Balanced Hackmons. However, BH Doubles is unexplored territory, and therefore even those who know the Balanced Hackmons metagame may get taken aback by the BH Doubles metagame.

Spread moves

Spread moves aren't normally used in singles due to the fact that not only are they weaker than most single-target attacks (e.g., Dazzling Gleam versus Moonblast) but their main draw (hitting more than one Pokémon) isn't needed as well. In BH Doubles, spread moves are bound to be way more common, in particular Dark Void, which isn't as commonly used in Balanced Hackmons as, say, Spore, which can hit all of the opponent's Pokémon.

A Pokémon that can showcase how powerful spread moves can be is Mega Aerodactyl, as it has a great STAB move coupled with the ability to use Dark Void faster than most other Pokémon.

Mega Aerodactyl

Dark Void bypasses Wide Guard entirely, so you're left to rely on either luck or Prankster Safeguard to stop this monster. It still has amazing utility after using Dark Void thanks to resisting Flying moves and Diamond Storm potentially increasing its Defense by +2 every turn it's out. Mega Aerodactyl is the one thing that everybody MUST prepare for.

Redirect tactics

Another tactic that isn't seen in singles is the art of redirection, as only one Pokémon is out on the field at the same time and thus there is nothing to redirect to or from. In BH Doubles, redirection tactics allow setup sweepers to be very potent, as a Pokémon can use its partner to take all the hits while they aim to sweep the opponent.

Registeel Aegislash Heatran

These three Pokémon are common users of redirection in BH Doubles, with Registeel having the best overall bulk, while Aegislash and Heatran have better defensive typings for the purposes of redirection. Normally, Follow Me is only +2 priority, meaning that Extreme Speed from faster attackers won't be redirected, but Prankster gives an extra +1 priority to Follow Me and other redirection moves, allowing these Pokémon to now redirect even the fastest Extreme Speed users. Prankster also means that these Pokémon are good choices for Safeguard users to avoid themselves and their teammates being put to sleep or getting statused in general. As it stands, there is no one set that these Pokémon usually run. The only constant between them is a redirection move.

Conclusion

Mix and Mega and BH Doubles have a ton of possibilities, making them both appealing metagames, and are bound to make the month of September one to remember.

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