OMotM/LCotM Spotlight: Convergence and Inverse

By kenn and Gimmicky. Released: 2024/10/19.
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Art by anundeadboy

Art by anundeadboy.

What is an OMotM/LCotM?

The OMotM, or Other Metagame of the Month, is the metagame that is voted by the players to have a ladder for a specific month. The LCotM, or Leader's Choice of the Month, is a second ladder that is chosen specifically by OM Forum Mods. For the most part, the LCotM is a metagame that needs more love, as it may not be able to compete with the others that get nominated for the OMotM voting.

For October, the OM of the Month is Convergence, while the Leader's Choice is Inverse!

Introduction to Convergence

Convergence is an OM where Pokémon with the exact same typing share access to all of their collective moves and abilities. For example, any Water / Ground-type Pokémon has access to the moves and abilities of any other Water / Ground-type in the game, but it does not have access to the moves and abilities of a Water / Rock- or mono-Water-type Pokémon. This means that Pokémon with common typings like Water, Normal, and Psychic get a huge buff, while more obscure dual typings like Tyranitar's Rock / Dark and Alolan Ninetales's Ice / Fairy may come away with no buffs at all. The sheer versatility of this metagame means there's no shortage of unique options to explore, but there are also a few notable bans— namely Slaking and Regigigas, which are no longer held back by their abilities.

Threats in Convergence

cresselia

With Magic Bounce borrowed from Espeon and Recover borrowed from Deoxys-D, Cresselia finds itself as an infinitely annoying crit-me-not sweeper that's able to win games on a dime. Body Press boosted by Cosmic Power and Cresselia's already high Defense provides it the chance to threaten foes physcially, but Moonblast boosted by Calm Mind is an option to better deal with Umbreon. Magic Bounce turns Cresselia into a beacon of utility, denying foes' entry hazards and status moves just by switching in. Leftovers is the preferred item for its consistent recovery, while Covert Cloak ignores Salt Cure from Rock-types and annoys Mold Breaker status spreaders looking to bypass Magic Bounce.

umbreon

With access to the ludicrous Defense-doubling Fur Coat from the Alolan Meowth family, Umbreon serves as one of the tier's premier physical walls, finding itself nigh unbreakable physically. Wish, on top of providing semi-reliable recovery, also synergizes fantastically with Umbreon's newly gained pivoting moves: Parting Shot, again from the Alolan Meowth line, allows Umbreon to soften up a threatening foe's damage output, while U-turn is an option that ignores Taunt. Foul Play provides consistent damage into the powerful attackers that Umbreon switches into, but Toxic and Roar are also options to whittle down walls with debilitating status and repeated entry hazard damage, respectively.

cinderace

By borrowing the sun from Vulpix, Cinderace finds itself as a powerful stallbreaker and pivot, leveraging the sheer power of sun-boosted Fire-type STAB moves to threaten nearly any foe. Pyro Ball is usually preferred for its higher power, but Sacred Fire has slightly better accuracy and can spread a crippling burn to any potential switch-in. Knock Off is excellent for targeting Magic Bounce Psychic-types like Cresselia and Azelf, while Close Combat better pressures foes like Roaring Moon and Umbreon. Cinderace's naturally good matchup against Magic Bounce users makes it an effective user of Stealth Rock, but using Taunt to pressure walls like Umbreon or choosing Swords Dance to become a dangerous sweeper are both viable options as well.

Introduction to Inverse

Inverse is an OM that is fairly simple in its approach, but it is fairly complex with its gameplay. Type matchups are now flipped, turning weaknesses into resistances and resistances and immunities into weaknesses. Pokémon such as Avalugg are fantastic defensive powerhouses, while Pokémon such as Serperior, Porygon-Z, and Indeedee are some of the best offensive sweepers a player could ask for. Unfortunately, while those Pokémon thrive, almost every Steel-type, like Heatran or Corviknight, now has a whopping 11 weaknesses, which is more weaknesses than Tyranitar has in standard play. Some Pokémon ended up being too much and were banned from Inverse, such as Rillaboom and both formes of Ursaluna, and you can see why when you take a look at the type chart here.

Threats in Inverse

avalugg

Avalugg is the premier defensive powerhouse in Inverse, sporting only a weakness to Ice while resisting Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel. It is able to check most physical attackers and pairs extremely well with the premier special wall of the tier, Blissey, forming the infamous "BlissLugg" core. Both Avalugg and Blissey together have forced teams to prepare "outs" to get around them stonewalling the foe, such as Psychic-types running Psyshock and having an Ice-type physical wallbreaker.

mamoswine

Mamoswine has made a name for itself as one of the top wallbreakers of the tier thanks to its unrivaled STAB combo, which is surprisingly just as good as it is in regular competitive play, and the fact that it is the only relevant Ice-type in the tier to resist Ice, which is HUGE when it is usually the only weakness, making it a fantastic answer to all the Ice-types that abound within Inverse. Body Slam is probably the best coverage move just due to how clickable it is and can potentially spread paralysis to support its teammates.

serperior

With Rillaboom gone, Serperior sort of rose up as the premier "fast" Pokémon, outspeeding the likes of Ogerpon, Latios, Latias, and so on. With Inverse's mechanics, mono-Grass coverage becomes absolutely ridiculous, hitting 7 types super effectively. SubSeed + Protect helps with things like Blissey, while Glare is more of an offensive tool to make sure Serperior is the fastest Pokémon on the field and provides paralysis support for the team.

indeedee

Indeedee-M is a menace and a force to be reckoned with. Being only weak to Psychic is a huge boon for an offensive Pokémon such as itself, but also providing Psychic Terrain allows it to outrun most offensive threats with Choice Scarf without having to worry about priority. It doesn't need too much to thrive thanks to Expanding Force being 140 BP while Psychic Terrain is up and there being no immunities to worry about. Indeedee-M also has STAB Hyper Voice to fall back on, which also lacks any immunities and in fact is unresisted within the Inverse OM. Trick can be nice to cripple walls such as Blissey and Avalugg and allow Indeedee-M to continue its reign of terror.

Final Thoughts

If you feel like you wanna do some converging or if you wanna live out GF's dream of using a defensive Ice-type, then these are the OMs for you. Make sure to stop by the Other Metas room on PS!

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