OMotM/LCotM Spotlight: Formemons and Relay Race
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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 April, the OMotM is Formemons, while the Leader's Choice is Relay Race!
Introduction to Formemons
Formemons (not Fortemons!) is a metagame where any existing Pokémon can use any of their alternative formes without typical restrictions! Notably, formes do not need to manually undergo the forme change, meaning you can use a Mega Pokémon as is (RH) without Mega Evolving (or, for Mega Rayquaza, without Dragon Ascent)! Choice Scarf Primal Kyogre, White Herb Mega Blastoise, and Focus Sash Ultra Necrozma—if the base forme is in Gen 9, you can use it! The only exceptions are Pokémon not in Gen 9 like Steelix and Alakazam as well as existing formes that revert to their base forme upon entry, notably Zacian-C and Zamazenta-C but also including Palafin-H and Terapagos-S. You don't need a forme change to be good, though: Koraidon, Zacian-C, and Arceus formes are all still solid choices, while Calyrex-S and Miraidon are banned for still being too overpowered. Formemons also notably allows you to use multiple formes of the same Pokémon on a team, meaning you can run both Mega Mewtwos or even several Arceus formes, if that's what your team needs. All in all, Formemons is an incredibly unique metagame that lets any Trainer explore its many options!
Threats in Formemons
Groudon-Primal @ Leftovers- Ability: Desolate Land
- Tera Type: Water
- EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
- Impish / Relaxed Nature
- - Precipice Blades
- - Stone Edge / Overheat
- - Will-O-Wisp
- - Spikes / Stealth Rock
Groudon-Primal @ Air Balloon / Leftovers- Ability: Desolate Land
- Tera Type: Ground / Fire
- EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Hasty Nature
- - Precipice Blades
- - Rock Tomb / Stone Edge
- - Eruption
- - Swords Dance
Was anyone expecting Primal Groudon not to be excellent? Just like in most metagames it's available in, Primal Groudon is an absolutely superb glue Pokémon holding teams together with its excellent combination of bulk, damage output, and fantastic typing. Primal Groudon's standout role is as a bulky hazard setter, leveraging its fantastic physical bulk to blanket check powerful attackers like Mega Rayquaza, Koraidon, and Zacian-C. Stone Edge allows Primal Groudon to threaten Mega Rayquaza, while Overheat threatens physical walls like Arceus-Fairy. Will-O-Wisp, meanwhile, lets it spread crucial status on foes like Mega Rayquaza. Alternatively, Primal Groudon can run an extremely potent mixed Swords Dance set, bolstered by a powerful STAB-boosted Eruption to shred physical walls. Tera Water on the defensive sets allows Primal Groudon to take a hit from Primal Kyogre in an emergency, while Tera Ground and Fire are used on offensive sets to maximize the power of Precipice Blades and Eruption.
Diancie-Mega @ Focus Sash- Ability: Magic Bounce
- Tera Type: Steel
- EVs: 96 HP / 120 SpA / 40 SpD / 252 Spe
- Hasty Nature
- - Stealth Rock / Spikes
- - Moonblast
- - Rock Tomb
- - Earth Power
With Magic Bounce, a fantastic Speed tier, and the ever valuable Fairy-type, Mega Diancie is the cornerstone of the lead metagame. Stealth Rock and, new to it in Gen 9, Spikes, are both amazing for helping wear down foes like Primal Groudon and Mega Tyranitar for powerful offensive threats like Koraidon and Mega Rayquaza. Rock Tomb is the choice Rock-type move for its ability to slow down faster leads like Deoxys-S, Ribombee, and Eternatus while also preventing setup sweepers like Koraidon from boosting their Speed. Earth Power, meanwhile, threatens Glimmora and Eternatus, while Tera Steel gives Mega Diancie an immunity to their Poison-type moves. Mega Diancie is an amazing lead for hyper offense teams, letting threats like Mega Rayquaza and Primal Kyogre break through their would-be checks.
- Giratina-Origin @ Leftovers
- Ability: Levitate
- EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpA
- Tera Type: Steel
- Modest Nature
- - Hex / Shadow Ball
- - Draco Meteor / Earth Power
- - Thunder Wave / Will-O-Wisp / Calm Mind
- - Defog
Behold, hazard removal. Without being forced to hold Griseous core, Giratina-O is able to don Leftovers for consistent chip healing, letting it be a far more long-lasting utility Pokémon while still not being totally passive thanks to either boosted Hex or the threat of Calm Mind. Giratina-O is also by far the most consistent check to Primal Groudon while also being a great answer into Extreme Killer Arceus and some Mega Rayquaza sets. Thunder Wave is the preferred status move with Hex for its ability to act as speed control against speedy threats like Choice Scarf Primal Kyogre, but Will-O-Wisp is an option to greatly hinder Mega Rayquaza. Alternatively, Calm Mind alongside Shadow Ball allow Giratina-O to be a more immediate threat without relying on status. Earth Power should always be used alongside Hex, as it gives Giratina-O a way to consistently threaten Primal Groudon. The given EV spread allows Giratina-O to survive Tera Ghost Shadow Claw from Arceus even after a Swords Dance.
Introduction to Relay Race
Relay Race is a metagame where any manual switching triggers the effects of Baton Pass. This means that any stat boosts, Substitutes, and certain status effects like Leech Seed and Curse are passed when you switch out! This opens up the door for strategies like Belly Drum Slowking or Contrary Serperior to pass insane stat boosts to powerful recipients like Kyurem and Dragapult. It also, however, opens up the door for defensive teams to stack their own boosts to counter these sweeper chains, while also forcing effects like Leech Seed and Taunt onto opponent's chains. With so many status effects and stat changes flying around, this brings viability to unique effects like Focus Energy to bypass defensive boosts or pivoting moves like U-turn to remove negative changes or, notably, effects like Curse, Leech Seed, and Gastro Acid! Be warned though, as some strategies find themselves too overpowered: notably, uncompetitive effects like Sand Attack and Perish Song are banned, alongside the most powerful setup moves like Shell Smash and Quiver Dance.
Threats in Relay Race
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Slowking-Galar @ Sitrus Berry
Access to Regenerator as well as a pivoting move to reset negative stat changes or effects makes Galarian Slowking the best Belly Drum passer in the tier, as it's able to pass the boost multiple times in any one game. Poison Jab gives it a powerful option if it can't immediately switch after clicking Belly Drum, while Future Sight is useful to potentially disrupt your opponent's chain and apply pressure even after switching out.
Excadrill is the Belly Drum recipient of choice thanks to Mold Breaker, allowing it to bypass Unaware from foes like Clefable and Dondozo as well as Fluffy from Houndstone. Earthquake is Excadrill's best tool for threatening Dondozo, while Iron Head shreds Clefable and threatens a flinch on slower, unboosted threats. Rapid Spin is, on top of an excellent way to boost Speed for both itself and its teammates, also great utility for its hazard removal and Leech Seed-shedding capabilities. Without having to run Swords Dance thanks to Galarian Slowking's Belly Drum, Excadrill is free to run a fouth coverage move; Rock Slide threatens foes like Corviknight and Skarmory, while Throat Chop notably prevents the opponent from using Roar to get rid of Excadrill's stat boosts.
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Clefable and Corviknight form an incredibly dangerous offensive core with the combination of Stored Power, Power Trip, and setup moves. Clefable can wield either Unaware to ignore opposing defensive boosts or Magic Guard to ignore damage from Leech Seed, Curse, or entry hazards. Alluring Voice is used over Moonblast to punish foes like Psych Up Darkrai or Opportunist Espathra, adding confusion onto any chains they're part of. Unaware sets will prefer the chip healing of Leftovers, while Magic Guard sets will sometimes prefer the damage boost of no-drawbacks Life Orb.
Corviknight, meanwhile, can run Mirror Armor to completely offset any potential stat drops and force them back onto the opponent. Bulk Up is used over Iron Defense to allow Corviknight to boost its Attack even if its Defense is maxed out from a Clefable switch, letting it boost the power of Power Trip even higher. Agility can be used to boost Power Trip even further, while Body Press is an option to take advantage of Corviknight's Defense boosts more directly.
Final Thoughts
From the upgrades and expansions of Formemons to the stat boosting shenanigans of Relay Race, April's metagames leave no shortage of options for any trainer to express their creativity! To learn about and discuss these metagames and more, why don't you pop into the Other Metagames room on Pokémon Showdown! or the official Other Metagames Discord to see everything our section has to offer?
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