Actually, Levitate Doublade can check even Life Orb + Knock Off sets, though it cannot counter and loses to Choice Band Knock Off Mamoswine assuming Mamoswine isn't running a +Speed nature. If it's a Jolly Mamoswine, however, Mamoswine is screwed in a one-on-one vs. Doublade because Gyro Ball + Shadow Sneak 2HKOs guaranteed. Of course, this does cripple your Doublade.
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Thing is, if Mamo runs Freeze Dry, it can't run Knock Off, Superpower or Stone Edge, allowing something else to be able to counter it. Different sets have different counters. Just like how special Lucario has different counters from Physical Lucario.
As for Mamo I think it's good to unban it at least for testing, as despite all this hype I have yet to see it in use, but I still believe its typing+its speed tier are what stop it doing what terrak did. In addition mamo does not get sd like sharp and terrak did, and any choice banded set (while it can 2hko a lot of mons) the choice damage is very obvious and allows a free switch into something else essentially, giving a free turn up. Unsure on my final opinion, but I want to see it in action more before I form a yay or nay opinion.
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Okay this isn't STRICTLY related to the topic at hand but I commissioned a sketch from the talented Omny and here it is:
Seriously, Refrigerate Entei pulls its weight in virtually every match and it has totally earned its A+ Rank. If you need a reliable check to any Gale Winger that isn't named +2 Skarmory, strongly consider this thing. Even if the opponent doesn't have anything weak to Ice, base-104 Espeed is great, and Sacred Fire is obviously godly. I prefer Life Orb because this lets it make the best use of its great coverage, but I'm sure Choice Band has its uses. Flash Fire is a pain in the ass to deal with.
That snippet is mostly just there to justify me posting this awesome art, but hey.
Seriously, Refrigerate Entei pulls its weight in virtually every match and it has totally earned its A+ Rank. If you need a reliable check to any Gale Winger that isn't named +2 Skarmory, strongly consider this thing. Even if the opponent doesn't have anything weak to Ice, base-104 Espeed is great, and Sacred Fire is obviously godly. I prefer Life Orb because this lets it make the best use of its great coverage, but I'm sure Choice Band has its uses. Flash Fire is a pain in the ass to deal with.
That snippet is mostly just there to justify me posting this awesome art, but hey.
B-b-b-but, birds eat spiders!Okay this isn't STRICTLY related to the topic at hand but I commissioned a sketch from the talented Omny and here it is:
Seriously, Refrigerate Entei pulls its weight in virtually every match and it has totally earned its A+ Rank. If you need a reliable check to any Gale Winger that isn't named +2 Skarmory, strongly consider this thing. Even if the opponent doesn't have anything weak to Ice, base-104 Espeed is great, and Sacred Fire is obviously godly. I prefer Life Orb because this lets it make the best use of its great coverage, but I'm sure Choice Band has its uses. Flash Fire is a pain in the ass to deal with.
That snippet is mostly just there to justify me posting this awesome art, but hey.
Anyways yeah, this thing def pulls al ot of weight, although I feel like it is over hyped somewhat at times I feel like top players overlook this mon for other speeders like genesect. Especially since entei just ides to bb + rocks from sharp beak adamant skarm. If it didn't have such a mediocre matchup vs skarm (esp for a fire type lol) I think it'd be a lot better, but yeah, solid mon nonetheless.
entarantula anyone? nobody? ;~;Okay this isn't STRICTLY related to the topic at hand but I commissioned a sketch from the talented Omny and here it is:
Seriously, Refrigerate Entei pulls its weight in virtually every match and it has totally earned its A+ Rank. If you need a reliable check to any Gale Winger that isn't named +2 Skarmory, strongly consider this thing. Even if the opponent doesn't have anything weak to Ice, base-104 Espeed is great, and Sacred Fire is obviously godly. I prefer Life Orb because this lets it make the best use of its great coverage, but I'm sure Choice Band has its uses. Flash Fire is a pain in the ass to deal with.
That snippet is mostly just there to justify me posting this awesome art, but hey.
personally, enteis problem is being forced into adamant, which otherwise if your team needs speed, every espeeder outruns it(giving arcanine a notable niche over entei along with actually having coverage) my personal fav espeeder is gene, mainly due to wallbreaking with boltblast(beam) and other then dnite, it has the highest attack and has plenty of possible roles to keep your opponent guessing.
Before reading this post, know that I have little to no experience in Almost Any Ability. I tried out some sets today for the first time and I think they've been quite effective. Tinted Lens, in particular has been very helpful. I used a Mold Breaker Shuckle SW + SR HO Team (Surprisingly, there's a huge lack of Spinners/Defoggers in the tier). Even if there are, don't worry, in a minute I will explain how you're not going to let them.
Regent of the Mask (Jirachi) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Doom Desire
- Psyshock
- Flash Cannon
V (Victini) @ Choice Band
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
Jack of Blades (Garchomp) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Dragon Rush
- Iron Tail
- Substitute
I will come back with some calculations later. But really, you don't need an explanation here. Lay SW and/or SR successfully. Lose shuckle in the process (Or make them! I use Infestation + Toxic to force them take down Shuckle. Worst case scenario, you lose SR + SW, but you take down their Defensive Spinner/Defogger). Then proceed to decimate all things. The best feature of Tinted Lens is that, you don't need coverage except for 4x resists and immunities.
Regent of the Mask (Jirachi) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Doom Desire
- Psyshock
- Flash Cannon
V (Victini) @ Choice Band
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
Jack of Blades (Garchomp) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Dragon Rush
- Iron Tail
- Substitute
I will come back with some calculations later. But really, you don't need an explanation here. Lay SW and/or SR successfully. Lose shuckle in the process (Or make them! I use Infestation + Toxic to force them take down Shuckle. Worst case scenario, you lose SR + SW, but you take down their Defensive Spinner/Defogger). Then proceed to decimate all things. The best feature of Tinted Lens is that, you don't need coverage except for 4x resists and immunities.
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Ok, while I know that Gengar and Alakazam are almost certainly the best and most popular users of Sheer Force, there are some other really powerful and underrated users of it. Magmortar with a Choice Scarf or Life Orb can be an amazing revenge killer or wallbreaker, respectively, thanks to its amazing coverage and great offenses. Chandelure is slower and lacks the same level of coverage, but with its dual STABs and Energy Ball backed by base 145 Special Attack it is just ridiculous and near-unwallable outside of ghost-resistant Flash Fire users.
Tinted Lens is also amazing; while Magic Guard and Water Absorb are more popular choices, Volcarona's Quiver Dance LO sweeper set is incredibly powerful since very few Pokemon resist Volca's Tinted Lens-backed dual STABs; only Heatran and the Fire/Flying Pokemon - as far as I can think of - 4x resist (or are immune to) both of his STABs. Garchomp, Zygarde and Flygon pack a fantastic dual STAB that no Pokemon can claims to resist when backed by Tinted Lens, with the exception of Togekiss.
Tinted Lens is also amazing; while Magic Guard and Water Absorb are more popular choices, Volcarona's Quiver Dance LO sweeper set is incredibly powerful since very few Pokemon resist Volca's Tinted Lens-backed dual STABs; only Heatran and the Fire/Flying Pokemon - as far as I can think of - 4x resist (or are immune to) both of his STABs. Garchomp, Zygarde and Flygon pack a fantastic dual STAB that no Pokemon can claims to resist when backed by Tinted Lens, with the exception of Togekiss.
Aesf posted a Tinted Lens Jirachi set in the AAA Creative/Underrated Sets thread. Basically, Tinted Lens Doom Desire Jirachi only really needs Doom Desire, and moreover doesn't appreciate being locked into it. U-Turn and Wish/Protect fill out the rest of the set well enough.Before reading this post, know that I have little to no experience in Almost Any Ability. I tried out some sets today for the first time and I think they've been quite effective. Tinted Lens, in particular has been very helpful. I used a Mold Breaker Shuckle SW + SR HO Team (Surprisingly, there's a huge lack of Spinners/Defoggers in the tier). Even if there are, don't worry, in a minute I will explain how you're not going to let them.
Regent of the Mask (Jirachi) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Doom Desire
- Psyshock
- Flash Cannon
No qualms here; this set is good, and Tinted Lens is a solid ability on Victini that catches people trying to switch in resists by surprise.
V (Victini) @ Choice Band
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
Tinted Lens Garchomp is a nice idea for a set, I'll admit. However, +2 Dragon Claw hits harder than +1 Dragon Rush (and is also more reliable), and running Garchomp without its STAB Earthquake is a waste. I think a Sub+SD set with Dragon Claw and Earthquake would probably be better than what you have here. Further, given that this seems to be oriented more towards setting up and wallbreaking than tearing through teams, I might suggest running this with a bulkier spread over the max-speed version you have now -- especially considering that +2 Adamant Dragon Claw can get the 2HKO on fully defensive (non-Intimidate) Skarm while Jolly can't.
Jack of Blades (Garchomp) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Tinted Lens
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Dragon Rush
- Iron Tail
- Substitute
In my experience (which is, admittedly, limited), Shuckle has a nasty tendency to get 2HKOed, limiting to one layer of hazards if it chooses to run Mold Breaker. In its stead, I think standard Mold Breaker Deoxys-S is probably a better choice for a suicide hazard lead. Unless, in your experience, the Sticky Web drops really do matter. Your team seems like it would force a variety of switches, though, so I do think it will appreciate the extra damage from Spikes over Sticky Webs.
Actually, Fire is naturally neutral against Heatran (nobody runs FF Heatran in this tier), and Flying doesn't resist Fire. So Tinted Lens Bug/Fire gets perfect neutral coverage.
e: failed at quoting
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I've been messing around with Motor Drive Manaphy, and I must say, I'm very impressed! +3 SpA / +1 Spe in one turn is absolutely amazing and Manaphy has the typing and bulk to live a Brave Bird and threaten in return. This is similar to Motor Drive / Volt Absorb Gyarados. What are your guys's thoughts on Pokemon having an ability that gives them an immunity to a weakness to lure in the Pokemon? Manaphy works well because it beats all Electric-types easily and can set up in their faces. Very good Pokemon so far!
Correct me if I'm wrong(don't play the ladder much nowadays) but offensive electric types aren't very common here and therefore motor drive is very niche.
I wouldn't call it an "offensive" electric, but you can set-up on Zapdos with it. You can also set-up on Victini, even the Tough Claws set with Grass Knot because Manaphy is light as fuck.
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 183-216 (50.6 - 59.8%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Manaphy in Sun: 276-324 (76.4 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Tough Claws Victini V-create vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 243-287 (67.3 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
It's already well known that v-create destroys water types, no offense at all fren, but you should probably not switch into victini lol.
specially tinted lens or TB
252 Atk Choice Band Tinted Lens Victini V-create vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 366-432 (101.3 - 119.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Turboblaze Victini Bolt Strike vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 354-418 (98 - 115.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO(Guaranteed OHKO after stealth rock)
So I came back and apparently kl4ng actually realized that it's a good idea to ban bisharp, terrakion, and especially chatter :D
Well now that those ridiculously overpowered mons are out of the way, I think it'll finally be possible to build an extremely effective bulky offense or stall team, since bisharp and terrakion literally made slow pokemon not very viable. And chatter was...well...chatter.
Thoughts on Mega Slowbro? It now succesfully walls the entire physical meta barring heracross, has decent power, and gets recovery. Going to be a very solid pokemon imo.
also Throbulator36 you know what I mean, no need to nitpick.
Well now that those ridiculously overpowered mons are out of the way, I think it'll finally be possible to build an extremely effective bulky offense or stall team, since bisharp and terrakion literally made slow pokemon not very viable. And chatter was...well...chatter.
Thoughts on Mega Slowbro? It now succesfully walls the entire physical meta barring heracross, has decent power, and gets recovery. Going to be a very solid pokemon imo.
also Throbulator36 you know what I mean, no need to nitpick.
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small nitpick but,
252+ Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 192-227 (48.7 - 57.6%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 286-339 (72.5 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I'm sorry what did you say?
Banded Lens Victini has a solid shot at 2HKOing with V-Create, any banded Adamant Victini can 2HKO with Bolt Strike (risky though), Slowbro and Snorlax can set up on each other but Snorlax is gonna come out on top, Mega Gyarados 2HKOs at +1 with Crunch, +1 Tyranitar can usually claim the same, aforementioned Heracross and Haxorus beat it, Banded Tough Claws Dragonite 2HKOs with Outrage, Banded Tough Claws Ferrothorn deals 81% minimum... I dunno that's about it. You're right, Megabro is gonna give the physical meta some issues.
If you wanna be REALLY comprehensive about taking down physical threats, Megabro can put Intimidate down in its base form. Regenerator is, amusingly enough, probably one of the better abilities for its base form to use, letting it pivot for a while until its walling is needed. It can also carry a type immunity to give your team a switch-in to something that it needs, I guess.
Aye. I think if hyper offense wants to reclaim its lost ground here, it'll need to start cranking up the power level a little bit to crack some of the tough nuts that are gonna be more common -- Bands and Specs, Adaptability and Tough Claws, basically just trading some versatility or durability for sheer might. I also think that, with two powerful priority users gone, fast 'mons are gonna be more valuable, especially ones that are Dark-weak. But we'll see.
well i guess its time to post a set i at first was using as nothing more then a "filler" poke, untill i realised just how scary it is.
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge/generic fire attack
honestly, my first thought when using this set was "gee, i want a magic bouncer for my team" and since ive been a recent fan of offensive bouncers...i decided to once again try it out and the results are just amazing. id argue that if your opponent doesn't have unaware, or leviblade, this thing single handedly can dismantle stall teams while maintaining a hefty offensive presence for opposing offense. garchomp fits the bill of "Setup sweeper" perfectly, being strong, perfect stab coverage, and access to a stellar speed teir(dispite being slightly slow) and having great bulk to utilize. a lot of stall teams resort to whirlwinding setup sweepers, or crippling it, but this thing dont care bout dat shizz. on top of that, chomp is able to set up on/attack plenty of pokemon it couldn't before without risking something, it no longer fears the wisps, or the toxics, brelooms spores, gengars wisps(though gengar isn't the best poke to combat),taunt, and phasing it only gives it a free setup turn. and to top it off, hazard setters need to be cautious about setting up rocks in fear of it switching in to setup(not many hazard setters in stall can deal with chomp as ive seen, depending on your final move).
seriously though, versus stall, garchomp finds plenty of chances to set up, and is no slouch vs offense either, making it imo, an amazing bouncer. however, with refridge spiking in popularity, its very easy to revenge kill if given the chance. its not perfect. but its definitely been pulling its weight on my teams, and is worth considering over tinted/adapt imho.
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Stone Edge/generic fire attack
honestly, my first thought when using this set was "gee, i want a magic bouncer for my team" and since ive been a recent fan of offensive bouncers...i decided to once again try it out and the results are just amazing. id argue that if your opponent doesn't have unaware, or leviblade, this thing single handedly can dismantle stall teams while maintaining a hefty offensive presence for opposing offense. garchomp fits the bill of "Setup sweeper" perfectly, being strong, perfect stab coverage, and access to a stellar speed teir(dispite being slightly slow) and having great bulk to utilize. a lot of stall teams resort to whirlwinding setup sweepers, or crippling it, but this thing dont care bout dat shizz. on top of that, chomp is able to set up on/attack plenty of pokemon it couldn't before without risking something, it no longer fears the wisps, or the toxics, brelooms spores, gengars wisps(though gengar isn't the best poke to combat),taunt, and phasing it only gives it a free setup turn. and to top it off, hazard setters need to be cautious about setting up rocks in fear of it switching in to setup(not many hazard setters in stall can deal with chomp as ive seen, depending on your final move).
seriously though, versus stall, garchomp finds plenty of chances to set up, and is no slouch vs offense either, making it imo, an amazing bouncer. however, with refridge spiking in popularity, its very easy to revenge kill if given the chance. its not perfect. but its definitely been pulling its weight on my teams, and is worth considering over tinted/adapt imho.
I never played AAA. Why are Aerilate and Imposter banned but not Pixilate/Refrigerate? Why are Kyurem-B, Keldeo, Weavile and Terrakion banned? Why are the unbanned Pokémon unbanned?
Aerilate is banned due to the large amount of Pokemon that can abuse it and get stab. Refrigerate and Pixilate have nearly no good stab abusers, except Weavile (obv Frige) who overpowered even the pdef wall known as Regirock with its Double Edge, and has really good priority in fake out. Kyub is exceptionally strong with any good ability, but the ones that stood out were Poison Heal and Refrigerate, the latter of which was even stronger than Weavile. The other 2 were banned due to their immense power with adapt, speed, decent bulk, and potential setup opportunities, and the others were unbanned due to the power creep (and Aegis being predictable AF).
Correct me if I'm wrong other people
Because Dragonite has espeed and noivern has boomburst and it would get STAB if they got aerilate imposter cuz of imposter chansey kyurem-b and weavile are banned cuz they can use refregirate keldeo and terrakion are really scary especially if they have adaptability.
edit:greninja'd
lol, disregard the fact that I asked about Imposter. I confused it for Illusion :P
EDIT: Then why, ifI Smeargle and Shedinja are banned with only one Ability, why are they banned completely, instead of just banning, say, Weavile+Refrigerate?
EDIT: Then why, ifI Smeargle and Shedinja are banned with only one Ability, why are they banned completely, instead of just banning, say, Weavile+Refrigerate?
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Not entirely sure to be honest. Weavile at least was scary with Adaptability as well because Dark/Ice is a pretty nice STAB combination. It makes sense for Kyurem-Black, though, since it can run many different Abilities effectively. These would include Refrigerate, Poison Heal, and probably even Tinted Lens or Tough Claws to have teammates eliminate the foe's Fairy-types and then just click Outrage on everything else.
According to previous AAA threads, Keldeo could run many different sets effectively, all of which had different counters. On top of that, many of those counters were extremely niche outside of countering Keldeo.
One thing I noticed about AAA with the Mamoswine dispute, though, is that any decent Ice-type Pokémon will give the meta trouble. The fact that the list of decent Ice-types is limited to Weavile (banned), Kyurem-Black (banned), and Mamoswine (almost banned!) is the reason this hasn't been an issue already.
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now i wasn't around for when these bans took place(well, actually, its more of "i didnt care much" then anything) i will try to answer both these questions.
smeargle...personally...i don't know myself, from a logic standpoint, it couldve been mainly to save hyper offense/setup spam (you know, because the community already hates the creator for trying to "save stall" lol), but not just that, i think it was mainly due to what the community wanted (iirc, it was originally banned before being unbanned, and is perhaps the only "complex" ban out of the two mentioned that was banned due to being broken.) honestly, i have no clue, but i'm just guessing it was due to others that it was unbanned by complex from what my memory remembers.
now shedinja....shedinja is a whole different boat. shedinja isn't "broken". yes. even with sturdy. it isn't broken. it can be handled very easy. and even in AAA it could be handled relatively easily. the problem? is the methods of doing so are so obscure and cancerous. sturdinja isn't broken per se, its just the most centralizing piece of crap around. moreso then imposter by far, making it more noncompetitive then broken. its kind of like... "do you ban slowbro due to having the noncompetitive aspect, or do you ban the method of activating the aspect" catch my drift?