Metagame Alphabet Cup

Eli

Eli

any?
is a Battle Simulator Moderator
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Credit to IMakeNoSense for art, it is good​

Alphabet Cup
In addition to their normal moveset, all Pokémon get every move with which they share a starting letter.

Prevo Clause: Pokémon also gain access to letters available in their prior evolutions.
For example, Blissey is able to run moves that start with H and C because its evolution family includes Happiny and Chansey.

Leaders:
Eli
InkyDarkBird
BandedBodyPress

Clauses: Sleep Moves Clause, Standard OMs, Terastalization Clause

Bans:

Annihilape
Arceus
Baxcalibur
Blaziken
Calyrex-Ice
Calyrex-Shadow
Chien-Pao
Chi-Yu
Deoxys-Base
Deoxys-Attack
Dialga
Dialga-Origin
Dragapult
Dragonite
Espathra
Eternatus
Flutter Mane
Giratina
Giratina-Origin
Gouging Fire
Groudon
Ho-Oh
Iron Bundle
Kingambit
Koraidon
Kyogre
Kyurem-Black
Kyurem-White
Landorus-Base
Lugia
Lunala
Magearna
Magearna-Original
Mamoswine
Meowscarada
Mewtwo
Miraidon
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Palafin
Palkia
Palkia-Origin
Rayquaza
Reshiram
Sceptile
Shaymin-Sky
Sneasler
Solgaleo
Spectrier
Ursaluna
Urshifu
Weavile
Zacian
Zacian-Crowned
Zamazenta-Crowned
Zekrom

Acupressure*
Baton Pass*
Belly Drum
Ceaseless Edge
Clangorous Soul
Dire Claw
Extreme Speed
Fillet Away
Glacial Lance
Glare
Last Respects*
Lumina Crash
Rage Fist
Revival Blessing
Salt Cure
Shed Tail*
Shell Smash
Shift Gear
Surging Strikes
Tail Glow
Triple Arrows

• Anything annotated with an asterisk is banned outright, meaning even Pokémon that natively have access cannot use them.

Arena Trap
Moody
Shadow Tag

Damp Rock
Heat Rock
King's Rock
Light Clay
Razor Fang

Watchlist:

Volcanion
Volcarona

Tidy Up

One of the most significant benefits to this meta is that many Pokémon with less-than-stellar movepools get an opportunity to shine.

All Pokémon that start with S get access to all but one of the hazards (Toxic Spikes), Salt Cure, Scald, Soft-Boiled/Shore Up/Slack Off, Strength Sap, Substitute, Swords Dance, and, frankly, an entire suite of incredible moves.

Beyond S, the big winners are:
• R: Rapid Spin, Recover, etc.
• T: Taunt, Teleport, Toxic Spikes, Trick, Trick Room, etc.

With honorable mentions to:
• C: Calm Mind, Ceaseless Edge, Court Change, etc.
• D: Diamond Storm, Discharge, Dragon Dance, every other move starting with “Dragon”, etc.
• M: Meteor Mash, Milk Drink, etc.
• P: Parting Shot, Precipice Blades, Pyro Ball, etc.

Some Pokémon that get particularly nice boosts:
• :rotom: Rotom (and forms): Good for all the usual reasons, but now with access to recovery moves and Rapid Spin.
• :toxapex: Toxapex: Mortal Spin and Teleport. Taunt and everything is nice, but those two moves on Pex turn its features up to 11.
• :corviknight: Corviknight: Cotton Guard + Body Press turns this wall into a full-on tank. It also gets Court Change and Rapid Spin.

FAQs/Comments:
• Moves not fully functional on cartridge (Pursuit, for one) cannot be used.
• Nicknames do not alter your access to moves. The names as listed by default in the teambuilder determine your access.

Further Notes:
• A lot of really amazing moves don’t get many opportunities to be used: Quiver Dance, Wish, and Extreme Speed to name a few.
• A lot of letters get almost nothing. J, K, Q (other than Quiver Dance), U (other than U-Turn), X, Y, and Z are all left mostly for dead.
• You can challenge your friends/rivals with functionality now added to PS!
When using the /challenge command, you can now add @@@ Alphabet Cup Move Legality to the end to have it validate our rules! Currently, there is no option in teambuilder but it still works as though we had it!
Example: open up the chat window for a person and type: /challenge gen9anythinggoes @@@ alphabetcupmovelegality, standard oms, sleep moves clause, -arceus, -calyrexice, -calyrexshadow, -dialga, -dialgaorigin, -eternatus, -fluttermane, -giratina, -giratinaorigin, -groudon, -koraidon, -kyogre, -magearna, -magearnaoriginal, -mewtwo, -miraidon, -palafin, -palkia, -palkiaorigin, -rayquaza, -weavile, -zacian, -zaciancrowned, -zamazenta, -zamazentacrowned, -acupressure, -batonpass, -lastrespects, *bellydrum, *filletaway, *glaciallance, *ragefist, *revivalblessing, *shedtail, *shellsmash, *shiftgear, *surgingstrikes, -arenatrap, -moody, -shadow tag
This will challenge someone to Anything Goes with the standard set of clauses (Sleep Moves Clause, etc.), but it will tell you if one of your sets is using a move with a letter it doesn't have access to. We hope to make things even more user-friendly soon!

We hope everyone likes this format and we look forward to seeing the creative sets that will arise!

-----------------

Approved by UT and in the hills
 
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There's a couple very interesting things I want to point out in regards to some of the new moves. Haven't done testing with them, but they exist.

- :mimikyu: :azumarill: :grimmsnarl: :meowscarada: There's a new 100/100 Physical Fairy move in Magical Torque for these three fairies and the Protean-shifter to play with, and hacking has shown that they do not fail when used by a non-starmobile. Definitely an upgrade over Play Rough's 90/90, but the side effect being Confusion instead of a stat drop may not be as worth it. None of the other Torques have great users, unfortunately.

- :krookodile: :gallade: K might not give much, but the new tool of Kowtow Cleave is still a new and interesting Dark move for the handful of mons that get it. Notably Krookodile for STAB, and Gallade (via Kirlia) for being Sharpness boosted.

- :garchomp: :gyarados: :great-tusk: Every G gets access to Gigaton Hammer. None of the new users (excluding Gholdengo, which is weaker than Tinkaton physically) have STAB, but it's a 160 BP attack off of an attack stat that has presence instead of being simply middling.

- :vigoroth: (:veluza:?) Unfortunately for Victory Dance, most of the valid V mons have something stopping them from running the move over something else. Shame, really, since Physical Quiver Dance is a slight upgrade over DD.
 
Just wanted to quickly talk about a couple mons that I think look nice in theory(and aren’t on the watchlist already):
:skeledirge: Skeledirge has access to s, c, and f which is a good pool of moves, stuff like salt cure, rocks, ceaseless edge, flip turn, etc. Skele also has unaware which seems very nice in this meta as we no longer have the ultimate setup check in spectral thief or topsy turvy.
:dragapult: same old set from last gen except now with a lot less fairies and steels running around to annoy it, has to deal with kingambit now but it has coverage for it with fire blast
:meowscarada: protean + s, f, and m moves, really all you need to know, protean nerf kinda sucks for it since setup won’t be as good but choiced sets look nice with access to u turn, magical torque, fire moves, knock off, etc. it’s also really fast which is nice
 
Spiderpig2398 said:
Definitely an upgrade over Play Rough's 90/90, but the side effect being Confusion instead of a stat drop may not be as worth it.
Click to expand...
Magical Torque's secondary is definitely more worth it than Play Rough's, being 30% chance vs 10% chance on a move that's 100% accurate vs 90% accurate.
Meowscarada should be fun though.

Chrome8 said:
same old set from last gen except now with a lot less fairies and steels running around to annoy it, has to deal with kingambit now but it has coverage for it with fire blast
Click to expand...
I have this guy on a team (that I have yet to use...) because I imagine he will be quite annoying to switch into, Kingambit should help a lot though.

SPEAKING of the king, he gets Knock Off now in addition to P and B moves which are quite strong, like Pyro Ball, Precipice Blades, and Bullet Punch for priority.
 
*LAGHUTER*
Numel @ Eviolite
Ability: Simple
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- No Retreat
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon

Anyways, Toxtricity looking pretty good with a way to actually hit iron treads and in general an awesome coverage move especially for what its does in spamming sound moves.
Toxtricity @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Torch Song
- Sludge Bomb
- Overdrive
- Shift Gear
Otherwise I hope it becomes playable on ladder soon
 
Hiusi guy said:
*LAGHUTER*
Numel @ Eviolite
Ability: Simple
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- No Retreat
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
Click to expand...

alphabet cup has been solved, we can close it up now.....


Hiusi guy said:
Anyways, Toxtricity looking pretty good with a way to actually hit iron treads and in general an awesome coverage move especially for what its does in spamming sound moves.
Toxtricity @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Torch Song
- Sludge Bomb
- Overdrive
- Shift Gear
Click to expand...

yeah that's probably better than the life orb set I had since shift gear is good, I have boomburst over sludge bomb but I suppose both are good
 
Low-Key said:
Some things I thought were funny:

:spidops: lol (gets T and S moves but don't use this pls)

:gholdengo: Even though it only gets G moves, Geomancy isn't even banned yet which I am honestly questionable about. Simply pack a Power Herb and boom, you get +2 SpA, SpD, and Spe right off the bat. This is FAR better than what Nasty Plot brought for it and now it's probably one of the most single dangerous mons to look out for. With the boost Gholdengo is exceptionally dangerous as it can hit a LOT of Pokemon and doesn't have to worry about Mach Punch or Extreme Speed as priority. Don't think it'd use any other G moves but feel free to prove me wrong, if you ever want to.

Gholdengo @ Power Herb
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Ghost / Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Geomancy
- Make It Rain
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

:bellibolt: Gets T and B moves, and holy crap, it is worth it. Getting Tail Glow is really awesome for a Pokemon like this, and it's able to hone its pitiful coverage and it gets Thunder Cage, which can punish Pokemon even further by using the new coverage options it gets to remove Pokemon after this successfully traps it, eg Blue Flare and Bug Buzz, including the Electromorphosis boost you get from taking damage. It's pretty bulky too so it can live maybe a hit. Watch out for Ground-type mons if you ever use this though.

Bellibolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Electromorphosis
Tera Type: Fire / Bug
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Thunder Cage
- Blue Flare
- Bug Buzz

:passimian: Gains only P moves, but this exists to spam P O P U L A T I O N B O M B... and moves like Precipice Blades/Plasma Fists. Honestly not much P Pokemon can abuse these moves except this, and I found this as the outliner since Passimian has the highest ATK stat out of all P Pokemon. Being able to hone it further via Defiant is awesome, but watch out for Rocky Helmet or it's a pretty big KO for you.

Passimian @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Population Bomb
- Precipice Blades
- Close Combat
- Plasma Fists

Honestly can't wait for this to be coded on latter and what silly stuff people will experiment with.
Click to expand...
Just to note, geomancy, tail glow, blue flare, and plasma fists all don’t exist as of right now
 
Shelgon @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Baneful Bunker
- Slack Off
- Salt Cure
- Bind

The ultimate staller. Bind for trapping people and giving chip damage. Baneful Bunker is just protect with poison as a bonus. Salt Cure for even more stall. And finally Slack Off for heal.

252+ Atk Choice Band Iron Hands Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Shelgon: 136-162 (40.7 - 48.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Protosynthesis Roaring Moon Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Shelgon: 170-204 (50.8 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Orichalcum Pulse Koraidon Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Shelgon: 174-206 (52 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This thing also has really good calcs as well.


Sableye @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Sticky Web

The Deluxe Hazard Setter, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Sticky Web all in one brought to you by Prankster. What I'm trying to say is that you have hazards for days. Just beware of Defog and Court Change.
 
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Spiderpig2398 said:
- :vigoroth: (:veluza:?) Unfortunately for Victory Dance, most of the valid V mons have something stopping them from running the move over something else. Shame, really, since Physical Quiver Dance is a slight upgrade over DD.
Click to expand...
Revavroom gets it from Varoom while also getting Recover and Rage Fist. Given its solid stats and typing for the job, I'd be rather surprised if it didn't achieve something.

In other news, Garchomp getting access to the combo of STAB Glaive Rush and Gigaton Hammer is absolutely terrifying. With Earthquake and Gigaton Hammer threatening basically every switch in to Glaive Rush other than Corviknight, defensive counterplay is looking pretty bare after a Swords Dance.
 
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So I was looking at the PLA new/signature moves and who could make some use of them:

- Esper Wings: Espeon, Espathra (Good for Espeon ig, the bird doesn't need it)
- Triple Arrows: Paldean Tauros forms, Toxicroak, Maushold and... Tyranitar?
- Dire Claw: Du²nsparce (SeReNe GrAcE), Dragapult, Dragonite (do they need this?)
- Barb Barrage: Braviary (Sheer Force), Baxcalibur, Salamence (coverage)
- Chloroblast: Chi-Yu (150 BP special grass move lol, yes it loses HP but good wish passers solves this), Skeledirge, Scovillain
- Ceaseless Edge: Chien-Pao (now this thing can also sets spikes while murdering you), Corviknight, Ceruledge, Cetitan.
- Stone Axe: anything blessed with the S movepool. BTW Cinderace gets both Stone Axe and Ceaseless Edge.
- Moutain Gale: Azumarill (okay...), Meowscarada (lol), Maushold, Annihilape (why)
- Raging Fury: Cinderace, Roaring Moon, Lycanroc-Dusk, Revavroom (it can use V-Create tho, must choose if its better to lose stats or be locked).
- Headlong Rush: Hawlucha (now it can hit gholdengo really hard), Haxorus, Honchcrow

I think it is done. The other moves were already talked about like Victory Dance or are not that relevant like Psyshield Bash and that move from Hisuian Goodra.

BTW, in the case of Barb Barrage Breloom, if the target is poisoned, the boost comes before or after Technician? (120 or 180 BP?)

Answered below.

And in the case of Serene Grace Dire Claw Dudunsparce... Is it really 100% chance to Sleep, Para or Poison...
 
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fratelli bc said:
So I was looking at the PLA new/signature moves and who could make some use of them:

- Esper Wings: Espeon, Espathra (Good for Espeon ig, the bird doesn't need it)
- Triple Arrows: Paldean Tauros forms, Toxicroak, Maushold and... Tyranitar?
- Dire Claw: Du²nsparce (SeReNe GrAcE), Dragapult, Dragonite (does they need this?)
- Barb Barrage: Breloom (Technican), Braviary (Sheer Force), Baxcalibur, Salamence (coverage)
- Chloroblast: Chi-Yu (150 BP special grass move lol, yes it loses HP but good wish passers solves this), Skeledirge, Scovillain
- Ceaseless Edge: Chien-Pao (now this thing can also sets spikes while hurting you), Corviknight, Ceruledge, Cetitan.
- Stone Axe: anything blessed with the S movepool. BTW Cinderace gets both Stone Axe and Ceaseless Edge.
- Moutain Gale: Azumarill, Meowscarada (lol), Maushold, Annihilape (why)
- Raging Fury: Cinderace, Roaring Moon, Lycanroc-Dusk, Revavroom (it's a move that can hit steels, so that counts for him i guess).
- Headlong Rush: Hawlucha, Haxorus, Honchcrow

I think it is done. The other moves were already talked about like Victory Dance or are not that relevant like Psyshield Bash and that move from Hisuian Goodra.

BTW, in the case of Barb Barrage Breloom, if the target is poisoned, the boost comes before or after Technician? (120 or 180 BP?)

And in the case of Serene Grace Dire Claw Dudunsparce... Is it really 100% chance to Sleep, Para or Poison?
Click to expand...

Technician boost would be after the poison boost so the move would have 120 BP, still a nice move but maybe not for Breloom.

yes, serene grace dire claw is 100% to do one of those effects. It's very funny
 
I wont lie this is kinda funny
Fake Annihilape (Decidueye) @ Leftovers
Ability: Long Reach
Tera Type: Water / Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Dragon Dance / Defend Order
- Rage Fist
- Roost
- Leaf Blade / Drain Punch
Rowlet gives it Rage Fist and with 107 Atk, decent bulk, and stab on rage fist i think it could actually have some potental though not much more then aninilhilape because of it's kinda bad defensive typing. Anyways heres hoping this gets picked for OMotM soon
 
Back at it again with the tera raid starter
An actual Q mon (Typhlosion) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Ice / Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Torch Song
- Thunderbolt
- Quiver Dance
- Tera Blast / Extrasensory
I'll admit this is kinda worse than the Rage fist Decid but, before testing it out, it seems like it might work except when my opponent pulls up with blissey/chansey
 
Also goodra hisui looks pretty cool both offensively and defensively. Offensively it has swords dance, glaive rush, gigaton hammer, sacred sword, earthquake and grav apple. Defensively it has recovery, glare, salt cure, spikes, stone axe, scald and um sludge bomb I guess (poison fishing real).
 
Sui Chef (Dondozo) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Body Press
Reject curse, return to diamond storm

Beetle (Heracross) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trailblaze
- Facade
- Throat Chop
- Headlong Rush
*screams in fear*

Valiant (Gallade) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Psychic
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sacred Sword
- Psycho Cut
- Agility
sharpness bboosted kowtow kleave, next

Paladin (Chesnaught) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Ceaseless Edge
- Body Press
- Leech Seed
Bulky AF Spikes Setter

Santa (Delibird)
Ability: Hustle
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dire Claw
- Ice Spinner
- Acrobatics
DDance Delibird, funny, but ineffective

Kamen Rider (Lokix) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swarm
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- No Retreat
- Lunge
- Throat Chop
- Noxious Torque
I Gave Lokix Coverage

Funny (Quagsire) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Wave Crash
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
Choice band quag

Cleric (Typhlosion-Hisui) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Infernal Parade
- Chloroblast
Nuke

Ranger (Decidueye-Hisui) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Triple Arrows
- Swords Dance
- Drum Beating
F*ck

Yes (Oricorio-Sensu) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Revelation Dance
- Origin Pulse
- Hurricane
SCreams loudly

Land Shark (Garchomp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Shinobi (Greninja) @ Choice Band
Ability: Protean
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Liquidation
- False Surrender
- Grassy Glide

Soldier Ant (Kleavor) (M) @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Sharpness
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Axe
- Close Combat
- Scale Shot
- Swords Dance
 
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