Hello All,
I would like to present some of my favorite Balanced Hackmons teams, and ask for criticism of one specific team. Along the way I would like to discuss some of the most central concepts that I feel are present in the Balanced Hackmons metagame.
BH is an incredible metagame due to the equally viable options of Stall, Balanced, and Offensive playstyles and team builds. I think my team builds lean more towards the latter two of these three categories, however I have taken great inspiration from some of the stall builds that I have faced on the BH ladder.
My experience in the BH metagame is not incredibly deep, but I have spent quite a few hours toying around with team builds and messing around on the ladder. I have a few accounts and I think my highest BH account is somewhere around 1400-1500 Elo. I hope that anyone reading this will feel inclined to reply with their experiences in BH, because it is a truly diverse metagame in which it is impossible to account for specific threats – there are simply too many combinations of ability, moveset, and pokemon that are viable in the metagame for teambuilding to prepare for anything but general principles.
The first team I would like to discuss is a Psychic-type centered balance team.
Psychic Spam Balance: The BH Learning Cuve
The basic principle of this team build, and variations I have that are similar to it, is to use Psychic Surge (presented here on Mewtwo Mega-Y) to prevent any priority; this is an immensely powerful tool in the BH meta littered with Prankster users, as well as pokemon with Triage or traditional priority moves. Basically, this kind of build will demolish low-ladder with Alakazam alone, however safety measures in the two defensive pivots (Unaware Deoxys-D and Regen Registeel) as well as Unaware Zygarde to take on stat-boosting Primal Groudons and many other threats. Defensive synergy is not perfect, however it is nearly impossible to account for all threats anyways, so I have used a defensive core that is imperfect but at least familiar to me. Really, this team is meant to showcase how much of a threat Psychic Surge abusers can be in BH.
After I first started toying around with Psychic Surge in BH, I realized that the biggest issue I faced was insufficient measures against stat boosting pokemon. Obviously the above team does have two Unaware users (one with Spectral Thief, the most spammable move in BH), but I really started too see success when I began using defensive Unaware Xerneas on some of my teams. The below team illustrates what I have learned from spamming Xerneas on the ladder.
Sticky Web Offense: featuring Xerneas the MVP
This team really illustrates the brutality of Aerilate Rayquaza, especially when paired with a near-guaranteed sticky web in most matchups. Ho-Oh is meant to pressure most steel types that threaten Xerneas, and soak up hits from Rayquaza and Metagross. Gengar is probably not the most effective Sticky Web user, but this effective set could be applied to many fast or bulky pokemon depending on one's preferences. Gengar's respectable offensive pressure in Moongeist Beam alone is useful to this particular build, which aims to be more offensive in nature. Zygarde's set is really not the best, but still largely effective in a variety of matchups, with stellar bulk to act as an emergency brake to a variety of sweepers. I think that Steel types are incredibly effective in the BH metagame; this Metagross set illustrates the concept of a bulky steel that I have more frequently seen on the likes of Solgaleo, but is at least comparably effective on the faster Metagross.
I think it is worth mentioning that sometimes simply using a variety of offensive pokemon, with one or two reliable supportive teammates, is effective enough to advance on the BH ladder. The below team illustrates the concept of a team focused around preparing a sweep in Tinted Lens Arceus with Z-Geomancy. I think this team illustrates the viability of an Aim-to-Sweep team, which could use a variety of setup mons in place of Arceus.
Set'm Up: Z-Geomancy + Gengar Trapping
This team demonstrates the effectiveness of Sticky Web + Hazard Stacking in combination with a setup mon (Arceus in this case) and Shadow Tag Mega Gengar to forcibly grab momentum and demolish your opponent's defensive resources. There are two taunt users, something which seeks to prepare the bulky + effective setup of Arceus, especially under psychic terrain where stored power gets a boost. Regigigas should look somewhat familiar to those who frequent the BH ladder, as it takes large inspiration from 6th gen's BH metagame. Notice the usage of Registeel once again as a defensive pivot in role compression with status spamming and item removal.
Finally, I would like to ask for your advice on one of my latest builds, which is nothing
extraordinarily unique, but largely inspired by the principles I have discussed above:
Dual Deoxys-S Support: A New Test Team
I am convinced that Deoxys-S is an incredible support pokemon; here I use Webs + Dual Screens to make Primal Groudon immensely threatening, and still have Xerneas + Zygarde to check a significant chunk of many potential threats. Gengar doesn't sweep every game, but in my testing it has been reliable in forcing the opponent onto their back foot, with most reliable answers to this set feeling incredibly pressured to Banded Primal Groudon. If I'm being honest, this team's composition was largely inspired by the Ubers metagame (aka the Xerneas-Groudon show).
One last note: Imposter Chansey is Cancer, and should be banned from BH. I can play around it, but I think it is far too used on the ladder, thus why it is none of these builds. Unaware Xerneas almost always single-handedly beats teams that rely on Imposter Chansey as a "check" due to PP advantage.
Thanks for reading; please leave your thoughts & criticism!
(A couple of low-ladder testing replays & funstuffs):
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-586809087
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-586810429
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-586811787
I would like to present some of my favorite Balanced Hackmons teams, and ask for criticism of one specific team. Along the way I would like to discuss some of the most central concepts that I feel are present in the Balanced Hackmons metagame.
BH is an incredible metagame due to the equally viable options of Stall, Balanced, and Offensive playstyles and team builds. I think my team builds lean more towards the latter two of these three categories, however I have taken great inspiration from some of the stall builds that I have faced on the BH ladder.
My experience in the BH metagame is not incredibly deep, but I have spent quite a few hours toying around with team builds and messing around on the ladder. I have a few accounts and I think my highest BH account is somewhere around 1400-1500 Elo. I hope that anyone reading this will feel inclined to reply with their experiences in BH, because it is a truly diverse metagame in which it is impossible to account for specific threats – there are simply too many combinations of ability, moveset, and pokemon that are viable in the metagame for teambuilding to prepare for anything but general principles.
The first team I would like to discuss is a Psychic-type centered balance team.
Psychic Spam Balance: The BH Learning Cuve
The basic principle of this team build, and variations I have that are similar to it, is to use Psychic Surge (presented here on Mewtwo Mega-Y) to prevent any priority; this is an immensely powerful tool in the BH meta littered with Prankster users, as well as pokemon with Triage or traditional priority moves. Basically, this kind of build will demolish low-ladder with Alakazam alone, however safety measures in the two defensive pivots (Unaware Deoxys-D and Regen Registeel) as well as Unaware Zygarde to take on stat-boosting Primal Groudons and many other threats. Defensive synergy is not perfect, however it is nearly impossible to account for all threats anyways, so I have used a defensive core that is imperfect but at least familiar to me. Really, this team is meant to showcase how much of a threat Psychic Surge abusers can be in BH.
After I first started toying around with Psychic Surge in BH, I realized that the biggest issue I faced was insufficient measures against stat boosting pokemon. Obviously the above team does have two Unaware users (one with Spectral Thief, the most spammable move in BH), but I really started too see success when I began using defensive Unaware Xerneas on some of my teams. The below team illustrates what I have learned from spamming Xerneas on the ladder.
Sticky Web Offense: featuring Xerneas the MVP
This team really illustrates the brutality of Aerilate Rayquaza, especially when paired with a near-guaranteed sticky web in most matchups. Ho-Oh is meant to pressure most steel types that threaten Xerneas, and soak up hits from Rayquaza and Metagross. Gengar is probably not the most effective Sticky Web user, but this effective set could be applied to many fast or bulky pokemon depending on one's preferences. Gengar's respectable offensive pressure in Moongeist Beam alone is useful to this particular build, which aims to be more offensive in nature. Zygarde's set is really not the best, but still largely effective in a variety of matchups, with stellar bulk to act as an emergency brake to a variety of sweepers. I think that Steel types are incredibly effective in the BH metagame; this Metagross set illustrates the concept of a bulky steel that I have more frequently seen on the likes of Solgaleo, but is at least comparably effective on the faster Metagross.
I think it is worth mentioning that sometimes simply using a variety of offensive pokemon, with one or two reliable supportive teammates, is effective enough to advance on the BH ladder. The below team illustrates the concept of a team focused around preparing a sweep in Tinted Lens Arceus with Z-Geomancy. I think this team illustrates the viability of an Aim-to-Sweep team, which could use a variety of setup mons in place of Arceus.
Set'm Up: Z-Geomancy + Gengar Trapping
This team demonstrates the effectiveness of Sticky Web + Hazard Stacking in combination with a setup mon (Arceus in this case) and Shadow Tag Mega Gengar to forcibly grab momentum and demolish your opponent's defensive resources. There are two taunt users, something which seeks to prepare the bulky + effective setup of Arceus, especially under psychic terrain where stored power gets a boost. Regigigas should look somewhat familiar to those who frequent the BH ladder, as it takes large inspiration from 6th gen's BH metagame. Notice the usage of Registeel once again as a defensive pivot in role compression with status spamming and item removal.
Finally, I would like to ask for your advice on one of my latest builds, which is nothing
extraordinarily unique, but largely inspired by the principles I have discussed above:
Dual Deoxys-S Support: A New Test Team
I am convinced that Deoxys-S is an incredible support pokemon; here I use Webs + Dual Screens to make Primal Groudon immensely threatening, and still have Xerneas + Zygarde to check a significant chunk of many potential threats. Gengar doesn't sweep every game, but in my testing it has been reliable in forcing the opponent onto their back foot, with most reliable answers to this set feeling incredibly pressured to Banded Primal Groudon. If I'm being honest, this team's composition was largely inspired by the Ubers metagame (aka the Xerneas-Groudon show).
One last note: Imposter Chansey is Cancer, and should be banned from BH. I can play around it, but I think it is far too used on the ladder, thus why it is none of these builds. Unaware Xerneas almost always single-handedly beats teams that rely on Imposter Chansey as a "check" due to PP advantage.
Thanks for reading; please leave your thoughts & criticism!
(A couple of low-ladder testing replays & funstuffs):
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-586809087
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-586810429
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7balancedhackmons-586811787
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