Howdy! I want to start things off by first addressing the abilities I think we should absolutely avoid.
First up is
Simple. Simply put (ha), I just really do not see a world where we can possibly balance this ability while having Clangorous Soul. It goes without saying that a sudden +2 in everything and +4 in Sp. Attack, all in a single turn, is just a little bit nutty. The -2 Def for each Clanging Scales just isn’t enough to balance it out. Opting for Simple would be such a massive expenditure of our power budget very early on in the process, and that would have massive cascading effects down the line in our stats and movepool stages. Frankly, I really don’t find the idea of making this kind of Big Big Statball mon possible without giving it Route 1 Bug type level base stats, and that’s just not an attractive option to me. What do we stand to learn from such a process? Very little that I can foresee.
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In a similar vein, I also think
Speed Boost just isn’t really the move here. It’s a powerful ability, to be sure, and it’s always an attractive option for a sweeper. But I’m gonna echo what others have said in that Speed Boost just kinda feels like a distraction from our concept. Speed Boost sweepers have historically been their own sub-section of the sweeper archetype. Blaziken is a prime example. We’re not going for that archetype. We’re going for a Throat Spray sweeper, and the odds are, based on how discussion is going, Clangorous Soul is pretty likely to be our chosen pathway for that. I believe we should be focusing on how best to support that specific sweeping plan rather than Mon That Will Be Faster Than Literally Everything In Three Turns. As a final point to this ability, it’s also been observed in the lower tiers that Yanmega will sometimes run a Throat Spray set with Bug Buzz and Speed Boost. Tinted Lens is usually the more attractive option due to damage, but the precedent of a Throat Spray Speed Boost Mon does exist. If you want to see what that entails, look no further. I don’t think we have much to learn from this process if we also elect to go that route.
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Psychic Surge is in a similar boat where I just don’t see it as supporting our concept enough. It feels like too much of a departure, and while it does boost Psychic Noise, it also makes us more vulnerable to the opponent’s Psychic moves, and the anti-priority effect is also achieved by another ability I’ll get into later, without the drawbacks.
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I’ve seen
Magician thrown around, and while I do think it’s a cool ability, there’s a big reason that I don’t think we should even consider it for a secondary ability. If we go with Magician as a secondary, a set running that ability gives up a massive amount of control over the sweep to the opponent. Magician, if you’re unfamiliar with what it does, steals the opponent’s item when you hit them with a damaging move. The problem there is that we could acquire an item that entirely messes up our sweeping game plan. For example, say we steal a Choice item from the opponent. There goes the versatility of our coverage, and now we’re much easier to wall. We’ve given over control to the opponent and the sweep has been halted.
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Lastly,
Sticky Hold/
Suction Cups, while undeniably serviceable for our purposes of keeping Throat Spray intact to enable our sweep, just seem kinda boring to me? Like, sure, we keep our item so we can use it and get our boost. But then after boosting, we functionally have no ability since we no longer have an item to worry about. Meh. There are much stronger and more enticing options.
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Now! Onto the abilities I actually really like.
Dazzling is, of course, a highly attractive option for us given the cushion this would give 34 in the Hemo/Gambit matchups. I think this is a highly effective ability for our purposes due to its interactions with our threats, and the way it aids in facilitating setup for a sweep. It’s just an all-around good option that I think should definitely see the slate, if nothing else.
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dex really opened up my mind to
Supreme Overlord, I’ve gotta say. I’ll admit that I didn’t even know this ability boosted Sp. Attack too until I looked it up, but lo and behold, it does! This is honestly the most compelling option of them all, to me. It has really interesting implications for our design process in that it asks us the question of what game state we want 34 to find its maximum success in. Supreme Overlord inherently suggests that 34 would be most successful in the late game, serving as both a cleaner and sweeper in a single slot. There’s also an interesting effect of a SO 34 posing a latent threat at Team Preview, since the opponent would have to play with a potential endgame 34 sweep in mind, taking precautions to prevent or otherwise mitigate facilitating that sweep as much as possible. Dex raised another point about Supreme Overlord serving a similar effect to Mold Breaker in somewhat cushioning the Unaware matchups. This would be really helpful for us, since Arghonaut is shaping up to be a real nuisance for us. While this ability does aid us after boosting, it also provides us an amply threatening presence even before setup, with proper positioning. Couple that with the aforementioned effects on game plan, both that of the opponent and our own, and it makes for a really interesting setup. I really think Supreme Overlord is the most compelling option here, and it has all of my support.
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Since I mentioned it just above, I will also say that
Mold Breaker is certainly an attractive option for removing our worries of Unaware mons. However, I do think that Supreme Overlord, while not nullifying Unaware altogether, accomplishes a similar enough effect while also offering a whole host of other more compelling effects. There’s also the point that
Amamama raised about the necessity of differentiating between abilities that aid us in setting up, and abilities that aid us
after setting up. Mold Breaker definitely seems to fall into the latter category. Still, I’d support seeing it slated, if nothing else.
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Unburden is cool and fun, and I think it would be very, very strong for us. However, I do think it would pose some concerns for us later down the line to balance its very powerful effect. Getting a +2 Sp. Attack boost and suddenly outspeeding practically everything not named Regieleki, all in a single turn, is needless to say pretty powerful. It’s an attractive option, to be sure, but one I think we would need to be
really careful with.
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Other abilities I find solid but perhaps less interesting include
Levitate,
Punk Rock, and
Adaptability. Levitate is a strong option, for sure. Immunity abilities always are, and removing our Ground weakness is no exception. Punk Rock is obviously cool since Haha Big Sound Move Damage, but outside of Clanging Scales and Clangorous Soul, will we have space to fit in another sound move? We’ll need Sludge Bomb/Wave and maybe a Fire/Fighting/Ground move for Steel coverage, will we be able to fit another sound move with which to take advantage of the ability? Adaptability is always fun for more Haha Big Damage, but the possibility of the Mon opting for Specs as a result is there. In general, while these three abilities are certainly strong and could be utilized to create a viable product, I just think there are more compelling options available to us.
There are some abilities I’m a little unsure about and would like to hear some more discussion on, primarily
Anger Shell and
Berserk. These are both abilities with very strong effects that require us to tank a hit to reach the power level these abilities would afford us. That said though, their effects are undeniably powerful, Anger Shell more so. I’m curious to hear more thoughts about these abilities, Anger Shell specifically.
That’s all from me for now! Thanks for reading. Cheers, mates :D
