I think I want to attempt to do something fun before DLC2 drops, since from the way it looks, there will be a lot of ... broken things running around for a while. To be honest, I am not too fond of broken-checks-broken metagame so I just want to attempt a last shot before DLC2 comes and completely changes everything I have planned for the metagame.
Analysis
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
Great Tusk serves as not only a good defensive check against the ever-threatening Kingambit but also a short of wincon on its own. I use tera poison to deal with Zamazenta because... I swear, that thing is both so fast and bulky, and it pretty much invalidates a bunch of physical offensive mons in OU. Tusk Tera Poison Bulk Up is a great response to IronPress Zamn set or choice-locked Close Combat Zamn. Ice Spinner helps a lot against Tera Flying Gambit, Dragonite as well as Rillaboom and other Tusk.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
Corviknight with Rocky Helmet ensures some chip against opponent's physical threats such as Tusk and Lando. It also pairs well with Waterpon to punish opponent's Waterpon. My Waterpon would ensure opponent's Waterpon to feel hesistant about clicking Ivy Cudgel, while Rocky Helmet punishes Horn Leech / Whip or Trailblaze. At the very least, if Corv gets knocked off, it will get some chip damage too. Corv also pairs well with Cindrace to remove hazard in front of Gholdengo against H-stack teams.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Sucker Punch
- Court Change
Cindrace is a good partner-in-crime with Corviknight against hazard teams. Corv can always predict a Gholdengo switch-in to block Defog so it can click U-turn and let Cindrace in. Full offensive Cindrace allows it to withstand 1 Scarf Shadow Ball to complete the Court Change. Sucker Punch is also a good tool against Dragapult and Scarf Gholdengo. Sometimes with Sucker Punch, Cindrace can function as a "Kingambit-at-home" against weakened fast but frail mons... that isn't Iron Valiant ofc. Sucker Punch should be used very conservative to preserve the surprise factor.
Slowking-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Future Sight
- Chilly Reception
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunder Wave
I just have to say... Glowking is sensational, and the world has been a better place since Glowking's introduction. It can wall a lot of scary special attacks in the metagame, and can even survive at least a Specs Shadow Ball from Pult at full. Thunder Wave is a great way to cripple faster mons like Pult/Cindrace that attempts to go for some big damage against Glowking. Future Sight is a good support move that can go in tandem with Cindrace/Waterpon or even Tusk's offensive profiles. Chilly Reception is both a good pivot move and a tool to use against weather teams.
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- Encore
So yeah... I couldn't find any mon that is as good as Waterpon in setting hazard + encore. Waterpon can also do decent damage with its STAB Water + Grass coverage to most non-grass mons and has a valuable water immunity against Walking Wake's Hydro Steam or Alomomola's attempts of Scald burn / pivoting out with Flip Turn. Spikes is a good value pick for me because in most cases, the opponent will try to switch in a healthy grass mon against Waterpon so may as well putting on a layer of Spikes or two. I pick Horn Leech over Power Whip for more longevity and more reliable damage. Finally, Encore is a great tool against slower set-up sweepers like Cresselia, Clefable and especially Manaphy and Gambit after using SD / Sucker Punch.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Roost
Finally, Dragonite is a ground immunity mon that can reliable check Iron Moth, revenge kill a weakened Iron Valiant and do some big chunk of damage to Gambit. Dragon Dance set has good game-ending potential as usual, and I really value the ability to revenge kill faster threats in this format. I choose to go for the bulky version of Dragonite with Roost because I want some short of longevity in case I have to switch in and out Dragonite, and tbh, it works pretty well.
Weaknesses
Hisuian Goodra: This is the most obvious threat to the team. Its amazing bulk and Sap Sipper allows it to repeatedly switch into Waterpon, while it has Earthquake and Draco Meteor to threaten switch-in Nite, Cindrace and Tusk. IronPress set is also pretty brutal because it has Dragon Tail and decent sp atk to actually prevent Tusk from setting up in front of it. The only solution is to try to out-offense it with Tusk, Cindrace and Tera normal Dragonite.
Garganacl: While I do have checks against it, the problem is most of the mons I have don't like switching into Salt Cure. Glowking is the best at taking that but it doesn't like Earthquake either. I have managed to beat some Garg while laddering, but I do feel it is a big enough threat to guarantee me to put it here. The solution is trying to keep Glowking healthy enough to take 1 Earthquake to Chilly Recept into Waterpon.
Glimmora: While it isn't hard to take out, its wide coverage of sp atk is pretty lethal against my team early game. I can attempt to cripple it with Glowking's Twave and breaking its sash with Sludge Bomb, but generally, I have to tip-toe around Glim a lot, especially after having a few layers of Toxic Spikes.
Greninja: I have to tip-toe around whether it runs Ice Beam or not, since Gren with Ice Beam can easily threaten Nite, especially after I burn my tera or after it gets bond boost. I even once lost a game against Tera Ghost Gren to avoid being revenge-killed by E-Speed, which still vexes me til now.
Heatran: Depending on weather Heatran runs Taunt or Wisp. Wisp will make Waterpon/Nite useless while Taunt completely shuts down any attempt of running away from Glowking. My best course is trying to paralyze it and then chilly out (without Taunt) or switch into Nite (without Wisp).
Analysis
Great Tusk @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
Great Tusk serves as not only a good defensive check against the ever-threatening Kingambit but also a short of wincon on its own. I use tera poison to deal with Zamazenta because... I swear, that thing is both so fast and bulky, and it pretty much invalidates a bunch of physical offensive mons in OU. Tusk Tera Poison Bulk Up is a great response to IronPress Zamn set or choice-locked Close Combat Zamn. Ice Spinner helps a lot against Tera Flying Gambit, Dragonite as well as Rillaboom and other Tusk.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
Corviknight with Rocky Helmet ensures some chip against opponent's physical threats such as Tusk and Lando. It also pairs well with Waterpon to punish opponent's Waterpon. My Waterpon would ensure opponent's Waterpon to feel hesistant about clicking Ivy Cudgel, while Rocky Helmet punishes Horn Leech / Whip or Trailblaze. At the very least, if Corv gets knocked off, it will get some chip damage too. Corv also pairs well with Cindrace to remove hazard in front of Gholdengo against H-stack teams.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Sucker Punch
- Court Change
Cindrace is a good partner-in-crime with Corviknight against hazard teams. Corv can always predict a Gholdengo switch-in to block Defog so it can click U-turn and let Cindrace in. Full offensive Cindrace allows it to withstand 1 Scarf Shadow Ball to complete the Court Change. Sucker Punch is also a good tool against Dragapult and Scarf Gholdengo. Sometimes with Sucker Punch, Cindrace can function as a "Kingambit-at-home" against weakened fast but frail mons... that isn't Iron Valiant ofc. Sucker Punch should be used very conservative to preserve the surprise factor.
Slowking-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Future Sight
- Chilly Reception
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunder Wave
I just have to say... Glowking is sensational, and the world has been a better place since Glowking's introduction. It can wall a lot of scary special attacks in the metagame, and can even survive at least a Specs Shadow Ball from Pult at full. Thunder Wave is a great way to cripple faster mons like Pult/Cindrace that attempts to go for some big damage against Glowking. Future Sight is a good support move that can go in tandem with Cindrace/Waterpon or even Tusk's offensive profiles. Chilly Reception is both a good pivot move and a tool to use against weather teams.
Ogerpon-Wellspring (F) @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Ivy Cudgel
- Horn Leech
- Encore
So yeah... I couldn't find any mon that is as good as Waterpon in setting hazard + encore. Waterpon can also do decent damage with its STAB Water + Grass coverage to most non-grass mons and has a valuable water immunity against Walking Wake's Hydro Steam or Alomomola's attempts of Scald burn / pivoting out with Flip Turn. Spikes is a good value pick for me because in most cases, the opponent will try to switch in a healthy grass mon against Waterpon so may as well putting on a layer of Spikes or two. I pick Horn Leech over Power Whip for more longevity and more reliable damage. Finally, Encore is a great tool against slower set-up sweepers like Cresselia, Clefable and especially Manaphy and Gambit after using SD / Sucker Punch.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Roost
Finally, Dragonite is a ground immunity mon that can reliable check Iron Moth, revenge kill a weakened Iron Valiant and do some big chunk of damage to Gambit. Dragon Dance set has good game-ending potential as usual, and I really value the ability to revenge kill faster threats in this format. I choose to go for the bulky version of Dragonite with Roost because I want some short of longevity in case I have to switch in and out Dragonite, and tbh, it works pretty well.
Weaknesses
Hisuian Goodra: This is the most obvious threat to the team. Its amazing bulk and Sap Sipper allows it to repeatedly switch into Waterpon, while it has Earthquake and Draco Meteor to threaten switch-in Nite, Cindrace and Tusk. IronPress set is also pretty brutal because it has Dragon Tail and decent sp atk to actually prevent Tusk from setting up in front of it. The only solution is to try to out-offense it with Tusk, Cindrace and Tera normal Dragonite.
Garganacl: While I do have checks against it, the problem is most of the mons I have don't like switching into Salt Cure. Glowking is the best at taking that but it doesn't like Earthquake either. I have managed to beat some Garg while laddering, but I do feel it is a big enough threat to guarantee me to put it here. The solution is trying to keep Glowking healthy enough to take 1 Earthquake to Chilly Recept into Waterpon.
Glimmora: While it isn't hard to take out, its wide coverage of sp atk is pretty lethal against my team early game. I can attempt to cripple it with Glowking's Twave and breaking its sash with Sludge Bomb, but generally, I have to tip-toe around Glim a lot, especially after having a few layers of Toxic Spikes.
Greninja: I have to tip-toe around whether it runs Ice Beam or not, since Gren with Ice Beam can easily threaten Nite, especially after I burn my tera or after it gets bond boost. I even once lost a game against Tera Ghost Gren to avoid being revenge-killed by E-Speed, which still vexes me til now.
Heatran: Depending on weather Heatran runs Taunt or Wisp. Wisp will make Waterpon/Nite useless while Taunt completely shuts down any attempt of running away from Glowking. My best course is trying to paralyze it and then chilly out (without Taunt) or switch into Nite (without Wisp).
