Pet Mod Hoenn Gaiden - Slate 14 (Return and Rework)

[Ema Skye]

Concept Name: Rags to Riches
Pokemon Name: Parasect
Typing: Bug / Ghost
Stats: 75 / 120 / 75 / 70 / 75 / 75 (490 BST)
Abilities: Effect Spore / Water Absorb
Notable Moves: Spore, Lunge*, Shadow Ball, Swords Dance, Stun Spore, Knock Off*, Hidden Power Rock/Fighting
How It Fulfills the Concept: Shedinja doesn't actually show how cool Bug/Ghost is in this meta, so Parasect is here to do it. Between Spore, Lunge, Stun Spore and Knock Off, Parasect is deceptively hard to switch into, and it forces a lot of switches which is amazing for a Spikes meta. Bug is also a great type for this meta, hitting Ttar and Celebi hard. We all know how amazing Ghost is as well. Not only does it passively block Rapid Spin, it's also a great offensive type for dealing with all of the Ghosts we've added to the meta.

Concept Name: Viable NFE
Pokémon Name: Torracat (feat. Incineroar)
Typing: Fire (Torracat) -> Fire/Dark (Incineroar)
Stats-
Torracat: 65/50/60/95/85/125 (Atk & SpD swapped, +10 Def, +15 SpA, +35 Spe)
Incineroar: 95/90/90/105/90/60 (Atk & SpA swapped, +10 Atk, -10 SpA)
Abilities: Blaze / Intimidate (both)
Notable Moves: (for simplicity with some of the bluffs I'm giving Torracat, just assume that they have the same movepool)

Earthquake, Cross Chop, Acrobatics (Superpower removed)

Fire Blast, Overheat, Thunder Punch, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Hidden Power Grass, Knock Off, Foul Play

Baton Pass, Will-O-Wisp, Growth, Taunt, Swords Dance; Rest, Sleep Talk, Roar
How It Fulfills the Concept: Kinda wish I did Incineroar with Parting Shot for Suddenly Signature Move so I wouldn't have to give yet another thing Baton Pass, but anyway, Torracat and Incineroar offer two takes on offensive pivots. Torracat's 125 Speed outspeeds everything relevant except for Aero, Jolteon, TFlame, and Deoxys, letting it get off decently strong Fire Blasts and Thunder Punches or get off a fast Will-O-Wisp. It's a bit similar to Talonflame but trades higher bulk, a Ground immunity, Rapid Spin, ability to run physical sets, and recovery for more Special power, Baton Pass pivoting, Knock Off, better ability in Intimidate and better coverage. Basically, Talonflame is more equipped to stay on the field for awhile while Torracat keeps the tempo up
Meanwhile, Incineroar's great 95/90/90 bulk and interesting Fire/Dark-typing that lets it take on Celebi, Ledian, Girafarig, and Skarmory among others plus Intimidate and ability to take advantage of forced switches with a slow Baton Pass makes Incineroar a great bulky pivot with powerful Special STABs in Fire Blast and Crunch and has just enough Attack to viably run HP Bug, EQ, or Cross Chop

Set

Torracat @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Grass / Thunder Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Baton Pass

Incineroar @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Fire Blast
- Crunch / Hidden Power Grass
- Cross Chop / Will-O-Wisp / Hidden Power Grass / Roar
- Baton Pass

Concept Name: Overshadowed Ability
Ability Name: Analytic
Effects: "If a Pokémon with Analytic executes its move after all other Pokémon have made their move, the power of its move is increased by 30%." (This includes when the opponent switches, whether manually or with Baton Pass.)
Distributed to: Armaldo, Blastoise, Donphan, Hitmonchan, Mr. Mime, Ninjask, Porygon2, Sandslash, and Sylveon (replaces Cute Charm).
Justification: Since "Spinner that Beats Ghost" has failed to win a Concept Slate at least twice in a row and since turning Cryogonal Emo didn't take either, I figure that going with an ability that punishes switching the exact opposite way of Pursuit does and sticking it mostly on mons that want to Rapid Spin but tend to just have Ghosts switch into them seems a decent way to go. That it incidentally also helps to punish Baton Pass a bit, even on "dry" passes, also seems good.

I could probably safely give it to a few more mons, but I wanted to avoid giving it to anything with Explosion or Self-Destruct, which is why Claydol and Forretress are left out despite also being Rapid Spinners. Starmie and Talonflame get skipped since I'm unsure about their power right now, though Starmie might be fine with it given neither Life Orb or Psyshock exist currently even though Expert Belt now does. Hitmontop didn't get it mostly so that Hitmonchan could actually distinguish itself for once since I forgot Hitmonchan doesn't even have the completely underwhelming Iron Fist this gen, just Keen Eye. Porygon2 got it for the sake of history and currently being in the new UU unlike Magneton or Starmie; Porygon2 also only has one ability unlike those two since Download doesn't currently exist. Sylveon got it in an attempt to make amends for its apparent weakness due to it in theory wanting to take advantage of Curse and arguably fitting the flavor of its feelers; Cute Charm is basically worthless anyway (since we already know it's cute). Finally, both Mr. Mime and Ninjask got Analytic just to be thrown a bone for being nerfed early on for their own Baton Pass super-degeneracy even if Ninjask can't make good use of it at all outside hoping its opponents switch--Mr. Mime probably isn't much better.

Concept Name: Non-Ice Hail Teammate
Pokemon Name: Dusclops
Typing:

Stats: 050 HP (+10) / 075 Atk (+05) / 130 Def / 075 SpA (+15) / 130 SpD / 045 Spe (+20) {455 BST → 505 BST}
Abilities: Pressure / Ice Body*
Notable Moves: (Ignores all of the basically universal moves like Hidden Power, Protect, Rest, Substitute, Toxic, etc.)

Body Slam, Brick Break**, Counter**, Earthquake, Focus Punch, Night Shade, Rock Slide, Seismic Toss, Shadow Ball

Blizzard, Fire Punch, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Psychic, Pursuit, Sucker Punch**, Thunder Punch

Calm Mind, Destiny Bond, Grudge, Haze**, Memento, Mean Look, Pain Split, Snatch, Taunt, Torment, Will-O-Wisp
How It Fulfills the Concept: I'm just going to lazily resub my entry for Hail Abuser from last Slate since the only other three ideas I have right now are, respectively, likely better used as one of the more sensible New Gen Mythicals, very close to an old sub by someone else from Slate 01, and rather dubious given Guzzlord was just added. So go punish yourself with my stupid blathering there if you want since nothing has really changed other than that giving this 45 Speed turned out to a nice coincidence given it also makes this Dusclops just barely faster than He Of Primes, Guzzlord, and that this would have had Ice Shard if it had won over double buffing Delibird. I think I'll forego giving it Ice Shard...for now. (If anyone wants this as their Rewind entry for some reason, then feel free. I'm sure I can come up with something to replace it if need be.)

Be Kind, Please Rewind

Concept Name: Be Kind, Please Rewind
Pokemon Name: Glaceon
Typing: Ice
Stats: 65 HP / 60 Atk / 115 Def / 130 SpA / 95 SpD / 65 Speed
Abilities: Ice Body / Compound Eyes
(Compound Eyes reminder: Compound Eyes multiplies the Pokémon’s accuracy to a 130% of normal. For example, Blizzard’s 70% Accuracy becomes 91%, and Lovely Kiss‘s 75% becomes 98%.)
Notable Moves: Blizzard, Ice Beam, Hidden Power Fire/Electric/Grass, Toxic
Added Moves: Surf, Lovely Kiss, Haze, Ice Ball, Hydro Pump, Super Fang, Weather Ball, Recover, Calm Mind
How It Fulfills the Concept: A resub from last slate, this time with emphais of Compound Eyes. Glaceon, although a slow Ice-type, got decent bulk and by far the highest Special Attack of all Ice-type, boasting the strongest Ice Beam, and especially Blizzard through Compound Eyes. A 120 BP STAB Ice-type move with an acceptable 91% accuracy means it will hit hard with that 130 base Special Attack, making a destructive wallbreaker.

At the moment, Ice Body isn’t worth using anyways considering you have Tyranitar to deal with. Lovely Kiss may not be entirely 100% accurate unlike Spore, but Spore can be ignored by Overcoat, but that Ability is practically useless against other sleep-inducng moves which includes a 98% accurate Lovely Kiss. This makes switching extremely risky, which means even Metagross and Tyranitar are not viable considered as viable switch-in unless you already have a teammate that got asleep. Not even Chansey wants to waste time with it, lest it will allows Magic Guard Sableye to switch in!

Bad Typing Juggernaut

Concept Name: Bad Typing Juggernaut
Pokemon Name: Mr. Rime
Typing: Psychic / Ice
Stats: 80 HP / 65 Atk / 75 Def / 110 SpA / 100 SpD / 90 Speed
Abilities: Overcoat / Trace
Notable Moves: Ice Beam, Psychic, Calm Mind, Sucker Punch, Knock Off, Rapid Spin, Light Screen, Reflect, Slack Off, Ice Shard, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Fake Out, Confuse Ray, Baton Pass
Added Moves: Hidden Power (preferably Fighitng, Fire or Grass), Toxic
How It Fulfills the Concept: With better base Speed and gained access to Hidden Power and Toxic, Mr. Rime will be a powerful threat in Hoenn Gaiden with priority STAB in the form of Ice Shard, Sucker Punch calculated on its Special Attack, access of Slack Off, Rapid Spin and dual screens for Support, and using Trace to mess up with walls or punish Intimdiate users. It’s Ice / Psychic type is not a good defensive typing, but can turn the tide if used correctly as an offensive typing.

Newer Gen Legendary

Concept Name: Newer Gen Legendary
Pokemon Name: Uxie
Typing: Psychic
Stats: 75 HP / 75 Atk / 130 Def / 75 SpA / 130 SpD / 95 Speed
Abilities: Levitate
Notable Moves: Memento, Yawn, Calm Mind, Protect, Substitute, Thunder Wave, Knock Off, Toxic, Heal Bell, Psychic, Amnesia, Rest + Sleep Talk, Light Screen, Reflect, Imprison, Foul Play, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Giga Drain
Added Moves: Recover
How It Fulfills the Concept: Uxie‘s bulk is more impressive in Gen 3 than in later Generations, with tools like Memento, Yawn, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Reflect, Foul Play, Heal Bell and Knock Off giving it versatility as a wall. 95 Speed is also speedy for a defensive-oriented Pokémon, allowing it to utilize Foul Play against slower non-Dark Calm Mind users.

We will now enter a slightly longer discussion phase than usual as council prepares for a special surprise for Slate 10!

 

[Samtendo09]

That’s three winners from me, so I’ll avoid commenting on Glaceon, Mr. Rime and Uxie to not repeat what I said in the descriptions. Onto the other fours.

- It certainly makes switching a lot harder without sacking one of your Pokémon, with Spore and Lunge that can make things miserable if not well prepared for.
+ - Torracat the faster pivot and Incineroar the slower pivot, these two Fire-type threats could enables teammates that are physically frail thanks to a combination of Intimidate and Baton Pass.
Analytic - The fact that switching through manual or Baton Pass now counts in this metagame can be pretty punishing to swtich ahead of it at all. This helps Rapid Spinner to gain an extra oomph to hit a predicted Ghost-type switch-in.
- Not sure if Hail will see more viable usage, but Dusclops do have potentials, especially with Delibird becoming more buffed than before as a setter,

 

[The Damned]

Congrats to the (other) winners. My lazy self has finally sent the updated stats to Ema Skye given I got stuck yesterday deciding how to reorder some things, namely the "type" vs. "typing" thing just so that it's clear earlier what is being talked about there. The new "type" thing probably looks weird, but at least everything (else) actually looks the same instead of changing from Slate to Slate like it was, with some embarrassing typos I had still missed.

Continuing Full Transparency with Slate 9 Before It Gets Posted

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...e-season-slate-9.3681339/page-18#post-8940746

01. Be Kind, Please Rewind: {winner was a "devamped" Gen IV mon} Glaceon (gained new ability Compound Eyes; kept ability Ice Body; gained +05 Def; gained new moves Calm Mind, Haze, Hydro Pump, Ice Ball, Lovely Kiss, Recover, Super Fang, Surf, and Weather Ball)
02. Viable NFE: {winner was two stages of a Gen VII starter mon} Torracat & Incineroar (both gained new moves Baton Pass, Dragon Claw, Foul Play, and Growth while losing move Superpower)
02a. Torracat (Atk & SpD swapped and gained +10 Def, +15 SpA, and +35 Spe)
02b. Incineroar (Atk & SpA swapped and then gained +10 Atk and -10 SpA)
03. Bad Typing Juggernaut: {winner was a Gen VIII mon} Mr. Rime (gained new abilities Overcoat and Trace; gained -20 Atk and +20 Spe; gained new moves Hidden Power and Toxic)
04. Rags to Riches: {winner was a Gen I mon} Parasect (gained new ability Water Absorb; replaced type Grass with type Ghost, resulting in type Bug/Ghost; gained +15 HP, +25 Atk, -05 Def, +15 SpA, -05 SpD, and +45 Spe; gained new moves Lunge, Knock Off, and Shadow Ball)
05. New Gen Mythicals: {winner was a Gen IV Legendary mon} Uxie (gained new move Recover)
06. Non-Ice Hail teammate: {winner was a Gen III mon} Dusclops (gained new ability Ice Body; kept ability Pressure; gained +10 HP, +05 Atk, +15 SpA, and +20 Spe; gained new moves Brick Break, Counter, Haze, and Sucker Punch)
07. Overshadowed Ability: {winner was a Gen V ability} Analytic, gained by Armaldo, Blastoise, Donphan, Hitmonchan, Mr. Mime, Ninjask, Porygon2, Sandslash, and Sylveon (replaced Cute Charm).

Since this is a discussion phase, I'll make (actually) brief comments on the winners despite being the person likely least equipped to make it. Here's hoping this laptop actually works like it should as of tomorrow:

Glaceon = Now that it doesn't have the grave misfortune of being introduced in the same generation where Stealth Rock debuted, Scizor got Bullet Punch, and Sandstorm started to buff Rock pokemon's (read: Tyranitar's) Special Defense by 50%, Glaceon should be much better by default, even before the apparent +05 Def--intentional?--and, more importantly, the addition of Compound Eyes. At the very least, it should fare far better than Sylveon initially did even if its inclusion gives Sylveon yet more issues--sigh--and even if it will probably better outside of Hail given its lowish HP and how good Compound Eyes has always been. Outside of what Samtendo09 already pointed out about Compound Eyes, they also give Glaceon the same no-miss Toxic that Poison mons only got access to in Gen VI onward, which probably counts for something. (I must admit I worry about it also overshadowing Vaporeon too with the Water moves Glaceon now has, though pure Water is far better defensively than Ice and they at least have different abilities.)

& Torracat & Incineroar = No real comment here since these look fine even with my personal hesitance to introduce anything from a trio separately. They seem completely fair on paper, Baton Pass being Baton Pass aside, and Torracat actually looks pretty good. As such, my only gripe that is I wish I had known NFEs from outside of Gen IV+ would have counted since I thought these were going to end up illegal, which is a bit ironic given what happened to Flaaffy. Oh well.

Mr. Rime = Ready to tap dance on faces and take names (silently), there's not much to say about this one either except that it's a bit funny this automatically has the 4th strongest Sucker Punch in the mod in addition to the outright strongest Ice Shard. Although that is perhaps not as funny as the fact that for some reason it already had both Ice Shard and Sucker Punch to begin with for whatever reason. (Game Freak, why are you like this?)

Parasect = Speaking of amusing coincidences, Parasect was one of the two entries I had hinted at earlier at already being taken when I initially posted. I was even intending to go with Bug/Ghost type like Ema Skye did after being reminded how screwed up Paras's fate is the last time I posted in the Missing Links thread, though I might have ultimately gone with Ghost/Grass to continue the anti-Bug conspiracy given it's clearly the mushroom in charge; maybe not though given we already have four--technically more--of those officially, which are for some reason all physically oriented, though I digress. Regardless, this thing is definitely going to be a problem even with Overcoat around, even with the lack of defensive synergy between its types (which amusingly means it could have fit under Bad Typing Juggernaut too), and even with Steel actually still resisting Ghost in this Gen. It being faster than its previous official usurper Breloom now is also rather hilarious. Poor Breloom. It's like every slate it gets hit in the back of the head by the Merry-Go-Round of Indirect Nerfs.

Uxie = Speaking of potential problems, I guess we'll see how much Recover boosts this thing even with weather constantly chipping away it and it at least still having to use Rest to get past status. It seems likely to be both a good finisher and wall though.

Dusclops = Admittedly surprised this won despite self-voting for it given I liked the other entries more and had actually considered Drampa as my submission, even if my version was going to be quite different mostly for Dunsparce's sake, so it was nice to see someone else at least submit Drampa. Not really much to say about it beyond what was already said over two posts, so we'll see how it performs.

Analytic = Even more surprised this won, especially given that I didn't self-vote for it and given that I was initially going submit Flower Veil but was preempted there. It should at least be a good addition to the mod, though I'm not sure it really helps much that got it outside of Sylveon, probably Armaldo, and maybe Donphan and Hitmonchan. Mr. Mime especially gets somewhat screwed over now that Mr. Rime exists. Whoops.

 

[Samtendo09]

[…] they also give Glaceon the same no-miss Toxic that Poison mons only got access to in Gen VI onward, which probably counts for something.

That would be nasty, but Magic Guard users do exist, but even then a near-guarantee Sleep that can bypass Overcoat means it can be difficult to determine if your opponent’s Glaceon have Toxic, Lovely Kiss or even both, making switching on it very risky.

Don’t forget that it also boasts the strongest Blizzard with 91% accuracy, with Hydro Pump always hitting, both thanks to Compound Eyes, which means its Ice + Water coverage in general hit like a truck with that 130 base Special Attack. Which means, again, switching against Glaceon is generally not a good idea unless you have really good predictions.

 

[Ema Skye]

Slate 10 is going to be kinda different. Council has decided we'd like to change up the format a bit so we're going to be experimenting for a bit. We welcome your feedback on Discord.

For Slate 10, council has prepared a selection of resubs from previous slates that seemed to be decently popular, or we really liked a lot, but didn't make it in. No other submissions are accepted. When we go to vote, we will be voting which of these 6 we would like to have in the meta.

Here are your options!

Concept Name: Suddenly Signature Move
Pokemon Name: Exploud
Typing: Normal
Stats: 114 HP (+10) / 91 Atk / 63 Def / 91 SpA / 73 SpD (+10) / 61 Speed
Abilities: Soundproof
New Moves: Boomburst
Boomburst: Same as before (140 BP Normal-type, sound type move) but is physical due to Gen 3 Type mechanics.
How It Fulfills the Concept:
Exploud is a normal type attacker in a sea of normal type attackers, so I gave him his signature boomburst to make him stand out. Boomburst fits ridiculously well with Exploud, not only canonically but as an extremely spammable move that can deal extreme damage with choice band (Exploud has the same atk and spa). Moreover, boomburst ignores substitute, which makes him a great check to calm mind sweepers such as suicune. Buffed its Hp and Spd to make it more durable, but it's still left vulnerable due to its very slow speed.

Concept Name: New Gen Uber
Pokémon Name: Dracovish
Typing: Water/Dragon
Stats: 90/90/100/90/80/70 (+20 SpA)
Abilities: Sand Veil / Water Absorb
Notable Moves:

Earthquake, Lunge, Rock Slide, Super Fang

Dragon Claw, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Psychic, Crunch, Surf, Hidden Power

Toxic, Refresh
How It Fulfills the Concept: Vish was only broken for one reason and that was Fishious Rend and that doesn't exist here, so Dracovish is instantly very balanced. However, if I left it at that, it would kinda suck, so here's something more interesting. With Sand Veil making it immune to Sand damage, Refresh, Toxic, and Super Fang, Dracovish becomes a bulky Water that really annoys other bulky Waters. None of them appreciate Toxic, none of them other than Jellicent appreciate Super Fang, especially not Swampert, and all of them rely on status to damage Vish, which it can shrug off with Refresh. Plus, Water/Dragon is just overall a great defensive typing and its bulk is only a little worse than Swampert's, so Vish can find a lot of opportunities to come in. It hates not having reliable recovery, but with Sand Veil getting rid of Sand damage, it doesn't hurt quite as much as it could

Set

Water Beater (Dracovish) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Surf
- Super Fang
- Toxic
- Refresh / Protect

Dracovish @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpA / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Crunch
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Name of Move: Topsy-Turvy
Effects (including BP, PP and Acc): Dark Type, 32 PP, Inverts the target's stat changes
Recipients: Ariados, Hitmontop, Octillery, Sableye, Smeargle, Spinda, Tangela, Tentacruel
Why It Should Be Picked: A strong measure against setup sweepers that can make them think twice about clicking the move on slower moving mons like CM Blissey, lest they be targetted by something with Topsy-Turvy. Some recipients had much, much shakier reasonings than others- Ariados and Sableye are sort of "why not" since it fits their flavor mostly, Tangela, Octillery and Tentacruel all mostly fit with the tentacled theme that Malamar has going on (which, if you hadn't guessed, is a future mon submission I plan on doing) although Tangela is obviously not as similar, Hitmontop because it's called Topsy-Turvy, and Spinda because it fits with the aesthetic of the move to a T and Spinda is one of the most laughable gen 3 mons otherwise.

Concept Name: Rock-Resisting Spiker
Pokemon Name: Flygon
Typing:

Stats: unchanged
Abilities: Levitate
Notable Moves: +Spikes, +Morning Sun, +Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Protect, Toxic
How It Fulfills the Concept: I chose Flygon for this Concept since it has incredible longevity with its typing and ability. Morning Sun gives it recovery, which becomes worse in Sandstorm, but it gets the job done and it has a place on weatherless teams, which can remove Sand. Dragon Dance allows it to be a bigger threat which again is great thanks to its longevity.

Name of Move: Stuff Cheeks
Effects: Normal Type, 16 PP, The user eats its held Berry, and raises its Defense stat by two stages in addition to whatever effect that Berry might normally have.
Recipients: Furret, Lickitung, Pelipper, Raticate, Smeargle, Snorlax, Swalot, Tropius
Why It Should Be Picked: This move seems hilarious in this gen to be honest, I think it allows for some really interesting strategies. Fun fact: none of these pokemon can use Baton Pass, so things like Stuff Cheeks + Salac Pass onto Marowak isn't possible. These mons are mostly all bad with the exception of Snorlax- I just don't think it's right to have a move called "Stuff Cheeks" and not at least suggest it as a recipient, lol

Name of Pokemon: Dracozolt
Typing: Dragon/Electric
Stats: 90/100/80/100/70/80 (520 BST)
Abilities: Volt Absorb/Sand Veil
Notable Movepool: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Fire Blast, Iron Tail, Outrage, Thunder Punch, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Thunder Wave, Taunt (removed useful moves: Stone Edge, Wild Charge, Bolt Beak, Low Kick)
Why It Should Be Picked: instead of beeing a niche sand rush user, its now a meh mixed attacker with its main moves beeing Earthquake, Outrage, Iron Tail and Thunderbolt. Fire Blast and Rock Slide is pretty nice coverage too, and Twave and taunt can also be really useful. its specially powerful as a mixed attacker with a choice band. with its newfound speed it can certainly be a threat. specially to Heracross, Metagross (fire blast) and Moltres (all of its electric STAB and Rock Slide)

Dracozolt Calcs

252+ SpA Dracozolt Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Metagross: 238-282 (78.8 - 93.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Dracozolt Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 28 SpD Moltres: 300-354 (78.3 - 92.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Dracozolt Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Heracross: 230-272 (76.4 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Name of Pokemon: Diggersby
Typing:

Stats: 85 / 56 / 77 / 50 / 77 / 78
Abilities: Pickup / Huge Power
Notable Moves:

- Body Slam, Brick Break, Earthquake, Focus Punch, Low Kick, Quick Attack, Rock Slide, Sludge Bomb, Superpower

- Knock Off

- Agility, Bulk Up, Spikes, Swords Dance
Why It Should Be Picked: Diggersby serves as a very threating physical sweeper thanks to Huge Power and decent physical movepool. It offensively checks things like Metagross, Tyranitar, Magneton, and Zapdos (Lacking HP Grass), and it can also be a decent Spikes setter and a set-up sweeper as well.

Ability Name: Protean
Generation: 6
Effect: Before dealing damage, this Pokemon changes to the type of its used move
Potential User's: Kecleon, Unown, Octillery
Description: This 1000% just a ploy to give Kecleon any semblance of viability at all, just please let it happen

View attachment 350370
Concept Name: Weather Disruptor
Pokemon Name: Galarian Slowking
Typing: Poison / Psychic
Stats: 95 / 80 / 90 / 110 / 110 / 30 (+15 Atk, +10 Def) (BST: 515)
Abilities: Own Tempo / Neutralizing Gas
Notable Moves: Psychic, Sludge Bomb, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Surf, Shadow Ball, Foul Play, Ice Beam, Thunder Wave, Slack Off, Earthquake, Weather Ball, Calm Mind, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Hail, Toxic, Brick Break
How It Fulfills the Concept: Galarian Slowking can use Neutralizing Gas to keep Sand Stream / Snow Warning from activating, and can additionally reset the weather manually. In addition, it has options to hit the weather setters hard, with Brick Break and Surf for Ttar, as well as Fire moves to hit Abomasnow and Delibird. It also has insane versatility, with a wide movepool with lots of coverage options and plenty of options for stat spreads. As a plus, it can toxic stall Wonder Guard mons with a toxic immunity itself.

Well, I like badgers, they're my favorite animals, It is Linoone time






Name of Pokemon: Linoone
Typing:Normal
Abilities:Pickup/Hyper Cutter
Stats:
HP:88(+10)
Atk:80(+10)
Def:71(+10)
Spa:60(+10)
SpD:71(+10)
Spe:100
BST:470
Added Moves:Earthquake
Description: This is an overall buff to the belly drum sweeper Linoone, its choice band set is also upgraded, and its sub salac thrash, it allows Linoone to do its intended roles way better, and now it doesn't have to rely on the vastly inferior HP Ground for its coverage for metagame staples such as TTar, Metagross and the Skarm Wrecker Magnemite. The ability it has gained also allows it to bypass intimidate from Gyarados and Salamence.

Pokemon: Marowak-Alola
Typing: Fire / Ghost
Ability: Volt Absorb / Rock Head
Stats: 60 / 80 / 110 / 50 / 80 / 45
Notable Movepool: Brick Break, Double-Edge, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Stone Edge, Swords Dance, Will-O-Wisp (Focus Blast, Poltergeist, Stealth Rock)
Why it should be picked: ADV doesn't have a good physical Ghost-type, so here's a cool one. It loses out on its Fire STAB, but it has enough physical coverage to get by. Thick Club exists thanks to its Kantonian brother, so it still gets the funny attack boost. Also, since Lightning Rod doesn't actually provide an immunity this generation, I gave it the slightly more useful version of the ability.

Name of Move: Coil
Generation: 5
Effects: BP: 0 Acc: - PP: 32 Type: Poison, Raises user's Attack, Defense, accuracy by 1.
Recipients:
Why It Should Be Picked: good set-up move, specially for Dunsparce and Eelektross

Discussion phase will last for a few days before we vote!

 

[Regic Boat]

Incredibly Exploud: honestly dont really know what to think of this. its still really slow, wich could be a problem for it, but it packs a punch with band boomburst, and decent bulk to help it take hits and hit back hard.

U-LALA: im pretty sure this is supposed to be a defensive mon, and while sure it has water absorb and sand veil, it still has kinda meh defenses and no recovery. thoughts its not like it cant hit back pokemon or anything, it dos have that 90 in both offensive stats after all. and i guess 70 base speed is better than nothing, since then uninvested, you speed tie with skarm.

Topsy-Turvy: its cool but idk what it dos, i guess cripple set-up sweepers?????? i dont really know.

flygone???:lead defensive flygon with spikes/fire blast/morning sun/filler sounds neat. ddance sweeper flygon sounds pretty scary, thought.

Stuff Cheeks: in my opinion kinda useless but it can probably work.

BIG CHUNGUS: its good i guess.

Protean: on weak mons but sounds pretty scary.

No More Weather: overall good but i wish it had eerie spell because funny :(

badger badger badger: idk what it dos, honestly. i guess its a choice band attacker??? but even then, before looking at the movepool, im unsure. after giving it a better read its a upgrade to bdrum linoone, bc it can now not be walled by steels and is stronger and sorta bulkier.

sands underman?!?!?: another one that i find cool that you should vote for (:

i think my subs are cool you should vote for them (:

 

[NeonNitroGlycerin]

this slate hype af

: Boomburst being Physical does a lot for Exploud, allowing it to invest purely in Atk and hit like a truck with STAB Boomburst and EQ. Nice bulky wallbreaker.

: oh god

Topsy-Turvy: Not much to say on this one other than I'm interested to see how it plays out.

: The best thing in the slate. No I'm not biased, what are you talking about?

Stuff Cheeks: Pretty interesting, would probably be quite scary in the right hands.

: I do not understand what this is supposed to do.

: It's diggersby. not much else to say here.

Protean: distribution is wack

: this is an anti-weather mon in ADV, the metagame where Sandstorm is one of the most important mechanics. Not sure how to feel about that.

: pretty cool, stab espeed is fun

: its alolawak! cool!

Coil: Neat.

 

[iceblazer]

Pretty cool, if I say so myself. Coupled with Exploud's amazing coverage and its not too shabby Attacks stat, it's definitely an appealing option. Of course, all of Exploud's other issues remain, primarily its bad Speed & general frailty, but I'd love to see how this works out in HG.

I like this one. While it may seem outclassed by WishMence & Jellicent, it possess a few tools of its own to set itself apart from them, most notably Super Fang and a stellar defensive typing. Super Fang + Toxic is annoying as fuck for more defensive teams to handle with, and when coupled with how easily Vish fits on TSS structures, it quickly becomes a pain for teams without sufficient cleric support. Also pairs well with Celebi, Meta, and Wish Rachi, so its not even that hard to support it.

Topsy-Turvy: Makes Sab even more of a pain to deal with. Also gives Tang a solid niche as a way to stop DD Ttar & SD Glisc cold in their tracks. Not much else to say here.

Really fucking good defensive typing? Check. Reliable recovery? Check. Access to broken ass Spikes? Check. C'mon, there's seriously no reason not to vote for this.

Stuff Cheeks: Could be used for some funny shenanigans with Snorlax and Tropius. Otherwise, while its a funny move, I don't see a reason to seriously use this.

Interesting mon. Don't see a reason to use it over MixMence or any other Electric though.

Now we're talking. I can see this mon being downright terrifying to face in BP teams, if it gets an opportunity to boost up with SD, then it's going to be ripping holes in your team or wiping the floor with ease. Its CB set packs a mean punch as well, and only needs one or two predictions to break through teams with ease.

Protean: No comment.

Weird mon. It's a weather negater… that loses to nearly all of the weather setters. It does have a few tricks up its sleeve, such as its surprisingly expansive coverage and great SpAtk for a tank-ish mon, but I don't know what to feel about this atm.

No comment.

Fire/Ghost is a sick typing, and while it's total Ttar and Pert bait, it still has an ample amount of resistances to take advantage of, most notably being able to act as a full-on Jirachi, Gengar, and Plusle counter. All in all, this is probably one of the best things to have come out of this slate.

Coil: Please, no more buffs to Eel PLEASE
Everything else is alright ofc just don't give it to Eel

 

[The Damned]

Huh. Not what I was expecting Slate 10 to be, but I'll take it. Time for more Dubious Opinions™:

Potential New Ability

Potential New Ability:
01. Protean: Despite the admission that this is mostly to make Kecleon better, I think it will actually probably benefit Octillery more just because that has better attacking power on both sides and better Speed somehow. Actually, Octillery just has better stats and arguably even typing in general, SpD aside. Kecleon would definitely need more to distinguish itself from Octillery even if Protean wins. Meanwhile, Unown remains a lost cause, but, uh, the sentiment is nice.

Potential New Moves

Potential New Moves:
(All of these are fine to me, though I guess we'll how much Boomburst murders everything in meta where Baton Pass is legal.)
02. Topsy-Turvy: I always did wish this move got more officially distribution given it's not broken and given that Malamar rather sucks to the point that I was tempted to sub it as my Bad Typing Juggernaut instead of Oranguru, but Malamar is so one-note with Contrary Superpower unfortunately being the only thing going for it besides Topsy-Turvy that I didn't bother. Flavor-wise, this move fits at least Hitmontop and Spinda too, so that's nice too. That said, Sableye getting this might be obnoxious even with its nerfs just because Magic Guard is, well, Magic Guard. [/tautology]

03. Stuff Cheeks: This should be completely fine for reasons the entry already explains, though it's hilarious to picture Tropius using this, especially given its banana theme. Tropius still seems like it can still use all the help it can get, however, even three buffs later, so no complaints there.

04. Coil: This is the one I'm most wary of, which isn't saying much since any wariness comes from only from my opinion that I don't think either Eelektross or the just buffed Steelix really need Coil at this point and arguably shouldn't get it even though it of course fits them both. Not much else to say except to note that, of these mons, both Gorebyss and Huntail also have Baton Pass. So that could be interesting for at least one of them. At the very least, Coil on Huntail in this gen might finally let it have some separate, superior niche from Clamperl and especially Gorebyss in any generation. [Insert picture of Hitmonchan patting Huntail on the back and shedding a tear in solidarity.]

Potential New Mons

Potential New Mons:
05. Exploud: This is...probably fine, but two aspects need to be clarified. The first is whether Boomburst will actually get to go through subs like Sound attacks of later gens given Sound attacks in Gen 3 don't, Roar aside. I'm guessing "no", but if it does, then...geez, that might be a bit much. The second is whether it's actually supposed to have 61 Speed since its actual Speed is 68 and Gekokeso noted the other two changes to stats they made. Not that 61 or 68 Speed really changes that much since, even at 61 Speed, after an Agility is Baton Passed to Exploud it outspeeds and explodes everything else in the meta, even Deoxys-Speed. Just noting the stat difference like I did with Glaceon due to uncertainty.

06. Dracovish: This should be fine, though I guess we'll see how obnoxious access to Super Fang with Refresh back-up is in a meta where weather is almost guaranteed to chip at least half your team for most of the match.

07. Flygon: Admittedly I still have a kneejerk "that's a bit much" reaction to seeing Dragon Dance on this thing in this Gen before having to remind myself that no Dragon attacks are physical (at present) in this Gen. So it's probably fine even if I'm not sure how much it actually needs Spikes. Regardless, it would probably be a fine addition, and the amount of actually good Ice mons added to this mod should help keep it in check among other things.

08. Dracozolt: "Meh mixed attacker" is right. Even with the calcs, I'm a bit confused to what team really wants this given the attrition aspect that Dracovish would do better, right down to this benefitting from Sand Veil less even though I'd argue that is Dracozolt's better ability, especially since Thunder Wave ignores Volt Absorb this gen, which is...unfortunate; honestly, I could almost see it benefitting from Limber more than Volt Absorb because of that. I don't dislike this entry, but it just feels...a bit muddled and somehow underpowered despite having 500+ BST and decently good typing, though the Electric half of that typing means Dugtrio murders it unless it goes like 252 HP / 252 Def, which also does it no favors. At the very least, letting this have Dragon Claw seems like it would be more than fine.

09. Diggersby: This is easily the potential addition that worries me the most in terms of its potential power level, especially with Baton Pass around and it already having two very good set-up moves in addition to Spikes, having Rock Slide to murder Levitate Gengar, and having a BFF Magneton to handle Skarmory. Not really much more to say than that.

10. Slowking-Galar: I can't say I like this one either personally, though much like Dracozolt, it feels a bit underpowered or at least muddled for what it's proposed to want to be doing. In fact, ironically this just seems like it would indirectly boost Sand, weirdly enough, which is exact opposite of what it "should" be doing. While this can bully both Abomasnow and Sunflora with its Poison STAB and its Fire moves and probably does more than decently against Delibird II: Double Buff Boogaloo given the same Fire moves, Tyranitar just kinda...gnaws its slower face off with STAB Crunch and 2HKOs it with either that or physical attacks, especially with CB as back-up. Sand crisis decidedly not averted.

11. Linoone: This seems more than fine, even if Hyper Cutter is it a bit funny to picture it on initially. I guess Hyper Cutter still fits it just cleaving things in half at superspeed with STAB Extreme Speed after a Belly Drum though--like a freight train hitting something.

12. Marowak-Alola: This should also be fine even if the first bit about ADV lacking a good physical Ghost-type hasn't been true since Golurk's addition--arguably since Silvally's win in Slate 1 actually. This is probably the mon with the most swingy match-ups of any of these potential choices though, especially with Incineroar having just won last Slate. That kind of sucks for it even with its access to Earthquake and presumably Rock Slide--since Stone Edge doesn't exist. It similarly sucks for it to not be able to just laugh at attempts to trap it like all Ghosts after Gen VI can since that means Dugtrio can revenge it quite easily unlike Golurk. Still, it might be worth adding in this form.

 

[Ema Skye]

I wanted to touch on Glowking because I don't think people are fully getting just how amazing Neutralizing Gas is in this meta. Yes, it was submitted as a weather disruptor but it's not that great at it due to its bad Ttar matchup. What it does offer instead is amazing utility, and I wanted to provide some examples.

• It's the only Grounded mon that cannot be trapped by Dugtrio due to Arena Trap being shut off. As Gal pointed out on Discord, this is huge, as it can be a Toxic switch in all game that cannot be easily removed through Dugtrio, unlike other poisons.
• Keeping the Toxic on Natural Cure mons (Celebi, Starmie, Blissey), as they won't cure it when they switch out. This can have a huge impact on their longevity.
• On a similar note, shutting off Guts makes Glowking the best Heracross check in the game, which is pretty awesome because Heracross is insanely difficult to check with Guts.
• Galvanize users not only lose their STAB, but their (former) best STAB moves now run off of their usually much lower Atk, which really messes with their damage output.
• Toxicing Magic Guard users is an obvious one as well, especially as Glowking matches up decently well against them.
• Glowking naturally lures in some Levitate mons like Flygon, Eelektross and possibly Gengar. With Levitate shut off, these now take Spikes damage.
• Magic Guard, Cloud Nine and Overcoat mons now take weather damage, which is amazing in a perma weather meta.

This seems like a really easy vote for me.

 

[Samtendo09]

I wanted to touch on Glowking because I don't think people are fully getting just how amazing Neutralizing Gas is in this meta. Yes, it was submitted as a weather disruptor but it's not that great at it due to its bad Ttar matchup. What it does offer instead is amazing utility, and I wanted to provide some examples.

• It's the only Grounded mon that cannot be trapped by Dugtrio due to Arena Trap being shut off. As Gal pointed out on Discord, this is huge, as it can be a Toxic switch in all game that cannot be easily removed through Dugtrio, unlike other poisons.
• Keeping the Toxic on Natural Cure mons (Celebi, Starmie, Blissey), as they won't cure it when they switch out. This can have a huge impact on their longevity.
• On a similar note, shutting off Guts makes Glowking the best Heracross check in the game, which is pretty awesome because Heracross is insanely difficult to check with Guts.
• Galvanize users not only lose their STAB, but their (former) best STAB moves now run off of their usually much lower Atk, which really messes with their damage output.
• Toxicing Magic Guard users is an obvious one as well, especially as Glowking matches up decently well against them.
• Glowking naturally lures in some Levitate mons like Flygon, Eelektross and possibly Gengar. With Levitate shut off, these now take Spikes damage.
• Magic Guard, Cloud Nine and Overcoat mons now take weather damage, which is amazing in a perma weather meta.

This seems like a really easy vote for me.

I’ll add additional examples.

• Volbeat wouldn’t really worry about Glowking if it runs Shadow Ball on a Choice Band moveset. This Volbeef set (based of what Ema Skye called it with her set in HGUU) takes advantage of its very high Speed, so NGas isn’t going to threaten it too much.
• Glowking will take less chance to get hit by Blizzard, Hydro Pump and Lovely Kiss as it deactivates Compound Eyes. Still not recommended to switch into mid-turn as this is HG Glaceon we are talking about.
• While a bad matchup vs Tyranitar, it still did prevent switch-in Sandstorm to activate which is important. It also stops Desolate Land and switch-in Snow Warning from working as well, giving Glowking a strong match-up against Abomasnow and Sunflora.

 

[Ema Skye]

24 hour notice before we start voting.

 

[Z-nogyroP]

While a bad matchup vs Tyranitar, it still did prevent switch-in Sandstorm to activate which is important. It also stops Desolate Land and switch-in Snow Warning from working as well, giving Glowking a strong match-up against Abomasnow and Sunflora.

Wanted to pop in to clarify something: Neutralizing Gas may stop Sand Stream from activating upon switching in, but as soon as the Pokémon with Neutralizing Gas switches out, Sand Stream activates again. Same deal with Snow Warning and Desolate Land, but those are less relevant because Glowking could ostensibly win 1v1 against their setters, while it decidedly does not vs. Tyranitar. Still does a lot of interesting things, but stopping sandstorm from being set is not one of them.

 

[Ema Skye]

Time to vote.

Pick up to your top 6.

 

[NeonNitroGlycerin]

Flygon
Exploud
Dracovish
Glowking
Alolawak
Linoone

 

[The Damned]

Sticking to my (jammed) guns here even as much as I do like Neutralizing Gas.

01. Dracovish
02. Topsy-Turvy
03. Stuff Cheeks
04. Protean
05. Linoone
06. Coil {please skip at least Eelektross}

Have a good Sunday everyone if you can.

 

[iceblazer]

Flygon
Glowking
Dracovish
Marowak-Alola
Diggersby
Coil

 

[Best Gal]

Dracovish
Dracozolt
Marowak-Alola
Protean
Stuff Cheeks
Topsy-Turvy

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Dracovish
Protean
Diggersby
Slowking-Galar
Marowak-Alola
Exploud

 

[Ema Skye]

Glowking
Marowak-Alola
Diggersby
Protean
Dracovish
Dracozolt

 

[Z-nogyroP]

Protean
Galarian Slowking
Coil
Exploud
Alolan Marowak
Topsy-Turvy

 

[Regic Boat]

Flygon
Alolan Marowak
Galarian Slowking
Dracozolt
Exploud
Protean

 

[Samtendo09]

Dracovish
Protean
Flygon
Slowking-Galar
Marowak-Alola
Exploud

 

[Paulluxx]

Galarian Slowking
Linoone
Protean
Dracovish
Coil
Topsy Turvy

 

[447323a]

Coil
Exploud
Dracovish
Flygon
Dracozolt
Marowak-Alola