Singles Isle of Armor Metagame Speculation Thread

[Feesh Squad]

Its worth noting that the Isle of Armor has several NPC's that straight up give you these pokes, which should also circumvent the prior issue of not having "Galar-local" pokemon by... well, actually giving you them as Galar locals.

Also, unless Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion got added to the new Armor Isle Pokedex, I believe they would still be disqualified. If I missed something though, feel free to direct me to any news on that front.

Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion, among others, are allowed to transfer over as of the Pokemon Home release, though I am unaware as to if they are ladder usable at the moment.

 

[Tmi489]

Uh guys..Scizor has base 120 flying move... I fear for grass types that can't outspeed and KO it.

No grass type (other than ferro, and even then) really wants to switch into a Scizor U-Turn anyway
with roost, sd/curse, bullet punch, knock, and more being fit i dont see dual wingbeat on scizor
e: didnt see bss idk how viable ferro is

 

[Hematite]

Yes, because I believe legends are banned. and they are legendaries.

That's not how it works, actually! There are a few different classifications for Pokémon like this, and only some of them are banned.

The first two are officially lumped together under the umbrella of Legendary (with some exceptions), but they're actually considered distinct groups for the purposes of rules.

The first group is "minor" Legendary Pokémon - generally the ones with base stat totals of 600 or less (including Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion, which have 580), except for the ones like Zygarde and Necrozma that have forme changes to make them stronger. The games also treat Ultra Beasts like part of this group even though they're not officially considered Legendary.
These "minor" Legendaries actually aren't banned from any standard competitions - the only time their status even comes up at all is in rare special cases (like, there was this one special Battle Spot tournament in ORAS that only allowed Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, and these were legal for that purpose; also, the GTS in Sun and Moon let you filter out requests for these Pokémon), but it's usually not to ban them even then.
The full list of these so far is as follows:

Incidentally, Kubfu and Urshifu are two of these - as soon as Isle of Armor Pokémon are made legal, you should be able to use them freely!
(See how Mega Latios, Mega Latias and Regigigas are here? There's a reason for that! Despite their high stats, Mega Latios and Mega Latias have to hold items to change form, which means they can't hold more useful items like Life Orbs or Leftovers - even though it looks like they have much higher base stat totals than the rest of the Pokémon here, they aren't far ahead at all, and Mega Latios has even struggled to compete with regular Latios in the past. And Regigigas is just a sensible inclusion - thanks to Slow Start, it's one of the weakest Legendary Pokémon there is, so its above average stats almost don't count!)

The second group is also a set of Legendary Pokémon, but they tend to be much stronger (for comparison, on Smogon, all of them start in Ubers and are only even considered for lower tiers in very rare cases). These ones generally have base stat totals of 670 or higher, or - like Zygarde and Necrozma - can reach formes that are that strong without having to hold an item.
These are still Legendary Pokémon, but they're also known in official rulesets as "Special Pokémon" or "Restricted Pokémon," and they're the ones that tend to be banned or restricted (hence the name).
Generally speaking, you can remember the list of Restricted Pokémon pretty easily once you know about them - they're usually the most "important" Legendary or group of Legendaries from each Generation, and there tends to be only one set from each region. Other than Mewtwo, all of them are either the mascots of games or part of a set with something that is!
The full list of these so far is as follows:

We don't know for sure, but the official site seems to hint that Calyrex might join their ranks when Crown Tundra comes out! They draw attention to the fact that it's the "cover Pokémon" of the Expansion Pass in the same way that most of these are the mascots of various games. You can probably expect it to be banned from regular formats, but it might show its face in the VGC in the future next time that Restricted Pokémon are allowed!
(These are the same Pokémon that are banned from facilities like the Battle Tree! A lot of people make the mistake of thinking the bosses there cheat because they use Legendary Pokémon, but the Trainers only ever use the same ones the player can bring - which is actually another way to remember it! You see non-player characters using Pokémon like Suicune and Thundurus all the time in the Battle Tree, but can you even picture a random Trainer throwing a Kyogre at you?)

The third group is more distinct from the others - officially, they're not Legendary Pokémon at all, but they used to be called that in some regions before they had a name of their own. (They were actually never the same thing in Japan - calling them Legendary is something the English translators made up early on, and then it stuck for a while until they finally got their own name. Since then, they've gone out of their way to separate the groups a handful of times.) These are Mythical Pokémon, and they're almost always banned from official competitions.
The main deciding factor for something to be a Mythical Pokémon actually has nothing to do with stats - the group includes Pokémon like Phione, all the way down at 480 base stat points, through Arceus, which has 720. Actually, it's just a matter of availability: all of these are Pokémon that were first released through limited-time events rather than being a normal part of the game, and most of them have stayed that way. Since many players have no way to get most of these, even if they buy every Pokémon game and do everything possible, they're almost always banned from official rulesets - the only exceptions tend to be silly, "just for fun" competitions like the Halloween celebration Ultra Spooky Cup or the "No Holds Barred" event from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
There have been some years in VGC when even Restricted Pokémon were allowed (usually only two per team), and in a setting like that, you might think something like Keldeo would be totally fine - it wouldn't be doing anything nearly as broken as Xerneas or Primal Groudon, right? But it's actually not a power issue at all - if something like Keldeo just happened to be useful, and there was no way to access it, it would be a huge disadvantage to players who didn't start playing years ago and get a perfect one back when Keldeo was around. That's why Mythical Pokémon aren't options in most official formats! Even in a competition where you can use Xerneas and Primal Groudon on the same team, you can probably expect to have to leave Keldeo behind.
(Smogon formats don't tend to make the same distinction at all - that's because battles here are done on a simulator where availability doesn't matter! If everyone can bring Mew, it's no problem to treat it like any other Pokémon and tier it based on its strength rather than its Mythical status. Of course, some of them really are just that strong - there are more than a handful of Mythical Pokémon that have been banned even on Smogon.)
The full list of these so far is as follows:

Zarude will also be one of these when it's released - you won't be able to use it in most official competitions even once it's out. (On the bright side, its signature move looks pretty much designed for raid battles, and I bet people would appreciate you bringing it to one of those if you're looking for something to do with it!)

Hopefully that's some help!
If that was too much, the short answer is "Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion are Legendary, but they're not the kind of Legendary that gets banned." C:

 

[AwesomeDave980]

Some random thoughts:

How much of a chance does Slowbro-G get to move before it’s opponent with both Quick Draw and Quick Claw on the same set? I know that Quick Claw has a 20% chance of activating, but it would be nice to know the percentage chance for Quick Draw as well. If it is 20% like Quick Claw, then Slowbro-G has around a 40% chance to move before its opponent, which isn’t bad at all considering the coverage options that Slowbro gets. Technically, assuming Quick Draw has a 20% chance of activating, Slowbro-G with both Quick Draw and Quick Claw would have a 40% chance of moving first if the game checks for both things at the exact same time, or it would have a 36% chance of moving first if the game checks for one thing then the other. To be clear I still think Regenerator will be its best ability, but having around a 40% chance to move before your opponent no matter what will be pretty cool.

Does anyone know if Comfey with Triage gets priority on Pollen Puff since Pollen Puff can be a healing move sometimes? I’ve looked for a list of Triage-affected moves but couldn’t find one.

Also, someone asked about Flip Turn users. All of the fully evolved ones are these: Blastoise, Goldick, Seaking, Starmie, Vaporeon, Mew, Kingdra, Sharpedo, Milotic, Basculin, Keldeo, Dragalge, Clawitzer, Primarina, Wishiwashi, and Barraskewda. In particular, I think this could make Band/Specs slightly more viable on Pokémon like Starmie and Barraskewda, as Flip Turn now gives them a chance to pivot out of unfavorable matchups, something that they didn’t have before at their disposal.

I think Scizor will still be a force to be reckoned with, but not having access to Knock Off and Pursuit does hurt it a bit here. On its Choice Band set I would guess its four main moves to be U-Turn, Bullet Punch, Superpower, and...likely Dual Wingbeat (for its base 120 power, and for Max Airstream in the right circumstances).

Also, Water form Urshifu‘s Surging Strikes attack (with a Jolly nature which I believe will be the standard) OHKOs Mimikyu about 80% of the time while holding a Life Orb and 100% of the time while holding a Choice Band. This is yet another reason why I think Urshifu will become a common sight in BSS very soon.

Sorry for the long winded post; I had alot on my mind lol.

 

[Theorymon]

IMPORTANT PSA (So Important I'm gonna post this elsewhere too).

DO NOT GIVE YOUR STARTERS MAX SOUP, THE GIGANTAMAXES ARE BANNED ON THE LADDER!

Update: You can revert them back to regular Dynamax with Max Soup. Still, it'd be a terrible waste of Max Mushrooms, so don't gigantamax your starters right now!

Additionally, returning mons and Urshifu are also banned at the moment. When Urshifu was announced, it was sold as being usable in BSS, so its possible this stuff is banned till next season sadly.

The good news however: the new move tutors are NOT banned! Grassy Slide Rillaboom is in fact, currently usable on the battle stadium ladder!

Here's some photo proof. First photo is Gigantamax Rillaboom, 2nd photo is a galar born Volcarona and Urshifu (duh), but the Rillaboom this time is just a Grassy Glide Rillaboom.

 

[FlameOrb]

I finished training a Galar Born Scizor and Mienshao but Ranked won't accept them, will the new Pokemon be available for Rank matches?

Curious to know: how did you train them?

 

[Ast0rga]

Curious to know: how did you train them?

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Pretty standard. Solid attack and speed, can pivot and has SD for a late game opportunity

Scizor @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Wing Attack
- X-Scissor

Gimmick Dynamax abuser, needs rain to make sure it survives the Fire move.

 

[Barnetjoe]

I'm more a doubles player myself but was curious of my bulky kingdra set I'm experimenting with. Obviously this is intended for vgc doubles but can work in singles with good prediction.

See spread below, but couples with assault vest and d-max potential. This has the option to be super bulky and hit incredibly hard in the rain. With its current speed it can out speed even max timid/jolly dragapult in the rain.

And it can boost defence with iron steelspike.

Any thoughts or other newish sets welcome

 

[ProNooob]

That's not how it works, actually! There are a few different classifications for Pokémon like this, and only some of them are banned.

The first two are officially lumped together under the umbrella of Legendary (with some exceptions), but they're actually considered distinct groups for the purposes of rules.

The first group is "minor" Legendary Pokémon - generally the ones with base stat totals of 600 or less (including Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion, which have 580), except for the ones like Zygarde and Necrozma that have forme changes to make them stronger. The games also treat Ultra Beasts like part of this group even though they're not officially considered Legendary.
These "minor" Legendaries actually aren't banned from any standard competitions - the only time their status even comes up at all is in rare special cases (like, there was this one special Battle Spot tournament in ORAS that only allowed Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, and these were legal for that purpose; also, the GTS in Sun and Moon let you filter out requests for these Pokémon), but it's usually not to ban them even then.
The full list of these so far is as follows:

Incidentally, Kubfu and Urshifu are two of these - as soon as Isle of Armor Pokémon are made legal, you should be able to use them freely!
(See how Mega Latios, Mega Latias and Regigigas are here? There's a reason for that! Despite their high stats, Mega Latios and Mega Latias have to hold items to change form, which means they can't hold more useful items like Life Orbs or Leftovers - even though it looks like they have much higher base stat totals than the rest of the Pokémon here, they aren't far ahead at all, and Mega Latios has even struggled to compete with regular Latios in the past. And Regigigas is just a sensible inclusion - thanks to Slow Start, it's one of the weakest Legendary Pokémon there is, so its above average stats almost don't count!)

The second group is also a set of Legendary Pokémon, but they tend to be much stronger (for comparison, on Smogon, all of them start in Ubers and are only even considered for lower tiers in very rare cases). These ones generally have base stat totals of 670 or higher, or - like Zygarde and Necrozma - can reach formes that are that strong without having to hold an item.
These are still Legendary Pokémon, but they're also known in official rulesets as "Special Pokémon" or "Restricted Pokémon," and they're the ones that tend to be banned or restricted (hence the name).
Generally speaking, you can remember the list of Restricted Pokémon pretty easily once you know about them - they're usually the most "important" Legendary or group of Legendaries from each Generation, and there tends to be only one set from each region. Other than Mewtwo, all of them are either the mascots of games or part of a set with something that is!
The full list of these so far is as follows:

We don't know for sure, but the official site seems to hint that Calyrex might join their ranks when Crown Tundra comes out! They draw attention to the fact that it's the "cover Pokémon" of the Expansion Pass in the same way that most of these are the mascots of various games. You can probably expect it to be banned from regular formats, but it might show its face in the VGC in the future next time that Restricted Pokémon are allowed!
(These are the same Pokémon that are banned from facilities like the Battle Tree! A lot of people make the mistake of thinking the bosses there cheat because they use Legendary Pokémon, but the Trainers only ever use the same ones the player can bring - which is actually another way to remember it! You see non-player characters using Pokémon like Suicune and Thundurus all the time in the Battle Tree, but can you even picture a random Trainer throwing a Kyogre at you?)

The third group is more distinct from the others - officially, they're not Legendary Pokémon at all, but they used to be called that in some regions before they had a name of their own. (They were actually never the same thing in Japan - calling them Legendary is something the English translators made up early on, and then it stuck for a while until they finally got their own name. Since then, they've gone out of their way to separate the groups a handful of times.) These are Mythical Pokémon, and they're almost always banned from official competitions.
The main deciding factor for something to be a Mythical Pokémon actually has nothing to do with stats - the group includes Pokémon like Phione, all the way down at 480 base stat points, through Arceus, which has 720. Actually, it's just a matter of availability: all of these are Pokémon that were first released through limited-time events rather than being a normal part of the game, and most of them have stayed that way. Since many players have no way to get most of these, even if they buy every Pokémon game and do everything possible, they're almost always banned from official rulesets - the only exceptions tend to be silly, "just for fun" competitions like the Halloween celebration Ultra Spooky Cup or the "No Holds Barred" event from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
There have been some years in VGC when even Restricted Pokémon were allowed (usually only two per team), and in a setting like that, you might think something like Keldeo would be totally fine - it wouldn't be doing anything nearly as broken as Xerneas or Primal Groudon, right? But it's actually not a power issue at all - if something like Keldeo just happened to be useful, and there was no way to access it, it would be a huge disadvantage to players who didn't start playing years ago and get a perfect one back when Keldeo was around. That's why Mythical Pokémon aren't options in most official formats! Even in a competition where you can use Xerneas and Primal Groudon on the same team, you can probably expect to have to leave Keldeo behind.
(Smogon formats don't tend to make the same distinction at all - that's because battles here are done on a simulator where availability doesn't matter! If everyone can bring Mew, it's no problem to treat it like any other Pokémon and tier it based on its strength rather than its Mythical status. Of course, some of them really are just that strong - there are more than a handful of Mythical Pokémon that have been banned even on Smogon.)
The full list of these so far is as follows:

Zarude will also be one of these when it's released - you won't be able to use it in most official competitions even once it's out. (On the bright side, its signature move looks pretty much designed for raid battles, and I bet people would appreciate you bringing it to one of those if you're looking for something to do with it!)

Hopefully that's some help!
If that was too much, the short answer is "Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion are Legendary, but they're not the kind of Legendary that gets banned." C:

Shit this thread is singles lmfao. I thought this was VGC as in current format all legendaries besides silvally are disallowed.

 

[AwesomeDave980]

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Pretty standard. Solid attack and speed, can pivot and has SD for a late game opportunity

Scizor @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Wing Attack
- X-Scissor

Gimmick Dynamax abuser, needs rain to make sure it survives the Fire move.

A couple of things:

This isn’t required, but Mienshao can run Reckless + High Jump Kick for a base 144 fighting move, which is pretty good. If you find yourself lacking some owner at times, you may want to try this option out.

For Scizor, I would recommend running Dual Wingbeat over Wing Attack, as Dual Wingbeat simply has more power (120 to Wing Attack’s 90 power) at the cost of slightly less accuracy (100 to 90).

Speaking of Scizor, it lost a lot of stuff from last generation to this generation (Roost, Bug Bite, Knock Off, Pursuit, and a mega evolution) while not really getting that many newer tools to use this generation. I don’t think it’s really going to be that popular in BSS this generation.

 

[thelandlordsmm]

IMPORTANT PSA (So Important I'm gonna post this elsewhere too).

DO NOT GIVE YOUR STARTERS MAX SOUP, THE GIGANTAMAXES ARE BANNED ON THE LADDER!

Update: You can revert them back to regular Dynamax with Max Soup. Still, it'd be a terrible waste of Max Mushrooms, so don't gigantamax your starters right now!

Additionally, returning mons and Urshifu are also banned at the moment. When Urshifu was announced, it was sold as being usable in BSS, so its possible this stuff is banned till next season sadly.

The good news however: the new move tutors are NOT banned! Grassy Slide Rillaboom is in fact, currently usable on the battle stadium ladder!

Here's some photo proof. First photo is Gigantamax Rillaboom, 2nd photo is a galar born Volcarona and Urshifu (duh), but the Rillaboom this time is just a Grassy Glide Rillaboom.

Ha, I already gave my shiny Cinderace Max Soup so guess I'm not using him until July. Good thing I already hit Master Ball Rank. BTW, G-max Fireball has 160 BP compared to Max Flare's 140. That extra 20 BP is important for some KOs (notably, Cinderace 1v1 vs Dynamax Togekiss can Airstream turn 1 and then Fireball turn 2 to KO non-bulky variants).

 

[ProNooob]

Ha, I already gave my shiny Cinderace Max Soup so guess I'm not using him until July. Good thing I already hit Master Ball Rank. BTW, G-max Fireball has 160 BP compared to Max Flare's 140. That extra 20 BP is important for some KOs (notably, Cinderace 1v1 vs Dynamax Togekiss can Airstream turn 1 and then Fireball turn 2 to KO non-bulky variants).

Does this apply for fire moves stronger than pyroball, if ace has any?

 

[cant say]

I was told you can use Gmax soup again to remove the Gmax option if you want to use regular dynamax. So if you messed up and want to use your Cinderace or Venusaur right now there’s that...

 

[jayross66]

• #279

What do you guys think of this rillaboom set? Im rough drafting teams right now but the idea is to partner with hawlucha so far. I might even just partner with cinderace and give it grassy seed. The idea is a fake out lead that pivots into the sweeper then comes back for revenge kills if theres anything left. Life orb is just a placeholder right now.

Rillaboom @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- U-turn

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

Of the mons that will become available thru transfer, I haven't seen anybody talk about this mon, that could potentially be scary:

Sweeper
Scolipede @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Baton Pass / Swords Dance
- Superpower / Earthquake
- Rock Slide / Throat Chop
- Megahorn / Rock Slide

Dedicated Boost Passer
Scolipede @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Baton Pass
- Superpower
- Poison Jab / Iron Tail / Earthquake
- Poison Jab / Iron Tail / Earthquake

Scolipede looks like it can be crazy, at least on paper to me just off the strength of being the only other viable Speed Boost user besides Sharpedo. I listed two sets because Scolipede is surprisingly flexible, able to play the role of a dedicated Baton Pass user focused on building its own stats with Max Moves, or using its surprisingly good coverage to act as a standalone sweeper. Thanks to Max Guard, Scolipede at least isn't pressed to use Protect to fill a move slot and lose coverage.

For Max moves that boost Scolipede's own stats, Superpower can boost Atk with Max Knuckle, and will probably be your most optimal coverage move for that reason on top of hitting Steels... Iron Tail can boost Def as Max Steelspike, and Earthquake can boost SpD as Max Quake... Iron Tail will generally suck outside of dynamaxing for both accuracy and coverage reasons, but at least Earthquake offers you better coverage against Fire-types. Passing defensive boosts itself is situational but it IS an option especially if you're trying to get a sweep with a Stored Power mon. You can even go a step further and use STAB Poison Jab for Max Ooze...it won't benefit Scolipede but the SpA boost may be helpful for a teammate, and poison STAB is decent neutral coverage, though you should only use this on the dedicated Baton Passing set, as I think Poison Jab is too weak as a regular move and a Max move compared to Scolipede's other options on the sweeper set.

The rest of Scolipede's moves are just general coverage and hitting hard. Throat Chop's number one target is Dragapult, while it also can touch Mimikyu and Aegislash... and troll Toxtricity. Rock Slide hits Volcarona, Togekiss, Rotom-H, Cinderace, and Talonflame. You should probably use this lol. Earthquake has (mostly) similar coverage to Superpower, and doesn't drop your stats, but the biggest use it has is for ensuring you can kill Toxapex, which could erase your boosts or burn you. Other than that, Superpower is better imo...And Megahorn is obligatory STAB, always a good thing to have. I think this mon can be scary for its versatility to hit hard, get Speed boosts every turn, AND Baton Pass out to a teammate in unfavorable matchups where Scolipede can't win. Kinda like a discount Blaziken or something, but in a meta where Blaziken doesn't exist to overshadow it...lol

 

[Photon]

So the legendary fighting trio will be available for the first time this upcoming ranked season. They will benefit from the new "battle-ready" mark mechanic. Shame since I don't have a particularly reliable way to get them beyond GTS trading, to which--if you spend any amount of time there--I shouldn't have to tell you why that's a problem.

I took a break from BSS this month in hopes that I would feel revitalized by the DLC. I really have liked the Armor of Isle DLC overall, but I can't say that it's making me feel refreshed for some more singles action. It feels like the new measuring stick for really great pokes is "Can it beat Libero Cinderace?", to which the answer for the vast majority of pokes is a big fat no. It of course doesn't help that Cinderace is technically getting buffed for the next ranked season as well thanks to its new Gigantamax. I could be wrong about its stranglehold though, especially since we're all stuck theorycrafting instead of experimenting live.

Do you guys foresee a major shakeup in this department, or is Libero Cinderace going to continue seeing #1 usage for the foreseeable future?

 

[zapper22001]

So the legendary fighting trio will be available for the first time this upcoming ranked season. They will benefit from the new "battle-ready" mark mechanic. Shame since I don't have a particularly reliable way to get them beyond GTS trading, to which--if you spend any amount of time there--I shouldn't have to tell you why that's a problem.

I think the best way to get Terrakion is to play through the DLC on an additional profile and offer a Kubfu for it on Home since that is all that everyone seems to want on GTS these days. I already did this once to get the second Urshifu form so I am a bit lazy to do it again and I am hoping that maybe it becomes a raid event after the Zeraora and GMAX promotions finally end.

Do you guys foresee a major shakeup in this department, or is Libero Cinderace going to continue seeing #1 usage for the foreseeable future?

Libero Cinderace is still probably going to be the scariest threat in the metagame. The DLC only really gave Azumarill as a good answer to Cinderace. Based on the stuff we already have, the biggest adjustment I have seen this month is more T-Wave on Dragapult over/paired with WoW. Attract is also a meme option that I have run into. I stopped playing ladder a few days before the DLC dropped so not sure if anything else has changed since.

It might just be me but after playing around on Showdown, Urshifu (both forms) and Volcarona feel quite manageable. They are definitely still very good, but I think I just had higher expectations. Urshifu having a poor SDef stat and okay Speed makes it much easier to deal with. I might be misusing Volcarona, but it feels difficult to break through teams even after a Quiver Dance boost. I definitely force the issue a lot more than I should since I often go QD into Dynamax when just firing off an attack or a double switch is better, but it has been helpful in learning what it is capable of.

Overall the DLC has been quite fun and I am enjoying many of the new toys offered. Porygon2 is the early frontrunner for me as the best addition. I have just been using the old sets with good success since I did a bunch of calcs and you live a lot of popular Max moves anyway. Trick Room has been a cool option paired with Alolan Marowak. On Showdown ladder, it seems like people favor max Phy. Def spreads for P2, which opens up the option to Recover stall some opposing Dynamax and might be the way to go. Azumarill has been good for me. I have used four attacks with AV/Mystic Water/CB. I have been hesitant to try Belly Drum since it seems difficult to break through opposing Dynamax and you lose priority with your own Dynamax. I want to play some games on casual ladder since people have had success testing DLC teams there and there will probably be less stall teams.

 

[AwesomeDave980]

This is likely minor, but Lycanroc-Dusk gets Close Combat now, which is slightly stronger than Stone Edge due to Tough Claws (Close Combat has 156 power due to Tough Claws; Stone Edge has 150 power from Stab). I could see Stone Edge maybe not being including on some Lycanroc-Dusk sets in the future, as Stone Edge doesn’t have the best accuracy, whereas Close Combat has 100 accuracy.