PiC Partners in Crime

[HiZo]

(Credit to Snaquaza for the original concept, jasprose and yuki for letting me take over the thread and continuing to lead this project, and in the hills for the artwork)

Welcome to Partners in Crime. This is a doubles-based metagame with the twist that you share your ability and moves with your active partner. This means that you are able to use any of the moves available to both of your active Pokemon, i.e. up to 8 moves will appear on the move select screen. Additionally, this means both of your active Pokemon will have each others' ability in addition to their own.

I'd also like to take the time to specially mention Instruct for his continued work for us. His work is absolutely exceptional, and, without everything he's done and the amount of things he's fixed when we were live during Gen 8, none of this would have been possible without him.

Banlist:
Pokemon: Annihilape, Arceus, Calyrex-Ice, Calyrex-Shadow, Chi-Yu, Cresselia, Darkrai, Deoxys-Attack, Dialga, Dialga-Origin, Eternatus, Flutter Mane, Giratina, Giratina-Origin, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Koraidon, Kyogre, Kyurem-Black, Kyurem-White, Lugia, Lunala, Magearna, Mewtwo, Miraidon, Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, Palkia, Palkia-Origin, Rayquaza, Reshiram, Smeargle, Solgaleo, Terapagos, Urshifu, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Zacian, Zacian-Crowned, Zamazenta, Zamazenta-Crowned, Zekrom
Abilities: Contrary, Dancer, Huge Power, Moody, Pure Power, Serene Grace, Shadow Tag, Stench
Moves: Ally Switch, Dragon Cheer, Last Respects, Revival Blessing, Swagger
Items: Bright Powder, King's Rock, Razor Fang
Clauses: Standard Doubles, Evasion Abilities Clause

Strategy:
+ +

Sets!

Torkoal @ Charcoal
Ability: Drought
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 9 Def
- Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Clear Smog

Lilligant @ Wide Lens
Ability: Chlorophyll
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- After You
- Sleep Powder
- Tera Blast

Roaring Moon @ Life Orb
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Jaw Lock
- Iron Head
- Tailwind
- Protect

The idea behind these 3 is to make use of Torkoal's Drought to activate Lilligant's Chlorophyll and Roaring Moon's Protosynthesis. When in sun, Roaring Moon's Protosynthesis is active for both of your Pokemon, allowing their highest stat to gain a free 1.3x multiplier. In this case, Roaring Moon's Attack and Lilligant and, thanks to its 9 Def IVs, Torkoal's Special Attack are raised. Chlorophyll then gives your Pokemon 2x Speed, letting them dominate the board.

FAQ

What happens if Gastro Acid, Skill Swap, Entrainment or any similar move is used?
Since you don't actually have your partner's ability, your normal abilities will be taken into account. This means Skill Swap and Entrainment will swap the normal abilities of the user and the target and also change the shared ability for the partner, but Gastro Acid will suppress all abilities as per the nature of the move.

What if the two Pokemon have the same ability?
The ability won't stack, and thus nothing special will happen.

What happens if both Pokemon know the same move?
It will only appear once. PP reduction works as normal, only being deducted from the user's slot.

How does Mimic work?
Mimic will fail if not used by the Pokemon that originally learns it.

What happens when abilities overlap? (eg. Refrigerate and Pixilate)
Effects are applied in a random order.

What happens when your partner switches out?
You are able to use the move of a partner that is switching out as the movesets are updated at the start of the next turn. As speed and turn order are determined dynamically, whatever abilities are active on the field at the time the move would be used will be in effect. If you start the turn with a Prankster Pokemon such as Whimsicott on the field, and switch it out while the partner uses a status move, it does not gain priority. If Whimsicott were to switch in while the partner is using a status move, it does gain priority.

What happens with abilities that work upon switching in?
When a Pokemon switches in, it first uses its native ability followed by any innate abilities obtained from the partner. Then the partner then uses its new innate ability acquired from the Pokemon switching in. In situations where there is more than 1 Pokemon switching in, then abilities will be activated in order of speed.

What happens when your partner faints?
After your partner faints, it's abilities will be nullified, but you can still use its move if you chose to use a move of your partner that particular turn. Afterwards you can't use its moves anymore.

What happens when you only have one Pokemon left?
Then you'll only have one ability in effect and only be able to use your own moves.

How do choice items and Assault Vest work?
Unlike how this used to work, Instruct has been able to fix this interaction. Now the partner will not be locked into the same move as the choice-locked user, and will still have access to status moves even if the partner has an Assault Vest. Choice-locked Pokemon that use a partner's move can effectively break the choice-lock by having the partner switch to a replacement that does not have the move you are locked in to.

Trace, Imposter and Transform used to be banned, why aren't they anymore?
Thanks to Instruct, these are now fixed. Effectively only the Pokemon that originally has this ability will use it. Logically speaking, Trace will copy the opposing Pokemon's original ability, and then that will be shared with the partner. In the same vein, Imposter and Transform cause the user to transform into the opposing Pokemon, and will only take and share the original ability. As transforming also replaces your moveset with the target's, only this new moveset will be shared meaning you will not have 12 moves.

Why is there no Sleep Clause?
We feel there is more than adequate counterplay to a lot of the sleep ideas present in the game with a lot of the top Pokemon and some of the best teams all having more than enough to handle it. More information on this decision can be found here.

Playability: Partners in Crime is available to play on Pokemon Showdown via ladder or challenges
Join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/vVwwpk7hTa

Co-Leaders: HiZo, Chromate, yuki
Council: jasprose, zoe, Evie, DeepFriedMagikarp

 

[HiZo]

Sample Teams (Click the sprites for the Pokepaste)

Sun

Dragonspam Sun by Evie

Rain

Araquanid Bruxish Rain by HiZo

RainRoom by Evie

Priospam

Gapdos Priospam by HiZo

Diancie Priospam by Frixel

Psyspam

Unburden Deoxys Psyspam by HiZo


Sand

Sand by DeepFriedMagikarp

Tinkaton Sand by zoe

Snow

Self-proc Weakness Policy Metagross Snow by DeepFriedMagikarp


Hazard Stack

Unaware + Stamina by HiZo

Scarf Glimmora Hazard Stack by yuki

Balance

Iron Hands + Latias by Chromate

Primarina + Kingambit by Evie

6 mons that are pretty good by Evie

Goltres Anti-Cheese by Chromate

 

[HiZo]

Viability Rankings

S-Tier:

S Rank:
Chien-Pao
Gholdengo
Tornadus

S- Rank:
Landorus-Therian
Porygon2

A-Tier:

A+ Rank:
Iron Hands
Kingambit
Ogerpon-Wellspring

A Rank:
Amoonguss
Dragonite
Incineroar
Landorus
Ogerpon-Hearthflame
Sinistcha
Volcanion

A- Rank:
Archaludon
Entei
Farigiraf
Latias
Ninetales-Alola
Raging Bolt
Rillaboom
Ting-Lu
Ursaluna
Ursaluna-Bloodmoon
Zapdos-Galar

B-Tier:

B+ Rank:
Diancie
Glimmora
Indeedee-F
Iron Crown
Kyurem
Latios
Primarina
Torkoal
Volcarona

B Rank:
Excadrill
Gouging Fire
Grimmsnarl
Iron Bundle
Kommo-o
Lilligant-Hisui
Mew
Pelipper
Regidrago
Tyranitar
Walking Wake

B- Rank:
Araquanid
Hatterene
Heatran
Kingdra

C-Tier:

C+ Rank:
Basculegion-F
Hoopa-Unbound
Metagross
Milotic
Politoed
Whimsicott

C Rank:
Clefable
Clefairy
Comfey
Dondozo
Hydreigon
Moltres-Galar
Ogerpon
Scream Tail
Thundurus

C- Rank:
Arcanine-Hisui
Baxcalibur
Deoxys-Defense
Dragapult
Gallade
Garganacl
Hitmontop
Manaphy
Okidogi
Tinkaton

 

[HiZo]

Reserving for other resources

 

[HiZo]

SS Partners in Crime
​

Banlist:
Pokemon: Calyrex-Ice, Calyrex-Shadow, Dialga, Eternatus, Giratina, Giratina-Origin, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Jirachi, Kyogre, Kyurem-White, Lugia, Lunala, Magearna, Marshadow, Melmetal, Mewtwo, Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, Palkia, Rayquaza, Reshiram, Solgaleo, Urshifu-Base, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zacian, Zacian-Crowned, Zamazenta, Zamazenta-Crowned, Zekrom
Abilities: Contrary, Emergency Exit, Huge Power, Moody, Power Construct, Serene Grace, Shadow Tag, Wimp Out, Wonder Guard
Moves: Ally Switch, Bolt Beak, Fishious Rend, Shell Smash, Swagger
Clauses: Standard Doubles, Dynamax Clause

Council: yuki, Instruct, jasprose, zoe

Sample Teams

Offensive:
Sun by yuki
/
Psyspam by dnagerbdager

Necrozma Double Turn by yuki

Steely Spirit Fullroom by Instruct

Electric Spam by Instruct and Grandmas Cookin


Balance/Stall:
Demon Mew Hazardstack by yuki

Stockpile Toxapex by yuki

Semi-Stall by SMB

"Acid King" by Instruct

Viability Rankings

S-Tier:

S Rank:
Genesect
Incineroar
Kyurem-B

S- Rank:
Porygon2

A-Tier:

A+ Rank:
Amoonguss
Clefable
Heatran
Indeedee-F

A Rank:
Kartana
Landorus
Naganadel
Necrozma
Urshifu-R
Tapu Fini

A- Rank:
Cresselia
Dragapult
Zapdos-G

B-Tier:

B+ Rank:
Mew
Regieleki
Spectrier
Stakataka
Torkoal
Venusaur
Volcanion
Zygarde

B Rank:
Ferrothorn
Kingdra
Metagross
Togekiss
Tsareena

B- Rank:
Blastoise
Diancie
Excadrill
Indeedee
Landorus-T
Pelipper
Politoed
Sylveon
Tapu Koko
Tapu Lele
Whimsicott

C-Tier:

C+ Rank:
Barraskewda
Cinderace
Latias
Perrserker
Raichu-A
Rillaboom
Scrafty
Tyranitar

C Rank:
Araquanid
Celesteela
Chansey
Charizard
Clefairy
Gastrodon
Klinklang
Kommo-o
Latios
Regidrago
Ribombee
Salamence
Tornadus
Victini
Volcarona
Zeraora

C- Rank:
Articuno-G
Blacephalon
Chandelure
Crobat
Grimmsnarl
Hatterene
Nihilego
Ninetales-A
Porygon-Z
Terrakion
Weezing
Weezing-G

D-Tier:

D Rank:
Blaziken
Blissey
Braviary
Corviknight
Darmanitan-G
Garchomp
Gyarados
Lycanroc
Meowstic
Mienshao
Milotic
Moltres-G
Persian-A
Raichu
Registeel
Rhyperior
Suicune
Swoobat
Thundurus
Thundurus-T
Togedemaru
Toxapex
Toxtricity
Zapdos

 

[HiZo]

Something doesn't seem right, is this a bug?

Protosynthesis/Quark Drive boosts persist after losing the ability/boost
Yes, that is a bug, but don't worry, it is a visual bug. You still gain and lose those boosts as normal, but that green status tracker does not like to go away.

Fake Out didn't flinch my opponent
Your opponent may have a covert cloak, an ally with shield dust on the field, or maybe you currently have a Pokemon out with Sheer Force.

Doodle made Intimidate activate 3 times
This is one of those things that may or may not be a bug depending on how you look at it, but since the innate immediately takes into effect when a Pokemon changes abilities, then yes it is supposed to make things activate 3 times.

Costar activated more times than it should have
Another one of these it could be a bug but also it maybe isn't one, but the innate does go after the initial ability activiation so it should be more or less harmless.


More will be added later

 

[Eeveeto]

Well, if I couldn't nominate Grimmsnarl for S Rank last Gen, now he certainly is.

 

[Akumeoy]

Probably the biggest upside to running rain this gen is the potential to gimp Protosynthesis users, but it gets its own toys. Drednaw gets Shell Smash + Swift Swim this gen, a combination previously seen only on unmons like Omastar. Meanwhile, Iron Bundle has flawless coverage and is naturally strong and fast, only wishing it had more bulk.

Not only is Incineroar kill, but most good Intimidate and Fake Out users are either illegal this gen or stuck in Pokemon Home. Arcanine and Salamence are plausible users of the former, while the latter can use Iron Hands, Grimmsnarl, Weavile, or Pawmot. This should make teambuilding a lot easier, as you have fewer options if you need one of these and will never have to think about Inner Focus even once.

Speaking of Pawmot, Revival Blessing isn't implemented yet, but once it is, this could be problematic -- with a Leppa berry, it could net you two revives in a single turn. I don't really know how to evaluate this, but I think it's either going to be overbearing or worthless. Pawmot itself has just enough positive traits to not be a total waste of space either -- good offensive typing, relevant abilities, adequate statline.

I could be wrong, but Tailwind seems head and shoulders better than all the other speed control options. It has a ton of solid users, and there are plenty of dummy strong mons that you'd love to go first. Brambleghast's Wind Rider could be cool on these teams -- it's not a great mon by itself, but +1 Attack and immunity to Icy Wind, Heat Wave, Hurricane, and Blizzard all sound like great things to have while Tailwind is up.

Trick Room seems like a mixed bag. The selection of setters is significantly narrower, but there's still enough to put a team together; tThe only new setters that look promising are Spiritomb (good typing) and Rabsca (Revival Blessing). Such a team could use an offensive core of Iron Hands and Pincurchin (or Brute Bonnet + Torkoal), Dondozo, Kingambit, Anger Point + Frost Breath Crabominable, and so on. It probably won't be as strong as it was in prior gens, but it does seem like a lot of fun.

Other observations that don't really warrant a full paragraph:

• If the Ruin abilities stack, then Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Ting-Lu are all menaces and should be watched like hawks; if not, they're probably still fantastic.
• The two new busted Ghost-type moves, Rage Fist and Last Respects, are worth putting their owners (Annihilape and Houndstone) on a watchlist.
• Dondozo + Tatsugiri could be good because Tatsugiri lets Dondozo use Baton Pass, which is +2 in all stats to a teammate of your choice (I think?)
• Revavroom seems like a strong Shift Gear sweeper when you can give it Levitate and coverage, but the former only really comes from Hydreigon or a Rotom forme, and the latter has shit coverage.
• Cyclizard also gets Shift Gear, but more interestingly, Shed Tail + Regenerator could make it easy to put strong sweepers behind Substitutes multiple times per match.
• Look into a Komala ban -- you don't want this thing to get Prankster Sleep Talk.
• The Oricorio formes get Quiver Dance and Dancer, basically making them a one-mon combo. I remember Dancer being strong in Gen 7, and it'll be stronger here.
• Lurantis has some new toys this gen -- Make It Rain (-1 SpA), Spin Out (-2 Spe), Armor Cannon (-1 Def and SpD), Headlong Rush (-1 Def and SpD) -- but no V-Create user.

I'm not even going to get into Terastalization because it is extremely silly.

 

[HiZo]

Hello this tier finally got implemented in all of its questionable glory.

Some stuff off of what I've experimented w/ during development.


A very scary attacker that halves the opponent's defenses on switch-in if it has an ally. However as a cost it does lower it's own defense (when shared by an ally) and its ally's as well. This applies to all ruin abilities, so better be careful before abusing them, they do bite back.

Clear Amulet allows Pokemon who would normally get pwned by Intimidate a way to bypass the -2 attack on switch in without being forced to add something like Dragapult or Competitive. This is a net positive overall, as it does allow users to pick other pokemon and instead sacrifice their item slot so they don't get stonewalled by Arcanine or Salamence.


This Pokemon is top notch here. A solid defensive typing and decent stats. But what makes it, in my opinion, one of the best Pokemon in the tier currently is being able to share Mold Breaker and Gigaton Hammer. Both are amazing properties to pass on to partners in order to aid in their sweeping adventures. Gigaton is a great move already, but what if it was used by something with an actual attack stat? Kyurem-Black was an irreplaceable Pokemon in some teams during the last gen, so I expect to see Tinkaton pop up a lot here. As a bonus, it learns Fake Out and Knock Off, so it can be an exceptional piece of offensive utility on teams that need to break through immunity abilities or Unaware.

 

[yuki]

Hey everyone, just a quick heads up. Partners in Crime is now playable on Pokemon Showdown. Additionally, official Partners in Crime roomtours will happen in the Other Metas room every Sunday. See you there!

 

[HiZo]

If the Ruin abilities stack, then Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Ting-Lu are all menaces and should be watched like hawks; if not, they're probably still fantastic.

A very scary attacker that halves the opponent's defenses on switch-in if it has an ally. However as a cost it does lower it's own defense (when shared by an ally) and its ally's as well. This applies to all ruin abilities, so better be careful before abusing them, they do bite back.

Good news! Some research was made and identical ruin abilities do not stack. Instead of being on the verge of broken, they are now just good and can be managed well enough. Chi-Yu being able to halve SpD on Switch-in didn't make it very balanced anyways.

 

[yuki]

Hi everyone! As promised we've got a couple of announcements for you.

Firstly, signups for our first S/V tour are live! Signup here!

Secondly, despite not having a full set of votes from the council just yet, Flutter Mane and Revival Blessing have now reached a majority ban vote. Let's talk about those:

Flutter Mane

Flutter Mane is by far the most broken special attacker in the format. Not only does it have monstrous Speed and Special Attack, it is a natural fit on every Sun team from the early parts of the meta. Protosynthesis is an extremely easy ability to activate given it only requires sun from Torkoal's Drought, and Flutter Mane was easily the best Pokemon with this ability. The free boost both partners gained from this, and the pressure applied from Flutter Mane made sun exceptionally difficult to deal with, even for teams that were deliberately building for this. Banning Flutter Mane is the only real way for this meta to progress, as it will constantly be overbearing for as long as it is free.

Revival Blessing

Revival Blessing is just no fun. Thankfully, Instruct updated how PP works so that each Pokemon now tracks its individual usage of a move rather than having movesets refresh at the start of turns. Even with this change, having access to up to 6 Revival Blessings a game made progress exceptionally difficult if you did not have access to this tool yourself. This really detracted from the competitive nature of the format, having to potentially KO the same Pokemon up to 7 times (our record in testing was 5!).

Tagging Kris for implementation!

 

[drampa's grandpa]

How does Rage Fist work?
Does every Pokemon have a separate counter? Does that counter keep track when there is no Rage Fist user on the field? Is the number of hits linked to the move rather than the user, so the Rage Fist in a particular mons moveslot would increase if a hit is taken but if you then sent out another user of the move the buff would be different?

Can we even answer these questions objectively without making assumptions

 

[yuki]

How does Rage Fist work?
Does every Pokemon have a separate counter? Does that counter keep track when there is no Rage Fist user on the field? Is the number of hits linked to the move rather than the user, so the Rage Fist in a particular mons moveslot would increase if a hit is taken but if you then sent out another user of the move the buff would be different?

Can we even answer these questions objectively without making assumptions

From what I've been able to tell (instruct will correct me if I'm wrong), each Pokemon has its hits tracked and that's used for the Rage Fist power. So if you took 2 hits with a Pokemon before Rage Fist is even on the field, that Pokemon's Rage Fist should be 150 BP.

 

[yuki]

Resource Updates!

The preliminary viability list has been fully updated following the bans of Flutter Mane and Revival Blessing.

We have also completed a set compendium for everything up to the end of the "Viable Tier". We hope this will be helpful for you to start building teams. It's worth noting these sets are not absolutely set in stone, and they do not account for every single team that you might want to put these Pokemon on. They're just a set we've found works well on them from testing, and you're welcome to adapt them in any way you like to have them fit your teams. Good luck building!

Some preliminary sample teams will come soon, we're hoping before the turn of the New Year (and the start of our SV Kickoff tour). Keep an eye out for them soon!

 

[HiZo]

Credits yuki for the gen 8 version of this post
Sleep and You: Why sleep is balanced in Gen 9 Partners in Crime​

Why don't we have Sleep Clause?
In Doubles, sleep is generally a more present idea thanks to the viability of things like Spore Amoonguss and Sleep Powder Lilligant - amongst other things, with the main idea being to utilize the free turns to make significant progress and get things like setting up or taking out something threatening which would otherwise be difficult. While this tier has options to enable Prankster Spore and No Guard Hypnosis, it hasn't been unhealthy enough to warrant looking at. Sleep Clause is generally less present in doubles formats as there are a fair few ways around it, and with good building and good play you can minimize the effects it can have. In this post, I will mention good ways to tackle sleep abuse so you can learn how to handle it when playing this tier.

With Amoonguss being the premiere sleep abuser thanks to its 100% accurate spore, it is not without its own faults. Firstly, it is a powder move allowing any Pokemon with Safety Goggles to safely ignore its effects. On top of this, Grass Types are equally immune to powder moves, so Grass-type Pokemon and Pokemon terastallized into a Grass-type are equally safe. Being immune to powder moves also allows you to ignore rage powder, giving you a tool to deal with redirection as well.


Good as Gold blocks status moves, allowing Pokemon safely shrug off a Spore or Hypnosis coming its way. Gholdengo is also just naturally good, meaning you won't be hampered if you feel forced to add this Pokemon to your team.


Purifying Salt and Comatose allows you to be immune to all non-volatile status (e.g. burn, paralyze). While Komala is not as viable, Gargancl is great on bulkier teams looking for either a hazard setter or as a IronPress wincon.


Annihilape is a powerhouse naturally, but it's mentioned here for being a great sleep switch-in thanks to Vital Spirit, giving an immunity to sleep, as well as curing any pokemon sleeping when switching in. This Pokemon, is best on bulkier setup or balance teams as a strong sweeper thanks to Rage Fist's snowballing effect and powerhouse STABs.


Pincurchin gets an honorable mention for Electric Surge, making grounded Pokemon immune to sleep for 5 to 7 turns. This Pokemon is not viable currently, however it could see usage with Quark Drive spam or with Alolan Raichu if it ever sees a return to the metagame.

In Conclusion
We do recognize that there are genuine ways to make sleep very strong, but we also believe that there are sufficient ways to play around it and build against it that it's not remotely a problem. In all of our testing, nobody was suddenly caught out by any of the big sleep ideas in a significant way, and it's no more impactful than it is in other doubles formats. All of the big gimmicky ways that might seem really strong on paper just fall victim to the same counterplay as the more standard ways to put things to sleep. I hope this has addressed any of the major concerns.

 

[yuki]

Urgent Announcement!

Baton Pass is now banned from Partners in Crime!

We've experienced a huge problem with Tatsugiri + Dondozo since the ban of Flutter Mane. The fact that Commander itself isn't on the chopping block should show how awful this has been. We believe Commander to be manageable thanks to Intimidate's presence in the metagame forcing a lot of Dondozos to run Clear Amulet rather than any other items such as Leftovers, or Oblivious to be immune to Intimidate rather than Unaware making it weaker to Dancer teams, Quiver Dance Lilligant and Weakness Policy Armarouge. Equally, non-RestTalk sets struggle against burns from Arcanine and sleep from Amoonguss and Lilligant. On top of that, the stat boosts can be undone at any time thanks to Clear Smog from Torkoal, Armarouge or Amoonguss and Haze from Murkrow and Chien-Pao.

The biggest problem we have is with Baton Pass. Baton Pass currently allows Dondozo to switch out with its stat boosts and pass them to a teammate. Because a good amount of Dondozo are currently having to run Oblivious, there isn't a guarantee you can even use Taunt to prevent this. This is absurdly stupid, and, while this mechanic is still being looked into, we can't allow it to continue any longer.

Tagging Kris for implementation.

 

[ktty00000]

Tatsugiri + Dondozo after Baton Pass ban

I've just started taking a look at this format after seeing it picked as OM of the month for January. After taking a look through this forum and seeing the baton pass + Dondozo stuff banned already started thinking more in the direction of the vgc version of getting to a state of having a +2 Dondozo with the Tatsugiri fainting in its mouth.

The common version as far as I know is to lead Tatsugiri + Annihilape and using Endure + Final Gambit to set your Tatsugiri up to die to a Toxic Orb the next round. In vgc Annihilape is the obvious choice given how good it is if you ever don't commit to the strategy / don't even end up bringing Dondozo Tatsugiri

Seeing as here it's played as 6v6 rather than 4v4 doubles I think it's a bit silly to look at what is useful if you don't go for the strategy and instead finding the best version of it. So I started looking at suicide leads that might find more utility outside of just getting your Tatsugiri down to 1 hp remaining.

The options I found so far would be using a fast Explosion to leave some chip damage on your opponents mons the same turn, the two fastest that made sense to me are Electrode for being the fastest or Skuntank, the next fastest that covers a big flaw Electrode runs into:
A max attack, choice banded Electrode always brings your Tatsugiri down to 1 hp, but this stops being true if the opponent leads with an intimidate mon, leaving your Tatsugiri well above the range where it'd die to toxic next round. Instead it will die after 3 rounds of being poisoned if my math on it checks out.
Skuntank's Explosion is strong enough to fix this (and deal a lot more damage to the opponents pokemon). Another slight advantage for Skuntank is the possibility of flinching with your Explosion due to Stench. The trade-off being it's significantly slower and could get double targeted and knocked out before getting off it's Explosion.

The other way this strategy can fail is your Tatsugiri getting paralyzed or put to sleep during this turn, making it so it'll never get poisoned and just be stuck in Dondozo at 1 hp. Similarly getting burned or poisoned during this first turn will make Tatsugiri faint before your Dondozo can swallow it I believe.

The other option that could fix this would be leading Garganacl alongside your Tatsugiri. It's Explosion is even stronger than Skuntanks and sharing Purifying Salt to your Tatsugiri will make sure it won't get paralyzed or put to sleep (outside of status moves hitting it after your very slow Explosion went off). The obvious problem with this version is Garganacl being very slow and still needing attack investment to make the Explosion deal a high amount of damage. So there might be leads against it that can double target and knock out the Garganacl before it gets off the Explosion. At this point your Tatsugiri would be left to faint to the Toxic Orb alone (maybe helped by any damage the opposing mons did during that first turn).

Overall I think both the Skuntank and Garganacl versions seem good, to prevent either your opponent is gonna have to see coming what you're planning and have the resources to deal with it. They would for the Electrode variant too but I'd assume having any Intimidate mon and maybe even defaulting into a double Intimidate lead against physical leaning teams is going to be somewhat common.

The Garganacl can go as low as 120 Attack EVs (with adamant nature and a choice band) to still get Tatsugiri low enough for the first turn of poison to faint it through double Intimidate. This would let it invest more into bulk to make knocking it out before it blows up more difficult. Alternatively just running a full attack investment would leave you with more damage on the opponents mons after a successful Explosion.

Skuntank is forced to run at least 176 Attack EVs with band and adamant nature to achieve the same.

Edit:
Alternatively, a Garganacl with max attack investment and adamant nature can get away with running any item it wants and still getting you low enough at -2 attack. Can play around with investments in-between / other natures / other damage boosting items to reach the desired damage threshold.

All calcs done against a Tatsugiri with the lowest possible defense (0 IV, hindering nature)


Going from there I'd look at good pokemon to abuse next to the Dondozo. Costar Flamigo like in vgc comes to mind, alternatively anything that can share a good ability or move to Dondozo seem good. Power Trip or maybe even Stored Power or maybe an Instruct Oranguru would make sense to me.

A quick afterthought I forgot to include:
On suicide leads with the option there's the possibility to include Endure in their moveset over Tatsugiri to make space for one more move to pass to Dondozo in case you can't pull off the cheese.

This is my first time really looking at this format so if I made any mistakes / overlooked anything I'd love feedback.

 

[yuki]

Metagame Updates:
We won Leader's Choice of the Month! Enjoy the ladder for the next month, and don't forget you have around a day left to sign up for the SV Kickoff Tour!

Resource Updates:
Preliminary sample teams are now available! These are likely not covering everything the meta has to offer, but they provide a pretty good selection of team ideas for you to use on the ladder or in the tour. We'd love to see what everyone is building, so don't hesitate to share any cool ideas you have in this thread.

The set compendium has also undergone a few changes:
- Minor set fixes
- Baton Pass removed from Tatsugiri
- Cinderace added

 

[ClickForVictory]

Won the race to 1300! :P

My Team

Link: https://pokepast.es/5f69b25cdc17eb1b

Kilowattrel: fast Tailwind support that can switch in on Snarls and Icy Winds, preferably with Chi-Yu next to it so the Fish can respond with a gazillion damage spread move; EImpulse n FDance are pretty nice in a pinch and can help secure some endgames (barring crits)

Chi-Yu: it's no secret that this mon goes silly and Scarf lets it deal absurd damage T1 against anything that isn't Murkrow or Fire Immune; the moves are pretty self-explanatory, this mon's sole flaw is that 2 of its moves are not 100% and therefore feel like 70% (and I think I've clicked the other moves once each)

Torkoal: Magcargo's sunbathing cousin lets Chi-Yu do 50% extra damage simply by existing and leaves the sun up for awhile so that the Bonnet can give partners an additional stat boost (more on that later); Eruption is a move that exists and now Chi-Yu can click it too; this lil guy's unique Speed Tier also lets this team have the final word in Trick Room, which along with the Bonnet provides a solid extra mode

Brute Bonnet: Amogus, but with an even more suspicious ability - by leading Chi-Yu and Koal and then switching Koal for Bonnet, you can click a 150 BP Spread Move with the combined boosts of Sun, Ruinous Beads, Photosynthesis and even Tera should you consider pressing that button wise (this play also does not lock you into a move, leaving you 8 more buttons to click with Chi-Yu the next turn); one of these buttons is Spore, the benefits of which should be obvious when combined with this team's various speed control options; I have not seen Mental Herb activate once, so I imagine that Sitrus or LO would be more fruitful items in this slot; finally, I would like to highlight the fact that Photosynthesis remains active even after Bonnet has left the field, allowing its partner to keep the boost along with its 2 other abilities - crazy stuff indeed

Ceruledge: Fire Immunity is immensely valuable in a meta where Chi-Yu is able to do such things as described above; Shadow Sneak takes KOs that this team's spread attackers just missed - especially Sashed mons - and hits the 2 best Flash Fire mons for 2x damage; on top of all this, this Ghosty Boi is a solid Physical mon on a Specially oriented team and loves Sun and Speed Control, simple as; Clear Amulet might be worth trying in the item slot because Intimidate sure does activate twice every time

Farigiraf: our Palindromic Friend lives hits and sets up the Room; it also blocks priority; it can also click its partners Special moves and give Chi-Yu DGleam to hit Hydreigon with; Imprison is funni

Selected Replays

Took a few games for me to figure out the Sushi matchup, but this team does have the tools for it: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-1760223085-4t5z4kkbd1btwde4ol8mro0d0vytio6pw

Another Sushi matchup, this time with Murkrow knocking about: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-1760238591

An example of how much a single Heat Wave miss can matter (and also of how centralising the Fish is lol): https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-1760256198

I lost a lot to Dancer on my journey, so I was pretty proud of beating the archetype towards the end of my climb: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-1760292690

Final Notes

I've loved playing PiC Random Battles with friends on OM servers for a long time, so it feels amazing to finally get to ladder PiC and even moreso early on in such a whacky generation - compliments to the Leaders for choosing my favourite non-VGC format! I do feel that Chi-Yu's existence neccessitates a Fire Immunity on every serious team and that Sun in general has a tonne of amazing tools this gen. I was brainstorming what Lurantis-Armarouge could do with a friend (namely, become very buff with Armour Cannon and Overheat) but couldn't find room for that fun synergy on this team - maybe they could replace the Birb and Ghost? I'd also like to note how much I love Tera with this format; with so many powerful toys flying around, getting a handy type advantage in a pinch can really save some matchups (although I'm of the general opinion that Open Team Sheets would make these strategies more competitive, but that's a far wider discussion). The mechanic feels especially fitting in a format where the board is in a constant state of motion, providing another moving part to this intricate and layered format.

 

[Clefable]

Teach Me How to Wuggy

Here's a fun strategy I've been using involving Wugtrio's Rattled ability to set up explosively with Beat Up!

(<-- click for paste)

Wugtrio doesn't get Beat Up, but Ape and Farigiraf do. When a Rattled mon is hit by a Dark, Ghost, or Bug type attack, it gets +1 Speed. Wugtrio's Beat Up onto its partner boosts it to +6 while also adding to Rage Fist or activating Weakness Policy. Speed is updated dynamically, so after Wugtrio attacks, the partner Pokemon is ready to attack immediately. Activating Beat Up on Gholdengo requires switching out into it, though often Foul Play to activate Weakness Policy and +1 Speed is enough for a sweep.

There are two things I like about this cheese strategy over other cheese strategies. The first is how much utility you get from your core mons' abilities. Inner Focus, Good as Gold, and Armor Tail are all really great tools to help ensure Wugtrio gets off a Beat Up without getting Fake Outed or Prankster Spored. The second is how versatile your sweepers are, hitting hard on both the physical and special side with boosted moves that still thwack Unaware mons.

Overall I think it's a pretty unique strategy that is still very fun and competitive. I encourage you all to try it out!

(Everybody wuggy, every everybody wuggy...)

 

[HiZo]

I really wanna gush about this item because it saved me so many times.

The Ability Shield!

While on the surface it may seem really...not great because of its description. Hidden inside has a very useful mechanic in suppressing Mold Breaker. If a certain defensive ability is integral to this team's success, it's a good idea to consider it so Tinkaton doesn't switch in and ruin your day.

 

[Mitchellenwebb]

Is Dancer working as intended here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-1762550119-sdt91vwj4rrkxrctea5d2h4dd0kbcbvpw

I Skill Swap-ed Dancer onto my Stantler. When the enemy Volcarona used QD, my Annihilape used QD because of Dancer but it failed for my Stantler.

 

[HiZo]

Is Dancer working as intended here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9partnersincrime-1762550119-sdt91vwj4rrkxrctea5d2h4dd0kbcbvpw

I Skill Swap-ed Dancer onto my Stantler. When the enemy Volcarona used QD, my Annihilape used QD because of Dancer but it failed for my Stantler.

It's working as intended, you're choice locked into skill swap and couldn't use Quiver Dance because of it.

 

[Mitchellenwebb]

It's working as intended, you're choice locked into skill swap and couldn't use Quiver Dance because of it.

Aah, stupid me forgot about Choice Scarf. Thanks!