ayte, so my last stocks in the ru open have passed (credits to all the folks that'd trust me to build some stuff for them, flash in the pan that i am), so i figure there's little harm in sharing a few sets that i pushed for it.
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 36 SpA /224 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Toxic
bell diancie isn't necessarily bad, but i would consider this particular variant to be of equal significance in this particular metagame. the most significant implication here is, of course, vs.braviary, as you're ensuring moonblast breaks the sub (at least, it does in the case of the 'standard' spread) to favor your ability to cripple via toxic. however, i think there's a lot diancie gains in terms of 'activity' as a defensive facet by splurging for toxic; plenty of bulky type-neutrals with recovery (slowking, jellicent, alomomola, torterra, etc.) capitalize on diancie in such a way that it can find itself becoming more a liability than anything, and with this you can even set up dudes like shuca drap, gallade, etc.
Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Knock Off
- High Jump Kick
this really is simplicity itself, but there's so much value in it. basically, what i would consider to be a 'good' sweeper in this metagame is a pokemon that fills most, if not all, of the following parameters:
- status-resistant
- capable of beating or realistically outlasting a steel / water / fight resist defensive core (ie.regimola balances)
- faster than / resilient to dugtrio and jolly flygon
- solid on handle on conventional pursuit users
the following holds very trve of dudes like virizion (checks all the boxes sans the dugtrio bit), and is really something you can apply wherever. this particular scrafty set covers pretty much all the bases here, and i think the performance of this variation in the open reflects that. i didn't like shed skin scrafty until recently, but that was due to the inconsistency with which it performed (as previous executions of that nature saw it as more a 33% bailout opp than anything), something the combination of leftovers and rest buffers. this variation pulls a lot from scrafty's natural bulk, allowing it to function as a mid-game scald absorber and knock platform, while keeping up the ability to endgame pretty handily.
Barbaracle @ White Herb / Lum Berry
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Substitute / Cross Chop
- Razor Shell
- Stone Edge
falls in similarly to the bit about scrafty, i was initially drawn to barb when i noted that +2 razor shell does 100% min to max hp flygon. i would say that barbaracle's combination of natural bulk (which allows it to avoid having its sub broken by mola's attacks w/o investment, soft-check fliers for balance, usually boost well enough into neutral hits, etc.), speed to put it both over most scarfers after a boost and most neutral dudes beforehand, and decent two-move coverage gives it a niche here, tho omastar does fit a similar mold. sub + white herb is i think a little nicer for buffering it v.offense better while retaining decent status-resilience, but lum does the same while allowing for the use of chop to directly ohko registeel and virizion after the boost.
Absol @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Megahorn / Play Rough
- Sucker Punch / Play Rough
absol in general is underrated i would say (sd lum is fantastic currently), but this is actually quite cool. in terms of pursuit users, this one probably has the highest base-line in terms of strength and speed, being slightly stronger than lo sneasel and and
way stronger than drapion. clearly both have significant niches that prevent absol from being distinctly superior, but on a more spike-centric team for instance (where you'd likely already have a tspike absorber, not necessarily want to splurge for hazard removal, and can gain more value from a stronger, non-boosting cleaner) this set can wring a lot of value out. i liked megahorn both for circumventing colbur psychics and still keeping a decent tool for rk'ing sd drap and virizion (within reason, ofc), and having the back-up priority can find itself getting way more value than you'd give credit initially, but the option to consistently target fighters is there, especially if the scrafty set start popping up more frequently.