I see you're also not one to miss out on an opportunity to stoke controversy. Even in the current metagame I still like Rhydon a lot.I think we can expect Rhydon to mount a bit of a comeback - it's never gonna be the same level as Zapdos or maybe even Cloyster but it's a fairly reliable pick.
I'm a huge Gengar fan generally, and I agree with all of this. And there will always be Body Slams in every game, so turning a 30% chance of getting of getting paralysed into like a 15% chance of getting paralysed because there is a 50/50 chance your opponent will quake is always amazing. It's also very good at forcing a sleep past a sleeping mon, since a lot of stuff that often is used to block sleep doesnt like to face it (starmie obv and Chan doesnt want to get exploded on), AND it gets a lot of opportunities to come in to attempt the sleep, due to its normal immunity.I also think Gengar is here to stay though, smashes the Jynx matchup and does OK with a second sleeper in the back in most other matchups, punishes everyone who drops EQ on Laxes and Bulls, can also just explode if it doesn't have anything else to do in the match up which means it's never fully deadweight.
Interesting that you say that TWave Counter Chans isn't common, my experience (mostly just screwing around on ladder) has been that it's more common than sets that replace TWave w Counter. I certainly think that Chansey can easily get away with the mono-coverage that resulsts from TW+Counter. If anything Counter is just a gimmick tho"Hi Emma, im a rby enthusiastic and I'll like to know if you would do in the rby spl discussion thread what nalorium did in BW, give some hl sets and hl teams that would be so cool"
The people asked, and I am here to deliver
Sets and Team Highlights - WEEK 1There were some other cool sets (Kiichikos's Lead Jolteon and SadisticNarwhal's Reflect / Amnesia / Ice Beam / Rest Snorlax) but unfortunately they didn't do much in their games :( Finding unique sets to highlight in RBY is a little hard, so I tried to go for less common sets that found success this week.
thank you to Kiichikos and Melanie uwu for your help uwu
Thunder Wave Counter Chansey
Chansey
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
Tiba vs. MetalGro$$ - Game 3 - Turn 39
Thunder Wave + Counter Chansey isn't "standard" for RBY, so when Chansey revealed the former on Turn 38, the chances of it being the latter went down quite a bit as it was most likely not Triple OHKO. This led to MetalGro$$ thinking he was free to click Body Slam, which backfired horribly when Tiba responded with Counter to essentially seal the game away.
☆Tiba: byebue
Fire Blast Tauros
Tauros (M)
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
- Blizzard
- Fire Blast
Heroic Troller vs. Nails - Game 1 - Turn 90
SMB vs. Kiichikos - Game 1 - Turn 38
As Melanie uwu pointed out, Fire Blast was the most common fourth move on Tauros this week. Gengar and Cloyster were only used 18% and 14% respectively in RBY Circuit Playoffs and a minuscule 9% and 11% last SPL so Fire Blast was probably chosen over Earthquake and Thunderbolt to fish for a burn in a Tauros War happened. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Earthquake surges in usage after Gengar's whopping 29% usage and 71% win rate this week. Funnily enough, Fire Blast burned both times it was used so maybe Heroic Troller and SMB will stick with it!
H I G H L I G H T T E A M
Serpi vs. SadisticNarwhal - Game 2
Gengar, Articuno, and Zapdos is quite the exciting way to fill out a team after the big three. Gengar lead was quite popular and very successful this week due to the lack of Earthquake Tauros and Rhydon as well as its ability to get off a Hypnosis immediately. Both Zapdos and Articuno can switch into Earthquakes that Gengar hates, while the latter can OHKO Rhydon with Blizzard for the former two. Gengar also has the added benefit of being able to boom on Chansey after getting sleep off, which helps both birds, but especially Articuno since it's hard walled by Chansey. Hipmonlee explains the Gengar + Zapdos core in more details here. Serpi also used Sing Chansey as a backup Sleeper incase they had to sack Gengar to opposing Sleep.
Generally Counter+TW is rare because of a relatively recent spike in Sing Chansey usage, which leaves no space for both Counter and TW at once. To run Counter+TW you need to have other reliable sleepers and have a need for counter chansey in your build which just isn't very common; there's nothing inherently wrong with the combination, it's a matter of circumstanceInteresting that you say that TWave Counter Chans isn't common, my experience (mostly just screwing around on ladder) has been that it's more common than sets that replace TWave w Counter. I certainly think that Chansey can easily get away with the mono-coverage that resulsts from TW+Counter. If anything Counter is just a gimmick tho
Hi I made that team. The idea against Rhydon teams is that between sleep moves, Gengar and Snorlax's Explosions, and maybe even Chansey's Ice Beam if at all feasible, you will invalidate the special walls on the Rhydon team leaving only something like Rhydon+Tauros+Snorlax for the endgame, which Articuno will generally demolish with bare minimum assistance (something to switch to to scout Snorlax's potential self-destruct and that's about it). Due to Cuno's ability to endgame happily against Tauros you don't mind using your own Tauros as an emergency Rhydon switch-in if the situation calls, it's really not so bad overall. Rhydon also really doesn't come in on a lot of the team - it comes in on Gengar and Zapdos which generally don't need to be on the field much against a Rhydon teamAlso how does that highlight team fare against Don? Seems like it would a be a huge menace, since it can come in on a lot of the team and nothing really wants to switch into it, unless articuno is sure that there won't be a rock slide
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Snorlax | 26 | 100.00% | 50.00% |
| 1 | Chansey | 26 | 100.00% | 50.00% |
| 1 | Tauros | 26 | 100.00% | 50.00% |
| 4 | Starmie | 21 | 80.77% | 47.62% |
| 5 | Rhydon | 10 | 38.46% | 60.00% |
| 5 | Alakazam | 10 | 38.46% | 50.00% |
| 5 | Jynx | 10 | 38.46% | 40.00% |
| 8 | Exeggutor | 9 | 34.62% | 77.78% |
| 9 | Jolteon | 6 | 23.08% | 16.67% |
| 10 | Cloyster | 4 | 15.38% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Lapras | 4 | 15.38% | 25.00% |
| 12 | Slowbro | 2 | 7.69% | 100.00% |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Snorlax | 50 | 100.00% | 50.00% |
| 1 | Tauros | 50 | 100.00% | 50.00% |
| 3 | Chansey | 49 | 98.00% | 51.02% |
| 4 | Starmie | 39 | 78.00% | 46.15% |
| 5 | Alakazam | 24 | 48.00% | 45.83% |
| 6 | Exeggutor | 22 | 44.00% | 63.64% |
| 7 | Jynx | 15 | 30.00% | 40.00% |
| 8 | Rhydon | 12 | 24.00% | 58.33% |
| 9 | Jolteon | 9 | 18.00% | 22.22% |
| 10 | Gengar | 7 | 14.00% | 71.43% |
| 10 | Cloyster | 7 | 14.00% | 57.14% |
| 12 | Zapdos | 5 | 10.00% | 60.00% |
| 13 | Lapras | 4 | 8.00% | 25.00% |
| 14 | Slowbro | 2 | 4.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Articuno | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Victreebel | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |
| 15 | Dragonite | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |