hi i've been experimenting with a lot of different types of offense builds and found that the one consistent threat that there's no realistic workaround to is dragapult
specs pult has been a known offense destroyer throughout the whole gen, but i feel like right now, with the majority of people spamming the bo/offense cores that lack consistent answers, it's turned into a real pain to deal with. nothing else in the tier is as uniquely restrictive on these offensive builds as specs pult. the fact that there are only 4 ghost resists in the tier and 3 of them are dogshit really sucks
here are some of the best options, from my experience, for
offense to hold it off. none are remotely foolproof, so i wanted to preface that, to be safest, you'll almost always see these guys paired with something that can scout pult's moves: spdef lando, heatran (which can beat pult on its own if heavy slam), torn-t, and tapu fini are some of the best options available before switching into one of the below.

- obviously most people's first choice when looking for a ghost resist. in addition to adding onto its teammates' pressure on steels/fairies, its surprising special bulk lets it scrape a 3hko from shadow ball and threaten to OHKO with knock or pick it off if weakened with ice shard. easily the most splashable ghost resist in the tier, an often overlooked factor that has led to its omnipresence just as much as its offensive use

- gmolt is a newer trendy gift to offense, benefitting from the lower koko usage while acting as a very strong ghost resist and scary sweeper in its own right. the natural bulk gives bulkier spreads rolls to even eat two dracos in a pinch - you'll often see it on offenses or HOs without the obligatory spdef lando or heatran to scout pult's move. definitely the second best dark in the tier, and a valuable defensive presence on any ho/offense when facing the threatening ghosts/grasses that dominate otherwise


- although it's not really an offense mon, i wanted to mention it alongside the above two because it's probably the most consistent pult answer here. its main weakness is that it usually requires strong hazard control support to not get 2hkod by draco, making it a mediocre option on typical offensive structures that lack the room for extensive support. it shines mainly on slightly fatter bo structures with teammates like lando/fini that can keep the rocks off for it to adequately wall special attackers, but can work on specific nicher offensive structures like
this

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- other misc stuff that can do the same job on offense (but worse)
if pult is such a strong offensive threat, with its reliable stab, amazing coverage, and speed tier, why hasn't it become a major problem yet?
imo there are a few key weaknesses to using dragapult that sometimes turn people off of using it. one of its biggest issues is how easily it can be chipped down. it's not strong enough to burst past its checks reliably, and although it can enter often, taking rocks (+ spikes on the omnipresent ferro teams) makes it incredibly easy to wear down if the opponent can pivot around it long enough. this isn't helped at all by the rise of scarfers that weren't used several months ago, like lele, kart, and blacephalon.
because of this, it doesn't fit well on a lot of the dominating archetypes in this meta. it doesn't abuse ferrothorn's spikes as much as other abusers (in fact, it often achieves nothing in mirror matchups vs spikes teams where it has extremely limited opportunities to switch in), specs doesn't benefit from magnezone on offense, it doesn't have the mileage to survive a longer game on fatter balances lacking momentum, and it faces competition from its busted dd set/other scarfers or speed control options on ho. from my experience, i've found that specs pult holds a cozy niche on ferro-less offense/bo, where it can benefit from pivot spam alongside a stronger special breaker like
tapu lele,
kyurem, or
blacephalon. on these teams, it serves a multifaceted offensive and utility role by helping add to the special offense, pivoting with uturn, and giving speed control to the slower breaker it works with.
the last thing is that it's unreliable vs fat, probably the weakest point here because fat is awful... a post for another day. the thing that pult hates most is thudding into a bliss/pex/gastrodon, giving the opponent a free turn, and being chipped down in the process. shadow ball spdef drops aren't nearly reliable enough to make up for this flaw.
while i think pult is extremely obnoxious to face for the majority of the metagame, these flaws hold it back from being truly broken in my eyes... but they don't change the fact that facing it w offense is fucking dumb