it was banned because of Swift Swim.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
The leader of this section is Isaiah.
Metagame SV Ubers UU Metagame Discussion (Arceus-Dragon Is Banned)
- Thread starter KineSquared
- Start date
that's what i thought. the extra spdef and stab boost can't really compare to being able to do regular-pokemon stuff like eat snacks or wear shoes (which origin form can't do because it's got fucked-up legs and something lodged in its throat)
Some more laddering thoughts:
- I tried messing around with sand, and it's definitely workable. Between Houndstone and Scarf Sand Force Lando, you have two options to consistently outspeed the entire unboosted meta (and the best weatherless scarfer in Chi-Yu); this is actually pretty tricky since for most teams, given outspeeding Zacian is a chore that requires either a scarfer or a booster mon, very few of which have the power to dent their switch-ins. I've been using Ttar on my sand because having a strong Knock is really helpful, but I'm curious about whether Hippo's longevity works better, since the only thing you really need out of that slot is rocks. The big issue with sand is the longevity; hazard removal's not really worth using in this meta unless you have a Cyclizar, and between your Sand sweepers, the required Arceus on every team (which can't run boots), and the required Palafin check (of which Palkia-O probably does the most for the structure, but it also can't run boots), you're going to be whittled down hard by weather and hazards. It feels pretty high-variance and maybe it's just my general distaste for structures like that, but I'm curious about experimentation since it definitely has some good stuff.
- I think there was some conversation about Palafin earlier, and honestly, I think it's a little overrated. The thing is that in this tier, you're generally less likely to just get 6-0'd because the biggest threats can't as quickly get to a point where they both outspeed and OHKO everything (the stuff that can do that against Ubers bulk are in Ubers), but you still have a ton of raw instant power, much more than in OU. Yes, Palafin can be really scary mid-late game if you deal with the water resists, but it's just so exploitable early game since it needs time to transform, and it's so easy to just counter-lead with a breaker and get a free hit away.
- That's one of the reasons I'm skeptical of rain, actually; the whole reason you run it is so that you can Tera Water and click banded Jet Punch late game, but both Palafin-Zero and Pelipper just invite in a breaker to punch straight through you. I honestly like Urshifu-Rapid more if you're looking for an early-mid game breaker rather than an endgame cleaner; CC makes it much better against opposing water-types, Surging Strikes can help against Cosmic Power sweepers, and most of all you can just lead with it and make immediate progress.
- Zama-C's the truth. You know how I said that there isn't that much stuff that just instantly gets the speed-power combo to sweep your whole team? Zama loves that the tier revolves around offensive threats that don't outspeed it and can't handle a +3 Body Press. Hates Poisonceus/Psyceus, yeah, and gets flame body fished, but it can put in so much work against so many structures because the gargantuan bulk lets it muscle through so much. Loves its speed tier, loves that it can ID on even stuff like Mag or Palkia-O because it outspeeds and punches through them with lategame wear-and-tear.
- I tried messing around with sand, and it's definitely workable. Between Houndstone and Scarf Sand Force Lando, you have two options to consistently outspeed the entire unboosted meta (and the best weatherless scarfer in Chi-Yu); this is actually pretty tricky since for most teams, given outspeeding Zacian is a chore that requires either a scarfer or a booster mon, very few of which have the power to dent their switch-ins. I've been using Ttar on my sand because having a strong Knock is really helpful, but I'm curious about whether Hippo's longevity works better, since the only thing you really need out of that slot is rocks. The big issue with sand is the longevity; hazard removal's not really worth using in this meta unless you have a Cyclizar, and between your Sand sweepers, the required Arceus on every team (which can't run boots), and the required Palafin check (of which Palkia-O probably does the most for the structure, but it also can't run boots), you're going to be whittled down hard by weather and hazards. It feels pretty high-variance and maybe it's just my general distaste for structures like that, but I'm curious about experimentation since it definitely has some good stuff.
- I think there was some conversation about Palafin earlier, and honestly, I think it's a little overrated. The thing is that in this tier, you're generally less likely to just get 6-0'd because the biggest threats can't as quickly get to a point where they both outspeed and OHKO everything (the stuff that can do that against Ubers bulk are in Ubers), but you still have a ton of raw instant power, much more than in OU. Yes, Palafin can be really scary mid-late game if you deal with the water resists, but it's just so exploitable early game since it needs time to transform, and it's so easy to just counter-lead with a breaker and get a free hit away.
- That's one of the reasons I'm skeptical of rain, actually; the whole reason you run it is so that you can Tera Water and click banded Jet Punch late game, but both Palafin-Zero and Pelipper just invite in a breaker to punch straight through you. I honestly like Urshifu-Rapid more if you're looking for an early-mid game breaker rather than an endgame cleaner; CC makes it much better against opposing water-types, Surging Strikes can help against Cosmic Power sweepers, and most of all you can just lead with it and make immediate progress.
- Zama-C's the truth. You know how I said that there isn't that much stuff that just instantly gets the speed-power combo to sweep your whole team? Zama loves that the tier revolves around offensive threats that don't outspeed it and can't handle a +3 Body Press. Hates Poisonceus/Psyceus, yeah, and gets flame body fished, but it can put in so much work against so many structures because the gargantuan bulk lets it muscle through so much. Loves its speed tier, loves that it can ID on even stuff like Mag or Palkia-O because it outspeeds and punches through them with lategame wear-and-tear.
Zacian's presence definitely hurts Single Shifu's splashability, but it is still a fearsome breaker with CB/SD and potential late-game wincon with SD. It's not easy to slap on teams because of its meh matchups into the top tiers, but it can be successfully built around.
Single Strike is allowed int the tier, it's just not very good. Zacian and Magearna completely walling it doesn't help, and more importantly, it dies to powerful neutral hits from things like Arceus, Palkia-O, Chi-Yu, etc. It's also slow, which means it needs to sacrifice power if it wants to go with a Scarf ... and yet even then, common scarfers like Chi-Yu outspeed it anyway (Chi-Yu also notably resists Sucker Punch). It's definitely workable, and people have used it successfully, but overall in the tier there are more reliable options for powerful physical breakers.
Chi-yu scarfed runs modest, meaning it gets outsped by single-strike running max speed with jolly.
But yeah, single-strike is the mid king of mid land, because it matches terribly into the meta, and lacks power without sd/choice band.
There have been and probably will be with the dlcs coming. I believe the ban list is 4 arc forms, basculegion (female), and skymin alongside the usage bans
eh.. Idk why Iron Valiant should compete with these fairies when it can just partner with them especially Zacian. Sets Like SD CM and especially destiny bond sets are able to chip or downright trade with common Zacian checks like poisonceus and Magearna. Its so versataile the opponent cant expect what it does. Def a mon with a lot of potential thats going under the radar. Fairy spam is probably a very Underexplored archetype at the moment.
i expect so, but not many. hypothetically, if nothing were to enter or exit this meta for the next, i dunno, three months, i think we would see bans on zacian and possibly sneasler but nothing else springs to mind. but since we're on the cusp of a new month when new stuff might rise out of or drop into the tier, and we get dlc2 two weeks after that, i think speculating on bans is kind of pointless right now
It's not easy to commit tera ground on Zacian. I run it, and try to get by with a power herb dig to KO Poison Arceus but stopped running Tera Blast bc I really can't confidently predict the poison switch in to KO arceus with tera blast ground when there are so many pokemon in the tier that handle ground zacian so well. Jet Punch is the big one. I really would usually find myself regreting tera ground Zacian, as theres always something that can still stop a full sweep even if I break PoisonArceus or Magearna. Poison Arceus is a reliable enough check for Zacian I don't expect to see it banned in a tier that is embracing broken checks broken. I've swept with fire arceus much more than I have with Zacian- though maybe Jolly Power Herb Swords Dance Dig isn't the most optimal Zacian- and my team isn't built to support it. It just does its thing when it can.
Choice Scarf Tera Dark Goth is such a good pokemon too. It's rarely useless- even if I'm just taking out a spiker. Best case- their espartha/ other stored power mon is done for the game. I'm not suggesting it's more viable than C, but there are for sure pokemon ranked above that I have a hard time seeing a place for in the tier..
Choice Scarf Tera Dark Goth is such a good pokemon too. It's rarely useless- even if I'm just taking out a spiker. Best case- their espartha/ other stored power mon is done for the game. I'm not suggesting it's more viable than C, but there are for sure pokemon ranked above that I have a hard time seeing a place for in the tier..
I take back my earlier posts. Zacian has to go.
All it takes is a single switch in and it can beat pretty much any team with the right moveset and with its variety it's hard to counter since ya can run multiple checks on a team then lose to any of its many sets with its moves of any of.
Swords dance; play rough, iron head, close combat, Psychic fangs, trailblaze and band, LO, Boots or so on.
All it takes is a single switch in and it can beat pretty much any team with the right moveset and with its variety it's hard to counter since ya can run multiple checks on a team then lose to any of its many sets with its moves of any of.
Swords dance; play rough, iron head, close combat, Psychic fangs, trailblaze and band, LO, Boots or so on.
i'm so desperate for a zacian answer that i found myself running physdef roseli berry spiritomb just to see if it works (it does not, although spiritomb does hard-wall stored power arceus sets and soft-wall sneasler so i might have uncovered some secret heat here)
I’m gonna put you on the best 2 zacian checks ever
Scizor and chople heatran.
Choptran is more consistent while scizor is only if they can’t Tera. You can burn it with heatran and it also can burn other threats like sneasler.
Scizor is also priority also has the benefit of being the best sneasler check (after it ccs) and the best espathra check.
I'm so used to the OU discussion thread I thought someone was whinging about Zamazenta again at first and I was so confused...
But yeah, I'm also of the opinion that Zacian is a lot right now. That it demands every team bring at least one but probably two checks for it you're obligated to keep healthy for its first switch-in is really constricting. Dragon immunity in a tier where half of everything has Draco Meteor and 150 base Sp.A makes that switch so easy too. The risk/reward is so skewed with this thing.
I'mma also throw out there, that Zacian (non crowned form) was was banned from Ubers last gen for a reason and the power level here is far less than last gen Ubers.
almost every zacian i meet nowadays is running tera ground tera blast, so i don't think chople heatran is going to be the silver bullet here. both of these only work if the zacian user has tera'd on something else, which you should never do if you're carrying tera blast zacian (unless you have an immediate wincon by using tera on something else). even baiting tera on something else is a challenge—zacian is such a valuable mon that it's almost always better to sacrifice other mons, momentum, or favorable positions so you can save your tera for zacian. it's having noticeable effects on gameplay and building that i don't consider healthy or good, which is why i would support a suspect or even a quickban despite dlc being so close. even though the rumors seem to point to a whole bunch of returning legendaries, we still have to actually wait for usage statistics to come in to introduce anything new to the tier, so the meta won't actually gain any new and relevant anti-zacian tools until next year
Last edited:
Zacian needs to go ASAP. Preferably, council holds a slate before the start of Kick Off, so we get the most metagame development in the early weeks which are "less" competitive. Banning it midway through would be awkward and harder to pull off in my eyes.
Zacian is the single most warping threat in this metagame. Its capability of breaking through cores is unmatched, due to its insane speed, attack and coverage. It is the perfect definition of an oppressing pokemon right now. You have to account for it on every single team with multiple checks and (besides mediocre stall), it fits on all teams naturally, since there is little to be lost when you throw on the strongest pokemon in the tier (Zacian is literally a S tier, while I find Magearna to be rather disappointing as the sole S rank, not to say it is bad though). There is no pokemon it can't tech for with standard to uncommon coverage, or using the good old Tera Blast. Tera in general is a huge can of worms, only further increasing Zacians breaking power by either using tera offensively - getting a uniquely typed Tera Blast, or increasing the damage of existing coverage - or defensively. It can certainly become a guessing game and lately I have switched from SD Zacian to just raw 4 attacks and just ran hazard stack alongside it (huge especially into Arceus). You trade the ability to SD on switches, so it makes it a bit tricky to pick the right move on switches, but the benefit is getting an extra slot for coverage, basically only leaving you subsceptible to very fringe checks like Moltres or Ceruledge (might not be as fringe, but definitely uncommon).
Long story short, Zacian picks and chooses what it is checked by, while relying on its teammates to handle whatever is left- which isn't much.
Garganacl @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Dragon / Water / Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Iron Defense
- Body Press / Protect / Stealth Rock
I want to also shine some light on this guy. Garganacl is an excellent defensive choice at the moment. Salt Cure is virtually free since nothing runs Covert Cloak, and the pokemon that can immediately threaten it (Dialga, Magearna, Water types) all take huge chunks on the switchin due to Salt Cure, and then don't even guarantee a hit on Garganacl, as it can just switch out itself (or Protect if you run it). It is particularly strong on entry-hazard focused teams, where the chip damage is immense. Iron Defense allows it to counteract versus common physical sweeper like Fireceus, Roaring Moon and Baxcalibur. I prefer Body Press last, because without it you're immediately on the back foot versus one of the most common playstyles in Shed Tail HO - Obviously (tera) Ghost still gives you those troubles, but we like our Infiltrator Dragapult. Protect is very nice for racking up chip damage from Salt Cure even more, and has notable synergy with Leftovers (or Grassy Terrain). Stealth Rock can also be used on Garganacl if you need to, and while it frees up the moveset of a partner (notably Dialga or Arceus), usually I tend to pick this option the least when building. Between HDB and Leftovers is personal preferance, though I have to admit, I hate spending resources on hazard removal atm, so I personally prefer HDB with a Rillaboom in the back. As for the tera type, this really depends on your team and preferences. I personally like tera Dragon as a catch all to Fire Grass and Water, but tera Water is also very strong, with Grass being the least I'd pick, while still being noticeable.
Overall I think Garganacl is very underexplored, -used and -rated at the moment, and I could see a potential surge in its usage with the right success in Kick Off.
i think where garganacl really shines is on sand teams—it gets to benefit from the spdef boost and the sand adds a little extra turnly damage alongside salt cure, which adds up way more quickly than you think it does. you can see this on njnp's sand balance team, which i've used to moderate success
Zacian needs to go ASAP. Preferably, council holds a slate before the start of Kick Off, so we get the most metagame development in the early weeks which are "less" competitive. Banning it midway through would be awkward and harder to pull off in my eyes.
Zacian is the single most warping threat in this metagame. Its capability of breaking through cores is unmatched, due to its insane speed, attack and coverage. It is the perfect definition of an oppressing pokemon right now. You have to account for it on every single team with multiple checks and (besides mediocre stall), it fits on all teams naturally, since there is little to be lost when you throw on the strongest pokemon in the tier (Zacian is literally a S tier, while I find Magearna to be rather disappointing as the sole S rank, not to say it is bad though). There is no pokemon it can't tech for with standard to uncommon coverage, or using the good old Tera Blast. Tera in general is a huge can of worms, only further increasing Zacians breaking power by either using tera offensively - getting a uniquely typed Tera Blast, or increasing the damage of existing coverage - or defensively. It can certainly become a guessing game and lately I have switched from SD Zacian to just raw 4 attacks and just ran hazard stack alongside it (huge especially into Arceus). You trade the ability to SD on switches, so it makes it a bit tricky to pick the right move on switches, but the benefit is getting an extra slot for coverage, basically only leaving you subsceptible to very fringe checks like Moltres or Ceruledge (might not be as fringe, but definitely uncommon).
Long story short, Zacian picks and chooses what it is checked by, while relying on its teammates to handle whatever is left- which isn't much.
Garganacl @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Dragon / Water / Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Iron Defense
- Body Press / Protect / Stealth Rock
I want to also shine some light on this guy. Garganacl is an excellent defensive choice at the moment. Salt Cure is virtually free since nothing runs Covert Cloak, and the pokemon that can immediately threaten it (Dialga, Magearna, Water types) all take huge chunks on the switchin due to Salt Cure, and then don't even guarantee a hit on Garganacl, as it can just switch out itself (or Protect if you run it). It is particularly strong on entry-hazard focused teams, where the chip damage is immense. Iron Defense allows it to counteract versus common physical sweeper like Fireceus, Roaring Moon and Baxcalibur. I prefer Body Press last, because without it you're immediately on the back foot versus one of the most common playstyles in Shed Tail HO - Obviously (tera) Ghost still gives you those troubles, but we like our Infiltrator Dragapult. Protect is very nice for racking up chip damage from Salt Cure even more, and has notable synergy with Leftovers (or Grassy Terrain). Stealth Rock can also be used on Garganacl if you need to, and while it frees up the moveset of a partner (notably Dialga or Arceus), usually I tend to pick this option the least when building. Between HDB and Leftovers is personal preferance, though I have to admit, I hate spending resources on hazard removal atm, so I personally prefer HDB with a Rillaboom in the back. As for the tera type, this really depends on your team and preferences. I personally like tera Dragon as a catch all to Fire Grass and Water, but tera Water is also very strong, with Grass being the least I'd pick, while still being noticeable.
Overall I think Garganacl is very underexplored, -used and -rated at the moment, and I could see a potential surge in its usage with the right success in Kick Off.
I think physical AV Hoopa-U may have a bit of a niche, although I'm in low ladder and better players would have to test it out. Here's the set I'm running:
Hoopa-Unbound @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magician
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
It would probably be good to fit Knock Off somewhere, but Hyperspace Fury is cool for bypassing Shed Tail/Substitute. This gives it a great anti-Espathra niche, and Tera Fire lets it beat Magearna and Volcarona.
Espathra has to Tera or switch, even if it's safe behind a sub, even if it tries to use Protect, or it combusts. 252+ Atk Hoopa-Unbound Hyperspace Fury vs. 152 HP / 0 Def Espathra: 632-746 (171.2 - 202.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Tanks Dazzling Gleam even from max/Modest after a Calm Mind. +1 252+ SpA Espathra Dazzling Gleam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Hoopa-Unbound: 130-154 (35.8 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO. Tera Fairy could land you in trouble but you can also put more spdef on it.
Magearna:
252+ Atk Tera Fire Hoopa-Unbound Fire Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Magearna: 206-246 (56.7 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Tera Fire Hoopa-Unbound: 62-73 (17 - 20.1%) -- possible 5HKO
Otherwise, it's decent on Trick Room teams and can harass special attacker Arceus forms. Doesn't beat Calm Mind outright though.
Hoopa-Unbound @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magician
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
It would probably be good to fit Knock Off somewhere, but Hyperspace Fury is cool for bypassing Shed Tail/Substitute. This gives it a great anti-Espathra niche, and Tera Fire lets it beat Magearna and Volcarona.
Espathra has to Tera or switch, even if it's safe behind a sub, even if it tries to use Protect, or it combusts. 252+ Atk Hoopa-Unbound Hyperspace Fury vs. 152 HP / 0 Def Espathra: 632-746 (171.2 - 202.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Tanks Dazzling Gleam even from max/Modest after a Calm Mind. +1 252+ SpA Espathra Dazzling Gleam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Hoopa-Unbound: 130-154 (35.8 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO. Tera Fairy could land you in trouble but you can also put more spdef on it.
Magearna:
252+ Atk Tera Fire Hoopa-Unbound Fire Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Magearna: 206-246 (56.7 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Tera Fire Hoopa-Unbound: 62-73 (17 - 20.1%) -- possible 5HKO
Otherwise, it's decent on Trick Room teams and can harass special attacker Arceus forms. Doesn't beat Calm Mind outright though.
just drop the vest and run a consumable item then. (maranga berry, perhaps?) after you burn that up, magician effectively turns any move into a one-time knock off. you might even be able to snag a vest, band, or boots for your trouble
roselli berry for Mag and Dogo could be neat
Palkia-Origin is rightfully considered one of the best pokemon in the tier. However, I think people are overlooking the value of base Palkia. The ability to use an item lets it do a lot of things the origin form cannot. Specifically, I've seen quite a bit of success with a specs set like this:
Palkia @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spacial Rend
- Surf
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
(This is by no means the only option for the moveset, the coverage moves are quite flexible and you can use hydro pump over surf if you don't hate inaccurate moves as much as I do.)
It's a very strong wallbreaker, its spacial rend even being slightly stronger than specs Chi-Yu dark pulse. Chi-Yu is a natural comparison, given the shared speed tier and general team role. While specs Palkia can't quite reach the same power as Chi-Yu can with its fire moves, it's better in pretty much every other way. It has significantly better bulk, an overall better defensive typing, a much wider array of coverage moves, as well as not having a stealth rock weakness like Chi-Yu. These advantages are very significant, while Chi-Yu is a defensive liability that requires support from its team to find entry points, Palkia provides valuable defensive utility a team, serving as a check to dangerous Water and Fire type attackers such as Palafin and Arceus-Fire.
Of course, it's origin form is steep competition, with a better speed tier and no choice lock, but the power of specs makes it much harder to wall. I won't deny that the origin-form is better in general, but I still think there are plenty of situations where base Palkia is better.
Some notable calcs:
252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Surf vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Arceus-Fire: 458-542 (103.1 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Spacial Rend vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Arceus-Poison: 190-225 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 208-246 (52.7 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Palkia @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spacial Rend
- Surf
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
(This is by no means the only option for the moveset, the coverage moves are quite flexible and you can use hydro pump over surf if you don't hate inaccurate moves as much as I do.)
It's a very strong wallbreaker, its spacial rend even being slightly stronger than specs Chi-Yu dark pulse. Chi-Yu is a natural comparison, given the shared speed tier and general team role. While specs Palkia can't quite reach the same power as Chi-Yu can with its fire moves, it's better in pretty much every other way. It has significantly better bulk, an overall better defensive typing, a much wider array of coverage moves, as well as not having a stealth rock weakness like Chi-Yu. These advantages are very significant, while Chi-Yu is a defensive liability that requires support from its team to find entry points, Palkia provides valuable defensive utility a team, serving as a check to dangerous Water and Fire type attackers such as Palafin and Arceus-Fire.
Of course, it's origin form is steep competition, with a better speed tier and no choice lock, but the power of specs makes it much harder to wall. I won't deny that the origin-form is better in general, but I still think there are plenty of situations where base Palkia is better.
Some notable calcs:
252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Surf vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Arceus-Fire: 458-542 (103.1 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Spacial Rend vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Arceus-Poison: 190-225 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Surf vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 208-246 (52.7 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Moltres ain't fringe. In most matches, I'm not even using it to check Zacian, but multiple other Pokemon like CM Magearna, Arceus-Grass, and Espathra, which it's doing quite well thanks to Roar, though you need to scout vs Mag for VS. Roar bypassing Shed Tail is also very useful and mon does really well into Rillaboom too, which can be a pain to switch into otherwise.
Zacian needs to go ASAP. Preferably, council holds a slate before the start of Kick Off, so we get the most metagame development in the early weeks which are "less" competitive. Banning it midway through would be awkward and harder to pull off in my eyes.
Zacian is the single most warping threat in this metagame. Its capability of breaking through cores is unmatched, due to its insane speed, attack and coverage. It is the perfect definition of an oppressing pokemon right now. You have to account for it on every single team with multiple checks and (besides mediocre stall), it fits on all teams naturally, since there is little to be lost when you throw on the strongest pokemon in the tier (Zacian is literally a S tier, while I find Magearna to be rather disappointing as the sole S rank, not to say it is bad though). There is no pokemon it can't tech for with standard to uncommon coverage, or using the good old Tera Blast. Tera in general is a huge can of worms, only further increasing Zacians breaking power by either using tera offensively - getting a uniquely typed Tera Blast, or increasing the damage of existing coverage - or defensively. It can certainly become a guessing game and lately I have switched from SD Zacian to just raw 4 attacks and just ran hazard stack alongside it (huge especially into Arceus). You trade the ability to SD on switches, so it makes it a bit tricky to pick the right move on switches, but the benefit is getting an extra slot for coverage, basically only leaving you subsceptible to very fringe checks like Moltres or Ceruledge (might not be as fringe, but definitely uncommon).
Long story short, Zacian picks and chooses what it is checked by, while relying on its teammates to handle whatever is left- which isn't much.
Garganacl @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
Tera Type: Dragon / Water / Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Iron Defense
- Body Press / Protect / Stealth Rock
I want to also shine some light on this guy. Garganacl is an excellent defensive choice at the moment. Salt Cure is virtually free since nothing runs Covert Cloak, and the pokemon that can immediately threaten it (Dialga, Magearna, Water types) all take huge chunks on the switchin due to Salt Cure, and then don't even guarantee a hit on Garganacl, as it can just switch out itself (or Protect if you run it). It is particularly strong on entry-hazard focused teams, where the chip damage is immense. Iron Defense allows it to counteract versus common physical sweeper like Fireceus, Roaring Moon and Baxcalibur. I prefer Body Press last, because without it you're immediately on the back foot versus one of the most common playstyles in Shed Tail HO - Obviously (tera) Ghost still gives you those troubles, but we like our Infiltrator Dragapult. Protect is very nice for racking up chip damage from Salt Cure even more, and has notable synergy with Leftovers (or Grassy Terrain). Stealth Rock can also be used on Garganacl if you need to, and while it frees up the moveset of a partner (notably Dialga or Arceus), usually I tend to pick this option the least when building. Between HDB and Leftovers is personal preferance, though I have to admit, I hate spending resources on hazard removal atm, so I personally prefer HDB with a Rillaboom in the back. As for the tera type, this really depends on your team and preferences. I personally like tera Dragon as a catch all to Fire Grass and Water, but tera Water is also very strong, with Grass being the least I'd pick, while still being noticeable.
Overall I think Garganacl is very underexplored, -used and -rated at the moment, and I could see a potential surge in its usage with the right success in Kick Off.
Garg is insanely good, I agree. I'm running the goof ol gargtres & its a very powerful core in this metagame, esp when supplanted by Magearna's Spikes. NOTHING wants to switch into Salt Cure in this hazards meta, esp Arceus and Palkia-O.