Magic Guard is a ban carried over from previous generations. Like others pointed out, there is exceedingly limited counterplay late-game for Alakazam to Skill Swap its Magic Guard. This is in part due to Skill Swap bypassing Substitute, as well as every form of self-damage besides like Perish Song is blocked by Magic Guard. Realistically, only faster Taunt users can prevent this win condition. It's possible that Magic Guard isn't as threatening this gen in the same way Misty Surge and Assault Vest were unbanned, but i'd prefer not to worry about it's inclusion this early into the meta.
Another ban that was carried over from last gen, Magic Room being able to disable the effects of Black Sludge / Sticky Barb is too centralizing and unhealthy for a metagame so reliant on these two items.
Not a bad idea to spam Steel Beam but those IVs are concerning; Steal Beam + Substitute doesn't KO most of your mons there. Steel Beam users should have their HP divisible by 8 so that this combo works for them. Check out the sample sets for most of these mons or just add the minimum amount of IVs to make it divisible by 8 and this strat becomes a lot quicker.
Edit:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8thelosersgame-1293072232
here's an example where if the opp using that steel spam team had the right IVs, they probably would have beat me. But the wrong IVs made it too many turns and gave me a chance to win.
I'll be back with a post with more meta trends I've played or played against, really like the meta so far! Let us know what you've been using.
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S: This mon surpasses Mewtwo as the best Heal Pulse user thanks to its better Speed, access to Encore, and even its Ghost typing can be clutch to prevent it from being trapped. The two sets I've seen and used the most are Toxic Orb + Encore and Black Sludge + Taunt, with Heal Pulse / Substitute / Imprison all being givens. The Toxic Orb sets has good switch-ins to use Encore on slower Steel Beam users and Heal Pulse stall them, while the Taunt set is more fit for hit-and-run interactions, making Black Sludge the better item there. Realistically though either item for either move works great. The role of a fast Heal Pulse disruptor is one of the best way to get a head in the KO race, and with a faster Taunt for Cinderace or Encore for Belly Drum users, it's hard not to fit Calyrex-Shadow on every team. Easily the best the meta has to offer for general application, and I'd advise using it everywhere.
S: It's one dimensional but it works so well; a base 10 Special Attack means that nothing is being OHKOed by its Steel Beam. Alolan Sandshrew is practically a free pick anywhere because the vast majority of Pokemon can't stop it, and Steel Beam sacks like Impidimp and Cottonee are barely 2HKOed after Black Sludge. It's not impossible to deter it from 2HKOing itself with Sub + Steel Beam, or even just 2 Steel Beams, but it's far from likely and eventually inevitable. To add on top of all that, Alolan Sandshrew satisfies another niche as a Steel Beam sack itself, as stronger users like Klefki, Jirachi, and Zacian all OHKO it. With these two aspects in mind, Alolan Sanshrew has unparalleled levels of efficiency and opportunities for it to drop quick.
S-: Magic Bounce is the best check to Heal Pulse users (amongst checking other status users), and Xatu is the best representative of the ability. A big part is its Flying typing, as it can't be trapped by Dugtrio and bounce back Stealth Rock. The other aspects are Tailwind and Teleport, which are phenomenal team support options that work so well together. It can be used offensively to bring in Trick Gothitelle onto more targets thanks to the Speed boost, and if Xatu has Imprison setup before Teleporting, then the opponent can't even use Substitute to block the Trick. Besides this scenario, Tailwind has a ton of perks just in general and can really glue the team together. It's hard to say if Xatu is as good as the other S tiers so S- is a better fit for it.
A+: Sticky Hold is awesome, as is its Speed tier. Passing Substitute is also great for the new Oblivious + Belly Drum users so that they don't get hit by Heal Pulse, and to a lesser extent works for some Steel Beam users too. Meta is still very favorable for Accelgor but it's not as necessary as before.
A+: Prankster, Prankster immunity, priority Taunt, and Steel Beam + Struggle sack. That's a ton of pros and value slapped onto a single mon, and it's easily the best Prankster mon because of these. It can even run a nasty priority Trick set that makes for an awesome late-game wincon, and because of its Steel Beam weakness, it can still be sacked vs faster teams that dont offer a practical opportunity for it to Trick.
A+: Prankster + Imprison for a Steel Beam user has its own set of pros to it, and can specifically beat faster Imprison users as well as faster Taunt / Heal Pulse users with Magic Coat. It can even run Defog if the team needs an emergency Court Change check. Klefki circumvents its high SpA with these attributes, and easily makes it the second best Steal Beam.
A+: Basically a second Calyrex-Shadow. There's a lot of good reasons to run two fast mons that run the same disruptive Heal Pulse sets, but it can be detrimental versus Trick teams. The two still work really well together but stack weaknesses that can be exploited.
A+: Trapping is a great strat.
A: Belly Drum while still having another self KO option with Solar Power: clutch.
A: Basically the frailest of the Slow mons, Belly Drum + Oblivious + Magic Coat is pretty reliable and quick.
A: Same tools as Klefki but no Prankster and worse stats. Use them together on Steel Beam spam.
A: Faster Imprison + Steel Beam than Jirachi and even a Steel weakness. That still doesn't make it any better than it though due to lacking Magic Coat to prevent faster disruptive attempts, or even Encore and Baton Pass.
A: In one way, Sableye step down from Impidimp and Cottonee because it isn't a Steel Beam sack. Still, it combines two aspects from these two as Dark-type Prankster user with Encore, and has the unique option in Imprison. Priority Imprison is super dangerous and Sableye's priority Substitute + Prankster immunity keeps it safe from Trick, so it still performs fantastic for that role.
A: Ralts is practically the frailest viable Steel Beam sack, while Gardevoir is frail too relative to Klefki and Jirachi but isn't trapped by Goth. Magic Coat patches their low Speed, and there's a ton of other great options to work with.
A: Triage Floral Healing is super anti-meta as most anti-priority techs are Dark-types, and Imprison + Heal Pulse users can't block Floral Healing. It even has a ton of other great perks like Taunt, Encore, Tailwind, Defog, a Fairy typing, and a decent Speed.
A: Sticky Web is a great support option, and these two can even get an edge on an incoming Magic Bounce user by setting up Imprison. Of course either their good Speed or super fraility combined with a Steel weakness also has a lot good for it, and keeping Trick in the back of the moveset could make sure these two aren't Trick fodder themselves, especially with Imprison setup!
A: Prankster users with Encore. They aren't as versatile as Impidimp but do much of the same, so they end up working out great together, or works okay enough in place of Impidimp if you really want Encore. Cholophyl Cottonee also has a niche on sun teams.
A-: Perish passing is a neat strategy and can be great with Trick users in mind; both helping your own and your opponents. Absol is the best for this strat due to its Prankster immunity and access to Taunt and Magic Coat.
A-: Magic Coat again is great for Steel Beam users, and Magnemite's Magnet Pull has a cool niche of making opposing Steel-types stay in so that they don't switch to a sack. This can guarantee a trade and make Magnemite pretty safe to use versus some teams.
A-: Tailwind and Defog are two really unique and valuable supportive options on Steel Beam spam. Kartana is also pretty fast as a Steal Beam user, getting an edge against Imprison Jirachi and Silvally.
A-: On paper, a super fast Dark-type with Taunt is the awesome anti-Prankster and Imprison tech, but it's ultimately a little slow in KOing itself. Parting Shot is great counterplay for Magic Bounce Imprison users, and being able to pivot after setting up a Substitute mitigates some of the damage issues with this mon.
A-: Oblivious with Taunt and Encore is super disruptive at its high Speed, allowing it to consistently punish most Imprison users. Its typing isn't great and it can be vulnerable to Trick, but it can be punishing itself with Knock Off against the right target.
A-: Toxic Orb isn't the most popular item anymore, but Misty Surge is a decent way to disrupt it and get progress against any mon that's running it. Tapu Fini also has a phenomenal movepool like with Heal Pulse, and even its Trick weakness can be mitigated by running Trick itself.
A-: Bringing the Prankster + Triage immunity to teammates like Calyrex-Shadow and Accelgor is a blessing. It's Steel weakness is only ok given its huge stats, but it holds its own through Taunt and Magic Coat.
A-: Corrosive Gas and Curse is a great combo for a decently fast mon like Gengar, and it has a few other tricks up its sleeve to keep it relevant.
A-: Imprison + Magic Bounce + Heal Pulse is a killer combo, and while Baton Pass and Substitute helps a little, it's Goth weakness is a glaring flaw from making them comparable to Xatu.
A-: Accomplishes much of what Calyrex-Shadow can but at a much lower Speed. Using Galarian Rapidash in conjunction with the better Imprison + Heal Pulse users works as it has a nice Steel weakness while still being faster than a good chunk of Steel Beam users.
A-: Semi-frail Steel Beam sack that checks the slower Oblivious Belly Drum users thanks to Neutralizing Gas + Taunt. It can also Taunt Xatu, and these three attributes make it pretty noteworthy.
A-: Klutz Skill Swap is a good way to gain momentum early on and force Steel Beam users to attack twice rather than rely on Substitute + Black Sludge to KO themselves.
B+: Here are six alternative Steel Beam options that really don't shine as good as the better examples. Their pros, whether they be unique or stacking good attributes, are just done slightly better by or are not as good as the higher-ranked examples for the most part. Togedemaru is a weaker Jirachi without Imprison and Magic Coat. Silvally has Parting Shot and a lot of other good utilities like Magic Coat, but again the faster Jirachi is usually better in place of it. Bronzor is just a worse Alolan Sanshrew, but they work ok enough together as two super weak Steel Beamers. Klink is weak and frail with Magic Coat. Pawniard's Prankster immunity is nice to avoid Encore and Taunt from the frail Fairies. Cobalion is the fastest Steel Beam user with Taunt, which has some good matchups but nothing spectacular.
B+: Very similar to Galarian Linoone as a Prankster check, and Roar + Parting Shot together is a consistent way to punish most Imprison users. A fast Taunt for slower Belly Drum and Imprison users is also clutch.
B+: Prankster Dark-types are really good inherently, but comparatively these two are just outclassed and are reserved for the extra roles they offer rather than being the main providers. However, their best unique trait is Baton Pass, and both priority pivoting and passing Substitutes against Trick users could be pretty clutch and patch up teambuilding holes.
B+: Slowpoke is usually better than these two because Magic Coat secures more Belly Drum opportunities. These two instead look for windows to Belly Drum with Encore or Roar. That's not the worst tradeoff, and surely one can work together with Slowpoke when spamming Belly Drum.
B+: Sometimes a good defense to Taunt is to Taunt them first. Unfortunately for Galarian Darminitan, being immune to Taunt is really the best defense against it, and that's exactly what Slowpoke has with Oblivious. Galarian Darminitan can get pretty fast when in Zen Mode, and Taunt + Encore at this speed is a cool utility, but really there's still a ton of faster Taunt users that shut it down and cause it to lock into very strong Struggles. At least its Steel Beam weakness and low SpD is sometimes useful too.
B+: Steel weakness, Dark-type, fast Taunt. Not that bad but lacks utility past this and it's not as frail as it like to be.
B+: There's a lot of great perks packed into one mon here, but the low Speed and trapping / Trick vulnerabilities does hinder it.
B+: Steel Beam weakness and Oblivious Subsitute + Roar isn't too bad for a sack.
B+: Trick immunity + 3HKO is ok, and it would be a lot better if it wasn't so vulnerable to Heal Pulse late-game.
B+: Good LC Dark-type with Taunt, Corrosive Gas, and Defog to round-out teams.
B: Sun is a good balance of damage dealing abilities in Solar Power and Dry Skin and fast Chlorophyl disruptors with Sleep Powder, Encore, and Taunt. These aspects cover a lot of bases teambuilding wise. The Chlorophyl sweepers of Petil / Liligent and Cottonee / Whimsicott are the fastest Encore users in the metagame under sun, and Charizard is another good mon to easily fit on sun teams that already holds its own. Even Ninetales is decent with Imprison / Encore / Roar. The only issue with sun teams is its weakness to Trick and lack of Steel Beam sacks, and given the limiting teambuilding options, sun ends up only being mediocre .
B: Court Change is a revolutionary move that every team preps for. But because of this preparation, Court Change teams are rarely effective. Defog is very easy to fit onto viable mons, which makes it near impossible for Court Change teams to make any progress. Meanwhile, if the opponent also caries Taunt users faster than Cinderace, then they can play with Stealth Rock up and always prevent Cinderace from swapping them. This makes Court Change teams counterproductive and easy to check, and ultimately they are heavily reliant on the opponent not prepping for them or for them to have just the right countermeasures for specific Taunt and Defog users; they can't check em all though.
B: Mold Breaker Taunt / Encore is a great tech vs Magic Bounce Xatu, and Hawlucha can afford other decent utility options like Baton Pass and Defog. Past this great match up, Hawlucha is vulnerable to Trick and is a little slow to KO itself. It also is vulnerable to faster and Prankster users of Taunt and Imprison, making it hard to justify as a check to Xatu when say Belly Drum users are able to capitalize better on its passivity.
B: The best case scenario with Amaura is to sack it to Steel Beam, which will still trigger Snow Warning and then be a great oppertunity to get in your Slush Rush Alolan Sandshrew. There's some limitations with this strat, especially given that Amaura is slow and vulnerable to Trick, but it also as decent utility in Encore / Roar in cases where it can't always be sacked right away.
B: KOes itself quickly with Belly Drum + Clangorous Soul, but needs speed support to realistically pull this off and not be Taunted.
B: A faster Xatu with the gimmicky Copycat.
B: Belly Drum + Magic Coat and weak to Steel Beam, but vulnerable to Taunt.
B: Semi-frail Steel Beam sack with a decent Speed and moves with Taunt, Imprison, and Trick. Being slower than Zacian gives teams
B: Faster than Calyrex-Shadow and passes speed to teammates that need it like Goth.
B-: Wonder Skin is too unreliable for it to be a consistent check to Taunt and Trick. Still worth checking out if you want to play the odds in a worst case scenario.
B-: Fastest Stealth Rock + Steal Beam on Court Change teams. Not as good as trapping imo.
B-: Trapping with Stealth Rock is pretty much only as good as Court Change teams are, but Dugtrio isn't as mandatory because of other options to set SR.
B-: These are some of the last viable Steel Beam users. Again, whatever niche they have is likely largely outclassed by the higher viable SB users. Ferroseed is as weak as Bronzor but lacks the utility movepool. Honedge is also pretty weak and can't be trapped thanks to its Ghost typing. Durant is as fast as Kartana and is a little weaker, but it's utility in Baton Pass is a ton worse compared to Tailwind and Defog. Zamazenta is Zacian 2.0 but without the Steel weakness, so at that point other Imprison + Steel Beam users like Jirachi and Silvally or much weaker users like Bronzor and Klink offer more utility than it. Only consider these as fringe sidegrades for the 4th or 5th Steel Beam user on the team and not much better than that.
B-: Essentially a faster Absol without the Prankster immunity. Given that there's not many Taunt / Encore users between base 75 and 100 Speed, Absol's Prankster immunity is usually better.
B-: A ton of utility but lacks anything unique compared to better users.
B-: It's a reactionary mon that can play its way out of bad situations by Transforming into the right opponent but really it's not too special.
C+: Mind Blown is extremely risky with how strong it is, and with no shortage of Steel Beam users it's hard to justify the risk. At least Encore + Taunt is somewhat helpful for lowering the risk and punishing Substitute.
C+: Faster Taunt and Defog than Cinderace, but that's not the most relevant anymore.
C+: Fast Curse but nothing special.
C+: It has a few tools like Ingrain + Roar to make it ok on Perish Pass, but its huge stats and low Speed are often a detriment.
C: Niche sun alternatives.
C: Wimp Out is a niche way to generate momentum.
C: A decently fast Steel Beam sack with good utility, but its high special bulk makes it compete too much with Amaura.
C: The only Taunt user faster than Calyrex-Shadow. It's also pretty frail so that's a plus.
C: Steel Beam sack that's x4 weak to Stealth Rock for Court Change. Snom is a sitting duck otherwise.
C: Another Court Change team option that has a lot of utility, uniquely with Sleep Powder.
C: Grassy Terrain can be disruptive for opposing teams but it is hard to build with; the recovery goes both ways.
C: Fastest Prankster + Imprison user, can check some of the other Prankster users this way. However, it succumbs to Taunt and Encore by not having these options nor being immune to Prankster itself, and it instead relies on Magic Coat and Trick for utility.
The Quickest Possible Self-Kill 
