• Snag some vintage SPL team logo merch over at our Teespring store before January 12th!

Project Top 10 Titans of Generation 8 OM Metagames

Status
Not open for further replies.
:ss/zapdos-galar:
What effect did Zapdos-Galar have on the metagame?
Zapdos-Galar pretty much dictated the metagame around itself for a few months alongside Tapu Koko. To rival a Pokemon like Tapu Koko in impact, you have to be either insanely splashable or broken, and Galarian Zapdos was the latter. No Retreat sets dominated the metagame and had little counterplay, which restricted teambuilding heavily and even moreso dictated how games were played, as offensive pressure was pretty much the most reliable way of beating it.

In what main roles was Zapdos-Galar used?
No Retreat Life Orb sets were the strongest, and with Roost and Thunderous Kick it could outlast and wear down "checks".

What caused it to have a significant impact?
Being super broken meant that teams had to prep super hard for it and even then it could easily get past them. It ran No Retreat Dragon Ascent Thunderous Kick and Roost, and only a small handful of Pokemon could switch into that. It was primarily popular in 2021's STABmons Open and OMPL, and was banned near the end of that OMPL.

How do/did you deal with this Zapdos-Galar in STAB?
Offensive pressure from things like Tapu Koko and Tornadus-T before it could set up was the main way, while defensively you had to run something weird like Zapdos or try and live a hit with Toxapex and Haze it. You almost always lost at least one Pokemon to this threat, and often more.
 
:ss/dragonite:

What effect did Dragonite have on the metagame?

Giving Flying-types good moves is very dangerous. Dragonite had exemplary power between Dragon Ascent, Dragon Darts, and the ability to boost reliably between Dragon Dance, Roost, and Multiscale. It could also run Earthquake of Dragon Darts to nail the ubiquitous Tyranitar and non-bird steels. It was a powerful force on hyper offense, especially in the 2021 OMWC and Swiss. Post Bulu ban, it even sometimes ran Darts + Earthquake to hit Rotom, Steels, and Tyranitar all at the same time. It also had an annoying amount of bulk for an offensive mon, especially if Multiscale was intact, letting it trade hits effectively.

In what main roles was Dragonite used?

Dragonite was often a bulky setup sweeper on offense and hyper offense teams, as it could reliably get one or multiple Dragon Dance boosts and then clean house with Dragon Ascent.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

While it may have only had a short peak post-Bulu and Chomp bans, it was good for a while even before that, and arguable contributed to the Magnet Pull ban. Since its main checks were steel birds, pairing Dragonite with Magnezone was a great way to eliminate its roadblocks.

How do/did you deal with Dragonite in STAB?

Steel birds were very effective checks to it, as they resisted both Dragon Ascent and Dragon Darts. Even then, however, Corviknight could not actually beat Dragonite 1v1 and had to U-turn to a revenge killer, potentially sapping momentum.
 
Last edited:
:ss/landorus-therian:

What effect did Pokemon have on the metagame?

Landorus-Therian warped the physically defensive metagame around itself. Any Pokemon that wanted to be able to wall it had to both resist its STAB attacks and be able to output enough offensive pressure to prevent Landorus from setting up. Or you know, be Avalugg :avalugg:. This lead to an extreme centralization of defensive Pokemon around Landorus-Therian answers, notably Rotom formes.
Landorus also competed with Rotom and other physically defensive pivots for teamslots.

In what main roles was Pokemon used?

Landorus-Therian was incredibly flexible and had a number of roles it could fill well. It was probably the best physically defensive pivot in the metagame, had a plethora of powerful Swords Dance sets, and was also a good user of Choice items.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Landorus-Therian has a large toolkit of traits which make it effective everywhere in STABmons. It is very powerful with an excellent offensive typing, and STABmons compounds that by gifting it Dragon Ascent, and when it was legal Precipice Blades. It was a metadefining sweeper.
Landorus also benefits from its Intimidate ability, and from STABmons granting it Shore Up / Roost and Spikes, which improve upon its already excellent ability to check large portions of the metagame.

How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in STAB?

Offensive Landorus-Therian sets were nigh impossible to reliably switch into reliably (cheers Avalugg, you are appreciated) however due to Landorus's mediocre Speed it was often pressured by faster threats. Its Ground STAB was abusable by many resists or immunities, although it did have ways around this, while Dragon Ascent, its primary Flying STAB attack, made it easier to revenge kill due to defense drops. Ultimately the counterplay to Swords Dance sets proved too little and Landorus-Therian was banned.

Defensive Landorus-Therian was, to the contrary, rather easy to find counterplay for. There were many switchins, including ones that could remove the hazards it set. Rotom formes, Corviknight, and Thundurus all abused these sets to a degree. Landorus-Therian, as always, typically acted as a pivot, relying on Intimidate for bulk and U-Turn + its offensive typing to generate momentum, and wasn't abnormally hard to break, especially on the special side.
 
Last edited:
:SS/Tornadus-therian:

What effect did Torn have on the metagame?

Giving Flying-types good moves is very dangerous. For a significant portion of the metagame, it had access to Oblivion Wing, which when combined with Nasty Plot and Regenerator, made it a deadly wallbreaker and cleaner that might as well have been immune to chip, including Life Orb. Even once Oblivion Wing was corruptly removed from it, Dragon Ascent offers its utility sets much more power than standard play, making it far less passive. It also gets Roost I guess, not sure if it used it.

In what main roles was Torn used?

Used to be Nasty Plot Sweeper, now similar to its OU sets but with Dragon Ascent over Hurricane, making it much more consistent.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Regenerator+strong utility moves+reliable set up+great Speed tier.

How do/did you deal with Torn in STAB?

Steel, Rock, and Electric mons could handle its new stab moves, and Tyranitar could force it into painful 50/50s with Accelerock. Otherwise, even these checks feared U-turn and coverage moves. Once Oblivion Wing was done, since it’s best flying moves are physical, Steels and stuff were more reliable checks, but they didn’t stop the utility set from knocking and Defogging and stuff.

:SS/Toxapex:
What effect did Pex have on the metagame?

You know how annoying Pex is in standard play? And you know how annoying slow pivots are in standard play? Combine those two things. Pex is an undying wall that can pivot forever and still has useful utility moves in Knock, Toxic (Spikes), Haze, and Scald. The crux of all its sets is Flip Turn, generating momentum against all but Water immune mons. If you can’t find a way to 2HKO Pex, it would just flip turn away and wall you forever.

In what main roles was Pex used?

Wall/very bulky pivot. It had Assault Vest and physdef sets, and could annoy the hell out of almost anything.

What caused it to have a significant impact?

Regen+slow pivot+amazing bulk+endless utility moves.

How do/did you deal with Pex in STAB?

Water Absorb mons like Seismitoad could block Flip Turn and stop it from generating momentum, but still hated knock and toxic. Hitting it with ground or psychic moves is a good idea, especially like Thousand waves, but getting into position was hard.
 
Last edited:
1662330223900.png
 
Tyranitar wins the #1 spot (surprising, i know)! Time to vote for #2 titan!
Aegislash
Dracovish
Dragapult
Dragonite
Garchomp
Gengar
Landorus-Therian
Magearna
Obstagoon
Seismitoad
Tapu Bulu
Tapu Koko
Tapu Lele
Tornadus-Therian
Toxapex
Urshifu-Single-Strike
Zapdos-Galar
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top