0. Introduction
Hi, I am a huge cat fan, so I built a team with my second favorite cat that starts with Meows. After seing Meowscarada the first time I immediately knew that this stoned cat is my second favorite starter ever close behind Delphox. So I tried building with it the whole gen but miserably failed because of lacking metagame knowledge in early to mid gen 9 after concentrating on VGC(which actually went well, got Rank 173 in a Global Challenge) and just not being able to find a way to use it in a playstyle I liked.
This RMT is probably going to be shorter than my first one because I am writing this with a fractured trigger finger. Also I am trying to use a more clearly arranged format.
1. Teambuilding Idea/Process
I knew I wanted to try out Meowscarada on a Balance or BO team because I know that next to Webs HO these are my favorite playstyles. I also think it is the best style for Meowscarada in general.
Started with the cat. Imo a good offensive backbone for a team that is centered about positioning its mons through controlling the opponents switches.It also provides item removal.
I wanted a breaker and a Spikes setter so I added Choice Specs Dragapult and a standard Spikes Clodsire. Dragapult also functions as a pseudo Spinblocker but its main purpose was breaking weaker defensive cores with extremely spammable Shadow Balls and chip the opponent with Spikes into OHKO and 2HKO ranges.
Next I wanted a real Spinblocker, a breaker and sweeper so I added offensive, Stallbreaker Gholdengo with Air Balloon, I also wanted a physical wall and potential game ender so I added ID Press Skarmory with Stealth Rock.
For a long time I really had problems finding a last mon, I tried bulky and fast
, multiple
sets, cleaner
,
and some more. I wanted either another Breaker or a Cleaner so I could maybe switch to Non-Psyshock Gholdengo to be more reliable.
In the end I settled on Specs Iron Valiant and switched Dragapult to Boots Will-o-Wisp and Gholdengo to physdef T-Wave with Hex as another abuser of Pult's Wisps, I switched Rocks and Spikes on Skarmory and Clodsire because I realised that in the games I played Skarmory was getting more free turns than Clod thanks to Iron Defense. Finally I changed Iron Valiant to Booster Energy and made it a mixed attacker to help with Knock Off support, break pure one-sided walls like Blissey, provide a form of speed control against other Booster mons and have an emergency exit with Destiny Bond.
2. The Team
Meowscarada is the base of the team. It has an amazing speed tier, outrunning mons like Cinderace, Roaring Moon and Serperior. I just used standard max max EVs cause they do the job. Knock Off and Flower Trick are must haves, a STAB move that always crits and strong item removal, U-Turn is for pivoting out of bad MUs and is very useful after revenge killing something. For the last move you can either choose between Sucker Punch for priority, Low Kick to hit Steels or Triple Axel to hit Flying and Dragon types. I chose Triple Axel because I think that it just provides the best overall coverage, Tera Ghost was chosen to power up Axel. Meowscarada is our primary late game cleaner but is also used as a fast Revenge Killer. HDB were chosen for Hazard Immunity because we have no Hazard removal.
Standard mixed Boots Pivot. First this was a Choice Specs Dragapult but I felt like this set has just more utility, HDB is the best item for any Pivot because of the immunity to any Entry Hazard and Dragapult is a perfect Pivot thanks to its speed, access to status moves and pivoting moves. The mixed set band EVs are used to be better into stuff like Glowking or Raging Bolt. U-Turn is imo the best move in the game, it allows for easy positioning, Wisp is to cripple physical attackers like Kingambit or Zamazenta, you can run T-Wave to but I feel like crippling physical mons is better, Darts is here to not be walled by special sponges and CM/Q-Dance sweepers and Hex is vjust fantastic abuse of status moves. Tera Fairy was choosen to resist Dark Type moves from the likes of Kingambit or Moon aswell as to be immune to Dragon moves from the many Dragons in the Tier.
Our special sponge and one of the Hazard setters. Clodsire is just extremely bulky on the special side and can almost always recover the damage taken from a unboosted special hit. Water Absorb over Unaware because it is the better ability on anything that isn't a Stall team, it is just a free removed weakness, Walking Wake players hate this trick. Tera Dark was chosen to remove its glaring weakness to Psyshock, Future Sight aswell as Stored Power. Stealth Rock is our Hazard of choice, Toxic is amazing for setting sweepers on a timer, Recover to outlast Toxic Stall or just regenerate health in a favorable MU. EQ to be able to tickle Steel types. Also, I NEED THE JAPAN-EXCLUSIVE GIGANTIC PLUSHIE, I NEED IT.
Again, standard physical Wall and a great Game Ender against physical mons. The speed EVs are for outrunning max speed Adamant Kingambit and killing it off with a Body Press. Tera Dragon is a great defensive type to resist both of Wogerpon's STABs, aswell as Electric and Fire attacks. Skarmory is also the primary Hazard Setter because it gets so many free opportunities on forced switch-outs. ID + Body Press is for ending games against physical attackers as there is no physical attacker that can immediately break through a boosted Skarm. Spikes are fantastic for forcing chip on switch-ins and bringing mons into OHKO and 2HKO ranges.Roost is also fantastic for winning 1v1s vs other Set-Up Sweepers aswell as capitalising on switch-outs.
My absolutely favorite mon on this team, I thought I was high when I first read about physdef Gholdengo, but after trying it out it has become my favorite set, so many people will underastimate it's bulk. Look at this calc:
252+ Atk Black Glasses Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Tera Fighting Gholdengo: 110-130 (29.1 - 34.3%) -- 5.2% chance to 3HKO
It's also antoher fantastic Hex + Status Abuser, it's the primary Spinblocker and fantastic at breaking fat teams with slower mons. Tera Fighting is to check Dark types aswell as boost its Focus Miss. Hex + T-Wave are already explained and Recover is really good to stay on the field vs bulkier teams. Air Balloon is for being immune to Ground Attacks from the likes of the Donphan family allowing it to spinblock more reliable.
Fun fact, I just realised I ran Serious Gholdengo all the time because I forgot to change the Nature.
Probably my favorite Gen 9 mon gameplay wise, it has so many viable sets, Swords Dance, CM Encore, Choice Specs and Adamant Booster Attack/Modest Booster Special Attack, but I chose the basic b1tch set, mixed Booster speed. What can I say, this set is fantastic, I always saw it as inferior to full special attack but it certainly isn't. Probably the best mix of an Revenge Killer and Lategame Cleaner, due to this thing I have won being 3 to 1 down, this will clean everything with enough chip. Moonblast is a fantastic, spammable STAB move and feels like Shadow Ball on steroids, Knock Off is for item removal aswell as heavily chipping mons weak to Dark like Glowking which otherwise wall you, CC is another fantastic, strong STAB move that is really pesky for most special walls that don't resist Fighting moves, Destiny Bond is a superb surprise factor against mons you need to remove but you don't have any possibilities to kill it on a normal way. Tera Ghost is to softcheck E-Killer Dnite after 1 DD and get a resist to poison and a immunity to Zamazenta's Body Press. Max special attack because Moonblast is one of the most spammable moves of all time.
3. Threats
I don't really know what to write here, I haven't run into Stall or Weather HO yet, nor have I hard lost to any particular Pokemon. I only have 3 losses with the team in general, 1 teambuilding error, 1 time forgetting I had teraed my Clodsire and switched it into Tera Electric Raging Bolt's Thunderbolt at just 50% health and 1 time just getting outplayed by good player actually predicting switch-ins.
The teambuilding error: I have lost to Trailblaze, Sub, SD, Ivy Cudgel Wogerpon once, but that was because I forgot Water Absorb(Poison Point) on Clod and just switched it in.
4. Conclusion & Ending
Overall I think it's the best team I ever build and I really felt it in my results, I created a new alt to see what I could reach with a Heatran team I created(nothing, every time I touch Heatran I forget how2play) and after that team not delivering I built this and climbed from the 1050s to the 1500s in just 2-4 hours. I think that there is still much room for optimization but I really like how the team plays offensively and defensively.
I hope this wasn't a torture to read and I would appreciate advices for the team and for the layout.
Ty to all of you for reading this.
Here's the paste I totally didn't forget: Meowscarada Balance
Hi, I am a huge cat fan, so I built a team with my second favorite cat that starts with Meows. After seing Meowscarada the first time I immediately knew that this stoned cat is my second favorite starter ever close behind Delphox. So I tried building with it the whole gen but miserably failed because of lacking metagame knowledge in early to mid gen 9 after concentrating on VGC(which actually went well, got Rank 173 in a Global Challenge) and just not being able to find a way to use it in a playstyle I liked.
This RMT is probably going to be shorter than my first one because I am writing this with a fractured trigger finger. Also I am trying to use a more clearly arranged format.
1. Teambuilding Idea/Process
I knew I wanted to try out Meowscarada on a Balance or BO team because I know that next to Webs HO these are my favorite playstyles. I also think it is the best style for Meowscarada in general.
Started with the cat. Imo a good offensive backbone for a team that is centered about positioning its mons through controlling the opponents switches.It also provides item removal.
I wanted a breaker and a Spikes setter so I added Choice Specs Dragapult and a standard Spikes Clodsire. Dragapult also functions as a pseudo Spinblocker but its main purpose was breaking weaker defensive cores with extremely spammable Shadow Balls and chip the opponent with Spikes into OHKO and 2HKO ranges.
Next I wanted a real Spinblocker, a breaker and sweeper so I added offensive, Stallbreaker Gholdengo with Air Balloon, I also wanted a physical wall and potential game ender so I added ID Press Skarmory with Stealth Rock.
For a long time I really had problems finding a last mon, I tried bulky and fast
In the end I settled on Specs Iron Valiant and switched Dragapult to Boots Will-o-Wisp and Gholdengo to physdef T-Wave with Hex as another abuser of Pult's Wisps, I switched Rocks and Spikes on Skarmory and Clodsire because I realised that in the games I played Skarmory was getting more free turns than Clod thanks to Iron Defense. Finally I changed Iron Valiant to Booster Energy and made it a mixed attacker to help with Knock Off support, break pure one-sided walls like Blissey, provide a form of speed control against other Booster mons and have an emergency exit with Destiny Bond.
2. The Team
Meowscarada is the base of the team. It has an amazing speed tier, outrunning mons like Cinderace, Roaring Moon and Serperior. I just used standard max max EVs cause they do the job. Knock Off and Flower Trick are must haves, a STAB move that always crits and strong item removal, U-Turn is for pivoting out of bad MUs and is very useful after revenge killing something. For the last move you can either choose between Sucker Punch for priority, Low Kick to hit Steels or Triple Axel to hit Flying and Dragon types. I chose Triple Axel because I think that it just provides the best overall coverage, Tera Ghost was chosen to power up Axel. Meowscarada is our primary late game cleaner but is also used as a fast Revenge Killer. HDB were chosen for Hazard Immunity because we have no Hazard removal.
Standard mixed Boots Pivot. First this was a Choice Specs Dragapult but I felt like this set has just more utility, HDB is the best item for any Pivot because of the immunity to any Entry Hazard and Dragapult is a perfect Pivot thanks to its speed, access to status moves and pivoting moves. The mixed set band EVs are used to be better into stuff like Glowking or Raging Bolt. U-Turn is imo the best move in the game, it allows for easy positioning, Wisp is to cripple physical attackers like Kingambit or Zamazenta, you can run T-Wave to but I feel like crippling physical mons is better, Darts is here to not be walled by special sponges and CM/Q-Dance sweepers and Hex is vjust fantastic abuse of status moves. Tera Fairy was choosen to resist Dark Type moves from the likes of Kingambit or Moon aswell as to be immune to Dragon moves from the many Dragons in the Tier.
Our special sponge and one of the Hazard setters. Clodsire is just extremely bulky on the special side and can almost always recover the damage taken from a unboosted special hit. Water Absorb over Unaware because it is the better ability on anything that isn't a Stall team, it is just a free removed weakness, Walking Wake players hate this trick. Tera Dark was chosen to remove its glaring weakness to Psyshock, Future Sight aswell as Stored Power. Stealth Rock is our Hazard of choice, Toxic is amazing for setting sweepers on a timer, Recover to outlast Toxic Stall or just regenerate health in a favorable MU. EQ to be able to tickle Steel types. Also, I NEED THE JAPAN-EXCLUSIVE GIGANTIC PLUSHIE, I NEED IT.
Again, standard physical Wall and a great Game Ender against physical mons. The speed EVs are for outrunning max speed Adamant Kingambit and killing it off with a Body Press. Tera Dragon is a great defensive type to resist both of Wogerpon's STABs, aswell as Electric and Fire attacks. Skarmory is also the primary Hazard Setter because it gets so many free opportunities on forced switch-outs. ID + Body Press is for ending games against physical attackers as there is no physical attacker that can immediately break through a boosted Skarm. Spikes are fantastic for forcing chip on switch-ins and bringing mons into OHKO and 2HKO ranges.Roost is also fantastic for winning 1v1s vs other Set-Up Sweepers aswell as capitalising on switch-outs.
My absolutely favorite mon on this team, I thought I was high when I first read about physdef Gholdengo, but after trying it out it has become my favorite set, so many people will underastimate it's bulk. Look at this calc:
252+ Atk Black Glasses Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Tera Fighting Gholdengo: 110-130 (29.1 - 34.3%) -- 5.2% chance to 3HKO
It's also antoher fantastic Hex + Status Abuser, it's the primary Spinblocker and fantastic at breaking fat teams with slower mons. Tera Fighting is to check Dark types aswell as boost its Focus Miss. Hex + T-Wave are already explained and Recover is really good to stay on the field vs bulkier teams. Air Balloon is for being immune to Ground Attacks from the likes of the Donphan family allowing it to spinblock more reliable.
Fun fact, I just realised I ran Serious Gholdengo all the time because I forgot to change the Nature.
Probably my favorite Gen 9 mon gameplay wise, it has so many viable sets, Swords Dance, CM Encore, Choice Specs and Adamant Booster Attack/Modest Booster Special Attack, but I chose the basic b1tch set, mixed Booster speed. What can I say, this set is fantastic, I always saw it as inferior to full special attack but it certainly isn't. Probably the best mix of an Revenge Killer and Lategame Cleaner, due to this thing I have won being 3 to 1 down, this will clean everything with enough chip. Moonblast is a fantastic, spammable STAB move and feels like Shadow Ball on steroids, Knock Off is for item removal aswell as heavily chipping mons weak to Dark like Glowking which otherwise wall you, CC is another fantastic, strong STAB move that is really pesky for most special walls that don't resist Fighting moves, Destiny Bond is a superb surprise factor against mons you need to remove but you don't have any possibilities to kill it on a normal way. Tera Ghost is to softcheck E-Killer Dnite after 1 DD and get a resist to poison and a immunity to Zamazenta's Body Press. Max special attack because Moonblast is one of the most spammable moves of all time.
3. Threats
I don't really know what to write here, I haven't run into Stall or Weather HO yet, nor have I hard lost to any particular Pokemon. I only have 3 losses with the team in general, 1 teambuilding error, 1 time forgetting I had teraed my Clodsire and switched it into Tera Electric Raging Bolt's Thunderbolt at just 50% health and 1 time just getting outplayed by good player actually predicting switch-ins.
The teambuilding error: I have lost to Trailblaze, Sub, SD, Ivy Cudgel Wogerpon once, but that was because I forgot Water Absorb(Poison Point) on Clod and just switched it in.
4. Conclusion & Ending
Overall I think it's the best team I ever build and I really felt it in my results, I created a new alt to see what I could reach with a Heatran team I created(nothing, every time I touch Heatran I forget how2play) and after that team not delivering I built this and climbed from the 1050s to the 1500s in just 2-4 hours. I think that there is still much room for optimization but I really like how the team plays offensively and defensively.
I hope this wasn't a torture to read and I would appreciate advices for the team and for the layout.
Ty to all of you for reading this.
Here's the paste I totally didn't forget: Meowscarada Balance
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