Pet Mod VaporeMons - Archaludon Suspect Test + Randbats Set Submissions Open

[Yoshiblaze]

Slate 5 winners!

Same process as the first four slates, with the cutoff for this slate being 7.

Moves

Moves
Chisel - 11
Parry - 11
Peekaboo - 11
Psycho Boost - 8
Rage Fist / Raging Fury - 8
Accelerock - 6
Darkest Lariat & co - 5
Heart Swap - 4
Mind Crush - 4
Spin Out (a) - 4
Boo! - 3
Chloroblast & co - 3
Last Respects - 3
Meditate - 3
Mind Rend - 3
Rummage - 2
Soul Siphon - 2
Snatch - 2
Spin Out (Z) - 2
Team Effort - 2
Underdog - 2
Creep Out - 1
Dream Eater - 1
Flying Press / Oxidize - 1
Hyper Fang / Stone Fang - 1
Mind Burn - 1
Soak & co - 1
Spit Up / Brine - 1
Terrain Pulse - 1

Items
Snow Globe / Sand Clock - 9
Hero's Bubble - 9
Hand Mirror - 8
Royal Flush - 6
Zoom Lens - 6
Leather Belt - 5
Destiny Knot - 4
Friendship Bracelet - 4
Indecisive Orb - 4
Spidops-Man Mask - 4
Baseball Glove - 3
Technical Manual - 3
Power Herb - 2
Refined Metal - 2
A Salt Vest - 1
Balanced Scales - 1
Body Armor - 1
Covert Cloak - 1
Decoy Dondozo - 1
Dubious Disc - 1
Spider Ring - 1
War Hammer - 1

Abilities
Steely Spirit - 13
Battle Spines - 7
Sheer Heart - 7
Color Change - 6
Armor Tail & co - 5
Mind Games - 5
Receiver - 5
Water Compaction - 5
Aerilate - 4
Cud Chew - 4
Corrosion - 3
Ghoul Presence - 3
Stage Fright - 3
Wind Power / Electromorphosis - 3
Ambush Hunter - 2
Anticipation (a) - 2
Bulletproof - 2
Fairy Ringer / Justified - 2
Immolate & co - 2
Justified - 2
Protean - 2
Tempest - 2
Triage - 2
Unnerve - 2
Accumulate - 1
Anticipation (unspecified) - 1
Anticipation / Forewarn (G) - 1
Backfire - 1
Flash Freeze / Flash Flood - 1
Moody - 1
Optimist - 1
Starter Abilities - 1
Ruthless - 1
State Change - 1

Adjustments
Hariyama - 10
Iron Jugulis - 10
Muks - 9
Galar Birds (G) - 6
Iron Thorns - 5
Spiritomb - 5
Snorunt line - 5
Cyclizar - 4
Diancie - 4
Goodras - 4
Lycanrocs - 4
Banette - 3
Brambleghast - 3
Eeveelutions - 3
Noivern - 3
Delphox - 2
Farigiraf (G) - 2
Galar Birds (L) - 2
Kanto Birds - 2
Grafaiai - 2
Galar Horses - 2
Tauros - 2
Wigglytuff - 2
Altaria - 1
Arboliva - 1
Eelektross - 1
Farigiraf (I) - 1
Greninja - 1
Gyarados - 1
Iron Bundle - 1
Masquerain - 1
Overqwil - 1
Rotoms - 1
Samurott - 1
Tornadus - 1
Tyranitar - 1
Volcanion (S) - 1
Zacian - 1
Zarude - 1

WINNERS

Moves

Name: Chisel
Power: 45
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10
Category:

Type:

Effect: Sets a Substitute on the opponent’s side, then hits 4 times.
Priority: 0
Flags: Contact, Mirror, Protect
Potential Pokémon With This Move: (all forms)
Justification: Funny idea I had. If you can break the sub on the first hit, you’re hitting a clean 135 BP. The second hit still nets you 90 BP, but if you can’t break it until the third hit you’re only getting 45 BP, and if you can’t break the sub at all… might as well forfeit lol. Should still be a very good option for Physical Rock types, since even a reliable 90 BP STAB is valuable for them.

Name: Parry
Power: 80
Accuracy: 100
PP: 10
Category: Physical
Type:

Effect: If the target is using a priority attack, this move goes first and has a 100% chance to flinch. Else, this move has no additional effect.
Priority: Varies / 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): Contact
Potential Pokémon With This Move:
Justification: Finally, Sucker Punch counterplay! also slaps ExtremeSpeed Normal Dragonite, and shuts down Kingambit.

Name: Peekaboo
Power: 140
Accuracy: 100
PP: 20
Category:

Type:

Effect: Charges at the beginning of the turn, hits at -3 priority. If the user gets hit while charging, this move deals 50% damage.
Priority: -3
Flags: Protect, Mirror, Contact
Potential Pokémon With This Move:
Justification: Focus Punch is a sick concept, but it hasn't been successful since Gen 3, so I figured I'd try to make the drawback less harsh, so either you get a big hit off or a weak hit but still a hit, balanced by the fact that it's -3 priority. However, a big reason why Focus Punch hasn't been seen since Gen 3 is because Fighting moves sucked back then but now we have Close Combat, distributed Superpower, and Drain Punch, plus Storm Throw in this mod, so Focus Punch isn't gonna work for this. On the other hand, Fairy is a type that lacks physical moves, is a pretty decent offensive type, and also provides the perfect name for this effect in Peekaboo. Plus, Fairy coverage is an option for Dark-types, which means that Stakeout Mabosstiff gets to use this (in like NU). In practice, this'll be an option on stuff like Azumarill, being a bit risky with the negative priority, but having a very high reward

Name: Psycho Boost
Power: 120
Accuracy: 100
PP: 5
Category:

Type:

Effect: Lowers the user's SpA by 1 stage after use. Hits all adjacent foes.
Priority: 0
Flags: Protect, Mirror
Potential Pokémon With This Move:
Justification: Psychic-types suck -> Psycho Boost isn't in the game but likely wouldn't help most of them cuz Overheat isn't a great move (plus if I wanted THAT big of nuke I'd distribute Expanding Force to fast mons and make PsySpam viable) -> Remember Make It Rain -> Profit. Also opens up Eject Pack Trick Room shenanigans on more setters (though you're likely best off using Hoopa-U or Magearna).

Name: Rage Fist | Raging Fury
Power: 50
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10
Category: Physical
Type: Ghost | Fire
Effect: Gains 50 BP after taking direct damage, up to 200 BP.
Priority: 0
Flags: Unchanged
Potential Pokémon With This Move: |
Justification: Return of attempts to Free The Ape. A 200 BP cap is much more reasonable than 350, and Raging Fury gets thrown in there too for the hell of it - I mean, no one is ever using Raging Fury as it stands when Flare Blitz is right there, so now it at least has a higher ceiling and no recoil, plus Arcanine and Slither Wing can use Morning Sun to make damage tanking a bit easier.

Items

Name: Hero's Bubble
Effect: If held by Palafin-Zero, Water-type moves are boosted by 100%. If held by Palafin-Hero, takes half damage from Dark-type and Fighting-type moves.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y
Ignored by Klutz: Y
Fling Power & Effect: 30
Justification: So Palafin's kinda bad after the Zero to Hero nerf, mostly because it can't get kills. Well now it can! The Water Bubble effect actually gives Palafin-Zero a higher damage output than (itemless) Palafin-Hero, at least with Water moves, making it much more feasible to grab that first kill outside of rain. It becomes much less useful after transforming, but still not worthless - it's a great Knock Off absorber and lets it take on threats like Kingambit. Note that despite the typical Eeveemons approach to signature items, this can be Knocked Off, so don't go switching Palafin-Zero into Great Tusk all willy-nilly.

Name: Snow Globe | Sand Clock
Effect: User is considered to be under the effects of Snow | Sand. Consumes itself on switch in if the user has the Protostasis | Protocrysalis abilities.
Can Be Knocked Off : Yes
Ignored by Klutz : Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 80bp, Summons Snow / Sand for 5 turns.
Justification: Snow and Sand probably need the Joltemons sun treatment to just be able to have dedicated teams to it. Rather than rely on bad setters like Abomasnow, many mons can now use their weather abilities without having to weaken the team by forcing bad setters in their teams. Was changed to just activate the effects based on feedback, and is also now just budget Booster Energy to prevent the paradox Mons from ruining every other Mon's fun.

Name: Hand Mirror
Effect: The holder takes 2/3 damage from Pokemon it shares a type with.
Can Be Knocked Off (Yes or No): Yes
Ignored by Klutz (Yes or No): Yes
Fling Power & Effect:
Justification: Cute Charm as an item. Should be pretty cool on some walls to enable them to answer specific matchups better, and just generally seems like a cool niche item.

Abilities

Name: Steely Spirit
Effect: This Pokemon's offensive stat is doubled while using a Steel-type attack. If a Pokemon uses a Electric-type attack against this Pokemon, that Pokemon's offensive stat is halved when calculating the damage to this Pokemon. This Pokemon cannot be paralyzed. Gaining this Ability while paralyzed cures it
Permanent (Yes or No): Yes
Mold Breaker (Yes or No): Yes
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: + Some other Steel

Electric Resist, check! Super Steel STAB, check! Para blocking, check! Perrserker is probably good now, if not we can find kind if bad Steels for it.

Name: Battle Spines
Effect: This Pokemon’s attacks do an additional 1/8 of the target’s max HP in damage. This occurs after the move’s normal damage and announces itself a la Rocky Helmet. Multi-hit moves only activate this effect once.
Permanent (Yes or No): No
Mold Breaker (Yes or No): No
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:
Justification: Weird take on a boosting ability. Makes for some VERY strong wallbreakers.

Name: Sheer Heart
Effect: Special attacks have 1.3 power; stat changes to the Special Attack stat have no effect.
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: Hatterene, Florges, Gardevoir, Indeedee (both), Hoopa, Medicham
Justification: Resub from FEUU, this is an ability I kinda like. Gives a new interesting power boost for Choice sets without being too overbearing as it means no Calm Mind/Nasty Plot/etc.

Adjustments

Name: Iron Jugulis
Type: Dark / Flying
Abilities: Neuron Drive / Mega Launcher (Hidden)
New Moves: Aura Sphere, Roost, Snipe Shot
Removed Moves: None
Justification: The kick in the pants that Iron Jugulis needs. Straightforward buff, makes Dark Pulse a legit threat, which should be all it needs since it already has a pretty solid Speed tier and a potent Hurricane. Roost and Aura Sphere are additional tech, the latter of which is also Mega Launchered.

Name: Hariyama
Type: Fighting
Abilities: Thick Fat / Guts / Purifying Salt
New Moves: Court Change, Salt Cure, Slack Off, Swords Dance
Justification: an attempt at a defensive court changer. it has sd too so gluke can run cool offensive sets

Name: Muk | Muk-Alola
Type:

|

Abilities: Regenerator / Liquid Ooze | HA: Water Absorb | Neutralizing Gas / Poison Touch | HA: Power of Alchemy
New Moves: Both: Recover, Earthquake, Explosion
Base: Whirlpool, Aqua Jet, Liquidation, Soak, Water Crash, Surf, Hydro Pump, Muddy Water
Alola: Sucker Punch, Foul Play, Swords Dance, Beat Up, Jaw Lock, Power Trip, Curse, Stealth Rock
Justification: Buffing the Muks, because they have a lot of great potential. Muk regular adds the treasured Poison Water type, and one with Regen or Water Absorb at that. Muk-A opts to crap on Regen spam instead, letting it wield NGas to shut down certain threats. Getting Rocks is great too.

With that, we can begin a 24 hour discussion phase as council discusses the distribution of the winning moves and abilities. You can talk about the metagame impacts you think all the winners will have, give distribution suggestions (though remember that this isn't a distribution phase like the Sylve and JolteMons of old), and prepare submissions for the upcoming Slate 5. Also, remember that our roomtour that was meant for Slate 4 will be happening (DH update or other method of hosting Slate 4-5's changes pending) on Sunday, so look forward to that (if we can get it to happen).

That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

 

[Actively Aroa]

Sand and Snow items are so fucked

 

[Gekokeso]

Chisel: Move is pretty based so im really glad it won. Probably will need to see it in action but a rock move that is both fully accurate and nails exactly the mons it needs to nail down hard is pretty good.
Parry: Checking stuff like Valiant gets a bit more annoying but otherwise I really appreciate having counterplay to annoying priority spammers like Dragonite.
Peekaboo: Better fairy type focus punch, very much a fan.
Psycho Boost: Psychic Overheat is also cool, DO NOT give it to the Sheer Heart mons.
Rage Fist | Raging Fury: Unsure if dropping down the max bp makes rage fist less broken, will have to see on practice. Raging fury having it is cool as Flare Blitz side grade.

Hero Bubble: In theory this should remain balanced as Palafin-normal hits like a wet fart with band so this should stlll have issue bringing the big guy in, otherwise this might be broken.
Snow Globe | Sand Clock: My first sylvemod winning sub, already discussed these in my post but basic idea is being free assault vest and physdef vest on mons with the worst defensive typing in the game, as well as activating snow and sand abilities (we pray for Arctozolt to never return.) In theory shouldn't be too much since it doesn't reset weather anymore nor does it activate paradox mons more than booster energy already does.
Hand Mirror: Should be a fine option to check specific stuff.

Steely Spirit: All really depends on distribution but the ability is decent, albeit I don't think it will appear much outside lower tiers.
Battle Spines: Rough Skin but for attackers, very nice to break down walls.
Sheer Heart: Sheer Force but given to way stronger special attackers, this one does seem very concerning.

Iron Jugulis: Now hits absurdly hard with its Dark Pulses, will probably cause an uptick of fairy types but otherwise seems handable.
Hariyama: Just a nice Fighting type, not much to add.
Muks: One is basically Toxapex with extra steps and the other one is just a generically good Ngas user.

 

[Beebos]

We got a couple of good new stabs for types that needed it - Psycho Boost is really strong and might make Psychics exist again, and Chisel / Peekaboo get bonus points for being funny
Outside of priority counterplay it competes too much w close combat for a move slot, but it will likely be run here and there
fuck the ape honestly, Raging Fury would prob be managable tho

This item gives Palafin-Zero base 140 atk jet punches it is not balanced lmao.
Snow Globe / Sand Clock will either be interesting or absolutely vile depending on which mons end up abusing it, at the very least it will lead to some interesting sets for a time
Dunno what to say about Hand Mirror, it's a defensive item option that exists

A Steely Spirit buff of this caliber would be pretty insane, but if it's going to locked to mid steel types as suggested it will probably be fine. Not a big fan of this sub tbh.
Battle Spines is a fun take on a damage-boosting ability, I like. I'm fully expecting the damage to be tuned down from 1/8 in the future tho
Sheer Heart is a concerning take on a damage-boosting ability: it might be fine on mons like Hatterene and Florges since you're giving up powerful defensive abilities in exchange, but the ability works a little too well with Psycho Boost and G-Luke threw out some disgusting Gardevoir calcs in the discord. Also if the sub is suggesting we give it to Hoopa-Unbound then you tripping

Dunno how this won, but the fat boost from Mega Launcher will definitely make Jugulis not only viable but good, though probably managble, especially with Counteract to hard-negate that power boost.
Competes a lot with Tusk in the department of "fat fighting type with utility options", but I think the combination of Slack Off and Salt Cure will be enough for this Hariyama rework to stand out.
It's Toxapex II, and Muk-Alola is also there doing NGas shenanigans. Not sure what else to say here, they will prob be viable

 

[zxgzxg]

Name: Sheer Heart
Effect: Special attacks have 1.3 power; stat changes to the Special Attack stat have no effect.
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: Hatterene, Florges, Gardevoir, Indeedee (both), Hoopa, Medicham
Justification: Resub from FEUU, this is an ability I kinda like. Gives a new interesting power boost for Choice sets without being too overbearing as it means no Calm Mind/Nasty Plot/etc.

My influence grows stronger by the hour. It will be a matter of days until the Earth is in the palm of my hands.

 

[anaconja]

 

[The Damned]

Ugh. So tired. Congrats to the winners. anaconja, can't tell if your post is intentionally broken or not.

Anyway, I mostly agree with Beebos on most things this time. Will be brief for once. Like actually brief.

Chisel = Finally a 100% accurate physical Rock attack...that's risky as hell, so there's still room for a more stable if less powerful one IMO. A bit funny and unfortunate (for it) that it won the same time as Hariyama too.
Parry = An interesting anti-meta option. I'd be surprised if anything actively uses it, but I suppose it depends on what gets it, especially since it tells Kingambit to go to hell.
Peekaboo = Glad this won. Now Elegant Punch can finally die.
Psycho Boost = This winning at the same as Sheer Heart (Attack) is...unfortunate, and of the two I would rather have just Sheer Heart. This is...fine though (I hope).
Rage Fist | Raging Fury = Only voted for this to make Raging Fury actually worth using. Annihilape can stay banned in Ubers for all I care, especially since Decidueye-Hisui got changed because it was and since I doubt it would be that much more balanced even without Rage Fist being able to get past 200 BP now.

Hero Bubble = My negative feelings towards Palafin being unbanned at all remain, and this only makes them more negative. At least Parry exists now I guess and it's not immune to Knock Off, but, yeah, don't care for this at all.... (Funny how Rain got massively buffed two slates in a row incidentally, like a complete inversion of Megas Revisited.)
Snow Globe | Sand Clock = As long as none of the paradox mons can use it, it's probably fine overall, though that's maybe one obnoxious mon with it I guess, especially with Sand Force buff that went to various things I already don't remember.
Hand Mirror = Exists. Basically like Parry in that it seems more anti-meta than anything, though I guess some Ghost or Dragon might want it with some regularity? Shrug. (I miss Jellicent.)

Steely Spirit = Should be fine since all of the mons it's going to will probably be lower end. It would be funny if this made any of the example mons actually usable in OU. (No, Orthworm doesn't count.)
Battle Spines = Not really a fan of this but it's probably not broken. I can see the damage done maybe needing to be reduced though.
Sheer Heart = See Psycho Boost comment. Otherwise should be fine or else I wouldn't have voted for it. (Did I? Gods I can't be bothered to check.)

Iron Jugulis = I wonder if this ever uses Neuron Drive again.
Hariyama = Having independently thought of this as a joke--minus Court Change--before anaconja posted it last slate, I'm glad to see it won. I'm a bit sad now, however, that this isn't official Hariyama though since the salt motif totally fit given its whole sumo thing (and never using Sheer Force anyway). Oh well.
Muk & Muk-Alola = Also glad these won even as much as I complain about Regenerator and don't see the appeal of actively wanting more than one Neutralizing Gas mon. Still, I'd very much rather these than one of the Galarian birds getting potentially buffed into a degenerate again. [/"brief"] [/dead tired]

 

[Lysion]

Chisel: Kinda neutral toward it, funny move with a funny drawback.
Parry: This one is cool, and Kingambit counterplay is nice. That say, I'm unsure how used it'll be.
Peekaboo: Focus Punch is cool, so a Fairy Focus Punch is cool.
Psycho Boost: Kinda unfortunate it won at the same time than Sheer Heart but hey, still nice ig.
Rage Fist | Raging Fury: Annihilape still Uber, Raging Fury usable, Arcanine finally good?

Hero Bubble: I don't really like Palafin at all so I just don't care.
Snow Globe | Sand Clock: Guess some mons can use it, Sand Veil and Snow Cloak became huge.
Hand Mirror: Kinda neutral toward it as well.

Steely Spirit: Still waiting to see it being on a good abuser, wait and see, otherwise cool ability.
Battle Spines: Offensive Iron Barbs? Why not, can be kinda good.
Sheer Heart: My sub. Just to clarify: first of all, I was thinking about Hoopa regular, not Unbound. Second, sure it's a really powerful ability but hey, by limiting the distrib it's gonna be okay. (Psycho Boost Sheer Heart is indeed insane).

120 BP Dark Pulse jumpscare.
I like this one, and I think it could be really nice to have.
I find Toxapex but not Toxapex to be kinda boring ngl, so I don't really care about Muk-Kanto. Muk-Alola is yet another Ngas user, so whatever ig. They're gonna be good.

 

[chemicalmines]

raw first thoughts from slate 4 results

> finally 100% acc rock stab (chisel) is upon us. 180 bp is incredibly strong, but i think with it setting a sub i think it'll be ok
> i like how parry immediately snipes gambit + tera normal dnite, still niche but fun
> peekaboo is what focus punch shouldve been, even if boo doesnt hit at full power, 70 bp isnt completely terrible
> kinda surprised that gf didnt have any strong special psychic moves beyond psychic. also psycho boost goes hard on stuff like indeedee and delphox
> i dont want the ape back but raging fury not being inferior flare blitz is cool

> stronk dolphin
> haha sand dial lando-i go brrr
> hand mirror exists

> neutral on steely spirit + battle spines
> sheer heart and psycho boost coming out in the same slate is fun

> paradox mons gaining hidden abilities is something im invested in, jug gaining mega launcher doesnt make much sense flavorwise, but the dark pulses hti hard
> yama winning means we have a defensive court changer now. more variety
> muk becomes the offensive toxapex

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Slate 5 Move and Ability Distribution!

Moves

Chisel -
Parry -
Peekaboo -
Psycho Boost -
Rage Fist - Old distribution +
Raging Fury - Old distribution +

Abilities

Steely Spirit - Old distribution + (Replaces Unnerve),(Replaces Sand Veil), ,(Replaces Heavy Metal),(Replaces Unnerve)
Battle Spines - (Replaces Defiant),(Replaces Poison Point),(Replaces Poison Point),(Replaces Muscle Memory),(Replaces Limber/Immunity),(Replaces Sand Veil),,(Replaces Shell Armor)
Sheer Heart - (Replaces Own Tempo),(Replaces Hydration),,(Replaces Own Tempo),(Replaces Cloud Nine),(Replaces Steadfast),(Replaces Frisk)

While Rage Fist has been nerfed, council has not yet come to a decision on whether or not to unban Annihilape, so it'll stay in Ubers for now but that issue will be revisited.

Additionally, a change from last slate I never officially announced is that the item Tie-Dye Band will no longer prevent the use of same typed status moves. This should make the item a lot more usable, since potential abusers like Dragonite can still use stuff like DDance and Roost.

Now, as for what we'll do now, we're still waiting on DragonHeaven's anticipated Gen 9 update before we can have our playtesting roomtour. Unless things change overnight, this roomtour originally planned for tomorrow will not happen as the update isn't here yet. As we now have 2 slates without playtesting, we don't want to proceed too quickly to avoid adding even more things that we can't playtest, so we will be entering an extended discussion phase before moving on to Slate 6. Tentatively, this extended discussion phase will last until August 3rd, where Slate 6 will then start. This will hopefully give enough to do a roomtour before Slate 6's winners are decided. This will also give us a chance to take a quick breather, as we're now halfway through the slates for this mod, giving us a chance to reflect or even make some resources.

That's all for now, see you soon!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

While we were initially waiting until after our planned roomtour to consider any significant nerfs (or buffs ig), with the tour being delayed council has figured that now would be a good time to get some of our thoughts on what could be getting nerfed in the very near future through the the information we have on the slate 1-3 meta. In essence this is kinda like our own:

On the Radar!​

Like OU's version, this will just be a quick look at what the council is considering acting on, though in our case it would be through nerfs instead of bans. There are no official nerfs yet, but by seeing what we're thinking about you have the opportunity to give your thoughts to help us make a more informed decision.

Magnezone & Electroweb
When Electroweb became a Sticky Web version of Ceaseless Edge back in Slate 1, a lot of people were concerned for reasons that I found unfounded at the time. While an attacking webs move is pretty broken in theory, Electroweb's awful distribution meant that it'd just make dedicated webs teams a little better with options like Raichu-A or Sturdy Magnezone. Then Slate 2 happened and Magnezone lost Sturdy for Levitate, instantly becoming a great defensive pivot on balance thanks to how great of a defensive profile it has. However, an unintended consequence of this was that a move as powerful as Electroweb was now on a genuinely good defensive pivot and one that could mitigate Electroweb's natural counterplay of Ground-types and Covert Clock with Levitate and Volt Switch at that. Thus Magnezone became a reliable Webs setter for balance teams, which is a bit of an issue when such a powerful hazard can be set repeatedly over and over across a long game, constantly putting pressure on the foe with speed drops. While not exactly broken in my opinion, the pressure of Electroweb on a mon like Magnezone is simply too annoying and stressful to play around to be healthy. Thus, council is considering removing Electroweb from Magnezone.

Inteleon
If you've played or watched on VaporeMons games at all recently, you know exactly why Inteleon is here. Snipe Shot now being a Flower Trick clone makes Inteleon an absolute nuke, being able to spam Choice Specs 157.5 BP (before STAB) Snipe Shots off of 125 SpA and 120 Spe, which can be further boosted by Rain. Even without Rain, Inteleon basically OHKOs or 2HKOs everything, even some resists like standard Amoonguss sets. Now while it sounds like I'm just describing a special Dracovish (which I kinda am), Inteleon isn't very hard to deal with, as its paper bulk means that anything that outspeeds it, like Meowscarada, Dragapult, Meloetta-P, and Zamazenta, can OHKO it while it can be checked or countered by bulky Water resists or immunes like Goodra-Hisui, Slowking, Volcanion, and Gastrodon since its coverage is extremely weak. While all of these options are perfectly viable without the factor of Inteleon, necessitating one or more of these on every team is quite a bit restrictive. Thus, council is very strongly considering nerfing Inteleon in some way. This will either be by replacing its hidden ability with Outclass or Muscle Memory, or by nerfing Snipe Shot's BP to 60 BP, which the former option being more likely as of now.

Baseball Bat (yes that's what the baseball emoji represents, we know it's not a bat)
This one is pretty simple. While Baseball Bat's 25% boost to contact moves is a bit higher than most non-Life Orb items and kinda makes Punching Glove and its clone useless which kinda annoys me, that's not the issue with it. The issue is that a mon that relies on bullet moves like Gengar or Dragapult can be surprised by Baseball Bat's bullet/ball move bounce back effect out of nowhere, which can significantly swing games. Even on mons that don't run contact moves, mons weak to moves like Shadow Ball or Focus Blast just can slap on Baseball Bat and surprise the foe, which isn't exactly healthy in the same sort of way as gaining a surprise immunity from Terastalization isn't very healthy (in singles). Thus, council is strongly considering nerfing this effect of Baseball Bat in some way. There are a couple options for this, like making it so that the item is announced on switch-in and the move simply does no damage instead of getting bounced, or making it so that the user just takes 50% damage from bullet and ball moves

Walkie-Talkie
Walkie-Talkie being here is a bit out of the blue, given how its effect isn't even fully coded. Right now, all it does is switch the holder out before it uses a sound move (and also doesn't reveal said sound move), but it's supposed to also make its teammate use that sound move when they replace it. That uncoded part of the item is actually the concerning part, as many move combinations may prove to be problematic. Stuff like passing Perish Song to a mon with Sand Spit or Magnet Pull can lead to easy Perish Traps, Howl (and to a lesser extent, Torch Song) is a weaker version of Baton Pass, Screech and Metal Sound can put you in a lose-lose situation as you're either forced to switch or have to die with your lowered stats, and Sing can be passed into No Guard mons while generally adding a lot of grimy variance. Thus, council is considering nerfing Walkie-Talkie in some way, even before its full effect is coded. This may be either making it so that you can't activate it with status moves, making it so that the incoming Pokemon won't use the move unless it's holding a Walkie-Talkie, or even both.

Roaring Moon
Roaring Moon was already a pretty threatening wallbreaker and sweeper in vanilla OU, but in VaporeMons it's on a another level. While it misses getting its Protosynthesis boost on Sun teams, its new ability in Protostasis gives it a new best friend in the always amazing Galarian Slowking, who's able to easily activate Protostasis by setting Snow with Chilly Reception. GlowMoon has already emerged as one of the most common and powerful cores in the tier, with not many Pokemon being able to take on Banded and Protostasis-boosted attacks for an entire game. However, despite this, Roaring Moon is definitely a step below the above four elements in terms of brokeness or annoyance. It's very powerful, but it does have a lot of checks and counters that just manage to keep it in check, namely Great Tusk and Crabominable. Truthfully, the biggest thing holding Roaring Moon back is that its STAB moves are extremely weak, like the Chien-Pao problem but worse since both Dragon Claw and Outrage suck (plus not having 135 Speed or Sucker Punch also hurts). Thus, council isn't currently considering nerfing Roaring Moon (by giving a different paradox mon Protostasis) but it's still on the radar as it's probably the last thing you see before you get to nerfworthy territory.

Kingambit
Lastly, we have Kingambit. Kingambit has paired superb physically offensive strength with a practical movepool including Swords Dance, priority, and sufficient coverage to become one of the best attackers in the format. It has grouped above average natural bulk with a good natural defensive typing and the option to Terastallize out of certain worrisome match-ups to become challenging to... wait a minute, it appears that I am plagiarizing off of Finchinator's OU suspect test post about Kingambit, my apologies. Truthfully, Kingambit is on this list partially to fill space on the picture above (the baseball does look much better in the middle, after all) but also so I can address what'll happen to Kingambit in VaporeMons if it gets banned in OU. In short, it's VERY likely not getting banned or nerfed in the event that it's banned in OU. While still a top tier mon, without the ability to Terastalize and being a bad user of Tera Shard, Kingambit is much easier to deal with here than in OU, since the multitude of Fighting-types in the tier can always deal with it. Plus, the additions of Crabominable, Meloetta-P, and eventually Hariyama as OU-viable Fighting-types make it even easier to take on. Still, it was important address this, as VaporeMons is based on Gen 9 OU, so we have to look at our metagame to see if we agree with the tiering actions of the regular OU metagame. In this case, we don't. Not to say that last mon Kingambit isn't still a menace, though, especially with Baseball Bat being its best friend.

And that's all! There are a couple other borderline mons in that same sort of tier as Roaring Moon, but for the most part the main concerns right now are Inteleon, Magnezone, Walkie-Talkie, and Baseball Bat. So, I'd love to hear your thoughts on everything on the radar, or even some of the things not there as well. Not that nerfs likely won't come until after the metagame is updated for Slates 4 and 5 (with both slates bringing a couple of their own mons that might end on here, very exciting).

Will try to get at least 1 more post out during this extended discussion phase before we open up Slate 6, so stay tuned for that! See you soon!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Popping in real quick with three bits of news!

First, Slate 6 will begin tomorrow! This'll be the last slate we'll run until DH's update is complete, since we don't want to get too far behind on playtesting (this is a competitive mod, after all)

Secondly, if DH's update happens before then, the Slate 5 playtesting roomtour will be on Sunday!

Lastly, in place of my typical "obligatory discussion posts" for both slates 4 and 5, I've made a couple pokepastes of potentially OU-relevant movesets from these slates for you to try out once the DH update is live!
Slate 4
Slate 5 (Part 1)
Slate 5 (Part 2)

There are a couple real highlights in here that I can't to fully see in action (most of them because they might be broken LMAO), particularly Chain Lightning Iron Hands, Chisel Lycandusk, Sheer Heart Specs Lucario, unbanned Magearna, and Tie-Dye Band Steely Spirit Haxorus.

That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Submissions are now open for Slate 6!
This slate will be the usual 5 days (unless stated otherwise later)

 

[Gekokeso]

Fair enough.

Item: Standard Ruleset
Effect: If a Pokémon holds this item, all Pokémon in the field share the effects of their abilities.
Description: Reworked this item so that it provides a more interesting and less brutal effect than complete ability removal. Mons with terrible abilities like Slaking are now able to subject their opponents with their burden, while others can use the item to check certain Mons like Flash Fire Heatran, Regenerator Mons and more.

 

[PQRDG]

Moves

Name: Dream Eater
Power: 75
Accuracy: 100
PP: 10 (16)
Category: Special
Type: Psychic
Effect: User recovers 50% of the damage dealt. If the target is asleep, this attack is guaranteed to be a critical hit, and the target immediately wakes up.
Flags: Same flags as Giga Drain
Potential Pokémon With This Move: current selection + and other Psychic or Ghost types.
Justification: Instead of a Special Strength Sap, lets make it a Psychic type Giga Drain. Had to keep some of the sleep-adjacent flavour so added that second effect.

Name: Slowing Sap
Power: -
Accuracy: 100
PP: 10 (16)
Category: Status
Type: Ghost
Effect: The user restores its HP by the same amount as the target's Speed stat. It also lowers the target's Speed stat.
Flags: Same flags as Strength Sap
Potential Pokémon With This Move: Similar selection as my Dream Eater move above
Justification: You didn't like Strength Sap for Special Attack, maybe you will like this version for Speed.

Name: Smack Down / Tar Shot
Power: 80
Accuracy: 100
PP: 15 (24)
Category: Physical / Special
Type: Rock / Ground
Effect: Single target. The target becomes weaker to Ground/Fire type moves. If the Pokemon's type or ability would make them immune to these moves, that is ignored until the target switches out.
Priority: 0
Flags: None
Potential Pokémon with Smack Down: Current selection +
Potential Pokémon with Tar Shot:
Justification: Tar Shot is a strange move that could be improved. Buffing Smack Down and making Tar Shot similar allows for both moves to have interesting potential. Smack Down currently removes Ground immunity from Pokemon, but in this version it would also add a Ground vulnerability to any non-Flying or Levitate Pokemon, similar to what Tar Shot currently does for Fire moves. Similarly, this new version of Tar Shot would allow Fire type moves to ignore abilities like Flash Fire or Well-Baked Body.

Abilities

Name: Armor Tail / Dazzling / Queenly Majesty (Resubmission)
Effect: This Pokemon is immune to priority moves and entry hazards. / This Pokemon and its allies are immune to priority moves and stat-lowering abilities, such as Intimidate. / This Pokemon is immune to priority moves and secondary effects.
Ignored by Mold Breaker: Yes
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: (AT), (D), (QM)
Justification: Third time's the charm?

Name: Plus / Minus
Effect: If an opponent's stat is boosted, the Pokémon seizes the opportunity to boost the same stat for itself. / If this Pokemon's stats are lowered, the opposing Pokemon also suffers the same stat reduction. In doubles, an ally with Minus/Plus gets the benefits of this ability while you both are on the field.
Ignored by Mold Breaker/Counteract: No
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: (+), (-) [Restricted to Electric types, maybe some Steel types since Klingklang has it]
Justification: Plus and Minus are just bad abilities. Even in doubles they are very niche to use. To keep that doubles flavour, the last line is present. Now, Plus becomes an Electric-type Opportunist. Minus has the inverse effect, now working similarly to flareth13's Destiny Knot below.

Name: Illuminate
Effect: This Pokemon and its allies' moves have their accuracy multiplied by 1.3.
Ignored by Mold Breaker/Counteract: Yes? If Counteract ignores Compound Eyes, then it would also ignore this.
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:
Justification: Electric-type Compound Eyes for more accurate Thunders. Also for other Pokemon who light up the world around them. Surely making more light would make it easier for your attacks to hit?

Items

Name: Terrain Defender
Effect: If the holder's ability is Misty Surge or Psychic Surge, their Defense is multiplied by 1.5x while their terrain is active. If the holder's ability is Grassy Surge or Electric Surge, their Special Defense is multiplied by 1.5x while their terrain is active.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y
Ignored by Klutz: Y
Fling Power & Effect: 80
Justification: Giving the terrain setters some love. Now some added bulk to these Pokemon allows them to come in and stay in. Currently only affects three Pokemon but all of them could use a little more bulk. Stats are the reverse of the equivalent Seeds.

Name: Mob Protection
Effect: If the holder is Honchkrow, its Defense and Special Defense are multiplied by 1.5x, and its ability becomes Supreme Overlord.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y
Ignored by Klutz: N
Fling Power & Effect: 60
Justification: Honchkrow is a reasonably strong Pokemon plagued with terrible bulk. This bulk increase, and access to a fitting ability, should give it more use. The fact that it is still Stealth Rock-weak should mean that it still has to choose its switch-ins wisely. Just don't try to talk to him on the night of his daughter's wedding.

Name: Precious Gems
Effect: If the holder is Carbink, its Attack and Special Attack are multiplied by 1.5. If the holder is Sableye, its Defense and Special Defense are multiplied 1.5. If the holder is Diance, its Speed is multiplied by 1.5.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y
Ignored by Klutz: N
Fling Power & Effect: 80
Justification: Three Pokemon that love gemstones that need a bit more of a boost to be viable in higher tiers. All three of them benefit from the stat increases, but the base stats are low enough that none of them should be overpowered with these changes. Carbink will probably continue to be useless but it likes being a bit better.

Adjustments

Name: Lycanroc (Midday, Dusk, Midnight)
Type:
Rock / Fighting
Rock / Steel
Rock / Dark
Abilities:
Sharpness / Sand Rush / Cloud Nine
Tough Claws / Sand Veil / Counteract
Intimidate / Sand Force / No Guard
New Moves:
All: + Body Press, Head Smash, Ice Fang, Iron Tail, Low Sweep, Meteor Beam, Power Gem, Rock Smash, Skull Bash, Thunder Fang, U-Turn
+ Aura Sphere, Axe Kick, Double Kick, Final Gambit, Meteor Beam, Outrage, Sacred Sword, Stone Axe
+ Explosion, Flash Cannon, Metal Claw, Shrapnel Shot, Smart Strike, Steel Beam
+ Accelerock, Beat Up, Ceaseless Edge, Dark Pulse, Dynamic Punch, False Surrender, High Horsepower, Ice Punch, Knock Off, Memento, Night Slash, Parting Shot, Sucker Punch, Throat Chop
Justification: Edited to swap Midday and Dusk's types, abilities, and movesets back to what I had proposed in the previous slate.



Name: Flareon / Jolteon / Vaporeon
Types: [unchanged]
Abilities:
Flash Fire / Fur Coat
Lightning Rod / Battle Spines
Dry Skin / Swift Swim
New Moves:
: + Body Press, Brick Break, Bulldoze, Crunch, Earth Power, Energy Ball, Headbutt, Nuzzle, Play Rough, Power Gem, Snarl, Stomping Tantrum, Tri Attack, U-Turn, Work Up
+ Agility, Fiery Dance, Fire Lash, Flame Charge, Flame Wheel, Iron Head, Morning Sun, Pyro Ball, Raging Fury, Superpower, Surf, Wild Charge, Zen Headbutt
+ Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Flash Cannon, Surf
+ Extrasensory, Flip Turn, Hurricane, Recover, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave
Justification: Flareon has never been the best Eeveelution. It has a really high attack and Guts, but low Defense and Speed. Instead now, let's get rid of the Guts ability (which it is often forced to run Toxic Orb to use) for Fur Coat, an ability that gives it the defense it needs to have really solid stats across the board. Finally, a few more moves to help its offensive profile work well. Jolteon is already great in terms of stats, it just needs improved coverage. As for Vaporeon, two abilities that make it good in rain. Dry Skin is a slight buff from Water Absorb thanks to the passive healing in rain, and it can afford the Fire neutrality. (Just sticking it to the original trio right now, might expand it to include the other Eeveelutions in a future submission, but in theory the Eevee moves listed could also carry over to them).

 

[Beebos]

Banette
Type:

Abilities: Cursed Body, Prankster, Adaptability
Added Moves: Ceaseless Edge, Elemental Punches, Light Screen, Parting Shot, Play Rough, Recover, Reflect, Spikes, Throat Chop, Torment, Toxic, U-turn
Justification: The addition of Rage Fist from last slate really helps out this Banette adjustment, patching its meager defenses by punishing repeated hits. In terms of utility, it gets a ton of new Status moves to abuse with Prankster and STAB Ceaseless Edge, and Adaptability allows for SDance sets to really pack a punch. All in all these buffs give Banette a shot at OU viability.

Eelektross
Abilities: Levitate, Outclass
Added Moves: Earthquake, Knock Off, Toxic, Toxic Spikes
Justification: Chain Lightning + Outclass gives Eelektross the unique function of checking offensive threats by removing one of their STABs, such as Mega Launcher Jugulis, Inteleon, Kingambit, and Palafin, compounded by the fact that most types resist themselves. Combine that with base Eelektross's wide array of coverage and some new support tools, and you have a good defensive glue mon.

Lurantis
Type:

Abilities: Sharpness, Contrary
Added Moves: Choke, Night Slash, Sacred Sword, Superpower
Justification: Imagine being a contrary mon that can't abuse contrary effectively, lol, lmao. I know Lurantis isn't exactly what people would call good, but it losing Superpower is absolutely criminal and it deserves that back. While we're here I'm also giving it Sharpness in order to fire the fattest grass move known to man via Solar Blade, and give it Fighting type for good measure.

 

[Mintly]

Moves

Name: Shed Tail
Power: --
Accuracy: --
PP: 10
Category: Status
Type:

Effect: The user sheds it's tail to switch out. For the rest of the turn, the replacement takes halved damage from attacks.
Priority: 0
Flags: None
Potential Pokémon With This Move:

Name: Wonder Room
Power: --
Accuracy: --
PP: 10
Category: Status
Type:

Effect: The user warps the room. For five turns, all abilities on the field are negated.
Priority: 0
Flags: None
Potential Pokémon With This Move: current distrib + Pokemon who learned it via TM in previous generations.

Slaking time.

Adjustments

Name: Iron Thorns
Type:

Abilities: Quark Drive | Technician
New Moves: Shift Gear, Rapid Spin, Accelerock
Removed Moves: Chisel
Justification: Just some small tweaks to Iron Thorns to allow it to profit off of having dual STAB multi hit in Chain Lightning and Rock Blast. adding Accelerock and Rapid Spin allow it to have some alternate options, with Accelerock becoming a useful Technician-boosted move. Shift Gear is a better Dragon Dance, giving Thorns twice the speed, which it sorely needs.


Name: Ampharos
Type:

Abilities: Static | Magic Bounce
New Moves: Nasty Plot, Body Press, Parabolic Charge, Ice Beam
Removed Moves: None
Justification: Something something Nasty Plot. pair with Parabolic Charge + Cotton Guard + Coverage.

 

[chemicalmines]

Moves

Name: Mega Kick
Power: 95
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 24
Category:

Type:

Effect: Type changes to match the user's primary typing. 30% chance to lower the foe's Def by 1.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): Contact, Protect, Mirror
Potential Pokémon With This Move: current + (+stuff that can probably kick)
Justification: revelation dance but for physical attackers. this could also do some interesting stuff with tera shards

Name: Rekindle
Power: --
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 16
Category:

Type:

Effect: The user heals 1/3 of their max HP and restores 1/8 of its max HP at the end of each turn. If the foe switches out while this move is used, they get burned.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): Snatch
Potential Pokémon With This Move: (fire types with an open flame/flame motifs)
Justification: a pursuit-like move in a meta that sorely lacks it. not only does it burn, but it also provides recovery for mons such as blaze tauros

Name: Accelerock (resub!)
Effect: Ignores the opponent's stat changes. (like Darkest Lariat)
Potential Pokémon With This Move: (rocky types lol)
Justification: accelerock redistrib bc this almost won. 90% of rocks are slow as dirt so this could help some of them quite a bit

Abilities

Name: Friend Guard
Effect: If the user switches out, the ally coming in takes 0.75x damage from neutral hits that turn.
Permanent (Yes or No): No
Mold Breaker (Yes or No): No
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: current distrib + (+pokemon known for being friendly)
Justification: made friend guard have a use in singles.

Adjustments

Name: Iron Leaves
Type:

Abilities: Quark Drive / Battle Spines
New Moves: Trick, Stone Edge, Iron Head, Meteor Mash
Removed Moves: nuh uh
Justification: iron leaves but its actually iron. steel/psychic type actually lets it set up easier and not die to uturn

Sample Set

Iron Leaves @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Spines
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Meteor Mash
- Psyblade
- Close Combat

(poison heal arc)


Name: Gastrodon
Type:

Abilities: Sand Force / Storm Drain / Poison Heal
New Moves: Life Dew, Encore, Gastro Acid
Removed Moves:
Justification: pheal gastrodon real


Name: Umbreon
Type:

Abilities: Counteract / Poison Heal
New Moves: Knock Off, Toxic, Toxic Spikes, Body Press
Removed Moves: none
Justification: umbreon but it doesnt rely on wish for longevity. it also fits thematically because of the dex constantly noting umbreon's toxic sweat

 

[Z-nogyroP]

Moves

Name: Aura Burst
Power: 120
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 5
Category: Special
Type: Fighting
Effect: User takes damage equal to its level. Blocked by Damp.
Priority: 0
Flags: Mirror, Protect, Pulse
Potential Pokémon With This Move:
Justification: Focus Blast and Steel Beam made eyes at Night Shade from across the bar, and the next morning this move showed up.

Name: Frolic
Power: 60
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 15
Category: Physical
Type: Fairy
Effect: +1 priority if the user has not yet taken a direct hit this switch-in.
Priority: 0
Flags: Contact, Mirror, Protect, Dance
Potential Pokémon With This Move:
Justification: I like physical Fairy move subs that aren't super spammable, so Peekaboo is cool, but how about another? And one that actually synergizes super well with Peekaboo, at that?

Name: Pupate
Power: -
Accuracy: -
PP: 10
Category: Status
Type: Bug
Effect: Drastically raises the user's Defense and Sp. Def. Lowers its Attack, Sp. Atk, and Speed.
Priority: 0
Flags: Snatch
Potential Pokémon With This Move:
Justification: Defensive Shell Smash for bugs. Body Press Slither Wing gang rise up

Items

Name: Cell Battery
Effect: Holder gains the Charge effect when hit by an attack.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y, but activates before being removed
Ignored by Klutz: Y
Fling Power & Effect: 30, paralyzes the target
Justification: Electromorphosis is a really cool Ability, but Bellibolt hasn't accomplished much afaik even with its buff, so how about an item instead? Very strong for certain Electrics like offensive Zapdos (is that still a thing?) and Sandy Shocks, even if the item slot is a big ask.

Name: Weather Vane
Effect: If the holder's Ability activates under a specific weather, it instead activates under any weather.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y
Ignored by Klutz: Y
Fling Power & Effect: 10
Justification: Finally, Sand Rush H-Lilligant. Or Chlorophyll Pyroar. Or, I dunno, Chilly Reception into Rest Hydration Goodra? This enables a lot of dumb shit, but the loss of your item slot still means most weather abusers prefer to stay in their natural weather.

Name: Float Stone
Effect: Holder's weight is halved, and while switching in, it takes half damage from Ground-type moves and avoids grounded entry hazards.
Can Be Knocked Off: Y
Ignored by Klutz: Y
Fling Power & Effect: 10
Justification: Heavy-Duty Boots sidegrade that is also a bit of an Air Balloon sidegrade, for things that don't mind Rocks and hate Ground moves.

Abilities

Name: Green-Eyed
Effect: When this Pokémon switches in, if another Pokémon uses a Snatch-able move, this Pokémon steals the move for itself.
Permanent: N
Mold Breaker | Counteract: N | N
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: (?)
Justification: The Ability name is a reference to the green-eyed monster, i.e. jealousy, not literal green eyes, although if council wants to go in that direction then sure. This is a very strong stallbreaking tool, effectively a counterpart to Magic Bounce that shuts down the other end of the status move spectrum, but it also has some benefits of its own for stall, namely in preventing certain Pokémon from being setup bait.

Name: Flatten
Effect: This Pokémon's physical moves are boosted by a certain amount based on how much it outweighs the target. The specific checkpoints are the same as Heavy Slam. If Heavy Slam would be 40 BP: no boost, 60 BP: 12.5% boost, 80 BP: 25% boost, 100 BP: 37.5% boost, 120 BP: 50% boost
Permanent: N
Mold Breaker | Counteract: N | Y
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:
Justification: Heavy Slam is a cool move, so here's an Ability that makes all your moves Heavy Slam, kinda. Very powerful in the right hands, so it probably shouldn't be on anything that's too heavy unless it's already pretty weak, like Mudsdale.

Name: Forewarn
Effect: On switch-in, reveals the opponent's highest BP move, then uses Future Sight at 60 BP. Does not occur if the opponent only knows status moves, if the revealed move has a BP of 1 (Grass Knot, Seismic Toss, etc.), or if a Future Sight is already active.
Permanent: N
Mold Breaker | Counteract: N | N
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:
Justification: Another Forewarn buff! Auto-Future Sight is huge, but it's quite weak, and with slim enough distrib it shouldn't break anything. It does, however, provide some free pressure for your opponent to play around.

Name: Fair Play
Effect: On switching in, this Pokémon averages its Attack and Sp. Atk stats with the opponent (Power Split effect). Does nothing if the opponent is higher level.
Permanent: N
Mold Breaker | Counteract: N | N
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:
Justification: Defensive tool to help neuter attackers.

Adjustments

Name: Toedscruel
Type: Water / Grass
Abilities: Mycelium Might / Seed Sower / Counteract (Hidden)
New Moves: Chilling Water, Surf, Hydro Pump, Water Spout, Ice Beam, Synthesis, Strength Sap
Removed Moves: None
Justification: I get the idea behind locking poor Toedscruel to Mycelium Might, but also, c'mon. In a world with Sleep Clause, 100 Speed Spore is nice but not game-breakingly broken. Water / Grass is perhaps not a great defensive typing, but it's at least better than Ground / Grass, losing a Rock resistance but gaining a proper Water resistance and shedding the Fire and Ice vulnerabilities. It also allows Toedscruel to have a bit more offensive presence thanks to its newfound Water Spout, backed up by Strength Sap and potentially Seed Sower to keep that BP nice and high and make up for its 80 Sp. Atk. Both new Abilities have their uses, with Seed Sower always being annoying and Counteract thematically functioning as a counterpart to the Mold Breaker-esque effect of Mycelium Might but more appropriate for Toedscruel's bulkier supporting role.


Name: Flutter Mane
Type: Ghost / Psychic
Abilities: Protostasis / Prankster (Hidden)
New Moves: Curse, Will-O-Wisp, Heart Swap, Snowscape
Removed Moves: Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, Draining Kiss, Calm Mind, Mystical Fire, Thunderbolt, Thunder
Justification: Another unban attempt. Flutter Mane loses its obscenely good typing for a much, much more exploitable one, leaving it utterly terrified of all the Darks running around. Its movepool has likewise been gutted - while it still has some coverage in Power Gem and Energy Ball, it's not nearly as splashable or efficient, and I'm not even sure it's worth trying to go full-on offensive anymore. Instead, Flutter Mane uses Prankster or its naturally high Speed to serve as a disruptor, spreading fast Will-o-Wisps and Thunder Waves and Taunts, shutting down sweeps with Heart Swap, and killing itself with Curse or Memento when its job is done, all while still having a potent Shadow Ball or Psyshock to back it up. Of course, Prankster makes it even more vulnerable to Dark-types, but it's good to have weaknesses! This also means that since Scream Tail lost its Psychic-type, all types but Normal would once again be represented within the original set of Paradox Pokémon, so if that's something you care about flavourwise then this is the option for you.


Name: Braviary | Braviary-Hisui
Type: Normal / Flying | Psychic / Flying
Abilities: Gale Wings / Sheer Force / Defiant (Hidden) | Magic Guard / Sheer Heart / Tinted Lens (Hidden)
New Moves: Hyper Drill, Drill Peck, Headlong Rush, Raging Fury | Wind Breaker, Nasty Plot
Removed Moves: Brave Bird
Justification: Standard Braviary has potential, it's just not quite where it needs to be. Gale Wings ought to fix that. Now, I'll be the first to admit that Braviary ought to be Fighting / Flying, but ultimately I decided against that because Gale Wings off 123 Attack is already pretty terrifying and I don't think it needs to be neutral to Stealth Rock on top of that, plus we have a lot of Fighting / Flying-types now. Instead, it picks up a few more offensive options - Hyper Drill is a decent Normal STAB if it wants one, Drill Peck is because Brave Bird with Gale Wings is too strong, Headlong Rush is a sidegrade to Close Combat that nails Gholdengo, and Raging Fury is an all-purpose coverage option with a high ceiling even without STAB. No Swords Dance, only Bulk Up if it wants to set up, but Bulk Up is more than enough, and it can even run Pluck over Drill Peck (or alongside?) if it wants to prioritize bulk over killing power. That all said, its mediocre bulk and Speed when Gale Wings isn't active should hopefully keep it in check.

Hisuian Braviary has some potential too, but again it's just got some fundamental issues in spite of having two incredible Abilities. Magic Guard is a godsend for any Rocks-weak Pokémon, and that's a niche that hasn't been filled in this meta yet. Alongside Esper Wing and its new Nasty Plot, it becomes an utter nightmare for stall. Sheer Heart is a useful replacement for Sheer Force, accomplishing more or less the same thing (and if you want recoilless Life Orb, go Magic Guard), but importantly it's compatible with Esper Wing to boost your Speed. And of course, Tinted Lens is Tinted Lens, doing exactly what it's always done but better thanks to Nasty Plot. Altogether, this ought to give Hisuian Braviary a niche in spite of it being Kingambit food.


Name: Orthworm
Type: Steel / Water
Abilities: Earth Eater / Steely Spirit / Sand Veil (Hidden)
New Moves: Aqua Tail, Aqua Jet, Liquidation, Wave Crash, Whirlpool, Surf, Hydro Pump, Toxic, Recover
Removed Moves: None
Justification: Have you ever touched a worm? They're wet as hell. With that masterful flavour justification out of the way, let's talk Orthworm. Earth Eater is obviously still a really nice Ability, letting you sit on most Grounds not named Great Tusk, and with your new Water STABs you can actually pose a bit of a threat to them in turn. But Steely Spirit is also a great Ability, not the least of which is because thanks to that convenient halving of Electric damage, your net total of weaknesses remains the same! Not only that, but Steely Spirit means that Orthworm is not a complete momentum sink anymore, because even with no investment those Iron Heads sting, and if you're so inclined a Coil or two can really send them through the roof. Recover means you're not quite so vulnerable to getting chipped to hell and dying miserably, while Toxic furthers its ability to be a nuisance to things it can't directly threaten.

 

[Totally_Odette]

moves

Name: Groundbreaker | Overtake
Power: 70
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 15
Category: Physical
Type: Steel | Dark
Effect: This move is always super effective against Ground | Fairy type Pokemon. 10% chance to paralyze | cause flinching.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): Contact, Protect, Mirror, Punch (on Groundbreaker only)
Potential Pokémon With This Move: , , , , , , | , , , , , ,
Justification: freeze dry's pretty cool. here are two more freeze dries against two famously Pretty Good typings.

Name: Soul Search
Power: 70
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10
Category: Special
Type: Ghost
Effect: This move’s damage is calculated using the target's offensive stat against the user's defensive stat.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): Protect, Mirror
Potential Pokémon With This Move: , , ,
Justification: Literal 3am idea. Gives frailer pokemon an option for breaking through bulkier walls that might cause some issues otherwise, and helps weaker mons get some oomph behind their attacks. Also funny mixed move

items

Resub because this almost won last time
Name: Zoom Lens
Effect: If this Pokemon moves last in a turn, its move has 1.5x accuracy and it deals 1.2x damage.
Can Be Knocked Off (Yes or No): Yes
Ignored by Klutz (Yes or No): Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 20 BP, does not check accuracy
Justification: Zoom Lens is an item that I would not be shocked if you've just never heard of. There are literally zero sets on Smogon that make use of it. The original effect is that if the holder moves after its target, its moves have 1.2x accuracy. This is obviously very niche, and just generally not worth it at all. This new effect is a reimagining of my Focus Band/Lens sub from last slate, with some extra mustard in that it removes the risk of missing the move (for the most part. i realized while writing this that i didn't want to add unmissable zap cannon to the game lmao)

 

[Swagodile]

Moves

Name: Fear Pulse
Power: 60
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10
Category: Special
Type: Dark
Effect: The user channels its fear into a wave of aura that damages the foe. If the user's HP is 50% or lower, the power of this move doubles.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): [Specify which flags the move has. A full list can be found here.]
Potential Pokémon With This Move: Pretty much any Dark-type special attacker
Justification: [Explain why this move should be added]

Name: Fight or Flight
Power: N/A
Accuracy: N/A
PP: 5
Category: Status
Type: Fighting
Effect: If the user is at half HP or less, its Attack and Speed are raised by two stages each.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): [Specify which flags the move has. A full list can be found here.]
Potential Pokémon With This Move: Fighting types and birds.
Justification: [Explain why this move should be added]

Name: Tri Attack
Power: 80
Accuracy: 100%
PP: 10
Category: Special
Type: Normal
Effect: Current effect + type changes to match the user's primary type, unless that type is Fire, Electric, or Ice, in which case it becomes the user's secondary type. (I.E. If used by Hydreigon, it's a Dark type move, but if used by Magnezone, it's a Steel type move)
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): [Specify which flags the move has. A full list can be found here.]
Potential Pokémon With This Move: Current + old distribution
Justification: I always liked the idea behind this move, but it's sorely outclassed. This makes it more viable.

Name: Meteor Beam
Power: 120
Accuracy: 90%
PP: 10
Category: Special
Type: Rock
Effect: Current effect + does not need to charge during a sandstorm.
Priority: 0
Flags (ex: Contact, Sound): [Specify which flags the move has. A full list can be found here.]
Potential Pokémon With This Move: Current + old distribution
Justification: Changed to match the effect of the upcoming Electro Shot move being introduced in the Scartlet/Violet DLC.

Abilities

Name: Mentalize
Effect: The user's Normal-type moves become Psychic-type moves and are boosted by 20%.
Permanent (Yes or No): No
Mold Breaker (Yes or No): no
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:

(replaces Own Tempo)

Justification:

 

[G-Luke]

Name: Tsareena
Type:

Abilities: Seed Sower / Queenly Majesty | HA: Cute Charm
New Moves: Knock Off, Peekaboo, Axe Kick, High Horsepower, Leech Seed, Swords Dance
Justification: Buffing Tsareena so we can get a viable Seed Sower user in the metagame.


Name: Talonflame
Type:

Abilities: Flame Body | HA: Gale Wings
New Moves: Raging Fury, Pyro Ball, Extreme Speed, Close Combat, Revival Blessing, Trailblaze
Justification: Buffing Talonflame so we can get a viable Gale Wings user in the metagame.


Name: Salamence
Type:

Abilities: Intimidate / Technician | HA: Moxie
New Moves: Scale Shot, Flame Charge, Pluck
Justification: Technician Salamence so it can use it's precious Dual STAB in Scale Shot + Dual wing beat with full force as a potent set up sweeper, or honestly with a Choice Band behind it, probably hits hard as hell now.

 

[Lysion]

Moves

WIP

Items

Resub:

Name: Indecisive Orb
Effect: The holder's move have x1.2 BP, but it cannot select the same move twice in a row.
Can Be Knocked Off: Yes
Ignored by Klutz: Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 30 BP, inflicts Torment
Justification: Torment items from Sylvemons are back, with a little twist. Now, it acts more like a Life Orb than a Choice item, as well, I like them but I find the x1.2 Speed to be a bit funky. Like OG Torment items, interesting on every sweeper with setup, that has at least a bit of bulk and doesn't want it reduced by Life Orb recoil.

New stuff:

WIP

Abilities

Name: Slowed Down
Effect: If this Pokemon is holding an item, its Attack and Speed are halved.
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: Slaking
Justification: People didn't like Neutralizing Orb, so here is another attempt at making Slaking viable, and it's using Slow Mage from FEUU. Basically, you get a 160 Atk behemoth, but no item limits its potential as it means no Lefties, no Life Orb, no Choice Band...

Adjustments

Name: Lilligant | Lilligant-Hisui
Type: Grass/Fairy | Fairy/Fighting
Abilities: Chlorophyll/Sheer Heart/Healer | Chlorophyll/Hustle/Healer
New Moves: Moonblast, Fleur Cannon | Play Rough, Spirit Break, Peekaboo
Removed Moves: /
Justification: Alright, double Lilligant.
This one has a really insane damage output. Some calcs were ran on Discord and well, it can just 2HKO many sturdy mons with Specs Leaf Storm/Fleur Cannon Sheer Heart boosted. Moreover, it has Sleep Powder. On the other hand, 90 Speed is really slow, and running Quiver Dance Sheer Heart sounds kinda stupid, and Grass/Fairy/Bug coverage is easy to wall.

This one didn't need a lot. Grass/Fighting is overdone at this point so I wanted to give it a better typing, so it could have a better STAB. Otherwise, it didn't need a lot tbh, Hustle and Victory Dance are already nice tools at this point.

Note: I'm removing the Lilligant-H sub, only keeping vanilla Lilligant.

 

[Gravity Monkey]

Name: Baseball Glove
Effect: If the holder spends three turn in a row using status moves, it switches out to an ally of your choice after using the third move. If the holder is knocked out by a move, the attacker switches out to a random ally.
Can Be Knocked Off Yes
Ignored by Klutz Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 30 BP
Justification: This is both a counterpart to the Baseball Bat and a nice item for defensive pivots and HO leads. Basically something that can lend you a lot of potential momentum but that costs you lefties and hdbs. Can also save you from sweeps while also having another effect.

Name: Jaboca / Rowap Berry
Effect: Raise the holder's Attack / SpA by one stage when hit by a physical / special move. Single use.
Can Be Knocked Off Yes
Ignored by Klutz Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 10 BP
Justification: Liechi / Petaya berries available for a more attainable cost. Sort of a less feast or famine version of Weakness Policy.

 

[flareth13]

Items

Name: Destiny Knot
Effect: Any changes of the holder's stats are reflected onto the opponent.
Can Be Knocked Off (Yes or No): Yes
Ignored by Klutz (Yes or No): Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 10
Justification: Mirror Herb I don't know what you'd call it-grade. It's a multi-use item unlike Mirror Herb, but it also registers negative stat changes as well as positives, so you can't boost yourself without your opponent getting them too, but it'll punish Mons trying to lower your stats, and stat-reducing moves like Close Combat and Superpower may be fun with it.

Name: Surfboard
Effect: When holder is hit by a Water-type attack, it does 50% less damage. Single use.
Can Be Knocked Off (Yes or No): Yes
Ignored by Klutz (Yes or No): Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 40
Justification: For Ground/Fire/Rock/etc types.

Name: Nat 1 Dice
Effect: Multi-strike moves only hit the minimum amount of times
Can Be Knocked Off (Yes or No): Yes
Ignored by Klutz (Yes or No): Yes
Fling Power & Effect: 30
Justification: Trick onto Pokemon that abuse multi-strike moves like Maushold and Cloyster. A niche item for sure, but the idea of it amused me so why not.

Abilities

Name: Triage
Effect: Unchanged except for the fact it now includes Bitter Blade.
Permanent (Yes or No): No
Mold Breaker (Yes or No): No
Potential Pokémon With This Ability:

Justification: Freeage Triage.

Name: Dragon's Maw
Effect: This Pokemon's offensive stat is multiplied by 1.5 while using a Dragon-type attack.
Permanent (Yes or No): No
Mold Breaker (Yes or No): No
Potential Pokémon With This Ability: Regidrago +

(both over Ripen)

Justification: A little help for the Dragon-types with less than stellar offensive stats

Adjustments

Name: Noivern
Type: Flying/Dragon
Abilities: Frisk/Infiltrator/Punk Rock (replaces Telepathy)
New Moves: None
Removed Moves: None
Justification: I love Punk Rock and Throat Spray sets and Noivern already has the flavor and moves (Punk Rock Boomburst, anyone). Torch Song was added to lean into the flavor more as well as give Noivern a chance to boost.


Name: Wigglytuff
Type: Normal/Fairy
Abilities: Cute Charm/Competitive/Cloud Nine
New Moves: Boomburst
Removed Moves: None
Justification: small buff for Wigglytuff since it's already been buffed considerably, but some strong Normal type STAB.