Alphabet Cup

Approved by Arcticblast and Joim

Alphabet Cup
(AKA AlphabetMons or ABC)
Now playable on Joim's Lab!


What's in a name? In this metagame, quite a lot. The idea is simple: A Pokemon can learn any move if it shares the first letter in its name. For example, Venusaur can learn V-Create, Aegislash can learn Air Slash, and Regigigas can learn Recover. It's a very simple premise, and depending on the Pokemon, it can grant tremendous power, or if your name begins with Y... You get Yawn. There are a few conditions to consider in this metagame:

  • There is a one-Pokemon limit per letter. You cannot have both an Absol and an Ampharos, for example.
  • The English names of Pokemon and moves are to be used. This is because without this rule, every Pokemon gets ridiculous increases to their movesets and the meta becomes too confusing. (Thanks GoldenSandslash15 for catching this rule was missed)
  • Nicknames do not allow you to access different moves. If you call an Unown "Joim", it can't learn Jump Kick, but it can learn U-Turn.
  • You cannot inherit moves from previous evolutions. You can have an Ice Beam Ivysaur, but not an Ice Beam Venusaur.
  • The Pokemon can still use its original moveset, along with any new moves it inherits. Xatu is not restricted to X-Scissor alone!
  • Pokemon that can mega-evolve do NOT have access to M moves as well as their standard letter moves (as the simulator calls them X-Mega) All other Pokemon with changeable Formes follows this rule, they get their species name's first letter only.
  • Standard OU Banlist and clauses apply: species clause (goes without saying), OHKO clause, evasion clause, Moody clause, sleep clause.
Preliminary Banlist;
On top of the standard OU Banlist, the following Pokemon are banned, and these moves are banned unless the Pokemon learns them naturally:
  • Sketch (to prevent the metagame becoming overcentralised on Sketch. Over 100 Pokemon begin with the letter S, which is a vast portion of the game-- and SketchMons is an OM already). This quickban took place at the beginning of the metagame.
  • Swoobat (Swoobat's combination of Shell Smash and Simple allowed it to effectively 2HKO everything in the tier. Its sheer power and speed made it almost unstoppable). This ban took place after a user vote on 9th February, 2014.

Everything else is fair game for now!

For reference, here is:
A list of Pokemon in alphabetical order
A list of moves (click "Name" to sort the list alphabetically)
Both of these lists are courtesy of Bulbapedia.

For information on how ban voting will work in Alphabet Cup: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/alphabet-cup.3498167/page-3#post-5176164

Have fun folks!
 
Last edited:
This looks like tons of fun! Ampharos gains a ton of new toys like Aura Sphere Aromatherapy (even though it had Heal Bell lol). AND HOLY CRAP BEHEEYEM GETS BOOMBURST NOW
 
Last edited:
Yo, anyone want to battle in this meta? My user is Lana Del Stingrey on the main server, just send me a battle in Custom Game.

EDIT: Also, what about Pre-evos? LIke now does Jolteon get all E moves?
 
1 question- do you inherit moves that the pokemon already knows? i.e. leech seed + vcreate venusaur
Yep, you do indeed!

  • The Pokemon can still use its original moveset, along with any new moves it inherits. Xatu is not restricted to X-Scissor alone!
EDIT: To respond to Chesnaught's question:
  • You cannot inherit moves from previous evolutions. You can have an Ice Beam Ivysaur, but not an Ice Beam Venusaur.
The reason for this is to develop niches for NFE Pokemon, for example, Chansey has Cotton Guard which gives it a niche over Blissey. It's mainly to promote diversity in the tier.
 
Last edited:
Do Pokémon get moves based on foreign language names as well, or just English ones?

I assume it's just English, but you never actually said...
It is only English, and that was a major oversight on my part, whoops. I had that rule in a rough draft but it got lost somewhere, strange. I've updated the OP, thank you.
 
I will try to find as many threats as possible starting with A-M and I will find the second half later. The bold red ones are major threats.
A
Aegislash: Aqua Jet, Aqua Tail, and Attack Order
Alakazam: Aeroblast and Aura Sphere

Ampharos: Agility/Autotomize, Aeroblast, and Aura Sphere
Archeops: Aqua Jet and Attack Order
Azumarill: Agility/Autotomize, and Attack Order
B
Banette: Barrier, Baton Pass, Belly Drum, and Bulk Up

Barbaracle: Belly Drum, Blaze Kick, Bolt Strike, Brave Bird, and Bulk Up
Beheeyem: Blue Flare, Boomburst, and Bug Buzz

Bebarel: Barrier, Baton Pass, Belly Drum, and Bulk Up
Bisharp: Belly Drum, Blaze Kick, Bolt Strike, Bonemerang, Brave Bird, Bulk Up, and Bullet Punch

C
Chandelure: Calm Mind and Chatter
Chansey: Chatter, Circle Throw, Clear Smog, and Cotton Guard
Charizard: Calm Mind, Chatter, Close Combat, Crabhammer, Crunch, and Crush Claw
Cinccino: Close Combat, and Crabhammer
Clawitzer: Calm Mind, and Chatter
Claydol: Circle Throw, Clear Smog, and Cotton Guard
Clefable: Chatter, Circle Throw, Clear Smog, and Cotton Guard
Cloyster: Close Combat and Crabhammer
Cobalion: Crabhammer, Crunch, Crush Claw, and Curse
Conkeldurr: Circle Throw, Crabhammer, and Crunch
Crobat: Chatter, Circle Throw, and Clear Smog
D
Darmanitan: Dark Void, Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance, and Drain Punch
Deoxys-Defense: Dark Void, Defog, Destiny Bond, and Dragon Tail
Deoxys-Speed: Dark Void, Defog, Destiny Bond, Disable, and Dragon Tail

Diggersby: Dark Void, Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance, and Drain Punch
Donphan: Dark Void, Dragon Tail, and Drain Punch
Dragonite: Dark Void, and Drain Punch
Dugtrio: Dark Void, Defog, Destiny Bond, Disable, Dragon Dance, Dragon Tail, and Drain Punch
Dusclops: Dark Void, Defog, Dragon Tail, and Drain Punch
E
Escavalier: Earthquake, Explosion, and Extreme Speed
Espeon: Earth Power, Energy Ball, and Eruption
Excadrill: Extreme Speed
F
Florges: Fiery Dance, Focus Blast, Freeze Dry, and Fusion Flare
G
Galvantula: Geomancy
Genesect: Gear Grind, Geomancy, Giga Drain, and Gunk Shot
Gengar: Geomancy
Greninja: Geomancy, Giga Drain, Heart Swap, and Hurricane

H
Haxorus: Head Smash, Heart Swap, High Jump Kick, and Horn Leech
Heatran: Heal Order, Heart Swap, and Hydro Pump
Heliolisk: Heart Swap, Heat Wave, and Hydro Pump
Herracross: Head Smash, High Jump Kick, and Horn Leech
Houndoom: Heart Swap and Hydro Pump
Hydreigon: Heart Swap, High Jump Kick, Horn Leech, and Hydro Pump
I
Infirnape: Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Ice Shard, and Iron Head

J
Jolteon: Judgment
K
Klefki: King's Shield
L
Latias: Lava Plume, Leech Seed, and Lovely kiss
M
Machamp: Megahorn and Meteor Mash
Magnezone: Magma Storm, Mega Drain, and Moonblast
Malamar: Mach punch, Megahorn, and Milk Drink/Moonlight/Morning Sun
Mamoswine: Mach Punch, Megahorn, and Meteor Mash
Manectric: Mega Drain and Moonblast
Mawile: Mach Punch, Megahorn, and Meteor Mash
 
In your list: Why the heck does Greninja have Heart Swap and Hurricane?
Speaking of H, all of them now have reliable recovery in Heal Order, which is nice.
...oh gosh Heal Order Heatran.
 
Tail Glow Typhlosion and Togekiss....
Shell Smash Salamence and Scizor (Also Sacred fire for Ferro/Forre)
Spore Sableye
Recover for Rotom Forms, Regi thingys, Raikou (Calm Mind)
and the list goes on and on... Seriously, I think this Meta has a lot of potential
 
Some possible nuisances:

Wish Wobbuffet
- Gives it a way to heal itself.
Shell Smash Staraptor
- Almost unresisted STAB, hits insanely hard.
- Sucker Punch messes with most priority moves.
- Sacred Fire messes with Aegislash.
Shell Smash Sigilyph
- Mono attacking Stored Power sets have an easier time sweeping with this once dark types are out of the picture.
- Can now run Secret Sword to plough through dark types though 4MSS is a problem.
U-Turn Ursaring
- Is a viable option for quick feet sets to stop poison from building up and to gain momentum.
Topsy-Turvy
- Tornadus-I and Thundurus-I both get priority with it.
Tail Glow
- Thundurus-I, Tornadus-I, Togekiss, Tentacruel, Toxicroak and Typhlosion appear to be viable users.
Toxic Spikes
- Throh, Tangrowth, Torkoal, Togekiss, Tornadus-I, Thundurus-I, Torterra and Tyranitar appear to be viable users
 

Expulso

Morse code, if I'm talking I'm clicking
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Social Media Contributor Alumnus
mallpal ugh the alliteration make it stop

Bouffalant:
- Head Charge
- Brave Bird
- Bolt Strike
- Earthquake / Blue Flare

Heracross:
- Megahorn
- Hi Jump Kick
- Head Smash
- Earthquake / Heat Crash (idk its weight, not sure if this one is viable)
 
  • The English names of Pokemon are to be used. For example, Mandibuzz is known as Vulgina in romanised Japanese, but won't be able to access V moves. (Thanks GoldenSandslash15 for catching this rule was missed)
It wouldn't be able to anyways. No move starts with "V" in Japanese (as "V" is not a Japanese character), and Mandibuzz's name starts with バ anyways (which is honestly closer to a "B" sound than a "V" sound).

If we were allowing multi-lingual names, though, this is what I meant:

In Mandibuzz's case, this gives it the following Japanese moves: Snarl, Superpower, Dynamic Punch, Baton Pass, Bubble Beam, Barrier, Bullet Punch.

It gets Spore and Endure from Korea.

Its German name gets it After You, Shift Gear, Calm Mind, Bide, Freeze-Dry, Reversal, Payback, Secret Power, Recover, Fissure, Geomancy, Seismic Toss, Sing, Present, Chatter, Foresight, Assurance, Glare, Venom Drench, Poison Jab, Poison Powder, Venoshock, Poison Tail, Toxic Spikes, Poison Sting, Cross Poison, Poison Gas, Poison Fang, Giga Drain, Giga Impact, Ember, Happy Hour, Grassy Terrain, Grass Whistle, Leaf Tornado, Scary Face, Spite, Guillotine, Gyro Ball, and Yawn.

Its French name gives it Psywave, Draining Kiss, Leech Seed, Drain Punch, Leech Life, Swagger, Revenge, Retaliate, Silver Wind, Tailwind, Fairy Wind, Ice Wind, Ominous Wind, Hurricane, Fairy Lock, Lock-On, Heal Pulse, Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Crafty Shield, Extreme Speed, Quick Attack, Mirror Coat, Disarming Voice, Fly, Magnet Rise, Absorb, Magma Storm, Frenzy Plant, Wish, and Healing Wish.

Italy gives it Dazzling Gleam, Magic Room, Mystical Fire, Sacred Fire, Magic Coat, Magma Storm, Magnet Rise, Magnitude, Pain Split, Curse, Mean Look, Dream Eater, Smelling Salts, Heat Crash, Inferno, Crabhammer, Hammer Arm, Morning Sun, Wood Hammer, Meditate, Mega Kick, Megahorn, Mega Punch, Mega Drain, Grass Whistle, Memento, Metal Burst, Iron Head, Meteor Mash, Metronome, String Shot, Mimic, Minimize, Wonder Room, Miracle Eye, Pin Missile, Parting Shot, Bite, Seismic Toss, Whirlpool, and Smokescreen.

Its Spanish name gives it the moves Hammer Arm, Magnitude, Mean Look, Curse, Leer, Mirror Coat, Nasty Plot, Crabhammer, Cosmic Power, Wood Hammer, Meditate, Mega Drain, Megahorn, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Weather Ball, Metronome, Mimic, Destiny Bond, Taunt, Nuzzle, Bite, Mirror Move, Seismic Toss, Glaciate, and Psych Up.

And, of course, its English name gives it Mach Punch, Magic Coat, Magic Room, Magical Leaf, Magma Storm, Magnet Bomb, Magnet Rise, Magnetic Flux, Magnitude, Mat Block, Me First, Mean Look, Meditate, Mega Drain, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Megahorn, Memento, Metal Burst, Metal Claw, Metal Sound, Meteor Mash, Metronome, Milk Drink, Mimic, Mind Reader, Minimize, Miracle Eye, Mirror Coat, Mirror Move, Mirror Shot, Mist, Mist Ball, Misty Terrain, Moonblast, Moonlight, Morning Sun, Mud Bomb, Mud Shot, Mud Sport, Mud-Slap, Muddy Water, and Mystical Fire.
Aaaand after taking the time to write that out, now I see why you kept it to just English. Makes things a lot easier.
 

AWailOfATail

viva la darmz
Recover Regis. And Rotom. Let the nightmares begin.
Spore Sableye tho.
Aqua Jet FEAR Aron.
Hi Jump Kick Heracross.
Belly Drum + Bullet Punch all B's.
This meta is either going to be full stall or hyper offense. Maybe a mix. But I'm totally in.

EDIT: Someone mentioned Simple Shell Smash Swoobat. Scary enough on its own. What if we gave it Stored Power?
 
Last edited:
stored power swoobat can ohko blissey after one shell smash if modest. secret sword for coverage on dark types pretty much lets it annihilate the metagame.

also, gliscor can now baton pass geomancy and doesn't really have to worry about the wasted turn
 
Last edited:
mallpal said:
stored power swoobat can ohko blissey after one shell smash if modest. secret sword for coverage on dark types pretty much lets it annihilate the metagame.
+4 252 SpA Swoobat Stored Power (260 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 688-811 (96.3 - 113.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Actually, it can OHKO after SR even with a Timid nature.


+4 252+ SpA Swoobat Stored Power (260 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 628-741 (89.2 - 105.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

This, on the other hand, is utterly terrifying.

Swoobat is still weak to Sucker Punch, so it isn't perfect, but it can also run Sucker Punch itself, which should outspeed pretty much everything at +4. Might be something worth considering...
 
Guys.

Slack off Snorlax.

As awesome as that sounds, sadly everything else that starts with an S also sounds to be very promising to the dismay of the poor bear. Moves like spore, slack off, stone edge, shell smash, shift gear, sacred fire, seed flare and surf all look to make a very dangerous Poke. I can see Salamence being the go-to option for these moves too due to those mixed stats to abuse those moves with.
 
Exploud can Extreme Speed while not being walled by Ghosts in case that slow speed is a hindrance.

Also Earthquake Entei, because fuck Heatran! Also it gains the ability to use ES with a different nature if I'm not mistaken.
 
I have a question, if I teach Ralts Rapid Spin, but then evolve it and teach is Knock Off, then evolve it to Gardevoir and teach it Giga Drain would that be legal? Do they count Pre-Evos or just the final stage?
 

canno

formerly The Reptile
Slaking got a pretty big buff with a new move in its arsenal - Skill Swap. Skill Swap Slaking is a really great pokemon on paper, as it can get rid of its horrible ability Truant in one move. The beauty of it is that even though it's predictable, you almost always cripple a pokemon for a short while. It also got Shift Gear and Shell Smash as a boosting moves. It also gets Spore and Sacred Fire, but it already has 4MSS (Skill Swap is a must have, and Return is for STAB), but here's a pretty neat set.

Slaking @ Silk Scarf / Life Orb
Ability: Truant
EVs: 112 Spd / 252 Atk / 144 HP
Adamant Nature / Naughty Nature
- Skill Swap
- Shift Gear / Shell Smash
- Return
- Shadow Claw / Shadow Ball

This is Slakings boosting set. It's really a 2-turn set-up, since you need to Skill Swap and then SG or SS, but damn is this thing strong after that. 112 Spd lets Slaking outspeed base 110 scarfers at +2. 144 plus its insane bulk is amazing. Normal and Ghost is Slakings best bet for a 2 coverage option. Shell Smash and Shadow Ball can be used to allow Slaking to go mixed (it has a decent base 95 SpA). Another set to consider is a basic all-out attacker set.


Slaking @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Skill Swap
- Return
- Shadow Claw / Sacred Fire / Spore
- Sacred Sword / Sacred Fire / Spore

Pretty simple set, just switch in, Skill Swap, then hit hard with a base 160 Atk. It has Sacred Sword to round out the coverage with Shadow Claw, although Sacred Fire is an option over any of them. Spore is also an option here to cripple things, as Return + Shadow Claw has pretty good coverage on its own.

The main issue Slaking has is its overreliance on Skill Swap and predictability, as it has to more often than not go for a Skill Swap turn one (of course, you could go into mind games and hit a fighting-type on the switch with Return hard, but it's a lot riskier for you to predict that since if you do you have Truant next turn.) but I think that it is viable.
 
It wouldn't be able to anyways. No move starts with "V" in Japanese (as "V" is not a Japanese character), and Mandibuzz's name starts with バ anyways (which is honestly closer to a "B" sound than a "V" sound).

If we were allowing multi-lingual names, though, this is what I meant:



Aaaand after taking the time to write that out, now I see why you kept it to just English. Makes things a lot easier.
Yeah, I updated that rule again with reasoning rather than an example. Hopefully that'll be fine now.
Guys.

Slack off Snorlax.

As awesome as that sounds, sadly everything else that starts with an S also sounds to be very promising to the dismay of the poor bear. Moves like spore, slack off, stone edge, shell smash, shift gear, sacred fire, seed flare and surf all look to make a very dangerous Poke. I can see Salamence being the go-to option for these moves too due to those mixed stats to abuse those moves with.
Hooray! Someone finally noticed how horribly broken the S group is!
Seriously, S get everything they could want: tons of boosting moves (Shell Smash, Shift Gear, SD), Spore (Sableye could be horrible with this, but it has three mandatory moves and doesn't like taunt), Slack Off and Synthesis to recover, hazards such as Sticky Web and Stealth rock, and avast array of attacking moves. Oh and Synchronoise. I'm... Still not sure why that exists...

Basically, if you're in S and don't have anything to make yourself awesome... You're probably a Sunkern or Scatterbug. And even then you can make a good to at being threatening for a turn before you're eliminated.

I was not bloody allowing these things get Sketch too
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 2)

Top