Metagame SM PU Alpha (playable on PS!)

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pancake

movement and location
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I'm not saying it will be good in PU because it is used in Ubers i was replying to


The only issues with the post is that it was 6am when I made it. The point still stands that the Eevee set lives a lot of hits showing the threats in PU. The calc for Golem was just to show bulk rather than anything else.

The rest of the calcs I see are legit.
First of all:

252+ Atk Golem Explosion vs. +2 0 HP / 0 Def Eevee: 245-289 (97.6 - 115.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

It actually kills. You calced it with Eviolite. Plus the best Golem sets right now are CB (which kills with earthquake probably) and SpDef (which lives and 2HKO's); the rest of the calcs are also invalid because not only is Audino not great in the current meta, nor Regice, but both of them will invest in SpDef and SpA respectively, with Regice's Life Orb Focus Blast having a chance to OHKO Eevee.

Ubers is not PU. In the Ubers metagame, Eevee has a niche of being able to Baton Pass stat boosts (I think???? not even sure lol). However, this is not true in the PU metagame, as Baton Pass clause prevents this. Here, +2 Frustration fails to OHKO most things because Eevee is weak and most teams are packing a Normal resist that can easily take on Eevee 1v1, and the offensive teams that aren't can put enough offensive pressure on Eevee in order for it to not be able to set up.

Finally, using "I posted this at 6 am" as an excuse to post subpar, deceiving content that is irrelevant is not a good excuse. Next time, wait until later and have quality replays to showcase why Eevee is good, or don't post at all.

^^
 
First of all:

252+ Atk Golem Explosion vs. +2 0 HP / 0 Def Eevee: 245-289 (97.6 - 115.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

It actually kills. You calced it with Eviolite. Plus the best Golem sets right now are CB (which kills with earthquake probably) and SpDef (which lives and 2HKO's); the rest of the calcs are also invalid because not only is Audino not great in the current meta, nor Regice, but both of them will invest in SpDef and SpA respectively, with Regice's Life Orb Focus Blast having a chance to OHKO Eevee.

Ubers is not PU. In the Ubers metagame, Eevee has a niche of being able to Baton Pass stat boosts (I think???? not even sure lol). However, this is not true in the PU metagame, as Baton Pass clause prevents this. Here, +2 Frustration fails to OHKO most things because Eevee is weak and most teams are packing a Normal resist that can easily take on Eevee 1v1, and the offensive teams that aren't can put enough offensive pressure on Eevee in order for it to not be able to set up.

Finally, using "I posted this at 6 am" as an excuse to post subpar, deceiving content that is irrelevant is not a good excuse. Next time, wait until later and have quality replays to showcase why Eevee is good, or don't post at all.

^^
The replay was not at all meant to display Eevee in a showcase but rather to show i've used it and am aware of its item. I didn't say its ubers set correlates to the PU set. People are jumping to conclusions.

I stated that the only calc made irrelevant by the eviolite is Golem so of course you pick what i've already said to try and pull me apart even though the other calcs are legit.

The excuse for 6am was more for the mistakes rather than poor analysis. If you were to kill off all Ghost, Steel and Rock types then Eevee would sweep. It does kill almost everything and what is too bulky it can sub on.

You picked the replay that i already explained was just proof i've used Eevee and know the move and you picked explosion which I already said in the chat that is the only irrelevant calc after taking away eviolite.

Now you could talk about how good Eevee would be in PU with a core that beats steel/rock/ghost such as Pawniard or you can keep circlejerking about the couple of mistakes I made in order to get likes for your posts?

Lets try to not bash people for no reason thanks.
 
The replay was not at all meant to display Eevee in a showcase but rather to show i've used it and am aware of its item. I didn't say its ubers set correlates to the PU set. People are jumping to conclusions.

I stated that the only calc made irrelevant by the eviolite is Golem so of course you pick what i've already said to try and pull me apart even though the other calcs are legit.

The excuse for 6am was more for the mistakes rather than poor analysis. If you were to kill off all Ghost, Steel and Rock types then Eevee would sweep. It does kill almost everything and what is too bulky it can sub on.

You picked the replay that i already explained was just proof i've used Eevee and know the move and you picked explosion which I already said in the chat that is the only irrelevant calc after taking away eviolite.

Now you could talk about how good Eevee would be in PU with a core that beats steel/rock/ghost such as Pawniard or you can keep circlejerking about the couple of mistakes I made in order to get likes for your posts?

Lets try to not bash people for no reason thanks.
They are not bashing you, you just made some dumb post without any good analysis or investigation, go back to eat some food and process what you wrote. also normalium doesnt give eve extre evobosst
 
A Pokemon that I will be building around in PU early on is Extreme Evoboost Eevee.

Eevee @ Eevium Z
Ability: Adaptability
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Last Resort
- Sing
- Substitute

This set in PU should out-speed a lot of sweepers and 2hko a lot of physical walls.

+2 252 Atk Adaptability Eevee Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Audino: 206-244 (50.2 - 59.5%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Adaptability Eevee Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Regice: 188-222 (51.7 - 61.1%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Adaptability Eevee Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Vullaby: 150-178 (43.6 - 51.7%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Adaptability Eevee Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 192-226 (55.8 - 65.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Adaptability Eevee Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Prinplup: 158-188 (47.5 - 56.6%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Adaptability Eevee Last Resort vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Tangela: 156-184 (46.7 - 55%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


This Pokemon would be great paired with Life Orb Pawniard as Eevee will have a lot more freedom as it is unable to break through Pokemon such as Metang, Regirock, Probopass or pretty much any Ghost, Steel or Rock type.

It can also take hits from a Pokemon too. As it gets the +2 to all stats. Here are a couple of examples;
252+ Atk Iron Fist Monferno Mach Punch vs. +2 0 HP / 0 Def Eevee: 108-128 (43 - 50.9%) -- 3.5% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Stoutland Return vs. +2 0 HP / 0 Def Eevee: 211-250 (84 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Mr. Mime Focus Blast vs. +2 0 HP / 0 SpD Eevee: 156-184 (62.1 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

NOTE: I am not saying it will be invincible, i'm not saying it will break every wall, i'm not saying it will live everything. I am also not taking in much consideration for other 'potential' PU mons.

As i said at the start of the post A Pokemon that I will be building around in PU early on is Extreme Evoboost Eevee.
I also said it is unable to break through Pokemon such as Metang, Regirock, Probopass or pretty much any Ghost, Steel or Rock type.

Yes maybe uploading at 6am wasn't the greatest think in the world but other than literally a couple of mistakes the analysis was not bad...
The hostility I received would most likely deter people from caring about PU as I've read a lot of discussion threads and been apart of some too and none of which people jump out and criticise every last word even if it's irrelevant to the post.

The Golem calc was 100% irrelevant to the overall point of the post. It being in the post or not did not change anything about it. It is IMO a potential PU threat as long as you have the support to kill the 3 types mentioned it will be a good Pokemon to use.

I hope I lived up to all your standards...
 

SergioRules

||blimp||
is a Community Contributor
Swords Dance

Silvally-Flying @ Flying Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Fire Fang/Crunch

I skipped a specially based set because even though it does get Air Slash, we are gonna get all sorts of specially attacking birds in the Oricorios and Swanna, which very much outclass it. While Swords Dance sets still are not that good due to the SR weakness, it gets good coverage to hit Flying Resists (Iron Head for Golem, Fire Fang and Crunch for steels), and Flying is always a dangerous STAB type so can still probably have some success.
As much as I agree that a special flying set is outclassed by others, I don't think it has a definite niche over other flying types with its much better bulk and coverage.

Silvally-Flying @ Flying Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature OR Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Surf
- Flamethrower
- Parting Shot

I figured this would be a good set as it goes along the same lines as your physical set, covering flying's not very effective hits but with Surf and Flamethrower instead of Iron Head and Fire Fang. Surf more reliably deals with Golem as it OHKOs once Sturdy is broken while Iron Head isn't even a 2HKO without a boost.

252 Atk Silvally Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Golem: 112-134 (37.2 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Silvally Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Golem: 496-584 (164.7 - 194%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Flamethrower is a better answer to things like defensive Mawile, Metang and Ferroseed than Fire Fang is. Also by not running SD you can run the coveted Parting Shot that makes Silvally such a great pivot (with hazard control of course). Should also be noted that Surf means you aren't walled by Stunfisk, but I haven't really seen much of him lately.
I do agree that you could run the alternatives of Swanna and Oricorio and they also have good traits, but I definitely think special flying Silvally has some nice uses and enough bulk to live some neutral hits the others can't.
 
Silvally Sets Compendium

This needed to be done sooner or later. Below I’ve listed all the viable sets I could come up with for each of the possible Silvally forms, as well as an explanation of each set. Overall, it’s a pokemon that I am really excited to use. Although it is not overpowering in any way it still has a lot of things that make it fun to use- the very solid bulk and knock off “resistance”, the versatility of sets, great momentum generator with Parting Shot, and its unpredictability on Team Preview (you don’t know which form it is).

Special Attacker

Silvally @ Darkium Z / Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Surf
- Parting Shot

Silvally-Normal makes a surprisingly good special attacker because of its movepool. Between Tri-Attack, Flamethrower, and Surf you have perfect coverage to hit typical normal resists like Golem and Metang, and dedicated special walls can be simply stunted on with Parting Shot. Darkium Z is a fantastic item for this set because it lets you Healing Wish one of your teammates with parting shot, although it does come with a serious lack of power that could be provided by Life Orb or Specs instead.

Choice Band

Silvally @ Choice Band
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- U-turn
- Crunch
- Pursuit/Parting Shot/Fire Fang

Physical Silvally faces a lot of competition from various normal-types, such as Stoutland, Ursaring, and Zangoose. But it can still have a niche on teams due to not only its high bulk, but its access to a powerful U-turn (when equipped with Cb), as well as unpredictability. While it can no means break walls as well as the more common normal-type attackers, it still hits fairly hard and has good coverage to hit a majority of the tier.

Swords Dance (+ zboom)

Silvally @ Normalium Z/Lum Berry/Life Orb
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Crunch
- Explosion/Fire Fang/Iron Head

Swords Dance Silvally is an interesting although niche set, that differentiates itself from the likes of SD Zangoose and Ursaring with its high bulk (and being free of damage-inducing orbs) and its lure factor. Crunch smacks ghosts and Fire Fang breaks through Ferroseed and Mawile. Iron Head can be used to hit Golem. It also has access to a very powerful tech in Z-Explosion, which basically has the power of explosion but it doesn't die. So overall it just flattens everything.

Overall Silvally-normal is one of the better Silvally forms because it is highly unpredictable and the physical and special sets can lure each others’ counters.

Bad Fat Ninjask

Silvally-Bug @ Bug Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Parting Shot/Swords Dance
- Fire Fang/Flamethrower
- Return

This thing is pretty awful tbh. It has no special-type Bug STAB but as a physical attacker it’s really outclassed by the other physical Silvally forms. The only thing it has going for it is its access to STAB U-turn, but yeah… I wouldn’t use it.

Pursuit Support

Silvally-Dark @ Dark Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn/Return
- Pursuit
- Parting Shot
- Multi-Attack

This thing is interesting because of its access to a fast and semi-powerful Pursuit. It also has neat techs in Parting Shot and U-turn, so it’s not that easy to switch into with the good neutral Dark coverage. I would shy away from using SD though, because Ghost and Fighting do it better with much better neutral coverage, and so does Pawniard.

Drop Draco

Silvally-Dragon @ Dragon Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon/Metal Sound
- Parting Shot

One of my favorite sets to use. Because of access to Draco, Silvally-Dragon is actually reasonably powerful, and it has the coverage to back it up with Flamethrower to hit steels. In addition, Draco works really nicely with Parting Shot to prevent you from losing momentum after dropping one. Flash Cannon can be used to hit Fairies, although it’s weak, and Metal Sound is a really neat Tech because it forces switches which works great with Draco and Parting Shot.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Dragon @ Dragon Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Fire Fang
- Iron Head

Honestly I’m not sure how viable this is because I think Fraxure does it better for the most part. But Dragon is good neutral coverage and typing for setting up, and Silvally does have several niches over Fraxure (Iron Head, bulk, can take knock off).

Special Attacker

Silvally-Electric @ Electric Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Parting Shot
- Metal Sound/Surf/Flamethrower

This is one of the more interesting special attacking Silvallys because of the neat Boltbeam coverage. Unfortunately it is overshadowed by Rotom-F as well as other electrics like A-Raichu because of their superior power, but Parting Shot and high bulk is always neat. Metal Sound is the suggested slash because you already have near perfect coverage and it allows you to break through pokemon like SpD Clefairy and Audino. However, if you are weak to Camerupt or Rotom-F, you can use Surf or Flamethrower respectively.

As far as SD, I would stay away from that because Electric is not the best STAB move for neutral coverage and it struggles heavily vs bulky ground types no matter what you do.

Mixed Offensive

Silvally-Fairy @ Fairy Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Parting Shot
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Rock Slide/Thunder Wave

Fairy as usual is an interesting typing defensively because it can check Fighting and Dark-types at the same time. With good mixed coverage, Silvally can check these pokemon while still being relatively threatening to switch into. Flamethrower is its strongest move against Steel-types, and Rock Slide hits Fire-Types hard. Alternately, you could just paralyze switch-ins.

Defensive

Silvally-Fairy @ Fairy Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Rest
- Sleep Talk/Parting Shot

Defensive Fairy-Silvally can hard counter a lot of physical attackers due to its typing and bulk, and unlike its cousin Clefairy, it does not care about Knock Off. You can run Rest and Sleep Talk or Parting Shot over Sleep Talk if you are running it with a Heal Bell user. Still probably won’t be a great pokemon due to lack of reliable recovery but can probably come in useful.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Fairy @ Fairy Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Fire Fang
- Crunch/Return

SD Silvally-Fairy may not be the most threatening of the SD Silvallys offensively, but it can still hold its own in a battle with appropriate support. Many common steel-types can be taken down by a boosted Fire Fang or a Crunch (Metang/Bronzor), while a boosted Return can do serious damage to the likes of Muk and Rapidash. The main point of SD Silvally-Fairy is it can be a good win-condition while also providing role compression as a Dark/Fighting check.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Fighting @ Fighting Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Crunch
- Rock Slide/Iron Head

Not much to say here. Fighting is always a good typing offensively, and Silvally-Fighting naturally makes one of the best Swords Dance users. It has great coverage with Crunch to hit ghosts, and Rock Slide to hit Flying-types, or Iron Head to hit Fairy-types. It also finds plenty of opportunities to set up due to its high bulk and taking absolute zero from Knock Off.

Special Attacker

Silvally-Fire @ Fire Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Parting Shot

Silvally-Fire’s an interesting special attacker due to its super neat coverage. Tbolt hits waters and Surf hits opposing Fires and rocks. It still faces a ton of competition from the more powerful Simisear but the nice bulk, coverage, and access to Parting Shot carve it a decent enough niche.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Fire @ Fire Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Rock Slide
- Return

What makes Silvally-Fire stand out as a Swords Dance user is its good speed and immunity to Wisp. Between Multi-Attack, Rock Slide, and Return, it also has very decent coverage (Return is chosen as the strongest neutral hit on waters and dragons). However, it still faces very heavy competition from the stronger and deadlier Monferno, so I would only use it on teams that want its speed tier or its Knock Off “resistance”.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Flying @ Flying Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Fire Fang/Crunch

I skipped a specially based set because even though it does get Air Slash, we are gonna get all sorts of specially attacking birds in the Oricorios and Swanna, which very much outclass it. While Swords Dance sets still are not that good due to the SR weakness, it gets good coverage to hit Flying Resists (Iron Head for Golem, Fire Fang and Crunch for steels), and Flying is always a dangerous STAB type so can still probably have some success.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Ghost @ Ghost Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- U-turn/X-Scissor
- Parting Shot

Swords Dance Silvally-Ghost is really cool as Ghost has fantastic neutral coverage, and complimented with Bug-type coverage, you can hit pretty much all ghost resists hard. It sets up easily due to having essentially only one weakness (opposing ghosts), and can run a free momentum move in Parting Shot in the last slot due to perfect coverage. All around really solid set.

Special Attacker

Silvally-Ghost @ Ghost Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave/Ice Beam
- Parting Shot

Special Attacking Silvally-Ghost isn’t bad either, it’s sort of like a pivot Misdreavus that isn’t dependant on Eviolite. It’s also quite weak, but that should be okay when you have your resists and good bulk to rely on. Defensive sets are better done by Gourgeist-Super and other ghosts who actually have Will-o-Wisp.

Mixed Attacker

Silvally-Grass @ Grass Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naïve/Hasty Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Parting Shot
- Thunder Wave/Surf

Grass is a weird one, since its not too good at SD (being walled by bulky grasses, poisons, fires, etc), and all its best coverage comes on the special spectrum yet gets a physical STAB. Therefore, a mixed set is the best one to take advantage of its pros over other grasses (Flamethrower, Parting Shot, T-wave, Surf), all of which are unheard of for Grass Types. It still faces heavy competition as an offensive grass though, and defensively it still is nothing compared to the likes of Gourgeist and Tangela.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Ground @ Ground Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Rock Slide
- Crunch

Ground Silvally is useful, since fast Ground types are always neat for Volt Switch and T-wave immunities. Swords Dance is a very natural fit here since it has access to the fantastic combination of EdgeQuake. Between Edgequake and Crunch for Bronzor, the only real pokemon that wall you are bulky grass-types, which is a shame but can be removed with support.

You can also run a mixed attacking set with Ice Beam/Flamethrower to lure bulky grasses but it really doesn’t hit hard enough to be a good lure (if you invest in SpA your ground STAB turns pathetically weak), and besides I think that the other Specially attacking sets like Electric, Water, and Dragon outclass it.

Special Attacker

Silvally-Ice @ Ice Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Surf/Flamethrower
- Parting Shot

Silvally is an interesting Ice type because it gets the coverage to lure out typical Ice-type checks. Tbolt gets water types, Surf gets fire-types, Flamethrower hits opposing Ices, and backed by solid bulk and Parting Shot it can be a pain to deal with. With that being said, the ice-typing is also poor defensively and weak to rocks so in many situations another Special-Attacking Silvally would do better.

Swords Dance unfortunately is not so good because being an Ice-type severely limits its setup opportunities compared to other SD Silvallys and its coverage is only mediocre for SD.

Defensive

Silvally-Poison @ Poison Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Rest
- Sleep Talk/Parting Shot

Just like fairy, Poison is an interesting defensive typing in many ways as it lets Silvally become a great check to Fighting and Grass types. Therefore, it can pull off a successful defensive set. Flamethrower allows it to not be totally walled by steels, and if you are running Heal Bell support, Parting Shot can be a neat option over Sleep Talk.

Mixed Offensive

Silvally-Poison @ Poison Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Surf/Ice Beam
- Parting Shot

Silvally-Poison can also run a mixed offensive set to not only take advantage of its good typing, but also lure typical poison-type checks. Multi-Attack is the strong STAB move, Flamethrower can hit Steel types, Surf can hit Golem, and Ice Beam hits Gabite/Vibrava. Parting Shot as always is a nice momentum move to have, especially when you can force out many pokemon with your good resists and coverage.

I chose not to include a Swords Dance set because I feel it is fairly outclassed by Arbok due to worse coverage and lack of priority (although it does have better bulk and speed). It is also too weak to take care of all the typical poison-type counters with Ice Fang, which a mixed set can deal with better.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Psychic @ Psychic Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Crunch
- U-turn/X-Scissor

Silvally-Psychic is unique because it is one of the few physical Psychic-types. And it makes surprisingly good use of Swords Dance. Between Multi-Attack, Crunch, and bug coverage, it can hit pretty much all common psychic-type checks really hard. In addition, it can function as a check to opposing Psychic types as well as Fighting-types like Monferno, and with the Knock Off “resist” to take care of one of its major weaknesses it is very difficult to take out in one hit.

Paraflinch

Silvally-Rock @ Rock Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Head/Crunch
- Parting Shot

Silvally Rock is kind of mediocre because it lacks good coverage- access to Earthquake would have saved it but it is very difficult for it to hit common rock resists like Steel and Fighting types. As a Swords Dance user it is therefore mainly outclassed by Fighting and Ground form Silvallys. It still has access to the neat combination of Rock Slide and T-wave for flinching though, and it can abuse its Rock Typing to check normal type pokemon to some extent. Iron Head and Crunch are options for coverage to hit Golem and Metang, respectively.

Specially Defensive

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Thunder Wave/Rest
- Parting Shot/Sleep Talk

Silvally Steel makes a good defensive pokemon because steel as always is a useful defensive typing. What differentiates Silvally from its Steel-type brethren like Bronzor and Metang is its lack of a Knock Off and dark-type weakness, as well as to Trick. This can be quite useful in many situations. In addition it has high speed and the ability to pivot. This is more of really two different sets, but I’ve slashed things cause I’m lazy. SpD pivot to use on offense and disrupt opponents with T-wave and Parting Shot, and Rest-Talk to use on defensive teams. 16 Spe allows you to outspeed Modest/Adamant Base 65 speed pokemon like Glaceon and Sandslash.

Special Attacker

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Parting Shot
- Surf/Metal Sound/Thunder Wave

Not surprisingly, Silvally-Steel can also pull off an offensive set. Although this set does not hit very hard, it should still be able to put in work in a lot of battles with its good coverage and utility in checking Psychic, Grass, and Normal type pokemon. Surf is a neat coverage move to hit Fire-types, Metal Sound lets you break through Clefairy and Audino easily, and T-wave is just a great catch-all for anything faster than you.

CroVally

Silvally-Water @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 104 SpD / 44 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Iron Head

Swords Dance Rest-Talk Silvally seems like an interesting, although niche, win condition. The reason it (probably) works on Steel is because of its various immunities and resists. This spread has enough speed to outspeed Stoutland, and enough bulk to take on Life Orb Rotom-Frost and Floatzel as well as live a CB Stout’s Superpower from full, among other things. Klang is probably a better choice most of the time but this has the niche of not being weak to Knock Off or Trick.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Fire Fang
- Crunch

Offensive Swords Dance is also a decent option because Steel-Silvally gets easy setup opportunities. However it cannot break through Ground-types besides Golem all that well, or bulkier Fire/Water types, so it is probably one of the worse of the SD sets. Still, with its bulk and typing it can be a threat to a good number of teams. (and as a bonus its checks are lured and used as setup bait by the previous set).

Special Attacker

Silvally-Water @ Water Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Parting Shot

Silvally-Water is able to pull off a great special set because of its great super-effective coverage. Surf hits grounds, rocks, and fires. Flamethrower hits grasses and steels. Finally, Tbolt covers opposing waters and flying types. Barely any pokemon is untouched by this, and if it is Silvally can always just pivot out with Parting Shot.

Swords Dance

Silvally-Water @ Water Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly/Naive Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Return
- X-Scissor/Substitute/Flamethrower

Although not amazing, Silvally-Water can also pull off a Swords Dance set. Physical waters have always had a decent niche in lower tier metas and Silvally is able to stand out from Floatzel and Basculin with its access to Swords Dance (over Kingler/Bibarel it has high speed and special bulk). Although this set is still walled by Gourgeist and Tangela, it should do reasonably well against most teams without those pokemon. Water + Normal coverage is decent, and X-Scissor can hit a few grass types like Leafeon and Lurantis. Substitute can be used to lure and setup on Prinplup and Lumineon, while Flamethrower eliminates Ferroseed and deals good chunks to Tangela and Leafeon.


EDIT: Wherever you see Fire Fang on a set you can also replace it with Flame Charge, I forgot Silvally learns the move. It's a question of risk vs reward. (Even a +2 Flame Charge is quite weak for killing Steel types compared to Fire Fang, but if you use it well you can sweep entire teams).
I'm surprised at how few mixed sets are found here. 95 isn't great, but it's solid enough to make it a decent mixed attacker when you factor in how gargantuan its movepool is.
 

Aaronboyer

Something Worth Fighting For
is a Contributor to Smogon
Weather in Gen 7 PU!

Won Against ManOfMany: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-525196416
Lost in a Narrow 1-0 by a Crit Against RawMelon: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-521938906



Weather teams fell flat in the late portion of the ORAS PU metagame, especially after Pokemon such as Victreebel and Exeggutor were banned and the only automatic weather setters left were Snover and Hippopotas.

So what has changed between generations? First of all, we are likely receiving Sandslash, Alolan-Sandslash, and all the BL4 Pokémon back. This includes the once banned Victreebel and Exeggutor. We now have several speed abusers for each weather condition. We have Floatzel, Gorebyss, Huntail, Beartic, and Armaldo for Rain; Victreebel, Exeggutor, Leafeon, and Sawsbuck for Sun; Stoutland and Sandslash for Sand; and Alolan-Sandslash and Beartic for Hail (As well as the almost broken Aurora Veil).

PU also has access to 3 great Prankster Rain/Sun setters in Murkrow, Volbeat, and Meowstic, as well as other notable manual weather setters such as Golem and Relicanth.

Weather is going to be, to I think nobody's surprise, a dominating force in early Gen 7 PU. The real question is, "Will PU conform or will PU suspect test?"

Why Use BLANK On a Rain Team?
  • Floatzel--Floatzel is the Fastest Swift Swimmer user and punishes teams hard with it's base 105 Attack stat, access to Water+Ice+Normal coverage and priority Aqua Jet.
  • Gorebyss & Huntail--What they were in Gen 6.
  • Relicanth--One of 2 Swift Swim--Stealth Rock setters. It's one of the best Rain leads and can utilize Sturdy + Head Smash to safely bring in one of your other Swift Swim abusers in.
  • Beartic: This generation it has a massive base 130 Attack stat to work with. Has access to great coverage in Icicle Crash + Superpower, has priority Aqua Jet, and Swords Dance to break through walls. 1 of my 2 recommended Z-Crystal users. (Fightinium-Z--1 time use to not drop your stats)
  • Armaldo: One of 2 Swift Swim--Stealth Rock setters. Has great coverage in Stone Edge + Earthquake + Knock Off + X-Scissor. Can also utilize Swords Dance to break through walls. 1 of my 2 recommended Z-Crystal users. (Rockium-Z--Breaks through things Rain teams have trouble with like Lapras with 100% accuracy instead of a shaky 80%)
Why Use BLANK On a Sun Team?
  • Leafeon--High Attack and Defense make it a hard hitting bulky Sun Sweeper. Although it's physical coverage is few, it can make up for it using a Breakneck Blitz (Double-Edge) or Tectonic Rage (Dig) Can utilize Swords Dance to break through walls.
  • Sawsbuck--Like Leafeon, only not as bulky, but having more coverage moves like Wild Charge, Jump Kick, and Megahorn, alongside a Normal STAB Double-Edge. Can utilize Swords Dance to break through walls.
  • Victreebel--There's a reason it got banned in Gen 6. It has Sleep Powder, Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, Leaf Blade, Sludge Bomb, Weather Ball, Solar Beam, Growth, etc. It was literally MADE for sun teams to abuse.
  • Exeggutor--Base 125 Special Attack? Yes, please! Giga Drain + Psychic is great STAB coverage and it also has access to Sleep Powder. Harvest is also a neat option that also works 100% in the sun.
  • Camerupt--With it's teammates being mostly Grass-type, Camerupt appreciates water type attacks being eaten for it, and can either fire off Insane Eruptions and Fire Blasts, or set up Stealth Rocks for a Chlorophyll user to abuse.
Why Use BLANK On a Sand Team?
  • Stoutland--Same as Gen 6 + able to use Fightinium-Z to get a 1 time non-stat-lowering Fighting type attack.
  • Sandslash--Swords Dance Sweeper with access to Earthquake + Stone Edge + Knock Off. Also has access to the rare and coveted Rapid Spin to remove entry hazards. Can also use a Z-Crystal, but it's not as useful as on Stoutland.
Why Use BLANK On a Hail Team?
  • Alolan-Sandslash--Hard hitter with great offensive coverage in Icicle Crash + Iron Head + Earthquake. Access to Swords Dance and Aurora Veil to top it off.
  • Regice--Bulkiest user of Aurora Veil.
  • Glaceon--Another more offensive user of Aurora Veil. That base 130 Sp. Attack hits Hard
  • Vanniluxe--Mandatory on ANY Hail team. Auto-sets hail and can fire off base 110 Sp. Attack Blizzards. Can utilize Weak Armor, but usually not worth forgoing Snow Warning.
  • Beartic--Like Rain, it can hit teams hard with base 130 Attack and great Ice+Fighting coverage. Again, a good user of Fightinium-Z.
 
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An archetype that may be getting better lately is trick room.
Why use BLANK on Trick room?
-Crabominable: Really slow but hits hard. Ice/Fighting is good coverage, and many ice resists (steel/rock) faint to fighting moves
- Vikavolt: Hard-hitting special attacker but only has base 45 speed. Trick room could help alleviate this.
-Carbink: Sturdy + Trick Room + Explosion + Stealth Rock. Great role compression
-Comfey: Trick room + priority draining kiss. This allows for a slow and fast mode.
-Turtonator: base 36 speed combined with base 97 SpA and good Fire/Dragon typing
-Lurantis: Base 45 speed + Contrary (wallbreaker) + Defog.
-Audino: Bulky trick room setter
-
 
Before I go into why Trick Room is not getting better, Vikavolt & Turtonator are likely not ever going to be PU. You also failed to mention some of the best Pokemon to use under Trick Room such as Beheeyem and Rampardos.

Unlike Weather conditions, Trick Room does not have an item to extend its length. Meaning, you do not have as long to "sweep" the opposing team. Also many Trick Room setters in PU have the same type, meaning stacked weaknesses. (You mentioned Comfey and Carbink) You also didn't explain why it's gotten specifically better with the new generation. This is a SM PU Speculation Thread after all.
My apologies for the following
Then why would trick room not improve if more slower pokemon entered the metagame? I can understand trick room only lasts 5 turns and the stacked weaknesses problem, though.
 

MZ

And now for something completely different
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RawMelon was using some trick room earlier that I found generally threatening, it has improved precisely because we have more strong threats and that shouldn't need much more explanation. Crabominable is probably the most impossible to switch into thing PU has ever seen (not saying it's broken but u really have to keep offensive pressure up around it), and this is one of the major things Trick Room needed. Everything else you used to see, say Guts Ursaring or Marowak, had counters. Trick Room already has enough awkward matchups, but being unable to break something like Gourgeist without sacking one sweeper kinda sucked. Also I haven't seen many people playing around with stall, most of the cool new Pokemon fall on the balanced to offensive range of mons and that's where Trick Room can do a lot of damage if you aren't prepared to be both slower than and frailer than the opponent.

Also Vikavolt and Turtonator aren't on our current speculative tour list but I don't think it's impossible that either drop to PU at all. I've been looking forward to Turtonator especially as a Shell Smasher that has more defensive utility than Gorebyss/Huntail, it's still just fast enough to only lose out to scarfers and Electrode/Ninjask.
 
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Like Zard said Trick Room has a few things going for it in our spec meta. Without reiterating what he already said I've found that a few of the mons we already had with their new buffs significantly help TR.

For one, the burn nerf (from 12% to 6%) helps Ursaring sweep alot easier than before. It doesn't have to worry as much about killing itself or being revenged by priority.

Speaking of priority, the Sucker Punch nerf helps Ursaring and other sweepers avoid being picked off as easily as they would have by things like Pawn.

Also the Chimecho buff helps it set TR easier so that's always nice.
 

LordST

Dormi Bene Duce
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
RBTT Champion
i wanted to speak to a point that Megazard mentioned but didn't elaborate on. Stall hasn't really been making too much of an impact in the tour or just in random matches for this speculative meta. The playstyle as a whole has gotten a lot worse this generation in every tier. This is due in part to the addition of z moves. Because of the nature of z moves and z crystals, virtually any offensive mon can become a potent stall breaker and blow past its checks with a multitude of z move options available. A great example of this is Leafeon which has been getting a lot of use in this tour. With options like Z-Double Edge, Z Dig, Z Aerial Ace, or even just Z Leaf Blade to nuke, Leafeon essentially has zero hard counters outside of niche stuff like Max Def Avalugg. On top of this you have no way of knowing which Z move your opponent may be carrying or if they are a more standard set like Yache or Scarf. This is just one example among many but gets to the point of this post. I've been very reluctant to even try stall because of how difficult it is to prepare for all these lures that your opponents could potentially have. I don't think stall is going to completely die as a playstyle in Gen7 nor do i want it to as I believe it's an interesting playstyle that deserves viability in any tier. Anyways I'd like to know people's thoughts on stall in the current speculative. Have you had success with it? Do you think its ass even with Quag making a return? Let me know!
 
Usually stall doesn't do well in alpha metagames because of how many very powerful (sometimes broken) offensive threats that fall down from higher tiers. Some of the pokemon that fell down (especially Zangoose, who is already statused) are real nuisances for stall. Z moves do make offense better due to the ability to make lures. You're right, stall will not die period, but in PU it is getting difficult to prepare for all the possible threats. At least stall got pyukumuku (great unaware wall) and tsareena (rapid spin + lowers attack) in the preliminary metagame. Physically defensive Shiinotic also checks most physical attackers due to strength sap.

Would Dundies stall still work, or do the new threats tear it apart?
 
Although Stall took a huge hit with strong breakers like Aggron running around, I find it to be still a decent playstyle.

Again, Gourg-XL has become one stall staple (Colbur mainly), because its one of the few defensive Zangoose checks. It's also nice that it forces 50/50 with Crabominable, which just dismantles stall. Non-CB Crabominable still shits on stall tho, I guess the best you can do is revenge with PhyDef Altaria's Flamethrower.

While we have got many strong breakers mainly in Aggron, Crabominable and Zangoose, and lures running rampant, we have also got many good defensive mons.
I'm gonna post on a few walls we've got. Mons in red suffer competition with other as good or better mons.

- Shiinotic: Has good typing, above-average defenses and utility in Spore. Effect Spore is also nice to avoid U-Turn spam and discourage the use of physical attacks. The icing on the cake is its access to reliable recovery. It does stack weakness (and I'd dare saying role, unless SpDef becomes its main set) with Gourg-XL though, which is a stall staple rn.

- Lurantis/Tsareena: Both of these are very similar in the sense they're bulky grasses that provide hazard removal. While both have decent offensive presence, Lurantis' is way better in a defensive role with its ability to switch into bulky waters in general (Scald) and threaten teams with its ability to boost while using its main move. Tsareena has access to U-Turn and a move that lowers attack, so I guess that's a thing. Rapid Spin also doesn't remove your own hazards, unlike Defog. Those two mainly compete with each other, but again, as bulky grasses, Gourg-XL is preffered atm.

- Mareanie: This cute mon is very good on balance and fatter teams but on stall its just awesome. Its typing gives it a plethora of resistances, which features resistances to both of Crabominable's STABs, allowing it to pivot on this fearsome wallbreaker. It does fear CB Earthquake, but that doesn't OHKO and its fairly easy for stall to take advantage of choice-locked EQ. It also has reliable recovery with Regenerator and Recover, and can avoid being set up on via Haze. The main downsides of this mon is its passiveness and overreliance on its resists, as its bulk is rather subpar.

- Ferroseed: This guy sports an amazing defensive typing and good bulk, which lets it takes on many strong breakers like Stoutland, Floatzel and Mr. Mime. It also provides utility with Stealth Rocks, Spikes, Thunder Wave and Knock Off. Gyro Ball also hits kinda hard despite its low attack because Ferroseed is slow. To be honest this guy's main flaw is its reliance on eviolite and a very exploitable 4x weakness, although its very easy to take on fire moves with Mareanie, Quagsire and etc running around.

- Miltank: Miltank is also an awesome mon for stall, with its great natural bulk and access to Thunder Wave, Rocks and even Heal Bell, giving Stall finally another cleric. It also sports 3 great abilities: Sap Sipper, which allows it to take on a lot of grass types like Leafeon, Jumpluff and SD Cacturne; Thick Fat, which halves the damage of ice- and fire-type moves, allowing it to take on Bloom Doom fire-types (which are very threatening to non-Altaria stall) and even Scrappy, which makes Curse RestTalk sets viable due its ability to hit ghosts, unlike its curse normal types like Lickilicky and Munchlax.

- Claydol/Sandslash: while the latter seems way more offensive, both act defensively in a very nice way. Claydol sports a good defensive typing and nice ability which allows it to take on Psychic-, Electric-, Fire- and Poison-types easily. Its also a good EdgeQuake switch in, and that's specially good for CB Golem, which is very threatening to Stall. Sandslash also sports good bulk but only physically unlike Claydol, but it has much better offensive presence and utility in Knock Off. Both provide Rapid Spin support, which is very cool. However, they lack reliable recovery. Claydol also can't afford to take Knock Offs.

- Palossand: great defensive typing, reliable recovery in Shore Up, good bulk. It does lack a bit of utility, but it checks so many things its worth it. Spinblocking support is also cool for hazard stacking Stall. Again, it handles CB Golem which is handy for most defensive teams.

- Comfey: defensive fairies *u*! Great wincon that can revenge kill things with its access to priority Draining Kiss, also able to act as Stall's own stallbreaker. Could run a cleric set aswell.

- Silvally: Some Silvally forms like poison could act defensively too.

Overall, Stall got plenty of new tools to deal with new and old threats, so its still a very viable playstyle.
 


A big threat to stall and in general people are overlooking is Raticate-A, which traps psychics/ghosts like Bronzor or Gourgeist with its nuclear Pursuit, or even just non-physically bulky mons:

252+ Atk Life Orb Hustle Raticate-Alola Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Muk: 239-282 (57.7 - 68.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Not only that, but outside of Mawile and phys def Tangela there's very few things that switch into the basic LO set anyway, even Vullaby being 2hko'd after rocks, so it's difficult enough to prepare for before it even comes to pursuit mindgames. Not only that, but you have swords dance sets that make it past even the above mons- I personally like it with Darkinium-Z because you do stuff like this:
+3 252+ Atk Hustle Raticate-Alola Black Hole Eclipse (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mawile: 288-340 (94.7 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

Because Play Rough doesn't kill so you can swords dance again as it switches in. Oh, and Z-moves can't miss so you don't need to worry about hustle failing you. This is the set:

Raticate-Alola @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Double-Edge / Return
- Quick Attack / Crunch


Sucker is absurdly powerful priority and is killing everything at +2 south of Stoutland in bulk. Double-Edge is also ridiculous, 1hko'ing even phys def Clef at +2, and I tend to prefer it over return as it makes up for the loss of power by dropping Life Orb. The last slot is a toss up of whether you want to have a better matchup vs offensive or defensive playstyles. +2 quick attack kills the likes of Rapidash, Mr. Mime, Chatot and Float after rocks so you don't need to mess with ways around sucker like status, encore, other priority etc. Crunch gives a stronger black hole eclipse, a more reliable Dark STAB outside of the Z-move and without recoil like Double-Edge, so it kinda takes a dump on defensive playstyles. Oh and, if you're considering unaware mons:

252+ Atk Hustle Raticate-Alola Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 174-205 (44.1 - 52%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Hustle Raticate-Alola Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Pyukumuku: 130-154 (41.4 - 49%) -- 16% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery


So not ideal switchins when a follow up Black Hole Eclipse kills. Again, you've got to be really careful with it. Of course stall isn't the most common thing to face rn, but here's the replays I have:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-526050426 - vs Dundies stall for the tour, lost the match but Rat took down 1 mon and a huge chip into pyuku, unfortunately was running quick attack > crunch and so couldn't do anything to bronzor once the z-move was popped, and the team I had didn't have enough offensive presence outside of rat to take advantage of its picks.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-524832284 - vs Teddeh stall, literally a 6-0 rat sweep.


But yeah, as I mentioned at the start of the post, AoA LO is a set too and is a big threat to basically every playstyle since it has stupid power off the bat. I mean its Sucker Punch is like, 10% weaker than a +2 Pawniard's. This combined with the aforementioned pursuit makes it difficult for offensive mons to play around, because even stuff like Rotom-F has a chance to be 1hko'd by Sucker after rocks, and so both switching and attacking become really high risk. Furthermore, faticate has just enough bulk to stomach neutral STABs of offensive mons like Floatzel, Zeb, Raichu, Oricorio, Rotom etc. in a pinch, so you can miss or fuck up a predict once and not be insta-blown up. You can also just creep stuff and run hp investment since your speed tier is just about good enough to do that if you want. Here's the basic set:

Raticate-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Crunch


Anyway have a few general replays of Faticate doing work! And stop calling him shit it hurts his feelings!



btw something not mentioned in the above post for stall is Mudsdale, who blanket checks most physical mons with its good typing, ability and resttalk. Especially handy with Aggron here too.
 
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Trumbeak @ King's Rock
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast
- Return
- Brave Bird

More of a fun pokémon than a serious set, this is like a poor man's Cinccino and I don't expect Toucannon to be PU. It has awful defensive stats, eviolite doesn't help much. It's attack and speed is very mediocre. It has access to Swords Dance for a boosting set which may help with wallbreaking but gets outspeed by a lot of things in the metagame. It gets walled by steel types but there aren't many steel types in PU and you can use Brick Break (although it won't do much without a boost). Major point of this set is mostly flinching with King's Rock since it seems to be his only niche.

252 Speed EVs with a Jolly Nature outspeeds neutral base 86s so it is faster than a modest Rotom. Honestly it is pretty useless. Don't ever use it seriously.

Oh, also 4 Special Defense EVs for Download Porygon lol.
 
Another fairly overlooked mon I like using in Speculation is Bellossom!

Even though it is slow and hard to set up, it can work well with Z-Sleep Powder, as it gets a speed boost and free turns to set up Quiver Dance.

It still might be largely outclassed by Masquerain, but it still holds a niche on sun teams where it's easier to set up due to higher speed.

It also pairs well with Alolan Dugtrio, as Giga Drain + Moon Blast are resisted by Poison, Steel and Fire, all of which are weak to Ground.
 

Aaronboyer

Something Worth Fighting For
is a Contributor to Smogon
Also, although I already mentioned several Pokemon that function well under weather, I would like to use this post to touch on one I feel particularly worthy of rementioning because of the buff it received this generation. This Pokemon would be Beartic.

beartic.gif


Beartic @ Life Orb/Fightinium-Z
Ability: Swift Swim/Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet/Bulldoze

Why it's gotten better in Generation 7:
  • Slush Rush
  • Z-Crystal of Choice
  • Base 110--->Base 130 Attack
Specifically for Rain Teams:
  • Life Orb is usually prefer over Fightinium-Z as Beartic can already break through Lapras and Cradily with a +2 Superpower/Icicle Crash
  • This gives teammates use of a Z-Crystal, notably Armaldo, who otherwise has to risk a Stone Edge miss in order to break through bulky Water-Types such as Lumineon, Politoed, and Lapras
  • Aqua Jet is mandatory to pick off weakened foes such as Scarf Mr. Mime, Scarf Chatot, and Electrode
  • While you shouldn't switch Beartic directly into any incoming Fire-attacks, the Rain psuedo-eliminates its Fire-weakness, allowing it to take some unSTAB hits such as Flamethrower from Silvally and Fire Blast from Altaria
How it benefits Rain Teams:
  • Ice covers Grass-Types rain teams can have trouble with
  • Offensive pressure in Ice + Fighting coverage hits everything in the tier neutrally except for the exceedingly rare Mareanie, Tentacool, and Slowpoke.
  • Priority helps deal with fast Electric-Types that can mow down Rain Teams if all Rain-Setupers are eliminated.
Specifically for Hail Teams:
  • It really appreciates Aurora Veil for it to set up Swords Dances
  • Fightinium-Z is preferred over Life Orb to get one huge hit onto Steel-Type and Rock-Type threats to Hail Teams without dropping its stats.
  • Aqua Jet can be used to pick off threats while Bulldoze gives Beartic a way to hit Metang for SE damage instead of neutral and Mareanie for SE damage instead of NVE damage
How it benefits Hail Teams:
  • All Ice-types bar Alolan-Sandslash are special-attacking, and perfect coverage in Ice + Fighting + Ground complements its Base 130 Attack beautifully
  • Appreciates removal of hazards from Cryogonal/Alolan-Sandslash and Aurora Veil from Regice/Glaceon/Alolan-Sandslash
Replays for Rain:

Will Edit In Soon...

Replays for Hail:

Will Edit In Soon...
 
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Also, although I already mentioned several Pokemon that function well under weather, I would like to use this post to touch on one I feel particularly worthy of rementioning because of the buff it received this generation. This Pokemon would be Beartic.

View attachment 77676

Beartic @ Life Orb/Fightinium-Z
Ability: Swift Swim/Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet/Bulldoze

Why it's gotten better in Generation 7:
  • Slush Rush
  • Z-Crystal of Choice
  • Base 110--->Base 130 Attack
Specifically for Rain Teams:
  • Life Orb is usually prefer over Fightinium-Z as Beartic can already break through Lapras and Cradily with a +2 Superpower/Icicle Crash
  • This gives teammates use of a Z-Crystal, notably Armaldo, who otherwise has to risk a Stone Edge miss in order to break through bulky Water-Types such as Lumineon, Politoed, and Lapras
  • Aqua Jet is mandatory to pick off weakened foes such as Scarf Mr. Mime, Scarf Chatot, and Electrode
  • While you shouldn't switch Beartic directly into any incoming Fire-attacks, the Rain psuedo-eliminates its Fire-weakness, allowing it to take some unSTAB hits such as Flamethrower from Silvally and Fire Blast from Altaria
How it benefits Rain Teams:
  • Ice covers Grass-Types rain teams can have trouble with
  • Offensive pressure in Ice + Fighting coverage hits everything in the tier neutrally except for the exceedingly rare Mareanie, Tentacool, and Slowpoke.
  • Priority helps deal with fast Electric-Types that can mow down Rain Teams if all Rain-Setupers are eliminated.
Specifically for Hail Teams:
  • It really appreciates Aurora Veil for it to set up Swords Dances
  • Fightinium-Z is preferred over Life Orb to get one huge hit onto Steel-Type and Rock-Type threats to Hail Teams without dropping its stats.
  • Aqua Jet can be used to pick off threats while Bulldoze gives Beartic a way to hit Metang for SE damage instead of neutral and Mareanie for SE damage instead of NVE damage
How it benefits Hail Teams:
  • All Ice-types bar Alolan-Sandslash are special-attacking, and perfect coverage in Ice + Fighting + Ground complements its Base 130 Attack beautifully
  • Appreciates removal of hazards from Cryogonal/Alolan-Sandslash and Aurora Veil from Regice/Glaceon/Alolan-Sandslash
Replays for Rain:

Will Edit In Soon...

Replays for Hail:

Will Edit In Soon...

Yes, Beartic has a very good attack stat and will certainly stand out as a physical attacker on weather teams.

Hail, however, is still mediocre due to a lack of remarkable Ice-types, and not very good setters, as Amaura, Snover, and Vulpix are almost laughable and Volbeat takes Hail damage. It certainly did help Hail, but not enough to make it a relevant playstyle.
 

Aaronboyer

Something Worth Fighting For
is a Contributor to Smogon
Yes, Beartic has a very good attack stat and will certainly stand out as a physical attacker on weather teams.

Hail, however, is still mediocre due to a lack of remarkable Ice-types, and not very good setters, as Amaura, Snover, and Vulpix are almost laughable and Volbeat takes Hail damage. It certainly did help Hail, but not enough to make it a relevant playstyle.
You may have forgotten, or perhaps didn't know, but Vanilluxe got Snow Warning, and is very viable for Hail teams as its usefulness isn't limited to just setting up Hail.

Also Aurora Veil is a thing that many Ice-Type Pokemon in the tier got, which I've listed. Alolan-Sandslash can also abuse Slush Rush alongside Beartic.
That's why I've listed information for Beartic under Hail, because if Vanilluxe remains in PU, it will make Hail a very relevant playstyle.
 
You may have forgotten, or perhaps didn't know, but Vanilluxe got Snow Warning, and is very viable for Hail teams as its usefulness isn't limited to just setting up Hail.

Also Aurora Veil is a thing that many Ice-Type Pokemon in the tier got, which I've listed. Alolan-Sandslash can also abuse Slush Rush alongside Beartic.
That's why I've listed information for Beartic under Hail, because if Vanilluxe remains in PU, it will make Hail a very relevant playstyle.
Oh, I feel kind of stupid now lol
Yeah, Vanilluxe provides a lot of utility so hail is probably viable now.
 
Gonna drop some cool stuff I like using:


Simisear @ Firium Z
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast / Nasty Plot
I must say this set is pretty amazing. Right now people love using grass (Ferroseed, Lurantis, Tsaeerna), steel (Ferroseed, Metang, Mawile, Aggron, Sandslash), and ice (Vanilluxe, sandslash) types so Simisear forces a lot of switches. As it forces a switch you can easily set up Z-Sunny Day giving you +1 speed and a combination of a sun-boosted Fire Blast and Solar Beam. Practically nothing switches into this set and once you get set up not much revenges it especially if you can manage to keep full health since practically nothing outspeeds it at +1, not even any common scarfers. If you happen to play a fatter team and don't see the need for Sunny Day you can always nuke something with Z-Fire Blast (185 BP). Focus Blast is really just there to hit opposing Fire types, if you want to lure something like Altaria feel free to replace it with HP Ice. This set is pretty broken so enjoy.
Edit: tried nasty plot>focus blast to blow back stall and it works wonders in that matchup

Electric Terrain Core
+

Ampharos @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Electric Terrain
- Thunderbolt / Light Screen
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast / Reflect

Raichu-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Pretty self explanatory core here. Ampharos is bulky enough to easily set up Electric Terrain at least once throughout a match. So you set up Electric Terrain then volt out to Raichu to potentially sweep. I haven't actually tried screens on Ampharos yet but seems like a decent option to help Raichu get off a Nasty Plot. The strength of this core lies in the ability of Ampharos to soften Raichu's checks which allows Raichu to spam a terrain boosted Thunderbolt.
Edit: forgot to mention that I'm running Modest Raichu because with Surge Surfer you outspeed every single mon in the tier so the breaking power is nice.

Fun stuff here, try them guys
 
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Also gonna add some things I've enjoyed using thus far:

Wormadam + Mareanie (Defensive Core)
+


Mareanie @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover
- Scald
- Haze

Wormadam-Trash @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Flash Cannon


So this is just pretty much a nice defensive core that I've been using that highlights Wormadam's new buff in Quiver Dance, alongside a partner that takes on every Fire type in PU, essentially. Wormadam also acts as a nice Grass (Leafeon) resist, Stoutland resist, Psychic resist, all of which can break through Mareanie, while Mareanie takes on the likes of Monferno, Rapidash and Combusken. With Regenerator, Mareanie has great longevity, and can set up Toxic Spikes to wear down Fire types that try to outlast Wormadam. Try to QD up to +6 +6 +6 in the late game, and sweep teams. Unfortunately, the core loses to a few common things: Electric types like Raichu and Zebstrika, as well as Band Golem and Camerupt, so watch out for those when building your team.

Psychium Z Mr. Mime


Mr. Mime @ Psychium Z
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Nasty Plot / Focus Blast
- Hypnosis


Kinda similar to Z-Sunny Day Simisear, Mr. Mime uses Z-Hypnosis to gain a speed boost, as well as inducing sleep on the opponent. Regular Hypnosis can also be used to give Mr. Mime free turns to set up or attack. Mr. Mime also has the option of using Shattered Psyche as a nuke instead of using Z-Hypnosis; this becomes very powerful after one or two Nasty Plot boosts (it nearly OHKOed a bulky Type: Null at +4 with Shattered Psyche which is somewhat shocking). Overall, it's a basic double dance set that acts as a midgame wallbreaker, as well as a late game cleaner. Make sure you get rid of Steel types like Bronzor or Metang before attempting to sweep.

Silvally-Fighting + Dusknoir
+


Silvally-Fighting @ Fighting Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Iron Head
- Crunch / X-Scissor

Dusknoir @ Life Orb
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake


I came up with this core after seeing some positive stuff about Silvally-Fighting; after testing, however, it still feels somewhat meh due to lack of power and relative lack of speed on Silvally. Regardless, I tried to help Silvally out by removing typical checks and counters with Dusknoir, a Pursuit trapper for things like Mr. Mime and Grumpig, as well as checking things like Altaria with Ice Punch. Even though Dusknoir can get rid of some checks for Silvally, you'll still probably want a wallbreaker to break through things like Tangela / Gourgeist / Mareanie because SD Silvally cannot break through them. However, once you get past these downsides, SD Silvally performs quite well and sweeps a lot of weakened teams with its decent coverage.

Hope you guys enjoy.
 
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MZ

And now for something completely different
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So the council is currently in the process of revamping the speculative list since it was made months ago and obviously we have a lot more data on things that maybe shouldn't be included (tsareena and comfey) and things that maybe should've been. It'll be partially based on usage stats, partially on what we'd like to see dropped and still is in no way official (and will probably have less broken things if the current stats are to be believed). However there's been a lot of requests from people to have input in the process or asking the council to drop specific things, so I made a google form for anyone to submit suggestions. The new list should be released in a week or 2 depending on how crazy it gets, and we'll then start using that for roomtours.

https://goo.gl/forms/f6eu7tOapVgGNKTP2 just go submit your ideas here if you think something should get added
 
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