[SM] CAP Metagame Discussion

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Another thing with Arghonaut is that it also has a cool role with Technician Bulldoze and Rock Tomb, which is great utility overall and allows it to more easily handle Aurumoth, and Bulldoze combined with Mach Punch allows it to be at least a somewhat decent check to Navi.
 
I was encouraging a Stamina Malaconda, and even after that, I feel that is less of an OP buff than what Naviathan got. Still, that and Defensive Revenankh are to date, more favourite. Also, Drought Malaconda is going to see increased buff on Revenankh to increase the usage of Triage Moonlight. Hard switching to Revenankh in favour of taking a U-Turn at 1/4, throwing down a wisp or glare, and being able to heal to full, and switch into Mala for a Solar Blade feels like a nice start of a core.
 

snake

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Revenankh enjoys Pursuit support, Sun support, Glare support, etc. from Malaconda. Malaconda + Revenankh + a good Steel-type will be a good balance or offensive core, depending on how offensive you go with the mala / rev sets and which Steel-type you pick.

Aurumoth might have lost Illusion, but it still retains a lot of its good qualities. No Guard sets have powerful coverage options to chose from, and Weak Armor can nab the extra speed Aurumoth loves on resisted hits. In fact, Aurumoth has the bulk to tank a hit from Naviathan, so Aurumoth can dissuade a sweep by threatening to switch into a contact attack. Hooray offensive checks!
 

Deck Knight

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From what I can infer, it seems that Naviathan has become ridiculously broken to handle. It's almost like it's a more balanced Gyarados now! Golly!
Not really. 97 may let it beat 95 Spe Scarfers like Kraken and the occasional Soil, but it's still slower than Base 100 Scarfers and loses to ZardX 1vs1 in neutral because of it. Guts Heavy Slam can be decent but Waterfall is significantly weaker than Tough Claws boosted Flare Blitz or Outrage. Gyara has Intimidate on switchin and some odd typing mechanics in its favor, but it's the slowest of the three and Heavy Slam is pathetic against it in a matchup. Basically Navi needs Wild Charge to beat Gyara or inordinate flinch hax. If it runs Wild Charge it forgoes Water STAB or Slack Off (which mitigates it being on a timer.) But we'll see how it all actually plays out.
 
I don't think that Offensive DD Naviathan will be broken by any means, it still has a lot of Checks / Counters like Pyroak, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W... It's a 4MSS too, however most Pokemon that can take DD Naviathan are set-up fodder for the CM variant, and most Pokemon able to deal with the CM variant cannot RK the DD after a boost (there are few exceptions though, like Krilowatt who checks both set). Nonetheless, Naviathan will become way less threatening than he was previously and more versatile as well. Unaware Clefable (with Wish/Protect) was in my opinion the best way to deal with most set-up sweepers previously, but with DD Naviathan being buffed, I'm not sure about that anymore.

Although I know it won't affect the metagame as much as buffed Revenankh, Naviathan or Arghonaut, but Leech Seed and Phantom Force will likely have an impact on some of her underrated set like the "Anti Physical Attacker" (the one with either King Shield, Spiky Shield or to a lesser extent Baneful Banker) and the Belly Drum set. The first set could look like that :

Necturna (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Forewarn
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- King's Shield / Spiky Shield / Baneful Banker
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp / Super Fang / Substitute / Curse
- Shadow Claw / Phantom Force / Horn Leech

Necturna should have enough tools to not become a set-up fodder.

Phantom Force helps the Belly Drum Set since it has a chance to OHKO the like of Cyclohm, Pyroak and Skarmory (with Sturdy broken), Never Ending Nightmare has a small of OHKOing Unaware Clefable too.

Necturna is pretty neat against the new Revenankh and Arghonaut too, and overall is an excellent mon, I wonder how many set are viable...
 
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(I highly recommand to use BD Necturna with Ghostium Z as Z Shadow Sneak OHKOes Defensive Tomohawk before he can use Haze as well as Colossoil, Voodoom, Zygarde...)
Z Moves lose their priority when they become powered up IIRC so Tomohawk will still haze your life away

The thing I'm worried about with Naviathan is that it does have 4MSS, but does it have one like Landorus-I? It basically picks three moves which let it check whatever Pokemon in the metagame it wants. Take into account I'm not directly comparing the two but looking at trends and worries. There'll be a massive increase in bulk because of this as the metagame balances itself around Naviathan and you can see Navi-HO rise insanely in viability as well as bulkier teams coming up to check them will undoubtedly make an appearance. Balance will become less offensively inclined as the Pokemon who check Navi, Rev and others are generally more bulky Pokemon (namely Ferrothorn) which can fit on more offensive balance but will fare better in the upcoming metagame as more defensive or... balanced balance.
 

Drapionswing

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With an updated metagame drawing closer, I thought I'd also share my thoughts. As many people have already stated, Naviathan is going to be a big metagame threat, which will completely destroy offensive teams. Because of this I feel like bulkier teams are going to be better suited for this next metagame, which is amazing for another big update winner, Arghonaut. Arghonaut not only finds a place on defensive teams, but also sets Spikes to help pressure them too. Fairies begin to get pressured more so due to Naviathans existence causing Arghonaut to have less of a need to run Gunk Shot which is also appreciated

Here's a 3-mon core I think that will do exceptionally well in the metagame. It uses Arghonaut's new found strength paired with some Tapu Koko voltturn to help pressure bulky teams. Arghonaut is also a really good answer/lure for common Tapu Koko checks such as Mollux or Ferrothorn, if you're running the correct moves to hit either of these pokemon respectively of course.


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+


Arghonaut @ Rocky Helmet/Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 236 HP / 88 Atk / 172 Def / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Circle Throw/Waterfall
- Earthquake/Ice Punch/Gunk Shot
- Spikes
- Recover


Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Taunt/Volt Switch
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

~EVs on Arghonaut are to guarantee a KO with EQ on Mollux while also outspeeding it.

I also have an old replay that shows off the defensive nature of this core versus Marjane.

Here's an importable of that team too.
Arghonaut @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 236 HP / 88 Atk / 172 Def / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Circle Throw
- Earthquake
- Spikes
- Recover

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip

Colossoil @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 196 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Rapid Spin

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Trick

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Polish
- Stone Edge




Krilowatt @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power​

Prior to Krillowatt's update, I felt as if it was falling off due to the rise of Specially Defensive checks to waters in an attempt to check Ash-Greninja as well as it losing a very important matchup versus Talonflame. Pokemon such as AV Tangrowth or Ferrothorn just come in and do whatever they want versus Krillowatt, while the only counter measure against them was either running HP Fire for Ferro or just double switching into a better matchup. Now Krillowatt has just carved out a HUGE niche for itself thanks to the addition of Volt Switch. The combo of Volt Switch and Magic Guard makes it an extremely viable option on Voltturn as it relieves the stress of hazard removal something Tapu Koko and Mega Manectric can not do. Not only this but Krillowatt has extremely good coverage for pressuring teams, and Volt Switch now allows it to retain momentum while attempting to Wallbreak. This is definitely going to be a big threat when the updates finally drop.

@
@

Another pokemon that I think deserves to be spoke about is Scarf Keldeo, the fucking GOAT. This pokemon has come back from the depths of UU and has a lot to say. Being able to check a wide variety of offensive threats such as Volcarona, Weakened Zygarde, Ash Greninja, and the new bully on the block Naviathan(Although this is not a guaranteed kill after Burn Damage unless you have sacked a mon to the +1 monster). It's typing and speed tier gives it an insane amount of utility in this metagame, Ground Types are dominant so Poison Types such as Plasmanta, Mollux and Toxapex aren't in the best right now allowing for easier usage of your Stab Combo. The Metagame really just keeps getting better for Keldeo.

I definitely encourage others to post more thoughts on the metagame, and cores/pokemon they think will get better. I'm really interested in everyone's thoughts :].
 
Now that Arena Trap has been banned, how do you think the meta will develop?
Kitsunoh and mollux will def improve, as well as mons like zard y being worse off. Tailwind and tr should also get better because of no traps, and while fidget could u turn out, that is after taking substantial Dmg
 

LucarioOfLegends

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Now that Arena Trap has been banned, how do you think the meta will develop?
Stall of course is gonna take a serious hit, as it doesn't has its surefire way to beat all those stallbreakers like Tran and Lele. I think generally though ground weak mons (your Poison and Electric types) will become much more popular, since they don't have to worry about the fear of being hopelessly trapped unless your name is Tapu Koko, and even then Scarf Duggy. Generally, I feel that Plasmanta, Crucibelle, and Mollux will all rise without the worry of Arena Trap, as Colossoil is a much easier mon to deal with. Probably slower things will also benefit from the removal of Dugtrio as well.

Next ban: Magearna
 
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