Metagame Lockdown

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Lockdown


Have you ever wanted to build a team utilising moves like Gravity or Trick Room, only to be held back by the short duration of the moves? Well then, Lockdown is the metagame for you! At the end of Turn 6, whatever changes have been made to the battlefield become permanent. So whatever weather, entry hazards, Rooms, Terrains or Sports might be in place will stay until the end of the battle.


Rules:

Mechanic: At the end of Turn 6, battlefield changes become permanent
Clauses: OU clauses
Bans: OU banlist, Heat Rock, Damp Rock, Icy Rock, Smooth Rock, Terrain Extender
Unbans: Genesect


Strategy:

With the possibility of permanent Trick Room, slow powerful Pokemon like Conkeldurr, Rhyperior and Reuniclus become much more threatening. Suicide leads are naturally far more effective in this metagame, as the hazards they set become permanent after Turn 6. Weather based teams are far more effective now, as they can keep their weather permanent, letting Pokemon like Kabutops, Tangrowth, Excadrill and Alolan Sandslash effectively have a permanent +2 Speed boost. We may even see Magic Room and Wonder Room teams, who knows.

Increased Viability:

Slow, Powerful Pokemon


If you can get Trick Room set up, these Pokemon go from slow powerhouses to fast powerhouses that can still take hits if need be. Conkeldurr and Reuniclus don't fear status thanks to Guts and Magic Guard, respectively, while Rhyperior has Swords Dance and STAB EdgeQuake. Escavalier has only one weakness (albeit a 4X one) and in Trick Room will be the fastest Pokemon on the battlefield.

Sweepers with Swift Swim, Chlorophyll, Sand Rush and Slush Rush


Normally, the Pokemon get at most six turns to sweep with their newfound Speed, here with permanent weather they can have that Speed indefinitely. Kabutops, Excadrill and Sandslash can all boost their damage output with Swords Dance, while Venusaur gets Growth. Venusaur can also use Grassy Terrain to become hugely powerful, while Kabutops's STAB Waterfall has power on par with a STAB Close Combat in Rain.

Suicide Leads


With only six turns to get rid of entry hazards, suicide leads are far better in this metagame. Aerodactyl has 2nd fastest Taunt in existence after its own mega; Minior is immune to status above 51% HP and can use a fast Explosion to prevent Defog and Rapid Spin; Heatran has wonderful typing and has STAB Magma Storm to break Focus Sashes; Forretress's access to Sturdy lets it use a Custap Berry - it also gets Spikes, Toxic Spikes and can set Sunny Day and Gravity.

Decreased Viability:

Fast Frail Pokemon


In a metagame where Trick Room can be permanent, high Speed and low bulk will make you cannon fodder for teams that utilise the move. And while base 125 Speed may be impressive when the skies are clear, it's a different story if your opponent can get their weather set up. Beartic, which normally has an unimpressive base 55 Speed, can outrun base 145s in Hail thanks to Slush Rush.


Q&A:

Q: What conditions become permanent at the end of Turn 6?
A: Sun, Rain, Sandstorm, Hail, Trick Room, Wonder Room, Magic Room, Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Sticky Web, Electric Terrain, Misty Terrain, Grassy Terrain, Psychic Terrain, Mud Sport, Water Sport & Gravity.

Q: What happens if I use Stealth Rock etc. after Turn 7?
A: The move will fail. Same story with Drought, Drizzle etc.

Q: What happens if I use Defog / Rapid Spin after Turn 7?
A: Rapid Spin will still do damage and remove Leech Seed and other trapping moves, but it won't remove hazards. Defog will still remove Screens and lower Evasion, but it will not remove hazards. If you switch in a grounded Poison-type after Turn 7, it will not remove Toxic Spikes.

Q: Why are the weather rocks and Terrain Extender banned?
A: Because you could simply click Sunny Day (or whatever move you're using) on Turn 1, and if your opponent didn't have a Pokemon which could also summon weather or Terrain, you would be home and dry. With them banned, the weather / terrain setter must be switched in on Turn 3 or later, opening up the field for more counterplays.

Resources: See below for Viability Rankings, Sample Teams, Replays and Analyses
Playability: Playable on Dragon Heaven

Code: Here, credit to Spandan

Ban History:

Nothing yet

Unbans

Unbanned on 12 / 5 / 2016. With the threat of permanent Trick Room and permanent weather, Genesect's Choice Scarf set (i.e. it's main set) becomes far less threatening. Additionally, its bulk is below average despite a good typing, making it hard to switch in, especially with the threat of permanent hazards. It may well end up being broken, but for now I'm giving it another chance.

New Threats

The Guardian Deities



With the ability to automatically summon their respective terrains thanks to their abilities, these Pokemon are sure to become major players in the metagame. Electric types love the power boost of Electric Terrain, while Trick Room teams will love the priority immunity that comes with Psychic Terrain, Grass types and Ground weak Pokemon will love Grassy Terrain, and bulkier teams will love the status immunity of Misty Terrain.

Gone, but not forgotten



With their mega stones being unavailable, sadly Lockdown waves goodbye to Abomasnow-Mega, Camerupt-Mega and Swampert-Mega. Abomasnow-Mega was a strong anti metagame Pokemon, threatening both Rain teams and Trick Room teams. Camerupt-Mega was arguably the best Mega for Trick Room teams thanks to its great power, solid bulk and typing and Sheer Force. Swampert-Mega was the best Mega for rain teams, with its huge Attack stat, great bulk and typing. While Talonflame is still with us, the buff to Stealth Rock and the nerf to Gale Wings mean its viability is drastically reduced.
 
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Viability Rankings
S Rank
S Rank Pokemon are Pokemon that define the metagame. Either they can play multiple roles well, or one role extremely well. They are as good as a Pokemon can be without being broken.

I'm not adding anything to S Rank yet, as at this point we don't know what Pokemon will define the metagame. After this becomes playable, we can talk more then.

A Rank
The Pokemon in A Rank are extremely capable Pokemon in the metagame. They may need a bit more support than an S Rank Pokemon, but will almost always earn their place on your team

B Rank
B Rank Pokemon need more support to function effectively than an S or A Rank Pokemon, but nonetheless can be effective when played correctly. They are more niche compared to Pokemon in A or S Rank.

C Rank
The Pokemon in C Rank are often quite niche, with it being hard to justify their use over the Pokemon in higher ranks. They may also need a lot of support to do their jobs effectively. However, they can still be effective when need be.

D Rank
The Pokemon in D Rank are considered very bad Pokemon. They may have a tiny niche, but it will rarely be enough to make them worth using over something better, or the support they require is simply too much for most teams to be able to provide.


Sample Teams

Coming Soon

Replays

Coming Soon

Analyses

Feel free to write an analysis of any Pokemon in this metagame provided you are familiar with that Pokemon and how it plays. You can write it in full sentences or bullet points, and of course I will credit you.
 
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OK, to get the ball rolling early in the VR, some A+ nominations (I've explained why no S Ranks will be nommed yet). Feel free to make any nominations of your own.

Tapu Lele

Psychic Surge gives its Psychic STABs insane power, and protects grounded Pokemon from priority moves.

Whimsicott

Priority Sunny Day and Taunt, can set and counter set Trick Room, and even use Z-Memento to fully heal a teammate

Cresselia

Can set up Trick Room, Sun, Rain and Gravity. Decent Speed and titanic bulk gives it ample opportunities. In Grassy Terrain and Misty Terrain it gets priority Energy Ball and Moonblast thanks to Nature Power

Tapu Bulu

Grassy Surge makes grounded Grass-types insanely powerful, and it also reduces the power of Earthquake, giving Ground weak Pokemon an easier time.

Tapu Fini

Total status immunity for all grounded Pokemon is huge. It makes bulky sweepers like Slowbro-Mega and Necrozma much more effective, and it can anti-lead with Taunt and Defog.

Tornadus-Therian

Great Speed, fast Rain Dance and Taunt, in rain can fire off STAB Hurricanes with perfect accuracy.

Pelliper

The best Rain summoner hands down. Can abuse it with boosted STAB Hydro Pumps and perfectly accurate Hurricanes, can also use Defog to remove opposing hazards.
 

iLlama

Nothing personal, I protect my people
Just going to say this now, but Gravity might be a tad broken with permanent grounding and increased accuracy. I imagine Z-Hypnosis paired with it will be an extremely dangerous combo.
 
On the downside though, Gravity also affects your team, so you won't be able to dodge Hydro Pumps, Stone Edges and Hypnoses, and your team will be affected by Ground moves too. Meowstic and Sableye both also have Prankster Gravity.
 
...Can I just say that the Tapus are literally the best things here? This meta WILL end up being a terrain fight to that fateful 6th turn, and you can certainly expect slow pivots to be more prominent so your Tapu will be the one to lay down its terrain last. That might even be more important than the Trick Room fight, arguably.

Even Tapu Fini becomes really good, as when it's paired with Trick Room, walls like Slowbro can properly go nuts with that status immunity. And if you couldn't tell, priority is probably dead as a doornail, thanks to Tapu Lele, and those other Psychic terrain users.
 

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast

This is a really interesting idea, ChrystalFalchion! Since Surge abilities from the Tapus mean that the battle for getting your preferred Terrain up is something huge, here's a Tapu Lele which can take on all of the other Tapus. Furthermore, +1 Psychics in perma-Psychic Terrain are nothing to scoff off. Shattered Psyche is for a nice nuke to hopefully prevent a Trick Room should the need arise, and it blasts through a lot of its typical checks. Finally, you could run Quiet 0 IV Speed to have a better matchup versus Trick Room should it be set permanently. Here are the calculations versus the other Tapus:

252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Fini in Psychic Terrain: 145-172 (42.1 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Fini in Psychic Terrain: 283-334 (82.2 - 97%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu in Psychic Terrain: 253-298 (73.5 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu in Psychic Terrain: 492-580 (143 - 168.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko in Psychic Terrain: 309-364 (109.5 - 129%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko in Psychic Terrain: 597-703 (211.7 - 249.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
 
this seems like it'll be really interesting with the tapus running around, and now that mewnium is released too, psychic terrain sounds like it'll be even easier to set up, and it'll be neat to see a meta where the rooms are better, even though trick room is probably the only room worth running.
also, gravity could be neat so see too since it would give increased accuracy even though it would mean that flying types are grounded. There is a small benefit to this for flying types though since being grounded would let them get terrain boosts too
Also, rain teams seems like they could be pretty good in this meta since you can have rain + elec terrain up permanently
 
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OK, to get the ball rolling early in the VR, some A+ nominations (I've explained why no S Ranks will be nommed yet). Feel free to make any nominations of your own.

Tapu Lele

Psychic Surge gives its Psychic STABs insane power, and protects grounded Pokemon from priority moves.

Whimsicott

Priority Sunny Day and Taunt, can set and counter set Trick Room, and even use Z-Memento to fully heal a teammate

Cresselia

Can set up Trick Room, Sun, Rain and Gravity. Decent Speed and titanic bulk gives it ample opportunities. In Grassy Terrain and Misty Terrain it gets priority Energy Ball and Moonblast thanks to Nature Power

Tapu Bulu

Grassy Surge makes grounded Grass-types insanely powerful, and it also reduces the power of Earthquake, giving Ground weak Pokemon an easier time.

Tapu Fini

Total status immunity for all grounded Pokemon is huge. It makes bulky sweepers like Slowbro-Mega and Necrozma much more effective, and it can anti-lead with Taunt and Defog.

Tornadus-Therian

Great Speed, fast Rain Dance and Taunt, in rain can fire off STAB Hurricanes with perfect accuracy.

Pelliper

The best Rain summoner hands down. Can abuse it with boosted STAB Hydro Pumps and perfectly accurate Hurricanes, can also use Defog to remove opposing hazards.
why are you already trying to make a viability ranking before anyone has even played the metagame?
 
why are you already trying to make a viability ranking before anyone has even played the metagame?
No harm can come from some personal thoughts and facts. If anything it helps open up discussion and brainstorms what can be used or not.


EDIT: Some really slow Pokemon like Magearna, Rampardos, Golisopod, and the meta killer Araquanid will greatly benefit from Trick Room, while other bulkier but slower water types will absolutely destroy everyone under the rain. It's a really interesting meta and I hope it shapes up well!
 
time to start running telekinesis to stop things from benefitting from terrains /s
anyway, if you get mud sport and water sport up at the same time then Celesteela and Skarmory have no weaknesses. might be worth looking into. mud sport also really helps vs Tapu Koko/ETerrain teams. Greninja is the fastest mon that can set Mud Sport up and it also benefits a lot from its effect if running Battle Bond. You're going to need a pretty fast taunt on your ETerrain team if it's going to stand a chance against Mud Sport, really.

Water Sport is going to make stuff like Genesect and Scizor more threatening because they can actually live some fire moves now, although if sun's still up there's still not a great rate of survival. Also helps Ferrothorn and Grassy Terrain teams.
 
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Terrain wars will be fierce in this OM, and there's one warrior that can handle all of them: Alolan Raichu. It doesn't matter which terrain is up when the lockdown happens because Alolan Raichu benefits from all of them to some degree. Electric Terrain boosts its Electric-type moves and doubles its speed. Psychic Terrain boosts its Psychic-type moves and prevents priority from stopping it. Grassy Terrain allows Alolan Raichu to take neutral damage from Earthquakes and boosts its Grass Knot. Misty Terrain simply prevents it from being statused, which isn't extremely useful, but Misty Terrain usually means Tapu Fini, and it doesn't like Alolan Raichu to begin with. Alolan Raichu will be great here, until Trick Room kills it. :(
 


Wishiwashi-School @ Assault Vest
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- U-turn
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Endeavor

Pretty easy, with trick room now relevant, Wishi can truly shine. Scald stab, ice meme for coverage against Bulu, u-turn for momentum, and my personal favorite, the Vest Endeavor combo. This thing can take special hits surprisingly well, actually. If you ever get to <25%, just use endeavor to get an easy revenge kill. HP EVs can be replaced with SpD if you really need that special bulk on your team; also, you can set IVs to 0 for speed if you really want to make sure you go first in TR.

Edit: lol this entire tier is who can get off the trick room last or who can have the slowest tapu
 
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drampa's grandpa

cannonball
is a Community Contributoris a Community Leader Alumnus
More theorymonned sets!

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Magic Coat
- Electric Terrain / Rain Dance / Sunny Day
- Flash Cannon

This set is designed to trap and eliminate other that like to do things like set hazards on your face, reflect them back, then kill, helping you win the lockdown war. It also works as a slow pivot and setter of whatever its movepool allows it to set.


me said:
slow pivot
Slowest pivot! (Pyukumuku) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Unaware
Level: 99
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Baton Pass
- Curse
- Recover
- Toxic

You can't pivot any slower than Pyukumuku as my grandpa always said. Curse makes it pivot even SLOWER! WoW! Level 99 reduces speed, Recover for longevity Toxic does something resembling damage. I'm not thrilled with Mental Herb on something so slow, but if you Baton Pass on the turn they taunt it could be helpful. Otherwise just run lefties. EDIT: OR LAGGING TAIL!!!
 
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Don't forget about the slowest (while still remaining decently viable) trick roomer of all time!



Remember me? (Dusclops) @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Pain Split
- Night Shade
- Will-O-Wisp


252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Dusclops: 99-117 (34.8 - 41.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(That's in psychic terrain, btw)

So if TR is up, you can eat up two psychics, pain split, and night shade the poor shmuck to death. Will-O is there for physical things like Koko. If this becomes a big thing and dusclopses become relevant, you can put it down to level 99 to outspeed in the TR. if THAT becomes relevant, put it to 98. Pretty basic. You could also run Seismic Toss over Night Shade if you see a lot of normal types in here.
 

anaconja

long day at job
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
I can see Claydol rise in usage as a suicide lead:

Claydol @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion

Although it is pretty fast with 75 base speed it usually outspeeds most things in Trick Room, setting up Stealth Rock before exploding. Rapid Spin can clear the hazards on your side but watch out for ghost types like Dusclops that can wall it.

Slowbro-Mega becomes very scary in Trick Room, especially with Misty Terrain and Rain support:

Slowbro @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
- Ice Beam
- Scald

There actually should be a quick-ban or at least a suspect on this monster. 95/180/80 defense bulk is huge, especially with Calm Mind spam, recovery, and the absence of status.
Example(yes, it is against a bot, but still)
 
I'd say Psychic Terrain looks like one of the most influential changes from ORAS. It's difficult to cover both the fast and slow end of the spectrum at the same time, especially while keeping your own win-cons in mind. Offensive teams could often struggle to answer everything, and priority was a common catch-all. The arrival of Psychic Terrain changes this substantially, as now there will be team archetypes that can shut down all priority moves. This makes Trick Room and Weather far more dangerous, as you can literally be completely denied any revenge-killing options whatsoever. Tapu Lele is also very splashable, being a top threat all on its own, so it will probably get a lot of use.

Anyways, I've thrown together a Grassy Terrain team based on one of my ORAS teams and am fiddling with a Psychic spam team. I'd like to try them out, so anyone who is interested in a match please send me a PM so we can arrange a time. I'm generally available around noon PST on weekdays (lunch break) and evenings.
 
You know what pokemon could be fun this meta? Hoopa-U.


Screw-U (Hoopa-Unbound) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Hyperspace Fury
- Psychic
- Gunk Shot/Drain Punch

Basically, the idea of this set is to see what your opponent's strategy is, and ruin it. Are they using very slow pokemon to abuse Trick Room with? Ruin their Trick Room setup with your own Trick Room. Are they using faster pokemon that wouldn't like Trick Room? Set up Trick Room on them. Because of Hoopa-U's below average speed stat, it will be faster than slow Trick Room pokemon without TR, and faster than speedy pokemon with it. Of course, the rest of your team should probably have around the same speed as Hoopa-U to also make use of this counter-strategy. After you have set the Lockdown in your favor, blow holes through your opponents' teams with Hoopa-U's powerful moves. Ggwp.
 
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