SM OU Suspect Coverage: Genesect

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Since Genesect was introduced in Gen 5, it has always been a major threat for the OverUsed tier, always resulting in a suspect test and, for the past generations, in a ban. Now, with a new generation, Genesect wants to stay in OU; however, within a couple months after Sun & Moon came out the OverUsed council decided it was the right time to suspect Genesect once again. The reasons why this Pokémon is way too much for the OU metagame are pretty simple; with its amazing coverage it is able to nuke switch-ins while also breaking unprepared balanced teams, with its ability Download Genesect is capable of gaining a +1 boost either in Attack or Special Attack, and thanks to its solid defensive typing and decent bulk it is able to take a couple hits. On top of these great attributes, Genesect possesses a great Speed stat, allowing it to function as a Choice Scarf user, providing either a revenge killer or just a momentum gainer with a fast U-turn. Also, its access to priority in Extreme Speed and Speed-boosting moves in Shift Gear and Rock Polish lets it act as a late-game cleaner or an early- or mid-game wallbreaker. With that being said, here are some of the most commonly seen sets during this short period of time.

Sample Sets

Choice Scarf is the most popular option, as it fits very well on any type of team, not only for its ability to revenge kill faster Pokémon like Mega Alakazam, Pheromosa, Tapu Koko, and Greninja but also for its fast U-turn to gain momentum or scout the opponent's moves. Genesect's typing is really helpful, as it enables it to shrug off Grass- and Fairy-type moves pretty easily. As with all sets, the moves can be very customizable; however, a staple for all of them is at least one STAB move. Steel-type moves are very useful in the current metagame with the new Fairy-type toys called Tapus running around, and Iron Head and Flash Cannon are often easily spammable moves for Genesect. U-turn is self-explanatory, as it is an easy way to revenge weaker Pokémon and gain momentum. The choice for what to use in the remaining slots depends on what you need to hit; some viable options are Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and Bug Buzz.

Continuing with the Choice items, Genesect can also be a great user of Choice Band and Choice Specs. The Choice Band set is easy to recognize, as it's shiny due to Extreme Speed, which is the main technique of its arsenal, being event exclusive; also, while this set usually is purely physical, it can also be a mixed variant with Flamethrower or Ice Beam in the last slot. The Choice Specs set was kind of popular prior to the suspect test; this set normally lacks a Steel-type STAB move and opts for BoltBeam coverage paired with Bug Buzz and Flamethrower, but it can also carry Hidden Power Ground to surprise Heatran, which otherwise is the best switch-in for Genesect. And the last set is the Rock Polish one; this set wasn't that popular, but it still is effective to clean up offensive teams in the late-game. This set can run a unique technique in Techno Blast combined with Douse Drive, which provides a Water-type attack to allow Genesect to hit Heatran and Landorus-T. It's worth noting that Genesect can run a Expert Belt or Life Orb on any of this sets, as it provides a surprise factor.

Sample Team

This is a simple VoltTurn team, with the aim to cause massive pressure on teams with Choice Band Genesect and Tapu Koko so Specs Ash-Greninja can activate Battle Bond and clean late-game. The rest of the team is Mega Venusaur + Landorus-T as defensive backbone and Scarf Latios with Hidden Power Fire to catch Pheromosa and opposing Scarf Genesect off guard and revenge kill them.

Pro-ban Reasoning

The reasons behind this suspect are many; however, the most heard ones are Genesect's unpredictable sets and large movepool, as these force the opponent to usually sack a Pokémon just to identify its set and movepool, and U-turn makes it even harder to play around. U-turn not only gains momentum but also is a STAB move nothing is immune to that causes a lot of damage in the process; combine this with hazards, and the opponent will always have a hard time playing around it. As if that weren't enough, Genesect possesses a really useful and great ability in Download, because no matter what boost you get it will always be good due to Genesect's ability to run a mixed set and take advantage of either boost. The history of Genesect is like a criminal record—it speaks for itself and doesn't benefit Genesect at all, as it was banned in previous generations. As said before, Genesect can fit on any playstyle bar stall, which makes it a easy pick for teambuilding.

No-ban Reasoning

There's not much reasoning for not banning Genesect; however, one notable argument is that it is too early in the metagame to form a solid opinion, as there hasn't been any big tournament yet to take a look and analyze how high-level players adapt to it. Another heard reason is that Genesect sometimes can give the opponent the edge of the match due to the fact that most of the time it is Choice locked. While Genesect reached the S rank so quickly in the viability rankings for OU, it didn't reach it because it was entirely broken, but rather because it is just very good at what it does.

Conclusion

While many people expected the end results to be close and were surprised that the results went up before SPL, the end result was an overwhelming 83.85% pro-ban supermajority, ending rather quickly after the Blind Voting thread was posted. Genesect is banned from OU to Ubers, but hopefully it can stay OU in future generations.

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Puzzle Page

Welcome to the ninth edition of the Flying Press's Puzzle Page! Thanks to all of those who sent in their answers. For the first time, we have a three-way tie! Congratulations to 6Infernapes, Mowtom, and Yellow Paint, who each earned the most points last time for the previous set of puzzles! As usual, anyone who submitted correct answers has earned points on the brand-new leaderboard at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to all of the members of the puzzle team who helped out with the puzzles in this edition, including GoodMorningEspeon and Level 51!

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Anagrams

Anagrams consist of several Pokémon-related terms whose letters have been scrambled around. In order to solve them, you have to figure out which terms have been scrambled. For example, "Science Spy Hop" unscrambles to Espeon / Psychic.

1. Remolding Woo's Poop (2 Terms: Pokémon, Move)
2. Welcome Potent Panda (2 Terms: Move, Ability)
3. Worn Fleabag Juggles Through (3 Terms: Move, Key Item, Location)

Parameters

By using the /dexsearch command on Pokémon Showdown, find out which parameters match only the Pokémon listed. For example, say you are given these Pokémon: Bibarel, Bidoof, Pachirisu, Patrat, Raticate, Rattata, Smeargle, and Watchog. Even though all of them learn both Protect and Substitute, there are many other Pokémon that can as well, so the trick is to try to narrow down your options as much as possible. Parameters may include moves, abilities, tiers, generations, colors, and so on.

1. Bronzong, Bronzor, Carnivine, Flygon, Vibrava (2 Parameters)
2. Kyurem, Pidove, Silvally, Skarmory, Tranquill, Unfezant (2 Parameters)
3. Beedrill, Empoleon, Kingler, Krabby, Leavanny, Lucario, Riolu, Scizor, Scolipede, Skarmory, Smeargle (3 Parameters)

Pokémon Countdown

Making yet another return, Pokémon Countdown has a similar concept to anagrams in that letters in a term have to be unscrambled to make a Pokémon-related term, with each letter only being used as it appears in the original term. However, there are no definitive answers (there will likely be multiple), and not all of the letters are used. Your goal is to try to find the longest term possible with the given letters. For example, "Ban Tomb Gem" may contain the letters needed to form "Metang," but "Magnet Bomb" is a longer term and would therefore be a better answer. Categories may include Pokémon, moves, items, abilities, locations, and so on.

1. Default Usernames
2. Slowly Freak Out
3. Potential Gunslinger

Cryptogram

In a cryptogram, every letter used in a message is replaced with a different letter. In order to solve it, you must determine what the original message is. The following phrase is a quote from a character in the main series Pokémon games. For example, a cryptogram of "VDWXQFR REBU AFRSUBKYTCA!" would unscramble to "Pikachu used Thunderbolt!", as each U in the original sentence is swapped for R, each E is swapped for B, and so on. This cryptogram is composed of four parts, each with a different index for letter substitutions. However, each part will come together to form segments of the same quote.

1. IC NCZ XJQF FC OQCX XLC A JB?
2. A'B MCAQM FC GK FLK XCPWI'S MPKJFKSF YCOKBCQ FPJAQKP.
3. MAUK AF GJEO! FLJF'S BN FPJAQKP EJPI!
4. CL QC! NCZ SJX BN QJBK...

Pokémon Link

In this puzzle, you must create a path from one Pokémon to the other identical Pokémon by drawing a continuous line. Each line must be either horizontal or vertical but can change directions wherever applicable. Every square in the grid must be filled, and lines cannot pass through other filled boxes or boxes with icons in them. Keep in mind that lines may not be created diagonally nor can boxes be filled without being part of the continuous line.

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Conclusion

The answers to the previous issue's puzzles will be posted here, and answers for this issue will be posted with the next issue. As usual, once you've completed one, some, or even all of the puzzles that this page has to offer, send your answers via a private message to Smogon's Flying Press on the forums (a Smogon account is required). Good luck to all who dare to participate, and we'll see you again in a few weeks!

Leaderboard

1. Someoneelse: 23 points
2. Calm: 22 points
3. Axel Rouche: 21 points
4. 6Infernapes: 13 points
5. Maximum Optimizer™: 13 points
6. Mowtom: 13 points
7. Yellow Paint: 13 points
8. EnemyJurist: 7 points
9. baconbagon: 6 points
10. {Pokemon_Vigilante}: 4 points
11. Martin: 3 points

Answers

Answers to the previous puzzles:

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