Metagame Inheritance


Toucannon (Archeops) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Blast
- Brave Bird / Overheat
- Bullet Seed / Overheat
- U-turn

Replace Cinccino with Toucannon on the VR (You gain Brave Bird and lose Aqua Tail, Focus Blast, and other unimportant stuff) and move Archeops up to A+. Toucannon also offers Swords Dance, but it's such a good revenge killer (it revenged an Unburden Landorus once) that I just stick with Scarf.


Donphan (Diancie) @ Diancite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Stealth Rock

I don't know where Diancie is gonna end up, but it definitely needs to be above C. It's very strong, very fast for how hard it hits, and a new world of coverage has opened up for it. Fun fact: Magic Bounce straight-up blocks Strength Sap.

Also, Magnet Pull is shaping up to be just as dumb as Shadow Tag and Arena Trap have ever been. Can we look at that after Blacephalon? The following team has Sniper FE Latios, Head Smash Diancie, and Shift Gear Z-Zen Headbutt Metagross. If my opponent hadn't forfeited when they did would have been a slow death without Celesteela.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-687373396
 

Ivy

resident enigma
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributor
Also, Magnet Pull is shaping up to be just as dumb as Shadow Tag and Arena Trap have ever been. Can we look at that after Blacephalon? The following team has Sniper FE Latios, Head Smash Diancie, and Shift Gear Z-Zen Headbutt Metagross. If my opponent hadn't forfeited when they did would have been a slow death without Celesteela.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-687373396
It's a real delicious slice of shadenfreude, seeing steels get trapped like that. I think I just have a grudge against stall.
 
Its the
appreciation post! Ill be sharing some sets of this very versatile mon

Here we go

Dragalge (Tapu Koko) @ Magnet
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunder
- Play Rough
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic Spikes

A definite fav of mine that has been working really well in rain, hits hard on both sides with adaptability boosted stabs and can set up tspikes up forces switches to wear down unaware suicune/cresselias for opponents to sweep. I think it should be ranked as one of kokos sets


Fuck pinsir (Tapu Koko) @ Pixie Plate/Electrium z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Play Rough
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Overheat

What this has over the mawile sets is more coverage in eq and overheat and the ability to revenge M-pinsir more reliably due to intimidatw, mawile outclasses tho usually


Ursaring (Tapu Koko) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake

Another personal favourite of mine, +2 guts boosted play rough hits HARD, nothing to say more about this set its just a nuke vs offense


Golem-Alola (Tapu Koko) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Galvanize
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Focus Punch

The infamous galvanize koko, self explanatory set just switch in click buttons with electric/ground/fighting coverage and break teams


Kecleon (Tapu Koko) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

There is many sets kecleon koko can run but this is the most effective from my experience, this mixed set is hard to switch into and works similarly to the azelf set

I might as well post the two other sets since why not

Illumise (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Band
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Thunder Punch
- U-turn
- [Filler]


Mawile (Tapu Koko) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Play Rough
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast

I hope this post convinces u to use koko today, if u dont have a koko on ur team after reading this already then what are you waiting for?? All hail the health tapu
 

Ivy

resident enigma
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributor
Speaking of Koko and bullying stall, here's something a bit more reasonable than all the blacephalon hilarity:
Tapu Koko (Ampharos-Mega) @ Ampharosite

Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot

A pretty nice wallbreaker that can destroy Volt Absorb on opposing mons thanks to Mold Breaker (and even a hypothetical Sap Sipper, but I've never seen one myself). Or you can leave it un-evolved and set up terrain repeatedly with slow Volt turn antics. There aren't too many Dragon-types in the metagame, so it provides an interesting set of resistances as well (looking at you you silly clown man). Works well with the epic Slurpuff Xurkitree set I may or may not have posted earlier.
 
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sets

Masquerain (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 108 SpD / 92 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Scald

I don't really see Bellossom's Strength Sap making up for Scald's ability to spread burns vs. supposed checks & hit a lot of types neutrally -- Roost is perfectly serviceable recovery, and Intimidate makes the switch-in easier. But anyways, Mega Venusaur is very nearly the ideal Quiver Dance user -- fat as hell, with a typing that negates the two best methods of passive damage in the game, and not weak by any stretch. Being indifferent to both Knock Off and Poison Jab, it is a very solid Alolan Muk counter, and also does great vs. rain teams if you can get their Hurricane user(s) out of the way. By virtue of its typing and sheer bulk, it's also a solid, non-passive check to Mixed Protean sets. It also goes without saying that most Electric-types aren't carrying Psychic or Flying coverage, and this is great to pressure them. The only reason I could see to keep this out of the A ranks is for taking up a mega slot, which is admittedly understandable.

The EVs let it check Protean Azelf with Drain Punch + Knock Off + BoltBeam (Fire Blast has a chance to 2HKO on the switch tho), while the Speed EVs let it outspeed Timid base-100s after a QD, and the rest of the EVs go in Defense.

Vivillon (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Quiver Dance
- Hurricane
- Sleep Powder

This set is underrated as fuck. Teams that would rely on offensive resists, or anything passive without Unaware that has to sit through Sleep Powder, is going to have a bad time vs. this. Because Toxic is the bane of all QD users, Substitute is used to avoid it & other status moves; if you don't fear these, don't set one up. You have to be somewhat careful with your solitary Sleep Powder, but most teams really can't afford to play games and switch around on this, so unless you've scouted an Unaware user you should prioritize setting up and chipping resists.

I'm serious, if your best Flying resist is like Tapu Koko or something, make certain that this can't switch in and set up on you.

Chesnaught (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis

"Hm, I know how easily an enemy Steel-type could have Flash Fire, so I should really opt for Focus Blast over Fire coverage, just to be safe." Great for checking Psychic-types.

-------

Now, fun parts of the post aside... is stall kind of overpowered in this meta, or do I just need to get good? I've been wracking my brains to come up with a solid stallbreaker, but stall has a ton of options -- enough to patch up the weaknesses of ridiculous blanket checks like Cresselia and Suicune. It just doesn't feel feasible to dedicate a teamslot-and-a-half to stallbreaking and expect to, like, win vs stall. At least not on balance, idk about HO.

That's just kind of a ramble but the takeaway here is that i would very much enjoy, like, a Cresselia suspect, cuz it's a LOT bulkier than anything else in the meta and has a workable neutral typing, meaning that with Unaware it's stupidly difficult to break it without status. Also willing to accept that I'm just not thinking outside the box enough.
 
Now, fun parts of the post aside... is stall kind of overpowered in this meta, or do I just need to get good? I've been wracking my brains to come up with a solid stallbreaker, but stall has a ton of options -- enough to patch up the weaknesses of ridiculous blanket checks like Cresselia and Suicune. It just doesn't feel feasible to dedicate a teamslot-and-a-half to stallbreaking and expect to, like, win vs stall. At least not on balance, idk about HO.

That's just kind of a ramble but the takeaway here is that i would very much enjoy, like, a Cresselia suspect, cuz it's a LOT bulkier than anything else in the meta and has a workable neutral typing, meaning that with Unaware it's stupidly difficult to break it without status. Also willing to accept that I'm just not thinking outside the box enough.
Through my obsession with using Tyrogue Bewear, I've found that a bunch of stall builds have a lot of trouble taking super powerful Fighting type hits such as Guts or Reckless boosted High Jump Kick, so using that knowledge I've been trying to find a super strong Fighting type wall breaker. I haven't had much time to test, but I'm quite happy with the way this one looks on paper.

Hawlucha (Conkeldurr) @ Fist Plate
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 92 SpD / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Flying Press
- Throat Chop

With Mold Breaker ignoring Unaware (Among other things like Fur Coat), at +2 High Jump Kick can 2HKO even some of the bulkiest of resists such as Tapu Fini and Toxapex with the help of Fist Plate and an Adamant Nature. Flying Press is also boosted by Fist Plate and is capable of dismantling Bug Types like Buzzwole and Golisopod. Throat Chop rounds out the set by dunking Cresselia and Doublade, but it's also handy for preventing the use of Roar against things you can't OHKO. Not sure what EVs would be best as these are just from the Calculator.
Speaking of the calculator:
+2 252+ Atk Fist Plate Mold Breaker Conkeldurr High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 387-456 (96 - 113.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Conkeldurr Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 258-304 (58.1 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Conkeldurr Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Doublade: 146-174 (45.3 - 54%) -- 46.5% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Fist Plate Mold Breaker Conkeldurr Flying Press vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Buzzwole: 518-612 (124.2 - 146.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Fist Plate Mold Breaker Conkeldurr Flying Press vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Golisopod: 258-304 (72.8 - 85.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Fist Plate Mold Breaker Conkeldurr Flying Press vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Venusaur-Mega: 312-367 (85.9 - 101.1%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Fist Plate Mold Breaker Conkeldurr High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 157-186 (51.6 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Fist Plate Mold Breaker Conkeldurr High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 236-278 (61.6 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


Also seeing as I've already mentioned it I can't stress enough how good I think Tyrogue Bewear is. All it needs is a strong Pursuit trapper and it can dismantle almost any build and is never dead weight. Due to it's ability to revenge really effectively, dismantle balance cores, and put a tonne of pressure on stall, I find it really hard convincing myself to build a team without this bad boy.

Tyrogue (Bewear) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Facade
- High Jump Kick

252+ Atk Guts Bewear Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 105-124 (30.7 - 36.3%) -- 58.8% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Guts Bewear Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 105-124 (30.7 - 36.3%) -- 58.8% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Guts Bewear Facade (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 232-274 (52.3 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Guts Bewear High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 240-283 (60.3 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
 
terrakion.gif

Pinsir (Terrakion) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

This set is pretty much the set normal Terrakion uses with one difference. Mold Breaker, which allows you to set up Stealth Rock without caring about Magic Bounce and set up Swords Dance without caring about Unaware.

+2 Continental Crush OHKOes Celesteela, has a 68.8% chance to OHKO Suicune (100% after Rocks) and has a 75% chance to OHKO Cresselia after Rocks.

This set doesn't have the immediate power of Head Smash or options like Contrary Superpower and Dragon Dance but it helps if you struggle to fit another Stealth Rocker on your team while still packing power. And Mold Breaker Swords Dance is good against bulky builds.
 
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Now, fun parts of the post aside... is stall kind of overpowered in this meta, or do I just need to get good? I've been wracking my brains to come up with a solid stallbreaker, but stall has a ton of options -- enough to patch up the weaknesses of ridiculous blanket checks like Cresselia and Suicune. It just doesn't feel feasible to dedicate a teamslot-and-a-half to stallbreaking and expect to, like, win vs stall. At least not on balance, idk about HO.

That's just kind of a ramble but the takeaway here is that i would very much enjoy, like, a Cresselia suspect, cuz it's a LOT bulkier than anything else in the meta and has a workable neutral typing, meaning that with Unaware it's stupidly difficult to break it without status. Also willing to accept that I'm just not thinking outside the box enough.
Uh yes, I myself think stall is rather overpowered but it's also why Protean isn't broken in this meta, which purpose to kept stall in check of not being too overboard. As long as Protean isn't banned I'm fine with the current state of the meta.

Speaking of mixed Protean users (which I think is the best variant currently), I believe there are 5 contenders to choose from.

Tapu Koko
Greninja
Tornadus T
Azelf
Archeops

These are all the best possible mixed protean user you want with a decent Speed tier. No, I'm not including Blacephalon because I used it and it's way inferior in practice and I think it's way overrated (can't take a single neutral hit most of the time, lower than Terrakion Speed is very crucial). Most of the time, Archeops is enough to 2HKO both Cress and Suicune with Knock off and Thunderbolt.
 
sets

Now, fun parts of the post aside... is stall kind of overpowered in this meta, or do I just need to get good? I've been wracking my brains to come up with a solid stallbreaker, but stall has a ton of options -- enough to patch up the weaknesses of ridiculous blanket checks like Cresselia and Suicune. It just doesn't feel feasible to dedicate a teamslot-and-a-half to stallbreaking and expect to, like, win vs stall. At least not on balance, idk about HO.

That's just kind of a ramble but the takeaway here is that i would very much enjoy, like, a Cresselia suspect, cuz it's a LOT bulkier than anything else in the meta and has a workable neutral typing, meaning that with Unaware it's stupidly difficult to break it without status. Also willing to accept that I'm just not thinking outside the box enough.
First of all, ur sets are fire. Second i wanted to discuss your stall problem, i think ur problem is ur underprepared for stall there is many stallbreaker pokemon that straight up dunk on stall or weaken it just enough for the rest of ur team to pick off, so gonna share some sets that should help in the stall matchup (other than the obvious protean users)

First example of a effective wallbreaker was posted right above me
View attachment 97215
Pinsir (Terrakion) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

This set is pretty much the set normal Terrakion uses with one difference. Mold Breaker, which allows you to set up Stealth Rock without caring about Magic Bounce and set up Swords Dance without caring about Unaware.

+2 Continental Crush OHKOes Celesteela, has a 68.8% chance to OHKO Suicune (100% after Rocks) and has a 75% chance to OHKO Cresselia after Rocks.

This set doesn't have the immediate power of Head Smash or setup options like Contrary Superpower and Dragon Dance but it helps if you struggle to fit another Stealth Rocker on your team while still being very powerful.
This set right here fucks up lots of stall builds, and if you really want to make it a dedicated stall breaker put sub to avoid toxic and gg

Another set that puts in work against stall is

Rampardos (Garchomp) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch/Stealth Rocks/Substitute

After u set up rocks successfully (which is easy with an mold breaker user) this thing ohkos both cresselia and suicune with +2 drake, also 1hkos unaware steela after rocks but u need to have either firiumz or hit it with +4 drake (Also ohkos fur coat buzzwole and hippowdon after rocks with z outrage)

Also theres on more set ive been using to a decent degree of success

LOW FAT (Celesteela) @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Toxic
- Quiver Dance
Inheriting from butterfree.
Sure its completely walled by unaware steels but who uses that in a metagame full off magnet pull users? Most use cress/chansey/suicune since they cant be trapped, which comes with a major toxic susceptability

This set is used exactly how u imagine, quiver dance up on anything passive toxic stall their unaware to death and win with almost unresisted air slash
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-686072921 a personal favourite, celesteela eats American Wigeons hard stall

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-686211707 eats yet another defensive core

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-686040804 beating a defensive core late game

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-686049878 beating sableye chansey

There is also other supporters protean users, like knock off+magnet pull cores that weaken stall cores enough for ur sweepers to beat, and theyre not necessarily restricting cuz mons like protean users/chomp/terrak are monsters vs offense and balance as well so ur not losing anything by using them

Edit: screw ur tyrogue set isa simple, i faced it and it is so dumb vs offense with its pseudo CB fakespeed tactic
 

anaconja

long day at job
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
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Blacephalon is probably the most overpowered mon in the metagame. With a Special Attack stat rivaling fug Rayquaza and a nice 107 speed tier to boot, it is one of the most problematic wallbreakers that stall has to face.

252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune in Sun: 182-214 (45 - 52.9%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 260-306 (64.3 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini in Sun: 164-193 (47.8 - 56.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Solar Beam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 234-276 (68.2 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
(Even resists have trouble switching in!!)
252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax in Sun: 279-328 (53.2 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola in Sun: 198-234 (47.9 - 56.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Your best bet checking it is Flash Fire Ferrothorn (Flareon or Arcanine) or Chansey - however, Blacephalon can break through them thanks to Z-Superpower:

4 Atk Blacephalon All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 266-314 (75.5 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Blacephalon All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 444-524 (69.2 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


Additionally, Blacephalon can opt for Nidoking as an inheritor, which gives it even more power on Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, and Focus Blast (it can also run Z-Superpower here).
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 220-259 (54.5 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery


It also poses problems versus offensive teams. 107 base Speed, even without a Scarf, already outspeeds common threats like Medicham-Mega and Garchomp. With a Scarf, it can outspeed Alakazam-Mega and non Scarf Terrakion, Keldeo, Gengar, Tapu Koko, Thundurus, and Azelf. It is also immune to priority Extreme Speed, Fake Out, and Mach Punch, which makes it hard to revenge kill.

In conclusion, Blacephalon is a nightmare to stall and bulky offfensive, as it has no reliable switch-ins. It is very difficult to check, requiring niche or unusual sets to counter (Flash Fire Ferrothorn and scarfed Pelipper -> Greninja), so it should at least be suspected.

edit: fuc u tyler, also I did indeed miss Specs. If Blacephalon does not need to worry about revenge killers as much, it can forgo its boosted Speed for even more Special Attack, almost 2HKOing the meta, shown by the calcs below.
 
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SaturnZelda

formerly TylerWithNumbers


Blacephalon is probably the most overpowered mon in the metagame. With a Special Attack stat rivaling fug Rayquaza and a nice 107 speed tier to boot, it is one of the most problematic wallbreakers that stall has to face.

252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune in Sun: 182-214 (45 - 52.9%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 260-306 (64.3 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini in Sun: 164-193 (47.8 - 56.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Solar Beam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 234-276 (68.2 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
(Even resists have trouble switching in!!)
252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax in Sun: 279-328 (53.2 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola in Sun: 198-234 (47.9 - 56.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Your best bet checking it is Flash Fire Ferrothorn (Flareon or Arcanine) or Chansey - however, Blacephalon can break through them thanks to Z-Superpower:

4 Atk Blacephalon All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 266-314 (75.5 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Blacephalon All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 444-524 (69.2 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


Additionally, Blacephalon can opt for Nidoking as an inheritor, which gives it even more power on Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, and Focus Blast (it can also run Z-Superpower here).
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 220-259 (54.5 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery


It also poses problems versus offensive teams. 107 base Speed, even without a Scarf, already outspeeds common threats like Medicham-Mega and Garchomp. With a Scarf, it can outspeed Alakazam-Mega and non Scarf Terrakion, Keldeo, Gengar, Tapu Koko, Thundurus, and Azelf. It is also immune to priority Extreme Speed, Fake Out, and Mach Punch, which makes it hard to revenge kill.

In conclusion, Blacephalon is a nightmare to stall and bulky offfensive, as it has no reliable switch-ins. It is very difficult to check, requiring niche or unusual sets to counter (Flash Fire Ferrothorn and scarfed Pelipper -> Greninja), so it should at least be suspected.
First off, acml actually making a contribution to a meta? :o. Secondly, you didn’t even mention specs. Specs Torkoal Eruption 2HKOs Chansey, 2HKOs Suicune, and just about everything it wants to. It even has a chance to OHKO SOME RESISTS (on offense, obviously).

Here are some calcs:

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 313-370 (48.8 - 57.7%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola in Sun: 295-348 (71.2 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Suicune in Sun: 273-321 (67.5 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (and, for good measure, if you’re like “Oh, Tyler, I can just run max SpD xddddd”, then here’s this calc)

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Suicune in Sun: 201-237 (49.7 - 58.6%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Yeah, Blacephalon is broken and needs to go.

Edit: Adding some calcs to show how offense fares against it. Sure, they can pressure it offensively, but every time it comes in on something faster than it, something dies.

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Archeops in Sun: 437-515 (150.1 - 176.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Tapu Koko in Sun: 868-1023 (308.8 - 364%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion in Sun: 336-396 (103.7 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios in Sun: 282-333 (93.6 - 110.6%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

Etc, etc.
 

Lcass4919

The Xatu Warrior
Uh yes, I myself think stall is rather overpowered but it's also why Protean isn't broken in this meta, which purpose to kept stall in check of not being too overboard. As long as Protean isn't banned I'm fine with the current state of the meta.

Speaking of mixed Protean users (which I think is the best variant currently), I believe there are 5 contenders to choose from.

Tapu Koko
Greninja
Tornadus T
Azelf
Archeops

These are all the best possible mixed protean user you want with a decent Speed tier. No, I'm not including Blacephalon because I used it and it's way inferior in practice and I think it's way overrated (can't take a single neutral hit most of the time, lower than Terrakion Speed is very crucial). Most of the time, Archeops is enough to 2HKO both Cress and Suicune with Knock off and Thunderbolt.
not to mention after using blac's tork set, drought blac outclasses protean in every way since even resists and chansey struggle vs eruption
 

Jrsmash9

jrsmash that timer
not to mention after using blac's tork set, drought blac outclasses protean in every way since even resists and chansey struggle vs eruption
Not every way but it's still ridiculous. The one thing sheerforce/protean does better is beating traditional counters to drought blace. For example inheriting from mawile you could play rough guzzlord, or when inheriting from kecleon you can avoid being pursuit trapped.
 
Just here to throw some shit to the wall and see if something sticks =^]

Dragonite (Goodra) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Def
Bold / Impish / Relaxed Nature
- Dragon Pulse / Dragon Tail
- Flamethrower / Toxic
- Roost
- Defog / Heal Bell
Yeah, I know that you all love Regenerator sets on any defensive mon, but this one provides more utility. As Buzzwole sets, the only Goodra ones are just for pivoting, so here's something different (again). Goodra can be such a great answer to motherf*cking Blacephalon and those pesky Magnet pullers due to its decent mono-Dragon typing and, insane special bulk and access to the wide coverage options from Dragonite and its great ability Multiscale, which lets it to stomach a full hp Eruption from the clown and then lower its hp to reduce the damage of eruption with either Dragon pulse or tail and then just Roost. Aside of this, it can also help to support the team with Defog or Heal Bell.

Rampardos (Aerodactyl) @ Aerdactylite
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Head Smash
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
I'm surprised that Rampardos isn't listed as a Aerodactyl-Mega donor, as it provides the flying reptile access to Head Smash and the Elemental Punches, as Nidoking, but also to Swords Dance, which makes it even more powerful by the physical side.

Scrafty (Aerodactyl) @ Aerdactylite
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
Another cool MAerodactyl donor too. I think Scrafty has potential to be the best donor for it, with access to 2 cool pre-mega abillites on Intimidate and Moxie, access to Head Smash, the Elemental Punches AND the main reason why i think this one must be listed too: Dragon Dance, which makes Aerodactyl-Mega a killing machine that hits hard and is very difficult to outspeed.
 
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Lcass4919

The Xatu Warrior
Just here to throw some shit to the wall and see if something sticks =^]

Dragonite (Goodra) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Def
Bold / Impish / Relaxed Nature
- Dragon Pulse / Dragon Tail
- Flamethrower / Toxic
- Roost
- Defog / Heal Bell
Yeah, I know that you all love Regenerator sets on any defensive mon, but this one provides more utility. As Buzzwole sets, the only Goodra ones are just for pivoting, so here's something different (again). Goodra can be such a great answer to motherf*cking Blacephalon and those pesky Magnet pullers due to its decent mono-Dragon typing and, insane special bulk and access to the wide coverage options from Dragonite and its great ability Multiscale, which lets it to stomach a full hp Eruption from the clown and then lower its hp to reduce the damage of eruption with either Dragon pulse or tail and then just Roost. Aside of this, it can also help to support the team with Defog or Heal Bell.

Rampardos (Aerodactyl) @ Aerdactylite
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Head Smash
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
I'm surprised that Rampardos isn't listed as a Aerodactyl-Mega donor, as it provides the flying reptile access to Head Smash and the Elemental Punches, as Nidoking, but also to Swords Dance, which makes it even more powerful by the physical side.

Scrafty (Aerodactyl) @ Aerdactylite
Ability: Intimidate / Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
Another cool MAerodactyl donor too. I think Scrafty has potential to be the best donor for it, with access to 2 cool pre-mega abillites on Intimidate and Moxie, access to Head Smash, the Elemental Punches AND the main reason why i think this one must be listed too: Dragon Dance, which makes Aerodactyl-Mega a killing machine that hits hard and is very difficult to outspeed.
the problem i see with aero is it suffers from "Stab=death" head smashes recoil is actually rediculous. for example, headsmashing something like a chansey ohko's aero in return. meanwhile vs offense it can only get off 2 head smashes before biting the dust itself. it honestly needs a safer stab. id honestly consider this:

basculin-blue striped (aerodactyl) @ aerodactylite
ability: rock head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
jolly nature
- Head smash
- Bounce
- Superpower
- Taunt

even gives you a recoil-less head smash pre-mega. and tough claws boosted bounce is nothing to scoff at, even if its a 2 turn move. taunt prevents setup/healing, and head smash is strong enough that you dont really need to rely on boosting to ohko/2hko most mons.

fun fact: aero can 2hko intimidate 252/252 landorus through intimidate, so needless to say, i dont think boosting is honestly nessisary. but to each their own.(you can also use archeops with this same set but fly>bounce if you dont like bounces accuracy. and dont particularily care about rock head pre-mega)
 
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So here I found some moveset for Shuckle


Shuckle @ Sitrus Berry (Mew)
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Infestation
- Super Fang
- Whirlpool
- Recycle
 
ok this addressed by many but lets in all seriousness address the elephant in the room

1515956682144.png


this thing right now is one of the most unhealthy things in the meta right now, worse than any unburden landos, or lele m zams.

Fact of the matter is with this mon is that with its most destructive set in specs or scarf while inheriting from torkoal it becomes a monster that can 2hko a mon premiered for being able to sponge special hits in eviolite, with which its common max, max def. set is 2hkoed with a guarantee by specs eruption. Even when running a max hp/ max sp.def set (which it shouldn't be doing in the first place if it wasn't to properly perform as a tank). it still
has a very high chance to be 2hkoed with sr assistance.

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 288-339 (40.9 - 48.1%) -- 66% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

In terms of dealing with blacephalon, you cant just have a fire resist, you have to run a straight up fire wall or immunity just to be able to tank it and most of the ones used don't have any other uses for dealing with anything else and without blacephalons existence would not be run at all. Some of which include greninja@peli (for pursuit trapping after tanking with rain assistance) weavile@heatmor (same with gren but with flash fire, but mind u heatmor has no ice coverage so it essentially has only one stab) and av guzzlord@mienshao( yes folks we have even dug near the bottom of pu just to find something to deal with this monstrosity. The first two pokemon have much better mons available that they can inherit from such as crawdaunt for gren or kecleon for weavile and the guzzlord in itself wouldn't see usage at all if blacephalon didn't exist as there are many mons such as muk alola that can pull off a better av regen role. These sets in itself only really do any work when blacephalon is actually on the opposing team, if it doesn't the mons usually under perform and in most cases just end up using up a team slot that could have been used for something else. Even in terms of using bulky fflash fire ounters like celes, only two of the flash fire mons have recovery in wish(for flareon) and morning sun (for arcanine). Both of these recovery have glaring weaknesses in being a two turn effect and a 8 pp move respectively. Mons with drizzle can help check blace but save for rain teams (which I admit outright wall blace) they often don't have much place on the team especially if u are running ur own mons that may be weak to water.

Not only that but while inheriting from torkoal it can borrow fighting coverage in superpower that can 2hko or 1 hko all the mons previously listed and a few other potential checks such as ttar, as blace already has a naturally decent 127 atk stat which helps back up the dmg from superpower. Blacephalon also doesn't always inherit from torkoal, it also borrows from mons nidoqueen/king and kecleon, which both have enough coverage to deal with the usual torkoal blacephalon checks. Blacephalon can also be supported by a mag puller in mons like infernape or thundurus to deal with any steel types that may be trying to check it with a flash fire set.

The things power obscene and makes the term "not very effective" questionable. The things rocks a 151 sp.atk that is 1 point higher than pdons special atk whose eruptions are already well known in the ubers tier for decimating some neutral switch ins such as groundceus despite it not being able to hold a boosting item.Here is a list of some bulky common mons in the tier that specs blace nukes on a resisted or neutral.

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde in Sun: 321-378 (76.4 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp in Sun: 352-414 (83.8 - 98.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cresselia in Sun: 370-436 (83.3 - 98.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola in Sun: 295-348 (71.4 - 84.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Suicune in Sun: 221-261 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

and of course chansey with its usual set

252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 390-460 (55.4 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


The things hits so hard with eruption in the sun off its high sp.atk alone it doesn't even need specs to easily ko neutrally weak walls or to be able to revenge kill weakned ones

252 SpA Blacephalon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos in Sun: 448-528 (116.9 - 137.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Now some may say its frail or it can easily be revenged kill or even try to say that rocks weaken it but the fact of the matter is that that just doersnt help stop it if the person has a good enough team. With so many slower mons like amuk or golis inheriting from mons with u turn or volt switch its relatively easy for people to pivot in blacephalon to leave a pokemon trainer being forced to sacrifice something to this erupting alolan firecracker. ALso with gen 7 freeing so many new defog mons, removing hazards isn't necessarily a serious issue. People even run sticky webs to assure that any mons that are touching the ground trying to outspeed its already decently high base 107 speed can no longer hope to outspeed it and revenge kill this frail glasss cannon.

This is just my personal opinion on this mon and many other people high on the inheritance ladder such as the current top Jrsmash9 have already expressed entirely how busted this mon is. If you have any counter claims to my arguments state please (in a manner that doesn't sounds like ur trying to fight me please lol).


and damn this is my record longest forum post lol
 

Yung Dramps

awesome gaming
When it comes to Blacephalon, Torkoal Blace in particular is just so stupidly powerful that in a way, Blacephalon has outclassed itself. After all, why bother with unique donors like Marowak-Alola and Clefable when you can just run Scarf Eruption to effortlessly rip apart offense, or you can run Specs/Mixed All-Out Pummeling to mangle balance? I am struggling to think of a reason why this mon hasn't been quickbanned yet. Sure, it's frail and can be easy to kill, but you also gotta tank a hit first, and as others have shown, that is a tall order.

There is no practical reason to keep Blacephalon around. We have given the meta time to adapt, and it has failed to do so, being instead forced to run sub-optimal sets like AV Guzzlord to keep it from 6-0ing their teams. Just ban it already, it's useless to not do so, and will only continue to drive the meta downward until it does go

With that said and done, I have a VR Nomination.

Magearna: Top donor becomes Bellossom, moved up to A
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-688852644
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-688848656
I know these are low ladder replays, but still, this is just freaking horseshit. So what if your only STAB is Moonblast? You get so many opportunities to set up anyway, and Strength Sap is a busted move. If Magearna gets +1 on a switch-in from a Magnet Puller not named Heatran, they lose. No Pokemon that can do THIS deserves to be placed in the low A ranks.
 
Solrock (Stakataka) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
-Gyro Ball
-Stone Edge
-Flare Blitz/Earthquake
-Trick Room

Unless I'm missing something painfully obvious, this should be the ranked Levitate Stakataka, as Flare Blitz is an unique move that allows Stakataka to kill Ferrothorn and Celesteela without Flash Fire. Right now, Claydol and Bronzong are ranked, but to my knowledge they don't provide anything unique over Solrock.
 
When it comes to Blacephalon, Torkoal Blace in particular is just so stupidly powerful that in a way, Blacephalon has outclassed itself. After all, why bother with unique donors like Marowak-Alola and Clefable when you can just run Scarf Eruption to effortlessly rip apart offense, or you can run Specs/Mixed All-Out Pummeling to mangle balance? I am struggling to think of a reason why this mon hasn't been quickbanned yet. Sure, it's frail and can be easy to kill, but you also gotta tank a hit first, and as others have shown, that is a tall order.

There is no practical reason to keep Blacephalon around. We have given the meta time to adapt, and it has failed to do so, being instead forced to run sub-optimal sets like AV Guzzlord to keep it from 6-0ing their teams. Just ban it already, it's useless to not do so, and will only continue to drive the meta downward until it does go

With that said and done, I have a VR Nomination.

Magearna: Top donor becomes Bellossom, moved up to A
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-688852644
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7inheritance-688848656
I know these are low ladder replays, but still, this is just freaking horseshit. So what if your only STAB is Moonblast? You get so many opportunities to set up anyway, and Strength Sap is a busted move. If Magearna gets +1 on a switch-in from a Magnet Puller not named Heatran, they lose. No Pokemon that can do THIS deserves to be placed in the low A ranks.
Why is Magearna not A+ anyway? It's one of, if not the best defensive Pokemon ever released, and that's with its vanilla sets. If/when we get rid of Magnet Pull, it should go straight to S.

Three more things: Seriously, why is Blacephalon not banned yet? It was obvious before the end of the first week of OMotM that it was going to be problematic. We've had over a week now of people begging something, anything to be done about it, and a VR list that frankly needs a shitton of work still was released instead.

I also saw that Cinccino was taken off Archeops' VR spot, but Toucannon was not added in its stead. That should happen, and Staraptor should be added (Reckless Brave Bird + CC + U-turn).

Finally, I'm gonna bring up Magnet Pull again, since Yung Dramps mentioned it. It's dumb, it's broken, it's just as bad as Shadow Tag and Arena Trap given the nukes that Inheritance creates. Get rid of it.
 

nv

The Lost Age
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Cry no more for the beast that is...



...is now BANNED from Inheritance.

The reasoning behind this goes without saying as it has been stated multiple times throughout the thread. The fact that it is very versatile as well as has multiple donors means that it can plow through anything on offense, balance, or stall which is very unhealthy for this metagame.

As for Magnet Pull, I understand it has been as much of a nuisance as Shadow Tag/Arena Trap for some, but the council wants to see some well thought out reasonings i.e. replays and sets that show the abuse of it as to why it should be banned as well as the other side (if there is anyone that thinks Magnet Pull is okay).

Finally, tagging The Immortal to ban Blacephalon in Inheritance and remove it from the ladder.
I actually tagged him this time. Yay! :)
 

alephgalactus

Banned deucer.
Cry no more for the beast that is...



...is now BANNED from Inheritance.

The reasoning behind this goes without saying as it has been stated multiple times throughout the thread. The fact that it is very versatile as well as has multiple donors means that it can plow through anything on offense, balance, or stall which is very unhealthy for this metagame.

As for Magnet Pull, I understand it has been as much of a nuisance as Shadow Tag/Arena Trap for some, but the council wants to see some well thought out reasonings i.e. replays and sets that show the abuse of it as to why it should be banned as well as the other side (if there is anyone that thinks Magnet Pull is okay).

Finally, tagging The Immortal to ban Blacephalon in Inheritance and remove it from the ladder.
I actually tagged him this time. Yay! :)
Finally! I had this stupid thing on every team and I was getting really bored of it. Let creativity reign once again!
 
Cry no more for the beast that is...



...is now BANNED from Inheritance.

The reasoning behind this goes without saying as it has been stated multiple times throughout the thread. The fact that it is very versatile as well as has multiple donors means that it can plow through anything on offense, balance, or stall which is very unhealthy for this metagame.

As for Magnet Pull, I understand it has been as much of a nuisance as Shadow Tag/Arena Trap for some, but the council wants to see some well thought out reasonings i.e. replays and sets that show the abuse of it as to why it should be banned as well as the other side (if there is anyone that thinks Magnet Pull is okay).

Finally, tagging The Immortal to ban Blacephalon in Inheritance and remove it from the ladder.
I actually tagged him this time. Yay! :)
Finally! Now I can use something not named Guzzlord on my team!
 

Pigeons

pidge pidge
is a Tiering Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus


Stall in the Inheritance Metagame

There's been quite a bit of talk about Inheritance stall in the Other Metagames room recently, and with good reason. Now that Blacephalon is banned (rightly so), stall is incredibly potent, having just lost once of its most volatile answers. Stall is always an interesting playstyle, often met with annoyance from ladder players, but in inheritance stall can be particularly troublesome thanks to the presence of extremely potent blanket checks. In my experience, there's one core in particular that stands out as particularly powerful, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it checks at least 80% of the metagame. Don't get me wrong, the 3-Pokemon core I'm going to detail isn't unbeatable: there are consistent and viable ways of breaking it present in the metagame. The issue it presents is that because the core is able to check such a wide variety of Pokemon, stall teams have enough flexibility in the last 3 slots that they can easily tailor a team to beat these specific threats. This results in stall being an extremely difficult to check playstyle that often enough wins from team preview because the opponent does not have the correct breaker. While this can be circumvented in different metagames by running certain lure sets, lures are much harder to pull off effectively in inheritance because of donor reveal. I'll detail the 3-Pokemon core I'm referring too below in an effort to generate more discussion on stall and maybe provide more insight into its place in the inheritance metagame.

The Core


Right off the bat, it's apparent that this core focuses less on typing synergy and more on sheer bulk, and in that sense it definitely succeeds. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say this core checks at least 80% of the metagame through sheer bulk alone (aided by the abilities for each Pokemon). The roles for each individual Pokemon are quite clear and similar to what they would be in standard play (albeit amplified due to their inherited sets). With stellar bulk on both sides of the spectrum, Cresselia can check an extremely large portion of the metagame and is extremely difficult to break past without powerful supereffective moves. Chansey and Buzzwole focus on checking attackers specific to one end of the attacking spectrum, with Chansey handling virtually every special attacker and Buzzwole being able to take just about anything on the physical end. Even though they don't have much synergy in terms of typing, the core still works extremely well defensively due to the ridiculous bulk of the Pokemon used. That's not to say there isn't any synergy, Buzzwole acts as a great absorber to Bug and Dark-type moves that threaten Cresselia and Fighting-type moves that threaten Chansey, Chansey can take on any special-based Fire-types for Buzzwole or threatening Ghost-types for Cresselia. These 3 work so well together that through all the variants of my stall team, they've always remained at the center of them (albeit with differing sets). To show how a team around this core can operate, here are the sets I commonly run on each member to achieve its particular goal.

The Sets


Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 232 HP / 156 Def / 120 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic / U-turn / Super Fang
- Toxic
- Roost
- Defog

This Cresselia inherits Unaware from Swoobat, but other Unaware donors can work as well. Unaware Cresselia is pretty ridiculous in terms of the sheer number of things it checks because it requires an astonishing amount of raw power to break past unboosted, and thanks to Unaware that's effectively the only option teams will have. The set is nothing too specific, most people know what Unaware Cresselia does but it does it extremely well, that being blanket checking a large portion of the metagame. The fact that such a potent blanket check also acts as a Defogger is very much worth noting, that's one of many factors that gives stall teams built around this core immense freedom with their last 3 teamslots. I personally run a mixed defensive spread as seen here to broaden the range of things Cresselia is able to check (I forget the exact details of the spread though), but teams struggling with threats like Necrozma ! Mega Medicham can opt for max defense as well.


Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Heal Bell / Stealth Rock
- Wish
- Protect

Chansey is already infamous on stall across metagames, and Inheritance gives it the necessary tools to excel even further as a wall. This set inherits from Clefable, and again other Unaware donors could work just as well here. Chansey requires even less explanation than the above since it's fulfilling pretty much the same niche it does in OU: walling almost every special attacker in the metagame. While in some metagames Chansey's massive special bulk can be overwhelmed by boosting sweepers, Unaware again makes that a non-issue. Like Cresselia, Chansey performs an otherwise essential team function in addition to its defensive utility by acting either as a Heal Bell user or Stealth Rock setter, again according to the needs of the team. Again, you'll notice a common theme with Cresselia here: blanket check as much of the meta as possible while providing additional team support as needed, resulting in increased team flexibility. I've seen a lot of people in the other metas room advocate 252 HP / 252 Def Bold Chansey in the other metas room, but that set is pretty suboptimal when Chansey's main goal is to check special attacking threats, the decreased special bulk is especially notable against Torkoal inheritors with Specs and Eruption.


Buzzwole @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Rest
- Toxic

The last Pokemon of the core aims to check physical attackers that rely on sheer power to deal damage, think of things like Basculin ! Terrakion with Choice Band that would otherwise have the raw strength to get past Cresselia. Fur Coat Buzzwole (inheriting from Alolan Persian in case it wasn't clear) is so physically bulky it's ridiculous, it pretty much doesn't take significant damage from physical attackers at all save for things like Victini ! Alolan Marowak's V-create (which only deals 75% maximum). Reliable recovery and a lack of team utility are both unfortunate, but in my opinion that hardly matters when you're pretty much walling the entire unboosted physical metagame. While it has no dedicated team support roles due to Alolan Persian's limited movepoll, Knock Off is helpful against opposing bulky teams and U-turn prevents offensive teams from gaining momentum with double switches, so not all is lost.

Threats to the Core

As I said previously, this core is far from unbreakable. There are some very prominent threats to this core, and I'll try and outline some of the most common or most effective ones below.



V-Create Fire-types:
When the above Pokemon inherit V-Create from Victini, they boast enough raw power to break past Cresselia and can beat the core's dedicated physical wall Buzzwole thanks to natural type advantage. Victini also donates strong coverage options in Bolt Strike (for Mega Charizard X and Alolan Marowak) as well as Solar Beam, Focus Blast and Thunderbolt (for Mega Charizard Y). These Pokemon are naturally very scary for any bulky team to face, particularly with stall.


Mega Medicham:
While it is soft checked by Unaware Cresselia, Mega Medicham inheriting from Necrozma can rather troublesome. If Cresselia is not at full HP, a Swords Dance boosted Photon Geyser can threaten a 2hko on Cresselia due to the move bypassing Unaware, and because Cresselia is used to check so many threats and get rid of hazards, it being at less than full HP is a fairly likely scenario. Less threatening than the above Pokemon but when played by a competent opponent it can be a real hassle to deal with.


Keldeo:
By virtue of its offensive typing and solid power, Keldeo poses a threat to this core and can do so with a variety of different sets. The two sets I see most, Sheer Force and Adaptability, both are able to 2hko Chansey with Focus Blast, meaning the core's dedicated check to special attackers will not suffice. Cresselia is at risk of being 2hkod after rocks by Sheer Force variants, while Adaptability sets 2hko outright. While Keldeo's moves are unreliable, banking on Focus Blast missing isn't enough to say this core has reliable counterplay.


Powerful Mixed Sweepers:
Powerful mixed sweepers (particularly those with Protean) that have enough raw power to get past Cresselia (or simply the appropriate coverage) are very dangerous as well, as these are often unpredictable (even with donor reveal) and hiding coverage moves until later in a match can easily give the player of one of these Pokemon a massive advantage.


Mold Breaker Attackers:
Attackers that run both Mold Breaker and Swords Dance are probably the most difficult breakers to answer with teams around this core. Because Mold Breaker bypasses both Unaware and Fur Coat, the core's dedicated checks to physical attackers both fall apart. Mold Breaker Pokemon can also run Choice Band to pose a threat, though Buzzwole has enough natural physical bulk that it can still fend them off well enough.

Partners to the Core:
Now that I've outlined some of the threats to this core, why not some potential partners? Supporting this core usually comes down to checking the above threats or providing other essential team functions. Here are some partners I've had success with:


Mega Sableye:
In addition to hard-checking Mega Medicham, Mega Sableye offers Magic Bounce support which is incredibly valuable to a team. Because it gains Magic Bounce after mega evolving, Sableye is usually free to inherit from anything, meaning it has a lot of flexibility in its moveset is a team is missing some crucial support role such as a Stealth Rock setter.


Motor Drive Toxapex:
A little weird but a great example of how stall teams can really tailor to threats like the ones above. Motor Drive Toxapex checks V-Create Fire-types as well as Keldeo thanks to its typing and great natural bulk. Inheriting from Emolga also gives it access to Defog, which frees up a moveslot on Cresselia for teams that previously had Defog there (dual Defog is also an option).


Regenerator Magearna:
Checks Mega Alakazam which can be a little annoying to the core, but its main utility is acting as a pivot with Regenerator, which effectively guarantees that matchups against opposing stall teams will end in a tie. Magearna can also run Heal Bell, either freeing a moveslot on Chansey or allowing for 2 Heal Bell users on the same team (which I've enjoyed during my tests).

In Conclusion:
Stall is a very neat playstyle in Inheritance, and despite people on ladder who ridicule stall players for unoriginality there's a lot of room to be creative with the last 3 teamslots to check the various things able to break that 3-Pokemon core. Partners and threats to this core are far from limited to the ones I listed here, those are just ones I've noted from my own experience building and on ladder. While stall is a frustrating playstyle at times, it can also be a major source of innovation and creativity, both from people trying to build stall teams and account for the major metagame threats and from people who find creative ways of getting around stall teams. Hopefully this generates some interesting discussion on stall's place in the metagame or on potential suspects, as I think in some ways stall can be overly restrictive, both in the teambuilding and playing phases, but I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this since I'm only speaking from the perspective of a stall user. Also, sorry for using stall on ladder. Anyways, peace.
 

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