by Doc – Owner, Founder, Never Doubted Gyarados for a Moment, Even Though He Should Have
The most unusual Legends Z-A tournament that we’ve ever had just concluded, and with it is a story of bounty hunting, blatant meta manipulation, a new option for Infestation that would turn the meta on its head, rule set dictatorship, and most importantly… Gyarados is so back. Not that he ever left.
I’m exaggerating a touch, but you’ll see what I mean in a second. First, familiarize yourself with the bracket for this week. Notably, due to disqualifications only nine trainers participated in this tournament, but nearly all nine of these trainers are skilled and repeat customers when it comes to 1v1 training, so I feel pretty confident in saying most of these people would have been in the top eight anyway.
There’s a few pieces of Infestation drama to cover, and then we’ll get to the actually exciting analysis after that.
The Bounty and the Infestation Innovation
Jayson, whose bracket username is Ubo, put up $20 to anyone who could place first in the tournament without using Infestation, which was not banned last week when put up for a vote. His intention was to demonstrate how overpowered Infestation is, and I’d say it absolutely succeeded… Because he won with two Infestation users. You’ll notice that both the first and third placers in this tournament used Whirlipede and Barbaracle. Whirlipede is well trodden territory, having been the face of Infestation all along. No surprise there.
Barbaracle is an interesting twist – he’s Rock and Water type, so if you’re packing Fire types to deal with Infestation users, you’ll find it useless against him. Because there is almost no offensive Grass type usage in the entire meta, because there are no Ground, Rock or Water types against whom it would be super effective to use it against, Barbaracle is situated very well. I’d go so far as to say that in some ways he may be a better Infestation user than Whirlipede should the meta develop in that direction.
The Meta Manipulation
In any other esport environment, paying your opponents not to use the best strategy would be considered unethical and grounds for removal from competition. However… We are not a typical esport environment. At the moment, the 1v1 meta is still fleshing itself out, and we know each other pretty well too. The only reason, in my opinion, Infestation wasn’t banned previously is because there was a lot of tourism from Reddit who had brief interest in the meta, but never competed, who voted against the ban. So a bounty like this, a bounty that incentivized people to prove Infestation was not unbeatable, I feel was appropriate. Should it be done again?… Nah, probably not. But it was very well timed and fit the situation properly.
So as you review the standings, bear in mind that everyone was incentivized not to use Infestation, and the only two that did ended up placing first and third. That should demonstrate pretty effectively that Infestation is as powerful as it’s claimed to be.
The Infestation Ban
However, fortunately, Infestation was banned after the tournament. Yes, it was a unilateral decision by the server owner, but all of the longer-term participants and the most active users were in heavy agreement even before last week’s Infestation vote turned out to be a narrow no. We could have had the vote again, but we ran the risk of it being biased by people who don’t compete – and what would be the purpose of subjecting people who compete to the opinions of people who don’t actually compete? So it’s a decision I support.
Now! On to the interesting parts of the tournament.
Skarmy Army
You knew this section was coming. There are a number of Skarmory movesets that are getting run, and while overall there is still significant variety between them, Drill Peck and Brave Bird remain the most popular options, due in no small part to STAB and coverage. Curse, Steel Wing, Protect and Stealth Rock are some of the other popular options for Skarmory but otherwise the only real decision you have with Skarmory is whether to run Mega Skarmory as an option or Rocky Helmet Skarmory. It looks like Drill Peck and Brave Bird are mandatory, and everything else is up for preference.
Mega Skarmory gives up 30 points of defense to gain 30 points of defense in special defense, which is a pretty worthwhile trade given most Electric and Fire type attacks will be special, not physical. It’s the most used Mega Pokémon by far, as it’s becoming clear that other options like Mega Metagross are inferior to certain held items, and because you can run such a variety of movesets to run either defensively, offensively, or hazards it’s difficult to pin down exactly what your opponent has brought out until you see it. And Drill Peck and Brave Bird are staples, so you’re in for a bad time either way. Which brings us to…
THEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED
I see four Ampharos users in the 9 teamsheets. Holy. Cow. There’s two Delphox to add to those, and three Chandelure. Let’s focus on those four Ampharos users – I don’t know of any reason you would be bringing Ampharos except to counter Skarmory. There’s no Water types that really need countering (yeah, we’ll get to Gyarados in a minute) so I can only conclude that these players are considering Skarmory enough of a threat that they have to pack an Electric type specifically for him. While I haven’t had the chance to watch the footage of the tournament, I’d imagine that these Electrics were often used as a rebuttal to a Skarmory entering the field.
Alternatively, they have to pack a Fire type, and you’ll notice that everyone has one of either type, with basically no off-meta picks (don’t look at the Talonflame in the 9th slot, I don’t understand that moveset one bit). This reads to me like basically everyone preparing for Skarmory, and in many cases packing their own Skarmory as well. I think the meta is settled in this regard – bring Skarmory, and bring Skarmory counters for his Skarmory.
Curiously, Metagross is practically absent from this tournament compared to some previous attendances, having a spot in the first place and then disappearing until the 6th and 7th teams. Mega Metagross only makes one appearance in the 9th place team slot. I think this is because, with or without Infestation, Skarmory is simply a better Steel type as he has fewer type weaknesses, he has Drill Peck to directly counter all his weaknesses and his moveset flexibility is more persuasive to team builders. So while this is definitely a Steel type centric meta, Skarmory is the best Steel type. Hands down.
Gyarados is so back dude
My legendaries post the other day had some in-jokes about Gyarados Crunch, which unfortunately only appears once in this entire team sheet. If I had feelings they’d be hurt. However, Gyarados is, objectively so back. Basically all of the Gyarados seem to be running:
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Ice Fang
- Protect
with some running Earthquake instead of Ice Fang or Bounce. I’m not seeing many similarities in their held items either, suggesting that while that 4x Electric weakness is pretty rough, it’s not priority number one even when there are plenty of Electric types out to counter Skarmory.
The moveset of Waterfall, Ice Fang and Earthquake is an interesting one. Protect is mandatory on basically everyone, so that’s not interesting. But Earthquake covers Electric types… And also Steel types besides Skarmory. It’s not extremely useful, but hey, it doesn’t hurt to have an Earthquake when you need one. For coverage it’s a toss-up between Earthquake and Crunch, if you ask me.
Waterfall may be my favorite move on Gyarados in this meta, because it actually does have use besides being a powerful Water type attack. It physically relocates Gyarados, and somewhat quickly too. If Gyarados needs to dodge and attack, a creative player can position himself so Gyarados pushes himself out of the way. This doesn’t seem all that useful at first, but when you consider that there are some slow moving attacks in the game, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where this may be useful.
The Meta Remains Unsettled Regarding Umbreon and Chandelure
Curiously, my previous predictions on Umbreon and Chandelure seem to have been incorrect. While both of them are seeing usage, they’re not being established as the instant, automatic top tiers that I thought they would be. I’m not really sure why this is the case, to be honest. It’s possible that this week was just unique because of the Infestation question, but if we were given another 3 months of this metagame I’m no longer convinced that Umbreon and Chandelure would be the new top tiers. Of course, it depends on a variety of factors.
Chandelure would of course be diminished by an increased amount of Gyarados or Garchomp, but Garchomp is already pretty present in the meta and Gyarados has maintained a presence as well, though not as oppressive as Garchomp. Yet Chandelure persists.
Umbreon stall seems like an unbeatable option, and I wonder if it is only not being ran because obtaining an extra small Umbreon is difficult to do. As I mentioned last week, an extra small Umbreon can set up screens and simply run away from Brick Break – surely that would be good enough to bring on every team? I don’t honestly know. One wonders if Sylveon stall (in a few paragraphs) would pose as a great hard counter to Umbreon stall given the opportunity.
Diancie
Diancie was legal, and as the only legal legendary or mythical Pokémon in the meta… Only one person brought her. I know, I thought it was funny too. The Diancie ran:
- Play Rough
- Diamond Storm
- Light Screen
- Reflect
Diamond Storm I can see, because a powerful Rock type attack goes a long way in a metagame full of types that won’t resist it. Play Rough I’m a bit confused on – am I wrong, or would Draining Kiss make Diancie significantly more tanky? The Diancie ran the Mega Evolution option but the team sheets don’t suggest that he used it, not that he’d need to. Diancie is already absurdly tanky unless someone throws a pair of scissors at him, at which point his 4x weakness to Steel basically destroys him.
I think Diancie’s defensive typing is awful, as it leaves him vulnerable particularly to Water, Ground and especially Steel, all of which are utilized frequently in the meta. However, should we ever need a glass cannon Rock type user, Diancie is well suited for that purpose. Seems like everything is a glass cannon these days. This younger generation is so wimpy compared to the kids back in my day…
Meganium and Sylveon
There is a moveset that caught my eye, and I will admit excites me a little bit. While it seems that the current “230 Meta” – that is, the Legends Z-A meta with its original Pokédex of 230 – does not favor Grass types in any way, especially not when Skarmory and so many Fire types are present, I noticed a particularly innovative Meganium moveset. Actually, I also noticed an innovative Sylveon moveset as well, but we’ll start with Meganium.
This Meganium moveset seems to run almost a parody of the Umbreon stall with Toxic moveset. It runs:
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Synthesis
- Reflect
- Rocky Helmet (held item)
Hermes is the one who ran it in the bracket. I don’t know how well this set went, but it’s certainly an interesting proposition – Leech Seed your opponent who is presumably not a Grass type, and try to either force a switch with that or stall them out. What makes this set interesting is that it does work on Steel types, and you’ll pull 1/8 of their HP every 8 seconds. While I don’t have information immediately available on how frequently it leeches HP, I imagine the threat will be pretty obvious to anyone being seeded. It’s not going to kill as fast as Toxic, but it’ll keep you gaining HP and still presents a threat. So consider this an alternative to Toxic when dealing with the Steel-types that we all know and tolerate.
The downside of this set is the user – Meganium is Grass type, and Grass is weak to… Well, just about everything. The ideal opponent for a set like this would be countering something that has few options like Skarmory, except Skarmory typically runs Brave Bird which will likely one hit KO Meganium. This set is worth keeping in mind should there ever be a need that arises for it, because it could fill a niche that has not yet formed but could theoretically form down the line.
Onto Sylveon. The Sylveon moveset that I saw was ran by Fainyr, and it ran:
- Reflect
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Draining Kiss
I’d switch out Moonblast or Draining Kiss for Light Screen, at which point you basically have the Umbreon stall set but with a Fairy attack instead of Toxic. The meta would have to decide whether Draining Kiss or Moonblast was better, I imagine Draining Kiss would be better for survivability but it would take a long time to KO, but aside from subpar physical defenses you’ve got a pretty tanky option. Think of this like the special defense alternative to Umbreon stall.
There’s not a use for this that’s immediately obvious in the meta, aside from likely hard countering Umbreon stall in a 1v1 situation, and giving Garchomp a hard time, but this is another potentially useful set to keep in mind down the line. Maybe this’ll see a resurgence when the DLC hits and we need to kill something that happens to be weak to Fairy?
The Fable of Clefable
I’ve neglected talking about Clefable much, as I anticipated it was a short-lived trend that would die, but for the last few weeks now there’s been Clefables in top parts of the meta. They pretty much always play the same role, akin to Drampa, Gallade and G. Slowking that I described in last week’s post. Clefable is yet another one of the BoltBeam combos. Clefable’s moveset seems custom-built for countering many of the threats of the top parts of the meta – Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Moonblast and Flamethrower clear out Garchomp, Skarmory, Gyarados, Umbreon, most Infestation users, and Metagross. And of course, you’re never going to be without something that’s at least middlingly effective.
Oh, and that’s not to mention that she can learn a lot more than that! On top of all that, you’ve got options like:
- Bubble Beam
- Magical Leaf
- Mystical Fire
- Air Slash
- Shadow Ball
- Solar Beam (have you seen a Plus Solar Beam? Very little charge time)
- Dig
- Iron Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Tackle
Obviously that last one’s really what brings home the bacon for Clefable. Point is, you have no friggin’ clue what’s coming your way when Clefable is tossed out, and you’ve got to risk Clefable having exactly the right move to use against you. Or… you can switch! That’s the Clefable Gambit, I’m coining that term right here.
Stats-wise Clefable herself is not particularly useful – she’s tanky by Generation 1 standards, but doesn’t have anything over a hundred stats to work with. Her special attack is a nice 95, but pales in comparison to many of the defensive stats we see. But that doesn’t really matter – the point of Clefable is that you don’t know how badly you’re about to get hit when she comes out, so you’ve got to switch. No bones about it. And by being Fairy type, she’s only weak to basically Steel type moves (when was the last time you saw a Poison type attack on a top tier?) So she’ll be challenged by Skarmory and Metagross. Since most players typically only run one attack move of each type on their Pokémon, and she can survive likely a super effective attack from both of those, she’ll be okay. I could see, if the 230 meta were given a chance to keep evolving past the DLC drop, a scenario where Clefable actually acts as a check on Skarmorys that don’t run Steel Wing, forcing Skarmory builds to sacrifice a moveslot in case Clefable comes out.
What’s up with Garchomp?
I got distracted for a bit and didn’t realize that the optimal Garchomp set has basically been figured out. Right now every Garchomp runs:
- A Ground type attack, typically Earthquake or Dig
- A Dragon type attack, typically Dragon Claw or Dragon Rush
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
Now I’m not 100% sure that this is the optimal set – if you are running Garchomp alongside a Skarmory option, which seems the style of the day, why wouldn’t you run Thunder Fang as well? I have a hard time seeing any real use for Stone Edge besides being another thing to counter a Fire type, but you’ve got Earthquake already. Thunder Fang, meanwhile, covers your opponent switching in a Skarmory in response to you switching out your Skarmory, and with this non-Thunder Fang moveset you have no real answer to Skarmory. The answer to someone switching into Garchomp seems to be Skarmory, and Thunder Fang takes care of that.
Curiously, Mega Garchomp has been completely abandoned. You hate to see it. All Garchomps seem to be running the berry that negates damage from Ice attacks – the Yache Berry – which makes sense, as that’s Garchomp’s biggest weakness, and I’ll bet you most people are running that because they also know that they’ll be bringing Ice attacks to beat other Garchomps.
Given the presence of Dragon Rush, which is a move that causes the user to fly up into the air and then come down on the opponent, much like Bounce, one wonders if running an extra small Garchomp instead of an alpha Garchomp would actually result in being able to dodge the Dragon Rush of another Garchomp. That’s something that would have to be tested.
The Death of Excadrill
I think we can safely surmise that Excadrill is dead. If he’s a good Pokémon at all, he’s the third or possibly fourth best Steel type in the meta, depending on how Scizor ends up faring. Excadrill seems on paper like he’d be pretty solid, considering his Ground and Steel type STAB, but Earthquake and Dig are available to Garchomp and Gyarados, and I believe Metagross and Skarmory have access to Ground type moves as well. Put simply, he probably isn’t actually bad… just redundant. There’s no point in packing Excadrill when the other Steel types will do. There’s no point in packing Excadrill when Garchomp or Gyarados will do. There’s no point in packing Excadrill… at all.
Excadrill could become more useful if Water types ever completely disappeared from the meta, but even then there will always be Fire type answers to Skarmory that will shove Excadrill back in his place. I don’t see a future in the 230 meta with Excadrill placing well.
Vaporeon
Somehow, we seem to be adding a new Water type to the meta. In the second place team there is a Vaporeon, running:
- Calm Mind
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Mystic Water (held item)
It’s been suggested that Hydro Pump be switched out for Aqua Ring, which functions like Leftovers and can be boosted with Big Root.
I’m agnostic as to which is the superior option – if you’re packing a Water type with two Water type attacks, you darn well had better be shooting to kill a Fire, Ground or Rock type. I don’t know, besides Chandelure and Delphox, what that really covers though. If anything, Vaporeon also has access to Ice Beam, Dig and Shadow Ball, which has much broader type coverage than a Water type attack. So if you’re going to run a Vaporeon for the purpose of attacking… Grab one of those three! I imagine Shadow Ball is ideal for coverage, especially because it gets boosted by Calm Mind, and Ice Beam is something that every Garchomp has to keep in mind.
Alternatively, there is value in running that Aqua Ring build instead. If Vaporeon wants to be tanky, that’s the way to go, but with the prevalence of Electric types in the meta I don’t know that there’s much to be gained by doing a tanky build. I suppose Vaporeon is something you would be better off keeping in the back line once you have eliminated any Electric types. (You’ll recall that we have the perma death rule).
The State of the Meta
We’re seeing enough repeat customers that I think we can safely surmise who the contenders in the meta are, though what exactly that will look like will take another two weeks before we get used to having an Infestation ban. Skarmory is probably the main centralizing force, with Chandelure, Ampharos and Delphox being the answers to him. Garchomp is the backup to Skarmory, having positive matchups against all of those three, so someone on your team’ll need to have Ice, Dragon or Fairy-type attacks… such as your own Garchomp. Side options like Metagross, Gyarados, Clefable, Umbreon and other BoltBeam users get thrown in as well, and each one has their own merits.
Megas are significantly less of an option when compared with the possibility of having Plus Moves and held items, so aside from Mega Skarmory we don’t see them often anymore. One wonders if that’ll remain the case when the DLC hits, and I imagine it will be.
Amiibo Doctor 