X&Y's impact on competitive battling.

[Zero°]

Well now that the fairy-type was introduced to and is able to check dragons, I assume there's gonna be an increase of steel- and poison-type moves/pokemon in the gen 6 meta game to check Fairy pokemon. I am really excited about the Gen 6 meta and I can't wait to see how things play out

 

[Altairis]

I saw this on the first page, but what if they do increase Ice's usability, do you think maybe Hail will become more popular? Or will it still be subpar because Steel types will increase because of Fairies & Dragons etc.

And I'm kinda scared for what Ubers is going to look like, I mean, Mewtwo just got two Mega Evolutions with boosted states. Things might get booted to uber, but never used because they can't keep up with that D: (I also find it ironic because I read somewhere that they're giving Pokemon Mega Evolutions so they'll be on the same power level as "legendary Pokemon" but all the ones that they've been giving to so far (almost) are already high tier? And Legendaries like Entei suck, I'm sure nothing wants to be on its level, haha)

 

[PlatinumDude]

With the introduction of Mega Abomasnow, I'm sure that Hail will become even more viable in OU. Mega Abomasnow has increased offensive stats compared to its original counterpart, but it also has really, really terrible Speed. This is perfect for weather Trick Room teams, and it also guarantees that Mega Abomasnow gets its weather up. Even though the Abomasite takes up its item slot, it can use Leech Seed for recovery and it also has Ice Shard to compensate for its reduced Speed.

 

[Xander Olivieri]

With the introduction of Mega Abomasnow, I'm sure that Hail will become even more viable in OU. Mega Abomasnow has increased offensive stats compared to its original counterpart, but it also has really, really terrible Speed. This is perfect for weather Trick Room teams, and it also guarantees that Mega Abomasnow gets its weather up. Even though the Abomasite takes up its item slot, it can use Leech Seed for recovery and it also has Ice Shard to compensate for its reduced Speed.

Though there is also the rumor that weather abilities are getting nerfed. Its been going around that the weather abilities will only last for 5 turns, just like using the attack so if true, weather teams may not be used as much and the scarce once may become more scarce.

 

[Hikamaru]

Not completely true. Togekiss is good, but the Psuedo Dragons can still hurt her. I mean they have a lot of power in physical attacks (With one possible exception, Hydreigon). The others can do some brutal damage to her still. Then there are the Bugs that outspeed it like Volcarona and Galvantula who can whittle down on its health or even take it out if done properly. Scizor can probably contend with her using a Technician boosted priority attack like Bullet Punch while holding a boosting item like Life Orb or Steel Gem/Iron Coat. Durant can probably hurt her as well.

Depending on nature and items a Dragonite is the same speed or can be faster than her. Hits hard enough and if has Multiscale can most likely survive a hit. 134 ATK vs 95 DEF. Thats almost enough to one shot is I remember right back when I was doing Hydreigon's damage from Gardevoir's Fairy Wind. It was strong enough to almost KO it and even with double damage, it still would have done a large amount of damage. If the move was stronger like Iron Tail, it has potential.

Salamence is in roughly the same boat as Dragonite. If boosted by a Moxie kill, Togekiss is screwed.

Garchomp has less attack than them, but still just as deadly and has access to some killer rock attacks like Stone Edge. Hydreigon is the worst off of them all, but still outspeeds her and even with 105 Atk he can still do some damage.


The Fairies will be good Dragon checks, but stat wise to majority of them they won't be much of a game changer really. The retyped Pokemon are going to be pushing a majority of the defense in the Meta game renovation, though most still won't be able to take on alternate attacks from the pseudos who are all mostly dragon....This is also, not taking Lati@s into consideration.

Heatran will also like his Fairies extra burnt with a side of mashed XD


Overall I'm not impressed with them. We've got contenders, but I wonder if its enough with what we have so far.

I can see where you're going here, Bullet Punch Scizor and also some Dragon-types may still pose a threat as well as Bullet Punch Scizor and some other Steel-types but Togekiss does get Flamethrower to easily get around most Steel-types. I know you have a concern that some Fairy-types may be weak stat-wise but I do know Togekiss is a strong special attacker with some decent stats in everything else as well. Plus she has some great moves that Serene Grace can be abused with. I'm hoping she gets some strong Fairy moves along the way.

But, I'm thinking she may still become more prevalent now that she can easily switch in on Outrages and Draco Meteors easily thanks to the Dragon immunity.

 

[Nolafus]

I can see where you're going here, Bullet Punch Scizor and also some Dragon-types may still pose a threat as well as Bullet Punch Scizor and some other Steel-types but Togekiss does get Flamethrower to easily get around most Steel-types. I know you have a concern that some Fairy-types may be weak stat-wise but I do know Togekiss is a strong special attacker with some decent stats in everything else as well. Plus she has some great moves that Serene Grace can be abused with. I'm hoping she gets some strong Fairy moves along the way.

But, I'm thinking she may still become more prevalent now that she can easily switch in on Outrages and Draco Meteors easily thanks to the Dragon immunity.

My guess is that Outrage is going to see a lot less usage, being switched out for Dragon Claw or something. I mean, while you're busy outraging away, your opponent could be powering up one of their fairy pokemon for the sweep. I just don't see Outrage being used all that much once the new generation kicks in.

I'm seeing the new Fairy types as more of set-up sweepers. They may not have high stats initially, but I'm guessing that they'll have some sweet stat boosting moves. I haven't seen any Fairy types that seem like they would be killers out on the battlefield. I'm talking about the new ones, we all know what Azumarill is capable of.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Breaking news: Mega Gengar gets Shadow Tag. How well do you think it can make use of the ability?

 

[Griffinbane]

Metagross automatically drops out of OU, there's no escaping for him now. That or it's deemed too powerful with that ability since nothing can get away and gets banned to Ubers. My prediction.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Time for another X/Y set I came up with. This time, it's offensive utility Malamar, considering that it's able to learn Superpower; in conjunction with Contrary, it can get dangerous if it hits enough times with the move. It uses Topsy-turvy to screw up setup sweepers. Foul Play and Hypnosis are options in the last slot; the former for a Dark STAB (though it's only effective against high-Attack opponents) and the latter for incapacitating a counter temporarily. Lack of recovery and subpar defensive typing could be a problem, though:
-Topsy-turvy
-Psycho Cut
-Superpower
-Foul Play/(insert some other physical Dark STAB here)/Hypnosis
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 SDef
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Contrary

 

[Nolafus]

Where do you guys figure out all this stuff for the new pokemon? I can't seem to find the site.

I definitely could see that set working, if it gets set up that is.

 

[Hikamaru]

Metagross automatically drops out of OU, there's no escaping for him now. That or it's deemed too powerful with that ability since nothing can get away and gets banned to Ubers. My prediction.

I'm betting that the ability will be too powerful, so I'd see it getting banned to Ubers.

And PD, nice Malamar set. It could really take advantage of Contrary with Superpower there given that it'll be raising its Attack and Defense by one stage and can then take advantage of Psycho Cut and Foul Play/some other physical Dark move, plus using Topsy-Turvy to screw set-up users.

 

[Arc]

So, apparently at Smogon, one leaker confirmed that weather abilities like Drought, Drizzle, Sand Stream, etc, now only last 5 turns.

I did not read about this in anywhere in this topic, so I will show some facts about weather abilities.
Early in the game (around the 3rth badge) you can obtain some Hipopotas and MegaCharizard, wich means Sandstorm and Drought.

Both of them become active for only five turns.
Just found a Smooth Rock, so I tested the effectiveness of the item. It doubles the weather duration. 10 turns to go.
Even if you bring in an hipopotas, switch out and call it back to battle BEFORE the sandstorm subsides, the five/ten-turn counter does not reset.

I dont have a heat rock nor any Drizzle/Snow Warning pokemon yet.

Weather based teams are definitely are going to take a hit on how they play now, as they have to be ever so more cautious with keeping their weather-ability user alive now. I think we're going to see less weather teams for Gen 6 because of this huge change.

 

[Nolafus]

I'm kind of glad that there will be less weather teams (or, at least they'll be harder to keep up) because I've just recently got back into OU and I have yet to face a non-weather team in the five battles I have done. I might be the only weatherless team...

Anyway, I think it will be a good addition. It's about time that the weather abilities stopped being so strong.

 

[Hikamaru]

Weather based teams are definitely are going to take a hit on how they play now, as they have to be ever so more cautious with keeping their weather-ability user alive now. I think we're going to see less weather teams for Gen 6 because of this huge change.

Yeah this was definitely something I wanted given how popular Drizzle Politoed was in OU, and this nerf means weather teams will now be harder to use meaning battlers will now have to try to use a backup plan, like use Rain Dance when their Drizzle-induced rain goes out.

I always knew these abilities would be OP so glad to see this change.

 

[Boilurn]

I noticed on another thread that some of the 120 BP moves (such as Blizzard and Thunder) are decreased to 110 BP. With the combination of weather abilities lasting only 5 turns this makes these moves fall farther to obscurity. Galvantula won't be happy with the decrease either, as it has a great ability to go with Thunder's accuracy. The Hidden Power is also at a constant 60 BP, which hurts certain special attackers, and makes them walled more easily, especially by dedicated special walls such as Blissey.

With all of this, it's no wonder that some special attackers might have a harder time in XY than in BW, unless they are those who don't utilize any of the above moves.

 

[Nolafus]

I noticed on another thread that some of the 120 BP moves (such as Blizzard and Thunder) are decreased to 110 BP. With the combination of weather abilities lasting only 5 turns this makes these moves fall farther to obscurity. Galvantula won't be happy with the decrease either, as it has a great ability to go with Thunder's accuracy. The Hidden Power is also at a constant 60 BP, which hurts certain special attackers, and makes them walled more easily, especially by dedicated special walls such as Blissey.

With all of this, it's no wonder that some special attackers might have a harder time in XY than in BW, unless they are those who don't utilize any of the above moves.

With Hidden power's power decreasing, Ludicolo just might have to replace Sceptile after all, because Sceptile really relies in it for the extra coverage.

I wonder why they're decreasing the power, I didn't think the moves were too OP.

 

[Hikamaru]

I noticed on another thread that some of the 120 BP moves (such as Blizzard and Thunder) are decreased to 110 BP. With the combination of weather abilities lasting only 5 turns this makes these moves fall farther to obscurity. Galvantula won't be happy with the decrease either, as it has a great ability to go with Thunder's accuracy. The Hidden Power is also at a constant 60 BP, which hurts certain special attackers, and makes them walled more easily, especially by dedicated special walls such as Blissey.

With all of this, it's no wonder that some special attackers might have a harder time in XY than in BW, unless they are those who don't utilize any of the above moves.

Yeah I do have to admit this hit special attackers hard. I still don't get why they'd weaken Blizzard, Thunder, Hurricane etc. but I never saw them being OP. Galvantula still does get near-perfect accuracy thanks to Compound Eyes but yeah the weakened BP may lower its usefulness. Also, the Hidden Power restructuring to make the move always 60 BP really does hurt special attackers with shallow movepools that mainly rely on it for coverage.

If those Blizzard/Thunder/Hurricane/Fire Blast etc are getting weaker, I'd imagine most players would now settle for Ice Beam, Thunderbolt or Flamethrower as the Ice, Electric and Fire attacks of choice.

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

If Togekiss would be Fairy/Flying it probably won't be OU because of Scizor. If it's true that Fire Blast will only have 110BP, then many Pokemon will start using Flamethrower (Togekiss being one of them), and yes it can be threatening, but Bullet Punch will be an even bigger threat in XY because of Fairy-types being weak to Steel. I assume the Choice Scarf set will probably be the best set Togekiss can run, at least in early XY. ALSO:

252 SpA Togekiss Fire Blast (110BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor in rain: 272-320 (79.3 - 93.29%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Togekiss: 338-398 (108.68 - 127.97%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Indeed, Drizzle Politoed exists and standard CB Scizor can take a Fire Blast in rain and then take a crap on Togekiss with Bullet Punch.

Many dragons can also run Iron Head/Tail to destroy Fairy-types, so I still think they will overpower the metagame.


Weavile will probably get higher usage in XY now that it can pursuit trap Jirachi and weakened Metagross and it has means of hitting many steel-types hard with Night Slash or hopefully a stronger Dark STAB. Same goes for Tyranitar. Gengar will also get more usage now that Steel-types no longer resist its powerful Shadow Ball.

 

[Keiran]

Thats assuming someone is silly enough to keep a Togekiss in vs. Scizor during rain. If Togekiss' only threats are a small amount of Steel types, and Dragon-types with Steel moves to a lesser extent, that means it will be fairly easy to place on a team.

As far as MegaGengar goes..I'm not sure its worth the MegaStone tbh. Its weaker than normal Gengar with Life Orb and lacks the option of Focus Sash or recovery for Sub/Disable. Regardless, its still fast and powerful, but I don't think it will be as useful for early/mid game trapping that people might expect. Definitely not Ubers material. If Ghosts could be tagged I could definitely see it be extremely common, since it would wreck any hope of spinblocking. I think we could see people having the stone equipped, but only choose it as their mega depending on the opponents team.

Also, pretty neat sidenote- its third eye looks like the Mean Look eye graphic, hence its ability I suppose. Lol

 

[PlatinumDude]

Time for another X/Y set I came up with. This time, it's Xerneas:
-Geomancy
-Moonblast
-Thunderbolt/Grass Knot
-Hidden Power (Ground/Fire)/Grass Knot
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Power Herb/Lum Berry

While Geomancy takes 2 turns to execute, this can be worked around somewhat with Power Herb (to get the +2 in Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed immediately once) or Lum Berry (to cure one status Xerneas takes) during the charge turn. It's vulnerable to phazers, though. It's best to use this set mid- to late-game.