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now how exactly are you going to do that? unless you either ban tera (which isn't likely) or implement some weird and borderline unnecessary complex ban that forbids specifically terapagos from utilizing terastallization then unbanning it simply isn't worth it. like just use great tusk bruh it's already better and more splashable than teraless terapagos anyway. ghost types are also annoying but terapagos is most certainly not going to be much help in dealing with them either
See here's the thing: Gen 9 OU fucking blows. Somehow it's controversial to want all of Roaring Moon, Kingambit and his Electric Grandfather, Kyurem, and The Hazard Protector gone so why bother trying to improve the tier? Terapagos would introduce a bulky rapid spinner with the movepool and bulk to beat every spin blocker. Oh no terapagos stellar is broken, so is roaring moon and apparently that thing is just fine to have around.
Just how long will it take for people to realize that the tier sucks shit because we aren't doing enough to address the problems. Action on tera is super unlikely, people are acting like Gholdengo hasn't completely ruined the concept of hazard removal for the entire generation because he's not omnipresent anymore, and Kingambit is top 1 in usage.
lmao terapagos-stellar is 10x more broken than kyurem, gouging fire, roaring moon, kingambit and gholdengo combined. it's really not comparable at all and dropping terapagos would deadass kill the tier, can't say the same for roaring moon or any of those other pokemon
lmao terapagos-stellar is 10x more broken than kyurem, gouging fire, roaring moon, kingambit and gholdengo combined. it's really not comparable at all and dropping terapagos would deadass kill the tier, can't say the same for roaring moon or any of those other pokemon
We must organize against Tera to save Gen 9! Tired of threat saturation? Tired of unhealthy mons avoiding the ban hammer? Tired of losing winnable games due to an untimely, unpredictable Tera typing? Vote against Tera on the next survey!
We must organize against Tera to save Gen 9! Tired of threat saturation? Tired of unhealthy mons avoiding the ban hammer? Tired of losing winnable games due to an untimely, unpredictable Tera typing? Vote against Tera on the next survey!
The only way to get any kind of action on Tera is to come together on the next survey! We have to get the council’s attention! We can debate and vote on the specifics once we get a suspect. For now, we must unify to force the council to act! We need action on Tera now!
the tier isn't dying you guys are just drama queens. I don't even like tera and would prefer it banned but this is just stupid.
Since gourg isn't banned, what are your guys favorite and least favorite sets to run with it? i feel like the breaking swipes one is losing efficiency. It's not a bad set, but a lot of people learned how to play around it and it feels harder to use imo.
We must organize against Tera to save Gen 9! Tired of threat saturation? Tired of unhealthy mons avoiding the ban hammer? Tired of losing winnable games due to an untimely, unpredictable Tera typing? Vote against Tera on the next survey!
If you want action on tera go do something constructive like making a ladder or something. Trying to vent about tera isn't solving shit, try to be more constructive on arguing about why we should get rid of tera and find out why people don't wanna suspect it. I want tera gone too, but venting isn't doing anything clearly.
Okay hear me out, let's not drop the turtle for obvious reasons, what if we instead dropped a worse version of the turtle in OU? It is called .
Bro is considered worse than Reshiram, Terapagos, and Zamazenta Crowned in Ubers and Ubers UU, and it isn't even because its outclassed like Reshiram, it just flat out sucks in Ubers UU being arguably worse than common OU staples there.
Interestingly the other day I saw Lily make a pretty good point on the Smogon discord of how Lugia could be okay to have here. To quote her statement: "The thing with Lugia in ou is that Lugia fundamentally represents a style of play that is kind of dated, high level players nowadays are much better at punishing passive play and it makes stuiff like Lugia just not very good in any tier, even the ones where its supposed to be good". Plus there would be some positives if Lugia ends up being okay, like being able to wall stuff like Volc and other special threats that could be obnoxious that don't have the ability to cripple it as effectively. Like seriously though, Lugia is worse Terapagos in every way when you think about it despite Lugia being fatter on the special side.
Honestly with all the monstrous physical breakers I could genuinely see the possibility Lugia being okay in the tier at this point in time. Weavile and Gouging Fire, as well as Gambit and Ghold all give Lugia a rough time and make it hard for it to set up as they all threaten potential 2hkos. And the other trick and knock off users would really annoy it, as well as being annoyed by rocks. I think at this point I would definitely would support a drop because while it would very likely be annoying, there is a chance it could help the meta against the monstrous offense down here and not be overbearing and potentially make finding the broken stuff easier if it ends up being fine and could keep other monsters in check.
So I think we should definitely test it, after all what do we have to lose at this point, and even if its unfun to play against, it could make the tier better.
the tier isn't dying you guys are just drama queens. I don't even like tera and would prefer it banned but this is just stupid.
Since gourg isn't banned, what are your guys favorite and least favorite sets to run with it? i feel like the breaking swipes one is losing efficiency. It's not a bad set, but a lot of people learned how to play around it and it feels harder to use imo.
The tier is dying... There was a 25% reduction of games for gen9ou-1695 between Jan and Feb. There are accounts with 16XX on the top 500 on the ladder which I haven't seen this gen. There is markedly less activity on the forums etc...
The tier is dying... There was a 25% reduction of games for gen9ou-1695 between Jan and Feb. There are accounts with 16XX on the top 500 on the ladder which I haven't seen this gen. There is markedly less activity on the forums etc...
The tier is dying... There was a 25% reduction of games for gen9ou-1695 between Jan and Feb. There are accounts with 16XX on the top 500 on the ladder which I haven't seen this gen. There is markedly less activity on the forums etc...
There was a reduction, because there is a reduction after every explosion in game count after releases. If a decrease in games means the gen died, it died 2 months after release.
We are not even at a low point in players. February 2024 only had 4%less games than February 2023. February 2024 has 1.41 million games, higher than April, May, July, August, and November 2023 which have 1.19, 1.28, 1.33, 1.25, and 1.33 million games respectively.
I do not have stats to back it up, but I have seen 1600s in top 500 many times across the gen, its not some new thing that has never happened before.
the tier isn't dying you guys are just drama queens. I don't even like tera and would prefer it banned but this is just stupid.
Since gourg isn't banned, what are your guys favorite and least favorite sets to run with it? i feel like the breaking swipes one is losing efficiency. It's not a bad set, but a lot of people learned how to play around it and it feels harder to use imo.
Gouging Fire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Temper Flare
- Dragon Rush
- Morning Sun
It's ridiculous how much stuff this bro walls. It's ridiculous how easy it is to get to +2/+2 with it. And it is incredibly ridiculous how many times the DRush miss has helped. But all in a very balanced way
The tier is dying... There was a 25% reduction of games for gen9ou-1695 between Jan and Feb. There are accounts with 16XX on the top 500 on the ladder which I haven't seen this gen. There is markedly less activity on the forums etc...
Since gourg isn't banned, what are your guys favorite and least favorite sets to run with it? i feel like the breaking swipes one is losing efficiency. It's not a bad set, but a lot of people learned how to play around it and it feels harder to use imo.
my absolute favorite set to run on it is max atk band (with sun support obviously). people say it's suboptimal but i'm just not seeing it. it's sun dracovish. physical chi-yu. darmanitan but good. there's like three things that reliably answer it defensively and they all get folded by the specs wake i have in the back. things outspeed it but it's too fat to care. even in the worst-case scenarios it eats at least one and a half mons before it goes down. as long as you're aggressive with hazard control (tork + hatt + tusk is my go-to), this thing is death in ceratopsid form
We are not even at a low point in players. February 2024 only had 4%less games than February 2023. February 2024 has 1.41 million games, higher than April, May, July, August, and November 2023 which have 1.19, 1.28, 1.33, 1.25, and 1.33 million games respectively.
I would say this is because DLC's kept the meta fresh and the tier was constantly evolving with an influx of mons and bans. Now the meta will still evolve, but the freshness of new mons / DLC won't be there now going forward and with seemingly no consensus on what to tackle next, bans seem to be few and far between - there is nothing to look forward to now. An argument could be made that this is reflected in the last two months worth of data.
I agree and that's been nice to see. That's largely down to a few core groups of individuals keeping discussions active and the gen being quite contentious - whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. You can see the activity drying up recently though and the sentiment, to me, seems to be becoming increasingly negative which was reflected on survey results.
my absolute favorite set to run on it is max atk band (with sun support obviously). people say it's suboptimal but i'm just not seeing it. it's sun dracovish. physical chi-yu.
You know what happens when you try to investigate a kaijumon during godzilla season? You get this
TERA NORMAL GOUGING FIRE:KING OF THE FISHERS
Otachi (Gouging Fire) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 HP / 48 SpD / 208 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Morning Sun
- Dragon Dance
- Body Slam
- Heat Crash
this inherently niche set is brutal is play against because of its bulk and the paralysis rates, and sun teams get mauled by this thing because they give it 75% healing and a speed boost, tera normal was only added for boosted body slams with 30% paralysis, but the defensive utility is a nice bonus
since this is a more longevity based set, bulk evs are needed and attack can be heavily boosted with dd regardless,
its claim to fame is using its bulk, healing and boosts to make getting a paralysis DEVASTING because you don’t want to give this set free turns to do damage or stack boosts because then it will punch a building sized hole into your team, morning sun even allows for you to outlast other pokemon to make this a truly toxic set
Sorry, but a lot of this "activity" is posts wanting to drop some Uber, going around in circles about non-productive things or things that would even be deleted/blacklisted and punished in other eras.
On the other hand, I also don't know how to make this more productive because no one can agree on anything at the same time that it seems like the majority is dissatisfied.
I normally don’t say this with any of my write-ups, but this time, I am confident in saying that it has a chance to change the meta.
I’ll explain who the write-up is about, but first, lets talk about Rotom-Wash.
Section I: Rotom-Wash
-Since Gen 5 made all the Rotom appliances different types, Rotom-W has been the best one without question, and has maintained OU status for a decade.
-Even after ending up in UU last gen, Rotom-W remained an OU staple.
-Electric/Water is perfect, especially on a mon with Levitate. Not only is Washtom immune to Spikes, not only is it a Water resist, not only does it have one weakness, but it perfectly compliments its kit.
-The only thing blocking Volt Switch are Ground types which get hit by Hydro Pump. This defining trait allowed Washtom to be an excellent OU pivot.
But
-There was an instance where Washtom wasn’t the best Rotom.
-Before DLC2 of Sword and Shield, Rotom-Heat was considered the best appliance, and by a landslide.
-Gen 8 introduced Boots, allowing Fire, Flying, Ice, and Bug types the first time to be immune to Rocks.
-Around this time, players had no idea just how impactful Boots would be yet, but the point was, Heattom was a top mon in early SS OU.
-With Clef, Kyurem, and Corv as top Pokemon, Heattom’s typing came on clutch offensively and defensively.
-Gen 8 gifted Rotom Nasty Plot, allowing it to act as one of the best breakers and one of the few that can break past Clef.
-Toad rose because of Vish, but also because of its ability to counter Heattom. That is until Heattom clicks Toxic and puts it on a timer.
-Heattom also had plenty of set up opportunities thanks to its typing and the slew of pivots that accompanied it.
-So good it was in fact, that it was in the S ranks alongside Clef and Corv.
-Heattom would fall off eventually in DLC2 as power creep hit, Heatran and Garchomp came back, and Washtom became the better pick.
-In SV OU Washtom is obviously still a solid pick, but considering its in B rank, the streak of Washtom being an OU staple might be over for a few reasons.
-Its role as a Water resist isn’t fantastic when our best offensive Waters break through it and Rain itself has fallen after the Arch ban.
-It faces competition as a pivot from Mola who is bulkier and packs Regen to stay on the field for longer periods.
-Still, Washtom is great at spreading status and pivoting, being immune to Spikes is a big boon in this meta, and it hard counters HLR + Spinner Tusk.
-That being said, I don’t think Washtom is the only viable Rotom appliance.
Enter Rotom-Mow. Mowtom has many of the same qualities as Washtom. The same bulk, the same movepool, and a good offensive typing, but it offers something that we are currently lacking in this metagame. A bulky Grass type.
Section II: The Importance Of Bulky Grass Types
Each generation since ADV had at least one strong bulky Grass type.
-ADV had Celebi who offered defensive utility with 32 pp Recovers, Leech Seed, and Baton Pass.
-DPP had Loom who was on the frailer side, but compensated due to Spore and Poison Heal.
-Ferro was THE bulky Grass type from BW to SS, with Tangrowth, Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur, etc thrown into the mix.
-Even SV had a viable bulky Grass in the form of Amoonguss, and I say had because…well…because Darkrai showed up and since then, it’s never been the same.
-We even got Hydrapple in DLC/ who gets Regenerator and amazing stats overall, but being weak to Fairy, Dragon, and 4x weak to Ice is not a good look despite me having faith in it early on.
-While it doesn’t guarantee it, bulky Grasses provide stability in a tier as they can cover several bad matchups. Grass types have nasty weaknesses to Fire, Flying, and Ice, but they also provide teams with a defensive profile against Ground and Water types.
-SV OU desperately needs a strong bulky Grass, especially with Wogre in the tier.
Section III: Ogerpon-W’s Reign
(she’s just a li’l gremlin)
-I don’t think Ogerpon is actually broken, but its dominance vs Balance builds is undeniable.
- Though DLC2 introduced plenty of dragons, Play Rough OHKOs every single one after an SD + hazards minus Dragonite.
Though it obviously has counterplay on Balance, they aren’t perfect.
•The most common Wogre repellent, but it doesn’t safely switch in and sacking it to burn Oger isn’t ideal depending on the matchup.
•A solid check but it only switches in a few times and is forced to give up its Dauntless Shield Boost.
•Needs Brave Bird to threaten, even then it isn’t perfect. Skarm gets 2HKOd by Tera Water Ivy on the switch.
(tera grass)
•Tera Grass on any wall can handle Wogre, but that also forces you to burn a Tera.
•The only OU Grass type with actual bulk. It doesn’t run bulkier spreads often and is OHKOd by Power Whip at +2. Meanwhile Rilla needs to Tera to OHKO with Glide, so not the most ideal scenario. Even bulkier variants have a chance to be OHKOd after rocks.
-Since you need these for other mons on Wogre’s team, it can feel like there’s no way to stop Wogre from making progress. So how can Mowtom aid teams in the SV OU metagame?
Section V: Mowtom’s Role in The Indigo Disk Metagame
-I have tested other bulky grasses from the lower tiers. Amoonguss, Hydrapple, Sinistcha, Venusaur, even Vileplume who got me to top 100.
-Though they might have some defensive utility outside of checking Wogre, they feel geared towards more passive plays which I found exclusive to fatter builds except maybe the teapot,
-Mowtom was different, because it is also a pivot. Meaning Mowtom can remain an important team player even after Ogerpon goes down.
Just to get these calcs out of the way cause yes, it does check Ogerpon.
252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 66-78 (21.7 - 25.6%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Wellspring Mask Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 88-104 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 99.2% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
But wait a minute, it gets 2HKOd by +2 Ivy.
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 131-155 (43 - 50.9%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 175-207 (57.5 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Yes, but, Mowtom gets Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to 1v1 Ogerpon, and giving us these calcs.
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask burned Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 65-77 (21.3 - 25.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask burned Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 87-103 (28.6 - 33.8%) -- 1.4% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
-Ogerpon cannot stay in, and must switch out. This is huge for Balance teams. Not only do they gain an excellent pivot, but a Wogre check as well. What this means is. Balance teams no longer have to burn Tera or risk Pult to burn Wogre.
Mowtom isn’t just a Wogre checking machine, it also deals with other matchups. Some of them better than Washtom.
Primarina can be annoying for bulkier builds due to the nature of Calm Mind and AV Flip Turn sets. Washtom does minimal damage with Volt Switch, however Mowtom can deal heavy nuke damage with Leaf Storm. Either OHKOing it after chip or forcing a Tera.
Though not an outright counter, Mowtom does much better into Garganacl than Washtom due to Salt Cure not taking 1/4th of its health. Mowtom also has a chance to 2HKO Garg with Leaf Storm if it decides to play recklessly or force a Tera. Mowtom can also force Garg to exhaust Recover pp with strong Leaf Storms and Pain Split.
Mowtom can’t really threaten Serperior, but being immune to Glare and resisting Leaf Storm is a helpful trait to prevent it from making any sort of progress. Mowtom can Volt Turn on it and bring in Weavile or Dragapult to finish the job.
Waters like Mola and Dozo can usually shrug off a weak Volt Switch, but Mowtom threatens an OHKO on Mola with Leaf Storm and deals over 80% to Dozo, which is hard to recover off for it.
0 SpA Rotom-Mow Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Alomomola: 542-638 (101.4 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Rotom-Mow Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 410-486 (81.3 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-The value of Volt Switch not only makes Mowtom good on Balance but also BO.
-While BO has excellent responses to Wogre like Dnite, Ironpress Zama, and Sash Pult, having that surefire check that also can grab momentum is huge for these builds. Especially as they want to preserve Multiscale, Sash, or the one-time Defense Boost.
Section VI: Mowtom Partners
+
The best aspect about not being part-Water is that Mowtom can synergize with other bulky Waters, especially Alomomola who it forms an excellent defensive Voltturn core with. Mola also hugely appreciates a Wogre check like Mowtom. This is the best core to make use of it.
+
/
Mowtom also synergizes with offensive Waters on BO. Mowtom lures in Dragons and Fire types that are picked off by Prim. It could also form a voltturn core with AV variants. H-Samu appreciates Mowtom’s ability to lure Gking so it gets the opportunity to click the funny Spike setting move which makes Mowtom’s pivoting more potent.
+
+
Zap/Ting/Gking vibes. This bread n’ butter remains as a solid defensive backbone for Balance. Ting-Lu covers Mowtom’s bad mus like Raging Bolt and Gking while setting hazards. Gking covers Kyurem and Volc while forming a voltturn core with it.
+
Another solid voltturn core. The combined efforts of Wisp and Intimidate deter several physical threats. Lando also makes great use of Mowtom’s Volt Switch to get up Rocks on Gking or Heatran. Lando also covers G-Fire and Raging Bolt.
+
/
Both Weavile and Kyurem benefit from Mowtom’s pivoting abilities. Allowing them to freely click buttons like there’s no tomorrow.
+
This is a pretty fun Voltturn core. Mowtom threatens checks like Tusk, Mola, and Garg with Leaf Storm while Cinder threatens everything else with big damage.
+
Another solid defensive core. Garg does well into most of the Fire types in the tier while forcing progress with Salt Cure and Rocks. Garg can also 1v1 Gking with Curse sets. Garg also appreciates Mowtom’s ability to check Wogre and other threats.
+
Another Grass/Fire core. Heatran takes heavy appreciation for Rotom-Mow ability to threaten Mola while Heatran covers matchups like Volc, Swipe DD G-Fire, Dragapult, Ghold, and Gking. Pair these two with Mola or Gking and you’re never losing to Specs Kyu again (til Freeze Dry procs).
+
Both of these two are fantastic with Mola. Mowtom is incredibly good at gaining momentum on Fire types and Gking, both of which Ursaluna bullies the shit out of. With Mola supporting both of them with Wish + Flip Turn, you got a nasty core.
+
Say it with me. Everything is a good partner for Kingambit. Mowtom threatens a majority of the physical walls in the tier due to them ironically being weak to Grass. Gambit appreciates its ability to lure in Gking for a chance to click Swords Dance or for Lefties recovery cause it’s built different.
Section VII: Fitting Mowtom On SV OU Builds
-Mowtom can be slapped on BO and Balance teams as a Wogre check and pivot.
-Without showing you the sets, here are four builds where I found myself using Mowtom. One half is Balance, the other half is BO.
I wanted to demonstrate what builds Mowtom can be slapped onto, and how. I got a replay showing off Mowtom at work.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2082247154
(I was up against a Wogre Trick Room team. Not a super meta team, but this replay demonstrates Mowtom’s ability to switch into Wogre and Volt Switch on the Gking to bring in the Samurott. Even after a Tera + unlucky Ivy crit, Mowtom managed to live two hits, burn it, and Pain Split. The only reason Mowtom dies is because of Cress clicking Lunar Dance on the Ogerpon, but thankfully Spikes were enough to put it in range of Close Combat.)
Section VII: Conclusive Thoughts
-While Rotom-W is a solid Pokemon and has its place in the metagame, its role as a pivot/bulky water can be replicated by Mola who packs Regenerator and Wish, while boasting better physically bulk.
-Mowtom, despite its PU status, fills in a gap once filled by Ferrothorn last gen and Amoonguss before DLC2 as a bulky Grass type.
-Despite boasting a different typing from Washtom, it is still a Rotom appliance, being able to fill a similar role with decent bulk, Will-O-Wisp, and Volt Switch to maintain momentum over the course of a match, preventing it from being passive like Amoonguss who gets hard walled by half the tier despite a promising defensive profile.
-I believe it has a niche in the tier and I hope I’ve convinced others that it does.
SV OU is the most interesting metagame we’ve seen in a while. It is like a box of chocolates, you never know what developments or innovations are made within a week or a month.
I feel the reactions to the G-Fire suspect results are overblown. While I am a bit disappointed in the results, there is chance the flames for G-Fire will burn out just like how Kyurem went from being on my radar to not even being close.
A vote ending in DNBs is not the end of the world. We have enough time to figure things out before the eventual Generation 10 rolls around with Mega-Kingambit that gets Speed Boost. You can let go of your conspiracy theories about CTC rigging the vote or whatnot. If you had Spring Break this week, I hope you enjoyed it.
My fucking god. I fell asleep and when I wake up, the apocalypse is happening. Jesus christ guys, I don't like that gouging wasn't banned, but the metagame isn't going to fall instantly. Just give it a month and then it will fall. /jk
Also, I like the post above me.
Sorry, but a lot of this "activity" is posts wanting to drop some Uber, going around in circles about non-productive things or things that would even be deleted/blacklisted and punished in other eras.
On the other hand, I also don't know how to make this more productive because no one can agree on anything at the same time that it seems like the majority is dissatisfied.
I concur with this take. A lot of the increased activity for SV OU involves posts wanting to drop some Uber along with replies to that as well as non-productive going around in circles, or spam/meme takes that would be deleted/infracted in previous generations. That artificially makes the forums seem more busy since the moderation is a lot more lax now.
-Since Gen 5 made all the Rotom appliances different types, Rotom-W has been the best one without question, and has maintained OU status for a decade.
-Even after ending up in UU last gen, Rotom-W remained an OU staple.
-Electric/Water is perfect, especially on a mon with Levitate. Not only is Washtom immune to Spikes, not only is it a Water resist, not only does it have one weakness, but it perfectly compliments its kit.
-The only thing blocking Volt Switch are Ground types which get hit by Hydro Pump. This defining trait allowed Washtom to be an excellent OU pivot.
But
-There was an instance where Washtom wasn’t the best Rotom.
View attachment 615747
-Before DLC2 of Sword and Shield, Rotom-Heat was considered the best appliance, and by a landslide.
-Gen 8 introduced Boots, allowing Fire, Flying, Ice, and Bug types the first time to be immune to Rocks.
-Around this time, players had no idea just how impactful Boots would be yet, but the point was, Heattom was a top mon in early SS OU.
-With Clef, Kyurem, and Corv as top Pokemon, Heattom’s typing came on clutch offensively and defensively.
-Gen 8 gifted Rotom Nasty Plot, allowing it to act as one of the best breakers and one of the few that can break past Clef.
-Toad rose because of Vish, but also because of its ability to counter Heattom. That is until Heattom clicks Toxic and puts it on a timer.
-Heattom also had plenty of set up opportunities thanks to its typing and the slew of pivots that accompanied it.
-So good it was in fact, that it was in the S ranks alongside Clef and Corv.
-Heattom would fall off eventually in DLC2 as power creep hit, Heatran and Garchomp came back, and Washtom became the better pick.
View attachment 615749
-In SV OU Washtom is obviously still a solid pick, but considering its in B rank, the streak of Washtom being an OU staple might be over for a few reasons.
-Its role as a Water resist isn’t fantastic when our best offensive Waters break through it and Rain itself has fallen after the Arch ban.
-It faces competition as a pivot from Mola who is bulkier and packs Regen to stay on the field for longer periods.
-Still, Washtom is great at spreading status and pivoting, being immune to Spikes is a big boon in this meta, and it hard counters HLR + Spinner Tusk.
-That being said, I don’t think Washtom is the only viable Rotom appliance.
View attachment 615751 Enter Rotom-Mow. Mowtom has many of the same qualities as Washtom. The same bulk, the same movepool, and a good offensive typing, but it offers something that we are currently lacking in this metagame. A bulky Grass type.
Section II: The Importance Of Bulky Grass Types
Each generation since ADV had at least one strong bulky Grass type.
View attachment 615759
-ADV had Celebi who offered defensive utility with 32 pp Recovers, Leech Seed, and Baton Pass.
View attachment 615760
-DPP had Loom who was on the frailer side, but compensated due to Spore and Poison Heal.
View attachment 615761
-Ferro was THE bulky Grass type from BW to SS, with Tangrowth, Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur, etc thrown into the mix.
View attachment 615763
-Even SV had a viable bulky Grass in the form of Amoonguss, and I say had because…well…because Darkrai showed up and since then, it’s never been the same.
View attachment 615764
-We even got Hydrapple in DLC/ who gets Regenerator and amazing stats overall, but being weak to Fairy, Dragon, and 4x weak to Ice is not a good look despite me having faith in it early on.
-While it doesn’t guarantee it, bulky Grasses provide stability in a tier as they can cover several bad matchups. Grass types have nasty weaknesses to Fire, Flying, and Ice, but they also provide teams with a defensive profile against Ground and Water types.
-SV OU desperately needs a strong bulky Grass, especially with Wogre in the tier.
-I don’t think Ogerpon is actually broken, but its dominance vs Balance builds is undeniable.
- Though DLC2 introduced plenty of dragons, Play Rough OHKOs every single one after an SD + hazards minus Dragonite.
Though it obviously has counterplay on Balance, they aren’t perfect.
View attachment 615766
•The most common Wogre repellent, but it doesn’t safely switch in and sacking it to burn Oger isn’t ideal depending on the matchup.
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•A solid check but it only switches in a few times and is forced to give up its Dauntless Shield Boost.
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•Needs Brave Bird to threaten, even then it isn’t perfect. Skarm gets 2HKOd by Tera Water Ivy on the switch.
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•The only OU Grass type with actual bulk. It doesn’t run bulkier spreads often and is OHKOd by Power Whip at +2. Meanwhile Rilla needs to Tera to OHKO with Glide, so not the most ideal scenario. Even bulkier variants have a chance to be OHKOd after rocks.
-Since you need these for other mons on Wogre’s team, it can feel like there’s no way to stop Wogre from making progress. So how can Mowtom aid teams in the SV OU metagame?
Section V: Mowtom’s Role in The Indigo Disk Metagame View attachment 615757 Rotom-Mow @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel/Fairy/Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp/Thunder Wave
- Pain Split
-I have tested other bulky grasses from the lower tiers. Amoonguss, Hydrapple, Sinistcha, Venusaur, even Vileplume who got me to top 100.
-Though they might have some defensive utility outside of checking Wogre, they feel geared towards more passive plays which I found exclusive to fatter builds except maybe the teapot,
-Mowtom was different, because it is also a pivot. Meaning Mowtom can remain an important team player even after Ogerpon goes down.
Just to get these calcs out of the way cause yes, it does check Ogerpon.
252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 66-78 (21.7 - 25.6%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Wellspring Mask Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 88-104 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 99.2% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
But wait a minute, it gets 2HKOd by +2 Ivy.
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 131-155 (43 - 50.9%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 175-207 (57.5 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Yes, but, Mowtom gets Will-O-Wisp, allowing it to 1v1 Ogerpon, and giving us these calcs.
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask burned Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 65-77 (21.3 - 25.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask burned Tera Water Ogerpon-Wellspring-Tera Ivy Cudgel vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Mow: 87-103 (28.6 - 33.8%) -- 1.4% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
-Ogerpon cannot stay in, and must switch out. This is huge for Balance teams. Not only do they gain an excellent pivot, but a Wogre check as well. What this means is. Balance teams no longer have to burn Tera or risk Pult to burn Wogre.
Mowtom isn’t just a Wogre checking machine, it also deals with other matchups. Some of them better than Washtom.
View attachment 615772
Primarina can be annoying for bulkier builds due to the nature of Calm Mind and AV Flip Turn sets. Washtom does minimal damage with Volt Switch, however Mowtom can deal heavy nuke damage with Leaf Storm. Either OHKOing it after chip or forcing a Tera.
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Though not an outright counter, Mowtom does much better into Garganacl than Washtom due to Salt Cure not taking 1/4th of its health. Mowtom also has a chance to 2HKO Garg with Leaf Storm if it decides to play recklessly or force a Tera. Mowtom can also force Garg to exhaust Recover pp with strong Leaf Storms and Pain Split.
View attachment 615774
Mowtom can’t really threaten Serperior, but being immune to Glare and resisting Leaf Storm is a helpful trait to prevent it from making any sort of progress. Mowtom can Volt Turn on it and bring in Weavile or Dragapult to finish the job.
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Waters like Mola and Dozo can usually shrug off a weak Volt Switch, but Mowtom threatens an OHKO on Mola with Leaf Storm and deals over 80% to Dozo, which is hard to recover off for it.
0 SpA Rotom-Mow Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Alomomola: 542-638 (101.4 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Rotom-Mow Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 410-486 (81.3 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-The value of Volt Switch not only makes Mowtom good on Balance but also BO.
-While BO has excellent responses to Wogre like Dnite, Ironpress Zama, and Sash Pult, having that surefire check that also can grab momentum is huge for these builds. Especially as they want to preserve Multiscale, Sash, or the one-time Defense Boost.
Section VI: Mowtom Partners
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The best aspect about not being part-Water is that Mowtom can synergize with other bulky Waters, especially Alomomola who it forms an excellent defensive Voltturn core with. Mola also hugely appreciates a Wogre check like Mowtom. This is the best core to make use of it.
View attachment 615780 + View attachment 615781/View attachment 615782
Mowtom also synergizes with offensive Waters on BO. Mowtom lures in Dragons and Fire types that are picked off by Prim. It could also form a voltturn core with AV variants. H-Samu appreciates Mowtom’s ability to lure Gking so it gets the opportunity to click the funny Spike setting move which makes Mowtom’s pivoting more potent.
View attachment 615783 + View attachment 615784 + View attachment 615785
Zap/Ting/Gking vibes. This bread n’ butter remains as a solid defensive backbone for Balance. Ting-Lu covers Mowtom’s bad mus like Raging Bolt and Gking while setting hazards. Gking covers Kyurem and Volc while forming a voltturn core with it.
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Another solid voltturn core. The combined efforts of Wisp and Intimidate deter several physical threats. Lando also makes great use of Mowtom’s Volt Switch to get up Rocks on Gking or Heatran. Lando also covers G-Fire and Raging Bolt.
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This is a pretty fun Voltturn core. Mowtom threatens checks like Tusk, Mola, and Garg with Leaf Storm while Cinder threatens everything else with big damage.
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Another solid defensive core. Garg does well into most of the Fire types in the tier while forcing progress with Salt Cure and Rocks. Garg can also 1v1 Gking with Curse sets. Garg also appreciates Mowtom’s ability to check Wogre and other threats.
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Another Grass/Fire core. Heatran takes heavy appreciation for Rotom-Mow ability to threaten Mola while Heatran covers matchups like Volc, Swipe DD G-Fire, Dragapult, Ghold, and Gking. Pair these two with Mola or Gking and you’re never losing to Specs Kyu again (til Freeze Dry procs).
View attachment 615797 + View attachment 615798
Both of these two are fantastic with Mola. Mowtom is incredibly good at gaining momentum on Fire types and Gking, both of which Ursaluna bullies the shit out of. With Mola supporting both of them with Wish + Flip Turn, you got a nasty core.
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Say it with me. Everything is a good partner for Kingambit. Mowtom threatens a majority of the physical walls in the tier due to them ironically being weak to Grass. Gambit appreciates its ability to lure in Gking for a chance to click Swords Dance or for Lefties recovery cause it’s built different.
Section VII: Fitting Mowtom On SV OU Builds
-Mowtom can be slapped on BO and Balance teams as a Wogre check and pivot.
-Without showing you the sets, here are four builds where I found myself using Mowtom. One half is Balance, the other half is BO.
View attachment 615802
I wanted to demonstrate what builds Mowtom can be slapped onto, and how. I got a replay showing off Mowtom at work.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2082247154
(I was up against a Wogre Trick Room team. Not a super meta team, but this replay demonstrates Mowtom’s ability to switch into Wogre and Volt Switch on the Gking to bring in the Samurott. Even after a Tera + unlucky Ivy crit, Mowtom managed to live two hits, burn it, and Pain Split. The only reason Mowtom dies is because of Cress clicking Lunar Dance on the Ogerpon, but thankfully Spikes were enough to put it in range of Close Combat.)
Section VII: Conclusive Thoughts
-While Rotom-W is a solid Pokemon and has its place in the metagame, its role as a pivot/bulky water can be replicated by Mola who packs Regenerator and Wish, while boasting better physically bulk.
-Mowtom, despite its PU status, fills in a gap once filled by Ferrothorn last gen and Amoonguss before DLC2 as a bulky Grass type.
-Despite boasting a different typing from Washtom, it is still a Rotom appliance, being able to fill a similar role with decent bulk, Will-O-Wisp, and Volt Switch to maintain momentum over the course of a match, preventing it from being passive like Amoonguss who gets hard walled by half the tier despite a promising defensive profile.
-I believe it has a niche in the tier and I hope I’ve convinced others that it does.
SV OU is the most interesting metagame we’ve seen in a while. It is like a box of chocolates, you never know what developments or innovations are made within a week or a month.
I feel the reactions to the G-Fire suspect results are overblown. While I am a bit disappointed in the results, there is chance the flames for G-Fire will burn out just like how Kyurem went from being on my radar to not even being close.
A vote ending in DNBs is not the end of the world. We have enough time to figure things out before the eventual Generation 10 rolls around with Mega-Kingambit that gets Speed Boost. You can let go of your conspiracy theories about CTC rigging the vote or whatnot. If you had Spring Break this week, I hope you enjoyed it.
Sorry, but a lot of this "activity" is posts wanting to drop some Uber, going around in circles about non-productive things or things that would even be deleted/blacklisted and punished in other eras.
In the end, I just think people need to be more patient and less defeatist. It’s never a productive attitude to give up on something if you enjoy/care (and if not, take a break ofc), but we have been in similar and far worse spots during prior generations and even prior parts of this generation.
Spoiler: it always turns out OK
You have my personal promise it will this time, too. And I don’t take my word lightly.
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