Metagame Cross Evolution

[Dorsia]

Here some nice sets you can use:

+
Samurott-Hisui (Primeape) @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Choice Scarf
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Ceaseless Edge
- Sacred Sword
- Encore / Taunt / Razor Shell

Ceaseless Edge is such a strong move, one of the best of this gen imo. and variants can't stop spikes stacking and it does strong damages. Encore/Taunt can break through defensive mons while Sacred Sword is a stronger Close Combat with 0 counterparts while ignoring defense boosts. Razor Shell is mainly here to hit effectively / variants.
nb: can perform a similar role with higher Atk but less Spe.

into
Hariyama (Stantler) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Facade
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

Fake Out activates Guts safely and strong priority is always appreciated. Facade/Drain Punch/Knock Off gives you the coverage you need.

into
Volcarona (Girafarig) @ Kee Berry / Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Stored Power
- Fiery Dance
- Morning Sun

This one is 100% theoretical lol. Max investment in HP/Def to be bulkiest as possible. Kee Berry + Flame Body can be a good combo yet Colbur Berry exists if Knock Off scares you. Fiery Dance hits Dark Types while potentially increasing SP base power.
Dark types are very strong in this meta so you need to build around it.

 

[Delibird Heart]

I feel like shed tail or just sceptile as a cross evo (since the only 2 other users are cyclizar and orthworm which haven't made any waves in the past) warrants being looked at. It has the same issues it used to in OU and allows for some pretty unfair strategies. Especially in a meta where basically anything could get it, including something with absurdly high base HP like Chansey, or just a very fast mon like Electabuzz which still has decent hp.

 

[smellslikememe]

I feel like shed tail or just sceptile as a cross evo (since the only 2 other users are cyclizar and orthworm which haven't made any waves in the past) warrants being looked at. It has the same issues it used to in OU and allows for some pretty unfair strategies. Especially in a meta where basically anything could get it, including something with absurdly high base HP like Chansey, or just a very fast mon like Electabuzz which still has decent hp.

Shed Tail is under consideration, expect a vote at some point.

As for other tiering action, the council is considering unbans to retest for OMotM; no guarantees yet, but if anyone has anything specific to discuss regarding potential unbans the floor is open.

EDIT: unrelated; some up-to-date sample teams will be up shortly. While most of the samples are legal, many of them are extremely outdated and built in a pre-DLC/pre-Tera ban metagame.

 

[Imperator Romanum]

I had no idea Shed tail was legal, ended up getting destroyed on the ladder today. Shed tail really shouldn't be allowed

Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2116873601-jt6a2p4xqhn1eu6i6slp5io0zpiknqfpw

 

[Imw0rstadP0keM0n]

I had no idea Shed tail was legal, ended up getting destroyed on the ladder today.

It's an artifact of the time when the only shed tailers were Cyclizar and Orthworm, both making it obvious which teams relied on it (running very suboptimal pokemon) and therefore counterable. But with things like Chansey Sceptile this strat is both much harder to predict from team load and much stronger in general.

 

[Delibird Heart]

Yeah this stuff is ridiculous lol, I just hit rank 1 and 2 on separate alts with it, the second using only shed tail HO from 1000 to #1...

The sooner it goes the better, but perhaps this also highlights the overhwelming nature of some other mons in the tier such as:
- bisharp X tinkaton who can bypass almost all common defensive answers thanks to mold breaker + gigaton hammer, and is also difficult to deal with offensively because of sucker punch (although answers exist in the form of primeape x tsareena for example, those fold once u get passed a substitute from chansey)
- mudbray x cloyster who's unboosted icicle spear is sufficiently strong to defeat most unaware mons before they are able to set up on you, and who kills almost the whole tier after 1 shell smash because of how amazing ground/ice is offensively
- gligar x hitmonlee which is similarly strong, with unburden too to defeat offense, sort of hawlucha on crack

Even if shed tail ends up going, these mons are very strong in their own right and may remain problematic on a screens team for example, which would also give them ample room to set up, similar to shed tail support. I don't know if this should warrant action tbh because I'm very new to the tier and I don't have the experience to make that sort of call, but they definitely feel very very strong.

 

[TDLoriat]

Ceruledge (Kubfu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Poltergeist
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
The only thing that can resist you is a ghost/normal type and you boast enough power behind your stabs to chunk or KO huge swathes of the metagame, especially after a swords dance.

 

[Froggologgo]

Hi, when I nickname my Pokémon they don’t chang, what should I do

 

[smellslikememe]

Tiering action was promised, and thus tiering action was taken:

Shed Tail and Espathra are banned! Gholdengo and Speed Boost are unbanned!
​

Slate: (YES-NO-ABS)

Action	anaconja	Dark Koopatrol	DosDogs	Gimlaf	PQRDG	smellslikememe	Zuldaar	Result
Ban Shed Tail	YES	YES	YES	YES	ABS	YES	ABS	5-0-2 BAN
Unrestrict Gholdengo	ABS	YES	ABS	YES	NO	YES	ABS	3-1-3 UNBAN
Unban Speed Boost + Restrict Espathra	YES	YES	YES	ABS	YES	ABS	ABS	4-0-3 UNBAN

Reasoning:

Shed Tail

If you have played in the past 2 days, you will know that Sceptile-based Shed Tail users currently have a stranglehold on the meta, often outright winning games in less than ten turns by passing absurd HP substitutes to potent setup sweepers. Its influence is generally unhealthy and is agreed upon as broken, so the council was mostly unanimous in this ban vote.

Gholdengo

Gholdengo was restricted in a period where the meta was relatively undeveloped and was never retested since. However, the DLC changed things quite a bit, and aside from an influx of checks (both offensive and defensive), the absence of Tera also reduces the variability in checking any particular Gholdengo evo. The council acknowledges that there is a distinct possibility that Gholdengo as an evo may still possibly be an unhealthy influence, but given its long absence from the meta is still worth retesting.

Speed Boost/Espathra

This was an idea that had been thrown around for quite some time, and it was generally considered a matter of due course for this slate. Speed Boost was not previously seen as a broken element in past gen metagames, but Espathra introduced broken elements with its combination of setup + Stored Power. With the absence of Tera and the introduction of other Speed Boosters, the council still believes that Espathra itself is likely still broken, but other Speed Boost donors are worth testing.

Tagging dhelmise to implement, thanks in advance!

 

[InkyDarkBird]

Why is Gholdengo being unbanned if the majority of the council did not even vote to unban it? The vote is 3-1-3. Shouldn’t the undecided council members have more time and analysis to review Gholdengo?

 

[Notgamingreally]

Idk take it up with smogon voting this isn’t council’s problem that abstain isn’t do not unban.
Also submitting this https://pokepast.es/96ab1c0f0e9c2004 as a sample team, works pretty well.

 

[Imperator Romanum]

I peaked, take alook.

Shed Tail is still allowed on the ladder btw dhelmise

This guy really is the face of the meta right now! Whether you run HO, offense, balanced, semi-stall or pure stall you cannot go wrong with Gligar. With arguably one of the top five best type combinations, tremendous physical bulk, solid offenses and a great movepool Gligar is, imo, S+ rank in cross evolution. It's the defining threat.

Offensively the most threatening set imo. This thing is absolute monster, reminds me of Mega Salamence in OU. 140/129/145 defences is wild when paired with 190. I've ran EQ, Dual Wingbeat, Dragon Dance and Taunt to shred teams. Taunt means your opponents can't use recovery, status inducing moves or phazing to beat you. The unaware mons you usually can't beat you 1v1 with taunt. However, there is one counter...

Ironically, and fittingly, the best counter is the to Gligar Gyarados is Gligar Milotic! With Marvel Scale activate you have a whopping 484 HP & 703 defence. Since it attacks on the special side with Earth Power, Ice Beam/Scald there's nothing opposing Gliars can do.

There's plenty of other sets and opportunities, feel free to drop some other options!

I've also been experimenting with some Ubers staples to see if they hold up in the current meta! I've had some success with DD and . With stabs that ignore abilities is able to muscle through unaware mons and is a good check to offensive teams & weather wars. Pretty solid!

Here's a bunch of Gligar sweeps!

Gligar sweeps!

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117631697-g5w9hjqxczsvfjkji3ceki1cpgk02ejpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117633086-35btfv6obktkwv8w0708qi96oa9jao8pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117654144-hfzo4obm6ooevs09phkf5un26q0nmr4pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117651522-jzsg1c83t57jm4y4zviap13xysorvigpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117665478-bddgho2hw73tvvyic5snsjdpx09ukdrpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117831870-bg80osp5gcx0d7geb2x0p9lp0yfoxw5pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117827453-v9ethr5yt27uzg06hsu1545o5n819mnpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117836360-u7xqlsroxzxj97lvxrispo9hyadaso0pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117848714-ppgxdvnn9zq701dknstlrobquplesf5pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2118202778
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2118529174-vz7x5olnngxautwh7s4hkyxkm5imi2wpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2119000136-x0ewqig3nx8tbcplekm8v6zrheio916pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2119003273-ntxkdqmj0gfr6ml0vswryzlw1oi0kjnpw

turn 3 forfeit to become number one lol
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2118348721-b84r95oqh5otol8paaeyfiulka17taxpw

The three man squad lets go
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117839633-3hqj9w0riksk0s1092oc8a0g6ah7os5pw

clear proof of gligar being broken, watch me force Dark Koopatrol to submit to my superior intellect with a clean 5-0. Gligar the goat.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2117660448-r6w4m8k7ls800hd3u4a4jnumoeeghtdpw

 

[Iynhe]

My time to shine!
Other than Sheer Force Life Orb, another cool thing I like to try in CE is Illusion.
These were done the last time CE was otmotm, iirc. Or even the time before.

Team 1

Gyarados (Mankey) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- U-turn

Zoroark-Hisui (Glimmet) @ Life Orb
Ability: Illusion
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Rock Polish

Noivern (Salandit) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Frisk
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast
- Boomburst
- U-turn

Armarouge (Litleo) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Armor Cannon
- Hyper Voice
- Energy Ball
- Taunt

Venomoth (Zorua-Hisui) @ Life Orb
Ability: Tinted Lens
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- U-turn

Forretress (Bramblin) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Strength Sap

Well, Gyarados is free, so I paired it with (iirc) the mon (or one of the mons) with the highest attack among base mons.
Glimmet was chosen as the Illusion mon because it had a high spatk.
Salandit and Litleo should pressure special walls, in theory. Bramblin makes and removes hazards (i wanted to try something different at the time and I liked SSap. Zorua I thought it would be interesting with QD and Tinted Lens.

Team 2

Sylveon (Bergmite) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pixilate
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Hyper Voice

Clodsire (Dunsparce) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Haze
- Hyper Drill

Revavroom (Mudbray) @ Leftovers
Ability: Filter
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Facade
- Shift Gear

Zoroark-Hisui (Glimmet) @ Life Orb
Ability: Illusion
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Rock Polish

Toxtricity (Stantler) @ Leftovers
Ability: Punk Rock
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Boomburst
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake
- Shift Gear

Hariyama (Crabrawler) @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Thunder Punch

Pixilate rapid spin so it won't be stopped, plus fairy is a nice defensive type.
Dunsparce is simply a strong wall. Mudbray and Stantler are fun Shift Gear mons, and one being mixed is also more fun.
Same illusion mon as before. Crabrawler with Guts and CB is there to in theory hit hard.

Nothing in these two teams ever really worked for me, but I'm too bad a builder to waste more time to create something that should work.
If you want to try an Illusion mon, please do and have fun, but do it properly LMAO

 

[k.r.o.b.]

does light ball work on pikachu?

 

[Hiusi guy]

does light ball work on pikachu?

On evolutions into Pikachu no, similar pokemon specific items like thick club don't work either

 

[Froggologgo]

When I nickname a Pokémon another Pokémon it doesn’t change, what should I do

 

[Gimlaf]

When I nickname a Pokémon another Pokémon it doesn’t change, what should I do

If you mean, that it doesn't change in the teambuilder, then that's normal. It doesn't show you the changes your mons get from the nickname. You can still pick moves and abilities that are shown as illegal, as long as the evolution gets those; When validating a team the evolutions get taken into account, as long as the nicknames are written correctly, of course.

 

[IMakeNoSense]

I've voiced my frustration earlier, but I'd like to talk for a sec about two big issues I have with Cross Evolution, both simultaneously and separately, and why neither should stay in the metagame.

TL;DR, Qwilfish-Hisui and Clodsire as an evo.

Qwilfish-Hisui

Ah yes, another Dark type. Because that's what CE needs.

No, but seriously, this thing is insane. It can run pretty much anything you need, from utility, stall, hyper offense; it has plenty of tools to make a lot of mileage for its team; it that it does. Too well. Qwilfish-Hisui (whom I will now refer to as Qwil) has some of the best base stats of any evolver, and it's a first stage, so the evos it receives would be a much more significant boost. On top of that, it's movepool is great. Great STAB options and tools in Barb Barrage, Crunch, Gunk Shot, and Throat Chop, coverage with Liquidation/Waterfall, priority in Aqua Jet, setup in Swords Dance and Curse; all of this is BEFORE THE EVO by the way. All the evo needs to do is knock Qwilfish-Hisui out of proportion and you have yourself a threat.

These evos in particular (-link-) is what puts it over the edge. And the issue is that there's no real check to Qwil in the meta. Will-o-Wisp doesn't work on Ceruledge sets. Clodfish (Clodsire + Qwilfish) can just sit on most things and boost past them with no real issue. There's also the occasional Gyarados or Hitmontop sets. I wish I had some replays to show how ridiculous Clodfish can be. Got stats? Too bad, Clodfish ignores them. Not a steel type? Enjoy yourself a Toxic! What if you are one? Clodfish gets Curse + Earthquake, so tough luck! Trying to chip away at it? Nah, Clodfish gets Recover. The only real answer to Clodfish is to have a bulky flying type that is immune to Toxic; which realistically in CE is a Steel/Flying type, and then those become setup fodder due to how slow and unthreatening they are. Not to mention those lose hard to other things like Magneton evos, so once those are gone, Clodfish is back to reeking havoc.

Ceruledge evos trade in Poison, the one thing that makes Qwil manageable (it's weakness to Ground) and makes it nigh impossible to manage. Dark/Ghost has 1 weakness, Fairy, and there's no real good Fairy types in CE as it is now. They're all subpar, and the few Fairies that are good would rather be something else (i.e. Cutiefly-Gholdengo). There's very little Fairy coverage too, and Scrappy is practically non-existent, so Fighting types are out of the question. Ceruledge evos get to hit hard, wall everything, and live for a long time.

But a big issue with Qwil comes in that DANG DARK TYPE! Dark type in CE is and has been notorious for being the spotlight problem since its beginning. Fighting types are typically the answer to deal with Dark types in CE, but that becomes unreliable due to Ghost type being so freely available to slap onto your bases. Skeledirge and Ceruledge come to mind first, but now we have Gholdengo back. As said before, Fairies are non-existent here, so Dark/Ghost types are significantly better here. You can't even bring in a fully-evolved mon to try and check them, as the power-ceiling is too high and our consistent Ubers-level "Fairy type" was banned (Calyrex-Shadow), though thats for the better. Good luck using Bugs, but also Ghost resists Bug, as well as Steel which is also common with Dark thanks to Bisharp. Dark types are the defining type in CE, if you don't have a way to deal with the antics of Dark evos, your game is over before it even started. And of course, Qwilfish is one of them.

---

Clodsire

The other factor that makes this meta so hard to play is this stupid fish.

I've been very mixed about this one, I used to really enjoy Clodsire evos; my first post in the thread being about Clodsly (still superior to Clodsparce), but as more threats came in, more threats abused the thought of being an unkillable special wall with Unaware. Clodsire's stat boosts are minmaxed to perfection; because almost any base benefits from having a fat HP boost of 75 and a dense SpDef boost of 75. Most of the meta is Physical Defense leaning either way; like most Ground types in the meta, and especially Gligar, as well as Vullaby and the old Dunsparce.

On the right mon, Unaware becomes broken to try and break through, because you can't break through it. The setup of choice tends to be Curse, but Clodsparce used to run Coil too. Clodsire gives plenty of tools, like Toxic, Haze, Recover, and for boosting sets, Body Press. Clodsire evos disable a key factor of most battles, being able to strategize when to go for the win by boosting. This isn't really a problem for any other meta, where Clodsire has its weaknesses that makes its role more manageable, but in CE, a busted mon can receive a busted strategy, and it just makes the gameplay no fun at all.

---

I could express my distaste for these two more later, but as of now, I just wanted to spout. If anyone has anything to add or comment (especially in the Clodsire area), or if if you want to tell me why you think I'm wrong about disliking these things, feel free. It isn't changing my mind that I don't like them. I probably even missed something, who knows.

k bye : )

 

[InkyDarkBird]

As a stall player, I have forsaken Clodsire evos due to their lack of utility and bulk. Assault Vest Munchpex and Vullaby can take down most special attackers on their own, and Vullaby gets Knock off and Toxic. Clodsparce takes massive damage from Girafarig Toxtricity, one of the best special wallbreakers in the format.
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Girafarig Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Dunsparce: 266-316 (48 - 57%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO

 

[Imperator Romanum]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Last Respects is allowed. It's an increndible move which can be very difficult to deal with. It was banned with a 61/3 majority in ubers for good reason, why is it allowed here?

Case in point, please watch this replay. Skip to turn 20 if you want to see what I mean.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2123354176-nvu4giucafrhvmr2mkkg5gyt30yum2spw

 

[Notgamingreally]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Last Respects is allowed. It's an increndible move which can be very difficult to deal with. It was banned with a 61/3 majority in ubers for good reason, why is it allowed here?

Case in point, please watch this replay. Skip to turn 20 if you want to see what I mean.
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ng-last-respects.3740195/page-3#post-10056195

I don’t think that’s a replay
Also we have better ghost resists here I.e munchlax, qwilfish h, vullaby, Stantler.

 

[Imperator Romanum]

I don’t think that’s a replay
Also we have better ghost resists here I.e munchlax, qwilfish h, vullaby, Stantler.

You're right, fixed it now! Thank you

 

[InkyDarkBird]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Last Respects is allowed. It's an increndible move which can be very difficult to deal with. It was banned with a 61/3 majority in ubers for good reason, why is it allowed here?

Case in point, please watch this replay. Skip to turn 20 if you want to see what I mean.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9crossevolution-2123354176-nvu4giucafrhvmr2mkkg5gyt30yum2spw

First of all, you misplayed that game by sacrificing Vullaby Clodsire, so I don't really see what you mean. Foul Play would have easily beaten or at least done massive damage to Munchlax.
252 Atk Vullaby Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tera Ghost Munchlax: 542-642 (94.4 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

The two evolutions that learn Last Respects are Basculegion and Houndstone.
While Basculegion does gain 20 Atk and Adaptability, it loses 20 speed in the process. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to use as it provides barely any bulk and it is very slow.
Houndstone does provide some middling stats, but offers no Ghost STAB upon evolution, forcing you to use Misdreavus to have any hope of viability.

The current meta also contains many prominent Dark and Normal Pokemon, such as Qwilfish-Hisui, Vullaby, Bisharp, Dunsparce, Munchlax, and Chansey.

 

[datguycactus]

Don't usually post on forums, but I hit top 100 so I thought I would share my team, especially because I used a pokemon I haven't seen any people talk about
https://pokepast.es/edd942f83a7cd5eb
The main pokemon I wanted to showcase is murkrow gyarados. Gyarados is one of the strongest evolutions in the format, so it may seem like a bit of a waste at first to use it on murkrow, but murkrow gets a tool none of the other gyarados pokemon can use, or at least use well, that being sucker punch. Sucker punch can be used as a revenge kill option, and hits incredibly hard. It does more than that though, if the opponent isn't prepared one dragon dance can sometimes be enough to end an entire game, due to moxie boosts making sacrifices risky. Unaware pokemon can be a problem, but with a choice specs hyper beam coming off vikavolt porygon 2 (its there because its funny) theres very few non-ghost types that can live. Thats pretty much it, i just wanted to talk about murkrow. Thanks for reading, have fun using the team if you want, and im open to criticism.

 

[Imw0rstadP0keM0n]

Don't post much, but I thought I'd make some noise. For reference I've been hovering around 1300-1400 playing silly meme teams and experimenting, and this is what I've figured both from personal experience and from conversations with CE players better than myself on the forums and in games.

#1 Dark Dominance.

It's no secret that between strong prevos like Qwilfish-Hisui, Vullaby, and Bisharp, that the Dark type is one of the strongest types in the meta, for a variety of reasons. The most notable to me is the lack of effective counter types.

> If you look at Darks' three weaknesses, only one of them has any real presence of the meta. Bugs are all but gone in the meta since Scyther was (rightfully imo) banned, and Fairies are no where to be seen (the best ones are Hatterene which usually have below average bulk and speed and can get chipped fairly easily.) This leaves fighting types as the sole viable answer for Dark spam.

Of course, relying on fighting types attacks for coverage isn't a great idea when there's a bunch of ways of tacking on Ghost/Flying and/or copious physical defense onto your dark type pokemon (ex. Ceruledge, Perisan-Alola, Gyarados)

There's also some minor problems which contribute both directly and indirectly to Dark Dominance, such as Dark being immune to prankster, a variety of strong evolutions granting access to knock + strong abilities, and the high amount of ghosts and ghost/normals.

So how do we fix these problems? None of the particular dark types are all inherently broken on their own, nor are the crevos which gift dark typing/strong dark attacks (knock primarily). It's not like we can artificially insert strong fairies into the meta. Well, I have a solution but it ties in to the next problem.

#2: Set Readability

All metas that modify move sets/abilities have slight problems with readability compared to standard meta games, but CE goes a step beyond that to unreadability, take a look at this scenario down below.

In OU, Landorus-Therian could be running a pivot set, a swords dance set, or a stealth rock taunt set. While you could run something entirely different, these are the most common sets.

In AAA, things are slightly more difficult to parse with Landorus-T. It could be Aerialate, Regenvest, Deso Land. The roles are somewhat different, but at the end of the day, it's still a ground flying with strong physical attacks that wants to pivot.

In CE, Gligar (closest comparison to Lando-T... On paper) could be.

- unburden sweeper
- guts wall breaker
- phys wall in a variety of ways
- Regenvest Pivot
- Tidy Up hazard removal.
- Status Spam
- Suicide Status Lead

And that's not mentioning ways it can actually change it's typing fundamentally! With some context clues you can (maybe) piece together a specific Pokemon's function on a team, but it's a gamble and often one that ends in a win/loss for the gambling person. The most certainty you get is "Well it's (probably) running Earthquake."

This alone wouldn't be that awful if it weren't for a solid 10-11 pokemon having 50% pick rates as bases. Qwilfish-Hisui for example is on nearly every team merely due to set versatility and typing. Similar story to Gligar, and Chansey. These pokemon aren't inherently broken on their own accord (unlike prior bans like Scyther) but have enough versatility that a wrong guess can lead to an instant loss.

So again, what is the solution? We can't just ban the most popular pokemon (not only is that just a bad idea, it wouldn't solve the problem as there'd instantly be new "must use bases"). It's the same solution for problem one.

The Solution: Add a nickname Reveal Clause at the start of the game.

If you understand what your opponent's pokemon do and they understand what your's do leads to a far more interesting mind game. It doesn't fully remove set versatility (e.g, maybe that Clodfish is just a wall but it might also be a curse unaware sweeper), but it does limit the amount of nonsense clownery the meta leads to.

If you want some sources for the uncounterability of set versatility go ask Imperator Romanum, my silly cheese teams have beaten him out of first multiple times because there simply isn't much to do once the gambit is revealed.

P.s., set visibility is important for defensive pokemon too, things like Munchpex only work because of surprise factor, just as much as some random unburden sweeper.