Metagame Scootopia

[Scoopapa]

Scootopia V.2

​

Welcome to Scootopia Version 2! This metagame is currently in the Solomod PL. This thread is mostly for me to post about any balance changes that may happen, although anyone is free to post their thoughts on the metagame if they want.

New Mechanic: Super Types

New Mechanic: Super Types

Super types allow a pokemon to replace their secondary type with one of two powerful new types: Crystal or Feral.​

- A pokemon's secondary type will change if they are holding either a Crystal Orb or a Feral Orb.
- This change happens right before the first time they switch in.
- Only one pokemon on a team can gain a Super Type.
- These items cannot be removed in battle. They also boost moves of their corresponding type by 20%.
- Crystal- and Feral-type moves can only be used by pokemon with the matching type.

Type Matchups

Crystal is a defensively inclined type. It shares some matchups in common with Rock, and some of its matchups are based on its light-scattering properties. Water and Ground are resisted because they play crucial roles in forming various kinds of crystals.

Defensive:
Immune to: Burn Status, Sandstorm
Resists: Normal, Water, Fire, Ground, Rock, Dark, Crystal, Feral
Weak to: Electric, Fighting, Steel
Offensive:
Strong Against: Fire, Dark, Ghost
Resisted By: Electric, Fighting, Steel, Crystal

Feral is an offensively inclined type. Its matchups mostly revolve around wreaking havoc on the environment, while being weak to natural hazards and particularly fearsome beasts. The mutual resist between Feral and Ghost references the Normal type.

Defensive:
Immune to: Sleep Status
Resists: Ice, Ghost, Fairy
Weak to: Fire, Poison, Dragon
Offensive:
Strong Against: Normal, Grass, Water, Flying, Bug, Fairy
Resisted By: Fire, Ghost, Dragon, Crystal

Super Type Moves

These moves can only be used by pokemon with the corresponding Super Type.

Crystal Cutter	Physical	50 BP | 15 PP | Always Crits, User recovers 50% of damage dealt	Contact, Slicing
Crystal Tail	Physical	120 BP | 5 PP | 85% Acc. | 20% to Drop Atk	Contact
Crystal Bash	Physical	100 BP | 10 PP | 10% to drop Atk	Contact
Crystal Beam	Special	90 BP | 15 PP | 30% to drop SpA
Crystal Cage	Special	85 BP | 10 PP | 80% Acc. | Traps and damages for 4-5 turns.
Crystal Burst	Special	120 BP | 5 PP | Lowers user's SpA by 1 stage.
Crystal Healing	Status	Cures the team's Status and starts effect similar to Aqua Ring
Crystal Fortification	Status	User gains +1 Def and +1 SpD, clears negative stat changes
Crystal Shard	Status	Sets a layer of Spikes

Feral Bite	Physical	90 BP | 15 PP | 30% chance to Poison	Contact, Biting
Feral Shred	Physical	20 BP | 15 PP | Hits twice, lowers Def by 1 on each hit	Contact
Feral Rush	Physical	120 BP | 10 PP | User takes 1/3 recoil, 20% to drop Def	Contact
Feral Shriek	Special	90 BP | 15 PP | Sound move | 20% to lower foe's SpD	Sound
Feral Power	Special	110 BP | 5 PP | Lowers user's SpD by 1
Feral Breath	Special	80 BP | 15 PP | 60% to lower SpD by 1	Wind
Feral Healing	Status	User recovers 25% HP and heals its status conditions
Feral Spray	Status	Foe: Poisoned, User: +1 Atk, +1 SpA
Feral Resilience	Status	User: Status cured, +1 Atk, +1 SpA

Other Mechanics Changes

Sleep: Sleep-inducing moves only last 1 turn, but are more accurate. Rest and Yawn last 2 turns. Sleeping pokemon have halved Spe. No Sleep Clause.
Freeze: Special variant of Burn, essentially Frostbite from PL:A. Sheer Cold is now a Will-o-Wisp clone that inflicts Freeze.

--Spreadsheet--
(You may find the "Super Type Defensive Combos" page to be quite useful when building)​

 

[Scoopapa]

Reserved for VR

 

[Scoopapa]

--Replays--

Solomod PL
Week 1
Paulluxx vs. Gekokeso
Dex vs. M0onStarr
Beaf Cultist vs. Snak

Week 2
Snak vs. M0onstarr
Gekokeso vs. Beaf Cultist
Dex vs. Paulluxx

Other Replays
Gekokeso vs. Evil Beaf Cultist​

 

[Scoopapa]

Week 1 Recap:

The major takeaway from this week was Soleron being the unequivocal best mon in the format. It appeared on most teams and usually put in a lot of work. However, while Soleron is not easy to deal with, most of its theoretically best countermeasures never hit the field this week. While I consider it suspect-worthy, it's not enough to stray from my plan of allowing 2 weeks between any major patch. I'd like to see how people adapt to Soleron next week before potentially nerfing it. It's not like the tier is stagnant already - it should still be an interesting week.

Post Week 1 Balance Patch:

-Corundell gains Lightningrod

I don't expect this to be a major change, but as I said before, I'm not looking to make a major change at the moment. This should give another way of blocking Volt Switch, though, on a Pokemon that walls Soleron's other moves. Nobody used this pokemon this week (it simply doesn't look that good on paper) but with a good matchup vs. the best Pokemon in the tier, I think it will be worthy of consideration now. It has good Special Rock-type moves (Meteor Beam and Revelation Dance) if you're wondering what to do with it.

Other Options to check Soleron:

SpD Cinnastar:
While it can't block Volt Switch, it will not get chipped down by it thanks to Regenerator. Cinnastar offers Stealth Rock and Mortal Spin support. It also has a good coverage and utility if running Assault Vest.

SpD Electangle:
Although it doesn't appreciate Heat Wave and doesn't block Volt Switch, it's won't get 2HKOed by Heat Wave and takes nothing from the other moves. Electangle has been very consistent as a defensive pivot in my experience, so it shouldn't be a drag on your team and will improve your matchup. It also sets Stealth Rock. Despite its low offenses, attacks like Gyro Ball, Body Press, and Volt Switch serve it well.

Wind Rider Zeploom:
Another Pokemon that people understandably didn't go for, but it hard walls Hurricane, Heat Wave, and Electric moves. It may seem toothless but it has slow U-turn, a signature move with percentage-based chip damage, and Toxic. It also provides Stealth Rock or Defog support. In my experience it is much better in practice than it looks on paper, and can certainly be slotted into a bulkier build.

Elemadillo:
Elemadillo is not a safe switch-in, despite walling Soleron's STABs, but it's here because it outspeeds both forms. Specs is viable, but if you're really trying to punish Soleron, Feral Elemadillo will OHKO it and in general should make for a strong Feral type, having good coverage alongside Feral in STAB Flash Cannon for Crystal types and Earth Power for Fire and Poison types. It can also boost SpA while Poisoning the opponent with Feral Spray.

None of these are perfect counters. They either have flaws in their ability to deal with Soleron (Electangle, Elemadillo, Cinnastar) or are pokemon you might not otherwise run (Zeploom, Corundell), but I think the tools may be there to build teams that aren't walked all over by Soleron. At any rate I want to see what preparing for Soleron looks like before I decide what needs to change.

 

[Scoopapa]

Edit: These changes are pending for Week 4. They won't be active in week 3.

Week 2 Recap:
If I'm honest no particular trend was spotted. Soleron didn't really pop off, and when talking to players, opinions on it are mixed. I've gotten pretty different opinions on other specific pokemon (such as Crystal Krachiten) and some players have called out pokemon that nobody else seems to have noticed. I don't want to say too much about those pokemon but these changes should (slightly) mitigate most concerns I have.

Post Week 2 Balance Patch:
All that being said I had a Pokemon in the wings that addresses almost every public and private concern that me or others have had. That plus a couple small buffs seeks to address the issue with Ground-type options. I hope this isn't too much to drop in a mid-tour patch but here it is anyway:

New Pokemon: Eleqwil
Type: Electric / Ground
Abilities: Mold Breaker / Iron Barbs | Bulletproof (HA)
Stats: 78 / 101 / 91 / 45 / 108 / 37
Notable Moves: Earthquake, Wild Charge, Volt Switch, Knock Off, Dragon Tail, Slack Off, Spikes,

There was just an issue with the Ground-type options we had, specifically when it came to dealing with the available Electric types. There are some other Pokemon on my radar that this helps against as well. If this bricks Soleron I could roll back some other changes, but I want to try it for now.

Nunopod

Typing is reordered to Ground/Bug

Allows it to run Ground/Crystal or Ground/Feral.

Zeploom

Energy Siphon Duration increased to 5 turns.

I just want to see this move used :(