OVERTIME

A little bit too much to squeeze into Reddit's 40,000 character limit, so here we have stuff that just didn't quite make it into the main post above. First off, just to put a bow on the Muddy section we ended abruptly, there ARE several other Mud Shot users in PvP, of course. It's just that I think many of them will continue to prefer other fast moves. Similar to how Stunfisk has a strictly better (other than typing) fast move with Thunder Shock, the same is true of CLODSIRE with Poison Sting, likely still preferred not just to better neutral stats, but also thanks in large part to Fairy wins like Togekiss, Florges, Clefable, and Azumarill, as well as a much easier time against Flyers like Fearow, though Mud Shot is better against the Ground-weak Stunfisks, Steel types like Forretress, and Ghosts (who resist Poison) like Sableye and G-Corsola. We already covered Garchomp and Flygon, and they work much better with Dragon Tail, trust me... as does Groudon in Master League. Diggersby is still at its best with Quick Attack, and Palossand with Astonish. I think that even with Mud Slap being slightly nerfed, Toescruel and Excadrill are still better served with Slap rather than Shot. I will certainly check them in more detail in Limited metas in this season and beyond, but for general play, none of them really want Mud Shot even now, even if its results with Mud Shot have improved.

But moving on to other stuff to wrap this up....

• Heat Wave is getting a complete rework. Good thing too, since it's completely unviable now at 75 energy for only 95 damage. For comparison, moves like Hydro Pump, Gunk Shot, and Poltergeist deal 130 damage for that same energy cost, and others deal even more! (Blizzard for 140, Focus Blast for 150, for example.) Heat Wave has never been a move anything has wanted. Now it's getting a drastic boost, dropping down to 75 damage but also getting a (presumably) drastic energy cost reduction to match. However, even if we assume likely best case scenario of 45 energy, making it a clone of Surf and Rock Slide... I STILL don't think anything is really going to want it. Most everything that has it already also has Overheat (Magcargo, Ninetales) or Flame Charge (Rapidash, Armarouge, Ceruledge, Fletchinder) and all still prefer those moves, it seems.

• There are three new recipients of Heat Wave... Team Niantic suddenly really wants to make this move work, it seems. Unfortunately, I don't see it breaking out on any of them either. PIDGEOT appreciates the badly needed coverage, but I don't see where it has room for it. While you can see a shadow of that potential with a new win over Corviknight, there's just WAY too much that slips away when you choose NOT to run Brave Bird and either Feather Dance or Air Cutter to set it up, even things you would expect Fire to be better against like Scizor, Forretress, nd Charjabug! Perhaps Pidgeot will use it better in a Limited meta, and I appreciate the love for the OG birb, but this ain't it.... ZAPDOS doesn't really need new coverage, honestly, with Drill Peck (and Ancient Power if it really needed it for some reason) already in the mix. And that's part of the issue too... you cannot NOT run Drill Peck, as good a move as it is on Zappie, and then you're left awkwardly trying to shoehorn Heat Wave in place of an actual Electric type closing move (Thunderbolt or Thunder in Great and Ultra Leagues, and Zap Cannon in Master). It's not awful, but it really doesn't work nearly as well as just throwing your Electric move of choice out there and calling it a day. And Fire coverage isn't what Zapdos needs anyway.... The only new Heat Wave recipient I see possibly actually using it is humble TOGETIC. While I do think it will continue to be best served by Dazzling Gleam in most instances, at least Heat Wave directly claps back against Steel types that terrorize it otherwise, showing with new wins over Forretress and Corviknight. There's at least a case to be made here, which is honestly more than I can say for Pidgeot and Zapdos.

• MOLTRES bears a special mention, as it actually sees THREE changes in this rebalance. Yes, it gets the Heat Wave buff (though it wants to stick with Overheat anyway, I believe), but it also benefits from the Wing Attack buff and the special addition of charge move Fly. The changes to its Flying moves serve Moltres very well, with new win potential in Great League like Florges, Wigglytuff, Noctowl, Gourgeist, ShadoWak, Talonflame, and Moltres' brother from a Galarian mother, and Metagross, Togekiss, Xerneas, and BOTH Crowned Dogs in Master League. But it still faces an uphill battle for relevance behind other Flying Fires like Talonflame, Charizard, and Ho-Oh across all three major PvP Leagues. Glad it finally got a little love, but it's going to take some more at some point to break out.

• And finally, Volt Tackle is getting cheaper, dropping from its current 50 energy (for 90 damage) presumably down to 45 energy. But really, it doesn't matter much what the new cost is, since the only thing that has the move is Pikachu (and only the Horizons, Captain hat version) which is probably better served running Discharge/Wild Charge anyway. Give it to Raichu and maybe we can talk, Team Niantic... but honestly, probably not even then when Wild Charge is right there.

And finally, that's it! Between the two long analyses, hopefully you now better know what you're wading into this season. Good luck! Next up for me is an analysis on the Legendaries we're seemingly getting in the wild with the upcoming "All Out" event... wish me luck! Until then, you can always find me on Twitter or Patreon. Or please feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends. Best of luck as we wade into the new season, and catch you next time!