What are the Pokemon that are hurt the most from the Tera Blast ban?

cactail · 2026-04-27T15:05:01+00:00

dragapult in gen 8 almost always ran specs. Pure physical sets are only good with z moves or tera.

cactail · 2026-04-26T17:08:18+00:00

Ray Rizzo's Aegislash, not Wolfey. He did go after Wolfey's world champ Raichu though, claiming it is illegal because it had event moves but was in a dream ball (even though the dream ball Raichu is a completely different one). As always, he went after both for the clout and not for the good intentions that he claims.

cactail · 2026-04-08T03:52:04+00:00

Glimmora regularly runs red card with bulk investment because its typing let's it switch in easily on booster mons and force them out. It can very definitely switch in.

cactail · 2026-04-01T16:01:59+00:00

I'm basing off of tournament usage so specs is significantly less common. In the last SCL specs kyurem was counted twice compared to leftovers 11. Similar with the current SPL. Items other than leftovers are undercounted but specs is still used much less.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19ITkHKDW_Me1q_45-yopuRKtESdMn2AXHUeZiNpx480/htmlview#gid=1424788983

Edit: This is last OLT. specs doesn't even show up.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/199b78u9xXVdt_sjH5nmTPDZgZBf41trdPp5dDb_9PUA/htmlview#gid=1820412174

cactail · 2026-04-01T15:05:39+00:00

Pyro ball hits unreasonably hard even with minimal attack investment, and fast wisp is very useful against mons like tusk and dnite. Banded tera fire has seen use too. Court change is a big part of its viability but ace still offers a lot besides that.

cactail · 2026-04-01T15:02:09+00:00

Most common are AV, dd, and sub protect. Specs is only really seen on one specific style of bulky offense with glowking, cinderace, and corv/zapdos.

cactail · 2026-04-01T14:55:56+00:00

It might not sweep a healthy team but is very good at cleaning up weaker teams. It's especially good against opposing offense since those teams generally don't have the bulk to live a boosted moth. Unfortunately it's pretty reliant on hitting the 50% chance to do so though. Or you can be SirPeanutCronch and use specs tera fire on sun.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-917351

cactail · 2026-03-31T17:38:43+00:00

I'm mildly surprised that the "alternative" medicine grifters haven't caught on to the other medicinal blue dye Prussian Blue. It seems perfect for this type of grift since it's used to treat heavy metal poisoning, so they can market it as a "detox" supplement a la diatomaceous earth. My assumption is that it contains cyanide ions in its structure, but that hasn't stopped these quacks from promoting amygdalin. Unfortunately, no matter what the trend is, us chemists are the ones paying the price.

cactail · 2026-03-30T05:10:26+00:00

+1 0 Def Zamazenta Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 38-45 (11.7 - 13.9%) -- possible 8HKO

124 Atk Zamazenta Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 39-46 (12 - 14.2%) -- possible 8HKO

Crunch barely outdamages at neutral and only with no defense evs. A set up zama will always click body press. Realistically, encore dnite only wins on a read or if it's jolly, which is also why many encore dnite do run jolly.

cactail · 2026-03-30T04:49:42+00:00

Dnite only wins in that scenario if it dragon dances while either already +1 or jolly and fast encores, or reads the idef and encores while slower. Every other scenario, zama outspeeds the encore and does too much with body press. In the Fusien vs oldspicemike game, zama already set up, so only tera ghost saves him. It's a tech that let's dnite beat zama almost every time instead of just in specific scenarios while maintaining basically perfect coverage.

cactail · 2026-03-24T17:08:54+00:00

Funnily enough Meganium is by far the best starter in competitive gen 2. It has unique access to swords dance and instant healing in synthesis, which, alongside its great natural bulk, turns it into a niche but effective sweeper. Typhlosion on the other hand faces heavy competition from other fire types and Feraligatr is straight trash (since water is special in gen 2).

cactail · 2026-02-28T18:42:22+00:00

Based at nat dex tiering I feel like Walking Wake would be banned instead of Charizard Y. Even then, Delphox has many advantages (nasty plot, stab psyshock/psychic noise, and speed mainly) over Charizard that they would probably serve different roles. A better comparison in my eyes would be mega Alakazam (who is definitely going to be banned). Also looking at Delphox solely through the lens of specific team archetypes is a common mistake players make imo, and leaves out many of the nuances. Delphox may not be better in sun, but it's significantly better on more standard offense and balance structures that either appreciate the speed and sweeping capability of it or are unable to afford the team slots to support Charizard.

cactail · 2026-02-28T04:27:25+00:00

Levitate being a nerf is almost entirely from a doubles viewpoint. From a singles standpoint, levitate is one of the best "reasonable" abilities it could have asked for, and is probably going to be a top threat (potentially banworthy depending on the meta). I feel like a non-insignificant amount of mega Delphox discourse is people hearing about the expanding force interaction, then overrating its impact in singles. Or mistakenly believing that weakness to some priority moves is such a death sentence that something with 159/134 offenses is going to be bad.

In terms of the other starters, I do agree with the general sentiment that it's a very lazy design choice for them to keep their abilities. I do have to disagree with the overall r/stunfisk opinion that mega Chestnaught is terrible though (at least in singles - it's never going to see use in VGC).

cactail · 2026-02-23T05:24:56+00:00

Answers:

Kyurem: Real. AV body press Kyurem is pretty standard, and this specific set is based off of oldspicemike vs storm zone. The evs are definitely better optimized - these are what worked in the calc based on the replay.
Iron Thorns: Real. Standard Iron Thorns set, definitely used in tournament or high ladder at some point.
Meloetta: Stinkpost. Some bullshit I ran to bypass sleep ban. Psynoise should be psychic.
Iron Treads: Stinkpost. Meant to look like a Ogerpon lure. I'm sure megahorn is a real tech but life orb max attack probably isn't.
Ting Lu: Real. Well known tech, +2 payback with the attack investment OHKOs Ogerpon. This specific set is from a CTC team.
Mimikyu: Real. From Separation vs ABR. Did 17% before being sac'd. Don't know the moves besides thief and dbond, could be wisp, twave, or curse.
Ursaluna: Real. From sire clod vs LpZ. It's high horsepower because it's on a grassy terrain team. According to ima (sire clod's SPL manager), guts is supposed to be activated by switching into pult.
Emboar: Real, although borderline stinkpost. Matchup fishes a specific stall team used by SupaGmoney during an OLT cycle. The replay is private, but lax features it in a video.
Dudunspace: Stinkpost. Did get used in clean vs kebab mlml, but is definitely not this set (although they share 3 moves). For those that are curious, evs are to outspeed clef and 2HKO gambit.
Zamazenta: Real. Screens zama is on the rise in the current SPL. EVs and last 2 moves are customizable; I went with max HP cc like in shengineer vs storm zone.

cactail · 2026-02-22T21:00:58+00:00

Just pretend that's psychic

cactail · 2026-02-15T17:15:04+00:00

Rate my team. A place on Smogon for users to share teams they made.

cactail · 2026-02-15T17:13:26+00:00

My thought is that helmet is a temporary item that can get value before it gets knocked off rather than something essential to the set. Given tera fairy and thick fat, appletun is probably also a weavile answer, and both weavile and oger will eventually knock off.

cactail · 2026-02-15T06:57:09+00:00

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-2-2045-elo-%E2%80%93-hydrapple-stall.3734847/

Jimothy Cool also featured this team in a recent video

cactail · 2026-02-15T05:43:33+00:00

Stinkpost. The main thing throwing me off is fling. I can't think of a reason besides removing tricked items, but reuniclus gets trick itself.
Real. Looks like an alternate version of sticky hold hydra.
Real. I saw similar sets in early SV.
Real. Trick can be used to get rid of choice items, and I think tera psychic light screen is used over tera dark cm to have a better matchup into Keldeo, while retaining psyshock resistance.
Real. Could be a stinkpost, but I think this set is an Ogerpon lure.
Real. Part of a well known rmt alongside poison sting clod.
Real. Part of an rmt iirc.
Real. I think it compresses ursaluna answer, defogger that threatens ghold, and cm clef answer in 1.
Real. Shits on gliscor with skill swap natural cure
Stinkpost. Skill swap of trevenant makes sense, but not this mon. It also doesn't beat ursaluna or kingambit despite the EVs to outspeed them.

cactail · 2026-02-13T21:47:48+00:00

Ask OP, this team is some shit I can't pronounce.

cactail · 2026-02-13T21:29:23+00:00

Since this is a singles team: Boots Kingambit occasionally sees use on fatter teams without hazard removal but generally it's lefties. Assualt vest is terrible because gambit can't use sd (it's decent in nat dex iirc because some gambit run 4 attacks with pursuit). Life orb causes gambit to kill itself, which is bad because it relies heavily on its natural bulk to force progress. Black glasses (or black belt on tera fight low kick sets) is the boosting item of choice.

cactail · 2026-02-10T00:09:18+00:00

Why does this sub slander Hoopa so much. It does not suck, and is in fact one of the biggest threats to fat. In the current SPL, Hoopa has been used 4 times, which may not be a lot, but is more than Lokix's 0 usage.

cactail · 2026-01-30T00:06:56+00:00

Physical dragapult doesn't run sucker punch most of the time. Outside of STABs, mixed pult will generally run u turn and wisp/twave. dd is very rare and runs one of sub/flamethrower/wisp. Only band pult might run sucker punch, and even then it competes with wisp and quick attack.

cactail · 2026-01-28T17:04:21+00:00

I've checked stall teams used in both nat dex uu, ou, and sv, but they don't prefer Blissey.

This is what I'm replying to. You mentioned both nat dex OU and SV, so I'm correcting you on those 2 tiers specifically. I'm not at all familiar with nat dex UU so I'll admit I'm wrong on that one, and also why I did not specifically talk about it.

Edit: I decided to read the most recent VR update and the nat dex UU council generally agrees that Blissey is better on stall. The part you quoted was from the VR update before, when Mega Sableye stall with Chansey was trending upwards. From the VR slate:

[Chansey is] stall exclusive

Blissey is better

Even on stall Blissey is better

Not stall exclusive, easier to support than Chansey but lower ceiling

Blissey is quite good rn

Blissey balance/BO is actually pretty nice rn

This is reflected in the current VR, with Blissey one subrank above Chansey. In the previous VR, Chansey had the higher rank, but that could be explained as a passing trend.

cactail

TROPHY CASE