Metagame - [Spoilers] Monotype Generation 9 Pre-Release Discussion (2024)

Some comments I have on takes I saw...

You seem to miss a few things. Klawf for one is more than usable, no shell smash, but trail blaze + anger shell and a base 75 speed means you can easily end up with +1 offenses and +2 speed while using a grass attack. On top of that Klawf has Crabhammer, meaning that aside from ground/dragons it can do real damage to ground monos with Trailblaze vs. ground/waters and Crabhammer vs. everything else.

Arcanine Hisuian isn't just an intimidate attacker, it gets the ability Rock Head over justified now along with Head Smash and Flare Blitz. Off a Choice band, and with no Heatran on Steel, Arcanine destroys just about everything in sight, 2HKOing Hoodra and defensive walls while OHKOing most else, all the while taking zero recoil. Head Smash 2hkos Skarm and kills most things Flying has, this mon's stab combination alone DESTROYS defensive cores for multiple types, all the while being having the option to run an intimidate set for Scizor as you said.

There's no Omastar, but Rock has a brand new water/rock shell smasher in DREDNAW. 74 base speed, ice coverage, water stab, and a ton of options, this is the new premiere Rock Shell Smasher.

Glimmora as you said is the new special attacker, but we'll see how much utility it has. Corrosion on it is an option but honestly I think Arcanine alone covers steel, overall new toy that's fun.

I think you underestimate Iron Thorns as well and it's potential in the water matchup, plus it's coverage has alot. Main issue is special D drop but Eletric/Rock is pretty solid typing overall, and with fire punch there's potential for a Scizor Check.

On top of this Rillaboom doesn't have Grassy Glide, meaning the grass v. rock won't be totally unwinnable. Either way I see rock right now as having a more than winnable matchup vs. Ground with counterplay for grass and steel.

Ice I won't entirely write off just yet, I'll agree though that it loses A LOT. One thing of note is that hail is now snowstorm, with the notable difference being a +1 to ice defenses. On top of that it's options right now are Cloyster, Froslass, Articuno, Weavile, Draxcalibur, Chien Pao, Iron Bundle. Chien Pao will definitely get banned but will be broken first bit of meta, Iron Bundle has solid stats, and Draxcalibur is a burn immune bulky DDer that boosts attack when hit by fire.
Overall my thoughts for Ice is it'll have a solid HO team, that may be a bit matchup oriented, but will honestly fare alot better than some other types.

I truly don't think Bug, Rock, or Ice are racing to the bottom of this meta. Honestly the only type I've really written off was grass, but even that has gotten some goodies such as Breloom back, the snail peril, protean cat, dark amoonguss, walking squid, and overall just alot of options to try out.

To defend Rock here, I'm not sure how the steel matchup will be yet solely because of Iron Donphan's ground + steel STAB alongside a potential Scizor, and fighting will likely be rough, however it's new options give it ALOT of offensive pressure. Band Rock Head Arcanine alone 2hkos every neutral in the tier, and in the steel game it will pretty much force a sacking game with the 2 big checks being Iron Donphan and potentially Hoodra. The ground matchup no longer has Excadrill, and between Anger Shell Klawf with Trailblaze+Crabhammer+EQ it can easily introduce a sweeping scenario, with Drednaw doing the same with Shell Smash in its arsenal along side ice and water coverage.


Ice's offensive pressure this early meta I won't write off either. Chien Pao has no switchins, Delibird solos ground, all the while having a suicide lead option in froslass, and 2 amazing setup sweepers in Draxcalibur and Cloyster. I expect Ice to have some rough matchups, but especially right now I don't think people really understand how oppressive these mons will be. Either way the combination of Delibird, Cloyster, and Draxcalibur I believe will let Ice have a favorable fire matchup, and especially with Chien Pao, this monotype will absolutely destroy balance. Weavile likely won't have knock off, but iirc Triple Axel was a tutor move so chances are that's still in.


Bug is a bit limited in options but honestly it got everything this gen that I was asking for. Slither Wing gets High Horsepower, Close Combat, and Flare blitz, making it a solid steelbreaker that's also capable of breaking in poison cores alongside Volcarona. Slither Wing also gets trailblazer, flame charge, morning sun, and bulk up, meaning it can opt for sets to perform different roles or prolong longevity. Scizor gets technician boosted trailblazer, and with scald pretty much out, I believe will be very difficult to handle for balanced or bulky waters. Not to mention but Bullet Punch will be as oppressive as ever in the fairy matchup, with tapu lele not in the game yet. Kleavor I consider a great option for a scarf, if sharpness is only a 1.2x boost, adamant scarf would be able to ohko max hp Arcanine while also setting up rocks. It's ability to threaten fire and flying while acting as a hazard setter cannot be understated. Sharpness also boosts X-Scissor (and fury cutter if you want to meme). The combination of a winning mu vs. dark and fairy already makes Bug a solid option for anti meta imo. Normal has always been a favorable matchup for bug, though perhaps some changes may need to be made as the meta approaches, with new toys on normal such as Cyclizar and hisuian zoroark. Either way, forretress is huge in this matchup, maybe a few stat changes need to be made to better handle zoroark without solid special sponges like armaldo or araquanid, but between slither wing and scizor/kleavor getting Close Combat, I honestly favor bug here. Bug's last slot has a variety of options as well, between hera/rabsca/venomoth/vivillon, and some lower viability things like Scyther for the fighting mu or Masquerain for a webs lead. Hera is neat for allowing Slither Wing/Kleav to opt for sets you want to try. Veno/Vivi's sleep powder can't be understated, especially in an early meta where types have overly busted mons. Rabsca's ability to revive a mon may be worth using an otherwise F tier mon. The other bugs that are new don't seem worth, perhaps if Lokix had a better speed+attack stat, but alas. Either way I consider bug right now a C tier antimeta type that has a few things it can play around with.

Some types I will bring up that 100% drop in viability, as everyone pointed out flying, but also Electric, and Fire will be far less viable than they are right now, and ground + steel I'm on the fence about.

Electric truly has nothing for dragapult, you would need to run physically defensive Iron Hand to have a shot, and outside of E Terrain I think that still loses the 1v1 vs. Dragapult with the exception of rng. Speaking of E-Terrain, activating it is like driving into a brick wall and saying "don't worry, I can jump out at the last second and live this". Quark Drive and any future paradox mon is just waiting for it to activate to get the free 1.5 boost on an already busted mon. Not only that but the 2 options Elec has - Hariyama and TTar, are far less dangerous with it than most of their counterparts are looking to be, perhaps making an E-Terrain Electric most viable against bulkier or slower teams where it's 2 tank paradox attackers can get an attack boost to break through cores. On the flipside, all of electric is dying the second the Iron Moth gets a special attack boost.


I'm putting fire in the exact same boat as Electric, only setting up Sun doesn't even benefit its own paradox mons. Instead you cause the opposing 135special A Specs Misdreavus to get a +1 speed boost and are now losing the game.


Ground loses Exca and Mamoswine, and Nidoking but also gets some really good options in Great Tusk and Clodsire, all the while keeping Chomp, gastro, and Hippo. Rillaboom loses grassy glide, but also just about every pokemon and its mother gets Trailblaze and Ice Spinner. These last 2 moves I don't think should be just glanced over. You have tons of stuff with Ice Spinner like Great Tusks, Tronphan, Lilligant - Hisui which straight up sweeps after setting up with Victory Dance, Azumarill, Urshifu, etc. All the while Ground just lost its ice resist, making the new variety of ice moves not only more dangerous, but old threats such as Cloyster even more difficult to deal with. Grassy Glide may be out, but Zarude just got Swords Dance, Breloom is back, Lilligant Hisui as I said sweeps on its own, and while trailblazer in itself may not seem dangerous, in the hands of pokemon such as Technician Scizor, Crabhammer Klawf, or Rillaboom may prove incredibly dangerous.

One other thing of note is that without Nidoking, or thousand arrows, pokemon such as Corviknight become impossible to deal with, especially considering that Landorus doesn't get gravity anymore. If Lando-I gets the ban again, the only way I really see ground breaking an Iron Defense Corv is with Garchomp clicking fire blast and hoping that the 8pp Roost debuff is enough to win the match.

Uhhh Neko, Fire has no Heatran, and poison has Iron Moth. Just give it a specs and kill everything lol. Plus I guess there's no Nido but with Clodsire/Dragalge options, someone'll will figure out a comp that handles Elec fine and isn't terrible. Plus if it's E-terrain Iron Moth kills sh*t in like 1 hit

Metagame - [Spoilers] Monotype Generation 9 Pre-Release Discussion (2024)
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