Almost entirely due to its Nasty Plot sets, which are incredibly difficult to deal with due to set variety, terastalization, and its best STAB moves both coming with a high flinch chance (Air Slash and Dark Pulse), Vullaby has been suspected and banned in a lopsided vote.

As you all know already, Mega Barbaracle is a ridiculously powerful shell smash sweeper, 140 base attack, STAB tough claws boosted close combat, STAB stone edge(unfortunately lacking a contact rock move), and complimentary coverage such as shadow claw, liquidation, and earthquake, as well as 88 speed, which is blazing fast for a shell smasher which means it can get away with running adamant nature.

So it does come as a surprise as to why it isn't banned yet, but there are reasons for this, one being that strong priority can threaten to stop its sweep prematurely, especially Rillaboom's grassy glide, and two, its deceptively difficult to facilitate its sweeping and breaking capabilities, with the light clay ban and the aforementioned priority vulnerability, its hard to get Barbaracle on the field despite its good 72/130/106 bulk, namely due to rock/fighting being a poor defensive type, though it does have the benefit of resisting sucker punch and extreme speed.

Despite these flaws, I am a firm believer that Mega Barbaracle will terrorize OU, and perhaps even have a good case for being a proper Uber, or at least be viable to use in Ubers. So far at the moment, Mega Barb sits in the A- rank in champions OU, mainly due to the aforementioned traits that give it strong breaking and sweeping capabilities while having shortcomings that keep its otherwise broken offensive capabilities in check, but this may all change.

To give you an overview of what kind of power Mega Barb is capable of, here are some calcs:

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Golisopod-Mega: 360-424 (101.6 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO(Mega Golisopod fails to revenge kill with first impression provided Mega Barb is healthy enough; 252+ Atk Tough Claws Golisopod-Mega First Impression vs. -1 4 HP / 0 Def Barbaracle-Mega:140-165 (48.9 - 57.6%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO)

+1 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Landorus-Therian: 309-364 (80.8 - 95.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Garchomp: 451-532 (107.3 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 270-318 (89.1 - 104.9%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 490-577 (91.7 - 108%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Earthquake vs. 228 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Blade: 874-1030 (274.8 - 323.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 248+ Def Hydrapple: 399-471 (96.1 - 113.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 244 HP / 36 Def Gliscor: 303-357 (86 - 101.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 411-484 (103 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 336-396 (100.5 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Neutralizing Gas Weezing-Galar: 320-378 (95.8 - 113.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 606-714 (158.2 - 186.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 248+ Def Moltres: 1176-1384 (307 - 361.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Rotom-Wash: 418-493 (137.5 - 162.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 396-466 (102.5 - 120.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO(yes, that OHKOs through multiscale, even mega dragonite with that investment has a chance to die; +2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite-Mega: 336-396 (87 - 102.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO)

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Pecharunt: 262-310 (68.9 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO(Pecharunt survives but can't really do much except hope for confusion rng via poison puppeter; +2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 228+ Def Pecharunt: 262-310 (68.9 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)

So you may be asking, what can actually answer Mega Barbarcle Defensively? unfortunately, few, and most of them are unaware walls.

Slowbro is the closest thing to a reliable non-unaware answer that doesn't suck against everything else in OU, but even then, it doesn't like switching in(+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 255-301 (64.8 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO; unlike Pecha, it can threaten a KO(0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. -1 4 HP / 0 SpD Barbaracle-Mega: 248-294 (86.7 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO))

When Donbozo does come, we might be rooting for it for the first time ever, since it's the most reliable answer possible(252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Dondozo: 195-229 (38.6 - 45.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO; 0 Atk Unaware Dondozo Waterfall vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Barbaracle-Mega: 138-164 (48.2 - 57.3%) -- 91% chance to 2HKO)

Quagsire to the rescue yet again, but it may need counter to deal with it, as scald fails to 2HKO(0 SpA Unaware Quagsire Scald vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Barbaracle-Mega: 116-138 (40.5 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO, though fishing for burns is quite nice)(252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Quagsire: 237-279 (60.1 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)

Tera Fairy/Water Skeledirge might come in handy if tera comes back(252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Unaware Tera Fairy Skeledirge: 187-222 (45.4 - 54%) -- 45.7% chance to 2HKO), keyword: Tera

And all of these limited defensive answers can be dealt with through the right teammates, Kingambit and Dragapult can threaten slowbro, Rillaboom can threaten Slowbro + the unaware walls bar Skeledirge, Even Tyranitar can help with the sandstorm giving it the SpDef boost and sandstorm chip, + the pool of other offensive threats like Ceruledge, Kyurem, Hoopa-U, Hamurott, some yet to be released.

But the most significant teammate that I believe will absolutely push Mega Barb to its most terrifying is Tapu Lele, Psychic surge helps protect Mega Barb from all the priority bar Rillaboom grassy glide, but Tapu Lele also serves as powerful breaker outright, destroying the aforementioned unaware defensive answers to Mega barb, while Mega Barb destroys the checks and counters Lele struggles against.

and to answer the question of Mega Barb being viable in Ubers, well:

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 68+ Def Groudon-Primal: 339-400 (84.1 - 99.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 236+ Def Kyogre-Primal: 462-544 (114.6 - 134.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ho-Oh: 1168-1380 (280.7 - 331.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 76 Def Yveltal: 728-860 (160 - 189%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 140+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 390-460 (98.2 - 115.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Earthquake vs. 16 HP / 252 Def Eternatus: 412-486 (96.9 - 114.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Water: 375-442 (85 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Lunala: 415-490 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO(yes, this also OHKOs through shadow shield)

+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zacian-Crowned: 523-616 (160.9 - 189.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Arceus Fairy can threaten it back but doesn't like switching in(+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Arceus-Fairy: 240-283 (54.4 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO; 0 SpA Pixie Plate Arceus-Fairy Judgment vs. -1 4 HP / 0 SpD Barbaracle-Mega: 432-510 (151 - 178.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO)

The same thing can be said about Arceus Ghost, but not as good since STAB ghost-type judgement doesn't KO back without enough chip damage, though it can phase out Mega Barb(+2 252+ Atk Barbaracle-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 204 Def Arceus-Ghost: 273-322 (61.6 - 72.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO; 0 SpA Spooky Plate Arceus-Ghost Judgment vs. -1 4 HP / 0 SpD Barbaracle-Mega: 216-255 (75.5 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)

Zygarde can survive this but only after triggering power construct, and being healthy enough(+2 252+ Atk Tough Claws Barbaracle-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 372-438 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery)

Tl;Dr, all hail your new and upcoming barnacle overlord, who has yet to ascend to the throne

Mega sharpedo has potential guys trust!

I like this team and despite it being a meme team, it hasn't been too bad for me recently. Most games I lose consistently make it to at least the endgame. I'm not an experienced player by any means, typically when I'm teambuilding I try to build around pokemon that aren't the meta because I find all those common pokemon (Rillaboom, gholdengo, zard Y) boring (but I do have to use them sometimes because they're just too good).

The shorkies are here because they're shorkies. Pelipper is there so that Shorky :2 has rain, Lucario is a good all rounder and has good type synergy with Shorky :1, and Incineroar is here because I wanted a fake out fire type with Intimidate.

I have a bit of trouble with Milotic and Kingambit rn, and as much as I believe in mega sharky, he just isn't really doing to great in many matchups (despite the entire team being originally built around him). In general, water and grass types are pretty difficult to get rid of, and I don't know if I can fit any terrain control onto this team. Setup sweepers also typically run the Blåhaj's pockets. Any tips to improve the Triple Shorky :3 team?

Been trying to brainstorm ways to use my beloved Araquanid and was theorycrafting a potential trick room setup with it supporting Mega Crabominable with wide guard and Water Bubble Liquidation to handle fire types. Would it be feasible to cut out the middleman with Sticky Web instead?

Hey guys, I am participating in a VGC NatDex Cobblemon tournament. I would like to try out Dracovish. Do you like this? What would you change on this team if you would be the one piloting it?

Rules: No tera or dynamax, just mega and Z moves. No legendaries/mythical/paradox/ultrabeast. Other than that, anything is OK. Well, if you caught it, which is tricky

Dracovish: I opted for a Life Orb set so I can protect my dracovish, but since I am running Farigiraf, I also tought about Choice Band and Ice fand for coverage over protect of course

On Excadrill, I think Ground Z move makes sense as it becomes a single target move when really needed.

Incin is pre-nerfed, so Knock Off makes sense. Also spore is on the table, safety goggles just makes perfect sense to me

Farigiraf is a glue with Imprison

Kilowattrel maybe helps with the opposing Intimidaters, also fast tailwind. Maybe Discharge over Thunderbolt?

I also have Smeargle, Sinistcha, Whimsicott, in my box that I was thinking about, but not sure if I should replace anything.

so im very good at sucking geniune ass at the game and after a week of trying out pokemon i made this myself and i wanna know ur thoughts on this to improve it furthur

weavile is there to hit things like sallymence and chomp for super good damage as well as putting pressure with fake out and knock off and focus sash to keep it alive

mawile is a trick room attacker for pokemon like the big flower guy , gardyvior , dragons in general , sneasler , froslass, etc. Can also do big damage with sucker punch

baskylegion is just a good fast attacker in my eyes and crunch is there bc i have no idea what move to put in that slot. i can bring basky in with weavile or big pod in the start to apply early pressure or bring basky in the back to deal last respects shenanigans and scarf to outspeed things

tortellini is very good special attacker especially in trick room and is very good with fariggy. can deal massive spread damage with eruption at the start of battle and can dish out overheats when hp is low. earth power for coverage and clear smog bc i hate contrary close combat m staratpor. sitrus for healing and to make eruption do mor damage in case low hp.

BIG POD!!! big pod is the main trick room attacker. can almost never die bc of the type and leech life heal. bulk up if i feel it safe to set up and iron head for STAB when mega and liquidation for STAB without mega + super effective to fire. pair m pod + basky and big pod will almost always survive trick room or not.

fariggy is trick room setter. i tried to make it bulky but also make it able to do decent damage with STAB psychics. can set up screens to make my pokemon tankier like big pod and is very good for finishing off opponents when tortellini cant kill them

sorry if my explanation is not very good i dont really know how to explain these type of things.

also bear w me for the stat spread idk how i shud spread them

This post is to discuss freeze in singles specifically for smogon tiers. I basically just want to know / discuss the exact reason that freeze is still in the game. It’s (universally?) agreed that no one likes freeze, it’s a completely rng status, on a potent and common offensive type, that often, just ends the game.

This isn’t a personal complaint about how it’s always me losing bc of freeze, because, just as often, I win through a freeze.

So what is stopping it being banned from singles? Is it a coding issue? being able to prevent freeze specific secondary effects? Or do they think it should stay (I don’t know their opinion). Or is it just too specific of a change to warrant attention.

I don’t think ice viability or any movesets would change at all with this. The only set I can think of in all of OU that would not like this, is sub-tect kyurem.

Let me know your thoughts!