@@NovaContextyou underestimate the need for ground immunity in OU, Gengar has great typing and 3 immunities. If it had levitate it would’ve been able to more reliably check Lando-t and a scarf set would reliably stop any Tapu and many of the other of the fairies bombarding gens 7 and 8 without concern of being revenge killed. I haven’t played much post DLC gen 9 but I could have seen levitate gengar being a huge threat to great tusk and being able to switch in to many threats like Tera-normal dragonite since that set often only had earthquake and espeed as attacking moves
@@gold_leader9288 I’m not underestimating it, it’s just Gengar was too frail and not strong enough for it’s low BP attacks by gen 8 In both gen 8 and 9, there were already better, faster, less frail ghost types, which didn’t give incentive to use Gengar over them (ex: Dragapult, Blacephalon, Gholdengo)
The fact that they specifically coded in Slow Start in a game with no abilities, where lore-wise it would actually make sense not to have it, must be a part of some multi-decade sick joke. I have to admire the dedication to the bit at this point.
Prankster is a great example of an ability making a Pokémon strong. Murkrow is somewhat viable because of it, and others like Sableye and Whimsicott wouldn’t be nearly as strong without it.
Klefki would probably be "eh" as hell without it too. But it's managed to do quite some work with it Even though Grimmsnarl was clearly designed by someone who hates Klefki with a passion and wanted to replace it
I will never forget the early crown tundra VGC metagame which was the only time in history that people needed to prepare for Regigigas, all because of Weezing's Neutralizing Gas. What a time.
I feel like part of what made neutralizing gas so good was not just because it enabled the likes of Regigigas to not be a sitting duck, but also canceling out the opponent's potentially overbearing abilities, it's a duo that kills two bird with one stone
@DJPrimeAmvs Isn't Neutralizing Gas ineffective against *all* abilities that induce a form change *but* Disguise? So it's not just As One and Stance Change, but also stuff like Zen Mode, Multitype and Gulp Missile. Also Neutralizing Gas obviously doesn't neutralize itself when another Weezing comes in, so there's actually quite a few Pokémon it has no effect on.
Another boost related ability that I love is Simple. Doubling stat changes means fewer turns setting up Calm Minds or Bulk Ups. Swords Dance or Nasty Plot gives you +4 and Tail Glow straight up maxes your special attack.
I feel like Kyogre and Groudon should be much more focused on. They don't just set normal weather, and in Groudon's case especially, a 4 times water weakness being nullified is massive.
@@AlldaylongRock just the fact that GOLDUCK was used to check PRIMAL GROUDON in and of itself should tell you how incredible Desolate Land is, when you are willing to sacrifice a spot for it.
@@marethyumoros1741 normal Rayquaza could also check it. And i don't think having Ray in your team is that much of a sacrifice. You can easily run mixed sets on Rayquaza if you want to mega.
It sucks that Abilities went back to only work during battles in SV like in RS and FRLG. Abilities working also in the overworld since Emerald is a great thing as a way to get Pokémon from different ways.
@@shawnli4746Stench gives moves a 10% chance to flinch if they don't cause flinching normally, it doesn't stack with Kings Rock. Illuminate is still useless.
They didn't remove all outside-battle effects. Flame body and Magma Armor for example, still halves hatching. The abilities that stopped working outside battles were the ones related to higher/lower encounter rate like compound eyes increase likelihood of pokémon holding items, intimidate decreasing chance of lower level pokémon or static increasing encounter rate with electric-type pokémon. This was likely done because of the sandwich mechanic and the fact that there's no longer tall grass encounters, though it would been better if they managed to adapt these old abilities with the new mechanics.
I want to point out that, with terrastalization, Shedinja basically jumped to obscenely busted, being banned from natdex ubers, putting it on par with mega ray
Shedinja is still super weak to hazards and any form of chip damage though. It's the reason even in BH that allows it to run sturdy that it is still only okay.
a theorem regarding abilities should also be proposed, named the aggron theorem, which states that typing heavily determines a pokemon's viability. the examples being aggron, hydriegon, stakataka, leavanny, and many more.
While Avalugg's typing is the main reason it's bad, I don't know that it would even be great if it were steel. The blatant lopside in it's defenses is still a blatant weakness for something slower than a wheelchair bound snail
It sucks Snowstorm (or whatever it was that replaces Hail in Gen 9) didn't boost SpDef cause that would've helped Avalugg a fair bit, maybe an Ability/Item in the next gen that gives the Pokemon SpDef instead of Def.
And now we have Hadron Engine / Orichalcum Pulse which are both field condition abilities AND boosting abilities all at the same time. The two As One variants can also be seen this way. GF really has no shame in creating these monstrosities anymore.
at least Koraidon is "a little bit" more balance since it dont have STAB flameblizt to take advantage of the sun, and in the other hand, Miraidon get all the benefit, STAB + terrain boost + ability boost, and that is without item lul do GF know a thing or two about the definition of "game balancing"
The big theme of this video seems to be “why durability is basically everything.” Mons that can keep themselves useful throughout the game by staying healthy are automatically great, while mons that get at most a few chances to do well (like Regigigas, although it’s hard to get even that one chance) wind up being unplayable.
You are easily the best competitive pokemon channel and I love that not only are you guys doing more diverse video topics lately, butn they all have brilliant thumbnails (this is my favourite one so far). Keep it up fsg yall are an Uber tier channel
With Gigas, it is pretty clear that GF just underestimated how detrimental Slow Start would be. Personally, I think that the ability doesn't need to be changed, but that Gigas needs better stats. I'd go for: Atk: 230 Spd: 140 That way, he'd become an absolute monster after 5 turns, and his Atk would still be somewhat serviceable beforehand (it'd be roughly on par with base 92).
you forgot the skarmory theorem- why good typying matters a lot. (remember when that thing was completely immune to gen 3's sandstorm + toxic+ spikes?)
I'm making a Pokemon fangame. Here's some abilities I plan on adding or changing. Would they be weak or strong? -Solid Rock/Filter/Prism Armor: Halves damage from super effective moves. -Iron Fist: Increases the power of punching moves by 50%. -Illuminate: User's move's stat decreasing effects ignore abilities, Mist, and Clear Amulet. -Rock Head: Protects from the recoil of moves that deal damage equivalent to a fraction of the user's max HP, but not from Life Orb or moves that make the user faint. -Gossamer Sheen (signature ability of Bug/Poison-type regional bug): Non-contact moves used against this Pokémon damage the user by 1/8 of their max HP. -Water Spit (signature ability of Water/Grass-type brontosaur): If hit by a damaging move, summons rain. -Weightlifter (signature ability of Fighting/Rock-type family): If holding a Iron Ball, Macho Brace, Power item, Lagging Tail, or Lax Incense, Attack and Defense are increased by 50% each. -Black Smoke (signature ability of Fire/Grass-type torchwood): Resets team's stat stage changes upon switching in. -Boiling Point (signature ability of Fire/Water-type macaque): User's Water-type moves get a 10% chance to burn, and thaw frozen targets. Scald always burns, and has the effectiveness of Fire added onto its Water-typing. -Loose Thorns (signature ability of Grass/Ground-type cactus): If hit by physical move, adds a layer of Spikes to the opposing team.
I always liked to use weird strategies nobody would see coming, I didn't win much but I enjoyed watching my opponent confidently send out their weather setter only to come face to face with my Cloud Nine Drampa, then panic when they hit his Assault Vest and forget what types he has. Great times.
Now the only theorem that is left is "why momentum is almost everything". Although I do not know who would be the representative of that. Maybe Gen 8 slowtwins? Or Genesect?
I have watched all of your theorem videos several times each. And seeing you uploaded a new one always makes my day. Like, these are at least as deep and thoughtful as most of the videos and lectures I saw in my decade of being in and then teaching college.
I think a part 2 of this would be nice. There are still a number of abilities that also make or break a Pokémon, like unaware and defeatist, and contact abilities like poison point and iron barbs.
I really want them to introduce abilities to set Gravity or Trick Room upon entering the field. Maybe this would break some things, but it would be super interesting.
i finally found what i was thinking of. i do not know if there are many pokemon that fall under this catergory. When a pokemon gets used as a meme - The Hitmontop Theorem
Even though it's outclassed by Huge/Pure Power, Intrepid Sword deserved a spotlight in the Power Abilities section just due to the absurdity of Zacian. Base 170 getting +1 upon each entry with no drawback on a lightning fast Mon with amazing defensive typing, almost makes G-Darm seem balanced in comparison. Oh S&S you won't be missed.
Shoutouts to Stall. If you've never heard of this ability, I don't blame you, because it makes no goddamn sense and only ever showed up on ONE Pokémon. ...a pokémon who later got the _opposite_ of that ability and suddenly shot up to the top of the usage charts abilities really are damn near everything
Someone needs to make a video called "1 Hour of silence occasionally interrupted by False Swipe Gaming asking you to follow his crew on these social media platforms" if it doesn't exist already.
I remember using Soak Inteleon on Shedinja, then had a backup max HP max Speed Mew to Transform into Swords Dance Shedinja, then I had Overheat Lightning Rod Manectric to redirect Electric-type moves and deal with Grass-types. Having the most broken ability on a bad Pokemon can be used if you could just, you know, throw that ability to a much better one, or even just an improved version of the first.
Mycelium might is textbook example on hindering an otherwise great mon that would be P-tentacruel family. Would have been a perfect check to Gholdengo if it didn’t get lower priority on spore
sigilyph got me R1 on smogon ladder back in gen 5. (post excadrill ban) man did some work as the sweeper of my sandstorm "stall" team. wore down their team til they couldnt deal with the silly cosmic power psychoshift flameorb set.
Indeedee paired with Armorouge in VGC is basically a guaranteed trick room set up because of Indeedee’s ability psychic surge 1: disables offensive priority such as prankster taunt or killing with something like jet or bullet punch, as well as fake out 2: in order to stop it, you needed 2 faster taunters without prankster, or to flat out kill both or the important one (which is a guess) in 1 turn 3: Indeedee also had incredible support such as follow me 4: Armorouge could be seen as a threat and protect as Indeedee set it up instead 5: the Pokémon didn’t need dark tera to stop prankster, so they can have better defensive typing, which in closed team sheets is impossible to know besides commonalities, and in open team sheets would make attacking with a super effective move a 50/50 Armorouge would often run grass tera as it got rid of all of its weaknesses making them neutral or resisted, and it had flash fire causing it to gain from being hit by fire, giving it later game switch in capabilities too
Even Toxic Debris is also a very strong example of Regigigas Theorem. Having to waste no turns to set up Toxic Spikes, one of the more niche hazards, is insanely good. Not many other mons would want to waste a slot to run it, but through Toxic Debris the true power of Toxic Spikes is shown.
We gotta round it off with "Why typing might be everything, the Steel/Ice/Fairy Theorem" . Basically any Pokemon heavily hampered or boosted by its typing.
I'm gonna rapid-fire some balancing ideas for these more volatile abilities that don't just entirely remove the intended benefit/drawback; lemme know what yall think: *Regenerator*: Nerf to 1/4 HP recovery OR: Regenerator heal gives diminishing returns, reducing the heal by 6%(from 33%) each switch to some minimum; potentially have the healing rate regain its potency somehow. *Magic Guard*: Rather than negating all passive damage entirely, set some maximum damage the Pokemon takes; the user treats entry hazards as if they were one "step" lower; instead of 12% from SR take 6%, treat 1 layer of spikes as 0, 2 as 1, etc.; never take more than 18% from badly poisoned, etc.; alternatively, have only the entry hazard part and keep the non-volatile status damage immunity. *Moody*: They already removed evasion as a stat that can be boosted, did that help? is it still broken? If so, make it so the stat changes are a net neutral rather than net positive; -2 for a +2, and/or cap the moody boosts at +1/+2 and -1/-2. *Slow Start*: Simply have the turn progress not reset on the switch(and lower the turns from 5 to 4 or even 3). *Truant*: This ability only activates if the user successfully did something last turn; if it was flinched, fully paralyzed, put to sleep, failed to use a move due to taunt, etc then truant doesn't activate. Maybe doesn't activate if the move misses or is blocked by protect.
Another good example of an ability affecting a Pokémon’s viability is Golisopod’s emergency exit, Golisopod is a good Pokémon with decent typing, great stats, and a solid move set, but it ability completely hinders it from actually being a good Pokémon in the higher tiers.
The Dhelmise theorem why typing is important. Think about mons that would benefit from a different type but no new moves ones that want the typing for stab or for straight defense
I don't know if you'll read this but i have an idea for this series,its called Why having an type advantage isn't everything(idk if this is a good idea but it just popped up in my head) And the pokemon used as example are: Groudon and Kyogre Edit: they just popped randomly in my head(the Pokemon) and they look like a great example for this theory.
would've loved to see a section on Regigas's VGC Meta Presence in Gen 8 purely based on nearly sacrificing a team slot just to enable its insane statline without its crippling ability, since I think it's the main showcase of how much slow start held this monster back. maybe one day we'll get the new age Regigigas video
Maybe another Theorem Vid could be "Why having a Final Evolution isn't everything: EvioliteTheorem, focusing on how having a Final Evolution isn't the End-All-Be-All for everything and how Eviolite actually improves previous Evolutions or in rare cases improves said pokemon, such as the case with Dusclops, Chansey, Murkrow, etc.
you might think this is the end of the series but the "why items are everything" video is inevitable. looking forward to BKC slipping gen 3 hariyama's knock off into the script :D
I think Regigigas isn't a great example since it's very much intentional that it's, y'know... like that. Instead I'd like to push for "every Legendary before Gen 5 getting Pressure for no reason and only half of them could use it."
These Theorem videos are amazing, but I’m still fiending for another history of a type video. Like, a history of the dragon type, or steel, or ground, etc. Would be very cash money
So not all about offense or defense, but basically the other stuff is; speed, passive abilities, typing, and movepools. Seems kind of obvious, but there you go, gotta use planning, tactics, and improvisation, and don't depend on a massive offensive or defensive asset to carry anything.
I'm suprised Intimidate isn't in this list. It turned Incineroar from unremarkable to unskippable, especially in doubles and VGC. Magic Bounce also deserves a special mention, as it not only forced players to dance around Xatu and Espeon, but also made Baton Pass the rage-inducing strategy that it is.
Calling it now next gen box legendaries will be the auto trick room and auto tailwind setters. Either that or shuckle and sunkern get those as hidden abilities
Super Mystery Dungeon is the only game where you can completely get rid of Slow Start with a Nullify Looplet. Regigigas needs an item like that. It having Slow Start for "balance" isn't an excuse when we had these over the past six generations especially debut: Heatran Arceus Cresselia Dialga Darkrai Shaymin-Sky Arceus(Legends Plate) Lando-T Victini Genesct Xerneas Zygarde Complete Mega-Diancie Pheromosa Kartana Celesteela Nihilego Magearna Marshadow Dusk Mane Ultra Necrozma Zeraora Zacian-C Eternatus Naganadel Blacephalon Calyrex-Shadow Koriadon Miraidon Flutter Mane Great Tusk Iron Bundle Walking Wake Iron Thorn
Please do this next video idea it’d be amazing. Why stat spreads are everything (the clefable theorem) how stat spread determines a Pokémon’s viability, sure you can a great BST but if your kingler being a water type with huge physical attack or onix back in the day with all the bread in his defense (basket) these pokemon COULD have been good with a better spread
Great vid as for notable abilities that weren't in I'd say: Gale wings is one of my favorite abilities ever because it was funny as hell seeing the early route bird terrorize ou. Rip in peace smogonbird. Speaking of gen 6, might as well combine Gale Wings with the other priority ability prankster, which is a hilariously trolly ability. The type changing abilities are also fun as hell and I'm kinda sad they nerfed them in gen 9. Greninja is still ou in my heart... Boosting abilities like: speed boost and intrepid sword (pre nerf) And for a bad one: defeatist
Other abilities I personally really like and were not really mentioned: Magic Bounce, Speed Boost, Beast Boost, Prankster, Simple, Unaware, Fur Coat, Poison Heal
I'd say it's more along the lines of: Top 10-20 abilities can make almost any fully evolved pokemon good. Bottom 2-5 abilities can make any pokemon bad (cant think of anything rn other than slow start and truant). Rest of the abilities depends on synergy
Suggestion: The Snorlax Paradox Where a Pokemon is so overpowered that the metagame centers around countering it, thus making it manageable because everyone has answers to it.
Gen 2 snorlax is so odd because it’s somehow undoubtedly the best mon in gen 2, sometimes even above mewtwo who is UBER. But is still allowed to roll around in OU.
