One thing not mentioned is also how Rage Fist keeps its power even after Annihilape _faints._ Whenever Revival Blessing gets implemented on Showdown, you might see that flying around from the likes of Rabsca and Pawmot.
honestly it's pretty heartwarming to see older, forgotten pokemon now wrecking shit up in the higher tiers, like with Annihilape here, but also Iron Bundle before, and to a lower extent Dudunsparce
Scarlet/Violet introduced so many hilariously strong/busted signature moves and abilities. An ability to be immune to all status. An ability to be immune to all status AND gives resistance to Ghost moves. An ability to heal from Ground-type moves. A 50 base power move that increases in power by 50 each time your team faints. A 50 base power move that increases in power by 50 each time you get hit and doesn't go away when you switch. A move that is straight up the Revive item. A Baton Pass-esque move that passes Substitute. A move that is Teleport + Hail in one move. A 20 base power 10-hit move on a Pokemon with Technician. The Tatsugiri + Dondozo combo in doubles. The entire existence of Palafin-Hero. ...and more. This is the generation where GameFreak decided to go absolutely ham with the new moves/abilities, and it turns so many otherwise average-at-best Pokemon to absolute demons.
Ah, but you forget one other one. An ability that boosts attack and special attack by 10% for each fainted Pokemon on your team. Yes, an ability version of an OP attack...
Purifying Salt just protects from status conditions and halves the damage from ghost type moves, while good as gold provides immunity from status moves. Gholdengo can still get status conditions as a secondary effect. You're right though, there are a lot of crazy abilities this gen.
Part of the reason these new changes are so strong is they break the "rules" that Pokemon has set. As a general rule, the only effect that persists after switching out (and death) are status effects. Breaking these molds make the game more interesting, at least for a time, but the rest of the Pokemon kits were not designed to manage these new philosophies. This makes it really difficult to counter the new mechanics with older strategies.
I don't know if they're necessarily going to continue to be good but I'd love a good chat about Clodsire, Gargancl, or Lokix. Mostly because these are all types of pokemon (slow bulky rock type, weak route one bug, etc.) that are generally pretty horrible but these ones are actually useful this time around. And Clodsire because he's the best boy of all time lol
Seconding Gargancl. That thing is stupid difficult to kill. I actually use NP Rotom-Wash of all things to check the Iron Defense + Body Press variants.
Clodsire is monstrous. I need to bulk up on defenses for a good competitive 'mon, as well as try and get EQ, if not a similar move. I got lucky with a Water Absorb Clodsire, which is why I say this.
I play doubles almost exclusively and Gargancl has been a beast. I run Explosion with a Normal Gem held item and Normal Terastilization. STAB + 50% Explosion can normally double KO the opposing side.
It seems like a lot of the new Pokémon were only considered competitively in doubles since that is the official format, there are a lot more exploits with new Pokémon in singles this gen
@@getthegoons They don’t care, since the main game doesn’t need to be balanced, since it’s so easy you don’t even need these overpowered strategies to beat it easily.
@@ericwengkh it's strong, but it has counter play, its not even the first time Eruption Torkoal with Speed Control has popped up, he always seems busted in early formats, unlike half the new mons in singles which are basically uncounterable and will always be an issue.
Primeape is my older brother's favorite Pokemon and he still can't believe this evolution He's really happy, if you couldn't tell I don't see him much anymore, but my Annihilape with his name keeps me company in his place
I'm glad after not appearing in SS, the Manky like is getting their time in the spotlight. If gets banned to Ubers, I hope it does well when the older generation legendaries return. Great video
A lot of box legendaries are weak to Ghost type moves, so I could see it holding up well there. If Ape has been hit 3 times: 252+ Atk Annihilape Rage Fist vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 402-474 (101 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO This is assuming no boosting item. With Choice Band, Jolly nature can get an OHKO after being hit twice, and Adamant LO at 2 hits has an 87% chance to OHKO. Ape naturally outspeeds Dusk Mane as well
I like rage fist in competitive because using it effectively as well as counterplay is WAY more focused on how you play around it ingame rather than teambuilding. It's such a powerful move and yet you rarely ever lose to it in the team preview screen.
That's fair but "don't attack it" isn't a very effective strategy when it just has Taunt. Seems like Rage Fist is a move with built-in counterplay, but it just so happens they gave Annihilape counterplay to that counterplay.
Every time I hear about one of the new Pokémon, especially in the context of competitive, there is a small “Oh No” that continually increases in volume the more I lean.
Gen 1 Mewtwo was the original uber, most broken mon of all time, and had a 154 special stat. Palafin’s pre-evo can be found easily throughout the game and he has a 160 attack stat. Normal ass mons should not be having these absurd stat totals without a hindering ability
Fighting Ghost is a fair bit better than you mentioned, since there is two Pokémon the type combination doesn’t hit for neutral damage: Those being the Nacli line with specific Tera types, and Hisuian Zoroark
Its kinda hilarious how Primeapes that DID die from getting too Angry were STILL showing restraint. Yeah.sure. they look peacefull but Annihilape is anything but....
I'm so glad I stumbled upon a shiny primeape during my journey and added it to my team, it's so strong and I have enjoyed playing around with its interesting power.
Good video as always! One thing I would love to see is a video about chi-yu, as I personally find it extremely, extremely hard to switch into specs sets, especially with hazards up, and scarf is overall quite nice
Yeah, I don’t think we’ve had a strong Pokémon that plays quite like this ever before, seeing how it has to take hits to get stronger and given the interactions with Tera.
I think in Gen X, they could get away with changing the rage boost to +25BP per hit, keeping the same cap. That makes it much harder to reach nuclear damage, but still gives Annihilape a potential strong STAB move. It would still have a niche in Doubles as well, since most ghost types don’t really have good physical STAB anyway, and BP 100 is already almost as strong as a critical Shadow Claw
Man, what is with these new OP ghost types? Flutter Mane, Houndstone, and now Annihilape. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gholdengo is next on the chopping block.
Not sure if this is enough for a while video but I was really wondering about how Protean and Terastalization interact. I know Tera-ing prevents Protean from activating, but if you Tera after protean activates, does it use your original type or Protean type for STAB?
Im pretty sure it would use Protean's Type, as Abilities matter for Terastelization (such as Rocky Payload/Steelworker still carrying the boost through Terastelization), its safe to assume your Type shift from Protean remains as well.
I've been loving the incorporation of doubles and vgc discussion, even if it's where you have the most experience. It gives the videos a much more interesting angle for me to cover topics more holistically
Forgot about endure reversal lol, even at 1hp you can endure to boost you’re rage fist and with a salac berry you outspeed like everything. Not the best set by any means but probably the most fun
I’d like to see some discussion of the funky Rock & Ground types in this gen, because there’s several interesting ones. Garganacl, Clodsire, Glimmora, but most of all Toedscruel.
Does this mean we might get THE RETURN OF REGIGIGAS again, but this time he retains the passive count? That'd be sick, imagine doing a Wish healing setup for him
I really liked running Beat Up Maushold + Annihilape since Maushold is a redirector with friend guard to bosot annihilapes amazing bulk and ofc Beat Up powers it up by 300
I really really really hope they keep terastilization. So much OP stuff is out now. Now the boring idea that I’m afraid of is that good Pokémon will keep getting banned, we’ll realize that only X OP mon was stopping other Y OP mon, and half of the most fun mons will be put in Ubers where they are meh. But choosing when and who to tera can often win in situations that are otherwise unwinnable. Terastilization is so fun and not even the reason a lot of the most broken mons are broken. Plus turning walls like garganacl and skeledirge into good defensive typing is the best counterplay for a lot of the balance teams I’ve seen. Plus it gives a niche to some older Pokémon like tera dragonite
Probably not in OU. Annihilape has almost double the hp of primeape, along with higher defense and special defense. Rage fist's ability to ramp up in damage is directly tied with the ape's ability to take hits, so it won't be able to ramp up as quickly. Not only that, it also loses ghost stab and has slightly lower attack which really hurts rage fist's damage output even with stacks. Furthermore, eviolite isn't even much of an advantage for primeape considering its got no reliable recovery. In lower tiers perhaps, but we have no idea what the lower tiers will look like yet
Been finding Annihilape holding a ring target with a support Maushold hilarious in doubles. Population bomb your own Annihilape to basically guarantee 300 power rage fist, friend guard helps defend you and just start wailing. Maushold with follow me, helping hand, population bomb and encore.
So you’re telling me rage fist keeps power after switch out but Regigigas must be on the field for a whole 5 turns without switching out just to be functional. Its all adding up
In doubles you could also use a weak shadow sneak or something + weakness policy to boost rage fist and annihilape's attack at the same time and get a quick KO
So much potential this Gen, it feels like every time I learn about a move or ability I can think of a team built around it. Def gonna try Beat up Dragapult + Scarf Annihilape in VGC
If I had a nickel for every Ghost type move introduced in Generation 9 which made an otherwise mediocre Pokemon overpowered due to snowballing damage fairly quickly, I'd have 2 nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
There should be a special move that unlocks if you get 300 base power on rage fist Possibly Annihlating Fist With 100 base power,same mechanic as rage fist but always goes last
I actually handle it by using an unaware pokemon like Clodsire, and setting up with various moves allowing me to tank its attacks them throttle it in one hit.
I came up with a moveset with close combat, rage fist, acrobatics, bulk up and most importantly white herb and tera flying. The tactic is to use close combat so whitr herb gets used and then terastalize into a flying type and spam 110 power stab acrobatics
My favorite Palafin set Bulk Up, Taunt, Drain Punch, Jet Punch My favorite Annihilape set Bulk Up, Taunt, Drain Punch, Rage Fist. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Basically if a mon has Bulk Up, Taunt, Drain Punch, and a signature move, go for it.
annihilape is definitely really good now, but when home comes out h-zoroark is gonna be the definition of a chek to it. 105 speed, and a strong special attack stat while also being immune to both stab moves ofc thats the future but annihilape will definitely have to adapt somehow eventually
So, a bit unrelated, but I'm wondering about an insane and possibly OP strategy, if it's even possible. Using a combination of things like Trace and Mimic, is it possible to, through some insane strategy, get a Pokemon that can use Last Respects and has the ability Supreme Overlord? Because Supreme Overlord gives a 10% ATK and SP ATK boost for every fainted Pokemon on your team, and Last Respects gains 50 base damage for every fainted Pokemon on your team. So if you could get a Pokemon with both, that would be insane. A 50% boost to your attack, plus a 300 base power attack? Alternatively, according to Serebii, Basculegion can get Last Respects through breeding, and it can have the ability Adaptability, turning STAB to 2x instead of 1.5x, which is also insane with 300 base damage. But I think Supreme Overlord would be even more powerful, if it's even possible
Bro you *have to* talk about the 2012 UK doubles tournament where sandveil garchomp dodged 6 moves in a row winning a 1v4. I think it's one of the main reasons why evasion is banned
@@nicolaistuhlmuller8718 actually you're kinda wrong. Sand Vail got banned 2012, showdown exists since at least 2011 and smogon since 2004. Evasion moves were banned from the beginning, not evasion abilities
@@nicolaistuhlmuller8718 oh and sand veil exists since 2003 so it wasn't banned the year it came out. Smogon banning many things in retrospect is normal but you wouldn't tell me that evasion was always banned if you'd ever played that awful meta back then
I wonder if Annihilape could be a good candidate for weakness policy with rage fist in doubles. Maybe go with a bulky tera ghost set and use fling salac berry on iron bundle to boost speed, rage fist, and attack
I love it when Pokémon from older gens get new evos, especially when they aren’t exclusive to regional forms, and I love even more when they’re cool as fuck and just whoop ass
Annihilape is cool because it's crazy strong, but it also has it's workarounds. Like, I have beaten it easily with Scarf Gengar and Shadow Ball, or Calm Mind Iron Valiant with moon blast. But if it catches me lacking, it's game over
Yeah, but that means your chance of success forces you to keep ark on your team and in the back until Ape shows up, and they’ll just switch out until hazards kill you
@@C3l3bi1 Zark will if it keeps trying to catch Ape and failing to do so. Ape switches out, Zark is forced out, has to try again and take some more chip. Rinse and repeat. And that’s literally 1 single Pokémon on your team that you’re banking on, and it doesn’t even win against Ape consistently, it just wins against 2 attack sets: if Ape runs Stone Edge, it’s dead.
@@Kahadihe means to say that Rage Fist would be more balanced if it was a ghost-type physical stored power that boosted by getting hit instead of stat raises.
Wished they would add 6v6 in game ladder, with no animations to speed things up, also an in game battle simulator would be amazingg, and really boost the competitive and adult audience.
