The last 21 hours have been rather chaotic in terms of discussion from where I'm standing, so I'm just going to quickly go over some new moves and cement a firmer stance on others.
Earth Power / Heat Wave / Mystical Fire
Personally, I feel that having both Earth Power and Heat Wave isn't going to cause severe problems, as one will mostly likely be forced to drop Nasty Plot to accommodate both moves while retaining Hurricane and Roost. Moreover, Heat Wave needs some investment and a Modest nature to actually always 2HKO Corviknight. More damningly, it simply does not enough damage to the current Toxapex set with Earth Power to truly frighten it.
52+ SpA CAP30b Heat Wave vs. 248 HP / 92 SpD Corviknight: 188-222 (47.1 - 55.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA CAP30b Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 204+ SpD Toxapex: 118-140 (38.8 - 46%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
If I had to only pick one though, I'd go for
Earth Power, simply for letting us pressure Toxapex (after a Nasty Plot) and Heatran. Regardless of our coverage, Corviknight cannot touch 30b; against Nasty Plot, it simply cannot afford to squat on 30b and instead has to pivot out, giving 30b a Stamina boost.
If people do fear Heat Wave being too strong combined with Earth Power (which I personally disagree with considering the above) but want Fire coverage regardless, then
Earth Power + Mystical Fire strikes me as a solid compromise, as Mystical Fire doesn't have the capability of OHKOing Corviknight outright, and is also helpful against the likes of Zapdos without having the possibility of being absurdly obnoxious compared to Amnesia and Cosmic Power. I personally think
approving all three moves is perfectly balanced, as Heat Wave is a better move for the likes of Corviknight, while Mystical Fire is a more niche option for Pokemon like Zapdos. Therefore, I present to you....
Moveset Submission
Name: Zetalz Deep State Deluxe
Move 1: Hurricane
Move 2: Nasty Plot / Mystical Fire / Earth Power
Move 3: Earth Power / Heat Wave [Mystical Fire]
Move 4: Roost
Ability: Stamina
Item: Heavy-Duty Boots
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Hurricane is the primary choice for a STAB option, as it packs a major wallop, especially after a Nasty Plot. Sludge Bomb can theoretically work here considering its similarly strong synergy with the coverage moves, but it's definitely a more niche choice (and three slots with two moves looks bad) so I chose to omit it from here.
- Nasty Plot is obviously a monumental power boost, allowing 30b to act as more of a tank than a simple wall as it collects Stamina boosts.
- If setup is not your cup of tea though, Mystical Fire is handy against the likes of Zapdos, allowing you to accumulate Stamina boosts while you simply have to pray not to be paralyzed. It also pairs quite well as neutral coverage with either STAB option.
- Earth Power is the most efficient coverage move 30b can run, hitting Pokemon that would otherwise hard wall it, such as Heatran and Magnezone, as well as making Pokemon like Zeraora and Astrolotl think twice about switching into 30b.
- Heat Wave trades the Heatran matchup for the likes of Ferrothorn and Corviknight, primarily after a Nasty Plot boost. Fire coverage also goes very well with Hurricane, though obviously not as much as Earth Power. [Mystical Fire is only in this slot for if Heat Wave gets blacklisted. Otherwise remove it.]
- Roost is for recovery purposes. Pretty straightforward.
- EVs and Calm nature are to maximize special bulk, but maxing SpA with a Modest nature is also an option.
This is a bread and butter set for 30b, allowing it to use a combination of strong neutral coverage and access to boosting (if it wants to use it) to gather Stamina boosts and threaten the opposing team.
Now I'm going to talk about moves that
haven't necessarily been beaten to death.
Will-o-Wisp
Tbh I feel this is a bit overkill? By no means is it broken on 30b, and one could have argued it for 30i as a way to negate Leftovers from stuff like Corviknight, but 30 already has access to Stealth Rock and Knock Off, so that seems unneeded. 30b is likely to receive Acid Armor any day now, and as far as shoring up physical Defense goes outside of Stamina, I think it's all we need. At least Acid Armor enables Body Press to be useful. 30 already has Toxic and Thunder Wave, and I really don't think we need to add another status on top.
Blacklist Will-o-Wisp.
Scorching Sands
It's a Ground-type move, which I do like, but it barely does anything to Toxapex at +0 compared to Toxapex sets that aren't 204+ SpD, let alone sets that are, and it doesn't 2HKO Heatran at neutral unless rocks are up, which is pretty pathetic for a Ground-type move.
0 SpA CAP30b Scorching Sands vs. 252 HP / 204 SpD Toxapex: 76-90 (25 - 29.6%) -- 0.6% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA CAP30b Scorching Sands vs. 252 HP / 136+ SpD Heatran: 180-212 (46.6 - 54.9%) -- 6.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
To make matters worse, its 30% chance to burn makes it simultaneously underwhelming (for being a Ground-type move) and overkill (with its ability to inflict burn, which I just discussed as to why we do not need to be able to burn).
Blacklist Scorching Sands.
Welp, that's it for now. Goodnight.
can't wait for everything to be lit ablaze again in a day when someone proposes Jungle Healing or something