The Next Best Thing [Current Subject: Tapu Bulu]

Now that the games have been out for a bit, it's time for The Next Best Thing to return, and this week we're featuring one of the brand new ultra beasts: Naganadel! Everything about this mon is pretty cool: Cool typing, cool speed tier, and some good coverage moves give it the potential to shake up the meta. So, with all that in mind, what is The Next Best Thing (TM) for Naganadel?

You have until Friday (10/24) at 9:00 p.m. EST (GMT-5) to post your submissions. Best of luck to everyone!
 
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RNGIsFatal

Banned deucer.


Naganadel @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ground] / U-turn

This is the most creative I could have been. So far in OU ladder, as far as I know, Naganadel is an excellent wallbreaker that can destroy anything that is not called AV Ttar and Heatran. Toxapex falls to stuff like Dragonium Z, and this trait of Naganadel p much left it with an infamy of being a lethal sweeper that outspeeds all relevant scarfers after one Beast Boost.

I tried out scarf and thanks to the coverage moves, it has been working quite well. It is quite prediction-reliant but I believe this can definitely be a surprise factor.
 

cant say

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I guess we're able to post what is likely standard stuff since there's no usage stats and it's totally new anyway... I've been looking at this things movepool to see if there's anything clever but this doesn't actually have many options


Naganadel @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 20 HP / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower / Hidden Power Ground

If we all thought Thundurus-T was good this gen well then be prepared for this! It works exactly the same as Thund but address Thund's biggest weakness; being revenge killed due to subpar speed. +2 SpA / +1 Spe Naganadel is going to be an absolute pest.

The HP is so you hit 151 and therefor live 3 Seismic Tosses from Chansey, get to +6 and nuke it
+2 236 SpA Naganadel Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 212 HP / 156+ SpD Heatran: 121-143 (62.6 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 236 SpA Naganadel Draco Meteor vs. 212 HP / 156+ SpD Heatran: 81-96 (41.9 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 236 SpA Naganadel Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 186-219 (105.6 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 236 SpA Naganadel Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 44 HP / 212 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 340-402 (102.7 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
 

Thick Fat Azumarill

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Naganadel @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- U-turn / Hidden Power Ground

Naganadel seems to be a good Specs user. While it lacks the power to just steamroll teams after setup, it trades that for some more immediate power. If you want to get a little crazy and don't mind the speed drop, you can also run a spread of 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 179 Spe to get Special Attack boosts with Beast Boost.
 
@ Firium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast
- Nasty Plot / HP Ground

236 SpA Naganadel Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Celesteela: 204-240 (100 - 117.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Naganadel Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 158-188 (94.6 - 112.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
236+ SpA Naganadel Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 158-188 (94.6 - 112.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock


Timid outspeeds Jolly MMence and straightly KOs 252hp Celesteela, whereas Modest has a good chance to OHKO Aegislash and does ko with SR up

HP Ground is an option, specially on the Modest since Beast Boost will give it +1 SpA, to eventually hit Heatran
 

Naganadel @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power Ground

A simple life orb set. Trades the nuke that is Devastating Drake and the ability to set up with Nasty Plot for the ability to net surprise KO's with a stronger Sludge Wave and other attacks than the usual. The speed investment allows it to get a SpA Beast Boost. The HP hits an LO number.

252 SpA Life Orb Naganadel Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 177-208 (97.7 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Naganadel Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 172-203 (86.8 - 102.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Anyway, I'm really hoping to see someone nominate a Charm support set to soften up the opponent so another pokemon can set up in their face!
 
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Naganadel @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power Ground / Nasty Plot

Just a normal Sash set that capitalizes on surviving and revenge killing stuff like Scarf Lele, and already boosted MegaMence and Blaziken.
 
Submissions are now closed! There are to be no edits of your own Pokemon, nor are there to be any new submissions. A few quick things to note;
  • Voting will close on the 10/27 at 9:00pm EST (GMT-5), where the next subject will also be announced
  • You can't vote for your own submission
  • You can only change your vote once, so think carefully before doing so
  • You can vote even if you haven't made a submission. It is expected that you vote if you did submit yourself, but not compulsory

Naganadel @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ground] / U-turn

This is the most creative I could have been. So far in OU ladder, as far as I know, Naganadel is an excellent wallbreaker that can destroy anything that is not called AV Ttar and Heatran. Toxapex falls to stuff like Dragonium Z, and this trait of Naganadel p much left it with an infamy of being a lethal sweeper that outspeeds all relevant scarfers after one Beast Boost.

I tried out scarf and thanks to the coverage moves, it has been working quite well. It is quite prediction-reliant but I believe this can definitely be a surprise factor.
I guess we're able to post what is likely standard stuff since there's no usage stats and it's totally new anyway... I've been looking at this things movepool to see if there's anything clever but this doesn't actually have many options

Naganadel @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 20 HP / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower / Hidden Power Ground

If we all thought Thundurus-T was good this gen well then be prepared for this! It works exactly the same as Thund but address Thund's biggest weakness; being revenge killed due to subpar speed. +2 SpA / +1 Spe Naganadel is going to be an absolute pest.

The HP is so you hit 151 and therefor live 3 Seismic Tosses from Chansey, get to +6 and nuke it
+2 236 SpA Naganadel Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 212 HP / 156+ SpD Heatran: 121-143 (62.6 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 236 SpA Naganadel Draco Meteor vs. 212 HP / 156+ SpD Heatran: 81-96 (41.9 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 236 SpA Naganadel Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 186-219 (105.6 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO​
+6 236 SpA Naganadel Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 44 HP / 212 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 340-402 (102.7 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Naganadel @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- U-turn / Hidden Power Ground

Naganadel seems to be a good Specs user. While it lacks the power to just steamroll teams after setup, it trades that for some more immediate power. If you want to get a little crazy and don't mind the speed drop, you can also run a spread of 76 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 179 Spe to get Special Attack boosts with Beast Boost.
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Wave
- Fire Blast
- Nasty Plot / HP Ground

236 SpA Naganadel Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Celesteela: 204-240 (100 - 117.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Naganadel Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 158-188 (94.6 - 112.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
236+ SpA Naganadel Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 158-188 (94.6 - 112.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Timid outspeeds Jolly MMence and straightly KOs 252hp Celesteela, whereas Modest has a good chance to OHKO Aegislash and does ko with SR up

HP Ground is an option, specially on the Modest since Beast Boost will give it +1 SpA, to eventually hit Heatran
Naganadel @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power Ground

A simple life orb set. Trades the nuke that is Devastating Drake and the ability to set up with Nasty Plot for the ability to net surprise KO's with a stronger Sludge Wave and other attacks than the usual. The speed investment allows it to get a SpA Beast Boost.

252 SpA Life Orb Naganadel Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 177-208 (97.7 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Naganadel Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 172-203 (86.8 - 102.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Anyway, I'm really hoping to see someone nominate a Charm support set to soften up the opponent so another pokemon can set up in their face!
Naganadel @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power Ground / Nasty Plot

Just a normal Sash set that capitalizes on surviving and revenge killing stuff like Scarf Lele, and already boosted MegaMence and Blaziken.
 
Solerme's Firium Z

Seeing as it seems as if Dragonium is going to be standard I'm going to vote for the next best thing (haha).
In all seriousness not needing to boost to kill aegi or steela is pretty nice.
 
Congratulations to cant say for winning this week's Next Best Thing! Your submission will be logged in the Archive!
This week we're taking a look at another new Ultra Beast: Blacephalon! While it hasn't got as much attention as Naganadel, Blacephalon still has great potential thanks to its high Special Attack, solid speed tier, and signature move Mind Blown. So, with all that in mind, what is The Next Best Thing (TM) for Blacephalon?

You have until Friday (12/1) at 9:00 p.m. EST (GMT-5) to post your submissions. Best of luck to everyone!
 

Blacephalon @ Firium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Mind Blown
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast / Hidden Power (Ice/Fighting/Ground)
- Calm Mind / some other filler move like Substitute

Free nuke one time from Mind Blown without worrying about wasting half of your HP on the target in question. Nothing particularly special about this set, other than the Firium Z.
 
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I'll take a Sub CM set
(GIF when?)
Blacephalon @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 44 Def / 12 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Blacephalon is super powerful, it's hard to dispute that. But what if we could go
even further? The goal of this set is to scare out something that Blacephalon usually threatens out, such as your Ferrothorns and Celesteelas. That's when you reveal Substitute. This is when you can set up a Calm Mind to boost Blacephalon's high Special Attack as well as slightly patch up its mediocre Special Defense. Fire Blast is the optimal Fire-type STAB move since it won't KO Blacephalon after only two uses while Shadow Ball is a great STAB move that hits lots of things for neutral, most notably being Heatran, who gets bopped by Never-Ending Nightmare after a few CM boosts. The EVs look a bit odd, but they have a purpose. Max Speed with Timid is optimal to outspeed Pokémon such as Garchomp and other fast Pokémon. 196 HP leaves Blacephalon at 153 HP, giving it the ability to set up 4 Substitutes. Being an offensive Pokémon, it would make sense for Blacephalon to have max Special Attack as well. However, since Blace already has Calm Mind to boost its Special Attack, investing 12 EVs in SpA gives Blace a SpA stat of 173: one point below its Speed. This means that Beast Boost gives Blace a Speed boost every time it gets a kill, making it even more difficult to revenge kill. The remaining 44 EVs were invested in defense to take some Shadow Sneaks more easily.
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 212 HP / 44 SpD Heatran: 178-210 (92.2 - 108.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 211-250 (123.3 - 146.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 192-228 (94.1 - 111.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 156-184 (94.5 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Landorus-T: 154-183 (78.5 - 93.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
12 SpA Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 168-198 (108.3 - 127.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 228 HP / 12 SpD Azumarill: 229-270 (112.2 - 132.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Mimikyu Shadow Sneak vs. 196 HP / 48 Def Blacephalon: 90-108 (58.8 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 196 HP / 48 Def Blacephalon: 98-116 (64 - 75.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Primarina Sparkling Aria vs. +1 196 HP / 4 SpD Blacephalon: 134-158 (87.5 - 103.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
 
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cant say

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Blacephalon @ Mago Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Mind Blown
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind / Flame Charge / Fire Blast / Hidden Power Ice / etc.

Mind Blown > Sub > heal > Mind Blown > Mind Blown > die. Mago Berry allows the use of 3 uses of Mind Blown instead of the usual 2. Substitute is also just super good in general and can allow for a free Calm Mind if something switches out. Mind Blown is so crazy strong that getting an extra one can make a big difference in a 3v3 fight, by either getting a KO you otherwise wouldn't have, or softening something up much more than usual, allowing easier revenge kills. Also saves your Z move for something better.
 

ethan06

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is a Community Contributor Alumnus
On the subject of terrible Berry gimmicks:


Blacephalon @ Salac Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mind Blown
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Pain Split / Flamethrower

With Mind Blown and Substitute, it's actually pretty easy to knock yourself into pinch berry range. Salac Berry in particular has some applications in surprising some of Blacephalon's checks that think they can comfortably outspeed a Substitute variant only to have the tables turned on them after eating a Mind Blown and finding they don't have the upper hand anymore. Blace can then snowball from there with +1 Speed. Pain Split allows you to keep healthy for repeated use of Mind Blown and Sub, or you could use a separate Fire move and alleviate the risk a bit. With this thing's shallow movepool there's not much room for innovation so have this lmao
 

Theorymon

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Blacephalon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Ground
- Knock Off

This is just the usual Focus Sash set, except with Knock Off. Reason why I'm interested in Knock Off is because Chansey and Porygon2 are common responses to Blacephalon that sash sets don't do that great against, and this would at least punish them by removing their Eviolite! Blacephalon actually has a fairly high attack stat too so its nice for that not to go to waste lol
 

Blastface (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground / Trick
- Mind Blown/ Trick
- Shadow Ball

Choice Scarf can be used to patch up Blacephalon's decent but not mindblowing(kek) speed tier. Hidden Power can be used to beat mons like Mence or Heatran (depending on the HP type), while Trick can be used to cripple T H I C C mons like Chansey, Snorlax, Toxapex and P2 (much like Knock Off). It can also free you up if you don't need the scarf anymore. Even with a Timid nature, Blacephalon has higher SpA than Speed, so it can snowball pretty quickly with Beast Boost.
 
Last edited:
Submissions are now closed! There are to be no edits of your own Pokemon, nor are there to be any new submissions. A few quick things to note;
  • Voting will close on the 12/5 at 9:00pm EST (GMT-5), where the next subject will also be announced
  • You can't vote for your own submission
  • You can only change your vote once, so think carefully before doing so
  • You can vote even if you haven't made a submission. It is expected that you vote if you did submit yourself, but not compulsory
Blacephalon @ Firium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Mind Blown
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast / Hidden Power (Ice/Fighting/Ground)
- Calm Mind / some other filler move like Substitute

Free nuke one time from Mind Blown without worrying about wasting half of your HP on the target in question. Nothing particularly special about this set, other than the Firium Z.
I'll take a Sub CM set
Blacephalon @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 44 Def / 12 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Blacephalon is super powerful, it's hard to dispute that. But what if we could go even further? The goal of this set is to scare out something that Blacephalon usually threatens out, such as your Ferrothorns and Celesteelas. That's when you reveal Substitute. This is when you can set up a Calm Mind to boost Blacephalon's high Special Attack as well as slightly patch up its mediocre Special Defense. Fire Blast is the optimal Fire-type STAB move since it won't KO Blacephalon after only two uses while Shadow Ball is a great STAB move that hits lots of things for neutral, most notably being Heatran, who gets bopped by Never-Ending Nightmare after a few CM boosts. The EVs look a bit odd, but they have a purpose. Max Speed with Timid is optimal to outspeed Pokémon such as Garchomp and other fast Pokémon. 196 HP leaves Blacephalon at 153 HP, giving it the ability to set up 4 Substitutes. Being an offensive Pokémon, it would make sense for Blacephalon to have max Special Attack as well. However, since Blace already has Calm Mind to boost its Special Attack, investing 12 EVs in SpA gives Blace a SpA stat of 173: one point below its Speed. This means that Beast Boost gives Blace a Speed boost every time it gets a kill, making it even more difficult to revenge kill. The remaining 44 EVs were invested in defense to take some Shadow Sneaks more easily.
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 212 HP / 44 SpD Heatran: 178-210 (92.2 - 108.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 211-250 (123.3 - 146.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 192-228 (94.1 - 111.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 156-184 (94.5 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Landorus-T: 154-183 (78.5 - 93.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
12 SpA Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 168-198 (108.3 - 127.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 12 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 228 HP / 12 SpD Azumarill: 229-270 (112.2 - 132.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Mimikyu Shadow Sneak vs. 196 HP / 48 Def Blacephalon: 90-108 (58.8 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 196 HP / 48 Def Blacephalon: 98-116 (64 - 75.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Primarina Sparkling Aria vs. +1 196 HP / 4 SpD Blacephalon: 134-158 (87.5 - 103.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
Blacephalon @ Mago Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Mind Blown
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Calm Mind / Flame Charge / Fire Blast / Hidden Power Ice / etc.

Mind Blown > Sub > heal > Mind Blown > Mind Blown > die. Mago Berry allows the use of 3 uses of Mind Blown instead of the usual 2. Substitute is also just super good in general and can allow for a free Calm Mind if something switches out. Mind Blown is so crazy strong that getting an extra one can make a big difference in a 3v3 fight, by either getting a KO you otherwise wouldn't have, or softening something up much more than usual, allowing easier revenge kills. Also saves your Z move for something better.
On the subject of terrible Berry gimmicks:

Blacephalon @ Salac Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mind Blown
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Pain Split / Flamethrower

With Mind Blown and Substitute, it's actually pretty easy to knock yourself into pinch berry range. Salac Berry in particular has some applications in surprising some of Blacephalon's checks that think they can comfortably outspeed a Substitute variant only to have the tables turned on them after eating a Mind Blown and finding they don't have the upper hand anymore. Blace can then snowball from there with +1 Speed. Pain Split allows you to keep healthy for repeated use of Mind Blown and Sub, or you could use a separate Fire move and alleviate the risk a bit. With this thing's shallow movepool there's not much room for innovation so have this lmao
Blacephalon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Ground
- Knock Off

This is just the usual Focus Sash set, except with Knock Off. Reason why I'm interested in Knock Off is because Chansey and Porygon2 are common responses to Blacephalon that sash sets don't do that great against, and this would at least punish them by removing their Eviolite! Blacephalon actually has a fairly high attack stat too so its nice for that not to go to waste lol
Blastface (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground / Trick
- Mind Blown/ Trick
- Shadow Ball

Choice Scarf can be used to patch up Blacephalon's decent but not mindblowing(kek) speed tier. Hidden Power can be used to beat mons like Mence or Heatran (depending on the HP type), while Trick can be used to cripple T H I C C mons like Chansey, Snorlax, Toxapex and P2 (much like Knock Off). It can also free you up if you don't need the scarf anymore. Even with a Timid nature, Blacephalon has higher SpA than Speed, so it can snowball pretty quickly with Beast Boost.
 
I'm going to leave voting open for a few more days due to the lack of votes, so make sure to vote if you haven't already!
 

ethan06

⋖(☼┆☼)⋗
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
Tmon's Mixed Sash

This is a really nice lure for stall teams and fat mons that think they have a matchup's special mons all figured out. Pair this with Thundurus-T or Naganadel and make their jobs even easier hell yeah
 

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