By Zzweilous
A blast from the past
A rock-heavy meta, with no Shadow Pokémon allowed, plenty of dragons and a bunch of white listed neutral options, ranging from Milotic to Sceptile and the Snorlax family? What feels like a déjà-vu to Silph’s Primeval field meta is… Exactly that: The Primordial Domain keeps the Timeless Travels theme of the overarching Pokémon Go season, catapulting the Battle Frontier back to a prehistoric age in more ways than one.
So, allow me to walk you through the intricacies of the Primordial Domain (me being Zzweilous, a German Play! Pokémon Regional Champion and Sharks & Recreation team member, competing in Legendary tier for this upcoming cycle of Battle Frontier). However, the upcoming analysis is by no means conclusive – if you discover a unique take on the meta yourself, that’s all the more exciting!
A first overview
So, what’s this meta about? With Rock, Dark, Electric, Ice and Dragon types legal in the format, you will be hard pressed to find Fighting type damage – but if you do, it will be all the more valuable, hitting 3/5 types for super effective damage.
PvPoke’s Top 10 for the Primordial meta indicate that already: Coming in at #10 is the ever-so-flexible Barbaracle, charging to a Cross Chop in merely 4.5 seconds with Fury Cutter. White listed Snorlax comes in hot at #4 with its access to Superpower, but our thicc and sleepy boy is a little bait dependent, given the debuffing nature of its coverage move.
I see trees of green
No, the Pseudo-Fighter of choice in the Primordial field is a Sudo-Fighter: Counter using fake tree Sudowoodo tops not only the PvPoke rankings, but the usage charts as well, making its way onto 26 out of 36 teams during the first Candle Cult practice tournaments thanks to its unique fast move pressure, above average bulk and boosting potential with Meteor Beam or the more niche Trailblaze.
So naturally, with a staple this staple-y, the first question in any team builder’s mind would be: How do I defeat this thing? Thankfully, few of Sudowoodo’s match ups are all too polarizing, which holds some promise for this domain rewarding heads-up plays rather than fortunate alignment.
The Sudo answers
White listed Milotic appears to be the premier answer to Sudo’s potential, coming in with highly respectable bulk, super effective Surfs to spam, and Dragon Tail as a fast attack to give it utility against the Dragon type generalists this meta offers.
Relicanth is a difficult to come by sidegrade, taking and dealing super effectice instead of neutral fast move damage in the Sudowoodo match up, generally outbulking and outpacing Milotic, but lacking the Dragon coverage its more prominent Water type sibling offers.
If you’re less into bulk, and more into fast-paced charged attack pressure, Greninja offers the most accessible, but also the most frail option among meta water types.
With rocks and waters common on most teams, the attention shifts to the few legal grasses in Primordial. Cradily offers a bulky and safe option – it is more than likely to be the safe switch of choice on many Primordial teams, providing excellent coverage with its charged attacks.
The only (!) Pokémon in the format that beats all of the big three (Sudowoodo, Milotic, Cradily) in the one shield scenario is Hoenn starter Sceptile with its spammy Leaf Blades – a Pokémon that rarely ever makes an appearance in competitive play just because of its below average defenses.
How to tame a dragon
Dragon types are another flexible option prominently featured on most Primordial teams. Their high damage output through fast moves alone and largely appealing resistance profile makes mons such as Arctibax, Dragonite, Dragonair, Zweilous and even Flygon and Goodra worth a try!
Bulk and sub-typing make for tiny differences in how these Dragons will perform on the battlefield – most notably, Dragonite’s access to the newly buffed Steel Wing over the more common Dragon Breath could give you an edge, should your opponent opt to bring too many Rocks and Ices vulnerable to Steel type damage!
Filling in the holes
Beyond those main categories – Rocks, Waters, Grasses, Dragons – there’s a bunch of neutral and unique generalists to choose from within the Primordial domain. Which of those you should favor will depend on the overall makeup of your team: What are your weaknesses? Do you want to add on Pokémon that need shields or Pokémon that can take a hit? Which Pokémon do you expect on your opponent’s side?
Counter-resistant Pokémon with an emphasis on energy management would be Froslass, Sableye or even Golisopod, which occasionally prefers Fury Cutter over Shadow Claw as a fast move.
Togetic (another Steel Wing user!) and Mandibuzz share a weakness to Ice and Rock, but offer a lot of longevity in neutral match ups. Poison/Dark types such as Hisuian Qwilfish continue to be infamously flexible, and Pokémon such as Dedenne and Malamar are more delicate to manage, but provide unique coverage!
Overall, the Primordial domain promises to be a somewhat healthy meta – 50% centralized around bulkier Pokémon that don’t have too many hard Rock/Paper/Scissors-relationships amongst them, 50% open to more creative team building options. I have no doubt that over time, people will figure out teams of six that have consistent synergy – but this meta could shape up to be one that allows for innovation for weeks and weeks to come!
