May started off with the introduction of Hawlucha who quickly found itself suspect tested and subsequently banned (at 65.91% of players voting ban). This ban forced Hawlucha to be rerolled into a new Pokemon, that being Cherrim; who isn't the best acquisition but still managed to create a dent in the meta of May 2024. Speaking of which, after the Hawlucha ban, Raichu-Alola found itself being the most used Pokémon of the month. It was a strong and fast Electric-Type that mostly went unchecked with the absence of Ground-Types. This absence prompted the creation of the meme "Volts on Grass" as Grass-Types where the only real resistance to Electric-Type attacks. Anyways, Raichu-Alola was also heavily favored as the most consistent team member that could deal with the best defensive wall in the format, Milotic. Milotic found itself as second best Pokémon in the month and many Pokémon could not fill their offensive roles without a way to deal with the brick wall that was Milotic. Team-building revolved around answering these two top threats. Despite these two dominating,  there were still plenty of other scary threats in the May 2024 format. Pokémon like Maushold and Salazzle abused their status as the two fastest Pokémon in the format to terrorize teams with nuclear clicks like Population Bomb and Sun boosted Specs Fire Blast respectively. With so many powerful threats, one Pokémon unexpectedly rose to the top and showed off why 35 Pokes is such a unique and interesting format, I'm of course speaking of Klawf! Klawf is a Rock-Type that benefits from the passive healing of Regenerator, and resisting Poison, Fire, & Normal type attacks. Slap an Assualt Vest, give it max HP and SpDef and this crab became the most consistent switch-in to most threats in the format, including Raichu-Alola! More top threats were Zoroark, and Hitmonchan. Zoroark loved illusion, as it let it play mind games and often catch a Raichu-Alola off guard with Sucker Punch, Shiinotic with Sludge Bomb, and opposing Zoroarks with Low Kick. Zoroark could run Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Choice Band, Choice Specs, and even Choice Scarf sets to catch its intended target off guard. Hitmonchan, in the other hand, thrived on two powerful sets; Choice Scarf and Agility Life Orb. Choice Scarf was used primarily to revenge kill or clean games, Close Combat or Drain Punch had the power to kill Zoroark, Klawf, Maushold, and even Miltank. Life Orb with Agilty made Iron Fist boosted moves even stronger and scarier to face as Thunder Punch had the power to 2HKO Milotic! Some defensive options were Torkoal with unique set of attributes that made it stand out as a Stealth Rocker, Rapid Spinner, who can ditch out great damage with Sun boosted Fire moves and unique bulk to survive most hits. Carbink was the best entry hazard setter with access to both Spikes and Stealth Rocks, possessing great bulk and defensive typing made sure it could always stack hazards. Shiinotic was the only defensive Grass-Type in the meta with a flexible movepool, making it easy to slot onto teams; whether using Spore, or spamming Moonblast with Specs, or even Giga Drain to break down the most used special wall, Klawf. Dusknoir was another great wall, specially for its consistency at eliminating Raichu-Alola with Pursuit and Shadow Sneak. Dusknoir also served as a great counter to Maushold as it was immune to Population Bomb, survived any boosted hit at full HP to retaliate with Revenge which is a Fighting move that doubled in power after Dusknoir got hit resulting in an OHKO to Maushold! May 2024 had many other powerful and useful options like Drampa, Miltank, Sableye, Grafaiai, Froslass, Cherrim, Arbok, and Ariados. All these options were great in their own right and often turned the tide in the battle when great players used them effectively. 

Written by MamboTND

/challenge gen9nationaldex35pokes @@@ -All Pokemon, +carbink, +mantine, +dusknoir, +cryogonal, +milotic, +mr. mime, +hitmonchan, +shiinotic, +beheeyem, +drampa, +oinkologne-f, +dustox, +sunflora, +raichu-alola, +meowstic, +dachsbun, +calyrex, +arbok, +octillery, +maushold, +grafaiai, +torkoal, +miltank, +froslass, +ariados, +sableye, +cherrim, +simisear, +salazzle, +zoroark, +emolga, +wobbuffet, +klawf, +delcatty, +drakloak

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