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Portfolio (n.) - a mix of hopefully related documents, especially for the purpose of showing off your work repertoire

No, Aegislash doesn't count because it's mostly an offensive threat, not a defensive threat, though one of its forms does have high defensive capacity. Deoxys-D doesn't count because Deoxys is Ubers, and most of its forms are usually quickbanned from OU anyway.
Yeah, like Noc said. Toxapex, Celesteela, and Mega Sableye are probably the most likely candidates I'd pick, with Ferrothorn and Chansey/Blissey trailing slightly behind. And maybe Magearna as well. This is mostly referring to OU; even though I'd like to see Toxapex eternally banished, I doubt they'd ban it from Ubers as well.

The majority of Magearna sets in Smogon seem offensive instead of defensive (and man am I a fan of aiming Fleur Cannon at opposing Pokemon), and Celesteela has a prominent Autotomize offensive set, so I'll have to disagree with calling them defensive Pokemon if Aegislash isn't a defensive Pokemon (Aegislash did have a prominent SubToxic(-King's Shield-attack) set in Gen 6 OU that sat around and poisoned out counters to its other sets).

In the meantime, the irony is that Giratina-A and Zygarde-C (i.e. Zygarde with Power Construct) are stuck in defensive roles in Ubers, while Zygarde-C got quickbanned to Ubers because of its ability to sweep OU teams. ...Despite Zygarde-C and Giratina-A having roughly equal offensive stats, access to boosting moves, and recovery. (I think Giratina-A has only ever been insta-banned, but if Zygarde-C can sweep OU teams, then so can Giratina-A.)

Some of those seem more coincidental than intentional, as well as circumstantial. Also, just in general these things seem more like the icing and sprinkles on the cake rather than the cake itself if you know what I mean.

I think I've read that Gen 7 has skipped Triple Battles (so far) due to game lag issues (that didn't get entirely fixed, FWIW).

Gen 5's Hidden Abilities haven't been shafted, IMO. All generations since needed to put them on Pokemon, and they didn't keep pulling the-hidden-ability-matches-a-default-one in the newer generations, so props to them. (Though where is my Telepathy Tapu Fini and my Long Reach Decidueye...distributing 'mons with Hidden Abilities is another matter...)

Gen 6's Megas definitely got shafted, though. I thought I read somewhere that, as much as the fans love Mega Evolution, Game Freak thought it unbalanced combat and made the Mega 'mons too powerful. Thus the switch to (over?-)emphasizing Z-Moves in Gen 7. In fact, Gen 7 is shafting Megas so hard that it's put insults in Mega Evolutions' Pokedex entries (calling some of them "bloodthirsty" and "heartless"), seemingly bringing up an Alolan prejudice against the morality of Mega Evolution.

I have a feeling that Z-Moves will be shafted a la Megas in Gen 8. I'm reading debates in Other Metas that some of them are trying to get Z-Moves banned within them, citing their ability to break games. Game Freak actually seems to test their Pokemon Balanced Hackmons-style (thus Komala the Comatose with Sleep Talk getting no phazing moves and Pyukumuku the Innards Out having low base HP, and Balanced Hackmons and Almost Any Ability banning Innards Out and Comatose-Sleep Talk after finding those aspects really problematic on better Pokemon with better movepools), so I suspect they're listening to those complaints.

Possibly Paniola Town? That's the only place I can think of with a bluegrass vibe, but both the Paniola day and night themes are pretty meh for me.

Listened to it. Neither theme is it. Listened to a bunch more themes trying to find my elusive "bluegrass hoedown" theme.

The closest I'm getting to the music I remember is Hau's battle theme, but I thought I heard a banjo in the "bluegrass hoedown" theme. Hau's battle theme's first key sounds about right, though.

Well, frick, if it was Hau's battle theme I remembered, and I'm mistaking it for a lively town/route theme, either Hau really treats every battle like it's fun instead of pivotal or his battle theme is really inappropriate...

EDIT: Trying to skip hard through the entire Pokemon Sun and Moon OST right now--Island Festival and Festival Plaza music were sort of close, but the closest matches I'm getting right now might actually be the Trial Start! theme or the Poke Ride theme.

And the Mixing Ingredients theme is the first one so far to bring an immediate smile to my face and make me not skip through it, even though it's definitely not a "bluegrass hoedown" theme! I'm probably putting a like on this theme (for once).

For some reason, the Victory Road theme was giving me huge William Joseph vibes. Aha, I think it was specifically the G minor march-like section and its piano-heavy passage, which would fit...

...Ah, the Festival Plaza Event Day theme is pretty good and enthusiastic, too.

I got Pokerus in my Pokemon Diamond post-game.

Put the Pokerus mon in the shiny box and try infecting them all. Pokerus has no drawbacks!

okay no as long as team skull hau'oli city the aether foundation and kahunas exist SuMo factually cannot be in the meh tier

other tracks that are good: malie city, nanu's theme, po town, lillie's theme, gladion's battle theme, the elite four battle theme

From the point of view of someone who's only ever played Pokemon Diamond (and Pokemon Showdown), I find the Team Skull theme grating, the Kahuna theme too positive, and the Aether Foundation themes unmemorable.

I mainly find Gladion's battle theme hilarious because it sounds like a jazz ballad if you remove the accompaniment. I have to admit that I'm singing that jazz ballad melody more often, though, and with more rubato than the original.

I can't really comment on the others--in fact, I'm still trying to find that bluegrass hoedown BGM song I liked in those SuMo leak YouTube videos.

The SuMo Elite Four theme is among the best of the Elite Four themes, I'll grant you that. I like it more than BW's, and it's definitely better than DPPt's (which I still don't remember, despite beating them and Cynthia several times).

I don't think I can properly rate any other generation's music because I haven't listened to enough of it, but I thought Pokemon Diamond had thoroughly average music. I probably played it with the sound on about half the time, and the only songs that stuck to my head were the Team Galactic Grunt theme (not Admin--on later listens of the latter, the polytonality of A flat minor and F minor is turning me off--IMO, only Giratina and Ultra Beasts can get away with polytonality in Pokemon music, and I don't think the Ultra Beasts theme is polytonal) and the Trainer battle theme. 2 songs out of the entire soundtrack is right in the ballpark of the average number of songs I remember per soundtrack. (Among other games I've played pretty thoroughly with the sound on, I remember 2 songs out of the Mushroom Wars OST and 1 song out of the Bust-a-Move DS OST, and let's just say that those games have much smaller OSTs.)

On later listens, I remember the Pokemon Center song and its healing jingle, and the Wild battle theme is starting to come back to me. Unfortunately, 4 songs is around Paper Mario playthrough-only range (the regular battle theme, the Toad Town theme, the first chapter overworld theme ("Marching Along"), the Crystal Palace Crawl, and General Guy's theme are what I definitely remember from playthroughs--if you want songs that are sticking in later listens, there's the mini-boss theme, the Crystal King theme, Tubba Blubba's theme, and the Master's battle theme).

I rate soundtracks above average when I start hitting the 7-song range, including later listens (e.g. Kirby Super Star--Gourmet Race, Halberd On Deck theme, Halberd Interior theme, Meta Knight's theme, Revenge of Meta Knight ending theme, Megaton Punch theme, Arena theme, Milky Way Wishes credits theme--I guess King Dedede theme extensions count?).

[BUT]

BUT

You didn't raid it quite enough, I see...

Guessed by: ---

Which is precisely why pretty much the only things I remembered from the Kirby Blowout Blast soundtrack are that close to all the music is remixed from Kirby's Dream Land, its version of the Masked Dedede theme blends it with a Team Kirby Clash Deluxe-like remix of the Dyna Blade/Castle Lololo theme, and that a remix of the Halberd On Deck theme can be played.

Blowout Blast... "Seekrit Path"... hehe.

Kirby Blowout Blast's "Secret Path" is a G minor remix of the ending theme of Kirby's Dream Land. It doesn't remix it as much as even the Masked Dedede theme remixes King Dedede's theme, IMO, and those are half-separate pieces in my mind.

For the record, Dekka informed me that #8 was from a 3DS game after I said I knew it was Kirby. Had I put in the effort I could have won by 2.

For the record, Dudeman asked me for a tentative hint about the console of origin of #8 (or to decline if that narrowed it down too much). I told him it was the Nintendo 3DS, as there are four Kirby Nintendo 3DS games, to my knowledge, that have at least one original song in them. (Those would be Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kirby: Planet Robobot, Kirby Fighters Deluxe, and Team Kirby Clash Deluxe.)

...OK, so maybe Kirby Fighters Deluxe doesn't quite count as much, but it has a piece that heavily remixes so hard that I count it as a nigh-separate piece.

[Latios212]

Here are the answers to my latest quiz:

~~~~~Main Section~~~~~

#1

"Still Alive", from Portal, used as the credits theme
Timestamp: 0:25

I suspected this would be one of the easiest songs in this entire quiz, despite being from a game not otherwise known for its music. I guess 3 people getting this correctly is easy enough.

3 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, mastersuperfan, ThatHiddenCharacter

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#2

"Dark Meta Knight"/"Dark Meta Knight Battle", from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, used as Dark Meta Knight's boss theme
Timestamp: 0:00

I also accepted Dark Meta Knight's theme from Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

I ended up accepting this as a title (emphasis mine). I don't know whether it's just autocorrect's fault or this song or the character it's for really is that much of a meme...

2) "Dank Meta Knight" - Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

I never did find Kirby & the Amazing Mirror's music to be quite as catchy or accessible as much of the other Kirby games' soundtracks, and that's probably because it doesn't really share composers with the other games. Oh well, apparently its storyline and characters are ripe for expansion...

2 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Latios212, mastersuperfan

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#3

"The Betrayer (Enchantress Final Form)", from Shovel Knight, used as the theme for the second stage of the final boss
Timestamp: 0:13

I purposefully picked this melody because it contains a warped but still recognizable version of the "The Requiem of Shield Knight" motif, so if you knew enough Shovel Knight music, you should have gotten this song. Screw completely transcribing this excerpt's 4th bar, though...

1 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

mastersuperfan

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#4

"Four Brave Champions", from Castle Crashers, used as the title theme and the credits theme
Timestamp: 0:00

Yes, this is one of the few songs in Castle Crashers that was actually written for that game! Well, winning a contest to write music for Castle Crashers counts, right?

...Whatever, you can still find this song on Newgrounds from back when it was just a contest entry.

0 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

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#5

"Attack of the Koopa Bros.", from Paper Mario, used as the Koopa Bros.'s boss theme
Timestamp: 0:04

Unlike some other Paper Mario songs, including boss themes, I never remembered this from my playthroughs of that game. I eventually found out why--this is yet another rendition of the 12-bar blues. No wonder I didn't remember it back then.

It's fairly popular, though, so I included this melody to figure out how many of you remember your banal 12-bar blues video game themes. I tried to put in one of the most distinctive motives of the song in this melody.

1 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

ThatHiddenCharacter

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#6

"Battle! Trainer"/"Battle! (Trainer)", from Pokemon Diamond, Pokemon Pearl, and Pokemon Platinum, used as an alternate regular battle theme
Timestamp: 1:11

This was one of the few melodies I feared wouldn't be distinctive enough at a whopping 8 bars, so I expanded it even further to 12.

Gotta love that melody and chord progression...however overused it is.

5 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Latios212, mastersuperfan, NocturneOfShadow, Trasdegi

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#7

"Power of -NEO-"/"Power of NEO", from Undertale, used as Mettaton NEO's boss theme
Timestamp: 0:10

I marked "Battle Against a True Hero" as wrong because its version of the motif it shares with "Power of NEO" never switches keys, while this melody does.

Is it a problem when I like "Power of NEO" more than "Battle Against a True Hero"? (I also like "Spear of Justice" more than "Battle Against a True Hero", for what that's worth...I probably like stressful battle themes more...)

5 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Latios212, mastersuperfan, ThatHiddenCharacter, Trasdegi

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#8

"Revenge of the Enemy", from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, used as a boss theme
Timestamp: 0:32

I decided to be nice and mark the Kirby and the Rainbow Curse version as correct, even though it slightly modifies this melody.

I purposefully picked this melody because it contains the minor-key "Green Greens" motif. All over. In fact, the only way you could tell the melody was from this song was by figuring out how that motif was warped.

0 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

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#9

"Flying Mario", from Super Mario Galaxy, used as a power-up theme
Timestamp: 0:08

This might be the only Super Mario Galaxy song I've read a piano transcription of. I still transcribed this melody fairly cold, though.

5 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Latios212, mastersuperfan, NocturneOfShadow, ThatHiddenCharacter

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#10

"Battle 1 (Player)"/"Fight 1"/"Attack!", from Fire Emblem Gaiden, used as a regular enough battle theme
Timestamp: 0:00

A remix of this song named "Finale ~ Ally Attack" also appears in Fire Emblem Gaiden, but it's always in the wrong key, so it's incorrect.

I ended up accepting a fair few of this song's remixes in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia as correct--I decided to be nice and accept "The Dauntless Blade" and "A Blade on the Wind" as correct, even though they slightly modify this melody. Oh yeah, both of them also seem to be known as "Fearless White Blade".

Analyze the harmony and rhythm of the first two bars and it kind of sounds like an A minor version of Ridley's theme...

3 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Latios212, mastersuperfan

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#11

"Corneria", from Super Smash Bros. Melee, used as a stage theme
Timestamp: 0:48

I made this melody long enough that I could mark Star Fox's "Space Armada" as wrong because it doesn't contain all of this melody. That game's "Venom Base Stage 01" theme was also wrong for similar reasons.

...Yeah, this song remixes both of the above.

The frick, Corneria isn't Venom...

2 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Latios212

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#12

"Dream Chaser"/"Silence"/"Dream Chaser (Silence)"/"Silence (Dream Chaser)", from F-Zero Climax, used as a racetrack theme
Timestamp: 0:29

Sadly, "Dream Chaser" from F-Zero X was marked wrong because it doesn't contain this melody at all.

I picked this melody because its fifth bar sounds an awful lot like the "Kirby Dance". Based on the hints I gave (that there were exactly 2 Kirby melodies on this quiz) and the fact that #8 is clearly remixing Kirby music, this might have fooled people into thinking this was the other Kirby melody.

...It's not. #2 is somehow.

I didn't originally intend this when I started making this quiz, but perhaps warped remixes of well-known VGM themes is a sub-theme of this quiz...

0 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

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#13

"Jib Jig", from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, used as a stage theme
Timestamp: 0:08

I first found this theme while trying to find answers for other Guess-That-Melody quizzes, and I was hooked. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for jigs.

Yes, for the purposes of this quiz and its hints, the Donkey Kong series does not count as the Mario series.

2 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Latios212, Trasdegi

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#14

"Necrofantasia", from Touhou Youyoumu ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom, used as Yukari's boss theme
Timestamp: 0:48

I thought I'd end this quiz with another famous song--this time one of the last famous Touhou songs not yet taken, "Necrofantasia"! ...OK, so maybe a lot of its fame is based on its black MIDI versions.

I did extract the melody from one of this song's blandest sections, mainly because it was the easiest excerpt to transcribe, but I thought that wouldn't fool quite a few of you...

...well, maybe it actually fooled everyone.

0 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

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~~~~~Bonus Section~~~~~

#1b

"Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans", from the Undertale series, used in the OST but not in the game
Timestamp: 0:02

...does not actually play when you fight Sans. Sorry for the spoiler.

This has the best reason of the 4 songs in this bonus section to be considered a video game theme, IMO. Given how unorthodox Undertale's boss themes are--and this piece's similarities with "Bonetrousle" (Sans's brother's boss theme)--this could easily fit in. I guess Sans is just too angry to use this song when he finally stops being too lazy to fight...

In the meantime, I ended up accepting this title:

1b) "Song that Might but For Some Reason Doesn't Play When You Get Rekt by Sans" - Undertale

5 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Latios212, mastersuperfan, ThatHiddenCharacter, Trasdegi

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#2b

"Mortal Kombat Theme"/"Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)", from the Mortal Kombat series, used in the movie and the album but not in the games
Timestamp: 0:18

Apparently, actually trying to use the most famous song in the Mortal Kombat series in any of its video games runs into legal issues. Guess you might need to play the album while you're playing the games. ...It doesn't matter whether you're in an arcade at the time.

I mainly picked this melody out of the "Mortal Kombat Theme" because it was the easiest to transcribe.

I swear that the 4x dotted eighth note - 2x eighth note rhythmic motif was an unintentional sub-theme of this quiz...

2 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman, Trasdegi

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#3b

"Through the Fire and Flames", used in Guitar Hero 3, used as a rhythm game stage theme and the credits theme
Timestamp: 1:36

...and, apparently, this song is also in Rock Band 3.

This power metal song is apparently so well-known as a credits theme that this got into FamilyJules's "Top 10 Video Game Credits Themes". And yes, he determined his Top 10 by polling YouTube comments on his previous videos.

...And then he covered it as if it were a regular video game music theme.

Huh.

1 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

Dudeman

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#4b

"Troika", used in Tetris (Atari) and Tetris (NES), used as a stage theme
Timestamp: 0:29

The Tetris series is fond of pilfering its music from Russian folk songs, isn't it?

Ignore everything that says that Brad Fuller composed this song--this website knows the truth.

0 out of 6 people got this correct.

People who got this correct

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~~~~~Results~~~~~

Main Section Results

Latios212 and mastersuperfan tie for first place with 7 melodies each!

# of Melodies Participants Got Correct:

• mastersuperfan: 7
• Latios212: 7
• Dudeman: 6
• ThatHiddenCharacter: 4
• Trasdegi: 3
• NocturneOfShadow: 2

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Bonus Section Results

Dudeman wins with 3 melodies!

# of Melodies Participants Got Correct:

• Dudeman: 3
• Trasdegi: 2
• mastersuperfan: 1
• ThatHiddenCharacter: 1
• Latios212: 1
• NocturneOfShadow: 0

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Both Combined Results

Dudeman gets 1st place overall with 9 melodies in total!

# of Melodies Participants Got Correct:

• Dudeman: 9 (= 6 + 3)
• mastersuperfan: 8 (= 7 + 1)
• Latios212: 8 (= 7 + 1)
• ThatHiddenCharacter: 5 (= 4 + 1)
• Trasdegi: 5 (= 3 + 2)
• NocturneOfShadow: 2 (= 2 + 0)

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It's like I confirm I know the song and everyone therefore concludes that it isn't a not-super-famous Zelda song. (Actually, this is a pretty accurate indicator of the VGM I know.)

Foil (n.) - a bladed weapon

On a similar note, I'd love to see what would happen if we could use five moves instead of four. I would definitely like to see how that affects the metagame, as there are a ton of good offensive Pokemon brought down by "four moveslot symdrome," and since good coverage is one of the banes of stall (can't switch into something if you're just going to take massive damage from it anyway next turn).

(I've been checking out Smogon's Other Metagames lately.)

Try Ultimate Z in Smogon's Other Metagames. One of the best features I've found in it is how Pokemon suddenly get terrible cases of five-moveslot syndrome there. It's got other features such as Z-Haze and Z-Psych Up suddenly being terrifying full heals for stall and just plain defensive mons alike, and utter freaking nukes for STAB or coverage-that-used-to-be-Hidden Power.
You can play it in Dragon Heaven (although you will have to hit up chat for anyone else who's available to play it, and the bot, BatterBotto, has a terrible Ultimate Z team, plays with it horribly, and isn't online all the time).

The sample sets in the Ultimate Z OP are barely scratching the surface--here are some sets I've seen on replays that work along with some sets I've made up that I like:

Jirachi @ Groundium Z
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Refresh
- Celebrate

Dear lord, the role compression you can get in this metagame. Stealth Rock setting, stat boosting, full healing, self-cleric, and sweeping all at once! And that flinch hax...

Manaphy @ Waterium Z
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Heal Bell
- Psychic / Energy Ball

Manaphy still wishes it had Ice Beam back--that's what I mean by five-moveslot syndrome. Nevertheless, being able to full heal without Rest makes this guy able to set up on a lot more. Psychic appears to be the two-move old standby, but Energy Ball hits most of the Water Absorb guys super-effectively and still hits Volcanion for neutral.

Clefable @ Groundium Z
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psych Up
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Don't let this defensive rock-setting Clefable copy your boosts.

Greninja @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Spite
- Low Kick
- U-turn

...Don't ask how Greninja can set up Spikes against strong neutral physical attacks, but now it can, then run the heck out. If you direly need priority in this slot, you can use Fightinium Z for the item and Shadow Sneak instead of Low Kick.

Swampert @ Waterium Z
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Refresh
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Earthquake

I predict pseudo-hazing will be big in this meta. And Swampert finally gets a full heal! Shame I don't have much time to play against anyone else...
...Oh, and this Swampert wishes it got Scald back. Shame Scald hits like a pansy...

Raichu-Alola @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Surf
- Volt Switch

Signature Z-Crystals can't be applied to anything other than signature moves in this meta, but Stoked Sparksurfer spam lets this guy hax through opponents it honestly should not beat. Surf compresses Focus Blast and Grass Knot's roles admirably.

Klefki @ Fairium Z
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Psych Up
- Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Foul Play

I've been getting good results with SwagPlay in this meta. Prankster SwagPlay's biggest problems in OU are Dark-types (not such a big problem after this Klefki presses Twinkle Tackle), Psychic Terrain from Tapu Lele (OK, this will need team support, as this Klefki cannot OHKO it/her and Lele can OHKO), and Magic Bounce (Mega Sableye will not like repeated Twinkle Tackles, though, Psych Up's full heal still works, and if Klefki can end up Swaggering itself without hitting itself in confusion...). Its second biggest problems are hax (it happens), the risk of getting KO'd once hax happens (lessened, thanks to Klefki's full heal), and people switching around (I'm supporting this guy with Spikes-stacking in my later teams).
...Actually, I'm surprised how often I use Twinkle Tackle instead of Foul Play. Psych Up copying the opponent's attack boosts helps, though losing the special defence boosts from Z-Thunder Wave is often no fun.

but it does

You're forced to trigger it every time you play a game there. It doesn't trigger by default.