1. Intimidate (Landorus-T, Salamence, Arcanine, Incineroar)
Lowers all opposing Pokémon's Attack by 1 stage on switch-in. In VGC (doubles), this hits both opponents — gutting Iron Hands, Urshifu, and other physical wallbreakers. Stack 3 Intimidate users on a team and you can cycle in fresh -1 Atk procs every turn.
2. Multiscale (Dragonite, Lunala)
Halves damage from attacks while at full HP. Effectively gives Dragonite 200% HP from full. Combined with Roost, Dragonite recovers to full and re-applies Multiscale every other turn — making it a near-unkillable wallbreaker.
3. Good as Gold (Gholdengo)
Immune to ALL status moves. Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, Encore, Taunt, Trick — none of them land on Gholdengo. Also blocks Defog and Rapid Spin attempts (you can't be hit by status, you spinblock by being Ghost). Single best ability in Gen 9.
4. Protosynthesis / Quark Drive (all Paradox Pokémon)
Boosts highest stat by 30% (50% for Speed) in Sun / Electric Terrain or while holding Booster Energy. Effectively gives every Paradox Pokémon a free +1 boost on switch-in. Defines half the OU/VGC meta.
5. Beads of Ruin / Sword of Ruin / Tablets of Ruin / Vessel of Ruin (Treasures of Ruin)
Passively lowers all opposing SpDef / Def / Atk / SpA by 25%. Stacks with damage modifiers — every special attacker on your team hits harder when Chi-Yu (Beads of Ruin) is on the field. Multiple Treasures on the same team stack their effects.
6. Magic Guard (Clefable, Reuniclus)
Immune to all indirect damage — Stealth Rock, weather (sand, hail), poison, burn, Life Orb recoil, Curse self-damage. A Magic Guard Pokémon can switch in on Stealth Rock without losing a single HP, then use Life Orb for damage without taking the 10% loss.
7. Regenerator (Slowking-Galar, Toxapex, Amoonguss, Tornadus-T)
Heals 33% HP on switch out. Pivots become functionally immortal — switch in, take a hit, U-turn or Volt Switch, come back at near-full HP. The reason "pivot" archetypes dominate OU.
8. Speed Boost (Blaziken, Sharpedo)
+1 Speed at the end of every turn. Speed Boost Blaziken with Protect on turn 1 = +1 Spe + safe. Turn 2 = outspeed everything in OU. Banned to Ubers as a result.
9. Adaptability (Dragalge, Crawdaunt, Porygon-Z)
STAB becomes 2× (instead of 1.5×) and 2.25× with matching Tera. Adaptive Crawdaunt Crunch hits like a +2 boosted move without setup.
10. Tinted Lens (Venomoth, Yanmega)
Resisted moves do 2× damage (effectively becoming neutral). Combined with low-resist moves like Bug Buzz, Tinted Lens Yanmega becomes a wallbreaker that ignores defensive type advantages.
11. Sheer Force (Nidoking, Bouffalant, Krookodile)
Moves with secondary effects do 30% more damage but lose the effect. Earth Power (10% SpD drop chance) becomes 130 BP no SpD drop. Pairs perfectly with Life Orb because Sheer Force boosted moves don't trigger LO recoil.
12. Mold Breaker / Turboblaze / Teravolt (Excadrill, Tinkaton, Reshiram)
Ignores defensive abilities like Levitate, Sturdy, Multiscale, Filter, Solid Rock. Tinkaton's Gigaton Hammer with Mold Breaker bypasses Levitate Rotom-Wash — you can hit Wash with what would otherwise be 0× damage.
13. Unaware (Clodsire, Quagsire, Bibarel)
Ignores opposing stat boosts. Setup sweepers (+6 Dragapult, +6 Volcarona) deal damage as if they had +0 boosts. Unaware Clodsire walls anything that relies on setup.
14. Defiant (Bisharp, Kingambit, Empoleon)
+2 Attack when any stat is lowered by the opponent. Switch into Intimidate? +2 Atk. Hit by Sticky Web? +2 Atk. Defiant Kingambit + free Swords Dance = late-game cleaner that benefits from opposing momentum tools.
15. Supreme Overlord (Kingambit)
+10% Atk per fallen ally (up to +50%). Late-game Kingambit with 5 fallen teammates = +50% Atk = Choice Band-equivalent damage without losing the ability to switch moves. Unique to Kingambit and a major reason it's the premier OU cleaner.
Honorable mentions
- Levitate — Ground immunity is enormous.
- Drought / Drizzle / Sand Stream / Snow Warning — automatic weather setup.
- Strong Jaw (Hydreigon, Krookodile) — 1.5× biting moves.
- Tough Claws (Crawdaunt) — 1.3× contact moves.
- Unburden (Hawlucha) — 2× Speed when consumable held item used.