Honestly, I couldn't be happier with the tiering changes. Donphan is going to be awesome to play with in UU, be it a defensive Rapid Spinner or offensive Choice Bander. It's similar to Steelix, except with a lot less defense but lack of Fighting and Ground weakness. I don't see Donphan causing that much of a splash in UU, as it's not an offensive force that is unable to be stopped, nor is it a defensive force that is unable to be broken. This elephant looks like it'll blend in well with the UU environment, and once its hype of being new and fresh goes down, I can see it having a decent usage, though nothing outrageous or suspect worthy.
Dugtrio is going to be on practically every team the first few weeks after being introduced. People are going to love its ability to essentially render things like Nidoking, Blaziken, and even Roserade useless in some cases. People are going to make their team more Dugtrio-proof, with things like Levitators and even Flying-types, as well as bulky Pokemon such as Porygon2 to trap and kill it once and for it. Swellow and Yanmega will likely rise in usage, seeing as their counters can now be taken out (nearly guaranteed might I add. ILU Arena Trap). I'm unsure about Dugtrio, it sure does look fun though. Its effect on stall I have no comment on, as I don't use/face enough stall to give a valid explanation.
I'm so glad Tangrowth is UU, that oversized plant really needs more love. I find it kind of funny that both Dugtrio and Donphan are completely helpless against Tangrowth, and are both either set-up fodder for it, or just easy picking. The abundant special attackers with Ice, Fire, and Poison moves aren't kind to Tangrowth though, making things like Milotic and Slowbro not entirely safe to switch-in to, especially the former. At least we got ourselves a near-complete stop to DD Feraligatr, who can really only threaten Tangrowth with Ice Punch and Flail.
I'm not surprised that Ninetales was dropped to NU, what with Houndoom almost completely outclassing it, but Poliwrath dropping so much really surprised me. Honchkrow, Crobat, and Shaymin were all big threats to it, and it seems their banning did little to increase the tadpoles usage. Roserade seems to be the main issue for it here. If NU ever completely developes, I'm sure Poliwrath will be taken advantage of for its ability to counter Relicanth as well as sponge Rock and Water attacks. Primeape dropping was unforunate, especially since it's one of the only Fighters in the
game who can utilize U-turn (which is helpful against Psychic-type switch-ins such as Mespirit and even Claydol). In NU, it'll be a terror, being rivaled really by only Hitmonchan and Medicham. Gardevoir is no surprise, offensive sets are basically slower Espeon (with Focus Blast + Thunderbolt), and defensive sets are frailer Uxie without Stealth Rock (though Wish may make it a worthwhile decision). Being slow doesn't help Gardy that much, sadly. Muk I have too little experience with to make a comment on, but I can see it being useful in NU...I guess. As for Umbreon....eh, congratulations on making OU. I doubt it'll become anywhere near standard, but you never know how the metagame will shift.
I'm a bit sad to see Heracross so low, while it is "slow" by todays standards, it's in no way outclassed by Scizor. I can't even see what would make people say that; they're two different things. Scizor is no where near as powerful as Heracross, nor does it have an attack that can match Close Combat. If you compare the two, obviously Scizor seems like a more useful Pokemon with a STAB U-turn to scout and STAB Bullet Punch to pick off foes. Still, Heracross does not fear things such as Skarmory, non-Scarf Heatran (and if Heracross runs Scarf it doesn't fear that either), Gyarados (due to Stone Edge), or even Rotom-A since Night Slash is a perfectly viable option and Heracross can outrun defensive versions. I'm not saying Heracross is better than Scizor, but comparing the two and saying "Scizor outclasses Heracross" is a bad way of looking at it. They're different Pokemon, and just because they share a Bug-typing doesn't mean they're played similarly.
Scizor is absolutely dominating the ladder currently, sporting an insane 201015 usage and being on nearly 30% of all teams. Salamence is second, but not necessarily a "close" second. Lucario usage skyrocketed, going even past Infernape and slowly creeping towards Metagross, who is still a fantastic lead. I'm sad Tyranitar is at a lowly 8th, though with Scizor and the rising Lucario usage, I can't really say I'm surprised. Gengar is back in the top 10, and people have been wising up to Scizor users and taking advantage of Substitute and HP Fire to kill it. Blissey is at 10th...wow, I never thought I'd see that whore so low =( Roserade is having a good time now that Honchkrow, Shaymin, and Crobat are banned, and Absol seems to be replacing Honchkrow on most teams, though he can never fill the Don Bird's pant. Kyogre is still reigning over Ubers, Groudon in second, blah blah blah. The day Kyogre goes second in usage will be a surprising day for us all, that's for sure.
As far as leads are concerned, I love the fact that Mamoswine is so high in usage, being 15th in OU and 2nd in Suspect. The times I used it on my Suspect team were good times indeed. Ironically, a Choice Band Swampert kind of kills all the top leads, besides probably Infernape and Jirachi with Grass Knot. Also, this kind of confused me:
20 | Crobat | 9832 | 1.43
I haven't seen a single Crobat lead in OU...At all.
Oh well, enough of my ranting. Off to test MixTar, who looks like a great wall breaker as well as tool against stall teams. I'm guessing Crunch / Fire Blast / Ice Beam / Superpower?