Rarely Used (RU) Tier

[Skwog]

Here's some of my predictions for usage:

Blastoise is gone. /cheers. But that also means a reliable check for Entei is gone. Increase in Poliwrath usage perhaps? Please don't start using Eviolite Wartorle people, it's just fail...
And Rhyperior is gone too. Naturally Rhydon will rise in usage because his evolution is gone. But I think Rhydon usage will also increase because teams are going to need something to take on Entei.
Xatu is down here now? /barf. Magic Bounce completely ruins my love of throwing around status.
Aero is down, and I can see a lot of people using him because it is a reliable Stealth Rocker, and a decent attacker.
Venomoth is gone, which means theres one less pesky Sleep Powder and Quiver Dance user. Time for Butterfree to shine /lol
Sceptile gone? Did not expect that, but I don't pay much attention to UU usage trends.
We get Charizard which will in competition with Moltres. The advantage Charizard has is being able to run physical/mixed sets, and being slightly faster. Yanmega revenger anybody?

Looks like this will be a fun tier as always. I really wish Yanmega would leave though :/

 

[GtM]

Why is Eviolite Wartortle fail? Blastoise can't hit anything hard anyways, and the one thing it could hit hard is gone. Wartortle has 80% of Blastoise's power and much better defenses, although admittedly it misses Leftovers. Plus, people will use it regardless because it's one of the most reliable rapid spinners.

On the other hand, will rapid spinners even be needed in this tier? Xatu is going to be top 5 usage I bet, with all the stall teams kicking around and the requirement of Stealth Rock to keep stuff like Yanmega and Moltres in check. Then again, Xatu isn't switching into Rhydon any time soon.

 

[Skwog]

Why is Eviolite Wartortle fail? Blastoise can't hit anything hard anyways, and the one thing it could hit hard is gone. Wartortle has 80% of Blastoise's power and much better defenses, although admittedly it misses Leftovers. Plus, people will use it regardless because it's one of the most reliable rapid spinners.

On the other hand, will rapid spinners even be needed in this tier? Xatu is going to be top 5 usage I bet, with all the stall teams kicking around and the requirement of Stealth Rock to keep stuff like Yanmega and Moltres in check. Then again, Xatu isn't switching into Rhydon any time soon.

You said it yourself: Eviolite Wartortle misses Leftovers. A lot. And Blastoise hits like a tank, it is a tank. Go against a Choice Scarf Blastoise with Water Spout and tell me it doesn't hurt. There's nothing reliable about Eviolite Wartortle if you ask me.

 

[Prankster]

I personally think fighting types suck in RU. Not only is the tier run by bugs, its best walls are cress, claydol, noir, and cofag. I guess they can kill munchlax, but thats it

I suddenly take back what I said because of 3 things. PZ is a huge pain. Gallade is awesome. And bugs did not run the tier as I suspected. Fighting types arent as threatening as they are in ou or uu though

 

[StruggleChomp]

You said it yourself: Eviolite Wartortle misses Leftovers. A lot. And Blastoise hits like a tank, it is a tank. Go against a Choice Scarf Blastoise with Water Spout and tell me it doesn't hurt. There's nothing reliable about Eviolite Wartortle if you ask me.

I personally think that not only is Wartortle's design cooler, but it's power drop isint by much, and even so, blastoise barely had much power to begin with...
I think he'll just rapin spin, toxic a bit, then immediately GTFO of the battle field.

 

[Skwog]

I personally think that not only is Wartortle's design cooler, but it's power drop isint by much, and even so, blastoise barely had much power to begin with...
I think he'll just rapin spin, toxic a bit, then immediately GTFO of the battle field.

If that's the case, why not use Claydol then who can Spin and Toxic, can use Lefties, can throw around some attacks, and brings some useful immunities and resistances to a team.

 

[Rakan]

lol Claydol gets destroyed by Yanmega, tho there´s a good chance it´ll be banned during suspect testing

 

[kniteowl]

Well with blastoise gone you could probably use Sandslash or Crygonal or something with an evolite.

& the reason why Yanmega is so low in UU (I'm just guessing) is probably because of Staraptor Destroying everything left and right which isn't very good for a pokemon like Yanmega, so until Staraptor is banned, there's a good chance Yanmega may never reach UU lol.

I Don't play the UU metagame much so I don't maybe I Should play it and try out Yanmega

 

[Skwog]

lol Claydol gets destroyed by Yanmega, tho there´s a good chance it´ll be banned during suspect testing

So does Eviolite Wartorle? What's your point? Wartortle may be able to live a Bug Buzz if he's lucky, but then what? He dies?

Since for whatever reason you brought up how Yanmega into a discussion involving Rapid Spinners, I decided to make a list of Rapid Spinners available in this tier and what Yanmega does to each of them.

Wartortle - Dies to Bug Buzz, Air Slash, Giga Drain
Sandslash - Dies to Bug Buzz, Air Slash, Giga Drain
Staryu - No comment
Pineco - No comment
Torkoal - Resists Bug Buzz and Giga Drain, but is weak to the Rock its trying to spin away
Claydol - Dies to Bug Buzz and Giga Drain
Drilbur - No comment.
Cryogonal - Eats up Yanmega's attack on a switch in, and then dies.
Tentacool - Can take a hit bar HP Ground
Shellder - No comment
Hitmonlee/chan - Dies to Air Slash, but has better things to be doing than utility
Delibird - No comment
Spinda - No comment
Armaldo - Might survive an attack, but then dies.


So yeah, I'm not sure what you're point of saying "Claydol dies to Yanmega lolololol" or whatever was meant to prove. Clearly practically every spinner we have access to dies to Yanmega, except Torkoal (sometimes), Armaldo (sometimes), Eviolite Tentacool, and Cryogonal. And it 2HKO's those too, so don't bring up illogical points.

 

[Leman]

Well with blastoise gone you could probably use Sandslash or Crygonal or something with an evolite.

& the reason why Yanmega is so low in UU (I'm just guessing) is probably because of Staraptor Destroying everything left and right which isn't very good for a pokemon like Yanmega, so until Staraptor is banned, there's a good chance Yanmega may never reach UU lol.

I Don't play the UU metagame much so I don't maybe I Should play it and try out Yanmega

More because Yanmega gets walled hard by Chansey, Snorlax, Registeel, Milotic and Zapdos who are everywhere, especially if its Speed Boost and Tinted Specs sits right under the speed tier where Zapdos, Victini and Staraptor sit (and other stuff that doesn't have SE stabs like Mew, Flygon, Celebi, Cobalion). So more often then not Yanmega's will just forced out and he cant afford that because of the SR weakness.

 

[GtM]

Eviolite Lampent is actually a pretty good TR supporter in this tier. With 252 HP / 252 SpD Calm it's never 2HKO'd by Specs Yanmega's Air Slash, and can switch into Yanmega's other attacks with impunity. Meanwhile, thanks to its good base 95 SpA uninvested Flamethrower is a guaranteed OHKO on Yanmega. Lampent also has other uses, being able to switch in on Entei easily (so long as it's not on Stone Edge!), using niche moves like Haze, Memento, Pain Split and even Calm Mind (with a physically defensive set and Rhyperior moving out of the tier, in addition to Will o Wisp, this can be pretty hard to crack).

 

[waterwarrior]

Pffft Cryogonal. Its like Chansey down here, but not good. 30 base defense is incredibly laughable, and if you're up against any physically based poke, its going to be OHKO'd, possibly even without Rocks.

 

[Steamroll]

Baton pass will be running wild. eh, nothing roar, whirlwind, or haze can't fix. eviloite wartortle, lol.

 

[Xephyr]

lol, bulky DD Charizard ftw

 

[GtM]

I don't see why people are so concerned about Cryogonal's physical defense. There's few mixed attackers in this tier, so Cryo always has opportunity to at least set up a screen or rapid spin (or get a solid hit with Ice Beam) on most special attackers before a physical threat comes in. Just make sure your team can cover physical threats effectively, and you're set. Tangela and co say hi.

 

[Xephyr]

I don't understand it either, GtM. If you guys weren't aware, Cryogonal defense is still better than Blissey's, and Cryogonal has the same special defense as her. Obviously Cryogonal doesn't have the epic HP stat, but the fact still remains that he tanks basically any special attacks and then runs from physical attacks, just like Blissey does. Cryogonal even has speed and special attack to work with too. And rapid spin. And stuff.

 

[Smith]

Wow I am insanely excited for new RU! The loss of Blastoise sucks but Rhyperior I can handle for sure, and the introduction of Xatu and Aerodactyl in particular is going to be a LOT of fun. I mean stall teams don't really exist anymore (if they ever did) but I think you can still make a defensive or balanced team pretty effective.

As far as Rapid Spinners go, Claydol imho is much superior to Cryogonal. Pure Ice typing is just awful, and Claydol can set up screens or Stealth rock and has good defenses on both sides. Of course if you decide to run a Xatu the need for a spinner is no longer there, so you defintely have options for dealing with hazards. Yes everybody eviolite wartortle is retarded.

 

[GtM]

Crucial difference: Cryogonal can set up on or kill Yanmega, whilst Claydol cannot. Ice isn't bad typing for a special wall since most the primary Fire types in the tier are physical, and Fighting, Rock and Steel attacks are seldom special. In fact, I'd argue it's better than Claydol's typing since Claydol is weak to Grass, Ice, Water, Ghost, Dark, Bug... etc.

Cryo is also better at setting up screens since it has that lovely base 105 speed. But I'm not saying Claydol is bad by any means, I've used him a ton. But I can't say I'd have used him if he didn't have Rapid Spin.

 

[Xephyr]

Too many people are trying to run bulky teams in this tier, and it's to the point where hyper offense teams just dominate. One of my alts got to top 20 in like an hour. Just throwing that out there.

 

[Boarbaque]

I don't understand it either, GtM. If you guys weren't aware, Cryogonal defense is still better than Blissey's, and Cryogonal has the same special defense as her. Obviously Cryogonal doesn't have the epic HP stat, but the fact still remains that he tanks basically any special attacks and then runs from physical attacks, just like Blissey does. Cryogonal even has speed and special attack to work with too. And rapid spin. And stuff.

Cryogonal is weak to 4 common types and Blissey/Chansey is only weak to 1 common type.

 

[Xephyr]

Cryogonal is weak to 4 common types and Blissey/Chansey is only weak to 1 common type.

Since when is steel a common type?

 

[Woodchuck]

Well, if you're talking from an OU perspective, Steel is common with Scizor's Bullet Punch.
Either way, Fire/Fighting/Rock are all common types and are the obvious point you should respond to instead of nitpicking a small detail.
Anyways, Ice has always been a not-so-great defensive typing (but it's still a great offensive typing) and I'd probably still pick Claydol over Cryogonal because Claydol will have more opportunities to come in and spin.

 

[Xephyr]

Bottom line: if you want to do well in this tier, put 5 sweepers and a supporter on the team. you don't really even have to think about it.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Too many people are trying to run bulky teams in this tier, and it's to the point where hyper offense teams just dominate. One of my alts got to top 20 in like an hour. Just throwing that out there.

Yeah it does feel that most teams in the tier lean towards defensive balanced.

It's likely a response to the massive threats that are in the tier though. A speed booster sweeper could potential dismantle an offensive team, so I think every team starts putting in a defensive check or two and suddenly every team is looking more like being defensive.

There are a few good offensive teams, Sharking's team for example is pretty heavily offensive and pretty much overloads on special sweepers to overwhelm an opponent. With most teams only carrying one or two checks it is obviously a strategy that works. I always thought heavy offense was the best strategy in this tier but I never had the balls to go through with it since one wrong prediction could be disastrous. Also don't forget CB Entei is a staple on many teams so a frail team is in danger of being swept by Extremespeed alone. There's certainly good reasons why a team would want to be defensive in this tier.

 

[Xephyr]

Most of my sweepers are surprisingly bulky. Porygon-Z can take an Extremespeed, two of my sweepers have priority themselves, and both of them destroy CB Entei easily. I don't know, it just seems too easy.