Idea from the UU, RU, and NU versions
The Top 10 Titans of 5th Gen OU
*Approved by Haunter*
As you can probably tell, this generation's OU has been one of the most influential and drastically changing metagames that Pokemon has had in a very long time. So many new offensive and defensive threats were introduced into OU, completely shaking up the tier as we know and shaping it into a new metagame that was completely different from 4th gen. The biggest change had to be the introduction of Drizzle and Drought into the tier, which forced the metagame to adapt to not only Sand and Hail, but also two very powerful weathers in the the form of rain and sun. With Rain boosted Hydro Pumps, sun boosted Fire Blasts, never missing Hurricanes and Thunders, and Chlorophyll sweepers outspeeding everything in the tier, the metagame had become something completely different. But that wasn't it. The 5th gen brought some extremely powerful Pokemon to the tier like Genesect, Keldeo, Excadrill, Terrakion, and Garchomp. We also can't forget about the extremely influential defensive Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Jellicent that have basically forced previous OU Pokemon to plummet in usage because of their extreme defensive capabilities. On top of that, previously Uber Pokemon such as Garchomp, Latias, Kyurem-B, and Latios were all dropped down to OU, forcing the metagame to adapt to them as well.
So here's the big question. Out of all of the amazing and influential Pokemon, what can we say were the top 10 most influential Pokemon in 5th gen? What Pokemon had the biggest impact on the metagame? What Pokemon forced every team to run specific Pokemon to handle them? What Pokemon SHAPED the metagame? All of these questions needs to be asked in order to determine an accurate top 10 list.
Now here's where you guys come in. From August 30th - September 9th you guys will nominate Pokemon to be voted on to be placed as candidates for the Top 10 Titans of 5th Gen OU. After September 9th, we will evaluate all the nominations and begin to individually rank them from 1-10. All nominations will be counted as long as they fit the criteria and are reasonable. If you're going to nominate something like Donphan, then get off my thread please. Keep in mind that we aren't ranking on how good a Pokemon is, we are ranking on how influential the Pokemon has been this generation, and how much of an impact it has had on the metagame itself. This is very important when nominating a Pokemon, so please keep that in mind.
I've decided to have a cutoff as to what Pokemon can be nominated. I'm allowing all previously banned Pokemon to be nominated after Suspect Stage 5, which is Excadrill. As of now, Thundurus-I can also be nominated. This means that all Pokemon that have been banned after Stage 5 such as Tornadus-T and Landorus can be nominated, but nothing early then Excadrill. Yes, you can nominate Excadrill. It was in OU long enough to leave a big enough impact on the tier that there's no question it's eligible for nomination. Anything before that was either too broken to be considered, or not in the metagame long enough.
Here is an example format on how I want your nomination's to look like:
Nominating [Pokemon]
Use this to find the sprite: http://sprites.pokecheck.org/
What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?
Explain how the Pokemon effected the metagame as whole, and how the metagame adapted around it. A brief description of which Pokemon it countered and which Pokemon it did well against would be good here as well.
In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?
Explain why this Pokemon was used on a team more often then most other Pokemon, and what was it particularly used for? What made it so good at this role?
What caused it to have a significant impact?
What exactly made this Pokemon have such a large impact on the metagame? Was it its stats, ability, useful resistances, amazing synergy, or the ability to sweep most of the metagame very easily? Did a certain Pokemon cause it to become that much better when it was partnered with it?
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in OU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?
Make sure they look EXACTLY like this, or else I wont count them. Make sure they are also very informative, factual, accurate, and detailed. For the example nomination, I'm going to nominate Politoed. There's no question that this Pokemon would be nominated eventually and most definitely be on the top 10, so I'm just going to count it as a nomination as well. Remember, do exactly as I do.
Current Nominees: (Link to nomination posts in the names)
| Politoed | Jellicent | Terrakion | Ferrothorn | Latias | Tornadus-T |
| Genesect | Kyurem-B | Venusaur | Excadrill | Breloom | Heatran |
| Landorus | Volcarona | Latios | Dragonite | Tyranitar | Reuniclus |
| Keldeo | Jirachi | Celebi | Scizor | Ninetales | Deoxys-S |
| Garchomp | Gengar |
THE TOP 10 TITANS OF OU:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Conclusion
And with that, the voting is now over! The list has been determined and finalized, so if you want to see what the community has ultimately decided on, please refer back to the OP for the official list. Anyways, this has been a very fun experience guys, and it was awesome to hear all the differing opinions everyone seemed to have. Although there were only very minor instances where someone had to step in, the discussion was overall very healthy and on topic, which can sometimes be hard at times for subjective threads like this. Now that the voting is over, you are free to discuss things that you like or maybe dislike about the list. Do you think that any changes should be made to the list? If so, why? Although the votes are locked, I don't mind people arguing against certain Pokemon being too high, too low, or not even being on the list. What is YOUR personal Top 10 list? Do you think this list is accurate enough of our current metagame? Try not to steer to far away from these questions, but otherwise, just make sure to keep the discussion about the list in general.
Anyways, thank you guys so much for helping me with this awesome project! I can't wait to compare this list to the X and Y metagame once its settled, as the new changes and Pokemon are bound to change up this list astronomically. Great job guys! See you guys in X and Y!
*Approved by Haunter*
As you can probably tell, this generation's OU has been one of the most influential and drastically changing metagames that Pokemon has had in a very long time. So many new offensive and defensive threats were introduced into OU, completely shaking up the tier as we know and shaping it into a new metagame that was completely different from 4th gen. The biggest change had to be the introduction of Drizzle and Drought into the tier, which forced the metagame to adapt to not only Sand and Hail, but also two very powerful weathers in the the form of rain and sun. With Rain boosted Hydro Pumps, sun boosted Fire Blasts, never missing Hurricanes and Thunders, and Chlorophyll sweepers outspeeding everything in the tier, the metagame had become something completely different. But that wasn't it. The 5th gen brought some extremely powerful Pokemon to the tier like Genesect, Keldeo, Excadrill, Terrakion, and Garchomp. We also can't forget about the extremely influential defensive Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Jellicent that have basically forced previous OU Pokemon to plummet in usage because of their extreme defensive capabilities. On top of that, previously Uber Pokemon such as Garchomp, Latias, Kyurem-B, and Latios were all dropped down to OU, forcing the metagame to adapt to them as well.
So here's the big question. Out of all of the amazing and influential Pokemon, what can we say were the top 10 most influential Pokemon in 5th gen? What Pokemon had the biggest impact on the metagame? What Pokemon forced every team to run specific Pokemon to handle them? What Pokemon SHAPED the metagame? All of these questions needs to be asked in order to determine an accurate top 10 list.
Now here's where you guys come in. From August 30th - September 9th you guys will nominate Pokemon to be voted on to be placed as candidates for the Top 10 Titans of 5th Gen OU. After September 9th, we will evaluate all the nominations and begin to individually rank them from 1-10. All nominations will be counted as long as they fit the criteria and are reasonable. If you're going to nominate something like Donphan, then get off my thread please. Keep in mind that we aren't ranking on how good a Pokemon is, we are ranking on how influential the Pokemon has been this generation, and how much of an impact it has had on the metagame itself. This is very important when nominating a Pokemon, so please keep that in mind.
I've decided to have a cutoff as to what Pokemon can be nominated. I'm allowing all previously banned Pokemon to be nominated after Suspect Stage 5, which is Excadrill. As of now, Thundurus-I can also be nominated. This means that all Pokemon that have been banned after Stage 5 such as Tornadus-T and Landorus can be nominated, but nothing early then Excadrill. Yes, you can nominate Excadrill. It was in OU long enough to leave a big enough impact on the tier that there's no question it's eligible for nomination. Anything before that was either too broken to be considered, or not in the metagame long enough.
Here is an example format on how I want your nomination's to look like:
Nominating [Pokemon]
Use this to find the sprite: http://sprites.pokecheck.org/
What effect did [Pokemon] have on the metagame?
Explain how the Pokemon effected the metagame as whole, and how the metagame adapted around it. A brief description of which Pokemon it countered and which Pokemon it did well against would be good here as well.
In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?
Explain why this Pokemon was used on a team more often then most other Pokemon, and what was it particularly used for? What made it so good at this role?
What caused it to have a significant impact?
What exactly made this Pokemon have such a large impact on the metagame? Was it its stats, ability, useful resistances, amazing synergy, or the ability to sweep most of the metagame very easily? Did a certain Pokemon cause it to become that much better when it was partnered with it?
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in OU?
What are the best checks/counters to this Pokemon? How does the metagame adapt to this Pokemon?
Make sure they look EXACTLY like this, or else I wont count them. Make sure they are also very informative, factual, accurate, and detailed. For the example nomination, I'm going to nominate Politoed. There's no question that this Pokemon would be nominated eventually and most definitely be on the top 10, so I'm just going to count it as a nomination as well. Remember, do exactly as I do.
Nominating Politoed.
What effect did Politoed have on the metagame?
The effect that Politoed had on the metagame is hard to put into words. Politoed was given an amazing gift from the Dream World in the form of Drizzle, which permanently summons rain for the entire battle once it comes out into the battlefield. It's impact was so huge that it basically changed the OU tier from weatherless to weather wars. The sheer presence of this thing has made so many Pokemon better in OU, while also making a lot of previously good Pokemon drop out of the tier itself. It created an entirely different playstyle that branched into many other playstyles such as HO rain, rain stall, and balanced rain. It pretty much shaped the OU metagame into what it is now. Hydro Pump now becomes 50% stronger due to the added rain boost, Thunder and Hurricane now have 100% accuracy, and to top it all off, any Pokemon with Swift Swim could now outrun most the entire unboosted tier. Unfortunately for the Toed this strategy was banned, but that didn't stop Politoed from still being an amazing team member.
Politoed forced very bulky Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Jellicent, Rotom-W, and Amoonguss to get a lot more usage to help counter the sheer amount of threats that Politoed created with its permanent rain ability. Gastrodon, who was formerly an NU Pokemon, now finds itself one of the most anti-metagame Pokemon in OU thanks to its Storm Drain ability. Tentacruel and Vaporeon can now take advantage of rain to become outstanding support Pokemon. Offensive Pokemon such as Feraligatr, Sharpedo, Toxicroak, Tornadus, and Moltres that were once stuck in the lower tiers now find themselves comfortable in OU when partnered with Politoed, taking advantage of its ability to increase their Water-type moves to outrageous levels and making Tornadus' and Moltres' STAB Hurricane 100% accurate.
In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?
The answer to that is quite simple; to make it rain. Politoed's ability lets it summon rain for the entire battle, letting its teammates take advantage of it for every single turn. Pokemon like Thundurus-T and Tornadus can now spam Thunder and Hurricane to their hearts content with no drawbacks. Pokemon like Keldeo who are already powerful now become almost impossible to handle, because its Hydro Pump now becomes incredibly powerful. There are many reasons to use Politoed on a team, but it all depends on if Politoed benefits the team more than without it. For example, Toxicroak is a rather lackluster sweeper, but in the rain its ability Dry Skin allows it to restore a ton of health each turn, letting it gain more health each turn then it loses form Life Orb. Thundurus-T can potentially become an extremely dangerous sweeper with a 100% 120 BP STAB Electric move, but it needs Politoed in order to help it sweep more reliably. You can't just slap Politoed on any team and expect it to be good, but when paired specific teammates that depend on the rain support, Politoed is always a valuable asset.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in OU?
When playing in a metagame that includes Politoed, the metagame itself has to adapt to not just Politoed, but the playstyle it creates. Teams are forced to become bulkier in order to keep from being mauled by rain boosted Hydro Pumps or never missing Thunders/Hurricanes. Bulky Grass and Water-type Pokemon are a valuable asset to almost every team. Still, one must not underestimate Politoed itself. Its Specs set looks gimmicky, but in battle, it's terrifying. A Specs rain boosted Hydro Pump can deal a huge amount of damage to even the bulkiest of walls, and it really puts pressure on a lot of teams that lack a Pokemon that not only has high special defense, but also resists it.
There are two Pokemon that come to mind that have helped keep Politoed's rain of terror at bay, and that's Ferrothorn and Jellicent. Ferrothorn's amazing bulk and Grass-typing allow it to switch into a lot of attacks that are normally found on rain teams, such as Thunder, Hydro Pump, and Hurricane to an extent. It can also threaten Politoed and company with a powerful Power Whip, or threaten to setup hazards on them. Jellicent is probably the BEST counter to most Water-types that are commonly found on rain teams. Keldeo can't 2HKO Jellicent with any of its moves, and thanks to Water Absorb, Jellicent can freely switch into even the most powerful of Water attacks without a care in the world. It also has access to Recover to get back any lost damage. Rotom-W is another great anti-rain Pokemon because it counters Tornadus with little effort. Amoonguss, although RU, is actually one of the better counters to rain as well. It can counter both Thundurus-T, Politoed, and Keldeo with the proper EVs. Celebi is in a similar boat, but it must watch out for Scizor, who is commonly seen on rain teams because of its decent synergy with Keldeo. Checking Politoed is not that difficult, as powerful STAB Grass or Electric attacks can deal with it quite easily. Breloom, Rotom-W, Jolteon, Celebi, and Thundurus-T are all great Pokemon that can check Politoed with relative ease. Don't underestimate its bulk though, because it's rather bulky.
What effect did Politoed have on the metagame?
The effect that Politoed had on the metagame is hard to put into words. Politoed was given an amazing gift from the Dream World in the form of Drizzle, which permanently summons rain for the entire battle once it comes out into the battlefield. It's impact was so huge that it basically changed the OU tier from weatherless to weather wars. The sheer presence of this thing has made so many Pokemon better in OU, while also making a lot of previously good Pokemon drop out of the tier itself. It created an entirely different playstyle that branched into many other playstyles such as HO rain, rain stall, and balanced rain. It pretty much shaped the OU metagame into what it is now. Hydro Pump now becomes 50% stronger due to the added rain boost, Thunder and Hurricane now have 100% accuracy, and to top it all off, any Pokemon with Swift Swim could now outrun most the entire unboosted tier. Unfortunately for the Toed this strategy was banned, but that didn't stop Politoed from still being an amazing team member.
Politoed forced very bulky Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Jellicent, Rotom-W, and Amoonguss to get a lot more usage to help counter the sheer amount of threats that Politoed created with its permanent rain ability. Gastrodon, who was formerly an NU Pokemon, now finds itself one of the most anti-metagame Pokemon in OU thanks to its Storm Drain ability. Tentacruel and Vaporeon can now take advantage of rain to become outstanding support Pokemon. Offensive Pokemon such as Feraligatr, Sharpedo, Toxicroak, Tornadus, and Moltres that were once stuck in the lower tiers now find themselves comfortable in OU when partnered with Politoed, taking advantage of its ability to increase their Water-type moves to outrageous levels and making Tornadus' and Moltres' STAB Hurricane 100% accurate.
In what main roles was [Pokemon] used?
The answer to that is quite simple; to make it rain. Politoed's ability lets it summon rain for the entire battle, letting its teammates take advantage of it for every single turn. Pokemon like Thundurus-T and Tornadus can now spam Thunder and Hurricane to their hearts content with no drawbacks. Pokemon like Keldeo who are already powerful now become almost impossible to handle, because its Hydro Pump now becomes incredibly powerful. There are many reasons to use Politoed on a team, but it all depends on if Politoed benefits the team more than without it. For example, Toxicroak is a rather lackluster sweeper, but in the rain its ability Dry Skin allows it to restore a ton of health each turn, letting it gain more health each turn then it loses form Life Orb. Thundurus-T can potentially become an extremely dangerous sweeper with a 100% 120 BP STAB Electric move, but it needs Politoed in order to help it sweep more reliably. You can't just slap Politoed on any team and expect it to be good, but when paired specific teammates that depend on the rain support, Politoed is always a valuable asset.
How do/did you deal with this Pokemon in OU?
When playing in a metagame that includes Politoed, the metagame itself has to adapt to not just Politoed, but the playstyle it creates. Teams are forced to become bulkier in order to keep from being mauled by rain boosted Hydro Pumps or never missing Thunders/Hurricanes. Bulky Grass and Water-type Pokemon are a valuable asset to almost every team. Still, one must not underestimate Politoed itself. Its Specs set looks gimmicky, but in battle, it's terrifying. A Specs rain boosted Hydro Pump can deal a huge amount of damage to even the bulkiest of walls, and it really puts pressure on a lot of teams that lack a Pokemon that not only has high special defense, but also resists it.
There are two Pokemon that come to mind that have helped keep Politoed's rain of terror at bay, and that's Ferrothorn and Jellicent. Ferrothorn's amazing bulk and Grass-typing allow it to switch into a lot of attacks that are normally found on rain teams, such as Thunder, Hydro Pump, and Hurricane to an extent. It can also threaten Politoed and company with a powerful Power Whip, or threaten to setup hazards on them. Jellicent is probably the BEST counter to most Water-types that are commonly found on rain teams. Keldeo can't 2HKO Jellicent with any of its moves, and thanks to Water Absorb, Jellicent can freely switch into even the most powerful of Water attacks without a care in the world. It also has access to Recover to get back any lost damage. Rotom-W is another great anti-rain Pokemon because it counters Tornadus with little effort. Amoonguss, although RU, is actually one of the better counters to rain as well. It can counter both Thundurus-T, Politoed, and Keldeo with the proper EVs. Celebi is in a similar boat, but it must watch out for Scizor, who is commonly seen on rain teams because of its decent synergy with Keldeo. Checking Politoed is not that difficult, as powerful STAB Grass or Electric attacks can deal with it quite easily. Breloom, Rotom-W, Jolteon, Celebi, and Thundurus-T are all great Pokemon that can check Politoed with relative ease. Don't underestimate its bulk though, because it's rather bulky.
Current Nominees: (Link to nomination posts in the names)
| Politoed | Jellicent | Terrakion | Ferrothorn | Latias | Tornadus-T |
| Genesect | Kyurem-B | Venusaur | Excadrill | Breloom | Heatran |
| Landorus | Volcarona | Latios | Dragonite | Tyranitar | Reuniclus |
| Keldeo | Jirachi | Celebi | Scizor | Ninetales | Deoxys-S |
| Garchomp | Gengar |
THE TOP 10 TITANS OF OU:
1.
Conclusion
And with that, the voting is now over! The list has been determined and finalized, so if you want to see what the community has ultimately decided on, please refer back to the OP for the official list. Anyways, this has been a very fun experience guys, and it was awesome to hear all the differing opinions everyone seemed to have. Although there were only very minor instances where someone had to step in, the discussion was overall very healthy and on topic, which can sometimes be hard at times for subjective threads like this. Now that the voting is over, you are free to discuss things that you like or maybe dislike about the list. Do you think that any changes should be made to the list? If so, why? Although the votes are locked, I don't mind people arguing against certain Pokemon being too high, too low, or not even being on the list. What is YOUR personal Top 10 list? Do you think this list is accurate enough of our current metagame? Try not to steer to far away from these questions, but otherwise, just make sure to keep the discussion about the list in general.
Anyways, thank you guys so much for helping me with this awesome project! I can't wait to compare this list to the X and Y metagame once its settled, as the new changes and Pokemon are bound to change up this list astronomically. Great job guys! See you guys in X and Y!
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