I just realised I haven't posted in here for a bit, so I might as well talk about the metagame. First of all, I think that PU is still very accommodating to a variety of playstyles, with most types of offensive being viable, such as Spikes, HO, Sun, and Sticky Web. However, I think since the earlier stages of PU, stall is a lot more prominent. Maybe it's the absence of some powerful threats like Exeggutor and Samurott, or maybe it's just everyone realising that there are actually a decent amount of viable defensive Pokemon in PU, such as Musharna, Avalugg, Poliwrath, Roselia, Tangela, Togetic, Camerupt, Lickilicky, and the Gourgeist formes. One of my most commonly seen teams, my SubCM Serperior team, which I've used in a few PU room tours, was made before stall became as popular as it is, so it is rather weak to stall teams carrying things such as SubWOW Misdreavus. When I assume my opponent will bring a stall team, I simply swap out Focus Sash on Kadabra for Life Orb, which benefits it immensely as its coverage is perfect for taking on stall teams worn down with Stealth Rock, and the extra power is far more useful in these matchups than the Focus Sash is. I think at the beginning of PU we gave Avalugg a lot of flack for being a Rapid Spinner that couldn't touch the Ghosts of the tier, but Avalugg is just so bulky, that a lot of people have been using it, as it walls almost every physical attacker in the tier outside of Fire-types like CB Flareon.
Something I've noticed is that in PU tours and even on the high ladder, teams tend to stray from some of the most powerful threats and instead turn towards innovations, one of the joys of such a fresh tier filled with variety. For example, I very rarely see Shell Smash Carracosta, but I have often seen SubNP Simipour. PU has a huge amount of options worth using in a battle, and I'm glad people are finding ways to make the most out of the tier's hidden gems. Some Pokemon I've been seeing used recently include:
- Simipour: As mentioned before, I have seen quite a few Simipour, the first on a team from Aladyyn. With Samurott gone, it is probably the best special Water-type in the tier, and it has a very good Speed stat, beating Ninetales by one point, making it fantastic against NP Ninetales as other Water-types like Barbaracle get smacked with Energy Ball before they can move.
- Dusknoir: As one of the only offensive Ghost-types in the tier, I thought this would be interesting as its physical bias gives it some advantages over Haunter. Its Choice Band set is really niche, with boosted Shadow Punch being quite strong, and priority Shadow Sneak being a useful tool against opposing Haunter. Dusknoir's good physical bulk is very handy when it takes on offensive roles as well.
- Clefairy: I think Clefairy is criminally underrated. Its Calm Mind set is so similar to Clefable's in OU, and with the aid of a trapping Pokemon like Trapinch for Steel-types (and Poison-types), CM Clefairy can actually do very well against specially oriented teams as well as defensive ones.
Some other things I've been trying include semi-Hail with Glaceon and even Duosion, Double Dance Torterra, LO SubSplit Torterra, DD RestTalk Dragonair, mono-attacking Klang, sand with Stoutland, and Sliggoo and Zweilous on defensive teams. There is so much variety in PU that the tier is incredibly fun.
Recently, I gave a team to aim for him to use in one of his videos, and his first PU live is up! Check it out if you want to watch some casual PU Laddering:
Finally, Magnemite touched on the idea of a Musharna suspect. It's funny, I used to think that Sneasel was broken in the tier, and while I still think it's very amazing, I feel like Musharna is well above it. It simply has the general bulk to withstand just about anything without being 2HKOed, even from the Pokemon with super-effective STAB moves which happen to be very rare in PU. While the PP on Moonlight doesn't help it much, it is incredibly stellar in the tier, and I think it has gotten to the point where it might be a bit too much.