xJownage
Even pendulums swing both ways
So here is what I have learned in this meta so far, which is quite a bit considering half of the time on PS i am trying to get people to play.
Slowbro-Mega needs immediate quickban. I will refuse to play against people that use slowbronite. It is just that broken.
Ludicolo isn't as awesome as you might think it is. I have tried several sets, such as band, LO, lefties, and even scarf (lol) and none seem THAT good. Decent, but not game-breaking. It has synthesis for recovery, but with rain everywhere it becomes frail; and it has drain punch, but there are so many resists that it isn't very reliable at all. It hits pretty hard, but its really not as good as people hyped it up to be (think A on viability)
Mew is actually somewhat disappointing. With LO its supposed to hit as hard as greninja, but it doesn't have nearly the speed that ninja does and it is forced to set up in order to clean teams. It is also forced to run soft-boiled if it wants to take advantage of its bulk, since otherwise its just kind of like greninja in terms of bulk due to LO recoil and the fact that you won't be investing much. Alas, even me being disappointed doesn't mean mew isn't good. Again, probably A on viability.
Zoroark is mediocre at best. Mainly, the speed rather mitigates its general potential, and as a result its easy to take advantage of. Sure it gets nasty plot and can eat apart many stall teams as a result, but to be honest its not very good against offensive teams.
Slaking is a great mon. Its better this than regigigas, as slaking's much worse special bulk prevents it from running what would be a really OP bulk up set. Slaking's physical bulk is great, 150/100 matching origin forme giratina, and its massive attack stat and decent speed make it a major threat. It even gets reliable recovery in slack off and can revenge kill with a scarf and a truly terrifying retaliate. It isn't broken, however, due to the special defense and the fact that its well...a normal type. Its actually pretty easy to counter for many teams, standard things like intimidate lant and gengar easily dispose of it.
Thundurus: Ohhhh boy. People say "it has to run HP for coverage" and I laugh. This thing has amazing power but more utility than lando, first off having volt switch and also still being able to run standard prankster sets effectively (which are good to stop that fucking thing we call tornadus). Simple sets of thunderbolt / volt switch / sludge wave (grass types) / hp ice or nasty plot or psychic or fucking anything you want can obliterate so many teams because of its sheer power alongside the momentum its mere presence garners. I have one issue: its really hard to fit on teams.
Staraptor doesn't work; it needs a scarf to abuse moxie, doesn't have the power to get many kills, and doesn't like being locked into BB anyways.
Nidoking's best set is as a scarfer. Since every stall team will be carrying a ghost type to beat the stallbreaker super fang + seismic toss, I honestly think it is best just to spam EQ and poison jab from a much higher speed tier than its normal shitty one. Nidoking has the unique ability to hit hard even with a jolly nature; it hits significantly harder than lant and has better coverage on top of it (it doesn't get u-turn however). Even though its scarf set is good, it sometimes is hard to find merits over standard scarf lant, so tbh its only so good.
Scizor ........ I have no words. This thing is absolutely INSANE. SDef ferrothorn takes almost 70% from u-turn. That is a LOT of damage, especially for a pivot move. Hustle Bandzor's bullet punch hits just as hard as technician, but has the bonus of extremely powerful coverage moves. Its superpower and knock off hit really hard as well, and as a result this is just a mon I can't find myself not throwing on a team because its SO GOOD.
Zapdos is a better rain setter than tier shift politoed, and its in S rank there so...yeah. Zapdos has volt switch, good bulk, a tremendous typing, and a great support movepool to abuse in setting rain for teams. Its much more reliable than politoed as well, having reliable recovery and the ability to get that damage off since so many mons can just flat OHKO and many don't even 2hko. The kind of slow volt swtiches are sitting in the middle speed tier; great for scouting sets and getting your rain sweepers in. Speaking of rain sweepers...
Garchomp is pretty amazing. It literally sweeps everything, and in the rain, +2 LO aqua jet KOs most mons who would try to RK, such as mamoswine:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Garchomp Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine in Rain: 452-533 (107.1 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
SD LO actually is suprisingly easy to set up with a good volt switch, as it sets up on a lot of threats in the current meta and proceeds to sweep them all. Scarfmons can't revenge it anyways; its so goddamn fast in the rain you shouldn't even bother. It is also still just as good outside of rain, especially considering how LO SD is good against stall teams as well.
Tornadus really is as good as you think it is, and not much better. Its kind of broken in the rain, but not so much outside of the rain (okay eevee i was portraying how rain is broken on tornadus im sorry) due to the low accuracy. In the rain, its absolutely insane, having tons of power with hurricane. Focus miss gets past some of its counters, and what beats it it can just u-turn out on so why even bother? Tornadus is another amazing mon for rain teams.
Latios-mega with adaptability seems super OP, but it really isn't. Think AAA adaptability LO latios, slightly less powerful with slightly more bulk. Its bulk would make it nearly broken, but its got a truly awful typing that holds it back. Its stabs also leave it walled by a significant number of mons, namely all steel types and seeing as how scizor and ferrothorn will be common im not surprised its not too hard to handle.
Ferrothorn: Yet another ridiculous threat for rain teams atm, as rain dish gives it psuedo-reliable recovery for it to abuse. TBH rain needs to go at this point. Doesn't do much differently than it does in OU, it just has recovery in rain.
Tough Claws Kabutops is also insane. That waterfall is just unbelievably powerful. I am sorely tempted to make a team of Zapdos / chomp / tornadus / tops / ferro / klefki (secondary rain setter + spikes and twave). Rain as a whole is just that good right now. Maybe shove a goth on there if you feel uncomfortable.
Shadow Tag Aegislash is actually completely useless since all its trapping targets (defensive) beat it, as it can't trick a scarf so most can outstall it anyways, and it can't beat offensive mons either because it has zero presence on that side and zero recovery as well. For those of you who used aegislash, you understand that it gets its kills from using attacks, not toxic stalling. Standard Stance Change, if legal, is pretty good.
Darmanitan-zen, which yes I have playtested, is middling on okay. its got a speed tier of 30, which makes it completely garbage against many mons, but it has good bulk and a very hard hitting fire blast. Its okay, but nothing special.
Many standard mons are still really good in this, such as bisharp, lant, prankster thundy, etc.
I am assuming aegislash is unbanned with what Eevee General is saying
These mons I mentioned above have ALL BEEN PLAYTESTED BY ME. Im not just theorymonning, its all tested.
Slowbro-Mega needs immediate quickban. I will refuse to play against people that use slowbronite. It is just that broken.
Ludicolo isn't as awesome as you might think it is. I have tried several sets, such as band, LO, lefties, and even scarf (lol) and none seem THAT good. Decent, but not game-breaking. It has synthesis for recovery, but with rain everywhere it becomes frail; and it has drain punch, but there are so many resists that it isn't very reliable at all. It hits pretty hard, but its really not as good as people hyped it up to be (think A on viability)
Mew is actually somewhat disappointing. With LO its supposed to hit as hard as greninja, but it doesn't have nearly the speed that ninja does and it is forced to set up in order to clean teams. It is also forced to run soft-boiled if it wants to take advantage of its bulk, since otherwise its just kind of like greninja in terms of bulk due to LO recoil and the fact that you won't be investing much. Alas, even me being disappointed doesn't mean mew isn't good. Again, probably A on viability.
Zoroark is mediocre at best. Mainly, the speed rather mitigates its general potential, and as a result its easy to take advantage of. Sure it gets nasty plot and can eat apart many stall teams as a result, but to be honest its not very good against offensive teams.
Slaking is a great mon. Its better this than regigigas, as slaking's much worse special bulk prevents it from running what would be a really OP bulk up set. Slaking's physical bulk is great, 150/100 matching origin forme giratina, and its massive attack stat and decent speed make it a major threat. It even gets reliable recovery in slack off and can revenge kill with a scarf and a truly terrifying retaliate. It isn't broken, however, due to the special defense and the fact that its well...a normal type. Its actually pretty easy to counter for many teams, standard things like intimidate lant and gengar easily dispose of it.
Thundurus: Ohhhh boy. People say "it has to run HP for coverage" and I laugh. This thing has amazing power but more utility than lando, first off having volt switch and also still being able to run standard prankster sets effectively (which are good to stop that fucking thing we call tornadus). Simple sets of thunderbolt / volt switch / sludge wave (grass types) / hp ice or nasty plot or psychic or fucking anything you want can obliterate so many teams because of its sheer power alongside the momentum its mere presence garners. I have one issue: its really hard to fit on teams.
Staraptor doesn't work; it needs a scarf to abuse moxie, doesn't have the power to get many kills, and doesn't like being locked into BB anyways.
Nidoking's best set is as a scarfer. Since every stall team will be carrying a ghost type to beat the stallbreaker super fang + seismic toss, I honestly think it is best just to spam EQ and poison jab from a much higher speed tier than its normal shitty one. Nidoking has the unique ability to hit hard even with a jolly nature; it hits significantly harder than lant and has better coverage on top of it (it doesn't get u-turn however). Even though its scarf set is good, it sometimes is hard to find merits over standard scarf lant, so tbh its only so good.
Scizor ........ I have no words. This thing is absolutely INSANE. SDef ferrothorn takes almost 70% from u-turn. That is a LOT of damage, especially for a pivot move. Hustle Bandzor's bullet punch hits just as hard as technician, but has the bonus of extremely powerful coverage moves. Its superpower and knock off hit really hard as well, and as a result this is just a mon I can't find myself not throwing on a team because its SO GOOD.
Zapdos is a better rain setter than tier shift politoed, and its in S rank there so...yeah. Zapdos has volt switch, good bulk, a tremendous typing, and a great support movepool to abuse in setting rain for teams. Its much more reliable than politoed as well, having reliable recovery and the ability to get that damage off since so many mons can just flat OHKO and many don't even 2hko. The kind of slow volt swtiches are sitting in the middle speed tier; great for scouting sets and getting your rain sweepers in. Speaking of rain sweepers...
Garchomp is pretty amazing. It literally sweeps everything, and in the rain, +2 LO aqua jet KOs most mons who would try to RK, such as mamoswine:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Garchomp Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine in Rain: 452-533 (107.1 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
SD LO actually is suprisingly easy to set up with a good volt switch, as it sets up on a lot of threats in the current meta and proceeds to sweep them all. Scarfmons can't revenge it anyways; its so goddamn fast in the rain you shouldn't even bother. It is also still just as good outside of rain, especially considering how LO SD is good against stall teams as well.
Tornadus really is as good as you think it is, and not much better. Its kind of broken in the rain, but not so much outside of the rain (okay eevee i was portraying how rain is broken on tornadus im sorry) due to the low accuracy. In the rain, its absolutely insane, having tons of power with hurricane. Focus miss gets past some of its counters, and what beats it it can just u-turn out on so why even bother? Tornadus is another amazing mon for rain teams.
Latios-mega with adaptability seems super OP, but it really isn't. Think AAA adaptability LO latios, slightly less powerful with slightly more bulk. Its bulk would make it nearly broken, but its got a truly awful typing that holds it back. Its stabs also leave it walled by a significant number of mons, namely all steel types and seeing as how scizor and ferrothorn will be common im not surprised its not too hard to handle.
Ferrothorn: Yet another ridiculous threat for rain teams atm, as rain dish gives it psuedo-reliable recovery for it to abuse. TBH rain needs to go at this point. Doesn't do much differently than it does in OU, it just has recovery in rain.
Tough Claws Kabutops is also insane. That waterfall is just unbelievably powerful. I am sorely tempted to make a team of Zapdos / chomp / tornadus / tops / ferro / klefki (secondary rain setter + spikes and twave). Rain as a whole is just that good right now. Maybe shove a goth on there if you feel uncomfortable.
Shadow Tag Aegislash is actually completely useless since all its trapping targets (defensive) beat it, as it can't trick a scarf so most can outstall it anyways, and it can't beat offensive mons either because it has zero presence on that side and zero recovery as well. For those of you who used aegislash, you understand that it gets its kills from using attacks, not toxic stalling. Standard Stance Change, if legal, is pretty good.
Darmanitan-zen, which yes I have playtested, is middling on okay. its got a speed tier of 30, which makes it completely garbage against many mons, but it has good bulk and a very hard hitting fire blast. Its okay, but nothing special.
Many standard mons are still really good in this, such as bisharp, lant, prankster thundy, etc.
I am assuming aegislash is unbanned with what Eevee General is saying
These mons I mentioned above have ALL BEEN PLAYTESTED BY ME. Im not just theorymonning, its all tested.
