While I'm all for labeling them as BL suspects for closer observation, I really feel that the top level pokemon in UU sort of balance each other out to create a stable, and in my opinion enjoyable, metagame.
I've made a very rough diagram that shows how I think the top threats balance each other, sort of like an 'UU food web'.
An
arrow indicates
'is beaten by'.
- Special Attackers such as Raikou and Shaymin.
- Bulky Steels such as Steelix and Registeel.
- Bulky Waters such as Slowbro and Milotic.
- Physical Attackers such as Gallade and Staraptor.
This is all very generalized, but I feel it is a somewhat accurate portrayal of how these different groups of pokemon interact with each other. We start off with the powerful special sweepers such as Raikou and Shaymin. Both are very hard to stop once they get going, get very good coverage and are bulky enough to take hits if need be (which makes them less vulnerable to priority attacks).
They are held in check by the steel types, Registeel and Steelix. They resist / are immune to their primary stabs, and can hit back with super effective attacks if need be. Basically, the damage output of the steels is greater than the special sweepers, meaning that the steels win against them.
This is where the bulky waters, primarily Slowbro and Milotic, come in. Bulky waters take little from steel stab attacks and earthquakes, don't mind paralysis all too much, and with access to reliable recovery moves will easily outstall the steels, unless of course they decide to blow up. In turn, these bulky waters are held in check by the original special sweepers, who hit them very hard with their stab attacks, and have the bulk to come in on weak surfs.
Physical attackers such as Gallade and Staraptor fit in at the bottom, being able to take out the steel types with high powered super effective hits, but are generally stopped by the bulky waters, in particular slowbro. Physical attackers are generally a lot more susceptible to status, so the waters' Thunder Waves that Shaymin can switch away and Raikou can hide from behind subs tend to cripple these physical attackers. The physical and special attackers sort of balance each other out, with neither of them being able to switch into each other, but both of them being able to revenge kill the other. Raikou can outspeed and revenge kill a weakened Gallade, whereas Gallade can take a Thunderbolt and proceed to beat a weakened Raikou. Similarly, whereas Staraptor cannot directly switch into Shaymin, it can come in after a kill and scare it off, and similarly, Shaymin can take choice locked Close Combats and force Staraptor away.
I feel that if you remove one of these key links, the rest of the chain unravels with something losing a check or counter and dominating the metagame. Once again, I know that this is a very generalized view of the UU tier, but I feel it is quite accurate for what it is. And ladder a couple of times and you'll begin to see this team pattern of 'lead / bulky water / bulky steel / physical attacker / special attacker / something else' quite a lot.
Anyway, let's hear others' opinions on this =).
