Originally Posted by Fat MicfiJasan
Ahh stats, my favorite time of the month. Thank you Antar! Though I will say it feels weird considering we had half-month stats to work with.
My observations/comments:
The Pokes who came on strong in the 2nd half:
1. Cresselia +4.965% from 1st half
2. Nidoqueen +3.14%
3. Durant +2.96%
4. Qwilfish +1.481%
5. Absol +1.257%
The top 3 are all pretty much expected, with the 2 suspects at the top and a fairly recently re-released Durant at number 3. Qwilfish at number 4 is pretty interesting. I would've expected it to go to Poliwrath given what I've heard about the physically bulky waters, but Qwilfish is still solid. And it was a great second half for Absol. It went from borderline RU to something that will most likely rise up come the next month.
I concur that among these trends, only Qwilfish was truly surprising. And the reason Qwilfish was surprising was because of Poliwrath being expected instead to rise up.
The Pokes who stumbled in the 2nd half:
1. Dusknoir -1.577% from 1st half
2. Magmortar -1.412%
3. Sceptile -1.324%
4. Bouffalant -1.323%
5. Moltres -1.295%
It appears the fact that Dusknoir =/= Cofagrigus is starting to sink in, although I wouldn't guarantee this trend will continue as strongly next month. I talked about Magmortar's huge rise in the 1st half stats, and this seems to indicate a bit of regression towards the mean, so to speak. Still a net gain for him over this month, though. Sceptile has the second largest drop over the course of the entire month (behind Uxie), but it still only dropped him one spot. I don't see him dropping to much further. I'm not sure about Bouffalant, never used him. But I think he's pretty good in RU right? If Moltres had top-tier usage to go with its top-tier viability rank, I would brush it off like I brushed off Sceptile. But he doesn't so this trend makes absolutely no sense to me.
Dusknoir =/= Cofagrigus was something I learned six rounds ago upon happenstance testing of both in a higher tier (out of pure boredom). I dunno, maybe I just have a fetish for SubPunch sets, but I also found Dusknoir to kick more ass than its younger brother Dusclops in UU.
That said, some of the other stat threshold stumbles, bar Bouffulant, are a tad surprising. My main concern with Bouffy is that people tend to use it solely to check Lilligant and Whimsicott, who are otherwise very potent without Sap Sippers in the way of their sweeps/annoyances. Oddly enough, though, I view Sawsbuck to be a better Sap Sipper. Perhaps it's because of Horn Leech and SuckerPunch-evasion via Nature Power. To be honest, I don't particularly mind much among the stat thresholds.
And now some predictions for fun:
Fortunes Rising: Rotom (Neutral)
Despite a falling this month, it appears to be more of a "regression to the mean" when sided with his massive jump from September to October. Throw in he's the only Ghost-type capable of beating Kabutops and I expect to see a rise to just below where he was in October.
The considerable lack of other viable Ghost-types in RU also helps Rotom-N some in usage rising. Although, I expect quite a few people to still use Dusknoir and Spiritomb over it, come what may.
Fortunes Falling: Rotom (Mow)
Pretty much the opposite of his neutral form, he appeared to rise this month in a "regression to the mean" fashion. However, he also fell off in the second-half of the month, so he appears to be trending downward on the whole. However, I can't think of anything negative to say about him metagame wise so I would love to be proven wrong.
Rotom-C does more to Kabutops than Rotom-N due to the Leaf Storm STAB it attains. Although, in the case of both Rotoms, Kabutops will be OHKO'd from almost all sets to my knowledge.
Bold Prediction of the Month: Primeape falls to NU
He has a similar trend to Rotom-Mow, but his usage is actually low enough where it might matter. His rise this month was pretty insignificant compared to his huge drop immediately after a Ghost-type left the tier. That to me seems more telling of his ultimate fate.
Eh, I wouldn't call this a bold prediction, mostly because Primeape has been hovering betwixt staying in RU and being available for the NU metagame for quite some time. However, considering how most other Pokemon and their usage thresholds remain somewhat static, I can probably assert that a fall to NU at this time would be somewhat unexpected by other people. Mostly because more people are paying attention to Roselia and Stoutland falling to NU imo, and either hoping Scolipede does the same or using Scolipede so it doesn't happen.
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