The Matchups and Usage
As far as matchups go it was a bad month for Grass. Poison moved from Bad to Neutral matchup was the only positive improvement. However Flying and Steel moved from Bad to Terrible, Fairy and Electric moved from Good to Neutral, and Rock moved from Awesome to Good. Grass also boasted some of the most imbalanced matchups with Fire beating it 80.7% of the time, Bug beating it 79.2% of the time and Steel beating it with 78.9% of the time. That is tied with Ice and Rock with 3 imbalanced matchups.
As far as usage goes, Grass only went backwards with 3.24% in June to
2.57% in July, its lowest usage this year. For context, in now sits in a group with the other "bad" types including Electric, Poison, Ice and Rock.
The Top 6:
When I look at the six pokemon below, I see the basic build for a grass team in the current metagame. Below I'll discuss the common moves, items and spreads that each pokemon runs and what it is useful for in a grass team. The first percentage is the July usage, and the second percentage is the average usage over 2015. I would like to point out that the top 6 haven't changed for grass in the last 6 months (excluding the Skymin usage in February when it was banned).
Ferrothorn
: (86.33% / 88.75%) The most used grass pokemon and for a good reason, boasting 3 neutralities and an immunity to grass weaknesses, as well as a great defensive stat spread, it does its job well. Usually runs a Relaxed nature, although Sassy spreads are also used. Top three items are Leftovers, Rocky Helmet and Focus Sash, the last of which is used to ensure hazards go up against Fire threats. Physical options include Gyro Ball and Power Whip (STABS) and Knock Off for added utility. Status moves include Leech Seed and Protect (which is relies on for recovery), Stealth Rock and Spikes (hazards), and Thunder Wave.
Venusaur
/ M-Venusaur
: (85.80% / 81.38%) Without a doubt the best mega choice for grass, Venusaurite is currently used on 83.85% of teams, the highest this year. Runs a wide range of natures depending if it is defensive or offensively oriented. Common offensive moves are Sludge Bomb and Giga Drain (STAB), HP Fire and Earthquake for coverage. If Earthquake is run, usually a neutral or -Spe nature is used. Has recovery options in Synthesis and Leech Seed, and also runs Sleep Powder. It jumped up to 2nd in July, likely due to the drop of people using Sceptilite.
Breloom
: (80.90% / 83.43%) Everyone knows how Breloom operates. Almost always a Technician Sash but Life Orb has been gaining popularity recently as well. Bullet Seed and Mach Punch for STABS (although some commonly run Power-Up Punch to boost attack; don't use this in my opinion), Rock Tomb for coverage. Spore is most commonly used Status, however can be combined with Swords Dance. It wishes it could run five moves. Jolly is most commonly run due to its subpar speed, although Adamant spreads are not uncommon. Jumped down to 3rd in July, essentially swapping with Venusaur, and with the rise of Shiftry usage, players much have been using alternative physical sweepers.
Serperior
: (66.29% / 61.29%) Grass Special contrary sweeper almost exclusively runs Timid spreads to boost its speed to excellent levels as one of the fastest pokemon on grass. Items are either Leftovers, Life Orb or surprisingly Focus Sash. Leaf storm and sometimes Giga Drain as a second STAB, Dragon Pulse and either HP Fire / Rock for coverage. Also runs Mirror Coat (likely with Focus Sash) although I imagine this is less reliable. Status options for fourth move slot include Glare, Substitute and Taunt.
Cradily
: (57.71% / 44.32%) Usually runs as a SpD wall, with Calm or Careful natures, however Bold is also common. Suctions Cups is the most common ability but it depends on what moves it runs; if boosting moves such as Curse or Stockpile are used, Suctions cups is the best option; otherwise there isn't much reason not to run Storm Drain. Item is usually Leftovers, although Weakness Policy has also be gaining popularity. Has Recover for recovery and can Toxic stall, as well as set Stealth Rocks. Due to equal attack and special attack, Cradily has the option to run either. On one hand you have Rock Slide and Earthquake, and on the other Giga Drain, Ancient Power and Earth Power. The physical set suffers when burnt but is otherwise stronger. The special set does benefit from the Storm Drain boost (but who would use a water move on a grass type?). Cradily offers great neutralities to Flying, Fire and Poison.
Whimsicott
: (44.54% / 38.56%) Usually the fastest Pokemon on Grass with a 116 base speed, its usually runs either Timid (with SpA and Spe) or Bold (with HP and Def). Prankster is the most common ability but a good portion also runs Infiltrator; the split likely depending on how supportive/offensive you want your Whimsicott to be. Leftovers is usually the go-to item but Choice Specs also sees usage on the more offensive sets. The bizarre thing is that Switcheroo isn't even currently used on below 4% of Whimsicott, which seems like wasted potential. Moonblast and Giga are STAB options, while Shadow Ball and Psychic are used for coverage. Has a range of status options making use of Prankster, the most popular of which is Leech Seed, Encore, Substitute, Toxic and Stun Spore. Another noticeable absence in its most used moves is Taunt.
The Other Eight:
Now the following 8 Pokemon have all had above 10% usage in a least two months this year, and really represent the only semi-viable options that remain when building grass teams. Notice that there is a solid 20% jump from 6th place usage to 7th place.
Rotom-Mow
: (24.70% / 24.46%) The most used Grass Pokemon outside of the top six, both this month and with year-long averages. I would place is as the most likely replacement of Whimsicott, although they do different jobs. Choice Scarf if the only option really used, and combined with the commonly used Timid nature, helps with the speed problem that most grass teams face. It's move pool is pretty limited but is does its job well. Offensive options are Volt Switch for momentum, Thunderbolt and Leaf Storm for STABS and HP Ice for pseudo-boltbeam. Trick is necessary to offload the scarf when convenient and Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave also represent solid status options. Levitate is also a surprisingly useful ability, as the primary defensive core of grass (Venu, Ferro, Crad) all take neutral Ground damage (read earthquake) and can offer a helpful switch in. It moved from 8th to 7th this month, however is percentage usage actually decreased slightly.
Ludicolo
: (24.51% / 20.40%) I was surprised to see Ludicolo jump from 12th to 8th this month, with a rise of 10% usage. It is likely players were looking for something to help against Fire teams. Swift Swim is the majority ability however 39% also run Own Tempo for reasons I don't really understand. The most common spreads are bulky with Calm (HP and SpD) or Modest Offensive, holding Leftovers or Life Orb respectively. Damp Rock is also a good option when running Rain Dance however weakens synthesis on Venu. Offensive options are straightforward Giga Drain and three options of water STAB (Scald, Surf and Hydro Pump) with Ice Beam for coverage. Rain Dance setter to boost speed under Swift Swim, again helping address the speed problem of grass, as well as leech seed and protect for more defensive variants.
Trevenant
: (19.70% / 21.38%) Didn't move position from last month. I personally think Trevenant is overused on grass, and there are better Pokemon that do its job as a special defensive wall (over 75% of Trevenant are Careful). Its niche is Harvest, coupled with Lum or Sitrus can provide good recovery. Can provide a decent status absorber for grass, a type which otherwise struggles dealing with status. Runs Will-o-Wisp, Leech Seed, Substitute and Rest as status options and Shadow Claw, Phantom Force, Horn Leech as STAB attacks. Its Physical (as opposed to special) presence on grass is also helpful. Can also be used as a spin blocker however rapid spin isn't too common anyway.
Shiftry
: (18.52% / 13.22%) July was a bit of a turn-around for Shiftry, as in June it was 15th with 4.84% usage and rose to 10th with almost 4x as much usage. There is really only one reason to use Shiftry on a grass team and that is Defog. Usually Adamant (but Lonely and Jolly are also used) with a Life Orb or Focus Sash. Apart from Defog, Swords Dance is the only other status option used. Sucker Punch and Knock Off, Leaf Blade and Leaf Storm are the STAB options (Leaf Storm if Lonely nature), Fake Out for utility and Rock Slide to wreck Fire teams when sun is up, due to its Chlorophyll ability.
Celebi
: (16.77% / 21.39%) Celebi actually dropped from 7th position to 11th in July, and lost about 10% usage. Runs a huge range of spreads, but held item is either leftovers or choice scarf with its decent (although not outstanding) speed tier. Natural Cure also allows it to function well as a status absorber for Grass. If offensive Celebi is what you want, Celebi runs Psychic, Giga Drain, Energy Ball for STABs, Earth Power, Dazzling Gleam and HP Fire for coverage. Interestingly this month, physical Celebi was nowhere to be seen, as it was in past months. Provides Grass with useful Heal Bell support and can also Baton Pass Nasty Plot and Calm Mind boosts making its useful as a support pokemon. Thunder Wave and Recover make up the rest of its commonly used status move options.
Sceptile
/ M-Sceptile
: (13.01% / 22.37%) Has had its worst month in July with the lowest its usage has been in the entire year. Mega Sceptile is now used on just 11.22% of Grass teams, and without Sceptilite, it's pretty useless. Opportunity cost of the mega stone is usually too high, unless running Hyper Offensive grass. That being said, it is only of the Grass Pokemon that has viable sets on both the Physical and Special side. Swords Dance is can be run to boost attack on physical sets alongside options such as Leaf Blade, Dragon Claw, Earthquake and Drain Punch. On the Special side, there is Dragon Pulse, Giga Drain, Leaf Storm, Energy Ball, Focus Blast and HP Fire. Substitute is also a common choice. Its niche is being the fastest pokemon on Grass with 145 Base Speed and can only be paralysed via Glare, or Body Slam.
Shaymin
: (11.20% / 12.96%**) I'm surprised this guy stuck around for longer than a month. Compared to its competition with Celebi, Sceptile and Serperior, its difficult to find a niche. However it does have less weaknesses than Celebi and also functions as a status absorber with Natural Cure. It doesn't require a mega stone to be useful like Sceptile and it doesn't need to boost its special attack with leaf storm like Serperior. It addition, Seed Flare can work as a pseudo-boost in special attack with a 40% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense stat by two stages. Shaymin is definitely not as useful in Land Forme. It runs either Leftovers or Life Orb with Timid nature. The standard set is Seed Flare, Earth Power, Air Slash and HP Ice, however Rest and Substitute are also options.
Roserade
: (6.31% / 11.75%) Poor Roserade managed to fall below the 10% mark this month and down to 15th. Its best option is Choice Scarf although Life Orb and Black Sludge have gained usage this month. Also interestingly, Technician and Natural Cure are both run about 46% of the time, although I would argue that Technician is much better, giving it the niche of 90 BP Hidden Power (Fire or Rock). STAB options include Sludge Bomb, Giga Drain, Leaf Storm and Energy Ball, with coverage in Extrasensory, Dazzling Gleam, Shadow Ball in addition to HP. Also gaining popularity this month is Roserade as a hazard setter with Sleep Powder, Toxic Spikes and Spikes becoming common choices.
Conclusion
Grass is struggling to compete in the current metagame. It has many team options but not enough room to put them, causing it to run the same generic 6 over again if it wishes to stand a chance high ladder. The downside of this is that many players now know how to counter this build, so something fresh needs to happen for grass if it wants to build up a decent player base. The highlight for me during the month was
ArkenCiel 's Grass team for the Core Challenge, which peaked at #4 on the ladder. Check it out if you haven't already,
http://pastebin.com/YpH5w8TS .
