K I've got some observations/opinions on the metagame here.
Hazard Removal - The balance of power among hazard clearance has very clearly shifted. Defog Latios is really bad at this point because it doesn't Defog all that consistently, with my preference for defogging Lati shifting over to Latias due to it's significant increase in bulk and incentive to invest defensively making it far more consistent in the role. Starmie is as good as ever, and honestly I think that it is the only Pokémon who is a good hazard clearer on it's merits as a hazard clearer rather than on it's merits in role compression like is the case with Latias, Excadrill and Zapdos. My opinion of spindrill has shifted massively, with me now thinking that it is worth using on teams for a spinner. That said, I don't think that it is viable in this role because it is a good spinner--on the contrary, I think it's ass as a spinner--but rather because it is really nice for role compression purposes. I've seen a slight return of SpD Drill recently too, although idk whether that's just 'cause I've been facing bad players or if it's on any of it's merits 'cause I still stand by it being a mediocre set. Scarf Drill has dropped off too, as I've not seen it in a while outside of people using Xtra Chirpz. Zapdos is probably the only dedicated defensive hazard clearer, as while bulky Starmie is a thing I wouldn't exactly call it defensive in the traditional sense.
Azelf - This thing has seen a huge surge in usage during OLT. While I suspect that this is due to Xtra Chripz, I have been using Azelf HO for a while now and it is definitely an incredibly strong playstyle atm. I've been messing around with a bulky Tauntless variant (SR+Skill Swap+Iron Tail+Boom) with Colbur Berry and it's been surprisingly helpful for it's ability to lay hazards consistently vs. both Sableye and Diancie without needing to play a 50:50 vs. the latter between Skill Swapping and SRing, and I've not really been missing Taunt at all 'cause people don't tend to set up on Azelf expecting the Taunt anyway. When people stop expecting Taunt I'll change back, but I've not been missing it much so far. Anyway yeah just the sheer offensive presence exerted by full-on HO teams is extremely difficult for a lot of people to handle and it makes a lot of sense why HO has been so dominant in a tournament where the aim is to ladder as high as possible.
ScoliPass - In case this discussion in this thread hasn't informed you of this, people find this controversial. All I have to say on the matter is that until it sees notable success in major tournament play (i.e. not the OLT qualification stage) I see no issue with this. People are adapting, figuring out how to deal with it in practical scenarios (i.e. not theoretical methods of handling it, most of which fall flat in practice) and I don't think it's the type of thing that anyone could top the ladder using without the aid of a secondary team to aid the climb later on.
Dugtrio - I think that Dugtrio is one of the most underrated Pokémon in the current meta given just how good it's utility is. Whereas in the past it'd often feel like dead weight, it's been receiving a lot of attention recently for its ability to really help a lot of teams, being paired with both wallbreakers like Specs Hydreigon and Mega Charizard Y as well as being good utility for defensive teams, eliminating threats such as Band Tyranitar, stallbreaker Heatran and a number of other Pokémon who give these types of teams a lot of trouble, and in particular people have been hyping up Screech for it's ability to break through Pokémon like Chansey and to create setup opportunities for physical setup Pokémon. All in all it's just a really nice 'mon and I can only see it going up in the world: not down.
Wonder Trio - Speaking of Dugtrio, this is an archetype which has definitely come back into relevance during OLT. Like, off of the top of my head I played Ox (forgive me if I'm misremembering; it may have been someone else, but it was definitely a recognisable tour player) who was using a variant of the archetype a few cycles ago, and I've also seen a number of other people using it on the ladder as well as seeing talk of it here and there. That said, the old Seismitoad+Togekiss+Talonflame variant seems to have died out for the most part, with people opting for Pokémon like Zapdos and other defensive Pokémon to fill different roles on the team and to adapt to the needs of the current metagame. Hell, I even saw a variant with Tyranitar which was able to pose a threat despite invalidating Shedinja for five turns at a time. All in all it is definitely an interesting time for Wonder Trio and I'm excited to see how the style will evolve further.
Choiced Wallbreakers - These definitely seem to be showing a lot of dominance in the current metagame. With things like Specs Latios, Specs Hydreigon, Band Crawdaunt etc. recieving a lot of attention recently, it seems very obvious to me that the way to go for wallbreaking nowadays is definitely immediate power>setup, with the latter mostly being relegated to a sweeping role nowadays. Also an interesting thing to note is that as Band Crawdaunt has been gaining attention it seems that Band Azumarill has completely dropped under the radar. This is most likely due to Crawdaunt's superior immediate power relative to Azumarill (with jolly Crawdaunt slightly outdamaging adamant Azumarill on it's STABs, and with adamant Crawdaunt's damage output being one of the most OTT things in the whole game) as well as the increase in Tangrowth/Amoonguss usage and the general potency of Dark-types in the metagame as a whole, and at this point the only Azu set that really sees the light is BellyJet.
There are a few other things too that I can't remember off of the top of my head, but yeah the meta most certainly isn't stale atm. It's a lot of fun to see the meta evolve, and here's to gen 7!
There are a few other things too that I can't remember off of the top of my head, but yeah the meta most certainly isn't stale atm. It's a lot of fun to see the meta evolve, and here's to gen 7!
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