Stealth Rock Less Ladder

[SmashBrosBrawl]

Scarf kyurem-b is better because he can ohko all of these + ohko dragonite through multiscale while not relying on innacurate moves and boasting a much better defensive typing meaning its a lot harder to force out and a lot easier to switch in. That said terrakion still have the advantage of outspeeding +2 adamant dnite but i just find kyurem to be a superior revenge killer in this meta.

 

[Scorpiopt]

I am using Landorus-T scarf he is not too bad either :D

 

[Nglittleguy]

SR is just one move. It is quite surprising to see its influence: one so strong that it has it's own ladder!

 

[oSeasons]

brb grabbing my scarfed Terrakion for some bird stoning

 

[Prosecutor Godot]

Sweet lord Banded Victini is ridiculous in the sun.

252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Jellicent in sun: 271-320 (67.07 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion in sun: 300-354 (92.59 - 109.25%) -- 56.25% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 64 Def Kyurem-B in sun: 516-607 (113.65 - 133.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Keldeo in sun: 300-354 (92.59 - 109.25%) -- 56.25% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite in sun: 143-169 (44.27 - 52.32%) -- 17.58% chance to 2HKO

 

[effyouzion]

Scarf kyurem-b is better because he can ohko all of these + ohko dragonite through multiscale while not relying on innacurate moves and boasting a much better defensive typing meaning its a lot harder to force out and a lot easier to switch in. That said terrakion still have the advantage of outspeeding +2 adamant dnite but i just find kyurem to be a superior revenge killer in this meta.

Probably depends on your team. If you're using Volc, Dnite and either Ninetales/Charizard/Moltres/Tornadus then adding a 4th rock weakness in Kyub is a bad idea. Terrakion resists rock himself and can revenge said Kyub if he's giving your team trouble (without relying on stone edge even).

 

[taxi driver]

this ladder is awesome

yanmega owns everything.

 

[G-Von]

any aerodactyls around? i might have to bring him back for some shenanigans.

 

[scrake]

I've been using Gyarados and Dragonite to amazing effect on this ladder. The particular sets are Sub DD Gyara and CB Dnite. Unhindered by any hazards, these two are very potent sweepers. Dragonite has little trouble keeping Multiscale intact allowing him to tank potent attacks and hit back hard. Gyarados sets up on defensive Pokemon like Ferrothorn with ease, and although it takes some wearing down, he cane easily break down unprepared teams- especially with the prevalence of Rain. Both these guys also take on Volcarona, a big threat on this ladder, very well. Other things that get you far on this ladder are Pokes immune to spikes since they will never take hazard damage. This metagame actually encourages the use of Flying/Levitators because of the increased survivability they gain from no hazard damage build up. Terrakion is also very useful indeed because for some reason a lot of players assume that no Rocks= my team doesn't need a rock resist. That along with many Rock weak Pokemon means Terrakion wrecks.

Personally, I like Stealth Rock for my wearing the opponents team down and preventing stuff like Dnite from coming in freely, but this metagame is very interesting. And quite fun.

 

[X5Dragon]

I've just played my first few matches on the ladder and I got to say, sash mons are having a field day here (#punny). I'm surprised people aren't using more Froslass atm. Volcarona, Dragonite, Cloyster and Mamoswine are just some of the few pokemon that are enjoying the moment.

 

[Bughouse]

Hail. Stall. SubRoost Kyu-B and Articuno as well as Stallrein become so viable. And Abomasnow is quite resilient without SR to worry about.

 

[MikeDawg]

I don't understand how a single person could find this ladder boring in the slightest

If only because it is different than the current standard

But even aside from its novelty, I find the meta itself to be far better. I love how things don't just /die/ because <insert calc with "after stealth rocks" in it here>. Different playstyles and pokes have the ability to shine without the threat of rocks. We can switch whenever we want without worrying about hazards for the most part. Stall is doing better than ever (except against me... +2/+2/+2 kyu-b 1hkos the entire game). Dnite isn't really all that problematic.

I mean, my god, the meta is, imo, swell, and that is without a single banning. If it were regulated I feel that a stealth rock-less meta would be far superior to the standard

 

[BLARG weather BLARG]

Agility Moltres is incredible in this metagame. It can come in early game and punch some holes in the enemy team or come in late game with 100% health intact and roast everything that isn't torn to shreds by Hurricane. Moltres doesn't even need Roost as much and can opt for additional coverage.

Articuno is also a very solid pokemon that can trouble teams when behind a sub.

This metagame is very refreshing to play in both for HO and Stall users. More unique pokemon are viable and it adds a lot of variety to OU.

 

[Gary]

Once I started to actually build teams that were more geared towards the Rockless metagame itself, I have to admit that it's quite fun. Hurricane spam with either Tornadus or Moltres is fun, especially when they can switch in MUCH more frequently. Although most people prefer to run the DD sweeping set on Dragonite, I've always preferred the Banded set myself, seeing as it pretty much guarantees a kill or two thanks to Multiscale. I also tried out Scarf Volcarona on a sun team just for fun, and I was surprised at how good it was. Fire Blast just hits so damn hard in the sun, and it's 100 speed allows it to revenge kill quite successfully. Another Pokemon that I've REALLY enjoyed using, is Yanmega. I tried both the Tinted Lens Choice Specs set and the Speed Boost sweeping set, and both are pretty damn good. Although the Specs set is significantly slower then the Speed Boosting set obviously, most people don't expect their Heatran to take a whopping 50% from an Air Slash, or their Forretress almost being KOed by a Bug Buzz. Both are quite impressive.

 

[MikeDawg]

That defensive volc is also very viable now

 

[Halcyon.]

I have to say, I was totally against the banning of Stealth Rock, but this metagame is much more diverse than any BW OU meta I've ever seen. I mean, things like Weavile, Yanmega, Moltres, Tornadus, Darmanitan, Victini, Togekiss, Sun, Hail, stall, and many many other things are so much more viable right now. I'm not going to lie and say that Dragonite isn't annoying, but it is not impossible to beat. Neither is Volcarona (in fact, Dragonite makes an excellent Volcarona counter). I've only played a few matches so far, but it's been unbelievably fun and diverse. I'm going to have trouble going back.

 

[pharaohcalvin]

I am in love with this so much. I see so many different teams, stall, offense, Sun, Rain, Sand, Weatherless, and even a few hail. There is a small centralization around D-night it seems, but other then that this is 100% amazing. Also, the amount a damage Yanmega and Charizard can out put without hinder is amazing.

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

Rain is again becoming the dominant force... sigh. It was interesting at first to see the huge influx of sun with fire type spam and the use of sand to break dnite multiscale and make hurricane users miserable and the occasional hail stall but yeah guess rain benefited a little bit too much from a rock less meta. I never once expected this meta to even come close to balanced but seeing that the weather that has been so dominating through this entire gen is STILL maintaining its spot in a completely different metagame is just, ugh. I am not gonna lie and say i am not using rain sometimes, because i am but i expected its usage to be even with other playstyles at the very least. Anyway i am finding moltres to be a lot more threatening than volcarona, weirdly enough. Hurricane is a real pain to switch into and the steel types get wrecked by fire blast even in rain. Heatran and tyranitar can be beaten by the appropriate hidden power which makes it so much more threatening. Moltres+Dugtrio cores are very powerful for this very reason and kinda reminds me of the tornadus-t days.

 

[Gary]

Okay somebody needs to tell these noobs to stop using Charizard outside of sun teams. That thing is everywhere, even in the upper portions of the ladder somehow. Stealth Rock was not the only reason why Charizard was never used in OU. Do people not realize that Moltres is better in almost every way??

 

[MikeDawg]

Rain is certainly somewhat dominant, but that's only because of the fact that now there is uninhibited hurricane spam and people are jumping to take advantage of it.

If the meta had time to settle, it would be prepared for and would diminish, and I expect sun would do a bit of rising what with its free slot now to deal with its usual issues.

 

[Halcyon.]

I think the reason rain is being used now is because everyone already tried sun and hail and whatever else and now they've moved onto Hurricane spam, which is less exciting because it was already a great strategy with rocks. It'll pass though, I'm sure.

 

[youngjake93]

I wonder if things like Deo-D and Excadrill would be less broken w/o SR.
Deo-D loses half of its hazard setting niche. Excadrill is checked/countered a little easier since SR won't chip off some of their health. Plus being 4x SR resistant is less relevant w/o SR and even its Rapid Spinning is less useful.

 

[pharaohcalvin]

Okay somebody needs to tell these noobs to stop using Charizard outside of sun teams. That thing is everywhere, even in the upper portions of the ladder somehow. Stealth Rock was not the only reason why Charizard was never used in OU. Do people not realize that Moltres is better in almost every way??

As a special attacker when not in the sun, yes Moltres is a better sp. attacker. Acro-zard hits pretty hard on the physical side, something Moltres can't boost. I haven't used it a lot, and I have only used it in the sun but he does do stuff that Moltres can not do.

 

[MCBarrett]

I've only played a few matches but I've found Dugtrio to be pretty awesome so far. Without Stealth Rocks, it is much easier to keep his Focus Sash in tact, allowing you to play it similarly to Alakazam except you can take out common defensive Pokes in the Meta such as Heatran, making it a great partner to Offensive threats like Yanmega, Moltres, Dragonite, Volcarona etc., especially with Momento giving them some extra room to set up easily. Its also a great Volc revenge killer, basically making it an 80% chance (Stone Miss) to keep it from doing anything. And even against the Flying Types that it can't trap his speed and access to Stone Edge still makes him pretty valuable.

 

[Schpoonman]

As a special attacker when not in the sun, yes Moltres is a better sp. attacker. Acro-zard hits pretty hard on the physical side, something Moltres can't boost. I haven't used it a lot, and I have only used it in the sun but he does do stuff that Moltres can not do.

No, I guess that Moltres can't run a physical set effectively, but Charizard's physical set is already kinda laughable, so that's not saying much. Charizard's only niche is Solar Power.