Exeggutor: Through the Ages
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Art by Kaiju Bunny.
Introduction
Exeggutor, at the release of Pokémon Red and Blue, was meant to be a massive powerhouse, and it shows with its incredibly high Special, absurdly good typing, and various utility options. However, just as much as the Game Boy has adapted over time to the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and even the Nintendo Switch, Exeggutor has had to adapt to the several new metagame environments and gameplay mechanics that took place over the last 20 years. With that said, how has Exeggutor fared over the generations?
RBY
OU
If RBY OU was known for anything, it was that the metagame was dominated by super powerful Normal- and Psychic-types, with Exeggutor falling into the latter category. With a unique movepool and typing that allowed it to switch into Psychic and Earthquake users such as Alakazam and Tauros and spread status, Exeggutor solidified itself as the best sleep inducer and one of the best Pokémon the tier had to offer. Access to Explosion also allowed Exeggutor to act as a one-time nuke, blowing walls such as Snorlax and Chansey wide open, while the looming threat of Psychic and Mega Drain could deter Pokémon such as Gengar, Golem, and Rhydon from ever switching in. However, while its primary Grass typing did help it out in the long run, it also sometimes worked to Exeggutor's disadvantage. Drill Peck Zapdos and Blizzard users such as Jynx capitalized on Exeggutor's weaknesses and always threatened to 2HKO it. Certain walls with access to reliable recovery such as Chansey and Starmie as previously stated could easily be induced with status; however, Exeggutor had a difficult time taking them on one-on-one, and in the majority of circumstances could not defeat them without having to Explode. All in all though, Exeggutor became a common face in RBY OU due to its fantastic typing, unbelievable Special, and ability to both spread status and Explode.
Ubers
Who knew just two Pokémon could make such a difference? Exeggutor's capabilities of spreading status and Exploding were hampered slightly in RBY Ubers due to the prevalence of Ice Beam Mewtwo, Blizzard Mew, and the competition it faced from Explosion Mew. The prevalence of mandatory Mewtwo checks such as Amnesia + Rest Slowbro and Chansey made it difficult for Exeggutor to utilize its fantastic offensive Psychic typing again without having to explode. Even with these setbacks, Exeggutor was still a fantastic switch-in to Earthquake Mew and Mewtwo variants lacking Ice coverage while still checking the same threats it did in OU, such as Rhydon and Snorlax. Paralyzing and putting Mewtwo and Mew asleep was a huge advantage for Exeggutor's teammates and a role that very few Pokémon could perform. Although it was harder to fit onto teams, Exeggutor still played a pivotal role inducing status to all opposing Pokémon.
GSC
OU
The transition from RBY to GSC for Exeggutor was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Exeggutor lost a whopping 60 base Special Defense in the Special split. On the other, Exeggutor gained much better recovery options in Leftovers, the new Giga Drain, and improved Leech Seed mechanics. One thing that didn't change, however, was the demand for Exeggutor's utility. Sleep Powder will always be an asset, and the fact that Exeggutor had access to both that and Stun Spore meant that it was extremely adept in spreading status. The demand for a resistance to Ground was still high, and with the rise of Fighting-types, Exeggutor's resistances were valued more than ever, so much so that Machamp and Marowak both ran Hidden Power Bug solely for Exeggutor. Exeggutor's key resistance to Electric also made it a much-needed reliable switch-in to Raikou and Zapdos. Add all of that on top of Exeggutor's massive 125 Special Attack, and you have a powerful utility tank that could fit on teams very easily. However, Exeggutor's true potential would be revealed in a playstyle unique to GSC: Boom Offense. Exeggutor in this playstyle was perfect: it added a ton of defensive synergy and utility, and most importantly also packed a powerful Explosion to punch holes into the opponent's team. Spreading status and then Exploding was the name of the game, and Exeggutor was so effective in this role that it quickly became a staple. All of these factors led to Exeggutor being considered one of the top 5 Pokémon in the format, in spite of the 60 base Special Defense drop and the introduction of Dark-types. It is no exaggeration to say that Exeggutor was able to maintain its spot as one of the most crucial gluemons in the format.
ADV
UUBL
Exeggutor's prevalence in OU dropped dramatically shortly after its arrival in the Hoenn region. Specially defensive walls such as Blissey, Regice, and Milotic took precedence, switch-ins to Explosion such as Tyranitar, Metagross, and Gengar stood firm, and competition amongst other Grass- and Psychic-types such as Venusaur, Celebi, and Jirachi all but diminished Exeggutor's strong grasp on the metagame. Abilities were a defining feature of what would make and break as a competitive Pokémon this generation, so while some other top ADV OU threats got access to Intimidate, Arena Trap, Levitate, and Guts, lowly Exeggutor got access to the pathetic Chlorophyll ability, which was nearly impossible to utilize when Tyranitar's infinite Sand Stream was everywhere. Exeggutor's below average Speed in combination with its seven type weaknesses made it a huge hassle to fit onto teams, and Pursuit trappers such as the aforementioned Metagross and Tyranitar made Exeggutor a difficult Pokémon to use. For these reasons, Exeggutor fell off the map in ADV and unfortunately really wouldn't see the light of day in OU again.
Ubers
After taking a bit of a hiatus from the Ubers metagame for a generation, Exeggutor returned to discover an influx of several new legendary, pseudo-legendary, and mythical Pokémon awaiting its return, perhaps the most important of which was Groudon. Groudon's unique ability, Drought, was able to permanently set up the sun, allowing Chlorophyll teammates such as Jumpluff, Shiftry, and, in this case, Exeggutor, to have their Speed doubled. Chlorophyll isn't Exeggutor's only defining feature, as it still possesses one of the highest Special Attack stats in the game, a great STAB dual typing, and access plethora of nifty support options such as Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Explosion. However, Drought is not the only permanent weather condition seen in Ubers. Kyogre's Drizzle (and to a lesser extent Tyranitar's Sand Stream) can nullify Chlorophyll and disrupt Exeggutor from fully utilizing its strengths. There are also several Pokémon that resist Exeggutor's dual STAB combination such as Latios, Latias, Lugia, and Metagross; shrug off paralysis such as Blissey and Refresh variants of the aforementioned Latios and Latias; and eat an Explosion such as Gengar, Shedinja, Skarmory, Forretress, and the aforementioned Metagross. Nevertheless, Exeggutor was a solid pick for teams making Groudon their focal point, as the typing it had and the utility it brought complemented Groudon well.
DPP
UU
The power creep finally caught up to Exeggutor in DPP and forced it down to UU. There, however, Exeggutor found a new home. Exeggutor was able to pull off being a special attacker in similar fashion to its earlier roles in RBY and GSC with strong attacks, including the new powerful Leaf Storm, backed by Sleep Powder very well. Exeggutor could also work as a Sunny Day sweeper and a dual screens utility Pokémon to help others on the team. Not everything was sunshine for Exeggutor in UU though. Venusaur stood as direct competition for the usual role of special attacker, but with much better Speed and better typing making it much easier to fit on teams. Exeggutor's trend of being directly eclipsed in later generations begins with Venusaur in DPP UU, and Venusaur was so effective in the tier that Exeggutor struggled to make a big splash. Even though Exeggutor was good, Venusaur was simply better, and people went with the better choice. What's more, there was an abundance of other Grass-types that Exeggutor had to contend with, including Tangrowth, Torterra, Leafeon, and Sceptile, just to name a few. While Exeggutor's niche of Explosion and Low Kick for Registeel and the better matchup versus Donphan did give it an edge, the fact that Venusaur also checked Exeggutor and forced it out with a threat of Sludge Bomb only added salt to the wound. Counters to Exeggutor were also becoming more numerous with its long-time rival of Chansey roaming the tier and Registeel being omnipresent to wall Exeggutor more often than not. New offensive threats like Spiritomb teamed up with old checks like Moltres to make Exeggutor's life even harder. Overall, Exeggutor was a good choice for DPP UU, but it wavered under the weight of directly being outclassed and the plethora of new and old checks and counters.
BW
NU
Exeggutor received several new gadgets and gizmos to play with this generation including Harvest and Psyshock. These new tools increased the number of viable sets Exeggutor could pull off two-fold, making it an even scarier threat from the all-new Team Preview. Choice Specs Exeggutor had a lot of firepower behind it and was extremely difficult to switch into, as Hidden Power Ground could catch traditional checks such as Skuntank and Metang off guard. Mandibuzz was the only guaranteed switch-in, although Choice Specs Exeggutor was extremely prediction reliant and being Choice-locked into the wrong move could be disastrous. Sets utilizing Harvest in tandem with either a Sitrus or Lum Berry gave Exeggutor pseudo-reliable recovery options to complement its decent bulk and several notable resistances, checking Pokémon such as Sawk and Serperior. Sun and offensive Trick Room sweeper sets also gave Exeggutor niches on select hyper offense playstyles. However, Exeggutor still had its faults. It still had just as many type weaknesses as before and was susceptible to Pursuit users such as Skuntank and Liepard and faster Pokémon such as Primeape and Swellow. By far the Pokémon Exeggutor was most afraid of were the aforementioned Mandibuzz and Skuntank, as they resisted Exeggutor's dual STAB combination and could dispose of Exeggutor with either Brave Bird, Poison Jab, or Crunch. Skuntank also began to see a considerable rise in tournament usage as the years progressed, and with metagame trends being for the most part locked at the end of the generation, Exeggutor was much harder to use. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, Exeggutor firmly cemented itself as one of the strongest and most set-diverse Pokémon, which made it extremely threatening to face.
ORAS
PUBL
Due to the buff to Knock Off and strong power creep, Exeggutor dropped to PU during the October tier shift of 2015, quickly solidifying itself as one of the strongest wallbreakers in the tier. Exeggutor was able to get a KO nearly every time it came onto the field due to its solid bulk and excellent wallbreaking prowess coupled with Choice Specs. Its presence invalidated both defensive and balanced playstyles, as even traditional checks like Audino and Metang either were 2HKOed by Exeggutor's STAB or could not switch into its coverage moves. Exeggutor also had outstanding versatility, which contributed to its ban. It could run other potent offensive sets such as Chlorophyll Sweeper and hold other items such as a Colbur or Yache Berry, which gave it absurd bulk, power, and versatility. Under sun, Exeggutor was able to outspeed almost the entire boosted metagame bar a few Pokémon like Ninjask. Exeggutor's presence had such a large impact on the tier that Pokémon like Stunfisk often ran Hidden Power Bug to try to circumvent it, which was a testament to how unhealthy Exeggutor was. Thus, with a 64% pro-ban majority Exeggutor was banned from PU.
USM
ZUBL
More than a year after SM OU was released, the ZU Alpha Tier List was created, and Exeggutor entered the metagame stronger than ever before. Hyper offensive playstyles took dominance in the beginning weeks, with Exeggutor becoming a defining feature of both sun and Trick Room teams alike. Practically nothing resisted its Grass / Fire / Psychic coverage backed by its massive base 125 Special Attack, which meant defensively checking Exeggutor was out of the question. Under the duration of the sun, Exeggutor was able to outspeed the lion's share of the metagame including the most popular Choice Scarf user, Passimian, and under Trick Room Exeggutor was a fearsome wallbreaker that could be revived multiple times by teammates such as Healing Wish Musharna and Z-Memento Dusknoir. Exeggutor also paired fantastically with other sun and Trick Room sweepers such as Victreebel and Crabominable, which would also see themselves quickbanned a couple of weeks later due to their dominance in their respective playstyles. However, just because Exeggutor was nearly unbeatable didn't mean it was actually unbeatable. More uncommonly seen Choice Scarf users such as Chatot and the recently discovered Togedemaru were able to outspeed Exeggutor and severely damage it with U-turn. Extremely specially bulky Pokémon such as Lickilicky could also avoid the 2HKO from Modest Life Orb Exeggutor. Lastly, Exeggutor had an abundance of type weaknesses to take advantage of; however, Exeggutor always had pivoting and sacrificial support from Pokémon such as Volbeat, Musharna, and Dusknoir. These means of counterplay were deemed insufficient due to the lack of reliable answers and the significant restrictions it placed on teambuilding. Therefore, Exeggutor was unanimously quickbanned from ZU by the Tier Leaders at the beginning of ZU Beta.
PUBL
Alolan Exeggutor was given a brand new Dragon typing but did not initially make a splash in USM PU. However, over time, the metagame shifted to heavily favor Alolan Exeggutor's strengths. A lack of solid switch-ins besides niche ones like Clefairy gave rise to a Choice Specs set, and an increasingly fast and offensive metagame meant that a Trick Room gave Alolan Exeggutor the ability to plow through teams. USM PU's exodus of checks to Alolan Exeggutor, along with the growing popularity of Pokémon such Quagsire that let Alolan Exeggutor hit the stage much easier, inevitably pushed Alolan Exeggutor into a suspect test that would end up banning it with a 72.6% majority. Choice Specs Alolan Exeggutor also began to pick up steam in NU due to their lack of specially defensive Steel-types outside of Silvally-Steel. While NU does have more Fairy-types such as Mega Audino and Comfey to stop it from spamming Draco Meteor and offensive Ice-types such as Mega Abomasnow and Mega Glalie are a dime a dozen, Alolan Exeggutor's reasonable bulk and sheer power allow it to disrupt bulky offense and stall teams alike.
Closing Words
Throughout many generations, Exeggutor has shown consistency in establishing itself as a top-level threat. While sometimes Exeggutor had to find a new home where it could shine, other times the unique attributes it had cemented it as a top 5 Pokémon in the tier it was already in. In some cases, Exeggutor even necessitated a suspect test or a quickban. Whatever the case may be, we're sure that everyone's favorite three-faced coconut tree will continue to make an impact for many generations to come.
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