Kings of ORAS

« Previous Article

Home

Next Article »

Introduction

All Pokémon have their unique characteristics that let them fill out their own niche in their respective tier. But all Pokémon aren't equal, as some are gifted tools that let them center a meta around them and becomes staples in their realm. These Pokémon have lasted all the way till the end and have become the faces of their respective tier, so we are here to take a little look at the Kings of ORAS.

---

OU

Clefable, while confined to lower tiers prior to gen 6, is now one of the most versatile and threatening Pokémon in the ORAS OU metagame. Clefable's claim to fame is its newly introduced Fairy typing, which has amazing defensive and offensive qualities. Of course the typing change alone isn't all that has made Clefable viable; it also has an expansive movepool with moves such as Wish and Stealth Rock like most of its former Normal-type brethren and two great abilities in Magic Guard and Unaware, which lets this Pokémon act as glue on most teams. Finally, it has really well-rounded stats that let it absorb all kinds of hits and two good ways to recover in Soft-Boiled and Wish, and it is able to adapt fairly easily, like changing its EV spreads to take more physical attacks from Mega Heracross, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Medicham.

Clefable's been an influential part of the metagame for quite some time, shifting and adapting to what trends are best. Its amazing bulk and Fairy typing have let it bring down the viability of certain Pokémon; an example would by Hydreigon, which used to reign as a titan in the Gen 5 metagame. Another key factor was Magic Guard, which meant its Calm Mind sets and really any other set couldn't be beat with much more traditional methods. You couldn't rely on Stealth Rock or any other hazard to help achieve that 2HKO or even chip it down with Toxic. And on top of that, Clefable had a few moves in its arsenal that let it beat Pokémon it shouldn't be able to, like Flamethrower to beat Steel-types such as unboosted Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn that would check every other Fairy-type besides Clefable and to lure in and KO other Steel-types like Excadrill, Magnezone, and Metagross. It also has Thunderbolt for Skarmory and Talonflame and Ice Beam for Gliscor and Amoonguss, and if it was desperate enough, it could also use Focus Blast for Heatran. All of the coverage moves can be used when a Life Orb is run to help Clefable lure in and eliminate threats to its partners. Another good option is Thunder Wave, which lets it slow down Pokémon enough to the point it could stack up more Calm Minds or just continue to heal until it got a free turn; this made it hard to topple and made Pokémon like Nidoking more viable than they were last generation.

---

UU

Hydreigon's STAB attacks and high Special Attack are what really sell it off as the best wallbreaker. Draco Meteor and Dark Pulse are enough to attain neutral coverage on everything but Fairy-types and Cobalion, and even then it has Iron Tail and Fire Blast to take care of the targets it couldn't hit before. This monstrous offensive presence also comes with a good Speed tier that presses over the majority of the UU metagame. And although it is weak to a lot of different types, it still can soft check many Pokémon like Krookodile, Entei, and Mega Swampert with its above average defenses and typing and ability that grant it immunities to Psychic and Ground and six resistances to types such as Water, Grass, Electric, and Dark.

Hydreigon's STAB moves threaten to 2HKO nearly every Pokémon that doesn't resist them, making Fairy-types practically a necessity on balance teams. Life Orb or Choice Specs sets with Steel coverage could weaken or outright KO Fairy-types, opening up the opposing team to Hydreigon's STAB moves and its Fighting-type teammates. On the other hand, Choice Scarf sets had to be scouted by offensive checks such as Cobalion, Whimsicott, and Mega Beedrill and could put heavy pressure on more offensive teams while still U-turning out of defensive checks. Hydreigon forced the entire metagame to adapt to it, with sets such as Dazzling Gleam Celebi and Superpower Krookodile showing up to ensure Hydreigon wouldn't be left unthreatened. In a short and sweet sentence, Hydreigon basically made an impact through sheer power and fear of ever letting it come in.

---

RU

• Alomomola @ Leftovers
• Ability: Regenerator
• EVs: 104 HP / 252 Def / 148 SpD
• Bold Nature
• - Wish
• - Protect
• - Scald
• - Toxic

Unlike most of the Pokémon on the list, Alomomola is on here for its defensive capabilities as a wall and Wish passer. Pure Water typing is a blessing, since it gives Alomomola plenty of resistances like to Fire, Ice, and Steel and two weaknesses that can be pretty easy to cover in Grass and Electric. Alomomola also has an amazing ability in Regenerator, which lets it recover HP while switching out, making it more consistent than the other bulky Water-types of the tier, which are either Pursuit-weak or reliant on Leftovers to recover HP. This is used in tandem with Wish to make Alomomola one of the best Wish passers in not only the tier, but arguably the entire game, and in battle, Alomomola is capable of slowing the tempo of the match and giving other members of its team a second chance. While they're not as notable and defining as the other two traits, it also has Scald and Knock Off as defensive tools to help cripple the opposing team and potentially help Alomomola take more hits.

Since Alomomola has dropped into a lower tier, it has to cope with a much lower power level than in a tier like OU or Ubers. This is where walls can be much more prominent, and because of how Alomomola is good at surviving and enduring multiple hits, it has made the metagame much more defensively oriented. In several different stages of RU, its partners have changed to best support it or to take best advantage of its support. For example, Dugtrio was a Pokémon that was partnered with Alomomola due to its ability to trap several counters to Alomomola like Magneton and Virizion. Choice Scarf Drapion was a Pokémon that adapted its main set to help out Alomomola, since it checks pesky Grass-types and can Pursuit trap annoying Psychic-type wallbreakers. Registeel and Mega Steelix were two of Alomomola's partners that benefitted the most from it, since Alomomola could keep them alive with Wish and checked dangerous Fighting- and Ground-types for them while also pressuring some Fighting-types that relied on High Jump Kick with Protect.

---

NU

• Tauros @ Life Orb
• Ability: Sheer Force
• EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
• Naive Nature
• - Rock Climb
• - Earthquake
• - Fire Blast
• - Iron Tail / Zen Headbutt / Pursuit

Tauros's typing is very good in the NU metagame, since there aren't many Pokémon that can resist its STAB moves and many Pokémon in the tier can hit the Pokémon that do resist them. But that's not really the reason Tauros is so good. Tauros also has very good coverage in moves like Earthquake and Fire Blast to hit switch-ins like Rhydon and Ferroseed, and it goes even further by having the coverage to hit just physical walls in the tier in general like Weezing and Mega Audino. Another great thing about Tauros is its ability Sheer Force to boost its moves even more, making even its non-STAB move hit hard and actually letting Fire Blast put a dent in Steel-types. Finally, its Speed tier puts it well above the majority of the NU metagame, outspeeding common sights like Pyroar and Jynx, which leaves offensive teams to rely on mostly priority and Choice Scarf Pokémon to revenge kill Tauros.

Tauros is one of the main reasons NU has to prepare so much for Normal-types and usually pack either Rhydon, Steelix, or some defensive Rock-type. Tauros is hands-down the best Normal-type in the tier because it is very good at weakening typical Normal-type checks. Because of this, it has naturally created a very good playstyle based on spamming Normal-type attacks, since it's so good at paving a way for its partners. It is usually paired with either Swellow or Kangaskhan thanks to their ability Scrappy, which lets them better deal with Ghost-types.The playstyle is very threatening in its own right, since you'll more than likely have to rely on priority and a surprise Choice Scarf user to take down one of the main wallbreakers. Niche Pokémon like Solrock, Frillish, and Bronzor all see usage in the current metagame despite their multiple flaws thanks partly to the importance of walling Tauros's coverage. Also, Mach Punch users like Gurdurr and Hitmonchan have increased in usage for being among the best revenge killers against Tauros, making them very important tools to have on any team.

---

PU

Stoutland is able to be a dominant Pokémon because of a few traits. The first one is that Scrappy lets it hit one of the few actual Normal-type switch-ins, Ghost-types, which makes it harder to prepare for than traditional Normal-type wallbreakers. The second is that PU has very few actual Normal-resistant threats with recovery, and those Pokémon that actually switch into Stoutland's main STAB attack get weakened over time through Superpower on the switch or hazard damage. This makes a lot of purely defensive Pokémon like Gourgeist-XL, Stunfisk, and Mawile mandatory on balanced teams in fear of getting stampeded by Stoutland's sheer power. Even though it doesn't have blistering speed, it does have adequate bulk and a lack of exploitable weaknesses, which means it can take a hit and not be revenge killed by faster Pokémon like Rotom-F and Floatzel. While it's not as common as the Scrappy set, Stoutland can also run a Sand Rush set with the aid of Hippopotas, which lets it plow through offensive teams that rely on revenge killing Stoutland to deal with it.

With its monstrous Attack stat, Stoutland has forced a lot of teams to always run defensive Rock- or Steel-type like Golem or Metang to make sure that it won't be impossible to switch into. Alongside the actual Normal-resistant Pokémon, other Pokémon have assumed purely defensive roles as well to also tackle Stoutland such as Stunfisk, Gourgeist-XL, and Tangela. Also, since Stoutland turns almost every non-defensive Pokémon into cinders, it has forced almost all offensive Pokémon to outspeed it so they could revenge kill it if need be and not let it in for free after they have KOed one of the opponent's Pokémon.

---

Conclusion

While these Pokémon may be dominant now, there is no telling what the future may hold for these kings, as ORAS nears its end and Sun and Moon are ready to roll out. We'll see a formation of new kings as well as old champions of the meta dropping from the throne. These Pokémon will forever impact the tier they ruled over and hope to seek the same opportunity in the near future.

« Previous Article

Home

Next Article »

All guides and strategy information are © 2004 Smogon.com and its contributors. Pokémon is © 1995 Nintendo. Privacy Policy