SV OU Suspect: Ursaluna-B

By SetsuSetsuna. Released: 2023/10/18
« Previous Article Next Article »
Ursaluna Blood Moon

Art by Appletun a la Mode.

Introduction

Ursaluna-B was one of the new and most impactful Pokémon introduced in the Teal Mask DLC. Soon after Ogerpon-H and Baxcalibur were quickbanned from OU, Ursaluna-B rose as one of the tier's premier bulky, slow, yet very powerful sweepers alongside Kingambit. Unlike Kingambit, though, Ursaluna-B has reliable recovery in Moonlight and a 140-Base Power STAB move in Blood Moon. While comparisons can be drawn with fellow Normal / Ground type Ursaluna, which has similar stats and also a 140-Base Power STAB move in Guts-boosted Facade, Ursaluna-B has much better longevity thanks to Moonlight and its ability to use Leftovers, while Ursaluna loses 1/16 HP every turn due to burn damage. The advantages don't end there though, as unlike Ursaluna, whose Facade can be played around Ghost-types like Gholdengo and Dragapult, Ursaluna-B's ability Mind's Eye means that its Normal-type moves hit said Ghost-types. All of these factors lead to community support for action to be taken on Ursaluna-B, which was reflected on high scores in the latest OU tiering action survey. However, unlike what happened with Baxcalibur and Ogerpon-H, the support for a quickban wasn't there just yet; as a result, a suspect test was announced soon after on September 28th.

Sets

Calm Mind

Ursaluna

This set makes use of Ursaluna-B's sky-high Special Attack and bulk to turn it into a potent sweeper able to take over games in a pinch. Calm Mind increases Ursaluna-B's Special Attack to make it near unwallable and makes up for its low Special Defense. Blood Moon is Ursaluna-B's signature and most powerful move, sitting at a 140 Base Power and threatening an OHKO on nearly the entire tier after a single Calm Mind, though it comes with the drawback of not being able to be used twice in a row and having low PP. Earth Power allows Ursaluna-B to threaten Gholdengo, Kingambit, and Empoleon, and it is its best option against Toxapex, Galarian Slowking, Sneasler, and Clodsire. Alternatively, Hyper Voice can be used as a more reliable yet weaker attack that lets Ursaluna-B prey on Substitute and Protect users that try to PP stall Blood Moon, mainly Gliscor. Hyper Voice also allows Ursaluna-B to remain threatening against Flying-types like Zapdos and Enamorus that would otherwise take advantage of Blood Moon's cooldown. Moonlight is a solid option for Ursaluna-B's last move, as it allows it to keep itself healthy and boost throughout the game. Vacuum Wave is another option to pick off weakened faster foes such as Roaring Moon and Gholdengo. Leftovers provides Ursaluna-B with passive recovery, which stacks up really quickly, as it tends to stay on the field for multiple turns. Maximum HP investment allows Ursaluna-B to take on even super effective hits such as unboosted Close Combat from Iron Valiant, Zamazenta, and Great Tusk and Hisuian Samurott's Aqua Cutter. Tera Poison turns Ursaluna-B's Fighting- and Grass-type weaknesses into resistances, greatly improving its matchup against Iron Valiant, Sneasler, Rillaboom, and Zamazenta. it also provides Ursaluna-B with an immunity to Toxic, mainly Gliscor's, completely hindering the opposition's ability to wear it down over time, and it is particularly useful alongside Moonlight, as even a super effective Gliscor's Earthquake does less than 43% per turn after factoring Leftovers.

The previously mentioned set can be tweaked to run more Defense EVs with a Bold nature or Speed EVs over Special Attack, the former of which allows Ursaluna-B to more comfortably take on Pokémon like Dragonite and Roaring Moon one-on-one, while the latter lets it outspeed Pokémon such as Clefable and Corviknight. Tera Fighting is another solid option that powers up Vacuum Wave and improves Ursaluna-B's matchup against Kingambit. Tera Water and Fairy are other fine yet rarer options thanks to their lack of weaknesses. With some Speed investment and Taunt, Ursaluna-B is able to prevent Blissey and Clefable from using Calm Mind and Soft-Boiled or Moonlight, respectively, completely shutting them down to win the 1v1. Taunt also prevents Ting-Lu from using Whirlwind to phaze Ursaluna-B after a Calm Mind boost. When paired with Rillaboom, Ursaluna-B may opt for Grassy Seed to boost its Defense and more easily set up, with Grassy Terrain also passively healing Ursaluna-B and neutralizing its Earthquake weakness that Tera Poison grants it.

Pro Ban

Ursaluna-B's ability to sweep teams in an instant due to its high bulk and power was rather concerning for a big portion of the playerbase. Switching around it was near impossible due to Blood Moon's high Base Power and Ursaluna-B's ability to ignore Ghost-types' immunity to Normal, while only a few boosted Pokémon were able to revenge kill it from full health, and even those would see their attempts fail if Ursaluna-B decided to Terastallize and remove its weaknesses. While defensive counterplay was somewhat present, many felt that it was rather restricted to Pokémon and sets that would otherwise see minimal play in OU, the most notable one being Blissey, which rose to OU from NU in big part to help handle Ursaluna-B with Calm Mind boosts of its own.

Anti Ban

Calm Mind Unaware Clefable, Substitute + Protect Gliscor, and the aforementioned Calm Mind Blissey were some of the Pokémon cited as defensive counterplay to help handle Ursaluna-B. Furthermore, while Ursaluna-B was certainly able to tank super effective hits even without Terastallization, Pokémon such as Choice Band Rillaboom with Wood Hammer, Choice Band Zamazenta with Close Combat, and Choice Specs Walking Wake were in fact able to threaten an OHKO, while Terastallizing came at the cost of losing one of the most important tools in the game in order to take an extra hit, which might not pay off.

Final Result

Just five hours after the voting process started, Ursaluna-B reached the threshold to be banned, with 76 out of 117 votes in at the time and with 71 of those voting ban, for a ban ratio of 93.42%. It remains to be seen if Blissey will be able to keep its status as an OU Pokémon following this ban, and if sets such as Unaware Calm Mind Clefable will continue to be spotted. With Ursaluna-B's ban, the tier will likely find itself in a more stable place, while the community anxiously waits for what The Indigo Disk might bring into the tier.

HTML by inactive
« Previous Article Next Article »