Top 10 Titans of Generation 8 ZU

10

Starting off our list is Silvally-Ground, the only Pokémon in our top 10 that currently resides in a tier above ZU. Despite only having a relatively short stint in ZU, its impact on the metagame was groundbreaking, not only becoming the best Silvally forme after Silvally-Dragon was banned but also the best Pokémon in the tier. Its Swords Dance-boosted Multi-Attacks made Grass-types like Tangela and Gourgeist-S mandatory on almost every team. Rock Slide covered Flying-types like Articuno, Cramorant, and Altaria, which would avoid its devastating STAB move, while U-turn punished frailer Grass-types like Choice Band Thwackey, Lurantis, and Appletun and other common switch-ins like Uxie. Despite their Ground-type immunity, Levitate users such as Uxie and Rotom would still struggle against Silvally-Ground, as the former relied on moves such as Knock Off and Thunder Wave that were ineffective against it and the latter needed significant defensive investment to deal with Silvally-Ground reliably. Occasionally, Ice Beam was used in order to hit Tangela and Altaria harder, or Flame Charge to act as more of a cleaner, but it largely stuck to this one set. Even with this lack of unpredictability, Silvally-Ground was still incredibly difficult to account for during building without resorting to using the few hard counters. It was also extremely easy to fit onto teams, given that it was the best Volt Switch immunity in the tier and the best offensive pivot. After months at the top, this dominant performance was deemed too much for ZU, leading it to be banned via suspect test in July 2021. Currently, it resides in NU and was even suspect tested there, albeit remaining unbanned; it functioned similarly to its ZU days as an offensive wallbreaker that doubled as a solid defensive unit despite the noticeably higher power level of the tier..

9

There are few viable Fairy-types in ZU, but Alcremie has stood out as not only the best of them but also the best defensive setup sweeper the metagame has to offer since its inception. What differentiates Alcremie from other Calm Mind sweepers are its incredible abilities in Sweet Veil and Aroma Veil; the former allowed Alcremie to avoid being shut down by Tangela and Eldegoss, and the latter more importantly stopped it from being shut down by Taunt and Encore from Jellicent and Qwilfish, which are the usual means of dealing with any crit-me-not sweeper. The rest of Alcremie's movepool was solid enough to allow its sets to have a lot of flexibility, ranging from Aromatherapy to Acid Armor and coverage moves such as Mystical Fire and Stored Power. Aside from being a great setup sweeper, it was defensively very sound and heavily relied on at times for its ability to keep Fighting- and Dark-types such as Sawk, Gurdurr, Thievul, and Silvally-Dark in check. At its peak, Alcremie was deemed too unhealthy by some of the community, although it would drop back down during this time if another equally, if not more, broken Pokémon like Silvally-Ground was being suspect tested. Alcremie continues to be a dominant force within SS ZU, although not as overbearing as it once was, and rightly claims the ninth spot.

8

Pyukumuku was synonymous with stall and saw its journey begin during the Beta stage of ZU's life, thanks to some favorable bans getting rid of notable stallbreakers such as Silvally-Electric and Gothitelle. The departure of Silvally-Electric was particularly notable, as the tier was now devoid of any Electric-type attacks aside from Charjabug's Volt Switch, resulting in Pyukumuku effectively only having a single type weakness. Pyukumuku's incredible defenses along with Unaware and reliable recovery made it particularly difficult for most Pokémon to break past it, resulting in the rise of the stall playstyle. In fact, physical walls were so limited that Pyukumuku actually saw some usage and success outside of stall during this brief period. Some of the biggest threats at the time were Eiscue, Wartortle, and a few Silvally formes, but all of them could not tear down the wall known as Pyukumuku. This forced players to adapt by bringing very specific stallbreakers such as Silvally-Grass and Substitute + Nasty Plot Oranguru. Pyukumuku left ZU for a month before dropping down again and it returned to shut down theSwords Dance Silvally sets that were thriving in the previous metagame. Pyukumuku was relegated to being stall's premier physical wall after its return, as the power level of ZU kept increasing due to the DLCs, but it was exceptional at this role given it was the only viable Pokémon with Unaware in the tier. Stall teams never saw the same success as they did in Pyukumuku's early days but remained a viable playstyle throughout the generation, and Pyukumuku was always at the core of these teams..

7

Next up is Ivysaur, which was the face of sun teams during several stages of ZU. With Chlorophyll, Growth, and an incredible movepool in Solar Beam, Sludge Bomb, and Weather Ball, sun and Ivysaur were quite oppressive during the Alpha stage of ZU. As the metagame was still in Alpha, no components of sun could be banned. Fortunately, PU banned both Heat Rock and Drought, meaning sun teams lost all their viability until PU unbanned Heat Rock in December of the same year. Despite this setback, Ivysaur saw a resurgence during the Beta stage with a stallbreaker set consisting of Knock Off, STAB moves, and Synthesis, making it a Toxic immunity that was difficult to take down. Even Pokémon that could wall Ivysaur, such as Dusclops, Klang, and Cufant, hated switching into Ivysaur, as its Knock Off made them worse at checking threats such as both Mr. Mime formes and Lunatone. It also possessed great matchups into the bulkiest walls, such as Togetic and Pyukumuku, as well as great offensive threats such as Whiscash and Wartortle. Most importantly was its great matchup against Mareanie and the added benefit of removing Toxic Spikes on the switch. As DLCs arrived and Pokémon from higher tiers began dropping, the power creep was too much for Ivysaur and it ultimately fell into obscurity for a little while. After the hype of 100+ drops in January disappeared, the aforementioned Heat Rock unban resulted in some experimentation, leading to manual sun teams seeing solid success from April 2021 onwards. Ivysaur was at the forefront of these teams along with Shiftry, and while Ivysaur will never reach the same consistent performance it had during the pre-DLC and DLC 1 metagames, it still remains relevant in the current metagame and deserves the 7th spot on this list.

6

After Gallade, Scrafty, and Toxicroak were swiftly banned from the tier after the January 2021 shifts, Sawk rose as the tier's best offensive Fighting-type and has remained a top-tier threat ever since the March 2021 bans. It has had an immense effect on the metagame with each of its sets: Choice Scarf, Black Belt, and Choice Band. Choice Scarf Sawk was the most commonly used out of the three sets, and it was one of the best revenge killers in ZU with its incredible coverage and naturally high Attack and wide coverage letting it revenge kill the likes of Rotom, Jynx, Silvally formes, Rapidash, and many more. Knock Off still made progress against item-dependent Pokémon, such as Tangela and Altaria, which could stop its pure wallbreaking attempts. Even with supposed hard counters such as Tangela and Alcremie around, Sawk managed to maintain its position as the second most dominant Pokémon right behind Rotom for much of the post-DLC 2 metagame, as it could threaten 2HKOs with the right items and moves. Recently, it has seen a slight dip in usage due to the return of physically bulky Ghost-types in Palossand and Cofagrigus, which can shut down all of Sawk's regular sets with ease. However, this has not stopped it from remaining extremely relevant in the tier, only lowering down to A+ rank on the VR after 9 months of setting at S rank. This is a testament to how effective Sawk has been, both as a wallbreaker and revenge killer, and it is fittingly our 6th greatest titan of Generation 8 ZU.

5

Starting off the second half of our top 10 is ZU's most consistent physical wall, Tangela. For most of Generation 8 ZU, there have been multiple physical attackers that have dominated the metagame such as Kangaskhan, Thwackey, Silvally-Ground, Rhydon, and Sawk. Unlike other physical walls, Tangela was far less passive due to Regenerator and naturally high Special Attack, allowing it to both avoid sacrificing momentum and deal solid damage. On a few occasions, Tangela would go a more offensive route and nab surprise KOs with Leaf Storm. Access to amazing utility moves such as Knock Off, Sleep Powder, Toxic, and Leech Seed further bolster its claim to being a near-perfect glue Pokémon for many different team archetypes. At its best, Tangela was a near auto-include on teams, as no other Pokémon could check the majority of physical attackers by themselves while providing some decent offensive presence. However, Tangela's lackluster Special Defense has kept it from completely taking over the metagame,as the likes of Skuntank, Jynx, and Articuno constantly force it out. Even with this weakness, Tangela has had a consistent impact on the metagame, and it would not be an understatement to say that it has single-handedly stopped several physical attackers from being too overwhelming across its two years in ZU.

4

Klang and its evolution Klinklang take 4th place, functioning similarly across different metagames. There were very few good Steel-types during pre-DLC 2, and Klang was the best, checking Ivysaur, Silvally formes, and Lunatone with its solid bulk. What was unique about Klang was that it could pose as both a defensive wall and an offensive threat due to the incredible Shift Gear. However, it took until several months for Klang to start dropping Sleep Talk for Iron Defense and Toxic; the former preyed on the usual physical attackers that would otherwise answer it such as Machoke and Octolock Grapploct, while Toxic punished switch-ins by slowly chipping away at foes for Klang's late-game sweep. Klang was extremely dominant during 2020's ZUPL II and was nearly quickbanned, although it did have its flaws with moves such as Knock Off and Trick being abundant enough to keep it at bay and some checks such as Whiscash still around. Klang eventually fell out of the metagame due to the immense power creep from DLC 2, but its evolution also dropped to ZU, took the reigns, and had a similar path during its early days with its utility-based sets but never quite being as meta-defining as Klang in DLC 1. Fortunately for Klinklang, many bans and rises occurred as time went on, which led to its gradual rise and the return of a very familiar Shift Gear Toxic set. By the July 2022 shifts, Klinklang had cemented its dominance as the best Pokémon in the ZU metagame, and it was the dominant force that led to the notably high usage of Rapidash, Stunfisk, and Palossand in ZUPL. The recent Klinklang suspect test solidified this line's position in this list,despite the result being no ban.

3

Many Gourgeist formes were successful in ZU throughout the eighth generation, with Gourgeist-L starting off this trend as a solid defensive tank, but Poltergeist being added to its arsenal led to it and its regular forme being banned in PU, meaning that no Gourgeist forme could be used in ZU for a brief period due to other formes already being in higher tiers. DLC 1 brought a wave of new Pokémon, and Gourgeist-L was unbanned from PU and found itself at the top of the metagame once again. Although it had great wallbreaking power, its defensive set was the most dominant, as it could blanket check most of the physical attackers in the metagame and was one of the few Pokémon capable of handling Grapploct. Gourgeist-L had a successful ZUPL campaign and continued to be the premier defensive Gourgeist until Gourgeist-XL took over as it dropped to ZU during the January 2021 shifts. Gourgeist-XL was far more niche, as other defensive Grass-types such as Tangela and Eldegoss generally outclassed it with their better utility and access to Regenerator. Gourgeist-S on the other hand stayed very relevant throughout most of the post-DLC 2 metagame, being especially effective with Choice items, although a variety of offensive sets were used. Its high Speed allowed it to revenge kill the likes of Silvally-Ground, Sawk, Rotom, and Jynx, and its naturally high physical bulk still allowed it to retain the properties of other Grass-types such as countering Ground-types like Rhydon and Alolan Dugtrio. Recently, Gourgeist-S has struggled with the rise of Miltank and Articuno, but except for these occasional brief periods, the Gourgeist formes have always found themselves at or near the top of the ZU metagame.

2

Rotom has secured second place with its impressive reign at the top for a large portion of the post-DLC 2 metagame. Rotom exudes the definition of flexibility, with Choice Scarf, Will-O-Wisp + Hex, Nasty Plot, and Choice Specs all being incredibly potent sets. While this versatility already made Rotom an incredible force, it was the fact that all of these sets had ways of punishing Ground-types that made Rotom so deadly, as those same Pokémon were expected to switch into its Volt Switch. Rotom's versatility and consistency has netted it a spot in the S-rank for a whole year and counting. There was essentially no scenario where Rotom was bad. Choice Scarf Rotom was an incredibly reliable revenge killer and pivot that had Trick to also debilitate walls, usually Ground-types like Stunfisk and Rhydon. Choice Specs offered more immediate breaking power and could similarly use Trick for anything it couldn't brute force past. Nasty Plot took advantage of metagame staples such as Miltank, which was unable to break through Rotom's Substitute, and was a nasty wallbreaker and sweeper. Will-O-Wisp + Hex sets rose up in popularity midway through Rotom's campaign, as it could fit Defog, which complemented its luring and punishing of Ground-type Stealth Rock users. Rotom was even suspected at one point, although the results were heavily in favor of not banning it; since then, it has continued to be ZU's top dog until recently when Klinklang may have finally knocked it off its throne. Regardless, it is undeniable the profound impact that Rotom has had on warping the metagame around it due to difficulty of shutting it down and it is worthy of the silver medal.

1

While Thwackey may be small, it was an absolute behemoth in Generation 8 ZU. The release of its hidden Ability Grassy Surge turned Thwackey into a devastating Swords Dance sweeper and Choice Band wallbreaker, as well as the best enabler of Grassy Terrain teams. It formed a deadly core with Unburden Thievul and two dominant performances during ZULT II led Thwackey to be banned shortly after. Following this, Grassy Terrain teams turned to its pre-evolution Grookey, and this strategy utilizing Swoobat, Musharna, and Trevenant was at the forefront of the metagame during that year's ZUPL. While Grookey avoided being banned, Swoobat was deemed too polarizing for ZU, as the counterplay for it wasn't consistent enough at stopping it from amassing boosts needed for its Stored Power sweep. Thwackey was later unbanned during the January 2021 shifts when ZU received 100 new Pokémon due to DLC 2's power creep in other tiers. Despite so many new Pokémon joining the metagame, Thwackey was able to stand out as an excellent revenge killer and sweeper due to the Grassy Surge and Grassy Glide combination. Thwackey also having U-turn and Knock Off proved to be especially useful, as this time around there were actual switch-ins to its Choice Band Wood Hammer, and it would weaken these checks before cleaning late-game. Grassy Terrain teams resurfaced and used the likes of Swoobat, Galarian Rapidash, Trevenant, and Thievul again; the strategy proved too strong once again, and Grassy Seed ended up being quickbanned. Thwackey itself was not deemed broken this time around because Grookey and Cottonee could still enable Grassy Terrain teams to dominate. That said, Thwackey managed to remain as a top-tier threat and mandated teams to carry strong Grass-type countermeasures. Thwackey's impression on the metagame was far greater than any of its peers, warranting its spot as the greatest titan of Generation 8 ZU.