I want to do a little write-up on
now that I hit reqs. I have been playing OU fairly regularly and did restart my reqs a handful of times (I managed to choke a 28-1 run that turned into reqs in 47 that I also choked :( ) while playing with a new squad everytime. After playing with a couple balance teams and darkspam, I finally got reqs with a different HO team. All of those runs + my experience on higher ladder with pretty much every archetype but stall, not once have I found
to just run away with the game, even with the right tera type into the match-up.
relies heavily on its teammates to break down its counterplay to even get in position to sweep. Between all the fast encore pokemon that it might try to set-up on like
or
, faster taunt pokemon like
or
, status spreaders like
or
, there are so many ways to stop
from ramping up early on. Mid-late game when its at its scariest, pokemon like
,
,
,
and
all stop it depending on the tera. Of course, this isn't the whole list of pokemon that can do every role but it features the more commonly seen ones.
I did note that all of the late-game checks rely on its tera type. Ideally, you would want to save your tera reactionarily use it vs an opposing cleaner, whether it be
,
, or
, so the flip doesn't leave you blindsided into a loss. Tera is a vital tool that helps you break through certain structures or helps you not crumble to opposing threats so, if you end up in a 2v1 scenario with tera burned and your opponent has saved it until now then you should play wary, especially vs an opponent who knows what they're doing. However, if you were playing the game cognizant of the opposing
in the back, you would keep counters like
and
alive on stall, any breaker or prioity like
or
and a bulky pivot like
or
since this usually forces a tera to either avoid excessive damage or status which lets you break through it. Also, offensive structures also have options for late game
.
,
,
at +3, and
are all common options that do beat it 1v1.
This potential flip into win is nothing that other common sweepers like the aforementioned
or
can't do and, having this ability while teching for match-ups is also nothing new or special given that pokemon like "iron valiant" is known for this, along with pokemon like
,
and
which are fairly customizable for certain match-ups and,
and
deserve special mention if you incorrectly predict the set since these two can run away with games if you played against them as their breaker and pivot sets, respectively.
I think the biggest thing that makes me feel like
is OK in SV OU is the fact that its a very rigid and inflexible pokemon. You know exactly what its going to do and you can plan your game around it. You know which pokemon to keep healthy, which ones you play more loosely with and generally play around letting their wincon meet the conditions that let it win. Anecdotal, but the only loss I had over my suspect run that was directly
's fault was when tera blast ground crit my
, which lead to not being able to preserve my tera, a sac and focus sash on
which beat the last few guys. Even then, I was playing HO which is super volatile, especially late game so that definitely wasn't something I could ever wholly account for. To get back on track, its inflexibility means that its really only sweep since bulky sets lack breaking power and offensive sets lack longevity to do both. Taking a look at the previously mentioned win cons,
can break or weaken many popular defensive pokemon early game for its teammates thanks to the strongest knock off in the tier, acrobatics for fighting types and eq for steel types or taunt to stop recovery.
can come in to check a pokemon like
and either force chip or waste an item/ability on its checks, freeing it up for the late game.
can shut down set-up mons, revenge kill, force a KO with destiny bond or wall break with SD sets.
plays similar to
except its typing + multiscale lets it come in more often defensively and its rainbow movepool lets it bait and hit threats without burning tera.
is similar to
in its flexibility but trades long term chip for higher immediate power. Lastly, IDPress
plays closest to
but ime is more reliable at breaking its checks late game with the right tera along with being a fantastic physical check once a game if necessary and has the option to go boots 4a or band to function as a breaker. In comparison, if
comes in to check something like
or
, it does force out these guys but it lets its checks or counters in and it realistically can not make progress on these mons alone thanks to needing to burn an early tera to see notable chip. If it does pop tera early for chip, this makes the game far easier since you can a) play around it far easier and b) if you have tera intact you get set up in a phenominal position since your opponent can't tera anything else to break or check your team. I will say, the emergency ability to check fairies is huge for HO squads since many of them run a few dark types +
so having the option to have a pokemon that can come in freely to avoid the 6-0 is nice, especially if
is already down or is needed for other pokemon.
I understand people feel strongly about its builder constraints but what is it forcing usage of that isn't already being used for stopping other pokemon? All of the high power physical threats caused
,
and
usage to skyrocket along with
, the accessibility of hazards causes
to be a common choice, encore rose in popularity to shut down set-up sweepers as well as turning opposing pokemon into set-up fodder,
&
for
, tera fairy phys. def pokemon for darkspam and stuff like tera grass
due to
are all notable and common builder choices I see to address specific threats in the metagame but what is being teched in solely because of
?
I understand that it can be a frustrating pokemon to play against in a bad match-up but I am not seeing anything it does better than its contemporaries other than be a special attacking option nor its builder constraints that seem to be the more contentious topic. It also lacks the ability to just QD at lead and 6-0 or come in and weaken its checks to clean later like so many other available pokemon even in its better match-ups unless the team is poorly built. Unless I see some heinous 6-0s vs well thought out structures,
consistently breaking down a team to sweep like
or
can or someone points out some notable builder constraints and restrictions either solely caused by or exponentially worsened by
, I will be voting
DO NOT BAN.