(i'll be real i have no idea how to add the sprites and i'm too lazy to find a guide)
(You can type :sv/pokemon: to get a 3D model, replace sv with other gens like rs for different sprites or just :pokemon: for a minisprite).
Happy to see appreciate seeing more active discussion going on to start off 2025 and the different breadths of analysis people are bringing up. I think it's interesting to see how the recent posts over the last month may have been relevant to influencing some of the major shifts in January's stats, which I feel goes to show popularity/trend-based the meta can ultimately seem, but that might just be me.
(After all, Pokestar Spirit was technically still usable for years yet got no usage because it was supposed to be banned. I think that says something about people and the honour system. Or more of the fact that despite being banned, someone decided to still try to use it anyway through an oversight with cosmetic forms in the process, so maybe it more says something about how even the most unpredictable things will happen eventually.)
Also this is kind of late, but the RNG manipulation trick ended up getting patched.
Re Pokestar-Spirit: Unban could be cool. As far as I understand, a lot of bans happened in older gens, might be worth seeing how things play out. How are bans/unbans decided btw?
Re Stats: I'm curious if the 1760s stats are actually appropriate for this gamemode since I think they represent an unrealistic ceiling. Would be interested to see what people think.
Anyway, happy to discuss all this stuff, I'll probably try a few more creative teams and see how those go.
To be honest, suspects are really more just a matter of enough public opinion/discussion and up to Ivy to officially decide on in the end.
I feel like the 1700s are around where you might see the #1 ladderers at, which I see as kind of similar to viability ceilings in terms of more representing what might peak with a good streak which could be for a number of different reasons. For example, in the 1760 stats for this month Shox is #9 despite having 230 raw uses. It's interesting to point out in that sense and I appreciate the observation, but I personally see the 1630s as more representative of the general state of the ladder around ~1300 ELO and more varied to look at.
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-01/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-01/moveset/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
The battle count went down a bit again to
26046 but is still relatively alright.
January 2025: 1630-weighted top 10 + last month positions
#1: Pecharunt (#2)

#2: Mega Heracross (#1)

#3: Mega Ampharos (#5)

#4: Mega Venusaur (#3)

#5: Blissey (#4)

#6: Ting-Lu (no change)

#7: Aurumoth (#31)

#8: Mega Slowbro (#11)

#9: Glastrier (#22)

#10: Mega Sableye (#7)
Quite a bit of shakeups to be noticed, with shuffles and upsets all around. First things first, to start off 2025, Pecharunt has made it to an undisputed first in both raw and weighted usage after its recent spotlights here, cleanly surpassing even Heracross (8669 to 8395 in the moveset file). It seems like quite a bit of Venusaur's raw usage that's been chasing after Heracross has shifted over to Pecharunt instead (Venusaur is at 6071 now). Based on the moveset file, Ice Scales is pretty much the prime ability at 54%, though the Power Spot set mentioned above is at a fair second/24% which can also be seen with the prevalence of Aurumoth itself. The top half has mostly shuffled around otherwise, with Ting-Lu still hanging in 6th, but it's a pretty interesting sign of a greater change in sentiment from the recent discussions.
Meanwhile, Aurumoth is a dark horse that's also been getting some revitalized discussion recently from
justindoes above with the idea of Tinted Lens, which is indeed the primary set it's represented with. This is actually Aurumoth's debut in a proper top 10, though technically it's appeared in one of these once before according to a search, but only in
October 2020's 9 days worth of SWSH DLC2 stats. It's a good effort arguing for Tinted Lens, which is an ability I was pretty fond of with Shaymin back in the Steel days, and perhaps it has a new place in this particular meta. Speaking of SWSH DLC2, Glastrier has also returned as a white horse, and surprisingly Aerilate seems to lead on it with some kind of double Glastrier strategy involved. As mentioned earlier in this post and thread, Shox is actually doing pretty well for itself at #25 even with 1630-weighting, and Rotom-Wash is at #19 in terms of the bot watch, barely beating out Mega Gengar.
Going over the moveset file, the viability ceilings (highest GXE of any user of a mon) are pretty representative of the meta too, so may as well get right into it. Starting off at
84 we have Mega Slowbro (Ice Scales/Lightning Rod, Weakness Policy and Power Herb is still here for some reason), and Hisuian Zoroark who has so many abilities and items listed that I don't really know what to say other than Good as Gold/Mind's Eye and Choice Specs/Mirror Herb are in the lead, and its primary teammate is Mega Sableye I guess.
Following up is a five-way tie at 82 with Mega Heracross (mainly Pecharunt teammate), Mega Ampharos (Plus/Minus leading), Mega Camerupt (Storm Drain/Choice Specs with mainly stall partners like Ting-Lu/Pecharunt/Slowbro/Regirock...), Iron Hands (running Weakness Policy/Flower Veil with Venusaur? Pickup Mirror Herb with Ting-Lu? Ice Scales? Lots going on. I'm not sure if Flower Veil Iron Hands is a new thing or not, so I'll just note that specific phrase here for reference at least), and even just Magic Bounce/Absolite Mega Absol played straight with Diancie/Dragonite teammates. I'm really not sure what to say about that, considering it's placed #99 otherwise, but I guess it got a good run for itself.
Rounding off to a nice 10 mons, at 80 there's the main meta of Pecharunt (whose primary teammate is actually Heracross, followed by Pecharunt and Aurumoth), Mega Venusaur (Flower Veil and Magic Bounce both at ~36% usage, also with a main Pecharunt teammate), and Imposter Blissey (Ghost tera still around 58% usage, Stellar fell a bit to 24%, Mystery Berry only 3%). With that, that's 10 mons within a ceiling of 80, which I think is a new record and the newest highest point that I've stopped at, following up from 8 and 7 mons in the last 2 months. Is this a sign of a new age of parity, and/or has Pecharunt found a meta role of splashable teammate like prime Ting-Lu? Either way, thanks for your reading, and feel free to share your thoughts/personal experiences as always.