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Resource ADV OU Viability Ranking and Metagame Discussion

I thought I'd throw together what I have pre-ban.
Unfortunately, my hard drive that contained the original project file died, so I'll have to recreate it at some point.

For an outline of the process, it wasn't anything too crazy.
  • I converted the OU usage data (again, 1760 ELO weighted) into .csv format for easier processing.
  • I trimmed out all truly 0-usage Pokemon and NFEs, minus a couple (Chansey, Haunter, Pikachu, Clamperl, and Scyther). For whatever reason, I decided that Magnemite, Diglett, and Trapinch should just be trimmed, but maybe when I redo this I'll leave them in as well. This was mostly to filter out ultra-low usage things that I deemed to be statisically irrelevant.
  • Then, over the period of analysis (Jan '25 to Aug '25 in this case), I did a trimmed mean, which is the average excluding the top and bottom outliers. I did this (of course) to decrease the impact of massive spikes in usage, attempting to get something more indicative of stable trends.
  • Next, the natural log of this trimmed mean (plus 1 to handle usage values near and equal to 0) was taken to reduce the skew at high usage values (Tar, I'm looking at you).
  • Then, I used this NTM (Normalized Trimmed Mean (normalized isn't exactly the right term here but oh well)) to create a matrix of distances between each Pokemon. These were hierarchically clustered using Ward's method, and 6 clusters ended up producing the best results by silhouette method, IIRC. It may have also just been what I thought looked the most reasonable qualitatively, I don't recall exactly.
  • Oh yeah, "Gap" is the difference in NTM with the Pokemon above. The clusters (CL 6 column) have been renamed with the traditional tier names.
So, with that out of the way, here we go!

January 2025 - August 2025 Usage (1760 ELO Weighted):
View attachment 783168
View attachment 783169
In the spoiler are the images for the E cluster (the lowest cluster) in case you want to see them as well.

Yeah, big ol' table when you include everything down to Castform! Lol. I had to include it as separate images because I think the forum got mad at how massive it is. Not ideal, got a little squished here and there. Here is a link to the spreadsheet.

I made a graphic that shows each cluster, down to Typhlosion (arbitrary stopping point) in the lowest cluster, the E cluster. All this graphic does is take the data from the table and make it easier to visualize in a traditional tier-slop format. The tiers are ordered, by  Rank.

6 Cluster Usage-based "Tier List":
View attachment 783167

Now, I'm not really claiming this to be exceptionally useful in any way. Just a little fun project for me to see what "natural" clusters/tiers arise from usage statistics. I might edit this post with some commentary, but I'm not a high-level player, so it would likely be less-than-useful. I guess one lighthearted comment I can make is that even trimming out their highest usage months, the Zoomer duo of Registeel and Raikou still make an appearance quite high, lending to the idea that if the trend continues to prove to be stable, they may be worthy of OU. And of course, we expect in the post-speedpass world that Jask, Wak, and perhaps even Smear and Vap will see some drops. I don't predict that Zap will see too much of a usage hit.

Well, that's that for now. I hope this proves somewhat interesting!
It's extremely vindicating for me and my anti-gyarados agenda to see that it's below the big name UUBLs on the rise as well as several OUs people are saying were "falling off" like Jolteon. Cloyster is absolutely better than Gyarados but this is usage and not viability.
 
It's extremely vindicating for me and my anti-gyarados agenda to see that it's below the big name UUBLs on the rise as well as several OUs people are saying were "falling off" like Jolteon. Cloyster is absolutely better than Gyarados but this is usage and not viability.
I’d argue jolt is seeing a little bit of a resurgence due to trends it never “fell off”. Just has always been on the lower end of ou. All of these lower end ou mons are very divisive, opinions vary a lot on them. really makes no difference if gyara is ranked below kou or registeel as both of those should probably be ou soon. And regardless gyara is not going to drop from ou. Your “anti Gyara propaganda” had no sway on my ranking of it ftr.
 
It's extremely vindicating for me and my anti-gyarados agenda to see that it's below the big name UUBLs on the rise as well as several OUs people are saying were "falling off" like Jolteon. Cloyster is absolutely better than Gyarados but this is usage and not viability.
Jolt is great idk ppl seem to use it all the time but its ranking / the way ppl talk about it dont reflect this. It compresses a role with ttar/skarm/gengar which is valuable for all the usual gengar ruining a slot reasons etc. Real archetype esp with all the offense hype now

That said its viability is always going to be limited bc its really not consistent but yea
 
I have placed these Mons in the C tier, which is my cutoff for OU. If Medicham is OU since it can do work from lead every now and then, I don't see why Raikou and Registeel ,who are more consistent and see greater usage, shouldn't also be OU.
Hi, on behalf of the UUBL community I am asking you all to please keep Registeel in UUBL.
You can have Raikou, but the tier would suffer without Registeel.
 
Honestly, seeing Registeel be exceptionally useful in mixed offense given how poor Snorlax & Rest Zap perform (Lax is better on weather clear, Rest Zap is better with aromatherapy support) made me glad to play ADV OU.

Think all my experience playing DPP UU, where Registeel is a fantastic defensive pivot, has carried over to ADV OU
 
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INSIGHTS:

- Swampert 2 because EndPert is actually OP. Teams need faster mon or +2 recover mons (or perfect play) for it to not go 2 for 1. Stop subbing to 1% all the time and focus on getting Endeavors at 50 or 26-33%. Those are where the real value lies in. Its also excellent at farming Rest Suicune. OffPert has become rather worse in my view thanks to EndPert. Tect sets are still excellent but need to be played more proactively in case of Spikes Off (or even Big 4 styles) so it doesnt end up being too much of a spikes bait

- Zap low because Zap Spikes Off is a bit more one dimensional and overprepped vs. Zap Spikes Balance usually has phys defense issues and is harder and harder to run for the same reasons as Zap Spikes Off, usually wout the outplay potential. Zapdos wout Aero is much more inconsistent against defense and offense alike. The loss of SpeedPass also makes Spikeless Zap harder and harder to truly pull off because it never does enough in either Offense or Defense MU wout Spikes support so at the end its really reliant on Dug to make it work Spikeless-wise which introduces a lot of awnkardness that Trapper Offense usually has to work with, mainly rigidity issues and defensive issues. That combined with the fact that Zap on Spikeless usually is trying to do too much to the point it becomes rigid makes said Offenses usually worse. Basically all of this is to say theres a reason the best Slop always ran Cele/Kou


- Gar should be higher as it gets immense value, is good against Slop and V5 (but not autowin status as Gar fanatics like to claim), its also good at switching into Pert and is able to give momentum for Spikeless via Boom and its specific target luring (Wisp Dol, Boom Zap/Cele due to using Bolt+Grass)

- Jira should be even lower honestly. Its a weird mon to slot all around and ends up usually creating issues defensively like Gar does. Thing is Jira isnt nearly as potent at potential autowin than Gar is imo. Not only that but Gar has Boom which is usually more instant value and gives it a more specific function on Spikeless other than "it beats stall, lol". CM Jira, Mix Jira and Wish Jira are all really A tier type of sets but the fact is "The Structure" becomes weaker because its defensive value is secondary at best and too auxiliary. It doesnt provide any main functions or specific luring, this makes it rather restricted to Spikes if you want more value out of it or you have to accept its merely a stallbreaker in your Spikeless and make the Offense MU worse in return. On the teams it does work though, it can be downright unfair but again its like Gengar in that way


- Meta is lower than usual because Regis can fulfill its momentum reversing role and it often ends up making Offense too specially weak. It is also somewhat awnkard vs Skarm either way and Agility needs quite a lot of support to get going imo (usually Ttar+Spikes or Ttar+EndPert), oftentimes it will need a Mence either way in case of Spikeless so it cant fully replace Mence on its "aero handler" role. MixMeta is worse than usual due to Registeel stonewalling it forever and the usual Meta issues. It is a bit too reliant on booming to break through defense while making your team frailer in return usually. It does need to be said however that Meta still is the best offensively wise, its just that with such a high octane breaker like EndPert, you can sacrifice some offense for much more needed stability and it usually doesnt destroy your flow/momentum either way. Meta+Spikes (esp wout Spin) is always so awnkard due to weak phys backbone and propensity to let Skarm roam too freely. It is worth noting the much better MU vs Lax is indeed quite valuable


- Registeel is high due to its ability to trade (twave, toxic, ct, boom) and able to provide flexibility and defense to offense wout sacking flow/momentum. Its boom is able to lure many great targets as well (natcures and the usual ground types) which makes it amazing for physspam. It is good on Spikes Off for the same reasons, I prefer Tox to progress better into NatCures and able to press Bliss but Counter is the golden standard and able to trade even better vs Meta, which is valuable for some teams. Spower can have potential as a Metagross substitute on some specific builds or even alongside Blissey. I usually never drop TW/Boom/Stoss, I think you could get away w dropping Stoss but its ability to cover all Lead Zap is very appealing so I dont do it


- Cele should likely be higher but tbh Cele SpikeOff hasnt felt that good in a long time and Recover Cele has the same old issues. Super is insane and actually very underrated, its able to trade up w tanks and birds alike which makes it a excellent support for all sort of weirdness. Recover Cele+Bliss is also pretty nice and Recover Cele teams in general could use a bit of a comeback as Cele is able to stonewall quite a lot of mons and Leech is very spammable nowadays, its still amazing at beating Fat as well and honestly CM/Seed/Giga/HP (Elec or Fire) is the best set at doing that, though recently its been souring on me as I have been realizing most Spikeless probably should use Super as the 3 move coverage is crazy great. Leech 3+Spikes vs Fat is still excellent but it always needed a level of precision that you just cant consistently ask for


- Milo, Dug and V5 as a whole are still great. Claydol is a centerpiece on it and other Fats which is why its high. Most Fat wout Claydol is incredibely flawed in some way and usually shouldnt be ran. As much as I like to shit on Cune + Dol offense, its honestly somewhat fine. It is able to chokehold many MUs due to the strenght of Rest Suicune but it still has so many issues of rigidity that are intensified with the removal of SpeedPass Zapdos which helped immensely defensively and offensively


- OffCune (3A) is neat but it is still somewhat limiting. Needs spikes or just be placed alongside EndPert on Slop, if ur using sandless I reccomend just sticking to Sub or Rest. Though I think Sub is only really used to fish people, either way Cune is the only other way to consistently make usable to good Offense. Offense needs either Cune or Mence or it cant be consistent. This applies to trapper offenses too (Mag or Dug Offense often wants Cune, and Mag teams practically cant drop Mence). This is especially true thanks to SpeedPass Zapdos's ban. There are few exceptions that truly "work" wout either of two and its usually Zap+Dug+Ttar that barely reaches "usable" status


- Jolt is actually pretty good. Great spikeoff at both farming opp SpikeOff and Slop, honestly it feels like the best time to use Jolteon is nowadays


- Forre balance and its adjacents really suffer. They often dont have enough tools to handle MUs like Slop or CuneDol. They are pretty fine vs stuff like Zap SpikeOff and other SpikeOffs but it still feels very awnkard to play with it. The saving grace is that Gar versions feel better than they used to, for both Skarm and Forre versions of the Big 4 (Ttar/Spiker/Bliss/Pert) and if its Skarm its surprisingly good vs Slop and even CuneDol regardless of the +2 choice (which imo shud usually be one of the OU steel-types + Aero/Mence/Firebird) but even so they always had this fatal flaw vs V5 as well, especially now with Thief+DP Skarm being spammed in such teams. Meta>Pert versions are always pretty frail. These teams often feel better wout Ttar too if they employ Spinners


- Mence / Aero are indispensible for the playstyles they often find themselves in. Mence is practically mandatory for at least 90% of usable offenses, if not more and Aero often finds itself as the best choice of bird for both Spikes Balance and Spikes Off. Not only that but it usually potencializes Zapdos in a way no other mon can. Both of these mons share various similar traits of both being good vs Offense and Fat and being the CMer check of most builds. I put Mence higher because it has more team range than Aero does but make no mistake, the best Spikes Off always historically used Aero for a reason



- The DefMie and P2 are coming back soon.



SAMURAI MONK WISDOM 8.
 
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Made another VR bc my opinions have been influenced by my time using el classico and registeel classico

:RS/Swampert: - My bespised. You're so fucking good that you outclass almost everything else that goes in your slot. Genuinely top 4 I think.
:RS/Zapdos: - I've been using you in the lead slot less and you're still amazing. My GOAT bird.
:RS/Gengar: - You're an asshole and we love you.
:RS/Aerodactyl: - I fucking hate you. I hate using you and I hate playing against you. I hate how you mandate defpert on all of my recent teams. Your speed tie is the worst in the tier. I hate how you solve a bunch of problems in late game for spikes teams. I genuinely despise this fuckass fossil but can't deny its efficacy. Edit: Draw and quarter whoever highlighted lead sub pressure aerodactyl. I hope you stub your toe every day for the rest of your life.
:RS/Snorlax: - showdown needs an AI that detects lastmon snorlaxes and gives their opponents as many crits as it needs to beat them.
:RS/Flygon: - Defgon + Gengar beats every aerodactyl endgame if you haven't managed to status the gon.
:RS/Venusaur: - Breloom but better but worse but with a movepool.
:RS/Electrode: The worst speed control of all time. Useful if you're really sick of aero's shit and also forget that Electrode doesn't actually do any damage.
 
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