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Figured I'd also post a VR for the current meta, bit messy as I'm still trying to figure out if i rlly think Kad Golem Vic and Tang are UU (Yes, I am a Kad glazer, its a nice lead rn). Regardless, I feel like yammering even if I sound like an idiot.
I view these 3 in a similar way to Tauros Snorlax and Chansey in OU (if that makes any sense). Hypno is just not droppable unless you find like some super specific scout or smth, not much else. Lapras is droppable but only on very specific structures, and even then you need to be careful about loading them. Kang is smth you can kinda just... drop? And its not a very big deal? Idk why its usage is so crazy insanely high, its definitely #3 but some of yall be glazing it too hard.
This guy isnt broken, if anything I kinda like how it gives us a fastmon with an existent defensive profile (even if its only sorta specially bulky). Lets us play and build in more fun ways w lap now that healthy Jolt can kinda soft check it as well as soft check cuno. Its kept out of top 3 by the fact that it hates any ground other than Dugtrio, but its traits are rlly nice for a good number of teams.
I may be alone in Dnite A1 but i will stand by the fact that fat twave is fat twave, and thats always nice to have. Still an alright Golem soft-check and agility sets can pull some shenanigans late game.
Semi-related but i think a team of Lead + the 5 above is smth u can just kinda load and be mostly chill, largely due to the point that jolt is a way better cuno soft check than whatever the previous 5th was. This team lead + top 5 is what TG2513 referred to as "goodslop" in UUFPL and i am inclined to agree that it is a good name.
Is fastest sleeper, has alright defensive profile, is annoying to check
More flawed now but its psychic coverage is pretty neat for Vic and Nidoking so it maintains a decent place, likes that dug has gone way down and while Jolt is competition you can probably get away w some double elec shenanigans.
A normal that lacks Kang's defensive profile but is more immediately threatening into comps without haunt. Autocrit slash does more than Kang's slam while being faster so it can be better than kang on certain teams that dont need Kang's bulk. Ofc its not a fan of Jolt but the drop of dug means that most of the time its still only contending with 1 faster mon thats easier to answer than dug.
I have subscribed to the ideology of "Small A Rank, MASSIVE B Rank" (Though im still not super sure on the order's in the rank's) Jolt's existence has kinda condensed a lot of mons' viability so ill just talk about the rises from/drops to NU
Rises to UU
Yeah im a glazer, this guys a fun lead given how Jolt has scared away the lead dodos for the most part. Seems like its at least decent into most leads (Haunter, Venomoth, Ninetales, Elecs, the occaisional Hypno) so you mainly just gotta be ready for Clefable. Its a lot like lead Zam in OU where you twave stuff and click buttons and maybe eat sleep based on mu. Flawed? Definitely, but man i really like it rn.
Decent offensive threat that defensively checks Jolt and can nab sleep off of it, clunky bc of how its roles mix together but with proper para spreading it works.
It comes in on Jolt and kicks heads in, with some paras its a solid offensive threat, and at the end of the day, it can blow up and send something to hell.
Same as Golem but trade additional defensive utility for less para reliance
Vic that is more passive but defensively checks more. Similarly to vic, its traits are just more valuable in Jolt meta :shrug:
Drops to NU
Jolteon and its subsequent impacts on the meta have sucked horribly for bro. Crit tbolt nukes it, more vic sucks for it, and it was already kinda clunky. Its still like... functional? But fitting it is a real pain in the rear, especially since you probably have to drop Lap to not be shaky as hell into Jolt.
I already thought this dude was a bum Jolt just murdered any chance Id rlly use it, it clicks buttons sort of but being nuked by tbolt is awful rn bc it forces you on the backfoot, and idt u can fit slam these days? Rlly just not lookin good for this pool noodle.
Now that UUFPL is over, it's my turn to rank these creatures. I'm also gonna yap a bit about some so sit down
The top 2 remains the top 2 but I ultimately think Lapras is close enough to Hypno is terms of goodness that it can share an S with it rather than S1 and S2. Like yeah, u could drop Lapras but u will notice it a lot.
Kang is too far from them though. Unlucky. Only 3rd place. It ONLY has a really strong B Slam + Hyper Beam, blizz for Dnite, EQ for electrics & counter for the mirror with really good physical bulk. SMH
I quite like Jolteon tbh. It's a strong mon but nothing too broken. Allows mons like Nido to exist more and Nido is a boom. And we finally have something faster than Dug that doesnt need to explode to achieve anything. It's pretty healthy overall
It might look like Jolt coming would hurt it. Nah. This thing is still just gonna crit everything in its path. lol lmao
I think Elec has enough tools to exist alongside Jolteon. Still fast and a unique movepool to beat up stuff that jolt could have some trouble with.
DNite is weird to me. It's still obviously good but everytime I see it in battle, it always feels like the DNite user is working way harder. Like with every positive it has, there's usually caveat to it like its solid bulk but even Kang's Blizz 2HKOs it. Overall a good mon but far from the likes of Kang
This mon is so fucking stupid and not in the cool way like Dodrio. There's a genuine argument for A1 or even top 3 about 23.44% of the time and every other time, it's pissing the bed in terms of damage. But you can't not respect it or else it runs you over. Sand Attack is also stupid on this.
Certified big lads who are eating heavily. The changes were designed for them to thrive. IDT they should be on the same team together but they do different things and can exist alongside each other. Make friendship, not enemies
I kinda rated this mon before Jolt dropped and it couldn't care less about Jolt dropping. It's just doing Clef things (hurting 1 major roadblock your team would have and usually dying but its an important). Please stop using sing on this though.
I'm also glazing this mon. Not to the same extent as Apple but I think it's pretty decent against a lot of important stuff and TWave + Recover with 105 speed is pretty good. Let's you fight hypno without using your hypno
I might regret this spot but Vic has been pretty decent as of late. Threatening double powder while beating up lap is valuable. It'll most likely do something important in a match.
Both were kinda struggling already but Jolt I feel is the nail in the coffin for both to drop. Now there's 3 viable electrics that outspeed all of them. Slow can at least try to threaten TWave + Amnesia but 1 crit and it's over for him too.
With both Jolt & Buzz now, Raichu's niche gets smaller. It still has a place against people who love using the grounds as a switch in instead of using Tang or something but nowadays I don't think its enough. If only surf OHKOd Dug
So I used this guy before Jolt dropped and it was kind of a demon before it got critted. I'll never say it'll be UU tier but it can be a surprise pick if you notice someone is weak to it. Certainly better than where it is now.
I don't want this thing to just drop. I want it killed and used for glue. That would have made it more useful than anything it's done in UU in the last 2 years. What on earth can this thing do that 9tales can't do? It does way less damage on the special side, it's less bulky on the HP side, the physical side and the special side and it doesn't even get fucking flamethrower which 9tales can at least use for reliability.
Is the 5 speed and a bigger attack stat that you won't use 95% of the time really worth it? Get rid of this thing and go use good fire types.
The E Tiers are just there for sillies. You might win a game every now and again with them on the team but I wouldn't bet money on them
I haven't been following recent UU too closely, so I'm asking as a genuine question/fill me in type of thing. Based on the VRs that have been posted, what stands out most to me is Slowbro in C. Obviously, Jolteon is very bad for it, as well as what looks like a rise in Victreebel usage, so I see why Amnesia Slowbro is probably bad, but surely Twave + 3 Attacks is good still right??? Also, I feel like if every water except Lapras is no longer worthy of UU, what's stopping people from just spamming the hell out of Cuno and fires to exploit that?
I haven't been following recent UU too closely, so I'm asking as a genuine question/fill me in type of thing. Based on the VRs that have been posted, what stands out most to me is Slowbro in C. Obviously, Jolteon is very bad for it, as well as what looks like a rise in Victreebel usage, so I see why Amnesia Slowbro is probably bad, but surely Twave + 3 Attacks is good still right??? Also, I feel like if every water except Lapras is no longer worthy of UU, what's stopping people from just spamming the hell out of Cuno and fires to exploit that?
Think slowbro applies close to no pressure if its not using amnesia, your switches become easy to predict instead of the opponent clicking the move that kills on crit, in my opinion staying on mons that will do 90% on crit is not optimal but the option is very much there and has to be respected when amnesia is present. Also not using rest means if u play hit and run u eventually get worn down too much. Granted the normal 1atk restamnewave set also gets worn down playing hit and run but psychic is often a good enough move to work with since lapras is usually the mon to answer slowbro with thunderbolt crits
I do think slowbro still has the utility of giving cuno and ninetales and to a lesser extent, dug second thoughts about sweeping your team but this mon is somewhat of a pain to fit on 6s. I think golem + slowbro is kind of ass in general because neither one of them operates very well independently and theyre both slow, we have raichu and vic and lapras who essentially force the team to take gambles constantly. I have been looking to improve slowbro's consistency but articuno and ninetales actually seem to be the underrated consistency pieces this time around, so maybe we'll see slowbro rise to answer those
Could you elaborate on this further? Twave is the hardest pressure move in the game so I can do stuff like bring slowbro in on ninetales/legendary bird and click the free twave which ur forced to address, then with a combo of surf/blizz + psychic + stoss (maybe also fit eq here over stab or psy to hit elecs idk tho I haven't checked calcs) I feel very comfortable taking on whatever is on the field. Obviously it doesn't have the insane critrate half this tier has but I still think the switchin opportunities into the offense guys + the huge momentum sink in twave makes it worthwile
I made this vr in a dunkin donuts on my phone and i actually gave all of my placements careful thought, like this is unironically a serious vr
wont talk about every mon , just the ones i have interesting things to speak about, thatd what the rby uu video will be for after all smile
Ninetales
I underrated ninetales for a long time. I apologize for this.
its underrated just how many mons you can fight with ninetales , fire blast essentially gives nothing free entry because only ome mon can sort of take advantage of burns(kadabra) and the rest just have their physicals crippled. Here is a list of things ninetales can do even if it wont do all of them in one game
-be your lead
-switch into and fight lapras
-fight every normal type in the tier
-2hko and revenge kill kang
-win a straight 1v1 vs persian or force it out
-burn golem or dragonite on entry
-switch into haunter and beat it
-beat articuno AFTER it has set up agility
-fight hypno
-click rest in front of lapras in some cases*, though granted this isnt the most consistent strategy
You may be wondering why i think there is any merit to resting ninetales, its quite simple really: ninetales is faster than and 2hkos kang who is often the best choice to pressure rest, meaning ninetales is not in as much danger clicking it as other slower mons are. It genuinely just has a good balance of speed tier, overall bulk and power
Needs to be experimented with more
Jolteon
One of jolteon's clearest strengths to me is in the lead slot. Its powerful and fast enough to actually 3hko ninetales and clefable in lead which the other electrics are not doing in lead, and doing more overall damage to hypno. There's a number of mons available to check it so its good to force the reveal immediately , imo. Definitely feels builder centralizing, but still too early to call for any kind of ban
Articuno
I regret that we dont have any sample teams with articuno because this mon is the fucking goat. It is trivially easy to set up endgames for it to sweep and it is damn good at it. Having an offensive powerhouse that takes advantage of dragonite as the blank defensive piece and all the grounds and grasses going around is huge, tho the jolt 1v1 is much worse for it than the other elecs. Like this mon single handedly justifies the rest slot in lapras to me, otherwise it feels like a dead slot
...and moltres
In my last vr, i placed articuno and moltres very close to each other, but ive soured on moltres a lot. Note that articuno has ice beam for consistency kos on 3 mons(dodo dug dnite) and moltres doesnt even have flamethrower. I think youre better off using ninetales since itll actually switch into stuff. Agility and theoretically taking kang eq and blizz is good but again, ninetales is a lot more neutral/favored in most mus.
Victreebel
The usual gut reaction for me with seeing grass types is that they tend to struggle with consistency and vic does rely on a lot of moves with below 100 accuracy, but my opinion on it actually improved. I like that vic is able to attempt sleep on hypno and lapras and actually threaten great damage on kang, persian, lapras , and slowbro. Ive found its a really good partner for articuno offensively, though defensively they both need some help with ninetales(ANOTHER UP FOR THE GOAT!)
Kadabra
Another mon my opinion improved on a lot. I do not think it has muchhhh of a place in the back but i appreciate it in the lead slot because it can often force hypno to come out and doesnt have the worst odds into most leads, given normal types have become rarer in the lead slot, although clefable is dicy for it. There is a lot of value to paralyzing hypno early as this gives your lapras a lot of room to click its big stupid buttons without hypno switching in and throwing wave back, you dont need to land sleep first to win in this tier, a lot of my games sleep lands on the 3rd mon sent out and it is far stronger the less answers your opp has after sleep. You are also preventing their hypno from following up their hypnosis while being unparalyzed, which helps ur odds of not being turbofucked by 2-3 turns of pain
Gyarados
Bold take i know, but being weak to thunderbolt is strictly worse in this tier than being weak to blizzard. Its really just outclassed by dragonite defensively, like this still dies to articuno in 3 clicks and likewise needs 3 clicks to kill it back. If it had thunder wave i think there may be room for debate but as it stands dragonite is just going to do the job better. U cant even rly rely on it to help w dnite that much as gyarados doesnt want to take paralysis and then take nite thunderbolt for 80%. It answers fires better than dnite due to having water type but its much worse outside of it. I had this take BEFORE jolteon dropped btw. I was not using gyarados much
Persian
A little strange to place persian so low, but frankly the rise of cuno, tales , and now jolt made me more hesitant on it. It generally breaks well but hypno fears it much less than the other 2 normal types because its body slam is weak. I think the rise of grounds could help it but grasses love to spread status and they all live 2 slashes, did u know vic lives 2 slashes? Badass
Golem
Still not sold on the value of this mon. The other 2 grounds have weaker earthquakes but theyll often get to hit twice because theyre fast so they end up doing more damage. Theoretical paraspread teams could help golem but how often is a mon paralyzed and then preserved in this tier for golem to kill it? U genuinely need to play rather bold w predictions and take all the normal type clicks u can to make this thing worthwhile. At least its existence sort of prevents dodojolt stack.
Hypnoless teams
I didnt get to run these as much as i wanted, but hypno is such a slow piece i think it is more realistic to build than ud expect. As long as u arent stacking a bunch of mons slower than hypno u will not be giving it too many openers to switch in. I think the optimal swap for hypno is haunter since it has access to sleep, good speed , explosion and more pronounced defensive value. Much experimentation is needed. And yes lapras is the better offensive piece independent of sleep as blizzard actually does huge damage and lap is physically bulkier to actually click its buttons
Could you elaborate on this further? Twave is the hardest pressure move in the game so I can do stuff like bring slowbro in on ninetales/legendary bird and click the free twave which ur forced to address, then with a combo of surf/blizz + psychic + stoss (maybe also fit eq here over stab or psy to hit elecs idk tho I haven't checked calcs) I feel very comfortable taking on whatever is on the field. Obviously it doesn't have the insane critrate half this tier has but I still think the switchin opportunities into the offense guys + the huge momentum sink in twave makes it worthwile
for sure. i dont think the legendary birds tend to come out until rather late in a game, but ninetales is a pretty common lead and revenge killer so slowbro does apply there. the common line if slowbro wasnt burned is to absorb the twave with someone and then go to hypno/lapras, who get to click sleep moves on it, lapras in particular gets to go for thunderbolt crits as well. without amnesia , lapras is just consistently getting the 2hko with thunderbolt, arguably if psychic gets a quick drop or there's a bit of luck with yellow magic it may not kill so quickly. there's also the fact that there are many mons who have some kind of avenue to damage slowbro bigly and the 3a set essentially has to predict which one the opponent will decide is worth throwing at it. dragonite thunderbolt? victreebel grass? electric type stab move? nidoking on possible second wave? haunter? a random back clefable? amnesia at the very least forces much more predictable clicks from the opponent and having rest can give outs vs a bird that happnes to live till the end of the game. it becomes kind of a weird prediction game without much room for error if rest and amnesia are both gone
For convenience's sake, here are the usage stats and replays for UUCL 1, ALTPL 4, RBYPL 6 AND UUFPL 6 in one post. Keep in mind jolteon became legal during uufpl 6 starting from week 5.
In light of jolteon's welcome to the tier and the upcoming ladder, we have compiled new speculative sample teams! Big thank you to everyone who submitted teams!(sorry that zard lead didnt make the cut)
Hello. After a pretty long hiatus from RBY UU, I settled down and did what a good councilmember ought to do and signed up for UUFPL VI. I'm very happy with how I did in the tournament, leading my team's charge into semifinals with a 6-1 set record (13-3 game count). I think this tier is pretty misunderstood, even more so with Jolteon now joining the tier. I'm under no illusion that I'm secretly the greatest RBY UU player ever — I definitely had some lucky turns of events in the tournament — but I do think the fresh pair of eyes I brought to the tier allowed me to build some pretty unique and strong teams that a lot of people are neglecting, and that helped me win several of my games.
In this post, I'm going to drop my current UU VR. This VR isn't at all finalized. I've only played 16 games of this tier (your assumption is correct, this means I played no practice games). Thus, I am very liable to change my opinion here and I fully expect the metagame to develop relatively quickly as to obsolete at least a few of my opinions. Nonetheless, I will give descriptions of varying length for every Pokemon's placement, affording extra words to Pokemon that I think are significantly misplaced on the current VR or the VRs of my peers, or that I think are just particularly interesting.
I built every UUFPL VI team that I used on my own, but I did take some feedback here and there on some builds, so I'll give a quick thank you to the Castle Rock Rockruffs, most especially Theycallmephil, who not only gave advice but also hunkered down and took care of GSC UU for the team.
And so it begins.
S Rank
Hypno
Hypno's strengths are pretty well understood. While it is encumbered by a poor Speed tier, making it droppable on some very aggressive teams, it offers a ton of utility really not matched by any other Pokemon. Thunder Wave and Hypnosis, especially on something so bulky, have self-explanatory value. Psychic and Thunder Wave are the only really mandatory options, meaning Hypnosis, Seismic Toss, Rest, Counter, etc. can be teched as a team calls for them. Hypno is great for progress-making, being excellent at status spread, trading, and just muscling through foes with high damage and nasty Special drops (re-applied paralysis wins games). Hypno offers a lot, so there simply isn't significant reason to drop it most of the time.
One quick detour I'll take on the topic of Hypno is to discuss the role of sleep in RBY UU. I think a lot of players are too ambitious with sleep in this tier. Sleep is obviously extremely powerful, but, given their generally poor accuracy, clicking sleep-inducing moves is often very committal. Misses are very costly in this relatively aggressive tier, and value isn't guaranteed even if the move lands, as the target can sometimes wake up quickly. Typically, a decently strong Pokemon like Hypno, Lapras, or Clefable is going to get more value from just taking the turn to attack (or click Thunder Wave) than if they click a sleep-inducing move. Or at the very least, just attacking will be sufficient to win and the benefit of landing sleep is overkill, rendering it an unnecessary risk. Usually if I clicked a sleep-inducing move, especially an inaccurate one, in my sets, it was because I believed I needed it to win. If I'm down by a lot of material or just have an awful matchup, I'm much more likely to click something like Hypnosis. If I think I can secure an endgame without it, I'll usually avoid clicking it, unless I have a largely free turn. Even then, sometimes I'll still opt not to click it, as leaving a Pokemon susceptible to paralysis later or keeping sleep open for another opportunity can be of more value (late game sleep is really underrated here). I saw a lot of games lost because sleep was just not connecting. This will happen in RBY UU, undoubtedly, but sometimes I do think it's worth pausing and just not clicking the move, or saving it for later.
Lapras
Lapras is extremely good and I'd advocate for a similarly high usage rate for it as I would for Hypno — I dropped neither throughout UUFPL VI. Much like Hypno, it's bulky, can actually switch into things, and can deal out hefty damage. I don't have a ton to say about Lapras either, as I think pretty much everyone rightfully understands that it is fantastic. I have Hypno above Lapras thanks to a the former's greater Speed and coveted access to Thunder Wave. The sheer power of Lapras's Blizzard should not be understated, but Thunder Wave wins games.
Regarding move sets, I think Surf is a really good option here. I usually ran Sing, but I would drop it on occasion, especially if I already had two other sleepers on my team (you really don't need more than two). Surf is honestly really good to have with all the Ninetales running around, and the accuracy can be a lifesaver, especially against Substitute users like Dugtrio and Nidoking. I used Body Slam on pretty much every Lapras I brought — it's fine. Rest is a decent option, and more niche stuff like Hyper Beam has a place.
A1 Tier
Slowbro
Yes, I think Slowbro is this good and I think the people putting it in C Tier and outside the top 20 are genuinely insane. If I counted correctly, I believe Slowbro ranked fourth on my usage stats, and this wasn't by mistake. I seriously cannot understand why people think Slowbro is bad or even difficult to use. I will now rant about how good Slowbro is for a long paragraph that probably should have been multiple.
For starters, Slowbro is insanely bulky. On the physical side, even Dodrio's critical hit Hyper Beam can't OHKO this thing. This, plus access to Thunder Wave (and Counter!) make Slowbro pretty much the best answer to physical attackers, period. Why people recognize that a tanky Thunder Wave makes Hypno arguably the best Pokemon in the tier but fail to see how an even tankier Thunder Wave would make Slowbro an enormous threat eludes me. In the builder, Slowbro was really nice to patch up weaknesses to Pokemon like Dugtrio and Kangaskhan. On the special side, it's honestly not too bad. Thunderbolt and the stray Grass-type move can be nuisances, but with Ice and Fire being two of the most common attacking types in UU, Slowbro fits pretty well. Pokemon like Articuno, Moltres, and Ninetales are really ill-equipped for Slowbro, making them easy targets for Thunder Wave, or as set up fodder. Speaking of set up — I'm going to do the meme — you guys realize Amnesia is two Calm Minds, right? I know it's a joke at this point, and RBYers like to pretend that setup is a garbage noob trap that no one can actually use seriously (especially in LTs), but I think this has caused serious players to overlook something really powerful right in front of them. Even without Rest, but especially with it, Slowbro can become nigh unkillable with Amnesia. It can dish out enormous damage while forcing progress with Thunder Wave, and it honestly has pretty ample setup opportunities. Any paralyzed Pokemon without STAB-boosted Electric-type or Grass-type moves is potential fodder (the Speed drop reapplication glitch from Amnesia and Psychic Special drops are also huge factors in Slowbro's momentum, as well as for letting Slowbro volley for its teammates). Extremely common Pokemon like Hypno and Lapras are easily set up on, provided they are paralyzed (or asleep) and sleep has already been taken (side note: I can't fathom how a Pokemon that comfortably tangles with the two best Pokemon in the tier can be seen as bad). Slowbro is really good at making midgame progress or securing endgames. Electric-type Pokemon definitely threaten Amnesia Slowbro more than anything else, but they often rely on critical hits to get through it. Failing to get a critical hit, or just not having an Electric-type Pokemon ready, can mean the end of the game. Slowbro is also extremely customizable, thanks to a massive movepool. Amnesia, Thunder Wave, Rest, and either Surf or Psychic is likely going to be the best set, but there is a lot of flexibility here. First, the choice between Surf and Psychic is a lot easier to make than you might think. For me, all I did was carefully scout my opponents to see if they preferred to give up Lapras or Hypno first. If Lapras, go Surf to take on Hypno. If Hypno, go Psychic to take on Lapras. Pretty much every player I watched prefers one of these two routes overwhelmingly (hint: if I loaded Psychic Slowbro into you in UUFPL, it's probably because you toss away your Hypno way too early and don't bring any secondary Psychic-type Pokemon and vice-versa for Surf and Lapras; you might want to mix up your gameplans), so it was usually a clear decision. Additionally, you can drop Rest (or possibly Thunder Wave) to get a second attack on there. Running both STAB options is often best, but Blizzard is another solid burst option, especially for Dragonite and Dodrio spammers. Earthquake can also be a fun surprise option for catching Electric-type Pokemon and Haunter for good damage (seriously, check the calcs). Counter is also really cool for returning heavy hits like Hyper Beam and Slash. Reflect or Withdraw also might have some merit, but I never got around to trying them, and they could just be unnecessary. Amnesia can also be dropped entirely for utility moves if that is what the matchup demands. Slowbro is also a surprisingly workable lead, as it can contest most non-sleep leads and threaten big damage on follow up. Slowbro also builds really naturally with a lot of key Pokemon. Ground-type Pokemon are strong choices for obvious reasons. Kadabra is a shockingly nasty partner than can convert opposing Hypno into setup fodder with lethal consistency while also picking up good matchups into Electric- and Grass-type Pokemon, as well as Haunter. Dragonite and Kangaskhan love Slowbro's ability to spread paralysis, while also being good at spreading paralysis themselves for Slowbro, depending on the route the player chooses to take. Slowbro is by no means a Pokemon to bring in every game, but it is remarkably strong and should not be discounted in the builder at all. It's fantastic.
Slowbro being near the bottom of several recent VRs, with some even advocating for it to drop to NU, is primarily what has led me to call so many recent VRs bad. Maybe I just have obscene luck or something, but I can't look at my teambuilder and undefeated record with Slowbro and not think it's an excellent choice. Slowbro definitely tanked a little with Jolteon dropping, but it is still plenty good. It's not like these Pokemon can suddenly switch in anyway. Finally, people need to stop saying Slowbro and Lapras are incompatible. Every Slowbro team I ran, and won with, was also a Lapras team. Yes, these teams can be slow, especially if you choose to back them with Golem or Nidoking rather than Dugtrio. No, this is not a unresolvable issue. The Hypno-Lapras-Slowbro-Ground core is very bulky and capable of surviving long games even while being slow, and there are still two (or three, if you drop the Ground-type Pokemon) more slots available to introduce Speed and/or paralysis to the team. Slowbro can likewise be run without Lapras; there really is no rule saying they must or must not be run together.
Kangaskhan
Whether Kangaskhan or Slowbro would get the #3 spot was pretty contentious for me. I think Kangaskhan being #3, or maybe even higher, is very sensible, and I could easily see myself swapping the two. I think the next Pokemon in A1, spoilers: it's Dugtrio, is still solidly in the A1 Rank, but I'm less likely to put it above either Kangaskhan or Slowbro.
As with Lapras, there isn't a ton to be said here. Kangaskhan has been a top Pokemon in RBY UU since its inception and has been doing largely the same thing ever since, that being an incredibly consistent source of damage thanks to a good Speed stat, solid bulk, and an excellent offensive toolkit. One thing I will say though is that I think Kangaskhan is better than it should be. Kangaskhan absolutely loves facing slow teams, especially those without Slowbro on them. I faced several teams that led with a Pokemon faster than Kangaskhan but otherwise had nothing faster than Kangaskhan (reminder that leads frequently end up paralyzed, asleep, or fainted before a second Pokemon even comes out). Teams like this are borderline unviable, particularly if they don't run Slowbro, as Kangaskhan just eviscerates them. If your team lacks a Pokemon that can revenge kill Kangaskhan, I'd genuinely say just try to rebuild it. If Kangaskhan can knock out one Pokemon on a revenge kill and immediately proceed to get extra credit (which can realistically be another KO, thanks to critical hits and Body Slam paralysis) because you can't stop it, slow it, or force it out, that's a huge problem. Kangaskhan will get worse as teams get better, but I fully anticipate it to remain pretty high regardless.
Dugtrio
Dugtrio remains pretty good. While Jolteon outspeeding it is a tad annoying, I'd say its introduction to the tier is a net positive for Dugtrio. While we can point to things like Jolteon potentially winning the head-to-head as a major point against Dugtrio, I'm going to do the other meme and say players need to stop overanalyzing these tiers and forgetting basic facts like that Ground-type Pokemon beat Electric-type Pokemon. Also, I am very unlikely to take claims about 1v1 matchups seriously. I've been ardent about this forever: Pokemon is a 6v6 game with switching. Your 1v1 calcs are not important to me. Revenge killing, securing ranges for teammates, and procuring setup fodder are part of this game. Especially with a Pokemon like Dugtrio, which often thrives on switching in and out. Aside from Jolteon being present and it not loving its matchup into Dugtrio, Dugtrio actually gained kind of a lot. With Jolteon and, to a lesser extent, Raichu being more popular, Flying-type Pokemon are a lot harder to run now. Dragonite is the least affected, but it feels a lot worse in a Lapras metagame. Meanwhile, others like Dodrio, Articuno, Moltres, and especially Gyarados are a lot tougher to run than the used to be. Electric-type Pokemon also invite more Ground-type Pokemon and even more Electric-type Pokemon into the metagame, as they can handle Jolteon's Thunderbolt. Nidoking, Golem, Electabuzz, and Raichu are generally not happy to see a Dugtrio. The one downside is definitely Grass-type Pokemon, which also handle Ground- and Electric-type Pokemon well, but thankfully if you see one, that means your opponent is running a Grass-type Pokemon. As I'll discuss later, Grass-type Pokemon have poor offensive output and really aren't that difficult to answer, given the numerous strong Pokemon that resist them, so this isn't a huge deal.
A2 Rank
Persian
Persian feels a bit worse in a lot of ways, as the tier is getting bulkier with Lapras and Slowbro being around. Also, Haunter seems to be on a miniature renaissance for some reason right now. Nonetheless, Persian really just found a way to fit on a lot of my teams. While more fast options are available now, the Speed tier is still not something you can overlook. Persian's Slash is doing more on average than Dugtrio into a random Pokemon, so its a revenge killer that doesn't need as much thought to get going — it's at least decent into pretty much everything with just one move. The consistent damage into Kangaskhan is especially notable, being the most you can ask for from a faster physical attacker without committing to Hyper Beam. And, while Haunter can be annoying, what Jolteon allows Nidoking and Golem to get away with can be much worse. So Persian ends up being a really safe addition to any team that is just aching for a Speed boost, which I'll say is a lot of them.
Ninetales
Ninetales is really good. It's really spammable as a lead. Without really checking into the numbers, I'd say it has the best matchup spread of any lead. Only really Water-type Pokemon are going to beat it consistently, but committing to leading with like Slowbro or Gyarados can be tricky, especially if there is some tendency to use sleep leads as well. Even Pokemon that should beat it, like Dragonite, might not thanks to burn or paralysis. Being a top lead may already be enough to be a UU Pokemon, but its roles outside of the lead slot are really what cement it in A Rank for me. Whether left outside of the lead slot, or if it manages to come out of the lead matchup in good health, Ninetales can do a lot in the mid and late games. The Speed stat makes it an excellent revenge killer, notably being able to do more damage to Kangaskhan than pretty much anything faster than it (unless you are running Thunder Jolteon, I guess). It's also deceptively bulky, being particularly good at taking on the legendary birds and Electric-type Pokemon in a pinch. And once Ninetales is in, there is very little that wants to switch into it. Conventional bulky Pokemon like Hypno and Lapras take way more damage than one might guess (Hypno can even drop from full on switch in if either Fire Blast lands a critical hit) and resists like Dragonite and Gyarados really don't want to be burned. Even Slowbro is kind of bother by it, especially if Ninetales has Substitute. Also, while not at all required, Quick Attack is a decent filler move to get value even when paralyzed, as it can pick off frailer Pokemon that often find themselves at low HP, like Kadabra and Dugtrio. Rest should also be mentioned, being of very good value in certain matchups.
One thing that I see no one talking about that makes Ninetales really good right now is that players have seemingly forgotten that Water-type Pokemon not named Lapras exist. They are certainly harder to run, especially with Jolteon here now, but they do exist. Tentacruel and Slowbro are very much overlooked. Weirder stuff like Omastar and Vaporeon also might still exist. You can (and probably should) also run Surf on Pokemon. Conventional wisdom dictates that Surf is redundant on Blizzard users, but you can slap it on several Pokemon for good results. Lapras is the obvious one, but stuff like Nidoking and Kangaskhan like it too, though less so for Ninetales in particular.
Jolteon
This is probably the most "vibes" ranking on this VR, as I really don't think I or anyone has that good of a picture of a post-Jolteon UU yet. The picture is especially obscure because players are currently very over-prepared for it. No one wants to be the player who got caught empty-handed into the the new toy, so you end up with monstrosity teams featuring all of Electabuzz, Golem, Tangela, and Dugtrio (I'm not picking on the person who brought this real team to UUFPL, it was just the first "I hate Jolteon" team I could find in the replays).
Even with most players tripping over themselves to check it, Jolteon is a strong presence in the UU metagame. Flying-type Pokemon are worse now thanks to Jolteon. Gyarados is obviously hit very hard, but Pokemon like Articuno, Moltres, and even Dragonite suffer as well. Jolteon is also the worst thing that ever happened to Dodrio as well, as not only is the Jolteon matchup abysmal, Jolteon's introduction has invited in a plethora of Golem. Water-type Pokemon suffer pretty similarly, and I think the excessive preparedness for Jolteon is what has made Water-type Pokemon seem so unpopular right now (which means that the biggest winner of the Jolteon legalization might actually be Ninetales). Though unlike Flying-type Pokemon, I think Water-type Pokemon are criminally underutilized right now, as they match up well into all the anti-Jolteon stuff. Like go look at your builder right now, and check how many of your teams are utterly swamped by Tentacruel — I'd guess around half. Eventually, I think UU will kind of reach a sort of Electric–Water–Ground equilibrium, but it will be unbalanced because Jolteon is just fundamentally stronger than what the Pokemon of the other two types offer. On top of virtually unparalleled Speed, it's worth taking a moment to appreciate just how obscenely strong Jolteon is. RBY UU has never seen a Pokemon with this much Special offense and Speed. This Pokemon is almost 20% stronger than Electabuzz, who has long been RBY UU's default Electric-type Pokemon. With a critical hit, it has odds to knock out not just Lapras, but also Articuno (and even a small chance versus Kangaskhan!). This should not be understated. Jolteon has checks and can be answered, but this an extremely warping Pokemon, and I'd say it probably has the greatest impact on the metagame of any Pokemon, despite not even scratching my top 5.
Jolteon really only needs Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave to be successful. Body Slam is also usually an auto-include to answer Dugtrio, but isn't super helpful otherwise. The last slot is kind of a free space for whatever: Pin Missile for Grass-type Pokemon, Hyper Beam to finish Ground-type Pokemon and physically frail stuff, Substitute to capitalize on switches and sacks, or Sand Attack to be degenerate. As far as I can tell, Double Kick has no targets — probably stop trying to make that one work. In term of roles, Jolteon is pretty flexible. It can service as a lead like Electabuzz often did, though the lack of coverage makes it a little worse off sometimes. I think it works best as a revenge killer or sweeper, usually pairing well with stuff like Articuno and Fire-type Pokemon.
For another brief detour, let's talk about banning Jolteon. To be clear, it is way too early to make the call on banning or suspecting Jolteon, so none of this is an official policy dictation, just my musings so far. As with any Electric-type Pokemon, Jolteon has counters. But these counters are honestly awful Pokemon that I don't think benefit the metagame. I've hated Nidoking as a UU option pretty much forever, and I still think it is terrible. It's weak, it's slow, and it has no defensive utility beyond the Jolteon matchup. And this is the best Pokemon available that solidly answers Jolteon. Golem has good qualities, but it is a massive momentum sink that gets easily picked off by a huge portion of the tier. Grass-type Pokemon are laughably weak and easily countered by like, almost the entire metagame. Jolteon can be held at bay, but you have to make several compromises in the builder and it forces otherwise niche and bad Pokemon into mission-critical roles. If I had to make a decision right now about Jolteon, I think I'd ban it, but thankfully I don't need to make a decision right now so we can watch how the metagame responds and develops with Jolteon roaming the land.
Haunter
There's not a ton to be said about Haunter right now. It seems to be riding a wave of greater popularity than it has ever seen. Haunter being a near-universal inclusion in the top 10 is a bit odd, as that has seldom been the historical tale. Honestly, I'm not even sure if Haunter has really gotten better, or if everything else around it has gotten worse. The introduction of Lapras and Slowbro have been pretty good for it, giving its Thunderbolt two more good targets. People seeming to forget Kadabra exists is also good news for it. But I think its rise may also be explained by the fact that classic contenders for this part of the VR like Gyarados, Articuno, and Dodrio, have been seen in less positive light lately.
RBY UU is also more sleep heavy than ever. This is a mixed bag for Haunter. It does mean there is more competition for its role, but being the fastest of the bunch has perks. It also means that other Pokemon with sleep-inducing moves can free up moveslots on Haunter, or, more often, vice-versa. Getting to drop Sing from Lapras or Hypnosis from Hypno is a great feeling and Haunter really helps you feel comfortable doing that.
B1 Rank
Kadabra
Kadabra is the last Pokemon about which I have a lot to say (after writing the whole thing, this turned out to only be kind of true), which should come as no surprise as I have it in the top 10 while most people have, or had, it in NU. Kadabra can be a tricky Pokemon to use, and consequently I think a lot of people attributed underperformance to its viability rather than its misuse. I'm not trying to say not liking Kadabra is a skill issue, but I do think it was a heavily misused Pokemon. Kadabra is undeniably very frail and paralysis is a major threat, so it can feel really underwhelming in some games. Kadabra is a very targeted Pokemon; you need to employ it for a specific purpose or else it will kind of just die. Its Speed and offensive prowess make it very good at forcing linear responses, which can be exploited. Kadabra's biggest strengths revolve around Hypno and access to Thunder Wave. Aside from Hypno, and kind of Slowbro, nothing wants to take Kadabra's Psychic, so it can force Hypno in reliably. If your team needs paralysis on Hypno, maybe to support a Slowbro or Golem, or just wants it to come in so you can meet it with a Pokemon looking to use a sleep-inducing move, Kadabra will get it done better than anything else. Kadabra also forces paralysis in general better than just about anything else. It might get knocked out in the process, but if you need to force paralysis on a specific target, Kadabra is usually your best bet. Unlike its Electric-type counterparts, Kadabra has great options for Ground-type Pokemon, so there isn't much that can switch in if Kadabra is held for the late game. Kadabra is also the best Pokemon for denying and punishing Pokemon with sleep-inducing moves, none of which stand up that well into Kadabra. This all also makes Kadabra a solid lead, as well as a good revenge killer (Kadabra hits Kangaskhan and Dodrio pretty hard). Kadabra can occasionally be good for bullying, or at least trading with, Special-attacking Pokemon that can't consistently paralyze it, like Ninetales, Lapras, and Articuno. Reflect sets are also mildly interesting, and I don't know where else to bring them up, so I'll mention them now.
If every game in which you use Kadabra sees it trade Thunder Wave with lead Electabuzz and then get knocked out because of its poor physical bulk, of course it will look bad. While it can lead, if all you do with it is lead trade, it will be underwhelming (you should check the scout for Haunter and Venomoth before leading this, because those are really your targets). Let it open doors for Pokemon like Slowbro, Nidoking, and Articuno, and you can watch it thrive. Also, final note, Recover: it's a great move and you should use it, but your opponent knows this. Kadabra is so frail that adding 50% to its HP will regularly still leave it range of Pokemon like Persian or Kangaskhan (if Kadabra is paralyzed). You can do yourself a lot of favors if you stop trying to heal up to a an HP amount that leaves you no less vulnerable to a knock out and instead just click Thunder Wave or Psychic. Seismic Toss is a great move too, but can similarly be excellent bait for yourself.
Moltres
Starting here with Moltres, there is a pretty substantial drop-off in how much I have to say, as the Pokemon in this section are less likely to be overrated or underrated and are less dynamic overall (I have also been working on this post on and off for about a month, so I lose momentum sometimes). Moltres stands out simply for pure damage. Much like Ninetales, it is incredibly difficult to respond to, boasting even more firepower both physically and specially. While I tend to think of Moltres as more of a mid-game wallbreaker, access to Agility gives it some nice sweeping opportunities as well. I do think Ninetales is generally a bit better though, as the extra Speed, more reliable move pool, and situationally better typing make it a bit more consistent. Moltres nonetheless has plenty of room to exist, and the two actually pair pretty nicely together.
While it might seem trite to rank them next to each other, I do think Moltres and Articuno are genuinely very close in viability. While it appears most favor Articuno, sometimes by a lot, I like Moltres's matchup spread a bit more. The Lapras matchup is the most notable one, and a huge reason why Moltres will typically be a better wallbreaker (especially if your opponent likes Rest) and Articuno leans a bit more toward sweeping. Generally better matchups into Ninetales and opposing Moltres/Articuno are also points for Moltres. Moltres outspeeding Nidoking and tying Kangaskhan is a lot better than tying Nidoking and being overtaken by Kangaskhan as well. Articuno has a good handful of matchups that are a lot better than those of Moltres, like into Dugtrio, Dodrio, Dragonite, Golem, and Gyardos, but few of these matchups are truly terrible for Moltres (compare to Articuno versus Lapras) and a handful of these foes are either on the downtrend in usage or just not really that good anyway.
Articuno
Articuno has suffered a lot from metagame changes. The introduction of Lapras, Slowbro, and Jolteon are all bad for it. I find building with Articuno to be increasingly tricky and outmaneuvering competent players while it's occupying a slot on your team is increasingly hard. Articuno is still solid though, really just thanks to the numbers. Nothing in the tier gets the consistent damage it does and it remains arguably the most fearsome sweeper in the tier. I would say it can be somewhat scout-specific though. Players that tend to force early Lapras trades or greatly overprepare for Jolteon are good candidates for queuing an Articuno team.
Articuno has a lot of good natural teammates. Jolteon is a really obvious and natural choice, and that pairing was personally my first thought when Jolteon became legal in UU. Taking a page from Stadium Rentals, I found that Fire-type Pokemon are also really nice partners for Articuno. They complement each other offensively really well and do a good job at never ceding too much space that physical attackers like Kangaskhan, Dodrio, and Dugtrio need to get going. Kadabra and Grass-type Pokemon also build nicely, as Articuno appreciates the status spread and general type synergy. Also, while the Lapras matchup sucks, any teammate that really wants to force Lapras in can work. Articuno pairs well with a lot of Pokemon, but it can be a bit underwhelming when teams don't play to its strengths or if the matchup is just really bad — it's not exactly something that you can just throw on any team.
Dodrio
I really don't have much to say about Dodrio. While I've always ranked Dodrio very highly in UU, and still think it's great, I've always been a bit hesitant to use it tournament. I used it 0 times in UUFPL, and I didn't even build any teams with it. Reason being is that Dodrio has a lot of tough matchups and even hard counters: Jolteon, Golem, Articuno, Lapras, Slowbro, Omastar, etc. and I just don't want to find myself taking on these matchups when I don't have to. Outside of some Grass-type Pokemon usage, I think just about every recent metagame trend has made Dodrio a bigger risk to queue. This all being said, Dodrio is still Dodrio. It deals obscene damage and has Agility, while soft-checking Dugtrio. An unprepared team can absolutely be eviscerated by a Dodrio, especially a lucky one. It's also a pretty solid lead. I also saw Maris use Reflect on this thing to catch Hyper Beams and that's a neat idea.
Raichu
I've never been a huge fan of Raichu. I think it's getting used way too much right now, though I understand why usage is up. On paper, Surf gives it a great tool to beat all the Ground-type Pokemon lurking around to catch Jolteon. It also soft-checks Jolteon, so it really appears to be a best of both worlds situation. The problem though is that Raichu is just so weak. I could sit here and list calcs, but when you compare Raichu to any other Special attacker in the tier, it comes up really short if it isn't dishing out super effective damage. It is also rather frail and can't come in on like anything or even really work that well as a lead. A fast Electric-type Pokemon with Agility is never going to be bad and the current metagame is kind to it, but there is a reason this thing has languished in B- and C Rank over the last few years. Like it's better now than really ever and absolutely worth running here and there, but it's still pretty fundamentally underwhelming.
B2 Rank
Dragonite
Okay so this might be my other very controversial take. I don't think Dragonite is very good right now, and I really don't know why it flirts so closely with the top 5 on so many players' VRs. Since Lapras has been introduced, I've really disliked running Dragonite. While Dragonite has tools for it, this is just such an awful and common matchup for a Pokemon that's kind of supposed to be a defensive/stopping piece. Giving up that much space to Lapras to easily click one of the best buttons in the game is just really dangerous, so I never like revenge killing with it. Even clicking Blizzard with Dragonite is risky, as it might be free passage for Lapras. A bunch of other Pokemon can be annoying for it too, several of which are more common now. Slowbro can bully it, and even tech for it with Blizzard, especially if Dragonite lacks Thunderbolt. Basically every Kangaskhan is running Blizzard right now with Articuno and Moltres being a bit worse lately. Haunter can force it to use Special moves, and so can Ninetales if it lands a burn. Nidoking also outspeeds it and does a ton with Blizzard. The main thing I want from Dragonite nowadays are Thunder Wave paralysis and a Dugtrio check. It can do a lot more, especially with the right set, but it is such a momentum sink if you're relying on it consistently. And with other options being available for these roles and Dugtrio being a little less common, it is just not as consistent as it used to be.
Dragonite still has a lot of cool tools available, and I don't think its outstanding movepool should be ignored. It is still fundamentally decent, but the metagame kind of hates it right now (Dragonite is the reverse Raichu), and I really don't know why it still maintains the usage it has. Looking at the new samples, looks like players are catching up to this reality.
Nidoking
Nidoking is terrible and I despise the fact that Jolteon existing makes it somewhat viable. I have always and will always loathe UU Nidoking. It's offensively underwhelming, awkwardly slow, and has no defensive traits to speak of beyond answering Jolteon. Nidoking is really mediocre in most matchups and its successes are really owed to players making the most of a Pokemon they feel obligated to use (see BW OU Politoed for reference). Yes, Nidoking has some positives that fit the metagame and I have used it a few times, but it's coasting on unearned valor.
C1 Rank
Golem
Golem is not very good. My team kept egging me on to use it, even successfully convincing me to use the absolutely terrible lead Golem in one game, but it generally isn't worth it. Golem has great traits: extremely strong STAB-boosted moves, Explosion, a defensive profile to catch Hyper Beams and stonewall several offensive Pokemon, and so on. But it is also an extremely slow Pokemon — only really overtaking Slowbro — with several weaknesses, including two 4× weaknesses. This puts it in a similar position to Dragonite, where its liability to be knocked out at full health can really stymie momentum. However, unlike Dragonite, Golem outpaces virtually nothing, has more weaknesses, and lacks an all-purpose status move. A big issue with Golem is that it just can't secure obviously good matchups. Like if an opponent brings several Pokemon weak to something like Dugtrio or Articuno, they can be very easily dominated by those Pokemon. Pokemon like Dugtrio and Articuno have the Speed tiers to apply consistent pressure or just sweep with just a little preparation. There is nothing you can do to make Golem extremely dominant. Even if your opponent runs double Electric + Dodrio, Golem can never chain knock outs or even consistently force switches, because it's too slow and always vulnerable to being revenge killed itself. Golem is incapable of domination. Golem is a fundamentally better Pokemon than Nidoking, but the Speed tier and lack of ×4 weaknesses make the latter more consistent, even if Golem arguably has the higher ceiling. Nidoking is less likely to get pinched in an endgame where it can literally do nothing but be sacked. And both compete with Dugtrio who, while different, is just so much better game-to-game. I don't think Golem is horrific by any means, and mixing it into your teams can be really good for catching certain teams or deterring certain Pokemon from your opponents. I point out all these flaws though because I think people treat it as way better than it is.
Clefable
Anyone else notice that Clefable is kind of bad? Conventionally, its best use is as a lead, but it doesn't even do that particularly well. None of its matchups into common leads are really that good. Like seriously, play them out in your head, it loses a lot of matchups and it's so slow that it's not extremely useful even if it survives. Outside of the lead slot, it is kind of just alright. It mixes being a Normal-type Pokemon and access to Thunder Wave, which is nice, but a poor Speed stat and average offenses make it underwhelming. If dedicated paralysis is the goal, I think there are numerous stronger contenders: Hypno, Kadabra, Dragonite, Slowbro, Jolteon, etc. And honestly, thanks to the paralysis chance of Body Slam, I think Pokemon like Kangaskhan can be a better choice too, as you at least get some really solid damage in the worst case. Sing is there, which is genuinely really nice, but inconsistent and tough to fit. Clefable has the tools to be pretty consistently decent, but I seldom think it's the best fit for a team nor do you ever really need to use it.
Gyarados
Gyarados has felt terrible lately, despite a rich history in UU, and it's kind of hard to explain why. The influence of Lapras and Jolteon are mixed bags for Gyarados, but overall net negatives. A lot of the Pokemon that Gyarados historically handles at least somewhat well — like Dugtrio, Kadabra, Dragonite, Tentacruel, among others — have all been at least a little less common. Haunter and Nidoking being on the rise is also kind of annoying. It's a tough time to be a Flying-type Pokemon in RBY UU.
I do think Gyarados is due for some small resurgence though. On paper, it answers a lot of anti-Electric teams well and it should respond well to the rising usage of Ninetales. Speed tier remains an issue, and I think Lapras and Jolteon will do a lot just by themselves to keep Gyarados out of A Rank though.
Electabuzz
Electabuzz was hit really hard by Jolteon dropping. Like Raichu, Electabuzz has always kind of been coasting on being the only choice for fast Electric-type Pokemon, so players could overlook its downright below-average offenses. But with real competition, it suffers. Not to mention that all these anti-Jolteon teams are generally tough for Electabuzz to navigate as well. Electabuzz still retains some utility thanks to a broader coverage and stronger physical attacks than Jolteon and it can be a workable partner/lead on Jolteon teams. I think it's alright, but I can easily see Electabuzz fall off further as the metagame develops and the older metagame staples are forgotten.
C2 Rank
Tentacruel
Yeah, I still like Tentacruel. As I've stated a long while ago, a lot of players seem to have forgotten that Water-type Pokemon exist in UU, so an immensely fast and strong one like Tentacruel has a lot of potential. Lapras, Slowbro, and Jolteon are obviously big issues, but Tentacruel has tools for a lot of common Pokemon, like Kangaskhan, Ninetales, Nidoking, and Golem. A pinch check for the legendary birds is also still really nice. Tentacruel has mainly been a lead lately, and it works decently well there. I think it has a lot of unexplored late-game uses too though. Tentacruel hits really hard and Swords Dance is a cool option. A lot of teams are also skewing a bit slow right now, so Tentacruel sits at a good Speed tier. I especially like it for being able to muscle through Kangaskhan. It's not an amazing matchup, but Kangaskhan has no business revenge killing Tentacruel. Really no physical attacker is particularly happy to bump into Tentacruel. Tentacruel has certainly fallen off, but I do think players have overcorrected. It's still pretty solid and threatening.
Venomoth
I used Venomoth a lot in UUFPL and honestly I couldn't really tell you why because it's pretty bad. I like the idea of a dedicated sleeper to free up space on Hypno and Lapras in this metagame. It works as a lead and can be good to punish forced switches to Hypno, Lapras, or other slow Pokemon. However, unlike the last version of NU, Venomoth's shortcomings are really apparent in UU. Arguably all of its type weaknesses are more apparent in UU than in NU. It is also pretty easy to play around. If it misses Sleep Powder, it's usually in a lot of trouble, as most targets can do a lot of damage or paralyze it. It's also pretty bad at absorbing sleep, because most competent players will find that you seldom need to click a sleep-inducing move when facing it. Not unlike how Exeggutor will sometimes opt for Stun Spore over Sleep Powder in the face of Gengar in OU, Hypno can usually get away with just clicking Thunder Wave. Venomoth can't really stay in or switch out and leave the user in a good situation if Hypno comes in, unless you get a lot of luck with Stun Spore. Venomoth can look really good for like one second, and then it quickly becomes apparent that most of its best lines are dead ends. It also is just really hard to fit a Pokemon with so little offensive and defensive presence in a tier like RBY UU.
Victreebel
Grass-type Pokemon are not very good, and Victreebel is no exception. I used flat 0 in my UUFPL run. I think they are very overrated and underwhelming. They have poor Speed tiers, poor damage output, exploitable weaknesses, and many very bad matchups. Like Venomoth, having Sleep Powder and Stun Spore, while great traits, are not enough to make up for the compromises being made to run a Pokemon this fundamentally bad and inconsistent. Like so many matchups are just downright abysmal: Hypno, Ninetales, Haunter, Kadabra, Moltres, Articuno, Dodrio, Dragonite, Tentacruel, and more. Even "good" matchups like Lapras, Slowbro, Jolteon, etc. are miserable because these Pokemon usually have tools to threaten Victreebel, thus either preventing a switch or just forcing a trade. As for why Victreebel is above Tangela, Victreebel can at least do some damage to some targets.
Tangela
Okay, so Tangela holds a very special place in my heart. While perhaps forgotten or disputed by many, I do consider myself the/an "inventor" of UU Tangela. I have been using Tangela for almost a decade at this point, and I've always had a soft spot for it. I've liked it for the ability to answer both Dugtrio and Electric-type Pokemon. It has a really nice role compression ability that made it especially good on a lot of my more experimental teams. I remember I built this triple Electric team (Tentacruel, Hypno, Electabuzz, Raichu, Electrode) forever ago for a friendly match against Shellnuts and I found that Tangela was just such a perfect fit for the team to be fully realized. I've thus rated and overrated Tangela in UU forever, being a really strong advocate for it, even when I would basically drop it from my builder completely.
But why did I drop it from my builder? Tangela has no presence. Venomoth at least has Speed and Victreebel has Razor Leaf. Tangela can, admittedly, occasionally get things going with Growth or even Swords Dance (and formerly with Bind). However, it's just not consistent at getting the multiple boosts it needs to be decent. Tangela has no immediate offensive presence once it hits the field, and this is just not acceptable. It can't even knock out severely weakened foes consistently because of its poor Speed (tying Lapras is actually so brutal). Defensively, Tangela is more appealing, but still underwhelming. As discussed with Victreebel, numerous Pokemon are extremely hostile to its existence, easily revenge killing or even just hard switching into it. Tangela has some use cases, but I never feel the urge to build with it. It feels like such a deliberate maneuver to put yourself on the backfoot. It feels bad, but relieving, to finally admit how underwhelming Tangela is.
D Rank
Omastar
Omastar is a long-standing (falling) veteran or RBY UU. I think a lot of what makes Omastar pretty good is still present in the tier, as it handles Moltres, Articuno, and Dodrio very well. And it hits pretty hard too. Omastar though has always been kind of tricky to justify because of an awkward Speed tier and a typing that, while good in many cases, is very exploitable in others. Lapras really kind of just put Omastar out of a job, because it does a lot of the same stuff better (save for the exceptionally good matchups mentioned above), beats Omastar comfortably, and the two don't build particularly well together, given the shared weaknesses and slowness. Omastar isn't something I'd consider by default really, but I could see it jumping out to me as an option against certain scouts.
Poliwrath
I've seen Poliwrath crop up a few times lately, and it has historically been an option. It's alright. The stats aren't quite built for the UU environment and the Fighting-typing is just bad here, outside of against Golem. Hypnosis though is nice on a Water-type Pokemon, especially one faster than Hypno. Amnesia or just raw Hydro Pump can probably get something going too as a follow up after sleep is dealt. Though the Hydro Pump calc into Kangaskhan is perhaps one of the saddest UU has to offer. With more use, I could maybe see this Pokemon rising, maybe at least above like Venomoth.
Rapidash
LMAO I look away from UU for five seconds and y'all put this thing in the tier. In all seriousness though, Rapidash is not it. The extra Speed is legitimately nice and the Attack stat seems promising, but Rapidash is really no competitor of Ninetales. The 20 extra points of Special make a huge difference for damage output and bulk, and there are a lot of calcs to demonstrate it (and these calcs especially matter because both Pokemon frequently like to lead).
Charizard
Charizard is also a Fire-type Pokemon that can lead. As with Rapidash, Ninetales will just generally do the job better, but Charizard has some unique tools at least. Slash, Earthquake, and Swords Dance are all novel, as is the immunity to Earthquake. I actually think Charizard is fairly well-suited to lead metagame right now, as it has tools for common ones like Ninetales and Haunter. Unironically, I think Charizard could be underrated. The limiting factor though will probably again be the stats.
Electrode
The introduction of Jolteon of course makes Electrode harder to justify than ever. While outpacing Jolteon (and Aerodactyl, I guess) is nice, that's all you're getting over Jolteon. That, and Explosion. But, say it with me now, Electrode doesn't really have the stats to compete with Jolteon. There might be some neat ideas, particularly with Explosion to create a setup opportunity of some sort, still out there that could give some relevance to Electrode, but the consistency won't be there. Too weak, no coverage.
Vaporeon
Vaporeon probably can't do much right now, but I do think it is a tad slept on. Acid Armor, extra Speed, and no Ice-typing are surely not enough to overtake Lapras in any capacity, but they do grant a few different matchups that could maybe give Vaporeon some place to exist.
Raticate
As another Pokemon used by no one that I speculate could do something, we have Raticate. Raticate is another Pokemon with a long history of just kind of floating around UU's purview. Super Fang is a nice tool and it might break open some good holes in slower or frailer teams, with the right support.
The Pokemon inhabiting S and A Rank are undoubtedly UU-material. The S Rank Pokemon are extremely splashable and you can probably get away with running them 100% of the time. The A Rank Pokemon are extremely potent and consistent, though not quite mandatory. Aside from Jolteon, who is just incredibly warping, all are largely self-sufficient, having no really bad matchups and not really requiring specific teammates or strategies to function. I value consistency immensely in RBY's LTs, and these are the Pokemon who give that to you.
The Pokemon in B Rank are generally going to be UU in my perspective. They have explicit downsides, but they are largely outweighed by advantages. They generally build well with each other and Pokemon of higher tiers, making them still relatively easy to add to teams. Frankly, team compositions limited solely to the A Ranks may be a bit awkward, so B Rank Pokemon can patch up some more "underwhelming" areas of such teams.
My cutoff exists somewhere before, in, or after C Rank. I'm not totally sure where yet. C Rank was also fairly dubious for me, and probably the area where I am most likely to have some opinions shift. As I've spent weeks writing up these annotations, C Rank was the only place where I kept moving stuff around. No C Rank Pokemon right now stands out to me as really consistent or splashable right now. Everything in there is a serious pick for the UU metagame, but they all have shortcomings that can cause them to really underperform to the point of near uselessness in games, which is something I would rarely or never expect from Pokemon in the higher ranks. If I must pick, I'd say after B2 is my first choice and after C1 is my second choice for a cutoff, though I might change my mind.
The Pokemon in D Rank are Pokemon that I could see having potential in the future, are limited in usefulness to just a few builds, or are just barely good enough where they can be expected to have some value in most games, even if its relatively small. You don't need to run any of these Pokemon, as far as I can tell so far, but I wouldn't say running (most of) them is an active detriment.
Coming back to UU and finding Confuse Ray gone was really nice. This was a great ban and I'm really glad it's not part of the tier anymore. Ninetales, Lapras, and even Haunter were all ridiculous with this move and it really added nothing of value to the tier. Plus, they would never work for me and always work for my opponents, so I usually wouldn't bother. Good riddance Confuse Ray.
I'd really like to look at accuracy-lowering moves more than just about anything else right now. The nonsense Dugtrio and Jolteon can pull off with these moves is not healthy for the tier. This isn't skillful or creative, just annoying and sometimes disproportionately rewarding. Their removal isn't urgent exactly, but I do think a tier without them is just strictly better than a tier with them. I usually avoid them out of principle. Dugtrio runs Slash in this house.
That took forever to write. I lost a lot of momentum from all the breaks I took, so I probably lost a lot of good trains of thought over time. I do think I put down a lot of good information though, especially at the start of the annotations. It's very cool of you if you actually read through this whole thing (and I mean read, not skimmed). Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed reading. I may come back to RBY UU for RBYPL if I'm still in the mood to play this tier. I look forward to seeing it continue to evolve (and get a new VR, because, wow, I think the current one is bad). Thanks for reading, cheers!
What sets are we running for Jolteon in UU, and what is the thinking behind PM vs DK vs Agility? And is anything else being used? Is anyone dropping Twave?
Tentacruel
Venomoth
Omastar
Charizard
Electrode
Vaporeon
Raticate