I guess it's time for LonelyNess to weigh in a little bit.
One thing I can say is that weather is VERY effective in this new tier. I for one have been using a Sunny Day team with Choice Specs Typhlosion as its main sweeper, and if you're not running a Slowking or Milotic with heavy SpD investment, you're losing a Pokemon to Sun boosted Fire Blast (or Eruption if I'm >80%). And don't underestimate that guy's speed. Base 100 seems to be the standard speed in this metagame for a Speedy Sweeper as a lot of the top threats hit that number.
Hail obviously has its pros, and its cons... for one being kind of Gallede weak is a bad thing, but with Hail and Life Orb taking its toll, unless Gallede comes out at the end of a battle, it's likely that it won't be able to sweep your entire team. Also, I'd just like to ask every to stop using CM Spiritomb to counter Gallede... it doesn't work and you're just going to kill your Spiritomb because you fail to OHKO with Dark Pulse and you are 2HKOd by Ice Punch or Night Slash. Other than the obvious Fighting weak, not a lot of things are getting passed a well built hail team.
Rain has some pretty nice toys to work with too. Ludiocolo being the biggest threat boasting incredible speed and coverage after Rain. With a Life Orb and Grass Knot / Surf / Ice Beam not a lot can hope to take it on with the exception of Chansey.
Countering weather seems to be the number one priority this game.
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Some stand alone sweepers that I feel are very potent threats but aren't getting a lot of love include Rock Polish Torterra. This guy rips holes into the Slowbro / Chansey / Registeel / Spiritomb defensive combo. And with a Rock Polish under its belt it hits 422 Spe which outpaces anything not Scarfed. It also makes probably the best switch in to Registeel in the entire game, taking at most 56% from Ice Punch. His defenses, even unboosted, are not to be taken lightly.
Staraptor is incredibly useful. The CB Variety more importantly seems to be the most difficult to stop. 2HKOing everything in UU is really good, and once again it comes with that nice Base 100 Spe allowing it to outpace a lot of the threats.
Some things that I think were pretty overhyped include Ursaring and Gallede. Sure, they hit pretty hard, and if your entire team is outsped by them you're probably going to lose, but the only thing you need to do is pack something faster and you're golden. Quick Feet Ursaring doesn't hit hard enough and should really not be used over its Guts brethren, especially since even with a Jolly nature, it doesn't hit that great of speeds.
The only thing that I can say is NOT overhyped is Raikou. This thing is just a bit ridiculous. Base 115 Speed means you can't just switch in on its CM / Substitute and hope to outspeed it, and with a boosting move plus Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice you can hit pretty much anything in the tier ridiculously hard. I find myself having to sacrifice a Pokemon just to bring it down nearly every battle. Registeel helps a lot, but if they're running the rarer Life Orb 252 SpA set then you fail to take two +1 Thunderbolts, and Registeel will never OHKO a Raikou with Earthquake. At the moment, this and weather seem to be the only things "too much" for the tier.
It's very fast paced, and it's very sweeper oriented, not like old UU's stallish nature at all. I'm still trying to make a potent stall team, but with things hitting so hard, and the ratio of competant walls to sweepers, i'm finding the task a bit daunting.
One thing I can say is that weather is VERY effective in this new tier. I for one have been using a Sunny Day team with Choice Specs Typhlosion as its main sweeper, and if you're not running a Slowking or Milotic with heavy SpD investment, you're losing a Pokemon to Sun boosted Fire Blast (or Eruption if I'm >80%). And don't underestimate that guy's speed. Base 100 seems to be the standard speed in this metagame for a Speedy Sweeper as a lot of the top threats hit that number.
Hail obviously has its pros, and its cons... for one being kind of Gallede weak is a bad thing, but with Hail and Life Orb taking its toll, unless Gallede comes out at the end of a battle, it's likely that it won't be able to sweep your entire team. Also, I'd just like to ask every to stop using CM Spiritomb to counter Gallede... it doesn't work and you're just going to kill your Spiritomb because you fail to OHKO with Dark Pulse and you are 2HKOd by Ice Punch or Night Slash. Other than the obvious Fighting weak, not a lot of things are getting passed a well built hail team.
Rain has some pretty nice toys to work with too. Ludiocolo being the biggest threat boasting incredible speed and coverage after Rain. With a Life Orb and Grass Knot / Surf / Ice Beam not a lot can hope to take it on with the exception of Chansey.
Countering weather seems to be the number one priority this game.
-------------
Some stand alone sweepers that I feel are very potent threats but aren't getting a lot of love include Rock Polish Torterra. This guy rips holes into the Slowbro / Chansey / Registeel / Spiritomb defensive combo. And with a Rock Polish under its belt it hits 422 Spe which outpaces anything not Scarfed. It also makes probably the best switch in to Registeel in the entire game, taking at most 56% from Ice Punch. His defenses, even unboosted, are not to be taken lightly.
Staraptor is incredibly useful. The CB Variety more importantly seems to be the most difficult to stop. 2HKOing everything in UU is really good, and once again it comes with that nice Base 100 Spe allowing it to outpace a lot of the threats.
Some things that I think were pretty overhyped include Ursaring and Gallede. Sure, they hit pretty hard, and if your entire team is outsped by them you're probably going to lose, but the only thing you need to do is pack something faster and you're golden. Quick Feet Ursaring doesn't hit hard enough and should really not be used over its Guts brethren, especially since even with a Jolly nature, it doesn't hit that great of speeds.
The only thing that I can say is NOT overhyped is Raikou. This thing is just a bit ridiculous. Base 115 Speed means you can't just switch in on its CM / Substitute and hope to outspeed it, and with a boosting move plus Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice you can hit pretty much anything in the tier ridiculously hard. I find myself having to sacrifice a Pokemon just to bring it down nearly every battle. Registeel helps a lot, but if they're running the rarer Life Orb 252 SpA set then you fail to take two +1 Thunderbolts, and Registeel will never OHKO a Raikou with Earthquake. At the moment, this and weather seem to be the only things "too much" for the tier.
It's very fast paced, and it's very sweeper oriented, not like old UU's stallish nature at all. I'm still trying to make a potent stall team, but with things hitting so hard, and the ratio of competant walls to sweepers, i'm finding the task a bit daunting.