Thank you all for the warm reception for my Mr. Rime post. I accidentally left out some crucial information on the first draft, so it's in there now! I wanted to take this opportunity to ask how a lot of you feel about some general aspects of the OU metagame to promote some additional healthy discussion! Just the usual three-question prompt I like to post shortly after one of my mega-huge posts.Mr. Rime
View attachment 425138
"Mr. Rime is highly skilled in tap dancing and waves its ice cane while it moves gracefully."
Mr. Rime's Stats Potential Stat Total (EV Investment) HP:
80270 - 364 Attack:
85157 - 295 Defense:
75139 - 273 Sp. Atk:
110202 - 350 Sp. Def:
100184 - 328 Speed:
70130 - 262
"Mala, for the sake of my sanity, please stop talking about PU and ZU Pokemon in Overused; I beg of you. You've been doing this for years; please get a hobby, so we don't have to read this crap." - Half of Smogon, probably, idk.
On a non-comedic note (or possibly still comedic, it's pretty funny to think about Mr. Rime having OU use), Mr. Rime has been one of my favorite Pokemon to slot on my OU teams for the last month. I've been using three specific sets (I will explain the functionality of each of the three), and they each fit onto specific team archetypes quite well. So why does Mr. Rime dance its way into the competition within OU's insane power crept landscape? Simple; a vast movepool with significant role compression alongside an excellent offensive typing and a stat combination that's deceptively flexible. First, I will talk about Mr. Rime's unique qualities; then, we'll jump into the three sets I have frequently used. While these three sets aren't the only sets of Mr. Rime's that I have tested, they are the only ones I have EXTENSIVELY tested and thus will be the only sets I will talk about here (I will give a special mention to Trick Room variants right here, but more testing needs to be done overall). Afterward, I'll talk about partners that I've been using for Mr. Rime, and the types of benefits that they bring to the table regarding team synergy and core builds.
This unique ability (exclusive to Mr. Rime and its pre-evolution) instantly removes Aurora Veil, Light Screen, and Reflect's effects upon switching in. This ability eases the burden of prediction against Screens / Veil teams, creating potential offensive openings for you and your team and giving Pokemon that wouldn't be able to muscle through screens-protected teams a chance to clean house. It also puts innate pressure on your opponent, who now has to rethink damage calculations and their team switch dynamics entirely.
Support Move Variety + Role Compression
Being able to dismantle Screens and Aurora Veil instantly is not Mr. Rime's only strength. Mr. Rime has access to reliable recovery in Slack Off, the ability to get rid of hazards with Rapid Spin, and the ability to cripple an opposing threat with Encore or Trick. In addition to these fantastic choices, Mr. Rime has access to additional support options such as Calm Mind, Fake Out, Foul Play, Nasty Plot, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Toxic, and Trick Room. If you desire, it can also set up its own screens as it has access to Light Screen and Reflect.
Offensive Profile + Output
Mr. Rime's offensive typing is fantastic in OU, with its Ice / Psychic STABS hitting the following OU staples super effectively: Buzzwole, Dragapult, Dragonite (4x), Garchomp (4x), Hawlucha, Landorus-Therian (4x), Rillaboom, Tornadus-Therian, Toxapex, Urshifu-Rapid Strike, Zapdos-Galar. In addition, its two best coverage moves, Thunderbolt and Focus Blast, allow Mr. Rime to nail Barraskewda, Corviknight, Slowbro, Tapu Fini, and Volcanion (Thunderbolt) and Bisharp (4x), Ferrothorn, Heatran, Kartana, Magnezone, Melmetal, Tyranitar, and Weavile (Focus Blast) for super effective damage.
Mr. Rime's solid base 110 Special Attack with 252 EVs and a Modest nature reaches a respectable 350, which allows it to hit some crucial damage benchmarks with its STAB moves. Here are some specific examples:
View attachment 425139
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Buzzwole: 476-564 (113.8 - 134.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Dragapult: 366-432 (115.4 - 136.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 288-338 (89.1 - 104.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Rillaboom: 386-456 (113.1 - 133.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 314-372 (86.7 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 212-252 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Urshifu-Rapid-Strike: 434-512 (127.2 - 150.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
In addition to this, Thunderbolt as a coverage option is robust, accurate, and hits some pretty impressive thresholds, even without STAB.
View attachment 425139
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Barraskewda: 332-392 (126.2 - 149%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 92 SpD Corviknight: 198-234 (49.6 - 58.6%) -- 68.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro: 230-272 (58.3 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Volcanion: 208-246 (57.3 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Focus Blast is notoriously unreliable due to its accuracy. Still, it's an excellent coverage move in terms of power that hits a wide variety of Pokemon for powerful, super effective damage.
View attachment 425139
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 680-804 (250.9 - 296.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 166-196 (47.1 - 55.6%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 242-286 (74.9 - 88.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Focus Blast vs. 40 HP / 104 SpD Melmetal: 314-370 (74.5 - 87.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Mr. Rime Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Magnezone: 280-330 (99.2 - 117%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
Mr. Rime does have additional offensive movepool options. For example, Energy Ball or Grass Knot could be used instead of Thunderbolt to still reach the same damage thresholds against Barraskewda and Slowbro while also being able to hit Pokemon such as Swampert (although I've found that Thunderbolt is generally the better option). Likewise, Freeze-Dry instead of Ice Beam would be used to compress handling Water types into a single slot, potentially allowing you to use a more specific coverage or support move. Still, the power difference between Ice Beam and Freeze-Dry is an annoying trade-off. Additional coverage options include Dazzling Gleam (repetitive coverage, but does allow you to hit Dark types super effectively), Foul Play (will enable you to hit Mew, Victini, the Lati Twins, and Alakazam super effectively, but should only be used if you need help with those Pokemon), and Shadow Ball (repetitive coverage, but does allow you to hit Ghost types super effectively). Finally, Thunder is also an option over Thunderbolt if you're running Mr. Rime on a rain team for higher power, a notably increased chance to paralyze, and 100% accuracy.
Defensive Profile (Typing + Stats)
While Ice and Psychic defensively only give you resistance to Ice and Psychic-type attacks, that's not the beauty of Mr. Rime's defensive profile. To start, Mr. Rime has a critical neutrality to Fighting-type attacks that other Ice types would kill for, courtesy of its secondary Psychic typing. Second, Mr. Rime's defensive stats of 80 / 75 / 100 are solid (especially with proper EV investment), particularly its special bulk. (I'll go into specific defensive damage calculations once we start talking about individual sets, as the context of the calculations won't make sense without the set explanations). Third, movepool-wise, Mr. Rime's access to Slack Off means that defensive variants and overall sustainability are significantly heightened. Finally, Mr. Rime's typing means that several common archetypes within OU play to Mr. Rime's favor. For example, Mr. Rime functions well on and against Hail teams, as it is not passively worn down by Hail damage. In addition, Mr. Rime operates well on and against Rain teams, as not only does it eliminate Mr. Rime's Fire type weakness (allowing it to breathe more easily against Pokemon like Heatran, Volcanion, and Volcarona), but it allows Mr. Rime to utilize Thunder as a coverage option reliably.
It also works well under each set terrain from Rillaboom and the Tapus. Grassy Terrain gives Mr. Rime passive recovery, halves Earthquake's damage against its more squishy Physical defensive profile, and boosts the damage of two of Mr. Rime's more fringe coverage options by 30% (Energy Ball / Grass Knot). Electric Terrain prevents Mr. Rime from being put to sleep and boosts the power of Mr. Rime's very usable coverage options by 30% (Thunderbolt / Thunder). Misty Terrain gives Mr. Rime an immunity to status and halves damage from Dragon moves against it, allowing some unexpected potential switch-in opportunities. Finally, Psychic Terrain boosts Mr. Rime's STAB Psychic's power by an additional 30% and prevents Mr. Rime from being hit by priority moves (especially notable for priority moves that are super effective against Mr. Rime like Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch). Speaking of priority, Mr. Rime is one of the few Ice types that has a neutrality to Mach Punch, in addition to the already existing benefit of resisting priority Ice Shard. On top of this, Mr. Rime resists Future Sight, meaning that it's an excellent answer to Slowtwins Future Sight spam (along with being able to chunk Slowbro and Slowking with Thunderbolt).
Movesets
Scarf Screens Negator Mr. Rime
View attachment 425146
Mr. Rime @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Screen Cleaner
EVs: 8 HP / 252 SpA / 72 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Trick
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast / Thunderbolt / Rapid Spin (I prefer Focus Blast)
This is tied with the Assault Vest Spinner set as my favorite Mr. Rime set. With 176 Speed EVs and a Timid nature, Mr. Rime reaches a respectable speed stat of 363, allowing it to outspeed base 60 Speed Timid Scarf users such as Magnezone and Tyranitar (both of which don't appreciate taking a Focus Blast). 363 Speed will also allow Mr. Rime to outspeed the majority of OU unboosted, with the exceptions of Weavile and Dragapult (who you don't want to keep or switch Mr. Rime in on anyways), Regieleki, Zeraora, and Timid Tornadus-Therian (Torn-T needs at least 212 EVs with a speed boosting nature, Modest/non-speed boosting nature variants are always outsped regardless of EV investment). The rest of the EVs are pumped into Special Attack, Special Defense, and a little bit into HP to reach specific defensive benchmarks. The specific Special Defense EV allotment also allows Mr. Rime to avoid being OHKO'd, and 2HKO'd by particular threats.
252 SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 8 HP / 72 SpD Mr. Rime: 242-288 (79.8 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Tornadus-Therian Hurricane vs. 8 HP / 72 SpD Mr. Rime: 120-142 (39.6 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 8 HP / 72 SpD Mr. Rime: 252-296 (83.1 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after trapping damage
0 SpA Zapdos Hurricane vs. 8 HP / 72 SpD Mr. Rime: 135-159 (44.5 - 52.4%) -- 17.2% chance to 2HKO
Mr. Rime's role as a scarfer is unique because it's the only scarfer in OU that does not care about screens being up thanks to Screen Cleaner, meaning things are generally more squishy. The offensive combination of STAB Psychic, STAB Ice Beam, and Focus Blast is enough to hit most of OU super effectively. In addition, having Trick allows Mr. Rime to cripple an opposing threat once its usefulness as an offensive scarfer has run out. Mr. Rime utilizing a Timid nature does not affect its damage output too much, as it still gets most OHKOs and 2HKOs that the Modest variant gets (especially with a little bit of chip damage).
Assault Vest Spinner + Screens Negator Mr. Rime
View attachment 425147
Mr. Rime @ Assault Vest
Ability: Screen Cleaner
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt / Focus Blast (I prefer Thunderbolt for this set)
- Psychic
As I mentioned above, this set is tied with the Scarf set for my favorite Mr. Rime set. Do you want to know precisely how well Mr. Rime can take a hit on the Special side with an Assault Vest? Let's look at some calculations (first super effective STAB choice specs calculations for emphasis, then neutral attacks to bring the point home).
Super Effective STAB Choice Specs Hits:
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 218-258 (60 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 288-338 (79.3 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 320-380 (88.1 - 104.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
Neutral Hits:
0 SpA Life Orb Clefable Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 86-101 (23.6 - 27.8%) -- 78.3% chance to 4HKO
+2 4 Def Mew Body Press vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Mr. Rime: 147-173 (40.4 - 47.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
4 SpA Ninetales-Alola Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 58-69 (15.9 - 19%) -- possible 6HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 177-208 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 55-66 (15.1 - 18.1%) -- possible 6HKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime in Electric Terrain: 102-121 (28 - 33.3%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Mr. Rime: 154-183 (42.4 - 50.4%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO
168+ Def Corviknight Body Press vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Mr. Rime: 98-116 (26.9 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
Mr. Rime has many switch-in opportunities and is one of the few Assault Vest Pokemon that can be used for utility thanks to Screen Cleaner and Rapid Spin (which also boosts Mr. Rime's speed, giving it an edge against specific defensive stalwarts). Thanks to the calculations above, you already know the power output with the Modest variant. This Mr. Rime variant especially appreciates Wish support to offset the lack of recovery and Stealth Rock damage. Still, given that, as shown from the damage calculations, Mr. Rime can easily take some special hits (and even physical in some cases), it's not as much of an issue as you would believe. Generally, this specific type of role compression is well suited for teams looking for a way to break Slowcores that also have problems with Special Attackers, who also want to condense handling screens and hazards into a single slot.
Heavy-Duty Boots Spinner + Screens Negator Mr. Rime
Mr. Rime @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Screen Cleaner
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Slack Off
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam / Freeze-Dry
- Psychic
This set compresses the longevity of Slack Off, the screen dismantling of Screen Cleaner, and the hazard cleaning of Rapid Spinning onto a single set. Rapid Spin's speed boost is even more relevant here thanks to the additional speed EVs, and this set ignores the problems of hazard damage with Heavy-Duty Boots. The loss of coverage can suck, but the potent offensive combination of STAB Ice Beam and STAB Psychic is not lacking. If you have an issue with water types such as Toxapex, or the Slowtwins, you can instead take a slight power cut to use Freeze-Dry, which is viable on this set in particular due to the lack of access to Thunderbolt. It's the most simple of the movesets, but it's also the most efficient and is more suited to a general blend of teams than the other two mentioned above are.
Great Partners:
Landorus-Therian helps cushion the blow against Mr. Rime's more vulnerable physical side thanks to Intimidate. Landorus-T's Ground / Flying typing has excellent synergy with Mr. Rime's Ice / Psychic typing. Landorus-T can also set up Rocks, cripple a Pokemon using Knock Off, and gain momentum with U-Turn. This combination of tools helps wear the opposing Pokemon down and bring them into Rime range. Not to mention powerful STAB Earthquakes work pretty well offensively, taking care of Fire, Rock, and Steel types that Mr. Rime (non-Focus Blast variants for the last two) would have issues handling.
Physically defensive Toxapex variants (especially with Rocky Helmet) are a fantastic partner to Mr. Rime. They punish physical attackers who would try to come in and prey on Mr. Rime's weaker physical defensive profile. Additionally, having access to Regenerator with Recover keeps Toxapex alive and has Scald to possibly cripple a physical attacker for the rest of the match.
While all of the Tapus make excellent partners, I want to specifically mention Tapu Lele because of the power boost it gives to Mr. Rime's STAB Psychic and the immunity Mr. Rime gains to priority moves. Additionally, utilizing Specs Lele with Scarf Rime is a potent combination that should be considered, as pairing the two allows for specific coverage options (like alternating Focus Blast or Thunderbolt) to be switched between the two of them for even more unpredictability, opening up room on each of their movesets for more specialized options.
Magnezone is another fantastic choice for a Mr. Rime partner, thanks to Magnezone's ability to trap Steel types. The combination is beneficial for playing mind games; as soon as Magnezone is shown in the team preview, your opponent will be more cautious about throwing their Melmetal out into the fray.
Conclusion
Mr. Rime is a uniquely quirky Pokemon with the qualities needed to make it work well in OU. Are there Pokemon that can do its team tasks better? Sure. Are there Pokemon who can compress its unique traits into one team slot while simultaneously exerting offensive pressure? Not likely. Mr. Rime won't fit onto every team archetype. Still, thanks to its vast movepool and very beneficial qualities both offensively and defensively, Mr. Rime is worth consideration as a unique, unexpected, and highly flexible option for your OU teams.
Thank you for reading, everyone!
View attachment 425145
"I suppose that’s one of the ironies of life – doing the wrong thing at the right moment."
- Charlie Chaplin
Question #1: What do you feel is a synergistic type combination/core that works well in the meta lately?
Question #2: Are there any unconventional sets on OU Pokemon working wonders for your team? Are there any sub-OU Pokemon that you feel have fulfilled your team's specific needs quite well?
Question #3: Is there a specific offensive type that you feel the meta is disproportionately weak to right now? (Examples; Ice, Ghost, Fire, etc.)
never really got the high OU usage its partner in crime, Icy Rock Alolan Ninetales, ever saw even when Hail was at its peak. Hail is not at its peak anymore, but to deny that Hail is a genuinely solid weather archetype still would be incorrect even as Sand and Rain are on the rise. BoltBeam coverage is good on its own, but Arctozolt's STAB BoltBeam coverage, extremely high-powered moves, good coverage options, and solid Speed under Hail make it a very legitimate part of the OU metagame even now.
is another mon that most folks would accept is a legitimate part of OU despite not being OU by usage. It recently got banned from UU for being downright oppressive there, and a lot of what it did down in UU at the time translates well here except Light Clay isn't banned. It's a staple of Screens HO teams due to its great bulk, amazing coverage, good typing, and various setup moves including its own Ability playing into it. This mon has been a part of some HO teams from even back when Rillaboom was still considered a top threat, and right now I'd argue that Moltres-G is at its best in a while and could even see some improvement from here. Dark/Flying is the best offensive typing to be amazing defensively, and despite its lack of reliable recovery Moltres-G leverages it well to give the HO teams it occasionally finds its way onto a mon with a very unorthodox defensive typing by HO standards.
isn't quite at the level of Arctozolt or G-Moltres, but it's still a very threatening mon on HO teams under the right conditions as it can run options to muscle past its checks, albeit at the cost of other coverage options. It's the definition of a true glass cannon, as it dies with ease (it often gets itself killed by its own recoil from Flare Blitz and Life Orb), but nobody can deny that Blaziken played well is an extremely dangerous sweeper that can cleave through a weakened team quite easily. Hell, this thing generally reaches borderline-OU levels of usage here and there.
isn't quite as amazing as it once was, but it still has its place on specific types of HO, often supported by a Tapu (generally Koko) or Rillaboom. It's one of the fastest mons in the tier after Unburden kicks in, outpacing everything up to and including Jolly Sand Rush Excadrill under Sand and being outsped only by the likes of +1 positive-Speed-natured Dragapult and Swift Swim Barraskewda. It's an offensive mon that can often give opposing offenses hell under the right conditions, but it hates the popularity of Zapdos right now as it has to go out of its way to fit coverage to deal with Zapdos without getting hit by Static and crippled. Moreover, at +2, it sometimes barely misses out on KOs it wishes it could get. Lastly, its weakness to the common Weavile Ice Shard limits its ability to sweep if chipped. Its STABs are good, and it has options, but it suffers from intense 4MSS and just sometimes isn't as strong as one would like it to be.
is left in the dust. On paper, it has solid STABs, good mixed offenses, decent Speed, a decent set of resistances, and good coverage in Fire Blast/Low Kick to give opposing teams hell. In practice, though, Dracozolt just hates SpDef Lando-T's existence as it just can't muscle past Lando-T easily with Draco Meteor/Bolt Beak. Grounds are everywhere, and they make Bolt Beak much less spammable when its mediocre Dragon STAB is what accompanies it instead of Arctozolt's terrifying Blizzards. It's weak to Weavile's Ice Shard, it's slow outside of Sand, and it stacks Ground weaknesses with TTar and Excadrill when those mons already stack several common weaknesses. It's... just hard to justify Dracozolt right now, and I'm not sure what this mon's next big break will be, if anything.
has a legitimately unique defensive set that leverages Bulletproof and its unique defensive typing alongside a strong Body Press and good coverage options with the mixed attacking stats to go with it. It's a decent, unique Rocker as a result; that said, it has plenty of other unique sets (Belly Drum/Salac Berry, DD, Clangorous Soul, perhaps Specs?) that sound good but probably aren't as good in practice. Still, if there's any mon that has a diverse enough kit to experiment with some other sets it's probably this thing.
has its place on specific Psychic Spam teams; Zam is one of the most min/maxed mons out there, with painful frailty but massive offensive potential with what it does have. It was Unranked on the VR until recently, but now folks seem to be playing to its strengths, albeit on very specific teams that enable it.
and 
both got a lot of cool new moves this gen, but they're having a hard time in such a fast-paced metagame where mons like Weavile, SpDef Lando, and Dragapult are quite prominent. Latios recently saw some tournament usage with a cool Scarf set with Aura Sphere, Trick, Defog, and Psychic (everything Dragapult can't do) while Latias has a unique Weakness Policy set with CM, Agility, Stored Power, and Aura Sphere (something I'd imagine Latios is also capable of using), but this feels like a mostly-worse Galarian Moltres - which, as we've established, is actually legitimately good in OU. Maybe Scarf with Healing Wish has its place in the meta still? Honestly, I'm not so sure myself.
has been a little contentious as of semi-recently, with folks like Omari P arguing that it's a lot better than the VR reflects while others argue it's either alright there or outright worse than its ranking on the VR represents. Slapping a Dark-type or Fighting-type breaker on a team with Future Sight is a pretty easy way to cause massive damage, and Terrakion's STAB Stone Edge and tools to muscle past mons like Aegislash and Slowbro are already decent enough. Honestly, though, I'm just not sure how to further justify running Banded Terrakion when there are other good mons that appreciate Future Sight support as well, while SD seems a bit weaker than other SD mons like Garchomp, some Lando variants, SD Kartana, etc. that are just better mons overall.
has historically been solid in OU until last generation, but now it faces stiff competition from the amazing Dragapult and the great Blacephalon despite getting an amazing move in Nasty Plot this gen. Gengar is still a nigh-uncounterable beast that has no safe switchins and can overpower defensive teams with its many viable options, but it's sometimes hard to justify using it over the other Ghosts, even on Ghost Spam teams that often utilize the offensive power of two different Ghost-types to break past one-another's checks and counters.
is not ranked on the VR, while its Therian forme has an established place on Rain teams and is generally a powerhouse of a mon that's just hard to support. Thundy-I is just weaker than its counterpart and Prankster is not as crucial of an ability as an Electric immunity - something Rain teams only get from Seismitoad otherwise - considering its Thunder Wave isn't what it once was. Weavile scares it shitless, and SpDef Lando-T laughs in its face outside of Rain. I don't know how one could justify running Thundurus-Incarnate in this meta, so I doubt there's much room for experimentation when its Therian forme is a terrifying wallbreaker.
is certainly a unique Fighting-type; it has Regenerator and a bunch of unique utility moves including U-Turn, and it's also surprisingly fast, but Regenerator only partially makes up for its mediocre bulk while offensive Reckless sets with HJK seem strong on paper but are just too prone to getting punished by Rocky Helmet, Zapdos's Static, Volcarona's Flame Body, and the like. It can't really throw out its moves, and the moves it can throw out aren't necessarily as terrifying as a Banded Weavile's Beat Up or something ludicrous. I think this and Thundurus-I are the worst UUBL mons by a country mile at the moment, but I think Mienshao is definitely the more salvageable of the two since Thundy-I just seems mostly outclassed on every front by one of its own Therian forme, Koko, or Zeraora.
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
