Other Tier 35 Pokes-- August 2025

[ThyUnitPossessCopium]

rip the spinda guy

 

[mmtaccos]

rip the spinda guy

rest in piss he wont be missed

 

[Ember Celica]

Hall of Fame

Introduction

To commemorate exceptional individuals from the 35 Pokes community with laudable achievements outside of mainline and team tournament victories, we've started this Hall of Fame. Tournament winners deserve to be celebrated but aren't the end-all-be-all of accomplishment, and the goal of this place is to spotlight the lesser-recognized but equally impressive feats our players have to their names!

Moonlight Luna (Lucy)
35 Pokes PL Season 0 MVP (7-0 bo3 record)
March 2024

Dacruize
35 Pokes PL Season 0 MVP (7-0 bo3 record)
August 2023

jscurf
35 Pokes PL Season 1 MVP (6-0 record)
February 2024

Plague
35 Pokes PL Season 1 MVP (6-0 record)
September 2024


35 Trios Champions
The Chicago Cauliflowers
PortobelloMushroom
February 2024

Tryingtolearnstall
August 2024

Rabidwhale
December 2023

OM Champions
Ocean
35 Seniors (Ubers) Champion
Ubers April 2025

Just A Dreemurr (Alice)
35 VGC Champion
May 2025

Challenge Winners
33 Eels
Platinum Badge (#1 on the spotlight ladder)
April 2025

Collab Winners
Demirab
35 NFE Collab #1 Winner
January 2025
​

 

[memester]

Here is the first analysis for May 2025, featuring none other than Swellow!

POKEMON ANALYSIS: SWELLOW

Sets: https://pokepast.es/b3da9d2d55675bd4

Swellow returns from the depths of SM RU to serve as a stupendous source of breaking power and natural speed control in the May 2025 metagame. Its blazing 125 speed allows it to outspeed everything but Barraskewda. Choice Specs is Swellow’s make-or-break, immediately boosting Boomburst, Swellow’s best attack, to nuclear levels, allowing it to muscle past switch-ins such as Goodra and Assault Vest Tangrowth. Scrappy is mandatory on Choice Specs sets due to the prevalence of Cofagrigus, and Heat Wave allows Swellow to hit Skarmory, which is one of the few Pokémon in the tier resistant to Boomburst. U-Turn allows Swellow to pivot out of bad matchups such as Empoleon while Hurricane provides excellent coverage into Tangrowth and Venusaur. Guts Attacker and Mixed sets exist for Swellow, but they are significantly more niche.

Swellow fits best on bulky offense and balance teams in which its immediate speed and power are highly appreciated. Swellow has a difficult time switching in because it is so frail, so it highly appreciates pivots like Empoleon, Lokix, and Mienshao to help get it in safely. Hazard control is also appreciated on Swellow teams, making pokemon like Hitmontop and Empoleon excellent partners to Swellow. Hitmontop is able to hit Swellow’s defensive checks such as Empoleon and SpDef invested Goodra hard with Close Combat and Triple Axel respectively while clearing hazards with Rapid Spin, while Empoleon, with access to Defog and Flip Turn, provides both hazard control and a pivot in one slot.

QC By Alfrex and Ember Celica
Grammar Checked by Ember Celica

 

[Maszt]

INTRODUCING - PERFECT 35
Perfect 35 is an OM created by MamboTND in september 2024. Even tho perfect existed for 8 months now only recently has it became an official OM
Current Vision - D1 created by me has gotten incredibly high amount of praise and followers hitting around 150 games in 9 days. Give D1 a try in the 35 pokes discord server! And join the perfect 35 discord: https://discord.gg/7H4kBAW9qu

 

[MamboTND]

Definitely one of the best metas I've played. Maszt you outdid yourself on this one!

 

[Maszt]

Definitely one of the best metas I've played. Maszt you outdid yourself on this one!

Thank you mambo!

 

[AlfrexFrostStaff]

Nidoking Pivot Offense

Nidoking is the team's premier special wallbreaker and is able to wreak havoc after switching in with the help of various pivot moves. It's able to hit the majority of the tier except for Goodra and the occasional Claydol with the combination of sludge wave, earth power, and thunderbolt. This set also carries stealth rock to help make progress with the amount of switching this team forces.
Lokix offers amazing speed control in the form of first impression and sucker punch. Banded first impression is able to OHKO the likes of Barraskewda, scarf Mienshao, and Swellow which are the fastest mons this month.
Swellow is the second physical wallbreaker and is able to continue threatening the opposing team without being choice locked into a move like first impression. It's able to outspeed and OHKO Nidoking and 252 hp Goodra after it's chipped from stealth rock
Empoleon is vital for its hazard removal, allowing Lokix and Swellow to hit the field without worry. It also checks opposing Lokix looking to revenge kill with first impression and wallbreakers carrying ice coverage that would threaten Tangrowth and Goodra. Roost gives Empoleon longevity, allowing it to continuously switch in while flip turn helps generate momentum
Tangrowth is the team's answer to Barraskewda and tanks fighting types like Mienshao and Hitmontop that would otherwise kill Empoleon. Knock off allows it to hinder whatever switches in after Barraskewda is choice locked and toxic helps wear down sap sipper Goodra.
Goodra provides crucial special defense against Nidoking, specs Swellow, and Venusaur while also threatening them. Sap sipper is also important to counter spore and sleep powder while giving it opportunities to switch into Venusaur which would otherwise threaten Tangrowth with sun boosted weather ball and sludge wave.

https://pokepast.es/d9128f6e5b909c6f

 

[Maszt]

Barraskewda suspect test!

35 pokes is currently suspect testing barraskewda in the month of may 2025! All voting is happening on our discord which you should join!

 

[Turtle12]

https://pokepast.es/f3d3e985199da068 Trapping Politoed Offense
This team aims to overwhelm the opponent with lokix, mienshao, and swellow baiting in defensive pokemon such as cofagrigus, tangrowth, and empoleon who can be trapped and often removed by politoed. Whirlpool with binding band along with protect does 1/3 a pokemons hp + the initial whirlpool damage, and pokemon with recovery moves can still be perish trapped.. Hitmonchan removes hazards and can handle nidoking when needed. Nidoking sets hazards and can somewhat handle mienshao, previous iterations used defensive nidoking to better accomplish this but the sample instead invests in speed and special attack to just aid the other offensive pokemon by breaking in addition to politoed.

 

[Ember Celica]

Signups are now open for the March 2024 Retro Tournament!!

Retro tournaments don't happen often, but when they do they're very competitive and a lot of fun! They're also a rare opportunity to earn a coveted place on 35 Pokes' without the scheduling hassles of a monthly tournament. The March 2024 metagame is one of our most historically popular formats, and it's continued to see active development in the 14 months since it first ended by way of 35 PL 0 and the recently-concluded 35 PL I. Part of the reason it's remained a mainstay format is because it's relatively easy to get into, with expecting pokemon such as and being metagame staples. This tournament will be held in the SWISS format, so there's a little more margin for error and room to try out the metagame yourself within the tournament setting without risking elimination!

 

[Ember Celica]

Update on May votes

This month, the 35 Pokes council voted to hold a not-unprecedented but still noteworthy 2 suspect tests. In the last 5 months of 2025, tiering action in the form of a suspect test or a quickban was taken at least once every single month (from July to December). The actions taken this month (May 2025) account for 66% of total actions taken in the 5 months proceeding the end of 2024, and for 100% of the actions taken on specific pokemon. Neither pokemon tested this month ( and ) even received a simple majority of votes to ban, a phenomenon which appears at odds with the anomalous increase in tiering action for this current time period. I have my personal thoughts as to why this may be, but I will reserve those for the end after I've explained why the council chose to take the recent actions it did.



The council voted 4-2 to suspect test Barraskewda, with 2 members abstaining. Below are the votes and rationales of each member who voted:

Zetious​

Rationale

Voting in favor of Barraskewa SuspectBarraskewda is a pretty strong mon in this meta. It’s the fastest mon in the meta and gets even faster in the rain. It is very difficult to revenge kill it without lokix and it can run a couple different sets depending on what check it wants to hit. Band sets in the rain are difficult for skarmory (or anything other than tangrowth) to handle and mixed sets with ice beam force tangrowth to switch around to heal. It forces tangrowth onto almost any team that isn’t hyper offense. All of these reasons make a suspect warranted and the community seems to agree.

Turtle12​

Rationale

Voting no on Barraskewda suspect despite the poll results and the expectations of tiering action because Barraskewda is not broken and has become quite manageable. The mon is falling out of favour, does not have insane usage stats, and the poll had many players voting 3 on barraskewda being broken meaning they are indifferent on whether or not action should be taken. The small margin of victory in the poll does not justify tiering action in my opinion, and again this was not a vote for suspect but rather a poll to determine how broken people thought barraskewda was, and the average vote [on the tiering survey] for barraskewda was closer to 3 than it was to 5

Ember Celica​

Rationale

I voted no on suspect testing Barraskewda. While the tiering survey indicated that a slight majority of respondents would like to see it suspected, it also indicated that you could expect to get two different answers on the question after asking 2 different players. Absent a strong consensus (in the range of 60% support), I believe that the best course of action is for the council to excercise their best judgement regarding what action would be of most benefit to the playerbase and the tier. As a result, I voted against suspect testing Barraskewda because I do not personally believe it is an issue or the issue with this current format. Barraskewda can be daunting to maneuver around, but its reliance on rain, the presence of strong reliable defensive checks, and its frighteningly fragile longevity all work in concert to keep the pokemon balanced. Rain is quite easy to set, but it is also quite easy to dispell thanks to Ninetales and the myraid of other pokemon which have access to Sunny Day. Furthermore, running Drizzle on your Politoed means that you aren't using Water Absorb which is arguably a more valuable ability at times. Water Absorb Politoed is one of the aforementioned defensive options, alongside the grass twins Venusaur and Tangrowth. If Barraskewda could comfortably stay in the back until the endgame after its checks are easily dispelled, then perhaps the pokemon would be worth getting rid of. Unfortunately for Barraskewda, it's almost incredible lack of bulky and overreliance on life orb mean that it is exceedingly difficult to make it last that long.

7ayakum​

Rationale

I voted yes on a Barraskewda suspect because while I don’t believe barraskewda has fully shown how broken it is in the meta rn, I feel bringing attention to it and getting people to see the extent the of what barraskewda can do in the meta will help us get a better understanding of the Pokémon. This is because I truly believe that on an optimised rain team, skewda just wins. I’ve been using a Barraskewda on a non-rain team this whole month and it always cleans up in the end game for me. Whoever optimises rain will show that it’s unhealthy in the meta, imo. Furthermore, Barraskewda forces tangrowth on teams because it can pretty much OHKO all of the other defensive Pokémon in the meta that we thought would be checks to it with Adamant Choice Banded Rain boosted Liquidations after rocks, and some even without. While I do think Tangrowth would be good in a Barraskewda-less meta, it doesn’t take away from the fact that right now it feels like you have to run Tangrowth.Finally, the main reason I voted yes to suspect is because the majority of the player base were in favour of a suspect. If the majority want something to happen, then we should let their voices be heard. Though, i do think for an actual ban, we’d need more than a slight majority.

GCGoat​

Rationale

Voted yes on Barraskewda suspect. Drizzle has only been balanced in the past because of the lack of strong rain abusers in their respective metas (march24 players were forced to use seaking, for example). Contrast this with Barraskewda, a pokemon with minmaxed stats, a speed stat rivaling some scarfers, and all the coverage it could ask for. Banded rain boosted liquidation 2hkos almost everything in the meta, with the only noteworthy exceptions being Venusaur, which can only recover 25% during rain, Empoleon, which gets folded by close combat, water absorb Politoed, which also takes a large amount from cc, utility umbrella Skarmory and Cofagrigus, which can't punish contact moves without rocky helmet, and Tangrowth. Alternatively, Barraskewda can run a mixed set with life orb, and while this does weaken it against the aforementioned checks by forcing it to take chip every turn, it allows the fish to cheese through Tangrowth with ice beam. What I consider to be the most broken aspect of Barraskewda is its access to flip turn, allowing it to bring in wallbreakers like Nidoking for free against Tangrowth. The only 100% reliable Barraskewda counterplay is to never let it switch in, which is possible due to the fish's complete lack of bulk. This means that any turn spent setting hazards, removing hazards, recovering, or using any other status move puts you at risk of letting Barraskewda in which is not unlikely to result in you losing a mon. In my opinion, Barraskewda forces overly predictable team structures and playstyles that are unhealthy for the meta, which I believe warrants a suspect.

33 eels​

Rationale

I voted yes on the Barraskewda suspect. It's the strongest weather user we've had thus far, able to threaten many of the defensive walls in the meta with coverage such as Close Combat for Empoleon.Barraskewda does have counters as an offensive sweeper. It's easily chipped by hazards, common Rocky Helmet users such as Tangrowth, and common priority users Lokix and Mienshao. However, these take time to add up, and during that time it's difficult to stop Barraskewda from making significant progress. It is also reliant on rain to hit many damage thresholds, the main setter of which (Politoed) struggles to maintain momentum. This is somewhat counterbalanced by Barraskewda's ability to simply Flip Turn out on many of its counters. This is difficult to punish outside of the aforementioned hazards and Rocky Helmet users, retaining momentum and bringing in other powerful wallbreakers.While the tiering survey showed player opinion was far from unanimous regarding Barraskewda, I believe it merits being put before the community for a full suspect for the above reasons.

On the matter of suspect testing Lokix, the council tied 3-3 to suspect test Lokix with 2 members abstaining. The tie was broken via a vote of the tier leaders, which went 2-1-1 (suspect-no suspect-abstain) in favor of suspecting Lokix. This issue was very subject to heavy debate both in broader council discussions and tier leader-only discussions, particularly since Holding a suspect test in what was effectively the final week of the month, while the tournament was ongoing, is not something which has happened in this tier before. We ultimately decided to take the unprecedent step of launching a new suspect test so late into the month because the tiering survey results and the impressions we (the council and TLs) got from community members indicated a general undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the metagame as it currently was. Lokix remained unbanned after the suspect test concluded, with a very close 2 votes for BAN (18.18%) and 9 votes for DNB (81.82%). Those who voted to ban and suspect Lokix felt that it exerted far too much pressure on the teambuilder and enabled all of the other seemingly more problematic pokemon to run rampant even in the face of their supposed checks. The chief example of this was how Lokix enabled Nidoking by eliminating all of its offensive checks with strong tinted lens-boosted priority moves. The vast majority of the playerbase disagreed, and were relatively evenly split between satisfaction with the meta as-is and mutual agreement that something was broken matched in equal measure by disagreement over what specifically was broken. Those who voted to keep Lokix in the meta also tended to agree that it provided counterplay into fast threats such as Barraskewda (which also remained unbanned).



Even though nothing ultimately came of the council's actions this month, the fact that action was taken at all has renewed discussion in the community in general regarding the way we survey and take actions towards 35 Pokes as a tier.

 

[AlfrexFrostStaff]

POKEMON ANALYSIS: NIDOKING​

Nidoking is the premier special wallbreaker of May 2025 with coverage galore. Although its special attack is lower than even Heatmor at 85, it makes up for this with Sheer Force. Using Life Orb as its item and plenty of special moves boosted by Sheer Force, Nidoking is able to blast open a hole in any team.

Movepool/Set
Its wide movepool includes Sludge Wave and Earth Power which are amazing STABs to have that are only resisted/don’t affect Claydol and Skarmory, Fire Blast/Flamethrower to hit Skarmory and bulky Venusaur, Thunderbolt/Thunder to deal with flying types and Politoed, Shadow Ball to help break through specially defensive Cofagrigus, Ice beam to hit fellow ground types Mudsdale and Claydol, and Ice Punch is a staple on many sets to break through Assault Vest Goodra. Stealth rock is an option to set up hazards for free as Nidoking is able to force out quite a few Pokemon. Nidoking is also able to forgo using Sludge Wave to slot in a different coverage move. There is also the option of using Focus Sash instead of Life Orb to win a Nidoking mirror matchup or to survive a hit from a faster threat and OHKO it in return which helps remove some offensive presence from the opposing team, though it does require you to give up some of its overall wallbreaking potential.

Role
Nidoking is singlehandedly able to enable many offensive threats with the raw power and coverage that it brings to any team. It can easily OHKO Tangrowth, allowing Barraskewda to click banded Liquidations for free or for Drednaw to easily sweep after using Shell Smash. Nidoking is also able to deal with Cofagrigus which enables Mienshao, especially Reckless sets, to use High Jump Kick with less worry about recoil damage or to guarantee damage on something with Close Combat. It’s also able to get rid of Skarmory, removing one of the few checks to Lokix. But that’s not where this beast’s offensive presence ends; not only does it put pressure on defensive cores, but it also puts pressure on the opposing player to make correct predictions. Nidoking has plenty of middle ground options and opportunities to take kills on Pokemon that decide to stay in, leaving players to constantly make predictions on what it might do which can sometimes lead to mistakes that are easy to capitalize on. It also forces many spinners and defoggers out, leaving hazards on the field to deal plenty of chip damage from the amount of switching that Nidoking can force which further enables itself and its teammates.

Shortcomings
While it is able to dish out a lot of damage, Nidoking gets outsped by many common offensive Pokemon like Barraskewda, Mienshao, and Swellow that are all able to OHKO it. This makes Nidoking easy to revenge kill after it has taken a kill on another Pokemon, especially since its defences are fairly poor. Nidoking is also unable to kill specially defensive Empoleon or Assault Vest Goodra before being killed itself if it hasn’t hit them super effectively on the switch in. Finally, it is also very dependent on Life Orb to effectively deal damage and becomes less effective if knocked or tricked.

Teammates
To help alleviate some of these issues, Nidoking appreciates teammates that are able to check faster Pokemon whether offensively like Barraskewda, Lokix, and scarfed Mienshao or defensively like Tangrowth or Empoleon. Slow pivots or offensive Pokemon that can use a move like U-turn to pivot out of a defensive check switching in are also great to help Nidoking hit the field safely, but aren’t totally necessary as it is able to find plenty of opportunities to switch in on a wall like Skarmory or Cofagrigus. The latter option is especially great as it lets Nidoking start wreaking havoc on the opposing team’s defensive checks. Mienshao in particular is able to fill these roles as it is able to outspeed anything that isn’t Barraskewda under rain or Drednaw after using Shell Smash by using Choice Scarf while being able to threaten the few walls capable of taking on Nidoking. Nidoking also enables Mienshao to tear through the opposing team by removing its checks like Cofagrigus, Skarmory, and Tangrowth. Barraskewda is also a good partner because it can lure in a Skarmory or Tangrowth, Flip Turn out, and let Nidoking destroy those walls which lets Barraskewda click banded Liquidations for free. Lokix is another notable option as it has U-turn and Knock Off to further make progress while First Impression is able to deal with the faster, frailer Pokemon that threaten Nidoking, especially when using Choice Band or after some chip damage. Pairing it with webs is also another option as it helps it outspeed everything except for scarfed Mienshao, Swift Swim Barraskewda under rain, or Swellow.


Counterplay
Although Nidoking might be one of the most oppressive forces this month, there are still ways to navigate around it in the teambuilder and during games. As mentioned above, it is defensively checked by specially defensive Empoleon and Assault Vest Goodra which are able to switch into a non-supereffective attack, survive an Earth Power or Ice Beam respectively, and OHKO with Surf or Hydro Pump though it does require Empoleon to be holding a Shuca Berry while Goodra has a 50% chance of dying to Ice Punch after taking a Sludge Wave or Earth Power. Specially defensive Politoed can be used as it can survive a hit from Thunderbolt and kills Nidoking in return with Hydro Pump or rain boosted Scald. It can also use Water Absorb to stop Barraskewda, one of Nidoking’s potential teammates, from freely clicking Liquidation or Flip Turn. Cofagrigus is another option as it is reliably able to take 3 Earth Powers before dying. It can also potentially stall out Nidoking by burning it with Will-o-Wisp and using Pain Split to recover some HP. Burning Nidoking allows Goodra to better take it on as it won’t be taking as much damage from Ice Punch. Similar to Cofagrigus, specially defensive Mudsdale is able to take 3 Ice Beams before dying and walls Ice Punch sets even better. But unlike the coffin, Mudsdale is able to immediately threaten an OHKO by using Earthquake and can still set up Stealth Rock if Nidoking decides to switch out. Claydol is also able to be used as a Nidoking check as it resists Sludge Wave, is immune to electric coverage, and dodges Earth Power with Levitate which gives it opportunities to switch in against Nidoking. By holding a Yache Berry, Claydol is able to comfortably take an Ice Beam or Ice Punch while firing back a 252+ Psychic or Earth Power. If Nidoking decides not to stay in on Claydol, it can still clear hazards using Rapid Spin, set up its own hazards, or use Teleport to gain momentum, giving it a unique role compression niche. Specially defensive Frosmoth also deserves a special mention as it only takes 1/4th of its health against any of Nidoking’s non-fire attacks while still being able to OHKO with Ice Beam. It also gets Defog to clear hazards, Stun Spore to paralyze another Pokemon if Nidoking decides to switch out, and U-turn to generate momentum which gives it role compression similar to Claydol. Kecleon is also very bulky on the special side, and though it doesn’t have hazard clear or pivoting like Claydol and Frosmoth do, it has access to Recover which gives it much needed longevity and Knock Off to hinder Nidoking’s damage.

On the offensive side, there are plenty of Pokemon that are able to outspeed and OHKO Nidoking. Barraskewda is able to outspeed even after webs if Swift Swim is activated and OHKO with Liquidation, Mienshao’s Choice Scarf sets can ignore the speed drop from webs and use Triple Axel, and Swellow can ignore webs entirely to OHKO with either Guts boosted Facade or specs Boomburst. Outside of Sticky Web teams, Choice Specs Ribombee and Inteleon are able to outspeed and OHKO with Psychic and Snipe Shot respectively. Cincinno and Maushold are also able to kill with Tail Slap and Population Bomb, but are heavily punished by Rocky Helmet Skarmory and Tangrowth, a problem that Barraskewda also faces. Scarfed Pinsir is also able to OHKO Nidoking with Earthquake, but it faces the same problem as offensive Ribombee as both are taking 25% if Stealth Rock is set and neither have the reliable recovery that Swellow has which makes both require some extra help with hazard control. Lokix is another decent check to Nidoking as it can easily revenge kill it using banded First Impression or Life Orb boosted Knock Off after a bit of chip damage. It can also slot in Leech Life to mitigate some of the damage taken from hazards if it’s not carrying Heavy-Duty Boots or from Life Orb recoil. Quite a few Pokemon are also able to use Knock Off or Trick to remove Nidoking’s Life Orb which reduces its impact on defensive cores, allowing your defensive checks to handle it better

Sets: https://pokepast.es/21e0bb30e867bb67
QC by Turtle12

 

[RetroDude42]

35 Pokes VGC had its first major tournament this May!​

35 Pokes VGC is exactly what it sounds it; a national dex double battle format based off of official VGC rulesets with the twist of only allowing the 35 Pokemon that are allowed in the main 35 Pokes format. The Pokemon that were rolled for May 2025 worked very well in this VGC spinoff, creating a dynamic and enjoyable metagame for many players. Players of the main 35 Pokes format have dabbled in 35 VGC for a couple of months, but this month was the first time that a big tournament was held using the ruleset. This tournament was held using a Swiss format, with 4 rounds of 12 players vying for the best possible score. To understand the meta, let's take a look at the usage stats of the tournament:

35 Pokes May25 VGC Tournament

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Ninetales          |   21 |  61.76% |  57.14% |
| 1    | Maushold           |   21 |  61.76% |  57.14% |
| 3    | Venusaur           |   17 |  50.00% |  58.82% |
| 3    | Jumpluff           |   17 |  50.00% |  52.94% |
| 3    | Hitmontop          |   17 |  50.00% |  52.94% |
| 6    | Goodra             |   14 |  41.18% |  64.29% |
| 7    | Politoed           |   11 |  32.35% |  36.36% |
| 8    | Mienshao           |   10 |  29.41% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Drednaw            |    9 |  26.47% |  55.56% |
| 9    | Lokix              |    9 |  26.47% |  44.44% |
| 11   | Nidoking           |    8 |  23.53% |  25.00% |
| 12   | Inteleon           |    7 |  20.59% |  57.14% |
| 13   | Ribombee           |    6 |  17.65% |  66.67% |
| 13   | Mudsdale           |    6 |  17.65% |  50.00% |
| 15   | Cofagrigus         |    5 |  14.71% |  40.00% |
| 16   | Barraskewda        |    4 |  11.76% |  25.00% |
| 17   | Tangrowth          |    3 |   8.82% |  66.67% |
| 17   | Swellow            |    3 |   8.82% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Raichu             |    3 |   8.82% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Heatmor            |    2 |   5.88% |  50.00% |
| 20   | Claydol            |    2 |   5.88% |  50.00% |
| 20   | Frosmoth           |    2 |   5.88% |  50.00% |
| 20   | Empoleon           |    2 |   5.88% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Vivillon-Fancy     |    2 |   5.88% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Honchkrow          |    1 |   2.94% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Shiinotic          |    1 |   2.94% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Swoobat            |    1 |   2.94% |   0.00% |

Analysis on Top 10 Most Used Pokemon:

Out of the 17 sets played, Ninetales and Maushold tied for first place in usage, with each being used 21 times and winning 12 sets. Ninetales enabled powerful sun strategies for itself and teammates, often seen using powerful Heat Waves, Weather Balls, and Solar Beams. Maushold is a great support Pokemon that has proven itself in official VGC formats time and time again, so it was no surprise to see it utilize its damage reduction and redirection capabillities to enable its partners. The use of Follow Me on Maushold, as opposed to Rage Powder, was especially useful to redirect powerful attacks or Sleep Powders from the plethora of sun-abusing grass type Pokemon.
A perfect example of a powerful sun abuser, Venusaur was a potent offensive piece that used sun to quickly defeat opponents with a variety of options ranging from Weather Ball and Earth Power to Energy Ball and Sludge Bomb. A Sleep Powder from Venusaur could also put an opponent out of commision for a variable number of turns. On the supportive end of sun abusers, Jumpluff had great speed control with Tailwind and disruptive options like Sleep Powder and Rage Powder.
Hitmontop was a good mix of support and offense, with disruption in the form of Intimidate and Fake Out helping its team when it switches in, and powerful Close Combats and Triple Axels to output great damage.
Goodra was one of the bulkiest attackers, with its sky-high special defense pairing with its dragon typing nicely to take on the plethora fire-type, grass-type, and water-type special attacks coming from weather abusers. It could even use Sap Sipper to turn its grass resistance into an immunity, especially useful against Sleep Powder. Its great 110 special attack allowed it to output consistent damage with coverage moves like Weather Ball, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam.
Politoed was the foundation of rain teams. Its respectable bulk and surprisingly versatile movepool left room for a lot of player innovation. The obvious powerful water-type attacks were present, as well as coverage moves like Ice Beam and Earth Power, but disruptive moves like Icy Wind and Perish Song also saw some use.
Mienshao functioned as a much more offensive alternative to Hitmontop. Its Inner Focus ability made it immune to Hitmontop's Intimidate and any Fake Out flinches, while Mienshao sported a Fake Out of its own. Its 125 attack stat was tied for highest in the tier, meaning that its Close Combats and Triple Axels could hit like trucks.
Drednaw was the preferred rain abuser as it had good versatility. Unlike the more one-dimensional Barraskewda, Drednaw also had access to STAB Rock Slide as well many coverage options like Ice Spinner and High Horsepower. It had bulk that was usable enough to occasionally use Shell Smash, which could turn it into a deadly offensive threat.
Lokix had strong priority in the form of unresisted First Impressions and Sucker Punches, allowing it to move even before Pokemon with speed-boosting abilities or Tailwind. While it was frail, its strong burst damage could limit the play of opposing Pokemon while it was on the field.


The winner of the tournament was Just A Dreemurr. In the final round, she used a team of Maushold, Hitmontop, Ninetales, Jumpluff, Venusaur, and Lokix.

https://pokepast.es/4ab0a361470e7aad

The bracket can be found here: https://challonge.com/sgzakdb

 

[Ember Celica]

Council Changes

At the beginning of this month, TTK and AReallyShiftyGuy resigned from their positions as permanent members of the ND 35 Pokes tiering council. I cannot thank them enough for their contributions to the tier, the council, and the community in general over their tenure. TTK joined the tiering council in the first month after its inception, and immediately stood out as a stellar council member through the experience he brought to the nascent body and the elevated level of discussion he approached each issue with. His numerous high-quality posts on this thread alone speak to his outstanding performance as a council member. He was always an asset in internal discussions, in helping keep the council on track, and in pushing the council to survey the playerbase in a timely enough matter to properly consider action without allowing dissatisfaction to fester through delay. The title of council member held more weight for his possession of it, and now the same can be said for the title of former council member.

Shifty's contributions to the tiering council are just as evident as visible as TTK's — he's unquestionably the most accomplished player in the tier (with 5 tournament titles and 1 Premier League win to his name) and he brought that wealth of unique skill and experience to our tiering process. He has an uncanny ability to accurately sum up a metagame with little more than a glance, and even when he and I disagreed on tiering questions (which was far from an uncommon occurrance), I never disagreed with the metagame trends and characteristics he based his opinions upon. Shifty was also instrumental in leading the council, ensuring it ran smoothly, that we as a body were up to our obligations, and everything else necessary to maintain a working council which at times hardly gets more than a weeks' break between concluding discussion on one meta and starting anew with the next. In combination with this and his other responsibilities as a tier leader, he always made time to play discord ladder matches and keep up with the metagame through careful study of replay during periods he was unable to play. Much like TTK, his inclusion among the former council members brings new meaning to the title.

Both Shifty and TTK were top contributors to metagame resources, and were never shy about sharing their own teams whilst still actively playing that month's metagame. In a format where almost all matches are direct challenges between familiar players, doing as Shifty and TTK did invites counter-teams and counter-strategies the likes of which are rarely seen on conventional showdown ladders. The nature of our format also means you may have more limited opportunities to learn the format for yourself from scratch, so sample teams from consistent top players are all the more valuable.

On a more personal note, I will sorely miss both Shifty and TTK on the tiering council. It was a pleasure to work with them, and I am privileged to have been a part of the council throughout the entirety of both their tenures. Should either ever wish to return to the council, we will gladly welcome them back, but for now I hope they continue to enjoy this wonderful tier we've all grown to care about without the stress of any self-wrought obligations towards it besides simply having fun.

To fill the open spots for now, the incredible NoExistencia and demirab1 have stepped up. Both are excellent players, venerated community members, and long time candidates on my personal shortlist of people I wanted to see on the council someday.

 

[Ember Celica]

Tier Leadership Change

In addition to stepping down from the council, AReallyShiftyGuy has stepped down from all of his 35 Pokes staff roles, including his position as tier leader. Even though I discussed his contributions and departure from the council already, this broader change is momentous enough to warrant its own post.

"[Shifty] Contributes a lot on the council, leading discussions and helping keep us on track and accountable to what we’ve previously decided. He was one of the first to suggest council discussions move to a public server instead of a group dm, and he was the one who made it as well organized as it is now. He’s incredibly helpful in resource creation, always submitting well thought out and relatively accurate VRs in addition to donating his own best teams as samples for other people to utilize. On top of all this, he’s been a huge voice of support on many important projects as of late, including the upcoming 35 Pokes Premier League!" This is what was said when Shifty's promotion to tier leader was publicly announced on January 31st, 2025. During his time co-leading 35 Pokes, Shifty maintained these contributions and more. In every important decision and internal leadership discussion, he was just as thoughtful and insightful as he was on the tiering council.

As I've mentioned before, Shifty is the most decorated tournament player in the community, but part of his success was his willingness to give every month's metagame a try and to take his losses as gracefully he did his numerous wins. This is part of what makes him such an active and positive presence in the community, an attribute which is valued second to none in a tier leader. As much as I'll personally miss having Shifty, one of the best friends and competitors I've had the opportunity to meet through this community, as a tier leader, I'll be even more satisfied to see him enjoying 35 Pokes in the future whenever he can find the time, without any pressure (besides his compulsive need to win far too much, of course).

 

[Ember Celica]

https://pokepast.es/a62729d6add14af2
https://pokepast.es/28aa68193c7de5cc
https://pokepast.es/11899dfb963a9459
https://pokepast.es/47b89d70d9398a22

At the very beginning of the meta, I started compiling a living set repository of literally every single set I've used on ladder and every single notable set I've personally played against on ladder. To give you guys a broader array of sets, I asked every member of the tiering council for contributions and asked some community members for their cool sets. The people I can remember taking specific sets from off-hand are: Sunnsetti , mangoose49 , and leafsaber47 in addition to the current members of the tiering council! I didn't write down who I got every single set from, so if you see your creation in here but weren't specifically mentioned I promise it's not intentional.

https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/view-team-1130382
https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/view-team-1130382
https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/view-team-1132267
https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/view-team-1132268

The set repositories are all also available as shareable team links which will automatically reflect any changes I make to the teams without the need for a brand-new link!


This project became far more difficult than anticipated after I covered the 1 or 2 most standard sets for the top pokemon, but I think the depth of information available in the final result is well worth the extra effort. If this is something people appreciate and/or find useful, my intention is to repeat this at the start of every new month going forward.

 

[qbking3]

Bruxish Webs

This is a Sticky Web team that uses a wide range of physical attackers to blow through opposing teams. Smeargle is the setter for sticky webs allowing for utility in both setting up webs and getting off a Spore or Nuzzle into the opposing lead as well. Mimikyu is a fantastic abuser of webs as it helps against scarfers as well as non-scarfed Mienshao. Its main benefit however is being a get out of jail free card with Disguise and a spinblocker to prevent removal with Quaquaval's Rapid Spin. The next two Pokemon are the sand core of Alolan Dugtrio and Tyranitar. These two synergize well with Tyranitar powering up Dugtrio thanks to its ability as well as being a dangerous sweeper on its own. Alolan Dugtrio has the great combination of being able to set Stealth Rock and block opposing Glimmora's Mortal Spin. Honchcrow is a massive beneficiary of webs thanks to it's mediocre speed tier combined with it's phenomenal STAB + Superpower combo being able to break almost the entire tier on its own. Regenerator cores are especially weak to Honchcrow leaving teams that rely too heavily on them little power to stop the snowballing from Moxie. Finally, we have Bruxish to round out the team. Its typing is a great defensive tool threatening out Quaquaval allowing for setup opportunities. You can tinker with the sets as things like Red Card Mimikyu, Choice Band Bruxish, Goggles Honchcrow, or Mental Herb Smeargle help with certain matchups.

https://pokepast.es/58c8ef3eabd17b9e

 

[qbking3]

I want to highlight some pokemon/sets that I think are either underutilized, interesting concepts, or just something that I believe I can add something new to the conversation about.

The first is the Sticky Web setter of choice. We have 3 this month and most people have been using Masquerain. Simply put, Masquerain is worse than Smeargle and will continue to be so unless sleep is banned. You can mix and match movesets to fit whatever your build of webs is lacking.

Smeargle @ Mental Herb / Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sticky Web
- Spore / Mortal Spin / Rapid Spin
- Nuzzle / Stone Axe / Ceaseless Edge
- Silk Trap / Burning Bulwark

A set that you will probably like to run in a tournament is Bluk Berry Tangrowth. 99% of people have never heard of that item so here is the item's effect: . Now that that's out of the way, the reason you use this is because of a move called Natural Gift. The move changes type AND BASE POWER depending on the berry that the holder has. With a Bluk Berry, it becomes an 80 base power Fire type physical attack. This lends just enough power to OHKO Escavalier with max attack investment. Alternatively, you can run Occa berry for a 60 base power Fire type move but that misses the garunteed KO in exchange for more versatility. I would only really reccomend bringing this to tour against an opponent who you know likes to bring Escavalier but aside from that it does function as a decent breaker with an Occa berry being a serviceable item even without Natural Gift and hitting opposing Tangrowth hard is valuable.
252+ Atk Bluk Berry Tangrowth Natural Gift (Fire) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 344-408 (100 - 118.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Occa Berry Tangrowth Natural Gift (Fire) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 308-364 (89.5 - 105.8%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Tangrowth @ Bluk Berry / Occa Berry
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Earthquake / Knock Off
- Natural Gift
- Swords Dance

Arctozolt is a mon that forces switches better than just about anything but really doesn't like taking chip from Stealth Rock and is quite prediction heavy. Let's fix that. You get a safe pivot from one of the Slowkings and you get to either click Bolt Beak for a free kill if everything dies to it at which point you've already won the game, or you can click Substitute on the switch to remove the need to predict. you now have a mon that outspeeds and ohkoes almost everything with a Substitute up that is restoring any chip from rocks as well as the damage taken to make the Substitute.

Arctozolt @ Leftovers
Ability: Slush Rush
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Icicle Crash
- Low Kick
- Substitute

Another sleeper pick, Bruxish is quite a powerful breaker for how little usage it gets. It's Water/Psychic typing lets it take advantage of one particularly prideful duck if it wants to set up. With Strong Jaw, Crunch effectively gets a STAB boost and Psychic Fangs starts to look like it's gonna be added to the list of clacfishes alongside Chi-Yu and Dracovish. There are two sets that are both quite strong, a choiced set utilizing the absurd power of Strong Jaw (and Wave Crash) to pick up KOs and a Swords Dance set that can clean games super well. Bruxish I've found works best on webs team but can also function well outside of them.

Bruxish @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Strong Jaw
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Wave Crash
- Psychic Fangs
- Crunch
- Flip Turn / Aqua Jet

Bruxish @ Mystic Water / Life Orb
Ability: Strong Jaw
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Wave Crash
- Psychic Fangs
- Crunch

 

[qbking3]

Pokemon Analysis: Escavalier
Escavalier stands out in this meta as a phenomenal breaker, boasting a 135 attack stat and a great STAB combo for the June 2025 meta, allowing it to break through any defensive core. Escavalier has a decent amount of set variety and good enough coverage in order to cover its checks. Despite its really low speed tier, being the slowest Pokémon in the meta has its advantages regarding Trick Room.

Escavalier fits on a few team compositions, these include Trick Room Offense, Bulky Offense, and Balance. All of these teams appreciate Escavalier’s general bulk and wallbreaking power, being able to tank hits and Swords Dance or threaten anything with Choice Banded Megahorn, which nothing in the meta appreciates, not even resists like Quaquaval, Mienshao, Masquerain, Dugtrio, Archeops, and opposing Escavalier.

Even if faced by a defensive Quaquaval or Escavalier, Escavalier can make progress by removing their items with Knock Off, this also applies to the Slowkings, which also do not switch in or out easily due to the sheer damage of Megahorn, possible Swords Dance, and Pursuit trapping.

Escavalier could even run Close Combat or or Aerial Ace as coverage if it really wants to ensure kills on Dugtrio and Quaquaval with Swords Dance sets. Because Megahorn is very free to click, Escavalier is able to break through these Regenerator cores and metagame staples like Tangrowth and Tyranitar. Especially in Trick Room. Furthermore, Escavalier can make use of Assault Vest in order to take the special fire coverage that many Pokémon are running, such as the Slowkings and Tyranitar.
Escavalier has two good abilities and one decent ability. The latter being Shell Armor, which you can run if you feel like every showdown god is against you. The other two are both greatly viable and have their unique benefits. Overcoat allows Escavalier to ignore Sleep Powder from Tangrowth and Spore from Toedscruel. Swarm lets Escavalier threaten the whole meta even more with Megahorn, its general bulk also provides it with this ability to often live attacks you think it wouldn’t, allowing it to get into Swarm range. Trick room also allows Escavalier to be threatening even at the lowest of HPs.

The drawbacks of Escavalier are a few, but a crucial few to consider. Its base 20 speed leaves a lot to be desired but that can be made use of in Trick Room. Of course there’s the issue of limited Trick Room turns but Banded sets or Swords Dance sets limit the need to predict and ensure Escavalier serves its role as the team’s strongest wallbreaker. Another drawback is Escavalier’s ability to switch in. This can be mitigated with Kantonian Slowking’s ability to Teleport and slow pivot in Trick Room. Still that is only one Pokemon, other Trick Room setters like Slowking-Galar and Uxie may end up pivoting first, which threatens Escavalier’s item being knocked off, being burnt by Scald from opposing Slowkings, or by being OHKO’d by a fire move. As mentioned before, many Pokémon in the meta have adjusted to deal with Escavalier, these range from running fire coverage on the Slowkings or Tyranitar (Fire Blast, Flamethrower) to running defensive Quaquaval sets with Aqua Step, Knock Off, and Roost to 1v1 Choice Band sets.

Items Escavalier likes to run include Choice Band, Life Orb, Heavy-duty Boots, Silver Powder, Occa berry, Leftovers, and Rocky Helmet. On Swords Dance sets, Leftovers and Heavy-duty Boots are good as well as on defensive sets which can also utilize Rocky Helmet. The final item that Escavalier runs is Assault Vest for additional special bulk.

Escavalier appreciates teammates that can set up Trick Room like the Slowkings, Uxie, and especially Mimikyu as well as teammates that can slow pivot into Escavalier allowing it to switch in safely and threaten big damage and/or KOs. The Slowkings and Uxie can do that to a certain extent. It also appreciated offensive partners such as Mimikyu, another prominent offensive Pokémon in the meta, being naturally faster than Quaquaval, and able to set up and sweep with the help of Disguise. It pairs well with Escavalier because Pokémon like defensive Quaquaval that could 1v1 Escavalier, crumble to Mimikyu’s Play Rough. In addition, Mimikyu’s respectable special bulk means it can often take a Flamethrower or Fire Blast from Slowkings that Escavalier does not, and it can threaten with Shadow Claw. Both do a good job at breaking for each other, covering each other’s weaknesses by being able to hit what each other’s STABs cannot, and they take the load off of each other in games, making it easier for Escavalier to break, and Mimikyu to clean up and sweep. Escavalier also appreciates hazards and hazard removal so that it has more longevity. Glimmora serves as a good partner.

Below are all the sets I could think of that have shown their worth in this meta, or those that I believe are good after some testing. However, the final set is a defensive Escavalier set that I think has some potential, being able to trap a lot of the meta and chip them down with infestation. Being able to Taunt the Slowkings so that they cannot pivot with Chilly Reception and/or Teleport made this set appealing to me, but infestation’s five turn limit seems to make this set a bit underwhelming. Still I figured I’d put it here to see if anyone could come up with something inspired by it and improve it. In tandem with Toxic spam teams or Glimmora teams, Infestation trapping + poison is a major threat. The minimum speed sets are made to go first in Trick room, 88 speed sets outspeed the Slowkings, and 188 speed sets outspeed Tangrowth with a -speed nature as most run mixed sets

https://pokepast.es/e2d79db2003161f6
Written by 7ayakum

 

[Tjoker]

Standard Arctozolt Offense

This team utilizes several of this format’s strongest wallbreakers to deal ludicrous damage and ultimately end with either a Mimikyu or Arctozolt clean-up. The main leads for this team are either Glimmora or Tyranitar. Glimmora is easily the best hazard setter in the tier and can very comfortably set up Rocks and Toxic Spikes most games. It is also this team’s sole hazard removal, but works well enough due to the main star of this team, Arctozolt, running a Boots set. This sample uses Unnerve Tyranitar, which has by now surpassed Sand Stream in being the best ability on it this meta. With Expert Belt, it is able to OHKO many prominent threats with the help of Stealth Rocks: Fire Blast to cover non-AV Tangrowth and Escavalier, Knock Off for both Slowkings, and Earthquake for Arctozolt and opposing Tyranitars. Glowking is this team’s only defensive mon but is able to live hits better than any Pokémon this meta. Along with the classic Chilly Reception and Regenerator combo, it can easily heal and set the snow up for Arctozolt for free. Purugly might be a pretty oddball pick, but it is no joke and a real threat this metagame. It is the best Mimikyu answer in the tier, being able to naturally outspeed and be immune to its Ghost STAB, which is very valuable. This Purugly set has Foul Play to punish Swords Dance Mimikyu and is able to live its other most common attack, Leech Life, even with +2 Life Orb. It runs Wide Lens to make its Hypnosis land slightly more, but can easily be switched out for Black Glasses if you want Foul Play to do more damage to other physical attackers such as Dugtrio-A, Archeops, and Escavalier. Fake Out is also a valuable move in this set to stall Snow turns against opposing Arctozolt or Trick Room turns. Mimikyu runs the Life Orb item because, unlike other teams, it doesn’t have to solely rely on Mimikyu cleaning or sweeping. This team’s versatility allows it to run Orb to do big damage fast. Arctozolt is the main attacker of this team and is running Boots to ignore the prominent threat of hazards this meta. The reasoning for double Ice STAB is to be able to hit both sets of Tangrowth, AV and Rocky Helmet, hard.

https://pokepast.es/6ef3d1710a65d020

 

[qbking3]

The Hall of Fame is made to commemorate our 35 Pokes Champions!

1. AReallyShiftyGuy

April 2024, November 2024, February 2025, November 2023 Retro, December 2023 Retro, 35PL Season 0

2. BIGSHOT_ranger

October 2023 Regulation A, December 2023, October 2024, October 2023 Regulation B Retro

3. Dacruize

August 2023, March 2024, 35PL Season 1

4. Turtle12

September 2024, June 2025

5. HunterZinfected

July 2024, 35PL Season 1

6. Habaduh

December 2024, 35PL Season 1

7. Portobello

January 2025, Trios

8. Sheep007

September 2023

9. Riki/Poisany

October 2023 Regulation B

10. Ember Celica

January 2024

11. Senor Lopez

February 2024

12. MamboTND

May 2024

13. Laviecestdure

June 2024

14. ThundergamesPT2

August 2024

15. demirab1

March 2025

16. 7ayakum

April 2025

17. Zetious

May 2025

18. LilyLight1234

35PL Season 0

19. eambplsl

35PL Season 0

20. NoExistencia

35PL Season 0

21. BellUno

35PL Season 0

22. Quackborg

35PL Season 0

23. Maszt

35PL Season 0

24. Plague

35PL Season 1

25. jscurf

35PL Season 1

26. sablolol

35PL Season 1

27. ApacheRomero

35PL Season 1

28. Dugtrio Is Broken

35PL Season 1

29. Msousa

35PL Season 1

30. tryingtolearnstall

Trios

31. Rabidwhale

Trios

Project created and maintained by Qbking3​

 

[Zetious]

Arcto Regen Balance​

The main idea of this team is to pivot between your regen mons until you can find an opening to bring in arctozolt or mimikyu to set up and sweep. Arcto gets its best value on this team by taking a chunk out of the opposing team in the mid game to allow mimikyu to end the game against a weakened team. The regen core is phys def glowking and AV phys def Tangrowth. This core is very strong and gives this team a backbone and allows you to gain momentum back after you run out of snow turns for arcto. Ditto gives this team an answer for the vast amount of set up sweepers in the meta and can also help in defense if the opposing team brings a regen core as well. Glimmora gives good role compression for hazards and removal, this set is meant to help check mimikyu as well and has enough speed EVs to outspeed non scarf ttar and mons that typically try to speed creep ttar like masquerain and honchkrow. This allows glim more opportunities to set and clear hazards while still being fairly bulky. Mimikyu works best as the late game sweeper, +2 LO shadow claw is a very favorable roll to OHKO max def glowking and can 2HKO tangrowth and ttar with leech life.
https://pokepast.es/c169b23f8dd8086a

 

[Ember Celica]

Even More Council Changes

Much like the seasons, the tides, or my mind when I'm trying to decide what to make for breakfast, the tiering council has changed. demirab1 stepped down from the council this month because they were away for the beginning part of it on a vacation which everybody who's witnessed even their smallest contributions to the tier would agree was more than well-earned. I hope to have the opportunity to work with them on the council in the very near future!

More permanently and monumentally, 33 eels has resigned her position as a permanent member of the tiering council. Before she and TTK joined the tiering council in the very early days of its inception, the concept of a permanent member did not even yet exist. It didn't take us long after that to realize that 33 eels was one of the best council members we could possibly have, and that a system in which nobody's position was technically permanent was simply untenable. Put simply, the position of permanent council member was created for her and TTK. It's ironic that words are insufficient to describe her contributions, because words were the way in which she contributed the most. I have yet to meet a single person as skilled as she is at completely understanding not only what her fellow council members are saying but also where they are coming from to form those opinions in the first place. 33 eels ensured that nobody's voice got shouted down or lost in the chaos of heated discussion and always began her arguments by expertly summarizing those of the people who spoke before her, sometimes in a manner better than those people could themselves. Tiering discussions can, even on the best of days, devolve into circular arguments in which any participant feeling heard is a luxury, but no discussion with Eels as a participant could approach that state even on the worst of days. Out of all the people who have been contributors to the 35 Pokes community over the past 2 years, Eels is the only person whose contributions go unnoticed when looking in from the outside but become immediately invaluable the moment you have the privilege to witness them firsthand. Words are as insufficient to express the extend of what she brought to the council as they are my gratitude for all that she did as a part of it, but what they are sufficient to convey is that 33 eels will be welcome back onto the council with open arms at any time should she ever say the word.

 

[Ember Celica]

The 35 Pokes Tiering Council has voted 5-2 to Quickban Gliscor from the July 2025 format. Feraligatr has been rolled as the replacement.

The recent tiering survey, the results of which will be included in a follow-up post, indicated that there was sufficient support among the playerbase to justify action on Gliscor. The vote of each of the 7 council members along with their rationales are included below.

Apu Voted No Action Having played 65 games and not used Gliscor once I didn't feel action against it was needed. While undoubtedly a top mon, I didn't feel its absence made my team any worse nor I felt it was too oppressive when team building as I think the options to fight it are plentiful and splashable. No game I had was decided by whether Gliscor was standing by the end or not, unlike with other mons, tho I recognize that my particular play style of making one team and rolling with it the entire month could make this judgement biased.Regardless, I stand by my choice on the matter

Ember Celica: I voted Yes on quickbanning Gliscor. Gliscor enables the top offensive threats to be more extreme than they othetwise would be, has been the most oppressive pokemon in the metagame and the thing which puts the most pressure on the teambuilder. Gliscor has unequivocally warped the metagame around itself to an extreme degree, and while it’s not the only overcentralizing pokemon, it is the only one which the playerbase and council are relatively aligned on. The two things which make Gliscor fundamentally broken, in my view, are its staying power and extremely variable utility. Poison Heal + Protect allows Gliscor to heal 25% of its health basically for free, which significantly increases the damage threshold which something must reach in order to 2hko it. This would not be such a problem if Gliscor was not arguably a fit for virtually every team unless the object of the team was to specifically not run Gliscor. As a physically defensive pokemon, Gliscor can punish virtually every non-setup physical threat except for Rillaboom and Arctovish. As a specially defensive pokemon, Gliscor can survive unexpected ice beams and punish the attacker in return with either a knock off, earthquake/high horsepower, or toxic. Checks to Gliscor do exist, and they are viable pokemon in the metagame but most of the reason for the latter is in fact the former. With regards to defensive Gliscor specifically, the difference between a game where it is still able to switch in and that same game once Gliscor is eliminated is night and day. Sacrificing multiple pokemon on your team just to deal with Gliscor can often be a good trade, especially if you have your own Gliscor in the back. As I alluded to before, Gliscor is the pokemon which defines which offensive threats are able to be viable in the first place (much moreso for the physical than the for the special ones). This puts enormous pressure on the teambuilder to an extreme degree the likes of which I haven't seen before for a pokemon of this nature in the history of 35 Pokes, and is not a healthy dynamic for the long term health of the tier. There is creativity able to be had in teambuilding even taking Gliscor into account, but the same can be said for every single pokemon which has been banned in the 2 year history of this format. And if Gliscor were just a defensive pokemon, I may not have voted to quickban it. We aren't quite that fortunate, however, and Gliscor is just as threatening an offensive pokemon as it is a defensive. Its aformentioned longevity allows it to set up comfortably against most pokemon in the metagame and stay out of range of things which could stop it from sweeping. Because team structures vary little for the inclusion of offensive or defensive Gliscor, it is exceedinly difficult to tell which you are facing until it is too late. What this means practically is that you must have more Gliscor answers on your team than are needed for any other pokemon in the meta, and that those answers must be paired with teammates or strategies which stop you from automatically folding to the other 5 pokemon on Gliscor's team. In short, Gliscor is good in every role it occupies and playing around the incorrect set can cost you the game before you even know it. While ice coverage, the most effective way of checking Gliscor in this meta, is not hard to come by, neither are ways to dispatch with the Gliscor checks using its 5 teammates. Gliscor also isn't a healthy presence in the tier despite all of the available counterplay to it because games often can come down to who loses their Gliscor first and who has better options for dealing with it in a way that isn't yet true for other pokemon in the tier. Further action may be warranted on other threats in this metagame, but we’ll contend with that once we have a picture of what the post-Gliscor meta is.

Turtle12: I voted NO ACTION on gliscor. Strong physical pokemon such as kleavor, rillaboom, obstagoon, and darmanitan have the power to break gliscor. Furthermore offensive water types such as Starmie and Arctovish take advantage of gliscor easily. Finally the top defensive pokemon (the slowkings) both threaten to ohko gliscor with ice beam and gliscor can’t do much back to them. Furthermore those slowkings can slow pivot out against gliscor further gaining momentum. Gliscor on it’s own is balanced and arguements saying it enables arctovish by removing rocks feels wrong since arctovish can still easily sweep while taking rocks chip and running a Gliscor means you can’t run something else in that slot for the other broken pokemon like Rillaboom, Arctovish, Obstagoon, and Kleavor. Another arguement is that removing Gliscor would improve other ground types usage such as silvally which should help balance kleavor… However removing Gliscor gets rid of the best bug resist and x-scissor does massive damage to silvally and without Gliscor kleavor can spam that move.Without Gliscor Kleavor should be immediately looked at for a quick ban as it will get even more broken. Rillaboom is another pokemon to continue watching. Overall Gliscor doesn’t do anything to enable these pokemon more than there own existence and tiering action should be directed towards the actual pokemon that are uncounterable threats.

Zetious: I voted QUICKBAN on Gliscor because I feel it’s an unhealthy presence in the meta and too restrictive in the team builder. Despite the meta appearing hostile to it at a glance with Arctovish, Starmie, and ice beams from the Slow Family, Gliscor has thrived and found its way onto 2/3rds of every team. Gliscor’s naturally high bulk, relatively high speed, serviceable attack, status immunity and poison heal allow it to run whatever set a team needs. While most are running physical defense and utility and u-turn, it can run special defense and be a special wall, attack and speed and Swords Dance to be an extremely threatening sweeper or even a combination of these. It is also a strong enabler of other offensive pokemon by allowing them to switch out and come in many times through the course of a game. While each of these sets and roles in a vacuum might be ok, having access to all of these options while also being the one of the best mons in the meta pushes it way further than anything should be in this, or any, 35 meta.7md: I voted to Quickban Gliscor. This is because I believe Gliscor restricts teambuilding in a subtle way and is just generally an unhealthy presence on the meta. Gliscor has an inherent ability to enable everything and give that edge to all of the top offensive threats that by nature makes those Pokemon feel oppressive and centralising as well. While yes we have Pokémon that can break and exploit Gliscor, it still stands tall in this meta. Starmie, Arctovish, Rillaboom, Obstagoon, Darmanitan can all do significant damage to Gliscor, yet Gliscor prevails, especially when it comes to the latter three Pokémon. Rillaboom cannot OHKO with Choice Banded Wood Hammer and Gliscor can U-turn into a Rillaboom check. Obstagoon cannot OHKO with Guts boosted Ice Punch and Bulk Up sets struggle to fit Ice Punch on them. Darmanitan cannot OHKO with with Life Orb Sheer Force Flare Blitz and Gliscor can kill back with High Horsepower and heal off the damage. Furthermore, with regards to Gliscor enabling other Pokémon. Many Pokémon in the meta game that have received some calls to ban or suspect like Rillaboom and Arctovish would actually not be as oppressive with Gliscor around. Gliscor is the best removal in the meta, giving Arctovish more longevity with defog and able to pivot into it via U-turn. It's also able to pivot into Rillaboom and other offensive threats. Gliscor also checks one of the answers to Arctovish which is Scarf Kleavor, eating a Stone Axe and healing off the damage while removing rocks as well as pivoting. Gliscor also happily switches into Incineroar once it's toxic orb has been procced. It cannot get burnt anymore and its probably the best Knock Off absorber ever.Banning Gliscor would beneficial for the metagame, because the top tier offensive threats that some are calling suspect/ban worthy would not be as good because of the aforementiond reasons except possibly Darmanitan and definitely Kleavor, which I recognise might need to be looked at post-Gliscor but it still should not stop Gliscor from being banned. In conclusion, Gliscor will always be too good and unhealthy for a 35 meta. It will still be good in a meta with ten ice types. All in all, Gliscor should not be rollable in 35 after this.

GCGoat:
I voted to Quickban Gliscor because I think it is the most unhealthy Pokemon in any meta in 35 Pokes history. Gliscor is able to prevent nearly all progress by switching into status moves and Knock Off, removing hazards freely, and healing off any damage by spamming Protect. What makes Gliscor's presence even more unhealthy is the presence of the Slowkings. Over half the meta is rendered unviable just because they are unable to make any progress against Gliscor/Slowking cores. Swords Dance Gliscor, one of the few Pokemon capable of making progress against this core, is problematic in its own right, as it is able to set up at nearly any point in the game and is extremely difficult to punish. It can invest in enough bulk to live hits such as Ice Beam from Starmie or Slowking and Freeze Dry from Arctovish, requiring you to sack multiple mons just to deal with it. Choice item users cannot beat Gliscor because it scouts with Protect and switches to a resist. The counterplay to Gliscor is so specific and thinly spread that it warps the entire meta around itself, where players are forced to run multiple specific sets at once just to not lose to it.It gets worse, however. Gliscor is broken in its own right, but its presence also makes other Pokemon significantly harder to deal with than they would be otherwise. Kleavor is an example of this: Silvally-G and Flygon would normally be able to switch into Stone Axe, but why would you use either of those when Gliscor outclasses them in every other way? This leaves virtually no reasonable options for a rock resist, which means Kleavor can freely spam Stone Axe without any consequences. Banning Gliscor would cause the usage of other Ground types to rise, worsening Kleavor as a result. Another Pokemon benefitting heavily from Gliscor is Arctovish, as most common Gliscor answers give the Slowkings a free opportunity to switch in and click Chilly Reception. Arctovish under snow is unwallable, made even more so by the fact that it rarely needs to worry about Stealth Rocks due to the fact that Gliscor can easily Defog them. Trying to predict the Slowking switch is extremely risky, as one wrong play can give Gliscor the chance to recover most of its health. With Gliscor gone, Arctovish would have fewer opportunities to switch in during snow. A Gliscor ban would also give several currently weak Pokemon a chance at viability, including but not limited to Dachsbun, Mabosstiff, Boltund, Toedscruel, Primeape, Marowak-A, and Rapidash, and would greatly improve the progress-making ability of Incineroar, an already common Pokemon.In short, banning Gliscor would increase team diversity, improve the consistency of most strategies, and generally make the meta more enjoyable to play and build in. It has no place in 35 Pokes and should not be rollable again in the future. (edited)

Qbking3 : I voted quickban on Gliscor. This is because Gliscor is an unhealthy presence in the meta in a way that is pretty unique to it. Despite having two metas in a row with several Regenerator mons, Gliscor is still the front runner for making progress impossible. It’s the best hazard removal with its combination of Defog and insane staying power. That in combination with its ability to eat Knock Offs as well as having U-Turn makes it way too good at enabling many prominent offensive threats. That’s only the Defog set though, the Swords Dance set is arguably even more stupid. A combination of being as impossible to remove as its defensive sets and being one of very few answers to opposing Gliscor + Regenerator cores makes it valuable on any team. This sounds like a positive until you realize that problem only exists because of Gliscor. It’s a mon whose most consistent answer is itself. TLDR: Gliscor is too good at enabling offensive threats, forms a core whose best answer is also Gliscor, and is just outright at a power level far too high for a tier like this. The tier is in a much healthier and diverse position with it gone. In the topic of Rillaboom/Kleavor becoming broken, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. If they are broken in Gliscor’s absence then we can take action on them accordingly.

Tagging dhelmise to please implement the removal of Gliscor and addition of Feraligatr