Enjoyment 8/Competitiveness 7: Hot take but this is the best state SV OU has been in since ever. Team building is still difficult but feels fun with all the experimentation that can be done. Even after over 2 years of SV, the tier is constantly innovating and remaining fresh. Gen 9 is fast-paced and technical, but not to the point where there isn’t room for slower games. Every main archetype feels equally viable (except Stall, that’s ass but only because there’s too many team comps that can burst through or outlast Stall) and the mons that kept entering the meta helped stray the tier away from being a MU fishy hellscape it was in previous metas. These days its actually better to build a well-rounded team rather than MU fish your opponent, which is a sign that we’re in the step in the right direction.

/tera blast: 3
Dragonite isn’t much of an issue these days, but the set variety it holds and lack of overlap with checks makes it a nuisance in the builder. But that issue can be contributed to Tera Blast, which was responsible for making a few other Pokemon into problems like Volcarona who checked a bunch of things while it was legal. I don’t want Dnite to forgo the same fate, so suspecting Tera Blast would be the only other option. Dnite is much more manageable when it can’t Tera Blast Flying the Zamazenta in front of it.
Light Clay: 1
Nah lol. The screens/Ceruledge scare is incredibly overblown. Countering screens is no different from countering any other HO structure, except now you’re trying to limit the amount of times screens go up. Anti-offense measures like Ting-Lu, Bulky Dnite, Pult, Roar Zama, Garg, and CB Tealpon are still perfectly good here. As mentioned in a previous post, Screens has seen a slight down turn recently during the SPL season and its not cuz of players overprepping for it.
AcrOne brought a standard Treads/Pech/Kyu comp which doesn’t utterly trash Screens.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9ou-906434
But he played the MU well by leading with Treads for the crucial Knock + Rocks, and making good callouts (ex: swapping into Zapdos on the Tera Fairy Goltres forcing it to stay in and eat a T-Wave)

: 2
Freeze is the dumbest shit in the world. Outside of that, Kyurem is fine. DD sets rely on Loaded Dice and Tera, AV and Specs are the best sets, Subtect is an overrated set that pretends to 6-0 Balance, only to get 1v1d by Ting-Lu.

: 2
Shocking take from me but I think Ogerpon Wellspring is fine. There’s not many safe switch-ins, but there’s plenty of Pokemon who can come in to tank an Ivy Cudgel and scare it out or 1v1 it. Tornadus, Zapdos, Weezing, Corv, Physdef Balloon Dengo, etc are some examples.
The big achilles heel however is the U-Turn weakness. Weaker U-Turns deal over a quarter of Wellspring’s HP while stronger U-Turns from pivots like Cinderace or CB Pult can straight up take it out with enough chip. Being weak to U-Turn is terrible for a somewhat frail offensive threat, because you don’t wanna stay in on anything with U-Turn that can outspeed or tank you.
Remember that Wellspring’s role is that of a wallbreaker. By nature it doesn’t have many consistent switch-ins apart from stuff like Pech or Dnite, but you can limit its opportunities through good positioning and I believe its healthy in that role.

: 1
Gambit has had a baller run in SPL. Is history repeating itself? Is another Dark type gonna get banned? Nah, it’s just Gambit doing its usual schtick. Stuff like Wisp Rai and Scarf Ghold can force it in to get crippled. Zama is still a fine check, and if you’re worried about it being Tera Fairy, you could always Terastilize as a midground. You could force it to take chip early on with hazards, helmet chip, or Kyurem so it doesn’t 1v1 Ironpress Zama with Tera Ghost. You could force a Tera with Tusk and go into something like a Darkrai that punishes the Tera afterwards, or you can lock it into Sucker/SD with Encore. Gambit has several Tera types that can swing the game in its favor, but there are midground plays that could be done to prevent a Gambit lategame sweep.