Lower Tiers RBY Ubers Hub

[BeeOrSomething]

Ordered within tiers

 

[Maris Bonibell]

ordered within tiers

 

[gastlies]

Mons I want to talk about

Mew

The problem with Swords Dance Mew
If you glance at my ALTPL/UWL teamdump you'll see that with Mewtwo, I experimented with a ton of different sets: Barrier, Twave, Amnesia, Explosion, and so on. However with Mew I stuck with the traditional Swords Dance set (I think?) every game, and I felt like it was less useful as the weeks went on. The problem with Swords Dance Mew, compared to older RBY Ubers metas, is that now Mew and Mewtwo are running around spamming Thunder Wave more often than ever. This means it's much harder now for Mew to set up Swords Dance and remain unparalyzed, which heavily hinders its sweeping potential.

I noticed this problem especially with Swords Dance + Thunder Wave + Earthquake + Soft-Boiled Mew. I used to believe that this set was the best Mew set in RBY Ubers, and you could run it alongside Cloydon essentially for free, since Cloyster and Rhydon checked the birds. In a world where Mewtwo still spams Amnesia + 2 Attacks + Recover, you could bring this Mew set in on Mewtwo, paralyze it, then spam soft-boiled until it FPs then get a free boost. Now that you have a boosted unparalyzed Mew staring down a paralyzed Mewtwo, this often forces your opponent out, and if you are in a good enough position you could force progress or even sweep outright. If you try doing this in 2025, Mew and Mewtwo will trade Paralysis, and now your Mew becomes a much less effective progress maker sweeper.

Support Mew
So I genuinely thought this was an original idea and was talking to Ctown6 about it then he linked me to this post where he talked about the same exact mew set THREE YEARS AGO. My idea behind support Mew is that Swords Dance does not let you fit Thunder Wave, Soft-Boiled, and Explosion on the same set. You generally have to give up one, or sometimes two, of these good moves to make room for Swords Dance and your attacking moves. Because of this, I figured why not scrap Swords Dance and run these three + an attacking move (mainly used Psychic). I have described this set to people as an "exploding Chansey". The mon is played like Chansey, generally eats and spreads para, not a great damage output, and sticks around through good bulk + instant reovery. However Chansey is pretty flawed in Ubers largely due to how passive it is and how it allowes Mew/Mewtwo to setup for free. This is where boom is useful, if you need to bail out of Mew/Mewtwo setting up on you, you can explode to gain momentum.

This set fits best on teams that do well in the physical department and appreciate Mew's purpose as more of a defensive backbone than a physical sweeper. Double Normal (Bull + Lax) teams stand out in particular for me. You have enough physical firepower with the Normals so SD Mew alongside them seems like overkill. Running support Mew and playing it more defensively gives you a mon to fall back on and threaten paralysis against special attackers, such as Psychic-types, Zapdos, or Cloyster. You're not bulletproof, of course, but you definitely appreciate the defensive utility. An example of a team Support Mew would NOT be good on is some kind of Mie + Zam team. You have enough twavers and special tanks and would greatly appreciate SD Mew's offensive potential more. My general rule was "the more physical a team is, the less physical Mew's set should be"

Zapdos

Zapdos is not great
Zapdos in OU has two key defining traits: (1) it is a deadly lategame sweeper with Agility and dual STAB, and (2) it has a hard wall in Rhydon. In Ubers, Rhydon is still common and Zapdos is still ass into it. In fact, I'd argue that Zapdos into Rhydon is much worse in Ubers since Zapdos + Tauros is heavily constraining in builder meaning there is a good chance you are not using the Bull. Additionally, Zapdos is not nearly as deadly in Ubers; Mewtwo sits on it (and now with Blizzard > Ice Beam it 2HKOes), and while Mew into Zapdos is a lot shakier it's still hard for Zapdos to break.

One big thing Zapdos (and all other fliers) has is walling Mono-EQ Mew sets. This used to be a very valuable trait and I ranked Zapdos very highly because of it. However as I mentioned in the Mew section I find Swords Dance Mew as a whole to not be as dangerous anymore, to the extent that I don't think it's worth devoting an entire teamslot to walling Mono-EQ Mew when I could instead just Thunder Wave it. This means I don't think Zapdos is an effective sweeper or worth using as a Mew wall, making it hard to justify, especially since Zam and Mie have grown on me as twavers.

Most of my Zapdos hate is towards back Zapdos, though. I think lead Zapdos is still very good, being able to force damage and para and favorable against most leads. Lead Zapdos is fine, but back Zapdos is hard to justify.

Not gonna give it its own section but this does also mean I think Aerodactyl is dead. It's really not worth using an entire teamslot to wall Mew, and on top of that your opp isn't even guaranteed to run lax or SD Mew anymore, meaning Aero might just wall zero mons on your opponent's team. Take your Aerodactyls somewhere else, this is a serious tier.

Chansey

Chansey is underrated (if you play it correctly)
You know that bell curve meme where both the bottom and top of the curve agree while the middle disagrees? That is how I feel about Chansey. People new to RBY Ubers will assume Chansey is good because of the special bulk and "ability to wall Mewtwo", then once you improve at the tier you will see Chansey is not that great since it is passive and doesn't actually wall Mewtwo. However, if you keep playing the tier even more you will realize Chansey indeed has a place, as long as you play it a certain way.

The way I see Chansey is as a sleeper, no different from pokemon like Exeggutor and Jynx. This is different to OU Chansey where Sleep is one of the many things it can do, but not the sole purpose of the mon. If you are using Chansey, use it for sleep. In contrast with Exeggutor, it lacks the offensive pressure, but does not die to Ice moves. This makes it my sleeper of choice against teams that need a little more help with special attackers, with mons like Tauros, Snorlax, Cloyster, and Rhydon. Exeggutor is the better Pokemon most of the time, but Chansey definitely has a place. I especially like pairing it with Lead Tauros since you can turn 1 switch against a lot of leads, mostly the Psychics.

Once complaint I've seen against Chansey is "after landing sleep it's just explosion fodder." This is a good thing though! After Chansey lands sleep it is extremely passive and doesn't do much outside of Thunder Wave. I would much rather have Exeggutor use Explosion on my Chansey than something more valuable, like my Mew or Mewtwo.

If you think Chansey is bad, you are bad.

Alakazam

Alakazam is a great mon
Alakazam has been incredibly disrespected in RBY Ubers for a long time, and I think this mon deserves more respect. Lead Zam is still great, I'd argue as good as OU since it's great at forcing twave. Less Chansey means you are more likely to bait in a turn 1 egg switch, with teammates such as Slowbro, Rhydon, and Mew appreciate. My recent distaste for Zapdos has also made me appreciate Zam more, as I feel it has outdone Zapdos as a twave lead.

Something that I think is extremely underexplored right now in Ubers is back Alakazam. Kinesis Alakazam is genuinely a good Mewtwo answer since you can recover on boosted hits and click Kinesis, stalling it out through misses and FPs. I tried this with Flash Chansey in UWL but it did not work since Flash Chansey had to dodge para to be effective, then I figured if I'm dodging para anyway why not just load Zam, and Kinesis Zam has performed much, much better.

Alakazam is a fantastic mon and is easily a top 10 ubers Pokemon in my opinion.

That piece of shit

Mewtwo
- Amnesia
- Ice Beam
- Barrier
- Recover

It's tempting to blame builder and skill issue as the cause for almost everyone in the UPL pool constantly getting 6-0ed by this guy but genuinely fuck this asshole. I hate this set with a burning passion. It's not fun to use since you don't get to play the game with your mewtwo until you send it in and click 17 setup moves then hope you dodge a few crit booms and sweep. Barrier2 can win games based on matchup. If you don't have a way to stop Mewtwo once it sets up then... gg? But you also can't just bring Chansey/Cloyster/Slowbro to every game so sometimes you just have to accept the loss. This set also brings back the famous "GET MEWTWO PARALYZED SO IT CAN'T BE FROZEN AND YOU CAN PP STALL BETTER" strategy which I'm really upset the meta has drifted back towards it.

Because of how much of a sack of shit this mon is I'm gonna list a ton of ways to counter it so if you think opponent is gonna bring it you can shut them down then laugh in their face as their wincon gets destroyed.

(Kinesis)

(Recover)
(Ice only)
(Bolt only)
(SD + Boom)
(just crit lmao)
(boom before setup)

But you know what the fun part is? Even if you prep for it and have the perfect counter THIS SHITHEAD CAN STILL FREEZE YOU! ISN'T THAT FUN AND EXCITING GAMEPLAY??? Almost all of these "counters" require some degree of luck (except maybe like cloyster/grounds vs the mono attacking sets). Alakazam has to hit kinesis then dodge moves, chansey/slowbro/mew have to dodge freeze etc.

I still really like RBY Ubers overall as a tier but Barrier2 has made it less enjoyable for me.

 

[Shitrock enjoyer]

You guys are all welcome to me and JVG25 for the beauty that is Barrier Ice Beam M2

 

[Sabelette]

Thoughts/teamdump after Grand Slam ends, gastlies you convinced me of Cloy 6

 

[Eledyr]

My thoughts after my catastrophic performance at UPL. Ordered from left to right for all ranks.

I wish you all a good day

 

[Kaz]

M2 defines ur team style, mew is ass but needed, nice 4mss buddy, tauros is the goat but harsher environnement (like i have followed anything uber related this year...) eggy spoiled child, lax has no match up issues with the right set, dosent expose you to anything unlike its alternatives, but the lax mirror sucks.

Zapdos best lead (even against gengar) good in the back, starmie will always be better alakazam for me as long as tbolt isnt everywhere, cloy is the best anti physical option and despite the lack of status dosent slow down offence too much thanks to cheap clamp and boom (and is a staple of more reactive/unorthodox builds) chansey is chansey, will always milk lesser players by getting more done than it should. Rhydon and gar gives normal resists and gengar can lead and may offer tbolt.

zam jynx are good leads (and back jynx might be the next step of offence cuz egg mirror sucks) hypno is a sleeper faster than eggy and can also keep making progress with 100% acc para. Jolt is similar to zam, less longevity but better zap/water option which isnt too revelant if its sleeping. Gap between golem and rhydon is still to big for me but what i can i do, amnesia is fucking terrible, agility is a good wincon esp vs physical oriented teams. wrap is ass and cheap but like hypno any sleeper faster than eggy that can apply para after is good enough

 

[Blazing]

 

[Shitrock enjoyer]

Only ranked mons that id use quite consistently. Slowbro barely made the cut. Might think that Cuno or Molt could be good, and I gave up on Golem. Thats about it, really

 

[YBW]

some thoughts on the current meta

Earlier this year there was an evolution in M2 set catered to more twave spreading and immediate high offence strategy, such as Blizzard over Ice Beam, and Selfdestruct. The balance in physical and special pokemon was still prevalent. This set allowed your Rhydons and Tauros' to clean up endgames.
A counter meta has risen, first aimed at neutering and walling this Mewtwo. Namely, the increasing prevalence of Starmie and Alakazam.
I will not lie. I despise the current meta. I am not very good at it also yes (I stubbornly tried to persevere with a balance of phys and special attackers in UPL and paid the price) but I would say this regardless I think.
The new meta contains a lot of heavily RNG dependent moves and strategies. Intense twave+recover spam, Kinesis Zam, Barrier2 and Cloyster have risen for example. The meta feels like it's both littered with teams that can reduce games to twave spam + explosion and force short games, and yet is also filled with distinct styles catered to stall.

There are a multitude of different styles and viable sets to bring now which is worlds apart from 2/3 years ago. To the extent that I think it's difficult to cover everything and scouting has become extra important. Are you covered enough against physical offence? Are you covered against Wrap? Are you covered against ice spam? Etc.
The biggest demon by far is Barrier2. I predicted this guy would rise back in March after I saw the direction the meta was going in UWL and sadly it has. I hate this mon with a passion in this meta. Completely agree with Gastlies. There is a skill in knowing when to begin to set it up to an extent. But mostly this thing is an rng/matchup fish. PP stall is legit the only way to prevent it cleaning sometimes, and if you don't have the right mon for it then either get lucky crit(s) or wave goodbye to all your exploders. Sometimes the threat of it forces you into instantly going to a boomer also, so it acts as a scarecrow to whatever mon you may have had in a good position in a game.
Meta feels very matchup roulette to me rn. I'm sure more counter-meta ideas will come, these things usually move in cycles, so I'm not concerned about the state of the tier rn but if it is still the same in 6-12 months time then I do begin to fear.

Biggest drop off from last VR is Rhydon and Zapdos imo. Biggest gains are Mie, Zam and Cloy. Mewtwo has strengthened its stranglehold on first over 2025. Mew still deserves to be same tier tho.That top 6 I ranked is the best team by a mile atm. Majority of games I watched towards the end of UPL looked the same

 

[gastlies]

The 2025 Ubers VR is here!

Thanks to all submitters, as well as Wanted in 49 States for compiling all the data! Also shoutout to BeeOrSomething I really liked how you formatted the GSC NU VR update and blatantly ripped it off.

The VR is below, each tier is ordered. The number in the parentheses is the change in placement compared to the March 2024 Update. You can access the raw data here.

S Rank

01 Mewtwo (0)

02 Mew (0)

A Rank

03 Exeggutor (+1)

04 Tauros (+1)

05 Snorlax (-2)

B1 Rank

06 Cloyster (+12)

07 Zapdos (+3)

08 Rhydon (0)

09 Gengar (-2)

B2 Rank

10 Chansey (-4)

11 Jynx (0)

12 Alakazam (0)

13 Slowbro (-4)

14 Starmie (-1)

C Rank

15 Articuno (+8)

16 Dragonite (+1)

17 Golem (-2)

18 Victreebel(+4)

19 Jolteon (-3)

20 Hypno (-6)

D Rank

21 Lapras (0)

22 Sandslash (-3)

23 Moltres (+3)

E Rank

24 Persian (0)

25 Electrode (+3)

26 Aerodactyl (-6)

F Rank

27 Dodrio(-2)

28 Poliwrath (+2)

29 Arbok (+2)

30 Ditto (+3)

---

VR at a Glance

S:
A:
B1:
B2:
C:
D:
E:
F:

Graphs

Player Graphs

Observations

3 --> 5 (-2)
Snorlax dropping two spots on the VR is a good representation of how laxless teams have been developed for the past year or so. It is difficult to run multiple slow mons in RBY Ubers so teams like CloyDons and BroDons often drop Lax, while other teams just lean offensive with stuff like Tauros and Exeggutor. Fitting all three of Tauros Exeggutor and Snorlax is tricker than ever now as well due to the ice-cold climate of the current RBY Ubers meta. However, Snorlax is still an elite Pokemon; not a single submitter ranked it (or Tauros/Exeggutor) below #5 on the viability rankings. It is still one of the most important and dominant Pokemon in the metagame, with strong Normal STAB and the best boom in the tier, but it is no longer seen as up on a pedestal alongside Mewtwo and Mew.

18 --> 6 (+12)
A mon rising up twelve spots in a thirty-year old metagame seems impossible, but here we are. The current Ubers environment is EXTREMELY friendly towards Cloyster. Its high defense and access to Explosion make it a good teammate to use on and against offense. Tauros, Snorlax, and Exeggutor are all being spammed right now, making Cloyster's STAB Blizzard extremely deadly. The increase in recoverless Mew/Mewtwo also makes Blizzard harder to switch into than before. Additionally, Articuno and Barrier + Ice Beam Mewtwo are more common now, both of which Cloyster walls. Even if it doesn't land a Barrier + Ice Beam Mewtwo matchup, most teams have at least two of Tauros, Snorlax, and Exeggutor. This alongside Explosion mean Cloyster will always provide something useful to your team.

6 --> 10 (-4)
From 3rd, to 6th, to 10th, the fall of Chansey continues. The offensive nature of the tier has essentially killed every Chansey set except for Sing, and Sing Chansey competes with other sleepers such as Gengar, Jynx, Hypno, and most importantly Exeggutor. You need a really good reason to use Sing Chasney over Exeggutor as Eggy's access to Explosion makes it much more forcing and offensive. On the other hand, Chansey can become setup fodder for Mewtwo and Mew due to its passivity. However, Chansey does have an important place in the meta, since unlike Exeggutor it can fend off the onslaught of Ice-type moves present in the tier right now. I could also see Chansey making a resurgence in the future, as it is good at fending off Barrier + Ice Beam and BlizzBolt Mewtwo, two sets that are increasing in popularity.

9 --> 13 (-4)
Slowbro used to be a top mon in Ubers since it could counter-boost aganst Amnesia Mewtwo lacking Thunderbolt, either stalling it or forcing it out. It can still do this, but Amnesia Mewtwo as a whole is less common now, making Slowbro's niche more redundant. Nowadays, the meta is about paralyzing the opposing Mewtwo and forcing it out with a physical attacker as opposed to stalling, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the more offensive Explosion-wielding Cloyster has surpassed Slowbro as the dominant bulky Water-type of the tier. Slowbro still has a place, though, as Psychic + Blizzard Mewtwo is still walled by it, and it can fend off Barrier + Ice Beam Mewtwo. A large part of why Mewtwo runs Thunderbolt is because of Slowbro after all. It's just that its passivity is much more exploitable nowadays.

23 --> 15 (+8)
A lot of what I talked about in Cloyster's section applies for Articuno as well. It is a good offensive mon with Agility and the strongest Blizzard in RBY, and is a good anti-offensive mon due to its good matchups against Tauros, Snorlax, and Exeggutor. This makes it one of the most deadly Pokemon in the tier after Mewtwo is off the field, as even Mew struggles to heal off Articuno's Blizzards once it is paralyzed. The fall of Chansey and Slowbro, as well as lower prevalence of Starmie compared to OU makes Articuno much more deadly in Ubers as well. However, Articuno is not an Ubers staple quite yet. It still suffers from doing NOTHING to Mewtwo outside of freeze, and the rise of Cloyster has been terrible for it.

14 --> 20 (-6)
Hypno is tied for the biggest drop in the VR which is kinda funny because I'm not sure exactly what caused this to happen? It's not a mon that's talked about that often it's just something that kind of exists in the tier. I have two ideas for what caused this drop. The first is that a lot of stuff below Hypno got better, while Hypno just kinda stayed the same. Cloyster and Articuno I've already mentioned which already drops Hypno by 2 spots. Wrap has seen an uptick which improves Victreebel as well. The second explanation for Hypno's drop could be a rise in Gengar and Jynx leads, which outspeed lead Hypno letting them get the first sleep. Exeggutor leads are less common which was one of Hypno's better lead matchups. Hypno is still an important part of the lead metagame, matching up particularly well into Mewtwo, but it is less frequently seen now.

20 --> 26 (-6)
Last, and least, is Aerodactyl, which like Hypno dropped six spots. Unlike Hypno though, I do have a good explanation for why Aero dropped. When your entire purpose is to wall Snorlax and Swords Dance Mew, and those two are less common, you're gonna suck. Tauros is running Thunderbolt more now to snipe Cloyster which is also bad into Aerodactyl. Unfortunately this mon is pretty much dead in the current Ubers environment, there might be some very specific scouts which this mon is good into (those with 100% physlax and SD Mew) but those are very hard to find in 2025.

 

[gastlies]

my bad y'all

 

[Maris Bonibell]

View attachment 790013

my bad y'all

Zapdos (+1)
not overhyped at all definitely not flavor of the month

 

[gastlies]

A surprising amount of Ubers scouts this RBYPL had very little to zero Chansey use. It's no secret that Chansey has been falling off tremendously in Ubers over the past couple of years, but I think ZERO Chansey usage is a little too much.

Advantages of using Chansey:

1. You will no longer get farmed by blizzbolt spam
Teams lacking Chansey are generally weak to blizzbolt Mewtwo. The low amount of Chansey present in scouts is why my team spammed Blizzbolt Mewtwo this UPL. Chansey stops Blizzbolt Mewtwo dead in its tracks, which is very important.

2. You have another check to Barrier Mewtwo
Chansey is very good at stalling out 16 Ice Beam PP. Even if it gets Frozen, if you have something like a Recover Mewtwo as a teammate, then that can now stall without risking freeze. What's even better is that Chansey can stall ALL barrier sets, unlike stuff like Cloyster/Slowbro which can only stall Ice Barrier!

3. You have a sleeper that's not farmed by Ice-type moves.
Traditional "big 5 offense" is quite weak to Ice-type moves, specifically Cloyster, Articuno, and Barrier Mewtwo. Running Chansey over Exeggutor from time-to time can help patch this weakness, and give you better sleep opportunities on stuff like Lead Starmie.

4. You have a para absorber
Just like in OU you can absorb para with Chansey. Teams lacking Chansey generally struggle a bit more with para management, and one of the mews generally ends up taking para.

Of course, Chansey still has its flaws. Sing + Toss is kinda the only good set, meaning u get farmed by Rhydon, psychic Mewtwo still owns you, Mewtwo and Mew get free setup (altho u get a twave off which is nice), but every single mon has flaws, and Chansey has upsides that make it worth using from time to time.

It is important when using Chansey not to be too passive. You should generally bail out after landing the twave so mews dont get free boosts to 999. Chansey doesn't actually wall Mewtwo unless it's Blizzbolt or Barrier, since Psychic blasts right through it. It's job should mainly be to get sleep, get paras off, then get sacked later. If you intend for it to stick around, that's where the issues with passivity will show up.

 

[LHF]

A surprising amount of Ubers scouts this RBYPL had very little to zero Chansey use. It's no secret that Chansey has been falling off tremendously in Ubers over the past couple of years, but I think ZERO Chansey usage is a little too much.

Advantages of using Chansey:

1. You will no longer get farmed by blizzbolt spam
Teams lacking Chansey are generally weak to blizzbolt Mewtwo. The low amount of Chansey present in scouts is why my team spammed Blizzbolt Mewtwo this UPL. Chansey stops Blizzbolt Mewtwo dead in its tracks, which is very important.

no lie was spoken today

 

[LHF]

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of RBY Ubers is the way in which Mewtwo's set expression determines the pace of a match. As such I wanted to offer some analysis from the games in RBYPL, and perhaps what may appear in ALTPL in the coming weeks

Constructing a Mewtwo set
Absolute requirements
Amnesia: You will regularly call upon your Mewtwo to wall opposing Mewtwo. Mewtwo with Amnesia beats those without, and if you can't wall Mewtwo, you lose. So yeah, you kinda need Amnesia.
Recover: Do I even need to go into this? Keeps you alive, and your alternative is Rest.

(actual comment coming in a sec)
---

OK actually offering some real analysis I think I am more sour on Barrier2 than I was prior, mainly because you are really living life on the edge in terms of fearing a possible crit at any given time(especially because barrieramne2 tends to end up paralyzed more often than not). I've said this a few times in the RBY discord but I feel like I've been viewing Barrier2 lately as something to help mix up the scout every so often and not necessarily something I look forward to using, because Mewtwo is so good at aggressively pushing the game state forward that oftentimes I feel like I'm losing out by the passivity of the set when I could be playing a more aggressive way myself.

The fact that mons like Cloyster simply innately check it by existing is also something I don't feel too hot about considering there's good reason to have Cloy on teams outside of this(notably, an excellent stop into Rhydon and Articuno), as well as, again, its ability to be overwhelmed by just one stray crit or unfortunate string of paras. Am I alone in this, or do others feel similar?

EDIT: I do want to point out that Barrier2 CAN run tbolt but that also can be trickier to navigate for teams despite its overall higher PP. Again, good to mix up the scout for sure and be less predictable, but I think that the mark of a good set is consistency which is where IB tends to hit more valuable targets than Tbolt. And one more unfiltered thought but damn does it feel horrible to get a crit when you don't want one at +4, and considering Mewtwo's roughly 25% crit rate, I often find myself wishing I could just push with a stronger Blizzard or another high powered attack that not only provides great value, but has a 1/4 chance of giving me twice the damage just because it's Mewtwo.

 

[gastlies]

ALTPL has ended and some interesting things to look at regarding usage. Here's the stats if you want to do your own analysis

Overall

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Mew                |   83 |  98.81% |  49.40% |
| 1    | Mewtwo             |   83 |  98.81% |  49.40% |
| 3    | Snorlax            |   62 |  73.81% |  46.77% |
| 4    | Exeggutor          |   55 |  65.48% |  47.27% |
| 5    | Tauros             |   39 |  46.43% |  56.41% |
| 6    | Zapdos             |   28 |  33.33% |  32.14% |
| 7    | Jynx               |   22 |  26.19% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Starmie            |   21 |  25.00% |  61.90% |
| 9    | Cloyster           |   19 |  22.62% |  52.63% |
| 10   | Chansey            |   18 |  21.43% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Rhydon             |   17 |  20.24% |  52.94% |
| 12   | Gengar             |   14 |  16.67% |  35.71% |
| 13   | Slowbro            |   13 |  15.48% |  46.15% |
| 14   | Alakazam           |    7 |   8.33% |  85.71% |
| 15   | Articuno           |    5 |   5.95% |  40.00% |
| 16   | Golem              |    4 |   4.76% |  50.00% |
| 17   | Jolteon            |    3 |   3.57% |  66.67% |
| 18   | Dragonite          |    2 |   2.38% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Victreebel         |    2 |   2.38% |  50.00% |
| 20   | Persian            |    1 |   1.19% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Hypno              |    1 |   1.19% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Sandslash          |    1 |   1.19% |   0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from LOSPRESENTIMIENTOS.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from CORVIKAFKA.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AMARANTH.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from PHB11677.

Leads

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Jynx                    |   18 |  21.43% |  55.56% |
| 2    | Zapdos                  |   13 |  15.48% |  30.77% |
| 3    | Tauros                  |   10 |  11.90% |  70.00% |
| 3    | Gengar                  |   10 |  11.90% |  20.00% |
| 5    | Mewtwo                  |    8 |   9.52% |  37.50% |
| 6    | Starmie                 |    7 |   8.33% |  71.43% |
| 7    | Alakazam                |    5 |   5.95% |  80.00% |
| 8    | Chansey                 |    4 |   4.76% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Jolteon                 |    3 |   3.57% |  66.67% |
| 9    | Exeggutor               |    3 |   3.57% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Mew                     |    2 |   2.38% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Hypno                   |    1 |   1.19% | 100.00% |

Moves + Teammates
Combos

First comparisons in usage with RBYPL VI:

49.38% --> 73.81%
Pretty big jump in lax usage. Throughout all of 2025 the usage was declining so it's interesting to see it has resurged somewhat. Of course it's still nowhere near its former 100% and laxless teams are still very viable, but this could be a classic case of pepople cooking less remembering the old standards are still viable and good. I think another factor is (spoiler alert) a decrease in egg/bull usage. Using all three stacks the Ice/Barrier2 weakness so running less bull and egg lets you run more lax. Speaking of egg btw...

75.93% --> 65.48%
As mentioned with Lax, Egg usage has dropped off a bit and my hunch is telling me that this has to do with the rise of other sleepers rather than any fault of egg on its own. Ice moves are very good in this tier right now and Jynx can spam Ice moves while Chansey can tank Ice moves. On the other hand, Egg is weak to Ice-moves, so teams weak to Barrier2 can opt for Chansey sleep instead of Egg sleep.

13.58% --> 21.43%
As mentioned in the eggy section, Chansey has picked up a good amount in usage this tour, likely in response to Barrier2 and BlizzBolt2 picking up in usage. SingToss appears to be the only common set based on move usage. Funnily enough tho only 38% of Chanseys ended up clicking softboiled which seems low. I feel like this backs up the idea that Chansey isn't really a mon that's meant to stick around in ubers, focus on getting status off and sack it, preferably letting it eat a boom that prevents other mons that actually do something from eating that boom instead.

17.28% --> 26.19%
Also mentioned in the eggy section but Ice move = good. Jynx was the most popular lead in this tour and it matches up well into Zapdos who is currently the #2 most used lead. Back Jynx has also seen some use (4 of the 22 Jynx were in back). Its speed tier and better offensive options make it worth using over Exeggutor from time to time.

Moves: The next few things I'm gonna look at are some move usage stats on the Mewbers. Take these more with a grain of salt since move usage only factors in revealed moves, so it's hard to determine if a move increases/decreases in usage because less people brought it or it was just clicked less.

(Psychic) 31.01% --> 19.28%
Surprisingly, there was quite a decline in Psychic on Mewtwo, implying sets have leaned more towards either Barrier or Blizzbolt. This could also address the rise in Snorlax and Chansey, as Mewtwo dropping Psychic are notably worse into both, taking more hits to KO the former and being straight-up walled by the latter. I'm honestly not sure what caused this to change. Slowbro and Starmie (the main reasons to run tbolt in the first place) usage have not changed dramatically, and I think if Chansey and Lax usage continue to trend upward then Psychic will also resurge.

(Psychic) 11.95% --> 1.20%
Similarly, Psychic on Mew has dropped off dramatically. In my personal opinion, I'm not a huge fan on Psychic on Support Mew since you struggle to do anything to Mew/Mewtwo after paralyzing them. I've been a much bigger fan of Seismic Toss as of late. Other moves on Support Mew, such as Blizzard and Seismic Toss are still doing fine, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Support Mew take an overall hit due to a Chansey resurgence.

(Swords Dance) 53.01% --> 72.29%
Swords Dance Mew is dominant once again. It kinda ties back into my last point of Psychic (and support Mew in general) taking a back seat to the old standard. Fun fact though Body Slam was brought 10 times and lost all 10 games it was in. Of course Winrate is a very flawed statistic but I think this is just funny. I'm personally a Body Slam hater and think SD Mew should either run a midgame breaking set with twave + Boom or fully commit to sweeping with Hyper Beam. Body Slam is this weird midground option that sucks at both roles. It's probably best run ALONGSIDE Hyper Beam over Earthquake into Gengar haters or something.

Overall Thoughts
So my main takeaways from these adjustments in stats is that the meta appears to be moving back to favoring some defensive play. Early 2025 shifted towards a hyper-offensive boomspam meta, which Barrier2 proceeded to feast on in the later tours of 2025. We are now seeing things shift back towards more balanced play and a lot of the usage reflects that, such as a rise in Chansey. We see that a rise in Chansey usage has led to some relics of older metagames make a resurgence. You can afford to spam lax more that Chansey checks Ice spammers and Barrier2, and Chansey taking the supportive role lets you run a more offensive Mew. Excited to see how things turn out in UPL!

 

[Premonitions]

Hey yall! Today I’m bringing you some rby ubers teams/discourse that I wanted to share. I recently played in ALTPL (Ancient Lower Tier Premier League) and the rby single elimination uber tour.

I’ve really come to appreciate the core of starmie/egg/cloyster. They have been a very crucial role in enabling and checking m2/mew. Once egg/starmie freely spread status, cloyster becomes a very potent threat in checking both mews. I started playing rby ubers in 2024 which was a very different meta than how it is now. However, for me m2 has always been the central wincon in the tier since playing it. I think that’s true more now than ever.

Barrier2 is one of the best win conditions of the tier when properly supported. It can’t be ran on every single team due to it requiring a lot of support and a lot of in game assumptions to know when its best to go for the game. It’s also very easy to check if it’s revealed too early or if the opposing m2 is amnesia blizzard (if you paralyzed its only a matter of time before you get crit into para’d into a L).

Amnesia 2 attacks (Blizzard + Thunderbolt) mewtwo is extremely dangerous to teams who are able to para/slighty weaken the very few checks to 2A mewtwo (mew at full HP can para/ opposing mew2/ Chansey/ Snorlax with self destruct). This one is easier to check than barrier 2 however this can run with games much quicker than the former. Blizzard hitting important thresholds on mew/m2/egg is why this is in my opinion the best set.

All out attacking m2 (support) (Amnesia + blizzard, twave/another attack + self destruct). This set is extremely good in pressuring teams and effortlessly breaks through most para spreaders or trading at worst. This is a step away from mewtwo being the central win condition (though depending on game circumstances it can still be a wincon). This is a support mewtwo mainly aiming at helping mew/tauros win the game. By trading with the crucial checks to them.

Support m2 (No amnesia) (Twave + 1 attack (Usually blizzard) + recover + self-destruct). This set has an appeal to it that really requires you to have solid barrier 2 checks/ Alternative win conditions like wrap style teams. This decentralizes m2 completely and is usually intended on picking off weakened mons/boom out of control threats.

I typed all of these out because I think these 4 sets are the main outliers for what team structures have been really successful for me. I think when structuring a team in this tier that the mewtwo set dictates what type of sets mew and what cast of characters you have along the way.
https://pokepast.es/993c9eae57d2ca8e
https://pokepast.es/e352787d8e57a0b2
https://pokepast.es/8ecef3b4c8a549a0
https://pokepast.es/0ae97973c5f4dfab
https://pokepast.es/1bd096c5d4a123a2

Here’s some teams I’ve used recently (that I made/edited). If you have any questions feel free to dm me on discord/pm on smogon.

 

[LHF]

Hey yall! Today I’m bringing you some rby ubers teams/discourse that I wanted to share. I recently played in ALTPL (Ancient Lower Tier Premier League) and the rby single elimination uber tour.

I’ve really come to appreciate the core of starmie/egg/cloyster. They have been a very crucial role in enabling and checking m2/mew. Once egg/starmie freely spread status, cloyster becomes a very potent threat in checking both mews. I started playing rby ubers in 2024 which was a very different meta than how it is now. However, for me m2 has always been the central wincon in the tier since playing it. I think that’s true more now than ever.

Barrier2 is one of the best win conditions of the tier when properly supported. It can’t be ran on every single team due to it requiring a lot of support and a lot of in game assumptions to know when its best to go for the game. It’s also very easy to check if it’s revealed too early or if the opposing m2 is amnesia blizzard (if you paralyzed its only a matter of time before you get crit into para’d into a L).

Amnesia 2 attacks (Blizzard + Thunderbolt) mewtwo is extremely dangerous to teams who are able to para/slighty weaken the very few checks to 2A mewtwo (mew at full HP can para/ opposing mew2/ Chansey/ Snorlax with self destruct). This one is easier to check than barrier 2 however this can run with games much quicker than the former. Blizzard hitting important thresholds on mew/m2/egg is why this is in my opinion the best set.

All out attacking m2 (support) (Amnesia + blizzard, twave/another attack + self destruct). This set is extremely good in pressuring teams and effortlessly breaks through most para spreaders or trading at worst. This is a step away from mewtwo being the central win condition (though depending on game circumstances it can still be a wincon). This is a support mewtwo mainly aiming at helping mew/tauros win the game. By trading with the crucial checks to them.

Support m2 (No amnesia) (Twave + 1 attack (Usually blizzard) + recover + self-destruct). This set has an appeal to it that really requires you to have solid barrier 2 checks/ Alternative win conditions like wrap style teams. This decentralizes m2 completely and is usually intended on picking off weakened mons/boom out of control threats.

I typed all of these out because I think these 4 sets are the main outliers for what team structures have been really successful for me. I think when structuring a team in this tier that the mewtwo set dictates what type of sets mew and what cast of characters you have along the way.
https://pokepast.es/993c9eae57d2ca8e
https://pokepast.es/e352787d8e57a0b2
https://pokepast.es/8ecef3b4c8a549a0
https://pokepast.es/0ae97973c5f4dfab
https://pokepast.es/1bd096c5d4a123a2

Here’s some teams I’ve used recently (that I made/edited). If you have any questions feel free to dm me on discord/pm on smogon.

Thanks for posting, I really appreciate discourse on this tier, and I'll try to add in my own feedback to it but then use it as a launchpad for something I've wanted to discuss about this tier for a while.

In my mind RBY Ubers has no "best" Mewtwo set because of the cyclical and trendlike nature of the tier. I think that the individual player scout is really what reveals what is the "best" possible Mewtwo into someone. For example, someone who enjoys a heavy presence of Cloyster or Starmie like yourself, I would rarely consider bringing Barrier Mewtwo into you and would probably Amne Blizzbolt or Blizzbolt Twave Recover/Boom you twice or even maybe three times based on your recent weeks' usage as I don't see a single Chansey in your scout of those teams.

I also don't want to rehash my previous post(which is two above yours) but I think Barrier2 has some flaws that prevent me from calling it one of the "best" wincons in the tier, so I'll just copy/paste that.

I've said this a few times in the RBY discord but I feel like I've been viewing Barrier2 lately as something to help mix up the scout every so often and not necessarily something I look forward to using, because Mewtwo is so good at aggressively pushing the game state forward that oftentimes I feel like I'm losing out by the passivity of the set when I could be playing a more aggressive way myself.

I do think, however, that there are certain scouts that would be downright silly to not run Barrier2 into and that it should be used in those circumstances. However I'm also just deeply aware of the game we play and how RNG heavy it can be, and that can make this set more exploitable than the average person might think. It can be worn down by ugly RNG, or even danced around by things like Cloyster, Kinesis Zam, sometimes even Stomp Tauros can power through it(yes this has happened more times than once). You won't see me saying it's unviable though, especially given my previous opinion on how effective team selection really comes down to being comfortable with a variety of sets to

However, for me m2 has always been the central wincon in the tier since playing it. I think that’s true more now than ever.

Respectfully, the only part of your post I deeply disagree with is this one for the reasons I wrote above. Mewtwo is the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier, but to call it the "central" wincon in the tier feels like a take that ignores how endgames can come down to Tauros pressure, SD Mew sweeps, and so on. You also touch on this in other parts of your post, so I just wanted to say I don't think this sentence really reflected the main point you were trying to convey, and I would've missed what you were going for if I didn't read your post twice.

One thing I really appreciate about your post though is that you(correctly imo) highlight that the Mewtwo and Mew sets are basically the heart and soul of the team. At the risk of sounding evangelical, I almost don't even think it's worth determining the moves you use on your Mewbers* until you've figured out the other four.

Before I get into the thing I wanted to write about this tier, I'd like to quickly offer some thoughts on the SD Blizzard Mew you posted because I'm honestly not sure if it's the best use of Mew given all the various things it CAN do. I am of course open to being proven wrong though

---

Thoughts on SD + Blizzard Mew despite never having used it

I think that it comes off as this weird middle ground of trying to hit Rhydon for a 2HKO without having to boost + also hitting Zapdos... but the Zapdos only gets 3HKO'd at best without a crit.

Mew Blizzard vs. Zapdos: 148-174 (38.6 - 45.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Now, sure, we can talk about crits and freeze fishing, and I'll admit the set is helped out a lot by the fact that Rest Zapdos is not in style anymore. But I can't help but feel like if you're going to go through the effort of burning a turn on SD, then teams would rather prefer a structure that gets to exploit Hyper Beam or Explosion. I might have to give it a try myself, but I feel like I'd sooner lean into SToss + Boil + Boom Mew if I wanted to chip Egg or Zap down semi reliably(notably this set does hate Rhydon though, but you have other mons to handle this...) while having a strong offensive option.

In short: I think it takes a very specific type of team to value Blizzard as the last slot on SD/Boil/EQ over Hyper Beam or Explosion, and that these teams might be leaving value on the table.

This all leads up to something I've wanted to write down after having absorbed a bunch of information from some greatly competent players of this tier and having played a bunch of it in the last few months. Perhaps more than in any other tier I've observed or played, your scout needs to be antifragile.

What I mean by this is that there are some sets that would be objectively so much better into teams at large if someone doesn't switch up their scout, and are still worth running if you believe you exploit that scout.

For example, let's say that you are prepping into me, and let's say that I never run Gengar for whatever reason. Now if I'm so against running Gengar, I am probably running a lot of Rhydon and Cloyster or something like Counterlax as my response to normals. Particularly if I am a CloyDon spammer, you can greed this by running things like BlizzBolt Tauros or SurfLax and now there's a MASSIVE hole punched in my team that, if it doesn't win the game outright, is going to make it VERY difficult for me to bring it back.

But if you click this team into someone who runs Gengar every so often, or perhaps even spams it, you can see how this could create issues for your normal type once you reveal you've dropped EQ. Snorlax would honestly LOVE to be able to run Surf consistently if it could, but the mere threat of Gengar's existence complicates Lax's life to the point where you need to be pretty sure of yourself to get away with that. (Dropping Boom, imo, should never be considered given its use into literally every mon not named Gengar).

Another example of something that can exploit trends viciously would be ice moves(much like Barrier2) - but let's just evaluate Articuno to keep this applicable to the central point. In of itself, Articuno is not particularly a standout Pokemon - but if you just blindly spam something like Zap Mewtwo Mew Egg Bull Lax(which for my money is basically the "all-star" list of RBY Ubers), you are basically asking for instant death by Blizzard or various ice spam if your opponent has shown even the slightest propensity to use Articuno in their scout. Of course Chansey and Starmie can technically patch holes up there, but they can also be frozen and then you're down a vital tool for your team. Paying the Articuno/ice tax on your teams means using slightly worse(but still excellent) pokemon like Cloyster as your normal "check" as well, which can prove costly as paralysis is never something Cloy enjoys taking).

This is all a very long way of saying that I don't believe there are true best sets in a metagame such as this, but rather sets that are likely to get you the most value per what you expect your opponent to bring. You can generally apply this logic to Pokemon at large but I find it's really important to consider in RBY Ubers so that people have to work hard at earning their wins via quality play(or RNG) instead of being able to guess with reasonable certainty what you'll be bringing(or something close to it) and thus putting the game in their favor from the start. This ideally means that no idea is off the table, including a mon I personally don't like(Lead Mewtwo). A few players I respect have been talking to me about some interesting applications for that though, so we'll see what could happen.

TL;DR: The true best team prep comes from the following - understanding the trends of what's hot at the moment, which players are likely to lean into said trends and/or stick to their own comfort picks, and being able to cycle through a variety of team styles to make sure that the opponent has as much of a painful time prepping into you as humewtwoenly possible.

 

[Premonitions]

Respectfully, the only part of your post I deeply disagree with is this one for the reasons I wrote above. Mewtwo is the most dangerous Pokemon in the tier, but to call it the "central" wincon in the tier feels like a take that ignores how endgames can come down to Tauros pressure, SD Mew sweeps, and so on. You also touch on this in other parts of your post, so I just wanted to say I don't think this sentence really reflected the main point you were trying to convey, and I would've missed what you were going for if I didn't read your post twice.

One thing I really appreciate about your post though is that you(correctly imo) highlight that the Mewtwo and Mew sets are basically the heart and soul of the team. At the risk of sounding evangelical, I almost don't even think it's worth determining the moves you use on your Mewbers* until you've figured out the other four.

Before I get into the thing I wanted to write about this tier, I'd like to quickly offer some thoughts on the SD Blizzard Mew you posted because I'm honestly not sure if it's the best use of Mew given all the various things it CAN do. I am of course open to being proven wrong though

---

Thoughts on SD + Blizzard Mew despite never having used it

I think that it comes off as this weird middle ground of trying to hit Rhydon for a 2HKO without having to boost + also hitting Zapdos... but the Zapdos only gets 3HKO'd at best without a crit.

Mew Blizzard vs. Zapdos: 148-174 (38.6 - 45.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Now, sure, we can talk about crits and freeze fishing, and I'll admit the set is helped out a lot by the fact that Rest Zapdos is not in style anymore. But I can't help but feel like if you're going to go through the effort of burning a turn on SD, then teams would rather prefer a structure that gets to exploit Hyper Beam or Explosion. I might have to give it a try myself, but I feel like I'd sooner lean into SToss + Boil + Boom Mew if I wanted to chip Egg or Zap down semi reliably(notably this set does hate Rhydon though, but you have other mons to handle this...) while having a strong offensive option.

In short: I think it takes a very specific type of team to value Blizzard as the last slot on SD/Boil/EQ over Hyper Beam or Explosion, and that these teams might be leaving value on the table.

This all leads up to something I've wanted to write down after having absorbed a bunch of information from some greatly competent players of this tier and having played a bunch of it in the last few months. Perhaps more than in any other tier I've observed or played, your scout needs to be antifragile.

What I mean by this is that there are some sets that would be objectively so much better into teams at large if someone doesn't switch up their scout, and are still worth running if you believe you exploit that scout.

For example, let's say that you are prepping into me, and let's say that I never run Gengar for whatever reason. Now if I'm so against running Gengar, I am probably running a lot of Rhydon and Cloyster or something like Counterlax as my response to normals. Particularly if I am a CloyDon spammer, you can greed this by running things like BlizzBolt Tauros or SurfLax and now there's a MASSIVE hole punched in my team that, if it doesn't win the game outright, is going to make it VERY difficult for me to bring it back.

But if you click this team into someone who runs Gengar every so often, or perhaps even spams it, you can see how this could create issues for your normal type once you reveal you've dropped EQ. Snorlax would honestly LOVE to be able to run Surf consistently if it could, but the mere threat of Gengar's existence complicates Lax's life to the point where you need to be pretty sure of yourself to get away with that. (Dropping Boom, imo, should never be considered given its use into literally every mon not named Gengar).

Another example of something that can exploit trends viciously would be ice moves(much like Barrier2) - but let's just evaluate Articuno to keep this applicable to the central point. In of itself, Articuno is not particularly a standout Pokemon - but if you just blindly spam something like Zap Mewtwo Mew Egg Bull Lax(which for my money is basically the "all-star" list of RBY Ubers), you are basically asking for instant death by Blizzard or various ice spam if your opponent has shown even the slightest propensity to use Articuno in their scout. Of course Chansey and Starmie can technically patch holes up there, but they can also be frozen and then you're down a vital tool for your team. Paying the Articuno/ice tax on your teams means using slightly worse(but still excellent) pokemon like Cloyster as your normal "check" as well, which can prove costly as paralysis is never something Cloy enjoys taking).

This is all a very long way of saying that I don't believe there are true best sets in a metagame such as this, but rather sets that are likely to get you the most value per what you expect your opponent to bring. You can generally apply this logic to Pokemon at large but I find it's really important to consider in RBY Ubers so that people have to work hard at earning their wins via quality play(or RNG) instead of being able to guess with reasonable certainty what you'll be bringing(or something close to it) and thus putting the game in their favor from the start. This ideally means that no idea is off the table, including a mon I personally don't like(Lead Mewtwo). A few players I respect have been talking to me about some interesting applications for that though, so we'll see what could happen.

TL;DR: The true best team prep comes from the following - understanding the trends of what's hot at the moment, which players are likely to lean into said trends and/or stick to their own comfort picks, and being able to cycle through a variety of team styles to make sure that the opponent has as much of a painful time prepping into you as humewtwoenly possible.

Hey thanks for sharing your thoughts, I just wanted to add some further discourse to this.

M2 as I stated in my opinion if not running the support sets is always the central wincon of any given game when loading in. Wincons always change per ingame decisions but when you're putting 6 mons in the builder m2 always stands out as the wincon that you have in your back pocket and a lot of times its an amensia bodyguard. It does a role no other mon occupies in the tier.

On the mew blizzard SD set.
This set is designed to do a few things, its maximizing the vaule you can get out of mew with having 3 different status spreaders on the team it provides you the ability to attempt to pick off egg/zap and help pressure paralyzed m2 or be a get out of jail card vs m2 if yours happens to be either too low + paralyzed. The difference between explosion/hyper beam sets is that I do not want to sack my mew and I will go for the odds of blizzard freezing/criting. Hyperbeam also requires egg to take at least 31% prior to take it at out with a max roll at +2. Meaning that on a given turn you have to constantly chip egg down for it to work. I also think its much easier to clean up games with blizzard having much stronger immedaite damage vs both egg and golem. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ubers-909121?p2 this is from altpl semi finals in this game if I had hyper beam over blizzard here I could've very easily lost to a sleep powder hit into psychic/stun spore + explosion allowing golem to win. But because I had a way of pressuring golem and egg in the same moveslot I was able to click finish them both off. It's not to say that hyper beam/explosion aren't very good as well, they are! However for me personally I tend to value keeping my mons alive as long as I can and the structures for this specific set value blizzard with an SD EQ win condition if the match goes in that direction.