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Other Tier 35 Pokes-- April 2026 (happy new year!)
- Thread starter NotGerald
- Start date
At this point, due to current internet events it would be really nice to see a permanent 35 Pokes ladder on official Showdown or a custom server anywhere...
I think I may have missed the Ladder Spotlight for last month and would have liked to play the January 2026 meta, but alas. It took me until this month to realize that the Ladder Spotlight ladders folder existed.
I think I may have missed the Ladder Spotlight for last month and would have liked to play the January 2026 meta, but alas. It took me until this month to realize that the Ladder Spotlight ladders folder existed.
There is one on the generations server. You can find a link on the 35 info page on discord
Trying to get a Jan 2026 match on rn. Thanks for the input, more people should use that server tbh
Generally gets used for tours, OMs and old months, not so much current so you might struggle to find matches. But yes it should be used more
One of the monthly recurring discussions in 35 Pokes, the status of Sleep, has reached a decisive conclusion today in our largest suspect test to date!
Out of 47 qualified votes, 33 were in favor of ban, resulting in a 70.2% majority, and with that:
Sleep inducing moves, excluding Yawn, have been banned effective immediately in this and all future metagames.
The monthly tournament will be starting soon, with these bans active, so this is also a last call for signups. Join the 35 Pokes discord server to participate, and here's the signup form.
Winter came and we follow the seasons ... ~ Adept, Sleepless
Out of 47 qualified votes, 33 were in favor of ban, resulting in a 70.2% majority, and with that:
Sleep inducing moves, excluding Yawn, have been banned effective immediately in this and all future metagames.
The suspect test took place in the 35 Pokes discord server. With concerns over discord's long term direction (to put it lightly,) i find it more than appropriate to archive the voting thread here.
- February 5th -
Suspect Intro
Sleep scored a 62.5% vote (25/40) on the Clause Survey, way higher than action on sleep has been demanded for in the past. Since there is no set standard for these type of multiformat suspect tests it took a bit of discussion but the Senate has come up with reqs to try to include as many people as possible reasonably.
Sleep has been a long discussed topic in 35 due to it's constant potency in unnecessary RNG which peaked in months like October 2024 where Amoongus' spore made it very difficult to play around without pp stalling or using the suboptimal item in safety goggles. Additionally surprise Hypnosis sets have been an issue whenever Gengar or other speedy threats such as Persian-Alola have been relevant.
On the flip side a good chunk of players believe sleep to be inconsistent and not worth banning. Lower tier Pokemon with access to sleep like Vivillon, and Lilligant can be as effective as they are as Quiver Dance sweepers because of their access to sleep. Spore users like Shiinotic love the option of putting Pokemon to sleep. There is also counter play in Rest + Sleep Talk, Magic Bounce/Overcoat/Sap Sipper, and grass type Pokemon.
There is concern for Yawn being banned since it doesn't share the same RNG that other sleep moves tend to, and is splashable psuedo hazing. (This is addressed)
Ban Description
Voting BAN would detail the following:
All sleep inflicting moves being being banned, excluding yawn
The ban affecting the current and every future meta
60% of players voting have to vote BAN by the deadline in order for the ban to go through.
Requirements to Vote
If you fulfill at least 1 of the following criteria you are eligible to vote:
50 Ladder Games played
25 Tournament games played (Monthly tour, Retro Tour, PL0/1)
Top 8 in any monthly tour since August 2023
Top 8 in any retro tournament
Tjoker : DNB
Tomotaco69 : Ban
presi : Ban
Peum : DNB
I_Am_Wrenellen : DNB
doomge : Ban
bloxiet : Ban
Chemical_Jackfruit : Ban
GC : Ban
tryingtolearnstall : DNB
Normal_humanoid : Ban
qbking3 : Ban
Maszt : Ban
TTK : Ban
mm : Ban
Zetious : Ban
Portobello : Ban
BellUno : Ban
Ember Celica : Ban
Gravity Monkey : Ban
eambplsl : Ban
RetroDude42 : Ban
mangoose49 : Ban
OceanicGamer : Ban
MamboTND : Ban
BIGSHOT_ranger : Ban
Sheep007 : Ban
memester : Ban
7ayakum : Ban
Goopatron : DNB
Rationingu : Ban
chickenburger ??: Abstain
LuvKlef : Ban
SirPeanutCronch : Ban
Msousa : Abstain
monstermixmuffin : DNB
Quackborg : Ban
fredadore : DNB
Kizaco : DNB
carnivore5 : DNB
rutriyououiyiyuyt : Abstain
Ubo : Ban
Hogwobblin : DNB
Azurious Lykaios : Ban
SwagmaMale : DNB
AReallyShiftyGuy : DNB
Laviecestdure : DNB
AlfrexFrostStaff : Ban
demirab1 : Ban
NoExistencia : Abstain
turtleleo77 : DNB
Turtle12 : Abstain
- February 5th -
Suspect Intro
Sleep scored a 62.5% vote (25/40) on the Clause Survey, way higher than action on sleep has been demanded for in the past. Since there is no set standard for these type of multiformat suspect tests it took a bit of discussion but the Senate has come up with reqs to try to include as many people as possible reasonably.
Sleep has been a long discussed topic in 35 due to it's constant potency in unnecessary RNG which peaked in months like October 2024 where Amoongus' spore made it very difficult to play around without pp stalling or using the suboptimal item in safety goggles. Additionally surprise Hypnosis sets have been an issue whenever Gengar or other speedy threats such as Persian-Alola have been relevant.
On the flip side a good chunk of players believe sleep to be inconsistent and not worth banning. Lower tier Pokemon with access to sleep like Vivillon, and Lilligant can be as effective as they are as Quiver Dance sweepers because of their access to sleep. Spore users like Shiinotic love the option of putting Pokemon to sleep. There is also counter play in Rest + Sleep Talk, Magic Bounce/Overcoat/Sap Sipper, and grass type Pokemon.
There is concern for Yawn being banned since it doesn't share the same RNG that other sleep moves tend to, and is splashable psuedo hazing. (This is addressed)
Ban Description
Voting BAN would detail the following:
All sleep inflicting moves being being banned, excluding yawn
The ban affecting the current and every future meta
60% of players voting have to vote BAN by the deadline in order for the ban to go through.
Requirements to Vote
If you fulfill at least 1 of the following criteria you are eligible to vote:
50 Ladder Games played
25 Tournament games played (Monthly tour, Retro Tour, PL0/1)
Top 8 in any monthly tour since August 2023
Top 8 in any retro tournament
Tjoker : DNB
Tomotaco69 : Ban
presi : Ban
Peum : DNB
I_Am_Wrenellen : DNB
doomge : Ban
bloxiet : Ban
Chemical_Jackfruit : Ban
GC : Ban
tryingtolearnstall : DNB
Normal_humanoid : Ban
qbking3 : Ban
Maszt : Ban
TTK : Ban
mm : Ban
Zetious : Ban
Portobello : Ban
BellUno : Ban
Ember Celica : Ban
Gravity Monkey : Ban
eambplsl : Ban
RetroDude42 : Ban
mangoose49 : Ban
OceanicGamer : Ban
MamboTND : Ban
BIGSHOT_ranger : Ban
Sheep007 : Ban
memester : Ban
7ayakum : Ban
Goopatron : DNB
Rationingu : Ban
chickenburger ??: Abstain
LuvKlef : Ban
SirPeanutCronch : Ban
Msousa : Abstain
monstermixmuffin : DNB
Quackborg : Ban
fredadore : DNB
Kizaco : DNB
carnivore5 : DNB
rutriyououiyiyuyt : Abstain
Ubo : Ban
Hogwobblin : DNB
Azurious Lykaios : Ban
SwagmaMale : DNB
AReallyShiftyGuy : DNB
Laviecestdure : DNB
AlfrexFrostStaff : Ban
demirab1 : Ban
NoExistencia : Abstain
turtleleo77 : DNB
Turtle12 : Abstain
The monthly tournament will be starting soon, with these bans active, so this is also a last call for signups. Join the 35 Pokes discord server to participate, and here's the signup form.
Winter came and we follow the seasons ... ~ Adept, Sleepless
Last edited:
hey 35ers, a TINY bit late but im going to share my thoughts on jan 26 now that the monthly tour is over and this month is being included in 35pl
this is my personal vr. in this metagame i'd only consider bringing mons in b+ and above for a game with stakes involved. despite this inevitable top-heaviness that comes with every 35 month, this month is more on the diverse side in terms of how many viable pokemon there are.
this month is very offensive and to be at the top, a mon must have an unmatched offensive or defensive profile that allows it to stand out when compared to the others. this prompts me to rank cobalion and washtom as s tier pokemon. these two hold the tier together and have great options to support their teammates / disrupt opponents, with cobalion providing stealth rock, pivoting, twave, taunt, etc. along with its great stab combination of body press and heavy slam meaning it is fairly difficult to switch into for a defensive pokemon, and washtom being the most splashable typhlosion check in the tier, providing pivoting, and having many tricks up its sleeve like defog, wisp, twave, and pain split. these two are also great offensively with cobalion having swords dance and a slew of coverage to beat its checks like megahorn for celebi and stone edge for typh and ori, and washtom hydro hitting like a truck with investment + having nasty plot and signal beam to muscle through grasses.
next in s- there's celebi and indeedee. celebi has amazing set variety, with defensive sets to check psychics and provide pivoting, nplot sets with giga earth power psychic move, and scarf sets all being very good. however, celebi has many exploitable weaknesses which is enough to knock it down a little imo. indeedee is an offensive powerhouse with scarf/specs expanding force having very few switchins. if not for celebi being in the tier i think indeedee would be broken simply due to the lack of splashable checks to it there would be and the amount of 50/50s it would force. indeedee's frailty and lack of resistances keep it in check though. celebi and indeedee also have good synergy on psyspam teams with indeedee enabling celebi to click expanding force as well.
the three next best offensive pokemon reside in a+ tier: sharpedo, typhlosion, and tyrantrum. every team must have a way to deal with these mons included or they can steamroll you. sharpedo is the best late-game cleaner in the tier with protect crunch cc +1 enabling it to deal with the entire metagame after a little chip. it can customize its last slot to pick and choose its checks with poison jab helping out against whimsicott and psyfangs enabling it to beat fezandipiti. flip turn is also a nice option to bait in and chip checks for later on. typhlosion terrorized the tier with scarf eruptions at the beginning of the metagame, but as players adapted it has many commonly-used checks like washtom, typenull, heatmor, etc. still a great mon especially since all of its checks do not have reliable recovery and are prone to getting chipped. tyrantrum is a great mon on offense builds acting as a sweeper and temporary switchin to typhlosion's fire moves. with chople it can find opportunities setting up a dd against almost everything and wont fear cobal coming in to try and answer it. however its middling speed means that scarfers can keep it in check. cb sets are amazing too with head smash having very little switchins and helping overload cobalion.
the mons in a+ and above are the top dawgs in the meta imo so now i'm going to discuss my reasoning for some of the other placements. let's start with the elephant in the room, gabite being in the same tier as hatt and type null xd. gabite imo is a great anti-meta pick with a slew of valuable qualities you wont find on many other pokemon. its dragon/ground typing letting it check typhlosion and switch in on volt from cobal, access to hazards, and great defense with eviolite allowing it to blanket check most physical attackers make for amazing role compression. i placed hatt a bit lower than where most players would place it because it doesnt fulfill its job as a mbounce user that well when the top sr setter beats it 1v1, making it not AS good at supporting its teammates. it's also just kinda hard to use defensively in general; if you look at the top mons it's only like indeedee that hatt is able to wall well. its tr and cm sets are still good however ESPECIALLY with psyterrain up, just a bit more difficult for it to do its job in this meta. type null's lack of reliable recovery and inability to hold leftovers along with neutral damage from stealth rock means that it gets chipped quite easily, which is enough to knock it down to a imo. still a great blanket check to spattackers like typhlosion, celebi, indeedee, etc. lilligant is the best abuser of sun with sleep powder growth and weather ball making it extremely difficult to deal with, and as such it goes in a while the other abusers go in a- along with whimsicott, whose only use is setting sun. hound is a nice check to cobal, tyrantrum, and null, but it's quite passive and lets in special threats like typh and indeedee quite easily, making it a- imo. ori is a niche sweeper that has a lot of counterplay like phazing, tyrant, trick scarfers, etc but it can def catch unprepared teams off guard. fez is a decent blanket switchin to non-psychic special mons, able to poison things with beatup and pivot with uturn. it's a great option to have in a game if you think your opp's scarf typh/indeedee isnt gonna click its primary stab. its lack of useful resistances vs the high tiers besides non-psyfangs shark bumps it down a bit for me though. i love webs but it's hard to use in this meta when hatt is used a lot and one of the most splashable mons gets defog so it's like a b+ tier strat imo. medi, despite its explosiveness, struggles from being slow and frail. its reliance on pjab to break through celebi and hatt leaves it vulnerable to cobal switching in and threatening it asw. basically it's got potential but you need to make god plays. tr sets are cool asw but again are vulnerable to opp switching around. heatmor is a cool typh check on offense builds. sun especially appreciates it helping remove typh. a bit 1 dimensional though as thats basically its only purpose besides helping vs sun asw, not to mention it's vulnerable to hazards since it needs to wear av to do its job. cradily is a cute rotom check and it helps in sun mus tanking 1 move from any abuser and koing back with mbeam. i think it has the potential to be higher but it needs more usage outside day 1 tours.
aand thats basically the metagame summed up in this post. i hope this is useful for any newcomers wanting to play jan26 in this 35pl and looking for discussion of the tier. i'm probably gonna edit this to include a team dump later asw. s/o BIGSHOT_ranger presi MamboTND wouldnt be here without u guys powa4 forever
also fun fact this is the second time type null, oricorio, and shiftry have been rolled in january
qbking3 update hof yo
this is my personal vr. in this metagame i'd only consider bringing mons in b+ and above for a game with stakes involved. despite this inevitable top-heaviness that comes with every 35 month, this month is more on the diverse side in terms of how many viable pokemon there are.
this month is very offensive and to be at the top, a mon must have an unmatched offensive or defensive profile that allows it to stand out when compared to the others. this prompts me to rank cobalion and washtom as s tier pokemon. these two hold the tier together and have great options to support their teammates / disrupt opponents, with cobalion providing stealth rock, pivoting, twave, taunt, etc. along with its great stab combination of body press and heavy slam meaning it is fairly difficult to switch into for a defensive pokemon, and washtom being the most splashable typhlosion check in the tier, providing pivoting, and having many tricks up its sleeve like defog, wisp, twave, and pain split. these two are also great offensively with cobalion having swords dance and a slew of coverage to beat its checks like megahorn for celebi and stone edge for typh and ori, and washtom hydro hitting like a truck with investment + having nasty plot and signal beam to muscle through grasses.
next in s- there's celebi and indeedee. celebi has amazing set variety, with defensive sets to check psychics and provide pivoting, nplot sets with giga earth power psychic move, and scarf sets all being very good. however, celebi has many exploitable weaknesses which is enough to knock it down a little imo. indeedee is an offensive powerhouse with scarf/specs expanding force having very few switchins. if not for celebi being in the tier i think indeedee would be broken simply due to the lack of splashable checks to it there would be and the amount of 50/50s it would force. indeedee's frailty and lack of resistances keep it in check though. celebi and indeedee also have good synergy on psyspam teams with indeedee enabling celebi to click expanding force as well.
the three next best offensive pokemon reside in a+ tier: sharpedo, typhlosion, and tyrantrum. every team must have a way to deal with these mons included or they can steamroll you. sharpedo is the best late-game cleaner in the tier with protect crunch cc +1 enabling it to deal with the entire metagame after a little chip. it can customize its last slot to pick and choose its checks with poison jab helping out against whimsicott and psyfangs enabling it to beat fezandipiti. flip turn is also a nice option to bait in and chip checks for later on. typhlosion terrorized the tier with scarf eruptions at the beginning of the metagame, but as players adapted it has many commonly-used checks like washtom, typenull, heatmor, etc. still a great mon especially since all of its checks do not have reliable recovery and are prone to getting chipped. tyrantrum is a great mon on offense builds acting as a sweeper and temporary switchin to typhlosion's fire moves. with chople it can find opportunities setting up a dd against almost everything and wont fear cobal coming in to try and answer it. however its middling speed means that scarfers can keep it in check. cb sets are amazing too with head smash having very little switchins and helping overload cobalion.
the mons in a+ and above are the top dawgs in the meta imo so now i'm going to discuss my reasoning for some of the other placements. let's start with the elephant in the room, gabite being in the same tier as hatt and type null xd. gabite imo is a great anti-meta pick with a slew of valuable qualities you wont find on many other pokemon. its dragon/ground typing letting it check typhlosion and switch in on volt from cobal, access to hazards, and great defense with eviolite allowing it to blanket check most physical attackers make for amazing role compression. i placed hatt a bit lower than where most players would place it because it doesnt fulfill its job as a mbounce user that well when the top sr setter beats it 1v1, making it not AS good at supporting its teammates. it's also just kinda hard to use defensively in general; if you look at the top mons it's only like indeedee that hatt is able to wall well. its tr and cm sets are still good however ESPECIALLY with psyterrain up, just a bit more difficult for it to do its job in this meta. type null's lack of reliable recovery and inability to hold leftovers along with neutral damage from stealth rock means that it gets chipped quite easily, which is enough to knock it down to a imo. still a great blanket check to spattackers like typhlosion, celebi, indeedee, etc. lilligant is the best abuser of sun with sleep powder growth and weather ball making it extremely difficult to deal with, and as such it goes in a while the other abusers go in a- along with whimsicott, whose only use is setting sun. hound is a nice check to cobal, tyrantrum, and null, but it's quite passive and lets in special threats like typh and indeedee quite easily, making it a- imo. ori is a niche sweeper that has a lot of counterplay like phazing, tyrant, trick scarfers, etc but it can def catch unprepared teams off guard. fez is a decent blanket switchin to non-psychic special mons, able to poison things with beatup and pivot with uturn. it's a great option to have in a game if you think your opp's scarf typh/indeedee isnt gonna click its primary stab. its lack of useful resistances vs the high tiers besides non-psyfangs shark bumps it down a bit for me though. i love webs but it's hard to use in this meta when hatt is used a lot and one of the most splashable mons gets defog so it's like a b+ tier strat imo. medi, despite its explosiveness, struggles from being slow and frail. its reliance on pjab to break through celebi and hatt leaves it vulnerable to cobal switching in and threatening it asw. basically it's got potential but you need to make god plays. tr sets are cool asw but again are vulnerable to opp switching around. heatmor is a cool typh check on offense builds. sun especially appreciates it helping remove typh. a bit 1 dimensional though as thats basically its only purpose besides helping vs sun asw, not to mention it's vulnerable to hazards since it needs to wear av to do its job. cradily is a cute rotom check and it helps in sun mus tanking 1 move from any abuser and koing back with mbeam. i think it has the potential to be higher but it needs more usage outside day 1 tours.
aand thats basically the metagame summed up in this post. i hope this is useful for any newcomers wanting to play jan26 in this 35pl and looking for discussion of the tier. i'm probably gonna edit this to include a team dump later asw. s/o BIGSHOT_ranger presi MamboTND wouldnt be here without u guys powa4 forever
also fun fact this is the second time type null, oricorio, and shiftry have been rolled in january
qbking3 update hof yo
Funny how us and DPPt OU both banned Sleep moves for reasons that include Breloom in some way.
It's always da Weegee
It's always da Weegee
35 Pokes Suspect the Sand Behemoth [Tyranitar]
The 35 Pokes Council has voted unanimously to suspect test Tyranitar!
We will be using the following suspect process:
Step 1: Join the 35 Pokes Discord https://discord.gg/TFmPAdg3Jn
Step 2: Play ladder games (you can find matching in the #match-ladder channel)
Step 3: Win 5 games or play 15 games (whichever comes first)
Step 4: Go to the #suspect channel and vote
The 35 Pokes Council has voted unanimously to suspect test Tyranitar!
I voted SUSPECT on Tyranitar since the only pokemon that can reliably switch into tyranitar is Dondozo which is quite a momentum sink and is easily counterable/abusable. Resist berries that might be useful in checking tyranitar sets still lose to unnerve. With that being said Dondozo still beats Tyranitar, and even at +1 tyranitar does not outspeed the faster mons in the tier, which is why I am voting suspect and not quick ban.
I voted SUSPECT on Tyranitar. CB toes the line of having no safe checks though Stonjourner, Dondozo, Virizion (and some niche options like Phys Def Empo) can all help. This is clearly having a massive effect on the meta, with Colbur Berry being so common. Tyranitar is also able to 1v1 a massive portion of the tier, giving it oppotunities to break or potentially Pursuit targets like Kilowattrel. With that said Tyranitar is slow, and being a slow breaker is not grounds for a mon to be declared as clearly broken. Even its +1 Speed tier isn't great w/multiple high tier 120+ Base Speed mons existing. Tar also helps vs many other top tiers like Dhelmise, Reuniclus and Kilowattrel, not to mention weather. These mons can still tech for Tar, with the aforementioned Colbur Berry, or by going Itemless (which also helps vs Poltergeist from Dhelmeise, a move very little other than Tar wants to take). These weaknesses and what Tar offers is why I am not voting quick ban and why banning Tar is general is not obvious to me.
I voted to SUSPECT Test Tyranitar, though I do not personally believe it is the chief problem with the metagame. Tyranitar this month is reminiscent of Tyranitar in December 2023 in that it runs Aerial Ace to deal with the prominent Grass/Figthing running around. Once Virizion is down, however, defensive options do become far more limited than they may have been in December of 2023, or at least they appear to be so. Tyranitar is able to be kept in check quite well offensively in this metagame particularly since there are multiple offensive threats that Tyranitar cannot outspeed even after a dragon dance. The sheer power of knock off an pursuit trapping, especially in this metagame, does limit counterplay but I am confident that the course of the suspect and further meta development will reveal new ways of dealing with it. Tyranitar is currently the strongest pokemon on the monthly roster, and historical data from the last 2 years of this year tells us that the pokemon in that position never maintains such prominence after the meta exits its early stage. The choice band set is certainly difficult to deal with though, and the community does clearly want something to be done and so I support suspecting Tyranitar even though I’m not yet convinced it should be banned
I voted SUSPECT for Tyranitar. I believe that it is incredibly difficult to answer Ttar defensively, as it has 2 incredibly threatening sets which are only consistently beaten by Dondozo. The first is Choice Band, which can OHKO the majority of the metagame. Ttar can run Unnerve on this set to bypass resist berries and not hinder Synthesis on teammates like Dhelmise or Virizion. The second set is Dragon Dance, which can easily sweep games despite ttar's middling speed. At +1 Ttar outspeeds its best check Virizion and can OHKO it with Aerial Ace. The only unboosted things that can potentially stop a +1 Ttar are EQ Aerodactyl or Focus Blast Noivern, making offensive checks very limited. Overall, there are only 3 Dark resists in the tier, which ultimately makes Ttar Knock Off very difficult to deal with. Even though I think Ttar is too strong, I don't think it's egregious enough to warrant a quick ban.
I voted SUSPECT Tyranitar. Because of its sheer damage and tool set that can let it bypass any of its already limited checks. Physically defensive Dondozo can still get 2hko'd by Choice Band Knock off after Stealth Rocks chip and Sand. Physically defensive Virizion can get caught out by aerial ace. Stonjurner can get 2hko'd by Low Kick. And Tyranitar has the option to completely ignore Colbur Berry through its ability in Unnerve. Choice Banded sets are already hard enough to switch into, and switch out of because of Pursuit trapping. But what makes Tyranitar even more threatening is the possibility of Dragon Dance sets which puts you in a tough spot if it's set hasn't been revealed yet, the mind games feel unfair to play at times. Is it gonna click Pursuit? Is it going to DD and outspeed my whole team as well as OHKO? Or is it just going to click one of it's really strong STAB moves. The one thing that's going to be making me think twice before voting on Tyranitar, is the fact that it seems to be keeping some things in check and stabilizing the tier, like opposing weather in Rain and Snow/Hail. And set up Reuniculus, which I feel has the potential to get out of hand with Tyranitar gone and if a Dark type isn't rolled. Though, we do have some means to deal with it in the form of Encore, Haze, and Taunt.
I voted SUSPECT on Tyranitar. A stab combo that hits every mon in the tier for high damage with one exception (Virizion) who it can run aerial ace against with no hinderace to its set. One the other hand it has DD which only needs to use once to literally demolish the entire tier with the exception of dondozo which has no way to recover hp on the long run other than the exploitable rest. It can even run unaware for any bronzong or similar that tries checking it with a colbur berry and since it only needs 3 offensive moves it can use the 4th slot and its vast movepool to slot any matchup specific tech it wants to beat. For this reasons i think a suspect test is more than warranted
I voted SUSPECT on Tyranitar. This mon only really has 2 switch ins, Virizion and Dondozo, and neither can truly pin it down. Choice Band can 2HKO nearly the whole meta and can come in repeatedly due to its high bulk. Dragon Dance set, while not as immediately threatening, can clean up late game once Dondozo is gone. All this said, Ttar is fairly slow so it can be revenge killed with 4x effective fighting moves. Due to this I think a suspect test is the correct action, it is very strong and centralizing but also has ways to beat.If a suspect test is successful in banning Ttar, the council maybe need to keep an eye out for further action. Ttar also keeps other mons and team structures in check as well. Reuniclus and hail teams become much better without Ttar and Dondozo might become harder to kill due to it being able to run more special defense.
I voted SUSPECT on Tyranitar as the banded set has only one truly reliable check in the form of Dondozo. Dondozo itself is a mon that puts a lot of strain on the builder even without consideration of it being on many teams to answer Tyranitar. This leads to a meta that has a rather limited number of team structures. That said, Tyranitar is a slow mon for this metagame which would be an actual detriment if it weren't for the fact that Tyranitar also learns Dragon Dance. The ability to sweep many teams atfer a single turn of setup on a mon that has so much inherant bulk due to its base stats and the special defense boost from sand is not healthy for the tier. It's also important to note that even resist berries (most relevantly Colbur Berry) can be bypassed if you run Unnerve on your Tyranitar. This all sounds a lot like a quickban arguement however with the plethora of high tier fast mons that threaten it, I'm hesistant to call for a quickban.
Step 1: Join the 35 Pokes Discord https://discord.gg/TFmPAdg3Jn
Step 2: Play ladder games (you can find matching in the #match-ladder channel)
Step 3: Win 5 games or play 15 games (whichever comes first)
Step 4: Go to the #suspect channel and vote
SECOND ROLLABLE LIST SURVEY
This one is regarding specific additions or removal from the list, as well as your own specific input. Please fill this out if you have played 35 in any capacity, thanks!
Our last one got 40 responses so our goal for this one is the same c:
SURVEY>>>https://forms.gle/AAAKD2SMWfY3bZwz8
posting on behalf of ThyUnitPossessCopium !!
This one is regarding specific additions or removal from the list, as well as your own specific input. Please fill this out if you have played 35 in any capacity, thanks!
Our last one got 40 responses so our goal for this one is the same c:
SURVEY>>>https://forms.gle/AAAKD2SMWfY3bZwz8
posting on behalf of ThyUnitPossessCopium !!
April 2026 Roster.
Text Form:
Dugtrio Tinkaton Gabite Drifblim Cacturne Clefable Lycanroc Raichu-A Toedscruel Krookodile Minior Rotom-Heat Sandaconda Thwackey Lurantis Gogoat Roserade Vivillon Tentacruel Persian Cobalion Uxie Munkidori Passimian Sceptile Articuno Tsareena Hippowdon Whiscash Brute Bonnet Hariyama Stunfisk Stoutland Pawmot Mabostiff
dhelmise I promise this is going to be the last pre ladder roster change for (on my bloodline).
Text Form:
Dugtrio Tinkaton Gabite Drifblim Cacturne Clefable Lycanroc Raichu-A Toedscruel Krookodile Minior Rotom-Heat Sandaconda Thwackey Lurantis Gogoat Roserade Vivillon Tentacruel Persian Cobalion Uxie Munkidori Passimian Sceptile Articuno Tsareena Hippowdon Whiscash Brute Bonnet Hariyama Stunfisk Stoutland Pawmot Mabostiff
dhelmise I promise this is going to be the last pre ladder roster change for (on my bloodline).
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April is pretty much guaranteed to be our ladder month so let's start promoting discussion of the meta so far. I've only played a few games but the meta is definitely in a much better position than February and March imo. The best 35 metas always have something for all team archetypes and shouldn't lean too far to any side whether that's offence or defence, though April24 makes the latter work and offence is still decent enough. Anyway, I'm just going to give initial thoughts on every mon so far. Obviously, this could change in two weeks time, or in a few days as I continue playing but yh.
- It's Clefable first time in 35 I believe. And it's going to be a top mon because.... It's Clefable. Magic Guard CM, defensive rocks, Cosmic Power, Unaware for semi-stall and balance. Life Orb Magic Guard will also just catch out a lot of mons. Can't go wrong with Clefable.
- Hippowdon is the sturdiest Ground type we have in the format at the moment due to good stats + reliable recovery. Kinda keeps Rotom-Heat from spamming Volt Switch at all times. Enables all the sand-orientated mons we have including Stoutland, Sand Force Dugtrio, and Lycanroc. Staple mon.
- Articuno has its place from the looks of things. Special attackers aren't really that big in this tier so it's 125spdef is going to waste slightly but what will be useful is its access to Heal Bell, Ice offensive typing and decent 100def stat that can check mons like Brute Bonnet and a Scarf Passimian that isn't locked into Rock Slide.
- Typing is pretty bad and it's a Cobalion victim, free Booster Energy for bro. Maybe I'll be proven wrong but I feel Cacturne offers everything Brute does but has both Spikes, setup, and can run special sets.
- Spiker, cucks Whiscash. Is never anything crazy in 35 since its stats are poor and has bad typing but it does well into certain pokemon so it's not the worst thing in the world.
- BIG COBALION. Would be the top dog if Dugtrio wasn't here to trap it so often but outside of that, fast, strong, good utility, keeps Clef and Tinkaton under wraps alongside Dugtrio.
- Surprisingly bulky when invested correctly and can check Iron Defence Body Press Cobalion pretty easily. CM sets don't seem to be too bad either since its dual STABs are basically unresisted but it's genuinely frail without investment and the speed tier is not that crazy. Still has Unburden cheese too so it has multiple niches.
- Genuinely hate trapping in every singles meta where it's available, I just think it's pretty lame but ye, Dugtrio with trapping is basically like a mandatory mon since it's faster than everything + reliably revenge kills most grounded offensive threats with banded EQ and there's not much you can do about it. Opens up a lot of Pokemon once you remove the things that are trapping victims like Tinkaton, Cobalion, and Tentacruel.
- Another meta where we roll like 10 million Grass-types and the meta at large is just largely hostile to Gogoat. It doesn't help either that it just doesn't really do anything worthwhile in the long run. Sure it checks Dugtrio quite well but it's either going to be a Toxic bot, or it's going to be a Bulk Up mon and Bulk Up Gogoat is probably like the easiest thing to stop when Rotom-Heat is everywhere. Every other Grass has at least something going on, I'd rather actually use Lurantis than Gogoat which is a shame, because in a meta with much less Grasses and overall less hostile mons, Gogoat could be a really good Pokemon.
- I like my Guts mons. Definitely fits on a more BO Voltturn sort of team to get it in, proc Guts, and then click buttons. Bulkier sets probably have some merits too. Definitely a mon to keep in your mind as a fun and underrated option.
- Krookodile usually is a strong pokemon in 35 but rolling Clefable, Hippowdon, and Cobalion is just kinda funny for Krook to deal with. That won't really stop it though, STAB Knock + Earthquake is forever a demonic combo to switch into, it has Gunk Shot for Clef, Choice Scarf is a solid revenge killer with Moxie and Taunt can always do smth.
- Lurantis is in a similar situation to Gogoat, where it doesn't really offer the metagame too much but I think Contrary Leaf Storm + Superpower is annoying enough for certain builds but that's about all Lurantis has going for it. I guess Defog is not that bad and it's pretty bulky if invested but yh, kinda just a victim to mons like Roserade, Rotom-Heat, Drifblim, and Articuno.
- Offensively, Lycanroc is quite decent. Good speed and good coverage and it has boosting, but it's pretty frail, thuds into every bulky ground type, and is not that hard to revenge kill with scarfers (outside of sand). Sand Rush with Hippowdon lets this mon reach its fullest potential alongside Stoutland, and sand is definitely a viable strategy when it's the only weather that has an auto setter.
- Mabosstiff has turned up many times in 35 so far and is it finally time for this mon to really shine? Not really, this is another metagame hostile to the dog when Tinkaton, Cobalion, Clefable are prominent Pokemon in the meta but who knows when Dugtrio trapping exists so perhaps this mon can do something with Choice Band, as long as you forget the Pawmot or the Passimian that can be around.
- Minior aka the "Shell Smash Merchant" definitely can sweep unprepared teams but it really needs to be you know at 50% HP or less to maximise its damage output and there's priority in Sucker Punch, Accelerock, and Mach Punch to keep it humble. Also another Pokemon like Lycanroc that kinda thuds into the defensive grounds except they don't really do much if they're not packing Rock coverage.
- This is an example of a very sad Pokemon that probably has to rely on being scarf to do much of anything else it's a Dugtrio victim and it cannot even OHKO Dugtrio with any move in its arsenal. If you want a mon who's only role is to Trick the Scarf onto its many defensive switchins, I guess this is the mon for you!
- Passimian is a passable enough Pokemon this metagame. It never really stands out when the power level of a meta is tad bit above its paygrade but it has its place for sure, it hits hard, has Bulk Up, U-turn, Knock Off, Gunk Shot and has Defiant to dissuade Defog attempts, a fun Pokemon to use for sure.
- Revival Blessing merchant. Other than that, it's probably the second best Fighter behind Cobalion because it is genuinely threatening with Iron Fist elemental Punches + CC. Not many Pokemon like switching into Pawmot, not even something like as bulky as Hippowdon. Life Orb Mach Punch has a chance of OHKOing full HP Dugtrio btw, so it's not a guaranteed victim of the trap.
- This mon is not going to be anything relevant when Cobalion exists in this tier.
- Another Electric type spamming Volt Switch except it has every tool it needs to target the Ground types in the meta like with Surf and Grass Knot. Definitely lacking in power but nothing a Life Orb or a Nasty Plot boost can't solve. Let down by its abysmal physdef and proneness to Sucker Punch and Pursuit.
- I like Roserade, good spiker, good damage when its STABs are not walled by a decent chunk of the tier, and Aromatherapy.
Ov in ov out the food. Definitely a mon you want to consider in the builder or else you're gonna regret it. Offensive sets like Nasty Plot are hard to answer defensively, defensive sets have good utility with Wisp + Defog, and basically made Whiscash a relevant in 35 for the first time (to my knowledge).
- If Hippowdon wasn't present, I think Sandaconda would be used a lot more but with Hippo being in the tier, it's tough to justify Sandaconda outside of just spamming Glare, which isn't that bad considering paralysis can be pretty dumb but Hippo's ability to assist more Pokemon, access to Toxic, and much greater bulk, it's a pretty big no brainer to me.
- Sceptile is one of 10 million grass types that can actually bring something to the table this meta. It speed ties with Dugtrio, is another Unburden mon that works with Thwackey and yh, that's enough for you to be useful. Has a few mons that it doesn't like to see but it's versatile enough to get away with running physical and special sets.
- Stoutland on paper is a pretty good wallbreaker, Scrappy Return/Facade means only Cobalion is a safe switchin, and Stoutland just has Superpower to catch it out on the switch and Sand Rush allows it to get around its average speed tier. A Pokemon worth using.
- I wanna give Stunfisk the benefit of the doubt. It's not lagging too far behind in physical bulk to Sandaconda and Hippowdon, it clears both in special bulk, Static can be a dumb ability. But again, a lot of grounds and Hippo is still tog dog.
- Tentacruel once again is going to be a good Pokemon. Its defensive typing is very useful for handling Pokemon like Cobalion, fighting resistance is quite useful and utility with Tspikes + Rapid Spin is unique to itself. Only annoying thing is that it gets trapped by Dugtrio but you might be forced to run Shed Shell.
- Great defensive typing, great utility in Encore, Thunder Wave, and rocks.
- Definitely worse off than its Kanto relative, if it had just one rock move, it would be pretty threatening offensively but Articuno always gets in its way. Still has Rapid Spin, Knock
- Kinda reserved to just Rapid Spinning, which Toedscruel already does but Tsareena is much more threatening offensively
- Bulk is too good to pass up, fighting type check, rocker, setup wincon. Uxie can never be a good mon in 35 Pokes.
- Pretty homeless once sleep got banned but that's out of our hands. If you do want to use Vivillon, you still have near perfect accuracy Stun Spore, which is basically a Glare but worse, and Quiver Dance for setup but every Steel + Rotom-Heat + Cuno kinda just stop Vivillon from ever really doing anything. I have to designate the worst mon of the month.
- One of the best responses to Rotom-Heat, and has Spikes + Stealth Rocks to boot. Other than that, pretty passive and lacking damage output.
- I don't get how Gabite, Cobalion, Vivillon, and a Rotom forme all made it from January but weird. Either way, Gabite can do some stuff, I think Loaded Dice SD is probably using this mon incorrectly, but I just can't see defensive Gabite being that worth it. There's no hyper specific mon that's common enough this month for Gabite to hard check like it has done in Jan26 with Typhlosion or in March25 with Charizard and Scolipede. It just decent general bulk with Eviolite but lacks recovery.
- You're only using this to enable Unburden strats and your best partner got banned, still has good priority but Grass in this meta particularly is not that good offensively.
Either way, this was a long yap but thanks for reading.
- It's Clefable first time in 35 I believe. And it's going to be a top mon because.... It's Clefable. Magic Guard CM, defensive rocks, Cosmic Power, Unaware for semi-stall and balance. Life Orb Magic Guard will also just catch out a lot of mons. Can't go wrong with Clefable. - Hippowdon is the sturdiest Ground type we have in the format at the moment due to good stats + reliable recovery. Kinda keeps Rotom-Heat from spamming Volt Switch at all times. Enables all the sand-orientated mons we have including Stoutland, Sand Force Dugtrio, and Lycanroc. Staple mon. - Articuno has its place from the looks of things. Special attackers aren't really that big in this tier so it's 125spdef is going to waste slightly but what will be useful is its access to Heal Bell, Ice offensive typing and decent 100def stat that can check mons like Brute Bonnet and a Scarf Passimian that isn't locked into Rock Slide. - Typing is pretty bad and it's a Cobalion victim, free Booster Energy for bro. Maybe I'll be proven wrong but I feel Cacturne offers everything Brute does but has both Spikes, setup, and can run special sets. - Spiker, cucks Whiscash. Is never anything crazy in 35 since its stats are poor and has bad typing but it does well into certain pokemon so it's not the worst thing in the world. - BIG COBALION. Would be the top dog if Dugtrio wasn't here to trap it so often but outside of that, fast, strong, good utility, keeps Clef and Tinkaton under wraps alongside Dugtrio. - Surprisingly bulky when invested correctly and can check Iron Defence Body Press Cobalion pretty easily. CM sets don't seem to be too bad either since its dual STABs are basically unresisted but it's genuinely frail without investment and the speed tier is not that crazy. Still has Unburden cheese too so it has multiple niches. - Genuinely hate trapping in every singles meta where it's available, I just think it's pretty lame but ye, Dugtrio with trapping is basically like a mandatory mon since it's faster than everything + reliably revenge kills most grounded offensive threats with banded EQ and there's not much you can do about it. Opens up a lot of Pokemon once you remove the things that are trapping victims like Tinkaton, Cobalion, and Tentacruel. - Another meta where we roll like 10 million Grass-types and the meta at large is just largely hostile to Gogoat. It doesn't help either that it just doesn't really do anything worthwhile in the long run. Sure it checks Dugtrio quite well but it's either going to be a Toxic bot, or it's going to be a Bulk Up mon and Bulk Up Gogoat is probably like the easiest thing to stop when Rotom-Heat is everywhere. Every other Grass has at least something going on, I'd rather actually use Lurantis than Gogoat which is a shame, because in a meta with much less Grasses and overall less hostile mons, Gogoat could be a really good Pokemon. - I like my Guts mons. Definitely fits on a more BO Voltturn sort of team to get it in, proc Guts, and then click buttons. Bulkier sets probably have some merits too. Definitely a mon to keep in your mind as a fun and underrated option. - Krookodile usually is a strong pokemon in 35 but rolling Clefable, Hippowdon, and Cobalion is just kinda funny for Krook to deal with. That won't really stop it though, STAB Knock + Earthquake is forever a demonic combo to switch into, it has Gunk Shot for Clef, Choice Scarf is a solid revenge killer with Moxie and Taunt can always do smth. - Lurantis is in a similar situation to Gogoat, where it doesn't really offer the metagame too much but I think Contrary Leaf Storm + Superpower is annoying enough for certain builds but that's about all Lurantis has going for it. I guess Defog is not that bad and it's pretty bulky if invested but yh, kinda just a victim to mons like Roserade, Rotom-Heat, Drifblim, and Articuno. - Offensively, Lycanroc is quite decent. Good speed and good coverage and it has boosting, but it's pretty frail, thuds into every bulky ground type, and is not that hard to revenge kill with scarfers (outside of sand). Sand Rush with Hippowdon lets this mon reach its fullest potential alongside Stoutland, and sand is definitely a viable strategy when it's the only weather that has an auto setter. - Mabosstiff has turned up many times in 35 so far and is it finally time for this mon to really shine? Not really, this is another metagame hostile to the dog when Tinkaton, Cobalion, Clefable are prominent Pokemon in the meta but who knows when Dugtrio trapping exists so perhaps this mon can do something with Choice Band, as long as you forget the Pawmot or the Passimian that can be around. - Minior aka the "Shell Smash Merchant" definitely can sweep unprepared teams but it really needs to be you know at 50% HP or less to maximise its damage output and there's priority in Sucker Punch, Accelerock, and Mach Punch to keep it humble. Also another Pokemon like Lycanroc that kinda thuds into the defensive grounds except they don't really do much if they're not packing Rock coverage. - This is an example of a very sad Pokemon that probably has to rely on being scarf to do much of anything else it's a Dugtrio victim and it cannot even OHKO Dugtrio with any move in its arsenal. If you want a mon who's only role is to Trick the Scarf onto its many defensive switchins, I guess this is the mon for you! - Passimian is a passable enough Pokemon this metagame. It never really stands out when the power level of a meta is tad bit above its paygrade but it has its place for sure, it hits hard, has Bulk Up, U-turn, Knock Off, Gunk Shot and has Defiant to dissuade Defog attempts, a fun Pokemon to use for sure. - Revival Blessing merchant. Other than that, it's probably the second best Fighter behind Cobalion because it is genuinely threatening with Iron Fist elemental Punches + CC. Not many Pokemon like switching into Pawmot, not even something like as bulky as Hippowdon. Life Orb Mach Punch has a chance of OHKOing full HP Dugtrio btw, so it's not a guaranteed victim of the trap. - This mon is not going to be anything relevant when Cobalion exists in this tier. - Another Electric type spamming Volt Switch except it has every tool it needs to target the Ground types in the meta like with Surf and Grass Knot. Definitely lacking in power but nothing a Life Orb or a Nasty Plot boost can't solve. Let down by its abysmal physdef and proneness to Sucker Punch and Pursuit. - I like Roserade, good spiker, good damage when its STABs are not walled by a decent chunk of the tier, and Aromatherapy. Ov in ov out the food. Definitely a mon you want to consider in the builder or else you're gonna regret it. Offensive sets like Nasty Plot are hard to answer defensively, defensive sets have good utility with Wisp + Defog, and basically made Whiscash a relevant in 35 for the first time (to my knowledge). - If Hippowdon wasn't present, I think Sandaconda would be used a lot more but with Hippo being in the tier, it's tough to justify Sandaconda outside of just spamming Glare, which isn't that bad considering paralysis can be pretty dumb but Hippo's ability to assist more Pokemon, access to Toxic, and much greater bulk, it's a pretty big no brainer to me. - Sceptile is one of 10 million grass types that can actually bring something to the table this meta. It speed ties with Dugtrio, is another Unburden mon that works with Thwackey and yh, that's enough for you to be useful. Has a few mons that it doesn't like to see but it's versatile enough to get away with running physical and special sets. - Stoutland on paper is a pretty good wallbreaker, Scrappy Return/Facade means only Cobalion is a safe switchin, and Stoutland just has Superpower to catch it out on the switch and Sand Rush allows it to get around its average speed tier. A Pokemon worth using. - I wanna give Stunfisk the benefit of the doubt. It's not lagging too far behind in physical bulk to Sandaconda and Hippowdon, it clears both in special bulk, Static can be a dumb ability. But again, a lot of grounds and Hippo is still tog dog. - Tentacruel once again is going to be a good Pokemon. Its defensive typing is very useful for handling Pokemon like Cobalion, fighting resistance is quite useful and utility with Tspikes + Rapid Spin is unique to itself. Only annoying thing is that it gets trapped by Dugtrio but you might be forced to run Shed Shell. - Great defensive typing, great utility in Encore, Thunder Wave, and rocks. - Definitely worse off than its Kanto relative, if it had just one rock move, it would be pretty threatening offensively but Articuno always gets in its way. Still has Rapid Spin, Knock - Kinda reserved to just Rapid Spinning, which Toedscruel already does but Tsareena is much more threatening offensively - Bulk is too good to pass up, fighting type check, rocker, setup wincon. Uxie can never be a good mon in 35 Pokes. - Pretty homeless once sleep got banned but that's out of our hands. If you do want to use Vivillon, you still have near perfect accuracy Stun Spore, which is basically a Glare but worse, and Quiver Dance for setup but every Steel + Rotom-Heat + Cuno kinda just stop Vivillon from ever really doing anything. I have to designate the worst mon of the month. - One of the best responses to Rotom-Heat, and has Spikes + Stealth Rocks to boot. Other than that, pretty passive and lacking damage output. - I don't get how Gabite, Cobalion, Vivillon, and a Rotom forme all made it from January but weird. Either way, Gabite can do some stuff, I think Loaded Dice SD is probably using this mon incorrectly, but I just can't see defensive Gabite being that worth it. There's no hyper specific mon that's common enough this month for Gabite to hard check like it has done in Jan26 with Typhlosion or in March25 with Charizard and Scolipede. It just decent general bulk with Eviolite but lacks recovery. - You're only using this to enable Unburden strats and your best partner got banned, still has good priority but Grass in this meta particularly is not that good offensively.Either way, this was a long yap but thanks for reading.