np: SS UU Stage 8 - Highway to Hell

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Is it safe to say this is the last round of quickbans, barring something extraordinary falling from OU in two days? Are we finally moving on to suspect testing instead? And what do you think is first on the slate for a suspect test? I personally think Aegislash should be tested (not necessarily banned, but fully tested at least), once Dec 1st hits and we have a clear picture of the metagame for the next month.
 
Here I am still wondering how gyarados dint get banned but rona did?
Gyra has way less counter play to it, only true counter I can think of is whirl wind skarm.
Protect tang can beat bounce gyras sure but oh no here comes Ice fang gyra! But haffling you can put gyra on a timer with toxic, yea bc boots the only item gyra can use.
Idk a bit of a rant ig
 
Gyarados is pretty easy to stop from setting up in the first place, is walled by all the bulky grass types unless it runs Bounce which is trash (and doesn't work if they have protect) so it's move pool ends up limited.

It needs Boots which hurts its damage output and longevity since it has no healing. It's moves aren't that strong and whilst it can snowball if it gets going it's very hard to do so.
 
Gyarados is pretty easy to stop from setting up in the first place, is walled by all the bulky grass types unless it runs Bounce which is trash (and doesn't work if they have protect) so it's move pool ends up limited.

It needs Boots which hurts its damage output and longevity since it has no healing. It's moves aren't that strong and whilst it can snowball if it gets going it's very hard to do so.
So your saying i have to play bulky grass types with protect to beat gyarados? Yea that doesnt feel restrictive at all
 
So your saying i have to play bulky grass types with protect to beat gyarados? Yea that doesnt feel restrictive at all
no I'm saying any bulky grass type in the tier can take him.
Scarf rotom out speeds and OHKOs it at +1, as do many things.

Hes a decent set up sweeper but he has major 4MSS and is kind of easy to revenge kill because he not that fast.
 
Is it safe to say this is the last round of quickbans, barring something extraordinary falling from OU in two days? Are we finally moving on to suspect testing instead? And what do you think is first on the slate for a suspect test? I personally think Aegislash should be tested (not necessarily banned, but fully tested at least), once Dec 1st hits and we have a clear picture of the metagame for the next month.
Probably although we might have another aegi voting or azu idk.
 
Gyarados is pretty easy to stop from setting up in the first place, is walled by all the bulky grass types unless it runs Bounce which is trash (and doesn't work if they have protect) so it's move pool ends up limited.

It needs Boots which hurts its damage output and longevity since it has no healing. It's moves aren't that strong and whilst it can snowball if it gets going it's very hard to do so.
Gyarados doesn't need boots all the time - it's actually decently bulky and resists jet priority (which is imo the most dangerous priority besides Sucker). It can run leftovers and recover rocks damage pretty quickly, or go for Lum to spoil toxic stalling it out (toxic stalling it out is one tactic currently). Its coverage moves are also great - needs Waterfall, but then can then opt for two of Bounce, Power Whip, Ice Fang, EQ, with Ice Fang hitting grass types that have protect. But I still think it's manageable mostly ATM. To me, Aegislash is more problematic than Gyarados would be, but let's see what happens tomorrow with tier shifts. Probably nothing much, but you never know.
 
Hello fellow UU Waste Mans. Before Cake appears with the no more one-liners message pops up I would like to talk about 2 Pokemon that I think are heavily Underrated rn In UU

The GloTwins
In no way shape or form do I intend to post this to joke about the Mouteident this is a 100% serious post (maybe like 25%) about the wolf in the form of a sheep Globro


Slowbro Galar
If you don't know what this mon does it pretty much does this


Mixed with the item quick claw and its ability quick draw this mon as a 44% chance to move first and for some of the ladder kids that shit is like 110%.
Moving first without giving a fuck about the opponent's speed is super broke because you can just lose straight up and they don't even stand a chance. If you're feeling lucky and decide to play with it and you do get the good odds while playing Slowbro-Galar with QCQD, you basically win automatically. The best part is no team can handle this dangerous mon because of its coverage like flamethrower to deal with steels, grass knot for grounds in addition the amazing stab of Psychic and Poison moves. Also, its typing is pretty solid only being weak to Dark, Ghost, Ground. Grounds can be dealt with grass knot, Ghost types shouldn't be a problem because aegislash should be banned and no one uses chandy or godlurk :( but it can still deal with aegislash the only ghost-type right now with flamethrower/fireblast, but sadly Dark types are still a struggle. None the less it can still shred through uu's best defensive answers

+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Hippowdon: 464-548 (110.4 - 130.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 232+ SpD Celesteela: 318-376 (80.1 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tangrowth: 754-888 (186.6 - 219.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Psychic vs. 248 HP / 92 SpD Amoonguss: 578-684 (134.1 - 158.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Psychic vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 494-584 (139.5 - 164.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tentacruel: 458-542 (125.8 - 148.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Shell Side Arm vs. 248 HP / 68+ SpD Incineroar: 247-292 (62.8 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Slowbro-Galar Shell Side Arm vs. 252 HP / 96 SpD Rotom-Heat: 231-273 (75.9 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Behind veil it can also eat up its super effective attacks like no man's business and apparently it can also be called uncompetitive because of some Tiering Policy Framework bs I didn't even know existed until like two seconds ago. Final thoughts that this mon is a cheesy piece of shit that relies on to many things however if you are lucky I can tell you those victories will come easily.

The other twin is my pride and joy in UU

GloKing

This mon is so underrated right now that there are most people are running the noob spread max hp max spd but today we no longer use this trash ass spread.

Eye of Evil (Slowking-Galar) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 40 SpA / 148 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast
- Future Sight

Look at the spread below for how crazy this spread is

+2 252+ SpA Primarina Scald vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 138-163 (35 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Sludge Bomb vs. +2 248 HP / 44 SpD Primarina: 96-114 (26.4 - 31.4%) -- 9.4% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 126-150 (31.9 - 38%) -- 94.4% chance to 3HKO
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Sludge Bomb vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 120-142 (36.8 - 43.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 150-176 (38 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 222-264 (56.3 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 306-362 (94.4 - 111.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Chandelure Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 224-266 (56.8 - 67.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
+1 252 SpA Celesteela Meteor Beam vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 84-99 (21.3 - 25.1%) -- not a KO
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Celesteela: 176-208 (52.5 - 62%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Victini Blue Flare vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 96-114 (24.3 - 28.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after burn damage
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Sludge Bomb vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Victini: 109-130 (30.1 - 36%) -- 46.2% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Soul Dew Latias Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 68 Def Slowking-Galar: 154-183 (39 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias: 87-103 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 2.8% chance to 3HKO
+1 252 SpA Nihilego Meteor Beam vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 142-168 (36 - 42.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Nihilego: 174-206 (48.4 - 57.3%) -- 43.8% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 132-156 (33.5 - 39.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 236-282 (73 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Thundurus-Therian Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 156-184 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
40 SpA Slowking-Galar Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus-Therian: 132-156 (44.1 - 52.1%) -- 11.7% chance to 2HKO

So after all those calcs I'm pretty sure you get what this spread is supposed to do and what av slowkings job is to do in general. Eat up hits and chip back or in some cases get the kill! One note about the spread is that you could lose the def for more spa if you really want. This was pretty short because what it does is pretty short and simple .-. you come in on special attacks and chip or double out. However it does heavily really on the assault vest to do this, also being weak to the ground isn't that great either so it still has its weaknesses.
 

shooting star

formerly Jirachirite
is a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnus
As the November meta draws to a close, I would like to share a team that I had fun using.

Webs + Psychic Spam
1606829048791.png

I believe an earlier post has already covered how good Webs are (in Page 4), but I just like to point out how Webs is able to bring out Alakazam's potential even more. Barring Zeraora and Noivern, Alakazam naturally outspeeds the rest of the tier and thus serves as a very effective cleaner with its already high Special Attack. Psychic terrain renders priority moves useless, while the presence of Webs neutralises the effectiveness of opposing Choice Scarf users. The set that I am using is Sash+Nasty Plot, which enables Alakazam to effectively fight against offense and stall simultaneously. Combined with Magic Guard (a pseudo Heavy-Duty-Boots of sorts), Focus Sash ensures that opposing attackers do not get a clean sweep, while Nasty Plot threatens passive teams. You don't really need a Life Orb anyway since Nasty Plot already allows Zam to hit like a truck.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team are capable wallbreakers on their own, further enhanced by Webs. People should also use Nidoqueen more often; Sheer Force + Life Orb is simply outstanding. Having immunity to both Thunder Wave and Toxic also comes in handy, and her natural bulk also allows her to stomach a hit or two before potentially OHKO something back.

e: Importable: https://pokepast.es/3ad44800e37ba7e5
rip Tapu Lele
 
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Moutemoute

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Heres come the shifts and they have a quite massive impact on the tier !

Hippowdon moved from UU to OU
Hydreigon moved from UU to OU
Tapu Lele moved from UU to OU
Slowking-Galar moved from RU to OU

Blaziken moved from OU to UU
Zapdos-Galar moved from OU to UU

Lycanroc-Dusk moved from RU to UU
Nidoqueen moved from RU to UU
Ninetales-Alola moved from RU to UU
Tangrowth moved from RU to UU
Terrakion moved from RU to UU
 
Heres come the shifts and they have a quite massive impact on the tier !

Hippowdon moved from UU to OU
Hydreigon moved from UU to OU
Tapu Lele moved from UU to OU
Slowking-Galar moved from RU to OU

Blaziken moved from OU to UU
Zapdos-Galar moved from OU to UU

Lycanroc-Dusk moved from RU to UU
Nidoqueen moved from RU to UU
Ninetales-Alola moved from RU to UU
Tangrowth moved from RU to UU
Terrakion moved from RU to UU
Looks like Blaziken to being UUBL/UU like in Gens 3/4, what a character arc
 
I'm actually not surprised at what rose besides Hydreigon, even if Hippo and Glowking going is really annoying for me. At least Glowbro isn't utterly outclassed anymore if not using Calm Mind or Quick Claw Quick Draw in UU or RU though I guess. Yay?

We got supremely screwed by letting Terrakion live a lot sooner than I expected now that Hippo is gone. I also suspect we start seeing Scizor and Azumarill be even more dominant now that Psychic Terrain is gone unless people start using Indeedee-M again. December's looking great already.

Oh well. I guess I'll just abuse both things that dropped until they probably get banished to UUBL. Might as well. In before the discussion turns towards banning only Speed Boost since that never ends up going anywhere.
 

Glitchwood High

formerly Err0r Mobutt
Art by Voluntary Twitch.
Zapdos-Galar @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 212 | 148 HP / 252 Atk / 44 | 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Close Combat / Bulk Up
- Brave Bird / Bulk up / Drill Peck
- Throat Chop

Man this is a good bird. Once it presses agility the game becomes much, much harder for your opponent, (or it ends entirely depending on the team). Adamant life orb hits unbelievably hard and even with srock chip spells the end for a lot of bulky pokemon. Another great thing is that it's fighting/flying typing, coupled with defiant, makes it very close to impossible to stop with traditional defensive walls. Observe!

252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 491-580 (113.9 - 134.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 335-398 (82.9 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Honestly? This is literally it. Defiant means any mon with intimidate actually increases it's attack stat so any incineroar/krook/mence/gyara gets sent to the shadow realm. You could try skarmory, sure.

252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 153-183 (45.8 - 54.7%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO

But 1) that's not a switch in and (2) skarmory can only really press whirlwind here. Not much of an answer considering you lost half your health, meaning skarm could just die right away unless you got lucky and it switched to whirlwind to...

...zera? terrak? blaz? victini? zam? latias? keldeo? the amount of offensive pokemon that take advantage of that is startling, and that's not the full list, so you're in it for it if they're running an offensive team.

You could try aegislash, but why would you?

252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Throat Chop vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 182-216 (69.7 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(Remember; king shield ain't worth it!)
252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Claw vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 145-172 (38.7 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

42% on average. Pretty lame all things considered. You could run a defensive set to take a tchop better, but it doesn't change the 2HKO unless you're really fat. And if you're running a defensive set...

0 Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Claw vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 111-132 (29.6 - 35.2%) -- 18.7% chance to 3HKO

Then you don't even check it at all. Also, if it's running bulk up you lose no matter what the set.


I actually came up with a semi-counter with aegislash. With max hp, max def and a relaxed nature, it gets 3hko'd by throat chop.
252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aegislash-Shield: 138-164 (42.5 - 50.6%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO

The trick here is that you're running life orb to 2hko with shadow ball!
0 SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos-Galar: 165-195 (44.1 - 52.1%) -- 16% chance to 2HKO
(remember, everytime zap g attacks you, it loses 10% of it's health)

This looks good, but you have to remember that this isn't working well if you have chip damage. 2 Throat chops deal 92% of your health on average, and with life orb you are killing yourself so even in a best case scenario, you die too. Plus, if you have even stealth rock chip, your chances of taking the second throat chop drop dramatically. 46 + 6 from rocks + 10 from lo = 62% of your health gone, meaning the next chop is a guaranteed kill.

And this is the absolute bulkiest aegi imaginable.


There is also priority, but things are actually pretty good-those health evs aren't for nothing.
252 Atk Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk Accelerock vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 87-103 (23.2 - 27.5%) -- 72.5% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 63-74 (16.8 - 19.7%) -- guaranteed 6HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 130-154 (34.7 - 41.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Scizor sort of works if it's chipped? But scizor dies in the process.
252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 177-208 (47.3 - 55.6%) -- 75.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 273-321 (97.1 - 114.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Mamo works but if it doesn't die it just goes too.
252+ Atk Choice Band Mamoswine Ice Shard vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Zapdos-Galar: 236-278 (63.1 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

There are also rival scarfers, but honestly most of them aren't that important. A majority of their attacks don't hit too hard and they immediately die. Now, there is scarf latias and scarf victini...but that's what the speed ivs are for! Because as it happens, with 108 spe, at the cost of bulk you outspeed every single scarfed Pokemon in the tier.

So yeah, it basically boils down to "do you want to remove mamo/scizor as a soft check, or latias as a scarfed check?"

Apart from that, it's a gg. There are other sets...but this is the best one by far. Ban this chicken!
 

Attachments

Not really sure what to think of Galarian Zapdos and Blaziken because neither of them feels outright broken but there are unhealthy elements that they bring to the tier. They tend to be quite self-destructive Pokemon that wear themselves down quickly simply by using their STAB moves.


Blaziken has a fair amount of defensive counterplay but its fairly expansive movepool gives it the means to work around a good majority of them. Thunder Punch allowing to break through almost all the bulky Water-types attempting to check it. It's not the bulkiest of Pokemon so Swords Dance sets don't get to set up without being punished heavily. I've seen Protective Pads being run to avoid Helmet chip. Choice Band and 3 Attack + Protect sets are being explored a fair amount too. The big issue is that it pretty much always kills itself from the combination of LO + hazards + Flare Blitz, though it usually doesn't fail to take something down with it.


This thing has a lot less defensive counterplay in comparison as Choice Band variants can 2HKO or OHKO the whole tier. Personally, I believe Choice Scarf sets to be the most consistent due to it making up for its middling Speed tier. These sets lacking immediate power can be played around via Pokemon like Thundurus, Skarmory, Slowking, Aegislash, etc. to an easier degree. Just like Blaziken, this thing can wear itself down pretty easily with Brave Bird. I haven't had too much success with setup sets because it's not the bulkiest or fastest Pokemon to pull them off as reliably compared to just wanting to attack, but they are usable for sure.

If these guys do get voted on I wouldn't be that surprised because they aren't the healthiest things for the tier but I don't think they are outright broken. I'm curious about what other people think about these two.


Terrakion has become significantly better with Hippowdon leaving and defensive counterplay becoming a lot more restricted to stuff like Skarmory, Phys Def Tang, Balloon Aegi. All of which can lose to Swords Dance variants. It's probably something to look into again despite having been voted on last week because the counterplay to this thing feels limited imo.


I just wanted to highlight Lycanroc-D because it has become a lot better with Hippowdon + Tapu Lele freeing up its offensive capabilities. Terrakion has higher wallbreaking potential but the Speed tier is helpful in some cases. If Terrakion does end up on the chopping block again then it looks even more promising for Lycan.


Another Pokemon that got better with the shifts as we lost Hydreigon, which was by far the best Ghost resist in the tier. Hippowdon also leaving is one less defensive pivot into the physical/mixed sets. I still think it's a controversial Pokemon that I'd only want to go via a suspect test but it's worth highlighting.


The regen mons feel a lot more important with Hippowdon leaving because most of them are capable of sponging hits from the stronger wallbreakers like Terrakion. Slowking is in a pretty decent spot as something capable of pivoting around Galarian Zapdos, Blaziken, Victini, Keldeo, etc. Tangrowth is probably the Pokemon that most comfortably takes a +2 hit from Terrakion that isn't some unviable garbo like Palo.


Losing Hippowdon + Hydreigon makes Krookodile a lot more appealing because there aren't too many good Ghost resists besides Incineroar and Bisharp so compressing the Ground slot with it is rather valuable, especially given there aren't many good Grounds either. It does the same thing it's always done, revenge kills stuff or sets rocks.
 
Like the post above states, for me it's hard to immediately dismiss blaziken and galarian zapdos as broken just by how much they kill themselves at times in battle. This post will mostly be about :Blaziken: but for g zapdos I'd learn toward it being more problematic than blaziken just for the fact it can use other items like choice band and choice scarf better than blaziken. G zap has a pretty strong movepool, being able to bypass a lot of it's checks and u-turn out of the ones it can't beat. In terms of revenge killers, scarf latias, zeraora, and sash zam do pretty well, but can't switch in/deal with on scarf variants. Aegislash resists its stabs but gets u-turned on or hit with blaze kick or throat chop. Hatterene with phys def investment can beat it 1V1 but cant switch in. Very little defensive checks plus a strong movepool means g zapdos is too much for the UU metagame to handle right now.

Now onto Blaziken. This kickin chicken is VERY hit or miss. It can heavily dent a team or be completely useless. Down below is the basic set for it
Blaziken @ Life Orb/Focus Sash
Adamant/Jolly Nature
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance/Protect
- Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch/Knock Off/Stone Edge

Blaziken usually runs a life orb for it's main damage provider or focus sash to get up at least 1 SD. Life orb is better cause sash can get broken quite easily be hazards+ recoil, so in my opinion LO is the best set. It runs SD for a boost or protect to guarantee at least one speed boost. It always runs stab, deciding between flare blitz for immediate power or blaze kick for no recoil. Lastly, it wants to run tpunch for waters, knock off for latias, and stone edge for mence. SE is a bit fringe, so its last slot is usually between thunder punch or knock off. As shown, blaziken has 4MSS, so it cant beat everything it wants. Furthermore, its low speed and use of recoil moves/items limits its longevity and often it struggles to set up at times.

Now, onto what mons can check it. This all depends on what it runs for it's coverage slots. Victini can't switch in on +2 blaziken or a blaziken with knock off but it can finish it off with zen headbutt. Latias and mence cant switch into it's +2 attacks but beat it if it's not running knock off or stone edge. Azumarill and crawdaunt can revenge it, and phys def primarina can take on non tpunch variants. So that's it? Kind of, unless I'm missing anything big very little can take down a +2 blaziken. Still, I feel blaziken is only broken as the metagame allows it to be. What I mean is that if the metagame is heavily offensive and blaziken is pressured into being unable to set up or come in safely, then it's not so bad. However, if blaziken gets ample opportunities to set up, its gonna take some names. Blaziken's goal is to take as many pokemon down with it and allow it's teammates to clean up.

tl;dr: Despite blaziken's low speed without a boost, piss level bulk, and 4MSS, once boosted it can tear through the tier very easily. Blaziken is only as broken as the metagame allows it to be, if we are in the state where it can be pressured offensively and not set up, then its not too bad. I'm unsure whether this logic even makes sense, but I just feel that with the right playing around it blaziken is not so bad. Still, despite it being VERY hit or miss i wouldn't be surprised to see it go. Also, :Victini: has gotten a lot better with hippowdon and hydreigon leaving, causing not only itself but sun as an archetype where it's on to become better as well. I hope this gets on many people's radars soon because it might get problematic and run the tier before we know it.
 

Moutemoute

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Like some people, I actually don't know if this Pokemon is dumb and broken or shitty as fuck. I've seen a lot of people complaining that once Blaziken setup a Swords Dance it's almost impossible to deal with and that's kinda true. However this statement doesn't take into account that Blaziken is more frail than a newborn and that even defensive Pokemon can dent it with neutral moves. Also Blaziken kinda needs Flare Blitz and Life Orb to be effective in my opinion which reduce even more its staying power. Overall I have the feeling that Blaziken is a Final Gambit Pokemon which is always trading itself to KO another foe. In my opinion it's a nasty Pokemon because it hits like a truck but on the other hand, it falls KO really quickly. To be honest, I'm seeing Blaziken as a Darmanitan on crack with better movepool and typing but with worst bulk and HP (which means it KOes itself even quicker than Darmanitan does with Flare Blitz). And while it's true that after a Swords Dance there isn't a lot of things that can check it, it struggles to setup and also has to pick between its coverage (Stone Edge to beat Salamence, Thunder Punch to deal with Water-types or Knock Off for an overall nice coverage). Also without Protect, it can struggle to outspeed some fast threats right of the bat which kinda sucks for a Pokemon with that poor bulk. Because of that bulk, Blaziken fears priorities to a extreme extent and even a resisted Sucker Punch from Bisharp strip it from one third of its HP. So yeah I'm lost, I don't know if we should ban this Pokemon or let it KO itself while trying to sweep.


Staraptor is not there for the running gag of the UUBL Brave Bird but we got a pretty similar one : Zapdos-Galar is indeed a similar case to Staraptor if we look at it more closely. Both of them have 100 BS speed and a great statistic in attack, both are packing the great Brave Bird + Close Combat and while Staraptor can abuse of Brave Bird a bit more thanks to Reckless, Zapdos-Galar offset this issue with a great ability and a STAB on Close Combat. But what's my opinion on this Pokemon overall ? Well much like Blaziken, I'm on the fence because I can deny that UU doesn't have a lot of switch-ins to this bird but on the other hand, it tends to KO itself with Brave Bird too..I've been using Choice Scarf set alongside an Adamant nature because I feel like Jolly isn't really worth it with both Hydreigon and Tapu Lele leaving the tier. Outside of risking a speed tie with other 100 BS speed Choice Scarf users (Jirachi, Victini and other Zapdos-Galar), it doesn't really outspeed something important. Overall it's pretty great but I feel like the tier have enough answers to check each of its STABs. On the other hand, I tried Bulk Up + Agility variants and it was kinda wack because the current metagame is quite offensive and it's in my opinion tough for Zapdos to setup on something. I feel like I have not explored yet the full potential of this threat and I do believe it's more dangerous that Blaziken..


Aegislash @ Spell Tag / Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head / Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Close Combat
Damn you Twilight.. I feel like I’m plagiarizing your post because you highlighted a ton of good things and one of them is how Aegislash became much better after those shifts. Especially physical sets such as Choice Band and Swords Dance which has been a true revelation for me. The fact that Hydreigon, Tapu Lele and Hippowdon left the tier opened such a great way to Swords Dance Aegislash. This set is trully great and I've been toying with it in Sticky Web HO. Shadow Sneak + Iron Head + Close Combat punish the whole tier and Aegislash can even clean a lot of game after a Swords Dance (+2 Spell tag SS does 72-85% to Zeraora e.g.). It's quite insane to see a whole new spectrum of Aegislash becoming viable which is making it even more formidable than it was before the shifts. When you need to guess between Specs, Mixed, SD or SubToxic.. what a nightmare !


Kommo-o @ Throat Spray
Ability: Bulletproof / Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clangorous Soul
- Clanging Scales
- Flamethrower
- Boomburst
Much like Aegislash, Kommo-o became much more better with the rise of Hydreigon and Tapu Lele. I firmly believe offensive variants of Kommo-o are now much more viable and threatening than before. I have in particular used Clangerous Soul Kommo-o and I've been surprised how effective it was. While it has its flaws (particularly to be revenge killed by Choice Scarf Zapdos-Galar RIP), it can really pressure a lot of teams which are lacking answers to its moveset. Boomburst sounds wack on paper but it grants Kommo-o a strong neutral move which can OHKO Azumarill after a Stealth Rocks damages and once it's setuo with Clangerous Soul. Kommo-o typing and bulk are also pretty nice in the current state of the metagame since it allows it to check things such as Nihilego, Crawdaunt, Tapu Bulu, most variants of Aegislash and Blaziken if it has not used Swords Dance. Heres a quick example of this set in action.
 
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Early days but Blaziken seems manageable so far

  • LO Sets wear themselves down very quickly, with CC drops and Flare Blitz recoil leaving it open to be revenged by tons of priority moves
  • Sets lacking LO (CB aside) generally lack the power necessary to sweep, or the immediate power necessary to scare things out for a chance to SD
  • Its relative frailty means it can't switch in to anything or set up on anything for free, tho the latter is less relevant since it forces lots of things out
  • 4MSS is constant
    • Sets lacking SD usually aren't strong enough to sweep
    • Sets lacking Protect can find themselves near useless vs offense where it is outsped by majority of things turn 1, and still outsped by relevant scarfers at +1
    • The choice between T Punch and Knock Off will still leave it walled by some things, tho admittedly not many
    • SD + Protect sets will find themselves walled by a lot of things if it never gets a chance to SD
  • The above 4MSS does work to Blazikens benefit in terms of mindgames, not knowing if it has Protect or SD, or which coverage move it is running makes initially predicting around it very scary, and it is is easy to sacrifice pokemon due to the fear of an SD sweep
I think the CB set is one to watch as time goes on as it hits significantly harder than LO, has better longevity, and can run 2 coverage moves, all while Speed Boost still puts teams in a difficult position in terms of revenge killing
 
A Chandelier with a Dream
:ss/chandelure:
So everyone is talking about the two new chickens running around in the tier, however right now i would like to highlight one mon that got WAYY better with this tier shift (also because my thoughts are very similar to the people who already posted above) so yeah chandelure is again a viable pick and the new additions actually dont bother it too much.
As Gengar and Hydreigon left the tier a couple of days ago, both the competition and one of chandy's checks are gone which means its time for chandelure to do chandelure things.
Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Overheat

Chandelure @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 172 HP / 116 Def / 84 SpA / 136 Spe or 4 HP/252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute/Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Flamethrower

Chandelure @ Leftovers/Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Substitute

Choice specs is the best set right now, and it is the one that I will be talking about, as the sheer power of chandy's attacks is too much to pass up, the other two sets can be effective in specific situations as they beat some of the checks of the specs set, but in general specs is an effective special attacking wallbreaker.
Now let me proceed to explain exactly HOW to use the sheer power of

Chandelure's biggest problem is coming into reek havoc, as its lack of bulk and reliable recovery make it difficult for it to come in, this cripple its offensive capabilities, thats why chandelure's best friends are pokemon that can bring it safely, such as:
:chansey: :rotom-wash: :scizor: :jirachi::slowking:
All of this mons can work as bulky pivots to bring chandy safe into the battlefield, other offensive/bulky pivots can synergise well with chandelure this are just some of the most effective examples thanks to their typing.
Chandelure can also fit nicely in sticky web teams because of its middiling speed this makes its list of victims even bigger

Chandelure's Victims
Chandy has a rather unimpressive speed tier, unlike the espectacular Victini which can blast a majority of the metagame, however if it comes in into the right Pokemon the user gets a free Shadow ball/Overheat, here are some of the mons that chandy can safely blast its attacks
:jirachi: :slowking: :torkoal: :conkeldurr: :skarmory: :tangrowth: :amoonguss: :weezing-galar: :celesteela:
The mons above literally cant do anything to prevent a free attack from chandelure, (well jirachi can infinite flinch but most of the times that wont happen)
:scizor: :aegislash: :tapu-bulu: :magnezone: :diggersby: :rotom-heat: :hatterene:
Now this list of mons most of the times chandelure wins the 1v1 and can blast its attacks, however all of the mons in here arent helpless against the chandelier, scizor can be scarf and BP if chandy is low, aegislash can use shadow sneak and while it doesnt ohko with some chip aegislash can win, bulu, magnezone and diggersby can run scarf which is incredibly bad for chandy, and both rotom-h and hatterene can survive an attack from chandy and kill it if chandy has just enough chip. (AV hatterenne or if it has a CM boost), So scouting the sets before throwing chandelure in is recommended.
:victini: :zapdos-galar: :chandelure: :terrakion:
Now this four arent victims as they can all easily ohko chandy, however they all have choiced sets and chandy is immune to one stab from each, so if they are choiced and they took ko from a teammate with the immune stab it is a free entry.
With proper scouting this 4 can be taken care of by chandy.

Chandelure in general has an incredible match-up against sun teams as it walls and destroys the weather setter, exploits victini's choiced status and checks other regular mons in sun teams like hatterene, without hydreigon sun struggles really hard with chandy, with sun being incredible right now thanks to the additions of blaziken and the departure of hippo, chandy can be incredibly useful.
Sets with substitute are even HARDER to deal for sun teams as they force sacrifices from the sun user

Chandelure Counters
Chandelure obviously has a bunch of checks/counters if not everyone would be using it,
:ss/kommo-o: :ss/incineroar: :ss/chansey:
This 3 are chandelure's true counters, as they can all reliably switch in into its attack thanks to their resistances, immunities or in general just their stupidly high bulk. Both incineroar and kommo-o get worn down quickly as they lack reliable recovery and can get put into overheat range relatively quickly, Also both Chansey and Kommo-o lose to the other two sets previously mentioned, it is important to keep that in my mind if you are using chandelure or fighting against it.
And regarding checks basically everything faster that packs a super-effective or even neutral strong hit can ko chandy, some examples are:
:azumarill: :crawdaunt: :krookodile: :terrakion: :lycanroc-dusk: :zygarde-10%: :zarude: :gyarados:

Chandelure plays very similar to banded victini, coming in launching an incredibly strong attack and fleeing after that, Chandelure isnt the easiest pokemon to slap on teams because it requieres heavy support and struggles with coming in and dealing with some popular mons, but its ability to break some incrediby bulky mons for its teammates to capitalize on that, and it has returned to the meta as (the only) ghost type nuke (aegislash doesnt count >:c )
So I encourage you all to give a try to chandelure as it is a worhy member of the UU tier :).

BTW: here are some damage calcs if u wanna see the power of chandelure by yourself
252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowking: 428-506 (108.6 - 128.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 546-644 (135.1 - 159.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Conkeldurr: 535-630 (129.2 - 152.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 542-638 (136.1 - 160.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 374-444 (93.9 - 111.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 348-410 (107.4 - 126.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Amoonguss: 438-516 (101.6 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 313-369 (103.9 - 122.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 44+ SpD Primarina: 180-213 (49.5 - 58.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Nihilego: 184-217 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Rotom-Wash: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 1824-2148 (649.1 - 764.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
DIE SCIZOR

252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chandelure: 168-198 (64.3 - 75.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock


A Team using Chandelure
This is a little team that I have been having fun with, this team goes fairly well with the current meta as a Bulky Offense, use this if u want something that doesnt use the new mons or screens and isnt completely gimmicky. (This gang loses to stall and suicune tho :c)
:ss/kommo-o: :ss/rotom-wash: :ss/celesteela: :ss/chandelure: :ss/hatterene: :ss/diggersby:
https://pokepast.es/d82233d7b8f56864

Even if some of the things I talked about were fairly obvious I hope this helps someone.
Thanks for coming to my Tedtalk.
 
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