Taking a moment to talk about some things that have been on my mind.
A few thoughts on teambuilding: it was absolute pain at the start of the generation but I feel like its stabilizing a bit as long as you don't slap on three brokens and hope they synergize together. Pokemon like
and others have unique traits that allow them to cover mus a chi-yu / annihilape / gholdengo /etc ... can't.
There are a ton of new fun (and sometimes better!) cores to explore once ppl stop spamming chiyu/dirge/arcanine + dozo/azu/bundle.
Secondly, the more I think about it, the more I feel like Chi-yu is not a healthy influence on the meta.
I have compiled a list of counters/generally solid answers to it below though I think that analyzing it only through the lens of a vacuum doesn't do it justice. At preview Chi-yu struggles to ever beat less than 1.5/3 of the opposing team and oftentimes can soft 3-0 or help break down the opposing team structure by narrowing down what sets opposing pokemon are. It exerts ridiculous pressure on the opposing team - nothing resists its stabs + psychic / hyper beam.
Setguessing it is a nightmare because if you pair it with any other minimally versatile pokemon you can hide its set pretty well.
While it does have more hard counters than annihilape each of its sets cover larger portions of the meta. With av it can beat EVERY special attacker bar mixed goodra and hard spdef stall. Specs obliterates non resists and I fear the day ppl start running bulk and it starts beating all the av/scarf mons that try to beat it while not resisting its dual stabs. Scarf doesn't cover as much as other sets but the surprise factor and the ability to pick off faster threats that think they can ohko you adds a level of unpredictability at preview that only favors the chi-yu user. Imo having an effective base special attack stat of 186 and ok speed for a breaker along with far too good special defense and only somewhat lacking physdef is what pushes it over the edge and over and above the rest of the meta. Of the four types supereffective against it, fighting, ground, rock, water, only rock resists its strongest stab and currently we have half a viable rock type. Water types are often forced to max their spdef in order to tank its hits and fightings that beat it generally need some way to boost their speed to try and not drop to its attacks. Overall I fear that its presence is overbearing and should be looked into.
- band wins pretty handily, though curse really wants to run lefties and more physbulk and isn't really allowed to do either.
- IMO av is an incredibly mid set that loses to sableye and dirge but lorb/choice band still do pretty well.
forced into lum is not terrible as it can use it to fake beat dirge.
incredibly overrated IMO as it has 0 useful coverage bar heavy slam (and even with it it struggles vs fairies) + its bad speed tier its a bit of a sitting duck but one thing it does well is ruination -> eq to win reliably.
this mon is struggling imo, maybe someone's made a cool set, but one thing it does is beat chiyu + gholdengo reliably.
you need to run eq or else u lose to av chiyu and also need to be careful around WP but acid spray -> move should win.
kinda bad rn, doesnt beat ghold, can't beat sylv + arcanine in one set. Struggles with item/evs.
another middle of the pack dark type that does ok as a scarfer but doesn't really stand out as having any exceptional traits.
run a stab move or else crit bait but reasonably solid.
who uses this?
valiant can run a physical fighting move to 100% but often doesn't, usually favorable for it, though I've seen occasional fire + beam coverage on chiyu which wins vs moonblast. Non speedbooster sets lose to scarf chiyu though that isn't a huge deal.
its a mess of a mu but wisp chi-yu has real chances to beat most iron hands, at best ihands needs to setguess
depending on bulk and speed its a bit of a mess of a mu, at best arcanine needs to setguess.
you CAN run obese av and win by surprise factor though if u get wisped gg. Speed booster does p well tho against anything but scarf.
guts is goated but you need to setguess specs vs nonspecs as cc on WP loses.
almost very reliably wins with spdef invest but I've gotten finessed by flame charge -> dark pulse from WP Chi-yu.
this mon is so bad and literally doesn't win even with ada scarf against bulky variants. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen91v1-1760745971-emftbjuszps9pq97koqklkn2y6bw2f9pw
u do pretty okay with clear amulet until av runs payback. Normal sets lose to av chiyu.
you either run max max spdef wishtect cm or lose. Bulky specs does ok until u run into av chiyu.
you lose to av and sometimes scarf.
band wins vs non-scarf.
you can run obese specs and lose to av chiyu.
lose to scarf.
lose to wisp.
spdef bellibolt loses to nasty plot variants/can get rolled by modest specs.
High chance that i missed a pokemon or two but I hope it serves to give a general idea. Another thing that compounds the chi-yu problem is that a lot of its hard answers share weaknesses to common types/coverage or can be walled by strong physdef pokemon as they are mostly strong attackers.
takes a 1/16 roll vs modest specs bundle but having modest is important IMO. I clicked dark pulse little enough that I swapped it for payback, a Deddd tech to beat flutter mane 100%.
This set lives everything and is incredibly threatening to weak pokemon that hope to snipe chi-yu and bank on only WP chiyu being bulky. It has a very favorable roll vs speed booster great tusk which I think is hilarious.
A bit of bulk for specs zone/specs flutter moonblast is nice.
A few thoughts on teambuilding: it was absolute pain at the start of the generation but I feel like its stabilizing a bit as long as you don't slap on three brokens and hope they synergize together. Pokemon like
and others have unique traits that allow them to cover mus a chi-yu / annihilape / gholdengo /etc ... can't.There are a ton of new fun (and sometimes better!) cores to explore once ppl stop spamming chiyu/dirge/arcanine + dozo/azu/bundle.
Secondly, the more I think about it, the more I feel like Chi-yu is not a healthy influence on the meta.
I have compiled a list of counters/generally solid answers to it below though I think that analyzing it only through the lens of a vacuum doesn't do it justice. At preview Chi-yu struggles to ever beat less than 1.5/3 of the opposing team and oftentimes can soft 3-0 or help break down the opposing team structure by narrowing down what sets opposing pokemon are. It exerts ridiculous pressure on the opposing team - nothing resists its stabs + psychic / hyper beam.
Setguessing it is a nightmare because if you pair it with any other minimally versatile pokemon you can hide its set pretty well.
While it does have more hard counters than annihilape each of its sets cover larger portions of the meta. With av it can beat EVERY special attacker bar mixed goodra and hard spdef stall. Specs obliterates non resists and I fear the day ppl start running bulk and it starts beating all the av/scarf mons that try to beat it while not resisting its dual stabs. Scarf doesn't cover as much as other sets but the surprise factor and the ability to pick off faster threats that think they can ohko you adds a level of unpredictability at preview that only favors the chi-yu user. Imo having an effective base special attack stat of 186 and ok speed for a breaker along with far too good special defense and only somewhat lacking physdef is what pushes it over the edge and over and above the rest of the meta. Of the four types supereffective against it, fighting, ground, rock, water, only rock resists its strongest stab and currently we have half a viable rock type. Water types are often forced to max their spdef in order to tank its hits and fightings that beat it generally need some way to boost their speed to try and not drop to its attacks. Overall I fear that its presence is overbearing and should be looked into.
- band wins pretty handily, though curse really wants to run lefties and more physbulk and isn't really allowed to do either. - IMO av is an incredibly mid set that loses to sableye and dirge but lorb/choice band still do pretty well. forced into lum is not terrible as it can use it to fake beat dirge. incredibly overrated IMO as it has 0 useful coverage bar heavy slam (and even with it it struggles vs fairies) + its bad speed tier its a bit of a sitting duck but one thing it does well is ruination -> eq to win reliably. this mon is struggling imo, maybe someone's made a cool set, but one thing it does is beat chiyu + gholdengo reliably. you need to run eq or else u lose to av chiyu and also need to be careful around WP but acid spray -> move should win. kinda bad rn, doesnt beat ghold, can't beat sylv + arcanine in one set. Struggles with item/evs. another middle of the pack dark type that does ok as a scarfer but doesn't really stand out as having any exceptional traits. run a stab move or else crit bait but reasonably solid. who uses this? valiant can run a physical fighting move to 100% but often doesn't, usually favorable for it, though I've seen occasional fire + beam coverage on chiyu which wins vs moonblast. Non speedbooster sets lose to scarf chiyu though that isn't a huge deal. its a mess of a mu but wisp chi-yu has real chances to beat most iron hands, at best ihands needs to setguess depending on bulk and speed its a bit of a mess of a mu, at best arcanine needs to setguess. you CAN run obese av and win by surprise factor though if u get wisped gg. Speed booster does p well tho against anything but scarf. guts is goated but you need to setguess specs vs nonspecs as cc on WP loses. almost very reliably wins with spdef invest but I've gotten finessed by flame charge -> dark pulse from WP Chi-yu. this mon is so bad and literally doesn't win even with ada scarf against bulky variants. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen91v1-1760745971-emftbjuszps9pq97koqklkn2y6bw2f9pw u do pretty okay with clear amulet until av runs payback. Normal sets lose to av chiyu. you either run max max spdef wishtect cm or lose. Bulky specs does ok until u run into av chiyu. you lose to av and sometimes scarf. band wins vs non-scarf. you can run obese specs and lose to av chiyu. lose to scarf. lose to wisp. spdef bellibolt loses to nasty plot variants/can get rolled by modest specs.High chance that i missed a pokemon or two but I hope it serves to give a general idea. Another thing that compounds the chi-yu problem is that a lot of its hard answers share weaknesses to common types/coverage or can be walled by strong physdef pokemon as they are mostly strong attackers.
Code:
Chi-Yu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beads of Ruin
EVs: 248 HP / 20 SpA / 240 SpD
Modest Nature
- Snarl
- Payback
- Overheat
- Ruination
Code:
Chi-Yu @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beads of Ruin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Overheat
- Dark Pulse
- Psychic
- Hyper Beam
Code:
Chi-Yu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beads of Ruin
EVs: 84 HP / 248 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Dark Pulse
- Psychic
- Hyper Beam
Chi-Yu - 6 
:annhilliappe: 
Greninja drop 1v1 has seen a bit of a drop in activity and not a lot of players really care for the state of this metagame, due to the fact that Home is supposedly dropping semi-soon and PL signups are in imminent reach, so most people are waiting for either of the two before diving into the tier once more, which brings to the metagame being in somewhat of a dire state and people generally not caring to change it. I'm gonna be brief and to the point: you should. The Home release date has not been announced yet, and PL manager signups are less than two weeks from now, so every supposition that Home will be released before the actual PL start is based merely on speculation, and most likely false. With VGC series 2 being confirmed February 1st to March 31st, we've predicted that its likely for Home to be dropped somewhere between March 1st and April 1st, which brings to the 1v1 Premier Leaguer regular season having to go through various weeks of Pre Home metagame before effectively switching to Post Home, and potentially, if the drop is later than we anticipated (right now the only confirmation we have is that it'll be in spring, which is really broad), the entire tournament being pre home locked. I won't go into details about the specifics of each scenario but either way the chances that at least some of PL will have to be played in the current metagame is quite high.
Annihilape or