It's extremely vindicating for me and my anti-gyarados agenda to see that it's below the big name UUBLs on the rise as well as several OUs people are saying were "falling off" like Jolteon. Cloyster is absolutely better than Gyarados but this is usage and not viability.
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Resource ADV OU Viability Ranking and Metagame Discussion
- Thread starter McMeghan
- Start date
I’d argue jolt is seeing a little bit of a resurgence due to trends it never “fell off”. Just has always been on the lower end of ou. All of these lower end ou mons are very divisive, opinions vary a lot on them. really makes no difference if gyara is ranked below kou or registeel as both of those should probably be ou soon. And regardless gyara is not going to drop from ou. Your “anti Gyara propaganda” had no sway on my ranking of it ftr.
Jolt is great idk ppl seem to use it all the time but its ranking / the way ppl talk about it dont reflect this. It compresses a role with ttar/skarm/gengar which is valuable for all the usual gengar ruining a slot reasons etc. Real archetype esp with all the offense hype now
That said its viability is always going to be limited bc its really not consistent but yea
Hi, on behalf of the UUBL community I am asking you all to please keep Registeel in UUBL.
You can have Raikou, but the tier would suffer without Registeel.
Honestly, seeing Registeel be exceptionally useful in mixed offense given how poor Snorlax & Rest Zap perform (Lax is better on weather clear, Rest Zap is better with aromatherapy support) made me glad to play ADV OU.
Think all my experience playing DPP UU, where Registeel is a fantastic defensive pivot, has carried over to ADV OU
Think all my experience playing DPP UU, where Registeel is a fantastic defensive pivot, has carried over to ADV OU
This is reason enough to keep Registeel UUBL. Like he's objectively good enough to be tiered as OU but let's do a bit of community service and keep Registeel in UUBL. <3
INSIGHTS:
- Swampert 2 because EndPert is actually OP. Teams need faster mon or +2 recover mons (or perfect play) for it to not go 2 for 1. Stop subbing to 1% all the time and focus on getting Endeavors at 50 or 26-33%. Those are where the real value lies in. Its also excellent at farming Rest Suicune. OffPert has become rather worse in my view thanks to EndPert. Tect sets are still excellent but need to be played more proactively in case of Spikes Off (or even Big 4 styles) so it doesnt end up being too much of a spikes bait
- Zap low because Zap Spikes Off is a bit more one dimensional and overprepped vs. Zap Spikes Balance usually has phys defense issues and is harder and harder to run for the same reasons as Zap Spikes Off, usually wout the outplay potential. Zapdos wout Aero is much more inconsistent against defense and offense alike. The loss of SpeedPass also makes Spikeless Zap harder and harder to truly pull off because it never does enough in either Offense or Defense MU wout Spikes support so at the end its really reliant on Dug to make it work Spikeless-wise which introduces a lot of awnkardness that Trapper Offense usually has to work with, mainly rigidity issues and defensive issues. That combined with the fact that Zap on Spikeless usually is trying to do too much to the point it becomes rigid makes said Offenses usually worse. Basically all of this is to say theres a reason the best Slop always ran Cele/Kou
- Gar should be higher as it gets immense value, is good against Slop and V5 (but not autowin status as Gar fanatics like to claim), its also good at switching into Pert and is able to give momentum for Spikeless via Boom and its specific target luring (Wisp Dol, Boom Zap/Cele due to using Bolt+Grass)
- Jira should be even lower honestly. Its a weird mon to slot all around and ends up usually creating issues defensively like Gar does. Thing is Jira isnt nearly as potent at potential autowin than Gar is imo. Not only that but Gar has Boom which is usually more instant value and gives it a more specific function on Spikeless other than "it beats stall, lol". CM Jira, Mix Jira and Wish Jira are all really A tier type of sets but the fact is "The Structure" becomes weaker because its defensive value is secondary at best and too auxiliary. It doesnt provide any main functions or specific luring, this makes it rather restricted to Spikes if you want more value out of it or you have to accept its merely a stallbreaker in your Spikeless and make the Offense MU worse in return. On the teams it does work though, it can be downright unfair but again its like Gengar in that way
- Meta is lower than usual because Regis can fulfill its momentum reversing role and it often ends up making Offense too specially weak. It is also somewhat awnkard vs Skarm either way and Agility needs quite a lot of support to get going imo (usually Ttar+Spikes or Ttar+EndPert), oftentimes it will need a Mence either way in case of Spikeless so it cant fully replace Mence on its "aero handler" role. MixMeta is worse than usual due to Registeel stonewalling it forever and the usual Meta issues. It is a bit too reliant on booming to break through defense while making your team frailer in return usually. It does need to be said however that Meta still is the best offensively wise, its just that with such a high octane breaker like EndPert, you can sacrifice some offense for much more needed stability and it usually doesnt destroy your flow/momentum either way. Meta+Spikes (esp wout Spin) is always so awnkard due to weak phys backbone and propensity to let Skarm roam too freely. It is worth noting the much better MU vs Lax is indeed quite valuable
- Registeel is high due to its ability to trade (twave, toxic, ct, boom) and able to provide flexibility and defense to offense wout sacking flow/momentum. Its boom is able to lure many great targets as well (natcures and the usual ground types) which makes it amazing for physspam. It is good on Spikes Off for the same reasons, I prefer Tox to progress better into NatCures and able to press Bliss but Counter is the golden standard and able to trade even better vs Meta, which is valuable for some teams. Spower can have potential as a Metagross substitute on some specific builds or even alongside Blissey. I usually never drop TW/Boom/Stoss, I think you could get away w dropping Stoss but its ability to cover all Lead Zap is very appealing so I dont do it
- Cele should likely be higher but tbh Cele SpikeOff hasnt felt that good in a long time and Recover Cele has the same old issues. Super is insane and actually very underrated, its able to trade up w tanks and birds alike which makes it a excellent support for all sort of weirdness. Recover Cele+Bliss is also pretty nice and Recover Cele teams in general could use a bit of a comeback as Cele is able to stonewall quite a lot of mons and Leech is very spammable nowadays, its still amazing at beating Fat as well and honestly CM/Seed/Giga/HP (Elec or Fire) is the best set at doing that, though recently its been souring on me as I have been realizing most Spikeless probably should use Super as the 3 move coverage is crazy great. Leech 3+Spikes vs Fat is still excellent but it always needed a level of precision that you just cant consistently ask for
- Milo, Dug and V5 as a whole are still great. Claydol is a centerpiece on it and other Fats which is why its high. Most Fat wout Claydol is incredibely flawed in some way and usually shouldnt be ran. As much as I like to shit on Cune + Dol offense, its honestly somewhat fine. It is able to chokehold many MUs due to the strenght of Rest Suicune but it still has so many issues of rigidity that are intensified with the removal of SpeedPass Zapdos which helped immensely defensively and offensively
- OffCune (3A) is neat but it is still somewhat limiting. Needs spikes or just be placed alongside EndPert on Slop, if ur using sandless I reccomend just sticking to Sub or Rest. Though I think Sub is only really used to fish people, either way Cune is the only other way to consistently make usable to good Offense. Offense needs either Cune or Mence or it cant be consistent. This applies to trapper offenses too (Mag or Dug Offense often wants Cune, and Mag teams practically cant drop Mence). This is especially true thanks to SpeedPass Zapdos's ban. There are few exceptions that truly "work" wout either of two and its usually Zap+Dug+Ttar that barely reaches "usable" status
- Jolt is actually pretty good. Great spikeoff at both farming opp SpikeOff and Slop, honestly it feels like the best time to use Jolteon is nowadays
- Forre balance and its adjacents really suffer. They often dont have enough tools to handle MUs like Slop or CuneDol. They are pretty fine vs stuff like Zap SpikeOff and other SpikeOffs but it still feels very awnkard to play with it. The saving grace is that Gar versions feel better than they used to, for both Skarm and Forre versions of the Big 4 (Ttar/Spiker/Bliss/Pert) and if its Skarm its surprisingly good vs Slop and even CuneDol regardless of the +2 choice (which imo shud usually be one of the OU steel-types + Aero/Mence/Firebird) but even so they always had this fatal flaw vs V5 as well, especially now with Thief+DP Skarm being spammed in such teams. Meta>Pert versions are always pretty frail. These teams often feel better wout Ttar too if they employ Spinners
- Mence / Aero are indispensible for the playstyles they often find themselves in. Mence is practically mandatory for at least 90% of usable offenses, if not more and Aero often finds itself as the best choice of bird for both Spikes Balance and Spikes Off. Not only that but it usually potencializes Zapdos in a way no other mon can. Both of these mons share various similar traits of both being good vs Offense and Fat and being the CMer check of most builds. I put Mence higher because it has more team range than Aero does but make no mistake, the best Spikes Off always historically used Aero for a reason
- The DefMie and P2 are coming back soon.
SAMURAI MONK WISDOM 8.
Few understand.
Made another VR bc my opinions have been influenced by my time using el classico and registeel classico
- My bespised. You're so fucking good that you outclass almost everything else that goes in your slot. Genuinely top 4 I think.
- I've been using you in the lead slot less and you're still amazing. My GOAT bird.
- You're an asshole and we love you.
- I fucking hate you. I hate using you and I hate playing against you. I hate how you mandate defpert on all of my recent teams. Your speed tie is the worst in the tier. I hate how you solve a bunch of problems in late game for spikes teams. I genuinely despise this fuckass fossil but can't deny its efficacy. Edit: Draw and quarter whoever highlighted lead sub pressure aerodactyl. I hope you stub your toe every day for the rest of your life.
- showdown needs an AI that detects lastmon snorlaxes and gives their opponents as many crits as it needs to beat them.
- Defgon + Gengar beats every aerodactyl endgame if you haven't managed to status the gon.
- Breloom but better but worse but with a movepool.
The worst speed control of all time. Useful if you're really sick of aero's shit and also forget that Electrode doesn't actually do any damage.
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Cune kinda low, also crazy Arcanine sneak.View attachment 786900
Made another VR bc my opinions have been influenced by my time using el classico and registeel classico
Celdanami convinced me arcanine has sauce idc what anyone else says
Sorry for the delay on this. I have had a very busy last few months.
The submissions for the 2025 ADV VR can be found here, under tab R13.
Without further ado, here is the VR:
S:
A1:
A2:
A3:
B1:
B2:
C1:
C2:
D:
The first post will be updated when I get home from work later today. Thank you for your patience!
The submissions for the 2025 ADV VR can be found here, under tab R13.
Huge shoutout to Princess Autumn who helped with both the collection of data as well as transposing it into the raw data sheet. Shoutout to Endill mielke Zpanther for helping keep the VR on track for release.
Shoutout to Sadlysius for running the script for the last 2 years, as well as vapicuno for creating the script as well as quality checking the results.
Shoutout to Sadlysius for running the script for the last 2 years, as well as vapicuno for creating the script as well as quality checking the results.
Without further ado, here is the VR:
S:
A1:
A2:
A3:
B1:
B2:
C1:
C2:
D:
I haven't really been following the metagame that much. Blissey used to be #2 about 7 years back so its not necessarily a surprise. I think it's just that people have been finding that gar isn't really a threat especially if sand is cleared so monobliss with twave and aroma is very powerful. The other interesting increases are dug and mie. Kou and steel up are expected. Molt on the downfall is rather interesting.
Mie up is probably the most interesting development from this VR.
Mie up is probably the most interesting development from this VR.
The first post will be updated when I get home from work later today. Thank you for your patience!
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Big jump for registeel, and gyara feels awfully low in comparison. I do wonder what the ou cut off is cuz raikou seems to be doing well while loom, cloy, and gyara not so much..
Let's talk trends.
Tyranitar retained its top spot, however we once again saw the margin grow slimmer, continuing a trend we have seen for years at this point in the post-ABR world of ADV OU. Tar's average rank is now all the way down to 1.61, while Skarmory's is all the way up to 1.86. For the first time, it seems truly realistic that Skarm could take this top spot at some point.
Blissey went from the #6 spot last cycle to the #3 spot this cycle (average ranking jumping from 6.71 to 3.75). This isn't entirely new territory for Bliss, but it has been a number of years since it has been placed this highly. This ranking is at odds with popular perception of Big 5 teams (Tyranitar / Skarmory / Blissey / Swampert / Gengar / +1) seemingly being at a low point. However, in contrast, popular perception of Bliss + Spin teams has never been higher. One of the top trends of the past couple years in ADV OU has certainly been the increasing optimization of defensively oriented Dugtrio teams, leading some to even advocate for the banning of Dugtrio. Blissey is essential on all of these teams, as Dugtrio can forcibly remove many of her checks (Tyranitar, Metagross, Fighting-types, Calm Minders), and when further paired with a spinner and possibly even weather clear, Bliss becomes extremely oppressive. ABR's presence is again felt here as Blissey absolutely loves the increasingly trendy sandless environments. In theory, Gengar (and especially Taunt Gengar) should hugely threaten these teams, especially since the Bliss set that has really ticked up in usage on such teams (TWave / SToss / Aromatherapy / Softboiled) is a Bliss that is walled by Taunt Gar. However, if you're pairing Blissey with a spinner, you are very reliably forcing a trade with Gengar. It's well established that Gengar's utility is much harder to leverage once it has lost any of its health, and for that reason even in a matchup that Gengar can dominate on paper, it will never really 6-0 alone. It's also hard for Gengar to truly abuse even the MonoBliss set if there is no sand. We have also notably seen some renewed love for Defensive Starmie + Bliss teams, more on that later.
Zapdos fell from the #5 spot to #6 (average ranking of 7.18 vs last cycle's 5.82). We've seen the ZapDug offense style that really dominated a few years or so ago on a downward swing for some time now. It may also be worth mentioning the banning of SpeedPass. In general, Zapdos seems to find itself in somewhat of a weird spot currently. To me, it seems to be kind of just a "default good" mon that works fine as a filler in a number of places, but is lacking a spot where it is truly essential. We'll see if this trend continues.
Salamence is down just a touch. When it comes to MixMence, I think what I said about Zapdos could very much apply ("default good" but not essential). We've seen Charizard encroach some on the spikes teams MixMence used to find a home on as well. DD is less replaceable I reckon; and the proliferation of the so-called "Slop" archetype has been a solid boon for Mence that will likely keep it from falling much more.
Dugtrio rose from #13 last cycle to #11 this cycle (average ranking going from 13.36 to 11.07). Dug is an interesting case, because usage wise I don't believe it has really risen (18.75% in SPL 2024 vs 17% in SPL 2025, 20.37% in Jimvitational 1 vs 17.84% in Jimvitational 2), and in fact its usage in general may be more polarized than ever. This ranking difference clearly is a reflection of the centralization many are feeling around defensive Dugtrio squads that I detailed when talking about Blissey as well perhaps more of an acknowledgement than in the past of the ways Dugtrio "warps" the tier earning it some respect in the context of a Viability Ranking.
Celebi dropped from #11 to #13 (average down to 12.61 from 10.82). According to the data on the sheet, this is actually the lowest recorded point Celebi has ever reached. That probably sounds more dramatic than necessary; it has always been around this spot and it's not like it has plummeted. I also can't really foresee Celebi going much lower than this. To me, this ranking acknowledges that the time of Fruhdazi-style Celebi spikes offenses circa 2023/2024 being super popular has largely passed. Perception of Aerodactyl and Fire-types has steadily risen over the years, and that surely hurts Celebi a bit as well.
Starmie only rose one place, however its average ranking spiked from 16.29 to 13.39. Defensive Starmie has seen somewhat of a renaissance in terms of popular perception. Skarpherim had an insane ladder peak of 2036 late last year using it that really kicked things off I think. The so-called "Unemployed 6" has also really reached staple status. Gengar has become increasingly more limited to spikes offenses such as El Clásico and JoltSpikes-type teams, while at the same time Skarmory has only gained ubiquity (and moreover ProTox Skarmory has become less and less common in favor of Drill Peck). This really increases the appeal of DefMie and there are seemingly more matchups it can really dominate than in the past. We've also seen max speed max special attack Starmie with Surf / Ice Beam / Recover / Rapid Spin popping up more and more as a compressor that can still perform well vs Peck Skarm and retain many of the upsides of Offensive Starmie.
Moltres fell pretty hard from #19 to #23 (average ranking fell from 19.62 to 23.00). Last cycle had actually technically been a peak for Molt, although it had hung around the same spot for some time. This fall can pretty easily be explained by the increase of Charizard spikes teams. In the past, although not necessarily a hard-and-fast rule, the choice of which Fire-type to use often came down to the very basic heuristic that if the team was spikeless, Charizard was used (since it doesn't need spikes to threaten/punish Blissey), and if it had spikes Moltres was used. Charizard is now often preferred even on some spikes teams for a few reasons, such as being a little better as a Gengar pivot, and just the increased general flexibility Zard's speed provides. Molt/Zard had long been close to or right next to each other on the VR, but now have a whole 5 mons inbetween them. It will be interesting to follow whether this gap only increases in the future.
If you've followed ADV at all over the past year-ish, you know these two have really been the talk of the town. Registeel has found itself as a solid filler on a whole swath of teams. It's kind of the same story as Claydol's rise some years back. Mixed bulk and Explosion means you can act as a half check to just about everything and that fact makes it something you can use to button up all sorts of more offensively oriented teams. Raikou has appreciated most of the recent meta trends such as the deterioration of Big 5 teams (and Blissey being used in more predictable structures in general that you can use to your advantage), the increased polarization of Dugtrio teams (although Raikou + Blissey teams also do a great job of turning the tables in those matchups anyways), the popularity of El Clásico (a team Raikou is pretty great vs), etc etc. The only question is how much higher these two can go. It certainly seems it would be quite justifiable to rise both to OU status at this point.
Vaporeon rose pretty significantly. I'm not gonna put too much stock into just how much it rose because rankings after the OU mons are obviously a lot more fickle and thus liable to bigger swings. There was a bit of hysteria around Nal's DDPass team featuring Vaporeon this past summer that probably put Vap more on people's minds, and submissions for the VR were beginning to be accepted before the SpeedPass ban. Besides that, Defensive Vaporeon has picked up a bit in usage among top level players after being mostly disregarded for some time.
Tyranitar retained its top spot, however we once again saw the margin grow slimmer, continuing a trend we have seen for years at this point in the post-ABR world of ADV OU. Tar's average rank is now all the way down to 1.61, while Skarmory's is all the way up to 1.86. For the first time, it seems truly realistic that Skarm could take this top spot at some point.
Blissey went from the #6 spot last cycle to the #3 spot this cycle (average ranking jumping from 6.71 to 3.75). This isn't entirely new territory for Bliss, but it has been a number of years since it has been placed this highly. This ranking is at odds with popular perception of Big 5 teams (Tyranitar / Skarmory / Blissey / Swampert / Gengar / +1) seemingly being at a low point. However, in contrast, popular perception of Bliss + Spin teams has never been higher. One of the top trends of the past couple years in ADV OU has certainly been the increasing optimization of defensively oriented Dugtrio teams, leading some to even advocate for the banning of Dugtrio. Blissey is essential on all of these teams, as Dugtrio can forcibly remove many of her checks (Tyranitar, Metagross, Fighting-types, Calm Minders), and when further paired with a spinner and possibly even weather clear, Bliss becomes extremely oppressive. ABR's presence is again felt here as Blissey absolutely loves the increasingly trendy sandless environments. In theory, Gengar (and especially Taunt Gengar) should hugely threaten these teams, especially since the Bliss set that has really ticked up in usage on such teams (TWave / SToss / Aromatherapy / Softboiled) is a Bliss that is walled by Taunt Gar. However, if you're pairing Blissey with a spinner, you are very reliably forcing a trade with Gengar. It's well established that Gengar's utility is much harder to leverage once it has lost any of its health, and for that reason even in a matchup that Gengar can dominate on paper, it will never really 6-0 alone. It's also hard for Gengar to truly abuse even the MonoBliss set if there is no sand. We have also notably seen some renewed love for Defensive Starmie + Bliss teams, more on that later.
Zapdos fell from the #5 spot to #6 (average ranking of 7.18 vs last cycle's 5.82). We've seen the ZapDug offense style that really dominated a few years or so ago on a downward swing for some time now. It may also be worth mentioning the banning of SpeedPass. In general, Zapdos seems to find itself in somewhat of a weird spot currently. To me, it seems to be kind of just a "default good" mon that works fine as a filler in a number of places, but is lacking a spot where it is truly essential. We'll see if this trend continues.
Salamence is down just a touch. When it comes to MixMence, I think what I said about Zapdos could very much apply ("default good" but not essential). We've seen Charizard encroach some on the spikes teams MixMence used to find a home on as well. DD is less replaceable I reckon; and the proliferation of the so-called "Slop" archetype has been a solid boon for Mence that will likely keep it from falling much more.
Dugtrio rose from #13 last cycle to #11 this cycle (average ranking going from 13.36 to 11.07). Dug is an interesting case, because usage wise I don't believe it has really risen (18.75% in SPL 2024 vs 17% in SPL 2025, 20.37% in Jimvitational 1 vs 17.84% in Jimvitational 2), and in fact its usage in general may be more polarized than ever. This ranking difference clearly is a reflection of the centralization many are feeling around defensive Dugtrio squads that I detailed when talking about Blissey as well perhaps more of an acknowledgement than in the past of the ways Dugtrio "warps" the tier earning it some respect in the context of a Viability Ranking.
Celebi dropped from #11 to #13 (average down to 12.61 from 10.82). According to the data on the sheet, this is actually the lowest recorded point Celebi has ever reached. That probably sounds more dramatic than necessary; it has always been around this spot and it's not like it has plummeted. I also can't really foresee Celebi going much lower than this. To me, this ranking acknowledges that the time of Fruhdazi-style Celebi spikes offenses circa 2023/2024 being super popular has largely passed. Perception of Aerodactyl and Fire-types has steadily risen over the years, and that surely hurts Celebi a bit as well.
Starmie only rose one place, however its average ranking spiked from 16.29 to 13.39. Defensive Starmie has seen somewhat of a renaissance in terms of popular perception. Skarpherim had an insane ladder peak of 2036 late last year using it that really kicked things off I think. The so-called "Unemployed 6" has also really reached staple status. Gengar has become increasingly more limited to spikes offenses such as El Clásico and JoltSpikes-type teams, while at the same time Skarmory has only gained ubiquity (and moreover ProTox Skarmory has become less and less common in favor of Drill Peck). This really increases the appeal of DefMie and there are seemingly more matchups it can really dominate than in the past. We've also seen max speed max special attack Starmie with Surf / Ice Beam / Recover / Rapid Spin popping up more and more as a compressor that can still perform well vs Peck Skarm and retain many of the upsides of Offensive Starmie.
Moltres fell pretty hard from #19 to #23 (average ranking fell from 19.62 to 23.00). Last cycle had actually technically been a peak for Molt, although it had hung around the same spot for some time. This fall can pretty easily be explained by the increase of Charizard spikes teams. In the past, although not necessarily a hard-and-fast rule, the choice of which Fire-type to use often came down to the very basic heuristic that if the team was spikeless, Charizard was used (since it doesn't need spikes to threaten/punish Blissey), and if it had spikes Moltres was used. Charizard is now often preferred even on some spikes teams for a few reasons, such as being a little better as a Gengar pivot, and just the increased general flexibility Zard's speed provides. Molt/Zard had long been close to or right next to each other on the VR, but now have a whole 5 mons inbetween them. It will be interesting to follow whether this gap only increases in the future.
If you've followed ADV at all over the past year-ish, you know these two have really been the talk of the town. Registeel has found itself as a solid filler on a whole swath of teams. It's kind of the same story as Claydol's rise some years back. Mixed bulk and Explosion means you can act as a half check to just about everything and that fact makes it something you can use to button up all sorts of more offensively oriented teams. Raikou has appreciated most of the recent meta trends such as the deterioration of Big 5 teams (and Blissey being used in more predictable structures in general that you can use to your advantage), the increased polarization of Dugtrio teams (although Raikou + Blissey teams also do a great job of turning the tables in those matchups anyways), the popularity of El Clásico (a team Raikou is pretty great vs), etc etc. The only question is how much higher these two can go. It certainly seems it would be quite justifiable to rise both to OU status at this point.
Vaporeon rose pretty significantly. I'm not gonna put too much stock into just how much it rose because rankings after the OU mons are obviously a lot more fickle and thus liable to bigger swings. There was a bit of hysteria around Nal's DDPass team featuring Vaporeon this past summer that probably put Vap more on people's minds, and submissions for the VR were beginning to be accepted before the SpeedPass ban. Besides that, Defensive Vaporeon has picked up a bit in usage among top level players after being mostly disregarded for some time.
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Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Breloom’s been on a downwards trajectory for a while now I feel like, but only now after seeing your guys’ new VR at I really examine just how much the rise of Medicham hurt this thing. Medicham is slightly faster and stronger thanks to Pure Power, and Tyranitar still being Top 2 regardless of whether or not it’s Top 1 anymore, Blissey rising back into the upper ranks and Registeel serving as a Fighting-weak replacement Metagross replacement on some teams, one would think Breloom, with access to Spore and priority Mach Punch, would at least have some kind of niche. Right?
Right now I would say the meta feels very Spikes and Rapid Spin centric, and I feel like this is another area Medicham does better over Breloom, having Shadow Ball to hit Gengar and the spinners, and I’m also willing to bet Medicham is better at taking advantage of a choice-locked Dugtrio on Spikes Stall teams. With Spikes (Skarmory) rising and Sand (Tyranitar) falling, I would also not be surprised if Lum Berry is becoming more common especially for Pokémon that are already Spikes-immune.
Please take everything I say here with the knowledge that my skills in the game are fairly rusty and I don’t really know that much about the tournament scene. Most of the time I only have access to ladder statistics which only tell a fraction of the story. These are just my observations coming from a literal casual.