AAA Open is now officially over (congrats to Ivar!) and with its closing comes a flood of fairly good games to pour over and look at. As I was looking to ramble about the meta sometime anyway, AAA Open gives a good chance to look at some interesting statistics to analyse with the fairly large sample, though don't take too much from it.
= As much as Corviknight retains various haters within the community, as so far as to avoid it like the plague, its utility is still undeniable and lands at a comfy #1 position. Being one of the few viable removers we have and compressing great defensive use with its ability as a pivot makes it still the best glue for an immense amount of teams. While there is no ability usage statistics, Fluffy is by far the most popular set for its security against mons like Roaring Moon and the Fighting-types and specially defensive VA is also a fine pick that can let it flex its role.
= Great Tusk lands into a secure 2nd position in usage, being again one of the few viable removers but in comparison to Corviknight far less passive, retaining flexible use defensively and offensively with strong STABs useful in Moldy/Scrappy sets combined with Knock/Rocks able to exert extensive offensive pressure and its bulk + typing still affords the ability to check the likes of Roaring Moon and Kingambit, it's easy to see why GTusk lands itself high above the rest and there seems to be little reason it'll change any time soon.
↑ Roaring Moon has seen a steady slow rise from its position as a fine mon up to secure a well deserved 3rd position in usage and become a great staple. Offensively, it's flexible and extremely consistent. Knock + U-Turn practically guarantee it progress on any given turn, especially with such a strong STAB Knock that RMoon wields. Scarf sets abuse it to act as fantastic speed control that still can guarantee progress while Band sets take it further to focus on utilising it to break though somewhat set back by Fluffy Corv but not immensely. MGLO sets have also found popularity in recent weeks, able to really focus on spamming Knock + U-turn without Choice lock or being hindered by chip like omnipresent Rocks/Rocky Helmet as well as being able to retain defensive utility with Roost as a bulky Dragon-type on the special side for threats like Electrode/Iron Moth. RegenVest serves as a rarer option though for those who want to maximise the defensive utility they want out of RMoon on certain structures.
↑ Another mon that has seen a slow rise from its respectable position to being one of the pre-eminent defensive options on the special side, edging out 4th place. In part Empoleons rise can be attributed to the increasingly acknowledgment that Walking Wake is really really strong but has mostly just been about discovery as Swampert as fallen off. Empoleon's base in its typing and bulk are quite notable, with a good Water, Fairy and Psychic resist, letting it check the popular aforementioned Wake as well as Psysurge and STail check and being an ok Manaphy check which has risen. Combined with a movepool that is also quite respectable, with Knock/Rocks/Flip Turn letting it contribute progress consistently, it can fit on many teams quite comfortably as a easy glue and SpD blanket with a variety of abilities that just help to amplify its base utility.
= Gholdengo retains respectable usage, only barely losing to Empoleon to sit at 5th place. Gholdengo for the most part does what it likes to do, with immunities and its unique defensive profile it serves as a fine defensive glue while not being entirely passive with Nasty Plot letting it exert considerable offensive pressure. Arguably it has seen a small rise as Swampert has fallen off quite a bit, with Manaphy taking its place and being a bit more exploitable for Gholdengo with its lack of EQ and also ability to be hit with T-Wave and Hexed. EE has generally been the predominant ability, with WBB rare corresponding to the popularity of Fire-types and fine amount of resists/ways to outplay. More offensive sets like Scarf and particularly offensive sets like Hex MGLO/Specs have also cropped up rather recently which are rather interesting and I've tested to mild success but haven't made too much of a splash in Open but it could be interesting to see in OMPL.
↑ With the addition of Psychic Noise to its movepool as well as just general discovery, speedy PixiBurst has become extremely popular, pumping out results with one of the notably higher win rates. Able to chase out and soft check a myriad of mons like Walking Wake/Latios/Ogerpon formes and with other utility like Rocks/TWave or PsyNoise, STail can serve as an ever annoying progress maker on the field. I don't think the general meta conditions have affected STail too much, though offensive Steels like Heatran and Gholdengo are no longer at their absolute peak popularity, they generally dont appreciate PixiBurst/PsyNoise regardless.
↑ Manaphy has seen a return to forme, usurping Swampert as the premier RegenVest and Regen in general, almost seeming to approach mimicking its dominance in DLC1, though with greater competition and diversity in team structures seen it's unlikely to return to its monstrous peak. Its sheer utility in Knock Off, Scald and U-turn make sure it always keep up progress and annoy the opponent, with solid typing and bulk, critically resisting Water to act as a better Wake check and also not being quadruple weak to the various Grass-type moves flying around to snipe Swampert. Offensive sets have mostly fallen off, but Take Heart is still an interesting option for defensive Manaphy sets.
↑ Another who has seen a steady rise from its place of modicum to one of the most popular defensive glues and pivots within the tier. This is in large part due to the discovery of the Prankster set which pairs well with many of the more fast pace teams developing in the meta. With tremendous physical bulk, Pecharunt can act to soft check many like Zama-H and Hands and even come in and eat many super effective hits and exert pressure with Prankster Destiny Bond, combined with Prankster Parting Shot it can serve to act as a stopgap even against the majority of offensive threats, acting as a overall very useful compression on the defensive side. It does sport a uniquely low winrate, though not too low to be too much of a sign.
= Walking Wake has always been a strong breaker and the Open serves to confirm its place within the meta, boasting the highest usage rate of a true pure breaker. Specs power is truly spectacular, with Primordial Sea Weather Ball smashing through the majority of neutral walls, especially amplified with access to Knock Off. To attest to its strength further, recent meta developments have shown to its strength, with the rise of Manaphy/Empoleon in some part response to Wake strength being far too great for things like Swampert. Its quadruple Fire and Water resists also are fairly useful, just an extra cherry on top. Though now, the even more niche Water Absorb has seen usage in mons like Heatran and Gholdengo, which could spell a potential worse future for Wake but we'll see for stuff like Empoleon/Manaphy isn't even too secure and need to be kept healthy and other sets like DMaw can somewhat bypass these. Outside of Specs, Scarf also is strong for Knock + Pivot and its raw power even Scarfed make it a fine candidate though not as fast as entirely desirable, just to add to variety, making it no surprise why Wake secures such high usage.
= Not too much to say about Moth, it for the most part does what it always does with great utility and offensive presence, though Wake's strong usage has further secured Iron Moths utility as a Water immunity. TSpikes has seen a fair rise in amount of usage on Moth as well, being on almost half on them now, though not to extremely notable success as far as I can tell.
From now on, I'm just going to be talking about mons I find interesting to cut down on length as this is this is already probably a bit too long...
= Dragonite remains firmly quite good with just about the same tricks it has always used. Its typing and defensive utility is personally the more appealing part of DNite to me, able to check the likes of Moth, Heatran and Zama-H and a stopgap for others like Wake as those fishy all-out offensive sets are rather inconsistent but are undeniably somewhat strong, with an interestingly high winrate though these may be result of lower-level games. Bulkier Manaphy's popping up with Ice Beam are somewhat a nuisance though I've also seen some interesting Facade DNites for them, though not to too much success.
= Personally, I hate (to use) Zama-H and I am somewhat vindicated with its lower win-rate in Open even if it doesn't mean that much. With Fluffy and prime resists with STail/Pecha/Gholdengo/DNite being extremely popular, it feels rather awful to use Zama-H to me. Through the Open it has found alright usage at a shared 13th place and probably the most usage of the purely offensive Fighting-types, though that's not saying much as most has found fairly low usage nowadays. It can probably be built around to a degree as these aforementioned mons aren't impossible to bypass with coverage or support but... just use Slither Wing tbh...
= The lesser of the metal birds, Skarm has maintained a continued position as a niche option on generally fatter teams with its ability to setup Spikes and phaze as well. Its usage is a bit higher than I expected, though it has an oddly low winrate attached so... Corv stays winning. Ting-Lu has also risen up as a pre-eminent Spiker so I'm curious if Skarm can continue to maintain its position (also I saw some people using Wabs Skarm... wtf...)
↓ Swampert has seen a dramatic fall from grace from its position as the premier RegenVest/Regen in the earlier stages of the meta to falling out of favour from most experienced players with the majority preferring Manaphy to it, with a respectable usage but certainly nowhere near what it once was. With stuff like Wake roaming around and strong Grass coverage now used in adaption, Swamperts flaw become very exposed and its positives overshined with Gouging out of the picture and Electric-types not that hard to answer. As Manaphy reigns, it's doubtful Swampert will ever come to reclaim its crown for the foreseeable future.
= Heatran has gone through its ups and downs, falling off quite a bit from its dominance with MGLO back in Home and suffering under the reign of Manaphy in DLC1 though seeing neat exploration of various sets like Sub and Desoland in the meantime. Heatran continues to maintain a pretty respectable position with new sets like Water Absorb popularised for Walking Wake and the appreciated recovery. Manaphy's strength isn't entirely appreciated though Heatran maintains a plethora of utility in Wisp and Rocks to annoy it. Its low speed isn't the best in the faster pace the meta is up now but I think it has its neat strengths as a fairly neat mon defensively and as a progress maker, time will tell if it really catches on or not.
↓ I swear there was a moment where it had a load of hype, but it has mostly died off and Hands has settled into its ok position. Its usage and win-rate is mostly respectable, tying 19th with Azelf and Latios but I think it definitely did not live up to the hype. The increasing usage of STail/Pecharunt isn't exactly too favourable for Hands and while it isn't surmountable by any means with strong Electric STAB they are undeniable popular nuisances and its low speed can make it a bit annoying at times to get in for more offensive sets like MGLO that seem appealing. Bulkier EE sets have seen ok usage, with GTusk/RMoon ever popular and also the increasing rise of Ting-Lu, Iron Hands will continue to have a pretty fine niche but I don't think it's insanely special or great.
= Deo-S sits in a fine position currently, maintaining pace with other fairly popular breakers like CPao/Ceruledge/Latios. SFLO/Psysurge sets remain the most popular with some more niche sets like Protean also seeing some sparse usage. I have heard some form of hype behind Deo-S being kind of broken, which I dont really believe, but sets like mixed LO Psysurge are interesting and I expect that Deo-S will maintain fine usage or even increase in usage as we head into OMPL.
↓ Remember when we wanted to ban Chien-Pao? Crazy times... Chien-Pao still maintains respectable usage, but has seen a slow decline from the days when it was "broken" with quite a poor winrate not helping its case. With rise of Manaphy over Swampert, Empoleon increasing usage and other checks like Iron Hands, Primarina and even Protect on Ting-Lu, CB Chien-Pao has found it hard to really click to much effectiveness these days in spite of Corvs becoming more cocky and running far more Fluffy and less Intimidate. SD SoR LO is a fairly interesting set to me that could try to bypass these checks though time will tell if it'll pick up.
↓ Ceruledge had its moment to shine, when it was spammed everywhere with SoR but this phase is over now with the increasing amount of counterplay in form of itemless and sets like Regen Ting-Lu rising in popularity, Ceruledge's popularity has levelled off and declined in comparison to past glory. I don't think it's too bad, with still respectable usage and winrates and can still be quite threatening with correct piloting or tech, but the reward has decreased to not be so braindead and Ceruledge has always been a risky mon to pilot with its typing and bulk. Time will tell if it'll return back to its heights.
↑ Ting-Lu has seen a notable climb from its past usage (zero). While it's not particularly high overall, which can be attributed to its still limiting effect on structures when using it and being a more recent thing among top players, you can see its usage and success in the later games at higher levels. It can serve as a fine check to threatening mons in the meta like Psysurgers and Ceruledge/Roaring Moon, further amplified with Tect to scout out threatening Banded breakers like Fighting-types and Chien-Pao. It serves mostly well as a hazard-setter able to abuse Corv as does everything and annoy GTusk with chip as the majority lack Regenerator these days. I do find Ting-Lu structures can be a bit restricting and exploitable in places... but that might be more because I'm bad lol. It'll be interesting see if this fad can cement its place or fall to the wayside as the meta develops further.
↓ Remember when this mon was broken? Sitting with an abysmal usage rate, it can most likely be attributed to rise of a whole lot of Fighting checks within the meta and the increasing pace of it. Pecharunt, Scream Tail and especially Fluffy Corviknight spell annoyances for Zapdos-Galar that while not unsurmountable are troublesome to get past and for a mon of its speed tier it wants to make sure it kills when it gets in. Without this ability, it's hard to justify as it rarely gets in with the majority of the meta outspeeding it and it having trouble keeping up with the pace of the meta. If the meta ever slows down, it could see some increased usage though that also depends on the popularity of aforementioned checks.
↓ Slither Wing has always been a more niche Fighting-type and the decreasing validity of the type as a whole has not helped but I am a believer! Tinted U-turn and First Impression is great and it gets fine coverage in EQ/Flare Blitz in comparison to others like Gapdos... I even tinkered around with some defensive sets as a RMoon/GTusk/Hands check. Hopefully I'll be vindicated in OMPL...
↓ Stall has seen a pretty noticeable decrease in popularity, levelling off since the craze that was initiated where it was "broken". Part of this can be attributed to just the craze just dying off, but also to general adaptions. MGLO RMoon has become more popular and more breakers are being popularised every day it feels... Regen Manaphy is a constant nuisance to the longevity of stall and the hazard game remains quite bad that further makes it not fun and other tools like Scream Tail just contribute to the pain. It still has some potential to me, maybe in some Superman build as removal is kind of fucked lol, but we'll see. Balance remains the premier style for now, though faster-pace styles I've seen have some pretty decent success in Open compared to traditional slower balances.
↓ These mons have always felt like the epitome of potential and I've tried to make them work well though not to much success so I wondered if others had better success, but it seems it hasn't faired that much better. Their usage is fairly low across the board and I only remember seeing one Wellspring used to decent effect before. A far fall from when the likes of Ogerpon-C was "broken" (even though some people still claim it is...) but maybe it'll see some more interesting play in OMPL.
↓ Physical Fire-types in general kind of just feel on the down low to me, with rarely anybody running Fire-immunities and sometimes even just lacking physical Fire-resists in general on some structures... I still have hope for them, though Ogerpon-H definitely has not has the greatest showing so far though and Ace has Manaphy to contend with but... I believe in them...
It's been quite interesting to see the meta develop over the months, and there have definitely been some rather noticeable shifts over that time with the stuff like Swampert falling off and a whole bunch of mons coming to the forefront more clearly like Manaphy, RMoon (particularly MGLO) and Scream Tail. The meta will probably stabilise a bit more with no changes expected with OMPL coming up, but I've building some more recently and there's still quite still a few sets I expect to be discovered and I expect there to still have plenty more exploration to be done and OMPL will be the perfect time for this development so it'll be exciting to see what happens... until then this is the end of my rambling, hopefully the cooking in OMPL will be fun to see!
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Corviknight | 128 | 52.46% | 51.56% |
| 2 | Great Tusk | 109 | 44.67% | 53.21% |
| 3 | Roaring Moon | 84 | 34.43% | 52.38% |
| 4 | Empoleon | 70 | 28.69% | 45.71% |
| 5 | Gholdengo | 69 | 28.28% | 56.52% |
| 6 | Scream Tail | 57 | 23.36% | 59.65% |
| 7 | Manaphy | 56 | 22.95% | 53.57% |
| 8 | Pecharunt | 54 | 22.13% | 40.74% |
| 9 | Walking Wake | 48 | 19.67% | 52.08% |
| 10 | Iron Moth | 39 | 15.98% | 43.59% |
| 11 | Dragonite | 38 | 15.57% | 63.16% |
| 12 | Primarina | 35 | 14.34% | 60.00% |
| 13 | Swampert | 34 | 13.93% | 50.00% |
| 13 | Zamazenta-* | 34 | 13.93% | 41.18% |
| 13 | Skarmory | 34 | 13.93% | 38.24% |
| 16 | Garchomp | 30 | 12.30% | 56.67% |
| 17 | Mandibuzz | 28 | 11.48% | 53.57% |
| 18 | Heatran | 27 | 11.07% | 55.56% |
| 19 | Iron Hands | 26 | 10.66% | 57.69% |
| 19 | Latios | 26 | 10.66% | 46.15% |
| 19 | Azelf | 26 | 10.66% | 46.15% |
| 22 | Ceruledge | 21 | 8.61% | 57.14% |
| 22 | Deoxys-Speed | 21 | 8.61% | 52.38% |
| 22 | Chien-Pao | 21 | 8.61% | 33.33% |
| 25 | Zapdos | 20 | 8.20% | 45.00% |
| 26 | Sandy Shocks | 18 | 7.38% | 66.67% |
| 27 | Electrode-Hisui | 14 | 5.74% | 50.00% |
| 27 | Ting-Lu | 14 | 5.74% | 50.00% |
| 27 | Blissey | 14 | 5.74% | 35.71% |
| 30 | Kingambit | 13 | 5.33% | 53.85% |
| 31 | Iron Boulder | 12 | 4.92% | 50.00% |
| 31 | Chansey | 12 | 4.92% | 41.67% |
| 33 | Cinderace | 11 | 4.51% | 45.45% |
| 33 | Ogerpon-Hearthflame | 11 | 4.51% | 27.27% |
| 35 | Landorus-Therian | 10 | 4.10% | 40.00% |
| 35 | Barraskewda | 10 | 4.10% | 30.00% |
| 37 | Deoxys-Defense | 9 | 3.69% | 44.44% |
| 38 | Meloetta | 8 | 3.28% | 62.50% |
| 38 | Quaquaval | 8 | 3.28% | 37.50% |
| 38 | Ogerpon-Cornerstone | 8 | 3.28% | 37.50% |
| 41 | Iron Crown | 7 | 2.87% | 71.43% |
| 41 | Ogerpon-Wellspring | 7 | 2.87% | 57.14% |
| 41 | Jirachi | 7 | 2.87% | 42.86% |
| 44 | Thundurus-Therian | 6 | 2.46% | 66.67% |
| 44 | Chesnaught | 6 | 2.46% | 50.00% |
| 44 | Mew | 6 | 2.46% | 50.00% |
| 44 | Gengar | 6 | 2.46% | 50.00% |
| 44 | Smeargle | 6 | 2.46% | 50.00% |
| 49 | Archaludon | 5 | 2.05% | 40.00% |
| 49 | Toxapex | 5 | 2.05% | 40.00% |
| 49 | Volcarona | 5 | 2.05% | 20.00% |
| 49 | Regieleki | 5 | 2.05% | 0.00% |
| 53 | Cobalion | 4 | 1.64% | 100.00% |
| 53 | Slither Wing | 4 | 1.64% | 75.00% |
| 53 | Kilowattrel | 4 | 1.64% | 50.00% |
| 53 | Zoroark-Hisui | 4 | 1.64% | 25.00% |
| 53 | Zapdos-Galar | 4 | 1.64% | 25.00% |
| 58 | Meowscarada | 3 | 1.23% | 100.00% |
| 58 | Gliscor | 3 | 1.23% | 66.67% |
| 58 | Goodra-Hisui | 3 | 1.23% | 66.67% |
| 58 | Hydreigon | 3 | 1.23% | 33.33% |
| 58 | Garganacl | 3 | 1.23% | 33.33% |
| 58 | Iron Treads | 3 | 1.23% | 33.33% |
| 58 | Milotic | 3 | 1.23% | 0.00% |
| 65 | Ursaluna-Bloodmoon | 2 | 0.82% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Clefable | 2 | 0.82% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Kommo-o | 2 | 0.82% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Volcanion | 2 | 0.82% | 50.00% |
| 65 | Moltres-Galar | 2 | 0.82% | 0.00% |
| 65 | Cresselia | 2 | 0.82% | 0.00% |
| 65 | Fezandipiti | 2 | 0.82% | 0.00% |
| 65 | Mamoswine | 2 | 0.82% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Talonflame | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Cloyster | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Samurott-Hisui | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Moltres | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Diancie | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Skeledirge | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Clodsire | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Revavroom | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Thundurus | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Metagross | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Blastoise | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Entei | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Enamorus-Therian | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Landorus | 1 | 0.41% | 100.00% |
| 73 | Infernape | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Latias | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Lucario | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Salamence | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Tornadus-Therian | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Chi-Yu | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Zarude | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Regirock | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Ribombee | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Ursaluna | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Alomomola | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Gyarados | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Hydrapple | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Dusclops | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| 73 | Bronzong | 1 | 0.41% | 0.00% |From now on, I'm just going to be talking about mons I find interesting to cut down on length as this is this is already probably a bit too long...
= Dragonite remains firmly quite good with just about the same tricks it has always used. Its typing and defensive utility is personally the more appealing part of DNite to me, able to check the likes of Moth, Heatran and Zama-H and a stopgap for others like Wake as those fishy all-out offensive sets are rather inconsistent but are undeniably somewhat strong, with an interestingly high winrate though these may be result of lower-level games. Bulkier Manaphy's popping up with Ice Beam are somewhat a nuisance though I've also seen some interesting Facade DNites for them, though not to too much success. = Personally, I hate (to use) Zama-H and I am somewhat vindicated with its lower win-rate in Open even if it doesn't mean that much. With Fluffy and prime resists with STail/Pecha/Gholdengo/DNite being extremely popular, it feels rather awful to use Zama-H to me. Through the Open it has found alright usage at a shared 13th place and probably the most usage of the purely offensive Fighting-types, though that's not saying much as most has found fairly low usage nowadays. It can probably be built around to a degree as these aforementioned mons aren't impossible to bypass with coverage or support but... just use Slither Wing tbh... = The lesser of the metal birds, Skarm has maintained a continued position as a niche option on generally fatter teams with its ability to setup Spikes and phaze as well. Its usage is a bit higher than I expected, though it has an oddly low winrate attached so... Corv stays winning. Ting-Lu has also risen up as a pre-eminent Spiker so I'm curious if Skarm can continue to maintain its position (also I saw some people using Wabs Skarm... wtf...) ↓ Swampert has seen a dramatic fall from grace from its position as the premier RegenVest/Regen in the earlier stages of the meta to falling out of favour from most experienced players with the majority preferring Manaphy to it, with a respectable usage but certainly nowhere near what it once was. With stuff like Wake roaming around and strong Grass coverage now used in adaption, Swamperts flaw become very exposed and its positives overshined with Gouging out of the picture and Electric-types not that hard to answer. As Manaphy reigns, it's doubtful Swampert will ever come to reclaim its crown for the foreseeable future. = Heatran has gone through its ups and downs, falling off quite a bit from its dominance with MGLO back in Home and suffering under the reign of Manaphy in DLC1 though seeing neat exploration of various sets like Sub and Desoland in the meantime. Heatran continues to maintain a pretty respectable position with new sets like Water Absorb popularised for Walking Wake and the appreciated recovery. Manaphy's strength isn't entirely appreciated though Heatran maintains a plethora of utility in Wisp and Rocks to annoy it. Its low speed isn't the best in the faster pace the meta is up now but I think it has its neat strengths as a fairly neat mon defensively and as a progress maker, time will tell if it really catches on or not.↓ I swear there was a moment where it had a load of hype, but it has mostly died off and Hands has settled into its ok position. Its usage and win-rate is mostly respectable, tying 19th with Azelf and Latios but I think it definitely did not live up to the hype. The increasing usage of STail/Pecharunt isn't exactly too favourable for Hands and while it isn't surmountable by any means with strong Electric STAB they are undeniable popular nuisances and its low speed can make it a bit annoying at times to get in for more offensive sets like MGLO that seem appealing. Bulkier EE sets have seen ok usage, with GTusk/RMoon ever popular and also the increasing rise of Ting-Lu, Iron Hands will continue to have a pretty fine niche but I don't think it's insanely special or great.= Deo-S sits in a fine position currently, maintaining pace with other fairly popular breakers like CPao/Ceruledge/Latios. SFLO/Psysurge sets remain the most popular with some more niche sets like Protean also seeing some sparse usage. I have heard some form of hype behind Deo-S being kind of broken, which I dont really believe, but sets like mixed LO Psysurge are interesting and I expect that Deo-S will maintain fine usage or even increase in usage as we head into OMPL. ↓ Remember when we wanted to ban Chien-Pao? Crazy times... Chien-Pao still maintains respectable usage, but has seen a slow decline from the days when it was "broken" with quite a poor winrate not helping its case. With rise of Manaphy over Swampert, Empoleon increasing usage and other checks like Iron Hands, Primarina and even Protect on Ting-Lu, CB Chien-Pao has found it hard to really click to much effectiveness these days in spite of Corvs becoming more cocky and running far more Fluffy and less Intimidate. SD SoR LO is a fairly interesting set to me that could try to bypass these checks though time will tell if it'll pick up. ↓ Ceruledge had its moment to shine, when it was spammed everywhere with SoR but this phase is over now with the increasing amount of counterplay in form of itemless and sets like Regen Ting-Lu rising in popularity, Ceruledge's popularity has levelled off and declined in comparison to past glory. I don't think it's too bad, with still respectable usage and winrates and can still be quite threatening with correct piloting or tech, but the reward has decreased to not be so braindead and Ceruledge has always been a risky mon to pilot with its typing and bulk. Time will tell if it'll return back to its heights. ↑ Ting-Lu has seen a notable climb from its past usage (zero). While it's not particularly high overall, which can be attributed to its still limiting effect on structures when using it and being a more recent thing among top players, you can see its usage and success in the later games at higher levels. It can serve as a fine check to threatening mons in the meta like Psysurgers and Ceruledge/Roaring Moon, further amplified with Tect to scout out threatening Banded breakers like Fighting-types and Chien-Pao. It serves mostly well as a hazard-setter able to abuse Corv as does everything and annoy GTusk with chip as the majority lack Regenerator these days. I do find Ting-Lu structures can be a bit restricting and exploitable in places... but that might be more because I'm bad lol. It'll be interesting see if this fad can cement its place or fall to the wayside as the meta develops further. ↓ Remember when this mon was broken? Sitting with an abysmal usage rate, it can most likely be attributed to rise of a whole lot of Fighting checks within the meta and the increasing pace of it. Pecharunt, Scream Tail and especially Fluffy Corviknight spell annoyances for Zapdos-Galar that while not unsurmountable are troublesome to get past and for a mon of its speed tier it wants to make sure it kills when it gets in. Without this ability, it's hard to justify as it rarely gets in with the majority of the meta outspeeding it and it having trouble keeping up with the pace of the meta. If the meta ever slows down, it could see some increased usage though that also depends on the popularity of aforementioned checks. ↓ Slither Wing has always been a more niche Fighting-type and the decreasing validity of the type as a whole has not helped but I am a believer! Tinted U-turn and First Impression is great and it gets fine coverage in EQ/Flare Blitz in comparison to others like Gapdos... I even tinkered around with some defensive sets as a RMoon/GTusk/Hands check. Hopefully I'll be vindicated in OMPL... ↓ These mons have always felt like the epitome of potential and I've tried to make them work well though not to much success so I wondered if others had better success, but it seems it hasn't faired that much better. Their usage is fairly low across the board and I only remember seeing one Wellspring used to decent effect before. A far fall from when the likes of Ogerpon-C was "broken" (even though some people still claim it is...) but maybe it'll see some more interesting play in OMPL. ↓ Physical Fire-types in general kind of just feel on the down low to me, with rarely anybody running Fire-immunities and sometimes even just lacking physical Fire-resists in general on some structures... I still have hope for them, though Ogerpon-H definitely has not has the greatest showing so far though and Ace has Manaphy to contend with but... I believe in them...It's been quite interesting to see the meta develop over the months, and there have definitely been some rather noticeable shifts over that time with the stuff like Swampert falling off and a whole bunch of mons coming to the forefront more clearly like Manaphy, RMoon (particularly MGLO) and Scream Tail. The meta will probably stabilise a bit more with no changes expected with OMPL coming up, but I've building some more recently and there's still quite still a few sets I expect to be discovered and I expect there to still have plenty more exploration to be done and OMPL will be the perfect time for this development so it'll be exciting to see what happens... until then this is the end of my rambling, hopefully the cooking in OMPL will be fun to see!
