I WANT MY MUMMY!
Looking at the generation 5 metagame is, well, a frightening experience. At firstglance it seems that we've been plagued by endless sweepers, that stall has no hope! We're all doomed at the hands of Doryuuzu and Sandstorm teams! And I admit, they're scary. All the one's listed above have 1 stat equal to or greater than Salamence's attack. But the metagame can't be that simple can it?
There are still some things that the above pokemon are going to have to watchout for, if you thought ghost was good defensively before, there are plentynew powerful ghost pokemon! Even one with 100/70/105 defenses! And themighty Desukan of course.
Steel has some new toys to play with this generation. Including thefirst Steel type (bar dialga) to resist water and electric attacks, the Grass/Steeltype, Nattorei.
Older pokemon have alot of toys to play with defensively, and it's not safeto count older threats out. Venusaur now has chlorophyll which under the sun allows it to be an extremely potent Subseeder, with access to moveslike Sleep Powder and an upgraded Giga Drain or synthesis. But the defensive assets that are brought on by weather don't end there. Wishvaporeon can step aside now that Vaporeon get's Hydration.
The Rotom formes now have exclusive typing's to their names meaning new types in Electric/Ice, Electric/Fire and Electric/Grass, the most solid overall being Electric/Fire (2 weaknesses, 7 resistances) and Electric/Water (1 weakness, 5 resistances and great offense in rain).
That's obviously not all this generation has in store. Fire/Psychic type Hihidaruma's alternate forme has a whopping 5 weaknesses, but 6 resistances including Fire, Fighting and Ice! Along with whopping (and I mean whopping) 105/105/105 defenses, I can't be sure it'll be easy to OHKO even with super effective attacks. (Backed by 140 Sp.Atk, that's scary, but no way to break special walls)
So despite all the massive offensive stats, I don't think everything's going to be dying in 5 seconds. What about you guys?
Edit:
Potential Threats:
Gliscor:
Gliscor is a highly sought pokemon in today's metagame due to fantastic 125 base defense and 2 very useful immunities, coupled with a resistance to fighting. However in Gen V Gliscor has obtained a new ability which see's him as a potent foe to face in stall, with a respectable attack stat capable of denting many pokemon and an ability that see's his HP constantly rise while making him immune to Toxic and (if Toxic-Orb/Black Sludge are still around) any other status. Gliscor packs a handy bug resistance too!
Vaporeon:
With the advent of Drizzletoed and Droughttails we've got a whole new metagame to expect, and Hydration Vaporeon will absolutely love to ride that wave. First of all, there are only 3 non-uber water pokemon with higher SpAtk than Vaporeon (bar Kerudio), which means it's Hydro Pump in the rain is going to absolutely kill. Combined with the ability to heal all of it's HP in a single turn, and completely laugh off Toxic, Will-o-Wisp and any other status. Vaporeon was sturdy before, but it's certainly got a boost this time around. (But who hasn't?)
Venusaur:
Venusaur is a pokemon no-one would've expected to see here, but here it is. 80/80/100 defenses aren't bad and resistances to water, electric and fighting are nice to have. However, Venusaur's greatest aspect is his dream world ability, clorophyll, which doubles his decent base 80 speed, giving him an unstoppable leech seed and making him one of the fastest sleepers in the game. (Possibly the fastest)
Thanks to RaveSage for the preliminary list.RaveSage said:#494
Base 100 in all stats
New Ability
No known defensive moves on level up
#518
Like Cress… but cuter? (No Levitate)
Has Yawn, Moonlight, Calm Mind, and some unknown attacks through level up
#526
Benefits from new Sturdy
Great Defense and plenty of Attack
Gets Stealth Rock and EXPLOSION
#531
New Abilities (It their bad, this is done.)
No known healing moves through level up
#534
Decent Defense to complement its Attack
Pure Fighting = Useful resistance to Bug and Dark
#538
Like #534, but overall Bulkier with a (less useful?) ability
Has Seismic Toss and Body Slam
#555 (Daruma Mode)
Lots of weaknesses but resistances as well
Signature ability
Can wall on either spectrum but will probably be forced to specialize due to typing
Only defensive level up option is Taunt
#558
Good defensive typing with it's stats
Has Stealth Rock
Decent Attack with a level up pool to support it
#560 (Reverse Fisjal Gecko)
Shed Skin is welcome
Resistance to Rock, Ghost, and Dark. Immune to Physic
Can wall either or potentially both offenses with his typing
not a lot of defensive options from level up
#563
Ability helps in countering physical attackers who rely on their ability
Some of the best defenses this gen. Can wall either end or potentially both.
Great support level up pool including (the much needed) Haze, Night Shade, Will-o-Wisp, Grudge, and Destiny Bond
#565
Solid Rock helps its weaknesses a bit. Switching into Earthquake is no problem.
Decent support level up pool as well as Curse + Aqua Jet
#576 (Goth Lolimon)
Potentially decent special wall. If not…
Shadow Tag! Combined with access to Fake Tears, Flatter, Charm, Embargo, Heal Block, and Tickle, she make Wobb feel inadequate in some ways (though she's defiantly not Uber martial imo)
#579 (Embreomon)
Sub-par stats to other potential walls. (Probable use in a lower tier.)
Magic Guard helps
Lots of support and healing options. Recover, Screens, Charm, Pain Split, heal Block, and potentially useful Skill Swap
#589
NINE resistances, Poison immunity, ONE weakness.
His stats almost make him impenetrable with everything mentioned above.
Not too much in the way of a defensive level up pool, but he does have Iron Head to abuse a teammate with paralyze support or can sweep with Swords Dance practically for free
Btw, Shell Armor. Good Game.
#591(Poke-Shrooms)
Poor Stats (for OU consideration) and an unreliable ability
Shares the room with other Grass/Poision types
Has Ingrain. If Baton Pass is included somehow BP chains will have more variety at least
#593
Water/Ghost gives some handy resistances and immunities, but certain attacks will rip through that Defense
Decent support level up pool including Night Shade and Recover. Hopefully gets Boiling Water.
#594(What Luvdisc wanted to be)
High HP but not much else. Potentially outclassed by Milotic as far as pure defense goes.
New Ability, Wish, Healing Wish, and Aqua Jet give something to differentiate himself from other Bulky Water-types
#598
Sorry Bug Knight, you just got trumped (sort of). TEN resistances, Poison immunity, and two weaknesses.
Great defensive stats and a usable attack stat.
New ability (Iron Barbs) might have something to do with the Sticky Barb item since it holds them in the wild.
No Rapid Spin (Level Up). Ouch.
Has access to Curse, Gyro Ball, Ingrain, Explosion, Payback, and Power Whip
#601(METAL GEAR)
Clear Body is a saved him from Plus/Minus
Again with the resistance trumping! ELEVEN resistances and 3 Weaknesses. Mawile had this too but lacked the defenses to match.
So far, no known true defense options for our Gear friend. Being genderless also means no egg moves.
Awkwardly high speed and attack (not Sp.Attk)
#606
New ability and ok defenses. May not be suitable for OU.
Many support options. Heal Block, Calm Mind, Recover, and 4 unknown attacks
#609(Chandelier)
Amazing Sp.Attk alongside its decent defenses and good speed.
Support level up moves in Night Shade, Will-o-Wisp, Memento, and Pain Split.
Can switch to a more offensive mode with Shadow Ball and Overheat, which is all it needs really.
Shadow Tag makes him a potentially powerful revenge killer/trapper. Maybe too good for OU...
#615
Great special defensive stats but is hindered by the accursed pure Ice-typing.
You wanted that Rapid Spinner? Here you go!
Amazing support level up pool including Haze, Screens, Recover, and Confuse Ray.
Has enough Sp.Attk to be a good sweeper or at least do some damage.
Ground immunity. Does this mean spinning doesn't rid you of Spikes…?
#618(Um…)
Not exactly stelar base stats but good enough to warrant some use.
Five immunities are somewhat offset by 4 weaknesses to common attack types.
No solid support level up pool.
#623
Three immunities to abuse and three more resistances. Unfortunate weakness to several somewhat popular attack types
Might get Screens through TMs ect since it holds Light Clay
More offensive than defensive. Expect it to play somewhat like Machamp without the Fighting STAB?
Speaking of champ, No Guard for offensive pressure
no specific support options visible
#625
Nine resistances and two immunities. Not so hot on the special side of defenses but it's ok.
Torment, Assurance, and Embargo
#630
Honchcrow's polar opposite. A rare find to get a Flying-type with Special Defense like that. Decent speed too.
Not a lot of defensive options it seems. Lack of Roost will hurt him more than anything if it's not an egg move.
#632
Nine resistances ect. just like many other steel types this gen.
Very high speed means it could also make a potent sweeper or just a speedy wall.
Theoretically beats out #635
#637
Small number of resistances and weaknesses. x4 to rock might really hurt it.
Not many level up options for support/walling. Gets Whirlwind…
Possibly more dedicated to sweeping with its great Sp.Attk
#638
Nine resistances ect.
New ability
Not a lot of support level up options
Fast Defensive wall
#640
Six resistances. Many known for use of special attackers
Access to Giga Drain, but not much else trough level up.
New Ability
Fast Special wall
#648
Normal-typing removes Ghost and Fighting weaknesses
Great stats of special walling, high Special Attack too
Uturn and Teeter Dance for support