Ok I have gotten enough battles in so I can share general thoughts.
Day 1 (and two now that I think on it) was rammed with shitty Regen teams, often utilizing 4 differing options plus two random mons. They are unironically not hard to beat at all and many threats in the metagame straight up solo them without support. Teams were annoying, but I quickly dispatched them using this set
Gilamenza @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock / Substitute
- Drain Punch / Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
3 out of 4 of the most likely Regen spam teams are smacked SE by its STAB combination, and the last one doesn't resist Gunk Shot and cannot risk switching into Knock Off. In the early games this Pokémon was vital to slush my way through brainless Regen spam in combination with hazards which are very easy to carry in this meta. It helps that none of the Regen mons carry Wish nor Heal Bell, so regular Regen healing can only carry them so far between Poison Touch, hazard chip and switching into the wrong 120 BP STAB move. Spread runs enough speed to creep zero investment Chelperela, maximizes it's Attacking power and pumps the rest into HP. You can get away with fully defensive sets since you have the bulk but it def requires Wish support and often Heal Bell too, plus the power you gain is worth it.
Marteleo @ Shuca Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 Spe
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rapid Spin
- Gigaton Hammer
- Toxic / King's Shield
Heatran at home. Fun utility Pokémon that is somewhat hampered by how prevalent Ground moves are in the metagame. That being said if you are not hitting it with EQ you might find it hard pressed to KO this thing on the physical side. I have it in a replay, but I turn 1 lead this into the Ground Armadillo, Wisp'd it, and took like 25 or so from it's resulting STAB Earthquake after Shuca, it was incredible (Bare in mind that variant was max Defense). This EV spread was customized after an interaction with the Rock Ground type in a match versus Scoopapa, it's speed allows it to creep said Rock Ground type after a Rapid Spin, and people love to switch that into this for a free EQ, so it's pretty funny to smack them with a Gigaton Hammer or burn them after spinning on the switch. Nothing left to say tbh this thing ate a Banded EQ from that silly Bird Pokemon people are crying over without Shuca (with this spread).
Draugrall @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature [Modest is untested but most likely very viable]
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Shadow Ball
- Encore / Shore Up / Spikes / Nasty Plot / Whatever the FUCK
Goat status. Less than 25 moves in it's total Movepool and yet this is what I'd call one of the best Pokémon in our tier ever. It's speed tier is solid, it's power is respectful, it's STABs are spammable as fuck, and most importantly, there is no physical move in this metagame that can OHKO this thing from full, as far as I can tell, making it an instant trade machine with any troublesome physical attacker that doesn't hit it with SE attacks. Blizzard and Shadow Ball are non negotiable, as these are your main STAB moves and are highly spammable. Freeze Dry is pretty peak and being able to OHKO that rat Chel is a very valuable position to have. Last slot genuinely doesn't matter, meaning you can do whatever you want. I've been running Encore to dodge Sucker Punches and crap on mons thinking they get off a free SD or other form set up / recovery, and it works consistently well. It's only gripe rn is that Snow isn't at 100 rn! Moves currently do not recognize Snow as a weather atm so Blizzard can miss, Aurora Veil will fail and other slimy interactions. But as I said, this Pokemon had peak performance with these flaws at play, so I cannot imagine how hard it goes once that is remedied.
Zarkanon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Regenerator / Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump / Steel Beam
Zarkanon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
I like using offensive Zarkanon, a very good mon in our meta. AV exists, but I disliked the lack of utility it actually has, and just coasts on the Steel typing. Anyways, Zarkanon is a superb wallbreaker, as many teams find it hard to switch into it's coverage options, especially variants that opt for Protean over Regen. In a meta starved for good old fashion special nukes, Zarkanon sets itself apart with it's gargantuan 130 Special Attack, the highest effective one in the meta and it shows. I personally think Steel Beam is a meme but people have used it to some success to punch REALLY big holes in teams when they lack sturdy Steel resists (and I mean REALLY big), and with Regen the cost of clicking that move hurts 33% less than normal. Volt Switch for pivoting around is really nice, esp since most Ground types do not want to switch in, and most Water types do. All around great mon, it sucks that it lacks Shadow Ball as a spammable option for Protean Scarf though (or an actual Fighting move for Special sets)
I can't think of much else to spotlight so I'll talk about what I generally think. Lots of shitmons unfortunately, for various reasons - bad stats, weird typings, being based around crappy gimmicks and by far most frequently, very poor movepools. Like seriously, it hurts when you load up a mon with good stats, decent abilities and nice typing but you open it's Movepool and it's bad STAB options that do not compliment each other and piss poor coverage / utility options. Not even the funny gimmick ones, the ones that have like just unfinished or not thought-out movepools. Very sad state.
On the flipside, we have some big dawgs that run the metagame lemmie just give some small thoughts.


Ferroluna is overhyped, call me biased it's still true. No Play Rough really shudders the offensive potential of this Pokémon, making so that essentially as long as u can resist Dark, and are preferably not weak to either Fairy or Ground, u should comfortably beat the popular Swords Dance sets that have cropped up. Band sets, while much easier to use and are by and large the more consistent sets, are even easier to check thanks to being locked into as I said easy to resist moves that it can't boost through.


Psydrive is a funny Pokémon. It's the fastest Pokémon by a longshot, and can hit very hard with it's STAB moves since both are boosted under Electric Terrain. Luckily for us, we have a large assortment of viable bulky Ground and Dark types that annoy the ever living shit out of Psydrive, but it's still quite the formidable threat and imo is one you should take into account when building.

(but on Fire)
Arsekai is a mon I've only faced once or twice, but one of the times I did face it I was completely overrun by a Calm Mind + Cotton Spore Draining Kiss set, it was really scary and pretty difficult to stop for an offensive team. Bulkier squads are probably equipped with Toxic though, and one Toxic tends to ruin that set quite well. It can still customize itself tbh because Mono Draining Kiss ain't hard to run with some hazard support, so Heal Bell to dodge the Toxic? Either way don't sleep when this thing starts Calm Minding with +1 priority.


In my opinion, the true most influential Pokemon in the tier, the Pokemon that everyone should be conscious of when building any team they have, something that wallbreakers have to choose whether or not it's worth creeping it over the drop in power (until it just creeps you regardless), Chelperela. Chel can do almost anything you want, it can serve basically any role you desire of it thanks to it's godly defensive typing, extremely hyperoptimized stat spread and Regenerator. Do you need a raw specially defensive wall? Check, do you want an AV tank that can take a hit and dish it out? Check. Do you want a solid physically defensive wall? Check. Do you want a fast utility pivot? Check. SubSeed? Check. Apparently this thing is also one of the best offensive special breakers we have in the tier right now so you can check that as well. Seriously, whatever you need, Chel can do a great job at doing it, it's just that good. There isn't one thing to isolate as to why Chel is as good as it is, some key things are it's Ground resist, giving it ample switchins to many of the common threats in the meta, 115 Speed, meaning even uninvested you creep past alot of offensive Pokemon and can throw out a quick Scald, Glare (lol) or Leech Seed to cripple them before they even started, Regenerator making it damn hard to kill, or a solid 110 SpA making it relatively difficult to switch into for more frailer Pokemon. Everyone has been spamming generic Scald Recover U-turn filler as options and don't get me wrong these are incredible sets (I faced one with it being the final Pokemon alive with 5 mons up including a Flying type, SD breaker and Specs mon and still lost) but I have been thinking that they are just scratching the potential of Chel. I've got replays of two variants of a more offensive Chel cleaning up house versus offense and (shitty) Regen spam alike attached in the Discord, you would never think it's a wall doing what it's doing. It's the closest thing to arguably broken we have in the meta rn, but it's decidedly not so far until more exploration is done.
All in all, a very fun Blindsided, more fun to play than Gen 8's variant. Great work everyone.