Lower Tiers GSC UU Discussion Thread

[DAWNBUSTER]

I was suddenly compelled to write a post on what I think about the current state of this metagame, so here goes.

Overall, this tier remains as enjoyable as ever. I really have little to complain about with the current state of the metagame. Nothing feels too powerful, and the tier is diverse in options. It still rewards good play, team building, risk taking and hax optimisation. With that out of the way, here are some general metagame thoughts.

Teams
I have drifted away from many of the more "basic" structures from the past. Your basic Nidoqueen / Slowbro / Hypno offenses are still good, but they feel flawed both offensively and defensively in some ways. These teams feel pigeonholed into using certain Pokemon to avoid poor matchups against certain threats. If you try cheat defensively, like if you drop Haunter, then that opens you up to threats such as Curse Hypno and Chansey, and makes Granbull a much bigger danger. These teams tend to struggle with HO teams, Shuckle teams, and Belly Drum Quagsire teams.

Ampharos + Piloswine teams I also don't use as much nowadays. I do think they work better than the previously mentioned teams, though. Again, they have problems I dislike both offensively and defensively. Some Ampharos + Piloswine teams remain very good. Here are two I would recommend:

- This one is less defensively stable but has serious offensive power.

- This one is more well-rounded. Feraligatr is a nice addition to these teams.

Teams that employ Pokemon with a lot defensive role compression are in a good spot. Pokemon like Magneton and Rest + Sleep Talk Quagsire really do help teams out defensively. Using these Pokemon can let you get away with using the tiers most deadly offensive Pokemon. Spikes + Magneton teams are some of the better Spikes using teams in this current metagame. Again, they have a lot of freedom, and they are able to at least soft-check most threats. Here's another style of Magneton team I have been using:

This set of five Pokemon is incredible from a defensive standpoint. The five of them combined can stand up to most of the threats in this tier. They are especially nasty when Blastoise successfully removes Spikes. For sets, I reccomend Curse + Rest on Aerodactyl, Curse + Sleep Talk on Hypno, and Hidden Power Water on Magneton. For Rest + Sleep Talk Quagsire, any of Sludge Bomb, Body Slam, or Ice Beam work. I don't think Rock moves are needed with Aerodactyl. It feels like you can really throw whatever in that last slot. I have used everything ranging from Curse + Hidden Power Ground Granbull...to Ariados.

If you want to mess around with Ariados, then go have fun. Unfortunately, this team, as well as this team structure as a whole, struggle greatly against Belly Drum Quagsire teams. Unless you land a crit on Quagsire, or you try win first with your big offensive piece, its hard to stop Quagsire. The freedom and defensive power of this team structure is ultimately superb though. I ultimately think the variant with Curse + Lovely Kiss Granbull last is the easiest to use.

I don't have much new to say about both the Heal Bell + Belly Drum Quagsire teams nor hard Shuckle stall. They are both powerful, you should use them. With Belly Drum Quagsire, I generally prefer using Chansey over Bellossom. Recently, Omastar has been brought back and tried on these teams, and I do like it on these teams. It counters Curse Hypno and Swords Dance Bellossom. Its also one of the better answers to Curse + Ground Granbull.

With Shuckle, I wouldn't stray away from the basic Granbull + Electabuzz six that's been used for years now. Its really got it all and feels nearly unbeatable for certain teams. I've seen BeeOrSomething use Curse + Lovely Kiss Granbull + Curse Chansey, and I think this is fine, but I still much prefer the basic sets.

I believe we should be more open to loading HO teams. Yes, they suck against certain threats (Aerodactyl, Shuckle). To make up for it, they shred certain structures. Most Hypno offenses in particular struggle to take HO on. If you are really scared of Aerodactyl, you can customise. Belly Drum Quagsire is not a bad pick on these teams, assuming you support it well. Curse + Hidden Power Ground Granbull, Scyther and Pinsir are still three of the deadliest Pokemon in this tier. It feels like many teams cheat against Scyther in particular. I recently made a HO team with lead Porygon that I really enjoy using. Its different from usual HO teams, dropping Scyther and Electrode in favour of running slower setup sweepers (Sandslash), alongside Curse Chansey.

SPIKES

Over the course of this year, I have used fewer teams with Qwilfish. That's mostly because I feel the teams without Spikes are in a solid metagame spot. I think HO, Belly Drum Quagsire, and Shuckle teams all work better without Qwilfish. I also think the Hypno / Belly Drum Quagsire / Blastoise teams I shared earlier don't need Spikes. There's some teams that don't fall into any of the mentioned categories I like (I haven't revealed them in tours, and won't here), that don't use Spikes.The teams that most traditionally use Spikes I think are worse off nowadays. With Blastoise at the peak of its power, its much less common you have games where you set up Spikes and that's it. When Blastoise can wear Curse Qwilfish down, and Blastoise is so often paired with Qwilfish counters (Quagsire or Slowbro), the Spike vs Spin war is harder to win.

I would still rate Qwilfish highly, likely still in the top three. Certain top Pokemon (Nidoqueen namely) need Qwilfish to function at their best. Spikes is still the best move in the game, and a very suffocating one at that. I disagree with it being the "best" Pokemon. I also disagree that dropping Qwilfish, and using the very usable Spikeless teams, is a meme. We should be more open to the idea.

CURSE USERS (who aren't Granbull)

If you have watched GSC UU games in the past year and a half, you have likely seen a lot of Curse Hypno. More recently, you may have seen Curse Chansey and even Porygon. Its no secret that Curse Hypno is good. Hypno provides much of its natural defensive utility while doubling as a sweeper. A sweeper with limited counterplay. With that said, I think Curse Hypno is often misused. I've often seen it used on teams that are otherwise shaky against Haunter, leading them to be Haunter weak. I've also seen teams that use Curse Hypno, yet rely on Slowbro for Granbull. That is asking for trouble. Not only with Granbull, but also Chansey and Porygon. I think Curse Hypno needs to be either supported by reliable Haunter answers (Quagsire, Magneton) or be paired with Pursuit.

We have seen more Curse Granbull, a threat to Curse Hypno. In matchups where the opponent has Curse Granbull, or Pokemon like Curse Aerodactyl, its hard to get much done. We have even seen some Omastar. Magneton is not that great of answer, but Hypno does still need some luck to beat it. Overall, I think Curse Hypno is sometimes used on teams where it shouldn't be. I don't think every team can slap Curse on Hypno and be fine.

Curse Chansey I don't have much of note to say about, other than to say its good. Like Hypno, it carries much of Chansey's natural defensive ability while doubling as a sweeper. Counter is a game changer, though. Not only does this let it snipe physical attackers, but also possibly win Curse wars, Curse wars it would normally lose. Chansey does fix some of Curse Hypno's issues, though it comes with some new ones. Its weaker and has a bigger problem with status inflictions. Here is a team with Chansey I like using. It is a Spikes team that doesn't use any of Nidoqueen / Piloswine / Quagsire, something you rarely see.

(or

)

Now for Curse Porygon. This thing is no joke. Its far from the C rank garbage it was ranked as on the VR. Porygon runs the set it does in NU (Curse + Thunder Wave) and poses a big threat. Against many threats, it can paralyse them, Recover to stay healthy, Curse when it gets the chance, and then smash them. Porygon's biggest tool is Thunder Wave. When Haunter, Magneton, and Aerodactyl inevitably switch into it, it can paralyse them. This is huge for sweepers like Granbull and Pinsir. Porygon won't sweep instantly threaten most teams, but it provides valuable support and is a major threat when its checks are gone. I like Porygon as a lead. Its able to immediately spread paralysis and makes the opposing team reveal information. Nothing is better at forcing paralysis for Granbull and Pinsir. This is definitely a Pokemon you should try out. Don't dismiss it because its an NU Pokemon with bad stats. Curse / Double-Edge / Recover / Thunder Wave is no joke.

Miscellaneous Thoughts on Random Sets and Pokemon

I still believe Haunter is the best Pokemon in this tier. I think all of the other "contenders" for the number one spot have flaws. Haunter does too, but what it provides is invaluable. It has an incredible Normal immunity. It is the only top Pokemon with access to Explosion. It can steal Leftovers with Thief. It does all of this while outpacing much of the tier, and being a respectable special attacker. Haunter feels very consistently useful and dominant. Nothing can replicate what this thing does, and what it does is highly useful. Haunter is always there with its fast Explosion, ready to save a team. Its customizable too. You can run Shadow Ball, Hypnosis, Mean Look, and more.

I don't have much of note to say about Blastoise, other than its a top 5 Pokemon. Yeah its kinda passive, but the utility it provides is both unique and invaluable. Many of the teams I think work best use Blastoise. Plus, if you wanna use a more offensive Blastoise, use this set:

Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Zap Cannon

It lacks longevity, but when Zap Cannon or Earthquake land on the right targets, its devastating. Its better at getting Spikes off for good, since Qwilfish fears Zap Cannon and Earthquake.

I also don't have much to say about Granbull, but I do want to highlight the Curse + Hidden Power Ground set. Its a monster.

Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
Happiness: 0
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Curse
- Frustration
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Lovely Kiss

Little can stand up to this. Boosted Frustration and Hidden Power Ground tears through most of the tier. Lovely Kiss lets you sleep an important target too. It gives you a better time setting up. This set feels easier to slot onto teams than other big sweepers (Scyther, Pinsir, Girafarig). Its probably the single scariest set in the tier when you support it right. Paralysis and Rapid Spin support makes it way better.

Nothing new to say about Granbull's other sets. Curse + RestTalk and Heal Bell are fine for what they are. They work great on the teams designed around them.

I think Girafarig is a good Pokemon, but I think its being overrated. Its usage in tours is higher than it should be. Using Girafarig often means using defensively flawed teams. Its frail and other things can replicate its effectiveness as a sweeper (Granbull for example). Curse / Earthquake / Return / Thunder is a good set, and it can tear through some teams. Even more AoA sets are usable enough. As I said though, overused for what it is.

-

That is the end. Looking forward for GSC PL!

 

[EraiMHFU]

Just curious, are there any plans or any push to have some BL mons unbanned? GSC UUBL is quite large, personally, I think quite a few of the pokemon in there would probably be fine in UU.

 

[jam]

Just curious, are there any plans or any push to have some BL mons unbanned? GSC UUBL is quite large, personally, I think quite a few of the pokemon in there would probably be fine in UU.

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/on-the-state-of-gsc-lower-tiers-active-tiering-and-councils.3768810/#post-10710910 this was discussed in this thread and the results of a survey in the post linked

 

[evakiyama!]

hey everyone I just wanted to talk about some teams me and MrSoup worked on this GSCPL + my personal usage (I'll probs drop a VR and metagame thoughts tmr or something, im kinda burnt out after typing this whole thing). this was my first real "breakthrough" tour in terms of trying to build unique/creative teams instead of reusing others' teams or building very standard safe spikes builds. I'm very grateful for the time MrSoup spent working with me this tour, i feel like it was very fruitful for the both of us.

Teamdump starts here, click on title for replay, click on sprites for paste!

Week 4 vs DAWNBUSTER - every time I read "vic" i think of victini and it upsets me

After using other peoples' teams/6s for the first 2 weeks of this tour, I really wanted to build something heat vs DAWNBUSTER of all opps. Soup brought up Victreebel as a funny shitmon that could potentially MU well into the Blastoise Spikeless builds Dawn seemed fond of, so we built around that. This team is like super 6-0'd by Slowbro and something like Piloswine can be a real pain as well even with Gyarados, but Dawn was very low on the structures that these mons fit on and I was willing to cheat on the Slowbro MU especially. This team might have too many shitmons that need Spikes and even with them still can struggle to break common defensive mons (Vic + Gyara), but I mostly loaded and built teams off vibes this tour and this one passed it at the time. I liked Thief Gligar helping Vic and Gyara to break down stuff like Hypno and bulky Waters a lot, and Quag is the team's Elec + Queen check. Mag is here for non-Slowbro Psychics and Curse Normals. The team is sturdy into bugs with Gligar + Gyara, but got overwhelmed in game by the combination of both bugs + CurseKiss Bull who is always a massive threat, but especially to offensive teams without Slowbro or DBond Haunter.

Week 6 vs DAWNBUSTER - THE DEBUT OF UU ROLLOUT (also #nooticing that I was only particularly motivated to build vs Dawn atp in the tour)

I haven't asked MrSoup what his favorite team we built was, but I feel like we'd both agree it was definitely this one. He just randomly brought up how he thought Rollout Quag had a lot of potential in this tier since HP Grass isn't super common in the tier and a lot of mons don't do a lot of damage to a full HP Quag. We spent the next week and a half or so (we talked about this idea even before we had a victim in mind) figuring this shit out with Seanobiwan who talked to us about Rollout in OU. There's just so many cool sets on this team that I NEED to gush about. Rollout Quag is just such a potent wincon into a playable MU and I think this team enables it very well, maybe there's a more optimized team that gets created down the line tho.

Bellossom @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 22 HP / 24 Def
- Stun Spore
- Razor Leaf
- Hidden Power [Psychic]
- Moonlight
Not sure if this has been used before here but HP Psychic nails Haunter + Qwilfish in one slot which is super dope, especially since Quag needs the help in removing specifically DBond Haunter but I think this move can be used on a lot more teams than just this one. Bello is on the team for Para support but also to check opposing Drum Quag since that's always a massive massive threat to stall.

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Defense Curl
- Rollout
- Ice Beam / Toxic
- Rest
THE GOAT HIMSELF, Defense Curl obviously powers up Rollout but it also gives you a high PP move that synergizes well with this team's stall gameplan. It's also really cool because the tier has a lot of Curse sweepers like Hypno and Granbull and the Defense boosts you get help you to not be outscaled by them while also PP stalling Curse. The "attacking" move is what we spent a lot of time talking about; Ice Beam helps to chip stuff like Aero and Roar Queen which we found desirable, but Toxic is another option that can be really strong since it puts stuff like Bello and Gyara on a timer, and forces Rests from Waters which opens up favorable Sleep Talk rolls from Blastoise. Slowbro might have 2A, but it's also naturally slower than Quag and Rollout beats it in a similar way to how Drum Quag beats Slowbro.

Chansey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunderbolt
- Heal Bell
- Light Screen
Light Screen is an amazing move that allows you to pivot around mixed threats like Nidoqueen much easier (and it does showcase this in the extremely long replay!) and it's also just very high PP and allows for switching and tanking attacks instead of having to waste PP 1v1ing things. It also gives Quag more opportunities to get a Rollout going under ideal sequences.

Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
EQ Talk Stoise was instrumental in winning this game, as Stall struggles naturally against Curse Qwilfish since you lack Spikes and Shuckle lets it in completely free while you have to passively play around some threat. It's basically impossible to fit this set on any kind of balanced build since you're often compressing Blastoise as a check to Grounds, but a Stall team can feasibly swap around such threats instead of needing an actual Water move to ward them off. Besides the strong hit vs Qwil, EQ Stoise also gives you the strongest possible hit vs Haunter. It can also catch Electrics off guard and maintains a strong hit on Nidoqueen, but those are more side points. The biggest issue I found with dropping Surf was the Piloswine weakness, since letting it in to fire off Ice Beams unpunished is a huge pain for a passive stall team. Other than that though, EQ Stoise felt like an amazing fit.

Aerodactyl @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 22 HP / 26 Atk / 24 Def
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Reflect
Normally I'd put Reflect between HP Rock and Rest, but putting two Psychic "Re-" moves next to each other is definitely a recipe for disaster. Reflect Aero is so cool here because it gives you 3 good STalk rolls into Curse sweepers and SD Bugs. With Reflect, you can switch stall around these threats instead on having to dedicate PP to 1v1ing them. The combination of this Aero + Shuckle perfectly walls every Curse Normal sweeper in the tier I believe which is really really great.

Week 7 vs Estuardo19 - WE ARE MR MIME WE CARRY THE FLAME (fire punch)

This team was a really fun one, we wanted to build around the triple coverage breaking core of Fire Punch Mime (for Mag) + Thunder Bull (for Aero/Bro) + SD Pinsir (SOUP TROLLED ME BY TELLING ME WE DIDNT NEED ROCK THROW BUT WE SO TOTALLY DID). Offensively I think this team is really fun except for the part where we ran into DrumQuag ParaSpam which lowkirkenuinely 6-0'd us but likeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee whateverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :sob:. Mag is here as the Normal + Psychics check, Surf Queen was really interesting here because I felt like we had enough offensive pressure vs something like Bellosson and Scyther (opp Pinsir does kinda fuck this up tho) but we really wanted to hit Gligar + Piloswine in one slot to open up Pinsir more effectively. Honestly you could run Light Screen>Thief on this Mime to give more setup opportunities for Pinsir, I definitely considered it. I figured Thiefing Hypno for Mag/Queen could be really good but I think LS has a lot of upside too.

Week 8 vs indulge in dreams - haha funny sandslash week

I wanted to use Sandslash ParaSpam this week just because it'd be really funny. That's about it. I feel like this is a pretty solid 6 with a lot of standard mons, the main issue is that Sandslash, unlike Quagsire, isn't a defensive Ground so it needs more help with Electrics (which Bellossom and Hypno can help with, but there's some obvious strain there). TWave Hypno is such a weird guy, I would have used Body Slam to be able to chip Psychics and it would have helped out so much vs the awkward Giraf endgame that came about because of a Stun Spore miss, but I felt like it needed to be TW because the team is rather soft vs Bugs with the main way being Para->revenge with Slash and DBond Haunter vs SD Pass, so the guarenteed para felt very needed. Sandslash is a cool guy, 2HKOing Slowbro at +2 is no joke and it can Sub on and outscale the popular Curse Hypno very easily.

Finals vs IAmLowTier - I was like 90% sure we'd be fighting DrumQuag again so idk why I wanted to use this but the Chansey set is really funny so vibes said go for it

This is an edit of a BFM team Soup sent me trying to get me to use Iron Tail Chansey (which has more attacking PP and lets you break Magneton/Omastar/Haunter!) and he was like trust me for a few days before I was like yea that sounds really fucking funny and then we committed to it. I think the main edits were the aforementioned Iron Tail Chansey and then Grass + Psychic on Ebuzz cuz I was so fucking sure DrumQuag would come again and the team is super weak to it. I wonder if Heal Bell Bull is better here? The team didn't have enough Rest mons atp for me to feel like I really wanted it though with the Curse EQ WW Aero and 4A Ebuzz. Even tho Pursuit may seem a bit redundant with the Iron Tail Chansey, it still bluffs your Chansey set to be Mono + HBell Bull and it also makes Haunter much less willing to hard into Stoise and threaten DBond.

Finals Tiebreak G1 vs BeeOrSomething - ParaSpam HO

I was really really excited for this series, especially since it was Bo3. While I was messing around in the builder some night earlier in the week, I thought of the idea of like turning BelloQuagStoiseBull into HO since ParaSpam is always rlly spooky and it enables CurseBull really well. 4A Stoise contributes to the ParaSpam with Zap Cannon which is also cool, and Slowking is here as another Para spreader + backup (or rather main really) Water type. Protect + Belly Drum Quag was a really cool fit here since a lot of mons barely 2HKO Quag post-Drum but with Protect you can heal out of that range. Mean Look + Perish + DBond Haunter I thought was perfect here since the team doesn't have long-lasting tools to deal with stuff like Curse Hypno that commits to PP stalling Haunter otherwise. Very very very fun team.

Finals Tiebreak G2 vs BeeOrSomething - Iron Tail Chansey's Revenge

WDYMMMMMM WE DIDNT GET TO SHOW OFF IRON TAIL CHANSEY IN FINALS???? That means we gotta bring it to tiebreak then. Fun little PsySpam Spikes build Soup made with an Iron Tail Chansey which abuses the holes Giraf punches early real nicely. FlameBro is here to patch up the awkward MU vs Bugs, and Haze Qwil + DBond Haunter are here to help vs Baton Pass which we felt like Bee could easily bring. I'm kinda running out of steam here in terms of yapping but this team was really fun and I'm glad I got to show off Iron Tail in this one. Ugly series but I hope our passion for this tier came through in the building.

Personal Visual Scout + Usage Stats

Some key points:
- 70% Qwilfish usage rate is a lot lower than I had in UUFPL or UUCL, I think Spikes are still a fantastic way to play this tier but Spikeless is being and has been explored a lot this tour to a lot of success.

- Haunter #2, I think this is easily the most splashable mon in the tier, fitting well on most kinds of offense to balance, with Spikes or Spikeless. The moves (DBond, Thief, Explosion, Mean Look, Perish Song, Hypnosis) are all very good and can help your team with specific issues, and the Ghost typing is obviously an amazing tool to have in a tier with so many Normal-type attackers.

- Blastoise and Quagsire tied for #3, overall amazing mons. Stoise's Spin utility and ability to role-compress bulky Water as well is super great and tier-warping af with Qwilfish as good as it is. Quag's defensive typing is amazing because it's a Ground type that is neutral to both HP Ice/Water and it also swaps into Psychics and Queen with relative ease. It just blanket checks so much and also can be a threatening wincon with Drum/Rollout/SD or Meditate Pass.

- Chansey and Bellossom tied for #5, very very very good Spikeless mons that also work on Spikes. Curse Chansey's recent surge in usage is well known by anyone involved in the tier and it's relatively spammable because it also possesses an all-encompassing special check role. Shoutout Iron Tail and Thunder (I was also considering Thunder as the last move on Curse alongside Lucky Punch as your method of breaking through Magneton since it immediately threatens Haunter and Aero more and contributes to ParaSpam but dropping Leftovers felt way too meme). Counter is obviously still a great move to have though since it prevents you from being 1v1'd by Granbull unlike Curse Hypno who is helpless vs that guy. Regular defensive Chansey is still a great mon too, Heal Bell and immediate presence vs specials with Present won't go out of style. Bellossom role compresses a lot defensively and with Grass move it helps Spikeless ward off the ever-dangerous DrumQuag. SD is a great wincon and Stun Spore is always super broken.

- 1 Slowbro, 1 Curse Hypno, 1 Nidoqueen. These are mons that used to/still are thought of as very good generally, but my usage shows that I don't really love these mons.

Slowbro is a great mon when you need to role compress bulky water + Granbull check, but I've found this style of building a bit out of style. Blastoise is the most direct comparison to Slowbro and its Rapid Spin utility is super broken. It has worse physical bulk meaning it needs backup vs Granbull, but Mag/Haunter/Rocks are very easy to fit on a variety of teams. The speed is a really big deal, being able outspeed Nidoqueen and other Ground types (and even other stuff like Magneton and Granbull) is huge.

Curse Hypno is a really annoying mon on paper but in practice I find it to be rather underwhelming right now. Curse Granbull is a great mon that checks it, Haunter is everywhere and can run various moves to 1v1 it, Magneton + Thief can/should beat it, Aero stops it, Screech and SD mons can outscale it because of how weak Body Slam is (although it does threaten Para).

Nidoqueen is something I've only really thought of more recently. Quag's rise in usage is bad for Queen since it walls it for the most part bar Ice Beam freezes or good Roar pulls (or crits..). Blastoise being spammed recently also puts Queen down since it both removes Spikes (which Queen NEEDS) and is a faster, more specially bulky water. I don't think Queen is necessarily significantly worse in terms of overall viability, but it feels worse to use right now with the rise of these two mons, especially with my personal bias towards Quag and Gligar (who checks Fire Blast and Roar Queens well + has amazing utility moves). It's also a Ground weak to Psychic, which doesn't help in the era of Haunter being on almost every team (and Mime is a scary guy too sometimes).

thanks if u read this all the way through, gsc uu is one of my favorite tiers rn and i'm really looking forward to uupl if i get drafted for that. s/o caterpingas

 

[DAWNBUSTER]

Some Notes:

A+: This tier doesn’t have an S Rank Pokemon. There is nothing in this tier that stands above the rest like that. Haunter remains the top Pokemon due to its irreplaceable typing and qualities. Granbull is #2 because of how versatile and universal it is. Nearly every style can find a place for it and it always performs well, whether its Curse Talk, Curse Ground, Heal Bell, or even something gimmicky like Present. Next up, the face of Spikes and Spikeless teams, respectively. Qwilfish and Blastoise.

Qwilfish was not as widely used this tournament. It was still the most used Pokemon, but 60% isn’t as high as previous tournaments. Spikeless teams are clearly usable in this tier. By using strong setup sweepers, you can make up for the lack of Spikes. Not having to use Qwilfish gives you more freedom and helps make your team better defensively. The more traditional Spikes offenses are facing more problems nowadays. Blastoise could very well be in the #3 spot further down the line, maybe even higher. The only thing that can replicate Rapid Spin is Graveler, a significantly worse Pokemon in most circumstances. For the most part, you are using Qwilfish or Blastoise on your team.

Hypno is definitely the worst Pokemon in this tier and I nearly put it in A. Ite only this high because what it offers defensively is valuable and hard to replicate. Teams are more prepared for Curse sets.

A: Quagsire is very strong. Rest + Sleep Talk anchors many teams while Belly Drum, or even Rollout, tear up teams. Slowbro and Nidoqueen, as staples of traditional Spikes offenses, are worse than before. Still great Pokemon but the teams they often show up on don’t do as well anymore. Quagsire and especially Blastoise being so popular sucks for Nidoqueen. Blastoise is frequently spinning away the Spikes that Nidoqueen relies on. Scyther remains a strong threat, despite Aerodactyl remaining popular. Its the star of HO teams and many teams cheat on being secure into it. Pinsir remains forever underatted, one day people will see how good it is.

A-: Aerodactyl is a valuable Pokemon on Spikeless teams for its ability to shut down Scyther, and to a lesser extent Pinsir. Curse Chansey, despite being more known now, is very hard to answer and highly useful defensively. Gyarados, similarly to Nidoqueen and Slowbro, suffers as an old guard of Spikes offenses. It arguably relies more than Nidoqueen on Spikes and has to compete with other Waters for a slot. Piloswine and Gligar are pretty good if slot onto the right team. Piloswine should be more explored more without Ampharos. Electabuzz is fine but very hard to fit onto good teams, both with AoA sets and Pursuit.

B+: Girafarig is fine but used more than it should be. Mr. Mime and Ampharos aren’t as good anymore. Mr. Mime is easy to wall but does offer some things defensively. Occasionally you’ll run it into a team that feels it can cheat on it defensively. Ampharos is never something you really have to use. Its a good balanced Pokemon but not much beyond that. Shuckle is good on extremely select teams, but those teams happen to be extremely powerful so it goes up here. Electrode is a valuable pick on hyper offense teams, and those teams are good. People should use them more.

B: These Pokemon are all rather similar. Strong on 2-3 teams and not much beyond that. Jumpluff is likely the best one of the group and could very feasibly be B+.

B-: You, for the most part, use these Pokemon because you want to. They are all very flawed and hard to fit onto teams. Politoed is the best of the group, and again can be B. It should be more explored more in my opinion. Belly Drum sets aren’t useless.

C: Same deal as the B- mons but worse. The last 4 are extremely niche. Golduck probably shouldn’t be ranked, but heh.

D: UU in name only. Vileplume is unviable and should not be ranked over actually usable Pokemon (Raichu, Arcanine, Ariados, Persian)

 

[LHF]

This turned into an insanely long post because that's just what happens when I am passionate about a subject. Read what you feel you want to and at your own pace - my brain simply must get this post out. I might format it a little later but right now it's more important that the information is written down.

It isn't a secret that the GSC UU metagame isn't the most actively discussed metagame but this is a VERY interesting time for the tier. With GSC UUPL on the horizon and the GSC UU Open starting soon, it has never been a better time to look into this awesome metagame. As such, I felt like writing a post with some observations while my mind was so intensely focused on this tier.

Why should you listen to my opinions? Well, you shouldn't. Ideally, this post motivates you to look into everything I have to say and makes you fall in love with the tier or rebuke my takes with some actual facts. I'd actually love that because I want to see the playerbase for this metagame expand. However, for the few people that need to hear "credentials" before taking someone's opinion seriously, I did win the GSC UU Cup this year if that helps you take me a little more seriously, and a lot of value was gleaned from the posts above mine.

I do not have a plan for this post other than writing my honest feelings on this metagame; I don't think that seasoned veterans will be surprised by much of what I have to say, but I also want this to serve as a pitch to a random passerby as to how to think about GSC UU. But the first place to start, is unfortunately a little narcissistic. If you don't understand how I view competitive Pokemon, you probably won't get the full value out of what I am trying to communicate.

As a random dude on the internet who has spent countless hours playing Pokemon casually and competitively, I do not like writing off any concept prematurely. If it's legal in the tier, it's up for consideration from a neutral value assessment. I can either be convinced of its legitimacy, fishiness(aka value that it may have in one matchup, but not another), or fraudness(an inability to win despite having a fleshed out concept) either by watching, playing, or discussing the tier at large. It is worth noting I did not play any test games for GSC UU during my entire tournament run, meaning that I was willing to put my position in the tour on the line while using a variety of ideas and builds just to flesh out my own vision of the tier. The only structure I did not bring to the tournament was Baton Pass centric teams, though I did load teams that had a BPer once or twice(Scyther).

Onto the good stuff. I have broken it down into sections so as not to assault your eyes.

GSC UU Slander? It's More Likely Than You Think

A common criticism of GSC UU, even by those who play GSC in other formats, is that people believe that it is littered with fat teams and that games are inevitably going to triple digit turns. I am here to say that this is a one dimensional take, and that a number of my wins from this tournament actually came from using offensive structures.

This was NOT an intentional decision at first, as I went into the tier intending to explore as many different archetypes as possible. In fact, in the first few weeks, I loaded very defensive structures and even ended up playing a 300+ turn game against a friend in R2 by stalling.

What I've learned from this is that while fatter teams are "technically" a comfort choice for players who are newer to the tier and can have some of their mistakes bailed out by the defensive properties of their team, overall, GSC UU is a tier that is better to play proactively, rather than reactively.

I want to be clear that this does not advocate for abandoning fatter structures, and in fact, they are very good brings by top players of this tier. In fact, I think it is actually very possible to play fatter teams more aggressively when the situation calls for it, and some of the best GSC UU play shows this off well. But I do want to dispel a "myth" that I think plagues this tier from some of its louder detractors.

There is no shaking it; fat teams are excellent, but what is a fatter team's goal? To survive longer than your opponent's team. To survive, you must play through many turns if your opponent manages to conserve their own resources efficiently. And over many turns, the probable odds of RNG not going in your favor progressively rise. You can only go through the same gameplay loop so many times before your reactivity becomes punishable and exploitable.

I also want to take this moment to talk about Rest + Sleep Talk. I really, and I mean REALLY, think that observers who do not play GSC fail to understand that it's a terrible feeling to have to rely on sleep talk to deliver the rolls you want it to, and that Rest is not the free click people think because it puts you at the mercy of not just your opponent, but also said RNG.

In a world where offensive structures can abuse you by setting up and/or forcing aggressive switching while spike is on your side of the field(which can also be compounded by strategies like Thief, to prevent your passive Leftovers recovery), the defensive structures you load to feel that you have control over the game, may sometimes only be a perceived comfort that does not always translate into the actual match.

Knowing when is the RIGHT time to rely on Rest(and when to practically click Sleep Talk) is a VITAL skill. I can easily put myself in someone else's shoes who just blindly relies on Rest, clicks Sleep Talk even on turns when it does not actually benefit them to bail them out of bad situations, and then gets mad at the game for not spitting out the correct RNG before proceeding to trash GSC as a generation. Why can I do that? Because that's a lot of players' origin stories, including myself.

This is, quite notably, something that you do not have to worry about so much if using offensive structures.

Do not take this as me telling you to run hyper offense consistently. I am not saying that is a good idea. I am, however, saying that if you are a player who holds an unfavorable view of GSC UU either from mashing Rest and Sleep Talk in less than sensible situations or watching people have longer drawn out games, you may be missing out on a central element of the tier at large.

This is a very long way of saying that I believe players should be willing to take more of their fate into their own hands sometimes, and play with intention. Pokemon like , , 4 atk , , , etc are mons that can thrive in the correct hands. While sometimes it can suck to know that damage(or status) can end up being permanent, making an aggressive callout can change the entire game and make you increasingly more likely to win by having eliminated a central defensive piece of their team.

The Haunting Truth: He Is Number One

The Haunting Truth: He Is Number One

I do not want to bother with a VR right now because I think with the potential for drops to happen following GSC UUPL, it is much more important to explore the potential ripple effects of and and what they may add or detract from this metagame. With that said, at the risk of echoing Dawnbuster, I do think it's important to highlight that I believe is the clear cut top Pokemon in the tier right now. I would like to explain this take in greater detail though.

Haunter has the luxury of being the only Ghost type, making it an excellent defensive property piece against mono Normal Pokemon like some Granbulls, Hypnos, Bellossoms, and so on. You can boom or destiny bond your Haunter early, but this may open you up to some troubling situations later in the match that could have been prevented if you kept this piece around. Haunter's role is not replicable by any other Pokemon in this tier, nor is the sheer versatility of its moveset. Before you think I am romanticizing this Pokemon too much, consider that we are talking about a pokemon that can realistically and practically:

- Click Thief to irreparably cripple a defensive switch-in over the long haul(by taking its leftovers)
- Serve as the only spin blocker in the entire tier(though this comes with its own risk assessment vs Blastoise)
- Rip an Explosion at any point the Haunter player feels its defensive value is no longer valuable
- Run Hypnosis to force unwanted sleep RNG on the opponent
- Use Mean Look to lure and trap a target in the manner it pleases
- Play ADDITIONAL mind games with Destiny Bond, forcing the opponent to second guess attacking it
- Wall mono normal types
- Switch in aggressively on a predicted Normal move to regain momentum vs a weakened check, or simply force the mind game of if this will happen
- Dig deep into its movepool to aggressively call out a specific scout - examples include with Giga Drain, or HP Ice for or - but of course this is more of an ancillary point and isn't as reliable as the above.

When you read all of this, and realize that no other Pokemon can replicate even half of that, I don't see how there is an argument against Haunter being the best Pokemon available to you.

However, this is not to say that Haunter is just this automatic win button because it definitely doesn't get to do ALL of the above every single match, just that it CAN. Pokemon like or can reasonably force Haunter in to accept a Stun Spore or Thunder Wave, limiting one of its most crucial tools in its speed. Also failing to act 25% of the time can be a pain, but good guy Haunter is there to accept this so that other valuable pieces of your team do not have to. Obviously there are other Pokemon like HP Ground Granbull which can easily flip this matchup on its head, but at the same time, the fact that lures like these exist is only proof of how influential Haunter is on this metagame.

A final point: while there are a number of other reasonable mono normal checks in this tier(Magneton, Aerodactyl, Shuckle on stall, Graveler on a few niche teams), I want to remind you that NONE OF THEM can block a Blastoise spin in a pinch and none fit on offensive teams the way Haunter does. It is a one of a kind Pokemon and it would take an awful lot for me to consider dropping this Pokemon from #1.

Bullish on Granbull: The Clear #2

Bullish on Granbull: The Clear #2

I'm going to yap about less because Dawnbuster already did this far more succinctly than me. It should be clear by now that I value two things in competitive Pokemon above all else: versatility in sets, and tier defining sets. Well, Granbull has both.

Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Curse
- Return
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Lovely Kiss

This set will snap you in half if you aren't careful. Teams that run this set need to have a better gameplan into Aerodactyl, but if you're too lazy about it and Aero goes to bed without being rest talk, you may be in for a world of pain.

Granbull can opt into running HP Rock as well to make the Aerodactyl matchup slightly more improved, but I've also liked it as a means of shutting down Scyther extremely reliably(this actually won me a tour game). And of course, Dynamic Punch is also deeply real on Curse sets if you're willing to get frisky with it.

I won't bother covering Granbull's other sets in remarkable detail, but I do feel like Return + Thunder Rest Talk is not a set I have been enjoying in recent memory as it feels like there are simply better uses of the mon.

I've considered the following set below that I think others may enjoy:

Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Curse
- Return
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ground]

I think this could hold merit on turbo paraspam offensive teams that don't need(or want) LKiss, because that set is able to generate immediate damage on Blastoise/Aerodactyl/Qwilfish in a pinch when you don't have any boosts for the waters, while it could also spread extra paralysis around for teammates. It could also end up possibly paralyzing Haunter on a switch or a DBond click without having to commit to killing it, putting things slightly in your favor.

The cleric set is unremarkably fine and holds value on the correct teams; it's just a matter of knowing when to slot it in.

Yes, (Quag)sire

Yes, (Quag)sire:

If you are a GSC UU player without a healthy fear of I do not believe you actually play this tier at all. This Pokemon is able to slot in many different team compositions with many different movepools. He may be adorable as a design, but as a competitive mon he is nothing but a menace. Between Defense Curl Rollout, its Rest Talk set being able to tailor itself to your needs with EQ + Sludge Bomb/Ice Beam/HP Rock, and Belly Drum variants which can fit on both fat teams and Baton Pass, this Pokemon should never escape your prepping. Being a water type that is completely immune to Electric, and forcing HP Grass purely to tech for it, can benefit its teammates as they may be able to escape HP Waters or HP Ices that would've otherwise blasted them to hell. Looking at you, .

Yes, (Pin)sir

Yes, (Pin)sir:

I went into this tournament fully expecting that if I wanted to use a Bug type on offense, I would use more often than not. I actually ended up falling in love with more than I ever expected possible.

Pinsir is not a Pokemon that sweeps entire teams alone, but it dents them far more reliably and inspires fear in a way many Pokemon cannot. While being in the 268 speed tier means it ties with, and puts itself at risk to Gligar(dangerous due to Wing Attack, Toxic crippling its longevity, etc) and Qwilfish(Hydro crits... ask me how I know, Sludge Bomb poison, Haze), it turns out that the loss in speed is really its only negative compared to Scyther.

Its unique advantages over Scyther include a +15 differential between their attack stats, the ability to run Rock Throw in conjunction with Hidden Power Ground and Return for absolutely unresisted coverage, and even the ability to drop one of those moves(usually RT) for Protect to either stall for lefties or even block a boom. Its lack of a Flying type, despite meaning that it does take Spikes damage, actually offers value as you are not weak to TBolt or 4x weak to rock types.

There are of course reasons to use Scyther over Pinsir, but when you look at what is better suited for the metagame right now, I believe Pinsir narrowly wins out. This is of course subject to change in the future, and may especially change if Typhlosion ends up dropping, but this serves as a snapshot take of February 2026's metagame and should be taken as such.

(Hyp)No.

(Hyp)No.

Around week 3 of this tournament I found myself souring on because I think the Pokemon is this really weird combination of entirely relevant and utter garbage. I can't tell you what I truly believe about it other than that it's a necessary bring at times but feels so sluggish. Its role is effectively to dictate and bottleneck the way your opponent plays the game relative to you, and you to them. For Curse + Body Slam sets, notably, Haunter has a hard time justifying itself to boom if Hypno is still in the picture. Psychic + TWave is a set that holds merit on the right teams, and is probably the set I most prefer, even if I dislike the Pokemon overall. Psychic + Seismic Toss was something I fought as well in this tournament, but that set is a big pile of do nothing against offense and you can guess how that turned out. I don't necessarily blame Hypno for falling off as much as I think people have simply gotten better at playing the game. This is the worst best Pokemon in the game right now, and I think it will need to experiment further if it intends to return to the favorability it used to have.

This is super off the cuff but I've wondered if it's possible to run Curse BSlam Psychic Rest if you add in a cleric, but I haven't really given it thought and don't intend to. Feel free to see if you can make that work; however, I don't have high hopes.

The Digital Duck

The Digital Duck:

While my attention to this tier was only recently revitalized by spectating ALTPL, Dawnbuster may have singlehandedly won the entire tournament for me by making me aware of in the above post. 4/6 of my tournament weeks went to bo3s, and Porygon simply delivered every time I was doubting myself. While its statline is unattractive, you can almost think of it as a spinoff of what often finds itself doing in the tier with setup ---> haunter lure ---> breaking later in the match, though the notable difference here is that you would use Porygon on offense whereas Bello helps contribute more toward balance's success.

While it's never quite good to make comparisons between two mons that function on different styles of teams, if you are unconvinced that an NU pokemon has a legitimate role to play in UU, consider the following. Porygon trades its initially poorer stats for increased longevity over the course of a match via 32 PP Recover(far superior to Moonlight's 8), Curse allows it to improve its physical bulk while it's building up momentum, Double-Edge is both a higher powered move than Return(120 vs. 102 respectively) at the cost of some recoil, AND TWave is 100% accurate compared to Stun Spore's fickle 75%. Much like Bello, the digital duck does not need to sweep in order to be successful. It helps enable other heavy hitters like Muk, Pinsir and Granbull which love seeing their enemies slower than them AND possibly able to benefit from a 25% of them being unable to move.

I love this Pokemon so much in the metagame and think it opens a lot of doors to interesting compositions not possible without it. It carried my UU Cup run and I think you should try it out yourself, with Pokemon you think it could enable well. Speaking of those, there are two Pokemon I think could benefit from it below, and then a third failed experiment I'm going to talk on just for the sake of showing how much I have thought about the tier.

Additional Concepts Somewhat On My Radar, But Not Serious Brings

Additional Concepts Somewhat On My Radar, But Not Serious Brings:


I was actually almost eliminated in r4 because my opponent had loaded a , but I thankfully had a Dynamic Punch Granbull that managed to connect on its second attempt(I forgive you for missing the first and giving me a heart attack). It has respectable physical bulk at 60/105 and a resistance to Normal, and access to Swords Dance. At 258 speed, it is slower than Pinsir while running the same type of coverage(Ancient Power + HP Ground) for its physical attacks, which doesn't seem good on the surface. But it does gain access to Hydro Pump as well, which is nice.

Another Swords Dancer I have theorycrafted about, after seeing its return to prominence in GSC NU, is . Kingler interests me greatly because it's got a whopping 130 attack, and a physical bulk at 55/115 is alright at the cost of trading off another ten points of speed, putting it at 248 speed total. In theory, you could make the argument that this mon would thrive on paraspam, but I can't talk about this mon without saying its terrible special bulk of 55/50 intimidates me personally. It is however, notable that Kingler will live one Haunter Thunderbolt, and is rather favored to do so after Spike even if it will be on death's door:

Haunter Thunderbolt vs. Kingler: 229-270 (77.1 - 90.9%) -- 25.6% chance to OHKO after Spikes

I would be very hard pressed to find something that is willing to confidently switch into a mix of boosted Return, Hidden Power Ground, and Crabhammer/Surf - the latter being for Aerodactyl and Gligar predominantly. I have included those calcs below:

Kingler Surf vs. Aerodactyl: 165-194 (46.4 - 54.6%) -- 7.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Kingler Crabhammer vs. Aerodactyl: 158-186 (44.5 - 52.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Kingler Crabhammer vs. Aerodactyl on a critical hit: 311-366 (87.6 - 103%) -- 20.5% chance to OHKO

Kingler Surf vs. Gligar: 180-212 (54 - 63.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Kingler Crabhammer vs. Gligar on a critical hit: 336-396 (100.9 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Kingler Crabhammer vs. Gligar: 170-200 (51 - 60%) -- 89.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Notably, if you don't believe you're going to load into Aerodactyl or Graveler(much more niche), you can easily click Substitute(to ease prediction), Thief(to bully fatter teams), Rest(if somehow able to pair with a cleric), or Protect(less valuable here imo) in that slot.

Notably, unboosted Hypno Body Slam or Bellossom Returns cannot break Kingler's sub at all. Kingler has OK opportunities to setup, notably just barely avoiding 3HKOs from mons like Quagsire and Qwilfish(30% poison chance on Sludge Bomb is ugly though), but I think its best bet at being remotely decent is through paraspam from supporting teammates, possibly with the Granbull set I linked above.

There is one more option I would like to talk about for Kingler, although it is even more theoretical than we've already gone: Icy Wind.

My interest in multiple tiers always had me cross-referencing ideas or moves I've seen in one format vs. another. Icy Wind strategies in 1v1, and UU Feraligatr's Screech strategy, inspired this idea. Kingler's key issue is speed, so if you aren't running paraspam and want to give this mon a try - if you are clicking Icy Wind into a mon faster than you, you can theoretically scare it out if it's in a kill range and dent another mon. This is super abstract though and really only came to mind because I was looking through its movepool and wanted to find other slashable options.

The only other "unmon" I considered bringing at any point throughout this tournament was , but it's not real and I could not think of any meaningful way to make it work; do not take it seriously. Concepts I considered were Hypnosis 3 atk, Psych Up(to copy mono Bull/Chansey/Bellossom in a pinch), Curse + Cross Chop + Surf + Ice Beam(don't bother, you need Blizzard to 2HKO Bello and odds of this are terrible when you factor in you'd be paralyzed AND have to hit 70% acc blizzards). I even eyeballed Petal Dance just because I simply hated Quagsire at times, but obviously being locked into Petal Dance for multiple turns is deeply undesirable and you only do something like 63-78%. It is Potential Man through and through on paper but absolutely does not hold value.

Rapid Fire Yap

Rapid Fire Yap:

is great, and deserved to rise from NUBL without question. I know I said this above, but man, if you're feeling yourself and able to click Screech on some predictions once your Spike is down, you can dismantle defensive backbones with this mon alone. Screech not being 100% sucks though, and is something that did unfortunately lead to me having to go to a game 3 in week 5 simply because my Gatr couldn't hit the final screech it needed to after decimating a Slowbro + Hypno core for 20+ turns.

is a highly skilled and niche Pokemon to use, but in the right hands it is a menace that always forces you to second guess your next click. I considered bringing it when my opponent seemed likely to BP me, but ended up preferring a stronger lead like Pinsir or Scyther instead in those situations.

is always going to have a role in this tier, but lately we are seeing more and more proof that Spikes, despite being the best move in the game, are not mandatory to thrive, and while there is still immense value to be had from this Pokemon, you would never consciously choose to build around this Pokemon as much as you are choosing to load Spikes for the rest of your team. It should still be valued for its ability to pressure Stall with Curse sets or provide an emergency out vs setup sweepers with Haze, though. It will never leave the top 5 due to its monopoly on the Spike game, but there are up and down periods for this mon entirely based on the validity of other styles.

is solid as always, being able to BP, RestTalk, or even exploit Encore with Fire Punch + Thunder as coverage moves. I personally love using this mon and think the Encore set in particular is underlooked.

is an idea I also took from Dawnbuster and technically Evakiyama since the Rollout strategy in this tier, to my knowledge, was first brought by Eva. Effective tool that can lure and delete threats for other mono curse mons(like Hypno) to win the day, as is what happened in my week 2 pretty flawlessly. Not even remotely as high on this as I am Porygon, however.

stall is a fine bring into the right opponent you feel will not be able to fight it adequately. I do not think Shuckle stall is a consistently spammable bring as it relies on the same key cornerstone mons to succeed, as much as it is a bring you use to keep a healthy rotation in your scout that is still capable of winning. That's the best way I know how to put it.

The only two UU official Pokemon I did not consider loading once this tour were and . They are just dramatically unremarkable in every way. didn't make the cut of what I ended up using, but I've seen it perform well in high pressure situations before and I was always ready to bring it if I felt the time was right.

Finally, I have given thought to using Mud-Slap on various Pokemon to mess with Baton Pass chainers. I do not have any meaningful contributions to add to this, I have not thought about it beyond the move, just that it's funny to me. Thanks to Kinesis Zam in RBY Ubers and Sand-Attack Dugtrio in RBY UU for the idea, because I've used Mud-Slap in other tiers to fishy success but ultimately see value in it stopping BP chains here.

Speculative Observations on the UUBL Mons, Loosely Held:

Speculative Observations on the UUBL Mons, Loosely Held:

I think that will be the most interesting addition to this tier because, like Haunter, it has a deep movepool and some pretty solid stats to back it up. While Typhlosion obviously cannot use EVERYTHING in its movepool in every game , a base 100 speed tier in GSC UU should immediately catch your attention. It is capable of running coverage options like Thunder Punch(notably bypassing the need for HP Electric), HP Grass, Dynamic Punch, and even HP Ice if it simply must eliminate a Gligar in a pinch(this one is a bit of a reach though). Another potential theory for Typhlosion could be Sunny Day sets; despite lacking Solar Beam, this boosts its Fire Blasts to unprecedented levels of power. It is also a worthwhile note that Typhlosion's bulk, while not fantastic, allows it to have some key benchmarks that do matter. It will always live a +2 HP Ground from Pinsir(and by extension, Scyther), can switch in on targeted predictions from Haunter, etc. However, it may be easy to wear down over the course of a match and obviously it can only commit to one set at a time. Lots of pros and cons to the Pokemon which make it very interesting to think about.

Despite me writing way too many words on this tier, I honestly don't know what to make of . It lacks a lot of the key moves that allow it to thrive in later generations, though it does notably get Sleep Powder, Swords Dance, Growth, Grass coverage, etc. While it only gets 4HKO'd by Sludge Bomb by Qwil and can't be poisoned, it also feels like a deep momentum sink of a Pokemon if you aren't boosting up either with SD or Growth, and I remain unsure of how effective those sets will be. Leech Seed feels like a very useless click in a world with Bellossom, that much I am sure of. I think it could also prove to be a nice panic reset button with Roar, but I think I will just wait to see how things play out.

We have seen what can offer the tier before, and I don't think it's "unhealthy." I do want to see if another tour, this time with all GSC UU minds putting their heads together instead of just isolated slots in UUFPL, can bring out something new from the mon, I'd say I'm the most sure that I know what to expect from this slot, but Smeargle is an artist and we don't know what he's liable to break out at any point.

Closing Notes:

Going back to my player philosophy, I believe that the best way to approach a tier is to become comfortable and familiar with many different styles; this not only makes you a more well-rounded player, but also makes you a nightmare to scout into for tournament games. It also decreases the chance that someone will try to matchup fish you, if you are able to constantly cycle your style of play(though that isn't going to stop some people from full sending their comfort teams anyway).

I have very high hopes for the future of this metagame and I hope everyone has a blast in GSC UUPL. I personally cannot devote the time to play in it right now, but I will be eager to see how the metagame could possibly develop with one or more of the possible drops.

While I wrote this post for me, I do hope it was worth your time and shows you how much I do care about this metagame.