OK, so by popular demand(Aldaron and Ike123 lol), I will go ahead and make the uber discussion thread. Thanks alot: when I have to take charge, you know smogon's in trouble. =O
[big jk btw. I don't mind]
Anyway, the uber metagame is completely centralizing. This is based on purely statistics, which shows that players are utilizing and preparing against a majority of threats. The biggest issues tend to be Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Deoxys-a, and Palkia, with Lugia, Groudon, and Latias geared to counter them. The majority of the metagame is offensive based, as it should be with all these 120+ base stats flying in the majority of uber catagories. Choice Items are becoming scarce except on certain pokemon, such as ScarfPalkia, SpecsOgre, and similar pokemon which either are used as a general wall-breaker or revenge-killer.
Now what seperates ubers and OU is the speed of the end-game. For a comparison, the standard OU match's end-game usually comes into play after there are only a max of six pokemon total(including both players). In ubers, however, the loss of a single pokemon can result in the end-game. For a better example, take a look at Train Man's warstory, where after just losing Blissey and the opponent losing something else(I don't remember), it turns into a very fast series of kills for both sides, mainly because the Latias counter was gone.
But what I'm trying to say is that more teams are starting to pack SR and Paralysis than during the early stages of the metagame. Stealth Rock helps keep that whore Lugia's health down and stops Kyogre from 2HKOing Blissey with Specs Water Spout(Usually), where paralysis is helpful in crippling most pokemon and helps to make it easier to take the "fast wall" of Lugia.
In my opinion, the metagame is generally focusing around Rayquaza. This assumtion is based on the increase of team support that eases its sweep, and the preparation of a team that is put into not being swept by it. This can be proved through statistics by the amount of Lugias and Groudons seen, while also looking at how much Stealth Rock is seeing play on Dialgas and Groudons. Usually, most teams rather make sure it can't set up on anything rather than actually trying to counter it. In general, the standard term of "countering" in ubers is thrown out the window, since most uber pokemon just have enough in their movepools to "beat there counters", and using "lures" in the early game is so much more important than before, since an early loss can easily lead to your defeat.
I would put more, but I have to do Cross Country, and this is rushed as it is. Feel free to argue with anything, as I probably screwed up a bunch.
[big jk btw. I don't mind]
Anyway, the uber metagame is completely centralizing. This is based on purely statistics, which shows that players are utilizing and preparing against a majority of threats. The biggest issues tend to be Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Deoxys-a, and Palkia, with Lugia, Groudon, and Latias geared to counter them. The majority of the metagame is offensive based, as it should be with all these 120+ base stats flying in the majority of uber catagories. Choice Items are becoming scarce except on certain pokemon, such as ScarfPalkia, SpecsOgre, and similar pokemon which either are used as a general wall-breaker or revenge-killer.
Now what seperates ubers and OU is the speed of the end-game. For a comparison, the standard OU match's end-game usually comes into play after there are only a max of six pokemon total(including both players). In ubers, however, the loss of a single pokemon can result in the end-game. For a better example, take a look at Train Man's warstory, where after just losing Blissey and the opponent losing something else(I don't remember), it turns into a very fast series of kills for both sides, mainly because the Latias counter was gone.
But what I'm trying to say is that more teams are starting to pack SR and Paralysis than during the early stages of the metagame. Stealth Rock helps keep that whore Lugia's health down and stops Kyogre from 2HKOing Blissey with Specs Water Spout(Usually), where paralysis is helpful in crippling most pokemon and helps to make it easier to take the "fast wall" of Lugia.
In my opinion, the metagame is generally focusing around Rayquaza. This assumtion is based on the increase of team support that eases its sweep, and the preparation of a team that is put into not being swept by it. This can be proved through statistics by the amount of Lugias and Groudons seen, while also looking at how much Stealth Rock is seeing play on Dialgas and Groudons. Usually, most teams rather make sure it can't set up on anything rather than actually trying to counter it. In general, the standard term of "countering" in ubers is thrown out the window, since most uber pokemon just have enough in their movepools to "beat there counters", and using "lures" in the early game is so much more important than before, since an early loss can easily lead to your defeat.
I would put more, but I have to do Cross Country, and this is rushed as it is. Feel free to argue with anything, as I probably screwed up a bunch.
