I see a trend in max speed Timid Nidoqueen, it fits fairly well on offense teams since it is naturally bulky n still strong even with out running modest. Even tho it sits at a weird speed tier it ends up outspeeding things that wouldnt expect for it to be that fast and nabbing the ko.
Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock/ Taunt
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
Also with jirachi dropping M-Aero has seen a big surge in usage and viability. Ppl can run the hone claws set, which is wildly dangerous and clean or break after just one boost, the regular stall breaker type sets that its known for are still just as good.
Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
- Aerial Ace
These mon usually are ran together since both threaten alot due to their coverage bulk and power. Things like Suicune Hera or Duoblade are seen to round out the core, but those are already standard as standard gets (minus Doublade even though its getting so much more usage due to drops)
i've been having a lot more success with mega aerodactyl's 3 attacks roost set, as it can stay healthy for most of the match and check offensive teams really nicely because it's so damn fast and outspeeds and KOs a lot of the pokes on offense. checking virtually every fighting type in the tier barring maybe scarf mienshao with a bit of prior damage, band entei, life orb hydreigon, and stuff like heliolisk and shaymin is really nice for it, making it an s tier mon.
general metagame analysis:
we're seeing a surge in bulky psychics like slowking, reuniclus and cresselia mostly due to the fact that jirachi left, which gives them a lot of breathing room. Reuniclus in general 6-0s stall with pursuit support, and with psyshock / focus blast it can hit most of the mons in the tier for good damage. subcm cress is really nice right now too, better than ever, since it doesnt have to worry about being walled by jirachi and/or losing to subcm rachi, and can do a lot more work against offense now that every offensive team doesnt run scarf rachi. in particular being able to OHKO hydreigon after rocks with good SpA investment is really nice for cresselia. slowking is a great answer to stuff like entei, infernape and mega aero and can setup all over more bulky teams, esp those that employ suicune, since it counters suicune quite nicely. it's a really nice mon that has seen good usage ever since the mega medicham retest.
heracross is really centralizing the meta right now, and there's typically two types of answers to heracross:
1) offensive answers: the best answers are fast flying types (Mega Pidgeot, Crobat, Mega Aerodactyl) or fast fire types (Entei, Darmanitan, Infernape, Scarf Chandelure). it also gets worn down throughout a match, so it can't really switch in vs offensive teams; however, many offensive teams tend to run Crobat so that they can take hits from it. unfortunately crobat is OHKOd by a banded stone edge and hates taking knock offs, but assuming the offensive player plays their cards well and uses their fast, hard-hitting mons to keep hera at bay, it will probably be okay. another thing that offensive players are doing is using doublade, which is SUPER nice right now being able to check all of the bulky fairies going around (loving rachi leaving) and most of the fighting types in the tier, being able to comfortably switch into most of hera's moves, barring knock off. it also means the hera player will be more inclined to click knock off during a match, meaning the offensive player can afford to play more recklessly with their mons.
2) defensive answers: this is when it starts to get tough. I havent seen too much aromatisse on the ladder although stuff like granbull, doublade (also fits well on stall) and crobat are starting to be used more on stall than ever. standard early oras stall has serious issues with heracross as to be expected, since heracross puts a shitload of pressure on stall teams, esp. with sd flame orb. luckily this set isn't being used as much, but thats not to say it's not good; hera + tspikes support is just as good as it was when hera was in the tier. fast flying types are really seeing usage on stall and semistall is shooting up like it used to, full stall was a bit better pre-heracross but is just becoming less and less usable due to the stuff that is entering the tier. multiple players are still having success with it (
Lapras! is one example) but it's a lot harder to pull off.
finally, my last post about the current meta. this one is about mence; mence is dangerous, but frankly to me is underwhelming. it does really well vs offensive teams with its scarf set as an effective cleaner, but this set doesnt do anything vs defensive teams; to do
any damage to defensive teams it has to run a lum dd set or even a sub dd bulkier set, both of which become harder to pull off vs offensive teams that don't give it a free setup. its still a stellar mon, but cries about how broken mence is (one of my earlier posts in the NP thread included) are silly to me. custap lead HO doesnt have issues with it because slurpuff stops scarf sets from clicking outrage (and frankly slurpuff is probably a necessity on forry lead HO right now, because of mence and hydreigon) and dd sets have issues setting up vs offense, just like most setup sweepers vs offense. bulky offense often runs a bulky water and vap / cune / pert can all just run an ice move, pert even being able to run roar and just phaze it out. balance can run cune or hippo and there's no issue, mence cant really deal with those mons unless it runs a very specially invested draco meteor lure set which doesn't exist as of yet. and finally mence doesnt really touch stall because it's power is underwhelming without moxie boosts, so the only way it's going to accomplish anything vs stall is by picking off weakened mons, but stall has plenty to deal with mence.
this metagame is great right now, one of the best metas i've ever had the chance to play, and the cool adaptations that are being made in the current meta to stop certain threats are really innovative and fun. i look forward in the future to seeing more metagame shifts based on the new mons that will definitely enter and leave the tier.
so to recap: a rise in fast birds, esp. pidgeot, crobat and mega aero, a rise in fire types especially to outspeed and ko darmanitan, a rise in bulky psychics, a rise in doublade + other bulky steels, and a rise in granbull / aromatisse and a rise in semistall.
also my apologies for a long post, i just wanted to talk about the current metagame and what cool stuff we've seen rising and falling in terms of usage. i just basically threw out my experiences in ladder matches and watching spl matches. this is both from high ladder matches (1600-1700 stuff) and in mid ladder, both of which are exemplifying these certain mons rising in usage that i have mentioned.
