Other Monotype Crown Tundra Speculation [SPOILERS]

[mushamu]

loosely based on OU's thread

Warning: This thread contains spoilers for the upcoming Crown Tundra DLC! If you do not wish to see spoilers, then don't view this thread!

* the therian forms for landorus, thundurus, and tornadus are confirmed too

A few days ago, Nintendo released a trailer that released more information regarding the Crown Tundra DLC later this year. They gave an objective release date of October 22nd in which the DLC will be available to play, and with that, all the Pokemon released on PS! for us to use. Many old Pokemon will be returning, as well as some newer Pokemon such as Calyrex, Galarian Slowking, Regieleki, Regidrago, Galarian Articuno, Galarian Moltres and Galarian Zapdos. All of the confirmed returning Pokemon are shown above.

For a list of all of the movepool changes, check out here. The most notable of these changes can be found in this post here as well. In addition, this post shows them by generation here. Finally, a list of DLC move tutor compatibility for unreleased Pokemon can be found here.

Use this thread to discuss your thoughts on anything potentially interesting that could come for Monotype in the Crown Tundra. All of the legendary and some of the mythical Pokemon coming back means this DLC will have a significant impact on Monotype, perhaps even more than DLC 1.
​

Finally, here are some questions that you can answer if you want to contribute but don't know what to say:

• Which returning Pokemon do you think will have a significant impact on Monotype?
• Are there any old Pokemon you think will become better or worse with the addition of these Pokemon?
• What types do you think will benefit from the Crown Tundra? Which types do you see falling in viability due to the Crown Tundra?
• Is there anything else you're excited about?

 

[bea]

1st Blood.

• Which returning Pokemon do you think will have a significant impact on Monotype? The Pokemon I'm Excited to see is Dragonite with Boots, Victini being Victini (and maybe boots will be used with this), The Lati Twins, and Finally The Genies.
• Are there any old Pokemon you think will become better or worse with the addition of these Pokemon? Bye, Bye Pincurchin Better Hope that Koko Gets Banned.
• What types do you think will benefit from the Crown Tundra? Which types do you see falling in viability due to the Crown Tundra? Fairy is gonna benefit from tapus, Same With Electric and Psychic. Dragon is going to benefit and Flying will rise up from the ashes. I don't really know which type will become unviable
• Is there anything else you're excited about? Spamming Dragon On Ladder

 

[Teggun Burcs]

 

[adjustments]

1st Blood.

• Which returning Pokemon do you think will have a significant impact on Monotype? The Pokemon I'm Excited to see is Dragonite with Boots, Victini being Victini (and maybe boots will be used with this), The Lati Twins, and Finally The Genies.
• Are there any old Pokemon you think will become better or worse with the addition of these Pokemon? Bye, Bye Pincurchin Better Hope that Koko Gets Banned.
• What types do you think will benefit from the Crown Tundra? Which types do you see falling in viability due to the Crown Tundra? Fairy is gonna benefit from tapus, Same With Electric and Psychic. Dragon is going to benefit and Flying will rise up from the ashes. I don't really know which type will become unviable
• Is there anything else you're excited about? Spamming Dragon On Ladder

I really want to highlight that Tornadus-T with HDB and nasty plot is going to be a monster in this metagame alongside it's team support of the other genies which may eventually make talks of another suspect or ban based on what we see from it, but what I would like to see is Kyurem-Black make a return as it threatens a lot of Flying types and may balance them out in that way. Also definitely worth noting that Koko and Bulu get play rough and close combat, Lati@s gets mystical fire and Lele gets expanding force. Types that previously had issues breaking certain mons like Chansey/Blissey, P2 and Ferrothorn now have answers that make those matchups at least slightly more reasonable. I am also very excited for boots dd nite since we will finally see that dragon's max potential. As for what will rise and fall- I definitely see Psychic, Electric, Fairy, Flying, Dragon and Ground rising up and seeing more use, while Normal, Poison, Dark and Steel becoming less viable thus seeing less use.

It is very unfortunate that we are not getting megas back, but I think we are entering the most interesting meta monotype has brought us in the past couple years. There will be some things very similar but very different from past gens and there will be far more to explore as this discussion goes on.

whew this was longer than i wanted it but i think it'll light up some fun discussion

 

[Rotten]

I don't always contribute to threads like these and don't really play old gens to know enough about these mons, but I decided i'll give my 2 cents:

• Which returning Pokemon do you think will have a significant impact on Monotype?

OML this is going to be deadly. Expanding Force breaks past so many non-resists, Blissey hates dealing with Psyshock/Taunt, and Moonblast is there to devastate the Dark-types that would otherwise give Tapu Lele trouble. It does still struggle with most Steels but with Victini coming back, this is a problem that can be dissolved. I'm not sure if it falls as banworthy, but let's see what happens.



Tapu Koko on the other hand is going to be an amazing asset for any Electric-type team. Electric Surge alone can dedicate a whole playstyle and it utilizes Volt Switch, something that Pincurchin doesn't have. Its Fairy-typing and new access to Play Rough STAB is also going to be great considering Electric doesn't have the best matchup against Dragon-types as well as Urshifu-S and to top it off, it also gets Rising Voltage. The rest of its movepool is filled with lots of options too, such as Grass Knot for pesky Ground-types and probably dual screens + u-turn shenanigans. This will definitely be a great addition to the tier.



Landorus is landorus. I'm pretty sure more people will cover this up.

• Are there any old Pokemon you think will become better or worse with the addition of these Pokemon?

Chandelure basically has no real niche over Blacephalon, who will likely become a more powerful and versatile threat for Ghost-type teams. Was fun while it lasted.



This wasn't super useful on Flying teams in the first place but now with an Electric immunity in Landorus and Dragonite to withstand powerful attacks with Multiscale... why would you use this.



As mentioned before, Tapu Koko is mainly going to be the better pick, but it does have Spikes + Toxic Spikes so ig that's something.

What types do you think will benefit from the Crown Tundra?

Now with a better Steel breaker in Moltres, fantastic sweepers such as Landorus-I and other good picks like Salamence and Dragonite, I believe this type will have a lot going for it and will probably be one of the first few that i'm using. The matchups that it previously flopped in are going to be drastically improved from what I can tell.

Fire didn't change too much but it did gain some new abusers like Entei and Victini, as well as Heatran which offers fantastic role compression usually due to its Steel-typing, so that will be great on its own.

• Which types do you see falling in viability due to the Crown Tundra?

idk, I have a feeling that the matchups that Fighting usually struggles against will rise up so maybe this will be less effective? Not sure.

• Is there anything else you're excited about?

I am really glad Garchomp is coming back. Although it didn't get Dragon Dance as others have expected it to have, it will for sure be a good wallbreaker with Swords Dance and use Stealth Rock + Rough Skin, useful as always.



Boots + Multiscale just seems really fun. This is the first thing i'm trying out.

 

[roxie]

Did some typings, will do some more later :)

Rock

Omastar is a nice Shell Smash sweeper and threatens many types with its coverage of Hydro Pump + Earth Power + Ice Beam. Air Balloon seems very nice with it to basically force opposing Landorus-T and Ground-type Pokemon to not effectively damage you while setting up. This isn't a Mega Diancie but it surely can be a Trick Room Diancie amirite?? Stakataka would pair nicely with this and many other Rock-type trick room abusers you may think of. Terrakion will still be glue on all Rock-type teams as usual however. Cradily is a nice Water-type immunity, was better in ORAS probably when Toxapex and other Pokemon was not here. Recov, Toxic, Giga, Filler is fine, even Chople may be a small niche for Keldeo. Aggron is outclassed most likely as a Steel/Rock mon by Stakataka. Mega Aggron is not longer allowed on Rock so its no point in putting in on your Rock-type teams any generation AFTER 6. Stakataka is a nice Trick Room sweeper but I pray gramefreak does give is Heavy Slam maybe. I'm not sure how much this slow thing does to defensive Hatterene behind Screens. Nihilego will also be amazing on Rock hands down because of its amazing coverage : Tbolt/Thunder, Tspikes, Wave, Gem, Gknot. Sample sets for: Omastar / Diancie / Cradily / Stakataka / Nihilego.

Ground

Nidoking will be very nice for Fairy and Steel teams because of Fire Blast, Earth Power, and Sludge Wave and its a nice special wallbreaker. Landorus will be glue on every team tho so maybe this can pair with a Landorus-T variant better. I have never actually use this Pokemon before because I'm not sure what exactly it does as opposed to Garchomp. I guess DD can make a decent progress maker. Nidoqueen will be decent on more bulkier Ground-type variants with Tspikes. Garchomp is an all around good Pokemon but I do feel like it can run a defensive helmet set for Azumarill along with SD being in consideration. With Garchomp being more defensive oriented you can also run Gastrodon along with SpD Hippowdown with Rock Slide > SR. (rocks will be on chomp) I advice you to use Groundon while it lasts to completely 6-0 Steel..its Grounds era!!! Landorus is will be a viable Gravity setter and supports the entire team pretty much. Landorus-T as said before will work on more Nidoking variant Ground-type teams. What I visualize:

Poison

Nidoking is a nice Steel-killer with Ground-type STAB and Fire-type special moves and also has Stealth Rocks, not too much to say about this mon but its very versatile and is guranteed good. In Gen 7, Crobat was Poison's only reliable Mega-Gallade check and it faces huge competition with Galarian Weezing as a defogger. Galarian Weezing has both Ground- and Dragon-type immunities so I do not see why run Batman over G-Weezy. Some may say well Crobat is immune to Excadrill's Earthquake, but what exactly is a Crobat to an Excadrill. Currently, Poison teams struggle against Fire-type teams and dealing with Volcarona. Payapa Toxapex + Toxic may come to mind but you waste turns and by time Volcarona is dead from Toxic, it has done so much damage to your team. Safeguard or Substitute Volcarona sets also just demolish the whole Toxic Volcarona idea so Nihilego will be an amazing threat and rocker for Poison. Nidoqueen has a set with Shuca Berry for like Landorus-T last gen? It probably can fit over Nidoking but it just seems like Corviknight/Celesteela could become a potential issue when running non-LO Nidos. Use my man Nagandel before he's banned like Eternatus. While it is here, you may abuse Nasty Plot! Here is how I picture the standard Poison-type team(s) once DLC drops.

Psychic

I chose not to add Jynx because not enough room but BoltBeam can be decent I suppose, however Tapu Lele + Choice Specs + Expanding Force I most def predict to go as it is way too much to handle. Calm Mind + Taunt + STABs are even scary. Lugia will be crazy on Flying's Pressure Core but this on Psychic may not be as good but def usable. I also predict Lugia to go as well. Metagross was very good against Fairy- and Rock-type teams obviously but it was known for taking on Azumarill's Aqua Jet at +6. However I do feel like with Indeedee being here, there is lesser of a reason to run the same set as last gen. Choice Band seems more optimal. Uxie, Azelf, Mespirit are all pretty medicore with Uxie and Azelf being slightly better. I can potentially see a use in Azelf but I think they're better rockers. Victini will be glue on every Psychic teams as it helps tremendously against Steel. I do not feel like HDB is pretty on Victini because Choice Band / Flame Plate are just better options. Flame Plate seems very effective with Substitute and Focus Blast to help tremendously with Steel along with Pokemon that may to try and scout what Victini will do next. The Lati-twins are amazing speed control in Monotype as Latias is notably good for Healing Wish and more bulky-type Psychic teams and Latios is used on more offensive oriented Psychic teams. Its a lot of options but I'm not sure where Cresselia falls in on teambuilding. Here are some sample sets for Latias / Latios / Victini / Metagross / Uxie / Azelf . [/SPOILER]

 

[Hyperspace12]

Gonna talk about 1 item that has been causing a lot of talk and shit in ou that i think will make a huge impact on dlc 2 mono.

Kanto birds

LOL so these 3 turkeys were a part of flying pressure stall for past generations( now they also get corv) but pressure stall wasnt prominent at all thanks to them taking like 50% of their health on entry, but now all that goes down the fking drain and they can spam sub and toxic all they want now. Articuno and Moltres were notable held back a lot by their sr weakness, and they dont rly care too much abt losing Lefties recovery.
turkey pressure spam

Tornadus-T

apparently this thing is getting np and the immunity to hazard damage with boots when it already had regen and nice speed and spa lolllll

np+taunt
it could also be a nice defogger ig

Dnite

so basically this thing now gets boots to keep its multiscale so it like gets a free dd and u can keep roosting and spamming dd, i think its also getting dwb or smth, so now it also has a good flying stab.

ok its gg now :i

cant talk abt another flying mon

so in past gens armaldo and forretress had pretty fierce competition with each other; both were rockers and spinners for bug, but forretress took neutral sr damage and wasnt affected by tspikes, whereas armaldo helped against mons like mzy and victini. Now, forretress isnt confirmed and armaldo is now able to negate both sr and tspikes, but it will be losing lefties.

armaldo
this thing used to run 84 def for victini but now boots means it doesnt need that investment so it can go full on spd to beat stuff like volc and reg zard

overall i dont rly wanna say anything too early but its very obvious that boots will now play a much more prominent role in the mono meta, and im excited to see how stuff turns out.

 

[mushamu]

Gonna talk about 1 item that has been causing a lot of talk and shit in ou that i think will make a huge impact on dlc 2 mono.

Kanto birds

LOL so these 3 turkeys were a part of flying pressure stall for past generations( now they also get corv) but pressure stall wasnt prominent at all thanks to them taking like 50% of their health on entry, but now all that goes down the fking drain and they can spam sub and toxic all they want now. Articuno and Moltres were notable held back a lot by their sr weakness, and they dont rly care too much abt losing Lefties recovery.
turkey pressure spam

Tornadus-T

apparently this thing is getting np and the immunity to hazard damage with boots when it already had regen and nice speed and spa lolllll

np+taunt
it could also be a nice defogger ig

Dnite

so basically this thing now gets boots to keep its multiscale so it like gets a free dd and u can keep roosting and spamming dd, i think its also getting dwb or smth, so now it also has a good flying stab.

ok its gg now :i

cant talk abt another flying mon

so in past gens armaldo and forretress had pretty fierce competition with each other; both were rockers and spinners for bug, but forretress took neutral sr damage and wasnt affected by tspikes, whereas armaldo helped against mons like mzy and victini. Now, forretress isnt confirmed and armaldo is now able to negate both sr and tspikes, but it will be losing lefties.

armaldo
this thing used to run 84 def for victini but now boots means it doesnt need that investment so it can go full on spd to beat stuff like volc and reg zard

overall i dont rly wanna say anything too early but its very obvious that boots will now play a much more prominent role in the mono meta, and im excited to see how stuff turns out.

I see Armaldo being near non existent on Bug teams because Heavy Duty Boots spam is far more reliable than dedicating another slot to afford a spinner when you could run a lot of other things to cteam more specific matchups. Armaldo and Forretress were both great on SM Bug but had each their own downfalls. Armaldo was weak to Water and Stealth Rock itself, took Toxic Spikes damage, and Forretress had a 4x weakness to Fire that was easily capitalized on and was extremely passive to the point where it had to run Volt Switch to prevent Defoggers coming in for free. Running one of these two Pokemon in SM were pretty much a necessary evil since Bug teams were extremely weak to hazards, and being weak to hazards without reliable removal adds up to part of the reason why people don't consider Bug good in SM. In this generation, Bug's main wincons have Heavy Duty Boots slapped onto them to increase their reliability and I don't see that changing in DLC 2 considering how inconsistent the two spinners are.

Tornadus-T is incredible though, I could see it running something like Nasty Plot / Heat Wave / Focus Blast / Hurricane with Heavy Duty Boots which kills Steel teams extremely well, standard utility Defog sets, or a combination of both. You have Taunt on a Nasty Plot set, which I think has merit for setup + stallbreak where it can come in, break, and rinse and repeat. Maybe even Knock Off on a Nasty Plot set to force things like Blissey and Tyranitar in and remove their item. Even more flexible than SM since it now has Nasty Plot and Heavy Duty Boots. Flying's probably going to be like top 1 after DLC 2 drops because it has so many incredible additions to accompany Heavy Duty Boots.

Nasty Plot

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave / Taunt / U-turn / Knock Off
- Focus Blast / Taunt / U-turn

Defog set that's improved from SM

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt / U-turn
- Defog
- Hurricane
- U-turn / Knock Off

 

[maroon]

Lowkey Monotype sucks right now, so the Crown Tundra DLC is hype. Anyway, just going to drop some a lot of thoughts on the upcoming metagame!

Types that Benefit from the DLC
While it is undoubtedly clear that all types somewhat benefit from the Crown Tundra DLC, there are a few types that got luckier than others. I'm going to be covering what I think those are right now. Quick disclaimer, I will not be covering Pokemon from this DLC that I believe will be banned, such as Tapu Lele & Tapu Koko, in this section. Also, if a Pokemon like Articuno has a Galarian form and is Psychic-type, I included it in that section even though the sprite does not match.

Dragon

Dragon is going to be a very dominant type again this generation. Heavy-Duty Boots will mean Dragonite can run some exciting sets such as Dragon Dance + Dual Wingbeat. However, I can't imagine what move it will drop, potentially Outrage, I guess. Choice Band Dragonite will be a great set again. Latios and Latias are super appreciated. Latios will be a fantastic Choice Specs user with its new coverage. Latias will do the same thing it has always done in being a Choice Scarf Revenge Killer, Healing Wish Cleric, and Defog user. Garchomp will probably return as the Stealth Rock lead set. However, I can see Duraludon and Garchomp being used, Duraludon as a Stealth Rock setter, allowing Garchomp to use Swords Dance. Fun type, not much more to say about it.

Fire

Fire is a great type right now. However, these are still some fascinating additions. All of these Pokemon bar Entei feel like they bring something new to the type. Entei is just there, I guess. First of all, let me say I have always been such a fan of Moltres, but now with Heavy-Duty Boots, it will actually be viable. The two main sets I can see this Pokemon running both have Heavy-Duty Boots, which is the only viable item on Moltres. The first set is a Pressure stall, with Substitute and Toxic. The more offensive set I can see being run is Agility. However, this may be kind of difficult to do as the sun interferes with Hurricane's accuracy. Heatran can run a Specially Defensive set or offensive Air Balloon. I can see Specially Defensive Heatran and SubToxic Moltres being a very annoying core on Fire. Victini will always have the option to run Choice Band, allowing it to act as a nuke in the sun. It can also run Heavy-Duty Boots to enable it to pivot in and out with U-turn relatively free. Volcanion could run a Choice Specs set. Although, I feel like we will see more offensive Heavy-Duty Boots Defog sets being used with this Pokemon. It is immune to Water attacks is excellent for the type. Finally, the Ultra Beast clown, Blacephalon, will I'm assuming, run a Choice Scarf. This will make it the fastest Pokemon available for Fire, allowing it to check Nihilego with Psyshock. Nihilego can also opt to run a SubCM set with Heavy-Duty Boots to take advantage of passive Pokemon, such as Chansey. However, I feel like a Choice Scarf will be the most popular pick still for this Pokemon. Although it may not have gotten as much Pokemon as Flying, I am still very hyped to build with this type.

Flying

Ah, this is so fun to look at, especially when you consider Flying has three more Pokemon and the Galarian forms of the legendary birds. Right off the bat, while Gliscor does not appear to be returning, Flying still got two Electric immunities. The Electric immunities are Thundurus-Therian and both Landorus forms. This means Emolga will no longer be a thing, thank god, lol. Another interesting thing to note is that since Heavy-Duty Boots are now an item previously unviable Pokemon, such as Articuno and Moltres. This will allow them to be viable in Monotype. A few exciting move additions to the type are Dragon Dance on Aerodactyl, Nasty Plot on Tornadus-Therian, and Cosmic Power on Celesteela. Dragon Dance Aerodactyl allows it to have a niche as a Fire killer. Nothing will really compete with its EdgeQuake, and fire certainly has no Pokemon faster than +1 Aerodactyl, so that will be interesting. With access to Heavy-Duty Boots, Tornadus is a better Defog user than it ever has been. Now it also can abuse Nasty Plot with all sorts of fantastic coverage ranging from Sludge Wave, Heat Wave, Focus Blast, and Grass Knot. This will allow it to be tailored to take on a variety of different Pokemon and matchups. I'm not entirely sure that Cosmic Power Celesteela will be the most viable set since giving up Flamethrower or Leech Seed isn't ideal. However, it will be even more painful to take out if it opts to run that move. I think with Rising Voltage Tapu Koko might catch the ban hammer making Celesteela even better in the Fairy matchup. Not sure what Galarian Articuno and Moltres get access to. However, I heard that Galarian Zapdos will have a Hawlucha like move pool and some impressive Electric-type moves like Bolt Beak. Dragonite now no longer needs to worry about Defog to keep Multiscale intact. I think this will allow Dragonite to more viably pull of a Dragon Dance set, especially since it now has access to Dual Wingbeat. The types ability to Pressure stall will for sure be something very annoying to face. Overall, I think Flying will be one of the top types in the new metagame. As it got access to a plethora of viable legendary Pokemon and Heavy-Duty Boots, a tremendous asset to the type.

Ground

Ground as of right now absolutely sucks. However, with the addition of just these Pokemon, I believe it will shoot up in viability. Nidoking can provide the team with Fire, Ice, Electric, and Poison coverage and set and absorb Toxic Spikes. While Toxic Spikes are not as good as they were last gen thanks to Heavy-Duty Boots. However, they still will be great for matchups such as Psychic and Fairy. While Garchomp did not get Dragon Dance, it can always be a phenomenal wallbreaker with Swords Dance, running the same set it did last gen without the Z-move. I don't think anything aside Swords Dance will be useful, but that's fine because it will be so good. The Landorus forms are exactly what Ground needs. Landorus will make a phenomenal Gravity user allowing the type to hit Pokemon such as Steel Birds. Its Therian form will make a good Choice Scarf user and a great partner for Nidoking. U-turn and Knock Off will be remarkable on Landorus-Therian. I expect Psychic will be an excellent type, and those two always can annoy Psychic-types. I believe both sand and non-Sand teams will be viable, non-sand abusing Choice Scarf Landorus and Nidoking. In contrast, sand builds will use the classic Hippowdon + Excadrill and have support from Gravity Landorus.

Psychic
+ Calyrex
Psychic is pretty trash right now, having many bad matchups against good types and no overwhelmingly great matchups vs. them. This makes it hard justifying using it right now. However, this DLC will fix that indefinitely. The most exciting additions are Victini, Latios, Latias, Metagross, Galarian Articuno, and Galarian Slowking. Victini will again provide a nuke in Choice Band, basically kill everything with Fire. It can also run a Heavy-Duty Boots set to make it immune to its hazard weakness. I do think Choice Scarf Victini is terrible. However, if you use it, I believe Final Gambit would be a cool tech. Latios right off that bat looks like a fantastic Choice Specs abuser with even fewer switch-ins thanks to Aura Sphere and Mystical Fire. This means that Tyranitar and Ferrothorn are no longer switch-ins, which is hilarious and slightly broken. Latias is coming back as a good Choice Scarf user with access to Healing Wish and Defog. Metagross will run the same sets as last-gen, either a Choice Band set or Kasib berry for Mimikyu. Even though it has access to Meteor Beam, Expanding Force, and Steel Roller now, I can't see a special set working nearly as well. Galarian Slowking will probably be a fun, slower offensive Pokemon that can abuse Teleport. I still believe a Water-type Teleport in Kantonian Slowking will provide more utility for Psychic teams. Galarian Articuno provides a Ground immunity that isn't weak to Mold Breaker Excadrill, so that could be an interesting defining niche for it. Honestly, I don't know much about Calyrex, but I'm not very hyped about it because Celebi is so cool. However, if they make it as broken as they did its counterpart in Urshifu, I guess I'll have to bite my tongue. Overall, Psychic is back on top, and I can't see Indeedee being all that good anymore unless you specifically build a team around Terrain Extender Indeedee. Can not wait for all the possibilities this type has.

Steel

With the return of Heatran, the immunity core is back in session. It will be excruciating to deal with Corviknight/Celesteela/Skarmory, Heatran, Aegislash, and Ferrothorn. I can see, as a consequence, Aegislash leaving due to it being the usual ban of this core. However, even without Aegislash, Steel will still be insane. Heatran will provide a much-needed Fire immunity, between it and Choice Scarf Cobalion, or Excadrill Steel can potentially handle Fire. Metagross, I can see as a Choice Band user for the type, less used, but I think it will be good. Stealth Rock + Toxic Registeel with Seismic Toss might be used, but I think the usual hazard team will make it difficult to use. Celesteela is back, it will be excellent. Not much to say. It will pretty much do the same thing it did for the type the last generation. Side note, I am thrilled that its back. Stakataka could be an interesting anti-fire piece of technology, which might be more necessary for this generation. I say this because Blacephalon now has Scorching Sands, which allows it to blow past Heatran, very cool. Doublade with Shadow Sneak might unironically also be a thing because of this if Aegislash is indeed banned. Steel is a very epic type that appreciates every Pokemon the Crown Tundra gave it back.

Types that benefit less
Electric

Not much to say about these; Electric will appreciate actual Ground immunities. Zapdos will go back to being a Specially Defensive Defog pivot now with Heavy-Duty Boots. Of the two Thundurus forms, I believe Thundurus-I will be better due to its higher Speed tier.

Poison

The Stealth Rock users for the type are back: The Nido's and Nihilego. Nidoqueen will probably not be run, but it will allow Nidoking more space to run extra coverage. Crobat will be an excellent addition to the type with Heavy-Duty Boots. Nihilego will probably return to its spot as a Choice Scarf user. I can also see it running an Expert Belt set that allows it to take on Water teams, due to a lack of Mega Venusaur this generation.

Water

While Water definitely did not get as much as the other types, what it got was extremely beneficial. Suicune will be back at it again with its Vincune shenanigans, making it very difficult to break past after a few Calm Mind sweeps. Water teams preferred Stealth Rock setter is back in Swampert. It will for sure, make its way onto a majority of Water teams. Tapu Fini will be more viable this generation, with its cool utility in setting Misty Terrain and providing Knock Off and Defog support. While it is disappointing not seeing Greninja return, I feel like Water will keep its place in the metagame with these Pokemon. However, Psychic teams will be extremely problematic for the type. I will be excited to see how these Pokemon play out.

Potential New Sets
& Galarian forms
Zapdos is really beneficial for both types that it is on. Flying teams will probably use a Heavy-Duty Boots SubToxic set. In contrast, Electric teams will settle for the more classic Zapdos set of Specially Defensive Defog pivot. Moltres and Articuno as well will be viable on the types they can be used on. Moltres will probably run SubToxic sets on both types it is on and potential an Agility sweeper set. Hurricane is inaccurate in the sun, so if it uses that on Fire, it will have to settle for Air Slash. Articuno will run some sort of SubPressure set or Defog. All these birds will never drop Heavy-Duty Boots, especially Moltres and Articuno. Galarian Zapdos feels like it will be a Hawlucha with potentially physical electric coverage, if it gets Bolt Beak that should be fun to toy around with. Don't have much insight into the other two but they should be interesting.


Dragon Dance will for sure be its main set. Dragon Dance + EdgeQuake + Dual Wingbeat seems like it will be impossible for types like Fire to handle. Potential items it could run are Lum Berry or Heavy-Duty Boots.


Dragon Dance will definitely be the vibe with Heavy-Duty Boots. I can still see Dragon teams using Choice Band as an emergency check to Pokemon like Cloyster.


This thing will be cool for Poison teams, with Heavy-Duty Boots and Brave Bird + Roost + Defog + Taunt/Toxic, it should provide lots of utility to the type. Not much has changed for it aside Heavy-Duty Boots. I'm not convinced Dual Wingbeat will be very good on this thing and will still opt for Brave Bird due to the difference in damage the two have.


Choice Specs sets will absolutely dominate. Choice Specs + STABs + Thunderbolt + Aura Sphere seems to be the most appealing set to me at the moment. This would allow it to hit Pokemon like Celesteela and Tyranitar and leave Steel-type Pokemon to Victini to handle.


This thing can run Substitute + Heavy-Duty Boots. It can allow it to annoy Steel teams and act as an emergency check to Sucker Punch Bisharp. It also has the option of just being a nuke with Choice Band as well.


Heavy-Duty Boots + Nasty Plot will be very cool. I can see it running these moves alongside Nasty Plot, Hurricane, Focus Blast, and Heat Wave. This will allow it to murder Steel teams or throw in Sludge Wave/Grass Knot over Heat Wave to target Pokemon like Hatterene and Swampert, respectively.


Heavy-Duty Boots Defog + STABs + Earth Power/Toxic seems very appealing. It will be better on Fire teams for sure.


This thing got Scorching Sands. Steel hard loses to this Pokemon; its very hilarious. I can see Heavy-Duty Boots Substitute + STABs + Scorching Sand being its main set on Ghost teams. Very excited to try this out.

Pokemon I believe will be too much for the metagame
I'm not going to talk about cover legendary's as it is abundantly clear they are broken.


While it may not have access to z-moves like it did the last generation, it still will be able to very easily abuse types like Water and Ground for Steel. Perhaps even better than the previous generation as Greninja will not be around to stop it this time around. I feel like this one is relatively self-explanatory.


Thousand Arrows again invalidates all Ground-type immunities, I think it will be either be banned immediately or within the first week of its release.


Tapu Lele is an obvious choice as it was broken the last generation. This generation has become easily more busted thanks to it getting Expanding Force. Surprised to see Tapu Koko on this list. I think it will be too much between it getting an insanely strong STAB in Rising Voltage. It got a plethora of great physical coverage as Play Rough and Close Combat. I believe its versatility, speed, and raw power will be too much for this metagame.


I'm very borderline about these two. I'm not sure whether they will be broken, but for sure extremely powerful. With Nasty Plot, Tornadus-T is an instrumental threat, and with Latios's increased coverage, it has become harder to wall. If these push them into the borderline, it will be interesting to watch them play out.


Pheromosa still has insane coverage, a good offensive pivot with U-turn, and great offensive stats. I can't see this thing realistically staying in the metagame, Heavy-Duty Boots may even make it a better U-turn user. Naganadel no longer has access to its Dragonium Z nuke. Its perfect Dragon Poison Fire coverage is a nuisance to deal with, hopefully, it won't stay in the metagame for very long. Genesect like Pheromosa, still very good and could have only gotten better with Heavy-Duty Boots, can't imagine it will stay.

Thanks for reading my essay!

 

[Kev]

Hey, so I used Finchinator's tier maker template from the OU thread to make this ranking of returning mons, ofc its lacking the therian forms but I will mention them in the descriptions. Here's a link to what I used to make this, if you want to make your own lists: https://tiermaker.com/create/returning-pokemon-in-the-crown-tundra---tierlist-439238

In the follow sections, I'll be quickly breaking down my thoughts for some of the more prominent Pokemon and explaining why I classified them as such. Keep in mind that while I am in council, anything I refer to as banned or will be banned does not hold any weight in terms of official tiering. Initial bans are not set in stone right now, so these are just my opinions based on what we know thus far. In retrospective, I'm not that sure about the distinction about the Good and Decent tiers and probably could've merged them but I was too lazy to change it.

Will Get Banned

The Pokemon I have selected for this section are all exceptional Pokemon whose incredible power, in conjunction with amazing abilities and move pools, will most likely make them unhealthy for the metagame.

The combination of Swords Dance and Speed Boost that makes Blaziken such a ridiculous sweeper is unlikely to lose any viability this generation. Moreover, it gets a safer STAB move in Close Combat. There's very few Pokemon that are able to handle a hit from a boosted Blaziken. This is supported by it having nice team support on both its types. It can be supported by Dual Screens on both types, and hazard stack on Fighting. I just can't imagine this Pokemon not being ridiculous in the metagame.

Genesect is a really strong Pokemon with an amazing, colourful movepool, and is on Steel which provides exceptional support. Not much to say here, this Pokemon is super strong and is bound to tear through teams with its great offensive presence that is only amplified by Download.

Both the complete and the 50% forms find themselves here. Zygarde 100% being banned is self-explanatory because of its ridiculous stats. As for Zygarde 50%, Thousand Arrows will most likely be too strong of a move for the tier. There is very little defensive counterplay for it on my types, especially since Zygarde has great team support on both Ground and Dragon.

There isn't much to say about this Pokemon. Indeedee has already shown how crazy Expanding Force can be, and Tapu Lele is gonna do that role exponentially better. It also gets a good new coverage move in Mystical Fire. Psychic Terrain also makes it difficult to revenge kill because priority moves have no effect. Overall, it's probably going to be incredibly brainless for this Pokemon to come in and blow holes into opposing teams.

With ridiculous Attack and Special Attack stats, alongside an unmatched Speed tier, Pheromosa is simply an overwhelming Pokemon that is nigh-uncounterable. It has a very diverse move pool that makes it difficult to defensively check. Moreover, it's Beast Boost ability just increases its offensive presence once it gets going. In some situations, it might be impossible to beat it without priority. Its newly gained Close Combat also mitigates the issues with the unreliable High Jump Kick. Also, the addition of the new best item in the game, Heavy Duty Boots makes it easier for it to come in and out of matches, which is useful for types like Fighting which have practically non-existent hazard removal. Both its types also have hazard stack which boosts Pheromosa's offensive presence.

An amazing sweeper that completely invalidates certain types. As for Pheromosa, Beast Boost makes it even more ridiculous. It also gets a priority move in Grassy Glide on Grass teams. Again, both the types its on have great hazard access which helps it. Moreover, Steel is already a super strong type. Basically, this Pokemon is definitely gonna clean out teams easily.

Nasty Plot + Beast Boost, paired with its great stats and strong dual stab + fire coverage, is going to be undoubtedly broken. It's just way too easy for Naganadel to set up and clean out the opposing team. It has very little available counterplay and great team support. Its newly gained Spikes and Toxic Spikes could be interesting for a hazard setter roles, but that sounds like a waste of this Pokemon with monstrous offensive capabilities. Even if there is no Z-Move for it to drop a giant boosted Z-Draco Meteor nuke, its still going to intensely pressure teams after a Nasty Plot.

Potential for S/A rank

In this tier, I rank all the Pokemon that are bound to be really strong on their respective types and become new staples.

Not really much to say about this Pokemon, a great Special Attacker with a diverse movepool that can support both its types greatly. It can particularly be helpful for Ground-type teams that lack a good Special Attacker, especially to hit Corviknight. Although, the Special Attacker role will better be occupied by another Pokemon on this list. Overall, Nidoking's always be a straightforward and good Pokemon, that's bound to have some good usage as a breaker on both its types.

Electric finally has a Flying-type that isn't a Levitate user or that is named Emolga. Zapdos completes a lot of diverse roles on both of its types; it can Pressure stall with Substitute, be a pivot with Volt Switch, spread status with Toxic + Discharge, remove hazards, provide coverage through Heat Wave, ... Overall, it's a great defensive Pokemon that is definitely going to provide amazing support. Also, it gets a nice boost from Heavy Duty Boots.

Another self-explanatory Pokemon. Dragonite is a great offensive threat that can clean teams late game with Extremespeed. With the addition of Heavy-Duty-Boots, its Multiscale is better protected for Dragon Dance sets and other niche options. It gets STAB in the form of Dual Wingbeat, but that move isn't all great so doubt it'd be used much.

Finally Poison has a ground immunity. Crobat provides a lot of functionalities such as a pivot, hazard remover, taunt user. Like many Pokemon on this list, it also gets helped by Heavy Duty Boots.

There's no reason to really assume Vincune will fall off much. Suicune's definitely still gonna be a dangerous Pokemon, even if Toxic Spikes won't be as effective because of Heavy Duty Boots spam.

Sadly there is no Mega Evolution for it to take advantage of the wide variety of moves it gained, but Swampert is an upgrade in terms of fat Electric immunity for Water-Type teams.

The Lati Twins benefit greatly from the removal of Pursuit and the addition of Aura Sphere and Mystical Fire to their movepool. This way, they are better able to hit Steel and Dark-Type threats while being able to more freely break things. They both also give Psychic-type teams a Ground immunity and provide both types with a better Defog option. Latias also brings good support through Healing Wish. Both these Pokemon have been stables for both their types for multiple gens so its a guarantee they will continue that role.

Not much to say here, Garchomp's a good Pokemon that can serve more supportive roles or very offensive ones. Definitely gonna be a stable on both its types.

Steel finally gets the Fire-type immunity they have desperately missing this gen. Even without a realistic answer to Fire-type moves, Steel has been a dominant type in the gen thus far. With the addition of Heatran, this type is just bound to get better.

Another Pokemon without much to say, Victini still does all the great things it did in past gens and that is not changing here. The only difference is it not being able to use Z-Moves like in SM.

A good offensive Pokemon, that is definitely going to break a lot of things especially with Rising Voltage on Electric-type teams. Again, it benefits from Heavy Duty Boots.

One of the best wallbreaker in the games, and obviously that is going to be continuing this gen.

Not on the tier maker but this Pokemon is going to be absolutely insane this generation. Regenerator in conjunction with Heavy Duty Boots is amazing, but this Pokemon also now gets Nasty Plot to complement its diverse Special movepool. This Pokemon is going to wreck havoc on the tier with how easily and often it can come in and break things. Even without Nasty Plot, it functions incredibly in a support role as a Defog user and pivot.

Similar to the regular, this Pokemon is going to be a great and threatening breaker.

Landorus-Therian is still going to be a great Choice Scarf user, hazard setter, and even double dance sweeper.

Tapu Koko is one of the strongest additions to this gen, and some even consider it borderline bannable. In Gen 7, we already saw how incredibly potent a Choice Specs set is. Now, with Rising Voltage over Thunderbolt, Tapu Koko becomes an even scarier offensive threat. Physical sets also gain more viability with its gain of moves like Play Rough and Close Combat. While losing Hidden Power Ice will prevent it from being as threatening to some things, the change is not significant enough to ruin this amazing Pokemon.

This Pokemon is really great as it not only gains great moves in Play Rough and Close Combat, but now has a STAB priority move in Grassy Glide. This allows Tapu Bulu to completely invalidate types that it already threatened greatly. On Grass-types it might face competition with the faster Rillaboom that also has Knock Off. Nonetheless, its bound to make its mark in the metagame.

A great and potent sweeper that will definitely pose a lot of pressure on many types again. Its newly gained Meteor Beam could be used for some interesting niche sets.

One of the standout Pokemon of SM monotype, Celesteela is just an amazing wall. I don't think anyone doubts that is going to continue this generation despite there being other great Steel-Flying walls like Corviknight and Skarmory. It's definitely going to be very frustrating for many types to kill thanks to its natural defensive capabilities, paired with its excellent support.

Blacephalon benefits from pursuit no longer threatening it. It also gains Scorching Sands to hit Pokemon like Tyranitar. It's great Speed and Special Attack stats will make it very threatening and allow it to come in and blow holes with its strong STAB attacks. The Steel-type also completely submits to it bar Bisharp and Aegislash revenge killing with priority.

Good

In this tier, I put all the Pokemon I believe will be considered good options on teams, but will not be as prominent as those in the tier above. I will only cover some of them.

More fat Flying-types that will probably be relevant thanks to Heavy Duty Boots. Pressure stall Flying could potentially be really annoying.

If a Pokemon isn't a Ground-Type or has some Electric absorbing ability, Xurkitree is going to completely decimate them with Rising Voltage. It could easily destroy things with Choice Specs, or boosts its offensive abilities with Tail Glow. Moreover, Electric-type teams have access to Sticky Webs to help mitigate Xurxkitree's mediocre Speed.

A threat many end up being unprepared for, Stakataka is able to take teams by surprise and sweep through them under Trick Room. It also gained some nice coverage moves in Body Press and Heat Crash to hit a wider range of Pokemon. However, it could be difficult to fit all these coverage moves on a Trick Room sets, so maybe even a Choice Band set could be doable.

Decent

In this tier, I listed all the Pokemon that will probably be decent on their respective types but might be difficult to fit in on teams as they are outclassed. Not going to over all of these, as many are pretty obvious imo and this is getting long.

The addition of Dragon Dance can potentially make this Pokemon somewhat decent. Otherwise, it could still be a competent suicide lead on HO Flying teams.

Vinkou with Toxic Spikes Pinchurchin could maybe be something fun. Gaining Scald is also pretty interesting.

The addition of Close Combat will rectify one of its major downfalls last gen, but it will still be pretty lacklustre compared to alternative options imo.

Mediocre

In this tier, I listed Pokemon that aren't particularly good but ig could see some niche usage despite being outclassed.

The addition of Body Press and Heavy Slam for these two Pokemon could have some use.

With Nasty Plot, it could potentially run some breaker set. I'd like to think this Pokemon would be better than Mediocre, but not sure about that yet. However, I've noticed that some places say it doesn't have Nasty Plot so maybe I'm wrong about that. In that case, it's just going to be irrelevant again. (Apparently this mon always got Nasty Plot oops)

With Heavy Duty Boots, Armaldo's ability to remove hazard seems somewhat useless for Bug teams, there are better choices of Pokemon to run.

Similar to last gen, I don't think Rock will really need the Water-type immunity that much.

Overall, there is a lot of exciting and interesting things coming with this DLC 2 and I'm so looking forward to trying them out. This is without even taking into consideration the new Pokemon being added for which we don't have too much information. There is also the likelihood that Pokemon can be transferred from GO as well, which adds even more returning Pokemon to the roster. One thing I've noticed when making this list is that it seems a lot of types might be "tight" in terms of slots. There may be a lot more diversity in team structure because there's a lot of usable Pokemon for many types. The type that benefits the most is BY FAR the Flying-type with it getting a whole new roster of Pokemon, which is guaranteed to return the type to top tier status. Other big winners are Dragon, Psychic, and Steel. Also Fairy depending on what gets banned. I do believe pretty much every time benefits from this DLC though, besides some that got very little / next to nothing. Hoping to see a lot of interesting conversation now, and especially when the tier will be live!

 

[Splash]

Great post by Maroon, I was in the middle of making a long ass one like he did but I went to do some other things and I came back to his post. He seemed to cover much of what I did so ill keep this one concise and alongside some potential metagame predictions. Also great post by Kev with the tier list and potential VR list I like that.

Which returning Pokemon do you think will have a significant impact on Monotype?



These two will improve Fairy drastically even more bringing it to quite possibly the same prowess Fairy was seen in SM. Not including in this post cuz this will certainly be quickbanned. We could likely see Koko being suspected tested this generation as well depending on how the tier deals with Specs Rising Voltage. Grassy Glide Bulu could also be too much for the tier and potentially get suspected as well.



Needless to say, Flying is back and will return to its dominance as it did in ORAS and SM, however, this time with a twist and even more so with the invention of Boots being able to support Nasty Plot Torn-T, keep Dragonite's multiscale, and prevent rocks damage from Zapdos and Moltres. The fact that Flying will probably shoot from bottom 5 viability to certainly top 5 or even top 3 shows how this DLC will impact Monotype as a whole. I think Torn-T will definitely be suspect tested. Landorus formes being back helped with the electric immunity Flying lacked, and with no HP Ice it will be even more dominant.



The Eon twins being missed is an understatement. The fact that Fire used to get heavily threatened in previous gens by a Specs Latios and it not being around up until now shows volumes. Scarf Latias will also be a very great utility revenge killer only having to run Draco as its attacking move to threaten Dragon teams, with plenty of supporting ultilty moves such as Healing Wish, Defog, Trick and Thunder Wave. The Eon twins provide solid resistances with the Dragon-typing as well. Victini is also one of the tiers most missed Pokemon, Choice Band sets will still prevail in being able to wallbreak teams, alongside creative boots sets. Metagross can perform its role almost similarly as last gen as an emergency stop to Mimikyu + Choice Band sets could probably be explored.


I just wanna mention that i'm also very happy to see my favorite mon return in Azelf lol, you could honestly whip up a solid Hyper Offensive Psychic build with it in this upcoming meta and I will probably do that.



The Lati twins should also help this type to become even better. Specs and Scarf sets should be the most common ran on it. Dragonite will flourish in a Dragon Dance role with wallbreakers such as Dracovish already present. Garchomp will be an amazing rocker, thus not being limited to Duraludon. SD sets look far more menacing this gen over gens past as well.



Aye its about damn time Steel just doesn't get torched by a Specs Hydreigon clicking Fire-move. We welcome back Heatran with open arms, this will allow Steel to easily run SR on Tran and Spikes on Ferro without having to let go of Protect. Celesteela also returns on Steel to be as annoying as ever, this time around with no Z-moves to break through it for the surprise factor. It will most likely be a staple this gen as it was last. This goes with some negatives though as the Steel immunity core will most likely be broken at this point, so I will expect an Aegislash suspect at the very least if not a ban. Stakataka will be interesting to put on Steel teams as a capable Trick Room sweeper (albeit without Rockium-Z).



Gaining REAL special attackers in Landorus-I and Nidoking is huge for Ground now as this type was very bad overall pretty much losing to Galarian Corsola (hyperbole) and just had nothing to take a burn. The days of clowns using Specs Flygon is behind us thankfully. Gravity Lando + Banded drill could see a return on this archetype and I am very excited to see that. Toxic Spikes Nidoking will be neat addition for Ground teams to play with. Lastly, I believe SubSD Garchomp will make its return here on Ground teams.





Finally a true Excadrill counter in Utility Bat has returned, this time around with boots!. Nidoking and Nihilego are even bigger however, being able to FINALLY provide Stealth Rock for Poison teams is huge in those drawn-out games where SR chip adds up playing the long game. Nihilego could potentially also run scarf again, threatening Fire teams as a whole, or being able to run Life Orb sets with its great coverage.





The Clown is back and I can honestly see it perform similar roles as the last generation with Scarf/Specs sets. Sun boosted fire attacks and being able to spam shadow ball with trick will be a solid option for Fire teams. Victini once again will probably utilize abusing Banded Vcreates under the sun. Heatran can be used as an offensive rocker, paired with a Defogger such as Boots Moltres. Specs Volcanion will be a threat for teams to deal with but it will be as similar as last gen, the Water immunity can be useful though.


:



Electric can look to now running a similar build as last gen with the addition of Tapu Koko and Zapdos mainly. A similar defensive core as gens past could make a return. Koko is hella big for Electric but that goes without saying. Specs Rising Voltage once again will be great, but that's not all as Koko received Play Rough Close Combat and other various physical moves. Physically defensive Zapdos will be the stop vs Excadrill and thus will not be having to rely on Rotom-Heat as Zapdos sporting Heat Wave and Discharge/Volt will just deal with Steel as it did.



Suicune is back, the menacing threat that it is. Being able to pressure stall checks that beat it, it will do what it previously will do, however, with boots around Tspikes + Cune isn't as easy of a strategy as times past. Fini will be a faster CM threat vs Dragon teams which should be very useful for water this gen. Swampert coming back is nice as it will probably be the rocker + Ground-type of choice again as it has the bulk + access to SR unlike Gastrodon.



Buzzwole could be interesting on Bug teams similarly to last gen with a Sub+Bulk up set.


Being able to run SubCalmMind on Blacephalon now over a slower Chandelure is amazing to say the least!. The clown also got Scorching Sands for what it is worth.



I can see Unburden Swords Dance Sceptile sporting Grassy Seed actually being viable here as a late-game sweeper. Thought I'd point that out


Are there any old Pokemon you think will become better or worse with the addition of these Pokemon?
Gonna just name some mons which I think will potentially see less usage on teams due to only 6 team slots and various roles needing to be filled.







What types do you think will benefit from the Crown Tundra? Which types do you see falling in viability due to the Crown Tundra?
I genuinely think every type got better. Of course, the real big winners here are Flying Psychic Steel and Ground.



Is there anything else you're excited about?
Not playing this current boring meta which I find very linear and predictable upon preview.

Im also looking forward to a Kyurem-Black re-suspect, I believe that mon should get a second look once everything drops and gets settled for sure. In addition to Terrain extender getting banned also with the Tapu's returning. Any other mon that I haven't discussed will probably be quickbanned (Naga, Kart, Zygarde complete etc.) or will be outclassed on said types so there's that. New Galarian bird formes I will not discuss as we have almost no information on them, in addition to that Caleryx mon.

I think that Flying now being a real threat in this metagame brings new life to the tier!


Im very excited about the state of this tier once this DLC drops, and so should you!

 

[mushamu]

Pokemon that will prolly end up banned:

Pokemon that I can see getting banned

These Pokemon were banned beforehand in SM and I think they will continue to become unhealthy for SS Monotype. Zygarde's great stats and movepool combined with an amazing signature move in Thousand Arrows means it will continue to be unhealthy in Monotype with restricted counterplay due to Thousand Arrows's ability to strike down Flying-type and Levitate Pokemon instantly. Both Choice Band and Coil/Dragon Dance sets will be disgusting to beat in the tier, with 50% having the potential to pull off setup very well due to its amazing bulk. Z-moves not being in the game doesn't really hurt Zygarde at all, as its best sets are still unaffected by its removal.


Tapu Lele is more interesting compared to the other Pokemon listed to me in the sense that terrains as a whole got nerfed, but it received a powerful move in Expanding Force to take advantage of its own terrain even better. I'm curious to see how Tapu Lele is in the metagame with terrains becoming 1.3x and Defoggable but I wouldn't be surprised if it got banned within the first week or so. Psychic teams have the reputation of having strong team support, and Tapu Lele only adds to this as an extremely strong setter of Psychic Terrain.


Kartana, Pheromosa, Blaziken, and Genesect are all too strong offensively in their own ways. Kartana and Pheromosa have excellent offensive stats that are capitalized on more by Beast Boost to snowball easily. Kartana is backed even more by Grassy Terrain on Grass teams, which allow it to abuse Grassy Glide freely as well as make its Grass-type STAB moves borderline unwallable, and a great set of Pokemon on Steel that provide a solid backbone to support an already amazing Pokemon. Genesect's coverage backed up with its great offensive stats will prove for it to be most likely unhealthy for SS Monotype just like it was on SM. Much like Kartana, it also has excellent support on Steel.


Blaziken's Speed Boost coupled by an even better movepool and great offensive stats mean it can easily get out of hand, much like the 2 Ultra Beasts listed above, although by boosting its Speed exclusively. Getting Close Combat and U-turn helps it a lot, while being able to take advantage of Heavy Duty Boots well. Protect + 3 attacks already cleans a bunch of offensive types, while Swords Dance means you can easily demolish bulkier teams with one free turn by getting a KO and 2 Speed boosts.

Pokemon that may be banned

Although it lost HP Ice to hit Landorus-T, Tapu Koko getting new moves from the DLC benefits it a ton as an offensive juggernaut alongside being a terrain setter. Much like Tapu Lele, being able to set its own terrain is great for abusing the fuck out of Rising Voltage, especially when coupled by Choice Specs or Magnet. However, I see Tapu Koko running non Choice sets most of the time with U-turn, to abuse its other coverage moves like Close Combat, Play Rough, and Grass Knot more freely against types like Steel, Normal, Dragon, and Water. Choice Band Tapu Koko becomes a possibility now that it has Play Rough and Close Combat which allows it to hit Dragon- and Steel-type Pokemon which the set struggled against in SM. Overall Tapu Koko won't turn out to be as strong as Tapu Lele in SS, but I am not sure if it will stay or not given the new move additions.


Losing Z-Draco Meteor means Naganadel noticeably easier to deal with, now that it cannot rely on it to beat bulkier targets such as Heatran, Toxapex, Mantine, and Tyranitar, making it harder for it to snowball and putting more emphasis on dropping its Special Attack with Draco Meteor to KO a bulkier foe. On the other hand, its coverage moves and great offensive stats mean it doesn't always have to rely on a Z-Move to sweep teams despite being less threatening without it. If it doesn't get banned, I can see sets like Choice Specs and Choice Scarf having merit as it also gets U-turn for pivoting.


Aegislash is known for cementing Steel teams together very well through its defensive typing and good bulk, as well as the ability to swap between swap and scout between forms conveniently with Kings Shield. When Steel gets Heatran back, it can form an incredible defensive core with Ferrothorn, Celesteela/Skarmory/Corviknight, Aegislash, and Heatran, covering pretty much every natural weakness that Steel teams have very well. Heatran against Fire, Ferrothorn against Water and Ground, Skarmory, Celesteela, and Corviknight against Fighting and Ground, and Aegislash against Fighting while being a juggernaut both offensively and defensively with its unique ability. Heatran coming back may be what it takes to push Aegislash and Steel teams together over the top, and Aegislash could end up eventually getting banned to balance the type. Steel teams will be among the best, if not the best type regardless of whether Aegislash stays or not after DLC 2 though.

Moreso if Tapu Koko doesn't end up banned, I can see Terrain Extender becoming problematic with it and Tapu Bulu as very strong abusers of it, especially now with strong terrain exclusive moves to abuse. It was originally banned back in SM due to Electric becoming too powerful with it and terrain itself being undefoggable and stronger. It is more balanced in SS post DLC 1 as no type is too strong with it; Electric, Grass, and Psychic are only mediocre types even with it allowed. With Monotype getting a more powerful set of Pokemon and moves to take advantage of 7 turns of terrain, Terrain Extender may eventually turn out to be unhealthy and end up getting banned.

My take on Swampert is that it will not be useful in SS Monotype for the most part. Back in SM, the reasoning to run Swampert over Gastrodon as an Electric immunity was because Stealth Rock were an important teambuilding aspect. Now that Heavy Duty Boots exist, Stealth Rock are worse than ever, and you can easily get away with running teams without them. Gastrodon overshadowing Seismitoad on balance Water teams is a reflection of this, as trading Gastrodon's much more useful recovery for Seismitoad's Stealth Rock just isn't worth it anymore. Swampert is similar to Seismitoad in that it is a Stealth Rock setter which also provides an Electric immunity, but it lacks Knock Off, meaning it cannot remove Heavy Duty Boots from Pokemon, as well as various other items, giving it actual competition at the role. Gastrodon's consistency as an Electric immunity will overshadow both Swampert and Seismitoad defensively, and Swampert's niche will only be a Seismitoad with slightly better bulk but cannot use Knock Off.

I see post DLC 2 Water teams looking somewhat like this, mainly being balance oriented with defensive options to cover up holes well. Gastrodon proides an Electric immunity, Suicune PP stalls many types, Toxapex is Toxapex, Mantine checks Hatterene, Excadrill and Defogs, Slowking can use Future Sight to apply even more pressure, as well as checking strong Psychic-type Pokemon like Alakazam and Latios. Choice Scarf Keldeo is probably doable on this team as Suicune beats Steel well enough.


Even without Tapu Lele, I see Psychic dropping Indeedee completely from teams due to now having a strong set of Pokemon to work with, lessening the need for dedicating another slot for Psychic Terrain. Indeedee itself is not a great Pokemon, but is a necessary evil before DLC 2 because its Psychic Terrain makes up for Psychic losing many staples with the dex cut, serving as a lot of the team's support. Outside of summoning Psychic Terrain, Indeedee's mediocre stats mean the additions in DLC 2 capitalize on this even more with the metagame becoming faster and bulkier. At the same time, Psychic gets a lot of its old staples from SM back in DLC 2, meaning it no longer has to rely on Psychic Terrain to go head to head with other types. Psychic Terrain isn't as useful when Latios, Latias, and Victini are all great offensively. Tapu Lele and Indeedee both set Psychic Terrain, but Tapu Lele being so much better as a Pokemon compared to Indeedee leads me to think that it will get banned for being too strong with its support while Indeedee will fall out of fashion due to being too mediocre.

Post DLC 2 Psychic teams will probably look something like this; very similar to SM in terms of Pokemon. Could probably drop Latias or Latios for Hatterene. Slowbro is nice for Teleport against a bunch of types to support breakers in Latias, Latios, and Victini.

DLC 2 metagame will probably include a mix of both balance and offense; with types like Fire, Electric, Dragon, and Fairy opting for offense and types like Psychic, Steel, Dark, and Flying being balance oriented. Water can pretty much anything it wants to like always, but I think it will shift more towards balance than rain offense that has already begun to fall off pre DLC 2 due to balance being more consistent. Water's a type to me that will be mediocre at the beginning as a result of not getting much and many other metagame threats pressuring it, but as the metagame becomes more healthy after removing unhealthy aspects it will return to being a metagame defining type with many building options. One thing is for sure though, this DLC will have a noticeably bigger impact than DLC 1, and the metagame will keep on becoming better from here. Monotype appreciates having more building options over any other tier due to already being restricted by same type clause, so the metagame will continue to be more and more enjoyable as we get more Pokemon added.

 

[Fylkir Pudin]

Righto dickheads, who cares about any of that irrelevant shit, I know what you all want out of this thread.

So here is the complete list of the mons coming with whatever the fuck this dlcs name is that get meteor beam and how good they will be.


starting off with an absolute monster in omastar, shell smash + weak armour + beam, how could this possibly be bad? no hp is kinda sad for it as it doesnt get gk but its still going to be better than any other shell smashing mon with beam so ill take it, on water teams it also gets swift swim which will probably be completely outclassed by literally every other swimmer but fuck them they dont have the beam


its just worse in every way from a special standpoint than omastar, 65 special attack is dogshit but its movepool is unironically kinda good. regardless you will not see this running meteor beam sadly


spattack is bad but it gets a fire move so yay


yo why the fuck do they only ever give this goat move to mons that literally just do not have a special attack stat this is fucking aids. anyone not running cb head smash is a coward anyway though


its a convenient water immunity for rock and has a half decent special attack stat i guess i was going to go on about how its the volc counter of dreams but it still has a 70% chance to straight up fucking die from a +1 buzz so its kinda ass


another bug beam user was needed but unfortunately this was not it, will be facing stiff competition from crustle and without access to shell smash i just dont see it overthrowing the king


this mon is just not even worth mentioning


i dont know why but im always surprised to see that metagross has 95 spattack, shits kinda strong. however its slower than rachi and i just dont see it being used over it tbh


fucking useless mon


again kinda useless, also who the fuck decided not to give it to regice this is a travesty


yo imagine fucking mega ray with meteor beam thats the kinda shit i want to see


just worse than omastar in almost every way unfort


ooh 112 spattack and 110 speed thats kinda spicy too bad it has the worst fucking ability that they could have given it and it cant even run boots to stave off the rocks this is so sad. im sure i can find a way to use it


may as well just cp my aggron summary, if you arent running banded head smash fuck you. 69 spattack though haha what a funny


hmm, ice did sorely need a mon with meteor beam and while its unfortunately kinda slow and has literally the worst possible defensive typing it has a half decent spattack stat and an ok movepool


i will never understand why this isnt a prevo for diancie


yo i completely forgot that this shit had 100 spattack, regardless polish + beam could unironically be a not awful set and i am very excited for that. i think it gets mystical fire or some shit too so who knows


oh fuck yes this is the kinda pokemon i was hoping for, its special movepool is genuinely bottom tier but its stats are great and it can activate its own acrobatics with beam or idk run psychic or some dogshit, endless opportunities


and we also get fucking nihilego man this is the greatest day of my life that shit is going to be fire as fuck with meteor beam, fast, strong and a half decent movepool how could this possibly go wrong


yeah probs not

you might be asking me why i made this and honestly ive been asking myself that same question for the last hour or so this shit took far too long

anyway if i missed any lmk, i did notice that there were a couple of mons that will get it eventually but arent coming out with the dlc like deo, golem, nose compass, dumb shield and even dumber battering ram but who fucking knows whats happening

 

[Derpeddeath]

Aight, imma start off with mons that are gonna be or should be banned.

I find no point in talking about these because they are not staying the meta.
( It would be nice to keep dog but it won't happen :c

)

Now moving onto some actual mons

Aegi overwhelms a lot of teams when paired with tran, a flying/steel and ferro to make an absolute pain in the ass to break. It's no different than it was back in gen 7 despite urshifu, the stat nerf, and king's shield nerf; aegi still makes a lot of 50/50s with king's shield. I do not think this mon will be healthy in the meta anymore.

Yeah, swords dance and speed boost is pretty broken allowing it to sweep through a lot, especially now that it gets boots.
Oh whats that? Wrong mon?

Was it blaziken y'all were talking about?
I don't think Blaziken is as broken as it's made out to be, ace is just as good if not better on fire and it simply has terrible team support on fighting, it does however get cc and uturn which understandably might put it over the edge.

This thing gotta go. play rough,rising voltage,cc makes koko a huge threat being able to run physical,special or even a mixed set each of which are extremely viable. Can prob 2hko anything in the metagame while still being in a good speed tier. Should've prob put this up there with the for sure bans.

vs landot

-1 252 Atk Choice Band Tapu Koko Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 147-174 (46 - 54.5%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO

Still has a decent chance to 2hko, ain't nobody need no hp ice.

Naga is still a major threat even without z draco, a choiced or lo naga could easily sweep or even setup while having excellent stats and beast boost.
While I never had any problem with this mon personally, it's quite obvious as to how broken it is and clearly shouldnt stay in the meta.

+

with Koko and Lele gone, Bulu is the last mon that can "abuse" terrain, I don't see terrain extender really being an issue here. The addition of grassy glide, play rough and cc definitely makes it a bigger threat. From being able to completely sweep water after an SD to being able to threaten steel and dragon mons too. I am unsure as to whether it can overwhelm the meta but definitely something to keep an eye out for.

vs cele

+2 248+ Atk Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 202-238 (50.7 - 59.7%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
to quote Phil Swift "That's a lotta damage!"

Why kyub was banned? I do not know, what I do know is that it should come back (re-suspect). kyub brings balance to the force and to the meta.

Speaking of unbans, I propose we take a look into rapid-strike again too, I don't really care much about this mon but I do feel it was unfairly banned and would be a healthy addition in the monotype meta.

Super good mon that gets a lot from boots and NP, was pretty underrated for the most of gen 7, I see this mon as a potential game changer, not broken or anything but still overall super nice to have on flying.


Time to talk about rock.
All fylkir pudin's aside Rock gets a pretty good defensive core from cradily, staka, nihi, and maybe even diancie, rock has a lot of options here,
Diancie getting play rough could let it work as a physical attacker or a defensive mon for fairy, diamond storm pairs nicely with body press too.

vs scizor

+2 252+ Def Diancie Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 213-251 (75.8 - 89.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Diancie: 120-144 (39.4 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
If you can somehow get a diamond storm boost up.

Cradily brings a lot to the meta for both types and should be appreciated for it. It may suffer from body press being everywhere.

DD aero is p neat for rock too.

Thats about all I have to say for now.

 

[Basically Hastur]

Thoughts on the new Galarian variants of the bird trio? We don't have their stat spreads yet, but I thought it'd be a fun discussion with their types, abilities and new signature moves. For anyone who hasn't seen them yet:

Galarian Moltres is a Dark/Flying type with Berserk as its ability. It's signature move is Fiery Wrath, a Dark type special move with a chance to flinch (like.... Dark Pulse...).

Galarian Articuno is a Psychic/Flying type with Competitive as its ability. It's signature move is Freezing Glare, a Psychic type special move with a freeze chance (because who doesn't love freeze?).

Galarian Zapdos is a Fighting/Flying type with Defiant as its ability. It's signature move is Thunderous Kick, a Fighting type physical move with a paralysis chance (this one is kinda interesting).

As my two cents, I have enormous hopes for G-Moltres. It looks amazing, the type is pretty great for mono Dark (mimicking Mandibuzz's) and the signature move, while too similar with another certain move, might be great depending on the BP. I don't know anything about the other 2, so I'll leave it to y'all. Cheers!

Edit: Sorry for posting in the wrong place D:. Ty for moving it!

 

[KingKrabz]

For me I think some of the biggest winners from the DLC are Rock, Flying, Poison and Fairy (assuming we don't see the Tapus gone ASAP). This is based on little to no knowledge we have on the new mons such as the birds, Slowking and new Regis so I'll be excluding them from my reasoning.

Rock:
Rock got a ton of old mons back with some very notable ones in my opinion.

Omastar: As pretty much everyone pointed out, a great shell smashes but on top of that I feel it's a great user of Shucca berry with weak armor. I prefer this over sash as you don't have to rely on removing hazards to make it effective and it can still take chip from other things such as U-Turn and not be rendered useless. It can tank an EQ with relative ease while activating it's weak armor and shell smash, letting it become quite speedy and one of the few special attackers rock has. On top of that STAB scald is always nice to spread burns while also being able to use ice beam to take care of pesky grass and ground types that give the type grief. The exclusion of HP fire however will be a bit rough for it.

Cradily: While I don't think it's amazing, I'll never say no to some form of water check on a rock team thanks to storm drain. On top of that can put in work against ground types which granted I don't think we see too often.

Diancie: This is one I've been sleeping on for quite some time not thinking much of it. But 150 in Def and SpD is impressively bulky even with it's somewhat lackluster HP. It's offensives aren't half bad either and paired with mystical fire to fend off steel types I think it could see some use. Perhaps a set like Calm mind, Mystical Fire, Body Press and Moonblast. Invested fully in def allows it's body press to hit hard with no Atk investment, while CM, MF and Sandstorms passive buff will allow it to take a nice hit on the special side too.

Nihilego: Always been a fan of this, don't think theres a whole lot to say on this one, I imagine it will serve much the same roll as it did previously. I guess you could run power herb meteor beam if you wanted to get a nice 2 stage SpA increase as a wallbreaker.

Stakataka: Always loved this thing as a late game cleaner, with trick room, STAB Gyro and Stone edge and EQ. But not it gets great coverage in body press and heat crash that can potentially clean through steel types like Ferro, Scizor and the Flying steel mons, especiually after a beast boost.

Flying:
The genies, Celesteela, and heavy duty boots, what else can I say.

Poison:
This is already a type that I think is underrated in the current meta and I feel it's only set to get better with this DLC.

Nidoking: Finally the king is back. Again don't really see how much I can add to this besides the fact that it still will have all it's old wallbreaking potential and access to stealth rocks. 2 things that in my opinion poison was severely lacking until now in the generation so this is a much appreciated addition.

Crobat: With HDB could be a nice defogger/interrupter thanks to infiltrator and it's great speed tier. Being able to toxic/taunt stuff behind sub is something I've always valued. Especially on a slower more defensive type such as poison. The ground immunity is nothing to dismiss either. That said I may still end up sticking to Weeezing.

Nihilego: Some good speed control for the type, especially with scarf and poisons innate ability to wear their opponents down over time. All it needs to do is find an opportunity to come in and pick up a KO and get a beats boost to snowball into a late game clean. Paired with posions fantastic defensive backbone of things like Pex, Slowbro and Amoongus I think it will have no finding a teammate to soak up a hit that wants to revenge kill it.

Slowking: I know we know not much about this, but if it has regen could be a nice (more specially defensive?) alternative to Bro, or even an addition. 4x regen core anyone?

Fairy:
Again this is kind of assuming we don't see the Tapus gone. (Except Lele, think that things as good as gone).

Diancie: Much the same as rock imo. May see some use.

Tapu Koko: Electric terrain rising voltage can be great for breaking holes on so many teams, paired with it's great speed tier. Also if it can be paired with the likes of Bulu I don't see ground types outside of Exca giving it too much trouble. Of course we can also finally run better physical sets with things like new moves such as Close Combat and Play Rough.

Tapu Bulu: Grassy gluide for days here. I could see this as an alternative to Rillaboom but that can be used on a better type. Also providing great team support for the team with passive recovery and weakening EQ.

Tapu Fini: Could be a nice pivot with flip turn while blocking status for its allies with misty terrain. Can also use it's misty explosion to just potentially destroy something or deny the opponent from defogging/spinning your hazzards from something like Klefki. Unfortunately defog removes your terrain so we can't defog away hazzards and then use the boosted misty explosion on them to deny them from re-setting them as easily.

 

[Namranan]

I think everyone has basically talked about everything so I'll just theorymon some things about what the potential of fighting in this new metagame since I love (and hate) the type a lot.

First lets talk about the mons we get:

- I don't truly know if this thing will be broken or not because while it does get CC and uturn now there are also a lot of mons that can blow it up so for the purpose of this post I'll ignore it but will give some thoughts if it stays

This will be an incredible sweeper with fire + fighting STAB moves and the ability to use speed boost and essentially become a really busted infernape. I think it would easily be one of the best pokemon on the type and find itself easily splashable on most teams due to its great coverage and snowball potential. U-turn also will be great because it can now pivot out of a bad situation or from a scouted move when it uses protect, which is great for fighting as it struggles to pivot in its pokemon properly.

Overall, mon will be really good, probably too good (mainly because of fire) but still good on this type. It lacks great teammates that can get it in, but things like volt switch cobalion might see a rise in usage if this thing ends up staying.

- The boy is back and even better. It most notably gets Close Combat and Darkest Lariat in this update which is incredible. Close Combat FINALLY allows buzzwole to take advantage of its strongest move and get the +1 atk from beast boost without making itself weaker. This alone was a great buff but then they went ahead and gave it Darkest Lariat, which allows it to finally hit ghost types. These are great buffs and even though buzzwole would've been solid this gen without them, its even better now. I don't think it'll be S-tier by any means, but it will be one of Fighting's premier options when it comes to teambuilding.

- This thing is absolutely getting banned because despite its frailty, its power and speed is beyond absurd and there is no way the metagame will be healthy with it legal. So I won't even bother touching on it.

Galar Zapdos - I don't know what this things stats are or what moves it even has so its up in the air whether its good or not.

I love that we got back these mons back, but we still have some important members (breloom) missing. Overall though even if both blaziken and pheromosa get banned, Buzzwole alone would be a great addition to the type as physical threats like Garchomp, Dragonite, and Tapu Bulu would terrorize fighting without him, so I think this addition is much appreciated. Speaking of threats, that will be my next discussion point:

Lets talk about the new major threats to fighting:

Dual Wingbeat as a whole and it being widely distributed to a lot of flying types is not something Fighting appreciates. Pokemon like Aerodactyl and Crobat will be infinately more annoying for the type to deal with because of this move. The lack of recoil makes it harder to revenge kill its users and it hitting twice also makes it harder for things like Substitute or Focus Sash to help check these dangerous threats. I generally think that the mons that get this move will prove to be problematic for this type as we only have two neutralities, and one of them is usually not taking hits really well.

- The dreaded tapus are back, and with even better moves! I've never personally had a problem with most of these in gen 7 mainly because bulu gets blanked by buzzwole, Koko got revenge killed by Buzzwole or Terrakion after rocks chip also terrain extender was banned, Tapu lele was banned, and Tapu Fini was uncommon until the very end of the gen. So yeah the tapus weren't really a problem, but this gen made them very dangerous.

Tapu Lele is obv getting banned so I'll skip them, but Tapu Koko got access to rising voltage, which is an absurdly strong move that cannot be pivoted into because of our lack of resists. This may make Virizion a little more common on fighting teams, and make screens fighting a more optimal playstyle due to the power creep. Also this might get terrain extender banned which will be great for fighting because it means less turns for alolan raichu to cause eternal pain to the type.

Tapu Fini will most likely become common on water thanks to flip turn and its great supportive misty terrain along with (possibly) boots. This is a massive problem for fighting as we got lucky with being able to deal with slowbro thanks to urshifu saving the type, but now that fini might become common, this will present a huge problem. Once again Virizion might see more use because it can take a hit and set up screens and force fini out with leaf blade.

Tapu Bulu not only got Grassy Glide, which beats out a good portion of the type if it uses something like a Choice Band or Life Orb but it also got Play Rough, which is not something that fighting really appreciates. I know koko got Play Rough too but I feel like it will be more problematic on Bulu due to the fact that it didn't have a usable Fairy-Stab before. Now granted most of the things that bulu hits with Play Rough now were also hit by its Grass STAB, but its still a scary move that is hard to deal with because our neutrality to it gets worn down easily. Now it still has consistent checks like Hawlucha and Buzzwole can still take a play rough and smack it hard, but it will definatly be a bigger threat than it was last gen.

Overall Tapus are more of a pain than before. Yay...

- The banes of fighting's existence, are no longer that much of a problem. Urshifu consistently forces them out with Sucker Punch, which is not something we were ever able to do before so that is actually great. However, they are still a threat because of their blazing speed, Psychic STAB, and hard-hitting Draco Meteors. Mystical Fire and Aura Sphere aren't massive threats to fighting but it will make trying to eat hits with coba a little harder. Also Hwish storage will be very annoying in general for both psy and dragon.

- The latter 2 aren't that much of a threat because of terrak and generally we have a good MU vs them. Zapdos on the other hand is a little more annoying thanks to the addition of Air Slash. Whether or not it will use it is up in the air but it likely won't because it functioned just fine without it. If it runs more offensive sets tho this will be something to look out for. The same goes for the other birds, but I don't think they will be a massive problem worth being aware of in the teambuilder, at least not as of right now.


Ok and that wraps up the new threatlist fighting has, now to talk about some of the things Fighting actually really appreciates from this update.
Aside from the new mons ofc.

- The return of this titan will make steel a more popular type, which fighting has historically always had a good matchup against. We also don't care about cosmic power celesteela because urshifu just uses wicked blow, god I love this mon.


Mega altaria and Mega Diancie NOT coming back - Mega diancie quite literally 6-0'd fighting after webs from shuckle, and still would do that this gen if it was here. Thankfully for us its not and that alone is worthy of celebration, now both fairy and rock are a little easier to win. Mega Altaria not coming back is also great as that means we no longer have a giant cloud setting up on our offensive pokemon and just beating the entire type.

I know that this technically isn't new, but I feel like its still worth mentioning.

Aside from that not much else we appreciate sadly :/

In conclusion fighting didn't get a ton from this and got a lot more threats, but we also did get a greatly buffed buzzwole and we have urshifu to handle would-be threats like the lati twins. I am excited to play with the new buzzwole when he comes out and I can't wait for the new fresh metagame. I might make a similar post about another type that I like a lot if I have time, until then stay safe everyone!

 

[MegaBanette69]

Similar to Namranan, everything to be said overall has been said, so I decided to do something similar as well, and quickly cover and few of my favorite types.
Ghost.

Spiritomb is another helful tank with more options. Now we have 3 bulkier mons, the other 2 being Jellicent and Gorsola. Blacephalon will be a great Sweeper for Ghost, Helping the hurt the popular Ice and Steel. Giratina will probably get banned, but if it doesn't we'll get a utility and another sweeper.

Dark.

Absol isn't anything noticable, might have a small niche. Yveltal's getting banned imediately. Guzzlord is fearsome, and will be an amazing wallbreaker capable of being a Physical or Special attacker. Dark doesn't have too many great bulk pokemon, bar TTar and Mandibuzz, Guzzlord would be a great addition for HO and Balance.

Grass.

Sceptile will be a great addition to Grass, it having a incredible speed tier. I can see some Grassy Seed, Unburden sets with Rillaboom that will be fun too use. Cradily is almost completely overshadow by Ferro, it only has Recover over Thorn. Tapu bulu will be a great addition as a slightly differnt Rillaboom. It got lots of great moves with Grassy Glide and now a viable Fairy move in Play Rough. Unfortunately Kartana is almost certantly getting banned. If we get lucky though It will be an ludicrously good sweeper.

Thats it, can't wait for DLC!

 

[Dragapult]

By now we have all seen the stats of the new mons though I thought it fit to make a post summing up the new releases:

Regieleki (Electric)
Transistor (the wording seems to indicate it will be the same STAB-boosting effect as Dark/Fairy Aura)
80/100/50/100/50/200
BST 580

Regidrago (Dragon)
Dragon's Maw (same as Transistor, but on Dragon-type moves)
200/100/50/100/50/80
BST 580

Glastrier (Ice)
Chilling Neigh (Moxie)
100/145/140/65/110/30
BST 580

Spectrier (Ghost)
Grim Neigh (Special Moxie equivalent)
100/65/60/145/80/130
BST 580

Calyrex-Base (Psychic/Grass)
Unnerve
100/80/80/80/80/80
BST 500

Calyrex-Ice Rider (Psychic/Ice)
100/165/150/85/130/50
BST 680

Calyrex-Shadow Rider (Psychic/Ghost)
100/85/80/165/100/150
BST 680

Articuno-Galar (Psychic/Flying)
Competitive
90/85/85/125/100/95
BST 580

Zapdos-Galar (Fighting/Flying)
Defiant
90/125/90/85/90/100
BST 580

Moltres-Galar (Dark/Flying)
Berserk
90/85/90/100/125/95
BST 580

Ignoring the Calyrex fusions, Eleki and Spectrier seem to hold enormous potential for Electric and Ghost respectively. It has already been pointed out that 200 base Speed means Eleki is outspeeding 110 scarfers On arrival Spectrier will almost certainly be S-rank on Ghost, likely competing with if not completely displacing Gengar from most builds.

The Galarian birds appear fairly lackluster. Not only is Flying extremely pressed for teamslots, but Zapdos-G and Moltres-G share typings with two prominent mons on Fighting and Dark; Hawlucha and Mandibuzz respectively. It is impossible to be certain without movesets, but the stat spreads and abilities likely indicate that neither is likely to be better than their counterpart on their respective typings.

 

[TrulyDevious]

By now we have all seen the stats of the new mons though I thought it fit to make a post summing up the new releases:

Regieleki (Electric)
Transistor (the wording seems to indicate it will be the same STAB-boosting effect as Dark/Fairy Aura)
80/100/50/100/50/200
BST 580

Regidrago (Dragon)
Dragon's Maw (same as Transistor, but on Dragon-type moves)
200/100/50/100/50/80
BST 580

Glastrier (Ice)
Chilling Neigh (Moxie)
100/145/140/65/110/30
BST 580

Spectrier (Ghost)
Grim Neigh (Special Moxie equivalent)
100/65/60/145/80/130
BST 580

Calyrex-Base (Psychic/Grass)
Unnerve
100/80/80/80/80/80
BST 500

Calyrex-Ice Rider (Psychic/Ice)
100/165/150/85/130/50
BST 680

Calyrex-Shadow Rider (Psychic/Ghost)
100/85/80/165/100/150
BST 680

Articuno-Galar (Psychic/Flying)
Competitive
90/85/85/125/100/95
BST 580

Zapdos-Galar (Fighting/Flying)
Defiant
90/125/90/85/90/100
BST 580

Moltres-Galar (Dark/Flying)
Berserk
90/85/90/100/125/95
BST 580

While the rest here are pretty obvious stays/bans, I'm interested to see what will become of the two Regis tbh. Base 200 speed is like the highest we've ever seen, + an ability that boosts Electric moves? that'd be fun on monoelectric, and is pretty useful whether or not koko gets banned (could even be an offensive substitute if ever koko goes)

regidrago is quite bulky and his speed is not too shabby, although we'll wait and see what it offers that sets it appart from the latis or chomper