While broken, I feel that SmashPass at least can be stopped to an extent. Pokemon with low defenses cannot really accept it so you can put something strong into play so that the opponent is pressured not to pass. You can also use Roar or Taunt on a predicted pass. Regardless, it is very strong, and definitely is something that deserves study and suspect.
I like Fire Punch more as it helps weakening Vileplume and stuff that Combusken walls like Accelgor. I also like WilloWisp+Bulk Up as it gives a lot of setup opportunities and actually does something to Gatr who switches in for free. It is also useful to weaken pokemon you can't boost again such as seismitoad, etc. before switching out. Anyway i really like Combusken overall thanks to its good typing to check Shiftry and the amazing support it provides
The thing about Uxie is that it's defensive typing is utter arse, and it's offensive stats are so pitiful that even after a few boosts it still can't get a ton of kills. If you look in the NU viability ranking, we have it marked down to B-Rank due to these flaws
Bad defensive typing and lack of recovery hold it back from being broken in the tier. Despite its great stats, it simply doesn't have the move pool or typing to take full advantage of such and is therefore manageable by most offensive and defensive teams alike. This said, it is definitely a top tier pokemon, and subCM Uxie is an absolute (BAN ME PLEASE) to Defensive teams.
He wasn't referring to changing the viability list, he was saying that Zangoose is a top tier pokemon.
The problem is that with AV mesprit you lose Healing Wish and Stealth Rock (and Trick) which are awesome options for any offensive team. Not to mention that Life Orb to guarantees the OHKO on Physically defensive Vileplume with Psychic and Mesprit always avoids the 3HKO from uninvested Sludge Bomb with Leftovers and no HP investment (and if max hp it has a chance of not even 4HKOing) so AV is really not necessary
So yes you lose access to Stealth Rock and Healing Wish. But you dont necessarily need to have either of them. I would try to find another stealth rock pokemon to use on my team and for me healing wish is a little gimmicky (not to say it isnt good and a viable choice its just to gimmicky for my taste). You can then use Mespirit as a bulky pivot and a very dangerous threat. The addition of AV means that you wont be taking LO recoil from U-turns on the switch, which is one of my major issues with LO. Since you have no reliable recovery that means that you are doing 6% damage and losing good portions of your health from LO and rocks upon each switchin. This limits your survivability considerably, and in long drawn out matches against stall teams Mespirit isnt going to survive really long. Now I'm not just saying slap AV on a pokemon without testing it out (or in this case having someone else test it out, Tribalt on PS or Carbon Footprint on here). The team with AV Mespirit on it has worked incredibly well, and I know all about disliking the lets slap AV on random pokemon. This one is actually a viable choice because you dont need access to any support moves, you can go with just straight coverage. So before you knock it try it out.
I've played with SmashPass a decent amount, and I think it's a bit inconsistent. To be quite honest, I don't think that it is even worse suspecting at this time. Yeah, setting up Gorebyss really isn't that difficult with dual screens support. But there is also a large amount of priority in the tier to account for (Shiftry, Feraligatr, Liepard, Hariyama, Gurdurr, Kangaskhan, Fletchinder, Spiritomb, Zangoose, Golem, like there's a shitton of priority). Making sure that your team is prepared with a good recipient to take on many of these Pokemon is insanely difficult. You also have to make sure that your recipient has the power and coverage to break through the opponent's team. You ALSO have to make sure that your recipients have enough bulk that they don't just die once they come in on an attack. You ALSO have to make sure that you Pokemon is fast enough at +2 to outpace most or all common Pokemon in the tier, up to and including Choice Scarf users.
Well, we haven't really tapped into the amazing potential of Weakness Policy yet in my opinion. There are plenty of Pokemon that could viably make use of Weakness Policy.
