Metagame NP: NU Stage 4 - A Whole New World (Bans on post #160)

[Oathkeeper]

Good voting by council here!

Not sad to see this thing go. You let it use Belly Drum, and you're done. There was only a select few (if that) which could take thing out like Bewear or Indeedee-F due to Psychic Terrain to name a couple. It doesn't matter if Veil is banned and it can't utilize it, it's just always going to be a problem for those of us who aren't prepared for it.

Glad this is gone too. In my opinion, you either have a Dark type on your team like Guzzlord, Darkvally, or something like Scrafty to beat this thing or you just die to it. 1 Shell Smash sends its SpAtk to high levels to the point of "what's your sac?" if you don't have said Dark type.

Not too surprised here and not unhappy about it. This thing is more dangerous than Linoone in terms of a Belly Drummer. It's not hindered by Psychic Terrain like Linoone is and has practically perfect coverage with Play Rough/Drain Punch/Facade. Bottom line, it can stay gone for the rest of the gen. I wouldn't mind lol.

Ahhhh yes. You! Frickin' demon shark. There's no love lost here with it finally being gone! One of the best abilities with Speed Boost coupled with Protect for preventing First Impressions as well as outspeeding revenge killing scarfers. This thing needed to go and we all know it. I think I can speak for everyone who plays NU when I say, good riddance!​

 

[Gennie]

Hey guys! Originally, I was only planning on posting one set for NU, and then I made edits rather consistently. At the time that I'm posting this message, I have 7 sets that I've listed on page 5, and I would really like some input. Thanks!

WIP NU Absol Set
Name: Life Orb/Physical Sweeper
Absol @ Life Orb
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance/Iron Tail
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch

Set Notes:

Absol's sheer offensive capability is one of the highest in its tier. Its also able to outspeed commonly used pokemon in the tier, such as Polteageist. Getting an ability that increases critical hit chances, plenty of Dark-type STAB to choose from and an item that increases attack potency is just icing on the cake for this pokemon. Getting STAB from Knock Off allows it to do more damage to any pokemon running Choice items, boots, etc. Any switches can be read with Swords Dance to increase this Pokemon's offensive capability even more, or Iron Tail can be used to take down Fairy types. Close Combat is one of Absol's strongest moves, which unlike Superpower, won't weaken overtime. With Sucker Punch for priority and good measure, Absol becomes one of the best offensive NU pokemon.

WIP NU Bewear Set
Name: Attacking Lead/Physical Sweeper/Life Orb
Bewear @ Life Orb
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 160 Atk / 252 SpD / 96 Spe
Careful Nature
- Drain Punch
- Body Slam
- Swords Dance
- Darkest Lariat

Set Notes:

Bewear is a very offensive mon of the OU tier. While it is often run with the Chople Berry, special moves seem to more often plague the tier. Not to mention, Bewear's ability, Fluffy, already weakens physical attacks. With a higher Special Defense stat, it is able to take special attacks with more ease and retaliate with one of its strong attacks, boosted by the Life Orb. Drain Punch is a nice healing move which Bewear also gets STAB from. Body Slam is also a very nice normal type move without recoil, and it can also paralyze the opponent to lower the speed difference between Bewear and its opponent. Swords Dance is very nice to increase the attack stat while an opponent is setting up, or directly after you take a hit. Darkest Lariat is a perfect move to handle Ghost and Psychic types that may come against this pokemon. With its STAB and high Attack stat, Bewear has a good set to fight its opponents.

WIP NU Decidueye Set
Name: Special Sweeper
Decidueye @ Blunder Policy
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Hurricane

Set Notes:

Decidueye's special attacking stat is pretty good for its tier and can be increased with Nasty Plot, however, it lacks speed and bulk. However, with the Blunder Policy, it can gain speed from missing its Hurricane, making it quite viable as it carries a strong SpAtk stat and high speed stat, which then outspeeds most of the tier. Its versatility combined with its increased speed makes it a dangerous foe for NU.

WIP NU Braviary Set
Name: All-Out Attacker/Attacking Lead/Physical Sweeper
Braviary (M) @ Life Orb/Choice Band
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Crush Claw
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Set Notes:

Braviary's attack stat is one of the highest in its tier. When its attacks are boosted by Sheer Force and the Life Orb, it gains a considerable edge over most Pokemon in the tier. With Sheer Force increasing Crush Claw, combined with its STAB and item, it is a very fear-inducing threat. The flinch percentage as well as Sheer Force and item-boosted Iron Head and Rock Slide give Braviary extra coverage and a nice way to handle threats such as Diancie and Articuno. While Brave Bird is not boosted by its ability, it is still boosted by STAB and its item, giving Braviary a very strong attacking set that handles most pokemon in its way.

WIP NU Flygon Set
Name: Attacking Lead/Physical Sweeper
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Ability: Levitate
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Outrage

Set Notes:
Flygon is quite a well-known pokemon at this point, with its highest stats being its Attack and Speed stats. By amplifying both of these stats with EVs, and especially doing so to speed with the choice scarf, it becomes a deadly threat to NU opposition. With its versatile set, choice scarf, and hard-hitting STAB moves, it outspeeds and outpowers most of the NU tier.


Another WIP NU Flygon Set
Name: Dragon Dance (Idk, I'll make a better name later)
Flygon @ Blunder Policy
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Iron Tail

Set Notes:

Flygon has great speed and offensive capabilities. Using the move Dragon Dance, it can further increase these. The moves Dragon Claw and Earthquake provide a strong offense increased by STAB. However, pokemon such as Diancie, Silvally-Fairy, and Sylveon still have prominent places in the NU tier. The move, Iron Tail, provides a nice counter to these types, and using the Blunder Policy, Flygon can benefit off of its lower accuracy, ultimately making this a quick and heavy-hitting pokemon of the tier.

WIP NU Druddigon Set
Name: Life Orb/Physical Sweeper
Druddigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Gunk Shot
- Fire Punch
- Crunch

Set Notes:

Druddigon's offensive capability is actually quite high and outperforms most of its tier. When it's run, it's usually bearing the ability, Rough Skin, or even Mold Breaker. However, Druddigon has another very viable ability, Sheer Force. With Sheer Force amplifying Gunk Shot's latent power, it's a good fairy counter, with a boosted Fire Punch to handle Ice-types and Crunch for added coverage, and Dragon Claw for physical STAB, Druddigon serves a viable slot in the OU tier. However, that's not all. The item, Life Orb, further boosts all of these attacks, and due to the ability Sheer Force, it will not take any damage from the Life Orb unless its using Dragon Claw, due to it not having a secondary effect. Using this, Druddigon is a viable Life Orb user that demands more respect from the tier

Tell me if you use any of these sets and what (if anything) I should change

 

[roxie]

I agree with all the bans great job council :3

Galarian Slowbro is probably one of the cheesiest Pokemon at the moment with its Quick Draw sets. Its ability to randomly have a move raised to priority makes this very very very annoying to deal with. Slowbro can pull off all Nasty Plot, Belly Drum, and Calm Mind sets effectively while having the option to recover with Slack Off or Drain Punch(from Belly Drum). Even with bulky SpD Pokemon around like Mantine and Goodra, Psyshock is an option G-Bro can run to deal with SpD walls overtime. This does cause Pokemon Umbreon or Skuntank to be used but it seems very unlikely still to deal with considering it has reliable recovery options. Teammates that can set screens like Xatu and Espeon not only sets screens but they have other useful moves like Yawn or Teleport to give Bro more oppurtunities to setup throughout the match. I feel like Galarian Slowbro is indeed very unhealthy and should be looked at once more.

Here are some replays of Galarian Slowbro in action:
Replays - Pokémon Showdown (pokemonshowdown.com) - I played this matchup pretty well and it seemed more leniet on my side because he has no Electric-immunity and Silvally-Steel, Celebi, and Toxtricity just pivoted teammates in really nicely. I noticed the Galarian Slowbro was actually a CM set so I had to bring in Sirfetch'd or disguise an illusion with Zoroark. First Impression only did 45.3 - 53.3% and I didn't wanna assume it was Quick Draw right off the bat, going for Knock off was ideal there because not only it KO'd, I predicted the Aromatisse switchin earlier in the match so Knock was very open. Psychic with Quick Draw came into clutch and it wasn't even Claw either and it OHKOd 3 Pokemon based on unfortunate luck.

Replays - Pokémon Showdown (pokemonshowdown.com) - Here is one of those Xatu teams with Belly Drum, G-Bro did not actually sweep this team but just noticed how it can cheese some matchups is worth sharing.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Mariannabelle]

Why put in effort when I could just force one switch with Slowbro-G, click Belly Drum, and cross my fingers on just mercing them with the power of sheer skill?
No, seriously, you haven’t lived until you’ve swept a team with Belly Drum Quick Draw Slowbro. Bonus points if you go full chad and throw in a Quick Claw (I am a Sitrus coward). Might as well boost your priority chance from 30% to 44% if you’re determined to game this game instead of playing it.

 

[wuhoodude]

As a tribute to shark, I wanted to post the team that got me to rank 1.

Shark Turn

Bewear @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Double-Edge
- Darkest Lariat
- Close Combat

Sharpedo @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Flip Turn
- Crunch
- Close Combat

Dragalge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 116 SpA / 144 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Bomb
- Flip Turn
- Scald

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Psychic
- Toxic

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

Golisopod @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Knock Off
- Spikes

Sharpedo had a really easy time pressuring opposing teams with spikes support. Dragalge was an amazing partner for its ability to threaten the mons that tried to switch into shark, mainly bulky waters and vileplume. The flip turn core allowed bewear to get in safely and break down the opposing team for shark to then clean.

With shark gone, I experimented with ninjask as a possible replacement. Ninjask requires a lot more chip on opposing mons to get the KO's and it lacks the coverage to hit steel types. I would have to build around ninjask to see if it actually is good or not. The bottom line is that sharpedo did such a good job at what it did that nothing really comes close to the role it played on teams.

 

[Daveefaser]

As a tribute to shark, I wanted to post the team that got me to rank 1.

Shark Turn

Bewear @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Double-Edge
- Darkest Lariat
- Close Combat

Sharpedo @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Flip Turn
- Crunch
- Close Combat

Dragalge @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 116 SpA / 144 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Bomb
- Flip Turn
- Scald

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Psychic
- Toxic

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

Golisopod @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Knock Off
- Spikes

Sharpedo had a really easy time pressuring opposing teams with spikes support. Dragalge was an amazing partner for its ability to threaten the mons that tried to switch into shark, mainly bulky waters and vileplume. The flip turn core allowed bewear to get in safely and break down the opposing team for shark to then clean.

With shark gone, I experimented with ninjask as a possible replacement. Ninjask requires a lot more chip on opposing mons to get the KO's and it lacks the coverage to hit steel types. I would have to build around ninjask to see if it actually is good or not. The bottom line is that sharpedo did such a good job at what it did that nothing really comes close to the role it played on teams.


View attachment 299403

Congrats on reaching #1

 

[SlickL7690]

I have a question I hope some people can help me with. It seems there's a lack of Steel types in the tier and fairies such as

and

run rampant, and I have trouble dealing with them. Does anyone know of some really good checks? Or just better ways to deal with them in general?

 

[Corthius]

I have a question I hope some people can help me with. It seems there's a lack of Steel types in the tier and fairies such as

and

run rampant, and I have trouble dealing with them. Does anyone know of some really good checks? Or just better ways to deal with them in general?

Well we have Copperajah, Silvally-Steel and Bronzong, all of which can check both fairies well. Also, Galarian Slowbro and other poison types like Weezing, Roserade and Salazzle are good as checks.
Bonus pick, if Comfey annoys you, just use Tsareena, as its ability Queenly Majesty blocks every move that gets affected by Comfey's Triage.

 

[Gennie]

Diancie is also a popular fairy of the tier. Anyways, a quick Iron Head or Gunk Shot usually does the trick for me.

 

[SlickL7690]

Well we have Copperajah, Silvally-Steel and Bronzong, all of which can check both fairies well. Also, Galarian Slowbro and other poison types like Weezing, Roserade and Salazzle are good as checks.
Bonus pick, if Comfey annoys you, just use Tsareena, as its ability Queenly Majesty blocks every move that gets affected by Comfey's Triage.

My problem is that the Steel types get really messed up by lack of reliable recovery. It seems to be a difficult task to keep them healthy long enough.

at least has Regenerator but

,

and

seem to either get burned and rendered useless or get chipped too much and get swept. Are there any wish passers that pair well with them? I've found myself using

because it can reliably spread status and has better speed tier for maintaining momentum, but it's not all too powerful.

 

[5camp]

My problem is that the Steel types get really messed up by lack of reliable recovery. It seems to be a difficult task to keep them healthy long enough.

at least has Regenerator but

,

and

seem to either get burned and rendered useless or get chipped too much and get swept. Are there any wish passers that pair well with them? I've found myself using

because it can reliably spread status and has better speed tier for maintaining momentum, but it's not all too powerful.

To be fair, steel types in general don't get recovery, and the ones that do are metagame superstars. None get recover. Roost is limited to the two steel birds and Scizor. Wish is Jirachi and Togedemaru. Even looking for more obscure moves like Moonlight all I found was Necrozma Dusk Mane. As you've noted, the only one down here is our little round mouse boy.

(I have learned in going through steels to look for recovery moves that Kartana gets synthesis. Brb building a bulky stall Kartana set)

 

[SlickL7690]

To be fair, steel types in general don't get recovery, and the ones that do are metagame superstars. None get recover. Roost is limited to the two steel birds and Scizor. Wish is Jirachi and Togedemaru. Even looking for more obscure moves like Moonlight all I found was Necrozma Dusk Mane. As you've noted, the only one down here is our little round mouse boy.

(I have learned in going through steels to look for recovery moves that Kartana gets synthesis. Brb building a bulky stall Kartana set)

I know that Steel types don't typically get recovery, but in other tiers there are usually Steel types who have multiple use cases, but in our case the Steel types mostly act as defensive pivots. We have Fast fire types and there are faster Pokémon with fire coverage too. It just seems like each Steel type needs to fulfill a specific roll, and as a result they're a hindrance to the other role they were supposed to fulfill. If I run AV on

then I'm missing out on Rocks and Leftovers recovery, but if I run Leftovers you can't sponge special hits well.

can run AV but it really appreciates the power boost from Band, except that leaves it a sitting duck for any Fire coverage or just strong revenge KOs in general. Poor

is locked into Steel Memory so it either has to run Rest or it gets chipped, burned, and overall, all the steels are liable to be swept by any decently fast Fighting types. It just feels like the current meta is extremely hospitable to Fairies, and running a Steel type is always some sort of trade-off.

 

[quziel]

Minor post, but remember you can run the broken move Protect to heavily increase the longevity of our steel types. Given that they're almost all reliant on leftovers you really use the move well, in addition to seeing if Mienshao is clicking Close Combat or U-Turn this time around. We also have a ton of very good Poison and Fire types including Slowbro-Galar, which is a mon that can fit onto literally every single team made (seriously, Stall, Balance, BO, HO all have a place for it), Centiskorch, which fsr isn't being spammed even though it still has broken Fire Lash, and Talonflame, which somehow manages to make progress in every game thanks to spamming Wisp, U-turn, or others until the end of time. Also run lefties on Escav, it uses them well, and Protect is hyper valuable on it to scout to see if that Sylveon is Mystical Fire or Heal Bell.

-----

I used it vs rik yesterday (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1242344914), but SD Shiftry is an amazingly cool pick atm, with great breaking power, and one of the tier's strongest priority moves.



Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Knock Off

Lets go over some calcs from Sucker Punch:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyrantrum: 234-277 (76.4 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mienshao: 205-242 (75.6 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Flygon: 328-386 (108.9 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

And some calcs vs fatter stuff:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Seed Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Bewear: 372-438 (97.6 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO\
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 164+ Def Mantine: 374-441 (100.2 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 172 HP / 0 Def Copperajah: 511-602 (119.3 - 140.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon: 292-344 (74.1 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

And finally some defensive calcs:
0 SpA Milotic Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Shiftry: 65-77 (20.2 - 23.9%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252 SpA Indeedee-F Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Shiftry: 214-252 (66.6 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Now, this is not an amazing mon, but it has a unique niche as a very potent priority sweeper / wallbreaker that abuses water types to the max. And given how strong our water types (Milotic, Vaporeon, Mantine) are, having a mon that can come in against them after a KO and come close to threatening a KO is really nice. Its not even like it lacks power to begin with, you OHKO Heliolisk after rocks alone. Overall a very fun mon, perhaps more fun when it ate Polteageist, but one that has a place on a lot of teams nonetheless. Pair with spikes to put stuff like Mienshao into KO range.

 

[SlickL7690]

Minor post, but remember you can run the broken move Protect to heavily increase the longevity of our steel types. Given that they're almost all reliant on leftovers you really use the move well, in addition to seeing if Mienshao is clicking Close Combat or U-Turn this time around. We also have a ton of very good Poison and Fire types including Slowbro-Galar, which is a mon that can fit onto literally every single team made (seriously, Stall, Balance, BO, HO all have a place for it), Centiskorch, which fsr isn't being spammed even though it still has broken Fire Lash, and Talonflame, which somehow manages to make progress in every game thanks to spamming Wisp, U-turn, or others until the end of time. Also run lefties on Escav, it uses them well, and Protect is hyper valuable on it to scout to see if that Sylveon is Mystical Fire or Heal Bell.

-----

I used it vs rik yesterday (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1242344914), but SD Shiftry is an amazingly cool pick atm, with great breaking power, and one of the tier's strongest priority moves.



Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Knock Off

Lets go over some calcs from Sucker Punch:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyrantrum: 234-277 (76.4 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mienshao: 205-242 (75.6 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Flygon: 328-386 (108.9 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

And some calcs vs fatter stuff:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Seed Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Bewear: 372-438 (97.6 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO\
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 164+ Def Mantine: 374-441 (100.2 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 172 HP / 0 Def Copperajah: 511-602 (119.3 - 140.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon: 292-344 (74.1 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

And finally some defensive calcs:
0 SpA Milotic Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Shiftry: 65-77 (20.2 - 23.9%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252 SpA Indeedee-F Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Shiftry: 214-252 (66.6 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Now, this is not an amazing mon, but it has a unique niche as a very potent priority sweeper / wallbreaker that abuses water types to the max. And given how strong our water types (Milotic, Vaporeon, Mantine) are, having a mon that can come in against them after a KO and come close to threatening a KO is really nice. Its not even like it lacks power to begin with, you OHKO Heliolisk after rocks alone. Overall a very fun mon, perhaps more fun when it ate Polteageist, but one that has a place on a lot of teams nonetheless. Pair with spikes to put stuff like Mienshao into KO range.

This is a great point. Protect allows for scouting and more Leftovers recovery. I'll do some team building to see if I can make use of that in conjunction with Leftovers. Thanks for the tip! I think

and

could benefit from this especially.

 

[Finchinator]

Slowbro-G seems broken to me and I'm sorry I did not vote to ban last time.

The cheesy QuickDraw sets on more offensive structures can tear apart teams without much support. The CM sets are ridiculously good and oftentimes unprepared for. The AV set is an amazing tool against offense that gets 2-3 lives due to Regenerator. I can expand more, but all in all I am going to be keeping it closer on my radar now.

 

[Catalisador]

Howdy, everybody. In this post, I'll be talking about a few spooky pokémon I've been using recently.

​

Offensive Grass/Ghost pokémon provide immense offensive value and are extremely underrated in the current metagame. Each of the aforementioned pokémon have their unique niches to fulfill and I'll be explaining them bellow:

​

Gourgeist-Small is the fastest of the Ghost/Grass types. Access to spammable Power Whip and Poltergeist makes the pumpkin a great physical attacker. Moreover, access to moves like Nasty Plot, Trick and Fire Blast allows it to lure common switch-ins such as Bewear and Vileplume. Scarf, CB, AoA and NP are all solid right now.

​

Differentiating itself from the other Grass/Ghosts thanks to Natural Cure, allowing the tree to sponge Toxics and Scald burns, Trevenant breaks through fat cores with ease with strong STAB and coverage Rock Slide, Drain Punch, Earthquake or even Sucker Punch.

​

Thanks to Swords Dance and Shadow Sneak, Decidueye becomes an excellent setupper/breaker in the current SS NU metagame. Moreover, access to 78/75/100 bulk and Roost even allows the owl to fulfil a role as a decent defensive pokemon - with signature Spirit Shackle allowing it to trap specific pokémon such as Stealth Rock users for teammates.

​

Steel-type STAB and access to utility Rapid Spin makes Dhelmise a fantastic breaking option while providing hazard-removal utility to teams in the current SS NU metagame.

Extra spice:

Here is a fun Carvanha semi-Trick Room team I've been using. It is surprisingly consistent and got good results. Click the sprites for the importable (owo).

​

Replay vs. NU Snake Draft star MrAldo: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nu-1243189693-yqvyt5ct0tzoalidqu8slkst9xgzj6ipw

 

[Pokeslice]

Soooo rain exists now, and besides the fact it was broken before, we got one of the scariest abusers down here in Tornadus.

Sets

Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rest
- Encore

Tornadus (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Grass Knot/Focus Blast

Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Flip Turn

Looking over that, what stops rain right now? Weather Ball Torn eliminates the few counters that it has, aka just Diancie basically, and we all remember how BUSTED Kingdra rain is. At the same time, unmissable Hurricanes matched with a 125 SpA+NP makes this mon impossibly strong at times.

Drizzle needs to be QBed now this is wild LOL

 

[Oathkeeper]

Mid-December Shifts Time!!!!

Just going to keep these brief

This is the only thing we got aside from Politoed and Ditto and on paper it does look pretty good with those attacking stats and base 111 Speed. I can easily see it running sets like NP, BU, maybe even Band or Specs (Eternally), and possible even a set where it runs Defog. Either way, this genie should work nicely in NU at least for the time being as a psuedo-Fighting switch-in and check, hazard control, and setup sweeper.

So long Umby, didn't really see you much and it doesn't matter tbh. This is one less thing to consider when teambuilding. It was a nice special wall for most special attackers but now stuff like that falls on Porygon2 and maybe Gigalith. One less Wish passer for the meta as well and Raichu-A can have a little bit more fun too with Torndaus being here.

I am sad to see this go honestly. One of the best rockers we had next to Bronzong but I guess RU wanted it more lol. Worked as a nice Toxtricity check at the very least as well as Normal/Flying types. In the end, we'll be ok without it, not to say we're going to start running Rhydon again lol, but we'll manage.


We also got

but ok​

 

[Catalisador]

Howdy, y'all. Roserade advocate Catalisador here to give a brief summary of the most noteworthy changes that happened with these mid-December tiershifts.



Essentialy all of the pokémon commonly seen in hyper-offensive Electric Terrain archetypes have dropped to PU. Now, I do not think it speaks of how terrain might be underpowered as much as how many overpowered tools we had for a while, outshining the potential of behemoths such as Raichu-Alola (which I still think is frightening) and Sceptile. Definitely still a viable pick in NU.

->

It seems we're devolving! After a period of dominance arguably one of the being the best Ground-type and Rock-type pokémon in the SS NU metagame, Rhyperior has been stolen by the RU tier, which lets a few other options shine brighter, such as its younger brother Rhydon, the previously outshined Gigalith and big boy Mudsdale.



It baffles me how the mighty have fallen. Fantastic coverage and defensive typing in Grass- and Poison-, access to status absorption in Natural Cure, utility moves in Spikes, Toxic Spikes and Sleep Powder and amazing 125 Special Attack coupled with passable 90 Speed makes Roserade a fantastic option in the SS NU metagame, despite having fallen to PU.



Rain seems pretty busted. I don't think anything else needs to be said LOL.



I don't think Slowbro-Galar is busted per say, rather it offers immense value to a team, both defensive and offensively with versatility ranging from AV, Physically Defensive and CM. Even the gimmicky Quick Draw sets are a pain (arguably the most dreadful to face, to be honest) because of the gambling game of randomly losing your answer to Slowbro to a random priority NP or BD boosted move.



A few miscellaneous pokémon I believe are still extremely useful in the current SS NU metagame, despite having dropped to PU in the chaos that was the tier shifts. I won't get into much detail on them right now, but be sure to try them out some time (owo).

 

[G-Luke]

Hopefully Drizzle gets a QD, it's Drought but even more potent, especially with our current crop of abusers available.

 

[poh]

Tier Shift

Obstagoon moved from NUBL to RU
Rhyperior moved from NU to RU
Umbreon moved from NU to RU

Tornadus moved from RU to NU
Ditto moved from RU to PU
Politoed moved from RU to ZU

​

This midmonth shift was less spectacular than expected . On the positive side, the teambuilder looks less endless and a lot of mons got filtered down to PU. Rhyperior was arguably a top 3 rocker while Umbry sponged half the tier so that kinda sucks but we still have plenty of options for both roles.

Ditto wouldve been rly nice if it dropped 2 weeks ago to counter all the crazy offensive mons we eventually banned but i can definitely see it putting in work in the current meta as we still have a lot of potent sweepers like Barbaracle, DD Flygon and Unburden Hitmonlee.
Politoed aka Drizzle is currently legal but was banned back in early November. Idk if council plans to keep Drizzle or suspect test/council vote it again. In comparison to early November we still have all the swift swim sweepers and gained another rain abuser in Tornadus.
Tornadus looks like it can do everything lmao. It's fast and strong, NP sets look very threatning assuming you hit hurricane, has a ton of utility options, coverage to nail all its checks. Negatives? Doesn't rly offer much defensively and its bulk ain't the greatest. Idk if it's straight up banworthy cause i've never seen or used this mon in NU so yeah I'd like to hear other opinions regarding Tornadus!

 

[Fusion Flare]

Ditto wouldve been rly nice if it dropped 2 weeks ago to counter all the crazy offensive mons we eventually banned but i can definitely see it putting it work in the current meta as we still have a lot of potent sweepers like Barbaracle, DD Flygon and Unburden Hitmonlee.

Ditto doesn’t copy the unburden boost so it doesn’t win vs hitmonlee but otherwise good post

 

[Pokeslice]

I'd like to hear other opinions regarding Tornadus!

At first glance, I thought that this mon would be BUSTED. It's high speed, special attack, Prankster options, and even physical sets made Torn seem impossible to wall. In practice, this has barely ever been the case. After playing around 30 games with this mon, around 15 on rain and HO screens respectively, it always feels entirely UNDERWHELMING, as crazy as that sounds.

It's problems stem from 3 things in my eyes

1) As Poh touched upon, defensively, this provides very little to nothing. Finding opportunities to set up, even behind screens at times, can be really really difficult. A lot of the times, even if you do set up, scarfers or just faster mons absolutely demolish you. And...

2) Accuracy. I hate it's STAB Hurricane coupled with a great coverage move in Focus Blast. It's terrible. When you get set up, there is no guarantee that you can break holes through teams, let alone actually sweep. I counted how many times I lost because of this and I ended up with 5 (!) games, 2 in a row, where 3 Hurricane misses meant I couldn't win. I got reverse 6-0ed by a FLAPPLE because I couldn't hit Hurricane when he switched it in to sack and then while he DDed up TWICE to be faster, meanwhile he hit every single Hustle boosted move. This alone is a reason for it being more than handleable. It'll never actually do what you expect it to. And...

3) It's not actually as powerful as it seems on paper. With boots, as I expect that to be the main set, +2 doesn't KO a lot of defensive mons in the tier, such as Sylveon, Mantine, Diancie, etc, while taking massive damage or getting KOed back. And assuming you aren't set up, this mon isn't really breaking through common cores. Specs might solve that, but then you're still reliant on accuracy and rocks weak, opening up counterplay even more. Segetarius brought up in the room that that's cool and all, but physical sets mean it can pick and choose counters at times, like Lucario, and although that might seem true, it really isn't in my eyes. Physical sets just open you up to a whole slew of other defensive counters. Common cores with things like Mantine, Muds, Sylveon, Gastro, P2, Glowbro, Arcanine now, Bronzong, etc all have the tools and typings to shut down the combination of Physical and Special sets. This isn't the same case as Lucario. Teams have the answers offensively and defensively to handle it.

Soooo rain exists now, and besides the fact it was broken before, we got one of the scariest abusers down here in Tornadus.

Sets

Politoed @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rest
- Encore

Tornadus (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Weather Ball
- Hurricane
- Grass Knot/Focus Blast

Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Flip Turn

Looking over that, what stops rain right now? Weather Ball Torn eliminates the few counters that it has, aka just Diancie basically, and we all remember how BUSTED Kingdra rain is. At the same time, unmissable Hurricanes matched with a 125 SpA+NP makes this mon impossibly strong at times.

Drizzle needs to be QBed now this is wild LOL

P.S. I thought on rain, as I mentioned in my earlier post, Torn would have no counters, especially with Weather Ball for Diancie and 100% accurate Hurricanes, but it still suffered from the same problems, minus the accuracy of course. Setting up with it was sort of impossible without screens, and even then, I had usually taken damage of some kind so that scarfers and priority could pick me off with ease. Overall, it was scary on rain, and definitely a rain staple until Drizzle is banned (PLEASE), but not the menace I expected.

Conclusion: Don't get me wrong, this mon is still reallyyyyy really good. Something with those stats, movepool, and ability would be hard pressed not to be, but it isn't broken like I originally thought. It has problems setting up and breaking through teams because it's frail, accuracy SUCKS, and honestly lacks the true power to break/clean without setting up, which it has trouble doing at times. I honestly don't feel like this mon is banworthy in the slightest. Just a strong addition to the tier.

NOTE: I used primarily NP 3 attack Torn, sometimes NP Taunt, so if I'm missing a crucial part of what makes him busted, such as support sets or random other weird ones, feel free to let me know. I want to know what everyone thinks.

 

[Mr.Bossaru]

I agree with all the bans, but did noon need to be ban, I mean I know its BD noon and its solid, maybe I just was good at never letting it get up BD,

shark needed to go badly, my lord,

puff.. puff is a cupcake from hell, 'hot take' puff was the most op thing nu ever had,

quick note on the shifts, I like them a lot, always knew toad deserved better,

now if just syl could be ban to hell

 

[roxie]

I agree with all the bans, but did noon need to be ban, I mean I know its BD noon and its solid, maybe I just was good at never letting it get up BD,

Linoone was one of the main things that needed a ban utilitizing Screen setters like Xatu and Espeon pretty much causing every team to use something like Psychic terrain just to prevent extreeme speed. Our only relevant Unaware mon, Quagsire which is PU just gets Seed Bombed along with Stomping Tantrum for Rock and Steel which are theorectically supposed to help with Extreeme Speed but are otherwise KO'd in most cases