Lights out! Brand new NP, brand new drops and rises, and a brand new meta. Let's go through each of the rises and drops, and I'll give my thoughts on how the meta has been impacted and will change.
RISES
Snorlax's rise is not only heartbreaking to me, but takes away one of RU's best general special sponges. It was also one of the last defensive cornerstones we have against the terrifying Ninetales, so without its greatest enemy, sun based teams can be expected to take a surge in viability. Snorlax also checked other dangerous special attackers, like Frosmoth and Salazzle, who should be expected to be even stronger now. However, not all is bad- I have word from UU that Snorlax is utterly terrible up there, so it should come back down in a month or two. Hang tight, folks.
Steelix was our best physically defensive catch-all, and our best Stealth Rock user. Its defensive presence will be missed in the face of ludicrously powerful Pokemon like Indeedee, Espeon, and Alolan Raichu, all of which look poised to ravage common balance teams that anchor on picks like Vaporeon and Vileplume. Steelix was key to holding off their assault, and without it, balance will suffer greatly.
Copper was a strange mon, but a great one that will be missed. It was a great way to hold off powerful Psychic-types, and was our only non-Ground-type rocker not named Duraludon. Not as earth shaking a loss as the first two, but balance and bulky offense will greatly miss the elephant.
Well, we all knew it was coming, but the grassy monkey departs for OU's hostile shores. Pokemon that benefitted from Grassy Terrain will now no longer have that asset, and counterwise, Pokemon that used to have to run High Horsepower no longer need to. Hitmonlee will miss this thing more than anyone else, I'm sure.
It was a cool offensive pick, but it's gonna suffer greatly in UU with their plethora of fantastic Steel-types. One less U-turn spammer, I suppose. Not really a big loss.
DROPS
It can be good, maybe a trick room mon, but Eggy's past issues will continue to plague it. It'll likely be pretty good in NU though.
Now this is an exciting one. Drampa has proved just how brutal dragon STAB is in this tier, and that combined with Egg Alola's nuclear Leaf Storm to blow past fairies should make Alolan Egg a terrifying, albeit somewhat fragile, wallbreaker. OTR sets might be cool, but suffer from the lack of Z-moves.
Something else that can hold off Ninetales, albeit not with the same aplomb that lord Snorlax could. Miltank will be a great asset to balance, as it can take on a similar role to Lax, healing and setting Stealth Rock and checking Ninetales + Frosmoth and friends in one slot.
Ehh. Not much to say here. Cool normal-type breaker might be nice in absence of Steelix, but really, why not use Tauros?
It can spike now, and Rapid Spin in one slot! Hail now has a real powerful abuser. This thing might actually establish itself with roles and sets similar to its SM PU self. It's arguably our best Steel-type, despite the fact that Silvally-Steel might come back in style soon. I've already been beaten and beaten opponents with it, so it's definitely worth trying out for your teams. It's no Steelix, but it's what we've got.
The fearsome bull himself rears his head in RU, as it should become an excellent wallbreaker here. Great Speed, ample coverage, and passable bulk should make Tauros great on offense teams that can support it and remove problem matchups like Vileplume. 110 Speed is nice for getting the jump on tier queen Virizion, too.
Not much to say here. We're probably gonna get one of the better Lycans next shift, but No Guard Stone Edge + Close Combat is nice to get past a lot of random things in this tier.
Uh, it's Ditto. Might be cool for stall, or hyper offense. It's just gonna do Ditto things.
Right off the bat, Espeon hits the ground running and is poised to become one of the most terrifying Pokemon in RU. Great Speed? Check. Few pesky Steel-types to get in its way? Check. Psychic Terrain turning it from a wallbreaker into a world-beating nuke? Check. With a blazing Speed stat that eclipses Virizion and access to an ample variety of sets, namely Choice Specs and Calm Mind, Espeon should come to define RU's post-DLC meta as every team must have an answer to it, lest they fold to it after just a bit of chip.
This will be incredibly cool for disrupting common balance, as it can Surf down Ground-types and Volt Switch in Vaporeon. It's very frail, but boy is that Water immunity nice. It also totally blanks non-Toxic Jellicent, so that's also nice. Choice Specs and Life Orb sets, from SM NU, will likely be great here. This one should stick around.
This looks absolutely scary at first until you realize RU is swarmed with powerful special attackers that will tear Machamp to pieces with little to no recourse. It will likely shred balance teams quite mercilessly, but against offense, it will be something close to helpless.
With few Steel-types to get in its way and Poison-types outside of Vileplume being rare in RU as well, Ribombee should be able to cleave open many a team with its blistering Speed, powerful Moonblast, and Sticky Web access to disrupt foes attempting to dance around its Moonblasts. Ribombee is also faster than Salazzle and can put the poison lizard out of business with a strong Psychic. This should become a premier wallbreaker.
I thought we got rid of Xatu, but turns out the bitch came back. Vileplume will take a hit to this, however, with Rhydon poised to become our best Stealth Rock user, Xatu could be in trouble. It'll still do Xatu things, though, so keep an eye out for it.
METAGAME THOUGHTS
Frankly, I'm as excited as I am scared. Pre-shifts was a very enjoyable meta, but this more offensive meta should be very exciting too. Drampa can now afford to run Cloud Nine, potentially really screwing over Sun-based teams. Courtesy of Alolan Sandslash, Hail and by extension Aurora Veil will likely see a resurgence, so that'll be something to watch out for. Without our two most concrete Steel-types, Dragon, Psychic-, Bug-, and Fairy-type wallbreakers like Indeedee, Raichu Alola, Drampa, Alolan Exeggutor, Espeon, Frosmoth, and Ribombee should take the metagame by storm, ravaging a ton of teams with their powerful attacks. Centiskorch being back is also great news for teams attempting to fend off the fiery climate of the tier, and it should prove to be an excellent wallbreaker once more. I think out of the drops, Espeon and Ribombee will be the most influential and likely to stick around and be strong tier presences. Espeon can wield both its sets with deadly efficiency, and Ribombee effectively has zero switchins, and can set up Webs too. We'll likely see a huge meta shift next month too, and there will likely be some bans here soon. Either way, I've hit the teambuilder today, and will continue to do so as we continue to figure out this new meta.