Metagame NP: RU Stage 4 - The Abyss (Diggersby banned, see post #65)

[A floor Mat]

Seeing this shift I was extremely disappointed. For example, losing Gking+Tangrowth was a huge blow since they made team building super easy and were by far Ru's best Special and physical walls. While the availability of replacements to both these mons are great, such as Tangela could replace Tangrowth, however, the issue of this is that Tangela has to rely on Eviolite which is very poor since Tangrowth doesn't and could easily pressure opponents with rocky helm. As for Gking, many users would use Av Gbro as a replacement which really isn't bright since Av Gbro is an unviable AV user it mainly needs the physical bulk, instead of the special bulk, also Special attackers still greatly pressure it with its mediocre Special bulk, the only viable replacements is Av Reuniclues, but even that needs cleric support so it can reliably check most of Ru's special attacking threats. Anyway, let's talk about the drops. Ice horse seems like a great addition to Ru, its great bulk+ high attack stat allows it to get multiple chances to set up and become a dangerous threat on tr. Now, with Ru's numerous amounts of TR setters such as Slowking, P2, Uxie, and possibly even Bronzong all pair well with Ice horse. TR would really be able to shine because of this amazing new addition. Next, we have Reidrago, now this mon I have mixed feelings about it since it can threaten unprepared teams, however, it is also too frail. It would be like a 5:6 if you come across a Fairy while ur using Regidrago. Kinda like a High-risk high reward. P wack right? Anyway guys those are my thoughts on these shifts. Aqua OUT!

(reaction goal for the post is 12, ty for everyone who helped me break my last reaction goal) <3

Ghost I pretty much agree with everything you said, all the rises were pretty sad especially Queen and growth ;( Glastier is a cool mon but its gonna be kind of hard to use considering how high the speed tier is in RU. I think Glastier will do well with some good ol webs, trick room, and some friends who are skilled with teleportation like king. Regidraco sounds like a fun breaker as well, nukeing most things that will try to switch in.

Hopefully you reach your reaction goal Mr. Ghost!

 

[Monky25]

sooo looking at the remaining mons in the tier that didn't rise up, there are definitely a lot that should probably be on the slate for december 7th. Conk and diggersby tear apart balance and have very little switch ins, specs kyurem has very little defensive counterplay to it and often I have to rely on revenge killing it, venusaur with sun goes boom, and haxorus and scolipede are just nutty set up sweepers, even without veil support I still think dual screens makes them work. There's probably some more that should be looked at but these 6 in my own experiences are just too good at the moment. Maybe I'm the minority opinion, I'd like to see what other mons should be looked at. At least we don't have to waste time banning terrak, lycanroc-dusk, or alolatales. I'll probably make a post detailing which mons that somehow dropped to NU are still very good in RU so stay tuned for that which will probably drop once the bans happen

 

[Fabi_ODST]

So now the tier finally reached a somewhat stable state, I would like to talk about the mons that feel one level above everything else in the tier. I am not asking for leaving this things in the shadow realm, but I think looking a bit more into them in the future would be wise:

This mon is the most busted of the bunch I want to talk about imo, and it's not because of its strength, but rather its bulk and speed. base 97 speed is a step above most of the revenger killers in the tier (only being slower than scarf zarude and scarf mienshao) while shrugging off most forms of priority (cloyster and piloswine are the only viable ice shard users, and even that's debatable). This enables its monstruos attack to be effective, covering most checks with eq and poison jab. having 2 different forms of setup (either SD with scale shot or DD with outrage) also makes it harder to check in the long run. Overall, this mon is a monster and needs a suspect at minimum.

This monster has no switches, period. Specs nukes most of the tier, while having options in sub roost for pp stalling and dd to catch its usual checks. In a similar vein to haxorus, its power is enabled by its incredible bulk and amazing speed tier, though most scarfers can force out non dd sets. While I feel this mon is more manageable than haxorus due to its ice type, it feels as opressive in the teambuilding process.

This mon felt ridiculous when it arrived in the tier, and it still is. However, it has felt more manageable to play around compared to the 2 mons above. Maybe it's because most are only running one set, which is guts 4 attacks, but that doesn't mean it can't run other options. I think the end problem with conk is how it inclines the mental game heavily in favor of the conk user, forcing an easily abusable mindset, though I may be looking too deep into it. Anyway, its power is undeniably high, and it makes the question of "which fighting type I should use" heavily biased towards him.

I was expecting this mon to be better, but maybe I just haven't seen it enough. It is an amazing late game cleaner while also mantaining the treat level of a wallbreaker with sword dance and a pretty decent lead niche. I will not comment on this mon too much, as I haven't faced it enough to form an informed opinion.

These 2 fit in a similar category, as two strong offensive mons with excellent support options. While not as overwhelming as some of the mons above, they can tear unprepared teams to pieces. I feel like thundurus is more menacing as an offensive mon, while tornadus can pull off support options better. I think looking into them once the more busted mons are gone would be the right choice.

This is the one I am more thorn about. On one hand, it eats balanced teams for breakfast while also having the option for priority and spikes against offensive teams. On the other hand, its speed tier and bulk leaves something to be desired, being slower than the old base 80 that was the tier standard for scarfers and vulnerable to the most common forms of priority. I need to play more with it to form and informed opinion, but I have the hope it MIGHT not be too much for the tier? idk

I can't wait for the vote slate on december 7th to see how (in)accurate this list was XD

 

[EonX]

We had a lot of key changes to the meta with just the 5 Pokemon that left. While I feel Ice Horse is nice on Trick Room and Drago can smack unprepared teams, I'm actually going to focus on existing Pokemon that I feel got a lot better with what we lost (Tangrowth, cc rocks, Galar King, A-Tales)

So remember how I said Specs / LO Xurk was really good just before the December shifts? Yeah, we lost Nidoqueen, the one Gorund type that didn't instantly drop to Grass coverage and Tangrowth, the main Regenerator mon that could shrug off a couple Volt Switches. While being slower than Kyurem kinda sucks, it still hits dummy hard, is generally one prediction away from just spamming Electric moves the rest of the game, and is much happier with Rhyperior / Golurk being the offensive Ground type Rocks users since it can one shot them with Grass coverage. Heck, you can probably get away with running Boots to not care about hazards, but giving up power isn't worth it imo.

Lycanroc, Terrakion, Tangrowth, AND Nidoqueen leaving in one tier shift? That's its primary competition and main pivots gone in one shift. I fully expect Band variants to start popping up, especially if / when Conkeldurr leaves us at some point this month because offense just doesn't have a resist that takes 2 and outspeeds. Even against balance teams, it's generally one CC away from just clicking Head Smash the rest of the game.

Lumping these two in together, but Nidoqueen leaving is huge for them. Togekiss also appreciates Terrak and Lycan leaving and it was usually slower than Nidoqueen with its typical NP support sets. Galar Weezing also gets better, but it was already pretty dang good as a top Zarude and Fighter check. These will get even better if / when Conkeldurr and Kyurem leave us seeing as both can overwhelm the Fairies in some capacity. (seriously, I will be so glad when I don't have to run a lame amount of Speed on Galar Weezing / Sylveon just to not get deleted by Conk on the switch)

I'm listing Charizard here because I feel Sun goes as it goes. The presence of Terrak and Lycan made non-Scarf Charizard pretty bad (and Sun wants to use Scarf Darmanitan usually) but with them gone, Zard can go back to nuking everything with Specs or focuing more on not needing hazard control with HDB. It still nukes basically everything and has a really great Speed tier now ahead of Kyurem. Slowking is still hella annoying for Zard to deal with, but that's why you have stuff like Venusaur, Chandelure, and Darmanitan as teammates.

IT CAN RUN ADAMANT!!! No, seriously, it can run Adamant now that Nidoqueen is gone and not lose a whole lot. Tangrowth leaving means SD gets hella good and although the best Veil option left too, don't pretend like we don't have Klefki, Grimmsnarl, and Abomasnow / Vanilluxe to still give Screen support. LO 4 Atks is also pretty powerful.

Some pretty solid Steel types that I feel are even better now. Won't list Regi because, well, it's Regi. It was already really good. These kinda suffered from Nidoqueen and the fact that Terrak and Lycan could kinda blow through 2 of them. Spikes is pretty underrated right now as it really makes Scarf Zarude much less annoying while Suicune, Regi, and Steelix suddenly don't handle things nearly as well and Klefki can also run Defog if its user would rather deal with said Spikes rather than have it lay them. Metagross.... yeah, it's always amazing, especially when offensive threats that can outrun and KO it are gone (Terrak could take a BP in emergency situations) Rocks seem good on Metagross, but I really feel it's better off just firing CB attacks.

There's way more I'm sure, but these are the ones that first come to mind based on what left and what is likely to soon leave.

 

[phantom]

For the first voting slate of DLC2, the council has nominated the following to be voted on:

Reasoning:

- Conkeldurr’s guts set with Close Combat | Drain Punch / Facade / Knock Off / Mach Punch makes it one of the most threatening breakers in the tier. Due to its immense power and coverage, Conkeldurr lacks any solid switch-ins. Its bulk and access to STAB priority also allows it to pull its weight against offense, making it a relatively consistent pick.

- Haxorus possess a number of viable sets from Dragon Dance, Swords Dance, and even Choice Band being effective. Its immense attack stat with its great movepool and coverage makes it an unparalleled breaker. Its decent speed tier and access to First Impression means that its more than capable of excelling in offensive matchups too.

- Kyurem’s specs set has very few switch-ins. Its near-flawless coverage and power allows it to easily nab kills each time it switches in. In addition, SubRoost sets are capable of exploiting special walls like Registeel that are some of the few Pokémon capable of taking on specs sets. Kyurem can also run dragon dance sets to a degree of effectiveness. This coupled with its outstanding stat distribution makes it the most versatile offensive threat on the slate.

- Scolipede’s standard Swords Dance set with Megahorn / Earthquake / Rock Slide | Poison Jab allows it to function as both a fantastic sweeper and breaker. With its great coverage, resistance to common priority, and speed boost, Scolipede possess serious snowball potential. Its counters are limited based on the coverage move it opts for, either Crobat if it uses Poison Jab or Weezing-Galar if it uses Rock Slide, making it a very difficult threat to prepare for.

- Sharpedo does what it always does in previous gens: clean sweep teams with great coverage. With the ability to go both physical and special, Sharpedo remains a consistently threatening Pokémon. When using both protect and speed boost, Sharpedo is able to circumvent offensive counterplay such as Scarfers and First Impression.

- Gaining access to Teleport has made Slowking one of the strongest pivots in the tier. Its standard set of Future Sight / Teleport / Scald / Slack Off @ Heavy Duty Boots allows it to perform this role perfectly. Futureport supports allows it to support various attackers such as Zygarde, Mienshao, Conkeldurr, and Diggersby. This support it provides allows it to get these breakers in for free and threaten potential counters with Future Sight. The combination of Regenerator + Heavy Duty boots allows Slowking to sustain itself and repeat this strategy multiple times.

- Suicune’s Calm Mind set consisting of Substitute / Calm Mind / Scald / Protect makes it one of the most dominating sweepers in the tier. Its fantastic bulk and pure water typing allows it to setup against much of the tier’s defensive staples and several offensive threats. It can effectively stall out defensive checks while threatening offensive checks with a scald burn. Suicune can also employ other variants of its CM sets such as RestTalk or Ice Beam over Protect, which all vary slightly in counters.

- Venusaur sits as the face of sun offense. Its outstanding speed tier and coverage makes it a potent sweeper and breaker. Its standard set of Growth / Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / Weather Ball under sun makes it nigh uncounterable, and its well rounded stats and typing enables setup and makes it resilient to most forms of priority.

Expect the results to come in the next 48 hours at the latest. As always, if you have any thoughts or opinions on the slate, feel free to share below! After this slate, we will take a two week break to allow the meta to settle before we decide to hold another vote.

 

[Expulso]

- ban
yes venu is busted lmao this one rly isnt rocket science. imo the council should look at shiftry after this; it's similarly threatening, and will definitely be scarier without lycanroc's prio (and probably also without conk's) in a tier with very few dark resists. losing venu will take away a lot of the reason ppl run sun rn but sun shiftry might still be too good, hope we keep an eye on that '-'

=====

- broken af, ban
- probably also broken, ban
Agree that Conk, Haxorus, and Scolipede are pretty damn unstoppable, not gonna spend a lot of words on them but yea gl handling them with any chip at all on ur team.

Kyurem is less obviously broken, imo, because Specs can be limited with SR & SpDef steels resist its stabs and force it to Earth Power to do much to them (except Levitate Bronzong). Even then, though, the steels don't have recovery, so it takes a little longer but Kyu can overcome them. It's also super versatile, threatening to break with Specs, win with DD, or stall out walls with SubRoost. It is a little less clear-cut for me than the other 3 but imo Kyurem is banworthy.

=====

- do not ban
just havent seen any use of this, imo we need to see what it looks like in a post-conk meta before considering a ban, bulky waters not named slowking limit it pretty well (with the obv caveat that they can be chipped). imo we just dont know what defensive cores will look like after the more obvious brokens leave, so it would be prudent to wait and see how teams matchup with this before deciding if sharpedo is banworthy, bc it is less of an obvious broken.

=====

- do not ban
imo slowking's futureport strategies are extremely effective. a large part of this, though, is being able to bring in monsters like conk/kyurem. it'll still be a good strategy, no doubt, but i think we need to wait and see what else it enables.

the combo of teleport -> extremely broken conk / broken kyu is busted, but teleport into other threats might not be so let's wait and see imo.

=====

- leaning ban
sorry to be unhelpful here, but i'm rly just not sure abt suicune. with other breakers going i'd lean towards banworthy, taunt doesn't naturally fit on many teams and you cant run jungle healing zarude on every team. other grasses like rose/rotom-mow might become good now, though even they cant rly stop it; i usually require a multi-mon effort to take it down, tho there's always the possibility that my building is to blame for that, haha. not sure but i guess id lean ban?

new meta should be fun, thx council. thx also to any1 who read thru all this

 

[Monky25]

Keeping it short but pretty much Expulso beat me to what I wanted to say about the mons. Everything except sharpedo and slowing can go, mostly because those 2 are the least broken of the bunch and I do want to see what a meta looks like without papa conk running the show. Do I expect shark and futureport to still be broken? Probably. Even though we need to clean up some things I don’t want to ban everything here just for the sake of seeing meta adaptation after the centralizing stuff is banned

 

[EonX]

Expulso kinda beat me to it, but I did want to focus on 2 Pokemon in particular as I've used them a fair bit and seen them in action a decent amount as well:

Slowking on its own isn't a "broken" problem. However, I feel I look at it a little differently than most. Future Sight into Teleport into Guts user is basically a guaranteed KO on something AND the Guts user gets in to immediately activate the Flame Orb for their power boost. But why is it basically a guaranteed KO on something? Well, what do you bring into a Guts user? Defintiely not a Steel or Dark type, that's for sure. Offensive checks to Guts users typically hang on by the skin of their teeth and then the incoming Future Sight = death. Most things that take Guts-boosted move into Future Sight also barely hangs on and is likely outsped and KOed the next turn (see opposing bulky Psychic types) So yes, I feel Conk is the bigger problem, but I don't see Slowking + Heracross or Obstagoon or Machamp being that much friendlier when it's the same basic concept and these Guts users have more speed over Conk even. Ofc, none have the amazing priority and better bulk of Conk in one so they won't be as bad on their own, but I still see Slowking + Guts user being hella annoying. This is generally theory tho and obviously we shouldn't ban mons based on theories. But don't be surprised if we're facing similar issues if Conkeldurr is removed.

Ok, if we were going to be preemptive, this is an easy ban imo. Conkeldurr and Specs Kyurem are among the few offensive Pokemon that generally don't mind switching into Suicune more than once, regardless of what Suicune is using beyond Scald and CM. As it stands currently, there's just enough ways to handle it offensively and defensively to feel like it deserves to stay for now, and perhaps the bans will help the likes of Heliolisk, non-Zarude Grass types, and Thundurus become better than they are currently. So similar to Slowking, I don't feel we should ban on theories, but I also wouldn't at all be shocked if Suicune starts really getting out of control if it survives this wave of bans as it's already incredibly good and most of the stuff I see on the chopping block can hinder it to some extent.

 

[mind gaming]

Slowking is in my opinion the most broken mon of them all. It's nearly impossible to play around all Teleport + Regenerator strategies. Future Sight is not even the broken part but the part that makes it even better than it already is. Teleport + U-turn/Volt Switch can play around almost every wall in the meta. You can rly often force your opponent to go into a wall when you threaten him with strong attackers and then when you get the predict right and Voltturn on the switch you can get Slowking in and Voltturn again. This way only Slowking get's hurt and heals back with regen which traps your opponent in the cycle until he switches in something that can deal more damage on Slowking. However since you already know what he is going for due to Voltturn/Teleport you can get a mon that counters him easely in and recreate the cycle. This way almost every non ho team is forced to use Rocky Helmet + a ground type to break free from that. But it doesn't end here Future Sight + Teleport can mostly threaten these mons which forces you to use another countermeasure like a mon that can take a Future Sight with the move Protect or a combination of Slowking + fast U-turn to force to go into king on Future Sight, Teleport the same time as him and pray to lose the speedtie just to get in a U-turn mon that threatens out the mon he brings in and U-turns back to Slowking to take the Future Sight. So you always need 3-4 mons in balance teams that counter Slowking if you don't want to instant lose to it. Also even if mons like Coneldurr are getting banned you can still get other mons that are nearly as good as Conk in abusing Future-Sight but Conkeldurr or other offense threats are getting weaker by a lot if Slowking get's banned. Getting them in will be real pain and even if you manage that your opponent can play around them more freely if he does not have to fear Future Fight. Hoewer i'm not saying Conkeldurr will become unplayable without Slowking but there will be finally a way for balance or fat teams to play around it. Especially with Weezing-Galar, Togekiss, Cresselia in the Tier. Also when Slowking is gone CM mons without Sub or a move that kills Slowking can become viable since they don't have to fear slowking bringing in a hard counter anymore. This way they can hit the strong physical attackers on the switch in and pressure over time when they come in multiple times. Mons like Reuniclus, Sigilyph, Slowbro-Galar, Sylveon, Salazzle could finally become as usefull as they should be. It would also be easier to play walls that can't hit Slowking since you don't have to fear giving him Future Sight or free Teleport.

I don't rly have a strong opinion on the other ones but is probably the only not banworthy.

 

[Umbra Soul]

Gonna try and keep it short and sweet, but my opinions and observations are these:

Would Ban for sure-

Conkeldurr

Let's face it, nothing switches into this thing, and the very few who do are practically 1 time answers. But, yeah players have adapted offensively to being able to "deal" with Conk in a way of forcing it to pick a move then switching out to an immunity that way it can accumulate passive burn damage before finishing it off, but that really puts a strain on teambuilding as well as making the correct moves in battle. I think the one benefit we really have from it during this time is it helps put slowking on the chopping block for how busted Regen Teleport Future Sight is. It's also basically forced every other fighting type that wasn't Terrakion into NU, why use any other fighting type when Conkeldurr is the best option over every single one.

Slowking

Teleport's busted, especially on regenerator mons. Most of the last month has been Teleport wars and whoever won those usually ended up with more than enough momentum to really control the game flow. For most of the month I doubt most players really caught onto running 0 speed/iv slowking tbh until like we had to point it out to them that's how you keep up in the battles. Add in a delayed attack move and you are really pushing your opponents into moves they don't want to make but are forced to otherwise they will almost certainly lose a mon. Forces teams to be specifically bulky in order to have a switch into Future Sight which tends to be another Slowking (which falls under broken checking broken).

Kyurem

I'm pretty sure the only thing that doesn't die to kyurem or gets stalled outright is Bronzong....with Iron Head or Flash Cannon....and enough EVs to make sure you do at least 55% or more. And I'm pretty sure that you can still end up stalled out somehow. Offensively I will say I haven't had any real issues with kyurem beyond having to sack something since there really is almost no good switch ins to it, so it's generally been a better strategy to just sack something to maintain offensive momentum, and hopefully force it out with what I can send out to regain a better position in the match.

Suicune

Suicune is a very weird pokemon for me. It's very annoying to fight, and in most cases I wouldn't say is this unhealthy for the tier. However, the more I play against it, I realize how easy it actually is for VinCune sets to pressure stall out players and can maintain it's presence over the course of a battle it becomes very difficult for players to take down. There are general answers for its sets, but with Sub and Protect or Rest Talk sets there's always very little danger for Suicune users as they tend to force the opponent to make the aggressive moves usually if you want to stop it from snowballing or stalling out mons. Just the fact you have to feel out if it's SubTect or RestTalk actually has a profound impact on the matchups too I've observed. I agree with EonX that this is probably a pre-emptive ban to prevent it from being something that snowballs for several more meta phases in the coming months, but this is the one mon out of these 7 where we can safely have a re-test down the line when RU actually settles.

50/50 on banning vs no ban -

Scolipede/Haxorus

Both these mons have only really ever showcased doing things on Veil teams for me, so it's really been hard for me to see if they're really unhealthy for the tier. Haxorus is more of a beast than Scolipede to have to contend with given it's natural power so it's more of an immediate threat. Sure screens will probably consistently replace veil given Grimmsnarl/Klefki/Cress/Uxie being around over using Vanilluxe/Aboma, but if we're looking at a bigger threat on these it'd be Haxorus, but I really haven't seen Scolipede be too overbearing so far. I really can't comment to much given how few I've really seen, so I guess it's more of an abstain opinion on these tbh.

Wouldn't Ban -

Shark

I honestly have yet to see anyone really trying to use shark truthfully. It also doesn't help that with all the Boots and lack of Spikes running around that it's main break and butter of forcing things out and taking chip damages to accumulate for a sweep isn't so viable right now. This strikes me kind of as a pre-emptive thing, given our history with Shark, but it's not something I think should be banned right now.

Weather Conundrum -

Venu/Drought

Honestly, on sun Venu's too good. Weather Ball is a large upgrade over HP Fire and access to Earth Power means it can hit something like Dragalge if you need to run the coverage. Wouldn't be surprised to see Sleep Powder versions run just to hinder something for a sweep given a STAB + Weather Ball or just dual STAB tends to cover most of the tier after a growth. Though, I really do feel we should fully address within the community of weather abusers/threats vs the very weather ability itself of what would be the best preservation and not something the subforum really has taken up with discussion as it's a one or the other kind of thing. Do we want to preserve having a good fire type for once (Koal/Tales) which an ability that benefits the mon + hinders somethings or do we want to try to maintain keeping a mon(s) such as Venu or wouldn't be surprised to eventually see Shiftry on the chopping block again. It's really a do we want Sun Teams the archetypes or keep more grass types that could potentially be used on balance or defensive teams despite limiting their potential usually because they're absolutely bonkers under sun (8 turns of sun b/c heat rock).

Other things I've noticed:
- Having Priority is fantastic. I made a team of Metagross / Mimikyu / Conkeldurr / Toxicroak (originally was Lycan Dusk) / Talonflame / Golisopod and for the most part just clicking priority moves is such a great feeling. Conk and CB Meta being nukes helps as well as the occasional spike support from Golisopod, but most teams have been dropping to the inability to handle priority.

- Mimikyu is honestly kind of busted. 90 attack is fairly weak, but it hits a pretty solid speed tier with perfectly good coverage of SD / Sneak / Play Rough / Shadow Claw or Drain Punch. Fairy and Ghost typing let it take advantage of large portions of the tier with a pseudo sub, the only issue is when scald burns you since it doesn't prevent the status one time. But it makes for a fantastic cleaner and very threatening sweeper.

 

[MatLaTomate]

Venusar: Ban: This thing have many sets and like Torkoal is RU now Sun is really viable. The most popular set is the Sun Sweeper, Weather ball (becomes fire type and checks many Mons), giga drain, sludge bomb, growth Life Orb, ability, chlorophil. This set Can check all the méta , if the venu is boosted and under sun he Can sweep. For me there is no point this thing stays RU.

Slowking: to not ban: Yes this thing is such a great pivot but he is only invested in special Defense wich can make him really weak to thing like mimikyu and conk with koff.

Conkeldurr: to not ban: As this mon reguls the méta, every team has a check ton conk (slowking,doublage,Togekiss etc). So for me conk is not a Real problem so to not ban imo.

Scoliopede/Haxorus: Ban both: First of all , scoliopede, As scoliopede has such a great bulk and an ability that boost his speed , his regular set fun protect wich mean that he has a free boost, due to it's bulk he can Sword dance and sweep clearly if you are not prepared to him. Then commes Haxorus, I stil don't know how this thing is RU like before the dlc 1 he was banned from UU because he was not checkable, now he is RU, and he has got like 2 check , scarf togekiss if he is not boosted and cresselia due to it great défens stat. The only viable set is the dragon dance one, Dragon dance, Outrage, EQ,Poison jab Lum Berry. If you try to Toxic it, the Lum proc , if you try to Switch in to togekiss and he dd you are dead, so for me this thing must be banned

Sharpedo: To not ban: Imo, sharpedo is not really used atm in RU, due to it's plenty of check (conk,Zarude, Mienshao etc). This mons is like scoliopede but with lower attack and bulk. For me he is not a problèm in RU atm so to not ban.

Kyurem: Ban: This mon is infernal ! Idk why he is not quickban , this mon have a variety of set like boots+sub, specs, lo+dd and other i may not know. It Can check all the meta with the specs set and with the sub set + Roost it may not be killed since he is under sub. So for me no discussion, Ban !

Suicune: Ban: ahahaha you have not a Suicune check ? I won ggez. This is not a mon that have it's place in ru, due to it's great bulk + mooveset , this thing should be banned. The most common set is the Sub cm Leftovers wich if you have not taunt on a mon it's gg to your oppenet so for me ban !

 

[Aquarius Ghost ❤]

Hey guys, I have been seeing a lot of peoples opinions about the voting slate so I would like to post mine! (I'm only gonna talk abt the mons that i feel they should be banned)

: I personally think that this Mon is truly unhealthy for the tier. With having very few reliable switch-ins such as Sableye, Ngas Weezing-G and possibly even more. Conk is also by far one of the hardest things to revenge kill because of its natural bulk. This mon is truly a nuisance because it can usually switch-in to most of the tier and get a kill. This mon also put a strain on team building since it forces teams to slap on a check or counter. I have seen numerous teams where they were forced to put a check on their team because of this beast. Conk also has guts boost prior to finish off low HP mons or weather teams such as hail.

: This Mon is way to powerful with its plethora of sets varying from Dd set up to Specs. Most bulky steels can't even handle it because it can just use Earth Power, and yes it could be weak to rocks if your using specs, or sub metronome. An issue I find with Kyu is that sub sets are so hard to deal with since pressure kinda just wastes all ur attack pp. Kyu's movepool is so good since it has Freeze dry to deal with bulky waters such as SpDef Slowking and Spdef Mantine. I usually just use Sylveon to beat it, but sometimes Sylveon can't handle an ice beam which kinda makes team-building hard.

: I can't say much about this Mon, but it has serious sweeping potential if its under screen. Speed boost just makes it super annoying since it can be super hard to revenge kill. This Mon's movepool is kinda stupid since it has rock slide to deal with flying types such as Mantine and Crobat.

: Ah the broken shark. The reason I want this banned is because of its mixed set. The mixed set is composed up of Ice beam, Hydro, CC, Dark Pulse. This coverage hits everything in the tier. On top of speed boost, it doesn't allow anything to switch-in. Tho its frail bulk makes it weak to anything, tbh. Not to mention you could run partners like Indeedee to stop prior and make the shark insanely good. Ice beam allows it to hit grass types that would usually wall it if it was physical like Tangela, Vilplume, etc. Finally, CC allows it to hit Special walls such as Umbreon and p2.

: I personally feel like I don't need to explain this Mon because it has so much sweeping potential under sun. Losing Galarking gave Venu way more breathing room, which is very stupid!

Anyway, those are the Mons I feel like they should be banned. Aqua out!

(The reaction goal is 10)

 

[EviGaro]

Hlelo, here are the votes in pretty columns, courtesy of my co-tl:

Going a bit deeper in the vote here:

- Conkeldurr's raw power was considered way too much for the RU tier, with very little surprise. While its speed seems lacking in comparison to other strong fighting types, its powerful priority, excellent bulk, and access to Drain Punch gives it both some sustainability and ability to trade without dropping its wallbreaking potential, on top of a very good matchup across all playstyles. Despite also possessing some intriguing set variety, it mostly stuck to the flame orb set and proved to be a gigantic headache in its very short time.

- Haxorus only got more tools since its very troublesome appearance in early SM RU. Access to First Impression, Close Combat, and Scale Shot only makes it better at running diverse sets and using its extremely potent offences to break through teams. Its excellent speed tier is also problematic, and both CB and SD sets made appearance routinely in games, being both vastly different in how you approach them and leaving a lot of leeway to the Haxorus user to take advantage of the matchups. It was deemed too strong for those points, with very little questioning.

- Kyurem was slightly closer, but was also deemed part of the too difficult to check in the RU tier crowd. Access to Freeze-Dry makes bulky waters a non issue, leaving us only with specific steels and extremely bulky mons like Cresselia to give its Choice Specs set pause. However, this is not the only tool in Kyurem's arsenal this gen. Sub sets are devastating, forcing mons like Registeel in difficult choices when running moves, and access to a workable Dragon Dance might not be too good right now, but with RU dropping in power creep after bans, could easily become a concern.

- Scolipede, by large, was deemed by the Council to be the most obvious reason pushing veil teams in the broken territory. Access to Swords Dance, coverage to hit virtually the entire tier, the dreaded Speed Boost, and a surprisingly usable double typing meant that Scolipede rarely had no leeway to set up on veil teams, being thus an effective breaker of both offence and bulkier balance. Scolipede wasn't entirely perfect though, as Infiltrator users like Noivern or Crobat could exploit their ability and offences to prevent it from becoming a problem, but this still requires a lot of positioning done right, while it might just lose to +2 rock slide if it has to switch in a turn too late. Scolipede thus had too much room and was banned from the RU tier, hoping this calms down veil teams too, coupled with the Haxorus ban and the Ninetales-A rise.

- Sharpedo on the other hand, was given some more time in the tier. On one hand, this was probably a bit premature to remove it from the tier, particularly with the more obvious issue of Scolipede. It also has troubles with mons like Suicune or Togekiss being able to handle everything at least once, if not multiple times, cutting through its breaking potential. It also badly needs the boost from life orb to be a problematic issue. However, it's still extremely possible we revisit this mon in the next couple of months as the power level drops and think, yeah it still does the same thing. Already the loss of Conkeldurr - and Lycanroc-Dusk on December 1st - is big for it, removing offence's best way of forcing it out, and Tangrowth being gone makes the physical set a lot better as well. A lot is looking more favourable for it now, so we will monitor if that changes.

- Slowking was also considered good enough to stay RU for now. While it is an amazing enable with Teleport, one could argue - and as it turns out, the majority did here - that being the enable of brokens only exposes what the brokens truly are, and it's not necessarily Slowking's fault here. However, it's hard to deny that future sight + teleport + a myriad of offensive threats is ridiculous on paper, and while the most obvious mons are being removed, it's unreasonable to keep doing that if Slowking's support shows to still provide similar opportunities. So, it is staying for now, but another thing to monitor coming up.

- Suicune also stays in the RU tier, in perhaps a more surprising outcome than the previous two. While it's extremely obnoxious with its classic sets, the rise of boots make the easy strats of old more difficult to pull off, new ways of gaining momentum also can leave it a bit behind in the count, and the removal of broken dragons makes more grass type interesting. Zarude's popularity also helps ,as jungle healing shrugs off Suicune's main sets to break through it. Suicune does have more tools to surprise these would be counters, but it remains a mon that relies heavily on bulk and sustainability to be at his best, which makes more offensive sets generally less appealing.

- Venusaur was unanimously removed from the tier, which I doubt will come as a surprise. It was the mon that without question pushed sun in UU to stupid levels, and it very much did the same here. Again though, we will keep looking at drought if it stays a problem for sure, as you can definitely argue this tier has way more tools for that playstyle than it did when we banned only Shiftry back in our first (!) beta of the generation. For now, Venusaur has perfect coverage, amazing speed, very awkward counterplay that relies on mons being more specifically wired to maybe take it on and give their team some breathing room vs sun. The loss of Slowking-Galar, one of the very few mons that could in theory handle the sweeper set, did not help any for its potential stay in the RU tier.

Therefore, Conkeldurr, Haxorus, Kyurem, Scolipede and Venusaur are now banned from the RU tier, tagging The Immortal and Marty to implement those on our ladder, thank you as always!

 

[Flareblitzkreig]

(edit: tysm for reacts lets hit 30 dun dun dun)

 

[EonX]

So I know there's a lot of Pokemon that are going to get a lot better as a result of these bans, but I'm just gonna focus on the Goon.

Goon is a damn demon. Base 95 Speed with Guts boosted attacks and Obstruct to block First Impression attempts? Wild. Coverage move to ruin Steels like Regi, Steelix, and the odd Copperajah? Check. Spammable move that gets you something out of every turn? Check. Nuke that blows up just about anything that doesn't resist it? Check. Easy to cover against bad matchups? Well, maybe not easy, but definitely not impossible now. With Lycanroc, Tangrowth, and Terrakion leaving, the door was cracked open for the Goon. With Conkeldurr, Kyurem, and Venusaur all being removed, that door is now wide open. As mentioned before, base 95 is a great Speed tier as it sits in front of virtually every other wallbreaker in the tier on top of some slower offensive Pokemon. While it might not be Conkeldurr-esque bulk, 93/101/81 defenses are more than good enough to find entry points on resists or weaker walls. And base 90 Attack certainly won't set the world on fire, don't forget it gets STAB on its Knock Offs and Facades to close the gap on those moves as compared to Machamp and Heracross. That's where the extra Speed comes in, especially compared with Machamp. While Machamp would like to spec into its ok bulk to make it better, it can't afford to with the Speed tier it sits at. Heracross is probably overall better as there isn't a whole lot that sits between base 85 and base 95 aside from obsucre mons like Rotom-C (may be better now) and Hitmonlee, but the Goon does have the Speed edge mid-game should both be attempting to break down the opposing team. So, yeah, it may have been an afterthought with monstrosities like Conkeldurr, Scolipede, Terraion, and Lycanroc holding it back and / or outclassing it, but these aren't here now and it's ready to start claiming victims.

 

[A floor Mat]

Glastrier @ Choice Band / Life orb
Ability: Chilling Neigh
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash / Icicle Spear
- Close Combat
- High Horsepower
- Megahorn / Throat chop

Glastrier is a very cool addition to the tier, it has a very appealing base 145 attack stat, amazing natural bulk in 100/130/110 and solid coverage with ground and fighting moves at the cost of very low base 30 speed stat. This speed stat makes it hard to use on most teams and requires some good team building for it to function well. However, this speed stat allows it to perform wonderfully in trick room. Under trick room, the horse will be moving before most mons in the tier and dishing out serious damage especially with choice band.

For its moves, Icicle crash can easily OHKO or 2HKO most neutral mons. Icicle spear can be used for a guaranteed hit against the opponent and can surprise sash leads. Close combat has a chance to OHKO a Registeel trying to switch in and can get some good chip on lix. High Horsepower can hit fire types and Raikou with there last surprise. The last moveslot depends on how well your team deals with either Bronzong or King, Megahorn will nuke the king and quickly dethrone him and throat chop can be used to hit Bronzong and ghosts very hard.

Teammates who can set trick room up like Cress and P2 are a must for this set as it needs trick room to thrive ( or gallop lol). Answers to bulky waters are helpful for the horse cuz it can ease wall breaking for it. In addition, mons who can help break steel and ground types also eases its wall breaking. Although not necessary, hazard removal can help it since its weak to stealth rocks and can wear it down quickly especially with life orb.

This post was a lot longer then my other posts but hopefully you guys enjoyed it : ) I want to know what you guys think about the ICE horse!!!
shoutout to the RU chat for help!!!!

 

[Salty3345]

From my Experience running Metagross with a Choice band, I seriously think Metagross is a top tier threat with varied and unique qualities that make it excellent.

With max Attack and a band Metagross hits 600+ attack, Nothing aside from Doublade, Registeel and Steelix can switch in on Meteor mash, without taking over 40%, and EQ cushes them, along side Thunderpunch crushes everything else in the tier, leaving a 4th moveslot for Bullet punch to pick off some pokemon from over 50% health.

Metagross is also a fairly decent Assault vest user, setting itself apart from the rest of the steel types in RU as an offensive steel type that can take special hits. with its good natural defense stat it can afford to spec all into Spd and attack, with a bit in HP, with max investment in spd it can take a choice specs Chandelure fireblast and live 100% of the time with rain up, which isint hard with Politoed support and can live a shadow ball from full health in a pinch , although its not exactly ideal. This set is even better as it alows Metagross to cover its exploitable spd patching up a hole in its ability to take hits.

Its Agility set is still dangrous as ever, although it needs team support to ensure that its few roadblocks, mainly registeel, seismitoad, suicune and Steelix have either been chipped or crippled so they dont stand in the way of a late game sweep.

While it has faults (low speed, poor offensive typing, 4 move slot syndrome) Its positive and unique traits more than make up for its shortcomings in most scearios.

 

[Fabi_ODST]

From my Experience running Metagross with a Choice band, I seriously think Metagross should be Suspect tested. With max Attack and a band Metagross hits 600+ attack, Nothing aside from Doublade, Registeel and Steelix can switch in on Meteor mash, without taking over 40%, ans EQ cushes them, along side Thunderpunch crushes everything else in the tier, leaving a 4th moveslot for Bullet punch to pick off some pokemon from over 50% health.

The problem with cb metagross is that it leaves you open to revenge killers and setup from other mons that can abuse every move it gets locked into. If you spam eq, any flying type can setup and open holes, if you do meteor mash/bullet punch steel types get in, with thunder punch you leave ground types in. It's middling speed also stops it from being a real menace to offense outside of getting stuck on bullet punch, and its bulk, while good, it's really underwhelming if uninvested. also, the fact that is free slowbro switch in once it has attacked is not ideal. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but nowhere near the same level as other choice locked mons like xurk (that actually can threaten offense due to its speed tier), darm (again, speed tier), entei (again, speed tier), among others.

So, to make this a more meaningful post, I will briefly touch some mons I have seen put in work or I have had put work themselves:

This mon singlehandedly made trick room a decent playstyle, hitting like a truck and being able to eat one or two hits in the process. Between banded, life orb, sd and heavy duty boots, this beas can open holes like no other. I haven't seen it outside of tr, but I don't discard

I tried to use a ground type not named steelix or rhyperior, and it is surprisingly good. It acts as a discount zygarde, spaming glare during the match, waiting for the correct moment to setup and end game. Being slowking fodder isn't ideal, but it works pretty well with the right support.

I feel this mon is one of, if not THE best scarfer in the tier, while having other equally valid options like bulk up or hdb pivot. It is a good team patch and an excellent check to some of the most prominent mons in the tiers (like slowbro and suicune). More people need to use it (before UU takes it back in a painful way)

 

[Salty3345]

The problem with cb metagross is that it leaves you open to revenge killers and setup from other mons that can abuse every move it gets locked into. If you spam eq, any flying type can setup and open holes, if you do meteor mash/bullet punch steel types get in, with thunder punch you leave ground types in. It's middling speed also stops it from being a real menace to offense outside of getting stuck on bullet punch, and its bulk, while good, it's really underwhelming if uninvested. also, the fact that is free slowbro switch in once it has attacked is not ideal. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but nowhere near the same level as other choice locked mons like xurk (that actually can threaten offense due to its speed tier), darm (again, speed tier), entei (again, speed tier), among others.

So, to make this a more meaningful post, I will briefly touch some mons I have seen put in work or I have had put work themselves:

View attachment 298020
This mon singlehandedly made trick room a decent playstyle, hitting like a truck and being able to eat one or two hits in the process. Between banded, life orb, sd and heavy duty boots, this beas can open holes like no other. I haven't seen it outside of tr, but I don't discard
View attachment 298021
I tried to use a ground type not named steelix or rhyperior, and it is surprisingly good. It acts as a discount zygarde, spaming glare during the match, waiting for the correct moment to setup and end game. Being slowking fodder isn't ideal, but it works pretty well with the right support.
View attachment 298023
I feel this mon is one of, if not THE best scarfer in the tier, while having other equally valid options like bulk up or hdb pivot. It is a good team patch and an excellent check to some of the most prominent mons in the tiers (like slowbro and suicune). More people need to use it (before UU takes it back in a painful way)

Yea, thanks for the feedback, I fixed my post up and added more to flesh out my point.
To add to what you said, i think that yea its bad to have something get a free switch after a KO, but thats after a KO. Switching in to a banded metagross is extremely dicey, trying to read your opponent and predict their move is the difference between slowking and suicune comming in for free, and getting smashed by thunderpunch. Same for Registeel, Seismtoad and Steelix with earthquake, if you guess right, Meta just switches out to a teamate, and If you guess wrong, your in serious danger of getting run over if metas only check on your team dosent have the HP to take another hit later in the game.
There is no pokemon in the tier that can switch in safely to all of Meteor mash,Earthquake and Thunderpunch, and while yes it require prediction to safely pivot, there is just so much that gets railed by Meteor mash or Earthquake that it makes using Tpunch more easy, since there are zero levitate pokemon in the tier.

 

[EonX]

Finally got around to building a team and playing around in the post-bans meta some. Some early thoughts:

This thing is good. Like, really, really good. Guts Flame Orb kinda does similar things that Conkeldurr did. WIth Zarude as good as ever and Zydog still terrorizing many offensive Pokemon, it's nice to have your own offensive Pokemon that can siwtch into their most common moves at least once. Speed tier above Xurkitree, Necrozma, and Gardevoir is also excellent and it basically has the coverage it needs between CC Knock and Facade. Stone Edge crushes Togekiss (don't even need to predict unless you know it's Scarf) Crobat and Golisopod. Megahorn absolutely decimates Necrozma through Prism Armor (unless it's PhysDef) smacks Cresselia, and means you can hit Umbreon without lowering your defenses if the opponent lacks a way to OHKO Heracross. Spikes and SD give extra utility against fatter teams with Galar Weezing. It's damn good.

This is still one of the top mons in the entire tier. Not only is Scarf Zarude likely the best, most consistent Scarfer in the tier, but its Bulk Up set has a lot more merit now that Suicune is one of the top boosting threats. Although it has to run Jungle Healing to consistently answer Suicune, this just reinforces its ability to pivot into the likes of Rhyperior, Golurk, bulky Waters, and Xurkitree.

Teleport is still stupid on this thing. While it's not quite as obscene as it was when Conkeldurr, Haxorus, and Kyurem were in the tier, it's still not very friendly. It's pretty menacing when you just lead Slowking, Teleport turn 1 after absorbing a U-turn or Volt Switch, and get in something like Heracross or Obstagoon on their initial Slowking check to activate their Flame Orb turn 1. Aside from Guts users, Slowking just helps any wallbreaker become better than they normally would be so long as they're at least a decent response to Steel, Dark, and Grass types. Hell, it's even good for Scarfers as you can use Teleport to prevent something like opposing Heracross from coming in and trying to claim a KO. I still believe that not using Slowking as your Water type means you better be using Suicune, Sharpedo (completely different role) or Mantine / Milotic (bulky Waters that beat Suicune) to be able to do something that Slowking can't do (sweep in Suicune or Sharpedo's case, or beat Suicune in the cases of Mantine and Milotic)

I'm lumping these two together because they simply combine to check / wall a large portion of the physical metagame. Steelix doesn't even really need physdef investment to check what it needs to on that end of the spectrum, allowing it to spec into SpDef to check Electrics, Dragalge, Goodra, etc. Both are also immune to Toxic (aside from the odd Salazle) so passively wearing them down is a tough ask as well. Fire types obviously give this duo problems, but hey, you got 4 other Pokemon for handling those in one way or another.

 

[atomicllamas]

Relevant shifts:


Grimmsnarl moved from RU to UU
Slowking moved from RU to UU

Cobalion moved from UU to RU
Marowak-Alola moved from UU to RU
Stakataka moved from UU to RU
Volcanion moved from UU to RU

These drops seem awesome, Slowking gone will definitely turn team building on its head though, no more TP + breaker shenanigans.

 

[Pabloaram]

Marowak and Stakataka give Trick Room tools to play.. especially having mons like Cress or P2 to set up...

Volcanion look kinda nice but suffer for having Xurqitree and Zarude everywhere to presure it. (Also BU Zarude beat and set up in half of the tier)

Cobalion can work as a offensive check to Zarude, as a bullky Stealth Rocker or pivot.

Losing Grimmsnarl is bad to HO especially screen but now can use Xatu or Espeon to set it up.
Losing Slowking is so big for offence, balance, bulky offence, etc.... having a pivot with regen is so good and ofc Future Sight shenanigans

 

[Fabi_ODST]

So, the age of slowking is over, for better and for worse (regenport was such an easy way to get momentum), and we got a couple of rather unexpected toys to play with. I haven't played with volcanion or cobalion yet, because two of my favorite mons just dropped....

MAX ATACKA STAKATAKA IS BACK! I loved this thing last gen, so I was pretty exited seeing it drop. With new toys like heat crash and body press while keeping the strongest gyro balls under most circumstances AND the ability to set its own trick room makes it so that it doesn't need to be in dedicated TR teams to be effective. Body press in particular is an excellent adition, as it doesn't need to run a janky IV and nature to increase the power of it. The defense boost also allows it to live some insane attacks:

252+ Atk Rhyperior Earthquake vs. +1 252 HP / 0 Def Stakataka: 264-312 (80.9 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. +1 252 HP / 0 Def Stakataka: 268-316 (82.2 - 96.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Metagross Earthquake vs. +1 252 HP / 0 Def Stakataka: 256-304 (78.5 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Darmanitan Earthquake vs. +1 252 HP / 0 Def Stakataka: 160-192 (49 - 58.8%) -- 98% chance to 2HKO

This allows it to set Trick Room on unfavourable situations, shifting the momentum in favor of the trick room player. Overall, I love this drop and I can't wait to find other uses outside of trick room :]

This mon is a godsend for trick room teams, as it provides a xurkitree check that's not weak to grass knot or dazzling gleam, while also hitting like a nitro boosted truck. I see some utility outside of Trick room teams, but the current meta is not really kind to it, considering zarude, suicune, volcanion, seismitoad and a bunch of other mons outspeed it and kill it before it can do anything. Don't be mistaken though, this thing has no safe switches, and it's pretty dangerous on the correct team composition.

As for the current state of the meta, nothing really stands out as outright broken (mons like diggersby and the genies became more manageable as time went on), but there are a lot of threats to consider when teambuilding (mimikyu and chandelure stand out to me as mons that can rip unprepared teams apart), so it seems like we finally reached a stable point.

 

[aVocado]

Glastrier @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Chilling Neigh
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Icicle Crash
- High Horsepower

ice horse is an underrated mon

 

[phantom]

The next voting slate is here. The council has nominated the following to be voted on:

- Diggersby has been one of the most dominating attackers to emerge out of the new meta. Its Choice Scarf set consisting of Body Slam / Earthquake / U-turn / Knock Off | Stone Edge | Spikes is very well equipped to take on offensive teams, while its Life Orb set with SD / Quick Attack / Mega Kick / Earthquake is nigh uncounterable while also having strong matchups against offensive teams thanks to Quick Attack. These two sets work in conjunction in making Diggersby one of the scariest threats in the tier and an arguably difficult threat to prepare for.

- Slowbro-Galar has been nominated for its Quick Draw set consisting of Nasty Plot / Sludge Bomb / Flamethrower / Psychic @ Quick Claw. Combination of Quick Draw and Quick Claw gives Slowbro a fair chance of moving first, allowing it to win games with enough luck on its side. Its good bulk and typing also enables setup and gives some leeway in case its priority doesn’t always activate. The luck based elements Slowbro introduced are arguably uncompetitive and deemed worthy of a vote.

- Volcanion’s SubToxic set consisting of Steam Eruption / Flamethrower / Toxic / Substitute @ Heavy Duty Boots / Leftovers has been deemed to be an arguably troublesome presence in the tier. With Volcanion checks being restricted to bulky Waters and some Dragons, employing Toxic allows Volcanion to pressure and outright beat its own checks. Its solid bulk and ability also enable it to get a Substitute up vs a number of bulky waters. This in conjunction with its limited pool of checks has made it a potentially broken threat in RU.

- Xurkitree has been one of the best Choice Scarf users in the tier. Its classic Choice Scarf set consisting of Thunderbolt / Energy Ball / Volt Switch / Dazzling Gleam had made it a top threat in the meta since it dropped. Its ability Beast Boost in tandem with its Scarf set gives it serious snowball potential and necessitates the use of Ground-type + special sponge on most teams to prevent it from getting out of control. Non-Choice sets can also pose issues, being able to break through the Pokémon capable of holding off its Scarf set.

- Zarude can employ a multitude of sets including Choice Scarf, Jungle Healing with Heavy Duty Boots, and Choice Band. Outside of Power Whip and Darkest Lariat and U-turn on Choice sets, it can run a variety of moves such as Close Combat, Iron Tail, Rock Slide, and Bulk Up on Jungle Healing sets that all allow it to take on a different set of checks and counters. Its excellent stats and movepool has limited checks to bulky Fairy-types and Cobalion. Without Cobalion, teams are forced to shift defensively to handle Zarude, making it an arguably restricting presence in RU.

Expect the results to be announced sometime in the next 48 hours. As always, if you have any thoughts on the slate, feel free to share below!