np SS UU Stage 0 - All I Want for Christmas is UU (UU Alpha is live!)

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Hogg

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Sword & Shield UU Alpha is live!

The waiting is over - with our first month of stats out, UU Alpha has finally been released! UU will remain in its alpha period for one month. During this period, there will be no suspects and no bans. Just have fun and try things out!

Aegislash moved from New to OU
Barraskewda moved from New to OU
Bisharp moved from New to OU
Cinderace moved from New to OU
Clefable moved from New to OU
Conkeldurr moved from New to OU
Corsola-Galar moved from LC Uber to OU
Corviknight moved from New to OU
Darmanitan-Galar moved from New to OU
Ditto moved from New to OU
Dracovish moved from New to OU
Dracozolt moved from New to OU
Dragapult moved from New to OU
Dugtrio moved from New to OU
Excadrill moved from New to OU
Ferrothorn moved from New to OU
Grimmsnarl moved from New to OU
Gyarados moved from New to OU
Hatterene moved from New to OU
Hawlucha moved from New to OU
Hydreigon moved from New to OU
Mandibuzz moved from New to OU
Mimikyu moved from New to OU
Pelipper moved from New to OU
Rotom-Heat moved from New to OU
Rotom-Wash moved from New to OU
Seismitoad moved from New to OU
Togekiss moved from New to OU
Toxapex moved from New to OU
Toxtricity moved from New to OU
Tyranitar moved from New to OU
 

Moutemoute

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Alright, it’s time to inaugurate this thread by giving some of my thoughts on "Sword & Shield UU Alpha" metagame !
By the way you can access each set I talk about by clicking on the Pokemon's sprite.



Dynamaxing
Well I think most of you already know what I think about Dynamaxing.. It's an overwhelming mechanic which is even harder to deal in Underused than Overused (mostly because we lack of Ditto) which means you kinda have to sacrifice half of you team vs a Dynamax Pokemon or Dynamax one of your own Pokemon in order to stall out the opponent's Dynamax Pokemon. I don't see any good point about this fixture, you can't rely on teambuilding to deal with X or Y threat because Dynamax allows most Pokemon to bypass their check and even some of their counters thanks of the sheer force provides by Dynamax and the extra Bulk. Of course this is the mechanic of the 8th generation but it doesn't mean it's something good for strategy, it's quite the opposite. Dynamaxing is under suspect at the moment in OU and I hope shit shit will get banned because if it's not I firmly believe that we should do something if we want a playable tier.
Also I would like to point out the fact that it's really hard right now to know if a Pokemon in UU Alpha is overwhelming on its own or because of Dynamaxing. Things like Polteageist, Kommo-o, Charizard, Weavile, Indeedee or Gengar are all really scary Pokemon because of Dynamax. Charizard can boost its own speed, setup its own Sun and bypass its checks/counters thanks to Max Overgrowth and/or Max Wyrmwind. While I think that Polteagiest and Kommo-o don't need Dynamax to be too good for the tier, I also think that it's quite hard to assess how good they can be in a non-Dynamax metagame.


Polteageist
This Pokemon may be one of the dumbest (if not the dumbest) setup Sweeper in the whole tier. With Entry Hazard support (Spikes, Stealth Rock and/or Sticky Web) it can pressure so much Pokemon thanks to Shadow Ball. On the other hand, it can pressure Pokemon with either Giga Drain or Stored Power but it can also bother offensive threats with Will-O-Wisp and/or Strenght Sap. Dynamax Polteageist is insanely hard to deal with because it can setup its own Psychic Terrain thanks to Max Mindstorm which allows it to be immune to priorities such as Sucker Punch which would otherwise obliterate it. Overall I think this Pokemon is way to hard to deal with.. even max HP/SpD Umbreon can be 2HKO by Max Overgrowth because of the second Max Overgrowth which benefits from Grass Terrain.


Kommo-o
Clanger boy is back in Underused and probably better than ever thanks to its new tool : Clangerous Soul, which raises all its stats by one. On the other hand, Kommo-o benefits a lot from a new item : Throat Spray which raises its special attack by one stage after it uses a sound move which means Kommo-o can setup at +1/+1/+2/+1/+1 in just one turn just by using one move and sacriying 33% of its health. After that, it can freely abuse of its attacks or just Dynamax to obliterate even more the opponent's Pokemon. Even Babiri Berry Weezing-Galar can't handle a +2 Max Steelspike..

+2 252 SpA Kommo-o Max Steelspike (130 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Babiri Berry Weezing-Galar: 317-373 (95.1 - 112%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

Like Polteageist, I do believe this Pokemon may be too much for the tier even without Dynamax fixture.


Indeedee
I'm only gonna talk about Indeedee-M just because it's the one I've seen the most and probably the best of the two. Thanks to Psychic Terrain, Indeedee is an insanely good Revenge Killer with Choice Scarf and a great wallbreaker with Choice Specs. The main issue I see with this Pokemon is Dynamaxing because Dynamax allows it to unlock from its Choice item which is hellah dumb ! It's really hard to play around this Pokemon and predict it because of Dynamaxing. If you're sending your Doublade on Scarf Psychic you need to take into account that Indeedee can just Dynamax and obliterate you Doublade thanks to Max Flare. It's just so hard to play around this kind of Pokemon because they abuse the mechanic of Dynamaxing so well while still being really good without it..


Charizard
Charizard is in my opinion the best way to show that Dynamaxing is a disgusting fixture ! Generally, Charizard is considered as a bad / meh Pokemon but Dynamaxing allows it to be really good. It's not like Z-Move which buff more or less a Pokemon, Dynamaxing allows Pokemon to become straight up insane. Thanks to it, Charizard can buff its Speed thanks to Max Airsteam and set up its own Sun thanks to Max Flare which allows it to abuse of its ability Solar Power. Thanks to Dynamax, Charizard can also abuse of Max Overgrowth to counter its own checks such as Water/Ground Pokemon..


Ribombee / Sticky Web
Sticky Web offense are almost everywhere on the ladder at the moment and Ribombee is the best user of this move. As opposed to 7th generation where Araquanid was great thanks to Magic Coat and/or Toxic, 8th generation has nerfed really hard this boy (poor vivalospride..). On the other hand Ribombee enjoys a lot the overall nerf of the Pokemon's speed (no Mega-Evolution anymore e.g) which means it's almost impossible to prevent Ribombee to set its Sticky Web and because the current metagame is really offensive and 8th generation has way less user of Defog than 7th generation, it's super hard to get rid of the Sticky Web when it's on your field..


Eiscue
Eiscue is actually a super threatening Pokemon.. If it can be vs a physical Pokemon then it's super hard to prevent it to setup ! Eiscue is also a really good user of Dynamaxing because Max Hailstorm set the Hail which allows Eiscue to use a second time its ability Ice Face. Even if it kinda has a 4 MSS with either Substitute, Liquidation, Zen Headbutt and Reversal it's overall a pretty great Pokemon which can tears apart opponent's team which lack of max defense Avalugg and/or Jellicent (or a really bulky water like Haze Milotic).


Frosmoth
Frosmoth is another great setup Sweeper for sure ! Even if it struggles to break through Steel-types, it's a really good Pokemon which can really mess around opponent's team if it setup at the right time. It's also setup quite easily on special sweeper thanks to its great ability Ice Scales ! Also, like Charizard, Heavy-Duty Boots are a bless for this Pokemon..


Overall the current metagame is really offensive and it's really hard to tell what will look like the tier because there is Pokemon which distord the tier around us. Things like Kommo-o, Polteageist and Dynamax abusers in general are top threat which are really hard to deal with. I trully hope Dynamaxing will be banned and we'll be able to get a much more healthy and enjoyable tier which doesn't rely on "which player gonna abuse the first of Dynamaxing". At the moment, it's really hard to build balanced / defensive teams because there is way too much threats to care about. I also think that after some bans, some Pokemon will be able to shine in a positive way like Weezing-Galar or Obstagoon.
 
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Jaajgko

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Web teams look very strong as there are very good abusers like Diggersby, Mamoswine and Gengar and in opposite few fast flying types and very limited hazard control options. Noivern looks pretty good as a Webs check as well as having great coverage against the meta, not much likes to switch into the combination of Hurricane Draco Meteor and Flamethrower, and has decent defensive utility in switching well into Durant's and Golisopod's First Impression. However, the competition between Dragon Types is tough and other options like Haxorus and Kommo-O are more threatening offensively so it may get outclassed by those. About the sticky web abusers I mentioned, Mamoswine fits really well on webs team as it outspeed the whole unscarfed metagame at-1 speed with an Adamant Nature and can Ice Shard the flying types that don't care about sticky web. Its dual typing is only resisted by Golisopod and Araquanid, which can be covered with Stone Edge if Stealth Rock isn't needed, and with a Life Orb it 2HKOs / OHKOs almost everything, so definitely a Sticky Web stapple. Diggersby is not as much of a perfect fit as Mamo is, but is even stronger and its stabbed Quick Attack functions pretty well to hit Flying types and has access to SD to potentially sweep with Quick Attack or to simply overpower its checks like Bronzong. It lost Return but still has decent options like Mega Kick and Body Slam, I don't think it's that big of a nerf to the point where it would be in UU after 2 generations of being BL. Both can function well outside of Sticky Web teams with the same set or a choiced one. Gengar is a bit different as it is already faster than most of the meta but it functions well as a spin blocker and not being outsped by grounded scarfers is always good, and it provides great speed control in case the opponent removed the sticky web. Honorable mention to Durant, Kommo-O and Obstagoon.
 
After playing a handful of UU Alpha, here are my thoughts.

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Mantine is absolutely amazing rn. It’s one of the best checks to Polteageist and Zard due to its borderline broken SpD and Haze. It sucks it doesn’t have Defog (yet). It however still provides fat teams a special sponge with a spikes immunity.

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Best scarfer and Rkiller atm. It provides teams a reliable pivot and a check to +1 Zard and Braviary, Crawdaunt, and even outspeds +2 Polteageist.

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Goon stomps on alot of fat mons and gives teams a status absorber. STAB Facade + Knock is insane, not to mention it has solid bulk overall. Switcheroo is nice for crippling slower physical attackers with Flame Orb like Diggersby and Braviary.

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If you don’t have a Mantine, Milotic, Vaporeon or Gastrodon on your team, your in for a ride. Inteleon’s insanly powerful Hydro Pumps and top ten speed tier might make it terrifying to face for fat teams once all the broken stuff leaves. It has Dark Pulse for Jelly too.

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Galar Weezing is self explanatory. Remove hazards or set TSpikes, burn physical attackers, taunt walls, hit steels with Fire Blast, or check Kommo-o and troll ground types. It has alot of utility and a great typing, I have high hopes for this one.

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The best check to Gengar rn and an excellent glass cannon as always. Ice Shard is very valuable priority. It lost Knock and Pursuit this gen(until Home for Knock Off) but it gives it room to use Low Kick for stuff like Lucario and does more dmg to Copperajah. It also lets Weavile use Max Knuckle to bring its attack level to dangerous levels. It could possibly be banworthy, but we need more time to see that.

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Just because of Max Airstream, these guys became absolute monsters. Braviary’s decent bulk and Max Knuckle make it a near unstoppable force. Electric/Flying hits alot of stuff hard and has decent bulk as well. Zard is probably the most terrifying user of Max Airstream with it being able to boost its speed and setup Sun
 

Estarossa

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To contrast Moutemoute 's post, I would like to talk a bit about a few defensive options i've really been enjoying in this meta so far, as well as bring up a few more strong dynamax abusers that i haven't seen mentioned that I've been really enjoying.

:umbreon:

This thing has been back in full force this generation so far for sure, and overthrown its pink brother. Its ability to check a lot of really dangerous threats such as specs indeedee, specs inteleon, polteageist and sigilyph is fantasticly useful in this metagame, and it can even soft check gengar rn.

While the loss of heal bell and toxic may have hurt it a bit, Yawn is really useful on it right now, generating powerful momentum for dynamax set up sweepers to capitalise on, while also being able to shut down dynamax options such as charizard and fully special clanger (which isn't running fighting moves rn), provided it doesn't hard swap in on an attack from the latter.

It being able to wish pass to weezing-galar without fairy-stacking is also really neat. These two also form a fantastic core that can cover a lot of kommo-o sets between the two, with some speed control on top that can beat kommo-o such as scarf rotom-frost as a safety net incase stuff goes wrong, as weezing can deal with non-flash cannon sets nicely.


:xatu:

Removal of pursuit has been a huge boon for this mons viability 100%. This feels like a staple for fatter balances right now, and once the metagame is cleaned up during beta and stall becomes viable this thing should be at the forefront of it, helping to considerably counteract the lack of solid removal hazard removal, while heavy duty boots can let it also put in work in checking pokemon such as tspikes weezing-galar in matchups against rockers it loses to such as rhyperior, without constantly losing hp.

Moveset wise, this thing can really take advantage of dynamax on fatter teams and provide a strong win condition to them with calm mind + air slash + stored power sets, which can steamroll with the speed boosts fairly nicely, while still doing normal xatu stuff. I have also tried wish + roost sets but I do think they are subpar especially with the low HP stat, and much prefer the fat win condition provided in the previous.

It also got a new toy in buffed teleport, which could be interesting for screens teams potentially, allowing it to guarantee going last, which would be especially useful vs slow defoggers such as weezing which you wouldn't be able to swap out on against otherwise except into a defiant user.


:doublade:

As expected, this thing really kinda thrives with Knock Off distribution being cut. I've found this to work really nicely with Weezing, as beyond the type synergy it also really appreciates the tspikes support in helping to break the enemy teams with SD + sacred sword sets, while being able to spinblock excellently against opps like tsareena to make sure those tspikes stay up. Being able to pick off a Gengar/Polteageist outside of Psychic terrain with shadow sneak is really useful right now too.


:arcanine:

Heavy duty boots have been a huge buff to rk9 100%. It's also our only real viable intimidate user, which coupled with a pretty decent speed tier and will-o-wisp allows it to adequately check a range of physical threats, such as tsareena, lucario, copperajah, while even being able to check grounds like rhyp/mamo if it gets a free entry thanks to burn + intim. General immunity to any form of hazards while boots are on can make this mon really handy in HO matchups too, especially webs where it can abuse that decent speed tier nicely to get fast attacks / willos off. A new toy in play rough can let it also not be set up on for free by kommo-o, which is pretty nice,


:mantine:

While it doesn't have defog yet, mantine is able to check a range of threats nicely, and deal with a bunch of dynamax pokemon thanks to haze too, such as specs inteleon, clangerous soul kommo-o, (work up) charizard, lucario and polteageist. Its also a decent soft check to mamoswine and diggersby if a more physically defensive spread is ran, which we don't really have many of right now. Heavy duty boots were a huge buff for this mons ability to actually check stuff consistently.


:weezing-galar:

I really love this things role compression and splashability right now, with a decent typing especially with levitate, + it's ability to defog, set toxic spikes, spread burns, and generally be difficult for offensive threats that would force it out to switch into more then once freely. Toxic spikes especially are really good right now, with most of our removers being spinners, meaning pairing it with a good spin blocker like the afformentioned doublade making tspikes a fairly powerful tool, especially with grounded poisons being fairly limited and niche (i've considered both vileplume and drapion on different teams at times before) outside of gengar, and once gengar goes this will be even better. The major downside to it for me is the lack of recovery, since pain split is fairly unreliable and also hard to fit onto the moveset.


:rotom-frost:

This is a dynamax abuser i've been really enjoying so far personally. Scarf sets with Nasty Plot can really abuse dynamax well, allowing it to NP and break stuff while still being choice locked, while also being able to trick the item and break more conventionally later instead. It's also a pretty neat scarfer right now, outspeeding +1 Kommo-o and OHKOing it after clangerous soul if it isn't dynamaxed, which is very useful. Boltbeam coverage in general is very nasty especially with nasty plot.

I've been really enjoying a double Trick core with Specs Indeedee and Scarf Frostom too, being able to weaken each others checks, with a lot of teams also simply unable to handle the second breaker once their special wall has been tricked. Team i was using it on - https://pokepast.es/d8b4b551f8544f60

Rotom-fan can also become a very threatening dynamax abuser with this sort of stuff too, espcially due to airstream, but i have been kind of preferring frostom for its better scarferness (since blizzard makes it hard to volt block).


:sigilyph:

I mentioned this in the speculation thread originally, but i've found that CM + stored power + air slash sets can really abuse dynamax and clean teams on ladder / room tours incredibly well. The speed tier is already pretty great to begin with, but at +1 nothing except for stuff like scarf gengar really revenge kills it. Even after just one calm mind, after two max airstorms stored power will be stronger than psychic, making this still able to be deadly from the psychic side even in more offensive matchups, while in fatter matchups cm + stored power + magic guard can be very difficult to deal with.
 

Colonel M

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I played a little bit. Dynamax really proves to be a problematic mechanic in this tier. It's worse here because Ditto cannot salvage the problem like in OU, so setup sweepers with Max Airstream like Zard and Braviary can spiral out of control quickly.

Shell Smashers are really scary in this tier. Polteageist is the most common one, but Barbaracle and Cloyster can still mess up a lot. Cloyster is a little more awkward during Dynamax because it loses one of its bigger appeals (Skill Link), but it makes Barbaracle quite a monster since it gives Barbaracle improved bulk.

Speaking of improved bulk - Doublade really loves using Dynamax too. The absence of Shadow Sneak during the effect sucks, but this thing can take a fuckton of abuse and just Smash something back with a Max move. If your opponent wasted their time with lacking Special Attackers or they're gone, Steelspike can make Doublade survive a lot of shit like STAB Earthquakes.

I think my main takeaway from SS UU is my suspicion on how Dynamax would affect lower tiers is correct - it creates major issues where games can just flat out end if you mistimed your Dynamax or if your opponent gets some momentum with some key threats (Gengar, Indeedee are pretty good examples that can shut down a lot of teams just with raw power and extra bulk alone). There are some countermeasures to some of the snowballing at least, but the lower the tiers go the less answers I feel will exist in those tiers.

I guess tl;dr - Dynamax apologists confuse me and boy does Dynamax bring a bleak future here if it stays IMO.
 
Alright, I've been pretty much using one team since UU dropped, with a few changes, to mild success. (peaked at 86th I believe? lmao)
That being said, even without Drizzle, I think rain is pretty nuts in this tier, with some super strong abusers.

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Sableye (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Disable / Filler
Sableye is probably the best setter around. Prankster guarantees rain at pretty much any point into the game, so conserving it is important especially for any sort of late game sweeps. Its real only important role is just to get rain up, so any other moves are basically filler; although, Will-O can be pretty good against rockers like Copperajah, allowing you free rain early on.

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Drednaw @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Liquidation
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn

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OUCH! (Qwilfish) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab

Both of these sets should be pretty self explanatory - use rain, win game. I like Adamant on both, especially on Qwilfish since it pretty much outspeeds anything relevant in rain, however if you prefer Jolly it works fine. +2 Qwilfish pretty much obliterates anything, even resists, and while Dynamax is still here it's easy to just steal a game regardless of what your opponent has in the back, while putting the rain straight back up.

Here's the team I've been working with; far from amazing, but I think a rain core has a lot of potential right now with the pure firepower available and not being too held back by stall or webs. Abuse it while dynamax is here though - it's still good post ban however being able to max your sweepers and get the rain back up is really strong.

 
i played ladder a lot yesterday and sunday night, played today but then i went on classic tilt fashion so i got livid and stopped, will dump some stuff i like. i share the same sentiment on dynamax as cm. fuck this mechanic, it was fun for a few games but then it got really not fun.

Durant @ Insect Plate
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- First Impression
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- Crunch / Rock Slide

this thing is definitely my favorite mon rn. everything gets first impression now and first impression is a ridiculous move so of course i put it on durant to make it ridiculous. i use insect plate instead of choice band because when youre runinng ho there are some late game scenarios when youve already dynamaxed but you need to switch moves to clean up shop, and you're still pretty strong regardless. on more balanced teams i can imagine cb being better though where you have more legroom. rest of the moves are standard fare, crunch is for doublade and the pot while rock slide is for zard, who is a piece of shit alongside every other flying type thanks to dynamax xD


Obstagoon @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Bulk Up

seeing as how flame orb conk nuked everything last gen, i wanted to try to find something similar. this thing gets guts for some reason, and has stab facade and knock. most of the games ive played this thing and durant have been the mvps pretty much based on how hard they hit. almost every offensive mon gets their shit pushed in by obstagoon, and it has a decent speed tier to boot - ive been running this with webs though so even that isn't a big issue. hippo unfortunately still kinda tanks you comfortably (at least impish ones do). that's where bulk up comes in, which allows you to mitigate that issue. obstagoon for some reason has pretty good defense for a mon that fills the role that it has, so you don't even take that much.

the ladder is more or less just a lot of screens and webs right now - its too early to tell how things will develop imo, especially considering we should probably lose gengar and hippowdon, but i think theres a lot of potential here so i'm looking forward to the meta progression. hf everyone
 
I've been playing on the ladder for a bit and can see that a meta is starting to somewhat form even though it is very volatile right now. From experience, games are extremely fast-paced and seem to revolve more around offense. A big factor for this being the effect of Dynamax in the tier. As Colonel's post states, we do not have Ditto as a form of countermeasure to Dynamax, which leaves us limited to bulkier Pokemon that can take their coverage, faster revenge killers, or Dynamaxing a Mon of your own. So this is where it becomes problematic when you come across offense vs offense because you can't dedicate a slot to a defensive wall to check X Pokemon. It's true bulkier teams in the form of Balance can counter Dynamax with their own, but I see little counter-argument to the fact that the player on the offensive is heavily favored in this situation. The player on the offensive can essentially pick and choose the response that you must Dynamax simply because the opponent does not have a choice. As for Choice Scarf users like Intelleon and Indeedee, while they are able to revenge kill some Dynamax Pokemon, they are unable to revenge a large portion of them because of the 100% HP boost. Dynamaxing themselves also isn't always effective because you lose the benefit of your Choice Scarf and in some cases make you slower than what you want to revenge.

So in most cases, the best form of counterplay has felt like Dynamaxing to counter Dynamax, which is not reliable with how unpredictable the mechanic is without being restrained to an item. This unpredictability has forced me to want to Dynamax in scenarios that you shouldn't ideally have to consider mainly because of how it works with Choice locked items. If my opponent has made the conscious decision to lock themselves into a move that I have successfully read, then this should be a scenario that you are rewarded for. However, this is essentially thrown out the window because Dynamax can let them break said Choice lock and potentially OHKO. This forces a 50/50 on whether you have to preemptively Dynamax in expectance of them doing it or not and potentially getting the play wrong. While you could say this is just a form of skill expression on knowing when to do this, but it is heavily favored towards the person on the offensive than defensive who has a lot more to consider. If you fail to predict correctly then this most likely just leads into a downward spiral of having to sack multiple Pokemon to revenge kill one, which I find myself having to do a lot.

It is clear how impactful Dynamax has been when it comes to Pokemon like Charizard and Braviary, which imo would otherwise be more than manageable. Charizard can boost its Speed and set its own Sun to take advantage of Solar Power while Braviary is basically Hawlucha 2.0 for UU. The Pokemon themselves are not the issue at hand because if Dynamax has already been expended then they both can only achieve so much, especially in the case of Charizard that is normally found as a stand-alone abuser than on dedicated Sun teams. I am not sure how the current Dynamax suspect works in regards to its effect on UU as it appears to be OU exclusive, but if this is the case then Dynamax is something that definitely needs to be looked into for the sake of this tier. If it comes to the conclusion that UU will hold its own suspect test then I would highly suggest that this be done within the council and similarly treat Dynamax and Giganatamax the same.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1018158626 - Here is an example of a game I played against Moutemoute where he could take advantage of a negative situation of being Choice locked and turning it into me having to sack 3 Pokemon. Then me simply doing the reverse the turn after lol.

TL DR: Dynamax lowers the bar for skill expression drastically and heavily favors the player on the offensive in most scenarios. It has an unhealthy impact on this tier with the best counter-measure being to Dynamax your own Pokemon. If the current Dynamax suspect will have no impact on UU then it needs to be looked into and should be taken in the same approach where D-max and G-max are considered the same rather than cherry-picking it. And to put it bluntly, this mechanic just isn't all that fun to play against lol.

With my thoughts on Dynamax out of the way, I want to focus on some Pokemon in the tier aside from the overwhelming threats that have already been highlighted such as Gengar, Kommo-o, and Polteageist. Instead, I want to focus on some Pokemon that some people may not have caught onto or deserve to be highlighted.



Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Throat Chop
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard

Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Throat Chop
- Ice Shard
- Low Kick

I saw a lot of comments talking about how Weavile is now bad with it having lost Knock Off and Pursuit but this just simply isn't true. Weavile is the fastest unboosted threat in the tier (I am not counting garbage like Jolteon and Accelgor ._. ), which makes it one of the most potent revenge killers and wallbreakers. While yes losing Knock Off and Pursuit sucks (The former it gets back once Home releases anyways), it isn't too detrimental to its breaking capabilities. These are the two sets I think are the most effective on it, the first being able to take advantage of Dynamax extremely well because it can nuke past its natural counters fairly well and if your scarfer is forced to Dynamax then the Speed boost is lost as a result. Choice Band just does what it normally does and takes adv of this switches this Pokemon forces. Weavile does still have a fair share of counters, but they are very limited.



Bewear @ Leftovers / Filler
Ability: Fluffy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- Darkest Lariat

Bewear is honestly criminally underrated right now and I would assume the main reasoning for this is everyone would rather be spamming Kommo-o as their Fighting-type, which I guess isn't surprising. But Bewear got huge buffs this gen in Close Combat and Darkest Lariat, meaning it is no longer restricted to the coverage options of Drain Punch and Shadow Claw. Fluffy is a great ability for blanket checking most physical threats in the tier also. I also do think Choice Band is probably more than viable but I can't say that I have explored it much myself.



Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Encore / Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Memento

Whimsicott is a great Pokemon right now imo. Having a fast Moonblast to deal with all the Kommo-o, Haxorus, etc. being spammed is fantastic with how limited we are in offensive Fairy options. However, the main highlight is because of Prankster. Dynamax can be very problematic to deal with and Prankster Memento just gives you a much easier way of dealing with a threat, making it feasible for some of your partners to be able to revenge kill it without being nuked in the process. Prankster Encore also shuts down a lot of offensive setters right now, like Polteageist for instance. I defo recommend people give Whimsicott a try. I have also tried out Specs sets myself and while they could have some potential, in a Dynamax meta it's kind of difficult to make work.



Noivern @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Defog / Hurricane
- U-turn

Noivern @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower / Super Fang
- Taunt / Defog
- Roost

I wouldn't say Noivern is underrated or anything as people have definitely caught onto it. While it faces some competition with Kommo-o and Haxorus it can set itself apart with its stellar Speed stat and ability to remove entry hazards with Defog. The number of Defog users we have available to us that aren't actual garbo is so small, but Noivern is one of the few that can pull it off. Scarf Noivern is a great revenge killer in the tier as it can remove most offensive threats including a Clangerous Soul boosted Kommo-o after it takes 33% from the move and minimal chip. Taunt sets can also be pretty annoying for some teams to deal with. Another thing worth noting is it having a good matchup against all these Sticky Web teams going around right now.



Arcanine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar / Filler

Arcanine is like the only Intimidate user that seems to be viable enough to use, because Hitmontop turns out to be a pretty crap Mon lol. Arcanine can blanket check a lot of offensive threats in the tier like Durant and Weavile and proceed to OHKO them with ease. Arcanine helps deal with the Steel-types at our disposal and isn't set up bait to some of the tiers Dragon-types with access to moves like Wisp and Roar to cripple them. There is probably a more optimal spread, but for now I have just been using bog-standard max Def.


I will probably make another post later on in the month once things fully settle, but so far I am enjoying this variation of UU and find it refreshing to play a tier with a cut dex. I look forward to seeing the full potential of this tier both with or without Dynamax if the former ends up being the case, as I'll play the tier regardless. UU is only in Alpha so while there are some really powerful Pokemon just have fun using them while you can. I look forward to seeing more posts as people discover new sets so I can give em a go myself :blobthumbsup:
 

Hogg

grubbing in the ashes
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Just want to add on some of my own thoughts. I’ve had a lot of fun on the ladder so far, despite the fact that dynamax is a nightmare. Anyhow, here are some of the things I’ve noticed:

Obtagoon @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Bulk Up / Close Combat

Like Bouff, I’ve been really enjoying Obstagoon thanks to its decent Speed and how powerful its dual STAB combo is. The real kicker for me, though, has been Taunt. Being able to block hazards from bulky setters, keep things like Hippo and pdef Milo from healing, etc., has been really good for me. As far as the last slot, I’ve mostly been running Close Combat, but its STAB combo is so good that I’ve recently started using Bulk Up a bit and enjoyed it. (You could make a case for Parting Shot there too, I suppose. Just don’t run Obstruct.)

Indeedee (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick
- Psyshock / Mystical Fire

Specs Indeedee has been one of my absolute favorite breakers so far. Indeedee in general is super useful, setting terrain for fast breakers that want to avoid priority and providing a decent check to some dangerous threats like Gengar (LO Sludge has a 50% chance to KO if rocks are down though, so consider running EVs: 16 HP / 208 SpA / 68 SpD / 216 Spe if that's a concern). I’ve seen a lot of Scarf, but the set that I really love is Specs. Same Speed as Obstagoon, and Specs Psychic just nukes things under Terrain. Even resists find themselves getting blown back. Duraludon, for example, takes 87-103%, giving you greater than even odds to OHKO if rocks are down. Meanwhile, Trick is really great against fat since there are basically no ways to block it, letting you neutralize key ‘mons like Umbreon. As for the last move, I rarely click anything but the first three, so it’s pretty much open. I’ve mostly been running Psyshock, which can be nice if you run into something like Frosmoth or sdef Mantine (though pdef Mantine is easily 2HKO’d by Psychic). Mystical Fire isn’t that great considering how much you do with just Psychic vs most steels, but it’s great to have if you ever dynamax, and it can be decent in a mirror match.

Sirfetch’d @ Assault Vest
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off / Poison Jab
- First Impression

I’ve been absolutely loving the Duck Knight. I was skeptical at first due to that low Speed, but STAB Scrappy Close Combat off of 369 Attack is really scary, and its bulk isn’t terrible for an offensive threat. First Impression is also a great tool to add to its kit. Where it really benefits, though, is under dynamax: with access to Max Knuckle and Max Airstream to boost its offensive stats, and fantastic bulk while dyna’d, it can easily overwhelm more offensive teams. I’ve mostly been using Assault Vest as the item by default, since it appreciates the extra bulk and I’ve always been using four attacks, but something like Black Belt with Swords Dance or Defog could be decent as well.

Araquanid @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sticky Web
- lol I’ve literally never clicked anything else with this thing, put whatever you want there

Speaking of nukes, this is an offensive threat I’ve really been enjoying. It’s got a decent defensive typing and good Special bulk, and CB Liquidation just erases things from existence. Hell, it even does enough that stuff like Kommo-o can’t safely set up on you. Webs are mostly there as a lategame option to click after you’ve done your breaking. It’s especially nice right now because Webs offenses are so prominent that everyone assumes you’ll be a hazard setter, only to get blown back by CB Liquidation.

Vanilluxe @ Never-Melt Ice / Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Taunt

Another mixed offensive threat/support ‘mon. Taunt + Blizzard off of 319 SpA is dangerous as heck against fat, while against offense you have the option of Aurora Veil to provide a boost to the rest of your team or to make yourself particularly hard to revenge.

Alcremie-Gmax (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aromatherapy
- Recover

Ugh, I really wish this thing got Moonblast, but even with DGleam I’ve been enjoying this one a lot on bulky offense. Aromatherapy is super rare and definitely nice to have, and Aroma Veil is a great ability right now. Calm Mind is often used defensively to keep special threats from breaking you until lategame, when it can clean up. The gmax move is absolutely fantastic, too, hitting hard and healing you up at the same time.

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Brick Break
- Shadow Sneak

Like others, I’ve really been enjoying Doublade. Incredible typing, great bulk, really threatening with dynamax, loves the fact that Knock Off is rare, you all have heard it before. As for the last move, I’ve taken to running Brick Break instead of Sacred Sword or Shadow Claw, which is a great way to screw with those screens offenses that have been making the rounds.
 
I'm basically a low-ladder scrub, but hear me out.

Hitmonlee @ Misty Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
- Poison Jab
- Stone Edge

I've been having a ton of fun with Discount Hawlucha Unburden Hitmonlee lately, especially with Weezing-Galar as a partner. I tried Indeedee, but the immunity to status is much more beneficial to Hitmonlee than negating priority and boosting a non-existent psychic move. Pretty self explanatory: Set up Misty Terrain, get a free switch-in somehow (Weezing does get Explosion and Memento), Dynamax because it's busted and spam Max Knuckle to get attack boosts, and sweep. I've been up against lower-skilled opponents, so I don't precisely know how effective this is in the meta, especially when if Dynamax gets banned (I guess you could use Bulk Up).
 

Lily

wouldn't that be fine, dear
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UU Leader
I'm absolutely IN LOVE with this tier. Having been a pretty avid UU player during the later half of Gen 7, I was really excited to go at it again with some fresh new faces, even if it means some are gone. :<

Yesterday, I was really excited to get playing, and the team I built actually reached #1 on the ladder! It's not super impressive during such an early stage of the metagame, but nonetheless I was proud of myself.

Here's the team, along with my peak. Click on the image to see the pokepaste!!


In my experience it struggles mainly with Gengar, which I firmly believe is SUPER busted rn, especially with all the webs going around. I'm gonna talk a little bit about it and some other particularly cool or just overall good mons.



Gengar is REALLY, REALLY good! It's the best scarfer in the tier imo - a very nice niche with all the webs going around - but the real thing that makes it crazy is Dynamaxing (or Gigantamaxing) ignoring the Choice lock. Anyone who's played OU in the past few weeks knows just how problematic this is on certain mons like AHEM GALARIAN DARMANITAN AHEM, and Gengar is no exception. I think it's actually a little bit too much for the tier right now, but I wouldn't like to see anything done considering this is still a new meta and we'll have the potential Dynamaxing ban.
There really aren't any true answers to this thing right now - most sets can be handled by Pyukumuku, I guess, but I've seen a couple Life Orb Max Lightningers going around. It can pretty much OHKO the entire tier given it has the right move, and if it doesn't, it can just Max Ooze until it can OHKO you regardless of moves. Still a really cool mon tho, can't wait to see how it evolves when the tier settles.



Obstagoon is SO MUCH FUN! I was SOOOO excited for this thing going into SWSH, with Zigzagoon and Linoone being two of my favourite mons beforehand, and this thing's design had me hooked instantly. Seeing its stat spread was initially a little disappointing - I wanted it to have more attack - but wow, was I wrong. This thing is a monster.
STAB Facade and Knock Off are crazy this gen in general, considering so many Normal and Dark types got neutered. Having them along with a Guts boost is amazing. THEN you add on CC because, well, IT GETS CC. Obstruct is a really cool move for scouting choiced mons like Gengar (until they dmax and knuckle you anyway), getting your Flame Orb activated, and making it possible to OHKO some mons that you wouldn't be able to otherwise - Doublade, for example. It also has some really cool alternative moves, like Bulk Up, Parting Shot, Taunt and a couple of (imo inferior) coverage options like Gunk Shot, Seed Bomb (only really hits gastro which gets SMOKED by facade), and even Switcheroo or Trick for some cool utility, while also enabling you to potentially get a better item once you've activated your Flame Orb AND crippling an opponent!
I've seen so many sets for this thing, and I'm so happy that it's good! Be sure to try it if you haven't already!!

Oh, it also beats Public Enemy #1 in Polteageist, only taking around 65% from +2 Giga Drain. That's something to keep in mind!


I'm gonna stop talking about just the mons on my team after this, I promise.
Webs offense is really good rn, considering how many phenomenal Ghosts we have in the tier (Dhelmise, Gengar, Polteageist, Froslass, Doublade, Jellicent, and even a few Sableyes and Chandelures) that make spinblocking SUPER easy, and the severe lack of Defog distribution makes it really hard to get rid of them - Noivern is the only semi-consistent hazard remover I've found so far, and even that struggles with mons typically found on the archetype like Mamoswine, Weavile and Obstagoon (if it chooses to Defog).
With webs comes offensive rockers, and Mamoswine is an amazing choice rn despite getting destroyed by Galarian Weezing (which provides an insanely good defensive presence btw, really good mon!). Being able to threaten the few Defoggers and Spinners the tier has remaining (bar Hitmontop) is amazing for a mon that wants to get up hazards and start dishing out damage.
There are also other great choices for offensive rockers - Duraludon, Copperajah, Kommo-o - but imo they're better off running other things, so Mamo takes the lead rn. Not gonna go too much further in depth, just know that offense is super good, and that's largely in part due to...



Everyone's favourite mechanic, Dynamax! Of course, plenty of mons can abuse this effectively, but I believe the STAB Flying mons are the biggest culprits - Charizard and Sigilyph in particular, but also Braviary, Mantine and Rotom-F. Their incredible strength due to Solar Power / Life Orb + Max Airstream's Speed boost makes them pretty much impossible to reliably counterplay if they can set up safely, which is very, very easy due to Heavy Duty Boots / Magic Guard making them immune to hazards and the massive HP boost from Dynamax. I think these mons are very unhealthy for the tier rn and create far too many situations where they can win pretty much immediately if you get rocks up to break sashes. The lack of super bulky defensive mons in the tier unlike OU, and the lack of Ditto, makes it even more difficult to counterplay too.

That said, I still believe Charizard will be great in the tier if/when Dynamax is banned. It acts as a very strong breaker for sun teams, and with access to a new fully-accurate, 100 BP STAB move in Weather Ball, it's pretty easy to pound everything with Solar Power boosted attacks, especially thanks to Heavy-Duty Boots existing. Heliolisk also does an amazing job of breaking for sun teams now while minimising Solar Power damage thanks to Volt Switch pivoting, and Shiftry is SUPER scary by virtue of being one of the few mons remaining with STAB Knock + Sucker and a way to take down bulky waters and grounds.

I don't want this post to be TOO long, so I'll just give a list of mons I haven't mentioned yet that I think are really good rn and won't elaborate on them;



That's all from me! Really enjoying playing so far and I hope the metagame continues to be fun as it evolves, and I hope everyone else is having a good time too!! :>
 
Been having a blast with coming back to competitive pokémon and actually being part of the chaotic establishing of what does and doesn't work!

I'll admit I'm kinda scrubby but I feel two little boys ought to have some potential that haven't been brought up yet: Ludicolo and Sigilyph. With there being relatively fewer special attackers compared to physical attackers I felt it might be worthwhile to consider the former as a main D-max user. The latter as a stall-breaker, for the few poor fools who are trying to actually use stall in the d-max era.

1575414398603.png

Ludicolo @ LO
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA/ 6 SpD/ 252 Spe
Nature: Mild or Timid
Giga Drain/ Leaf Storm
Scald/ Hydro Pump
Ice Beam/Icy Wind
Knock Off

The first option is what I consistently use, though if you prefer more power, Leaf Storm and Hydro Pump are of course options. Icy Wind is possible for a slightly more passive playstyle if you do not desire the pineapple madness. However, I just love to use Ribombee too much as a sticky web user to feel like I need anymore speed control. Knock Off should always be there as an option, occasionally I just pop the boy in there just to mess with someone's plans (OU's Corsola-G comes to mind, but choice users in this tier are great targets as well for a good knocking). Leech Seed is a nice tech option as well, but I feel it sacrifices its potential too much, becoming too passive due to an abundance of flying moves. Edit: assault vest might be an option, but quite frankly I feel that since it can't stop a Gengar on its warpath due to stab sludge bomb (or even worse: max Ooze) it is likely not worth it, though it *can* check Polteageist.

1575414804585.png

Sigilyph @ LO / Specs
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 6 Def/ 252 Spa/ 252 Spe
Nature: Modest / Timid
Air Slash
Psychic
Roost / Flash Cannon / Heat Wave
Calm Mind / Flash Cannon

Though I use it as a stall breaker with Roost and Calm Mind it is possible you could go for an all-out attacker. I'll admit it has some tough competition from Espeon, Gardevoir and Indeedee as well as the very threat of Gengar nailing you if you mispredict. But Magic Guard gives it an edge as a status absorber over Gardevoir and Indeedee; its movepool over Espeon and Indeedee, can last longer than all of them thanks to roost and is an excellent target for D-max thanks to (stab) Max Airstream which gives it that crucial speedbuff it'll need to start stomping after it has set up even just a single CM. However, I'll admit it's not super powerful, with it lacking in a potentially crucial way, making it easy to overlook. Firstly a nasty plot boosted scarf Gengar is just straight up better. It also can't offer as much team support as say Espeon (with bouncing) or Indeedee (with psychic terrain). The immunity gardevoir has to dragon moves will be crucial I feel (Kommo-O is a free switch for it, and Flygon and Noivern will also be very important in this tier) I can see this drop for now but dominate in that tier, potentially anyway.
 
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Alright, I've been pretty much using one team since UU dropped, with a few changes, to mild success. (peaked at 86th I believe? lmao)
That being said, even without Drizzle, I think rain is pretty nuts in this tier, with some super strong abusers.

View attachment 209607
Sableye (M) @ Damp Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Disable / Filler
Sableye is probably the best setter around. Prankster guarantees rain at pretty much any point into the game, so conserving it is important especially for any sort of late game sweeps. Its real only important role is just to get rain up, so any other moves are basically filler; although, Will-O can be pretty good against rockers like Copperajah, allowing you free rain early on.

View attachment 209609
Drednaw @ Choice Band
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Liquidation
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn

View attachment 209610
OUCH! (Qwilfish) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab

Both of these sets should be pretty self explanatory - use rain, win game. I like Adamant on both, especially on Qwilfish since it pretty much outspeeds anything relevant in rain, however if you prefer Jolly it works fine. +2 Qwilfish pretty much obliterates anything, even resists, and while Dynamax is still here it's easy to just steal a game regardless of what your opponent has in the back, while putting the rain straight back up.

Here's the team I've been working with; far from amazing, but I think a rain core has a lot of potential right now with the pure firepower available and not being too held back by stall or webs. Abuse it while dynamax is here though - it's still good post ban however being able to max your sweepers and get the rain back up is really strong.

Scarf/Specks Charizard of all thing can work in rain like Moltres do in Gen 5. STAB Huriccane, 4x grass resit, also gaining weather ball. Idk if this will work or is too gimmicky
 
Sup guys, this mon should have been OU but it's in UU too so I suppose it can just be abused here too :)
1575423637310.png

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Healing Wish
- Mystical Fire

This thing is absolutely incredible for a large variety of reasons in ou, and it has a pretty darn large niche in this tier from my use of it in UU so far. The main thing that will immediately come up when introducing gardevoir is that is outclassed by indeedee, which I could not disagree with more. I would argue that the main niches that gardevoir has over indeedee are first and foremost healing wish, its fairy typing, and trace being absolutely incredible. Firstly, healing wish is an absolutely amazing move, arguably the best move in the game in my eyes, as being able to have your key win condition rise from the ashes, such as sd crawdaunt in my case, is so incredibly valuable. Secondly, its secondary psychic typing allows it to switch in on pokemon such as obstagoon, take the neutral hit and knock it out thanks to choice scarf and moonblast, not to mention that dynamax(of which gardevoir is a superb user of) allows it to sponge these neutral hits with significantly more ease. Thirdly, Trace allows gardevoir to perform feats such as absolutely murdering weather teams given that it traces swift swim/chlorophyll on the switch in and outspeeds all of the weather abusers thanks to the choice scarf, though trace's utility has much wider applications such as tracing a flygon's levitate or jellicent's water absorb among many others. While many might initally flock to indeedee for t he psychic terrain that it applies, not only can gardevoir dynamax in order to set up psychic terrain and as such preventing priority from pokemon like durant, mamo and machamp, but also the fact that the threat of a moonblast/dynamax fairy move makes dark types extremely hesitant to switch into gardevoir, thus letting it fire off max mindstorms to a much better effect.
 
Moody is legal and it's very strong!

I have very little talent at competitive Pokemon, so uncompetitive Pokemon strategies really appeal to me. Glalie and Octillery are much stronger in practice than I think they were intended to be when Moody Clause was lifted, and they are as irritating to face as they are mindless to pilot.


Glalie @ Leftovers
Ability: Moody
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Protect
- Substitute
- Disable / Taunt

Glalie is the premier Moody abuser in the tier. The way to play Glalie is to come in on a para'd or slower mon and start sub + protecting until you have enough boosts to sweep.

Freeze Dry has incredible neutral coverage and kills would-be haze mons like Mantine. Disable allows you to 1v1 mons that are choiced or have only 1 way to break your sub, but Taunt lets you set up on Haze/Roar/Taunt/TR mons.

Don't let the base 80 stats fool you; after 2 or 3 turns of subtecting, Glalie will have ubers level stats and will continue to boost until it is forced out.

Octillery @ Leftovers
Ability: Moody
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Protect
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave

Octillery should be thought of as a gen 8 Vincune. It's great at spreading burns and paralysis, and if not immediately pressured or hardwalled it boosts its stats until it runs away with the game. Max speed means Lery can outspeed stuff after a para or speed boost.
With multiple Moody abusers in the tier, Moody should be thought of not as a gimmick but as a playstyle all on its own, just like the Baton Pass teams of previous gens. Glalie and Octillery have synergy together, with Glalie beating all Haze/Unaware users as well as Grass/Dragon/Water types and Octillery spreading paralysis and beating Steel types.

With this in mind, I made a Moody team and went to work on the UU ladder. The gameplan is to paralyze opposing mons and set up with Sub + Protect. Though low ladder games at the start of the gen should be taken with a grain of salt, I think the effectiveness of the strategy is obvious.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1021471026
Glalie 6-0s after setting up on a paralyzed mon

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1021452427
Octillery sets up a sweep for Glalie

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1021463830
After being outplayed, I win with a timely speed boost from Moody

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1021449634
Disable Glalie sets up versus Crawdaunt, Mamoswine
After going 15-1 on low ladder, I'm ready to say that Moody is not fun or healthy in UU, even if it doesn't raise Evasion this gen. Ignoring viability of the playstyle, Moody rewards noninteractive play and leads to luck-determined games where you either get the boosts you need to win, or don't. Combine that with the fact that Moody seems to be at least usable, perhaps very strong, and you get a recipe for disaster.

If OU does not do anything about Moody until the time to ban comes around, I think we should take matters into our own hands. Until then, enjoy some free brainless wins!
 

Sage

From the River To the Sea
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Hey all, there aren't many resources around this early so I figured I would share a team that got me some decent success on the ladder (peaked #3), if you've been struggling to build in this admittedly very stupid meta give these goons a look, not much else to say so let's get into it.

gengar.png
mr mime.png
mowtom.png
cincinno.png
silvally.png
kommo.png
(click me for importable)

This team was loosely built around the idea of Scarf Cincinno + Galarian Mime being great picks in this super offensive metagame. Cincinno is a pokemon that has done so much work for me in~40-50 games or so with this team, it has a number of boons that make it a great Scarfer. The set i'm using has Tail Slap for STAB, Rock Blast to revenge Charizard and Polteageist, Play Rough for Kommo as well as being a strong option for Dynamax, and U-turn to pivot and get momentum. Cincinno also functions as a great lead since Rock Blast can go through the focus sashes of things like Froslass, and you can U-turn out of bad matchups. Mr. Mime was chosen for its ability to supress gimmick offenses like Sticky Web and Screens. With Heavy Duty Boots bringing it in is a lot easier than you would think, and it can threaten the premier spinblocker Gengar with an OHKO so it forces your opponent to predict. Thunder Wave is nice speed control in the last slot to prevent stuff like Polteageist and Barbaracle from getting out of hand. I personally view Mr. Mime's 100 speed vs. Mr. Rime's 70 as a bigger boon than anything Mr. Rime has going for it, but you probably could substitute the other one in if your preferences differ.

With those two mons I had some great anti-offense measures, but not a lot of glue or backbone in the team. I wanted to stay relatively on the offensive side, so I picked a rocker that both could have bulk and pressure at the same time. Max Phys Def Soundproof Kommo-o with Body Press is super cool at checking dangerous mons like Crawdaunt and opposing Clanging Scales Kommo-o, while also providing Stealth Rock for the team. Dragon Tail is used to prevent from being setup bait. The next obvious pick after this was to find things that could take advantage of fairies. Gengar was chosen as the primary breaker of the team, it's ridiculously broken and shouldn't have to be explained, Sub is great as you can get them on passive things like Weezing while also stalling out opposing Dynamax turns in certain scenarios.

A Steel-type was the next thing I absolutely needed, and Silvally was the only one that could keep the level of offensive pressure desired while having a usable speed tier. It checks Indeedee, revenge kills threats like Mamoswine and Choice-locked Weavile, and can lure unsuspecting Water-types and other walls with Swords Dance Explosion. Crunch was chosen to hit Jellicent and Bronzong. Finally, I tested Crawdaunt for some massive breaking in the sixth slot, but Mowtom's ability to pivot in Water-types, get Gengar and Steelvally in, and spread burns proved far more useful than the additional power.

Threatlist would be like, Duraludon there isn't a great switchin so I usually lead Mowtom for chip and then go to Steelvally, you more or less have to trade something to get it down unless you double into Gengar. Braviary can get out of hand since it isn't quad weak to Rock Blast but it has a hard time finding setup opportunities except vs Kommo-o. Try and status it if you can. I haven't found any unwinnable matchups yet although I am sure there are some. I'll finish off with a couple games showing how the team plays.

Enjoy!

Replays:
Sage vs. Spikes Offense
Sage vs. Screens
Sage vs. Rain (no dmax)
KW vs. Bulky Offense
 
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Pretty much everything I've seen on ladder so far has been already addressed here. Let me just give my two cents with this mon here:


Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic / Protect
- Earth Power

Claydol offers nice role compression as a Rocker and a Spinner, and differentiates itself from Coalossal through Ground immunity and base 75 Speed. While its viability in the long run might not be great, much fewer Knock Off and Pursuit users this gen means it has an easier time staying around. Unless your opponent has strong Water types...or Bug types...er.....
 

Sputnik

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Pretty much everything I've seen on ladder so far has been already addressed here. Let me just give my two cents with this mon here:


Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic / Protect
- Earth Power

Claydol offers nice role compression as a Rocker and a Spinner, and differentiates itself from Coalossal through Ground immunity and base 75 Speed. While its viability in the long run might not be great, much fewer Knock Off and Pursuit users this gen means it has an easier time staying around. Unless your opponent has strong Water types...or Bug types...er.....
Someone gave me the idea of using Teleport on this bad boy and lemme tell you that's very useful. For those of you who don't know Teleport is now a negative priority non damaging pivot move, which can prove to be extremely useful for getting something in safely. I've been running a similar set but with Teleport instead of Psychic and it's actually been working pretty well.
 
Played a few more games over the last few days; and I'm seeing some more trends:

1: Crawdaunt is now everywhere. I'm not finding it too impressive personally. It's still slow and frail and difficult to get in without a sacrifice. Not to say that Crawdunt can't hit like a truck; but; as before; that's pretty much all Crawdaunt can do.

2: I'm seeing significantly less Kommo-O. I'm not sure if this is a case of Kommo-O simply being over-rated the first couple of days, or if people are now overlooking him. I've personally not been testing Kommo-O much to make up my own decisions regarding it; but as mentioned in a previous post of mine, I've been running pokemon such as Galarian Weezing which generally stop it. Gengar also seems to be getting less common, but it's still more common than Kommo-O seems to have become.

3: Speaking of Crawdaunt and Kommo-O; I'm finding Fairy to be quite a good coverage type to slap on most things that can get a decent Fairy move. There's not too many Poison; Fire or Steel types running around, and the Poison-types can't withstand Psychic-coverage; the Fires dislike strong Psychics too and the Steel-types... of the ones which are decent in UU two have secondary types which nullify their Fairy resist [Duraladon and Lucario].

Mercifully the combination of STAB Ground or Fairy with coverage of the other is pretty rare; because I'm fairly sure that Ground/Fairy covers literally the entire tier for at least Neutral, with the exception of G-Weezing with Levitate.
 

Eve

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I'm gonna talk about... Quite a lot! Having won two pre-release room tournaments and topping the ladder on the first day then reaching top 14 again, I almost feel confident that I understand the tier.

Firstly, Dynamax completely ruins this tier for reasons stated so many times. It's especially stupid on the plethora of great Dragon Dance users, as well as Gengar, who can just OHKO everything or break choice lock to become unbearable instantly. Choice Scarf Braviary is also a personal favourite for how silly it is- if you get a Defiant boost the opponent really may as well just forfeit. I've even ran Heat Wave which 2HKOs any Doublade you'll see upon Dynamaxing.
Once Dynamax goes, Stall will most likely have an easier time. I'm not a fan of that as it's already very solid and a repeat of late gen 7 uu doesn't sound like the best time... Obviously it won't be unbeatable as long as we have insane wallbreakers and even polarizing stallbreakers like Grapploct, but it's worth keeping an eye on. Avalugg's buff in Body Press is especially noteworthy, giving it an actual offensive presence through powerful Ice/Fighting coverage.

Now for specific mons I've been enjoying! If you've seen pokeaim's Inteleon video, those teams he used were my first two teams. The screens team was the one I used to win the room tournaments and top the ladder.

Inteleon is a key member, providing amazing utility between scald, screens and U-Turn for momentum. The only alternative the tier provides for such a role is Ribombee, which is significantly more passive in most cases and less reliable throughout a match due to its Stealth Rock weakness. The Life Orb set is also great, ripping apart non-scarfed offensive teams with ease and forcing balanced teams to dance around it.
Claydol is a gimmick, but an interesting one. It has a genuinely good Speed tier for making use of the +1 Speed that Rapid Spin now provides, letting it throw off fast Earthquakes to wear down opponents or an Explosion to net a KO or deny Defog/Spin from the opponent. With Stealth Rock as its last move it provides a nice combination of Hazard Control and setting as well as removal denial.
Mew is absolutely ridiculous and the best mon in the tier. The lack of recovery is completely irrelevant when you have Dragon Dance paired with strong, perfect coverage with amazing effects and amazing natural bulk. Psychic Fangs breaks Screens in its base form, denying many teams' approach to responding to threatening sweepers, and both boosts Mew's damage further and makes it immune to priority when turned into Max Mindstorm. Close Combat obliterates Dark and Steel-types that would give Mew issues otherwise as well as providing further Attack boosts when dynamaxed. Last but not least, Darkest Lariat picks off the Psychic-types that thought they could fend off the other two moves. It also has the overlooked property of ignoring Defense boosts, meaning Mew cleaves right through Reuniclus. Did I mention the bulk yet? Mew can set up on most of the metagame, and almost all of it when behind its own screens. The mon is silly, and it will continue to be very good at worst, even once Dynamax is gone (although the prominence of First Impression may make Indeedee support valuable).
Kommo-O is a low ladder stomper, but everyone is prepared for it outside of that environment. Clangorous Soul costing HP cuts into Kommo-Os natural bulk, and with every good team having a Fairy that can safely respond and OHKO in return, Kommo-O can struggle.
Forget the moth- Polteageist is the matchup sweeper of Gen 8. If your opponent doesn't have Umbreon or Obstagoon (or Snorlax I guess), your sweeping odds are probably very high if you position it well with Screens support! If they do have one of those, it'll be tough. Scarf Gengar also works unless you run the gimmicky Sucker Punch version, outspeeding a +2 teapot by 1 point. One of the most potent win conditions in the tier.
Barbaracle is the other good Shell Smasher, with great strong coverage all round. Its typing makes setting it up harder, and sometimes its lower raw power makes it fall short of necessary OHKOs compared to the teapot, but it shouldn't be overlooked. I'm still yet to take a look into Blastoise but I doubt it'll compare.
The fossils are... Interesting. Both have extremely potent wallbreaking capabilities but struggle with low Speed, and in Arctovish's case, limited coverage. Arctozolt has the coveted STAB BoltBeam in Bolt Beak and Icicle Crash, which together obliterate most of the meta- add Freeze-Dry for Quagsire and a move of your choice (I usually go with Taunt) and you're set! Arctovish's major pros over Arctozolt are Water Absorb making it immune to Scald and having a STAB with no raw immunities, but the first is weakened by Arctovish being unable to break the best bulky Waters and the second is mitigated by Arctozolt's dual STAB. I used Adamant Arctozolt on Webs and it performed respectably, almost OHKOing a Galarian Weezing for reference, but both work quite respectably on Trick Room too.
Obstagoon is the evolution of possibly my favourite Gen 8 mon, Galarian Zigzagoon, and I'm so glad that it's meta defining. Facade + Knock Off from that Speed is just disgusting against the meta as a whole, to the point where I've used Mawile (one of the two resists to the combination in the entire tier). Close Combat smashes up bulky Steel or Rock-types, and then the last move is up to you to choose from its massive utility pool. Obstruct, Taunt, Parting Shot, Bulk Up... There's more options than that, those are just the most applicable ones. It's an entirely different beast on Webs too, where it might just cleave through your grounded Offense right away. Prepare your Braviaries!
Eiscue is terrible. Stop using it. Let it drop.
Centiskorch is mediocre. It has a lot of flaws, but the biggest one is Braviary existing. You basically can't click Fire Lash if the opponent has a Braviary. You also can't click Coil as Braviary will switch in and go for Brave Bird. I use Braviary a lot and I love seeing Centiskorch. It also loses to Inteleon, Coalossal, anything faster that can hit it supereffectively (a lot)... Can imagine it being great in RU.
Alcremie and Sylveon compete heavily for your defensive Fairy slot. Sylveon provides Wish support, better bulk and better damage output, while Alcremie is a cleric and has instant recovery. If you don't need a cleric and/or want Wish, I'd go with Sylveon 9/10 times- otherwise, give Alcremie a shot!
Durant and Flapple are the foremost Hustle users. Firstly, Durant is better. Its superior coverage and tendency to miss less (this really feels true), as well as STAB First Impression and a great Speed tier make it a genuinely great UU mon. Flapple has some tricks though! Defensive mons that can take its STAB simply can't outstall it due to Grav Apple's Defense drops, and its Outrage is the strongest unboosted Dragon attack to ever exist. You can also exploit forced switches to Dragon Dance, at which point you can usually Dynamax to claim a few reliable KOs.

That's all for now! Might return to make another giant post again some other time.

Edit: fixed formatting
 
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Hogg

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Since you brought it up... just wanted to generally comment on stall at the moment. I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how stall is completely unviable this meta, but I’ve found just the opposite. Right now the top 3 on the ladder are all running semistall/stall, and it’s proving to be a pretty decent antimeta pick.




(I don’t have a screen of big foonguz’s team, but I think it’s Hippo/Umby/Pyuk/Doublade/Eldegoss/Avalugg?)


All three teams are using the same basic defensive backbone of Hippo/Umby/Pyuk, with Pyuk in particular being really good at stopping a number of really obnoxious sweepers. Wally’s got a bit more of an offensive take with some unexpected Roserade/Mantine sets, while I’ve been running a team that focuses more on hazards via Toxic Spikes Mareanie.

I think this meta is particularly favorable to Unaware stall despite the myriad breakers we’ve got in Alpha, simply because everyone and their mother seems to be running setup heavy HO. TSpikes have also been really deadly for me. It is notable that two of the successful stall teams do veer a bit more toward the semistall side of things, though, with setup sweepers of their own to potentially turn the tides. Still, I think it’s pretty clear that stall is far from niche even without staples like AloBliss and even with the danger of dynamax.
 

Hilomilo

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Hi! Just wanted to drop my thoughts on some mons I think are pretty great in this meta and haven't gotten too much attention yet. I'd talk more about the overall meta in depth but I really don't think what we're currently looking at is going to be very accurate of the overall generation. Dynamax is probably on borrowed time at this point, while we still have until beta to sort through all of the unhealthy stuff running rampant. Building in general is kind of a mess and accounting for everything is pretty impossible, which is a trend I definitely don't expect to hold up. Regardless, there are some Pokemon I think have solid niches that should hold even after the likely drastic changes that are soon to come. Hope y'all enjoy!

I absolutely LOVE Whimsicott in this meta. Between priority Memento and Encore, a fast Moonblast, and pivoting I just find it to provide a lot of super nice utility on offensive builds. I've been trying to make veil work a decent amount in the last day and I find Whimsy to be a solid backup with Memento in the event that setup goes awry or once your main setter gets too worn down to set up again. Prankster Memento is also a great tool on general offensive builds, providing amazing late-game support to already monstrous threats in Gengar, Kommo-o, and Diggersby. I also really like that it can offensively check Kommo-o and Obstagoon among some other popular mons while baiting in stuff like Durant and Arcanine and bringing out a teammate to bop them thanks to U-turn. Whimsicott isn't going to win any games on its own, but as an offensive support Pokemon I think it puts in a lot of work and definitely deserves more recognition for all the roles it can compress.

Even without Knock Off or Pursuit Weavile has a lot going for it in this meta. It has one of the best Speed tiers available and is well equipped to pressure a ton of the tier's heaviest hitters, most notably Gengar and Indeedee. I've been using Choice Scarf to a surprising amount of success, and while I don't think it's Weavile's best set, the extra Speed allows it to outrun +2 Polteaguist, +1 Kommo-o, Scarf Indeedee, Haxorus, and a plethora of other really good or popular Pokemon atm, making it a pretty exceptional revenge killer. On non-scarf sets Ice Shard is a fantastic asset for picking off Diggersby, Haxorus, scarf Noivern, and several other threats. Weavile's STAB coverage alone is just amazing and between Scarf, Band, and non-choice AoA sets I definitely think it'll be able to establish itself as a household name. It does hurt a bit that it needs decent chip to get rid of a boosted Kommo-o, and Arcanine being surprisingly great is also a bit of a blow, though Weavile improves the matchup against so many offenses right now through pressuring so many top sweepers that I think its perks vastly outshine its flaws.

I'm torn between this and Vanilluxe for the most optimal veil setter, though I find Abomasnow more fun and think it has some really awesome tricks up its sleeve. I've been using Veil/Leaf Storm/Blizzard/Ice Shard with Eject Pack and I find it to be so much fun and oftentimes pretty effective, albeit gimmicky. Thanks to Eject Pack, Abomasnow gets a one-time pivot out of play upon the lowering of any of its stats. After it sets Veil, it can fire off a slow Leaf Storm and (usually) safely bring a teammate like Gengar or Charizard in to just shred the opposing team. There are obviously some counter strategies, like Arcanine's Intimidate (usually inadvertently) forcing Abomasnow out of play before it can set veil or faster mons abusing its pretty shitty defensive typing, though I think with intelligent play you can easily get Aboma in on something that can't threaten it too heavily and start your veil madness from there. This is definitely my favorite mon to use right now out of sheer enjoyment for how gimmicky Eject Pack is LOL.

I literally hate that this thing is good but Sage enlightened me on how ridiculous it could be and after just one game I was blown away. It's a pretty great giganta/dynamax abuser thanks to Tinted Lens, its new access to Hurricane, and the introduction of Heavy Duty Boots being pretty huge for its ability to set up with Quiver Dance. Most people know at this point that Max Airstream is an absolutely ridiculous attack and Butterfree can abuse it to break shit while snowballing out of control. Sleep Powder is a great addition to the tools Butterfree already possesses, and overall it just puts in an unprecedented amount of work for a Bug/Flying type. I'm floored by how effective it can be in all honesty. Its biggest drawbacks are that a lot of common means of revenge killing unfortunately apply to Butterfree, and its awful typing still gets in its way a fair amount, but for as long as we have dynamax Butterfree is a legitimate threat that should NOT be taken lightly (forgot to mention that Max Flutterby is also pretty busted for a special attacker).

I don't want to end up writing an essay, but real quickly I want to just go over a few other Pokemon I've been using a lot in this metagame.
Mowtom is a surprisingly versatile presence and can pretty consistently put in work. Sage's set of Volt Switch/Leaf Storm/Rest/WoW with Chesto Berry is a great offensive utility mon that can handle a lot of common rockers, like Copperajah and Hippowdon, really nicely while racking up chip better than most other mons available. I also think NP has a lot of prowess against the team's popular defensive structures and with Chesto Berry can have respectable longevity. Definitely one of the better Electrics available.
I genuinely think defensive Kommo is one of the best sets in the metagame. It can super reliably pivot in on a ton of common stuff, including Crawdaunt, Copperajah, Barbaracle, Durant, Heliolisk, and all the Accelgor and Araquanid leads running around. It's also a reliable setter against the tier's myriad of more passive entry hazard setters and can even deal with some odd choices that are probably mostly relevant due to new toy syndrome, like Morpeko and Centiskorch. Body Press/Dragon Tail/Protect/Stealth Rock allows it compress a ton of important defensive roles excellently. It pairs pretty well with Gengar since it can't really do anything to Galarian Weezing, which Gengar abuses the hell out of. I think Kommo-o's offensive prowess has kept its defensive capabilities from getting the recognition they deserve. Definitely one of the most consistently useful sets I've been using.
It compresses a ton of super nice utility roles pretty well. Its typing is solid with Kommo-o, Tsareena, Weavile, and other goons running around, but I also don't like that it invites in Gengar for pretty much free and struggles against lots of Pokemon you'd hope its typing would help it against, with lots of Fighting-, Dark-, and Fairy-types having secondary STABs or coverage capable of blowing past it. Its role compression is great but I feel like it's riding more on Defog's limited distribution than anything. Still not a huge fan but understand the appeal.
I think Lucario is still a great pick in this metagame. I expect it to be one of the tier's best offensive options once dynamax is banned and the madness of beta subsides in a few months, though even now it still has a lot of use. It's a great Weavile check and priority in either the form of Extreme Speed or Bullet Punch is never a bad tool in this offensive metagame. It hates being slower than Obstagoon and Haxorus but can put in a lot of work in the late-game, especially with support from screens. I've also seen scarf and band used and think they're actually not terrible given Luc's general lack of competition, though SD is definitely its flagship set and a fine one at that.
Hope y'all enjoyed! I've gone between loving this metagame and absolutely despising it but genuinely think we'll have a diverse, lively tier once dynamax is taken care of and council ban votes wipe out a lot of the clearly broken mons dominating ladder. Cheers to a new generation!
 
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Rotom-Fan is a testament to how good Max Airstream is. Its decent natural bulk combined with its great dual STABs allow it to set up on many different types and hit them back for a lot of damage.

1575598188513.png


Rotom-Fan @ Heavy-Duty Boots/Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Air Slash
- Dark Pulse

I personally prefer Heavy-Duty Boots to come in on rocks with no penalty, since strong priority is running rampant in this tier, but Leftovers are also great to have.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1023099626

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1022367455

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1023895840
 
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